On something of a sour note
Or more like dropping left and right due to an ambush... This could be said to debunk the old saying "Technology triumphant" but that would be in bad taste. Instead, let's go into just why this group is here.
The had been investigating rumors that the Company was conducting operations that was not only against current treaty, but also would if/when they decided to start up the next war against them (the Military Protectorate and the Alliance) that this project was rumored to be able to give them a deadly edge.
A trail of clues had led to this alternate reality. The group had landed, on recon when the commanding officer was greeted by some odd natives. Why the unit's CO should have trusted these strangers (elves just like those on Terra Prime, except for inky black eyes) is unknown. Why the CO should have discounted the misgivings of the unit's intelligence officer, an AI we shall call Inquirer 2 (analog of the female Golem called Inquirer) is also unknown. Just suffice to say that both things happened and so when the elves turned on their new "friends" (read prey), things got nasty.
The Champions had knowledge that helped defeat the dark elfin harriers and save the remaining members of the wayward Alliance soldiers, but for quiet a bit things were a bit tense. Took "close in support" of the Inquirer's AI ship to do it....
...
It finally got ironed out. Survivors taken care of. Crystal cubes delivered to Dark Towers.
Yeah, but it wasn't easy at all. See, when the group finally DID get OUT of the forest, they found things had changed . . . . radically!
Have patience, this'll take some explaining.
Now we all know by now that in this story that parallel worlds/realities are an established fact. Know that at least two timestreams which had an Enemy/Alliance war (i.e. the Alliance reality and the Military reality). While stuck in that bubble universe that forest had temporarily become, time had slip away until another (!) Enemy/Alliance war had touched down on this parallel Terra! Got bad, but instead of nuclear weapons being dropped . . . . things got REALLY bad. . . .
....
Some of what came from that crash from Area 51 which made for the effective war machinary the human beings of the Military and the Allicance used against the Enemy is rather . . . . dangerous. Some of it is just too dangerous to use, period. Who knows exactly really used it, but the end result was that BOTH sides got erased from existence!! See, the weaponry used was time based. It's a kind of weapon which supposedly could erase your opponent from existence. Use it on the Enemy and the Alliance would find them gone on ALL fronts, with decaying/decomposing equipment abandoned in place (soon to melt into nothing just like their owners). But the thing here is that if it backfires (which it did) both sides get wiped out from existence! That and the parallel worlds and people those who's lives either this "Mirror" version of the Enemy and the Mirror Alliance came into contact . . . . those timelines get deranged.
It also did other things (like burn out Inquirer 2's subspace radio. . . nearly frying her circuits), but bottom line it made it necessary (if the AI and those human's now in her care) wanted to get home to help out more than what would otherwise be allowed by regulations (fire team support, etc). Needful, considering what this world had become!
No longer have to worry about any Mirror versions of the Enemy or Alliance about. No, instead you have to worry about a world which this Terra had become. A world where Minestus gained and succeeded in altering all the human beings (and every OTHER person except for those who'd been in that timewarp forest) into Fox Mamimals. That and setting himself up as their god!
Good news is that the Champions and friends were able to kill Minestus and bring about events that (hopefully) when the spellwork that is brainwashing everyone on this world in still thinking that Minestus is a god wears off they won't be STILL cursing the Champions, but it became necessary for Champions and friends (centaurs female called Ravenmane who'd survived that battle as well as native dragons Synizn and Sigin) to vacate the planet!
There is more to it but that's enough for this for now, okay.
This Validation Quest done Jarlath's group kind of splits up. Why? Because Jarlath and some of the others are staying behind to see what can be done to the still amnesic centauress (who they've figured out is a transformed Fred and thus family) can be helped by friends here on Terra Prime.