Tabogon Base

Cam and Kitty were enjoying the sea breeze. Although they had arrived in Tabogon Base in the middle of the night, the smell of the sea was very welcoming to the team.

"I can't wait to see the entirety of the place in the morning!" Kitty exclaimed.

"Psh. And who was very adamant on staying in Cebu City?" Lisa couldn't help but roll her eyes at Kitty's indecisiveness.

"Shut up Lisa, nobody's asking for your opinion."

"Both of you shut up." Percy hissed.

The two stiffened and obeyed their superior.

Percy got off the vehicle and greeted his brother.

"Under the Governor-General's orders, starting today we are stationed in Tabogon Base!"

"He called. Ease up brother."

"No, a subordinate must show respect to his superior!"

"Stubborn mule." Daniel muttered. "Major Ramos will show you to your rooms. Get some rest and report to the command center after your tour tomorrow. Breakfast is served at seven in the cafeteria."

***

Percy is an early bird. Which means; he wakes up early every morning. Because of his training since he was a child, it had become his habit to rise earlier than the sun and take a run.

Since he was new to the place, he took it upon himself to scout the area. From the base, he ran all the way to the commercial port. He passed by the bus terminal, the municipal building, the police station, the market and even the nearest school to the base. Tabogon didn't have that much of a big area, but the town had a strategical value. It had one if the biggest deposits of energy ore which had become the main energy source of the world. The Tabogon Base wasn't just a military base but it also doubled as a research laboratory.

Percy got back to the base at about six in the morning. He immediately headed to the gymnasium to practice his sword and archery skills, but Lisa and Cam already beat him to it. The two were in the middle of a mock battle. He decided to just take a random seat and watch the two.

Lisa was utilizing Lux, but other than that, she was also wielding a short sword which was her secondary weapon. Cam well, his primary and secondary weapons were both guns so there wasn't really much of a change.

Percy remembered that he told them to master a secondary weapon in case they couldn't use their relics and new-type in a mission. Plus, he made sure that their hand-to-hand combat skills were satisfactory.

When he realized the two wouldn't be done anytime soon, he decided to leave and just go back to his room to take a shower. He ate his breakfast afterwards. They were given a tour of the base by Major Ramos that morning. The major was a man of big build. He had a bald head and his body was ripped with muscles, but despite this, he had a soft heart for newcomers.

"The colonel never really specified your duties in the base. Plus only the Governor-General has the authority to give you an order."

"The colonel is our current immediate superior, it's up to him. Plus, you're also our superior Major Ramos." reasoned Percy.

"Well, even of you say that. You're still the Ashtein Family's third young master. Here in Cebu Administrative Region, your family is the one in-charge. And even if you have your ranks now it's obvious that it's only an honorary title. Not many people know of Zero Squad's existence but in terms of skills and abilities you definitely outrank everyone but the colonel in this base."

"You flatter us major." Kitty said with a smile. "If you need a sparring partner, I'm always available!"

"I'll keep that in mind." he responded.

'Good luck to him.' was the thought of all members of the Zero Squad.

After the tour, they were left to their own devices. Percy proceeded to the command center as ordered by his brother the previous night.

When he arrived there, he found his brother busy on his seat. He couldn't help but cringe at the sight of paperwork stacked on his desk.

"Oh, Percy you're here." he stood up and asked his younger brother to follow him. "Everyone! I want to introduce someone! This is Lieutenant Colonel Percy Ashtein! Starting today he is assigned here. His authority will be just under me and probably the same as the Head Researcher."

Percy only bowed, but then...

"Lt. Colonel?"

"Oh, father emailed me last night and had you promoted. He already had the president's approval. So right now, you're the second-in-command. And I place you in charge of the supervision of the new recruits' training as well as the budget of the base."

"Are you joking with me? I was just a captain yesterday! How can I jump to being a lieutenant colonel overnight?" he asked with a voice filled with disbelief. His face remained expressionless though.

"No I'm not joking. And as I said, it was our father's decision. Ah, your team should be receiving their promotions as well."

As Colonel Ashtein said that, the members of the Zero Squad received their promotions via email. Kitty and Neri were promoted to Captain while Lisa and Cam were promoted to Majors.

To the eyes of regular soldiers, it was unfair, but their skills were above average and the fact that each of them had relics (Cam's being a new-type) was unrefuted.

Of course the happiest would be Kitty, since her salary basically sky-rocketed. And since she was an orphan, she had no one to spend her money on but herself.

Percy could not believe it, but he had no choice. He knew his father very well. And he knew that he only did that so that no one would undermine an Ashtein.

"I don't think eldest brother would be happy about this." Percy commented once he and the colonel were finally alone in his new office.

"Yeah. He would be complaining about giving you preferential treatment. But it's not like he can do anything about it. And besides, he's busy as the new general of the Special Forces. He has no time to harass us about it."

"Whatever."

"Ah Percy, as the new second-in-command, I want to show you something."

Percy was confused, but curious at the same time. He followed his second older brother enter an elevator. He saw him place a hand at a panel and a female robotic voice immediately resounded within the closed space.

[Identity confirmed. Colonel Daniel Ashtein. Welcome sir.]

"Tierra, register Lt. Col. Percy Ashtein."

[Done sir.]

"Give him full authority of the base, and a Level 10 clearance. Only to be undermined by me."

[Yes sir. Welcome Lt. Col Percy Ahstein. To what level do you wish to go?]

"Sub level five." Daniel answered.

"Confirmed."

Daniel wondered why Percy had been silent the entire ordeal, but then he remembered, his third younger brother had always been like that. He turned to him and gave him a look.

"You installed Tierra in Tabogon Base?" Percy asked like he could not believe it.

"Yeah."

"Are you crazy?"

Daniel knew his younger brother meant that as an insult, but his brother had always lacked empathy ever since he remembered.

"Maybe, but having Tierra around makes things a lot easier; she does the analysis, she's also in charge of security and she listens to no one but me. She can actually do everything herself and the only time I had to shut her down and transfer everything to manual is when I fix her or give updates."

"Did father even approve?"

"It was his idea in the first place."

"Second elder sister will go ballistic when she finds out you left running a military base to an AI."

Daniel stiffened.

He was usually laid back and his skills were no joke either. His relic, Lema, is a satelllite-type and can wipe out anything within a five mile radius. Daniel also uses it sometimes to keep track of anything and anyone, but if unused, it usually rests as a cross-shaped earring on his left ear. He was proud of that, but at the mention of their sister, he couldn't help but shiver.

The Ashtein's second daughter, as well as Daniel's older twin sister, is Doctor Sam Ashtein. She's a researcher and wields an internal-type relic, Dosa, which enables her to manipulate metal.

Let's just say, Daniel has fear towards his older twin sister.

"You dare-"

"Don't worry, I love my life, so I'll keep it under wraps. But you can't hide that forever."