So, I've been gone long. Still going to be gone long, don't expect me to update for a long while. I just don't have the time. Just finishing up some unfinished material I had laying around with some free time that should have gone to studying, but, I digress. Here is your damned chapter. Thanks to stuka529 for his contributions to this chapter, he is running an RP for Our Crusade still so if you want to join, go do so.

I understand that the Gate Community is starting to die off. It's to be expected, I knew this would happen eventually, so I'll continue to work as long as I have inspiration, material, and a base that wants more work from me. As per stuka's writing style, I kept most of the cursing – I think it fits Mason's character here quite a bit. This is a slightly twisted variation on stuka's personal piece he gave me over the summer, so, hope he likes it. Hope all you like it.

Good day to you all and a few answers to the recent reviews that are long overdue.

New Universe Returns, this story isn't on hiatus, just everything is really slow with updating. I don't like stopping on hiatus because more often than not, those stories never get continued. Thanks on the ROTC thing, I'm trying to get commissioned but that will take time. It's highly competitive.

Karaya 2, buddy! Hope you're doing well. I checked up with you recently so we should be on the same page for the most part. Keep writing man.

Nothing more, nothing less. You all have a good day. Read and Review!

["Giant Monsters"]

[Autumn 2016]

"Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." – Neil Gaiman, author of the novel "Coraline," Published Book: 2006

It's rare for private documents to be published; sure leaks and hacks in the days of the dot-coms and the Digital Era have made documents and privacy less personal and far more publicly read; the trend develops caution, fear, and anxiety for those that value their personal privacy and gives birth to wonderment and drama for those that embrace this age of encompassing technology and interconnectivity. It's a great shift from just a half a century before when television and radio were still in their infancy.

Now, take that advancements of the twenty-first century and bring it back to the Dark Ages – no Internet, no signal. No social media and no electricity in the field. The only communication is by paper mail and literature is spilled into that of vocal memory and the odd lines of an old tongue on harsh wax paper developed from the materials of the land. Written by voice or spoken by quill, stories were personal and changed based on individual interpretation. Now take those modern advancements from the twenty-first century once again; bring your modern tools of battle and lifestyle.

The method of telling tales once again change and the interpretation along with it. Digital or otherwise, the medium from which it is told – the story will be told. Even the private journals of the soldiers of the Special Region Task Force; those find hefty bargains on the forums on the Internet, where the scope of what the warfighters see and feel when they make landfall in another world. A land no civilian may go, but where warriors catalog their victories in paper and now, by laptop or mobile phone. Some prefer paper though – like Staff Sergeant Mason, US Army Liaison to the Japanese Self Defense Force specializing in non-Latin derived languages.

["Journal Entry #28, taken from the pages of one Staff Sergeant Carter L. Mason's journal. United States Army, designated translator for JSDF-led Reconnaissance Team Three."]

["Dated October? 2016."]

["Subject: Giant BLEEP Monsters"]

I can't sleep. Not after what I just saw in the last couple of hours and over the course of the last few days. And I don't think anyone else has fallen asleep yet, either. At least, it doesn't seem like anyone is getting sleep.

Now, we were told to expect a lot of weird shit, before we arrived in the Special Region. Because during the attack on Ginza, they recovered the bodies of all kinds of shit that have no right being real. Orcs, animals shaped like humans, and even fucking dragons.

But those dragons were small and you could bring them down easily enough with an ant-aircraft gun or otherwise.

Not too long ago, we saw a giant fucking dragon; I swear, as big as Godzilla himself, tearing ass all over a forest several miles outside the village of Coda, the first trade post along some dirt trail that I guess you could call a highway in the Middle Ages.

I'm not exaggerating. This thing was fucking huge! It was breathing an ungodly amount of fire all over the forest; and the worst part was that at the center of that inferno. Apparently, there had been another settlement behind those trees, right in the middle of that damned forest.

Poor bastards. It makes me wonder if that dragon was just attacking them for kicks, or they actually did something to piss it off. Kuwahara remarked that seeing that beast was like watching a damn giant monster film. But in those films, I always remember seeing the military getting their asses kicked by Godzilla. So what does that mean if we end up having to fight that freak of nature?

It means we'll be so totally and completely fucked. I actually said that to everyone and Wataru pointed out that we had one of those LAMs with a one-ten mike-mike; I remember scoffing at that. I mean, what the hell is one rocket launcher going to do against something that big? It was the size of like, three whales or something! These Jap guys, as much as I love them – they really didn't understand how bad the odds were stacked against us.

I remember walking through the ruins of woods nearby – bunch of destroyed trees and blackened earth. The fire had been so hot, the ash and burnt soil turned into glass at some points. The debris would crunch up under the weight of my boots as I scanned the area after that monster had left. It was a goddamn massacre; the only way I could compare it to in terms of death toll was the cost of war or natural disasters. It was just wrong – that creature just wasn't natural.

I think I could almost feel the heat from the fires that were burning the forest before we arrived and set up a watch. Correction, I can still feel the tingling of those fires; it makes my damn skin crawl. And we were like ten or twenty miles away from it! In fact, some parts of the woods are still up in flames. We don't have the manpower to put out the flames and the best way I could describe the actual material of the fire was like lava, or napalm. It just keeps burning – even after that storm that had blown through the night.

Also, I can't even see the stars anymore, because there is so much damn smoke in the air. I heard Lieutenant Frost coughing up his lungs over breakfast this morning. Must not be used to fires – heard the guy was from the New England area. Unlike Cali, the Eastern Seaboard doesn't get seasonal fires I guess.

Now, it's about a half hour since that giant fucker took off. And for some unexplainable reason, that thing can fly through the air despite how huge it is. It shouldn't be physically possible – at least from how I can understand aeronautics. It's like a bumblebee, too big for its own damn wings. It still flies apparently. At least it's gone now. And thank God, too. If it tries to attack us, we won't stand a chance in Hell. Preferably, I think we would have better chances against the devil rather than that big flying-fire dick.

We knew there was a village in the middle of that forest, but our orders are to wait until morning before we head in there as a precaution; just so that we can make sure the dragon is gone and the flames have finally died out. When Lieutenant Itami told us this, I reminded him that there was a village right in the middle of those flames. Lieutenant Frost, damn frosty shipmate wasn't much a help either. Man of few words and a bit of a dick too. Then, Itami told me that we don't have any equipment to fight off a forest fire, and that if we went down there, we would probably die too. At least, if I died trying to save whoever had been stuck in that inferno last night, I might feel better about myself right now. I feel like shit.

I know we couldn't do anything to save anyone down there. Honestly, that doesn't make me feel better about it at all. I hate being up here, doing nothing, while there is an entire town below, in those woods, being scorched. People are dying or dead in that fire, right now. I can imagine what'll happen when we head down there; tomorrow morning. We'll go down to that forest village, and find it totally burnt to the ground. We'll see the barely recognizable remains of some civilians that were trying to get away – some will be burnt beyond human recognition or whatever species they are. The ground might be covered in blackened glass. The air is going to be thick with smoke and the smell of burnt flesh. There won't be a single house left standing. And if anyone managed to survive that inferno, they are going to be blaming us for not being quick enough to save them. Some United Nations Peacekeeping Force. So much for being the Greatest Fighting Force on Earth. We still can't find a Godzilla, or whatever that fucking dragon thing is.

Honestly, I never thought that I would be wanting to rescue anyone out here. Most people signed up to join the SR campaign because they wanted to get revenge and justice against those fuckers that attacked Ginza. And now, here we are, watching as the residents of this poor world burn in front of us.

I can't wait until we finally get down there. I'm not trying to be some big shot hero. I don't want to become the next 'Itami'. I just want to help people. They aren't from Earth, but they are still people. I think I saw that for the first time while we were in Coda Village. And all those people that were burnt alive probably had nothing to do with what happened at Ginza. I don't think they deserved this fate, honestly, no one deserves it.

Maybe at a later date, I'll think of a real, honest reason why someone deserves to be burned alive. The Roman guys that attacked Ginza were child killers and deserve Death. Burned alive, well, I'd have to think about it.

I'm hoping like Hell that we can find some way to kill that fucking dragon, before this happens again. If that thing actually finds Coda Village, then all those poor villagers are good as dead too. It'll be a real nightmare if it actually attacks Alnus. We need to find a way to put it down. Fast.

...Well, I've written down everything that's been bothering me tonight. I still don't feel tired enough to sleep. It doesn't matter, I guess.

I'll get plenty of sleep when I'm dead.

["Subject: Giant BLEEP Monsters"]

"I work to support my hobby, so if you ask me which I'd choose, my job or my hobby? My hobby takes priority." – First Lieutenant Itami Youji, Commanding Officer of Recon Team Three, JGSDF Ranger and Officer, 2016

PRIORITY EMAIL:

Alnus Command,

Final mission notice on deployment of Reconnaissance Team Three of the Special Region Task Force finds the scouting mission to be something of a success. Intervention was kept to a minimum but the operation still managed to fall apart fast. We ended up shifting an entire population from their original residence because of an encounter with an identified Delta-type Specimen of unexpected proportions.

Working with the Japanese Self Defense Force on this operation, I found their service members to be amicable and acceptable personnel for the campaign ahead. They know what they're doing and they can handle themselves, though, I hold my reservations about some of their members including First Lieutenat Itami Youji, the operational commander of RCT3. He shows a level of competency that I can respect but at other times is absolutely clueless. I agree with the assessments of his superiors how this, how do I put this, "man-child," or his nickname, "otaku," survived becoming a SDF Ranger. Special Forces doesn't seem to be in his nature, and yet he shows a capability in leading his subordinates and succeeding in the heat of combat through the stress of battle, I can give him that. He makes a decent field commander – not exactly a fan of his personality but those are just details. He'll get the job done and his publicity position is a boon for any future issues we might have in terms of Public Relations. He's honest to a fault and that may make him a threat to national security and operational security in the field, however, as long as nothing bad is handled on our part – we shouldn't have any problems.

There is no reason to fear if we have nothing to hide, obviously. Anyhow, I've had my roll through here. The Special Region is interesting. You saw my reports on the calligraphy and the Stonehenge-type structures in the surrounding forests. The refugees are a problem we'll have to solve on a different day. At least we gave that dragon a good whooping. Any less firepower and we would have been screwed, I know you've seen the tapes but still – that thing was something else. It was absolutely terrifying. The thirty mike just bounced off the damn thing like we were firing butter rounds. Make note to prioritize explosives and penetrators against the more powerful beasts in this world for future accounts – they'll help a lot.

Blackburn, good luck out there, man. I've run my stay dry – I'm reporting back to Yokosuka tomorrow. Good luck on the campaign man, next time you're in Boston, you and Lin hit me up for a few drinks. Take care mate.

Most respectfully,

Lieutenant Daniel Frost,

RCT3 Logistics, Special Region Task Force, United States Navy

[Participants]

"stuka529, RiptideZ"