World Invasion: Battle Tokyo - A GATE Story

Chapter 1

My name is Lelei La Lalena, and this is my diary about the most terrible fight we ever had to live ... a year passed since, but the trauma and the pain, both physical and moral, are still very present ... I will remember forever the day when we first met the Japanese self-defense forces and the ease with which they had been able to defeat the armies of the empire ... their armament, their technology and their world exceeded our understanding ... in our eyes, they were almost the equivalent of deities, beings impossible to stop ... until the day when ... they met an enemy coming from elsewhere, much more powerful than them ... this is no longer just the story of two worlds that met, but three worlds ... and the end of one of them...

Tokyo, Japan

9 a.m. local time

A new day began in the city of Tokyo, greeted by a rather mild weather, a clear sky and a sun still a little shy but which would not take long to clear up.

On Odaiba Beach in Tokyo Bay, no one had yet come to enjoy the sand and the water. However, the beach was not deserted either. Itami Yoji, first lieutenant and commander of the Third Recon team, was busy, like every day, doing his daily training while enjoying the solitude of the morning. Dressed simply with a t-shirt, short pants and sneakers, he was doing push-ups on the sand.

_ "Come on ... again ... again ..." he said with dertermination to encourage himself, his forehead sweating as the pumps accumulated. Shortly after, catching his breath slightly, he continued with a jog along the beach. Running at a steady pace and blowing regularly, he contemplated at the same time the small waves coming gently to lick the edge of the beach. This solitude pleased him quite well sometimes, he felt like he was alone in the world. And then, no event took place in the coming months and since the discovery of the special region, he had to devote all his time to his work as a soldier.

However, after running several hundred meters on the beach, he stopped to catch his breath, then noticed, without real surprise, that he was no longer really alone. Standing a little further at the edge of the water coming to touch the tip of her red boots, Rory Mercury, the demigoddess, stood straight and silent, admiring the bay as well as the great towers of central Tokyo on the other side. She held her halberd on her shoulder, effortlessly, like someone would carry a bag. Passing his hand over his forehead to remove the few drops of sweat, Itami came to her. She smiles before looking at him.

_ "Hello Rory ... I should have suspected that you wouldn't be quietly waiting for me with the others at the base." he said without anger.

_"That's all?" she replied with a slightly mischievous smile "I expected a slightly more severe reaction from you."

_ "And what could I say? I'm just a simple human and you're a demigoddess. From this angle, you are the highest ranking of the two of us. But well, you should just avoid that you scare passers-by with your weapon."

Rory gave an amused little laugh at this comparison between their ranks and Itami's friendly smile towards her. But despite the good understanding, she sighed heavily and found a thoughtful look towards the bay, watching a group of seagulls going towards the open sea.

_ "But you know, being a god is not necessarily the best thing ... we acquire an excessive power certainly, but at the cost of all our feelings, the very basis of what makes us living beings. It's a sacrifice not to be taken lightly ... tell me, Itami, would you do it if you could?"

_ "Uh ... well ..." he stammered, a little taken aback by the question of his friend. "... I never really thought about it. After all, I'm not an apostle. But what about you, I suppose you've already thought about it, am I wrong?"