After weeks of traveling, Chuck and his squad finally reached Curitiba on June 10th, 1994. The city was bustling with activity, with thousands of soldiers and support staff all moving from one place to another, and work being finalized to begin moving out from the city. The last leg of the journey from Cordoba to Curitiba happened to be on foot, and as Chuck slowly approached the city, he could see the huge IBIS walkers in the distance to the north of the city, as well as clusters of the large Tesla coils he had finished reading about only days before.
Once he got to the city, he had a few days of rest before the force was set to move out. His platoon was one of the last to arrive, so he knew he wouldn't have to wait long. Two days after arriving, he saw a small precession enter the city on horseback and carts, without any motorized vehicles among them, but escorted by police cars from the city. A few hours after arriving, the precession left the city. He learned about the gist of the encounter second-hand. It turned out that the man was the mayor of Sao Paulo, which was the first major city too far from the protective Tesla towers, and the mayor had rode to Curitiba to beseech the general in charge of the United States Army not to try to go to the city for rest and resupply. Sao Paulo was a city independent of any nation that was only left alone due to the mass surrender of its people to the demons. The general had agreed, and assured the mayor the army had no plans of going to the city. Indeed, the army was purposely over-prepared. Behind the soldiers and IBIS walkers were thousands of supporters, with as many transport trucks and cars as could be mustered, and horses and even wheelbarrows where those fell short, carrying all the sundries an army needed - fuel, food, water, and most importantly, huge stores of ammunition, probably twice as much as needed. If there was one thing the planners didn't want, it was the incursion being doomed by logistics, and they had been sure to over-prepare as much as possible, so there was no need to loot existing cities on the way or depend on a long, vulnerable supply chain. Shelter would be welcomed, but plenty of tents were available at the very least. Besides, the army was taking a more northward course anyway, so Sao Paulo wasn't on the itinerary.
The fact that Sao Paulo still existed as a viable city reminded Chuck Horner of a surprise in those dark days after demons began pouring from Borborema - that demons understood the concept of mercy, and Sao Paulo, like Salvador, still existed as viable cities in one form or another. At Curitiba, he gave away Creation of the Humanoids and picked up a new book called Deicide, which was about the coming of Diablo in 1977 until his death at Lagdo in 1991, and the world events that happened in that period and shortly after. He knew he wouldn't have any time on the march to read the new book, but that he would have plenty of time before going to sleep on the long trip to read it. It was a large book, and would mean extra weight, but it was weight he was more than willing to bear.
Four days after Chuck arrived at Curitiba the entire force moved out. Now that his platoon had joined the field army, Chuck was stuck by the scale of the undertaking. Despite the massive losses of life that America had endured for the last 20 years, the United States Army was still capable of fielding a field army of 43,000 foot soldiers, about 50,000 support troops, and seven IBIS walkers, all third generation, though a few were upgraded from second generation IBIS walkers rather than being newly built. The IBIS walkers marched behind the troops, but one got close enough that Chuck could get a good look at it. Chuck was about 1.66 meters tall himself, and the third generation IBIS walker was around 6 times his size, so he guessed it was about 10 meters tall. First generation IBIS walkers were around 30 meters tall, and had enough room for five people, but their slender figure made them more vulnerable to concussions, and the second generation IBIS walkers only needed room for a computer in place of five crew members, so second and third generation IBIS walkers were more stout and bulky than the first generation ones. Chuck wasn't intimately familiar with how the third generation walkers differed from the second generation ones, but was familiar with a few of their general improvements. The third generation IBIS walkers had the newest integrated circuits inside them, had even thicker armor and more powerful engines, and had cutting-edge new weaponry. The two machine guns built into the center of the machine fired normal 12.7×99mm rounds, but as far as he had heard, the new IBIS walkers didn't even use chemical propellant for the main guns, which fired with electrically-charged railguns instead. Further, he heard that the new shells could course-correct in flight to hit a target precisely. Also, they were the only vehicle large enough and powerful enough to carry the new deflector shield generators that had been invented only a few years before. He marveled at the machines, even as he reminded himself that he had no clue who would win in a one-on-one fight between a new IBIS walker and a Greater Demon. He was interrupted in his musing for the time by Jonathan Jones, who had taken to playing his harmonica. Chuck walked next to him and sung along as Jonathan played the tune to the song "Why We Fight", which was one of Jonathan's favorite songs.