That night, there were voices in my head. At first, they sounded like whispers. Gradually, they became a little bit clearer but I couldn’t make it out what they were saying.The voices were faint but at the same time, sounded familiar.

“Lieutenant! Lieutenant! Lieutenant! …” The voices grew louder. As it did, I realized they weren’t exactly voices. It sounded more like a cacophony of shouts and screaming.

“Lieutenant, please! We’re…” The voices became clearer. The cacophony mixed with the sounds of gunfight and explosions. It became so loud as if it became a tsunami that was about to violently assault my eardrums.

“Fuck! They got Jones, Lieutenant!” I recognized that voice. It… it was… Sergeant Kirkland? Why was I hearing his voice now?

Beneath the cacophony of constant shouting, machinegun fire and explosions from afar, he was still screaming. “Lieutenant! We need… to get… the fuck outta here. They got us…”

Suddenly, an explosion cut off my dream. I woke up, found myself breathing heavily and sweating. How could this be? I haven’t had that dream for… nearly two years. Why did it come back?

Oliver’s snoring brought me back to reality. I checked my watch and it was still 4:20 AM. We still had some hours left to sleep. I washed my face and returned to sleep. That night was perhaps one of the most difficult night to sleep ever since my recovery.

“Jack! Jack! …” Someone was calling me again. This time, I recognized the voice immediately. “Jack, wake up mate!” Oliver said as he shook my shoulder.

Still dazed from last night, I slowly opened my eyes and looked at him. “What time is it?” I asked Oliver.

“7:40 AM.” He said.

“What? Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” I almost screamed to his face.

“Don’t worry about it, mate! We have much time. Besides, I knew you were exhausted so I let you sleep in a little.”

“Thanks for being considerate. But we’ve got a busy schedule. Ain’t got time to sleep in like that.”

“I know, by the way, here.” He gave me something.

“What is this?” It resembled an ID card but reserved for government agents. On the card, there was the G.R.I.D logo and my name, age, gender, current profession, and lastly, our classification.

“They just gave me this morning. Looks like you and I are Delta-class agents.”

According the Director, there were five classifications of personnel within the Coalition. This category was based on individual agents’ abilities and level of exposure to sensitive information within the organization. The first and lowest class was Delta. The second class was Charlie. The third – Bravo; the fourth – Alpha; the final and highest class was Omega. Apparently, Director Grayson was classified an Omega-class individual whereas Agent Bernstein was Alpha-class.

“Agent Hartmann and Agent Geralt! Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” Oliver said excitedly.

“Yeah, but don’t let it get to your head!” I responded. “I doubt they will let us keep these shiny badges after all of this is done.”

“You’re always such a buzzkill, mate!” He puffed.

We changed our clothes and prepared to head out. When we reached the waiting room near the main entrance, one of the agents from yesterday was waiting for us. The agent whose name we didn’t know looked to be in his thirties, had nicely combed black hair and beard, wearing sunglasses, indoors. Strangely, his physique reminded me of Mark, albeit bulkier. If there was a list of special features for identifying a special agent from a secret government agency, this guy would probably check them all out.

“You are late, gentlemen!” He stood up and said, “The Director is waiting for you.”

Judging from his tone and voice, it looked like we weren’t well liked by this man. Perhaps he disliked the idea of having outsiders participating in their operations.

“Oi, give us a rest!” Oliver addressed the agent loudly. “We ran around the country for nearly two days. We ain’t robots, okay?”

The agent didn’t respond, but simply stared at us through his glasses. He guided us through a different route to the airfield. Just like any other air base, military aircrafts were taking left and right whereas ground vehicles and base personnel kept moving about. All of these activities reminded us of our first overseas deployment. Right next to the area where the tents used to be, the massive alien ship was hovering on the ground.

Lord Ar’Taz, Director Grayson and Agent Bernstein were waiting near the ship’s rear door. Only when we approached it and had a closer look were we able to grasp how big His ship was. In fact, it might be even bigger than we had previously expected. Furthermore, the ship didn’t touch the ground at all and was in fact, levitating roughly two meters off it.

“Did you sleep well last night, gentlemen?” Director Grayson asked.

“We had a good rest, Sir!” I replied. “We apologize for being late.”

“It’s fine! Don’t worry about it, Lieutenant!” He shrugged it off. “The session simply serves to finalize Lord Ar’Taz’s existence and make our job easier after all.”

“Agent Trance, Agent Goodwin, Agent Carlson!” He addressed the agent from earlier and his two colleagues. “I will leave matters with the Australian Branch to you.”

“Understood, good luck Director!” They said in unison.

“Okay, good Sir!” He turned to Lord Ar’Taz. “We are good to go now.”

“Follow us,” Lord Ar’Taz “We will leave in two minutes.”

We followed Him as He entered the ship. After all of us were inside, the ramp retracted so neatly as if the other half simply vanished. The ship’s interior was truly vast and possessed a futuristic look to it. We honestly couldn’t figure out exactly what we were looking at. Oliver, Director Grayson and Agent Bernstein were engrossed in six large white ellipsoid objects. Judging from how neatly they were positioned, it was safe to assume that this chamber was the ship’s cargo bay. Even more impressively, they were hovering a few centimeters from their platforms and there wasn’t anything resembling a chain or rope tying them down at all.

“I wonder what these are,” Oliver whistled and said. Oliver was clearly blown away by this place even though he wasn’t the type to be interested in technological achievement.

Though Agent Bernstein didn’t give any remark, I could tell that she was somewhat interested in this alien environment.

“So this is how those guys felt, huh?” Director Grayson muttered something to that effect.

“Welcome to our domain, Jonathan Verris Grayson, Gertrude Erika Bernstein!” A voice suddenly spoke up from behind us.

We turned our heads and saw something that surprised us all. It was a tall woman who somehow materialized behind us. She was nearly 2 meters tall and wore some sort of headgear covering her ears. Her black hair swayed gently and extended to her shoulders as she bowed her head to us. Her skin was so smooth and white that it could make any world famous actresses and models jealous. Her attire looked like a combination of an office dress and maid outfit. Lastly, her face was really beautiful, a mix of European and Asian beauty. So much so that it made me think that we were looking at a videogame character instead of a real person.

“W-Who are you?” Director Grayson asked her in confusion. “How do you know our names?”

He was so surprised that his hand instinctively reached for his gun, almost ready to use it. Even Agent Bernstein was startled by her presence, she dropped her bag and reached inside her jacket, presumably for her hidden sidearm as well.

“Please do not be alarmed!” The woman said. “My name is Gaina. I am the Artificial Intelligence controlling this vessel.”

Her demeanor and behavior reminded me of a Victorian maid welcoming honorary guests into her master’s property. Like the others, I was so surprised that I couldn’t help but said, “Wait a second! You are Gaina?”

“Correct, Lieutenant!” Gaina said. “The physical body that you are seeing is merely one of the vessels I use for direct interactions with your species.”

“Oh… I see,” I said, almost expecting such an answer.

When she looked up and opened her eyes, I realized they weren’t normal irises. Instead, they were purple and contained alien symbols.

“Damn!” Oliver blurted. “So… are you… an android?”

“By your definition, yes.” She asserted. “As for you two, you can lower your guard now. We mean you no harm, defenders of Earth 652.”

Although their reservations remained, Director Grayson and Agent Bernstein relaxed and the tension was lifted.

“Please follow His Majesty and step inside the circle!” She instructed us.

We all stepped inside the circle along with Lord Ar’Taz. A pillar of light engulfed us from above and took us to the second floor. We were taken to an extravagant room which resembled a hotel’s guest room. It had some neatly positioned futuristic-looking appliances, several floating chairs which were surprisingly human-sized, and a large table in the middle. Of course, Lord Ar’Taz had a chair made of His size this time.

“Wow, you even prepared these,” Oliver said in awe. “Are they for us?”

“Yes, Sergeant Hartmann!” Gaina replied. “Please take your seats! We have notified the air traffic control officers of this base and will be leaving shortly.”

“So… do we need to strap in before the ship takes off or what?” Director Grayson asked after we were seated.

“No, you don’t need to.” Gaina stated as she stood next to Lord Ar’Taz. “We are already on our way.”

As soon as she said that, a large screen was projected from the table. It showed us the scenery outside, similar to what we saw in the cockpit. The landscape changed as the ship slowly lifted off the ground. This time, the screen displayed the numbers and data in English.

After reaching the height of 2,000 meters, the ship flew off at an incredible speed. As we watched the numbers keep going up, we couldn’t help but feel astonished at how terrifyingly fast this ship was. The ship was cruising at an altitude of 12,000 meters with the speed of Mach 8 (9,878 km/h). And yet, we barely felt anything.

“Your Majesty!” Gaina addressed Lord Ar’Taz with her head bowed, “We will reach the Hawaiian airspace in 40 minutes.”

“Good work, Gaina!” Lord Ar’Taz said.

“I am unworthy of your praises, Your Majesty!” She said, “We are simply performing our duties.” Gaina then turned toward us and said, “Would you like some sustenance? In your world, it is the host’s duty to offer guests some food or drink, is it not?”

“Well… I guess we’ll have whatever you offer us, ma’am!” Director Grayson said. “What about you two?”

The fact that he accepted her offer that easily surprised me. Just moments ago, he was ready to draw a gun on her.

“Now that you mention it,” Oliver said. “We didn’t prepare anything to eat. What do you think, Jack?”

“I guess we should eat something,” I added. “I doubt we will even have the time to eat once we get there.” Then, I turned to Lord Ar’Taz and said: “Gaina, we will eat something as well.”

“Very well,” She said and gave Lord Ar’Taz another bow before walking to the direction behind us.

When Gaina reached one of the futuristic appliances from earlier, she placed her hand on the machine and it started to glow. After roughly a full minute, the machine stopped glowing and its top section opened up, releasing some sort of steam. She pulled out a tray from the side, then proceeded to take out something, presumably food, and placed it on the tray.

As she walked over with the tray in hand, I smelled something familiar. It was the sweet scent of coffee, milk, butter and flour. When she placed the tray on the table, we realized it was a delicious cherry berry cake, along with four cups of coffee. The cake looked completely identical to what they normally served at restaurants.

As if on cue, our stomachs growled slightly the moment the smell entered our nostrils. Gaina then placed her hand above the cake. As soon as she did, a small laser beam was shot from the tip of her finger and sliced the cake beautifully into four small pieces with extreme precision.

“Please enjoy yourself!” Gaina said and retracted her hand.

Judging from their expression, both Oliver and the Director couldn’t help but feel taken aback by the whole thing.

“How… how the hell… did she prepare a meal this fast?” Oliver muttered.

Even Agent Bernstein was impressed at what just happened since her eyes were wide with amazement.

“Well, don’t mind if I do,” Director Grayson said and took one piece from the plate, completely ignoring the fact that it was prepared by an alien android using God-knows-what methods.

“We really appreciate it, Lord Ar’Taz!” He said before taking a bite of his cake.

Agent Bernstein thanked Gaina and Lord Ar’Taz for their hospitality before taking a piece of her cake and eating it. Although she didn’t show much emotion, she seemed to enjoy it.

“Holy shit! This is really good!” Oliver exclaimed after taking a bite. “It feels like I am eating at a high class restaurant. Thanks a lot, miss!”

I also thanked Gaina and Lord Ar’Taz and took one for myself. When I bit into the cake, I realized that Oliver wasn’t exaggerating at all. The distinct sweet smell of the berry cake mixed with cheese inside filled my entire being and quenched my hunger.

During our breakfast, we began talking and sharing stories with each other. Basically, it was a cultural exchange for me and Oliver. Obviously, the Director couldn’t really divulge anything about his life at the Coalition. Interestingly, when Oliver asked the Director’s and the Agent’s life before joining the organization, he revealed that he was scouted by the Coalition during his services in the Vietnam War. Agent Bernstein, however, was assigned as his assistant thanks to her exceptional skills and history with certain SEAOs.

After finishing the cake and a few minutes of chatting, Oliver asked something that I never expected, “Lord Ar’Taz… can I ask you something?”

“What is it, Sergeant Hartmann?” Lord Ar’Taz said.

“Why would you go so far for us? I mean… all of this just seems too unnecessary for someone with as much power and authority as you. So… why would you do this?”

His question brought silence and created a tense atmosphere within the room. It was a natural question that would surely bother anyone involved.

“It appears that our actions have given you a misunderstanding, Sergeant.” Lord Ar’Taz said.

When He paused, we all looked up instinctively as if fearing that we might have misheard Him otherwise.

“One of the Ascendancy’s primary missions is to intercept, engage and eliminate any and all entities that pose a threat to life as a whole, from planetary to galactic scale. Saving your species is simply a secondary mission to us. In most cases, cooperating with the local intelligent species has proven more effective and advantageous to our missions.”

It felt as if His words just dumped a huge weigh on our hearts. To Lord Ar’Taz or His people in general, our lives, no, this whole planet itself, meant little to no significance to them. They came here to destroy those parasitic monsters, nothing more, nothing less.

Although I could somewhat guessed it when He casually said incinerating our entire planet with a cold and utterly emotionless tone, hearing Him put it this way was truly horrifying.

“I–I see…” Oliver stammered, perhaps regretting that he accidentally received an existential crisis with his question.

“Okay, let’s stop with this depressing topic.” Director Grayson said. “How about I tell you a story to lighten up the mood?”

Since none of us really had anything better to do besides waiting for the ship to arrive in Hawaii, we agreed to his suggestion. He told a story about one of his missions during his early years working at the Coalition. It was about the subjugation of a horde of Skinwalkers in [Redacted]. Honestly, the way he told it made us feel like we were listening to some creepy pasta on the internet.

When he was about to finish the story, Gaina spoke up: “Your Majesty! We have entered the Hawaiian airspace. The human fighters are coming to greet us.”

“Very good!” Lord Ar’Taz said, then turned to Director Grayson. “Director, please confirm the code with your forces from the islands!”

“Okay,” He replied. “But how do I do that? I don’t see any…” He was interrupted when Gaina handed him the device, similar to the one I was given yesterday.

“Please speak into this device!” Gaina said. He took the device and thanked her.

Suddenly, the large screen split into three smaller ones displaying three different sides of the ship. From the dense cloud formation behind us, there were three shadows gradually coming into view. When the roar of fighter jets got louder and more recognizable, two of them broke off and positioned themselves at both sides of our ship. They were F–22 Raptors and they were trying to keep up with the massive ship. I checked the speed and sure enough, we were slowing down.

After the ship slowed down to match with the Raptors’ speed, a voice came through the device’s speaker, “Unidentified aircraft, you are entering a restricted airspace! Identify yourself!”

“This is Prometheus 76!” The Director spoke, “Permission to speak with Red Beard Actual, over!”

This time, the radio silence lasted a bit longer. Nearly a minute passed and the voice came back, “This is Red Beard Actual! Go ahead, Prometheus 76!”

“We are travelling with an HVI class Omega–001. Call sign: Victor Juliet 804. Please confirm. Over!”

The voice came back after roughly twenty seconds, “Prometheus 76, you are clear! We will guide you to Hickam Air Force Base!”

“Roger! Thank you very much, Red Beard Actual!” The Director then turned to Lord Ar’Taz and said, “All right Sir! We are clear for landing!”

“Thank you, Director!” Lord Ar’Taz said.

Followed by the Raptors, the ship slowly descended and exited the clouds. After a few more minutes of flight, the islands were slowly coming into view. This time, there was no tent inside the base. It looked like they had reserved an entire hangar for Lord Ar’Taz’s ship.

As the ship slowly descended onto the base, four AH–64 Apache attack helicopters approached and maintained their positions around us. On the ground, there was also a large perimeter made of dozens of armored vehicles, tanks and armed soldiers, surrounding the hangar’s entrance. When the ship reversed its vector and pulled into the hangar, I noticed that this was a C–5 Galaxy Hangar Complex. However, the ship was so large that it almost couldn’t fit inside the facility.

“We have arrived, Your Majesty!” Gaina said after the ship finally stopped moving.

“Uh… excuse me…” Oliver sheepishly said, “What about… our baggage?”

“You can leave your belongings here if you want,” Gaina said, “You will return here after the session is over.”

Oliver breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Thanks a lot, missy! It’s really a hassle to drag these around, you know?”

”You are coming with us as well?” I asked her.

“Yes, I am to accompany His Majesty to handle communication with your leaders and speed things up.”

After she said that, her maid uniform slowly “transformed” into some sort of black attire and trench coat. There were some ornate alien markings and symbols scattered across her overall. It made her resemble an Earth agent in some way.

“Is that okay, Sir?” I asked Director Grayson.

“Well, I don’t think they’ll mind,” The Director said. “Besides, if her coming along speeds up all these formalities, it will work out much better for us.”

With that, we proceeded to move toward the ship’s rear. As usual, we were greeted by a group of agents, followed by a platoon of armed soldiers.

“You must be Lord Ar’Taz Drekgard!” The lead agent who looked to be in his forties stepped forward and said. He had a tan skin and was almost as big as the agent from Fairbairn Air Base.

“I am Agent Tobias Hanson from the United States Secret Service. It is an honor to meet you, Sir!” He extended his arm upward for a handshake.

“Thank you, Agent Hanson!” Lord Ar’Taz said, then He kneeled down to shake the agent’s hand. “This is Gaina – our current personal assistant. She will accompany us to the session as well. Is that okay, Agent Hanson?”

“No problem, Sir!” The agent replied. “As long as you follow the protocols.” He then turned to the Director and said. “You must be Director Grayson! We heard about you a lot. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir!”

“Thanks a lot, Agent Hanson!” Director Grayson said. “It’s been a while since my last time in Hawaii. She is my aide – Agent Bernstein. These two are working as Lord Ar’Taz’s temporary agents from Australia. First Lieutenant Jack Geralt and Sergeant Major Oliver Hartmann!” He introduced us to the agent respectively.

The agent proceeded to greet and shake our hands. Though I and Oliver weren’t exactly important figures, it was good to see the level of hospitality and politeness he displayed towards us.

“Welcome to the Hawaii, everyone!” Agent Hanson said after greeting us. “We will escort you to the session.”

“Not me actually. I have some business to take care of,” Director Grayson said, “Is she here, Agent Hanson?”

“Oh yeah, she’s here sir!” He turned and called out to someone within the group of agents. When a female agent came up to him, he said, “She’s all yours, Director!”

She was a tall, had blond and short hair and looked to be in her thirties. “I am Agent Tillson, Director!” She said, “Please come with me, Sir!”

“Thank you, Agent Tillson!” He said. “Agent Bernstein, do your best to help these two gentlemen, okay?”

“Understood, Director!” Agent Bernstein said.

“I will leave you with Agent Bernstein to go with Lord Ar’Taz. Don’t worry! She will guide you thoroughly. We’ll meet up here after the session is over.”

“I understand,” I said. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

“Okay, see you later Sir!” Oliver said.

Director Grayson went with Agent Tillson and got in an SUV with the Secret Service logo on it. When the Director’s SUV left the hanger, it was followed by two other vehicles.

“Lord Ar’Taz, we have prepared a transport for you.” Agent Hanson said. “However, we understand that our vehicles might be a little uncomfortable for you. Do you have your own vehicle Sir?”

“Yes, we do,” Lord Ar’Taz said. “We will travel in our own vehicle.”

Shortly after He said that, one of the ellipsoid objects we saw earlier detached from its invisible anchor and slowly glided toward His side. Oddly enough, the way it moved gave me the image of a futuristic flying car that we often fantasized about.

“What about you guys?” The agent asked us.

“I would like to go with you,” Agent Bernstein said. “What about you, First Lieutenant and Sergeant Major?”

“I… I think I’ll go with you,” I said.

“Me too,” Oliver agreed.

“Alright! Now that’s out of the way,” Agent Hanson said. “Let's go to the session!”

We followed the group of agents to their vehicles whereas Lord Ar’Taz walked toward an open space outside the hangar, followed by His “flying car” and the soldiers. Agent Bernstein boarded the first SUV, whereas Oliver and I took the second.

As we got into the Secret Service’s vehicles, the flying car’s top half section opened up for Lord Ar’Taz and Gaina to get. No, “open” wasn’t the right word. It was more like a small section of the vehicle disappeared and exposed its interior. When He got inside it, I noticed that the vehicle was two-seater and it was designed for His size.

“All units, Overlord and Wasp Keepers have boarded,” Agent Hanson who sat in the front seat of our SUV spoke into his radio. “Prepare to move out!”

There were four SUVs in total and they moved in standard formation. Agent Bernstein’s SUV was the second, followed by ours. Behind us, Lord Ar’Taz’s vehicle was escorted by six Humvees, two AH–64 Apaches and one UH–60 Black Hawk. All of them were heavily armed of course. I seriously wondered who this convoy was supposed to protect.

It looked like they had to take a detour to avoid unwanted attention from the main road. As a result, it took us longer than the original route to reach the USS Missouri Memorial (located on Ford Island, Pearl Harbor) where the Emergency United Nations Session was held. Since the road was blocked off, there were only police and military vehicles in sight. However, I wondered how much attention a convoy of this size and firepower could attract from the surrounding buildings, especially when a giant flying car was gliding on the street.

When we reached Pearl Harbor after roughly twenty minutes of detour, the entire Harbor was flooded with news vehicles from at least dozens of different countries, as well as Secret Service and police vehicles. The route led to Ford Island that we took was separate from the main road. The small island was completely converted into an outdoor conference venue. From the looks of it, there were representatives from at least over one hundred countries attending the session.

“Alright, we’re here!” Agent Hanson said as the vehicles stopped.

As we exited the SUV, I realized we were inside an area which resembled the venue’s backstage. Although it was less crowded here, there were still quite a number of Secret Service agents. As soon as Lord Ar’Taz’s vehicle pulled up along with the Humvees, all of their attention turned to our direction.

However, when a towering giant stepped out of His flying car, the atmosphere changed completely. I could almost sense that everyone here wasn’t exactly prepared to receive someone like Him. It was one thing to look at Him from a picture, but seeing Lord Ar’Taz in person like this was a completely different thing.

“Welcome to the United States of America, Lord Ar’Taz!” President Eisenhower said as he approached us. He was accompanied by First Lady – Miranda Eisenhower, Secretary of State Anthony Nicholson, and a group of Secret Service agents.

“This is my wife – Miranda Eisenhower,” The President introduced his wife to us.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Lord Ar’Taz!” The First Lady said and gestured for a handshake. She had long brunette hair and was wearing a white dress which made her look like a wealthy noble.

“We appreciate your hospitality, Miranda Eisenhower.” Lord Ar’Taz said and kneeled down to shake her hand while Gaina stood by His side.

“May I ask who this beautiful lady next to you is, Lord Ar’Taz?” She asked.

“She is Gaina – our current personal assistant,” He answered. “If you have any questions about us, you can ask her.”

“I see,” She then walked over to shake Gaina’s hand as well. “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Gaina!”

“Likewise, First Lady of the United States of America!” Gaina responded by shaking her hand as well.

“This is my Secretary of State – Anthony Nicholson,” The President introduced the man next to him, “He is my chief foreign affair advisor.”

The Secretary who looked a bit older than the President walked up and reached out his hand in a similar manner toward Lord Ar’Taz. “It’s truly honor to meet an extraordinary being such as yourself, Lord Ar’Taz!” He said. “We heard a lot about you from the Australian government.”

“Thank you, Mr. Secretary!” Lord Ar’Taz replied briefly.

“I apologize that I couldn’t receive you in a proper manner, Lord Ar’Taz!” The President said. “As you can see, we’ve been really busy with a lot of work ever since you came here.”

“We understand, Mr. President!”

The formalities went on as we introduced ourselves to them while President Eisenhower excused himself to greet other heads of states.

“Since we still have some time before the session begins,” the First Lady said after exchanging some pleasantries. “Would you mind if we talked a little bit first, Lord Ar’Taz?”

“It’s fine,” Gaina said. “From here on, I will answer any question directed towards His Majesty. Is that acceptable, Miranda Eisenhower?”

“Okay… if you say so,” Lady Miranda said. “Let us go to that area then!”

We all moved to a different area of the venue where we could have a chat with the First Lady. This section looked like both an open air café and a rest area for the agents.

During the conversation, the First Lady was very friendly even when she was talking with me and Oliver. Needless to say, Oliver didn’t hesitate to jump at the opportunity to talk with one of the most famous people in the world.

Just like her master, Gaina wasn’t exactly a talkative type so she only answered certain questions that Lady Miranda had and the ones occasionally added by Oliver. Agent Bernstein, however, was arranging some things with the Secret Service agents.

After roughly twenty minutes, one of the agents approached her and said that something was done. She then turned to us and said, “Lady Miranda, we need to prepare some things before the session begins.”

“Okay,” the First Lady said. “I will wait for you.”

“Lieutenant Geralt, Sergeant Hartmann,” Agent Bernstein turned to us and said. “Please follow us! We have prepared some things for you two.”

They led us to the changing room and instructed to change into the clothes they had prepared for us. It amazed both of us that they had managed to prepare all of this in such a short time. After he finished changing, Oliver combed his hair and put the sunglasses on. Looking at himself in the mirror, he excitedly remarked on how he almost couldn’t recognize himself with the new appearance.

I followed suit and he was right. Wearing this suit, I almost couldn’t myself in the mirror. Truly, these secret suits had an amazing power. Nevertheless, I didn’t have to worry about being seen by millions of people across the world, especially my family and acquaintances.

“Are you finished, Sirs?” One of the agents guarding the door outside asked us.

“Oh… we are almost done,” Oliver answered. “Give us a second!”

When we finished and came out of the room, we were greeted by Agent Bernstein and the two agents from earlier. She tilted her head slightly and observed us for a moment, as if inspecting us. Honestly, the way she tilted her head was kind of cute.

You look nice!” She remarked.

“Thank you!” We said in unison.

After she turned away, Oliver nudged me again with a wicked grin on his face, much to my annoyance.

We were then instructed by the agents on how to conduct ourselves throughout the session. Lucky for us, we didn’t really have to do much since our mission was primarily escorting Lord Ar’Taz during His time on Earth. Since Gaina handled most of the talking, her presence certainly helped us a lot as well.

Agent Bernstein checked her watch, then said to us: “The session is starting.”

We walked back to where Lord Ar’Taz and the First Lady were. Surprisingly, Lady Miranda was clearly engrossed in talking with Gaina while Lord Ar’Taz simply stood waiting for us, unresponsive to the curious gazes given to Him by nearly everyone around us.

We started heading toward the venue where every head of state was waiting. However, Lord Ar’Taz had to wait until Mr. President formally introduced Him to the world. As such, we were escorted to the behind-the-scene area of the venue.

Several more minutes later, the MC stood on the podium in front of every head of state and made the opening speech. He then started to announce the representatives of most nations who were present at the session, as well as the ones who attended online. Needless to say, there were over one hundred people to name so it took a while.

After listing everyone, he introduced Mr. President and the First Lady. “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the President of the United States and First Lady Miranda Eisenhower.”

Military band started playing Hail to The Chief – the personal anthem of the President of the United States, as the marines escorted the President and his wife from the right side of the stage to the podium. Though we couldn’t see anything because of the curtain, the crowd started clapping to welcome the couple.

“My fellow Americans and heads of state,” President Eisenhower started speaking. “First and foremost, I would like to thank you all for coming here on this beautiful day. As you already know, Prime Minister Nathan Turnbull and I have requested for this emergency session for an extremely important event.”

He paused for a second, seemingly to take a deep breath, before continuing. “The question of whether we are alone in the Universe has been answered. Two days ago, our world has received a guest from a different world. Particularly, this guest came to Australia unexpectedly and has fully cooperated with both ours and the Australian governments in preparing this session. His name is Ar’Taz Drekgard, Lord Sovereign of the Thal Vorlanz Ascendancy. Before I introduce Him, I need to inform you that our guest is very, very different from what you might normally expect from an extraterrestrial individual. Now, without further ado, please welcome Lord Ar’Taz Drekgard.”

After he finished that speech, the military band started playing again. The agents in front of us flipped the curtain, signaling for Lord Ar’Taz’s entrance.

“It’s time Sir,” Secretary Nicholson said. “Please follow us.”

We started walking to the stage where there were hundreds of people watching us and millions more watching across the planet. It was really nerve-racking to say the least. Gaina walked out first, then I and Oliver, and finally, Lord Ar’Taz. Mr. Secretary walked behind us, followed by two agents.

When Lord Ar’Taz emerged from behind the curtain, there was something different, yet familiar all the same. It was as if the air within the entire venue itself had suddenly changed. Even the loud music in the background wasn’t enough to hide this different atmosphere. The stage shook with every step He took even though Lord Ar’Taz didn’t apply more pressure than normal.

At that moment, I couldn’t help but imagine how the people watching this event unfold feel. How would you feel when you saw a giant humanoid entity clad in obsidian armor and trench coat appearing at a United Nations session on live TV? I thought. However, I didn’t know that, at the time, there was a storm sweeping across our world for obvious reasons.

Looking around the venue, I noticed that most of the representatives gathered here were ambassadors. Aside from President Donald Eisenhower and Prime Minister Nathan Turnbull, I only recognized some of more influential heads of states.

There were the Federal Chancellor of Germany, Prime Ministers of Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada; Presidents of Russia, China, France, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Vietnam, India, and South Africa.

Regardless of who they were, their reactions were mostly similar to each other’s. It was either fear or surprise which was quite odd since I thought ours and the American governments had already informed them of what Lord Ar’Taz looked like beforehand. Either way, I could somewhat understood why they reacted like that upon seeing Him for the first time. Additionally, some of the marines holding the American flag and military banners on both sides of our path tried to avoid making eye contact with Lord Ar’Taz.

When we reached the podium, one of the agents near us held up the microphone for Lord Ar’Taz but Gaina declined, saying that it was unneeded. As Lord Ar’Taz stood next to the President and the First Lady, the band finally stopped playing. The atmosphere was filled with a blanket of silence for a few seconds as Lord Ar’Taz observed the venue filled with people and constant flashes of cameras.

“My name is Ar’Taz Drekgard,” He began speaking. His voice was low and powerful but modulated enough for everyone to hear. “Lord Sovereign, one of the Rulers of the Thal Vorlanz Ascendancy. We would like to give thanks to Prime Minister Nathan Turnbull and President Donald Eisenhower for agreeing to our requests, especially the Prime Minister and the Australian armed forces who had been very hospitable and cooperative towards us since our arrival. Your world is facing an extinction level threat and we are here to eliminate it. However, whether you agree with us or not does not matter. We will complete our mission without fail. Therefore, whether you will survive this crisis or not depends on you, Humanity!”