Looking for my Mjolnir (2)

Thor saw an approaching military base obscuring the surrounding tundra. By looking at the others in the aircraft growing too restless, he could not help but feel nervous, taking a tighter grip on his wheat bouquet.

After the airplane landed, a Sergeant of the Army entered and ordered everyone to line up outside.

Adapted to the light after exiting the plane, Thor felt lucky. The condition to be an Ascended was to overcome their body's limits. Therefore, he had good resistance to extreme temperatures.

While walking past the landing track, Thor could notice the shaking legs of the others conscripted. He was not sure if they were not Ascenders like himself or they were just afraid. After taking a position at the front of the formation, Thor looked at his surroundings.

Barracks, military buildings for the soldiers to sleep, were encircling the airfield from every side. In strategic positions, intimidating armored vehicles with large rockets were aiming at the sky, wanting to pierce it. Military trucks, like the ones from the city, were moving soldiers around the base. Everyone here seemed to be as busy as if the end of the world was near.

A military all-terrain vehicle approached the conscripted group that was lined up. The driver left the vehicle and opened the door from the back seat, a middle-aged man getting off. The man wore an army uniform with lots of medals and scars decorating his face.

"I am the Major of the Earth Alliance's Army." said the Army Officer while facing the crowd. After looking at the troubled faces of the recently recruited soldiers, he continued.

"All of you are Ascenders. All of you signed the permission for the government to let you be an official Ascended in exchange for your service in a time of need. The time has come. Your presence here is a need for the Earth Alliance."

"This military base is a joint effort from all the members of Earth Alliance, and it's divided into six sectors. We will assign you all to an operating squad based on your abilities, and the squad's leader will be the one giving you the tasks to comply. Here, you will have rules to obey."

"Now, the Sergeant will call your name and squad. After being called, take the main road to get to your assigned sector." After saying these words, he went into his vehicle and marched away.

"William Chevrosqui, Lone Shark Squad, Sixth Sector." said the Sergeant.

...

"Eric Marilson, Suicide Squad, Third Sector." a sturdy bearded man headed away, uttering no word.

...

"Laura Lopez, Special Forces Squad, First Sector."

...

"Julian Mildstorm, Lightning Strike Squad, Second Sector."

Thor heard his former name being called out. This time, instead of getting annoyed, he walked out of the formation and headed to the exit.

After leaving the airport field, he noticed a placard with a map of the base. As a pentagon, it was divided into six zones, with the first as the core. The sixth zone protected the rear at the shore, the fourth and fifth guarded the flanks, and the second and the third were the vanguard, looking north.

Assigned to the Second Sector, Thor used the road between the fourth and the second zone to reach his station. When he reached his destiny, he walked into the barracks.

Typically ordered bunk beds, like the ones shown in the war movies, adorned the floors of the entire building. Thor could see soldiers crowding the first floor, but from the second floor and on, he did not see anyone else except for a dignified man on the fifth floor.

Skipping formalities, Thor presented himself to the squad leader. The man was young, around his age. When he looked at him, he seemed to carry a grace that was subduing him.

"Julian Mildstorm, born in 1996. Ascended three months later of The Descend and awakened a thunder ability. I was waiting for you. Welcome to the Lightning Strike Squad. We have another thirty thunder Ascenders, including me, and we are occupying the first place in the Squad's Rankings of the Second Sector. At the table on your right, you have the military uniform you are going to use from now on. Oh, I almost forgot. You can call me Squad Leader." His Squad Leader quickly dismissed him after taking the uniform.

Thor took the uniform and used one of the empty floors to change his clothes. After introducing himself to the other members, he went to rest, exhausted by the sudden situation.

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The next day, Thor received his first task: go to the second sector's arena and take some challenges from other squads.

From what he learned, there were a fixed number of 10 squads in each sector. They competed between themselves in the arena to gain prestige. It was also an indicator for the High Command to assign tasks. For this reason, every soldier was regularly training there unless they were in charge of a mission.

Thor, not being used to using his ability to fight, took a few days to win his first match. Two weeks until he won his third. And after gaining his fifth victory, he received his first mission.

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Beneath the ice storm, four figures wearing white camouflage were slowly walking, heading north.

They were in complete silence. You only could hear the wind crashing into their bodies. One of the four soldiers was Thor. He, as well as his squadmates, did not get any information related to their mission. They only knew that they had to move to a specific location in two days, only having the set of coordinates to guide them.

They have already walked for an entire day, not even taking a break to rest. Their Ascended body guaranteed their survival even when they did not eat, but they were already slowly reaching their limits.

As these thoughts seeped into their minds, the storm ceased.

However, the relief of being able to see again did not take long to disappear. It was the Squad Leader, the first of the group to notice the situation, falling to the ground from shock. The other two soldiers became petrified. Thor was the one at the rear, and therefore, the one who noticed later. When he saw it, his blue eyes almost popped out from their sockets.

A massive fortress was up ahead. Made from an unknown material, the walls were black with pulsing green veins. Thor could see tiny golden figures on the outside, but it was not the most shocking point. The most shocking point was that they were accompanied by a dragon!

But it was not a western or eastern dragon, it was a mix between the two, with a large serpent body, four wide wings, and two claws. In absence of his arms, the mixed dragon supported all the weight of his body in its two solid legs.

An innate survival sense urged Thor to run, but he was too late. The dragon seemed to notice their presence and looked in their direction. Jumping to the sky, the dragon took flight, and it headed their way!

The first to run was his Squad Leader, accompanied by Thor and the other three soldiers. They ran, looking for a cave they passed by recently, but the dragon was reaching them.

Thor was the first to react, sucking dry almost all the Stellar Energy in his Heart Core to transform into a bolt of thunder, crossing the plains rapidly. After he saw the cave, he ran into it without attempting to wait for his squadmates.

He knew the other soldiers also had a thunder's ability, but they took too much time to reach the cave. They entered, the dragon following them. Thor, hidden behind a rock, noticed the Squad Leader was not with them. He also saw that the dragon was missing a pair of wings and was wounded.

The soldiers observed the dragon entering the cave, a sly smile on their faces. They attacked the dragon, shooting lightning from their hands, a few electric bolts destroying the rest of its wings. The dragon howled from pain, and being furious, opened its mouth. A black fire filled the cave, consuming the oxygen in the air. A soldier did not even have time to scream. In a few seconds, his body turned to ashes, giving a burnt smell. He was burned alive. The other soldier disabled his electric shield, aghast. At this moment, the dragon pounced on him with a jump. He got stabbed by one of the dragon's claws and convulsed, blood and pieces of his organs dropping from his mouth.

In just a quick moment, the dragon killed two of his squad members. Thor did not even have time to come out from his hideout and help them. Distracted in these thoughts and the fear of death, he heard a burst of laughter coming outside the cave. He saw a shape similar to that of a human, but it was shorter and skinnier, with pure golden skin. Thor recognized it as one of the unknown beings outside the fortress.

"I can not believe these inferior beings were tricked like this. Did they never see an illusion?" laughed the golden being.

Thor was shocked. How did he understand what it said? He never saw these golden beings in his whole life! Then, he was reminded of the changes on Earth. The people could talk with each other without the need to learn the language. It was enough for the person to express their mind while uttering words. Thanks to this, even deaf and mute people could communicate. Thor seemed to remember that this was called 'Universal Language' and was a consequence of The Descend.

"It is enough, Kirru. These beings are not inferior, they are probably just the weakest ones of their civilization. Take your illusion out, I will get information from them." approached a different golden being. This one had dark golden skin.

Thor did not understand how he could take information from them when they were already dead, but he would understand it shortly. And it was a memory he could never forget.