Chapter 1: Nov. 27, 2018

Gus Dempsey is a soldier on leave, enjoying a nice day on the beach in Los Angeles. Or, he was, until he got a phone call from his brother. When Gus answered, his brother was talking too fast for him to understand. In the background, Gus could hear shouting.

"Zack, slow down, what are you trying to say?" Gus asked.

"Gus, the city is under attack!" His brother shouted.

Impossible! That was the first thing to pop-up in his mind. However, the fear in his brother's voice was more than enough to convince him it was true. Gus got to his feet and rushed to his car, while still listening to his brother.

"Mom and I were doing some early Christmas shopping when people started running and screaming. We ended up running along with everyone else. I can hear sirens and gunshots!" Zack cried. "What do we do?!"

"Listen to me, Zack. You and Mom need to keep moving. Hopefully, the police with do their best to protect civilians at least until the army arrives. Stay close to Mom and stay safe." Gus said, then the connection was lost.

"Damn it!" Gus shouted, then whispered, "Please, be safe."

During Gus's time in Afghanistan, he saw a lot of horrible things happen to people of all ages. That included children and babies. He remembered a woman clutching her little girl who had been almost torn apart by bullets. Gus prayed with everything he had that his brother and mother would be alright when this attack was over.

Once Gus got to his car, he immediately turned on the radio, hoping to find out more about what was happening. With any luck, this would turn out to be nothing more than a lunatic with a gun, not a new 9/11. Gus put the pedal to the metal as he drove.

"To anyone and everyone in the city of Los Angeles, the city is under attack. I repeat, Los Angeles is under attack!" The radio announcer said. "There are reports of armed men in armor attacking people on the streets, as well as strange flying creatures. Please remain in your homes. I repeat, please remain in your homes!"

"The hell?!" Gus exclaimed as he listened to the radio.

Gus was so distracted by the strange reports coming from the radio, he hit something with his car. After getting his pistol out of the car's glove compartment, Gus got out to see what he had hit. What he found was straight out of a fantasy novel. The monster had the body of a man, but the head of a pig. It was bleeding from multiple wounds and its neck was broken. Thanks to what Gus had experienced in Afghanistan, he was able to keep his breakfast in his stomach.

While this was weird and certainly needed investigating, Gus had his family to worry about. His car's engine was smoking and the front of it was wrecked, so Gus moved forward on foot.

He started running, but stopped when he saw a dragon in the sky. Yes, a dragon. This beast had blue scales, bat-like wings, a tail, clawed feet, and a snake-like head. On its back, Gus noticed a man dressed in armor riding it. Gus was so stunned by this creature, he did not realize there was a police helicopter with a machine gun mounted on it heading towards this dragon. Before long, it shot down the dragon.

"Holy-" Gus swore as the dragon crashed into the ground.

Then, the man who had been riding the dragon stood up and unsheathed a dagger at his belt. This man was also looking right at Gus with a murderous expression.

"Hey, easy there pal!" Gus said, leveling his pistol on the dragon rider.

The dragon rider shouted something in response that Gus could not understand. This was not good. If they could not communicate, things were likely to escalate. Sure enough, the dragon rider charged at Gus, who opened fire on him. After two shots, the dragon rider collapses to the ground a few feet from Gus. When Gus leaned over, he saw that the man was still breathing.

"Dude, when someone points a gun at you and tells you to stop, it's a good idea to listen to them." Gus said to him, then wondered why he was talking to someone who could not understand a word he was saying.

Odds were this man would not live much longer without treatment. However, Gus had neither the time nor the means to do that. His only option was to leave the dragonrider to his fate. After all, Gus still needed to make sure his family was safe.

Suddenly, Gus heard a loud noise. Once he listened carefully to it for a few seconds, he recognized it. This was the sound of an engine to certain army vehicle. Sure enough, half-a-dozen green, armored humvees drove by, with infantry right behind them. One of the humvees pulled up next to Gus. An officer -a captain, based on Gus's observation- stepped out of the vehicle, along with a private armed with an M16 assault rifle. Gus immediately did a salute.

"Who are you and what are you doing?" The captain asked.

"Private Gus Dempsey, sir." He replied, maintaining his salute. "I was on leave when this mess happened. I was heading to the Destiny USA Mall, to ensure my family's safety."

"And the Lancelot wannabe on the ground?" The captain inquired.

"He was riding that dragon over there," Gus pointed at the large reptilian corpse. "It was shot down by a police helicopter. After hitting the ground, he came at me and I was forced to open fire on him. I tried to tell him beforehand that it was a bad idea, but he did not understand me. From what I can tell, he is still breathing."

The officer looked from Gus, to the dragon corpse, to its rider. A moment later, he smiled.

"Well done, soldier. You kept your head in the middle of this medieval madness quite well."

The captain and Gus shook hands. "I am Captain James Smyth."

Captain Smyth turned to his private. "Get Johnson out here and have him treat our prisoners. And have someone get Private Dempsey a rifle and uniform!"

"Yes, sir." The soldier replied and obeyed.

The captain turned back to Dempsey.

"I hope you are ready for some more action because this Renaissance Fair is not over yet."

"Absolutely sir!" Gus said with enthusiasm. "But, if I may be so bold, sir, where did these guys come from?"

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that question. However, I know we, and the rest of the United States, will have plenty of time to figure that out once with have put and end to this attack." Captain Smyth replied. "So, let's do our job and protect the people of Los Angeles."

"Yes, sir!" Gus responded with even greater enthusiasm than before.

Earlier, in another world…

Scipio had been excited when the invasion he and the rest of the Imperial army started the invasion of the new world. A few days ago, the Saderan Empire discovered that their most sacred shrine, known as the Gate had began to open to another world. The scholars that lived on and studied the Gate, discovered this and immediately sent a message to the Imperial Capital, informing them of this. The Emperor, Molt Sol Augustus, believed that this doorway to another world had been opened to them by the gods, so they could conquer the other world. The rest of the Senate to agree with him and declare war. From Scipio overheard between the commanders of this expedition, they believed that the Emperor and his Senate simply wanted a war to expand the Saderan Empire's power. Against the might of the empire, the other worlders were certain to fall before long. That is what everyone thought.

At the time, Scipio did not really worry about the battle to come. Like everyone else, he had absolute faith in the strength of the Empire's military. Besides, he was not going to be on the frontlines, at least not at the start of the battle. He would be serving as General Goadsen's messenger. Running messages between the various commanders was a relatively safe duty. That was how it felt to Scipio, anyway.

His thoughts were on the other Gate, located in the Empire's neighbor, the Ragna Kingdom. Scipio had heard that they also possessed a Gate that given them a means to travel to another world. He wondered if they would meet each other on the other side at some point. The two countries ending up in conflict with each other was Scipio's greatest fear.

As they entered the Gate, Scipio silenced his thoughts. He needed to stay focused. When Scipio and the rest of the expeditionary force approached a bright light deep in the Gate, they closed their eyes for a moment. Scipio's horse was startled for a moment, but he quickly calmed her. Then, when they opened them, they saw what was clearly another world. The buildings around them were taller than Scipio had thought possible. A large crowd of people were there as well. All of them were dressed in peculiar clothing.

Before he knew it, the war horns sounded off and the archers let loose their arrows. It was not until the arrows hit their marks that the people began to run. The cavalry men went after them, demonstrating their might by striking some of them down, while capturing the others with net. Those who were captured would be used as hostages and slaves.

Scipio watched this and couldn't help but smile. The war was off to a great start.

Gus felt much better being in uniform with a rifle in hand. He had to change quickly in a gas station restroom. Wearing the uniform was a great comfort to Gus. When he wore it, he could feel that there was an army of guys fighting with him. Once changed, Gus got into the Humvee and they drove toward the fighting. Gus could hear the sound of guns blazing. A couple helicopters flew overhead, taking down those dragons. They were dropping like flies.

"Looks like dragons are no match for missiles and bullets." James commented with a smirk.

"Yes, sir." Gus said. "But I wonder what else these fantasy-to-reality guys have with them."

"Whatever they got, we will take them down." James replied.

Not a moment later, they reached the front lines. Gus got out of the Humvee, as did everyone else. The knights were losing their formation. Looks like they had figured out swords and arrows were not effective against guns and armored vehicles. They appeared to be retreating eastward. Due to the corpses blocking the road, infantry were pressing the assault. Gus and his new unit were among them. As they moved forward, James spoke to HQ on his walkie talkie. When he finished their conversation, he told the rest of them what they had learned.

"Looks like these guys are headed for some large gate-like structure." James explained. "And it was not in Los Angeles yesterday."

"So, is this gate-thing how they got here?" Gus asked.

"I definitely don't know, but our superiors want us to take the Gate intact. No one use grenades or anything else explosive once the Gate is in sight. Understood?" Captain James said.

"Yes sir." Gus and everyone else under James' command replied.

We are in hell, fighting an army of demons.

This is what was running through Scipio's mind right now. The start of the battle had been so easy, but now the mighty Saderan army was being decimated. Their enemies had strange weapons that made loud noises and made their men fall to the ground dead. The Imperial Armies wyverns had all already been killed. It had barely been a day and General Goadsen was ordering a retreat.

Scipio had been ordered to spread the word to everyone. Retreat back through the Gate. Scipio ran everywhere shouting this. He was relatively sure that half the Empire's forces had been eliminated.

What have we started here? Scipio thought. These powerful demons could destroy the Empire and all the other kingdoms of our world. Have we sealed our doom?

The streets of this otherworldly city were unfamiliar and confusing to Scipio. He decided that he should head back to the Gate now, otherwise he may not be able to find it. Then, he heard a loud, sharp sound which was followed by a horrible pain in his leg that made him fall to the ground. When Scipio looked up, he saw men in green clothing standing over him with strange staff pointed at him.

"Please, I beg you to spare my life!" Scipio screamed, not caring that it was cowardly.

The men in green spoke with one another. Scipio did not understand them and he realized they may not understand him. One of the men bent down and took his arm. There was a small prick, then the pain in his leg seemed to dull. Then, the same man took a look at Scipio's leg.

"Am I to be a prisoner?" Scipio asked.

Then, he remembered they did not speak the same language.