Author Notes: Sorry for the long delay. IRL stuff is killing me right now, and I have no time to work on the story.
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2014. San Francisco.
Lieutenant Ford Brody of the U.S. Navy stared blankly as the doors of the plane opened up, revealing the busy Travis Air Force Base, a hive of activity with a lot of soldiers moving about.
At the call of their superior, Ford came back to reality from his daydreaming and got up with practiced ease and discipline, just like the rest of the soldiers.
As he packed up his stuff, his friend, Staff Sergeant Marcus Morales, glanced at him and spoke up.
"You got a family waiting for you?"
"I hope so."
The man smirked at the answer.
"How long have you been away?"
"14 months."
The man's smirk softened a touch.
"Take it slow. It's the one thing they don't train you for."
Ford smiled at his friend's words as Marcus moved forward and shouted towards his unit.
"Alright! Let's go!"
At Marcus's shout, the men moved forward, ready to get the formality of the 'Homecoming' that is done for the returning soldiers by the army out of the way and get back to their families and relax before their next deployment. A feeling that Ford shared as well.
Soon, with all the formalities done, which lasted until sunset, he returned home to his wife and son.
That night, Ford sat at the dining table with his son, who insisted he close his eyes.
"Can I see it yet?"
"Don't let him see it!"
His wife's voice made Ford smile happily while his son whined about not opening his eyes.
Then, Ford opened his eyes to a homemade cake with candles and frosting.
His wife, Elle, smiled at his stunned face.
"It's a welcome home cake!"
"Look at that!"
Ford grinned as his son hopped off the chair and ran to the big banner that he helped prepare for his dad.
The child pointed to the stick figures he drew for this occasion.
"That's you, and that's me."
Ford smiled warmly at his son's words.
"What's it say?"
"Welcome home, daddy."
Ford grinned at the boy's words.
"Alright. Since daddy is home. It's cake every night."
Elle laughed at her husband's words and her son's hopeful look
"Fine. But only if you do your homework and you eat it in moderation."
Soon, the family of three settled in for the night.
However, the peace was broken by the ringing of his phone.
Seeing the familiar number on it, Ford smiled a bit and answered it.
"Hey dad."
"Hello, Ford. I heard Elle say that you would be returning home today?"
"Yeah. I just came back today."
Joseph Brody, who preferred to be called Joe, spoke in his signature distracted tone. One that Ford had long gotten used to growing up after his mother died at Janjira's meltdown.
"Any issues? You alright?"
"Dad. I am part of the U.S. Navy. It is inevitable that there would be issues. But, no. Nothing happened, and I am completely fine."
Joe sighed on the otherside, trying to speak and express his true feelings to his son, yet his awkwardness made it really difficult for him. A fact that Ford knew after such a long time.
Back when his mother had died, Ford had seen his father spiral into conspiracy theories and looking for things that were simply not there in a bid to justify her death and to try and process his grief.
For a time, Ford, despite being a child, felt a real fear that he would lose his father to this madness of his.
However, thankfully, he started to recover after he took a job in Hoenn, offered to him by a shipping company called Monarch, which wanted his expertise on operating their nuclear-powered ships.
While his relationship with Ford mended over the years after that initial strain, Ford also realized that the father he remembered from his childhood was no longer there.
Yet, he accepted this change nonetheless. Because he knew better than anyone what grief did to a person.
Ford glanced at his son, who was preparing for bed but was staring at him with anticipation.
He smiled.
"Sam wants to talk to you."
Sam nodded enthusiastically as Ford handed over the phone to his son, while Joe's tone took on a more natural note.
"Hey Grandpa!"
"Hey there, kiddo! What are you doing up at this time?"
"Daddy was telling me a story."
"Oh, was he now?"
"Yes. Also, are you coming next week for my birthday?"
"Of course I am! I already talked it over with my superiors and got the leave. I will be there within a couple of days."
Sam happily spoke to his grandfather before Joe finally bid goodbye to his son and grandson and telling Ford to say hi to Elle for him.
After the call, Ford put his son to bed and collapsed on the couch with a contented sigh, along with Elle, who leaned into her husband.
"Joe?"
"Yeah. He sounds..."
"Good?"
"Good."
Elle smiled at his words.
"Sam really does miss his grandfather."
"Sure, he does. Dad always spoils him rotten every time he manages to get away from his work."
Ford's amused tone hid the emotional turmoil he always felt whenever talking about his father.
There was no denying the fact that he felt really glad that his father had improved after their mother's passing and never gave up a chance to spend time with his family after that.
However, he could not help but feel that this change could have come before the accident. How good it would have been if his father were this attentive to his family back then, when his mother was still alive, instead of burying his head in work all the time.
Elle knew her husband's thoughts all too well, so she simply leaned into him in comfort.
That night, Ford spent as much time as he could with his wife, knowing that these moments of peace would be short given the state of the world.
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Deep in the ocean, near the Challenger's deep, a secret, advanced submarine dove deeper into the depths.
Within that submarine, Joe smiled as he stared at the photo of his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson on his phone.
"Your son?"
"Yeah."
"So he came from that unfortunate campaign in Afghanistan?"
Joe nodded at his colleague and friend's words.
He knew that Ishiro hated how the United States was handling the issue with Afghanistan, an issue that was causing loss of life on both sides. Something that the man simply did not approve of one bit.
After all, the USA had no justification for what it was doing to that country. Especially since the attacks on the Twin Towers had failed that day, thanks to certain powers who got the intelligence beforehand and intervened, making sure those planes would not collide with the towers.
Yet, there was nothing they could do. Because, despite their autonomy and de facto ownership by Hoenn, Monarch was still, on paper, a part ofthe US armed forces and would be tried for treason should they speak up against the current regime at the Pentagon and the CIA.
Joe put away the phone and turned to Ishiro, who was busy looking at the instruments aboard the submarine.
"What do you think?"
"These readings are consistent with the Wormhole on Hoenn and the other locations that we have been scouting so far, including the one on Skull Island. But the signature is very distinct from anything we have ever seen."
"It feels more..."
"Refined. Deliberate."
Joe completed his friend's words as he too stared at the instruments and external cameras that showed their destination.
A colossal rift that had just sprung up recently at Challenger Deep.
Unlike the Hollow Earth portals that looked far more inconcistent and unstable, showing that they were formed naturally due to some unknown interaction between the electromagnetic forces of the planet and the strange crystals known as the Hollow Earth Crystals, this rift looked far more refined and deliberate.
In other words, it looked artificial.
That is why Monarch was here in the first place, sending their most advanced submarine equipped with state of the art fission reactors and even the revolutionary anti-gravity systems developed by Hoenn. A system that Hoenn only sold to other countries in limited quantities for the sake of their national security.
"Look at these patterns. No wonder the Titans are not reacting to this suddenly opened rift."
Vivienne spoke as she looked at the readings from the rift while the two men nodded.
"Indeed. Looks like whoever or whatever created this rift knew that it would attract the attention of the Alpha Titans, so they made sure to mask its signature in such a way that no titan would be able to sense it."
"We need to take advantage of this opportunity and further understand how these portals work."
The men and women aboard the submarine continued their work and continued observing the readings and footage.
Not knowing that this rift's opening would mark a period of turmoil in human history.
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Author Notes:
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