Chapter 3:
The Battle of Iarica (part 1)
It was only an hour of drive for the marines of recon team 4 to arrive at Iarica. Now it has been 20 minutes that they waited for the gates to open. WereGarurumon and BlackRenamon were talking to eachother casually outside of the convoy while the marines waited patiently in the vehicles.
"You think they set us up?" Asked Larry nonchalantly.
"It's a possibility." Replied Raymond with bored tone.
"Are you gonna check what's up with them?"
"Since when are you the commanding officer?" Raymond asked sarcastically.
Larry just shrugged with a blank face.
"I'm gonna take some fresh air. Stay here."
The lieutenant inspected his rifle before stepping out of the Cougar MRAP and walked up to the two digimon chatting in front of the convoy. They both noticed him and stopped their conversation.
"What seems be the hold up?" Asked the marine officer.
"We don't know... usually it takes them at the very least five minutes to open the gates to travellers and important visitors but this is indeed unusual of them." WereGarurumon told him.
"You think that the imperials are still in there?"
"I'm positive that there are no imperials in this city, the last ones who were stationed here were the ones that you guys obliterated." She replied.
Stephen's radio soon sparked with life.
"Lieutenant! We've got a massive dragon coming in our direction!" Reported Dukeman urgently.
As soon as the sergeant told him, an immense shadow covered the lieutenant and the two scouts. Suddenly, dust covered them, obscuring their vision and then a large 'thump' sound could be heard near them. Once the dust died down, Raymond saw a massive bipedal dragon in front of him. It towered over him, easily measuring 8 meters tall or more. Its abdomen was covered in some sort of metal material, the same for its gigantic wings. On its right arm was a huge lance-like weaponry. It looked like as if it came out of a fantasy book. With instincts, Raymond drew his weapon and aimed at the digimon, the other marines soon came out of their vehicles and were barking orders, the LAV and the APC droved to the sides of the convoy and pointed their heavy weapons at the digimon. For once, the marines were a little bit terrified, knowing that if the creature attacked them: they would be finished.
"WAIT! HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Yelled BlackRenamon.
The marines looked at the black vixen confusely. A clothed figure jumped down from the dragon and gasped cheerfully when it saw the two scouts digimon.
"Ah! WereGarurumon! I'm so happy that you're okay! You had us worried sick for a moment!" It exclaimed.
"Who the hell is this?" Asked the lieutenant at BlackRenamon.
"That's Wisemon. He's the mayor of Iarica and a master sorcerer." She replied bluntly.
"Marines, stand down!" He ordered to his men.
"Hey Wisemon! It's been awhile. Care to tell us why there's a Royal Knight here?" Asked the commando wolf.
"Huh? Ah yes! Well Examon was actually looking for them." He answered as he points at Raymond. He then walked towards him and looked at him as if he was an oddity.
"My, my... these humans sure are weird." He noted to himself out loud.
"Um... sir? I would like you step back for a moment." Stephen asked as kindly as possible.
"Sorry? Ah of course! Where are my manners? I'm Wisemon, mayor of the Sunset Valley's capital, Iarica." He greeted and offered his hand to the marine.
"2nd Lieutenant Stephen Raymond of the 1st 'Digital Marines' of the USMC." Stephen told him and shook his hand.
"USMC?"
"United States Marine Corps."
"Never heard of it." He said dismissively. "Well Examon, I hope you find what you're looking for. I'm gonna take a small snack break." He told Examon before going to a vending machine just outside the gates.
The Royal Knight and the marines looked at eachother in an awkward silence.
"You came looking for us huh?" Wondered Stephen loudly, prompting the marines to draw slowly their weapons back at Examon.
"Indeed I did. I was sent here because the Royal Knights need your help, we need your help in this conflict." Examon stated.
"Yeah we know." Said Stephen bluntly and ordered his men to stand down once again.
"You do?" Examon asked confusely.
"Those fuckers invaded us and massacred thousands of civilians, we're here to make them pay the price." He stated sternly. "But since we're kinda underpowered and probably outnumbered, any help we could get is welcomed... well for me. I need to report this to my higher ups if you want us to cooperate with you." He added sheepishly.
"Numbers is what we're just looking for. Our Strike and Defense forces are understaffed to deal with this kind of threat." Examon was feeling more relieved that they were able to be cooperative quite easily.
"However, how many soldiers should we expect from you?" He asked, hoping that their numbers would compensate against the Imperium's army.
"I think we'll be at least 64 700 men at the end of this first year, 15 000 by next month."
"First year?" Something seems wrong for the Royal Knight.
"We'll be here for at least 5 years. Not only are we here to make them pay, we're also here to liberate the DigiWorld, one Continent at a time."
"You would?" Now Examon was genuinely surprised that the humans would take such a difficult but noble task without the Royal Knights needing to ask them. "So are we considered allies then?" He asked just make to sure he wasn't dreaming and this is real.
"With us: yes. Under two conditions: we're allowed to establish military bases across the DigiWorld and that we're allowed to operate freely if the Imperium or the security of the digimon is involved." Stephen declared diplomatically.
"I'll see what I can do. Now-"
"No, no. These terms should be discussed with both ours and your higher ups, in our base of operation. I know its picky and annoying but I'm just a grunt compared to them, I don't make the rules." He informed Examon while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Understandable. I'll tell the other knights. Expect us in a week or two."
"Now with that out of the way, Wisemon sir, are we allowed to enter and stay in Iarica for a few days?" Raymond asked to the faceless wizard, who appeared to have just finished his chocolate bar and can of soda.
"Sorry? Ah yes! Open the gates for these fine gentlemen, boys!"
The two guardromon hastilly opened the gigantic wooden doors and made way to the side to let the vehicles and the marines who were on foot in the city.
Meanwhile, in the thick forest located only a few hundred meters away from the west gate, there was a Sealsdramon observing the whole scene with binoculars. Once the marines as entered the city, he quickly got up and ran back towards his camp. A couple minutes of running later, he arrived at the established military camp and headed to his officer's tent.
"Sealsdramon 2583 reporting in, Darkdramon sir!" He stood straight at the attention of his commanding officer and saluted.
"At ease trooper." The cyborg digimon told him after returning the salute. "Status report."
"I've spotted what seems to be a recon team of humans entering Iarica's west gate. It appears that there's also a Royal Knight helping them, sir!"
"So it seems that Wisemon has betrayed us right under our noses. I knew that we should've taken him out when we had the chance. Well at least it gives us the excuse now." He said while contemplating the map of the local region. "How many humans are there?"
"At least 40, maybe more, sir!"
"Gather all team leaders in here and tell everybody to prepare themselves for combat." Darkddramon ordered.
"Yes sir!" Replied the Sealsdramon before saluting and exiting the tent.
"Lets see how these humans fare against real soldiers."
Although reluctant and paranoid at first, the local law enforcements allowed the Marines to stay in one of their garrissons near the western gate. As the night sets upon the city of Iarica, and with nothing to do, some Marines decided to sleep in the barracks while others play with their digimon comrades at card games in the mess hall. However, Stephen was not having fun as he types the report in his laptop tirelessly. He stopped and stared at his screen for a full minute before sighing in frustration. He hated writing reports.
"You seem to have a fun time, Lieutenant." Said Cyberdramon sarcastically.
"Yup, writing reports and such is sure is fun, wanna take my place?" He told him with the same attitude.
"Care to join for a game of poker sir?" Asked Flamedramon as he shuffles the cards.
Raymond looked at the digimon sergeant and at the five other Marines before finally deciding it was time to take a break from the hour long report.
"Yeah, why the hell not!"
The Marines cheered as he takes a seat at their table and Flamedramon starts to distribute them the cards. But their fun didn't last long because ten minutes later, PFC. James Blackburn ran in the mess hall in full combat gear and with his M16A4 rifle.
"Sir! Imperial forces are coming this way!" He reported hurriedly, forgeting to salute his superior officer.
"How?" Raymond asked worriedly.
"The guards just let them through and they got executed. There's at least thirty or more hostiles!" Blackburn replied.
"Shit! Marines get your gear ready up and prepare defensive positions at the garrison's entrance! Tell the others to wake the fuck up and someone alert the mayor or the royal knight of our current situation! Blithe, take your radio and come with me! Let's go Marines!" The lieutenant and the other NCOs started to bark orders as the Marines ran frantically to get their combat gear and weapon.
Moments later, the Marines were all gather up at the front courtyard of the garrison with the Stryker and LAV-25 operational. They took positions on the garrison's battlements and waited for their visitors to meet them. Meanwhile, the law enforcements of the garrisson were disorganized and in disarray and tried to gather themselves up to defend the barracks.
Stephen was feeling nervous since he couldn't use the mortars to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties and destruction. All he can do is to rely on his Marines and time itself. He walked over to Cyberdramon and took his SMAW.
"We're gonna need this soon." He informed the cyborg dragon and walked back to his position.
"Dukeman, do you still have those flares?" He asked the Staff Sergeant.
"Yes sir." He replied quietly.
"Good, keep those for our reinforcements."
"When are they going to come here sir?"
"Sadly, in two hours. We just need to hold them off. Let's hope that their aim is as bad as the bad guys in the movies."
'Duke' snickered before aiming his M4A1 at the silent streets of Iarica. Strangely enough, the local population was still asleep, unaware of the incoming battle. But that will soon change. Through his ACOG sight, Raymond could see Troopmon, Commandramon and a few Sealsdramon carefully advancing to their positions.
"On my mark, I want the gates opened so we could let our APC and LAV to light them up. Give them hell Devil Dogs." He told them silently through his radio.
When the advancing imperials exposed themselves to the street lamposts, he fired once. The loud gunfire was soon followed with the sound of a head exploding, blood splatter and burst of data of a Sealsdramon. The rest of the imperials proned on the ground and returned fire but their numbers started to decrease once the gates of the garrison opened up, letting the the two heavily armed vehicles to unleash hell and fury at them. The Marines opened fired soon after, the battlements filled with the sound of gunfire and bullet casings dropping down on the wood planks and stone streets. The town awoke with fright as the civilians near the battle fled for safety.
Eventhough the imperials were taking heavy casualties, their numbers kept rising as the rest of the legion is now aware of the Marines' location. They use the rubbles from some of the partially destroyed buildings as cover. For now, the U.S marines have the advantage due to their superior firepower and cover but that was about to change when they saw a Tankmon
approaching eagerly towards them.
"Holy shit! Lieutenant! You better use that SMAW now!" Shouted Larry as he prepares an AT-4.
"On it!" Raymond yelled back.
The Tankmon was only a few meters away from them as it pinned most of the marines down as it unload mercilessly storm after storm of bullets. But through the intense suppression, Stephen still manages to bring up the anti-armour rocket launcher over the battlements and aims at the living tank.
"Check backblast." He announced loudly.
"Clear!" They all yelled.
On cue, he pulled the trigger, the multi-purpose weapon launching the 83.5 mm warhead at the tankmon. The rocket travelled to the streets and went straight for the imperial's tank. The warhead exploded in a fiery spectacle as soon as it made contact with the tankmon, the living vehicle cried in agony before bursting in data. The invaders were shocked that their heavy armour was easily taken out by a single rocket. The lost of a tankmon didn't stop the attack, as more and more imperial soldiers starts to pour in the city, with the support of two more tankmon.
"Ah shit! Motherfuckers have two more of those!" Yelled Dukeman.
"We're gonna make a push boys! I want those MRAPs running and gunners on the .50 cals!" He ordered his men. "Cyberdramon, surppress those bastards while we get those vehicles out!"
At that order, Cyberdramon smiled broadly. "Leave them to me Lieutenant! Or else it wouldn't be fair."
The Stryker and the LAV-25 rushed outside the garrison, stopping at one side so they could let the MRAPs go out. 105 mm, 7.62 mm, 12.7 mm, 5.56 mm and 25 mm were unloaded to the enemy. This sudden course of action took the imperials off guard as they began to retreat little by little, the same could be said for their morale.
But the marines push was halted when a tankmon opened fire at the battlements. The warhead missed the Stryker but it instead hit the battlements above the APC.
Cyberdramon and a marine were thrown off the other side of the wall and dropped violently on the hard stone pavement. The digimon looked around him dizzingly and sat up. He didn't know why but all he could hear were bells ringing and nothing else. He then looked at himself to see if there were any serious injuries. Hopefully for him, there was only a few cuts here and there. Unfortunately for the other marine beside him, he didn't make it as he was the one who took most of the blast.
"I'm so sorry..." The digimon whispered to his fallen comrade before picking up his light machine gun and got back to the fight.
The tankmon was now harrassing the marines as it practically shoots at everything, disregarding the civilian infrastuctures and population. While they were distracted with their heavy armour, the imperial infantry platoons were flanking the humans' positions. Recon team 4 was now under fire from three different direction and now taking casualties.
The wounded soldier yelled in pain while Stephen and Ramirez were dragging him further back in the garrison, Bradley was taking out as many hostiles as she could but she was bound to run out of ammo for her primary weapon. What suppose to be a month supply of ammunition, a half was already spent in the span of one hour.
"For fuck sake! Where's the royal knight?" Exclaimed Flamedramon.
He continued to fire until he heard a click on his rifle, signaling him that his weapon was empty. He crouched down and quickly took out the spent magazine and reloaded his M16A4 with a new magazine. Contrary to their human counterpart, the digimons are more resilient to projectiles and so, the imperial foot soldiers needed at least four to five shots to take them out, for the ones that were considered not resilient by digimon standards.
Flamedramon took out multiple hostiles in rapid succession without leaving his eye from the ACOG sight, until he saw the tankmon aiming straight at him. He was about to ran and dive for cover when all of the sudden the tankmon exploded and bursted in to a cloud of data.
He then heard the cheers of the local law enforcements and looked up at what they were cheering at. Up in the sky, he could see the massive figure of Examon as he fires upon the imperial forces, raining high explosives rounds at them.
"It's about fucking time he shows up!" Blackburn said angrily.
Stephen looked up at the sky and saw Examon sniping down the heavy elements of the 33rd Legion.
"Alright boys! Looks like our air support just arrived. Make sure you give those fuckers hell." He ordered at his platoon through the radio.
After taking the three other tankmon, the Royal Knight flew down to the garrison and landed near the marines.
"Sorry for being late lieutenant. Wisemon, the scouts and I had a few run-ins with some imperials." The dragon informed that whilst taking pop shots at the hostiles.
"Where are they then?" Asked Stephen.
"Wisemon and his bodyguards are still battling the imperials at the town center, and the scouts are currently taking out they're rear guard."
"Can we expect some reinforcements?"
"The Resistance are sending a small task force and they'll be here soon. How about you?"
"Expect lots of marines and two tank squadrons..." Stephen replied and then threw a grenade at a pocket of hostiles only a few meters away from them. "Marines! Protect our vehicles and stand your ground until reinforcements arrive!" He ordered at his platoon loudly.