David Town was famous as one of the most modern towns of the Australian outback region. With a population of over 8,500 people, it was the largest outback town, located near the edge of the Strzelecki Desert. It had many leisure and community facilities which included swimming pools, cinemas, shopping center, schools, cafés, sporting clubs and some others. It even had a small airfield whose name I forgot located at the town’s North–West borders. It was practically a small city. Thousands of foreign tourists visited this town every year, though the major income for the town was still its mining operations. Now, just like the beautiful Sydney Harbor, its residents had been evacuated and the town itself, had been turned into a battlefield.

After effortlessly killing the first giant monster, or officially known as the First Degloka, called Halg–Eithgras, Lord Ar’Taz helped us mourn our dead comrades, stopped a possibly instant viral infection and went ahead of us.

Because of how far it was from Sydney, it took us around 53 minutes to reach David Town. Inside the helicopter, I sat next to Colonel Hannibal who was constantly talking, either over the radio or with the technical officer and pilots. But my mind was all over the place, I couldn’t hear what they were saying at all.

First, I thought about those 9 dead soldiers. When Daniel, who had been infected, turned and killed by Lord Ar’Taz, the total number of KIA was 10 men. For better or worse, I could only hope that it stayed that way.

Although I didn’t know specifically what state the remaining critically wounded soldiers were in, I could safely assume that they weren’t infected. Otherwise, Lord Ar’Taz would have noticed, somehow, and swiftly took care of them.

Then, I thought about the fact that I was literally seconds away from becoming one of them, becoming like Daniel. During the conference we had at Johnson Air Base, I had already read the files and seen what those things were capable of, unlike most of the men today. Yet, during the battle, I realized how unprepared I was, both mentally and physically.

Then again, who could ever prepare themselves for something like fighting alien monsters or being infected and turned into a zombie? So, I thought about how prepared Lord Ar’Taz was to all of this, or rather, how accustomed He was to handling things like these, including how He was willing to do ANYTHING to achieve His goal.

It was then that I finally understood how serious Lord Ar’Taz was about incinerating our entire planet should the situation become bad enough. What kind of horrors beyond our feeble comprehension had He seen and gone through? And how much of all that for Him to become so ruthlessly decisive? Wait, why did I even imagine putting myself in the mind of an Alien Entity from another Dimension?

Suddenly, the question of “What if all of this was orchestrated by Lord Ar’Taz from the very beginning, for His own nefarious agenda?” came into my confused brain. I immediately realized that an Entity as powerful as Lord Ar’Taz wouldn’t even remotely be interested in such an inferior species like us. We, humanity of Earth, a species who kept killing each other over idiotic reasons was so ridiculously insignificant within this endless universe filled with the unknown. It was such a hopelessly stupid thought that flashed across my mind.

I changed the subject and thought about what would have happened if Lord Ar’Taz hadn’t intervened at that moment. Would Daniel have attacked and bitten Clarence? While we were busy restraining Daniel, would Clarence have been completely turned and attacked someone else as well? It took Daniel so little time to turn, so I doubted Clarence would be any longer. I and the Colonel were among the few people who fully understood what would happen if you let those monsters bite you. When the two of us saw what Daniel was about to do, we raised our weapons, but could we have pulled the trigger and killed one of our own? I didn’t think I could, but what about the Colonel?

When I looked over at the Colonel, it looked as if he just aged several years, compared to the fierce warrior we saw at the meeting room in Victoria Base. It wasn’t a famous nickname, but many people used to call him “Hannibal Spartan” because of how fearless and stoic he always seemed, no matter how bad the situations he was in. Now, although he was trying to hide it, I could still see a spark of fear and confusion in his eyes. Like me, the Colonel was one of the few humans who made first contact with a powerful Alien Entity – Lord Ar’Taz and witnessed firsthand, what He was capable of. Perhaps, if I asked him, he would understand me.

I caught the Colonel’s eyes when he was receiving radio transmission regarding the clean–up in Sydney Harbor from Major Clark. They had linked up with the Royal Navy and began to clean up the monsters’ corpses. The government was assembling teams of experts to examine whether those creatures’ remains would contaminate the sea water within Sydney Harbor or not. Therefore, the entire Port Jackson would be quarantined until they could confirm that it was safe.

I opened my mouth to ask him, but he beat me to it. “I know what you are thinking, Jack. But if you have any questions, I doubt I can answer them.”

We stayed quiet for a few seconds, when he looked at me and asked me: “Are you married, Jack?”

“No, Sir.” I distractingly answered.

The Colonel fished out two pictures from his pocket, then gave them to me. They were pictures of two young ladies, one of whom had blond hair and brown eyes, while the other had chestnut hair and light blue eyes. Both of them had a graceful smile which could pierce any man’s heart. From the way he held onto them, I could easily assume who they were. It sounded kind of wrong to say this, but both of them were really attractive.

“My daughters.” He said. “Catherine and Helena. This year, Catherine is 27 years old, while Helena is 24. They are my little angels.”

The Colonel was silent for two seconds, before continued. “My wife left me three years ago. She said that I worked so much that I loved the military more than our family. She felt depressed and couldn’t take me anymore, so she went back to her parents’ house in Brisbane. Our daughters tried to convince her to stay in Melbourne but she wouldn’t listen. Worst of all, we weren’t even divorced.”

During our time within the Australian Defense Force, Colonel Hannibal seldom talked about his personal life. Only those whom he considered particularly close knew him well enough. The fact that he was revealing himself like this to me, whom he rarely talked to genuinely surprised me.

“But I don’t blame her. After all, I really wasn’t at home much. In recent years, I missed most of the family gatherings, even some Easter Sundays which was her favorite events of the year. After she left, my daughters were there for me. I tried my best to provide for them and helped them with the best I could.”

Despite the sad stories, the Colonel maintained his calm and composed tone throughout his monologue.

“Most of the time, we were trained to fight against other humans. No matter how difficult the situations we are in, with adequate training and preparations, we can overcome almost anything. You and I are among the few people who read those files and aware of what we are dealing with. But when that giant monster appeared, its smaller drones, what Sir Ar’Taz was capable of. Then, what happened to that young man, Daniel. How could you ever be prepared for things like that?”

He paused for a moment, but it was more like he was waiting for my response. I managed to ask him: “Could you have done it, Colonel? Could you pull the trigger?”

The Colonel contemplated the answer in a few seconds. “I doubt that I could.” He finally answered. “When Daniel was about to attack Clarence, I pulled my pistol. But in reality, my finger was trembling. By the time I found the courage to kill Daniel, he would definitely have bitten and infected Clarence already.”

So even the Colonel felt that, huh? I thought to myself. But before I could ask the second question, he said: “The thought that something like THAT, could possibly happen to my daughters terrified me, Jack. And yet, I didn’t have the courage to do the right thing, at the right time. How much of an arrogant coward I was! It would be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved when Sir Ar’Taz did that.”

He looked at me and stated: “At that moment, He did what none of us could have done. So, if you are feeling guilty for not doing it, DON’T. In fact, you…”

Before he could finish, the radio crackled and a familiar voice came through. “This is Major Frederick Ackerman of Task Force Bravo in David Town! Does anyone copy?”

As the Colonel picked up the radio, I checked my watch. It was 5:36 AM. He responded: “This is Spirit Main! Give me a status report, Major.”

“Spirit Main? Colonel Hannibal?” The Major sounded surprised when he heard the Colonel’s voice. Perhaps, he was wondering how the battle of Sydney went down and how the Colonel could have already been on his way so quickly.

“Yes Sir.” Major Ackerman said. “That giant monster has arrived, just like Intel stated. All civilians have been evacuated. We put down everything we’ve got. Artilleries, tanks and Hellfire missiles. Phoenix Squadron just finished their first bomb run on the monster. They dropped every bomb they had. That damn thing wasn’t even scratched.”

Major Ackerman’s voice was clearly distressed. I could almost imagine everyone’s face when they realized that their weapons couldn’t even damage one of these behemoths, let alone kill it.

In the background, we could hear the distant roar created by fighter jets’ afterburner. Even though it was muffled by the radio, sound produced by these jets was deafening. I counted three F–35A Lightning IIs flying over.

An entire squadron of F–35A Lightning IIs swooping down from several kilometers in the air, firing missiles and dropping bombs on a large target would make an exceptionally spectacular airshow. But not today.

“Calm down, Major.” The Colonel resumed his calm and composed tone. “Give me a visual on that thing.”

“Yes Sir.” The Major replied, then hung up.

The 6th Squadron of Number 82th Wing*, commonly known as the Phoenix Squadron, was chosen for Operation Hammer Dawn. From what I heard, they used to fly numerous missions in both Iraq and Saudi Arabia Wars. Originally, they were supposed to help us defend Port Jackson, Sydney, but battle guideline issued by the Department of Defense stated the Royal Australian Navy would protect Sydney. Consequently, Phoenix Squadron was dispatched to support the 5th Armored Regiment to defend David Town.

The Phoenix was split into three smaller squads: 1) Ghost Raven; 2) Red Hawk; 3) Fire Condor. Each squad had five fighter jets and flew strike missions in rotation. The Squadron was led by Group Captain Michael Ellis Richter.

After 30 seconds of silence, the technical officer said: “Colonel, Sir.” He gestured at his laptop. “It’s a live feed, from Major Ackerman.”

Colonel Hannibal and I leaned over to watch the feed, while the helicopter was shaking because of strong wind.

It was a live feed transmission from the UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). The giant monster, or Degloka, whose official name was Halg–Arkmez sat right at the center of the screen.

This one looked like a hybrid of spider and scorpion. It had an overall dark green color. The monster’s six spider legs were covered with spiky armor. Two of its legs were replaced with massive red pincers and it had a long black stinger–like tail. The last segment of its tail had three sharp claws. There were three rows of spikes along its back and it was also covered with crustaceous armor. Its head had four yellow glowing eyes and six long tentacles where its mouth should be.

This monster was much shorter than the Degloka in Sydney, but it was no less terrifying. It stood at roughly 60 meters in height and with body length of nearly 100 meters, with the tail length added. The carapace which covered its body looked as durable as that of the one in Port Jackson, perhaps, even more so.

The camera panned out to give us a panoramic view at the town. Though, the majority of David Town remained intact, we could see collapsed houses, burnt buildings and craters scattered around the monster’s position. Smoke was smoldering from parts of its carapace.

Clear signs of artillery shells, bombs, missiles and high–explosive rounds were all over the position where it was moving. The path of visible destruction stretched three blocks. The behemoth itself was standing over a demolished building which looked like an office building.

This Degloka moved like a spider. It was moving across the east part of David Town. It crushed everything with its legs. We even saw it easily knock down a ten storey apartment complex, just by simply walking through the building. Slowly, but surely, it was reaching the town’s edge.

Upon closer inspection, we noticed multiple flashes of yellow and orange lights, as well as small explosions on the monster’s body. We quickly realized Task Force Bravo, or the 5th Armored Regiment was still engaging the Degloka with whatever they had.

The Major was right. Despite all of their best efforts, they couldn’t even scratch that damn monster.

“Did it produce any drones?” The Colonel asked.

“Drones? What drones, Sir?” The Major was puzzled by his question.

“Smaller monsters. Did it release any smaller monsters from its body?”

“Uh… No Sir. It has already caused enough damage, all by itself.”

Both the Colonel and I breathed a sigh of relief. It was impossible for our weapons to hurt the behemoth, but at least, we didn’t have to deal with those annoying critters here, like the ones in Sydney. So far, because of their flexible, smaller frame and speed, plus their virus–carrying venom, those things were the real threat.

“Spirit Main, this is Phoenix Actual.” Another voice came through the radio. “Ghost Raven is bingo*. RTB*. Red Hawk will take over. Permission for another bomb run, Colonel.”

“Negative, Captain.” The Colonel said. “Reinforcement is coming. Maintain the perimeter and keep the airspace on lockdown. I will brief you afterward.”

Captain Richter was probably wondering what Colonel Hannibal meant by “reinforcement”, since he was quiet for a few seconds. Then, he said: “Copy. Good luck, Sir.”

“What do you mean ‘Reinforcement’, Colonel?” Major Ackerman asked through the radio, clearly perplexed.

“Long story, Major.” The Colonel asked him: “Are there any casualties?”

“No Sir. It destroyed five Shepard tanks and eight Boxers, but all personnel managed to escape and have retreated to a safe distance.”

Another sigh of relief. This meant that everyone within the Regiment, including Mark, Oliver and Albert were safe and still fighting.

“What is the monster’s trajectory?”

“It is heading South, South–East. Judging from its current course, we believe it is heading for Adelaide. We need to stop it here, and fast, Sir.”

“Don’t worry about it. The ‘Calvary’ is coming.”

“What are you talking about, Sir? We already threw everything we had at that thing.”

“No. He is already headed your way. Let Him take care of it.”

“Wait, what?” At this point, the Major was beyond confused. Eventually, he realized something and said: “Wait, you don’t mean…”

But he didn’t finish his sentence when suddenly, a loud crash, a thump could be heard over the radio. Then, something collapsed, along with the sound of dirt and sand getting scattered in the background.

“What the fuck?” The Major screamed.

The Colonel asked: “Give me something, Major.”

“Something just dropped out of the sky, Sir. Like a fucking meteor.”

The camera feed switched to another UAV. It showed a different section of the town. One of the department stores located near the town’s edge collapsed completely. Like the Major said, it looked as if it was destroyed a meteor.

When the dust cleared, we could see a tall figure and we knew who it was.

“It is the Alien, Sir. He is here.” Major Ackerman said, clearly astounded. “Did you mean Him, when you said ‘Calvary’?”

I looked at my watch again. It was 5:42 AM. Somehow, Lord Ar’Taz had crossed the distance of nearly 900 km from Port Jackson, Sydney to David Town within 35 minutes. At that point, I started to feel numb with all these ludicrous feats of our otherworldly ally.

“That’s right! Fall back. Let Him deal with that monster.” The Colonel ordered. “Keep your distance and those UAVs operational. I need to see everything. Rendezvous in 18 minutes.”

“Y… Yes Sir.” The Major replied and hung up the radio.

Lord Ar’Taz emerged from the rubble and when He turned His head at the drone, I had a feeling that He was actually looking at us. He simply nodded, then turned to face the monster.

We switched to second drone which was monitoring that monstrosity, Halg–Arkmez. Its head slowly turned its left side, where Lord Ar’Taz was standing. Though I couldn’t see it clearly, Lord Ar’Taz locked eyes with the monster for a few seconds.

All of a sudden, it shrieked. Even through the monitor screen, we were still startled. Its shriek was so alien and foreign, I had no proper description to do it justice. It was like someone mashed up the sound of every single monster from all known monster movies and created this appalling shriek. Worst of all, we couldn’t see its mouth, so we had no idea how it even produced that sound in the first place.

Its legs shifted and changed direction. Then, it started charging straight at Lord Ar’Taz. For something of that size, it was terrifyingly fast. Those spider legs stomped like an elephant, crushing everything in its path.

It quickly reached Lord Ar’Taz’s position. It immediately raised its right pincer, which was nearly the size of a house. The pincer was brought down and crushed the area where Lord Ar’Taz had stood earlier and resulted in a cloud of dust, debris and sand. Lord Ar’Taz was nowhere to be seen.

Halg–Arkmez turned its head around, looking for Him, when abruptly, its face exploded. We looked closer to see where that shot was fired from. Lord Ar’Taz was standing on top of an office building at its 3 o’clock direction, with that same ornate silver handgun in His right hand.

The monster lost its top right eye but that was it. It wasn’t injured as severely as the Degloka in Sydney. Though its eyes had no pupils, I could feel hatred burnt within them when it looked at Him.

Lord Ar’Taz fired again, but it managed to block the shot with its pincer. Despite how destructive His weapon was, its pincer remained mostly intact. Its tail raised at His direction and the claws opened up, revealing a round–shaped mouth. The mouth fired a bright beam of light at Him. The beam burnt through everything it touched. Some houses beneath it were burnt before the beam reached the building where Lord Ar’Taz was standing. The moment it made contact with the building, it disintegrated nearly the entire upper section of the building. Only the metal frame, along with some of the brick section remained. Eventually, it collapsed entirely due to structural weakening. Again, Lord Ar’Taz disappeared.

Two more explosions rang out on Halg–Arkmez’s body, this time, they made its tough armor cracked while the wound on its eye was already healing. Lord Ar’Taz stood on the street. In spite of being bombarded by those same destructive bullets, or whatever His gun fired, every damage the behemoth suffered quickly healed.

Even with its humongous size, the Degloka was quite agile with its attacks. It fired that same beam of light at Lord Ar’Taz again. Lord Ar’Taz’s movement was absurdly fast, so it just missed and destroyed the abandoned vehicles behind Him.

After the last two shots, Lord Ar’Taz put His handgun away and switched to His sword. Thanks to the monitoring drones, I could see His sword more clearly this time. It looked like a straight up fantasy sword, with ornate patterns, different from the one on His gun. Compared it to His arm length, the sword was nearly as long as a fully grown man.

Come to think of it, where did Lord Ar’Taz even hide those weapons? All we ever saw was Him pulling out and putting them into the back of His armor. But judging from how His armor was designed, I could never understand how He could have kept them hidden like that.

Lord Ar’Taz jumped onto the Degloka from its rear. One clean swing, He managed to cut open the hard shell on its back. When He prepared for another swing, two tentacles suddenly shot out from its hind with lightning speed. They struck Him so strong, it created a thunderclap sound. The strike sent Lord Ar’Taz flying through another building, into the houses behind it.

Halg–Arkmez wasted no time pummeling Lord Ar’Taz with its energy tail weapon. The entire neighborhood around the position where He landed was burnt into oblivion. I assumed that beam of light was actually plasma, based on how it easily burnt through almost everything it touched. There was an interval gap of five seconds between each plasma shot. I guessed even monsters had to reload, huh?

The Degloka stopped firing after nearly a minute of plasma bombardment. The cloud of smoke and debris covered nearly half the town. Using pincers and legs, it looked around inside the smoke to find Him while its wounds had mostly healed up.

We were so entranced by the battle between two super beings that we didn’t even notice that Task Force Bravo had ceased firing on that monster. Aside from the monster’s interaction with the surrounding environment, the town was eerily silent. The smoke dissipated after another minute and revealed a large area of burnt rubble. Lord Ar’Taz was standing in the middle of that area. Smoke smoldering all over His armor, but Lord Ar’Taz Himself sustained absolutely no injuries. In fact, He stood there as if taunting it.

Halg–Arkmez aimed its tail at Him and prepared to fire. But this time, Lord Ar’Taz struck first. He vanished in the blink of an eye. It turned out He actually jumped onto one of its left legs. With one lightning swing, He easily cut off that giant leg. The behemoth screeched in pain. The tentacles under its head and its rear raised up and reached for its back. They were trying to catch Him but it was futile. He proceeded to sever two other legs, making the giant monster lose balance. Lord Ar’Taz positioned Himself on top of its massive body and delivered one final attack, with the same technique He used in Sydney. The explosion was deafeningly loud. His strike tore through its thick shell. Large pieces of hard shell, viscera and black liquid splattered over the street and houses. The largest piece crashed into a double storey house. It couldn’t even screech and collapsed completely while Lord Ar’Taz was still standing on its back.

Halg–Arkmez was still alive. Its wounds started to slowly regenerate. Without hesitation, Lord Ar’Taz jumped over and jammed His sword into its head. The monster shrieked again, weaker than last time. It moved its tail and prepared to fire at him. He twisted his sword making it glow a blue bright light, causing its head to explode from the inside, scattering brain matter, tentacles and bits of skeleton all over the place.

With the head and most of its body destroyed, the monster finally stopped moving. We let out an audible sigh of relief as we saw Lord Ar’Taz stepped off its giant corpse. It was 5:55 AM when Lord Ar’Taz successfully killed the Second Degloka, Halg–Arkmez, prevented the total destruction of David Town and the major city of Adelaide. With two of these monsters which landed in Australia killed, it was official: Operation Hammer Dawn has been completed.

“Regardless of what agenda He may have for doing all of this.” The Colonel told me after a few moments of silence. “Sir Ar’Taz saved us all today. THAT, is a genuine fact.” It took me a few seconds to realize what the Colonel had just said. He continued. “For now, I believe in Him. I will leave that choice to you, Jack.”

“Thank you, Sir.” I finally said after a few seconds of contemplating. “I understand what I have to do now.” He smiled and nodded at me.

There was some doubt lingering, but my mind was cleared. It was indisputable that Lord Ar’Taz had saved our country, and possibly the whole world today. This was our reality, not some superhero movie where humans with special powers in fancy skin–tight suits would save the world or something like that. There were no superheroes in this world, only those with certain duties. As far as I should be concerned, Lord Ar’Taz was only doing His, nothing more.

After all, it was pointless to keep thinking about things I had no control over. For now, it was more important to focus on my duties, both as a soldier and as one of the first humans to make direct contact with an Alien Entity, a powerful one at that.

We arrived at David Town, 6:00 AM and rendezvoused with Major Ackerman at Goldberg Airfield. So that was its name. As our helicopter approached the LZ, I began to see signs of destruction across parts of David Town. Only when we had landed, I finally got to see the entire scenery of this town which was extraordinary.

David Town remained mostly intact. Some parts were wrecked beyond recognition. Dozens of houses, convenience stores, supermarkets, apartment complex and office buildings were either partially or completely demolished. Piles of rubble, furniture and miscellaneous items scattered everywhere. Had it not been for the craters, bullet holes and thousands of empty cartridges littered the streets, people would think a hurricane had struck this town. When the town’s police evacuated everyone, the residents had taken most of their vehicles. However, there were still some cars, trucks and buses left behind. Some of them had been crushed or turned upside down, presumably by the monster. I even saw some ridiculously incredible sights. For instance, buses and cars got turned into pancakes, Shepard tanks, Boxers and M36A2 Trucks that got turned upside down, crushed or thrown into houses.

If the cacophony of radio chatter, soldiers talking and military vehicles moving about was muted, the town was engulfed in a blanket of eerie silence. A squadron of five F–35 Lightning IIs flew over our head. Hearing their afterburners roaring was oddly calming, especially given what we had experienced minutes earlier.

The Major reported some men suffered minor wounds. The Degloka destroyed five M3 Shepard Main Battle Tanks, eight Boxer AFVs (Armored Fighting Vehicles) and six M36A2 Heavy Personnel Carrier Trucks. Aside from those losses, fortunately, there were no casualties, which was good news for the day.

“Your friends are in the 5th Armored Regiment, right Jack?” Colonel Hannibal asked while I was helping him note down details for battle report.

“Yes Sir.” I replied as I was writing the number of destroyed vehicles.

“You should go check on them.” The Colonel told me.

“But I still have work here, Sir.”

“It is almost done anyway.” He said. “I’ve got everything I need for the report. You did a good job, Lieutenant. Captain Rodriguez can help me with the rest.”

Captain Rodriguez was helping a wounded soldier into the medical tent. After the Colonel called him over, he turned to me and said: “When you are done, go get Lord Ar’Taz. I have something to discuss with Him.”

“Yes Sir. I will excuse myself for a moment.” I saluted at him. He did in response.

While I was running past lines of soldiers who were resting either inside the airfield’s hangars to find Albert, Mark and Oliver, I noticed that Lord Ar’Taz was nowhere to be found. Since everyone within the Task Force was already exhausted, I doubted they would notice where a giant Super Alien had disappeared to either.

Just when I was about to call Albert, my phone rang. Speak of the devil.

“Hello?” I answered the phone.

“Jack! Are you at the camp? I saw Colonel Hannibal exit that helicopter, but I couldn’t see you.” Albert said.

“Yeah! I am here, mate. Where are you guys? I can’t find you anywhere in the camp.”

“I, Mark and Oliver are at Gloria Jean’s Coffees on 15th Street. It is right on the town’s edge, near our camp.”

Something in his tone told me that they weren’t there for the coffee or cakes. I asked him: “What are you doing over there?”

“Your Alien friend is here with us. Can you come over?” Albert said.

Never mind how Lord Ar’Taz even knew Albert, Mark and Oliver were my closest comrades within the Regiment, I simply asked: “Wait, you are with Him right now?”

“Yeah! Sir Ar’Taz… something… Damn it! His name is so hard to spell!” Albert grunted hilariously.

“I will just call Him Sir Ar’Taz. Don’t know if that’s informal or not but whatever.” He asserted. “Anyway, He came and asked if we were your closest friends within the Australian Defense Force. Sir Ar’Taz stated He wanted us specifically, to help Him with something. He even told us to call you over.”

Yup, I saw that coming a mile away. I chuckled a bit and said: “Got it. I am on my way.”

“Yeah, hurry your ass up, okay?” Albert grunted again, sounding more frustrated. “Oliver is killing me and Mark with his endless monologue here. He keeps rambling on and on about how tall, big and imposing Sir Ar’Taz is. I have no idea what he is even talking about anymore. I doubt Mark fares any better than me, since he is on the phone with his wife. I swear, it feels like that bastard’s got a thing for Sir Ar’Taz or something, were it not for his girlfriend in Newcastle.”

This time, I let out a bit of laughter. “Okay, mate. I will be there in five minutes.”

Albert let out another grunt and hung up. The image of Oliver getting exhilarated over meeting an Alien Entity – Lord Ar’Taz in the flesh, like a kid meeting real–life Santa Claus while Mark and Albert were so irritated, they no longer cared, would make an unforgettable video memory in the “Legacy Album” in my laptop.

Last year, I invited some of my friends for high school reunion at Gloria Jean’s Coffees in Target Melbourne. Though, less than ten of them showed up, we still had a great time. Both the coffee and cakes were delicious, but damn the price. Luckily, we split the bill, or else I would have had a heart attack. Strange how I remembered it so vividly at a time like this.

I exited the camp and found Gloria Jean’s Coffees on 15th Street. It was a three storey building with a rooftop view, located right on the town’s edge. At first glance, this café was smaller than the one in Melbourne. Still, it was lovely and perfect for those who love drinking their coffee while enjoying a nice view of David Town on one side, and the desert surrounding the town on the other.

Its parking lot was obviously empty, except for a Hawkei PMV (Protected Mobility Vehicle) with a familiar tall figure standing next to it. The front door was locked, but the large front window was smashed, probably by looters. Who would even loot a coffeehouse nowadays?

Lord Ar’Taz was, obviously, so tall, His head reached the balcony on second floor. Oliver stood next to Him and waved me over, Mark and Oliver were waiting inside the Hawkei PMV. From my perspective, they looked like children next to an NBA player compared to Lord Ar’Taz. All three of them were still wearing their tactical gear, with their Steyr AUG assault rifles safeties on. Trigger discipline at its finest.

“Glad that you are still alive, Jack!” Oliver called out.

“Yeah, glad to see you guys in one piece too.” I said.

“Are you okay, Jack?” Mark stepped out of the Hawkei, his hand was still holding his phone. “You look a bit pale.”

“What do you mean?” I asked him. “I am perfectly fine, mate.”

“No, you don’t.” Mark said and pulled out two Kit Kat bars with strawberry flavor, plus a bottle of water from his backpack in the Hawkei. He gave them to me. “Here, eat this.”

“Thanks, Mark.” My stomach growled the moment I took them. Now that I thought about it, I already finished the sandwich I bought at Johnson Air Base half a day earlier and hadn’t eaten anything since. No wonder why I felt so tired and drowsy while running across the camp.

“About damn time you show up, Jack.” Albert said loudly as I tore the cover and took a bite of the Kit Kats. “Had you been one second later, I swear I would have shot Oliver myself.”

“Hey, not cool, mate!” Oliver said.

“He is right, you know?” Mark chimed in and pocketed his phone. “You are way too excited for a 30 year–old Sergeant Major.”

“Not you too, Mark!” Oliver exclaimed.

We bantered a few more seconds while I voraciously finished the Kit Kats. Then Albert said: “Well, shall we get to business?”

We nodded and looked up at Lord Ar’Taz, who was standing still like a statue. His obsidian–black outfit truly fit in with the dark environment. A perfect camouflage any professional sniper would dream of having. If it weren’t for the PMV’s headlight and the shimmering sunlight, He could practically be invisible. The only thing could give away His position was His silver hair.

“Sir Ar’Taz!” Albert said. “Now Jack is here. What do you want us to do?”

Lord Ar’Taz opened His eyes and looked at us. “We believe this should be done by Lieutenant Geralt and his close friends.”

“What do you mean by that?” Oliver asked, sounding slightly worried.

“There is a child. Trapped in this town.” Lord Ar’Taz said.