Chapter 5: Contact

Transport crafts hover lightly on the route, carrying the team of Mechans and Falmartians.

Assari : "Based on the map, were on the Thessalia way right now. And this is the town of Italica, huh? And you're wondering what is this?"

Lelei scans through the object. Seemingly a map made of light.

While Rory and Tuka just chatter together.

While in the back, the four are talking together, Lurien is just sitting at the front, watching and scanning the area.

Lurien : "Smoke detected ahead. Forward angle approx negative 58."

Then, the transport crafts stop for a brief moment.

Lurien : "Smoke source predicted to be Italica. Detected fire at the source of the smoke."

Assari : "Stay on high alert at the time. Rory, what's the matter?"

Rory : *slurp* "There's blood in the air."

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Italica

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Battle cries can be heard. Bandits rush towards Italica's fort. Archers from Italica launches arrows towards the air. Killing some of the bandits.

Pina : "Their center is weak! Drive them out!"

The fort then drops hot liquid to the ground. Burning the bandits down.

Bandit : "God damnit! Retreat! Retreat!"

The bandits then retreat with their steeds backing off from Italica.

Pina then looks around, then yells "Norma! Hamilton! are you alright!?"

Hamilton : "Alive and accounted for ma'am

Norma just waved his hand towards Pina.

Pina then comes down the stairs.

Grey : "What about me? You don't bother to ask if I was injured or not. Hurts my feelings."

Pina : "After all these years, I know that you're better than that, Grey."

Grey just laughed.

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Hamilton : "Your majesty, why did we come all the way here to fight some bloodthirsty bandits?"

Pina : "We don't have a choice! When I heard that a large contingent of armed men invaded Count Formal's territory, I thought it was the army from the other world. We did what we're supposed to. Rush to their defenses and what did we find!? Soldiers from other kingdoms turned rogue!"

Pina : "Listen to me! You don't have time to lie about. The bandits will be coming back! It's time to bury the bodies and reinforce all the gates. The rest of my people are coming. But there's still three days away. If you can hold that long, the Order of the Rose will avenge your fallen! Three days!"

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At Countess Formal's home, the princess took her seat on a couch, sighs in exhaustion, then a butler came.

"Your highness." says the butler, Bartholomew.

"What is it?" she asks as she is about to drink some wine from a goblet. "Do you want to surrender?"

"Of course not." he responded, "I'm hoping there is a way to settle this without boodshed."

"There is. Open the gates, and let them in. And after that, let them do everything. Let them shackle your men, and let them rape all your women. Let them ravage and enslave everyone, to be the first steps to a beautiful relationship."

"That sound facetious."

"Of course I am, I'm trying to illustrate a point. I know it's not an easy thing to think about, but pretending it's not bad as it's really is, will not help you.." she then drinks from her goblet. Kaine, the head maid, gives the tired princess something to eat.

"I hope you enjoy." she says as she sets a tray of food.

"Thank you." then Pina takes a bite and notices that it isn't really good. "It lakes in flavor and sufficiency."

"If one is physically spent, eating rich foods would way the body down." She knows what she is talking about. Because she has some experience with this sort of thing before when the count was alive.

"Really? Have you gone through something like this before?" the princess asked.

"Indeed. I am from the city of Rosa. Which is now a loyal part of the empire."

"Very well."

After eating her meal she got up from her seat and informs the two servants, "I'll be resting in your guest room. Bring me any urgent messages right away." Then starts walking out of the room"

"Yes, your majesty." the head maid says to the princess.

Before she walks out, the princess turns her head to the head maid, "Oh, and um, what would you do if I don't wake up immediately?"

The head maid smiles back, "I have a nice cold pitcher of water to pour on you, If it comes to that."

"Fine, that should work."

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Pina lays on her bed, talking to herself about the situation.

"There aren't many real soldiers here."

"The bravest militias are the first ones to die."

"Morale is getting low."

"Our first battle should be glorious . . . but this! This is pathetic!"

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The Past

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Some young armored girls stand at a set of stairs. Pina stands at the top of the set of stairs, then yells

"Listen! Today all of you are members of the order! Knighthood is a previlege! Nothing less than an honour! Live up to the title with your heart and soul!"

The group of girls say in unision "Yes Ma'am!"

Pina says "I'd like to introduce the man behind our training, Grey Co Alto!" While pointing to a middle aged man in armor. "Well sir, what shall be our first course?"

Grey answered "Well, we'll start with the basics, which will be the march."

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People are watching as the little girls march.

Then, Hamilton falls over.

Pina : "Hamilton, If you can't march, then find something else to do!"

Hamilton: "Let me try again!

Pina : "Yes, yes, come over"

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Pina : "Good grief"

Grey comes to Pina, then says "It's only her first day your highness. So tell me somethin', Are you truly serious about making this order of knighthood?"

Pina : "Of course I am, now I'm aware that working with me is something beneath you and all. I know my father ordered you. I know you have better things to do than babysit the concubine's princess."

Grey : "The concubine eh? Well, my birth wasn't glamorous either, If you don't mind me saying so, princess. Perhaps you and I have more in common than you think. I guess it's good to have company."

Pina : "Master Grey?" *giggle* "Alright then, train us like you want to kill us!"

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The little girls train by the years, until they become fully trained knights.

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7 years later

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Molt : "In the name of Emperor Molto Sol Augustus, the order of the rose is hereby called to duty!"

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Pina : "Dammit! Honor guard, honor guard, time and time again, that's the only thing we do! Damn him, We must be more than just his ornamentation for his parades!"

Grey : "Be patient, your majesty. Someday, we will need to be ready when your father calls upon the order."

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Molt : "Why don't we try this? Take all of your knights from Order of the Rose and scout the situation for us?"

Pina : "What? do you mean it? You want me to take my people?*

Molt : "Well, why not? You've been longing to prove that your knights are doing more than just marching and color guard, so here's your chance."

Pina : ". . . Consider the mission done, your majesty."

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The Order of the Rose knights march out from the Capital. Their steeds trample the grounds they walk. Their flags wave as the wind blows.

Pina : "My Order of the Rose is finally sent to the battlefield. And yet-"

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Pina then gets splashed by a bucket of water, then wakes up

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Pina : "The enemy! They're here!"

Grey : "We're not quite sure what's going on there, but you might want to take a look."

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Pina peers from a hole in the door, and sees hovering metal boxes on the roads.

Pina : "What the hell is that?"

Hamilton "What is that thing?"

Pina : "Is it made of . . . Iron?"

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Norma looks from a tower and says "Identify yourselves! If you're not our enemy come into the open now!"

The transport crafts open their sides. Lelei gets out first from the transport craft

Pina : "That staff . . . A wizard from the Lyndon faction!?"

Tuka then comes out from the transport craft.

Pina : "An elf . . . If they know how to combine their powers, they could end up being serious problems."

Rory Mercury then gets out from the transport craft.

Pina : "Rory Mercury is with them!?"

Grey : "Rory the reaper, that's definitely not good."

Pina : "I . . I saw her perform her rituals a few weeks ago."

Grey : "Why would an apostle of Emroy choose to join a band of brigands?"

Pina : "Well, that doesn't surprise me very much."

Grey : "What?"

Pina : "The decision of the gods seem to be abusive , whimsy sometimes."

Lurien and Assari then gets out from the transport craft.

Grey : "I wouldn't say that near the oracle if I were you, princess."

Pina : "Perhaps . . . But even the gods can be damn fools sometimes."

Grey : "Ugh! Oh, holy hell I did not just hear that."

Pina looks at the soldiers behind then says to Hamilton "If these bandits already have Rory the Reaper on their side, then we need to consider the city already lost"

Hamilton : "That's true."

Pina : "But being said, we still don't know if they're truly our enemy. . . . What do we do!?"

Pina then hears some knocks on the door.

Pina "Ok, if this group is not our adversaries, we certainly want them to join us."

Pina then unlocks the door, then pushes the door, then she felt the door seemingly jams, like it's bumping something very hard.

The door rammed to Lurien, but deals no damage to him. Lurien then takes a few steps back. Pina pushed the door again, then the door finally opens.

Pina : "Welcome to Italica friends!"

Lurien : "I've felt nothing"

Then, all of them entered Italica

Assari : "Who's the leader here?"

The crows then looks towards Pina.

Pina : "W-What?"

Hamilton : "Everyone, you are in the presence of your majesty, the third princess, Pina Colada. Show some respect!"

Lurien: "Ah, just as we wanted."

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Pina invites the team to the castle, talking along the way

Pina : "This, this is the fortified city of Italica. The city is located on the intersection of Thessalia Way and Appia Way. This makes the city extremely vital for trade. This city in the surrounding area was governed by the family of Count Formal for generations, however, the count took ill recently and passed away, leaving a political power struggle between his daughters. The oldest were married to other families, but there was still a custody battle. They had a third sister Myui, she happens to be the only legitimate successor of the Formal family throne."

"And then, the empire decided to send their divisions to the Gate. all of our nobles were ordered to send troops from their kingdoms to join the empire in the fight. In the end, none of them made back here. Public order in the city has deteriorated, with no soldiers or anyone skilled in public service, it's complete chaos."

Pina then holds a door, then says "The mistress of the Formal Clan is sitting on the other side of this door, she is princess Myui, Formal's Countess."

Then Pina opens then door, revealing a little girl sitting on a throne.

Lelei : "If I remember correctly she'll be eleven this year."

Pina : "She maybe is the head of the family, but she is never taught the violent art of leading an army. So for now, I'm commanding what's left of her militia until she can."

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They all sit on a table, discussing about something

Pina : "Let me get this straight, you are offering to defend this city?"

Lurien : "It is a mission from our superiors."

Pina : "Very well, I'll assign your forces to guard the south gate.

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Transport crafts and androids move to the south gate of Italica. While this happens, Pina and Hamilton are having a conversation.

Hamilton : "So they're the army of men of steel we've been hearing about, the ones who saved the Coda Village?"

Pina : "Looks like they are"

Hamilton : "Are you sure it's safe? Should we let the rest of them inside the walls?"

Pina : We're not in a position to be picky with our allies right now. If they say we're here to help, we must believe them.

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Afternoon

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An android releases a drone to the air. The drone flies high to the sky. Right now, no sightings of Lurien and Assari at the moment. The android discusses some things with Rory at the moment. Particularly about Emroy.

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Skies of Thessalia

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A dropship carries Lurien and Assari to a coordinate, the place where the Mechans hid a well-sized army.

Regnum : '''Mission condition report'''

Assari : "'Local control point detected. Will capture soon."'

Lurien : "'Vital area of the local civilization. High traffic of subjects. High amount of test subjects can be extracted. But for this moment, adversaries detected with ETA 16 percent planetary rotation.'''

Regnum : '''Take a flying fortress and commence bombardment at the adversaries. After action is done, connect the area to The Main Base.'''

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Night

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Norma and some militia are standing by at the walls, guarding and watching Italica. Then, they spotted some lights heading towards them. The lights are actually flaming arrows fired towards them.

Norma : "Here it comes!"

The militias duck as the arrows flew over them.

Norma : "Archers, counter volley!"

The archers fire their arrows at the deserters, but the arrows are deflected by the deserters' shields

Norma : "Get a message to the princess, we made contact to the enemy at the eastern wall!

Pina : "They're at the east gate!?"

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Norma : "Don't let them climb the walls, don't let an arrow go to waste!

They fire their arrows at the deserters, but the arrows are weakened by the wind, a wins generated by green-haired girl.

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Scout drone : ''' 'Magic' user detected. Do not kill coordinates given. Cancel bombardment. Proceed with ground forces. Capture as much of the adversaries possible.

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Norma : "It's a magic user!"

A militia comes with an axe and says "I got this!" before cutting the ladder to the wall.

Then, an archer from the bandit launches an arrow at the militia, killing the militia.

"You like that? The rest of this should be easy!"

The bandits climbed the walls, now they clash with the militias on the walls.

Norma then slashes and kills a bandit.

Norma : "Did these fools just came here to die in a meaningless battle?"

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Pina : "So this is war, but I've had no concept of it's horrors"

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The deserters open the gates, then they rush towards Italica. A bandit then throws a corpse of a militia, followed by the other bandits to provoke the militias inside.

Militia : "You sons of bitches!"

Pina :"Someone stop him!"

Militia : "Come with me, kill them all!"

The militias broke the barricades, and engages with the deserters directly

Villager : "Where's the others? Where are the men of steel?"

Pina : "They'll never come, I have already put them at the south gate for sacrifices for the rest of us"

Pina watches in horror as the deserters raze Italica.

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Assari's core ability is to create warp and phase fields to massively accelerate speed.

I will give plot points few episodes later.

I have new ideas for more fanfictions about the Gate and some more species'. You can comment to give me ideas for my next project. For now, I have these :

-Mind controlling race of psionic enslavers (there is diplomacy, not telling you why cuz no spoliers)

-A zombie plague race, (just imagine necromorphs from dead space) (No diplomacy)

-Reaper robots (Than an intelligence that pursues power, This race seeks to consume organic life and add them as cybernetics to their race) (No diplomacy)

You can vote and give ideas about races that will stomp Special Region.

At the peak, a god-civilization, the precursors that created them all, after a few fanfictions. (We're talking crazy powerful precursors here, the precursors are neither organic or robotic, has superhuman strength, cognition, and powers, can mind control and cannot be mind controlled, can warp reality, also has really advanced reality warping technology)

Don't hesitate to mark out my mistakes, stay safe and healthy !