Chapter 3:
December 10, 2019
12:30 P.M
TAC Name: Trigger
Times Square, Oured
Trigger looked around. Soldiers were dashing about, looking as if they were on rush hour. He took a moment and looked around his surroundings. The once proud billboards that had surrounded Times Square were nothing but ruins, their screens nonfunctioning.
Debris was still everywhere, but was too heavy to be lifted by people or tractors. Heavy equipment would be needed.
'Guess the cleanup never happened because of the war'.
Trigger looked up at the figure in front of him. It was a building… no, a monument? He did not know what to deduce of the structure; a gleaming tall piece with two pillars on each side. It was massive, at least six stories high. He could distinctly hear humming coming from the structure, almost sounding like voices telling him to come through.
'So this is the Gate…'
Trigger remembered seeing the event play out on the news when he was at the Fort Grays Air Base; this 'Gate' appeared in the middle of Times Square, birthing people and monsters who suddenly attacked unsuspecting civilians.
He shivered at the prospect. Because of this event, it gave birth to the Lighthouse War, and had caused many innocent civilians to lose their lives. Trigger looked over to his left of the Gate, where there was a monument built of marble and stone. There were a plethora of flowers on its base, with the monument reading:
ut non obliviscamur eos
May we never forget
Trigger knelt down at the monument and gave a moment of prayer. He felt sorry for these citizens and vowed for peace. He stood up, grabbed his duffel bag, and headed over to his overlooking officer.
"When will we be going through?"
"Should be in a few moments. We are making final preparations to send new equipment and supplies over. We are also sending some planes over to Avalon for the new nuggets stationed there."
Avalon. The name of the forward base that Osea constructed in the Special Region during the Lighthouse War. Since the project was heavily classified, Trigger did not know much details, but knew that Avalon was subject to attacks from the people on the other side and as such had several hiccups when being built.
In the end, Avalon was constructed for the purpose of researching the world beyond the Gate, but more importantly, experimenting on new technology, hiding their experimentations from the rest of the world. It was perfect; there would be no prying eyes on the new technology being built by Osea, and had few chances of blueprints or secrets being stolen if it did not exist in the world in the first place.
Trigger pondered on this fact before asking,
"Has my plane already been sent to the other side?"
The officer pointed behind Trigger and stated,
"Actually, it's being sent over right now as we speak."
Trigger looked around, and saw his plane. His signature F-22A Raptor, fitted with the latest stealth capability and having its distinctive 3 claw marks on the tail of its wings. The only difference being 'WW015' being replaced with 'AV015'. The connection of his plane to Strider squadron was no more, as his plane now had the tail code that connected it to Avalon.
Trigger then started to remember his time in Strider squadron. Even though his previous squadron was now defunct due to the end of the war, he made several memories during the reprieves between missions; his bantering with Count, the deep night talks with Huxian, talking with the father figure that was Jaëger, the old dad jokes that Wiseman would crack whenever Trigger was around him.
Because of his time in this squadron, Trigger felt as if he had purpose, the people around him seeing Trigger for who he truly was, not just some mute who was good at flying a plane. He wanted to talk to all of them again, but that time was over, and going through the Gate was a new chapter in his life.
'Guess I'm really in this now huh' Trigger thought.
"Trigger, our preparations are ready, get in one of the humvees and we should be ready to go."
Trigger nodded and headed over to the line of humvees. He also looked behind and saw the supplies that were being shipped over.
Including his F-22A, he saw several Su-57s and F-15 S/MTDs being sent, along with M-1 Abram tanks lined up behind them. Trigger wondered why so much firepower was required to be sent to the other side, albeit stealth jets as well, but he did not want to ask so many questions; he would ask them later when the time was suitable.
He entered a humvee whose door had already been opened for him, and clobbered inside. He set his duffel bag down; he did not have many possessions belonging to him, thus bringing so little. At this point he remembered the conversation he had with Vice Chairman Edwards.
(5 days ago)
"Excuse me sir, but why me?"
"Trigger, your flying is unparalleled compared to other pilots in the force. Not only have you turned the tide of war against Erusea, but you led your squadron with much bravery and resilience. We need that kind of mindset and flight experience over in the special region. The problem occurring there has escalated into a serious matter."
"What kind of problem would that be sir?"
"As you know, the forces of the Special Region are technologically inferior to us. Their technology dates back mostly to the age of kings and nobles. The only weapons they carry are swords and bows and arrows. The beings we encountered who passed the Gate are ones who come from the Saderan Empire, who rule much of the land in the Special Region. This Empire were the ones who mercilessly killed Osean citizens and visiting citizens from other countries as well, which is why we are receiving great support, mainly Yuktobania."
"I do not see the problem sir. If the Empire you speak of is technologically inferior to us, why does that make it a serious problem?" Trigger said with a wondered tone.
"A few days ago, a recon team who was sent out to map the region encountered soldiers with weapons similar to ours. They got into a brief scuffle before our force had to retreat because of the size of the recon team being so small. But based on what they gathered, these people had uniforms similar to ours, and were being accompanied by personnel who were part of the empire. This 'new' force seems like they are working with the empire with a goal, an unknown one at that."
Trigger was astounded. If the empire had the means to be as technologically advanced as Osea, nothing would stop them from coming through and wreaking havoc on the world.
"Do we know who these people are sir?"
"Not yet unfortunately. We are thinking of sending over U-2 spy planes to assess the situation and map out the region better. Since the war here is now over, we are also thinking of sending further resources over to the Special Region. So far, we have been utilizing ground based communication systems, as well as E767s to cover up our lack of satellite based communications. Unfortunately, this 'new' force has the technology to jam our AWACS planes, so communications have been shoddy in the aerial department. The U-2s will map out the Special Region the old school way; with photography. What we have deduced so far, the force seems to speak in a language that has been absorbed into Osea when refugees poured into here after the Ulysses disaster. Nihongo."
Trigger thought back to Huxian, whose mother tongue was Nihongo. He thought that having her join on this expedition would be a godsend, but with her leaving the Air Force, that idea was out the window.
"With this, we are sending personnel who know Nihongo to an extent to attempt to communicate with this new force. They seem to be working with the empire and have been attacking our convoys. We've lost a lot of good men."
Trigger looked down at the floor. He was dumbfounded and lost in thought. With this the Vice Chairman spoke in a somber voice,
"Trigger, I know this is a lot to take in. We have asked for so much from you already with the Lighthouse War, but we need your help again with this situation. We need to stop the Empire at all costs so that another war like the Lighthouse War will never happen again."
Trigger looked up, and with burning passion, he spoke,
"I will fulfill my duty to the end sir."
Vice Chairman Edwards beamed.
"Thank you Trigger. I am thankful for your help. Your mission is to go over to the Special Region and take part in the campaign against the Empire. You will also take part in experimentation of new aircraft that have already been sent there. There have been reports that several aircraft were spotted flying over Avalon that did not belong to us. We suspect that the Empire has been colluding with this new faction to get this technology. Is that clear?"
((SIR YES SIR!))
"Good, make it back Trigger. I expect good reports out of you."
End Flashback
The humvees and tanks started trundling, moving towards the mouth of the Gate. Trigger watched as the humvee he was in was wallowed in darkness, leaving the light from the other side.
'This is a new chapter in my story.'
Trigger watched as the light behind the humvee grew smaller and smaller, before a new tunnel of light came into view.
'I wonder what this other force is like' Trigger thought as the light became bigger and bigger.
(Parallel Universe)
August 10, 2013
11:30 A.M
Ginza, Tokyo
((ACHOO!))
The sneeze of a man could be heard reverberating through the subway. Onlookers looked at him with a surreal look, others trying to deduce who could ever sneeze that loud.
Itami Youji
Age: 33
Occupation: Second Lieutenant; Japan Self Defense Forces
Hobbies: Avid Otaku
Youji sniffed his nose then pulled out his handkerchief to blow on it. The 33 year old looked around the subway, embarrassed that he sneezed that loud.
He did not care, as he was engrossed in the game he was playing on his smartphone. As an Otaku, Itami was always seen either on his phone, or in the streets of Akihabara, looking for new manga or doujinshi (self-published works by authors) that he could get his praying hands on.
He took pride in his hobby, to the point where he did not care about anything else around him, even his main job in the Japan Self Defense force. With barely acceptable work ethic with barely acceptable self standards, this was the life that he was content with.
Light suddenly illuminated through the subway windows, and Youji instinctively looked outside. The tall skyscrapers of Ginza could be seen, their windows gleaming against the sunlight.
"GAME OVER"
Youji looked back to his smartphone, where he realized his playable character was dead due to him being unfocused. Cursing the sudden sunlight for his character's death, Youji put his smartphone in his pocket and waited for his stop to arrive.
'Next stop: Ginza, Next stop: Ginza. When exiting the subway, please be careful of the gap between the subway and the platform. Thank you for your cooperation.'
The subway started to slow down and Youji could see the blur of people waiting for the subway to stop so that they could get on.
The subway car he was in stopped, and the doors opened, which led to people entering and exiting the subway. Since this was his stop, Youji joined the crowd of people who were exiting the subway, and headed for the stairs that led to the exit.
With the crowd of rushing people around him, Youji climbed up the stairs quickly, a little too quickly as he slipped on a step and fell, hitting his head hard. His surroundings suddenly turned black, where he had a vision.
'A tall girl with elf ears? A blue haired girl with a long stick? A girl in a black lolita dress? Whats going on?! Is this a game?'
((Daijoubu des ka?))
Youji opened his eyes. A bystander was looking down on him with concern. He offered his hand to help, which Youji grabbed and was hoisted up.
"Thank you so much", Youji said. He realized his phone had fallen out of his pocket, where the screen was showing the game he was playing earlier.
"Is that Ship Girls 2?!' The bystander asked with excitement.
"Yes it is! I was heading to an exhibition where they are selling doujinshi for this game." Youji replied.
"I was actually heading over there too! If you don't mind, would you like to head over there together now?"
"Gladly!"
With that, the stranger and Youji walked off together, hoping to buy some quality doujinshi at the Ship Girls 2 event.
11:50 A.M
Ginza.
Heralded as one of Tokyo's most famous shopping districts, it was no surprise that many people were going about their business. Shoppers, restaurant goers, event goers, all kinds of people were in Ginza. Every turn in a street would lead someone to a world leading fashion brand store or cosmetics store. It was a bustling presence.
"MAMA, LOOK, SO MANY PEOPLE"
"Stick close to me sweetie."
A little girl could be seen running down a street, with her mother in tow. The father was right behind the pair, holding a video recorder. Hoping to capture some memories, the father smiled as the girl and her mother turned towards the camera and smiled.
"PAPA, look at that statue! It's so white and shiny!"
The father turned his video recorder and focused it on the object that his daughter was pointing at. He noted that he had never seen it before, albeit looking very out of place. The structure in front of the family was a tall one, with two pillars on each side.
He noted that he could hear humming coming from the structure, but the bizarre placement was enough for him to not think about it too hard. Suddenly, he spotted a figure riding… a horse? A person riding a horse could be seen coming out of the structure.
This event started attracting people around the structure, and soon enough, there were hundreds of people surrounding the structure itself. The person on horseback suddenly stopped in front of the crowd. People noted that the attire he was wearing was weird, most notably being of ancient design.
The person suddenly talked, with a booming voice.
"PEOPLE OF THIS LAND, I REQUEST TO MEET WITH YOUR ELDERS, WE ARE IN DIRE NEED OF YOUR HELP!"
People were looking around as the person spoke. Most did not know what language he was speaking, but some others knew exactly what he was saying;
Perfect english.
The people in the crowd started to look around; they were waiting on a person to say the first words to this stranger, as they did not want to be the ones to say anything.
"Who would you like to meet?"
The crowd looked at the person who talked out to the stranger on horseback.
"I think I may be of assistance" said Youji Itami.