Chapter 14: A Wish Made
*Bzzzzzzz*
The small prop on the drone spun as a Canadian whipped it into the air, right as the tail got caught on the man's shoulder before crashing into the ground. The CU-179 Raven-B unmanned fixed-wing drone bounced off the ground and came to a stop 15 metres up the dirt road, to the embarrassment of the soldier. Jogging forward and picking the drone up, much to the amusement of the rest of the Japanese and Canadians, he once again threw the drone into the air, this time the wind lifted the small aircraft into the sky.
Looking up from the laptop, Dominic grinned as he looked at his private sulking back to the cars.
" Need the medic to look at that arm of yours, Camren?" He joked, giving the Albertan a quick thumbs up.
" I'll be back in the LAV," was his answer as the soldier snatched his rifle from leaning against the wheel, as he walked to the back of the vehicle.
Glancing back at the screen, he inspected the images the drone was beaming back, Itami peeking over his shoulder. Tiled rooftops stared back, the low altitude pass allowing the villagers to see and hear the drone buzz over.
The village had a total of 60 buildings, some of them single-story small family homes, other two-story settlement villas. Villagers could be seen walking around inside the walls, children either running around or staring and pointing up at the noisy bird above them. Farmers with broad hats looked up from their toil to glance up at the avian before returning to their work, as Dominic steered the drone back towards the convoy. The Japanese officer already walked away, back towards his troops.
Turning to the Warrant Officer, the Lieutenant spoke.
" Tina, I need to discuss with Itami, grab someone else and recover the Raven," he handed the laptop to the Asian woman.
" Sure, Lieutenant."
Getting up, he walked over to the Japanese vehicles where Itami stood beside Tomita, who was throwing a ball around with his dog.
"Hey Itami, what do you think? Sixty or so medium to large buildings, around 300 people from the size of the village and fields."
" Yeah," Itami just responded, distracted by the German Shepherd leaping up at Tomita.
" Sooo?" Dominic continued, pushing for an answer.
Sighing, the Japanese looked over to the man.
" We'll go in on the road, just the HMV and the TAPV. Both LAVs will stay here in the treeline, best we don't scare them with war machines. Load up some of your guys, bring your female soldiers and let's go win some hearts and minds."
As Dominic moved back to his armoured car, Itami turned back to his men and women.
" Mari, Tomita, and Katsumoto, mount up in the Toyota. Katsumoto, you drive. Kuribayashi, Kurata, and Kawahara will stay with the Komatsu."
To no one's surprise, Kuribayashi piped up.
" Sir, I would like to volunteer for the mission."
Massaging his temple, Itami simply replied, " I am not trying to scare the locals with you. Stay with the Komatsu, and if the Old Man is kind, you can man the gun."
Pushing past the grumbling sergeant, he pulled himself into the passenger seat and grasped the radio handset.
" Alnus Base, Alnus Base, this is Recce 3-1."
He was replied with, " Recce 3-1, this is Alnus, send traffic."
Itami started his report, " We found a village around 1.2 kilometres Northeast from the base, approx. 400 people in size. We are about to check it out."
" Understood, Recce 3-1. Will wait for the next report. Out."
He set the handset down and turned to the back, seeing Tomita close the rear door, his dog laid on his lap.
An electronic version of Dominic's voice came through the radio, " On your lead, Recce 3-1."
" Katsumoto, drive up to the village gate."
The 200-metre drive passed in silence, the vehicle drawing the attention of farmers as they passed out of the treeline. Pulling to a stop at the open gate, Itami stepped out to greet a three-man entourage who had exited one of the buildings.
" Ave." Itami just waved to the men.
A middle-aged man, the oldest looking one in the group, hesitantly returned the greeting. All three men had their eyebrows raised in curiosity as if they had never seen a human before.
The leader continued in Latin, having noticed the questioning looks the soldiers were returning.
" Sorry for staring but we have never seen one with your complexion before."
"Sorry for, huh?" Itami quickly got lost in the rapidly fired Latin, "Wait a moment please."
He sighed in relief as he saw two of the Canadians walking up and joining him.
" Dominic, can you step in and help?"
"Lost already are we?" The man shot an amused look at Itami before chuckling, " don't worry, Jeremy will set this right."
He pointed at the glasses-donning man beside him. Jeremy just nodded to Itami, before conversing with the three confused civilians.
The team left the village settlement of Coda after 30 minutes of conversation, the civilians gawking as the horseless carriages pulled away. The team learned that Coda was the closest village to the city of Italica, the Gateway of the West, which laid one day of travel to the North.
" So where are we going, sir?" Kurata asked as he reentered the HMV as the 2 vehicles returned to the treeline.
" The villagers told us about an elf settlement deeper in the forest. We'll do a visit. Just follow the Komatsu, Tomita has the location," Itami replied.
Kurata almost screeched, Itami physically recoiled from him, " ELVES?! Finally something closer to dragons and catgirls."
Itami just grumbled, " you better not have jinxed us with dragons. Just get us underway. I'm giving Alnus our report."
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After 3 hours of driving, the trees on the right of the road opened up. Itami looked out into the forest. The setting sun dyed the sky red, the orange ball of fire dipping below the trees on the horizon. The dying light glistened off the leaves of the trees and the dark clouds that floated above the forest.
And yet, the light did not disappear. Itami sat up straight, lifting his helmet further above his eyes. The dark clouds muffled an orange light that seemed to originate from the ground itself. Dark shadows cast upon the area as if they were being projected through the clouds. The clouds shifted, allowing Itami to see the trees below. That was when he noticed the blaze.
A sea of flames spread out across the forest below.
Snatching up the handset from the dash, he all but shouted into the radio, " CONVOY HALT!"
As the vehicle braked, he threw open the door and pulled his binoculars out. An electric whine whirled behind him as the LAV 6.0 turret spun over to look in the direction of Itami's optics. Dominic soon joined him, raising his rifle scope to his eyes.
" Please tell me that's not the village," he told Itami with a monotone voice. This was answered as both men watched as a rectangular building, flooded with fire, finally toppled from its tree as the tree burned to the ground.
A roar echoed through the trees, deafening the soldiers, as they clutched at their ears. Rising through the dark clouds, now identified as smoke, a massive shadow grew wings as it headed to the sky. The wings flapped, clearing a hole in the smoke, to reveal an honest to God dragon.
The reptile floated just above tree level, its legs dragging on the treetops, its tail sweeping back and forth. It was 10 stories in length, from snout to tail, with a wingspan of an A380. It almost had a serpent appearance, its neck stretched out from its torso, yet the similarities stopped there. The head was that of a crocodile, horns stuck out from the rear of its head, sharped into points as they spread out. The arms, formed into the shape like those of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, yet had more than enough muscles to hold itself up and rip prey to shreds.
Both officers quickly gave hold fire commands and to dismount, not wanting to attract the attention of the monstrous beast that flew above them or take massive casualties if the vehicles were to be attacked. The dragon continued to make passes upon the burning village, it's flame breath beaming down onto the lit trees.
" Lieutenant, mind if I empty the M2 at the thing?" Kuribayashi joked, climbing down from the turret.
Itami replied without removing his eyes from his eyepiece, " if the 50 can't penetrate the wyverns and can only do internal damage, what can you do to a Godzilla like monster? Get Katsumoto out here with the LAM."
An order from Dominic followed, " Tina, both Gustavs, please."
Further flapping of wings caused the soldiers to tense up. The reptilian beast flew higher into the air before swooping away, flying directly overhead and creating gales that shook the forest below.
Dominic finally forced himself to look away from the fires, turning to Itami. He chuckled nervously as he watched the killing machine revel in its destructive force.
" Well Lieutenant Itami, what does your ranger book dictate about massive bloody dragons?"
" Maybe scream and hide in a hole. Just call command and ask if we are allowed to stay here overnight to perform a humanitarian mission in the morning?"
" Huh?"
Itami now placed his binoculars back against his chest before facing the Canadian, the expressionless face startled the soldier.
" Abandoned villages don't get attacked."
Itami stood back up and returned to the vehicle, the Canadian looking back to the blaze, processing the man's words.
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The next morning was smothered with a thick layer of smog that saturated the air. The infantry marched alongside the vehicles as they entered the remains of the village. The ground radiated heat permeated into their fatigues and boots, quickly dehydrating the troops. Wisps of smoke still lifted from the ground.
" Hana, seek, Hana," Tomita encouraged, pointing into the collapsed building. The dog was suffering from the loose ash, sneezing after every couple of sniffs. Humanoid remains blended into the carbonized surrounding, only limbs that stretched out into the air, and blackened lumps identified the bodies. These confirmed remains were carefully carried out and buried in a mass grave the men dug up. A lesson was quickly picked the hard way, as the first body they had tried to recover flaked into dust when they tried to lift it. They had to slide a sheet of tarp slowly under the suspected corpse, before lifting it to the burial site. Bayonets and shovels had to be used to scrape or dig the body from the ground. Kawahara was once again saying prayers over each of the bodies, this time joined by Corporal Camren. Itami was seated up against a darkened stone well with Dominic, both sipping at their water canteen.
Mari walked over to the resting officers, a steel clipboard in hand, writing notes as she approached.
" Sir, we found 32 ruins, estimating 2-3 people per building, that's around 100 civilians total. Only 27 bodies have been recovered. Your orders, sir?" she stated, her voice devoid of emotions.
Itami just finished off his canteen, both the Canadian Lieutenant and Japanese medic continued to stare at him.
" Let's head back and report the dragon attack," Itami replied, for Dominic's benefit, " command will want to know that massive dragons will attack villages." He closed his eyes and clutched his empty canteen to his head.
" Command's going to have a field day trying to figure out how to bring that dragon down. I mean, 50 cal. couldn't even fully penetrate the wyverns back in Rub, imagine the beating that fucker could take," Dominic threw in his own opinion.
Itami got to his feet, picking up a bundle of rope and a wooden bucket that miraculously survived the fire.
" We can only hope that thing isn't Godzilla and tanks and missiles can kill it," he tossed the bucket into the well, " refill Dom?"
Dominic was cut off by a wet knock before he could finish, " Sur-" KLUNK.
" I guess not," he peered over the edge. The well was too deep for sunlight to reach the bottom. Pulling out a flashlight, Itami lit it and inspected the barely filled well.
" SHIT, THERE'S A CIVIE, GET A LINE OVER HERE!"
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Using the HMV and climbing rope, Itami was able to rappel down and haul the damp woman out of the hole.
She had long blonde hair that reached her waist, with a pale skin complexion. Her flax clothing had started to break up after being drenched in water, causing the men to look away. The pointed ears made themselves known as the elf was lifted out of the well, pushing aside the hair.
Kurata was hopping around like a little kid after seeing the pointed ears, until Kawahara walked up to him and smacked him hard in the back of the helmet. Mari instantly wrapped up the cold, unconscious elf in a survival blanket before placing her into the HMV, banning the men from approaching. Tina and Kuribayashi stripped the soaked clothing and dried the girl and wrapped her back into another blanket while Mari checked over her health.
Pulling out a rough drawing of a map onto the hood of his vehicle, Itami roughly marked the location of the burnt village. Dominic stood opposite of the car, his hand grasped onto the chin in thought.
The Canadian started first, " I think we should head back the way we came. We could warn Coda about the beast."
" Yeah let's do that and then head back, " Itami agreed.
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The next chapter should come out after Christmas in about a week or so. Once again please leave a review, like if you do, and follow if you want. Any and all advice is appreciated.
