General Hazama remained silent as the report by Third Recon Team played from start to finish. When the recording was finished, he placed his hand underneath his chin. The words spoken were clearly in Russian and it disturbed him that they were present in the Special Region. Perhaps they had a Gate in their country as well, but because their territory was so vast it was possible they were able to contain it before reaching any major population hubs. However, it would be up to the government and how they would take the information. "Lieutenant Yanagida, does Lieutenant Itami have more intel about the Russians?"

The 1st Lieutenant stood before the commander of the Special Task Force and shook his head. "No sir. This is the latest report we have received from his team."

"I see. Inform all recon teams that if they make contact with any possible Russians, they are to report back to Alnus."

Then Yanagida continued. "Sir, should we have our air units on standby?"

"There is no need for that."

"With all due respect, the Russians are interfering with military operations within the Special Region if their presence lingers."

However, the general stared at his adjutant. "Yanagida, I understand that you are discomforted by the appearance of the Russians, but we cannot escalate the situation." He answered. "The Russians are a major world power and confrontation of force will do little to persuade them from staying in their own territory. We must get more information and observe their movements."

"Understood."

"Dismissed lieutenant."

After the lieutenant saluted his superior, he left the room while the general remained in his office. Hopefully, the situation didn't escalate. It was bad enough that the Gate mobilized the JSDF into an immediate combat situation with the Empire, but if they butt heads with the Russians it could end badly.

General Hazama had thoughts about calling the prime minister about the situation, but there was a chance the Russians would deny all involvement into the Special Region. Maybe he should keep this information until there was more to look at.

Ever since the initial attack on the convoy, the Polis Rangers became ever-vigilant for any further attacks. However, there were none beyond those two dozen soldiers that tried to raid them. Thankfully, they were all gunned down with ease as they continued towards their destination.

Artyom continued to canter his horse on the road as his Kalashnikov hung from his neck. It was uncomfortable, but Uhlman suggested him to have the weapon out just in case. Honestly, he couldn't blame him. Reloading a revolver on horseback was rather difficult and if he tried with hsi assault rifle it would make the horse panic and throw him off. A daunting situation, but Rangers had to make do with what they got.

The road they followed had brought them here. All that was needed was Milena's guidance. "We're here. Welcome to Italica."

The Ranger looked ahead and saw man-made walls above the ground. It almost looked impenetrable if there wasn't the shocking sight that worried him. Spots of fire and smoke rose to the skies while figures climbed the ladders to storm the walls. However, the defenders were holding if the mass of bodies standing outside were anything to go by.

"By the gods, I don't know how we can get in there." The native woman commented. "I know the countryside was riddled with bandits, but I didn't think it would have been this bad."

Despite Artyom's understanding of the language, Uhlman looked to him to translate. "Artyom, what did she say?"

He glanced over to his senior. "She said this is the place, but it's currently attacked by bandits. Too many to count."

"Shit. If only there was another way."

The young man's mind ached with the presence of the Dark Ones. "Artyom… we will clear the way… Be ready…"

"Uhlman." Spoken the Ranger. "The Dark Ones are about to clear the way to the settlement."

His eyes widened in shock. "Wait, they're going to help us? When?"

"Soon." Artyom answered. "Be ready to rush in there."

Milena began to ask a question, one that was not easy to answer. "What are these Dark Ones?"

"You'll see."

The Ranger in charged looked to the others and shouted to the top of his lungs. "Timur, be ready! We're going to do something stupid."

Out from behind the first cart, the sniper spoke up. "That's not comforting to know. How stupid is this going to get?"

"Artyom says the Dark Ones are going to clear the road for us. We're going through the thick of it. Lock and load and close your zippers!"

"Milena, be ready to ride after us." Artyom advised as his hand tightened the grip on the reins while the other held onto the handle of the Kalashnikov.

"Go…" Alerted the Dark Ones.

"Uhlman, it's time!"

"Ladna, let's get in there!"

As the horses were spurred forward, Artyom watched the army ahead. Whatever plans the Dark Ones had for them, it had better worked. This was the largest amount of troops he had seen in his entire life while his hands gave a death grip on the horse's reins.. They had to make, they had to get inside those walls. If they didn't, it would have meant certain death.

The convoy accelerated forward galloping hooves crushing the dirt, wheels rattling at such speed. They stormed through the core as faces of men turned their gaze upon them. Their eyes grinning as if they were the hungry little spiders that watched their prey come to them. Then they were met with sudden horror when tall figures looked over them with the palm of their hands reaching out to them.

Death had come for them, but not in the way they had expected. Those grinning expressions changed into paintings of fear before these people turned on one-another. Their weapons demanded blood and soon the army before them was struck with fear.

Those who were not affected by the power of the Dark Ones had fled. The sight of seeing their own comrades killing each other out made them disperse themselves away from the direct route into Italica. The besieging army left the field without a single shot fired.

"Damn, this is what the Dark Ones are capable of." Uhlman commented.

Despite his comrade's awe of their power, Artyom was focused on the horror they inflicted. When they had disappeared from the battlefield, the survivors of the scene walked around, shells of their former selves. Some writhing on the ground, others in a frenzy of shaking.

He pitied them, they didn't deserve this. None of these people deserved to be in this state. Memories of the victims at Exhibition screamed back at him, the sight of armed soldiers trained for combat become crying husks made him think if leaving the Dark Ones alive was a worthy choice.

When the convoy arrived at the front gates, Artyom saw figures looking down at them with their primitive forms of Helsings aimed at them.

He had thoughts of stepping forward, but the guide left her seat and walked to the gates. "Let me take care of this." Milena commented. "They'll let us in."

Uhlman looked at him, expressing his confusion. "Mind translating for me?"

Artyom observed the woman walking up to the door. "She said she'll convince them to let us in."

"She better. I don't mind the different color of warm welcome these people are giving us. Now I know what it feels like to get married to an unhappy woman."

"I don't get it."

"You'll understand once you get the chance. Feeling a woman's scorn is just like seeing these people ready to kill us. It the worst thing to happen to a man."

"Really?"

"Like I said, you'll understand."

The Rangers focused their full attention onto the door as the woman walked up to a vision slit. There were people on the other side, but the darkly lit area made it difficult for Artyom to see. Words were spoken in the tongue he could understand, but there was something off about Milena and he just couldn't put his finger on it.

His eyes watched closely as the young woman pulled out a strange necklace from a pouch and showed it to the hidden figures in question. Yet, it garnered a nod before the slit closed. Afterwards, she slipped it back into her inventory before walking up to them.

The gates began to open for them while the men atop of the walls eased their watch over them. They were letting the Rangers in, but Artyom had a strange feeling about the guide they had.

When she returned to driving the cart full of goods, they proceeded to enter the town while curious eyes focused their full attention on them. They had every right to be, they forced the attackers out from the siege. By the time the last wagon got through, those doors closed once more bringing the knights of the apocalypse inside.

Out from the crowd of the loosely armed people came four armored soldiers to greet them. Two men while the other two were women. Yet, the people around made way for them.

When the two mounted Rangers got off their horses, one of the female soldiers, a dark-red haired girl, confronted the duo. "Who are you and why are you here?" The young woman demanded.

They had to reply. Otherwise, the inhabitants of this town would be suspicious of their arrival after they had forced the attackers out of their siege. Artyom stepped forward and slung his Kalash over his shoulder, earning the eyes of the armored soldiers looking at him. "My name is Artyom, we come here to trade with this town."

The young woman looked at him. "I find it hard that simple traders would be traveling in these harsh times." She replied. "Don't you know that there are bandits around these parts. I'm surprised you didn't even know Italica was under siege."

Artyom looked back to his fellow Rangers. "Well, we're not from around these parts."

"How did you manage to disperse the bandits? There are hundreds of them and I only see less than a few dozen guards."

"It's rather difficult to explain."

The second girl beside her spoke. "You are in the presence of her highness, Princess Pina Co Lada. I suggest that you do explain."

The princess gave a quick nod to her subordinate. "Lady Hamilton, you cannot force the information out of him."

Despite their demand, it was truly complicated to tell these foreigners that he had help of the most powerful creatures in the Metro. That is if they even knew about the Metro in the first place. "Again, I must reiterate what I said earlier. It is very difficult to explain."

Behind the four soldiers, they all turned around to see a brown-haired man run up to them in green clothes and a red scarf. "Your highness, I bring news!"

Princess Pina turned her full attention to the young man in question. "Hal, what happened?"

"There are some kind of strange carriages out from the east gate." He began. "We don't know if they're working with the bandits or just some travelers."

She looked at the Rangers as he hand reached for her sword. Afterwards, she drew the blade and pointed it at them. "Is this a ruse? What are you playing at?"

Immediately, he heard Uhlman shout to the top of his lungs. "Guns up, guns up!"

Artyom was confused at what she was talking about. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"There is another caravan coming to us. Are they your men?" The princess wondered.

He shook his head. "We don't have any other caravan, because this is what we could scrounge up."

"I find that hard to believe."

To the Ranger's surprise, Milena walked past him and confronted the princess. "Your highness, I can attest that he speaks the truth."

Pina removed her blade away from him and returned it into its sheath. "Do tell."

"I am one of the people the bandits attacked, were it not for these people I wouldn't be standing here in the first place." Milena began. "I speak the truth because those wagons you see are the ones the bandits attacked days ago. These men asked for our help in salvaging them so they could get supplies for the refugees and for their people."

"Are they part of the enemy who occupies Alnus?"

She shook her head. "No, your highness. We have heard tales of the men in green, but these men are completely different. All I know is that they refer to themselves as Rangers."

After the last sentence, the princess expressed her confusion. "Who?"

Artyom took a step forward. "Princess Pina, the men and I are Polis Rangers of the Spartan Order. We know nothing about the men in green you speak of."

"There is a probable chance that you are their vanguard."

"Amusing as it sounds, you're wrong. The men you see here is whatever men Polis is willing to send over to this… place."

"We will see if you speak the truth."

"I'm not lying." Artyom looked around and called out to the radio operator. "Shuhrat, show them the armor we stalked from those bandits."

It took a moment for the quiet man to step out, but in his hands was the armor the Rangers were selling for food. "You mean this?"

"Where did you get such armor?" The princess asked.

The Ranger smiled. "Used to belong to some bandits before I killed them."

One of the men that followed the princess had begun to speak to her. "Your highness, I know this is the worst moment to discuss this matter, but our troops need such valuable equipment." He began.

Pina lowered her head at the predicament she faced. "What do you want in exchange for that armor?"

"Food supplies." Artyom answered. "We're trading armor for food."

"We can't take that risk." She answered. "Our food supply needs to hold out long enough for Italica to see itself out of this siege."

This was a problem. Their objective was to get food supplies just became impossible. It almost reminded him of Cursed Station… too much. He had to discuss this with Uhlman. Turning away from the princess and the others, he walked up to his senior and talked about the matter. "They're willing to the buy the armor, but we have a problem. They won't trade the food for the armor since they need the food to last the siege."

The Ranger lowered his rifle as he talked with the young man. "Damn it all. I'll have to improvise." Uhlman replied. "They said that they'll trade the food if the siege is lifted?"

"Not necessarily, but it's what keeping us from getting it in the first place."

"Colonel Miller is going to hate both of us by the time we get back."

"Why do you think that?"

"We're going to stay and fight alongside them." He answered. "Let's look at it this way, they're going to have to find a way to pay for our services in helping them out."

"Just like how a stalker gets paid?"

"Not how I put it, but yes."

"Should we tell the princess and the others?" Artyom wondered.

Uhlman looked around his shoulder. "That is going to take some time. They left during our conversation."

"If that's the case, let's give the base camp the heads up."

Lieutenant Itami stepped out of the light truck as the trio of girls were walking to the town's gates. He watched the armed guards behind the battlements looking down upon his recon team while he stood beside the door. "I think I should accompany them." He quietly whispered to himself.

His thoughts were disturbed when he heard Sergeant Kurata call out for him. "Lieutenant, I've caught more Russian transmissions on the radio!"

Itami glanced over to the man with worry. "Again? Yanagida will have a field day with this stuff once we get back."

"Still, there is nothing we can do about it."

"Sir, I recognize one of the words? They keep on mentioning Italica."

"That is something to worry about. "Let me inform the headquarters, we might meet some Russians."

Author's Note: I apologize for the lack of an update, but Rainbow Six Siege and Kingdom Come Deliverance has taken plenty of my time. The latter mostly, I hope it doesn't get in the way of the stories.

Wacko12: Da.

Ronmr: Thank you for the review.

Assistant Elite General Matteo: Yep.

Sky Urchin: Yeah I have a schedule. From the Shadows, Snow and Fire, and Mojave Rouletteare my top fics at the moment. Although the third one doesn't have plenty of reviews, it has done well on SpaceBattles.

SilverExcel115: LMG, mounted and loaded.