A/N: This one's a bit late, procrastination hits hard.

Chapter 13: Build-up

As the bodies were cleared away, the beachhead was finally secured. Logistics, as well as reserve forces, rolled unharmed through the gate, relieving the combat troops.

" Damn shame, we couldn't be here to get revenge for Furuta and the guys," Kuribayashi lamented, as she exited the Toyota High Mobility Vehicle and kicked at a discarded bloody metal armour piece. The temperature was at a comfortable 18 degrees Celsius, allowing the troops to leave their vehicles without their equipment causing them to sweat.

Itami stepped out after her, looking out at the somewhat cleaned out interior of the wooden walls. Blood splatter stained the ground and the walls, art drawn in the dirt as the bodies were dragged away.

" You know our ROE. We can't shoot unless we are actively in danger, and even then, the report writing would drown us. If Tomita were any worse at writing reports, I would need to start," Itami stated as he walked towards a large tent that housed the hastily formed command HQ.

Tomita could only glare and grumble under his breath at the back of his superior as he helped his German Shepard out of the back of the Toyota.

Lifting up the tent flap, Itami strolled in just to double over as a large force slammed onto his shoulder blade. He looked up to see a caucasian face, partially masked by a pair of opaque Oakleys and helmet, and a comically large grin that stretched across the pale face.

" I didn't think I'd see YOU here, Itami. Aren't you Japs not allowed to shoot your guns?" The 6'2" man boomed as he almost physically picked up the smaller man while helping him up.

Itami, being 5'9" which is tall by Japanese standards, craned his head up to inspect the face before recognizing the Canadian. Memories resurfaced of the dry arid air of the Israeli-Syrian border and boring convoy protection.

The man continued, " Also, what the hell are you carrying an antique for?" pointing down at the Type 64 strung over Itami's back.

Itami silently thanked Risa for helping him to train his English before replying.

" Hey Dominic, long time since UNDOF. How are you?"

" Not bad, but don't try to move away from your mothballed gun."

Shifting his rifle into his hand and presenting it, Itami continued, " Meet the Type 64 cold war era battle rifle chambered in 7.62 by 51 NATO."

Dominic could only raise an eyebrow.

" Sooooo a FAL variant?"

The Japanese lieutenant just shook his head and was about to continue the very interesting conversation, but a somewhat annoyed Captain Tahir popped in from the side.

" That's enough boys, briefing time."

The three made their way deeper into the tent, stopping at a crowd gathered around a table with a map strewn out. The three had to peek over the shoulders of others to see what laid on and what had drawn onto the map. Multiple routes and schedules were drawn and written on sheets of paper and smaller maps for each country.

Rustling sounds out behind them, with a call of "ATTENTION" heard from the entryway. The men and women quickly shifted to the sides with what little space remained to allow whoever it was to move up to the table.

A man with a pale complexion and greying hair stepped through, flanked by 2 aides. He was dressed in the standard Digi Flora of the Russian Armed Forces, fitting right in with the rest of the nations infantry, the only thing that gave his rank away was his out of place dress cap and no standard issue rifle. Walking around the table and standing at the front, he then waved them all at ease before speaking in a rather thick Slavic accent.

" I would like you all to introduce yourselves as I only have names on paper and not a clue who is who, except my own forces. Just have the commanding officers state names, rank, and country," pausing slightly he continued. " I am Timur Brusilov, General in the service of the Russian Federation, appointed UN commander of all forces through the GATE."

The Canadians were the closest to him.

" Brigadier General Andrew Gault, Canadian Armed Forces," as he stepped forward to shake his hand, then stepped back.

" General Lin Biao, People's Liberation Army," the Chinese officer followed suit.

This continued for the rest.

" Major General Singh Ghuman, Indian Army."

" Lieutenant Colonel Batu Ganbaatar, Ground Forces of Mongolia."

And finally, " Lieutenant Colonel Tatsuya Amano, Japanese Ground Self Defense Force."

The general spoke up again as the Japanese man finished.

" Now then let's begin."

He leaned into the table and pointed onto the map that laid there, " This is where we are right now. Our forces will dig in around the GATE, no more enemy forces are permitted to enter South Sudan period. Explosive charges are to be set to destroy anything that occupies this hill, named Alnus by the way."

He shifted his finger, " I want patrol teams to move out from this location in all eight directions. They are to make contact with local civilian populaces and to map the route to them. Do not engage any imperial forces unless in self-defense. Reconnaissance teams will consist of a country with combat experience and those without. Canada, and Japan, Russia, and Mongolia. As the Chinese are not battle-hardened none of their forces will partake. They will instead assist the engineer corps alongside the Indian forces in constructing the Alnus Hill Fortress."

He took a moment for the information to be digested. The officers all started to mumble to each other, either glad or irked by the setup.

Dominic nudged Itami with his elbow, " Looks like we are side by side again," he whispered.

Itami could only roll his eyes.

" Now, the Canadians and Japanese will take care of the North half while my forces and the Mongolians take the South. There is a road Northeast of the fortress that runs from the Northwest to the Southeast," his finger traced the dotted line on the paper.

"A separate reconnaissance team will be needed to check the road," he stated, " information packets are by the door as you leave and your nations have their discretion to assign the units. This is to be carried out tomorrow at 0700 hours. Good luck ladies and gentlemen."

And with that, the troops made for the exit and back to their hastily constructed barracks.

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UN Fortress Alnus, Alnus hill, Falmart

0630 hours

The reconnaissance groups met up in the morning the next day before setting out. It was decided that despite the losses Third Recon Team took in South Sudan, no replacements were to be given. Instead, a Canadian TAPV would be added on top of the LAV 6.0, a total of 15 Canadian to the 7 Japanese.

Itami joined the assembled group of Canadians and Japanese after his briefing with the white-haired Amano. Stepping out of the tent, he saw the men and women had fallen in to receive him. Lieutenant (pronounced lef-tenant) Dominic Pacetti stood at the front of the formation, a massive shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

" The Combined Third Recon Team reporting as ordered sir."

Itami just shook his head before calling an " at ease", his own mouth curving upwards.

" Who said I was in command, Pacetti?"

The Canadian replied cheekily, " But sir… you're the one who's a JSDF Ranger," the mock feign smacking down like hammers.

A loud gasp sounded from the inside of the formation. Kuribayashi was frozen in her spot, her eyes wide open and mouth agape in shock. The Japanese men just chuckled and the Canadians just glanced over to her in confusion. Mari just gave her a disappointed look.

" He did get us out of Rubkona alive, is it that surprising?"

The thought took moments to pass through her head before she shook her head.

" I guess not. But it's just that he's so lazy. Don't you remember when he would just go and hide among the refugees whenever we were ordered to collect water back at the camp?"

Kurata jumped in, " Or that time we found him hiding under the barracks on his phone."

Tomita joined in next, " that time we found him with his wife in the Komatsu?"

" HE DID WHAT?"

This time everyone turned to the sheepish lieutenant, who just slapped his forehead and pointed back to the sergeant.

A couple of seconds ticked before the man understood what he said and what everyone understood.

Shaking his hands rapidly, he quickly corrected himself, " they were playing MOBILE games NOT that!"

Itami just sighed before continuing.

" Anyways, we are moving Northwest along the main road and checking every intersection for any civilians. We are to make contact and initiate the hearts and minds operations, so try not to point your guns around."

Nods waved through the ranks.

" We are moving 150 kilometres Northeast before returning," He looked down at his watch, " It is 0650 now, MOUNT UP!"

The soldiers dashed to their vehicles, 6 of the Canadians cramming themselves into the steel interior

of the LAV 6.0 while the rest of the troops entered their less armoured vehicles.

A cacophony of engines growled as the motor pool bustled to life, the multinational teams setting off in their own directions. The 3rd Recon Team and another infantry platoon headed down the main path out of the base, passing road laying equipment that sat on the side of the path. The dirt roads were just strong enough to support the 20-ton LAVs and 15-ton BMP-2s, but far from enough for the 40-ton behemoths in the form of T-72B3s and Ajeya MBTs. Rolling through the wooden gates, the Komatsu led the way, with Itami's Toyoda HMV following, then Dominic's TAPV, and the LAV 6.0 pulling up the rear.

Reaching the fork in the road, Itami rolled his window down and waved goodbye to the other lieutenant, the latter giving him a sharp salute before turning away. As soon as the other platoon had disappeared around a bend, Dominic's voice came through the radio.

" So what do you guys think we'll find out here?"

Kurata instantly piped in as soon as Itami flipped the radio on.

" CATGIRLS!"

He instantly shrunk back into his seat as everyone in the vehicle stared him down. The Canadians broke down in guffaws as the Old Man turned around in the turret of the Komatsu to shake his head at the poor driver behind him, which only led to even more laughter coming through the radio.

Dominic took a minute to quiet down to a chuckle before speaking up again.

" Why am I not surprised that the Japanese guy wants a furry? Well, at least that answers my question."

Itami just spoke up to lessen the sergeant's embarrassment.

" You thinking about threats," he said, looking out to the forest parallelling them on the right. Glancing back, he saw the RWS on the TAPV swerve back and forth sweeping the treeline.

Dominic's voice turned serious on a dime, " yeah, we already saw goblins and stuff at the Gate battle, what's to say they don't have massive wolves or bandits and such. You know the fantasy world D and D stuff?"

Itami replied after seeing Kurata shudder and whisper "Goblinslayer".

" I think we should just keep watch, for now. Hopefully, we find a town or village so we could ask. Plus we got your big gun in the back, nothing they got can harm us. I think you should be more worried about learning the language, best we don't anger the populace with atrocious wording."

"Ha, as if I could do worse than you, you're the one who got slapped in the face by an Israeli," was his reply.

Itami opened his mouth to retort, but couldn't find one. The lull in the conversation allowed Kuribayashi to speak up from the Komatsu.

" Umm, Lieutenant Pancetti? Where else have you served if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, not at all. We were in Afghanistan in 2005, fighting the Taliban was definitely something. Pretty stressful, daily gunfights, and mortar attacks. UN peacekeeping missions were much better, sometimes no weapons which did suck, but usually, you didn't need it. That's where I met your lieutenant."

He took a pause before announcing like a commentator.

" The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force. We shall ensure that Israel and Syria keep their ceasefire agreement. Good times."

Tomita interrupted storytime, having to wrestle the radio from Kuribayashi.

" Sorry Lieutenant, but there is an intersection in the road into the forest about 200 metres away."

Pancetti started up again, " Itami what's the word?"

" We can mark it down and keep going. Tha-"

He was quickly cut off by Dominic.

" Come now Itami, we have a job to do. The road leads somewhere and it probably is civilians, let's make contact."

Itami just sighed, " fine, Tomita, make the turn."

" Yes Sir."

The road through the forest was rather open for a road through a forest. The trees on both sides were chopped away from the road, allowing them to see into the forest to ensure nothing would attack them. Another 500 metres down the road and the forest opened up into fields of grain. And just past the grain was a medium height wall, not as tall as the walls of the castrum of Alnus, but enough to stop animals from jumping in.

Itami quickly gave the order, " Convoy, halt."

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Once again any and all advice and comments are appreciated. I'll try to post as much as possible but I probably won't keep to a regular schedule.