"Positive contact, at least a dozen locals moving around out there. Scratch that, make it about two dozen, probably more." Joker said softly, peering through the binoculars towards what was their current objective. "Looks like the JSDF was right about this one, a village on the smaller side. Based on the number of structures I'd say a population of about a couple hundred or so."

It had been about thirty hours since he and Reaper had been dropped into the forest to begin their scouting mission, the pair deciding the best place to start being areas the Japanese maps had mostly detailed but required confirmation on some elements. So far, it had been going off without a hitch. It was much easier to move undetected in the heavy woods to wherever they wanted to go, conduct a quick survey, then move on to the next. Compared to the hills and mountains across eternally hostile terrain of Afghanistan, this could almost be considered a vacation. It was also like a breath of fresh air, both figuratively and literally, finally being set loose after being cooped up in the FOB for the better part of a month.

For Joker, who had grown up hunting and still spent a good majority of his free time stalking in forests like this one, it was almost nostalgic in a weird way. Most of the plant and animal life here seemed to be the same as those on earth, with squirrels and several familiar looking species of bird visible in the daylight hours, along with at least one batch of poison ivy that the pair had taken great care to avoid. But there were also a few species that didn't seem to exist back home, the most common one being a sort of rabbit-like creature that seemed to trade the buck teeth for what almost looked like vampire fangs, though they only found that out when they had startled one of the things enough to make it rear back in a defensive posture before running away. Joker had been sorely tempted to try and shoot one and cook it over an open fire just to see if it actually tasted like the species it so resembled, but Reaper had managed to talk him out of it when he pointed out that they didn't know what was toxic around these parts, and the Colonel probably wouldn't find it nearly as funny if he got some kind of food poisoning from local game when they had packed so much rations.

The unhappy hunter had agreed, and after silently promising himself that he would personally lead another expedition out here to see what was edible, got on with the mission at hand. There hadn't been much to see for the first day as they mostly tested the edges of the Lonham Forest on its southernmost areas and located small creeks along with other sources of water. As night had begun to fall, they had reached the western forest edge, and saw what seemed to be a dirt road that had been made running north and southwest, observing several natives traveling out of the region as they went. After finding a safe spot to camp for the night, the two Marines agreed that they should follow the road to the north where their map had indicated a possible village several kilometers away in that direction.

That plan had brought them to their current observation position that had them prone under a small brush on the tree line. The village they were scouting seemed to be a simple place, with homes and other structures built out of wood and stone though nothing that was all that large. Joker wasn't an expert in anthropology or anything else that would have pertained to the daily life of these people, but he didn't spot anything that seemed immediately out of the ordinary or all that dangerous. Just a bunch of people going about their daily lives, even if it was radically different from any life he had ever lived.

"They look human enough." Reaper said from beside him. "At least I don't see any animal ears or whatever other crazy shit some of the reports are saying."

"Their ears look normal enough, so they're probably not elves like that refugee girl." Joker agreed. "Most of the buildings here look like just a collection of family homes, maybe with a blacksmith and an Inn thrown in, but I can't tell for sure at this range and angle."

"What do you think then? Farming village?"

"Probably, we'll know for sure when we shift positions later. That should give us an angle on where their crops would mostly likely be planted."

"Rah, I'll be sure to annotate it in the little book when we're done here." Reaper slowly lowered his binoculars. "Still not seeing any signs of this Empire or whatever that we're supposed to be keeping an eye out for. I mean there are those roads, but there isn't any proof who built them."

"It's not going to be as easy to spot as it is back home. It's not like they have Post Offices and shit in this kind of time period."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to be keeping an eye out for then?"

"Dunno. Probably one of those things that we'll know it when we see it." The Sniper shrugged imperceptibly. "Still, I'd say this place has at least some kind of law and order going on. They aren't watching the horizon constantly like they're expecting an attack at any moment. And they don't look like they're starving either. They probably having the time of their lives, but they at least seem to be better off then what the Japanese were saying about the villages closer to the base."

"Hell, for all we know these people could be having the time of their lives. Not dying at the ripe old age of childbirth is probably worth celebrating to them. They'll probably think we're all some kind of witches and try to burn us at the stake or some shit."

"If that happens, I'll be sure to tell how you do a mean card trick for children's birthday parties." Joker frowned, shifting his view over slightly as something caught his eye. "I've got some kind of activity at eleven o'clock."

Reaper brought his own spy glasses back up, the pair watching as a single horseback rider came thundering into the town, shouting as he raced for the town center. From where they were, Joker could hear the shouting but not clearly enough to make out any words. A crowd gathered where the man brought his mount to a halt, listening as he shouted and pointed back the way he came with one hand and held up a piece of parchment with the other.

"Looks like a messenger of some kind." Reaper noted. "Wonder what he's shouting about…"

"Not a clue, but I'm pretty sure it's not good news, whatever it is. Just look at their faces."

They looked frightened, with faces twisting into horrified disbelief, some covering their mouths to muffle gasps or pulling children closer by their parents. More voices joined that of the rider, shouting what sounded like questions before the entire gathering erupted into people trying to be heard over the clamor of everyone else. An older man stepped up to a nearby rise and made several gestures for quiet, everyone falling silent a few moments later. Probably the village chief or mayor, Joker guessed as he made several hand motions and what were most likely other directions as the crowd began to slowly disperse.

"There's a lot of activity happening now...it may be smart to bug out when we get the chance." Reaper suggested."

"No, not yet. I want to see what they're doing. Just keep still and quiet for a bit, I don't think they'll venture out this far."

Not daring to shift even slightly lest one of the more active villagers had a keen eye and looked in their direction, the pair of scouts sat in wait as they watched for nearly an hour. There was plenty to see, with several families packing up what looked like all their belongings from their homes and loading them into carts. Others were going to a storehouse in the middle of the village, retrieving weapons and even small pieces of armor as they hastily formed up into formations in several large spaces.

"It's a militia." Reaper whispered. "Look to be in good order with some decent weapons too. Guess we found our reason why there wouldn't be a huge bandit problem around here."

"Yeah, but why are they assembling all of a sudden? What did that messenger tell them?"

"Could they be on to us?"

"No...there's no way we've been burned, at least not yet." Joker thought about it. "And it can't be about what's going on at Alnus. No way word travels here that slowly."

"Besides, the rider was pointing to the northwest when he was yelling at them." Reaper pointed out. "That's the opposite direction of the base."

"So what the hell's got everyone so spooked…"

Answers weren't all that forthcoming with the chaos of what was happening continuing below them, with militia members from both genders seeming to say goodbye to their families before rejoining their units, a bit curious since the makeup seemed more or less equal for men and women, while the armies that had attacked Ginza and had attempted to ambush them at Alnus had contained very few females in their ranks. Yet another note for the intel boys to work out once they returned. It took another hour of holding their position before the militia took up a column formation and began to march away from the village, several wagons full of supplies following along behind them.

"Damn, gotta admit." Reaper said once they were away. "They sure organized fast for a bunch of civilians."

"My guess is they're pretty well drilled for this kind of thing. Did you see the direction they went?"

"Yep, Northwest. Whatever's got their panties in a twist it's up that way."

"Then that's where we're heading next." Joker decided. "Get ready to move out once things calm down a bit."

"Sure that's a good idea man?" Reaper asked. "Colonel said we should be keeping our heads down and heading towards what's probably a fight isn't exactly keeping that mandate."

"We're here to collect intelligence." Joker pointed out. "And I guarantee the brass will want to know about whatever it is that's kicking up a storm around here. Besides, ain't you ever seen those recruitment commercials? Marines are supposed to run towards the sound of chaos, not away from it,"

"Remind me when we finally get back stateside to actually find the guy who signed you into the Corps and punch him in the face. Pretty sure the Court Martial will understand and give me a medal for it."

~oOo~

It was short, black, and pointy. Although it was no longer then the size of his index finger, Mitchell thought that the bizarre object would have been heavier based on the slight gleam it gave off from a reflection in the lights from the refugee zone tent. The little thing looked familiar somehow, but Mitchell couldn't quite place it.

"...Alright, I give up." He said, looking at Itami as he sat on the other side of the table from him. "What is it?"

"It's a wyvern scale." Itami replied, taking a drink from his canteen and offering Mitchell a lopsided grin. "Picked from one of the creatures that was killed during the battle."

"Oh, nice." Mitchell said, putting the scale back on the table. There was a field of the dead things located just beyond the fortifications, the JSDF deciding to leave the bodies there until they needed the space or otherwise had an idea of what to do with them. "And you just handed me part of a carcass because?"

"Because according to Lelei and Tuka, those scales are pretty valuable around here. And since we downed a hell of a lot of them, that means we're sitting on a hefty pile of local goods."

"Really now." He glanced off to the side, where the supposed mage and elf were carrying on their own conversation about the new Japanese-Style bathhouse that had been built for them. Mitchell had spent pretty much all his available free time studying the special region language and had become fairly well versed in it by this point, though he was careful to keep that largely a secret. He'd learned long ago how valuable understanding the local tongue could be for field operations, and doubly so if the locals thought that you were just some dumb foreigner who didn't catch a word of what they were talking about, made it much more likely for them to let secrets loose if they thought their words couldn't be understood. "That could be valuable for local trade, but as I understood it, most of the population centers that were closest to us aren't exactly in a mood to exchange luxury items."

"You're right about that, but there's a bigger plan that's been formed around this whole thing." Itami tapped his head. "The girls gathered up all the scales that they could. The JSDF is taking some to be held in case of financial transactions, and some are being handed over to your people."

"Generous of you." Mitchell said, fairly certain that the Japanese were taking the lion's share. "What about the rest?"

"That's where the next part of this comes in.' The JSDF Officer leaned in closer. "There's a big city to the north of here called Italica, apparently it's a trading hub in this region. My team is going to escort the girls to the town and let them do some trade for the scales."

"...Alright you lost me. The JSDF is sending a single team to a large settlement? All so it can protect a trio of refugees doing some bartering?"

"That's the idea. What do you think?"

"I think that sounds, at best, like a waste of manpower and resources." Mitchell said, his voice deadpan. "We're an Expeditionary Force, not Amazon Delivery. Besides, for all we know this town is controlled by this Empire nation that probably doesn't have warm and fuzzy feelings for us. How are you supposed to know that they won't just attack on sight?"

"Rory is our insurance against that." Itami explained. "She's apparently considered an important religious figure around here, and she'll just tell them that we're her entourage. So long as we don't start anything, they shouldn't either."

"That's a hell of a risk for something that doesn't sound like it'll have big returns."

"It's not like all we're doing is being nice here." Itami shook his head. "This will give us a chance to get firsthand observations on how they conduct commerce, and see their economy in action. More importantly, this allows the refugees to start generating some capital and start taking care of themselves. If we don't want them to have a permanent residence in the base, then we have to make sure they have the tools to rebuild what they lost on their own."

"By giving them a huge resource that could be more useful to us in the long run?"

"Look, just because this isn't how you guys normally do things doesn't automatically make them wrong. It's not like you've mastered this either."

Mitchell bit back a sharp retort, feeling angry defensiveness rising within him. Snapping at the Lieutenant wouldn't do him any good, especially since it seemed like the JSDF had already chosen this line of action with or without the approval of their allies. If they wanted to play around with new ways of doing things, far be it from him to tell them otherwise, especially since their own troops would be shouldering most of the risks.

"Fine. Is there a reason you're telling me about this?" He asked, doing his best to keep any frostiness out of his tone.

"As a matter of fact there is. If all this goes well, then we'd like to start opening up supply lines to this area again, convince some of the merchants that it's safe to fo business down here and get some stability back. Problem is that the bandits that are still roaming around don't really fit into that plan, since they'd just go on raiding any goods that tried to come this way. We'd like to get rid of as many as we can before we leave for Italica."

"Easier said than done."

"Agreed, these outlaws probably know their way around this area better than us, along with all the good hiding spots. So we're not even going to try and locate and destroy every single group, instead the plan is to convince them that it's not worth sticking around here anymore, letting them leave the region instead of trying to pin them down."

"That could be one way of doing it." Mitchell glanced up thoughtfully. "Bandits are usually more predictable than religious extremists or nationalists, they're in it for the money instead of trying to fight us. If they think it'll be easier to make money elsewhere, it makes more sense for them to pull up stakes and move on."

"Exactly what we're thinking." Itami nodded. "We think we've nailed down the more active areas where we can hit some of the larger groups, let them take some casualties and run away so they can tell others about what happened. But the Fifth Recon got some intel that suggests one of the larger collections is occupying a small village between Alnus Hill and Italica, that's where you come in."

"You want us to run a search and destroy mission in the village?"

"After you investigate to see if the intel is good. We don't want to go shooting up a place that turns out to be a bunch of civilians based on bad rumors."

"I thought that JSDF was handling security for the area, and we were just a backup force, why hand this one over?" Mitchell narrowed his eyes slightly. "Come to think of it, why am I hearing this from you instead of someone higher up the chain? You're not a liaison to the Corps or anything."

"It's...complicated." The Lieutenant said. "Your Marines have a lot more experience dealing with fighting in that kind of environment, we've received training, but we haven't had to sweep and clear a village before. Command is worried about Civilian casualties if something goes wrong, but they're trying to keep this quiet for now so that it doesn't come off as an insult to our own troops."

"Which is why we're meeting in the refugee camp, where there's no unauthorized visitors."

"Apparently there's a lot of worries by the Diet that we're somehow going to let you Marines take the lead here instead of us, and the General is trying to head it off." Itami shrugged. "To be honest Captain, I'm just doing what I'm told. I'm not gonna even pretend to understand what the bigger plan is here."

"That's probably a wiser move then you know." Mitchell said. It made some sense now, if the Japanese Government wanted to make sure it was the JSDF and not American Forces who were leading the charge in the Special Region, then it would explain why the Marines had been kept on a comparatively short leash. "You understand that I'll have to run this by someone with actual authority before I actually take on the mission?"

"Your Colonel should be informed about it too by now. I just thought you'd appreciate a no bullshit briefing on what's really going on instead of whatever the higher brass is passing to him."

"That's...actually pretty decent of you. Thanks." He stood up. "Anyway, it's getting late and I still have to complete a requisition for more bedding. Anything else?"

"Nope, that covers it." With the conversation over, Itami had already pulled out his phone. With the new WiFi antenna figured out, both Japanese and American troops alike were overjoyed to have internet connections again to do whatever their preferred activities were on their smartphones. Apparently Itami was the kind who loved stereotypical Anime Gotcha games. "Happy hunting, I'll be sure to fill you in on our own trip when we get back."

"Assuming you haven't gotten your ass shot off by then." Mitchell snorted.

Placing his cover back on his head, the Marine Captain exited the tent and started to walk towards the zone exit, taking his time as he did so. He didn't really need to do those requisitions tonight, and he was internally now telling himself that sleep sounded much better. But even as his body was exhausted, his mind felt wired. Of course it was a search and destroy in a populated area, why wouldn't it be. Even here he couldn't escape counterinsurgency operations, and throwing shots with civilians around was a nightmare no matter who you were. But they were the "most qualified for the job", something Mitchell was getting pretty damn tired of being. He reached into his side pocket, hand sliding over the small box of cigarettes that he'd been carrying around with him for the past couple days and fiddling with it. He hadn't smoked since he was a teenager, having kicked the habit before entering college so he could pass the grueling MARSOC fitness standards. There had been a lot of times since then that Mitchell had nearly picked the habit back up again, but had always resisted. Now though, he just felt like no matter how tired he felt, he could never truly rest. It was unhealthy, that he knew, and that if he started up again he'd have to re-experience the withdrawals when he tried to quit once more. But right now, he didn't care about that.

Not wanting to give his brain a chance to talk him out of it yet again, Mitchell ducked behind one of the nearby tents and took out the small carton from one pocket and his electric lighter from another. Shakily, he brought one of the thin cylinders to his mouth and lit it, taking a long drag. Almost immediately, he felt his head clear up. Mitchell exhaled the smoke slowly, feeling the gentle burning sensation in his lungs and slight tingling in his hands. For a moment, the world seemed to regain a bit of it's color again, his entire body feeling much lighter. Smiling to himself, Mitchell turned to leave, then stopped short as a figure was standing less than a meter away from him, startling him so much that the still lit cigarette came loose from his mouth and tumbled to the ground.

"Christ." He swore, stomping on the butt before it could light anything on fire. He looked back up at his sudden guest, and felt his heart sink.

"Good evening." Rory Mercury said in her own language, her expression holding the same smile it always did when he looked at her. She was carrying that almost comically oversized halberd that the JSDF had for some reason agreed to let her keep, but it was in a resting position instead of one primed for attack. "Enjoying the night air, are we?"

"Uh...sorry…" Mitchell replied in English, smiling awkwardly as he took an instinctive step back. "No speaky your language."

This seemed only to encourage Rory, as her smile broadened and she got even closer.

"I know you can understand me." She purred, somehow making him even less comfortable than before with eyes that seemed to stare right through him. "You are a warrior who keeps his secrets quite close, but I have been watching you now for some time. I was quite curious upon seeing that a Revenant was among Itami's allies."

Mitchell tried to swallow, but his throat had suddenly gone dry, no response able to emerge from his throat.

"You are an exceptionally rare breed, even among this world." Rory continued. "To have one's soul ripped from their mortal body, only to be returned in the most violent of fashions. Very few are given such a fortunate opportunity, it means that Emroy has a special plan for you."

"I-I don't think…" Mitchell stammered, as she took one of his arms and pulled herself even closer.

"Would you like me to help you find that purpose, Revenant? Or do you wish to have that kept secret until just the right moment? There's always an alluring quality to mystery."

Finally, Mitchell felt his body return to its functioning state. He pulled free of her grasp and began to walk away, having no words to respond with as he was still chilled to his very soul.

"If you change your mind, you know exactly where to find me." Rory said to his back.

He could hear her laughter ringing in his ears long after returning to the American Camp.