01:13 Hours, March 28, 2536 (UNSC Military Calendar)
Stratosphere of unknown planet, Longsword Fighter Spear-2
Lieutenant Commander Smith, call sign Spear-2, was feeling bored. He was aboard his C709 model Longsword fighter conducting an aerial recon mission over the surface of the unknown world many of the crew members aboard the Spirit of Fire nicknamed "Fantasia". For an hour he flew his spacecraft over the globe allowing his sensors, cameras, and computers to gather up pictures and data of the surface.
He and his fighter gathered everything that was happening on the surface, from the many settlements of various kingdoms, merchant convoy moving from one town to another, herd of beasts roaming in the wild, to the JSDF base being established around the gate structure located on top of a hill.
The JSDF haven't detected his craft or any other UNSC aerial assets or the Spirit herself, which wasn't surprising considering 21st century could do crap all to find his fighter, though to be fair for them they still haven't properly established military infrastructure at the base. He couldn't quite believe when he heard the insane stuff in the debriefings of a fantasy world with elves, castles, and magic, along with a military force straight from the 21st century coming to this world through some portal.
Smith wondered what year was on the other side of the gate, if it was before 2016 then it could be something that won't be messy to deal with. But if he was wrong it the year was post-2016 on the other side, things were going to be real ugly. The time period from 2016 to mid-2020s was a very turbulent period of time on Earth that had impact on the Interplanetary War and the formation of the Unified Earth Government and its political institution.
But right now there wasn't much to do except stare at his viewpoints and instruments for any suspicious or intriguing activity, but with nothing happening right now, it was becoming a boring job. And the only thing that was making the duty here bearable was hearing his crew bantering among themselves.
"And that's why I was grounded for a week by my uncle and aunt for nearly crashing the Spade into a Guta." Ensign Yu finished his story.
"How the heck do you nearly crash a Spade into a Guta? The Spades are easy to drive and Guta's a freaking big! Nearly crashing takes certain amount of stupidity." Lieutenant Honchar – the copilot – exclaimed.
"Yu's just really bad at driving. You should've seen the stunt he pulled off during his first and last driving test. Swore the instructor's heart was going to explode from that move." Ensign Sienna chuckled. "The entire test was a one big clown show."
"Hey it wasn't my fault there were six pedals in that car that made everything so confusing. I couldn't tell which one was the stupid brake or accelerator." Yu retorted. "And that's rich coming from someone who immediately crashed upside down in the flight simulator.
"Keyword is simulation, Yu." Sienna shot back.
"Hate to break it to you Sien, but your various tests in the flight simulation was atrocious." Honchar butted in the conversation.
"On the bright side, at least your navigation skill is good. Your a navigator a pilot could wish for." Smith decided to enter into the banter for the first time. "Though I would dread the situation where you have to pilot the craft to save our life."
"Ah thanks LT, your compliment truly warmed my heart that I could melt." Sienna replies sarcastically.
Smith made a small smile from the banter. His crew was snippy with each other but they were a close-knitted group that went through hell together as a team against the Covenant.
"So Smith, when do we think we're going to meet the JSDF down there, our alternate dimensions ancestors." Honchar asked. "We can't keep hiding from them too long, and sooner or later we're going to have to meet them to get a hold of where the heck were are at and how we can get back home."
"Don't know Hon, but I'm confident the captain has a plan for this." Smith said. "Honestly, can't wait to show to them what a 26th century fighter looks like compared to their flying, tiny tin cans."
As if his wish was granted a beeping sound came out Smith's console station. He took a look at what was causing the beep and discovered a radio signal near their area. The pilot then pressed few buttons and holographic pads where the fighter's speaker shot out a men yelling in Japanese.
"Any idea what he's trying to say?" Honchar asked.
"Give me a second, I'm turning on the translator." Yu replied as he worked his magic on the system console. "Aaand got it."
"This is Lt. Itami of 3rd recon team, we're engaging a huge dragon out here! We need reinforcement or else the civilians we're escorting are going to be barbecue."
"Based on where the message came from, isn't one of our drone stationed around there?" Sienna asked.
"Brining up aerial footage." Honchar announced as he pressed some buttons and flicked at the holographic screen in front of him.
Footage of 3 Japanese military jeeps engaging a massive red dragon appeared on screen. The dragon was nearly the size of the scarab tanks the Covenant uses, amazing the crew of the Longsword fighter of its sheer size.
"Is that a freaking dragon!?"
"Look at the size of that thing."
"It's breathing fire."
Smith noticed that despite the advanced weaponry the Japanese processed compared to the natives. The bullets didn't seemed to injure the oversized flying lizard or penetrate its skin. If this kept on going far too long, they're be eventually roasted by the living flamethrower, leaving the civilians to become dinner for the beast.
He knew what he had to do.
"Settle up boys and girls, we're going in. Sien prep the coordinates to the location, Yu make sure all systems are green, and Honchar get the 110mm spinning. I'll contact the captain.
Smith switched his COM to the ship to contact his captain. "Sir this is Spear-2 reporting. We received a distress signal from the surface, 3 JSDF vehicles are engaging a large hostile to protect a civilian convoy. Sir, based on the footage I'm sending to you. They won't stand a chance against it."
There was a moment of silence from the other side of the COM before the Captain's voice was heard. "Spear-2, you're clear to go."
When the sentence finished the engine of the fighter flared to life as it pushed the spacecraft down to the surface at speeds beyond any 21st spacecraft could achieve. A sword was coming down to deliver a fatal blow to the dragon, and introduce the UNSC to the JSDF with an explosive entrance.
'Well this is going well.' Itami sarcastically thought to himself as he fired upon the dragon's face with his Type-64 rifle; the 7.62mm rounds were doing nothing to the scales as they bounced off its impenetrable scale armor. The .50cals weren't doing much better as they achieved the same results as the rifle.
He saw the giant fire dragon was getting annoyed with the rounds impacting against its scales and face. It reeled back and Itami saw fire started to gather in its mouth.
"It's going to breath fire again! Look out!" He yelled out just as the dragon opened its mouth with an earth-shattering roar.
A long stream of fire flew across the ground and set ablaze the very ground they were fighting on into hell itself. Grasses burnt away into ashes while the soil blacken out from the gathering heat and ashes. The lieutenant knew how bad the flames were against flesh as he personally witnessed the fire reducing a woman into a barely recognisable charred flesh and bones.
That was a messed up way to die.
The dragon, irritated with the humans that were proving to me a bigger annoyance they're usually are, furiously roared at them as it lifted itself from the ground with its massive wings, blowing away the grass and debris like a raging storm. The dragon flew up the sky well beyond the range of the JSDF's guns. Satisfied that it reached the height it needed for its next attack, the fire dragon reoriented his wings and with a mighty push, the massive monster flew towards the ground. Fire gathering in its mouth as the dragon got ever closer to the ground where the JSDF forces were.
Itami internally cursed that they lost their rocket launcher during the chaos of the fight when they attempted to aim and fire a rocket at the dragon. He knew that despite their mobility, they would eventually be in more precarious situation if nothing is done about the dragon. That was when his COM started to buzz.
"3rd Recon Team, this is Spear-2 speaking, reinforcements are here." An American voice called to him.
He then heard a familiar sound of the screeching speed of a jet fighter breaking the sound barrier followed by several crackling sound of large caliber fire. He looked out of the window of the LAV to see the dragon diving towards them suddenly jerked as several fountains of blood and gore poured gushily out of its penetrated side, with a few missing as it created large showers of dirt from the ground leaving some large craters.
The fire dragon gave out last roar that was a cross between a scream and fear as it lost control over its massive dying body, falling to the ground at a increasing speed before crashing with a large thud, creating a large dirt cloud from the impact. The people watching from the sides looked with awe before one of the cheered, igniting a chain reaction of everybody else following the first one's cheer.
The dreaded Fire Dragon that plagued the lands for centuries was finally dead. Killed by whatever magic the men-in-green brought with them.
However the men and women of 3RT were confused to what has happened. They were glad for whoever helped them in slaying the dragon, but at the same time confused to who was helping them in the first place. They knew the unknown known as "Spear-2", who had an aircraft with considerable firepower if its gun was able rip apart the dragon's thick scales, and spoke english. However they know there was no way that the government would allow a US military aircraft to pass through the gate, so the only conclusion they could think of was if whether if there was another gate nearby.
Only thing they knew was that things were about to get interesting.