Ascenders Rift

Chapter 135: The Vanguards, Departing for the Unknown

A few minutes had passed, and Evan had left the room as he headed towards the direction of his party members. After gathering all the supplies they needed, putting most of them away in his limited storage space, he now carried two large bags on his back. It took only a moment for him to arrive at the lounge where he noticed a rare scene, the sight of Joe and Rick seated an opposing side with a bad air flowing between them.

Layla and Breya have been engaged in conversation around a table, as Emilia sat nearby, looking at something with full-hearted devotion.

Evan was surprised by the strange atmosphere; his eyes ran over both Joe and Rick as he thought to himself, 'Darn, looks like I missed the party...'

His eyes then shifted towards Layla and the others, fixing on Emilia for a little longer than usual. Soon though, he cleared his thoughts as he knew that there were more important things at hand.

By this time, everyone had noticed that Evan had appeared at the doorway. They each had different reactions, with Layla running towards his side and hugging him.

"Evan, what happened? Why did you faint yesterday?" Joe asked as he tried to clear his thoughts of Rick.

"Right, there were no signs of any sickness, or brain injury when we inspected you. What caused you to have such a change?" Breya asked Evan as she walked over, her eyes flashing in a curious light.

"..." Rick looked on in silence while Layla had only now eased off Evan with her worry some eyes as she spoke, "E-Evan, is this some kind of hidden curse from the rifts? Will you be fine if it occurs again?"

Evan looked at Layla and sighed before playing with her hair as he replied, "Everyone, while I have yet to understand what this is, I can assure that it's no illness. So don't worry too much; from what I've seen so far, it will only last for a short period, and if it occurs again, it will more or likely be the same."

Joe and the others looked at Evan deeply as Layla asked, "Are you sure?"

Evan seeing Layla's look nodded and replied with a firm look in his eyes, "I am, so don't worry about it, come now, let me get something to eat. I've already gathered most of what we need, so after everyone prepares themselves, we'll be heading off on our journey."

When Evan said this, he promptly headed towards the kitchen section of the lounge. 

Layla looked at Evan as she thought, 'He doesn't want to say it to everyone, since its so, I'll only ask him later...'

"Bastard, keeping everything to himself, che! Fine, he'll share whether he likes it sooner or later," Joe cursed under his breath.

Layla, Joe, Rick, and Emilia stared at Evan deeply for a moment, each with their thoughts before they separated to arrange themselves. Breya, on the other hand, looked at Evan with odd eyes as she pondered, 'I get the feeling that he's lying to us, but for now, I'll simply have to keep trace of his outbursts and record the data.'

As she said this, she jotted down some notes before she headed over towards a different section of the room to arrange some stuff.

Evan, who was fixing himself a sandwich now had somewhat serious-looking eyes as he contemplated, 'Speak not of those odd memories that accompanied my dream. There are far too many changes. Things that I quite frankly have no memory occurring within the Earth Sector. Elumar's power... God's Chosen, the Mother Breed's attack occurring months earlier, why have I never heard of these things before? Am I to expect that a change might occur to Breed Queen as well? If so, what of the other worlds? Would the strategies made even work as intended?'

As Evan pondered a series of questions, he found that even if he overthink them, they would still give no answers, in the end, he cleared his thoughts, 'I shouldn't overthink, it will need to no good results. While there are only some core areas that have differences, so far, everything else seemed to be in a similar occurrence to what I can remember. If I work with that and assume that things may go out of hand, then no matter what, we'll be able to pull through somehow, with strength, we'll be able to overcome any obstacle.'

Having thought to here, Evan took a bite of the sandwich as his eyes narrowed, showing a cold look when he thought, 'I only need to pay attention to a few things. The first being the RADA group, the second being that of Elumar, and the final being slightly changes a particular True Superior World.'

Evan's eyes flashed as he shifted them towards a window, gazing at the bright morning scene beyond the distant horizon, the sun now peeking from the mountains as its ray scattered across the world.

Quickly finishing his meal, Evan wiped his mouth and looked at everyone who seemed to be ready as he spoke with flashing eyes, "It's time; let's get moving."

Joe and the others nodded as they took up a few large backpacks before they walked out of the room. Soon though, the moment they exited, everyone couldn't help but look to their sides in surprise.

There, all the way an unknown distance were a bunch of soldiers that stood in silence as they saluted. Evan and the others looked at this in shock for a moment before they smiled and continued onward.

'Oh, must be a send away present from Alan, and the Sector Chief. Ha, it seems Alan's spread the news of my plans, oh well... better than going off in silence. It should at least bolster the spirits of Joe, Layla, and everyone else...' Evan thought while walking by the soldiers with everyone, not long after they had left this region, leaving behind the soldiers that had respect on their faces.

"Who are they?" A girl recruit asked as she looked at the direction Evan's party left in puzzlement.

A veteran looked at the gurl and replied with a smile, "Ah, yes, I had forgotten that a new batch of brats had arrived. You newbies have yet to know everything, listen here, that team just now is the strongest party we have assisting our army. They are likely even the strongest Ascenders Party in our world."

"What? Then what about King Erickson IV and those monstrous Heaven Eye's from RADA, Yin Yang Trio from the Asian Empire, and those other powerful teams from the world's major powers?" A newbie soldier asked in a non-convinced tone.

The veteran soldier shook his head and spoke, "Although I can't say for sure how strong those teams are, nor King Erickson IV as he seemed to have only relied on some marking to show extreme power. Based on their achievements and battle experience, I can say with utmost certainty that they are stronger. Do you know what they are about to do?"

"No, could it be that they're going to take out one of those dreaded Level 8 Lesser Spaces?" A newbie soldier asked with a hint of fear in his eyes.

The other veteran soldiers hearing this laughed as if they heard the funniest thing in the world, one of them looked at the newbies with a complex expression as he spoke.

"Level 8, you lot really don't know anything. Listen here, that bunch had only yesterday returned from completing a Level 9 Lesser Space, and do you know what they are about to do? They are about to risk their lives for the sake of humanity by venturing out into the unknown world and seeking ways to weaken our enemy forces. If they aren't heroes, who is? These are the persons all should show respect to in this world, those who stand before everyone else, facing all danger..." When the veteran soldier spoke to here, he paused for a moment to look at the faces of surprise on all rookies before he smirked and spoke again.

"They are the Vanguards!" When the solider said this, his face was one of the utmost levels of respect, as all other veteran soldiers showed a similar look.

The rookies couldn't help but feel their blood boil to the brim at those words, even though Evan's party had left they still kept their posture and saluted towards their direction, their eyes shining in bright lights as if they could see a brighter future.

Evan and the others soon arrived outside of the MSS main building; they moved through a similar line of soldiers that stood inside of the base compound, with various Reaper Mechs and machinery positioned at different sides. Most of these soldiers wore a specialized battle uniform, with combat blades at their sides.

Evan nodded as he saw these individuals, he thought, 'These are the true elite, each of them is already at the Level 4 standard, they are truly deserving of their past reputation as the MSS Defense force. Now, they should all be integrated into the newly formed RDF.'

When Evan and the others had arrived at the center of the base, a Heli Porter was waiting for their arrival, with its turbines scattering wind across the ground, rustling the coats three individuals that stood before it.

"Sister!" Breya said as she walked up to Angeline and hugged her tightly.

Evan looked at the group with a smile as he spoke, "Section Chief, Sigor Alan, Angeline, I didn't think you'll see us off, I thought you were all too busy for this chore."

Section Chief Sigor and Alan laughed before they replied separately.

"Kid, it's the duty of a chief to see off each important guest," Sigor said with a smile.

"Ha, you don't think we'd just let you vanish across the horizon like that, right? It doesn't work like that in reality; it's not like this is some third-rate film," Alan said with a laugh.

Angeline, who had only now finished whispering with Breya passing her a strange purple book, looked at Joe for a moment before staring at Evan and speaking, "Evan, please take care of my sister."

Evan, hearing this nodded as he replied, "Don't worry, even if I die, someone will be there to protect to her."

"Eh?" Angeline was surprised, but when she turned to look at Joe, she noticed that he had a bit of flustered expression, while Breya had a slightly reddish look.

"Hmph!" Angeline snorted as she gripped her fists tightly, no longer saying anything.

Rick seeing this felt pleased, he glanced at Joe from the corner of his eyes while thinking, 'Ha, so even you have this day, good, this is what you get for making things hard for me.'

Soon, Evan and the others had boarded the Heli Port, looking outside and seeing that the trio was staring at them. 

Evan looked then spoke, "Well, it's time to get going, please do your best in protecting as many lives for humanity as you can."

When they heard Evan's words, the faces of Sigor, Alan, and Angeline turned severe as they nodded, and spoke separately,

"That is, of course, our main duty, but where you're going, things will probably be far more dangerous, do your best and survive, may the spirit of Earling Star flow in you!" Section Chief Sigor said before a salute.

Both Alan and Angeline said the same phrase, as they made a salute, Joe and the others looked at this with firm eyes, as the turbines of the Heli Porter spun faster and faster, lifting it from the ground.

Soon, the Heli Porter ascended towards the sky's limits before bolting across the horizon, leaving behind the scene of countless soldiers that stared above, as if gazing at the hope for the future.