Chapter 12: Italica

Recon Squad Three: Gibraltar

"So we're a delivery service now?" Kurata groused as Rory tossed in two heavy sacks of dragon scales. The girls said that the scales would fetch a considerable price from the wealthy merchant houses and that would allow the refugees a degree of self-sufficiency. Third Recon, on Lieutenant Itami's discretion, would transport them to the trade city of Italica, where Rory, Lelei, and Tuka would negotiate a deal.

"You'd rather sit around here and do scut work?" Taylor asked him. "Besides, you're the one who wants to go meet Catgirls and Sorceresses and stuff. To do that, you gotta get out there. You aren't going to find them waiting for you here."

"You really think we'll find a Catgirl, Lieutenant?" Kurata asked with enthusiasm.

Me and my big mouth, Taylor groaned to himself.

"Maybe," Itami replied noncommittally as he leaned back in his seat. "Anyway, it's good for the refugees to provide for themselves. Also, this will be a good chance for us to see how trade works out here." He fiddled with his cellphone. "Another update!" He exclaimed happily as he got a new notification on a web novel he had been following.

"He's hopeless," Kurata muttered.

Taylor rolled his eyes. If that's not the pot calling the kettle black. He looked behind himself to see Tuka getting onboard after a moment's hesitation, followed by Kurokawa, and Sergeant Major Kuwahara.

"Alright. Let's go!" Itami called out over his mic. With that, the little convoy set off for Italica.

Soon, everyone settled in. Kurata chuckling as Kuwahara showed Lelei his compass, sounding like a teacher with a favored pupil rather than the 'Drill Sergeant from Hell' that was his reputation among the junior enlisted men. Rory was enjoying teasing Tuka just a bit in a playful manner.

Taylor enjoyed himself by reading one of his old Sci-Fi novels. He liked the Honorverse series but had to admit the earlier books were better than the later ones. His reading was cut short by a report from Kurata.

"There's smoke ahead to our right." The driver reported. Taylor turned down the corner of the page and closed the book, then turned to get a look. Not again. He thought darkly, recalling the last time they had seen smoke.

"Kurata, does this road take us by the source of that smoke?" Itami asked.

"Actually it takes us right to it," Kurata answered.

"This is the second time we've seen smoke rising into the sky," Itami noted, reflecting Taylor's thoughts. After a brief discussion, Itami decided to proceed but keeping a watchful eye on the skies and on their perimeter. Disconcertingly, Rory seemed to have a look of anticipation in her expression. Itami asked her what she sensed.

"I smell blood!" Rory answered, licking her lips.

Yes, Taylor thought. It was going to be one of those days.

Outside the Walls of Italica

Almost! They had almost broken through, The bandit leader told himself. Not too long ago, he had been a mid-ranking officer in a real army, a Captain in the army of Toumaren just as many of his men had been soldiers in that army. That had changed with the Allied Nations assaults on Alnus. These men did not understand what had gone wrong at Alnus. They only knew the men who preceded them had not returned and nor had their noble lords. They had not received either the Glory nor the pay they had been promised.

This left them with two options: Return home in humiliation with nothing to show for it or to take up banditry. The weak had long gone home. And then an opportunity was presented: A high ranking Saderan official had arranged to meet a few leaders such as himself with an offer: Destroy the city of Italica. Aside from the considerable plunder in the city, this would be patron had brought several chests filled with gold that would be delivered once the city was destroyed. Though their prospective patron refused to discuss names, Boras, son of Jerrod, recognized Senator Godasen by his trappings, if not by his name. It was immaterial though. Boras and his men would have their glory and gold besides.

And they were now very close to their goal now. They had nearly broken through the South Gate today after hitting it for two days. The defense had been spirited and they had taken heavy losses but the prize was in their grasp now. He still had over seven hundred men of the approximately twelve hundred they had fielded at the start and still stronger than the five hundred men he had led as Captain of the Second Company of the Toumaren Heavy Foot. It helped that the past two days fighting had removed any serious rivals to his leadership. He had been willing to let the others 'have the honor' of leading the assaults while he and the men most loyal to him, many of whom he had known in their home county practically since boyhood, waited for their moment.

And now Boras sensed an opportunity. He had served during the siege of Turicum and his experience in that battle was playing in his mind. While the defense of Italica had been spirited, the enemy commander had not attempted to take control of the battle. He had responded effectively, if unimaginatively to threats as they developed but had not attempted to exert his own will on the battle. Boras sensed he was fighting a commander with little if any actual practical experience. They were well trained obviously, but as yet, lacked the seasoning required to go beyond responding to threats to taking control of the battle.

Looking at the defenders' position, the enemy commander had to expect that he would continue to batter away at what now was clearly the weak point in the city's defenses at the South Gate. The defender could not leave it exposed, but at the same time, the outer line would crack for certain with one more solid push. The defenders had to see that as plainly as he did. That left a containment defense as the logical option but it would take a sizeable commitment of men. Instead, Boras would hit them at the east gate. Not only would the defending troops be spread thinner here as they covered the south gate, but a good commander would try to take his most tired troops and position them away from the expected axis of threat if possible. If all went as planned, his men would hit the defenders by surprise in a spot where their men were both too few and too worn down to stop them.

He also had Myuute as an edge to play. The Siren might not have liked her current company, but she knew who owned her chain and would apply her talents as he so directed. All in all Boras was very much looking forward to finishing this battle tonight but for now, it was time to rest up and prepare for the night's deadly business.

3rd Recon Squad

As the vehicles of Third Recon approached the battered south gate of Italica, a strong voice issued challenge from the battlements.

"They want us to approach and be seen." Lelei translated.

"Taylor," Itami decided. "You and I should accompany the girls to the gate. Everyone else will wait for now." The two officers and three native women walked calmly up to the gate and Itami firmly but politely knocked. After a moment's pause, the door swung wide open and smacked Itami right in the face, stunning him and knocking him flat as a distinguishedly dressed young woman greeted an enthusiastic welcome, only to come face to face with three shocked young ladies and a sprawled out JSDF Lieutenant.

Standing to one side, Taylor winced. "That had to hurt." He could hear the Sergeant Major calling Itami, no doubt having seen the lieutenant go down. Taylor keyed his own mic: "We're alright. Itami just found out that the front door swings out instead of in. He's fine. Everything is still nominal. Over."

"Roger that."

In moments, their over-exuberant greeter was being liberally berated by Tuka as she splashed Itami with water from his canteen. As Rory decided to give further encouragement to Itami, Taylor noted that the young woman who had opened the gate was twitching on the brink of panic, much like a young officer who knew he had screwed up in front of a visiting Admiral and was dreading the repercussions that he expected to follow.

As Rory grinned down into Itami's face, he bolted upright, "Are we inside the gate?"

Taylor simply nodded.

"So who is going to explain what is going on?" Itami asked with a sigh as the mass of citizenry all stared at the young noblewoman.

"Me?!" She exclaimed aghast, hoping someone else could take this possible disaster off her hands. To her relief and just a little embarrassment, her loyal aide Hamilton now spoke with a ring of authority.

"Impudent fools!" She declared in defense of her liege,"This is an affront to The Third Imperial Princess! Pina Co Lada!" The girl announced in clearly recognizable Imperial English.

Shit! Taylor swore to himself as he recognized the name of the Imperial Princess. Apparently, Lucilla had been considering joining the Knightly Order the Princess had formed and commanded but following her mother's wishes, had promised to wait until she was at least 16 before placing her name for consideration. This lovely little mess was starting to take on serious implications.Dammit, Jim! I'm a historian, not a diplomat!

Itami and the girls gasped in surprise as a confounded Princess Pina bade them all to follow as she attempted to explain the situation.

Taylor made a mental note to see if perchance, the Count of Formar had been among the survivors of the Ginza Invasion. The odds were not promising but he could at least check. This he promised as he looked upon Myui, the lonely child who now sat as Countess Formar. He turned his attention back to the Princess.

"We need to hold out for three more days before my knights can arrive to relieve the city," she told them. "But few of the men here are trained soldiers. They have courage, but courage alone will not be enough, I fear. But perhaps the gods will that Italica might yet be spared." She looked carefully at them. "Particularly if you are the 'Men in Green' that the rumors tell of?"

"And what do these rumors say, your Highness?" Taylor asked curious.

"That you drove off an ancient flame dragon?"

"Not soon enough," Itami replied. "People still died." He said with regret.

"Will you help us?" Pina said at last.

Itami considered it but for a moment, glancing over at Taylor, who nodded only slightly and reaffirming the decision he had already made.

"Yes," Itami told her. "After all, we can't exactly sell these dragon scales with all this going on."

"Very well." Pina decided. "We will have you defend the south gate."

As Itami started to nod his agreement, Taylor raised a finger in point. "If I may," he looked between Itami and Pina, who both paused with interest. "Itami, our communications are a lot better than theirs. Someone should stay with the command node as a relay if needed."

Itami considered this. While he did not want to spread his people too thin, Taylor's suggestion did make sense. Furthermore, Taylor was not a trained infantry soldier.

"Right. You should stay with her Highness." Itami agreed. He toggled his mic. "Kuwahara, we've run into a situation. I'll explain when I see you. You're cleared to enter the South Gate, Wait there for me."

"Roger."

A few minutes later, Taylor was able to inform Princess Pina that the rest of Third Recon had deployed along the south gate. He noted that Pina and Hamilton both eyed him with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. The Knight, Grey, on the other hand, seemed more bemused than anything else.

"So the Man in Green would face this battle unarmed? Do not worry, the noble Hamilton will undoubtedly protect you." Grey teased them both.

Taylor raised an eyebrow as Hamilton flustered.

"Good to know." Taylor nodded calmly. At least he hoped he looked calm. In truth, he was holding butterflies in his belly. Uncomfortably he felt Hamilton and Princess Pina eyeing him.

"You've never been in a battle before," Pina observed, recognizing the forced calm that was a match for her own.

"No. I'm not like Itami and the others. This isn't the sort of war I trained to fight. But for better or worse, here I am. I have a job to do "

"As do I," Pina answered.

"We both have a duty to protect people who can't fight back," Taylor replied. "I think when this day is over, that might be worth talking about."

Pina almost seemed to smile. "Perhaps."

Gibraltar

"You can't make it back today?" Major Hioaki questioned incredulously. "What do you mean, Itami?" This was unbelievable! Hioaki was not reassured by Itami's response:

"Well, uh, we've kind of gotten caught up in a battle."

No! This was not happening! He was not going to be held responsible for whatever mess Itami had managed to get himself entangled in. Hioaki was not going to be the one to incur the displeasure of the Diet, the Defense Ministry, or higher command simply because Itami had to blunder into something rather than getting his worthless ass back so he could answer the direct summons of the Diet!

"Why aren't you more concerned about this?" The Major demanded to know. Surely at least some of the importance of his situation must be clear to even that daft fool of a Lieutenant. "What about the Diet summons?"

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Itami sounded as if he had managed to forget something that important! It was unbelievable and calculated to come down right on Hioaki's head.

"So, I have a request…"

Office of Commander, Task Force Janus

General Hazama calmly listened to the somewhat rattled report from the major, including Lieutenant Itami's request. Much to Hioaki's extreme distress, Colonel Emerson chuckled.

"General, I gotta say, Itami and Taylor are going to do impressive things in this war. Provided they don't get themselves killed first."

"I think you are quite correct colonel. This is our first direct contact with a representative of the Saderan Empire that did not immediately result in hostilities. If we are going to secure any advantage of this opportunity, I think we must grant Lieutenant Itami's request for support."

Colonel Lowe frowned as he fingered Italica on the map. "It will be dark before we can get reinforcements up there and I wouldn't advise a nighttime insertion. IFF will be next to impossible for the locals. Rather than relief, we could accidentally cause a panic. That said, we should plan to relieve the city by air around dawn."

Colonel Kengun nodded agreement. "We request the honor of the assignment General!" Kengun's xo nodded agreement.

"We have Hi-Fidelity speakers mounted and Wagner on CD."

Colonel Emerson fought the urge to roll his eyes at this, though knowing his own men would undoubtedly have a more jarring selection in music.

General Hazama, despite some minor misgivings, made the decision to assign the mission to Colonel Kengun, however, Hazama also elected to send a contingent of Marines in support in case it became necessary to engage in the sort of urban warfare which his Japanese troops had no practical experience in. As much as it might ruffle the pride of some of his people, Hazama was fully aware of the practical limitations of the JSDF in terms of training and institutional experience. This mixed force would arrive at dawn local time. Third Recon and the defenders of Italica only had to hold until then.

Italica

"When are they coming?" Pina murmured to herself. She had made the best plans she knew how and now she could only await the outcome. Taylor followed her gaze to the darkened south gate where Itami and the others were waiting. Her plan was simple, perhaps ruthless, but It made logical sense, offering up a seemingly weak force as bait to trap and destroy the enemy with the least risk to the outmatched locals.

In the waiting darkness, a volley of flaming arrows was the first warning as the bandits made their move on the east gate. As their leader had expected, the vast majority of the defenders were caught completely off guard as Sir Norma sent word back to Princess Pina and hurried to rally the defenders, hoping they could hold the wall long enough to pull men from the west gate and the reserves assembled for the secondary line at the south gate.

Upon receiving word of the attack on the east gate, Princess Pina realized quickly how dangerous the situation was as she sampled the bitter taste of assumptions gone wrong. Despite Sir Norma's efforts and with their arrows nullified by the wind magic of Myuute, the defenders at the east gate were simply too few and too worn down to resist this new assault. Norma and the few survivors desperately trying to hold the upper part of the wall even as bandits swarmed over.

"It fell so easily," Pina said in a hushed voice. "I had no idea that reality could be so different from one's plans."

"The other guy has plans too," Taylor reminded her. "You're the one who has to turn this around." He faced her squarely. "Forget those plans! That's yesterday! What do you do now? That's what counts!"

Quickly the bandits managed to open the east gate, letting scores more of their number to flood in as the first line collapsed completely. And here, the lack of trained soldiers among the defenders proved disastrous as the bandits were able to goad the more spirited of the defenders to compromise their own lines even as Pina desperately bade for them to hold fast. The untrained and ill-equipped defenders charging into the reach of experienced and battle-hardened enemies who proceeded to cut them down as surely as the Pacific Allies had shattered the armies at Alnus.

Pina watched in horror. "Why is this happening?" She asked softly as if trapped in a dream. Down below, the townspeople called for reinforcements.

"Where are the men in green?"

She had been so certain of her plan at the time. It made perfect sense to offer up the men in green as a decoy. To draw the action unto them but now she knew for her temerity and treachery that the men in green would leave her to reap the consequences. "Even if I called for them, they wouldn't come. Not after I sent them on a suicide mission to the south gate."

Taylor frowned. She's freezing up. Damn it! Taylor! You're an officer! Act like one. He toggled his radio. "Itami! The Princess urgently requests all possible reinforcement to the east gate! Step on it Itami!"

Pina turned her head in surprise as Itami answered.

"Roger! We'll leave the half-ton and four men here. We'll be there as fast as we can!"

Taylor smirked. "Your message has been received, Princess. What are your orders?"

TO BE CONTINUED