Gate: And So The United Republic Fought

A Gate to another world opened in the United Republic without warning. The Republic defending themselves from ruthless invaders decides to send the United Republic Ground Forces to the other side. Itami, having found himself commander of a recon team, discovers a dragon attacking a settlement. There at the remains of the settlement Itami finds a lone female survivor.

"Careful down there, sir!" called out Michael 'Pops' Tracy as Itami rappelled down into the well. Pops was a fairly old man who was just entering his 50s. Pops was Itami's second in command and was a bit of the recon team's dad offering encouragement wherever it was needed.

When Itami got to the bottom of the well he was able to get a closer look at the girl. The thing that surprised him the most was the long pointed ears poking through her long blonde hair. 'Oh God it's an elf.' Thought Itami.

"Pops bring me up!" Itami called out.

"You heard him Kevin." Said Pops to Kevin who was in the driver's seat of one of the Humvees. Kevin lightly pressed the gas and the rope attached to the car slowly pulled Itami up out of the well. When Itami climbed out everyone gasped as they saw the girl's pointed ears. "What are you waiting for?!" said Itami "Get the first aid kit!"

Shino and Natasha were taking a look at the elf's vitals. She was simply unconscious and would probably awake in a few hours. They had to remove the elf's soaking wet clothes however and the recon team had no spares. Kevin however was taking it fairly well…

"It's an elf, commander!" said Kevin with glee as Itami emptied his boots of water. "Not only that but she has that Los Santos shade of blonde! This is fucking awesome! Thank you Special Region! It can only get better from here on out!"

"You like elves too I'm guessing" said Itami though by this point Itami thinks it might be more of a fetish then simple admiration. The sound of approaching boots notified Itami of Natasha's presence.

"Her vitals are stable sir. She be just fine." Said Natasha. The Republic born Russian at first glance would seem completely unsuited for military life with her fairly thin build and kind nature but like a mother bear she could become vicious when her friends and fellow soldiers are threatened. It might be the Russian in her or some other thing but staying on this combat medic's good side would be in your best interest.

"That's good" said Itami with relief knowing the elf is going to be ok.

"So what are we going to do now?" asked Natasha

"Well besides getting me a pair of dry boots. We'll just take her back as a refugee. She has nowhere to go and her family is likely dead."

"I just knew you were going to say that." Said Natasha with a wide smile.

"Well I'm humane aren't I?" said Itami jokingly

"Well that and you have pretty strange interests…" Her smile became a light smirk

"What."

"The radio was on." And with that she left humming to herself.

Kevin and Itami just looked at each other in shock. That meant they heard…everything…

"Wow" said Kevin "I've only known these guys for a day and they already probably think I'm a big nerd. That's a new record for me."

As the squad drove back the way they came said something he was going to catch hell for later. "Hey commander you don't think we might end up running into that dragon we saw earlier?"

Itami turned towards Kevin his face dark. "Don't jinx it. You aren't supposed to say stuff like that. You're just asking for it to happen and the universe is more than happy to throw some misery at someone just for the sake of irony."

Coda Village was in an uproar. When Itami informed the village chief about the dragon the people began to evacuate. Apparently whenever a flame dragon gets a taste of flesh it would just keep killing until it enters. An environmentalist would say the dragon is nature's way of population control and despite being cruel it's a part of the circle of life and shouldn't be disturbed. Luckily Itami wasn't an environmentalist and he thinks this dragon should be gotten rid of. He and his team agreed to escort the villagers out of the area. There was only one problem however… Command. Itami didn't know what they're response would be. A part of him said they should just escort the villagers and not tell command until they got there. They wouldn't exactly turn away refugees with them on their doorstep but then again he knew the Republic would never turn away those in need. Not only had that but his Hanoian blood demanded he inform his superiors.

Itami radioed command and informed them of everything that has happened so far. His commanders applauded him on keeping them up to date and authorized him to continue escorting the villagers.

The evacuation was moving along fairly smoothly. There were a couple of mishaps like the villagers wagons getting stuck in the mud but that was remedied by using the Humvees to pull them out. What Itami did find very interesting however was during that debacle he got his first look at magic. A young girl and small elderly man among the villagers were apparently mages. The girl did some kind of spell that caused the wagon to levitate out of the mud. Itami found it very interesting but the girl seemed to think they were more interesting. He caught her almost staring at the others and their equipment. She was very much interested in the vehicles. He couldn't really get all what she was saying but got the gist of it. She wanted to know how they moved. Itami would have answered her as best he could but didn't really know the language that well to do so. The girl quickly seemed to realize that and walked off.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful until they caught movement further up the road. Standing there in the middle of the road surrounded by crows was a young girl. She was wearing what could simply be described as a Gothic Lolita outfit the subculture becoming quite popular among Hanoi's youth in recent years. At her side was a huge halberd easily twice her size but she wielded it like it was a twig. The villagers treated her like a very respectful figure and some appeared to be praying to her. Itami only managed to catch one word however. Oracle. Was this girl someone of religious significance? It was only a matter of time before the girl's attention fell on Itami's team. She showed a lot of interest in the team's vehicles and decided to ride in one. Specifically in Itami's. More specifically in his lap.

"Uh…Could you move please?" asked Itami visibly embarrassed

Whether or not the Girl understood or simply didn't care she didn't move. Itami's face became dark red from the embarrassment. After a while they manage to convince her to sit between them and the convoy of wagons continued forward. Itami wanted this evacuation to be over already. His team could have drove between the base and Coda village at least ten times by now but they had to keep at a slow pace so the villagers could keep up. Not only that but it was very hot here to like that time Itami took a vacation to the San Andreas Desert outside Los Santos. Bad idea. Itami's attention was then drawn towards something flying out of the sun. He shielded his eyes to get a better look. A chill ran up his spine when he realized what it was. The Dragon.

"Damn you Kevin!" he yelled startling everyone in the Humvee "You jinxed us!" Itami then turned on the radio to inform the rest of the squad. "Everyone prepare for battle! It's the dragon!"

The dragon swooped over the convoy of wagons breathing fire as it flew. Several wagons and all people inside were instantly engulfed in flames. The dragon landed and let out a might roar daring any to challenge its might. Unfortunately for it the URGF answered.

"Hit it with the .50 cal and 30mm!" he said while firing at the dragon with his M-16 from out the window. The guns opened up on the dragon and though the 30mm did some damage the 50 caliber machine gun might as well been firing BBs.

"Damn!" swore Itami "We're going to need something heavier!"

Itami then felt a tap on his shoulder. It was the elf from earlier. She was franticly saying something and pointing at her eye. The eye. One of the dragon's eyes was shot with an arrow. The eyes must be its weak spot. "Everyone hit it in the eyes!"

The bullets hit around the dragon's eyes and it raised its arms to defend itself. It was distracted. Good. "Roberts!" commanded Itami "Get the LAW ready."

"Roger!" replied Roberts. The large dark skinned Mogadishu native hefted the RPG on his shoulder and took aim. "Akira keep the Stryker steady!"

The rocker would have been on target but the Stryker hit a rock and the rocket went off target. All would have been ost if the girl from earlier didn't throw her halberd near the dragon. When it struck the ground a shower of lightning erupted from causing the dragon to move right into the path of the rocket. The rocket struck the dragon with enough explosive force to cause its arm to fall right off. Wounded the dragon cut its losses and flew away.

The recon team defeated the dragon but there were many casualties among the villagers. They were still very grateful however since no one hasn't managed to defeat a Flame Dragon before and in normal circumstances it would have ended in all of their deaths. Unfortunately the dragon attack left many elderly and children without families and wounded with no one to care for them. Itami told the village chief they would be willing to take them in. The chief thanked them again and the villagers continued on their way to any town or village that would take them.

And So The United Republic Fought