December, 1st, 2019: The story thus far...

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Three weeks ago...

A young hiker in Germany found a cave that had been opened up by the recent earthquake. Feeling adventurous, the man entered the cave and began to explore it. The cavern's walls were far apart and it's roof high. It felt more like a tunnel then a cave. Lost in the cave's appearance, the man slipped and fell into a hole, landing upside down. Luckily his backpack managed to protect his head, saving him. The man looked up and spotted the rather enormous hole he managed to have fallen in, how did he miss something so big? He quickly pulled out his phone to call for help, only to find it no longer had service. Starting to panic, he noticed light from just down the way. Hoping it was an exit, the man followed the light until he found it's source, the much needed exit. He covered his eyes as he stepped out into the light, but before him was not where he had entered. Despite being in the middle of winter, before him was a large field of grass with a lush green forest and a mountain range he had never seen behind it. Even the air here felt foreign to him, it was if he had just entered a whole other world. Slowly walking into this foreign land, he was almost immediately confronted by a large green creature wielding a horrifying looking club. Terrified, he ran back into the cave, attempting to climb the wall get bet back up the hole. As he approached the hole, he felt as if gravity had reversed, pulling up towards the hole. Once again he landed on his head on the other side, scrambling to his feet as he dashed out of the hole back towards the city...

Four days later...

Two police officers enter the cave, investigating the reports of the cave. The hiker had spent the passed four days, trying to warn people about the cave, only to be passed off as another crazy before finally going to the police. Inside the cave, the two officers found the hole in the roof. The first officer walked over to the nearest wall, attempting to climb it. Just like the hiker, he felt himself pulled upwards, landing on his back. Looking up, he could see the hole above him, and through it the other officer staring back at him seemingly standing on the roof. After the second officer made his way through the hole and the two of them left the cave, entering the green landscape the hiker had described. The two were so mesmerized by the scene that neither of them noticed the green beast approaching from behind. The beast swung his club, smashing the head of one of the police officers and barley missing the second. The second officer quickly scrambled for his gun and manged to put the beast down after firing three whole rounds into the green beast's head.

The next week...

News spread like wild fire until the entire planet knew about this mysterious land and it's dangers. While it was on German territory, the rest of the world felt that it did not, in fact, belong to them. Meetings and meetings of world leaders went on for a week and still no decisions had been made. Finally, Germany suggested that they would send a recon force in to scout the lands. Before any decisions about it be made it would be best if they knew more about this land. While the rest of the countries agreed, they asked if that their own troops be placed into this German recon force to insure their say in the matter. Germany agreed and the German New World Recon Task Force was formed.

December, 26th, 2019 Now...

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For the past two weeks, the men and women of the New World Recon Task Force (N.W.R.T.F) have trained at a temporary German base built just outside of the cave for their expedition into the realm. The force is made up of trained soldiers from various countries, split into four groups. The first three groups are recon groups who will explore the lands while the last group's job is to set up and maintain a forward operating base as which to stage these recon trips. Now, after the short two weeks they've spent training, they stand at the entrance of the cave. While many have gone through the cave over the passed three weeks, no one has ever gone farther then a few steps into the new world. These men and women would be the first the venture into the Realm Beyond Our Own...

The small group of 20 men and women which formed the N.W.R.T.F sttod at the mouth of the cave. Before them laid the New Realm, a mysterious world that had opened up just a little more then a month ago. The land was vast and seemingly untouched by man, save for the small guard post set up at the entrance which consisted of a small tower and a wired radio, the wire running back into the cave. The group was divided into 4 teams, with Team 4 being the largest. Once all the troops were through the portal and lined up outside the cave, some rubbing their asses from a rough landing, the leader of Team 1 stepped forward, removing his red helmet before turning to face the group.

"Alright, ladies! Welcome to the New Realm! You all know your orders, at least I goddamn well hope so, so I won't be giving a big speech. Just remember, we don't know what's out here. Don't fire at anything that doesn't look hostile and don't die. Those are currently your two orders. Since radios don't seem to work here unless they are wired, each team will be operating autonomously."
Karl looked around at the group. Different faces all from different countries. Their job was to simply recon to land while the real world decided what they wanted to do.
"Now. Team 2, you are heading to the East, Towards the forest."
He pointed towards the right of the cave opening, meaning the cave was to the south of their position.
"Team 3 has the North, you'll be escorting Team 4 until they get to the middle of the field here. Team 4, you're job is too start setting up a base of operations."
He pointed his thumb behind him.
"And finally, Team 1. You're with me. We are heading to the West over that small mountain range."
Once again, he pointed towards their destination.
"We are all to do a short one-day recon then return here. By then Team 4 will have some tents set up and we'll have some vehicles for longer missions. Today is just to get a feel of the land and recon the immediate area. We don't know what other kind of monsters this land has and we want to make sure there isn't anything invincible before we start sending expensive hardware through. Now, any questions?"
He looked out towards the group, waiting for their response.

Andrew looked up from his book of Slavic Fairytales & Folklore to raise his hand. Considering what the officer described was an ogre from his D&D days, he decided that this might in fact be a source of the legends they all grew up on. Knowledge is power, so it would be a good plan to keep their minds as open as their eyes.

"What if we do find something invincible?" He asked with a smile and waited for the response before asking the follow-up serious question. "Sir, I know we are no science group, but will we be collecting samples? Since we aren't wearing Has-Mat suits, it would suck to have touched some sort of Poison Ivy and not know about it until we are an hour away from the point of contact...Sir."

He tucked the book away in the belly of his flak jacket and shouldered his shotgun. Somehow he still felt under-prepared for this mission, there were too many variables and a clear threat of something green with head-crushing capabilities just past the entrance. The cop had taken out the one, but it surely was not the only tool-using danger they were going to face.

Jack was uneasy the woods and mountains of this land seemed less orderly and much more alien than his hills and plains of Kansas. None of the other places he had gone felt so different as if the air had a chemical his body was not used to in it. He checked his pistol resting in the holster by his leg, it was secure and leaving his assault rifle on his back, pulled it out. A long day ahead of walking he realized no point carrying this the whole time. He slid in back into his leg, but not without the others noticing he had taken it out. Estimating quickly, he had no doubt that they could make it to the mountains and back in one days time, but what was this place really?
"Permission to speak, sir"
Karl nodded an acquiesce and Jack spoke on, "What do you expect to find in these mountains?"

Lucas stood at ease as he listened to the briefing, his eyes flitting over to the mountain range when it was mentioned and shifted his oversized pack to a more comfortable position. While he had a very good reason for bringing half a hospital's worth of equipment, the extra bulk was not going to be welcome when they had to trek through mountains. They had no idea what inhabited this world and even less about its potential pathogens, so to prevent his section from dying of the black plague or some other disease, he was loaded down with extra antibiotics, a gas mask, extra filters, and a whole other host of medical equipment for dealing with viral or bacterial diseases.

When it came time for questions, Lucas snapped to attention and raised his fist. Upon being called, he asked "Sir! If we find natives in this world, will we approach them or just observe them?" As interesting as a new society would be to discover, Lucas was worried about the potential for diseases spreading. Similar things happened back in the old colonial days, where explorers would meet native populations and accidentally spread diseases that the locals had no resistance to. Giving humans a reputation as 'the plague bearers' was not on his list of life goals to accomplish.

Karl stood with his hands behind his back, listening to Andrew's question. The question was obviously not a fully serious one, but Karl answered it regardless, patting the PzF 3 Bunkerfaust on his back.
"Then we make it wish it was. Anything else, Keller?"
He could tell Keller had another question to follow it up.
"Sir, I know we are no science group, but will we be collecting samples? Since we aren't wearing Has-Mat suits, it would suck to have touched some sort of Poison Ivy and not know about it until we are an hour away from the point of contact...Sir."
"Our job is to recon and secure the immediate area. Once we do that a research group will join up with Team 4 and set up at the operating base and conduct research on the local flora and creatures from there with Team 4's help. Until then do your best to avoid direct contact with any of the fauna. If anyone does come up with anything, your team's medic will treat them to the best of their abilities and then will report back here ASAP."
Karl looked over the rest of the group, bringing his attention to Jack, giving him a nod when he asked to speak.
"What do you expect to find in these mountains?"
"Rocks. Other then that your guess is as good as mine. We could find more of those green creatures or we could find something completely different. If we do come across something living, remember the ROE. Do not fire upon it unless you deem it hostile or a danger to you and your team."
Lucas' turn to ask his question was next.
"Sir! If we find natives in this world, will we approach them or just observe them?"
"Current orders regarding local natives that are capable of thought and reasoning are up to team leaders. As I said earlier each team will be operating autonomously. If we do discover a local native then the team's leader will first figure out if the native is hostile or not then continue from there."
He directed the next part to the leaders of the other three teams, but it also applied to the rest of the group.
"Remember, if we do discover and local natives, the chances of them speaking one of our languages will be slim. If you plan on making contact with them keep that in mind."
He spend a few more moments answering questions from the member's of other teams. Soon everyone quieted down and no more questions were asked.
"Is that everyone? Good. Alright, everyone gather into your teams and move out towards your objective point. Team 1, follow me."
He moved back towards the group as everyone went into their assigned teams before heading off in their own directions. Team 1 heading off towards the closer mountains to the west. The mountains looked to only be a few hours hike from their current location. Luckily, the area they were heading too was a more shallow spot in the mountain range, thus the team didn't need to carry climbing gear with them. The team was about halfway to the mountains when they came across a wooden fence. The fence was old and falling apart, it hadn't been maintained in a very long time. The fence ran down up a nearby hill, disappearing on the other side then re-merging farther down, boxing in the area in front of them.
"Looks like a pasture of some sort."
Karl stepped forward, lightly kicking one of the fence's posts.
"I reckon wherever this fence leads isn't too far off. We can probably follow it then still make it to the mountains today. What do you guys think?"

Jack walked along behind his commander carrying his HK416 on his shoulder. He spotted the decrepit fence noticing it coul be a pasture of some sort. Maybe it wasn't so far off from Kansas as he thought..exploring the field could be quite an experience. Why not? They would still fulfill their mission.
"Sir, Why not? Let's follow the fence"
Jack glanced toward either end of the fence he could see nothing seemed to be wrong.

The fence was a surprise to Lucas. He had been expecting to encounter natives of the world some time, but finding something instantly recognizable was comforting. It meant that the inhabitants were not completely alien, had somewhat similar architecture ideas, and were likely civilized. Lucas nodded approvingly at the suggestion that they follow it. "Yes sir, that sounds good. Let's check it out." He shifted his pack as he examined the field. It did indeed look like a pasture, but it was pretty run down... Maybe who ever built this had long since abandoned it? He wasn't a historian or archeologist, but Lucas couldn't help but start to develope theories about this world from every tiny bit of information he got. Maybe the civilization had died out already and all they would discover were ruins? No... a wooden fence would have decayed long before then... Well, there was only one way to get more information. "I want to find out more about this world..."

"I swear to god: if we come up on the ewoks village, I'm going to loose it."
The next two hour or so passed without incident as he tried to keep a lookout for not just the strange, but the familiar as well. Signs of local German flora or fauna, even an oak leaf or chipmunk would be of some reassurance. Then came the fence, he was an army brat and a city-kid so he had no bearing on fences beyond picket-iron-chainlink. But this proved to have both benefits and drawbacks.
Assuming the best case scenario for them, it would be n abandoned dwelling with perhaps some sort of writing and food samples for the science teams to comb over with a fine toothed comb. An abandoned house would also give them a rest point and forward position of shelter against whatever this world might bring. Even a turtle-shell roof against deadly meteor showers. The other chance is to make fist contact with cannibal hobbits who want them to stay for dinner.

"Sir, logic would dictate that this area is corded off for a reason, that means civilized tool using people. Our chances of encountering fauna and local natives that are capable of thought and reasoning goes up exponentially. This fence could be one, ten, or a hundred years old."
He looked to the others in the group for their support or at least to get a read on their faces. He saw the medic having carried so much extra gear to keep them alive, a twinge of guilt struck him. That guilt became an idea to force a break on the group to reconsider following the fence.
"Snider. We're halfway there, do you want me to take some off your back for the next leg?"

Karl nodded in agreement. Their job was to recon the area for any signs of anything, a fence was more then enough reason to investigate, even if it looked like it hadn't been maintained in forever.
"Right. Okay let's move out then. Keeps your eyes open, just in case. For all we know those green things back at the entrance could have made this."
It took the group about 20 minutes to follow the fence over the hill to it's origin. The burnt out ruins of what appeared to be a farm house and a barn, along with some other smaller buildings. It wasn't recent though and you didn't have to be an expert to see that. Most of the ash was gone and plants had started to grow up in some of the ruins, this farm had obviously been destroyed a long time ago. Two things, however stood out. Littered about where withered, burned wooden shafts, probably arrows of some sort. And the other was a dagger sticking out of one of the burnt posts on what would've been the farmhouse. The dagger was in good condition, albeit very rusted, and was most likely placed there after the fire. The final thing that was noticeable was a fading path, that connected to a larger path that conveniently led off into the mountains.
"Well, whatever was here isn't anymore. Hmm... That path there leads towards the mountains, we can take that. If there is an easy way through them this path would probably lead us there."
He turned to the group.
"Right, okay we'll take a 5 minute break and then continue."
Turning back towards the burned down house, Karl started to take a closer look at the dagger. Probably a message from whoever attacked whoever.

"Right ok we'll take a five minute break and then continue"

Jack took a sip from his water bottle and replaced it in his coat. He contemplated sitting on the ground but his curiousity of the farmhouse was greater than the weariness of walking all day.
Jack climbed over the fence walking around to the back of the building. Jack walked into to the barn and looked around picking up a withered stick to look at. It could have been an arrow or maybe a piece of some other tool; a plow or rake.
The building was old and Jack wondered what had destroyed it? Why? Was this place so close to earth as to have wars of sorts? It seemed to be at least as civilized as earth. Fields, fences, what if they had just stumble back in time not into another world? The troll the German police had seen came back to him. No that must not be it. If the building was newer he could tell more he was no expert on this...
He was egar to continue on up onto the mountains standing on the path lookin up seeing if anything coul. Be discerned by the little path.

"Snider. We're halfway there, do you want me to take some off your back for the next leg?"

Lucas shook his head when Keller asked if he needed any help. It was uncomfortable, but not unmanageable. Besides, as a medic he wasn't supposed to do any sort of fighting (unless it was to protect his patients), so it didn't matter if he was a little over-encumbered. "Thanks Keller, but no I'm good. It's just bulky, no big deal."

***

When the group arrived at the house (if it could even be called that anymore), Lucas dropped his pack and joined Karl in examining the dagger, followed by wandering into the house and taking a look around. His curiosity was plainly visible on his face as he did so. The architecture was just like back on earth (albeit, a very early European style), and the dagger looked like something straight out of their history museums... This was odd. How could two separate dimensions have the same basic technology and architecture? Did humans from early in earth's history discover another portal like this and settle here? It seemed unlikely, since something that impressive would surely have been documented in some of the historical records. What about the technological development in and of itself? Could it be that there was general direction which was the most efficient for technological progress, so any civilization would develop along the same lines as earth had? Lucas shook his head, perplexed. He was a doctor, but questions like this were still far above his pay grade.

When he finished investigation, he walked back over to Karl and remarked "Seems odd eh, Sir? Everything here looks like it could have been made on earth maybe 500, 600 years ago."

"Seems odd eh, Sir? Everything here looks like it could have been made on earth maybe 500, 600 years ago."

Karl grabbed the dagger, giving it a small wiggle as he yanked it out of the post. The dagger was thin, decorated with a mixture of long, straight lines and curled short ones. The blade itself had two curves in it and looked more ornamental then one meant for use.
"Maybe, but people 600 years ago at least knew how to make proper blades. Whoever made this preferred looks over use."
He examined the blade a bit closer before shoving it in one of the empty pouches he had.
"Alright, time to go. Weirden, Keller! Break times over! Let's follow this path here. It'll be easier and probably safer."

The small dirt path obviously hadn't been traveled on in a very long time, though a few animal footprints could be spotted on it. Guess no one had any reason of visiting a burned out barn. The dirt road was long, but eventually lead to a larger one. The larger one ran off into two directions, one towards the mountains and one towards the forest. The larger dirt road also looked like people used it recently, fairly recently. Footprints, horse tracks, wheels and some other unidentifiable tracks littered the road. This pretty much confirmed that people still lived here. Karl squatted down, getting a better look at the tracks.
"Maybe something of a main road?" He looked up, scanning the horizon in both directions.
"Might just be a slow time in the day. Alright, we'll take this to the mountains." He stood back up, motioning towards his men to follow. The road was long and very empty, after another two hours of walking the group didn't come across anything else except for the occasional road sign. The letters on the signs were various circles and spirals. Obviously not a language from their world. At each sign Karl took pictures of the lettering in case they'd need to translate it later. Around the third hour mark two figures appeared in the distance. People. Karl started running situations through his head. Should they jump of the road and hide while they pass? Should they try to apprehend them, see what they could learn from them? Thinking over his options, he quickly decided to go with the best one that would draw the least attention.
"Safeties off, but no sudden movement. Just keep walking. If they look like they are going to try something you may fire. If this truly is like the times of old, then four oddly dressed people won't stand out too much."
Karl flipped his MP7's safety off, keeping his finger resting just outside the trigger guard in case they were hostile.

Lucas flipped the safety off his carbine with a metalic click and took up the rear of the group. Who were the people they spotted? What did they look like? Were they human? Alien? Monsterous? Oh in his heart he truely wanted to take the lead and be the first to get a closer look, but the situation demanded that he stay in the back incase shit went sideways. Wouldn't want the medic to be the first casualty of an alien attack. *ThumpThump ThumpThump ThumpThump* His beating heart betrayed his excitement. First contact, oh what a time to be alive! And he was part of the group doing it!

Andrew had hung back and kept his head on a swivel. Patroling the outer range, he took photos of the structure from all outsides. He let the others do the exploration and did indeed take the offered break to snack on a power bar then wash it down with a swig of his canteen that had a packet of kool-aid in it for flavor and a sugar boost. It was something his family did back since nam.

When it was time to be boots up, he took third position and switched from shotgun to grenade launcher in case they encountered anything heavy. As they came upon the tracks, he took a picture of them for the eggheads back at base, the boss was taking pictures of the signs. But now it was time for first contact.

Firing an explosive into the group was a recipe for disaster, so he switched back to shotgun but kept a relaxed position. His weapon was armed with alternatig rounds of birdshot-buckshot-slug. He set his phone to record and put it in his chest pocket. Hoping for the best and planning for the worst.

The group continued down the road towards the small group of locals. As the group grew closer they could clearly see two things, one was that there was two locals, and two was that they were running. The two were running at full speed down the road, occasionally looking over their shoulders. Karl held up his hand, signaling his group to stop, people don't just run for no reason. The locals didn't appear to be armed and the way they kept looking over their shoulders made it obvious that they were running away from... something. Behind them another group of people emerged. There was about 15-20 people in the second group and they appeared to be chasing the first. As the two locals drew closer to Karl and his group they started screaming at them in a foreign language, pointing at the second group and making gestures indicating that they should run too.
"Don't follow them. Hold positions."
As the locals passed the group, they slowed down still trying to urge them to run, shouting at them in their own language.
[UNTRANSLATED]
Once it was obvious that Karl and his group weren't running or listening to them the two locals sped up again running past them and down the road. By this time the second group where much closer, and it was obvious they weren't normal people. Their skin was a pale grey, their eyes pitch black. Some were missing limbs, chunks of hair, an eye or two, and some didn't even have clothes on. The group stumbled over each other as they ran towards Karl and his men, with no hint of stopping or going around. They way they looked and acted were almost like a zombie from horror movies. Karl raised his rifle. Whatever they were, they were hostile and his team's protection was priority one.
"I'm deeming this group to be hostile. Everyone, get ready to fire. Small arms only. Take out the ones in front and work your way back."
Karl squeezed the trigger once, sending a bullet right into the chest of his target. The grey runner stumbled back from the force of the bullet but kept running. Karl hit him with another two rounds, center mass. Again the grey runner kept running. Karl raised his rifle a bit higher, sending a fourth round into the head. The bullet passed through it's skull, dropping it like a rock. A little part of Karl was upset that he knew to do this from watching those horror movies.
"Forget center mass, aim for the head!"

Behind the group, the sound of gunfire made the two locals stop running, both turning around to look at Karl and his group.