V12 - Chapter 140 3rd Recon Team

--- Greater Elies Region, Becwood Forest ---

January 28th, 2026

The Imperial Soldier jumps onto this wet log and then jumps off it, hitting the ground hard. The ground is slippery as the ground is wet from the heavy rain.

He feels one of his comrades picks him up. "We have to go!"

He gets up and starts rushing. Up ahead is a small fort that was quickly assembled.

When the regional capital Havcristen fell, it split the Imperial Army in the Greater Elies Region. General Krysist and Legatus Propraetor Pelue Muilk took their forces for the last stand at Fortress Legrath. Everyone else ran north to regroup.

A week ago, a five thousand strong Imperial force tried to retake Havcristen. The assault ended in a disaster. Right now, Havcristen is divided on which side to support. There is a massive debate going on in the city to support the Other Worlders if they accept their trade terms. Many do not want to change their slave labor force fearing to be put out of business.

They thought they could capitalize on this divide. If they could reach the city, the city would revolt and together purge the Other Worlders.

They only got twelve leagues before they were spotted by the Other Worlders' flying machines. After that, artillery started raining down, they were forced to flee seeing no path to the city.

The fleeing forces were split into three groups. From what he can understand one of the groups was already annihilated.

He and his comrade get behind these boulders and trees, using them as cover. "Who is in command here?"

He watches as three archers fire their arrows. This man rushes up and looks at him. "No idea."

He looks around to see how many there are alive. Right now, he sees around fifteen soldiers from the fleeing Legion. Most of them are Human. Then he hears a bullet hit the boulder.

"Don't worry," One of the soldiers said. "Just a stray."

He sits down and starts to catch his breath. He can hear battles raging all around the forests.

"I don't understand," A soldier says as he tries to catch his breath.

"Neither do I," He replies. He gets up and looks past the boulder.

He sees the trees hoping to get a glimpse of the enemy. He originally thought the Other Worlders were a joke for not wearing proper armor. Since then, he sees the value in their uniforms. While not as effective as an invisibility spell, their clothes blend in well with to the environment. No wonder General Krysist was trying to adopt the enemy uniform styles.

"I was certain we could lose them in the forest." He spoke.

He and everyone else hears these zooming sounds above. He looks to the left and hears loud explosions. Through the dense trees, he can see some of the explosions from the Other Worlders' artillery. Then the sounds of the enemy's gunfire are heard as a small battle begins in the distance.

"How did they find us?" A soldier asked.

"I don't know," He said. "But I have seen this before(1). During the opening invasion, the enemy used their long-range Trebuchets. They sent small squads out to spot out for our positions and then they destroyed us."

Based on the explosion and then the follow-up assault that just happened, he remembers seeing these small insects flying machines around in the trenches in the hedgerows. However, they did not act like normal insects. They seemed to be spotting for the enemy.

In the distance, he sees more Imperial soldiers as they are rushing towards their position. He sees two of them fall from the enemy fire. "Hurry up!"

Three soldiers rush and slide behind them into their covered position, all panting.

He looks at them. "Where are they?"

"Right behind us," One of the new soldiers said as he caught his breath. "But they stopped."

"Stop?" He asked and then looked around. "Everyone. Look for this insect like thing."

"Have you gone crazy?" A boy asked. "We should run or make a stand here."

"Knock it off the boy," A soldier said and started looking around.

He starts breathing heavily as he starts to panic. He does not understand how but the Enemy somehow is able to see everything.

As everyone looks around, he suddenly sees something. Right next to a nearby tree and under a branch he sees this hovering device. "There it is! It is their insect! Archers!"

The three archers reload and aim, firing their arrows at the enemy insect.

It moves around and flies away, heading back the way they came.

"It ran away," One of the soldiers said and then cheered. Many more soldiers start to cheer from their minor victory.

Except for him. He already knows what this means. He has no idea how it works but he saw those insects flying all over the plain during battle. "Run!"

He gets up and starts running. Only the other veterans follow him, knowing what is about to happen.

He then hears this zooming sound and a moment later a massive explosion happens right where he was at, killing three soldiers.

---

All across the line, American Soldiers from the 1st Cavalry Division moved forward. They are from Colonel Kurt's Brigade, which is stationed in Elies.

About ten of them line up behind logs and trees firing toward the enemy position.

"These Cav boys mean business," Sergeant First Class Shino Kuribayashi said.

"Of course, they do," Master Sergeant Tetsuya Nishina replies. "How would you feel if Ginza was attacked?"

"Well, they're cute," Shino said as she adjusts her helmet.

"Alright, you two knock it off." Sergeant Major Sōichirō Kuwahara orders. "Itami, orders?"

Captain Yoji Itami yawns and he knees at his position. "We are waiting for the orders to advance."

Both Colonel Kurt from 1st Cav and Colonel Shunya Kengun from 4th Combat Regiment agreed to do a joint operation to drive the Imperialists out of the Yamen Forest. 3rd Recon Team has been assigned to Alpha Company. Colonel Kurt Bravo Company is flanking from the east while a company from the Polish 12th Mechanized flanking from the west.

He then looks forward and sees three of his riflemen providing suppressive fire.

"Come on let's get in the fight," Shino says in a frustrated tone.

"Calm down," He said as he yawns. "We have orders to wait until the micro drone comes back."

"Yeah," Shino comments. "Very cool tech."

Based on a Norwegian design, the US Army deployed a newer version of the Black Hornet drone. It is a small electric motor helicopter that can fly silently around the enemy. It has a built-in camera for the operator to see. Unlike the old version, this newer version can connect to the American and other nations' NETT Warrior network, providing a live feed to everyone. What the drone sees all the leaders can see.

The strategy is to send in the Black Hornet II to search for the retreating enemy. Once spotted, the Americans bring down HVP(2) artillery arounds from M1299.

Suddenly they all hear artillery M1113 rounds zooming overhead. He has read about the M1113 and the M1299. The United States Army deployed units in Japan to help act as modern coastal artillery because the new round has a range of one-hundred kilometers. From what he understands this is the first combat debut for both weapons' platform.

He looks forward and sees three explosions. In the old days, you would need to fire dozens of artillery shells to hit your target. Thanks to precision guidance technology, now all you need is one round to hit your target besides a barrage.

"Alright be ready to advance 3rd Recon," He said.

"Drone incoming," Shino said.

Through his HUD he sees this little micro drone fly by. It heads to its operator, an American soldier. He has to admit he is impressed by the American NW(3). It reminds him of one of his favorite manga's Ghost in the Shell. While Japan has the ACIES(4), Japan version of NW, everyone also thought Japan's would have the most advanced network soldiers.

When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe loosen the Japanese Constitution to allow Japan to be more militaristic and to act as an aggressor force. The main reason was that China has threatened to cut off trade and claim Japan 1st Island chain islands like the Senkaku Islands. At first, the people were against the expansion of the Japan Self Defense Force. However. the China Coronavirus made the people of Japan reevaluate its position.

Japan is not a NATO member but is considered a major partner of the East. The US and Japan have deep economic and defense roots going back to World War Two and because the world has been rebalancing away from Europe and the Atlantic to the Pacific, Japan has started to be considered the 'Britain of the East' or the US second most important ally.

When the US was attacked by these fantasy aliens, Japan jumped at the opportunity to join the US interstellar war against the Human and monster aliens. There were many public reasons to help a major friend and ally. To show a united force against an alien threat, to be part of the future economic activities that will happen in this new world or to help prevent the US from pulling out troops in Japan to fight an alien force and others say this is a great opportunity to test and train the Japanese military. Probably a little of everything.

The only problem he noticed during all this is that it has forced him to miss two manga conventions in a row. A true crime in this war.

He thought he would not get deployed to the war, which was fine with him. He gets to hang back home and enjoy his otaku lifestyle. But one of his commanders remembers that he knows a lot about these monsters because of his hobby and said his knowledge might be valuable for the war effort.

He looks at his HUD and sees the American commander give the order to advance. He then looks over to his soldiers. "Advance!"

He gets up and everyone else moves forward.

They pass the location where the artillery round hit. They only see two bodies which are fine. The order is to keep pushing the Imperialists back. There are clear signs that there were more men here but fled.

They continue to move and then he hears the 1st Cav soldiers begin to open fire.

He sees five Cav soldiers scattering. This one soldier seems to fall back, and he can hear screaming. Arrows start to rain down from a new covered position up ahead. He sees his soldiers take cover and start to return fire.

He looks at his HUD and sees what Sergeant Takeo Kurata is firing at. It is a log covered position the Imperialists are using as a bunker. "Focus fire on what Takeo sees. Keep fire on that makeshift bunker."

Suddenly he notices this large glow, coming from his left. Taking a look, he sees this large fireball fly through the air and hits the 1st Cav position.

Sergeant First Class Mari Kurokawa then rushes to his side. "Captain. It looks like one of the Americans is wounded."

He looks to the team medic and then looks to the squad of Americans on their left flank. He sees two of them dragging this one soldier while the other two are firing in the distance. The wounded soldier has this smoke coming from his chest. It looked like he was hit by some kind of fireball spell. "They have a mage. Let's go. 3rd Recon covering fire!"

When he gets there he can see the two Americans trying to take off the soldier's burning Uros Modular Body Armor Vest or known as UMBAV(5) for short. He can see burn marks all over the man's chest. He looks over to one of the Americans, First Sergeant Michael. "Is he ok?"

Michael looks at him. "I don't know. They have a combat mage."

"I noticed," He replies and then looks to Mari. "See what you can."

He then looks back at Michael. Last time he heard the US Army employed a newer version of the Modular Body Armor Vest. He remembers hearing from the other Japanese officers from the 5th Combat Team talk about how jealous they were of how quickly the American military can produce new equipment when needed.

"I thought your UMBAV was supposed to reduce magic attacks," He asked.

From what he understands in the early stages of the war, the current MBAV was not as effective against magical attacks and other types of piercing arrows. Magic is a new threat to the infantry, the US Army spent millions to find a way to help protect its soldiers from magical attacks.

"Keyword sir, supposed to." Michael commands. While it is clear he is frustrated, he still has a calm manner. "The problem is DARPA still doesn't fully understand how powerful magic is. My experience is, it changes by the spell and how experienced the user is. I don't know how you make body armor that can deflect that."

What the soldier said made sense to him. From what the FFAM said, mages have all different kinds of spells. If you develop one kind of armor that is more resistant to fire, the mage uses a lightning spell or wind or just pure energy.

From his experiences, mages must remain in one place to do their spells, making them vulnerable. That is why they are holding this point even though the American artillery killed many of the defenders.

"Incoming," A soldier yells.

He looks up and sees this green light from the mage's position. The issue he can see that the mage is taking cover, staying away from a clear line of sight. He now understands why the Imperialists are holding there, good cover to protect the mage.

Suddenly this green energy ball flies over the boulder and acts like a mortar shell. The energy ball lands right behind them, cutting a tree in half. The top part of the tree starts to fall right behind them, cutting them off from the rest of the 1st Cav troops off. Both parts of the tree burst into this green fire.

"They're trying to cut us all off from our troops." He mumbles. "I don't have time for this."

"Why not sir?" Michael asked, confused by that statement.

He looks at the American and smiles. "A new chapter of Berserk came out yesterday. They are slow to release new chapters, sometimes taking years just to release one issue."

Then another green explosion happens, cutting another tree in half as it bursts into green fire.

"We can't stay here," He mumbles.

He looks to Michael and can see he is talking to someone on their NW. He then sees Soichiro through ACIES.

"Sir. Are you ok?" Soichiro asked.

"We are fine," He replies. "We are dealing with a mage acting as a mortar." As he said he sees another tree fall.

He then looks at Michael. "Can you bring down another HVP?"

"I just asked for that," Michael replies. "M1299s are now focused on supporting Polish forces. They are facing a cavalry charge."

He assesses his ACIES to see if there are any assist available. He then sees a JSDF AH-1 Cobra providing support for the 5th Recon Team.

"Captain Domoto Yuko. Requesting assistance from your Cobra. Close air support." He asked.

"We can hear the fighting from here," Domoto said. "I am assigning Assassin-Six to your position."

Hearing that he suddenly sees the pilot in his HUD. The Kawasaki is stopping its scouting mission and heading to them.

He looks to Michael and informs him that an AH-1 Cobra is inbound. "I am heading back to my team. Take care of my medic."

"Don't worry Captain," Mari said as she hums. "I need to stay here. These burns are bad."

"Ok," He replies and heads back to his team position. On the way, a few arrows go past him. They are sloppily fired because they are either arcing them or barely peeking over their cover. They have learned not to stick their heads out too much otherwise they get sniped.

He gets to Soichiro and sees what is going on. It looked like there was an attempt to charge but five of the Imperialists were killed.

"Air support incoming. We just need to wait a moment. And then we go back to base. And then its manga time." He said with a smirk.

"Roger that sir," Soichiro said.

As the firefight continues, he can hear the helicopter sound of the AH-1 Cobra. "This is Assassin-Six we have your general position, but we can't determine your exact location."

He looks at Soichiro with a confused look. "What do you mean?" He asked over the radio. "Fire your minigun at the glowing person."

"That is the problem Captain. There is two. Plus, the fire all around the area." Assassin-Six said. "It looks like some field or something confusing my sensor."

He thinks about what the helicopter pilot said. He then comes to an educated guess on what might be happening. "I believe there is a second mage there using his magic to act as a jammer, blinding your sensors."

"How is that possible?" Assassin-Six asked. "How do they even know how sensors work or what that word means?"

"I don't know," He replies. "They don't need to understand how we see them. They just need to know how to stop it. It is the only thing I can think of."

"Roger that but I can't engage until I know who to engage. I don't want to fire blind." Assassin-Six states.

He looks around and thinks. He then radios Michael. "First Sergeant, this is Captain Itami. I think there is a second mage acting as a jammer. Can you send your Hornet Drone to spot the mage's position?"

There is a short delay on the radio. "I see what you are saying but if there is a jammer out there your bird might not be able to pick up the feed."

"We'll connect our networks and have the feed bounce off us," He said. "I should be far enough from this jamming mage."

"Roger," Michael said. "Hope it doesn't glitch again."

Most of the major western nations have developed their own networked situational awareness systems. While it has been a major advantage in fighting a mostly infantry war, they were designed to be used on Earth with modern secured connections. All the infrastructure this technology was designed around has to be rebuilt on Uros. Until satellites can be established, the US Air Force has deployed drones, and towers have been constructed to help bring the local connection to the frontline network systems. That can result in glitches and latencies during battles.

He looks out and watches the 1st Cav release a Black Hornet. It quickly flies through the American lines and zips to the Imperialist position. Because it is small and silent, the Imperialists should not be able to notice it until it is too late.

As he connects to the American NW network, he starts to see the feed from the Hornet Drone. The drone confirms his guess that there is a second mage there, using some new spell to provide interference to their sensors.

"Do you see the target?" He asked over the radio.

"Roger that," Assassin-Six said. "Engaging."

He then hears and sees a twin stream of 20 mm cannon rounds hitting the Imperialist position.

He can hear screams coming from the enemy position. The mage who was striking First Sergeant Michael's position seems to have died.

He sees both Sergeant Major Soichiro Kuwahara and Master Sergeant Tetsuya Nishina directing his unit. Many of them are firing at where the arrows are coming from.

"Soichiro. Keep your team here and provide cover," He said. "Tetsuya's. Take yours around and flank them. We will cover."

He sees Tetsuya rally his team and heads around. He watches as the Tetsuya team flanks the enemy position. He sees Shino going crazy again and starts breaking the ranks of the enemy position.

He looks at his HUB and communicates with the American Michael and Soichiro. He informs them they are advancing on the Imperialist position. He gets up and follows the joint advance, quickly taking the makeshift bunker.

He sees this swordsman charge up to take a swing at Private Wataru Katsumoto. It looks like a last-ditch attempt to keep them back.

He takes a shot killing the soldier. The Imperialist falls over the log creating an opening.

"Move it!" Sergeant Soichiro "Link up with Tetsuya's team."

It did not take long to get over the logs and boulders. Looking to the right he sees three Imperialists running away as Shino is yelling at them.

A moment later all three of them would fall from combined fire by his troops. He looks over to his left and sees the Americans securing the left flank.

Then Soichiro walks over to him. "Bunker line secured. It seems like they are getting desperate."

"Because we're here kicking ass!" Shino said, all pumped up.

"Should we advance sir?" Sōichirō asked.

"No," He replies. "I think we are good."

--- Forty-three minutes later ---

Captain Yoji Itami is sitting on a log enjoying a meal from his rations.

As he eats, he looks around. More American and Japanese reinforcements arrived. Army Intelligence came and asked them about the new magical spell. The quick meeting was boring, as usual, just describing what the mage was doing, that the Empire is trying to copy modern military tactics with their level of technology.

He sees 1st Cav soldiers gathering anything that looks of value. He takes notice of the two mage's staff. It is a standing order to collect anything magical or anything that defies modern science. Getting two staff is considered a good say for agencies like DARPA.

"Captain Yoji Itami," Major Wataru Higaki said as he walked over. "Crazy mess here. But good job on spotting that second mage."

"It was just a hunch, sir," He said and then ate.

As he eats, he looks up and notices his commanding officer standing there. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Yes," Wataru said, clearly accustomed to Itami's unprofessionalism. "I am pulling your unit off the frontlines. You're heading back to Alnus."

Hearing that he jumps up in celebration. "Yeah! Finally, a place with a decent Internet connection!"

"Hey," Shino said in an upset tone. "Things were just getting good here. We missed out on Havcristen and Legrath."

"Shino," Sōichirō said. "You realize the Americans took a lot of casualties in taking both places? They had to level half of the city just because of one Imperialist. Don't underestimate the enemy."

"If I recall, didn't they send in a special team to hunt that General down?" Mari asked herself. "What was his name?"

"A Ranger unit faced an elite Imperialist force personally led by an Imperialist General named Krysist." Sergeant First Class Akira Tomita said. "Apparently, it was a brutal fight at one of their combat outpost(6). Five Rangers died or something in that fight against Krysist."

"That man you are speaking about is Major Jackson Sharpe," Itami said as he takes another bite. "Only he would be crazy enough to fight like that and be crazy enough to come out alive."

"It sounds like you worked with him," Wataru said as he crossed his arms.

"Yes sir," Itami replies. "Did some missions together that I am not allowed to talk about. Government rules."

"What do you think of him, Captain?" Wataru asked.

He looks at his boss and then the rest of his team. All of them are looking at him, wondering what he is going to say. "I think he likes what he does too much, but he is a good man." He then thinks. "It would be him who would fight a General like that or storm a fortress. Why do you ask?"

Wataru stands there and smiles. "You are being assigned to Major Sharpe's command temporarily. To help on a training mission with the locals."

He watches as the Major walks away chuckling. He slowly sits down and puts down his meal, just staring out.

"So," Shino walks over and asks. "Should we be worried?"

"Yes…" He replies.

"Why?" Shino asked. "The rep on this dude is he is a badass. I don't fully believe it. Fighting dragons, raiding the capital, and legendary generals. Taking the mighty fortress. The only thing that is confusing me is the reports of children he keeps around, but I hear he adopted one."

"You are completely right," He says. "From my experience, all of the rep on this man is completely correct. That means he is going to make me do so much work."

Shino glares at him. "You're such an idiot boss."

Reference:

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Map: https://www.wattpad.com/846518959-gate-wotw-pictures-alnus-regional-map

(1)Chapter 80

(2)Hypervelocity Projectile (HVP)

(3)NW = NETT Warrior

(4)ACIES = Advanced Combat Infantry Equipment System

(5)Falmart Field Assist Manual (FFAM)

(6)Uros Modular Body Armor Vest (UMBAV)

(7)Chapter 89

Editor:

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LucerFier

Special Thanks to:

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Mountaintopsage

Tomrichman99