GATE: Search for Salvation

Earth is a dying planet. The few humans that have been left after the last great war are struggling to find some semblance of a worthwhile future. At least thanks to the exclusive use of „humane" and „clean" nuclear weapons, life can continue on the surface instead of being limited to the omnipresent nuclear shelters which have become the home of many post-war survivors.

Following the war and for the first time in history mankind found global peace and was united under one government. An enlightenment which had been paid in blood. This peace the people have made for themselves would soon be disrupted again…

14:00, 21st March 2122, Tiergarten marketplace in Old Berlin

Tiergarten - once a proud park of Berlin - now was the new center of the city as it had been spared from bombardment and therefore contained only little contamination. Pre-fabricated buildings, provisional streets and the ever-present entrances to bunker habitats cluttered the landscape. No traces of greenery were left to behold. Despite this bleak environment many people had ventured outside today and were crowding the market square.

The eyes of a little girl were sparkling with joy. For a long time she has been waiting for the return of the Great Market. Finally the fallout-forecasts had announced that multiple days of safe outside conditions would be coming up! Enough time for the vendors and scavengers to trade their wares with the public.

The girl talked to her classmate walking besides her in an excited voice: "My parents said I can have a new toy! I hope they have some toy horses! That would be soooo cute". The other girl smiled mildly at her best friend. Ever since they've met in the bunker-habitat-school no. 24 they were inseparable.

Both girls were absorbed in their conversation when they finally registered that a shadow had been creeping up. When looking up they came face to face with a real-life horse and it's cold eyed knightly rider.

"Wow! A real horse! I've thought they were extinc- " were the last words of the first girl. In the next moment she and her friend were struck by the cold embrace of razor-sharp steel.

Thus chaos broke loose.

In the middle of the marketplace an ancient looking gate had materialized out of nowhere and was continuing to release more and more troops that looked like a mix out of Roman legionnaires and fantasy creatures.

Riders were mercilessly hunting down the defenseless citizens only ever stopping to shed the blood from their blades. Wyverns that came through the gate were crowding the sky and gruesome looking orcs and ogres did supplement the humans on horseback, beating down people with their blunt clubs. The wet crunching sounds their blunt weapons produced would be hunting the dreams of the survivors for a long time.

A few brave members of the public protection units that had the misfortune to be assigned as security for the market day offered some resistance, using their handheld military-grade auto-cannons to great effect. Fantasy monsters and knights alike that have been hit by the smart ammunition seemed to literally explode from the inside out. This gruesome type of projectile was capable of tracking its target by manipulating its own trajectory and specialized in exploding after penetrating armored foes. But with their small numbers the public protectors had no hope to stop the invading fantasy army and would soon join the citizen they have tried to protect in the afterlife.

Alarm sirens started to blare and a broadcast advised the citizen to retreat to the safety of their bunker habitats and to lock the blast doors…

14:20, government building of the POSTG in Brussel

The unified government of Earth was widely know as the „POSTG" - a butchering of the rather descriptive name „unified post-war government". The politicians that served the POSTG most commonly were found in a great metal and glass dome located in what remained of the city of Brussel. The domed structure withstood the nuclear attacks but the former occupant, the European military high command, was cooked alive by gamma radiation. Nowadays the building was used to host what was called the „permanent conference". As governing the whole world required utmost attention the conference was in session around the clock, forcing the attending officials to work in long shifts.

Currently the conference was in a state of uproar…

"What is this? A joke?" - the woman that shouted those words into her microphone was prime legislator Amara Morgan, the head of government. After her sharp words the other legislators seemed to regain some of their calm.

A floating holographic display showed the face of the mayor of Old Berlin. After gulping he started his explanation anew: "I'm not joking Ms. prime legislator! As we speak a medieval force of about 100.000 troops is taking over the city! The citizens are holding out in the bunkers but we already have casualties in the thousands! Please, don't you have any troops nearby?!"

A different legislator addressed the conference: "We've established a connections with an observation drone. Displaying footage now."

Another holographic display began to be projected above the heads of the legislators, showing a group of ogres that still were brutally stomping citizens. Some less hardened legislators turned their gaze away as they were reminded of past traumas.

"How can this be?! There is no time to spare then! General Rivera, muster whatever is still functioning of the military right now!" cried the prime legislator with obvious terror in her eyes.

Thus the war machines that laid waste to the planet 10 years prior was set into motion again…

14:50, armored troop transpoter enroute to the outskirts of Tiergarten marketplace

Lieutenent Jacob Falkner sighed loudly. His gaze was directed at the columns of black smoke rising from the city.

"Lieutenant, I am registering a rise in your heart rate. Please inform me should you suspect any form of degradation of your combat ability" said a mechanical voice belonging to the combat android R20. A two meter high humanoid robot with rather chunky armor plating covering a titanium exoskeleton. Every combat group did have one of those handy things assigned. The two red glowing optical sensors in the rectangular head fixated the lieutenant while a happy smile face on the head-mounted display of the robot conveyed its non-hostile intentions.

"No no no, it's just some melancholy… every time we are called into action it just means that someone still did not learn their lesson about the futility of war. I prefer the peaceful assignments with the rebuilding committee."

A series of affirmative sounds were uttered by the eleven other human soldiers, each outfitted with a strong mechanized armor suit and rapid-fire low-recoil auto-cannons.

"This time it's different, J. I've heard were are fighting fucking medieval soldiers on fucking horse. Horses you hear! Maybe we could supplement our rations with some damn horse meat?" - that was Sergeant Selma Demir. The female soldier and good friend to Jacob was native to Berlin and the second-in-command after the lieutenant.

"When we hit them with our Heckler & Koch RAC30 auto-cannons there will not be enough left to cook. Those weapons are made to kill those damn combat androids - no offense, R20 - and not some horsies."

„None taken" said the uncaring android.

„Hey my lovelies, we are getting uncomfortably close to the hot zone! Get ready!" interjected the driver of the armored transport via intercom.

With trained movements each soldier put on their smart combat helmet and activated the augmented reality combat view. Now they could see a small blue outline around each friendly unit in the transporter complete with status information. Jacob checked that next to each soldier a red crosshair symbol had appeared, indicating that they all successfully linked up with their weapons.

"Communication channels open. Please confirm. Unloading in T minus 3 minutes"

"Confirmed" said the voices of twelve soldiers.

The name tag of General Rivera was popping up in the augmented reality view of the soliders, signifying that a net-wide communication would follow.

"My dear soldiers, the enemy is unknown and quite frankly speaking unnatural. Our only saving grace is that they display barely more firepower than a street thug armed with a big knife. Yet I want to advise you against any rash decisions, we only could muster 40 standard combat groups of twelve plus the androids. You will go in after our incoming air assets will throw the enemy encampment into chaos. Pacify all those who will not have gotten the message by then. But please remember that surrendering enemy soldiers are protected by the Geneva Convention. Good luck out there. Rivera out."

"You've heard the man! Combat group 32, move out! May salvation find us!" shouted Jacob while activating the door mechanism which quickly lifted the entire sidewalls of the armored transport.

"For salvation!" shouted the other soldiers while rushing outside, repeating the phrase all soldiers of the United Earth Forces had adopted. Leading the pack was the combat android which secured the perimeter for the soldiers during unloading.

Thus combat group 32 entered the fight…

14:55, provisional encampment of the imperial army

The leader of the imperial army slowly moved through the first tents of the provisional camp on back of his magnificent war horse. His plate armor was decorated with the imperial crest and was made by only the finest artisans of the capital city. On his head a helmet, which was adorned with feathers from a griffon, was casting a shadow over his face, hiding his piercing blue eyes and scars of many battles. Next to him rode his second-in-command, who was clad in similar splendid gear.

"Did you notice? There is not even a single bird in the air. Also they seemed to have had a market in this area, yet I did not see any livestock. This whole atmosphere smells of death… and not the kind our soldiers brought here."

"Yes your Grace, it is not lost on me. Do you see those buildings far over there? They are nothing but ruins. The whole city outside this core district seems to be. Whoever attacked before us did not want to take those estates for themselves. What will the Empire do with such ravaged lands? We surely lose more than we gain when we incorporate them in the allied nations."

"Hmm, you might be right. For now we shall take the people of this land as slaves. In time they will be thankful for living under the mercy of emperor Molt Augustus!"

The discussion of those two was cut short by loud booming noises. Overhead flying objects seemingly dropped from supersonic speed to a perfect stillstand in a matter of seconds. Far too abrupt that any human pilot would still be conscious. The seven flat drones, sporting short wings which on each side carried a weapon platform, were all what the United Earth Air Force had in stock. The only indication of a propulsion system were thin blue glowing slits on the underside and the back of the machines.

They hovered in a perfectly fanned out formation which divided the imperial army in non-intersecting firing sections and their powerful combat computers had already calculated the best course of attack. The onboard AI recognized the two talking men as the enemy leaders and marked them as targets of interest for extraction.

The confirmation from headquarters allowed them to commenced the attack…

First the approaching wyvern riders were easily felled by auto-cannon fire. The drones did not even take evasive actions because the slow movement of the wyverns did not pose any danger of reaching them in time. Each wyvern was dispatched by a perfectly aimed shot to the torso and the exploding smart projectiles did punch holes the size of small cars into the mythical beasts.

After regaining the air superiority each drone dumped its full contingent of ground rockets. The battlefield soon was filled with screams and disorganization as hundreds of small rockets struck amidst bigger clusters of enemy troops.

"Your Grace, what did just hit us?!" said the second-in-command as he witnessed how the seventh cavalry regiment was consumed by sudden explosive flames followed by ear-shattering noise. The only things left were charred remains of horses and riders alike.

"May Emroy have mercy on our souls! It must be the monsters that have ravished those lands! We have to retreat for now and ask the emperor for guidance!"

The screams were joined by the melody of war horns which signaled an ordered retreat. His Grace knew many people would find their end defending their returning comrades, but he was no idiot that would keep his men here to be slaughtered when they could not even reach the enemy. He would personally watch over their retreat.

"Coward!" screamed his second-in-command looking back while beeing the first to gallop through the gate to safety.

15:00, just outside the battlefield

An unnatural sounding voice addressed the soldiers: "Combat group 32, Skyhawk-7 AI speaking. We are marking high priority extraction targets on your combat view. We will advise other combat groups to not engage those targets. Please confirm the update of your mission parameters and proceed immediately."

Jacob gave a short answer: "Lieutenent Falkner speaking, updated mission parameters confirmed". After switching back to the group comms he uttered "Damn AI, ordering us poor meatbags around. The world looks like it does because of their god damn perfect battle strategies."

Selma karate-chopped his helmet stopping him in his tracks "Cool it Jacob, you always get so pissed off blaming the damn AI. Humans made them! We have a job to do and no time for one of your philosophical ramblings!"

"Yeah…let's move forward" answered a humbled Jacob.

Combat group 32 began following a path overlay in their augmented reality view that lead them up to a crossing in the street. Spearheading the group was once again the combat android R20 which at this point dual-wielded a heavy auto-cannon fed by a chain coming from its ammo backpack and a grenade launcher. His head-mounted display now showed a comically angry emoji.

"Pre-war weapon engineers must have been such asses." Jacob thought to himself while looking at the perfect killing machine. When coming up to the crossing it sensors registered two groups of cavalry and three ogres.

"We got bogeys!" shouted the robot while simultaneously rapidly engaging the riders with its auto-cannon and carpet bombing the ogres with grenades. The human solider concentrated their fires on whoever managed to charge forward through the barrage.

"All clear! Other combat groups are pushing back the enemy troops. We can proceed." commented the android after ceasing fire.

The soldiers cautiously kept pushing onwards behind R20 and only seldom had to fire their weapons as the enemy troops were already retreating. Being mostly post-war conscripts they were thankful for that, as each kill weighed heavy on the conscience of the unexperienced soldiers. As they got close to the central market square, archers tried in a last-ditch attempt to ambush the combat group, but their arrows harmlessly bounced off the heavy mechanized armor. The same could not be said for them as the group returned fire, turning the archers into mush.

"Main target coming up ahead" announced the combat android and indeed they could see a man cowering behind his now dead war horse. He seemed to be surrounded by the corpses of his army and yet he himself was "miraculously" unharmed. As he saw the combat group leisurely approaching he got on his feet and rose his hands while calling out to them.

"Connecting to universal translation AI" said the android and linked up with headquarters.

"Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation!" was repeated over and over by the leader of the enemy.

"Spare… denim ad… my… veniam, quis…. leader exerci …. talk!" said the inappropriately happy voice of the translation AI. Being able to translate while not carrying any form intonation and subtext was a well known source of misunderstandings when using this program.

"Spare my life, I demand talk with your leaders!" now the AI seemed to finally grasp the whole language and signaled to the soldiers that it would translate their answers.

"No worries, we already realized that you are the leader. You are now a war prisoner protected under the Geneva Convention. But don't dare to make any kind of fuzz or you will join your brethren!"

The eyes of his Grace widened in surprise and shock. Did that strange knight really speak his language? He just did try to communicate out of despair. He nodded to signal his approval, preparing to be captured by those otherworldly knights.

Thus the battle of Old Berlin was concluded…

18:00, 22nd March 2122, government building of the POSTG in Brussel

On this day Jacob Falkner was a guest of the permanent conference as a representative of the forces that repelled the invasion forces. "Empire… huh. I'm happy they were not that Empire from Star Wars." mused the fan of very old movies deep in his thoughts.

"Mister Falkner, please share your opinion of the danger of the imperial troops." asked prime legislator Morgan snapping Falkner out of his inner monologue.

"One on one? None at all. But their numbers are worrisome. We only fought 500 against about 100.000! Wouldn't they have been scared out of their minds by the drone attacks I would not be sure if they wouldn't have overrun us. As most of them retreated through that strange structure they still might pose a danger. You realize that we've deployed half of the remaining military in Europe, yes?"

"Thanks mister Falkner, I am well aware of this fact. I am more than grateful that it worked out. Without your help the death count might have been much higher than 3120."

Jacob nervously took in the scene before him. Weren't those faces on the hovering holoscreens the three vice prime legislators that run government in Asia, Australia and the Americas? Something that would concern the whole of humanity was going down here today.

The prime legislator continued to speak: "We have already sent scouting drones through what our scientist call a 'trans-spatial displacement gateway array'… to make it easy we will just call it the GATE going forward. What we have seen on the other side can only be described as a dream come true! A completely untouched world with lush fields of grass and clear streams. And despite all this beauty its inhabitants tried to bring us destruction? It makes no sense to me."

Using the short pause after the last sentence the AI that controls the government dome brought up multiple recordings from the beautiful other world. The vice prime legislators were dumbfounded and gawked in awe for a moment. The Asian legislator was the fastest to regain his composure: "I know that next you will recommend that we use our technological superiority to get a hold of their world? I implore you, after all the destruction can we really bring the weapons that destroyed our world on an untainted world? It is not right!"

"You are accusing me of such evil intentions? The POSTG was founded on a doctrine of peace and equality and therefore we would never propose an invasion! But…" at this point the facial expression of the prime legislator turned grim "…but I still carry grave news. Our scientists finished the new prognosis for the Earth and… and it will not be able to support life anymore in about seven years. The last pockets of fertile lands are getting more and more contaminated!"

Now none of the legislators could keep quiet anymore and the permanent conference fell into chaos.

"Therefore I am announcing project Exodus. The relocating of the entire human population to the new world! But we will not only wield the sword but also offer peace!" thundered the voice of the prime legislator amplified by her microphone.

The uproar reached unknown heights.

The legislators discussed the plans deep into the night. One of the results was the reactivation of the automatic weapon factory no. 7 which deeply violated the doctrine which the POSTG had given itself. But they would need the weapons to be able to negotiate with an alien nation. All this was witnessed by the worried captured leader of the enemy army that was forced to attend the permanent conference to give insight on his world.

Thus the inhabitants of Earth have been given a new lease on life… Will they be able to weather the incoming storm?

Comment

Hey, thanks for reading thus far! This is my very first story and I really do not know if I even produced something acceptable. I just wrote it because I felt like it.

Maybe you could let me know if you liked it? Also let me know if I could change something to make it better. Did you like the idea to balance out the imperial army with the sci fi army by portraying the sci fi army in a very damaged state?

Was the grammar acceptable? (English is not my first language)

Sorry for all so many questions, as thanks I will follow with some infos around the characters and the world:

Explanation corner

Auto-cannons: cannons that have a bigger caliber than normal rifles. The main weapon of the UEF as under normal conditions they would mainly fight with heavily armored foes. Through improvements in material- and weapon-technology those cannons are nearly recoil-free and very lighter/more compact than contemporary ones. Most used model is the Heckler & Koch RAC30 which uses 30mm smart ammo.

Mechanized armor: a metal armor usually worn by all UEF soldiers. Movements are supported by strong servos. Offers about double of the strength of a well trained human. Together with a smart helmet the armor becomes even more versatile as soldiers are supported by multiple combat AIs and augmented reality features.

The great war: The last war of mankind which had begun and concluded on Christmas eve in the year 2112. The strategical Als of one nation concluded that the only left course of action was to launch the nukes. All the AIs of the other countries followed suite and fired their weapons as well. Neither ground troops nor the airforce even fought each other. The war was over after half an hour. Outcome: no winners. The POSTG did order the destruction of all high level strategy AIs, a plan that mostly was carried out by 2122.

POSTG: After about a year the people that survived in the bunkers reached out to each other and made peace. Those first self-appointed ambassadors founded the first unified post-war government. They all share the deep belief that peace is the only way. Nations have been abolished to prevent the upcoming of new nationalist ideas.

United Earth Forces (UEF): the army that integrates all remaining forces Earth. Mostly concentrated on aiding humanitarian efforts around the world. Post-war conscripts like Jacob Falkner show a strong belief in the peace agenda of the new government while the vanishing pre-war officers seem to be still stuck in the old ways of thinking.

Legislator: A member of the government. Some legislators only have voting rights while others perform the functions of ministers. Lead by the (vice) prime legislators.

Character introduction

Name: Jacob Falkner
Age: 31
Interests: Old movies, good books, long philosophical ramblings, soccer
Hometown: Hamburg, Germany
Hair color: brown
Eye color: blue
Blood type: B negative
Info: A germanic looking lieutenant of the UEF sporting a full beard. Big round cheeks and a big nose. A post-war conscript that prior to the war was studying to become a teacher and was a trainer for a local amateur soccer club. Made a name for himself in the army.

Name: Selma Demir
Age: 25
Interests: Ballet (none of her comrades know), soccer
Hometown: Berlin, Germany
Hair color: black
Eye color: brown
Blood type: AB positive
Info: A sergeant of the UEF of Turkish descent. Wears her hair in a short haircut and has a rather slim face with a small hawkish nose. Prior to the war she met Jacob in the local soccer club and now is good friends with him. She grew up in Berlin before relocating to Hamburg and keeps the memory of her hometown dear to her heart.

Name: Amara Morgan
Age: 50
Interests: unknown
Hometown: Johannesburg, South Africa
Hair color: black
Eye color: brown
Blood Type: unknown
Info: A portly woman of South African descent that sports thick glasses and shoulder-length hair. Usually seen wearing a purple pantsuit. She is the third elected prime legislator of the POSTG and the first black woman to hold the office.

Name: R20
Age: 13
Interests: Fulfilling its mission
Hometown: Redmond, USA (produced there)
Hair color: no hair at all
Eye color: red
Blood Type: 5W60 oil
Info: A General Electric RSD-120 combat android made in the USA. A titanium exoskeleton that sports rectangular-ish armor plating. Like all modern AIs somewhat capable of learning and adapting.