Chapter 7
"So, a TOW Missile is effective against a Flame Dragon! I'll keep that in mind"
– 1st Lieutenant Cameron Nexuls, 2022

Contrary to popular belief, the small, very neutral, City-State of Sean City Federal Territory pays close attention to the safety of their troops. If not their own, then their allies' troops as well. Thus, when deployed in a foreign land as a United Nations Peacekeeping Contingent a large, defensive basecamp would be built – Which would be used as a stronghold for area operations and be a refuge in an emergency – For example, they had done this in the Gaza Strip during the 2006-2014 UN Security Mandate.

Sean City Federal Armed Forces Loaned Foreign Joint Base Starfall-Providence is considered the fever dream creation of a States Protection Coalition: Installation Management Command – Sean City Federal Corps of Military Engineers: Office of Logistical Intelligence joint project.

Built using a design that hadn't been used since the days of the American Civil War. Forming the Army section of the base in a star shape – Starfall – along with establishing an airfield to its east, providing quick and effective airborne contingent as well as affirming the SPC's overwhelming air superiority over the Special Region.

This base was not hastily constructed. The Office of Logistical Intelligence spent a month, working tirelessly for days and nights, creating the impenetrable fortress. Connecting it to the Territory's own automated Defense Network called GATEKEEPER, creating the walls out of the same material as the walls of the Federal City-State it came from.

Alnus Hill was now and forever would be in the clutches of the States Protection Coalition, and there was nothing the Saderan Empire could do. SPC High Command knew that, SCMODIA Command knew that, only people that didn't were the Saderan's themselves.

The automated Air Defense and Anti-Infantry Systems installed atop the walls began to swivel. It had detected something, and Installation Management Command was trying to figure out what it was. However, 3rd Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Platoon had already engaged the target the walls were tracking. Even if it was against its will.

"Is that?" 1st Lieutenant Cameron Nexuls asked.

Looking in the rearview mirror of the SS,LLC MVMD-Toyota Armored Military High Mobility Jeep, he could see a black shadow blocking out the sun. As if on cue the radio exploded as the gunner of the TMCD Type 87 M/TWQ-1 Lander HMMWV Specialist Joeseph Nelson screamed:

"That's a fucking Flame Dragon behind us!"

Like a spell had broken over the convoy, all at once the civilians began trying to run in every which direction. Screams came down the radio for orders, overwhelming command. Instead of dealing with it, Nexuls ordered Master Sergeant Alejandro Peralta to break off from the front of the convoy and circle around before firing off his Path HK416F1 at the dragon. He could now hear the M2 Browning of the Huskey TSV open fire as they got closer to the back. 2nd Lieutenant Edward Philips had taken command of Third Recon as Sergeant Major Nathaniel Walsh kicked open the back of the Jeep and began to also fire upon the Dragon with his Colt M4A1.

"TOW and Lander, move into a security position from the middle of the refugee convoy and get that thing in your sights. Huskey, get ready to release Yamamoto, her SMAW is going to be our last resort. All other units, if you can, open fire on the Dragon"

A line of rodgers came down the radio. The Flame Dragon swooped down to attack a group of frozen villagers at the back of the convoy. The Lander let off one of its 4 anti-air missiles as it swooped down. The Missile missed as it trailed just inches under the dragon as it flew up, diverting from its original course to dodge it.

"Fuck" was all you could hear come down the radio.

"It's useless, our rounds aren't doing shit"

Upon hearing the words of Corporal Anthony Lewis down the radio, Nexuls yelled.

"Who cares? Just try and fucking suppress the thing! Fire! Fire! Fire!"

The sounds of firing rifles became deafening as every member of the platoon that could fired upon the dragon. Sparks flew off the scales as the mix of 5.56, 7.62 and .50 caliber rounds pelted it. Soon explosions from the 5.56 impact rounds fired from Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Maki Nishikino's RU55 joined them. The dragon roared as it was suppressed.

The Flame Dragon's attacked slowed. It may be armored, but the thing still had a sense of touch, and being pelted with the equivalent of small pebbles had to be annoying to it. The Dragon, however, decided to now focus its attack on the platoon.

The Lander and TOW Humvee wildly evaded as the dragon threw fire in their direction.

"Take some heat off us! We can't get a shot if the fuckin' thing is breathing down our necks!"

The voice of Corporal Leah Foster yelled down the radio.

"On it!"

Nishikino and O'Ward began to take on the Dragon's agro as the two missile vehicles attempted to get into position. In the jeep however, the blond elf seemed to have woken up and was shouting something at Nexuls.

"Ono! Yuniryu! Ono!"

Nexuls turned around "huh?"

"The eye dumbasses, go for the eye!"

Philips translated. Nexuls face looked like his brain just turned on. Screaming the order down the radio, the sparks began to center on the last remaining eye of the dragon – who became visibly annoyed – began to look away. The trail of fire followed it.

"TOW ready to fire!"

"Lander ready to fire!"

"Fire!"

As they were about to fire, the dragon attempted to escape into the sky. It was however brought back down by the never-ending barrage of assault rifle and machine gun fire. Both vehicles weren't still, and the Lander jumped into the sky a little bit causing the gunner to lose sight of it.

"Oi! Keep it steady Sergeant, goddamn it!"

"I'm trying Nelson!"

Since the Lander was modified to dumb-fire because the normal missile & computer guidance system couldn't lock onto the dragon, firing while moving was meant to be impossible. Specialist Joseph Nelson kept that in mind as he got the dragon back into his sights.

Due to Kamara suddenly slamming on the Lander's brakes, it drifted and caused the turret to turn to the left a little as the gunner fired. It seemed like the Starstreak Avenger Missile was going to miss.

The missile, however, directly hit its tail, causing fire to sprout from it. The TOW Missile from the Humvee blew off its left arm directly after.

The dragon which had lost its balance spread its wings to regain said balance while attempting to evade the warhead. However, its footing suddenly slipped. If one was to look closely, there was a halberd stuck straight into the ground.

The Jeep's back doors had stayed open the entire fight, as it was Welsh's firing position, however, the goth girl – who was previously occupying the lap of Philips – jumped over the Master Sergeant, backflipped on to the roof of the Jeep's cabin and threw her halberd from there. The handle hit the leg of the beast causing it to fall into the path of the Avenger which should've missed and allowed a direct hit by the TOW.

The air vibrated as the dragon wailed in pain. The piercing roar had caused a collapse of resistance by SPC forces for a few seconds. The Dragon took this opportunity to retreat from the battle. The vehicles came to a stop and watched as the Dragon unsteadily flew away. Nishikino was denied permission to finish it off with her Railgun Sniper, as, by the time she had it set up, the dragon would already be far out of her effective range.

For now, however, the Flame Dragon had been repelled.

"How the fuck did we manage that?" was the first words to come out of 3rd Deep Reconnaissance Platoon's Commander after the battle.

The only response he received was the shaking of his XO's head.

There were two types of survivors from Coda Village.

The first type were the ones that had family or friends nearby that could house them for the duration. These were the lucky ones, as their family and friends guaranteed their safety whilst providing them with accommodation and possibly jobs.

The second type were your normal run-of-the-mill refugees. Villagers without any friends or family to turn to. This type was made up by a majority of villagers. These people had no accommodation or job opportunity. Although they worried about how to live through the next day, they still prayed in gratitude that they had survived this disaster and hoped that Lady luck would help them as they scattered throughout the land.

To the refugees, the SPC were mysterious beings. They had helped them escape and even fought off the Flame Dragon, although they had no obligation to do so in the first place and didn't even ask for anything in return.

Only two of them seemed to be able to speak the local language with the proficiency of a child, however they didn't seem like knights or priests of this country. If they were an army of a foreign nation, the villagers would have been slaughtered and pillaged. Of course, they weren't bandits as well.

The only reasonable explanation to the villagers were that the SPC – specifically the 3rd Special Region Deep Reconnaissance Platoon – was a group of foreign mercenaries that was travelling to look for an employer. Recently it seemed like the country and its nobles were recruiting troops.

The only thing that was out of the ordinary for the run-of-the-mill mercenary group was that the SPC did not request funds in exchange for their aid. Not only that, despite their praiseworthy accomplishment of repelling a Flame Dragon, they had gloomy looks on their faces and sunken shoulders that made people think that they were on the losing side. They even helped bury the dead.

While the villagers were grateful for their sacrifice and the way the SPC gave aid without asking for compensation, thoughts of "Can they survive like this?" entered their minds.

"You really think they can earn a living like that?"

"We shouldn't be worrying about others right now. We are also in dire straits, what are we going to do from now on?"

"Your right…"

"Hmpfh. No matter how idiotic our lords or nobles are, they definitely won't let go of these skilled people. No matter how you look at it, that was a Flame Dragon! They fought on equal ground with that monster."

"Yeah, but their hiring price will be sky high, that for sure"

No matter what, they would not be such idiots right? Although the villagers thought this, they couldn't be 100% sure the nobles wouldn't attempt to exploit them. Greed was a commonly known trait of nobles.

The villagers prayed to their god that this good-hearted mercenary group (SPC) with their unusual attire, weapons and values would be hired by an employer of the same values.

Incidentally, the luck of the Coda refugees had not ran out yet. On their journey, they met a lot of people who asked for confirmation. In other words, "Was the Flame Dragon really driven off?"

"It was! I saw it with me own eyes! The Flame Dragon looked at me with eyes that said 'pitiful humans' …. What? Who were they? They were people who wore a mix of colors, some grey, others black and red, some even green! They were humans, not Elves or Dwarves. Maybe it was the attire of the Eastern Tribes, only two of them spoke our language, but they spoke as if they were just learning it for the first time, the rest did not, that didn't stop them for attempting to! These guys were smart and they're good people, they helped us escape without asking anything of us in return. Yes, for free! It's true, I tell you! True!"

Unlike the bards, they did not have a wide vocabulary and their description of events changed from refugee to refugee, but they had seen them with their own eyes, no exaggerations were required.

The imaginations of listeners exploded when they heard the words of the survivor's, leaving a large impression on them. Because the witnesses had seen it with their own eyes, when they were asked "So, what's it like?", they could answer the questions of their audience.

Whenever the scene of the dragon's left arm and tail getting blow off was described, the listened gulped and quietly murmured "how, how powerful"

They parted ways with smiles on their faces, without asking for anything in return. Even the Soldiers of the SPC themselves would ask "who are you talking about?" After all, a tale of heroes that would not even be conjured up by the civilizations of old was spreading like wildfire among the Saderan populace.

In bars or even on the street, the refugees would be stopped and asked, "Are you from Coda Village?" and because each refugee's rendition of the event was different from the other, they printed a surprisingly realistic scene.

Just by telling their story, the people of Coda Village did not have to worry about food or lodging before returning to their village.

In a certain bar, in a certain village, there were two tables of particular interest. One in the far back held the members of Mobile Task Force Charlie-13 "Aincrad Military Intelligence Sector 5", Temporary team 3. This team is made up of 5 members of the original 15. By just looking at them, you wouldn't notice they weren't of this country. They wore outfits that allowed them to blend in with the local population. It was a trick passed around by MTF's, learned while operating in Afghanistan, Syria and Palestine.

And the one in the corner held an advance party of the Order of the Rose, led by the Princess Piña Co Lada herself.

"Knight Norma, what do you think?"

In the imperial courts, there were female knights who served as aids. One of them, Hamilton Uno Ro, asked her elder, who was also her colleague, about the tales from the street. The bar was dirty, and it only had a little space between the tables. The place was so noisy that one might not be able to hear what was being said at a nearby table, unless one was to shout. Amidst this nosy atmosphere, the knights sat side by side reaching out with their hands for food and holding cups full of wine.

Glancing over, there was a girl, one of the Coda Village refugees working as a temporary waitress at the bar. She was currently serving her customers from a tray of ale. When she set a plate of dishes down onto the table, she had told her story and collected a generous number of tips.

The Knight named Norma looked at the girl with an uncomfortable look on his face. While he was at court in the sparkling clean palace, he enjoyed delicious meals prepared by the wives and daughters of nobles. Although he was part of the Princess's Order of the Rose, they were meant to be nothing but a court decoration. An Honor Guard. However, he now found himself on the front lines and an aide, eating crude dishes and murky alcohol.

Despite the fact it was a mission, it did not sit well with him. The Knight felt like cursing his superiors. Just keeping himself from doing so was taking all his willpower. It was a direct order from the Princess, the mission of investigating Alnus Hill couldn't be helped. He expected, however, for the Princess to lead the whole order of knights, so that his servants would have to wait on him hand and foot throughout the journey…However, it seemed that the Princess was taking this mission extremely seriously.

She had stationed her main forces far behind, only taking a few people to perform reconnaissance operations. They even had to hide their identities, intentionally dirtying their clothes, eating the crude meals and murky wine of the common folk. This was not fit for a knight such as himself.

Norma raised his hand for a refill, and when the girl caught sight, she nodded and made her way back to the kitchen. Seeing how his Junior didn't seem to understand how bad of a situation this was, he sighed before replying.

"There are clearly a lot of refugees spouting this same story. Even if it comes from different perspectives, or even exaggerated a little bit, there isn't a way that many people came together to tell such a lie. However, I still find it hard to believe that it was a Flame Dragon"

Hamilton tilted her head.

"I think that, if so many people are saying the same thing, it can't hurt to believe them no?"

The Knight hmfphed. There was no way.

The waitress had returned and placed a bottle of wine on the table.

"I tell you, it's true! It was really a Flame Dragon"

"Bullshit! Ancient Dragons, Dragonewts, Sliter Wyrms, and Wyverns, they're all called dragons. It has to be some sort of mistake"

Kight Norma Co Igloo replied harshly. In reply, the waitress pouted in displeasure.

"Now, now, don't mind him. I believe what you said, so if you could, please tell me more"

Hamilton handed a waitress a few copper coins as she said this. That was way more than a normal tip.

"You know, just for you girlie, I'll tell you everything. Even the stuff I've kept from the other customers"

After saying that, she launched into her story:

When news of the Flame Dragon's appearance started to spread, Coda Village became as busy as a beehive. The blacksmith's wife next door had come over to tell Melissa about the news. It was noon and she was drying her clothes.

"Melissa! Melissa! Bad news!"

They often gossiped about the happenings in the small village and had become quite close. Even if there was no one in the house, she knew where Melissa would be as she went around back to where she dried her clothes to look for Melissa.

Melissa told her son who was taking in the dry clothes to inform her husband who was out in the fields, and then she ran into her home to start packing.

After a short while, her husband came back panting and shouting, "Is everything okay?!" Apparently, the way their son had described it made him think that the Flame Dragon had already attacked the village.

Seeing that his wife was safe and sound, the husband sat down on the floor in relief. Although she was safe, the real danger was still lurking around the corner. After explaining the situation to her husband, Melissa returned to packing their luggage.

After loading their food, water, some basic daily necessities, a few changes of clothes and their hard-earned savings onto their wagon which was used for farming, it was buckling under the weight of all their luggage.

They used a mule to pull the cart while her son and husband pushed it from behind, and then they started down the road towards the village. When they reached the center of the village, there were already many other villagers also in their wagons crowding the road.

Many wagons had broken down due to their heavy loads, blocking the street.

After wasting precious time waiting for the wagons to be cleared up, they were finally out of the village. By then, the sun was already beginning to set.

At night they set up camp. At daybreak, they proceeded with their journey. However, among the refugees, there were people who were slow and people who were fast.

Three days later, the villages who brought the elders and children along had fallen behind the caravan. The distance between each wagon was widening and those in the back could not see those in front anymore.

Sometimes a wagon's wheels would get stuck in the muddy ground and it would become immobile. Angry shouts of "Get out of the way!" and desperate cries of "Come help!" intertwined with each other, amplifying the frustrations of everyone present.

Scenes of people quarrelling, wagons overturned, luggage scattered all over, children crying loudly and women with obvious looks of despair on their faces could be seen everywhere.

But, in their time of need, their saviors came to their aid.

"They were men in a mix of green, grey, black and red. There was sixteen of them, seven of them were girls and two of them spoke our language with the proficiency of a child"

At this point, the entire bar had quieted as the Waitress told her story. So not only could the knights hear, but so could the rest of the patrons. It wasn't told by any of the other refugees, but the fact there was females among the Mercenaries was news to them. No one knew anything about them.

Several patrons had asked about what the girls looked like, only to get turned down by the waitress. She wasn't looking to describe all seven. She continued her story.

"Many things happened, we would start and stop multiple times, and the beast finally caught up with us"

There was not enough water and food for the villagers. Still, many of them tried their best to endure in order to take another step forward, but they were nearing their limit. Yet, they continued despite the rapid degradation of their food & water supplies.

Alas, the villagers had finally reached their limit. Those who couldn't carry on sat down in fatigue, those that still could, did. The people in strange clothing's strange wagons, which did not need any horses to move, carried the children and elderly people who couldn't go on. Still, they couldn't take them all.

"I couldn't move on, but I still wished for my son to do so. One of the women, bless her, took him and kept him safe."

The bright sky above them, however, turned dark. Expecting to see something akin to rain clouds, the villagers raised their heads and froze in place.

"It was a red Dragon, it had arms and legs, and it spread its wings like a bat. Those large wings were what covered the sky"

The dragon landed, almost as quickly as it did, Moyer and her husband disappeared before her very own eyes. Only the bottom halves of their bodies were left. People couldn't even understand what was happening as their flight or fight responses kicked in and caused them to run in every which way.

Women carrying their children, they abandoned their luggage as they tried to get away. The wagons overturned, crushing many villagers under them. While everyone was escaping, the Flame Dragon spewed fire all around it. After thoroughly roasting the humans, it swallowed them whole.

They scampered around like baby spiders as they tried to escape. Like a child destroying an ant's nest. The Flame Dragon squashed the escaping villagers under its foot and ate them.

That was when the Mercenaries appeared.

"They had come to try and protect us, and while they couldn't save the people already gone, they would try to save the ones left. They rode in on their wagons, which were faster than our horses. On two wagons, the Mercenaries raised their magic staffs and attacked the Flame Dragon with spells. However even their magic wasn't enough to pierce the scales of the beast. They didn't give up though"

They circled around the dragon repeatedly and continued attacking so that the villagers could escape. Thanks to them, many lives were saved. The Flame Dragon turned around to attack the Mercenaries, but the beast could not match the speed of their wagons. By moving around, they were able to keep themselves away from the scorching flames. Soon however, the dragon got used to their tactics. They could only cast magic from afar and were at a slight disadvantage.

"At that moment, two of their other wagons with things mounted to them appeared from behind the dragon"

"What thing?"

"They looked like giant magic staffs. One of them had 4 attached to the wagon. We call it the Divine Rods of Steel. We even heard the incantations. It was 'Ausek-strll-idrot". After that, there was a loud bang and the Flame Dragon's whole left arm was blown off"

It was the moment when the so-called invincible Flame Dragon was defeated. After getting injured, the dragon let out an earth-shaking roar and rapidly flew off. After finishing the story, the people present were silenced by the magnanimity of the tale.

"Divine…Divine Rods of Steel?"

Though it seemed exaggerated for the name of such a weapon, it still silenced the crowd in awe. After a moment of quiet contemplation, the Knights began discussing their thoughts on this. The tavern also returned to its rowdy atmosphere. The Mobile Task Force members turned off the recording device they were using to record the refugee's story.

"So, in..uh..in a nutshell, they were very powerful. Although they look like foreign mercenaries, they had such amazing skills. I think we should employ them. What do you think, Your Highness?"

The red-haired female knight who was about to eat some of the meat on her plate was asked a question. She put the meat back down and replied to her aide.

"Of course, I am quite interested in the weapons used by those people who repelled the dragon, Senator Godsen had said the same thing before 'The enemy infantry's weapon made a sound of Bang! Bang! Bang!, a moment later, our troops had fallen' I don't know about you Hamilton, but that seems to fit the bill of the descriptions given by the Villagers no?"

Princess Pina then called the waitress back, so that she could inquire about something.

"Ma'am, you have seen the weapons of those people. What do they look like?"

The waitress tilted her head as she told the table of what she had seen

"So, in other words, these people used staffs that looked like steel. They made an exploding sound, as well as spitting fire?"

"Personally, I think their magic weapons"

"Then, the staff they used to repel the Slither Wyrm….It's called the Divine Rods of Steel, yes? What does it look like? Try with the best of your abilities to describe it"

"Didn't I say that it was a Flame Dragon, not a Slither Wyrm? That's beyond the point. That Divine Rod is good stuff…Well, I can't blame you for your overprotected raising. Why don't you ask the girls that got Husbands? It's the same as a man's thing. Except of course, it's so large you can hug it. I don't think any man here has a thing that big or as black as it.."

The Waitress laughed crudely as she left the table. Pina looked at the male knights for an explanation. A table in the back was currently laughing their asses off at the explanation of a TOW Launcher.

As if on cue, the male congregation averted their faces from Pina's gaze. So, she looked for a new target.

"You…You have a fiancée, no? Hamilton?"

Hamilton thought she might have been saved from the line of fire. She was wrong.

The prim and proper Knight, Aide to Princess Pina Co Lada, Hamilton Uno Ro, who was currently drinking soup, sprayed it all over the table. Her messy short brown hair shook violently with her head as she protected.

"I-I do… but I am still a maiden! How would I know about such a thing – Ah…."

Hamilton had been had, but she refused to go further with the line of questioning.

Thirty minutes later, the party had left, leaving their shadows behind. Sergeant Andrew Gilbert Mills looked at his small team of 5.

"What do you think?"

"I think we've got enough. We should report back to main"

Corporal Shinozaki Rika had replied. The rest of the unit, Specialist Yui Kirigaya-Yuuki, Private First Class Konno Yuuki and Sergeant Hosaka Carina Tomo agreed with this assessment. The members of MTF Charlie-15 dusted off their ales and left the establishment, heading in a different direction from the leaving knights.