NOTE1: First thing I want to say is that you should check out the story GATE: WARFARE by carlos olivera. Good story, has a slow start but it has an interesting idea at the base and it picks up. Second… enjoy Ch 35 :D

Chapter 35: Quakes & Tremors I

JDS Mirai

Special Region, Unknown location

D-Day + 84 days, past midnight

"Did I hear that right? Did it just say Alnus?" Commander Kadomatsu asked.

Captain Umezu looked at every man on deck and they all nodded when his eyes locked on theirs for just a moment. "Either we're all having illusions and hearing the same thing or we have ended up in the Special Region."

"How's that possible, Captain? The gate is in Tokyo, Ginza, not in the Pacific. What happened?"

"Captain! The Dutchman is… disappearing. It's fading away!" the observer reported. Others rushed to the windows on the bridge to see the things legends are made of manifest just couple hundred meters off the Mirai's port.

"Nav, maintain current heading. I'd like to put a distance between us and the Dutchman. And get out of this storm." Umezu said.

What was otherwise a very calm and calculated man, was now struggling to keep his composure before his subordinates. That much Kadomatsu was able to tell. He knew his captain for a while now.

"Comms, try to get that signal back." Umezu ordered.

"Aye, captain!"

Sadera, Jade Palace

Moments before the earthquake hits

Pina and Hamilton were outside, both women flanked by guards. Pina was sleepy and wanted to scold Itami for this whole earth shaking thing that they were woken up for. But the Japanese officer was nowhere to be seen.

"What is the meaning of this? Where's Itami?" she asked one of her guards.

"I don't know, Princess. He told us to immediately wake you up and evacuate outdoors, so if the palace falls nobody would be trapped underneath," the guard said.

"Earth shaking? What a prepo-" Hamilton wanted to say but she ate her words when she felt violent vibrations beneath her feet. The knight immediately wrapped her hands around Pina who did the same. The trees' leafs were violently dancing. It gave them the feeling that the end of the world was upon them.

"Ouh man, must be pretty bad…" Itami calmly said as he walked with Sugawara.

"I'd say a 4 or greater," Sugawara said.

"So it feels like here. If the epicenter is far away, it could easily be a 6," Itami answered.

Pina caught sight of them. Itami was walking with Sugawara, behind the two were Tomita and Kuribayashi. They weren't betraying any fear whatsoever.

"Itami-dono! How can you be so calm!?" she asked of him.

The lieutenant simply smiled at first, "Earthquakes are frequent in Japan and in other places on Earth. Don't worry, it will be over in no time."

And, true to his words, the earth stopped shaking just as suddenly as it began.

"See? What did I tell you? Alright, make sure everybody is alright and get the wounded somewhere clear of buildings. The aftershocks wi-"

"Aftershocks?" Pina asked.

"Ehm, yes. Smaller earth shakes, if you want to call it that," Itami explained in the easiest words he could muster.

Pina gasped. "I must warn my father! Hamilton, get my clothes!" she ordered her knight.

"Well, take care then, Princess," Itami said.

"Eh? You're not coming!?" she asked.

"Well… I'm an ambassador and Itami and his team are soldiers of the country the Empire tried to invade. That makes us enemies. How well do you think we'll be received by your father, Princess?" Sugawara spoke.

"Please, you have to come. I'll think of something... you know better than us when it comes to earth…quakes. Please, Itami-dono!" Pina pleaded.

The ambassador and the officer nodded to each other after a moment of thought, thus agreeing to go with the Princess.

Sadera, Imperial Palace

Not long after

The palace guards were frightened. Pina's and her group's entrance was uncontested by any sentry as it should have been on a normal day. The red haired princess was in her usual field work attire – armor, Itami was in more formal clothing, Tomita and Kuribayashi were in combat gear. Pina summoned her father, Emperor Molt Sol Augustus, who was rather surprised by the fact that Pina was the first to get to him. Now they found themselves in the throne room after the princess dispatched servants and officers to get things in order.

"You're becoming ery competent, Pina," Molt remarked. "Now… would you introduce the people before me?"

"Yes, Your Highness!" she exclaimed. "This is ambassador Sugawara of Japan. He is accompanied by Lieutenant Itami of JSDF, Japan's army," Pina introduced them. Itami saluted while Sugawara gave a court bow.

"A pleasure to finally meet you, Highness," Sugawara said. "Though I hoped we'd meet in more… pleasant circumstances."

Molt looked at them, analyzing them. They clearly didn't look like they were from anywhere around the known lands but beyond the gate Hardy opened between the two worlds.

"Why did my daughter find it necessary to call for my presence in the throne room?" he asked, obviously trying to project a feeling of importance of his own person.

"Father, I asked their presence since they can advise us on earth shakes. It is common in their world," Pina replied.

Molt shot her a glare. "And you mean to tell me they were here in Sadera just for this special occasion?" he asked her. Pina failed to say anything as a cover, she had failed to come with a cover up.

"Of course not. Although we'd advise you to send out competent men to calm the population and the garrison of the city to offer relief aid to the affected districts of the city. I doubt there wasn't any building that fell. And there will be a few aftershocks after this, nothing as serious though," Sugawara said.

Molt averted his gaze from the Japanese delegation to nod toward a captain of the guards. The officer understood the message and left in haste to make sure the advice given by Sugawara was put to good use.

"And we were here to seek a peaceful solution to this conflict between the Empire of Falmart and Japan and its allies of Earth. Would your Majesty be open for diplomatic talks?" Sugawara asked him.

Molt smiled at the diplomat. "You were already undertaking diplomatic talks with the senators, all this behind my back," he said and his face became hard again. "People talk, and I hear them."

"Surely you understand as well as we did why we had to keep it behind the scenes. The Senate has a sizeable number of 'hawks' and we are in the very heart of the enemy nation. Yet… Here we are, trying to save as many lives as we can. We could have marched here with an army, not a diplomatic corp."

"Indeed, it is praise worthy and noble to seek reconciliation instead of clash of arms," Molt agreed.

"Says the retard who sent thousands to their deaths and not a single diplomat," Kuribayashi swore under her breath in Japanese.

"Then let there be a ceasefire. When this commotion is over with, I'll invite you to sign a temporary treaty for proper diplomatic talks," Molt offered.

"It would be the best course of action, Highness. Until my colleagues, representatives of our allies, will be here we can't properly conduct negotiations," Sugawara said.

"Father, I offer the Jade Palace to house the diplomats and their entourage, and as the location for the negotiations. I can take care of expenses," Pina said.

"Alright. Pina, you-" Molt wanted to say when the doors burst open violently.

"FATHER!" Zorzal cried out as he entered the throne room. Molt frowned, he didn't enjoy the interruption. Especially not now.

"Father! We must leave!" Zorzal said as he pushed and bragged his way through the Japanese group without so much as giving a damn about it.

"What's up with this jerk?" Kuribayashi asked Tomita in Japanese. Itami looked at him with antipathy and eyed his entourage.

"Why is that, Zorzal?" Molt asked.

"There will be another earth shake!" the prince answered.

"How do you know the earth would tremble again, brother?" Pina asked.

Itami's mind started working when he heard it. 'How could he know that? Everybody said he's an idiot so how can he…'

Zorzal laughed before gesturing to his men to bring someone in. "Noriko told me," he nonchalantly answered. The name sounded familiar to the RCT3 members present. And in came, dragged in chains, a rather young Japanese woman, only a piece of cloth covering her body. At the sight, Itami was seething with anger. He was barely keeping himself from pulling out his sidearm and shooting the bastard on the spot.

The blonde man punched Noriko once with his boots. "Come on! Tell the Emperor what you told me!"

The next thing Zorzal knew was a pain in his face while lying flat on his back, Itami two meters from him punching another one in the guts and then in the jaw.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Kuribayashi raced towards Noriko to free her from the bonds with her combat knife. The girl struggled a bit, showing signs she was abused a lot and thought Kuribayashi was going to hurt her.

"It's alright, we're the JSDF. We'll take care of you," Shino told her as she caressed her.

"JSDF? Does that mean..?"

"Yes, you're safe and we'll take you home."

Tears were forming in her eyes. "I never thought I'd see home again!"

Sugawara took off his tuxedo and covered Noriko with it. Zorzal's entourage was staring at the scene, their prince recovering from a tough punch and their slave taken away. The diplomat turned to face the monarch on his throne.

"What is the meaning of this!?" he thundered.

"Sugawara, Itami… please, it must… allow… we've had no kno-" Pina blabbered in an attempt to diffuse the situation but was cut off by her eldest brother's laugh.

"Too late, Pina. I don't know from what hole you barbarians crawled out of but you just damned yourselves and your nation!" he said.

Sugawara took Noriko and shielded her. Tomita and Kuribayashi were covering them, rifles at the ready. Itami pulled out his P220 pistol and chambered a .45ACP round.

"Get out of our way, scum!" Itami ordered but his request was met by men preparing to attack them. "Tomita, Kuribayashi, weapons free," he instructed his subordinated.

"ATTACK!" came the order from the prince and a bunch of his adjutants charged at the Japanese delegation.

Itami was the first to shoot a fat one in the chest two times. A torrent of 7.62mm bullets came from the rifles of Tomita and Kuribayashi, a torrent of bullets that kept the wave of men at bay. Meanwhile, Molt watched with an indifferent gaze but he inwardly sighed. Pina was shocked to see such a scene unfold in the throne room.

It wasn't even half a minute before the fire ceased and an eerie silence fell, the last sound being that of a casing hitting the marble floor. Itami looked through the mess of dead or wounded, he was searching for Zorzal. A big part of him really wanted to see the prince dead or mortally wounded, but the little reason that spoke to him in this moment knew that a dead heir would only further antagonize the Empire.

Alas, he saw him cowering behind, ears covered with his palms. Itami walked to him with determination, grabbed him by his clothes and dragged him forcefully closer to the others. He gave him one more punch in anger.

"Where are the other women!?"

"You barbari- AAAH!" and another punch.

"WHERE ARE YOU KEEPING THEM!?"

"I'm not telling you anything!"

Itami sighed and got up from him. "If that's how you want to play it… Kuribayashi, make him talk," he ordered her.

The small soldier put on her maniac smile. She threw her rifle to Itami, made sure her gloves with reinforced knuckles were tight on her palms and fingers and slowly made her way to the man one and a half times taller than her who was standing up by now.

"Don't mess with me, little girl!" Zorzal cried and proceeded to attempt to punch her.

Shino ducked, using her height to her advantage and then put the blonde down with an uppercut, a tooth went in the air as he fell again on his back. Kuribayash pinned him by sitting on his chest and gave him a healthy beating. All in the eyes of his sister and father and a scared guard, or what was left of the guard after the shooting.

Shino took a break. "WHERE!?" she asked and muffled noises showed his stubbornness. She twisted his arm and broke a few fingers, making him howl in pain.

"Anytime now, sweetheart!"

"Bitch!"

"WRONG!"

And another streak of punches until his face was a bloody mess. Itami finally had enough of this.

"Kuribayashi, give him a break," he told her. She growled like an angry feline at the prince before standing up. Itami now towered over him.

"Talk," Itami ordered him in a cold voice. "Or I let her beat you to death."

Zorzal's fear showed in his eyes. Never before had anyone dare touch him, but beat him like this? And by a woman out of them all? Now this foreigner was pointing an instrument of death at his head.

Through a swelling face and bloody mouth and nose, he found the humility and power to speak. "In my mansion… cellar…" and he passed out.

With a smile, Itami nodded to his team. Kuribayashi was trying to get Akusho on radio. Sugawara once more turned to face Molt and Pina.

"Your Highness, excuse us as we save our citizens from this barbarian's home," he said as he gestured toward Zorzal's KO-ed form, not trying to be too diplomatic in his insult. "We shall continue our diplomatic talks after we see them safe and returned to our care. Princess Pina, we'd appreciate your assistance here to avoid more bloodshed."

"Of- of course!"

"Your love for your people is your weakness, Ambassador. You love them too much. And it will bring your nation down. Just as it did to an old kingdom from here," Molt pointed out.

Sugawara spared him one last sentence before departing with the princess and RCT3. "The army of our nation is the first to guarantee that such tragedies will not come to fruition."

As they left the palace escorted by Pina, they were already talking to the CO at Akusho.

"We've located the missing women. Requesting a special forces unit for a rescue op," Itami said.

"Lieutenant, Alnus gave us the go ahead to do whatever is necessary to free them. Saber Team will be at the Jade Palace in short time to assist, rendezvous with them there."

"Roger that!"

NOTE2: Bloody hell, the story ain't dead. I just feel like I botched it up big time with not thoroughly thinking it through from start to end and I wanted the best way to impeach the cringy at times with the reasonable. I bring you what I hoped to be at least half of the planned Ch 35.

NOTE3: Updates will be slow since I kind of also went ahead with my Mass Effect story (impatient bastard I am) and I may as well start working which will impact the writing and update speed of both the GATE and ME story. By the way, I still feel like I will botch it up in the end once more :( Alas, enjoy the extremely short chapter and I apologize for the long wait.