Chapter 10:

Camaraderie

D-DAY +50, September 20th 2017, FOB Ginza.

With the Dramon Republic liberated and the missing children rescued, the IDDF made a general order to all forces to hold the assault for two weeks, giving enough time for the soldiers to rest and the IDDF to re-organise with the Royal Knights in the security of the Dramon Republic.

Meanwhile at FOB Ginza, the Digital marines and a battalion of the JGSDF were enjoying their time. The sun shone warmly and the wind blew calmly, encouraging a majority of the soldiers stationed in the FOB to pass their time outside to workout, play around or simply relax.

Renamon and Raymond were eating at the newly built exterior cafeteria installed just outside of the mess hall where soldiers could eat outside and enjoy the view. Near the cafeteria is a workout zone where some marines were doing physical training with the sun bathing them.

Coincidently, Guilmon was working out at the same time as Renamon and Raymond were eating their meal. While the red dino lifted up some weights, Renamon stared at him with enjoyment as she gazes at his bare naked muscular chest and broad shoulders.

"You seem to enjoy the view." Coughed up Raymond in front of her.

The yellow fox shook out of her dreamy gaze and looked down in embarrassment. She lightly kicked Stephen under the table when he started laughing.

"It's not what it looks" She began but the human's face says he won't believe any lies she'll come up with. "Maybe a little but that's not the point."

"Then why are you staring at him for the past five minutes other than he's your boyfriend?"

"How did-" She asked with widened eyes and a red face.

"Everyone knows about it. It's so easy to see that you two are in a relationship." Replied Stephen with an amused grin.

She stared at him dumbfounded before deciding to steer away the conversation to another subject, though Stephen wasn't going to let her.

"How long have you known him?"

"About three years now. Why do you ask?" She asked, a bit perplex at Stephen's sudden interest of her private life.

"I find it interesting that you two are a couple. I mean, you're both complete opposites." He explained to her.

Renamon rested her chin on her hand as she ponders to explain Stephen her attraction to Guilmon. Of course to her, he was perfect but now that Stephen metionned them being opposites, she started to mentally list down all the traits that made her fell in love with the dino digimon.

"Well, there is the fact that I admire him for his courage..." She started off, a small grin slowly creeping on her lips. "I respect him for his noble resolve to always protect his friends. Then I always find his childish side... adorable. His laugh is infectious. His golden eyes quite mesmerizing. And what I love the most about him is his smile. Always bright and charming."

Stephen simply chuckled, noticing that Renamon was now blushing.

"What's so funny?" The vixen asked nervously.

"I find it funny that the stone-cold and fierce Renamon actually has a soft heart behind the intimidating facade." He answered sincerely.

Renamon's blush turned redder while giggling a little in embarrassement, though the smile never left her faced.

"You should smile more." Stephen advised her casually. "It's beautiful. Use your intimidation against the enemy, not us." He joked.

"T-thanks, it means a lot for me." She said gratefully.

"Not to mention that you have the most beautiful eyes in the whole world." Guilmon complimented behind her, startling Stephen from appearing out of the blue, or red in his case. "Oooh! Can I have that sandwich?" He begged with childish eyes as he took a seat next to his sweetheart.

Guilmon was now wearing a khaki t-shirt with a small towel hanging from one of his shoulders.

"Sure..." She replied as she handed him her ham sandwich. She would rather drink the energy drink than eat for now.

"Looks like the kids are also enjoying their time here." Stated Stephen, mentioning the group of 8 tamers, walking up the small wooden steps of the new cafeteria. " Let's make some friends, shall we?" He added before waving at the group with a friendly smile, mentioning them to sit with them at the long picnic table.

They hesistated for a moment before joining with the three marines at the table. They greeted each other, the marines giving them an air of familiarity, easing them a little.

"So, what do you guys want ?" Asked Stephen, looking over the teenagers. They stayed silent for a few moments, not knowing what to order.

"Don't worry, we won't serve you any MREs, those things are really bad." He informed them with a sheepish laugh. "How about some ice cream?" He proposed and as a response Hikari and Mimi lit up like Christmas trees and begged like children. Stephen laughed before taking a mental note of their orders, soon the others followed suit.

After that the ice creams were ordered and served to the children, the group passed the rest of the afternoon chatting happily, for once the tamers felt like were not, at least, in a hostile and foreign environment.

Later in the afternoon, Renamon was in the break room in the barracks, a room dedicated for soldiers to simply rest and take a drink or watch TV or even play video games.

She took an energy drink and walked towards the couch facing the TV screen. Flamedramon and Renamon's spotter and friend, Lcpl. Gary "Roach" Sanderson, were both playing a video game, their eyes glued to the screen and their minds heavily focused on the game. Renamon plummeted down ungracefully on the side of the couch, pushing the two gamers with her legs so she could have enough space to lay down. However they didn't seemed to be fazed by her presence or by her ungraceful attitude. She stares at the screen with a bland look, occasionally sipping her drink and giving some tips to the gamers, and some teasing. She let out a loud burp without feeling embarrassed since most of the marines knew her lazy side. However for the two who just entered the break room, it was quite a shock.

"Oh my, I didn't know a Renamon could be like that..." Stated one of the visitors.

Renamon, Flamedramon, Roach and some of marines looked towards the entrance and immediately stood straight and firmly saluted. Meanwhile Flamdramon and Roach were having a hard time trying to suppress their laughter as Renamon's face turned 50 shades of red. Behind Stephen were Magnamon and UlforceVeedramon.

"Get use to it, guys, she has always been like that in the break room." He informed the two Royal Knights with a mocking smile. "Welp, I'll need to go back to briefing, you boys play nice with each other now." He added and walked out before Renamon could give him a death glare.

With the Lieutenant leaving the room, the two different groups were staring at each other in an awkward silence before a private broke the ice.

"You guys are Royal Knights, uh? So what... you drink tea with your pinkie out and save damsels in distress." Stated the marine sarcastically, earning a round of laughter from the others.

UlforceVeedramon simply shrugged before he replied with a smug smirk.

"Something like that but at least we have fangirls, unlike you."

The marine was stunned while the others laughed at him. However, instead of being angry and fire back, he simply walked to the Royal Knights and lend out a hand.

"Private 1st class Sebastian "SeaSalt" Salt, happy to meet you." He greeted with a friendly attitude.

"Just call me "Ulforce", glad we're on the same team." He greeted back while shaking the private's hand.

Meanwhile with Stephen, he was walking down the hallway until he heard the angry and stern voice of Colonel Eversman. He entered the briefing room and watched intently and at attention while the colonel was on the phone.

"What the hell do you mean "they didn't tell me anything"? How come your government haven't informed you that there are 8 missing children?! What if they are more out there?! I mean they went missing for weeks for Christ's sake! We can't afford to split our forces and retrieve civilians left and right in this world!" He snarled through the phone. He listened for a little moment to the responder before he let out a frustrated sigh.

"Yeah whatever, Hazama. Just get me informed next time if we still have some missing civilians to find." He added and hung up the phone.

He looked up at Alphamon, Omegamon and Duftmon with an apologitic look."I'm deeply sorry you had to listen through all that, it's been quite a frustrating week."

Alphamon laughed sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head with his armored glove.

"No need to apologise, Colonel. We've all been through that."

Eversman only nodded then noticed that Raymond was present in the briefing room.

"Ah I see you've arrived Lieutenant. Meet the Royal Knights' tactician, Duftmon."

"Sir." Saluted Raymond while the brown knight simply nodded in acknowledgement.

He then looked between Cpt. Richards and the colonel. "Remind me why I'm the only one here and not the other officers ?" He asked sheepishly.

"Well Lieutenant, first off: you're the first human being to have made contact with the Knights and you're Richards' best man so they have more trust in you than in anyone else. And secondly, you'll be the one to spearhead the next assault with elements of Force Recon and the Aerial Strike force." He replied before letting Duftmon explain the plan to Raymond.

Thus, in a few days, the Digital marines will begin their first mission with the Royal Knights. Two different species and military forces will need to cooperate and using each other's strong points while taking in account their weaknesses. Only in battle will they know if they will succeed or suffer heavy losses.

The recent events had took a toll in Renamon's general personality. After going through the rigorous training of Force Recon and fighting through previous battles, she began to be more open, to show more emotions than a Renamon should. She didn't know if this was due to stress or simply she isn't use to work with a team. She pushed these thoughts away, now was not the time to have some doubts.

Sitting cross-legged on her bed, she tapped her fingers against her legs impatiently, the laptop screen in front of her was the source of her current anxiety. With a frutrated breath she picked up a water bottle beside her bed and chugged it quickly.

"For fuck's sake! We're in the DigiWorld! Wi-fi should be good!" She complained out loud. Swearing was another thing she picked up from the marines.

Facing her bed was Gary's bed. He and Guilmon were playing poker idly. Gary looked up from his cards with a small smile.

"Welcome to the suck, ma'am." He commented jokingly.

"Relax, Rika won't be angry at you because of bad connection." Considered calmly Guilmon, trying the defuse Renamon's rant.

She muttered something under her breath and tried to recall her family. The Skype call kept ringing for another half hour, each minutes felt like wasted hours for the fox digimon, until the call was finally answered. Appearing on the screen were four familiar faces, all huddled close around the relatively small screen. From left to right: Rumiko, Takato, Rika and Seiko, all cheered once the call worked. Upon hearing the cheers, Guilmon jumped out of Gary's bed and rushed beside Renamon, relieved and happy that he can talk with his tamer after several months of absent communications.

"Sorry for the slight blurry screen, connection is really bad here." Renamon informed them.

"That's okay, Renamon. We're just happy to see you and Guilmon are still alive!" Responded Rumiko before Rika scolded her.

"So how are things? If you're allowed to say some that is..." Takato chuckled nervously.

"Really, Takato?!"

"What? It's not like I know how the military works."

"Things got hectic but hey, we managed." Answered Guilmon truthfully.

"What do you mean "Hectic"?!" Asked surprisingly Rumiko and Rika. Renamon face-palmed in disappointment at Guilmon's poor choice of words.

"Well at least we're on break now." Added Renamon to ease her "mother" and her tamer.

"Oh thank god! Anyways, I'll love to stay and talk more with you, Renamon, but Seiko and I need to go shopping for clothes. Have fun, kids." Rumiko waved goodbye before she left with Seiko tailing behind her.

To both Renamon's and Guilmon's surprise the conservation started off pleasantly without a single mention of their current situation in the war. They talked, joked and laughed together for quite some time, eased out from the stress and apprehension of war. The video chat ended an hour later, much to their dismay but they had a job to do and they need their rest; and also because Guilmon need to get out of Renamon's squad's sleeping quarters and go back to his.

Opening the door to him, she stopped him and scouted out, turning her head left and right in the hallways. Once it was deemed clear, Guilmon was about to walk out until he felt a soft paw holding one of his claws. He turned around and immediately received a strong kiss on the lips from Renamon before being lightly shoved out of the quarters. He stood in the middle of the hallway, shock etched across his face but was shortly followed with a smile as he walks back to his quarters.

September 21st, 0600 hours, Refugee barracks.

White lights suddenly blared the whole room, disturbing their sleep instantly. Izumi heard Taichi yelping beside his bed before he heard a heavy thud. He figured that Tai fell from his bed during his agitation.

He groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes lazily trying to adjust to the bright lights. He then looked around and saw that his friends and their digimon were also in the same state. He looked to the right, where the entrance door was located, and spotted three JSDF soldiers and a man with a black business suit, flickering with seems to be a ligther in his right hand.

"I am sorry to wake you all this early in the morning," Started 1st Lieutenant Akira Yanagida with a neutral face. "But the good news is that you'll all be going home in just 2 hours. So pack your things up and meet me back outside in the courtyard after breakfast." He then muttered a few words with the man in the suit before they left.

Everyone had their eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. They had expected to go home but not this soon; especially not without the soldiers ever interrogating or apprehending their digimon partners. There was a moment of silence in the room as they gathered their thoughts, before they jumped out of their beds and rushed to pack whatever personal belongings they still have with them.

After they have gathered their belongings in the military deployment duffle bag given to each of them, and after a shower and change of clothes, they headed to the base's mess hall to get breakfast.

The mess hall and the cafeteria outside of it were surprisingly bustling with hundreds of soldiers, each of them quickly ate their meals before starting their daily tasks. Tables were filled and emptied at a quick rate.

The tamers in the meantime ate at a moderate rate, however they were impatient, excited yet anxious and nervous. What will happen to them later back on Earth? Will they be able to go back to their normal lives or will they be questionned by numerous governmental agents? Or will their digimon friends be able to stay with them? Only time can tell as they finish up their meals and get ready to move out.

Standing straight in front of their barracks, they all lined up shoulder-to-shoulder with their digimon in front of them and their packs behind them. Facing them was Lieutenant Yanagida, the man in the suit from this morning and a dozen of heavily armed and heavily armoured soldiers.

The soldiers were covered from head to toe in black uniform. Their faces covered by combat shades and balaclava, their hands gripping firmly their rifles. It was truly a menacing sight for the tamers eventhough they were informed that they were their bodyguards.

The teenagers themselves wore the standard issue JGSDF attire: Type II Flecktarn camouflage long sleeve shirt and combat pants and combat boots type 2.

Yanagida took a step forward and saluted them before he cleared his throat. "Before I bid you farewell, I would like to introduce you to this man;" He announced as he faces the civilian man. "Mr. Mitsuo Yamaki, Head of the Hypnos agency. He will be, for awhile, taking care of you, protecting you from the media and other unwanted "guests". As you may have guessed, the world now knows about the digimons and their presences there and such people might get to know more about them. It is for your own safety that you will follow his orders and advices, to help you live normally with your daily lives without the media breathing down your necks. Now with that said, I wish you all a safe travel and good luck." He gave one last salute before turning around and shook Yamaki's hand.

Five armoured vehicles arrived in the courtyard and the black operatives sprung to action like drones, opening the doors for the civilians and ushering them to move quickly. In a matter of seconds, the convoy drove off and headed towards the base's airfield where a Kawasaki C-1 aircraft awaited them to transport them back to Camp Dawnstar, the final trip before home.