Chapter 12 of the Gate - Thus the JSDF Fought There! manga. "Ride of the Valkyries"
Plot[]
Missiles fired from the AH-1S Cobra gunships flew across the distance before hitting their mark, the East Gate of Italica, which resulted in a large explosion that threw the bandits in the blast area into disarray as the sudden appearance of JSDF's combat helicopters rained death from above. The hunters had suddenly found themselves turning once again into preys in front of the overwhelming power of modern technology from the other side of the Gate.
Kengun Shunya gleefully ordered the Bell UH-1J Utility Helicopters to take point and did an area suppression near the gate. Bodies upon bodies piled up along the way as they did their initial sweep when the lead bullets cut right through each and every single of the bandits they hit. However, that did not end there as grenades were dropped from the gunships and the explosions added more to the overall kill counts. Then they turned and did another sweep of the combat zone as the people of Italica below, Pina Co Lada included, watched in fear and awe as the flying monstrosities brought death never seen in their existence upon the bandits.
Then the UH-1J units began enemy suppression of the area within Italica itself.The same death and destruction that befell the bandits outside the gate was brought unto those who were fighting within. The princess of the Empire, Pina Co Lada, watched in utter confusion of how easily the tide of war was turned with the appearance of the unknown reinforcements. She finally understood the power of the enemies that appeared at Alnus Hill was something that would bring utter destruction to those who would stand in their way, stripping any form of pride and fame that the people of the Special Region would hope to gain from victories of battles and wars as if the goddesses in the heaven above were laughing at their puny mortal existence. The remaining bandits outside the gate were scared out of their wits after witnessing the death of their comrades that they decided to make a run for it but the flying helicopters proved faster than the four legs of their horses could take them and they were slaughtered by the bullets and missiles fired from the UH-1J and AH-1S units.
Watching from the South Gate, Tuka Luna Marceau was both awestruck by the "explosive magic" and worried of Rory Mercury's well being but Lelei La Lalena assured her that the slaughter was restricted to the enemies and none of the Italica military nor Rory would be in any immediate danger. Back at the East Gate, Rory charged right into the enemy group with a smile glued to her face just as Itami Youji arrived at the scene with two of his subordinates, Kuribayashi Shino and Tomita Akira. He immediately ordered his men to attach the bayonets but he was also worried whether the three of them would actually be able to help with the fight even with the help of Rory. However, Kuribayashi couldn't stand watching from the sideline and charged right into the fray despite never receiving an order to do so. This prompted Itami to hastily tell Tomita to engage the enemies.
With each swing of her humongous weapon, Rory painted the ground red with blood from the resisting bandits. More followed by the minute as she enjoyed the death she dealt. Among the confusion which centered around Rory, Kuribayashi entered the fray herself, killing many more on top the number Rory raked up beforehand with her expert use of modern weaponry and combat skills though she accidentally broke a part of her rifle along the way. The bandits were confused when they were faced with something they had no experience dealing with and many were effortless killed by Kuribayashi as they argued what to do.
It didn't take long before Rory rejoined the entire killing together with Kuribayashi and the two of them moved with minute precision that even surprised Itami as they continued to eliminate enemy presence within the confined compound. The four of them formed a team which held the bandits at bay with Rory and Kuribayashi as the vanguard while Itami and Tomita held the ranged support role. Seeing that the mere four of them proved to be such a powerful reinforcement, Hamilton Uno Ror used the scene to spur the people of Italica to have faith in the battle.
Just as the people were cheering for their heroes, one of them caught the sound of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries in the air right before a lone AH-1S Cobra appeared in the air right above them, dispersing the rising smoke with the strong wind resulted from the turning of the gunship's rotors. This surprised many below. Itami took the appearance of the gunship as a cue to run like hell but not before alerting Tomita. With Rory in Itami's arms and Kuribayashi over Tomita's shoulder, the two managed to get out of the firing vicinity of the Cobra seconds before the pilot turned the bandits into chunks of minced meat using the flying vehicle's heavy machinegun. Pina watched in awe as she bore witness to the destructive force that she could never hope to compete with. That also marked the end of the entire bandits' siege on Italica.
The UH-1J units began their descent onto the ground to unload the military personnel who would later help to round up the surviving bandits and provide aids to those in need, whether they were the people of Italica or the members of bandits themselves. Grey Co Aldo and Hamilton paid their last respect towards their fallen brother-in-arms, Norma Co Igloo, whose body was just recovered from the pile of corpses that littered across the battlefield. During the short respite some of the people approached Tomita and asked of their origin as they had never seen soldiers like them before and Tomita politely replied that they were the Self Defense Force. That's when the people of Italica first learned of the identity of the soldiers from the other side of the Gate.
Mesmerized by the situation around him, Itami didn't realize that he still had Rory in his arms and the fact that his right hand was actually touching her breast never got through to him but Rory just wasn't going to let him get away with it.
Trivia[]
- In the upper picture of the two-page scene where Itami, Tomita, Kuribayashi and Rory Mercuy fight the enemy soldiers together, one of the soldiers sports a round shield with a star-shaped fitting similar to several examples seen in the famous Asterix comic series.