Gate : Thus The World Was Changed
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Manga. I'm just taking a few coins from the creators fountain of ideas, and throwing in some stones for the fun of it.
Chapter 2
In spite of the pre-mission briefings, passing through the gate for the first time was a surprising experience. Visually, it was the same as going thought a long, dark tunnel. Within that darkness, there was a point when it was obvious that the rules of nature were being challenged. There was a time, in the middle of the transition from one world to the next, that in spite of all the vehicle lights and stationary lamps along the passage, that visibility was reduced to only a few meters, ending abruptly in darkness in all directions.
There was a sense of wrongness that everybody experienced at the midway point. Heavily E.M. shielded cables were needed to communicate though the gate. While passing through the mid point, some people reported hearing voices, and everybody felt a moment of vertigo. It was hard to judge up from down, or even a direction of travel for the brief time it took to pass through the mid-pint of the gate. And then the dense darkness fell away and things started to returned to normal.
Coming out of the gate on the other side, Hito was relieved to see blue sky above him. He might have paused to admire the return to a sense of normal perceptions if it wasn't for the ground guides waving him on and yelling out to keep moving. The sharp buzzing, as if some kind of giant insect was flying overhead, made him flinch. Then he heard the loud report of a shotgun, and he really flinched. Before he could look for an explanation for the shot fired, bits of radio controlled drone fell to the ground beside the convoy ahead of him.
The shotgun went off twice more before that convoy finished passing through the gate. Staff Sergeant Yamada maneuvered the Coyote as he was directed by the ground guides. The convoy was directed to the same area, and the vehicles were being parked, staged, so they would be mission ready in the least amount of time.
Once the long line of vehicles was parked, it was time for everybody to gather for instructions. Everybody had to be accounted for, and screened to make sure they were who they were supposed to be. Once that section of mission security was satisfied, everybody was directed to the transient personnel quarters. The first day for the staff sergeant on a whole new world was going to be spent going in circles to satisfy bureaucrats that everything was counted, cataloged, and sorted out.
x
The staging area at Alnus Hill was a small city that surrounded the gate. Prefabricated structures and newer, hard built walls had been raised up to shelter the personnel and store materials. As new permanent buildings had been constructed the early structures had been re-purposed, or just removed to make room for more new buildings. Paved training areas, motor pools, and other areas were all enclosed within the defensive perimeter. Modern engineering had been turned to the task of making an old fashion fortress.
Staff Sergeant Yamada stood with the rest of the Special Expedition Company as the alien sunlight started to wash away the alien stars and light the sky with dawn. Standard issue coffee was a commonly suffered insult for soldiers forced to start their days before dawn. Hito wondered how long he would would have to depend on the stuff as the company commander went over the last minute updates to their mission.
The company was going to be going south-west to investigate local ocean ports, and to explore a large peninsula of land. The standing mission was to search for exploitable resources. The other part of the mission was to look for allies in the region.
The Empire had been the greatest military power in the alien world for a long time. With the base at Alnus Hill, the SDF had found itself in position to threaten all of the Empire's major trade routes between it's Eastern and Western regions. Also, as with any long reaching empire, there was bound to be people unhappy at answering to a distant, conquering throne. If the SDF could find enough local support, like it had with the Kingdom of Elbe, it could force a treaty with Empire without having to stage a full occupation campaign.
Of less importance to the politicians back home was the opportunity to study the alien world. Pharmaceutical companies were always looking for new sources of drugs. The idea that there were near immortal people implied that there must be a way to support their longevity that could be discovered, and developed for marketing. Corporations had the money to 'encourage' politicians to support 'scientific research.'
Staff Seargent Yamada's team was not the only one with a research specialist attached to it. While not every team had a civilian, Hito took some comfort in knowing he had not been given the worst baggage to deal with. One of the teams, from Fourth squad, had been burdened with a young woman named No Maho Hana, an 'imbedded journalist.' At least she was Japanese.
With a small shake of his head, Hito returned his focus to the mission briefing. The teams were being issued the latest maps and were told of the most up to date known locations of hostile forces. They were about to set out into a world that would see them as aliens, but that didn't mean that had to be left ignorant about the world of the 'Special Area.'
x
Staff Sergeant Yamada Hito took a moment to look at the final composition of his team and their equipment for the mission ahead. In addition to the Coyote, which was built to seat four men, his team also had a multi-fuel power plant equipped light truck, called a Mule. The Mule was a two-seat truck with a covered cargo bed, with a linked power train to a matching trailer. What the Coyote lacked in cargo capacity the Mule more than made up for. Both vehicles had removable light armoring and could be left open to the air, or enclosed from the environment. In contrast to most of the Hand-Me-Down equipment used by the JSDF, the Coyote and the Mule were brand new and top of the line. They had been provided as a part of the deal for the Joint Forces Exploration Division. The manufacturer was hoping to get customers out of the deal.
The Coyote had enough room for four adults and their typical field gear. The Mule could seat two in the cab comfortable,or three tightly in an emergency, and transport enough gear for a platoon. The trailer doubled the cargo capacity, and because it was linked to the power train of the Muel, it made the whole assembly into a six-wheel-drive vehicle. The staff sergeant was confident his team had everything the could possible need. That was why he wanted to know what a couple of privates where doing trying to add more baggage to their load.
The light trailer that the logistics guys and the motor pool staff had wanted to hook to the Coyote just put Hito's teeth on edge. Especially when he found out that it was already loaded with equipment for the civilian on his team. It was bad enough he was being told to babysit a researcher, giving up a seat a proper soldier could have occupied. It just didn't seem right to burden a fast, agile, tactical vehicle with a trailer full of cargo.
"Hook that thing to the Mule," The staff sergeant told the two men that had pulled the trailer over to the Coyote. "If it has to come along, I don't want it slowing me down if anything goes wrong."
"I'm sorry, Sergeant," One of the two privates said with a small bow of his head. "But orders say it has to be accessible to the research specialist."
"We'll see about that," Hito grumbled as he turned to where his team stood. The civilian was easy to spot in the morning sunlight. He was at least fifteen centimeters taller than anybody else in the area, dressed in a different pattern of camouflage, and while he was loaded with gear like everybody else, it was all all just a little off from basic issue in little ways. The staff sergeant suspected it had all come from civilian markets, and it looked to be of better quality than his own bulk purchased and government issued gear.
"Mister Wright," He called out to the man in question. "I would like to have a word with you." He had called out in the language of the 'Special Area,' because he trusted it more than his broken English. And he didn't trust the American's Japanese.
"Yes Sergeant," Mr Wright replied in the same language even as he trotted over.
The staff sergeant had to admit that he approved of how the civilian answered up when called and follow directions. He may not want to have a civilian on his team, but at lease he got one that seemed to know how to listen. Some of the civilians acted like they should be in charge, or should be given special treatment. One of the other teams was already having trouble because their 'research specialist' had decided to sleep in.
"Mr. Wright," Hito said in a normal tone of voice once the civilian was in front of him. "I understand you have some additional equipment for this mission." He gestured to the light trailer and its tarp covered cargo.
"Yes, Staff Sergeant," Markus Wright answered with a nod. "I was told my requests had been approved before we left Ginza. Do you want me to double check the load out?"
"I don't think that's necessary right now," Hito replied. "I just wanted to know if there was any reason it couldn't be hitched to the Mule and it's trailer instead of dragging behind the Coyote?"
"No reasons that I know of," he answered. "It's not like I'll be trying to get something when were in motion, and if we're not with the Mule when we stop somewhere I think things will be too messed up to be worrying about sample cases and taking pictures."
"Fair enough," The staff sergeant gave a nod before turning back to the pair of privates and switching back to Japanese. He gave them a curt hand gesture and told them what to do with the light trailer.
With the material logistics handled Staff Sergeant Yamada was free to turn his attention to the personnel of his team. With the addition of the Mule he had gained a fifth member. Mori Yuji was a corporal. All of the teams had unoccupied seats intentionally. That way there was room for the teams to pick up local guides. In the mission briefings the staff sergeant had learned that there were some team already in the field that were more locals than JSDF. For this reason the second seat in the truck was left open, so Hito moved PFC Ueda to the second vehicle. It would be more comfortable for him there, and opened up a little room in the Coyote. He was hoping to avoid taking on any of the locals, but if he must, he would deal with it when the time came.
With his personnel seen to, and the logistic issues settled, Staff Sergeant Yamada settled into the driver's seat of his Coyote. He ran through the operating check-list one more time, just to make sure he and the Coyote were ready to roll. Finally the order was given and all the vehicles started up their engines. It was time to get the show on the road.