Risen

Along a coast, where a river let out into an ocean, Humans began to gather from several astral gates. There were about 150,000 people that were beginning to build crude shelters out of the resources in their immediate area, mostly wooden structures from the nearby forest that the river ran out of.

This gathering Human settlement was being led and orchestrated by a United States Air Force Brigadier General, U.S. [yoo es] Arnold [ahr-nld]. He and his staff were operating out of a hastily constructed log cabin as a temporary headquarters while they planned their settlements layout.

“Sir Arnold. Captain James [jeymz] Ryan [rahy-uhn] reporting in.” Captain Ryan stated as he marched into the General’s conference room and snapped a solute.

The General, who had been in discussion with several other staff officers, looked to the Captain and said, “At ease Captain. Give us your report.”

Captain Ryan eased his stance, pulled out a notepad from his pocket and began to read out a list of details. “People have stopped showing up for now. Current head count is at 143,736. This does not account for those who decided to not stay with their arrival groups or that have left since arriving at Alpha [al-fuh] Base. Of those 143,736 people, 35,158 are military personnel from Nellis [nel-is] Air Force Base, which also means 3,487 personnel are MIA. These personnel were split between two of the three portals making up Alpha Base’s population. We assume those missing were either left behind at Nellis, came through different portals, or deserted before reaching Alpha base.”

“Captain Ryan, please inform the scouts to keep an eye out for further Nellis personnel. Have them approach with caution if found. If they seem lost, escort them back to Alpha Base. If they seem off in any way, report their coordinates back here for further consideration. Major Thompson [tomp-suhn], please have the staff bring me a list of better name suggestions for our settlement. Every damned military leader that arrives is going to name their blasted settlement ‘Alpha Base.’ We can do better, and as the Captain just stated, we are more civilian than military here.”

“Yes sir!” both men stated in unison.

Captain Ryan continued his report. “Regarding technology and tools, as it was assumed, only what was on a person at the time of departure remained on them. No vehicles, structures, or other large equipment emerged from the portals with individuals. That being said, any hand tools or weapons on personnel at the time of departure appeared with them. Electronics were completely disabled, but came through intact. We assume that the portals have an electromagnetic field strong enough to even disable shielded electronics. All cell phones are bricked, including all civilian phones that we’ve checked. Regarding weapons, it appears that anyone on duty with their sidearms still have them and anyone on security detail still have their M4 rifles. Ammo is limited to what was on personnel at the time of departure. This means that current counts have us at 1,238 M4 rifles, and 12,568 M18 sidearms. All sidearms only have a single magazine of 9mm ammo, where we have 3,714 magazines of 5.56mm ammo. In total, that is 111,420 5.56mm rounds and 213,656 9mm rounds. All have been turned into the armory and recorded. As per regulation, no one had more than was allotted for their given duty at the time. That being said, we’ve re-distributed firearms to those on guard duty and those in scouting parties. Guards have been granted an M4 rifle with half a magazine, or 15 rounds, and an M18 sidearm with half a magazine, or eight rounds. Three man scouting parties have been formed, one with an M4 rifle with half a magazine of ammo and two with M18 sidearms with half a magazine of ammo.”

“Yes, it appears that our regulations have limited what we were able to bring with us. An unfortunate situation, but more fortunate than most who appeared. Let’s figure out alternate weapons and limit the use of firearms. Immediately halt any firearm training for the time being, if it hasn’t already. We will at least need a way to manufacture more ammo before we begin training with them again. Good thinking to whoever started conserving ammo. We will need to make it last until we have sufficient alternatives and a better understanding of the threats of where we are.”

“Done!” Another officer to the side stated.

Captain Ryan continued once more. “As for initial scouting parties that were sent out when we arrived from the portals, teams have started coming back in. It appears that aside from hostile wildlife, some threats have been identified. Reports say that two portals have been discovered. These portals are unlike the ones that our people appeared from. Instead of massive, blue and white vortexes, these were described as purple black vortexes, both roughly the size of a garage door. However, neither have destabilized and vanished like the ones we came through. One of the portals had creatures appearing from it. The creatures appeared and engaged the scouting team while they were investigating the portal. Report says that they were six greenish humanoids, about three feet tall, four inch long ears, long nose, mangled teeth, malnourished with lanky limbs, and they had crude weapons such as wooden spears and rusty machetes. All but one of the hostiles were eliminated. The remaining one was captured and is being detained outside of Alpha Base. Also, all of their weapons were brought back. The report states that when the hostiles were eliminated, they broke down into dark smoke that evaporated leaving their skin and bones behind. These remains were also recovered and are being looked into. Some of the more fanciful on the scouting party have dubbed them ‘Goblins,’ sir. After seeing the live one that they have tied up and caged, I find it hard to dispute the description.”

“Goblins?!” the General stated more than asked.

“Yes sir. That is what they appear to be.”

General Arnold thought to himself for a moment. The wildlife that they had encountered was slightly strange, variants that people weren’t familiar with. However, Goblins were a whole different story. And the fact that they were armed, even with crude weapons, meant that they were at least semi-sentient.

“Is there anymore to your report Captain?” The General asked.

“No sir. That is all that I have.”

“Good. Major Thompson, put together a security detail. I’m going to go see our prisoner. Captain Ryan, form two squads of six men to watch those portals. Tell them not to engage any more exiting the portals unless they are engaged first. Preferably, don’t let any Goblins know that they are there. If more emerge, they are to send word back and to follow them. We need to know if they are encamped somewhere nearby. If they are engaged, capture what they can, but not if it puts our mens’ lives at risk. If any more are killed, bring their remains and equipment back, some extra tools may be beneficial, and perhaps we can learn something from the corpses.”

“Sir, yes sir!” both men once again responded.

“Dismissed.”

The two officers went their separate ways to fulfill their orders as the General prepared to go and visit their new prisoner.