This Is the Endless Frontier Pt 3/10

Sean: Captain, we have entered Riksent territory.
Haken: Okay, Moustached Dandy. How's it lookin' outside?
Sean: In a word? Quiet. In more words, tranquil and pleasant.
Sanger: You seem familiar with this land. Have you been to it before?
Aschen: Yes, Boss. This area is dotted with Crossgates.
Ratsel: Crossgates... Gates that once led to other worlds. Are you referring sites where they used to stand?
Haken: Well, back in the old days before the Raven War broke out, people put 'em to real use.
Sean: Nowadays, their ruins just stick around like so many power spots. Some people build castles and things over them.
Aschen: And sometimes strange stuff drifts in from other worlds, and we swoop in like a pack of hyenas to grab it.
Sanger: Flotsam from other worlds? I thought Riksent wasn't supposed to have any war assets?
Haken: Easy there, Mister. It ain't the same as excavatin' ancient weapons.
Sean: There's no way of predicting what will drift here, and in fact, so far there's absolutely zero precedent of weapons showing up this way.
Ratsel: Ah, I see now. If one were only interested in weapons, it would make more sense to dig up ones used in past wars.
Marion: Could I have a moment of your time, Captain?
Haken: Howdy, Doc. I thought you were holed up in your lab. Didja start missin' me?
Marion: Not in the least, sir. There's been some strange reactions from the Gespenst Haken while it's been under maintenance.
Aschen: Did it start shaking or something?
Marion: I think it's picked up some energy readings. Considering the fact that it's an excavated relic of the Raven War era...
Ratsel: Let me guess. Is it something nearby?
Sean: Good guess, Kurogane Chief. There's a Crossgate site near here.
Haken: Hey, Pink Princess. The Huckie's after the Fau Kern, the secret treasure of Regiment, right?
Arriere: Yes, I'm fairly certain of that. I couldn't say why, though.
Haken: Could it be energy it wants? When it showed up near the Neverland, it was when the ship was givin' off energy readings.
Sanger: Could it have been targeting the Tactical Devices when it showed up on Kurogane?
Ratsel: It seems my Aussenseiter sadly failed to meet its standards.
Aschen: Maybe Gessie's all twitchy because it's reacting to the Crossgate?
Marion: The Gespenst so embarrassingly named after our captain is a personal trooper from the same age as the Huckebein, so it would make sense. Anyway, I just came to give you a heads-up about the possibility.
Haken: Okay, Dr. Snippy. Fingers crossed that we can head 'em off at the pass. Let's mosey.

---

???: Ugh... Vision's flashing... This feeling... Was that a dimensional jump? Rgh... Excellen, you there?!
Excellen: Mmm, what happened? Kyosuke, where are we? Who am I?
Kyosuke: We're not in Shibuya, that's for sure. And you're Excellen Browning, a part-timer with the special organization ATX Mirror.
Excellen: Wow, a very precise and concise answer... except for the part where I'm an agent! Time management's a huge challenge, I'll have you know!
Kyosuke: Great, you remember. That leaves our location, and...
Excellen: What's this? Where's the two newbies that were fighting with us?
Kyosuke: No idea. We may have been the only ones caught up in the dimensional distortion.
Excellen: I TOLD you it was a bad idea to raise hell in a designated Closed City. This is exactly why—Because any time something happens, there's a bunch of dimensional instability, and FWOOSH, it's off to another world you go!
Kyosuke: Part of the job. It's far from the first time it's happened.
Excellen: You're so die-hard about your work. You never screw up a job once you start, right?
Kyosuke: I just do the obvious. I'm gonna go check on the Alt and Weiss. They're right over there.
Excellen: Wow, you're right. We sure lucked out having our robots get sent with us, huh?
Kyosuke: Agreed. We should do what we can while our luck holds out.
Excellen: Sure, whatever, as you wish. I'm gonna give HQ a quick love-call.
Kyosuke: Good idea. I'm concerned that we've lost track of the rookies. Better check in.
Excellen: Roger-dodger!

Mai: ...
Mai: (I heard that dimensional flotsam drifted through the Crossgates, but... From what I just heard, those two are pilots from another world. Does that mean the machines over there are personal troopers from another world? I'd better report this to Major Ingram.)

---

Kyosuke: Tsk... No luck.
Excellen: Nope. No calls, no texting, no social media. The official website won't even open up. That's strange. I thought we were open 24 hours a day. Did our business hours get changed?
Kyosuke: Somehow I doubt that. But now I'm sure of one thing—We're in another world entirely.
Excellen: Oh my God, did we do the isekai reincarnation thing? That Time I Wished I'd Given It A Whirl When I Was A Little Younger?
Kyosuke: We're alive, and the Alt and Weiss are undamaged. We should get them online and start gathering some intel—
Ratsel: Pardon me, but would you mind staying where you are?
Excellen: Uh, what? Who're you?
Haken: Okay, lady and gentleman. Step away from the personal troopers, nice and slow.
Kyosuke: Who are you people?
Sanger: We should ask the same of you.
Arriere: You don't appear to be from Riksent. Are those excavated weapons?
Aschen: If you're thieves, you're about to be in for a very long and painful spanking.
Excellen: Wow! A guy in glasses, a cowboy, a guy with rad sideburns, a pink-haired girl, and girl in a leotard! What a merry band we've got here. Anyway, this is getting kinda dicey, Kyosuke. What's the call?
Kyosuke: ... (long pause) We're agents of a special Japanese organization. Could you tell us where we are?
Aschen: Ja-Pan? Never heard of it, Frowny McHighlights.
Haken: This here's the Principality of Riksent. Did you stumble on those rad-lookin' personal troopers here?
Excellen: Who's Rick, and what is it he sent? And what's this trooper thing you keep bringing up?
Kyosuke: If you're talking about the Alteisen and the Weissritter, they're urban weapons. We use them in the field.
Aschen (DTD): Okay, look here, buster! I'm running a full database search and I'm not getting any hits whatsoever on this Japan place! Where is it, anyway?
Kyosuke: That's what we want to know. I think we're in a different world than the one we're from, and we'd like to find a way back home.
Arriere: You two are truly from a strange land? And this Alteisen...
Ratsel: It's a foreign humanoid weapon, but I was under the impression that there was no precedent for weapons coming through the Riksent Crossgates.
Excellen: I feel like we're going in circles here. From where we're standing, you guys are the foreigners.
Haken: Now hold up there, Agent. You got any way to prove what you're sayin'?
Kyosuke: Do YOU have any way to prove you guys aren't just making this up?
Haken: ... (pause) Well, this is a real dilly of a pickle. What do we do about this, huh?
Sanger: It's nothing to puzzle over, Haken. The Raven is active, and the SRX Commonwealth is amassing assets that have connections to it.
Arriere: That's right. If these things have unknown technology, then...
Haken: Okay, Kuroganes, I think that settles that. Hey, Agents. You mind comin' with us?
Kyosuke: ... (pause) What if I said no?
Haken: ... (pause) Well, this is a real dilly of a pickle. What do we do about this, huh?
Excellen: Ooh, is that where we loop? I feel like there should be a school festival starting.
Sanger: ... (pause) I suppose we'll have to get moving one way or another.
Arriere: What? Major?
Aschen: Why am I getting a bad feeling about this, Boss Samurai?
Excellen: Uh, am I missing something here?
Sanger: Strangers from another world. Choose with your own strength whether you join us or leave us.
Haken: Just like with me, huh. I don't think they're gonna get the picture if we don't explain ourselves.
Kyosuke: Ah, I see where you're going with this.
Excellen: Uh, Kyosuke? A little help here?
Sanger: Listen up. Our weapons are armed with live ammo. Put up a fight if you don't want to die.
Excellen: Whoa, geez, Boss! Can't we talk this out?!
Sanger: The time for talk has passed! Let us duke it out!
Excellen: Hoo boy... Kyosuke, I'm thinking maybe we should've been more cooperative...
Kyosuke: ...It's fine by me. All I care about is the enemy in front of me. If someone stands in my way, I'll just shoot through them.
Excellen: Wow...
Kyosuke: Carving a way forward through strength is something I can appreciate... and so are guys like him. Let's rock.
Haken: Well, at least our guest is quick on the uptake. He put me through the paces the same way. You on board with this, Boss Kurogane?
Ratsel: As far as I know, Sanger's never made a bad call in his selections. That includes his choice to bring you to Kurogane, Captain Haken.
Haken: Fair enough, Goggles. Sounds like it's showtime, then.

THIS IS THE ENDLESS FRONTIER
NAMBU IN ENDLESSLAND

---

Kyosuke: Roar, REVOLVING STAAAKE!!
Sanger: You have spirit, that's good. A fitting opponent!
Haken: Hey, uh, Shoutwulf? You sure that's in character for you?
Excellen: Hey, why not enjoy it and cut loose this time around?
Kyosuke: My Alt will tear through the skies of love and sorrow!

(after battle)

Kyosuke: Agh... These guys are tough...
Excellen: Isn't it kind of dumb how orthodox they are for all their goofy looks and color schemes?
Aschen: Well, excuse us.
Haken: You guys are pretty tough stuff yourselves. Too bad you were outnumbered. Okay, Lopsided Loss Agents. We win. You're gonna answer our questions now.
Aschen: And you're in for a spanking!
Excellen: You can't expect me to answer questions under those conditions! Go play that game with someone else!

---

Sanger: So you come from a planet called Earth, and a nation called Japan, First Lieutenant Kyosuke Nambu.
Kyosuke: Yeah, that's the straight truth. Whether you buy that or not is up to you.
Arriere: I find nothing inconsistent about it. There haven't been any signs of other objects drifting here since then, either.
Ratsel: I had Ascen run some cross-referencing on their tactical devices—ah, I'm sorry, urban weapons. They don't match any known excavated weaponry.
Aschen (DTD): They were super old machines and edgelord A-F!
Excellen: I'm picking up some real aggro here. You're a pretty savage android, aren't you?
Aschen: Thank you very much, you lousy vixen.
Ratsel: I don't think it was a compliment.
Arriere: So Lieutenants Kyosuke and Excellen really are...?
Ratsel: They've drifted here from a different time axis, or perhaps a different world line.
Haken: Unbelievable. This is the first time real-live people and humanoid weapons like PTs have come through a Crossgate.
Kyosuke: If it's that unprecedented, I take it there hasn't been anyone who's made it back home from here, either.
Arriere: Don't lose heart. Let us return to the place in which you first appeared. Perhaps we might learn something.
Haken: Doesn't seem like our real target, Mr. Huckie, is around.
Sanger: That establishes that there is no power here that the Raven would be interested in.

---

Sanger: Is this where you two woke up?
Kyosuke: Yeah. I just found myself here with Excellen, and our special duty weapons were here, too.
Ratsel: Aschen, would you mind initiating your other mode to scan for any readings?
Aschen: Sure thing, Commander Seaweed.
Aschen (DTD): Huuup! I started a rapid scan, and I'm getting bupkis for energy readings! Not here, not there!
Excellen: Ooh, not there! No, no, not there! ...ANYWAY, back on subject, are we gonna be stuck here the rest of our lives?
Arriere: Well, um... It's not that bad of a place, Excellen...
Ratsel: You know what they say. Home is where you make it.
Excellen: ... (pause) Kyosuke, sometime in the near future... Well, it doesn't have to be THAT soon, but I'd like to have twins.
Kyosuke: It's a little soon to give up. Don't start resigning yourself to life here. Haken, do you have any other ideas or leads? I'm concerned for the safety of the two rookies that were fighting with us before.
Haken: There's lots of Crossgates all over the world. The possibilities are endless, Gambler.
Kyosuke: Then we're tagging along with you guys, if you don't mind.
Sanger: You've proven your strength. I'm sure something brought us together.
Excellen: Wow, that's some classic Japanese chivalry right there! You mind if I start calling you Honcho?
Sanger: I like the sound of that.
Kyosuke: ...Okay, Honcho. We're in.
Haken: Okay, Etrangers, welcome aboard. And welcome to the Endless Frontier, Nambu in Endlessland.
Kyosuke: ...
Kyosuke: (Good grief. It's anyone's guess what'll happen next, but whatever it is, at least I won't be bored anytime soon.)

(end of chapter 3)