Gate: Thus the World Fought There

Chapter 8: Murder at Alnus

Itami's POV

(July 1, 2022)

"Now who in the hell gave you permission to pull this mission?" Hazama yelled at me.

"I got permission from the Empress herself," I responded.

"I don't care if they're our ally or not. You are under my jurisdiction! However, I can't really punish you for doing such a feat, so for now, you have a pay cut."

I thought of the worse to come but I figured he would do that. I walked outside of his office and Ramirez was outside.

"Tough man," he commented.

"Sure is. Sometimes I wish I was in your guy's army," I said.

"Allow the officers to take the initiative. Anyway, want a drink?"

"Sure."

We walked over to the refugee town near Alnus Hill. Yanagida and Delilah decided to take the responsibilities of the restaurant together. We walked in and grabbed a table. I asked Delilah to get us a cup of water.

"So, the Order of the Rose is safe and sound," he said.

"Yeah, how's the Italica base holding up?" I asked.

"Well, Italica is doing okay. The palace is a fortress at this point. Since I had some time off, I thought I would have a drink with you."

Delilah came back with cups.

"Thank you Delilah," I said.

I turned back to Ramirez.

"So, how do you think of the Special Region?" I asked.

"It's okay. I mean, the only big thing we worry about is the Russians but that's it," Ramirez commented.

Ramirez looked at his watch.

"Well, it's currently 1300 hours. I have to go soon," he said.

"Well, it was great to see you again," I responded.

"That reminds me."

Ramirez reached into a casual backpack and pulled out a manila folder.

"What is this?" I asked.

"The activity report for the mission. The best thing is minor damage to the MRAPs and no casualties to the team. However, the Order of the Rose doesn't seem too great," he said.

I looked at the medical files for each of them.

"Mental scarring," I read off of the paper.

"Yeah, if they see a gun, they freak out. I was working it out with the base commander at Italica. he said we're going to transfer them back to Alnus so they can get better aid," he explained.

"When are they supposed to come?"

"2100 hours on July 6th. We're currently arranging transportation details. We think that we're going to put them on the Blackhawks and move them here."

"What about the whole Russian part?"

"Well, if the Geneva Convention still holds, then they shouldn't shoot them down. These are Red Cross BlackHawks."

"That's the thing."

"What?"

"This isn't Earth. Most people are questioning if the rules of the Geneva Convention apply here."

"True that."

Ramirez took another manila folder from his backpack. I opened it and saw photos of another gate.