Part 2: The Arrival
A few minutes later, the distant roar of an engine broke the silence.
Heads remained forward, but every soldier heard it. The sound grew louder as a military jeep approached the gate, its tires crunching against gravel before rolling onto the parade ground.
Dust rose behind it like a fading storm.
The company commander’s voice cut sharply through the air:
— Attention!
The soldiers snapped into perfect stillness, their salutes rising in flawless synchronization as the vehicle came to a halt.
Lieutenant Colonel Hale stepped out slowly, deliberately, adjusting his gloves as if the entire scene existed solely for him.
And in his mind—it did.
He scanned the formation with a critical eye, searching, always searching, for something wrong.
Something to correct.
Something to punish.
Then—
Movement.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a figure walking across the square.
A young woman in uniform.
She moved calmly, her pace steady, her posture relaxed but confident. She held her helmet loosely in one hand, her gaze fixed straight ahead—not toward him, not toward the formation.
She didn’t stop.
She didn’t hesitate.
She didn’t salute.
For a moment, Hale thought he must have imagined it.
But then she continued walking.
And the realization hit him like an insult.
His expression darkened instantly.
