GATE: Charge of the Eagles

Chapter 1: Para Bellum

12th June, 2026
09:00 Hours
Marszałkowska Street, Warsaw

People said that World War Three would turn the world into an irradiated hellscape. Even Einstein himself said, "I know not with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones." Yet despite all this, World War III wasn't as people said it was. They were all wrong. Instead, what was thought to be a conflict that would last for years, or minutes, only lasted for two short years, with NATO forces eventually marching on Russia's capital. This ended the war, but not for Russia, as soon after V-R Day was announced, the entire nation fell apart into civil conflict.

Poland was one of the few lucky ones to exit the war unscathed. Some nations like Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania were hit pretty hard, and so Marszałkowska Street was filled with humanitarian personnel from time to time. It was here, that a few months ago, Polish and NATO troops marched in victory, celebrations were underway, and people were happier than they ever were. Although for one man, these celebrations were meaningless, as it cost him his father, three brothers, and a portion of his extended family.

Jaroslaw "Yarek" Fabian, a Lieutenant in the Polish Land Forces, was currently on well-deserved leave. After a Polish newspaper used the image of him and other soldiers raising the Polish flag above the Kremlin, it gave him enough points in Poland's equivalent to the Adjusted Service Rating Score to return home. The battle for Moscow was bloody, vicious, and particularly haunting for some, and due to this, most of the wartime soldiers in the 2nd Mechanized Legions Brigade left the army after everything died down. Not Yarek, though, as to him, his country still needs the service of able-bodied men and women, and a few wounds and leave won't stop him. Since he just recently left the headquarters of the 2nd MLB, and headed to Warsaw to visit remaining family members, he still wore his dress uniform.

It was peaceful, really. Despite the fact that only nine months ago Russian paratroopers dropped on this very street, some buildings still bore the markings of battle, yet relatively unscathed. A few minutes after, the waitress brought him his coffee. He thanked her, and after drinking half of it, he set it down, just enjoying the peace and quiet. Looking outside, his eyes paused on some kind of shimmering out of the corner of the window. Curiosity got the better of him, so he got up and looked outside. He couldn't make it out just yet, but for a second, he thought he could hear a screech from its direction. He cautiously walked outside, the structure in full view now. It had an appearance like a mausoleum, and the gleam reminded him of something akin to gasoline in water.

Suddenly, as if someone was switching channels, the entire structure now took on a solid appearance. It was tall, and as he looked towards the center of it, his eyes got lost in the darkness. He walked back inside, finished the coffee, and walked outside, walking to the other side of the street, his eyes still glued to the building. For a split second, he swore he could hear a loud screech and roaring come from the depths of it, and silhouettes of people come from the deepest reaches of it. He wasn't the only one paying attention to it, as passerby also stopped and stared at it like deer in headlights.

Then, all hell broke loose. It started with a screech, which suddenly grew louder and louder, and soon, a dragon-like creature flew out of the darkness. It gained altitude and dove down on the crowd of civilians. The creature tore into the civilians, taking down multiple men and women, including two children. Due to the bloody display, multiple people were paralyzed in fear. Realizing what was going on, Yarek immediately ran towards the civilians that were closest to the bloody mess. Soon after, the sound of hooves on concrete echoed through the street, and columns of men and horses appeared. Behind them, stout, pig creatures walked out, and hordes of archers took position in front. The archers fired a hail of arrows, and some deadly projectiles soon found their targets. In this initial push, 13 civilians were killed, and 24 were seriously wounded.