From the diary of Imperial Princess Piña Co Lada.
After passing through the boundary known as the Gate, we saw rows of rows of towers which scraped the sky.
At this time, I wondered; what did the men of the ISA (Imperial Saderan Army) who set foot here think?
Did they have any idea of their upcoming fate?
Nestled with valleys between these vast buildings, I realized how small I truly was.
The fact that we have declared war on a country that built such magnificent structures makes me, the Imperial Princess, worry for the fate of the Saderan Empire.
On the topic of grand structures, Piña and Bozes considered the Imperial Palace, the Senate building, and various other military strongholds to be quite impressive, so to them, even walking down DC must have struck them dumb with awe.
Having tall buildings would only make the tall building stand out more.
Because of that, from Piña's point of view, a capital city should be planned so that there would be an awe-inspiring structure standing in the middle.
However, the city on the other side of the Gate was different.
It's s buildings were massive structures.
If there were a single giant tree, one might still be at peace when looking at it from underneath.
However, a forest of giant trees would inflict an enormous pressure on those beneath it.
The small group left the cars and started to walk down on the street.
Standing there, Piña's and Bozes' hearts were deeply shaken by the sights before them.
Of course, they were not the only two affected by it.
Lelei, Tuka, and Rory were staring with eyes wide open, oblivious to the cold even though they stood at the heart of Washington DC as it starts to snow.
"Ah, good thing I didn't miss you guys." A voice called to Mike from behind the five girls.
Just as he was about to leave the Sentry Post.
Turning around, he saw a group black-suited men.
At their head stood their leader, a middle-aged man.
"You must be Lieutenant Mike Ramirez."
"Yes, that's me." Mike replied.
"I'm Matthew from the National Security Department. We'll be handling escort and guidance duties for this operation."
The man was smiling, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
He had the forceful aura around him as American trainees who had just completed their course.
One could describe it as a pressure, but to him as a US Marine, it was more like a razor-edged look in his eyes.
The way this man smiled superficially was not entirely like that of a Marine.
He might have come from the FBI, or perhaps another intelligence agency like the CIA.
He might even have been the result of the exchange program between the USMC and the Police.
"Tell me, are you really from the USMC?"
"As I thought, was it so easy to tell?"
"You do feel like a proper serviceman. If a pure Marine officer were handling this, there would probably be leaks."
The corners of Matthews mouth turned up a wicked smile.
"Hmm, you're no ordinary guy. As expected of a man who is a New Yorker. You know, I read up on your background before I came here."
"Nothing worth mentioning, I hope?" Mike joked.
"Not exactly. After graduating from an average university with average grades with you're brother, you entered the officer cadet course and ended up graduating second from the fourth in you're batch, as a Second Lieutenant. The fourth cadet was injured during training and washed out. So in truth you would be the middle."
He flipped through his notebook.
"Some people commented that it was unfair that you passed while the injured fellow had to flunk out. You're performance appraisals wavered on the border of acceptable... And eventually, you managed to scrape somehow through. The superiors you impressed sent you to the Marine Raider Regiment and even through Force Recon as extra, even though you trailed at the back of you're cohort, you were never washed out whilst you're brother was already a Admiral in the Seventh Fleet stationed in South Korea and was also shocked when you were transferred to both MARSOC and Force Recon. You're teammates treated you like some kind of unrelenting person that seemed like a man straight out of an action hero movie, and for some reason, you were posted to Los Angeles. Although you we're slated to be a permanent Second Lieutenant, after the Washington incident you were promoted to First Lieutenant."
Matthew recited Mike's history from his black leather notebook as he flipped through it.
"You're fellow Marines had the following opinions of you, Ramirez "A true King", At least he understands the Marine Corps War values, how interesting."
'Fuck.' Mike sagged his shoulders, as he heard the question.
That was a prickly one.
"I had my Parents in the Secret Service, they wanted my superiors to see how valuable i am, I fought hard in Iraq and Syria against ISIS and Drug Cartels in Mexico, I was one of many of my fellow Americans that was able to see the true potential of how one person can easily fight off against a group of enemy insurgents with sheer willpower alone, I was seen as an respected person not because of my blood, but because of my ways to fight against the enemy."
"Hehehe, So is that how someone like you got into Delta Force? If anyone knew that someone as easy-going and brave as you could get in, they'd bang their heads on the wall while wailing about how they were doing worse than you."
Matthews words made Mike sigh deeply.
And just at this moment.
"EHHHHHHH?!"
A shrill cry of despair rang out from the side, like a girl who had been abandoned by her lover.
On closer inspection, the one crying out was Millie.
Her face was pale, and that was not a joke or exaggeration.
To her, the fact that Mike was a Marine from both MARSOC and Force Recon was a seemingly irreconcilable paradox, not only that but his brother was a Admiral in the US Navy Seventh Fleet, and now she learned he was also handpicked in the Marine Corp to be a Delta Force Operator while his Parents are part of the Secret Service, who she all admired!
Learning that fact plunged her into the deepest despair, and she wanted to curse the world and scream her anger to her enemies, she knew he was tough, but not to the point he would be a super elite Marine, he was some average Marine, but a literal supersoldier?!
"NOOOOO!"
She ran off like a frightened rabbit, although since there were obstacles set up around the Gate, she could not go far.
Joseph gave chase, and when he caught up, he patted her gently on the back to show he understood, comforting her like he would to a victim of sexual assault.
The way she shouted was similar to a banshee screaming in terror (if the banshee was scared from the beginning, that is).
It was so loud, that the passing civilians and the District of Columbia National Guard, who were guarding the Gate would wonder.
"Huh, what's that?" A National Guard soldier said, confused about the commotion.
"Is it someone being harassed?" Another soldier other thoughts that any average person can think off.
Matthews could not help but laugh as he saw this.
He tried his best to keep his voice down, but in the end, he was still laughing while grabbing his belly.
After a while, Matthews managed to calm down and catch his breath.
He straightened himself up and then saluted to Mike.
"You aren't an ordinary man. You are not only disguising yourself to be a lazy American among the other hardworking Americans is an impressive feat. I respect you, and I mean that."
"No way, someone tell me he's lying... Ah, this is just a dream, it can't be possibly be real~."
Fortunately, the bus from the National Security Department picked this time to showed up.
It was a godsend because the interior was spacious.
Millie sat in the rear seats, while Mike was all the way in the front, sat beside the driver, in order to avoid being contaminated by the aura of misery around.
Rory, Piña, and the others did not dislike Millie, and Rory herself was actually favorably inclined toward her, but they decided to cluster near the front in order to keep their distance from Millie.
Her exaggerated expression was somewhat problematic.
"Lieutenant Ramirez, where are we headed?"
The question came from the driver who was wearing a suit.
"We'll go get some clothes first. Since we're out of time, just take us to some place that sells suits, we can't let them go on camera like this."
Rory, Tuka, and Lelei had needed some proper clothes before they before the Capitol.
In particular, Tuka's T-shirt and jeans did not look like something that a person testifying before the Capitol should wear.
Originally, the plan was to let Millie pick out clothes for the girls, but since she was suffering a mental breakdown, the task fell to Mike.
The driver in Black informed his superiors about where they were going, then started up the microbus and set off.
The surrounding side of the Gate was under the jurisdiction of the National Guard.
However, once their vehicle left the restricted zone, they were back in the heart of DC again.
The girls from Falmart could not help but stare in awe at the sights which now surrounded them.
DC did not look like a place which had been the site of a battlefield back then.
The roads were packed with cars, and the shoppers thronged the streets.
Of course, there were shops which had not reopened, and which were sealed off by thick metal shutters.
For most of them, their owners had died during the Washington Incident.
Other shops had lost their staff to the fighting and had gone out of business.
Even so, there still a lot of people who wanted to restore DC to its former glory, and they brought in more and more customers.
This might be the resilience of the American people.
"There are a lot of people here. Could this be a marketplace?"
"Ah, look at that dress..." awed Bozes.
Piña and Bozes were whispering a conversation to each other.
To them, seeing all these regular American citizens, commoners, wear such good looking clothing and not looking like a peasant or anything like a mere common folk while walking around a large and incredible city astonished them.
The Bus stopped in front of a clothing store which specialized in western fashions.
Mike sought out a female sales attendant and Tuka to her saying.
"Get the, a formal-looking set of clothes, to be worn right away. Anything will do, just send the bill to this address."
"Rory, Lelei, do you want to wear more formal too?"
Rory walked one full turn around the store, looking at both male and female fashions, before declining.
"I'm not really interested in these clothes. Besides, this is my priestess' formal wear."
"No need." Lelei replied.
Unlike Rory, she seemed completely uninterested in new clothing.
Well, Lelei's robes probably qualify as an ethnic costume.
The problem is Rory's Goth-loli clothes.
Even if she says it's formal wear, there's no way anyone would believe it. We'll just have to insist that it's a set of ethnic clothing that just so happens to resemble a Goth-loli outfit.
On the other hand, Piña and Bozes were looking at the clothes in display, but their attention was focused on the quality of the fabric used to make them.
They were currently wearing Imperial nobles' clothing, suitable for semi-formal events.
Those clothes were made of very high-quality, hand-stitched silk, designed for use in garden parties or mounted activities.
In that sense, it was like a medieval musketeer's uniform.
With the addition of a sidearm sword, it would make a good set of casual clothing for a Knight.
However, Tate firmly forbade them to carry weapons through the Gate, so Bozes and Piña had gone through with nothing at their waists.
The only complaint about these clothes was that their fabric was too thin, so they considered buying a winter coat.
However, the microbus and the clothing store were heated, so it was not a huge priority.
Instead, they simply wandered the store looking at clothes.
"Oh, this material's is quite sturdy. It would probably sell a lot in the Empire." noted the Imperial Princess.
The sheer variety of goods on display made them wonder if the owner of this place was some kind of merchant prince, to be able to boast such a huge stock.
The little group returned to the bus and took their seats again.
"Liutenant Ramirez, where will we be going next?"
"Let's get something to eat first. We'll be going before the Capitol at three, so we should be there by two to give ourselves some buffer time."
"Then where shall we go to eat?"
Mike grinned and gave the driver his directions.
-
"Wait, why do we have McDonald's?"
Joseph grumbled, and for a good reason. They had travelled all the way to another world; could they not entertain their guests with something better?
Mike rebutted him by saying that since they had to report to the Capitol from DC, they would have to pass by on foot, which would take them past a McDonald's.
He ordered Hamburger and fries (paid by the USMC, of course) and then everyone sat down together to eat.
"We won't be on vacation yet until we finish speaking to the Capitol. As a result, even though traffic and food can be billed to the USMC, we can't spend more than 750 Dollars for meals per person."
"7-750 Dollars?"
"Well, a single cup of coffee from the cafes here will cost more than that. Burgers or Hotdogs are pretty much the only things that cost under 750 Dollars in this area. But we can't have them eat while standing, so I went with the McDonald's. Besides, it looks like they're enjoying it."
Lelei and the others were digging into their food with great appetite.
To Lelei's group, which were used to eat USMC-supplied MRE's, the Burgers and Fries tasted delicious.
"But is it alright to let the Princess and Bozes eat McDonald's?"
"They're here to learn about us, right? That being the case, why not let them experience what the average citizen has for lunch?"
The high-bred noblewomen in question were gingerly spooning up the burgers and fries before swallowing it.
That being said, they found the McDonald's delicious.
-
After their meal, the group continued to the Capitol Building.
Mike, Lelei, Rory, and Tuka were led to a waiting room by the members of the Capitol.
This was where Bozes, and Piña parted ways with Mike's group.
Millie and Joseph followed onto the microbus, which left from the main gate of the Capitol Building and traveled to a high-class hotel somewhere in DC.
Piña and Bozes were not official envoys, so there was no way to officially invite them into a government building.
They had been invited to American by the President under the pretext of being "backup speakers in case the witnesses to the Capitol were unable to give their testimony."
After all, their presence in the United States at this point would cause a lot of problems if it were made public.
Once they gained a chance to open diplomatic negotiations, the military's opinions would naturally carry extra weight.
Diplomatic talks, especially those designed to clear up the aftermath of military conflicts, would absolutely require military to back up any proposals made.
But there were also many people who did not know, or chose to ignore this fact and thus protested the accumulation of military power.
The US government did not intend to excessively limit the USMC's activities at this stage, and in order to avoid interference from external powers, they had officially disavowed the existence of Piña and Bozes.
That being said, Piña and Bozes were still VIPs.
After all, it would be beneficial to America with the Saderan Empire, so it was a simple matter of people present in order to accommodate them.
Piña, and Bozes were brought to a stateroom in the high-class which was their destination.
Two groups of four men and women were waiting for them there.
"We welcome your visit, your Imperial Highness, your Excellency."
(Sorry I haven't been posting, school has been boring and I can do this in weekends.)