Kingdom of High Tarxa, New Tarxa, High Elven Ville, In A Forest, Austronesian Military Encampment In The Forest.
1st Year of God, Tuesday, 1st Week, 3rd Month Of Jacob
It was now the Month of Jacob, or "April" in the original calendar, and the special operations soldiers had successfully established their forward operating bases, carefully concealed within the natural environment. Some of these bases were situated deep in the forests, where even the most ferocious monsters roamed.
Though seemingly reckless, their positioning was strategic as they have discovered a substance that rendered them invisible to the Magic Beasts' sense of smell and curbed the creatures' aggression.
This allowed them to hide seamlessly within the dangerous wilderness.
Meanwhile, other units set up their bases underground. However, all teams knew they would soon need to relocate as their information networks were fully established.
To facilitate communication across various nations, Floria Melian Shelberry, the exiled Queen of High Tarxa, provided them with a comprehensive guide to the world's common languages.
Even before moving into their designed countries, every soldier was required to study these texts diligently. Once they had attained a basic level of fluency, they were dispatched to their designated countries. Nevertheless, continuous study was mandatory, and they make sure that large shipments of books accompanied their equipment to maintain and improve their language skills.
In addition, to keep contact with the Empire, the special operations officers strategically placed communication devices throughout the nations where their agents were stationed. These devices were hidden with great care, allowing the informants to maintain a direct line with the Empire. Should any attempt be made to tamper with the communicators, they were designed to self-destruct to prevent their technology from leaking to the outside world.
With this network in place, the downtrodden members of each nation, the so-called "inferiors", eagerly collaborated upon realizing that all hope for them is not lost and gave the Empire vital intelligence. Treated as little more than dog shit by their rulers, these individuals used their low status to their advantage and passed on classified information undetected.
To speed up the flow of intelligence, some informants made a daredevil move by moving communication devices closer to their homes in the cities and disguised them among common household items. Because the devices emitted no magical signature, they remained undetectable to local authorities as it was all made by the Empire's scientists who had developed the technology purely through human effort.
To further avoid any suspicion, the inferiors never gathered near the locations of the communicator devices. Regardless of how strange these devices seemed, they placed absolute trust in them, and in the unknown people on the other side.
At first, there were a lot of doubts about the communicator devices. However, once they used them without being discovered by the authorities, their confidence grew, and with each successful exchange, they became more assured and gradually reached the point where reliance on these devices became second nature.
Establishing contact with the humans had been surprisingly easy. The inhabitants of these lands were terrified by the appearance of the special operations officers and their unfamiliar manner of speech. But desperation spoke louder than fear. Tired of living under the heel of the magically superior, constantly abused and oppressed, the humans saw an opportunity for change. It ignited a spark of hope, a small flame of rebellion in their hearts.
However, how long could this secrecy last? With each passing day, more people became aware of the existence of the mysterious individuals and their devices. It seemed only a matter of time before someone with different intentions would betray the operation for personal gain.
Certainly the time is near.
"Mission report complete!" a soldier stated before the communicator device.
After delivering his report, the soldier quickly left the area where the communicator device was, while being mindful of maintaining the utmost discretion. Outside, his superior officer greeted him. The soldier, named Max, snapped to attention, saluting the higher-ranking officer, who returned the salute.
"Max, how's the report?" his commander asked.
"Just the usual, sir. Everything's going smoothly. The number of informants is growing unbelievably fast. But honestly, I'm starting to worry. It feels like something could go wrong any day now," Max replied.
The commander showed a slightly perplexed expression, but he quickly masked it in front of the lower rank soldier by calming his nerves. After all, panic from a leader could undermine the morale of the entire squad, and the commander was keenly aware of this.
"Understood. We need to strengthen our perimeter even more, and make sure our disguised environment remains impenetrable to both the Magic Beasts and the locals. I want everything as stable as possible," the commander ordered.
Max saluted back towards his superior in affirmation and promptly moved to work back to his duties in the field.
Whenever the special operations soldiers distribute the communicator devices, they would immediately leave their forward operating bases to make sure that their positions remained concealed and uncompromised.
Maintaining this delicate balance of secrecy was critical to the success of the mission.
Just then, not far from their base, a lone injured man was moving through the dense forest. He had been walking for hours, desperately searching for the place where he had seen the men in green disappear into. To his despair, he wasn't able to find any of them. Yet, on the following morning, just as the first light crept over the horizon, he stumbled upon something unusual, which is a fishing net, camouflaged with leaves.
His heart leaped with hope. The net appeared to be concealing something, perhaps an entrance. Ignoring his pain, he began to remove the net and pushed through despite the sharp ache in his wounded body. Calm and determined, he crept behind the cover and cautiously moved deeper.
Halfway through, he suddenly felt a sharp tap on his forehead. Startled, he instinctively reached up to touch the spot. Before he could react further, someone spoke, which shocked him and freezed him in place, sweating in fear. He looked up and saw a black rod, expertly camouflaged within the leaves, aimed directly at his head.
More voices followed, speaking in a language he didn't recognize.
Despite the fear that now gripped him, he realized he might have found the people he was searching for.
"I-I apologize, my benefactors," he stammered, trembling with fear, "But I came here with an urgent message."
The foreign voices continued to murmur, growing louder and more numerous, speaking in a language the man had not known or known in his life.
The special operations soldiers, alerted that their base had been compromised, moved quickly to the site of the disturbance. To their relief, they discovered it was only a human, and heavily injured. Still, they couldn't afford any risks.
"Leave at once," one of them ordered sternly, while their weapons were trained on him.
But the man pleaded and dropped to his knees. "Please, I beg you. I have an urgent message!"
After a tense exchange, the soldiers relented. They judged that, given his condition and the remote location, there was little immediate threat. The nearest town was hundreds of kilometers away, giving them enough time to relocate if necessary. With this in mind, they decided to hear the man out.
Before allowing him to speak, they showed him some hospitality. They gave him water and food, which the man devoured eagerly. To his astonishment, the meal was unlike anything he had ever tasted such a rich and nourished meal, which is far beyond what he had expected. He drank deeply from the water they offered, feeling life return to his weakened body.
Grateful for the unexpected kindness, he was ready to share his message, hoping it was worth the risk he had taken to find them.
After the man finished eating, the soldiers treated his injuries by administering first aid with a level of efficiency and equipment the man had never seen such things to exist. He had initially assumed that these mysterious benefactors must possess powerful magic, but now, doubts were beginning to form into his mind. How could they hope to defeat an enemy so vast and potent without the use of magic? Still, he had witnessed enough miracles in his lifetime to place his faith in them, despite his uncertainty.
Once his wounds were bandaged, the man began recounting his story to the special operations soldiers. He revealed that the authorities had discovered the communicator devices, and when they attempted to tamper with one, it exploded, killing an officer and injuring several others.
This angered the authorities and retaliated by massacring the populace wherever the devices were found. The man was only able to escape, though not without sustaining grave injuries, and now begged the soldiers for help.
"I beg of you. Please, save my family and my people." He pleaded, having high expectations and was hopeful of a positive answer, but it all came falling down onto him.
"I'm sorry, but we cannot. Our mission is to gather intelligence on our enemies, not to intervene in your conflict. Not yet."
The man's face paled, feeling his hopes shattering before his eyes, and tears started to form in his eyes as he spoke in despair.
"I am sorry... this is the only way to save my family and my people in the village."
"What do you…?"
Before the soldier spoke, the man pulled a small crystal from his pocket and crushed it in his hand. Immediately, a powerful pulse of energy radiated through the air.
Though nobody could feel it, their instincts told them that this is bad which sent a wave of alarm through the soldiers and were enraged at the man.
"You... you compromised our location?!!" one soldier shouted furiously.
The commander's hand went instinctively to his gun, drawing it and aimed it at the man in rage.
"You fool! Do you know what you've done!?"
But before he could fire, one of his men intervened.
"Commander, don't! We knew this risk was bound to happen. We need to evacuate now!"
The commander hesitated as he clenched his teeth in frustration. But he nodded with a sour look on his face and lowered his weapon.
Just then, a magic circle began to materialize beside them. The soldiers, with their training kicking in, quickly recognized the threat.
"Enemy ambush!" the commander shouted and snapped back into command. "Get your guns, arm yourselves, and prepare to intercept the enemies!"
The special operations team immediately went into position and moved away from the circle as they focused their armaments towards the encampment itself, ready to defend their post.