Manifest Fantasy

American Emba.s.sy, Sonaris

3:05 P.M.

Amba.s.sador Perry has just received word of the situation unfolding in Sofius, and contacted his Sonaran counterpart to relay the news.

"Ah, Amba.s.sador Perry, nice to hear from you again," Sindis greeted, still amazed by the technology given to her by the Americans.

"h.e.l.lo Miss Sindis, I wanted to talk to you about two things. First of all, you must know that our team that we sent to Sofius encountered n.o.bian soldiers within the city."

"What?!" Sindis exclaimed, flabbergasted."

"We believe the city was attacked by n.o.bian forces within the past twenty-four hours. According to reports from my team, the defenders were nearly wiped out, but the civilian population was spared. The remaining n.o.bians are occupying the Academy of Sofius," Perry explained.

"Civilians?"

"Ah, the villagers and residents of the city."

"Okay, that is a relief to hear, yet peculiar. The n.o.bians tend to enjoy executing and torturing the residents of our towns. And you say they are at the Academy of Sofius…" Sindis pondered the implication of this. She recalled that the Academy was known for housing numerous artifacts and was famous for its archaeological research.

"Kelmithus says the n.o.bians are searching for a powerful magical artifact, which brings me to my second topic. I would be glad to extend our offer of friendship with your people and begin an alliance against the n.o.bians."

Academy of Sofius

4:53 P.M.

The sound of helicopter blades filled the air as curious locals came out of their homes to investigate. To their surprise, these tube-shaped flying machines contained people, who exited as similar machines flew overhead.

The strangely clothed men who emerged from these floating wagons identified themselves as Americans, and informed the citizens of Sofius that they were here to fight the n.o.bians. These American soldiers wore strange uniforms that displayed an ugly pattern of greens and browns.

"What kind of soldier uniform is that? It looks so ugly." Tyran whispered.

"I have never seen a uniform like that in my life! I have heard that the soldiers of Mekkan use green uniforms to blend in with their surroundings. Maybe these Americans are doing the same?" Morta suggested.

"These Otherworlders seem strange indeed. Look at their flying machines and the teeth on them! How terrifying," Tyran commented.

This Sonaran civilian was in fact referring to the paint job on some of the Apache helicopters, which depicted the teeth of apex predators back on Earth. The locals of Sofius continued to discuss this amongst themselves and gaze at the Otherworlders in awe as the Americans prepared for their mission.

—

The security personnel of Alpha Team, alongside Jones and Kelmithus walked up to a landed Chinook that contained Terra and Luna Squads. The teams began introducing each other and their members. The leader of Terra Squad and Luna Squad identified themselves respectively as Master Chief Petty Officers Adam Wilkes and Bryan Hamada.

Wilkes and Hamada gave salutes as they introduced themselves to Alpha Team.

"Nice to see you again Wilkes."

"Likewise. Sitrep?" Wilkes inquired.

"We"ve got an unknown number of hostiles inside the academy, with a possibility of trapped civilians inside," Henry informed.

Unlike the extraction in Sorn, the current mission at hand gave little time to prepare. The reinforcements arrived with scanning equipment and sensors, but creating a map of the Academy would take too long. As such, Kelmithus would be a necessary member of the extraction team, consisting of Terra Squad and Alpha Team. Luna Squad on the other hand would evacuate any civilians trapped in the Academy and deal with any potential hostage situations.

"Alright, let"s get our birds in the air. Hernandez, scan the building for heat signatures!"

"Sir, looks like we"ve got about 60 total inside the building. There"s a section of the building with 20 grouped inside, looks like they"re civvies. The rest are hostiles. The sensors can"t penetrate the walls further into the compound. We should expect reinforcements to come from the depths of the facilities."

"Okay. Here"s the plan. Luna Squad will conduct a rescue operation for the 20 civvies. The rest of us will secure the package. We are going to be bringing two civilians on this mission, I"m sure you"re already familiar with them. Master Wizard Kelmithus will act as our guide. Dr. Jones is here because of his expertise in navigating unfamiliar territory. Be advised, the hostiles may have teleportation capabilities so we absolutely can NOT allow them to get to the package before us. Any questions? Alright good. Let"s gear up and move out!"

—

"Clear the west wing."

"Luna One, left hallway clear!"

"Right hallway clear!"

The tactical network between Luna Squad and the forward operations base came to life, with Sergeant Hernandez updating the team. "Four guards on the next right. Secure that area and proceed down the hallway; the hostages are past the door at the end."

"Roger. Alright, Kowalski, throw a flashbang around the corner."

"Three, two, one…"

BANG!

The sounds of suppressed MP5 shots filled the room as each n.o.bian guard received four bullets to the chest and head.

"Heh, hope they"re paying the custodians here well," Jacobs joked.

"Focus on the mission Luna Three. Let"s get these civvies outta here before more guards show up!"

Luna Squad rushed toward the door and unlocked it. They were greeted by terrified and confused faces, which quickly turned into relieved ones as Luna Squad revealed their intentions. With the hostages secured, all they had to do was get to the extraction point outside the front gates.

"Alright, hostages secured. Moving to extraction point," Hamada informed.

"Be advised, hostile mages pouring into the left wing. I can count 6 mages and 10 infantrymen waiting for you outside that door."

"d.a.m.n. We can take them easily but we can"t risk losing any of our hostages. Hmm… we should make our own exit. I"ll let the higher ups deal with any damage expenses. O"Neil, get your C-4 charges on that wall over there!"

"Yes sir!"

Once the C-4 charges were set, Luna Squad made sure the blast zone was clear before activating the explosives.

BOOM!

"That hole is only big enough for two people at a time… Jacobs, take these civvies and lead them to the extraction point! Hernandez will guide you. The rest of us, we need to protect them as they exit. Hold this hallway!"

The remaining Luna Squad members switched their weapons to full auto, seeing that mages were included in the hostile force. They fired their weapons in excellent coordination, focusing down the mages first.

"Sir, shouldn"t their shields go down faster?"

Despite having emptied two (30 round) magazines worth of rounds into the mages" shields, the opacity of the shields only decreased by about 50%. Normally, a mage could withstand about 10 bullets before losing shields. These mages had double the shield strength of previous mages since the n.o.bians, having a.n.a.lyzed past battles, figured out that focusing their shielding into a specific area would amplify the durability of the shield. These mages left their backs unprotected in order to strengthen their frontal shielding.

"Keep shooting! Kowalski, another flash!"

As Luna Two prepares another flash, he suddenly heard a teammate scream.

"Agh! I can"t see!" yelled O"Neil.

The n.o.bian mages casted a flare spell down the hallway, blinding Luna Four as he attempted to take down the shields. Evidently, the n.o.bians picked up some tactics from their encounters with the Americans, learning to use flare spells as primitive magical flashbangs, albeit without the bang.

"Banks, Taylor, cover fire! Kowalski, throw the stun once the shields are down!"

With the shields at less than 30% power, it didn"t take long before the Americans were able to destroy the shields and kill three n.o.bian infantrymen. With the shields down, the remaining n.o.bian forces attempted to escape into the surrounding rooms, but were quickly incapacitated by a well-timed stun grenade.

The blinded and deafened mages began to attack randomly, hoping to score a lucky hit, but they were required to restrain themselves to avoid friendly fire. Seeing they were out of options, they surrendered.

"Huh. Didn"t expect them to surrender. Alright let"s disarm them and take them to the extraction point. Still got those handcuffs?"

"Yeah, but only enough for the mages."

"Eh good enough. Let"s move out!"

—

"Intel says they"ve got about 20 guards at the entrance to Mithus Hall. Past that, sensors don"t work, so we"re going in blind," Wilkes informed.

Of the 20 guards, the team identified 5 to be mages. In order to take out the hostile forces, both teams planned a surprise attack, with the mages designated as priority targets. At the moment, the mages were vulnerable, and the American teams deemed it necessary to eliminate the magical threat before they could conjure any spells or shields.

Five well placed shots were followed by the sounds of bodies dropping and guards screaming. The remaining n.o.bians however were unable to communicate with their brethren as they were quickly mowed down by automatic fire, shortly after the mages were killed. With the guards outside dead, the American teams moved in.

These operatives were experienced, reflected by their calculated movements. Without saying any words, the men were able to cover all angles and clear the rooms. Eventually, they stumbled onto a n.o.bian team looting some magical devices. Unfortunately for the n.o.bians, not a single member of their guard was paying attention; all n.o.bians present were scrambling to plunder the facility. Consequently, they were gunned down with relative ease.

tatatatatata!

"No more hostiles around here. Man I"m starting to feel sorry for these guys…" Alex said.

Richard looked over to Alex, agreeing with him. "Yeah, why don"t they just surrender?"

Sarah scoffed, evidently seeing the answer. "Because men have such big egos… haha!"

The members of Terra Squad on the other hand remained silent.

"Alright, cut the chatter," Henry ordered.

"The vault is right past these research quarters," explained Kelmithus.

Slowly, the American teams crept up toward the vault and waited as Kelmithus prepared his unlock spell.

"This will take about 5 minutes."

—

"MMMPH!"

"Quiet! Ah, d.a.m.nit what do I do? They"re going to bust in here any moment!" The n.o.bian mage within the vault thought aloud. Panicking, he struggled to make decisions. He had two choices: to abandon his mission and leave the Scepter, or to quickly attempt to unlock the sealed container holding the Scepter. So far, his hostage was not complying with any of his commands, refusing to open the container.

Unfortunately for the n.o.bian mage, he did not have any experience in interrogation techniques, nor did he have any suggestibility helmets to help make his prisoner follow his orders. He had no incentive for his prisoner to unlock the container, and most importantly, he had no time. If he abandoned the mission and went back to his n.o.bian commanders, he would surely be executed for his failures.

Suddenly, he had a realization. He decided to threaten the hostage in order to force the people outside the door to open the container. The Sonarans wouldn"t dare risk the life of one of their most talented mages, and any Americans here would also adhere to the same principles as the Sonarans.

With no time left, he grabbed the hostage and summoned a shadowy object near her neck. At this point, the vault door began to glow, signifying the completion of the unlock process, and swung open.

—

American forces streamed through the doorway, accompanied by Kelmithus and Jones. They kept their guns trained on the n.o.bian mage and the hostage, unsure what to do.

"Stand back! Any step closer and I will kill her!" the n.o.bian commanded. His eyes darted around the room, attempting to keep track of the Otherworlders threat.

"Sari!" Kelmithus exclaimed.

"You there," the n.o.bian said, acknowledging Kelmithus with his eyes. "Release the Scepter to me, and the girl will live."

Kelmithus, frustrated with himself due to his inner conflict, was given two options: serve his nation with loyalty, or save the life of his treasured daughter.

"Now!" the n.o.bian yelled.

Kelmithus began to move toward the container and initiate the unlock process.

"Hey, what are you doing? Get back here!" Wilkes ordered.

"I"m sorry, but I can"t lose Sari," Kelmithus replied.

"d.a.m.nit. Command, we have a hostage situation. Sonaran a.s.set is giving in to the n.o.bian demands. Orders?" asked Henry.

After a short silence, the orders were spread throughout the teams" tactical network.

After a minute, Kelmithus opened the container, and the n.o.bian moved toward it in order to grab the Scepter. If he could simply touch it, he would gain access to its powers, although not to the fullest extent as this requires a pairing. Still, he would have enough mana to summon a shield invulnerable to the Otherworlders" weapons. As he approached the container, he made a fatal mistake by letting his guard down and allowing his grip on the hostage to slip.

BANG!

A flashbang went off, blinding the n.o.bian. Instinctively, he put his hands over his eyes, effectively releasing the hostage, who was secured by an American operative. The n.o.bian on the other hand, was instantly reduced to a lifeless b.l.o.o.d.y heap.

"Well. Good job folks," Wilkes sighed, relieved that yet another hostage rescue mission was over.

Kelmithus proceeded to untie Sari before embracing her, glad that she was relatively unharmed. Their father-daughter reunion however was abruptly cut short as Jones approached the Scepter, basking in its glory. He stepped a little bit too close, and suddenly the Scepter glowed before zooming toward his hand.

"What the h.e.l.l?"

Pulses of bluish light began to emanate from the Scepter as the frequency of these pulses intensified, becoming constant. The American units stepped back as they witnessed Dr. Jones being engulfed in this light, his eyes glowing. Some had incredibly baffled expressions while others were ready to engage a possible new threat.

Suddenly, the light dimmed and Jones dropped to his knees, only muttering one phrase. "Holy s.h.i.t…"