When the blinding light receded, Kaelin had found himself lying on the hard surface of the Iron Peak's concrete, disoriented and gasping for breath. His heart raced as he lifted his head, struggling to make sense of his surroundings. And then...

"BOOM!"

A large thundering explosion suddenly shook the area around them. As it turned out, the mystical energy had not prevented them from launching their salvo of artillery, which laid waste to a large portion of a new landscape.

Kaelin's ears rang from the deafening explosion. As the smoke cleared, he struggled to his feet, his eyes widening in disbelief at the scene before him. Gone was the familiar Los Angeles skyline, replaced by a vast expanse of lush, emerald-green fields stretching back until they met large mountains, punctuated only by the billowing smoke and flames from where their artillery had struck.

"What... what the hell?" Josh sputtered beside him, stumbling to his feet. "Where are we?"

Kaelin shook his head, unable to form words. The Iron Peak still stood, its imposing structure a stark contrast to the primeval landscape surrounding it. But everything else - the city, the ocean, even the advancing Concur forces - had all vanished.

“Is everyone alright!?” Brigadier General Hawthorne yelled out as he ran out onto the shooting platform.

A chorus of hesitant replies drifted back, the soldiers slowly emerging from the shock of their bizarre situation. Faces that had once shown confidence now reflected uncertainty, confusion swirling in their eyes like a storm.

“Is this some kind of enemy trick?” shouted a soldier near the edge, glancing nervously at the horizon where jagged mountains loomed ominously, their silhouettes bathed in an unnatural light. “Or a weapon? Did we actually just teleport?”

“As if we would know… someone get Kellum on comms already!” Hawthorne barked, trying to inject more urgency into the atmosphere.

As if on cue, the intercom crackled to life. Lieutenant Colonel Kellum's voice filled the platform, sounding strained but determined.

"Attention all personnel. We have conducted preliminary scans of our surroundings and can confirm that we are no longer in Los Angeles, or indeed, anywhere on Earth as we know it. The exact nature of our... displacement is still unknown. We are initiating emergency protocols and will be conducting a full inventory of our supplies and personnel shortly. In the meantime, hold your positions on the shooting platform until given the all-clear signal.”

The words echoed through the air, a frail lifeline tossed into turbulent waters. Kaelin tried to ground himself, his heart still racing as he scanned the horizon. “Not on Earth?”

“Alright you heard him, everyone stay alert and hold your positions,” he called out, hoping to anchor his fellow soldiers. “We don’t know what could potentially be out there, so maintain your positions!”

Kaelin turned his attention to Josh, who had already pulled out a pair of binoculars, adjusting the lenses as he squinted into the distance. “Alright, what do we got?” he asked as Josh began to scan the area.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

In every direction, vibrant fields swayed gently in an invisible breeze, rich with hues that seemed almost too vivid—as though painted by some deranged artist. Towering trees dotted the landscape as well, their canopies awash with iridescent leaves that shimmered even under the harsh glare of sunlight breaking through clouds shaped like wisps of cotton candy.

“Nothing crazy, just a large meadow due west. No signs of life from what I can see.”

“That’s both good and bad, I guess.” Kaelin replied, “On one hand, there’s no one trying to kill us, but on the other, we’re likely far away from civilization, if there is any that is, so that means we’re both isolated and lost.”

“Yeah, this is strange. I was expecting to see a little bit more, but it doesn’t feel much different than back home, albeit without the smoke and fire.”

“Hell, can you even say that? I mean our artillery just made the meadow erupt into flames! The only thing I can smell is smoke!”

“Damn, that’s true…”

It took around thirty minutes, but soon enough the previously tense air dissipated slightly as the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Kellum rang out again through the comms.

"Attention, this is the all-clear signal. You may return to the lower floors and your barracks. I repeat, you are to return to your barracks until further notice."

The words fell like a breath of fresh air over the soldiers. Kaelin exchanged a glance with Josh, who was still trying to process the surreal situation.

“Let’s get moving then,” Kaelin said, gesturing for Josh to follow. The pair descended from the shooting platform, taking the lift back to the 10th floor where their barracks resided.

As they stepped off the lift, Kaelin and Josh were met by a tense hush that blanketed the barrack hallways. Soldiers filtered in slowly, faces etched with worry and anger as they exchanged hushed whispers. The atmosphere felt charged, like the calm before a storm.

"Did you see the trees out there?" one soldier remarked, his voice barely above a whisper. "It’s like something from a fantasy novel or a video game."

Another nearby soldier scoffed, "Fantasy? Try a nightmare. How do we even know this place is real?”

“Maybe it’s a psychosis drug?"

Kaelin glanced over at Josh, who raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed by the theory. “Or maybe we’ve found ourselves in a horror story where the monsters come for us when we least expect it,” he replied dryly, “Come on, let’s get to our room.”

“Right, I’m sick of this.”

And get back to their room they did. They trudged down the narrow corridor up until they reached door 13, pushing it open with an exacerbated sigh that could have been confused with a yawn of fatigue.

“Alright, back to our gacha games!” Josh exclaimed, plopping down on the bottom bunk that squeaked in protest. Kaelin wandered over to his own bed and flopped onto it, reaching instinctively for his handheld device.

But when he pressed the power button, a disheartening silence filled the air, interrupted only by the muted whispers of soldiers passing in the hallway. Kaelin squinted at the screen, half-expecting it to flicker to life any moment now. “Come on… don’t do this to me,” he muttered.

Josh, sprawled across his bunk, poked his head up like a meerkat caught in an existential crisis. “What’s wrong? Did your game freeze or something?”

“I think…” Kaelin hesitated, his thumb now frantically navigating through settings that had inexplicably vanished, “I think we have no internet.”

Josh's eyes widened in disbelief. "No internet? But how? The Iron Peak has its own dedicated satellite network!"

Kaelin shook his head, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "I don't know, man. But if we've really been... transported somewhere else, maybe those satellites aren't in range anymore."

The implications of this realization began to sink in. No internet meant no communication with the outside world, no updates on the war, no contact with loved ones. They were truly isolated.

"Shit," Josh muttered, falling back onto his bunk. "So, what now? We just sit here and wait?"

"Looks like it," Kaelin sighed, setting his useless device aside. "At least until we get some kind of update from command."

“…”

The room fell into an uneasy silence for the rest of the evening and into the night, broken only by the muffled sounds of other soldiers in the hallway. Kaelin found himself staring at the ceiling, his mind racing with questions. Where were they? How did they get here? And most importantly, how were they going to get back?