The Last Stand Before Elsewhere

The desert stretched endlessly before them, the unforgiving heat beating down on the convoy of battered desert trucks. Dust clouds swirled in the wake of their tires, the engines growling as they pushed forward, deeper into hostile territory.

Bogi sat in the passenger seat of the lead vehicle, his expression carved from stone. His mind still lingered on the men they had left behind—brave soldiers who had chosen to stay and fight so that the rest of them could escape. Ten of his own. Forty of Oliver's.

All dead by now.

He clenched his fists as the thought settled in his gut like a lead weight. He didn't like retreating, but there had been no choice. The enemy had outmaneuvered them, outnumbered them. They had been forced to flee, racing across the desert with Blue Humans on their heels. And now, here they were, heading toward Oliver's mysterious destination, the place he had insisted they reach.

"This better be worth it," Bogi muttered, staring at the horizon.

Oliver, seated across from him, didn't react at first. The man exhaled slowly, his blue eyes fixed ahead, unreadable. "We'll find out soon enough."

Bogi resisted the urge to scoff. There was something Oliver wasn't saying—something more to this mission than he had let on. But now wasn't the time for questions. The real issue was survival.

The radio crackled, snapping him from his thoughts.

"Captain! We've got something ahead!" Luke's voice came through, urgent. "I think you need to see this."

Bogi's stomach twisted with unease. "What is it?"

"An excavation site. A big one. And… sir, I don't think we're the first ones here."

Bogi exchanged a glance with Oliver before grabbing the radio. "Slow down and approach carefully. Weapons hot. We're going in."

The convoy rolled to a halt at the edge of a massive crater. Dust still settled in the air, as if whatever had been unearthed here had only been disturbed recently.

And in the center of it all stood the platform.

A vast, ancient structure, carved from smooth, dark stone, engraved with markings that pulsed with faint energy. The platform was massive—at least fifty meters across, surrounded by crumbling ruins that suggested it had been buried for centuries, maybe longer.

But none of that was what made Bogi's blood run cold. It was the Blue Humans.Dozens of them. Working. Moving with urgency, as if they were in the middle of something they barely understood.

Oliver let out a slow breath. "So that's what they were after…"

Bogi narrowed his eyes. "You knew something was here?"

"I knew something was calling them here," Oliver admitted. "The disappearances. The strange reports from scouts before they went dark. We all knew they were onto something big." He motioned toward the platform. "Now we know what."

Bogi's grip tightened around his rifle. They weren't supposed to find this. Not like this. And now they had no way of escaping.

Luke cursed under his breath. "We're trapped."

Oliver nodded grimly. "If we run, they'll hunt us down. If we hold position, they'll surround us. The only move left…" He lifted his rifle. "Is to attack."

Bogi exhaled slowly. "Fine. Let's do this." The attack began in an explosion of dust and steel. Oliver's men struck first—sniper fire cracked from the ridgeline, bullets slicing through Blue Human skulls as their bodies collapsed like ragdolls.

Bogi's squad stormed down the dunes, weapons roaring. The first line of Blue Humans turned just in time to die, riddled with bullets before they could react. The sand became a war zone. Lazar and Michael led the charge, weaving between broken shattered metal and crumbling rock, pushing toward the platform's base. The air was thick with gunfire and the stench of burning flesh.

A Blue Human warrior lunged, plasma blade hissing through the air.Lazar ducked just in time, driving his knife deep into its throat before ripping it free. Black blood sprayed across the sand.

Michael fired point-blank into another's head, his rifle kicking back against his shoulder. He barely had time to register the kill before another charged at him, its claws flashing. He dodged, swinging his rifle like a club, breaking its jaw before finishing it off with a shot.

Peter and Roki covered the flanks, cutting down enemy forces as they tried to regroup. Bogi moved like a machine, his rifle snapping one, two, three, each shot tearing through Blue Human skulls with sickening precision.

Oliver's squad pushed in from the left, their heavier weaponry tearing through the Blue Humans like paper. Explosions thundered, sending bodies flying as grenades ripped apart enemy defenses.

A squad of fifteen Red Rose soldiers charged ahead, breaking formation in an attempt to flank the enemy from the side. The Blue Humans countered immediately, their unnatural speed closing the distance before the soldiers could react.

"Ambush!" Oliver roared. "Fall back!"

But it was too late. The Blue Humans overwhelmed them, cutting through their ranks with inhuman precision. The fifteen never had a chance—they fought, they bled, but in the end, they fell.

Bogi gritted his teeth. This wasn't going to be a clean fight. "Lazar! Take your team left! We need to hold the front until Oliver's squad breaches their rear!"

Lazar nodded, sprinting into cover as bullets zipped past him. The five Black Gold soldiers covering him weren't as lucky—they took position behind a pile of rubble only to be torn apart by plasma fire. Five more gone. The platform was within reach.

Then, suddenly—The ground trembled beneath them. A low, ancient hum vibrated through the battlefield. The platform pulsed. The platform reacted.

One moment, it was a slab of forgotten stone. The next, it was alive. A low hum vibrated through the ground. A soft pulse of light flickered along the engravings, weaving intricate patterns of pale blue energy. The blood-soaked battlefield shuddered.

The first pillar of light erupted from a corner of the platform, stretching into the heavens like an infernal beacon. The Blue Humans panicked. Their once-coordinated attacks crumbled into hysteria as they began screaming in their guttural language. Some tried to shut the platform down, others attempted to flee. It was too late.

The second pillar flared to life, then the third—The air distorted, like reality itself was unraveling. The half of the Blue Humans' research center near the platform began warping—torn from its foundation. The desert truck closest to the platform started shaking violently—before it, too, was pulled into the energy field.

Bogi felt his body lift off the ground. The world folded in on itself, twisted, fractured— Bogi's vision blurred. His entire body felt weightless, as if gravity itself had been ripped away. The final section lit up. The world exploded in blue light.

Silence.

Then—a sharp breath. Bogi's eyes snapped open, his lungs aching as he gasped for air. His body felt heavy, like he had been crushed under an invisible force. Every nerve in his body screamed in confusion. He rolled onto his side, forcing himself to sit up.

The sky was blue. For a moment, he thought—maybe we didn't go anywhere. Then he saw the two suns. His breath caught in his throat. They weren't in the desert anymore. They were somewhere else.

He turned, surveying the area. Mountains. Towering peaks on all sides, enclosing them in what looked like a valley. The platform was still beneath them, untouched, but everything around it had changed.

Groans filled the air as the rest of his men stirred awake, some clutching their heads, others scrambling for their weapons in confusion. And then came the realization— The Blue Humans had been teleported with them. Bogi's head snapped toward their fallen enemies.

They were laying still, scattered across the battlefield like discarded corpses. Lazar pushed himself up beside him, breathing heavily. He glanced at the unmoving figures. "Are they… dead?" Michael, already standing, aimed his rifle. "They are now." Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger, and gunfire erupted, ensuring that none of the Blue Humans would wake up.

Bogi exhaled, scanning the faces of his men as more of them rose to their feet, shaken, but alive. Oliver, wiping blood from his brow, turned to him.

"So, Captain Bogi…" he exhaled. "What the hell do we do now?"

Bogi looked toward the only way out of the valley, a narrow mountain pass leading into the unknown. He had no answer.