In the middle of the dry mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, a lone vehicle that belongs to the British armed forces could be seen driving along the sanded road. Infamous for its many 'surprises' lay under the sands ranging from IED, (Improvised Explosive Device), AT Mines, (Anti-Tank mines), and traps.
The road was quiet as the wind blew the sand hard towards the east, the temperature was unbearably hot, and the sunlight shone unopposed in the cloudless sky. This was the daily life that Lieutenant Alistair Marsden had to put up with for the past eight years. Though he was far from comfortable with it despite his long career in the country, Alistair always hoped for a shady day to hide from the blistering sun.
Despite this mission being his proposal, he appears to be regretting his own decision. The boredom of the empty wasteland and mountains, while the fear of an explosive device was starting to rattle his mind. Though the music was playing from the speaker in the rear of the vehicle, the Lieutenant wasn't enjoying his subordinate's taste of music and was showing hints of boredom.
Alistair sighs and faces the driver with a weary expression, "Thomson, What do you think of the weather today."
Sergeant Jude Thomson chuckles at the question asked, "Bored sir?" The Sergeant smiles cheekily at the Lieutenant, knowing the same question he asked every time they're out on patrol.
"Uh... Yeah, big mistake going out at this time of the month. We'll probably die from the bloody heat than from the pipe bomb the Arabs place under here."
Alistair views the back mirror to see a glimpse of Tej sharpening his Kukri blade and Scarlet leaning on the buttstock of her gun staring aimlessly at the abandoned desert from underneath David's legs.
"I'm sure those lots back there must be bored shitless as I am."
"I'm certain they're sir."
At the back seat, Tej sheaths his blade back to its scabbard and glances at his partner with caution. Tej had made a fool of himself when he made an effort to report Scarlet's condition into the medical bay but nobody took interest. They only assumed Tej was stressed from the actions he's been participating in this past week, but Tej was stubborn and kept insisting that Scarlet be checked.
Tej locks his eyes at his partner and gives her a tap on the shoulder to get her attention,
"Feeling alright?" Tej asked with concern.
Scarlet sighs with a hint of bitterness but remains facing the desert, "I'm fine. You really should stop asking, mate, it's getting irritating."
"I'm just worried right now. You were caught on fire, your hair went blue on the tips and your god damn attitude."
"Hey!" Scarlet aggressively spun her head towards Tej, "I'm bloody ok, Stop winding me up!"
Tej sighs in defeat and slowly lays back on the seat. Right now the Nepali wanted peace to calm his mind. He took out his journal and started to sketch the mountains that could be viewed through the mirror. Meanwhile, Scarlet shut her eyes and attempted to force herself to sleep and hope this would calm her down.
"Save Europa... Save Valkyria...." Scarlet heard the voice yet again but as she was about to ignore it, the commander looked at the back of the vehicle to face both of the marines.
"Did someone say something?" Alistair stared at both Scarlet and Tej with confusion in his eyes.
Scarlet heart stopped a moment but remained sceptical. It could be something else than the voice in her head.
"Save Europa..."
Suddenly the Lieutenant ordered Jude to stop the vehicle. David looked down to see the Lieutenant, confused by the sudden halt.
"What's going on?"
"Quiet!" Alistair ordered, he slowly surveyed the Husky.
"Save Europa...Save Valkyria .... " a voice was heard by all members in the vehicles. Scarlet was the most disturbed, jerking her head in every direction to locate the voice.
The growing stress became evidenced to Tej and the rest of the crew,
"Mac?! Are you ok?" Tej asked
Suddenly Scarlet's eyes glowed bright ruby red and her hair glowed a bright blue, blinding every person in the vehicle. Two blue rings started to form around the Husky as the light intensified. Inside the vehicle, Alistair struggled to find the SOS signal near the driver's seat, But a sudden rocking of the vehicle threw the commander hard into the door, knocking him unconscious.
The blue rings suddenly ignited and a bright white light surrounded the Husky and then ignited into the air like a beacon and reached as high as space.
Tej quickly equipped his ballistic goggles, thanks to its blacked-out glasses, he crawled his way towards his partner and grabbed her by the wrist. But upon touching Scarlet, his mind was abruptly connected to Scarlet. He saw a mysterious figure standing in front of him. The figure looked to be female, evidenced by the bright long blue hair, glowing red eyes. She was standing next to a Cathedral-like building in the snowy mountains, overlooking a city that was torn apart by two hostile forces.
Tej was stunned by the vision he was having but it wasn't the end. He then sees Scarlet wielding a spear-like weapon and a shield, then it was him and the rest of the squad following her alongside many other people.
Tej doesn't recognise any of them or what country they're from due to the weird military clothing they were wearing. Suddenly, Tej was facing a young girl with dark pink hair.
"Please save us..." Her body was then surrounded by multiple glowing blue rings
"Save Europa... Save Valkyria... Warriors... From another world..." The energy in her body ignited into a blinding light, engulfing the Nepali.
Almost like a nightmare, Tej hastily awoke and his body jolted off the seat but accidentally knocked his head on the roof. Slowly he looked around to find all members unconscious from where they were.
He then diverted his eyes to the window to be stunned by the new landscape. No longer he and his crew are in a desert but instead Tej was looking out into a green, forested area.
'Where the hell are we?' Tej thought.
He took a minute admiring the view. It must've been a few years since Tej saw a landscape like this. Quickly, his mind snapped back into the situation.
"Mac! Wake up" Tej tapped the Scottish marine on the cheeks and slowly her eyes opened to see her Nepali partner.
"Thapa?" Scarlet got up with a painful headache and worse a loud ringing from her ears. All she could remember was the voice and a bright light. She turned to her partner and faced him with a worried but confused stare. "What happened?"
Tej shook his shoulder, "I don't know. But you're definitely not ok."
Slowly the crew began to reawaken, Lieutenant Alistair was the first to get back up which was followed by Sergeant Jude and David.
The commander looked at Scarlet with a cold stare before looking around to ensure that all of his team was safe.
"Anyone broke?" the Lieutenant asked
"I'm good!"
"Not dead yet."
"All good sir."
The crew got out of the vehicle and all sat on the floor in relief and took deep breaths from chaos. Alistair and his crew were puzzled by the situation and all tried to comprehend what had happened. The multiple smoke and burn marks on the Husky was not a great view for the marines or the new environment they're in.
"What in the bloody hell just happened?!" David exclaimed.
"Where the hell are we anyway?" Jude added.
Alistair had the same thought but from what he witnessed, it seems that this was caused by one of his crew. He then locked his eyes "Macmillan. Do you know what happened"
Scarlet stood frozen as she looked into her commander's cold eyes, not knowing what to say. She'd no idea what had happened.
"No, sir. Not a clue... I..."
"Sir, I believe it best to leave the situation behind and figure out where we are." Tej interrupted.
Alistair sighs in defeat, knowing the Lance Corporal has a point,
"Fine." The Lieutenant then looked at the Husky. Seeing his vehicle in such a rough condition was not the sight he wanted to see currently.
Alistair walked to the rear of the vehicle where all the food and munitions were stored. In the back, he reached for an emergency long-range radio that directly linked to Headquarters. Never in his career, he'd touched the device, it was supposed to be used in an emergency and Alistair prayed to never use it.
"Oracle actual to Zero Alpha, so you copy?" the radio gave out a static noise. Alistair frowned and attempted to readjust the signal.
"Zero Alpha, this is Oracle Actual. Do you copy?!" Again the only noise from the radio was static.
"I repeat, This is Lieutenant Alistair Marsden, 40 commandos, Kilo company. HQ? Do you copy? Anyone?!"
The marines watched in disarray as their commander desperately tried to communicate with HQ. Alistair would soon give up and look at his team with despair.
"Sir? What's going on?" Sergeant Jude asked.
"There's no signal. I can't contact HQ. We're stranded."
The crew looked at each other with shock.
"So what now sir?" David asked.
Alistair rubs his head, trying to formulate a plan. "No radio or map. So we have no choice but to look for a local settlement and find out where the hell we are."
Alistair took a pause, trying to take in the current situation. "Everyone mount up, we're moving out."
All marines comply with their commander and head towards the Husky. Apart from Scarlet, who was stopped by Alistair.
"Macmillan. Is there something that you haven't told us?"
"I don't know sir, it's all so new. I..."
"When we get back, I'll make sure to have you checked up. I'll assign Thapa to keep an eye on you and your health."
"Copy sir."