Chapter 2

When he awoke nathan was in a small room, with white walls and a bright light over him. His vision was slightly hazy, and when it cleared it was obvious he was in an imfirmiry, and he was surrounded by medical staff.

One of the nurses immediately noticed he was awake, and informed a nearbye doctor of this. The doctor, a slightly overweight middle-aged man with a receeding hairline and bright, cheery eyes, turned to him and said, "Ah, I'm glad to see your finally awake. We didnt know if you'd make it, you damn near ran yourself to death!" he tried to speak but the doctor immediately said, "No, you dont need to speak yet, you must regain your strength first. After you are at leaste partially recovered we will need to ask you some questions." with that said he promptly turned to one of the nurses, and whispered something to her, then left the room.

Moments later Nathan felt a needle pierce his arm, and he was asleep in moments

In the small viewing room ajacent to the infirmiry ward in which Nathan was being kept, the doctor, Jared Caldwell was adressing a man in a neatly pressed and folded military uniform, which was adorned with a quite large collection of medals and pins. Obviously a high-ranking officer.

"He will be able to recover, but I still don't see how he didn't die from exhaustion," the doctor was saying. "About another days rest and he should be fit for your questioning."

"Good," responded the officer, "we need to know what it is that has been attacking our patrols, and who the hell it works for. You said something about him mumbling about an.... invisible attacker? Yes, that was it... What exactally did he say?"

"Nothing really usefull... Something about private... Hell I can't remember the name, but something about one of the privates in his patroll suddenly dying, footsteps appearing, something like that. Seems to me like he is just delerious."

"Hm..." responded the officer, "maybe," he pauses for a moment, in deep thought, "Nevermind. I will get back to you later Doctor," saying that, he turned sharply and exited the room, leaving the doctor behind to pondor the discussion and its meaning.

Later in the day that Nathan returned to camp, another patroll had dissapeared. On the command tower in the central command center, the general was adressing his highest ranking officers, "Something, I dont know what the hell it is, has been taking down our patrolls in this area," he gestures to the temple on the map, and pauses to take a deep breath. "We intend to find whatever the hell it is, and turn the fucker into a smoking crater."

There were a fe murmurs from the gathered officers, but they were quickly quited by the general.

"Now, earlier today, as some of you may have heard, an exhausted lieutenant, whom had been in command of an ill-fated patroll, returned to camp today, obviously in shock... He murmured something about men suddenly being cut in half... It sounds to me like a cloaked attacker." He looked around the room to gauge his commander's reactions, then continued, "We will be sending the science vessel Inquisitor, along with a small portion of delta wing, to find, and eliminate any attacks."

One of the commanders, a colonel, began to speak, "Once we eliminate these enemies, will we be checking for any type of encampment? I doubt any lone guerillas could survive in these damn jungles."

"Yes, we will be searching... That is why you were called here. Each of you is going to head a battalion and comb the jungles in the surrounding area for any signs of the enemy. You are to cooperate fully with one another, or the consequences will be severe," He placed great emphasis on the last word.

The young colonel spoke again, "And once we find them, if the forces who are searching for them are not enough to deystroy them, how soon could we expect reinforcements, if we were in at leaste a five hundred kilometer area?"

"Reinforcements could be at ANY place on this hemisphere in less than thirty minutes."

"Yessir, that will be all."

"Very well, any other questions?" He was rewarded with a chorus of "No, sir!"s. "Excelent, DISMISSED!"

The officers filed out of the room. The general sat facing out of a window, admiring his encampment...

In this command room, General Edmund Duke smiled.