A few minutes prior to the continuous event,
"Ma'am, orders received from Command," a young intelligence agent reported.
"Let me hear it," the woman in charge of the comms station replied. The woman in charge was Emma.
She was the second in command of the logistics personnel in team Alpha. She had been sent to setup the comms station with a team of the marines from Olivia's squad. Also, she had also been given authority of the comms station.
The young agent continued. "If we are forced to retreat or lose connection, we are to bring as many cameras with us and resume transmitting the moment we reconnect to the grid."
"Hmm, it seems Gabe is predicting something bad to happen," Emma mused aloud. "Very well. Marines!" She called out.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Pack up everything we can into the LMTV without disrupting the camera feeds. Command is expecting something big to happen, and we need to be prepared to leave."
"Yes, ma'am," they saluted and moved to pack up. Only the corporal of the team stayed.
"What about the teams at the event? Do you know what's going on there on-site?" The corporal questioned.
"I don't," Emma said with a downcast expression. "But, if I know Gabe, which I do, then I'd say he's got them as prepared as he could. Now he's just worrying about us."
"Ah right. I forgot your boyfriend threw a fit in the—-"
Emma cut the man off with a punch to the face, knocking him out. She was so quick that no one in the tent saw her move.
"You watch your tongue. Otherwise my team might find itself with an unknown casualty," she said with a frightening expression before her faced turned into a loving expression. "Though, I don't mind him being my boyfriend hehehe…" she continued in her own little world.
The intelligence agent took a few steps back seeing that. "This woman is crazy! She just knocked a god damn marine out in one punch! Who the fuck can do that?" He was absolutely flabbergasted.
In a few seconds, Emma pulled herself back to the real world. "I can't let myself get carried away! If Gabe found out I messed this up because I was daydreaming, he'd never let me out again!" She thought aloud. She didn't even realize that her knocking a marine out could be a criminal offense and would separate her from Gabe.
She moved to the marine and squatted down. She lighted smacked him across the face a few times to wake him up.
"Huh, what happened?" The marine questioned after realizing he was on the ground.
"I don't know. You just passed out while we were talking," Emma replied.
"Weird," he said while getting up. "Guess I should go and help my team pack up."
"Yes, that would be smart," Emma said, politely nudging him out of the tent.
Once the marine left, she turned towards the intelligence agent with a murderous look on her face. The agent immediately felt his life in danger and quickly said to her, "I-I know nothing! I haven't seen anything happen in this tent!" he exclaimed a little too loud.
Emma continued to stare at the man before her face suddenly changed into that of her usual happy expression.
"Excellent! I was worried there for a moment," she said while returning to the Holo console in the tent. She smoothly resumed her job as if nothing had happened.
"Yea, she's batshit crazy, alright," the agent thought once more before returning to his job. He subconsciously stood a few steps further from her from that point on.
—-
At the Alpha event location, Sergeant Mateo Martinez was surveying the area. The researchers where finishing packing their equipment into the remaining LMTV.
The marines had already packed their stuff into the free space in one of the LATTs. The comms station took an LMTV which usually holds only 2 people. The comms station has 6 people manning it. This forced the marines to sit in the bed of the truck with their comms equipment. That left 4 seats free in one of the LATTs for storage since they no longer had the extra LMTV.
Mateo's team had already packed all of their stuff into the LATV. They were just waiting for the continuous event. Mateo turned to watch the active event. It was still incredible to see something so bizarre, even after watching it for hours. The event suddenly disappeared again and communication with Command was restored.
"Sir, orders from Command," Tony reported to Mateo. "A secondary fallback point has been established at the sub-base we passed. The sub-based, KenMarco, will receive a shipment of flares shortly after the continuous event starts. It seems Command is getting worried again. The message emphasized that we are to remain cautious," he finished the report.
"I bet his stomach ache turned to diarrhea during the night. Hahaha," Tony finished with a big laugh at his own joke.
"No, I understand his worries. I've been getting a weird feeling, too, since I woke up for my watch," Mateo said to Tony.
"Oh," Tony said surprised. He didn't trust the Commander but absolutely trusted Mateo. The two had been part of special forces for a long time, even before the ecological collapse. He knew that if Mateo was being cautious, then something was definitely going on.
"I'll let the others know," Tony said seriously.
"I'll go and inform the marines," Mateo replied.
"You're just ganna get one last round of —" Mateo cut him off again. Tony did not understand the concept of the correct place and time.
Mateo walked up to the marine's LATT looking for Olivia. He found her around the back organizing the researchers.
"Olivia," he called out. When she heard him call, she turned around before moving towards him.
"I've got orders from command. Secondary fallback point is going to be the sub-base KenMarco. It was the one we passed on the way here. Command has also reiterated that we need to be cautious here."
"You're being serious. Is something wrong?" Olivia knew that man well. The only time he was serious was when something was wrong.
"I've got a feeling. I guess I'm joining the Commander with a stomach ache of my own," he said with a joking edge to his voice.
"You, too? The hairs on my neck haven't gone down in a while, even when the event isn't active."
"CORTEZ!" Olivia shouted. A grizzled man with stubble ran over quickly. "Get your men and help the scientists. I want everything packed on the double!" She ordered.
"Yes, ma'am. We'll be done before the continuous event." He replied.
"Homes, Whitts, Marlow, get your ass over here! We've got work to do!" The grizzled man shouted while walking away.
"We'll be ready Mateo. You be careful," she said softly.
"You be careful, too," he replied just as softly.
"Remember, we won't have comms during the continuous event. We'll have to stay within vocal range for orders. If we need a speedy retreat, we'll form up like this: my LATV will take point, the LMTV will be directly behind us and the two LATTs will be on either side. Have your marines and the researchers split evenly between the two LATTs.
"If everything turns out fine, we'll just return to the comms station and return the same way we came," Mateo explained.
"Sounds good. We'll get the vehicles formed up behind you. We've only got a few minutes until the continuous event," Olivia replied.
"Ok. Stay safe. We have no idea what's going to happen," Mateo said once more. Olivia nodded in response before walking away to get everything ready.
Mateo returned to the LATV where his team was waiting for him. They all looked at him, expecting orders.
"The continuous event will happen in three minutes. If we need to retreat, we will be taking point and move towards the comms station. If we need to retreat more, we will move towards the sub-base. Questions?"
Hearing that, Ralph spoke up. "Are we cleared for powder or laser?"
"No, until authorized, we are to remain with our Universal E-Mag."
"Damn, explosions make everything better." The team could only chuckle hearing the big man. It was at this time the rest of the vehicles formed up behind their LATV.
"Alright. Form up around the vehicles. If we need to evac, I want to be ready to go in less than 30 seconds," Mateo said to both his team and the marines who had gathered around. The scientists would remain in the LATTs using their handheld devices to get readings.
The soldiers formed up around the vehicles in an orderly manner. They only casually held their weapons, though. They didn't have any reason to think they'd need them. It was more for a sense of comfort than to be ready to draw them. They readied themselves the best they could for an unpredictable situation.
Time passed slowly as the remaining 28 people watched from a slight distance. They were no more than 50 feet away.
One of the scientists in the LATT closest to the epicenter yelled out.
"T-minus 10 seconds until continuous event!" He shouted as loud as possible. "3, 2, 1, Now!" He called once more.
Everyone's eyes seemed to focus on the epicenter at once.
The usual sight that everyone had grown used to played out. The smog twisted aggressively. Clumps of mud rose from the ground as bolts of electricity arced between them. The event only seemed slightly more intense than the previous time.
The teams waited silently, waiting for something to happen. Time passed, and the team members started to breath a sigh of relief. It seemed that nothing else would happen.
Small chuckles could be heard from members as they laughed their nerves off.
One of the marines that were looking towards the comms station suddenly exclaimed.
"Look! Black flare!" The comms station lost contact with Command. Everyone turned to look, stunned. Only Mateo continued looking at the black hole in the center of the event. His stomach took a huge turn hearing that information.
"Everyone, stay alert. Send up a green," he ordered out. One of the marines fired up a green flare. So far, they had no reason to retreat. Everything seemed fine besides losing contact with Command.
Most of the people gathered returned their attention towards the event. It seemed unchanged from its previous activations. Why did it suddenly seem to grow large enough to interfere with the comms station?
Soon, one of the researchers called out.
"Watch out! Something is happening."
Eyes moved towards the event as it suddenly changed. The clumps of mud fell back towards the ground. The arcs of electricity stopped with them. The black hole grew to the full 25 feet diameter the scientists predicted would be the area the strange mental pressure would grow to.
The color of the black hole shifted. It turned iridescent with a strange mix of dark blue, purple, red and green hues. The surface seemed to warp and twist. It looked more like a portal from a fantasy than a black hole now.
The transformation stunned everyone. Seeing the change, Mateo called out.
"Are we recording this? Command needs to see this."
Before he got a response he saw something he'd never thought possible. A small green skinned leg with disgusting, broken yellow toenails was stepping out of the black hole.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?"