[AUGUST 19, 2035] [8:00 AM] [IDAP Assembly Area]

A small crowd of people had formed at the assembly area’s gate, demanding the MPs guarding them to give an explanation on why they are being put on lockdown, especially after a battle had occurred last night which shocked most of the IDAP members in the camp. Nathan checked his phone hoping to see if the network or internet had been restored; his wife would probably be worried sick after their call was abruptly cut by that freak thunderstorm last night.

“Hey Nathan! Do you have any idea why the hell are they putting us on lockdown? Those damn MPs wouldn’t even give us anything” Andy asked him before he threw an Identification vest towards him, the intense fighting last night prompted them to always wear it, in order to highlight their status as non-combatants. “I don’t have a single clue, but I’m pretty sure it's about the attack last night. They’re trying to prevent a panic” He replied to Andy as he sat down on a nearby plastic chair. He can see the MPs passing around some MRE and bottled waters at the gate to calm them down, Andy grabbed one of the plastic chairs and sat down beside him “So please Andy, don’t rile up the others. They are already scared as is, especially the new volunteers”

Andy sighed “I’m sorry, It’s just not a “NATO” thing to do this you know? Keeping us locked in here while they’re engaged in a conflict, hell, they ain’t even telling us who attacked the base last night”. Nathan had looked towards the flagpole in the middle of their camp, the white and orange flag of IDAP flying proudly just as a Pawnee flew by them. “Do you think CSAT is behind the attack? It has to be CSAT right?” Andy asked him.

“I don’t think so, Andy. Last night’s battle sounded like a one-sided fight to me” Nathan replied as a small group of his fellow IDAP members had walked past them and handed them some MRE and water; while he isn’t excited about chowing down on military grade MREs again, it does bring back certain memories of his time in the marines. “How so?” Andy asked him again as he tear open his MRE pack

“There’s no return fire from the attackers, not even artillery fire which any sane conventional and non-conventional force would do if they would attack a fortified military installation” Nathan replied as he grabbed a small coffee pack from his MRE and poured it into his water bottle, “All I heard was the familiar chatter of 6.5’s and autocannons from NATO’s IFV and helo’s”

“Hey! You’re the military consultant right?” A man wearing a blue high-visibility ballistic vest and a baseball cap with the word PRESS written on it had approached them. “Yeah, that would be me. You’re Mark Cole?” Nathan greeted the reporter even though he knows him well from the ANN broadcasts he watches on a daily basis.

“Yes, I’m the ANN field reporter. Hey look man, I’ve caught something on my camcorder last night during the battle” Cole said anxiously as he brought out his camcorder and handed it to Nathan, “Just watch the video and you’ll see”

Nathan laid down his coffee bottle and hit the play button on the camcorder’s screen. The video shows the night sky with a familiar night vision filter over it, the sound of an intense firefight could be heard faintly in the background as the camera focused on a flying figure high up in the air. Nathan could make out the shape of one NATO’s stealth attack helicopter hovering and firing its 20mm nose-mounted cannon on short bursts when suddenly the Blackfoot’s nose had pitched way up - sending the helicopter backwards just as a large bright white ball had passed on the position where the Blackfoot had been hovering on.

“Holy shit, It’s that missile or something?” Andy asked as he also joined him on watching the video while Mark is keeping a lookout for anyone getting close. “Highly unlikely, that bright thing is too slow for it to be a missile of any kind” Nathan replied as the video continued playing. The gunship corrected it’s orientation after a couple of seconds of flying backwards when suddenly, a large humanoid creature with large, bat-like wings had flown near the gunship before its 20mm cannon had stopped it from advancing. He watched the rest of the battle unfold as the AA fire and the Blackfoot’s missile had struck the creature with little to no effect before the video abruptly cuts-off.

“So, do you have any clue what the hell is that?” the nervous reporter asked him as Andy hit the replay button to rewatch the battle again. “I have no fucking clue, to be honest” Nathan replied as he stared blankly on the screen as the video plays again till it reached the part where the large creature flew towards the gunship then Andy hits the pause button to examine the thing. “My god, that thing looks like a demon!” Andy exclaimed before Nathan shushed him as some of their colleagues turned their heads towards the commotion. “Keep it down Andy!” Nathan whispered to Andy before turning to face the journalist “Have you shown this to anyone else?”

“No, you're the first ones to see this” Mark replied. “Good, then let’s just keep this thing between us for the moment. This is way beyond our hands and spreading this to the others might cause further panic” Nathan said as he folded the camcorder’s screen and gave it back to Cole, “For the mean time, hold onto these Mark. I’ll think of some way we can get the truth from the MPs”

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[8:45 AM] [Checkpoint Alpha]

Sergeant Sherry sat on the only standing sandbag barrier left on checkpoint alpha as she and her fellow sergeants were waiting for the captain to arrive and brief them with the cleanup operations. She glanced at the bodies of those disgusting things that were pushed to the side of the road in order to make way for the armored vics of the 111th as Slammers, Hunters, Marshalls, Bobcats and HEMTTs with weary eyed soldiers riding on the back had passed by the checkpoint for the last couple of hours.

“You okay Sherry?” One of her fellow sergeants approached her.

“Hell no, Calhoun” Sherry replied as she tried to wipe dried blood of a dog tag she’d been holding since this morning, “I’m pretty far from okay”

“Hey man, your boys did a great job holding this checkpoint” Calhoun said as he sat right next to her before noticing the bloody dog tag she’d been holding.

“I just wished I could’ve done more” Sherry said as she managed to wipe some of the blood away, revealing the owner of the dog tag. Ryan J. Walter.

“You did your best Sherry, but sometimes we can’t control the outcome of any battle” Calhoun tried his best to comfort her.

“I should’ve signed up for the reserves” Sherry sighed before pocketing the bloody dog tags as she saw their captain arriving at the checkpoint.

“Okay, gather up everyone!” A bald hispanic man shouted as he laid down a large map on a nearby crate, some of the officers converged towards him reluctantly as most of them were either burned out or just hadn’t the chance to energize themselves.

“I know you all had a rough night, but we still have a job to do. Right now our biggest problem is the dead bodies of these…. Creatures.” Captain Bolsa said as points toward a small pile of decomposing corpses, “They smell shit and look shit so the higher ups are concerned with the health risks they pose on everyone, so the earlier we bury them the better.”

“Aren’t we burning the bastards?” One of the sergeants asked

“No, the eggheads in the hospital do not recommend it, they’re worried that it might cause further health problems due to the ash it might produce so our best and safest option we have is to bury these ugly fucks for now” Bolsa replied

“Do we even get any type of protection when we dispose of them?” Calhoun asked, Sherry has also got the same question in her mind too. While she can bear the fatigue and hunger; she can’t tolerate lifting dead bodies with sharp and spiky edges that could easily cut them if they’re not careful, plus the possible disease they could contract from handling dead bodies is another thing she was worried about.

“Yes, a supply of CBRN gear was redirected to our clean up effort. The 111th had also lended us one of their bobcats to speed up our cleaning efforts” Bolsa replied to Calhoun’s query which affirmed most of her fellow officers in the briefing

“Right, let’s get back on track. Our main priority is cleaning the bodies inside the base since it poses a much greater risk than the ones outside so, Doghouse 1, 2 and 3 will deal with body disposal from checkpoint alpha to the Alamo, while doghouse 4 would dig the mass grave here” The captain explained as he pointed at an area at least 300 meters away from a red line outside the MOB

“Isn’t that way too deep in the woods? sir.” The sergeant of Doghouse 4 asked, “Are we getting some kind of security detail while we dug the graves?”

“Yes, the 111th will provide 2 squads to guard your perimeter while Patterson’s Blackfoots got your backs in the air. So don’t worry about your ass getting chewed off” Bolsa jested, trying to lighten the mood among his men, “Anyways, I’ve managed to convinced Captain Reyes and Captain Neil to lend some of their boys to our cleaning operations, they will solely handle the bodies in the runway so that’s one less area to clear for you. Any further questions?”

“None, sir”

“All good cap”

“We’re good cap”

“We’re all set captain!”

“Good. Now if you excuse me, I'll go ahead and brief the air and harbor boys regarding their tasks on the cleanup op.” Bolsa concluded as he folded the map he brought out, “Meanwhile, the CBRN gear should be arriving soon, so finish up your stick or coffee while you still can then proceed to your assigned tasks. I’ll be joining you all shortly, dismissed”

“You want a hit?” Calhoun offered her a lit cigarette that he’d been smoking after the rest of the officers had dispersed and returned to their squads. “No, I’m good” Sherry turned down his offer when she saw an approaching HEMTT down the road.

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[10:00 AM] [Perimeter Defense line]

The sun was beaming down on Kerry’s back as he stabbed a small metal pole on the ground. He was expecting the heat of the Pacific to make him sweat like a pig but the temperature around the base had drastically changed from what he’d felt yesterday.

“Lance! Nick! Set up the concertina wires around our fighting position” He shouted at the two figures standing around near him, “After that, take your lunch brakes”

Kerry wiped off the few sweat that had managed to form on his face before circling around the outer perimeter and into their squad’s assigned HESCO bunker, most of his men are resting inside as the small bunker gave them cover from the sun and slight respite from the loud Bobcats, Marshalls and HEMTTs driving by and the occasional Pawnee or Blackfoot flying above them. Kerry had propped his MX near the door and sat down on the plywood floor.

“Jesus Christ Jose, you enjoy the meal?” Martinez teased one of the privates just as a truck full of dead bodies of those had passed by them, the creature’s decomposing stench had left a sour taste on everyone’s mouth to the point that some of them had vomited their last night’s meal.

“Hell fucking no man” The young private replied as he continued to eat from his MRE pouch “I’m too damn hungry to be bothered by that smell”

Kerry had wished that he got the kid’s stomach when he felt his stomach growling, he’d been consuming nothing but crackers, coffee and cigarette non-stop just to get some caffeine and energy flowing through his system.

“Hey guys, good news!” Sarah shouted as she entered their HESCO bunker carrying two boxes of 50. Cal ammo, “I got word that our young private Timothy is gonna be fine”

“Lucky bastard” Martinez smiled as he started to set up a mark 30’s tripod in the middle of their bunker

“Not really. The guys at the hospital said that they’ll quarantine him with the rest of the injured men in order to monitor their vitals, those things might have passed on some kind of infection or virus to their victims for all we know'' Sarah replied as she drops the ammo box near the 50 cal MG, “Hey Sarge, I’ve brought you some MRE!”

“Now look at who's trying to chase our sergeant!” Martinez chortled as he mounted the main 50 cal gun on the tripod, some of the men also sniggered at the remark as Sarah’s face turned red for a bit

“Martinez fuck off! This is just a thanks to sergeant Kerry for getting us through our first battle” Sarah tried explaining as she handed 2 MREs to Kerry.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night Sarah!” Martinez giggled as he loaded one of the ammunition boxes onto the machine gun.

“Thanks for the treat doc, but i’ll be holding onto this till that stench disappears” Kerry thanked his medic as he stuffed the MRE inside his assault pack.

“What do you think those things are?” Jose asked as he pointed at another HEMTT truck passing by them, carrying a ton of disfigured corpses stuffed on it’s back.

“Zombies? Monsters? I dunno man, your guess is just as good as mine right now” Martinez replied as he sat down the on the dusty floor “Well whatever they are, we can deal with them the good ole fashion way”

“What about those zombified humans we’ve captured? They have some sense of preservation and can talk to us in english no less, unlike those “troopers'' and “heavies'' who just charged at our defensive line last night” Colbert interjected

“Yeah, those zombie soldiers are giving me the heebie jeebies, hell did you see their leader talk? I can see the muscles on his mouth move!” Martinez exclaimed, “It’s like that scene on that drug show where the guy gets his face blown off by the main character”

“I don’t think they feel any pain, the only time I saw them flinched is when I shined my flashlight over them when I breached that room” Colbert added as he drank from his canteen, “Hey doc, what do you make of them?”

“Zombie or not, they’re definitely tough bastards” Sarah replied, “Remember the one with the barely hanging arm? He didn’t even show any signs of pain when I dressed up it up”

“Goddamn, so that means we gotta go for the head then?” Martinez asked as he pulled out a gum on his vest and offered it to the squad, almost none of them declined the offer and immediately took a piece of gum that was being offered.

“I guess so, that worked on all zombie movies I’ve watched so it’ll probably work on us” Sarah replied

“Sergeant Kerry, do we have any word of reinforcements from NATO?” Colbert asked him as he started chewing the cherry gum, “This whole thing with the monsters is way above our paygrade to be dealing with them”

“Negative corporal. As of right now we’re cut-off from the rest of NATO and the world” Kerry replied just as he heard a couple of gunshots in the forest.

He and his squad immediately grabbed their weapons and jumped to their firing positions. Finger on the trigger, Kerry scanned the woodline for contacts. He heard Jose racked the 50. Cal next to him as he and his squad held their breath and waited for contacts to appear, A quiet tense moment had passed before their radios crackled to life. “To all callsigns this is Crossroads, stand down! I repeat, stand down! Doghouse 4 had just encountered some stragglers in the woods”

His squad had simultaneously let out a sigh of relief as they lowered their weapons and climbed down on their firing position, it was going to be a long day.

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[11:21 AM] [Razor Military Hospital]

The CBRN suit fits him nicely and the rest of his retinue had also donned the protective suits and the heavy air tank that supplies clean air for them, it was a mandatory safeguard considering they will be interrogating - no, questioning what is equivalent to an alien from another planet. His group was led by the head doctor as they walked from the busy ER to the quiet and isolated part of the hospital wing; two MP’s wearing APR were standing guard on the double doors and had stood in attention when they saw the major general’s group.

“So, what did you find out about those things, Dr. Bailey?” Collins asked as he saluted the two MPs. “They’re mostly human, except for the fact that some of them are in different stages of decomposition” The small doctor replied as she swiped her keycard on the door. “Do you mean they’re dead?” Collins asked as they entered the isolation ward, more guards had littered the sterile hallway while a couple of doctors wearing biohazard suits were busy analyzing charts and MRI scans.

“Yes and no, general. Most of their skin shows advanced decay and decomposition but their brains and internal organs are perfectly intact. Most of them can talk, but only one of them seems comfortable conversing with us” Bailey explained as they headed towards the nurse’s station where most of the medical staff had gathered. Collins could see that they also set-up detailed observations of those things on a large whiteboard similar to the set-up that they have on the command center.

“Really? Are they giving you any trouble, doc?” Hanlon interjected as the doctor fumbled around the pile of clipboards at the reception desk “No, not at all. They’ve been very cooperative since the MPs had brought them in” Bailey replied as she pulled one of the clipboards and motioned Collins, Hanlon and Miller to follow her again.

“Do you think it's some kind of disease, doc?” Collins asked Bailey

“Most likely, but I can’t say till I get the full result from the labs” Bailey replied as they reached one of the large isolation rooms with 2 more guards posted around the door, “Before we get in, I’d like to remind you gentlemen that these are my patients. Even though they don’t technically fall under the protection of the Geneva Convention, I won’t tolerate any kinds of intimidation or violence during your questioning. Do we have an agreement here gentleman?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Hanlon replied, he was the one who’ll conduct the questioning while Collins and Miller will just sit back and watch the whole ordeal. “Good” the doctor muttered as they entered the room with multiple plastic sheets dividing the room, “Here’s your guy” she pointed to the nearest hospital bed protected by the plastic sheet and with a number 1 marked on the entrance slit, Hanlon and Bailey entered while Collins and Miller remained outside to observe the questioning.

“Good morning Milton, I have some men here who wanted to question you on a few things” Bailey greeted the man resembling a dried up corpse that was resting on the bed who immediately sat up when they entered his plastic confinement. “Greetings Apothecary” The zombie-looking man greeted the doctor before turning to Hanlon, “I would gladly answer any questions you have my lord”

Hanlon was slightly taken aback by the title given to him by this thing. “Ummm, hello there. I’m Major Hanlon of the Razor Security Forces. You don’t mind if I ask you some questions?” The man smiled and nodded revealing the exposed flesh and muscles moving which made all of them, with the exception of the doctor, cringe at the sight of it.

Hanlon quickly recomposed himself and brought out a voice recorder from the bag he was carrying. “What’s your full name?” he asked as he clicked the record button.

“I’m Sven Milton, militiamen of the town of Bredon” The man replied, Hanlon quickly jotted down the information he was getting for future reference. “Where is this town, Milton?” Hanlon asked, there was some hesitation from the rotten man as he kept glancing at Collins and Miller who was watching from outside. He had to repeat his question again before the rotting man answered it.

“A couple of days walk from here I think. Me and my fellow militiamen were forced by the rebels to join them in their camp near the ruins, so I can’t give you a more precise answer. I’m very sorry Lord Hanlon” Milton replied as the heart rate monitor on his left started to elevate, Hanlon assured him “You can just call me Major. About this rebel camp you’ve mentioned, do you know where it is?”

“Yes, Major. It’s about a league away from the ancient ruins that’s near your fortress” Milton answered, “Lord Balthier was building up his forces there to takeover the southern region of the kingdom”

“Who is this Lord Balthier? Was he the one leading those things that attacked us?” Hanlon asked as he grabbed the hospital chart on a nearby table, it looked like Sven Milton had suffered a few concussions and shrapnel on the legs and arms when he came in. “Yes, he views anyone but undead as weaklings or barbarians and often goes out of his way to attack and convert them into abominations or slaves to do his bidding. He had caught the scent of elves with an artifact in ruins last night so he ordered his dogs to get it, but it looked like the elves had taken shelter in your fortress so he ordered his army to ravage this place” Milton explained as he broke eye contact with Hanlon for a few seconds.

Hanlon produced a couple of pictures from his bag and showed it to Milton “Are these the “Elves” you’re referring to?” He asked as he held up two pictures of the so-called elven people they had detained last night before the attack, “Yes that’s exactly them! They usually kept to themselves unless they had something important to do” Milton acknowledged as he looked at the photographs with fascination. Hanlon had let him examine them for a minute before returning them into his bag and bringing out a single picture of an ornate chalice in a small crimson chest.

“And this is the artifact they’re possessing?” Hanlon asked as he showed it to Milton. “Yes, that's exactly it!” Milton exclaimed like a little boy seeing his favorite animal in the zoo, “I am not well versed with artifacts but I heard that it produces a legendary quality health potion whenever it is fed mana. it was one of the most prized artifact of the elves”

Hanlon was going to ask another question when Collins informed him that the girl was awake through his earpiece, “That’s all for now Milton, you can go back to rest. Thanks for your time” he said as he picked up the voice recorder, “Major Hanlon. What’s going to happen with me and my men?” Milton asked before Hanlon could leave. “You and your friends will be locked up for the moment till we sort this whole mess out. I hope you can understand.” He replied before they left the room.

Bailey advises his group to take a short break and talk about their findings before proceeding to interview the so-called elves. The three of them gathered outside the hallway “So, What do you make of his story, sir?” Hanlon asked Collins as they slowly walked towards the nurse’s station. “I really hope that this entire thing was just an elaborate ruse by CSAT or the Russians, otherwise we are screwed.” Collins replied as they stood around the nurses station while Miller made a call to his group of spooks.

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She was enveloped by a soft white light the moment she regained her consciousness, she felt like she was floating in heavens and was relishing the spiritual high that Azdar had bestowed upon her when suddenly she was hit by the painful effects of mana fatigue. She tried to massage the temples of her head when she felt the cold steel chains restricting her movements on her arms and legs. She looked around and saw that she was in a clean bright room surrounded by unknown instruments and some wires running all over her body. She was trying to remove the wire that was embedded in her right hand when someone entered the room.

It was a human wearing some kind of white clothing that covered its entire body except for the face which was protected by some kind of black mask, “Oh, please don’t remove that ma’am!” The human rushed over her side and checked the wire that she tried removing. Tanila snapped at her “Who are you!? Where am I?!” she shouted, “Please calm down ma’am, I’m Doctor Bailey. You’re in a military hospital right now.” the female human explained. She realized that she was wearing some kind of loose sleepwear that was eerily similar to what brothel girls were wearing. “What is this? What did you do to me?!” She asked nervously. She knows that elven women were highly sought after in slavery and prostitution because of their exotic beauty, and the thought of it had sent a chill down her spine.

“You collapsed from exhaustion last night after you and your friend had approached our base. Do you have a name?” The doctor asked her in a soft calming tone that was very reminiscent of her mother’s voice, she was hesitant at first but realized that she has no choice but to cooperate and hope for the best while she recovers her mana. “I-I’m Tanila. Where is Rylor? Is he okay?” She asked, still trying to comprehend the intention of the apothecary. The doctor assured her “Your friend is in another room recovering from a gunshot wound on his chest, he is in good hands Tanila” the doctor replied before 3 more humans entered the room, they were also wearing the same outfit but with strange patterns all over it. Two of them had remained near the door while one of them had approached her from the side. Bailey held her hand “Okay Tanila, these men have some questions for you.”

“Hello there young lady, I’m Major Hanlon. Nice to meet you” The man introduced himself while he placed a small black box on the small table beside her. “Who are you people? Are you from the Aevum kingdom?” Tanila asked the man as he was sitting down on a metal chair beside her. The answered “No ma’am, we’re US Forces that are a part of NATO Pacific command”

“Nay-tow? I don’t know any kingdom or group with that name” She replied as the man brought out some papers from his brown satchel. “About that ma’am, I have some questions here regarding this whole situation. If you could enlighten us, then it would be greatly appreciated” sensing that she had a small chance to somewhat bargain with these men, she immediately jumped on this opportunity. “C-can I see my friend?” she asked. “Of course, but we need to finish questioning both of you before that can happen.” Hanlon replied.

“Now, can you tell me your full name?”

“My name is Valindra Talina. I’m a wandering trader for the Silverrun Alliance” she introduced herself.

“So, Tanila. What is this Silverrun Alliance?” Hanlon asked her as he wrote something down in his book.

Are these humans living under a rock or something? She thought to herself before answering “It’s a coalition of elven tribes just west of here”

The man leaned forward, “So. you’re an elf then?” Hanlon asked as he pointed at her ears. “Isn’t it obvious?” she scoffed.

The man had brought out some papers from his satchel. “Can you tell me why you are being chased by these things?” Hanlon showed an accurate sketch of one of the rebel’s abominations, the details of it was nearly life-like in similarity and was probably done by a master painter for a long time. “We were travelling down to the town of Bredon to trade with locals, but we were ambushed by the rebels and were forced to escape through the forest, until we stumbled in your settlement” She lied, these humans don't need to know about their artifacts and the expedition they were a part of.

“Then can you explain to me why you attacked one of my MPs after you’ve been apprehended?” the man asked contemptuously. Her body stiffened when she remembered their failed attempt to escape the humans. She broke eye contact “I like to offer my sincere apology for attacking your guards, but your men had refused to heed our warnings of the incoming attack. We had no choice but to try and escape rather than fighting a horde of those things.” She explained.

The man brought out some kind of black stone tablet that lights up on one side, “And how did you remove your zip tie cuff so easily and without breaking it?” Hanlon asked as he showed her some kind of spell that was showing her phasing through the white restraints before getting knocked out by one of the guards. “I used a phasing spell that my mother had taught me when I was a kid” she replied before drawing a small amount of mana to demonstrate it on one of her hands, this made Hanlon back up in surprise while the 2 men beside that door had drawn their black flintlocks. She knows that the phasing spell was rare but not rare enough to merit such reactions from these humans. It was like their first time seeing someone do magic. “I can teach you this, but in exchange you’ll have to let me and my friend go along with our wares” She tried to bargain.

“Don’t ever try that magic bullshit again unless you want to get knocked out” Hanlon warned Tanila as he chained her free hand with another metal cuff, three more armed guards entered the room while the two men that came with Hanlon had left. “We’ll take a break from our questioning, for now Doctor Bailey will oversee you till we get back” Hanlon concluded before taking his leave.

The apothecary approached her, “If you feel any pain or want something else, push this button and I'll come here as fast as I can.” Bailey said as she handed her some kind of smooth block that had a button in the middle of it before leaving her with the guards. These men stood guard at the corners of her room ready to strike her down the moment she tried anything, she was studying the garment of these unusual humans when she noticed a small symbol on one of the shoulders of the men. A symbol that the oracle bears, a symbol that represents freedom and equality, a symbol of a united country.

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[2:00 PM]

Miller arrived outside Hangar 29. Sandbag barricades, MG emplacements and even 2 UGV Stomper RCWS littered outside the hangar making it a heavily fortified area. Subtlety is not important right now, especially after the events that transpired for the last 12 hours. He saw a Greyhawk taking off the nearby runway before Lieutenant James greeted him. “Captain Miller! Glad to have you back so early!”

“No rest for the wicked, lieutenant” Miller greeted back as they entered the hangar. “So, what did the drones pick up?” He asked as they walked towards the drone terminals. “We can confirm that the area around the MOB has completely changed; it looks like we are now connected to the mainland rather than an island paradise.” James replied. “So far, we had discovered some kind of rundown outpost 4 clicks southwest of the MOB, and a large medieval camp another click south of that area. The drones had picked up a couple of movements and heat signatures there” he further added as he pointed at one of the monitors showing a live drone feed.

“Medieval? Like King Harold medieval times?” Miller asked as he let out a short chuckle. He’d been through many crazy situations that only a crackhead conspiracy theorist could ever dream up, but this whole thing was so unfathomably crazy that he couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of it. “Yes sir. I really wished I was fucking with you, also we picked up some kind of heavily encrypted signal coming from those steel buildings. Intel pukes and even some of the eggheads are currently decrypting it” James informed him as he pointed to a group of officers and scientists at a nearby table. “Could it be CSAT? This whole situation could be some kind of psychological warfare that those assholes were conducting in order to snatched that back” Miller asked before pointing towards a cordoned off area in the back of the hangar, they were still examining the inner workings of the East Wind device before the base was attacked. “Negative cap. The signal is way too advanced compared to the encryption keys that we stole from the Tanoan blacksite.” James affirmed.

Miller was still examining a computer generated map of the area around the base before he heard one of the drone operators yell, “Sir! We’ve picked up multiple seaborne contacts about 10 clicks north, sir!” a young man wearing a pilot's coverall shouted. They looked at one of the monitors and saw a fleet of wooden boats sailing towards a nearby cove, “Bloody hell, are those man-o-wars?” James muttered as he examined the video feed. “I think so lieutenant, i’ll relay this back to co-” Before Miller could finish, another one of the drone operators shouted. “Sir! We got something on Drone 5!”

Miller and James had quickly located the proper drone feed and saw an overhead view of a burning town, the drone camera zooms in and reveals that the town is under attack by the same monsters that attacked them. “Bloody hell” the lieutenant muttered as he saw hundreds of civilians fleeing into the woods while being chased by those creatures. “Operator! What’s the location of that drone?” Miller asked just as the drone camera zooms in the middle of the village where a small group of men armed with swords and axes are making a stand against those abominations. “8 clicks due west from here sir!” the operator replied. “Maintain continuous surveillance on that town, divert other drones if you have to. I’ll relay this to command.” Miller ordered as he switched frequency on his radio. “Godfather, this is Falcon. Priority message, over.”

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[????]

The cove was silent, barred from the sounds of pelicans and waves slamming against a nearby rock cliff. They’ve searched the disguised caravel of the expedition but found it empty, they should’ve been back by now. Admiral Galan Kelphyra was standing at the deck of his proud warship when he called out for his personal psyker. “Psyker! Do we have any message from the expedition?” he asked the robed figure. “None, admiral” the hooded figure replied with a raspy voice. “Contact Lord Deldrach and inform him of the situation” Galan sighed. The fate of the alliance and it’s citizens are riding on this expedition and the thought of it failing had placed a heavy burden on him and his men’s shoulders.

He climbed down from the command deck of his ship and approached an elven woman looking out on the treeline with a telescope. “Ranger Lyndis. The expedition group had failed to update their situation for almost half a day and I fear that tragedy might have struck upon them. I need you to gather your marines and form a search and rescue party.” Galan ordered her as he brought out a map, “I suggest you start looking at these ruins. The fate of our people depends on the scholars and the artifacts returning home safely. May Azdarr guide you on your mission, Ranger.” he added. “Yes admiral, we’ll handle it.”

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[8:47 PM PST] [Administration Conference Room]

The two colonels were arguing in front of him on whether or not they should believe the information that was compiled from the prisoners and recon drones that had been scouting around the MOB. “I know this is hard to take in, gentlemen. Hell, I would rather believe that Aliens were real than the fact that we are somehow transferred to another world, but all the evidence we’ve gathered today has only contributed to that fact.” Collins explained. “So you’re saying that we're all stuck here forever in a world or dimension that has zombies, elves, monsters and magic in it?” Colonel Patterson asked as he drank a cup of water. “We still don’t know if that’s the case, but we can safely assume that we’ll be cut off from any reinforcements and resupplies for a long time.” Collins sighed as he reclined back on his chair. Stuck in an unknown world with no support and nearly 75,000 men and women looking up to him for guidance, it was the definition of a nightmare for him.

“What’s your plan, major general?” Colonel Armstrong asked, “You’re the highest ranking officer in the base, and protocol dictates that we all fall under your command, sir.” he further added.

“Our first goal is to be self-sufficient. So far, we still have access to clean fresh water thanks to our desalination plant. Maintenance has set up solar panels and small wind turbines to power important systems but it's not enough to handle all of them, emergency backup generators are doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the base’s electrical system but it's dependent on our fuel supply. Our fuel supply should last for a month of sustained operations but that’s just a generous estimation. Our main problem right now is food supplies, we only have 3 weeks of food supply max, and if we heavily ration what we have right now, then we can extend it to a month. Some of the MPs with knowledge in farming are setting up makeshift gardens with the help of civilian contractors that were also stuck here with us, but that’s gonna take some time before it could contribute to our surplus which brings me to our second goal.” Collins discussed before passing around another series of documents, “Making first contact with the locals. From what we’ve gathered from the prisoners, MOB Razor is currently situated within a country called the Zorenth Kingdom. They said that this kingdom is run by a “Warlock” called Lord Drakul, they are currently engaged in a civil war with the same creatures that attacked us, but if we helped them then we could curry some good wi-” Collins added before being cut off by Armstrong.

“Wait. You’re suggesting that we take offensive action against the rebels of a foreign country without detailed information on the ground?” Armstrong questioned him, “It's the same rebels that launched an attack against a NATO military base, colonel.” He replied, “I think we have some merit to launch some offensive operations to prevent such a thing from happening again, don’t you think?” Collins asked the colonel who just replied with a nod.

“As of 1400, we’ve received drone footage that a nearby was under attack by what looks like the remnants of the enemy forces that had attacked us. Most civilians who managed to escape the frenzy had sought shelter on what looks like a stone castle 2 kilometers west of the town, while the majority of disorganized OpFor had given chase and is currently besieging said castle. Our plan here is to retake the town and liberate the trapped refugees, after that we make contact with the defenders and establish some kind of diplomacy with us. Colonel Armstrong you will be our spearhead in this operation while Colonel Armstrong will provide aerial support and logistics.” Collins explained as he laid down a map of the new surroundings of his base. Thank god that the CTRG 14 has access to advanced equipment that NATO has to offer, he thought to himself. “I want you two to draw up plans for this operation and submit it to me in 0200 hours. I know you and your boys had been working non-stop for the entire day so take this short window of time for your men to rest, because tomorrow is gonna be another long day for us all”