"We've got contact!"
Scores of thermal signatures lit up their view as they exited the tunnel. As the AMC's arranged themselves in an arrowhead formation, as to get a better view of the area and as a defensive position. But they soon found themselves facing off thousands of enemy combatants. When it came through the radio that they had contact, the teams on board each vehicle began to shuffle out and take up positions around the area, some setting up equipment, others readying their weapons towards the enemy force in front of them. Four members from each team was responsible for dealing with the atmospheric scanners and pathogen detectors, while the rest of their squadmates were tasked with defense. The Chinese especially were heavily armed, carrying an HJ-14 anti tank launcher, as well as two incendiary rocket launchers with them. Although they weren't made for combat, just like the flame throwers they used, they were originally meant for dealing with wasp nests. Now they had a new use here.
As the troops exited, they had expected the enemy be below the hill, and they were. From what they had observed, they were 150 meters from their current position, with the rest of their forces about one mile meters away in a massive campsite. It seemed that they hadn't expected an attack, which worked out in the favor of the hazmat crews. Luckily the engines of the AMC's were fairly silent, which kept them in the dark for now. For the UN soldiers, their worst nightmare would be getting overrun by the force in front of them before they could finish running scans of the local atmosphere. But it wasn't long before they caught onto the hazmat units on the hill. The sound of men bustling around and setting up equipment had alerted them of their presence.
"Shit, I think they see us now." One of the French soldiers said quietly over the comms as he readied his rifle at the enemy downrange.
"Seems like it. Who was carrying the rocket launcher?" An American captain by the name of Aeran Pierce asked. "Because I think we're gonna need it." He looked back through his binoculars and looked in disbelief at the sight before him. Not at the men closest to them. But at what he saw in their campsite a mile below them. Three large dragons, one of which dwarfed the other two, were sleeping deeper in the enemy campsite roughly a mile away. Others soon got eyes on this and they radioed back to command about what they found. They had been given a briefing about what type of creatures they should expect to see. Among those was the Type A Class Kaiju. So far, two of which have been killed so far. Right now, he was looking at three of them, one of which was much larger than the other two, meaning it was most likely the offspring. He knew they didn't have the necessary weaponry to fight them, but it soon looked as if he had no choice.
It wasn't long before the various monsters and legionaries who were previously digging and building the fortifications, seeing the giant metal beasts they had only heard of through the stories from terrified survivors, now right in front of them, forced them to flee their positions and run back towards the camp. As they left their tools and partly built fortifications behind, some of the soldiers were ordered to check out just what they were building. Trenches filled with spikes, wooded walls, and towers meant for ballista were lined up all around the exit of the Gate.
"Command, we have eyes on three Type A Class Kaiju on the other side of Alpha Point. Repeat, we have confirmation on three Type A Class Kaiju, one of which is larger than the ones previously encountered."
"Affirmative. How far away is it from the exit of Alpha Point?"
"One mile north of the exit, based inside a campsite at that same distance below the Hill. We also have eyes on a substantial enemy force below, please advise."
"Hold your current position and DO NOT ENGAGE unless attacked first. We can't send a QRF through Alpha Point."
"Roger command, Captain Pierce out." "FUCK". Pierce though to himself. The moment those workers get back to their camp, all hell is going to break lose. They could open fire and kill them, but the sound of gunfire would alert them much quicker than if they just ran and exhausted themselves. "Alright men, take up positions and dig in. We have to hold out until we get a readout of the atmosphere."
"Holy shit! Do you see the size of that thing?"
"I don't think a single rocket launcher will do much against any of them." One of the Americans commented to the Chinese soldier who brought up the anti tank rocket.
"It's better than nothing." He replied. "At the very least, it'll slow the thing down."
"I'm not arguing that, but you saw the news footage of the ones we took down in Reykjavik. It took two railgun rounds through it's chest and head to finally kill the damn thing. Unless you hit it directly in the eye, you'll just piss it off even further."
As the hazmat teams moved further from their position so they could investigate what defenses were being built. "It looks like these guys are trying to prevent us from launching our counter attack. But no matter how deep they dig, we've got bridge layers for just that purpose." One of the Japanese soldiers commented.
"If anyone has some mines, we can leave a nasty surprise one these guys come back up here? They even left their shovels for us to do it!" One of the French joked. But for the Americans, they brought mines with them. Everyone stared at the Americans in surprise as two of them carried a large case filled with anti personnel mines.
One of the Americans looked up and just smirked as he tossed a few towards the other hazmat soldiers. "Hey, Geneva Conventions died decades ago, so who gives a fuck?" Laughed as he and his team began setting them up. They dug small holes throughout the trench line where the Saderans were still digging. If they came back to dig later on, they would certainly set them off. The mines were similar in design to the old M18 claymore mine, but had four prongs that could either attack itself to walls, or could be buried into the ground, which was attached to a cylindrical body. A blue laser wire would be left just above the surface. Once tripped, the mine would push up and shoot steel balls that, once they made contact with the body, they would fragment throughout the body. The mines were new and state of the art, used by the many nations in the UN, although it wasn't the only antipersonnel mine in use, just the only one available.
"I'm sure they'll appreciate the surprise we're leaving them. Hell, knowing how stupid these backwards assholes are, they might even try to pick them up."
"Damn, how many mines did you Americans bring?" Of of the French soldiers asked, curious as to why they sought to bring them on this mission. "I mean this is just supposed to be a simple recon mission, not an invasion!"
"You can never be too prepared." The American replied. "There's nothing wrong with a bit of extra firepower. Besides, we'll be needing them in a minute. Just look north. We're about to have a whole damn army coming our way."
And he wasn't lying either. No more than five minutes after setting up the mines, the campsite below was lit up in torchlight as thousands of men scrambled to their weapons and take the fight to them. Once they finished laying down the mines, they sprinted back towards the line of vehicles which was in a tight formation overlooking the campsite below. They couldn't have picked a better time as wyverns began to take to the sky and make beeline for the exposed soldiers. The soldiers could hear war horns being blared throughout the camp below them and could see just how large the enemy force was. They looked up and could see small flames above them. It was the wyvern sand the riders. They swooped down towards the men, which was a bad idea. Immediately the CROW's system on each AMC opened fire on the dragons, cutting them down with ease. However they flew up higher, where the gun couldn't elevate to hit it. Those that escaped the kill zone, dropped their payloads towards the UN teams. Once it hit the ground, it become apparent what it was. It reminded many of them about Greek Fire, an incendiary compound used by the Eastern Roman Empire. Many of the troops managed to get of the way as one of the vials hit directly on top of a nearby vehicle.
"What the fuck was that!" One of the French screamed as he barely dodged the flames that engulfed the vehicle next to him.
"Hell if I know, they weren't doing this in Reykjavik!"
"Hold it together men, we've bigger problems to worry about! Let the armor deal with the wyverns, we've infantry incoming!"
As the wyverns retreated back towards the camp, the outline of marching army came into view. Thousands of men were racing towards their location with intent to drive the invaders off of their homeland. For the hazmat soldiers, they had to wait until they got within 200 meters, otherwise they'd be wasting ammo due to the ranges. It's also due to the fact that their suits didn't give them the best options when aiming down the sites. Despite how accurate the MDR was, they weren't going to waste ammo until they knew they could hit them. The machine guns however, they had the targeting systems inside the drivers compartment. They fired short bursts into the charging crowd of men, which tore through their ranks with trivial ease. It got even worse once they passed the 500 meter mark. The moment they passed the 200 meter mark, every man who wasn't working on the diagnostics had opened fire, which further terrified the advancing legionaries. At first they had only seen eight flashes where the enemy was. Now there was dozens of them, each one opened up more avenues of death among their ranks. The situation was made even worse as the landmines exploded one after the other, sending fragments of metal shooting into the formations around them. For every one man killed by one of the mines, ten more dropped to the ground in agony as their extremities were torn to shreds by metal balls traveling faster than the speed of sound.
But while the fighting raged on, the scanners were still running their check of the atmosphere, but so far no pathogens, at least none around them, had been detected. They'd need another three minutes for the scan to complete. For Ethan Cole, member of Hazmat Team Delta, he and his team were sent here to help clean up the carnage left behind from the enemy known as the Saderan Empire. Most of it was normal up until this point. He had even killed a legionary back in Reykjavik who spent a week hiding out in an abandoned building. He had survived by eating this humanoid pig. The sight was disgusting and Cole opened fire immediately killing the man before he had a chance to grab his sword. He had been in hot zones before. He's used force before. But this was a situation he never expected to ever be in. Now his team, along with three others, were carrying out an operation that would determine how the inevitable counterattack would occur. They couldn't send in drones because the equipment they needed for atmospherics scans was far too bulky for it. Using unmanned APC's was also out due to how long it would take for them to be brought from Moscow.
"I hope they can hold off for a few more minutes, the scanning is almost complete." Cole said as he looked back at the fighting going on around him. "Scans are picking up no harmful pathogens, but then again, we might not find any in this specific area either."
"Let's just hope we don't run into zombies while we're here."
"Well it's a good thing we burned all those corpses back in Iceland and locked down all civilian travel from the country. Last thing we need is this world's equivalent of smallpox spreading like wildfire and crippling us." One of the Japanese hazmat members replied. "Then the situation would be much worse."
"I don't think it can get much worse than this. Being on some alien planet being attacked by a medieval army was not how I saw my week." One of the French members remarked. "Hell, I'm pretty sure we all had better shit to do."
"That equipment better hurry the fuck up, because I don't think we have enough ammo to hold these bastards off!" One of the Americans barked. "We've got hostiles moving in from the-." But before he could continue his sentence, an arrow punctured a weak point in his suit and was now lodged in his elbow, causing him to collapse in agony. One of the medics ran over and restrained the specialists hand before he could remove the arrow.
"Do not try to remove that arrow! Unless you want to bleed out, you have to keep it there until we can get back across the other side!" The medic informed him.
"Then put me in a position where I can shoot those bastards!" He snapped at the medic. "One less gun means we have a higher chance of being overrun." The medic then carried the sergeant over to one of the vehicles and sat him down right beside it, allowing him to lay down covering fire.
But as they looked down as the campsite below, they were beginning to mobilize and many of them had begun to charge at them. They could see thousands below them. Once all the dragons in the sky were killed or their riders shot off, the eight .50 caliber machine guns belonging to the AMC's had opened up on the infantry below. Even as they stopped to form a shield wall, it did little to prevent the rounds from ripping straight through them. Soon the Chinese began firing their launchers, which would scorch through their lines and force them to break formation. The quad barreled launcher lit it's targets ablaze in red and orange flame. Some of the rounds were deliberately overshot so they would impact within the camp. It wasn't long before the tents throughout the camp began to burn, forcing many of their would be attackers to fight the fire instead of them. But despite all that, many were still charging uphill into certain slaughter.
There was just one problem. Ammo. Three of the AMC's had already depleted their ammo stockpiles on the dragons, with the rest of them running low trying to keep the seemingly unending tide of legionaries at bay. However it had seemed, at least for the moment, they had a reprieve. The legionaries began an unorganized retreat from the hill and the soldiers stopped to catch their breath. Then blue bolts began to fly their way, slamming against the sides of the vehicles, some cutting straight through them. As they looked down they could see a phalanx of silver armoured soldiers marching their way uphill. While the small arms of the hazmat teams didn't affect them, the machine guns did. However there was just far too many of them and not enough ammo. Soon all but two had gone dry and they were focusing on the Immortals. The last thermobaric rocket had been fired at approaching legionaries to their northwest, and while it had slowed the approach on that side due to the scorching heat forcing the men to back away, they had began to march around it. But as the Immortals got closer, they got more accurate. First just one man went down. Then another. Soon they had two dead and six wounded that they were loading into the back of the AMC. But it soon became clear that they could hold out no longer.
"Uh, guys?" One of the American Hazmat members asked nervously.
"What is it Crispy, can't you see where trying to work here?" Cole annoying replied to his teammate. But as he looked up, he could see what had caught his attention. "Holy fucking shit!" Cole exclaimed as focused his night vision just north of their location.
As they looked out at the burning campsite, they could see three pairs of giant glowing eyes. Soon flames started to form right below them and were belched out, revealing the form of three gigantic dragons. But one of them was much bigger. It dwarfed the other two and was at least three times the size of the ones encountered before. The dragons soon took flight, which made the hazmat teams begin their evacuation. In a last ditch attempt to try and delay the advance of the oncoming dragons, the Chinese squad member who had the HJ-14 took off to the front and locked it onto the signature of the closest dragon. The radar and infrared profile was monstrous, so there was no way it would miss.
"Smile you son of a bitch!" With the flick of a switch, the forty pound missile leaves the tube and accelerated towards it's target. As it approached closer to the target, the legionaries paused and locked their eyes on the giant flaming arrow that had guided itself towards the flame dragon. The dragon, realizing that it was coming it's way, attempted to fly out of it's way. That however, turned out to be a huge mistake. The missile was to close to redirect itself, but slammed straight through the left arm of one of the smaller dragons, severing the arm straight off, causing it to how in pain. It quickly fell out of the sky and skidded across the ground, crushing hundreds of legionaries beneath it's weight.
"Good, you bought us some time, now get your ass moving!" Pierce ordered to the Chinese soldier. He may not have been his countryman, but he was still the overall leader of the operation. The words still registered and he hauled ass to the nearby AMC. Pierce loaded up in the vehicle with the dead and wounded, refusing to abandon any of the wounded should anything happen to them. "Driver, get us the fuck out of here!"
"Yes sir!" He obey the order and the engine roared to life as they sped away from the battlefield.
Atmospheric scan: 95% complete
"Hurry that shit up, we are leaving!" One of the Chinese soldiers yelled at them as the AMC's began to back up towards the Gate. "How much fucking longer?"
"Almost there!" He hurridly replied. 96,97,98,99, and now 100% complete. He quickly transferred the files into his date drive and made a beeline for the back of nearby AMC, leaving all the equipment behind. Normally, they'd have time to pack up their gear, but they had no time. Being chased by two dragons who could snap a coast guard vessel in half, along with it's parent will make one perform a hasty retreat. Command would understand their problems. It was their idea that the operation move forward at the quickest possible time, so they couldn't complain if anything got left behind.
"Your just going to leave that behind?" One of the Japanese soldiers asked in a befuddled tone. "That's multi million dollar equipment!" One of Cole's team members, Jack McCan grabbed the man by his shoulders and pointed in the direction of the dragons that were now coming their way. Upon seeing it, the Japanese man's eyes went wide.
"Do you fucking see that? Maybe if you open your fucking eyes you'll see that we can't stay here!" He yelled at the man, before grabbing Cole's laptop and sprinting towards a vehicle.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean you fucking Gaijin!" He yelled at McCan before being pushed by his squad leader into the back of their vehicle, which soon slammed shut. Realizing that the equipment was a lost regardless, he grabbed a grenade from his pouch and chucked it at the set up. A few others did the same before piling in with their respective teams and the AMC's spun around and got the hell out of their. The last two machine guns fired desperately at the dragons who began to follow them, but it only pissed them off as one of the dragons spat flame at the convoy of retreating vehicles. The heat did little but leave some scorch marks.
"Command, this is captain Pierce, we may have some company following us back through Alpha Point, requesting support!"
"Affirmative, units based on our side of Alpha Point are already massing for an attack. Interrogative: How many hostiles are following you?"
Pierce looked back and saw two extremely pissed off dragons following them as they got closer to the Gate. "Two Type A Class Kaiju are hot on our heels, they may try and follow us through, pleas-" But he was cut off as the vehicle stopped and began to be lifted into the air.
The larger dragon flew close enough and caught up with them. It picked up Pierce's vehicle, which was also ferrying the wounded, happened to be the last one with ammo, and threw with such force that it cracked open and burst into flames. Those that weren't flung out of the vehicle were burnt alive in the wreckage. They could all hear the screaming of the crew over the radio as they entered the black ether of the Gate. Many of the hazmat teams wanted to go back and retrieve the survivors, but they had run out of ammunition and had nothing to even scratch the dragons. But one by one, the voices faded. They all sat there stunned. Unknowing of what to do next. The last thing any of them heard over the radio was the desperate screams of that wounded men on board as they tried to escape the dragons. Many just sat with their heads in their hands, unbelieving at what just happened.
"Captain, say again? Repeat, captain, are you there?" The sound went through Pierce's headset, but he lay unmoving still, strapped into his seat, unconscious. The force of the throw had killed everyone not strapped in. The wounded were flown out of the vehicle and were helpless. The sounds of their screams punctured the night.
"They couldn't just fucking wait instead of taking us into that fucking shitshow." Cole said angrily to himself as he thought about how badly that operation had gone. How they left their dead and wounded behind for those barbarians to torture for information. He hoped that any of the survivors soon died, as being captured would be hell for them. "We don't leave our men behind." He sat staring out into the black as the now seven vehicle strong convoy raced back through Alpha Point and back to safety. The fucking captain is back there! We can't just fucking leave him!"
"We can't go back, if we do, we die!" The driver yelled back. Defeated, Cole just slumped down and sat there, only thinking about what would happen to any of the men unlucky to survive. But they had the data they needed, and that would help greatly in future operations. The atmosphere was breathabale for humans, just with less greenhouse gasses due to having to industrialization or nuclear weapons tests. However there were some unknown gasses in the atmosphere, something they'd have to go over in at the lab when they got back. Hopefully it wouldn't impact any personnel when they finally went through in force.
As they passed through the entrance to Alpha Point in Reykjavik, Cole could see they took this threat seriously. Dozens of tanks and armored fighting vehicles were lined up around the structure, as well as scores of infantry with anti tank launchers. Helicopter and VTOL gunships circled overhead, and fighters screamed past the sky in anticipation of another attack. The lane that they had used originally to get through was opened just long enough for the now seven AMC's to go through, before a group of tanks blocked it once more. Many of the men who were manning the defenses earlier were alarmed at the speed they came racing through Alpha Point. They were even more alarmed at the fact that there was only seven of them, not eight. They made it to the nearby quarantined motor pool and the crew, as well as the vehicles underwent cleaning. They would've had the station right there for them as soon as they exited, but that changed when they got chased back home.
Once their equipment was sanitized and confirmed not to be carrying any unknown pathogens or alien bacteria, they were cleared to pick it up. Despite the fact they lost a few million dollars in sensitive equipment, they made it back with the data they had gathered. Now Cole and his team had some time to review it before handing their reports in.
"This had better have been worth it." Ramirez muttered to himself.
"Well I think it's pretty clear that the lack of dead Icelandic civilians on the other side means we can breathe safety." McCan replied. "But that still doesn't account for any disease or bacteria, which lucky for us, we brought back none with us."
"Even still, we took a heavy toll. Not including captain Pierce, we lost a vehicle and it's entire crew."
"Do we have an accurate headcount yet?" Crispy asked.
"An AMC has enough room for thirteen people, but they had switch some men out to fit the dead and wounded. The drivers and gunner, Pierce, six wounded, and two dead. Of the two casualties, one was American, the other Japanese. Three wounded were Chinese, one American, one Japanese, and one French. The drivers and gunner were both French. We may as well count them all as dead though. You saw how big that damn dragon was." Cole said somberly.
"We may have taken a beating, but we made those bastards pay for every inch of ground they took on that hill." Ramirez said confidently. "If a rocket launcher can tear the arm off of the smaller ones, a couple of well placed tank rounds will surely take care of the bigger one. If that failed, we can haul one of those railguns over there on a flat bed trailer."
"You talking about the ones that look like they belong on a fucking battleship?" Cole inquired.
"Hell yeah, those ones that can tear straight through a warship. If you've never seen the video's of them, they can toss a tank around!"
"I know which ones. Aren't those the same ones mounted on our naval ships?"
"Aquatic navy, yes, space fleet has slightly bigger, but more powerful versions." Ramirez looked back at the Alpha Point, expecting something to come bursting from it any minute. "Let's hope we don't need it. Come on, let's go hand in our report and get our debriefing." The team looked back one last time, holding onto some hope that their captain had managed to survive the attack.
Pierce's vision was blurry and his body aching. All he could remember was alerting command of the two dragons chasing them before his vehicle was lifted into the air and tossed to the ground. As his vision began to clear, he could see the extent of the damage done to the AMC. It had been cracked open from the sheer force of the throw. The entire left side had been torn completely open, leaving himself exposed to anyone or anything that might pass by. Half of the crew that was once inside had been flung out when the left side had been torn off. As he hung upside down in the wreckage, he looked around the remains of the inside, and could see the rest of the once wounded soldiers. They were all dead. He reached for his knife and went to cut through his straps keeping him in place. As he cut them, one by one, he could hear something outside. He stopped cutting and listened closely.
"H-help me. Someone. Anyone." It was a survivor. Realizing he had to help the man, he went back to cutting through the last two straps. As he collapsed onto the onto the roof liner of the vehicle, he reached for the medkit mounted on the wall and scrambled outside. He carefully stepped outside and scanned his surroundings for any hostiles before advancing forward. He went to tap his comms, but his helmet was busted entirely. The radio was broken and the visor was cracked.
"Oh what the hell." He said to himself as he took his helmet off and tossed it to the ground. He paused before taking in breath of air, realizing that it was safe for humans, began to breath normally once more. In his first attempt to find a weapon, he found an MDR on the ground nearby. While the silencer it had on it was broken in half, he had a spare he always kept on him. A certain mission outside Lagos taught him an important lesson about what happens when you alert nearby enemies with gunfire. Although he and his team were dealing with violent creatures, not Roman legionaries.
He followed sounds of pained words and gasps until he came unto the injured soldier. His suit was torn apart and he had a large piece of shrapnel in his stomach. The man sat on his back, unable to move out of fear of further blood lose and pain. Pierce raced over to him after making sure the coast was clear. "Don't worry, I've got you, soldier. Just don't move and try to relax, help is on the way." He tried to reassure him. But inside, Pierce knew that help likely wasn't coming. A QRF couldn't be mobilized on such short notice, especially if they believe they were all dead. It was up to him and him only to try and save him.
"You've got t-to hide. That thing is looking." He said in a delirious tone. Pierce looked up and saw one of the dragons fly overhead. It was the same one that put them in this position in the first place. It seemed satisfied with having killed most of them, but he could hear the sounds of hundreds of voices yelling and were slowly, but surely coming closer to their location. "I-I don't want to die alone out here. Please don't leave." His voice begged as tears formed in his eyes as he gripped Pierce with what strength he could muster. The amount of blood loss, coupled with how cold it was outside, was only making his condition worse. He gently picked the man up and began to carry him to the wreckage of the AMC.
Omar. That was the last name on his name tag across his chest. Around his neck was a crescent moon, the symbol of Islam. If Pierce had to guess, he was likely the son of a family that fled the middle east when the region was turned into a landscape of radioactive craters. A few years back, he was in charge of training Egyptian, Jordanian, Iranian, and Pakistani hazmat teams to operate in the irradiated ruins of Mecca and Medina. The radiation had started to lower and every Islamic nation wanted to send in crews to recover anything left within the holy cites. Training them at first was frustrating, but this was something they desperately wanted. Unfortunately, they weren't able to recover much from the city. Many Muslims had held hope that the Tomb of Muhammad would still be recoverable, but there wasn't much left. But the same could be applied to virtually every city in the former Gulf States.
It was also the same in cities like Rome, Jerusalem, and every other city of religious significance. Their destruction drove millions of Christians and Muslims from the occupied regions to join the militaries of the nations who accepted them. The fire of vengeance drove them to fight the invaders out of their homelands. But that vengeance also lead to disproportionate casualties when in battle. But when all was said and done, seeing what little remained of their former countries had broke them. Between those massacred in the occupied regions of the world during the war, coupled with causalities taking while actively fighting, the world's religion took a massive hit. Many lost faith after the war when they saw all the destruction wrought in the world. However it was that same destruction that drove millions of Christians, Muslims, and Jews to attempt to rebuild their cities. However such efforts were hampered for decades until the radiation had died down. Even today progress is limited due to salted cobalt bombs dropped in the war.
Pierce himself wasn't exactly religious, but he respected those who still held faith. As he removed the hazmat suit around him, he got a look at the full extent of his injuries. The piece of metal was at least embedded at least three inches into his stomach. Based on the positioning of it, it was lodged into his kidney. There wasn't anything he could do for him except easing the pain. He grabbed an injector with morphine and slipped it into the nearest vein he could find. Even with what the medkit had, coupled with the fire blanket to keep him warm, it was clear he didn't have long.
"This should help ease the pain. I'm sorry I can't do more for you Sergeant, but we're on our own out here." He said quietly to Omar as he shivered underneath the blanket. "Those bastards likely think we're dead, so we should be safe for now. I'll get us out of here."
"Heh, with all due respect sir, your a horrible liar. I've lost too much blood." A small smile cracked across his face despite the circumstances. "I know enough about septic shock to know I've got it. And I've lost too much blood. Just make me a promise would you?"
Pierce simply nodded his head in agreement with what had just been asked of him. He reached around in his pocket and pulled out a note and engagement ring. Pierce realized just what he was doing and he didn't expect that. "Don't you even dare think about that, I'm gonna get you out of here!" Pierce exclaimed trying to help calm Omar down as he tried to brainstorm a way to get them out of here.
"Please, sir. Make sure my family gets this. I don't have much time left and I just want to make sure it'll get back to my family." Omar said practically choking on tears. "I always wanted to serve the nation that took my family in when they were just refugees. When I got the call to mobilize, I was in Marseilles. Before I left, I promised my daughter I'd be home for Christmas. I guess I shouldn't have made a promise I couldn't keep." He then tried to reach for his necklace, but was to weak to be able to reach it properly. Pierce undid and slid it into Omar's hand.
"You can't be thinking about that Omar, just think about them. Their expecting you to home and I'll be damned if you don't get to see your family again! I make sure all my men head home, even if I don't. Just hang on for a little longer, I'll see if the radio in the drivers compartment is still working."
"Please, make sure my family gets this. I want my wife and daughter to know I'm sorry, but I had to perform my duty." He clasped his hand tightly into Pierce's and looked deeply into his eyes. Realizing that further arguing was useless, he simply nodded his head in agreement.
"Don't worry, sergeant, I'll make sure these make it back to them."
"Thank you, sir." He said in a weak tone with a smile across his face. his grip loosened and his head slumped down. Pierce tried desperately to bring him back, even using an adrenaline shot from the medkit, but realized all his effort was in vain. Omar was gone. A man who sought to keep his family safe, had been one of the first military casualties beyond Alpha Point. All he could do was curse himself for not being able to get him back through Alpha Point. He removed his hands from his abdomen, which were now covered in blood. Having realized he had dropped the items meant for his family, he glanced to his left and saw them laying on the ground. His engagement ring, his necklace, and a note, meant for his family. The note had uncrumpled enough for it to be read.
To my beloved wife, Emma and my daughter, Mila, if you are reading this, then I regret to tell you that I will not be coming home. I have died in order to keep you both safe. I took an oath to defend my country no matter what and I have given the ultimate sacrifice. This is the cost of war. It is measured in more than any one life.
Mila, I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise of coming home for Christmas. You know daddy would never lie to you, but sometimes things occur that we can't control. Having you gave me the strength to push on even in the darkest of times. To protect all we hold dear in our world. You will always be my little angel. I love you.
Emma, please keep Mila safe and find it in your heart to forgive me for leaving you all alone. All I wanted was to come home once again and hold you both in my arms again. If it is not on the battlefield where I draw my last breath, then it will be in your loving arms. I await you in Jannah. But until that day comes, keep me in your hearts, always.
"FUCK!" Pierce screamed as he threw his fist into the metal lining of the wrecked AMC. "Just another Black Hawk Down scenario!" He thought. "Fucking send us here without proper fucking support and don't even have a fucking QRF on station to help us! Did Gothic Serpent teach them nothing?" His rant was interrupted by the sounds of laughing and talking getting closer. Realizing that they were likely here to kill any survivors and take any weapons they found. He quickly grabbed the times dropped by Omar and fitted them into his pocket. However, not realizing just how close they were, when he grabbed his MDR, two figures stepped directly into the vehicle. Both sides froze for a few seconds. The legionaries had not expected for their to be any survivors. Pierce didn't expect the search parties would arrive as quickly.
"Get Ut Barbara!" one of them shouted. They both went to rush him, but he raised his gun and fired a short burst of seven rounds, which tore through both of them with ease. He rushed to the gash in the hull and pointed his rifle out towards the cold night, in which he caught two more legionaries in his sights, which he subsequently dropped. What he didn't see however was legionary coming up his right that grabbed his rifle and pointed it downwards. A fist ten struck him in the face, forcing him to reel backwards before he regained his footing. Sword in hand, the legionary rushed towards Pierce, a sadistic smile on his face. Pierce sidestepped the swing, cocked his right arm back, and threw all he had right into the man's left orbital, sending the man back into the wall of the vehicle. Seizing the initiative, he swung his foot up at the man's hand, knocking the sword from it.
When the legionary looked back up, it was clear that his left eye was useless. His orbital was fractured and his eye sunken. Pierce stood his ground and put his fists up in a defensive stance, daring the man to come to him. He scowled at Pierce and one again said something in his native language that he couldn't understand.
"Ego te occidit. Non es magis utilis nobis erit vivens. At ego faciam, tu redde quod feci vobis amicis meis!"
"Bring it on you motherfucker!" With that, the legionary slowly began to approach Pierce, sizing him up and studying his stance. Once they were but a foot away from each other, the legionary struck first. He threw a right hook towards Pierce, who blocked it with his arm, swinging a right hook at his face once again. For about thrity seconds, they were locked in a stalemate, unable to gain the advantage over one another. However Pierce had prepared to deliver a blow directly to the legionary's face, he dodged the blow and delivered a hard left hook into Pierce's gut. The legionary then clasped both his hands and forced them down onto his back in a harsh blow. He proceeded to grab him and threw him into the wall, forcing Pierce to collapse onto the ground.
"Haha, non infirmi sunt. Tu pugnare potes, non tuae absque relati. Iam ut vos scire quid suus 'cladem. Et eventually et habitabunt in te orbis terrarum." he kicked his foot towards Pierce, who was still reeling from the blow he received, had taken a kick to the back, keeping him down. However, in a burst of strength and adrenaline, grabbed the legionary's foot when he attempted to kick him again. He then swept his leg underneath the legionary, knocking him down. Both men stumbled to their feet once again and began trading blows. But for Pierce, he was fighting for his life. He didn't want to die in this shithole. He wanted to get back home so he could come back and retrieve his fallen. When the next blow came his way, he grabbed his opponents wrist when he threw the next blow, forcing himself behind the legionary. Leveraging his arm against the man's tricep, he proceeded to drop his chest and body directly onto his arm, breaking the right arm.
The sound of ripped tendons and ligaments filled the inside of the wrecked AMC. Now with the man screaming in agony at the broken arm, Pierce planted a knee directly on his spine and reached for his left arm. He yanked it back, twisted it, and brought his elbow down directly on the joint, once again leveraging his weight against his opponent. Pierce then stood up, gazing angrily at the now helpless legionary beneath him. With both arms broken, he could not get up. He flipped the man over and began delivering blow after blow to his skull. Even as the man faded from consciousness, he didn't stop. He was far too angry to do so. Even as the sounds of wetness and crunching from the skull followed every blow, he didn't stop. He only stopped when the man's face was completely unrecognizable. But in one final act, he unsheathed his knife and plunged it directly into the man's throat, a gurgling sound followed, then silence. He stood triumphantly over the man who had only moments ago tried to kill him. Now he was victorious.
But as he looked back at Omar's lifeless body, as well as the few others that were left in the vehicle, he realized he had an obligation to get them home. He knew he'd have to make it back to the FOB set up outside of Alpha Point and gather team to collect the bodies. He had no intention of letting them get desecrated by these sick fucks. He staggered outside and grabbed his rifle. Seeing that the coast was clear, he proceeded to head directly towards the Gate and hopefully make it back home.
Molt Sol Augustus was in a haze. He didn't understand where he was. All he could see was pitch black. But soon his senses were overwhelmed. The smell of rotting corpses, the sound of loud explosions, accompanied with the screams of countless voices. The taste of blood in his mouth. The pitch black soon switched to a scene of utter carnage. It was Alnus Hill. Every legionary that was tasked with defending the hill lie in bloody chunks all across the hill. The vision soon changed to when the battle was occurring. He watched as his elite, the Immortals, under the protective barrier of three battle mages had advanced on the hill, where the enemy had sat upon. He could see thousands of soldiers, all of which were wearing varying shades of green and wielded strange black staffs. Behind them, stood dozens of large, metal elephants that spat terrible fire at the Immortals. For the first few seconds, the shield had held, albeit he could see the strain on the mages. But then it shattered. Soon the enemy's explosive magic tore through their ranks and they began to fall in droves. Dozens more elephants, this time with longer snouts had directed themselves into the air and spat their terrible fire onto his legions from seemingly impossible distances. Each blast tore through more and more of his men, quickly depleting their already exhausted ranks.
In the skies, he watched as the wyvern riders of the Empire were swatted out of the sky as if they were nothing. Flaming arrows followed each one until they collided, showering gore along the battlefield. Only the tamed fire dragons were putting up any resistance to the otherworlders weaponry, but one was already missing an arm that looked as if it was done before the battle. Soon the enemy's elephants had focused their attention from the now devastated Immortals, to the dragons. The younger ones had managed to get close enough to breath fire onto the ranks of infantry below it, which burned a great many of them. But soon they were hit again and again from the terrible weapons from those beyond the Gate. Explosions rocked the earth as the enemy's elephants showed no mercy against the offspring and took chunk after chunk out of the dragon, until it was far too weak to move. It soon collapsed onto the ground, barely breathing. Soon it's head was blow in half by a bright flash of green light that came from somewhere behind the front line. Soon the next one was swiftly taken down, leaving only the female parent.
It being more armoured than it's offspring, as well as faster, gave it an advantage over the enemy. It swooped down and taunted them, grabbing lone metal carriages and elephants, and proceeding to throw them, often hard enough that they burst into flames upon hitting the ground. But his vision soon focused on more of the enemy exiting the Gate. More metal carriages and elephants. Some of them had large tubes on the back of them. They stopped not far from where the Gate and planted feet into the ground. They then shifted the tubes up into the air, where it became apparent it was aiming at the dragons. He looked closely at this strange weapon. On the side, there was a flag. A tricolor of red, white, and blue. White on top, blue in the middle, and red on the bottom. Soon the tubes erupted in fire and flaming arrows, much larger than he had seen hunt down the wyverns, began screaming towards the dragon at incomprehensible speeds. Eight large arrows impacted, one after one, into the wings and limbs of the dragon, until it collapsed to the ground.
But despite all the damage it took, it still wasn't down yet. It proceeded to get back up and charge the enemy's line, which caused many of them to enter an apparent retreat. But as he looked back, he could see another weapon. This one consisted of a very long metal tube, that shifted towards the position of the dragon. On the carriage carrying the weapon, he could see a familiar flag. 50 white stars within a blue background, with thirteen red and white horizontal stripes. He was warned about this nation specifically. These weapons, which all sat on rotating mechanism, slowly turned it's way to the dragon. Then, in a brilliant streaks of green light erupted from their snouts and headed straight for the dragon. Each light tore through it's thick scales, where other weapons had failed. With each strike, the dragon let out a cry of pain. Another streak of light, this time directed at it's head. Once it struck, it's head exploded violently, causing the body to collapse, joining it's offspring in death.
In the aftermath, he could see the battlefield clear of bodies. The only thing he could see was an absolute monstrous fortress built around the Gate on Alnus Hill. He could see a hundred different flags, but at the center of them stood a single blue flag. A map of their world, surrounded by two olive branches. He could see a massive army within it. Hundreds of thousands of men, all bearing many different flags on their arms, stood united among each other.
"They have but one goal in mind, Emperor Molt." He heard a voice call out to him. Startled, he called out to the darkness that overtook him once again.
"Who's there? What trickery is this? Are you another of the otherworlders tricks?" He asked, terrified of what was to happen.
"Do you know what that is?" The voice spoke once more.
"What?" He trembled fearfully as he could hear a cacophony of voices all round him, getting closer each second.
"VENGEANCE!" The voice screamed out to him, before he woke up in a pool of his sweat, to the sight of many concerned faces.
Realm of the Gods
"What have you done?" Miritta scolded Hardy for opening the Gate once again. "Not only have you opened it to the same world as you've done before, you opened yet another on a world with an even more powerful force!"
"We have already lost countless followers from the failed invasions, what do you think will happen when they inevitably come for revenge?" Zufmuut pointed out.
"Do you not realize the point of all this?" Hardy has asked them with a smirk on her face.
"What? That we may lose our followers and the status quo that we've kept for millennia to be broken?"
"And such factions will bring knowledge that will destabilize the world." Elange and La parroted at the same time. "Such enlightenment would reduce our influence and how much the people rely on us."
Hardy simply chuckled at the responses of her fellow Gods. "It will teach the Empire a great lesson in humility. For too long they've seen themselves as invincible, even many in the royal family had seen their rule as more important. So intend on teaching them a lesson."
"Your lesson could've been done in ways that are not foolish and pointless. I have foreseen the destruction they will bring with them. Both sides have terrible weapons at their disposal, power to rival our own." Palapon's anger had begun to rise at the shortsightedness that Hardy was displaying.
"And believe me when I say, they will bring far more souls into both of our domains that we could handle. If we do not close the Gate immediately, as well as dealing with those taken as slaves, our world will undergo radical change, change that this world will not survive." Emroy had informed them. His suggestion was taken into account by every of his fellow Gods.
"Not to mention they will damage the very world with what they seek." Wareharun spoke up. She was the living embodiment of all plant in the world. "Their machines belch smoke that will blacken the air, will leave giant scars in the earth from where they mine, and will clog the oceans with pollution. If they come through, they will not leave unless we force them."
"They see our world as just territory for the taking. If they gain a foothold here, they will gradually diminish our power here. They do not worship any Gods, which makes their very existence to be blasphemous." Duncan had explained. "I say we deliberate on what we are to do. I vote that we seal all three Gates as soon as possible. After that, we kill off all the slaves that were brought back from all three Gates."
Before they could continue their conversation, a bright flash appeared off to the side, directly in their realm. They were at a loss for what to do. There was no power capable of entering their domains. But now as the light diminished in brightness, they could make out a strange blue object before them. There was strange writing on the top of it as well. Almost as quickly it had appeared, a human had stepped out of it, wearing strange clothes and holding a small object in his hand.
"I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but I'm afraid I can't let you interfere in these matters. If you do, then there shall be severe consequences." The man explained. The Gods simply laughed at the human who had dared trespass in their domain. But the human just stood there, giving off a look of annoyance as they laughed at him.
"You dare trespass in our domain? Who do you think you are?" As Emroy went to strike this human down, he pointed the object in his hand directly at Emroy, which caused him to seize up and scream in agony. The other Gods just froze in place, unknowing what to do. Not only had someone entered their realm unannounced, but one of their own had just been struck down with ease by this human.
"I will make this very clear. You will not act in any direct fashion against the United Nations of Earth, nor will you interfere with the Phauthi Federation. You have opened the connection between these two universes one too many times, and now it will stay open. There is a link between the two that cannot be broken again, and I will ensure that it stays that way. Their world is protected and I will ensure their safety from any action you try to take. You have only yourselves to blame with such recklessness in your attempts to gain more followers. Now you shall deal with the consequences of opening the connection. Since my kind are no longer entrenched in war, I will be here to stay, to make sure you keep your word. Remember this, no matter how powerful you think you are, no matter how careful you think you might be in your efforts, I will see everything you do. I hope I'm understood."