GATE:
THUS THEY FOUGHT
Disclaimer: I do not own Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri or any of the characters (with the exception of the two OCs) in it. All material is property of it's respective copyright owners.
Well I think that's how it's done...
20XX A.D.,
Tokyo, Ginza City Centre,
11:00 AM.
"Damn, it's hot." thought the man as he made his way through the bustling crowds of Tokyo, the normally monumental task of walking through such a dense crowd made much easier by his tall, imposing stature. It would seem as if no one was too keen on getting in his way. That suited him just fine. Doctor Fredric Steiner was already running late for his 11:30 conference and he was not in the mood to be held up further.
"Hey is that you, Steiner?" came a loud voice from behind him, as if having read his mind and purposely trying to annoy him.
"Just keep walking. Keep walking..." he thought to himself, trying, and failing rather miserably, to ignore his pursuer.
"I know that it's you! Hey wait up! It's me, Julian!" came the voice, this time from even closer.
"Now listen here." said the Doctor, giving in and turning around. "I think you may have mistaken me for someone else. I don't know anyone named Julian."
"Well that's news to me, seeing as how I met you last month in Berlin." came the reply.
"Oh God, it's you."
The young man in front of him had an ear to ear grin plastered on his face.
"Well, it's good to see you too."
"What are you doing here Albert?" said Steiner, starting to walk towards the conference hall once more.
"You know if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you aren't that happy about me being here." he answered following the older man.
"Oh no, I'm absolutely ecstatic."
Dr. Albert J. Fleming, J. standing for Julian apparently, was a Biologist who Steiner had, rather unfortunately, met at a University conference in Germany. Ever since their chance encounter Fleming had hounded him all over the city trying to "socialize". In reality it was mostly just him annoying the hell out of Steiner. When the conference ended and he was able to leave Steiner had hoped that that was the last of Fleming he'd ever see. It would seem he was wrong.
Now, Fleming wasn't an idiot. Anything but. In fact, if Steiner was completely honest with himself, he was probably one of the smartest people he had ever met. Published at the age of 17 and with a PhD under his belt at the age of 20 earlier that year, he was quite remarkable in his field.
"That doesn't make him any less annoying." the surgeon thought to himself.
"I'm here to give a lecture to some University kids." came Fleming's voice.
"Kids? You do realize that most of them are older than you, right?"
"Meh, whatever. They should be honored to have me here. After all I am a member of the RSC now."
"What! Who the hell let you in to the Royal Society?"
"Wow, no need to act so surprised. I'm a respected scientist. Why shouldn't I be a member?"
"Well, for starters aren't you a bit young?" remarked Steiner, stopping at a red light.
"Well now that you mention it, I'm the youngest member in RSC history." said Fleming, gloating.
The Royal Society of Canada, RSC for short, was a prestigious group of academics whose goal was to encourage research and advise governments, NGOs and citizens on matters of public interest. It was comprised of three different Academies; the Academy of Arts and Humanities, the Academy of Social Sciences and the Academy of Science. Fleming, it would seem, had been accepted into the third.
"My accomplishments aside, what are you doing here old man." came Fleming's voice as the light turned green, allowing them to continue.
"I'm not that old!"
"Yeah, tell that to you're grey hairs."
"Ugh, I'm here for a conference. It's about treating battlefield injuries with limited resources."
"So you're still with the MSF?"
"Indeed."
"When does it end? I'm off the hook at 2:00. We should get coffee or something!" suggested Fleming, happily, Did he actually think they were friends?
"Well, I'm not entirely sure. It should end by 3:00 but you know how these things get. I wouldn't be surprised if it took the entire day." Steiner lied through his teeth. The conference was only three hours long.
"Aw, okay."
"Good, he actually believed me!" thought Steiner. "I'm freeeeeee-"
"Tomorrow then!" said Fleming jovially, interrupting Steiner's visions of freedom.
"Oh god why?" whispered the surgeon, already dreading the next day.
"Sorry, I didn't catch that."
"Ughm, oh no. It's nothing."
"Hmm. That reminds me." said Fleming as they passed by an electronics store. All the televisions inside seemed to be displaying nothing but static. "Have you heard?" he asked dropping what Steiner had come to call his "care-free-idiot" tone.
"Heard what?"
"Well, it's not in my area of expertise, but from what I understand there's been some strange Electromagnetic phenomena going on in Japan."
"Really?" asked Steiner, now slightly curious. He had rarely ever seen Fleming serious, let alone about something that wasn't stupid.
"Yeah. It's centered around Tokyo. It's been going on for a while now, about two weeks I think."
"So what's the problem?" asked Steiner, starting to walk slightly faster. He could see the conference hall at the other end of the block.
"Well there isn't a problem per say. It's just weird, you know? It's nothing to major so no ones all that worried. It doesn't even come close to a solar flare. What's interesting is the fact that; A) it's been going on for a while. Something like a solar flare absolutely wrecks most electronics but it only lasts for a short time. Two weeks though, that's pretty long for something like this. B) It's centered around Tokyo alone. You go half an hour out of the city and nothing. Whatever is going on is going on solely in Tokyo."
"Huh, that is strange."
"You want to know whats even weirder?"
"Hmm. What?"
"The epicenter seems to be right here in Ginza."
"Oh, come now. You yourself said it's nothing to wor-"
Steiner was cut off mid sentence by a loud noise, similar to that of a large stone falling over.
The two men whipped around only to be greeted by a sight that made absolutely no sense. On the other end of the street, about 200m or so away, was what appeared to be a large gate of some kind. Now, Steiner would be the first to admit that his vision was most certainly not what it once was but he could have sworn that it wasn't there a moment ago.
"What the hell is that?" asked Fleming, his "care-free-idiot" attitude missing once more.
"That's a very good question." replied Steiner, himself confused as to just what they where seeing.
The people around them also seemed to be staring at the large structure so that ruled out a hallucination, Fleming reasoned. That being said, what else could it be? The thing was massive and seemed to be made of solid stone. A thousand tonnes of rock just don't suddenly show up out of no where. Then again this was Japan, and if anime had taught him anything it was that Japan seemed to exist outside the physical laws that governed the rest of the world.
"So, what do we do?" asked Fleming, thoroughly confused.
"How should I know?" replied Steiner as emergency vehicles started to arrive at the scene.
The police seemed to be cordoning the area off and the fire department was on stand by along with a handful of ambulances. The authorities seemed to be taking this seriously. That being said it also showed that they were just as confused as everyone else. Not a very comforting thought.
Fleming and Steiner were still arguing as to what they should do when it happened. In the middle of the Ginza center in Tokyo, at approximately 11:15 in the morning, the Gate opened.
Author's Note: Well there we go folks! The first chapter is up! Since we already have Itami's perspective of the Ginza incident I decided to use the first chapter to introduce our two new characters instead! This is my first fanfiction project and as such any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! Oh, and you can expect an update soon!