Gate: War Of Two Worlds

Princess Pina is standing on the balcony at the Italica palace. She will be with her most trusted servant and friend Hamilton. There is another girl here, the current countless of Italica, Myui Formal.

Myui and her sisters are the last of their family. All the men of her family were recently killed by the Other Worlders during the invasion of their world. When the Empire called for a grand crusade through the gate and being loyal vassals as they were, they went to war.

All three of them are looking outside pass the wall, watching a large flying machine the Americans call a Chinook. It is slowly falling right down to the patch of grass. Theirs is two of their soldiers on the ground holding these glowing sticks. It seems like they are giving it flying directions.

The villagers are also watching it, from the walls or the other tall buildings. They seem to be enjoying the event. That makes sense, they are the ones who saved the city not that long ago.

All three of them seen this flying device before, during the Siege of Italica. Two of these flying wagons came to the rescue and once they landed on the ground dozens of soldiers came out from behind it. They are impressive wagons, able to transport the massive number of soldiers to a new area far quicker than anything the Empire could.

Unlike last time, they are expecting them to come. After that battle, the treaty stated that these Americans can set up a diplomatic outpost here in the city. As a way to maintain a dialogue with the Empire and Italica.

When that treaty was being negotiated, the terms really confused Pina. It seems like they were the ones surrendering after divisively winning the battle. After spending much time thinking about it, she concludes that they are looking for a peaceful resolution to the current crisis. Thank the gods for that because there is no way we can ever challenge them.

"It is very impressive isn't it," Myui states as she watches the flying machine lands on the grass. "Princess, do you think your father knew they were this powerful before starting his crusade?"

Hamilton will look at Myui nervously. "Countless, you can't just say something like that. It is not proper."

"It is ok Hamilton. I have been wondering that same thing." Pina says to both of them.

She has been wondering that herself recently. Why would her father just blindly just invade another world when we know nothing about them? It is probably we have been so successful in expanding our border, conquering everyone and everything around us for so long, how could we ever lose?

Pina will smile after that thought. "Hubris…" She says quietly.

"I am sorry princess?" Myui asks her, hearing something.

Pina looks down at the eleven-year-old girl Myui. "O, nothing. Just thinking. It does not really matter anymore. This is the state of the world and we have to face it."

That is when Pina sees a man in what looks like in official black clothing. Compare to the soldiers, he stands out, not wearing whatever their soldiers wear. "Hamilton, is that their ambassador?"

Hamilton walks up and looks more closely. "I believe so. They did say the ambassador would be in a black suit. I don't know what a suit is but what he swearing is all black."

"Then we better go down there," Pina says and then looks to Myui. "Stay here, I will handle this."

Before Pina and Hamilton could leave the balcony, Myui would reject Pina orders. That will surprise both of them.

"No, I think I should be down there. This is my city after all." Myui says and then turns around, heading to the Other Worlders diplomatic mission.

Not given a chance to stop her, both of them will follow Myui and head outside.

All three of them walk out of the palace building and head to where the Other Worlders are gathering. Since the treaty, Myui has been busy getting a cleared-out building and setting it up for their diplomatic guests. The building is a three-story building off to the west side, away from the marketplaces. She wanted them to be safe but at the same time not to encourage interaction with her peasants. Not until she can build some kind of relationship with them. Like thing she needs right now is an incident happening.

Since then, some of the Other Worlders have arrived to set up the building for their operations. They have not let anyone inside since they moved in. Armguards always posted, not wanting anyone to come inside. Some people have said they have heard them setting strange things up within the building walls.

That has not stopped the people from trying to interact with them. They have been trying to provide gifts like food, rare items, trophies, coin, women, whatever they think they could as a way for saying thank you. So fare they have taken some items, mainly food-related items. But anything of worth has been rejected, especially coin and women.

That last part didn't surprise her, Pina learned during their first meeting that they don't take people as slaves or trophies. That has turned out to be a good and bad thing, diplomatically. It is customary during negotiations to offer people as tribute or as slaves. That means we don't have to give up any of our people but that also limits what we can negotiate with.

Pina looks to Myui as they walk, getting closer to the outpost. "Countless, it will be wise to let me do all the talking. I am the senior representative of the Empire here."

"And this is my city. Their wellbeing is my responsibility. And since the Empire is in no position to protect us, I must remain on their good side." Myui states.

Pina wouldn't have an answer for that. She has seen it within the people, their loyalty seems towards these Americans rather than the Empire right now. And now Myui is clearly picking sides and there is nothing I or the Empire can do about it.

"Fine, but if you do anything to sabotage the peace process or act against the interests of the Empire, there will be consequences," Pina says towards her as they arrive at the diplomatic outpost.

They were expected and let in after a short length of time waiting. As the three walk inside, they can see the place is still being set up. Some of those self-moving wagons they saw before sitting inside the wall of the building. They see a few of them putting up the long pointy thing on the roof. They also see these strange looking glass objects on the roof too, facing Flare.

Hamilton looks over to one of the soldiers. "Sir… what are they doing to the roof?"

That is when they hear a man speak. "They are putting up an antenna. That allows us to talk to our people at Alun's Hill. The panels you see are what we call solar panels."

The three looks towards one of the metal wagons and see that man in the black suit.

"I am Ambassador Harland Willington of the United States of America. I represent my country and our allies here in the Special Region." He walks over to them and looks at the three. He is surprised by how young they are. His reports state that he would be talking to children by Earth standards. However, it is still strange seeing it firsthand.

"I take it you are Princess Piña Co Lada and you must be Countless Myui Formal of Italica. Nice to meet both of you." Willington says to them. He then extends his arm for a handshake.

Both Hamilton and Myui wouldn't know what to do with that hand but Pina remembers when Major Sharpe did the same thing. She takes the hand and shakes it. "Thank you for coming. I hope your visit will be productive."

Willington nods his head in agreement. "I do too. Let's go inside and get out of this heat."

The four will walk inside the building. As they walk in, the three girls stop.

"What… it is a hot day today? How is it colder in here than outside?" Hamilton says as she raises her hand up, looking at it.

Myui closes her eyes and smiles. "It feels so nice. So relaxing. What magic is this?"

Pina notices how different the temperature is too. She still doesn't understand these people and how their devices work but the only time she has seen them using magic was during the battle. But the magic-user wasn't from their world, she was from our world. They don't have magic in their world. "No, they don't use magic."

"That is correct. What you are feeling is AC. It regulates the temperature inside a building." Willington says to them, enjoying how to impress they are.

They begin following him again, looking everywhere.

"Princess," Hamilton says quietly. "They can control the temperature. It has to be some form of magic."

"No," Pina says back to her. "Their understanding of engineering is far beyond us. Remember that we can not get too distracted by all this-." She says before suddenly stopping.

They all get to the main living room of the building. There is a large table in the center, some decorations around. Pictures of these men, probably famous people from their world. Flags are around. There are these three doc.u.ments on displacing on the walls too, how strange. But what got their attention was that there were no lanterns or torches on the wall.

What they see are these polls that are producing light. Light without fire. The room is light up like the Flare is lighting up the room himself.

"How… where is the fire coming from?" Pina says, confused.

Willington thinks about how he is going to respond. He now regrets to bring them inside the building. Should have gone over to them and talk, in an environment they would be more comfortable with. He has talked to people before, nations in the Third World but this is a whole new level. They don't even understand what electricity is. He knew that from his reports but an oversight when planning this meeting.

"It is a different kind of fire. It promotes light without needing to light it." Willington says to them. "Please have a seat."

Both Pina and Myui sits down at the table with Willington. Hamilton sits down at a chair she finds against the wall.

"I think we should get right to it. My leaders are interested in ending the current conflict." Willington says.

"We want to end this conflict too," Pina says to him. I have a list of terms I like to discuss."

Willington wouldn't commit to that; he would sit there and listen.

Pina pulls out a piece of paper and looks through it. "All current territory that is being occupied by your forces need to withdraw. This excludes the territory that is stated in the current treaty."

That territory being Alnus Hill. It is smart that they just give that piece of land up and move on.

"We know that you have been accepting peasants into your base. We recognize that town of Alnus however if any criminals of the Empire escapes there, we have to right to have them return to us." Pina says. "You agree not to intervene in internal affairs of the Empire and our vassals. This includes trade and civil strife."

Willington thinks for a second and looks at the princess. "I can agree with some of it. Assuming we sign a formal peace agreement, your internal affairs is none of our business." As he said that, he notices the Princess all excited by that. "However, if a kingdom or city wants to deal with us, economically or security, we have to right to accept."

After saying that, he notices Princess Pina's mood changed. She had to expect something like that. That is not the interesting fact, the Countless Myui seem to react more positively to what he just said. They must not be on the same page.

"My concern is that you might try to split up the Empire," Pina says at him.

"No, if we are at peace, we have no interest in your politics. But we are not going to turn away business and traders. We are here and not going anywhere." He thinks for a moment. "This is what I propose. We can set up a join form to allow our sides to take legal actions. If you feel like we violation the honor or spirit of our treaty, we can talk about it there. This can include what you said about people of interest in crime."

Pina will be confused by that, talking about a forum for dialogue. "I take it that is common in your world."

"It is very common. We have many different institutions solely designed for what we are talking about." Willington says.

Pina nods her head. "I think that is a good idea. Last time I talk to your people, they promised to return what they call prisoners. Is that still part of the arrangement?"

"Yes. You will have some within the next few days. Some of your people leadership." Willington replies.

She nods her head. If anything, her father should be happy that she was able to get some of his nobles and generals back. Maybe they have some deeper insight they can learn from.

"I have something I want to say. What are your people's plans for Italica?" Myui says bluntly, forcing herself into the conversation.

Pina looks over, not happy that she is speaking. A mere noble daughter speaking out of turn.

Willington looks over. "What do you mean?"

"I mean this. I propose having your people provide extra security for Italica. In return for trade cooperation. I know your people need food and access to markets. We also have one of the largest inland ports. I know we could work together that would benefit both Italica and Alnus."

"Your proposal is bold. Since we are so close and already have a working relationship. I see something possible happening. However, though, my people's primary focus right now is a peace treaty." Willington says back to her. He likes the proposal she layers out. Clearly, she wants us in and the Empire out, but the timing is wrong.

"I think the foundations of an agreement has been set. I think it will be appropriate to take this to the next stage, your capital." Willington says.

"I agree. The Emperor will want to meet you and your people before any treaty is signed." Pina says, wanting to cut Myui out of the conversation. "Also, I have one more term. I want the people who were here before. Major Sharpe team."

That took Willington by surprise. He was not expecting her to be asking for an individual member. He read the name in a report but has yet interested in this man. "Why do you ask for him?"

"Because we have a working relationship, warrior to warrior. For this, to work we need to trust each other. We have an understanding." Pina says to him.

Willington sits there and thinks on that term. He didn't want to get the military to involved in the negotiations. This needs to be led by the State Department, not the Pentagon. On the other hand, it seems like having this officer including might be a benefit. "I agree. I will make the arrangements."

Pina nods her head and stands up. "Then we should be going. I have to send out riders and make preparations." She then looks to Myui. "Countless."

Myui looks up at her and then stands up.

Both of them bows to the ambassador and turn around, leaving the building.

Some time passes as they walk through the streets. As they get far away from the American outpost and close to the palace, Pina looks over at Myui. "What was that? I told you not to interfere."

"Stop and look around," Myui says, not fazed by the princess.

Pina looks around and just sees people everywhere. "I don't understand."

"Of course not Princess. My city is sick. Crime is on the rise since all of my guards and soldiers are dead. The damage to the city is going to be costly. I don't have the men to protect the city, keep the people in line and wage a war for you. Change is here and you either adapt to it for fall."

Pina thinks about what she said. It is true things are changing. The direction of that change isn't in the Empire's best interests. That is when she realizes something, this eleven-year-old countless is willing to openly disrespect a Princess of the Empire, what about the other cities and vassals?

Before Pina could say anything, Myui keeps talking. "The Empire is in no position to offer anything for me. You started a war you can't win; my people have suffered enough for that."

"But they are the ones that killed your family," Hamilton says, trying to defend her princess.

"And who's fault is that? They were defending their homes. Something I can relate to. They would be alive if you didn't go to war. Even if I didn't want to work with them, after what happen in Elias I have no choice."

"Wait… what do you mean Elias? What happen?" Pina asks her, now confused.

They get to the palace and Myui walks in. "I found out this morning. All the Legions in the Elias Region have been slaughtered." She stops and looks at Pina. "Correct me but doesn't that cut the southern part of the Empire off form the rest of us?"

Pina stops there, eyes wide open. She can't believe what she just heard. No wonder she is taking matters in her own hands, losing Elias is a massive blow to the Empire. Over two-thirds of our foodstuff comes from the south. This war is going to destroy the Empire, far faster than she realizes.

***

A fresh new day at Alnus and Rory Mercury be on duty. She walks around the town keeping the peace.

She has found it strange that she has been here for so long. It feels good being in one place for so long, probably that she's making a real difference in the world.

A hidden thought on that though, after the Flame Dragon and personally witnessing the force they have here afterward, she realized even as an apostle, she has no chance in fighting them. Not even all the apostle in the world works together could even stop them.

She is currently fine with that though; their true character has shown. In her opinion that is no longer the problem. The war with the Empire will win in their favor when they decide to end it.

The real issue she sees now is integrating their people. These NATO people are like children living in dreamland, having no idea what to do here or how to interact with the different races. Interaction has been positive so far, but it is easy for one miscommunication for everything goes wrong. That point was hit hard for Rory during the Elias Forest Campaign. On kid sparked a war in the region.

"Hi, Myuute. How is everything today?" Rory asks as she walks up to her.

Myuute is on the wooden sidewalk, helping some civilians. Once she hears Rory's voice, she turns around and gets happy, waving her hand. "HI RORY!"

"Answer the question," Rory says smiling.

"O, everything is fine," Myuute replies with.

"Good." When Rory walks up to her, she looks around. On the other side of the street, she sees a group of children playing games. This would be the second group of children she saw today. "I was told by a guard were having a children problem."

Myuute looks at the direction Rory looking at. "Yeah, that and other things. The town has grown pretty big in a short period of time but there still isn't that much work to do. Also, something about Child Labor Laws, I didn't really understand that class."

Rory smiles after hearing that. "They are strange people. Any other things happen while I was away?"

Myuute tilts her head up thinking. A thought appeared and she gets excited about it. "O yes, while you were gone we had some Volraden appear."

Rory looks at her surprise by that. Volraden is a wolf demi-human race. Tall, strong and great fighters. They come from a snowy place or in the mountains. They don't have complex civilizations like Humans and dwarfs do but people don't like to mess with them. Groups of them usually form mercenary gangs and fight for hire. A group arriving could be either really good or really bad.

"Can you take me to them?" Rory asks in a concerned voice.

Sensing that concern, Myuute nods and motions her to follow.

As they walk, Rory smirks at her. "So, my underling. Have you meant a boy yet?"

That question took her by surprise. She looks over to her in shock. "WHAT!? Of course, not… I am a Siren..."

Rory giggles and roll her eyes, expecting that answer. "You need to get over that fact. I bet you will find a soldier from the other world. Being exotic to them. Come on."

Myuute glares at her and then crosses her arms angrily. "They are there." She points forward.

Rory looks in that direction and sees about a dozen Volraden. All of them be sitting there quietly out of the way, eating in front of a food stand.

"Hmm… seems like they are not a problem." Rory says to herself out loud. Before Myuute can respond, she walks forward to talk to them.

"Hello, all of you. I am Rory Mercury. Are you enjoying your visit?" She says, testing their reaction.

They all look at her and were impressed to see her here. A few of them say her name in a surprised voice. Some were too afraid to approach her, all but one.

"Hello, Mis Rory Mercury. We are all honored to witness the Apostle of Emroy." The Volraden says, getting on one knee bowing.

Rory will enjoy having his bow. Unlike some of the other Apostle who uses their power for glory and riches, never abused her place. But still, seeing this made her feel like she still matters in this changing world.

"You can stand back up. Thank you for the flattering." She says to him. "Now, what is your name?"

"Name, my name was taken by my tribe alpha. You can just call me Wolf." The Volraden says.

Rory tilts her head confused. "Where is your alpha then? No one should ever have their name taken."

"He is not here. I joined this group a few months back. They took me in their group." Wolf says.

"That is nice of them. What bring you all here-." Rory says, almost finishing her sentence. She notices him looking up into the sky. That is when she hears a helicopter flying by. She giggles a little realizing she finally able to say the word right.

She decides to look up too, but it was Myuute who points it out. To her surprise, it is flying unusually low, heading into the military base.

She then notices all the Volraden looking up at it, amazed and confused by the sight. That is when she realizes that they probably haven't gotten used to the sight. "It is a helicopter. It is a normal flying machine these Other Worlders have."

Wolf looks back at her. "Helocopter? What does it do?"

She looks back at the helicopter and notices more details. It will have the medivacs symbol on it. It will be heading to the Army hospital.

She looks back at him. "There are many different kinds. They are used to attack the enemy, transport troops and supply quickly at long distances. That one you just saw picks up wounded soldiers and civilians from the battlefield."

"Hmm? Civilians?" Wolf asked, confused what that word means.

"People who are not soldiers. Villagers basically." Myuute says, including herself into the conversation.

"Aww… interesting they have a word like that." Wolf says. "And they go help them?"

"If they are in danger or hurt. Usually yes, if they can." Myuute says back to him.

"So what brings your people here?" Rory buts in again.

"Hmm, we were told by this traveler about this place. Amazing wonders, magic. Also, he said it is the safest place on Falmart."

"Well, that last part is true. There is no way the Empire can take this place. They tired and got slaughtered each time." Rory says, enjoying that part.

That is when Rory has an idea. These people look heavily armed, clearly mercenaries. But they also seem nice and now threatening. "Hey, I don't know your long-term plans, but the Joint Alnus Community Military Police is hiring. We could use some people like you in the service."

He looks at them, taking the offer seriously. "I will have to talk with the rest of the group."

"That is fine. They pay and provide discount housing." Myuute says.

Rory looks at Myuute and smiles. She then looks back at Wolf.

"If you are worried about being deployed to war against your will, this part of the Military Police can't be deployed to the front lines. They can only operate within the town of Alnus." Rory explains.

Wolf thinks on it, really thinking on the offer. He has been traveling for years, jumping from one group to another group. So far he has like this town, maybe a little too much. He is interested in learning more about these new people and this could be a good way of doing so.

"I will talk to them, but I am interested. Thank you, Mis Rory Mercury." Wolf says and the walks back to his group.

Rory and Myuute turn around and walk away.

"We better start our patrol," Rory says, giggling about the event.