This chapter is revised. Read at your own leisure, but also leave a review.
Chapter 1: Pandemonium
"This is Officer Lionels, we have a situation at Sector 7's highway. Some cars reportedly collided with something unseen on the middle of the road. I'm requesting for dispatch of traffic control teams and some towing trucks over here. We're gonna have to cordon off any present motorists and close off the highway until the incident is resolved, over."
"Copy that, Officer Lionels. How many casualties are there on the incident site?"
"There's a couple of civvies, nonfatal injuries. How long until help arrives?"
"10 minutes tops."
"Alright, I'll go and help out. Call in the nearby hospital as well for medics and… what the hell?"
"Officer Lionels? Is something wrong?"
"Y-yeah, we've got a situation here. The invisible thing the cars hit? It just unveiled itself."
"Is it armed and dangerous?"
"Uh, no, it doesn't look like it had any combat capabilities at all. I mean, it's a Romanesque structure that looked like a gateway or something. Hold on, something's happening."
"Describe what's going on."
"There's something black appearing in the space in the middle of the structure, I don't know. I-I'm going to vacate everyone off the area, it might be dangerous for all we know."
"Alright, evacuate all civilians present on the vicinity. We've already notified HQ and they're sending in SWAT teams and an EOD squad via choppers, ETA 4 minutes."
"Will do. Over and, out." He sighed before he started his task by going to the nearest group of civilians, a small family of three, standing near one of the wrecked vehicles. "Sir, ma'am, please vacate the area. The place has been deemed potentially dangerous."
The only man within the group, possibly the father and husband, approached him with a slightly worried look in his face. "But sir, where would we go? Our car was wrecked from what happened, and it would take at least 3 hours to walk from here to our house."
"There's a nearby police outpost not too far from here. Just ask for directions towards there and file a report. My fellow cops could give you a ride home." The man thanked him before they began to get off the place.
Lionels then noticed the increasing crowd some meters away from the structure, and so he decided to try to disperse the crowd as much as he could.
"Alright people, that's enough taking pictures! SWAT is coming in any minute now, so get outta here!" shouted the officer, trying to get the people away from the scene, which worked in a degree as the crowd gradually became smaller. But there are still some persistent idiots that didn't seem to hear what he said, so he had to tell them off again.
And then the screams began.
Alarmed, he frantically looked around, and saw a- HOLY FUCKING SHIT, IS THAT A MOTHERFUCKING DRAGON?! WHAT IN THE HELL?!
"NO! Calm yourself! Every second is vital!" he screamed to himself as he drew his Gauss Pistol, but just as a precaution. If he could at least be able to reason with these guys, then he wouldn't need to-
"Well, shit." he grimaced as he saw a nondescript pedestrian beheaded by a clearly bloodthirsty medieval soldier some meters away from him. "Guess my gun will have to do the talking."
Despite being within visual range, no one were yet to notice him, which is good considering that the head-chopping bastard is his first target. And with the soldier's center mass within his sights, he unloaded two caseless .50 Action Express rounds to his target, the bullets further sped up by the pistol's electromagnetic accelerators around its barrel.
The man didn't stand a chance and was dead a few seconds after he dropped, much to his pleasure. "Their armor is useless against pistol rounds. Good." He thought to himself as his police training kicked in, taking cover at one of the vehicles before taking aim at another enemy, a small impish figure with green skin that's wielding a club as a weapon.
A Goblin. Not the ones you see on the internet, but a real Goblin from those old legends and folklores. But with its small stature and having little to no equipment aside from its rags and clothes, it stood no chance against modern weaponry as its head burst like a grape from a single gunshot.
He was about to search for another hostile enemy when he heard marching sounds from the portal, prompting him to hide behind one of the vehicles. His watchful eyes spotted a soldier with archaic armor and weapons marching out, then another, and then another. There's also beings straight out of fantasy novels that came along with the soldiers, wielding swords, spears, clubs, axes, and many other ancient tools of death.
It's more than just a mere attack, he realized. It's a full-on goddamned invasion!
But out of many soldiers and beasts that came out, one stood out from the rest: A regally-armored soldier in horseback, flanked with more cavalrymen holding war banners of their nation.
He then remembered that ancient customs dictate that the leader must have the most ornate armor, weapons and equipment in a battle, and it had always been that way for thousands of years. And thus, by technicality, he must be the commander of the invading force.
Perfect.
He lined up a shot to the man's head, his finger on the trigger. He's not worried about missing the shot, since he's about 50 feet away and under the vehicle's cover. But once he kill the man, he'd be in a very dangerous situation.
Once he pull the trigger, the others will come and kill him. But he's more than happy to sacrifice his life, if it means he'd done something for his home.
He took a deep breath, and then he fired.
BANG!
And now, there's only one thing left to do.
"This is Officer Lionels, reporting Protocol Omega-0! I repeat, Omega-0! Line Ark is under attack!" He shouted over the radio as he ran hard while blindly shooting at the army that spotted him and began pursuit.
Protocol Omega-0. One of the many well-memorized police protocols he learned on the academy. The protocol that when enacted, signals that the nation is under enemy attack; A protocol that brings the last bastion of democracy to war.
And these are the last words he said, as he was impaled by the spear of one of the many horde of men and beasts that rushed out like a flood.
But even with his consciousness fading away, even with his vision beginning to blur, he didn't let go of his weapon as he kept on shooting at the horde until he drew his last breath.
And thus, Officer Henry Lionels' life was cut short, but not before taking down 6 enemy soldiers and 4 humanoid beasts with him.
Weyland Airbase, 2 Miles from Sector 7, 15 minutes later…
"ALERT! PROTOCOL OMEGA-0 IS ENACTED! THE NATIONAL DEFENSE READINESS CONDITION IS SET TO 3! ALL UNITS ARE TO MOBILIZE AND FOLLOW WARTIME PROTOCOLS ASAP!"
Klaxons and alarms rang out as many pilots ran from their barracks to gear up, while the technicians rushed to the hangars to do preliminary checks on the various forms of aircraft on the base.
There are still questions yet to be answered, mysteries yet to be solved. They have no idea how they were attacked from within, or who did it and why, but one thing's for sure:
Their home is being invaded, and they sure as hell are going to defend it.
"NOTICE TO WEYLAND AIRBASE: SECTOR 7 IS UNDER ATTACK, MILITARY RESPONSE IS IN ORDER! ALL ACTIVE PILOTS, REPORT TO THE BRIEFING ROOM!"
Their families and fellow citizens are in danger, and so they shall vanquish their adversaries.
Their enemies dare desecrate their paradise of steel and concrete that lay in the middle of the sea, and so they shall fight to take back every inch of it.
They swore an oath before the flag, and thus they shall do everything in their power to accomplish their duty, even if it would be the last thing they'd do.
Meanwhile, in Cradle 01…
[Incoming Transmission: Operative "Waverider"]
Accept
[Establishing Communications…]
"Report."
"Sir, something's happening here on Line Ark. They were saying it's some kind of a terrorist attack that happened in one of their mostly populated residential sectors."
"Have you ascertained the identity of the culprits behind the attack?"
"Unfortunately, no. There's too much rumors and theories circulating around that we couldn't even ascertain which information is actually true. I'm sorry sir."
"No, that's alright. All that matters is that Line Ark's military is preoccupied at this moment. You're dismissed."
[Transmission Ended.]
Call: Lt. General Kim
[Request Sent. Pending for Reply…]
[Transmission Accepted. Establishing Communications…]
"Lieutenant General."
"Sir."
"What's the status of the 6th Air Fleet?"
"We're standing by, but all airships and Arms Forts are ready for battle. Do you have any orders?"
"Yes. In case you haven't heard, Line Ark just got attacked from within by possible terrorists. Add the fact that White Glint is on a mission right now, this is the perfect opportunity to finally strike down those annoyances."
"Rules of engagement?"
"Take no prisoners, and leave no survivors behind. I want that upstart nation burning to ashes tomorrow, down to its foundations."
"As you wish, Mr. Chairman. The fleet will be able to deploy within 2 hours."
"Good. The sooner, the better. If that accursed LYNX gets wind of this, you won't stand a chance."
"Understood. And what of their outposts?"
"The outposts and bases could go, but keep the mines and oil fields as intact as possible. You know how hard resources come by nowadays."
"I'll now begin the preparations. Good day, Mr. Chairman."
Somewhere in New Zealand…
"No more enemies registering on the radar. I'd say this is another mission complete." A female voice concluded over the comm link as a bipedal machine was torn to pieces by a gunfire burst that came from a 063ANAR assault rifle. Meanwhile the pilot of the NEXT that wielded it, a man in his mid-20s, slumped on disappointment once he heard from his operator that the mission's over.
Their employers from Rosenthal hired them to locate and destroy the remnants of a terrorist group that holed up somewhere in New Zealand. And seeing that there's a colony nearby where the terrorists hid, the higher-ups of Rosenthal was worried of the possibility that they're probably going to launch an attack to the colony, which will cause untold civilian casualties. The company's troops are stretched thin from border patrols and engagement with bandits, and so it was up to him and Fiona to do the job.
Unfortunately however, the information Rosenthal gave them was quite incorrect.
The mission was easy, way too easy that Fiona, in the safety of her reconnaissance plane, counted only a dozen Muscle Tracers and a mere handful of low-end ACs on the field. But if there's one thing that alarmed him very much, it'd be the fact that they've got a small stockpile of tactical nuclear warheads in their hideout.
Most nuclear stockpiles had been dismantled by the League after the National Dismantlement War and the establishment of Pax Economica, and the only powerful faction that ever held nukes are the Maghrib Liberation Front at Africa; and he destroyed those guys himself way back during the LYNX War.
But hey, the terrorists are dead and they're getting paid a hefty sum of money. He and his fiancé are one step further in securing their future, and Line Ark wouldn't get bothered by a League corporation for a while. There's no way he's gonna complain for that.
But deep down in the gut of the former mercenary of Anatolia, he still feel that something's not right. Some might call him paranoid, but he learned to trust his instincts ever since he started his LYNX career. And boy, his instincts were what kept him alive when most of his fellow pilots died killing each other off during the LYNX War.
"William, we have to go back, now! Line Ark just raised Protocol Omega-0!"
He just had to fucking jinx it, didn't he?