300 meters away from ruins of Coda Village, April 2nd, 2021 (1100)

Never in his entire life, would he imagine being deployed to another world filled with fantasy creatures. Despite being in the 1st Airborne Brigade, one of the most elite unit in the whole of JGSDF, 24-years old Sergeant Takeo Kurata expects that the only actions he'll see in his service as part of the brigade, stationed in Camp Narashino, is perhaps disaster relief and maybe live-fire exercise with other countries.

Now, he is leading a squad of Japanese Paratroopers, doing an BDA on a dead, Fire Dragon, out of fantasy mangas he'd read while doing nothing back in Camp Narashino.

"Holy fuck dude, that's one hell of an airstrike the Marines from the 1st Recon called." Kurata whistles, kicking the now dead Fire Dragon in the head to check if it's still dead.

"It's dead obviously, those Marines called in 50000 pounds worth of bombs on this shithead." One of his sectionmates spoke up, spitting on the corpse of the dragon, it's Corporal Akihiko Yaguchi, he is also checking if it's dead or not, but it seems he has come to the conclusion that it's dead before Kurata, it's common sense that nothing can survive 50000 lb worth of JDAMs.

"That airstrike yesterday was something else, fucking hell man." Kurata replied, the memory of the creature's shriek and the explosions still in his mind, the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion seems to take no chance, deciding to bomb the Dragon with almost 50000 pounds worth of JDAMs, when it happened, the Dragon has just finished destroying the Coda Village by burning it to ashes, no survivors were seen when their 2nd Airborne Infantry Battalion, part of 1st Airborne Brigade arrives at Coda.

It seems like the Marine Artillery bombardment of area nearby attracted has the Fire Dragon, making it go on a rampage, burning down Coda.

"Still, Lt's idea of sending us over here to check on this fucking Godzilla knock-off by stepping on it is some dumbass idea, if it's still fucking alive, we'd be eaten at this point." Yaguchi just scoffs at his platoon leader's decision, not getting why would they send them over here when it's obvious it's already dead.

Just after he said that, his radio headset spoke up, it's Lieutenant Youji Itami, his platoon leader.

"Avenger 1-1 Actual, this is Avenger 1-Actual, request sitrep for BDA on the Fire Dragon over." Itami spoke on the radio, asking what's the status of the Fire Dragon.

Clicking on the "push to talk" button, Kurata immediately replied.

"Avenger-1 Actual, this is 1-1 Actual, we have had our eyes on the target for over 1 hour now, seems to be dead, no response when being stepped on, how copy? Over." He responded to his Platoon Leader's question, while standing on top of the Dragon's head.

"Avenger 1-1 Actual, this is Avenger-1 Actual, solid copy, RTB, over." Itami answered, confident that the dragon is dead, he orders Kurata and his squad to head back to their temporary camp at Coda Village.

"Roger that Avenger-1 Actual, Avenger 1-1 Actual, out." Kurata ended the radio conversation, before picking up his Type-89 rifle that's on his left hand, moving it to his dominant right hand.

"Lt wants us to RTB?" Yaguchi asks, it seems he has been eavesdropping on Kurata's conversation with Itami.

"Yup." Kurata immediately replied, before turning his head towards the rest of his squadmates.

"Alright! Get back to the LAV! We are going back to camp." Kurata said, as he, Yaguchi and 3 other squad members walks over to their Komatsu LAV, parked less than 50 meters away from the Fire Dragon's corpse.

Ruins of Destroyed Coda Village (1120)

Itami can only shake his head toward the burned bodies strewn around the village, it seems like no one was spared the wrath of the Dragon. In front of him is the dead body of an old man, with a beard and a hat akin to one's magicians would wear, he is one of the luckier people in the village, not being burned alive, it seems like he was killed when he was impaled by a building's rubble.

He then turns towards his recently promoted 26-years old Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sergeant Tadashi Natsuki, munching on a cracker while leaning on his command HMV doors, seemingly ignoring the carnage around him.

While Kurata's squad was sent to check out the dragon, the remaining squads and Itami, together with other platoons in the company, stayed in the village to search for survivors and conduct BDA, which is pointless, as the whole place is burned down.

He then whispers to Tadashi,

"Hey buddy, how the hell did you manage to eat a cracker while everyone else is puking their fucking breakfast out?" Itami asked, bewildered by his Platoon Sergeant's behavior.

"Well, it's pretty hard to do, you need to push everything out of your mind, going blank mode." Tadashi turns, grimly smiling, before looking at the destruction around him.

Suddenly, the HMV's radio suddenly crackled to life, seeing this Itami immediately picked it up, it's his superior, the glass-wearing raven black-haired Captain Kyousuke Kotarou, the CO of 5th Company, 2nd Airborne Battalion, part of 1st Airborne Brigade JGSDF.

"All callsign Avenger, this is Avenger Actual, request status on BDA? Do you find any survivors? Over." His voice can be heard throughout the company's radio, asking if his platoons found any survivors.

"Avenger-1 to Avenger Actual, negative, no survivors based on our BDA, over." Itami responded on the radio, before putting it down and puking at the sight of dead bodies before him.

"Avenger-2 to Avenger Actual, nothing was found alive, over." The CO of 2nd Platoon responded.

"Avenger-3 to Avenger Actual, negative, we found no survivors, over." The CO of 3rd Platoon, the last platoon in the company responds, before puking, which can be heard on the radio.

"Copy that, Avenger Actual, be advised, we will be advancing towards Italica, out." Kyoya acknowledges all of the platoon's answers, he can be heard sighing, before telling them their next objective, ending the conversation.

Just then, Kurata's LAV pulls up, lining up with the convoy.

"Avenger-1, this is Avenger 1-1, we have returned from our mission, over." Kurata said, with a tired voice, he used to be cheerful before arriving in Falmart, he hasn't slept in almost 48 hours ever since they began their operation.

"Copy that, Avenger-1 over." Itami simply replies, getting back to the command HMV and putting on the radio telephone to his left ear.

"All Avenger-1 Victors, this is Avenger-1 Actual, the battalion has cleared the village, we will continue our advance further to Italica with the 1st Marine Division, over." He immediately tells his platoon of their next objective, to head to Italica with the 1st Marine Division, immediately, everyone gets back to their vehicle.

Taking a final look at the dead bearded old man he sees earlier, he saw his eyes, wide open, full of terror. He tries to push it out and ignore it, but deep inside, he feels regret, the horrible feeling of regret swelling inside his heart.

I should've closed the man's eye before we step off, I just wish I can step out and close his eyes that is full of terror.

Note :

BDA - Battle Damage Assessment, things you'd do after a battle, a bombing or something similar, checking out your targets if it's still there or gone.

RTB - Return to Base.

CO - Commanding Officer.