[August 18, 2035] [9:47 AM]

"With the UN Security Council Resolution set to mandate peacekeeping operations in the South China Sea. NATO forces remained in a heightened state of alert. On other news, IDAP's humanitarian efforts have shifted towards on the Horizon Island after-"

"Hey Nathan, we're touching down, get yourself ready." Andy tapped him on his shoulder, Nathan turned off his phone and removed the earphones before he looked at the window beside him and saw a sprawling military base as their plane descended altitude. Main Operating Base Razor, the pride of NATO in the Pacific. It served as the main air and naval hub for all NATO forces operating in the Pacific, it was a good attempt to replace the aging Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and was an answer to the Chinese new artificial superbase in the South China Sea.

The pilot announced that they will land in just a moment. Nathan can’t help but sigh at the prospect of setting up a temporary humanitarian camp inside a military installation. IDAP couldn’t find anyone else neutral that was willing to provide a secure and safe place for them to set up their camp, the Horizon Islands was too preoccupied with dealing with the Syndikat rebels in Tanoa meanwhile CSAT had been denounced by literally everyone due to their shady and outright criminal meddling with the rebels terrorizing the Horizon islands, and cooperating with them right now would be a PR disaster for IDAP. NATO was the only best grey area they could side with at the moment until the region had stabilized.

He saw multiple V-44X Blackfish landing inside a fenced off area near the runway. “Hey Andy! Aren’t those guys from the 111th?” Nathan asked. “Aren’t they supposed to be in Altis for peacekeeping?”

His friend leaned closer to the window and squinted before retracting back to his seat. “Yeah, looks like they’re being reassigned in the Pacific too. Didn’t you just interview one of their guys last week?”

He felt their plane slow down and began taxiing to their reserved hangers on the secluded part of the runway, “Yes, a Sergeant Ben Kerry. He’s the one who fought with and led the rebels against the greenbacks during the invasion, his story reminded me of a rumor during my time in the marines.”

“Really? Tell me about it” Andy looked at him like a shark stumbling to a human inside a shark cage. He rarely talks about his time in the marines, mostly because it was just sitting around his ass or clearing mines, but the slow taxiing of their plane after a 3 hour flight was making it unbearably boring so he chose to share the rumors to his dear associate.

“There were rumors about a group of marines, most likely recon. That had been left behind during the first pullout in Chernarus and had assisted the local CDF on defeating the Chedaki rebels during the Civil war. It was all just rumors of course” Nathan reminisced just as the sunlight had shone through his window and bathing them in its warm glow, he quickly pulled down the window shade.

“Really now? Don’t tell me you’re part of that team” Andy chuckled as he heard the pilot’s announcement that they had arrived at their destination, most of his IDAP fellows had stood up and grabbed their personal luggage on the overhead bin.

Nathan looked at Andy straight to the eyes and said in a serious tone “Maybe” before both of them laughed. “Come on man, you’re not spec ops material!” his friend said as he stood up to grab their luggage from the overhead bin.

--------------------

[10:05 AM]

Sergeant Ben Kerry had slung his large carryall bag behind him and had quickly disembarked from the Blackfish they’ve been flying, the warm air of the pacific greeted him as he ushered his new squad towards the assembly area near the barracks. Colonel Armstrong was going to address them before sending them into their merry way, a soldier from his squad with two chevrons on his uniform approached him on the side "Hello sergeant! I’m Corporal Colbert, it's an honor to be your second in command, sir" the man extended his hands towards Kerry which he gladly shook, “Its Sergeant, Corporal Colbert. I work for a living” he chuckled.

One of the Private First class joined in their conversation. “Hey sarge! Are the rumors about you true?” the private asked, “Take them for what they are private” Kerry replied as he looked back at the private who was wearing combat glasses and had a wide grin on his face like he just met with his superhero. “Then those rumors had gotta be true then hahaha, Private first class Martinez sarge, glad to be in the Nomad squad” Martinez introduced himself as he catch up on the two in front of their formation.

“Geez, we’re not even in the barracks and you two are already trying to get sarge in bed!” A feminine voice shouted behind them, it was the squad’s medic. “Fuck off Sarah! At least we’re trying with someone rather than you getting rejected multiple times by your man” Martinez laughed before their medic smacked him. “Okay! Quit gagglefucking and return to formation!” Kerry ordered as they arrived in their assembly area, he saw the Colonel standing on the back of a HEMTT.

"Good morning ladies and gents, welcome to MOB Razor! This is the best accommodation you will get in your entire deployment so you’d better be in your best behavior or I swear to god I'll make your lives a living hell!" Colonel Armstrong shouted on his megaphone, "for the next three days, the entire division will conduct rigorous training with Razor's security forces to further enhance the combat capabilities of the finest men and women serving here in the Pacific. After that, we will have 2 days of R&R and then we will be deploying to Tanoa. For now, proceed to your assigned bunks and rest easy because tomorrow is gonna be hell for you all!"

There were sporadic cheers among them, mostly from greenhorns unlike the veterans of the Altis campaign who were mostly silent after the speech. "Come on guys cheer up, it’s just a peacekeeping deployment nothing too intense." one of the new guys in an adjacent squad shouted. "Task Force Aegis was a peacekeeping deployment, and now look how it turned out" Kerry muttered under his breath, still haunted by the death of his close friends and previous division.

--------------------

[3:00 PM]

He was listening to an old country song on his small MP3 player that was gifted to him by his son when he had his 49th birthday a couple of months back. He used to despise the advent of new technology in his early life, he thought it made people too dependent on it, but after being involved in a scandal involving corruption with the “reformers” he sided with during his early career in the military, he quickly changed his views and managed to salvage his career and was only relegated on overseeing the MOB.

He heard a knock on his door which prompted him to stop the MP3 and returned it inside his desk drawers before letting them in. "Good day Colonel, I assume that you have your summary reports for today’s transfer?" Major General Collins asked the man wearing a standard MTP uniform with a brown bandolier over it and a beret with a "111" emblazoned on it. Colonel Armstrong stepped forward "All of the 111th Infantry Division including vics and supplies had arrived on Razor, sir! I'd like to thank you on behalf of the 111th for accommodating us, sir." The colonel handed a folder that was nearly thick as a magazine, "You're welcome Colonel, just make sure your men will behave for the duration of your stay" Collins replied as Armstrong nodded before saluting him and leaving his office.

He added the folder of the 111th Infantry Division to the large pile of documents on his desk before grabbing his empty mug to take a short coffee break when he heard another knock on his door, “Come in!” he shouted as he sat down on his office chair again. A black man wearing a tropic combat fatigue with a patch of the 13th Air Force on his shoulder, a green tactical vest, and a military cap, stood at attention as he closed the door behind him. “At ease Colonel. Did you receive all the materials you’ve requested, Colonel Patterson?” He asked the man standing in front of his desk.

"Most of it General Collins but we haven’t received the UCAV sentinels that was assigned on to the 51st fighter squadron, I’ve double checked the papers and the containers in the docks but came out empty handed” Patterson replied as he placed down a green folder on the general’s desk.

“Oh about that Colonel, I forgot to send a fax regarding that. The UCAV shipment was delayed due to a misdelivery on the mainland.” Collins replied as grabbed the green folder and examined the contents, “They’re sorting it right now and it should arrive in about a day or two. I’m really sorry Colonel, I just have too many things on my plate right now” he added. “Oh, it's okay Major General,” Patterson assures him, “I’ve been through your situation more than enough to know what it feels like, sir.” he said before leaving his office

Collins couldn’t help but sigh at his forgetfulness, His glory days of non-stop working and number-crunching were over. He brought out a sticky note from his desk and started writing some of his important tasks when he heard another knock on his door and an Englishman with short, blond-colored hair had entered his office.

"Lieutenant James" Collins smiled as he greeted the Brit with a handshake "General Collins, a pleasure to see you" James acknowledged him before sitting down on the chair in front of his desk.

"Pleasure's all mine Lieutenant, especially after the stunt you've pulled on CSAT, a hell of a deed you've done son." Collins commended him as he set aside his sticky notes. James handed him a black folder with a large white 14 on the front of it, "All credits goes to Captain Miller and Raider's group sir, they did all of the heavy lifting throughout the op"

Collins opened the folder and began checking the classified information in it, "Speaking of Captain Miller, I heard he took a beating from the operation. What's his status? Lieutenant" he asked. "He is currently at your base's infirmary, he's a tough bastard so he'll make it through" the lieutenant replied.

The document details a captured CSAT WMD that was being stored in one of the base’s hangars, there was only a short detailed description of it and a formal request to add more security personnel around the hangar to prevent or deter an attack. He signed the document before handing it back to the CTRG lieutenant, "Okay, I'll send some of my boys to provide additional security lieutenant, meanwhile. The brass is busy constructing a facility to house it in Alaska and had given an ETA of a week before it’s constructed. For now, lie low and rest easy. You boys had definitely earned it" Collins said as both of them stood up.

"Affirmative sir, I'll head back to my quarters if there is nothing more to discuss." James replied as he saluted the major general. "Oh lieutenant, please send my regards to Captain Miller and your boys. I'll buy you a round of drinks if I have a clear schedule this week" Collins said as he dismissed the lieutenant. James looked back at Collin and smiled "Looking forward to it, General"

--------------------

Major Hanlon had just arrived in his office to grab a file for the afternoon meeting with his officers. He just finished discussing with the head honcho of the 111th when he heard his assistant knocking on the door before entering, "Major Hanlon, General Collins had left this file for you. He said that it’s urgent, sir" the old woman said as she placed down a paper on his table. "Thank you, Mary. Oh, Would you kindly fetch me a cup of coffee? I need the caffeine for my afternoon meeting with my men." Hanlon requested as he brought out his tumbler and gave it to his secretary. "Will do, sir" his secretary replied before leaving his office.

He sat down and read the document that was on his table. It was an order from the major general himself requesting additional armed security on Hanger 29 to reinforce the contingent of UKSF guarding a prototype weapon. "Jesus Christ, why not drown this entire document with black ink if they're gonna redact most of the information anyway?" he grumbled as he got into the part detailing the prototype they’re guarding.

His secretary had returned to his office and handed him his tumbler. "Here you go sir, you also have a voicemail from your son regarding a vacation this week sir." She informed him as he took a sip on his tumbler, "I’ll check it out later, Mary. Thanks!" he replied before she left. He sat there for a while, browsing the reports that were given to him by the captains of ground, air and harbor security forces of Razor. Almost everything checks out but an urgent report from Captain Neil of Air security had suggested that a large storm might arrive tonight, he sighed as he had to hastily prepare his MPs for the storm to prevent damages on equipment. He grabbed those documents and his tumbler before leaving his office for an urgent meeting with his officers.

--------------------

[11:00 PM]

A strong cool breeze swept across Barklem's face as he peered out his hatch above the Marshall. The heavy patter of rain echoed on the large motor pool hanger as the howling of wind could be heard whistling outside the large doors. "I thought the weather was gonna be clear today?" Barklem asked his gunner who was climbing out of his hatch, "I thought so too, might be a freak storm or something. I don’t know man." the gunner replied as he removed his headset. “ahhhhh, fucking hell. We'll have to deal with both training exercises and mud tomorrow, just wonderful." Barklem's driver chimed in as he looked at the muddy wheels and sides of their Marshall, his driver stretched his arms and legs before grabbing the nearby power washer to clean the large wheels of their IFV. "Get used to it corporal, we're in the Pacific now so this type of crap is a daily basis here." Barklem reminded his crew before a familiar voice called him out.

"Sgt. Barklem! Glad to see you in one piece." A Caucasian male with an untrimmed beard approached him. "Sgt. Sturrock? Nice to see you too man, what are you doing here?" Barklem greeted his friend as they hugged and patted each other in the back. They served together during operation steel pegasus and the final push against the AAF forces where Sturrock’s squad had protected the fragile IFV from enemy weapons squad while Barklem’s Marshall provided firesupport against enemy infantry and armored vehicles.

The two of them walked together towards the large hangar doors, "My squad got folded to the 111th after the clusterfuck in Altis. Got reassigned under lieutenant 90-day wonder's command." Sturrock explained as he offered him a cigarette which Barklem politely declined. "It's not that bad, I mean, he proved himself back that day on Chalkeia and Altis." Barklem replied. "Well yeah, thanks to you and that magnificent beast of yours." Sturrock said while admiring the muddy IFV that was still painted tan, they haven’t had the chance to repaint its color scheme before being shipped out to the green tropical jungles of the pacific.

The rain started to pick up as another thunder roared outside. "Well, of course. The Marshall played a huge role on that push too but, come on. Cut the guy some slack, as you said it was a clusterfuck plus he wasn't prepared to lead the remnants of the task force." Barklem replied as he removed his crew helmet. "Yeah, yeah. Until he leads us to another successful op, I will still have doubts in his leadersh-" Sturrock said before a very bright light had shone through the wide hanger doors, temporarily blinding them. Barklem was taken aback by this and had closed his eyes, he heard the startled voices of the other personnel in the hanger before a deafening thunder crack roared which made his ears ring.

"Goddamnit, my fucking eyes and ears man!" Barklem exclaimed as he slowly recovered from the effects of that damn thunder. He didn’t notice that the power went out till Sturrock had shined a penlight on him before checking the other personnel inside the motor pool "Is everyone alright?!".

--------------------

[?????]

The red light keeps blinking faster and faster outside the chamber just as they finish reciting an ancient elven prayer when suddenly, a loud ear-piercing sound blares throughout the ancient ruins. “By the gods! What is that sound?!” one of the scholars shouted. "We should leave now! those things had probably been alerted to our presence are heading this way!"

She quickly gathered the papers scattered on the floor. "Junior Erlan is right. Pack your things and retrieve the artifacts from the chamber and secure it in the strongbox. Have the kn-" High Scholar Tanila ordered before multiple loud blood-curdling roars could be heard screeching throughout the forest surrounding them.

A man clad in full metal armor had entered the room. "You have to go now, high scholar! We'll cover your retreat, just safeguard the holy artifacts and go!" the Captain of the Knight shouted before they heard a large explosion outside. It must be those damn rebel necromancers that Drakul had mentioned. Her party had hastened their departure as the sound of fighting outside had started picking up, the two artifacts had been secured on two separate metal lock boxes which she sealed with a sacred rune that only a few could unlock. “Everything has been collected and secured, high scholar. Let's get out of here!” one the junior scholar shouted as she led them on the backdoor of the ruins.

It was chaos outside, most of the elite knights were fighting off waves of abomination pouring out in the wood while combat mages were dealing with necromancers. The captain of the knights had allocated two of his knights to escort and protect them while the rest of them would stay and hold these abominations from capturing the holy artifacts; they quickly ran towards the direction of where they made landfall. "We'll hold the line, men! We must buy time for the artifacts and the scholars to get away from these horrid creatures! For Silverrun!" the captain shouted as the trees in front of them shook as a large horrifying abomination staggered out of it.

"May Azdarr protect us" he muttered as he and his men charged forward towards the horrors that the rebels had summoned.

--------------------

It felt like hours had passed by. They’ve been running through the dense forest non-stop since they left the site. Drips of sweat had trickled down on her face and the back of her neck, her heart beating faster than she could ever imagine, the fear of getting mutilated and eaten by abominations kept gnawing at her mind as she tried her best to guide the group towards their escape. She slowed down and halted the rest of her group as they came to a small quiet clearing, "We should take a short break, if we continue like this we'll be too exhausted to fight or run if we encounter more of those abominations" She said to her group as she caught her breath.

"Curse that damned loud siren!" one of her junior scholars said, "Why does it have to activate the moment we’re done with the ritual?!” another one blurted out. She tried to remember the sacred text about the ancient ruin’s loud siren; they only activated whenever there was a hurricane or mana storm occurring nearby to warn anyone nearby. "Ma-maybe we have angered the ancients? Maybe e-even the gods?" one of the scholars suggested. "Nonsense, we got Lord Drakul's permission to be on his land, a-and we did all of the peace offering to the gods and ancients as the scrolls had stated''

Tanila shushed them, "Keep quiet, your voices could attract them". She brought out a map and a circular device that was given to her by the oracle; it should tell them where the North star is, and that alone could help her tremendously in orienting themselves. She felt a cold tap on her shoulders and looked back, “Where are we, High Scholar? I know we’ve been running towards the general direction where we made landfall but we must be certain on our objectives here” Junior Knight Rylor asked her as he drank from his canteen. Tanila did her best to orient them and with the help of the device, “We should be 3 leagues to the west from where our ship had anchored” when suddenly, a huge amount of bright lights had shined in the edge of the forest.

Before Tanila could say anything, one of her junior scholar's head was sliced off and drops of blood landed on her face. She is still processing what had just happened when multiple shrieks roared near them and 4 of the rebel’s abominations rushed towards them, one had immediately started feasting over the headless body of the fallen scholar; the grizzly sight of it had sent all of the scholars fleeing in different directions. Tanila is the only one frozen in fear at the moment, one of the abominations had managed to pounce on one of the knights guarding them and is now struggling to pierce his chest plate while junior knight Rylor keeps slicing at the abomination pinning his fellow knight. The two remaining abominations ignored them and ran after the fleeing scholars, the only ones left in the clearing are Tanila and the two struggling Knights.

The screams of the pinned down knight had snapped her back to reality as she looks towards the struggling knights, the abomination had managed to pierce the eye slit of the pinned knight's helmet killing him instantly while Rylor stabbed the creature at the back, killing it but not before it let out a high-pitch death shriek alerting the chasing horde of their position. "I'm sorry brother" he muttered at the corpse of his dead comrade before rushing over to Tanila, grabbing her by her arm and running towards the lights.

"W-we cannot go there, we cannot let anyone know that we're here! They could be bandits or more of those rebels for all we know!” Tanila stammered. "We have no choice, high scholar! if we die in this forest then all of our efforts would have been for nothing. This is our only chance we have at reaching our ship" the knight reasoned with her as he tightened his grip on Tanila's arm making sure she could keep up with him, "That bright camp could provide a good distraction for those things while we slip past them". Tanila knows what the young knight was implying, but she has no choice but to take part in it. The value of their work and the information they've gathered from this expedition far outweighs the lives of the foolish people that are camping inside these dreaded woods.

As they got close to the mysterious camp, she realized that the glow of the light didn't match any campfire, torches or lamp posts she was accustomed to, it’s glow was more akin to a white light produced by light spells compared to the warm yellow or orange hue created by fire. It puzzled her as the mages of the Zorenth and Aevum Kingdom had little knowledge regarding light casting spells, but before she could ponder with that fact, more of those multiple roars screeched behind them. "Just keep running, high scholar! We're almost there!"

--------------------

[11:05 PM?]

She felt like a grenade had exploded right next to her as she slowly stood up from the ground and picked up her fallen MXC, her squad was also recovering from that ear-shattering thunder that had just occurred. "Is everyone good?!" she shouted at her men as she raised her weapon and screened her surroundings. "We're good, sarge!" one of her guys at the opposite side of the checkpoint shouted, she heard her radio crackle, "Everyone is still alive and breathing on tower 4, sergeant"

She breathed a sigh of relief before her eyes cleared up and she realized that the surroundings of the checkpoint had changed. The treeline is now replaced by a forest instead of the dense jungle of the Pacific, the road leading out of the base was cleanly cut off at 50 meters in front of her checkpoint, and the storm that was raging a few moments ago had now suddenly vanished. She keyed her radio "Everyone stay alert and watch your sectors!" before wiping the RCO scope on her weapon, good thing it didn’t crack when she dropped it. "Doghouse 1, this is Guardian. What’s your sitrep?” her radio crackled.

She quickly responded, "Guardian, this is Doghouse 1-1 Actual. No casualties on my end but we have a situation here" she said as she scanned the treeline. She pulled back the hood of her raincoat and stood up to scan the treeline. "What is it? Doghouse 1-1, our security systems are still rebooting right now". She wiped off the rainwater on her face before replying "Our surrounding area, sir. Everything had changed, Guardian"

A moment of radio silence passed before command responded back "What do you mean cha- hold on. The security cameras are coming back online". She looked up and saw the CCTV camera scanning the area when suddenly a disturbing, inhuman scream echoed in the distance which made all of the jumped "What the fuck was that?!" one of her MPs shouted. She quickly fumbled her radio "This is Doghouse 1-1 Actual to Guardian, we are hearing screams nearby. Please advise, over" she reported as she flipped off the safety of her gun and set her sights on the treeline. "Copy that Doghouse 1-1. We’re receiving similar reports from other checkpoints, we're mobilizing additional security units to reinforce your position. For now, remain on high alert and report back any further developments, Guardian out."

“What the fuck is going on man? first that freak thunderstorm then this” she heard one of her men muttering behind the jersey barrier near the guardhouse “I don’t know man, it’s probably CSAT or the Russians fucking with us” another soldier responded before her radio sounded off again, “Movements! 11 o’clock on the treeline!” She quickly adjusted her bearing and saw the foliage around that area rustling. “Can you identify it Tower 4?” She asked as she rested her weapon over the jersey barrier and brought out her binoculars. “I’m seeing two silhouettes, sarge! Give us a sec, we’re fixing the circuit!”

She peered through her binoculars and saw two figures running towards them. “Get set for contacts but observe ROE!” She shouted before grabbing her radio again “Where's that damn spotlight Tower 4!? What’s taking so long?!” she raised her voice as the 2 figures were getting closer to their position. She cursed the major under breath for not providing them NVGs on night duty due to budget cuts, “The bulb had blown sarge! We’re replacing it now!” The radio blurted out and after a couple of seconds of tense waiting, she grabbed her radio again but before she could talk, the spotlight turned on and had revealed the figures approaching them.

“What the fuck?”

--------------------

The sudden bright light that had bathed them had halted them in their tracks, before they could try to make sense of what was happening, a loud booming voice emanating from the bright encampment had ordered them to put their hands up. Rylor tried to reason with the mysterious voice that they’re being chased, but he was immediately cut off by the loud voice again. "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND APPROACH US SLOWLY! IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY WE WILL USE FORCE!" the voice shouted. Both of them are anxious from the cold commanding voice that is threatening them and seeing that they had no choice and were too exhausted to fight back against this mysterious group, they decided to comply with its command.

"Please you have to listen to us! The rebels are heading this way! You need to alert everyone and prepare your defenses please!" The knight begged the mysterious individuals but his plea was met with silence. "What should we do, knight Rylor? They aren't listening to us!" Tanila whispered to the knight as they slowly approached the gate of the settlement . "Once they spotted the rebel’s abominations, their focus would be shifted towards those things then that’s when we are going to make a run for it" Rylor whispered back as they got closer to the position of the mysterious individuals. "STOP IT RIGHT THERE! KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!" The loud voice blurted out again as They saw 3 humanoid figures approach them. The bright light coming from what Tanila assumes is a watchtower had obscured the figure’s identity, but as they got close, Tanila had managed to discern the features of these mysterious people, they were humans. "Get down on your knees!" one of the humans shouted as they were cautiously approached by them.

The men approaching them were wearing strange helmets and bulky clothing, they were pointing some kind of black staff at them which both of them deduce as some kind of musket or even artifacts from the ruins. The clothing they were wearing was muddy and dirty looking, not to mention the cumbersome gear that these musketeers are wearing. Could they be raiders? Did Lord Drakul set them up so they could steal the artifacts they possessed? She thought to herself as they were disarmed and restrained by the men when she heard the howling of those disgusting abominations.

"What are you doing?! Those abominations will be here any moment, we have to run now!" Tanila blurted out as she was lifted up by her arms by one of the mysterious men "Sorry ma'am, it’s just security procedure" the man replied. As they arrived at the entrance of the camp, Tanila saw a massive steel wall stretching far as her eyes could see, there was also a large blue stone slab near the entrance with the words MOB RAZOR written across it. She realized that this isn’t some small camp that these humans had built temporarily, it was a large village. But why would these humans settle inside the dead lands?. She saw more of the mysterious men standing guard at the entrance of their village, they were met with curious and nervous gazes from them as they passed by their crude defenses.

A woman wearing the same dirty looking outfit greeted them "I'm Sergeant Sherry of Razor's Security forces, can you tell me your names?" the woman asked. They both still don't know if these humans are after the holy artifacts, so they tried to conceal their true purpose for being in the Zorenth Kingdom. "My name is Rylor, I’m just a s-sellsword escorting this merchant to the town of Bredon" Rylor stepped forward, Tanila followed suit "I'm Tanila, I’m just a travelling merchant. Please! Our caravan was attacked by the rebels and their abominations, please you have to help us!" she pleaded. Tanila felt someone touching her ears which made her turn around and see one of the men recoiling back in surprise as her ears twitched. “W-What are you doing?!” She stammered, “Why are you standing around? Those things are coming here!”

Before Sherry could reply to them, one of the mysterious men shouted "Sergeant! We got movements! 12 o'clock and about a hundred and fifty meters!" which made their captors push them aside while they took cover behind the pile of bags. Tanila could hear the howls of those things getting near them. She peered out from the stone barrier and saw a lone necromage standing in the fields. “PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AI-” before the loud voice could finish, the necromage had casted a fireball towards the large watchtower one her left and had destroyed the bright light that was illuminating the field. “Fuck! open fire! open fire!” the female leader shouted before a ripple of thunder had nearly deafened them both.

Tanila had slumped beside the stone barrier as the loud cacophony of musket fire had made her ears ring, she was expecting it to pause but to her horror, those mysterious black muskets had kept firing without needing to reload. She noticed that these black staffs had almost the same look as the broken ancient relic that her college was holding and the weapon that the oracle had wielded since his transfer to this world when she felt the kick of a cold steel boot. Rylor was signalling to her that it was time to escape, no matter how powerful the weapons that these mysterious men were wielding, they would be easily overrun by the rebels.

Tanila had casted a phasing spell on her arms but one of the men had noticed them, Rylor tackled him as she managed to remove the weird restraints that the humans had put on, but before she could run over to Rylor to help him, she felt something hard hitting the back of her head and she fell down on the ground. She saw Rylor get shot by the female leader as she felt someone pinning her to the ground. “FUCK! GET HIM A MEDIC! THE REST OF YOU COVER US!”. Tanila could barely make a sound to plead for their lives, she was tired from all the running and magic casting, and her body and mind couldn’t handle the overwhelming amount of stress. Her vision was slowly getting dark as she looked towards her fallen colleague surrounded by two men trying to save him. She noticed a familiar symbol on one of the mysterious men but before she could see it clearly, her body had given up and everything went black.