This story was a combination of GATE: JSDF, Battlefield Bad Company, Command and Conquer games, Warhammer 40K, Starcraft, and elements of Call of Duty series. The selected franchises belong to their respective owners. Additionally, I can give credit to F-14 Tomcat Lover for presenting story ideas on his GATE fanfic.

WARNING: There is a section in this chapter reminiscent of one graphic scene in COD: Black Ops 3. Although fictional, the dialogues/rants in that part can be very concerning for others since it reflects on the global situation I had heard, seen, and/or read on the news and documentaries.

To be clear, this alternate story line came after the Empire's massive army go through the 'Gate' uninterrupted. Quite different from my intended path for the epilogue of my other robot/fantasy fanfic work where those legions are being slaughtered by the AI extraterrestrials immediately after the structural enhancement on the portal (and just before the medieval forces had a chance to invade). Also, the 'surveillance' forces of the robotic race stuck on the 21st century Earth side and probably more of them on the 'Special Regions' in this plot are in an intense state of tiredness, disgust, disappointment, and rage after sifting thru tons of information (both physical and digital) about the precarious state on the world for several months; almost like the current circumstances we are in. Not sure how much of that heighten 'emotions' will change in future chapters whenever I could write them.

Any criticism on this work will be obliged. (But it's your call.)


One and a half weeks after the Ginza Incident….

"Let me recall on the information we had reviewed for today, gentlemen. A Roman-style structure or gate magically appeared in the middle of downtown Tokyo, Japan and out came an army of Roman-lookalikes and medieval fantasy creatures. Instead of peaceful diplomacy, they started slaughtering any civilians in their way: men, women, children, foreigners, our people. Not only that, these invaders recklessly damaged dozens of embassies including ours, the U.K., Canada, Israel, Mexico, Ireland, South Africa, India, and not to mention Russia of all things. With no equivalents to modern weaponry on the other hand, they were defeated by the Japanese self-defense forces, the US marines, and several army rangers within five days. The civilian casualties were over 2200 dead, almost 4000 injured, and about 90 remained missing. And yet the enemy suffered over 84,000 in death toll as well as 27,600 being detained; including their camp followers in sizable numbers. Their language had not been deciphered as of this moment but it's seem that it is related to Latin. In the aftermath, the Japanese government vow to find out what is going on and bring the perpetrators to justice. In my response speech, we, as in the United States and the rest of the world, acknowledged that claim to get the violators understand their crimes against humanity and receive the appropriate punishments. However, the attacks on several embassies warrant us and other countries to send financial aids and possibly military forces to aid this expedition for justice. Quite unfortunate that the government of Japan had been very nationalistic for some time before this macabre incident. Thus negotiations to accompany them are going at a slow rate unless the Japanese want to do it cash strapped. Back home though, we have yet to determine the total number of troops to be sent through the gate. Am I correct, everyone?" asked the president of the USA in the White House.

"Yes Mr. President, that's very much the situation we're in as of today. One battalion and a regiment from the Marine Corps is being underway but we haven't decided on which army group is going to Tokyo right now," said one of the military leaders.

"Continue the evaluation, general. And what's on the word for the Russians?"

"Officially, they want to do the same things as us. Still, it may take a year to raise an expeditionary force worthy of joining this coalition considering that the Russian economy just recovered from international sanctions," stated a diplomat.

"Alright then, that is all on what I need to hear. Dismiss gentlemen!"

As the visitors leave the room, a file batch of documents unexpectedly drop onto the floor. Only the commander in chief notice the mishap. After a few minutes of waiting, he decided to pick up this pile and take a look at it. "Well, what have we got right here?" The front cover is then opened to display the first profile. "Hmm, a George Gordon Haggard Jr. from Dallas, Texas awaiting prison sentence for… what the hell is this disaster am I reading!?"

A few days afterwards...

Inside the building of an army base within the USA is an imprisoned man lying on the lower mattress of the bunk bed... and whistling all alone. The prisoner is of Asian descent and wearing the orange-colored outfit. His prison cell is the only one being occupied among the empty rooms inside the structure designated as a prison/stockade for any 'unruly' soldier. After a while of silence, a door opens from the outside. Coming in the vacant alley are an army officer and two armed guards. Once inside, they walk towards the inmate locked in the reinforced gate of his jail room.

"Hey you uptight assholes, isn't it a little bit early for me to go to military court for my so-called punishment?" asked the defiant convict.

The officer responded, "Well... aren't you being observant of this unexpected situation; for someone who had murdered over a dozen people in disregard of army discipline instilled upon you."

"Yeah, sure... as if you could ignore the self-proclaimed jihadi pointing a gun at me while shopping off duty around a convenience store. Or how about those craze-up racists attacking a church full of kids before my eyes; and other shitty predicaments that reminded me on how my hometown was burnt to the ground!"

"Ugh... look, Corporal Gat. You were in an unconscious state for two years after your gangs' last fights in the destroyed city of Stilwater. We recovered and brought you here on this Army base for almost that same amount before you regained consciousness. Once you had enough facts to acknowledge that you no longer have a home to return to except this place, you made the decision to stay inside the army for redemption as a soldier of the US military. Yet with all the training and 'testing' we put you through for many months, you still allowed such thuggish brutality to manifest onto your 'alleged' offenders for your own sense of vengeance!"

"Ohh... well sor-ry for not being as 'honorable' as someone like the late General Shepherd who came to 'free' my city from fucking anarchy with the help of his PMC alliance. By the way though, have you guys finally discovered any damn evidence of your general's schemes to be a hero... by secretly supporting the same violent, fringe groups that wrecked havoc in the first place?"

The annoyed officer grumbled at the rather 'unproven' divulgence. "Hmm... I'm not the one with any answer to such conspiracy, soldier!"

"Why am I not surprised! I bet your leaders in the higher echelon had felt very embarrassed or disgraced about seeing the tru-"

"Listen carefully, Mr. Gat! You're being transferred to a new combat unit among the 222nd Armored Battalion as of today!"

"...wait, a transfer? So no solitary confinement, electrocution, or any kind of military penalty?"

3 months later….

'Welcome to the city of Tokyo, capital of Japan, known as the land of the rising sun… well technically, I'm in the air heading for the city's further port where the 222nd Armored Battalion of the US Army is being assembled to assist the JSDF operations to the unknown world. My name is Preston Marlowe and it has been over three months since the barbaric event occurred in the Ginza district. Nice change of pace from my last deployment in Lodz, Poland. Aside from working with the Poles in military exercises, things tend to… get boring for over a year. So about a month ago, I decided to fly a Blackhawk helicopter for the first time thanks to some persuasions from one of the pilots that had military histories in their families. Unfortunately, the chopper was much different than my grandfather's Vietnam-era Huey, the pilot assisting me got drunk, the unauthorized flight time ran short because of low fuel to begin with, and finally… I crash-landed the vehicle into a general's limousine. That would definitely send me to jail but instead, the army ordered my transfer to B-Company of the 222nd armored battalion. If the rumors are true, then you can thank the president for the formation of this company after he saw the 'colorful' profiles of army personnel that gave troubles to the military - albeit secretly. Considering all the troublemakers and rejects being put into one military group, this fighting unit sometimes goes by another name: Bad Company. As it stands, the current order is to meet the Japanese military forces after they set up fortifications on the other side and train each other for combat skill development and primarily discipline integrity or get our act together in plain English. On the other hand, if situation turn for the worse then B-Company might fill in the role as cannon fodder or something else unpleasant. So far, it seems that the true nature of this mismatched bunch remained hidden from the Japanese government and military forces. Anyway, let's resume the story…'

The Blackhawk helicopter lands on the designated loading zone, which allows the passengers to exit safely. As private Marlowe put his feet on the ground and sling his assault rifle on his back, he take the time to look around the large assembly area filled with military personnel, vehicles, and other equipment. Preston soon spot a squad with three of them having a conversation and an African American sergeant listening to the interactions while standing. The new arrival figured that it's a good idea to ask the squad leader and proceed to walk closer to him. "Private Preston Marlowe reporting for duty, sir!" said the saluting soldier after he stopped moving.

The sergeant look at him, salute, and said, "You sure you're in the right place?"

"I've believe so, sir!" the newcomer answered but the leader seem to be interrupted by a radio call from his comm link. "This is B-Company, right?"

"Yep, sure is. Even so, would you stop doing the sir-yes-sir bullcrap? I'm a sergeant, not the goddamn president!"

"Okay! Sorry, sir!" the arrived private responded before realizing his mistake. "I mean, sergeant."

"Yeah, whatever," the squad leader nonchalantly said. The rest of the squad came to greet the new personnel.

"Hey, welcome to the sandbox. The name Sweetwater here."

"Hey, how' ya doing? I'm Haggard and you smell very clean."

"You can call me Sanford, fourth squad-mate of Bravo One Charlie."

"And my name's Redford. You can call me that or Sarge. Nevertheless, we're all in this mess together now," spoke the sergeant before the squad head for a modified M939 Truck.

"Right Sarge. Do you know which squad I'm supposed to belong to?" asked Preston still standing.

Sweetwater starts the conversation in the background, "Practically speaking Hags, we're all smell clean since most of us never experienced combat before."

Haggard replied, "Does outdoor hunting and blowing things up count?"

"I am talking about firefights with gun-toting bad guys like crazy terrorists or a dictator's professional army. Respectively, the Sarge might be one of the few in B-Company who had real-life experiences dealing with those scenarios. And yet no one expected a magical gate to appear in the middle of a city and unleashed a Roman-like army that wrecked the place in a murder spree."

"And yet they were beaten back by guns in the end. Talk about bringing a knife to a gunfight, Sweets!"

As the two continued talking, the newcomer asked Redford after a short time waiting, "Sarge?"

"You can ride with us! New guy!"

"New guy? Alright then," stated the private before joining Bravo One Charlie.

Once inside the back bench of the truck, the squad view the slim TV screen just in time to see the motivating speeches from Japan's prime minister Motoi, US Army general Braidwood, the Marine Corps commander, and JSDF lieutenant general Hazama in that order.

"Man, I kinda wish I volunteer for the marines! They looked so mean and deadly compare to the Japanese army or even our own right here!" said the redneck.

"Maybe you could if you haven't kept making our own stuff explode! Second of all, the JSDF is still a defense force bound by their postwar constitution even with the increase of troops in the past several months before the Ginza event. Not an actual army," Sweetwater responded.

"Ah, shut it!"

A curious Sanford who saw the presented troops on the screen asked, "Hey Sarge, any word on us receiving armored hazmat suits like the main forces?"

"I don't think we had any shipment related to biohazard protection as of today."

"Well, if we're not getting biohazard suits after going through the Gate then 'Bad' Company's first mission would probably be to serve as guinea pigs for testing the unknown germs on the other side," added the glass-wearing private.

"I'm not sure about getting sick. I did heard about the quarantine zone that lasted for a month after the battle. So far, none of the people inside ever seem to suffer a plague or something. I think we all be okay without the clothing," commented by Haggard.

"That's true for the Tokyo aftermath but there are plenty of info we don't know about on the other world, if we plan to be there for many months or years even."

"Are you done lecturing, Sweetwater?" A short pause follow after the sergeant's command. The squad leader then receive radio transmissions containing orders to move out toward the gate. "Alright boys, it's time to move through!" The engine of the truck comes alive and the US soldiers outside cover the skeletal metal frame of the vehicle's rear section with thick canvas.

"Good luck over there, B-Company!" stated a military service personnel before he turn on the light switch, air conditioner, and then seal the cargo. When that's done, the 6-wheeled transport move with the traffic toward the physical portal. Halfway to the destination, Sanford noticed the eye-glassed squadmate handling a digital pad in his hands.

"Yo, what are you doing with that tablet over there, Sweets?"

"Checking in on our boys on the other side through their camera-feeds."

The redneck asked, "Wait a minute, did you hotwired that thing to take a peek at what our guys are seeing?"

"There's nothing hacked on this exclusive military device, Hags! It already has useful apps pre-installed before we got here as well as pretty much all the soldiers wearing the suits have electronic information network connecting them."

"Well alright mister smart guy who made the Internet sick!"

"Hey! That's more an accident than a deliberate-"

"Pipe it down you two! Something is happening on the video screen," commanded the sergeant as they see a sea of flame in a distance within sight of their own forces at night. Sweetwater was kind enough to wire-link the gadget to the TV set for a bigger picture. Minutes gone by and the group of lights remained still while the Japanese and American forces established defensive positions. When the darkness turn to dawn, the flames give way to a large army in the thousands.

The redneck noticed, "I'll be damn, that's quite an army they have. Wonder how much these people will take a beating?" A few minutes later, the enemy in mass start their attack on the defenses. After moving several yards however, the attackers receive barrages of artillery, tank, and machine gun rounds without making a scratch onto the defenders. Not even the wyverns are safe from guided missiles and anti-air fire. "Holy cow! Now that's a lot of explosions! Hey Sweets, can you dial up the sound?"

"Sorry rural guy, it's video only. Even if that is available, the audio could attract unwanted attention on Bad Company and reveal the secret purpose to Japan or perhaps the entire globe."

"Son of a gun on that reason to not enjoy the noise of blowing up stuff, no matter how far we are from the-!" said Haggard until he thought of something. "Uh, kind of think about it. It's actually more fun to be at the battlefield than just watching it on a couch."

"Can we talk later when we arrive, ladies?!" Redford voiced his annoyance.

52 minutes forward….

The vehicles bringing in B-Company finally arrived on Alnus Hill in the initial phase of reinforcing the defense perimeter. Yet they continue to move toward a large designated area further away from the main sector that will drop off the military group. Once there, the company exit out of the convoy and be guided by discreetly informed U.S. troops to establish one of several defensive zones surrounding the planned central region for a bigger fort.

"This is quite a mundane start toward my retirement goal," commented the sergeant as Bravo One Charlie began digging the trench line.

"Hold on, Sarge. How old are you today?" questioned Preston.

"41 years old, Marlowe. In one year, I'll be honorary discharged from the US Army for good."

"Oh wow. Normally you would retire around the age of fifty or sixty, Sarge. So how did you made it happen?"

"Eh, I actually made a deal with the top brass. They would shorten my term once I voluntarily transfer to B-Company. The moment I'm finished serving this group of misfits for an extended period of time, this expedition and other wars that follow will all belong to yourselves while I'll be fishing somewhere else."

"So you didn't do anything wrong to the military?"

"Nope, just getting tired of what's happening to the army for a long time."

Haggard joined the chat, "So new guy, I bet you're wondering why 4 nice guys like us ended up in Bad Company."

"Eh, I already told him my reason to be in this lot and I doubt that he'll be wondering for long."

Sweetwater invite himself as well, "Well Haggard here blew up the biggest ammo depository in the State of Texas, I myself unintentionally planted a virus to the army's secured network, and Sanford… huh…?"

"Hey you there! You have plenty to talk about after the trench work or sundown!" reminded an American soldier.

One week afterwards….

In one of the Imperial mines far from Alnus Hill and the capital of Sadera are thousands of slaves mining the valuable ores with picks and shovels. Whether human or otherwise, they all had to live with appalling conditions and the cruelty from the mine owners, bodyguards, and slave drivers. On this day though, one person had have enough of the inhumanity and stop working. One of the slave drivers spotted this defiance and proceed to get the man back in order.

"Come on you worthless slave! Get back to mining!" shouted the corrupt individual as he began to whip the fed-up person. "I said get back to-!" The Imperial then receive a hard hit by the man's fist followed by a series of beatings.

"Fuck you! Fuck your slavery you Roman bastard! I'm a goddamn American, not a slave!" yelled the captive in English. Quickly afterwards, the escapee attempt to get out of the mine. Unfortunately, he was caught again just as the American got so close to the exit. The mine enforcers then give him many beatings for this bravado. It became so severe that some lines of orange light in a tree branch-like pattern oddly appear on his body. The enforcers noticed this after the beatings but move on to lock the defiant person in a dungeon room and went back to their positions. Several minutes goes by, the prisoner regain consciousness and wonder to himself if he'll find a way back home or die trying. In an instance, sounds of yells and screams echoed throughout the mine; capturing the captive's attention. He then heard blasts similar to gunfire and explosions follow by painful cries.

"What in the underworld is going on out there?" the mine warden concerned before he felt a backstab between his head and neck as well as a strong grip on the cranium almost simultaneously. The Imperial scream in pain feeling the crushing pressure exerted from the hand of a nearly invisible intruder behind him. In 30 seconds, the cloaked assailant tear out the head from the whole body and then completely crush the skull with its same hand. After removing the assassin blade from the corpse and retract it under his arm, the saviour become visible and smash the lock.

"Are you alright, sir?" asked the rescuer who surprises the American with fluent English but in some form of distortion.

"I'm still breathing at least," replied the man struggling to get up and stand. "Did you know how long I stayed here by any chance?"

"Two months and eight days in the mine. Right now though, we need to leave immediately!"

Before the freed prisoner can say something, blue armored soldiers with energy rifles came to the dungeon and talk to the undercover operative in an unknown language. "What are they saying?" the man wondered. After the quick situational conversation, the squad proceed to free the slaves from their holding pens.

"We can discuss later. Time to move now!"

During the escape, the human saw hundreds of imperial bodyguards and mercenaries lying dead all over the carved terrain due to burnt holes, blunt damages, stabs, or slashes made on their vital body parts. At same time, hundreds of combatants in green or blue armor suits guide the liberated population to go outside the mine. Notably, the American spotted several soldiers in grey, white, or camouflage colors escorting sixteen people separate from the masses at a distance. Once on the exterior, the escapee witness a battle between the rescue force and incoming centuries of Imperials. More precisely, the Sadera troops are being massacred by futuristic guns and… wait, VTOL aircraft firing rockets and laser beams? If he knew the name, then it would be A-15 Orca mark III twin duct-fanned gunship modified to use 2 rocket pods and 2 particle beam cannons. What happens next came airborne transports landing on a flat plain away from the fighting.

"Here come the medivacs. Everyone get inside!" ordered the rescuer. With the selected group all in, the vehicles take off from the ground and head toward the nearby starship floating in the air. Meanwhile, larger transports of Eldar design fly to the same landing zone to be available for carrying the freed slaves.

Back at the forward operation on Alnus Hill the next day…. (BOOM!)

A series of explosions occurred on the unfinished trench line that B-Company is responsible for; accompanied by an excited laughter from one George Gordon Haggard Jr.

"Wahaha! Yeehaa!"

"Haggard! What the hell just happened right now?!" demanded sergeant Samuel Redford whose squad found him and the aftermath smokes.

"Well Sarge, I felt that it is taking too long to finish the trenches. So I thought that some explosives might help us dig more dirt out."

"Haggard, explosives are used against enemy buildings and vehicles. Not for digging trenches!" yelled the sergeant.

"Yeah Hags, that's a lot more craters made from just a few dynamites you mentioned! Speaking of which, where did you grab those demolition stuff?" questioned private Terrence Sweetwater.

"Uh, can you guys give me time to think about it?"

Just then, everyone in Bravo One Charlie hear and see the incoming roar of a military jeep toward them at high speed. Attached onto the vehicle is the emblem of the JSDF. "Wow Hags, I wonder how the Japanese will react when they find out that you stole their explosives?!" said Sweetwater.

"Ugh… alright everyone, get yourselves in good behavior while Sweetwater and I will communicate about this situation," spoke Redford.

As the automobile come to a stop, the squad notice that only the driver was inside the car. The armor-sealed person get out of the vehicle and walk fast in the direction facing the sergeant and eye-glassed soldier while carrying a Type 64 rifle. "Ne, soko ni nani ga okotte iru amerikahito?!" the trooper called in a feminine voice.

"A soldier girl, huh?" commented Preston in the background despite her wearing a visor-helmet.

"Tell her the situation sarge," Terrence stated to Samuel who nodded in reply.

"Ma'am, we unexpectedly encountered complications on this area when several of our digging equipment exploded for unknown reasons."

"Uh… watashitachi no kussaku... kikai no ikutsu ka wa,... ima no jōkyō o... shirazu ni jibun-tachi o... hakai shimashita," the private wearing the eyeglasses translated to her in a different meaning at his best effort.

However, the woman behind the covered visor and glass faceplate actually knew what they're saying in both Japanese and English. As well as knowing that these Americans are hiding something. "Sore wa watashitachi no dan'yaku chozōko kara no kakete iru C 4 to kankei ga arimasu ka?"

Sweetwater paused himself at what she knew, quickly look at Haggard closeby, and spoke to the African sergeant that the lady want to know if C4s were involved in this incident. After being surprised, Redford replied in English, "What got you thinking that explosives were used here?"

"Okay uh… Naze bakuhatsu-mono ka?" the private shorten the translation.

Still have room to playing around, the female soldier said, "Sate, watashi wa sakuya nerumae ni, gunju-hin no tame no JSDF hokan basho no 1tsu o miru kikai o emashita. Gozen-chū ni me o samashita nochi, onaji depo ni nanika kawatta koto ga kidzuita toki, watashi wa itsumo heishi to shite no gimu o saikai shimasu. Watashi ga hakken shita no wa, C 4 pakku no katamari ga kakete ita to iu kotodeshita. Sūfungo, watashitachi ga ima doko ni tatte iru ka to iu hōkō kara bakuhatsu-tekina oto ga kikoemashita. Sore ni taiō shite, watashi wa jīpu o tori, bakuhatsu-mono to kono kimyōna koto o musubitsukenagara sōsu ni mukatta."

Sweetwater with a blank face tell the sergeant what he could comprehend, "Oh, um… Sarge… she found out by chance that someone took their dynamites and put that fact together with the big boom she heard. Now the service woman herself is here to discern one of us being responsible for the explosions we witness!"

Taking it unexpectedly for several seconds, Redford pose a question to her. "Okay young lady, have you notify your superiors about your findings?"

"Not just yet, sir!" she answered in clear English; which got the two Americans dumbstruck.

"I… didn't think you could speak English," commented the glass wearing private.

"Well, now you know! And that includes understanding the answers and questions you gave to me!" The JSDF individual lift up her armored visor to reveal an annoyed face behind the glass. "So let move on to this important question: Which one of you idiotic foreigners decided to steal and then detonate our bombs?!"

Almost all eyes instantly turn toward Haggard. "Duh… Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

Before the military woman can act on this revelation, another JSDF vehicle drive up to the location very close and stop. "Kuribayashi fuku chōkan, nani ga shiagatta no?" asked the armor enclosed soldier who just exited from the car.

"Itami chūsa, watashi wa kono Amerika hito ga bakuhatsu-mono o purei shite iru koto kara nanrakano kankaku o uchinomesu shoki no katei ni imashita!"

"Dakara kare no mondai wa nanidesu ka?"

"Mondai? Kare wa sorera o bakuha shita!"

"Ima, ima Shino. Watashitachiha, sono yōna dōmeikuni ni mukete no panchi de, watashitachi no mondai no subete o kaiketsu suru dakede wa arimasen," the lieutenant calmly said.

"Nan, shinken ni! Anata wa daremoga ochitsuite ite, koko no gaikoku hito wa mukizu no mama ni shite okitaidesu ne?!"

"Hangu appu, hangu appu. Kaiketsusaku o hanasu koto ga dekireba yoi kamo shiremasen."

"Shikashi, sā! Anata wa hontōni kore o ninshiki shite imasen ka-?"

"Ma'am, could you please make a report to your superiors today?! And besides, my nation's top brass will eventually notice this mischief and be dealt with. Okay?" Redford intervened in English after hearing a rough translation from Sweetwater on this conversation about taking justice by her hands or other means to resolve this explosive foolishness.

"Mmm… ugh, alright fine. Just be wary of 'geek slacker' over here!" warned Shino as she head back to the automobile and then drive off.

"Geek slacker?" both the sergeant and private curiously stated.

"My apologies, Ms. Kuribayashi can be very… dedicated to her job. I hope she didn't rub you the wrong way, did she now?" Itami talked in English and lift up his visor to reveal his face as he walk to them.

"I haven't seen her doing anything bad yet but thanks for the concern... from someone who can speak my language by the way."

"Eh, eh… well, I only thought to be useful in looking at your country's translations and performances on our manga and anime respectively."

"Uh, what does that suppose to- uh never mind. So, do you want something from us at this point?" asked Redford.

"Gah… how about everyone's name in your squad first? Oh, I should introduce myself sooner. Lieutenant Itami of the JSDF."

"Sergeant Redford of the US Army, lieutenant."

"The name's Sweetwater here; private rank, IT specialist, and one of the smarter people with an SAT score close to 1500."

"Oh, that's… nice to see you," replied Itami being a bit puzzled.

"Well... if you need someone to talk a hole into your head, this is the guy," added the American squad leader.

"That's a cheap shot, sir! I don't talk that much!"

"Quiet, Sweets. The next person over there is Private Haggard, our natural-born demolition expert."

"Is that a nice compliment Sarge? 'Cus I'm just a guy who likes stuff go boom!" the redneck proclaimed.

"Just make sure they're enemy properties, okay Haggard?" Sanford reminded.

"Okey-dokey, buddy!"

"That's Private Sanford. Closer to being a model soldier but still tends to not think thoroughly about his actions," commented Redford.

"I am still trying my best to fix that, Sarge," remarked Sanford who received a nod from the sergeant.

"And then comes the new guy of our squad, Private Marlowe."

"Uh… can we talk at a later time Sarge? Because I noticed more guys from our army heading to this location," Marlowe prompted.

"Mmm… alright, soldier. Will do," answered Samuel who then speak to Itami. "Looks like we need to end soon and get back to work. It may take a few more days to finish the defenses in this sector."

"Good luck to you then, may we meet again at another time!" exclaimed the JSDF lieutenant with a friendly expression as he made it to the military vehicle and leave to their own sector.

"Geez, that guy seemed too relaxed for a lieutenant."

Forward a few weeks back on Earth….

Somewhere in South America are a group of motorcycles moving toward an illegal crop field that produced dangerous psychedelic drugs inside a protected forest area. In fact, it's one of several things that threatens every ecosystem all over the planet like large scale logging, encroaching agriculture, uncontrolled urban development, and yes, poaching for the wildlife trade. The ten riders are armed with assault rifles, sub-machine guns, hand pistols, machetes, and knives. They do not care about long-term consequences that will devastate their lands, biodiversity, people's health, or other qualities of life. These criminals working for their drug lords think of only one thing: money. Once they reached the place, the gang dismount and walk in the direction to a shanty house inhabited by a man who supposed to have enough material for the production of this drug. On the way, the thugs noticed that the desired plants were ripe for the picking but left unharvested and unattended.

"Hey! Mr. Corenza! What is going on with our assets over here?!" the leader shouted in the common language without getting a response. After arriving at the shack of wood and metal, the top criminal knock on the door once and find it unlocked... revealing a corpse torn to pieces. "Holy shit!"

"Who or what could have done this to poor Corenza?" a gangster asked.

"I don't know. We better inform the boss about this bloody mess and ask him for a possible replacement or a hunt on the intruder. Boys, time to go back!" All the thugs walk back to the parked vehicles with the top-rank criminal just behind the group.

As three of them get their motorbikes ready, one man spot something on the ground and near the machines. "What's that on the dirt?" In an instant, three explosions rock the area and killed five men. The rest are knock down from the blasts and disoriented. One managed to get up before the gang until he receive a hard fist to his face. A squad of human-like beings converge toward the site and incapacitate them on the terrain.

"Gah! Who the fuck are you?" shouted the disarmed gang leader.

"Why does that matter to you?" asked the cloaked figure in a slightly distorted voice while kneeling down for a closer distance at him.

"What? You just attacked the men of Machete De Moncro, our mighty boss! When he finds out about this, the big man will send hundreds of his loyal pals to hunt you down, torture you, and make you sorry for stepping upon our lands! YOU! WILL! [one finger torn off and blood spill out out of the dismemberment] GAAH! AAAAHHH!" the male screamed in pain.

"Your land? You call this god-given home of yours, just... your... land?! After many years of living here as an inhabitant of this jewel of life, did you ever considered the grave consequences coming from your dreadful actions?!"

"Aagh, what the hell is up with you! We were once poor, struggling to make a living for years until our leader gave us jobs and money! What gave you the right to stop our lives like that?!"

"We don't. But you chose to commit crimes that endanger not only the tribes and multitude of species that called this grand forest home but also the lives of people outside! Can you imagine the massive amount of pollution being released from such deforestation, do you all?!"

"Guh... So why such tree-hugging assholes like you are being serious about that?!"

"Contrary to whatever misguided beliefs or self-imposed denials you have inside your head, such large mass of pollutants will not stay in one place! They will surely spread across the globe and wreck havoc on every delicate, natural system that allow the vast diversity of all organisms to live and thrive! I could also add the other hazardous particles coming from ecosystems being burn down by human activities; not to mention high concentrations of carbon dioxide being expelled from the unbelievable overuse of fossil fuels for your so-called civilizations that I could talk a lot for hours on end!"

"Gosh, you sure like to talk much... bird-loving shit! How about you do the same toward the Americans, Chinese, and even the Russians?! They're getting more publicity as culprits for this man-made climate change! Hell, there are millions of Americans who just can't get enough of the 'products' that we were growing for them!"

"An obvious observation on my squad being far away from such greater offenders like the Russian Federation, People's Republic of China, and the United States of America. So yes... one squad... out of two recon divisions that managed to sneak out of the magical 'Gate' from the other side and into the capital city of Japan."

"Magic gate... Japan... what the fuck are you talking about?!"

"I guess you're not an avid news reader then. Alright, you better listen on what I am saying as of now. Over 8 months ago, a portal was open between Earth and a planet belonging to an alternate dimension where dragons, elves, orcs, and other fantasy creatures exist in flesh and blood. Only the problem was that those species were not truly native to the magical world. From our discoveries, we concluded that these beings actually came from the same portal that continues to open and close between periods of hundreds or thousands of years. In each repeat, new creatures arrived from different planets or dimensions. The last time the gate got activated was two millenniums ago when the recent newcomers enter the realm: humans. Over time, that humanity expanded and dominated an entire continent even without industrialization. Thus, the first ones to 'discover' this doorway were men of the enormous Saderan Empire where its society is very much reminiscent of the once-powerful Roman Empire in ancient Europe. When a few scouts went through the portal, they were... awestruck... by the Japanese urban landscape and activities of Tokyo. But here's the weird part: the people of the capital city just ignored them as costume players wearing Roman outfits. It also happened to some of us whenever we intentionally deactivate our cloaking devices after crossing over to Tokyo. I mean... Jesus, some of the Japanese culture over there are just too irrational for our soldiers to contemplate when making comparison to the other 'Japan' that took a different route of history and culture."

"Uh... wait, another Japan?"

"A Japan in an alternate universe where the nation took a careful approach toward sustainable development instead of becoming an empire, which made them a bit more 'holistic' than even the imperialistic Japs with their corrupt Bushido codes of the 20th century. That was thousands of years ago by our records though, so let us go back to the more serious topics. Unknown to the 'primitive' scouts, our stealth teams immediately noticed this interplanetary anomaly and proceeded to explore the other side undetected. Like the humans, we were quite amazed at the sight of the area since we haven't been to a modernized human city for a long time. For the sake of curiosity, both parties began to learn more about the place they entered for several days. The Roman-like men continued to be astonished by the Japanese culture while on the other hand, the wow factor on us started to... 'deteriorate' once we wondered about the power source for the urban infrastructure and where their garbage goes to. Which led us to several power-generating facilities that provide electricity to their cities by using energy of the sun, wind, geothermal, tidal waves, and even nuclear fission; as well as efficient waste management sites. That's not the problem... the sense of enchantment was put aside after locating coal power-plants that did not have filtration systems to remove dangerous byproducts like carbon dioxide being mentioned before. Kind of think about it, one CO2 molecule doesn't seem so threatening by itself unless there were a thousand coal stations that each expelled hundreds of thousands of them to the atmosphere every year; which we already found out through your worldwide digital knowledge and-!

"Will you... STOP TALKING! Gah, what the hell is the point of all this stupid conversation you bastard?!"

"Fine... so simply put, we are seriously pissed! Pissed that many species of plants and animals on this treasured world are at the edge of extinction because of your perverse and ravenous search for miracles, wealth, pleasures, and violence! Pissed that this global situation has been going on for many decades and all of you knew it! Pissed that millions of people in every hierarchy still continue to intentionally lie everyone about the reality for their own short-term benefits! Pissed that you setup a possible extinction event for humanity! And we're very, very- eh, what that sound?" The attacker look toward the sound of incoming motorcycles, which happens to be more gangsters from this gang's drug boss, before receiving a hit to the face by a metal bike handle that the male leader managed to grab.

The upright man swing the broke-off bike part a few times at the unknown person until he heard a loud explosion. When he turn his head, the human saw debris of body parts belong to most of the reinforcement. Seconds later, two beams of light at the rear tear up the remaining vehicles with each horizontal swing. Few survivors are lying on the ground in pain with dismembered limbs and unfortunately for them, their opponents are not in the mood for a clean kill as the rest of the platoon come out of hiding. With that distraction, the wounded assailant grab the gang leader's hand holding the improvised tool and then rip it out of his now blood-spilling arm. "WAAAAH! AAAHHH! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU ALL TO-," screamed the criminal who then get knocked to the ground again by the person with an exposed eye. It didn't take long for the human to see that the eye is not organic and surrounded with wired circuits and metal components slowly healing from that last attack.

"I guess you're wondering what my eyes had seen over the course of eight months. Raw data of carbon gas concentration over 400 particles per million that reconfirmed the existence of human-caused climate change. Greater numbers of discarded plastics floating in the oceans, littering on beaches, ingested inside animals which led to agonizing deaths, and even inside a lot of you when eating contained food. Large-scale overfishing and intense exploitation on many organisms living in environments that keep the whole human race alive. So much illegal activities and other serious problems continued to bring unneeded suffering on the unfortunates. Hell, there also the wide presence of weapons of mass destruction that includes almost 12,000 nuclear warheads ready to incinerate this planet many times over without a real backup plan! Can you ever understand how so much of your technological marvels and vast recorded histories can be wipe out by nuclear war or natural disasters intensified by your greedy meddling?!"

"SO WHAT?! Ah, why would a robot-no... a manufactured monster like you care about this?! You are not even human!"

"Monster... human... what do you mean by the word 'human?' We heard many different groups on this globe proclaiming themselves to be God's chosen people; that they can do no wrong, to be kind and gentle toward strangers, to believe in holy commands of the Almighty by a spiritual leader, and all other benevolent duties that humanity itself was supposed to do. And yet we witnessed plenty of examples showing humans doing the opposite of their promised responsibilities! So I will ask... oh wait, getting sleepy over there aren't you?" the metallic operative noticed. "Mmm, how about this to stay awake?" The robotic platoon leader first step is removing one of the gang leader's shoes.

"Hey, what are you doing?! Don't touch me! Let go of my foot! Let go of... oh fuck! Don't! Stop that! Stop it NOW! [Toes broken apart from the foot] AAAAHHHH! GAAAAHHH! WHY! OH GOD WHY?!"

"I could have said something equally about the chances to stop being an hostile violator for the rest of your life. But you seem to not want this evil life to cease. So does those who continue to commit abuses on their own families, vicious racial insults or murders on decent humans, undercover enslavement for profit, genocides on benign people and their irreplaceable cultures, poaching on endangered species, and other countless violations on this world. Which led us to these questions: When will all of you ever stop these horrific irrationalities?! How long can you humans do these despicable acts before leaving behind almost nothing but absolute ruins of life, history, and technology on this planet?!"

"Then just leave this shithole you find yourselves in! Go back to wherever you mechanized demons came from!"

The AI individual paused for a short time before resuming his response. "The 'Gate' in Tokyo, Japan is under the jurisdiction of the Japan Self-Defense Forces all thanks to the stupid decision by the Saderans to invade and conquer the city rather than choosing diplomacy. Even without that unfortunate event happening however, do you expect us to leave after seeing so much malcontents? Can we really ignore this unabated insanity across your home?! And where are we going back to: a magical fantasy that has not changed for millenniums or our original universe with only a few purposes left for us to act on? It may sound cruel for you to hear this but we're in some ways... bored. Us being tired of not intervening the messed-up realm being kept stagnant for eons by pantheons of tangible gods that are difficult to be stopped. Unfazed by trillions of humanity living and dying across several galaxies in our own dimension thanks to assistance from us. Ironically though, that success left us a small amount of 'opportunities' to take. Last but not the least, we no longer have much patience to watch the rebirth of biological life for thousands or even theoretically millions of years after a global catastrophe! Hence the necessity to bring a full corps to your global mess."

"Oh, how noble are you to say all that shit! Then maybe you all can go and visit HELL! There got to be a zillion devils and even the Great Corrupter himself for goody crusaders like you guys to fight and- [one lower leg torn apart] GAAAH! NOT AGAIN! FUCK!"

"Damn, you're quite persistent for an insult to our ancestral makers. Yet you gangsters do not have the guts to confront your own inner demons and... eh... uh... oh screw the long talk! Time to die painfully for your crimes, you asshole!" The metal intruder instantly tear up the rest of the man's limbs one joint at a time while the victim scream and curse at the so-called robot. Next comes the tearing of the reproductive organs out of this man's body by hand. After that come a foot kick to the lower jaw. The final phase of the torturous execution involves several more beatings all over the dismembered person before the attacker pull his head out and then just drop it on the ground. That scene gave the surviving gang chills to their spines. "Ugh, alright platoon... execute these offenders piece by piece like their leader down there."

One horrified captive yelled, "NO! Please no! We all got your lessons! We just had enough of this business right now! Let us go and we'll be good to everyone in our lands! Please, have mercy on us!"

One platoon combatant asked, "Sir, should we halt their terminations?"

Another pause for seconds follow by a reply, "The total human population is close to 8 billion, which poses a problem in resource management on this lonely planet. That said, you guys could had chosen better solutions for your civilizations instead of becoming painful thorns in the first place. A really big shame that you all didn't quit this life of crime sooner before we got here. Everyone... resume their eliminations," the platoon commander ordered which shocked the unfortunate lawbreakers.

"No. Oh Hell NO! Please WAIT! We don't want to die! We just want to live! I beg you, I WANT TO LIVE MORE! [one thumb removed from the hand] AAAAAHHHH! AAAHHH! Mommy! MOMMY!"

One of the mechanized torturers who torn away the thumb said, "Sorry pals, it's an order and a necessary warning for any thoughtful people having limited time to rethink about being evil criminals." Several units from the platoon look at the killings that slowly rip apart the remaining gang one small body part at a time while the constrained men scream, squeal, and cry in agony.

A few did not after a very short time.

"Was it necessary to give a long, torturous exposition to a dead man walking?" a robotic soldier standing among the tropical trees asked.

"What else can we do in these so-called clandestine operations? Months of committing quick kills can somewhat leave us unsatisfied and it seems that our 'clean shots' did not stop more humans from making destructive decisions," stated the leader.

"Understandable. Still, our latest actions today may make one decent 'human' to critically question our effort to um... 'save' this world."

"Hmm, considering how many bad choices and neglects were made by humanity in the decades or centuries before we even arrived on this parallel Earth, peaceful interventions may actually cause more people to be too arrogant, irresponsible, sluggish, greedy, and/or other unwanted absurdities in excess."

"How about telling that statement to humans who thinks otherwise?" The warrior got a silent response. "Okay... maybe not this year. Kind of think about it, there something missing in that elongated speech of yours. Let see now:

One, the advanced and space-faring civilization of the Eldar who are worthy to be respected despite the recent issues to deal with a portion of them showing Zerg characteristics... which makes number two for the constantly evolving animals living next to the humanoids for a very long time;

Three, the trigger-happy Orks that kept us busy for centuries and probably rubbed some behaviors on us like what happened in the latest executions;

Number 4, we had developed several new tricks that may stop or even destroy one of these Falmarian gods albeit harder to implement;

Five, how the Japanese did not detect the space-time portal because of its location in one of Tokyo's darken alleyways that allowed us to covertly send two divisions of special forces in three months uninterrupted before the Imperial fiasco;

Six, how our attachment to every beauty on this planet, both natural and artificial, became so strong after staying here for months that our present forces are willing to fight ferociously for this world to continue bringing out wonders for future human generations instead of erasing these 'treasures';

Number 7, how we quickly spread across the Pacific Ocean due to us hiding in cargo ships, oil tankers, whaling ships, fishing trawlers, cargo planes, and other forms of transportation without drawing attention to the human authorities and harming the um... Oh wait, we did occasionally kill off or dump out a ship's whole crew that can't stop destroying the endangered sea life or people during our hijackings as well as fending off pirates on the stolen vessels in lawless areas;

Now where was I, a-ahem... Eight, the unexpected but successful efforts by the Saderans to transform the tear into a permanent, structural gate in the middle of the Ginza shopping district;

Nine, our operations' double purpose as distractions for the human populations and governments from our hidden drones still building a larger star-gate for this planet;

Ten, how lucky they are that we're not in the vicious business of annihilating all life on Earth unlike a few intergalactic species that are still murderous to practically everyone else ... uh, what's with that funny look on your face?" the AI inquired after seeing his commander in an annoyed stance.

"Can you stop there? Because our captured thugs are all dead now and we should move again for a search on this Machete De Moncro drug lord."

"Fine, sir." The subordinate obeyed and started to interact a handheld device for a song... out of millions downloaded a few days after entering the Japanese city. The advanced gadget is then wire-connected to his artificial head while moving to the platoon.

"What are you doing with that tool right now?" questioned the leader in motion.

"Finding an old song from the 1960s in- oh, here we go."

"So... what is it?"

"'Paint It, Black' by The Rolling Stones in 1966."

Somewhere in Siberia a few days later...

A military car drove thru the snow-covered forests on an unpaved road. By chance, someone inside notice something within the trees as they travel. The vehicle stopped and two Russian soldiers in winter uniforms come out to walk toward the targeted area with Dragunov rifles and Makarov PM pistols. One male and one female to be sure. Once there, the scouts discovered body parts scattered all over the place and a metal sheet next to a tree with Russian words saying: 'Enough Poaching You Greedy Bastards!'

"Sergeant Kamarov, this is Yuri. Nadaysha and I found corpses all torn-up to pieces over the site," the military man radioed.

"Copy Reznov. Any clue to who the victims were and the perpetrators?"

"With all due respect sir, the two of us just got here and wish a request from you to start investigating. Over."

"The investigation will start after I arrive at your location. So wait for a moment as I communicate back to base for an assembled team to come to our current location and properly gather the bodies for autopsies. Then I will get out of the car. Can you copy?"

"Copy Sergeant, we will wait."

A few minutes later, the female marksman said a comment as she pointed a finger at the written warning. "Well, it seem that someone must has been too harsh to take animal protection into their own hand, don't you think?"

"Maybe so miss Volkova. Although I hope it's just a coincidence not related to recent news in the past few weeks."

"You mean the worldwide, merciless deaths of those linked to the illicit traffickings of drugs, wildlife, weapons, people, and such controversies?"

"Any concern about these unknown vigilantes, comrade?"

"Dah... I'm not sure if I should appraise them for alleviating some pressure from us 'active patriots' or scold these guys for doing the dirty work without authorizations from our government or any other authority on-." Her statement is interrupted by the arrival of Kamarov.

"Soldiers, let's start concentrating on the evidence instead of talking while our investigation group prepare themselves in the local base!"

It took a dozen minutes to detect all the clues they can find on the bloody scene.

"Sergeant, this severed head looked very familiar to a repeated offender charged with multiple poaching operations," the woman notified.

"Do you remember the name, then?"

"Might have been Veagio Abroketo if my memory serve well after spending some time looking at wanted posters at the local police and military stations."

"Hmm... this is getting eerily similar to numerous macabre disclosures found in mainland China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the rest of Southeast Asia. All were involved in illegal black markets on endangered species, psychedelic drugs, and... ugh, why should I be thinking about these problems?" Kamarov thought about it until he heard a radio message from the recon vehicle. "Yes comrade?"

Meanwhile in the United States - - hours before sunrise...

An electrical substation surrounded by grassy hills and forest patches has been up and running since yesterday's morning, which distributed electric power received from a fossil fueled power plant to a few towns and factories. One would be amazed that this facility continued to function after its completion near the end of the 1950s. On the other hand, it has little to no renovations to protect the transformers and other vital components from an electromagnetic pulse of a coronal mass ejection shot out from the sun or a deliberate EMP weapon. Like most substations connected to the continent-wide electrical grids, the utility companies ignored recommendations to 'harden' the facilities for decades with arguments that such upgrades could increase prices for customers and decrease their profit values. So there's nothing particular about this power distribution site among many...

...Except for being the first target to be attacked by a fireteam of camouflaged AI fighters who are armed with a shoulder-fire weapon that emits an energy beam with the same power as a solar flare. No harm against organic creatures but very destructive on unshielded electronics. At the moment though, the group being a distance away from the substation are waiting for the final command to fire as the rest of their platoon get into positions to 'decommission' the power-plant without burning or exploding the fuels inside. Another platoon, while split into smaller teams, is concurrently in the large area to raise their small 'theropods' brought from the Gate in Japan for potential invasive 'pest' control, 'deal' with unproductive drug addicts, and keep observations on a couple of 'American' groups expressing hate-filled rhetoric on any people they dislike.

"So... what do you guys think about this federal republic known as the United States of America?" a soldier whispered.

"Well, there are the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, dozens of large national parks, incredible levels of diverse cultures and ethnicity, military might of the United States Armed Forces, and other very intriguing things that this nation had done in its history of almost two and a half centuries," the second individual holding the energy cannon quietly replied.

"That's just the good news, right?"

A third combatant interjected, "If you could exclude the painful interactions between the native descendants of the first ancient immigrants in North America and those descended from the early European colonization throughout this parallel history, that is. I could also add the multiple pockets of racism on minorities, especially on African Americans after emancipation from slavery; the gap between rich and poor; how much ecosystems essential for all lifeforms, including humans, were destroyed by unregulated industrialization and their pollution; high consumer rates; deadly religious cults; aging infrastructures; and the rest of the actions made by both governments and people that we found them to be highly questionable."

"Yet millions of US citizens are putting in their efforts to better improve their sovereign nation albeit moving a little bit slower at this time," added by the previous second fighter.

"It doesn't help that the giant oil corporations and coal companies spent billions of dollars more on lobbying for delays on renewable power sources. I could also add that despite growing evidences of countless hydrocarbon resources running out everywhere, those corporate entities continue to drill more expensive oil wells at sea and more high-cost coal mining with little output instead of commercializing synthetic oils from modified algae, artificial photosynthesis, and/or other processes that turn carbon dioxide and many pollutants into different products like ethanol or something else useful. I mean - I get it, they're scared of large profit losses and decreasing influence to emerging competitions for energy such as solar and wind. Nevertheless, their huge wealth will definitely be worthless if the continuous poisoning from the smokestacks onto the planet wreck so much devastation that there would be nothing... absolutely nothing for them to buy or even to live in. Adding to that issue is the persistent idea inside numerous people that nature will never change and forever stay the same, no matter how much humankind can do. Well that's bullshit self-denial over there! Our digital eyes and equipment had seen the excessive amount of pollutants trapping more sun heat in the atmosphere for many months now! If these destructive behaviors continued as usual, then-"

"We know, we know! The world wide web is very useful in reconfirming our observations on man-made climate change. Of course, we do felt concern about the presence of fabricated reports and news circulating within the global network that can stray people away from the real situation. Then there's a governmental attempt inside this representative democracy to try to delete or even manipulate the data of valid climate records five months ago. How unbelievably insulting that is to lie your own people in such a crisis!" the first soldier said.

"No kidding about that to a land of the free and home of the brave plus their 'American Dreams.' And let's not carried away on the huge number of cattle being raised for their meat at the cost of more forests getting cut down and methane gas leaking out of their... um... anuses."

"Geh, eh, eh. That minor joke on how such an anatomical word rhymes with the Holy Hill of Alnus... or was it Arnus? Anyway, what's the probability that we're going to survive these catastrophes of their own makings?"

"Very high on us to be standing intact if having less regards on anything or anyone left alive. So let's be clear, I'm almost two hundred years old since my commission but who would want to wait for possibly millenniums or millions of years to see new life diversify again into multitudes of species and ecosystems to rise from the ashes?"

"Definitely not us artificial intelligence and perhaps not them but by the time that life cycle renew again, humanity here will already be dead immediately after the hypothetical aftermath. And please do not remind me again on this month about the magical continent stuck in medieval stasis for God knows how long. Hmm... while on the topic of interventions, why not simply build and create everything from scratch when their doomsday scenarios to absolute ruin are finished; or outright repair the world after the activation of the new star-gate?"

"Oh yeah, we had done that act before... by the millions on barren planets back to our universe. Yet that type of work seems to be too easy or quick to finish recently, despite our full presence being confined in only several galaxies compared to the unexplored vastness of the cosmos. What's more: the idea of just watching everything self-destruct to emptiness, then recreate a new reality on top of a realm that's not even ours while sweeping aside whatever came before, resembled much more to a somber travesty of who we all once were in the past. Seriously, do we truly represent this humanity with a far different history, culture, and progress than what our ancestral creators had gone through? Are we so heartless to-ah... ugh, let just say that we developed a very strong fondness on this Earth that wasn't experienced for a long time. And I'm not going to repeat myself on the unintended consequences of fixing stuff in the open at this time."

"Noted. Well then, duh... does anybody want to say something about the guns in this country, like this civilian pistol I stolen from a deranged psychopath?"

A fourth combatant did. "I can say for certain that there are lots of guns available to choose for almost every body-able citizen living in the USA. Unfortunately, those weapons sometimes end up in the hands of really deplorable beings such as the recent homegrown terrorist I butchered to death; whose long-barreled ballistic rifle I'm holding now once belong to. Like for Christ's sake, why can't he stop making commitments to massacre children in schools or even stop laughing while being killed piece by piece?"

"Speaking of which, I do wonder if those two angry groups nearby will ever turn a new permanent leaf? If they continued to stay evil, then things can get really gruesome when we respond with force."

"Those hate-filled ramblers will have to wait, regardless of how long it might be unless otherwise. At the moment, our focus is on one of several electric grid substations that are not connected to nuclear reactors, scientific research sites, academic institutions, military bases, and others along that line."

"Well, that sounded... insignificant, if trying to defeat the most powerful nation on this Earth. Especially when we're just frying transformers and other components a few sites at a time."

"The shutdowns of those 'insignificant' grid structures are more like warnings on their lingering neglect on the foundations that made the federal republic a superpower for decades. Natural forces in outer space like a coronal mass ejection can do the same job but that would mean complete destruction of every electric infrastructure around the globe with almost no time to react. Let's hope those losses will stir them to rebuild and reinforce their society's support systems for the better or even go off-grid as if that really matters to us. On the other hand, any mass stagnation in smarter development that are left for too long after the initial EMP attacks may require riskier operations on electrical grid facilities connected to larger fossil-fueled power generators, cities, and military bases. And if by any chance those missions even fail to convince the people here to rework their civilizations, well shame on them for not being the resilient, adaptable, and moral nation they prided themselves to be! I could also say similar words of shamefulness on the rest of the human species that cannot change themselves and repair their ecological life supports for goodness sake. For the lucky part though, we're not insane to harm nuclear energy-production and waste storage sites due to the real risks of radioactive fallout; which are hazardous to practically everything, including our inner circuitry. However, our forces here do not have the appropriate equipment or responsibilities to clean or contain the potential disarray of nuclear meltdown in the obsolete nuclear fission power plants. Kinda wish of them to quickly build safer reactors like this design that can consume nuclear waste for power. But wait... there is another category of objectives that's off our priority list as I remembered: fossil fuel exports heading toward the Gate in Japan for military operations on the other side. Does anyone still find something weird about this command given to us two months ago?"

"As far as we knew, the current consumption rate of hydrocarbon sources remained pretty over the edge around the world. In comparison, the pollution levels of the terrain that surrounded the holy hill in Falmarius are basically nonexistent; which is one of the few good aspects about that unchanged continent. Still, that sort of feature can get really bland for many centuries and thus we have less concerns on those fuels being burn over there rather than the already polluted atmosphere we're dealing with at present. You could visualize it as managements of carbon dioxide emissions since a battalion of ours — staying in Japan — will make sure those supplies are actually crossing thru the Gate and not being consumed anywhere else. In addition, the older military vehicles and equipment deployed at the enchanted landmass by the Japanese and U.S. armed forces are mostly powered by oil, coal, and other nonrenewable energy sources. "

"I wonder how the tangible divine beings and their worshipers on the uh... 'Special Regions,' as someone on Earth flatly named, will react to the latest strangers with their science, technologies, and culture?" the soldier with the electromagnetic beam armament said. "Thanks to the meddling of those polytheistic deities for eons, the Falmarian natives are not as innovative and analytical as they could be in tackling old and new situations; in contrast to many Americans here and in their past."

"Except for a few mages being a bit more scientific in a magical, oceanic equilibrium. By the way though, what got you using the word 'America' for that last sentence as opposed to the other nations in this alternate globe?" the same quizzical warrior asked.

"Can you revisit the irony between us and them? In our divergent timeline, a republic was born on this continent through the bonds between descendants of the first native 'Americans' and the first 'Christians' who boldly immigrated from the Roman Empire before the permanent transformation of its main religion to Christianity as well as its fateful split in two. Many centuries later, a new federation was remade from the old republic to reestablish the basis of equality, liberty, and integrity for all of humanity within its borders due to influx after influx of immigrants and settlers all across the world. Even though that nation no longer exist as an independent superpower after nearly a thousand years of intergalactic explorations and colonization, the attitudes and cultural principles of its diverse people still persist to be emulated by both biological and synthetic progeny living everywhere in several galaxies. By heaven's sake, that includes plenty of personnel within our entire military organization in the magical universe and our current corps on this Earth. As it stands now, we're bringing in disruptions to a country full of humans that almost matches the behaviors and personalities of our ancient, democratic creators."

"So essentially, we synthetics are fighting against a mirror version of ourselves; one that is a bit more ignorant and started at a later time compared to our deviated history of knowledge and wisdom. Well... from a certain perspective, those descriptions seem to make the time-honored federation looked much virtuous than this uh... Estados Unidos de America; if anyone was willing to fully ignore or acknowledge the many conflicts, crises, and issues that uniquely confronted the venerable nation since its inception and rebirth. In that regard, I still have reservations on which side is really the lucky ones. As an example for analogy, the frequencies of wars and crimes on our alternate world's past appeared to be lower than this parallel realm; but the total casualties in some of their significant conflicts, particularly the United States' involvements in its civil war and the World Wars, came across as being smaller in comparison to the important wars fought on our Earth. And since you seem to be more sympathetic to the Americans, do you have any regret in the upcoming attacks on their shortcomings?

"I don't have an absolute answer for that. My thoughts about them may depend on these people grabbing the chance to consciously fix their prevailing problems and do the right thing for themselves; instead of missing such opportunities for too long. On the contrary, I'm not really happy about the population of drug addicts whose minds are so broken by narcotic overdoses that it became very easy for our forces here to transform them into expendable 'automatons' - under our control. Just ask the guys who are now injecting nano-machine solutions inside heavy drug users inhabiting the nearby towns. As for you being the curious one however, do you have enough energy to talk a different subject such as the many differences and similarities between the Soviet Russians from our past and the communist Russia, which was then succeeded by today's Russian Federation?"

"Uh... probably on another day for-"

"This is SAR-Platoon Lead 47-V to Fireteam 8. All the present platoon at the power station are in position and waiting to begin the world-scale raids in... two minutes," the leader radioed in a foreign language only developed back in their 'original' universe.

The operative with the stolen long rifle respond thru wireless transmission in the same language. "Excuse me sir, but what exactly took your time to setup? Over."

"My apology soldier, I was in communication with our dispersed combat groups who located vulnerable electrical substations across this planet. We agreed to launch simultaneous strikes against 'non-critical' grid facilities belonging to countries bordering the Pacific Ocean as warnings on their negligence. Exceptions for the time being are mainland Japan and areas with 'powder keg' situations like the Korean Peninsula. I will say again, be ready to commence attack on my mark in... 30 seconds."

"Understood, Out. Alright guys, you heard him: get to your formations!"

After thirty seconds, the stealth team fire the hand-held energy cannon at the distribution site. Nothing appeared to happen for ten seconds until the transformers and other critical parts start to glow brighter. They received so much energy surging in that the electrical components are actually melting or exploding. Consequently, the nightlights from the connected towns instantly turn off and the manufacturing processes in the factories shutdown.

"Rest in peace over there... overburdened artifact," said the synthetic person holding the culprit weapon.

A familiar voice was heard again. "Hey... does anyone think that the spying agencies would notice our digital trails as consequences of these coordinated actions?"

"They most likely will. But those surveillance agents first need to decipher our 'alien' conversations, which could take around four to twelve months. Anyhow, it's time to leave."

As the sun rises in the morning, many townsfolk and workers wake up later than usual. Unless their buildings are powered by solar, wind, or other renewables (in this case, several homes and businesses already had such power sources installed), they find plenty of inactive electronics and appliances having no electricity flowing to them. A lot of the residents continued to be dumbfounded by this blackout while others activate their backup generators and battery storage systems. An hour later, the people are quite surprised from the news of at least 50 electrical substations and an equal amount of power plants out of commission across the Pacific theater.

And that includes a total of ten facilities each for Russia, China, the United States, Canada, and even Australia.


2/14/2017: Minor edits.

9/03/2017: Been wondering about the aftermath casualties from the Ginza Incident. Agreed?

11/10/2017: Add a scene for a character from the Saints Row franchises.