Ad Astra - The Alagore War

AA V1 Alagore, Chapter 3

Once Matthew Ryder changed and gathered the needed equipment, he headed to the front door. For some reason, he had this strange feeling. His gut warned him about something that wasn't settling well with him.

The captain took one last look at the desk and saw a beautiful woman on it. Taking a deep breath, he looked toward the front door and joined the MPs that were outside. He got inside their HUMVEE and was taken to the Special Forces section of the base.

As they drove through the inner town of Fort Carson, Ryder looked outside the window, staring up into the stars. He saw the Orion Belt, three stars in a line creating a belt.

"Specialist," Ryder said. "Do you know what is happening?"

"No idea, sir," the MP said. "All I know is that 2nd Battalion, 1st LBCT is mobilizing and heading to Fort Raymond."

What the MP said completely baffled the captain. He did not expect an honest answer; he just needed to ask to break the silence, but he did not expect that as a response. The fact that an entire mechanized battalion was deploying to the Space Force base nearby was a major red flag.

As they drove, Ryder could only ponder what was happening. Clearly, it was a security threat; otherwise, they wouldn't need to deploy combat forces. Having the base special forces mobilize could mean a minor but dangerous threat. However, an additional battalion only increased the scale of the security threat. It was unlikely it was CCP ultra-nationalist agents trying to sabotage critical astro infrastructure, and the RIA prefers to stay closer to home. The only credible conclusion the captain could come up with was a domestic terrorist threat. If so, most likely, they were in an environment that opposes astro-colonization or, more likely, one of the many utopian factions, being primarily Marxist or Fascist in nature.

The remainder of the drive was short and uneventful, only seeing the snow blanketing the streets and rooftops. Once they arrived at the HQ, Ryder saw the rest of his team exiting similar vehicles. Among them were the other Minutemen members from CFT-2 "Ghost" and CFT-3 "Viking." All looking just as confused as he was. The only thing he noticed from everyone normal was how cold everyone was on a winter night, all huddling together or by heaters for warmth.

Eger Wallace approached and said, "Evening, boss."

"Don't you mean morning?" Bruno said. "It's officially 12:02."

"Shut up, you two," Barrett said. "All members of Comanche present, sir."

Rommel King approached from the other teams and said, "Good morning, sir. I just walked with the other NCOs; they are just as clueless as we are on what is happening."

Acknowledging the two, Ryder addressed the rest of his team. "I hope you all got a good night's sleep because all of you need to get your game faces on."

"Yeah, what is going on," Wallace said. "I don't like leaving my date home alone."

"I hope this isn't another ritual," Ford asked.

"We wouldn't mobilize everyone just for you," Higgins said.

"Knock it off," Ryder ordered. "For right now, assume we are under attack. On the way here, I heard that the 2nd Battalion was heading to Raymond. That is all I know right now."

"They are mobilizing a mechanized battalion?" Bruno asked. "What are we fighting, ET?"

"That is Area 51," Ford said.

The group chuckled at the joke and started making comparable statements. While thrilled by the high energy level in the unit, Ryder glanced over to his XO and saw the same concerned reaction. There have been too many odd events in the past month for this to be separated somehow.