Gate: And Thus the Federation Fought There Too!
Disclaimer: Mobile Suit Gundam belongs to both Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate; while
Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri is owned by Takumi Yanai
Chapter 3: Decimation
September 25, 0079 U.C.
-Imperial Capital, Empire
At the Imperial Senate, a survivor of the Imperial Expeditionary Force, sent to explore the other side of the Gate, was in middle of recounting his accounts to the astonishment of the senators and lords present.
"I'm telling you dear, sirs! They are gods, I tell you! I swear!"
The man is an Armicustos or quartermaster–in charge of the stock and distribution of weapons for the Imperial Legions–and was bedraggled and bandaged, from wounds too terrible for him to reveal.
"Their world is filed with towers all around that reaches up to the clouds! And they wield strange sorcery that goes 'RATATATAT' and 'BOOM', killing men by the thousands in mere moments! But that is not all my dear sirs! The worst part is they have the aid of the Titans as well as the war machines of Acheron! We have opened a portal to Underworld itself!"
The Senate Body were disturbed by these accounts while some held them with a grain of salt. An Imperial General who was standing interjected.
"Surely we can't take the word of this man! Look at him! It is obvious that he is raving mad from the wounds he received, and all this talk of Titans and the Underworld are mere products of his deluded state!"
"If this man is truly deluded," spoke Marquise Garcel, an oppositionist to the Empire's role with the Gate, "then so are the other survivors who tell of similar accounts! How do you dispute that?"
A senator raised his and stood up to be noticed. "Also I would like to clarify to the body, that we, the Empire, have nothing to do with the appearance of the Gate on Alnus Hill. It just appeared there one day, and we agreed to send a large contingent of the Imperial Army to investigate it."
"And yet according to the testimony of this man, not only have our Great Imperial Army suffered massive loses on the other side but this so called army from the Underworld has now occupied the Gate which sits at the most holiest sites of our glorious Empire! Truly sacrilegious!" added a hot-blooded senator into the forum.
"Then I say we retake Alnus Hill as well as the Gate! Quickly rebuild our forces, if we must! Get help from our vassal allies!" said the same General from before.
The bandaged man shook his head. "Regardless to whatever my dear, sirs' decision is on this matter, you will not prevail against the armies of the Underworld!" he bemoaned.
All were silenced when a regal, bearded man sitting quietly on his throne for the whole time, raised his hand so he may be heard. For this none other than Emperor Molt Sol Augustus, present ruler of the Empire of the Falmart Continent.
"Titans, Soldiers of the Underworld, sacrilege. Indeed! Are we to sit idly by then and wait for the enemy to come to our gates? To be slaughtered like dogs? Our Empire is the product of ages of violent transitions, emerging wiser and stronger at each turn. This turbulent time we are in is no different. So what it we are up against the gods of the Underworld? Will we just let them undo centuries of progress of our mighty empire? Nay my fellow Imperials, I say we fight! Let us show them what wolves are capable of when cornered! And no matter the outcome, the Empire will persevere! We will prevail in the end!"
"Hail Emperor Molt!"
"FOR THE EMPEROR! FOR THE EMPEROR! FOR THE EMPEROR!"
"Hail the Empire!"
"FOR THE EMPIRE! FOR THE EMPIRE! FOR THE EMPIRE!"
"Sire…Do you really wish for an annihilation?" grimly muttered Marquise Garcel, knowing well enough that with this decision by the Emperor, the Empire might has well have signed its own death sentence.
Emperor Molt merely grinned, confident in the plan hatching from his devious mind.
And thus the Empire sent word to its vassal states, demanding them to send troops to bolster the Empire's own forces in a grand crusade of retaking the Gate and Alnus Hill from the yet to be known enemy army. The leaders of these tributary kingdoms also joined in leading their armies for the sake of showing their loyalty and commitment to the Empire. All in all the Allied Army of the Empire mustered a force of 300,000! They all marched for Alnus to meet up with Imperial Army only to find no signs of their ally. Regardless they carried on what was required of them and decide to meet the enemy, Imperials or no Imperials. After all, they were privy to the enemy's strength that numbered only about 2,000–a pittance compared their vastly superior overall force. Perhaps it was this overconfidence which was their greatest mistake as they soon learned.
The Allied Armies were never told on what kind of enemies they would be facing and got a taste, first hand, on how truly terrifying they are. Those who survive would spin tales on how fire and death rained down on their forces, of how the fires of Gehenna erupted under their feet and consumed them into oblivion. But the most terrifying yet of their telling is that of the Titans of the Underworld rising up from the earth and stomping their warrior to their deaths or cast powerful magic that deliver similar results. But in spite of this, the Allied army did not retreated at that time even with loss of 10,000 on the first day.
October 1, 0079 U.C.
-2nd Day of Assault of Allied Army on Alnus Hill
Having more or less set up a foothold on Alnus Hill, the Earth Federation Expeditionary Force, led by Lieutenant General Hazama, presently continued to hold off the relentless assault of the then allied armies of the Empire for a second day now, with little loss or casualties on their side. This is the second, and perhaps the largest, force they've encountered ever since emerging out of the Gate on this side; this after dispatching a smaller, yet formidable, force that was waiting for them when they first came out of the gate over a week ago.
"Yazan! Flyer at one 'o clock!" a woman's radioed voice called out.
"I see it! Go down you flying vermin!"
A GM-79[E] directs its twin 60mm 'head' vulcan guns at a wheeling flying dragon, hitting it and causing it to fall dead to the ground along with its rider.
"Hahaha! Did you see that? Down it goes!" laughed the pilot within one of the Federations first true mobile suits developed, with actual legs.
Since the start of the One Year War, the Federation has been upped by the Zeons in the conflict with their then secret weapon–the Mobile Suit. Since then the closest thing the Federation had for such an innovative weapon was the Guntank. While not lacking in firepower the Guntank was no match for Zeon's mobile suit in terms of flexibility and maneuverability, able to go around in circles with the Guntank and still emerge as the overall winner. Things are about to change though thanks to the progress of Operation V, the Federation has finally caught up and is soon to surpass the mobile suit race with Zeon.
"This is no challenge. I don't even want to waste ammo on these guys," said the GM with the same female voice earlier as her mobile suit was surrounded by dozens of allied soldiers–their swords and spears were nothing more than twigs brushing on the GM's solid metal legs. Suddenly, anti-personnel grenades launch from built-in dispensers of the GM's legs, and rained a blast of shrapnel on the hapless warriors.
"You stupid Romans should go back where you came from!" Another GM was busy swatting allied troops left and right with its beamsaber–a high energy cutting weapon–slashing them down like a scythe over weeds.
"Um, Kacricon, this is where these Romans are from. We're the invaders here so..." said the female-speaking GM.
"Really? Then these stupid Romans should DIE where they stand then!" The self-conscious pilot of the GM proceeds in gunning down more of the numerically superior yet powerless Imperial allied forces with its 90 mm machinegun with much glee.
"These guys don't even look Roman to me, more like them time of knights in armor. I don't know," replied the female.
"Hey, Lila? When do we get to go on the offensive?" said the one call Yazan as he joins with Kacricon's GM in mopping up any enemy stragglers.
"What's wrong, Yazan? Is all this killing not enough for you?" replied the woman pilot with a rather callous mien within herself.
"All I'm saying is we've been sitting here like three days now, waiting for the enemy to come to us. When we should be getting on the move on and bring the fight to them! We have Mobile Suits now don't we?" said Yazan obviously annoyed by the prospect holding their position by the gate all this time since they arrived in this world.
"What do you think we're doing now?" Lila started explaining. "Besides we don't have enough men to sally forth and defend the gate, our only way back to our world, at the same time. Especially with the number of opposition we are facing. Should they somehow out flank us, it will be hard to regain control of our advantage. So you should probably have faith with the higher-ups. I'm sure they're hatching up something to get things moving real soon."
At that moment, Lieutenant General Hazama and his immediate aide, Lieutenant Akira Yanagida observed the ongoing battle between their forces and the Imperial allied armies from the relative safety of their makeshift command bunker–a large quickly-dug foxhole actually but well away from where the actual fighting was going on. Around and before them, a network of hastily dugout trenches and earthen emplacements for the troops, tanks, and artillery have been setup around the Gate's perimeter, ensuring them a superior vantage point over the vast area surrounding Alnus Hill, as well as a well defensible position.
"This is the second time they've attacked us. They're so relentless, if not reckless," said Yanagida while looking through his binoculars and seeing the enemy falling and failing in gaining any ground or advantage over them. To him, there is no contest in this battle, it is a one-sided slaughter.
"Look! It seems they're finally calling it a day. But what a cost…" replied Hazama, seeing from his own binos on how the enemy was retreating from the field with their tails between their legs. He estimated that the enemy suffered about 40,000 in casualties on this latest assault alone, four times more when then started engaging the Federation forces since yesterday.
"Sir. Our spec ops and MAVs have already mapped out their positions. I suggest we end this now, quickly and decisively, while our stockpiles are still at optimum."
Hazama looked at Yanagida, seeing the wisdom in his adjutant's suggestion, always one step ahead of him and perhaps more wiser and cunning for his years. He would make good General someday, if not sooner depending how the war with Zeon, and now with the Empire, would progress. Right now he is just glad to have him as his trusted aide here in the Earth Federation Forces Special Region Theater.
"What do you propose then, Lieutenant?" Hazama asks.
"A night raid, tonight. We won't give them time to rest."
October 2, 0079
-1:00 AM
Explosions rocked the Allied Army camp bringing it into a state of confusion. King Duran of the vassal state of Elbe emerged out his tent to witness the chaos that was brought about.
"What's going on?" he angrily demanded.
"The enemies…they're attacking the camp! And they have brought the titans with them!" frantically answered a passing footman.
"What of our sentries, our scouts? Why weren't we warned?" asked the one-eyed patched grizzly of a king.
"I don't know, my Lord! There has been no word from them!"
-12:30 AM
A group of four men used the cover of darkness to stealthily close in on their targets situated on knoll. The moon was nearly new and would offer little or no light to the surrounding hilly area. But that is not a problem for these men, for they had night vision capabilities on their side. They stopped at 500 meters to their designated targets–sentries of the Allied Army–who themselves were keeping a low profile by having little light. But their locations have long been determined thanks to the EFF scouts and small aerial drones, and now Special Region Command have deemed it time to take them out in conjunction with their operation against the main enemy camp.
"This is Specter 1 to Overlord. We've got enemy sentries within our sights. Awaiting orders," said the group's team leader over his com.
"Roger, Specter 1. Hold position and standby, over?" answered the receiver, who happens to be Lieutenant Yanagida. He along with others, including Lt. General Hazama were overseeing the nighttime operations via a wide screen that is setup within the Command tent; a few operators handing high-end surveillance systems were inputting and receiving various data on the spec ops in the field with the help of MAVs–which are virtually hovering in silence over the area which their advance sensors could encompass– and providing to those viewing a thermal imaging overview of the operation area. Yanagida began conferring with rest of spec ops teams as well as with main raiding group.
"Roger, that's a solid copy, Overlord. Specter 1 standing by," finished the group's team leader.
"So, why is it again that the Hero of Ginza and the Guntank Reaper with us?" sarcastically asked a member of the team, somewhat annoyed by the fact that Youji Itami is part of their team.
"Knock it off wilya!" admonished the team leader. "We needed a sub, since Kelly got bitten by a snake. It so happens, Lieutenant Itami here was available, and the top approved of him joining the operation."
"Hey, what can I can I say? I'm in demand?" joking replied Itami, though he really isn't too thrilled with this setup himself.
"Right…" mildly scoffed the team leader."Listen up, Itami. I don't know what strings you pulled to get yourself to where you are now, but in my team I expect you to pull your own weight. You may have barely passed Special Forces, but don't screw up this mission, got it?"
"Got it, sir…" Itami said, steeling himself and going all serious.
"This is Overlord to all Specter Units. Weapons Free! Leave no survivors! I say again: Weapons Free, and leave no survivors!" came the orders from Yanagida.
"Alright, this is it. Let's make this snappy…" started Specter 1's team leader.
Itami took aim with his sniper rifle, readying himself for the signal to take down his designated target.
"…Itami, you take the one to the right."
Itami saw him, his target. Even through the green fuzziness of night vision, he could make out the man's face. Probably more or less of the same age as him, and perhaps unlike him has probably a wife and kids waiting for his return…
"On my mark…take them down. Mark!"
Three of his fellows when down without missing a beat, all dead before reaching the ground. Only Itami's target remained, shocked in place to what happened to his fellow sentries. He seems to have the luxury of looking for his companions' killers and got to look exactly at where Itami is at. Itami froze, his finger twitching by the trigger of his weapon. Even though it is very unlikely the guy actually spotted him, he could not shake the feeling of those wide accusing eyes fixating on him.
"Itami, take him out!"
He finally got to pull the trigger and shot the man dead right between his eyes.
"Damn it Itami! What's with you?" angrily reprimanded his CO.
"Sorry…I just hesitated…" he unsteadily replied.
"This is Overlord to Specter 1! Status?"
"This Specter 1, targets eliminated. Repeat, targets have been eliminated."
"Roger, Specter 1, RTB!"
Specter 1's squad leader eyes Itami darkly. "I'm glad this is just a one-time deal. Can't say I'm happy to see you off my team, Itami."
"Sorry…" Itami looked at his hand; it somewhat bothered him that did not stop shaking.
Allied Army Main Camp
-1:05 AM
"We have been duped…" muttered King Duran of Elbe.
"My Lord?" questioned a soldier nearby.
King Duran finally realized it. The reason why not a single Imperial soldier was found in Alnus Hill or its vicinity ever since they arrived here on the behest of the Emperor, they have been sent as sacrificial lamb to the slaughter, in the hands of this terrible and unforeseeable enemy! No, not just that, the real reason is more insidious, the King of Elbe figured. With the leaders of the vassal nations dead and their armies shattered into ineptness, no one could oppose the Empire and the machinations of Emperor Molt, whatever they maybe. Suffice to say now is they, the Allied Army is now doomed.
Around him, men were dying in the same way as in those who marched to Alnus Hill over a day ago, and the fact it was night did not seem to diminish the enemy's effectiveness at its atrocity against them. Speaking of the night, Duran indeed planned for a night raid on the next night. Since it was going to be a new moon; the deepening darkness would provide the cover the Allied Army needed to outflank the enemy holding Alnus Hill. It seems they have beaten him to this idea though. Suddenly the night came alit as Duran looked to the skies and was awed by the sight: several small suns gave a macabre life to the battlefield as he gets to see fully, more or less, the descending enemy.
Yes, the Titans were among, fifty-foot tall white and red giants with bodies tougher than their strongest armors. They wielded great shields which strangely bore recognizable numerical symbols like zero and other single digit numbers on them, but they barely needed such addition protection for nothing their army had could pierce their thick metal skins. They could also cast various kinds of powerful magic, from devastating blasting wands to their deadly light rods of the Underworld, truly a frightening foe. And behind these Titans were the men in brown, foot soldiers that seem to wear no armors what so ever but bore smaller types of the blasting wands the Titans carried and were very apt in using them.
"Run! Run I say!" Duran shoves the soldier beside him. "Sound the retreat! Save yourselves!" he frantically shouted.
"Lord Duran we will protect you!" declared a soldier.
"We will stay to the bitter end!" said another.
Duran was not pleased at all by these men's bravado. What use is such foolishness when you're dead! But their chance to live and fight another day has passed when enemy trails of deadly light hailed throughout the camp with fatal effect. All around him, men were screaming and dying, the armor they wore naught protected them from the onslaught. Duran seemed favored by the gods still as none of the enemy's attacks appear to even graze him, but instead of taking this chance to flee himself he made good his promise a day go. Picking up a nearby bow he nocked an arrow. At that point a titan was looming over him, its glasslike faceplate seeming glint ominously at him, piercing his soul. But the King of Elbe would not let up regardless.
"Bastard!" He pulls the bow's string and let the arrow fly toward the towering titan with predictable results. And thus he fulfilled his selfish promise, of sending at least one arrow at the enemy. Duran drops the bow the ground, the thought of the arrow bouncing off the titan's metal body was so hilarious that he started to laugh hysterically.
"HAHAHAHA! THIS IS NOT WAR! HAHAHA!" Duran's world was slowly turning to white and he began feeling extremely hot all of the sudden, but that was fast becoming tolerable. A loud buzzing sound soon was heard all over but that too became acceptable. The last thing he saw was that of the titan raising it blasting wand at him and subjecting him to its fey magic before that image was engulfed in the vast buzzing whiteness…
October 2, 0079 U.C.
-10:00 AM, Aftermath of the Battle of Alnus
Itami and Kurata walked on the fields of dead where thousands upon thousands of corpses of the Allied Army lay and piled as far as the eye can see, searching for any survivors. Many of the bodies were in the various stages of ruin and the fact the carrion birds were having a feasting today did not improve the overall ghastly sight. Kurata was obliviously getting sick at the prospect, threatening to hurl any moment. Outwardly, Itami was calmer and more composed but the more saw the dead bodies the greater he is reminded of that day when he first arrived in this world through the Gate.
September 19, 0079 U.C.
-Alnus Hill
When Itami's Ground Assault Guntank emerged out of the long dark tunnel of the Gate, he was greeted by a near barren landscape on the other side. It was also dark, as it was still considered night but in actuality it is only a couple of hours more before dawn arrives. Seeing nothing within his sights at first, Itami switches to night vision and there about three kilometers away were the waiting forces of the Empire. Goblins, orcs and ogres made up the frontline in some while others had rows of cavalry awaiting the opportunity to charge forth.
"Looks like they have been waiting for us," said Itami to himself, he the called it in. "This Itami to Command, enemy sighted three klicks ahead! Size…a lot."
"This Lieutenant Yanagida! What is the enemy's status, Second Lieutenant?"
"They seem to be just sitting there. They're aware that we are here but that they haven't made a move yet…Wait! Scratch that! They're sending the goblins and are moving in in a skirmish formation towards us! What are your orders, Lieutenant?"
There was about a minute of silence before Yanagida responded back.
"Second Lieutenant Itami! I assume you've thoroughly familiarized yourself with the RTX-440's capabilities?"
"More or less,' Itami replied rather sheepishly. If he were there with the Lieutenant, Itami would have seen Yanagida sigh with reservation.
"That's good enough I guess," Yanagida answered, "Second Lieutenant Itami, you're ordered to engage the enemy forces at will. Keep them busy as long as you can until our forces have fully emerged out of the gate. Utilize all that the Ground Assault Guntank is capable of. In order words, go wild it, show the enemy that we mean business here!"
"Me? All on my own?" Even though he sees the logic in all of this, Itami did not like the idea of doing all the dirty work.
"Who else?" retorted Yanagida, "You're the one with the Mobile Suit, a forty-foot tall fullmetal death god! Do you job, Second Lieutenant Itami! That's an order!"
Itami winced. "Geez, if you put it that way…"
"What's that?"
"Roger! Proceeding to engage the enemy! Itami out!" Itami cut his link with command and began flipping some switches. "Let's see now…what to go with first…" He views the Guntank's list of arsenals highlighted on a green screen. "MLRS…lets go with these." He presses to select his choice, flashing as he did. Outside, an attachment on the Guntank's right side unlocked and raised itself to a near forty-degree angle. Back inside, Itami flipped in a side manual targeting scope to his eyes, enhancing the visual range of his targets.
"Range to targets, locked. Firing!" Several rockets launched from the upraised squarish launch tube, leaving large plumes of smoke behind. Upon reaching high above its designate point the missiles breakup and rained down dozens of smaller warheads that wreak havoc and death over a large area. Many of the goblinoids perished from the small missiles exploding on impact.
Flipping away the scope, Itami started activating the RTX's Ground Assault Mode, causing the upright body of the Guntank to adopt a forward 'crouching position' with the second set of caterpillar trends supporting it. He then revved it forward towards the main enemy force, reaching great speeds in just moments.
"Flying dragons!" he exclaimed, seeing a number of the aerial reptiles, with human riders, hovering over the mass of troops. "Going for rockets!" The left box-type pod holding 56 missile tubes tilted slightly upwards and fired in rapid succession, sending a massive volley of missiles at the airborne targets. Even if the missiles were lacking in accuracy their sheer numbers and close proximity from each other made it near impossible for the flying dragons to avoid them completely, causing some of them to die from hits and detonations.
"It's an iron juggernaut!" cried an Imperial soldier.
"It's heading this way! Run! Scatter!" yelled an Imperial commander on horseback, horrified that fast moving contraption barreling down towards them.
Itami cursed when his Guntank finally plowed through the masses of men and goblins alike, steamrolling many of those unfortunate enough to be crushed under its tracks like sod. His stomach churned at the thought, making his head swim for a moment before refocusing his thoughts. He activated the heavy mines, attached to the right side of the Guntank, releasing them at several intervals throughout the battlefield while weaving and swerving as he continued ramming and running over hapless enemy soldiers in his wake. The heavy mines–which appear as large metal plates–were timed set and when they exploded they rocked and engulfed the area in a series of fireballs and concussive force, bringing more death and mayhem to the Imperial forces.
"We've broken the will of the Empire forces," stated Lieutenant General Hazama, noticing, through binoculars, that the latest display of 'fireworks' by the RTX-440 has broken the ranks of the enemy in addition of inflicting heavy casualties among them. "Are all of our forces out?" he asked Yanagida.
"Yes, General! All of our vehicles and men have emerged out on this side," answered his bespectacled aide. Hazama nodded in approval.
"Give word to the companies that have been on standby to move out and assist the Guntank. We will support each other in order to rout the enemy completely!"
"Yes, sir!"
A tall, slight man with hawkish features and a mustache was in discussion with Lieutenant Yanagida through walkie talkie before he addressed his men. With an officer's cap, his side patch denotes him as Colonel in the Earth Federation Ground Forces.
"Now is the time we show these varvar what the Kerensky Corps is capable of! For the Motherland and for the Federation! Charge!" And like the Commissars of Old Russia, he sounds the charge with a whistle and waves his service pistol, directing the men under him to move forward.
A young man with cropped, ruffled hair saw the Kerensky Corps move out and grunted his disapproval.
"Men of the Kuno Battalion! Let us not lag behind our Russian compatriots! In honor of those who died in Ginza, we will deliver divine retribution to the enemy! For the Federation!" With a white headband, with the Hinomaru painted on it, he draws a serviceable katana and leads the advance, with his men following close by.
After the last heavy mine exploded, the RTX-440 veered to a stop right behind enemy lines. Itami could not breathe properly; the cockpit felt so confining all the sudden, he had to have fresh air. He opened the overhead hatch and allowed half of his body out. He finally had the time to puke. Itami gasped for air afterwards, and that is when he saw the trail of the death he left with his Guntank, amidst the broken enemy contingent that was scattering in all directions. He dared not look at the caterpillar tracks, less he sees something he might regret. The sound of Yanagida's voice with the cockpit calmed him into focus as slips back in to take the call.
"…Itami! Can you hear me?"
"Itami here…over?"
"Something the matter, Lieutenant? We though we lost you there a second?"
"I'm fine. What are your orders, sir?" Itami said, some hale was finally returning to his person.
"We've send half of the force to support you. You in turn should support and cover them."
"A pincer maneuver," said Itami. It was statement, not a question.
"Exactly!" answered Yanagida.
"Roger! Will do! Is there anything else?"
"No, that's it for now," added Yanagida. "Are you sure, you're alright, Itami?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Really. Itami out!" He took a couple of moments looking through his instruments, as if seeing if there was something amiss. Seeing none, Itami took a deep breath and afterwards proceeded in having the Guntank move out again, transforming it back to its upright configuration. Itami started attacking the Imperial forces once again using the mobile weapon's 'hand' bop-guns in each arm, giving them something to worry about other than the charging Federation forces. He added to the mayhem by spraying over some of the unfortunates with the Guntank's flamethrower, engulfing them in a fiery end…
…Lieutenant Itami…
He could imagine their horrid scream as they flailed about vainly trying to put out the searing flames that cling to their bodies burning them to a crisp…just like this charred body lying on the ground…
…Lieutenant…
Kurata's voice finally brought him out his morbid reverie, looking between the burnt corpse and the young Sergeant nearby who has been calling his name.
"Are you alright, Lieutenant? You seemed out of it?"
"Never been better, Kurata." Itami stood up, a broken half of a bow in his hand. "You were saying something before?"
"Yeah, I was saying that we killed about 60,000 of them this time," said Kurata, forgetting about pestering the Lieutenant about his 'lapse'.
"With the 60,000 killed at Ginza that would bring it to a grand total of 120,000," stated Itami. Kurata whistled in awe at the estimates.
"I can't believe we killed that many," he continued saying. "I mean, besides the war with Zeon, I don't think the Federation has ever killed that many before."
Itami snorted. "Makes you wonder. What kind of enemy are we facing that is willing to sacrifice over a hundred-thousand lives…!" He threw the broken bow with all the might he could muster, sending it off into distance. A muffled cry came afterwards. Both men looked at each other, trying to confer if each of them heard it. They decided to head in the direction in which Itami threw the broken weapon. Kurata reached the source first.
"Lieutenant! We've got a live one here…barely."
Both men did not know it then, but they were in the presence of the mutilated body of King Duran.