Artyom leaned against the battlements, feeling the wind against his face while his night vision goggles watched the road to the gates. It was a refreshing sight to wear these and not see dark tunnels while he stayed on guard. A pair of footsteps clicked against the stone ground as he turned around to see Milena walk up to him with a basket hanging from her arm. She stopped frozen in her tracks - it had to be the goggles. He raised them off of his eyes before lifting his visor up. "Good evening."

The woman continued to step closer before she opened her basket for him. "I thought you would have been hungry after being on guard during the night."

He smiled at the thoughtful gesture. "Thank you. I appreciate that." Then the Ranger was given a piece of bread from her basket as he ate it on watch. Soon they both turned their full attention towards the field cast in shadows.

"I am curious, what is it like on the other side of the Gate?" She wondered. "Is it beautiful?"

After he swallowed his chunk, Artyom shook his head at the mere thought of his world being such a thing. "No. It is hell and there is nothing, but death."

"My apologies if I have offended you."

"None taken. I don't think you and your people understand how meaningful it is to have clean air, green grass, and blue skies."

"It sounds like there was a great catastrophe." Milena asked.

He hesitated at answering the question. What would she think of the response he would have brought? "We destroyed our world. Nothing more can be said about that matter."

She turned her head towards him, filled with surprise. "How can you say so little about your own world?"

"I was young when the bombs fell, too young to know what was going on." The Ranger replied. "Unlike the elders, I have little connection to that world aside from my mother, but enough about me." He glanced over to the young woman. "What about you? All I know about is Milena, the girl who lent me my horse."

Milena expressed a small smile before it disappeared. "I was raised by family with a long line of smuggling."

"Thieves?"

"No, we were no mere thieves. My parents and their associates were known to smuggle prohibited items from the Kingdom of Elbe. I was quick to join them in their operations until I was forced to leave."

"What happen? Did the authorities find out?"

"Yes." She answered. "We left the kingdom and went into the service of the Saderan Empire, who… appreciated our services."

A chuckle escaped from the Russian. "Reminds me of an old friend."

"Who was he?"

"Bourbon, a stalker." She gave him an offended look. "Don't worry, stalker means something different in the Metro, but Bourbon had a long history of being in debt with loan sharks and they were not kind."

"He sounds interesting. Do you think I'll ever meet him?"

He hesitated to speak. "He's dead, he saved my life." Then he slung his Kalashnikov off his arm. "This is the last memory I have of him."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I should have expected something like that from him. It's better to be in debt with the Devil than with Hanza." He sighed at the memory of losing his first companion. "I think he knew it as well."

"I should be off, I have something to handle." Milena commented.

Then Artyom glanced over at the smuggler. "Tell me, who was it those bandits killed? A lover?"

She froze in place before going down the stairs. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"My condolences."

After she left him alone amongst the battlements, he bit his bread once more before he lowered his night vision goggles for his eyes. There was a strange feeling of what was to come, but he soon heard the voices of the Dark Ones.

"Danger, they are coming. They bring death." It was a warning.

Artyom immediately departed from the battlements, passing by Milena as he made his way to the the carts. The Polis Rangers sat around a fire they had made earlier. Maxim and Timur were eating and drinking the local food while Alexsandr was conversing with some of those soldiers he had seen earlier. "Hold up, you fought a fucking dragon?" The armored Russian asked. "How did that happen?"

The man smiled while two members of his group were not. "It actually found us. We were traveling back to Alnus Hill until it attacked."

"That takes some balls, you know that? How big was it?"

"Very big." The stranger replied. "It felt like I was fighting Godzilla with wings."

Alexsandr laughed. "You lucky men. Were you able to get those refugees out?"

Artyom ignored the conversation as he made his way to his senior. "The Dark Ones notified me."

Uhlman, who was looking up at the night sky, had now turned his head towards the Ranger. "Do they bring any good new?"

"No. They told me something is going to attack us." He answered. "Sorry about the news."

The older man shrugged it off. "It's okay." He said in a relaxed tone. "It's good they warned us. Now they won't catch us with our zippers down." Then he allowed a chuckle to escape. "Any more details they want to discuss with us?"

"It's all they told me." Artyom answered.

"Never have I ever had a warning that is just that vague."

"Now you know how I feel." Then he turned his full attention onto the armored Russian talking with one of those strangers. "How does Alexsandr able to talk with them? Who are they?"

"Curious, aren't you? Alexsandr knows a bit of Japanese before the bombs fell. Old bastard used to be in the Spetsnaz."

"Spetsnaz?" The young man asked.

"I forgot you weren't there." Uhlman realized. "Before the war, Alexsandr and the other guys in our group used to be in the Russian Special Forces. He knows Japanese because he used to train with some guys back in Japan."

"What about these Japanese people? I don't know how I should feel about them."

"That's why he's talking to them and not us. He knows a bit about their culture so they could relate to him to some degree. Thankfully, he managed to tell us who they are."

"Who then?"

"The JSDF." The older Ranger answered. "The Japanese Self-Defense Force."

"They don't have an army?" Artyom wondered, curious about these foreigners.

"Thanks to the Second World War, they were restricted from having an army and only having enough forces to defend themselves with."

"Are we in Japan?"

"Hell no." Uhlman chuckled dropping his cigarette to the ground and stomping it out. "I honestly don't have a clue."

Alexsandr turned away from the Japanese soldier and made his way over to the duo. "Turns out that exchange between Lieutenant Itami and I has gone smoothly." He stated.

"Do we have any idea why they're here? Did they survive the bombs?"

The armored Russian took off his helmet, only to reveal his eyes while wearing his balaclava. "The nuclear war didn't occur for them." Artyom and Uhlman were quiet in their surprise.

"How?" Uhlman wondered. "The year is twenty-thirteen for those people. Now we both know it's before the war so I asked whether their timeline matches up with ours. Turns out it doesn't."

"Do you have any evidence?"

"No nuclear exchange in the Middle-East." Alexsandr replied. "You and I both know this."

"Then that complicates my report to Miller."

"Not my problem; however, I did managed to get them to divulge information about this world. Turns out we're in the lands of an Empire that just invaded Japan. They used a Gate to get to there - the very same kind that tried to attack Polis."

"Fuck. Miller and the Council just got into a shitshow at this point. Did you manage to ask anything else?"

"I was having a nice simple conversation with the guy, I didn't want to tell him I'm from the special forces. Hell, I had to give up some information about our people."

"What did you tell him?" Uhlman wondered. "It better not be too important."

Alexsandr looked over his shoulder to see the lieutenant talking with his fellow soldiers by the palisade. "I only told him that we survived the fallout of nuclear bombings and took refuge in the Moscow Metro tunnels."

"Anything else?"

He scoffed at the thought. "Nope. His subordinates didn't think the idea was plausible."

The leader of the group laughed. "Maybe we could hand over a lurker as evidence."

"Perhaps a watchman?"

Then Artyom thought of one that could top all of their options. "I could go to the surface and bring back a Librarian."

Both took a glance at him before the heavily armored Russian laughed. "I forgot that you managed to do that. Why don't you give us a Dark One for safe measure?"

Soon the tone of the conversation changed with Uhlman taking the lead. "Alexsandr, get the others ready. Artyom got a message from the Dark Ones we could be under attack."

"If that's the case, we'll have to tell our Japanese neighbors about our warning."

"Why should we tell them?" Artyom wondered.

"You don't understand, but Uhlman will. They're getting air support on standby in case everything goes to shit." Then he laughed at the thought. "Air support, I thought I would never hear those words ever again."

A great cry screamed from atop of the walls, causing everyone to turn their heads. Artyom heard a young man scream to the top of his lungs. "We are under attack!" The army of bandits were here.

"Artyom, what did he say?" Uhlman demanded.

"We're under attack."

"Ladna." Then he glanced over to Alexsandr. "Alex, tell the Japanese the same news. We'll need all the help we can get."

The former Spetsnaz operator placed his armored helmet over his head before walking off. "Understood."

"Maxim, get those suits of armor to the garrison!"

The Ranger stood up from his food. "Aren't we supposed to trade with them?"

"We can worry about trading after we fight for our lives." Soon he began to assign the last order ot the others. "Everyone else, with me."

The men drew their weapons while a familiar face came to one of the Rangers, but it wasn't his concern as the man received a suit of armor from Maxim. As the four Rangers ascended towards the top of the walls, chaos ensued. Heavily armored footmen had already reached the battlements while the archers tried to pepper the attackers with their arrows. The garrison manning the wall did their best to confront these brutes with all their might; however, inexperienced men were no match for battle-hardened bandits.

Despite being outmatch, the defenders fought ferociously for it was their home at risk. Among the unarmored peasants one man fought on their side with sword in hand, killing as many of these jackals as he could, but one man could do so much against the flood of men pouring onto the battlements.

When one of those men began to descend upon this warrior from behind, Artyom's urge to fight back came into play with his scope lining up with the bandit. A burst of gunfire escaped from his barrel while he watched him succumb to the bullets. The knight fighting alongside the peasants turned around, only to see his barrel smoking. No words were needed when he nodded his head towards the Ranger, recognizing his deed.

The Rangers dispersed themselves atop of the wall while Artyom joined a man trying to keep one of their ladders off the wall. However, an arrow struck him in the forehead as he fell back with his axe in hand.

As he took his place, one of those bandits had the courage to storm the ladder with a greedy smile, but it was all for naught when his assault rifle was aimed at him. With the pull of his trigger, he watched the brigand scream in agony with his hands over his face before falling back to join the others. Out from his pocket came a makeshift grenade as he brought his bullet lighter to lit the fuze. He heard the next enemy rush up the ladder while he tossed the grenade down below the battlements. The next warrior, hidden behind his armored mask was quick to hold onto the battlements, but Artyom replied by smashing the butt stock of his weapon into his face.

The Ranger looked to his right to see more ladders lean against the battlements, allowing themselves more opportunities to continue the assault. There was just too many of them climbing over the walls and killing the defenders holding them back. Then an order came from Uhlman. "Everyone, fall back! We can hold them on the ground floor."

Artyom glanced over his shoulder to see the dozens of defenders descend down the stairs while arrows and spears chased after them. Looking at where those projectiles came from, he saw dozens of invaders peppering the retreating troops. He brought his Kalashnikov's sights and lined one of them up. With a few bursts of gunfire, they succumbed to their wounds before he joined the retreat.

He saw Maxim sweeping the battlements with his Saiga until one of the brigands had the opportunity to bring his spear to bear. The Ranger's weapon fell empty as he pulled out his revolver and fired at the attacker. Yet, it wasn't enough as the spearman's edge made its way into his leg. "Fuck!" Maxim screamed to the top of his lungs, before firing his revolver into the armored warrior. Another bandit arrived onto the battlements and descended upon the Russian.

Artyom began to aim his weapon, but he was surprised when one of the defenders ran him through with a longsword. Then he pulled it out of the enemy and kicked him off the walls while he arrived to see Maxim's wounds. "You're wounded."

"No shit." The Ranger replied as he grabbed the spear. "I can't move with this thing in my leg." Then Maxim glanced over to his rescuer. "Hal, get this thing out of my leg and carry me down would you?"

The young local was quick to pull the weapon out of his leg as he screamed in pain. "I'll bring you to an apothecary."

"Bring me with the others, they'll need me."

As Hal carried the wounded Ranger with his arm over his shoulders, Artyom looked around the battlements to see if there were any survivors of the initial attack. Bodies of men lied amongst one-another as the armored bandits began to show up, their cold blades cutting the lives of many short. Anyone who didn't get down the walls was at the mercy of the attackers.

He quickly joined the Hal and Maxim as they dragged him back to the wagons. However, the faces of Uhlman and the other Rangers made him call for help. "Maxim? Shit, get me fucking bandages!"

Shuhrat placed him on the ground as he brought out a roll of bandages. "What happened?"

The hooded Ranger glanced over at him. "I took a spear to the leg."

While they were busy with their wounds, Uhlman took the lead once more. "They're trying to open the doors, if they open them we're dead men."

Looking back to the main gates, Artyom saw dozens of bandits descend from the walls, trying to make their way towards that small wooden piece keeping the doors closed. As he reloaded his assault rifle, the young man noticed the lack of preservation from the men trying to break into the settlement. They were crazed for blood, but why? It was the most unnatural feeling he had seen in his fellow man.

Once he finished reloading, he was was about to fire his weapon, only for Alexsandr to interrupt him. "Artyom, Miller said you'll need this."

While the Rangers were busy gunning down the soldiers coming down the wall, the heavily armored Russian presented a familiar weapon he once had some time ago. "My Hellbreathe?"

"We'll need all the firepower we can get and he told me you're quite good with it." He replied before manning his heavy machine gun. "Dushka, mounted and loaded!" His sparked to life as the heavy recoil shook the wagons.

In the meantime, the young man placed his hand on the battery charged and squeezed the grip, only to see the battery life of his weapon reach the maximum. The last time he used this weapon was at the Moscow State Library, now he had the opportunity to unleash this weapon upon the attackers. Artyom aimed his railgun at the enemy and watched one of the bandits make their way towards the gates.

At the pull of his trigger, the railgun recoiled upward with a bright white flash unleashing a heated ball-bearing at his victim. The man was immediately struck by the projectile, but he screamed in agony.

Princess Pina Co Lada, daughter of Emperor Molt Sol Augustus, watched from behind the palisade as she witnessed the damage half a dozen men could unleash. They were not the men in green, but they were close to them in some way. Their weapons spoke talked to their targets with wrath and unforgiving punishment to the bandits. One of them even carried the power of lightning in his hands. Was this the kind of people the Empire was facing?

Then she noted one of their men, who was perhaps wounded by the enemy, he lied in the back as he joined his brothers in keeping the brigands out. Despite the terror they brought, she learned something from this encounter, they were still human.

The princess looked down from her horse to find the imperial agent standing beside her. "Milena, do we have any news of the Japanese coming to help us?"

The black-haired woman nodded her head. "Yes, your highness. These… Rangers warned them. They should be responding to the attack as well."

The peasants who stood behind the palisade watched in awe, but she couldn't blame them. They were watching a few men holding back the tide from drowning Italica with blood.

Author's Note: I was supposed to post this chapter yesterday, but I procrastinated a bit and had to extend it to the next day.

Up next, the battle continues.

king Quinn The Last Heir: I'm going to correct you on this bit. The United Nations isn't a jerk in this situation since the Japanese government is denying everyone else access to the Special Region. So if things turn for the worse, the United Nations is not to blame since they were never allowed in the first place.

Assistant Elite General Matteo: Yes, interesting indeed.

TheShadowOfZama: The anime/manga is worth checking out. Although it has its nationalistic vibes, the concept is interesting to bring me back despite of that fault. Plus it has good crossover potential.

last admiral: From Moscow with love.

Psihopatul: Thank you for the review.

headreviewer mk2: I think it's the spiritual successor to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series.

Bruva Boreale: Smashers?