Earth. The third rock from the Sun. A blue planet.
For Billions of years, life has flourished on Planet Earth. Evolving and dying, killing and giving life, surviving and thriving. It was unique in that sense. For it didn't have the towering mountains of Olympus Mons or the Millenia-long Hurricanes like the Great Red Spot. No, Earth was the only planet in the known universe to have that one crucial thing. Life.
As far as life on the planet was concerned, they were the only ones. They remained curious of anything outside, always exploring, always hypothesizing, always wondering of what alien life would be like. Would they be friendly? Would they be hostile? Would they be like Mankind? Everyone wondered, but they could never know.
The year is 2020. The fall of 2020. For hundreds of thousands of years, Humanity has remained on Planet Earth alone. No other life to talk to. No other life to compare itself with. Planet Earth was a very lonely, and very isolated rock. Voyages to the Moon, Mars, and elsewhere yielded no success in finding a friend. Billion-dollar Radios on Earth cried out into the void of the galaxy, but there was never an answer. Telescopes tried to find every planet that could have life on it, but any planet that seemed to be anything like Earth was light-years away. Impossible to get to and to travel from. The universe seemed dark and lonesome. Humanity had only itself, and the blue planet that it called home. Unfortunately for Humanity, it wouldn't have Earth for very long.
"Wildfires burn across Spain, Greece, and Italy, with firefighting teams completely overwhelmed in record high temperatures and abnormally low rainfall across southern Europe."
"Rising sea levels are threatening communities in the Pacific Islands with over 500,000 people set to become climate refugees from that region by 2040-"
"Refugees escaping conflict from Syria have been halted at the Turkish border, in what some diplomats say is a brewing humanitarian crisis caused by distrust among EU nations-"
"Russia and The United States have both been accused of funding armed guerrillas worldwide, in a bid to secure rare resources in a destabilized world-"
"Pennsylvania and New Jersey State officials report massive damage from four EF2 tornadoes that touched down in the region, with almost twelve people confirmed dead, and eight missing-"
"Indian and Chinese Military forces have clashed in the Himalayas, in what analysts believe is a renewal of conflict between the rival superpowers-"
"An American nuclear submarine was spotted in the South China Sea, only a few nautical miles away from the Chinese coast. Beijing has accused the US Navy of stirring conflict in South East Asia, but Washington has defended the placement of the submarine as a regular patrol of waters around Taiwan-"
"Climate watch experts fear that the world's first Category Six Hurricane may be possible in the next decade after an assessment of Typhoon Indigo reveal record levels of damage and flooding in Indonesian and Malaysian coastal areas-"
"A glacier the size of New York City has sunken into the Atlantic Ocean off of Greenland, climatologists fear that it will not be the last nor the largest-"
"Seoul under siege: North Korean artillery bombard southern cities with chemical munitions that have killed over one-hundred and fifty people in the past day. South Korea, The United States, Japan, The United Kingdom, and an unlikely ally in Russia, have banded together to counterattack. Coalition troops are preparing to launch an offensive over the DMZ, while the Russian Airforce begins military operations around their Korean border. China meanwhile has remained neutral in the affair-"
"Nuclear war may be averted in Korea after a team of Russian Spetsnaz, British SAS, and American SEAL forces have destroyed the last of the nuclear silos in the Hermit Kingdom. However, the Northern Kingdom shows no signs of backing down as casualties begin to mount in the hundreds of thousands-"
"Israeli and Saudi Arabian intelligence officers claim that Iran is in the process of testing a nuclear weapon, this just weeks after war was declared between North and South Korea-"
"UN nations meet in Stockholm with one question on all of the delegates' minds… what does the future hold for humanity? How will we survive in an ever-changing world? And is it too late to fix the world's problems?"
The Everglades National Park
Two Miles west of Fort-Lauderdale
A mysterious building stood high above the swamp. Crickets chirped in the tall grass, birds sang their symphonic melody, and the sky was clear with not a single cloud in sight. The building was made of stone and it stood alone. The only structure nearby for a few miles, the city of Fort Lauderdale stood only like a mirage on the horizon. The park was untouched by humanity, unspoiled, and unpolluted. There weren't too many places in the world like this, and the ones that existed were shrinking at an alarming rate. Which is what made the protected parkland so special, and the stone structure- so unique.
Park Rangers were initially called in the figure out if the building had always been there, or if it had been placed there recently. They saw the age of the stone that looked too authentic to pass off as being a new construction, and the rangers thought it might've been a Native American structure from centuries ago. Though, the Seminole Natives have never built anything like this before. Perhaps it was an old Spanish Catholic mission that somehow managed to remain undiscovered in one of the largest Federal park spaces in the country? But it remained absent of any Spanish dialect, wooden crucifixes, or holy symbolism that one would come to expect of such a structure. No, this building was something else entirely.
Two cars responded to the scene, with four Park Rangers standing outside of their white and green striped cars. They radioed in the anomaly to dispatch, who promptly gave them the order to wait and keep an eye on it from the outside. A more specialized team was supposed to come and handle it, though nobody knew who the team was, or what they were supposed to do. Seconds of waiting turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours. By the time the Rangers had arrived, it was about Five o'clock on a Monday morning. Now, it was Five o'clock in the evening.
"I'm tired of this shit! When the hell is that team supposed to be here? I don't got all day!" Shouted Corporal Ross who was lying on the hood of a Ford patrol car to find a bit of comfort outside.
His superior, Sergeant Vance, shrugged, scratching at a mosquito bite on her neck, "Hell if I'd know. Look, they should be here any second now! Alright? I gave them the exact location and everything," Said the woman, as she sat on the hood of the second vehicle - a Jeep.
"We oughta jus' go inside, y'know?" Said Taylor, from inside of the Jeep. Digging oily fingers into an opened bag of lays potato chips that had grown hot and stale from being inside all day, "See what the fuss is about. It's jus' a buildin', can't hurt to go and look."
"There's four of us, right?" Ross asked to clarify, "Two go inside, two stay out here. Right, Vance?"
"I don't know, guys. Sounds like a bad idea," Vance told the two. She wasn't saying yes, but she also didn't say no. She too wanted this to just be over with. Whatever team was being scrambled to investigate was taking far too long, and this seemed like far too small of a task to have to wait this long a time.
"It'll be quick. We'll check inside, see what's up, write up a report, and head back to the office for the team to arrive," The second-in-command, Corporal Chuck said.
"We have to keep an eye on this. I think dispatch believes that there might be a threat around here."
"Fine, we'll stay. But at least let's just go in and see what's in there. If we find out that it's just a bunch of nothing, then we'll head back. Whaddya say?"
Vance sighed, shrugging her shoulders, as she gave in, "Hand me a crowbar…"
The four rangers began work walking up to the structure. Its front entrance had been closed off with a wooden board. A feeling of eerie dread warned them to not come any closer, but the rangers dismissed their fears as being nothing more than worrying superstitions. Vance walked up to the wooden board - crowbar in hand - as she looked up at the structure. Intricate carvings had been etched into the stonework. Graphic depictions of people, dragons, animals… some were reminiscent of old fairytales, others were more abstract. With creatures unknown to any of them.
Vance took a sharp breath inward as she turned to Chuck, who stood right beside her. He had a guarding hand covering the Glock on his hip. His wide-brimmed Ranger's cap cast a dark shadow over his eyes. He gave Vance a reassuring nod. Taylor and Ross were just behind them. Keeping a sharp watch.
Satisfied with her backup, Vance dug the steel iron of the crowbar into the kinks that separated the wooden board from the stone wall. Steel bolted the wooden board in place, though with enough jimmying and muscle, Vance was able to pry it open. With a few prods, the wooden barrier came off and dropped to the floor…
Two large doors stood between the rangers and the inside of the building. Both doors towered over them, tall enough to fit a double-decker bus straight through with a few inches to spare. Both Chuck and Vance placed their weight against it, nodding to each other to begin pushing. It required a momentous effort from the two, but slowly the heavy door creaked and rumbled open. They stopped when the doors were open far enough to allow the Florida sunlight inside. A large, empty space. It was completely devoid of anything substantial. Their flashlights fluttered about the inside of the room revealing cobwebs with colonies of daddy longlegs clustered around them. Dust, dirt, and filth were everywhere. The building certainly looked ancient. But aside from the structure itself, there was no sign of human activity. No sign of squatters or vandals as one would expect a building like this to have. It was strangely absent. Suspiciously empty of anything substantial.
The only thing inside was a stone arch that sat at the end of the room. It towered over them, wide enough to fit a tank through, tall enough to rival even the doors they encountered previously. Though the arch only covered the wall, and could not be passed through. Cryptic rune markings and insignias were carved into it. It looked almost like an ancient landmark, though it was still empty of anything one would expect an old crypt to have. No tombs studded with jewels and valuables, no urns containing the ashes of mystical beings, no ancient potions with fearsome engravings on them, nothing.
Chuck let out a harsh sneeze from the dust, as his flashlight flickered around, "A whole lot of nothing, huh?"
"I guess so…" Vance's flashlight flickered over the stone arch once more. Something sparkled at the crown of the stone arch. A block of a solid red jewel made up the keystone of the structure. It shined under the luminosity of the flashlight, nearly blinding Vance for a second before she tilted the light at a different angle, "Chuck… you have a collection of rocks, right?"
"Minerals!" Chuck reminded, "They're minerals!"
"Right… what's that?" Vance asked, shining the light on the red stone. Chuck squinted at it, walking up to it as he stared up at the red stone. It seemed to have a slight glow of its own. Slightly clear, and almost completely transparent. It wasn't cloudy, nor did it have any mixture of any other rock inside. The cut of the stone was sharp, and save for some dust and cobwebs, it looked almost perfect.
"Looks like a ruby… or a Red Beryl."
"Hmm… rubies…"
"Uh! Guys! I think they're coming!" They heard the echo of Ross' voice warning them from outside.
Quickly the two rangers walked outside, Vance raised a hand over her eyes to shield her from the sunlight. There was a buzz in the air around the marsh. More like the distinct chop of the blades from helicopters. Her eyes scanned the skies for the source of the sound until she saw Taylor pointing at the skies behind the building, "Helicopter! Those ain't Ranger choppers! Those are army!"
Vance's eyes landed on the object of concern. It was grey, with two large propellors on either side of its wings. Half-plane, half-helicopter. From Vance's time in the Florida National Guard, she remembered the name of those aircraft. An Osprey. It chopped quickly overhead, flying past the stone structure and the Rangers, before turning on a dime and hovering for a bit. A blinding searchlight was cast on the Rangers, causing them all to momentarily cover their faces from the light as the light was far too intense. It prevented Vance from seeing the markings on the helicopter, for it certainly looked strange.
The propellers of the helicopter created a strong gust of wind that blew the reeds and small trees surrounding the area back with force. It kicked up a cloud of loose dirt into their faces. They watched with curiosity and fear as twelve people disembarked. The rotors blades slowed down, and Vance was allowed to see who these people were. They obviously weren't park rangers, that was certain. They looked like soldiers. But even then, they weren't from the National Guard. They were from something else…
The twelve soldiers made their way towards Vance and her crew. She got a chance to see their uniforms and patches. They were all dressed in military fatigues and wore equipment that was comparable only to Special Forces. A woman was among them and she bore an American flag over an armor plate over her chest and helmet. Eight of the soldiers were American. The other four men had British flags on their uniforms. Vance was utterly confused as to why the military of not just the US but also of the UK had been sent in, and why on Earth were they Special Forces? A rouge thought ran through her mind that they might've been some civilians pretending to be soldiers, but the Osprey was a military aircraft. And even if they had bought it, how had they found their exact location at the time when a special team was supposed to come in? Vance made her mind up that this was the special team that dispatched had told them was supposed to arrive.
"Captain Sherman," Said the apparent leader of the squad. He was a stocky bearded man and spoke with a gruff British accent. He extended a hand towards Vance when he neared, though his eyes were scanning the area. Vance reluctantly put her hand into his to shake it. His pattern of speech seemed long and slow, as he took a deep, mucus-filled, breath before saying each line.
"Sergeant Vance.…may I-"
"Newman, is this the target?" Sherman asked looking towards the soldier.
Newman nodded, "Aye-aye," she said in a familiar American accent.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Vance interrupted the soldiers, trying to gain some sort of clarity on the situation.
The American answered, "ACRA" she answered, spelling out each individual letter to Vance.
Vance winced, just as confused as ever, "I'm sorry… but I've never heard of an 'ACRA' before."
"Good… that means we're doin' our job right for once," Sherman said giving her a slight grin. His grin faded away into obscurity as one of the soldiers pointed something in particular out, "What is it, Eden?" Asked Sherman.
Eden was another British soldier who wore a balaclava that hid a majority of his face from sight. The only discernable features from him were two green eyes that stood out as his only defining features. He pointed to the building, not saying a word. Sherman's eyes followed his fingers and he saw that the building was open, "You opened the building?"
"We're sorry if we did, but we were waiting out here for hours! It was a whole buncha nothin' in there anyways!" Taylor informed them, "Don't know what you guys are here for, but it seems empty to me!"
"So… you didn't see anything odd? Suspicious? Nothing at all?" Newman pressed. Vance was suspicious as to why they were so secretive about the issue. There was nothing there! It was probably some old derelict structure that the surveyors just happened to miss! Why on Earth was the military here? And why were they so intrigued by it?
"It's about as empty as a fuel tank in there. The only thing worthwhile inside are the cobwebs and spiders, but besides that, not a whole lot."
Newman and Sherman both looked at each other, and then at her, "Alright then. Well, you're done for the day. Go home. We'll handle this from here, yeah?" Sherman's line at first sounded as if they were just a few plain instructions. Vance - not wishing to threaten armed soldiers - began to walk back towards her truck…
"BANG!"
The first gunshot sent her into a dive for cover before a second gunshot rang out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Taylor take a bullet straight to the temple. A third gunshot flew out - undoubtedly nailing another ranger. Vance had no time to react or say anything, as she saw Sherman strut up to her. Pistol in hand. He raised it with his right hand, and used his left hand to cover his eyes, before pulling the trigger…
When the dust cleared, it was just the twelve soldiers. Alone with only themselves and four freshly dead bodies that were bleeding out all over, "Casualty Team will clean this place up," Sherman muttered as he took a look at his victims. He glanced over to the stone building.
"Was that really necessary?" Newman asked, "I don't think they knew anything about what was going on."
"No… they probably didn't. But command said that nobody was to see what was inside outside of us! Once they opened those doors, they were witnesses… and a liability."
"No loose ends, huh?"
"In a nutshell," Sherman grumbled.
The ACRA team spread out, with soldiers working to pile the bodies. A few took photographs and a written description of the odd structure that resembled a temple of sorts. This was it. It had been what they were looking for. A secret war was fought for decades to find this, and it just so happened to show up, right in their own backyard, "Hazard to Actual," Newman said into an earpiece.
[Actual] "Go for Actual."
[Newman] "Looks like your Blue Monday project wasn't a failure, after all. We have found and located the Portal. Four civilians dead. No witnesses."
[Actual] "Copy. Cleanup crews are on the way. Secure the perimeter. We've instructed the Park Rangers to stay away. The Florida National Guard will arrive any second to set up shop, just hold the fort down."
[Newman] "If I may ask Jefferson… where does the Portal go?"
[Actual] "We have no idea. That's why we're here. We'll find out soon enough when Command sends us through. But trust me… it'll all be worth it… Actual, out."
Newman's earpiece clicked, and the nothingness of silence took over. Newman's eyes only stared at the Portal in its entirety, "It just doesn't make any sense…" Sherman whispered, stroking his beard with a loose hand, "We've been trying to find out if a Portal was even a possibility since the 1940s… and only now, does it show up?"
"Must've been a delayed reaction from Blue Monday. At least, that's what I figure," Newman replied to him.
Sherman shook his head, "Nah. I'd reckon that it wasn't us that opened it at all… it was something on the other side that did it. It has to be…"
DIGITAL RIOT PROUDLY PRESENTS...
O D Y S S E Y
Kabul Province, Afghanistan
"Welcome to your life. There's no turning back. Even while you sleep. We will find you..."
"Acting on your best behavior, turn your back on Mother Nature. Every-body, wants-to-rule-the-world!"
A convoy of trucks drove along the desert floor, tan paint jobs, guns on them, US flags. US forces were still in Afghanistan. Some said that they would remain there indefinitely. Some said that they would withdraw at any moment. Others said that they were fighting a losing war. Nobody, not even the soldiers on the ground, knew what was going to happen. It was difficult to keep track of the world as it was now, much less to be asked what the future would hold in store.
Many soldiers had no clue. They didn't know the why's or the what's or the how's. They only knew what they were told. Pawns of greater powers that far outweighed anything they could do or say to try and stop them. All they knew was how to get a job done, and how to do it to the best of their ability. Staff Sergeant Hezekiah Brooks was one of them, as he kept his hands on the steering wheel of a JLTV that was affectionately named, "Buffalo".
Despite the state of things around him, he managed to keep a positive attitude. This year was going to be his last, and he might as well make things worthwhile. Five years in the Marine Corps, since his twentieth birthday. His mind was focused on finishing his final tour and going home. This time he was serious about it. For too long he contemplated doing it. Last year was supposed to be his last. Like most normal Marine contracts, he had to provide four years of mandatory active duty and another four years of inactivity in which they could be drafted at the first sign of war. Not even a week had passed when Hezekiah's feet touched American soil, war broke out in Korea. Before he knew it, he was back in Afghanistan with his same old squad. At least he liked them...
"It's my own design...
Its my own remorse...
Help me to decide...
Help me make the most of freedom, and of pleasure! Nothing ever lasts forever! Every-body, Wants-to-rule-the-world!"
"There's a room where the light won't find you! Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down! When they do I'll be right behind you!" Hezekiah sang along to the words that played on the radio inside of the truck. A song that Hezekiah knew very well. He was happy as it seemed as if he was finally getting control of the reigns on his life. Nothing could stop him now. So he sang along with the radio, hoping for better days in the future, "So glad we've almost made it! So sad they had to fade it! Every-body, Wants-to-rule-the-world!"
It made his partner-in-crime and best friend of five odd years, Corporal Flint Hendricks, squirm with unease. Hezekiah unfortunately didn't possess the greatest singing voice. Not even close, "Dude! You sound like fucking dying seal! If you're gonna sound like that for the rest of the trip, you'd better just turn the radio off and we'll do it in silence!"
"Oh come on, Flint!" Hezekiah grinned, "I thought I was doing a good job!"
"Yeah, good job my ass."
"Just thought I'd get in the mood."
"What? Is a holiday coming up? I thought Labor day was two days away?"
"Nope, today marks the final countdown for me. For us. Six months are all that's left in this tour, and when it's up, we go home free!"
"Haha, I know you'd like that! You gonna come back?"
"Nope… not this year."
"You say that every year!"
"Well, this time I mean it! I'm done with this. That whole situation in Korea got my contract extended another year! This is it!"
"Wait? Really? Korea? I was pulled from inactive because of fucking Korea? Seriously?"
"Yeah! You didn't know?"
"Nah, that's the first time I'm hearing this shit! What's it been, like six motherfucking months? I had no clue!"
"Well… that's why."
"Son. Of. A. Bitch!"
Hezekiah chuckled at Flint's reaction, shaking his head slowly. He reached back over to the radio in the JLTV and switched it on once again.
"I can't stand this indecision.
Married with a lack of vision.
Everybody wants to rule the-
Saaay that you'll never, never, never, never need it!
One headline why believe it?
Every-body, wants-to-rule-the-world!
All for freedom and for pleasure!
Nothing ever lasts forever!
Every-body, wants-to-rule-the-world!"
Hezekiah Brooks
Age: 25
Flint Hendricks
Age: 23
The two Marines were commandeering a JLTV, in an escort formation with other trucks that drove across the Desert surface towards Kabul. A Bradley, three other trucks, and a group of logistical vehicles carrying who-knows-what made up the rest of the unit.
Flint was a white guy with short sandy hair, no facial hair at all. Blue eyes, about five foot nine. His Staff Sergeant, Hezekiah was basically the opposite. Black dude, a partial goatee, brown eyes and stood tall at six foot two. The two looked alike about as much as they acted alike. Their personalities were a stark contrast, Flint was the life of the party. A joy to have around in any social event. He was loud, proud, sometimes abrasive but almost always he was well-meaning. He had a love for alcohol, swearing, and an exciting adventure. Alcohol, swearing, and seeking thrills from his work were among his top hobbies. Loud - sometimes even abrasive - though under it all he had a heart of pure gold and was a genuine soul to anyone he knew.
Hezekiah, on the other hand, was a lot more reserved, not necessarily introverted but tended to enjoy the company of himself. Outside of work, he seemed Mild-mannered. Some would even describe him as meek or timid. He seemed more fit to be a professor at a university. He hardly raised his voice at anyone he didn't know, and when he did, usually it was in a joking manner. a librarian than a Marine.
Flint tended to be abrasive and rush into things headlong while Hezekiah tended to overthink and panic about little details no matter how abstract. The two became friends by circumstance rather than by any real action on their part. Both joined the Marines after graduating High School, Flint did so he had something to do with his life, and Hezekiah so he could pay for college. They happened to be assigned to the same unit and as circumstances dictated, they looked out for each other. For the better part of Five Years together, the two looked out for each other.
Hezekiah had joined on the eve of his twentieth birthday. Out of a job, struggling to deal with finances for his seemingly dead-end pursuit of a degree in Computer Science, he signed his name on the dotted line to avoid having to drop out of college and go work in a factory. Or worse-still, continue in school to slave away at an IT office somewhere in Manhattan. He just couldn't see himself doing that. He often wondered where he would be in life if he had continued on and ignored the Marine Corps recruiters posted outside of his college campus. But, choices were made. At the end of the day, he couldn't turn back the clock.
Flint's past remained mysterious to Hezekiah. He was unwilling to share even the smallest details of anything that happened after and when he was sixteen. All Hezekiah knew was that Flint was born in New Mexico to a couple of not-so-great parents. They moved to Texas after an incident that Flint absolutely refused to talk about in even the vaguest of details. Hezekiah figured that it was probably best to not ask. Though, it didn't stop him from wondering…
The convoy passed through the desert without trouble. Almost worrying so. Ambushes were normal. It had become life, or something more than that. Something so passive, so normal, like a tree in the middle of a park. Like a blade of grass. Violence out here was the norm, in fact, the absence of violence was off-putting and enough to incite fear and paranoia by the soldiers and higher-ups. It had been this way for well over twenty years now, and nobody knew how much longer it'd drag on. All the soldiers could hope to do was put on a brave face and try their best to hold on for the day.
Checkpoint guards dressed in fatigues opened the iron gates blocking off the camp. The vehicles filed inside, with Hezekiah taking the Buffalo right up to their barracks. The home of their squad. Unity.
Their squad was a five-man team made up of Marines from all walks of life. There was of course; Flint and Hezekiah. But there was also Sergeant Quinn Vulcano, Corporal Lafayette Dupont, and last but certainly not least, Private Brian Yale. Though, when Hezekiah stepped outside of the truck and went inside of the barracks, they were nowhere to be seen. The only evidence that they were ever there had remained in a radio that broadcast signals from a tower somewhere in the middle of the camp. The rest of Unity must've been off on a different task now, but the radio was loudly playing the news…
"…With UN forces just twenty miles south of Pyongyang, the North Korean government has begun putting everything it could into defending its provinces from total collapse. The situation is uncertain for sure but world leaders are confident the conflict will be over in a matter of days as the United States moves its own nuclear arsenal to readiness…" The radio inside of the shelter blared a woman's voice, the news. Soldiers gathered around to hear, the boys in Korea were putting up the best damn fight the world had ever seen.
Details about the war were incredibly foggy since it broke out in early 2019. Not many people knew why exactly it had started, or to put it more accurately, why it had escalated to the point of direct conflict. There were arguments back and forth between politicians behind closed doors, and the next thing anybody knew, bombs were being dropped on Seoul with the South Koreans returning fire. It was the very war that had brought Unity as a squad back from inactivity, as they were drafted to fill manpower shortages left behind in Afghanistan. Thankfully, they weren't sent to the Korean peninsula, as from the stories of the war that Hezekiah heard, it had become a frozen blood bath where Marines were torn apart by surprise Northern guerilla attacks, buried alive in freak landslides and avalanches, or were blown apart by the thick minefields that dotted the DMZ.
The world had only just sneaked past nuclear conflict, as the few missile silos that the Northern Regime had were disabled by a team of American, South Korean, British- and most shockingly of all - Russian special forces. Nobody was sure why Russia decided to assist the Coalition. Perhaps it was to gain a larger sphere of influence in Asia and the Yellow Sea? Or perhaps it was because they too saw the North as a direct threat to their security as a nation? Most expected Russia to be against the Coalition invasion of the North, and for them to support the North Koreans. Or at the very most- declare neutrality in the affair as the Chinese had. But politics were confusing complex, almost stupidly so.
Hezekiah sighed as he switched off the radio. Knowing that it had been more than just a lucky break that they were assigned to Afghanistan rather than to the place that was literally named "The Meatgrinder" by surviving Marines.
"A goddamn shitstorm out there," Flint said as he hung up his coat and took a casual seat on his bed.
"Yeah… and to think that it could've been us, eh?"
"Right. But hey, you'd keep me alive. Right?" Flint asked in a joking manner, his face being half-buried in the glowing light of his cellphone.
"Of course I will, that's my job…" Hezekiah told him. Sorta as a half-assed response, sorta as the truth, "Hey, you know where Unity is?"
"Nah, not a clue. Aren't they out mopping the mess hall or some shit?"
"That's what I…" Hezekiah's eyes caught sight of two soldiers marching towards them. One was the current Major of the forces there. Major Buffy. And another officer who was completely unfamiliar to Hezekiah, "…Thought."
The duo stopped in front of their barracks, and spoke briefly before the unfamiliar officer pulled away. Buffy meanwhile opened their doors, peering inside with two beady eyes, "Corporal Hendricks? Staff Sergeant Brooks?" He asked. Both Flint and Hezekiah stood at attention for him, "Follow me."
"Am I speaking to President Carter?"
"Who's asking?"
"General Isaac Greene of the Defense Department, sir!"
"Ah, General Greene. What news do you have for me?"
"Blue Monday..."
"Has it been stabilized?"
"The ACRA team 'Hazard' has secured the area. The Florida National Guard moved in afterward and constructed a basic outpost, but they remain ignorant of what's inside."
"Good."
"What are your plans for the Portal?"
"Not a single word about it goes out. I'm making sure we keep this thing under our complete control. Mobilize our forces to go through the portal for a preliminary sweep of the area and lock it down! Victor cannot under any circumstances know that we have access to a Portal…"
"Wouldn't the military buildup in a National Park cause suspicion? If the media get's ahold of this-"
"Tell the media that the Cubans got a satellite into orbit. They'll believe anything."
"Understood. And what of the involved staff?"
"Not. A. Single. Word. Gets. Out. Get the CIA, FBI, NSA - hell, go call the British and tell them to get MI5 AND 6 on this! This information cannot ever get out before we are ready to push for a release, you understand me?"
"Yes sir..."
"Good. I expect an update on the situation sooner or later. Godspeed General."
"Same to you..."
"…Something is wrong. I can feel it."
"What? What are you talking about."
"The universe… something is wrong with it. There's been a disturbance. Somewhere."
"Do you think it's…no. It can't be! That isn't supposed to happen until centuries from now."
"It is. There is no other explanation, it cannot be. He has done it."
"Impossible."
"He warned us centuries ago and yet we refused to listen!"
"…"
"We must find where they are coming from. And then we must eradicate them before they exterminate us."
"Yes. I agree brother."
"Are we all in agreement?"
"Yes, Brother."
"Indeed."
"Good. We'll stay observant, we'll watch for any intrusion into our world, and we'll deny them the chance to rid themselves of us. If the E'Aethal wants to rebel against our hegemony in this way, then we shall crush them!"
"Agreed."
"Yes, brother."
Hezekiah lay in his cot, eyes wide open. The lights in the barracks were off, darkness flooded the room. Everybody was supposed to be asleep. So why wasn't he?
He had no interest in sleeping, and whenever he tried, his eyelids would just peel themselves openly. Something was keeping him awake. And he knew exactly what.
The words his commanding officer had spoken to himself, Flint, and his squadmates earlier that day, were haunting.
"You are being redeployed to an experimental battleground to train our troops for the new battlefield," He recalled Buffy telling him earlier. He had no clue what 'experimental battleground' meant, and his mind quickly raced to conclusions. Hezekiah feared that for certain, he was being sent to Korea. To the fucking meatgrinder of all places, where soldiers died in the mountains and were never heard of again. Their lives ended and their stories lost to the void.
Had he fucked up to the point High Command thought it fit for him to be assigned there? Was this some sort of cruel punishment from the military higher-ups? What did he do?
But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst came when his C.O. said that, "Nobody, not even family, is allowed to know about the redeployment."
"Fuck that," Hezekiah thought to himself as his brown eyes peered into the sea of darkness that suffocated him. Not only was he possibly being given an effective death sentence in Korea, but he also wasn't even allowed to tell anybody his whereabouts. How much crueler could this be? Hezekiah didn't have many people to talk to back home, there was his mother, and a long-estranged uncle of his, but even still he had to tell them he was alright.
Hezekiah's body felt numb as he thought about the future. As if he was melting into the darkness that surrounded him. As he drifted away into sleep, he barely noticed the difference between wakefulness and slumber.
He didn't notice that he had fallen asleep until the voice of his inner thoughts became audible.
"What do you see?"
Hezekiah couldn't tell. He looked around, unsure if his eyes were open or if they were still closed. All that he envisioned was darkness. An enveloping, suffocating, almost blinding darkness. One that could only be reproduced with the eyes closed in a dark environment. He could see nothing. As if his eyes were covered. But his eyes were opened, he knew that.
"Nothing."
"Are you sure?"
The disembodied voice asked. Its reptilian-like speech hissed around the 's' and lingered in an almost sing-song pattern. It hung like a glider slipping through the air, breaking at specific intervals as if it were gasping for breath. Hezekiah held no interest in the voice, however. For whatever reason. He thought it was just his imagination. An inner voice. His mind's eye.
"I'm sure," Hezekiah answered. His own voice sounded rather weary and quite faint. The words responded, though his mind hadn't. He spoke but he didn't mean to. What was going on now, was the question on his mind. He must've been dreaming a quite peculiar dream. He had no knowledge of what was going on, only that the voice was asking him questions, and he had to respond.
"Look again."
Hezekiah looked around and saw his arms and legs, his body, attached to himself. Right where they should be. He was standing on a plane of darkness, hovering in the midst of a perpetual void. And behind him was light.
Out of curiosity, he walked closer towards it. He hesitated, at first unsure of whether or not he wanted to know what the light was. A bad feeling harbored inside that something bad was going to happen, that he was going to see something he wasn't meant to see. Hezekiah would be scarred by this. He had dreams before that turned into nightmares at the snap of a finger. Could this be one of them? Hezekiah's legs quaked as he walked towards the light, uneasiness, and apprehension filled him, he could turn back now. He wanted to turn back. He couldn't go further, any closer to the light and he'd surely be burned. He was getting into something he would regret, any deeper and he wouldn't be able to go back.
Knowing all of this made Hezekiah's inside sink. It made his palms sweaty, his jaw clenched, and his spine felt hollow.
So why did Hezekiah take yet another step?
And another?
And yet another?
Until he was full-on sprinting towards the light. He hadn't run a full five seconds until he stood before it, a large circular ball of energy. His eyes fixated on it, admiring it, wondering at the possibilities, of adventure. A boyish thrill overcame him to discover and admire what was in store. One that overpowered his fear.
He stopped just in front. The light encapsulated him, filling his eyes and his imagination as it stood there. He raised one hand and sunk it into the energy.
It phased through with no resistance. He quickly pulled his arm out, and to his surprise, it was still completely intact. With a jump, he entered inside the light. Leaving behind the void, and entering into a new world.
Before his eyes now lie a world full of plants. He stood on a small hill, overlooking a jungle around him. The thick forest looked…sick. Yellowing leaves, diseased plants, fungus growing on dying trees. It was a rotting forest. The sky was a brown, and the smell of rotten flesh hung in the air.
Hezekiah hated this place, it was sick, downright nasty. He was forced to cover his mouth and nose in a vain attempt to block the stench. Looking around, it looked polluted, almost left for dead. A once beautiful forest now left rotting due to some outside device.
"Oftentimes, a beautiful thing is corrupted, Sergeant Brooks," The voice responded as if it read his mind, "It's unfortunate. However, it is not irreparable. In fact, quite the opposite."
Hezekiah looked behind him, as the hue of orange light caught his eye. Behind him, on the floor, was a series of small fires. Hezekiah wondered how they got there until he took another step. When he lifted his foot, another fire started. His flammable footsteps followed him, spreading fire all over the path. They burned the decaying matter on the floor, the vine on the trees, the leaves themselves. All until Hezekiah realized that they were burning the entire forest. Setting it all ablaze in a hellish show of bright orange light, ash, and heat.
The trees collapsed, the leaves disintegrated, leaving behind nothing in their wake. Darkness filled the area once again until everything was gone. Reduced to nothingness.
And Hezekiah stood there in that nothingness, the destroyer of a world.
"Sometimes, you have to destroy once great things to start anew. To build a better future…" The disembodied voice materialized into a form. A vaguely human form. Wrapped in a black robe, white trousers, and knee-high black boots. Its face and head at large was a giant mirror, showing Hezekiah his reflection back at him.
The creature stood at the same height as Hezekiah and seemed to be human for the most part. Almost. But the way it spoke and conducted itself, as well as the mirror in place of a face which didn't appear to be a mask. It reflected everything, capturing the nothingness and showing it to Hezekiah.
"Who are you?" Hezekiah automatically asked.
The creature shifted its weight as it launched into step, one foot after another. Holding its hand as it began to explain itself, "I am what you see. But that's not important. What is important - Sergeant Brooks - is who you are," The creature said. Clearly, it knew his name, despite Hezekiah not telling him. Who was this… thing?
"You'll find that all out at a later date if you have the strength to continue on," Said the creature.
"What do you mean? I know who I am! Who are you?"
The Mirrorface simply shook its head, sighing, "You may think you know who you are. But you do not. Nobody does until they come in the face of extreme hardship. You can think of me as a messenger, to warn you about the trying times ahead," it walked a full circle around Hezekiah before stopping on its heels right in front of him, "I must tell you I had to go against the wishes of my employers in coming here. They never cared much for Human life in the first place, much less your comfort in the knowledge of their assignment for you."
Hezekiah was now absolutely confused, "Wait… wait, you're telling me that you have a job for me? What is it? Is this some kind of self-fulfilling prophecy?"
"That is for you to decide. The ones who assigned me to you, have made it clear that they are in dire need of almost magical help. They concluded that the destructive nature of humanity would suffice, and you happened to be best suited for the role. However, there are others, no one man could do this alone. If you refuse, or if you fail, you'll be simply discarded."
Hezekiah was still confused, less so now, but still somewhat. His mind had no idea what the Mirrorface was trying to warn him of. And… if he failed? Failed a mission that he doesn't even know the objective of? What did he have to do?
"Don't be fooled, the power of one human mind is enough force to create a wave of difference if it is in the right place," said the being, "Your mission lies in front of you."
The Mirrorface stepped aside, revealing a small brown object. Hezekiah walked closer to it and found that it was a seed. A woody exterior shielded the insides of it, ready to bloom into a plant of some form. Right under his foot was a pile of dirt.
"Plant the seed, and accept the mission. Give it back to me or cast it into the void, and I'll find someone else more suitable for the task. It's your choice, Sergeant Brooks."
Hezekiah knew this was just a dream. Or at least he thought it was. It was a hell of a vivid experience, out of all the dreams he ever had, this one has to be the most memorable. Did it have any impact on his real life? That remained to be seen.
Hezekiah, unsure of the consequences, took the seed. He took a cursory glance at the Mirrorface, who hadn't moved. And then he buried the seed into the ground.
"It is done…" Said the creature. Immediately afterward, the seed shot up as a green stalk erupted from the pile of dirt. Adding color into a world devoid of it. The stalk became a luscious tree, big wide green leaves, dark brown bark, and a crown of tree branches that spread upwards into the air and over the two.
The tree quickly grew flowers, which turned into fruits that matured immediately and burst with seed. Scattering onto the floor, the seeds fell around, creating their own dirt piles and grass. They shot up into other plants, different from the original tree. They filled the world with color, with new life. The sky returned, replacing the dark void with a blue shield. The ground he walked on became full of life, as the dirt turned into grass and hills, streams and rivers. Flowers and trees bloomed all over, the sun shone, and the animals returned. All was restored to what was once lost.
"…But you aren't," said the creature who still stood amidst a meadow in between a valley of mountains and a wall of forest, "You, are just beginning on your marvelous journey!" The creature said. For the first time, Hezekiah could detect a hint of excitement in the creature's voice.
"Open your eyes and see the world for yourself. It's in your hands now. All you have to do is wake up, Sergeant Brooks… Wake up, and light the fire. Wake up," The Mirrorface slowly disintegrated, Hezekiah's vision blurred, and he was pulled from the forest of the living into the real world.
"Hezekiah? Wake up! Wake up, man! Come on! Hey, Brian if he doesn't wake up, get the water, it's gonna be fucking hilarious!"
Hezekiah could hear the voices as he swam to the surface of his consciousness, being propelled upward before breaching the surface in a violent waking event. His eyes shot open.
Light surrounding him now, seeping in through the windows of the barracks. He could feel his limbs, and when he looked up, he saw the face of Flint.
"Bro, you good bro?"
Hezekiah didn't respond as he pulled himself up and rubbed his face with his hands, "You were out like a fucking light dude. Lafayette thought you were dead!"
"I couldn't help it, he wasn't moving!" Said another soldier in his squad.
"Dawg, you sleep like a rock," Flint punched his shoulder playfully.
Hezekiah coughed a little before replying, "I'm good, I'm fine. What's up?"
"What's up?" Flint repeated in a rhetorical manner, "We're getting redeployed, man!"
Hezekiah's face dropped as he was dumbfounded, it hit him like a train, "That's today?"
"Yeah, man!"
"Aw shit! Get your uniforms on, and get Unity together!" He told Flint and Lafayette who hurriedly obeyed. Lafayette was a man with black hair and a thin mustache on his lip, he was a tall and lanky guy, with a strong face and thin build. The squad engineer and mechanic for Unity. Somewhere around 24 in years. He was a quiet man who didn't like to speak a whole lot. In fact, he seemed rather uptight. Though, he was for sure more relaxed when he was around the company of his squad.
Hezekiah watched the two leave as he himself prepared, he got on his uniform. Any second now, Buffy would begin calling all the squads together to get out and assemble for transport. Hezekiah sent a silent prayer that it wasn't to Korea, anywhere but there. He ignored the strange dream he had, for now, pushing it into the back of his mind as his responsibilities took over for now. He rushed out of the Barracks fully dressed, as he met an assembled Unity Squad.
There were five Marines in Unity. Hezekiah Brooks, Flint Hendrix, Lafayette DuPont, Brian Yale, and Quinn Vulcano. All of them came from their own walks of life, meeting by happenchance in a twist of fate that would see them working with each other, depending on the other, and fighting for each other.
Brian was a rather short man, round face, and a mess of blonde hair. He had pale skin, and glasses on his face that shielded his big eyes. Easily the runt of the litter, Brian was the youngest of them all. Hardly 19 years old. Barely old enough to vote. Too young to drink. But apparently, the perfect age to take a gun and shoot people in a foreign land. He was scared, and Brian had never taken a life, only working as Unity's combat lifesaver. In fact, he had only joined Unity just a few short weeks prior. Fresh outta BootCamp. Quinn was almost the exact opposite of Brian since he was a big guy with broad shoulders, jet black hair, and olive skin. He was easily the oldest and most mature of the group, for he was just a few months shy of the grand old age of 30 Years around the sun. His experience in life made Hezekiah look up to him even despite their difference in rank. Though, if anybody was suited to be the squad's second-in-command, it was Quinn.
All five of them were here now, together. Ready for the re-assignment.
"Erhm, Sergeant Brooks, sir. Do you know what's going on?" Brian asked in his Pacific Northwest accent.
"I wish I did, Brian, I wish I did…" Hezekiah said, "Something about… redeployment?"
"Out of Afghanistan? Shiiiet, I'm down! Put me on the next flight back to the states!" Quinn said with a smile plastered on his face as he leaned back.
"It's a bit short notice that we're going back home, no?" Lafayette asked Hezekiah, an eyebrow raised in thought.
"That's the thing," Hezekiah said as he ran his hand over his short hair, "I have no clue where we are going. Something about an experimental battleground, it doesn't make any sense. And if my fears are correct then…well…" Hezekiah didn't finish his sentence, Unity understood everything he was getting at.
"Y-you think they're sending us to Korea?" Brian shakily asked him. A nervous breath escaped his mouth that nobody could blame him for. Korea was a terrifying place. The mere thought of being sent there was enough to send a nervous tension down the spine.
Hezekiah looked at him somberly as he took a seat, "God I hope not. But I don't know, Brian. I don't know."
The five men fell silent until a knocking came on the barracks door. Hezekiah quickly got up, Buffy was there standing. He took a good look at Hezekiah and entered inside, "Gentlemen," He proclaimed as he walked inside.
The five men looked up at him curiously, wondering if- maybe- there was a chance that things would be alright. That they wouldn't be sent to fight in the deadly mountains of the Korean peninsula. The soldiers heard stories of that place… to say that they were scared of the possibility was an understatement. Everything from the brutal winter, the rugged mountains, the guerilla tactics of the Northern Koreans, the wildlife, the landmines buried deep in the ground.
"You are being redeployed. Today," Buffy said looking around at the five men, "Two companies worth of soldiers are currently being redeployed from Afghanistan, ours, of course, is included. Upon arrival, we'll be reorganized with four other companies into a fighting Battalion."
Quinn raised his hand, "Uh, may I ask… where are we going?"
Buffy smiled looking at him.
"Simple. We're going back to the States."
