Manifest Fantasy

Academy of Sofius

5:09 PM

u003c My essence to your mind. My thoughts to your thoughts. You will see my experiences from the perspective of previous partners and understand your mission. u003e

All of a sudden, the world around Jones faded away, as he entered a trance. What he saw was like a surreal virtual reality movie.

It all started at the beginning, with the creation of the Scepter. It was forged in the lost Axon continent, to be used by one of the Axons" most esteemed generals in their war against the races of the world. The Scepter contained an ancient crystal, even by the Axons" standards, left behind by a technologically and magically advanced precursor race. This source of power complemented the natural abilities of the Axons well, but required a host that was pure of mind.

The first wielder of the Scepter, Grand General Avis, was indeed pure of mind, but toward the evil side of the spectrum. He only had one goal, the extermination of all other sentient species in the world. The Scepter itself abhorred this goal, and as such granted Avis only a fraction of its power. Still, this power was enough for Avis to summon unstoppable armies and cataclysmic magics.

It was only after a daring raid by Alliance heroes that the survivors of the Central Continents were able to begin fighting back. Now under the possession of a great human hero, the Scepter unleashed its power as the Alliance casted a spell that rid the world of the entire Axon continent.

Deeming the powers of the Scepter too great for any one man to hold, the Scepter was stored in vaults and transferred to various nations as a gift, or for research purposes.

With visions of the past now complete, the Scepter gave a mission to Jones.

u003c s.p.a.ce-time is now unstable. I will give you my memories and my powers to help defend against them, but we cannot risk attempting another ma.s.s teleportation. You must inform your scientist friends and your government: the Axon Empire will return. You have 5 years to prepare. u003e

—

Jones felt his legs collapse, his body tired from the event that had just occurred. He fell to his knees before looking up at his worried comrades.

"Holy s.h.i.t."

—

After confirming his well-being, the team moved to continue extraction. While exiting the Academy, Jones informed his team members about his visions, and the dire warning provided by the Scepter, which could apparently communicate telepathically with him and grant him powers.

"Really? Do a magic trick for us!" Alex requested. He was smiling like a kid, true to his personality. The other team members watched on, smirking and raising their eyebrows in curiosity.

u003c I"m not a tool for magic tricks… You can"t see me doing this but I"ll have you know that I am shaking my head right now. u003e

(Ah, come on. I"d like to see what I"m capable of now as well!)

u003c Very well. You have access to my database. u003e

(So I can download memories just like the Matrix?)

u003c Ah, let me see. I am currently scanning your memories for any such terms. Yes, my original creators, h.o.m.o Magus Sapiens, had technologies similar to what I see in your mind. u003e

Jones gave a surprised expression, confusing the other members of the team.

"What"s wrong?" Wilkes asked.

"Ah right, I"m just talking to the crystal inside the Scepter… Oh my apologies. He wants to be called "Omnis". Well anyway, Omnis here says he originated from a precursor race of humans. Magically and technologically advanced humans. According to him, these humans were involved in a galactic disaster that forced them to abandon this galaxy millions of years ago." Jones explained.

"Interesting," Kelmithus remarked. "Our own legends say that humans came to this world by a portal that opened up in what is now the Divinian homeland. It all makes sense now, seeing how Divinian science and magic function together. They are possibly the descendants of these ancient humans!"

The team continued to discuss amongst themselves the implications of such findings. What happens to the theory of evolution? Jones decided to talk to Lacey about this later.

"Hey, what about the magic trick?" Alex reminded.

"Ah, right," Jones sighed. Sorting through Omnis" database, he found a simple summoning spell, and after channeling the magic of the Scepter, summoned fire in his free hand.

u003c You have access to my mana pool, and although it is unlimited, it is only as good as your stamina and creativity. You still need to train your capabilities in order to avoid fatigue. The spell you chose has the same energy equivalent of walking a few steps, but the mages in this world can help you increase the efficiency of your casting. u003e

(Right, I"ll remember to do that. Good thing I have excellent stamina from my SEAL training.)

The members of the team were astounded, with some even clapping.

"I bet command would love to find out more about this! Anyone from DARPA would probably get an o.r.g.a.s.m haha!" Richard commented.

—

Academy Outskirts, Extraction Point

5:24 PM

As the rescuers from Terra Squad and Alpha Team rushed toward the sounds of the Chinooks, they received communication from a drone operator back at Fort Washington.

The n.o.bians, having received no messages from their garrison within the Academy, were beginning to ama.s.s outside the crumbling western walls. They were preparing to send scouting parties to determine the status of their own extraction team, and command has relayed the order to evacuate the hostages on the Chinooks. Meanwhile, all combat-capable personnel would help defend the city, as per Sindis" and Perry"s requests.

The forces outside Sofius amounted to 3,000 warriors, but the forces of the Sonaran defenders stationed in the city were whittled down to less than 100. As such, the American forces currently in Sofius would need to hold the line against the n.o.bian attackers. Currently, there were 4 platoons and 6 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters available to defend the city.

"The platoons are already engaging the enemy at the western gate. It"s a mile out, but there shouldn"t be any significant obstacles on the roads so we"re going to take our vehicles to support them. Luna Squad already secured the hostages and departed. Let"s move out!"

—

"I only saw 4 of those flying wagons, and each one had around 20 people. If my time at the Academy was worthwhile, then that means there are 80 Otherworlders here to defend, not counting the six scary-looking machines," Tyran a.n.a.lyzed. "The n.o.bians started off with about 5,000 but we did manage to put up a fight. 80 against 3,000 doesn"t look like a fair matchup."

"Well, I did hear rumors about their achievements near the Grenden Plains. Apparently only a couple thousand defenders took on a whole n.o.bian army with 100,000 soldiers! Plus they were able to ground the entire n.o.bian Air Corps!"

"Hmm that"s a ratio of… ah I cannot remember how to do these calculations. That"s unfortunate; I need to study again since I"ve got an examination in a few months. Hopefully they"ll push it back because of this ordeal."

"Haha, of course. Well, I can"t wait to see what these Otherworlders have in store for the n.o.bians."