The next day, the group arrived at their destination, a government research facility where the main event would take place. Upon disembarking, Yuki and Takara tried their best to calm Yuriko. Even though it wasn't the Sanitorium, her trauma was still triggered. In the end, she managed to calm down, at least for a while. As they entered the building where the experiment would take place, Yuriko started to panic again.

"I can't do this."

She leaned onto a wall, feeling sick and weak all over.

"You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up."

Yuki and Takara stayed behind with Yuriko.

"If you don't want to do this, I won't force you. I know what it's like to be forced to do things you don't want."

Yuriko remembered Yuki's trauma as well.

"That holds true for me as well."

Takara joined in.

"It's difficult for women to hold any kind of position in the Imperial military, much less a leadership role. My former CO was every woman's worst enemy."

She punched the wall, dealing a small crack.

"To be under a misogynist's command as a woman was the worst thing to ever happen."

She looked at the group already heading into the experiment room.

"I'll tell you the whole story later. But long story short, I became the CO after his honorable sacrifice. Now come on, we don't want to keep them waiting."

As Takara started to walk away, Yuriko hugged her from behind. She was caught off guard for a second, but smiled and gently grasped Yuriko's hands. Afterwards, the three met up with everyone else. The experiment room took up most of the building's space. Large white panels on the floor, walls, and ceiling. There were two observation rooms, one on each side of the experiment room, all filled with scientists and politicians. Lelei was to initiate opening a Gate using magic from the other side, but the original plan changed when the ERS began their own research and experimentation. Thus, Yuriko was to be a part of the experiment as well. She really hated being in the facility as well as being part of an experiment, but she knew that this was important to Yuki. So she sucked up and went with the plan.

"If it isn't the Prime Minister."

The PM flinched when he heard Yuki's voice as she entered the room. She took her place up to the window and watched as the test began.

"The experiment to open the Gate will now commence."

Lelei started her chant and Yuriko synched her powers, balancing everything in the room with her down to the molecule.

"5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

A strong gust of wind blew as a bright light shone in front of them.

"Contact!"

A translucent thin wall appeared before her, way different from the Gate they've seen.

"Is that really a Gate?"

"As long as the concept is the same, it works out in the end. The real question is, how do we find out?"

Yuki had a good point. Fortunately, they were prepared for this with an unmanned drone. It approached the portal slowly, receiving nothing on the screen. The conditions of the other side were stable to support life, but they weren't taking any chances.

"No good. We can't make out anything."

"We can try one of our drones. You'll find no other advanced machines than Tenzai Robotics."

Just before they could agree on their next plan of action, Itami volunteered to personally scout the area. Yuki saw what was happening and was too late to stop it. Itami had already walked through. He was wearing a clean suit, but anything could happen in uncharted lands. It wasn't even half a minute before he came running back, urgently telling Lelei to close it and never open it again. Afterwards, he was escorted out of the room by quarantine personnel. Yuki had another headache to deal with.

"Remind me to hit Itami the next time I see him."

Gate experiments carried on, despite the potential danger it posed.

Yuki, Yuriko, and Takara were lying on a hill overlooking Alnus. Yuki rolled over next to Yuriko.

"Yuriko, can you recite the 8 virtues?"

"The what?"

"The code."

"Um…"

Yuki looked over to Takara, who was also laid down on the grass next to them.

"Commander Takara, can you recite the 8 virtues to educate our uninformed commando?"

"Justice. The ability to determine behavior according to reason without wavering."

"The first virtue is the foundation we all have to follow as warriors. If we can't, we'll never be more than savages clinging onto loose ideals and acting on impulse."

"Courage. There is no lack of courage in experiencing what is right and doing it."

"You must be able to tell what is right and wrong according to your justice and act accordingly."

"Compassion. A warrior with the power to kill must also show benevolence and compassion for others."

"We must be able to express love and sympathy towards others. But I know that you do that already."

She gave her a head pat.

"Respect."

"This is pretty much self explanatory."

"Integrity."

"Be honest and live accordingly."

"Honor."

"You can pretty much guess this one as well."

"Loyalty. True men remain loyal to whom they are indebted."

"Remain loyal to your superior, unless it contradicts with the first virtue."

"Character."

"By combining all of the virtues together, you will have built a strong character. What's right and what's wrong, good and bad, and being able to tell the difference. Once you've mastered it all, it is your duty to pass this onto those willing to learn."

Yuki hugged Yuriko tightly.

"Those virtues sound familiar."

"They should, it's the Warrior's Code."

"You mean…"

"Yep. It's what the Tsunami Tank crews keep shouting about."

They shared a laugh.

Back in Japan, Itami was held in a disease research facility following the experiment. After faking an incident, Yuki showed up, kicked open the doors and punched him.

"Trouble follows you like a plague."

"Alright, I admit that was a poor choice given the circumstances."

She glared at him.

"I need to talk to you about something. But first, someone's here to see you."

Rory popped out from behind Yuki. Yuki grabbed Itami by the collar and dragged him to his room, and dumped him inside before walking away. She met up with Takara in the hallway.

"That man is deliberately making my life hell. Everytime I see him, I can only brace myself for what he might do next."

"Men are just childish."

Yuki browsed the hallway vending machine while they talked.

"How's the situation in the Region?"

"Unstable. With rumors of Japan closing the Gate, merchants are worried about losing the import of Japanese goods and potentially losing a major profit. There's also a number of individuals who've established personal relations with JSDF personnel. The legitimate Imperial government is asking the Japanese government to once and for all eliminate Zorzal. Public opinion on whether or not to open or close the Gate has presented problems as well. Protestors have been arrested for picketing at Ginza, the Prime Minister and his cabinet are drowning in trouble from other countries, primarily the major powers."

Yuki took a sip from her can of soda.

"How's the progress on the project?"

"Asset is ready to be deployed on your command. Though, aren't you a little overpowered to have two uber units under your command?"

"Overwhelming show of force can win the battle in more ways than one. Nevertheless, I want to see this thing in action."

"Status on Omega?"

"Stressed."

"Hmm."

She bought a bag of chips and started eating. Just then, Itami was dragged out of his room by his security detail.

"A man and a 900 year old gothic loli together in a room. Though, that burlesque man that watches over him constantly must've misunderstood something during their distraction."

"Didn't you have to talk to him about something?"

"I do, but that can wait. We have business to attend to first."

What was that business? It involved setting up heavy defensive fortifications surrounding the Alnus base. With Imperial technology, they didn't have to deploy it yet. All they'd have to do was set up the wall spires and Defender Nanocores. There wasn't any need to stir more trouble than there already was. Meanwhile, Yuki checked up on Yuriko back in their room. She was on the bed, under the cover of the blanket. Yuki sat down next to her and leaned on her.

"That bad?"

She poked her head out and nodded.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. I just don't want to see you like this."

Yuriko didn't reply.

"Which is why…"

Yuriko heard the rustle of clothing. Then suddenly, Yuki suddenly came under the blanket with her, completely bare.

"This won't do at all."

After a brief rustle and tussle, Yuriko was bare as well. The two girls laid on the bed next to each other for a while. Not talking about anything, just relaxing in each other's comfort.

"Mechas, girl with powers in a schoolgirl sailor uniform, time travel, an isekai adventure, I thought these would only exist in fiction. That said, what I saw should only exist in fiction. But this is not so."

Yuriko turned her head towards Yuki.

"We need to close the Gate."

"You think so too?"

"I'm strong, and so are you. But I don't think we can win this, even with our arsenal. We need to-"

Yuki pinched Yuriko's nipple, inciting a yelp from her.

"Leave the strategies and life or death concerns to me. You should stay as you are."

She kissed her.

Back outside

"God dammit!"

Takara shouted over something she saw on her PDA.

This author would like to sincerely apologize for the extremely late chapter post. It's been a long time since the last one. I hate cliffhangers as much as the next person, so this irritated me several times. The Gate manga just updated and after getting excited to read it, I came up with more canon material to work with. The real questions are, how often will they post, and how often will I post? I want to post as much as I wanted to like in the first part, but there was already a solid plot that was finished. Anyway, Yuki is close to using her new uber unit that could change the power balance in the Region, and I'm not talking about the government.