Gate: Thus the World Fought There

Operation Storm

(August 23, 2022)

The Russian Offensive has been stopped and the Japanese-American Coalition forces are starting to roll back the Russian war machine. Now, it's time to make the first offensive move.

"So what's with the whole thing about mine and your squad Itami?" Ramirez questioned.

"We're splitting up for now. The brass doesn't think we need a deep recon force anymore," He responded.

"So what do you plan to do?"

"I don't know, we got the green light for a short rest period. Might read some manga and watch some anime. You?"

"Some of our team was originally part of the Rangers so I guess we report back to them. You take it easy and we'll see each other again someday."

"Some other day."

Itami extended his hand towards Ramirez. They shook each other's hands and parted ways.

(Corporal Ashley)

1730 hours

"At 1900 hours local time, we are tasked with taking over this key city from the Russians," Ramirez briefed, "All we have to do is take over this one building."

I glanced at the paper map of the target city. The city was a lot larger than the previous one we went to.

"But how are we supposed to take a whole city by ourselves?" I asked.

Ramirez pointed at a nearby electronic board. A small yellow-red blob was near the town's location.

"This is storm Hotel Bravo 141, we'll be using it as cover," he responded.

"And it's just us?" Anderson queried, " I mean, even with all ten of us in here, I highly doubt we could take the city."

"We have a handful of Army Rangers joining us," Cori assured everyone.

"However, it is imperative that we stay quiet for as long as possible." Ramirez added, "These Russians don't expect us to attack, let's keep it that way. We Clear?"

"Aye," everyone acknowledged.

Ramirez ordered, "Okay, everyone to the MRAPs, we egress at 1800 hours."

(1900 hours at the City of Voyklia)

I could feel the rain rolling down on my back. I huddled next to a small tree near the assembly point.

"We're green Ramirez," one of the Rangers mentioned.

I watched him flick a cigarette away and crush it with his foot. Everyone checked their equipment before converging.

"NODs down and make sure your PEQ boxes are working," he instructed, "Jason, Anderson, you're on overwatch. Everyone else, move to the target building as fast and quiet as possible."

Everyone gingerly rappelled from the cliff edge to the outer walls of the city.

A voice crackled in my headset, "Once we secured the building, we'll call for reinforcements from the 22nd Infantry Division. The code phrase is Lone Star."

I looked up from the cliff and saw a laser pointing at a large building at the end of the road. The building was fortified and lit up like a Christmas tree. No humans nor humanoid-creatures roamed the streets.

A ranger advised, "The bastion's brightly lit, we need to find a blind spot somewhere."

A small shadow coalesced behind one of the Rangers.

"Shit, behind you Cori," I pointed out.

He turned around and accidentally smacked the butt of his M249 into the shadow's gut. The shadow collapsed onto the dirt path near us. The shadow started to speak in a language unknown to me. Then, a familiar voice spoke in the same language. Everyone gaped at Ramirez who knew the native language around here. He trotted to the shadow and offered his hand.

"Can you explain this...sir?" Cori stated in confusion.

"She said to follow her to a blind spot in the fort," Ramirez responded.

We followed each other to a small house. Inside, a cat-human person removed a nearby rug to expose a ladder.

Ramirez assured us, "This tunnel leads us into the base. I want you to take point," he pointed at me.

I nodded and got onto the ladder. It was around 2030 hours when we finally breached the base and the rain calmed down. The inside of the base was brighter than day, so trying to be sneaky was unlikely. We sent a small team to take over the generator truck powering the entire base.

"We've gained control," Cori addressed over the radio.

"Rog'. Put these guys in the dark," Ramirez ordered.

"Killing power."

The lights of the base shut off at once. Disgruntled Russian words filled the air.

"Nice and easy guys, take over the base," Ramirez ordered.

We split up into three-man teams. The use of weapons was of last resort so using knives was the best bet. Soon enough, the base was taken over with no one noticing. We reached the office of the base commander. I noticed muffled Russian coming from the other side. I motioned everyone to wait while I listened to the conversation.

"Retreat?" the commander spoke, "But this city is key...What?...You want to condense all of our forces to the Gate?... But what about everything else here?...Okay..."

A beep ended the call. I backed away from the door and gave Travis an okay sign. He stood in front of the door with his M1014 and prepared to breach it. Ramirez gave the final thumbs up to use the gun. Travis attached the breacher device to the end of the shotgun and placed the end of the barrel at one of the door hinges.

"Breaching," he spoke over the radio.

He hastily shot out all three door hinges, causing the door to fall. The Russian Commander looked back at us in confusion.

"Hands where I can see them," I shouted in Russian.

The CO raised his hands in the air. 

Ramirez ordered, "Secure him."

I head over to the radio set near him. I changed the frequency to the 22nd and spoke, "Lone Star."

There was a moment of silence before...

"Texas...All right, boys, Voylika is secured."

When dawn started to break, the first American tank rolled into the city. The town rejoiced at the mere sight of the American convoy. The Russian Officer was transferred over to Alnus Hill.

"Maybe that girl can finally beat the living daylights out of someone," I thought.

I can't be thinking of things like that right now. For now, we have to help the city get back on its feet.