Dragonheart51 :Yes Automobiles aren't of much use, that won't be replacing the horse anytime soon, and 2nd Lt Patton isn't "Old Blood and Guts" quite yet, but maybe he'll earn that title soon enough...

retrogunner7 :AA weapons will be deployed, but dragons are a game changer, not one expected something so well armored in the air, but they like all weapons have a weakness.

ManwithaPlan113 :They'll find a way, don't worry.

Mac Tonight :If the British did have some type of AA weapon, they didn't think to bring it with them to Alnus it seems.

SilverExcel115 :Bi-Planes are a LONG way off, but the allies will find a better means of defeating airborne foes soon enough.

TwilightScarlet :That my friend, all depends on one thing. Can they catch him?

Hans :That they are, although i did have another idea for a fic with such an idea, alas this one is instead what i worked on because its not as well known a time period.

Mr Fizz: Ripe, for the taking my friend...

ATP: Some of those ideas...may appear in this story, all i'll say right now...

Juan Matteo Updates take time man, a lot of characters (A mistake on my part) and research on the era go into this story, i update as often as i can.

"Strike an enemy once and for all. Let him cease to exist as a tribe or he will live to fly in your throat again"

-Shaka Zulu

Imperial City of Ithica, 60 miles from Alnus Hills

As the last Dragon returned, landing in the cleared field within the camp set aside for them, Aquila noted not one had been lost, and all rider's faces held smiles of victory. The thought of besting the other world armies was one that brought a smile to his own lips. Magic or not, they would be undone by the might of the Empire, with dragons cutting them to ribbons from the air, brought to bear like a crushing iron boot upon them.

From nearby, he heard the sound of stomping feet, all morning he'd heard it echo and now, it was at it's closest. From up the road, he watched a steady line of men in green armor, lion banners that marked them as coming from the Elbe kingdom held aloft as they sung songs of victory. The Armies of the vassal states had arrived. Many drilling legionaries stopped to watch as the endless line marched into camp, they looked ragged in green tunics and mail and metal helms of shapes far different from the legions, not polished like the their own armor, and carried a wide array of weapons. Aqulia noted the crossbows and pikes, even a larger balista being pulled by a horse. It seemed their leader, King Duran was taking this to be a serious fight.

"More so then the Senate" he noted, the fools still cried out for open battle with the enemy, something that had twice been proven to only favor defeat for the Empire, but the Empire's people could not see how their great power could be bested by such an alien enemy, and still demanded a victory against the other world, and he did not envy the man who would have to give them one.

...

Mathis put on a stern face as the leaders of the vassal state's armies entered his large tent, the twin guards at the entrance moving aside to let in the armor clad leaders pass, spears at their shoulders as the half dozen men took seats around a table bearing a map of the Alnus region, Alnus Hills were marked by a large black circle, his own forces in royal crimson. Lord Calite, leader of the Salius vassal state dressed in armor with an azure blue cloak, was the first to speak "So then, the enemy remains upon Alnus Hills?" he said, looking over the map, Calite was by no means a soldier from what Mathis knew, and was likely looking for insight on the current issues facing them then in the form of asking a minor question. It was good to know not every noble fancied himself a genius of war just by the power he held over commoners.

"Yes, our scouts say that well they have deployed more soldiers, they have held fast to the hills, besides the occasional scouting party, they likely face the same challenge we did when we invaded through the Gates into their kingdoms, an unknown landscape before them to fight upon" He realized they may have some captured maps, but it would take time for them to make anything of them, time he would make sure to use the most of in his preparation for the coming battles ahead.

"With the combined forces you bring, we can likely pull the enemy towards another battle, one that is in our favor" Mathis knew at once his words did not hold the confidence he'd wanted them to, one of the Vassal leaders, a Duke from a small kingdom spoke up in a harsh voice "If the enemy have weapons that can decimate entire legions in mere hours, what good shall our numbers do? What type of battle can we fight them in and win"? The room erupted into argument quickly, men of the Vassals and the Legion yelling, some for orders, others for retreat against what they saw as an unbeatable foe.

"Nonsense" can sharp reply from the tent's corner, everyone stopped as they realized who had spoken, seated in a chair, calmly staring down his fellow leaders, king Duran gazed sharply with his single green tinted eye, like a big cat on the hunt for prey, sizing the men in the room down "If we do not speak we shall be defeated before we ever march onto the battlefield". His calm demeanor and words seemed to sooth the tension in the room, the other Vassal leaders sat down, Duran looked to Mathis with a slight smile, one the harden general returned "The Lion of the Elbe" indeed" he thought as they went back to their discussion of the battle to come, and Mathis realized the King of the Elbe might be his best weapon in this war...

Alnus American Hill, "Teddy's Peak"

With a jaunt in his step, the 26th President of the United States walked through the massive arched doorway that seemed to contain another world, flanked by agents of the secret service on both sides. Dressed in overcoats and bowler hats, they'd come along despite the scoffing by Roosevelt "Nonsense, security among our own troops"? but they'd insisted he at least have a few agents with him, he had to give them credit, they were if anything else, persistent if they could wear him down to a "yes" on the matter of his own security. Every since his predecessor William McKinley had been killed in broad daylight around dozens of people, the secret service had guarded life of the presidency like a hound on a bone.

Despite the unspoken agreement, the president did nothing to hide his presence, shaking the hand of the first soldier he saw with vigor and a toothy grin "Good to see you lad" and damning any "proper" conduct to hell, he himself had been a soldier at one time, hadn't he? At his side, was the Chief of Staff of the Army dressed in the Union blue uniform of the general staff, the aging General Adna Chaffee, a man who'd worked from a young private in the Civil War almost 44 years early to where he was now. The two chatted idlely as they inspected the fortifications being set up and the drilling of soldiers.

"Sir, i tell you, this army has come a long way since i was a newly minted lad in Army of the Potomac under Little Mac" the aged officer said with a certain wet fondness to his words, Roosevelt nodded "Indeed, General McCleallan was quite the man" he said to be polite, although he considered him to share his backbone with that of a worm, his dismal performance lead the first man in Roosevelt's party to hold office, Lincoln, to relieve him of his command after all.

Down the slope sat a stout grey walled building, two soldiers with shouldered rifles and wide brimmed Montana hats in green stood at the door, a sign over their heads identified it as the US Army's headquarters. "A step up from the War department" Chaffee said with a smile, the cold grey building adjacent to the white house was not a favorite place for the old trooper. Stepping forwards, both sentries looked shocked, before snapping to attention, hands to their foreheads in salute,Roosevelt smiled, as Chaffee gruffly returned them to guard, with a the phrase "As you were" and a nod. Inside, the spaced seemed crammed like an eclair bursting from the seems with cream, maps, all hand drawn, pinned to every wall and men looking them over.

In the middle, under a harsh bright light, bent over a table was a slim man in green who the president needed no introduction to the general with the golden star and blue ribbon of the newly minted style of America's highest military award, the Medal of Honor on his chest ,and the man behind it, Leonard Wood.

"Leonard"! he said happily as the man with general's ranks looked up and smiled "Mr President" as the two old friends shook hands warmly. "the last time we met on a battlefield Leonard, you outranked me" Roosevelt said chuckling, the war with Spain seven years early was but a distant memory, of better days in the hot Cuban July, smoke forming over the American lines of battle as they traded shots with the Spaniards, it had been for both men, different times. Now they sat at the front of a new war, another American war.

Changing the subject towards the present,Chaffee spoke up "Sir, perhaps we should be briefed on the progress of our Army" something he'd found one needed to do often with Roosevelt, the man always seemed to get off topic. "Yes yes, right. How goes are war general"? Wood smiled "Well sir, as you know, it was only three weeks ago we first "landed" here, we fought off the Romans, and took the hills for ourselves. We are currently trying to piece together a rough map of the area, so far, we've had some luck, using what maps we've captured and local geography, and one larger map we bought-"

"Bought"? Chaffee asked, he'd never heard of such a practice of buying such a critical piece of information. "How did you...buy such a map, if i may ask General"? Wood smiled again rubbing his hands together as he recalled his time on the frontier, more then once the cavalry had been forced to buy needed supplies from civilians just like this now simply to lack of supply.

"Well sir, it seems the Romans had a regular trade deal with merchants, they follow the armies, and when one arrived late he instead found us. After some debating, we bought everything he had, including a dozen detailed maps of the region we now reside in." he recalled the man's frightend reaction turning to glee as he realized the invaders would buy all his stock, they'd likely overpayed him, but they'd found quite a lot of gold coins in some of what must have been officer's tents, and it had been worth whatever price they'd extended past for such invailable information.

"One can never put a price on information, can they"? Roosevelt laughed, draining the tension from the room at once, a power he'd had since birth. Wood brought over a copy of one of the maps, painstakingly redrawn by a steady handed officer. It showed a series of flat topped hills sitting on a mesa, written over it was Alnus.

"Alnus"? Chaffee asked, Wood returned it with a nod "Yes sir, our best guess is the enemy speaks something akin to Latin, and more then one man on my staff can speak it" he added, West Point forced plebs to learn another language, most choose French, others German, but Latin still had some appeal for some. it seemed to be coming handy after all.

"Has it helped with any of the prisoners"? Chaffee asked on.

"No sir, they seem to speak a dialect unalike most of our own Latin speakers, something akin to the different between English spoken in Boston to that of Tennessee."

Roosevelt grinned showing his legendary set of chompers "I know what you mean man" and laughed heavily, the laugh Wood had been introduced to in the steaming Cuban jungles almost seven earlier, and one he'd grown use to. He went on, explaining how they were now building up forces to push outwards via a road system that went north, but that would take a good deal of man power to make happen. The US was one of the luckier nations in that regard, they didn't have to worry about old world enemies at their borders like most of Europe did, even the Germans and English with their massive armies, were deploying them at a trickle.

"It's our destiny you know" Chaffee chimed in "The same way we cleared the plains of the savages, we'll clear these lands of this barbaric empire and make it our own" he was starting to sound like one of Heast's papers, full of everything the average American wanted to hear and only the pleasing truth Wood thought to himself, but Roosevelt didn't seem fazed by such an idea "Indeed Adna, indeed! We'll give them a Bully time for this for sure."

Roosevelt's wheels had begun spinning, and he was on a role now "It's our right by jingo! The American soldier always brings about a better age for the nation, from the Revolution against England to the War between North and South, it is the age of change we are in the mist of!" Chaffee nodded in agreement with his leader, and Wood followed suit.

"Now then, what is this i hear about heroic actions"? Lenard smiled at the changing of the subject to something he did have some say in "Sir, during the recent enemy raid, several soldiers put aside their lives to save others, pulling shells from a burning wagon to keep them from exploding, all under the leadership of a lieutenant..." he read the name slowly "Harry Truman, Colonel Pershing saw the entire thing, and put him in for a medal".

The mention of Pershing made Roosevelt smile again "John's a good man, i'm sure he did more then just watch."

"Maybe he did sir, but John was always a modest man too if you recall right from Cuba." Pershing had been an officer in the 10th Colored Cavalry, they'd fought alongside the Rough Riders from the beaches to the hills, and done everything they'd done too, never getting the credit they deserved, John had never been one to embellish his deeds, not that they often needed embellishing. Not with what they'd done on Kettle Hill (Which seemed doomed by history to be miss-labeled as San Juan the same way Breeds Hill as Bunker Hill) they'd charge alongside the Rough Riders, and fought with bayonet and rifle butt as rough as anyone else could have.

Reading the citation written by Pershing, Roosevelt grinned once more "By god, the way this sounds, we very well may have a future general on our hands, or perhaps a president even" he chuckled at his joke, as did the rest of the men in the room, even in an unsure world like this, a low officer making it to the white house was unlikely, even he knew that.

Chaffee spoke again "So what else do we know so far about this place"? Wood pressed a finger to his chin "Well sir..." and began explaining the beasts and species they'd found so far...

German Hill, Alnus

The sleek imperial blue pressed uniforms of the soldiers of the III Corps seemed flawless as they marched past in step, Masuers at their shoulders, and distinct leather picklehelm spiked headgear of the German Army. The Kaiser's eye gleamed as he watched what seemed to be the finest army since Cesar's Rome thunder by. The German army was a large entity, with almost eight massive corps, and even with them, she could not afford to deploy it's bulk to the new world. Instead, two armies, II and III would be spared, alongside a naval squadrons from the Imperial Navy, the largest deployment of such forces, since the Franco-Prussian war almost 35 years prior.

"This..." the monarch said, voice dripping with pride "Is our future at work, the wheels of fate turning for Germany, and the world around us." Beside him, Alfred von Schlieffen, his aging head of the army tried not to focus on his shriveled right arm, something he'd carried with him since birth, a source of utter embarrassment for him, even now it was hidden by the long sleeve of his coat, his good hand clutching his bad,from a distance,nothing appeared amiss with the Emperor, just the way he wanted it.

"How soon will we have the troops Field Marshal Von Bülow requires"? Willhelm asked, not looking away from the legion of marching men. Von Schlieffen answered "Another week or so sire." The plan the general staff had created was simplistic, they would move to hold the nearest enemy city, using it to launch further advances against the Romans in the area, a war plan that the other allies agreed with. The alliance would have been dead if not for the men of the translation corps,the multi-national force that spent day and night translating letters for the different armies, to keep the information flow unbroken between the great powers, it had been a Japanese idea, one that had surprised Von Shlifeffen, but after the defeat of the Czar, he'd learned that the Japanese were often full of surprises when it came to underestimating their intelligence.

The Kasier began walking beside the rows of troops on the move, speaking as he moved "What is this i have heard about Roosevelt being here"?

The rumors had spread fast from what the military man had heard, that the American president had too come to the new world through the Doorway, the Kasier wasn't known for his modesty, and it seemed from his tone he was annoyed another leader had tried to steal some of the fame from his visit.

"Yes sire, it seems he too has arrived to ruffle the hearts of his soldiers." Say what you wanted about him, Roosevelt was brave, if a fool to the Kasier's point of view. Their two nations had clashed before, during the Venezuelan crisis in 1902. and off the Philippines in1898, American and German warships nose to nose when the two powers stared one another down, the Kasier hoping for a prospect of capturing land in the chaos of the war with Spain, but it had not gone as planed, and in the end, the affairs of Europe had dictated Germany to stand down to them.

But now, for now anyway, old world rivalries had to be put aside for the common cause they marched towards, and meeting with his opposite from across the Atlantic would look good for the papers, and for the appearance of unity among the two nations. "i think paying the president a visit might give us a better idea of what our two nations can do together."

Say what you wanted about the Kasier being short sighted (not in his presence mind you), he wasn't a fool when it came to international affairs like this, he could see the need for unity...for now at least. Marching with his entourage of military officers, they moved alongside the marching troops, heading towards the hilltop flying the stars and stripes.

After several minutes, most of the men, old soldiers who hadn't been in combat in years, were breathing heavily, and panting, to his credit, the Kasier showed little of his own dis comfort, simply grasping his limp arm with his good hand, and pushing on through the pain up the hill, past more then one surprised American dressed in brimmed hats. Ahead, a crowed had gathered and a booming voice spoke in American English. The Kasier shouted in the accented English he knew, and heads turned to look at the monarch, one of them, was that of the president of the United States. As both approached each other, Von Schlieffen even if not by any means a man of faith, prayed this would end well...

The Great Sea

Fleet Lord Piscis, although he scoffed at the name for his "fleet" was nothing more then a few coastal raiders, the empire had always prided itself on it's army, not it's navy after all, looked at his map once more, the soft shapes of bays and coves of the eastern coastline, for a place to set down and make repairs. They'd been at see for close to a week now, avoiding the open seas in fear of the iron ships of the other world, the black puffing smoke they let off was always followed by defeat, death, and destruction. He sighed gripping the bridge of his nose with his fore fingers, the sea was no place for a soldier of the Empire.

A young sailsman dressed in a grey tunic shouted "Something off the side"! fingers pointed at something rising up from the waves.

From the deck, a cry came, as the lookout yelled out too, something off the bow of the ship. He turned his own eye, and moved his looking glass to his eye, a black shape hung low on the waterline, a dew spire like humps sat on it's back. Just a geyser beast, they often followed the routes of fishing ships, and his vessels did bear some similar features to such ships.

"It's nothing, just a sea beast. nothing to worry about lads" he said, he'd seen everything the sea had to offer since he'd been stuck on this ship as a boy, he knew danger when he saw it.

...

"Ah ha" Von Spee almost laughed as he climbed the ladder up to the deck of U-1, sticking his head out, a hand over his brow to blot out the sun, he spotted just what he'd been looking for, enemy ships, the wooden sail ships reminded him of Viking Longboats crossed with a Spanish Gallion, it pained him to have to sink such lovely crafts, but war was war. They'd been stalking the waters off of what was being called "Cape Darwin", a massive curved island that cut the shore four miles away into a bay. And it seemed now they'd found their first targets, these were warships, not the fishing boats they'd spotted so many times before, and now was the time to act.

"Orders Captain"? a sailor asked from bellow, he looked down "Load a Torpedo and submerge, were going to go after the lead ship". Sliding down the ladder, a skill honed from years aboard ships, Von Spee move to his place at the submersible's helm the single large chamber that housed the hips crew of a dozen men in the middle a spot was left open, near the perisope tube,,his seat of command. The dozen other crewmen aboard with him went about their duties, running the engine, manning the torpedo, even a Maxim Gun crew, they'd practiced setting up the machine gun on deck to strafe ships with, all under his leadership, in a ship that would make a new age come about, in a land of a new age come about.

He liked the way that sounded.

The engines hummed to life, the ballast pumps filling with water, and lowering the ship beneath the waves once more, only the top of the periscope uncovered by the waves. The craft made it'a attack run, chugging under the sea at eight knots with a special built six cylinder kerosene engine, startling fish in it's wake as it charged like a knight of old on horse back, towards the slender wooden ships.

"In range in three...two...one..." an ensign cried out tracking their distance from the convoy, the periscope bore markings for when they'd be in range, and taking a look, Von Spee was the rounded circle embedded in the frame was know above the lead craft's deck, a sign that they were the right distance from it to fire.

"On my order...steady...steady...fire"! the loud clang of the fish being launched from the torpedo tube echoed through the ship, followed by the soft wizz of the weapons propelling itself towards the enemy...

...

Piscis saw it before he heard the shouts of others, some kind of of creature under the waves swimming at full speed towards them, like the playful beaked nosed fish he'd seen so often as a child near the shore, but this sea creature held nothing but i'll omen from it's course, he cried out for someone to strike the sails and turn them, but as he let the first words escape his throat, he felt a massive shock, and was knocked to the deck as the wood crumbled around him, the entire front of the deck was aflame or afloat, as a dozen men's screams came together into an echo of horror, before he could stand, the remaining ship beneath him, plunged into the wavers...

...

"Good Hit"! Von Spee yelled watching the ship sink through the periscope, the crewmen cheered at their first victory, but he quickly added a stern "Quiet" to remind them, they had more enemy craft to sink. The battle lasted another twenty minutes, they sunk two more ships with as many torpedoes, and left the last ship, the smallest of the four in this convoy, to spread the word of the terror that now lay bellow the waves for the enemy. Von Spee touched a finger to his cap,as they surfaced, looking over the wreckage of wood and bodies floating in the water, the last enemy ship's blood red sail sinking beneath the waves, he thought of Nelson at Trafalgar, almost 100 years early, and asked himself if he'd felt the same pride as he lay dying as the German now felt over his own victory at sea. But the difference was Nelson's victory had called an end for sail ships in the age of naval warfare, being the last big battle of it's era. This victory had only begun a new age of warfare at sea, far removed from the wood and sail of Nelson.

London England

Arthur Conan Doyle was not one easily tricked, but the arch of the Doorway revealed no trick, only a rip into another world, one that that reports claimed seemed scores behind his own. Swords and horses, like something out of one of his Brigadier Gerard stories, his love letters to history overshadowed by Holmes in popularity, a sad turn of events he thought once more.

He'd been one of many men invited to study it, he was known across the world as one to debunk frauds of this type,but after an army marched through to war, he didn't think it needed any proving that the Doorways were genuine. Beside him, Wells looked over the large arch again, as men in the new army browns, Lee Enfields at their shoulders, marching through it into the dark void. "Quite the parlor trick, they go in one side, and go somewhere else through the other, almost like the messages in the wireless." he noted.

"Agreed Herbert" Doyle said, it was good the two of them had come down to watch this alongside the small crowd that had formed nearby, day by day the world seemed to be spinning out of control, the front page of the Daily Telegraph showed Theodore Roosevelt shaking hands with the Kasier, he recalled only a few years before the two nations at each others throats, and now this. It was the same with England and France, before the Doorway, they'd only just begun to join one another as allies, but with it's appearance, they had come to each others sides like wounded wolves in a fight. The fate of the world was changing daily it seemed.

Wells could tell current events were on his mind "Are you following the news out of Morocco"? Sadly, Doyle was. The Sultan of Morocco had been assassinated by some desert pirate named Raisuni, the entire country was in an uproar over it, a full fledged civil war was brewing, with Europe quickly taking sides, the French were backing Raisuni it seemed, trying to get on the perceived victor's good side. On the other end of the spectrum, the Germans were supporting what remained of the old regime in an attempt to raise from the grave. All Doyle knew was the situation seemed to be getting worse by the day. Meanwhile that Lenin fellow seemed to be gaining support from the Russian military, none too happy with the Czar's choice of ignoring the Doorways appearance, it seemed like his reign was quickly coming to an end and a new government was rising in it's place.

It was as if the world had turned upside down.

Outskirts of Nalmian plains,30 miles from Alnus

The French cuirassier put his binoculars to his eyes shifting his breast under the armored torso he wore and puffed helmet to get a look ahead, the gun totting cavalryman's troop had been sent forward to scout the stone paved highway that headed off the hills of Alnus, and now peering through his binoculars , he watched dust kicked up into the air, several miles away, heading towards a moderately sized town that sat on the banks of a river.

He'd been in enough maneuvers near the border to be able to tell the massive clouds marching troops kicked up in their wake, from miles away. The enemy was on the move, and what ever they had planed, the alliance would know, and counter it. Whipping his reins high, the horseman galloped off back to where the rest of his troop was hidden.