Chapter 4

Blue Sea Imperial Road

They were on their way to pick a fight, that much was obvious. And Lieutenant Itami and the rest of Recon Team 3 were not thrilled about it. But the Americans seemed to be wired and ready to go. Itami recalled what happened very clearly, and how they ended up back out here, looking for what was presumed to be a raiding force sent by Prince Zorzal.

The Americans had been right, their government had been eager to lend Piña a hand with military force and jumped at the opportunity to ingratiate themselves to the new Imperial government. And when Mr. Suragawa had informed Tokyo of this development mere moments later the orders had come down rapidly. The JSDF would not allow the Americans to just roll out solo on their first trip into the Special Region. Recon 3 had been tasked to assist in the expulsion of the raiding force by an army being raised by Princess Piña Co Lada. Itami knew that the army being raised would amount to more than a thousand men, and the reports Piña brought forth said it was less than five hundred men who were seen entering their territory. The first hope would be that the raiders would simply see the White Faction host and retreat back east the way they had come and elect to not fight at all, saving everyone some time and blood. The second hope was that with the presence of the Japanese and American vehicles and some warning shots the raiders would again, opt to retreat than to take casualties.

But if this failed, they would have to engage. And Itami was not looking forward to engaging in a fight, not after so long with the Special Region holding to something resembling peace. But it was for nought, Itami knew he was hoping for too much. The winter created an artificial truce, nothing more. The fight would continue come spring, this was the advisory put out in the staff meeting which Itami had attended a few months ago which he'd spent the better part of reading a doujinshi on his laptop in the back of the auditorium where he couldn't be found out. The fight was going to continue, and now, Itami realized something.

The timing of the Cabinet allowing foreign militaries, particularly the American one, access to the Special Region seemed remarkably in tune with the suspected uptick in possible hostilities again. The Foreign Ministry had to have known that the Americans would be quick to seek a fight to gain easy but meaningful victories to solidify their future standing with the legitimate government of the Empire and with its former vassals. Only a fool would have suspected that the USA would do the opposite with so much to gain and so little to risk. But, perhaps, as Itami thought of it, this was the plan. Mr. Sugawara had received the permission for Itami to accompany the Americans fast, faster than had been anticipated. This was not the norm for the Cabinet, the JSDF was watched like a hawk, reporters kept them under a perpetual microscope so diligence in the form of dithering was the order of the day. This, this was planned, or at the very least planned-for.

"Itami…" a finger poked against his cheek, rousing him from his thoughts.

"Hmm?" he looked over, and saw Rory leaning in between him and Kurata.

"You were zoning out, sir," Kurata noted.

"Sorry, been doing some thinking," he sighed, rubbing his eyes, "We nearly to the RP?"

"Yes sir, up there at that hill," Kurata nodded towards the hill in question.

"All vehicles, movement ahead at the RP," the radio barked out from the lead Komatsu crewed by Master Sergeant Kuwahara.

"Eyes on," Itami said back quickly and lifted his binoculars, and laid eyes upon a pair of dark wyverns who landed upon the grassy knoll, "Looks like they're friendlies," he said as he saw the colors of their helmets' plumages, white versus Zorzal's black, "Coyote, this is Recon-3, we've got friendlies on the RP, looks like they're messengers or scouts," he called out to Lieutenant Killian.

"Roger that Recon-3, we have eyes on, we'll follow your lead," the American CO replied promptly.

"Copy," Itami replied, "Alright get us up there."

The column moved quickly, and they crested up on top of the grassy hill and sure enough, two Imperial wyvern riders were awaiting them. Their great black beasts were resting upon the ground with one of their number holding their reins and the second man came walking over to meet them, stopping short as the vehicles parked. The soldiers of the two reconnaissance elements dismounted, and Itami waited for the similar-aged American lieutenant to join him before he and Killian went over to the Imperial rider after a silent nod, the American deferring to his Japanese counterpart to take the lead on this matter.

The two officers sauntered over, weapons held at a low ready, one hand on their pistol grips and the other at their sides.

"Are you Lieutenant Itami?" the knight said hesitantly, and Itami noted he was quite young, fairly child-faced, probably on his first ever mission.

"I am," Itami nodded back, "I take it you had a message for me, for us?" he gestured to Lieutenant Killian.

"Yes, my lord," the man nodded back, and dug into a sack hung across his body and produced a rolled up piece of paper, "From the Lady Panache Fure Kalgi. The White Roses have ridden to the southeast, potential enemy riders have been confirmed in our territory. Their numbers are estimated between three and five hundred. They fly the flag of Prince Zorzal. Militias are being assembled across the region to protect their homes and are rallying with the Rose Order."

"Has there been any contact or raids?" Itami questioned.

"None have been reported, my lord," the young knight said, as if knowing this was going to be difficult to believe.

"Are you sure? No raids on any settlements and no skirmishes?" Itami said in disbelief, and pulled out his own map, "Where was their last reported location?"

"None, my lord. It…it's as though they're not seeking battle at all. The townsfolk report that the riders enter town, ask questions, purchase provisions, and then leave," the man stated, and pointed to a few spots in order, "They were sighted…here first, then here, and then here. The last sighting was here. A league to the south along the coast. The White Roses are here, further inland rallying militia and local garrisons to bolster their numbers before they engage."

"Lieutenant?" Killian asked, seeing the confusion and concern on Itami's face.

"Thank you, inform the Lady Panache we will make our way along the coast to block their advance," Itami said quickly, and turned away, dismissing the man and turned to Killian as he walked back towards their vehicles, "The infiltrators haven't launched any raids or attacks, that's very strange for a force loyal to Zorzal. I would have expected a trail of ruined villages to have followed in this force's path."

"We're not dealing with raiders then, we're dealing with scouts," Killian murmured to himself, "Where are they?"

"About twenty kilometers south at last report. They're going town to town, asking questions of the townsfolk and buying provisions," Itami relayed, "The White Roses chapter of the Rose Order is further inland, shadowing their movement on the coast. Looks like the intent is to corral them against the coast, cut off their retreat, and then capture them with a show of overwhelming force."

"Sound idea, the trouble will be catching them if they're all mounted," Killian noted.

"Yeah, but I think that's where we come in, we can outpace them so long as our fuel lasts. We're their blocking force," Itami explained his thinking, "We can maneuver to keep them from passing us and any moves away from the coast push them right into the arms of Piña's people."

"So we're going to be the first to come into contact," Killian surmised.

"Looks like it," Itami agreed with a sigh, and checked his watch, "We have a few minutes, bet to refill our tanks and canteens. It might be tough to do it later if we get into a fight."

"Roger that."

The two went back to their people, gave their orders, and work started. Sergeant First Class Akira Tomita was working on one of the team's Komatsu LAV, moving some of the jerry cans to the fuel trailer that their Type-73 Heavy Truck was towing. He'd topped off their vehicle and caught up with Master Sergeant Kuwahara, who was taking note of everything that was being grabbed by his people.

"Tomita," Kuwahara nodded to him, "Fuel?"

"Yes Top," the man said back, "Two jerry cans."

"Got it," the elder SNCO replied as Tomita began his work, "So, you talk to Bozes before we left the capital?"

"Yeah, a little bit, I…tried to talk her into coming back to Alnus Hill with us so we could go to see a doctor to check on the baby," Tomita sighed.

"And?"

"And…she wasn't sure. Traveling while being as pregnant as she is makes her really nervous. She's afraid of losing the baby."

"Well…she's just being careful," Kuwahara shrugged, "My wife was like that, really superstitious, she didn't want to have a doctor visit without a sonogram when we had our two kids."

"But, hopefully I can convince her to come back to Japan with me when it's time. I know that she can't wait to get back into her armor, the thought of her fellow Rose Order going to battle without her had her pretty depressed. I could tell she was feeling down on herself," Tomita noted, leaning on the fuel trailer.

"It's only natural, you train for so long with people and then to watch them go into battle without you is not something that can be easy to absorb."

"I told her she'd be out and about soon enough," Tomita replied.

"That'll be a while still, probably a year, and I don't think the war will last that long with the Americans now giving us a hand," Kuwahara warned him.

"Well I couldn't tell her that, now could I? She had her sword in arm's reach."

The two men just chuckled at that. One thing that they could all agree on was that the ladies here in the Special Region were not to be trifled with whether they be friend or foe.

Town of Cragshell

The town was southeast of Proptor, the largest of their Blue Sea ports, it depended upon three things, logging, fishing, and farming, in order to maintain itself. The town was once the home to the Falco Family, who now controlled the much larger port of Salazar now. The former castle above the town was a far cry from what it once was, left to rot to ruin thanks to a great fire which consumed it several hundred years ago and then further ruined by the putting down of a rebellion which resulted in its once-great walls and citadel being damaged beyond the ability of repair. Now, a forest fully-enveloped the castle ruins. Grasses and brush covered dislodged stones, vines and roots worked their way between the fitted-together walls, birds and bugs nested in the ancient roof structure that remained, and everything including the castle's statues were covered in a thin layer of moss.

Here, an ancient secret remained hidden, ready for discovery. The town that lay before them was, like many, without many of its menfolk. Thankfully, most were spared the bloody fate of those of the more centrally-located provinces. But, it still left the Cragshell townsfolk utterly outnumbered and outclassed by the men Axios had at his disposal. Although, he himself had no interest in moving into the village, as it would mean a fight with those he considered to be his own people. Plus, the townsfolk had yet to exhibit any aggression towards his cavalry who'd encamped outside the town, respectfully maintaining their distance from the fishing village and all of its surrounding farmhouses. Axios gave strict orders that any man who stole from the locals would be flogged, and any man who abused a citizen of the Empire would be executed. His men and horses were tired, they'd had to ride quite constantly for some time. White Faction horsemen and wyvern riders shadowed them every so often.

Axios knew that the White Faction wanted to find him and eliminate him as a threat, whether it be through battle or through capture. The war was within the forefront of everyone's minds. Winter had ended, the snows would soon be nothing but a distant memory. In some places they already were, and Axios knew that the melts from the mountains swelling the rivers alongside the spring rains were the only thing that kept his mounted force from being pinned by the predominantly infantry force that sought to chase him down and start the campaigning season with a decisive win which would set the political stage for the White Faction, and their Japanese backers, to forge ahead with pressing east and taking the final part of the Empire which refused to bend the knee to a puppet government. He had no intention to be the loser of the first battle of this year.

"My lord," one of his men came forward at the gallop on a horse as he sauntered through the wooded ruins of the old castle, "A message!" the man said in a pant, holding the sealed letter out to his commander.

Axios unrolled it, and smiled, nodding in appreciation of what he was seeing.

"Excellent, the ships will be here as scheduled, prepare the men to move into the town," Axios called out to his officers, he then looked send a messenger, "You, take a message to the mayor, inform him we will be entering the town, and that any resistance will be met with fire to the whole town," Axios said sternly to the man, "Go!"

"Yes, my lord," the messenger said and then spurred his horse quickly and rode off, leaving Axios with his three company commanders, all trusted minor lords sworn to the Sabina family.

"You think that they'll fight us?" one of them asked curiously.

"I doubt it," Axios shook his head as he looked around at the castle, continuing the walk in search of what he was looking for, "They have a maximum of what, eighty, ninety men? No, they won't sacrifice their village when we haven't offered them a hint of trouble in turn. Spread the word, your men to offer payment for the goods and services when they go into town. The villagers will be relieved enough that they won't question it. In the meantime, we find what we're looking for."

He started down a flight of stairs, pulling a rotted log from his way with a couple men following, each carrying torches which they used a flint and steel to light as they entered the dark catacombs. Down and down they went. Further and further with the roots of the trees and the bushes fading the stones became clearer and more cleaner. It was as if they had begun to travel back in time. Gone were the ruins, and before Axios's eyes were the remains of his ancestors' family castle, the seat of power for his mother's family. He saw the stones, smoothened by time and by use. He saw torch handles still bolted to the walls with iron rusting away with streaks of brown and orange dribbling down the stone walls. Then, he began to see statues, at first they were nought but a few stands and a few pieces on the floor, the rebellion long ago having so blatantly disrespected their lineage through taking clubs and hammers to their family's ancestors' likeness. Axios only hoped that the ancient Princess Aura's statue did not meet with the same fate. So down he went, until he reached it, the crypts.

Iron bars protected stone caskets with statues in cutouts within the walls, the gates to the ancient resting places remaining shut and locked. Even the rebels and cutthroats who rose against their betters knew better than to anger the gods through the act of desecrating a place of burial. These statues were intact, untouched, and as were their nameplates, which were crusted over in green over their original bronze faces. Axios did not recognize the names he saw, his mother's family had left this castle long ago, wrote it off over a century and a half ago. But, he knew that these crypts descended, further and further down. There he'd find her, Princess Aura, the legendary lady of their family's history. Her love and her fealty to her husband and to the Gods landing her a place in the storybooks. This figure of legend rested here, in this crypt.

Axios followed a wide staircase down, until he reached a set of stone doors, these ones being truly ancient. Upon their face was the royal seal of a forgotten kingdom, long ago subsumed by the Empire, whether it was treachery or just inevitability, no one knew for certain. Like the person buried here, it was a story whose truth was known only by the dead. Axios walked forward, resting a hand upon the wet stone of this, the ancient seal of his mother's side of their family, he almost felt a connection to the past, to answers that no one alive even knew the questions to ask. And so, he looked down, and saw the glow upon the ring he wore on a chain around his neck, and lifted it out from his tunic beneath his armor. It was glowing, far more brightly than before. He turned his head, and there, with one hand pointed to the ceiling and her head aiming likewise, was her, Princess Aura. Her statue stood opposite of her husband, whose name he didn't care to learn, for he wasn't pertinent to Axios's quest.

"And place the ring, upon her finger…" Axios mumbled, untying the necklace and holding the ring out to the statue he gently felt it easily slip onto its former owner's stone likeness.

And then, the room felt a chill blow through it, dousing the torches of the two men standing with Axios and plunged them into darkness. The cold dark room didn't feel foreboding or dangerous, it felt…magical. Then, light blue dots of light began to emerge from the ceiling and fall like rain upon the ground, splashing and forming into a shape as the magical essence traced along the intricately carved floor of stone. He then saw it, the dots of magical water, raining down formed into shapes like the coast, the mountains, the forests, the rivers, and towns and cities. Names written in ancient runes appeared and displayed themselves as the drops of light scattered and formed as if by magical command. Then, next to Axios, the statue of Princess Aura began to move, stone moving against stone quietly filled the void as the arm and hand slowly descended and pointed to a place beneath Axios's feet. And a golden glow appeared over the shape of a great mountain placed upon a place he knew, a mysterious and some said a cursed mountain-covered island to the south where all who ventured failed to return. The island was once home to a Dwarven city, but had died out through famine and war after stripping the island of its resources and made living there a death sentence, but it was frequently explored and stripped of cut stones, statues, and various metals. It was located on the route home, and would be easily reached without further complications. Well, this was so long as they departed from here without incident.

The magical image then began to fade, as if the liquid-like apparition was being absorbed back into the stone. And slowly, the three men were returned to absolute darkness. One of the men reignited his torch, and Axios looked back at the statue of Princess Aura, with the ring now held in an open palm, offering it back to him. He hesitantly took the magical object back, and returned it to the safety of the necklace against his chest.

"Let's go," he said to the two men who were wide-eyed at what they had just witnessed before them, "We have what we came for."

The men left the way that they had come, emerging into the fading light of the western sunset. The riders under Axios's command were mounting up and preparing to depart. Axios's officers stood there awaiting him, a mood of excitement mixed with dread lingering in the air which Axios was loathe to miss. He looked over at them and knew something was up.

"My lord, our scouts have reported, a number of…iron wagons in green have been sighted to the north, moving quickly down the coast road," the seniormost of his men declared, "And a column of cavalry and infantry is marching from the Northwest and West, possibly as many as a thousand. They are led by the White Roses of the Order of the Rose."

They all knew what this undoubtedly meant. A battle was imminent.

"Are we certain of this?" Axios inquired, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end and a pang in his stomach being felt as he sensed what was coming.

"Yes, and a strange…bird is overhead, its wings do not move, and it is making a noise," the same knight reported, and Axios looked skywards, but didn't see this odd bird.

"Is it a kind of wyvern?" he inquired.

"I don't think so, my lord, it seems too small," the old man shook his head.

"There it is!" a soldier pointed out, pointing his lance skywards and sure enough a winged device came flying between the gaps in the trees.

It had a bulbous head, and long thin swept wings and was colored white. It buzzed as it passed overhead, banking over their heads. The 'bird' was obviously watching them judging by the route it took, making a wide circle over their heads. Many of the men were quite disturbed by what they were seeing. Many men raised their weapons, ready to fire their muskets and pistols the moment they got a good shot. But, Axios yelled out to them.

"Hold your fire, men! We have other ways to eliminate this threat," he said and called over to one of his servants, "Bring Altinus!"

One of his servants, an elder man, well beyond his years as a fighter but a worthy trainer of hawks and other raptors came over. He had on his arm, clutching a heavy fabric cover to protect his own flesh, a grown hawk of reddish-brown feathers with a speckled chest and an intelligent face with a curved hooked beak. This hawk was the kind which were used quite often for hunting aerial prey of many kinds. Axios merely nodded to the raptor trainer who removed the hood over its eyes and the hawk took wing as he tossed it skywards, and the raptor flapped rapidly, gaining altitude with its head glued to the strange unflapping bird over their heads. It took a mere minute or two before the fast hunting hawk was on its target, and they saw that the hawk was on it, and they realized it was twice the wingspan of the hawk, but, didn't make any attempts to counter the hawk, apparently not noticing it was targeted. A few swipes were made by the hawk, the attacks being sharp jabbing strikes which knocked the device about and they all heard the buzzing turn to a slight hiccup interrupted by other mechanical noises that didn't bode well. But, the device began to turn away, that was until Altinus made another swipe, this time striking near the wing, and the device began to spin away, one of its wings bent badly and only further made to buckle by the sudden dive and compromised state of its structure.

A cheer went up as the hawk followed the device down, the group noting that it had gone down between them and the village. And Axios smirked to himself, appreciating success, although when the hawk got back he could tell something was indeed wrong with bird. It bore a slight red mark under his wing, a slight trickle of blood present upon the feathers, although the wound appeared slight at first inspection.

"Well done," Axios nodded to his hawker, "All troops, mount up! Sir Illianis," he motioned to one of his officers, "Send a part to gather up whatever that thing is. The rest of us will make for town. The ships will arrive by tomorrow. We need only hold our position until then."

North of the Town of Cragshell

"The bird's down, LOS," the sergeant in charge of the use of the drone said over the radio, snarling at the loss of their critical means of long-range reconnaissance, "There goes a few million in taxpayer dollars," the man grumbled, attempting to reconnect to the downed ScanEagle drone through the standard checklist.

"What happened?" Itami asked as he heard what was being said.

"We lost the drone, looks like a hawk came up from the ground and attacked it, hit something important on the flight control surfaces and the drone went down, looks like it was just east of that town," Lieutenant Killian replied to him as he watched over his sergeant's shoulder as he tried and failed to reacquire positive signal.

"Well, that's not good," Itami shook his head, "Did we get enough reconnaissance to move forward?"

"We saw enough to get an idea of numbers and where the possible enemy force is moving. Estimates of their strength are indeed between three and five hundred strong, I estimate between four and five hundred. Their lead elements were already on the edge of town and were about to make entry, no signs of any resistance being offered though," Killian briefed Itami.

"Okay…" Itami murmured, crossing his hands over his chest, "We've got a force that outnumbers us ten to one in what will be a fortified position."

"And we've lost our main means of aerial recon. We do have a pair of Ravens, but they're not the most reliable and will be even more likely to be brought down by enemy…birds…" Killian shook his head, "I think our best bet would be to get eyes on the town from high ground, map our their defenses, and then pass it on to allied reinforcements."

"Good idea to not make an aggressive move if we can avoid it," Itami stated firmly in agreement, "Especially with civilians at risk. Plus, we could have the enemy pinned in place."

"My thoughts exactly," Killian stated in turn, "They may have taken note of our approach and they may hope we'll avoid contact altogether due to their numbers advantage and their position in an occupied settlement."

"Something doesn't seem right though," Itami rubbed his chin as they examined a map, "The Empire's troops never showed this kind of restraint before, and this force in particular seems like it has gone out of its way to make sure they're avoiding a fight and making a point of breaking with their previous tendency of scorched earth policies in regards to hurting our ability to operate."

"Sounds like a hearts and mind tactic."

"Maybe, but this doesn't seem like Zorzal's doing, he's brutal, and stupid," Itami explained to the American, "This force is under the command of someone who obviously knows what he's doing."

"So why corner himself?" Killian murmured, catching onto Itami's line of thinking, "He's played his cards right all this time, keeping his force intact and mobile while trying to build a positive relationship with the local populace. Why would they be making this kind of mistake at this point?"

"Unless this isn't a mistake," Itami replied.

"What would they be planning to do that would risk their force in such an open location?"

"I'm not sure," Itami responded, and then checked his watch, "But we won't find out sitting here. Better get moving."

"Roger that, mount up!" Killian waved over his head, "Stow the catapult and arrestor system!"

"Recon-3, mount up, prepare to move out," Itami called out to his team via radio.

Calls went out as the American detachment quickly started rushing to collapse the tall pole with the arrestor wires meant to catch the now-downed ScanEagle which they kept inside the bed of the FMTV truck that was with the American recon platoon. They hooked up the catapult for their drone, and began to get mounted up. Across the joint task force, final battle preparations were being completed, namely a few extra boxes of ammo brough up into their turrets, a few grenades tucked away here and there, an AT4 or a LAW made ready at their gunners' feet, and even a few men slapped some GoPro cameras onto their chest rigs while all of them attached their night vision devices. Once this was done, the combined force, drove off, headed towards the lights of Cragshell.

The town was built upon a peninsula, defense being a prime reason for its choice of location. The Crag River, a fast-flowing river whose strength and speed made it quite an obstacle, flowed into the medium-sized natural harbor to the settlement's north while a larger natural bay lay to the south where large ships could anchor in safety from the sea. The town lacked a wall, the previous one having been torn down a long time ago as punishment for a previous rebellion. And now it had a number of Tudor-looking buildings with wooden half-timbers breaking up wattle and daub sidings painted white with steep roofs with almost all of these buildings having jettied upper floors and diamond-shaped glass window panes. There were stone walls dividing the backyards of the various plots and there were views of orchards whose trees were flush with newly-sprouted leaves and pink flowers. There were glass-enclosed lamps with candles burning brightly on the cobblestone streets. Large old trees grew amongst the houses with flowers and bushes planted about as dividers. Smoke rose from the various chimneys of the town with rows of houses and then other businesses. This settlement was built with a low but steep hillside having a large town hall in the center while the slopes were terraced with stone with a pretty flowering orchard growing amongst the levels of stone and soil with a picket fence along the sides. Again, like any town Recon Three had seen thus far, it had a wide open market square with a few solid permanent structures where market stands were rented out with a number of wells around. But the town was quite defense-able because it had the river to its north which curled around the town's exterior while orchards and farm houses were scattered along two roads that ended at two bridges, one from inland another near the coast. Along the river were a few mills with large and powerful water wheels and more than a few granaries on raised stilts placed in many places high over the river where they could be guarded against pests or theft. Docks and small fishing boats were on either side of the town, most of them used for netting and servicing long lines and traps. This was all included within a town that perhaps covered a couple square miles and had a population of almost six hundred people.

Three Hours Later

"Sergeant Kuribayashi! Is that you?" a voice called out from the darkness as the sounds of a column of horses was heard on the road approaching the Japanese element.

It was Lady Panache, commander of Piña's White Roses, the smallest of the three chapters of the Order of the Rose. She was commanding the Imperial force loyal to the legitimate government which had been mustered to counter this intrusion from the East. With her brilliantly-dressed lady knights were the older men which made up roughly half of their number. Panache was the most level-headed of the Roses, and the most tactically-adept. Therefore she was the obvious choice for taking command here as the various nobles rallied what troops and knights to the white banners that they could. Lanterns were seen being held aloft at the lead of the various units of the Imperial army, illuminating their white-painted shields and gleaming off of their armor. Among the various reorganization efforts of the past winter had been the fact that the soldiers of Princess Piña's army had repainted their shields white, and bleached their small red capes to show as white while the helmets of the knights and officers likewise were no longer red but white.

"Lady Panache, good to see you," Kuribayashi said in recognition as the lady knight she'd come to respect and later call friend rode over to her. She then lifted her JGVS-V8-B monocular night vision device up as the lantern bearer near her was whiting-out her vision through the device, "How'd you know it was me?"

"My messengers said it was Itami's command that coming to aid us. Plus," Panache laughed, pointed to Kuribayashi and then to the other Japanese around her.

"Because I'm short?" Kuribayashi deadpanned, causing snickering from the two leading privates standing by the Komatsu LAV which Kuribayashi commanded, "Who asked you dorks?!" she raised her voice at her subordinates, "Keep your eyes out!"

Panache simply laughed from where she sat on her horse, and spurred it forward.

"As feisty as ever my friend! Where is Lieutenant Itami? We must prepare for the battle to come," Panache inquired.

"He's up at the hill there, we uh…we came with allies from our world, a platoon of American soldiers whom we are tasked to assist in introducing to your world," Kuribayashi informed Panache.

"So, the messengers were correct, more armies have arrived within our world," Panache noted, concern underlying her tone as her soldiers marched by, not wanting to make them uneasy before battle.

"Yeah…I know how it must seem," Kuribayashi shrugged.

"Do you trust them, Sergeant Kuribayashi?" Panache now asked quietly.

"I'd trust that they are able to help in the coming fight," Kuribayashi answered honestly, she knew all-too-well of the American military's reputation, she'd trained alongside American troops in the past in joint exercises in Okinawa.

"Very well," the lady knight nodded, still somewhat unconvinces herself, but she showed a knowledge that she would simply need to make do no matter the circumstances, "We shall see you upon the battlefield. Oh," Panache noted, pointing to the Rose Order patch on Kuribayashi's helmet, "I like the sigil you have on your helmet."

"Yeah, pretty cool right?"

"Indeed, we shall speak later."

She spurred her horse forward, and Kuribayashi stepped aside. They all knew what was about to transpire, the first battle of the new campaign season, one which would involve the Americans for the first time within the Special Region. It didn't sit right with many of them. The Japanese knew how one-sided and bloody these fights tended to become, and after Italica, Third Recon knew all too well just how nasty fights between the locals could get. Kuribayashi reveled in fighting herself, but there was a difference between a fight and a slaughter. It weighed upon many just how badly the Imperial army and then the allied vassal armies had been annihilated upon the slopes of Alnus Hill. They all remembered the swarms of vultures and crows and clouds of flies picking at the dead and the sweet sickly smell of death hanging in the air as the ground was darkly stained for weeks with the blood and guts of the slain. Even today, almost ten months later, it was common to find bits of bone, pieces of armor and weapons and the occasional unexploded ordinance littering the former battlefield. A mass grave was still present at Alnus Hill which held the bodies of nearly a hundred and fifty thousand men and orcs and goblins and other mercenaries. It was now blocked from sight by a tall hedge planted around the fence surrounding its various burial pits. Out of respect, the banners of the Empire and the kingdoms involved were kept flying on flagpoles, and a plaque was installed. Some had said that after Ginza the SDF fought for revenge, but after Alnus Hill, they said that the SDF fought to just make it stop.

Hopefully, the fight to end the war would begin again, maybe this time, the ending might actually stick. The hard part was waiting for the first move to be made. Fortunately, they didn't need to wait much longer.

"3-4, this is 3-1," the radio piped up some time later from Lieutenant Itami.

"3-4 here, send traffic, over," Kuribayashi raised a hand to her radio, appreciating the fact she now had a helmet with a built-in headset linked to her radio now.

"3-4, need you to mount up, take a look at the Northern bridge and recon the area and check on the bridge's ability to allow our vehicles to cross."

"3-4, roger that. Any update to our rules of engagement?" she inquired quickly, turning back to her vehicle.

"Negative, same as before, warning shots first to be followed by use of nonlethals, then use of lethal force if the target doesn't heed our warning. You've got forty millimeter flashbang rounds and tear gas canisters, go ahead and use them, they'll probably work."

"Yeah those aren't nearly as fun," Kuribayashi grumbled under her breath after taking her hand off the radio, "Roger that, 3-1, I'm assuming we'll have support?"

"Affirm, two American vehicles are en route to your location, they'll provide cover. Coordinate with Coyote-7 on frequency five-two, they have command, you're clear to cross line of departure once they RV," Itami responded nonchalantly. This made Kuribayashi grumble under her breath, she was outranked, Coyote-7 was the American platoon sergeant who outranked her and therefore held command over their little scouting party.

"Roger that, 3-1, I have eyes on."

"Copy, 3-1 out."

Kuribayashi stepped up and sat down into the passenger seat of her vehicle as her own men got inside and she keyed over to the allotted frequency on her vehicle's radio.

"This is Recon-3-4, radio check on frequency five-two, over," Kuribayashi said in English, which she spoke well enough to be able to coordinate with American military personnel, but maybe not have a nonchalant daily conversation.

"3-4 this is Coyote-7, read you Lima Charlie on five-two, over."

"Roger Coyote-7, we're already in front, we can lead the way forward," Kuribayashi offered over the radio.

"Very well 3-4, we'll follow to the bridge conduct a soft-dismount a hundred yards from the bridge and reconnoiter prior to crossing to examine the bridge."

"Roger, 3-4 rolling, out."

Well, the chapter ended up longer than I thought. Which means the battle shall commence in the upcoming chapter. This one I thoroughly enjoyed being able to flesh out some of the magic in this world and the ability to describe a fantasy land is always lots of fun with building quaint villages and towns and the peaceful farms of the countryside. Hopefully we'll get to see the setting become a place of real excitement in the next few days.

As per usual, if you fine folks have any questions, comments, or concerns, I'd love to know what you guys think. Until next time.