No One's Point of View

"Contact left side!"

The warning appeared in both soldiers' HUDs a fraction of a second before the voice reached their ears.

Red diamonds flashed across their displays.

Three hostiles.

Andy Santos Yan dropped to one knee behind a shattered concrete barrier, his rifle already shouldering itself into position as the optic linked with his visor.

The battlefield stretched before him.

Smoke.

Ruined buildings.

Burning vehicles.

Tracer fire cutting through the evening air.

"Three infantry confirmed." Andy reported calmly.

Joan Frostwire slid in beside him.

"I see them."

Her launcher rose.

The fire control system painted firing solutions across her display.

"Send it." Andy said.

Joan grinned.

"With pleasure."

Thunk.

The 25mm round left the launcher.

Half a second later it detonated above the enemy position.

The explosion showered the trench with fragments.

Two red diamonds disappeared from both soldiers' displays.

The third immediately moved.

Fast.

Too fast.

Andy tracked the target through his optic.

The hostile vaulted over the trench wall and sprinted toward a damaged building.

"Runner."

"I got him."

Andy's rifle barked once.

The smart round corrected slightly during flight.

The fleeing soldier collapsed before reaching cover.

The final red diamond vanished.

For a moment, the battlefield fell quiet.

Then every warning indicator in their HUDs lit up at once.

A large contact suddenly appeared on both of their HUDs.

The symbol dwarfed every other contact on the battlefield.

For a moment, neither soldier spoke.

The system attempted to classify it.

Then a designation appeared.

T-45 GROM MAIN BATTLE TANK.

Hostile.

Andy immediately raised his rifle.

"Well that's not good."

Joan zoomed her display toward the approaching vehicle.

The massive tank rolled through the smoke like a steel fortress.

Missile pods lined its turret.

The main gun looked large enough to engage aircraft.

The ground shook beneath its tracks.

"That's a Grom?" Joan asked.

"Looks like it."

"I thought they only made a handful."

"Apparently they made enough."

The tank's turret slowly began turning toward their position.

Joan took a step back.

"Tell me you've got something for that."

Andy stared at his rifle.

"...I have a very strongly worded objection."

"I doubt that's enough." Joan muttered, staring at the tank through her HUD. "We'd need a battleship to deal with that thing."

Andy snorted.

"I don't disagree."

The massive vehicle continued its advance through the smoke, utterly unconcerned by the firefight raging around it. Tracers ricocheted harmlessly from its armor. One missile streaked toward it from somewhere behind the friendly lines.

The tank's active protection system intercepted it before impact.

The resulting explosion barely slowed it.

Andy watched the footage stream across his display and shook his head.

"Yeah." He said flatly. "We're fucked."

"That's a little pessimistic."

"Joan, my anti armor options currently consist of a smart bullet and positive thinking."

She considered that for a moment.

"Fair."

The tank continued forward.

Slow.

Deliberate.

Unstoppable.

Its enormous cannon traversed across the battlefield, searching for targets.

"Well..." Joan said after a moment. "It's slow."

Andy glanced at her.

"That's your silver lining?"

"Hey, if it was fast too, I'd be concerned."

"You aren't concerned now?"

"Oh, I'm extremely concerned." Joan replied. "I'm just choosing to focus on the fact that it's taking its sweet time getting over here."

Andy sighed.

"Joan."

"Yeah?"

"If a tank is large enough to have its own weather pattern, speed isn't really the issue."

Joan looked back at the advancing behemoth.

"That's a fair point."

Neither soldier took their eyes off it.

The ground trembled again as the tank rolled forward.

Then every warning indicator on their HUDs lit up simultaneously.

The joking died instantly.

A shrill alarm sounded in both of their helmets.

WARNING.

WARNING.

WARNING.

The words flashed across their vision faster than they could read them.

Andy immediately checked the sky.

Nothing.

No missiles.

No aircraft.

No artillery signatures.

Joan was already cycling through sensor modes.

Thermal.

Radar.

Lidar.

Nothing.

"What the hell is happening?" She demanded.

"I don't know."

That answer bothered Andy more than he cared to admit.

Military systems weren't supposed to react like this.

They either identified a threat.

Or they didn't.

They didn't have panic attacks.

Yet every system they possessed seemed to be doing exactly that.

A new notification appeared.

UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED.

The warning flashed once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then the battlefield disappeared.

Both soldiers froze.

The feed from their drones vanished.

Satellite data vanished.

Friendly markers vanished.

Enemy markers vanished.

One moment their HUDs had been cluttered with information.

The next they were staring at empty displays.

"What the..."

Joan never finished.

The ground shook violently beneath them.

Not from an explosion.

Not from artillery.

Something else.

The air itself seemed to ripple.

Like heat rising from asphalt.

Except it was everywhere.

The battlefield.

The sky.

The smoke.

Everything distorted.

Andy felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

A pressure built inside his skull.

Like someone was trying to squeeze his brain through his ears.

"Joan!"

"I feel it!"

The warning alarms became deafening.

Then suddenly stopped.

Complete silence.

The battlefield froze.

No gunfire.

No engines.

No radio traffic.

Nothing.

Andy slowly turned his head.

The T-45 Grom had stopped moving.

Its tracks hung motionless above the churned earth.

Smoke from a burning vehicle was suspended in midair.

Even the drifting ash had frozen.

For a brief moment, neither soldier understood what they were seeing.

Then a crack appeared in the sky.

A thin line of brilliant white light.

It stretched from horizon to horizon.

Joan's voice was barely a whisper.

"Andy..."

"I see it."

The crack widened.

The world groaned.

Not a sound through their helmets.

A sound through reality itself.

The frozen battlefield began to fracture.

The sky shattered like glass.

Their HUDs exploded with errors.

CRITICAL FAILURE.

SIGNAL LOST.

SATELLITE LINK LOST.

POSITION UNKNOWN.

POSITION UNKNOWN.

POSITION UNKNOWN.

For the first time in his military career, Andy's navigation system had absolutely no idea where he was.

That realization lasted less than a second.

The crack consumed the horizon.

White light swallowed the battlefield.

The Grom.

The ruined buildings.

The soldiers.

Everything vanished.

And then the world disappeared.

There was no sensation of movement.

No falling.

No acceleration.

No impact.

One moment Andy existed.

The next, he didn't know where he was.

Or if he was anywhere at all.

White.

Nothing but endless white.

His body felt weightless.

Distant.

Like he was floating in warm water.

His HUD continued throwing errors across his vision.

SIGNAL LOST.

NETWORK LOST.

GPS UNAVAILABLE.

SATELLITE CONNECTION LOST.

The warnings continued until even they vanished.

One by one.

Until only darkness remained.

Then, pain.

Andy sucked in a sharp breath.

Air flooded his lungs.

Cold air.

Real air.

His eyes snapped open.

The first thing he saw was blue.

Not the gray haze of a battlefield.

Not smoke.

Not clouds.

Blue.

A clear blue sky.

"What..."

His voice sounded weak.

Confused.

He immediately rolled onto his side and reached for his rifle.

Training.

Muscle memory.

Instinct.

The NV4 was still there.

His hands found the familiar grip.

The weapon's status display glowed softly.

Functional.

Good.

Andy sat up.

And immediately froze.

The battlefield was gone.

There were no ruined buildings.

No burning vehicles.

No artillery craters.

No smoke.

No tank.

No enemy soldiers.

Instead, towering trees surrounded him on all sides.

Massive trunks rose toward the sky.

The forest was unlike anything he had ever seen.

Untouched.

Ancient.

Alive.

Birds chirped somewhere overhead.

A gentle breeze stirred the leaves.

The entire scene felt wrong.

Not dangerous.

Wrong.

Like a movie set.

Or a simulation.

His training screamed that something wasn't right.

"Joan?"

No response.

He stood.

"Joan!"

Still nothing.

A knot formed in his stomach.

His HUD flickered.

He immediately checked it.

Most of the display had gone dark.

No satellite connection.

No navigation.

No battlefield network.

No command channel.

No friendly tracking.

No drone telemetry.

Nothing.

The system was essentially blind.

Andy stared at the empty sections of his display.

For the first time since joining the Army, he was completely disconnected.

No command.

No support.

No one.

His breathing slowed.

Training took over.

Assess.

Adapt.

Overcome.

"Okay..." He muttered. "Find Joan."

A rustling sound echoed through the trees.

Andy instantly dropped to a knee.

Rifle raised.

Safety off.

The sound came again.

From his right.

Roughly thirty meters.

The undergrowth shifted.

For a brief moment, relief washed through him.

Joan.

Had to be.

Then a pair of glowing red eyes appeared between the trees.

Andy froze.

The creature that emerged wasn't human.

It wasn't even close.

Black fur covered its body.

Its forelimbs ended in massive claws.

Its mouth was filled with teeth that looked more appropriate on a shark than a land animal.

The thing stared at him.

Andy stared back.

The creature tilted its head.

Confused.

Curious.

Hungry.

Neither moved.

Then his HUD attempted to identify it.

UNKNOWN LIFEFORM.

DATABASE MATCH: NONE.

The words sent a chill down his spine.

His system had no answer.

That had never happened before.

The creature's lips peeled back into a snarl.

Andy slowly tightened his grip on the rifle.

"Yeah..." He whispered. "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

The creature lunged.

And Andy pulled the trigger.

The RFL1A2 DMR roared.

The recoil pushed into Andy's shoulder as the 7.62 round crossed the distance in a heartbeat.

The creature's head snapped violently to the side.

Blood, or something resembling it, sprayed from the impact.

The beast staggered.

But it didn't fall.

Andy's eyes widened.

"What the..."

Every instinct he possessed screamed that the target should be down.

A direct hit to the head from a 7.62 round wasn't something most living things simply walked off.

Yet the creature recovered almost instantly.

Its glowing red eyes locked onto him again.

Angrier this time.

The snarl deepened.

The beast took another step forward.

Andy didn't hesitate.

The rifle barked a second time.

Then a third.

The creature jerked as both rounds struck center mass.

One punched through its shoulder.

The other hit just below the neck.

Still it came.

"What the hell are you?"

The creature exploded into motion.

It charged through the undergrowth with frightening speed, tearing through bushes and low branches as though they weren't there.

Andy's combat training took over.

Unknown target.

Unknown durability.

Increase firepower.

The DMR thundered again.

And again.

Each shot landed.

Each shot should have crippled it.

Yet the creature continued closing the distance.

Thirty meters.

Twenty five.

Twenty.

A cold knot formed in Andy's stomach.

For the first time since arriving in the forest, he felt genuine fear.

Not because the creature was charging him.

Because it was surviving.

His HUD flashed.

UNKNOWN LIFEFORM.

DATABASE MATCH: NONE.

THREAT LEVEL: UNDETERMINED.

"That's not helpful!" Andy snapped.

The creature let out a guttural roar and lunged.

Andy fired again.

This time the round punched directly through one of its glowing red eyes.

The effect was immediate.

The creature stumbled.

Its charge faltered.

It crashed into the forest floor and rolled through the dirt before slamming into the base of a tree.

For a moment, everything was silent.

Andy kept the rifle trained on it.

Finger resting on the trigger.

Breathing controlled.

Waiting.

The creature twitched.

Then its body began to dissolve.

Black smoke rose from its wounds.

The flesh seemed to unravel into dark particles that drifted into the air.

Andy's jaw slowly dropped.

"...Nope."

The creature continued disintegrating until nothing remained.

No corpse.

No blood.

No bones.

Nothing.

Only a fading cloud of black ash.

Andy stared at the empty patch of ground.

Then looked down at his rifle.

Then back at where the creature had been.

"...Joan is never going to believe this."

"I'm pretty sure I will."

The voice nearly made Andy pull the trigger again.

He spun toward the sound, rifle snapping up on instinct before his brain caught up with his body.

Joan stepped out from between the trees, breathing hard. Leaves clung to her uniform.

For a brief moment, relief washed over him.

Then annoyance immediately took its place.

"Where were you?" Andy demanded.

Joan stared at him.

"Nice to see you too."

"Joan."

"Relax. I'm alive."

Andy lowered the rifle, though not by much.

"Where were you?"

Joan rolled her eyes and pointed upward.

Andy followed her finger.

About twenty feet above them, several broken branches hung from the canopy.

Understanding dawned on his face.

"No."

"Yes."

"You got stuck in a tree."

"I got dropped into a tree."

Andy pinched the bridge of his nose.

Joan folded her arms.

"You laugh and I'll shoot you."

"I'm considering it."

"Rude."

She sighed dramatically before continuing.

"I woke up hanging upside down, my rifle caught in the branches, my launcher halfway to the ground, and absolutely no idea where I was."

Andy snorted.

"You?"

"Yes, me."

The sarcasm drained from her voice slightly.

"I had to climb down, recover my gear, figure out which direction I was facing, and then I heard gunfire."

Her eyes drifted toward the patch of disturbed ground where the creature had disintegrated.

"So I ran over here."

Andy noticed her expression change.

The humor faded.

"What happened?"

He pointed toward the empty patch of dirt.

"I shot it."

Joan looked around.

"Shot what?"

"The monster."

The silence that followed was immediate.

Joan slowly turned toward him.

"The what?"

"The monster."

Andy pointed again.

"Big. Black. Red eyes. Too many teeth."

Joan stared at him.

Andy stared back.

Neither spoke.

Finally, Joan sighed.

"We've been here less than ten minutes."

"Yeah."

"And you've already started seeing monsters."

"I shot it."

"Sure you did."

"It turned into smoke."

Joan opened her mouth.

Paused.

Then closed it again.

"...You know what?"

"What?"

"Considering I woke up in a tree after reality exploded, I'm not actually prepared to argue with that."

Andy rolled his eyes.

"Believe me. Don't believe me. I honestly don't care."

With a flick of his wrist, he opened the recording captured by his rifle's optic. The footage showed the creature emerging from the trees, charging him, absorbing multiple hits that should have dropped it, and finally dissolving into black smoke after the fatal shot.

"I'll send the data over."

A notification immediately appeared in Joan's HUD.

INCOMING FILE TRANSFER.

Joan accepted it and began watching.

The longer the recording played, the less amused she looked.

Her smirk vanished.

Then her eyebrows slowly climbed.

Finally, the footage ended.

For several seconds she simply stared at the empty air in front of her.

"...Well."

Andy folded his arms.

"Well?"

Joan cleared her throat.

"I would like to formally apologize."

"And?"

"You were, in fact, attacked by a nightmare creature."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The two stood in silence for a moment.

Then Joan pointed toward the patch of ground where the creature had disintegrated.

"It turned into smoke."

"Yep."

"It literally turned into smoke."

"That's what I said."

"It didn't leave a body."

"Nope."

"No blood."

"Nope."

"No bones."

"Nope."

Joan slowly lowered her hand.

"Well then."

Andy raised an eyebrow.

"That's it?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. Panic. Scream. Question reality."

Joan considered it.

"Reality already exploded and dropped me in a tree."

"Fair."

She glanced around the forest.

Towering trees stretched in every direction.

Birds chirped overhead.

A gentle breeze stirred the leaves.

Everything looked peaceful.

Which somehow made the situation worse.

"I hate this place already."

Andy couldn't help but agree.

Suddenly, the crack of rifle fire echoed through the forest.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The sharp report rolled through the trees, scattering birds into the sky.

Both soldiers immediately froze.

Years of training took over.

Weapons came up.

Eyes scanned.

Sensors searched.

The shots had come from somewhere to their east.

Not far.

Maybe a few hundred meters.

Joan turned toward the sound, her launcher already rising into a firing position.

The forest fell silent once more.

Then another shot rang out.

Loud.

Distinct.

Unmistakable.

Joan blinked.

"...Who's using an AR without a suppressor?"

There was genuine confusion in her voice.

Andy tilted his head as he listened.

The sound echoed again.

Not a caseless rifle.

Not even a modern suppressed combat rifle.

Just a conventional firearm.

Loud enough to announce its position to everything within earshot.

"Who knows." Andy replied.

His HUD attempted to triangulate the source.

The estimate immediately appeared.

Range: Approximately 400 meters.

Direction: East.

Joan frowned.

"Maybe whoever it is wants to get shot."

"Maybe."

Another burst of gunfire echoed through the trees.

Andy listened carefully.

Single shots.

Controlled.

Deliberate.

Not panic fire.

Not someone blindly dumping rounds.

Someone was aiming.

"Professional." Andy muttered.

Joan glanced at him.

"You got all that from three shots?"

"Four."

A fifth shot cracked through the forest.

Andy nodded.

"Definitely four."

Joan rolled her eyes.

"Show off."

Despite the joke, both of them had already started moving.

Unknown shooter.

Unknown location.

Unknown world.

For all they knew, the person firing could be hostile.

Or they could be the first human beings they'd encountered since arriving.

Either way, they needed answers.

And right now, the gunfire was the only lead they had.

Howls echoed through the forest.

Not one.

Not two.

Dozens.

The sound sent an uncomfortable chill down Andy's spine.

They weren't wolf howls.

Not entirely.

There was something wrong with them.

Something unnatural.

A second later, an explosion shook the trees.

Birds erupted from the canopy.

Then came the unmistakable sound of automatic gunfire.

A rifle barked repeatedly somewhere ahead.

Loud.

Unsuppressed.

Aggressive.

"Well..." Joan said dryly. "Whoever it is, they're putting up one hell of a fight."

Andy nodded.

"No kidding."

The two soldiers picked up their pace.

Branches slapped against their armor as they moved through the undergrowth. Their HUDs attempted to identify the source of the gunfire, but without satellite support the readings were little more than educated guesses.

Another explosion thundered through the forest.

Then another burst of rifle fire.

Followed by more howling.

The sounds were getting closer.

Much closer.

The trees finally opened into a clearing.

Both soldiers slowed.

And stared.

A lone figure stood in the center of the chaos.

Tan armor.

Helmet.

Visor.

Rifle.

The man moved with practiced efficiency as he fought off what looked like an entire pack of the creatures Andy had encountered earlier.

A creature lunged.

The figure sidestepped.

A knife flashed.

The beast stumbled.

The rifle barked.

The creature exploded into black smoke.

Another immediately took its place.

Andy blinked.

"Look at that uniform."

Joan followed his gaze.

Her eyes widened slightly.

"No way. That's got to be, the Combat Adaptive Mk II Uniform."

Andy nodded.

The realization hit both of them immediately.

The design was unmistakable.

The armor.

The helmet.

The layout.

It was old.

Very old.

Like finding a soldier running around a modern battlefield wearing equipment from decades ago.

"That's, what?" Andy asked. "Thirty two years out of date?"

"Thirty three, give or take."

Andy's eyebrows climbed.

"Seriously?"

Joan nodded.

"One of the predecessors to our Combat Adaptive system."

Another Beowolf charged.

The soldier met it head-on.

Instead of retreating, he stepped forward.

His fist slammed into the creature's jaw with enough force to send it sprawling across the clearing.

Both future soldiers froze.

"...Did he just punch it?" Andy asked.

"Pretty sure he punched it."

The figure raised his rifle and put two rounds through the creature's skull before pivoting toward the next threat.

More creatures emerged from the treeline.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

The man was steadily being surrounded.

Andy slowly raised his rifle.

"I think he might need..."

The figure suddenly glanced toward their position.

Apparently he'd spotted them minutes ago.

His visor locked directly onto theirs.

Then he pointed toward the rapidly approaching Beowolves.

"Y'all gonna help me with the Beowolves..." He shouted. "...or are you gonna stand around with your thumbs up your ass!?"

The clearing fell silent.

Andy looked at Joan.

Joan looked at Andy.

The figure fired another burst into a charging Beowolf.

"Well?" He yelled.

Joan sighed.

"I already like him."

Andy couldn't help but grin.

"Yeah."

Then both soldiers opened fire.

Their NV4's chattered along side the figure.

"So who are you?" Andy asked.

"I'm just a Devil Dog." The man replied. "A Marine."

"That's a military branch."

"Correct."

"Not a name."

"Also correct."

Joan just sighed, as she shot another Beowolf.

"You got an actual name?"

The man was silent for a second.

Then shrugged, as he shoulder checked a Beowolf.

"Alex."

"Just Alex?"

The figure snorted.

"No. Alex the Great. Conqueror of worlds. King of Missouri."

Joan glanced at him.

"..."

"..."

"You're weird." Joan finally said.

The figure snorted, as he killed another Beowolf.

"If you say so. HUD says there's five left." He said.

"So what's with the outdated gear?" Joan asked.

A Beowolf lunged from the side.

The figure didn't even look at it.

He simply stepped into the attack and drove his fist into the creature's jaw.

The impact sounded like a hammer hitting concrete.

The Beowolf was sent sprawling across the clearing.

Only then did he answer.

"Outdated?"

There was genuine confusion in his voice.

The man raised his rifle and fired a short burst into another charging Beowolf.

The creature dissolved into black smoke.

"Lady, this is top of the line."

A second Beowolf leapt toward him.

His knife flashed.

The beast crashed into the dirt missing half its throat.

"The Combat Adaptive Mk II Uniform entered service three years ago."

Joan nearly missed her next shot.

"What?"

The Marine shouldered past the dying creature and continued firing.

"The Mk III is just now entering field trials."

Andy and Joan exchanged a glance.

Neither said anything.

Neither needed to.

The implication was obvious.

The Marine wasn't wearing old gear.

He thought it was new.

A warning bell immediately started ringing in the back of Andy's mind.

"Hold on." Andy said, dropping another Beowolf with a single shot. "What year is it?"

The figure ducked beneath a swinging claw.

"Twenty twenty six."

Silence.

Even Joan stopped shooting for a moment.

The two soldiers and one Marine stared at one another.

A Beowolf chose that exact moment to charge Andy.

Joan's launcher thumped.

The 25mm round detonated directly above the creature's head.

The resulting explosion turned it into black smoke.

Nobody commented.

Nobody moved.

Finally, the figure tilted his head.

"...Why are y'all looking at me like that?"

Andy slowly lowered his rifle.

Because if the man was telling the truth, then they weren't looking at an old uniform.

They were looking at a Marine from nearly forty years in the past.

"Sir, I'm not sure how to tell you this." Joan said. "But we're from the future."

Another Beowolf lunged.

Alex casually sidestepped it.

The creature sailed past him.

A single shot from his M4A1 put it down before it hit the ground.

"I figured."

Both future soldiers froze.

The response was so casual it took a second to register.

Andy blinked.

"What?"

Alex shrugged.

"What?"

"You figured it out?"

"Yeah."

"H-how?" Andy asked. "How are you not surprised?"

Alex snorted.

The sound carried through his helmet speakers.

"You two are using weapons I've never seen before."

A Beowolf charged Joan.

The 25mm launcher thumped.

The creature vanished in a cloud of black smoke.

Alex pointed at Andy's rifle.

"That thing certainly ain't an AR-15 variant I've ever seen."

Then he pointed toward Joan's launcher.

"And whatever the hell that thing is."

"It's a grenade launcher."

"That's a grenade launcher?"

Joan looked down at it.

"...Yes."

Alex stared for a moment.

"Looks like somebody crossed a rifle, a mortar, and an identity crisis."

Andy failed to suppress a laugh.

Alex continued.

"Then there's the armor."

He gestured toward both of them.

"Y'all look like you stepped out of a military recruitment poster from forty years from now."

Joan and Andy exchanged a glance.

When he put it that way, it sounded painfully obvious.

"But that's not all."

Alex fired another burst.

A Beowolf dissolved into smoke.

Then he pointed toward his visor.

"I tried accessing your systems."

Both future soldiers stopped moving.

"What?"

Alex shrugged.

"Standard procedure."

"You tried hacking our armor?"

"I got curious."

Andy's jaw dropped.

"You can't just..."

"I can."

Joan barked a laugh.

Alex continued as if discussing the weather.

"I got about three layers deep before I hit an encryption package I'd never seen before."

His rifle barked again.

Another Beowolf vanished.

"The firewall architecture was completely different from anything currently in service."

He pointed toward Andy.

"Then your rifle started talking to your visor."

Andy blinked.

"What?"

"I saw the data traffic."

Now both soldiers were staring.

"You can see that?"

"Not anymore."

Alex sounded mildly annoyed.

"Your security package kicked me out."

Joan looked at Andy.

Andy looked at Joan.

Then both looked back at Alex.

The Marine tilted his head.

"What?"

"You hacked military hardware from the future."

"Attempted."

"You got through three security layers."

"Four."

"That's not helping your case."

Alex shrugged.

"It wasn't labeled."

Joan pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Why were you trying to hack our armor?"

Alex looked genuinely confused by the question.

"Because two soldiers from outa nowhere suddenly appeared in a forest full of nightmare wolves."

He paused.

"That seemed worth investigating."

Neither future soldier could find an argument against that.

"...Fair enough." Andy finally admitted.

"Thank you."

For a moment, the three continued firing in silence.

Then Andy frowned.

"Wait."

"What?"

"If you figured out we're from the future..."

Alex nodded.

"Yeah?"

"Then why aren't you freaking out?"

Alex shot another Beowolf.

The creature dissolved into smoke.

Then he looked around the strange forest.

The impossible monsters.

The black smoke.

The unknown world.

And finally back at the two soldiers.

"I got teleported to another dimension."

He pointed at them.

"You two being from the future is honestly pretty low on my list of concerns right now."

"How did you know what those things are?" Andy asked.

"Yeah." Joan added. "Our HUDs couldn't identify them."

Alex snorted.

The sound carried through his helmet speakers as he dropped another Beowolf with a short burst.

"Welcome to Remnant."

Both future soldiers frowned.

"What?"

Alex reached up and pulled the bandana covering the lower half of his face down to his neck.

For the first time, they could properly see him.

Young.

Much younger than they'd expected.

A few years older than them at most.

Definitely not the grizzled veteran they'd imagined from the way he carried himself.

"Those things are called Beowolves." Alex continued. "They're one of the many species of Grimm."

Another creature charged.

A burst from his rifle erased it in a cloud of black smoke.

"And trust me, there are things a hell of a lot worse than Beowolves running around this world."

The two future soldiers exchanged a glance.

"You sound awfully certain." Joan said.

"I am."

"How?"

Alex shrugged.

"Because I recognize them."

That got their attention.

"You recognize them?" Andy asked.

"From an anime."

The clearing went silent.

Even the remaining Beowolves seemed offended.

"...What?" Joan said.

"RWBY."

Andy blinked.

Then blinked again.

"RWBY?"

"Yeah."

"The cartoon?"

"Anime."

"Whatever."

Alex waved his hand dismissively.

"Point is, this is Remnant."

The future soldiers stared at him.

Then at each other.

Then back at him.

Andy slowly lowered his rifle.

"That sounds like one of those fanfics my dad writes."

Joan immediately pointed at him.

"Mine too."

Alex paused.

For the first time since they'd met him, he looked genuinely interested.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Andy said. "My dad writes all kinds of weird stuff."

Joan nodded.

"Same."

Alex chuckled.

"Who's your dads?"

"My dad's Francis Yan."

The reaction was immediate.

Alex froze.

Completely froze.

The humor vanished from his face.

"My dad's John Frostwire." Joan added.

Alex slowly turned toward her.

The expression on his face was one of pure disbelief.

The forest seemed to disappear around him.

For several seconds, he simply stared.

"You're Doc's and Kweeb's kids?" He then said.

Both future soldiers blinked.

"Huh?" Andy asked.

Joan frowned.

"Wait."

She looked at him more carefully.

Then her eyes widened.

"Yeah. Andy's dad is the only person I've ever heard call my dad Doc."

Alex let out a long, exhausted sigh.

One hand came up and rubbed at his forehead.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Andy asked.

"What does that mean?" Joan added.

Alex looked up toward the sky.

As if silently asking the universe why it hated him.

The universe, predictably, offered no answer.

Finally, he looked back at them.

"My name is Alex Orr."

Silence.

Neither future soldier reacted.

The name meant nothing to them.

Yet.

Alex noticed.

That somehow made it worse.

He pointed at Andy.

"Your dad's one of my best friends."

Then at Joan.

"And so is yours."

Andy's eyebrows rose.

Joan looked confused.

Alex laughed once.

A short, disbelieving sound.

"Of all the people I could've run into after getting thrown into another dimension..."

He shook his head.

"...I somehow managed to find the kids of the two biggest idiots I know."

"Hey!" Joan protested.

Alex pointed at her.

"See?"

Then he pointed at Andy.

"Exactly like your fathers."

Andy looked at Joan.

Joan looked at Andy.

Then both looked back at Alex.

For the first time since arriving in Remnant, they weren't looking at a random Marine in outdated armor.

They were looking at someone who knew their families.

Someone who shouldn't.

Someone who, by all rights, should have been decades older than he looked.

And suddenly, the fact that they were standing in another world seemed slightly less confusing than the man standing in front of them.
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A/N: And done. kuwebby2, DrFrostwire0 what do you think?