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Prologue: Discordant Warlord3,254 words
Chapter 1: The Medic4,390 words

Chapter 1: The Medic

“Yeah mom, don’t worry about me, this isn’t my first surgery you know?” a car passed by honking, causing the man on the phone to cover one of his ears to pick up his mom’s voice.

“I know, I know, it’s not about the surgery… You know what I mean. I don’t trust in those soldiers anymore…” the tired tone on the woman’s voice was notable, but more than that, her concern.

“You have nothing to worry about, mom. I won’t cross the portal. I will only be attending the personal that comes back through it. I can assure you that nothing bad can happen in the headquarters.”

Mom… Something happened. I’ll be sent across the portal. Only to help in the camp on the other side. Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. They are really well prepared. The only reason I’m being send in is because the medic in charge got sick and I’m the one that is immediately below.

Be safe. And don’t worry.

With love

-Chris

“Well… I finished my letter now, how about you, Elly?” he said while capping the black pen that has carved the letters CFUL.

“Almost there… You know,” she sighed at the time she looked above her, to the faulty light, “when I first came here, I was promised a regular schedule, dental plan, life ensure, but I don’t remember the part of traveling to another dimension,” the woman said reluctantly her writing piercing through the paper with more and more strength with each word.

Chris began to fold his letter while Elly finished hers, “And why do you think they put us there? I don’t know any of those guys,” he grumbled while raising his arm towards them. The other two men looked at him with their brow raised before turning down to their papers, “Sorry... Ah-Luckily you are here, I hate having to talk with new people,” he said in a low voice.

“And why did you became a Medic then? That’s practically the opposite of ‘Not having to talk with people’,” Elly just finished her letter and began to fold it as instructed.

“I hate talking to them, not helping them, OK? It’s not that weird. I meet a lot of partners that were as introvert as I, even more,” he fiddled the letter on his hand for a moment, then stored the wrinkled paper in a small package that has his and her mother's name along with an address, “I just… Like to help other people, you know,” his voice lower as he picked the package and left his table.

He then walked across the concealed room to the heavy metal door in the center. Resting on the frame stood a man in green and black clothes who was waiting for the four people in the room to deliver their packages. The man in the frame looked briefly at Chris' before taking the package to scan it. Chris looked at his back while the man finished his duty, noticing again the room he spent the last two hours. He rubbed and breathe on his hand to acquire some warm before looking at the room again. The only thing it had was four tables, four chairs, four white papers and four pens. The light was delivered by an old and faulty lightbulb since there were no windows or another kind of source of light.

“Excuse me, sir. May I know the reason why we can’t talk with our family directly. Why do we have to send letters instead?” he said with the package still in his hands.

The mysterious man on the door only lowered his lens and with a stoic voice said “I’m not qualified to tell you that information, sir. Once we check everything is in order, you will be informed of everything you have to do and how to proceed.”

“Of course we will…” he signed in defeat, and then lend off the package carrying his letter, cellphone, credit cards, keys, and everything that has any personal information of him, “Thank you anyways.”

“You’re welcome… Just–” the man hesitated for a moment, “everything will be fine. This is just procedure. Don’t worry, man. Cheer up!” he then touched Chris shoulder and gave him a comforting smile, like a friend would do.

Chris only could chuckle at the sudden display of humanity, “Thanks, that was what I wanted to know,” he replied with a weak smile before moving back to his chair at the side of Elly. “Well. As I told you, this is procedure. I guess they don’t want everybody to know where the portal is or something, you know, military secrets and that.”

“I know~,” grunted Elly, “but I don’t want to go. You know what the rumors said, about the poisonous atmosphere and the horrid monstrosities that live in that place,” she crossed her arms around her body in a tight and trembling embrace, “and the spiders… I heard there is giant spiders, Chris. GIANT. SPIDERS.”

“Wait… You have the status of Ranger, one of the hardest training in the army. You worked on intel around the world on things that I don’t even know, and yet you are afraid of spiders? Really? And spiders above all… You know that most spiders can’t kill humans and those that actually can usually flee before bite, right?” he said with a grin.

“Pfft. I don’t want to hear that from the one with fears to the heights,” she took her package and leaved to the door hastily.

“A lot more of people have died on a plane than by spider bite!” he yelled across the room, caring nothing about the stares coming from the two other unamused guest around him.

“Shut up already!” Elly just lend off the package to the man in charge at the door only giving a glimpse at the man’s outfit before turning back to Chris, “I swear I don’t know why we’re still friends,” she said with a grumpy face.

“Because I’m the best, and you are the cutest Ranger. What can possibly go wrong?” Chris said with a snarky tone. He knew he was playing with fire right there, but it was helping him to deal with the stress, and he hoped it was helping her too.

“You are insufferable when you are stressed out…” she crossed her arms and sat on her chair.

“And you are too easy to mess up when you are stressed,” he pulled his chair from the table at the side and put it by her side.

“I know~…”

“And that’s why this works so well, we both win!” he sat loudly enough to make her jump a little on her chair.

“It doesn’t seem like a win from this side, it looks like I became the punch bag.”

“Usually is the other side around.”

She hummed for a second, a knowing smile curling her face up as it turned into a machiavellian one, “That’s kinda true thou’,” she slowly came closer to him, and with a whisper she said the words he feared the most “Do you remember… Ohio?”

Chris gulped at the sound of that single word, “fine!… Just… Let’s not talk about that, okay? Gosh, you don’t let anyone have fun with you?”

“Nope, unless I want to,” she giggled.

“And… Do you want?”

“No.”

“Of course our lady will not partake on such barbaric ways.”

They both laughed at each other, and for a while, they just talked about nothing. About their life, Chris patients, Elly’s travels, they just talked, hopping to wash their fears and preoccupations away. They even so often glanced at the other two people in the room. One was a tall man with strong musculature, the other was another man whose height matched Chris’ but with very thick glasses and thinner physiology. They didn’t seem like the kind of people that could just end up in a military base out of nowhere, but at the same time they seemed so common in appearance, like the kind of people you just cross on the street while going to the groceries.

Minutes passed away without incidents, until a rather annoying alarm echoed through the cold room, making everyone present to glare at the man in the frame with an accusative look, expecting him to explain what that hideous sound meant.

“Well, that’s the sign. Come with me, I will escort you to the briefing room,” the man unlocked the door with an odd looking key and waited for all four to leave the room, “are you sure you aren’t leaving anything here? You probably will never see this room again.”

The group tapped their pants and backpacks, making sure that everything that was not confiscated by the soldiers at the entry was with them. The soldiers nodded to the man, who in response stepped forward and leaded them through a corridor full of red and white lights.

The passage didn’t take too long until they reached an almost pure white room filled with all kind of machinery. From high-end computers to robotic equipment and vehicles of all shape and sizes: Tanks, Convoys, personal motorcycle, and helicopters were among others that not even Chris nor Elly know they names.

But, in the middle of all those unknown machinery, one stood above the rest. It was a gate. A stone arc filled with all kind of symbols on the edges and made of a pure white stone. From the form of it, it seemed like the gate leaded to nowhere, a dark passage resided in the middle of that gigantic arc. At the side of it, dozens of men in white robes and other more in green and black camo outfits.

“So… This is the portal? It’s real after all…” said Chris to no one in particular.

“Indeed it is real, sir,” one man with white robe, abundant white hair and a pair of goggles over his head stepped in and replied, “My name is Julian Foss, and I’m here to answer all your questions, gentlemen,” he gave a look at Elly and with a nod he continued, “and lady. But first, allow me to tell you why you are here, and most importantly; What are all the secrecy around this whole subject.”

The man that lead them to the room give a quick salute to Julian Foss and then left from where they came.

“Thank you Mister Lawrence. Efficient as always,” said Julian while the man now named Lawrence left, “now. I’m pretty sure that you know about that ‘portal’ that the United States found somewhere in the country, right?” he said while taking off the stained goggles on his head.

The four nodded at the same time with concerned faces.

“Good, that will save me a lot of time. Well, all that you heard is real. We indeed found this strange gate. We are still trying to figure out what kind of material is made of...” Julian took a look at the imposing black gate with brightful eyes, “but one thing is sure. It’s not from around here...”

The group shared silent stares between them, until one of them spoke.

“You mean, here in California?” asked the thin man with the glasses.

“No, that’s not what I mean. I guess that you are Mister Johnson, aren’t you?”

“Norbert Johnson, at your service, sir.” he said while saluting Foss.

“There’s No need to be formal with me, Mister Johnson. You can drop the ‘sir’ thing, I’m a man of science, not a Colonel,” he began then to clean his goggles with a handkerchief he picked from his robe.

“Right, sir– I mean, Mister Foss.” Johnson stumbled while correcting himself and lowering his arm.

“Thank you, now, as I was saying. This material not only isn’t found in California, but neither on Earth.”

The four of them gave a dumbfounded look at each other, as if someone had just told them a bad joke.

“So, you are saying that some kind of alien put a door in our planet, and left it open?” said the tall and muscular man in a sarcastic tone.

“Not quite… Mister...” he paused for a moment.

“Freeman, Bill Freeman,” answered the man with an imposing voice.

“Thank you. But not quite Mister Freeman. According to many testimonies, the gate seems to have appeared from nothing. Materialized out of thin air into this impressive structure. Like if it was created from the other side and then it pierced a hole through space and time as if it was nothing.” All four tilted their head at the vague explanation, he then lowered his head and with a sigh he continued, “look at it like when you use a pencil to pierce through two papers. The same pencil opens two holes, the one from when it came, and the one from where it ends. We theorize that something like that happened here. Someone, or something from the other side created a door and that same door is the one that appeared here. We are seeing the same door, at the same time, but in different places.”

They all keep quiet for a second until a voice raised from within the group.

“Theorize?” asked Chris.

“You see, Mister White… Whatever or whoever created this is either underestimating us, or doesn’t know that the gate made it through the space and time. It took months before we saw the first native on the other side of the portal.”

“And… What happened?” Elly asked with a trembling voice, “are there giant spiders?”

“No, no… At least not that we know…” Julius kept silent for a while before he answered the question, “He did never come back. We only found his equipment many miles away from the gate. We still do not know what happened to him. However, if by any chance you happen to find him, his name is Onneil Anderson. He will answer by his nickname: Anon.”

“So… Are you sending us to die like him or what?” said Bill with anger on his voice.

“Of course not, Mister Freeman. That was many months ago. We have achieved a lot since then. There has been no more reports of the native’s encounters so far. We think that our constructions keep them away, or in the worst case scenario, they are playing with us, like a Lion playing with his pray.”

Silence reigned once again between the group, the only thing that could be heard was the machinery at the background and the mumbling of the workers. It took a few moments until one of them spoke once again.

“I don’t think you are convincing us here, doc. There is too many ‘thinks’ in your statement,” replied Chris with a brown raised.

“That’s what I thought. I would be disappointed otherwise, Mister White. That’s not the full story, of course. The reason why we do not shut down all this operation is, in one simple word. Resources.” All the four rolled their eyes.

“What kind of resources are we talking about? They called me to treat people, not risking my life just for oil and glorified metal, with all respects, Mister Foss.” said Chris in a calm but adamant tone. The other three shared a nod and look straight to Foss.

He looked at everyone else at their eyes, before speaking again, “of course not, Mister White. What lies on the other side is much, much better that just ancient dead corpses and shiny stones. The first expedition that was sent months ago found that beneath the surface, and in rare cases, above. There are ridiculous amounts of diamonds, gold, coal, wood, and the star of the show. What pays all the bills and keeps all this operation working: An unbelievable new material with more power than anything we have ever seen before. We called it “The Spark”, Foss took a small purple rock from his coat. The mineral shone with a pure purple pulsating light. It was small as a grape, yet the four could feel the air being electrified around them.

“What… What is that?” asked Norbert with shimmering eyes.

“This little rock right here, is ‘The Sparkle’. It acts like a battery, but, to put it simple. A normal battery could storage, let’s say, enough electricity to light up a small lantern for seventy-two hours. The same amount of “The Spark” could give us enough energy to light up half of the city of California for six months with no residues at all. Do you know what that means?” Foss said with a huge smile and expectation on his face. Yet his voice was melancholic and dubious.

“I’m a Doctor, Mister Foss, not a Scientist nor an electrician, yet even I can see that that is a lot of energy,” said Chris.

“It is Mister White. It is,” Foss took the purple stone in his hand and tightened his grasp around it, eyes fixed on the pulsating glow of the gem. “With this, we could end the energetic issue on the planet for thousands of years… We could finally cease the use of oils and his derivate. It could be the beginning of a new age, free from contamination. The abundant world that lies across that gate can lend us to a rich future with almost unlimited energy,” he once again took the in his fingers and raised it for everyone to see it clear, and after a brief pause, he continued, “diamond, gold, money, all that riches will not be necessary. They will be so abundant that everyone will have the acquisitive power to live a decent life.” he lowered his voice, all the ecstasy from before, now gone, “we are looking for what we lost long time ago… And that world can give us.” said Foss while covering the Sparkle with his hand.

“What do you mean with ‘what we lost’?” said Chris while tilting his head a bit.

“The illusion we live, Mister White. Our freedom.” Foss took the stone and put it in his coat once again.

“I think we are quite free here, to be honest, Mister Foss,” replied Bill with incredulity.

“Are we? Mister Freeman. We are all tied to our acquisitive power. Money, Mister Freeman. Money buy us freedom. Those who doesn’t have it are not free. Not at all,” sadness could be seen in Foss face, every time he referred to the money and the lost freedom, something in him was hurt. Even if it was almost unnoticeable, it was clear for Chris.

“I think that is too drastic Mr. Foss…” replied Chris, putting him in front of Bill.

“It is? Mister White… It really is?” his voice was lower and lower.

“The way you are saying it… Even if we believe what you said. It sounds too good to be real. Aren’t we stealing from the natives? It’s okay to you to go to another planet and take all they have for our own sake and greed?” asked Elly in a decisive tone.

“It’s not like that, Miss Dean. Once you see that world… That beautiful world, you will understand it. There is no way that our hand could impact that gorgeous land in at least half of a century. They resources are simply and ridiculously abundant.” said Foss in the same calm voice he showed up.

“How abundant are we talking?” replied Elly.

“We could duplicate the amount of gold hold in Fort Knox using only what we’ve found in the upper layer of the caverns close to the gate.” replied Foss without any sign of doubt.

“That… Is that true?” said Elly lowering her voice tone.

“I told you, Miss Dean. I’m a man of Science. I don’t lie. The amount of resources on the other side of the gate is just…” he signed at the lack of words to describe what he had seen, “no wonder why they have the power to open a gate across space and time.”

“Then… why us?” asked Chris

“That’s the question I was waiting for, Mister White,” he took his goggles and put them in his coat, “You, Miss Dean, are a Ranger, I’m right?”

“Yes, sir–, Mister Foss. I have fought in more than thirty missions, flew another twenty and commanded at least dozen. I’m an expert in recognizing and escort,” she said proudly while trying hard against her instinct to not salute.

“And you, Mister Johnson. If I’m not wrong, you are the one that hacked our operation two months ago. I designed that code, you know? That’s why I asked for you specifically.”

“So, you are the ‘mysterious’ patreon that get me out? It wasn’t kind to trespass my home and literally bring me here against my will. But I guess that it’s better than prison… And why do you need me here? For what I had read in your files, they surely don’t have Ubuntu on their machines, if they even have ones,” replied Johnson with a grin and a sarcastic tone.

“Of course they don’t, but what I need from you are your mind. Anyone that can solve the puzzle of my code are capable of find solutions for most of the problems we yet have to overcome. And… Well… I think you already know what can you do with your skills,” he said without even look at him, “and you, Mister Freeman. Your record is impressive as the one of Miss Dean, but you are an expert in another fields.” Foss glanced at Freeman with a kind of depictive look.

Freeman just replied Foss’ look with his own, he was used to that kind of treatment after all.

“And you, Mister White. Your record is the most interesting of all: Medals of honor here and there, successful missions on the most dangerous places around the globe. Wars in Mexico, Vietnam, China, Japan, even North Korea. Not many men come alive from any of them, you came back from all. I have never meet anyone with your record, yet a Medic… you resign was a shame for everyone,” said Foss as he got closer to Chris, “what was the reason of it, may I ask?”

“I had my personal problems to treat, Mister Floss. And my missions are far less impressive that what you think. I will use my Medical knowledge if there is a live in danger and nothing else.”

“As I expect of you, Mister White.” he nodded at Chris, “as you see, you four are now a team and we expect you to work as such. You are the few that not only know the existence of this, but that will help us to build the future for all mankind,” Foss turned at the gate and opened his arms at the ceiling, like giving thanks to the gods above.

“And what if we refuse?” Asked Elly

“Well, you will be jailed here and will not be able to leave until the operation is complete… Or you die. What happens first. For what do you think was the letters? That was your last words, kind of,” he shrugged.

Everyone looked at Elly as if they all knew that will be the answer.

“Well… Then what will happen now?” asked Chris, trying to get the attention out of Elly.

“We will give you all your equipment and then you will cross the gate. The rest of your instructions will be given at the other side.” Foss began to walk to the stone gate as he spoke, prompting the four to follow him, “we are building the future here, my fellows… Remember that. We must do what we must to bring prosperity to all the humanity.”

Every one of them were being attended by two mans in green that were attaching several machineries to their suits. Most of the things were specifically for each one, as for Chris there was a small gun and several med kits. For Elly a set of firearms with several ammunition to spare, the same for Freeman. Johnson, on the other side, received no weapons or protection, but a device that resembled a bracelet with many buttons at the sides. It was almost perfect fit for his arm. The wristband was connected to a ring with similar fashion but lacking of any buttons.

They were given the sign to walk in front of the gate were Foss was. As they got closer, many soldiers stood unamused at the new formed team, while others saw them with dead man’s eyes. Chris and Elly noticed this, while Freeman and Johnson walked straight, already used to that kind of looks.

Once in the gate, Johnson saw the equipment of everyone else and compared with the one he had, “and why do I receive these?” asked Johnson with a despicable tone, “why I don’t get any guns?”.

“Your instructions will be given to you on the other side, Mister Johnson,” he answered without even looking at them, “the only thing you have to do is to follow the given orders. I know your nation will be proud… No. All humanity will be proud of you, and you will be recognized as the pioneers of our future .” said Foss while with his eyes fixed on the endless black of the gate.

“So… we just… Walk in?” asked Elly, dubious.

“Yes, that’s all what it takes. The first time is a little messy, you might want to not face at anyone direction,” Elly gulped a bit, while Chris was as pale as the stone that made the gate. The four looked at each other, took their respective weapons, and, slowly, began to walk to the center of the gate. Their helmets powered up and gave them precise information of where they were and where were their squad members. All the information about the health status of themselves and the squad appeared at the left side of the lens as the information of their ammunition and current equipment was displayed at the bottom.

The beeping sound of an income communication caused Chris to shake a bit due his already weak mental state, as a voice labeled as Julius Foss entered into the channel.

“And with that. Lady and Gentlemens… Welcome…” the static noise caused a pause on Foss’ speech. Resuming a second after they crossed the gate.

“To Equestria.“

Author's Note:

I apologize for the delay in all my stories. But, well, I'm still working on them, in case anyone is wondering, hehe.

Once again, I can't thank enough to sejox and Hubrist for their hard work in my almost readable drafts.

And thanks to anyone who was waiting for any updates.

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