A disciplined barrage of gunfire rang out in the empty, endless hallways — short, accurate bursts, and still very deadly. In an empty yet spacious room, five soldiers were making their stand. All five of them, functioning like well-disciplined soldiers, suppressed their fears and anxieties and kept firing.
The towering, dark, and spindly entity they were firing at finally collapsed. The entity let out a final gasp, the life escaping from its form.
"Cease fire!"
A man, wearing the modern uniform of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, shouted. The insignia on his uniform's shoulder, a long black strip with two chrysanthemums with an underline beneath, signified that he was a First Lieutenant and the leading Team Captain.
"Sergeant First Class Kurokawa, how is Sergeant Kurata?"
A woman, taller than most men and women, was tending the wounds of a wounded sergeant and designated driver. The sergeant was biting on a rag, muffling his screams of agony. The wound on his leg was cleaned and then burned. The woman then injected a dose of morphine into the man's leg.
"More morphine?" Kurokawa said.
"No, I can manage," Kurata said, blowing away the rag from his mouth.
"Okay, administering more morphine."
"Stop, I don't wanna overdose!"
Sergeant First Class Kurokawa smiled, letting out a soft chuckle. She had a graceful expression, and her dark blue eyes matched the color of her long, tidied hair. She looked like she didn't belong in the army or any combat situations.
"He's okay, Captain. He's lucid and functioning — no signs of concussion. I've stopped the bleeding, cauterized, and bandaged it. He can't walk, but he'll be fine."
Kurokawa said, helping Kurata sit and lean against the wall as the damp carpet was soaked in warm red blood. The heavy labored breathing of Kurata accompanied the unending buzzing of the old lights; the morphine was slow to act, needing more time.
"Kuribayashi, Sasagawa, check our tango."
First Lieutenant Itami Yoji ordered, sweat beading on his face; his specialized discipline was still in effect, but beneath his stoic mask, he was slowly losing cohesion. He was placed in another alien situation, but this time, there was the absence of an exit.
"Hai!" The two soldiers moved fluidly, training their guns on the now lifeless entity as they slowly approached it. The rifles that they used, an old but functioning one, the Howa Type 64 Battle Rifle, gleamed as the luminous humming lights from above struck their finished metals.
Sergeant First Class Kuribayashi, a black strip with two white lines and a chrysanthemum sewn on her shoulder. Leading Private Hayato Sasagawa has a single-line strip sewn to his shoulder.
The two of them used their rifle's bayonets to stab the collapsed entity, and the corpse merely reacted with dead indifference. They've eliminated it, and the soldiers were out of harm's reach, at least for now.
Sensing that the immediate danger had been dealt with. Itami exhaled, letting out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. Then gave another order. "You two, guard the entrance and check on your ammunition."
"Hai!"
Kurokawa was the first one to speak to Itami. "Captain Itami, where are we? Is this Zorzal's doing or the former emperor?" They were the only hostiles that Kurokawa could think of that would have the magical resources to pull off anything like this.
"The former emperor is planning something, yes, but I doubt he'd openly move against us. At least not this early. If anything, it has to be Zorzal, although I still doubt it." Captain Itami added while detaching the rifle's bayonet and then slinging his rifle on his right shoulder.
"This is most likely another world or something. The empire's magic casters were able to create a Gate. I wouldn't be surprised if they were responsible for those green lights."
"So, this is another magnum opus for the empire's magical research? An invisible gate or dimensional portal?" Kurokawa said, rubbing her chin with her bloodied, gloved left hand.
Captain Itami hummed, staring at the ceiling. "I don't know. Maybe."
An eerie, ear-ringing, uncomfortable silence then replaced the conversation. The soldiers have noticed that the air was stale, with that persistent odor of sterility. It wasn't an oppressive odor, but when it was the only scent present, it might as well be.
"Area clear, Captain." Leading Private Sasagawa said.
"We're moving out, come on. Sasagawa and I will lift Kurata. Kuribayashi, you lead in front, while Kurokawa, you cover our rear." Captain Itami ordered again.
"Hai!"
The soldiers moved fluidly again without hesitation. Not only were they professionally disciplined, but they also trusted their captain so completely that they never hesitated. They moved like clockwork despite the alien situation.
A quarter of the Third Recon Team, or locally, in the military chain of command, Command Team 5, was lost in an unknown, sterile place. The reduced team back in Alnus Hill was no doubt in a panic; a quarter of their members had disappeared.
However, the transported members were still somewhat in their element.
They were a special reconnaissance team.
When they escape, they will file a report and compile an information catalog. A new special region, a new location for Japan. All of the soldiers present knew what this whole new world might represent, a new venture for Japan.
...
...
...
Sergeant First Class Kuribayashi was the first one to break the silence from the marching orders, tightly gripping her empty water canteen. Her throat was parched, and after four hours of walking, not a single water source nor faucet was found.
She pocketed her empty water canteen and continued the long trek down an extremely long yet wide hallway. It had many doors leading to empty rooms. They stopped checking inside after an hour or so, sensing that it was futile since all the rooms were likely the same.
A soft movement from up ahead caught Kuribayashi's eye. She squinted her eyes, and it was a person, another Japanese person based on his appearance. The man was wearing a yukata or a kasaya; he looked like a lost Buddhist monk.
"Captain! A possible civilian up ahead!"
The man up ahead noticed the soldiers, then waved at them, then raised both his hands, reaching the sky, a gesture of surrender or peace. Captain Itami unslung Kurata's right arm from his shoulders, then walked forward and unslung his rifle.
After a tense, slow approach, the man smiled, a stitch on his forehead, as if he were a patient awaiting surgery. The man also sported a topknot and huge earlobes adorned with black spherical earrings, yet neither his hair nor his clothing was what truly stood out.
There was an eerie aura emanating from the man; it was as if something lingered behind him, but the naked eye couldn't perceive it.
"Stop!"
Kuribayashi shouted; the man was close enough to converse but not close enough to attempt anything reckless that might endanger the estranged unit.
"Jietai? You guys are here too?" The man promptly stopped then asked.
Captain Itami trusted his instincts and raised his rifle, aiming it at the man. The rest of the soldiers raised theirs as well, trusting their captain's judgment and their individual instincts.
The man remained smiling, chuckling. "Please, I mean you no harm, but my old trusted friend won't be so kind to your threats."
The man said with a casually calm tone, as if the trained rifles didn't bother him. "All the more reason to keep training our guns then, a man this calm is a possible threat."
Itami scanned the direction from which the man had come, but there was no sign of his trusted old friend. Magic and spells existed however, so Itami remained tense, finger on the trigger. He was about to order the man to kneel and strip when...
"Heeennhhh.."
"Hhhhhhheeeeeeennnnhhh.."
"I did things...."
A growl and a voice from behind the soldiers rang out, instantly filling all of them with supernatural dread; none dared to look behind. All their eyes were bulging from the dreadful fear, their panicked breathing intensifying from the pressure.
The sensation was oddly unique yet still horrifying, like knowing there was a vengeful horror movie ghost behind them. Itami's thoughts were racing, flooded with questions. "A summon? A golem? An invisibility spell? Was this man watching us from afar? Was he responsible for that earlier attack?"
"I like the taste of iron..."