Starting out as a Dragon Slave
Chapter 147 : Crisis unit (part 2)

Chapter 147: Chapter 147 : Crisis unit (part 2)

Adrien Valcourt straightened slightly. When he spoke, his voice was low but carried to the far corners of the room without apparent effort.

- "Captain Moreau, establish a new stratification of forces immediately. Form three rapid intervention units, each centered around one of our resistance points. Integrate all our still operational rank B hunters and reassign the Omega class artifacts from the Parisian reserves."

He turned to the Logistics manager, a communications colonel with a face hollowed by fatigue.

- "Colonel Vernet, I authorize the activation of the Lazarus emergency protocols. Decision code Alpha-Red-17-Kronos."

A murmur ran through the room. The Lazarus protocol had never been activated outside simulation. It involved the immediate redistribution of all classified dimensional artifacts, including those whose very existence was officially denied.

Adrien continued without pause, addressing Vincent Delcourt this time.

- "Vincent, prepare a coordinated response for our allies. Transmit our tactical analyses and our initial conclusions on the adaptive behaviors of the flying creatures. Recommend the immediate establishment of fortified perimeters around critical infrastructure and the implementation of the sequential evacuation protocol we developed after the Marseille incident."

He paused briefly before adding:

- "However, specify that we cannot detach any hunter units. France must first hold its territory."

Vincent nodded gravely before heading to his post. Adrien finally turned to the central hologram, studying the strategic map one last time. His expression remained inscrutable, but a slight tension in his jaw betrayed the weight of the decisions he had just made.

With a deliberate gesture, he activated the general communication system that would connect his words to each hunter in the field, each operator in the crisis cell, and each government official connected to the secure network.

- "To all units, this is National Coordinator Valcourt."

His voice, now amplified by the systems, resonated with a quiet authority that seemed to instill a new determination throughout the Hexagon.

- "We are facing an unprecedented crisis. Preliminary analyses confirm a coordinated dimensional offensive on a global scale. This attack is not random – it is methodical, adaptive, and manifestly intelligent."

On the screens, hunters in the field could be seen briefly pausing to listen, some taking advantage of this pause to readjust their equipment or partially regenerate their magical reserves.

- "I will not lie to you: our situation is critical. Our most optimistic predictive models give us forty-eight hours before the complete saturation of our current defenses. But we have two advantages: our understanding of dimensional mechanics, forged in blood over fifteen years, and our unwavering determination to protect those who count on us."

Adrien scrolled through several tactical sequences on the hologram, quickly checking the details of his plan.

- "Specific instructions will reach you through your respective channels in the next few minutes. The time for restraint is over – I authorize the use of all means at our disposal, including emergency protocols until now reserved for simulations."

He paused significantly, his gaze sweeping the room, meeting that of each section leader.

- "Many of us will not see the end of this crisis. This reality, as harsh as it may be, we must accept. But each minute gained represents lives saved, each sector defended is a victory against the inexplicable. We are not fighting just for today, but so that humanity may see tomorrow."

A respectful silence greeted these words. Even the most hardened felt the weight of this historic moment.

- "Hold your positions. Protect civilians. Never surrender. Valcourt, out."

When he deactivated the communication system, a new momentum seemed to have seized the entire crisis cell. Operators worked with renewed concentration, analysts compiled data and reports with increased precision, liaison officers transmitted orders with restored confidence.

Léa Moreau approached Adrien, a new series of tactical information ready to be presented. But before she could speak, an alert signal sounded from the dimensional analysis station.

- "Critical anomaly detected!" shouted the main operator, a young theoretical physicist with a suddenly pale face. "Unknown energy signature, power exceeding all our reference levels! Location: sector 7, Champ-de-Mars!"

On the central screen, a massive disturbance appeared, rapidly engulfing the Eiffel Tower and its surroundings in a maelstrom of chaotic energy. Sensors went haywire, some simply ceasing to function in the face of readings impossible to process.

Vincent Delcourt, who was returning to the command center, stopped in his tracks, his gaze riveted to the screen.

- "My God," he whispered. "It’s a Gate. A true dimensional Gate."

Adrien contemplated the phenomenon for a few seconds, his face betraying no emotion. Then, with an almost supernatural calm, he turned to Léa Moreau.

- "Captain, contact Arnaud Favre immediately. Tell him I am personally activating the Damocles protocol."

Léa hesitated for a fraction of a second, her face reflecting undisguised surprise. "The Damocles protocol, sir? But... that has never been..."

- "Do it, Captain," cut in Adrien, his tone brooking no discussion. "And alert the medical team. In exactly thirty minutes, I will be heading to the field."

A stunned silence greeted this declaration. Vincent Delcourt was the first to react.

- "Adrien, this is madness. You are the National Coordinator. Your place is here, directing all operations."

Adrien Valcourt turned to him, and for the first time since the beginning of the crisis, an emotion crossed his gaze – a cold, implacable determination.

- "What is emerging from this Gate, Vincent, represents a threat of an order we have never faced. The data is clear." He pointed to the energy readings that continued to baffle the systems. "We need all our skills on the field, including mine."

He adjusted his uniform jacket with a mechanical gesture before adding more quietly: "And don’t forget that I am still, technically, a rank AA hunter."

This remark sent a shiver among those who heard it. The AA rank was almost mythical a clearance level reserved for a handful of individuals who had demonstrated extraordinary abilities in dimensional combat. That the National Coordinator himself possessed this status was a fact known to few.

-"Vincent, you assume command of the cell in my absence. Léa, you will coordinate tactical communications directly with me in the field." He swept his gaze across the entire Hexagon before concluding: "The situation has just changed. Let’s adapt."

Without waiting for a response, Adrien Valcourt headed for the special armory located at the back of the Hexagon, where the rarest and most powerful equipment available to the French state was kept. His walk was that of a man who, after years spent behind a desk, was finally about to rediscover his true nature.

In his wake, the crisis cell was already buzzing with frantic activity. Orders were transmitted, strategies revised, teams mobilized. The chain of command was adapting with a fluidity born of rigorous training and the acute awareness that this day might well be the one where everything would change.

For above their heads, in the devastated streets of Paris, a new phase of the battle was looming – a phase for which even the most experienced among them might not be prepared.