No Support

"The tracks end here." A North Korean soldier said.

"This is useless, these beasts can bound great distances before touching the ground again. Tracks can be several meters apart. Farther if they use the trees." Another stated.

"Well, it seems like this one did." The leader of the group stated, pointing up at a treehouse.

The men gasped with shock, then scrambled to scale the tree and search the building, while the leader radioed higher.

"Commander, we found a treehouse that a digimon probably lives in. Will send up a full report when the investigation is complete."

"These beasts," whispered the commander to himself, "must accept the new rule by True Korea. With the power they hold, our position in the real world would be elevated to great levels."

The soldiers searched the house.

"Look, an enemy radio system." The soldier held up the previously discarded PRC-148. It was a much smaller device than the radio they were using. Another soldier inspected it.

"It looks to be damaged beyond repair, but we can take it back as evidence."

Another soldier found some crude drawings of a fox and a man in a cabinet. The group found nothing else relevant and exited the building.

"Burn it down," the leader said, "beasts who aid the enemy deserve no quarter."


"All receiving, this is Alpha Three – Six Actual. I've got a Nine-Line MEDEVAC request. Over."

"Alpha Three – Six, this is Overlord. All available sorites are already deployed. No support is available at this time. Advise you to collect casualties at your company's C-P and wait for CASEVAC. Out."

"Damnit." 2LT Joseph cursed the situation as he held his 3rd Squad Leader in his arms, critically wounded. The medic had looked him over and did the best he could but recommended a 9-Line for him and a couple others. 3rd Squad had taken grazing fire from a couple of RPD light machine guns. 2LT Joseph took 1st Squad, flanked, and destroyed the enemy teams operating them.

"I'm not getting out of here anytime soon, am I, sir?" SSG Orlando asked the lieutenant.

"I'm sorry, sergeant, I've just been told we have no support."

"It's okay, sir. I've got confidence we can complete the mission, even without support."

"Hooah…"


No support. The lieutenant thought, keeping the reservations he had about their mission to himself. We're going in with no support. How could we even pull this off? Am I in over my head? Deciding to inspect the present party, he looked to his left.

Ten yards away in the wedge was CPL Ku. He had the typical facial expression of a dogface, tired and emotionless. 2LT Joseph knew he had a heavy reluctance to proceed with the plan, but figured the corporal to be disciplined enough to see it through.

Farther down was the corporal's partner, Veemon, seemed rather childish. He was trudging along with his head down, indicating his boredom with the current situation. The lieutenant didn't know if he understood what the mission was, but he seemed energetic enough to be useful when the time comes. His reliability was questionable, though. He hoped CPL Ku would be able to keep his partner in line.

The lieutenant looked to his right to see his partner, Renamon, about five yards away, trying to stay in the "wedge formation" he had briefly taught her. Her head was up, ears raised, eyes alert. She seemed reliable, and through her previous actions and pledge of loyalty, seemed to be the most trustworthy person accompanying the lieutenant. She was keen on staying by the lieutenant after the few engagements they became entangled in. He had briefed her on the mission and she seemed to have a grasp for it, understanding the gravity of the situation and keeping alert to maximize response time.

He appreciated her maturity and loyalty immensely, especially considering she was a digimon. She cared about him. He recalled how she had wrapped him up when he was shaking from the cold. I've never felt as warm and safe as I did then. It's good to have someone like her around. The lieutenant smiled. I've never met anyone like her, before. She…

"Michael!" Renamon whispered loudly, "I hear a machine!"

"What?" the lieutenant whispered back. He raised his left hand to signal halt, and listened. "I hear it, too, now. It's a truck. Quickly, get to the side of the road, there!" He pointed to a bush near the road. "Behind that bush! We can set up an ambush."

The party quickly moved to the bush, which was large enough to conceal the group from the road. Down the road, a single truck came into view. It was a 5-ton 6x6 off-road vehicle with a fully enclosed bed.

"I'll hit the driver, you take the other one." The lieutenant said. "Multiple rounds, the windshield may deflect the first couple."

"Yes, sir."

"On three." They both took aim at their targets. "One… Two… THREE!"

The pair opened up on the truck with a quick burst of fire, killing the driver and passenger. The truck continued down the road for a short amount of time, slowing down to idling speed not too far past their bush. The two soldiers ran to the truck, while their respective partners followed slowly, unsure of what to do. The lieutenant ran to the driver's side door and tried it. Finding it locked, he shot the window and punched it in. Reaching over the side, he opened the door from the inside. He pulled the driver's body out and got in. He then placed the vehicle into neutral, engaged the parking brake, and turned the engine off. CPL Ku came up to his door.

"What now, sir?" the corporal asked.

"Go open up the bed and see what's inside. I'll check the bodies."

The corporal went to open the bed doors while the lieutenant checked the passenger's body, expecting him to be a more important person than the driver. He inspected the uniform and identified him as an enemy lieutenant. He looked out to the driver and identified him as a private. Renamon came up to the driver's door.

"Michael, what's wrong with him?" She pointed at the dead driver.

"He's dead, Renamon. I'm sorry if it's a bit gory, but it's part of the job."

"Why hasn't he dissolved?"

"What?"

"If he died, then his data would dissolve, but he's still here." The lieutenant recalled their engagement with the large bug digimon and remembered how he dissolved when he died.

"Renamon, humans don't dissolve when they die. We are not made of data. When we die, our bodies stay here."

"So how do you get stronger when you kill your opponent?"

"We don't. That's not how we get stronger."

"Sir, there's a padlock. I need the key." The corporal said, interrupting the pair's conversation.

"Okay." He looked at the belt of the enemy officer, and found a carabiner with a set of keys. He pulled it off. "Here. Try these." He tossed the keys to the corporal, who caught them and proceeded to the rear of the vehicle.

"If you don't get stronger, why did you kill them?" Renamon asked.

"Because they are the enemy. Our countries are at war."

"I don't understand." Renamon showed frustration in her lack of understanding.

"We don't have time to discuss philosophical questions like the morality of war; we can discuss this another time. I have to get back to work." The lieutenant said, fully aware that the question would be eating at her for the time being. He felt bad, but he understood the priorities. He looked back to the other side of the cab and spotted a clipboard on the passenger's dashboard. He grabbed it and looked for information.

"Corporal, this manifest is in Korean. Can you look for important information, and tell me the gist of it?" He walked to the back of the truck and handed the clipboard to the corporal, who was still fumbling to find the correct key for the padlock.

"Yes, sir." The lieutenant took the keys and found a promising looking one. He tried it and it worked. Taking the padlock off, he grabbed the handle to the locking bar and began to open it.

"Sir. It says here that the truck contains a wild digimon that was too stubborn to be trained. It says that it's dangerous." The lieutenant had already unlatched the door.

"Oh, better lock this back up then." He started to relatch the door when it swung open with a bang, striking the lieutenant and sending him flying. He landed several yards away and blacked out.