Chapter 2: The Couslands
Date unknown due to unknown forces in space -time continuum. Approximate time: 1605 hours(military Calendar)/ Sol System, Planet Earth, Castle
"You're Trespassing on Cousland property," the lead soldier said.
"Um Sarge? What do we do?" Jake asked.
"I don't know. I just don't know," I said.
"Ser Gilmore what should we do?" one knight asked.
"We arrest them and take them to the Teryn," the lead knight said.
"Teryns? Since have there been Teryns?" I asked.
"No since what Great Britain?" Jason suggested. The knights binded us with iron cuffs and led us to the Teryn. Teryn Bryn and his wife were walking with their two sons around their castle.
"*Sigh* I can't believe it. Still seems like a dream. We still have our freedom from the Orlsians," Bryn said.
"Dear, I know. Hang on, is that Ser Gilmore?" his wife said.
"Sir, we found these intruders in the basement beneath the Castle," Ser Gilmore said.
"How did they get in?" Bryn asked.
"We were just about to ask them," Gilmore said. He turned to us and said," Talk."
"What should we say?" Jake asked me.
"Let me handle this. Look I think there might be some mis-understanding. We were told that this place belonged to the United States of America. We were sent to investigate some odd readings and found plenty of Lyrium in there actually. And… um troopers, notice anything different?" I asked.
"What the hell? Where's the camp?" Jason said.
"Oh I can't fucking wait to hear this," Jake said.
"What are you three talking about? What is the United States of America?" Ser Gilmore asked.
"oh you've got to be fucking kidding me. Everyone knows who the U.S.A is," Jake said.
"Uh Jake. I don't think we're in the right place," I said.
"Hang on, who are you? And what type of armor is that?" Teryn Bryn asked. Jake and Jason looked at me and I nodded. I was the first to stand up.
"Sergeant Michael 'Cortez' Reese. Serial number JR1358273," I said.
"Corporal Jason Ridge. Serial number KF1837207," Jason said.
"Private First Class Jake Thompson. Serial number KN1902389," Jake said.
"I am Teryn Bryce. This is my wife, Teryna Eleanor, and our two sons. Aedan and Fergus. Now please tell me how you managed to sneak past every one of my troops and got into the castle?" Bryce asked.
"Well we're not exactly sure. As we said before, we were told that we were American territory. We were sent in advance of a team of scientists who were going to investigate some energy readings we detected during aerial recon of the area. We were testing the area when suddenly we were hit by this white light and when our vision cleared we had swords and arrows pointed at our faces," I said.
"Strange readings? Um I don't think I follow," Bryce said.
"You know, Radiation, Electromagnetic waves, gamma rays, hell even beta rays just in case," Jake said.
"Yeah, exactly why we were outfitted with special armor to counter the effects or even jamming frequencies if it was an old army research project left to rust," Jason said.
"Ser Gilmore, do make any sense of this?" Bryce asked.
"Actually I'm still wondering what radiation is," he said.
"What the hell? You guys living under a rock or something? Everyone knows what Radiation is. You know, all kinds of fucked up shit if you stay in it's vicinity or even death in enough quantities or just exposure time. But luckily we found no traces so ya'll will live to be old people, uh no offense," Jason said.
"Jake, um look at their faces. they don't have a clue what we're talking about," I said.
"Yeah I noticed. hang keep them talking I'm going to try and find out the date," Jake said.
"Good idea, the suits are designed to change time during any event, even if it's a crazy one like this," I said agreeing with him. "So um where the hell are we then? it would seem that we've gone off course," I said.
"You're currently at Highever, the Cousland Castle," he said.
"Did he just say Cousland?" I asked.
"Yep. you're not thinking?" Jason asked.
"Maybe. hang on," I said. I turned back to Teryn Bryce and said," Well could you please point us in the direction of the nearest USA base then we'll be on our way."
"USA? there is no USA, just Ferelden, and every base established by outsiders have been destroyed. there are only Ferelden castles," Bryce said.
"Man if these guys are acting they're really pulling it off," I said.
"Um Sarge? They're not acting. either this is a computer glitch or whatever that blast was… it sent us back in time," Jake said.
"What?" I asked.
"Check the date. it says we're on the right date from which we left but the year…" Jake said. I pulled up the date on my headset and looked. Right day, right month… but way wrong year. When we "left" the year was 2015, now the year read… 900 A.D.
"Troopers, we're are seriously fucked," I said. Jason just fainted as the reality set in.
"Is your friend alright?" Fergus asked.
"Jake, check on Jason. I've got an idea. See those trees over there?" I asked.
"Yeah, they look like the ones I saw by the Command tent," Jake said.
"Exactly, I remember looking at them and if I'm wrong, then they should confirm if we're back in time," I said. I ran over and peeled off my combat pack. I pulled out an axe and cut into a thick branch. With several swift and heavy whacks, the branch came off and showed the rings which would show the trees age. Jason had mumbled something about the tree being older than any tree he'd seen. I counted the rings and found it to only be a few years old. "Shit on a fucking stick," I grumbled.
"Uhhh… what happened?" Jason asked.
"You fainted after I said we had gone back in time," Jake answered.
"And we are indeed back in time. The tree is only a couple years old. It's right where the command tent was set up. So now we're screwed," I said.
"Um could you explain what you're talking about?" Bryce asked. He, his wife, sons and loyal knights were dumbfounded.
"Well it seems that whatever that white light was, it tore a hole through the space-time continuum allowing us to be thrown across thousands of years of history and unfortunately we now run the risk of creating a paradox and unraveling the very fabric of reality," Jake said.
"Ummmm… I don't follow," Bryce said.
"Basically, we got thrown back in time from the 2015 to 900 A.D. now we might end up destroying the universe with us tampering with the past," I said.
"I like my version better," Jake said.
"Hey our lives are in danger, this is no time for us to be voting for versions," Jason said.
"Hmm, well until you can find a way home, allow me to welcome you to Highever. Until we can confirm you are not threats to my family, Ser Gilmores best knights will over see you," Bryce said. We merely nodded our heads and agreed. We turned over our weapons and followed them to our quarters. But Teryn Bryce gave us some freedom. He allowed us to walk the castle grounds and treated us fairly. Not quite what we expected from a guy with power. Also now that we were back in time, I thought it would be a good idea to find out some info on Grey Wardens.
"Hey sarge where you going?" Jake asked.
"See if this place has a library. Going to try and find any info on Grey Wardens," I said. Aedan was walking by at this moment and over heard me and team talking.
"What again? Sarge we should be working on a way home. Not investigating about warriors who more or less don't exist. Not even in this time period," Jason said.
"yeah I got to agree with Jason here sir. We cant just wonder about seeking information about a time long forgotten. Grey Wardens are nothing but myths. I'm not even sure they ever were real," Jake said.
"Really? You don't think Grey Wardens ever existed?" Aedan asked.
"Attention on deck!" Jason shouted. We quickly snapped up and saluted, leaving Aedan dumbfounded.
"Um…" he merely said.
"Oh right, sorry sir. In our time, this how we greet Officers when they show up in our quarters. At ease men," I said. We quickly relaxed and Aedan continued.
"Well as I was saying, Grey Wardens are as real as you and me. Come on I'll prove it," Aedan said. He led us to the Cousland library and talked to his old tutor. Then the tutor showed us to an aisle with a book on Grey Wardens. Jason and Jake looked unbelieving at it while I brimmed with excitement.
"See troopers! I told you Grey Wardens are real. Now if only I wasn't afraid of a paradox by taking this with us when we get back," I said.
"Yeah we're going to take something out the Cousland Library and then next thing we know, Ser Gilmore and his knights are slitting our throats in the night," Jack said.
"I'll talk to my father. Maybe we can-" Aedan said.
"Ser Aedan your father is looking for you! He needs and the sol-. Oh good saves time then. Come one follow me," a soldier said. We followed him to where some knights and Calvary were getting ready to leave.
"Father what's going on?" Aedan asked.
"some of our scouts report seeing unknown troops moving in the forest. We're mobilizing some of our people to go and find them. Scouts also report smelling a rancid odor, like rotting corpses. And it was moving," Bryce said.
"Zombies?" Jason asked.
"Oh lets hope so. This just might be the greatest story to tell if we get back," Jake said.
"Hang on. Teryn Cousland, request permission for our squad to be the first to investigate," I said saluting.
"Sure, but hurry. Grab your gear. It's in the-" Bryce said. I quickly hit a button my watch and watched as three separate blips popped up.
"Thanks. Troopers, double time it!" I shouted. We ran to the armory and easily found our gear, especially since none of the other soldiers at the castle had the same or even vaguely similar suits. We quickly strapped the armor on, unbelieving it's been only two weeks since we had last suited up. We quickly locked and loaded our rifles and secondary's. I luckily located my lucky Bowie knife too. We got back the front gates and got the location of the unknown people from Bryce's scouts. And then we scared the living shit out of them.
We accomplished that with the upgrades of the armor. It was designed like the Mjolnir armor created for Spartans in the popular Halo novels and games which gave the soldiers super strength and increased speed. Luckily the armor we had was able to produce the same results… without breaking every single bone in our bodies. Soon as we got the coordinates, we took off like men possessed. The helmets were also designed like the Iron Man helmets(guess the techs back home watched to much T.V.). "Sarge I think we won't be getting reinforcements anytime soon," Jake said.
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"They probably have to go back to their bunks and change their shorts," he said.
"Hahaha, too right," Jason put in. we got to within about forty or so meters before stooping.
"Okay, lets see. The scouts said the unknown-" I said bringing up a 3-D map from my wrist gauntlet as we began to hear some familiar voices.
"I'm telling you we're lost!" Joseph shouted.
"Why are you saying that? You've never been here!" Javie shouted.
"Least I'm not leading us as if I've been here!" Joseph shouted.
"You two shut up. I'll try the comms again," Old Man said," This is bravo two six to any United States military personnel out there. Does any copy?"
"Should we answer?" Jake asked.
"No I wanna see how long this lasts," Jason said.
"Of course you'd like that. But that's not how we roll people. Bravo-Two-Six, we read you over," I said.
"Finally! Can you give us a bearing as to where we are?" Old Man asked.
"Yeah you're about twenty or so miles from Moscow. Oh and there's a ton of soviets headed your way," I said.
"hahaha. Good one Sarge," Jason said.
"Sarge? Is that you?" Joseph asked.
"How'd you know?" I asked as we walked over the ridge.
"Cause you pulled the same trick during Boot. And worse it was on me!" he shouted.
"That was funny when you believed if you ran through the Mess Hall buck naked, then the aliens would release their inner knowledge too you by the way," Jake said.
"Okay enough fooling around. Guys you should know we've been stuck in the year 900 A.D. for the past two weeks. Oh and apparently the Grey Wardens are real and we have unknown hostiles closing in on us. Possibly Zombies, cause the Cousland troops who found you first said they smelled a rancid decaying odor," Jake said. An odd silence quickly befall on us.
"Um what was that about the year we were trapped in and for how long?" Javie asked.
"And the part where the guys who are named after a color and the guys who watch over prisoners are real," Old man asked.
"and then the part about potential Zombies about to attack," Joseph said.
"Just get ready for some type of non friendly forces to attack," I said. Then our motion sensors quickly began to beep as numerous blips showed up on our sensors. "Uh-oh. People, we got incoming. Lots of incoming. From two directions, one force actually might be the Cousland forces but the other just might be the unknown forces," I said.
"So lock and load right?" Joseph asked.
"No we strip to our skivvies and dance to the Austin Powers theme song," I said," of course I mean 'Lock and Load'!"
"Well remember Iraq? The guys in Company C faked those orders from-" Jason said.
"Shut up or I'll shoot you and feed you to the Zombies," I said.
"Okay lets just shoot at the zombies," Jason said. We turned to the direction of the enemy and watched as a civilian came out.
"Oh thank the maker! Humans!" he said. He then recoiled at how we looked in our armor and nearly fell prey to a 'Zombie'. Jason shot it straight in the head.
"Boo-yah!" he said. Then suddenly several more began to just pour out. The civvie ran behind us as we just fired our rifles into the decaying walking corpses. Aedan, Ser Gilmore and several more knights and archers showed up and helped. The archers tried to get some arrows off but just couldn't find a target. Well one that didn't already have a hole in it's head. The gunfire just filled the air and for every 'zombie' killed, a single bullet casing was ejected. I even got to use my bowie knife as one of the buggers actually evaded us and the support archers. It got to me just as I reloaded and its brain was replaced with the cold steel of my blade.
I just grabbed its wrist and twisted, turned around and threw it to the ground. I then shoved the knife through its skull and ripped up through the top of its head, taking out a bunch of brain matter, skull bits and skin. The whole thing was over in less than thirty minutes. "Hell yeah! Bad-ass U.S. Army Special Forces team- three thousand and three, undead freaks- zip-di-nada," Joseph shouted.
"Hoo-whee. Man that's more fun than shooting fish in barrel," Jake said. Old Man quickly began using his portable scanner to try and find more on what this enemy was.
"Reese! Why are there six of you now?" Aedan asked.
"Well my guess is this is the team we sent to investigate another energy source that wasn't far from you castle. And they got sent back in time as well. Also, allow me to introduce you to the rest of my squad-" I said.
"They're friends of yours? Well I'll let my father know we found more of your men. Good to know there's more of you to help," Aedan.
"My lord you don't mean that do you? For all we know they could spies from Orlais who'd like nothing more than to re-occupy Ferelden," Ser Gilmore said quietly to Aedan.
"If they were Orleisans, they would've killed us by now. Now come on. Lets take a closer look at the bodies," Aedan said.
"Sarge, come on here," Old Man said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"whatever is in the blood, it's not in the databanks. Some type of highly toxic compound. According to the scanner the compound is in the blood, but sadly it's unlike anything we've ever seen before," Old Man said. Aedan agreed with us when we decided to burn the bodies. Rather than wait for some "mages" to burn the corpses, we showed a trick our suits had. Old Man and Joseph charged up their gauntlets and fired a stream of fire from the bottom of their wrists, lighting the corpses ablaze. While the Teryn was less than happy to find three more soldiers from the future arrive with us, we was happy to see that they could be trust-worthy my team was.
Despite the fact that our allegiance was truly with America, and well quite frankly since it's not here not for the next few thousand years or so, we would fight for Cousland. We proved our loyalty time and time again as Cousland lands were attacked by bandits or any other rowdy bastards. We proved ourselves to the point where the Teryn tried us practically like family. Eventually, we made one of us one part of the Cousland family, me actually. He called me before King Cailan and several others and after saying a speech, I was anointed not only a knight like my squad but an honorary Cousland. Sounds like a dream, well it all was until… the call to arms came from King Cailan. Every Lord, Teryn and whoever else were banding together, combining their forces to face the greatest enemy known to man. At first we all thought it was Communism, but since no one knew what that was, we had to ask. And once again, my theories were correct, an enemy no one in our time had seen for generations, were all but real and we were just unlucky enough to be fighting it.
The new enemy were Darkspawn…
(A/N: thanks to all who are reading and secreting liking it. But please send me reviews and tell what you think! Also if you're familiar with my other FanFics for Mass Effects 1 and 2, please read and review those. ME 2 Fanfic still in progress and will posting Chapter 12: The Justicar soon.