"I'm sure many of you are wondering what our plans are." Mabel Pines stood on top of a stump as she spoke to the crowd that had gathered to listen. Next to him was her brother, who was standing stoically. A strange blue amulet hanging under his neck.

Edward was among the crowd listening to the woman talk. He had been living with these people for several days. Everyone in this camp owed their freedom to the twins. Which means that everyone looks at the twins as their savior.

Well, almost everyone.

"Well, the truth is, we don't have a plan. The only thing we know is that we are the only Americans on this side of the Gate who can speak latin, the Empire's language, and in any position to help. So my brother and I will save as many people as we can. And wait until the army comes and rescue us."

"Is that it?" A woman's voice called out and it's owner, Jennifer, walked towards Mabel. "Why should we just sit around while you two run around playing hero? How can we trust you with our lives?"

"You can always leave, you know that right?" Dipper said.

"Oh you would love that don't you?" Jennifer said.

"That's enough you two. We're not doing this here." Mabel said, then she got down from the stump and approached Jennifer. "Look, Jennifer, I know you're angry and afraid. But we need to work together. Whatever happened in the past, is in the past." Jennifer glared at the other woman. What was that about?

"So why not let us help you?" Another man spoke up. That man was the same soldier he talked to in that first morning. His name was Joseph Wilcons, one of the many soldiers who were captured and enslaved by the Empire.

Joseph had told him how his unit basically got massacred in the fight for the airport. He, just like the other soldiers in their tiny community, wanted revenge for what happened. Which he can sympathize with. He also wants revenge for his wife. Everyone here had an axe to grind with the Empire.

"Look Joseph, for the last time. We don't need any help. We can handle whatever the Empire throws at us. And if we can't, well, it's only our lives we're risking." Mabel said.

"How many slaves reached Italica from Alnus?" Joseph asked. "How many supplies reached Alnus? I've been in the army for two years and one of the things it taught me is that an individual cannot do a lot on their own. You need people to fight by your side."

"Most of the army is logistics and support. Why don't you do that instead of fighting?" Dipper asked.

"Sir, if you tell me to cook for you. I would do it. If you tell me to wash your laundry, I would do it. But that is not what I was trained for. I was trained to fight. Let us fight."

"If we let you fight, and something goes wrong. What happens to everyone here?" Mabel said, gesturing towards the part of the crowd where most of the orphaned children were gathered. "We need you here to protect them. You can't do that if you were out there."

The fire crackled under the pot. And he made sure not to let the water boil over. He had never cooked using wood before. But quickly found out how annoying it can be. Especially if even just a little bit of water gets on the wood.

And then there's the smoke. The amount of smoke was making his eyes water and it's getting very difficult to see. He wished he could just let the smoke out but a pillar of smoke could alert any Imperial scouts in the area about the camp's location so they don't dare open up the tent.

When the taskmaster found out that he was a cook before he was captured, he told him to join the other cooks. Their jobs were to prepare meals for everyone.

While he wasn't some kind of master chef, he was a pretty good cook. It's one of the things his wife fell in love with him for.

He tried to shake the image of his wife away and focus on his task.

"Hey Ed!" One of the other cooks called out. "Someone's looking for you."

"Alright, could you look after this?"

"Yeah man."

He left to go see what they were looking for. When he got out of the tent, he tried to rub the smoke out of his eyes so he can see properly. And when his vision cleared, he found Joseph there, waiting for him.

"So Ed, can I talk to you?" Joseph asked.

"Alright?" He wondered what this was all about.

"Look, you're a cook right?"

"Yes?"

"So how is it being a cook? I know you know that everyone thinks your food sucks but how was it for you?"

He glared at him. His food doesn't suck, it was just plain. It wasn't his fault that the food they steal from the Empire doesn't have the ingredients he usually use for his dish. "Get to the point."

"Look, who usually delivers the food to Dipper's tent?" Joseph asked.

"Jericho." He answered.

"Would it be possible if you take his place instead?"

"What exactly do you want me to do?" Edward asked.

"How good is your memory?"

"Pretty good." He doesn't have a photographic memory but it's enough for him to remember the recipes on many of the dishes he cook without needing to look at a cook book.

"Dipper and Mabel used Dipper's tent as their headquarters. They have a map of the region in there where they marked down where the Imperials usually encamp for the night. I need you to take a look at that and tell me where the nearest encampment would be."

"Why would you want to know?" Edward asked, though he already have an idea why.

"My friends, and a bunch of others, are planning to go out tonight. We'll hit the nearest Imperial encampment and then return here with the loot or whoever we rescued. That should show the twins that we're a lot more useful out there."

"Alright, but on one condition."

"What?"

"I want in."

When Joseph pitched this idea to him, he was thrilled at the idea of finally doing something to hurt the people who murdered his wife. It never occurred to him that it also meant facing Dipper Pines.

Alone.

Dipper and Mabel were polar opposites. Mabel would always be walking around, talking to people. Asking them how their day had been. She would sometimes play with the orphans, to distract them from their missing parents. She was an open book and she often wore her heart on her sleeve.

Meanwhile, Dipper was an enigma. If he wasn't out on a mission, he would either be inside his tent. Or he would be 'interrogating' the prisoners. He wasn't cruel, unless if you're an imperial of course, but he had a tendency to come off as cold.

He had never seen him be angry at someone before. But if he finds out about what he was about to do, well, he could only pray that Mabel would stop Dipper from killing him.

With a bowl of stew in hand. He went inside Dipper's tent.

"Mr. Pines." He called out as he got inside. "Here's your food sir."

He can see Dipper sitting on a chair behind a table. A book in his hands which he was reading from. "Oh thanks, just put it on the table." As he was placing the bowl on the table, Dipper looked up from the book he was reading. "What happened to Jericho? He's usually the one bringing my food over?"

"He had to take care of something." He nervously said, hoping Dipper don't notice the trembling in his voice.

Luckily, Dipper didn't seem to suspect anything. And he turned his head to the massive blackboard with the map of Alnus Road laid on it. He noticed that there were several red circles on the map. And on top of some of those red circles were black 'x's. As well as a few green dots.

He must not have turned his head fast enough because Dipper spoke up, "What are you looking at?"

"Where did you get that sir?"

"Oh, Mabel and I stole that on one of our raids. And it was really convenient too. That map shows us where the best spots for travelers to stop and rest for the night." Dipper said.

"What's that green dot?" He asked.

"That's the camp's location."

He guessed that already. And he also guessed that the black 'x's represent the encampments that the twins had already raided. Conveniently enough, none of the encampments close to the camp's location have ever been raided so he already have an idea what to tell Joseph later.

He made his way out of the tent, just as Mabel walked inside. And he knows that he shouldn't eavesdrop, but he was curious.

"That was a fucking mess." Mabel muttered, and Edward realized that this was the first time he had ever heard Mabel curse. "I expected something to happen from her, but from Joseph."

"You should have expected that. I told you we should have just snuck back to Earth." Dipper said.

"We can't just abandon thousands of people to the Empire." Mabel said.

"I agree. But that also means dealing with these problems." Dipper said and Edward heard him sigh. "It's been 3 weeks since the Gate opened and we had no word from Earth. I don't know what the army is doing but it's either they can't destroy the legions the Empire had deployed on the other side, or they're choosing not to. Whatever the case, we need to start thinking long term."

"Are you actually suggesting that we start sending these people out on raids?"

"No, no. They'll only get in the way. What we need is a permanent base. Somewhere out of the way that the Imperials won't just stumble into it. But not too far from where we're raiding the Empire from."

"What do you have in mind?" Mabel asked.

"I'm thinking of the Coan Forest to the south. It's close to Alnus but it's away from any roads. There's apparently a clan of elves in the area which might complicate things but if they're anything like the monsters back on Earth, I think we can make some sort of deal with them."

Edward decided that he had heard enough. He leaves before the twins noticed him snooping around.

A/N: To ThatGuyYouMet, I have already addressed your criticisms in a PM. Check it out.

But to answer your question, I didn't dumb down the US military. The commander of the 7th ID made a massive tactical error which resulted in the loss of a single battalion from the 16th CAB. That happened because the commander of the 7th massively underestimated what was happening and thought it was just a massive riot and the rioters are attacking a National Guard Base. So why not order the assault battalion ahead to secure the airfield so they can deploy an SBCT on the ground as quickly as possible?

He wasn't told about the Thor bombings(because the weapon is classified) and he did not find out about the dragons until after the battalion was getting swarmed on the ground. By then it was too late.

Now, why didn't I put this on the story? Simple, I planned to introduce a character with that backstory later. But someone is impatient and it's rather annoying to be pestered by this bullshit.

Now ThatGuyYouMet, could you explain why you think I'm making the Empire a 'Gary Stu'? Or better yet, explain to me what a 'Gary Stu' is because I don't think you actually understand what those actually mean.

The Imperial Army still commits atrocities left right and center. Something that will bite them in the ass later in the story. The only thing I'm doing is give them the capability to commit those atrocities.

Like the Roman Empire, the Saderans are experts in replicating the technology or abilities of other civilizations. How do you think were they able to conquer most of their continent if the only thing they're good at is sending soldiers to their deaths?

Are you gonna be complaining about Mary Sues or Gary Stus if I show the Americans steamrolling the Empire with little to no regards to logistics, geopolitics, and other details that tends to affect military performance more than the actual quality of the military?

Also, to the numbskulls who called me a pro slaver. There's a reason why I had the president of the US be a descendant of the guy who burned a slaver nation to the ground.

Now back to ThatGuyYouMet, you asked me why I was not addressing any criticism. There are two types of criticisms I'm receiving. One, is the stupid kind of criticism, mostly by one guy, who hides behind anonymity to hurl insults at me like a juvenile. Which I automatically ignore and laugh at. And then there are your criticisms. Now, I know I sounded pissed(and I am a little bit), but I actually appreciate those kinds of critiques. The problem is, I already plan to address your critiques later in the story. Why bother writing an authors note explaining what I'm doing when I can just write it into the story later?

And that's it, rant over. I'm never writing another author's note again because I know most people won't bother reading it.