2 figures dressed in white clothing stood above a fountain of water. Instead of reflecting the two entities' faces, however, it showed 2 worlds.
One of the figures sighed and spoke with a deep voice: "Are you sure of this, Anthony? Father is bound to be mad if we do this."
The other gazed towards the first "Worry, not brother. What we are doing is in the best interests of all life on our planets. We must maintain the balance. Father understands that much.
The two returned their line of sight to the water and started chanting. A few seconds of this passed, and the fountain began to glow. This continued until the glow filled the vision of the figures.
Suddenly, the glow vanished, and the figures fell to their knees, exhausted.
"Did you have to choose such a spread-out country?"
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February the 5th, 2034, 11:55 AM
Bolívar parkway, capital city Bogotá, UFSA:
Emperador Mateo Alejandro stood above the podium. It was Unification Day, the day Colombia, Brazil, and Peru united back in 1794
The people in front of him waved countless flags, all fluttering in the wind. They were of the member states and the Federation's flag. They cheered in English and Spanish, both being the official language. It wasn't until he raised his hand that the crowd began to quiet down
He looked over the crowd, and with silence being established, he began his speech.
"My people, we are here today, in the celebration of the gathering of our countries 240 years ago. We gathered in the name of prosperity, freedom, and brotherhood. Despite our differences, we united against the Spanish threat. Despite our struggles, we recovered from the Civil War just 42 Years later and The Great Depression. What could hold us together throughout these hurdles but a destiny to work together to ascend to power."
He paused looking around the crowd. They all looked so different, but they all acted as if they'd known each other from birth.
"And look where we are now. We have the world's strongest economy, the second-largest population, and a strong military. We have installed stability in Somalia and solved hunger in 5 countries. What more could a people wish for from their country?"
The cheers shook the earth beneath him but as he again held up his hand, they again quieted down. He was about to continue his speech, but a shout from the crowd interrupted him. A middle-aged woman had gotten to the front of the crowd and was now interrupting his speech
"I wish you hadn't sent my husband to die in that war!"
With those few words, she pulled a gun from her waist and aimed it at him.
His eyes widened and he froze. Was this how he died? He had always wished to die sitting by his wife, in a warm and cozy room
Time seemed to slow as he stood there, staring at the women, too shocked to even move and try to avoid what was coming
However, a bright flash filled his vision. It resonated for a few seconds before his vision returned to normal. He looked at the crowd and they looked about as confused as he did.
He got one look at the confused woman, who was blinking her eyes, before several bodyguards jumped on top of him, knocking him to the floor. His last bit of conciseness left him and he fainted.
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February the 5th, 2034, 11:59 AM
Tomás airbase, Guam:
Private Henry Augustus leaned back in his chair. The weather in Guam was worse than hell. The heat of the jungle tired you out and the humidity made everywhere you tried to relax about as comfortable as wet concrete.
He was one of the lucky few on the island. He worked directly under CMC and he spent 2/3 of his time in a temperature-controlled building with comfy chairs and no harsh COs to order him around. Everybody just sat on their phones most of the time and chatted.
He smiled. Nothing could ruin this amazing lifestyle he had gained.
Out of nowhere, a bright flash filled his vision and blinded him. He yelped and fell out of his chair. He could the same thing happening to others across the room. Thinking it was an attack, he drew his sidearm from its holsters.
With the light finally fading away, he was left in darkness but he turned on his flashlight and did a sweep of the room. The others also started to stand and prepare for an attack.
Though the UFSA did not have any real enemies, some countries didn't agree with its visions. To name a few were Thailand, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. It was a completely possible event they had trained for. Although that plan did call for a high volume retaliatory missile strike and by the lack of tech running, that was not an option.
But just as quickly as they turned off, the screens rebooted and came back online. Shouting came from all over the room as the other operators began to arm missiles and perform their respective duties. However, they were interrupted as the door at the top swung open. They all aimed their pistols but found It was a soldier with his weapon drawn, looking worried.
"Is everybody okay? There was a bright flash and everything turned off for a second."
Henry stood and began to verify he was Alright, but a radar warning blared on a display. It showed 5 small surface contacts and 1 aerial target that was moving in a helicopter-like pattern.
Another screen connected to a camera showed a spectacular sight. It was a fleet of 5 medieval-looking wooden ships, that were about the size of a small corvette. While the sight of such ships was shocking, what was even more so was the dragon-looking creature flying above them, shooting fireballs. The ships retaliated with spears and arrows, doing little but stun the flying beasts.
Henry turned to the commander of the base, Pascual Andrés. "Commander Andrés, what do we do? They are in trouble"
The commander stroked his chin for a second, pondering what to do, before nodding and clasping his hands behind his back.
"SAM operator, blow that creature out of the sky. It is showing very clear signs of aggression. After that, Initiate proper anti-piracy protocol with those ships and send in a SCAT unit. Make sure they wear SEAP gear. Wooden ships like those most likely have disease spread throughout the crew."
Henry, being the defacto SAM operator, selected the target and confirmed it hostile, and let the computer do its work.
The system he was operating was the Advanced Iron missile defense or AIMD system. After confirmation that an object was hostile either by an operator or its trajectory, the AIMD calculated a firing solution, selected the appropriate countermeasure and knocked it out of the sky with a 95% hit rate.
In this case, it chose an HM-7 Harpy anti-aircraft missile, and barely a second after he had approved the launch, a camera view of the missile launcher appeared on his screen. The missile streaked out of the tube and shot towards the monster.
It didn't take long before the missile made its mark and the dragon on the screen exploded into a rain of flesh and blood.
Commander Andrés walked past his station and began to issue more orders concerning the SCAT teams but Henry tuned it out. He was trying to contain his joy. He had just killed a monster. Sure, the AIMD system had done most of the work, but he was operating the controls.
Henry would later become known as maestro Dragón, or dragon master, despite only killing a wyvern.