July 1, 1882

It was early morning as the garrison and residents of Fort Wingate went about their daily business, Col Jack Stone was particularly glad to see Col Johnson finally leave the day before, as he had been nothing but a thorn in his side. However, things had begun to take an interesting turn when people started reporting strange flying creatures in the sky, at first these reports were ignored and the people reporting them were thought to be crazy or just drunk.

Suddenly, a loud horn was heard in the distance, looking to the north many had stopped to see what was going on, what they saw shook them to their very core. Standing on a ridge line overlooking the fort, an army stood and before anyone could ask questions a wall of arrows began to blanket the area, the war had begun and Sadera was out for blood.

Albuquerque

Having finally arrived in Albuquerque Johnson allowed his men some much needed relaxation, and the horses rested, before they made the final ride back to Fort Union. After relieving his men for the time being, Johnson made his way to the telegraph station and had his report sent to Washington. However, no one could have guessed that within the coming days things would go wrong in more ways than anyone could have imagined, for war was coming but was closer than anyone realized.

Fort Wingate

Gen Gaius walked into Fort Wingate a hero, while the battle had been relatively short compared to many of the previous fights, he had been a part of, he was surprised how easily the men in blue had held their ground against his larger force. But in the end their resistance to the empires power was futal, the barbarians were defeated and what remained of them was a handful who had either surrendered or were taken prisoner. To make their victory even more sweet the men in blue were forced to watch their banner be lowered and the empires take its place. Most of the prisoners were marched out of the Fort to be taken back to Falmart and be sold for slave labor, while the few woman found in the fort were taken by the men for entertainment.

Gaius stood looking at the vast unending land that lay before him, when one of his men approached. "General, the mages and the generals are waiting for you," taking one last look Gaius made his way to his officers. Walking through the enemy Fort, Gaius couldn't help but laugh to himself as he looked around. The enemy fort looked more like a small town or slave encampment, most notably a number of cells holding even more primitive barbarians, who proved to be more barbaric then the men in blue. Even more confusing was the number of primitives found wearing the same blue clothing, carrying those cursed thunder staffs.

Despite taking heavy casualties, Gaius was disgusted to learn only a couple hundred of the barbarians had held off his army for as long as they did. He was further enraged like so many others that the barbarians fought from a distance with their cowardly weapons, rather than facing his armies might head on like it should be. But, thinking back to all the reports he read from the first expedition, he should've realized there was truth in what was said.

Entering a large wooden building Gaius met with his officers and the nobles, "General, the barbarians have been captured and this town has been secured," one officer said.

Another officer steps forward, "My lord several of the barbarians are being interrogated as we speak, however a number of them got away and the cavalry is pursuing with orders to either capture or eradicate them."

"Very well, now that we've established a foothold in this world, we must fortify this outpost and the area around the Gate. From what I read from the reports of the first expedition they enemy will be quick to respond, if they are alerted to our presence." Gaius looked around the room before continuing, "have we found any maps, we must know what we're dealing with."

"Yes, my lord," one officer said as he sets down several large rolled up pieces of parchment onto a large table in the center of the room. To say Gaius and his officers were impressed by the details laid out on these maps would be an understatement.

"This is truly a gift from the Gods," one officer said while they looked over the maps which were more detailed than anything the empire had of their own lands.

"General, from what I'm seeing there is number of small towns or villages not far from our current position, I recommend we take and fortify them to secure our flanks and for our advance on what appears to be a major town or city. First here, (Gallup) just to our west next what I'm guessing to be a number of small villages to the east (Bluewater), (Acoma) and (Laguna), once we capture them, they will give us a number of check points as we march east to this Major town/ city (Albuquerque)."

"Agreed general, I don't want any unwanted surprises especially from these barbarians in blue."

"General if I'm reading this map correctly it shows more towns and enemy posts scattered throughout this land, and what I'm guessing to be a number of villages. (Native American encampments) I recommend sending raiding parties to see what we're dealing with, if all goes well, we'll have a new supply of slaves for the markets," the noble said beaming with pride but was clearly eager for slaves so he could line his pockets with profit.

"We have much preparation to do before our invasion can move forward," with that the Gaius and his officers began planning for the next attack while discussing what to do with reinforcements arriving through the Gate. Another map showing a much larger land mass surrounding them and what appeared to be a border. After many interrogations of the prisoners Gaius learned that the men in blue had defeated the men in grey long ago, and that the land they were on was but a territory.

With this information Gaius stood ready to lead the empire forward onto victory, on this historic endeavor. Where the first expedition failed, his armies would conquer the lands that lay beyond the Gate, filled with riches beyond Imagination. The natives were to be taken as slaves, while the government of the men in blue, were to be given only one order. Kneel before the Emperor, swear absolute loyalty to the Empire, or be destroyed.

Albuquerque

After several days of rest, it was time to return to Ft Union, with a quick stop in Santa Fe. Col Johnson was feeling good having completed his first assignment, he had even had the privilege to sit with several native leaders from the Comanche, Kiowa and Navajo tribes. He had hoped to meet the Apache but due to their defeat only a few weeks prior, the Apache were not in a talking mood. Johnson was snapped from his thoughts when Sgt. Morgan called to him, "Col the men are ready to move out on your order sir."

With a nod Johnson gave the order to move out, as the troop got under way a commotion caught Johnsons attention. On the west side of the town, people had gathered around a man that had rode into town wounded, he was immediately rushed to the local doctor. As the troop continued north out of town Johnson decided to see what the commotion was, as he rode up on the crowd he hollered to the sheriff's deputy, "excuse me sir, what's happening?"

"Appears to be an Indian attack soldier." the deputy said as he pulled an arrow out of a saddle bag.

"That's Col," Johnson said as he wasn't amused by the deputies lack of attention to his rank.

"Apologizes Col, the deputy said in a mocking tone, this is most likely some rogue Indians from one of the reservations." While the deputy continued to run his mouth, Johnson noticed something odd about the arrow the deputy was holding.

"Let me see that arrow sir," the deputy simply shrugged and tossed the arrow not caring. Looking at the arrow closely it didn't look like any he had seen during his time at west point, but for some reason it looked strangely familiar, but he couldn't remember why it looked familiar. After a quick gallop Johnson caught up with his troop as they made their way out of town.

"Problem sir," Morgan asked?

"I'm not sure Sgt., Johnson said still in thought, are you familiar with identifying Indian arrows?"

"I reckon I've seen my fair share over the years sir, why do you ask?"

"Have a look at this," Johnson said as handed Morgan the arrow.

After looking at the arrow for a few min Morgan looked at Johnson confused, "this aint no Indian arrow sir."

"How, do you know Sgt.; I know the natives especially the Apache, have been using rifles more often during their many raids over the years, but I am aware that they still use bows and arrows."

"For one thing sir, there's no markings on this arrow, most Indians have some sort of marking to indicate who they are, but on this, nothing." Johnson remembered reading something similar about the Crow but never thought much of it since Indians started using rifles more. "Another give away sir, the shaft is almost too perfect like it was made by a professional, now I have seen my fair share of Indian arrows, and their craftsmanship is impressive but not to this extent. However, the most notable part is the arrowhead, while it is known that the Indians do have knowledge to craft metal, they mostly use rock, bone or some other material." Taking a closer look at the arrow Johnson is still stumped but decides to put it aside and focus on the trail.

Meanwhile back in Albuquerque the local deputy was rounding up men for a possy, to locate this rogue group of Indians and put a stop to them. Any attempt to get information from the wounded man was pointless for he had died shortly after he arrived at the doctors. As the possy rode out of town none of them knew they were on a collision course with death.

Ft Wingate

After much preparation and many successful raids Gaius was ready, over the last week scouts and raiding parties had taken many prisoners, to be sold in the slave markets. One thing that stood out about the new slaves was that their seemed to be a variety of groups all human but different, the majority they had encountered were evolved to the same level as the men in blue but spoke a variety of languages unknown to the empire. One group that stood out among the others were found to be more primitive but used the thunder staffs and proved to be formidable in combat (local Natives Navajo and the few scattered Apache tribes in northern New Mexico). Most importantly, much needed reinforcements had arrived, and the defenses were just about finished, the time was right for conquest.

Fort Union

July 6, 1882

After arriving in Santa Fe, Johnson allowed his men to join in on the 4th of July celebrations and after allowing his drunken troop a day to recover, they had finally made it back to Fort Union. Where Johnson found he had a mountain of reports waiting for him, personally Johnson would've preferred going on another patrol than sitting at a desk or even dealing with some crazed immigrant that just arrived in the territory complaining about everything.

While sorting through the stack of reports on his desk, a knock on the door caught his attention, "ENTER."

Walking in a young corporal saluted, "Col we just received a message from the telegraph office."

Not bothering to look up from his work Johnson ordered the Corporal to read it, "to Fort Union from Albuquerque mayor's office, have been receiving an influx of people, many reporting they were attacked, requesting orders."

Johnson was about to give his reply when Sgt. Morgan burst in, "Col, sorry to barge in but the telegraph office is going crazy, you better come take a look."

Arriving at the telegraphers office a group of soldiers and officers had gathered to see what the hell was going on. When Johnson walked in the men stood at attention, "what's going on here."

The telegrapher replied, "Col, for the last 10 min I've received a number of telegraphs from Albuquerque, most of them asking for orders as to what to do with the influx of people arriving talking about being attacked. However, I've been hearing a number of telegraphs come in from Arizona, one came from St Johns, saying they were under attack and another from Ft Defiance saying the same thing."

Confused Johnson says, "have you heard anything from Fort Wingate."

"No sir."

"Send a message to Col Stone, tell him to report his status. Send word to Albuquerque have them send a troop out to investigate what's going on and report back with their findings. Also send a message to the war department advise them of the situation and will report back when we have more information."

After giving his orders, messages continued to pour in but what was most odd was that all chatter from St Johns and Ft Defiance had gone quiet. Eventually General Marlowe had responded, wanting an update on the situation, but as of yet there was no information to report. Two days later Fort Apache reported it was under attack, and no information on who is attacking. While talking with the officers present Sgt. Morgan rushed into Johnsons office, "Col we just received an urgent message from Albuquerque, their under attack," all the officers stopped what they were doing having heard the news.

Rushing to the telegraphers office Johnson arrived just in time as another telegraph arrived from Albuquerque, "requesting immediate reinforcement's, taking heavy casualties."

"Send this, Who is attacking?"

A few min later a garbled response arrived, "Unkno arm attacki, usig arro swords and… the message stopped, that's it Col."

Taking a few min to read over the telegram, something clicked in Johnson's mind. Johnson rushed out of the telegraphers office and to his quarters, grabbing the arrow he took from Albuquerque, he was suddenly reminded of where he remembered seeing this type of arrow.

Flash Back

Arrows falling all around, men are struck down, "the enemy is right on top of us," another wall of arrows rains down, a large group of sword wielding men rushing forward screaming like mad men, "NAM IMPERIUM."

End Flash back

In cold sweat Johnson realizes what is happening while saying to himself, "dear god, THEIR BACK."

War Department, Washington DC

July 9, 1882

The war office was busier than usual, for some of the older officers it felt like the war was raging again. For the last week, telegraphs had been coming from Arizona and New Mexico reporting the same thing, an influx of people reporting being attacked, as well as several forts and towns going silent. General Marlowe was waiting for the latest report on the situation in new Mexico while talking to the other generals present.

"General Marlowe a message from New Mexico." A young officer reported.

Taking the letter Marlowe was confused as he read, "Reporting in, have lost contact with Ft defiance and Ft Wingate, as well as several small towns. Have received a report from Ft Apache and Albuquerque, that they are being attacked." Having read enough Marlowe calls for an emergency meeting with the president and all senior officers.

A couple hours later President Chester A Arthur arrived demanding answers, "General, this had better be important."

"Mr. President, I can assure you this is important," those present who commanded posts either in Arizona or the surrounding areas such as Texas, Colorado, Utah, California and Kansas. "As most of you know over the past week, we've received a number of reports of an attack on a number of our forts and towns in Arizona and New Mexico. It is unclear who the aggressors are, and we are waiting for…"

Before Marlowe could continue an officer walked into the room handing him a message, while reading the message Marlowe had a very confused look. "What's the latest news General," one officer said as did many of the others present including the president.

"Gentlemen, Marlowe said as he read the message, from New Mexico, enemy Force Identified, men clad in medieval armor carrying swords, spears, shields and battle axes…"

"My god, one General said as he stood up from his seat, it can't be them."

All the generals present looked at the man standing, he like many others was a veteran from the war but out of them all he like so many others held a secret he was sworn to never tell unless necessary. "What is it General, do you know who were dealing with," the president said as he was having a hard time believing what he was hearing.

"Mr. President, gentlemen what I'm about to tell you was made secret and all those who do know this were sworn to secrecy and ordered to never speak of it unless absolutely necessary." In less than an hour telegraph offices across the east and west coast were going mad with orders for mobilization of troops, to converge on New Mexico and Arizona immediately.

Fort Union

July 10, 1882

After receiving new orders from the war department, Col Johnson ordered all personnel, including all civilians present to the parade grounds. The troops stood at attention as Johnson crawled up onto a wagon that was parked at the head of the troops, looking around Johnson took a deep breathe before ordering the men, "AT EASE."

"Gentlemen, I'm sure by now that something is happening in the territory." Taking a look around he saw many nodding their heads. "Before I inform you all about the situation, I must ask, how many here present fought in the war, and before you raise your hands, I'm asking for those who fought at Gettysburg." Among the sea of men, a dozen or so raised their hands and Johnson called them forward for a private conversation, many either shocked or turning pale.

"Alright for those of you who are wondering what this is about and what it has to do with the war I will address your questions shortly. For now, I will put it to you simply, since July 1863 the country has been in a state of war with another nation an empire unlike any that is known." Many began talking among each other but stopped as Johnson continued speaking, "not much is known about this empire, but we do know that they are very aggressive, during the battle of Gettysburg they attacked both Union and Confederate forces showing no mercy.

Many among the civilian group began asking many questions, "Your lying, that battle was between union and rebel forces," one man said.

"Who is this unknown empire that is attacking," another asked?

Many among the crowd believed this since there was never any news reported about a foreign invader during the war. Raising his hand, the crowd went quiet as Johnson continued, "I realize that this sounds ridiculous, but I can assure you what I'm telling you is true, the men standing here myself included were all their at Gettysburg.

A plan of attack is being organized, so I ask that you all remain calm, for the time being and by order of the president, I'm sending a territory wide emergency alert asking all woman and children to please evacuate for their own safety. Any men who can shoot a rifle is being asked to rendezvous at Ft Stanton, Santa Fe and here for militia duty.

After dismissing the crowd Johnson addressed the Garrison along with the civilians that immediately volunteered for militia duty. Before Johnson could address the men, he was handed another telegraph, looking up at the men he spoke, "men in the morning we will ride for Santa Fe, as we speak reinforcement from all over the country are arriving, a 1/3 of you will remain to assist the new arrivals and coordinate supply, as well as training any who volunteer for militia duty." With that said the garrison was dismissed and ordered to prepare to disembark in the early morning.