After an uneasy helicopter ride, Darwin arrives at the military access portal annex of the Area 51 military base. The massive steel-plated facility stands tall with an appearance similar to that of an airport hangar. This will be the first time Darwin gets to use a military-grade portal. For all the missions that required travel to other dimensions, he had been using the civilian portals in the Dimensional Travel Hubs. He figures that this time should not be any different.

The Jedi takes out his ID card and shows it to the US Air Force soldier guarding the entrance as several other soldiers watch a short distance away. After shooting a brief glance from the ID's photo to Darwin's face, the soldier enters a code into the touchscreen keypad which causes the two metallic, windowless doors to part. After Darwin walks in, the doors close behind him with a loud "clang!"

What he sees before him is astounding. Hundreds of armed military personnel are scattered throughout the area either standing guard or patrolling. Technicians and officers can be seen walking around with clipboards, boxes, or tools in their hands. Multiple control panels with thousands of wires occupy the center of the room, arranged in a circle and operated by about a dozen technicians. The 100-foot walls straight ahead, on the left, and on the right each held a square portal about 70 feet high. Darwin can tell the portals are offline based on the absence of an ocean blue liquid-like substance that would usually occupy the space within the borders of any portal. Only the wall can be seen now. The whole scene looks almost like the set of Stargate: SG-1, the only difference being the non-circular portals.

Darwin spots a 10-man group of soldiers standing near the portal straight ahead. Their uniforms have a different design from those of the USAF soldiers on the premises. Instead of green camo-patterned uniforms, they wore pale sand-colored military fatigues with forest green helmets and vests, the outfit for United Dimensions Security Council troops. One of them was a Caucasian male with a slightly stout figure, a bushy mustache on his face, and a lieutenant rank patch on his lapel. He must be Lieutenant Kaminsky. He is talking with a bespectacled USAF officer wearing a blue beret and holding a clipboard, apparently the facility supervisor. Darwin approaches them.

"Oh, there he is now!" the UDSC lieutenant points to the incoming Darwin.

"Good morning," greets Darwin.

"You are Mr. Kwan, yes?" the lieutenant asks Darwin.

"That's right."

"I am Lieutenant Vladimir Kaminsky, United Dimensions Peacekeeping Corps. I was told you would be joining us." He extends his right hand.

"Nice to meet you, Lieutenant," says Darwin, returning Kaminsky's gesture.

"It is an honor to finally meet you in person."

Based on the distinct accent and the flag patch colored white, blue, and red on Kaminsky's left shoulder, Darwin can tell that the lieutenant is a Russian national.

The lieutenant points to the supervisor, saying, "This is Major Jameson, the facility head."

Jameson salutes and Darwin does the same.

"Why don't you inspect my men, Mr. Kwan?" Kaminsky suggests.

Darwin turns to face the troops to examine them. They all salute immediately.

"At ease, gentlemen," says Darwin before walking down the line to inspect each man.

They all present themselves with good stature, decent build, and serious looks on their faces. Darwin cannot sense a trace of uncertainty in any of them. He sees that they each bear a national flag patch for the United States, Mexico, Canada, or Russia on the left shoulder. On the right shoulder is a flag patch for the United Dimensions. Darwin also notices a large, black metal box sitting behind two of them, presumably for gear. He turns back to Kaminsky and gives a nod of approval.

"So, when do we get started?" Darwin inquires.

The supervisor answers, "Well, Sir, you've arrived just in time. We've just finished calibrating the portal for MYL1P0 and we're ready to turn it on at your command."

"Good," Darwin replies before asking, "How come there are only three portals? The hubs have lots more of them."

Jameson adjusts his glasses and explains, "These are special types of portals used for military access into dimensions; they're called multi-access portals or MAPs. One of them alone can access up to twenty different destinations. This way we avoid overcrowding the facility or spending too much money on a larger one. There are so many dimensions, after all. The civilian hubs don't have the time to keep recalibrating for commuters, especially with a massive amount of people traveling to so many different dimensions these days. That's why they keep lots of portals. We keep only three since military mobilization will be rare, hopefully."

"Why are they so huge?" Darwin inquires.

"They need to be," answers Jameson. "In the event of a military mobilization, we'll need to bring our vehicles like trucks, tanks, artillery, mech suits, even gunships."

"All of that?" Darwin's eyes widened.

"Yes. For example, during both invasions of Earth in the Dark-Light Wars, the Dark Dominion invaded many of our ally dimensions and brought lots of heavy weapons. Earth Force and the UD Security Council sent out their hardware using these portals."

"Not just these, right?"

"Of course not," says Jameson with a chuckle, "After all, this isn't the only facility we have. Several more are spread throughout the United States. In fact, there's a whole bunch of them all over the world. During that invasion, Earth Force had to borrow MAPs in Canada to send out troops stationed in here, in America."

Darwin grows more intrigued by this system. They can send in infantry and armor en masse from all over the world?

Jameson continues, "To expedite the movement of vehicles into other dimensions, we can send temporary factories and parts through these portals. Once they get to a safe spot, they set up shop and start making additional armored units when needed."

"They can do that?" asks Darwin, surprised and even more intrigued.

"Yeah, and it only takes a couple hours to complete half a dozen vehicles. Tanks and choppers alike."

Darwin's eyes bulge at what he just heard. Only a couple of hours for tanks to be built? For helicopters to be built? How is this possible?

"They've got a fast-paced assembly line manned by machines," Jameson goes on, "Just program the blueprints into the factory's system and the robots do the rest." He sighs in admiration. "It's amazing what modern technology can do. It's made everyone's lives so much easier."

I'll say, the Jedi agrees, still awestruck.

"So, what do you think?" asks the major.

Darwin snaps out of his daze and tries to takes in everything he just heard. While he may have lived on Earth for a year following his homecoming, he was too busy with missions to learn about all the technological advances that happened while he was off-planet. He struggles to find the right word for the things the Major just told him.

"I don't know what to say," Darwin scratches his head. "It's all so new to me. To think those temporary factories were being used during the invasion and I didn't even hear about them, it's just… Wow. Amazing, I guess. I'm still trying to take in everything you just said."

"Don't worry about it," The major assures him. "Take all the time you need. That's exactly how I felt when I learned about this stuff."

Darwin turns to Kaminsky and asks, "Does anyone in Equestria know we're coming?"

"We've contacted our garrison on the other side," the lieutenant replies, "They are waiting for us."

"Alright then," says Darwin. He looks to Jameson. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Fire it up, Eddie!" the major barks an order to an operator at the controls.

With a series of effortless button pushing, lever pulling, and knob twisting done by the bearded operator named Eddie, the portal in front of them begins to hum to life. Lights on the portal's frame start blinking, which gets faster with each passing second. From the center of the empty space, a light blue orb manifests, growing bigger and bigger by the second. In less than a minute, the once-exposed part of the wall behind the portal becomes replaced by a swirling water-like substance that protrudes slightly towards the astonished Darwin and Kaminsky. Jameson simply beams at the successful formation of the gateway to another world, several of which he had already seen.

"Ready to go, Sir?" Kaminsky asks the open-mouthed Darwin.

Darwin snaps out it and responds, "Yeah, whenever you are, Lieutenant."

"All you have to do is just step right through," advises Jameson. "You'll come out another portal on the other side."

"Thank you, Major," acknowledges Darwin. He turns to face the portal's mesmerizing swirls and stares into it, contemplating about this mission. He is uncertain, or perhaps afraid, of what he will learn. Nonetheless, he needs answers. Donning a look of confidence, Darwin steps forward. "Prepare your men, Kaminsky. We're going in."


Two shadow-covered figures sit across from each other in the dark office with a desk between them. The small, flickering lamp sitting on the desktop provides minimal lighting.

"Sir, a call came in, Kwan's on the move."

"Good, good, right on schedule. Are your men ready for another task?"

"As long as it's not like that stupid cop from last week, we're ready for anything."

"Why? That one wasn't too hard for you, was it?"

"As if! Covering our tracks kinda got sloppy, though."

"I see. Nevertheless, I am still impressed that you were able to pull it off. Ericson was an Earth Force veteran, one of the best."

"Earth Force? Those guys are a joke."

"Yes, of course. So are you in or not?"

"Of course I'm in. I'm always in. And so are my guys. This Jedi will be a piece of cake."

"Excellent. You remember the plan, right?"

"Down to a 'T'."

"Good. You haven't failed me so far, so don't disappoint me now."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Sir."

"I know you wouldn't. You are dismissed, and you may proceed when ready."

"Yes, Sir."

"And remember: no witnesses, whatever it takes."

"Crystal clear."

"Oh, and before you go, tell me, how's our mayor doing?"

A long pause precedes the response.

"They gave him the right to remain silent… and I made sure he got it."