Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda had reached the captain in his personal quarters. They told him everything that they had learned from Cyrus. But to the unfortunate news told by Captain Casimir, something far worse may be brewing. Captain Casimir, while holding a piece of paper looks at the three chosen souls carrying a very solemn look on his face. "After being forced to leave the Unknown Lands, we received word from one of our spy teams." Captain Casimir stopped for a moment. He folds the piece of paper and places it in his left pocket before continuing. "The whole world is now plunging into the fires of war. I fear the hand we played from before is mostly to blame." Captain Casimir had relayed to them. Keeping his eyes closed in shame. Anders takes one step forward. "No captain! I refuse to believe that. The emperor had kept details and facts about the mission hidden from us. You can't help that." Anders finished saying as Osmond took a step forward to speak next. "Exactly! The emperor had manipulated us to start a war. Something HE wanted!" Osmond had finished relaying to the captain with a hint of anger in his voice. Fehmeeda steps up next after Osmond to speak. "No one is perfect captain. But it is up to us to set things right. We may be the only ones who can put an end to this Eternal War." Fehmeeda finished relaying to the captain. To reassure him and suggest that they bring the fight to the fullest. In an attempt to end this war for good. Captain Casimir looks at them surprised. Casimir fixes his face to give a stoic appearance. "Yes... you three do have the ability to do so." Captain Casimir had said to them whilst looking away. "No captain. All of us here, do." Anders told Captain Casimir, looking at him intently. Keeping a serious face on as Casimir looks back at them. "You really believe that?" Casimir asked surprised to hear that from Anders. Casimir continues. "Well... then prepare for war. I'll go let the other captains with us know. Dismissed!" Casimir declared to the three. Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda, salute Casimir before leaving his quarters and making their way to the armory. After navigating through the narrow halls and arriving at the armory. Opening the doors, walking through and closing the doors behind themselves, to greet the armorer. The armorer presents them their clothes that they had worn before leaving on their mission to the city. They take their clothes and go to the changing rooms to get into their original clothes. As they exit the changing rooms, they hear an announcement calling their names to the meeting room. The three of them make their way to the meeting room with all due haste. They reach the door to the meeting room, open it, only find Captain Casimir as well as Captains Titus and Eisa. They close the door behind them as they enter the meeting room. They greet the other two captains before taking their seats. Captain Casimir paces back and forth, letting his thoughts run through his head at light speed, holding his chin. Captain Casimir stops dead in his paced tracks, turns to face the others at the table before speaking. "As you may have been made aware... the world is taking a nosedive into a bottomless pit of fire." The captain waves his left hand, creating a magic holographic view of three empires, all sitting next to each other. One being in the middle and the other two on opposite sides. "Wakoku is preparing for war. From what we can gather, they are readying their defenses. Against what? I cannot say for certain." Captain Casimir briefly points to the kingdom in the middle. "This kingdom here, Shenzhou have their eyes peeled wide open. It could be them that is very well preparing for a strike." Captain Casimir relayed to everyone in the room, keeping himself standing straight to maintain a stoic appearance. The door slams open, a man standing at the entrance, panting heavily. He runs into the room with all the haste he can muster. "CAPTAIN! Urgent message came in from the kingdom of Joseon." The man relayed to the captain hastily whilst breathing heavily. "Gather your breath and then tell me what the message is." Captain Casimir told the man, briefly putting his right hand on his left shoulder. The man straightens himself out, stretching his back, takes in a few deep breaths before continuing. "Joseon claims that Shenzhou has started their invasion. They are attacking everyone, even innocent people. They are requesting our aid captain!" The man finished relaying the message to Casimir. "What shall we reply captain?" The man asked Casimir. "Why request our aid directly? Seems weird." Casimir had spoken to himself silently. "Excuse me captain?" the man had asked, wondering what it was he had said to himself. "Nothing. Go to tell the emperor we will be arriving to aid the people." Casimir had told the man who relayed the message. The man saluted Captain Casimir before running off and closing the door behind him. Casimir waved his left hand briefly to make the magic hologram disappear. He then looks at everyone sitting at the table. "Prepare yourselves. We go to Joseon to aid them. I want our primary focus to be aiding the people. Our secondary purpose shall be providing any air support." Captain Casimir told everyone in the room with clear intentions. "What about the three chosen souls?" Captain Eisa had asked Casimir curiously, wanting to know if he had anything possibly separate specifically set for them. Captain Casimir looks over at them. "Well... we can provide our own support on the front lines. Make sure more men can go back home to their wives and kids." Osmond spoke up to Casimir and the others whilst Anders and Fehmeeda nod in agreement. Casimir was left to his thoughts for a moment while Captain Titus spoke up after. "Sounds good. I will also divert some of my men to the front lines for defense of Joseon. Perhaps we can even shut down this assault." Captain Titus pondered aloud. "I will provide what medical support I can to everyone who needs it during that time. I will have my men set up casualty tents to help treat wounded men back to walking health." Captain Eisa stated to everyone in the room, making his intentions very clear. Captain Casimir looks around at everyone with a sense of pride and joy. Knowing that he had the right people beside him the entire time. "Alright. Prepare yourselves. We head for Joseon!" Captain Casimir had bellowed with a sense of urgency. Everyone leaves the room to get ready for their arrival to Joseon. The captain reaches the bridge and takes his spot right in front of the wheel. He looks over to a panel that sits next to the wheel and presses a button and holds it. A green light is lit up and stays lit. "As you may be finding out right now, we are heading straight for war. Know that it was not us who started this war... it was those in power who started this fight! We know that war is hell, BUT when we meet the enemy there, they will be ours!" The captain spoke into the mic to encourage everyone on his ship. The captain releases the button as the green light turns off. Meanwhile, Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda are waiting in a lounge area of the ship. Looking at the others, liking the captain's resounding speech. The other two captains return to their ships before preparing for teleportation to Joseon. Some few minutes pass on by and the ships engines start revving up. They start to grow bright and then suddenly vanish into a few portals. The portals lie there briefly before growing small and vanishing. The three ships are flying through white empty space at incredible speeds. Captain Casimir standing on the bridge looking out the window, looks over at one of his bridge officers. "How much time until we arrive at Joseon?" he asked curiously. "Thirty seconds captain." The officer replied. Captain Casimir nods in response. The three ships fly through the openings in the white space and find themselves above the capital of the Joseon Empire. The portals behind them close shut as if to have never been there. The communications officer listens in on his earpiece. He looks over to the captain. "Captain. Emperor of Joseon wishes to come aboard." He finished relaying to Captain Casimir. Casimir nods in response, saying "tell him, permission granted. We will meet him in the hangar bay." Casimir replied. "Aye captain" he replied before sending the message back to the emperor. The captain leaves the bridge and starts heading to the hangar bay. As the captain enters the hangar bay, he notices Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda already there, speaking with Volante. They notice Captain Casimir entering the hangar bay and immediately stand at attention. Casimir motions his hand for them to be at ease. "The emperor of Joseon will be aboard soon. Knowing what he wants, I want you to prep and depart to the front lines to help with defenses." Captain Casimir told Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda. "Aye captain!" Anders replied as the three salute him briefly. The hangar bay doors open, as a shuttle flies in slowly and lands close to Captain Casimir. The side door to the shuttle opens revealing a man wearing a gujangbok with nine symbols embroidered on the dress, showing dragons on both sides of the dress, and a moon above them on both sides. The dress being colored black with gold outlines. The moons having emphasis on shining brilliantly. "Welcome King Taejong, to my ship. How may I help you?" Captain Casimir asked after bowing to King Taejong. "Forgive me my poor use of your language. Do you have anywhere private to speak?" the king had asked in a low toned solemn voice. "Worry not. I do. If you would please follow me." Captain Casimir has responded in a kind manner. Casimir had motioned for the king to follow politely and started making his way towards the exit of the hangar bay. Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda, had looked over at Volante he had gotten the shuttle prepped and ready. Anders has a sword sheathed and equipped to his left hip. Osmond has a military black rifle with a leather strap, over his left shoulder. Fehmeeda has an emerald-colored staff with a brightly lit orb hovering just right above the staff. Fehmeeda uses magic to keep the staff hovering in place right next to her back. As Captain Casimir and King Taejong have already left the hangar bay, Volante peeks his head out of the shuttle to see the three standing there waiting for some kind of approval. "Waiting for some kind of approval to board, are you? Hop on! I've got the coordinates to where you need to go. Won't be long!" Volante told them cheerfully, knowing he gets to fly the shuttle once more. The three chosen souls look at each other wholesomely, smiling, before boarding the shuttle. They take their seats in the shuttle as the door closes and the Volante starts the shuttle. The shuttle lifts off from the ground and leaves the hangar bay of the ship. Anders gets back up from his seat and looks out a small window, seeing the three ships get smaller as Volante keeps flying the shuttle in its intended path. The shuttle flies over a beautiful city, bright green trees planted alongside buildings, holes in sidewalks with more of the trees planted in them, providing shade. Anders sits back down as the shuttle continues to fly. Sometime later, the shuttle arrives at a military base belonging to the Joseon Empire. Volante lands the shuttle on the landing pad, opens the side door for Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda to get up and exit the shuttle. "I'll see ya all soon! Take care now!" Volante yelled out to them as the door closes and the shuttle flies back off into the sky. The three chosen souls are greeted by the base's commander. "Greetings you three!" the commander greeted them happily, pleased to see them. "I hear you are here to help? If so, follow me." the commander told them while motioning to follow him. They follow the commander through a metal silver door connected to a big metal silver building. As they walk through the building, they notice how spacious the hallways are. "These hallways make me wish the ship was as spacious." Osmond said to the others half-jokingly. They walk through more of the building, seeing workout stations, firing range, magic range, before reaching their destination. Walking through a door, into a room with a table placed in the middle. A map lies on top of the table showing all three countries next to each other. Shenzhou in the middle, Joseon on the left, and Wakoku on the right. "While we wait for King Taejong-" the commander stops himself from speaking as he looks out a window. Taking notice to something unusual in the sky. The commander walks closer to the window to try and get a better look at what it is. He notices three trails of fire moving towards them in the base. The commander's eyes widen in fear, having realized what they are. He runs outside the room screaming, "MAGES! SHIELDS!" The mages scramble up in a hurry. Trying to get themselves positioned quickly and putting up shields right above the base. The three missiles collide directly into the shields, letting out an incredible loud bang. An explosion knocking everyone onto their backs, the shields shattering like broken glass into a million different pieces, vanishing into thin air. Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda get back up quickly as they hear canon fire off in the distance. Anders looks at Fehmeeda with wide eyes as she takes her staff and slams it into the ground. Creating a half bubble around them. The canon shells collide into the building, creating an explosion, breaking Fehmeeda's shield, shattering it, making it vanish into thin air. The three of them fly in three different directions. Anders slams into a wall, completely dazed. "Anders!" Anders hears his name faintly being called, still dazed and confused of what's going on. "Anders!" he hears again, more clearly. "Anders!" Anders hears again, shaking his head, seeing Osmond right above him. Osmond offers his left hand out to Anders. Anders grabs his hand as Osmond helps lifts him up. "Where's Fehmeeda?!" Anders said aloud with great concern. "This way!" Osmond said to Anders, motioning to follow him. Osmond and Anders hear gun fire and spell slinging followed by minor fiery explosions. Anders and Osmond take cover behind a broken wall. They peek right above the cover to see what's going on. Anders spots Fehmeeda on the other side of the ruined building as both sides of Joseon and Shenzhou are fighting each other. Anders and Osmond look at each other and nod. They jump over the cover, Anders unsheathing his word, and Osmond arming himself with his rifle. Anders powers up his sword, turning the blade to make it look a dark blueish color emitting from the blade as haze. The soldiers of Shenzhou are jumping in through the broken walls and windows, while Osmond fires away at them. Piercing through some of their armor, taking their life, as they fall to the ground motionless. Some Shenzhou mages teleport in, slinging fire towards Anders. Anders immediately cuts through the fireballs being slung at him, setting off minor explosion on both sides of himself as he continues to charge through, as Osmond provides some covering fire. Osmond shoots down some of the soldiers flying in, attacking everyone in sight. Anders thrust his sword forward, piercing through one of the mages and cuts through the side. The mage falling to the cracked, ruined ground, lifeless. Anders cuts through a couple more mages, slicing through their bodies like butter. Anders jumps over a pile of rubble and reaches Fehmeeda. Fehmeeda, slinging fireballs and ice spikes towards all the enemies trying to charge in. "You alright, Fehmeeda?" Anders asks as she turns to face him, the enemies having a break in there charging efforts. "Yeah... where's Osmond?" Fehmeeda asked concerned. "He's back on the other side, helping those soldiers defend what's left of this base" Anders spoke, confident that Osmond will be alright. "We should regroup with the soldiers here and push these attackers right back to their home!" Anders suggested, keeping a serious face. Fehmeeda nods in agreement. Anders and Fehmeeda run back from where Anders came from. They both jump over the same pile of rubble and see as the Joseon infantry is defending themselves with Osmond's help. Fehmeeda and Anders look at each other and nod. Fahmeeda puts a thin shield over herself and Anders to protect themselves from flying debris, shrapnel, explosions, and bullets. Anders charges into the fray as Fehmeeda keeps close behind him for support. Anders swings his sword to the left, slicing through a Shenzhou soldier, cutting clean through. Fehmeeda fires off a few fireballs at a few distant targets, colliding into them and exploding. Sending debris and armor flying. Anders ducks as the debris flies over him. He jumps back up, swinging his sword to the right cutting clean through another soldier. Keeping his charge consistent, Anders, thrusts his sword forward, piercing another Shenzhou soldier clean through to the other side. He slices his sword through to the right, cutting through his body with ease. Fehmeeda fires off a few ice spikes, piercing a few distant Shenzhou mages though their chests. Their bodies dropping motionless, there life having completely left them. Fehmeeda turns around as Anders keeps charging towards Osmond and his small group of Joseon soldiers defending their position. She puts up a shield, blocking fireball attacks, protecting everyone on her side from the explosions. Fehmeeda's shield drops as she turns back to see Anders close by to Osmond. She starts running towards them as Osmond and the other Joseon soldiers provide her cover fire. Bullets flying past Fehmeeda, piercing the Shenzhou soldiers' chests, as they fall onto their backs, they continue to fire their rifles, protecting Fehmeeda from their attacks, bodies dropping onto the ruined floor. Fehmeeda reaches Anders and Osmond standing with the rest of the soldier as they stop firing, seeing a break in Shenzhou's charge. Fehmeeda breathing a little heavy from everything that has just happened, looks up at Anders and Osmond. "Alright Fehmeeda?" Osmond asks. Fehmeeda nods yes. One of the Joseon soldiers approaches the three. "Have any of you seen our commander?" He asks worriedly. "Not since this blatant attack." Osmond had spoken, adrenaline still rushing through him at full speed. Anders nods no while Fehmeeda thought back for a moment. "I think he may have been dragged off somewhere." Fehmeeda said as if questioning herself. The soldier, Anders, and Osmond all turn their heads to look at Fehmeeda. Now curious as to what she saw and where the commander could have gone. "You think he was kidnapped?" Anders asked curiously. "You think so? Couldn't be. Too much of a waste of soldiers' lives for one man." The Joseon soldier replied thinking to himself of different possibilities. "Well, either which way, he is not here. We have to find him." Osmond suggested. "We'd be spending a lot of resources for one man. If he's gone, then we may have to let our losses go." The soldier suggested back, thinking that something more serious may yet come. "This all happened very quickly. No way they could have already left Joseon. I bet they are seeing the losses over this. Plus, it is possible that they could have captured more than one leader. Not just one commander." Anders stated to everyone. "I say, we gather a small party and head out, to find out where he is." Anders finished saying to everyone emphasizing how important this could become. The Joseon soldier looks over at him. "That way we can plan a proper rescue." He replied to Anders with a confident upbeat attitude. "I'll go grab a few others to join us." The Joseon soldier had told them as he quickly left to find a few others for this emergency mission. Fehmeeda waves her left hand, creating a holographic magic screen to call Volante. Fehmeeda relays a message to Volante to pick them up just outside the ruined base, and that a few others will be joining them. She then makes the screen vanish with the wave of her hand. The Joseon soldier returns with one other to join them on this emergency rescue mission. Fehmeeda takes one step towards them. "We have a shuttle on the way. Join us right outside this base." Fehmeeda told them. The party of now five make their way outside of the base to wait for the shuttle. They see in the distance a shuttle flying towards them. Assuming it is Volante, they wave it over to them. The shuttle lands with the side door opening up. "Come aboard!" Volante yelled out to everyone, eager to go. Everyone hops on as Volante looks back to make sure everyone is on before pressing the button to close the side door. The shuttle takes off as Fehmeeda walks up next to his seat. "I would advise to keep heading eastward in this direction since that is where the attack came from." Fehmeeda suggested. "I'll cast an invisibility spell on this shuttle, so we don't get caught." Fehmeeda had explained to Volante as she waved her left hand and made the shuttle go invisible, absolutely hidden from sight. Volante flies them close but not to close as to be heard by the enemy. Volante lands the shuttle, opening the side door. "Good luck!" Volante yelled out to them as they jumped out of the shuttle, landing firmly on their feet. The side door closes, and Volante flies the shuttle slow and low as now the invisibility is gone. Osmond, while holding his rifle, motions everyone to stay where they are at as he crouches, walking towards the edge of a cliff. As he nears the edge, he gets on his stomach, going prone, hiding well in the bushes. Osmond looks through his scope to see what the enemy may be packing. To his surprise, it is not nearly as much as he thought it would be. He sees prisoners being rounded up, chained and loaded onto a shuttle to be shipped off. Osmond nods no, thinking to himself that this is not to bode well. Osmond snuck back to the group to report what he saw. "They snagged more than one commander it seems. They're putting them on shuttles and flying them back, to what I am assuming, there base." Osmond reported to everyone. Joseon soldier nodded. "We should make our move at night." Anders suggested. Fehmeeda nodded in agreement. Osmond looks over at the two Joseon soldier to see if they are in agreement. They both agree to move at night but no later than that. Hours pass by; the sun moving at snail's pace across the sky. The sky starts turning a deep yellow, clouds moving in. The dark starts settling in, moving across the sky as it turns to a black, dark, night. The Joseon soldiers, already equipped with night vision goggles, put them on and activate them. Fehmeeda uses magic on herself, Osmond, and Anders to allow them to see clearly in the dark like prowlers of the night. The Shenzhou soldiers, now with less guards, being less wary, start to pack up to leave as the group start slowly making their way towards them. Hiding in the shadows of the night, they stalk the Shenzhou soldiers, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Osmond has his rifle aimed and ready. Anders looks around the small set up base, looking to see if there is anything to worry about. to his surprise, he did not spot anything that would harm their operation. Anders puts his right thumb up, giving Osmond the okay. Osmond nods and peers through his scope. Aiming directly at one of the soldier's head, Osmond presses on the trigger, firing his rifle. The bullet flies at high speed, zips on by, piercing through the helmet with extreme ease. Blood flies out of the helmet in a cone like shape, shocking all the Shenzhou soldiers there. "Gongji!" one of the Shenzhou soldiers yelled out to warn everyone else. They scramble to ready themselves for battle as Anders, Osmond, Fehmeeda, and the two Joseon soldiers charge them quickly. Anders unsheathes his sword, jumps and thrusts his sword through a Shenzhou soldier trying to grab his gun, piercing through his back to the chest side. Osmond and Fehmeeda run past Anders, firing away. Osmond hitting far off Shenzhou soldiers, bullets piercing through their chests as they had gotten ready to aim and fire. Fehmeeda had summoned and thrown ice spikes at nearby Shenzhou soldiers, piercing through their necks and helmets. Everyone one of them dropping to the ground lifeless. Anders had sliced his sword through to the left side, cutting through the soldier as the Joseon soldiers run up next to him and provide him some cover fire as some of the Shenzhou soldiers started firing back. Fehmeeda slams her staff into the ground, providing everyone with limited shield capacity. Bullets hit and collide with the shields, weakening them. The two Joseon soldiers fire back in the same direction as the Shenzhou soldiers. The Shenzhou soldiers take cover from the firing, bullets flying past them, skimming across the rock's surface, barely protecting them. The remaining Shenzhou soldiers run, knowing that it is too late to fight back and win. Anders, Osmond, Fehmeeda, and the two Joseon soldiers group up back together. "That was a clean charge. Good job everyone." Osmond had congratulated everyone. Everyone looks over to the one last shuttle still grounded. Anders slowly walks over to it, opens the side door, and peers carefully inside. To his surprise, he sees nobody. He motions Fehmeeda over. She walks over looking at Anders curiously. "Can you send out a small pulse wave. Detect anyone that may be cloaked with that invisibility magic?" Anders asked still looking inside. "Of course." Fehmeeda responded with confidence. She stabs the ground with her staff, sending out a pulse wave that covers the whole the shuttle. Fehmeeda let out a sigh of relief to know that no one is hiding in there with invisibility magic. She nods to everyone, letting them know that it is safe to take the shuttle. They all take a step inside as Anders closes the side door behind them. One of the two Joseon soldiers, walks up to the pilot's seat. "I did take some classes. I may be rusty, but I should get us there fine." the Joseon soldier gulped nervously as he had stated that to everyone. "Does not leave me with too much hope." Osmond muttered to himself quietly. Everyone grabs onto something as they hear the shuttles engines roar and lift up into the air. The shuttle stops suddenly and then starts moving forward. Osmond looks at Fehmeeda and Anders with wide eyes as if the soldier is going to get everyone in the shuttle killed. Anders waves his left hand in front of his neck nodding no. "We'll be fine..." Fehmeeda uttered quietly to Anders and Osmond. The other Joseon soldier walks to the front, sitting in the co-pilot's seat. He looks at a screen showing their current position. He presses a button, and the screen zooms out showing where the drop-off point is for the prisoners they have captured. The soldier in the pilot's seat adjusted the course to head to that point.
An hour has flown by since they had taken the shuttle to make a rescue attempt of the kidnapped commanders. "Almost there" the Joseon soldier sitting in the co-pilot's seat announced to everyone. The lights in the shuttle suddenly turn red followed by a loud alarm. "What's going on?" Anders yelled jumping to the front quickly to find out what the issue is. "Missiles!" Everyone's eyes go wide with fear after what the soldier in the co-pilot's seat yelled out to everyone. The soldier in the pilot's seat notices two missiles in the distance flying at incredible speeds towards them. The soldier moves the shuttle to the right, dodging the first missile. The second missile moves right by the shuttle, exploding near its engines, forcing the shuttle to fall down in a circular motion. Everyone hanging on for dear life. "Hang on everyone!" Anders yelled out to everyone. Fehmeeda quickly tried to put out a protective spell on everyone as she struggles to keep herself up as the shuttle spins out. The shuttle slams into the ground, shattering into pieces, knocking everyone unconscious.
Anders blinks his eyes open, seeing the full moon in its highest point in the sky. He looks around, seeing himself laying in the ground, covered in dirt. He sees dried blood all over himself. He coughs up a storm, now fully aware of his surroundings. He rolls over onto his chest and struggles to get himself standing back upright. He takes another look around, seeing the wreckage of the shuttle that they were in, everywhere. A fire is making itself present where the main part of the shuttle wreckage lies at. He notices Fehmeeda laying on the ground, covered in dirt, unconscious. He limps over to her, struggling to walk. Anders falls to his knees as he reaches Fehmeeda, swelling up with worry and fear that she is dead. Anders lightly slaps her right cheek. Fehmeeda blinks her eyes open, moaning in great pain. "Wh-what the hell happened?!" She struggled to ask Anders in pain. Anders nodded no, pointing to the wreckage. Anders, stands back up, struggling to help Fehmeeda back up on her feet. She casts some healing magic on herself and Anders to help alleviate some of the pain. They notice Osmond close to the fire of the main part of the wreckage. They walk over to Osmond; he is already conscious and aware of what's going on but in too much to pain to move. "A-A-Anders... Fe-Feh-Fehmeeda..." Osmond struggled to utter their names. Fehmeeda casts healing magic on Osmond. Noticing that he is bleeding continuously, she kept on casting her healing magic on Osmond. Watching the wound close up, she stops casting her magic. "Am I good to move?" Osmond asks Fehmeeda. She nods yes replying "it'll leave some scars but you're fine now." Osmond smirks, getting back up thanking Fehmeeda. "You alright Anders?" Osmond asks him to make sure he is doing alright. "Y-yeah. Still processing what the hell just happened." Anders replied thankfully. "Technology in weaponry is too much. Missile didn't even touch us. Exploded next to us destroying the shuttle's engines. But more importantly... where are the other two soldiers? Osmond had retold the event to everyone followed by his question. They look around the wreckage, finding their weapons broken and shattered amongst the wreckage, finally finding the two Joseon soldiers afterwards. They run to their sides, seeing them impaled by various metals from the shuttle, lying on the ground lifeless. They close their eyes in dismay and sadness. "Come, let's give them a proper burial." Anders said solemnly. Anders and Osmond remove the metal pieces from their bodies as Fehmeeda uses some magic to make two holes in the ground for graves. Anders and Osmond move their bodies into the holes and cross their arms together. Fehmeeda covers the holes with dirt. The three of them stand there before their graves, giving them one final salute wishing them peace in the great beyond. They start making their way towards the base that they were heading towards, now on foot. They see a small base set up by the Shenzhou soldiers with all the prisoners in chains surrounded by some trees and tall grass, down a steep hill. They all drop to the kneeling position and keep an overlook of the base. They carefully make their way over closer to the base, staying hidden from sight. They close in by the entrance, keeping up against the walls behind the bushes. They see two stationed guards at the entrance, keeping their eyes facing forward. Anders looks through the bushes only to see no one is coming nor going. He looks back at Fehmeeda and Osmond, giving a thumbs up. Fehmeeda casts sleeping magic on the guards. They fall down to the ground, deep asleep, very silently. Anders carefully walks over to the entrance, peaking through the doors that are cracked open. He sees many stacked up boxes and crates that would provide excellent cover in the shadows of the night. He looks back at Osmond and Fehmeeda and motions them to follow him inside. Anders carefully and silently opens the door and sneaks in with the other two following close behind him. The stick behind the stacked boxes and crates, hiding in the dark shadows. They see the commanders chained up and kept together. The three of them notice marks and cuts, clearly having been tortured in some manner. They notice what appears to be a Shenzhou commander, who is wielding a whip. He looks at them with a ferocious intensity as if wanting to end their lives. "I demand your secrets! Tell me and you yet may live to tell the tale." The commander threatened them. "Damn. Anything you can do Osmond?" Anders asked him quietly. Osmond summons his light rifle and takes aim. The Shenzhou commander raises his hand ready to whip the Joseon commanders for staying silent. "So be it." The Shenzhou commander spoke to the Joseon commanders who are staying silent and looking down. Osmond takes his shot, bullet flying at high speed, piercing through the Shenzhou commander's head, killing him. His body falls to the ground with all the light in his eyes gone. The three quickly run over to the Joseon commanders to release them from there chains. Fehmeeda summons her light staff and stabs it in the ground sending out a small shockwave, breaking all of their chains. Fehmeeda casts healing magic on them as they stand back up, now feeling fully energized. One of them walks up to them "thank you very much! But we must hurry. That gunshot will have alerted all nearby." The Joseon commander suggested with haste. Another commander walks up to them saying, "then we should arm ourselves ready for a fight out of here." Anders takes a look around seeing if they got all of the Joseon commanders. "There is only eight of you?" he asks to make double sure they have everyone. "There was more of us, but they were killed for refusing to answer them." the Joseon commander standing in front of them replied. "I'm sorry for your loss." Fehmeeda replied to him with a genuine tone her voice. The other commanders arm themselves with various weapons around the base as suggested, readying for a fight. Fehmeeda puts up a protective barrier on everyone. "Remember, this protective barrier will not be as strong because I have to focus the energies on everyone here. So please, remain careful!" Fehmeeda had warned everyone, to make sure that they do not make careless or bold mistakes. They acknowledge her, heeding her warning. The Shenzhou soldiers bust the doors wide open, opening fire on everyone they see. Bullets flying everywhere, Fehmeeda lets out a fireball, exploding next to the stacked boxes and crates, burning a few Shenzhou soldiers, the explosion making the stacked boxes and crates fall over, hurting other nearby soldiers. Osmond fires away with the Joseon commanders, gunning down every soldier who reveal themselves. Fehmeeda creates ice spikes and shoots them at some other soldiers trying to charge inside the base. Piercing their chests, necks, and stabbing through their heads. All dropping dead. Anders keeps cover as not to get hit by flying stray bullets. The Shenzhou soldiers stop charging. Anders takes a peek over his cover and notices no one else is coming. "We should move while we still have the chance." Anders suggested with haste. Everyone leaves the base with all haste. They run to make some distance before taking a stop for a quick breather. Osmond and Anders take a quick look around their immediate area and see no one around but themselves. "Good. We can take a quick rest here for the time being." Osmond said with some relief as he sits down on the ground. "Fehmeeda, can you create a way to call someone without it being traced?" Anders asked curiously. She nods yes and dismisses her light staff. She forms a small ball of light between her hands as she puts all her focus on it. After a minute, the ball of light disappears, and a small device with a speaker, knob for tuning signal, an antenna and microphone appear hovering between her hands. She grabs it and looks over at Anders. "What is it you need?" she asks Anders. "See if you can contact our ship and ask for a couple of shuttles to pick us up." Anders had suggested. "Alright, give me a minute." Fehmeeda had replied to Anders as she turned away and took a couple steps from the group for some silence. After a while of tuning, trying to find the right signal, Fehmeeda had found it. "Can anyone hear me? Over." Fehmeeda had repeated the question a few times with a good minute pause in between. "I read you... who is this?" the voice responded. Fehmeeda looks up at the sky with her eyes closed looking very thankful for someone having finally responded. She looks back at the radio and replies "I need a couple of shuttles sent to these coordinates for a pickup of eleven people." Fehmeeda replied, using magic she connected to the radio's signal and sent the coordinates to the ship. After a few seconds the voice responds, "coordinates received but again, who is this?". "This is Fehmeeda. I am here with Anders and Osmond as well as the Joseon commanders we went to rescue." she replied over the radio. "Alright. dispatching shuttles. Stay safe until then." the voice responded to Fehmeeda sounding pleased and relieved. Fehmeeda sticks the radio in her pocket walking back to the group. "They dispatched shuttles to us. Let's keep our current location until they arrive." Fehmeeda told the news to everyone. A few hours go by before the group hears the sound of shuttles in the distance coming their way. Anders spots three shuttles making their way to them. The shuttles slow down to a stop and land next to the group. The side doors open up and everyone boards the shuttles. Two shuttles take four Joseon commanders each. Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda board the last shuttle and see Volante as the pilot. "Glad to see you three safe." Volante said to them happy as all three shuttles lift off and start to fly back to Joseon.
Hours had gone by; the morning sun starts to rise as the fog covers the mountains. The shuttles had made it back to Joseon and landed on the landing pads in Joseon's main city, with many tall buildings and magic holographic ads for various things. The side doors open, and a medical team is standing by ready to take the Joseon commanders for treatment and checkup. Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda step off the shuttle only to see Captain Casimir waiting for them. The three-look surprised to see him waiting there for them. He motions them to follow him as he turns and starts walking towards the exit of the base. They follow him, exiting the base and entering a magic powered hovering van. They all get in as Casimir tells the driver to head for the palace. The driver nods as his response and starts heading towards the Joseon palace. "I want to congratulate you three. You pulled of something crazy. If I could, I would award you all medals." Casimir had spoken to them with clear pride in his voice. "Really?" Anders asked shocked. "Yes. You not only improved our relations with Joseon and its emperor, but you saved the commanders and Shenzhou took a huge blow from that stunt." Casimir replied to Anders. "You should all be proud." Casimir finished speaking to the three. After a while the van made it to the entrance of the Palace. Casimir had handed the driver a sizeable tip for the drive. The four of them exit the van and made their way up the grand staircase to the palace. Stone walls white as clouds, roof having the colors of black and gold, the palace rising very high into the sky being at the tip of a tall hill with mountains in the background of the palace. The guards let them in through the entrance. Inside they have royal guards standing in rows opposite sides of the grand hall. The emperor sitting in his throne, immediately gets up seeing that it is Casimir and three he now considers great heroes. He runs down the steps yelling "gamsahapnida! Gamsahapnida! You are heroes for what you have done for my empire." the emperor yelled to them with great happiness in his voice as he walked up to them. "Shenzhou will now think TWICE before messing with us." the emperor said very pleased. "Of course, but they will plan to strike back. We should keep watchful eyes out." Casimir had suggested to the emperor. "Hmmm... you are right but, in the meantime, lets rest and recuperate from everything that has happened." The emperor had suggested back to the four as he motions for one of his assistants to come run up to him. "Get rooms ready for the four of them." the emperor requested. The assistant replied "right away my lord" before running off to get everything ready. The emperor looks back at the four and tells them, "Worry not at the moment. When I have everything ready and set up, I will call for you. For now, rest my friends. We shall discuss everything that has transpired then." The emperor told the four. Anders, Osmond, and Fehmeeda smile in relief and take the emperor up on his offer. Casimir does as well, seeing that he could use the time himself to think of a plan and prepare for Shenzhou's possible plan of attack.