What happened a night before felt like a dream to Mike. Standing under the cold wind of the early spring weather, he found himself gazing upon the distant golden fields being revealed by the small amount of sunlight that broke through the grey clouds high above. Clenching his right fist, he breathed slowly as he took in the environment, he currently occupied. “Where-” He murmured out just in time to hear someone walking behind him.
As the memories of the previous night replayed in his mind, he saw Princess Leccamaradel walking up to him wearing similar attire. She wore a white button-down shirt with accompanying black-blazer and black tie with a for fitting black skirt around her waist. Her silver hair had grown for the graduation ceremony the two had just been released from moments ago; it sat at her shoulders curly for the celebration.
“It’s over…” She shared a beautiful smile while rubbing her left hand on her hair as a gust of wind blew over the ceremony grounds.
Recalling the last four months that he, the princess, and the surviving members of Task Force Spare went through was something that forced him to chuckle and truly smile out of good faith. “Yeah.” He said back as he spotted his fellow Rangers gathered together speaking to several men in suits with one of them being Mr. Phillips who had waited for this very moment ever since he had gotten all of them to sign the contract to join the Office of Military and Federal Security.
Somewhat weary about the men standing alongside the OMFS Case Officer, he, and the woman beside him turned and swiftly moved on their feet as they walked to distance across the ceremony grounds. Before they could get more than halfway across, Wash walked over to the two as he called them out. “Lecca! Mike!” Stopping momentarily, the golden-haired man walked up while brushing his hand through his wavy hair.
“Hm?” The Sergeant turned employee of the Federation hummed as he turned to his fellow man. “What is it?” He questioned trying to emphasize that he and Lecca were in a rush to meet with the others.
“Guess you never change…” Wash said shaking his head. “Either way it was a pleasure to work alongside you both during selectin and training.” He stated catching the Sergeant off guard. “And—Allow me to take you to somewhere nice in the future, Ms. Araish.”
Taken aback by the sudden proposition that the good-looking-young-man just presented, a conflicted expression fell of the princess’s face as she answered, “Unfortunately, I will have to turn down the offer. Thank you for asking.” She said, shooting down the hopeless romantic.
Letting out a curt sigh and rubbing the back of his head, Wash nodded his head as he stood up straight and left his final words, “Well, I suppose not. Either way—good luck out there. You’ll need it when dealing with the heads of the Federation.” He said with a frown on his face.
“The heads of the Federation?” Mike parroted; he didn’t know what the man meant.
“I have a feeling that the upper echelons of the government will want to get involve with you lot.” Wash said turning around. “Just take care of yourselves, I hate to see bad news about you two.” Waving a hand over his shoulder, he walked off towards a vehicle in the distance where several armed guards stood.
“Weird guy.” Mike said, watching as the vehicle drove away to the center of the capital.
“Aren’t you?” Lecca said, gaining a small frown at the comparison. In a childish manner, she stuck out her tongue while using her fingers to fold out her ears. Feeling lustered by the sudden teasing princess, Mike shook his head as he looked away, sighed, and walked off leaving the woman to catch up to him with a pout on her face.
Rubbing the scar on his neck, Mike continued to walk as he and Lecca finally regrouped with Thompson and the others who were all standing around. “About time.” The captain said annoyed at the delay the two made with their sudden interaction with Wash. The man held out a fist, which made the Sergeant do the same before he exchanged greeting and a handshake with Mr. Phillips who was watching the interaction between the Rangers with amusement in his eyes.
Behind the Case Officer, several men waited while holding their standard-issue handguns in the holsters just barley concealed by their winter coats. They all looked tense and nervous, but they started down each member of the large group that had just graduated and been officially employed by the OMFS.
“Glad you all survived training, though I suppose you men dealt with it easily.” Mr. Phillips said as he patted Mike on the shoulder. “Surprised you made it through, Chieftain. I thought those that went to the military academies in the kingdom don’t get that type of training?”
“On a usual basis? No.” She answered honestly. “We do participate in domesticated missions more often than what I’ve seen from the military in the Federation.”
“Well, that’s due to the technology difference.” Mr. Phillips countered as he motioned for the group to follow him to two cars waiting on the road near them. “We’ll be heading to the capital for your first assignment as Agents to the OMFS. Get in.”
“Lecca, Lieutenant, with me. The rest, get in the other car.” Thompson ordered as he was flanked by the princess and Lieutenant as they walked to the lead vehicle with two of the gunmen belonging to the security organization. The next minute was set in silence as the vehicle pulled away from the large crowd of people on the ceremony grounds; parents, siblings, lovers, friends all attended the event for those that were successfully hired by the OMFS.
They were all there for those they loved, except no one appeared for the Captain, the Chieftain, and their men. All of them were in a world not theirs, even the princess.
Finding himself once more with a briefcase full of documents and other important pieces of paper, Mr. Phillips felt a small pain growing at the front of his head as he seriously considered quitting his job as a Case Officer. It was his fault for volunteering for the position directly after training, eight years had taken a toll on his melting mind as he handled perhaps over three-hundred thousand documents in his entire career. Then again, if he quit there would be a void within the command structure at the capital.
Well, the tradeoff for the hard work was his pay rate as a Case Office, Rate 5. He supposed having the third best pay rate was enough to prevent him from jumping off the nearest bridge… “So, let me just say once again: Congratulations on passing both selection and training for the Office of Military and Federal Security.” He began with a sigh.
“We should be thanking you.” Thompson replied. “You have given us the opportunity to have a new life.” He said fighting an internal battle between his loyalties to the United States and the reality he was stuck in.
“You’ll have to thank the Field Commander for this. He was the one to argue that you all should join the organization in the first place…” Mr. Phillips said while looking at the three foreigners sitting across from him. “Not to mention that the Director and Chief of Federal Office provided a good fight.”
“Right.” Lecca responded in a composed manner. “What is it that you and the Field Commander have in mind for us?” She pondered, trying to find why they had not been killed upon entering the Federation’s borders.
“Can’t say what they have in mind, but I did hear something interesting.” Mr. Phillips began as he pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to the princess who then passed it to Thompson. “—During the briefing of my assignment to oversee your selection, the mention of one of our critical assets were mentioned. As for what they were exactly talking about, I didn’t get to hear, but it may be related to one of the governmental facilities throughout the Federation that have been under assault from “unknown hostiles.” The man chose his words carefully putting extra emphasis on the last two words to stir suspicion in the three foreigners.
Taking the bait, Thompson and Patterson were the ones to raise their eyebrows. “So, we’re going to be stuck to guard duty? What about our weapons, our gear?” The Lieutenant asked hoping to gain answers to questions he has had waiting to be answered for over four months. He had also been a person that preferred to not be locked down to a single location during a deployment. Something of always being on the move kept his sense heightened and his mind prepared for the inevitable.
“We’re working on that.” The Field Agent next to Mr. Phillips said, clutching his hand together. “We’ll return the items, but you’ll be overseen by proper authorities when on missions.”
“Why? It’s U.S Government property. You can’t just keep it attached to whoever has their hands on it.” Thompson countered trying to stand his ground.
“You’re right, it does belong to the U.S as you call it.” Mr. Phillips returned. “Let me state again Agent that you are no longer in your home country. The U.S doesn’t exist here… To us, this is new, possibly lifesaving technology—you of all people promised to share the things that would help the Federation grow.”
“I said, I would share things that wouldn’t hurt people…”
“We never asked you about the guns.”
Breathing the seemingly still air within the car, a drop of sweat rolled down the back of Thompson’s neck as he gripped his pants. “If it’s information you want—I suppose that we’d be guarding some sort of national archive?”
“Who knows…” Mr. Phillips said as the cars rolled into the garage of a building. The darkened interior was only lit by spatial lights that hovered next to several pillars that held the ceiling up. Breathing slowly the man waited as the driver was identified by the guards that waited at the gate.
Lecca was in a similar state as she realized this would have to be a peaceful parley between parties from three countries: The Zivaland Federation, Kingdom of Yondel, and the United States of America. Both the Federation and the United States were technological powerhouses, yet it was her kingdom that held the advantage in magical sciences and technologies.
It wasn’t much, but she could at least bargain with her knowledge.
“You alright, Chieftain?”
“I’m alright, Captain.”
“Should be short. We’ll be on assignment soon…” The older man trailed off as he stared out the window next to him.
Being guided out of the car then the parking garage, Phillips, Lecca, Thompson, and Patterson moved into the building where OMFS’s Field Commander was located. Though the building was in the capital city, it wasn’t the primary headquarters as the Director and the Chief Federal Officer CFO were currently in the primary office within the Presidential House less than thirty minutes away.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Walking the halls, Lecca found the hectic environment inside quite pleasant. Behind all the employees of the security and intelligence organization, the marble floors, smooth walls, and wooden décor provided a homely feel as the four walked down several sets of hallways that all had large windows that displayed the capital city and all the governmental and civilian buildings spear around creating a claustrophobic yet alive feeling.
Her heels clacked against the floor as the four were directed to one final room at the end of the third floor. If it were up to her, the location of the meeting would be in a secure location with little to no outside interference. The windows alone made her fell somewhat exposed as she walked in taking a seat next to Thompson and Patterson; she held her breath as she momentarily looked back to see the other Rangers being directed away from the office and instead towards a side room where the wooden door was shut behind them after three armed guards entered.
“So, you’re all the people that almost kickstarted a war?” A gravelly voice came from the older man that just stood up from his chair as he leaned against the wooden table in the middle of the room. “A fucking band of otherworldly soldiers and a Chieftain acting as their foreign commanding officer come into my country to pull some shit like this?” He said not amused by the freshly graduated Agents in front of him.
“Sir-” Trying to speak up, Thompson was swiftly cut off by his superior.
“Don’t bother with the formalities, Captain.” The Field Commander groaned out she wiped his face with his hand. “I’ve already read the fucking report over you, and I am going to be pissed if you try to pull some shit like you did during training, again.”
Swallowing his pride, Thompson remained silent and still letting the man continue.
“You see when I was in the Navy the one thing that one battle for us was intelligence, and you maggots, are a fucking goldmine.” The Field Commander stated as he punctuated each and every word he said, hammering the words into the trio’s minds. “People like you give this grey hair! But I will admit that your knowledge from another world can prove useful.” He said opening the draw in his desk and taking out a manila folder. Tossing it across the table, he continued as he rubbed the top of his head. “Let me make it clear that you will prioritize this institution safety at any cost. These fucking people are the worlds future, and I’ll be dammed if you can’t pull any of that “Ranger” shit you so proclaim to be able to do.”
Opening the folder, Thompson’s eyes widened as he realized what they were going to defend. Being somewhat bamboozled, he was completely silent as the Field Commander turned his attention to Princess Lecca.
“Chieftain, your rank means shit in my country.” He stated boldly making the young woman swallow her nervousness. “And all the magic shit that was reported by the military; use that to defend the institution with your life. Your assassin skills mean nothing in an actual firefight! So, get with the damn program!”
Not breaking or wavering from staring the man in the eyes, Lecca calmed herself; she was lucky enough to experience “real combat”, even if it meant fighting a skewed battle she didn’t understand. Long gone were the swords, bows and pikes of her country, and now war machines, rifles, and high explosives became common, something she was still having difficulties adapting to this day.
“I expect you all to cooperate with the institutions leaders.” The Field Commander growled as he moved to what looked to be a phone on the right side of the room. “Defend it with your lives, and I can personally assure you that you maggots will have a shot to return where you came from.”
The phone began to ring as the man picked it up. “Hello?” Thompson and Lecca shifted in their seats as they realized the proposition that was just laid before them: Defend the institution, then gain a chance to return to Earth.
“The fuck you mean you lost them!?” The Field Commander barked as he suddenly cupped the phone with his hands and turned towards the three in the room. “Case Officer, get them the fuck out of my office!” He ordered making the younger man nod as he tapped the shoulders of the Captain and Chieftain.
“Get me a line to the Director, I want: Blue Team, Gold Team, Black Team-”
Rising from their seats and following Mr. Phillips out, Thompson smacked his lips trying to rid himself of the nerves that laced his shaking body. The cold air of the building made goosebumps rise on his covered arms, and his left hand tapped its fingers against his leg as he attempted to make sense of what had happened in the last four-five months he had been alive in this world.
With the cold air hitting her exposed legs, Lecca remained silent as she walked behind the Captain and Case Officer that was guiding them to the same room where she spotted the rest of the Rangers being placed into. Swinging opens the door, the Case Officer let her and Thompson through and the first thing that caught her eye was several men standing against the wall, while Mike and the others were seated in front of what looked like a clear board on the wall. Her eyes were drawn to the Sergeant turned Agent of the OMFS who was silently sleeping in his seat, his face just barely highlighted by the artificial and natural lights that scoured the room.
She was confused on why the men on the other side watched them like hawks as she and Thompson were guided to their seats within the room, but she would soon find out why even if she didn’t read the folder given to the captain.
“Headmaster.” Mr. Phillips said awakening the Rangers that were asleep much to the annoyance of Captain Thompson.
An older looking man that had a grey stubble walked forward while keeping his walking cane in his left hand. He shook the Case Officer’s hand and settled down in his seat across from the men who were now alert.
“So, these are the “Rangers” I suppose?” The man said in a deep, commanding voice as he let out a pained groan.
“Correct.” Mr. Phillips returned, facing the group with a small smirk on his face. “From what we pieced together; the “Rangers” are no more than a group of elite light infantry that specialize in direct action missions.” He said waving a thumb at Mike and the others, “The Chieftain turned Agent was acting as their Foreign Commanding Officer (FCO) from the Kingdom of Yondel.”
“Rangers…” The old Headmaster said outwardly recalling a distant memory. His hands gripped his walking cane as he turned his attention to Thompson. “That folder, have you read its contents?”
“Yes sir.” Thompson said passing the folder to Lecca then to Lieutenant Patterson. “The mission directive is clear: Protect the students of the institution at any cost.” He explained as the men around the room tensed from the mission he had just described.
“Correct. 1st National Academy is a hard target. We’re looking at a surge in both criminal and terrorist activity within the capital…”
PFC Simon chocked on his water as he tried to make sense of why they would be sent to such a place to begin with. Since the academy was in the capital city, there would be more than enough federal and law enforcement personnel to handle any threat.
“Academy?” Malkovich let slip out as he voiced his confusion.
“Correct. A prestigious one at that.” Mr. Phillips chuckled as he motioned towards the headmaster. “Forgive me for not introducing you properly, but this is Headmaster John Fakhara. He oversees and directs 1st National Academy which focuses on magical sciences and new technologies.”
The Rangers all looked at Malkovich who was face palming. A part of him wanted to die as his MOS was that of an Engineer. Though he should’ve been in the Ranger support unit, he was oddly assigned to the 75th to assist in direct combat missions. At least know he knew that his knowledge could be put to better use than devising how to direct over twenty men to stack damn sandbags in the middle of Africa under the blazing sun.
Headmaster Fakhara took notice of the man’s odd state but refused to say anything. He did suspect that the man knew something related to the material his academy focused on but pressing the issue now could possibly lead to problems later down the line.
Letting out a curt sigh, the older man stood up as he balanced himself on his cane. “I expect to see you all before school initiation for the new year.” He said motioning his head for his academy staff members to follow. Before he opened the door, his hand was left on the handle as he turned around wearing a tired yet focused expression, “You’ll be helping the next generation for this country. Do see that they learn something that we cannot teach.”
As the men exited the room with Mr. Phillips, silence was held between the Rangers and Lecca as they pondered and question every word spoken during the exchange. Letting out a quiet sigh, Mike leaned back in his seat while placing his hands behind his head. Interlocking his fingers, he spoke a single curse word which made the silver-hair princess chuckle lightening the tense mood that was painted over each soldier.
“Who would’ve guessed that you fierce soldiers would be demoted to the position of a teacher!” She hummed with a small smile hidden behind a cupped hand.
“I-Uh. I—mean we—fuck I-” Stumbling on his words trying to provide a coherent response, Captain Thompson slowly grew flustered as he finally found the words to say, “—I mean—You are also going from a princess to a mere guard!” He said loudly while facing away from his men with a scrunched face and eye that were clamped shut.
“Holy shit—the captain lost his composure!” Simon said with wide eyes.
“Did—did you just say that in front of your commanding officer!?” Corporal Richard yelped while shaking his head frantically at the Private First Class. Cuffing his mouth in a similar manner as Lecca, Mike tried to control his laughter as he was able to turn into a light snicker that escaped his lips.
In similar fashion, the others began crackle at the exchange as a still flustered Thompson grasped his short hair as he tried to mask his embarrassment with anger, “If I hear another word come from your pipes—I swear to God PT will happen every single day for the rest of the year!” His voice nearly broke as he finished the sentence making the men grow out of control as they all busted with unyielding laughter making him cringe as he clenched his teeth.
“God, damn I need a bar!” Malkovich stated as he rose from his seat and moved to a nearby cabinet. Opening the wooden doors, his eyes widened as he spotted a line of different alcoholic beverages with shot glasses scattered about. “Fucking bingo!” He shouted as he grasped a bottle and turned around showing the group.
“Oh! What is it!?” Richard asked getting excited.
“Don’t know!” Malkovich said as he moved to find a cork opener somewhere in the room.
“Wait!” Lecca said springing up from her seat removing the red crystal she had with her since they first met her in the Kingdom. Holding the gem and focusing her mana, the gem glowed as she kept her eyes on the bottle. “W-Whiskey?” She said confused not recognizing the alcohol’s name.
“As much as I want to ask about the gem-” Richard said stepping over to the shut curtains and drawing them open to reveal the now golden-orange sun that shined over the capital city.
Picking up the end of the sentence, Mike rose from his seat and walked over to the cabinet to withdraw the shot glasses. “—We have more important things to do!” He said with a grin on his face as he placed the glass glasses on the wooden table where the headmaster once sat at.
“I’m not even sure we should be doing something like this…” Simon provided as he looked at the others with skepticism.
“C’mon, live a little.” Staff Sergeant Baker spoke as he hit the boy over the head while grabbing a now full glass.
“Alright! Alright!” Stepping forward and grabbing the last glass that waited for him, Thompson calmed the others before they could touch the drink with their lips. “Let me just begin with a little toast that will be boring as fuck.”
“Ugh, another briefing!?” Richard exaggerated gaining several chuckles from those around.
“Yeah, yeah.” Thompson said playing it off, “All of you have been more than exceptional in this abnormal situation we were placed in by the Princess’s family.” He said cheerfully, making the silver-haired woman look away with embarrassment. “From the fucked-up situation we were in during our raid in Peshawar to the trails we went through during our travels across the frontier: You are all important to me, and I have never been more grateful than to fight and survive alongside my fellow Rangers… and Combat Controller!” He said while motioning towards Baker who nodded his head.
“As we continue to get through this with our new “friends” within the OMFS, I just want all of you to take your time to understand this world and get used to having a new life here—being honest for a second, I don’t know if we will ever have a chance at getting back to Earth.” He admitted painting serious faces on the group surrounding him.
“We got your back.” Mike spoke up taking the lead, “That’s why we’re here.”
“That’s why you are all Reclaimers.” Lecca stated with a sly look on her face.
“Huh, I like it…” Patterson hummed making the captain gain an idea.
“Alright! To the Reclaimers on three!” He spouted.
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
“To the Reclaimers!”
Publicly Available Information: Technological Difference:
Beyond the frontier and no man’s land, there is a great stretch of plains that travel into the unknown. Beyond these plains lay three countries that have people exactly like the greater world beyond the great stretch of land that separates them.
Compared to the great Kingdoms, Principalities, Imperial Nations, and small backwater towns, whatever civilization lies beyond appears to have far more advanced technology than their own. They look no different from their brethren in the civilized lands, yet they hold knowledge well beyond the understanding of even the most accomplished scholars.