29Authors Note:
This is my first time writing a Fanfiction so please don't judge me too harshly. I have been reading a lot of GATE fanfictions recently and decided to try my hand at one. Any feedback will be appreciated, especially suggestions that could make the story or my writing better.
The premises of this story is that the GATE appeared in the middle of Times Square in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War. I thought that this would be an interesting premise for a GATE fanfiction. I have a lot of things I want to do with this story but am also open to ideas and suggestions. My favorite GATE fanfictions which include Operation Tiger Strike and Thus the UNDF fought there both have good character development. I will be trying to include that in this story as I believe it makes the fanfiction much more enjoyable to read. However, I have not tried to write a full story before, nor have I really written that many characters before. So, if anyone has any tips for me, they would be greatly appreciated. I will try and update the story as soon as possible but I do not have a set-in stone schedule. I am currently in my senior year of high school so sometimes I have lots of time and sometimes I have no free time. However, I do want to finish this story (everyone hates an unfinished story, especially me) and even if I haven't updated it for a long time, I will continue to write it.
Additionally, I am not in the military and don't know that much about ranks and such, but I will do some research on the subject and try my best. As with everything else, any suggestions would be great.
Thanks!
Disclaimer: I don't own GATE or any of its content just the stuff I made up for this story.
11:00 July 26th, 1967
Times Square, New York City
It was a warm sunny afternoon, a normal Saturday in Times Square. Hundreds of tourists meandered around, admiring the huge and flashy billboards filled with advertisements. While around them many native New Yorkers tried to get through the crowd in order to get to wherever they needed to be. Overall, it was just the normal hustle and bustle of the city.
But suddenly in the center of the square the air started to shimmer and out of nowhere a strange structure appeared. The first people to notice it let out a few cries, especially the ones who saw it appear out of thin air. Eventually everyone in the square had stopped whatever they were doing and turned their heads to stare at the strange structure.
"What the hell is that thing", someone finally yelled breaking the eerie silence in a strong Queens accent.
"It looks roman!", someone else yelled.
"Is it a movie set?", another tourist cried out. Yearning their head to possible see a movie star appear.
Unfortunately for everyone there weren't any celebrities. An ominous sound started to emanate from the strange structure. It sounded like marching footsteps, a lot of them.
At this point the structure had attracted the attention of a camera man who was on top of one of the nearby buildings filming the skyline and streets of New York for a new Hollywood movie. But the man decided that the capturing footage of the structure was worth the cost of the film and began to roll.
Suddenly a huge creature sped out of the structure and flew into the sky. Everyone who saw was amazed and mystified. It was a dragon, a creature whose place was in children's story books or bad Hollywood movies. Soon many more followed and as soon as they had assembled above, they started to dive onto the onlookers gathered in the square and slay them with their long spears.
By this point everyone in Times Square was running for their lives as dragons, more specifically their riders, started to massacre people.
One man ran to the nearest payphone and dialed the number for the police. He screamed into the handset, "I'M IN TIMES SQUARE, YOU NEED TO SEND THE POLICE, THE MILITRARY, ANYONE!"
"Sir, sir, please calm down what is happening?", asked the officer.
"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, everyone here is being slaughtered by what I could only call dragons! You need to get the military down there and kill these bastards!", yelled the man.
"Dragon's sir? Hang up this line, this is for real emergencies", said the operator in an annoyed tone.
But before the officer could slam the phone back down and end the outrageous call, he heard the man yell, "NO, NO, I'M SERIOUS. THEY HAVE ALREADY KILLED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HERE! WAIT NO, NO". And with those last words the line went silent, leaving the operator to hear only screams and yelling.
Soon many more calls would start flooding in.
In the midst of all the carnage and destruction the imperial army started to pour out of the strange structure.
11:30 June 26th, 1967
Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts
A few pilots at Westover Air Base were having their lunch. They had all just gotten back from a rotation in South Vietnam and were reminiscing about the fights that they had had.
"Joker you remember that time when Duck got spiked (radar locked) by that boggy and he almost had a heart attack", asked Dice.
"Yea that was fucking hilarious", laughed Joker, "He sounded like he was about two seconds away from punching-out (ejecting) of a perfectly good airplane".
"Well, it isn't so funny when you're the one getting spiked by a MiG", muttered Duck. "Anyways I got my act together after that. I almost had my first kill that day of the Aim-7 wouldn't have malfunctioned".
"Yea right", said Pyro as he rolled his eyes, "If we hadn't had been there you wouldn't be sitting here right now. You either dead in a rusting wreak in the jungle or in a North Vietnamese prison camp".
"I think that was the day you got your callsign, wasn't it Duck?", asked Dice laughing.
"Yea, and I still hate it. I was not a sitting duck up there I had it all under control", relied Duck angrily.
As he said this everyone burst into laughter as if what Duck had just said was the funniest thing ever said. In response Duck said, "I really hate you guys sometimes". This comment however just made everyone laugh even more.
Settling down everyone went back to their shitty Air Force mess hall food. And just as everyone was starting to finish up the bases alarm started to blare. Everyone at the table shot up, running to grab their gear and hop in their jets. Duck was running so fast that he tripped on the doorframe as he sprinted out of the mess hall and landed flat on his face. If it had been any other occasion the other pilots would have given him shit for it but right then there was no time for games. Many thoughts ran through everyone's minds, some thought about their families while some only thought of the mission. But no one had any time to dilly dally as they all sprinted to the hangers. They might only have minutes before a Soviet ICBM would wipe the base out and they had to act fast.
When they all reached their planes, they jumped in and started going through the pre-flight checklist. When going through these checks they were told their mission over the radio. An unknown enemy had attacked New York and had some sort of air cover. They were informed that the Air Force did not know exactly what they would be shooting down, but they were all authorized to kill anything they saw above the city.
"Dice what do you think the bogies are?", asked Joker.
"I don't know", relied Joker, "I really hope that they aren't Russians though. I have tickets to the movies tonight with a really hot chick and I do not want that ruined by thermonuclear war".
Hearing this Pyro replied, "Same it would be a real shame to see the neighborhood engulfed in a miniature sun. It would really fuck with the property values".
Laughing at Pyro's morbid joke all of the pilots taxied their F4E phantom II's onto the tarmac. As they lined up on the runway, they speculated that the Soviets could have developed a new kind of vertical take-off aircraft and hidden them on ships docked near New York. Of course, they all hoped that that bet was wrong as that would mean war. At least so far NORAD had not detected any missiles or bombers with their early warning radars in Canada. Taking off they all saw the bomber crews scrambling around their b52's preparing for the worst-case scenario.
A few minutes later they had all formed up above the airbase. As they turned their planes to the direction of New York City Pyro said, "Aww yea, here comes my favorite part of this job". As he said that he pushed the F4's throttle up all the way engaging the afterburners on the GE J79 jet engines. Everyone else in the squad followed Pyro's example and pushed their throttles to the max. They climbed up to the F4's optimal altitude for Mach 2 flight and speed towards New York loaded to the teeth with missiles.
11:45 June 26th, 1967
Fort Devens, Massachusetts
In the base's barracks John was enjoying himself a little time to himself. The lieutenant colonel had given the entire battalion the weekend off because they were going to be deploying to Vietnam next week. The colonel believed that everyone deserved so rest and relaxation before they were shipped off. John didn't mind that one bit; he had gotten off-base pass for Sunday and was looking forward to finding a special someone in a local bar to enjoy the night with before he was shipped off to hell. Also, in his barracks there was the rest of his squad. They were following his example and lounging in their bunks, some sleeping, others were reading or chatting among themselves. John personally was just enjoying the cool breeze that the AC had created, knowing that he would be dying in the heat of the jungle within a week.
After hearing a commotion in the corner, he looked up and saw Robert getting beat on by Gary. With the shouting between the two it was obvious that Robert had been cheating at whatever they were playing.
"Yo, you two knock it off before an officer other comes in here and busts you", he yells.
"I didn't start it", says Robert as he starts to argue.
"Yea, you did. You were cheating the whole time, now give me my 5 dollars back before I take it from you", grumbles Gary.
"Robert! Give Gary him his money back", he yells as he looks at Robert. Shifting his gaze to Gary he remarks, "Gary you got to stop playing with that asshole, you know he cheats every single time. Next time you bet with him I'm not bailing you out".
Robert gives Gary his money back grumbling the entire time. After, they both then walk back to their respective bunks and start giving each other the evil eye. Now fully awake he looks around to see what the rest of his squad was doing. In the back of the barracks, he sees Geroge one of his machine gunners lifting weights like he always is in his free time. Next to him he sees Mark the other machine gunner in his squad, and George's buddy, paging through a Sears catalogue while spotting for Geroge. On the other side of the building, he sees Michael, his grenadier listing to a radio that he has pressed against his head. Even though Michael is obviously trying to keep the volume down he can still hear it faintly from across the room. Sitting at the table that Robert and Gary were just playing at he sees Doug, obviously still trying to figure out what just happened between the two. Bruce as always is in his bunk studying a medical journal of some kind. As the team medic he is happy that Bruce takes his job seriously but still doubts that Bruce will ever get into medical school. And in the middle of the room both Jerry, the radioman, and Paul are passed out on their bunks.
Thinking to himself about their upcoming deployment, he still can't believe that his battalion, part of the newly formed 2nd cavalry (airborne) division, would be deploying within a week. He still felt nervous about being a staff sergeant and being a leader of the 9 other men in the barracks with him. But he would have to get used to that fact as a squad leader.
The 2nd cavalry division had been formed in 1966 after the 1st cavalry division had shown its worth in Vietnam. Their quick response time and brutal efficiency with their helicopters had convinced the top brass to establish the 2nd cavalry. They hoped that more helicopter mobile troops would help turn the tide of the war to the USA's favor.
Just as he fell back asleep the sound of the bases alarm woke John up. Not knowing what was going on and still half-asleep he quickly got dressed and headed out of the barracks to find his commanding officer Frank. Finding him in the hanger near the Huey's he asked, "What the hell is happening Frank?"
"To be honest I don't know John, all I know is that someone is attacking New York and we are the ones able to get there the fastest. Grab you gear and find your squad, we are heading out in 10", explained Frank. As he started to walk towards the hanger, he turned beck and said, "Oh, John I forgot to add, get your shit together, your shirt is on backwards".
Running back to the barracks while turning his t-shirt around he burst through the barracks doors and yelled, "Everyone get your shit together New York is under attack from an unknown enemy force, and we are heading out in 10 minutes".
Everyone in the barracks started at him, thinking it was a sick joke at first. But as he stood in the doorway not saying anything, everyone realized he was serious. In an instant the barrack was filled with bodies throwing on clothes, putting on boots and grabbing their weapons. Soon everyone had their gear and ran out to the armory to get ammo, grenades, and anything else they would need for combat. Eventually they made their way to the tarmac where the Huey's were loaded up with supplied and starting to spin up their blades. Frank looking over at him yells, "took you long enough the rest of the platoon was here 2 minutes ago".
Responding to Franks comment he says, "I came as fast as I could, I'm still here 2 minutes before you said to be".
Frank, giving him a smirk, jumps onto a helicopter and tells the rest of the platoon to do the same. Soon enough all the Huey's were off the ground and making their way towards New York.
Over the radio he hears the battalion's commander filling everyone in on the details of the attack. "We don't know exactly what is going on in the city. All we know is that an enemy force appeared in Times Square and is currently rampaging through the city, killing Americans on American soil. And it is our duty to stop them. Now, I am not trusting much of the information that has been coming out of New York as it seems outrageous and conflicting. Many are saying that the attackers are the roman army, but others say that there are medieval knights".
Robert leaning over to him whispers, "What stuff has the lieutenant colonel been doing? Because I want some".
"Shut up and get serious Robert, did you not just hear that enemies are killing people in New York?", he says angrily.
"Hey, I was just making a joke sergeant", says Robert, "No need to blow up on me".
"Yea well make jokes when Americans aren't dying next time", he says.
On the other side of the helicopter Doug says, "I wonder what enemy is stupid enough to attack US soil?"
"I don't know Doug, all I know is that they are going to regret that decision", he says in a serious tone.
12:00 June 26th, 1967
Times Square, New York City
The scene in Times Square was straight out of a horror movie. The camera operator had watched the destruction unfold before him as he filmed documented it. It started out with the dragons and their riders butchering everyone in the square. However, after the dragon riders had finished off most of the people in the square an entire army had started to pour out of the strange Roman structure. However, this was not a conventional army like most people would have expected, this army was straight from the pages of history. The army was made up of what looked like medieval knight's and roman foot soldiers. Surprisingly the operator also saw mythical beings thought to only exist in books and movies. As soon as the army had appeared the knights started to chase down and kill anyone who remained in Times Square. Soon the operator saw some soldiers setting up what looked to be a big white tent, possibly the invaders headquarters. As soon as the soldiers finished setting up the tent and carrying various things into it the camera man saw multiple men dressed in expensive looking clothing and armor dismount from beautiful white horses. He obviously had missed them coming through the strange structure when he had been watching the tent get set up. After they had all dismounted, they all walked into the tent. Not long after, many of the soldiers who had been pouring out of the gate started to form into large groups and headed out into the city in different directions.
After about 20 minutes some of the soldiers that had ventured out into the city started to come back to the square. Horrifyingly, many of them were leading large groups of people tied up with ropes to large pens that had been hastily constructed. Not long after many were led into the strange structure their hands bound together with rope, being pulled by the soldiers. Although some women were not that lucky, to his horror he saw multiple women stripped naked and raped by the soldiers. The camera man debated, turning off the camera, but he decided that the world needed to see this barbaric attack in its entirety.
12:15 June 26th, 1967
Times Square, New York
Colt Formal was not one who wanted to go to war. He had been forced by emperor Molt to accompany the invasion force alongside his city's troops. As the Colt walked up to the gate, he shuddered at the thought of what would have happened to his city and daughter if he had refused. Thinking to himself, "I made the right decision, the only decision I could have made. It doesn't matter if I hate this, it's all to protect my people and my daughter.
As he continued up the hill the Colt couldn't help but marvel at the forces that the Empire had assembled at the foot of Alnus Hill. This morning there had been 30,000 of the Empires finest troops assembled at the bottom of the hill, ready to invade the other world. These troops included 2000 knights and 20,000 of the Empires finest legionnaires. Making up the rest of the Empires forces were demi-humans, some enslaved by the empire like the Ogres and Orcs. Others were paid mercenaries in the Empires invasion force like the trolls, dwarfs, and dark elves. Scattered in with the legions there were also a few powerful mages, they were there to protect their respective legions from any enemy attack. To top off this impressive army there were about 75 Wyvern's along with their riders.
The Wyverns were the first through the gate followed closely behind by the knights. The Wyverns would kill anyone gathered around the gate and the knights would finish them off. Later, the Wyverns would act as scouts relaying points of interest to the generals so the Empire could attack and capture them. After the initial force of Wyverns and knights, the legions of foot soldiers would be next through the Gate. At this point the Colt, along with the other generals of the invasion force, would also make the journey through the gate. However, the Colt's own soldiers would act as guards for the gate and headquarters while the other soldiers would venture off to claim riches and glory. This was fine with him as he didn't want his soldiers pillaging, raping, or enslaving anyone anyways.
He was apprehensive as he marched through the gate, the air was colder, and the tunnel was darker than he imagined. The Empire had believed the gate's appearance to be a blessing by the Gods to invade whatever land lied on the other side. But Formal knew better, he had to steady himself as he walked through the dark, damp, and cold tunnel. He secretly hoped they would find a barren land on the other side, a desert devoid of life, so he could convince General Marcus El Rona to let him, and his soldiers go back to Italica. Unfortunately, a barren desert was not what awaited the Colt on the other side.
When he stepped out into the warm July air the Colt had no words. He was surrounded by huge buildings that reached into the heavens. They were covered in what he could only describe as bright luminous glass bulbs and colorful paintings with strange script all over them. As he looked around more, he saw countless dead bodies scattered across the plaza. "Unfortunate", he thought to himself. He never liked how the Empire did things, it was painfully obvious that none of the people lying dead on the ground were soldiers. He saw no reason why they needed to be slaughtered. But unfortunately, that was what emperor Molt had ordered. Anyone found on the other side of the gate was to be killed or taken as slaves and concubines. And any government, if it existed, would be given a chance to surrender to the empire or be destroyed.
As the Count looked around once more, he saw even taller structures in the distance. Shifting his gaze back to the ground level he saw numerous metal carriages all around the square. The strange thing was that he could not see any horse's, either dead on the street or alive. Unfortunately, without examining them further he could only guess the purpose or function of the metal carriages, and he had no time to do that. However, even stranger to him was the surface that they were all standing on. It was a smooth black surface, reaching down he felt that it was smoot and warm. What surprised him the most about the surface was the lack of gaps between stones. The black surface looked as if it had been poured on the ground, completely covering it in its smooth black embrace. But as that thought crossed his mind the count chuckled, "what am I thinking you can't possibly pour a stone on the ground and have it solidify into hard surface like this". If the soldiers captured any craftsmen, he would have to remember to ask them how they did it, he could see many uses in Italica for such a paving method. Overall, he was amazed, from what he had already seen he had decided that the people of this world were amazing craftsmen and builders.
Ending his trance, he walked over to General Marcus and stated saying, "These buildings are magnificent, they must be skilled builders and metal workers to create such things." Glancing back up at the skyscrapers, he also noticed the abundance of glass on them. "They must also be wealthy judging by the amount of glass used on some of these buildings".
General Marcus only chuckled, "Great builders they might be, but fighters they are not. They run in fear and almost no one has fought back. Only a few men dressed in blue wielding strange metal instruments tried to stand up to our army. But they only killed a few legionnaires before they were slain".
"But imagine the military they might possess if they can build such magnificent buildings and have such wealth", he rebutted, "I shake at the mere thought of it".
Laughing, General Marcus replied, "Well if they have a military, they have not shown themselves yet and must be a group of cowards. The people of this world will bow to our might in no time".
As soon as General Marcus had finished his statement a Wyvern rider above them burst into a ball of flames and body parts. Soon after a metal bird traveled at an unimaginable speed flew overhead.
"Well, I think that they have arrived", the Count said coldly, "I think that the empire has made a grave mistake".
12:15 June 26th, 1967
Above Times Square, New York City
It had been a glorious day so far for Cicero. He was given the honor of being the first Imperial soldier through the Gate and was given the duty to lead the rest of the Wyvern through. As soon as they passed through the Gate, he and his riders saw a plaza full of helpless people who they mercilessly killed. Everyone they cut down was weak, no one stood up and accepted their fate. Instead, they all ran away like cowards screaming and crying as they were slaughtered. After his riders had finished clearing out the plaza, they were given orders by the General's to scout out enemy strongholds and important locations to capture.
"Cicero how have these people built such a great city but are so weak? Where is their military? Where is their fight", asked on of Cieros men as he flew alongside him.
"I don't know maybe they are a vassal? Or maybe they have been at peace for too long. All I know is that this has been the easier conquest I have ever had the pleasure of being on. Much easier to kill these people than those warrior bunnies", he replied.
"Maybe the battle will be over soon. Our forces are advancing on that governmental building we reported before, the one with the strange symbols all over it", said another rider.
"Ah yes I remember that building. It was the one with the olive branches wrapping around a globe symbol all over it". He was now laughing as he said, "I don't think I have seen weaker politicians. They all scattered like rats as soon as we got close. Hopefully our forces capture the building soon and bring this city to its knees".
"All I know is that I am going to look forward to trying out a few of these women, they look so clean and vibrant", said another one of the riders.
They all laughed as they started to list all of the things, they would do to any lady's they found. Some wanted to claim personal concubines while others said they would be looting some of these buildings later as they must contain untold riches. But just as he was about to tell everyone to split up and continue the search for fortresses and castles the world started to erupt around him. Suddenly two of his riders exploded into a ball of flames. Seeing this horrific sight everyone gasped in horror and started to look for where the attack had come from. But then two more Wyverns and their riders exploded into a rain of blood and gore.
Looking around himself carefully he saw what he could only describe as flaming arrows heading towards his riders at unimaginable speed. "Spread out riders, they are shooting large arrows or ballista of some sort at us! Take evasive maneuvers and avoid them", he yelled out.
But to his horror he saw the arrows change their path and continue to fly towards the riders who were now weaving and dodging for their lives. Suddenly four more of his comrades exploded with brilliant flashes of light and sound. Right after a large shape speed past their formation, it looked like a beast but he could have sworn its skin was metal.
"Are these the otherworlders war beasts?", cried out one of the riders.
"It can't be! There is nothing faster than a Wyvern", he yelled out, "it must be some sort of magic, their arrows seem to follow us wherever we go!".
Not knowing what to do he started to panic. How could he defeat these beasts, they were so unimaginably fast! As he was trying to come up with a tactic, he saw one of the metal beasts dive down its snout aimed directly at him. In a panic he tried to speed away from the demon, but it just followed closely behind him. Strangely it almost seemed curious about him, maybe not knowing what he was. But just as soon as he thought the beast would spare him, he heard its terrible roar. At the same time, he felt a terrible pain in his chest and as he looked down, he saw himself bleeding from multiple holes in his chest. That is when he realized that he was falling out of the sky, the beast must have killed his Wyvern. Now in a free fall he looked above himself one last time as the world started to fade to black. The last thing he saw was the beast speed past overhead a loud roar coming from it's behind.
12:15 June 26th, 1967
Above Times Square, New York City
"What the FUCK are those", yelled Duck over the radio.
The same question was on all their minds as they neared the city. They all saw what looked like dragons in the distance.
"I have no fucking clue, maybe some monster created in a fucked-up research lab", relied Pyro, "All I know is that we have orders to engage targets over the city and that is exactly what I am going to do".
"You guys know who ever shoots one of those down first goes down in the history books", Dice jokes, "The first pilot to shoot down a mythical creature!".
"Everyone cut the chatter and focus on the mission", said Joker slipping into his usual no-nonsense attitude.
'Why do you have to be such a buzzkill all the time", asked Dice as he locked onto his first target with the F4's radar.
With a few chuckles over the radio both Dice and Joker got a radar lock on two of the creatures. "Fox 3 away", said Duck and Joker at the same time as they both launched an Aim-7. After about a minute they saw two explosions erupt in the middle of the group of dragons. Not wasting any time at all Dice and Duck both launched an Aim-7 at two more of the dragons.
"Wow are they just going to sit there?", exclaimed Duck over the radio
"Maybe. Who knows maybe we encountered some retarded dragons", jokes Dice, "If so, this is going to be the easiest mission we have ever been on".
But just as Dice finished his sentence the targets started to scramble and spread out. "You just had to jinx us didn't you Duck", said Pyro as he let out a huff, "This is going to be a pain in the ass, just look at how many of them there are. I don't think we have enough missiles for them all".
"That's just what I wanted to hear", replied Joker, "I have been wanting to try out this m61 cannon for a while on some real targets".
"Yea it is time for a real dogfight, dragon to phantom", joked Dice.
"Still can't believe those are real fucking dragons", said Duck.
"Doesn't matter that they are dragons", relied Pyro, "Just pretend they are Migs that can't shoot you down Duck".
"I don't know about that, what if they try and eat the plane", said Duck in a worried voice.
"Well don't let them get close enough for that", replied Joker in an annoyed tone.
"Yea stop being such a pussy and get in there", said Dice, "I know that I am going in for a closer look". Right after that Dice pulled his F4 into a dive zeroing in on one of the dragons. Evidently the dragon saw him and started to fly away from him, unfortunately for the dragon it was no match for the F4's speed.
As Dice got closer he let out a gasp and yelled, "HOLY SHIT, there are people riding these dragons".
"Dice what the fuck have you been smoking in your free time, there is no way there are people on these things", joked Pyro.
"Doesn't matter if the dragons have riders or not", said Joker, "stop playing with your food Dice and kill the thing already".
"All right fine", relied Dice as he let a short burst from his m61 fly towards the dragon in front of him. In seconds the dragon was dead and its rider was in a free fall towards the ground.
"dam that cannon does work", said Dice impressed by the new m61's.
"Alright guys let's mop these assholes up", said Joker, "The 2nd Cavalry division is on its way and I want the LZ to be clear of hostile air targets for them".