In "Snow Country," by Kawabata Yasunari, there was a line which went:
"After the long tunnel on the border is a country of snow."
It described how the darkness of a tunnel suddenly became a pure white snowscape, and what made it the most famous of all his works was how the author described the scene so vividly that a reader might feel they had been transported into the novel.
But if one wanted to apply that same turn of phrase to the experience of passing through the "Gate," it would be impossible.
Anyone would be moved if they were walking down Ginza and suddenly saw a sprawling natural landscape before them.
However, there was now an asphalt road on both the Special Region and Ginza exits of the "Gate," and the "Gate" itself was surrounded by a concrete dome, so anyone emerging from either side of the gate would only see a featureless gray landscape.
In addition, the extensive security measures established around the "Gate" - including fingerprints, palm prints, biometric and retina scans - formed countless layers of barriers before entry, and these troublesome procedures killed any romance the trip might have had.
In addition, every vehicle that went in and out of the Special Region was subjected to a thorough disinfection before being allowed to proceed.
After leaving the concrete dome, one would see several freshly-constructed buildings, so new their paint had not yet had the chance to dry. Around these buildings would be the six-pointed star fort, enwrapping the entire site in a solid defensive fortification.
Outside the star fort, on the surroundings of Arnus Hill, the terrain was reshaped into something that could have come out of a field defensive tactics manual, with communications trenches and all sorts of obstacles, filled with an amount of chain link fences and concrete bunkers that might have been considered "paranoid." All of this denied entry to anyone who tried to approach.
There was a stretch of trees to the south of Arnus Hill.
This was the site of the Arnus Living Community, where Lelei and the other refugees from Coda Village lived. Although it was surrounded by forest, trees in the Special Region looked almost the same as those in Japan, so probably nobody but a trained botanist could tell the difference.
On the east of the hill, they were already finished with the runaway and a few hangars.
They had already set up a miniature airfield on one corner of the base, and inside one could see them assembling several F-4 Phantom jets, and the repairs of the two scout jets were almost finished.
Probably nobody would be moved anymore after passing through the "Gate," given the extensive development of the surroundings.
In truth, passing through the Gate was less exciting than visiting a certain theme park based on an American mouse. They would probably be very disappointed.
Still, it was not as though the JSDF lacked a sense of fun or adventure, just that to a normal person, a theme park would be much more comfortable than a garrison base like this. To members of the armed forces, who were already used to the sterile, boring environs of a military base, these were just everyday sights, but to civilians, it would be like stepping into another world that felt wrong, in a sense.
One could say that now, there was no difference in the scenery on both sides of the "Gate."
Because of that, to Piña Co Lada, and Bozes Co Palesti, Arnus Hill itself was like another world to them.
Piña had requested the treaty violation - she had asked to personally apologize to Col. Kengun and the other high-ranking officials in person. Itami approved, and he had agreed to take her with him.
That said, Itami did not have time to wait for Piña and her followers to slowly catch up with them on horseback. Therefore, Itami added another condition: "Only you and one other follower are allowed to ride in the HMV with us." In truth, Itami was hoping that they would be discouraged and give up.
Piña's response was to assign Bozes and Panache to Italica's security, while Hamilton would liaise with and act as the representative for House Formal. She announced that "I will go myself" in a determined, confident manner.
However, they could not let their Princess walk alone into the enemy camp. Bozes and Panache were arguing over who would get to accompany her, and Piña finally selected Bozes to follow her. After hurriedly packing their things, they boarded Itami's HMV.
With the HMV's high speeds, they swiftly made it to Arnus.