August 12, 2019

Washington D.C.

President Keener rested his hand on his arm after finishing Ambassador Perry’s report on his meetings with the Eanif Imperium and the Divinian Empire. The Eanif talks were less than productive; most of his time spent there consisted of listening to the Eanish boast. There was one thing that worried him, however, and that was the threat given by the Eanish. In response, he had requested additional troops to be stationed in Gaerra.

Thankfully, his request went through. After much logistical hassle, he was able to strengthen the American forces in Gaerra twofold. To help mitigate suspicion from any foreign powers and to keep them in the dark regarding troop movements, he authorized the transportation of construction equipment and the development of local production lines. This decision also had the double intention of giving his people a safety net, should the portal ever close spontaneously.

By producing munitions locally, Fort Grenden will be able to alleviate some of the logistical issues associated with portal transportation itself. The construction of new factories will also help spur economic innovation in the region, and establish the foundation for corporations to begin moving in. Keener smiled at the rapidly developing city near Fort Grenden. A picture in the report showed a line of cement mixers and CAT vehicles by one of the rivers south of Fort Grenden. Numerous tents and trailers dotted the region, a testament to the industrial and economic might of the United States, even when held back by secrecy and logistics.

With a rocket launch coming soon, they will also be able to attain additional diplomatic influence. Invitations to most of the Gaerran world leaders were sent out; the Divinian and Mekkanese leaders have already accepted, while the Eanish have agreed to send a representative. Little information exists regarding the continents to the west, so the nations belonging to North and South Obeg have been omitted from the invitation list. Along with the other Gaerran world leaders, he himself will make an appearance, hoping to gauge the attitudes of the Divinians and Eanish in particular.

By hosting a major event this month, Keener hoped to prevent the Eanish from launching their invasion too early. His intention was to entice the Eanish into waiting, at least until after the event, before they begin their attacks. Still, he exercised caution and thus bolstered defenses along Ecith’s borders, which could help deter an invasion from the Imperium into the western coastline. Unfortunately, the United States could do nothing about the Imperium’s naval fleets, as they had no active warships in Gaerra.

Because of this drawback, President Keener authorized the transfer of several ICBMs, to be used only in dire situations. Their functionality will be enhanced by the presence of several targeting, positioning, and spy satellites, which will be sent up via this month’s rocket launch. It was an incredible hassle trying to transfer the warheads, but thanks to the portal’s close proximity to one of the United States’ most secretive facilities, he was able to pull some strings and send the weapons behind the scenes. Additionally, context helped tremendously. Knowledge of the existence of Godzilla-type monsters such as the Hydra —which took several air strikes and two gunships to kill — expedited the decision-making of his top military officials.

He hoped the political atmosphere in Gaerra wouldn’t deteriorate to such a level that nukes were necessary, but recent information shed light on the Eanif Imperium’s capabilities. While not technological in nature, the monsters in their military could be considered as weapons of mass destruction, particularly considering that they didn’t just have one or a few of these beasts at their disposal. Keener shuddered thinking about the Wasteland Hounds, and what they could be capable of if the Eanish ever figured out how to control them.

Keener’s deep thoughts were cut short by a phone call. He picked it up. “Hello, President Keener speaking.”

“Mister President! We detected a massive horde of monsters moving toward Felomia from the northern forests.”

“Monsters? Like the ones commanded by the Eanish?”

“Umm, I’m not sure sir. Most of these look like the same arachnids encountered by Alpha Team in Site Beta One.”

“Hmm… I wonder if the Eanish have anything to do with this. Alright, I’ll leave this situation to General Harding’s discretion. Thanks for bringing this up. Let me know if there are any further updates. I need to have some discussions with the department of defense.”

——

Felomia

Alarms blared from a recently installed speaker and light system, warning the town’s residents to take refuge inside their homes. The local knights bustled about as they helped the American troops move their equipment and weapons. In the town circle, several Abrams and Bradleys crowded up behind a convoy of supply trucks that were desperately trying to move out of the way.

“What is UP with us arriving in this town whenever something bad happens?” Dr. Jones said, twirling his staff as he walked.

“Eh, I don’t know.” Henry said, looking around. “So uh… where’s the town hall again?”

Ron pointed to a cluster of buildings south of the town circle. “Should be that Renaissance-looking building in the center.”

“Oh,” Henry said, noticing the cluster of communications equipment around the building. “Yeah, makes sense. Let’s hurry up.”

Alpha Team approached the base of the building, where Lord Talvin was talking to an American officer. A large tablet was placed on the table between them, showing a map of Felomia and the surrounding forests. A technician stood by, looking back and forth at a radar and the tablet, updating the map as new information came through.

“Oh, Major Donnager and the rest of Alpha Team,” Lord Talvin looked up from the tablet. “I wish I could welcome you back under better circumstances, but I must admit, I am quite grateful to have you here for yet another disaster,” he said.

“Glad to be of assistance,” Henry said. He then looked at the American officer and his rank. “Sir,” he saluted, Alpha Team following closely.

“At ease. I’m Colonel Sanders. Yeah, I know. Like the fried chicken. I’ve recently been assigned here; I’ll be managing the defense of the Ecith territory from now on. Since you folks have experience with these Spyders, I’d like you to help coordinate the defense along the northern gate. We’ll be updating you on the situation. Major Donnager, you’ll be in charge of the company stationed there. Good luck.” He then turned to Perry. “As for you, Ambassador, the President would like to speak with you regarding your missions. Follow Charleston over here, he’ll show you the way.”

“Sir,” Henry saluted. He led Alpha Team back toward the northern gate, passing by the stuck convoy.

“Something tells me this is gonna bite us in the ass later,” Emma said.

“C’mon now, don’t jinx it,” Dr. Jones replied.

Kelmithus analyzed the vehicles. “I’ve been studying gravity recently, ever since the anomaly several weeks ago. I may be able to lift up these trucks to allow your heavy vehicles to pass through…”

Henry shook his head. “You may, but how much experience do you have? How much mana will that task consume? I think it’s better if we save your energy for the upcoming fight.”

Kelmithus nodded. “Good idea, Major. I will admit, I have only been able to lift up a few boxes so far.”

Alpha Team continued to the northern gate, where they heard popping sounds. Sporadic gunfire echoed every now and then as the defenders eliminated monsters that ran ahead of the main pack. Archers, mages, and American soldiers patrolled on top of the 3-story high wall, creating an interesting contrast.

The local commander approached Henry and saluted. “Major Donnager?” He asked with a surprised look.

“Yeah.”

“I’m Commander Richard Olmich. I’m glad to have a legend here to help out.”

Henry felt a sense of accomplishment from the compliment. “Thanks, Commander. I wouldn’t really say I’m a legend, though. Just at the right places at the right times.”

Olmich smirked. “And poetic too. Well, I’ll give you a quick rundown of what we’ve got so far. I’ve got about 60 men in my company, plus an additional 200 from the local forces.” He lowered his voice. “No offense to them, but I don’t think their knights and archers will be able to do much. The mages, maybe.”

“Makes sense.”

“I’ve also got a group of armor coming in… they should’ve been here by now.”

“Oh,” Henry said, thinking back to the stuck convoy. “They’re in a traffic jam. Probably won’t be here for the next half hour at least.”

Olmich sighed. “Alright. We’ve called for support. A squadron of fighters should be arriving soon, but given the size of the horde, the best they can do is thin their numbers a bit. Command’s also sending in a group of helos, but it’ll take ‘em a couple hours to get here, give or take.”

“I see. And what about the defenses along this wall? Can it hold against monsters?”

“I hope so. I talked with one of the knight captains and he said that the walls were built specifically to deter monsters from the forest. As for our defenses, I’ve mostly got small arms. We have a few heavy weapons spread out between us: a few launchers and machine guns, but nothing that can really hurt a Spyder, according to the debriefing.”

“If you concentrate fire on one target, 5.56 and 7.62 could get the job done reliably, although it might take a bit,” Henry said, recalling his time in Site Beta One. “Is this it though? When I looked at the feed, it looked like there were hundreds of the damn things.”

Olmich rubbed his chin. “Well, we did have our engineers lay down some explosives, so that could take out a good chunk. Oh, I almost forgot. We also have ten wyverns from the Ecithians. Not as good as an Apache, but they should be able to help out quite a bit.”

Henry nodded silently as he looked at a tablet. The main horde of Spyders were just a few minutes away, so he decided to prepare. “Alright, looks like they’re almost here. Commander, how do we get up on the wall?”

——

Henry gripped his N109, preparing to charge it up while the rest of his team prepared similarly, scanning the distance and preparing spells. While he waited, the radio beside him flickered to life. “All units, be advised: hostile tangos will be arriving in three minutes. Wyvern support will be arriving momentarily; they are friendlies, so hold your fire.”

Henry charged his rifle minimally and picked off a Spyder in the distance, setting the nearby vegetation ablaze and engulfing a few more of its brethren in plasma. He looked to his right and saw several soldiers loading their launchers, waiting for the main group to arrive. To his left, his team used their assigned Homagus weaponry, careful not to deplete their charges too fast by using the highest settings.

Archers fired off volleys to little effect, but a few were skilled enough to land shots along the Spyders’ weak spots. The knights cleared a path for the American vehicles, creating a lane large enough for two vehicles side by side. They also helped ferry ammo and equipment from the town circle, easing concerns regarding resupply.

Then, inhuman chittering echoed from the edge of the forest. With their guns trained on the forest outskirts, the American forces watched the horde of Spyders pour out, trampling over each other in order to reach the walls. Ten wyverns flew over the walls, unleashing fireballs onto the oncoming wave of flesh and carapace. The fireballs detonated in center mass, burning groups of the critters as they surged forward.

“Light ‘em up!”

The defenders positioned atop the walls simultaneously fired at the monsters. Arrows, spells, bullets, and grenades all flew toward designated kill zones, drawing a picturesque scene of modern technology intertwining with fantasy. Fireballs and spells of all colors impacted the swarm, making the battle look more like a rave than an actual fight. Explosions caused by American and Homagus weapons caused nearby Spyders to stagger, their senses debilitated by the pressure waves.

While Henry was obliterating clumps of Spyders with his overcharged rifle, Olmich approached him. “Sir! New update!” He handed him a tablet. “This isn’t the only group! We’ve got another one still in the forest; by the looks of things, this second group is twice as large as the first.”

“Shit,” Henry paused to analyze the tablet.

“Sir, Dragonslayer Squadron is almost here. Do you want them to strike the current group, or hit the group further back?”

The Spyders coming from the forest still hadn’t breached the rows of explosives set by the engineers and it seemed like the wall defenders were holding fairly well, but the stream of Spyders was slowly inching closer. The bodies were beginning to stack, becoming indistinguishable from live enemy targets. Henry made his decision. “Split the squadron in half. The first group will target the force we’re currently engaging, while the second group will bomb the second monster horde.”

“Got it.” Olmich moved away, relaying Henry’s order into his radio. “Dragonslayer Actual, Major Donnager has requested…”

Henry returned his focus back to the Spyders. He checked the power supply on his weapon. He cursed under his breath, realizing that he had expended too much of the weapon’s charge. “Owens, Lamarr, how y’all holding up?”

Ron stopped firing and checked his weapon. “Burned through half of the capacity already. Might have to switch to good ‘ol American gear in a bit.”

“Same here,” Emma said.

Henry looked at Kelmithus and Dr. Jones. “Y’all doing alright?”

“Yeah!” Dr. Jones said. He took a quick glance at the box of mana gems beside them. “The locals sure gave us a crap ton of gems; I don’t think we’ll be running out any time soon!”

“Alright. Keep it up.” Henry resumed fighting, pausing for a short moment to watch the incoming American jets.

After they appeared in the distance, the local wyverns fell back toward the gate in order to allow the jets to conduct their mission undisturbed. They cut through the air overhead, inspiring the troops below and causing some of them to cheer. When they reached the center of the Spyder formation, they unleashed their payload.

A series of explosions erupted, creating visible holes in the Spyder formation. Some were even thrown into the air by the sheer force of the bombs. With their numbers drastically reduced, the monsters’ push was halted; the defenders were able to clean up the remaining stragglers.

“Whew,” Henry said. He checked his rifle. “Damn, 35 percent…”

“It really sucks sir, but at least you’ve still got your secondary. The rest of us gotta switch back to Earth guns,” Ron said.

“Yeah. Speaking of which, I’m gonna go check up with Olmich. I hope we’ve got enough ammo for the next wave.” Henry climbed down the wall and walked over to Olmich’s tent. “Commander.”

“Sir,” Olmich saluted.

“How are we looking on supplies?”

“Ammo count is good. The local knights are helping unload the goodies from the trucks. Sir, you also might want to see this.” Olmich had a dark look on his face, as if he had seen something horrible.

On his tablet, he saw a large signature in front of hundreds of smaller ones. “Something is leading the Spyders? Or is that something running away from the monster horde?”

“We don’t know for sure. We found out right when Dragonslayer Squadron launched their airstrike on the second wave. Thing was just sitting in the brush, hiding. We should be getting a visual feed right about… now.”

The radar data was replaced with a video, taken from a UAV. The camera zoomed in on the monstrous behemoth in front of the formation. Charging forward on all fours, the beast boasted a height about half that of Felomia’s walls. If compared to the Abrams, the beast was as large as eight of them stacked in a cube. It rammed through several trees in the way, breaking through them like paper.

“Captain Matgard,” Olmich called out. “We require your assistance in identifying a monster.”

A knight straight from the medieval era walked over, his face obscured by his helmet. He lifted up the visor to look at the object shown by Olmich. He squinted, then spoke with trepidation. “Looks like a tarasque. Normally, they have no issue fighting Spyders. By all means, this tarasque should be tearing through the monsters behind it, and can do so without taking any damage. One would never flee, so that means these monster attacks are orchestrated.”

Henry thought about the beast tamers they encountered in Felomia earlier and realized who the enemy was. “The Eanif Imperium... they’re using the tarasque to ram through our walls and allow the Spyders to flood in?”

“Indeed. I have no doubt of your success, since your people easily demolished the fearsome Hydra, but I fear the speed at which the beasts are traveling at. Will your allies arrive in time?”

Henry heard a low rumbling behind him. He looked back and smiled when he saw the group of Abrams and Bradleys. “Our helos won’t get here in time, but it looks like we did get some more reinforcements.”