Chapter 5
3rd Deep Reconnaissance Unit
Firestone National Guard, 6th Ranger Regiment's 1st Lieutenant Cameron Nexuls is, what one would say, a very laidback guy, so much so, one could see it as extreme incompetence. Spending almost everyday goofing off with his group of friends, on or off base. Colonel James "Delta" Trigger knew this when he picked him to lead the 3rd Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Platoon, because he was a part of this group. However, he also knew that Lieutenant Nexuls could become serious when the situation required it.
Major Sarah Lackland of the Mayflower National Guard, Special Forces Group, 1st Long-Range Reconnaissance Battalion was chosen to be the commander of States Combined Forces Land Command – Special Region, Reconnaissance & Intelligence Command. This command houses all signal corps, Deep Reconnaissance Platoons, Intelligence battalions & Counter-Intelligence battalions.
Cameron knocked on the flap of the R&I Command Tent. A female voice responded. He opened the flap and allowed himself to enter before saluting.
"1st Lieutenant Cameron Nexuls, Firestone National Guard, 6th Ranger Regiment, 5th Ranger Battalion, Second Squad reporting"
"At ease"
As soon as he put his hand down, he immediately slid into the nearest chair, causing Sarah to raise an eyebrow.
"I've been standing on that Infantry Firing Nest for over 5 hours, someone took the chair I put in there" he complained.
Sarah let this go. She threw a file at him. He was caught off guard. The front of the file read 3rd Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Platoon.
"What's this about?"
"Congrats, you got a new command"
"Your fucking kidding" he replied instantly.
"Do you have a problem, Lieutenant?" She asked skeptically.
Sarah was not familiar with the Firestone National Guard. She had only been to joint training with them twice. This was back when FNG's 6th Ranger Battalion was known just as FNG Special Forces. She had the opinion that while striking fear into the heart of the states, they were highly incompetent. The actions of the FNG Lieutenant in front of her was just affirming these opinions.
"No, Major, no problems at all" He replied while getting up from the chair.
"The rest of your team should be waiting outside the 4th Motor pool. Go introduce yourself or something"
He saluted and left the tent.
In front of Starfall-Providence's 4th Motor Pool was a line up of 5 vehicles. At the front was a SS,LLC MVMD-Toyota Armored Military High Mobility Jeep, behind that sat a SS,LLC SC19002 HMMWV with a BMG-71 TOW Launcher mounted on top, behind that was a Huskey TSV with a M2 Browning Machinegun and at the end of the line was a TMCD Type 87 M/TWQ-1 Lander HMMWV loaded with regular anti-air Starstreak Avenger Missiles.
In front of this convoy of 5 was a group of 13 people, all wearing the combat uniforms that correspond with their original army. Cameron could pick out the 5 Firestone National Guardsmen. He'd been attached to them since they crossed the gate, but he couldn't recognize the others.
They all saluted him and a man in the middle of the line wearing the combat uniform of the Norfolk National Guard stepped out.
"Sergeant Major Nathaniel Walsh, Norfolk National Guard, 1st Special Operations Group Detachment – Zulu. I'm your second in command Lieutenant" He said, introducing himself.
"Good, can you introduce me to the rest of the group?" Cameron asked.
Nathaniel nodded before pointing to a small girl, about 5'3 wearing the combat uniform of the Ridgeway National Guard "That's First Sergeant Sophie Reed, Ridgeway National Guard, 34th Special Operations Signal Battalion, she's the Platoon First Sergeant and your comms specialist"
The girl smiled at the introduction. The Sergeant Major then moved further down the line to an even shorter girl, 4'11 wearing the combat outfit of the Docklands National Guard, specifically the Docklands Special Forces branch. "Sergeant First Class Sofia Perez, Docklands National Guard, Docklands Special Forces, 2nd Rangers Battalion. Best close combat specialist in the entire State of Docklands, one scary motherfucker"
Cameron's eyes went wide "Oh! I remember you, you're that one chick that beat the fuck out of Specialist Tame Henry"
A grin came across Sofia's face "That cocky motherfucker got what was coming to him"
The Sergeant Major coughed "anyway, this" he said pointing to a man in Mayflower Uniform "is Sergeant Hye-won Lee, Mayflower National Guard, 5th Infantry Battalion. He's the designated driver for the TOW Humvee. One of the best in the MNG, or some I'm told."
They continued along, "Sergeant Lucas Wanger, Norfolk National Guard, 15th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, designated driver for the Huskey TSV. This one I can confirm is the best APC Driver in the Norfolk Guard"
"These two are Sergeant Tariq Kamara and Specialist Joseph Nelson, Mayflower National Guard, 3rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, they're designated to the Avenger knock-off over there"
As they got to the end of the line, the Sergeant Major pointed to the only Rockport National Guardsmen "Master Sergeant Alejando Peralta, Rockport National Guard, 19th Special Forces Group"
As Cameron looked around at his new multi-state platoon, he noticed something.
"Aren't we missing two people?"
As if, by the grace of god, a SS,LLC CVMD-Toyota SCMODIA Military Police Land Cruiser which its lights full tilt drifted behind the Lander HMMWV. Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Maki Nishikino fell out of the passenger seat while yelling obscenities at the vehicle's driver. The voice of 2nd Lieutenant Edward Philips replied to the women in kind.
Some of the group had to stifle their laughter at the antics of the two teenage soldiers.
"That's why Keiko is driving" was the first sentence the group could hear at normal volume as the two arrived in front of the group.
Edwards just shook his head before looking over at Cameron and saluting.
"Right, thank you Sergeant Major" Cameron said allowing the Nathanial to get back in line "ladies and gentlemen, these two are our Sean City Ministry of Defense Intelligence Agency Liaisons. 2nd Lieutenant Edward Philips, 16 years old, a bit younger then Private O'Ward and Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Maki Nishikino, 18 years old but she has as much experience as the Sergeant Major. Please treat these two with the respect you would the Press or a dignitary from your home state"
With introductions out of the way and everyone here, the 3rd Deep Reconnaissance Unit got underway.
The Imperial Castle, Ula Bianca was a hotspot of activity as hundreds of lords and nobles passed through the castle. Senators, nobles and courtiers would gather in meetings, treating politics just like any other chores.
In these meetings, they would enjoy delicious foods, graceful dancers, gambling, courting before engaging in dialogues… That was the general feel of it. The nobles might even decide troop deployments based on the number of games they hunted, or their gambling rewards.
That would be if the Empire wasn't currently in a state of crisis. With the recent defeats haunting their minds, each noble and senator would have a grim look on their face. The beautiful pieces of art now looked like pebbles on the road while the graceful music sounded hollow to them.
What caused the Empire to hold its dominant position among the countries when it was under the reign of Emperor Molt Sol Augustus was the overwhelming military force and immense wealth. Even a child would know that these were the reasons that the Empire was feared by its neighboring countries.
Now, the Empire had lost one of these arms of diplomacy.
As the generals and nobles in the court were part of the expedition across the Gate, there was a large number of casualties. With such an outstanding amount of dead people, the nobles had to spend their day rushing around from one funeral to another.
The Emperor himself hosted the ceremony with mourning clothes and the lazy days of the castle continued.
"Your Majesty, the Alliance Army has suffered a major defeat. The dead and missing has reached 60 thousand. If we include the ones who were wounded, but are still able to resume their duties, it is around 100 thousand. The survivors of the Alliance Army have each returned to their respective countries"
The numbers were somewhat deflated however, as they did not include ogres, goblins and giants. The demi-humans which had inferior intelligence were treated like warhorses. Upon hearing Domestic Minister Marquis Marcus's report, the Emperor nodded his head tiredly.
"Just as planned. The cowardly senators who were afraid after we suffered some losses have nothing to worry about anymore."
"But the movement of the enemies from beyond the Gate is a concern"
"Hmm, are you getting paranoid?"
"I was born with this paranoia of mine. I will never attain such magnanimity as Your Majesty"
"So be it. In that case, I shall act as to relieve the worries of my trusted retainer. This is not such a difficult problem. The distance from Alnus Hill to here is far. It will be fine to use the Empire's extensive territory as a rampart"
If the enemies started moving their pieces, all the cities and villages from Alnus Hill to the Imperial Capital would be burned down, the wells poisoned, and the food seized to the last grain of wheat. The scorched earth policy, first coined by the Chinese during the Second Sino-Japanese War and more wildly used by the retreating Red Army of the Soviet Union in the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. Its purpose is to remove the ability to gain supplies while on the move, causing a further strain on the enemy's logistics chain. No matter how strong an enemy was, doing so always showed cracks in the system.
"If there wasn't a way to locally gather supplies, they would have to be sent from their own country, It would be a heavy burden on their horses. This way, the enemy's fighting potential would be lower the closer they get to the capital, giving the Empire's army the advantage when fighting near the capital. If we were to build strongholds at various locations and forced the enemies to bleed, the enemies would gradually crumble under the pressure."
Make the enemies advance deep into the enemy's territory and hit them when they are tired. Without a doubt it was an easily understandable and effective tactic in any world. However, scorched earth tactics would their own lands into crisp, and it would be hard to undo the damage. Such tactics disregarded the livelihoods of the people by robbing their food and water, and the support of the people would be lost. Thus, the people would have resentment towards the government that would last for generations. Considering all these cons, it was hard to politically issue such orders. However…
"but…The tax revenue would decrease"
Marquis Marcus used a reserved manner to articulate the damage that would be done to the people.
The emperor hmphed "Just cancel a few planned parades and postpone the plans for the imperial villa".
For the powerful Empire, the suffering of the people and approval of the citizens were such trivial things.
"There was talk of Marquis Casel, making a fuss".
"Why do I have to care about what Marquis Casel thinks?"
"It seems like he and some of the senators are conspiring to declare a state of emergency counsel".
The Imperial Senate's Emergency Counsel could veto the orders handed down by the emperor. The Senate even has the power to dismiss the Emperor. In the history of the Empire, the number of cases where the thrones of Emperors were threatened due to the Senate's Counsel was not low.
"Hmph, how interesting. Just let them do what they want. Who knows, this may be a chance to round up all those conspirators at the same time. Order the Privy Council to look into this matter."
Marcus had an astonished expression on his face for a second, but he still bowed respectfully towards the Emperor. The Emperor's weapon against the Senate was the crime of treason. It required the Privy Council to present evidence in order to sentence them.
"It seems like many have taken the privilege of being a Senator for granted. Looks like it's time to remove the weeds."
Marquis Marcus bowed his head respectfully. Suddenly, a voice that was as clear as a bell cut through the quiet air of the palace.
"Your Majesty!"
The disrespectful person appearing before the emperor was the princess. In other words, one of the Emperor's daughters. She had flame-like vermillion hair and white porcelain skin that was accentuated by her white silk garment. Kneeling on one knee, she displayed flawless court etiquette.
"What's the matter?"
"The Empire is now having an emergency. What has Your Majesty done to curb this problem? Is Your Majesty getting senile?"
The princess's tongue was as sharp as usual.
"Your Highness, what urgent matters do you have to barge into the chambers of His Majesty?"
If the Emperor's third daughter, Piña Co Lada just sat still with a smile on her face, she'd look just like a peerless art piece. Sadly, her sharp tongue has been said to have made weak men fain, which was infamous in the Empire.
"Obviously, it's about the bandits occupying Alnus Hill. It seems that till this day Alnus Hill is still under their control. I couldn't imagine that Your Majesty would still sit with such a relaxed posture after hearing what happened to the Allied Army. Marquis, have you reported the facts to his Majesty?"
"Your Highness, I certainly did give the report. The Alliance Army did suffer heavy losses, but they defended bravely against the enemy's invasion of the Falmart Continent. Thanks to the brave and courageous Alliance Army who sacrificed their lives in battle, the enemy who received both physical and psychological damage and are shivering in fear as they built strong forts in panic, hiding within like hibernating bears. Such enemies are no threat to us at all."
After hearing Marquis Marcus's words, Piña replied with a 'hmph'.
"I'm no longer a child Marquis, I know that how things are put across matters, but to turn the complete defeat of an army into a victory, no matter how small, is unheard of for me"
"I only speak the truth, Your Highness"
"So, you are going to sacrifice the truth and paint the history books with nothing but lies? All because it suits your narrative?"
"Even if you put it like that, I cannot answer"
"You sly courtier! Isn't the Holy Hill of Alnus still under the enemy's complete control!? They defended successfully? The truth is that the foot of the hill is filled with corpses!"
"It's true that we took some losses…"
"Then, what are we going to do from now on?"
Marquis Marcus played dumb while explaining to her the projects such as recruitment of new troops and their training. Piña clicked her tongue annoyingly at Marcus's words that anyone who was related to the Imperial Army would know of.
"How many years do you think it will take? Could you ensure that the enemies of Alnus Hill would sit quietly and wait?"
"Your Highness, I am aware of that. However, currently all we can do is follow the steps of recruitment, training and rebuilding of the army. Even the vassal states have lost their troops. Even if another Alliance Army was formed, the time needed for it to become reality would be proportional to the national strength. Even if the other countries reconstructed their armies later than us, they would catch up sooner than later"
Hearing this, Piña exclaimed astonishingly:
"It would be impossible to defend against the invaders if we wait that long!"
Sighing, Emperor Molt held up his hand. He was tired of this back and forth. Based on his observations, Piña had the tendency to cause unrest. Those without responsibilities were like this; always criticizing but had no constructive arguments or suggestions. Even if they had made suggestions, it was all wishful thinking that disrespected the traditions & social status of others. If someone voice objections against the, they would counter by asking "What would you do then!?"
For example, the only solution now is to follow the steps of Marquis Marcus had said. Buying time for that would be dependent on diplomacy. To achieve that, the Emperor's plan to gather the vassal countries' troops and eliminate them in one go was successful. The resigned Emperor shrugged and said this to his daughter.
"If you put it this way Piña, I have something to say"
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Regarding the enemies at Alnus Hill, what information we have on our hands is very limited. Why don't you go check it out?"
"Me?"
"Yes. We are still rebuilding the Empire's army, so we are lacking scouts and can't draw them from our standing army. The enlisting and training of new recruits will need time as Marquis Marcus said. The only troops that are free and adequately trained would be your Order of Knights. If the knights are not your playmates for a pretend army, that is…"
Under the provoking gaze of the Emperor, Piña shut her lips. The time needed to travel to Alnus Hill was ten days on horseback. It was dangerous front lines, where tens-no, hundreds of thousands of troops had perished. Now she and her Order of Knights had to rush to Alnus Hill by themselves…
Furthermore, it wasn't for a magnificent battle, but a simple scouting trip. For knights, who were mocked to be playing a game of pretend, although they took pride for being assigned missions, the contents of the mission were dissatisfying. Also, she and her Order of Knights had zero experience in a real battle. Could she and her knights successfully complete this dangerous mission?
The Emperor's gaze carried the meaning of 'if you don't want to, then shut the fuck up'
"Well then. Do you accept this order?"
Gritting her teeth, Piña raised her head with a determined look in her eye and answered.
"I have received it."
After she said those proud words, Emperor Molt responded ceremoniously "umu, then I shall look forward to your achievements"
"Well then, Father. I shall be on my way"
With that, Piña Co Lada turned her back to the throne as she left the hall.
The States Protection Coalition isn't just a Coalition of States Forces and its International Liaison, it also hosts 3 Civilian contingents. The most important of these 3 is the Council for Civilian Overwatch of Military Actions in the Special Region, also known as "Civilian Overwatch" or "The Diet".
The Diet Chambers sits just above the office of Adjutant General of the Firestone National Guard Bureau.
The Diet consists of 2 Senators (or equivalent) from each participating SPC State and holds a total of 14 members. A young upstart, a Senator from the State of Firestone's City of Redwood 2nd Reporting District named Katie Wren was selected to join her veteran colleague Senator Shark "Fish" McCreary from the District of Prominence 1st Reporting District.
Senator Katie had singlehandedly decided to make herself an enemy of the Military Forces located on the other side of the GATE in an attempt to make a name for herself prior to the Senate elections.
It was this course of events that saw the first ever meeting of the Diet. This was to be a televised affair, as requested by Senator Wren and approved by the States Protection Coalition's Public & Media Relations Office. What the young female Senator was trying to accomplish with this trial is still unknown.
Council Chairmen, Sean City Federal Territory & Territorial Port Council Board Member Raynard Fabian of School District 7 banged his gavel to announce the start of the first meeting of the Council for Civilian Overwatch of Military Actions in the Special Region.
"Order!" he yelled. The Chambers quieted as he cleared his throat to begin.
"This is the first meeting of the States Protection Coalition Council for Civilian Overwatch of Military Actions in the Special Region, we have one Item on today's docket, brought forth by Firestone Senator Katie Wren, with support from Mayflower Legislator Henry Von Henry, Senator Katie?"
The Senator in question stood up so that everyone could easily see her before sitting back down and beginning.
"I have called this meeting of the Diet to investigate the actions taken by the members of Supreme Allied Command – Special Region, States Combined Forces Land Command, Reconnaissance & Intelligence Command, 1st Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Regiment, 3rd Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Platoon in the face of a Special Region Designated Creature D-FB that resulted in the loss of Civilian Life and may have indirectly caused a refugee crisis within the Special Region, Chairmen?"
"Right" Board Member Raynard said "Will Mr. Walsh please step forward to the podium, state your rank and position"
Sergeant Major Nathaniel Walsh got up from his seat at the front of the row and stepped up to a small podium that faced the 14 council members.
"Sergeant Major Nathaniel Walsh, 1st Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Regiment, 3rd Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Platoon, Platoon Executive Officer"
"Senator Katie may begin questioning"
"Sergeant Major, can you please give your version of events starting from your first interaction with the Special Region Designated Creature D-FB?"
"You know something" 2nd Lieutenant Edward Philips said from the back of the SS,LLC MVMD-Toyota Armored Military High Mobility Vehicle.
"What?" The driver of the vehicle, Master Sergeant Alejandro Peralta asked.
"I've never seen a sky this blue before"
A laugh came from the passenger seat of the vehicle.
"You should come down to Greendale some time then, the sky is basically like this" 1st Lieutenant Cameron Nexuls recommended.
The 3rd Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Platoon had been on the road for almost 3 hours now. They were making their way to a village deep in the forests to the north of Alnus Hill. Sergeant Major Nathaniel Walsh was guiding Alejandro from the back seat, using an aerial terrain map they had received from the Sean City Ministry of Defense Intelligence Agency, Office of Aerial Intelligence. After the first battle of Alnus Hill, they sent drones through the Gate to take pictures of the surrounding area. About 50 klicks in diameter.
There were no satellites in this world, so GPS wasn't going to be useful. Hence, they could only use maps and compasses. Although just over 43% of 3rd Recon were trained members of their states respective Special Forces units, Nexuls had pushed the land nav responsibility to his Executive Officer. The oldest member of the 3rd, he's been in over three wars and has the most combat experience outside of CWO2 Nishikino.
The Sergeant Major did a 5-year stint as an instructor at the Norfolk National Guard School for Special Operations. Funnily enough, Corporal Lucas Wagner was a former student of his, sadly the Corporal flunked out.
They had passed by three villages during their journey. The chief of one Coda Village gave them the location of an elf village located a few hours west of said village.
A large sigh came from the Master Sergeant.
"What's up?" Cameron asked as he looked over.
"Yeah, it's nice Scenery and all, but if I wanted to see that, all I'd have to do is go to one of my local State Parks. I was expecting to see more fantasy creatures ya' know? Dragons, fairies, that type of shit" He complained
"Oh right, you're writing a fantasy novel, aren't yeah? I remember chatting with you about it back during Training Operation Neptune 21'" Cameron replied.
"Yeah, I thought coming here would give me some inspiration"
The front vehicles occupants continued this conversation for a while. The convoy continued to drive until the sun started to go down behind it.
"Right, we should be coming up to the river now, take a right and follow it Peralta, we should make it to the tree line in thirty or so minutes" Nathaniel said.
The Convoy turned right and began following the river.
"Can I make a suggestion Lieutenant?" The Sergeant Major asked.
"What's on your mind Major?" Nexuls responded.
"I think we should stop before the forest and set up camp for the night"
Nexuls turned back "good idea"
"Wait" Philips said, "we're not straight shooting it?"
"Well, if we enter the forest now, we'd have to spend the night there, no? Do you want to spend the night in a forest full of creatures we don't know a single thing about?"
Philips only shook his head.
"Me neither and even if there is a village like the Chief said, we would scare them if we just rolled up in the middle of the night. We're here to learn about the culture and be friendly. Why make a move that's threatening? That's why only a small group will scout the forest" Nexuls said
Nexuls turned back around and pulled out a small book from the glove compartment of the vehicle and flipped to a certain page that was dedicated to common phrases of the local language. This book was written by the Sean City Ministry of Defense Intelligence Agency's Office of Foreign Language Intelligence. They had questioned not only the Civilian POW's being held at Foreign Residential Camp Alves but also the Military POW's at Guantanamo.
"Hulli, hiw auru wie?" (Hello, how are you?)
"If Maki heard you say it like that, she'd probably throw her book at you" Philps said laughing.
In return, Nexuls threw his book at the SCMODIA Liaison.
"You shut up"
This was cut short as the Master Sergeant suddenly braked, causing the TOW Humvee that was following behind to almost slam into the jeep.
"The fuck you stop so suddenly for?" Nexuls questioned the driver as he got back into his seat.
"Firestone has forest fires, right?" Peralta asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Does that look like a forest fire to you?"
Nexuls looked in the direction he was pointing. The entire forest was in flames. The backdoor of the jeep flew open as Philips and Walsh got out to get a better look.
"What are we stopped for?" A call from one of the females in the TSV came through on the radio.
"Standby, we have a developing situation. Move vehicles into security formation, First Sergeant Sophie Reed and Nishikino, join me at the front vic"
It took no more than 30 seconds for Maki and Reed to join the front group who were currently staring down the burning forest with their binos.
"Oh, that's not good" Was Maki's first thought.
"No, it's worse" Philips replied as he handed his range finder to his secondary Liaison and pointed slightly to the right.
"Oh, what the fuck!?" She responded.
"You seem to have gotten your wish Master Sergeant" Nexuls replied.
"This isn't what I meant when I said I wanted to see a Dragon sir" was all he replied.
"You don't suppose fire breathing dragons just create forest fires for fun, do you?" Nexuls asked cautiously and to no one in particular.
"Are you suggesting what I think your suggesting?" Reed asked.
"I am" Nexuls affirmed.
"Then my answer is sadly a no" The Sergeant Major said.
"Fuck" was the only reply that could find its way out of the Firestone Rangers mouth.
"Well?" The Master Segreant looked back "We have the AA Missile Humvee"
"Do you really want to piss off that thing?" Reed responded.
"What the plan Lieutenant?"
"We hide and wait for that thing to bug out of the AO" Nexuls responded "then we'll search for survivors, though I doubt there'll be any"
That last part was said under his breath as he had Reed relay his intentions back to Starfall – Providence. 3rd Recon set up a camp about 3 klicks from the tree line and made sure to camouflage itself. The Dragon left the forest about an hour later, flying off to the north-west.
"There is an Anti-Air unit attached to your platoon is there not 1st Lieutenant?" Senator Katie asked.
1st Lieutenant Cameron Nexuls adjusted the mic on his podium "Yes, Senator, there is one times Type 87 M/TWQ-1 Lander Anti-Air Humvee attached to my platoon"
"Why did you decide not to act against the D-FB using your Anti-Air Asset as a way to negate any future loss of Civilian Life in the following days" She asked, a smug smile was spread across her face, like she knew better.
"With all due respect Senator" Nexuls began "this was prior to the shipment of the Special Region Variant of the SSMARD Starstreak Avenger Missile, which could be used against creature class D-FB and lower, we were only equipped with a standard Starstreak Avenger Missile that had to be dumb fired as it couldn't lock on to the Dragon
If I had chosen that course of action Senator, myself, my men and my two liaisons would not be in this room with you right now."
The junior Senator from Redwood bared her teeth at the Lieutenant. Nishikino looked on, being able to completely read the Senator as if she was an open book. This trial was nothing but a crapshoot. A distraction for something. She was bound to find out what.
"Continue, please" The senior Senator from the Firestonian Capital urged.
It wasn't until early morning a group of 5 consisting of Philips, Nexuls, Reed, Nishikino & Sergeant First Class Emi Suzuki started to make their way into the forest. Walsh was put in charge of the Platoon in the meantime and would have to wait for the go-ahead order before pulling the vehicles forward.
It took them 2 hours to cross the smoldering forest to the village inside it. A storm had entered the area 2 hours after the dragon left, dousing the forest fire left in its wake.
"It would have taken it at least half a day to cross this by foot. If there was no fire that is" Nexuls commented to the 2nd Lieutenant next to him.
Philips stared through the now desecrated village.
"This remind you of anything Chief?" Nexuls turned to ask Maki, who was closing up the rear along with Suzuki. He asked knowing that Maki probably had more battlefield experience than anyone here combined.
"Fallujah during Operation Phantom Fury" she replied.
"You weren't at that one though, we're you?" Philips replied while still facing the village.
"No, but Honoka was, she was only 13 at the time" Maki said.
The village was partially destroyed, houses were still crumbling around them, some were still on fire, and others had..
"Lieutenant, are those…?" Emi said, clearly trying to hold a gag reflex back.
"Don't" Maki warned her.
"I'm gonna throw up" was her only reply.
"How many do you think Lieutenant?" Nexuls asked of his Liaison.
"Don't know, we'd have to look to find out"
Nexuls then turned around "Alright, First Sergeant Reed and I will search the east, Philips, you take Chief Nishikino and Sergeant First Class Suzuki and search the west"
"Search for what?" Reed asked.
"Survivors or somethin', idk" Nexuls half-heartedly responded "oh and someone let the vehicles know they're cleared to move in"
After about an hour of searching for survivors, the team of 5, which was now joined by the rest of the platoon, confirmed that there were no survivors of the attack.
Nexuls hopped up onto the ledge of a well, he was joined soon after by Philips who opted to lean against it instead. The newest members were currently searching the village for cultural items or anything of would-be interest to the SCMODIA boys.
First Sergeant Reed jogged up to the two Lieutenants while holding a clipboard.
"Lieutenants" she began "we've counted three large buildings and twenty-nine mid to small sized buildings. There has been a confirmed total of twenty-seven bodies"
"That doesn't fit" Philips observed.
"Correct" Reed responded "We think some might have been crushed by the debris when the buildings were burning, or fully turned to ash, though that's slightly impossible"
Nexuls took off his duty cap "For hypotheticals sake, let's say that each house had at least three people each, that would be ninety people total, account that for the three larger families living in the larger houses, considering they aren't Governmental locations then at least a hundred plus in this village. So where did they go?"
"Either wiped out or hiding, no?" Philips finished.
"That's horrifying"
"Yeah" Nexuls replied before rubbing his temples "we've gotta report back to command about flying fire breathing dragons that attack villages, fuckin' Christ"
Reed nods before running towards the Jeep.
"I wonder how much tougher the armor of that dragon is compared to the wyverns we saw during the Government Circle Incident and the Defensive operations" Nishikino mentioned out loud as she approached the two men.
"What? The only really effective rounds on them we're the Railgun rounds, but the 12.7mm rounds of the Anti-Aircraft guns could barely pierce their bellies?" Philips replied.
Nexuls was aware of the hardness tests conducted by the Foreign Armor Intelligence Office of the SCMODIA but wasn't really aware of the results. Under normal conditions a 7.62mm round from an AK47 could pierce 10mm steel plates. That meant the scales of a wyvern were harder than that.
"Just like an APC no?" Nexuls questioned.
"Correct" Nishikino replied.
Nexuls tipped his water canteen upside down and noticed no water pouring out. He groaned. He then looked around before remembering that he was sitting on a well. Grabbing the bucket that was next to him, he threw it down the well.
"We'll need to find it's nest sooner or later, as well as find its area of activity-"
A sharp 'donk' cut off his train of thought. Philips raised an eyebrow at the sound and Nishikino gave a puzzled face.
"I'm pretty sure that meant to go plop, not donk" Philips observed.
Nexuls leaned over the well before jumping off his seating position in surprise, causing Philips to flinch.
"Chief, get Suzuki, we got a girl down here" he said to Nishikino before turning back to face the well and grabbing the rope, preparing to go down there.
Philips leaned over the well, a young girl with golden hair and a sizable bump on her head was floating in the low water of the well, like a puppet with her strings cut.
"The town was completely decimated, yes?" Asked the Junior Senator from Redwood.
Surprisingly enough, no other diet members besides her had asked any questions of the group standing before them. This question was also directed at the Liaison.
"Senator, have you ever seen photos of the ground zero of Nagasaki after it was nuked by the United States in 1945?" 2nd Lieutenant Edward Phillips asked.
"I have, yes" She replied, her tone impatient.
"That's basically the gist of it. While most buildings in the former Imperial Japan were made out of wood, this village was a mix of wooden and stone structures. So, while half of the structures were completely obliterated, the families inside along with them 'supposedly', the stone ones were left crumbling at their foundations. It was a horrifying sight to say the least Senator"
Senator Katie nodded before allowing the soldiers to continue.
After Nishikino and Suzuki took 30 or so minutes to stabilize the elf from her afflicted condition, 3rd Platoon evacuated out of the elf village. HQ had requested an immediate RTB. Philips and Nexuls however both had other ideas. They were going to take a pitstop at Coda Village to warn them of the circumstances as they may still be in the Dragons area of operation.
The elf was loaded into the Jeep as it was the only vehicle with large enough space to harbor a patient, since no Military Ambulance was attached to the 5-vehicle reconnaissance convoy. Suzuki had also joined them so that she could keep watch on the elf, leaving a slot open in the mostly female Huskey TSV. Nishikino had also suggested that she stay and lend a helping hand as the more experienced Combat Medic in the squad, but Nexuls turned her down. The Jeep was full enough as it was.
As the convoy continued across unpaved road, the Jeep shook considerably, and while it didn't bother the currently alive and conscious personnel in the vehicle, they weren't aware of if it was affecting their eleven patient in a good or bad way.
Suzuki took the girl's blood pressure and pulse, then asked a question while staring at the girl with a fairly confused look.
"Now that I think about it, what is the normal BP and heart rate for an elf?"
When no answer was given by the 4 other men in the vehicle, she continued "Her vitals are stabilized, but they're bit low compared to human standards"
"is she alright?" Nexuls questioned.
"I mean" Suzuki was looking for a way to say it "Her breathing fine for now, her blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature are normal. She isn't sweating unnaturally – so by human standards she's perfectly okay, just still unconscious."
It's very possible that the two attached medical professionals didn't know jack shit about elf biology, and to be fair, neither did the 4 other men in the Jeep. Nexuls made a mental note to ask the locals about it and maybe talk to the girl once she woke up to really understand the situation.
It took the convoy half a day to reach Koda village. The villagers of Koda Village welcomed the Reconnaissance Platoon with a sort of "of, your back, amazing" kinda feeling. None of the villagers seemed hostile and mostly greeted the group casually.
Philips had engaged in a conversation with the village chief. Attempting to explain the affliction that had fallen upon the elf village. The Village Chief looked horrified.
"What? Annihilated? That's terrible!"
"Yes. We had gone into the forest, a large dragon had burned it down, along with the village" Philips said as best as he could.
"A flame dragon!?" The village chief asked in a panic.
"Yes, many elves we're killed.
The Village Chief then, suddenly, shook Philip's hand vigorously. "We are very grateful you told us this. I will have to alert all the nearby villages. Dragons who know the taste of Elves and Humans will attack villages and towns when they get hungry"
He then turned around and began barking orders at his family and the rest of the village. Almost instantly, as if someone had flipped a switch, the village came to life.
"We did save one" Philips said to the chief who turned back around.
Philips had led the Chief to the back of the Jeep, where he opened the back to show the blond girl, still unconscious.
"How tragic" the Chief said "This child is left all alone, everyone she knew gone"
Philips nodded "and I assume that the village can't care of her considering?"
"Yes" he confirmed "though normally we wouldn't be able to care for her anyway, our race and culture are far different"
Philips nodded and let the chief go. He returned to the front of the deep where he leaned into the window of the passenger's side door.
"So?" Nexuls questioned.
"No such luck with offloading the girl" he replied jokingly "but the village is now in the middle of evacuation preparations, what do you want to do?"
Nexus took stock of his platoon's options. 3rd Deep Reconnaissance had 16 members, including himself and the two Liaisons. If he was to leave the village and not secure their evacuations, it may end up with a great loss of civilian lives, if not a full wipe. However, he could also protect the evacuation convoy. They did have a TOW Humvee and the Type 87 attached to their convoy, if anything one of those missiles could possibly drive the dragon off. What Nexuls once saw as unnecessary, the TOW Humvee that is, he was now seeing as a relief to have.
"Right, Sergeant Major, please radio to the back that we will be assisting Koda Village with evacuations" Nexuls ordered.
Walsh nodded with approval and Philips moved out of the door to allow for Nexuls to get out. There was work to do.