Gate: And So the United Republic Fought
General Harris scowled as he read both the medical report and attached note from Yeager. Glancing up at its author he asked "Are you certain?"
"Yes sir." replied Yeager "The doctors removed both the shrapnel and bullets from her body. They are without a doubt from Mobius Squadron meaning she was up there with the dragon when they took it down."
General Harris massaged his brow. This is what he feared. Getting on the bad side of a Apostle and one of the Special Region's gods. He wasn't the most religious of men but only a fool would ignore the possibility of divinely empowered warriors if they had seen half of what Miss Mercury had accomplished. There was a silver lining however.
"So what was it that interfered with Giselle's ability to heal?" he asked "If we know what it is we can defend ourselves against any hostile apostles."
"Including Ms. Mercury?" said Yeager "I know the thought of her becoming hostile if Emroy told her to keeps you awake at night. It does for me."
Yeager then places another paper on his desk. It was a short explanation on depleted uranium ammunition with an accompanying diagram.
"Due to the dragon's scales being able to resist normal ammunition Mobius Squadron was given new depleted uranium armor piercing 20mm ammunition for their cannons. We suspect the light radioactivity of the rounds were interfering with her demigod healing." explained Yeager. "One of the doctors operating took some samples and discovered that the area around her wounds is filled with nothing but junk cells."
"Junk cells?"
"Almost like cancer cells. They do absolutely nothing and have a very short lifespan dying within minutes. Her body seems to be wasting its time constantly creating and replacing these useless cells preventing her from actually healing."
"What happened when the radioactive fragments were removed?" he asked
"Her body took a minute or two to recover from its 'confusion'. When it did she healed normally with her wounds healing in seconds."
"So it was the radiation that harmed her? Understandable since radioactive materials aren't exactly common in a medieval setting. Though that puts us in a difficult position."
"Sir?"
"Equipping our troops with radioactive ammunition is not only difficult, unsafe, and impractical but it also violates the Hanoi Conventions. Outside of having a small emergency supply in the armory there's not much we can do in this front."
"I do recall that if the safeties were removed laser weapons could dialed up to the point were their beams are radioactive."
"I'm sensing a but."
"But the shooter might need to wear a radiation suit and the weapon might explode due to overheating." admitted Yeager
He sighed. Nothing here could ever be simple. "I'll put in a request for some radioactive ammunition and some safely modified laser rifles directly to the Wanderer. He'll get us what we need. Hell, come next UN session he might ask for that portion of the Hanoi Convention to be amended due to special circumstances."
"It most likely will be. The other nations will likely want their own defense against apostles."
"Speaking of which. How is our esteemed guest?"
"We have her in a private prefab house. The house is sitting on a small mound of explosives and isn't too far from the Tank motor pool. As for Ms. Giselle she is praying."
"And by praying you mean relaying information to her god. The very same god that created and most likely controlled the Fire Dragon along with opening the Gate that led to this very mess. A god judging from the information we gathered is also very ruthless and vindictive with frequent mood swings."
"I'll tell the tankers know to be on high alert."
For the first time since her ascension Giselle felt out of her depth. Thanks to the gifts given to her by her Mistress nothing was out of her grasp. Her strength and skill allowed her to defeat any opponent. Her influence and status opened many doors that would have normally been chained shut because she was a demi-human. The power of her goddess made entire kingdoms bend over backwards for her.
In short she was used to things going her way without any real effort on her part. The Men in Green, these Republicans, knew not or even cared for the power of Hardy. While such an insult would typically be met with armies of slobbering creatures from what she seen that would only be a mild inconvenience to them.
Since she arrived here at Alnus she had seen a large number of soldiers and war machines. Rory was the worst. The way she gloated and bragged you would think this was the Army of Emroy. Even though they may not be his followers it was obvious Rory was highly placed in their army. She saw her giving out orders to the Men in Green and saw her carrying around one of their weapons which Rory called an 'Em Too Forty Nine'.
The only one here she could count on her side was the dark elf that tribe elders gave to her as a servant as a tribute to Hardy. She accepted only to have some measure of support however meager. Yao was currently wandering around the town that sprang up around the fortress here gathering information. From what she understood it was mostly made up off refugees fleeing from the Empire's scorched earth tactics and the roving bands of bandits formed from the defeated armies. A group of enterprising merchants from Italica had settled here and were slowly dominating the market with goods from beyond the Gate.
What had her attention was the city they were building. She could see it when she was brought here. Or more specifically the large towers being built there. That 'Itami' said they were called Skyscrapers and that hundreds could live or work in them. That city was evidence that these Republicans planned on staying and bringing everything from their world with them. She needed to report this.
She then began praying to her goddess. No one besides the gods and apostles knew this but the gods were not truly omniscient. They could only focus their attention on one thing at a time. The way Hardy described it to her was looking out over a city but only able to view a single citizen at a time. That was why the Apostles were so important. They were the eyes & ears of their god able to walk among mortals and tell them where to direct their attention and power.
She began praying to Hardy. It wasn't long until she received an answer.
Hello My Chosen One. Do you have anything to report?
She told her Mistress all she had seen and learned since her arrival. The Republicans and their war machines. The vast city they're building. The presence of Rory and her apparent alignment with them.
Emroy said Rory was among them but I didn't think it was this bad. How is she by the way?
Giselle shuddered. Here it comes…
Itami for some reason felt a large amount of killing intent being directed at him. It was as if every bow, gun, missile, and bomb ever made was being armed & aimed his direction ready to annihilate both him and anyone misfortunate enough to be in a ten mile radius near him.
"Hey Cap. What's wrong?" asked Pops
"Pops for some reason I get the feeling I am seconds away from dying in a violent explosive manner."
"Hmm. Should I take cover, sir?"
Itami shuddered. "For some reason I don't think it'll help." he said looking up before continuing on his way though the feeling didn't leave.
As Rory sat in her room meditating she sensed a familiar presence angrily directing itself towards another familiar presence she felt herself get angry.
No. This was her last 40 years until she ascended and by Emroy she was going to spend it with someone that saw her as more than a one night stand or in the terms of Hardy a pretty face to obsess over.
"Hardy if you harm so much as a single hair on his head not even the entire pantheon united came save you from ME." she said darkly accepting the mental slap on the head from Emroy for her light blasphemy.
KILL. DESTROY. EXTERMINATE!
Hardy heard Rory's threat but had no intention of heeding it. Once this Itami was dead she'll forget all about him after all what was some mortal in comparison to her!? She only had to figure out what to do to him. Maybe send a demon to eat him alive. Or maybe drag him into the Underworld and personally torture him for seducing her Rory.
You heard her Hardy.
Wait. That was the god from the other side of the Gate!
I have to say your stalker like obsession is quite disturbing. May I recommend a body pillow?
Hardy felt herself get angrier. She will not have a no name upstart god patronize her!
Upstart? I may take a hands off approach but I've been at this longer than you have. As for no name you got me there. I'm just am…
What in the hell was that supposed to mean!? Wait. How did it know I called it an upstart? Did it…
Read your mind? Yes. As for what it meant I never had a name. Well true one anyhow. All the different sects call me something different Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh, Lord, Deus but personally I like God. It's simple and it's what I am. The God of Earth. While I would love to talk with you we are forgetting the reason I'm here.
'Which is?' Hardy said sneering
The fact your here and about to bring doom upon a certain Itami Youji. The fact he is one of MY followers is one reason to stop you. The other is the fact his only 'crime' is that your stalker crush likes him more than you. In a civilized society that is NOT a good reason to kill and spend an eternity torturing them. So I'll give you the opportunity to leave Captain Youji alone or I'll have to get… unpleasant.
Hardy had her pride but even she knew when she was outmatched. She reluctantly stood down.
Good. You can listen to reason. The United Republic has this idea that all who come in peace are welcome in Alnus and I'm not here to stop that. You can still visit Giselle and as long as you aren't up to anything malicious I don't mind you or your compatriots coming by. Could use the company.
"And what if I were to convert your followers to my side?" Hardy challenged. She then heard something that sounded quite musical which she quickly recognized to her outrage as this strange god's way of laughing.
You haven't met the Roman Catholic Church or Traveling Republican Preachers. I have nothing to fear.
With that the god left leaving her fuming. She was not going to be humiliated like this.
"Giselle!"
"Yes Mistress?" her apostle dutifully replied.
"Find out everything you can about this god. I want to know what we're up against."
Rory sat in her room quiet both she and Emroy having heard the entire exchange. She had no doubt the other gods turned their attention towards Alnus as well.
"Rory." said Emroy " Be a dear and find out about their god also. I'm sure that Itami would be happy to tell you."
Rory gave her assent but she doubted he could tell her anything. He didn't seem to be that religious of a person. Honestly none of the Republicans seemed that religious. Outside of swearing to someone called 'Jesus Christ' and praying at meals the Republicans didn't seem to revere their god that much.
Yet it still considered them it's followers and was more than willing to attack Hardy for wanting to kill a single one of them. Yes Itami was exceptional. You didn't have to convince her that but he was still one person. To risk war with another god over a single follower was… unprecedented.
Itami was in for a long and interesting conversation.
AN: God is referred to as it since it's voice isn't identifiable as male or female. It's both a semi-familiar fusion between the two but at the same time something new & unique not heard by anyone before. Which is a contradiction in our terms but in the wildly different terms/physics/reality God operates on it is perfectly logical and normal. Expect a lot of paradoxes and contradictions like this in the future.
Private First Class Michael Roberts. Born in Mogadishu his parents moved to Republic City to open their dream restaurant when he was 8. The sudden change was definitely jarring. He had to spend those first few years being homeschooled until he could learn English and get his education up to the Republican standard.
Eventually he went to normal school and made friends. From there everything was pretty normal. He grew up. Graduated. Kissed a girl. Went to cooking school. Joined in the family business and even had his own restaurant for awhile. He soon grew restless and at the suggestions of his friends joined the military.
His parents approved of the decision proud that their son was serving in the military of their adopted nation. That and in the words of his father 'Now the URGF has a real cook among them!'
Honestly the stereotype of military food being bad was overblown. Sure it wasn't civilian grade but it wasn't awful. Despite being assigned to infantry he usually spent more time in the kitchen than the actual field. His superiors always had him cooking when combat operations slowed down and despite being on another world this did not change.
Ever since Italica he'd been mostly in the base kitchen turning rations into the most delicious filling meals he possibly could. The empty trays and lack of comments about how they had better back home he took as a sign he was successful.
Since the retrieval mission for the dragon bodies and aid for the dark elves was a non-combat mission and even in the worst of worst case scenarios large scale combat wasn't expected to break out. So he remained here peeling potatoes for the outright colossal amount of mashed potatoes they'd have to make for dinner tomorrow. That was until he was visited by Lieutenant Yeager.
There was a lot of rumors going around about the Lieutenant that never left the general's side. The most common of which was that he was a spy of some kind either for the BOG, Romans, Russians, and even the Nazis! Those were just rumors and even those that uttered them over half empty glasses personally didn't believe a single word they spouted. That was why he was surprised to learn that Yeager actually was a spy.
Granted it was for the more mundane DRI so instead of infiltrating secret bases or assassinating enemy agents he was a glorified desk jockey. First Itami and now Yeager. Who else would turn out to be some kind of commando. The current betting pool among the squad was that Natasha was secretly Spetsnaz or KGB. She laughed it off saying in an awful russian accent that she went to Liberty City's most prestigious KGB training camp. Now he was wondering if Liberty State University really was a communist training camp…
Yeager had come to him asking if he'd like to do some covert work. He needed another man in the Imperial Palace and the crown prince Zorzal despite his reputation of being as Yeager described 'a downright despicable human being' did have a love of good food. He was known for throwing parties in which the main theme and event was stuffing your face with large amounts of food & alcohol. He was known to occasionally travel to wherever he hears there is a chef of renown and hire them sometimes against their will.
Yeager was offering quite the incentive for accepting. Owning a brand new restaurant in Alnus City which would be paid for by the DRI. Granted the restaurant would be also serve as a DRI safehouse but that was a plus in his book. Now he'd have help with the rent.
The Vertibird he was on in the dead of night flew him to the capital. The destination was a place called the Jade Palace. Apparently it was owned by Princess Pina who is allowing the Republic to use it as an embassy in exchange for later payment. He was told the Princess had been working herself to the bone since the trip through the Gate.
The sheer difference in power between the Republic and the Empire quite honestly frightened her and convinced her that peace was the only option. Yeager wasn't clear on the details (secretive DRI bastard) but the debate on what kind of peace it would be. Unconditional surrender hasn't been uttered by any Republican diplomats but there have been several treaty drafts that heavily favor Republic interests.
Pina much to her credit was shrewd enough to look out for the Empire's future as well as its present. Control over resources like oil, aluminum, and rare earth elements had been a matter of severe debate. Despite lacking the technology to use them or even the knowledge on what they're even for Pina made sure that a supply for the Empire's future use was secured.
The green lights signaling the craft had landed came on and he filled out with his duffel bag. Outside waiting for him was a local. At least that was what he initially thought. He was dressed the part wearing the opulent well kept clothes of a successful merchant but the M4 carbine he carried told another story.
"Michael Roberts?" the man asked in a Liberty City accent. Upon his confirmation the man shook his hand. "Daniel Dunn. My brother and I will be your suppliers while you're in the Imperial Palace. Ingredients be they local, exotic, or a taste of home. We'll also be able to provide specialized equipment."
"Weapons?" he guessed as they both began walking towards the large white and green palace.
"Along with all manner of modern poisons that'd be untraceable in this day and age. Zorzal is a grade A asshat. We might need to discreetly take care of him at any moment. The Princess also tells us it isn't uncommon for royal chefs to have an entourage of assistants and apprentices so you'll have back up."
"Yeager's men?"
"Yes and no. They're all downtrodden locals both human & demi-human that Yeager got ahold of for his Alnus DRI."
"What about you?"
"Me and my brother Derek used to play as knights in our local renaissance fair. The brass thought that qualified as experience in this particular theater sp we were saddled up with Yeager."
"Damn. I'm only here because I actually worked in a restaurant. Sounds like you two drew the short straw."
"Eh, it's not as bad as you think. We were able to become pretty wealthy merchants fairly quick. Modern tools that are better than what a blacksmith can make or simple over the counter medicine that seems like magic. Things of that nature."
"Surprised some bandits didn't try to take a piece of your wealth."
"Who says they didn't? Those that did either ended up full of holes or had to deal with Axel."
"Axel?"
"Big mountain of an orc. I seen him crush somebody's head with his bare hands. Naturally him and Derek get along."
They walked through the ornate front doors. The inside reminded him of Roman architecture. His family went on vacation to Rome a few times so he was at least passingly familiar with it.
Contrary to his expectations the meeting was short and to the point. He was given one last chance to back out which he refused. If his participation would help bring the war to a speedy end then so be it. His daddy didn't raise no coward.
Yeager was surprisingly thankful. Apparently the pressure on him was ramping up and any snag in his plans no matter how minor could be catastrophic.
"Everything has been pretty hectic with Papa arriving tomorrow morning." said Yeager
"Papa?" he asked confused
"It's a code name for whenever he goes off Republic soil. It's for the…"
Itami stood in the massive crowd forming around the Gate. The announcement came on very short notice. Despite that a very large number of people showed up. Soldiers with no pressing duties, lucky civilians from Alnus City, reporters, and natives hoping to finally see the individual they heard so much about.
Every Republican in the crowd cheered as the first notes of 'Hail to the Chief' began to play.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United Republic!"
AN: The Wanderer has arrived in the Special Region which signifies the end of what I consider this story's first arc. Things will start ramping up/falling apart. Its also when I can finally start using my own original ideas.
Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah everyone. Now if you don't mind I have to write like I've never wrote before to get For the Republic's chapter out before the next year or at the very least early January.