Sneaking Shadows

Hestia ran over to truss the missed soldier up. While she worked, she looked over at the wife. “There’s no one else, right?” It came out half in humor and half serious. Regardless, she wanted an answer. The stare from her eyes delivered the intent.

The middle-aged woman quickly shook her head. “N-No, that’s all of them.”

“Good,” commented Eudokia, standing up from her finished work. She walked over to Daidalos, who already started searching through one of the soldier’s equipment. They needed some answers. A lot of the situation disconcerted Eudokia. “Who do they belong to?”

He tilted his head over his shoulder and up to Eudokia, from his knelt position. In his hands, he held several articles. One looked to be identification. “If this is to be believed, they’re members of the Japan Geoscience Union.” He passed the ID up to Eudokia for her to examine.

“The hell they are!” yelled Nikon, standing up already recovered.

Narrowing her eyes, she quickly scanned the plastic card. It looked real, but her suspicions of it were the same as Daidalos. “I find it unlikely they would be this heavily armed, but there are other things that worry me more about our intruders.” She glanced over at the couple. ‘This isn’t the place to be talking about this.’ Motioning with her hand, she gave the signal to her team to move out. A ripple expanded from her feet, all of the tied up bodies began to float.

Chapter 207 – Sneaking Shadows

Outside of the village once more, Eudokia set up a special perimeter with her Field. It gave her team privacy to speak and secured them from possible scouting parties. “For now keep whatever we talk about between us.”

“Sir?” they questioned.

Nikon nodded to her. He seemed to have picked up on some of what worried Eudokia. “Right. Best to keep any sort of speculation quiet.” The others uncertainly nodded in agreement, no longer sure what they got themselves caught in.

“Thanks. You might have noticed, but that last one specifically called us Atlanteans.” When she said it, everyone immediately came to attention. They all understood what they meant without her having to say anymore. “That isn’t the only thing of concern. The most immediate is the fact that these people even made it inside the barrier and were able to move freely without being incapacitated by the barrier’s effects.” Eudokia held up one of the heavy weapons that several of the men held. “Add to that, this weapon is more advanced than existing known technology on the outside world.”

“But how is all of this possible?” Hestia asked. They all had the same question, but no one knew the answer. She already knew it, though it was a reactionary question.

Daidalos threw in one of the badges with the symbol they all wore. “They’re all part of the same group by the looks of this. The only thing certain was that this wasn’t an accident. This was planned and deliberate.”

“We already know that, but why would they do this?” added Hilarion. “We may reject anyone coming inside, but we keep to ourselves. We haven’t done anything to provoke this sort of invasion from foreigners.”

Eudokia agreed with everything that they said. She wished she had better answers for them, but they moved in circles at the point they reached. All of the cards laid in front of them already. They still missed important pieces of information. “We can debate this for hours without any more answers, however we still have a job to finish. Squad 94 is still missing and we haven’t checked on the second path yet. I’m fairly certain we’ll find the rest there.”

The team agreed, even if a bit reluctant simply to drop the matter. Part of the situation had deeper concerns for Eudokia that she didn’t want her team exploring. She feared what might happen if they went too far, the ideas it would put into their minds. They didn’t need such fears spinning while the mission remained incomplete.

It played out as Eudokia said. When they arrived at the second house, they found the Alpha Team mentioned along with all five members of Squad 94. She ordered Daidalos and Hestia around to the backdoor for their breach.

Nikon stood next to Eudokia. He glanced down at her. “Won’t they be on alert? They’ve been checking in regularly.”

“I set up a looping device with their radio to respond when prompted. It’s only been thirty minutes, so they should not have figured it out yet.”

His eyelids raised a little hearing her answer. “I’m surprised how much you calculated everything out.”

“Our powers have its advantages when the need comes.” A ripple expanded from her feet. She placed her hand on the wall of the house using her snow to create a hole. Slight distortions in the air appeared going into the hole. “We can talk more about this after we finish.” Eudokia finished the silence countdown in her head. Just before the breach, she heard several distant thuds.

On cue, her squad rushed into the house from both sides. Their timing was perfect. Everyone in the house was unconscious from the gas Eudokia released. It ensured no mistakes or unknown stragglers. They worked quickly to tie everyone up and released Squad 94.

Her gas only had a brief window, as she needed the other squad awake to help deal with all of the intruders. Their numbers were starting to exceed what her squad could handle alone. “Sergeant Polona,” she began, saluting the Squad Leader, “I’m Second Lieutenant Eudokia from the 241st Squad.”

It took the woman a few moments to understand her surroundings. The situation quickly reversed for her squad. She quickly saluted back. “Thank you, Second Lieutenant. I feel ashamed being captured so easily by them.”

“They were a very skilled and well organized team, nothing to be ashamed of.” Eudokia looked around at all of the Japanese soldiers starting to wake up. Their expressions told a lot for her. “However, right now I need your help. We’ve already captured their second team. This is more than we can handle alone.”

She nodded to Eudokia. The woman motioned sharply to her team giving orders. They all understood without the need for words. Everyone moved quickly to get the soldiers walked out of the house. Peace returned to Kapni, largely unaware it was ever broken.

They returned to Hilarion, who stayed behind to watch the rest of the soldiers. However, they were all surprised to find the 103rd Squad present. Even more surprising was that the number of intruders doubled since they left. Eudokia and Polona walked over to Captain Sergeant Iaret. “Captain Sergeant, Second Lieutenant Eudokia.”

“Sergeant Polona,” Polona introduced.

“Second Lieutenant. Sergeant. I’m Iaret. We arrived five minutes ago. I see you have things well in hand here.”

Eudokia motioned back to the captured Japanese teams her squad found. “We discovered two separate teams hiding out in Kapni, but haven’t discovered their purpose. We located the Sergeant and her squad with one of the teams.”

“You found even more,” Polona noted, seeing the number of people were significantly larger than what Eudokia had reported to her.

The aging man threw a hand out pointing at the ones they captured. “We discovered them while we were en route to Kapni. It was mere chance. Unlike the ones you found, there looked to be a couple of scientists or researchers among the soldiers we found.”

“This is a pretty large operation for an accident.” All of them remained quiet for a while. Each already had their ideas formed about what the whole thing meant. None of them wanted to speak out their thoughts. “First thing we need to do is report into HQ. No doubt other squads are in route to aid us.” It was something they all agreed upon.

Due to the unusual nature of the intrusion, HQ ordered them back to the South Gate, rather than the normal immediate release. Taking advantage of transport vehicles, they made it back to the South Gate in only a couple hours.

The welcome was different from what Eudokia expected. Many of the soldiers were out in the courtyard as they came back. They cheered and called out to the returning squads. Eudokia’s squad received special attention, as it already passed around in rumor that they single-handedly rescued the captured squad and captured fourteen intruders. The results were impressive by any record.

It felt a little odd for her to suddenly see a different look in all of the men and women that previously only kept their distance from her. Some even patted her on her head as she walked by, almost too friendly. ‘I wonder how long this’ll last.’

Lieutenant Commander Athene already escorted all of the captured Japanese off with a large contingent of soldiers following her. They all had to be processed. In front of them, Captain Simonides stood awaiting the three squads. The soldiers came to attention and saluted. “You’ve all done excellent work. You can feel proud that you’ve kept the border safe and the citizens protected.”

“Thank you, sir!” everyone said.

Simonides' tone changed quickly after the congratulations ended. “Sergeant Polona, Captain Sergeant Iaret and Second Lieutenant Eudokia, come to my office immediately.” They all understood the atmosphere and didn’t question him. The cheerful mood died abruptly. “All squad members you are on standby.” He motioned over to Abeiron. “Abeiron, handle the squads until I’ve finished.”

“Yes, Captain! Squads 94, 103 and 241 follow me!” He turned about and marched off. The crowd watched a little confused at the sight. Most assumed that they would be giving medals immediately for their service, never knowing the reality.

Eudokia closed the door behind her, locking the three squad leaders in the room with the Captain. However, it all surprised them to find General Alexander in the room. His presence changed them all immediately. The tense mood Simonides created tempered into a grave one almost instantly.

Captain Simonides took a seat behind his desk, not openly acknowledging Demosthenes. “You’ve all been summoned here based on the earlier reports from your squads. I will assure you all that you will be granted medals and acknowledgements for your achievements this day, but neither you nor any of your squad are allowed to speak about the details of the incident.”

“Sir?” spoke Iaret. He wanted some clarification. The direction implied they were under a gag order.

“Everyone already knows you captured intruders, but that is all they are allowed to know. Officially, they were the normal scientists and researchers always stumbling into the barrier.”

Polona braved the dangerous topic that Iaret avoided. “Unofficially?”

“All information and investigation have been picked up by the Omega Division. The South Gate’s involvement ends here.” Finally, he gave attention to the biggest question in the room. “General Alexander is here personally to oversee all matters. While the investigation continues, you or your men may be requested to participate. You are expected to give your full cooperation to anything that they ask for from you.” A loose glance to Demosthenes passed the reins of the meeting over.

Maintaining a strict presence, he kept everything dry and matter-of-fact. “Submit all of your reports to me directly. Have them turned in by 20:00. I’ll send for you individually tomorrow. Dismissed.” They exchanged salutes before Polona and Iaret walked out. Eudokia remained behind staring at Demosthenes in silence. He tilted his gaze over to Simonides, changing his expression to a softer one. “Can I trouble you Captain to borrow your office briefly?”

Simonides stood up and saluted the General. “I’ve got a few things to attend to. If you’ll excuse me.” He walked around Eudokia, never once looking at the two.

Demosthenes wore his grandfather's expression for Eudokia. “It’s good to see you again, Eudokia. The King’s been worried about you. You haven’t so much as sent a single letter since you’ve taken your posting.”

If it had been any other time, she would have ran up into his arms. “What’s going on here? You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t already know something. Those weren’t normal scientists and they were even normal soldiers we captured.”

A slightly sour frown came across his lips. “No greetings? I don’t remember you being so serious that you didn’t have a little time for me.”

‘He’s dodging the subject.’ Her eyes narrowed, annoyed by the blocks he put in front of her. She already felt the implications hiding behind Demosthenes’ features. The mood he set in secret told her to stop. Eudokia dragged something out of her pack. “I found this on Squad 94’s MP.” She tossed it over to him.

He caught the stone bindings. His eyes glanced at them only for a moment, before everything in his face changed. He recognized it, as Eudokia knew he would. The meaning of them troubled Eudokia, which was why she kept them in secret. She could only trust him with the information. The bindings were specialized restraints meant specifically for MPs to neutralize their power. The only time they were used was for the capture of rogue MPs by the Omega Division, no other branch of the military used them.

“Speak to no one about any of this, Eudokia.”

“What’s happening, Demosthenes? This is bigger than some little intrusion.”

“I’m not at liberty to tell you. It is White restricted.”

His manner of response made her eyes widen a little. ‘The King…only he has the permission…what sort of secret are they keeping from me?’