And here we are with another chapter. Flame Dragon was dealt with and now, our heroes are left with group of displaced people, a pair of mages, Apostle and the only elf that survived the destruction of her village.

But before we return back to them, we should look at the Duran's situation now, as he is about to meet with Task Force 03 commanders and discuss the matter with Allied Kingdoms leader.

So, without further ado…

Chapter 6

,,A day at base"

July 4, 2150

07:00

Fort Terhis, Command Building

King Duran was sitting in a big room with two sofas, table and a screen showing 03's emblem in form of sparrow with it's wings fully spread, surrounded by green rim with inscriptions 'Task Force 03' and 'Always where you need us'. King, of course, didn't knew that, as he didn't spoke English.

He then scratched his leg. As doctor Chungzi said, these newly grown limbs were itchy a lot. But he dealt with bigger problems than itching. To it, he was about to meet with commanders of this 'enemy' Molt told them.

"I would need to talk with that bastard when I meet him."he thought.

In that moment, the door opened and a number of individuals entered the room. First was an elder man, probably in the middle of his 50s with cane in his hand, dressed in blue attire and cap. Second was a woman, around seven years younger, dressed in the same attire, but white. Duran had to admit, that she was even pretty. Next was a woman dressed in uniform in the same style as soldiers. She was followed by a girl that was probably around twenty. Next, came the creatures referred to by Human as 'aliens'. Duran already knew that these were Nashini and Shakayans. However, he didn't saw Chakdrik commander.

Everyone sat down in front of Duran and looked at him.

"Well then."the woman in white attire said."I think we should introduce ourselves."

"I would be pleased to know your names."Duran replied.

Woman nodded.

"I'm admiral Amanda Chesterfield, commander of Task Force 03."she said."The man next to me is my right hand, captain Alvar Eriksson. Woman in Marines uniform is colonel Jessica Richards and the youngest of us is colonel Oksana Natchenko. Nashini's name is colonel Uki'Oparla. And Shakayan is colonel Gefid Magar."

With Chesterfield's words, everyone nodded.

"First of all, sorry for leg and arm."Jessica said.

"It's my fault. I should listen to your warning when I had a chance."Duran replied."In any case, I would like to know, why did you wanted to talk with me?"

"Second of all, we would like to tell you what actually happened."Uki'Oparla said.

In short, Resistance commanders presented the current situation to Duran, starting from the attack on Terhis City and all the way towards the current situation. With every sentence, Duran's eye widened.

"What?!"he exclaimed.

"What we told. We only want to take our people back and bring the ones responsible to justice."Magar summed.

Duran sat there, looking at commanders and thinking. It was all Molt's fault, that was for sure. But it turns out, that these people and aliens actually don't want to conquer their lands. They just want to get their citizens back and bring Sadera to justice. And King actually could support that idea, after what Molt did to his friends.

"Now I understand…"he said.

"Now, we want you to tell us something."Oksana said."Tell us about every single Imperial slave compound you know about.

Duran looked at her.

"Why?"he asked.

"So we could try and find our people."Amanda said.

"Will I have something from this?"Duran asked.

But then, seeing looks of Resistance commanders, he thought that he maybe crossed the line there. However, Amanda nodded.

"I actually expected that question."she said."And I know what we can give you. First, we can transport you back to your kingdom."

"If there is first, then there must be second."King guessed.

"And there is."Eriksson joined."We will additionally provide you with protection from possible Imperial attack, when news about you reach Sadera. We can send a small detachment of Marines with you to support your forces."

Duran was truly taken aback by this proposition. First, he attacked them. And now, they were proposing him a protection from the Empire. And honestly, seeing what they were capable of…he liked that idea a lot.

"So? We have a deal?"Amanda asked, giving him her hand.

Duran shook it.

"Yes, we do."he said.

Soon, admiral's secretary prepared the document and every commander on the meeting signed it, officially making Resistance and Elbe allies. With this done, Duran was even given his private dropship, so he could fly to Alnus and his capital whenever he wanted. With him went the number of Marines.

Aboard the dropship, Duran smirked.

"And what you say now, Molt?"he thought.

08:03

Alnus Express Way

Recon Team Three was on it's way to Alnus and soon, the hill came into their views. Even the civilians they took were amazed by what they saw.

"Well."Ester said."I'm sure they were not bored."

Whole hill was changed into real fortress. With it's shape and construction, it resembled a star-shaped fortress used in the 19th century on Earth during Napoleonic Wars. But, of course, other Resistance members also had their input. Shakayan anti-ship artillery guns were put on the corners of walls, Nashini engineers dug trenches and put barbed wire around and Chakdrik changed normal gate on their energy field.

"Wow, this really looks like a fort now."Yuko said.

"Indeed. Shame they didn't got one of these new energy dome."Liz said."But turning it off and on everytime when someone leaves…"

Their passengers also watched the base in awe, seeing the giant construction, which appeared on the hill in matter of several days.

"They truly are from another world…"Katous said.
"Indeed, master."Lelei replied.

Three vehicles made their way towards the energy gate and were stopped by two Nashini Marines. In the meantime, Anastasia and Arlette flew to the Alnus Field.

"Tekvi."one of Marines greeted them in his language."Heard you had a lot of exciting events. Dragon?"
"Exactly."Ester agreed."Now, can you open this gate for us?"

"On it, major."second Marine said.

It came up to the guard's shed and pressed some buttons on the console. Soon, the field disappeared and three vehicles could get inside the base. Once they reached their car park, they stopped and started disembarking.

"It's…their fortress?"Tuka asked.

"Seems like it."Rory said, looking at a platoon of Nashini performing drills.

Ester stood in front of the group and looked at them.
"Okay then."she said."Now, you will be placed in your new homes. You will be provided with everything you need here. Lena and Jackie will show you."

"And what about you?"a boy asked.

"I need to take care of some…subordinate stuff. So, see ya!"Ester replied and entered the Command Building.

Meanwhile, Lena and Jackie led the refugees to their new places. Other soldiers went to rest after the exciting few days.

Ester reached admiral Chesterfield's office and entered. She stood in front of her commander-in-chief and saluted. Admiral returned the saluted and told the young pilot to stand at ease.

"Major Ester Barkhorn of Recon Team Three reporting."Ester said."We gathered as much info as we could, sir."

Admiral nodded.
"Well. What do you bring?"she asked.

"Language turned out not to be a big problem, sir. Majority of the populace are Humans."Ester started."Their main works are farming and animal breeding. Other information is saved on my terminal."

She then activated it and copied the data she gathered. Next, she sent them to Amanda's terminal. Device beeped and woman looked at it. Seeing everything she got, she nodded.
"Every village has an elder. But we don't know about other political structures."Ester ended.

"Good. You can leave."Amanda said.

But instead, Ester stood there, looking at admiral. Chesterfield looked at her.

"Is there something else?"she asked.

"Well…"Ester started."We brought several refugees with us."

"What?"admiral said.

"Sir, they had nowhere to go. We couldn't just leave them."

Amanda nodded her head, showing that she understands.

"I have nothing against this. We just need to tell our soldiers about them being refugees, so there will be no mistakes."she said."But can I ask you something, major?"

Ester cocked her head.

"Of course, sir."

"Well then. I want you to take care of these refugees, monitor their actions and look after them."admiral explained.

"Eh…sure, I can do that, sir."Ester replied."But does that mean that…?"

"Yes. Paperwork awaits you."Amanda said with smile.

Ester lowered her head. How she hated the paperwork.
"Is Oksana free to do it?"she asked.

Admiral smiled. Oksana told her about Ester's hatred for paperwork and how always she leaves this to her. Ukrainian didn't complained, but Amanda thought, that this time, it was Ester's turn to do what was needed to do.

"Easy, it's not gonna be hard."

"Yeah, right."Ester replied, saluting and leaving.

Admiral only smiled.

08:15

Fort Terhis Temporary Refugee Section

It didn't took long to set up two prefabricated buildings, which had to serve as places to sleep for refugees. Now, surrounded by a fence and with guard taking care of letting them in and go, refugees could do whatever they wanted. Of course, with restrictions.

"I have to admin, these buildings are pretty comfortable."Tuka stated.

Now, she was dressed in a white T-Shirt and pair of jeans given to her by Yuko. As it turned out, they were better than her normal clothes.

"True."Rory agreed."Even better than the ones I used to live in."

"What will you say, Lelei?"Tuka turned to the young mage.

Lelei sat on the bed and patted it. She nodded.

"I can't complain with your statements."she simply said."I come from nomadic tribe and I often slept on the ground. But this is truly something different that what I had in master's house."

Right then, the door opened and girl named Dora entered. She eyed them and looked at her hand terminal.

"Okay."she said."We need to have you signed as the base's inhabitants. But first, we need to know your names. So please, come with me."

Without waiting for the response, she left. Rory narrowed her eyes.

"Is something wrong?"Tuka asked.

"It's just…I could sense a great anger in her. Directed to one person."Rory replied."But I don't know to who and why."

Lelei and Tuka looked at each other. Rory, on the other hand, grabbed her axe and went towards the door.

"Anyway, I think we need to do what she said. Let's go."she said, exiting.

The two followed her and joined the group of Coda villagers which came with them. The elder lady just walked away from Ester, which signed something on her terminal.

"Next one!"she said

Master Katou then approached her and Lelei joined him. Ester looked and the two and nodded, allowing them to speak.
"My name is Katou El Altestan, master."elder mage said."And this is my apprentice…"

"Lelei La Lalena."Lelei said.

Ester nodded.

"Thank you. Next!"she said.

Two mages walked away and Rory stepped in front of Ester. German just felt as she shrugs in front of her.

"I'm Rory Mercury."Rory said."I'm an Apostle of God of Darkness, Emloy."

"T-Thank you…"Ester said unsteadily and wrote Rory's name on her terminal."Now…"

Tuka walked up to Ester. Girl could notice, that the elven woman feels unsteadily, as she started to shake a little.

"Daughter of Hodoru of Koan Forest, Tuka Luna Marceau."Tuka said and Ester nodded.

"Okay…"Ester said, writing down her name."That is all. Thank you for your names and now, you are allowed to freely explore the base. But keep distance from our equipment, so you won't get hurt."

Everyone nodded. Next, Ester, Dora and Fatima left the refugees and returned to their own work.

Villagers started walking back to their new homes, leaving only Lelei, Katou, Rory and Tuka alone.

"What do we do then?"Tuka asked.

Immediately, smile appeared on Rory's face.

"She said we can freely explore this base."she said."So why won't we do exactly that?"

"Will this be safe?"Tuka asked.
"I actually agree with the Apostle."Lelei said."In this way, we could find out more about who these Other Worlders actually are."

"What she said."Rory said."And please, call me Rory."

Lelei simply nodded.

"I guess you're right."Katou said."What are we waiting for then?"

And with his words, the four went to see what does await them in their new home.

08:34

For Terhis Construction Area

The four looked in awe at what was happening in front of them. A number of strange machines was digging in earth, like they were looking for something. Among them, they could see Humans, Chakdrik and Shakayans.

"What is going on here?"Katou asked, seeing Shakayan excavator digging a bunch of earth.

"I think they are building or looking for something."Lelei guessed.

Her master shook his head.

"They truly are strange people. Whatever these things are, they seem to be pretty easy to handle for them."he stated."I think I maybe better go to sleep. You tell me everything later."

Lelei only watched her master walking away. She then looked towards Tuka, which was standing next to another, this time Human, excavator. Young mage walked up to her and tried to talk with her.

"Is something wrong?"she asked.

"N-No."Tuka replied."It's just…My father will be a bit disappointed after he will hear, what he missed."

Lelei only cocked her head.

"Please, back off."a voice called."It's dangerous."

The two looked in that direction and saw a Human Marine approaching them. But he wasn't special. It was thing the leash he had, which made the two surprised.

It was a dog-like creature, but instead of fur it had a green skin and something resembling fin on his back. Creature's eyes were reptile-like and had sharp teeth. It's legs had three talons and tail had a sting on it's end.

"W-What is that?"Tuka asked, a bit scared by the creature.

Marine looked at his animal and nodded.

"Easy, he doesn't bite. This Nadaran Dog is tamed."Marine explained.

"Nadaran Dog?"Lelei asked.

"Yeah, these things live in place where I come from. Naturally, they are predators. But they are grateful. I saved his life from it's natural enemy and now, he is my dear comrade."Marine explained."Anyway, you have to leave. This place is dangerous."

Lelei nodded and together with Tuka, they left the construction site. Rory joined them and walked to the to other part of the base.

There, Lelei saw a field kitchen, where squad of Human Marines dressed in slightly redder was making meal for the workers in construction site. She approached the kitchen and walked up to the cook. She looked at what he was doing.

"Huh?"Marine asked."Oh. It's radish."

"Radish?"Lelei asked and Marine nodded."Radish, radish, radish."

Next, she returned to Rory and Tuka.

Once the trio reached the refugee area, they were greeted by a smell of food. They saw the refugees and Katou sitting at the table and looking at the food. They were accompanied by Ester, Anastasia and Liz.

"Please, enjoy your meal."Ester said, after Lelei, Tuka and Rory sat down."And give credit to our two chefs."she added, pointing at Anastasia and Liz.

Katou took a piece of bread and bitten it. Without warning, he literally shot up from the chair.

"Wonderful!"he exclaimed."This bread is so soft and yummy!"

"Radish…Bread…"Lelei whispered.

Then, everyone started eating and really enjoyed their meal. Many children said, that this is probably the best meal in their entire lives. After that, Lelei, Rory and Tuka returned to exploring the Resistance base.

Meanwhile…

21:08

Planet Nashina, Nashinian System

It was a dark night on the Nashini homeworld, as a single human-styled car was driving down the road. Streets of the city of Hef'Adra, Nashini Republic's capital city, were empty, as at this time, it was a police hour. It was like that for twelve years now, since Holy Order occupied the planet.

In the car, was single man, dressed in a gray Navy uniform. He was around fifty years old and had a beard and hair in black color. On his head, he had a cap. His High Admiral insignias were glowing gold in the light they passed.

"Special System you say?"High Admiral Barren Kotch, supreme commander of all Holy Order Navy, asked his driver, a Holy Order loyal Nashini.

"Yes, sir."the driver replied."According to our contacts, Resistance moved on the other side."

Kotch looked out the window on the skyscrapers of the Nashini capital. He simply sighed.

"Supreme Leader isn't pleased. Why this Gate had to open in Resistance territory?"he said.
"I don't know."driver replied.

"If we would have access to it, we could use resources from the other side and finally make a force powerful enough to break the stalemate and reach Earth, thus ending this meaningless war."admiral summed."And after that, bring the enlightenment of Supreme Leader to the natives of this Special System."

"Agreed."driver said.

Kotch nodded.

"I just hope that one day, Supreme Leader will order us to strike at the Angier System and get Angier Prime."he said."Order our agents to relay everything to us."

"Understood, sir."

And with that, the car continued it's way towards the Hef'Adra Spaceport, where Kotch's ship, an Olympus Mons-class Super Carrier known as HOS Dreader, awaited his arrival.

Back in the Special System…

Lelei, Rory and Tuka continued the walk around the base, until they reached the vicinity of Alnus Field. There, they could see number of Resistance dropships from most of it's members, as well as fighters. Lelei noticed, that some of dropships had redder armor, like soldiers at the field kitchen. What could this mean? Where these 'redder' soldiers some elite unit?

"What is this place?"Tuka asked.

"I think that this is where they keep their metal creatures."Rory guessed."There's a lot of them."

"And they are powerful. Remember what they did with the Flame Dragon?"Lelei replied and Rory nodded.

"Anyway, I'm sure they can put in a superior force, when it comes to the Empire."the Apostle stated."Anyway, let's go and continue our trip."

The three turned around and walked away.

Their next stop was a vehicle depot. There, platoon of six Resistance Challenger 6 tanks moving to the training ground with Nashini JU-05 Na'Mazar tanks. Vehicles were followed four C-22 walkers.

"Look at all of this."Rory said."Seems like their every weapon is moving on it's own."

"How are they doing this?"Tuka asked."I never saw any vehicle moving without horse or other animal pulling it."

"It seems like they possessed a powerful technology."Lelei said.

Her comrades looked at her.

"So this is all technology?"Tuka said.

"She might be right."Rory agreed."I can't feel a single bit of magic in these things. The closest magic source is Lelei."

Young mage just nodded. She looked at mixed squad of Nashini, Chakdrik and Humans performing drills.

"They are pretty diverse, too."she said."Mot of them are Humans, but there are also the other races."

"And although that, they seems to cooperate pretty well."Rory said."I just wonder, why they all wear different uniforms and armor…"

"I think we need to find out."Lelei replied."Let's go."

And thus, they continued their venture around.

That night…

A tavern in Alnus Province

"They killed a Flame Dragon?!"a customer exclaimed.

"You must be joking!"another said.

"I'm not joking!"the waitress replied."I was there and saw everything with my own eyes!"

"Yeah, right. You probably got hit in the head or something!"third customer replied.

In a corner of the building, there was alone table. And people sitting at it surely weren't the often guests in here, as they wore armor and looked as noble men and women. They carefully listened to the story.

"And what will you say?"Pina asked.

"Let me think."Norma replied."Beer is too warm, service is bad and the prices…"

"She was talking about the story."Gray said.

Younger knight just threw up his arms.

"Okay."Pina said."Hamilton, what you gathered?"

Hamilton nodded and said:
"According to rumors, there was a squad of mercenaries dressed in green, which helped evacuating the Coda Village. Then, when refugees were attacked by the Flame Dragons, they defended the convoy and killed the beast."

"Nobody can kill Flame Dragon. It's just rumors."Norma said.

"No, they aren't!"waitress said, standing next to them.

Knights looked at her.

"You really was there?"Gray asked.
"Yes, I was."waitress replied.

"So, can you tell us something about these mercenaries?"Pina asked.

Waitress started rubbing her chin and thinking. Next, she threw up her arms and replied the question with grin:

"I might, but I think I forgot…"

"Maybe this will refresh your memory?"Hamilton asked, taking a gold coin from her bag.

And before she orientated, waitress snatched the coin from her hand. She hid it in the pocket and nodded.

"Yeah, now I remember!"she said."Most of them were Human and all were girls. But there also were Beast Men I never saw before. Two were two meters tall, with triangular heads. Two were reached my waist and were covered in brown fur. And one looked like a giant ant. They used horseless carriages, which moved at impressive speed and when the Flame Dragon appeared, they were joined by two iron birds, which rained fire on the beast, ultimately killing it. Their weapons could attack form afar and were spitting fire."

Pina nodded.

"Thank you very much."the princess said and waitress walked away."What do you think now?"

"I still think this is just a made up story."Norma stated."Weapons spitting fire? Horseless carriages? Iron birds? I only believe when I see."

"You never change?"Hamilton asked, annoyed by her fellow knight's tone.

Norma just threw up his arms.

"Anyway, I think we need to get going. We still need to reach Italica and consult the situation with countess."Pina said.

Knights stood up and left the tavern. Soon, they were speeding towards Italica on their horses.

21:02

Fort Terhis

To additionally ensure the comfort of refugees, soldiers set up some places where they could take a bath. Several tents were set up by Human Marines and inside them were locker rooms and baths.

In one such tent, Tuka was about to prepare for bath, when Rory entered with a pair of children.

"So here you are."Rory said."Have you seen Lelei anywhere? She disappeared around two hours ago."

"No…"Tuka said.

She then looked over Rory's arm and saw a figure dressed in a HAZMAT suit and gas mask. Children, seeing this, screamed from fear and Nashini Marine guarding the tent aimed his gun at the figure.

"Who's there?!"he exclaimed.

In response, figure took off the hood and mask, revealing Lelei's face under it. Marine immediately lowered his gun.
"I did some research."Lelei replied."And this suit is actually pretty hot. All sweat."

Not long after, Lelei, Rory and Tuka were sitting in a bath with children. Rory slid down into the water, so only her head was visible.

"It's so good…"she said."It's hard to believe, that they managed to build a true bath in place like this."
"I never bathed in a room."Lelei said.

Her companions looked at her.

"You too?"Rory asked.
"I was a member of a nomadic tribe named Rurudo."Lelei replied."I only bathed in rivers and streams. You have in-room bath, Rory?"

"And yes. In the temple, I had access to the imperial bathhouse. But I'm an Apostle. Travel is my destiny."Rory replied.

She laid back against the bath's wall again.

"Such thing in the middle of a place like this is a nice surprise."she stated.

"Ester said, that we're allowed to bath everyday."Lelei said.

"Ester?"Rory asked."Oh, that cute girl. Yeah, nice from her side."

Hearing this, Tuka looked at her.

"Is she the one who saved me?"the elf asked.

"From what I heard, yes."Lelei said."Her team was the one that saved you. They wanted to actually make contact with your village but…"

Silence hung in the air. Everyone knew what she was getting to, but Lelei decided to not say it out loud.

Rory looked at the children, which were playing in the water.

"So, by the way, Lelei."the Apostle said."What was you researching?"

Lelei positively reacted a the change of subject, but didn't showed it on her face. She nodded.

"I was walking around the base, talking with soldiers, trying to know who exactly they are."Lelei replied."And from what they said me I know, that they are fighting for the so-called 'Resistance'."

"Resistance?"Rory asked."Isn't it how you call a group of people resisting the occupation?"

Lelei nodded.

"Yes, it is."she said."But this is different resistance. It's full name is Resistance Alliance. It's backbone is the so-called 'Great Five', five most powerful members. They are United Nations Space Alliance, Nashini Republic, Chakdrik Collective, United Shakayan Kingdoms and Tertan Federation. Only the last member of Great Five isn't here."

"So that's why there are different races and they wear different uniforms? Because each race is different country?"Tuka asked.

"Yes. But Resistance is also numerous other smaller, less important members. Tertans aren't here, because they first need to gather volunteers which come here."Leli continued."They also are at war."

This caught the attention of the two.

"At war?"Tuka asked."With who?"

"With a massive religious cult known as 'Holy Order'. War started twenty years ago and it's going on even now."Lelei explained.

"And how is this war going?"Rory asked.
"I just know, that Resistance is losing. Most of their world is controlled by the Order and Resistance does it's best to fight back."

Rory nodded and looked at Lelei again.

"You seem to know their language really good."Rory noticed.

"I'm still learning. But yes."Lelei agreed and thought."On the other side of the Gate is world, about which we know nothing. And if Holy Order ever take control over the Gate, we don't know, what might happen to us."

Rory and Tuka had no other option, but to agree. Empire opened a Gate and now, all of Falmart was in danger.

"But I hope Order isn't close to the Gate?"Tuka wanted to know.

"No, they are actually pretty far. Six years ago, this war entered stalemate and nor side can't get through each others defenses."

"So we don't have to worry and can relax."Rory said.

Others agreed.

"By the way, I wonder, what Ester's squad is doing?"Tuka said.

Rory threw up her arms.
"Probably training They are soldiers after all."she said.

Meanwhile…

"Damn you, Yuko!"Ester shouted, throwing the controller down.

Rest of White Squadron and Third Recon, except Dora, laughed, seeing the miserable defeat Ester suffered in a fighting game against Yuko. Japanese smiled and put her legs on the table.

"Never try to fight a Academy Fighting Games Master of 2148."Yuko said with smile.

"There wasn't such thing! Remember, that I went to the Titan Academy too!"Ester pointed out."I demand a rematch!"

Yuko rolled her eyes.

"You sure?"she asked.

"Yes!"Ester shot back.

"Maybe she's right…"Dora tried to say.

But seeing Ester's furious look, she backed off.

"Okay, same characters?"Yuko said.

"Sure!"

They chosen the same characters as earlier and another round started.

For next two hours, there were seven rematches. After that, it was said, that Ester's defeated groans were heard towards midnight.

XXX

And another chapter is over, more to go. And with the next one, we start Italica, one of my favorite parts of Gate. But as you could see, Holy Order have plans now. What are they gonna do?

Now, trivia:

Nashina-homeworld of Nashini, planet around twice as big as Earth. Occupied in 2138, planet became the unofficial capital of Holy Order, from which they command all their attacks and operations. It's lush world, covered in lowlands, perfect for farming and animal breeding. There are four continents, separated by five oceans and both poles are covered by ice caps.

Challenger 6-main battle tank produced for the British Armed Forces, one of tanks adapted by UNSA.

C-22-produced by Charleston Robotics, machine is a member of C-series, main series of Human robots. It's firepower can equal the best tanks in the world and it's armor can withstand almost everything.

JU-05 Na'Mazar-Nashini heavy tank, named after general Na'Mazar, hero of First Norian War between Nashini and Tertans. Produced by Haradan Motorics, a vehicle company based on planet Najinda, it showed it's efficiency in battle numerous times. One of Nashini tankers, lieutenant Ger'Oada, defended his position with his tank and crew for over seven hours, before they were bombed by Holy Order bombers.

Okay, with the trivia done, I can officially call an end to this chapter. Peace!