The adventures of the Environmental Gendarmes in another world (Republished)

A regular patrol

7:08 AM Atlas City

The convoy had just stopped in a red light. Lieutenant Ace was checking if his jockey hat was placed in the right position on his head. His laptop was displaying the badge of the Gendarmerie, A blue shield with a green leaf in the middle. It's been two years since he joined the force. Fighting environmental crime was always his passion. It wasn't just a hobby for him but also a responsibility. He didn't need any other reason to join the Gendarmerie. Others would join mostly because they needed a job and the gendarmerie was their only option. This was not the case for the young lieutenant however, as he always believed that preserving mother nature was an important part of the planet Earth. Although it wasn't like what he was expecting, it didn't disappoint him because he would always prove himself with dedication to his job and with great responsibility, and although he never appreciated it, many of his colleagues respected him for that, much to his dismay. He never accepted the praise he was earning. He never believed he was worthy of it. There are others in the gendarmerie who deserve it more than him, so why would he get all the credit? It's pointless to think about it if there's no answer to the question. All he can do is to ignore them. It won't change anything by sitting and thinking about it all the time.

The light turns green and the convoy can now proceed. One good thing with those traffic lights is that they are powered by solar energy. There aren't many of these lights in the country but the government might be able to upgrade the existent ones, after all, clean energy is everything in this country, otherwise the war wouldn't occur in the first place and Ace, although he didn't have the chance to fight in the war, he always supported the rebellion. The only time he could consider as fighting was when he helped evacuate people in the city's underground shelters shelters. He was still a kid then but was aware of what was happening at that time but he didn't care. As long as everybody else was safe, his life didn't matter. That was his first lesson about being a soldier. He had much more to learn as time would pass by.

The convoy moves forward at a slow speed with the vehicles' red, blue, orange and green lights flashing. Ace looks to the left. Four blue armored vehicles are waiting for them to pass them by so they can join the rest of the convoy. These don't seem like armored vehicles that can be found in the market and be bought for a particular price. They are homemade vehicles build out of thick metal and titanium. In contrary to other armored vehicles, these ones are all equipped with solar panels, thus using cleaner energy. Inspired by the Kurdish and Ukrainian armored vehicles used in Syria, Libya and Donbass, these vehicles have seen extensive use by the Gendarmerie in clashes with the Russian terrorist group Wagner and the and the American mercenary company Academi. It is also reported that some of these vehicles were sold in Africa and the Middle East to different insurgent groups, although these reports have been denied by the environmental government.

Ace grabbed the radio and communicated with the drivers of the armored vehicles. He is eager to know who his colleagues are. Before he can speak a few parasites are heard on the radio and a voice with a heavy Italian accent speaks.

-'This unit 735, we'll be joining you in today's patrol'.

Ace presses the button on the radio and responds.

-'This is unit 73, acknowledged'.

The first armored vehicle pulled up in front of Ace's pickup truck. He looks at his rear view mirror and sees the second armored vehicle pulling up behind him. Then a few more parasites are heard on the radio and the same voice speaks.

-'Unit 73, are we clear to proceed?'

Ace realizes the voice speaks to him. He knew that he would be in charge of the convoy and this meant that he would have to give the orders and instructions to the rest of the vehicles. This makes him slightly nervous as he had never been given the opportunity to be in command before. This was his first time and he wasn't very confident. To be honest he was never confident of anything. This didn't stop him however from at least trying for once and see how well he would perform. He would probably screw up and be disciplined. Don't knock until you try as the Americans say, and maybe they're right, he needs to try first before making any conclusions. And that's exactly what he's going to do. He gave his word to his superiors that he would try not to disappoint them, he can't go back now.

He picks up the radio and responds.

-'Not yet, did you bring the flags.

-'Yes sir', responds the voice on the radio. 'Can you explain the reason as to why you requested that we bring them?'

-'Yes', responds Ace. 'I want them to be waving on the hoods of the armored vehicles just like in the pickup trucks. It's the tenth anniversary of the republic today so I thought it would be a way to celebrate independence day while on patrol'.

-'A good idea if I may speak sir', says the voice on the radio. 'Consider it done'.

The back door of the armored vehicle opens and a young man wearing the same orange jacket as Ace, with the gendarmerie flag on the front left and on the back, gets out holding two small flags of the gendarmerie on his hands. That must be the man who talked on the radio earlier. He must be at the same age as the lieutenant because he looks very young, around his 20s. His starless epaulettes indicate that he is a cadet. Not many cadets choose to join the R.R.E.U. because that would mean endangering their lives to protect others and many of the nation's youth are not willing to put their lives in danger any time soon. But that's not important. The important thing is to preserve mother nature and equality and not make wars. Preservation of mother nature is another form of patriotism in this country. As long as someone protects the plants and trees and views others as equals regardless of skin color, religion or ideology, only then he is a rue patriot.

The young cadet places the flags on the vehicle's antennas and gets back on. Ace looks at his rear view mirror again and sees that the armored vehicle behind him also has its flags placed on its two antennas.

-'All flags have been placed in position', says another voice on the radio with a Slavic accent.

-'Understood', responds Ace on the radio. 'We're clear to proceed now'.

With all the flags in place, the convoy departed once again for its long patrol. Although there isn't much traffic, there are a few cars that block the road, causing the convoy to delay their advance by a few seconds. After escaping the traffic jam, the vehicles pass by a small neighborhood. There are flags with different colors hanging from the poles while some gardens are decorated with beautiful flowers and the Civil flag is waving from the balconies. Looks like the people celebrate independence day in their own 'colorful' way. Ace has done the same in his home by hanging the State flag and the Civil flag outside his home's balcony. He has very few flowers at home but he usually adds some plants to fill the empty space.

In contrary to other countries, the independence is celebrated for five days. That's because when the secession was announced, the gendarmerie was created five days later so the Independence day is celebrated along with the gendarmerie day to pay respect to the victims of the war.

After passing by the neighborhood and after meeting with their Military Police escort vehicles, the convoy exits the city and heads for Gazania where they will continue to the border city of Petunia and back again with a few stops to recharge the vehicles' batteries. Gazania is the second biggest city in the republic and it's mostly famous for the battle that took place during the war when troops of the U.E.A. attempted to take over the city which resulted in street fights and the withdrawal of European troops. Ever since the locals celebrate the battle of Gazania every year on the third of April. Ace attended the celebration twice when he was transferred to the local brigade. It was different from the capital in its own way but it was nice.

8:25 AM Atlas Highway.

The convoy makes a right turn and finds itself on the highway. It's a two lane road with trees and flowers in the middle. How these flowers are able to bloom in an open road where there are always cars moving back and forth it's a miracle because there is still a small number of carbon vehicles that exist in the country despite having solved the problem. No wonder why the environmental law is so strict about carbon vehicles. But it's not easy when some are not willing to replace their cars for cleaner ones. It's probably a matter of time until all carbon vehicles disappear from the streets.

Ace looks at his watch, it has stopped. The hour is 8:30, strange. He had changed the batteries yesterday. Could they have expired already? He checks the time on his laptop. The image has disappeared completely and static appears on the screen. He hits the screen from the side with his right hand to see if it'll do something. Nothing. The laptop isn't working. He tries to communicate with the rest of the convoy. He gets no response, only parasites. Something's not right. He stops his truck and the rest of the convoy stops with him. He tries to contact the rest of the vehicles again but nothing happens, there are only parasites on the radio. Then the entire pickup truck shuts down completely, the lights, the dashboard, the radio and everything else. It's like all of a sudden the batteries died completely or it ran out of electrical energy. Ace grabs his pistol.. Anxiety has now taken over his body. He prepares himself for the worst. If they are to be attacked, he will be ready to shoot. Something's definitely not right. His vehicle wouldn't run out of energy in the middle of the road like that.

Then all of a sudden, dark clouds begin to form at the blue sky. That's very strange. The weather reports didn't predict any rain for the rest of the day. Maybe they were wrong. It happens from time to time. The weather here changes unpredictably every day so it's no surprise that it might rain now. Then something more strange happens. The ground below starts to shake and a blue light appears in the sky, nearly blinding the lieutenant. It's not like any light he had seen before. It has a dark blue color which reflects on the truck's glass. Then all of a sudden, a mysterious yellow beam hits the truck. Ace can feel the beam on his body. He feels like he can touch it with his bare hands. It's not very hot to burn his body and it's not cold either. The feeling of anxiety is now replaced by peacefulness. Then all of a sudden, the shaking stops and the blue light in the sky disappear and so does the yellow beam, and the skies become clear again. The pickup truck's systems also seem to be working perfectly now. The laptop then turns back on and the radio is now working properly.

The lieutenant can't tell what exactly just happened. For a minute he thought that there would be a tornado and it would take him with it. But the storm only lasted a few minutes. What exactly was it? Something's off. This was no regular storm. Whatever it was it affected all the electronic equipment and weapons. Was this some sort of phenomenon? No it can't be. It must be something else because it also affected the whole area. Ace looks around him. The asphalt, the poles and most of the trees have disappeared. The vehicles however, are still here. Something's off.

Little does he know, he and the entire convoy are no longer in their country and they are about to find that out the hard way.