UNKNOWN|BLACK ZONE|RECON TEAM
"How is our perimeter doing?"
"Could be better." One of the officers replied to Olive as they were having lunch.
"There is only so much we can do with a dirt and wood wall."
"How are the men doing then?" Olive switched topics.
"The men are doing fine, some of them are kinda disappointed that there isn't as much action as they thought."
"Don't count out a fight just yet. We still have to wait for the main force to arrive." Olive responded as he thought back to the message he received in the morning.
The PMC has dispatched half a battalions worth of men along with numerous non combatants to their location. The expeditionary fleet is to meet them halfway and escort them to the landing point.
They left the converted battle carrier and a supply ship to provide support until then.
"Seeing as the expeditionary fleet departed a few hours ago to meet up with the main force, we gotta dig in and hold this place for about five weeks." Olive estimated.
The plan was for the noncombatants to pave a path from the landing point to their camp, where they will reconstruct it to something more permanent.
"Will our supplies last long enough?"
"It's going to be pretty thin margins. We might dig into the reserve supplies." The logistics officer replied.
"That's going to do wonders for moral." One of the officers grumbled.
"Enough of that, how is our guest doing?" Olive cut him off.
"Uhh, the medic team says that she is 'stable'. At least that is what they believe, but its been a couple days since then and there has been no signs of her waking up."
"..." Olive rubbed his temples in response to the news. "Have them keep a close eye on her."
"Rog."
—
A week has gone by, and the tranquil repetitive nature has caused the men at the pillar camp to get antsy and rowdy.
Olive and the other officers have been trying to reign them in, but they too are starting to feel fatigued at the lack of action.
As such, the second expedition into the pillar has been arranged. This time with 12 slots open, the soldiers then drew lots to see if they got one.
Rover squad was excluded due to them needing to 'escort' and oversee their guest, who has been quietly sleeping all this time.
After much complaining and arguing, the 12 slots were soon filled and the 2nd expeditionary team was created.
The squad was called Hex team, due to the statistical anomaly of six men and six women being selected through the drawing process.
"Alright Hex team, I'm giving you all three days of exploration time within the pillar. Keep close to the relay point." Olive addressed. "I know everyone here is itching for some action, but control yourselves."
"All of you should know how to track your positions relative to the relay point. But keep yourselves within a five mile radius. Check in every six hours, if you find something radio in immediately. If you find any local fauna, stay away to your best ability. If you encounter another elf or an intelligent species, avoid contact and retreat immediately."
"Hmm. What else?" Olive thought for a moment. "You should all know this, but just leaving this reminder. Don't get knocked up."
"Alright, any more questions? No? Good, on your way!"
After sitting through Olives lecture/instructions, Hex team scrambled and left camp in a hurry.
Watching them all rush down to the cloud wall, he silently cursed in his heart.
"Impatient bastards."
"You act like you never did the same." One of the older officers commented as he also watched Hex team disappear into the cloud wall.
Glaring at the old officer, Olive returned to his camp to look over the plan and reports for the umpteenth time.
Shaking his head, the older officer chuckled before he followed suit.
"At least the men aren't as rowdy as before."
—
THEY'VE CAPTURED A HOLY ONE! WE MUST STRIKE!
*SLAP*
Clean your eyes! Look at the holy one! The holy one is not bound! The holy one is merely asleep! Once the holy one awakens, the humans will have no choice but to bow to the holy one.
... My apologies.
But how can you tell that they won't do something to the holy one while the holy one slumbers?
They are special, beyond your or my comprehension. It is just a manifestation of their powers. Nothing they can do will affect the holy one.
I shall obey you this one last time. The next time they do something. They WILL taste my blade.
...
—
As the weeks go by, more and more expeditions are sent into the pillar.
A comprehensive map has been created of the surrounding areas, along with hidden paths for the recon team to follow in order to reach deeper into the land beyond the pillar.
So far the only things that have been retrieved were more photos and videos of the surrounding environment, along with a small report on the local flora and fauna created by a few bored soldiers.
Holding a list of bizarre and weird names, Olive puts it down with a slight headache.
"What kind of name is 'chunky lizard'."
"Relax, they are just easing their boredom. Let the kids have fun."
"Well, I can just give the list to the main force, letting those white coats have a jump start on their analysis here. Whoever came up with those names can explain it to those nerds." Olive muttered as he flipped through more reports.
"How much longer until the main force arrives?"
"About a week from now. They should be around point two/three, paving a path from the landing point." Olive answers without looking up from the reports.
"Should we send a team out to meet them?"
"No, we need to keep everyone here at base camp. The last expedition should be back anytime now." Putting down the reports, Olive massages his head to relieve some pain from his headache.
"I've been getting this intense bad feeling recently."
"That's not good." The old officer became alert. "I know you've been tense this entire time, but for you to tell me without anyone asking, this can't be good."
"I know, every time I've had this feeling, something always went wrong." Olive lets out a tired sigh. "Once the expeditionary team returns, gather everyone up."
"Rog."
—
"I'm surprised you haven't gotten bored standing guard yet."
"It is boring." Capt. Rivers responded, "However, just the fact that our guest is an elf keeps me giddy for when she wakes up."
Outside the quarantine tent, Rover squad and friends stood guard for potentially another boring night.
"You want to be the prince knight for our sleeping beauty, is that it?"
"I just want to be the first person to have a discussion with a non human race."
"You didn't deny it."
"So what?"
As the two bickered, the rest of Rover squad and co. return from the gathering called by the general.
"What's up with the old man?" Rover 2 asked as they settled down.
"We got a week until the main force arrives and we can finally deploy somewhere else."
Tilting her head in confusion, Rover 2 questioned why he couldn't have just made an announcement through the loudspeakers.
"That's cause there are to be no more expeditions, and to get ready for a fight of some sorts."
"A fight? From who?"
"Remember at the beginning? How we were being stalked by something and scared them off with starlight rounds?"
"Yeah? Did we figure out what it was?"
"Nope, but the General thinks that they might attack us in this last week."
"How so?"
"Cause of the main force. Half a battalions worth of combat personnel, along with a large detachment of noncombatants."
"I see, this unknown force will attack us before the main force arrives, they have a higher chance of victory against our recon team than everyone together." Rover 2 thought aloud. "But nothing ever attacked us this entire time. Why would they be incentivized to attack us now?"
"I'm not sure..."
As everyone brainstormed for another reason, rover 4 clapped his hands together and shared his thoughts.
"Hey guys! So you know that we have a elf here right?"
"Yes?" Everyone replied, signaling for him to continue speaking.
"In novels, most elf's are depicted as being 'one with the forest'. And in some stories elves have a 'holy land' that must not be treaded upon by non elves, right?"
Hearing this, gears started clicking together in everyone's minds.
"Do you think they have figured out that we have one of them?"
"Think? I'm SURE they know we have one of them in our camp."
"Did you guys forget that the main force is paving a path from the landing point to here? And that would entail cutting down trees to make this path?"
"...Uh oh..." Everyone collectively said.
"I think we have definitely pissed them off. And the General has probably already thought of this."
"Alright everyone, no more playing around." Capt. Rivers announced. "Organize your gear, clean your rifles, and fill your mags. This is going to be one long week."
"Roger!" * 7