Ok, this chapter took way too long, but I've also spent a lot of time considering how Xcom soldiers would operate here, considering that the Etheral War was basically fought in small unit operations and the war in GATE is... not that. So I really hope this came across well
Demipho Ro Celatus, Legatus Legionis of the Imperial Army marched his forces through the Gate. A new world to conquer, more land, slaves and glory to be won for all. Well, maybe not the auxiliaries but certainly for even the most common legionnaire.
The disciplined blocks of Imperial legionnaires, a fearsome sight to many people on the other end, marched through. His personal bodyguard rode through with him; the footsteps of the legions reverberated as they walked in time, they echoed around the cold, dark tunnel of the Gate. The auxiliaries in the front started to panic and even a small bit of fear began to build up inside of Demipho. What if this endless black tunnel was actually a way to the Underworld, a trick of Hardy? He shivered at the thought of and started to realize the level of cold in the tunnel, a coldness that he felt in his bones despite the layers that he was wearing under his armour. It felt like dead weight on him, though that wasn't saying much as there was a lot of dead weight in his armour as it was decorated with gold and jewels. Though so was his sword, though thinking of which, he had an idea.
Unsheathing it, he lifted his sword up high and called out to his men, "What are we?" his voice echoed across the tunnel.
"The Imperial Army!" His men answered back, not as one, but it was still audible.
"Yes, the Imperial Army! The invincible and glorious Imperial Army!" He shouted back, "The same army that your fathers have served in, the same army that has defeated every foe that has ever come before us."
"Invictus Imperium!" Some of the first cohort men immediately called back with enthusiasm in their voice; they started a chant that was soon picked up by the rest of the legions.
Demipho allowed himself to smile; the courage and enthusiasm of his troops were somewhat infectious. Perhaps more importantly, the fact that they were like this did make them somewhat easier to command, especially considering that Imperial doctrine involved a lot of overwhelming the enemy.
His smile widened when he saw a white speck on the horizon, a cheer sounded from the front and carried across the rest of the legions. Demipho looked at his shieldbearer who handed him first his commander's helmet and then his cavalry shield. He felt invincible, he was invincible, the Empire was undefeatable.
As the army marched into the other world, he was initially shocked by the gleaming towers that seemed to rise towards the heavens. But what quickly caught his attention was the carts that were moving by themselves, towards the army that was quickly forming up outside of the Gate.
The second cohorts of the various legions formed a shield wall, and in front of that was the demi-human auxiliaries, to soften an enemy charge. He raised his sword as his archers formed up and nocked their arrows.
"I am Demipho Ro Celatus, Legatus Legionis of the Saderan Empire. Surrender to us, and you shall be spared and made citizens of the Empire. If you do not, then you will be destroyed and your city despoiled."
The carts stopped and out stepped various people clothed in an odd blue cloth, pointing what looked like strange wands at the men. They didn't seem to understand the Imperial tongue. Well, it looks like there was glory for him then.
"Archers, give them a volley!" He shouted.
-VK-
In the XCOM-Asia HQ, the soldiers knew that when responding to an emergency, every minute mattered. As such, when Strike-2 was called to arms, any card games or conversations they had were immediately tabled as they rushed to the armoury, this was a truth that Corporal Layla "Ranger" Edwards knew all too well.
She all but sprinted to the armoury and started donning her carapace armour as it was easy to put on and didn't require much in the way of help, or preparation. She then took hold of her scatter blaster. Feeling the warmth in her hands and mentally steadied herself.
The rest of Strike-2 rushed in, Gunnery Sergeant Min-Ji Sol and Corporal Mya Snow, the two infantrywomen put on their carapace as well, grabbing pulse rifles from their respective lockers. The squad engineer, Sergeant Suzu Sato, grabbed her pulse carbine and started the process of storing a multitude of grenades in her armour. Tech Sergeant Lydia Harper grabbed her alloy strike rifle, her face stern as she pulled out more magazines of alloy rounds than could possibly be needed. Sergeant Helene Dubois, grabbed her Corsair armour and her guass sniper rifle, perfect for punching through any armour.
The last two members in Strike 2 were arguably the most important members of the squad, Corporal Miyu Yoshii, with her pulse autoblaster. This weapon would ensure that whatever she pointed it at would either be dead or wouldn't be moving from cover for a while.
And the Captian, Anling Thorn, originally a medic, but was also a skilled psionic, much like Layla. She grabbed her medkits and a pulse carbine. The squad quickly got their weapons loaded and rushed to the Skyranger.
"Strike-2, this is Central." The comms crackled as the plane started to speed up, "the Japanese government is informing us of an attack on Japan, by... a medieval threat?" there was a sound of disbelief that was palpable to the squad.
"Central, this is 2-Actual, could you repeat that?" Captain Teng responded, a sound in her voice that mirrored Central's own voice.
"Yes, a medieval threat." Central confirmed, "Current estimates say that you will be heavily outnumbered. Reinforcements from the JSDF will be on the way. Current objectives are to get in there and reduce civilian casualties."
"Any other local support?" the Captain asked, sounding a bit apprehensive.
"Local police forces have been trying to fend off this threat, though they have been driven back." Central reported, he kept a neutral tone when talking, a tone that even Layla knew well enough. Even though she wasn't as unfortunate to deployed on multiple terror missions, it was the tone of someone who was afraid but was containing it.
They received various still images from the mission site, and it didn't look pretty. "Are those Orcs?" Layla said upon looking at one of them. There seemed to be a clear divide between the ones that looked human enough, and the ones that were not human. She was looking at the tough-looking front line troops and took another deep breath.
This wasn't going to be fun.
The plane seemed to be nearing the location of Ginza, as lights went green. The various soldiers did last-minute checks on their gear. The Captain looked at Strike-2, "You all know what to do, just try not to die while you do it." She said, there was no smile on her face to match what she had just uttered.
-VK-
First Spear Marius Arius considered himself a smart enough man, which is why these guards making a stand in the castle was something that was irritating to him.
But it also did raise a further question, "Where are their armies?" He murmured to himself, his voice not heard over the general din of battle, another assault was underway. The demi-human auxiliaries were usually enough for getting the ladders up there, but their lack of armour made them easy targets for the defenders and their strange barking magic.
So he then decided that an attack with armoured men providing back up was a good idea, but that same strange magic bypassed their armour. Making it a waste of men, actual trained and armoured men and not what was considered to be arrow fodder.
As he tried to consider some sort of way to crack the defences, he heard the hoofs of one of the knights ride up to him.
Gods, he loathed knights, maybe it was the inbreeding, or perhaps it was the smugness that a horse and fancy gear could give. It was more than likely both.
The knight was a rather tallish looking lad, though entirely too young to think of himself as superior to a First Spear; unfortunately, he was Marius' superior.
"First Spear, why has your assault stopped?" The knight, who if memory served, was known as Sir Hegio.
Maris bowed his head slightly, "Sir, I'm trying to find a way to make a breach." He said
"Well, surely the men will want to see the First Spear fight with them?" He suggested, "Lead by example."
If Marius were a brave man, he would've laughed at that. However, he was quite bold and suggested something different "Why don't you lead the assault, get your share of glory, sir?" there was an internal smile if this knight died, Marius wasn't exactly going to lose sleep. Though it would be disheartening to the average soldier, many people saw them as shining beacons on the battlefield. Or at the very least saw them as a useful enough shield.
His ears picked up a sound that was unusual to him. It was like a roar of some kind, maybe of this new world's beasts. Looking up at it, he saw the beast; it was some sort of iron armoured pegasus?
"Archers, to your right!" He ordered, looking at the iron pegasus, opened up and out of it, on a set of ropes came eight figures in shining armour. "Enemy knights!" He shouted, alerting any nearby soldiers, "Forth Cohort, to the right and form a shield wall!" He ordered. Watching with no small amount of pride as they moved quickly and formed up to his orders.
There would've been more pride if these knights didn't hold a strange form of magic of their own, as no sooner had some of his men formed up that he heard a sound that was significantly different to the magic that he had encountered in this world.
But it was no less dishonourable and cowardly, some of his men were struck with these red beams and were burned, others found their armour searing hot, and for the first time in his life, Marius considered that maybe surrendering was a good idea.
As explosions of a strange green rocked the ground, sending chunks of his men flying and searing into his side. He knew that the Imperial Legions had found something that was more than their match.
-VK-
Marius awoke with a start, unsure of where he was. Looking around, he saw that this was a brightly lit room, with a surprisingly comfortable bed. Looking around, he realized that he wasn't back in the legion camps.
The walls were white and pleasant, looking around, he noticed a warrior of this strange world, clad in mottled green clothing. In his hands was a strange-looking black staff. The clothing might be some sort of way to blend in, but it didn't work that well in... whatever this place was. Next to his bed, he noticed what looked like a chair next to it; maybe it was for nuns or priests to try to heal him.
Looking around, he saw the lamps that were in the surprisingly white ceiling; they burned with a powerful white light that didn't seem to give off any smoke. An invention of magi perhaps?
The door opened, and the soldier stood to attention, and in stepped a woman, she looked human, but there were subtle differences in the way that she held herself to most women back home. There was a level of pride in the way she carried herself; her black hair was cut short.
Looking at her, he noticed that there was a level of hardness in her brown eyes, she had seen war before, and he wondered what sort of people these were to fight like they did, in a way that eschewed honour and glory. Her hands reached for Marius' temples, and he was sure that there was a flash of purple in her eyes before he felt something enter his mind. Probing and seeing and taking, and he thinks he can see fights between humans and an alliance of odd creatures, fighting with sleek white and black staves that let off strange green lights.
Just as soon as it started, it ended, and her hands moved away from his temples and onto her lap. "My name is Ainling Thorn, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Marius." The woman said in flawless Saderan with a slight lilt of a more provincial accent, one that Marius grew up hearing. He was no fool; this was obviously a demoness of some kind. He tried to get away from her, but then her eyes glowed violet, and she said "Stay there, or this will be painful." her voice wasn't that loud, but it was like steel, Marius could feel her hatred, her anger rolling off her in waves.
"What do you want from me?" He asked, trying his best to be respectful, mostly wondering who or what this woman was.
"Well, I'd like you to answer some questions..." Ainling said, a cold smile on her face.
-VK-
Several months later, with the Gate fully closed off with a dome that only is openable from the outside.
A task force from the Japanese Self Defense Force and several strike teams from Xcom Asia were amassed in the streets of the Ginza district. Thousands of soldiers stood at the ready until the signal was given.
The Japanese soldiers stood next to the Xcom strike teams, armed with conventional weaponry but wearing Carapace armour and even a few soldiers outfitted with Titian armour. They cast an imposing presence next to the conventionally armed and armoured forces of the JSDF. What was even more imposing was the MEC troopers, their suits and weapons making them like walking tanks.
A signal was given, and the engines of tanks and IFVs started rumbling, the MEC troopers gripped onto their weapons and thousands of soldiers got into their jeeps, ready to establish a beachhead on the other side of this Gate, to see what might happen in this strange new world.
