Gate: And Thus the Federation Fought There Too!

Disclaimer: Mobile Suit Gundam belongs to both Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate; while
Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri is owned by Takumi Yanai

Reference:

Jokun – Introduction

"Jokun" – normal speech

"Jokun" – foreign language

Jokun – thoughts

It is the Year 0079 of the Universal Century (U.C.). A half a century has passed since Earth moved its massive populations into gigantic orbiting Space Colonies–a new home for mankind, where people are born, and raised, and die.

Nine months ago, the cluster of Colonies furthest from the Earth, Side 3, proclaimed itself as the Principality of Zeon, and waged a war of independence against the Earth Federation. Initial fighting lasted for over one month, with both sides losing half of their respective populations, as dreadful tactics like the indiscriminate use of chemical and nuclear weapons was employed. People were horrified by the unspeakable atrocities committed in the name of independence.

Eight months have passed since the so-called rebellion began. Both camps are now at a stalemate.

Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun, and one of the few places left on Earth, other than South America–where Federation Headquarters is located–where the influence of Zeon is not predominately been felt yet.

Ever since the Colony Drop that wiped the city of Sydney, in Australia, off the map, and plunged the Earth into an environmental dark age, the Principality of Zeon has taken advantage of the chaos it caused, to have its military forces land and occupy large swaths of places throughout the globe. Especially large population centers, like major cities, and regions with strategic importance, particularly those with resources that would fuel the Zeon war machine for months to come.

Miraculously, Japan escaped the aftereffects of the Colony Drop almost unscathed. Plus a large portion of the Earth Federation Forces is stationed in the island nation that would make Zeon think twice in launching an invasion there. Besides, Zeon has already have its hands full elsewhere around the world, dealing with remnants of the all but debunked Earth Federation Forces–who cling to the hope that they could make a turnaround in the course of this bloody war. It is also in Japan, where the most advanced research facilities in the world are located. Among them a branch of the Project V initiative–which is fast tracking in its research and development of Mobile Suits–gigantic mechanized humanoid war machines–for the Federation to combat Zeon's own.

Strangely life seems to go on normally in Japan in spite of the present situation of world. Students would go to school, the common worker to their everyday jobs to earn a living, and lovers enjoying each other's company without a care in the world. The only indication that the shadow of war loom over them was the presence of uniformed men and women of the Federation Civil Defense Force in the streets, along with a few RX-75 Guntanks. A precaution, in case Zeon forces brings the fight into their cities.

None was more peaceful and prosperous at that moment than the nation's capital of Tokyo. There a member of the Earth Federation Forces was presently enjoying his leave of absence to attend a doujin convention being held in the Ginza District.

"Woohoo!" joyously declared a man in glaring, casual clothing, with both arms up in the air and hands balled in fists. Earning him odd stares from the uninitiated passersby in the street, while others snickered and recognized him for what he is. A fellow otaku. "Today is the day I hit pay dirt at the event! And nothing in the world will spoil this moment!"

"What's that commotion over there?" a woman audibly spoke. The rest of the people nearby began to take notice of the disturbance occurring a few blocks away, downtown Ginza.

The man on leave eventually joined in and looked, and when he saw the silhouette of an unidentified flying creature, his eyes went wide with disbelief, and then with fear. "No…It can't be…" his voice trailed off. As if by fate, he spots the person he wished to find amongst the crowd, a police officer.

"Officer!" he called out, rushing towards the civil servant's side. "You've got to get these people out of here, quick!" The officer, older than him, gave the vacationing serviceman a rather annoyed look, unmindful of the people's anxious murmuring in the background.

"Hold yer horses, sonny. Where is the fire?" the police officer pensively stated.

"There's no time! If you don't get these people to safe-" He never finishes the sentence, as an arrow suddenly zips in and pierces the policeman's neck, mercifully killing him in an instant. A woman screams in horror at the incident. People began to panic; some began to run away from the morbid scene.

The man, who came here to Ginza to attend a fun filled event, grimly looked at where the archaic projectile came from, and got more horrified than before of what he was clearly seeing. Men who were not men, but clearly something out of a fantasy game–for he recognizes such being like orcs, goblins, and such– took point of the large torrent of beings that filled the avenue ahead, as they thundered their way towards where he and some of the people were standing in awe. Behind the nonhumans, where humans, people like them but seemingly European in appearance, not that it is unusual to see a lot of non-Japanese living and working in Universal Century Japan. They wore armors reminiscing that of Romans; many were on foot while others rode horses similarly protected with armor. But unlike the present day Europeans they know, these men shared the viciousness in their faces along with their nonhuman cohorts, perhaps even more so. Above the throng a couple of dragon-like creatures, the ones the otaku saw earlier, boring riders on their backs wheeled about in the air and were making several passes over the people below, inciting fear and panic.

A horse of a rider collided with a stationary vehicle in the way, catapulting the armored man off his mount and onto ground where he got stampeded to death by his fellows, but it did little to impede the furious advance of rest of the horde. The human elements of this dreaded army kept on repeating a litany of words, in language that no one else understood but by the dark invaders themselves.

"Foolish and weak barbarians! Tremble and submit to the might of the Empire!" shouted the commander leading the force in front, on his sturdy steed. While the multitude behind him chanted: "TREMBLE! SUBMIT! TREMBLE! SUBMIT!" The man wickedly smiled, thrilled by the frenzy he wroth over his men, to become mean living killing machines, sowing terror and death in their path. He continued on shouting.

"Tremble and submit to the will of his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Molt Sol Augustus! Who by divine right-" A single gunshot pierced the clamor, causing the tumultuous atmosphere to fall eerily silent for a moment. The invading army halted in their tracks, even the flying dragons stopped to hover, to observe on what just happened.

The commander of the force just sat still on his mount, a mask of extreme shock plastered on his face. He tried to speak but gurgled. Streaks of blood cascaded down his face from a small hole, right above between his eyes. He knew he was dying as his eyes began to cloud, staring while he still could at the one that undone him. A man–one of the barbarians in front of him which he planned to trample with his horse–in strange gaudy clothing, pointing a strange looking item at him. Whatever it is he is wielding, it has brought him low, he, a general of many seasoned battles, dying in the hands of a wretched barbarian, as the darkness slowing claimed him.

The otaku had picked up the fallen officer's service revolver and took careful aim with it at what he presumed to be the one leading the force of men and monsters. His aim and shot were true as the single bullet struck its target right between the eyes. This cause the mount of that Roman guy shot to the head to slow to down to a stop. The mass of soldiers and nonhumans followed his lead, but it was only when their commander slumped from his horse to ground and lay there unmoving, that is when they realized something was terribly wrong. They began to murmur darkly among themselves in disbelief.

"What has happened to General Silus?"

"Is he…dead?"

"Did the barbarian just kill our commander?"

"Is he some kind of wizard?"

"What kind of sorcery did he use?"

"I did not see any flashing lights. Only the sound thunder and then…"

General Silus' immediate adjutant took charged of the situation, trying to restore order and morale among the troops.

"Soldier and servants of the Empire! Do not waver in your duty and resolve! This barbarian upstart is just but one. But for us, We Are Le-" A shot to the adjutant's chest by the man with the revolver, resulted in him in sharing the same fate of his commander, causing a further drop in the spirits among the troops of the invading army.

"Now is our chance, while they're confused!" the man with the gun loudly addressed the citizenry. "Everybody, head for the Imperial Palace! Those who can't, get indoors and bar yourselves in! Stay out of the streets!"

Strangely the people seemed to take heed in his words and began to leave the area, some in a semi-orderly manner, opposite and away from the looming and still menacing army.

"The barbarians are escaping!" cried out one soldier.

"But what of the sorcerer?" said another.

The lone gunman stood his ground, giving his mass of opponents something to concern themselves with other than going after the civilians. A new army adjutant however asserted his control over the group.

"He is all alone now, men! Slay the wizard! Slay the wizard, I say! For the Empire!"

"Oh-oh! They're finally getting over their shock." the man with the gun lamented. He shot dead a goblin that tried a stick him an arrow, while he fired two shots at an engaging dragon rider, luckily killing the guy and causing to lose control of his dragon which crashed over several of the Roman soldiers and goblinoids alike, crushing them to death. But the entire force was riled up now, and wanted blood from the lone upstart.

He knew he was out of bullets even before he was left pointing and clicking an empty gun at his assailants. "I've always wanted to do this!" he weakly smiled. He then threw the emptied weapon at an orc, which tried to skew him with its spear, so hard that it broke its snout and knocked it out cold. "And that too!" he said, but with much rancor. "No thanks to you jerks, the convention is most likely cancelled. For good even!"

"Slay HIM! Slay the ACCURSED WIZARD! FOR THE EMPEROR!"

"You there! Civilian! GET DOWN!"

The lone man, well versed in his service with the Federation military, knew what do when heard those orders for him to duck to the ground. Shots were fired, more than several of them actually, and in automatic succession. Their source, a squad from the Federation Civil Defense unit positioned some distance away, where most of the crowd was already passing by.

"Aim carefully, men. Make sure not hit any civilians, you hear!" ordered their squad leader. Their bullpup assault rifles were making short work of out of the men in armor, felling them by the dozens.

"Use your tear gas canisters!" issued the squad leader to his men. A couple of them then chucked the said grenades into the mass of enemies, well away from the crouching civilian, with more than predictable results.

"Ah! My eyes! They burn!" croaked a goblin.

"I can't breathe!" coughed a human soldier, obviously suffering an adverse effect from the debilitating fumes.

"What new sorcery is this, this time?" groaned the adjutant who has been issuing orders of death for the lone opposer, trying to shrug off the gas's effects and at the same time rallying the now disorganized force.

"Kuribayashi! Get that man out of there, pronto!" ordered the squad commander to a female member of his unit, directing her to the man caught in between the group's crossfire with the enemy force.

"Yes, sir! At once!" the female soldier did what was ordered of her without delay as she started heading towards for the prone man.

"And Kuribayashi!" her squad leader quickly added, though she was already gaining distance away from the group, so he has to shout loud. "No gung-ho crap from out of you! You hear me!"

The girl simply smirked, pretending not to hear as she pulled out her bayonet and attached it under the barrel of her rifle. Of course, her commanding officer took noticed of this, much to his irate.

"Damn that girl! The rest of you! Provide cover fire for them!" The men were reloading fresh magazines and did what they were told to, to the best of their abilities, while their commanding officer felt almost sorry for anyone or anything that would get in the way of Kuribayashi, knowing too well her true nature.

The crouching and prone man looked at the invaders and then back at the squad of Federation soldiers. They were doing a good job of mowing down these freaks while trying not to get him hit in the crossfire. He was thinking of making a run for it towards them, while crouching from their gunfire of course, when he saw the lone Fed trooper heading towards him, presumably to pick him up.

"Finally! The cavalry has arrived. For a second ago, I thought you'd ne-" Besides noticing that she's a girl, the man read from her facial expression of the impending danger that was hovering over him. The female soldier quickened her pace, charging with a battle cry as she plunges her bayonet deep into the gut of a towering ogre, armed with a heavy wooden club–which was definitely meant for the man lying on the ground.

The huge monster smiled evilly with a toothy grin at Kuribayashi seemingly unaffected by the dagger stuck into its stomach. It raises it crude weapon, ready to smash her pretty head. But she got the last laugh as she switched her rifle's setting to full auto and pulled the trigger. The ogre's smile was replaced with indescribable dismay as it convulsed from the rapid firing rifle that emptied its full load inside of it. It died while standing. Kuribayashi then planted a boot onto its hole-ridden, bleeding stomach and pulled out her bayonet-mounted weapon and letting the hulking nonhuman fall on its back, never to rise again. She slashed the throat of an incoming orc; round kicked a goblin to its head; and dumped her empty magazine in place of new one with ease, switching to select fire and started shooting at any opponent caught in her sights.

"Who is this she-devil?" the prone man gawked, amazed at the female trooper's superb display of moves and execution. Sensing his eyes on her, Kuribayashi momentarily turns to the man to speak.

"What are you waiting for, civie? Get your ass outta here! Or do you need me to pull it out for you, myself?" Of course, she wasn't inclined in the least to do such a thing, as she was having a heyday clobbering enemies left and right.

"Look out!" warned the man. Too late though. Kuribayashi's brief lapse in minding her surroundings cost her by having an armored human overbearing her to the ground.

"DIE, you barbarian witch!" It is one of the adjutants, his hate filled face glowering over Kuribayashi. His shortsword was blocked by length the female troop's rifle, stopping it tip short to her venerable neck. But the male invader's vantage over her, coupled with his superior strength, threatened in overpowering Kuribayashi to an untimely end.

Dammit, I got careless! No thanks to that civi-

There was flash of steel, followed the sicken sound of the slicing of flesh. A bubbling cry escapes from the intruding adjutant's mouth as his throat was slit by no less by the civilian Kuribayashi cursed her luck with. The man seemed to have appeared behind the Roman guy and grabbed him before ending his life. But Kuribayashi swore, upon seeing such a move from the man that just saved her, only one with military training could have done such a feat.

Who is this civie? "Hey, you! Where did you learn to do that?"

"Never mind that!" he replied, as he helped her up to her feet. "Let's get the hell out of here, while your buddies have them covered." So far, no enemies were nearby to threaten the two, giving them the chance to eventually escape. Both reached the safety of the Federation squad, who are still taking potshots at the enemy. Fortuitously, an APC rolled in into the scene and began adding it firepower to the fight.

"Get in there, civie!" ordered the squad commander to the only civilian in the bunch, directing him toward the opened side-hatch of the parked armored vehicle. "You too, Kuribayashi! You've earned yourself a breather!" The female trooper showed her objection.

"But, sir, I can still fight!" she retorted.

"Did I make it sound like a request? That's and order, missy! Be thankful I won't be reprimanding you for your stunt! Am I clear?" he practically shouted into her ear.

"Yes, sir…" she glumly replied.

"What was that?!"

"Crystal clear, sir!"

"Get your asses on board, then! The rest of you," he referred to his squad. "Fall back, but continue to provide suppressive fire! We're moving out of here, people!" He soon followed after Kuribayashi and the civilian on board the vehicle.

"Where to, sir?" the driver asked. At this the civilian cut in.

"Head for the Imperial Palace!" He then turns to the squad commander. "On the way, have the people and any stragglers go there. The place is big enough to hold many people. We can hold out there until an organized response from the military arrives."

"And who suddenly made you commander, civie?" angrily replied Kuribayashi.

At first the guy clumsily began fishing for something from the folds of his clothing. His face brightened when he found what he was looking for. He presented to them his ID.

"Second Lieutenant, Youji Itami, Earth Federation Special Forces."

"It's okay, Kuribayashi. He's the real deal" the squad commander confirmed, after recognizing the authenticity of his identification.

Kuribayashi couldn't believe it. This guy, is with Special Forces? But then, that move he did back there…

"Alright, Lieutenant. We'll do it your way, since your idea seems to be very sound." The squad leader turns to the drivers. "Patch me up with the rest of the units in the area. And put on the speakers!"

"Yes, sir!" one of the drivers answered, as they began maneuvering the APC out of the combat zone.

Shino Kuribayashi was still in disbelief in what she came to know, occasionally giving darkly stares at the guy who claims to be a Second Lieutenant in the Earth Federation military, and a member of the Special Forces no less. But to her, seeing as how he looks and dresses, she thinks of only one word to describe him–a slacker. Of course Itami was oblivious to her musings as he sags onto his seat within the vehicle and relaxed, collecting his thoughts.

Yep. Definitely, the event got cancelled.

As per suggestion from Itami, many people were shown into the sanctuary of the huge compound of the Imperial Palace, while the remnants of the Federation Civil Defense Forces in Ginza stationed themselves in by the main gate and perimeter of the historical site. Surrounding them, closing in slowly are the troops of the so-called Empire, numbering still in the tens of thousands. Itami notices this and figures, unless help arrives very soon they'll have massacre in the making. He turns to a nearby radioman.

"Any word from reinforcements?" he asks the communications officer.

"They will be arriving in ten minutes, sir." he replied.

By then, Itami thought, all hell would break loose. And he is not sure their pitiful numbers are sufficient to hold off such an immense horde. He suddenly took note of the lone Guntank stationed in front of the palace's main entrance, then at the looming army. Curious, he climbed up the tank-like Mobile Suit, towards its torso area, where the driver's section was located.

"Driver! Does this baby have any anti-personnel airburst rounds?" Itami asked.

"In a matter of fact, it does. Why do you ask?"

"Why haven't you've used them already?"

The driver shrugged. "No orders from my CO. That's why. Besides, we are told to wait for reinforcements."

Itami shook his head. By the time they get here, the fighting would result in a close-quarter battle, restricting the usage of danger close tactics, and endangering further the lives of the civilians.

"The enemy is right now in the open, well away from buildings that might hide any civilians. I say we try to break their ranks right now. Throw a wrench into their plans so to speak, until help arrives."

"But, we've got only five each of that kind round in each cannon. A total of ten."

Itami nodded. "Ten is enough. Now, get me with your CO..."

The Empire army has amassed it forces around the Imperial Palace of Ginza, surrounding it from all sides, preventing for any avenue of escape for their quarries. They have also begun moving in ancient artillery pieces like ballistae and trebuchets behind their ranks in order to be used to weaken their foes' defenses, as well as provide support to the main body as they are about to lay siege the enemy's fortification.

"We've got the barbarians boxed in their castle! Now is the time to storm them, and lay them low!" declared an Empire general.

"But, sir. What about their giant guarding the gate?" questioned an adjutant, concerned about the Guntank Mobile Suit.

"What about it?" the general arrogantly replied. "It has done nothing since we have arrived here. It must be just some fixture meant to scare us. But it has not succeeded in its intended use. For We Are Legion! We shall lay low these barbarians, and claims these new lands. All for the Empire!"

"FOR THE EMPIRE! FOR THE EMPIRE! FOR THE EMPIRE!"

"For the Emperor!"

"FOR THE EMPEROR! FOR THE EMPEROR! FOR THE EM-"

A loud resounding boom echoed in the background, silencing the chants of the Empire soldiers. Almost immediately a large section of the invading army was virtually vaporized by a powerful blast of force from above which flattened them. The ones blown to pieces were the lucky ones, for those not were riddled with holes from the thousands of metal ball bearings that came with the artillery round, originating from the lone Guntank's twin 120mm low-recoil cannons.

"YES! Direct hit! Watch those bastards go boom!" exclaimed the Guntank's gunner, who is situated at the canopy-style cockpit in the head of tracked Mobile Suit. Itami is seated next to him, making things cramped within.

"Well don't just sit there, gibbering like an idiot! Switch to the next of set of targets!" he prodded.

"Aye, aye!" responded the gunner with much gusto as he maneuvers the Guntank in place, swinging the arc of his twin-guns to a new set of coordinates within the enemy mass. "Targeted acquired! Trajectory corrections set!"

"Let them have it, gunner!"

"Roger! Firing!"

Another company of men and nonhumans succumbs to the tracked mobile weapon's airburst attacks, bringing a negative stir to the rest of the invading army.

"The barbarian's giant is attacking! Using some kind of powerful magic that obliterates our troops by the scores!"

"Redirect the ballistae towards it! Bring it down!"

Several large spear-like projectiles flew to the practically stationary Guntank with one or two managing to dent it while the rest merely bounces off its tough metallic surfaces.

"They're peppering us with their own kind of artillery!" said the gunner, gritting on reflex as if he was the one being jabbed by the incoming ballista bolts.

"Can you take some of them out?" Itami asked.

"I can, but they're located too close to the buildings. I can't guarantee no collateral damage!"

"Then forgot about them! Concentrate on their front ranks!"

"Roger!"

Somewhere in the back of the main force, a certain Lord Lucien observed the progress of the Imperial Army on the barbarian's stronghold. He was both shocked and annoyed of what the barbarian's giant was capable of, and was helpless to do anything to stop its onslaught on the Emperor's forces. A messenger on horseback arrived and frantically dismounted to deliver his report to him.

"Milord! A new army by the barbarians has appeared and is approaching our right flank as we speak. And milord, they have among them a few rolling giants, as well as several what appear to be double-trunked, metal war elephants!"

Indeed. This grave news did not bode well with Lucien, or for the Imperial Army. If this new group of giants were as powerful as this just one, they are facing, he sees little hope in winning in this undertaking.

Another messenger came in to give more grim news.

"Milord! An army of barbarian warriors and giants have engaged our left flank. We're being slaughtered by them!"

"Are you certain, soldier?" Lucien asked, hoping the man was merely exaggerating. But he can tell from his expression that he was all but lying.

"I'm afraid so my, milord" the soldier replied with much regret in his tone.

Lord Lucien turned around and paced a couple of steps, not wanting his men to see the consternation on his face. Has everything that has led to this point, been a big mistake, he mused. He and the rest of the generals and lords assumed they could easily conquer this strange new land for their empire. But their arrogance has gotten the best of them, and it appears they're about pay a high price for their folly.

However, even with the prospect of impending defeat, they could not go back and face the Emperor with such shame. It would be better if they die fighting, while bringing down as many of these accursed barbarians with them. That's it. Lord Lucien has made his decision. He turns to face his adjutants again with renewed resolve.

"Send word to the rest of the commanders! Tell them to go all out! We shall show these savages that Empire Army is not to taken lightly! For the Empire! And for the Emperor!"

"…That's the last of our airburst rounds. Should we start using the missiles?" the gunner suggested to Itami. The man beside him was quiet, while quickly trying to think. The Guntank has other munitions in its arsenal but Itami could not risk taking responsibly of having to use them without causing considerable damage to the area, especially with the missiles.

Suddenly several airburst explosions dotted over the invading army as far as the eye can see. Some were smaller and controlled, affecting a confined area; while others were as equal to the Guntank's firepower. Thousands upon thousands of the invading force fell from the massive bombardment. Their ranks finally faltered considerably.

"Was that you?" exclaimed Itami, asking the gunner if he was somehow responsible for the barrage they witnessed.

"It wasn't me! They came from somewhere else! Wait! I'm picking up a message…" the gunner handed his com, carefully listening to his earphones. "It's the 4th Mechanized Battalion! Reinforcements! We're saved!"

Itami could only knowingly smile at the great timing.

"Yeah. You can say that again."

A few days later, after much sorrow and renewal since the famed Ginza Incident, Youji Itami, now dressed in the distinctive beige-colored uniform of the Earth Federation Forces, stood and stared before him a strange and ominous structure. It is a huge stone arch of an architectural design from a bygone age. What made is eerie though was its wide opening, which leads into darkness that seems to have no end. Shino Kuribayashi was there with him as well.

"So this is where they came from?" she spoke, more to herself though. Itami could only oblige her query.

"Yep. It seems that way."

This is first time both got to see up close this so-called 'gate', not since after that fateful day. They've only seen it from the news, since they were busy, being part of the clean-up in the aftermath of the incident. Both have been decorated and promoted for their selfless acts of bravery, especially in the defense of the ordinary citizenry on that day, dubbed as the Battle of Ginza.

Around them, signs of evident reconstruction are still undergoing, repairing the damage caused by the strange invading army. But they also noted the speedy construction for a sturdy barrier, designed to enclose the gate when gets finished. Kuribayashi spoke once more, this time directing her question to Itami.

"Who do you think they are?"

Itami answered, somewhat ominously.

"One thing is for sure. They're not Zeeks."

Got a little sidetracked while collecting my thoughts on the next chapter of my other Gate fic: Gate - The Philippine Front. And this is the end result. As usual, please review, comment, rage. All is welcome.