Chapter 95

(Shinkage and Kaede)

"Wow." Kaede, while still feeling a bit grim at the job ahead, could still appreciate good architecture. "So this is the capital city?"

Any architect will tell you that a triangle is one of the strongest shapes in construction. And in the capital of the Empire, Sadera, some genius had figured that out and ran with it. Polished stone, triangle roofs, pillars, much of it in a style similar to the Hearthstone Manor itself. Among the angular Romanesque construction, were many statues. Larger than life, but lifelike enough that one could imagine them straightening up and walking off to what ever task they looked to be equipped for. Scholars holding tablets, armoured soldiers with swords held aloft, beautiful women carrying urns of water.

And that was only the first 'layer' of the city, after the mostly empty slums. Built on a multi levelled mountainous area of land, the capital had several dividing walls. With the slums at the bottom, then the 'merchant and residential' area next (with all those nice triangle roofed buildings and marble pillars), then an inner city where 'round' was the 'in' thing to build. Domed roofs with silo or multi rounded tower mini-castles...

But the Humvee containing Third Recon didn't go that far, so Kaede could only look from her window.

"It looks a little like home in some places, and more like Rakia in others." Kaede said, cheek flat against the armoured glass.

"Some eggheads back home have been wondering about that." Shino said, "Something about 'different cultures coming to the same conclusion'."

"They'd lose their minds if they got a chance to look at your world." Itami said, "Similar languages, Gods walking around right out of our legends, people named after heroes of myth..."

"And that isn't even counting the same similarities in architecture." Mari said.

"I dunno." Kaede shrugged, "I mean, once you figure out how to make something out of what you have on hand, why wouldn't it end up the same? Like our weapons. Straight blade for stabbing, curved blade for slashing."

The simplicity seemed to stun the JSDF, but Yao broke the silence, "Though, with building things, 'trial and error' is less immediately deadly like weapon craft."

The radio clicked on and a message came through, "This is the Nest. Update to the situation."

Still driving, Mari was the one who picked up the radio microphone, "This is Mari of Third Recon. Go ahead."

"The bridge crossing from the Capital has reported sightings of cannons, as well as land dragon cavalry. West of the bridge, a wave of transports are being escorted by smaller single gun craft. Over."

Itami, both hands still on the wheel as they drove past a line of soldiers marching in the same direction as the Humvee, motioned with his head. Helpfully, Mari clicked the 'send' button on the microphone and Itami spoke. "We are heading to the far west of the engagement zone at best speed. Any change in orders?"

A pause, then, "No. Stay on task. Air asset will be waiting for your call. Out."

"Say..." Tuka started, one hand playing with the strap on her JSDF helmet, "Can Mr. Hagane swim?"

(Delly, Maki and Momiji)

Unlike the others, the Humvee heading west have almost nothing to look at. Flat fields, more flat fields, a bit of randomly growing stuff, a rock or two, some four legged animals running away from the rumble of the diesel engine of the Humvee...

"We could have run faster." Delly sighed.

"Think so, kiddo?" One of the JSDF asked, "This thing can get to a good speed, you know, if the roads weren't so hit or miss." This was punctuated by a heavy bump as they drove over a rut, bouncing them around a little.

"Well, we aren't as fast as Kodori-sama, but this kind of ground is better than a great deal of terrain in the dungeon." Momiji said, "And we do a run around Orario twice a week."

"How long does that take you?" Another asked, "Even if it's not modern like home, it's a massive city to be sure."

"Less than an hour if we want to do something else with our morning?" Delly guessed, "I dunno, and I do kinda cheat..." She glanced back at her wings.

The JSDF opposite the three adventurers did some head scratching, chin rubbing and forehead tapping as they tried to figure out how fast that might be. "We'd beat the world record holder for the 100 metre sprint, and keep up that speed for longer than the 10 Kilometre run. At least can, if I didn't want to do the dishes after breakfast." Maki said, "Of course, we're all level two and take our training seriously."

This dumbfounded the others, "And wasn't Kodori-san level... seven was it?" One said, "And that nice Ryuu lady... Level five?"

"Most adventurers don't really measure their abilities like our Familia does." Delly said with a smile, "It's one of the reasons our little Alliance did so well against the larger Familia."

"Huh... So you don't have like... competitions? Sporting events?"

"Not really. Since saying 'level two' can range between an off the lot Honda, and one that's been given a hundred thousand yen of work, yet still look like it's stock." Maki said, using a comparison that would be more familiar to the JSDF."

"Huh..." One mumbled, opening his mouth to say more...

"We are nearing our destination." The driver said before the soldier in the back could continue, "Let's hope for a boring mission."

"Boring?" Momiji asked, a little confused.

"Boring means no danger. No danger means no one is getting killed. Here at least."

"When we park, we'll co-ordinate with the people on site, and get you out with the scouting teams." The driver said, "Weapon check, ready up!"

"Ready-op!" The JSDF in the back replied, doing a synchronized check of their rifles and a 'pat the pocket' check to make sure their miscellaneous gear was in place.

(Lelei and the Mini-hime's)

Lelei was surprised.

It wasn't something that happened often. Part of that was her somewhat muted emotional state. Her mind had a near constant background noise to it, of ideas bubbling about and theory working at themselves until she could test or discard them. Most mundane things that people cared about, like how the weather was, or what was for lunch, simply didn't register for her.

This... filter... made her seem slower to react to surprise or shock, but that wasn't true. By the time people had finished gasping in surprise, she'd already figured out what she was going to do about it.

So yes, it wasn't often that Lelei was surprised.

Except, now she was. Haruhime and the seven children had knocked on the door of the dorm room she had been using for her work on the dimensional anchor. The work, or at least, the prototype of her work, was done. But now she was transcribing all the notes and half finished thoughts onto proper paper.

When the knock came, and she called for them to enter, she was surprised the children were there. Not only that, but that they came in, respectful and quiet, and didn't bother her with strings of questions. She simply got a little chorus of, "Hello Miss Lelei-san." And they found places to sit that didn't have writing all over it.

Even if they had been well behaved at the Manor, Lelei had expected more of a reaction.

One of the other things Lelei was known for, was asking questions. Most of those questions were more rhetorical. No one had the answer, so she asked herself, thus making sure at least one person wanted to know the answer. However, when there was an expert on hand, she instead asked them. If it were a simple question, she usually got an answer. If it were a question from a teacher, they would guide her towards an answer instead of saying it outright. She had no idea why adults seemed to fear asking questions. If you didn't know, then why not ask?

Haruhime knew the question before it was asked, "They were told you were working."

"Ah." Lelei replied quietly.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Haruhime asked. "Have you eaten?"

Lelei was surprised again. She was about to wave it off, saying she had work to do, and thus could eat later...

But eight pairs of eyes focused on her, not quite accusing her of skipping a meal. The surprise however, was that she actually cared about what the people behind those eyes would think if she did put off eating. "I haven't yet, no."

Haruhime looked to the children, "Let's fix that, shall we?"

Lelei couldn't take her eyes away from the near assembly line precision of the seven children and Haruhime as they went through the dorm cupboards, found things to cook with (mostly rice and other non-perishables that had been there since the construction of the dorm itself), and started to make something.

She was surprised yet again, when she caught the children 'talking' to each other, but without any verbal sounds. Eye contact, ear twitches, tail swishing, blinks... All very subtle. She didn't know what was being said, but the children seemed to be relaying information. And it wasn't a magic effect either. At least, as far as she could tell.

In the end, the eight of them sat down to rice and various MRE sides. Sardines, pasta, some attempt at chicken stew... It wasn't great, and the children did have a few more things to 'say' to one another, before asking to trade with each other and eventually settle on 'who could tolerate what' best.

"Do you know they do that?" Lelei asked.

"Yes." She said, "Unlike Ko-san and I, they have been able to change into a fox form from before their first birthday. We know they do it, but we can only guess at the meanings."

Haruhime of course showed her pride in the children, giving each of them a little brush over an ear to show she was pleased they did so, not angry.

Lelei thought about this, but was interrupted by the blond haired boy with black ear tips... "Toshi?" He was tugging at her robe's sleeve very lightly.

"Hestia-sama gets upset when we think too hard at the table." He said, pointing to his cheek, yet looking at a spot below her left eye.

"Ah, pardon." Lelei said, touching her cheek to find the bit of rice stuck there.

The others giggled quietly, "Lelei-san? What is left for your task?" Haruhime asked.

"It is... much more difficult to write out everything all at once." She said, "I have to put more of my work in proper order, and most of the diagrams need to be actually completed."

Haruhime nodded. Had this been Kodori, she'd have tapped her forehead to indicate she 'knew' what to write, but didn't need to actually write it all down past the initial idea. But Lelei was not a hand talker. That would have taken brain power that would be better used on something else.

"If you need anything, let us know. We will happily fetch things for you." Haruhime said with her usual smile, the same one she gave Kodori when she said things like 'I didn't write it all down at first'.

So of course, for the next couple of hours, when ever Lelei needed anything at all, Haruhime would step out with all the children, bother the guard at the door, and go on a little quest to find it. With the Soldier guiding them, and Haruhime and her tails corralling the children, no one did more than look in their direction as they went about acting just as disciplined as everyone else while the Fort was on high alert.

(Shinkage and Rory)

Rory laughed, kicking her feet and holding her middle as Shinkage finished telling the first part of the story of why she was in her current body. Most people would have a much different reaction, but no, Rory found it hilarious apparently.

"Why are you laughing?" Shinkage was just as surprised, and not even a little offended. The question was quite genuine.

"Haha... hee..." Rory recovered slowly, finally letting out a long sigh and wiping a tear from her eye. "And you said MY gods sucked... Meanwhile, yours traps you in a weird endless circle of half reincarnation, potentially for all time!"

Shinkage understood the 'joke', and answered with, "I did not say the Gods of Itami's world didn't suck as well. And looking back on the entire ordeal, we deserved it."

This of course got Rory giggling again, though she recovered much faster this time. "I don't know, did you? Who's to say? Think about it, you three were just doing as nature intended!" She made sock puppets out of her hands, "Grr, rawr, nom nom nom!" And went back to giggling.

"No." Shinkage said, the single word so heavy it snapped Rory from her mirth like a dry twig over someone's knee. "An animal might do such a thing. Fight over territory, or over a mate, or food. But Albion, Ddraig and Legion... They... we... Fought because we could not stand to be weaker than the other. We didn't want food, we didn't want territory, and we certainly didn't want to mate."

Of course, Rory chose that new avenue of discussion to interject, "No mating? What? Didn't have the urge? Nothing to mate with? Hmm?" She gave Shinkage a sly look.

Shinkage sighed patiently, "We were more 'concepts' than 'creatures'. You don't expect a rock to mount a tree, do you?"

Rory pouted, "Sounds dreadfully boring." But then perked up again, her look once again going sly, "What about now?"

You could almost see the little cloud of frustration over Shinkage's head, "I try not to think about it. I'm just getting used to all the other things a living body does, without having to worry about hormones." She shivered ever so slightly, "I'd say I've seen enough of that to last a lifetime, except it would be a gross understatement."

Rory wiggled her boulder a little closer to Shinkage's, before leaning her body against the other girl's shoulder and purring, "Are you sure?"

"I can set you on fire, if you're cold." Shinkage said, squinting at the other Goth Loli. "How long are we waiting?"

"Until something happens, or Itami says to go home."

Shinkage sighed, leaning against Rory just a little, "Would you like another story then?"

"Well, if you're not going to entertain me any other-"

She stopped as Shinkage huffed a little bit of flame from her nostrils.

"Yes please." Rory finished.

(Empire side of the Row Stream)

Since the start of the mutual defence initiative taken by the 'Peace Faction' of the Empire started, the shores of the Row Stream had become hardly recognizable to how they were before. Mud and mild marshland had heaps and heaps of gravel and stone poured into it for a foundation. Upon that, once the stone had settled, cut trees had been hammered into the water just past the start of that foundation like giant nails. Huge amounts of mortar had been poured into that, and after it had started to set, cobble and slate had been laid on top.

If nothing else, if Zorzal's forces decided to give up, then this side of the Row Stream would never suffer flooding again. But, that was a vain hope.

Behind that, on the actual shore, trenches were dug, more stone and gravel laid, more mortar poured, and a wall was built along the entire length of the shore. The JSDF, with their 'defence first' pact, had no issue in using heavy excavators and tractors to do most of the heavy lifting for this, and something that might have taken months took only a couple of weeks. It would not have won any awards, and some places were thinner than others due to lack of materials. But that entire length of wall had many firm castle stone emplacements laid down. Atop each of these sat catapult, most of the siege weapon hidden behind the wall.

But inside that, were Ballista. Encased in stone, with a wide window, the 'harpoon launchers' had about a 45 degree firing arch, and more importantly, only a lucky shot would disable them. They didn't need to fire up, just out, so they took priority when it came to 'exposure'. The Catapult were also loaded with grape shot. Spiked spheres of lead and jagged flint, to be fired upwards in case of aerial cavalry, across the water to scour a boat's deck clear of soldiers.

Of course, there were archers, with longbow at the ready, with buckets of arrows ready to resupply any who's quivers ran dry. There were also spear men, though, their weapon wasn't just a simple spear, but a hooked boar spear, in case the enemy brought ladders.

Out in the water, just under it, were sheets of 'Sargasso netting'. Made in Orario, the thin wire nets had a top edge that floated just under the water. The top edge of that net had all manner of hooks and barbs, meant to catch and entangle oars and cling to the underside of a wooden hull. It would also tangle around anyone unlucky enough to fall in.

But even with all this. The thick stone, the heavy (if manual powered) artillery, clever artifice and people willing to hold the line... The defenders were still outnumbered. Even when the call went out, when swift horses and riders departed towards the Capital, when the JSDF's scouts called over their network to alert the places father away... It was still a huge amount of area to cover, and the defenders were spread very thin. Aside from the bridge, the only other place expected to see combat, there were no choke points, no way to stop the enemy from focusing on a single point and breaching the shore's defence.

Even if they could, the defenders still numbered less than half of the Zorzal's forces. The initial stages of civil war, distance, and until recently the continued 'accidents' that kept happening all over the Empire from Zorzal's agents had made it difficult to muster an equal force.

As the daylight faded, the assault began.

"Runners have been sent!" A young faced soldier declared to his stern faced commander, "Signal torches have been lit!"

"Good." The Commander of this little pocket of twenty soldiers manning the stone bunker said, "Begin loading, and keep your head down!"

He turned back to the water, looking through a head sized hole in the stone wall. They were all told, every single one, that the enemy had weapons similar to the JSDF. They were also told, and demonstrated by the JSDF, that those rifles the enemy had were not very accurate. So, every bunker had several small lookout holes, where only a very lucky shot might get through.

He could see the enemy leaving the other shore. In his field of view alone were six barges filled with armoured soldiers, spear and shield at the ready. Ahead of them, were smaller craft, flat bottomed fishing boats, each with those new 'cannon' sitting square in the middle. From this distance, it looked like a little lump of black in the middle of the boat, but again, everyone had been told what to expect.

Beside him, a team of five spun the huge crank to pull back the cup of the catapult. Turning, he watched the cup lower into position, and the fifth man of the team upended a measured load from a wheelbarrow into the cup. Once done, even though the Commander was right there, the fifth solider shouted, "Loaded!"

Underneath, in the bunker itself, there was a heavy muted 'clunk' and a muffled, "Loaded!"

"Steady!" The Commander shouted. "Runner!"

Three seconds later, a new fresh faced recruit popped up from the back the emplacement, "Sir!"

"Pour the copper into the signal fire."

"Sir!" And a moment later, the big signal fire behind the wall sputtered for a moment, then started to burn more blue than red and orange as the copper salts were sprinkled in.

All along the shore, the signal fires started to burn blue. Not all of them, but most. This was another signal, though not to the far off reinforcements, but the more local 'special talent'.

"Steady!" The commander called again, feeling the nervousness from the catapult crew behind him.

Somewhere in the distance, there was a sudden SHOOM noise, followed by a loud splash a good fifty metres from shore.

"Steady!" The Commander repeated.

The 'special talent', were the few 'Imperial Mages'. By Rondel's standards, they were failures. But no matter how incompetent a mage might be, the very first spell they learned was how to make light.

Sparking up from the ground like fireworks, little stars of light lit the near-night sky. This wasn't to provide light for the defenders. They had torches for that. No, this was to cast light over the water.

"AIM!" The Commander shouted.

Beside him, that fifth man from the catapult crew took up a spot in an adjacent gap in the stone and started waving his hand to direct the aim of the catapult. The light above faded though...

"Steady!" Then another burst of little bright lights rose up into the air. "AIM!"

There was another thump of cannon fire, and a short whistle before a sudden splash of water only ten metres from the shore.

In the water, there was a glint of light, a polished bit of metal near one of the Sargasso nets. But it vanished suddenly, even with the little magic sparks above still going strong. "FIRE!"

Under the commander's feet, the heavy ballista THWUM-ed, and a harpoon sped over the water at the suddenly dark signal mirror that a boat had drifted over. Wood splintered as the metal head of the bolt slammed into the target. Another splash as something fell overboard, and the Commander smiled as the mirror under the water lit up again just as the magic light started to fade once more.

Then something heavy slammed into the shore, bouncing off the gravel in front of the bunker and smashing into the stone wall and sending a vibration through the structure that could be felt right to the top of the Commander's head.

His orders kept the younger soldiers on task, and the next line of lights went up into the sky. "Reload!" He ordered, looking to the fifth man of the catapult crew. He was still looking through the portal, but a couple seconds later, he brought his hand down as one of the enemy barges drifted over another mirror and started to get tangled in a Sargasso net.

(Kodori)

Now, I was never really one for 'large scale' combat. No one in Orario really was. Almost all our fighting was in the dungeon. A (relatively) small area that was easy to get to, and the 'timing' of your trips were basically routine after a while.

Of course, this meant I wasn't used to how long things were taking to happen. Over the next couple of hours, I was basically just sitting there, listening to brief radio chatter, and counting the freckles on the Irish radio lady's exposed shoulders (and the answer to 'how many' was 'lots'). There had been a couple of little reports. And the Chinook, the big double rotor cargo/troop helicopter had landed just outside Italica.

But it was kinda boring.

"We have confirmation of shots fired. Guide lights are going up at regular intervals. Shore side artillery is active." The radio that Mimi was sitting at said suddenly.

The quiet black haired woman looked to her partner, who nodded and started to relay that. "Bridge team. Shore has gone active. Confirmed exchange of fire. Report."

"Muster confirmed. Negative movement." Came the reply.

The Redhead clicked a button. "Nest. Shore has started exchange. Negative motion at bridge."

Another voice replied, "No change. Steady on."

With no change in orders, she didn't reply. But she did click the switch over, "Land team. ETA?"

This time the radio had the rumble of a Humvee in the background, "ETA to border town, ten minutes."

"Copy that."

"One air asset requesting permission to deploy."

This was followed by a tiny giggle, "My assets don't deploy for just anyone."

The radio cut before the rest of the Humvee could start laughing, and the Irishwoman looked at me. I nodded and gave a thumbs up.

"Air asset is go." She said into the microphone.

"Copy that."

There was a pause, and Delly's voice spoke next, the sound of moving air coming through the speaker, "Um hi? Heading up to one hundred metres or so."

"Understood. Designating you to channel four."

A pause, "Ah... um..."

"Little switch, two over from the red light." The redhead replied helpfully.

Another pause, a sprinkle of static, then, "Aha!"

"Reading you clearly. Report on anything out of place."

"Gotcha." And the line clicked off.

Mimi spoke quietly, "Adding channel four. Done." And a little light went green at her station, to go along with a bunch of other green and red LED.

And then it was back to waiting.

"Why the sigh foxy?" The redhead asked, "For us this is a crazy busy day." She motioned to Mimi, "Even got the night shift in."

"I'm used to more of a... Yes or No style of combat. You're fighting, or not fighting." I replied.

"Eh well, when you have a place like that city of yours, it's understandable." Both she and Mimi nodded, "Can imagine that kinda life making you a bit routine right?"

"Yeah. But to be fair, adventurers are basically mercenaries. Gotta work to eat, but otherwise you do as you please with your time." I replied, "Wonder how Ita-"

"This is Itami. ETA to dock point five minutes. We are mid way along the shore past the eighth emplacement."

The Irishwoman stood, and applied a thumbtack to a map over her radio.

Itami continued, "We are dropping off one of the assets at scout two."

A pin was placed next to that tack.

"Then continuing on to Dock Point." He finished.

"Understood."

The two radio jocks looked at me, and I looked down at my palm as one of them hummed quietly. "Kaede?"

(Kaede)

Kaede spoke into the little bead as she watched Itami drive off to once again catch up to the other Third Recon Humvee. "I'm going to defend the shoreline. I'm also close enough to the bridge to run there if I have to."

Kodori's voice was free of static, but not free of worry, "You sure?"

"Yes. Hagane is going on ahead. Didn't say why, but he's a giant cat." Kaede chuckled without any real humour, "Meeting with this scout team here, and I'll contact you if something..."

"Keep your head down. You do not hear the one that hits you, you understand?"

"I plan on winning." Kaede replied, "See you soon."

The bead in her palm dimmed, and she walked a few steps towards a small shed of wood and stone. Inside were two JSDF. One was looking through a pair of binoculars intently, the other was just watching her as she got closer.

"Scout team two?" She asked, keeping clear of the one with the binoculars. "Itami told me to tell you, 'I'll buy you beer later'. But just to be clear, I'm not buying you beer later."

The two of them chuckled, "Fair enough. We're keeping eyes on things, ready to call up reserves if they get past the defenders."

She nodded, the background noise of cannon and ballista fire making her turn her head towards the shore a could hundred metres distant, "You have a 'rajeeo'?"

"Yes Ma'am."

The other one spoke suddenly, "Hundred metres before contact." Then a less official sounding, "Shame they could only get this many ballista."

"If they had another week." The other said, "It's frustrating though..."

Kaede nodded. Being sidelined was one of her least favourite things. She wasn't arrogant enough to think she was up to every challenge, but when she thought she was, and was told she wasn't... "Just give me something to do, and I'll get enough work done for both of you." Kaede said, doing another weapon/equipment check.

Then the radio snapped to life, "Bunker four is hit! Artillery down!"

The one without the binoculars answered, "Sending reinforcement."

And the one with the binoculars said quietly, "I see the ones off shore starting to change course... They're going for the breach."

"This is Scout two, enemy is diverting towards Bunker four."

"Scout three here. I see no diversion." Another voice said.

Kaede wasn't an expert in warfare. But she could at least see the 'plan'. The nearest of Zorzal's forces would go for the break in the defender's wall, while the rest would try and make another breach.

"Where?" Kaede asked.

"That way, six signal torches down."

(Maki, Momiji, Delly)

Even with the darkness, Delly had no trouble seeing. Part of it was her adventurer status. Becoming level two had given her a very distinct sharpening of her sense. Everyone at the Manor had told her about their own 'when I reached level two' story about how everything just seemed more 'real' the next day. Like they'd grown new eyes over night.

Another part was her... mishap as Kodori's former Familia. The tail, ears and wild hair colour weren't the only things she'd gotten from Kodori's mishap with Fenrir's leftover soul. She'd also gotten the eyes. Even had trouble with various shades of red like Kodori. However, in an effort to 'cheat' the system of falna, and her mastery of illusion magic, she had 'overwritten' that colour blindness, constantly using a little dribble of magic every waking hour of every day. The magic needed wasn't even worth mentioning, it was so small a spell, but for falna it counted, her magic stat raising little by little every day even when she wasn't zapping things in the dungeon.

So, as she rose to someplace around a hundred metres into the air, she had no trouble seeing anything. Of course, she couldn't help herself, and cheated a little more. Much like a modern day targeting computer, little things in her vision started to gain outlines. The Humvee was now a green box that was slowly getting ahead of her. Trees (important not to fly in to) were grey bubbly outlines. The upcoming village with the little bridge in the middle became another grey outline.

She had helped Gasper create the 'magical smart glasses' after all. Doing it all herself was easy.

Magical adjustments to her sight done, she clicked her radio channel to '1', then pressed the talk button, "I'm in the air. Glad we aren't doing this in the winter."

A moment, then, "Winter here is pretty mild. See anything?" It was the JSDF in the passenger seat.

"A couple of... Dunno what they call them here. Critters. A few little flying critters. But nothing bigger than that aside from you. Drive just a tiny bit slower so I can get above you?"

Pause, "Slowing down ten percent. Thought you said you could keep up?"

"Air is cooling down. My wings work better with a little humidity and warmth." Delly pouted. But even if the banter was friendly and relaxed, she was still doing her job, "I see two soldier types ahead. Town guard probably, since well, they're in front of the town."

A little chuckle bubbled up from the Humvee, her ears picking it up as she got over the vehicle again. "I see them. Hope there isn't any trouble here... A chest high wall in a siege does not give me warm fuzzy feelings. How long can you stay up there?"

"Hovering? Until I get bored or hungry."

She heard Maki comment before the radio did, "She'll get hungry first." Followed by another little chuckle.

"We'll get you something sweet when you come down. Fruit around here is pretty good."

"You're awesome." Delly replied brightly.

The town wasn't really much to speak of. It wasn't nearly as big as Italica. It wasn't a hub of trade or used for diplomatic meetings. It was however a place for industry. Until very recently, it had been a place to smelt metals. However, the recent sabotage of several nearby mines had all but stopped that, and only now were they starting to recover. Even so, it was only a fraction of what their peak was.

The lack of metal had killed business, choked the local economy and thinned the population as some left to find work that would give them enough money to eat. Add that to the recent exodus of a great many beast-folk, and the town was rather bare looking.

But, it was recovering, and would eventually return to full production. That was probably why anyone stayed behind at all. Well, that, and there was already a town here, even if it was half empty.

Still, with the bridge in the exact middle of the town, the chest high stone wall around the perimeter, (with a few other walls and fences of various heights nearby marking the farmland or scrubby pasture), and the beginnings of the foothills and mountains that led to Rondel North East of the town, it was the most defensible place on this side of the Row Stream.

The Humvee rolled up to the town, the view across the water blocked by low and grassy hills on the right, and thickly growing forest on the left. If someone wanted to sneak around, there wasn't much they could do but keep careful watch. But if any sort of military force tried, the town would be... well, it wouldn't be a terrible strong point.

"Wish we could have gotten another Humvee here..." One of the JSDF in the back said.

"This will have to do." Another said, tap-tapping his boot against the cupola's structure, "Just have to find a good spot to set up."

The Humvee rolled to a stop, and the driver rolled down the window, "Here to help." He said to the human guard in imperial armour.

"Thank Sol." The guard replied, "Tonight feels especially dark. Not sure why. Like something is waiting to fall out of the sky on us."

In the back, Maki and Momiji covered their mouths to stop a laugh.

"We don't expect trouble. But we'll be here in shifts a couple of days or so." The driver said, "Got a place to set up?"

"The town is mostly empty. Just don't..." He looked the the wheels of the Humvee, "Roll over any livestock."

"We'll be careful." And the driver started to roll forward again, slowly and with the headlights on, to make sure he didn't run over a chicken or something.

"Look for a good spot to park." The JSDF in the passenger seat said, "Get the gear prepped for unload."

All business now, the three JSDF in the back started shuffling and shimmying in their seats, dislodging bits of gear from little compartments, getting it ready for swift setup the instant they stopped.

(Third Recon and Hagane)

"We are at the dock." Itami said over the radio.

He looked back into the crew compartment as the radio spoke, "Acknowledged. Last check from our asset has him in the same location, but that was twenty hours ago during his nightly check in."

"Understood." Itami replied into the radio, clicking it off, "I'll step out so people can change." He did so, while the people in the back started getting various boxes out from under the seats and webbing pouches. Itami closed the door of the Humvee almost all the way so he could still talk on the radio, "We will be going dark when the mission starts, until success or failure."

"Copy that. Make one call before mission start."

The radio clicked off, and Itami looked to Hagane, who was just sitting there like a good nightmare catto, looking across the water.

The 'dock' was basically the last westernmost area of ground that was still usable for anything. To the east, you had the defenders and the various forts and such. But to the west, was the start of the giant mountain. And on the other side of that? Rondel. If they wanted, they could have swum about half way across the Row Stream, then let the current take them through a rather treacherous stretch of white water rapids and mini waterfalls, and arrived in the city of scholars. But nothing from this would would have survived such a rough trip.

"So something comes to mind." Itami said to Hagane, most certainly not looking through the small windows of the Humvee at the people changing into black skin suits. "We have gear to get across. But what about you?"

"What about me?" Hagane rumbled.

"Well... You're what... a ton and a half? Sleek lines or not that's a bit heavy for a swim."

"You can go ahead of me if I can't keep up. The day I can't track a bunch of two legged people, is the day I stop being a dragon."

"Fair enough." Itami said as the back of the Humvee opened. Dressed in all black 'one size fits all' wet suits, were the women of Third Recon. Tuka, Yao, Shino and Mari.

"All done papa." Tuka said, doing a little twirl in place, "I've never been diving like this before."

"Mari-san will show you two how to use the masks. Katsumoto? Tozu? Suit up."

Itami, the big heavy weapons guy Katsumoto and the bookish rifleman Tozu stepped into the Humvee and started to get ready.

NOTES!

Making things up as I go along, since much of this isn't covered in the anime, the manga isn't exactly the most detailed, and I don't have the books. But here's the start of the 'big mission.'

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