Reclamation (1)

"Things don't look good, captain." Ricochet said solemnly, "The advance squad is nowhere to be seen."

"Maybe we should have brought Alina and the rest with us," Anna chimed in. 

"It's fine. Besides, we needed someone to protect the city." Ashton replied. 

According to Ricochet, he had sent a couple of people ahead to establish a new portal system outside Contingency so that Ashton and his forces could arrive there as quickly as possible. 

However, what followed Ricochet's command was radio silence. The last piece of information he received was a week ago, and as per the plan, the teleporter should have been up and running by now.

But the plan did not become a reality, and everyone had to arrive there using other means, which took a lot of unnecessary time. That said, when they finally arrived at the supposed 'camp', nothing but barren land awaited them. It was as if the advance forces never managed to step foot there.