When Worlds Collide

[Rudolph]

Private

 

In the heart of Beograd, the White City of the Serbs, Beli Dvor

 

"Repeat what you've just said, General," deadpanned the Kralj of Yugoslavia, disbelief clearly written on his face as he cradled the grey phone against his ear. Listening to the General audibly gulp brought some form of sadistic enjoyment to the Sovereign, while silently hoping that this call was entirely fabricated in its entirety.

 

"Er," oh so eloquently started the General of his armed ground forces, one Ljubia Diković, who was clearly completely out of his depth judging from his hesitant nature so far from the call. Dragojev could not really blame the man, anyone in his position would certainly be out of their depth if what his general said was true.

 

Merely asking his General to repeat himself was a tactic to ensure that it was legitimate, as well as to let the absurdity of the situation finally sink in. The Kralj did not hear the General's words, letting them simply pass over him as he thought of the possible ramifications that it would affect to the world as a whole as well as his own Kingdom. He thanked the General for informing him of the development before dismissing him, putting the phone back in its cradle.

 

Dragojev raised his hand and gently rubbed the bridge of his nose, this whole situation was absurd but so far it was his reality. His course of action planned, he rose from his seat as he left his office, barking orders in preparation for his impromptu trip to one of the municipalities of the Serbian region.

 

The Kralj of Yugoslavia narrowed his eyes as he entered the armoured car, his thoughts running a mile per second but there were two things he knew for certain that he had to do. See the event for himself and talk with the either stupidly adventurous or unwittingly brave soldier who went through it, only to come back unharmed and yelling about monsters and mist.

 

Only one way to find the truth of a mystery and it was to get to the bottom of it.

 

[hr]

 

Underneath a local farm around the City of Kula, Municipality of Kula, Kingdom of Yugoslavia

 

"Just what exactly am I looking at?" asked the Sovereign of Yugoslavia as he stared at the device for a lack of better words as scientists examined to the best of their ability without going through it. The soldiers stationed in this part of the Kingdom had responded rapidly and cordoned the area while he was arriving, promise of payment from financial or territorial losses to the farmer had quickly silenced the matter but he knew well enough that the media would arrive and have an utter field day.

 

At the least, they would all be far away from the device and be safe should things go sour. He certainly hoped it didn't as his soldiers began to erect a temporary building around the rough-shod entrance after having demolished the farmer's barn, the building itself would be sanitized as it could be and provide ample shelter to hide it from the public while his scientists kept working. The entrance had been expanded as best as it could and a rough stairway was in place so personnel could walk down relatively safely without tripping.

 

He glanced at the ring, dark gray in appearance with nine chevrons and from a rough estimate it looked to be seven meters high and quite thick. Glyphs of strange symbols appeared to be built inside of an inner ring. The Kralj didn't know much about it but he could guess that the ring itself was heavy, noting to order respective vehicles for transport if needed.

 

He shook his head and gazed to the General, "Razvodnik Loncar was the soldier who brazenly traversed through the device's portal, as he called it. Miraculously he was competent enough to return briefly to showcase that he was still alive and in one piece before swiftly going back through it. Less than half an hour later, he returned sprinting while screaming about monsters and mist before it seemingly shut down," reported General Diković as the Kralj nodded.

 

"Where is Razvodnik Loncar?" he asked before the General barked an order, less than a minute later a demure man stood at attention in front of his Sovereign.

 

"At ease, soldier. Now, tell me," started Dragojev as he looked over the Razvodnik, brown eyes staring back at the Kralj, "How are you feeling, son?"

 

"I'd be lying if I said I was alright, my Kralj, but I'll be fine once I get some R&R," replied the slightly shaken man.

 

"Now, my General says that you reported sightings of 'monsters and mists' after you returned from across this," trailed off the Sovereign for a few seconds, "...portal. Tell me, soldier, what exactly did you see?"

 

It was a question that he would consider a curse and a blessing in the days to come.

 

[hr]

 

"$%&@," swore Dragojev under his breath as he entered the main command tent established in the farmer's land followed by his General and his Regent, Petar. "Alright, any word on the media yet?" he asked as he sat down at the head of the provided table.

 

"The Media blackout is still in effect, although they are getting rowdy," answered his regent.

 

"What exactly do we know about this portal?"

 

"The specific size is not something that we know as of yet but the scientists estimate that a military convoy would be able to pass through with ease. Anything bigger than a truck is a no-go from their estimates."

 

The Kralj took a few moments before letting out a sigh, "$%&@, this is not going to be easy to inform our allies about," he muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. "'Hello there, my dear Regina and Director Wilding, how's your day been so far? Oh mine, It's been dreadful, we now have a device creating a portal leading to god knows where in our backyard and its cutting into a good Serb's income'," snarked Dragojev before he started ranting.

 

Petar snorted yet remained quiet, General Diković knowing well enough kept his silence as he tried desperately to not smirk or laugh while their Sovereign ranted.

 

Dragojev swore one last time before turning his gaze towards the career soldier, "General, prepare transport to extract this 'device' into a more secure location and ensure that the good Serb who's land we're currently in is paid handsomely for his find, for I have a feeling that this device if it truly can be called that will revolutionize the world somehow," he ordered as the two men nodded.

 

The General departed the command tent without a word, knowing well enough when he was dismissed and went to do exactly as ordered.

 

"Are you sure of what you say, my Kralj?"

 

"Considering that we have nothing but Vodnik Loncar's word to go by, I have no need to doubt my soldier nor his eyewitness. We have nothing else to go by, wild mass speculation will not help us except to replicate how to 'turn' this device back on, Petar."

Edited November 22, 2014 by Rudolph

[Rudolph]

Private
 
Several years later
 
Nebeski Sestara Mountain Military Complex, Maglić Mountain and Volujak Mountain, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
 
The Nebeski Sestara Military Complex was located deep inside the Maglić Mountain and Volujak Mountains near the border between the Bosnian and Montenegrin provinces, twenty kilometers from the nearest settlement and that being the city of Foča. Power came from various sources alongside purposefully made wind farms nearby. Most food was grown nearby in small plots and harvested by members of the base to keep personnel and access to the site small, and also cheap. With most daily supplies being made on-site, no massive expenditures were needed only the regular pay of the soldiers and the purchase of new pieces of machinery or equipment. With the base conveniently located directly under a flight path, most needed supplies could be airdropped in without any foreign government knowing. Heavier supplies got shipped in either through old logging roads or a camouflaged airstrip at the base.

With supposedly nothing interesting happening in Yugoslavia outside of public reconstruction, surely little attention would be given to this area from foreign spy satellites and with no disclosed research being done here, there was no reason to send spies to this area. Yugoslavian Rangers patrolled the area, officially to stop the growth of illicit activity as they were always wont to resurface during and after a war, but really to keep adventure seekers, tourists and everyone else in the public away from the most classified installation in the Kingdom. Internal security was handled by a combination of Jugoslovenska Vojska (JV) and Jugoslovenski Specijalna Operacija Snage Komanda (JUGOSOSKOM).

The internals of the Nebeski Sestara Military Complex were designed for defensive positions against both internal and external threats of all natures. With the Kapija and Kapija control room, referred to as ‘Kapija level’, located twenty-five meters beneath dirt and limestone, and one hundred meters beneath solid rock and only accessible through two elevators and two service hatches, it was thought that no threat could easily move from inside the base to outside the base or vice versa. The numerous checkpoints; including over and between the surface road connecting the two sister bases, between the two separate parts of the complex were independently control on both sides with completely independent controls and weapon systems. With numerous weapon emplacements directed at the Kapija, the ZKK felt confident it could repel any attack. The best defensive system was actually the kapija itself.

The Kapija, through translation of the associated Egyptian material, could only have matter go through one way at a time, and anything trying to enter a kapija from the wrong side, i.e entering an incoming wormhole, was toasted. The Kingdom's military saw an easy solution to an invasion problem; if hostile aliens were coming through the kapija, lay the Kapija flat. All incoming matter would enter and fall back into the kapija destroying it. This also had the benefit of having any incoming projectiles directed towards the roof and one hundred meters of solid Yugoslavian rock.

The kapija was controlled through three massive super computers and adjusted the power and ‘dialing’ of the Zvezdana Kapija. With the base operational the first testing was planned for the only known address FF-0001-09, the same one that Razvodnik Loncar had seemingly gone through.

The first activation would have no one going through the Kapija. It was only to see if it was possible to make it work once more. If it worked, the next stage was a planned team comprised of members from the Kingdom's military to corroborate the testimony from Razvodnik Loncar, to check the qualities of the Kapija on the other side and if information could be sent back and forth.
 
[hr]
 
Private
 
 
K-day (September 7, 20XX)
 
Nebeski Sestara Mountain Military Complex, Maglić Mountain and Volujak Mountain, Kingdom of Yugoslavia

The members of Projekat Zvezdana Kapija waited in anticipation. No one knew how the Kapija worked, or even if it could be replicated after the trip of Razvodnik Loncar through it but everyone wanted to be there and hopefully see history be made.

“Vodnik Vlasic,” Milenko Petrovic Božovic said as he and the rest of the Great Council alongside their Kralj stood within the Kapija control room, “If you would be so kind to start the kapija up.”

“Yes sir!" she exclaimed before focusing on the P.A. system, "Attention defense teams, attention defense teams! Zvezdana Kapija full system test in ten seconds, weapons hot, weapons hot.”

As one, multiple weapons emplacements were crewed and pointed towards the kapija. As power was given to the zvezdana kapija and with the computers working over-time the inner portion of the ring started to move, the glyphs circling underneath the chevrons.

“Oznaka Čina na Rukavu Jedan activated and locked,” as the first chevron glowed before locking the first glyph into position.

“Oznaka Čina na Rukavu Dva activated and locked.”

“Oznaka Čina na Rukavu Tri activated and locked.”

"Oznaka Čina na Rukavu Četiri activated and locked.”

“Oznaka Čina na Rukavu Pet activated and locked.”

“Oznaka Čina na Rukavu Šest activated and locked.”

“Oznaka Čina na Rukavu Sedam activated and locked,” and as the seventh and final chevron of the address was locked into place a giant vortex of energy emitted from the kapija for several seconds. All the soldiers on Kapija level ducked out of surprise and fear of what the zvezdana kapija just did.

“Zvezdana Kapija stable, Kapija system is activated,” Vodnik Vlasic announced as the kapija stabilized into a shimmering surface resembling quicksilver.

“It’s a stable event horizon for a wormhole!" exclaimed Adrijana Temple in disbelief, the leading physicist on the team directed to study the Zvezdana Kapija, "Without any space time distortions outside of the kapija, Incredible..."

“Proceed as planned, ensure that the kapija remains active for one hour to monitor the stability and to test for radiation, and other phenomenon. After that we will shut down the kapija by cutting power to it or trying what we think is the command to terminate,” Milenko ordered.

As the Kapija remained active, various scientist came forward with devices on hand to study and measure whatever they thought prudent.
 
At a little over thirty-seven minutes, an alarmed sounded

“Sir!" exclaimed Poručnik Ateljevic as he stared intently at his computer terminal, "The Kapija appears to be preparing to shut itself down. I recommend that all personnel evac the kapija room,” he called out over his shoulder as Adrijana Temple stood behind the Poručnik, staring too at the data in front of the duo.
 
The Councilor of Defense raised an eyebrow, glancing at his Kralj who nodded before delivering the order.

“Defense teams, immediate evac of the kapija room! I repeat, immediate evac of the kapija room,” Vodnik Vlasic announced on the P.A. system as the defense teams hustled out of the Kapija room as blast doors closed. As the last soldier left the Kapija room the zvezdana kapija shut down with little fanfare and no adverse effects.

“Kapija is off, repeat kapija is off, General Diković to Kapija control.”

“What the hell happened, why did the kapija shut down?” Diković demanded as he entered the kapija control room.

“No idea sir, perhaps wormholes cannot last for longer than….” Adrijana said as she checked the recorded time from her computer terminal, “thirty-eight minutes and thirteen point eight seconds," she answered finally before adding, "It could be a law of wormhole physics.”

“Or it could be the kapija just naturally shutting down on its own timer,” came a voice from behind a bank of computers.

“Who was that?” the general asked.

“That would be me, sir, Aleks Ilic an engineer assigned to the complex. I think it has to do with how special M interacts with energy and the kapija's own internal, for lack of a better word, ‘software’.”

“Special M?” the general asked.

“Sorry sir. The material the kapija is compromised of, some type of metal, M, a high atomic number material with some very special properties. Ergo ‘Special M’," the engineer explained as he adjusted his glasses, "The material is amazing, it can significantly boost any energy given through a transformation of its own material, a strange type of previously unknown fission, it is incredibly strong and can act as both an electrical conductor and resistor in different situations.”

“And you reached this conclusion how, Engineer Ilic?”

“Well, in my own study of the kapija I realized that when it was powered up to the level it needed to sustain a wormhole," Aleks continued to explain, "Special M vibrates at a precise frequency and looking over the data collected, thirty-eight minutes and thirteen point eight seconds is exactly four billion, two hundred and ninety-four million, nine hundred and sixty-seven thousand, two hundred and ninety-six vibrations of the material," he revealed to the group within the command room. "It is the kapija's own internal clock, so to speak. We use the vibration of certain materials for time keeping and so did the group who built the kapija," he stated, laying down the point before he continued, "Since the kapija needed some type of fail safe point, it makes sense for it to be something easy that the kapija can reach. Another point for that is, its two to the power of thirty two vibrations or a great number to count to in binary, base four or hexadecimal.”

“That is a nicely stated argument and could quite possibly be the answer but we have nothing to go on it outside of the fact that we have a maximum amount of time the kapija can remain open, that being thirty-eight minutes. Prepare the drone to go through and assemble the team to follow if the images we see are habitable,” the General stated before turning to salute his superiors.
 
"Wise decision making, General," said the Sovereign of the Kingdom as he walked towards the glass, glancing down at the inactive kapija, "We now have a potential in advancing the interests of humanity if this is a success," he added before turning around and facing the rest of the command room

“Mr. Ilic, two things," the Kralj started as he glanced at the engineer, "One, think of a better name for your metal than ‘Special M’ and two, you're now on the team for the expedition through the kapija. Meet tomorrow at o nine hundred hours in the briefing room. You need to meet the rest of ZK-1.” Edited November 22, 2014 by Rudolph

[Rudolph]

Private

Briefing Day (September 8, 20XX)

Ilic walked into a very full briefing room and found his assigned seat in the front row. With the room built to hold thirty-five people, the fifty or so crammed into it felt almost claustrophobic. Members from all commands in the unified force were present with an equally large amount of civilian scientists, technicians and engineers also mixed within the room. The room went quiet with the military personnel standing at attention as General Diković, Councilor Božovic and the Sovereign of the Kindom walked into the room.

All eyes went towards the ruler of the Kingdom, dressed in the same garb as the military personnel were and carrying the same equipment with the strange addition of a third weapon on his being.

“At ease everyone and take a seat," the General ordered to the room at large, bringing the focus back on the General as the armed forces personnel followed the order without missing a beat while the civilians hesitated for a second before following suit. Diković glanced at the crammed room, noting that adjustments would have to be made in order to prevent future situations, "Since everyone is present and accounted for, the briefing shall start. This is the first briefing for Operation Mali Korak, the first interstellar exploration mission in the history of our species, outside of Razvodnik Loncar's previous trip naturally," he joked to ease the slight tension and excitement within the room, the mentioned private blushing at the mention.

Few laughs could be heard coming through the room at his attempt at humor, but everyone was still tense and hopeful for the up coming mission.

“You have all been chosen to participate in one form or another with this project as a whole, so please hold your questions or concerns until the appropriate time. There is a lot of material that needs to be covered first,” he began as he shuffled the papers within the folder he was carrying.

“The project is a joint venture involving all of the Kingdom's armed forces and key civilian personnel in order to determine what lies on the other side of this zvezdana kapija, to either corroborate Razvodnik Loncar's eyewitness testimony of what lies on the other side or disprove of it. To that end, we have organized three fire teams of soldiers for a total of fifteen professional soldiers," he explained as slides showed to the room what exactly he was talking about, including a newspaper clipping about the unusual and highly dubious yet strange activity of the day that prompted the creation of the project.

 

"ZK-1 will be lead by Potpukovnik Adam Davidovic and he will have overall control, with His Majesty Kralj Belojevic having absolute control when he's present in missions with the team. ZK-2 and ZK-3 will be lead by Poručnik Babić and Poručnik Milic respectively, their main goal being to provide support to ZK-1. Accompanying each team will be two engineers, two archaeologists, two ambassadors, a medic and a computer and communications specialist," he outlined as the slides showed the makeup of each team, "Their roles are to make peaceful contact with anyone we meet on the other side, if there are any sentient life and to troubleshoot possible problems that might occur in their own area of expertise."

"Now, assuming that peaceful contact can be made. Our ambassadors have been authorized to give cultural and limited technological knowledge of our planet," he commented while an aide swiftly went through the room's occupants, giving the mentioned ambassadors a slip of paper detailing their authorization as an official representative of the Kingdom, "They are also there to learn about possible threats to the security of Earth and to try to start-up the beginning of trade between our two peoples or species if they are truly alien in origin."

"If peaceful contact is not made, the military will then be tasked with the destruction of the other kapija and all material that could point to Earth as the location of this expedition.”

 

General Diković then clicked to another slide on his presentation and continued with the discussion.

“To that end the expedition will carry, along with the proper defensive equipment, eight hundred meters of detcord to wrap around and destroy anything deemed necessary. For the gate itself each team will have forty-eight thermite grenades, one for each symbol on the gate and one for each oznaka čina na rukavu. Being able to produce temperatures in excess of two thousand and five hundred degrees Celsius, our engineering division over in the research park believes that it should be sufficient to damage..." he trailed off before turning his gaze towards the recent addition to the teams, "Mr. Ilic, what name have you come up with for the material?” the General asked.

“Sir, I believe that the best names state something about the material or where it was gathered from, so I suggest the name of Kulacite or Unobtainium,” the engineer answered with, a collective groan coming from the scientists at the last 'name' for the material and a few chuckles here and there from the other engineers present.

“Unobtainium it is not, so it shall be Kulacite. As I was about to say, our engineering division over in the research park believes that it should be sufficient to damage Kulacite. If at all possible everyone will be sent through the kapija before the destruction occurs, if not you must all be willing to stay on the planet to ensure the destruction of the kapija," stated the General, shivers going down the spine of a few at the implications of his statement.

"If anyone is not comfortable with this, you are free to leave now.”

The entire assembly continued to face the trio at the front of the room, no one moved a single muscle.

“The mission is planned to occur in twelve hours, ZK-1 being lead by His Majesty Kralj Belojevic. The probe we sent through yesterday, transmitted to us the immediate area of where the kapija is as being a vast plain with a long stretch of a river along with differing sizes of what appeared to be roots, outside of that the area seemed to be completely desolate including the area surrounding the kapija," he stated, leaving out the more detailed description of the ruins that the kapija was located inside of.

"In this month, I expect all the nominal non-combatants to be given basic weapons training and squad maneuvering techniques. The clock has started. Dismissed.”

And with that those final words the briefing ended and the individual members went about their assigned tasks.
 
[hr]
Kapija Room, Planned Deployment Date (October 6, 20XX)

The team waited anxiously in the kapija room as the zvezdana-kapija was dialed, the ZK-1 team would lead first with the civilians following after the immediate area had been secured as they could.

“Oznaka Čina na Rukavu Sedam activated and locked,” Vodnik Vlasic announced as the final chevron was set and the wormhole to FF-0001-09 was established.

ZK-1 stood in front of the ramp leading up to the shimmering surface of the Zvezdana-Kapija, the Sovereign of the Kingdom and his subjects all staring at the pool of quicksilver before the Kralj turned his head to glance at them.

"Well, comrades, I do believe that time waits for no one," he said with a grin on his face  as he started walking up the ramp, the team following him and slowly they dissappeared one by one.

And with little fanfare, Earth's first interstellar travelers in four thousand years departed for destinations unknown.

Edited November 27, 2014 by Rudolph

[Rudolph]

Private

Unknown Location

Dragojev found himself tumbling out of the event horizon, rolling along the floor until he fetched up against a body. "Sorry," he mumbled, shaking the grogginess from his head as he sat up.

"Quite all right, my Kralj," came the steady voice of Poručnik Junilac from the gloom.

"Everyone okay?"

"Yes sir."

"Ow. Yeah."

"Affirmative."

The Kralj peered around at the darkness as he collected himself, more voices joining in to state their current state of health. "This is certainly not in Yugoslavia," he finally concluded before shrugging. He fumbled for a moment before producing a glow stick from a pocket. He snapped and shook it before holding it up. The sickly green chemical light fell across a large cubical room, the kapija at one end and some sort of raised pedestal in the middle of the room. The light didn't reach to the other end of the room, but now that his eyes had had a chance to adjust Dragojev could see the faintest traces of sunlight outlining stairs going up.

"Someone radio in back to command to see if we can establish communications between here and there," he ordered as he glanced back at the kapija. Unlike the one within his kingdom, this side appeared aged and lifeless.

Dragojev breathed in and exhaled, then nodded.

"All right. There's some stairs leading out. Junilac and I will recon. Two of you investigate and figure out what the pedestal is for, the rest of you will secure this room."

Razvodnik Lašić glanced around the dimly lit but nearly empty room, then simply looked at his Kralj. Desetar Bjedov spoke up instead, her gaze traveling around the room. "There doesn't seem to be anything here but the kapija and the unknown pedestal, my Kralj, and it doesn't look like anyone but us has been in here in a long time."

Dragojev nodded, then looked at Junilac and jerked his head toward the stairs. The big man silently followed the Sovereign up and out.

They emerged after a short climb into what looked like a ruined inner hall. The sunlight was here, barely shining through gaps in the walls. The stairs led up further, but large chunks were gone, making it impossible to climb to the top of the temple. Half the roof had caved in in any case, a pile of rubble blocking the only doorway out.

Dragojev bypassed the entrance entirely, walking out through a gaping hole in the wall right next to it and leading to what appeared to be the former courtyard if the ruins of broken walls extending past the aging construct were any indication. The air was crisp and cool, a gentle breeze rustling the patches of grass all around. They had walked into the courtyard of what looked like some kind of ancient temple. It was only barely recognizable; the flora was well on its way to reclaiming the old grounds. The monarch tried gazing farther but quickly found an obstacle, seeing first hand the so called 'Mist' that Vodnik Loncar had reported. It was a heavy and ominous mist that the light of the sun could pierce and even then, it was slight. The Temple Grounds themselves had a more peaceful sense about them, one that he did not trust when taking the Mist into consideration.

"Anything on the old instinct radar?" he murmured.

"I do not feel anything hostile, my Kralj," came the reply. The Serb hesitated, then added, "It seems very...relaxing here. Disturbingly so."

"Yeah, well, this isn't the time for it," the head of state muttered.

"Let's get back inside and secure this position. We're not going anywhere until this forward camp is up and running."

[hr]
The next night, they made camp in the inner hall of the temple just above the dubbed 'kapija room' that was its basement, leaning against the sturdiest walls. The platoon and its Kralj knew then for certain that they were nowhere near Earth as twin moons hung high in the cloudless sky. The moonlight strangely pierced completely through the mist as it fell on the aging temple, reaching through the holes in the tower to settle around the Yugoslavian platoon. Dragojev found the gentle light somehow reassuring, which unnerved him. He eyed the moons suspiciously, then turned back to Lašić who had been telling him...something. "Sorry, what?"

"I was just saying that outside of the pedestal with two rings of glyphs and some sort of hemispherical crystal,there's nothing in or around here. No texts, no artifacts, and whatever may have been written on the walls have faded completely that they might as well not been there at all." Lašić shrugged. " If anyone used to live here, they packed up and moved out long ago." He hesitated again, frowning in thought.

The Kralj stared at him blankly. "Interesting. I don't see how that helps us. But interesting." He cocked his head to the other clear brainiac of the platoon. "Bjedov?"

Bjedov could only shrug too. "Didn't have much more luck than Lašić, sir. The place was wiped clean, although..." She frowned. "A couple of rooms excluding the kapija room and this inner hall showed disturbance in the dust. Clear enough, so something happened here in the past few if not immediate days. There's a column in what I think was the main hall that looks like it may have held something at one point, but the dust had been recently disturbed there, too."

"Any tracks?"

"It looks like there was scuffling going on, but here and there I saw what looked like claw marks." She shook her head. "Outside of Loncar's footprints, we found nothing else."

Dragojev nodded. "Junilac?"

"I surveyed the surrounding area as you requested," the Serb rumbled. "I discovered the beginnings of a desert to the south and to the east I saw what looked to be a massive rainstorm that oddly seemed to be stationary. Beyond that, I found nothing noteworthy."

The last scion of Serb nobility raised an eyebrow before pursing his lips. "All right. Seems whatever Vodnik Loncar reportedly saw didn't stick around, so I doubt they're going to. Tomorrow we go and explore further."

Belojevic made himself comfortable against the stone wall, the light of the moon as good as a blanket. He covered a yawn with his fist, letting his eyes sink shut. "Junilac, you're on first watch."

[hr]

"Shouldn't we have found a village or something by now?" the Sovereign muttered under his breath as he vaulted a particularly large piece of root. After most of the team had woken up and he had chosen those who would explore further with him as they headed east, they had encountered nothing but open green plains interspersed with different sizes of roots for the last few hours.

Lašić began to speak, but Junilac cut in first. "I hear water. Up ahead." The team hurried forward, eventually clearing another big piece of root. They came upon a small river, the water flowing steadily along.

As the others knelt on the bank to refill their canteens from the clear water, Dragojev paced a few steps along it. He froze, spotting a long, huge shadow slithering away from them underneath the river's surface. "Ooookay," He turned back to the others, waving a hand downriver. "We're going to follow the water that-away. Folks usually build towns along the river, right?"

"Yeeeeah, probably," Lašić admitted, frowning at the monarch. "But we're not going to cross?"

Dragojev shook his head firmly. "It's occupied. Keep an eye out for a thin spot in case we need to."

Two more hours passed. At one point they did find a series of stepping stones across the river, that the team quickly crossed after the noble had deemed it safe enough and they resumed their trek east-ward.

The team stopped to take a breather, most drinking from their canteens and resting on the grass while Dragojev and Junilac remained standing as they gazed as far as they could with the Mist continuing to hamper their exploration.

"It's rather disturbing how thick and vast this Mist appears to be, my Kralj," Junilac rumbled as the noble nodded.

"It is. Never have I seen such a mist this vast in my life. It's unsettling," he concluded as Junilac froze, the giant of a Serb moving at speeds that would belay his size as he pushed the noble away, a giant tan-colored stinger having struck the ground where the Kralj previously was. The massive creature that had assaulted them flailed its tail as it tried to free its stinger from the ground, shouts of alarm as the Sovereign and the Poručnik distanced themselves away from the tan colored, scorpion-like monster.

The team had collectively aimed its weaponry at the beast, performing the unneeded order to fire at will at the creature that dared to attack their monarch, sharp cracks sounding off into the distance as they unleashed a veritable hell on the beast.

Dragojev could not believe his eyes as he stared at the slumped creature, massive amounts of green ichor pooling underneath the dead corpse of what attacked him. He shook his head and turned to Junilac, making sure that the Serb was unharmed as he picked up his fallen secondary weapon before walking towards the beast his team had killed. The ruler gently jabbed at the corpse with the metal tip, testing the strength of the exoskeleton before thrusting down in between the two ruby orbs, making sure that whatever had attacked them was truly dead. That done, the Kralj crouched as he left his spear stuck within to observe the bullet holes that riddled the monster and noted that while they had done their job in piercing the exoskeleton, just barely if the depths were any indication. It seemed that whatever made up the creature's exoskeleton was tough enough to stand up to modern ammunition, the only saving grace that had killed the creature was the sheer amount that his team unleashed.

Dragojev frowned as he finally stood up from his observations, the ruler having taken his time as he yanked his spear out of the cooling corpse and heading back to his soldiers before the noble froze, having noticed several silhouettes of in the Mist, getting darker as they approached. He pursed his lips as he thought on what to do, if whatever they appeared to be were friendly, his Kingdom could get an additional ally if it was a proper nation. If they were clearly not friendly, he'd had more !@#$ to deal with.

His decision made, the Kralj made his team stand down unless provoked. Only time could tell if his decision was the right one as the shadows got closer.
 
 
Private

A few miles off from Burmecia

Freya Crescent could only sigh softly as the contingent that she lead followed, their Chocobo's fast on their feet towards the direction where the strange sound originated. The native Burmecian had stopped for a day or two within her city to catch up with her duty to her King before hopefully asking for a further extension to continue her search for her beloved. The thought of him made her heart ache and she steeled herself towards her duty, immersing into her role of a proper Burmecian Dragon Knight.
 
Still, the sound itself was utter strange to everyone who heard it, piercing through the rain that the Kingdom was famous for. That thought and its implications were all that the King had entertained before sending them to investigate it post-haste.
 
Thus, they were en-route and had made good time rapidly as the group of Burmecians neared an unknown gathering of silhouettes within the Mist. The lead Dragon Knight raised her hand and gestured quickly, signalling her group to come to a slow crawl. One Chocobo cried out before its rider calmed it down.
 
The cry itself seemed to have spooked whatever shadows they were looking at, until they saw one begin to move towards them slowly. Its features became more and more pronounced.
 
A human.
 
He blinked as he stared at her with his grey eyes, the wind ruffling his brown hair before he raised a hand to tame his hair from the breeze, three vertical lines of scarred skin running down the left side of his face finally becoming visible as slowly more of the shadows approached while the larger one behind them remained still, more and more humans dressed in the same strange dress and wielding even more strange things. Freya knew that whatever it was, it was a weapon if their handling was anything to go by.
 
They all seemed silent and looked at the one wielding a spear as if waiting for an order. The Dragon Knight was curious as to why this group of humans looked bewildered at the sight of them, after all Burmecians and humans along with the other races had known each other for quite some time now. She snorted at the vast understatement and kept her eyes on the apparent leader of the group, his own eyes wide in shock before he shook his head, barking out in a completely unexpected language.
 
Raising an eyebrow now at the baffling strangeness, Freya truly wondered where these humans were from. Her travels had taken her to every known city on the continent and she had never heard of such a language as the scarred leader barked out orders if it was any indication. Soldiers, she deemed them as she saw the discipline as they fell into a single line behind him, arms raised in a salute of some kind before he turned his gaze back on the Dragon Knights.
 
For some unknown reason, she noticed that he was looking specifically at her before extending a hand to her. Apparent that he did not care of the current difference of heights, Freya took a step further and slid down from her mount with spear in hand. The human smiled widely before nodding, prompting her to take his hand and give it a firm shake in greetings.
 
"Zdravo."
 
Once more, the different language.
 
Freya tilted her head slightly to hopefully drive home the point of her confusion, it took her counterpart a few moments to realize before he laughed openly. Truly, this human in particular was confusing and baffling.
 
"I suppose I should have started in English to begin with but that is my failing for hoping," he said in fluent Common, his baritone voice carrying no known accent that she knew.
 
"Hello. My name is Dragojev Belojevic, the leader of these rascals behind me," he greeted and smiled widely once more, seemingly happy to be able to communicate.
 
"Greetings to you, Sir Dragojev," she started; having repeated the strange name in her head before saying it, "My name is Lady Freya Crescent, Dragon Knight of the Kingdom of Burmecia. I am sorry if I am blunt but what purpose brings you to our lands?"
 
"Pleasure to meet you, Lady Freya, and as for our purpose you could say that we are new around here and would appreciate a meeting of some kind with your Monarch to discuss the situation civilly," replied the human as he leaned against his spear, completely at ease.
 
She mulled it over, not surprised at all over his words when she took their strange language and garb into consideration. Her keen eyes showed that the clothing they wore seemed fit for a king, something that she'd have to actually touch to corroborate with her observations.
 
The Dragon Knight nodded as she came to a decision, "We shall escort you to our capital, I simply request that prior to meeting with our King that you hand over your weaponry to our guards until the meeting is adjourned," she offered as the leader nodded without hesitation.
 
"Reasonable. We agree, let us move forward then," he said in reply before barking orders in his language.
 
Somehow she knew that things would never be the same.
 
[hr]
 
King's Palace, Burmecia
 
Freya was not someone who was usually shocked, not after her constant travels throughout the Mist Continent, not even when they were shown the corpse of the Sand Scorpion riddled with holes of some kind of small arrow. Her suspicions were raised when the leader of the humans changed his behavior to that of a ruler as he entered her King's Palace, carrying the stride of one who ruled fairly yet had his own burdens to carry.
 
She raised an eyebrow when the men he lead relinquished their weapons without hesitation, the clear soldiers to all appearances having full faith in their leader. To carry such loyalty and faith, he must be a rather popular leader she surmised.
 
When her King and the man finally met, the human bowing in respect before speaking the words that indeed shocked her.
 
"Greetings to you, fair fellow," he started with the ease of an experienced noble at court, "My name is Dragojev Belojevic, King of the Yugoslavian Kingdom," he revealed as he smiled warmly at his fellow monarch, "I do believe that we have much to discuss."
 
Being the leader of the Dragon Knights, she was allowed to be present in the discussions along with part of her company. Precaution as well as to keep an eye on the rest of the man's soldiers. What her King and the foreign king discussed certainly shocked and blew her mind if they were true.
 
To think that they were from an entirely different world, one inhabited simply by humans.

Questions upon questions, answers upon answers were divulged in the meeting until Dragojev politely asked her King to send one of his own or several to see that his claims were true.
 
Naturally, she and the contingent she lead to investigate were the ones chosen to go and either refute or cement his claims as the truth.
 
"Are you alright, Lady Freya?" asked Dragojev, shaking her from her thoughts as the band of men and burmecians headed to the ruins of a temple he claimed they entered their world through.
 
"I am fine, King Dragojev," she lied, it would not do to be so lost in her thoughts. She'd also be lying if she was comfortable with all of this, the sheer ludicrousness from how fast everything was going made her slightly uncomfortable. Still, she was a Dragon Knight and they were renowned for not shirking their duty, not even in the face of fear.
 
"There's no need for lies between friends, Lady Freya," he talked low, she raised an eyebrow at how effortlessly the foreign king was able to see through her white lie, "I am sure you won't be the first nor last uncomfortable from how rapidly things are moving."
 
Freya was not entirely sure how to respond or feel at the man having pegged her truly.
 
"I prefer honesty, it's more refreshing than playing the political game, don't you think?" he continued as he smiled at her.
 
Well, things certainly were never going to be the same. That much Freya Crescent, Dragon Knight to the Kingdom of Burmecia knew for certain.
 
 
Private
 
Ruined Temple, Kingdom of Burmecia
 
Freya raised an eyebrow at the decayed temple, the dragon knight wondering how in Master Gizamaluke's sake the strange humans were able to travel to their world. She could not recognize anything as the party neared the decrepit place of worship, the soldiers stationed around the temple's open courtyard allowed them in without an issue at the nod from their leader, the men simply had a bewildered look as they passed.
 
The Dragon Knight remained on top of her Chocobo as the King dismounted of his, gently patting his mount affectionately before turning around to bark in his language or rather a dialect of it. Serbo-Croatian, he called the language. An umbrella for four different dialects of which Serbian was the one he used primarily due to being raised in it. That particular train of thought made her think on humanity's position in his world, being the only race all alone certainly gave food for thought. She certainly sympathized with the humans, the Burmecians in the distant past having thought the same before they started exploring until they met the other two kingdoms and the myriad of other races present in the Mist Continent.
 
Freya mentally shook her line of thought, focusing on the now as a pair of soldiers went inside the aging inner hall of the temple before their King turned to face the Burmecians, "I hope you don't mind waiting a bit, this was not scheduled so I want my people to be ready for the coming shock of their reality," he explained as she dismounted her Chocobo, her fellow knights swiftly following suit.
 
"Feel free to to tie your mounts anywhere, I do imagine that this area is still within the realm of Burmecia so it is still Burmecian territory," he added as she nodded gratefully. After a minute or two, her mount and those of her fellow knights were off to the side, nowhere near any wall or roof that might fall and hurt them.
 
"If you don't mind me asking, King Dragojev," Freya started as she waited alongside the relaxed human who leaned against his spear, her own spear in her hand, "But how many citizens does your Kingdom have roughly?"
 
Dragojev waved a hand dismissively, "Please, Lady Freya, you can call me Dragojev and as for number of citizens, last I recall we had exactly twenty two million, eight hundred and nineteen thousand, four hundred and sixty-eight reported from the last census," he answered rather casually to her shock, "Give or take a few dozen Cigani here and there," he added.
 
The sheer number that his kingdom possessed easily dwarfed all of the three kingdoms and the infamous minor city-state of Treno, and he had the gall to call his Kingdom a middle-sized country when her King had asked about Yugoslavia vaguely. Freya choked in shock before coughing, 'clearing her throat' as she nodded.
 
"That is...quite the population that your Kingdom protects."
 
Dragojev would smile widely, "It's been a labor of love and hard work and I would gladly lay down my life for any of them," he admitted to her as a soldier approached him.
 
"It seems that we have found some technical difficulties. Let us make haste towards the kapija room, Lady Freya," he stated as a grim look fell on his face, the soldier darting back inside of the inner hall as the pair followed behind him.
 
Nothing recognizable popped out to her as they continued on, the temple itself being surprisingly barren of any markers she could have placed from past civilizations that her people knew. The contingent of her knights followed them, climbing down the spiral staircases till they finally reached the basement that the humans had dubbed, the 'kapija' room or gate room in Common, and for good reason.
 
On the other end of the room atop a dais sat a monolithic ring, dark blue in appearance with nine chevrons and from a rough estimate it looked to be seven meters high and quite thick. Glyphs of strange symbols appeared to be built inside of a silver colored inner ring. From what she could guess, the ring was activated if the glowing chevrons were any indication and as the pair neared it, she could see her own reflection on it.
 
"This is what we came through to enter this world of yours," Dragojev said as they stopped in front of it before rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Frankly, we have no idea who or what made it and judging from the reactions so far, I can tell that it wasn't done from this side," the foreign Sovereign explained, staring at the ancient device.
 
"And you said that your people found this several years ago?" she asked the monarch who simply nodded in reply.
 
"For my people and I, we're flying blind as the explorers who charted and discovered the rest of our world," he mentioned before the head of a soldier appeared through the pool before appearing completely into the room, shocking the knights behind her. A smattering in Serbian was spoken before the soldier barked something into a small black colored brick for a lack of a better word.
 
"I do believe that I've made my point clear, yes?" he asked as he stepped back from the dais, gazing at the dragon knight, "Now let's find out what the situation truly is," he added as the King of Yugoslavia started taking command of the situation.
 
[hr]
 
A few days later
 
Unknown Location
 
The famed Dragon Knight stumbled for a bit as a hand steadied her, "It's always a doozy of a step, I've found," Dragojev quipped as the two moved to the side, helping the other Knights from falling flat on their faces after they crossed over. Freya took the chance to observe the room they were in, at least it looked like a room to her but the floor being a strange dull grey put doubt on that notion. In one end of the room were two exits that opened up to hallways and in the middle of the end were windows of some strange material that she could not discern, in front of the peculiar windows stood a rather odd-looking desk with several men and women wearing pristine white coats standing besides it.
 
She noticed the looks they were getting even as an elderly man approached the foreign King, "Wasn't expecting this did you, Petar?" he joked with a cheeky grin on his face.
 
The man, Petar, glared at the King with righteous indignation before throwing a punch at the man, who took it without word nor exclamation of pain. The King's head was turned slightly from the blow before the elderly man shook his head, "Certainly not this earth-shattering discovery, my Kralj. You and the men you lead into this new world found extra-terrestrial life, finally proving that we are not alone," the grizzled man whispered, seemingly full of emotion as he turned his gaze to the Dragon Knight.
 
She saw that his blue orbs were glazed over with unshed tears before he breathed in a shaky breath, the man turned back to the foreign King and bear hugged him tightly. Dragojev was completely unphased, simply taking a few moments to close his eyes and hug the man in return.
 
"Are you able, Petar?"
 
The man nodded as he stood tall next to the King, a smile on his face. "I'll go on ahead and prepare things in Beli Dvor, my Kralj," he said before excusing himself.
 
"You might be wondering just who was that and that, Lady Freya, was Petar Božovic. My Regent and Right-hand man in running this Kingdom," he explained to the slightly bewildered Dragon Knight.
 
"Now that that's over with, let's move on ahead in this little tour of this 'camp' that we've established here," he added as he snapped his fingers, heading towards the desk several feet away from in front of the portal. Freya muttered something to one of her men as they kept to themselves, staring at their strange and new surroundings as she caught up with the King.
 
"Now, my good fellows here, they are...," he trailed off for a second, "Researchers or Scholars in this case. Anyway, we'll discuss the merits of language and words at a later point but from what they tell me, before we leave this room, we need to make sure that any miasma or disease from your world is not extremely fatal to humans here. While I may personally doubt that considering what you have told me, we're going to go the route of extreme caution in order to prevent any possible incidents," Dragojev informed the Knight as she pursed her lips before nodding.
 
"I'll acquiesce to the tests as long as it is only I undergoing them," she said in reply as the King smiled.
 
"Excellent, this will just take a few moments before we move forward once more."
 
[hr]
 
Freya could hardly be shocked at this point, the tests having been indeed done rather quickly and their strange medical machinery reporting that the Burmecians were 'clean'. Of course she was clean, she took daily showers after all! She shook her head before standing next to the foreign King once more, "Anything else that needs to be done?" she asked him.
 
"And we haven't even gotten to the good stuff," he joked before shaking his head, "Everything seems to be picture perfect in terms of health, so right now we'll be getting onto a military convoy to head to my royal palace," he answered before letting out a sigh, "Once there, we'll discuss what to do as the entirety of the world will most likely have heard the rumors of what's been happening the past few days here."
 
"But one step at a time, like I always say," he added cheerfully.
 
Freya nodded, the sharp contrast of behavior from the foreign King was something that she decided to keep an eye on and figure out why if she was to be the go-to person between the Kingdoms. She hoped it wasn't to be as she still had to continue her journey of searching for Sir Fratley, her beloved, but even she knew that it was better to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
 
Admittedly, the 'worst' wouldn't exactly be all bad either as the duo left the room, her knights following her lead as the party made their way down a hallway. Dragojev stopped in front of a closed...gate or something similar to it, glancing at her for a second before nodding, "Are you all ready?"
 
The Dragon Knight turned her vision towards her fellow knights, all of them nodding their response before she turned and nodded back at the Noble who grinned.
 
"Let's get this show on the road."

Edited November 27, 2014 by Rudolph

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Posted with Permission
 
A commercial aircraft would, unless intercepted by one of the many nations between Druk Yul and Serbia, land in Serbia. Aboard it was a private courier from the King of Druk Yul and the Dreamer. He would go to the office of the Foreign Ministry and ask to be directed to the Kralj of Yugoslavia to deliver a very personal and private communique from the leadership of Druk Yul.
 
If so directed, the Kralj would receive the following notification...
 

From the Dreamer,

A stitch in time, a broken hinge, breached open worlds won't often mend.
A gate now opened, has crossed my mind to these things I am not blind.

What have you discovered beyond the void? Has it been preserved on Alkaloid?
I speak in riddle, for less distress. An enemy this letter would make guess.

But you in context know of what I speak. The bonds of time/space you have found weak.
The book wyrm has eaten through the book. On the other side at what does it look?

I sense familiar powers at afar. Yet not known as if world ajar.
Kindred spirits, much like mine, but not of this world and not misinterpreted as 'divine'.

An interested soul,
The Dreamer

Edited September 25, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Maelstrom Vortex]

256 Bit Encrypted, non-standard key
[hr]

The darkest hour upon you comes,
The world you attempts to make undone.
Trust me, when you see the stars fall.