Cameras flashed as a tall Russian man was questioned by reporters.

"President Malikov, what are your thoughts about the recent attack on Ginza?" Korney Malikov, President of the Russian Federation, considered the reporter's question for a moment.

"Russia gives its heart out to the Japanese people in this horrific attack. We may not be the closest of friends, but no act of barbarity can go unpunished and we wish them the best in their future endeavors," his response was received by furious scribbling and a couple of nods from the room. Another reporter raised her hand and the Russian President nodded at her.

"President Malikov, has the Russian government sent any aid to Japan?"

"As of the moment, Russia has yet to send aid to the Japanese government. However, if they should request any, we will be glad to provide them with it," the relatively young president spoke firmly.

Another reporter stood and asked him a question, "Was the recent terror attack in the town of Novinka in any way related to the Ginza Incident? Does the Russian Federation have a gate of their own?"

"This is ridiculous, the recent attack in Novinka was the result of a dangerous cult and was in no way related to what happened in Ginza. The government is not aware of any gates in Russia, reports that say otherwise are false. No more questions," with that Malikov began to exit the room.

The reporter wouldn't give up, "Why has there been an increased military presence in the area? Why was the area declared an exclusion zone?!" it was too late though, Malikov was gone.

Sergeant Viktor Statnik sat inside his squad's BTR-82A as it rumbled down the road. They were heading to Novinka where they were told they'd be protecting the town from the cult that had previously attacked. Last week, news outlets had reported gunfire coming from the small town, the government was quick to assert it as a terror cult. Apparently the town was still at risk of further attacks and so more forces were needed to prevent them. Viktor didn't believe this excuse for a minute.

According to the government, the terrorists had been dealt with by local police. So why were they sending the military? And even if the threat was that great, an entire motorized rifle brigade seemed like complete overkill. Beyond that, the entire cult excuse was awfully suspicious to Viktor. Novinka was a small town in the Leningrad Oblast, surely any cult activity would take place in the more largely populated city of Saint Petersburg.

There was one last thing. Before they'd been sent out, the soldiers had been given brand new Ratnik equipment. While Viktor knew the Russian Ground Forces were being given modernized equipment, they hadn't expected this for at least another year or so. Their old AK-74Ms were replaced by new AK-12s. New uniforms, armored vests, helmets, and communications systems had been handed out to the brigade. This was not the sort of stuff you sent to deal with domestic terrorists.

It was all making his head spin.

To add onto all of this, the world was in shock. Ginza, Japan had been been attacked by soldiers taken straight out of a history book. Now the Prime Minister of Japan was talking about an alternate world with fantasy creatures and also invading said alternate world. After decades of peace, Japan went to war again. Only this time it was against monsters and Romans.

Viktor had to get his head together. A jumbled mind led to bad decisions and quick mistakes, as squad leader he couldn't let that happen. His eight man squad relied on him being a capable leader.

Shaking his head, Viktor looked around the BTR. Most of his men were either sleeping or deep in thought like he just was. One of them, his second in command Demian Muratov, made eye contact.

"Sergeant, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course Demian, anything you wish," he backed up his response with a reassuring smile.

"Well Viktor," there was a hint of hesitance in his voice, "do you think we'll see combat finally?"

Viktor thought on the question. None of their squad members had seen action in any of the recent conflicts in Ukraine, Syria or the Caucasus. Because of this there was strong wish in all of them, even Viktor, to get some experience. Unlike many soldiers of the Russian Federation, they were volunteers, not conscripts.

He finally came up with a suitable answer, "Perhaps we'll get a chance at fighting, but I wouldn't bet any rubles on it."

The BTR suddenly lurched to a stop, they'd arrived at their destination.

"Everyone one up!" Viktor's yell woke anyone that hadn't been awake from the sudden stop, "Move, move, move!"

The squad scrambled out of their seats and out the BTR's hatches. Viktor was the last to go and he was greeted by the sight of an empty town being flooded by fellow Russian soldiers. Checking to make sure he had all his equipment, Viktor signaled for his squad to follow him and started jogging to the center of town with the other squads.

The town was completely void of any civilians and there were no signs of the damage that would have come with a terror attack. They definitely didn't tell us the truth when coming here.

As they came to the town center, Viktor spotted a strange building. It was unlike any Russian building he'd seen, marble pillars with blue crystals embedded in them, it almost looked like Greek or Roman architecture. It suddenly clicked for Viktor. Their commander confirmed it for him.

"Soldiers of the Russian Federation!" Major General Marka Rozovsky's voice boomed out of a loudspeaker, "Approximately one week ago, Russia was attacked by an enemy similar to the one seen in Ginza. In order to contain panic, the government declared it to be minor domestic terrorism. But make no mistake, these were bloodthirsty monsters who sought our motherland's destruction!"

There was a pause as the Major General regained his posture. Many of the soldiers spoke to each other in hushed whispers.

Rozovsky continued, "You soldiers are hereby assembled as the 16th Motor Rifle Brigade. This brigade is to be tasked with the exploration of this new land and the discover of those responsible for attacks on Russian soil. We cannot let this attack go unpunished."

Murmurs of agreement spread throughout the crowd of soldiers.

"Spetsnaz operatives have conducted reconnaissance of the other side. They confirm what we had assumed. This is a completely new world, satellite communication is unresponsive, the existences of monstrous creatures has been confirmed, and an army is assembled ready to conduct a second attack."

He cleared his throat then began once more, "They have also confirmed…" Rozovsky's voice wavered and he cleared his throat a second time, "They have also confirmed that these invaders have taken a significant portion of Novinka's civilian population as slaves."

Shouts of outrage came from the soldiers. There was significant hate brewing for these invaders. Viktor found himself similarly growing disgust for the attackers.

"You have all been selected because we have faith you will do your duties. All of you have volunteered to defend Russia. It is my firm belief that none of you shall fail in your tasks."

The crowd of soldiers began to cheer. Everyman here was a volunteer, everyman here was a patriot, everyman here was willing to die for his nation. It was almost as if someone had selected them specifically for those traits.

The Major General raised his hand to quiet down the crowd, "As many of you know, the Japanese Self Defense Force has launched a similar incursion into what is now known as the Special Region. Though we fight a similar foe, it is the belief of our intelligence agencies that they will only try to prevent our retribution on the invaders and bring about American involvement."

People started to boo and shout.

"For this reason, upon any contact with the JSDF, all personnel are to remove any markings showing allegiance to the Russian Federation and avoid interaction at all costs. All soldiers are required to cover their faces when in the field, and no photos or videos are permitted to be sent out of the Special Region without explicit permission."

Rozovsky came to the end of his speech, "Tomorrow we shall embark on an expedition into a world unknown. Retribution will be collected and these invaders shall learn that Russia bows to no one!"

More cheers sounded out as the Major General disappeared from sight. Viktor looked at his cheering squad, he couldn't help but feel a bit of patriotism in himself.

"You heard the Major General, be ready to mount up early in the morning. Tomorrow we ride into war."

Inside a large tent sat the two commanders of the Imperial army at Aquila Hill. Their initial assault into the new world had been met with little success. Instead of the overwhelming victory and subsequent conquest of new land, like they had expected to happen, they had been driven back by an army of mages.

Fortunately, Caius La Cervidae had managed to sound a retreat before the enemy's full magical potential had been unleashed. His contemporary, Tullus Co Creseces, was now trying to create a solution against their enemy's superiority in magic.

"I still believe that the most efficient way to counter their magic is to employ our mages in a more effective manor." Tullus tried to convince Caius of his plan's feasibility, "If we embed the mages with sections of infantry, we'll be capable of shielding them from assault or nullifying the enemy magic."

Caius was not convinced, "If we put our mages with the infantry they'll just get bogged down in the ensuing melee. Instead we should have them in the backlines casting supportive spells while our cavalry makes a frontal charge before their mages are able to finish casting their own spells."

"That'll never work, we saw on the other side of the gate how well cavalry charges worked against their magic. It was a slaughter." Both men could remember the screams of horses and men from the battle.

"Mages require extensive amounts of time to cast their spells. The only reason our charge was destroyed was because they had the time to prepare. This time we won't give them that!" Caius' voice rose as he defended his plan.

"And if they are prepared? What happens if they are able to cast their spells? We'd be sending our men into another slaughter!" Tullus slammed his fist down on the table they sat around. At the other end of the table, Caius flinched at his behavior.

"Perhaps… you're right," he sighed and rubbed his face. "We'll go with your plan then, embedding the mages with our heavy infantry. I apologize for being so rude, the constant stress has been getting to me."

"Caius, it's not your fault. We've been tasked with a difficult objective, but we'll come out victorious. I know we will," he patted Caius on the shoulder as he spoke.

"I just hope the army at Alnus Hill did better than we did."

Viktor pulled up his balaclava over his nose and checked his vest to make sure he had everything needed. The main advantage of their Ratnik gear, the Strelets system which allowed him constant communication with his squad and gave their position to him via the GLONASS satellite system, was useless in a place without satellites. As such, these systems sat in the back of his squad's BTR, unused.

The rest of his gear was on him and easily accessible. He climbed into his squad's BTR, with the rest of his squad, awaiting orders to advance.

Due to the nature of the gate, they were forced into a column which bottlenecked their fighting potential. The tank battalion was put in front to smash through whatever stood in their way, while the motorized rifles would follow behind to dismount and secure the area. They wouldn't have air support initially until aircraft could be carted into the new world.

Viktor looked at his squad to make sure no one was missing. Demian was sat towards the back of the BTR and gave a grin of reassurance at him. Igor, their light machine gunner, sat next to Demian cradling his RPK. Next was Kilment, designated as the squad's grenadier, he carried the RPG-7V2 into battle Sergei, the assistant grenadier, helped him. Then there was Luka, the squad's medic, and Alina, the squad's only female soldier. Finally Tomas was their designated marksman, quietly eating his breakfast in his seat. There were of course the two BTR crewmen, but they were separate from the squad in a way.

All in all, Viktor was happy with his squad. He felt like he'd be able to command them effectively and that they'd listen to his orders. Obviously he wouldn't really know until their first battle, but Viktor could only hope he was right. Otherwise they'd all be dead soon.

The BTR's radio suddenly blared up, "All forces, advance into the gate. Repeat, all forces, advance into the gate. Over."

"Begin to advance, driver." Viktor gave his confirmation to the BTR's crew.

The vehicle lurched forward and they slowly approached the gate. Viktor watched the tanks get swallowed by the darkness through a view slit. He gained a feeling of unease in his stomach.

Soon enough, they entered the darkness themselves.

The tunnel was illuminated by their vehicle's lights yet the darkness ahead seemed never ending. Viktor saw Sergei give a prayer as they went further into the gate.

"You know, I heard the Japanese found dragons. Think we'll have to fight one ourselves?" it was Alina who broke the silence.

"I hope so, I want to see what my RPG can do," Kilment responded.

The darkness began to give way for what looked like moonlight.

"Quiet on the chatter, squad. We're approaching our destination," Viktor told them.

Moonlight filled the area as the armored vehicles rolled into the new land. The first tanks saw an enemy encampment at the base of the hill they were on. Viktor's squad soon rolled up behind them.

"The enemy is in sight! Dismount! Quickly, go!"

The squad opened their BTR's hatches and climbed out. Viktor directed them to head next to the tanks and be on the watch out for enemy movement. Then he ordered the BTR's crew to take up a defensive position and ready the cannon.

Viktor took a deep breath. This is what another world smells like hmm? Smells cleaner than our world. He took a look around him at the increasing number of Russian soldiers coming through the gate. Too bad we're going to have to ruin it.

This is my first story ever and I'm very much still an amateur writer. I'd love to get some constructive criticism or just any reviews at all.

There's another story with a very similar premise called "Gate - The Russian Bear" by Roshia Jin. I didn't find out it existed until after I finished writing this chapter, if I'd known I would probably have not written this and just waited for those chapters to come out. I very highly recommend checking it out, it's well written and probably better than this will be.

Also full disclaimer, I am not Russian so if I make any MAJOR errors, please tell me so I can fix them.

Thank you for reading, I think I'm going to end up posting chapters every week or so.