Chapter 1: Earth to Equus (Rewritten)

I sat in a CH-53K with several other marines, not knowing at all what was about to happen. This was the most activity that this... portal, I guess, has seen. We plan to tear it open far enough to fit a King Stallion through and do so several times. Second thoughts and theories ran through my mind, until I felt the helicopter jolt, and the rotors began to spin.

As we took off, I looked out the cockpit from my seat in the front of the cabin and could see the giant mess of metal trusses and devices that looked like Van De Graaff generators. Extending from the ground below into the center of this structure was another device that looked like a plasma globe without the tesla coil. I had read about what these devices are, but still didn't really know what they did.

Through my earpiece, I could hear the control tower chatter. "Tower, this is Phoenix; I'm in the air. Waiting on the doorway."

"Roger, Phoenix. Doorway, all craft ready. Begin opening sequence."

"Affirmative, Tower. Doorway opening in 3, 2, 1."

The plasma ball looking structure in the center quickly filled with darkness, as if a small black hole had formed inside of it. This only lasted for a moment, until the Van De Graaff looking devices began emitting an electric hum that I could hear over the helicopter, and the transparent dome opened up with an explosive sound, quickly disappearing into what has been named the Doorway. The shimmering window-like sphere grew wider and wider until it was about 40 meters in diameter, emitting a sound that I can only describe as a rockslide in an echo dome.

When the doorway stopped growing, the radio sprang up with activity. Among others, there was the conversation between the pilots, the Tower, and the Doorway controllers.

"Doorway stable, Tower. Pilots may proceed with the mission."

"Roger, Doorway. All units switch to assigned radio frequencies."

I switched my radio to the channel I was told to use. While I could not hear what was being said to the pilot, I saw the AH-1Z fly through the Doorway. I was told that they would make sure the area around the LZ was clear, then we would enter. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the helicopter pitched forward slightly. We entered the Doorway slowly, as soon as I went in, the scenery changed. I was no longer over a base in the middle of nowhere, now, we were flying over a dense, dark forest. In the distance to the right of the aircraft, I could see a mountain, with what looked like a city on the side of it.

"Already this seems like something out of a fairytale. Christ, what's next? Magic and dragons and unicorns?" I thought out loud, eliciting a few laughs from the other Marines in the helicopter.

As soon as the helicopter touched down in the area that had been cleared of trees by remote robots weeks before, the hatch opened, and in a symphony of whirring electronic servos from our XOS 4s and rattling bullets and gear, we all rushed out of the helicopter.

When every ground unit had been offloaded, I went to report to Colonel Locke. He was not hard to find despite everything, while I could not see anyone's face through the helmets with HEDS built in, his unique gait made him stand out.

"Sir, all units are accounted for." I said.

"Good, I'll report to command as soon as we have the comms station up." Colonel Locke said, "In the meantime, we can move on with the mission. It's your call how we proceed."

I hit the radio toggle switch on my helmet. "Alpha one actual to Phoenix, report. What can you see up there?"

"Alpha one actual, I assume you see the giant castle-looking structure on the mountain to the north?" was the radio response.

"Affirmative, I see it." I said, looking towards the lone mountain, "You're not suggesting we trudge our asses over and up there, are you?"

"No sir, Just making sure I'm not seeing things." the pilot said. "Other than that, there is what appears to be a smaller, more medieval village to the north-east of your location, about a klick-and-a-half out."

"Roger, Phoenix. Escort us through the forest." I said. I switched the channel back to ground units. "Squads Alpha, Bravo, form up. Switch to channel two, We're moving out."

"I doubt God even knows what you'll find out there." Colonel Locke said.

"Fingers crossed we're in Middle Earth." I said with great snark.

"That would be a fun report." Colonel Locke said. I couldn't tell if he was amused or irritated.