Chapter 1
Year 1945, Nihon, Hokkaido Region, Kitami City. The heroes of Nihon had just returned home from fighting the long and final battle in Rossija. The Karrak, finally defeated and eradiated to the last entity, was no more. Now is a time for celebration humanity's second victory over the Karrak. Yet it is also a time for mourning as more than 40% of the world's population has been killed, 30% of the remaining survivors crippled and 20% more either too old to do anything or too young to be of use. Of course, with the United Nations Act, the nations of the world were able to help rebuild much faster. Both civilians and military men alike chipped in to help out, providing care and shelter, growing crops and cultivating the land.
Nihon's Army, formerly lead by General Itagaki Seishiro, returned home in pieces, less than 30% had properly returned, 20% of that in body bags. The rest were either in ashes, floating along the river Lena, or simply buried under mountains of rubble, the General included. What returned was instead his XO, Maj. General Hazama Koichiro, the Maj. General's last remaining Officers, 2nd Lt. Yanagida Akira and Junior Lt. Yoji Itami. All other Officers and command units have perished in battle.
Upon returning, they were quickly greeted by Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and the Emperor of Japan, for meritorious military service, each of the remaining 1,300 soldiers awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, 5th class. The only Exception being Maj. General Hazama Koichiro, 2nd Yanagida Akira and Junior Lt. Yoji Itami, who were each awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd Class. They were also given a promotion each to Lt. General, 1st Lt. and 2nd Lt. respectively.
Minutes after the final Order was awarded, something odd happened. A Large gate had appeared in Toryo Park. It was quickly reported as it started to glow. Not a minute later, the gate opened up to reveal an inky blackness. Confused and confounded, some soldiers decided to walk towards it. Just as he was about to touch the gate, he was speared through the chest by a long lance of sorts. Then out came charging cavalry men, armed and armoured like the middle ages, some bearing lances, spears, longswords and bows. Then out came the monsters, not like anything they had ever seen before, monsters of old, like Orcs and Dragons. Only when the first scream was heard did anyone actually snap out of the trance they had subjected to. The IJA men turned towards the source, and they had to do their best not to turn away immediately, the men from the gate had ripped a little girl in half, yet not killed her, thus forcing her into immense agony, her mother nearby, staring in shock and fear before herself being eaten by a dragon.
The IJA men jumped into action, some running towards the armoury to retrieve their weapons, some just pulling out their service pistols. Not wasting any time, 2nd Lt. Yoji Itami pulled the Lt. General's Type 94 Pistol and his own ceremonial saber and jumped into the fray. The 1st Lt and the Lt. General quickly ushered the Prime Minister and the Honourable Emperor towards the Office Buildings and rushed to re-join their comrades in arms.
The combat fought wasn't a long one, it was rather easy to defeat the enemies once the weapons were out and a proper structure was formed. Forming old firing lines, they were quickly able to eliminate the enemy infantry as they were mostly armoured with thin metal armour, very much like the armour of the Roman Legionnaires, most likely for defence against swords and arrows, not bullets.
Eventually, a horn was blown from the people of the gate, and they retreated. If one were to count, there were less than a hundred people who actually managed to escape into the gate, the others are either dead, or severely injured, not that they would stay alive for much longer anyway.
All 1,150 men from war along with around 120 local police officers looked around, shock on their faces and fatigue in their eyes. The remaining 150 from the war perished at the hands of the invaders, either by simple stabbing and slashing wounds, to literally being eaten by creatures thought to only exist in story books. After a brief reprise, the men quickly realized that there were more to the casualties than just military and started organising Search & Rescue teams for the Civilians.
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"If you want peace, be ready for war."
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A week later, the gate was covered in a secured metal casing with a Mechanical door to prevent anything from getting out or in. News of the gate and the tragedy quickly spread across the globe as letters of well wishes was received by Nihon post mail almost every hour. Granted it wasn't as big as the Karrak War or as bad as Rossija, but it was tragic nonetheless, against a human enemy as well, it simply didn't sit well with the world leaders.
So once again, bits and pieces of the world's militaries joined together in Nihon's purposefully built extra-large military camp. Over 5,000 combatants and over 2,000 staff came together from every corner of the globe, creating the world's first Combined Joint Task Force, or CJTF in short. It held people from Rossija, Nihon, Zhungguo, Kaiserland, Mapla, the South East Asian Coalition and many more. It was to be led by Lt. General Hazama Koichiro, aided by 1st Lieutenant Yanagida Akira.
Another Ceremony was held in honour of those who have fallen in the battle, both civilian and military alike. Several Enlisted and NCOs got some promotions for valour, but most surprising of all was 2nd Lieutenant Yoji Itami, who was promoted not a week ago. He was promoted again to 1st Lieutenant and awarded the Order of the Golden Kite, 2nd Class by the Emperor himself. The Emperor, impressed by Itami's bravery and amused at his decided course of action, was quick to confer upon him the award and the promotion.
1st Lieutenant Yoji Itami was quickly transferred to the CJTF, ordered to take command of the 1st Motorized Section, a Swift Medium Reconnaissance Unit tasked with surveying and mapping out the world on the other side of the gate. The 1st Motorized Section consisted of 10 regular infantry, 2 command infantry, 1 Ho-Ha Kai Armoured Half-Track, 1 M16 GMC with 4 M2 Anti-Air Variant Machine Guns, and 1 234/1 with a 20mm Auto-cannon.
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Another week later, everything is ready. Tanks, Armoured Cars, Artillery and Infantry line up in formation in-front of the gate. Everything is set, Lights and guns at the ready, all pointed into the gate. A signal in the form of a flare was released and the mechanical gate was opened, revealing once more, the inky, misty blackness of the gate. Excitement, fear, anticipation and righteous fury was felt by the men entering the gate. Lt General Hazama, after finishing his speech, turned towards the gate, drew his saber, a Gun-to, and forced it down, pointing forward whilst the blade sends a reflection into the dark. Immediately the roar of engines was heard, and the sound of wheels and tracks rumbled as they passed the General in organised columns. The Infantry, mounted atop their assigned vehicles, saluted the General. Eventually the main force has all passed and it is time for the General and his Unit to move along into the Gate.
End Chapter 1
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