Fanfic / The Fight we Chose

"No one starts a war—or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so—without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it."

— Harold G. Moore ^note also the official synopsis of the story on FanFiction.net

The Fight we Chose by DFMRCV, is an Alternate History Fic of the web novel, Gate - Thus the JSDF Fought There that replaces the JSDF in canon with the United States during The '60s.

On November 22, 1963, Americans tune in to the afternoon television and radio broadcasts not hearing the news of a slain president, but of a sudden invasion from a fantasy medieval army pouring through a mysterious Gate that opened up in Dallas, Texas. Despite the initial civilian casualties, the National Guard and US Army responders eventually arrives to repel the invaders on the bloodied streets of downtown Dallas and emerge victorious. Months later, President John F. Kennedy launches a military force to secure the other side of the Gate in the hopes of bringing justice to the people responsible for the unprovoked attack on his nation, as well as spread the good word of human rights and American freedom to a barbaric new world spared from the political uncertainty of the Cold War. Meanwhile on Earth, JFK has his hands full in placating the will of the world's, especially that of the Soviet Union's interests in the Gate, while managing the ongoing Civil Rights Movement, the escalating Vietnam War and his political detractors back on the home front; all important factors which will determine the success of his upcoming 1964 re-election campaign.

Dennis Orville of the US Army, 75th Ranger Regiment finds himself on the forefront of a new world, leaving behind his troubled past and jumps straight into the horrors of warfare, unchanged by time and technology. Will he find glory in participating in the war between worlds, or is there only emotional pain and torment waiting for him by the end? And can a lonely, tortured soul inside the former queen of the Warrior Rabbit Tribe finally find peace with a kindred spirit from another world, or will she blindly continue on the self-destructive path of destroying the empire that enslaved her people?

The story is now complete with 13 chapters. It now has a sequel called A Peace To Protect. Set in the year 1972, it explores how Earth and the land beyond the Gate is doing while the Cold War rages on.

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This Gate fanfiction provides examples of:

• Action Girl: Since the inclusion of the Warrior Bunnies as full-fledged US citizens, many of them take their chances to serve their liberators who had more than proven their worth in vanquishing the Empire. Recognising the martial prowess and ready military discipline of the Warrior Bunny race, President Kennedy then fast-tracks a bill to enable women to serve in combat roles into the US Military; most if not all former Bunny Warrior tribeswomen.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Zorzal of all people gets this treatment. While he's still a buffoon who's way over his head, the story shows him as somewhat capable in politics, being able to win over members of the senate to conspire in assassinating Molt.
  • Unlike canon where he gets his ass easily handed to him by an enthusiastic female JSDF Blood Knight, Zorzal's combat acumen and persistence really shows. In Chapter 10, he leads his troops against the Americans holding out at the Akusho District. He gets wounded several times and marches on to get back at Dennis and eventually dies fighting to the bitter end.
• Allohistorical Allusion:
  • During the Gate incident at Texas, The Sharpshooter (a.k.a Lee Harvey Oswald) manages to accurately hit a moving legionary at long range, then internally complements himself for scoring such a difficult target. Investigations into the JFK assassination have attempted on multiple times to recreate the exact shot Oswald took under the same conditions that occurred that day; the shot was very difficult, though still possible for someone with Oswald's military training.
  • The 7th Air Calvary's actions at Italica mirrors that of their real-life baptism of fire at the Battle of Ia Drang Valley where helicopters ferried supplies/reinforcements to troops in a position surrounded by enemies outnumbering them by the thousands. In both cases, it proves the usefulness of new helicopter tactics that will come to redefine the battles ahead.
  • The Remnant of Imperial forces under General Tiberius take to the forests and mountains where they would mount a guerrilla resistance against the Americans. Like the Vietcong and pretty much any paramilitary forces in history, they resorted to low-risk, high-reward tactics designed to bog down a superior enemy in the hopes that the invaders will grow tired and eventually give up due to the costly nature of such a conflict. To make the parallels to the VC even clearer, one of their mentioned tactics involve digging pitfalls laced with poisoned wooden spikes and other crude forms of wooden booby traps made with simple materials.
  • Tiberius' last suicidal all-out-attack on multiple US positions in Chapter 9 has similarities to the Tet Offensive; both North Vietnam and the Empire's attempt at one major push into key US-held positions in a surprise attack that eventually fails to gain any success. ^note While technically a military defeat for the combined forces of the NVA and the VC, the US public's support for the war began declining heavily afterwards which eventually became a Pyrrhic Victory for the US-South collation in the long run
  • McNamara reads out a scathing report addressed to the Army Ordinance Department about the abysmal performance of the M14 battle rifle in Sadera; namely its heavy weight and inaccurate fire at close range due to the immense recoil. In-real life, the early production M16s were more well-known to have this level of notoriety amongst American troops due to severe reliability problems as well as some level of internal political sabotage behind the scenes regarding its adoption.
• All for Nothing:
  • Princess Pina tries her damn best throughout the story to preserve the lives of her people and the royal family by pleading to the Americans in giving her time to convince the Empire to cease hostilities against the US Military. Despite all her efforts, her father is assassinated by Zorzal, thousands of brave Saderean soldiers die in pointless battles thanks to stubborn holdouts commanded by the likes of General Tiberius and most of the kingdom's now-lawless countryside is razed to the ground by deserters and brigands.
  • General Tiberius' efforts to maintain the Empire's honour through resisting the Americans ultimately ends with his paltry force of survivors surrendering to the Americans anyway once it is made clear that against guns, napalm and otherworldly forms of "dishonourable" warfare, victory is nothing but a pipe dream. As Pina exasperatedly pointed out, thousands of soldiers lives could have been spared had he actually listened to Pina and Diabo's pleas to stop their useless resistance. Tiberius could only silently agree.
• Alternate History: Due to the sudden appearance of the Gate on Earth, the United States of America of The '60s is clearly headed in a different direction from our timeline:
  • JFK was never assassinated due to Air Force One still being in the air as the Gate opens in Dallas, Texas; his would-be assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, who was patiently waiting for the president's arrival at the book depository was killed during the Empire's invasion.
  • The escalating Vietnam situation is handled slightly differently to our timeline. While still having to deal with the fallout of Eisenhower and Nixon's backdoor interference in the South Vietnamese elections as well as their cold relationship with the Soviet Union, the Gate incident has JFK redirecting most of America's armed forces to Sadera instead of Vietnam.
  • By July 1964, both South and North Vietnam agree on a ceasefire and unified election (projected to be a heavy communist win) therefore prompting the official US pullout from Vietnam. Instead, Thailand becomes the next point of interest for the US as the local communist insurgency there begins to intensify, emboldened by the perceived communist victory by their neighbour.
• Annoying Arrows: Initially there have been no American fatalities from Saderean archers or other ranged weaponry; it is mentioned that several dozen servicemen have however been seriously wounded by arrow fire in later chapters. This changes by Chapter 9, where at least 20 servicemen are killed from arrows and catapult fire during a fierce assault by Tiberius.
• Anti-Air: Several M42 Dusters as well as M113 APCs modified with quad-mounted M2 Brownings make incredibly short work of Imperial flying wyverns during the American breakthrough of Alnus Hill.
• Arrows on Fire: The brigand army assaulting Italica cajoles a young inexperienced mage to magically assist them in enchanting the incendiary payloads on arrows and ballista bolts into staying lit for the entire duration of their flight, giving them noticeably more potency than real-life applications of this trope. In fact, when said army starts launching incendiary ballista bolts at the gates, the resultant impact and explosions gives the Americans the impression that the brigands are lobbing HE shells at them.
• Artistic Licence – Military: The author mistakenly describes the Canadian UN soldiers as using the C1 battle rifle chambered in the exotic .280 British intermediate cartridge. All mil-spec variants of the FN FAL and derivatives like the L1A1 (in which the Canadian C1 rifle is derived from) are chambered in the standard 7.62x51mm NATO round; the .280 British having never gone past the experimental stage due to the Americans' insistence of having no-less than .30 cal minimum for the standard NATO battle rifle calibre. An update has since retconned it back to the FN FAL's correct 7.62 NATO round.
• An Arm and a Leg: One poor farmer whose family was raped and murdered in front of him by roaming brigands is sent to Italica with both his arms chopped off as a declaration of war.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: The brigand army sieging Italica constantly harasses the defenders with human-wave tactics throughout the night. When the Southern Wall weakens, the commander orders an all-out attack through the breach numbering in the thousands. The Americans pour everything they have just to break the wave, comparing it to the fierce banzai charges of the Imperial Japanese and the horde attacks of the Chinese volunteers during The Korean War.
• Badass Bystander: During the Empire's invasion of Dallas, several gun-toting Texans side with the local police department in resisting the Saderean army until the National Guard arrives. Lee Harvey Oswald also proves to be the wrong man in the right place by using the weapons intended on assassinating the president instead to defend the American people. He snipes legionary soldiers left-and-right before singlehandedly saving a group of captured American civilians who were in danger of being transported through the Gate for enslavement, but at the cost of his own life.
• Bayonet Ya: The 75th Rangers and 7th Air Calvary affix bayonets when the Southern Gate of Italica is breached during the siege and the enemy bandits come pouring in.
• Beyond Redemption: The rest of the Warrior Bunnies believe Tyuule to be this, even after learning the truth behind her supposed 'betrayal', citing that weakness is still frowned upon and will never be seen in a good light by anyone in Sadera. Dennis however refuses to believe this line of thinking and continues to pursue Tyuule's innocence at any cost.
• Bittersweet Ending: United States is victorious against the empire, with the main characters safe and able to watch the integration of the Gate denizens into American society. However, Dennis and Tyuule are emotionally traumatized from their experiences. There is negative reception of the integration of demi-humans from across the Gate to the point of threat and violence showing the deeper problems to come for the Gate denizens. Finally, although the Empire is now peacefully ruled by Pina and half-brother Diabo allied with America, foreign companies settling in the region are showing to be rather negligent to the local population, hinting at future exploitation of the land and people to come.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: Averted in terms of the level of tech the Americans bring into the Special Region. Due to being on the cusp of entering the Vietnam War and defence budget still running high, the US Military brings the latest equipment and firearms through Alnus, such as the M48 Patton tanks, F105 and F4 Phantom jet aircraft. While the M14 battle rifle is still the standard-issue rifle for most of the Army and Marines, the newly minted M16s are also brought in to supplement the small arms carried by regular infantry.
  • Hastings is issued a scoped M1903A4 Springfield bolt-action rifle which is said to have both world wars on its belt ^note While the original M1903 Springfield model has seen service in both World War I and II, the updated M1903A4 model along with the scope was developed right before World War II. Sean constantly ribs on his weapon, often calling it the "grandpa rifle".
• Cast from Stamina: The poor belligerent mage on the brigands side during in the Siege of Italica is strained past the point of utter magical exhaustion from enchanting wave after wave of fire arrows for an entire evening all on his own. After being coerced into extending his powers beyond his limit to create a wave of high explosive ballistae, the brigand commander turns around to see the poor mage lying dead, apparently having Cast From Hitpoints for his final spell.
• Character Catchphrase: Tyuule's "Question not!", whenever someone annoys her with bothersome queries.
• Chekhov's Gun: August accuses Dennis of stealing an ornate knife of sentimental value and uses it as an excuse to snoop around Dennis' sleeping quarters. Later on, Bouro hands over a particularly fancy knife (implied to be August's) to a Warrior Bunny slave tasked to assassinate Tyuule.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: The Haryo Tribe only serves their own interests in ruling Sadera from the shadows. They first appear to be working with Tyuule and subsequently the Americans once the war shifts in their favour. After the death of Emperor Molt, they try to kill off several Americans in an attempt to re-ignite the conflict on their terms. When that doesn't work, Bouro then reveals Tyuule's duplicity to Zorzal in a contrived plot just to humiliate her.
• Cliffhanger: Chapter 9 ends with Zorzal about to snap Tyuule's neck for her betrayal, closing off with the sound of a crack. It's left ambiguous over whether the sound is Zorzal doing the deed or a gun, which has the same sound effect, being fired.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: While Zorzal is mostly portrayed as grossly incompetent, easily manipulated and hilariously out-of-touch with the affairs of the ongoing war, he is not with moments of genuine cunning and observational skill. He can easily sense shifts in people's behaviours, displays inhuman strength and has at least some skill at being a statesman, if the actual support he has from some members of the Imperial Senate is any indication.
• Cool Plane: American planes like the F-4 Phantom II, F-105 Thunderchief, and the B-52 Stratofortress are referenced in the series as the cornerstone of American strategic might. They don't see action early as airfields needed to be created and the planes transported across the Gate. Until then, the mainstay of American airpower in the Gate was the UH-1 Huey helicopters, with CH-47 Chinook referenced occasionally.
• Curbstomp Battle: The best legions of the Saderean Empire are still no match for a Vietnam War-era US Armed Forces at Alnus Hill.
  • The US Force Recon Marines' battle against Gisselle's twin Flame Dragons ends in mere minutes thanks to judicial use of recoilless rifles and pre-called artillery. Even her third wild card dragon doesn't hold up to two F4 Phantoms with air-to-air missiles.
• Cunning Linguist: Downplayed. Dennis is assigned to become a spy within the walls of the Imperial Palace only because his fluency with the Saderean language makes him the closest thing to a native speaker.
• Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: As a reward for defeating her Flame Dragons, the Force Recon Marines with Rory are invited to Hardy's realm for a face-to-face meeting. The Marines cordial interview with a literal goddess goes well, much to Rory's astonishment.
• "Dear John" Letter: Tom gets a breakup letter from his high school sweetheart of three years. He is not happy that she did it over a black man and proceeds to vent out his grief with racist rhetoric, then a night of drinking.
• Death from Above: After witnessing the 7th Air Calvary in action at Italica as well as being informed of the true power of the US Air Force, the thought of the airborne threat looms over Pina like a Sword of Damocles as she races back to capital to convince her nation to quickly surrender.
  • By Chapter 10, the US Air Force goes against the last real threat Zorzal can assemble at the Red Light District by unleashing the full might of their strategic bombing campaign; several bombing strikes from F-4 Phantoms, F-105s and a B-52 bomber with a 1000-lb bomb.
• Defiant to the End: Zorzal, who dies hopelessly trying to fight the Americans in his archaic, stubborn ways.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Since this takes place in The '60s, the author does not pull any punches regarding the casual racist attitudes of people during this period.
• Demoted to Extra: The US Force Recon Marines who are a stand-in to Itami's JSDF Recon Group from the original are regulated to Lower Deck Episodes as far as the main plot is concerned. Main canon Special Region characters like Tuka, Lelei and Rory also get very few scenes in comparison to canon.
• Description Cut: The Imperial Senate post-defeat are seen arguing over the loss of slavery as national revenue. Beefeater muses that American politics must be a lot more organized than the Empire's. Cue scene transition to a scene of two US Senators fervently arguing on the issue of states rights over constitutional rights.
• Desperation Attack: Tired of the constant defeats, General Tiberius decides to initiate a suicidal all-out assault on the line of American positions in the hopes of some kind of breakthrough to exploit. While this does result in the first American deaths along with scores of casualties, it ultimately fails to put a significant dent in the American line.
• Disappeared Dad: Mr. Orville served during the Korean War, landing at Incheon with the UN forces, but was killed a year later during Red China's pushback, leaving a teenage Dennis Orville alone to help with his mother's business.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • Two senators speak frankly to President Kennedy about denying the integration and the proposed rights that would be allowed to demi-humans coming from the other side of the Gate. The implications of their attitudes while the Civil Rights Movement is in full-swing the background makes their views very palatable.
  • General Tiberius' troops resort to ambush tactics and setting booby traps in forested, mountainous areas of the Special Region, slowing down the American advance. In return, the American military starts a defoliation campaign involving copious amounts of a certain orange-coloured pesticide, with additional napalm on standby.
• Don't Make Me Destroy You: The Americans attempt peaceful negotiations with King Duran and the rest of the Allied Armies when they arrive at Alnus Hill. Despite airing several clear warnings over loudspeakers to not attack, the the increasing hostile warlords save for King Duran decide to charge over towards the Hill anyway. The US Army commander can only sigh in defeat as he calls in the first rounds of 155mm high explosives on top of the advancing enemy.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: Dennis Orville has a series of recurring dreams since Chapter 1, long before he enters the Gate. It involves walking through a massive WWII-style graveyard whose headstones are written in the Saderean language, ominous laughter followed by a venerable female voice crying out, "Help.... me".
• Earn Your Happy Ending: By the end of Chapter 12, Dennis and Tyuule, though still bearing the physical and emotional scars of the conflict in Falmart, are now living peacefully in rural America, far from the tyranny of the Empire and the politics of the Cold War.
• Entertainingly Wrong:
  • Before the US incursion into the Gate, two (disposable) low-ranking officers of the Imperial army were sent to recon the American side, only to be met with a giant steel door blocking the exit. They somehow come to the conclusion that their foe is somehow afraid of them, despite the fact that, 1) a technological superior army managed to rout an entire invasion force five months earlier, 2) managed to fully seal a Gate with heavy, strong materials in the same amount of time that the Imperials could erect a shoddy wooden and stone barricade around their side, 3) they still don't know jack about their enemies true strength.
  • Similarly, Emperor Molt, crown prince Zorzal and the war hawks of the Imperial Senate come to the conclusion that the US forces' halt at Italica is a sign of weakness; they must have overstretched themselves and are licking their wounds. They also completely disregard Pina's account of the overnight battle in which the Americans managed to blow away a force of ten thousand by killing over two thousand brigands in one night, and NO DEATHS for the American troops. Not to mention the real reason the US halted: they are just waiting to finish building their airfield runways and bring in the Air Force jets to effortlessly bomb the Imperial capital to kingdom come, had Pina not negotiated for time to convince her leaders of their folly.
• Evil Chef: Both Head Chef Clef, as well as Assistant Head Chef August of the Imperial Palace are pompous, unpleasant bosses who make life hard for an undercover Dennis. Their suspicions and antagonistic behaviour against Dennis only intensify after the death of Emperor Molt, due to their previous loyalties.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Well, Evil-Detecting Dog-Girl in this case. Charlotte manages to sniff out something sinister from an approaching Haryo Tribe spy disguised as a harmless-looking demi-human child and warns the Rangers saving them from a surprise grenade attack and killing the culprit in return.
• Everyone Has Standards: Despite approving many destructive bombing campaigns, covert operations as well as the assassination of Emperor Molt, JFK refuses to allow a girl as young as Lelei to be exploited by the CIA for her magical abilities and gives Agent Trent a quick but stern dressing down for even bringing it up in front of him.
• Fantastic Racism: On top of the institutionalized racism against non-humans in Falmart, many Americans in the US dislike the arrival of demi-human war brides and have formed fringe organizations who intend on working against such miscegenation efforts. Ironically, these groups have both white and black supremacists willingly working together against what they perceive as an outside threat to their racial rights.
• A Father to His Men: Capt. Rhodes, who is strict and a no-nonsense officer, yet he deeply cares for his Rangers and eventually the Green Berets attached to his unit. He is the first to notice Dennis beginning to crack from the pressures of war and constantly offers a listening ear and emotional assurance whenever possible. He even offers his full support to Dennis regarding his intentions of marrying Tyuule.
• Flashback Nightmare: Dennis has recurring flashbacks to the moment in the Siege of Italica when he was thrown into a crowd of angry enemy soldiers, all who were about ready to viciously tear him apart, had a nearby explosion not knocked them all over giving his squadmates a chance to pull him away.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Dennis has recurring dreams that involves a woman's pleas for help. Turns out to be Tyuule reaching out to him at the climax of Chapter 9.
  • Dennis silently muses on the possibility of Bouro being a potential threat and wonders if his sidearm is up to the task should his fears be realized. By Chapter 9, his pistol in fact, does.
• General Ripper: Tiberius, who continues to lead The Remnant of the Imperial armies on a guerrilla campaign against the Americans. While much more competent and efficient than the other generals who have failed, the gruelling months of fighting and losses without doing much significant damage to the invaders have taken its toll on the old veteran, reducing him to a stubborn, vengeful spirt who refuses to stand down even under the combined pleas of Pina and Diabo.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Upon seeing Tyuule and Dennis embrace each other, Bouro sells them both out to Zorzal out of jealous spite that the human manage to win Tyuule's affections.
• Gunship Rescue: UH-1 Hueys are utilized to great effect at Italica; not just for gun runs/rocket barrages but critical resupply and reinforcements courtesy of the 7th Air Calvary.
• Here We Go Again!: The US ends their involvement in Vietnam therefore avoiding the bloody stalemate it was destined to be... only to pull themselves into the communist uprising in Thailand.
• Hidden Depths: For all his wretched behavior, Zorzal does have some understanding of the duties of a monarch and the need for good public relations.
• Historical Domain Character: Many prominent figures from The '60s make an appearance.
  • John F. Kennedy, who doesn't get assassinated in this timeline continues his tenure as the US President with Vice President Lyndon Johnson and Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara guiding the United States through the Gate crisis as well as the escalating Vietnam situation.
  • Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore appears during the siege of Italica, leading his 7th Air Cavalry Regiment's baptism of fire as helicopter troops being in the Special Region instead of the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam. General Creighton Abrams is also mentioned to be the overall commander of operations within the Special Region.
  • One of the commanders in the Green Berets is heavily implied to be Captain Larry Thorne a.k.a Lauri Törni.
  • On the Soviet's side, we see glimpses into the Communist Party meetings headed by the First Secretary of the Communist Party Nikita Khrushchev. The Chairman of the KGB back then, Vladimir Semichastny has several lines of dialogue during one meeting.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: If you can believe it, Lee Harvey Oswald gets one in-universe. While he still had every intention of assassinating JFK on November 22, the Gate opening up at Dealey Plaza throws a huge wrench in his plans. He instead uses the infamous Carcano rifle to protect any innocent civilians from being mowed down by the legionnaires and later shoots the imperial general with the same revolver he would have used on Patrolman J. D. Tippit. He gets killed by the surviving legionnaires, but his heroic actions inadvertently saves any and all American civilians from being kidnapped as slaves.
• Historical In-Joke: President Kennedy's infamous promiscuity with women is given a nod when he appears to flirt with Princess Pina, to the exasperation of his Secret Service detail.
• Hold the Line: The 75th Rangers, 7th Air Calvary and Italica militia are told to prevent any breaches past the city walls in order to avoid the possibility of messy Urban Warfare in Italica itself.
• Honor Before Reason: Deconstructed. The Saderans as a whole believe in this, thinking any kind of surrender is worse than death, but this attitude creates far more needless suffering than necessary.
  • General Tiberius stubbornly refuses to surrender to the Americans despite the overwhelming odds in an attempt to preserve the Empire's legacy. It is in fact his own ego and ill-placed faith in an Emperor who has long abandoned the Empire's dignity that causes him to waste so many of his troops' lives in a conflict that could have all been avoided.
  • Emperor Molt is willing to pursue a brutal scorched earth policy, preferring his pride over the safety of his subjects.
  • The Warrior Bunnies despise Tyuule for her surrender. Even though she did it to protect lives, they still hate her so much for showing "weakness", they believe she deserves to be a sex slave for Zorzal.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: In Chapter 4, Princess Pina quickly downs several goblets of fine wine when Zoral shows up to the Imperial banquet with his Sex Slave Tyuule in tow.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog: After making a conversation between the Rangers and Tyuule awkward, Hastings quickly excuses himself by declaring he has to "go patrol that wall over there".
• Intrigued by Humanity: Goddess Hardy cites this as one of her reasons why she had opened the Gate in 60s America: to test the might of a developed nation which had little influence from gods against a backwards Empire, and also take advantage of their ability to practically solve issues that her fellow gods and their apostles cannot.
• Interspecies Romance: Discussed in-universe by the soldiers and the American civilians on Earth. While not at all uncommon in the Special Region, the American politicians relentlessly debate of the biological, moral implications of allowing a union between Earth humans and the multitude of Half-Human Hybrids discovered in the Special Region, all while the Civil Rights Movement still rages in the background.
• I Shall Taunt You: Because of the rules of engagement, the Force Recon Marines are unable to directly engage hidden enemy scouts (pointed out by Rory) at the edge of a forest they were overlooking. As an excuse to test and observe Rory's skills, they resort to a good ol' fashioned tirade of insults over loudspeakers, which results in an angry retaliation barrage of arrows from the Imperials. This gives the Marines every excuse to let Rory loose upon them, with bloody results.
  Shawn: "PATHETIC DOGS! SIMPLE-MINDED COWARDS! YOU HAVE FAILED TO START A SIGNIFICANT WAR AND WILL FALL BY THE WAYSIDE FORGOTTEN BY HISTORY AND-"
  *Arrows start raining on the Marine's positions.*
• Kill It with Fire:
  • The US Air Force makes good use of napalm strikes throughout the last push of Tiberius' army in Chapter 9.
  • In Chapter 11, the deceased infected corpses of the Arun Labyrinth are properly disposed of by dumping them into pits and setting them alight.
• The Klan: Several fringe groups similar to the real-life Black Panthers forms organized mobs in rejection of demi-human integration. Since then, hate crimes not too dissimilar to that against minority communities of the era have skyrocketed; one incident involving an attempted drive-by shooting of Hastings and his demi-human wife Persia.
• Language Barrier: Played more realistically than canon, where every named JSDF soldier seemingly has a decent grasp of the Saderean language for plot convenience sake. Despite the similarity of the language to Earth's Latin/Italian, most Americans are unable to learn the language within the six months from the Gate's opening and in many situations still heavily depend on their few soldiers who has a decent grasp of the language to act as translators.
• Made of Iron: Zorzal goes through a lot in Chapter 10. He first gets shot in the cheek, obliterating most of his mouth as well as whatever teeth that were in the way of a .45 ACP round. He does get magical healing that patches it up a bit, but he presses on to fight the Americans in the Red Light District. Over there, he gets shot a few more times, walks through and breathes in a good amount of white phosphorous and still manages to press on despite his wounds, even managing to trade rounds with the American forces with only a measly crossbow. He does eventually meet his end from the force of a shockwave generated by a thousand pound bomb throwing him off a building. Amazingly, his body is still found in a remarkably recognizable state by Princess Pina after the battle.
• Madness Mantra: Zorzal constantly repeats the lies fed to him by Bouro about Tyuule being brainwashed after her and Dennis' betrayal. It seems to be the only rational train of thought keeping him going on during his final hours.
• Military Brat: Dennis Orville's family has served in several American wars. His great, great grandfather fought for the Union during the Civil War, his grandfather landed on the beaches of Normandy when Dennis was 3 years-old and lastly his father who landed on the Incheon coast with General MacArthur in the Korean War. All of them serve as an inspiration for him to continue the paternal military tradition.
• Mind Probe: Gorgons, as implied by their namesake in mythology seems to have this as an ability, something which Soviet agent Victor seemingly finds out the hard way in Chapter 12.
• Multinational Team: A detachment of United Nations peacekeeping troops from Canada and Ireland arrive by Chapter 8 as the first batch of foreign observers in the Special Region.
• Morality Pet: Both Dennis and Tyuule find emotional comfort in one another in the events after the assassination of Emperor Molt.
  • Tyuule suddenly finds it harder to maintain the facade of being the vengeful, Broken Bird she believes herself to be as she slowly warms up to Dennis in their subsequent interactions. She also becomes much more conscious about her modesty and generally acts more flustered around the American, similar to her relationship around Furuta in some official adaptations of Gate.
  • Dennis becomes less cold and begins opening up more to others, especially after agreeing to give Tyuule English lessons in-between missions. His squadmates actually encourage him to continue pursuing her, if only if it gives Dennis a peace of mind of looking forward to something in the future.
  • For the Army Rangers stationed at the Red Light District, Charlotte, the slave dog-girl Dennis frees in the aftermath of the surgical strike of the Capital becomes one for them as they begin to empathize more with the plight of the downtrodden civilians living in the Empire's slums.
  • Pina had been one for her father Emperor Molt, who has always had a soft spot for her despite the circumstances of her nobility. He still wishes her well in her attempts at negotiating with the Americans despite his personal dismissal of their power. He takes a turn for the worse once he is led to believe that his daughter was kidnapped and possibly executed after the American strike on the capital; he gives in to paranoia and pushes forward for the scorched-earth campaign, Senate decision be damned.
• Neck Snap: Zorzal does this to a warrior bunny assassin who tried to kill Tyuule. He starts by hugging her so tightly, her ribcage shatters. Then with his bare hands, starts crushing and twisting her head in ways the demi-human skull wasn't naturally meant to. The results are not pretty.
• The Nicknamer: JFK as in real life, has the penchant for giving quirky names to important people such as referring to his adversaries by 'Mister' instead of proper titles (e.g. Khrushchev, Molt, etc) while in close company. He also sometimes refer to Pina as 'Princess Alcoholic Beverage' or Diabo as 'the brother with the devil-sounding name'.
• No Kill like Overkill: Dennis empties an entire magazine of .45 ACP from his sidearm into Bouro for his treachery in front of a procession of Empire troops.
• Nominal Hero: While Lee Harvey Oswald is disgusted with the Empire's slaughter of civilians, his main reason for fighting them was because they ruined his plan to assassinate Kennedy.
  This was the day he was going to make history, stabbing right into the heart of the fascist empire that his country had become.
  And now THIS was replacing it?!
• Noodle Incident: One involving Hastings' new 'fiancé' Persia, intruding the 75th Ranger's field shower after the Siege of Italica. Colonel Rhodes instructs his men to Let Us Never Speak of This Again regarding whatever actually happened in there.
• No OSHA Compliance: A foreign company representative that begins a mining operation in Sadera gets an earful from Pina after hearing about the high rates of mutilated local workers from the mining.
• No Sympathy: Dennis notices, to his disgust, that none of the Empire's elites are actually horrified with Tyulle's situation when Zorzal parades her around. They just find her presence aesthetically displeasing.
• Nosy Neighbor: After Dennis and Tyuule moves in to Fort Bennings, we are introduced to the wife of Colonel Pearson: Starla, a well-meaning, but Innocently Insensitive neighbor who often visits Tyuule and constantly probes her with questions about life beyond the Gate.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Hamilton tells the pompous, freedom-loving Dennis that America isn't so different from any other empire. Dennis is a bit taken aback at first, but then is able to throw back that his nation doesn't kidnap and enslave people.
• Now What?: Discussed. While Dennis can muse about the mundane goal of settling down back in America with an Army career alongside raising a stereotypical nuclear family, Tyuule is painfully aware that she truly has no one and nothing left to look forward to after seeing her goal of destroying the Empire come to fruition.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Under the guise of "Den, son of Tobias", he plays the part of a simple, subservient, clueless country bumpkin who somehow managed to land the position of cook through Pina's graces, despite the obvious lack of skill or enthusiasm for the job.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The Recon Marines' first encounter with the Flame Dragon is only mentioned after they returned with the first of the refugees, but from what Hastings heard, it involved a lot of 40mm rounds fired from their M42 Duster just to drive it off.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • When the Rangers and Green Berets hiding out at the Capital City slums realize that a single hand grenade is missing from their inventory after recalling a suspicious figure skulking around their camp the night before.
  • When Bouro turns around to see the barrel of Dennis' M1911A1 handgun pointed at his face at the climax of Chapter 9.
• Realpolitik: You can't have Cold-War-centric story without some political intrigue.
  • Contrary to the American 'containment' policy, JFK slowly concedes South Vietnam to communist influence due to foreseeing the conflict's escalation and pointless American losses, as well as more pressing issues with the Gate on his own soil. On the other hand, both JFK and Khrushchev are content with a united socialist Vietnam under the condition that they are more aligned with the Soviets against a greater potential threat: the People's Republic of China.^note Despite the USSR and the CCP being part of the second-world Combloc, they were definitely not allies due to differing core ideologies, best exemplified by the Sino-Soviet Split.
  • On the Soviet side, Khrushchev has his hands full placating the desires of the Communist Party's insistence on somehow taking the Gate and the world beyond for themselves; since that would mean open conflict with the Americans for another civilization that cannot appreciate the benefits of communist ideology over capitalism, when the Sadereans have only known medieval barbarity in comparison.
  • Due to the imminent American pull-out of Vietnam, the Saigon government undergoes a series of problematic military coups. JFK phones the South Vietnam leader, who rightfully calls the Americans out for essentially abandoning the South to the communists. JFK replies that the Saigon administration's actions are essentially a childish tantrum to maintain their own power and make trouble for the US in order to force them to stay. They are reminded that the current administration can either end up as the fall-guy for the South's decline, or step back in line with dignity. The South's leader reluctantly concedes to JFK's demands, for the moment.
• Reckless Gun Usage: Averted. The Canadian UN soldier trying to fraternize with Bozes carefully unloads his C1 battle rifle and the chambered round before temporarily exchanging it with her sword. Bozes also somehow manages to not point the barrel at anyone, despite her clumsy handling of the unloaded rifle.
• Red Scare: Even a decade after the rise and fall of McCarthyism, the paranoia and animosity against any suspected communist sympathies is still very much prevalent in the Americans attitudes and views. Dennis himself is staunchly anti-communist and does not hesitate to express this view to others.
  • It is played for laughs when Dennis decides to teach a young Charlotte how to say anti-communist rhetoric like "Communists bad" or "Better Dead than Red", to the bemusement of the other Rangers.
• Revenge Before Reason: Despite the staggering casualties from the earlier battle, Zorzal personally leads a legion of his most loyal troops against battle-hardened Green Berets and Rangers, callously trading lives for a comparatively petty revenge mission against Tyuule and Dennis who had humiliated him in front of the Empire.
  • Even after Tyuule helped elevate her race to U.S. citizens by assisting with the empire's defeat, Delilah still does not let go of her grudge against Tyuule with an unhealthy desire to seek out and confront, if not kill, Tyuule.
• Rock Beats Laser: Downplayed when Imperial catapults manage to disable several M48 Patton tanks, but not permanently and with unharmed crews. Subverted during the Siege of Italica, the brigands manage to magically enchant ballista arrows tipped with highly flammable materials which explode on impact, creating a primitive version of a high explosive artillery shell which wounds several American servicemen and breaches the walls.
• Running Gag: Dennis constantly cites the anti-miscegenation laws from his home state of Georgia whenever his comrades eagerly discuss the possibility of bring a Little Bit Beastly war bride back to the States. No one, not even Dennis himself takes those laws seriously.
• Salt the Earth: Emperor Molt orders a scored earth policy that is much more immediate and horrifying that most other adaptations of Gate in response to the American's quick advance into Saderean territory. Alongside re-arming deserting brigands to Rape, Pillage, and Burn every settlement between the Capital City and Alnus Hill, he also plans on retreating from his palace by helping to burn his entire capital to the ground, just to deny the Americans any sort of stable foothold, his countrymen's lives be damned. Bonus points for even mentioning the actual involvement of salt to render their nearby farmlands barren. This convinces the Imperial Senate as well as crown prince Zorzal that his father has completely lost it. With a little push from Tyuule, he ultimately resorts to having his father poisoned so he can usurp the throne and reverse the policy, while continuing the war conventionally.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Tired of their stubbornness to even attempt negotiations as well as their utter stupidity, King Duran and his vassal army from Elbe just gets up and leave the rest of the vassal lords to their well-deserved doom at Alnus Hill.
  • At the final battle in the Red Light District, General Borhos finally abandons his Emperor when Zorzal refuses to run in the face of overwhelming American air support, finally realizing that his emperor has completely gone off the deep end.
• The Siege:
  • The titular Siege of Italica happens as per canon, but now with the assistance of the 7th Air Calvary for the defenders.
  • The Green Berets and the Rangers set one up in their Red Light District hideout when the original plan goes to shit in Chapters 9 and 10.
• Sinister Shades: CIA Agent Trent is constantly seen wearing darkened aviators in all his appearances. Many Saderean characters find him unsettling due to this as well as his shifty demeanour.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Dennis Orville clearly has PTSD after nearly dying at the Siege of Italica. Combined with other deepening factors such as losing his mother shortly before his deployment, he has become more emotionally closed off to those around him, a noticeable Thousand-Yard Stare and afraid to share his personal problems, that is until he meets Tyuule.
• Slasher Smile: The last thing a dying Emperor Molt sees is the absolutely sadistic glee Tyuule flashes to him.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Like most adaptations of Gate, the Earth governments of The '60s are just as disgusted and horrified by the abundance of slavery being practised in the Saderean Empire. The Kennedy administration milks this trope for all it can to garner domestic and international support for the war in the Special Region. It also doesn't hurt that his presidential ratings are going through the roof as well, given the upcoming election.
• Spared, but Not Forgiven: In Chapter 12, Deliah confronts Tyuule and Dennis at their home in Fort Bennings intending on taking revenge. After a long heated discussion, Deliah finally lets go of her intentions to kill Tyuule, but bitterly reminds her that a good portion of the Warrior Bunnies (especially Deliah) will never forgive her for Tyuule's failure to protect their people from the Empire.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • For real-life events, John F. Kennedy since the Gate opening at Dallas prevents him from being assassinated by Oswald, who in turn gets killed during the Empire's onslaught.
  • While King Dulan of Elbe never gets killed in any adaptations of Gate, he is spared a painful defeat and losing An Arm and a Leg when he and his vassal army abandons the rest of the Allied Armies during their futile attempts at charging Alnus Hill.
  • Tuka's father survives the Flame Dragon's onslaught at the elven village, as the Force Recon Marines who managed to stay one night earlier manages to drive the dragon away saving more lives than in canon. This implicitly spares Tuka the PTSD from losing her father, as they are both seen happily sitting together during President Kennedy's inspection of magic-sensitive individuals.
  • Due to the quicker mobilization of the US Military into Italica; this caused the three day siege of the city in Canon to be cut down into a single night; resulting in fewer deaths to the local militia; and with the Rose Knights accompanied by the larger US Military presence preventing the invaders from gaining any ground after the wall is breached, Rose Knight Norma Co Igloo manages to survive the battle which had killed him in canon: showing up alive and well several chapters later.
  • The Thierry noble family were evacuated right before the US Air Force's first strike on the Imperial capital, thus saving Sherry the trauma of losing her parents to the future threat of Zorzal's Oprichnina from canon.
  • The Dark Elves that had accompanied Itami to deal with the Flame Dragon in Canon all survive, simply due to the US Marines keeping them at a safe distance.
• Stress Vomit: Dennis accidentally walks into one of Zorzal's episodes of sexually abusing Tyuule and is casually steered into a very uncomfortable conversation with the man himself. He heaves into some bushes outside in private afterwards.
• Stripperiffic: The outfit Tyuule wears upon becoming Zorzal's advisor exposes too much skin, with enough exposure drawing Dennis' attention to a certain area.
• Take That!: In a telepathic conversation between Hardy and Gisselle, the goddess muses that she had the choice of opening the Gate at specific places or eras on Earth, but specifically mentions a 21st-century Japan and their peacetime JSDF, whom she finds lacking due to how boringly passive they are in the art of war.
• Tank Goodness: Great detail is given to the M48 Pattons and their 90mm cannons firing high explosives. A few do get disabled (but not destroyed) by lucky catapult shots, but that's about it for armour casualties; a testament to their effectiveness and fighting prowess of America's latest armoured corps.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Lelei interprets the relationship between President Kennedy and the CIA to be like this when she witnesses their brief interactions. Not entirely inaccurate as historically, Kennedy's tolerance for the CIA became very strained following the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion; with Kennedy famously saying, "I want to just splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the wind" after the utter humiliation he and his administration faced for the debacle which later ushered in the following Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Translator Microbes: Dennis suspects this to be in effect whenever Bouro speaks to him, as he hears the latter speaking to him in clear, understandable English while the radio eavesdropping on their conversation only manages to pick up Bouro speaking in the Saderean language.
• Urban Warfare: Due to experiences of fierce house-to-house fighting on the streets of Dallas against stubborn holdouts in the waning hours of the Empire's incursion into Texas, the US military high command adjusts their doctrine to avoid this outcome as much as possible, especially at Italica.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: As Tyuule realizes even after directly witnessing the death of Zorzal and the remainder of the resisting Imperial Army wiped out by the US Air Force in Chapter 10, that didn't fill any void; if anything she breaks down crying taking in all the death and suffering she'd just witnessed.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • Emperor Molt starts off overconfident in defeating the Americans despite numerous reports of setbacks; if only to retain some semblance of control in front of his people. After the US raid on the capital, he completely loses it in the following senate meeting by announcing his intention to speed up the scorched earth campaign and secretly drafts plans to crush all opposition in the Senate by killing off the detractors.
  • Bouro and the Haryo Tribe's plans to retain control of the Saderean Empire from the shadows starts to fall apart once the power balance shifts rapidly to the Americans. They try increasingly desperate plans to sabotage the US war effort that only serves to arouse more suspicion from the Americans; not that they were ever trusted in the first place.
  • Zorzal becomes completely unhinged after Tyuule's betrayal takes place and runs away into the Red Light District with Dennis. It only goes downhill from there as he sends men to die just to get a shot at the people who wronged him.
• War Is Hell: Dennis' neighbour, Mr. Jones tries to convince him of this trope to dissuade him from diving headfirst into a war that Dennis might come to regret taking part in. Dennis, just having lost his mother; his last parent, fresh out of military training and no one else to come home to, the argument sadly falls on deaf ears.
• We Need a Distraction: Needing poison delivered to a wine chalice, Dennis boldly insults August to his face, earning him a beating with all eyes on him. This gives the Warrior Bunnies the much-needed window to discreetly drop the poison pill to the target.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: A fair amount of debate is brought up amongst Earth's denizens regarding the demi-human population of the Special Region. Opinions ranging from, "kind of human" to "the spawn of devil worship" is shared by civilians back home, but from the perspective of the soldiers and scientists who've actually interacted with said demi-humans unanimously agree on them being people worthy of rights and protection like any fellow American citizen.
• Worst Aid: Averted thankfully. A wounded Bozes tries to instruct her comrades to pull an arrow out of her punctured neck. The nearby American Colonel quickly shouts back at them to NOT do that. They also wait for a lull in the fighting to carefully evacuate her to the nearby aid station.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Dennis consoles a despondent Tyuule that despite all the lives lost in her name, she still deserves peace and happiness; because had consistently fought for the security and freedom of her people without a thought for her own welfare, which in Dennis' eyes still makes her a good person.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
  • Basically JFK's reaction upon hearing the full name of Princess Pina.
  WH Aide: "Now, Princess Pina Co Lada-"
  JFK: "Come again?"
  WH Aide: "...Princess Pina Co Lada"
  JFK: "You're joking."
  WH Aide: "No, Mister President."
  (one explanation later...)
  JFK: "Alright, princess Alcoholic Beverage, what about her?"
  • Dennis and many other Americans soldiers are shocked to see the Falmart soldiers marching into a slaughterhouse with zero hesitation or fear.
• Zombie Apocalypse: Averted. The undead plague outside of Crety is addressed by the US troops in a reasonable yet hypercompetent manner. Excellent kill zones, proper personal protection equipment and thorough quarantine measures are ensured to make sure the infection doesn't spread past the Arun Labyrinth.

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