Priority: Exploration
--Special Region HQ, Fort Alnus--
It is early morning in Special Region, Ava and 9 other commanding officers of 9 recon platoons sitting in from for a large screen in the briefing room. While recon drones give the UNE a detailed map of the continent, recon platoons will also be sent out to explore the people, culture, political landscape, and most importantly, to possibly find lost UNE civilians. The 5th SIF is part of this mission because while it is not special forces job, there is no real use for their expertise yet and General Nguyen wants to give Ava something to do to get her mind off her mother.
"Are we clear of our mission objectives? If you have any questions this is the time" General Nguyen asks after he finishes the mission briefing. The screen displays a map and sections assigned to each recon platoon.
"What's our ROE sir?" one of the officers asks.
"Assume hostility but do not shoot first, your unit's safety is your top priority" General Nguyen replies.
"What if we find one of our people sir?"
"If you deem it safe to extract them then proceed with the extraction and call for evac" General Nguyen answers and then waits for the next question. When he is sure there's no more he continues "Remember we want to win the local heart and mind, so be careful but don't be reckless. Dismiss!"
Ava arrives at the North Gate where the rest of the 5th SIF and other recon units are waiting for order. Each platoon is assigned 1 APC, 1 IFV, and 1 Lander-2 tank for fire support. The 5th SIF, the extra tank crew of 3 marines and 1 new comms specialist quickly form up in front of the vehicles when they spot Ava.
"Ten-hut!" Ashley shouts the command as others stand at attention.
"At ease" Ava continues "We are one of the first to explore this whole new world, there will be danger and we might face the enemy. They have proven that they have the ability to harm us so I will give it my best and I expect each of you to do the same. Some of them might be human but they are still aliens so standard FCP is applied and always be on guard. However, we are trying to get to know the native species and establish connections so if you have no good reason to shoot, keep your finger off the trigger".
She stops and looks at the tank crew and the comm specialist welcome them, she already knows their names and ranks through TACNet "So you guys are our plus 4, welcome to the team".
"Specialist Chris Turner, It's an honor to be here, Ma'am!" Chris salutes.
"Specialist Turner, TACNet says you're fresh out of the academy. This is your first tour correct?" Ava returns the salute.
"Yes, ma'am!".
"At ease Turner, just follow your training you'll be fine" Ava remembers the day she was fresh out of training as she smiles and continue "And Commander is fine".
"I just wanna say Commander, you and the 5th SIF are legends. It's an honor to be put under your command" Staff Sergeant Gary Jones speaks for his tank crew in his Texas accent.
"It came with a cost Staff Sergeant" Ava nods in appreciation and then continues "Alright, everyone mounts up".
Ave walks to her APC and mumbles to herself "A cost too big" while remembering the loss of all the men and women under her command when they were doing the "Suicide Mission". She gets in the command APC and orders Rob to start the engine then signal the unit to move out. Ashley will be in the IFV with Jimmy and the 2nd squad.
"Intel from the recon drones say that there is a small village 2 days from Fort Alnus, that will be our first stop" Ava talk to the unit through radio while looking at the holographic map in front of her seat.
"Goooood morning ladies and gentlemen, this is Lieutenant Rob Anderson, and joining me in the command APC on this trip is Commander Ava Bennett. On behalf of the UNE military we thank you for choosing to fly with us, please sit back, keep your seatbelt on and enjoy the view" Rob speaks through the radio just as the convoy led by the APC followed by the IFV and then the Lancer leaves the gate.
"Boooooooo!" Everyone booing over the radio as the trip begins.
--Throne room, Sadera Palace--
Emperor Molt sitting on the throne in his throne room looking at an arrow in his hand. The arrow is not an ordinary arrow, instead of an iron tip, this arrow has an iron tip welded onto an oval cylinder that contains the same magic in the boogie traps used in the Battle of Alnus Hill.
"So this thing can penetrate the enemy magic barrier and armor?" Molt asks Tiberius.
"Yes my Emperor, this arrow contains the same explosive magic as those traps we used around Alnus Hill. While it is much smaller if we shoot enough of these arrows at them we can at the very least disable them" Tiberius replies to his king "We can also do the same for our ballista my Emperor".
"Why haven't our army been using this kind of arrow?" Molt wonders.
"My Emperor, there was no need for such powerful battle magic against our past enemies and to produce such magic we need to use life force from human, dwarf or elves" Tiberius answers "But don't worry my Emperor, we can rotate draining the life force from the slaves to make hundreds of thousands of these arrows from each 1 of them".
"Very well, have the magic guild make as many of these arrows as possible and start training as many new recruits as you can to shoot crossbow" Molt commands to which Tiberius bow and leave the throne room to carry out his order.
Just as Tiberius leaves, Princess Pina Co Lada enters the throne room. She is the 3rd child of Emperor Molt and the leader of the Rose Order. The order consist of noblewomen and a few low-class noblemen who went through training equal to that of the Imperial Guard. They are all trained by an ex-captain of the Imperial Guard Grey Co Aldo and well versed in all forms of combat. Although they are well trained and well equipped they are mostly used for parade and ceremony events, therefore, they have zero combat experience.
"Father, I heard about our defeat at Alnus Hill, do you have any plan?" The news of defeat angered Pina as she could not accept the humiliation. The Imperial Army is seriously lacking in manpower, she sees this as an opportunity to prove that her Rose Order isn't just ceremonial soldiers.
Emperor Molt looks at his daughter's eyes and understands what is on her mind. His agreement to the foundation of Rose Order was just his way to keep his daughter busy and stay out of state's politics, it was nothing more than a child play in his mind at the time. However, Pina proved to be capable and the Rose Order has grown larger than he initially thought. Even so, he do not wish for her to be on the front line.
"My daughter, I want you to take your Order to Italica and defend the city" Molt orders his daughter to go to Italica. The city is the most important trade center for the Empire and has tall walls with sizable defenses. To his mind, if Pina stays there she will be safe "You are to ride ahead with your Cavalry to reinforce what's left of Italica garrison and the rest of your foot knights should arrive 1-2 days after you".
"You...you want me to take my Order on a quest?... Yes, my father, I won't let you down" Pina was taken by surprise by Molt's order. Although it is what she wanted, she does not expect it to be that simple. Regardless, the Princess leaves the palace with joy and excitement.
--5th SIF somewhere on the road--
Commander Ava sitting in the front seat of the APC talking to the base through the radio and having her helmet on to filter out the sound of everyone singing "Old Town Road" along with Staff Sergeant Gary. All combat vehicles on the ground, fighter, and spaceships have no real windows to avoid structural weakness but they have holographic windows that display realistic images from nanotech cameras that can continuously repair themselves until the vehicle is destroyed. Despite being artificial, one cannot tell the difference from the real glass window.
"We're approaching target's location, no sign of hostile, over" after finishing the hourly update to HQ, Ava switch back to the unit's comm channel "Woa"
"You seem excited Commander" Rob makes a comment about Ava.
"I am excited, we found a lot of aliens but Elves, Dwarfs, Orcs, Trolls, and Wyverns? Those are only in ancient literature and until last months they're just fantasy" Ava looks at the road ahead and continues "And Magic? Terra Sphere confirmed that they actually using magic, this could be as big as the discovery of String Theory".
"Hell yeah, our names are going to be in the history archive" David got excited and poke his head between Ava and Rob.
"Yea, you're going to be remembered as that alcoholic nerd that found magic!" Ashley picks on David through the radio "But yes this planet is like Earth 2.0, the trees and grass are so similar even the day-night cycle, what are the odds?"
"Oh yeah David, aren't you into this fantasy world thing? So what do you think we'll find?" Ava asks in a curious tone.
"Well let see, we've seen elves, orcs, trolls, pigman, dwarf so far. My bet we're gonna encounter bunny people, fairy maybe catgirl for Lieutenant Jimmy here" David answers while putting his hand over Jimmy's shoulders.
Jimmy looks at David "Hey it's not like you're not into bunny girl" laughing and pushing David against the seat.
"I didn't know you're into fantasy as well Jimmy" Ava speak through the radio being surprised.
Jimmy smirks and answers "Not all fantasy commander just catgirls, there's something about them, mmmm hmmm" which make every laugh.
"Alright everyone, we're here let get to work" Ava speaks in the commanding tone as the convoy stops about 150 meters (500 feet) from a small village "Deploy shield dome, and launch recon drones scout the area, Chris you have the base on standby, I want missile support if we need them. Jimmy and Rob on me, the rest of you stay here, happy face and try not to look too scary, the last thing we want is to have to shoot panic farmers armed with pitchforks".
"Err Commander, our helmets cover our faces" Ashley replies a little bit confused but amused.
"Just...try ok?" Ava jokingly answer.
Everyone copy and start carrying out Ava's orders. 4 cloaked recon drones are launched from the APC and start flying in different directions to scan for any potential interests or hostile activities. The 4 SAT8 are set on patrol mode and protect the perimeter of their position. Through TACNet they can see that there are 78 villagers, all human, are hiding in their cottages. Some of them have swords but most of them are holding sticks and pitchforks. Scan from the APC indicates that they are scared.
Entering the village, Ava heads to the biggest structure in the center that seems to be the town hall. Vision from TACNet shows 5 figures with 4 of them armed standing close to the windows and doors as they are trying to look through the gaps. As she comes close, the door open,s and an old man walks out followed by 4 others, 1 of them has a sword and 3 with pitchforks.
The translation program starts translating Ava speech through her helmet. To the others, it just sounds like her voice.
"Hello there, we mean you no harm" Ava tries to speak in a friendly tone. Realizing that this old man is important to the others she continues "Are you the leader of this village?".
The locals exchange confused look with one another and debate if they should trust the woman or not. After a short discussion, they decided that there is no other choice because if these are the warriors from the other world and the rumors are true then they stand no chance of fighting.
"Welcome to Coda village, I'm the mayor. If you mean no harm to us then we shall no harm you" the mayor looks at the convoy behind Ava's party and continue "Not that we can harm you".
Ava dematerializes her helmet front while Rob and Jimmy do the same revealing their faces. The mayor signals his guards to lower their weapons and the villagers start coming out of their hiding to observe the strange warriors clearer.
"I'm Gorm, so you people do have a face, may I know your names?" The mayor asks with a smile but still does not entirely trust the strangers. He looks convoy again "Strange but impressive are you wagons".
"Thank you, my name is Commander Ava Bennett, this is Lieutenant Rob Anderson and Lieutenant Jimmy Parson. We are soldiers of the United Nations of Earth from Sol sy...erm...the other side of the gate." Ava answers with a smile and a less serious tone than before trying to be as friendly as possible. She continues, "We call them vehicles, not wagons and our helmets cover our faces in combat to protect us" she materializes and dematerializes the front of her helmet again for the mayor to see.
"Ah yes, you are the Other Worlders that destroyed the Imperial Army. Strange given you have a woman as commander" the mayor asks still being afraid of the strange weapons the SIF are carrying "now what business do you have at our humble village Other Worlders?"
"We are an exploration convoy, our mission is to discover the wonders and cultures of your world. We also want to establish peace with you" Ava ignores the sexist comment of the mayor then continues "I'm curious, are there any dragons on this world? We have only encountered wyverns while fighting the Imperial Army"
"Wyverns as you can see are common, dragons are rare and few but very powerful and dangerous. There are Fire Dragons and Ocean Dragons, no one has ever survived an encounter with them and no weapon can harm them" the mayor answers Ava's question and then continue "You must be weary by your travel, you are welcome to stay for the night in our town hall. Now you must excuse me, I have to go tend to a very sick boy, he might not make it but I can help him feel easier".
"I can take a look if you would allow it? Maybe I can help him" Jimmy walks up and offer his help while Ava nod in approval. Jimmy asks the mayor "Is he your son?"
"The boy is a slave that escaped the Imperial camp when you defeat them at Alnus Hill. He came here a few days ago very sick, we try our best he is getting worse" the mayor replies in a worrying tone then look at Jimmy "So are you a healer?".
"I'm what we call a medic, but yes technically I'm a healer" Jimmy follows the mayor into what seems to be a healing house.
"LC, bring the convoy in and park them at the entrance then set them to sentry mode. We're spending the night here" Ava calls in the rest of the convoy.
----
Ava and SIF members that are not on guard duty are sitting around a big campfire with the locals, there are food, drinks, music, and dancing.
"Are you sure these are safe to consume?" Chris looks at the strange dish in front of him confused.
"What's the matter, boy? The scanner says it is safe" Gary takes a bite out of what seems to be some kind of big bird drumstick "Mhmm, it's like chicken, but better you should try it?"
Chris holds up a drumstick and hesitantly bites a small piece "Mmmm gosh you're right, this is so good" then he bites another bigger piece while Gary laughs.
"So Turner, what did you do to be ended up with us?" Ashley is curious because Chris graduated top of his class and could pick any post he wants to.
"Chris is ok ma'am, my dad was Comms Specialist on HSS Sphere of Terra. He has always been there for me, so when his KIA news reach home I was determined to join the military in his honor. I chose the 5th SIF in honor of Admiral Bennett, he was a symbol that my dad looked up to so I want to serve under his daughter's command" Chris answer with a bit of grief in his voice.
"No wonder you seem familiar, my dad mentioned your dad a lot. Specialist Glenn Turner, they were very close I would like to get to know you too Chris" Ava extend her hand for a handshake. She looks over and sees Jimmy is approaching with the mayor "How's the boy?"
"You have a good healer commander, the boy is cured and quickly recovering" the mayor is still surprised at how easy it was for Jimmy to cure the boy.
"He suffered from dehydration and a serious case of flu commander, It would have been lethal but with our advance medical it was an easy fix" Jimmy replies with a smile.
"So what happens to the boy now?" Ashley walks over.
"We'll give him supplies when he's fully healed and send him off to find his way" the mayor is sad that he has to do that.
Ava is confused by the mayor's attitude "But he's just 11 years old, he could die out there. Can't one of your families take him in?"
"We would love to but we can't commander, look around, we are barely able to feed ourselves. Now that the Imperial Army in this region is destroyed by you it will only get worse" the mayor griefs at the situation "Plus we don't know who's he belong to, if his master survives and come looking for him he might think we stole his slave and kills us".
Ava thinks for a moment and then looks at the mayor "We'll take him with us tomorrow".
"Commander?" Ashley is confused by Ava's action.
"Well we can't just leave him out there to die, I would rather deal with the paper works than having to regret that I could save him but didn't" Ava shrug her shoulder "Now that's settled, let get some rest. We move out tomorrow at 0800".
It is late in the night but Ava still laying on her spot couldn't sleep. The death of Ned playing in her head again, Ned was also an orphan. His parent was killed in an accident on an exploration ship. The slave boy reminds her of Ned and the guilt that she thinks she could not have saved him. That is why Ava wanted to take the boy with her, there was nothing she could do for Ned she is going to save this boy. Ava closes her eyes trying to clear her mind and sleep.