Twenty-One

Everyone turned up the next day at the trio of hangars, carrying bags packed with clothes and camping equipment in case there was nowhere for them to sleep at night, and again they broke off into their three groups as they milled about on the tarmac apron alongside a hundred or more soldiers, each of whom was fully kitted out with all of their equipment, rifles slung over their shoulders.

Hikari's eyes in particular were drawn towards Daisuke as he lingered nearby, wearing his suit of armour and leaning against one of the armoured vehicles that the company would be taking with them. He didn't seem to be awake, doing a good impression of a statue, his visor fixed on a random spot on the ground before him.

'Why don't you go and talk to him?' Miyako said, nudging her friend in the back. 'You've been staring at him for a while now.'

'I wouldn't know what to say,' Hikari said.

'Hello might be a good start,' Ken said, laughing softly. 'And asking him how he is.'

'Why aren't you doing that?' Hikari asked. 'He's your best friend, after all.'

'Oh, we spoke plenty last night,' Ken said. 'He just called me out of the blue.'

'How did he sound?' Hikari asked.

'Better,' Ken said with a nod. 'Without these infected Digimon to deal with, he's been able to get some proper sleep in, and food. He sounded a bit more like the Daisuke we knew.'

'That's good to know,' Hikari said, glancing over her shoulder at the immobile figure. The last time she had actually spoken with Daisuke was when he had mistaken her for Saori Amaki, and the last instance of communication between them was the texts they had shared the day after.

'Go on,' Miyako said, placing her hand in the small of Hikari's back to push her towards Daisuke. 'Say hi, or whatever.'

'Maybe I will,' Hikari said. She hesitated then set Gatomon down on the floor, saying, 'You stay here, okay? I want to talk to him alone.'

'If that's what you want,' Gatomon said. 'I'll be right here if he does anything.'

'I'm sure he won't,' Hikari said, offering a smile.

It faded when she stood and turned to face Daisuke, aware of Takeru's watchful gaze as she strode over to him and the narrowing of his eyes when he saw where she was headed. For his part, Daisuke seemed unmoved by her arrival, simply raising his head to look at her with his featureless visor without saying a word.

'Hi,' Hikari said after a moment. 'How are you?'

'I've been better,' was Daisuke's low reply.

'I guess so,' Hikari said. 'Better than the past few months, at least? Ken said you'd been able to get some proper sleep now the attacks have stopped.'

Daisuke nodded. 'I have.'

'That's good,' Hikari said. 'Right?'

'Yes,' Daisuke said.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence at that, Daisuke's faceless helmet boring into Hikari who grew uncomfortable beneath it, squirming slightly. She wanted to ask him about his time with Saori, actually, and his admission of once having deep feelings for her, but there were too many people around for her liking to ask that, in particular Takeru who continued to glower at the pair as they stood next to each other.

She glanced his way and Daisuke did as well, saying, 'Your boyfriend doesn't look to happy to see us together.'

'He's not my boyfriend,' Hikari said quietly. 'Not anymore.'

'And here I thought the two of you were destined to be together forever,' Daisuke said. 'What happened? Did you forget to say you loved him a hundred times a day? Or did he get you the wrong bouquet of flowers?'

'No,' Hikari said. 'We had an… argument.'

'About some petty crap, I'm sure,' Daisuke muttered.

'Actually, it was about two years ago,' Hikari said. 'How neither of us can remember the specifics of what we did to find you, but I'm the only one troubled by the fact. Takeru seems to still think we went out looking for you all, even though wasn't able to name a single time we did when I pressed him for it.'

'How did he explain it away, then?' Daisuke asked as he leaned back against the armoured vehicle, arms folded across his chest as best he could despite the blocky armour he wore.

'That there was too much going on then for him to remember everything,' Hikari said. 'That some things were bound to slip through.'

'Sure,' Daisuke said, casting a dirty look Takeru's way. 'He forgets looking for us but remembers helping Koushiro pick out some clothes to catch Mimi's attention.'

He gave a disdainful grunt and fixed his gaze back on Hikari who said, 'That's why I broke up with him, because he treated his lack of memory like it was something trivial and refused to admit he might be wrong about this.'

'So he's not Mr Perfect after all,' Daisuke said.

'I never claimed he was,' Hikari said.

'Uh-huh,' Daisuke said, shrugging. 'Well, if you're thinking of replacing him with me you're too late. About two years too late.'

'Oh, yeah?' Hikari said, her tone growing sharp. 'Saori Amaki and all those other girls you hired beg to differ.'

She hadn't meant to say that and in so aggressive a manner, but Daisuke's flippant attitude towards her as she tried to speak with him had just gotten to her so much that it came out without her even thinking, and the moment the words left her mouth Hikari knew a grave error had been made.

Daisuke's head twitched ever so slightly at the mention of the call girl who looked so much like her and his hand clenched into a fist, as though he planned to strike her, but he forced it to unclench as he said, 'What do you care about who I sleep with?'

'You know why,' Hikari said softly. 'What you put in that text-'

'-was true years ago,' Daisuke said, interrupting. 'It's not now.'

'Is it?' Hikari said. 'Is it really?'

He didn't answer, shifting his attention to the hangars where Captain Ishida was supposed to be coming out of in the next few minutes.

'We need to talk about that,' Hikari pressed.

'Do we?' Daisuke said without looking at her.

'Yes,' Hikari said, placing a hand on his arm. 'You said you did love me, after all.'

'Yeah,' Daisuke said softly as the hangar doors finally opened and Captain Ishida came strolling out. 'Did.'

He shrugged her hand off and made his way over to the captain, leaving Hikari to wander back over to Miyako and Ken with a resigned look on her face.

'That looks like it could have gone better,' Miyako said as Hikari scooped Gatomon up and hugged her. 'What happened?'

'I don't want to talk about it,' Hikari said. 'But at least we can definitely say I won't be dating Daisuke any time soon.'

'That's… kind of a relief?' Miyako said.

'I guess so,' Hikari muttered. She sighed and hugged Gatomon closer as the soldiers around her grabbed whatever gear they had lying on the floor and formed up into their squads and platoons in front of the middle hangar, Ishida at the head of the formation with Daisuke by his side.

Behind them the hangar door opened to reveal some strange apparatus that looked like someone had taken a widescreen television, attached it to a frame that bore a projector, and filled the rest of the space with cables of various thickness and blinking LED bulbs. A portal to the Digital World was present on the screen and a number of soldiers brought out Digivices of their own, the older style held by the original DigiDestined, and pointed them at the device.

Hikari and the others did as well, a bright flash erupting from the projector when they did and soon enough, she felt the familiar sensation of her body being absorbed into the alternate realm known as the Digital World. When the light faded, she found herself standing on an open plain surrounded by all the soldiers from before, plus countless hundreds more to her left and right in similar formations to the ones she had travelled with.

'Mount up!' Ishida called from the front of the group, making a circular motion in the air with his finger as he strode towards a waiting vehicle. 'We're Oscar Mike in two!'

The soldiers responded instantly, making for their assigned vehicle and climbing into the back or hauling themselves up on top behind the turrets, looking like something from an old war photo of Allied troops riding their tanks into battle. Once they were secure, they turned around and helped the DigiDestined up. At least, those that chose to ride with the soldiers. Some of them preferred to take to the skies with their partners, or run alongside, but Hikari was not one of them.

Burly hands grabbed hold of hers and hauled Hikari up onto the roof of the nearest vehicle and she found herself sat next to Sergeant Major Ito who took her bag and strapped it into place next to his, hanging off the side of the vehicle that lurched into motion when he slapped the roof twice.

'Nice of you to join us,' Ito said, bracing himself against the turret. 'I thought for sure you'd be taking to the skies with Gatomon here.'

'I wouldn't be able to ask you about what I see if did that,' Hikari said.

'True,' Ito said. 'Well, ask away.'

Hikari nodded as she looked around at the plain they had materialised onto, seeing four hangars set up off to one side with armoured vehicles spread between them, plus a dozen or so of the televisions that acted as links between here and the real world. In all honesty, it disappointed her a little after what she had seen from the JSDF's operations back home and from what Ishida had said.

'Is this it?' she said, pointing at the structures.

Ito laughed and said, 'No. This is just a forward operating base and transition point for large formations, one of six or so spread around the perimeter. The main bulk of it all, what we call Alpha Base, is beyond that hill.'

He pointed to the land in front of them as it rose up slightly, not more than forty or fifty metres above everything else, a rough road worn into it from who knew how many thousands of vehicles driving along it. Their vehicles followed the ruts and when they crested the hill, Hikari saw a sprawling mass of buildings and tents off in the distance that looked more like what she was expecting.

'Optics,' Ito called out to the troops below, grabbing a heavy set of binoculars someone held up and handing them to Hikari who raised them to her eyes, the base seeming to jump instantly closer so she could make out some of the finer details.

'Not exactly an original name,' Gatomon said from Hikari's lap. 'Couldn't think of anything better?'

'Hey, we've got half a dozen different countries hoping to house their soldiers down there,' Ito said. 'You try coming up with a name that everyone can agree on.'

'Who's down there?' Hikari asked.

'So far?' Ito said. 'Us, the Americans and the British. We're supposed to be getting Russians and maybe some Chinese troops within the week, but their political masters are dragging their heels until certain favours are granted. Or so I hear.'

'What kind of favours?' Hikari asked as she switched from one part of Alpha Base to the other, trying her best to see what was what despite the rocking of the vehicle.

'Whatever they can get,' Ito said with a shrug. 'Trade deals, technology transfers, political clout. The usual quid pro quo bullshit that's been happening since time began.'

'That's nice of them,' Hikari said as the binoculars washed over an airfield, only to sweep back and examine the planes sitting on the runways in disbelief. 'I thought we flew jet planes.'

'We do,' Ito said. 'Normally. I take it you're looking at our air support.'

'Yeah,' Hikari said. 'They look like something out of the Second World War.'

Which they did. On the runway were about thirty planes spread out along the field, though they looked like the old fighters that had duked it out in the skies above Europe and the Pacific over sixty years ago rather the sleek, modern jets of today, which made sort of sense in a way. Modern fighting machines relied on delicate electronics to operate and as had been demonstrated several times in the past, powerful Digimon had adverse effects on such components.

Even so, she was surprised that the various military outfits had built them in response to the Digimon attacks rather than modify what they already had to withstand disruption.

'I like the British ones the most,' Ito said. 'I know I'm supposed to root for the Japanese planes, and the Americans have got the most power and agility, but the Brits sure do make theirs look pretty.'

'Which ones are they?' Hikari asked.

'The ones with a bullseye on the side,' Ito said, shaking his head. 'Those crazy, brave bastards.'

Hikari had to agree with him on that one, thinking the roundel on the side of the British aircraft did indeed look like a bullseye for the other pilot to aim at compared to the almost solid red of the Japanese planes and the five-pointed star of the Americans, though she couldn't tell which of the planes was the prettiest in her opinion. They all looked the same to her.

'Crazy, indeed,' Hikari said. 'Are they recreations of old models?'

'Not that I know of,' Ito said. 'Could be. Ask one of the pilots if you see them.'

She nodded and panned to another section of Alpha Base where more armoured vehicles were lined up inside holes in the ground, something Ito called being hull down when asked, with smaller holes spread around them for the soldiers to shoot from. Elsewhere, soldiers tinkered with field guns and the smaller mortars, artillery support, or flak cannons for dealing with flying Digimon.

'It's certainly big,' Hikari said. 'How many people are down there?'

'Fifty-thousand,' Ito said. 'Most of those are from the Americans who sent two army divisions, a Marine regiment and some squadrons from their Navy and Air Force. The British sent two divisions from their army but they tend to be smaller, only ten-thousand bodies in each, plus a couple squadrons from the RAF. The rest are from us, around a single regiment worth of troops, but we've got Daisuke to tip the balance.'

Hikari lowered the binoculars and looked up at him as he flew overwatch on the convoy, tracing a lazy circle above her vehicle in particular, and averted her gaze back onto the ground below as it sped past a few seconds later. She wanted to talk to him more about his admission of once having feelings for her, and to apologise for her comment about Saori and the others, though that seemed unlikely. Even if Captain Ishida, or whoever was now in charge, didn't give him new deployment orders Daisuke could just vanish into the sprawling mess that was Alpha Base.

She offered a soft sigh and handed the binoculars back to Ito, who passed them off to someone else, and spent the rest of the ride watching Alpha Base grow larger and larger in her sight until they reached the outermost later of structures, mostly tents and sandbag revetments, dropping into a maze-like warren of rudimentary streets filled with soldiers dressed in camouflage fatigues with pistols on their thighs and rifles in their hands.

Some called out in greeting when the Japanese convoy passed by, shouting in particular to Daisuke who had dropped to just a few metres above the top of the vehicles. If he heard them, he gave no sign and flew onwards until the column of vehicles reached an open space within the base, joining several others already parked up.

Daisuke dropped to the ground next to Ishida as the captain dismounted, his subordinates shouting out orders to their personnel and directing them towards on building in particular. Ito helped Hikari down and into her bag, then ran off to shout at his troops about falling in line. She watched him go then hurried to join the others as they gravitated towards Ishida and Daisuke, the only familiar faces in this place, who pivoted on their heels once everyone was gathered and aimed for one building, seemingly at random.

The DigiDestined followed them in and eventually came out into another conference room, though unlike yesterday there were no refreshments on offer and there was more than just Captain Ishida sitting at the head of the table. Three soldiers, all of them westerners, were flicking through reports and smoking cigars when Ishida, Daisuke and the DigiDestined entered, barely glancing up to look at them.

'This them?' one of the soldiers said in Japanese, an American judging by his accent.

'Yes, sir,' Ishida said. 'All eleven, plus Sergeant Motomiya.'

'Very good,' the soldier said, closing his folder and tossing it onto the table as he finally deigned to take a look at everyone as they filed into the room and stood behind a chair at the table. 'My name is General Elwood, US Army. This is General Boyd, British Army, and that's Colonel Flint, US Marines. Take a seat.'

The three officers watched them shrug out of their rucksacks and sit down, each of them giving the DigiDestined various disdainful looks as they did so with Flint's in particular having a great deal of animosity for the group.

'So,' Elwood said. 'You're the great and powerful Japanese DigiDestined, huh? The best of the best, the top percent.'

'Yes,' Taichi said. 'And look, if you're gonna do what Ishida's done and make fun of us-'

'Shut it, turd,' Flint said, cutting in with a snarl. 'You've got no right on dictating how we talk to you, not anymore. You lost it the moment you decided to sit back and watch as innocent lives were lost. The only one of you I got any respect for now is Motomiya. He was the only one out this whole group fighting alongside my Marines when the Digimon started showing up in Oceanside. Where the fuck were the rest of you, huh? Where?

'Fucking turds, the lot of you.'

Flint spat something foul onto the floor and glowered at the group, daring them to rise to his challenge, and he uttered a disgusted grunt when none did.

'Eloquent, as always,' Boyd said.

'Oh, like what you call them is any better,' Flint said. 'What was it? Cunts?'

'Once upon a time,' Boyd said with a shrug. 'But then I realised cunts have uses. This lot doesn't.'

'And what, pray tell, do you call them now?' Elwood said, not even trying to hide a growing smirk.

'Well, following in this jarhead's example, I think shit stains is appropriate,' Boyd said. 'Don't you?'

'I've no complaints,' Flint said, turning to look at the general with a grin. 'Outside of the whole jarhead thing.'

'Agreed,' Elwood said. He turned to the DigiDestined and added, 'Now the pleasantries are out of the way, perhaps we can start discussing the more pressing matters. Within the next few days, perhaps a full week, we'll be starting combat operations against the Dark Ocean.'

On the wall was a map of the area someone had made, showing most of the major geographical features including a small section where Alpha Base was located, and another where a series of crosses were arranged in a rough circle a few miles away from a massive body of water. Elwood withdrew a laser pointer and used it to highlight the crosses.

'This is a section of the Digital World that has, shall we say, thin walls between it and the Dark Ocean,' he said. 'Our engineers have managed to create devices that should, hopefully, replicate the distortion effect of the Control Spires to further weaken these walls, allowing us to open up a portal between here and the Dark Ocean. With that done, we move troops in and start the next phase.'

'You're going to mount an invasion of the Dark Ocean?' Takeru said. 'Are you serious?'

'Technically we're conducting reconnaissance by fire,' Boyd said. 'Our primary goal at this point is to gather as much information as we can about the Dark Ocean, and implement that into future operations, but it's also to bloody the nose of whatever lives there. They've spent the past two years destroying out home. I think it's time we did the same.'

'My regiment will make the initial breach,' Flint said. 'Plus Daisuke for backup, and spend six hours learning what we can before slipping back to friendly lines. If things get too heated, we retreat and regroup. Simple.'

'I doubt it will be,' Taichi muttered. 'This is the Dark Ocean we're talking about.'

'Perhaps,' Elwood said. 'But we can't just ignore it until the last possible second, like you all have been.'

'If you're asking for our help, you going about it a funny way,' Taichi said.

'We're not asking for your help,' Elwood said. 'If anything, we'd be much happier if you sat this out. The only reason Captain Ishida asked if you'd like to come here was purely as a courtesy, and so that should your Digimon become infected we'll have the means of dealing with them close at hand.

'Unless you said otherwise, captain?'

'No, sir,' Ishida said with a shake of his head. 'I said exactly as you did. They've been told that staying here is voluntary, as is participation in the battle provided they stay at Ultimate or below. Anyone can go at any point, even now if they wanted to. They won't be stopped.'

Nobody made a move to go, not even Taichi or Takeru who seemed the most annoyed and irritated out of the whole group, so Elwood nodded vaguely and said, 'Very well. If you mean to stay here, there are quarters set aside for you. I expect you all to be well behaved whilst on base. Otherwise, your sleeping arrangements will become suspect.'

He dismissed them all with a wave of his hand and opened his folder up again, picking up where he had left off, and the DigiDestined got to their feet and grabbed their bags, shrugging them back into place on their shoulders as they filed out of the door. Hikari made a move to follow them but stopped when Ishida motioned for her to stay put, Daisuke too, and he ushered them out of the conference room into the hallway outside to have a private word with them.

'Neither of you are going to like this,' Ishida began. 'But you're being billeted in the same room.'