Dimensional Travels: World at War-Chapter 58: "Crawl, Walk, Run."

Liam looked into the forest, his weapon unslung as he looked through the scope, and then he chuckled.

"It’s a rabbit."

The sentence hung over the three before they collectively laughed. Jessica fake pouted as she crossed her arms under her chest.

"You told me to be vigilant." She said, fake crying. Liam continued laughing while the watch NCO peeked out of his office. "STOP LAUGHING AND GET BACK TO WATCHING!" He shouted.

The three settled down.

"Yeesh. Nothing gets past the goddamn fossil." Liam muttered as he slung his rifle, Manning the .50 cal again.

"You’re telling me." Kane responded. "One time he threatened to PT me because I forgot to take my Nods to night watch."

Liam shook his head, focusing on his vectors. "You moron, how are you going to have night watch without nods?"

Jessica stood there between the two, confused as their banter went back and forth like a volleyball match. "Uh, what are nods?"

That lead to another round of laughter.

Liam finally answered. "Thats the terminology we use for ’night vision goggles’, or NVG’s’".

Eric watched from his office, noticing the trio get along well for their first shift together. A subtle smile was on his lips when a soldier walked in. The smile disappeared as he Eric noticed the stack of papers.

"Fuck me." He groaned inwardly.

"As requested, Master Sergeant, here are the ISR reports for the areas surrounding Vegas and the dam over the last three days."

Eric began sifting through the reports before nodding. "Thank you bud." He said while walking back to his desk.

After work, Eric stood at the top of Battalion HQ. He watched while Jessica acclimated with Liam and Kane. The trio were acting like young soldiers on guard duty, with a watch NCO coming out occasionally to yell at them.

"Remind you of something?" A voice called behind him, and Eric turned around to see Hammond approaching.

"Yeah, except you used to PT me until I couldn’t move my arms or legs." Eric grumbled in response.

Hammond laughed while patting Eric on the back.

"She’s a tough one, that ’puppy’ you adopted. Just make sure she doesn’t turn into a cryptic bastard like you." He walked back into the building.

Eric followed soon after. He took one last look at Jessica and headed down to the command room.

"Alright, here are the reports for the last scan at Esponia." Eric said as he laid out some documents. "I think the Empire is moving again."

The staff leaned forward as they looked at the scans. Groans and murmurs followed his assessment as the various officers agreed. "Can’t they just let us be for a while." A Lieutenant in the back whispered.

Due to the silence in the room, everyone heard the outburst.

No one addressed it.

"Alright. Movement is on their territory on the other side of the mountain." Milano said as he looked at the location for a large camp on the mountains.

"We are still consolidating infrastructure and manpower at each of our new outposts. We will not be pursuing conflict. Maintain overwatch, and have the bradleys stationed at the encampments watch the north side of the mountains."

Milano then turned to Eric. "I want you to form a QRF team that will respond if the Empire sends their own troops. We need to be ready for any possible outcome. I believe it is most likely they will try to target our new infrastructure. If what Jessica told us is true, they have more heroes from Earth over there. They will know what that sphere is, so the empire likely does too."

After assigning soldiers to the QRF, Eric handed out radios. "Keep these nearby at all times. Have your equipment ready and available in case of an emergency contact." He looked around, making eye contact with each soldier. "Do not be late if called. People will die."

Liam looked at Eric as he finished speaking. He shared a glance with Jessica, who was standing behind Eric. His hands clenched as if trying to prepare himself mentally, releasing a breath he was holding in.

"Roger Sarn’t." He said with the rest of the group.

"Dismissed." Eric responded as he turned to Jessica.

"Lets go. Mia is waiting for us with dinner." Jessica stood there blankly, her body frozen as she looked up at Eric. "How do you do that?" She asked quietly, shock written on her face.

Eric simply patted her on the back, walking towards the entrance of Battalion HQ. "Years of practice, kid. It never gets easier, but to build the life you want to, you have to push on and move one foot in front of the other."

Back at the house, Mia had already set and prepared dinner. She was reading through reports while waiting for Eric. Her own commander had stopped her from missions when he found out she was pregnant, but he had reports sent to her in order to cross reference data Riemskin had at hand.

"Fuck." She said with hands trembling. The last picture she had in her documents was from the Battalion, and she stared at it so intently she didn’t notice Eric or Jessica walk in. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Mia?" Eric said as he walked into the house. He saw dinner ready, and dishes in the sink, but his pregnant wife was nowhere to be seen. "Mia?!" Eric said again as he checked their room. She still didn’t answer.

He then checked their office. Jessica came running down the hallway. "She’s not in any other roo- oh."

Mia slowly looked up at Eric and shoved the picture to Eric. "I need to get a few more pictures of this. As soon as possible. If it is what I think it is, we need to get rid of it. And get rid of it now!"

Eric listened to his wife and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her and hugged her. "Okay." He reached for the radio as Jessica saw the picture too. Her eyes widen as well and her body stiffened. "Is that the mana suppression circle?" She said, her hands trembling as she put down the picture.

"I think so."

Jessica sat down, slumping against her chair. "Oh no..."

Eric heard the words "Mana suppression circle" and looked at the women with arched eyebrows.

Before he could ask, Milano answered his call. "What is it Dryer? Is that baby finally here?" A gruff voice answered on the other side of the line.

"I wish that was it, sir. My wife is asking for every picture we have of the Empire encampment. There is a circle like structure she wishes to study in depth. Sir, she is saying that this is urgent."

Within an hour, Eric had a stack of reports and pictures in front of him and the two ladies. Jessica and Mia were studying a few of the pictures and cross referencing the newest pictures with the oldest.

"Yes... its a Mana Suppression Circle." Mia finally said after the last bite of her dinner. She held her stomach as Jessica took their plates to the sink.

"What is it?" Eric asked, noting the size of the structure. There was a circle drawn in a large clearing at the middle of the camp. Runes were written along the edges.

Mia sighed as she responded. "It doesn exactly as it sounds. It suppresses mana interaction between humans and the environment. Any mana use backfires on a human using mana, and in some cases it has been known to kill people with high mana affinity. "

Eric nodded as he heard her response. "Alright. I definitely need to report this up then."

He grabbed the radio again, calling Milano.

"Sir, I am coming in with my wife and Jessica. I advise you to gather the other leaders. The information they have is vital."

At the Battalion command room, soldiers in various states of dress sat in their spots while Eric walked in with Jessica and Mia. He had Mia take his seat, while the OIC offered Jessica his.

"Alright, speak." Milano said, his arms crossed.

Mia was the first to break the silence. After explaining what the mana suppression circle was, she pointed towards the last few pictures taken.

"It is not complete yet." She said, continuing her explanation. "These circles in the back do not have the full rune count needed for the full effect. If we act now, we can destroy it before it is activated."

Milano paused, taking a moment to evaluate the circle. "How can we destroy it, and how far is it effective for?"

Jessica spoke up. She looked it Milano.

"Whenever the Empire used it in battle, the furthest forward we pushed from the circle was up to three miles. As for destroying it? There was only one time it was used where it was destroyed."

"A battalion of mages used earth magic to send large rocks and destroyed it using physical force." She finished quietly.