The chosen and the guards stood there, their weapons pointed at Laz as a heavy tension hung in the air. Laz sat their smiling at the leader of the chosen, not an ounce of worry in his body or gaze. The men, steadfast and ready for the order, held their guns and braced for firing. The chosen raised their hands at Laz and prepared their elemental skills, also awaiting the order that should come any second.

But it never did come as the leader stood there, frozen in place as he stared at Laz. His blonde hair and chiseled jaw made him seem like he had come straight out of a modeling ad, but the scars on his body and rough hands let anyone who looked close enough know that he wasn’t a man who lived an easy life, even if he was young.

As for why he was hesitating, it all had to do with what he saw in Laz’s eyes, an endless and deep well of power and bloodshed, one that dwarfed anything he had ever seen in his years on the battlefield or since he had gone in the special job position he had now.

Oliver Hesh had awakened as a chosen and had seen the heaven’s open up before him revealing a power that had never been seen before among the chosen. Added to that was his already impressive military career and ability to remain calm and focused no matter what the situation meant that he was on the fast track to a high seat of power and leadership in the coming era, one that everyone had to agree was coming quickly. Governments were now being taken over by Chosen and those that supported them as a silent take over was happening all over the world. Even those that tried to resist found that against something they didn’t understand, plans and schemes were useless. Leaders and their supporters disappeared or changed their minds daily. When regular humans were elected or put in command after a campaign focused on human rights and controlling the ’freaks,’ few, if any, of the public knew that these normal people had an entire party of chosen backing them up.

And if one traced it back far enough, Global Sciences would come up as one of the biggest backers of these new leaders and governments and James Mann was a part of Global Sciences. His entire team was a capture and kill team that Global Sciences funded and backed even if his official employer was the US government.

Thanks to his skills and ability along with not losing his mind, he was rising quickly and had the job record behind it to back it up as well. Despite that and all of the infected he had seen, he had never felt this nervous before in his life and it was that feeling, one that he never ignored stopped him right now.

"You’re not stupid huh? Not like the others I’ve seen. I’m glad that it seems like there are some of you who are normal even if you’re now considering still making a move. At least your danger sense didn’t get fucked up. Still, I’m guessing you’re currently wondering if their was information that was withheld from you, aren’t you? Well, chances are it wasn’t withheld, it was just a little outdated. Don’t let that bother you though. I have no intention of acting against you all while you’re here as long as you and your men keep their cool. If they don’t... well... I can’t say I will overlook your transgressions so do keep that in mind. Anyway, I’m not your primary concern here, am I? I was just a side job compared to the gate you’re suppose to be investigating so my suggestion is you focus on that and we can do this ’thing,’ whatever that may be, after you’re done. Deal?" Laz said, looking up at the man in front of him.

Oliver fought the decision in his mind over and over again before finally asking, "You’re not planning on interfering with this gate?"

"Nope. Just a very strange coincident that I am here right now. In fact, I would honestly love if I didn’t even see a gate again for a few years, at the very least," Laz replied, honest in his statement.

"What’s going on here?" Sven and Dr. Anton asked as they walked in the girls behind them bringing food out to the men who were all pointing their guns at Laz.

"Nothing. Just wanted to make sure that the extra was ok," Oliver said before lowering his own hands and waving for his men to do the same. They did, surprised. They had heard the words that Laz had spoken and had expected a fight to start at any second to shut this arrogant kid up. But to their surprise, their leader ordered them to sit down and eat and ignore Laz for now.

While surprised, the normal humans did as told while the other chosen started to ask questions. One look from Oliver was all it took to shut them up they. He wasn’t just their assigned leader, he had proven that fighting with him was just a way to get themselves hurt badly for no reason. None of them were stupid enough to repeat that mistake.

As the dishes were passed out, everyone ate in peace and quiet, but only after one of the chosen had tried grabbing Shelly’s ass. Laz had been paying attention and one cough from him was enough to freeze that chosen’s hand in place as he suddenly felt a feeling of dread come over him that made him want to burst into tears, a feeling that only stopped when Oliver stood up and slapped the man straight in the face for his behavior.

Shortly after that, The captain came with all of the information Oliver had requested and sat down to eat as well, noticing the still free Laz and wondering why they hadn’t detained him just yet.

Later after dinner when the two men were alone in the command room, Captain James voiced his question. Oliver looked the man dead in the eye and looked deeply. It was only after a moment when Oliver saw that there was only pure curiosity in the captain’s gaze that he answered.

"That man is far more dangerous than what you told us about. So for the moment, until the operation is over, we will let him be on his own. Now show me what the satellite scans showed you?" Oliver commanded and the captain handed them over. He had been looking them over ever since they had come in, but he couldn’t believe it and had asked for confirmation several times. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Each time was the same response, "There are no errors."

"So there are dozens of beings right outside the gate. And there are even these larger heat signatures on all side of the cavern? That’s...." Oliver couldn’t believe his eyes. He had seen dozens of gates and although most had been duds, gates leading to nothing but blasted rock drifting in the middle of space or gates that that had been buried deep underground, he had also gone into a few gates that contained intelligent life or resources that couldn’t be found on Earth.

This was the first time he had encountered a gate that had seen people from the other side of it move faster than them.

"We need to get there and scout the place as soon as possible. Get me the weather report and topography report of the area. We need to head out as soon as there is even the slightest window of opportunity," Oliver commanded the captain.

The opportunity came two days later. All the men and chosen had been on standby, Oliver keeping them in disaster preparedness in case the need arrived while at the same time, ordering them to avoid Laz at all costs.

The ride to the gate took several hours and a few detours. They were in constant contact with the station the whole time while the captain maintained a signal with the mainland whenever the weather would allow. As such, the information was being sent back almost as soon as they were retrieving it.

Laz sat in a mediation out on the roof of the station, his gaze in the direction the party had gone two days prior. Even with the below freezing windchill and stone size bits of hail coming down, Laz was perfectly comfortable sitting and watching. He knew they would arrive today and that they would find the entrance from above ground before making their way down to see what was going on.

Laz also knew that something in the ice cave had sensed their approach but had decided not to do anything about it just yet.

’That’s going to end today,’ Laz thought as they made their way below ground, his spiritual sense hidden by the natural energy their bodies were giving off.

Laz saw them arrive below ground, walking on the path towards the gate while keeping their weapons at the ready. Laz also saw when half their chosen and every one of the human escorts were killed in just under ten seconds once they reached the main chamber.

The craziest part?

The creatures that did so looked like human shaped lizards.