"A what now!?" The colonel couldn't hold his excitement and rushed out of the tent. He gazed towards the direction the soldier pointed out, but of course he was unable to see anything. With a swift movement he snatched the binoculars from the soldier's hands and looked again.
A beautiful, majestic, gigantic zeppelin was indeed on its way towards them. The only problem was if it was going to make it before they got spotted by the nightmarish creature.
"Cancel the evacuation plan, we'll wait for the zeppelin." Ethan said with his imperturbable smile.
If there was one thing he knew, it was that the only corporation that could have a zeppelin nearby was the Mapple company and his father, Matthew Jacobs, was good friends with some of the higher ups in said company.
As time passed, Uriel was able to notice a change in the soldiers' attitude. They were moving quickly from side to side and they were breaking camp too soon.
When the sun was about to set there weren't any tents standing anymore and soldiers kept busy burning the trash along with the few pieces of furniture the army brought with them. This was a standard army practice to avoid leaving behind any traces of their passing since some of the cryptids were smart and cunning and they didn't want to risk leaving anything they could possibly use.
Once the zeppelin was close enough to see it with the naked eye all the students hugged each other in joyful tears and even soldiers expressed their relief out loud, even those who didn't know anything about the creature, because after the slaughter they survived all they wanted was to be back home safe as soon as possible.
Colonel Windfire gave the command to shoot flares up the sky as soon as the zeppelin was on sight and, to their surprise, the zeppelin shot a flare towards them signalling their rescue was on its way.
All Uriel could see, besides the flares, was a few dim lights blinking in the distance. His eyesight wasn't that good and he was too poor to buy glasses, as if that wasn't enough, the constant strain of reading everyday at every hour had taken a toll on him.
"They're coming for us! we're saved!" Cried Sam as he hugged Medusa. The girl seemed taken aback by his sudden self confidence, but she too was in a joyful mood and let herself be embraced awkwardly by the usually cowardly Sam.
The zeppelin hovered over the group for a couple minutes before starting its descent and it was a slow process, much slower than they would have liked. It was almost as if it didn't move at all.
In the mean time, the army made a circle around the students to protect them from possible threats and secure the landing zone.
There were a few encounters with cryptids during the time it took for the zeppelin to land, but the soldiers made quick work of them without a single casualty. Although Uriel's unit was able to perceive only gunshots and occasional explosions at a distance, sometimes there were flashes of light and strange noises they guessed were due to the different traits the soldiers were using.
After touching ground, the zeppelin's loading platform on its back opened and fell heavily to the ground. Several students gasped in awe when they were able to see the immensity of the ship in front of them, and Uriel was no exception. It reminded him of an alien ship from sci fi movies with all the bright lights and strange technology appliances on its sides.
Without wasting a second, colonel Windifre entered along with the elite unit and only after they were safe inside did the other units start moving. Once inside the zeppelin all units were dismantled and students were separated according to the power of their traits.
Uriel received a red band which meant he was an evolved, while the rest of his unit excluding Shaker all received cyan colored bands meaning they were of the ascended rank.
The difference in power among those ranks was like heaven and earth, those with red colored bands had traits that gave them access to weak skills in the best cases, while in the worst cases like Uriel's their bodies were only slightly modified.
Still, Uriel was thankful once he noticed that most students didn't even receive an arm band because they weren't able to acquire a trait at all. Some of them weren't compatible while others simply didn't have the chance to.
Everyone was conducted towards a spacious room with a cafeteria, a lounge and windows to look at the scenery. The ship itself was huge, but only because the balloon on top needed to be immense to lift the weight of the rest of the ship.
"This must be as big as a... I don't even have anything to compare it with." Uriel said.
"I do..." Sam shuddered at the thought of the titanic creature he saw before, wishing for the zeppelin to take flight as soon as possible.
There, in front of the crowd, a man in a business attire followed by other men dressed with long coats greeted colonel Windfire. Despite the student's shock after being rescued in such an amazing vessel, the lounge was so silent you could heard a pin drop on the floor.
"Mister Flanagan! Thank goodness! You saved us." The young colonel extended his hand towards the man who just arrived.
"Ethan, good graces look at you! you're all grown up now, last time I saw you, you were this high." Flanagan said pointing at his hip. "Tell me, how is Matt doing these days?"
"He's busy as always... nevermind that, I'm so glad you came for us, I'll make sure to mention your deed to him so he'll he able to thank you properly." Mister Flanagan was one of his father's business partners, but now he belonged to one of the biggest, if not the biggest, corporations in the world: The feared and respected Mapple corporation.
It was an international conglomerate and it started as mostly a tech company before 'the arrival' of the cryptids, but now its power and influence was so immense it may as well be considered a country on its own.
"Actually, we have been informed of a certain VIP that might be here and that's the reason why we came, I didn't know I would meet you here." Flanagan said.
"A VIP? do you know his name?" Colonel Ethan asked, to which Flanagan shook his head.
"I don't, maybe it's you!" He laughed heartily.
"Wow! your family must really be amazing!" Tina said as she tugged on Ethan's sleeve. The students nearby gasped in surprise too and murmurs broke wildly all over the lounge.
"Colonel Windifire is something else entirely!"
"Even my family is nothing compared to the Jacobs..." One of the rich students nearby muttered.
"We're only saved because colonel Windfire was sent to accompany us." A girl cried with teary eyes.
During all the commotion Uriel was unimpressed. He didn't miss the joking tone Mister Flanagan used.
"I don't think it's because of him..." Medusa said.
"Don't be silly babe, It's obvious this is because of him. Just who among us could be more important than him? He's a colonel in the army and he's the second son of one of the most important companies in the whole country." Sam said as he attempted to grab her hand.
"First, why are you acting so weird? Call me that again and I'll knock you out cold. Second, I don't think it has anything to do with him or his family because..." She lingered for a few seconds and then continued in a dismissive tone. "Just because!"
Sam blushed up after being confronted by Medusa, but he was saved from further embarrassment when the ship started moving.
The ship's take off came unannounced, but everyone noticed the slight tremble accompanied by the strange feeling of taking flight. Although it was perceived as slow in the distance, it was only because of the ship's proportions. In reality, the ship was swiftly moving upwards and onward at the same time, propelled by huge hasps on its sides.
After the whole situation with colonel Windfire, yet another one started when someone noticed a different colored arm band on one of the student's arms.
"I know what red and cyan mean, but what does yellow mean?" Uriel asked pointing towards a girl with ashen hair much like Luna's.
"No way! It's a heavenly rank!" Sam shouted in excitement. "She's on the same level as the colonel!"
"Hang on a second, I know that girl..." Uriel placed his hand over his chin pondering for a few seconds. Her aloof expression, her cute but intimidating face, she looked a bit different after acquiring her trait, but there was no doubt. "She's Cassandra! She's on professor Pangeotis' class with me!"
"Oh man, you're so lucky! I wish she was on my class" Sam sighed. "Is it me or she's coming toward us? Hey Sage, how well do you know her?"
"It's not because of me, I never spoke to her." Uriel shook his head.
"It's because of me... she's my sister." Luna said in a somber tone.