Phantoms of Ylisse
Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Recon or Fire Emblem in any way, shape or form. So hold off the lawsuits and torches!
II: Meeting the locals
My name is Alexandra Lin call sign "Aasimar", leader of Phantom strike team "Azure". I'd never thought I'd see the day. Who'd ever thought that I and Azure team would end up in Rodrig's home world after our escape from Ghost teams? Not this place per say, wherever here is, but similar to it. It almost feels like those RPGs Gadget loves to play. If that wasn't crazy enough we had just helped to rid the town of a group of bandits that tried to raid it. Even with the odds stacked against us, our gear and weaponry made taking those bandits out a cake walk. Though the climax was when the bandit leader took a hostage and we had to act. We were successful but we also exposed ourselves to the locals here. We got out of there as soon as possible before they could ask any questions.
Still there was one question for us, what next?
…
Aasimar's POV
As we were camping in the forest, far away from civilization, we were grateful to have Gadget with us. His innovative device allowed us to replace our multiple tents with one large tent, which served as our forward operating base. Currently, we are gathered together having a team meeting, deliberating our next move in the fantasy world in which we find ourselves trapped.
"So what now ma'am? The locals have seen us, and they were freaked out at the sight of us." Carnage asked me.
"They weren't freaked out Sergio. More like surprised at seeing us." Deadeye corrected, "Still it was only those four that saw us. Not the whole town."
"True but we're still foreigners to them, especially since we dress differently and have tech that they've never seen before." Gadget added, "Even if we did help in ridding the town of those bandits, we're total strangers to them."
"And I doubt that they'd trust us just like that." Carnage said. "So what's our next move then ma'am?"
As my team turned to me, waiting for my answer, I couldn't help but notice how they had all made some compelling points about the situation. They were all correct, but they had forgotten one crucial detail: we knew nothing about this world. Just as I was about to point this out and let them know, my senses kicked in, and I became tense and on guard. I had detected an enemy presence, undead to be precise, and there were many of them. My team noticed my posture and immediately went for their gear.
"We got intruders on the sensors." Gadget announced. "They look human but…"
"They're not." I finished for him. "They are undead."
"Undead?! You mean…zombies?!" Deadeye asked.
"You can say that."
"So we got zombies incoming?" Carnage asked, already armed with his weapons.
"Yes. Check your weapons people and keep them suppressed. We got a battle on our hands." I stated as we prepared for a fight. When we were done we went outside the tent and saw exactly what I'd detected; Undead that looked too much like the locals here but with red eyes and wielding swords, axes and now bows and there were a large number of them coming our way.
"Carnage, crowd control! Everyone else goes for head shots and watch for the archers!" I ordered as I aimed at one of the undead archers with my ACR and shot it right between the eyes, dropping it before it turned into purple mist. Then I quickly did the same for two sword-wielding undead.
"Say hello to my little friend freaks!" Carnage yelled as he fired an explosive round from his XM29 OICW grenade launcher into a group of seven undead, blowing them up and the body parts turning to mist just like the first one.
Deadeye took down three undead with a single shot with her Barrett M107 sniper rifle and Gadget dropped another three with his 45T pistol.
…
Third Person POV
Earlier in the day, Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, and Robin had met and later found themselves called upon to save a town from bandits. The group encountered a band of the outlaws, including their boss, and managed to take down the grunts. However, when it came time to fight the leader, he took a child hostage, complicating the situation. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a small object landed in front of them, emitting a blinding light that forced them to cover their eyes and caused the bandit to release his hostage. Then came multiple sounds of thunder, and the death throes of the bandit followed. When the commotion subsided, they looked up to find the bandit dead, riddled with holes.
Just then, Lissa gasped, pointing at a group of four people with red eyes, clad in gray armor and wielding weapons that the group had never seen before. The group shocked them once more as they disappeared right before their eyes.
As they further explored the town, they discovered more bandits who had met the same fate as their leader. A young lady in the town recounted how two men saved her from being raped, using weapons that sounded familiar to the ones wielded by the mysterious group. Despite their desire to find the group, they had no idea where to look as they had disappeared without a trace.
With little choice in the matter, the group decided to make their way to the Ylisse capital. As night descended, they made camp, but Chrom's instincts told him that something was amiss. Soon, they found themselves under attack by strange, red-eyed creatures, closely resembling humans. Chrom quickly instructed Lissa to find a safe place, while he took on the undead creatures.
Just as he was about to be overrun, Chrom heard a loud noise and spotted the four gray-suited people they had seen back in the town. The group took out the undead with remarkable efficiency, with the leader issuing orders much like Robin did with his group earlier. As Chrom was about to approach them, his sister's screams pierced the air. They turned to see Lissa under attack by another of the undead. Just as Chrom and Azure Team were about to aid her, a masked man in strange clothing appeared and blocked the attack with his sword. In the deadlock, the newcomer called for assistance, and Chrom charged in, cutting down the monster as Deadeye blow off its arm at the same time.
Robin and Frederick arrived soon after, inquiring about their wellbeing and being relieved that they were alright. However, when Chrom turned to look for Azure Team, they had disappeared once again. Meanwhile, the masked man made his exit, but a cloaked Azure Team witnessed his departure.
…
Aasimar's POV
"Why is she not helping them any further?" I asked.
"She?" Gadget asked.
"That masked person's a woman. Their outfit may make her look like a 'he' but the voice was definitely feminine." Deadeye added.
"Really? Damn I never expected that." Carnage said.
"However it also seems that suspicious that they'd come in and just save that person before leaving." I stated, "And when that guy known as Chrom talked to her I could see from her body language that she didn't want to reveal too many secrets yet."
"Meaning she has an ulterior motive?" Deadeye surmised, "What would that be though?"
"We can deal with that later as we got more of those undead freaks incoming." Carnage said. "Ten to be exact."
And like he said we spotted ten red dots rapidly approaching the area on our radar and soon enough ten more undead with one of them being larger and muscular than the others and carrying a hand axe. The leader obviously. I quickly took note of the open area we were in and noticed a few mini strongholds there which could be used to our advantage. Something that the white haired tactician of the group also seemed to have noticed as he pointed that out to his allies.
Then the undead leader pointed at Chrom's group and then at our direction. Looks like he'd noticed us even though we had our adaptive camo on. Well the undead don't really need sight to spot the living. The life essence is enough for them to find you. A group of five undead consisting of an archer, two swordsmen and two axe wielders came trudging towards our direction which surprised my teammates.
"Umm ma'am? They're still coming this way." Gadget whispered through the comm.
"Well they can't see us, so it won't matter." Carnage stated.
"They don't need to see us." I corrected.
"How so Aasimar?" Deadeye asked.
"Undead only need to sense our life essence to detect us, which explains how they found us in the first place." I explained.
"Meaning that our adaptive camo's useless against them." Gadget finished.
"Precisely. But it'll still work against the living ones." I added as the five undead got closer, "Alright let's deal with these things and then assist Chrom's group."
I aimed my ACR at one of the swordsmen and drilled it in the head, dropping it before it turned into mist. Deadeye wasted no time putting down the archer and other swordsman with well-placed head shots of her own. The two other axe wielders charged in only to be blasted away by Gadget and Carnage's weapons.
"Tch…No challenge at all." Carnage grunted.
"Well they aren't exactly intelligent since they're already dead." Gadget deadpanned.
"Maybe so but don't forget that they have a one up over the others here. They can detect us even when we use our adaptive camo." Deadeye reminded.
"We can worry about those details later. We have to help Chrom and the others." I said.
"Are you sure about that Aasimar? We don't know about how they'll treat us after." Deadeye asked worriedly.
"Not to mention their reaction to our form of warfare." Gadget added.
"They haven't attacked us so far and we still don't know a damn thing about this world, so I'll take the risk." I replied, "However if things go south we make ourselves scarce. Anyways let's move team."
…
Third Person POV
Chrom, Robin, Lissa and Frederick were engaging the remaining five undead creatures after the leader had sent five others towards another direction. Soon reinforcements had joined them. First being a red-haired foul mouthed female cavalier named Sully and the other being the white-haired over dramatic archer Virion. So far as suggested by Robin, they had used the strongholds to bolster their defenses and pick the enemy off one by one and it was effective as they were able to take them down without any damage. Soon it was the leader that was left but he was proving to be a hard one to take down due to his durability and weapon that allowed for distance or close range fighting.
Then the situation got worse as three undead showed up. However, it didn't get to escalate as they dropped like sack of potatoes with holes in their heads before turning to mist. The leader followed soon after with a hole in its chest and another one between the eyes before it also dropped dead and became mist. That had surprised Sully and Virion as they didn't expect the enemy to just get dropped like that but Chrom, Robin, Frederick and Lissa knew who were responsible and as usual they were nowhere to be seen but they knew that they were in the area. With the battle over Chrom and the others were met by the masked swordsman once again.
"That was quite the entrance what's your name?" Chrom asked the masked swordsman.
"You may call me Marth." The person responded.
"Marth? After the heroic king of old, well you certainly fight like one where did you learn the way of the sword?" Chrom said.
"I'm not here to talk about me. This world teeters at the brink of a horrible calamity what you saw tonight was a prelude. You have been warned." The person replied, ignoring Chrom's question and then walking away.
"Huh? What's teetering where now? Hey wait!" Lissa shouted.
"Not much for conversation is he?" Robin said to no one in particular.
"It appears that his talents lie elsewhere. I'm sure we'll hear his name again…" Frederick added, seemingly wanting to change the topic.
"Maybe we will." Chrom said before turning around and staring at an empty space. "I know you're there. Show yourselves."
"Captain Chrom?! Who the hell are you talking to?" Sully asked in confusion.
"I take it that those people we saw earlier at the town are here." Robin stated.
"What people are you talking about?" Virion inquired.
"That would be us." A feminine voice answered, startling the archer.
"GAAAHH! A ghost?!"
"Hahahahahaha! He called us 'Ghosts'." A male voice laughed.
"Close enough but…" Another male voice begun. It was then that four masked people in grey clothing and armor, with one of their eyes red and wielding strange weapons materialized in front of Chrom and the others startling them.
"…we'd prefer 'Phantoms' instead." Aasimar finished.
Chrom and Robin remained calm while Lissa appeared timid, but the rest of their group freaked out at the sudden appearance of the newcomers. The leader of the group took a step forward, but Frederick quickly reacted by placing the tip of his lance close to her face, causing her to step back and shake her head in annoyance.
"Scarce it is…Move out team." Aasimar said.
The Phantoms activated their adaptive camo and vanished from the area, leaving Chrom's group behind. Sully and Frederick moved forward to check, but they were already long gone.
To be continued…
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