Chapter 3: Gate

*BANG* {FUCK!}

Lieutenant Itami's fist slammed into the wooden table.

An anxious, quiet voice behind him questioned, " Sir, what now?"

{Shit. Kurata's still here.}

" Sergeant, stay here and gather important documents. Take as many thermite grenades you can find and destroy the papers and the radio. Nothing can fall into militant hands," Youji commanded as he straightened back up.

He heard a "Yes, sir." as he exited the room. As he walked back into the suffocating heat of the day, the man was greeted by his Sergeant Major and soon after, the Rwandan 2nd Lieutenant in charge of the African fireteam, Kamanzi.

" Thanks for the save ear-rlier, Kam," Itami began, receiving a silent wave from the much taller man.

Youji got straight to the point, " We are not getting support at all. Helicopters can't get to us and no convoys can be sent. So we go to them. Ensure the men are vigilant and ready for the fight. We go when the radio is destroyed."

Clearly more experienced with motorized units, Kamazi raised his hand to stop Itami from leaving before asking, " Vehicle formation?"

{Oh right.}

"Umm, the Komatsu will lead, then my Toyota, your 3 VBLs will follow. The Type 73 will be last. The wounded men and civilians will be in my Toyota."

A single nod and the 2nd Lieutenant walked off, shouting orders in his own language.

Itami then turned to the Old Man, " Kawahara, I want a light crew in the Komatsu LAV. We don't know what type of enemy we will see as we head north. You and Tomita will man the vehicle. You two are the most experienced and I can't risk any more people at the head of the convoy. … Sorry."

He finished the sentence by patting the Sergeant Major's shoulder. A solemn nod was returned before the soldier walked away to prepare.

" Sergeant First Class Kuribayashi," the Lieutenant waved her over from the wall, as he walked over to the unconscious form of Private Katsumoto Wataru. The buff man was leaned up against a wall, a black body bag with a blue, yellow, and green flag laid beside him. Mari stood up from her crouched form beside Wataru and gave a report on the wounded and KIA.

" Sir, the Private will be fine, but he needs to get to a hospital. The … the other man didn't have a chance. One of the fangs punctured through his heart, killing him instantly," she said in a monotone voice, her words getting caught when she talked about the deceased.

"Lieutenant," Shino replied to Itami as she trotted over.

Pointing to the High Mobility Vehicle, Itami gave off a commanding aura, a first for the surprised Sergeant.

" Loaded the two and the kids into the Toyota, you two are with me too. The rest of 3rd Recon Team will get the Type 73. Drive order is Komatsu, Toyota, VBLs, then 73. Go let them know. We leave in 5."

Mari started the struggle of dragging Private Wataru to the vehicles alone as Itami went off to look for Kurata. Sergeant Kuribayashi just stood there, rooted to the ground in her shock of a competent looking CO. Mari smacked her in the arm to wake her from her trance.

" Quit gaping and help me with this guy."

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Itami headed in the direction of the only building in the compound, right as the interior lit up in flames and a certain sergeant walked out, with a blazing background which gave the man a rather heroic, stoic look.

{Damn showoff.}

The lieutenant thumbed behind him towards the vehicles, "You drive."

A nod and they both walked back to the line of vehicles, ready to exit the gates of the temporary sanctuary to Hell itself.

Once everyone entered their vehicles, Itami flicked open his radio.

"Alright guys, eyes up and guns up when we exit. ROE is to shoot anyone with a weapon, regardless of the threat level. Keep it quiet though, don't engage if we do not have to, all we need to do is make it to the POC. Got it?"

A resounding " Yes, sir" replied back.

Another switch and he was talking to his destination.

" POC Unity, POC Unity. This is UN Compound Rukona, Over."

" Send traffic," was the reply.

" We are leaving the compound now. Be advised for 6 friendly Victors en route to your location, over," the full effect of these words sank into the radio operator on the other side, causing a pause before the next transmission.

" Understood, Rubkona. Godspeed, sir. Out."

A hand motion and Kuribayashi and Kurata headed forward and rolled the gates open. They ran back to the vehicles and the convoy began their trip. Immediately, Tomita, at the wheel of the LAV, spotted a line of shields and pikes sitting in the field. He instantly turned north and floored it. The Legionaries broke formation and tried to pursue, but running after a motorized wagon was never really going to go anywhere. The roads were filled with rubble and burning wrecks of steel, plastics, and bodies. Men and women, the young and old, the healthy and the crippled. None were spared. Bodies lined the street in all types of manner, pierced, chopped, raped, half-eaten, bled out. The soldiers just tried to ignore them as they continued on, especially the cars they passed by that had an infant car seat in the back. Stray gunfire and explosions could still be heard throughout the buildings, as the local's People's Liberation Army fought for its own survival.

The convoy drove peacefully through the burning, bloodied streets, swerving to avoid obstacles until they reached the outskirts of Rubkona. Directly north of the town was an airport, a flat dust strip where out of date aircraft continued to live, delivering goods and people to and from the area. At the south end of the landing zone was a construct. Not just any construct, a warehouse-like construct adorned with stone Roman sculptures depicting battle along its sides. The decorations stretched from the top to bottom of the building, easily seen from 500 metres where the main road was. The massive steel gates of the warehouse were open, and out of it, cohorts of men and humanoid beasts marched out. Giants that had to stoop their heads to exit the "Gate" to Orcs with their jutting jaws to Goblins chittering to each other, all clustered up besides squares made of men.

Itami was just awestruck by this scene… up until a cry reverberated through the radio.

" RPG!"

Youji's eyes snapped forwards. Indeed there was a circular flame sphere heading towards them, slowly, but surely floating towards them. It was slow enough that most of the convoy had passed it. Most of it. The Type 73 truck, the rearmost vehicle caught the fireball to the rear of the cab, scorching a path through the cloth walls, and entered the vehicle. Right before it exploded, igniting the air around the 5 members of the 3rd Recon team. The men didn't even register any pain before their brains were destroyed. The momentum of the previously moving, blazing vehicle, now coasted to a stop on the side of the road.

Kurata slowed the vehicle to a near standstill, angling his body in preparation to jump out and help the doomed men. Itami's arm latched onto his arm and dragged him to the back of the driver seat.

An out of place cold " Sergeant, drive now," came out of the Lieutenant's mouth.

" Huh?" A stunned Kurata replied.

" They can't be saved. We need to go NOW."

The Sergeant was able to pull himself together to get moving again. Just not in time.

A giant was able to react to the 5 wagons, that have slowed to a stop in front of him, and had taken action. A sheet of metal from a hut's roof slammed into the lead VBL, pushing it completely off the road and pinning the car to the houses beside it. The doors were deformed and jammed, trapping the Rwandans inside their metal coffin. To make matters worse, more giants were now charging down the line of lightly-armed Peacekeepers.

" Dammit, just go. GO!" Ordered Itami.

The vehicles drove off, as the UN soldiers looked back, they could see Kamanzi lean out of the passenger side, firing his rifle as fast as he could over the roof, as the first giant ripped the driver door off the VBL and reached in. Screams then echoed into the bright sky.

The remaining 4 vehicles could easily beat the invading ground army in terms of speed as they drove down the road. However, the Romans didn't just have ground forces.

The wyvern squadrons gave chase. The convoy still had 2 kilometres to travel.

The M2 50 cal. rounds flashed into the sky reaching out, trying to swat the beasts out of the sky. Unfortunately, the constant swerving of the cars meant that the rounds couldn't hit anything. That meant the reptiles owned the skies.

"ARRRGGHHHHH!"

One of the Rwandan gunners got pierced as a rider swooped over and thrust his pike into the man's chest. He fell back onto his comrades, blood coating the interior of the VBL.

{We aren't going to make it.}

With only two guns to suppress the enemy and such a distance still to travel, they weren't going to make it. A sense of dread dropped upon Itami as the realization floated up.

"You men need help." a heavily accented voice calmly transmitted through the radios, shocking the doomed soldiers.

Flashes passed by the windows as a thundering sound echoed through the Toyota. Then two white rectangles zoomed past on either side of the convoy before spinning around and pulled up alongside the line of cars. Youji quickly peeked out to see the big black letters of "UN" painted on the side of the bleached BTR-60s as well as the red and blue of the Mongolian flags flapping from its posts, 14.5mm rounds from their turrets still blasting away at the sky.

The Mongols had charged out against orders to provide an escort back to the POC site. The Japanese and Rwandans had made it.

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No one gets the cookie yet. Probably going to post these every Tuesday or something.