A/N: I'm going to start using italics to indicate what Anderson is thinking. If you see any italics, those are just Anderson's thoughts. Enjoy!
Chapter Seven
Bed's alright, I guess. Anderson thought as he laid down on the soft and comfy mattress. The soldiers were spending the night at the castle, getting some shut-eye before they hit the road the next day.
The room was dark. There was no light in the guest room. Outside, the moon lit the quiet city. Odd, since there was a battle earlier with multiple casualties. He was supposed to be sharing the room with Tomita and Kurata, who were passed out on the couch at the foot of the bed. Although it was quiet and dark, Anderson couldn't sleep. He just laid there with his eyes wide open.
He couldn't sleep. He kept hearing the screams of the defenseless refugees as the dragon incinerated their bodies, the paralyzed attackers as bullets tore into their fleshy forms. After an hour or so, Anderson gave up. Quietly, he pulled off his covers. He was wearing his uniform with no vest. Tiptoeing to the door, he crept out of the room.
Anderson looked to the end of the hall and noticed a warm light glowing from a room. Quietly, he made his way to the room. He peered inside, not knowing who was in there. He unholstered his pistol in case it was an intruder and entered.
He saw the red haired princess sitting at the edge of the bed, staring out of the window that was littered with glimering stars. Some candles flickered and glowed orange on a nearby desk.
"Can't sleep?" Anderson asked, holstering his gun back in its place on his hip.
"No, I can't." Pina murmered.
"Me neither." Anderson sat down next to her. He clasped his hands together and rested his elbows on his knees.
"I just," she spoke, "I can't forget it. The screams. The cries. And how are we supposed to just surrender to the hands of Japan?"
"I can't forget the screams as well," Anderson wiped his eyes, "but not only the screams from the battle here or when we went against the flame dragon. I can't forget the screams of my friends and the refugees they were supposed to be protecting.
"War is hell, no matter what. Even if technology changes, war doesn't. It is still bloody and gruesome."
"It must have been glorious. Must've come home to a hero's welcome." she said.
"I saw my friends die. I was commanding a unit of thirty soldiers. Only three survived. I came home to the occasional person calling me a baby-killer." Anderson wiped another tear from his eye.
"I... I did not know that." Pina rested a hand on Anderson's shoulder, who had tears streaming down onto his cheeks.
"I wonder how I will come home after this." Anderson looked up to the night sky.
"But, back in your world, you apparently honor your enemies. You let the captured live and you take care of them. You don't ask for much demands. Why is that?" Pina cocked her head to the side.
"After a brutal second world war, rules were put into place to protect the injured, the sick, and the civillians." Anderson said.
"What happened in that war?" asked Pina.
"Well, I should tell you one thing before explaining what happened. I am a Japanese decent, but I am hailing from a land called America. The two countries agreed to let me go along with the JSDF."
"Really?" Pina was really surprised.
"Yeah," Anderson continued, "Now, on with what happened.
"My country called America and her allies fought a brutal war against two rouge countries. They defeated both of them. The atrocities committed by both sides made the governments of the world to form the Geneva convention, which placed rules on armed conflict. One of America's enemies was Japan."
Pina seemed stunned to know this. "How are you here, then? How are you helping the enemy?" she asked.
"In this new era of relationships," Anderson went on, "countries try to be friends with benefits to others. America understands that the Japanese fought for their old values and traditions and respects them for that. So, they try to modernize the Japanese society while keeping true to their values. They soon turned into the awesome country they are today."
"So you just forgave them? After they had killed your own people?" squeaked Pina.
"Yeah. Of course we punished them, but it wasn't anything too bad. We just made their military and economy like ours." Anderson proudly said.
"But how?" she asked.
"Slowly. We forgave them slowly. They gave up their ways and we forgave them.
"What about you? Why are you cruel and mean to captives?" he asked.
"It's the way I've been taught. How all of us were taught." Pina replied.
"Well, I'm not telling you to stop your ways. Just don't interfere with ours." Anderson stood up.
"Where are you going?" Pina asked as Anderson made his way to the door.
"Going for a walk to clear my mind." Anderson walked through the open door.
Morning
Anderson woke up to a fresh start. The sun was already up and shining. He bent backwards, hearing his back crack from that stretch. The walk he took last night refreshed him enough for him to shut his eyes for a bit. He put on his vest and grabbed his rifle, walking to the open door as Kurata called from down the hall for everyone to wake up.
Outside, the morning sun was oddly hotter than back home. Thought California was hot. thought Anderson as he walked to the back of his truck. He climbed in and sat down in his usual spot. He noticed the hole that he made in the dragon attack was still there. Oughta get that fixed.
Two rows of female maids stood attention, staring at the metal beasts from the other world. Princess Pina and Bozes, wearing orange, blue, and white matching outfits stood at the top of the stairs of the castle.
The other JSDF personnel and the girls soon found themselves inside the vehicles. The door was wide open. Anderson saw Pina and Bozes just staring into the cabin he was in. It made him feel uncomfortable.
But, they soon climbed aboard. They found their seats and sat down.
"Bye Persia!" exclaimed Kurata from the driver seat. He was waving frantically towards the bespectacled cat girl.
"For Pete's sakes, Kurata! You're a fucking furry!" Anderson joked from the backseat. Kurokawa, Itami, and Anderson laughed hard at that remark.
"Shut up!" whined Kurata, who rolled up his open window and put pressure onto the gas, the cars guiding them home to the Hill.
It was silent for about five minutes. Really silent. It felt slowly awkward. Anderson looked at Pina and Bozes, who was staring at his rifle that rested between his legs. Bored out of his mind, Anderson picked up his rifle and yanked out the magazine to see if there was any bullets remaining, which there was. He then checked the chamber if there was a bullet there. Nothing.
He inserted the magazine back into his rifle and put the gun down. He pulled out his pistol and, like his rifle, checked if there was any bullets in the magazine and the chamber. Nothing in the chamber and one full magazine. He holstered it again and fiddled with his thumb.
"So every soldier has these fire staffs?" asked Pina, breaking the silence.
"Yes," said Lelei the Mage, "they call them rifles."
"Every soldier in their army is a wizard?" asked Pina.
The blue haired wizard replied with "No, they are not. These rifles are just contraptions."
"Not necessarily that all these things are rifles." Anderson explained as he pulled out his pistol again, "This is like a rifle, but is not a rifle. These are called guns." He took out the magazine and pulled out a bullet, holding it up for the princess to see. "There is a small piece of rock inside this. The gun triggers a small explosion which propels these rocks out at high speeds."
"Thirty minutes!" Itami called out. As he said that, the ground started rumbling. Anderson looked outside and saw several Special Terrain Type 74 tanks in a column, navigating over really bumpy terrain. A Cobra helicopter and a couple of jets flew over his head.
"Is this what the Empire has gotten to? Are we really that small?" asked the shocked princess.
"The Empire stepped on the Griffins tail." remarked Lelei.
"Mind your mouth girl." warned Pina.
"My people are nomads who are not subject to the Empire's rule. I can say whatever I want."
"I wonder, is there any weapon that can destroy entire cities?" asked Bozes.
"There is." Anderson said in a low voice, trying to sound all mysterious. "And we have used them on a couple cities."
"What? How?" asked the red-haired princess.
"You know that war I was talking about last night?" Anderson asked Pina, who nodded in affirmation. "Well, how America ended that war was by using those new weapons and annihilated two Japanese cities."
"You know, your guys didn't have to do that." Itami called back to Anderson.
"Yeah, but how else are we able to test it?" Anderson smirked.
"Jackass." insulted Itami.
"Least we won the war." Anderson stated. The Japanese soldiers and American Marine laughed.
"Wait," asked the blonde woman, "you're not Japanese?"
"My mother is Japanese, but I'm not in the Japanese army. I'm in another country's military called America. Leaders from both nations agreed to send me here."
"So, is that why your uniform is different?" asked Bozes.
"Yeah, that's why." replied Anderson.
Anderson's stomach rumbled loudly. He hasn't had anything to eat since last night. He rummaged through his back that was at his feet and looked for something to nibble on. Finally, he found something. He grabbed it and pulled it out.
He held in his hands a standard energy bar that came with his rations. The wrapper said the words "Hoorah" and "Oorah", the US Army and Marine Corps battle cry. Underneath the logo said that this was a chocolate flavored bar. Kind of ridiculous, since they were in a combat zone and the makers were worried about flavors.
He ripped off the wrapper and took a bite out of the calcium-rich bar. He wolfed it down in a few gulps and wiped his mouth, which was all chocolate-y.
The vehicle grinded to a halt. They arrived. The soldiers hopped out into the Japanese base. They were next to the Command building. Anderson saw Pina talking to Itami, who quickly ran away. The fuck? thought Anderson.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the Colonel. "Sir." Anderson said to the old man. He nodded.
"Please escort Pina and Bozes to the general." he commanded.
"No problem, top." Anderson replied. As the Colonel walked away, Pina asked "My, he's pretty old for the army." She probably saw the wrinkles on his face.
"Beware of an old man in a profession where young men usually die young." Anderson said. Pina didn't respond. "Anyways, follow me. You should talk to General Hazuma. I'll take you to him." he suggested.
"Okay, let's go." Pina and Bozes followed Anderson who led them into the Command building.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Anderson stopped at the door. "Yo Kurata!"
"Yeah?" a voice called back.
"Get my bag, please?" asked Anderson.
"Got it." Kurata came back to Anderson with his combat pack. "Here ya are."
"Thanks." Anderson unzipped the bag and took out three more bars. He pocketed the bars and gave the bag back to Kurata.
"Put this on my bunk, will ya?" requested Anderson.
"Roger that, man." he took the bag and started off to the barracks. Anderson opened the door and walked in with Pina and Bozes.
They walked through the endless corridor. The girls seemed like they were really taking in the white walls and tiles as well as the fluorescent lighting. "What kind of magic do you use to light this place?" asked Bozes.
"No magic. We use science," Anderson simply replied, "I'm not gonna try to explain it to you since there is a huge technological gap."
"Here we are." Anderson motioned to a door that had a black plaque on it that said "General Hazama" in white text. He grabbed the knob and twisted it, pulling the door open. He walked in and the girls followed.
"Sir." Anderson acknowledged the general of the JSDF Special Region force as he held a tight salute. He wore forest green combat fatigues. His brown hair and mustache going well with his slight brown tan. Anderson saw the ages of experience in his eyes.
"At ease Captain," the general replied, "We're just going to be talking about Italica and future negotiations. Wait for us to finish and show these girls to their quarters."
"Yes, sir." Anderson pivoted a full 180 degrees and walked out the open door.
He saw this tall dude with a pair of glasses pass him. He had a little spring in his step and a smirk on his face. The guy tipped his field cap that was on his head. Anderson nodded hello back.
Again, his stomach growled. I guess that bar wasn't enough. He walked down the hall in search of something to do. After a couple minutes of searching, Anderson found the break room. He walked in and started to make his coffee.
"You doing alright?" asked a voice from the doorway. Anderson turned his head to see who it was. There stood Itami in the doorway.
"Yeah, just hungry." Anderson responded.
"Go to the chow hall." Itami suggested.
"No, I gotta bring the princess and her friend to their quarters after they're finished talking to the general." Anderson explained.
"Is Yanagida there too?" asked Itami.
"Who?" Anderson didn't know who this Yanagida was. Maybe it was that guy who walked past him earlier?
"Guy," described Itami, "Pretty tall, black hair, glasses?"
"Yeah, I think I saw him in there." Anderson thought he was the right guy. So that's Yanagida. He does sound like a kissass, to be honest.
"Ah crap. He's gonna ask the girls how it felt to beat me up." Itami sat down at one of the tables.
"What? Does the guy hate you?" asked Anderson. He finished putting some sugar into his coffee and sat down at Itami's table.
"Eh, he's kinda jealous. He's the same rank as me, but it took lots of time being a kissass to get to where he is now, whereas I, a lazy otaku with nothing better to do, gets promoted really quickly. I didn't even want that added responsibility."
"Sounds like a normal guy." Anderson took a sip of his steaming hot coffee. He took out one bar from his pocket and started eating it.
"You got any more of those?" asked Itami, who had propped his feet on the table.
"Yeah, here." Anderson took another one out and tossed it onto the table.
"Thanks." Itami picked up the bar and proceeded to eat it.
"What are you boys doing?" a feminine voice asked from the doorway. Again, Anderson looked towards the direction of the voice and saw that Kuribayashi was leaning against the doorway.
"Just hanging around." Anderson took another bite from his bar. "Grab a seat." he pointed towards another chair.
Kuribayashi sat down in another seat next to Anderson. Anderson took out another bar and tossed it onto the table. "If you want." he added.
Kuribayashi propped her feet up onto the table and grabbed the other bar. She ripped off the wrapper with her mouth and bit into the brown bar. "How many of these do you have?" asked the woman.
"I brought a whole box." replied Anderson.
"A whole box?" Itami gulped down the last bite of his bar.
"Yeah, I raided the base cabinets back in California. I also asked some friends to send another shipment here as well."
"Oh, and speaking of. I was told that the Diet wanted you to come as well. Wanted to know why a soldier from the US came to the Special Region." Itami wiped his hands on his pants.
"Yeah, I'll go. Got nothing better to do anyways." Anderson finished his cup of coffee. "Kobe." he tossed the cup into the trash can on the far wall. It went in.
A knocking noise was heard from the doorway. Anderson saw that that guy, that Yanagida guy, was standing there. "Yeah, it's gonna be a while before the princess and the general are done talking. I heard you haven't had anything to eat, so go get some chow, will ya?"
"Alright. Got it." Anderson stood up and stretched his back. He walked out of the room with Itami and Kuribayashi following him. He went towards the mess hall.
Well, I'm going back to Japan. The Diet wants me to speak to them. Anderson thought. His little train of thought was interrupted by a rumbling noise. Damn I'm hungry.
