Athena and Xavier entered the base, their steps hurried as the vibrations beneath their feet grew stronger.
The entire facility seemed to hum with an unnatural energy, as though the world itself was reacting to something unseen.
Soldiers were on high alert, their weapons drawn, scanning the sky and the shifting horizon.
The air smelled of metal and static, as if a storm was about to break, but there were no clouds, no wind, just an eerie stillness that made the hairs on Athena's arms stand on end.
She clutched the data drive tighter, knowing that whatever information lay within its encrypted files might hold the answer to this chaos.
Xavier led her through the base, past tight-lipped officers and frightened recruits, until they reached the underground bunker where the facility's intelligence team worked.
Inside, the dim lights cast long shadows against the cold steel walls.
