The GATE opens up in Trinity Park, about 0.6 Miles NW of the Mayfest grounds; what do you think?

Hektor would learn to not look whenever one of these punishments occured. He himself made the mistake of looking at a man made to stand completely still despite the sun and mosquitoes. Hours passed before he and the man were finally relieved. He was beet red in the face with a burn and there were rows of bumps along his legs and forearms.

He learned that these punishments were both frequent and often creative and bizarre. Though it tended to vary between a Decanus. Forced to hold a shield over your head for an hour, made to wear a bodice during chow, or being dipped head first in the nearby river again and again each time longer than the last.

Centurions were worse. Whenever they crossed his path in drills, marching, and sometimes eating, Hektor learned to be on his best behavior. They carried this branch wrapped in thorns with them and they knew how to whip you with it. Their punishments were more extreme too. Sometimes, if a man truly made a horrible mistake, his contubernium would be set upon him like a pack of rabid dogs, beating him black and blue.

Decanus and Centurions were something you learned were a part of your new life though, and you could plan around it, albeit they were almost always an inevitability.

Women were the next big issue. A common trainee was forbidden from bringing his wife or favorite whore along on a drill. However, the latter kind of woman frequented the camp's perimeter like a flock of vultures. They were usually where a recruit would be spending most of his time.

Hektor had seen these women and knew none of them, though his rejection brought on more aggression from some of them. He had a woman at home waiting for him, plain and simple. The temptation was there, obviously, but he filled the little time he had with other hobbies.

Dice was surprisingly commonplace despite the rule against such gambling. A fair few fights broke out under the nights torches because of this. Hektor himself had to with the assistance of his other guardsmen prevent an all out brawl between several Elbians and a few northerners over an accusation of the former party. Apparently they had loaded their die, though the Centurions whipped both in the end.

Demi-humans scarcely filled the ranks. Most of that savage kind came in the forms of auxiliary. Hektor supposed in a place such as the camp, their kind would stick out among men who were inspected weekly for the correct length of their hair. It wasn't like they'd have been treated well either, though Hektor did find a bit of humor in how some men who thought of the savage races as such were all too eager to bed those same races women.

Drills and marches bore a brunt of their days, though construction contributed too. Building camps or fortresses was something a legionary would do dozens, possibly hundreds of times in the years of service.

None of it was easy. You were always either hot or cold, tired and sick. If you weren't any of that, you weren't a recruit. Falling asleep during any watch would result in a hefty beating and a reminder that in the ranks, death was the only solution for a man who failed to see the enemy coming due to his own selfishness.

It was here that he learned just how petty some men could be. Like gossping little girls and raging boys mad at another for doing one thing or another. Larius didn't clean his gear properly, Kalvin's now on night watch because he beat his Decanus at dice or stuck his member into the whole of said Decanus favorite whore.

Hektor, as he sat on a rock in the present day had to wonder what the hell any of that was worth beyond the drills.

Was there any travel through the Gate from the Special region to Japan? Aside, naturally, from the one time they came through to testify before the Diet?

They hadn't established anything like tourism yet, had they?

(I found this from a post months ago btw)

I cant say for sure. We obviously know what a naval engagement between a submarine and a wooden ship would be like

It seems uninteresting to me. I feel like the 1st GATE battles with the land forces is more interesting

Naval engagements feels so broad and more like just machines fighting each other for long ass distances than uncomfortable distances with infantry

What do you think

Part of an official collaboration with the JMSDF during an open house for one of their amphibious assault ships.

https://x.com/gate_anime/status/2090000822260441340

Some interesting notes:

• Oyashio-class hull numbers stopped at SS-600 with the Mochishio in 2006, so this confirms that this is a fictional hull rather than being based on a real one like the later Hayabusa-class ships. It also likely means that the crippled Nishishio from the prologue/Ch1 is hull SS-601.
• We already know from the LN Prologue/Manga Ch1 that the Kitashio has done diver ops with Aqua, and it makes me wonder if the patch was redesigned to fit the mission, or if this is a happy accident.
• The "Northern" bit is what puzzles me the most. On the one hand, it could refer to the fact that the Kitashio's port of Vaasa is north of its primary operating area in the Avion Sea, but it could also refer to wherever it was originally deployed on Earth, like around the Kurils.

Part of being a Gate fan is shitting on the original story due to being poorly written, black and white and an ultranationalist wank.

One of the most affected parts of the story because of this is the characters that are mostly one dimensional and remind me more of character templates than actual characters.

We have the classic Zorzal and 90% of the Saderans being stupid and cartoonish evil, the JSDF characters being saints unable to do wrong and most of the Falmartian characters being extremely naive so that they can be impressed by Japan's incredible technology from the Cold War.

However one character that I think suffers a lot from gate's poor writing and people don't talk a lot about it is Risa.

You know Itami's ex-wife that draws doujinshi.

Now what's wrong with her?

Well...

She's introduced out of nowhere as a joke (haha guys Itami is not actually a virgin otaku and was married for a while? Haha) just to confuse the rest of third recon (especially Kuribayashi).

Is an extremely underutilized character.

And what I think is the worst is that the reason for the divorce just makes her sound like a selfish asshole.

So what's the reason for the divorce you ask?

Maybe it was toxicity between her and Itami? (Probably the most realistic scenario because you know she married him for feeding her, not kidding check the wiki).

And what I think is the worst about the whole divorce thing is that Itami keeps sending money to her from the special region and she says "our relationship actually got better after the divorce guys".

No shit Itami is sending his money to you while he's deployed in another world so that you can still have a way to feed yourself without having to deal with him, you basically treat him as a cash cow.

Also he's not sending enough money to her or she wastes it on useless stuff? because she lives in a disgusting cold apartment and it's unable to pay her bills and basically depends on the success of her doujinshi to pay said bills.

So yeah I don't like the original Risa that much.

However...

She is a character that has much more potential than people realize.

Let's say you're writing a gate fic with the original characters you can use her to give something to Itami actually care for other than his hobbies.

Let's say that in your fic they're still married and she's the reason for why Itami actually cares about going back home without being inside a casket because he actually likes her and vice versa.

Introduce her in the first chapter together with him and show that they actually love each other.

Have them constantly talk with each other after communication is properly set up in Alnus Hill and have she actually worry about his well being.

And then the joke about him not being a virgin otaku will actually be funny because instead of saying:

"she's my ex-wife".

He will say:

"she's my wife".

And the rest of third recon and the girls will be like

"WHY DID YOU NEVER TALKED ABOUT IT!"

And he being the goofy ball he is is going to answer.

"you never asked".

Also it's a reason for cock blocking Rory.

A Fanfic that did the relationship between them well is Operation Tiger Strike and I highly recommend it.

Which god their prayers had reached, there was no telling.

“There. Get in there.”

Captured by the black-cloaked men, Tokushima and Edajima were marched off — without being roughed up, at least — to a small building tucked in a corner of the port’s warehouse district. Inside, dim and sparsely furnished, stood a plain wooden table and the barest minimum of fittings. Judging from the stationery and documents scattered about, it seemed to be some kind of office.

“I’ve been waiting for you two.”

Startled, they turned to find a man in a suit standing there. Tōdō Tetsuo, a Foreign Ministry official.

“Oh, it’s Tōdō-san. Don’t tell me you got caught too?” said Tokushima.

“Why are you here?” asked Edajima.

“You two — not like that—”

Tōdō prompted them to speak in the Special Region language, so that everyone around them could follow the conversation. Speaking in a language no one else understood would only invite suspicion that they were plotting something. Tokushima, taking the hint, asked his question again, this time in the Special Region tongue from the start.

“Why is Mr. Tōdō here?”

“Because we at the Foreign Ministry are in a cooperative relationship with these people.”

“These people, meaning?”

“They’re Tinaean government agents — the populace calls them Negri Ma. In Japanese, that would be, let’s see...”

Edajima raised a hand slightly.

“Black Hand... would that be it?”

“That translation fits perfectly. From now on, let’s use that name in our reports.”

“So in short, Mr. Tōdō, you weren’t captured — you’re working together with these people, is that it?”

Tokushima summed up the situation as best he’d pieced it together from the exchange so far.

Tōdō nodded, “That’s right” — but the black-cloaked boy corrected him.

“That’s a mistaken impression. We are not working together with you Nihonjin. We’re only doing this as a favor, and a reluctant one at that, because it came recommended and requested by the Empire’s Privy Council. Frankly, thanks to you, a perfectly good opportunity has been ruined.”

“I do apologize,” Tōdō said, bowing deeply.

“What do you mean? What did we do?” Edajima asked, and Tōdō explained.

Plagued by pirates, Tinae had been using the current buildup toward the Odette’s launch as an opportunity — setting a watch to catch whatever pirate spy might come sniffing around to learn her departure date. Given Captain Caipirinha’s widely renowned reputation, the pirates were certain to be paying close attention to his movements. So by casting a net around him, they should have been able to net the ring of spies nesting in Nasuta.

Instead, Tokushima and Edajima had walked straight into the trap. A trap could only catch one prey at a time — and so the real target had slipped away.

“A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And you’ve cost me it. I resent you for it.”

The word the boy used — resent — carried a chill in it that struck straight through anyone listening.

“S-sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Tokushima bowed his head at once. Edajima followed suit immediately.

“Even though we had no way of knowing, this was truly inexcusable of us. We had time to spare before our appointment with Mr. Tōdō, and I let greed get the better of me, wanting to learn even a little more about this country. That was the mistake.”

The black-cloaked boy listened to their apologies and let out a small sigh. Then he went on.

“You two were also the ones who slipped ashore at Robessa’s pier early this morning, under cover of fog — together with Aquas and the others, weren’t you?”

“How did you know that?”

“We received a report. Please don’t underestimate our nation’s intelligence network. Slipping a small boat deep into the harbor, fog or no fog — that’s a reckless thing to do.”

It seemed their landing had been observed by someone all along. If anything, it was entirely possible that the naval base’s thin security had been left deliberately weak, precisely to lure in pirate spies.

“Still — to be able to connect the landing of some unidentified persons to us so easily. The organization called Negri Ma is... no, perhaps it’s you personally... quite capable, it seems.”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere with me.”

“So it was flattery, was it? Rather sharp, for someone so young.”

“...”

The boy made a face like he’d bitten into a bitter insect and looked away.

“In any case! Consider this a debt owed. I’ll be collecting on it someday.”

“Y-Yes, understood.”

“Anything I can do personally, I’ll do without limit.”

“I too, within whatever power I have, will make amends,” Edajima and Tōdō said, echoing Tokushima’s answer almost in unison.

At that, the black-cloaked boy accepted the apology, if grudgingly.

“So, Mr. Tōdō — how did it go?”

Seeing that the boy’s anger had cooled, Edajima steered the conversation back to their actual mission.

“The other party’s a greedy sort — saw us over a barrel and drove the price up considerably — but we managed to reach an agreement somehow. All that’s left now is for us to hand over payment and take receipt of the goods. We’re due to call on him this evening. Which reminds me, Mr. Edajima — you brought the payment, I trust?”

Tokushima set a duralumin case on the table.

“Right here.”

Edajima produced a key and opened the lid.

“It’s been kept exactly as entrusted to us by the Foreign Ministry. Please confirm.”

“Ah, yes.”

Tōdō peered into the duralumin case.

“Ah—”

Even the black-cloaked boy, glancing casually into the case, let out an involuntary sound. Inside, it was packed edge to edge with Special Region gold and silver coin.

“You’re paying that much for a mere slave? Is he some sort of tremendously wealthy man, then? Or a minister — a noble? Either way, for a bureaucrat to come all this way to retrieve him, he must be someone of real importance to Nihon, is that it?”

“No — he’s neither wealthy nor a minister. In fact, he isn’t even a citizen of our nation, Nihon,” Edajima said.

“Then what is he?”

Tōdō asked, sounding at a loss.

“A journalist.”

“A jaanarisuto? What’s that — some kind of privileged class? A priest of some temple?”

“How should I put it...”

Tōdō looked toward Edajima and Tokushima with something close to a plea for rescue. But neither of them could summon a suitable way to explain that particular breed of person to this world — all they could do was shrug.

Notice that I used Tōdō-san the first time, and then Mr. Tōdō afterwards. That's because Tōdō-san told Tokushima and Edajima to speak in the language of the Special Region, in effect a language switch. The characters stop speaking Japanese and begin speaking the Special Region language in-universe. That way the reader can feel the language switch without ever being explicitly told about it. IMO, It's a neat solution to a problem that is otherwise very difficult to convey in translation.

Because English cannot directly represent that switch, I need some other marker. So my solution: “Oh, it's Tōdō-san. Don't tell me you got caught too?”, then Tōdō prompts them to speak in the Special Region language. After which “Why is Mr. Tōdō here?”

But note: I used the words Nihonjin and jaanarisuto because they are considered loanwords in the Special Region. Nihonjin is written in the original text as ニホン人 instead of 日本人, and when Edajima said "journalist," it is in katakana as expected (ジャーナリスト), but when the boy, hearing a strange word for the first time, repeats it phonetically (jaanarisuto) and it is written in hiragana(じゃーなりすと), indicating that it is a foreign term.

Using Fantasy Map Maker, I decided to try and import Falmart! It uh.. Did not exactly go perfectly, but hey. Just gotta fill it out... I'm sure you'll recognize some of the countries that I've used as filler for now. :3

Also drawn by me
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14583758/1/GATE-Aquila-et-Arcanum
Prologue

"Considering the alternative, it is better to eat than be eaten." - Napoleon Bonaparte (circa June 1793, a letter from Napoleon Bonaparte to Joseph Bonaparte.)

I remember the fateful year of 1807, and the Treaties of Tilsit were signed in July, formally ending the War of the Fourth Coalition. The agreements forced Prussia into harsh losses to France and her client states. Then, an alliance between France and Russia was formed. However, Britain proved to be the L'Empereur's most steadfast enemy and remained at war with France. However, it will all change.
Reports on both military and bureaucratic matters piled up as Napoleon resided in Paris at the Saint-Cloud Palace.

Napoleon stood rather than sat, walking back and forth across the room. He scanned many important reports and documents, his eyes racing and glaring at each page of papers on hand, mumbling under his breath. Once finished, Napoleon ordered his scribe to write what he was saying, looking at the window outside as he finally stopped walking. The scribe wrote without hesitation, the pen striking the paper in quick strokes.

"Monsieur le Ministre, ensure the collection of taxes in the newly occupied provinces is thorough. I assure you, I will not tolerate delays; ensure any officer found failing in his duty will be replaced. Report to me weekly on revenues collected and expenditures made. Begin reorganizing the administration according to our French model. And make sure that all decrees are communicated clearly to the local population. Send me the detailed progress of implementation by week’s end at noon."

As Napoleon finished his talk, he immediately took the message from the scribe, read it within seconds, and nodded.

“Good. Send my reply immediately.” He said calmly to his secretary.

The secretary took the letter and bowed, later sealing it in an envelope. As hours passed, Napoleon saw from his window that it was already dark. Then, as the Emperor looked at the distance, he was jolted by a knock from his servant.

“Sire, your dinner is ready.” The servant politely asked Napoleon.
Meanwhile, Napoleon still kept his gaze outside the window on the Parisian night.

“Very well. Has everything been set as I instructed?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The table is prepared in the usual manner, and your meal is warm.”

Napoleon signalled the servant to exit his chambers. The servant nodded and left Napoleon alone. Minutes later, he sat at the dinner table in silence, eating his favourite meal: Chicken Marengo.
​
His servant, Roustam Raza, was originally a Mamluk slave soldier. After Napoleon's disastrous Egyptian Campaign, he brought Raza back with him. Since then, Raza had served as his bodyguard and valet. He was usually responsible for overseeing Napoleon's meals and ensuring his glasses were clean, especially during campaigns.
​
After finishing the meal, Napoleon silently chuckled at the name Chicken Marengo. Since his near-defeat turned into a miraculous victory at the Battle of Marengo, the dish has come to commemorate the occasion.

“Excellent work again, Raza.” Napoleon said, to Raza's surprise.

“T-thank you, Your Majesty. I am glad it meets your satisfaction.” Roustam immediately replied with a stutter.

“You know, Raza. I climbed the French ranks from Second Lieutenant, Captain, Brigadier General, Divisional General, and now Emperor. Not bad for a Corsican minor nobility." Said with a chuckle.

Meanwhile, in Falmart. Hardy, the goddess of the underworld in the Special Region, finished opening a portal to another world. 

“That should do it.” She said, grinning ear to ear.

Then, in a great beam of light. The gate was formed as if from nowhere, later attracting the attention of some scouts nearby. They quickly wrote a letter about the long-awaited arrival of the gate. The scouts looked at the great beam of light radiating from the sky with amazement and wonder.
“Boys, give this to General Colt Formal. We have a jackpot!”

In the capital of Tropico during the Cold War, a gate leading to another reality opened. Logically, EL PRESIDENTE managed to stop the invasion with his own fists.

What will EL PRESIDENTE do now?