CHAPTER 27: THE FLIGHT

The command center buzzed like a living organism.

Screens flickered. Operators whispered. Radios hissed. The smell of coffee and hot electronics mingled in the recycled air. Albert and Ward stepped inside just as Harker leaned over his console, eyes glued to the streaming telemetry.

"Global Hawk passing waypoint one," Harker reported. "Beginning wide-area scan."

On the main screen, fresh radar data began painting itself line by line—synthetic aperture radar carving out a grayscale map from sixty thousand feet above the world.

Albert crossed his arms. "What are we looking at?"

"Forest. Lots of it."Harker zoomed in. "Tree density higher than the region around Aldo. Could be an old-growth forest—untouched."

Ward whistled. "If I see an elf on that screen, I’m gonna lose my shit."

Albert didn’t smile. "Keep scanning."

The drone pushed northward, the SAR suite sweeping miles of terrain every second. The map expanded, mountains rising like jagged scars, rivers curling like snakes, valleys stitched into the land like old wounds.

Then—

"Sir... we’ve got structures."

Harker tapped a key. The view sharpened.

On-screen appeared a cluster of rectangular outlines. Crude rooftops. Dirt roads leading in and out. Walls—wooden, not stone.

A village.

A small one, maybe one hundred people if this world matched Earth’s rural patterns.

Ward leaned closer. "That’s... new."

Albert nodded. "Mark it."

Harker dropped a digital waypoint.UNIDENTIFIED SETTLEMENT — WP-01

"Keep going."

The Global Hawk soared onward, indifferent to borders, unaware of kingdoms, carving its own straight line toward the pole. The second sweep revealed more.

"Another cluster. Bigger this time."Harker highlighted the image. "Looks like a town. Maybe fortified."

The SAR image resolved: wooden palisades, several large buildings gathered around a central square, two towers rising from opposite sides of the wall—watchtowers by design, crude by construction.

"Town population—rough estimate—could be up to a thousand," Ward said. "Depends on farming output."

Albert nodded slowly. "Mark it."

UNIDENTIFIED TOWN — WP-02

More people on the map meant possible allies. Or obstacles. Or warnings.

The drone pushed farther.

Harker rubbed his eyes as the telemetry scrolled. "Sir, we’re approaching two hundred kilometers out. Switching from wide-area SAR to high-resolution spotlight."

A click and the image sharpened to photographic clarity.

A vast stretch of plains filled the screen—golden grasslands swaying in wind the drone could not hear. Herds of animals—herbivores—moved in groups, their shadows long and sharp under the rising sun.

Ward stared. "Well damn... this place really has everything."

"Focus," Albert said.

"Right."

Another sweep.

Structures.

Small, scattered, irregular.

"What is that?" Ward asked.

Harker zoomed again.

A burned settlement.

Houses collapsed inward. Fields scorched. Livestock carcasses strewn like discarded toys. Walls broken open by brute force.

Albert’s jaw tightened. "Mark it. Possible goblin raid site."

DESTRUCTION SITE — WP-03

"Fresh?" Ward asked quietly.

Harker checked the thermal overlay. "Heat signatures minimal. Fires cooled. I’d say days old."

Albert closed his eyes for a moment. "This world isn’t done bleeding."

The drone moved on.

"Passing three hundred kilometers," Harker announced. "Fuel reserves stable. Continuing north."

The next landscape revealed a vast stretch of wetlands—marshland glowing ghostly white under SAR, with twisting waterways like veins.

Ward frowned. "Looks like Louisiana."

"Minus the humidity," Albert muttered.

Then—

"Contact. Settlement number four."

Harker enhanced the feed.

This time, the images were unlike anything they’d seen.

Structures built on stilts. Rope bridges. Large huts with curved roofs. Canoes lined along the water’s edge. Smoke plumes rising from cooking fires.

Ward blinked. "A fishing village. That’s... different."

Albert leaned forward. "Mark it. Could be a different culture."

UNIDENTIFIED MARSH VILLAGE — WP-04

"Any movement?"

Harker switched to EO.

"Plenty," he answered. "Humans... humanoids... can’t confirm. But they’re not hostile. Just living."

Albert nodded. "Good. Keep going."

The drone banked slightly as it followed the programmed northward arc. Terrain shifted again—wetlands giving way to forest, forest giving way to rolling hills.

And then, a sight none of them expected.

"Sir... large infrastructure ahead."

Albert stepped behind Harker.

"What kind of infrastructure?"

Harker’s fingers flew across the keys.

The screen expanded.

Revealing—

A massive stone wall cutting through a valley. Not crude wood. Stone. Mortared. Structured. Defensive. Towers lined along its length, battlements shaped for archers.

Behind the wall sat a settlement so large the SAR almost struggled to capture it in one sweep—buildings stacked close, rows of stone houses, a fortified keep at its center like a fist raised toward the sky.

Ward exhaled. "Holy shit. That’s a city."

Albert nodded once. "Mark it."

UNIDENTIFIED CITY — WP-05DEFENSIVE MEGASTRUCTURE DETECTED

"Are they... human?" Ward asked.

Harker zoomed.

People moved along the walls. They carried spears. Bows. Armor. Their gait was human. Their formations were disciplined.

"Looks like a kingdom," Albert murmured. "Organized. Militarized."

Ward wiped his mouth. "Should we contact them?"

"Not yet," Albert said. "We don’t know their politics. Or their enemies."

The drone continued.

At four hundred kilometers out, the terrain began to change.

Hills grew sharper. Valleys deeper. Snow dusted the ground.

"Entering colder climate zone," Harker narrated.

"What’s the time to return fuel-wise?" Albert asked.

"Still good," Harker replied. "We have room for another hundred or so kilometers, but I want a large buffer."

Albert nodded. "Continue for now."

The Global Hawk pushed north, the sky a vault of blue beneath it. The land turned harsher, emptier. Settlements thinned until—

"Sir, unusual thermal signatures ahead."

Albert frowned. "Define unusual."

Harker zoomed.

"There," he said, pointing.

The shapes weren’t houses.

Or walls.

Or farmland.

They were black spots in the white snow. Irregular. Jagged. And hot. Very hot.

"What the hell... are those lava vents?" Ward asked.

Albert narrowed his eyes. "In a frozen environment?"

The thermal bloom pulsed like a heartbeat.

Harker activated multispectral imaging.

And the screen went red.

The thermal spikes rose from deep cracks in the earth, each crack glowing with unnatural heat. Surrounding them were shapes—structures, maybe—but they were distorted, twisted, uneven.

Ward muttered, "That doesn’t look natural."

Albert didn’t answer.

He only said one word:

"Mark it."

UNIDENTIFIED PHENOMENON — WP-06POSSIBLE HOSTILE TERRITORY

"Fuel?" Albert asked.

"Fifty percent," Harker answered. "We hit our limit. We need to turn back."

Albert nodded slowly. "Return to base. Don’t risk the bird."

"Yes, sir. Initiating RTB sequence."

The Global Hawk banked gracefully, beginning its long southern arc home.

The room fell quiet for a moment, each man processing what they’d seen.

Villages. Towns. Cities. Burned settlements. Strange marsh tribes.

And at the edge of the world... something that should not exist.

Ward finally broke the silence.

"Sir," he said quietly, "if that’s the direction of the Demon King..."

Albert didn’t blink.

"Then now we know where to start looking."

Harker exhaled and leaned back.

"RTB ETA six hours."

Albert turned toward the door.

"Good. Prep a briefing for tonight."

Ward glanced at him. "What’s the plan?"

Albert stared north, past the walls, past the hills, past the horizon itself.

"We prepare for war."