The Citadel was under siege.

It has been two days since that Gate opened near Endertown and already few towns have fallen. The Griefhunters have been sent out to help liberate the occupied cities and destroy the remaining armies.

They missed one and now their own HQ was under siege with only four players left to defend it.

I tightened my grip on my mouse, staring at the screen as I positioned my character near the top of the Citadel's obsidian walls. My name tag hovered just above the parapet in blocky white letters: CodeBreaker1. Below me, the landscape stretched out, blocky hills and forests painted in muted greens and browns. And beyond the horizon—just far enough that we could see them coming—a massive army marched toward us.

Romans, or whatever the hell they were. NPCs that shouldn't exist well not in Minecraft that is. There was too much realism in their movements, too much chaos in the battles for it to be the work of normal for Minecraft's engine to handle.

I glanced down at the chat, but no messages appeared on screen. We were only using proximity chat now, trying to keep things local. Our reinforcements were scattered across the server, pushing back what remained of the armies. Most of them were fighting near the Gate itself, cutting off supply lines and holding back reinforcements. That left only the four of us to defend the Citadel. Four players. Against hundreds of soldiers, pigmen, and drake riders.

No pressure.

I toggled into third-person view, putting on my character's armor—full enchanted diamond for now. Might have to change into Netherite soon, I thought. Just in case.

"Uh, guys," I said into my headset, keeping my eyes on the advancing army. "Looks like we've got incoming. Like... *a lot* of incoming."

Grinder19, the player reinforcing the main gate, sighed audibly in the chat. "Dude, you say that every ten minutes."

"Yeah, but I'm serious this time. Like... they're bringing drakes."

"Drakes?" Another voice popped into the chat—Voidwalker33, currently expanding the redstone traps we had along the east wall. "Again?! We just took out a squad of them last night."

"Looks like they've respawned or they had more," I muttered. I zoomed in my screen using OptiFine, getting a better look at the approaching horde. "Yep, definitely drakes. And, uh… is that an ogre?"

"Fxck, man," Voidwalker groaned. "How the hell are there still armies left? The last I heard, the Gate's pretty much sealed off. Mobs keep attacking their supply camps at night."

Grinder19 chuckled. "Yeah, thank God for those creepers, right?"

I couldn't help but grin. Since the Gate opened the hostile mobs had been helping us as much as hurting us. Creepers, zombies and skeletons attacked anything that moved, and the Romans weren't immune to Minecraft's AI rules. Some of those mobs had wiped out entire Roman squads before we even showed up.

But right now? That was cold comfort.

I tapped the WASD keys, positioning my character better on the wall. From up here, the view of the Citadel's defenses looked solid—walls of obsidian, iron golems patrolling the grounds below, and TNT traps wired up to the outer defenses. Yet, knowing what was out there made me nervous. They'd brought down towns bigger than this one.

Another voice cut in over proximity chat was JohnWick85, our best builder and trap setter. Also one of the players who lost their dogs to these Romans. "Hey, guys, you ready for the fireworks?"

I smirked. "Always."

"Then let's give 'em a show." He replied with a laugh.

The first of the Roman soldiers crested the hill, marching in tight formation, shields raised in their phalanx. Their footsteps were unnervingly synchronized, the sound of metal on stone echoing through the valley as they approached the Citadel. Behind them, I could see the drake riders circling, their mounts' leathery wings flapping with slow, deliberate beats. And trailing behind were the ogres—massive, hulking creatures, their footsteps shaking the ground with every step.

I toggled back to first-person mode and prepared for the onslaught.

"Now or never," I muttered, my finger hovering over the fireworks I'd set in my hotbar.

Voidwalker was the first to act. "Launching fireworks...now!"

A rapid series of colorful explosions lit up the sky, a wild mix of red, green, and blue. The distraction worked. The drakes screeched, their riders struggling to control them as they veered away from the Citadel, giving us a brief moment to regroup.

"Go, go, go!" Grinder19 yelled as we unleashed our second trick. Rows of TNT blocks, cleverly hidden behind dirt and gravel, exploded along the hillside. The sound was deafening, sending blocks of dirt and Roman soldiers flying into the air. A few ogres were caught in the blast visibly injuring them but not enough to kill them. Damn things were tanks.

"That bought us time, but not much," I said, quickly glancing at my inventory. "John, how's the east wall?"

"Traps are set," JohnWick said, his voice calm as always. "Golems are in position too. Should slow 'em down. Maybe."

I gritted my teeth as the Romans began to push forward again. "Alright, get ready. Here they come."

The battle kicked off with the sound of clashing metals, the iron golems meeting the first wave head-on. Their massive fists slammed into the soldiers, sending them flying across the battlefield. But the Romans weren't going down easily. They fought back with the now usual coordination. Shields locked in formation, spears thrusting forward in tight, precise attacks.

I leapt down from the wall, landing with a splash thanks to the water bucket i used to cusion my landing. My enchanted sword was in hand, and I immediately swung it at the nearest Roman. He staggered back and blood spattered onto the ground and my sword, his face contorting in pain before he collapsed.

"Get the ogres!" Voidwalker yelled from somewhere behind me, his voice cracking in panic.

I spun around, seeing two of the massive beasts lumbering toward our iron golems. One of them let out a guttural roar and swung its club down, smashing through an entire line of golems. I gritted my teeth and quickly pulled out the TNT I had left in my inventory.

"Clear the area!" I yelled, planting a block of TNT in the path of the closest ogre.

I backed up, lit the fuse, and sprinted back toward the wall just as the explosion went off. The blast tore through the ogre's skin, sending chunks of it its insides flying everywhere. The creature let out one final roar before collapsing into a pile of blocky debris.

"One down," I muttered, breathing hard. "Let's go for two."

We pressed forward, cutting through the soldiers with a mix of sword swings arrows, fireworks and well-timed potions. It was chaotic, but for the moment, we were holding them off.

Out of nowhere, a group of slender figures, armed with bows and swords, leapt over the Roman front lines and started picking off our defenses. Their arrows were faster, more accurate than anything I'd seen the Romans use before. One of them lunged at me, and I barely had time to react.

Elves.

I wasn't even surprised anymore.

"Elves. Seriously? We've got fxcking elves now?!" John yelles as I swung my sword, but the elf dodged it effortlessly, moving way too fast.

Voidwalker laughed, even as he started to get swarmed "Yeah, why not? Bring on the orcs while we're at it."

I blocked the elf's next strike, barely managing to counter with a swing of my own. The hit connected, and the elf staggered back. I quickly followed up, landing a critical blow that sent him flying into a nearby wall. He hit the ground hard and stopped moving completly.

But I wasn't fast enough to avoid the arrow that struck me in the back a moment later. My health plummeted, and before I could turn around, everything went red.

YOU ARE DEAD.

Respawning...

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I blinked as my character reappeared in the Citadel's respawn room, right next to the bed we'd set as our spawn point. The others were already there, scrambling to grab new gear from the chests.

"We need Netherite," Grinder19 said, his voice serious. "These guys aren't screwing around."

I nodded and quickly swapped out my diamond gear for the Netherite armor we'd been saving for emergencies. This definitely qualified as an emergency.

Just as I finished equipping my gear, the ground shook violently. A loud crash echoed through the Citadel.

"The hell was that?" Voidwalker asked, panic creeping into his voice.

JohnWick froze. "The walls… the outer walls are collapsing."

I gripped my mouse tighter as I heard the unmistakable sound of blocks crumbling and enemy footsteps echoing through the halls.

They were inside.

And reinforcements weren't coming anytime soon.

----------------------------------------

Two hours later...

The Citadel shook violently as the sound of collapsing walls echoed through the halls once again. My heart pounded in sync with the crashing blocks. We could hear them—the Romans and their allies, marching closer. Their footfalls and shouts reverberated through the stone corridors, growing louder with each passing second.

"They're breaking through!" Voidwalker's voice crackled in my headset, panic creeping in.

I gritted my teeth, slamming more blocks as a makeshift barricade. "No shxt! Hold them off until we can reinforce you!"

Grinder19 was already by Viudwalker, swinging his enchanted sword at the first wave of soldiers that breached Voids barricade. JohnWick activated more Redstone traps, wiring TNT and iron doors like his real life depended on it. We fought hard, but the Romans were relentless. The elves were faster than any of us, darting across the battlefield, arrows flying with precision. We were holding them, but barely.

Another drake rider crashed through the roof, its leathery wings kicking up dust as it strafed the wall with fire. The golems and traps bought us time, but their numbers were endless. Even with our best gear and the most optimized builds, we were wearing thin.

Voidwalker had just finished setting up a barricade between himself and a group of pigmen when another elf lunged at him from the shadows. He barely had time to react before the sword found its mark, and his health bar plummeted.

"Shxt!" he shouted, scrambling to recover, but the elf was faster.

We couldn't keep this up much longer.

Suddenly, just as I was about to take another swing at a group of advancing Romans, a new sound cut through the chaos—a sharp, staccato rhythm that I recognized instantly. TNT. But not from us. It was coming from outside the walls.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

"What the hell?" I muttered, backing up toward the parapet to get a better view.

Through the thick smoke of battle, I saw it—explosions ripping through the advancing army, sending entire squadrons of Roman soldiers and drake riders flying into the air, their body parts flying around as did their blood. I toggled into third-person view, trying to get a clearer look, when I spotted it: an army of players pouring over the hill toward the Citadel.

And leading them was someone I instantly recognized, even with a distinctive blue suit, a crisp black tie, and the unmistakable skin of Barack Obama covered in Netherite armor, was a figure I knew well from YouTube.

GamerPresidents.

"Holy shxt," I breathed out, my headset buzzing with static as the proximity chat exploded.

"Dude! It's GamerPresidents!" Voidwalker's voice was filled with disbelief.

Grinder19 let out a triumphant laugh, even while fighting off another elf. "Well, fxck me, we're saved by Obama."

Behind the infamous YouTuber, waves of players charged forward, their ranks filled with familiar usernames—some griefers, some normal players, all united for once in a massive, chaotic battle. I could see creeper explosions lighting up the field as TNT traps and well-placed Redstone cannons decimated the Roman lines. It was pure chaos, but this time, it was our chaos.

The Romans didn't stand a chance.

Grinder19 and I exchanged looks as Obama and his army stormed into the Citadel, pushing back the remaining Romans and elves. JohnWick was setting up more traps when Obama stopped next to him, his AI-powered voice perfectly in sync with his famous persona.

"You'll want to save those traps, John," Obama said with a smirk in his voice. "We're taking the fight beyond the Gate."

I blinked. "Wait… what?"

Our confusion was evident with the AI president looking at all of us and some of the other players joining him. Obama's voice, powered by an AI so eerily close to the real thing that it was uncanny, boomed out across the Citadel's remains. "Gentlemen! It appears you've missed the Summit of Server Factions."

Summit? What Summit? My mind was spinning.

He continued, his voice calm but commanding. "There's a truce across the server—no griefing, no infighting—until these Roman forces are dealt with. This is being enforced by the Mods. We've got a lot of work to do, and you four… well, you've got new orders and yes, you heard me correctly. The Romans came from that Gate, and the expedition is already on its way to Endertown to push beyond it." Obama turned to the rest of his army, who were busy mopping up the remaining forces. "I'll stay here with a few non-griefing players to rebuild and secure the Citadel, but the four of you? You're needed on the front lines."

I felt a surge of adrenaline rush through me. "You're serious?"

Obama's character turned to face me, his blocky avatar somehow conveying an expression of seriousness despite its pixelated simplicity. "We're all serious now, CodeBreaker. The entire server is counting on us. We need to know what's beyond that Gate. And we can't afford to lose any more ground. You've been doing good work here, but we need the best for this expedition."

I glanced at the others—Grinder19, Voidwalker33, JohnWick85. They were all looking back at me, the same mixture of exhaustion and determination on their faces.

"Alright," I said, gripping my mouse tighter. "What's the plan?"

Obama smiled—or at least, I imagined he did. His voice was cool, collected, like this was just another one of his old speeches. "You're taking the rest of the army to Endertown. Reinforcements are gathering there. The Mods want to send a full-scale expedition through the Gate and find out where these Romans are coming from. Once you've joined up with them, the next phase begins. And the Griefhunters are the best"

"The Gate..." JohnWick murmured, his mind already working on strategy. "Are we sure we're ready for that?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Obama said, adjusting his armor. "This whole thing shouldn't even be possible, but here we are. We don't know what's on the other side even with the rumors going around but we're about to find out."

Grinder19 laughed, though there was a hint of nervousness behind it. "Man, I never thought I'd be taking orders from Barack fxcking Obama in Minecraft."

Voidwalker snickered. "Yeah, well, we're past normal now, aren't we?"

Obama's AI voice boomed over us once more. "Gather your things, gentlemen. You're going to Endertown."

I opened my inventory, pulling out the last of my potions and enchanted weapons. There was no telling what we'd face beyond the Gate, but if we were going, we needed to be prepared.

Grinder19 gave me a nudge. "Looks like we're heading straight to the source of the problem."

I nodded. "Yeah. Let's finish this."

As the army outside continued to clear the remnants of the Romans, Obama and a few players began fortifying the Citadel walls. With the siege broken, the Citadel would stand again, but now it was time for us to take the fight to the other side.

Endertown awaited.