Gate: Vigilo Confido

XCOM belongs to Firaxis Games and GATE: Thus the JSDF Fought There is the property of Takumi Yanai.

Chapter 1 - Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum

May 15th, 2042

Ginza, Japan

East Asia XCOM Administrative Region

Operation Vengeful Mother

The city had seen better days. That was something understood by Legatus Simeon Sol Furius as soon as he emerged from the gate. The enormous edifices of gleaming glass and metal were tainted by marked decay. People stopped and looked at his army, subdued fear and resignation on their haggard faces. It was as though his presence was only the latest in a long line misfortunes. Legatus Simeon had a very firm grasp of the mood.

He ordered his legions to march on the scattered assortment of folk. They scattered as soon as the legionaries took hold of the first man and stabbed him in the gut. The cavalry charged, running down the people. He, himself, rode down a woman and leapt off his steed. Throwing her down, he took out his sword and pointed at her prone form. "Bring rope!" He yelled out to his subordinates. "Have the auxiliaries begin collecting slaves. The main army shall find their kings and palaces."

It was all too convenient to meet a foe whose spirit was already broken.

The Resistance Confederacy was formed in the aftermath of the Elder's defeat in order to push their remaining servitors off the planet. Without their powerful psionic leaders, the rank and file of the ADVENT Coalition were vulnerable. Well equipped and numerous, they still took a toll on their human adversaries. But, with elite XCOM strike teams leading the way, the Elder's ADVENT lackeys were ultimately defeated just two years prior. Victory came at a cost. The global economy was in ruins and the human population was down to two billion from their peak of eight billion people. Since then, the Resistance became the backbone of human civilization. They functioned as regional home guard and bureaucracy, responsible for revamping industry, keeping peace, providing education, and dispensing medical care. At the top of all this was still XCOM. Funded and manned by all the Confederate Regional Zones, they were the vanguard of human defense, scientific, and exploration efforts. Only they could make the alien technology work, and their expertise was sorely needed to rebuild civilization.

So when Tokyo came under attack from an unknown enemy, the first call was to XCOM.

The satellite grid leftover from the first war against the aliens was blended with Resistance comm stations built during the insurgency and bolstered by the last remaining psionic tower to form the best available global intelligence and reconnaissance system in human history. All the information was routed through the revamped Shadow Chamber on board XCOM's mobile headquarters - the Avenger-class carrier. Plans had been made to make more Avengers out of salvaged alien technology, but that was still a decade away. For now, however, one was enough.

"What's the situation in East Asia?" Asked Central Officer Bradford. The grizzled middle-aged man had the countenance of a long time veteran. His close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair spoke of the kind of fastidiousness that military discipline could give a man.

"We got a call from Confed HQ. They're saying they're under attack by an unknown force." The on duty comms tech reported to Bradford.

"Bring up satellite footage."

"Yes sir. Fadestar-112 on screen."

Bradford took in the image. "Zoom in on the Confed HQ at the old Imperial Palace." The comms tech complied. A flying creature zoomed across the screen at about three to four hundred feet in altitude. "Is that… a dragon?"

The majesty of Ordo El Tarquinius' command was something that the aristocratic soldier took pride in. Training such a powerful beast was costly, thus command over such a creature was exclusively the right of patrician sons. It's hard scales were impervious to all known arrows and bolts. Only something on the order of a ballista could even bring down the creature. More commonly, it was up to other wyvern knights to battle one another. The rider could be brought down by infantry during a short window of opportunity when the mount and rider would swoop down for a kill. Other than that, Ordo and his mount were masters of the battlefield.

That was in Ordocius's world. In this one, there are bigger fish.

Avenger-1 dropped down from cloud cover over the ruin of Ginza and opened fire on the mass of humanity below. High resolution cameras could separate civilians from the invaders, which had been under surveillance while the Avenger traveled to Japan. Batteries of magnetic rifle turrets dotted the underside of the craft and spat out a relentless torrent of devastation to clear the streets. Skyranger VTOLs brought XCOM's elite down to do battle within the walls of Ginza's homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses.

While the resistance had no standing military, they did have Resistance Volunteer Squadrons. A large enough community could ask for XCOM to set up an armory that could kit up a mechanized infantry platoon worth of troops. Every community of approximately 200,000 or more people were given magnetically accelerated projectile small arms, four F-SHIV IFVs, and four refurbished MEC's which were basically armed root drones. Medical supplies, tools, food, and ammunition for 90 days of action were also set up. Tokyo had several of these units fighting their way into the city and XCOM flew in overhead.

Buzzing around the battlefield like gnats were the imperial dragons. They were completely unable to attack the metal monstrosity that was the Avenger. And that wasn't even the worst of it. The Avenger was refitted during the main uprising to include ten hangars for Firestorm-class attack craft. These single seat saucer shaped fighters were the first generation of combat craft made with alien technology. Their twin plasma cannons and Stingray-II missile pods were more than capable of scouring the skies of ADVENT craft. Dragons would pose no issue.

Ordo fled for his life. Spurring his wyvern to go faster and steering it around the glass towers of this new world, Ordo gambled on the defenders not wanting to destroy their own city. Gaius, his friend and a veteran of many campaigns, was bathed in green light just twenty aria behind Ordo. Gaius was soon joined by most of the other dragon riders in Ordo's turma. An impossibly fast metal discus flew through the space formerly occupied by the riders as their ashes, for that was all that was left of dragon and rider, were dispersed by the wake of the eldritch flyer.

Fighting in the air is suicide. He dove for the surface, intending to land and hide within the enemies' structures. Ordo decided he would much rather go sword to sword against their men than fight whatever that thing was. Ordo landed at Hibiya Public Library and broke into the triangular building through a window. A shrill alarm sounded and Ordo was forced to cover his ears.

The automated alarms drew the attention of resistance squadrons from the Shinagawa and Minato wards of Tokyo. One unit had made it as far as Shimbashi station, less than 2000 feet away when Ordo triggered the alarm. They rushed to the site.

Ordo hid amongst bookshelves when he heard the building being entered. The footsteps were followed by a metallic clinking sound as they walked. The footsteps were heavy, making Ordo think he was dealing with full plated knights. No matter, I've dealt with armored knights before. He knew that a surprised knight could still be felled through the visor or under the armpit if he acted quickly. When he jumped out around the corner of the bookshelf, he found himself sorely mistaken. It was not a man at all, but a golem of some sort. Desperate, Ordo stabbed the machine at the base of its thin neck. Ordo's sword simply stopped when it hit solid metal. There was some give, as his sword bent at the tip. A shout sounded from behind the automaton. An armored, but recognizably human, adversary stood behind it. He must be the mage controlling this thing. And Ordo was right, but the MEC was faster than Ordo gave it credit for. It reached out with its robotic manipulators and caught hold of Ordo's arm. Not designed with delicacy in mind, Ordo felt the bone in his arm crack under the pressure from the machine. He cried out in pain until the man came up to him and clubbed him in the head.

Simeon's legionaries fled back down the immaculately paved, but cluttered, streets they ventured down. They were chased by a cacophony of noise that the legionaries did not recognize. The whizzing and whirring of motors and actuators came to within sight of Simeon's command post. There, he finally saw his enemy. Of men, there were few. But they seemed to be mounted on what the seasoned Legatus recognized as siege engines. Ones that moved themselves. They were accompanied by gleaming blue golems painted as the color of the sky. Their soulless gaze focused on his forces. On vengeance.

Though far out of reach of his own troops, they had no compunction against employing their own weaponry. Bright red flashes and dark blurs terminating in a fiery explosion engulfed his front ranks. Despite his numbers, this was a lost cause. He was sure the Emperor and the Senate would take a dim view of things, but it was certain that getting killed on this foreign soil would accomplish nothing. "All legions, retreat. Back across the gate!"

Gate and/or XCOM fans. Let me know what you think. Reviews (content of, not quantity) will determine if I want to continue this story or not).