Stillness Before the Storm

Inside the Command Center of the Surface Base.

The large screen displayed a view of one of the runways at the base's airport.

At that moment, an Unmanned Reconnaissance Aircraft was preparing to depart on the runway.

"Self-check complete."

"The drone is ready to depart at any time."

The pilot responsible for operating the drone turned back toward the bridge.

On the bridge, the Base Commander said calmly, "Depart."

The next second, the image on the large screen began to tremble slightly, while the scenery on both sides slowly receded.

As the receding scenery grew faster and eventually became a blur of light and shadows, the runway's horizon also began to drop, finally disappearing from the screen.

The screen now showed the Tai Sui recovery site in the distant wilderness.

Farther away, the Forbidden Land could be seen, with flashes of explosive light appearing from time to time.

Then those things also disappeared from the camera's view. As the Unmanned Reconnaissance Aircraft continued climbing higher, all that finally appeared on the screen was blue sky and white clouds, an endless azure firmament, and a gray storm deep within the Forbidden Land.

The storm was high in the sky. The sunlight was dim where it lay, and fierce winds howled.

Clouds and dust high in the atmosphere were constantly dragged along by the swirling currents, forming a gray storm.

A window appeared in the corner of the large screen.

Inside the window was the computer's analysis of the high-altitude storm, along with a model simulating the movement of the air currents.

According to the model, as long as the drone could cut into the storm and then fly along the direction of the currents, it would have a chance of entering the storm's inner ring and getting a glimpse of what