GATE - War of Two Worlds Part 2

V14 - Chapter 170 Dark Magic

"Today, Artemis-V has reached the Lunar Gateway Space Station orbiting the Moon. The Artemis(1) mission is to bring supplies and a new habitat module to the space station to allow more astronauts to be assigned to the space station. Currently, the United States has two permanent astronauts at Gateway, just like the International Space Station.

The purpose of this expansion to the space station is to prepare for the 2028 construction of the Lunar Foundational Surface Habitat, nicknamed the Armstrong Outpost. While the Outpost and Gateway Station is an American venture with an international effort. Unlike past ventures, NASA is bypassing the European Space Agency and working with national space agencies directly, either with Artemis, Gateway or on the Lunar surface.

A recent funding source has come from the US Space Force as planetary Defense against alien threats became one of its roles. While the Empire went through a portal called the Gate, General Logan Barton of the USSF states in a Congress hearing that since the existence of life outside the solar system has been confirmed, it could be possible that other alien groups, more advanced than the ones we know of now past the Gate, could travel to Earth by ship, bearing technology more advanced than anyone on Earth and Uros combined.

With Congress' approval, the USSF intends to install a deep-space monitoring module into Armstrong Outpost to monitor the solar system for threats in space to Earth as a whole. These threats include asteroids, solar flares, and anything else that can damage and maybe even cripple civilization as we know it.

Both Russia and China have criticized the US and NATO for utilizing the Gate situation as an excuse to militarize the Moon and claim ownership of it.

While the primary focus of Artemis-V is to expand Gateway to allow a total of ten astronauts at once, the crew will go to the Moon surface for a five-day expedition. The objective of the expedition is to follow up on potential resources deposits that have been detected on the lunar surface." – Space News.

***

--- Malo Plains, east of the Blue Sea coast ---

March 30th, 2026

Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe is kneeling on the long grass. He and the rest of the Sharpe's Rifles(2) are on Operation Head Hunt.

Colonel John Yang had him deploy his full force for this operation because the threat level was high. Vanguard-2, Vanguard-5, Rose Knights, Legrath Knights, some of the Alnus Militia, and his Vanguard-7 unit. They are attacking a Magic research facility. Air Force Intelligence claims that a body part of Frayen is here, being tested on.

The brass is so worried about this facility that they even brought Frayen's head, just in case. Frayen claims he can detect his body parts when he gets close.

"I do not like being carried like a bag," Frayen mumbles to himself.

"Be quiet," he responds. "You're lucky I'm the one lugging you around. Your head is heavier than it looks."

"Lack of exercise," Frayen replies.

He hears a few of his soldier's chuckles hearing that.

"I don't remember you being so chatty," Lelei states.

"When you lose your body, young one, you gain a new perspective of things," Frayen answers. "Besides, if I don't speak, then people ignore me."

He knows Frayen is right about that. From what his DARPA friends told him that he is helping them a lot.

Frayen is the Apostle of Elange, the God of Knowledge, Understanding, and Intellect. He once was a willing slave to General Krysist, being a Dark Elf(3). When he and Krysist were betrayed by the Empire, General Herm conducted the Ritual of Elbaga on him where an Apostle is cut into pieces and sent across the lands so they cannot reconnect and regenerate. While this cannot kill an Apostle, Rory has described it worse than death due to the state of being helplessly immobilized, which would open many unsavory experiences such as being tortured or being completely killed if devoured by a beast