Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner

Sophie’s interrogation was focused and intense. She sat across from Brooks with the kind of determination that came from someone who needed people to understand the truth, even if that truth sounded impossible.

”The Eighth is real,” Sophie said for what felt like the hundredth time. ”He has Lucas. He has Lucas’s father. He has King Aurelius, and he has Vex Marduk.”

Brooks looked up from her notes. ”Vex Marduk?”

”A beast trafficking merchant we encountered on Raiju Prime. He was involved in illegal creature trade, including the dragon that’s now Noah’s companion, Ivy. The Eighth took him too.”

Brooks made a notation on her tablet. ”So now we’re adding beast trafficking to the list of complications.”

”I’m not adding complications, I’m telling you what happened!” Sophie’s composure cracked slightly. ”Every time we discovered something new, it led to more questions. Vex was connected to operations on multiple worlds. The Eighth’s influence spans further than just the original families.”

”That’s a lot of interconnected criminal activity across multiple jurisdictions.”

”That’s the point. He’s been operating for centuries. He has resources we can’t comprehend. And right now, he has people we care about trapped in places we can’t reach.”

Brooks studied Sophie for a long moment. ”You really believe all of this.”

”I know all of this. There’s a difference.”

The interrogation continued, with Sophie providing every detail she could about Vex, about the beast trade connections, about the evidence they’d found linking the Eighth to operations across multiple worlds. By the end, Brooks had pages of notes about variables that seemed to multiply every time someone opened their mouth.

”This is getting more complex by the hour,” Brooks muttered, reviewing her tablet.

”Welcome to our lives for the past five weeks,” Sophie replied.

---

When all the interrogations were complete, the team was assembled in a waiting area and given their instructions by Commander Volkov.

”You’re to return to your quarters and remain there under strict supervision pending tribunal hearings,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. ”You will not discuss this situation with other recruits. You will not attempt to contact anyone outside the station. You will await further orders. Is that clear?”

”Yes sir,” they replied in unison.

As they turned to leave, Diana spoke up. ”What about Lyra?”

The commanders exchanged glances.

”Recruit Davids is being handled separately,” Mei said carefully.

”Separately how?” Diana pressed. ”She was part of our team. She left with us five weeks ago. Why isn’t she being held to the same standard we are?”

”That’s not your concern,” Volkov replied.

”She betrayed us,” Diana continued, her voice rising. ”She worked for the enemy, and now she’s getting special treatment while we’re being interrogated and threatened with tribunals?”

”Recruit Frost, I said that’s not your concern.” Volkov’s voice carried a warning edge. ”Davids’ situation is being handled through appropriate channels that don’t involve you.”

Diana looked like she wanted to argue further, but Sophie put a hand on her arm. The message was clear—pushing this would only make things worse.

The team was escorted back to the residential wing in silence, each of them processing what had just happened and what it might mean for their futures.

Once they were gone, the commanders remained in the observation room, surrounded by tablets and recordings and the accumulated weight of impossible stories.

”Diana wasn’t cooperative at all,” Cassandra observed, reviewing her notes.

”Noah and Sophie were the most helpful,” Brooks added. ”I believe they’re telling the truth as they understand it. Whether that truth is objectively accurate...” She trailed off with a shrug.

Mei rubbed her temples. ”I just want this over with. Whatever happened out there, we need to move past it and get back to normal operations.”

”Normal operations,” Volkov repeated bitterly. ”There’s nothing normal about any of this. Eighth ancestors, shadow dimensions, beast trafficking rings—it’s all too convenient. Too elaborate.”

”You think they’re lying?” Brooks asked.

”I think they believe what they’re saying. That doesn’t make it true.”

Cassandra pulled up another file on her tablet. ”And then there’s Lyra.”

The other commanders nodded slowly, understanding passing between them without words.

”Our hands are tied on that one,” Mei said quietly.

”Completely,” Volkov agreed.

Brooks looked between them, recognizing the tone of people dealing with classified information they couldn’t discuss even among themselves. ”Her files—”

”Are above all our pay grades,” Cassandra finished. ”We handle what we can handle. Lyra Davids is not something we can handle.”

They sat in silence for a moment, contemplating the reality that five young recruits with impossible stories were about to face a tribunal that would likely destroy their military careers.

”They’re going to be eaten alive,” Mei said softly.

”Probably,” Volkov agreed.

”And there’s nothing we can do about it,” Cassandra added.

Brooks closed her tablet and stood. ”Then let’s at least make sure the tribunal has all the information we’ve gathered, even if they choose not to believe it.”

---

Later that evening, three members of Team 7 gathered in a common area of their residential wing. Kelvin sprawled across a couch like he owned it, Noah sat in a chair near the window staring at nothing, and Diana maintained her position as far from both of them as the room would allow.

The silence was uncomfortable in a way that went beyond normal quiet. It was the silence of people who’d said too much to each other already and weren’t sure how to walk back words that couldn’t be unsaid.

Sophie entered carrying bottles of water from the residential wing’s small commissary. ”Found Lyra. She’s coming.”

”Great,” Diana muttered, not sounding like she thought it was great at all.

When Lyra arrived a few minutes later, everyone turned to look at her with expressions ranging from curiosity to hostility. She stood in the doorway, seeming to weigh her next words carefully.

”So,” Kelvin said, breaking the silence. ”What did Brooks ask you? We’ve all been comparing notes about our interrogations.”

Noah leaned forward slightly. ”Yeah, what did you tell them?”

Lyra met each of their gazes in turn, her expression unreadable. Then she spoke words that nobody had been expecting.

”I asked to be withdrawn from this team. It was approved. I’ll be joining a different pathfinder unit.”

The silence that followed was absolute.

”Wait, what?” Sophie’s water bottle stopped halfway to her mouth.

”You asked to leave?” Kelvin sat up straight for the first time since entering the room. ”When exactly did you have time to make requests like that?”

Diana’s expression shifted from hostility to confusion. ”Hold on. We’re all facing tribunal hearings. We’re all under restriction pending investigation. How are you making demands about team assignments?”

Lyra said nothing, just watched them process the information.

Noah stood up slowly, something cold settling in his chest. ”From what I could gather from everyone’s testimony, you were likely interrogated first and you were in that room for five minutes. We’ve all been grilled for at least an hour each. What exactly did you tell them that let you walk away with enough leverage to request a transfer?”

”That’s my business,” Lyra replied quietly.

”Your business?” Diana’s voice rose. ”You were part of our team. You helped get us into this mess. And now you’re just walking away while the rest of us deal with the consequences?”

”I did what I needed to do.”

”That’s not an answer,” Noah said, his voice harder than usual. ”What happened in that interrogation, Lyra?”

She looked at him for a long moment, and Noah saw something in her expression he couldn’t identify. Regret? Calculation? Relief?

”I’m sorry,” Lyra said finally. Then she turned and walked out of the common area, leaving them staring after her in confused silence.

”What the hell just happened?” Kelvin asked nobody in particular.

Diana shook her head slowly. ”I have no idea. But something about this is really wrong.”

Sophie sat down heavily. ”She just... left. Just like that.”

Noah remained standing, his mind racing through possibilities. Five-minute interrogation. Immediate approval for team transfer. Special treatment despite being part of the group under investigation. The way the commanders had deflected questions about her situation.

”We gave her a second chance,” Noah said quietly. ”I vouched for her. Kelvin and I both did.”

”And now she’s bailing while we’re all going down for this,” Diana finished, anger creeping back into her voice.

Kelvin looked at Noah, seeing something in his friend’s expression that made his usual joking demeanor fall away. ”You’re thinking something.”

”Yeah.” Noah stared at the doorway where Lyra had disappeared. ”I’m thinking we might have been played from the start.”

The implications of that statement settled over them like a weight. If Lyra had been playing them the whole time, if she’d never actually been flipped, if everything they’d done had been according to some plan they didn’t understand...

”How are we supposed to trust anything anymore?” Sophie asked, voicing what they were all thinking.

Nobody had an answer for that.

Outside their common area, in corridors they couldn’t see, Lyra walked back to her own quarters with her head down and her hands steady. She’d made her choice. She’d said what needed to be said and accepted the consequences of words she couldn’t take back.

Behind her, Team 7 sat in confused silence, trying to understand how their teammate had managed to escape consequences while they awaited judgment that might end their military careers before they’d truly begun.

And somewhere in the command offices, Brooks reviewed her notes one more time, wondering if she’d missed something crucial in those five minutes with Lyra Davids, or if what she’d seen was exactly what she was supposed to see.