Humanity tired from all the years of fighting, smiled for the first time in a long time. One by one, people, nations, countries, and governments lowered their weapons they held on for the longest time. They shook hands and laughed with each other as if they were old friends. Everyone was truly united under a single banner. Peace had finally come to a world that almost ceased to exist.
The planet slowly started to heal its terrible scars and a life that was once thought lost during the horrible war finally came back to the populace. Strangers held out their own hands to the needy and poor. Families once torn apart by hate and greed reunited together with love and happiness. Civilizations throughout the lands once again began to rebuild themselves among the ruined landscapes.
-Seraphim Ship Log.
-Historical Record Earth 3016 AD.
-Part 2
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(5 hours before)
-Northern Elisaium Border [Kahrnor Northern Fortress Base Camp].
--1st Armored Division, 3rd Regiment, 1st Battalion, Alpha Company, 3rd Platoon [Medusas Wrath].
---Private Petros [rookie], 2nd Squad, Fire team [Alpha 1].
----Base Camp Briefing Room [Headquarters].
-----2300 Hrs. March 3th, 2nd Age, 1253 NCE (new calendar era)
“Platoon! Attention! Sir! Lt. Kolas reporting 3rd Platoon all accounted for and ready for briefing!”
I snap to attention and look straight ahead. I give my best 100-yard stare just like how my instructors taught me. This is my first patrol since graduating basic training. I can’t hold in my excitement and I am gearing to see some action. Maybe we will fight off some wild beasts or save some villagers. I can’t wait to tell my folks back home about this. They'll be so proud of me.
“At ease Medusas Wrath. Thank you, Lieutenant Kolas. Hmm I see some new faces. Ok listen up 3rd Platoon, we just got word that there are some unnatural movements in Kahrnor Forest. We don’t know what it is, so keep a sharp lookout.
3rd platoon will be patrolling the Elisaium border for any signs of wild beasts and if there is any movement from The Imperium. You will also be checking in with the local villages and towns to see if they are safe. You will be taking over the 2nd shift border patrol at 0000. Make sure you get plenty of water and get something warm in your bellies. It’s going to be a long march and it will be a bit cold out there.
New faces, make sure you follow orders and don’t bother Lt. Kolas too much. Here is some good news. We just got new batch of the newest Armored Resisting Mobile Suits or ARMS’s for short. They will be joining you in the Patrol so our pilots can get a feel for them. Good Luck Medusas Wrath! Dismissed!”
I snap to attention and salute. Now I am brimming with excitement. ARMS’s are the newest and deadliest weapon system out there. The average height size for a male is 177cm, 69.6 in, 5’10” and the ARMS’s height is about 304cm, 120in, 10’ (modern British tank height 248cm, 97in, 8’2”, average car length 449cm, 177in, 14’6”, Bumblebee (movie) 548cm, 216in, 18’, RX-78 Gundam (Real life in Tokyo) 1800cm, 708in, 59’1”, F22 Raptor length 1897cm, 747in, 62’1”). They are essentially huge modern armor suits like how the ancient knight use to wear them from ancient myths. Now they are coming with us on this patrol and I will be getting to see them up close. Things can’t any better than this. I want to pilot one of them one day.
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(17min before)
-Northern Elisaium Border [Kahrnor Forest near Village Karcien].
--1st Armored Division, 3rd Regiment, 1st Battalion, Alpha Company, 3rd Platoon [Medusas Wrath].
---Corporal Neara [Ice Queen], 2nd Squad, Fire team [Alpha 1].
----Nighttime Border Patrol [3rd Shift].
-----0343 Hrs. March 4th, 2nd Age, 1253 NCE (new calendar era)
Everything is going weird on this patrol. We first felt the uneasiness when we entered the Kahrnor forest. It was so eerily quiet that it made the hair on the back of my head stand straight up. We had first thought it was a wild beast hunting nearby but it turns out that even they had become strangely silent. Was there a super predator was hunting out there?
That would be the most plausible explanation and I hope to god that it was in fact a large wild beast hunting out there. It would have been easier to listen in the stillness, but those stupid loud ARMS’s kept us from hearing anything. I suppose they aren’t all that bad. They do keep any stupid wild beast from attacking us and they have plenty of light illuminating the dark forest.
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As we continued to walk in the forest, things got even weirder. Strange footprints that no living animals would make began showing up in random areas. The imprints were so deep that the only heavy things our army had were tanks or ARMS’s that could have made such imprints. We didn’t hear of any reports of tanks rolling in the forest from HQ and this was the first patrol that our ARMS’s were operating. The Imperium army was too far away to be operating deep within our borders and someone would have seen such a huge army moving around in the night.
If somehow an Imperium patrol did get lost out here in the forest, they would have let the Elisaium Nation know or else that was a clear violation of the peace treaty. So, things weren’t adding up at all. 2nd Shift patrol also didn’t show up at the rendezvous point and we didn’t relieve them on time. Headquarters also lost contact with them, but they didn’t report anything strange before the went silent. The last sent transmission was that they would be moving north to the last town.
The first towns and villages didn’t report of having any troubles except when we got to the second to last village. They told us that they saw weird lights far in the distance, but they couldn’t hear anything strange from those lights. All of us got bad premonitions when we heard that the lights were coming from the last town we had to visit. Lt. Kolas made us walk super slow and quiet like as we got closer to the town. The ARMS’s stayed in the back because they were too loud and they would have given away our position.
1st Squad went in first and 10 min later they came back saying everything was clear, but they had a confused look on their faces. We all enter the town and discovered that it completely empty. Not even the dogs were barking at us. Lights were still on, but all the doors on every building were wide open. Half-finished meals, electronics still operating, showers still running, and the weirdest thing of all was that the footprint counts were triple the count of the living 1,200 townsfolks.
3,600 people worth of footprints were all leading into the forest and the sizes all ranged from the elderly to the children. Some even went barefoot or had one shoe on at that time. Where did the other 2,400 people come from? 2nd Shift only consisted of some 30 soldiers of the 2nd Platoon [Spartans Rage]. There were some military grade footprints found but not enough to count for the missing 2nd Shift.
It was impossible to think a regiment size army would be moving around with civilians undetected without anyone knowing. Who had kidnapped the town population without gathering any valuables? What happened to 2nd Shift? We then chased after the footprints, but the LT. made all the ARMS’s stay back to wait for reinforcements to come in.
“Stop sulking rookie. The ARMS’s will be there once we get back. Now pay attention to your surroundings and say something if you notice anything strange.”
“I can’t help it Corporal. ARMS’s are just so cool. I really want to pilot one of them.”
I sigh in defeat. Petros or rookie as we like to call him, was sulking like he had no will to live on. I swear I could see a heavy dark aura around him while dragging his feet around. Since the start of the patrol, he had stars in his eyes whenever he looked at the ARMS’s. He had no sense of the danger we were in when it came to ARMS’s.
“Cut it out rookie. We got a job to do, so suck it up and keep a lookout. I swear if I die by your greenhorn ass, I will come back to haunt you forever. Let me spell it out for you rookie. We are here to find the missing town people and 2nd shift. If you want to return to your lover ARMS’s so bad, then do your job.”
Petros flinched a little and then began to pick up his pace. I wasn’t sure if he did for the missing people or for the chance to be with the ARMS’s even for a second longer. This boy would be the death of me. I just know it.
“Haha. It is like Private Petros is a maiden in love who just got separate from her lover. Haha! I know this is serious situation Corporal Neara or should I say Ice Queen, but we can’t all be too serious. It is a good thing to be loose in a this tense situation. If you are always so tense, then you are going to become bald before you get married. Haha!”
I give my coldest glare to Lt. Kolas as he raises his hands in defeat. Everyone else starts chuckling at this joke. It is not my fault that I must be the one to be all serious. I didn’t even choose this nickname you know. Men! They are all the same. The reason why I am not married is because there are no good guys out there. I have a job to do and that takes precedence.
Before I could make my rebuttal, the vanguard signal us to stop, crouch and cut all the lights out. We instantly became quiet as we took positions under the cover of the forest. I look over my cover and squint to see if I can make anything out. I see several shadows moving among the trees. I look around to see if everyone is ok and see the Lt. giving us the “good to go” signal to use our weapons.
I aim my M56 laser assault rifle towards the shadows, but before I can pull the trigger I see a yellow flare shoot off in the distance. I flinch at the sudden bright light and quickly see right away it is not several shadows moving around, but hundreds of soldiers bearing down straight us. I also catch glimpse of The Imperium flag among the solders. “There really was an Imperium army out here.” I curse to myself for not believing and I waste no time to pull the trigger.
One soldier falls down permanently and everyone else scatters to take cover. Soon the entire forest lights up with weapons firing and explosions blasting off nearby. I see bullet tracers, laser trails, and the flashes of grenades going off and it reminds me of a light show I saw once in the Capital.
“There are too many of them. Vanguard is already gone. Everyone retreat back to the town. ARMS’s will cover us there. We need to report an Imperium presence is within our borders. They broke the peace treaty. Use any cover and get back to the town. Now Goo..ugh?!”
I look at the Lt. Kolas and see an Imperium soldier had actual gotten through our line of fire and stabbed the Lt. in the back. I aim my rifle and shoot down the soldier. Before I can say anything, a huge rumble shakes the ground and another flare goes off. I see my worst nightmare happening. What I originally thought was hundreds of men was in fact thousands of men. Lines of Imperium soldiers moving towards us and in the very far back of those lines. I saw Imperium ARMS’s marching with the soldiers.
“DON’T JUST STAND THERE! THE LT. TOLD US TO RETREAT TO THE TOWN. NOW FUCKING RUN. IT’S A FUCKING INVASION!”