Thank you for all the favorites and follows! Additionally, thank you for the reviews, I will take what you have to say in mind, UH-60 Nightstalker. I myself am trying to learn how to lengthen out my chapters and detail it more.

Times Square Gate Entrance

June 23rd, 2013

Sergeant Johnson of the 101st Cavalry Regiment reached up and closed the hatch of the armored personnel carrier, the heavy metal plate firmly locking into place after a loud thud. This vehicle was air-tight and was designed for worst-scenario contingencies, for example, a nuclear, biological, or chemical attack. The brass up top decided that the grunts going in needed to get the best protection available, and that protection came in the form of the M5 Assault vehicles. The Assaulter was similar to a real-life Stryker, with just a few tweaks in the design here and there.

Now, we move onto his squadmates:

Private First Class Larry Alberts, a young 18-year-old kid from the Bronx who signed up for the hell of it. He has a fascination with Vietnamese anime*, often being called a weirdo for it. One quick look at the kid and you could tell that he was rather mischievous and rowdy as a child, evidenced by the various scars on his body and face. Despite this, the Army whipped him into shape in no time. Now, he was considerably quieter, even if he snarked around a bit.

Up next was Lance Corporal Alexandra Lee, a 24-year-old combat medic. A rather reserved and quiet individual, if someone was to meet her. This is understandable, as she had to deal with the dozens of wounded soldiers during the Stettin Uprising. Johnson didn't really know much about her to begin with, only that she was at Stettin.

Now, we move onto the foreign soldiers. To start with, there was Jack Harrington and Steve Irving, both rowdy Australians. Again, Johnson did not know much about them other than the fact that they were rather loud individuals that liked the attention. A British Army corporal was also present, named Darris Carpenter. To be honest, Johnson didn't even know that he was supposed to be in the APC with them. While thinking about his squadmates, the radio comms suddenly burst up.

"ALL UNITS, OPERATION FAST CATCH IS NOW COMMENCING. HORSEMAN-ONE-ACTUAL, YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO PROCEED INTO THE GATE."

Fast Catch had been the military designation for their entry through the Gate, while the main battle tanks in front began slowly rolling into the Gate. To an outside observer, it would look as if they were driving straight into the maw of the devil. For all intents and purposes, they practically were. The reasoning for the MBTs to go first was that this Gate was one of the easiest chokepoints in history, and if they were hemmed in by an enemy attack, the tanks could engage at will.

The engines of the APC soon revved up, and the gigantic wheels of the vehicle slowly began rolling forward into the Gate. Soon after, the vehicle lurched forward at a few kilometres per minute, as did the vehicle behind it, and the vehicle behind that one. The convoy of several hundred vehicles began driving into the jaws of death.

"Sir, what do you think we'll find there?" asked PFC Larry. Johnson was going to answer the young kid's question until he was interrupted.

"I certainly don't want to see a giant croc there, ya hear me mate?" the Australian, Jack, had chimed in on the question while he was adjusting his helmet.

"That's just because you're a fuckn pussy, mate." replied the other Aussie, Steven.

"Oh shut the fuck up." the 2 soldiers began throwing a slew of insults at each other before a polite suggestion from the Englishman made them stop.

"Personally, sir, this chokepoint makes me uneasy. The Gate's only a few meters in width and height, right? Perfect for an enemy to hem us in." replied Alexandra.

"Well, I'm sure the tankers in front will handle them. This is practically a pre-industrial society, after all," said Johnson.

"You hear that they're gonna send in nuclear-tipped missile trucks, sir? Shit's cray-cray." replied the PFC.

"Also sir-" Larry stopped in the middle of his sentence as they entered through the Gate. It went completely black for a moment, then various star constellations popped into view on the side walls. It was very trippy as they entered through the Gate, as it looked similar to the night sky. There was no definite end to the side of the Gate, which made the convoy rather uneasy. For all they knew, one of their vehicles could suddenly drive off of the designated road without even knowing.

All of the troops inside the APC stopped talking for a moment, as to absorb this visual marvel before them. It resembled a picture of the night sky.

"Guess this is what it's like being an Air Force boy at Lemay*?" snarked a chuckling Larry.

"Naw, Air Force ain't gonna see a whole fantasy world like us. Buncha pussies if you ask me." chimed the Australian with his thick accent.

The rest of the crew snickered a bit at that comment, even Alexandra. No one liked the elitist Air Force boys who acted that they were better than everyone because they had been on one of the U.S's lunar bases.

After a few minutes of traversing along the celestial road, a light began to slowly emerge from the front window of the APC. The driver simply told the crew to stay put.

Several blurts from the radio were heard.

"HORSEMAN-ONE-ACTUAL HAS BREACHED THE GATE. NO TANGOS FROM WHAT WE CAN SEE."

"HORSEMAN-TWO-ACTUAL HAS BREACHED THE GATE."

The main battle tanks were through. Now it was time for the rest of the convoy to follow them.

The M5 Assault soon breached through the Gate, with Johnson closing his eyes in anticipation of... something. He didn't really know what he was closing his eyes for but he did it anyway. Immediately, a bright, blue sky and the rough, dark silhouettes of trees flashed by their windows, almost like it was a TV screen.

The vehicle stopped and the men began dispersing out, gripping their assault rifles tightly. The soldiers felt like they were wading ashore Red Beach One, and that an enemy attack was bound to happen at any point. Combat engineers soon flooded through the Gate.

The Eagle had just landed.

A few hundred miles away, First Lt. Youji Itami and his squad had just breached the Gate as well.

A few miles from Bellnahgo

"Sir, they've breached the Gate," said Legate Cervius to his commander, Julian Cicarius Wari. A red-faced scribe had run over a mile to present this information to the commander upon seeing the force breach the Gate.

"Very well. I'll attack them tomorrow," stated Wari while he was sipping a glass of his red drink. Truth be told, Wari had bought his way up into this rank, and his father was a powerful figure within the Senate. This meant that Wari skipped officer training and only had to do basic infantry training to get to his rank.

"Why, sir? Would it not be best if we simply pressed the attack now while they are sending their forces in? The Gate itself is a chokepoint, we can use that for our advantage."

Annoyed, Wari set his glass upon the table.

"When they have sent the majority of their forces through Hardy's Gate, I shall press the attack then. We can destroy much of their army in one fell swoop," stated Wari.

"Sir, have you not heard the rumors of their magic? Their iron birds possess immensely powerful magic that can rain death down onto their forces, while their soldiers are armed with wands that kill a person upon contact. They are a nation of mages!"

"Nonsense. The Empire is much stronger than that."

Looks like the indoctrination got to him.

"But sir,"

"Cervius, get out of my tent. I am the commander and you are not!" yelled a now drunken Wari. In his mind, the A4 was a bunch of petty savages, asking for a smackdown from the Empire. No matter, as tomorrow he would simply launch his offensive.

United Nations Falmart Command Center / Camp Charlie

June 24th, 2013

General Mattis sat in the tent, looking over the defenses of the forward operating base. In his hand was a small handheld radio, which he used to communicate around the base. A few meters away, several combat engineers were busy setting up temporary housing for the troops of the Falmart Expeditionary Force. As he was examining the workings of the base, he noticed that a slim 27-year-old man was running up to him. None other than Lt. Alan.

"Sir, the Canucks say they've got something 4 klicks away."

Mattis began listening to the Lieutenant speak.

"What have they spotted?"

"Enemy force. They've got cavalry, orcs, and dragons all flying towards us. They're in the tens of thousands."

Mattis got out of his chair and his face changed drastically.

"Sound the alarm. Tell our troops to get ready for a fight."

Mattis pulled a Cuban cigar out of his pocket and lit it. He placed it in his mouth and began smoking it.

In a building not too far from them, radio operators began issuing orders frantically, as the sound of an alarm began playing. It resonated across the whole camp, similar to a war-horn. Troops began arming themselves with automatic rifles and machine guns were locked back. In the few hours that the expeditionary force had been there, their engineers set up marvelous defenses, including razor wire surrounding the perimeter of the base, machine gun nests, and concrete bunkers. If the Saderans were going to take this military base, it wouldn't be without a fight.

Tank crews began sprinting into the motor pool and entering their main battle tanks, while crews up ahead operated their 40mm armor-piercing autocannons, prepared to blast any unlucky dragons or wyverns out of the sky.

Johnson himself loaded his assault rifle and began looking over the trench, prepared to shoot any enemies.

The drone continued whirring above the Saderan forces as their cavalry began charging on the open field a few miles from the camp, not caring that archers were attempting to shoot it out of the sky with their bows. It was embarrassing, really, as their most elite archers had hit it several times in fact, and it showed no signs of getting down.

Wari simply looked at the drone in frustration and threw a slew of insults at it.

"CURSE YOU, UNHOLY BEAST! YOU SHALL DIE IN EMROY AND THE EMPEROR'S NAME!" screamed Wari as he sat upon his horse.

The clattering of hooves a few meters behind him had alerted Wari to his senses. Legate Cervius was most disappointed with his commander's rash decisions and incompetence.

"Sir, respectfully, what in Emroy's name are you doing?" asked the confused Legate.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! I SHALL SHOOT THAT BEAST DOWN!" replied Wari. For the 4th time in a row, Wari had aimed his bow at the drone and had hit it in one of its metal wings yet it stayed high in the sky. It was like it was mocking him for his pathetic attempts and, to be honest, it was.

"Sir, the offensive is going smoothly so far. We have the 17th, 20th, and 35th Legions acting as a spearhead, as they have mages in their forces. We'll use them to block the enemy fire, while the 47th and 48th Legions will flank them from the west and east. We'll box them in back to the gate." said Cervius.

"Brilliant plan, Legate. But before we can do that, I must shoot down this demon," replied Wari, again aiming for a 5th shot.

"Sir, it's not gonna do anything. Stop wasting your time."

Wari simply sighed.

"Fine. I guess a commander must go out and fight with his army."

Wari hit his horse and it promptly began galloping to the legions in front. Wari stood out like a sore eye, as he was dressed in pure bronze armor, with a golden crown around his head indicating that he was the commander of the legions.

The 4th Canadian Remotely Operated Aerial Vehicle Group was laughing their asses off as they saw the man in ornate armor attempting to shoot down their drone. Some had even begun placing bets on whether he would be successful or not.

"I betcha this one will hit the wing. Betcha a buck," stated James, the current drone operator.

As predicted, the arrow had clipped the wing a bit.

"Ah fuck, guess I owe ya a dollar," replied Logan from the other side of the immaculate gray room littered with computer equipment.

At that point, the Saderan commander down below had begun speaking with the newly arrived Legate on horseback. From their handy language guides that the drone operators had been given, they could make out 'offensive' and 'legions' in the Legate's speech.

"Shit, he might be saying something. You got the parabolic mics on?" inquired Logan.

"Yeah. We'll be picking up what he's saying. It's a live broadcast back to the FOB anyways, and I'm sure they'll have translators deducing what it means."

The drone had fully recorded the conversation between Wari and Cervius. All that was left was for their boys to translate it.

"Leonidas, what does it mean?" stated Mike as the live broadcast was transmitted him. The 2 had been in a small office and were intently watching the drone footage. Leonidas had been amazed by the magical tools that the Yoo-nyted Nay-shuns had utilized, such as being able to spy on anyone from anywhere with the use of their war eagles.

"Well, as I view this magic, I can deduce that they are planning to send several legions to your north, while 2 other legions will attack your flanks on the west and east. Additionally, mages will be embedded with the infantry and cavalry in the northern spearhead, providing protection to their forces," stated Leonidas in a very heavy accent. His English was broken, but still understandable, just like Mike's Saderan.

"Thank you, Leonidas."

Mike proceeded to send a message to General Mattis on the laptop next to him, telling him all the details of the attack.

The Saderans were dead, but they just didn't know it yet.

From his binoculars, Mattis saw the enemy charging across the open field like a pack of fools. Next to him was Alan, also looking with his pair of binoculars.

"Reminds me of the Somme," said Mattis.

"Yeah. They'll be dead from standard small-arms before they know it," said Alan.

"There's a bit of a problem with that, Lieutenant."

"What's the problem?"

"They have mages. Our small-arms fire will be deflected by them. And I would not like them to enter within firing range of standard assault rifles anyways."

"Could we use our artillery, sir?"

"Yes. Are the 101st and 258th Field Artillery Regiments through the Gate yet?"

"Yes, sir. They arrived a few hours ago," replied Alan, looking at the sheet of unit deployments.

"Excellent."

"FOR THE EMPEROR!" yelled a battlemage a few meters in front of him.

War chants were roared every second and awakened the primal bloodlust in each of his men.

Wari rode his horse across the battlefield, while his decorated sword swung from side-to-side. His men were filled with vigor and bloodlust with some even dreaming about the riches they would be promised when they returned from their glorious campaign. The grass was the only thing present on the field they were riding on, while small bushes here and there littered the field. There were very few trees on the field, not obscuring their vision at all.

The open field served as a perfect line of view for the A4, which meant that they had spotted the entire invasion force from miles away before Wari could even have a glimpse of their location.

Up ahead, streaks of what appeared to be lightning began traveling towards them, seemingly growing larger by the second.

The yellow streaks then landed right in front of the mages, missing a bit, but that did not matter.

Loud explosions soon thundered in front of the mages, shocking and disorienting them. Several of the battlemages in front were turned into spectacular showers of gore when the shells landed directly on them. Within a few seconds, all of the forcefields went down, exposing the vulnerable infantry and cavalry.

Artillery shells soon began raining down on his army, killing hundreds of people within a few seconds. A shell had struck directly in front of the Count, while pieces of shrapnel fired across the open field. The Count took a few moments to recollect himself, looking at the carnage before him. Due to how densely packed his legion was when the shells landed, they often took dozens of men with them.

Chaos had spread through the ranks of the legion, as cavalrymen began deserting left and right instead of pressing the charge.

"WHAT THE HELL? IS THE HILL ERUPTING?" yelled a warrior to Wari's right. The same man was struck directly by a shell moments later, and his body erupted and exploded, sending skeletal fragments and body parts everywhere.

With each impact, Wari felt superheated waves of air pass by him, nearly knocking him off his horse. All around him, once noble warriors were disgraced, many of them not even getting the chance to see what killed them.

Up above, several dragon riders were attempting to strafe and move in a zig-zag position to avoid being shot down by deadly streaking metal bolts. Unfortunately for one rider, one of these bolts soon collided with his dragon's torso, ripping it in half completely after a great explosion.

"SIR, WE MUST RETR-" Legate Cervius was interrupted as the bloody carcass of a wyvern came crashing down and crushed the Legate.

Wari could only watch helplessly as his men were gunned down in the thousands, while the bolts of death came from across the sky and killed everything within meters.

Wari came back to his senses after watching 5 men get blown to shreds by a 155mm high explosive fragmentation artillery shell. Pretty soon, he realized that the only thing he could do was to order an unmolested retreat. And from the looks of it, this retreat was going to turn into a full-on rout if he did not do anything.

"ALL UNITS! WE ARE RETREATING!" yelled Wari to the survivors. They had begun scattering and spreading around the open field, running back, making them a bit hard to hit. Nevertheless, they still died in droves.

While the bolts of death had stopped raining down on them, an eerie silence fell upon the battlefield. The word battlefield would be an understatement. It was a vast charnel house.

Wari looked over his remaining warriors, a measly two thousand. Corpses of man and beast littered the open field, staining the grass canvas with bloody showers of body parts and blood.

"WE'LL MAKE OUR WAY TO BELLNAHGO!" ordered Wari. His horse began galloping back to the lines as fast as it could, along with a dozen men following him.

"WE'LL HOLE UP IN THE CITY! ALERT THE REST OF THE LEGIONS, DRAGON RIDER!"

The dragon and his rider, who were both currently hiding in a small ditch, turned their head towards their ornately-dressed commander.

"Yes, sir." The dragon soon began flying, and took off, staying near to the ground and bushes in an attempt to obscure itself.

Of all the things that Wari had expected to bring down the Empire, invaders from another world had certainly not been on that list. On that day, Count Wari had learned something very important: that there is always a bigger fish.

Across the once-beautiful field, hundreds of deep brown craters marked and stained it, accompanied by the carcasses of doomed men, sent to die on a suicide mission.

"Estimated enemy losses?" asked Mattis.

"Sir, we're looking at ranges of up to 70,000," replied Alan, currently surveying the battlefield with his binoculars from the sandbags. In his binoculars, he saw things too grim and grisly to describe. Around him, hundreds of soldiers were running left and right, while vehicles full of weapons scrambled around the FOB. The FOB itself was designed like any normal military base, with its utilitarian architecture. Grey and white painted buildings littered the field that he was standing on, while sandbags and trenches surrounded the military base.

"Our side?"

"1 wounded, sir."

Mattis tried to comprehend the amount of death and suffering he had inflicted upon the Saderan Empire. It was impossible to try.

"What about the flanking legions to our west and east?"

"From what our surveillance drones show, they're retreating. Looks like the Imperials aren't suicidal after all," said Alan, reading over a report on his smart tablet.

Mattis smirked.

That's what you fucking idiots get for messing with us, he thought.

"Man, this fuckin' sucks," said Johnson. He was playing a cheap FPS game on his smartphone, looking very bored. All emotion had been sucked out of his face. The rifle he was carrying was currently laid over on the side of a trench wall, safety on.

"Tell me about it, Sarge," said PFC Larry.

For the past few hours, the entire base was on maximal levels of alertness, and Johnson and his squad were called up to a defensive trench. Despite the fact that the intercom said that a massive enemy force was en route, he hadn't seen them for hours.

The trenches themselves weren't that bad. The high command had at least provided the soldiers with seating while sandbags were placed at the top edge to protect them. Not that they needed to be protected.

"Y'all know when the web-con's goin' up?" asked fatigued-looking Irving. Wi-fi, or web-con, according to this world's lexicon, had been immensely important to all of the soldiers. Irving wanted to video-call his girlfriend back home in Darwin, who was intensely worried right now.

"It'll take another week for web-con to be set up," stated Darris, the Englishman.

All members of the squad, even the quiet Alexandra, had groaned as they heard his statement. The internet was the world's arteries and veins, helping to connect each part of the world together. To not have it for a whole week was difficult.

Upon hearing footsteps coming towards them, Johnson turned off his smartphone and immediately placed it back in his pocket. No one wanted to be seen goofing off by a superior officer.

The Battle of Camp Charlie would ultimately result in sixty-five thousand Saderans dying, while over a hundred thousand were wounded. This was one of the largest defeats in the Empire's history, only being surpassed by the Battle of Alnus Hill a few hours later. Pontus's legions were virtually annihilated, with Pontus himself dying from a stray shrapnel piece while riding a few dozen meters behind Wari. The 47th, 48th, and what remained of the 35th Legions would eventually hole up in Bellnahgo, intent on utilizing its heavily dense and urbanized area as a defense against an attack. In the end, both battles would result in roughly 200,000 deaths for the Empire, an unprecedented loss.

* - Anime was invented in Vietnam instead of Japan in the A4 world, due to the fact that Japan never quite reconstructed as well as it did in our history because most US aid was diverted towards the war effort. Japan is a third-world country akin to Indonesia in the A4 world, while the Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina, are basically tech and economy powerhouses. Imagine a South Korea or Japan but a lot more humid.

*- Lemay is the name of the first US moon base.