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The setting sun filled the blasted field with a golden radiance, lighting up both men’s weapons and red-colored armor. The surrounding area was equally damaged, little plant life growing between hills of red sand and dirt. To the north stood a massive fortress, the white battlements reaching several stories high and giving an imposing nature to any challengers. On the field, each man stood 20 feet from the other, but that was where the similarities ended. The man to the left wielded a warhammer in his hands, his red-and-black armor spiked along the shoulder and arms without reducing his dexterity. His expression showed anger or distaste, brown eyes glinting at his opponent across from him. Said opponent was a man in silver-and-red armor holding a greatsword in his hands, his helmet preventing the first man from knowing his expression. His aggressive shifting in place, however, showed his impatience for combat.

“BEGIN!” The cry came from a third man standing to the field’s eastern side before he raised a silver-plated pistol from his belt and fired a single shot. The two challengers charged at one another, the first arcing his hammer upwards for a devastating blow. The second countered by quickly going on one knee, letting the momentum of his charge carry the force of his block forward. Leaping back once the attack was stopped, the helmeted man quickly swiped towards his foe with a confident shout. His attack was absorbed with a frontal block, the hammer able to provide more frontal force than the sword. The first man pushed forward, sliding his opponent back but not enough to knock him down. The sword-wielder raced to the left while slashing in a forward motion, hoping to stab his foe’s arm and disable him from fully using his weapon.

The first man was quick to react, dodging the attack by sidestepping to his left, swinging his hammer down at his foe’s feet to knock him down. The attack almost missed, the weapon barely impacting the attacker’s heels. The feeling of impact, however, made the sword-wielder stumble in surprise even as he tried to swing at his re-positioned foe. Shoving him back with a grunt of effort, the first man quickly swung low with his weapon to cripple the enemy’s legs. The crack of bone against metal resounded across the field as the helmeted man cried out and fell to his knees. His sword landed in the grass within his reach, but he was too occupied with his broken legs to get it and fight on.

“Let this be a lesson,” the first man said with a sharp glare and sharper tone, “Never think you have the upper hand in a battle. Always fight like you are on the losing end. That way, victory will be all the better.” The helmeted man didn’t respond as two people dressed in brighter red armor and wearing white cross-shaped patches on their shoulder plates carried him away from the field.

“Always have to enunciate your teachings with broken bones, Sacullas?” The hammer-wielding warrior turned to see an elder man donned in regalia similar to a crusader and holding two scimitars. His armor was red-and-golden, a golden wreath placed behind his head to mark his high position. A flag depicting the emblem of the Flame Dawn warriors, a black falcon swooping towards its prey as the sun set behind it, was held between the wreath’s arches. The man’s hair was almost completely white, yet his black eyes shone with youthful wisdom as he addressed the fellow fighter in a calm yet gruff voice.

“My methods are my own, Bromich,” Sacullas replied with a huff, “I can’t train these potential Legionaries any better than they are willing to learn. Even the Aspirants know this because we say it to them so often.”

“You have Aberion’s unwavering courage,” Bromich commented before both men turned solemn at the mention of their leader’s name, “Yet you also wield his haste and tenacity. It would do you good to slow down sometimes.”

“I do what I do to win, Bromich: that is what all warriors of the Dawn are allowed in combat. Besides, isn’t our chief tactic to win with fast feet and faster weapon?” Bromich only nodded at Sacullas words, not trusting his mouth to keep the conversation flowing smoothly. At an unseen signal, the two men began walking to the fortress with a firm step, Bromich’s regalia not making him move any slower.

As Bromich and Sacullas passed through the opened gate, the sounds inside the first walls briefly paused as the soldiers within bowed respectfully to them before resuming their tasks. Each soldier wore a variance of red-colored armor, based around the plating of medieval knights but smoother and form-fitting. The weapons included swords and pistols but varied between rankings. The most common soldier to be seen was one who had a curved broadsword, able to be used with one or both hands, and wore dark red armor and helmet. The next were those who had orange helmets and carried a pistol and short sword. The ramparts had soldiers with golden armor and longswords observing the surrounding plains, flags bearing the same crest as on Bromich’s armor fluttering in the twilight breeze.

As the activity around them resumed, Bromich and Sacullas noticed a woman approaching them, flanked by two legionnaires carrying assault rifles and wearing dusty red helmets. The soldier’s armor was bulkier than the squads around them, but the woman wore no armor at all. Her orange top and separated skirt combined with her pale complexion and blond hair to make her stand out amongst the crowd. Two scimatars doused in flammable substances hung at her waist, not hindering her walk in the slightest as she stood slightly shorter than either man.

“I thought you were already done with training for the day, Sacullas,” the woman addressed, “Aberion has called a war council. One of our advanced scouts near Lamstead has reported something you both need to hear.”

“Thank you for the report, Kali,” Sacullas replied without lightening his mood, “But we were heading there anyway. This pickup wasn’t needed.”

“It was Aberion’s request,” Kali countered without breaking her stance, “I can get you through without distractions from the Legionaries, Knights and Aspirants that are foolish enough to challenge your authority.”

Bromich quickly pushed the two apart, his presence enough to break apart the potential fight that would have broken out. Unnerved, Kali turned and began striding further into the fortress’s walls, Sacullas muttering under his breath as he followed with Bromich and the legionnaires, both commanders sheathing or holstering their weapons.

“Ah, Sacullas, Bromich,” a muscled man with a red-and-gold kilt and without upper body armor spoke from behind a wooden table within a large tent as the tent’s flap was lifted, “I see Kali’s search was successful.” Neither man responded to this statement, but both saw the smirk Kali sent their way as she was regarded for her efforts. They knew better than to offend Aberion’s will, especially in his presence like this. The two escorts stood guard outside the tent as the four circled around the table. Sacullas grew especially rigid in form as he noticed Aberion’s own warhammer, adorned with red tresses and carrying a tailored gold jewel within. The memory of why he wielded a similar weapon came to him, but he quickly dispelled it in order to follow the task at hand.

“Now,” Aberion continued, “to business. Several scouts near Lamstead have reported seeing three large holes of unknown origin and energy, appearing at what seems to be near the city.” As Aberion spoke, he drew out a detailed map of the city in question and the surrounding plains. Three X’s were marked in separate locations, ranging from within the city borders to at least two miles away.

“Are these holes causing harm to our troops,” Bromich questioned as he looked closely at the map, “Perhaps Genesis Industries is testing new teleportation technology and these are the aftershocks?”

“Not a chance,” Aberion responded with a laugh, “No scouts were harmed, merely surprised. Besides, those shut-ins know exactly what we’d do to them if they tried to harm us. Orion himself spoke out that these rifts, as he calls them, were not of his doing.”

“The CEO of Genesis Industries said that?” Kali asked with raised eyebrows, “He actually came out of his mechanical shell of a city to address this?”

“This must be serious, then,” Sacullas concluded while ignoring the humor Kali put into that question, “How soon can we gain a full analysis of the rifts?”

“That’s where you all come in,” Aberion replied while glancing upward at the three fellow leaders around him, “I want each of you to lead a scouting squad through one of these rifts. Our initial observations have lead us to believe they all lead to the same place, but different areas of that place. Genesis Industries will provide drones to us for additional scouting, and Orion has agreed to send us a full report of any samples your groups are able to gather.”

“What about you, Aberion,” Bromich asked with a curious glance to his leader, “Wouldn’t you want to personally lead this offensive into a new world? And what about Iruel or Hilderic—they are just as capable as we are to do this.”

“I had thought of this,” Aberion replied with an angry sigh, “But Orion won’t help us in the exploration if I am there: something about my impulsive nature ruining any potential contact with intelligent life. That toymaker seems to have it out for me ever since we forced them to ally with us two years ago. He will allow you three to go, probably because you aren’t as forward as I in a battle.”
Bromich cast a glance to Sacullas at this, both men comparing this to what had occurred on the outer fields but not wishing to tell of it.

“As for the other leaders,” Aberion continued, “They are busy quelling a few settlements whose people are attacking our tithe collectors. I know they’ll break the resistance, but it may take them too long to do so before the rifts disappear or Genesis Industries gains ground before us.”

“Then what are we waiting for,” Kali said as she stood up with fervor, blue eyes alight with excitement, “This sounds like fun!”

“All the same,” Aberion cautioned, “Be careful. We don’t know what’s beyond these rifts. If you encounter a threat, defend our honor and world from it with as few casualties as possible. This is only a scouting mission, but it is still a mission nevertheless. We will never retreat. For Talich. For the Dawn!”

“For the Dawn!” the three leaders echoed before leaving the tent to prepare squads for exploration. The sounds outside the tent quickly grew to a fever pitch as orders were placed and troops began moving towards the fortress’s gates. Aberion listened to the controlled chaos for a moment before picking up his warhammer and cradling it in his hands, its weight like a third arm after so many years of using it. His breath grew heavy as he pondered the new challenges this would bring to the Flame Dawn. Whatever the challenge, they would be ready. They had proven their military dominance on this world, Talich, where he had rallied the few who had stood by his side and spilled too much blood to calculate as more and more cities and provinces joined his own. His army had grown to what it was now, and he would rather fall on the front lines than see his Flame Dawn eliminated.

She floated above the forest’s treetops, silver pistols in hand and armed. Her white wings beat in a steady rhythm to keep her altitude stable as a thunderstorm raged throughout the tall forest. Rain blew across her tan face and soaked through her white-and-black uniform, but she paid it no attention. Her black eyes locked on a clearing as the air inside it began to shimmer and twist, as if reacting to the storm’s energies. Lightning struck nearby, the electrical radiance illuminating the clearing and revealing a minuscule hole levitating several feet above the wet forest floor. The woman swallowed reflexively, her heart pounding in anticipation.

The hole quickly expanded, sucking the surrounding air into itself and filling the void left behind with its presence. In a matter of seconds it had grown human-sized, then equal to the larger beasts she had seen roaming this world. Stopping at the height of the forest around it, the hole was now a massive portal of swirling energies, colors colliding and fusing together in unimaginable ways. The sound of the surrounding air being drained in and spit back out was deafening, the clearing now alight with raw energy as a sun-blasted plain appeared from within the anomaly.

Then the hole split open from within as a large metallic blue arm emerged into the clearing, the portal rippling like a stone impacting water as a three-story tall robot with blue and gray plating and two large energy cannons for arms stepped into view. Around it were several humans in red battle armor wielding swords or pistols. Leading these humans was a blond-haired woman dressed in orange top and flowing orange skirt, two flaming swords in her hands that burned orange despite the torrential rain. Four human-sized ships with the same color scheme as the mech took to the skies as soon as they appeared into the forest.

The woman beat down with her wings, surging skyward as a white corona briefly blazed above her head. Her body turned white as she reached supersonic speeds, the sonic boom left behind overpowered by a roar of thunder.

Her report was ready. After millennia of observance, the rifts were opening…