***

--- Fort Alnus ---

April 27th, 2025

Major Sharpe is sitting at a desk, waiting for the brass meeting to begin. Everyone in the briefing room is an officer from the 75th Rangers besides the General.

He yawns as he gets little sleep, only getting back the other day. He never knew helping refugees would result in so much paperwork, thank god he has his team assistant First Lieutenant Sarah Rose to help.

When he got back, he thought she would be angry at him for disobeying orders. To his surprise, she did not bring it up. While she did not talk to him, she did help get living quarters for the refugees.

When he got back, from his mission, some of the brass was not that happy about him bringing all those refugees back to base. They said that the military is not in the position to aid these people as they are busy turning Alnus Hill into a fortress. They also express the concern that one or more could be spies for the enemy and they have no way to confirm that.

Luckily, he was able to make an argument on how they need local support to understand this world. They need people who know the land and the monsters of this region, like the Flame Dragon.

To his surprised Colonel Yang and the General agreed with his point of view.

One of the officers up front suddenly yells attention.

Everyone stands up as the head of the expeditionary force in the Special Region, Lieutenant General Charlie Stanford walks in.

"Please have your seat," Stanford said, as he takes his seat.

Everyone in the room does the same.

Stanford begins to speak first. "I want to start off and say a good job to everyone. Our recon teams so far have suffered no casualties. Vanguard-2 was able to establish good relations with a nearby village south from here. Major Davis, I want your team to follow up on that."

"Yes sir," Major Davis Stewart said.

Stanford looks down on his sheet, on topics to discuss. "Vanguard-3 ran into the Empire troop. If your report corrects?"

He looks over to Sarah who to his right. She already knew what he was thinking and slid over a document.

He takes it and glances at it. It said Vanguard-3 engaged a company size to the west. They were heading to what they believe might be a town. They were forced to pull back however they gave the Empire a massive bloody noise in the engagement.

Captain Charles Casaus halfway raises his hand. "Yes sir. We had a brief engagement, but I decided to disengage. It seems like they were on a patrol, but we did not know if there was a larger force coming."

The General nods from that response. "In this case, the right decision. We will figure that out later and see where they are camped. Colonel Robert will send a recon in force to search and destroy that patrol."

"Just as a reminder Rangers," Yang said. "Until the airfield is built, we are all going in blind. There are probably Imperial troops all over the place that we cannot detect yet. Our technology far superior then theirs however, all you need is one bad day and an ambush."

"Now for the matter at hand. We all know what happened with Vanguard-7," Stanford said.

Everyone already knows what happened. Vanguard-7 brought over refugees back to base and fought off a dragon, nearly getting everyone killed.

"I want to make it clear," Stanford said. "As we go out, we will make friendly relations with the local population, but we are not here to change their ways. Our mission is to prevent a second attack on the homeland. We are not the Salvation Army(1)"

That is when one of the officers raises his hand. When he was called on, he disagreed with the General. "Sir, what is the point then? We should help these people as much as we can. At least as a secondary objective."

That is when another officer speaks up. "Nope, that is not why we are here. Does anyone remember Afghanistan? We won the war but then we stayed around for twenty plus years. Are we going to do that again? We couldn't change the culture of a group of people on our planet, how can we do it with aliens?"

"They are not aliens, they are Humans." Someone he cannot identify said.

The same officer counters the point in a professional manner. "Not all of them. There are dragons, as Major Sharpe dealt with. They are elves, goblins, hybrids of humans and animals and god knows what else. This is not our world; the rules do not apply here."

That shut everyone up for a minute. That officer has a good point, this is not our world. The United States is not here to social engineer these people. How could the US do that when there are still issues back on Earth?

As he listens to everyone speak, everyone is clearly debating the actions that he helps set. His hands lightly rapidly tap on the desk.

He then feels a light touch on his tapping hand. It is Sarah's hand, stopping him from taping his hand. He looks over.

"If you have something to say, speak up," Sarah said quietly. "You don't have to remain quiet all the time."

He looks at her and then looks back at the conversation. He used to not be so quiet, used to be active and open with his opinion. The phrase 'walk the talk', he always believed in walking and talking. That is how a man should live by.

After some thought, he decided to speak up. "He is right, about changing them. We are here to protect our world."

He is then interrupted by another officer, making the point he was the one that brought this refugee issue to them. But someone else shut him up so he could continue.

"But this is where I disagree," he said, speaking his mind. "We cannot abandon who we are. We cannot abandon our principles and our values just because this world is scary and different. We must show we are not here to conquer them, and we are an alternative to the Empire, we are different. Being different has always been our advantage. We are Americans and we cannot forget what that means. Not again."

Everyone understood what that last part met. In the last twenty years, Americans preferred to tear each other apart, forgetting who we are and what we believe in. The term American is not a race but an idea, a list of basic principles. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

He glances over to Sarah and sees her reaction. She looks confused and impressed at the same time. Like she was not expecting that. He just ignores her and focuses back on the meeting.

Colonel Yang replied to him. "That is a very interesting point of view Major, all of yours. We wanted all of your feedback since you're going on the field. The question is, what should we do with the refugees we have now?"

One of the Vanguard team leaders speaks up. "Well, we can send them away, if they run into the Empire though, they will probably be killed."

"Why do we have to take care of them?" Another officer said.

"What do you mean by that?" Captain Bailey said. "We took them in, it is our duty respond."

"That is not what I mean, we are here acting like they are unable to take care of themselves. They clearly can support themselves, all we need to do is provide a hand. They don't need us to babysit them." That last officer responds.

"Assuming if our goal is to sit here on our asses," He adds to the debate. "Let's speak plainly, let's pull out our Wikipedia and see what's around here. While we are at it, Uber Eats anyone?"

Sharpe hears a few chuckles from that. He was not trying to be funny, but he enjoyed that. "My point is, we know nothing of this place and world. We have what, fifty-five different researchers just in the US alone trying to figure all this out? Everything we have on Earth isn't here. We need allies."

"Farming peasants?" Lieutenant Colonel Kasen asked in a threatening tone.

Sharpe looks forward to Kasen. He has not known him long, but he can read him. He is a desk officer and nothing more. He has run into his type before and they never get along.

"Last time I checked peasants defeated the British Empire," he responds in his command tone. "We need allies and people who understand what this world is. We do not even have a map. There is no rule book, we are all literally making this up as we go. That didn't work out last time."

"You are talking about those two kids you picked up?" Captain Bailey asked.

"Yes," He said leaning forward. "And I wouldn't consider them kids. Lelei the blue hair girl knows magic and said she wants to stick around. She saved my life with whatever energy shield that was. And it seems she knows a thing or two about the region."

"Maybe but what about the other girl? Riley?" Kasen said.

"I believe it is Rory Mercury," Yang corrects and shoots Kasen a glare to back off. "And I believe she is an Apostle of Emroy? Is that how you say it?"

"What is what she said in the interview sir," Sarah states.

"Rory Mercury," He said and thinks back on how she helped. He was amazed by her abilities with her Halbert.

Rory explained what an Apostle is, that each Apostle serves the will of their god. They have supernatural abilities. The best term he can think of is a super-soldier with faster, stronger, and unnatural abilities. She helped in the battle, allowing his team to use a Javelin to blow off the dragon’s arm. She did not have to help and yet she did, and for some reason, he feels that she means good.

"I will vouch for Rory," He said. "She didn't have to help but she did."

"Can we trust her?" Yang asked. "As you said Major, we know nothing of this world. For all, we know she might be working for the Empire."

"You don't send your muscles to do recon," He said. "You use heavy hitters to bring down the door. And I didn't say we don't do basic security, but she helped out. Trust must be earned, but it was hell of a start. We need allies."

He then looks back at Sarah sensing her reaction.

"Have you seen combat before sir?" Sarah asked quietly, confused by his tone. His tone made it sound like he has experienced everything he said, not a rookie.

He looks away, ignoring the question.

Stanford speaks up. "I agree. We cannot hold everyone's hand. If we are going to help people, they need to help themselves. We will work on details on setting up a location for them to call home. However, though, this is not an invitation to bring everyone you see. Only people who are willing to aid us or are facing persecution. Any questions?"

As everyone settles down a little, knowing the plan. There will be no new questions on this topic.

"Alright," Yang said. "The final part of today's brief is that some of our fellow NATO allies will be coming. The Canadians and the British Royal Marines will be here in a week. The French and the Japanese will be arriving by the end of the month."

As the General stands up one of the officer’s yells "Attention". Everyone then stands up and salutes, and the meeting ends.

After the meeting, Major Sharpe is heading out of the building. Captain Bailey is by his side. "Nice job sir. Glad you can still be a smartass when you want to."

"I think I pissed off the Lieutenant Colonel," He said.

Bailey pats him on the back. "What else is new."

"I just cannot believe you took on a Lion in hand to hand combat," said Bailey. "That fight was all everyone could talk about at the Officer Lounge. You should come by once in a while."

He can picture the conversation. They all must be trying to figure out how there may be walking and talking lions. Plus fighting one.

"Major,"

Both stop and sees Sarah walk out of the building and come towards them.

"Looks like you are in trouble," Bailey said with a chuckle. "I know you struggle to integrate but I'm glad you are here Sharpe. We need you."

He watches Bailey walk away and then look at Sarah. "Yes, Lieutenant?"

Sarah stands tall and looks directly at him. "I need to get this off my chest. When you decided to bring the refugees here, why didn't you tell me? Don't you trust me?"

He takes a breath as he tries to think of a response. "If I reported my situation and requested to bring them back it would have been denied. You heard the Lieutenant Colonel want one would want to take the burden"

"Most likely, yes but I am asking you why you didn't tell me?" Sarah asked again. "I can't help you if I don't have all the information. If you leave out details, then I cannot trust you. That will put the team at risk, and I will not allow that."

He could not disagree with anything she said. He has the same rule and he broke it. It was not about him not trusting her. "I apologize Lieutenant."

"Good," Sarah said and then smiles. "By the way, I approve of what you did and said back there. I just wish you gave me the chance to show that."

"Now I have to go," Sarah said. "I recommend you go check out your new friends."

He then sees her walk off, not allowing him to say anything.

As he watches he grabs his shaking hand. He then shakes his head. "Damnit, Sharpe…"

As he leaves, he gets a message from his medic, Jerry.

"Sir," Jerry said. "I am done with the girl Selina. She is weak but will be fine."

He takes a relaxing breath. "That's good. Good job Specialist." He then wonders why he called him over the radio. "Is everything ok?"

"I am ready to discharge her sir," Jerry said. "But who do I discharge to?"

Sharpe did not think about that. She has no parents or guardians to take her in. Right now, she is an orphan.

He thinks about leaving her with the other refugees, but the idea does not sit well with him. She is a weak girl who has been abused. While he does not know much about tribal society, he doubts the refugees will watch her. They might agree just to show a positive face but long run she will always be an outsider.

He then thinks about the girls he met, Rory and Lelei. From what they told him Rory is a traveler and Lelei only went into town to get supplies. He wonders if they will take care of her until he can figure something else out.

"Specialist," he said. "Keep her there. I will come and pick her up."

---

Lelei La Lalena is in her tent. She is standing by the door looking up at the ceiling. "Wow…"

When the convoy got to Alnus it was late at night. What is called the Army Engineers set up these wooden shacks for the refugees to live in. Inside the shacks are beds and changing areas.

An hour ago, the Army installed a lightbulb on the ceiling. They said they can flip this switch at night, and it will lighten up the room. She had no idea what that meant. The engineer assumed that she would understand what that term means.

"I think it is evil," Rory said, looking at the lightbulb.

"It is not evil," she replied. "They all have this light in their buildings. It is like a torch you can flip on. But without the fire."

"At least the fire keeps you warm," Rory replied. She then looks out the window. "I have been to many places and seen many different things but this. These people have so many strange things."

As Rory talks, she flips the switch again.

When she flips the switch down the light turn off. When she flips the switch again the light comes on. She is trying to figure out how it works and nothing she has learned from her teaching from the city of Rondel can explain this. To her, the light is baffling, confusing, and amazing at the same time.

"I don't understand," She mumbles as she gazes at the light. "How did they master this?"

"It reminds me of when staff starts to glow before a magic spell," Rory said.

"I thought so," she responds as she flips the switch again. "But I don't think each one of these bulbs is orbs. There are too many of them."

At first, Lelei thought the lightbulb was an orb-like the blue orb on top of her staff. After a short debate in her head, she decided that could not be. She came to the conclusion that these people don't seem to know what magic is, which is baffling to her. Their world does not have magic which she is struggling to understand how that is possible.

"Hey Lelei," Rory asked as she checks out the bed. "What do you think of all this?"

She thinks about the question for a moment. "I have been a student at Rondel for a long time and I have never seen anything like this. If the research sages were here, I do not think they know where to begin. I mean metal moving horses. Even their clothes are so different."

"And their weapons," Rory adds. "What they call missile launchers was amazing. I have seen many kinds of ballista but nothing like that."

She looks at Rory. "I saw that. It took off the Flame Dragon arm like it was nothing."

"I was very impressed by that too," Rory replied. I wonder what else they might have. I saw those armored wagons."

"I think they call them tanks," she corrects.

"Yeah," Rory continues. "I have been wondering what else they might have. If that missile launcher is for their basic infantry, then by the gods what else do they have?"

She looks at Rory after hearing that question. Up to this point, she never considered what other possibilities these Other Worlders might have. The city of Rondel is considered a wealth of knowledge. The smartest minds on Falmart live there doing research and yet these people have an understanding beyond them.

She then hears a knock on the door and looks over. "Hey, Rory. It is the Major from the battle."

She then walks over and opens the door. She sees Sharpe standing there and in his arms is that girl he saved from those slave-traders. "Is everything ok Major Sharpe?"

"Yes," Sharpe said. "Can you two keep an eye on her?"

She looks at the girl and sees bandages around her. She looks tired but clean. While she didn't see it, she heard that this man saved this girl from becoming a slave. Every town she went to, passing traders, mine, and so on has slaves in some manner. Even Rondel has slaves, very few compared to most cities but even they need them.

She cannot believe that Sharpe would free a slave for no reason. "I will be happy too." She then turns around and looks at Rory. "Is that ok with you Rory?"

Rory walks over and looks at Sharpe carefully and then at the girl. "What is your name?"

The girl looks at her. "Selina…" she said in a tired voice.

Rory then lets out a big smile. "You are among friends here little one." She then looks up at Sharpe. "Yes, she can."

Sharpe walks into the shack and walks over to an empty bed. He then lays Selina on the bed. "Alright. Just lay down here and relax."

She walks over. "Don't worry. We can watch over here."

Sharpe turns around and looks at them both. "Alright. Is everything ok? I know it isn't much, but it is the best we can do."

"You are kidding?" Rory asked as she places her hand on her hip. "You consider this basic? You have glowing orbs that we can control!"

"Hmm," Sharpe said, and he glances up at the lightbulb. "I guess that is cool. But ok. If there is anything you need just ask. The mess hall is that building over there, past that barracks there. It is open from 0900 to 1800."

"I have no idea what that last part means," Rory said.

She looks at Rory. "It is a set of time. You see the numbers represent us of the day by the digits they use. And how he said those numbers also implied that. I am assuming you operate Flare up to Flare down like us so that means 0900 is in the morning and 1800 is in the evening. The only thing I don't understand is the arrangement of the numbers."

Sharpe looks at her impressed. "Damn. You pay attention."

She smiles hearing that, glad to get the compliment from him for some reason. "My goddess is La, the goddess of learning. I can learn things quickly if I try."

"Huh. Could have used that back in high school," he said. "We will have to talk about these God stuffs soon. But right now if you need anything just ask me. Stay away from the military equipment and just stay inside the refugee camp."

"Will do major," she replied. "But I was hoping to see more of your people. Everything seems so different."

Sharpe is hesitant to respond. "I will see what I can do but remember, this is a military base."

Sharpe then turns around and looks at Selina. "And you. They will keep an eye on you. No one is going to come and take you."

Sharpe looks back at Rory and her and nods. "Thanks." He then walks out of the shack.

She watches Sharpe leave and closes the door. "What a strange man."

"I agree," Rory said.

She looks over to Rory and she is in deep thought. She has never seen an Apostle before, let alone sleep in the same building. Being sixteen years old she does not have a lifelong experience like Rory does. If there is any one's opinion, she can trust it should be her. "Rory. What do you think? Are we safe? Can we trust them?"

Rory looks at her and then at Selina. "I have seen many things, many people, many cultures. I don't fully know but my heart tells me something is different."

Rory then walks over to Selina. She sits down on the bed and places her hand around Selina. She then moves some hair off Selina's face. "Life is always the strong ruling and dominating over the weak. That is the Law of Nature. Even the kindest of hearts obey that law, that is just how it is."

She then looks into Selina's eyes. "But yet these Americans put their lives at risk. I don't expect purity, but these people seem to have broken the law. Only time will tell. But the real question is, can we trust him?"