My thoughts run rampant with anticipation, nothing but positive excitement was at the forefront of my mind. Carefully hidden within the mental cracks however, is the feeling of utter disbelief.

The knowledge of crossing a portal into what is likely another universe is something that can easily shake the very foundation of anyone's understanding of the world. I may not be a scientist but I know shit like this just shouldn't be possible.

Random distortions flash across the surface of the rift, preventing it from achieving any sort of equilibrium with its colours. Looking ever so alluring.

It was nothing short of spectacular, strongly urging me to step forward right into the bright swirls, to see and to discover what is on the other side. Even with the extensive briefing we had, I just had to see what lies beyond with my own eyes.

The temptation was too appetizing to even consider resisting. My feet acted on its own accord and before I was even aware, I am on the verge of entering it.

Just one more step....

Being in the lead, also entails being the first of my team to be in physical contact with the rift. So I attempt to mentally and physically prepare myself as best as I could for what is to come.

Will it be solid, or semi permeable, what is the exact explanation for this phenomenon? Why is it in such a remote place. This new string of thoughts begin to plague my mind.

Thin tendrils reach out to me from the rift as soon as the tips of my rifle made contact with the edge of it, looking quite alive as if awakened by my presence. Calmly those ghost-like trails crawled all over the rifle, eventually spreading onto the tactical gloves that shielded my hands from the cold.

Despite its invasive movements I wasn't at all alarmed due to being told about its effects, or rather its lack thereof. So I brush it off in favor of making a grin instead.

Holding onto that grin, I turn my head to the side, sparing a glance to the operatives behind me. With a final nod to my men, I proceed forward into the rift.

Beautiful swirls of colours wash over my face being only stopped by my visor, then coming to entirely surrounding me as I made my way further inside.

No longer could I feel the snow cushioning my steps, neither could I tell what was directly in front of me. I know I am on solid ground, every step taken was on something but with the blinding light, I couldn't tell what exactly the ground I'm walking on is made of.

The journey went smoothly, aside from the disorienting swirls of silver and blue. Walking onward without pause despite the intensity of the light, I paved the way for the rest of my team to follow suit.

I wasn't sure if i still walked in a straight line...

Eventually, both the intensity and colours that washed across my vision began to give way to hazy shades of green. My eyes are fixated on those colours.

As time went on, these blurry shades quickly became clearer and more pronounced. My watchful eyes eagerly continues its focus on it, watching them shift into more sharper and defined features.

The backdrop of light abruptly vanishes, no longer clouded by its blinding effects clarity returns to my vision.

That wonderful light show ranks as one of the weirdest yet amazing experience of my life hands down. A strong urge wells up, telling me to go back to the colourful void, but right now I know that's not an option. I'm not here to explore, I'll leave that to the researchers.

Turning my attention back to my surroundings, the sight of natural greenery is the first thing that flooded my eyes, distant mountains surrounded me and by extension the rift. The military side of me instinctively assessed the weather conditions as well as the terrain and quickly concluded the surrounding lands will be quite a hassle to traverse through.

Strange thoughts occupied my mind regarding this alien world, called New Eden by the scientists. But with such earth-like conditions, it would be a stretch to classify this world as alien.

Curiously i turned around towards the rift looking for signs of my fireteam, noting them all stepping out of the blanket of light, taking cautious footsteps with heads shifting left and right. No doubt clearly stunned by the strange experience. For all of us, this moment marked the first time we crossed the portal between earth and New Eden.

The reassuring warmth of this world began to melt away the thin layer of snow that stubbornly clung to my armor.

My calculating eyes swept back forward, using the moment to desperately capture the experience into my mind. There is no doubt this is a once in a lifetime experience.

"Just what the heck have we stumbled upon?" I blurt out to no one in particular, too stunned to say anything longer than a short sentence.

It is safe to say the others had a similar train of thought, again judging by their sweeping gazes.

The towering Mountains that surrounded this area meant we are in quite an isolated position, there seems to be only a couple of areas from which we are able to leave this area by foot.

My heads up display lights up with small blue squares several dozen meters away at the forward outpost we apparently have in this world.

My analytical eyes hover over every part of it, storing the new found information to the back of my mind.

From the moderately sized prefabricated buildings to the small contingent of scientists decked in their distinctive white hazmat suits.

Nothing escapes my attention.

The perimeter was littered with well over twenty anti-air turrets, programmed to shot down anything in the air that is unidentified. Only recently installed in response to the disappearance of a certain group of explorers, serving as a stark remainder of why we are here in the first place.

My train of thought shifts upon seeing blue icons on my Heads Up Display moving towards me from the forward base. Those people stuck out like a sore thumb with their grey armor.

In total I counted four of them, the Identification Friend or Foe system tags them as members of Fireteam Angel.

All of whom are clad in the same intimidating armor my team wore. They are fellow soldiers of the secretive UN Special Operations Group.

Looking back, I direct my team to follow my lead towards the outpost, drawing their attention away from the admittedly beautiful scenery.

As we get closer to each other, I am able to absorb every detail of the other Fireteam. With keen observation, I am able to tell which one was the team leader.

There isn't a way to describe how I instinctively knew, it's simply an acquired observation skill I picked up. As a leader myself, I am pretty sure I have the skills needed to notice the traits commonly associated with being one.

Both teams continued to march towards each other, professionally holding rifles with the muzzle facing downwards, our footsteps are audible being rhythmic thumping as armored foot met hard soil.

Once close enough, my left hand extends to give my greetings to the lead member of the opposing fireteam.

I shake his gloved hand, clearly noting the firm and rigid grip. The soldier gave off a stone cold aura that spoke of many years if not a decade or two of experience, even the identical armor he wore failed to mask his confident aura.

"Narkis Hadar, I lead Fireteam Angel." As I suspected he indeed is the leader.

I reply in kind, keeping up the mask of professionalism, "Second Lieutenent Jerome Simmons, Fireteam Desert."

We loosen our grip after a couple of shakes. After the trivial greeting is done, I swiftly move my left hand to my armored cheek, hovering over a button.

Laced with excitement, and with perhaps the thrill of the upcoming mission, I rest my wondering eyes on the welcoming cerulean blue of the morning skies.

I compose my thoughts and speak into the radio, intending to update the higher ups back at earth. "Desert One to UN command, RV with Fireteam Angel successful."

"We are operationally green, now ready to commence search and rescue mission, acknowledge?"

The wait for a response begins, while the clouds drifted peacefully in its place high above the skies. Both my men and those of Fireteam Angel showered me with expectant gazes that were visible even through their helmets, anxiously waiting for the go ahead.

The silence feels empty, although it was somewhat mitigated by the soft breeze and the almost inaudible ruffling of grass.

After a full minute of standing still, the anticipated reply comes in through the radio channel shared by both fireteams, giving everyone an ear into the conversation.

"Affirmative Desert Team leader, proceed with caution over." Finally, I internally remarked while rolling my eyes. I was almost caught again by the beauty of the surroundings in the ensuing silence.

I immediately respond, adding a decisive edge to my voice. "Understood, now proceeding on foot towards Expedition 6's last known position over."

"Command acknowledges, also be advised should the natives pose a threat to the mission, you are given full authority to engage them."

"Understood, we'll get those men back Desert One actual out." I have a hunch these people might have something to do with the disappearance of the explorers.

I make a mental note to keep an eye out for any signs of those people, what little we know comes from images taken by aerial drones, there is a strong possibility of them being innately hostile given recent events.

The brief radio conversation is over, I turn in a way to face the rest of the accompanying soldiers then jerked my head slightly to the side, signaling my intended direction.

Once done with that, I turn my head back towards the front, clutching my rifle tighter in both hands. Despite the circumstances of this mission, this simply was another to add to my team's long string of successes.

But even so, that doesn't mean we can get complacent for even a moment. My eyes faithfully scan the horizon always processing the terrain, plotting the quickest and easiest routes.

Which led to me spotting an exit between the gap of those two mountains, confidently sure everything is in good order I instinctively begin leading the way towards that area. The same path those explorers most likely took less than four days ago.

Being highly experienced soldiers, the soldiers to my rear didn't need to be told even once to fellow orders so i didn't take a look back, instead trusting that they were all following my lead.

The footsteps pattering behind me was all the reassurance I needed.

The sun was shining down on me at a low angle, embracing me with the soft reassuring glow of morning, placing my mind in a state of peace, relaxing my rigid pace by an almost unnoticeable margin only detected by me.

Focusing my attention back on my surroundings, I nod in approval at everyone's movements. Me and Angel team leader are leading our respective Fireteams in the classic wedge formation.

Although we technically aren't a squad, the movement techniques can easily be applied to both fireteams in a similar manner.

My team formed the lead fireteam while Fireteam Angel acted as the trail fireteam, professionally positioned twenty meters away from us behind our rear, thus securing securing our flanks.

We had quite a distance to cover before we pass by the gaps between two enormous mountains, so we quickly take off at a fast pace. It helped that we didn't carry our usual load seeing as this is a simple search and rescue for a group whose last known position was less than a hundred kilometers away.

The gentle breeze, the native birds, my mind enters a state of absolute tranquility. The birds were soaring high above, flying through the air with their innocent chirps gracing my ears every so often.

My thoughts are struck frozen by the jaw dropping atmosphere around me, my pulse rises not from tiredness or fatigue but from excitement, quick and strong enough to hear it in my head.

What a beautiful world...

We walked for quite a distance until we made it out of the valley, turning towards our point of origin, my wondering eyes areimmediately drawn to the bright anomaly from which we came from, the dimensional rift.

Even at this distance, the brightness is still very noticeable.

I have mixed feelings about the anomaly, for one it shouldn't even exist in the first place, let alone lead into this disturbingly earth-like world.

Savoring one more look, I decide that's enough and avert my gaze away from it.

'We have a lot of ground to cover if we are to reach our destination with plenty of sunlight to spare.' I reminded myself as I look north west.

"Gentlemen target location is sixty clicks this direction, no stopping for rests along the way, i know that won't be a problem for us." I announce, eliciting confident nods from my team.

Contacting the leader of Fireteam Angel via radio was my next course of action.

His reply came in the form of a brief "roger". Satisfied that all things are in order I begin to hand signal my fireteam to continue onward, with me leading the way.

We proceed down the hill, mindful of the seemingly loose clumps of rocks so we didn't step on them. After a dozen minutes of descending, we reach the base of the hill, giving way to a relatively flat area. Now unhindered by the mountainous terrain our pace increases.

Occasionally I spared a glance back at the retreating figures of the mountains chains that housed the rift at its centre, wondering to myself why the hell it appeared.

And why did it connect us to this world? It was a question I tried to came up with an explanation to, only to fail. But at least it kept the gears in my mind busy through the long and mostly uneventful walk.

Twenty minutes into the walk however, I decide to shift to the rear of the formation to initiate in small talk with the Angel team leader to get to know his origins better seeing as his name didn't seem western nor Asian.

==========

It appears Angel team leader was a former operative of Isreal's Yamam. A group known world wide for being elites in counter terrorism and hostage rescue. Middle eastern in origin.

"What made you decide to join UNSOG?" I innocently inquired, curious as to why he would join a group way out of yamam's usual zone of operations.

While waiting for his reply my eyes are set on a six limbed reptile in the distance, I recognized that animal from the briefing.

The middle pair of limbs looked like the wings of a bat while the front and back pair seemed to be its regular legs. Scientists back at base classified it as a dragon-like organism, only without the fire breathing aspect. Incredible to see it with my own eyes, even if it is from a distance.

If I'm not wrong, it's called a Banshee. Predatory pack hunters, significant threats in the air.

"Well." He begins. I turn to face him, pushing aside my wondering thoughts.

"Being in the Yamam was good for Israel's safety but the world is a bigger place and full of dangers, I could make more of an impact as part of the Special Operations group." Narkis replied.

His simple statement held so much meaning, despite it being relatively short.

He gave up his comrades in the Yamam as well as the familiarity of his homeland to receive a bigger purpose to fight for in life. In that regard, I understood him completely, I had to turn my back on my own family, because of a yearning to find a distinct purpose in life, a purpose which I knew.....can only be found in the military.

So many years has passed since that life changing realization, time really goes by without me even noticing.

=========

We marched on for eight hours, along the way we had multiple encounters with more of the native wildlife though thankfully those encounters were all passive. The sun is now on the decline, having passed its peak height.

Even at the fast pace we are going, breaks aren't needed as most of our weight is supported by our exoskeleton, allowing us to feel as light as a feather so to speak.

Further into our journey we are now around 59 kilometers out from our point of origin. If anything happens, it will be quite a while before any help arrives.

A quick check is made on the local map given as a reference, which leads to me confirming we are indeed closing in on the approximate position expedition 06 last made radio contact.

This area is where the scientists somehow all went missing, we must be careful. My eyes are constantly darting left and right, always drawn to the tiniest of movements, which in many cases are the leaves of the many trees as they swayed in response to the gentle breeze.

Slowly, those trees and brushes became increasingly packed, eventually becoming quite a hassle to traverse through. Visibility becomes an issue due to the dense vegetation, everyone wordlessly moves out of formation to settle into a single file to maintain visual contact with each other.

I am second from the person in front of me who acted as the point man, noticing he had his gaze towards a certain direction. Out of curiosity I follow his example and spot an area clear of the vegetation directly in front of our advance, about 50 meters away.

It seems to be a clearing, highlighted by the absence of trees. That raises my suspicions, making my eyebrows furrow in confusion, it looks as though it was artificially made, if the fallen tree trunks are anything to go by.

I hold up a clenched fist, informing the rest behind me to halt, thus stopping our advance. The point man was Douglas, he spares a questioning glance back at me.

Moving my hands through a mixture of signs, I give a new order to spread out into the squad line formation running perpendicular to our advance, with each soldier roughly ten meters apart. This maneuver will slightly hinder our ability to coordinate by sight, it is a trade off I can live with since it allows for more eyes to cover a larger area.

Both UNSOG fireteams muttered their affirmatives through radio, going into their respective positions like phantoms, no movement seemed too sudden or wasted.

Overall command was unofficially given to me seeing as I had the most experience in navigating in unfamiliar terrain. My fellow operatives trusted my judgement, I will not let them down.

Above us scattered strands of light pierce the forest canopy, illuminating the thick layer of vegetation beneath, allowing everyone to see in added clarity what we have stumbled upon.

There is no mistaking it for anything else, this is definitely artificial.

I continue to advance forward, disregarding the ominous tension around us.

My eyes peer through the vegetation for any possible signs of the missing personnel only to come up empty handed, there is nothing aside from the numerous trees that lay silent.

There didn't seem to be any of the native animals around us, it was as if me and my men were the only things here that are not plants. No birds could be heard happily chirping away above us, not since entering this forest.

The large clearing ahead is more or less deserted. I move forward, encouraging the rest to follow my lead. Our movements against the knee deep vegetation causes a lot of noise to be generated in this unexpectedly quiet forest.

Unhindered by anything, everyone pushes onward until our boots came free of any sort of contact from the forest undergrowth. It was a strange feeling to be on a tropical deployment, nothing quite like the savannas in Africa that is for sure.

Now what course of action should we take next?

As the one in command, I knew I had to make a decision quick and not allow my train of thought to be clogged up by uncertainty.

The objective is clear, find the missing explorers and bring them back. It was a tall order however, I was surrounded on all sides by a sea of green leaves. There was nothing man made in visual.

I whisper my thoughts, irritation dancing over my eyes. "There has to be something here..." We continue to spread out in a vain attempt at searching, until one of my men stumbles onto something.

"Jerome! look here." An urgent voice yells out, giving me hope.

Reacting to the call, I turn left to face the soldier who called for me. That voice came from Desert four also known as Robert. A good and reliable soldier in my books.

He was beckoning me to his position, drawing the attention of the others. A possible hint that what he apparently found is of significant importance.

"What is it, what did you find?" I asked, making my way towards his position with a slight spring to my steps, curious as to what he has found. Dead leaves are crushed in the wake of my hurried footsteps.

"Sir, the marks on this particular tree. They aren't natural look." He points to a section on the tree trunk, around shoulder level.

I lean forward with a hint of disbelief in my eyes. "What the...?" The indents resemble geometric shapes. It was something no animal could have possibly made.

There is a semi circle with a star in the middle of it engraved into the bark, just below is a scribble of lines that vaguely reminded me of written language based on the way they are positioned.

"Good eyes Sergeant...." I remark with tense eyebrows.

I turn to face Robert once again.

"Do you think it could be the work of those humanoid people?" I asked in a suggestive tone.

"Ten bucks says yes to that, there isn't any other way I can see this being made." There was an audible pause before he continued on with his speech.

"This is definitive proof, the indigenous people here have written language." He points out, gloved hand tracing the lines engraved into this tree.

Well, this is above our pay grade...

"Scan it, once we return we can hand over the image to the scientists back at Cygnus station for analysis." I said, giving that order to Robert.

Once photographic evidence of the markings have been captured, the search and rescue mission continues.

Using my helmet enhanced senses of sight and sound, I scan the surroundings for anything that would be out of place in this forest. The silence begins to seep under my skin, as I stare at a trail of footsteps.

Distinctly human shaped footprints are visible on the ground, it can't possibly be made just by the six guys of expedition six, we aren't the only ones prowling the woods.

"Continue the search, stay on your guard guys." I promptly reminded them, growing increasingly weary of our surroundings.

No previous footage or image exists showing them up close, there's no telling how dangerous the natives are. Careful steps are taken as multiple eyes seared into the wilderness for any signs of life.

Everyone crosses the clearing, coming into contact with the dense foliage on the other side.

A collected voice, amplified by the surrounding silence came in through the internal speakers, initially startling me.

"Fireteam Desert, this is Angel Two do you read me over."

I prepare to answer back, pushing aside my thoughts and speculations. "Desert One actual reads you Angel Two, send traffic over."

"Torn pieces of standard UN scientific attire has been found on my location, they match the colour schemes worn by Expedition 6 personnel, we need your unit here ASAP over."

The implications brought forth by the torn clothing does not sound good in any sort of context. Definite proof that something out there is hostile.

I gesture at my fireteam to form up on me in preparation to rendezvous with our counterparts. Our rifles are constantly sweeping the perimeter, keeping us aware of our surroundings.

"Copy that Angel two, Fireteam Desert is on our way, secure the site immediately, we are a hundred meters from your position ETA is 1 mike over."

"Some of the pieces also show severe signs of burn damage." Narkis cuts in, his voice sounding grim.

The dark green atmosphere of the forest now has me on edge. Even with the moderate lighting from the forest canopy above, numerous places remain untouched by the light, it was a testament to how tightly packed the forest really is.

"Everyone scan your sectors as we move, lots of places for things to hide." I reminded them.

It didn't take long for us to link up with Fireteam Angel, and indeed upon closer examination the torn remnants are confirmed to be from expedition 06.

The details of their disappearance has yet to be fully ascertained. But I know there's a good chance they're dead. So much for search and rescue in that case.

I bend down to retrieve a ragged piece of the white environmental suit off the ground, immediately noting the dark red tinge on the underside. A closer inspection reveals it to be dried blood, estimated to be around two to three days old, coinciding with their last known transmission.

I voice my suspicions. "Where are the bodies?" Muttering loud enough for everyone nearby to hear it, some swiveling their heads to look around in response.

If the cause of death were by hostile wildlife, the bones at least should be nearby. My eyes scan the surroundings with careful focus. The area seems to be in quite a mess, splintered branches and blackened leaves litter the ground by the dozens. There was a struggle here, that much is certain.

Amongst the debris of burnt wood around where we found the fragments of a suit, my eyes pick up the distinctive colour of silver about an arms length away. Curiously, I reach down to retrieve whatever that thing is.

Well hidden within the dense undergrowth is that silvery object, and despite it being caked in dirt I was able to tell it was a camera.

More specifically, it was a head mounted camera, like a GoPro.

My eyes perk up upon this realization, around me gathered a small crowd of curious soldiers.

Robert was among that crowd, he speaks up in an excited tone. "That is a Head Cam check to see if it's still operational."

I dust off the dirt. "Alright."

Despite the damaged state the camera is in, the power button was thankfully still functioning. With a gentle touch from a thumb, the screen marred heavily with dirt flashes to life.

"Hopefully this thing will tell us what happened during the expedition of 06." I muttered, curiosity bubbling underneath my skin.

Rampaging through the lists of video recordings, I scroll all the way to the top, eagerly selecting the latest entry. Knowing the others would also like an eye into the recording, I stand back up and wiped away the offending dirt off the screen, allowing those beside me easier viewing of the video.

Before actually paying giving attention to the video, I made sure four soldiers from both teams are on guard while the vulnerable half, which included me watches on, hoping the camera will give us an insight into the tragedy that befell them.

===Entry # 37===

"27th of March 2046, Richard Gotthold," a voice in an ecstatic tone said.

People in full body Environmental suits could be seen from the point of view of the head mounted camera. They march through dense foliage similar to where we are now.

"Expedition 06 has entered dense forests, around 60 kilometers northwest from point of origin, latest Intel from aerial coverage indicates we are nearing the area where the indigenous humans are sighted, courtesy of our drones," the same man, which we now know of as Richard commented.

He acted as the eyes of the camera and subsequently us, rotating his head left and right capturing the magnificent sights of nature. A tense silence followed afterwards on our end, its almost certain the people in this video are all dead.

"Richard! Refrain from speaking too loud, we could be attracting their attention." Another voice off screen hissed, sounding like it came from a man in his late 40's.

Immediately the video swiveled to the far left, to home in on the person who said that. "Relax David, besides even if we do get first contacted we have our sidearms as protection, they don't seem to be very sharp on the technological end."

As we continue to watch on I note the video has reached the halfway mark, it was a pretty short clip unfortunately.

Richard then speaks up, this time in a noticeably quieter voice. "As of now the expedition is still on schedule, contact with command was made about an hour ago."

After a brief pause, he continued. "We are now heading westwards to hopefully get some detailed...." The statement abruptly ended, accompanied by the violent jerk of his head, and by extension the camera.

The other explorers also turned to face in a similar direction towards the source of the commotion, the violent rustle of vegetation. Obscured by the foliage were streaks of white and red.

"Wait wait... it's them!!" Someone cursed, as the streaks of white and red came out of the foliage, revealing it to be several of the native humans. Clad in sturdy looking metallic armor, and holding intricately designed rods that had pulsating crystal-like objects at their tips.

One of the armored humans at the forefront attempted to speak to the expedition members, a loud outspoken female by the looks of it.

Our guys couldn't respond nor comprehend what was being said. The language the natives spoke were completely unknown. Awkwardly they stood still like a deer caught in the headlights.

Encouraged by the lack of a response, the armored humans started marching menacingly forward towards the explorers, forcing them to draw their pistols in defense.

There was a bright flash up of blue light coming from one of the rods held by those people. The white and red armor they wore was intimidating in the sense that it asserted the dominance of the wearer.

Shortly afterwards, the video ended. We now know who exactly was responsible for the disappearance. It is possible all six were killed or captured, maybe even a mixture of the two.

"I'll inform UN command of our find." Declared Narkis, as he taps into the radio waves.

As for the camera it still held vital Intel about the environment due to the many videos it held in its memory banks, so I slipped it into an empty ammunition pocket on my inner thigh for safe keeping.

After getting a glimpse into what happened to the people we were sent to search for. I am fully convinced the surrounding greenery harbored untold dangers.

"Jerome, what should we do now?" Douglas grimly inquires.

I answer back with a frown, "Wait for further instructions from command."

Perhaps recon drones will be sent here to scan the area for anymore remains we may have missed.

Everyone is on edge, wordlessly getting into a defensive circle with fingers gently hugging the trigger. At the center of this defensive maneuver stood Angel Team leader, currently relaying our situation and findings back to command.

The only thing I can think of while my armored cheek rested along the side of my assault rifle is how this discovery will affect our overall perception of this world.

===end==

Rage is an emotion that is extremely powerful, a person would be a fool to not use it but you must control it well or it will destroy you.