GATE - War of Two Worlds Part 1

V02 - Chapter 27 RM

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--- Fort Alnus ---

May 21st, 2025

Sharpe is currently at his desk, catching up on some office work. None of the wounds he had received during his time as a prisoner were serious, most of them were just superficial wounds. During his time as a Special Forces Operator, they were trained to have high endurance, being able to push on even if they were in bone-breaking pain. Still, it is not fun to allow yourself to get your ass kicked.

Thankfully, most of his work was already done, thanks to his team's Logistical Officer First Lieutenant Sarah Rose. Since becoming an officer in 2016, one of the most infuriating parts of his job is the bureaucratic side of the job. He usually pushes the work off for as long as he can or dumps it on Sarah. He feels bad doing that, but he cannot stand the work.

Since being assigned to the Ranger unit Vanguard-7, she has been a massive help in that department. Transferring to the Rangers was not an easy adjustment for him, but for some reason she went out of her way to assist him and take on that extra burden for him. He doesn't understand why but he has enjoyed that.

That is when he is drawn out of his thoughts by a pair of footsteps coming into his office, it is First Lieutenant Sarah Rose. "Hello First Lieutenant, enjoying the morning?"

"Hello Sir. I am having a good morning, thank you. I do wish that I had that second cup of coffee." Sarah said with her usual smile. "I have these report requests for you, and please call me Sarah or Rose when we're not formal."

He takes a breath and thinks on that. He knows that he usually mentions someone by their rank.

"More?" He said after hearing that, getting a little annoyed on how many reports the brass has been wanting. It does make sense for most of these requests though, since most of them are related to the Siege of Italica(1) and Battle of Valtris, the only other major engagement since we invaded.

Truth is, the Pentagon has no idea who the enemy is and how they fight. There was not a class at West Point teaching how to fight dragons, elves, defend against magic and slay Roman soldiers. Truth is, there is no play book for this kind of war, everyone is just making it up as they go.

The United States spends about eight hundred billion dollars a year in defense. That includes training soldiers, learning, adapting to what our enemies are doing and research and development. We built super complex systems to prepare for the next war but right now the military's best sources are fantasy books, films, and other shows. Most of the US's satellite guided weapons are nearly worthless in this world, at least until the US Space Force can build the infrastructure for that. NATO has found some workarounds like using drones for localized guidance or painting a target with a laser. But both are only so effective.

"Yeah. They want all the information possible," Sarah answered his question. "If you don't like it, you could have just let the city fall." Based on the short time she has gotten to know him; she knows he never would do that. She just does not understand why he is willing to take that risk.

"And let ten thousand be raped and murdered?" He replied in a distant tone as he thinks back on the battle.

He takes the paperwork from her and then begins to review them. "What is this?"

Sarah leans over, seeing what he is looking at. "That is a memo for tomorrow's training."

He skims the memo, looking for the important parts. The subject is about ancient Earth warfare. A few experts from America and Europe will be coming here to help train our officers on how they fought back in the day. It looks like it will be a two-day event. The training is a great idea, but this is going to push the other work back, more personal work.