Several hours earlier...

26th of April, 17:00

Trafalgar Square, the City of London

It was yet another evening in London, although the shock from the "Teleportation Crisis" remained, most people, including Stella Elliott, were trying to act as normal as they could and carried on with their lives.

Stella was exhausted, after all, she was called back to the EBC's main office right after her first report in Paris. All she wanted to do now was go back to her apartment and drift off to sleep, however, while she was waiting to cross the street, she overheard a group of co-workers listening to an emergency news broadcast.

Emergency News Broadcaster: "...fter COBRA met a few hours earlier, the Prime Minister hosted yet another emergency cabinet meeting on the progress of Operation Ruckus that aims to mobilise and deploy up to 200,000 service personnel from all three services to secure strategic and sensitive locations in crowded public places, but, apart from the borders and the palace of Versailles, we have yet to see military personnel in major cities."

(Author Note: "COBR" stands for Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms that is popularly referred to as "COBRA", however, these are actually rooms used for committees that coordinate the actions of government offices in response to crises, whether regional or national and overseas events that heavily implicate the FBU.)

Emergency News Broadcaster: "We will now go live to our 70 Whitehall Correspondent Tyler Andrews. Tyler, can you explain what's happening?"

Tyler: "Very well, Helen, uh, as you can see, I am currently outside of 70 Whitehall where COBRA met only a few hours ago. We believe the Prime Minister is still inside the buildi- Here he comes!"

There was a short pause from the reporter, Stella thought it was probably because he was running towards the Prime Minister. A strange sound can be heard in the distance but she wasn't sure what it was. By then, Stella was already watching the live broadcast from her own phone.

Josué: "Let's start with you first."

Tyler: "Very well. Prime Minister, you said the Armed Forces will deploy in key locations throughout the union. But we have yet to see military personnel in major cities, why is that?"

Josué: "Ladies and gentlemen, before I answer your question, I will have to ask you to kindly look up to the sky."

Most of the reporters stared at Josué while some actually looked up just as a Caiman AH.1 (NH90) helicopter from 652 Squadron, 2nd Regiment Army Air Corps flew past them, followed by another 15 Caimans from the same regiment flying in a formation and it wasn't long before they flew over Stella and Trafalgar Square.

And just as the pedestrian crossing lights were about to turn green, they were suddenly changed back to red as several metropolitan police cars drove into the area. Some of the police officers got off from their vehicles and set up roadblocks around the square. Confusion ensued amongst the people as a lot of them were unsure of the reason for the sudden police appearance.

Road traffic around the square was suddenly stopped, at least temporarily, while the rumbling sound of diesel engines can be heard from the distance. And it didn't take long before everyone realized that the armed forces were coming.

First, several army trucks appeared while fully armed soldiers exited the trucks and positioned themselves all around the square. It wasn't these armed soldiers that made the whole thing unbelievable though, it was what followed that looked as if it came straight out of a war movie.

Citizen 1: "Here they come!"

Citizen 3: "They got the Challenger 3, the Warrior and even the Ajax!"

Citizen 2: "I don't think those are the Ajax but it's still unbelievable, innit?"

A column of Challenger 3 tanks, Warrior infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), and Ares armoured personnel carriers (APCs), guided by several Mets and Redcaps slowly made their way towards Trafalgar Square. As the tanks rolled past Stella, she couldn't believe her eyes, after all, London hasn't seen fully armed soldiers and armoured vehicles patrolling the street in full battle order ever since Operation Marmion, 50 years ago, but even then, it wasn't directly in the streets of London.

(Author Note: "Redcaps" are nicknames for members of the Royal Military Police (RMP) while the Metropolitan Police are normally referred to as "Mets".)

The tanks stopped short of Nelson's Column and positioned themselves around the bronze equestrian statue of Charles I while the IFVs and APCs continued and positioned themselves all around Trafalgar Square.

These soldiers were drawn from the 12th Armoured Infantry Bridge of the famous 3rd Division that has distinguished itself ever since the Napoleonic Wars and up to the Second World War.

Stella decided to continue watching the live broadcast just as the Prime Minister was about to continue speaking.

Josué: "Now, ladies and gentlemen, let's continue, shall we?"

* * * * *

Present

26th of April, 03:00

The City of Coralodor, Kingdom of Pais

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The port city of Coralodor was a sight to behold and something that the Kingdom of Pais could proudly boast about. It's the third-largest city in the region, only behind that of the capitals of the Kingdom of Pais and the Quistadoria Empire. Yet, it's one of the most important maritime trade centre, if not the most important in the peninsula.

Guarded by massive walls that surround the massive city alongside its garrison of around 8,000 men, the city was impregnable, at least according to the Paisians.

However, around this time, the walls were barely guarded if guarded at all by the city's garrison. That was until two wagons approached the city gates.

The wagons were stopped and inspected by the guards. Nothing out of ordinary, perhaps these were just another band of merchants who have just arrived from a long trip.

The only thing suspicious so far was that the wagons were pulled by men rather than horses, although it was rather a common thing for merchants in this region because horses tend to be sensitive to wyverns and other magical creatures.

At once, the gates were opened and the wagons pulled into the city. The streets were dark and deserted, a perfect time and place for any kind of robberies to take place.

Just as the wagons took a turn into an alley, a group of men numbering around 15-20 lit up the dark alley with lights from their torches and blocked the way. They were armed with crude swords, and knives, something that only bandits tend to carry. They were obviously here to rob the wagons.

Tick-thump, the sound echoed across the alley as one of the bandits fell to the ground, covered in blood. The other bandits were dumbfounded as they looked at one of their friends, who was now slowly dying.

Just as one of the bandits tried to roll the dying bandit over, he collapsed to the floor, right before a man jumped off one of the wagons.

The man was holding some kind of magical device that created the tick-thump sound and a small flash, but every time a flash was seen from the device, another one of the bandits fell dead, followed by the sound.

As the distance between the bandits and the man closed, they tried to charge the man. The first bandit was quickly disarmed and thrown to the ground, followed by the tick-thump sound from the device.

The second bandit, even though unarmed, proved more troublesome because his body was that of a bodybuilder. The large bandit stumbled forward, raised his fist and threw a hasty haymaker at the man, the man swiftly responded with a sidestep followed by a grapple on the limb before the leg sweep that brought them both down to the cold floor.

The man performed a choke-hold on the second bandit before he grabbed his magical device, pinned it against the bandit's head, and pulled the trigger, silencing the bandit once and for all.

Upon seeing this, the other bandits, terrified and scared for their lives, fled the scene entirely, leaving nine dead bodies in the alley. The man stood up and disposed of the bodies in the alley, leaving little to no trace of the fighting that had occurred.

???: "Come on lads, why are you always leaving this to me?"

Roo: "Well, that's what we've agreed on sir."

John: "I guess you could say that."

Emmanuel: "Let's get moving though, Lieutenant. There should be an inn somewhere in this city."

John: "Alright alright."

Inside the wagons were men of Mike Two Zero (M20), John "Sage", "Canine", "Doc", "Archer", "Lobo", "Wiz", "Roo", and "Kiwi", all dressed in medieval attire. They were accompanied by Emmanuel, one of the two officers sent by the SIS to accompany M10 and M20.

John concealed his suppressed L137A1 before he climbed into the first wagon as Canine and Roo began pulling it again. After all, they will have to find a place to stay for the night.

After some time and effort, they eventually ended up in front of a small inn named "Caravela". As they walked inside, the innkeeper, a gorgeous woman in her 20s, was surprised. She wasn't expecting any travellers this late.

Innkeeper: [C] "W-welcome, I assume you are travellers looking for a place to stay at?"

John: [C] "...Yes."

Innkeeper: [C] "Then you've come to the right place! You're looking for a room for nine, right?"

John: [C] "Certainly."

Innkeeper: [C] "Perfect! Give me a minute."

As soon as the innkeeper walked upstairs, the rest of his team gathered around a table. Even though they didn't understand what John and the Innkeeper talked about, they know that it's Spanish.

Emmanuel: "If the price's too high or the room's not enough for nine people, I think I have an idea."

John: "Well, let's just hope that idea of yours work."

Emmanuel: "Of course, Lieutenant."

The innkeeper soon returned and led them upstairs into a large room with four beds, large enough to accommodate eight of them.

Innkeeper: [C] "I am really sorry but the beds are only large enough for eight people...I think all of you might fit in there though. You can pick any beds as you please though."

Emmanuel: [C] "Excuse me, my lady. Do you mind if I treat you to a drink and perhaps talk about things that have been happening around here?"

Innkeeper: [C] "Sure!"

Emmanuel: [C] "As expected of you, my lady."

Emmanuel gave the team a wink before he walked downstairs with the innkeeper, to the disgust of the team, he and the innkeeper would probably be busy for the rest of the night.

Archer: "That bloody fanny rat..."

John: "Knock it off. It's about time we get some zeds."

Archer: "Aye, sir."

(Author Note: "Fanny rat" and "Zeds" are naval slangs (Jackspeak) spoken by Royal Navy personnel, "Fanny rat" means womaniser while "Zeds" means sleep.)

However, unbeknownst to the team, an elderly man and a young woman were watching them from downstairs. It was the arch-magician, Edium and his disciple, Christine.

Christine: [C] "Master, those travellers are clearly speaking the ancient language..."

Edium: [C] "Rumour has it that Quistadorian Knights sent to eradicate the village of Cantagon were sent back running by a group of people also speaking the ancient language."

Christine: [C] "Then could these people be related, Master?"

Edium: [C] "Perhaps, we will keep an eye on them for now."

Christine: [C] "How about Tariq, Master?"

Edium: [C] "We will stay here, for the time being, Tariq can wait."

Christine: [C] "As you wish, Master."

The two continued their conversation, but, as it appears, they were also being closely watched by John, who wasn't entirely unaware of their presence.

* * * * *

Two days later...

28th of April, 06:00

The Lunemilar Palace, Tethoris, Kingdom of Pais

A carriage, bearing the mark of the Pais Magic Academy, arrived at the Royal Palace early into the morning. As Igrazahl disembarked from the carriage, there was already someone waiting for him.

???: "Igrazahl, it's been a while!"

Igrazahl: "Where is his majesty, Edreviar?"

Edreviar: "Getting right to the point as always aren't you, Igrazahl? He's in the great chamber. Drilin, please lead him there."

Drilin: "Yes, Master Edreviar."

Igrazahl: "Thanks, I owe you one, Edreviar."

Edreviar: "Just don't forget to bring Christine over with you next time!"

Igrazahl quickly followed Drillin, the personal butler of the Paisian Royal Family, into the palace. Eventually, they ended up in front of a large door.

Drilin: "Master Igrazahl, His Majesty is inside, waiting."

Igrazahl: "Thank you, Drillin."

Igrazahl took a deep breath before opening the door and then walked into the large room, decorated with multiple pieces of fine art, but sightseeing would have to wait. He was here for the man sitting on the throne, relaxing, the King of Pais.

Igrazahl: "Your Majesty-"

???: "I know why you're here, Igrazahl, but why don't you sit down and relax first?"

Igrazahl: "...Yes, Your Majesty."