“The situation that unfolded at Raymond USSF base has been contained. The 10th SOF has been reassigned to security duty, and the alien device has been placed under intense security. New protocols have been established, and all nonpriority research unrelated to the Alien device is currently being moved off-site.
A preliminary investigation is still underway; however, it seems the security was not adequately employed to handle the sudden attack. While some believed this could have been a portal to another world, there was internal debate on other options, such as a communication device, a library, and more. Because of this division and the desire to activate the device, proper security was not given. Either because they were blinded by the most important discovery in human history or pressed for other reasons.
Based on the security feed from the facility cameras and combat personnel, it was clear that the enemy was not prepared to establish a long-term beachhead in their attack. This is closer to a raid over a direct invasion. This time. They came to capture the two male and female aliens (closely similar to elves) and began retreating once the Minutemen and 10th SOF stormed the facility. The unknown enemy partially successfully captured the male (the elf type). However, based on the feeds, the enemy prioritized capturing as much sensitive research within the facility as possible. Many critical experimental hardware, servers, research, and more were captured or destroyed.
Because the attackers were contained within the facility, we will inform the media that a late-night engine testing related to the Deep Space Protection Program occurred. The engine test failed, which resulted in casualties and a fire within the facility. Because of the high amount of high-ranking military, intellectual, and political figures witnessing the test, we must state that it was a terrorist attack. A file is attached of the proposed list of groups that already have a history.” – USSF Major General, Space Command, Cheyenne Mountain Complex
March, 3rd, 2048 (Military Calendar)
Interrogation Room
Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, United States
*****
Staring through the one-way mirror, Captain Mathew Ryder watched the pale-green female elf as Military Intelligence integrated her. She sat there looking scared and confused. Her hands were separately chained to each side of the table, hoping that would prevent her from utilizing whatever special hand abilities these aliens had. From his limited experience of this new reality, he knew he wouldn't stop her, but it made everyone feel better.
A part of him felt bad for the girl. Her green eyes looked terrified as tears streamed down her cheeks, desperately looking around as she figured out where she was, and the fact her brown hair was not groomed showed it. The dark-skinned man in front of her was not helping with his attempt to ask questions. To his surprise, she was very talkative, seemingly trying to explain something. However, she spoke in a strange language that they couldn't understand.
After several additional questions from the interrogator inside the room, she ranted. As before, she spoke in a language that no one could understand. Seeing the lack of progress, Ryder stated, "How are we supposed to gain information from someone who can only speak alien?"
"Beats me," Hackett responded. "Unlike what the people think, we don't have a doctrine for these things—only a general outline of if first contact ever happens. And none of it had a section about aliens coming through a portal from underground. And all our best translations Programable Intelligence software is proving useless."
"What does the Brass think of all this? I bet they are freaking right now."
Hackett placed his hand on his forehead. "I have been up all night in meetings, and my lack of response will tell you everything."
The brown hair Caucasian man shook his head while chuckling. While a captain, he could imagine the meetings at Washington D.C. and the Pentagon. Since the dawn of the satellite generation in the 1950s, the brass has placed much energy into having superior intelligence to form campaigns around.
After nearly a hundred years with this technology, everyone has grown used to factoring out the unknown in their decision-making. While it was impossible to remove the unknown altogether, the percentage was down to science and could be a factor around it. Now, the brass must deal with the fact that the only information they must base decisions on is the unknown. Even the recent battle only created more questions than answers.
"That bad?" Ryder took a deep breath and continued to watch the failed interrogation. "And I take it my little mission to Mars was related to this mess?"
"That is correct," Hackett replied. "I have been permitted to inform you and the rest of the Minutemen about what happened on Mars a few months ago."
Ryder's dark gray hair mentor explained how the alien device below the NASA facility suddenly activated in a British museum. They detected this signal on Mars at the same time. The retrieval team discovered an underground alien facility that was underneath Olympus Mons. They also found an orb, which was what the Comanche transported here. Then, last night, they connected the orb to the device, and a portal opened between worlds.
"No wonder the RIA wanted it so desperately," Ryder recalled that escort mission. The Iranian-Russian Alliance staged a surprise attack and ambushed their spaceship. With clever thinking, Comanche escaped on a space capsule and scuttled their ship, only to be rescued by a French vessel a day later.
"They must have detected the signal somehow and planned accordingly," Hackett said. "And by the way, that retrieval team ran into an Akuma that you faced in training. It killed two and wounded many more. A Japanese person called it an Akuma, being a demon spirit in Japanese mythology, and the name stuck."
Ryder had a feeling that was where the Akuma had come from since last night. After hearing about the alien facility, all the pieces started coming together. Deciding to change the topic to more urgent matters, he asked, "What about the aliens that came through the portal? One looked like a human, and the other looked like a vampire. I was even told one looked like a furry."
"The lab is still researching the matter; however, they confirm that the purple fella is a vampire," Hackett said.
The captain looked toward his mentor with a baffled look. He thought the Colonel was joking about the reference; however, it seemed fiction was closer to reality than once believed. "How the hell do they know it is a vampire? Let me guess, they have samples in a freezer in Norway and compared DNA?"
"I love your imagination, Mathew, but no. The scientists used PIs skimmed through thousands of references written about Vampires over the past three hundred years. They also cross-check with the corpses that had their blood drained from their bodies. While details differ, the important details match depending on your source material. The fantasy is real, or at least on this alien planet."
"Damn," Ryder stated as he tried to wrap his mind around the new reality. "I guess the idea was older than we thought. What about the human type?"
Hackett chuckled before he responded, "You were closer the first time. As I said, the current hypothesis is still mostly guessing work. Still, the preliminary study states that these human types are closer to the f homo erectus than homo sapiens."
While Ryder knew his mentor was joking regarding the Norway lab part, he was still shocked by the statement. He wanted to ask how that was possible. However, he realized these aliens had come through the portal, and the device was already on Earth. God knows how long that device had been here. "And the technology?"
"Clueless," Hackett plainly stated.
"I had a feeling," Ryder said. "We need more intel. I assume we will be going through?"
"That is if we can figure out how to communicate with her. The device closed after this new enemy retreated. We need her to reactivate it, or we run the risk of them having full control over it."
"Assuming we do, what is the plan?"
"That is still being hammered out. As you said, we need intel to determine what the world offers and what is worth investing in it. However, the value of making contact and gaining a foothold in their world overlaps the risks. New technologies, strange abilities, new races. The discoveries are limitless, and the White House wants it."
Ryder turned back to the interrogation. The interrogator was getting frustrated, tossing documents on the table while the pale-green elf girl was crying. Then, the interrogator stood and left the room with his hand rubbing the upper part of his chin in frustration.
"I have no idea what to do," the interrogator said. "Every language PI has failed, and she is very emotional."
"Her family member was taken, and she is in an alien world locked in a jail cell," Ryder said. "Wouldn't you be?"
"How do you know that the other elf was related to her?" the man asked.
"Would you be this emotional if it was just some guy named Billy from down the street?" Ryder replied. "Regardless of her relationship with that man or male elf, or…, the point is, he was someone important to her."
Hackett crossed his arms as he stared at the one-way mirror. "You have a point, Mathew. You should go in there."
Ryder looked at his mentor with shock. "Are you sure? I am not an interrogator.”
"Exactly. That approach has failed, and you have more contact with these people. And besides, she did save your life, so that might be a good way to smooth things over."
Recalling back to the fight, Ryder's body still felt sour from being tossed around by that dark-haired, purple-skinned vampire. Even with his Itlian battle suit, he was shocked by his opponent's raw strength.
However, his mentor was correct. She did save his life at the cost of losing someone of importance, so maybe there was an angle there to build a bridge. "I can give it a shot. I owe her one; maybe a familiar face might gain some ground."
As Ryder headed to the interrogation door, one of the guardian's staff handed him a folder with everything they knew about the aliens. After quickly skimming through some of the details, he entered the room. As the door closed, he noticed that she was staring at him. She looked exhausted and terrified, tears all over her cheeks, but most importantly, she looked defeated. He opened the door again and said, "Guard, take off those cuffs."
"Sir," the guard said. "We saw those aliens do that weird energy thing with their hands."
Ryder turned to the guard. "Weird energy thing? We need a new word for that. Anyway, I was there and saw it with my own eyes. She could have broken free anytime she wanted and chose not to. Besides, what is she going to do? Go to war with eighty-thousand military personnel in Colorado?"
The guard left and confirmed with his superiors to take off the restraints. It took a few minutes, and Ryder stood there until they uncuffed her. Once they were, he ordered everyone to leave the room, so it was just the two. The captain only sat down when they were alone, lightly setting the fold on the table. "Hello there."
The elf suddenly began ranting again, moving her hands as she spoke some unknown language. She then moved her hands together, almost like she was trying to make a shape. However, Ryder was impressed by how long she could go on a tangent.
Sitting there confused, the captain remained quiet to allow her to vent whatever she needed to. She knew they couldn't understand each other by now, but Ryder wondered if she had a plan to resolve this. After carefully watching, the girl seemed to create a square and put something in or out. He assumed she was requesting her purse or whatever is equivalent in her world.
Ryder then looked toward the one-way mirror, only seeing his reflection. "Can you get her stuff, please? And yes, I know that breaks every rule in the book, but unless we want to play charades for the next thirty years, there might be something that can help."
A heavy voice from the intercom stated that they were gathering her things, so he looked back at the elf girl sitting there, twirling her figure in her long brown hair. It was clear to him that she was trying to keep herself calm, waiting to see what happened next.
The two sat awkwardly as they didn't know what else to do. It took about ten minutes for the guardian to carry a box. They set the box on the table. Among them was a guard, aiming his P52s at her. In addition to her things, one of the guardians, a woman, sat two bottles of water on the table.
"Thank you," Ryder said. "You all can leave now."
There was hesitation among the guards, however, and the three individuals left the integration room.
Ryder looked over to the elf girl and saw her grabbing the bottle. She tried pulling the cap off and, to her confusion, struggled. He could tell it was frustrating her, and she started to tear up again.
The sight was informative. While not intentional, the captain realized her people had the concept of a bottle but not the twisting part of the cap. This meant their bottles could be cork-like, possibly like wine bottles or other means. He had no idea why the sight impressed him.
The captain got the elf's attention and showed with his hands that she needed to twist the bottle cap. She watched with amazement before doing the same. After removing the cap, she raised her fists to celebrate her accomplishment. However, this resulted in her spilling some of her bottled water. The two laughed before she drank the bottle to nearly half full.
Once the elf finished hydrating herself, she grabbed her bag and began digging in it.
This unnerved Mathew Ryder, as he had no idea what she would do next. Already seeing what these people could do, anything in that bag could be dangerous.
To his confusion, she pulled out the lightest red smooth stone. She set it on the table and directed him to touch it. He was hesitant but decided he had already gone this far, and they needed to make progress. That a little trust was required. He reached out and touched the stone.
The only thing he felt was a strange tingle in his mind, feeling slightly odd before the feeling went away. "That felt strange."
"That feeling will go away soon."
"Interesting." Ryder then realized who spoke. Being only two people in the room, only the elf girl could have said those words. "Did I just understand you?"
The elf looked confused. The girl again started stroking her hair for comfort. "Yeah. It is a translation amulet. We use them all the time on Alagore. I brought some so we could communicate because I did not know what kind you used, but your people took it away. Why did your people not use your translation amulet? I do not understand why you subjected me like this when everything would have been easier if we could understand each other."
Ryder had no idea how to respond, especially baffled by the second part. He could tell her they do not have these amulets but needed to know if that was too much information. The truth was they did try to communicate with their Programmable Intelligence technology, which failed. The issue the captain was struggling with was how to explain what PIs are and why they didn’t work. "We tried, but they didn't work."
"I see. I expected things to be similar to home when we came here. So far, everything I have seen in your world is vastly different from Alagore. Even the lights and chairs are different.” The girl then leaned forward as if she was studying the Caucasian man. “Can I ask, have we met before? You seem familiar."
"We met before you were taken through that device."
"I see. You were in your armor, so I did not get a good view.”
"A lot was going on that night, so I understand. Do you have a name?"
“Fraeya Holiadon, daughter of Raegel Holiadon.”
"Captain Mathew Ryder, head of Combat Fire Team-1, otherwise known as Comanche."
"It is nice to meet you finally." The elf then looked toward the mirror wall and back at him. "Unless I… I a prisoner, or am I going to be a slave?"
The question almost made the captain laugh; however, he maintained his pasture. The captain understood why she considered that option as she was locked alone with a man she didn't know. From her perspective, she was trapped by aliens. It did inform him that her world had a slave system to some degree, which meant that the institution wasn't native to Earth but a universal evil.
"Slavery is illegal on Earth," Ryder said. "However, you are a prisoner for right now. At least until we can decide if we can be friends."
The elf girl leaned back with a smile before clapping her hands together. "Then let's be friends. I only wanted us to be friends, to begin with." Frayea said. "Then can I ask, why am I a prisoner? You are the Lats, correct? Do you look like them? I thought we were allies? Why do I have to prove my friendship? Noble Elves and Lats have been allies for thousands of years."
Ryder couldn't help but glance toward the mirror, knowing what Colonel Hackett was thinking. Based on how she said it, it confirmed that there were other types of humans on Alagore besides the homo erectus. "Are the humans that came through without the Lats?"
The elf's ears perked as she held her head in confusion. "The humans with Kallem? No…, those are J’avais. They despise the Lats and wish to replace them as the dominant humans on Alagore. Isn't that the same here?"
Trying to understand the inner politics of these different species started giving the captain a headache. To move the conversation along, he opened the folder and slid the images of the humans that came through the portal. "Is this a J'avais?"
The elf woman leaned over and shook her head in agreement. "Yes. I also noticed that you did not answer my question."
"You are a sharp one," Ryder said. "We call them homo erectus. A subspecies of humans that went extinct for hundreds of thousands of years. There has not been another type of human besides homo sapiens or, in your case, Lats on Earth for as long as anyone could remember."
"Extinct?" the elf girl said. "How is that possible?"
"I was going to ask you the same question on how they are alive."
Fraeya started at the man with her green eyes, looking concerned and confused by the statements in the conversation. "So, your kind wiped them out before they could rule over you?"
Mathew Ryder gave her a confused stare as he didn't know how to respond. He wanted to reject it but had no idea what happened that long ago. "Honestly, I have no idea. Many different sub-humans were competing to become dominant back then, but we are all that is left. We always assumed it was because natural selection wiped out all other subgroups of humans. As I said, that was hundreds of thousands of years ago before we tamed fire."
"I see…." The elf girl took out her notebook and started recording. "We knew Altaerrie would be different, but nothing like this. A world with only one race. I cannot imagine how peaceful and prosperous this world must be."
“Yeah… peaceful.” Feeling a drop of sweat drop down the back of Ryder's neck with that question. Out of everything he had seen over the past twenty-four hours, this was the most embarrassing moment, realizing how wrong she was. "We still have our wars, but that brings me to the main question: why are you here? Why was this Kallem fellow they after you two?"
Fraeya began telling the story, giving more information than Ryder and everyone else listening could have dreamed of. Speaking with her hands, she explained the journey of the Palatini of Orias going through the mountains, heading to this ancient temple called Indolass. They used an orb that her father had discovered and activated the Bridge there. However, once they started the device, nothing happened.
Based on her timeline, they attempted to open the Bridge around the same time the Americans detected the signal on Mars, and the device started activating at the British museum warehouse. This meant they had to wait about three months to figure out how to activate the Bridge on the American side.
"Can I ask, Ryder? Why didn't you guys answer when we first called? Why did you guys take so long to activate the Bridge?"
Ryder realized that she had consistently called the alien device "Bridge." "I am not authorized to go into detail, but we couldn't until yesterday. We didn't even know about this Bridge until your people activated it and we had to figure out how to on our end.”
"But why did you guys go through all that?" Ryder asked. "Why were they chasing after you?"
"I am sorry," Fraeya said. "The reason why we tried to contact you was because we need your help. The Unity is sweeping across our world, forcing everyone to submit to their power. They are on a religious crusade, trying to force everyone to change their way of belief or die by the sword. Kingdom after kingdom has fallen to the point that only two kingdoms of resistance are left."
“You are a very transparent girl,” Ryder said. He noticed the comment went over the girl’s head and apologized for interrupting her. At this point, he would say that this girl was not military.
As the elf continued, she explained how the Unity believed in one rule. This enemy had conquered the continent with overwhelming power for the past twenty years. The reality became apparent as she spoke: either you embrace this Unity religion or die.
For Mathew Ryder, this reminded him of the 20th-century ideological utopianist wars against fascism and communism. The fascists wanted racial superiority, removing all who didn't fit their model of the perfect human. The communists purged anything that kindled the human spirit because it did not live up to their definition of extreme equity. At the end of the day, both sides were able to justify murdering tens of millions of people without needing a second thought. They all believed that the result was worth a trail of graves. It seemed like Alagore was going through a similar crisis.
"What is this, Unity? Were the ones who came through the Bridge the Unity?"
"No," Fraeya said. "The soldiers who came through are from the Verliance Aristocracy. They were once on our side early in the war; however, they joined the Unity some time ago. The Unity's fundamental advantage has been how advanced their magitech is. No one knows how they became so powerful so quickly, but they are using their strength to enslave the world."
To Ryder's surprise, he felt a thrill at the thought of this powerful Unity that they had only faced against the middle power of Alagore. He thought he would have an uneasy taste, but a part of him wanted to accept the challenge. Not that he was happy to hear about all the suffering Fraeya people had been going through. He wondered if maybe he was curious about how mysterious this Alagore world was or if a frontier spirit was kicking in.
But the real question was the details about technology. He understood the second part of the compound word, but he had never heard of the first part before. "What is magitech?"
Fraeya slammed her hands on the table and stood, leaning in. "Are you kidding me? How can you not know what Magitech is!" She then sat back down, calming herself down. "Maybe you call it something different?"
"Maybe we do," Ryder said. "Humor me, though."
"Magitech is using the knowledge of thaumaturgy to enhance the manufacturing and crafting of an item. It is that simple, fusing magic and technology."
It took a moment for Ryder to react after hearing the word magic. "Magic? You mean from Harry Potter?" Seeing that she was confused by the reference, he apologized and recalled seeing the enemy soldiers holding out their hands, and energy fields and blasts appeared. Now, he kicked himself for not putting two and two together. "When you save me from that vampire, Kallem, you said? You were using magic?"
"That is correct," Fraeya said. "So, you do have magic in your world. For a moment, I thought you didn't."
"I don't know how else to say this, but magic isn't real in our world; it is just made-believe for storytelling and children's games. I am not an engineer, so I might not be the best person to answer this. We rely on hard science to create and solve things. We do not infuse any spiritual, mystical, or what you said,
Fraeya stared at him with a dumbfounded look. She then looked at the ceiling light and back at him. "Then how do you have electricity without utilizing thaumaturgy?"
“Why is thaumaturgy mystical and spiritual?” Fraeya asked.
He then realized he needed to check his bias and was out of his league. What is mystical to his people does not mean it is to her. "…, I am not qualified to answer that question, but we mastered electricity about a hundred and seventy years ago."
"Interesting," Fraeya said. "We were expecting the Lats as the folklore. They came from here, after all. My father guessed there would be differences, but not to this degree. It is almost like you people developed backward. No offense."
"None was taken," Ryder said. He realized that she used the word electricity, meaning they didn't just develop the concept but utilized it on a large enough scale within their society, enough to be mentioned as an example. "I think this will be the final question for now. What will the enemy do with the people they took from us?"
"They will be taken back to the Unity at some point. It wouldn't take long for Kallam to realize that your people are different and will want to absorb as much knowledge from them as possible. Once the Unity gets their hands on them, they will do the same but more brutally. They will learn everything they know about your world. Then, if any of them refuses to accept the Katra as their one religion, the men will be executed, and the women will be enslaved. Then, they will set their eyes on your people. They have a saying: the Domain is forever expanding.”
Ryder sat there, imagining what the pale-green elf girl said and the conversation as a whole. While the majority of this was past his pay grade, he could already tell the military was going to want to make a response. As Hackett said, at least secure a beachhead.
"Thank you, Fraeya," Ryder said as he stood up. "Let me get you better quarters while we figure out our next step."
He left the interrogation room and approached his commanding officer, Colonel William Hackett. "That went well. I hope you recorded that."
"Enough for now," Hackett said. "Good job."
"The question is, now what?" Ryder asked.
"Simple. We respond in kind. The White House wants to show these people that you cannot shed blood and kidnap key personnel on US soil and get away with it. You and the 5th Rangers will mobilize in the next twenty-four hours. Be ready."
