***

--- Fort Alnus ---

June 11th, 2025

Only thirty-four minutes ago Vanguard-7 got the word to mobilize. The team is currently outside, loading up their JTLVs for the sudden mission. It is early in the morning with light rain at the base.

Right beside their vehicle is two M1083(1) transport trucks. They are currently being loaded by some Imperialist soldiers.

Private First-Class Alicia Moore wipes the sweat off her head from the heavy heat.

"I thought we had three more days on base," she said complaining.

Randy walks pass her, carrying some ammo boxes, "knock it off Moore. This comes with the job."

"Yeah, but what about our next mission?" she said, testing her radio equipment, "we spent two days in classes for our next mission. And they just take it away."

"Oh, come on Alicia. Stop complaining. What is done is done," Corporal Andrew Steele said as he loads up some supplies.

She looks around and sees the Ranger team loading up, getting ready for their next mission. She looks back at her radio, annoyed by the older technology.

The US Army uses advance digital radios and Blue Force Trackers however because there are no satellites on this world, having a good connection to the NETT Warrior has been a struggle. The only source of reliability is when drones are flying above, acting as a temporary NW single until something more permanent is established.

"…I know… I just hate wasting my time," she then hits the radio, "damn, I miss satellite radio." When she hits it with her hand the radio set turns on and acts normally, "wow, that actually worked."

Andrew laughs, watching the event happen, "yeah, that actually works sometimes. When I was a kid, my computer was not working. Frustrated I kicked it and then it works."

She looks up him with, "Andrew… you're always something."

That is when the new member of the team Private First-Class Harvey Frost walks up. He tosses his bag into the back of their JTLV, "I don't know why you are complaining so much. Any chance to get out there and see this world a gift."

Alicia looks at Frost, the new Ranger on the time. Even thought he has missed a lot he has adjusted well into the team. He asked to be on this team, and she thinks he is crazy for that. While some of her opinions of Vanguard-7 leader, Major Sharpe has changed, she still does not fully trust him.

"Look, new guy, few things,” she said, “the view is pretty, and the world is brutal. Everything out there wants to kill us. So, watch your sweet ass otherwise you will be in a body bag. We are lucky our weapons are so powerful many of the villages just submit to us."

Andrew looks to him. "Yup. Everything you think they told you back on Earth, not even the surface." He then moves his hands, expressing what he is going to say next. "An example, they have these beautiful Nekos everywhere."

Frost looks to him. "Catgirls? Or do you mean Nekos?"

“What the fuck are Nekos?” she asked.

“Nekos is the Japanese name for cat-people in Japan fantasy,” Andrew said and then elbows Frost in the shoulder, "oh yeah, not just that but all different kinds of women. Very exotic."

Frost starts to think about what he said. So far all he knows is what has been released by the government.

She looks over and rolls her eyes, "boys… never grow up."

Andrew looks at her, "weren't you talking about how hot some of the guys were the other night?"

"No… what are you talking about?" she said, confused.

"You were pretty drunk,” Andrew replied, “you couldn't shut up about how hot this one guy was."

"Bullsh… Oh damn. I was…," she replied, realizing she might have embarrassed herself like that, "do you remember his name or what he looked like?"

Andrew shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know, I don't really pay attention to other guy's looks."

As both guys laugh, she looks at Frost's bag and then back at him, "well, what are you doing here Frost?"

Frost looks at her confused, "I am assigned to your team."

"I know, I mean here, in this vehicle. Your bag is in the girl's spot," she said.

Frost looks at his bag, "What Girls? Wait, you mean that one's you guys been hanging out with at the bar?"

Andrew chimes in, siding with Alicia, "Yup, they usually ride in this vehicle. That is not really up for debate. They like to stay close to the Major."

“I see someone is abusing their new rank,” she replied.

Frost just looks confused, "those kids, that isn't proper to have them come with us."

She laughs at what he said, "nothing in this unit is proper. You will learn that fast. Still, that's their spot."

"How does the Major allow that?" Frost asked.

"He pretty much doesn't have a choice," First Lieutenant Sarah Rose said as she walks up to their vehicle, "one can turn him and all of us into animals with magic. The other is a demi-goddess who is stronger and faster than all of us combined. And the last, well. She is just adorable."

Everyone looks behind and sees Sarah.

Unlike Sharpe she likes Sarah. Alicia reminds her of a mama bear type. Nice, respectful, warming however if anyone crosses her or her team, she will slit their throats. What always confused her is why she is respectful for the Sharpe sense he has treated her.

"Hey, Lieutenant! Came down to say goodbye… wait, why do you have your bags?" she said after realizing she has her bags.

"I am coming with,” Sarah said, “this is an escort mission after all."

"Wait. It is?” Andrew asked, “I thought this was a diplomatic mission, whatever that means. I was wondering why those Imperialist jackasses they were here."

Sarah looks a little annoyed now. "I take it he didn't tell you? It is both. Our main mission is in Italica but since we are going down there anyway, we have to escort the prisoners."

"Expect for the wakeup call, we haven't seen him all morning," she said. "And I didn't become a Ranger to babysit a bunch of barbarians."

"Neither did I but that is the mission,” Sarah said, “That is probably is because he is pissed. He has been working on that mountain mission for the past week now. Also, Private First-Class Harvey Frost, if you really…"

As the conversation suddenly get interrupted by this guy yelling. They all look over to one of the two M1083.

---

Sarah looks over and see the Imperial prisoners from the Battle of Philadelphia. She sees about forty of them being loaded up. Part of the potential treaty is to hand over a few of the thousands of prisoners we have. Part of a goodwill gesture for peace.

Normally the American government would not do something like this but with their overwhelming technological edge, most do not see this as a threat.

A few of the Imperial men are yelling, struggling a little bit. They are not happy with how they are being treated, "I am a member of the Imperial Senate! Your dogs can't treat me like some common slave!"

Another one of the Imperials spoke up, "you all will be killed, and women enslaved for this. You all will pay."

A few more start to say further insults and begin to resist going into the truck.

As the prisoner speaks, Alicia looks towards everyone. "And that pretty sums up why I hate people in power."

"They must be afraid of the truck," Andrew points out as he watches.

"Probably. Such babies they are," Alicia adds.

"Maybe, but someone better deal with it before it gets out of hand," she said and then takes a deep breath realizing she is the only officer she can see, "I guess that is me."

When she finishes speaking, she walks over the trucks. A few Military Police are loading them up.

She points to the man who said he was a senator, "you stop complaining and get on. We are la…"

As she spoke everyone could hear some of the Imperial prisoners called her a cunt. That caught her off guard as she looks at the back of the truck. She was not offended by the word however shocked on how childish they are.

"Hey, shut up. We kicked your ass in battle how many times now? Maybe you should be a little nicer before we change our minds." She said in a more authoritative tone.

"A woman cannot speak to us like that! Know your place woman," some kid said that looks like fifteen days.

When she looks towards the kid, three of the prisoners rustle up. The Military Police would work on getting them under control. Two of them would be able to jump off the back of the truck and try to rustle away.

Sarah tries to help regain order before soldiers start firing. The last thing the State Department and military needs is the prisoners being shot right before a peace treaty. As she tries to regain control a fist hit her on the helmet.

As the situation begins to get out of control, more Military Police would rush in but then everyone starts to hear this guy yelling.

Sharpe walks up to the senator and grabs him by the throat. He then rams him into the side of the truck. "How dare you touch one of my soldiers!” he then looks around with this killer look. “What the hell is going on here?” he shouts.

Then the guy he is holding speaks to him. "You think we fear you. You believed you could have wooed us with your gifts and kindness. You are weak and one day we will rule over you," the man said, struggling to speak with Sharpe's hand around his throat.

"So, you're the one who started this? Stand down or I am going to rip your throat out," Sharpe said and then looks at the other who was trying to riot, "all of you, back in the damn truck before you are buried alive!"

For most of them, they would submit to the Military Police after seeing their Senator in a submissive position. Slowly, they are forced back into the truck.

"You talk big to a man who Is bonded. I guarantee you wouldn't be saying that on the field." The Imperialist Senator said, trying to chuckle. He is showing no fear of Sharpe or the other soldiers around.

After listening to what he said. "Private, uncuff him," when the Private hesitated, question the order, Sharpe would say that again in an angrier tone.

She grabs Sharpe's arms and looks at him. "Sir, Major. It is under control. Let the jackass go."

Sharpe slowly let’s go of the Senator after thinking about what she said.

Right when he lets go, the man laughs as he catches his breath. "Taking orders from a woman, how pathetic… Ahh!"

As the Senator finishes his sentence, Sarah gives the guy a hard punch on the face, nearly knocking him out. The man falls on his ass. After that, two MPs grab him and drag him into the truck.

She shakes her head after the punch, hurting far more then she expected, "see, under control."

"Nice punch," Sharpe said as he watches them take him away. He then looks at the truck with the prisoners on it, "now, can you explain to me why these people are here?"

Sarah looks to him confused and then annoyed, "Sharpe, it was in the memo."

"I read the memo. It said nothing about a prisoner transfer. Just the diplomats want our presence," he looks to her, confused as well.

The memo came from Lieutenant Colonel Kasen, one of the commanders of the operations on the base. He must have sent Sharpe an edited memo to mess with him. Payback for embarrassing him from the Elias Forest Campaign. "Did you get it from Kasen?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Kasen, yeah. Why do…," that is when Sharpe comes to the same conclusion, "Oh, that son of a bitch. Takes away my mission and then this bullshit order. Where is he."

Before Sharpe could walk away, Sarah stops him. "No, no, no, we are late as it is. You can kill him when we get back." Then she pulls his arms towards the teams JLTV.

Sharpe just grumbles to himself, pissed that his mountain mission was taken away from him. He accepts the situation and goes to the vehicles.

That is when Sharpe walks past everyone. "Why is everyone just standing around? We are five minutes late. And… Sarah, what are you doing here anyway?" He said, now looking at them.

She smirks and lightly shakes her head. Sometimes she struggles to understand Sharpe. She can tell something is eating at him, but he refuses to open up on anything. However, she is glad that he isn’t a coward like some believed he would be, willing to go above and beyond for his team safety, even thought he can be a prick about it. She sometimes wonders if this is who he truly is or something he became.

"I am coming along,” she said with a cheeky smirk, trying to be cheerful. Before Sharpe can reply, she holds up a laptop bag, "I also have all this paperwork for the mission, treaty stuff. Unless you like to do it."

Sharpe looks at the bag and holds up a figure, "ok, two minutes." He then looks towards one of the other JTLVs. "Where is Johnson?" Then he walks away to find Johnson.

When he walks away, she just laughs, letting out some of the stress.

"Sarah… you're such a girl…," Alicia said, "but… I'm glad you are coming now," Then she gives Sarah a thumbs up, "By the way, nice punch for a girl."

Sarah then holds her fist, "why thank you. I didn't pass Ranger school because of my looks, even though it probably helped. Hand still hurts though."

"Really? I never would have known," Alicia said in a sarcastic voice. She notices Sarah glaring at her and just laughs at her look.

"Moore,” Sarah looks towards her and then looks to Hervey, "for you. You're with Randy."

"Yes, sir," Frost said and then begins to reach for his bag.

As Frost reaches to grab it, he feels a pull from behind. He turns around to see who it is pulling his uniform.

Frost sees Rory Mercury standing there glaring at him.

"You're in my spot big boy," Rory said, not liking that his bag is on her spot, which is right behind Sharpe's seat.

Frost, getting a little scared after looking at her eyes, "I am leaving right now," he grabs his stuff and heads to Randy's vehicle.

Alicia just laughs after he leaves, thinking that was funny.

"What is so funny, this is my spot," Rory said all serious about it.

***

--- Roma Highway ---

June 11th, 2025

Six hours after the team left Fort Alnus, they are getting close to the city of Italica. It has been a long time since the team last been here. They were able to contact the Diplomatic Outpost, letting them know the team is almost there.

The prisoners did not make much of a fuss on the way to the city. Watching their Senator get knocked out took the fighting out of them.

Sarah is in the back watching something with Selina and Lelei on the laptop. Beforehand, Lelei has express interest in the laptop, impressed by the fact it can store so many ‘books'. Sharpe had to admit, she handled herself fairly good for a pretty face.

Rory is currently leaning forward between both Andrew and Sharpe seats.

"You need to stop complaining about it," Rory said to Sharpe, teasing him a little.

"No, god damn Vanguard-2. I am going to kick Major Davis ass next time. All that work and they get the mission with the SAS," he complains, really upset that his mission got taken away from him, "this better be worth it."

"You're the one that set this in motions remember. Didn't Sarah say before that it was Princess Pina that requested… wait…," Rory said that out loud. She realizes another woman requests his presence. Realizing that, she no longer is liking this mission. "Maybe we should turn back."

He looks at Rory confused now, "what…?"

That is when Private Second-Class Scott Marvin speaks through the team radio network, "hey Vanguard-7, Italica is right up ahead."

That is when everyone looks out, trying to get a good view as they approach the city.

As they get to the city gate, they can see dozens of the city population on the walls, waving towards them. Men, women, and children, from all ages and races standing around, welcoming the arrival of Vanguard-7.

As they pass through the city gate, people are gathering around, all celebrating this team return. The mood inside the team vehicles would improve.

Everyone be waving back as they drive slowly, "hi everyone, we are back," Alicia said out the window. "Now this is the welcome I like."

As he looks at the crow, he can hear Sarah say something towards him, "what?" He said back.

Selina speaks for Sarah this time, "she said what's wrong!"

He chuckles at that, "oh… nothing," he replied and then thinks, "It just feels weird seeing people thanking you."

Almost everything he has done over the past eight years is classified so he and his old team never got a big celebration to thank you. It never has crossed his mind until now.

"Well, how does it feel?" Sarah speaks up.

"Weird, but I could get used to this," he said. Someone walks up to the JLTV and hand him some gifts. "Sorry, no thank you."

The team reaches the outpost gate. Three Marines open the door for them so they can drive right in. Marines are always the one who defends American Diplomatic installations.

Lelei looks at the Marines and then looks to Sarah, "why do those soldiers look different?"

"They are Marines. Technically the United States has two armies. One for the ground and another acting as Naval Infantry," Sarah explains.

"Wait, you have two armies? Why?" Selina asked, confused by that. She would not be the only one. The other two girls are confused by that.

He looks behind, "Because we can. That pretty much sums it up. On our world, the U.S. is a massive continent size island nation. So, we control the world seas. The Marines attack from our ships. Sometimes they help the Army fight inland, depending on the war."

They would know what Sharpe means by continent size island. They all have seen a map of Earth and all the nations at the Cultural Center.

Sarah nods and then adds to what he said. "They are also considered America 911 force. If a crisis happens, they are usually the ones called first. Also, they are the ones who protect our ambassadors and embassies."

"Still, isn't that a waste of resources?" Lelei asked again.

"Maybe, people have made that argument before," Sarah said.

"But here is something about America. It is a core value. We love and demand competition. In sports, business, politics, and the military," he points out, "that is why we have three Air Forces, Space Force two navies, two armies, and well, three if you count the National Guard."

That is when Alicia decided to make her point, "however, Marines are usually assholes. So, stay away from them."

"Alicia, that is highly unprofessional," he said.

"Even if it's true?" Alicia said back to him.

"Especially when it's true," he replied with a chuckle. He then looks forward as their vehicle stops.

The United States Army and Marines always had a friendly rivalry. While on the same team, they always want to out beat each other. He had to work with some before while in Asia.

All the vehicles pull into the compound. Just like last time Vanguard-7 came to Italica, it is tight when inside the compound. No one expected so many vehicles to be arriving here this quickly.

The two trucks transporting the prisoners stop on the far side. Some of the Military Police and Marines begin unloading them.

Princess Pina walks up, witnessing the people she has chosen are be offloaded, "wow… I honestly did not think you would honor this," she notices that they are well clothed, look healthy and fed.

"Well yeah, I explained this before," he said as he steps out of the JLTV.

Willington stands beside Pina, "yes, under the Geneva Convention we are required to treat prisoners to the best standards we can offer. Even if we weren't, we would anyway."

Pina is impressed by this. That blue hair girl talked about that, but she did not fully believe it. Seeing these people in good health seems to confirm that these Other Worlders kept their word. That is when she notices a senator. He hopes down and she notices his right cheek is all bruised.

"What happens to him?" Pina asked. She notices that Willington wants to know.

"Prisoner Riot,” he said, “they wouldn't corporate with us when we were bringing them here."

Sarah walks up to hand Willington some documents. "He is lucky that is all that happens." She said in a tone that implies something else.

As the Prisoners offload, many of them see Princess Pina. Seeing here, many begin to cheer, thinking that she forced them to return them.

That same fifteen-year-old kid would begin to preach, "you will all fall under the god of Emroy! You have no honor and break the natural orders of the world! Emroy is on our side and we shall crush you all!"

That is when Rory walks up, "I heard someone say my god name."

At first, they all cheer at her sight but then some of them begin to ask the question why she with them is.

One of the prisoner’s yells, asking why she is with these unholy barbarians is.

"Barbarians? That is a mean thing to say to my friends," Rory said with a smirk.

That same Senator from before then steps forward. "Rory, how can you call them friends? It is not right. Emroy will be displeased with you! We follow you!"

Rory holds up her hand, demanding their silence, "You do not get the right to speak to me like that. You are lucky that they are even returning you. If they listen to me, I would have put all your heads on a pike. It is your souls that Emroy demands. Not theirs," She finishes giving them a death looking glare and then turns around and joins the team.

What Rory said scares all of them, realizing that she considers them the enemy. Their spirits suddenly drop after seeing the situation turn against them.

Hearing what Rory said also bothered Sharpe a little. Some time he forgets Rory is an Apostle and how brutal this world is.

Pina saw all of that. She watched when Rory helped them during the Siege of Italica. She was hoping that just a temporary alliance and would aid the Empire in the struggle. For her, it is clear that at least one of the Apostles of this world are allied with the Americans. This treaty needs to get signed as soon as possible to end the war.

Willington accepts the documents and looks at the Rangers, "thank you for coming on short notice Rangers. As you can see the town is happy to see you all. We are going to be leaving tomorrow morning so please make yourself at home. Also remember, we are their guests."

Willington saw that. This is the first time he got to see Rory and the other two girls. Lieutenant General Stanford warned him about this unit and these three girls. Not in a negative way just how unorthodox the unit has become. It is interesting to see a real demi-goddess and a magic-user for the first time.

That is when he sees Princess Pina go walk up to Major Sharpe. He would not be the only one, all those prisoners, the Marine guards, and his team.

Pina walks up to Sharpe. Then she holds out her hand. "Nice to meet you again Major Sharpe, I hope the situation will be more productive than before."

Sharpe sees her hand and then takes it. "Same. But I wouldn't mind not dealing with a siege though."

Pina laughs, agreeing.