***

--- Italica ---

May 9th, 2025

After a short alteration at the south gate, the city guards agreed to let the strangers through the gate.

Sharpe stands inside the Gate as he watches Sergeant Major Randy Dodson bring in the three JLTVs.

In front of him is Jerry, the team media.

"You should be fine sir," Jerry said. "Good thing you have your helmet on. Just don't make this a habit."

Lelei walks up, looking directly at him. "Your helmet is impressive. Because of how light and lack of metal I honestly didn't think it would be useful."

"At least we know his head can take a beating," Rory replied.

Some of the Rangers laugh at Rory's comments.

He looks over to the woman who opened the door. She looks like the leadership of the city. Her assistant called her Princess Piña Co Lada.

She apologized many times, scared that she just started a war.

"I am so sorry about before," Pina said, begging for him not to get angry.

Rory responds first. "Don't worry Princess, he probably deserves it." Having her hand to her side. She then gives her a death glare, implying not to dare to do anything again.

He watches them both. It seems like they know of each other in some manner. Rory is clearly laying down the law.

When Rory told her that Apostles are usually respected, and their presences bring great weight. This is the first time he sees this outside of Alnus. He finds it strange seeing a girl in a twelve-year-old body giving orders and adults obeying.

Pina nods in agreement. "There will be no problem with us Mistress Rory. How long have you been with these people Rory?"

"Let me think," Rory mumbles and places her figure on her chin. "About two weeks now. It has been horrible. They have so many tasty sweets and drinks. Their beds are so comfy I think it is torture."

"Rory..." He states in a commanding voice. He glares at Rory. "Be nice."

Rory giggled at him and fist bumped Alicia. "Ok Major Sharpe. Whatever you say."

He sees Pina and her three Knights look at him and Rory in disbelief. "What?"

"Are you saying that Rory takes orders from you?" Hamilton asked, baffled by the thought.

"Of course," he said in a commanding voice, making sure they know who is in control of the situation. "I am in command of this unit. My name is Major Sharpe of the United States Army, Vanguard-7 of the 75th Ranger Regiment of the NATO Expeditionary Force."

Sharpe takes his helmet and places it between his arms. He looks back at Pina. "But..., yeah..., Someone somewhere would agree with that statement." He said about getting hit on the head, wanting to relax the situation. He finishes thinking about memory.

Sharpe points to his team that is standing with him. "This is Rory Mercury, Lelei La Lalena, Private First-Class Alicia Moore, Specialist Jerry William, and Sergeant Major Randy Dodson." He then joints

"That's a mouthful," Rory points out with a giggle. "Sharpe, everyone here knows who I am. I am the Apostle of Emory after all." Rory comments but was surprised and pleased that he included her in the introduction.

Pina takes a deep breath. She straightens herself up and looks more royalty. "We should make this more formal. I am Princess Piña Co Lada, leader of the Rose-Order of Knights. I am currently in charge of this city. It is good to meet you."

Hamilton walks to Pina's side, scared of their strange equipment. "What brings you all here, to Italica? Are you here to take our souls Rory?"

"Not right now," Rory said.

He shots Rory a commanding glare, giving her a warning.

"Sorry," Rory mumbles and looks away to study the town.

"Lelei," she said.

Lelei looks at him for approval. "Are you sure you don't want to?" When she gets an approving nod, she looks back. "We came here to trade. My friends wanted to see cities and economics is life in this world.

"What kind of trading?" Hamilton asked.

Before Lelei responds he places her hand on her shoulder, so she does not reply. "That is our business right now. We notice the town was attacked."

Pina nods. "Correct. We are under attack by bandits... wait, you came all this way just to trade?" She suddenly asked, shocked by what he said. Out of all the things he could say, that seemed to be the most unlikely.

"Yes mam," he responds, in his regimental tone. "Is there a place we can park our vehicles?"

"Vehicles... Americans...?" Pina asked herself. "You call wagons vehicles. Ahh yeah, Hamilton!"

"Oh yes, you can... 'park'... those wagons at the market square. There should be enough room there. As long as the bandits attack there shouldn't be much market activity." Hamilton answers in a hast. She then looks at the metal wagons and then back to Sharpe and Rory. "Do... do they need any food?"

There is a small chuckle from the Rangers, thinking what she said was funny.

"No, they do not eat food," Lelei responds, being the only one who did not chuckle.

"OK," he said. "Can we go into the city Princess?"

"Ahh..., yes." Pina replied.

He nods at the approval to come inside. He and the other three start heading towards their vehicles.

"Alicia, tell Command that we are entering Italica," he orders Alicia as they walk away.

---

As the Other Worlders walk away, Pina takes a deep breath and leans against the wall. She watches as their armored wagons start to drive away without horses, heading into the city. "Well, that was a near disaster."

"Actually, I thought you handled that very well," Grey said as he walks up to her.

"Really?" Pina asked as she looks up at Grey. "The first contact we had with those 'Americans' was me hurting their leader. Maybe the Senate was right. I am just a hopeless woman."

Hamilton rushes over to her and kneels to her side, holding her hand. "No Princess. We are here. Everything will be ok. I believe in you."

"Listen to Hamilton Princess," Grey said. "It seems like they understood the mistake, and they don't seem to be worried about us. I think they mean what they said, coming here to trade and to learn. They must be just as confused as we are."

"It might be because Rory is on their side," Hamilton adds as she stands up. "Why in the world would she do such a thing?"

"I have no idea," she replied as she places her hand on her forehead as she thinks. "That changes everything. If they converted Rory to their side this will be harder than I thought. We will need the full might of our regional forces to fight her and them."

That is when Grey walks right up to Pina and speaks into her ear. "Did you see who was in those wagons."

She glares at him. "No, I did not. I was a little busy preventing a war."

"Take a look." Grey comments.

She signs and then forces herself to look over to the vehicles. In one of the vehicles, she then sees this other girl, sitting in one of the chairs. "So, it's some child. Why is that so shocking to you after today?"

"I am not completely sure, however, I believe that might be Princess Selina of the Edras Kingdom," Grey said, thinking.

Pina looks again and her eyes widen after coming to the same realization. "Wait... of the Edras Kingdom? We conquered them already and their nobles agreed to be our vassal. She should be on her way to the Capital city as a gift to my stupid brother right now, why would she be with them?"

"I do not know but while they are here, we should try and find out. Maybe they have formed a secret alliance." Grey responds. "Until then, it will be wise to keep this to ourselves."

She begins to have a headache. The situation seems to have completely fallen apart. "Edras is a six-month journey on foot. There is no way these Other Worlders could know about them yet. According to the blue-hair girl, they didn't know about this place."

She takes a deep breath. "We can't deal with them right now; we have to focus on the bandits. After that, we can worry about these 'Americans' and find out the truth."

"When our friends arrive, we will outnumber them," Hamilton said. "They should be a day or two away."

She nods as she thinks. Her Knights should have been here by now however the seasonal heavy rain delayed them. She knows her priority right now is surviving.

"And once the rest of my Rose Knights arrive, we can betray these Other Worlders Americans," she said as she reflects on the situation. "Maybe Rory is pretending to work for them, gathering information."

"Good idea Princess," Hamilton said. "But they do have strange and scary equipment."

She places her hand on her head and catches her breath. She loves Hamilton but sometimes her fear gets the better of her. That is why she has always been her servant than a true Knight.

"Do not get so scared Hamilton," She said.

She then looks at her mentor Grey. He does not seem pleased with her plan.

"The Princess is correct," Grey adds. "We don't know much about their equipment, but I did notice they don't wear armor. Just these strange thick clothes. Still, I recommend against any betrayal against them until we know more. If they just came to trade and turn them into an enemy right now, we will be undone. And you are assuming Rory is acting as a spy. If she is not the Rose Knights cannot stop her wrath."

"I understand," She said as she takes a deep breath. "I just want my first mission to go smoothly. I just want to win."

"This is war Princess,' Grey said as he places his hands on her back. "There is no such thing as a smooth mission. And victory must be earned."

---

Selina is sitting in the back seat of the command JLTV, right next to Rory. On the drive here, taking two days. She heard the Americans saying it should have taken only seven hours however they got stuck in a rainstorm. Lelei states that these rains were common this time of year.

Even though the trip took an extra day as planned, Lelei did state it usually would take four to seven days to get from the Coan Forest to Italica. She was impressed by the speed.

On the trip she has been watching more of Sharpe shows on his tablet device. Right now, her personal favorite has been the Transformers show, mainly because he loves it so much and that was the first thing they did together.

Once they got to the city, she has been very worried about the Empire’s army. The memories of being forced back into slavery by those legionnaires.

Edras is far too the west for people here to know who she is; however Pina is royalty too and Royalty seems to know each other. She remembers those six months of walking here, still having nightmares about how she was treated during that trip. The only source of comfort right now is that these people she is with will not allow them to take her.

"It is ok Selina," Rory said to her, noticing how nervous she is. "If anyone lays a figure on you, I will cut them down. You are one of my underlings now."

As they drive through the city, they see the townsfolk all looking at them, wondering who they are and what they are in. They all seem dirty and scared to death. They also seem to not know what to make of the Americans.

"Alright people, let's get to the market. Remember though, we are here as guests, but they are still the enemy. Do not engage unless engaged yourself. Stay out of trouble and no one goes alone." Major Sharpe tells his men over the radio. "Johnson and Randy, once we get to the market, team meeting."

"Listen to the Major," Randy adds. "I have seen this situation back in Syria and Afghanistan. During a crisis, you never know what someone will do. Stay together."

Once he is down talking over the radio, he leans back into the vehicle to face the girls. "Selina, as long as we are here, I want you to stay close. Got it. I don't want you going out alone here, stay close to me or Rory."

She smiles, feeling far more comfortable and safer now. While his tone seems harsh, she already has seen what he would do to someone when he freed her. "Yes sir."

She then smiles back at him but then they hear Alicia speak out loud.

"Oh god, this place reminds me of an HBO or Starz show," Alicia comments as she looks out her window.

"Like Spartacus?" Andrew asked as he drove.

"That is the show I was thinking about," Alicia said. "This place is disgusting."

When they get to the marketplace, they will see normal market things like food, drinks, tools, etc. But they will also see men and women of all ages as slaves, standing on tables or locked in cages.

She looks around and sees not just Human slaves but other races. She has seen this sight hundreds of times. She sees Lelei and Rory and they look numbed to the sight. However, she can see the horrific look on the Americans. They seem to be struggling to understand what they are witnessing.

"I thought you said this place was more like us?" Alicia asked Lelei.

"That is correct," Lelei answers.

"Alicia," Rory adds. "This is far better than most places I have been to. Most places are far more brutal as those societies consider themselves better."

Lelei nods. "In Italica, you are not allowed to abuse their slaves. You must feed them and cannot remove children from their slave parents. It is Imperial Law that you cannot outlaw the institution."

"Wrong is wrong Lelei," Andrew states. "It doesn't matter if you beat you, wife, with a fist or with a stuffed animal. It is still wrong."

"Look at that though. Those over there are not Human." Steele comments. "That looks like a cat and that looks like... well I don't know. That is a bunny? They have bunnies?"

"Yes," Lelei said. "From what I understand on Earth it is just Humans who live there. Falmart has dozens of different races. Humans and Elves are the most common, but you will see many others like Cat-people, ferries, Deer-people, and more. While it is not common some interbreed."

Andrew eyes a cat-perosn up before getting nudged by Sharpe to stop. “Sorry. They look like Nekos to me.”

“Nekos?” Lelei asked, confused.

“It is the Japanese term for Cat-People,” Andrew explains. “It is like this in every anime.”

"So why are most of the slave's cats or… Nekos?" Alicia asked.

"Cats are considered the most exotic of all the races," Rory states. "Unlike most other races they are weaker and not warlike. They were easier for the Empire to conquer and do as they like. Most people with wealth like to have them as a maid or as a sex-slave, being more exotic. But recently Bunnies have been taking over that market in the past few years."

"This is depressing," Alicia comments.

She can feel this horrible feeling coming from inside the Americans in the vehicle. "Is this really not normal where you come from Sharpe?"

He takes a deep breath hearing the question. "Not in my country, well not in most countries. Our world banished slavery about a hundred and fifty to two hundred years ago. But there are still some bad places who try to do it. We try to stop them though."

Alicia speaks up afterward. "We ended slavery a few hundred years ago, starting with the British Empire. It took nearly a hundred years and lots of wars but most of the world has banned it." She thinks for a second. "So yeah, in our world we do not like the subject."

"Wait, if you are the dominant power of your world, why don't you just force everyone to stop," Lelei asked.

"There is this country called Libya, one of the major hot spots of slavery back on Earth," Sharpe replied. "It is our fault they became a slave state. Back in 2011(1), the French, British and we overthrew the dictator hoping to bring in peace and democracy." He then looks at Rory and Lelei. "We easily won the war however it all fell apart. Power does not mean we can force our values onto a people. You have to be careful with such power."

"Don't forget that Al-Qaeda(2) killed our ambassador there(3)," Alicia adds. "That really screwed up our plans to help them. I remember watching that when I was a kid."

"Because there are billions of people in our world. And while we are the dominant power, we also cannot be in every city everywhere. That would spark another world war. We do try though. A rouge group about ten years ago called ISIS(4) and they were trying to recreate the Islamic Slave Trade. We were able to push them back, stopping them. While the institution is still on Earth, it is mostly supported by rouge organizations."

As Andrew drives, he adds to the conversation. "Sir, weren't you in Mexico fighting human traffickers?"

He looks over to Andrew but remains quiet, not pleased by the question. He then just points out the front window. "Park there."

"What is Mex...," she was about to say before feeling a hand on her right shoulder. She turns around and sees that it is Rory. She looks at her, confused by seeing her shake her head, placing a figure on her lips telling her to be quiet. Clearly, Rory did not want her to continue the subject.

---

The JLTV's roll up into the marketplace and stop. Everyone then gets out and begins to set up camp. Sharpe gets out of his command vehicle and takes a good look around the town and thinks about his options.

Both Second Lieutenant Charles Johnson and Major Sergeant Randy Dodson walk up to him, reporting for the team meeting.

Johnson takes a glance around. "So, what is the plan?"

"We hold up here with them," he said.

"Sir, why didn't we just turn around? Why are we involved?" Randy asked, confused about why he is getting us involved.

"Because our mission is here," he said. "And more important is that there is a large enemy force out there. If we were attacked while out there, we would be surrounded."

"But sir," Johnson said, confused. "We have superior weapons and their arrows cannot penetrate the JLRV's armor."

"The Major is correct Lieutenant," Randy states. "We are a small unit. If a few hundred attacks us superior weapons won't be enough."

He can see Randy combat experience kicking him. He is glad that he sees things his way.

"This city is scared and is struggling to hold back these bandits," he said. "Based on the smoke at the east gate they are coming from that direction. They must have been in the thousands if they can overwhelm this city's defenses.

He then glances up at the smoke in the distance. "Because of the smoke that means their scouts probably saw us. If we leave now there would be no way, we will survive. The roads need time to dry. Truth is, this is the safest and only option."

He sees Johnson impressed. "That is very well thought out sir. Especially off the top of your head."

He smirks. He has heard his men gossiping that he has seen combat. "I have had enough Kings and Generals(5), HistoryMarche(6) shows about ancient warfare to have some basic ideas.

"On top of that, this is a big PR(7) mission. The brass wants us to help people in need." Randy adds. "But what do we do?"

"I don't know yet. I need more information. Lieutenants take control of the convoy. Keep everyone here and safe and be ready to pull out if we need to. See what information you can get from the locals around here. Sergeant Major was going to go check out the east gate and figure out the situation. Take Jerry, Andrew, and Lelei. We leave at five." Sharpe orders.

Both then salute and head off, carrying out their assignments. That is when Lelei walks up.

He looks over to his left and sees her. "What's up? I take it you overheard our little meeting?"

Before Lelei responds she looks up. "I see three dark clouds. But They are leaving so I don't expect any more rain."

He laughs hearing that. He likes to make smart-ass comments like that but what he loves about Lelei is how genuine she is. Not understand the context of what he said.

"Yes, I was just coming over to see if I could provide any help," Lelei asked. "I see you want me to come along already? What could provide your soldiers couldn't?"

"Your ability to pay attention to details," he quickly replied. "I notice that back at the gate, you already know a lot about us. And you know how to explain things to others very well. You have proven yourself in my eyes, but I can't force you, I should ask you first."

Lelei thinks about what he said and then smiles. She enjoys feeling valued on their team. With all their power and advanced weapons, she can still be useful. "I would be honored to help."