2199 CE
Camp Alnus, Falmart
"More than a hundred thousand casualties. Six to seven thousand POWs. Most of them were wounded the enemy left behind. Excavators went in dug up another hole for the corpses. Bravo Company got the shitty job of taking armor and weapons off the corpses. At least the ones that could be recovered. Wyverns got descaled and the bodies sent back over to the other side. I heard they planned to sell the meat, scales and other crap."
"What the hell are they gonna make with those? Wyvern scale boots? Sounds like something you'd see in a video game or some other fantasy bullshit."
"Considering where we are now and who the hell we're fighting? I can see something like that. Wey-Yu's gonna make some profits. I wouldn't put it pass them to make Wyvern boots or performance enhancers from Wyvern piss or something."
"You looking to buy one, Winter?"
"Heh. With how loud you were last night, I don't think I need it. I'm pretty sure half the base heard you."
"Fuck you."
Reid playfully punched Winter on the shoulder while the Staff Sergeant laughed. The two were currently sat by one of the tables set up outside of the MCX. Both of them nursing a cold can of W-Y Aspen Beer each. It was common knowledge that Weyland-Yutani basically owns almost everything in the galaxy. At least on the United Americas and Three World Empire side. Maybe they own something in UPP territory. Maybe they don't. Who the fuck knows at this point?
For today, the two of them took it easy and as luck would have it their schedules were free. Reid had the top half of her flight suit off and was tied around her waist. Revealing the olive green undershirt she wore underneath as well as her dog tags. She also wore her aviators and her personal fingerless gloves as well. Meanwhile, Winter still wore his CUU like he usually did with the sleeves rolled neatly up to his biceps. Today, however, he wore a pair of BiMex Ballistic M Frame Polarized shades.
"You know how to fly a Samson?"
"Yeah."
"Alright then. Follow me."
Winter suddenly stood up and crushed the empty can in his hand before throwing it over to the waste bin. Reid finished her own drink and then disposed of it before catching up to Winter and matched his pace.
"I got reassigned to Third Recon Team this morning."
"Third Recon?"
"Yeah. Generals Marlow and Hazama created a recon company to head out and perform reconnaissance beyond the borders of Alnus. Third Recon is tasked with performing civil recon on the settlements near Alnus. The company would be mixed and is made up of personnel from the Marines and JSDF with an Army dog as our Company Commander. Captain Cruz recommended me and I was assigned to Third Recon."
"What are the Generals up to, Winter? Why civil recon?"
"This is all just speculation on my part, Reid, so don't take it seriously. I think they want the task force to have a good relationship with the local civilian populace. It'll make things easier for when the colonists eventually arrive to settle. They wouldn't be met with hostilities. Civil recon will help the task force find out what we can use to 'entice' the people to our side, show them that we're not here to destroy their lands and kill their people but to help, offer medical assistance and maybe even help with food shortages. You know. Humanitarian stuff. After that, develop outreach programs aimed at expanding and improving their education system and just improving their lives in general. Then we can start moving onto the big leagues."
Reid raised a brow and looked at the Staff Sergeant. "And what exactly are the big leagues?"
"Falmart is just one continent, Reid." Winter replied. "It's not the entire world. There's bound to be more out there. More lands. More civilizations. More undiscovered species and resources. Think about it. What if this civilization has the secret to immortality? What if this animal has organs or fluids with properties that can cure blindness or cancer? What if this rock can be used for a lot of things like a mega battery or some other crap? Since we can't exactly threaten them from orbit -at least for now, we'll deal with them in the negotiating table."
"Then why not just threaten them with what we have now? We have the firepower."
"Maybe so but we don't exactly know what this world is capable of, Reid. We saw people throwing fireballs and lightning bolts. What's to say they can't rain down a fucking meteor shower on our heads? Civil recon may provide us with valuable information about that. Like how magic in this place works or if it can exist on the other side. Don't forget. This place is a fucking gold mine. What's happening on the other side didn't stop Wey-Yu or our government. It just distracted them for a bit. Pretty soon they'll be focusing their efforts back on the Special Region. Besides. Good civil relations will help make us look good on the negotiating table. Makes us look more trustworthy."
"Is that what the generals are really aiming to do?"
"It's what I would do."
Reid didn't say anything and just looked at Winter in silence before shaking her head with an amused smirk.
"Why the hell are you still in infantry, Chris?"
"I know when to quit while I'm ahead, Lisa. Besides."
Winter took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it between his lips before taking out a lighter and igniting the end of the stick then inhaled.
"I like it here." He exhaled a puff of smoke. "I'm content with where I am."
"That's the best answer you can give me, huh?"
His reply was a simple grunt. Making Reid sigh before changing the subject.
"You know anyone in this recon team?"
"Yeah. Two of the JSDF guys. One was part of my AMP Trooper platoon in Viking Company. The other one's a friend of the Captain."
"What about Marines?"
"Sergeant Rain Taggart and Corporal Noah Carota from Echo Company then me and Fischer."
Winter stopped and turned to face Reid.
"You're also being reassigned to Third Recon. We need eyes in the sky and an airlift in case shit hits the fan."
"Is that why you were asking about the Samson?"
"Yeah." Winter nodded and blew a puff of smoke.
"We'll be meeting our Team Leader at exactly 1300 hours near the ECP. I'm gonna go ahead gear up. I suggest you do the same. They already have a crew for the Samson but they're missing a pilot and told me to find one. You're the first person that came to mind."
Reid smiled at him and moved to leave but stopped in her tracks when she felt Winter smack her ass. She turned around and glared at the Marine who had a smug look on his face as he gave her a wink. Shaking her head, Reid flipped him off before walking away.
(Line Break)
After gearing up, Reid and Winter hopped in an unarmed Swan and made their way to the ECP. Along the way, they picked up Katsumoto who was heading there as well and the JSDF Infantryman hopped in the back. Winter introducing him to Reid and vice versa. The three of them eventually arrived at the ECP and parked the Swan beside a large tent with a sign outside saying "3rd RECON TEAM".
Winter hopped out of the passenger seat and took his helmet off before holding it under his arm and walked towards the tent. Katsumoto mirroring his actions while Reid put on the top half of her flight suit but left it unzipped as the three of them entered the tent. Inside were the rest of Third Recon. Talking amongst themselves as they waited for their Commanding Officer and Second-in-command (2iC) to arrive.
Reid made her way over to Third Recon's Samson crew to introduce herself while Katsumoto left to join his squad. Winter found Fischer speaking with two other Marines, Sergeant Rain Taggart and Corporal Noah Carota, and walked towards them. The three immediately noticed him approach and greeted him.
"Staff Sergeant."
"Fischer. Taggart. Carota." He greeted back with a nod. "Where's our CO?"
"Sergeant Major Kuwahara left to pick him up." Carota answered. "Ten bucks says he overslept."
Carota wore the standard woodland pattern CUU with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and wore a pair of tan cut and fire resistant gloves. His M3 armor was customized with a cartoonish bulldog wearing a helmet and smoking a cigar on the front. Instead of a helmet, he wore his eight point cover with a pair of BiMex polarized shades and an earpiece as well as a mesh scarf around his neck. On the table behind him was an M249UA Light Machine Gun (LMG) with it's bipod deployed. It was the United American counterpart of the Three World Empire's F893WE LMG.
"Fifteen says he's getting his ass smoked by his boss." Taggart replied as she placed an unlit cigarette between her lips.
Taggart wore her CUU with the sleeves rolled up to her biceps and wore a pair of fingerless gloves as well as an elbow pad on her right arm. She was equipped with a lightweight variant of the M3 armor and customized it with a cracked Xenomorph skull. She taped a combat knife to her armor's right load-bearing arch and her webbing strap had pouches rather than grenades. Rather than wear a helmet, Taggart wore a woodland camo boonie cover and an earpiece. She too wore a mesh scarf around her neck as well as a pair of BiMex polarized shades.
"Hey, Staff Sergeant. Who's our CO anyway?" Fischer asked.
"You haven't met him yet, huh?"
The youngest -and also the shortest- of the four Marines shook her head. Fischer's armor was customized with the radioactive symbol on the right shoulder and the Venus symbol underneath her surname. She also taped webbing with M47 grenades on top of her armor's load-bearing arches in addition to the grenades she already carried in her pouches. She painted two purple stars on the left side of her helmet and a purple kiss mark on the back.
"Third Recon's Commanding Officer is First Lieutenant Yoji Itami." Winter answered.
"For those of you who don't know, he's the first JSDF personnel on the scene to act when the Gate opened up in Ginza. He was on leave when the Imperials invaded. Helped the local law enforcers in directing civilians to safety and even taking down a couple of Legionaries from what I heard. He's a hero to the Japanese public and the media's got their eyes on him. He doesn't like it one bit."
"You've met him, Staff Sergeant?" The Grenadier questioned.
"Yeah. Seemed like a laid-back guy and he doesn't act like there's a corn cob up his ass. Actually." Winter looked up in thought.
"Doesn't really act much like a soldier to be honest. At least in the short time I've been in the same room with him. I asked him about his celebrity status and he told me it was more of an nuisance. Said all he wanted was to tend to his... hobby."
The Staff Sergeant shook his head and looked back at the three. He liked to believe that there's more to Itami than a man obsessed with manga and anime and whatnot. He did his homework on the man and checked the footage of what he did during the Battle of Ginza. While his reasoning for joining the JSDF was... odd to him, Winter could also see that when it comes down to it Itami can be a good soldier. A good head on his shoulders too.
"I want you three to treat him like how we always treat new COs. Keep things civil. Refrain judgement until we actually see him in action. And if we do judge him, let's keep our comments to ourselves. He's still our ranking officer. Got it?"
The three Marines nodded before looking to the entrance of the tent upon hearing someone part the tent flaps and saw Lieutenant Itami and Sergeant Major Kuwahara step inside. The team took their seats on the folding chairs in the middle of the tent while Winter and the JSDF Squad Leader, Staff Sergeant Akira Tomita, joined Itami and Kuwahara as they stood in front of the holoprojector which was displaying a map.
Winter, Tomita and Kuwahara stood in parade rest to the left of the holoprojector as Itami began to introduce himself to his unit with visible nervousness.
"Oh God. Uh." Itami cleared his throat and stood a little straighter. "Glad to see you all here, people. I'm First Lieutenant Yoji Itami. Third Recon Team Commander. Let's get this briefing over with."
Itami turned around and gestured at the displayed holomap. He took a deep breathe before turning serious or as serious as he can get.
"Now. You already know our job is to perform civil recon. Simple enough, right? Well. We just got another job added it. Recon drones have spotted bandits raiding a number of settlements and isolated dwellings in the area. We have reason to believe that these bandits had been part of the army that attacked us a couple of days ago. Now our job was to only perform civil recon and that's still our job but command also told us that if we ever encounter a settlement under attack by bandits, we move in to intervene. Eliminate the hostiles.
Second Lieutenant Jason Mills raised his hand and Itami nodded to the Co-pilot.
"Sir, aren't these guys supposed to be the Empire's problem? Why should we care?"
Rather than answer, Itami turned to Winter and nodded. The Marine cleared his throat and took a step forward.
"The answer is simple, Mills. It'll make us look good. And the ones we help may just feel indebted to us. That'll make our job a whole lot easier."
Tomita then stepped up. "We're also trying to gain civilian support without pointing a gun to their head. Show them that we're not going to hurt them. That we're here to help."
"If they don't want our help, we'll persuade them as best as we can." Winter continued. "Offer them medical assistance, supplies or anything they sorely need like food and medicine. If they still refuse, we back off and move onto the next settlement. But it's not gonna be like that all the time. People will get curious. They get curious enough, they'll start approaching us willingly. We build trust then we can do our job of gathering information. We've been here for months but we don't really know much about these people. Our job is to change that."
"What if the civilians turn hostile?" Carota questioned. "What are the rules of engagement for that?"
"If they're unarmed, we'll use the minimum amount of force necessary to deal with them." Kuwahara answered. "We've been provided with ballistic shields, batons and other non-lethals. Try not to kill them no matter how much they get on your nerves."
"And if they're armed or start to mob up?" Taggart questioned. "Pick up pitch forks and torches?"
"We have tear gas and stun grenades. Control the crowd. Stop things from escalating."
Kuwahara took a step back and Winter once more stepped forward.
"Everyone here will be given translators."
Winter walked over to the table beside the holoprojector and held up one of the devices before putting it on. The device looked like a Smartgun's Head Mounted Sight (HMS) but instead of being plugged in an M56 Combat Harness, it was plugged in a throat mic. Winter pressed a button on the right side of the band behind the camera and a small, holographic eyepiece materialized over the wearer's eye.
"These things will help us understand the locals better. Translates what we say to their language and comes out of the throat mic's external speakers. This thing can also pick up what they say and translates it to English through the headset's speakers."
Winter stepped back and Itami took his place before gesturing at the holographic map.
"Our first settlement is this village."
The map zoomed in on the aforementioned village.
"We'll establish contact with these guys and see where it goes from there." Itami shrugged. "If things go well then we start answering their questions. Just simple ones. Then we offer them medical assistance or whatever. If things don't go well then we move onto the next village here."
The view shifted towards a forest several miles from the first one.
"We don't know who or what lives here but we do know it's inhabited. It could be demi-humans."
"Do we offer them the same assistance we offer the human villages, Lieutenant?" The Team Medic, Sergeant Mari Kurokawa, asked.
"I don't see why not." Itami replied with a shrug.
The JSDF Squad's Automatic Rifleman, Sergeant Shino Kuribayashi, followed it up with her own question.
"Does the rules of engagement apply to demi-humans as well, sir?"
"Uhh."
Itami looked over at Kuwahara and the older man nodded before the Lieutenant turned back to answer the short woman.
"It does."
"Intel says that demi-humans are treated as inferior to humans." Winter added. Taking a step forward to stand next to Itami.
"Not a lot of them hold much love for the Empire since there has been some accounts that they committed genocide to certain demi-human groups. We could use this to our advantage. Let's play nice with them and see if they're willing to cooperate."
"Thank you, Staff Sergeant." Itami then turned to the others. "Any more questions?"
No one answered and Itami hummed before looking at his wristwatch. Once he saw the time, Itami looked at Third Recon.
"Alright, people. Time to mount up. We're rolling out in ten mikes. Grab your gear and let's go." He then turned to look at the two Squad Leaders. "Winter, your squad is designated as Raven 3-1. Tomita, yours is Raven 3-2. Our Samson is designated as Falcon Three. 3-1 will be taking the Hellrider while 3-2 will be riding with us in the APC. Any objections?"
"No sir." The two Squad Leaders replied simultaneously.
"Good. You guys go on ahead. I gotta take care of something first."
The two saluted Itami and he waved them off before Winter and Tomita walked away. Once they were out of the tent, the Lieutenant let out a sigh and plopped down on one of the empty seats.
"God." He groaned out while rubbing his temple. "That was exhausting."
"I think you did pretty well, sir."
If anyone asked him, Itami would vehemently deny that he screamed like a girl that day. After taking a few moments to calm himself down, the Lieutenant looked up at Kuwahara.
"Thanks, Old School."
The Sergeant Major nodded before holding out a cup of water to Itami.
"Water, Lieutenant? There are a couple of things that stuck with me from my time working alongside the Marines years ago. One of them being: Don't forget to hydrate."
Itami took the offered cup and nodded his thanks before downing the entire thing in seconds. He crushed the cup and threw it at the trash bin before turning back to the older soldier.
"Kuwahara, do you know any of the Marines in our team personally?"
"Just Staff Sergeant Winter, sir." Kuwahara replied.
"What can you tell me about him?"
"He's Captain Jeremy Cruz's favored subordinate." The older soldier crossed hid arms. "I believe Winter reminds him a bit of himself when he was younger. Winter was a candidate for Officer training but he chose to remain in infantry. However. Cruz did mention in passing that Winter was a Marine Raider for an unspecified amount of time before requesting a lateral move back to Rhino Company."
"Marine Raider?" Itami raised a brow. "Spec ops?"
"Spec ops, sir." Kuwahara nodded.
"I see."
Itami decided he had enough to think about for now and stood up. He grabbed his helmet and put it on before making his way out of the tent. Followed closely behind by Kuwahara.
From his spot in the passenger seat of the M14 Hellrider Ground Assault Vehicle, Winter made sure his Pulse Rifle was stowed and secured on the individual weapon rack beside each seat. Outside the vehicle, Carota and Taggart were loading several ammunition boxes containing belts of 12.7mm AP rounds in the back of the Hellrider. Once they were done, the Marine Automatic Rifleman manned the ring-mounted twin M41E4 Heavy Pulse Rifles while the Marine Designated Marksman took a seat behind Fischer who was in the driver seat.
"We're ready to go, Staff Sergeant." Taggart stated.
Winter nodded before looking at the Hellrider's side-view mirror and watched as Itami and Kuwahara entered the M580 APC. Unlike the M570-series of Armored Personnel Carriers, the M580 was larger, has more room for passengers or supplies and was far more heavily armored compared to the 570s. It, however, lacked the main turret. Forcing it to rely solely on the cupola mounted RE700 20mm Rotary Cannon turret on the hood of the APC.
[Third Recon, check in when ready.] Itami spoke through their comms.
"Raven 3-1, checking in." Winter responded.
[Raven 3-2, checking in.]
[Falcon Three, checking in.]
[Alright. That's everyone. Let's roll, people.]
The Hellrider took off first. Leading the way out of the base with the APC keeping up with the smaller vehicle in a reasonable pace while the Samson tailed them from a reasonable distance. Third Recon rolled out of Camp Alnus and made their way to the closest village which was an hour away.
Inside the M580 APC, Itami was quickly getting bored. He was sitting in front of the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) and checked on the screens that showed the live feeds of the cameras mounted to their HMS.
"So far so good. No one's HMS is acting up. Let's check on the ground team's comms. Raven 3-1, comms check. Report in."
[Raven 3-1 Actual, reporting in.]
[Raven 3-1 Tango, reporting in.]
[Raven 3-1 Charlie, reporting in.]
[Raven 3-1 Foxtrot, reporting in.]
"Okay. 3-1's comms are good. How about you 3-2? Let's hear it."
[Raven 3-2 Actual, reporting in.]
[Raven 3-2 Kilo Sierra, reporting in.]
[Raven 3-2 Kilo Whiskey, reporting in.]
[Raven 3-2 Foxtrot, reporting in.]
Itami continued to check on everyone's individual comms and found that they were all good. Still. That left him with nothing to do for the next forty minutes or so. His mind started to wander. Wander back to the Second Battle of Alnus. He had been in the front line trench that day. In fact, everyone in Third Recon had participated in the battle in some way. Itami almost had a close call with two Wyverns that had crashed just behind their section of the trench after they were shot down. The two beasts attacked the JSDF and he was lucky that he survived. The young man dying in his arms that day wasn't so lucky.
Itami could remember it clear as day. He was shooting one of the Wyvern when it suddenly pounced on one Private Sakamoto and grabbed him with it's jaws. The young man's agonized screams were drowned out by gunfire as the JSDF Infantrymen tried to take the Wyverns out but they failed and the two ripped Sakamoto in half with one of them flinging the upper half at Itami while he was in the middle of reloading his rifle. The same Wyvern spotted him and moved in for the kill. Before the Wyvern could do so, a pair of AMP Troopers arrived and proceeded to take down the two Wyverns.
Meanwhile, he was sitting there on the ground. Holding the young man's hand and watched as Sakamoto's ragged breaths lessened with each passing second. His life slowly leaving his body. Itami's hand unconsciously moved towards the pouch he kept Sakamoto's sketch journal and moved to take it out but stopped. In his last moments, Sakamoto took it out and gave it to him.
Itami's hand curled into a fist and he fought the urge to slam said fist on the console before attempting to calm himself down. It worked for a few moments before his thoughts went back to Sakamoto. His eyes glazing over.
From her spot beside Kuribayashi, Kurokawa saw the distant look on the Lieutenant's face and immediately knew what he had been thinking about. After all, she was there when it happened. The image of the Wyverns tearing Sakamoto in two had been the stuff of recent nightmares. She was also there when Sakomoto's body was bagged and sent back to Japan.
(Line Break)
One Week Ago
Corporal Mari Kurokawa sighed and shook her head. The two infantrymen with her zipped up the body bag and placed the corpse gently on the the stretcher before lifting it up off the ground and started walking away. The Combat Medic stood up and looked around her as more and more body bags were placed inside the M580 APCs to be identified and sent back to the other side of the Gate. The JSDF weren't the only ones that took losses. Echo Company lost a quarter of their Marines because of how the Wyverns managed to land before they could be shot down. They may have been few in number but they were still a deadly foe. Even Hunter Two suffered causalties. Losing two of their Rangers. Rhino Company had been prepared and only one casualty.
Kurokawa removed her helmet and looked to her right as Lieutenant Itami stood before Sakamoto's upper half. The man's eyes were looking at the body but they were unfocused. Even after the body was removed, Itami remained rooted on spot. Kurokawa decided to go over to and check on him. She knew that Sakamoto idolized Itami. Followed him around like a lost puppy. They shared the same interests and Sakamoto had found a friend in Itami. Sure he got along with his squad but they weren't exactly his friends. They didn't share his passion but Itami did. He was also young. Only four years younger than her and she was 23.
The Combat Medic reached Itami and opened her mouth to speak but the Lieutenant spoke up first.
"Did you know he wanted to be an artist?"
Itami held up a small hardback journal. A rare sight to see in this day and age. She saw that the brown leather cover was stained with blood.
"He told me that he wanted to make a manga based on our experience here. I've seen his characters. Almost all of them were based on us and other people in the base. He already has several volumes made. Ready for publishing when he finds someone to publish them. This journal was supposed to be the latest."
The Lieutenant put away the journal with a sigh and removed his helmet before running a hand through his hair. Uncaring if he got blood on it.
"I told him to stay in the trench. That he'll be safe there." Itami muttered. "He ran out. Saying he could help. That's when the Wyvern saw him. I told him to run. To go back in the trench."
She saw that. If she hadn't been treating someone's wounds, she would've ran after him and dragged him back to the trench. Kurokawa didn't realize she had voiced her thoughts out loud until Itami replied.
"If you had ran out after him then both of you would be dead."
Kurokawa looked back at Itami and saw the man was now looking at the sky.
"If you look at the situation pragmatically, a unit can afford to lose one infantryman. You lose a medic then who would treat the wounded? Sure we're taught basic first-aid but then what? What if the injury was more severe than what regular infantrymen can handle but a medic can?"
Itami looked back down and turned to face her. His eyes staring straight into her own yet at the same time it was not. It was a far cry from the usually laid-back look he always sported.
"If you died then there would be a lot more body bags heading back to Earth."
He looked down at the journal in his hands and Kurokawa saw the momentary flash of sadness and regret in his eyes before they went blank again. Itami put his helmet back on and turned around.
"Command is expecting a casualty report. You know where to find me."
"Of course, sir."
Kurokawa watched Itami walk away. Often times he showed himself as more of an otaku with a general lack of work ethic and disregard for his job and only joined the JSDF to support his hobby. Yet here she can see that there was more to it than that. It made her curious of who Yoji Itami truly is.
(Line Break)
Present
[Raven Three Actual, this is Raven 3-1. We're coming up to the village now. How should we proceed? Over.]
The voice of Raven 3-1's Squad Leader snapped her back to the present and Kurokawa looked over at Itami as the Lieutenant set his eyes on one of the screens.
"We'll approach this nice and slow. Find a good place to park the vehicles. Somewhere hidden but close enough to village for a quick getaway. 3-1 Actual, you're coming along with me, Kurokawa and Kuwahara. We'll dismount and enter the village on foot. Falcon Three, circle around the village. See if you can spot anything suspicious."
[Solid copy, Three Actual. Breaking off now. Out.]
"3-1 Tango, I want you to climb something high and keep an eye on us. The rest of 3-1 and 3-2, remain on standby. Be ready for anything and get ready to intervene if things get hot. Remember. Non-lethals only."
Itami removed himself from the command chair and walked over to the weapon rack before moving to grab his RMC F903WE Assault Rifle but stopped at the last second.
"You're not bringing your weapon, sir?" Kuwahara asked.
"No." The Lieutenant shook his head. "I'll keep my side arm, knife and baton with me. I want to try and look less threatening as possible."
After hearing this, Kurokawa decided to do the same. The Sergeant Major, however, didn't make a move to follow their actions.
"If it's alright with you, sir. I'd like to keep my gear just in case."
"No problem, Old School." Itami waved him off.
Kuwahara nodded and waited by the hatch. Once Kurata informed them that they have stopped, the Sergeant Major opened the hatch and hopped out first. He checked the surrounding area and spotted Winter making his way over to them.
"Sergeant Major." The Marine greeted with a nod.
"Winter." He nodded back.
Itami hopped out of the APC. Followed by Kurokawa. The Lieutenant took a moment to look at his surroundings before turning to face the others.
"Alright. We're trying to appear as non-threatening as possible for now, however, Winter takes point. Kuwahara, take the rear." He then contacted Taggart.
"Taggart, are you in position?"
[Setting up now, Lieutenant. I got eyes on the village. Looks like they're still going about their day. They don't know we're here yet.]
"Then let's try and keep it that way for a little while longer." Itami looked at the other three. "Let's move."
Winter wordlessly took point while Kuwahara moved to the rear. Itami and Kurokawa were in the middle.
"Taggart, are there any sign of armed personnel?" Itami asked. "Guards, militia and the like?"
[Negative, Lieutenant. No patrols or gate guards. Nothing. Just walls and it looks like they're purpose is to keep animals out. Even the gate is wide open.]
"Keep an eye out, Taggart. Alert us if you see anything. You too, Falcon Three."
The four continued down the path until they reached the entrance to the village. Taggart was right as they saw the gate was indeed wide open. The gate also had an arch and had 'CODA' written on it in large letters.
"Coda, huh?"
Itami looked through the gate and saw the villagers had noticed their presence. People hid inside their homes and peeked through the windows of their houses.
[Falcon Three to Raven Three Actual, be advised. Every single local just went inside the buildings.]
"All of them?"
[All of them.]
"Well isn't that just a warm welcome." Itami muttered before turning to look at the others. "Kuwahara. Winter. Stand guard here. We'll contact you if we need help."
He then turned to the Combat Medic.
"I hope you practiced your smiles, Kurokawa, because it's time to put on your best one."
Itami made some last minute checks to see if he was presentable before his mouth formed into a disarming smile. His laid-back attitude taking over for him.
"Showtime."
AN: Did I make Itami too OOC? Too serious? It feels like I did. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Eh. Whatever. Also. The night attack on Alnus happened off-screen because it was pretty much the same as it was in the anime so I didn't bother to write that part. Definitely did not forget about the night attack and I'm just too lazy to add it in the previous chapter. Definitely not.