BOOK I - UNION

Chapter 1: First Contact

"Seventy years... Seventy fucking years and nobody still have any fucking clue what these symbols meant. My father dedicated his life's work to discover who put it there and when they were painted, he died still not knowing the answer."

"General?"

"Here take this."

"Its a permit valid for one week to enter the Hürtegn Forest... Sir?"

"Yes, its also a direct order from me, you're a civil engineer ja?"

"Umm yes sir, but..."

"And you know how to do surveying, yes?"

"Yeah..."

"Good, I want you to pick up some equipments and start mapping the cave. There would be a three-d scanning thing which could scan the place a lot easier than to draw the whole thing down."

"But general, shouldn't this be like archaeologist's work? Or maybe even an anthropologist like your father?"

"Yes but... I want it, for myself and my colleagues who take large portions of their times analyzing those symbols. I've read through your files and I know that you're also interested in them, yes?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, so this would technically be a legal mission for you so you shouldn't worry being checked by MPs on the way out of the base and also try to lessen telling people about this, understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Good now the exact coordinates are in the envelope, all you need to do is type that in your GPS and you'll be underway, I'm going to lend you a Mercedes-Benz 250... Try not to damage it. Anymore questions corporal?"

"No sir."

"Well get to it then... dismissed"

General Braun, he's got quite the obsession in finishing his dad's work about those symbols in the cave. His father, a famous anthropologist, had traveled all the way to China no less in his expeditions to find out if there are links between this painting and others there. His father's life rotated around these symbols and its implications, some say aliens did it, other say that just random people drew it and the Chinese characters were then later sketched on. Yet carbon dating suggested that the paint used was well over four thousand years old, far older than the Chinese characters and for the paint to last so long and in pristine condition was also a mystery.

Getting out of the office I didn't really knowing what to feel. After standing around for several seconds I got out of the building and proceeded back to the barracks with the envelope tucked under my arms. I changed my clothes from the service uniform into fatigues and afterwards went to the armory, got get my H&K 417 and the rest of the gear like helmets and vests just in case some bears or other animals attacked me in the forest. I then got to the depot to fetch the car that the general told me.

"Hey Geraldt! How's it going?" A technician asked.

"Same same, hey the general's got me something." I handed him a piece of paper form the envelope. "He says its a Mercedes-Benz 250."

He looked at it for a moment before remarking "Yeah it is, it is, I've got it here, c'mon." He motion for me to follow him

He led me to an open area with dozens of other 250s and some under maintenance.

"Here we are, this one's yours." He smiled.

"Hmph, looks alright I guess." I walked around the car just observing it.

"All you need to do is sign this and you're good to go."

I frowned. "Isn't the paper good enough?"

"Yes yes it is, but in case it got fucked up we'll know who used the car."

"Ugh fine." I signed the paper and afterwards he saluted me.

"You're good to go corporal, see you around." He smiled before getting back to work.

After, spending few minutes trying to figure the control of the car I drove out of the depot and onto the gate of the base. The MPs were looking at me suspiciously as most of the times convoys arrive or leave and not a single car with a single occupant in full battle gear. Pulling out beside the small guard house one of the MPs came forward and asked for IDs and the permit in which I gave him.

"Corporal Tchaikovsky?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"So you're going to... 'deliver' some supplies for the general?" He eyed me suspiciously.

I shrugged "General's orders, he signed that paper right?"

He looked at me for almost a minute before he was satisfied I wasn't fucking around with him, he called onto the other guard on the small house to open the gate, returned the papers and saluted me. "Stay safe corporal."

I smiled and saluted back before driving off. Driving for several minutes , the roads were more or less empty as I got onto the autobahn so I floored the gas. First thing's first is to get the equipments, I opened the envelope and looked for the address. Hürtegnwald? That's actually pretty close to where I need to go, now lets see, from here to... these coordinates, how far is it? The screen of the GPS came to life and after a few moment to load up, I entered the coordinates and viola! Its telling me the exact route to follow. Two hundred and forty kilometers? I'll get there in like an hour and a half or so, nice... But then I'll need to hike for over an hour with all the stuff... hmph.

I followed the instructions of the GPS to the word and arrived safely at the first destination in around ten in the morning. One and a half hour, just as estimated. I looked around and realized that this was just a small town. That means quicker to find the address then. Moving slowly and squinting my eyes trying to locate the address I finally found it after just about ten minutes. It was the size of your average house with two floors, orange roof tiles, but no garage. I got out of the car and straightened my uniform since I don't know who I was supposed to meet, all I need to do is to show them the paper and they'll give me the equipments.

I casually walked towards the door, rung the doorbell, and waited for a response. Its a minute already, I think I'll ring it again just in case. I rung it again, nothing. Hmm, maybe they're away? I was looking around the place trying to get a feel of it before I heard people talking inside.

"Honey can you get the door? It might be him."

"Fine but just this once old man."

The door opened and a woman in her late fifties greeted me.

"Hi! You must be the one General Braun said was coming."

"Uh, yeah... yeah I am... here's the stuff that he said I need to get." I handed her a piece of paper. She looked at it for a while before a grin appeared on her face.

"Ah yes yes, all the equipment you need are here and packed, come in! come in!"

I initially refused as I was still wearing my dirty combat boots while their house looked squeaky clean but they didn't seemed to mind at all. She then showed me two boxes with handles before an older man came.

"Hey there! So you're the errand boy for the general this time huh?" He patted me on the back hard enough that I almost lost my balance. "So here's the stuff..." He pointed at the slightly larger box. "This one's got the scanner and its expensive as hell so please return it to me intact alright?"

"Yes sir." I replied. He then pointed to the smaller box.

"This one's got all the other stuff like tapes and spirit levels, and this tripod..." He pointed at a tripod around a meter in length. "Isn't very heavy and its legs are extendable, since you'll be holding the boxes with your hands I advice you to strap it to your bag."

"Yes sir, thank you sir. So... I should get going now."

"Wait, we should get you a drink first!" The woman exclaimed.

"Thank you for your offer but I must decline, I need to get going if I want to finish it in... umm... A week."

"Ah, yes a week. Take care of my babies would you? It'll be a shame if the general needed to pay for the equipment." The man winked

"Yes sir I will."

He patted me on the shoulder before I went and picked up the boxes and the tripod. Struggling my way out of the house with the tripod being balanced on both of the boxes I was relieved when I finally got to the car and put all of them in the back. I went back to the door of the house to say goodbyes before getting onto the car and driving away. Hiking time.

It took me just around five minutes to get to the drop off point. That was fast, couldn've just walked here. I got out of the car and went to the back to retrieve the equipment and my bag. I then opened the bag and double checked to see if everything I needed as in there. Ok, MREs check, bandages check, water check... It was another ten minutes before I finish strapping the tripod onto the bag and make sure that the car is locked and the keys are safely with me.

I've been walking for over an hour, where the fuck is that cave? I put the boxes down and got my GPS out. It says it just ten meters to my right, I don't see a fucking cave ten... oh, there is a cave there. The entrance to the cave was covered with vines draping down from the top, it is so dense that I wasn't even able to see it twenty meters away. Ugh, so much cutting to be done. The ground immediately outside the gave was also covered in grass so creating a fire for the night won't be as easy. I looked around the area to see if there are any kind of nests and was relieved to not find any. Right first thing to do - cut the fucking vines. I set the boxes, my bag, and the tripod down beside the entrance close enough to me that I could see clearly if anything tried to take it and took out my bayonet. If the general just told me there were vines I could've brough a bolo.

It took over an hour and a half before the vines were finally cut away, the entrance needs to be open for the scanners to pick it up and not register it as a wall of some sort. Right, time to take the measurements of the cave itself. I opened both boxes and got the manual for the scanner which had a formula about how far each scan region needs to be for an x, y, z amount of height, width and length. Right, time to do old fashioned surveying. I took the tape out and began measurements on the cave and after getting the optimal distance between the scan regions I ran the tape on the ground towards the inside of the cave, putting pins on each of the regions. As I went deeper into the cave a I started having strange feelings. So was this the one they felt?

I remembered stories of what people find in the dark told by my parents as 'scary stories' when I was young and immediately went back out to get flashlights and my gun. Better safe than sorry. I strapped the flashlight to my helmet using duct tape and continued marking the ground where the scanners were to be positioned and after around half an hour finally made it to the end. Hmm, two hundred meters deep. Quite deep for such a shallow cave, it doesn't even go down, its just level... like someone mined this.

I went back out, put the tape back, got the scanner and started placing it in the points which I've marked. So around three to four hours every point, gah it'll take all night long. I was a little disheartened by the though, thinking it'll all be over in just a few hours time and I would be able to go back to base the same day. But maybe there was a reason why he gave me one week, is the scanner unreliable? Or did he though I might get lost in the forest? I gave it as little thought as possible as after I placed it, I still need to start it up and program it to scan. I got the laptop out of the same box and connected it to the scanner, I started to fiddle around with the setting while reading the manual to know more about what setting are the optimal. Hmph, they never lets us play with cool shit like this in university.

It took me ages to get it right as I had never used one of them and by the time the scanner started working it was already nighttime. Damn seven pm already, fuck need to get some wood quick. I scambled out of the cave with the flashlight still on my helmet and ravaged through the twigs and fallen logs that littered the forest floor and took as much as I could back to my 'campsite'. I arranged them in a neat circular form and using a piece of paper as a starter, lighted my very own campfire. I sat down beside it, got a pack of MRE from my bag, and started chowing down while the low humming noise of the scanner continue uninterrupted.

The forest was a very peaceful place at night, no cars or other people, no light pollution so I could see the stars clearly, yet was scary as hell since you have no idea what lies beyond the light of the campfire. After eating I went on to play some games on my phone to pass the time until I need to shift the scanner. Thank god I charged my phone before coming. Another two hours and the scanner beeped, signaling that it was done and was time to shift it.

It went uneventfully and it started scanning away immediately after I clicked the start button on the laptop. Another three hours, fuck it I'll just sleep and continue in the morning. I got my light sleeping bag out from my pack and placed it just beside the entrance so to not obstruct the scanner, I've also got my pistol in my holster, my rifle right beside me, and I took the flashlight off the helmet and attached it to the rifle as it would be a pain in the neck if I slept with the helmet on. But wait I could take a look at those symbols now... nah too late, just see it tomorrow. Goodnight Geraldt.

It was the middle of the night when I heard noises, some kind of low rumbling, and was awoken by something. Its definitely not the scanner since its too deep inside the cave... bears, it had to be fucking bears. I quickly got out of the sleeping bag and readied my rifle, set to full auto in case something charged at me.

It was still growling.

The fire that I made was still going albeit a lot weaker. Nothing, still not charging... is it stalking me? I went to put my helmet on to give me some kind of head protection from a charge and readied my rifle again. I could see its eyes reflecting the light of the campfire and its silhouette definitely looked like that of a bear. It watched me as I watched it arch around the camp keeping its distance from the light. This one's clever huh, we'll see about that.

I opened the flashlight on my rifle hoping to scare it away. Oh shit what the fuck... what the fuck is that?! This bear... I don't even think that this was a bear, its snout was flat and elongated like that of a duck but it had sharp teeth all around its inside, it does have a body of a bear but the tail... the tail which looked like that of a platypus. What the fuck is this shit supposed to be? It had a black snout and tail yet the rest of the body was brown with a v shaped white streak of fur around its neck.

As soon as the light hit it it started growling even louder and in no time started roaring. What the hell that doesn't sound like a fucking bear? Should I shoot it now? No no you dumb fuck you'll just anger it more... what was that survival technique they taught? Shout... yes, shout and make yourself look bigger to scare it away. I stood up and made my body as big as possible, started waving my rifle around and shouting curses at it but it didn't seemed to get scared, only agitated.

Uh oh, fix bayonet maybe? Do something Geraldt! By then I was already panicking, all those time with drill sergeants and even Afghanistan didn't prepare me for shit like this. Fix the bayonet you dumb ass! Its almost gonna charge! Alright, fix bayonet. I got it from the scabbard strapped to my right leg and tried attaching it to the rifle and it was only then that I realize how much I was shaking out of fear. Get yourself together!

It then stood up on its hind legs.

Oh my fucking god its fucking gigantic! It looked as if it could dwarf the tallest NBA players and its muscles are just so jacked. It roared one more time while standing and afterwards dropped down and then it charged.

My whole body was frozen, I wasn't able to move. So this is how it feels to be petrified huh? It came closer and closer, its figure getting larger and larger. I was already in a position to shoot, I was aiming at it, I had the right stance, everything... the only thing missing is me pulling the trigger but my finger just wouldn't move. C'mon press it! You've survived IEDs and you arn't going to get killed by this thing now! Press it, press it!

I pressed the trigger down and shouted as loud as I could, the bullets hitting the creature but it kept charging. Alas the magazine ran out of ammo and yet its still alive. Why the fuck didn't it die? I hit it in the head! It was just a few feet away from me when I extended my arms hoping that it will impale itself on the bayonet and closed my eyes hoping for the best.

My arms buckled under the force of the creature but it wasn't enough to have broken bones, the gun suddenly felt extremely heavy in which the tip just dropped down. I opened my eyes to see the bayonet impaling the creature's neck with it bleeding profusely and gasting for air. I pulled the bayonet out and started stabbing it in the head as hard as I could.

After feeling satisfied that the creature was dead and my arms exhausted, I stopped and took a seat in front of it trying to figure out what the hell the bear thing exactly was and it was at that time I realized I had been crying the whole time. My hands were shaking and I was breathing heavily at the same time trying to suppress the tears. What the hell dude, its just a bear... thing. You've gotten through worst. Indeed I had been shot at and had been almost blown up, but facing a creature of unknown species that was this close to killing me is far more terrifying than the former. I should take a picture of this with my phone... no no no, they'll think its photoshopped... fuck I'll take a video then.

With my still shaky hands I took out the phone from my pocket and noticed blood on the screen and on my gloves. What the hell, was I bitten? I checked my body but found no evidence of injuries before realizing that the blood actually came from the beast. Most of my whole uniform was soaked in blood and after wiping my face with a white handkerchief, the handkerchief became red from the blood. Opening the front camera of my phone I saw my face fairly unscratched save for the blood, some mud, and my eyes red from crying, and afterwards switched to the rear cam and started recording away on the creature.

"So I found this... thing, it tried to attack me." I stood up and panned the camera around. "It came from that place and charged at me, the roar sounded like a bear but not really... I don't know." I panned back to the creature. "It looks like a bear but... I think it fucked a... platypus? I don't fucking know what's happening but this is definitely real." I went to its mouth and opened it showing its tooth, tongue, and the like. "See, this isn't come costume shit like those bigfoots in America, this thing's the real deal." I opened my flashlight and held it with my mouth with one of my hand holding the creature's mouth open while the other putting my phone as deep as I can into it. "You see, its real and not costume."

I took the phone out and closed the flashlight. "I would happily drag this back to the car but I've got to hike for over an hour on rought terrain and..." I pointed the camera towards the cave. "I still need to carry all those equipment back with me so... yeah." I looked back at the creature and continued. "If there are more of these in the forest and they came for me, well..." Wait did its eyes just blinked. I stood there a few inches right in front of it trying to figure out if it did or am I going crazy.

And out of nowhere it attacked by lunging forward with an open mouth, much like how crocodiles attacked their prey. "What the..." I was immediately thrown down on the ground with my phone being knocked off my hand and the creature right above me trying to bite my head off. I tried as best as I could to push it away but it was just too heavy, its mouth made contact with my helmet and I heard cracking sounds but the helmet didn't collapse. Maybe its lost enough blood no not have as much power as it could have. I then tried to grab my pistol from the holster with my right hand while trying to prevent it from squishing me with my left. The pistol was difficult to draw out as there wasn't a lot of room between me, the creature, and the ground but when I finally got it out I immediately started shooting it but there was no sound. Its in safe? Fucking fuck! I unlocked the safety, tried again and finally heard a shot ripping through its abdomen. Shooting nine milimeter rounds to the body isn't going to cut it. I then tried my best to aim for the neck and chin before giving it all.

The hot casings ejected from the pistol constantly hit me in the face as I emptied the magazine on this creature in which it finally gave up and its body just collapsing onto me. God its heavy, ohhhhh. Panting, I tried with all my strength to push it aside. So instead of being eaten by a bear thing I'm going to be squished by it, that's not the way I want to die. With adrenaline pumping throughout my body I was able to push it aside but not before pulling some muscles on my left arm. What was that word again? Double - tapping? Right, that's the one. I got up and reloaded my pistol before emptying another magazine into the creature's head.

"And stay down!" I shouted , reloaded the pistol, and then put it back to my holster. Right the phone, I almost forgot. I quickly looked around the ground and found nothing. Goddamned it shouldn't have brought a black one. It took another minute before I found it still recording. That's enough for today. I stopped the video and went back to the campfire to see what I recorded.

"So I found this... thing, it tried to attack me." Yeah yeah fucking hell.

"If there are more of these in the forest and they came for me, well..." So here's where it start.

The camera started shaking before the creature got up and I heard myself scream. Fuck is that how I really sounded like? The phone dropped to the ground with the camera facing upward and I could see some shadow moving around all the while I was screaming and the creature gnawing on my helmet. It took several seconds more before the gunshots were heard and everything went silent. My heavy panting was heard and after several more seconds the shadow of the bear tipped over and I saw myself standing looking very scared.

"And stay down!" God that sounded so dumb. And with that the video ended.

I turned my phone off and put it into my pocket before taking my helmet off and inspected the damage. Holy shit its teeth actually almost went through! There were several depressions on the helmet put none was deep enough to pierce it. Damn these helmets are not that tough huh. I then put it back on and went to retrieve my rifle, change the magazine, took the bayonet out, and placed it back into the scabbard. I might as well try to take its head off to be extra sure. I knelt down beside the creature's head and was halfway into cutting through its fur when the strange feeling that I felt when I was in the cave overcame me. What the fucking fuck.

I looked towards the cave but there was nothing there, but this feeling, this urge for me to investigate was far too much to continue decapitating the creature. I'll just finish it later. I got my rifle and reattached the flashlight onto it as I went into the cave.

It was far, far darker at night that it was at day for obvious reasons and that I needed to be careful not to trip over the laptop and the scanner. Moving cautiously deeper for several minutes I then stumbles across the paintings near the end of the cave.

'He who enters the void shall face the power of the avatar' Avatar, what like those blue things James Cameron did? Or like that of the Hindus? There were already tons of pictures of the writing and the symbols but I decided to take one for myself because why not?

After taking the picture I scanned the wall that cut the cave off. Hmm weird seeing this in person, looks a lot... stranger than that of the pictures. I tried looking for gaps or something that would say that there's something behind it but failed to spot any. I knocked on it and the sound it makes tells me that its solid and not hollow. What the hell are you even doing? You should get back to the scanner and reposition it already. I sighed before turning back towards the scanner but then I heard something. Oh god is it another one of those things? I frantically looked around but found nothing, dismissing it as something my mind would make up. I continued walking towards the scanner but heard it again this time audible and it was the voice of a young woman. 'Raava'.

Rava? What the hell is that supposed to mean? I turned around to see something small, glowing white in the end of the cave as if the rocks had suddenly become transparent. What the fuck is happening, am I tripping balls? I pointed my gun at it afraid that whatever it is and slowly made my way towards it. As I approach it I heard the voice again and this time even louder. 'Raava, help me' What the fuck is happening?

I continued walking closer to the wall and it became clear that the wall was still there yet the light was shining right through it. I don't think the wall remembers how to physics. With my heart pumping and my body still shaken from the attack I placed my left hand on the wall trying to get a feel for it while my right was still holding the rifle.

The wall felt cold, far colder than the other parts of the cave as if there was ice on the other side. I then moved my hand around the wall not really knowing what to expect, find a hole maybe? It went on for several minutes with me failing to locate any such holes. Then I heard the voice again as loud as the last time. 'Raava, help me find answers'. Answers? Answers to what?

Instantly a large blast of air and extremely bright light from the wall blew me several meters away with the impact of the landing knocking my rifle out of my hand. What the hell was that? I immediately stood up and got my rifle before pointing my gun towards the wall... Wait what? Where the fuck is the wall? In front of me lies an endlessly deep cave that even the light from my flashlight wasn't able to reach very far. No, no, no this isn't happening. I'm going crazy, yes that's it, this is impossible. Or is this a dream? All of it? But the pain is too much for me to not wake up. I looked towards the entrance of the cave and saw the dim light of the campfire. Its still there so yeah... I should reposition the scanner first, no I should investigate this one first. But I've told myself that I'll continue scanning in the morning... no, the mission... but this feeling, this urge had never been greater.

I continued arguing with myself in silence for several more minutes before curiosity and the urge overcame sensibility and logic. Fuck it then, lets go but first be prepared for anything. I quickly ran out of the cave, rolled my sleeping bag and put it back into the pack, got my pack and the boxes and then placed the boxes inside the cave beside the scanner. I walked into the darkness not knowing how deep it might be. 'He who enters the void shall face the power of the avatar', so is this the void?

Ten minutes into the other side I noticed the walls of the cave started to change. Strange, it looks... cleaner. Wait are those torches? Indeed they are, rows of unlit torches on both side of the wall starting from where I was standing all the way in. Hmm, then that means someone had been here before.

I continued trudgging along and before long I saw a faint yellowish light in the distance. Yellow lights? Could they be incandescent light bulbs? As I got closer it became clearer that it wasn't a light bulb but was actually the exit. Finally! I sprinted through the remaining dozen meters or so before finally getting out of the cave. Damn that was long, now lets see where I am, maybe I've ended up in France or Luxe... What the hell?

In front of me was a massive city that could rival the size of New York City, in fact it looked almost exactly like New York City with skyline filled with skyscrapers of varying heights. New York City had Manhattan which is a small island but the one in front of me was a thin peninsula with the shape similar to that to Manhattan, several bridges connect its both sides to the mainland, in front of it was a bay with two islands, one with a statue and one with a pagoda like structure and its land connection was to the back. Where the fuck am I? There were mountain ranges in front of me on the other side of the city, to my right and from what I could see where I am standing and they're all broken up by valleys at least several kilometers wide. The mountain that I was standing on had a path to my right leading down and right below me was a small forest area just about an acre or so.

I was amazed, it was breathtaking to see such a city but at closer inspection the city itself seemed heavily damaged. A lot of buildings were destroyed or under repairs and there was a strip of land from the middle of the city towards the bay that was totally destroyed, like how in sci-fi movies where a space laser fires onto the earth and just makes a path of destruction. And then there's the bright beam of yellowish light shooting upwards from the city. Jesus christ how much electricity does that eat up? I took my phone out and recorded a small video before getting a panoramic shot. They've got to believe me, there's no way I could make this up with CGI.

"Hey mister, are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine..." Wait did someone just talked to me in Mandarin? I looked to my right and saw a girl carrying a lantern and a staff, around fourteen or fifteen in age, and was wearing a yellow and red robes just like that of the Dalai Lama. A monk? She had short hair and also a blue arrow pointing downwards tattooed on her forehead.

"Are you sure? You have blood all over your clothes." She said looking concerned.

"I was attacked by a bear... platypus thing but I've killed it already."

She looked curious. "You mean a platypus bear?"

I frowned. "What do you mean 'platypus bear'?"

"Its a subspecies of the bear, like the lion bear or the crocodile bear." What the actual fuck is she talking about?

I just nodded in response. "Okay, so where am I exactly."

"Oh so you're lost? Well this is the Nan Fang mountains and that's Republic City if you haven't guessed. Where are you from anyway? And how did you managed to get all the way up here?"

"I, umm..." Republic City? What? "I came from... umm, that cave?" I pointed at the cave. God she'll think I'm crazy.

She looked at me confused. "What do you mean that cave..." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Spirits, you're them arn't you!"

"I'm... who?"

"Avatar Aang, he... spirits! I need to get dad!" She got her staff and pressed a button in which wings popped out. Damn that's a cool glider. "Wait here for just about an hour, I'll be back!" and just like that she flew away.

"Wait! What do you mean an hour! Hey come back!" She had already flew away quite far. Damn how did she do that? There isnt a powerful updraft here that could've lifted her glider up so easily. Well looks like time to go back before anything crazier happens.

I took one last selfie with the city in the background and then put the phone back into my pocket, I then proceeded to go back into the cave and stuck a bullet into the ground to have some kind of mark for if I get back. The general is definitely going to go crazy with this discovery.

I hurried back to the other side of the cave and once I got there I let out a sigh of relief. Damn is it good to be back in this creepy forest! Hmm, now's the time to call the general. I got the envelope out of my pack and looked for his number.

'For emergencies' hmm, this should count as an emergency. I got my phone out and typed in the number and waited for several beeps before someone answered.

"Hello?"

"Is this General Braun?" I asked

"Who the fuck is this?"

"Its Corporal Tchaikovsky sir."

"Ah, corporal. So what made you call me three in the fucking morning?"

"Sir remember the theories that Dr. Eckhart had for the cave?"

"The portal one?"

"Yes sir."

"What about it corporal?"

"Well..."