Week Six

Thursday June 1st, 2043, 1100 hours

The team's convoy drove straight through to Colorado (a 7 hour trip), finally continuing on foot about 1 mile from their destination (the exact spot which The Vault orbited above). Still 1/2 mile from the complex they ran across a small, 10-man patrol, which was quickly eliminated. Small squads were sent forward to gather intelligence, and returned with news of a gigantic steel door set into the side of the mountain ahead, guarded by fifty elite NERCC soldiers. One hundred soldiers armed with grenade launchers were sent up to dispatch the NERCC guards, and possibly to weaken the door.

The original 50 soldiers all died quickly, caught entirely by surprise by the huge salvo of grenades. The door was also heavily damaged, and in just a few more minutes had been breached. Inside, however, were an additional 100 soldiers, along with their commander, a large lion In-Betweener. The ensuing battle was brief and bloody- the NERCC troops and their unnatural leader were defeated, but at a high price. Alex Larson was killed during the fighting, victim of a NERCC soldier's laser rifle.

The team, though in shock over Alex's sudden death, had no choice but to continue the attack. They and their troops rushed into the complex, eliminating the few NERCC stragglers who had remained inside during the combat. At the far end of the main bunker they found two locked doors; the left one led to a chamber, empty except for a detailed and intricate vever to Mbua drawn on the floor; the other, a room containing a horrific sight.

There was a large frame set into one wall, and a man's body had been stretched around it, as though the frame had been somehow thrust into his body. The frame itself held no painting, but rather seemed to be a doorway of some kind- foul smoke and heat blew through, as if the room in the mirror were actually right next door.

When Drake and Derek broke the vever in the first room, the body in the second room began screaming, a wailing, inhuman sound. Not wanting to destroy the portal, there was only one choice left to the team: Bug dove through the portal, followed closely by Drake and Derek.