Chapter 14:
The Digimon Ambassador
November 4th 2017, Forest Zone.
"Echo 1, we are assigning you to link up with a Recon team of the JGSDF at Outpost Foxtrot."
"Roger that, Overlord." Responded 1st LT Raymond before he turned off his headset radio.
"Alright, 1st platoon! We're Oscar-Mike for Outpost Foxtrot."
He entered the leading M-ATV, greeted by Cpl. Brook. The column of armoured vehicles moved on the dirt path towards the outpost.
With the Imperial supply lines captured and three regions liberated, the IDDF push had proved successful. For days, the coalition force pushed back the Imperium of the Southern Continent as they moved forward in multiple regions/zones at a time. It also allowed the Royal Knights to move freely now.
After the previous battle, Raymond was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and took command of several squads of the 1st Recon (Digital) Marines company along his platoon. Due to the massive loss of marines, the Digital Marines had to fuse platoons and companies to maintain order among their ranks. Their reserves would arrive at the end of the year.
Yoji was sitting on his bed, playing on his phone in full combat gear, his Howa Type 89 rifle leaning on the side of his bed. He then heard a knock and tucked his phone on his right pocket.
"Come in!" He announced in japanese.
He received no response. He expected someone to come in but instead he saw the silhouette just standing on the other side of his door. He took his backpack, rifle and helmet and opened the door only to be greeted by an american marine, giving him a crisp salute. Raymond instantly smiled at him and dropped the discipline attitude and relaxed.
"Long time no see, Itami." He said before he punched him lightly on his shoulder.
"You too, Ray." Itami said with his usual laid back tone.
Raymond walked with him towards the japanese military convoy vehicles.
"So how's your arm?" Itami asked as he opens the door of the Toyota high mobility vehicle to drop his backpack.
"It itches but it's fine. Plus I have this sick scar." He replied jokingly as he showed the horrifying scar on his right forearm.
"Well, you know what they say: chicks dig scars. Especially Kuribayashi." He stated with a smirk.
"What?" Stephen's face turned red.
"Come on. It's obvious you had your eyes laid on her. Though it's dangerous, go ahead man. Recently she's really jumpy when the higher-ups talk about your successes."
Raymond was about to reply but got interrupted when they heard a helicopter approaching the outpost. As the Blackhawk landed, a group of five people came out and headed towards them. Ahead of the group was Major Elizabeth Green, followed by three armed US Marines and a man in a business suit with a briefcase on one hand and flicking a lighter on the other. The two officers stood straight, heels together, chin raised up and gave the Major a sharp salute.
"At ease." She said after she returned the gesture. "Gentlemen, I'll like to introduce to you: Mitsuo Yamaki, head of the Hypnos agency and your VIP escort." She then looked at Raymond who frowned upon hearing the VIP's name. "I know for a fact that you two have history but try to not brake his arm and ribcage this time, Lieutenant." She warned him.
"Yes, ma'am" He groaned out.
"Now the reason why he's here is because he's the best we've got in Digimon knowledge and he's currently the japanese ambassador of Japan for the Digital World. You'll escort him to the Village of Smiles where he'll meet up and negociate an alliance with the lord of this zone. Am I clear ?"
"Yes, Major!" They both answered.
She nodded and went back to the helicopter with the marines, leaving Yamaki with the two lieutenants.
"Uh...1st Lieutenant Yoji Itami, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir." He greeted in his native tongue and reached his hand out.
"Likewise." Replied Yamaki as he shook his hand in return.
"Aren't you suppose to be in Japan, watching over the "Missing Children"?" Asked Yoji curiously.
"Was, but now I'm an ambassador so they had a replacement for my job. Can't say I liked that job anyway."
"So who is this lord you'll meet with?" Asked Raymond bluntly, putting aside their differences and focusing on the mission.
"Shoutmon, king of one of the few zones not under the imperial rule. He's the one that led several skirmishes against the Imperium in other zones: sabotages, POW rescues, demolitions, you name them. He's in command of the Fusion Fighters United Army."
"Sounds noble." Commented Raymond. "I guess we should move out now."
"Then let's move. Sir Yamaki, you'll be with my team." Suggested Itami before they went on their seperate ways.
The joint military convoy traversed the many forests and lush green grassy plains and hills of the Forest Zone. Most of the marines look out of their vehicles in awe at the beautiful and eerie peaceful scenery. Vast open fields and valleys filled with small forests, shallow cliffs and bluffs surrounded the convoy.
"I've got to say, sir, this is one beautiful Zone. Reminds me of Holland for some reason." Commented happily Brook. "Or maybe Belgium."
"You've been there?" Asked Raymond with curiosity.
"Yup, three years ago with my wife during the holidays. We did a small trip around Europe. Fun times." He answered with a smile, the memories that were so dear to him.
"Echo 1, this is Recon 3. The village is just up ahead of us, pass the hill." Informed Itami.
"Roger that. Thanks for the heads up."
Ahead of the convoy was the Village of Smiles. Surrounded by forages and bushes, the village consisted of cylinder-like stone buildings with small gardens built on top of each building. The houses varied in size and height. A small wooden guard tower was installed in front of the village. Suddenly, the whole convoy stopped abruptly.
"What the hell was that, Kurata?!" Scolded Itami after his head hit the dashboard of the car.
"Uh sir... I think this drum is yelling at us..." Kurata said in disbelief.
Right in front of the lead vehicle, a small drum with a face, sticks as arms and little legs was blocking their path and screaming angrily at them.
"This is Raymond, Itami why the fuck did we just stopped?"
Itami quickly grabbed his radio and answered.
"A drum is blocking our path, I'll deal with it, it's nothing too serious."
He then loaded a mag in his assault rifle and took a quick check on the weapon before he opened the door.
"Nothing too serious..." Commented sarcastically Kurata.
"Shut up."
Itami got out of the vehicle and let his rifle hang on his side. He walked calmly to the small drum-like digimon who was glaring at him.
"Uh hello there. What seems to be the problem?" He asked with a friendly tone.
"What seems to be the problem?! The problem is that your reckless driving almost killed an entire family of pickmon! That's the problem!" The drum digimon shouted with rage and disgust.
Itami looked around him and the lead vehicle, he found nothing until he heard some tiny voices under the vehicle. He searched under the car and his eyes opened widely in shock. Under the Toyota HMV there were at least a dozen of Pickmon shaking like branches and staring at the human in fright.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" He shouted, bowing in front of them.
He then told them to move out. The Pickmon cowarded behind the Dondokomon.
"The hell is going on, Itami?" Asked with frustration Raymond, who got out of his vehicle.
"We almost crushed an entire family of digimon..." Replied hesitantly Itami.
Raymond looked at him with a stoic expression and sighed in annoyance. He looked at the the group of small digimon.
"What's your name, drummer?"
"Dondokomon. Guardian of the Village of Smiles and messenger of the Fusion Fighters United Army." He replied proudly.
"Ok, Dondo. Can you lead us to Shoutmon? We're expecting him to meet us at the village."
"Of course, follow me!" The digimon cheerfully replied and headed towards the village.
"1st squad on foot with me. The rest of you continue by transport." Raymond ordered through his headset.
The convoy slowly moved on at the pace of the digimon guide. Once they entered the village, its inhabitants stared at them in curiosity and apprehension. Others, however, cheered at them, calling the humans "Liberators". Soon the entire village lit with joy as they started to crowd around them, eventually blocking the road for the vehicles.
When they finally arrived at a dome-like stone house through the waves of villagers cheering, they were greeted by a short hairy old man in ragged clothes, holding a staff with a lion's paw at the end of it.
"Are you Shoutmon, sir?" Asked Itami in confusion.
"No, no. I'm Jijimon, the village's elder." The old digimon replied with a cheerie tone. "The king is waiting for you in my domain." He opened his door and let Raymond, Itami and Yamaki in his house. The 1st squad of marines stood outside as guards.
The humans had to duck their heads once they entered the house, unfortunately Itami had his head bumped against the ceiling frame. They took a left and arrived at what seems to be a living room. The sun shoned through the windows and a fireplace could be seen on one end. In the middle of the room, there were two large couches facing one another and a small wooden coffee table in between. The table had a plate of cookies and biscuits and tea cups.
"Make yourself at home, gentlemen." Announced politely Jijimon before he went off to another hallway.
Though the couches were big enough for five small digimon, it was still small for the humans. Yamaki and Itami sat down while Raymond just stood behind them. The two soldiers took off their helmets and rested their rifles on the side of the couch.
A few minutes later, a group of digimon entered the living room through the other hallway and took the seats facing the humans. The group consisted of a Knightmon, a Lilymon, a Gumdramon and a small cloaked digimon with a red tail sticking out of its cloak. The hood covered its whole face.
"Have you been followed by the Imperials?" Asked the cloaked figure.
Yamaki was about to answer but was interrupted by Raymond by a second.
"If we met any imperials, they're as good as dead." He answered with confidence.
At the corner of his eyes, he can see that the figure smirked.
"I guess you're right..." The mysterious digimon soon lifted its hood and revealed itself.
The digimon was a small red dragon with fiery blue eyes, a spiky mouth and a V-shaped forehead. He wore some kind of armour on his upper torso, his forearms and feet. He had a belt strapped around his waist. On each side of his head were spherical shells with a crown emblem on them. Several scars could be seen on his face to evidence his battle experiences. A yellow scarf wrapped around his neck.
"Lord Shoutmon, at your service." He greeted and bowed down.
Yamaki and Itami bowed down while Raymond simply stood straight and gave a firm salute.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, your highness. Now I'm here to tell-"
"I accept the offer." Shoutmon replied, interrupting Yamaki.
"Just like that?" Asked the ambassador baffled.
"Of course! We need your help in this war and you proved us that your soldiers are capable to stop such an empire with courage and honour. Your tales of battle had already reached every region in the DigiWorld. The digimon admire you. And I want to make peace with the Real World once we're done with this bloody war."
The humans looked at each other in disbelief.
"Well that was easy..." Commented Raymond.
Yamaki shrugged and took out a document from his briefcase. While he informed Shoutmon about the content of the documents, both Itami's and Raymond's radio buzzed.
"To all units, there's been a disturbance at outpost Bravo. All nearby units respond to the call."
"This is Echo 1 from the Village of Smiles, what's the status."
There was a brief moment of silence.
"Echo 1, this is Major Green. I'm ordering you to stay in the village and protect the VIP and the king. There's a possibility that a contigent of Imperials are heading towards outpost Foxtrot. Do not go back and do not engage them. We don't want to put the village in danger. Am I clear?" Major Green instructed firmly.
"Affirmative, Major. We'll dig in for the mean time." Raymond turned off his radio. "We've got a situation. Imperial forces are currently attacking outpost Bravo and are heading towards outpost Foxtrot. We've been ordered to stay here for the time being."
"If they do attack the outpost then we should dig trenches to the South and West part of the village." Suggested Itami. "I'll tell my men to evacuate the inhabitants of that area."
"Good idea. Jijimon, do you know a safe place for the king?" Asked Yamaki in a serious tone.
"What?! No, this is my home town, let me fight, humans." Declared Shoutmon as he summoned his McField-brand mic.
"That won't be necessary your highness." Interrupted Yamaki. "Though we may seem weak, these men has been through hell and back again. They had already fought many battles."
"Yup, like he said. Semper Fi, your majesty." Raymond said with a confident smile. "Hell is our playing field."
The two officers got out of the house to give orders to their soldiers. Shoutmon looked down with a bit of disappointment.
"Cheer up, Lord Shoutmon." Stated loudly Captain Knightmon. "At least we'll finely see with our own eyes how these fabled human soldiers fight!"
The small red dragon snickered at his captain's attitude.
"I guess so... Lilymon, send a messenger to call in reinforcements, a full company." He requested to his assistant.
The fairy digimon bowed down and called a Sunflowmon to give out the order.
"Dig in, Marines! We'll take the South and the JSDF the West!" Announced Raymond while tossing a shovel at Cyberdramon. "I also want sandbags distributed along the trenches. I want Hesco barriers installed 20 meters behind the trenches, a unit stack is enough. Digimon, you'll fill these up." Renamon, Cyberdramon, Guilmon and Flamedramon groaned in annoyance. "Marksmen and snipers on the roof tops."
"How come we don't have those?" Complained Kuribayashi from her half dug trench, her ballistic armour off and her uniform's sleeves rolled up.
"Because they have more space than us." Bluntly replied Kurata next to her before he chugged down a bottle of water. "And we don't have super robust digital killing machines with us."
She continued to observe the marines, in particular their platoon commander. She examined Raymond who was giving out orders and advices to his men along the trenches. Then he started to take off his helmet, rifle and bullet-proof vest. That suddenly piqued her interest. He rolled up his sleeves, showing off his grusome scar and firm muscles. Though he was not as broad as Tomita, he was enough for her to admire him. He picked up an entrenching tool and helped his men in the trenches. She gazed at him in admiration, having a daydream. A minute later, Raymond noticed her staring at him and looked back in confusion.
"Kuribayashi! Keep digging! The day is still young!" Yelled the Sergeant Major, interrupting her dreamy trance.
She shook off her stare and returned to dig in her trench, blushing furiously as her mind is still clouded with images of the american marine. She threw dirt at Kurata who was laughing his butt off at her embarrassed attitude.
As night envelopped the DigiWorld, several marines and JSDF were set as sentries for the time being while the others slept in their sleeping bags, under the stars or in the trenches.
Stephen was eating quietly his MRE at midnight, gazing at the dark sky, dotted with data particles and data streams that acted as the many stars. Though he was not on guard duty, he couldn't sleep. So he simply eats the MRE's biscuits to pass the time. It was a small habit he picked up since they entered the Digital World after the first battle. Most of the time, Brook or Dukeman would join him in his late night snack and chat for a few minutes. But now, both of them were soundly asleep. He glanced up behind him at the building roof top where Renamon was stationed. The fox digimon was peering through her binoculars at their defensive perimeter, examinating carefully the environment around the village. Suddenly, he heard footsteps gently coming to him to his right.
"Hey, do you mind if I sit next to you?" Kuribayashi asked lazily. Stephen looked at her in confusion. That's when the female soldier realized she spoke in japanese to him. "Uh...sorry. Me... can sit here?" She asked again hesitantly in english and pointing at the ground.
Stephen shrugged and allowed her some space, eventhough there was enough space for both of them to sit on. Though it may seem that Stephen was calm and collective, in the inside he was nervous as his heart beats rapidly. The same could be said for Shino Kuribayashi. They sat and gazed at the horizon in silence. A few occasional glances was exchanged between them. Stephen offered Shino his military chocolate bar when her stomach started to growl. She gingerly accepted the chocolate and ate it.
Suddenly, they heard jets flying above the village, followed by series of explosions that could be seen in the distance. Japanese and British air forces conducted night bombing raids, cutting off the enemy force in half.
Raymond's radio buzzed loudly by his side. He jumped in surprise and quickly reached the device.
"Echo 1, this is Trojan Actual. We're currently bombing the Imperials located near outpost Foxtrot and Bravo. For now we have them on the run but we advise you to keep your eyes oepn for any enemy remnants."
"Roger that, Trojan Actual. Keep up the good work, it's like the 4th of July from here." Joked Raymond.
"You're in luck. The bombings will continue for an hour or so, follow by artillery. Enjoy the show, Lieutenant."
Raymond chuckled and gazed back at the infernal fireworks. The entire 3rd Recon team awoke from the sounds of jets and explosions, and gazed at it in awe. Several inhabitants however, stared at the nocturnal bombings with fear and shock. The bombs dropping, the ground violently erupting, fiery orange flashes dotting the landscape could be seen from everywhere in the village.
From the balcony of the safehouse, Shoutmon, Lilymon and Gumdramon stared at the "light show".
"I didn't know humans could do that." Gumdramon murmured in awe.
Though they weren't unfamiliar with such display of firepower, it surprised them that the humans had them in quantity and in such short time.
"Let's hope that was enough to take out that legion." Said Shoutmon as he leaned over the edge of the balcony. "And that freedom and justice will prevail."
Itami woke up groggily from his seat in the light vehicle. He groaned as he took a glance at his watch.
"Tomita, can you tell me what are the Americans cheering about?" He asked as he got out of the Toyota to take a piss nearby.
"The air raids. By our air force and the British."
"I assume that stirred up the entire village." Guessed Itami.
"Yeah." Tomita responded before he grinned. "At least Kuribayashi is enjoying the show with her boyfriend." He added jokingly.
Itami zip up his pants and walked next to Tomita. He looked over where the young woman was and laughed as soon as he spotted her.
"These two should get a room." He commented lazily.
"How much do you bet they'll eventually kiss?" Proposed Kurata behind them.
"3 000 yen that they'll kiss in the middle of the battlefield." Stated Master Sergeant Nishina.
"2 000 yen they won't" Joined Leading Private Tozu.
"5 000 yen say I'll get a picture of the moment." Announced proudly Leading Private Sasagawa.
Soon all the male soldiers of 3rd Recon team made bets and chatted. Unfortunately for them, they spoke loud enough for Kuribayashi to hear them clearly. Stephen backed away from her slowly as she tightens her fists and her breath fuming with pure rage. He could see in her eyes a blazing anger that even the bombing raid in the distance was nothing compared to those fiery eyes. He didn't know why she was all of the sudden furious but he figured it had something to do with the soldiers discussing behind them.
The petite woman then lashed out at the nearest squadmate, sadly Kurata. Raymond had to call Renamon and several marines to pull the enraged woman off Kurata before she actually beats the poor young private to death. And that was no easy task for the marines, even with Guilmon's help added.
Author's note: Sorry, again, for the single chapter for this week but it has been stressful since my school is preparing us for the "big" test; the VERY VERY important one. Next week should be okay for two posts, there is one more important test to get through in two weeks and then, maybe I should be fine for a few weeks. Anyways, I hope you like this story so far, can't say its the best but I'll do my best to improve. Favorite, Follow and/or Review the story if you want and until next time! A la prochaine fois!