The year was 2186.  The world is still recovering from the Pan-Geo War, often referred to as World War III.  The war pitted east against west, in a conflict of ideals, beliefs, technology and ultimately, superiority of the human race.  The war started as a cold war and lasted as such for  hundreds of years.  Later, it would explode into an all-out war that lasted for three years.  Five years ago. January 5th, 2181, the war came to an abrupt end as if the off button had been clicked.  At the time, the reasons for the end of the war were unclear to the public.  It was not ended due to a victory from either side; the political savvy of either side; nor was there a chance of reconciliation in sight.  The war had ended from a growing fear of a common enemy of humanity.  Weird creatures, very similar to those of legend and mythology but not native to the Earth, were appearing around the globe.  At first, the appearances of these creatures were very rare, little more than simple, unsubstantiated sightings, like “Bigfoot” or the “Loch Ness Monster” of days long past.  Others, of course, believed these sightings to be “aliens” or “paranormal activity.”  Eventually, these sightings would become confirmed realities.  The first confirmed sighting was a phantasmal humanoid creature, resembling that of a dead human spirit or ghost; as such these creatures were then labeled as “ghosts.”  Only later would we realize that this was indeed a mislabeling of the creatures, as more recent sightings looked very different; taking on all manner and shapes of creatures.  Still the name “ghosts” simply stuck with all of these beings being referred to as ghosts.  Though the first few ghost encounters were of little more danger to humanity than a knife wielding maniac running down the public streets of Tokyo, ShangHai, or Los Angeles, striking down anyone or anything it could find.  Never-the-less, the increase in both the number of encounters and various otherworldly abilities of the ghosts was becoming enough of a concern to cause a cease fire between the two world powers.  Over time, the ghost encounters became fierce enough that both the Pan-American Sphere and the Geo-Asian Combine agreed, for the first time since their inception, to share information concerning the ghost sightings and encounters.  The fear, which plagued both of the world’s superpowers, was that these ghost encounters were escalating in frequency, intensity, and were a foreshadowing of what was yet to come.  The fear which gripped the entire world was the end of humanity at the hands of the ghosts.  

~Excerpt from the Memoirs of Seto Iba

January 5th, 2186   -  The fifth anniversary of the cease fire. 

05/01/2186  -  1431 Hours 

A man turned his head to face the back of the room.  The man of african-american descent sported a standard military crew cut and dark brown eyes.  He wore a standard issue BDU complete with cap which was held in place but a headset with a mic boom arm coming from the right earphone.  He stood up, turned to the back of the room and shouted, “Sir, we have a message from the Pasadena Emergency Rescue!” Private Henderson was just one of many first contacts at the G.E.T dispatch office.  Other privates and corporals sat all around him in organized rows, each in their own little cubical.  There were more than fifty of them in total.  “It is only a partial message in response to a fire.  The message seems to have been cut off during transmission, Sir!” Private Henderson shouted.

“Show me!,”  a deep booming voice said in response.  An older man with a white but well groomed beard and mustache sat at a large desk in the back of the room.  His white hair, no more than an inch and a half long, was well groomed but visible from the fringes of his hat.  The wrinkles beside and under his eyes gave the indication that he was a man in his 60s.  His defining muscle tone, wide shoulders and thick neck, portrayed a man in his 30s or 40s.  He also wore a standard BDU but with the stars of a two star general.  Commander Faraday, the head of the G.E.T. dispatch office located at Bairon-Midley central command, was the man who oversaw the communications of the entire Bairon-Midley organization.  Private Henderson said, “computer, access call index 7573643.”  the computer responded, “viewing message on screen.”  A large screen which took up the entire front wall across from Commander Faraday’s desk flashed on.  

The commander watched as a seemingly standard call came in for a fire response on the US-110 highway south out of Pasadena, California.  Two fire teams, one emergency rescue team, and one local law enforcement were dispatched to the scene.  Pasadena dispatch said, “Pasadena fire units 34 and 35, police unit 534, and emergency unit 612; you have a fire in the west bound lane of route 210 three miles outside of Pasadena. Over.”

Fire unit 34 responded, “enroute.  ETA 279 seconds.”

Fire unit 35 responded, “enroute.  ETA 183 seconds.”

Police unit 534 responded, “enroute.  ETA 93 seconds.”

Emergency unit 612, “enroute from Pasadena General.  ETA 383 seconds.  

Police unit 534 came across the radio again, “ETA 74 seconds, we have smoke sign.  Requesting back up.  Smoke and fire signs indicate this is far more than a vehicle fire.”

“The law enforcement officer was a nearby patrol unit, who was the first to arrive on the scene.” Private Henderson stated, “Computer, show Pasadena law enforcement officer #612 camera footage, index timestamp 1430 through end of transmission.”  Commander Faraday said in a very serious tone.  The computer responded, accessing…. on screen.  The officer’s body camera and dashboard camera both showed up in separate windows of the main screen.  Commander Faraday watched as the footage began to play.  “As you can see, Sir, there was a massive inferno that appeared on the highway out of nowhere.  And then the officer’s transmission just ended.” Private Henderson stated.  

“Computer, access Pasadena fire units 34 and 35 video feeds.”  Commander Faraday ordered.  “Accessing…  on screen.”  the computer replied.   Commander Faraday watched the two feeds displayed on the screen.  Each unit arrived on scene to the sight of a blazing inferno.   Shortly after their arrival, the transmissions ended abruptly.  “That wasn’t a communication disruption.  That was the equipment being completely destroyed.”  stated Commander Faraday.  “We can only assume this was some sort of “Ghost” related incident.  We did get confirmation that there is no communication from any of the personnel dispatched to the scene.  G.E.T. response is requested.” Private Henderson stated with a hint of urgency in his voice.  

Looking at a separate screen on his desk, Commander Faraday told private Henderson, “I appreciate your promptness in this matter.  I will take over from here.”  “Yes Sir!” stated private Henderson.  Commander Faraday went back into his private office at the back of the dispatch center.  He then began looking intently over his G.E.T. squads in the area, trying to ascertain which unit would most likely make it to the coordinates the quickest.  He thought to himself, “what a mess!  The closest until has some new trainees on board.  Well, they had best hope that they were good learners in the academy.”  Commander Faraday then barked at the computer, “computer open communication to unit 37 Commander Reyhen.”  The computer replied, “opening connection…. Connecting… connection established.”  Commander Reyhen appeared on the computer screen.“  Commander Reyhen was a middle aged man with dark brown hair and green eyes.  Commander Reyhen, can you hear me?” Faraday questioned in a stern but calm voice.  Commander Reyhen responded,” Yes sir, I hear you loud and clear.”  “It seems that there is a disturbance at North 34, 6, 56 by West 118, 9, 10.  I need unit 37 to investigate. I will have back up for you shortly.”  Commander Faraday ordered.   Commander Reyhen responded, “Yessir!  We are enroute.”  

Commander Faraday then ordered, “Computer end transmission.”  “Ending Transmission.”  the computer responded.  “Computer, open a channel to Commander Voss.” He then ordered.  “Opening connection….  Connected.” the computer responded.  A thin, and older man appeared on the screen,  He had grey hair pulled back into a ponytail and green eyes.  He was clearly of Russian descent.  His body was showing the signs of his age, a man in his early 70s but his mind was sharp as ever.  “Commander Voss?  Are you there?” Commander Faraday questioned.  Commander Voss replied, “I hear you loud and clear sir.”  “Commander Voss, I need you to take unit 38 and back up unit 37.  Very likely ghost activity at North 34, 6, 56 by West 118, 9, 10.  Also scramble units 36, 39, and 40 just to be safe.  I have a bad feeling about this mission.”  Commander Faraday ordered in an authoritative tone.  Despite sharing the title of Commander, the same title as commander Voss and Reyhen, Faraday was higher ranked than both of them.  Voss nodded in acknowledgement and said, “Yessir commander.”  Commander Faraday then closed the channel.  

At 1431 hours the first sightings of a possible ghost rang in to the Pan-American Sphere government.  The location of the sighting was south of the city of Pasadena.  At 1438 hours, before anyone could have even reacted, Pasadena California, had been burned to the ground.  A city of approximately two hundred thousand people had been completely incinerated, with nothing left but ashes and rubble.  Nothing survived the flames; not the animals; not the plants; not even the people, buildings, or roads.  It was all gone.  At first it was hard to believe that such a thing had happened.  Whatever did this hit us, and it hit us hard.  It was as if it wanted us to know that we were nothing but mere insects before a greater power; or at least that is what we feared.

~Excerpt from Journal Entry 1746 - Corporal Todd Keith Haroldson G.E.T. Unit 38

January 5th, 2186   

05/01/2186  -  1439 Hours 

Flames visible in the distance, and not a vehicle anywhere to be found; A lone armored transport began speeding down the freeway towards its destination.  Pasadena California, or what was left of it, was the area where G.E.T had been dispatched.  “We are approaching the drop off point, Commander Voss”, stated Private Huskins, a transport driver for Bairon-Midley.  Huskins. Private 1st Class, sported a long well groomed beard, a shaved head, and more than two hundred kilograms of body weight.  He had been with the company for a little over seven years.  He was a heavy set man, carrying the majority of his weight in his oversized belly,  incapable of actually fighting ghosts, but a talented driver from the private sector.  He had been hired to drive troopers to ghost encounters worldwide.  In addition to his considerable skills as a transport driver, he was also a very skilled pilot, which made him a great asset to the company.  In fact, it was Huskins who flew units thirty through forty out to the California base.

“Close the blast shield,” Ordered Commander Voss, putting on his glasses.  These were no ordinary glasses mind you.  They were command issued computer glasses which displayed all of the computer information one could need on the one way lenses.  Simple framed, black plastic sunglasses issued to all commanding officers in the Bairon-Midley corporation to provide all the necessary functions of a computer work station in something as small and simple to wield as a pair of sunglasses.  Looking through these lenses, Voss was able to see the status of all his troopers in the back of the transport in real time live feed, as well as a computer layout and satellite imaging of Pasadena and the surrounding area.  

“Huskins, we will have to switch to computer imaging from here on out,” Voss ordered in his calm, unwavering tone of voice.  Huskins complied with the order and replied, “Yessir.”  As the blast shield closed over the windshield of the vehicle, a visual of the area appeared on the back of the plate as though it had been displayed on a computer monitor.  Huskins would then make gestures at the air, as if he was conducting a musical ensemble to change the viewed settings on the screen.  With one wave of his hand, Huskins removed the raging fires from the screen in order to see where debris lay in the path en route to the drop point.  With another motion of his hand, he also brought up displays of the outside conditions and temperatures as they drove into the raging inferno that was once the city of Pasadena.  Knowing that the transport was fully protected from the mayhem outside, he proceeded into the maelstrom of flame as though it were not there.  As he pumped the steer sticks backwards and forwards, he traversed the melted array of debris and potholes.  Huskins would still continually glance back at the display of the conditions outside.  He monitored them closely as though he was expecting something to happen.  Huskins reported, “outside temperatures currently at 93.7 degrees C.”  Huskins thought to himself, “these temperatures, while well within the tolerance levels of the transport, should still be closely monitored.”  It was clear for all to see that the safety of his cargo was all that mattered to Huskins.  Again he waved his hand, adjusting the climate control in both the front and the rear of the transport.  “Might as well keep them troopers comfortable for the next little bit of the ride,” Huskins boasted to himself.

Silently, Commander Voss also monitored the change in both the internal and external environmental conditions from his glasses.  Voss maintained his steel, unreadable poker face despite monitoring so many systems, conditions, and information all at the same time.  In addition to everything else that Voss was monitoring, he could also see every move and adjustment that was made with the transport from Huskins, and from the troopers in the back area.  Huskins stated, “ETA to rendezvous point, 465 seconds.”  As if Huskins had said nothing, Voss waved his hand to open a communication channel to the troopers in the rear of the vehicle, because he could already see the information which Huskins felt the need to repeat, even though he knew Voss could see it on his screen.