Fort Washington

Month 7, Day 1

Ambassador Perry and General Harding chatted in one of the lounges, each taking occasional sips from their drinks.

“I finished talks with the governor of Noack, the fortress city. They’re the last to surrender.” Perry sighed in relief, glad that the war is finally over.

“Yeah, seems like that propaganda really helped out the prince, although he probably could’ve done all this on his own, seeing how much those people love him.”

“Haha, you should’ve come to the crowning ceremony at the Nobian Capital earlier today. Prince-” Perry said before correcting himself. “Emperor Lonad Novus gave an amazing speech about gradual democratization of their country. Looks like we can push them in the direction of Imperial Japan following World War 2. I just hope Emperor Lonad doesn’t grow too fond of his newfound power.”

“I doubt it, but in any case, he’s still unaware of most of our strategies and tactics. I think he will remain grateful for what we’ve done.”

Perry nodded, taking another sip from his Arizona Green Tea. He was silent for a moment before he suddenly remembered something. “Speaking of gratitude, you’ll never guess what he gifted us! The president’s gonna go crazy over this!”

“What, is it all their magic research or something?”

“Well, we already have an agreement for that. No, this is something even bigger!” Perry said enthusiastically.

“What? Just spit it out already!”

“On top of the trade agreements and military bases we get to build, they’re giving us a literal ton of gold from the Imperial treasury!”

General Harding’s eyes widened. This would mean more funding for his missions and an incredible PR boost for his entire command. He wonders, would the president promote him to Major General for this? Probably not, but maybe he could get a nice pay boost and get his wife and kids a bigger house, maybe even get himself a new boat and grill. “How much is it worth?”

“Seventy million, give or take. Oh, and that’s not even the best part.”

“What could possibly be better than that?” General Harding asked.

Perry smirked.

“John.” General Harding did not want to remain in suspense.

“Well, he gave us a large section of the Nobian northern territories. It’s about the size of California, and was formerly known as the Ecith Kingdom. He told me that there were a lot of untapped resources up there, partly because of some monster lurking in the woods, but he gave up the land since he thought we’d be able to kill it. They call it a Hydra.”

“That thing with multiple heads, where you cut one off and two grow back?”

“It appears so.”

General Harding frowned. The Epic Dragon they had slain over a week ago was troublesome for ground forces to deal with, as it was essentially impervious to smaller caliber rounds. The only thing that saved Alpha Team was their access to unorthodox weapons, such as magic and advanced alien guns. He didn’t want to send men to their doom. Hopefully, reconnaissance aircraft, satellites, or drones will be able to locate this new monster quickly.

John Perry then pulled up a map from a tablet and outlined the territory with his finger. “Here is the Ecith Kingdom.” The kingdom was situated below and to the right of a massive bay, the territories of the kingdom stretching to cover over a third of the bay’s arc.

“The Emperor is willing to give up access to the whole bay?”

Perry looked to his side. “Well… he also mentioned a sea monster that likes to ravage the villages along the coast every now and again. He’s only heard of it from stories and tales, but apparently it’s called a Kraken. Oh, and the one that likes to attack the Ecith coastline is one of many that exist.”

General Harding shook his head. “Are there any more catches? Any more surprises?”

“Hmm, the only other thing I can think of is that it borders the Eanif Imperium, which recently annexed a… Beastia Alliance. The Ecith territory has thus received a large influx of refugees. It won’t be long before some of them find their way here.”

“Beastia Alliance?”

“Yes, a few of my teams were sent to this alliance to establish communications. They’re safe now, don’t worry. They’re up in the Imperium trying to make contact with Imperium officials, but so far they’ve been experiencing irregularly long wait times. Anyway, the Beastia Alliance is an alliance of beastmen kingdoms, like the cat-human kingdom, the bunny-human kingdom, et cetera.”

“Huh, interesting…”

An airman walked up to them, announcing that the guests had arrived. General Harding filed this information for another time. He wondered if these beast people had special abilities related to their animal parts, like increased agility.

“Please see them in, airman.”

The man nodded and led a group of people inside.

“Ah, King Selios and Lady Sindis! Welcome to Fort Washington,” General Harding greeted.

“It is good to finally meet you in person, General Harding. I never truly expressed my gratitude for your pacification of the Nobian threat, for slaying the Epic Dragon, and for ridding us of the criminals along our southern borders. As the King of the Sonaran Federation and the spokesman for all its citizens, please accept my gift of gratitude.” The king bowed slightly and one of his attendants came up, offering a scroll.

The attendant spoke. “I present the deed to the reclaimed Arasol Province!” He then pulled out a printed map — one of the benefits the Sonarans enjoyed in their relationship with the Americans — and explained the location of the Arasol Province. It was a vast territory along the south of the continent of Eanif, stretching from Site Beta One down to the coast. It was easily thousands of square miles worth of territory, and contained another Homagus outpost. The final two in Eanif were presumably in the Imperium’s territory.

General Harding looked to Ambassador Perry, shocked. Perry, sensing that his old buddy was speechless, stepped in. This was his area of expertise anyway: dealing with foreign relations.

“Thank you for this most gracious gift, Your Majesty. We humbly accept.” President Keener will be very pleased to hear about these gains. Sure, there might be some tension with Russia and China when they hear about this, but the most they’re going to do is criticize ‘American imperialism’.

“Excellent! Now, shall we begin?” King Selios asked, referring to their scheduled tour.

“Of course. Right this way,” he said, gesturing toward the lounge. “We will be waiting for the Mekkanese group. They will be here within the next few minutes.”

With everyone now seated, Ambassador Perry left the Sonarans with General Harding, so he could go talk with Sera Sindis.

“Sera,” he greeted with a smile.

“John.”

“Are you excited?”

“Yes! I’ve been thinking about all those stories you’ve told me of magnificent glass towers as far as the eye can see and that food you called… peace-a?”

“Pizza, yeah. I know a good place in New York. You’ll love it!”

Sera tried to remember the circular alien delicacy from John’s home. Yes, it was the same thing that had baffled her a few weeks ago, when she first started talking with Ambassador Perry. She remembered seeing photos for the first time on John’s phone; they were of excellent quality, far surpassing that of any realist painters within the whole continent of Eanif. Even after he explained everything, it still seemed like magic to Sera. And speaking of magic…

“John, last time we talked you told me about Disneyland. I forgot to ask, but I thought magic didn’t exist on your world?”

“Ah, yeah… magic doesn’t exist on my world, but that’s never stopped our imaginations. My people have always sought after the impossible. Without wyverns, we had no way of flying. So, we began experimenting with balloons. A hundred years after that, we learned to conquer the skies when the Wright brothers built their first plane. We put a man on the moon just half a century later. It won’t be long before we learn how to conquer space.”

“What is space?” She tilted her head.

“Hmm…” John thought of a way to explain space in a way that can be understood by someone who has not even heard of a printing press. “Consider the following: what is above the sky?”

“Well, that would be the heavens. The domain of the gods.”

“What else is up there?”

Sindis was confused, not seeing where John was going with this, but she answered anyway. “The stars, the planets, the moon…”

“Right, and how far away do you think they are?

—

If she had encountered the Americans four years ago, she would’ve said that the stars are a part of the night sky, much like a painting. However, one of her friends from Academy pointed out a specific event that completely opened her eyes.

“Do you see how big the moon is tonight?” Sason asked.

“Yes.”

“Can you explain why?”

Sindis thought about it, but couldn’t think of anything. She shook her head in response.

“It is because the moon is closer to our world. Many within our nation would most likely believe that it means Lunara is blessing the Nobians, but this is merely something that happens every so often.”

“How far away is it?” Sindis asked her friend.

—

“I’ve heard that the moon is thousands of times the distance from Sonaris to Nokk. And that all of the other celestial bodies are even further away.” Sindis gave John her reply, to which he reacted with a raised eyebrow.

John was pleasantly surprised at Sindis’ knowledge. “Space is the vast distance between this planet and the other bodies. It is so vast and empty that we merely call it… space.”

“But, you’ve already put a man on the moon. Doesn’t that mean you have already conquered space?”

“Compared to the other bodies, the moon is extremely close. Imagine that the length of the couch we are sitting on is the distance between this planet and your moon. The distance between this planet and the next planet in your solar system would be the length of this entire room! I’m not an astronomer or astrophysicist though so don’t quote me on that.”

Sindis thought about it for a moment, humbled by the vastness of space and the insignificance of her home. Her thoughts were interrupted by a group of people who entered the room. Seeing it was the Mekkanese group, she went to greet them. King Selios got up to greet them too, and apparently he was well acquainted with the Mekkanese diplomat.

“Ah! Prion! How are you? How is President Du Korelius?” King Selios joyfully asked.

“I am doing well, thank you. And I believe the President is just as excited as you are about this upcoming visit. Unfortunately, he’s been very busy dealing with his constituents and the Divinians. They’ve been questioning our involvement with the portal and he’s doing his best to prevent another war.”

“In that case, do let him know that I hope for the best. I remember how destructive the last war was, when automatic projectile weapons were first introduced. One only need look at the Americans and their battles to see how devastating such firepower can be.”

“Indeed.” Legateur Bonaparius’ appearance darkened for a second before he spoke once more. “Well, we should probably get going. Ambassador Perry is about to make an announcement.”

John stood in front of the two groups. “May I please have your attention. Today, we will be embarking on a journey to an entirely new world: Earth. Please follow me, and I will explain some details along the way.

Now, I assume many of you have never stepped through such a portal before. Well, it really doesn’t feel any more different than stepping through a regular doorway. You walk in, then almost instantly, you’re on the other side. It might take a while for your eyes to adjust to the environment on Earth, since the portal happened to open in the middle of a scorching desert. You also may experience a bit of disorientation, but your body will adjust after a few minutes. We will be traveling by car, so don’t worry about having to walk under the burning sun.

Once we get to the base, we will provide a meal for you. Then, you’ll be sent to learn about our customs and culture. After learning the basics, you will be flown to New York City. By the time we arrive at New York City, it will be nightfall. We will guide you to a hotel near Rockefeller Plaza and for dinner, we rented out a nearby restaurant that specializes in steaks.”

They arrived at a large garage with a set of black SUVs. The excited tourists from another world climbed into the vehicles. Comforted by the air conditioning, the passengers glued their faces to the windows as the environment began fading away behind them. The portal was just up ahead, the road cutting off a minuscule distance from the tear in the fabric of space-time. The world became dark for a split second as they passed through its event horizon, and then, there was light.

——

Somewhere in the Ecith Kingdom

A man wearing a sleek suit of armor stood before a peculiar device. Made of alloys unknown to the Gaerran native, the suit blended well with the dark environment of this hidden cave fortress. As he approached the device, it lit up.

“Connection established.” A voice within the suit’s helmet connected itself directly to the neural pathways of the man’s brain, allowing a technologically created telepathic connection. A careful manipulation of fields using automated magical systems within the suit essentially eliminated the requirement for a telepathic wizard.

Upon hearing the confirmation, the man grinned, his sinister nature pouring out of his emotional expression. “Excellent. Now, we move on from testing… to application.”

The device before him hummed and fired a concentrated burst of light into the night sky, easily phasing through the hundreds of meters of rock above. Outside, anything not attached to the soil hovered as gravity became distorted, then fell back down.

—

“Huh,” Henry remarked as he and the rest of Alpha Team watched the beam of light shoot into space.

Like lightning, it disappeared almost instantly, but one thing was certain: it was moving upward. Emma took note of this and when asked about it, could offer no scientific explanation. The only answer was provided by Kelmithus, who assumed it was magic, but this merely spawned more questions.

“There are things relating to magic even I don’t know,” he said. “Perhaps it was someone experimenting with a new type of magical attack, maybe a Divinian?”

“Well, whatever it is, we can check it out in the morning while we scout the area. The General wants to make sure this area is safe before we start building infrastructure here,” Henry said. “Here, help me set up this tent.”

“You’re not gonna sleep in the car?” Emma asked.

“How often do we get to enjoy nature like this? The land here is pristine, virtually untouched by mankind.”

“Suit yourself.”