***
--- Fort Alnus ---
February 9th, 2026
Hargus is looking at a recent letter from Sadera. It has his new orders from the Haryo Tribe leader Bouro.
"These are our orders," He said, the Haryo leader in Alnus.
"That is suicide," Jaruki the Dark Elf replies. "If we do this, we will be forced to leave Alnus. We already built such a network here, using the kids to spy for us."
"I know," He replies. "We have seven kids and two adults wandering around town. However, if we leave them here, the Other Worlders will figure out that we’ve been controlling them with brain slugs. Just like the Soldier right there."
He looks to his Human and Dark Elf helpers. Both of them have brain slugs in their heads and have become loyal servants. The Human Borqual has been a brainwashed slave for the past five years and the Dark Elf Jaruki has been one for thirteen years. He then looks to the Other Worlder they had recently taken.
First Sergeant Miloslav Suchanek is standing, listening into the conversation. During the quake, he tried to stop these people from taking a kid but failed(1). His failure allowed the Haryo Tribe to get an agent within the Alnus Military Police, gaining much-needed information.
"It does not matter," The Human Borqual said. "That damn Warrior Bunny saw you."
"Borqual is right," Jaruki said. "It will only be a matter of time before we are discovered. Our advantage was that they didn't know to look for us. That's how we been able to place misdirection in our operations here. Now that they are becoming wiser our disinformation campaign will not work.
He looks back at his orders. They learned that General Herm will be shipped to Earth soon. Herm is a key friend and General of Zorzal and his capture was an embarrassment. Herm going to Earth will be a massive loss. That is why Sadera wants them to use all their resources to rescue him. Getting him back would be a major victory for the Empire.
But that is not the only target. They have been playing to save Herm for a while now, planting the seeds. The reason why they haven't conducted the operation yet is getting out of Alnus. They have a few secret tunnels that lead out of Alnus.
Miloslav said that the Other Worlders wouldn't think to check for that because they already scanned for tunnels when they first arrived. They wouldn't expect a recently constructed one by Dwarves.
"Are we going after our recent attack?" Borqual asked. "I know it’s sooner than we wanted but if we are leaving this is our only chance."
There is a secondary target that they only recently discovered after they brainwashed Miloslav that, Zorzal has a bastard son here. He once had a female American slave that was taken away(2). He explained that one of his and Myuute secret missions is to protect this girl named Noriko, and her son Tenchi, the son of Zorzal.
While he has not had a chance to report this finding to Bouro he sees that this is a target they must take. Not because it will please Zorzal but it will please the tribe leader Bouro.
The Haryo Tribe sees themselves as the true rulers of Falmart and that all the other races should serve them. They have plans to remove many of the other races that they think could pose a challenge to their rule, just like what they did with the Warrior Bunnies.
It was not an accident the Empire attacked the Warrior Bunnies; it was engineered by the Haryo Tribe as part of their conquest of Falmart. They were one of the few races that could stop their plans to infiltrate the Empire and hijack it, because of their natural strength and abilities. And that they only reproduce other bunnies.
"Here is an idea," Borqual said. "Why don't we use the kids as a distraction and shield. We will take the brainwashed ones with us. They won't dare to attack us if we have them."
"If we are doing that then are we attempting our recent discovery?" Jaruki asked, referring to Tenchi.
"Yes," He replies. "The boy is just as important for our future plans. It will delegitimize Empress Famulis’ plans to take over the Empire."
"Ok," He said. "Jaruki and I will take the soldier and get Herm out. Well, get our spies out there. Borqual, you are going after the boy."
"Alright," He said. "We do it tonight."
---
First Sergeant Miloslav Suchanek is walking into the Alnus prison. Behind him are three guards on the ground asleep.
Jaruki is a Dark Elf and as an Elf they are magical. They use spirit magic, which allows them to create and control natural elements like water, wind, fire, and more. They also have some unnatural spells like the ability to put people to sleep, making them master spies.
He spent the last few weeks informing them how NATO security works like what security cameras are and how they work. Thermal sensors, trigger alarms, and more. It was hard for them to understand how advance the security system is, but now they are now started to understand slowlyglass.
Every security can be broken, especially if the enemy has a false sense of security. He has spent the last few weeks gathering information about the prison, the schedules, and where Herm is located.
He gets to the door, armed to the teeth. He looks at Jaruki and his master Hargus there. "Behind this door should be three more guards. Most likely the CIA. They shouldn't be heavily armed."
"The CIA, your people’s version of a spies corrects?" Jaruki asks. "I just want to make sure I understand."
He explained that the Americans have a spy agency called the Central Intelligence Agency or CIA for short. He is a soldier from the Czech Republic, a smaller European nation within NATO so he does not know much about the CIA. The basics should be enough for right now.
He sees Hargus, a green pig-like humanoid. While they have thicker skin then the average man, they are not stronger. They rely on tricks and planned out missions to carry out their agenda. When Hargus walks over he cracks the door open.
Hargus large rolls this dark purple orb into the room.
He closes the door and hears this man say something, acknowledging the orb. All of a sudden, he hears the agents in the other room yelling and screaming.
Hargus explained that this dark orb releases some kind of dark energy that brings out a man's deepest and darkest fears. The effects can last a few hours or a few days, depending on how severely affected the person is and what their darkest fear is. It is a very rare orb and he was hesitant in using it now but there was no other way.
After he counts to five, he opens the door and holds out his CZ 805 BREN assault rifle. When he walks inside the prison room he sees three CIA agents rushing around scared out of their minds. One is holding his hands on his head, asking to be forgiven. Another one falls on the ground covering her eyes. Then he sees the last one pulling out his Beretta M9 pistol, about to kill himself.
He rushes up and knocks that man out with the butt of his rifle.
"Why didn't you just kill him?" Hargus asked as he walks over.
He looks down at the CIA agent and then looks to his master. "Because if I fire a shot, it would trigger the alarms. I will shut up the other two."
"No," Jaruki said as he pulls out his knife. "If you are worried about noises, cut their throats."
He looks to Jaruki and walks over to the female agent. His knife is out and about to slice her throat. He grabs Jaruki's arm, stopping him from killing her.
"What are you doing?" Jaruki asked, annoyed.
He hesitated to respond but then looks directly at him. "It would be better if we don't. Killing them will only hamper our escape."
"That makes no sense," Jaruki states. "A dead man can't speak."
"Remember we are weak," He said. "They value the welfare of their comrades. If we keep them alive, they will invest extra manpower to take care of them. If we kill them, they will send everything to us. They will want to take Herm alive and if we kill them, they might get trigger happy if we get spotted."
Jaruki doesn't seem to believe him but let's go of the female. Then punches her hard in the head, knocking her out. "Convincing enough."
As Jaruki and Hargus go over to free General Herm out of his cell, he knocks out the last agent.
The truth is that he doesn't understand why he stopped Jaruki from killing her. He was correct, it would have been better to kill them, but some reaction made him stop the elf. There was this urge that forced him to.
"Thank you very much," Herm said as he walks out. He is wearing this orange prison suit. "I hope we have an escape plan."
"We do my lord," Hargus said.
He watches Hargus explain to the freed general what is happening. He sees Jaruki pick up the dark orb. "We better hurry."
He then drops his backpack and takes out C4. He walks over to this desk that's out of the way to make it harder to find it. He sets it up and then grabs his backup. "Let's move."
"Agreed," Hargus said. "Are your explosives ready?"
"It is called C4," He replies. "And that depends on your slave kids. If they put it where I told them to then we are fine. I can blow them remotely if needed."
They all move through the facility, passing all the guards that were put to sleep by Jaruki sleeping magic.
They head outside of the building seeing the AMP Humvee sitting there. He rushes to the driver's side of the vehicle as the others start getting into the back. But then this dagger flies and hits Jaruki in the arm.
He looks to the direction the dagger came from and sees this Warrior Bunny in her traditional uniform. He knows who it is, Delilah. She is holding a large sword ready to sprint forward. By her side are these two soldiers' weapons ready.
He expected this and already had a backup plan. "Kids attack!"
He then sees four brainwashed kids that were hiding behind a HUMVEE and tackle Delilah and the two soldiers. He can see one of them about to fire but was ordered not to by the other soldier. Delilah and the two soldiers are struggling with what to do as the kids try to kill them.
He gets in the HUMVEE and drives off after everyone else gets in. He glances at the three and sees this nervous look. Hargus, Jaruki and Herm seem to be unease riding by artificial means. A vehicle is very different then a horse and it seems like they haven’t adjusted yet.
He then hears the base alarm goes off. He was expecting it, part of his job in the AMP is to know how the base defenses will respond. But this did happen faster then he expected. "I hope your exit tunnel will be worth it."
"Just get us there," Hargus yells.
Up ahead he sees the gate that divides the military base to the civilian town. The German guard there opens fire from his rifle. From the rifle right the front window cracks from the rifle fire. White it is bullet proof he knows it wont last long.
He doesn't stop and the soldier jumps out of the way. He rams into the pole gate ramming right through it but heavily damaging the front of the vehicle.
He knows it will only be a matter of time before they get surrounded by the military. He knows the protocols on how the military will contain. The best solution to buy enough time is to create as much chaos as he can as quickly as he can.
The more chaos the more protocols get triggers which means more forces being moved around to respond. Guard post getting reinforced just in case, security gets beefed up in places that are not needed to be. Communications get jammed up as everyone is trying to figure out what's going on and demanding orders. That's great if there is an external threat but during a small internal threat, it has the opposite effect if you know you already know what will happen.
That is why he proposed planting C4 around and inside the prison. They will know Herm was taken but when you level a building, that freezes every reaction. Everyone will be focused on the destruction of the prison rather than finding them. At least their search and response will be slowed down.
He reaches down to the remote detonator for the C4. There are two positions the C4 is located. The kids put the C4 at the vehicles outside the building and the one he set up inside the prison.
He flips the switch and presses the first button. He then hears this explosion. The parking lot outside the prison blows up, blowing up the few vehicles at it. He sees the explosion in the side mirror.
He moves his hand to press the second button, the one that he set up in the prison.
Herm looks at the prison and then looks at him. "Nothing happened?"
"I thought the plan was to blow up the prison," Hargus asked, annoyed and frustrated. "You said we needed to blow that building for this to work."
He thinks back when he planted the bomb. He remembers setting up the bomb but never activating it. He remembers knowing if he did, he would be killing everyone in the building, his old comrades. "I don't know. It was supposed to blow up."
"You have been setting us up," Jaruki states, pulling out his dagger.
He looks at Jaruki and yells. "You never would have gotten this far if it wasn't for me. Now let me do my job!"
---
Corporal Myuute Luna Sires looks towards the explosion. She knows where that came from, the prison inside the military base. Her radio is going off as dozens of people are all demanding answers on what is going on.
She has been trying to get a hold of her police partner Miloslav. So far, he has not responded. This never been an issue before but in recent weeks he has slowly become unreliable.
She looks around as she sees civilians coming out of their homes and see what is happening. "Everyone back into your homes! Now!"
Some people listen to her, but most ignore her. She is alone so there isn't much she can do to conduct crowd control. Part of being in the AMP is crowd control during a crisis. That only works when you have enough to do force protection. Alone, there is only so much you can do.
She takes a frustrated breath having to wait for reinforcements. That is when she hears her phone ringing. At first, she thought it was Miloslav, but it says it is Noriko Mochizuki. "Noriko, are you ok?"
"No!" Noriko says as she cries. "A man broke into my apartment and took Tenchi."
Her eyes widened hearing that. Because Tenchi is the son of Emperor Zorzal, the American governments want to keep him safe and under their eyesight. One of her responsibilities is to keep an eye on him. "Where are you?"
"I am running but I can't keep up," Noriko said, trying to keep herself focused but still crying. "I saw... going west. He has my baby!"
"I am on it," She replies and then grabs her radio. "I have a Code Blue Six Three, heading somewhere west. All units!"
Code Blue Six Three is the quick response to tell the AMP that Tenchi has been taken and any available units need to respond. The military automatically deploys the troops to help find and secure the Emperor son.
---
Miloslav stops the HUMVEE at the tunnel location. It is at a warehouse where Borqual pretended to work. "We got to go. We have been spotted and I know us moving in this direction at that speed would raise some red flags."
"Why would they raise red flags? Or any flags in this situation?" Jaruki asked, not understanding the phrase.
"Will explain later," He replies. He grabs his backpack and rifle. He looks around but he hears on the radio that the AMP and military are on their way here.
He hears Jaruki whistles and three brainwashed kids come out from cover. They have been out there creating a smaller distraction. The idea was that the AMP would go to their positions besides focusing on this warehouse. Just to help create more confusion and chaos.
"We can't leave," Hargus said.
"What?" Herm said in anger. "I will not be put back into their dungeon. We leave now, I command you."
"We need Borqual," Hargus said to Herm. "And you don't command me. I follow my leader Bouro. We need what Borqual has. We can't come back here."
As the two argue he looks around ready to fire his weapon. Borqual was supposed to be here by now but now he is getting worried. He can see people running around between the buildings, confused civilians. It is distracting as he tries to look for the enemy.
He then sees Borqual come out of this alely holding Tenchi. As planned, Tenchi has a tap over his mouth to help prevent him from crying. The last thing they need is a baby drawing everyone to their location.
Borqual rushes up, breathing heavily. "We need to go. I am sure I have been spotted."
He rushes to the warehouse door. Both him and Hargus open it.
"The tunnel is hidden inside," Hargus said.
He walks in but then this dagger cuts him in the cheek. This other dagger comes out of the warehouse, forcing everyone to scatter.
He takes a step back and places his hand on his cheek, shocked at what just happened.
He then looks into the warehouse and sees another Warrior Bunny standing there, in full traditional warrior clothing, and holding this sword. He knows who this Bunny is, it is Tyuule.
"General Stanford. I have them at Warehouse 3B. I have Herm and Tenchi here." Tyuule said and then listened to the headset. "Roger that General. I will hold the line."
Seeing what is about to happen he raises his rifle but is too late. He knows Bunnies have faster reaction time but being so close he couldn't get her in his sights yet.
Her blade smashes against his CZ 805 BREN assault rifle. He can see in her eyes that she has no intention of holding back. He bet on that NATO forces would be more hesitant to open fire on friendlies like him, assuming he is on their side. She isn't going to follow that logic.
He is pushed back and blocks again with his rifle. "Back up!" He yells.
Tyuule grabs him and flips him around and rams him into the driver's side door. His momentum forces the door to closes as he slams into it.
He looks up as he tries to recover, he sees Tyuule easily defeating Jaruki. She then charges at Hargus with anger in her eyes. He can see that they are all going to die if he doesn't do something.
He gets up and pulls out a grenade. "Tyuule!"
Tyuule cuts Hargus but intentionally keep him alive, wanting to turn him in with the military. She looks over at him slightly confused. "You won't dare."
He holds the grenade out so she can see it. In the background, he can hear vehicles and military personnel coming. He looks directly at Tyuule making sure she understands he means business. He will protect his master no matter what.
"If you don't let go, I will kill us all," He states. "We will not serve you. We would rather die in glorious battles as heroes of the Empire. Heroes of the Haryo Tribe. And when I pull this pin all these kids will die."
Tyuule looks at him, holding the grip of her blade tightly. "You won't dare."
Hearing that he pulls the pin of the grenade, letting his actions speak for him. Doing that seems to get her attention as he holds on the lever. One he releases pressure on the lever the fragmentation grenade explodes killing everyone around.
He can see the conflict in Tyuule’s eyes as she tries to figure out what to do. She can probably get to him before he does anything but that would not matter. If she hits him, he in any way he lets go of the lever.
"Run," He yells at Hargu and Herm.
He sees them get up and starts running, heading inside. Tyuule stands there unable to stop them as they run aside.
Once both are alone, he stands fully up.
"What are you planning?" Tyuule asked. "You don't have to do this Miloslav. You're an honorable man."
He ignores what Tyuule said. She is the enemy of the Haryo Tribe and a threat to his masters. Tyuule is the Queen of the Warrior Bunnies, removing her from this world would be a massive victory for the Haryo Tribe. The Warrior Bunny race will never unite if she dies here.
Up until this point, NATO barely understood what the Haryo Tribe is. They losing Tyuule will also help the Haryo Tribe against NATO. They will lose their only source of information on them. "For the Haryo Tribe!"
As he is about to release the lever, he hears this faint sound behind him.
"Miloslav!"
He stops and turns around. He sees Myuute standing there with these shocked eyes.
"What are you doing?" Myuute asked, confused about what is going on.
"Myuute!" Tyuule yells. "He has been mind controlled by the enemy. His mind is lost!"
He looks at Myuute. "Stay back or I will blow us all!"
He sees American HUMVEEs, German LAPV Enok, and French Panhard VBL. Soldiers start to dismount, and he sees the situation starting to devolve.
He glances over and sees Tyuule gone. He knows where she went, to chase his master and Herm. But he knows he can delay these people. "I already pulled the pin. If you move, I will let go."
He sees soldiers taking cover behind their vehicles, weapons aimed at him.
"First Sergeant Miloslav Suchanek," Second Lieutenant Carlson yells. "This is Second Lieutenant Carlson of the Alnus Military Police. Put down the grenade and surrender. If you don't, we will fire at you."
He looks at all the soldiers and knows they will fire if this takes too long. But then he sees Myuute standing there again, looking at him. For some reason, he can look away from her stare.
"Corporal Myuute," Carlson yells. "Get out of there. That is an order!"
Myuute takes a deep breath and walks towards him.
He looks directly at Myuute and holds out the grenade. "One more step and I will pull this. Your kind will not win this war. We, the Haryo Tribe will rule these lands. They belong to us and all of you will serve under our rule!"
"Just like what the communist did to your family?" Myuute responds.
He was about to let go again but then thinks back to his small home in the Czech Republic. While he was not alive during the Cold War, he remembers growing up poor as his country struggled to rebuild after the Cold War ended. He remembers stories of family members disappearing overnight.
He thinks about the small house with a pot of flowers at his mother's house. The smell of the farmlands and the car noises from the nearby city.
"He is distracted," Carlson said. "Fire!"
Myuute looks behind and then activates her wind magic. She tosses a small guest at all the soldiers to distract them. She then takes a deep breath and uses her magic to create a windshield.
He watches as wind flows around them, going around and around. It becomes hard to see what is happening outside then the wind wall. He looks back to Myuute, getting nervous. "Stay back!"
Myuute stops and looks at him. Her feathers are moving around as she controls the gust of wind. She wanted to cut everything in the world out, so they are alone. She looks at him, using her wind magic to keep him a little unbalanced.
"Miloslav," She said, upset and trying to hold back her emotions. "You are not a member of the Haryo Tribe. Don't die for them."
Hearing that he looks at her as he tries to keep himself steady. "I am a loyal servant of the Haryo Tribe. They are the true rules of this world. I have been blessed to serve for them and I am willing to die for their vision."
Myuute takes a breath, on the verge of crying. "No, you are not. This isn't you. We are partners. We kept the streets safe together and I refuse to accept that is a lie." She then walks forward.
"Stay back," He orders. "I already pulled out the pin. Any loss of pressure on the lever and then, both of us die."
Myuute stops a few feet away but looks up at him. "My wind magic will keep the grenade blast contained in here. Then only both of us will die here."
She then starts to cry but smiles. "Do you remember that fourth of July day? The American Independence? Do you remember what you said to the people at the bar(3)?"
He can't help himself from remembering that event. Some of the Alnus civilians were annoyed by the Americans celebrating the birth of their nation. Many of them were questioning NATO’s presence and whether they should trust them. if they traded one empire for another.
He shakes his head as he tries to forget that memory. His loyalty is to the Haryo Tribe now, not these people.
Myuute smiles and then places her hand on his shoulder. "I remember. You told a story about how your grandfather lived through the evil NAZI Germany occupation. That the Americans came to your home and liberated your country. A soldier gave your grandfather a baseball mitt(4)."
She gets closer to him and places her other hand on his shoulder, giving him her full attention. "But after your people were freed the Russians became a threat again. The Americans came to your lands to defend you. You witnessed your grandfather giving back that mitt to say thanks."
He looks down at her and sees her crying but smiling. As he listens, he is forced to think back home again. He remembers standing on the side of the road, hundreds of townsfolk there with him. Kids waving hello, everyone waving American and Czech flags as this long column of military vehicles drives through his town. Watching about a hundred vehicles driving down the road to Eastern Europe.
He learned it was the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, a Stryker armored force. He remembered his grandfather told him that these soldiers are far away from home, expected to die for his and other countries in Europe.
Hearing that story and watching all those military vehicles drive through his home in 2015 he knew he wanted to enlist into the army.
As he listens he wants to let go of the grenade but his hands refuse to respond. He wants to drop the pin but for some reason, he refuses to let go. He feels his head starting to hurt and his noises start to bleed.
"You wondered why someone from another land should fight when you weren't, so you joined," Myuute said. "And when this war started you volunteered to come here. Because you felt you had to. To do your part. To repay a debt. That is why I know you won't let go of that grenade. You can't betray the reason why you came here."
Myuute looks directly into his eyes and smiles. "Please put the pin back into the grenade. So, you can continue serving your country. So, we can keep working together, as partners. Please."
He looks at her and then looks down at his hands. Both of them are shaking as he struggles to control his body. He sees blood dripping from his nose to his hands as he tries to focus. "I… I can't…"
"I know you can," Myuute said softly. "It is my fault. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't do anything. I am a bad partner. But you want to know something. I know you can. You could have let go of the lever at any time. That prison, I heard they found an explosive there that was not armed. I know you planted it and you couldn't arm it. You also didn't kill anyone. Whatever is trying to control you I know you are stronger."
He looks at his hands as they shake. He starts to grunt as he tries to focus on his hands. Slowly his hands move closer together. He can hear her telling more stories, telling him that he can do it. Suddenly he sees that the pin is back into the grenade.
Seeing that he falls to his knees passing out.
---
As Miloslav passes out and falls, Myuute catches him. She gets on her knees and rests his head on her.
She can see the blood coming out of his nose and ears. She doesn't care that his blood is beginning to stain her uniform. All she does is rub his back and comfort him.
"You did it Miloslav," She said. "Your grandfather would be proud of you. Everything will be ok."
She starts to reel in her wind magic. The gusting wind that was spinning around her starts to disappear so the other soldiers can see them.
Once everything is cleared she looks up. "Everything is ok. He put the grenade down. I need a medic!"
She sees soldiers, rifles at the ready. She knows they are only being safe.
She then sees some medics rushing over. She looks up at them. "He is bleeding out of his ears and nose. Tyuule said he was brainwashed so I don't know what they did to him."
"We will take care of him," The Spanish soldier said.
---
Delilah gets out of the HUMVEE after General Stanford and heads to the warehouse Tyuule mentioned.
She sees soldiers everywhere as they secure the area. To her left she sees Myuute standing near her partner Miloslav as he gets loaded up into an ambulance.
At first, she thought he was a traitor, but Stanford explained that he was brainwashed by a brain slug. That Tyuule explained how it works and how modern medicine should be able to extract the slug.
The kids who ambushed her and those soldiers have been seduced and taken to the Army Hospital. Based on what Tyuule and Stanford said those kids will get treated and go back to normal.
"Well this has been a mess," Stanford said.
"Still part of the plan though?" She replies. "Besides, my Queen is chasing them right now."
"And we have a helicopter tracking them," Colonel Yang said. "Vanguard-4 and an Australian Commando unit ready to go when needed."
"Keep them on standby Yang," Stanford said. "I didn't expect them to take Tenchi or had one of our MPs under their control. I want an investigation on that."
"Why are you not sending more after them?" She asked. She has been getting caught up as things develop. It seems like there is a greater plan happening.
Stanford looks at her. "We know of a Haryo cell in Italica from the Haryo whom Pina took prisoner of. We believe they are heading there and already inform Countess Myui."
"You set a trap?" She replies, surprised.
"Yes," Stanford said. "Now. Do you mind assisting your queen?"
She smirks. "Yes sir."
Reference:
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Map: https://www.wattpad.com/846518959-gate-wotw-pictures-alnus-regional-map
(1) Chapter 41
(2) Chapter 123
(3) Chapter 28
(4) Baseball Mitt Links U.S. Army Generations in Europe's Defense – military.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/NJR9EP4
