Operation Forging Steel

by licklicklick123

An American general goes to a new world with the simple task of setting up a military base, but this taskturns out to not be so simple, when creatures of the dark, otherworldly human life, terrorism, and possible war come into play.

20. The Shion Victory Parade

Yooooo licklicklick123 here and before you read, I'm sure you already know that there will be a victory parade section to this chapter, I havent really hidden this fact it if you read my updates on discord or n my FFN account, and CommonwealthFlip made a good ass playlist to represent the music playing as the parade is going on, I personally listened to it while reading the parade part, and i VERY much suggest you do too, it's good asss hell: playlist?list=PLkSXYxpVfZ7IMSK2av3lCDXVlt290cH3l

---

White Fox Inn, Cooperwick

1945 hours

2 months after the battle of Shion

"Jackson! Jackson! Jackson!" Came the loud cheers of the marine patrons of the bar, waitresses nervously watched as they really could not stop what was about to happen, Mr. Shiro himself watched with a grimace, he'd let it happen as long as they didn't break anything.

The named 'Jackson' circled the makeshift ring a medium sized space made up between tables, his opponent, apparently named 'Griggs', who was getting cheers of his own.

In the sidelines, at the bar sat a woman, deer antlers sprouting from her head, taking note of the commotion.

"Are they always like this?" she asked Shiro who grumbled as Jackson rushed forward grabbing a hold of both of Grigg's legs.

"Yep." His frown was evident as he downed a glass of whiskey in one go "Aliens or not, they're still the rowdiest bunch of people I've had the displeasure of having in my bar."

Grigg' sprawled, his legs now in a wide stance as Jackson had both his arms around them. "You ain't getting me like that, boy!" he yelled.

"Have you heard anything from them?" The woman asked. "About this… President of theirs?"

Mr. Shiro sighed "Woman, you're the fifth reporter I've talked to since it was found out that they're aliens, and no, I guess they've been told to keep a tight lip about anything from 'Earth'." He took a drag from the cigarette in his mouth "You have better chances at just asking one of them but every time I've told a reporter that it seems whoever they talked to didn't say anything either, guess we'll just have to wait and see about this President."

The reporter nodded, disappointment growing within her, guess her trip here was for nothing.

"OHHHH." Came the loud yell of the marines as Jackson was able to get Griggs on the ground picking him up and slamming him, cutting the reporter's thoughts short as she watched the spectacle unfold. Jackson was on top of Griggs who was now attempting to thrust the mounted marine off.

"Is it true what they say? That they don't have an aura?" She asked Shiro.

"Look at how they're fighting." He pointed with his cigarette at the two marines scuffling. "Those are techniques we've never had to make here cause our fighters, most of them at least, have an active aura. We don't really have to worry about getting on the ground like that"

Came Mr. Shiro remark as Jackson laid his body sideways atop Griggs, he hooked one of his arms under Grigg's and his other arm to grab at Griggs' forearm and began to leverage the limbs joints against each other. Griggs began to wince a short few seconds before he used his free arm to tap on Jackson's torso, to which Jackson immediately stood up, laughing while being met by cheers from his fellow marines.

He helped Griggs up and they both walked over to a table and did a shot together.

The reporter shook her head, pushing her glasses up as she did, there really was no point coming here, the marines were probably too drunk to even answer her questions if she did go up to them. She took sip from her ice-cold water as she eyed Jackson's group.

She noticed one of the men's eyes linger on her, he whispered to Jackson who shook his head. The man kept speaking to Jackson, his eyes never leaving the reporter.

She looked away, a bit worried, what were these marines planning? She knew the risks of travelling here and had already heard of the bad reputation the marines had amongst other journalists who travelled here, while the marines never really attacked or hurt anybody, they were known to be asinine toward journalists especially.

Suddenly the man who had been eyeing her stood up and started walking towards the bar, cheers of "Good luck!" coming from his table.

She instinctively put down her glass and squared herself at her seat as the marine got closer, much like his counterparts he was not in full uniform, he was in camouflage pants, he wore a black hoodie, at its center a blue and red emblem, a white skull at its midpoint surrounded by white stars.

He took a seat next to her "I see you got yourself a water. Can't afford a drink? How about I buy you one?" He tilted his head at her, smirking.

Ugh. He was one of those. He frowned, her eyes losing a little luster. "No thank you."

The marine did not let up however, never losing his smirk "Come on, we both know why you're here. "He eyed the 'Media' badge over her shirt "And we both know you ain't getting anything outta anybody out here, so how about you just let yourself have a good time, huh? Just one drink won't hurt."

She rolled her eyes, he was right, this was her last day here. And hey, a free drink's a free drink.

"Fine." The marine's eye lit up, the smirk growing into a smile. And as he raised his hand to order from Mr. Shiro… "Sapphire Martini please" She looked at the marine. "I'm ordering."

He chuckled "Feisty one, I see you." He brought his hand forward "Name's Sean."

She accepted the handshake, as she came to realization, this could be an opportunity. "Celestine." She read the dog tag around his neck that read 'Turner, Sean B.' at least he wasn't lying about his name.

"I'll have a whiskey sour." He told Mr. Shiro who obliged, returning a minute later with his drink of choice.

Her drink arrived, to which Celestine took a sip. "You can keep more of these coming if you do me a favor."

Turner quirked a lip and squinted his eyes "I'm the one paying for all of these though, I'm at a real disadvantage in this… negotiation."

She looked him in the eye with a deadpan stare, taking a sip from her drink, he did the same. "You can fuck me after."

Turner spat his drink back to his cup, his eyes widening. "Wh- what?"

"We both know why you're here, let's skip the pleasantries and get straight into it, you want sex, I want information."

The surprise remained on his face as he turned back to smiling "Wow… What a reporter you are Straightforward though, I like that." He drank from the cup he just spat into… gross.

She scoffed, she didn't know her and the lengths she was willing to go for her website, if it meant sticking it those big news corporations like the VNN then so be it, everyone wanted the scoop on this President and what he did for America.

"What do you want then?" He asked.

"Your President."

"Woah there he's a married man." He said sarcastically.

Okay that was something, that is if he was telling the truth.

"I want to know who he is, what he does for your country and any other trivia that you may know, and proof of your claims."

He tilted his head up in thought. "You have a deal."

There! Finally, something to tell the world about. Ever since the alien nature of the Americans had been revealed by the VNN from some unknown sources, the Americans had remained quiet about everything until a press release came out a few days later admitting that they were aliens from another world, fast forward to just last week when they announced a victory parade to celebrate their win at Shion to happen next week wherein their 'President' would appear and make a speech, without any explanation at all as to who this 'President' was.

Nowhere even in the source and proof of the American's alien nature, a stolen handbook with the title 'A Guide to the World of Remnant' mentioned what the President's role was, just some information about Remnant's cultures and how to interact with civilians including avoiding the mentioning of anything from 'Earth'.

In fact the most incriminating part about them being aliens was on the 'Use of terminology and cultural references' chapter of the handbook which detailed avoiding any mention of any cultural trends or use of popular terms on Earth as to avoid, quote 'Denoting to the people of Remnant any indication of our alien nature.'

So here she had it, an actual source to who this 'President' was. All this time the people of Remnant believed that General Kirkman was the leader of the United States, but no, it appeared that perhaps there were people more powerful than even him.

"We have a deal or what?" she was snapped out of her thoughts as she saw the outstretched hand of the marine.

She accepted the handshake, begrudgingly. He smiled.

He raised his hand to Mr. Shiro "Ey, keep these coming for the lady."

---

White House, Washington DC

1800 hours

"Yes sir, you needed me?" The White House chief secretary entered the room, to see Charlie Bennington, the President of the United States, putting down his eyeglasses as he finished reading a piece of paper.

"Ashley. Few things. One, I'm gonna need you to do a slight reschedule to my talks with the OPIC execs, tomorrow 2:00pm sounds good. Two, I wanna ask, just how much are we paying for the air conditioner here?" He gestured around the Oval Office.

Ashley chuckled "No clue, sir. Too cold for you?"

He put his glasses back on as he continued to read the paper "Not cold enough, maybe if we brought that ice dust stuff from Remnant then it'd be to my liking. Interesting stuff they have over there." He turned the paper around and showed the paper to Ashley, a report on the various types of dust from Remnant.

"Reviewing for your visit sir?"

He waved the paper around before setting it back on the resolute desk. "Eh, not like any of this is gonna help me, just trying to distract myself for the coming days. I have talks with the OPIC, KOICA, JICA, and USAID tomorrow. Then three days after that I fly out for my summit to Kazakhstan where I have to inevitably talk down President Rakhmonov who has seemingly forgot what we've done for his country. Then right after that I visit an alien world to make a speech to planet filled with people who probably hate our guts! How fun." He said with as little glee as possible.

Ashley gave an understanding nod "You could just merge the meetings with the all the agencies, I can insist that all their representatives meet with you at one time."

The president looked back at her, eyes slightly widening "God, why didn't I think of that?" He said in surprise "The exhaustion is really getting to me." He squeezed his temples. He then looked back at Ashley, seeming to remember something "Ah yes, what of my meeting with General Ironside, didn't I schedule that for today?"

"Ah, yes sir, I was just about to tell you if you hadn't called me here, General Ironside wishes to speak to you within the hour."

He shook his head "Within the hour? God damn it I'm the president he should be working on my timetable."

"You know how he is sir, also Senator Bartlet is waiting outside."

He smiled "Oh good, please bring him in."

Ashley went out to let out the senator in, the current chair of the foreign relations committee and his ticket to getting the necessary votes within the Senate to pass the Remnant Oversight and Supplemental Appropriations act, or S. 1655. The House had a large democratic majority that were in line with President Bennington's policy on Remnant. The Senate was a different story, an even split between Republicans and Democrats, with three senior members of the democratic caucus opposing Bennington's Remnant policy. With a further two senior members and four junior members remaining undecided.

Bartlet was popular within his party and the caucus, meaning he could potentially convince the undecided senators to vote in favor of the bill, and when coupled with the few republicans who were going to vote in favor of it, it would go back to being a tie, Joe would be able to handle it from there, S. 1655 would be able to pass into law.

He watched as the younger senator walked into the Oval Office, his hair smoothly slicked backwards, he smiled at Bennington. "Ah, Mr. President. Good evening." He offered a handshake.

Bennington smiled back and stood up from his comfortable chair to shake the man's hand, he then walked over to the sets of couches in front of the resolute desk, sitting on one of them he gestured towards the couch opposite of him, Bartlet obliged, unbuttoning the lower portion of his suit as he did.

"I assume you know why I called you here." He crossed his leg over the other.

"You want me to convince Sanders and the others to vote yes on 1655." He pointed and swept his finger as he leaned in towards the president.

"Correct." Bennington nodded. "Senator, we're talking funds for frontier villages, aid for people who have been marginalized and cordoned off to a desert island in the middle of nowhere, allowing investment companies to fund and start infrastructure projects that will benefit not only us but the people of Remnant."

The senator raised his hand, nodding "I am fully aware of that we're from the same party, in the same caucus, Mr. President, we have the same ideals, you already know I'm voting yea, but you know that some in the caucus view this as further foreign entanglement for the United States right after we just finished up war with the biggest terror organization the world has ever seen, they see this bill as exploitative, see the investments as simply a way to put those in Remnant in debt, and that's not even going into how much they want to spite your administration for keeping all this hidden the past year."

Bennington scoffed "We're not China, Senator, we both know what their African 'investments' are, it's debt diplomacy, they stay the primary stake holders in their infrastructure projects, tens of billions in debt straight to the Chinese Government, trapping them by making the other option defaulting on this debt. We don't do this, we give realistic loans, political risk insurance, and equity, you were an economics professor in the 90s, you should know this."

"I do know this, sir. I'm not arguing with you here." He shook his head "I'm simply giving you the reasons why Sanders' faction in the senate has refused to vote yea on 1655. We need to show them how we're not going to exploit these people."

Bennington squeezed his temples "Have they read the bill? Cause if they did, they'd see Title IV, Section 401, five million dollars' worth of aid in weapons, food, and construction materials to be given to Shion upon the exit of American troops. Title VI, section 603, 110 million dollars of funds will be relegated to the 'Economic Support Fund' to be given out as aid towards settlements in Remnant as seen fit by USAID, subsection a, the Economic Support Fund shall submit a quarterly report to the House oversight committee, and there's many more where all that came from. How much less exploitative do they want this bill to be? "

"I don't know sir, spite is a strong thing, they don't trust your administration to be transparent about these things anymore, so they see the bill as a path for corruption. But believe me I understand the rationale for keeping Remnant a secret all that time, much of the public may be angry, the republicans are definitely angry, hell, certain small but vocal factions in the DNC are threatening to not nominate you, I'm sure that isn't news to you." A nod from Bennington "But none of that changes how now we are at a very advantageous position in Remnant because of that choice."

A chuckle from Bennington "That's an understatement, three major military hubs on the Planet, multiple commercial endeavors in the works, satellites, months of scientific research, all before the Russians or the Chinese caught a whiff of what was going on. But back on topic, you need to speak with Sanders and his caucus, someone outside my administration might just be the key to swaying their hearts, I tried to get Joe to talk to them, tried to get Louie, my Chief of Staff, to talk to them" He shook his head "Nothin', I want you to have a crack at it, we have a week."

Bartlet brought his hand forward, smiling "With pleasure, Mr. President."

Bennington accepted, they both stood buttoning up their suit jackets as the president showed the senator the door. As the senator walked away. Bennington looked at the nearby manned desk.

"Ashley, have Royland take a look at my speech for the Shion Victory Parade, pick it up at my desk in ten minutes."

---

COS Shion

3 days before the Shion Victory Parade

The marines of MSOT 8222, callsign Dagger roughly threw their baggage upon the dry grass inside the large tent that would be their accommodations for the coming days.

Jackson and his squad were resigned to left side of the tent.

Turner threw his elbows back and forth to stretch "Man, back in Shion, huh? Been a while. Was starting to miss being able to sleep in damn bed back at Fobcoop'."

Jackson opened up his duffel bag and pulled out a hoodie, he began the process of switching into it. "Yep, to think that just two months ago we were out here shooting up bandits.

Edwards immediately collapsed into his cot, burying his head into fabric "And they want me to do a speech man, fuck! We got three days of rehearsals for the parade, and they gave me that much notice to write and practice a speech? No way I wanna meet with the 173rd guys again, those fuckers shaved my beard when I passed out drunk in the porta potty at their station last time I was here." A few laughed at remembering that event.

"Ey don't complain, homes, least you're getting a Navy Cross for it." Beltran too, took to laying down in his cot. He then turned Turner "And hey, you got yourself some tail fore you headed here. Tricked that reporter and everything."

Turner took a few steps towards Beltran, smiling, he held his finger up "Hey, I didn't trick her for shit! I gave her accurate information about our President's name and what a President is, just uhhh… Didn't give very accurate information on what he looked like."

"Don't let the Captain hear anything about you giving out information for coitus, corporal. You're lucky he's off at the CO conference call with General Kirkman, right now." Lieutenant Vasquez warned calmly as he began neatly arranging his luggage.

A nod from Turner as Guzman looked at him incredulously as he started jotting down on his journal "What picture did you even give her? You still won't tell us whose picture you showed? Come on man, just spill, was it Beetlejuice? Mickey Rourke? Who?"

Turner shook his head, a manic grin on his face "You'll see it when you see it, whenever she decides to publish her story or whatever, we have access to Remnant internet now after all." He then sat down atop his as he made circles with his palms "All I'm saying is, that shit was worth it man, her titties were… fuck! " he yelled "And those deer horns, or antlers, or whatever, you can just grab on them while you-"

"Holy shit! Check your phones! Go on WorldVid, Look what they got on VNN!" Jackson started to laugh.

WorldVid was Remnant's equivalent of YouTube. The marines started going on their phones, going on their browsers, unfortunately the military made it so their internet only let them connect to new sites and WorldVid meaning many servicemen couldn't do a lot of the trolling that they wanted to.

The marines in the tent began to watch the VNN livestream report. The familiar face of Lisa Lavender was on their screen, while on the red bar at the bottom, text read 'American President uncovered by independent journalist.'

Dun shook his head, smirking, his work finally came to pass. He didn't bother to pull out his phone, rather standing while watching Guzman's screen.

"An interesting but unconfirmed piece of news graced us today when just three hours ago a journalist from the Vale Independent, Celestine Fontaine." A picture of the named reporter flashed on the screen with parts of her head blurred to which Turner's smile only grew. "Published a story detailing her time at the town of Cooperwick wherein American troops reside. She claimed to have interviewed a US Marine who she chose to make anonymous in her account. This US Marine gave her information on who the President of the United States is."

"Her it comes." Turner said as he held back a chuckle, the other marines continued to watch.

"The President is the leader of the United States and the commander-in-chief of the US Armed Forces, this comes in shock to much of us here on Remnant as we were under the impression that General Kirkman was the head of the US Military." A picture of Kirkman from his old public broadcast then showed. "The article discusses how the President has the power to sign and veto laws, while also holding the power to make executive orders and allow for military operation. The position of President is electoral and is based on the votes of the populace. The current US President is one Charlie Bennington of the dee mow krats."

She looked rather confused as she said 'dee mow krats.' Most likely having mispronounced 'democrats'

"See? I said I gave accurate information on who he was."

"Yeah, yeah, where's the picture?" Guzman asked, a little agitated now.

"Ms. Celestine was also given this photograph depicting the claimed President of the United States. "

On the screen then flashed a photograph of a very familiar looking man, an African American man, however his dark skin was covered by a sheen of silver, his head covered in glittery silver makeup while the rest of his body was covered in what only could be described as space-robe, metallic in color and fluttering over his whole body. Behind him an emblem and the words 'City of Miami'. It was Kanye West.

The marines started to break out into laughter of various kinds, some chuckled, some laughed quite loudly, the only one to not seem extremely elated was Vasquez who just smirked and shook his head.

"HAHAHA! Is that fucking Kanye West in his silver suit!" Jackson pointed at his screen.

"This comes only months after it was revealed the American are not of Remnant, as such it remains unclear if those from Earth do indeed have this appearance and the Americans here on Remnant are simply in disguise."

Edwards shook his head, dropping his phone onto his cot, grasping at his bald scalp "No way, no fucking way, dude. You're fuckin' crazy, Turner."

Turner just continued laughing in response.

Jackson then stopped his cackling as he stared at Turner, a slight look of concern "Ain't you worried she's gonna leak your identity as soon as it's revealed what Bennington actually looks like? You'll be on the captain's shit list for an NJP."

Turner smirked, shaking his head in disagreement "Nah brah, mutually assured destruction type shit, soon as she leaks my identity, I can just leak that she fucked my brains out to get that info. Bad info too, you really think that's gonna turn out well with her bosses?"

Jackson turned away, laughing in disbelief. For all that Turner was, nobody could say he wasn't crafty.

"You're crazy man." Griggs looked up from his phone, the tone in his voice half amused and half concerned.

"Ey, the information I gave was mostly accurate. Our deal was on information about who the President is, not what he looks like, to that end I delivered my end of the bargain truthfully. I just threw that picture in as a…. Fun little joke."

Griggs shook his head "It ain't gon' be a 'fun little joke' for her bruh, this a girl with like an actual career aspirations and shit, you might've set her back a good couple years once the truth gets out."

Turner paused. But Beltran quickly took over for him "Ey Griggs, when'd you become such a pussy, man?"

Turner sighed, raising a hand, frowning "No, no, he's right, those two hours in bed with her were prolly the best I've ever had." A reminiscent smile came to his face as the marines looked on, a few chuckling at the genuineness of his expression. "And I repaid her with a possibly career ruining story. But in my defense…" He placed his hands over his chest "I was pretty drunk. Now I know that ain't the best excuse but hey it's not like I'll ever meet her again so I can't really apologize now, can I?"

A sergeant from Griggs' element, Davis, then looked at Turner with a smile on his face as he continued to watch the news "Yeah right man, you do know they invited journalists out here to watch the parade and write about it, right?"

At that, Turner's eyes widened, sweat beginning to form on his brow. Jackson let out a low sarcasm infused chuckle "Hehehe, what if she does end up here, man? She becomes among the first people to see our President for real and she sees he's not black… or silver. And he's not fucking Kanye." He then stood up, circling the other marine "Ohhhh. Then she gets pissed. And I mean real pissed, she starts looking at the marching marines tryna identify the one who lied to her, and boom there he is."

"Yeah? Then what's she gonna do?" Turner tried to smile, but the sweat on his forehead despite the cold Anima climate was giving away his nerves.

"I don't know man, was just giving you possibilities, you said yourself it's not like she can reveal your identity willy nilly, but I'm just saying if her career's doomed anyway because of your joke, then your threat of revealing that you fucked won't have a leg to stand, my dawg. She can just tell the world about good ol' Sean Turner, sure the world probably won't care too much, but Captain Curtis? Oh, be ready for that NJP." He laughed "I can just imagine your appeal if you ask for a hearing 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman.'" He said in his best Bill Clinton impression as the others in the tent save for Turner laughed.

---

Astana, Kazakhstan

1300 hours

Bennington stepped out of the Kazakhstani restaurant, having just finished a modest lunch and a photoshoot with the owner and the family. It was quite the heartwarming affair, outside however was quite the opposite, he was met by rows of people, mostly media of Kazakh, South Asian, and Western origins, they were being held back by a line of secret service, he began making his way to his car.

"Mr. President, how do you expect President Rakhmonov to trust you after you kept the Green Gap hidden from them?"

He began his routine of ignoring all the reporters as he snidely put on a pair of aviators to block the sun that was pointing his way. Rakhmonov had just been named, in about two hours' time he would appear at the Akorda Residence for a short photoshoot with Rakhmonov, a dog and a pony showing off how good friends they were before an inevitable private sit down that was sure to make Bennington's migraines flare up.

"Mr. President! Don't you think this coming victory parade is an unnecessary show of Bravado!"

A show of bravado, yes. Unnecessary? Eh, that depends on who you ask. To Bennington it made quite a lot of sense, America was viewed by many on Remnant as heroes, using that image while they can to further boost their reputation only made the most sense to him.

"Sir Bennington." Not Mister President? As well an almost Slavic sounding accent in his English, very likely a Kazakh reporter or some maybe even a Russian reporter with RT "Don't you think Kazakhstan deserves control of the portal as it sits on our land." Ah, a Kazakh.

No. Of course he couldn't say this out loud, he'd only be labeled as an imperialist, perhaps rightfully so. But to his view, it was the United States who liberated the country from the GLA, it was the United States who discovered the Green Gap from GLA base they destroyed, it was the United States who got it operational, and it was the United States who thus far has established rapport and relations with the kingdoms of Remnant. Maybe in the future He could negotiate a deal like Carter did with Panama, but as it stood, the initial years of full American control on the portal would be integral to national interests.

"Mr. President! Mr. President! What is your response to Minister Wang Yi stating that the United States is once again showing its imperialistic ways by aggressively taking over a planet."

He stopped in his step, the Secret Service agent next to him did the same. He turned to the direction of the voice, a little behind him to his right.

"Foreign Minister Wang Yi?" The Chinese Foreign Minister if he remembered correctly. A silence had grown amongst the reporters, some now adjusting their cameras, bringing their microphones forward to hear what the President had to say. "I believe the Chinese Foreign Minister should do a mental health assessment; I don't remember ordering our troops to invade the four Kingdoms." That was all he said before he continued walking to the motorcade, the reporters all burst into a mess of words he could no longer understand, he couldn't tell if he'd regret that statement later, but he just couldn't help himself.

The door to the large black Cadillac was then opened, inside was the Vice President who had gone ahead of him. He sat down next to him.

"You're going to regret that later, I hope you know that, Charlie." The Vice President as he took off his own pair of aviators, his balding white hair a slight mess from the wind outside.

"I know, just can't stand those damn propagandist Chinese ministers. You were born and worked in a time where we had a mortal enemy too, Joe, I'm not the first President to make a snarky remark to the nation's adversaries and I sure as hell won't be the last."

"Hey, hey. I agree with you, but we're in hot water right now with the rest of world, even with some of our own allies, it's better if we don't make it worse."

A sigh then came from Bennington's mouth "Alright, next up is talks with President Rakhmonov, then right after that we visit an alien Planet. Lovel- "

*Ring*

He reached his hand under his suit and pulled out his personal phone, it was from Louie, his chief of staff. "Louie."

Joe watched on as Bennington answered the call, a smile growing on the President's face. "Alright, that's good, thank you Louie." He hung up the phone, the smile disappearing from his features as he wrapped his hands around his face "Oh thank God."

"Why?" Joe asked.

The smile returning, Bennington looked to joe. "The Remnant aid bill is getting passed, Sanders agreed to vote yea as long as I speak at the picket by the Los Angeles Teachers' Union next week."

Bartlet was a damn miracle worker. Biden began to grin, a slight chuckle coming in as Bennington laughed, breathing in deep. Finally, some good news, now all he had to worry about was his talks with Rakhmonov and not gaffing his speech at Remnant.

Speaking of, he had recently been informed by Kirkman's office that due to a lack of space at the venue he would have to sit alongside Ozpin and whoever he decides to bring along as he was invited to come along and was allowed two guests. Which meant Bennington would likely have to chat with the man, something he was not looking forward to. His phone once again began to vibrate in his suit's underside pocket.

*Ring*

"Now who could this be?" He asked to no one in particular as he answered the phone call, his vice president watching him as he did.

"They think I look like who?!"

---

"Now let us make this clear, you will treat the President of Shion and any Americans with respect befitting of students from Beacon Academy." Glydna paced back and forth in the small office room they were in the airship currently enroute to Shion. Sat on a long table were Ozpin and Ironwood, an empty to Ozpin's left where Glynda once was, now she was stood in front of the four students CFVY lecturing them on how to act around the Americans.

Coco raised her hand, her expression obscured by the aviators she was wearing "Ms. Goodwitch, we've talked with the Americans before, we probably know more about talking with the Americans than you guys." She gestured to Glynda, Ironwood, and Ozpin, earning a raise of the eyebrow from Ironwood, a light chuckle from Ozpin, and a crossing of the arms from Glynda.

"This is different from speaking with soldiers." She sternly said, uncrossing her arms as her riding crop made a cracking sound in the air. "These are supposedly dignified politicians, and whether we like it or not are the leaders and representatives of an entirely different world. Acting untoward towards them may mean doom for us, not only at Beacon, but on Remnant." She furrowed her eyes at the team, causing Velvet to shrink a bit at the stare.

"Glynda." Ozpin raised a placating hand "While this visit and our meeting the American President is very important, we will be the ones doing most of the speaking, there is no need to pressure the children with these responsibilities, they will simply greet the man and sit near him as we watch this… parade."

That was right, all they were to do was to sit in the box constructed for the President, some other Americans, Ozpin, his guests, and CFVY. All they would really have to do was just say hi to the President and maybe his posse.

Glynda simply recrossed her arms and staired down at the seated team "Alright, you may return to your quarters, you have eight hours before our arrival at Shion, I suggest you practice your etiquette."

The team stood up as they were dismissed and began silently walking the short the distance between the office and their quarters in the airship. They had been flying for about an hour now, since four in the morning! The first thing they did upon boarding was get grilled by Glynda. All any of them were really concerned with at this point was getting some sleep before anything.

They stepped into the room with four smaller bunk beds.

"Do you think we'll get to meet the marines again?" Velvet asked as she hopped onto her bed, stretching her arms.

"I don't know, first thing I'm doing is punching Jackson in the face for lying about being aliens."

Yatsuhashi then crossed his arms, smirking "Then asking for a cigarette of course."

Coco climbed onto her bunk, rolling her eyes as she did "Velvet, remind me why you told these two about that again. And come on! It was a onetime thing." This was a lie and she knew it, Vale smoke shops were very diligent with checking ID so she couldn't buy any upon returning to Vale after their time with the marines so she was hoping she would get a cigarette from *someone* at Shion, she did miss that buzz.

Yatsu let out a light chuckle "Don't you think it will be awkward talking with the marines again if you meet them? You know, after finding out they're aliens?"

Coco let her head collapse onto her pillow and shrugged, simply staring at the ceiling as she talked "I don't know, sure it's a bit weird how they lied and all that but like they were probably on orders not to tell us anything, so it's not their fault really. How bout you Velvet." She tapped her bunk, to signal the one below her velvet to speak.

"Hm. Yes, I do feel a bit off knowing they're not from Remnant, but… When Coco and I met them, they just felt like nor- people, they just felt like people." She corrected herself, remembering Turner's remark about there being no such thing as a normal marine, which was accurate. "They ate, slept, were celebrating when the fighting was finally over, just like us."

She turned over facing the bunk of the two men who had already laid down "How about you guys? Do you think it will be awkward meeting your… rangers again?"

"Yatsu and I were in different units. But with the people I was assigned to it was mostly… business. We didn't really talk much; I just did my job and that was it." Fox telekinetically told his teammates.

A nod then came from Yatsu "The same with me, they just watched me fight grimm, cheered when I killed them and a few even asked for my workout routine, but that was all, I didn't really get to talk to them outside of that."

"Man…" Coco stretched her limbs as she prepared to sleep. "I just hope they're not actually disguised to look like humans, that picture of their President was pretty freaky."

Velvet's ears perked at that "That was debunked by the United States on their website, they said it was likely a joke played by one of the Marines at Cooperwick, and that the picture actually showed a popular artist in costume."

"Heh, I bet it was Turner."

Velvet nodded. "It could be anybody, there are many marines at Cooperwick, but I would have to agree. Jackson had a bit of a mischievous side too though; it could have also been him."

Coco let out a sleepy laugh "Man, I hope we do get to see them again."

---

Shion had a very different atmosphere to it, it was hard to describe, the streets were lined with these grated metal barriers on the sidewalks, the roads where the Americans would soon parade down, In front of the town hall was a roughly built stand and stage, the large garden in had been left empty for some reason. The stage itself having a large number of seats facing front, a podium with a microphone in front of them. From the talk around the town, that would be where the President, General Kirkman, and Beacon's headmaster would be seated.

The sidewalk on every single street marked to be paraded through by the Americans were lined with a large crowd, mostly citizens of Shion, but a few hundred from other kingdoms and towns all around Remnant, those who could afford to make the journey, as well as few American journalists who were cordoned off in their own section.

Stood by, the newly named 'America Avenue', were a small row of Remnant journalists, in the sidewalk of the of the road in front of the town hall's garden. One of them, Celestine Lumina.

She watched the empty street, notepad in hand, scroll camera attached to a lapel on her shirt. Her actual scroll was in her right hand, staring at a press release from the day before that she just kept coming back to.

'Introduction to President Charlie Bennington.' An implied response by the United States to her article about what that marine told her, the press release debunked the most sensation part of her article, what the President looked like. Apparently he was not actually a silver skinned weirdo.

"Never trust another marine." She grumbled the mantra to herself as she pocketed her scroll. Her now freed hand balling into a fist as a mixed bag of emotions, anger and embarrassment mostly, flooded back to her.

She stomped down with one foot and clicked her tongue "That's how he pays me back… after… after…" She squealed at the returning memory. Then she let out a sigh, he would be here, that was for sure, she had to decide soon if she would let her emotions get the better of her and write a journalistic hit piece on that piece of…

Luckily, she published under a semi-pseudonym so the public couldn't trace this back to her, but the damage had been done to her image within the Vale Independent, if she didn't do well here, she would be a goner, back to blogposts and social media opinion pieces.

"…I am here today at Shion as we await the beginning of the American Victory Parade, as you can see the streets are filled with many of Shion's citizens as well as visitors who are all doing the same." To her right, the news anchor of the VNN, Lisa Lavender spoke into her microphone, in front of her a cameraman taking footage of her as well as the small crowd of people around them.

She continued "Earlier, men in suits claiming to be Americans distributed miniature American flags which a few of Shion's citizens can now be seen waving across the railing." A pause "Thousands have gathered here today to witness not only the 'Victory Parade' the appearance of the American president. Now, for comments on the possible discussions the Americans may have about their extraterrestrial nature, back to you, Steel."

She let down her hand, letting her microphone fall back to her side as two people came up to her reapplying make up to her face and adjusting her suit for her.

Ugh, big timers, she hated them.

Celestine took one more good look at her surroundings, the buildings had large speakers attached to them which made sense as someone was likely going to speak on the microphone. There were also large television screens attached to buildings, probably for those who didn't have as good a view of the stage as they did. The stage near the town hall was massive, decorated with the American flag, the newly created emblem of Shion, multiple floral arrangements. A roof to protect it from the sun's rays had been made atop it, it was adorned with cloth patterns with the colors of the American flag, at it's center was a multi-colored circular emblem depicting what looked like an eagle grasping arrows and a branch with a few more designs she could not recognize at that distance, what clear however was the American flag shaped like a shield on the eagle's chest.

They sure loved that flag.

The most terrifying detail now of the atmosphere that surrounded them was that the rooftops of the buildings surrounding the stage and the field were filled with men laid in prone, holding what were definitely high caliber rifles and aimed down at various areas. Protection detail for the President she had to assume, it was still rather nerve-wracking having those guns of theirs pointed anywhere near her.

"When's it starting?!" came the shrill yell of one woman to her right, a news anchor from the Mistral Broadcasting Corporation.

Celestine simply rolled her eyes at that level of impatience and disrespect.

When suddenly drums sounded from the speakers around them. It was almost like it was done just to spite that one woman.

From both sides of the stage marched soldiers adorned in neat blue uniforms, holding trumpets to their chest, red caps on their head. They marched almost completely in sync, marching in front and below the stage as the drums on the speakers continued to beat, now joined by a flute melody.

The citizens of Shion suddenly began to erupt in cheers of glee. As the cameramen of the various news agencies began to scramble to take the footage.

More men then came from behind the stage, some now in white uniforms, they were flag bearers, carrying flags with many different symbols and emblems that she could not recognize. Then came the drummers, the ones who were currently beating the drums playing on the speakers likely from an attached microphone on one of them. They came from the left standing behind the first group of flag bearers as they continued to beat their drums in an unfamiliar toon.

"These Americans, they have a flair for a show, huh?" She could hear a journalist behind her say.

Cheers and whistles came from the journalist's surroundings now that the show had begun. A single man then walked up the steps of the stage, the first man to take stage thus far, in one hand was a set of small papers, notes maybe? He was in a black suit, a red dress shirt underneath his jacket, a flower in his pocket, he had large imposing figure.

"Is that the President?" She heard mumbles around her. "I don't know, it can't be he doesn't have security." That made sense "Have you SEEN all the snipers around?" She heard another say.

Celestine decided to speak "He's the emcee, I think, look, he's heading for the microphone." That seemed to silence them, this didn't stop the cheering from the onlookers to grow louder though.

It was deafening, this wasn't the only street adorned with citizens and visitors, every road marked to be paraded through the Americans in Shion was packed, the journalists simply got one of the best spots in the first road to paraded upon, and the one directly in front and to the right of the town hall.

The drums then came to a slow stop. As the soldier at the center of the line of blue uniformed men yelled words she couldn't understand, the flag bearers shouted back in response and raised their flags high.

The man at the podium then spoke, smiling as he did, the crowd quieted down as he spoke "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Laurence Fishburne. I have been given the honor by the United States Armed forces to host this afternoon. Whether you're watching this at home, or here with us today, I would like to thank you all for coming." Behind him men and women holding various instruments suddenly ascended the stage, taking a seat on the left side, another band?

A mix of claps and cheers came from the audience.

"I would like to introduce our guests for today." He cleared his throat. "General Thomas Kirkman!"

The crowd continued to cheer, with a select few staying silent, likely still hung up on the General's controversial image, but the great majority seemed to happily shriek for the man as he came from behind the stage, not ascending it however, instead walking to the center of the group of soldiers holding flags and instruments, waving at the crowd of onlookers ahead, a small smile on his face. He stood near the center

He was dressed similarly to few photos of his visit at Beacon Academy, a black suit, badges, medals, and ribbons decorating his chest.

"Colonel Ernest Burton!" The cheers grew louder. Colonel Burton had been recognized as the man to have headed the intervention at Shion on an 'Operational level' Whatever that meant, as such many of the accolades that had been given to the Americans by the people of Remnant had come his way.

Colonel Burton walked in front of the stage, waving as well, he stood next to Kirkman, they smiled to each other and had an exchange of words before they stared back at the crowd.

"Now for our guests from Beacon academy!" At this more whispers came.

"I thought the president would be here?" The MBC reporter said. "Maybe they're saving him for last." Said the Atlesian times reporter.

"Headmaster Ozpin." Less cheers this time, Ozpin looked significantly less intimidating compared to the two military men who had come before him. "Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch." Ozpin was followed by the named woman who was the only one so far to not at least smile as she walked up the steps, simply staring forward. The two went to the stage, sitting once he was done.

Why did they take stage and not the two Americans, was this a mistake?

"Team CFVY! Composed of Coco Adel, Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarlatina, and Yatsuhashi Daichi!" The roar of the crowd came louder, this was the team of student huntsmen who were actually on the ground here at Shion which made it clear why the crowd erupted for them.

Their taking of the stage was a lot less graceful than the previous four adults, they looked rather nervous, the bunny eared girl was grasping at her shoulder with her other arm, scratching at it, staring away from the crowd.

"Mayor Lavender Stone!" That was Shion's mayor she too ascended the stage, somehow the two Americans not rising to stage was a planned thing.

"Now, everybody, I would like you all to pay attention." The onlookers quieted down a tad. "America's first lady, Mrs. Rachel Bennington."

By that last name alone it could be assumed this person was the President's wife, the journalists grew wide eyed at this prospect of seeing the woman as they all trained their camera on the area the other people had emerged from, Celestine grabbed her scroll camera and began taking video footage. They had been told on the handouts the Americans had given to the journalists that the 'First Lady' would appear but they had no idea it would be the man's wife.

A relatively young look brunette woman then emerged, somewhere in her early middle age. She did not ascend the stage however, simply standing close to the steps, waving at the deafening crowd.

Then the men in red caps suddenly brought up their trumpets and blared out a strange tune. Celestine grabbed at her hand out that had been given by the Americans to the Remnant journalists which detailed the proceedings of the Parade. Right before the introduction of the President and after the First Lady's was a number titled 'Hail to the Chief'. This must have been it

"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of United States!" This was the loudest he had introduced someone yet.

The trumpets continued to play a commanding tune as the drummers once again beat their drums.

The President emerged, he was in a neat dark blue suit, his brown hair combed to side, giving a nice smile as he walked to where his wife was. The crowd clapped as he stopped where Rachel Bennington was as they began to walk.

Every single scroll, camera, and microphone from the journalists was now pointed at the President.

The two Americans moved to where Kirkman and Burton were standing, the two giving a salute

They brought down their salute once the President had reached them, he shook both their hands before taking position beside them with the First Lady.

He happily smiled at the cheering crowd, giving a single wave before bringing his hand back down.

The emcee continued "This ceremony will continue the long-standing tradition to clearly recognize the services who fought for liberty. Each of the armed services of the United States is represented here today by the Armed Forces color guard, bearing the colors and flags of the 57 states and territories of the United States.

"57 states and territories?!" Came the whispered shout of someone.

Everybody had to agree, that was a ridiculous number, just how big was the United States?! They were all represented by a flag too, that was why there were so many men bearing a flag. Actually, they'd been holding up those flags for quite some time now, weren't they getting tired?

The crowd went silent as Laurence continued speaking "At this time, President Bennington will present General Kirkman with the campaign streamers for Remnant, the streamers are embroidered: 'Defense and Liberation of Shion, 2017.'"

Whatever those numbers at end meant, they did not know.

A suited man then gave Bennington four long cloths, Bennington then gave these cloths to Kirkman who approached a lowered flag and placed the 'streamer' atop it as they were continually greeted by the crowd by claps and whistles.

More flags lowered in front of Kirkman as he adorned each flag put down to his level.

"The streamers are awarded to the United States Army, the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, and the United States Marine Corps." A few select journalists groaned at the mention of the marines.

But this was surprising, Celestine jotted down on her notepad 'The United States is home to many military branches.'

This was unprecedented. In Atlas they were all under one branch.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our presentation of the campaign streamers." Said the host as the drums once against were beaten, the flagbearers marched in formation, accompanied from some men at the front of the formation.

They marched in a circular fashion before meeting in a two-part line, eventually the drummers and trumpeters joined this line, they marched out down the street, towards the exit, the crowd's hands were probably starting to hurt from all the clapping.

The two military men were joined by the President and the First Lady as they finally ascended the stage. Laurence Fishburn took a seat as Kirkman went to the podium.

The snap of cameras came as Kirkman began to speak.

"Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to America's celebration to the many men and women serving in the Armed Forces. Months ago, there was a time of ambiguity and great negativity as to the fate of Shion, but thanks to the great effort of the men and women of Resolute Resolve..." This was recognized as the name for the operation for the defense and intervention at Shion "…we are here today standing together without fear of oppressive monsters, be they human or grimm. I am sure that these men and women are proud of their achievements as are their father and mothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, for it is through their achievements that we hold no uncertainty that Shion will stand safe and strong."

Cheers erupted once more as Kirkman took a pause, they slowly went silent.

"We are here to celebrate and pledge this day to those who were so dedicated to the service of our country and to the liberty of all peoples as to fight for that liberty… To honor the sacrifices that were made, the hardships that were prevailed upon, and the freedom that now stands as a result of them. This was not the sole effort of a single individual, but the collective effort of all within the United States Armed Forces and those elements who cooperated. "

Celestine had to appreciate the man. For All Kirkman's controversy, he sure knew how to pull at the world's heartstrings.

"The world watched as the United States Military did what no military of any nation, empire, republic, or kingdom on Earth or on Remnant could do." She could hear the Atlesian journalist behind her gasp in offense. "We all watched as the United States Armed Forces of air, land, and sea, united in one effort, prepared to defend the ideals of liberty and freedom, and when the word came to execute, they were ready, and they were there." Kirkman looked to the sky for just a second, an almost imperceptible smirk on his features, they had to wonder why he took that split second look "It began with a thunderous roar above, one that silenced any hope of the menace across the field from ever oppressing again. A thunderous roar caused by something unseen to the evil below, but one that nonetheless could deliver precision-guided destruction upon anything unlucky enough to be in its path. Ladies and gentlemen, the F-35 Stealth Fighter!"

Kirkman took another look at the sky, this time not looking down, everyone followed, staring at the clear blue sky, as eight gray shapes appeared in the distance, moving fast flying in a line. A short moment after came the roar, like the sky was thundering apart.

The crowd was alight again with new fervor at the show of aircraft, those the on the stage: the President, his wife, and the guests clapped at the American 'Fighters'.

Once the fighters were directly above them, they broke formation, splitting into two different sides as they sped up, a cloudlike shape forming front of them before a boom resounded to those on the ground. A sonic boom, many of them recognized. Some had to cover their ears. Faunus onlookers with two sets of ears weren't so able.

"Amazing…" Lisa Lavender told herself, not even Atlesian mantas have come close to breaking to breaking the sound barrier.

As the F-35s speed took hold, they disappeared just as quickly as they came.

"Then next, to deliver what would quell the fears and horrors that were being committed on this very ground, the C-17s and C-130s!"

In that same direction came much many larger aircraft, gray in color, it was huge, not quite to the size of an airship, but massive, nonetheless. They caused the familiar sound of jets overhead as they too left. These aircraft were followed by smaller aircraft with propellers in a lighter shade of gray.

The mayor of Shion seemed to stare with a hint of nostalgia on her face. They were significantly slower, as such Kirkman spoke about them as they flew above.

"These aircraft are capable of a plethora of missions. Cargo transport, evacuation, troop transport, and facilitating airborne jumps, the C-17 performed in all these roles at Shion, integral to not only the initial intervention, but also the sustained defense and operations at Shion."

Claps joined the sounds of the engines as the C-17s came out of sight. Kirkman then stepped down from the Podium, Laurence Fishburne returned.

Now that Celestine had looked at the stage, she noticed that Burton had disappeared from the seated guests, where was he? Laurence Fishburne once again took to the podium

"Now for the ground elements. Colonel Ernest Burton accompanied by Headquarters & Service Company 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines, Headquarters Company 1st Marine Raider Battalion, as well as Headquarters & Headquarters company 1st Ranger Battalion."

The crowd roared out in claps and whistles again, hands outreached from the railing, waving miniature American flags as Burton reappeared down the road marching alongside what looked like a hundred or more men, behind him were flag bearers carrying the flags of many services.

"These were the men and women who headed the coordination and cooperation of the troops on the ground during Operation Resolute Resolve, marching with them is the one who led them all, Colonel Ernest Burton, a good man, and a good American, we love you, Colonel!" Said Laurence enthusiastically.

These were all headquarters? Celestine had to know, there at least a few hundred guys already.

As they reached the area in front of the stage, they all stopped. The colonel faced the President from down on the road where we were, a wide smile on his face as he saluted. The President who had begun descending the steps of the stage made the walk from the stage, down the garden, and to the road to meet the Colonel again, the President shook his hand while having an unheard conversation with the man.

Before he stepped towards two men in front of the flagbearers.

"Is he gonna shake their hands too?" Celestine asked to no one in particular as she was given her answer when Bennington shook the hands of the two men.

"Greeting the president now are Major Aston Buckley, head of marine tactical operation of Task Force Shion, and Major George Riley, head of army tactical operations of Task Force Shion." Laurence said off the cuff.

That was a respectful display, one that would be very popular to people like those in Atlas who held great respect for militaries, a nation's leader making way to personally shake the hands of these men. Celestine had to wonder if this was a calculated move or if the President of the United States really was this kind of man.

The President left and took a short walk down the road and garden and back to the stage where he sat next to Kirkman. Burton followed.

"Colonel Burton will now join the President in viewing the parade as Major Riley and Major Buckley will assume command." The men continued to march, now to move down other roads where other crowds were waiting.

Then came the opening notes to a song, 'The Army Goes Rolling Along' Celestine remembered this to be the next number to be played, down the road she could see a marching troop of men and women and gilded looking uniforms holding instruments, leading them was a man not holding an instrument, simply saluting as he marched.

They marched slowly like to let the crowds hear the full breadth of their march as the speakers blasted what the group was playing.

"Now approaching us, the United States Army band under the direction of the Colonel Brian Shelby. This is the United States Army premiere musical organization, this band is known 'Pershing's Own' as it was formed nearly a hundred years ago by direct order of General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force during the First World War."

'First world war?' Many mumbled, first? Did that mean there were multiple? World War was quite the stunning name, this meant that the United States participated in a conflict on Earth similar to Remnant's Great War.

The song was an ensemble of so many instruments, nobody had ever heard anything quite like it, this was the first time they've heard a military force have its very own band. As the band got closer, the area behind them was revealed, an almost endless line of soldiers that marched at the same pace as the band.

Many stood in shock, with the cameraman now taking footage of the band and the soldiers behind them. The band continued to play its song as after about a minute they finally reached the stage as Laurence Fishburne spoke once again.

"Following Pershing's Own is the 173rd Airborne Brigade of the US Army." The loudest set of cheers yet erupted from the Shion crowd, almost being as loud as the speakers playing back the music the band played. "An airborne capable group of over 3000 men and women, they arrived in the nick of time to reinforce the troops at Shion and have remained here since the day they came to defend and make friends here at Shion."

He paused, letting those not from Shion and the journalists gawk at the full size of the group of marching soldiers, it was endless, the frontmost group had already reached the stage area, but even as they looked down the road and to the where the soldiers began marching there was still an endless stream of men coming down… and were those vehicles?

The band finally passed by with their music still being heard on the speakers, as the next tune 'Battle Hymn of the Republic' was played. It started as a calm uplifting tune as soldiers marched by.

"First up is the 1st Infantry Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment. They were among the first of the 173rd Airborne Brigade to set foot at Shion." Again, the men near the front bore flags of their service, while two men at the lead marched ahead.

Every person not holding a flag saluted and stared forward as they marched. All the soldiers wore simple camouflaged uniforms, a satchel attached to their waists, and helmets on their head, not holding any weapons or wearing any body armor that they had grown familiar to seeing on American soldiers or at least photos of them.

"The 2nd Infantry Battalion 503rd Infantry Regiment." Said the Presenter as the first group passed by the journalists, now being approached by the second block of men. But behind the '2nd Infantry Battalion' were not just another group of men, they were another group, indeed, but they were joined by trucks moving at their pace, towing what looked massive guns on wheels, followed by what looked like smaller trucks with guns pointed at the sky.

"Next up, is the 4th battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment, wielding the capable M-Triple-Seven towed artillery unit as well. The Avenger Mark 2, a laser based mobile air defense system."

This was getting ridiculous, they subdivided every single unit entirely by purpose, there was a separate artillery unit, a separate infantry unit. Was this not a nightmare to manage?

Everyone gawked at the massive guns that passed them by as another group of men behind them eventually arrived.

The tune of the song that was playing had taken a grander tone while still keeping the uplifting spirit of the opening notes.

"Then, the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion, serving for the supply, maintenance, medical, and airborne needs of the 173rd Airborne Brigade." The men passed them in their march, saluting all-the while.

Celestine's writing on her notes and switching to photographing the approaching units never stopped. This was gold, the Americans sure knew how to put on a show, almost every relevant sense was met by something, their ears by the grand music of their band, their sight by the massive portrayal of their military force, large enough to have a dedicated support battalion.

"The 54th Brigade Engineer Battalion, these men and woman hold the responsibility of construction, area maintenance, and demolition."

Construction?! Engineer Battalion?! They had an entire unit dedicated for engineering? That was insane, that had to be a waste of resources! It made no sense to the sensibilities of any journalist there who had been used to seeing and writing about the Atlesian military to have an entirely separate unit of Engineers, over there their engineers were integrated into their battalion, not as an entire battalion themselves!

It was finally the vehicles' turn to pass by, smaller trucks, just like the 'Avenger' earlier, inside them were men driving by, atop them were guns that were manned. However those manning the guns did not point or aim with them, rather they stood still, simply saluting.

"Last, but definitely not the least. 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, primarily a recon unit, they specialize in scouting and direct engagement."

There was space between the cavalry and the next group as the songs transitioned., the journalists looked down at their pamphlets, it was now 'You're a Grand Old Flag'

The next group in similar uniforms marched along, met by even more cheers from the crowds.

"1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment!" The men passed by, still saluting. "The 75th Ranger Regiment is an elite light infantry unit capable of taking on many roles, not limited to direct action and special operations. They were joined by the incoming marines as some of the first men on the ground to aid in Shion's liberation and defense." The cheers grew in volume as the fact of them being among the first to arrive was revealed.

Celestine took note of the interesting part about them being elite and capable of special operation, what exactly made them special? They looked practically the same to the men and women who had passed by earlier.

Then came these large tan behemoths, strangely shaped, with guns similar to the ones on the trucks that drove by was atop it. Coming out from hatches that adorned the vehicle were men standing straight and saluting.

"With them is Echo Company, a support company that carry with them the M1126 infantry carrier vehicle, known as the Stryker Armored Personnel carrier, to support their fellow rangers in their operations."

'Armored' was an understatement, these things looked sturdier than the Atlesian Paladin, a lot uglier though. And they were just personnel carriers, these things weren't specifically made to gun things down? Then she remembered the bodycam footage published by the American those months that depicted even larger vehicles with bigger guns, she had to wonder when those would show up. Celestine snapped a photo of a Stryker as she went back to taking notes.

No more troops followed the Strykers as the song came to an end, that was it? Was that all the troops present? That was rather underwhelming. No, that made no sense, she looked at the pamphlet. There were still more songs up next. She read who was to appear next as she paled.

Laurence Fishburne chuckled "Oh I'm sure these boys have just been waiting to be unleased, first up among them, the United States Marine Band!"

About a kilometer down the road of them they saw the figures of an innumerable amount of men wielding instruments, a single man at the lead, they were expecting to see them wearing similar clothes to the army band, but no, they wore camouflage uniforms.

"This band is known as 'The President's Own' due to a history of them performing at the White House, the President's residence."

An energetic tune began to play, 'Anchors Aweigh.'

"That makes no sense…" She heard Lisa Lavender tell her cameraman who promptly switched off the microphone "If they're the President's own why aren't they all dressed up like the army band?"

The cameraman shrugged with the camera still rested upon his shoulder "Maybe the marines have their own thing going."

Laurence Fishburne continued to speak as the song played on "The United States Marines are the amphibious service of the US Armed Forces, and the marines are proud to say that they were the first boots on the ground at Shion."

Claps greeted the approaching band as another group of men followed behind them, the man at the lead of the band held what looked like a scepter or a baton.

As he neared the stage, he held the scepter up high before every single marching man suddenly came to stop as he brought the scepter close to his chest. The drums reached a new rhythm, transitioning between Anchors Aweigh and the next song.

The man spun the scepter around, as he flipped it behind his back and back to his chest as the next song played 'The Marine Hymn.' A loud and brisk tune. They all then continued marching

"Showoffs." Celestine had to stop herself from clicking her tongue, perhaps she had a grown a tad bit biased against the US Marines. The men after the band then reached the area of the road near the stage as the host continued to introduce the units, behind them were familiar large vehicles.

"Here are the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, of the US Marine Raider Regiment. The Marine Raiders are an elite special operations force, with roles of amphibious warfare, direct action, special operations, and as their name suggests, raiding."

Then the next song came 'Stars and Stripes Forever', the opening notes alone were already catchy and dynamic.

Wait… Now that she thought about it, that bastard Sean Turner had said he was a Raider.

"That…" She whispered to herself as she almost dropped her camera in surprise "That man… is elite?" That made no sense, America had to be picking their bottom of the barrel troops for their so-called elite units, there was just no way such an insolent unprofessional man was among their elite troops. Then she took a deep breath, such assumptions were dangerous, she could not let it affect her writing, perhaps Turner was just a bad apple.

The journalists just had to wonder what it this all felt and looked like to those watching at home in the kingdoms or to those watching back in the American home country as the Americans had brought in their own journalists and cameramen in separate section directly in front of the stage.

Still, she searched the features of the marching men for the one who had fooled her, but the sheer amount of them made it impossible to see.

"Following the Raiders is an element of the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion." The large behemoths for vehicles rumbled by, on wheels like the Strykers before them.

Everyone just had to stand and stare at the massive things with their equally massive guns, they had to wonder if these things were 'Light Armored', just *what* was heavy armored to the Americans.

"Those are for reconnaissance?" Said the AT Reporter behind her "Those things look really slow, how can they be for reconnaissance, that's way too much armor and gun for recon."

The song had reached a new climax with every instrument in a symphonious mix that was quite pleasant to hear even just through the speakers as the band had already passed them by.

The song once again switched in accordance with the pamphlet, this time 'Semper Fidelis', nobody what those words meant at all, maybe it was in whatever language the Americans spoke, but, no, it seemed like they speak the same language everyone on Remnant spoke, New Vytalian.

The next group arrived; this one really looked to be the final group of men as there were no more people even in the distance behind them.

"These are elements of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines who were among the first set of reinforcements to arrive at Shion on the first day of the battle." They passed by the stage

Now, in the distance they could see the familiar figures of the US Army Band far down the road turning, already having circumnavigated the entire village in the short hour they had been parading.

"Now, I would like you all to please enjoy the continued march themes of the President's Own as we wait for the remainder of the marching men and women to return here."

The crowd started to whisper amongst themselves, those without handouts wondering what would be next as the song 'Carolina in Morning' was played by the Marine Band somewhere in the town.

Celestine looked down at her pamphlet, apparently next was the 'Awarding Ceremony.' An 'Afterword from our Command in Chief.' And 'A Final Performance' which itself had a setlist of music albeit it was quite short.

The men who had fully circumnavigate the village's roads gathering in tight formation in the large and wide road directly at in front of the garden, with the larger vehicles taking position at the intersections behind the road as to not block the view of the onlookers.

Minutes passed by as the continued march of the returning men and women filed into the road, once space in the road ran out, courtesy of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the 75th Rangers took position at the large Garden ahead of the stage, then more, the marines joined the Rangers.

The Marine band and the Army band had taken position on the massive stage where the band from earlier had simply sitting quietly by.

The whole world was watching, it could only be assumed that Earth was watching too. She heard mumbling from some producer near Lisa Lavender that they reached '4 million live viewers.' That was just shy of last years VNN numbers for the Vytal Festival which was 4.2 million live viewers. The other news agencies of the other kingdoms were probably reaching similar numbers.

Laurence Fishburne had taken a seat long ago, leaving the podium empty as the last of the men arrived in front of the garden where seats had awaited them. This must have been their way of somehow giving benefits to the Rangers and Raiders who were the first in, allowing them to sit down right in front of the stage where the President sat.

General Kirkman then stood, the crowd watched with rapt attention, only the journalists knew what came next, so everyone wondered what Kirkman had to say now.

"It can be said without question that every individual you see today, be they US Armed Servicemen or the four brave students of Beacon behind me, has served the people of Shion to their utmost ability. But the US Armed Forces has a tradition, where in a state wherein every single man and woman has answered the call to fight for liberty here, gave their utmost effort to defend that liberty, there are those few who were exceptional in this service. Who stood in the face of adversity with gallantry and distinguished themselves with outstanding heroism. The Department of Defense has given me the honor of presenting three of these men with awards dedicated to their service here at Shion."

'The Department of Defense' She noted that down, interesting, all these departments, units, and commands were starting to get confusing.

Three men, in full dress and suit then stepped up to the stage, taking the last empty seats next to Colonel Burton, they were in different uniforms, two of them wore green dress suits adorned with ribbons, while one of them wore a dark blue dress suit with similar ribbons.

The people wondered just who these three men were and what was it they did that was so special, Kirkman answered that inquiry.

"First. Is Corporal Mark Chilson of 1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger regiment. During the second day of the Battle of Shion, Corporal Chilson and his unit were entrusted with the task of clearing one of the last houses suspected of having Branwens within them. His fireteam was to wait for the rest of his squad to arrive in order to operate at full capacity while clearing the home. However Corporal Chilson spotted a child, a young boy banging on the second floor window of this house, acting on instinct, Corporal Chilson, kicked down the door of this house, spotting two armed men immediately, he eliminated the two of them before rushing up the stairs of the home and breaking into the room he saw the child in where he saw two more bandits who he eliminated one after the other."

"Oh wow..." Celestine had to say to herself, that was quite the set of actions that deserved a reward, hearing those herself, that one man, who was without aura fought and killed four bandits who probably had aura to save a child, she could understand now why the Rangers were considered elite.

Her sentiment seemed to be shared by the others in the crowd who clapped as Kirkman spoke of the Ranger's exploits.

"This is representative of the United State's commitment to the safety of all people, and reflective of the courage and heroism befitting of a soldier, he is a deserving recipient of the US Army Distinguished Service Cross." Cheers and claps erupted from the crowd as the man named walked up to the podium.

Kirkman took a box from the podium, he opened it, from the distant view of the journalist, a cross shaped medal was pulled out, Kirkman placed it on the man's chest alongside his other badges and ribbons. Kirkman moved to take a seat as Corporal Chilson began to give a short speech.

Journalists on the ground wrote word for word he spoke, he was young and clearly nervous speaking to so many people and millions more watching on Earth and Remnant, Celestine couldn't blame him for being nervous. He spoke of a ranger's duty and his own personal beliefs.

As the Ranger finished his speech, he returned to the seat as Kirkman came back to the podium. The claps died down as Kirkman came to speak once again.

"We are also in presence of another heroic individual. Petty Officer second class Leonard Edwards. A Navy Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman with the US Marine Raiders."

A marine? Now this was interesting, the Vale Independent journalist's experience with the marines back at Cooperwick was horrid to say the least, she really wanted to hear what heroism this man had performed.

"Petty Officer Edwards just as any other hospital corpsman was tasked to attending to the medical needs of those within his unit. Throughout his time at Shion, he not only fought side by side with the marines, even rescuing civilians in Branwen-occupied homes alongside his unit, but he also assisted what marine he could, those were injured. Once the initial fighting was done, he made five trips between his station and other areas, being credited with performing medical procedures on nine soldiers and marines, as well as 21 civilians, day and night he worked tirelessly between fighting and medical responsibilities, undoubtedly saving many lives. We must be nothing but honored to be in his presence. I am proud to present the Navy Cross to Petty Officer Edwards."

Edwards gave a nervous smile as she stood up and accepted the award from Kirkman amongst the loud applause of his audience before he gave his even shorter speech, clearly even more nervous than the last man.

Celestine had to stand there and rethink on her original belief, a man like that was in the marines? Perhaps Turner really was an outlier.

Kirkman returned to the podium "Finally, Sergeant David Bellavia of the 1st Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade. Sergeant Bellavia's squad was called to answer reports of suspicious activity from a large three home compound four days after the battle of Shion, his squad began searching house to house, on the third house they discovered they discovered a group of Branwens taking camp in the home."

"Even days after the battle and after all the grimm there were still Branwens camping?" Lisa asked.

Celestine decided to be the one to respond, "They're like cockroaches, they just keep coming back for more." Lisa gave a knowing nod.

"As the point man, Sergeant First Class Bellavia was the first to enter, he fatally shot a bandit loading a magazine into his weapon, another bandit then fired at him, Sergeant Bellavia wounded him in the shoulder. When Sergeant Bellavia entered a bedroom, the wounded bandit followed him, forcing Sergeant Bellavia to kill him. From outside a third insurgent fired at him, Bellavia returned fire and fatally shot the bandit. Then, from within the bedroom, a bandit jumped out of the closet and fired at Bellavia, a short gunfight ensued as the insurgent ran upstairs with Bellavia following the bloody footprints as he ran upstairs to chase the bandit into a room. But just as he was about to fire his gun, he noticed canisters of fire dust within, worrying about setting them off, he rushed at the bandit, engaging in hand-to-hand combat before dealing a final blow to the Bandit's collarbone with his combat knife."

Gasps of varying levels of awe came from the crowd, hand to hand combat for a man with no aura? That was quite the feat, he was also necessarily cautious as to not fire his weapon at the bandits in a room filled with fire dust.

"Sergeant First Class Bellavia is an exemplar soldiers showing us all what it means to be a soldier, ready for anything even in presumed times of peace. He showed bravery, agile thinking, and exemplar skill. It is my honor to present him the US Army Distinguished Service Cross."

The same procedure took place, they all expected another nervous speech from the man. Sergeant Bellavia looked older though, somewhere in his late thirties' early forties. He was awarded, his uniform already filled with many awards, perhaps 'Sergeant First Class' meant he was much more experienced. He confidently walked up to the podium; an intimidating look on his face as he began his speech

"Good Afternoon…" The soldier then proceeded to give a very long speech, one that gave high praise to all the armed serviceman who fought that day and the days before. At many points in his speech, he gave inspirational words that earned the applause of the thousands watching on America Avenue or watching on screens on roads all around Shion.

But what Sergeant First Class Bellavia would be remembered for, by all on Remnant was how he chose to conclude his speech.

With the rapt attention of the worlds, he said his final words of the awarding ceremony with incredible gravitas.

"…this entire military is one cohesive dedicated force. And the threats to our nation they don't sleep, they're watching our every move, Iran, Russia, China, the GLA, the White Fang. They may be watching this right now." He took a pause, the non-Americans present had to wonder what 'Iran, Russia, China, and the GLA.' Were. But for them to be considered threats to the US, they must be quite fearsome.

"Our military should not be mistaken for a cable news gabfest show, we don't care what you look like, we don't care who you're working for, who you worship, what you worship, who you love. It doesn't matter if your dad left you millions when you died or if you even knew who your father was. We have been honed into a machine of lethal moving parts that you would be wise to avoid if you know what's good for you. We will not be intimidated, we will not back down." He squeezed his lips inward as he simply stared at his silent-in-awe audience. "We've seen war, we don't want war. But if you want war with the United States of America, there is one thing I can promise you so help me god, Someone else will raise your sons and daughters." He took a sudden pause

Every US Soldier and Marine suddenly yelped and clapped, yelling cheers of 'Yeah!' and 'Hell Yeah."

Kirkman and Burton were practically grinning ear to ear as they clapped and watched Bellavia captivate worlds with his words.

"We fight…" He paused, letting the applause end "We fight for one day where our children and our enemies' children can discuss their differences without fear or loathing, we fight so that anyone out there thinking about raising arms against our citizens or allies realize the futility of attrition against a disciplined, professional, and lethal force built to withstand anything you could dream of throwing at us. Americans want this kind of country, Americans want this kind of world. And we stand ready to defend it, to protect this, so help us God. May God bless this beautiful army, may god bless our Marine Corps, may God bless our Navy, our Air Force and Coast Guard. May God bless our allies."

He was clearly a religious, making mentions of an unknown god the Americans may have worshipped. Their lack of knowledge for this god did not make the speech any less captivating though.

"And we already know that God blessed America, because he gave us the greatest fighting force any world has ever seen. 1-503 Infantry at the 173rd Airborne Brigade, thank you First Rock. Duty first. Dukes!"

The largest cheer to come roaring from the civilian crowd and military crowd alike came, a few in the ranger's column stood up which caused a cascade of every seated soldier and marine to give a standing ovation as Bellavia took a seat. As Laurence Fishburne returned to podium, simply waiting while smiling as he waited for the applause to come to a slow end.

"Holy shit!" Lisa's cameraman finally said as he switched off his microphone. "That guy was… wow."

For some reason, Celestine could feel a pride welling in her chest after Bellavia's words, and she wasn't even American. Something about it was just so wonderful at how it described the US military even as it spoke about its lethality and willingness to kill. She had to imagine that everyone watching at home and especially the cheering audience felt the same.

Once the applause finally came to a halt, the host spoke. "Now before we conclude this celebration, it is with great honor that I call upon President Charlie Bennington!"

'Hail to the Chief 'was played by the seated bands as Bennington rose from his seat, smiling. Everyone gave applause but some were nervous, this was the first time they would even hear the man after the weeks of anticipation about him.

"Good afternoon to you all. Now, I'm sure those before me have said so much already, General Kirkman, Corporal Chilson, Petty Officer second class Edwards, and of course, Sergeant First Class Bellavia." He paused and smiled as a few claps from the army men came at the mention of Bellavia's name.

"But I would like to give a few words of my own. First, to the people of Shion, you all endured a great hardship under both the Branwen tribe and the ensuing grimm, your resilience in the face of all this adversity cannot be understated, just as I am honored to stand with the many great men and women of the armed forces, I am honored to stand in your presence, the people who endured it all for so long and gave us all here today the best of welcomes."

The citizens of Shion including the mayor who was sat behind Bennington clapped.

"Second, to the people of Remnant. I apologize for the previous lack of forthcomingness with regards to the true nature of where we are from, but we also did this for your interest. As when we first came to Remnant and discovered fellow humans, we were made to face a decision." His tone then raised into a more casual one. "And I'm sure you all would not have liked finding out that aliens have come knocking down the proverbial door of your world and started bombing people we believe to be terrorists. I would be terrified myself if I heard this. This was done to prevent panic and misunderstanding, and even with those reasons, I can still understand any misgivings you may still have to our nation. But do understand, as you watch me here today whether it be on your screens or if you are here at Shion. I'm just like you, a living breathing person with emotions, every American you see here is just like you, with morals and with capabilities to do so much good. I assure you, we intend to cooperate with all of you for the betterment of both our worlds, this I can promise."

More claps came as he took another pause, every camera, American or of Remnant had their lenses pointed at the President, his warm tone being captured on the microphones.

Celestine was neither pro or anti American but she could see how such remarks might sway those on the negative to thinking at least just little more positively of them especially when coupled with the genuine delivery of the man's words.

"Third, to the United States Armed Forces. You are the reason why those men and women behind and alongside you are here today, citizen or fellow serviceman. You are the reason why I was proud to announce the success of Operation Resolute Resolve to the people of America. You fought with so much courage, fervor, and tenacity that nobody can ever be mistaken as to your place in history. You are some of the best the world has to offer, and you should be proud for everything you've ever done. You went beyond your service to this nation, you served our greater ideals of liberty by coming here two months ago at risks beyond measure to fight for the greater good. God bless you all."

Everyone, not just the servicemen, gave applause to the ones being honored in the President's speech.

"Everyone here today gave something, time, effort, peace, be it the citizen, soldier, marine, corpsman, student of Beacon, everyone, and look at what we have achieved." He gestured with his hand to his surroundings, being met with applause which shortly came to an end. "Let this be a marker to what we can all achieve if we worked together for a common good. Thank you, God bless us all, and God bless these United States of America."

As the President left to take his seat to the sound of applause, the host, Laurence Fishburne, returned.

"Thank you, Mr. President. Now to conclude this wonderful celebration I would like to introduce you all to the National Symphony Orchestra, the Navy Sea Chanters, and the Army Chorus, joined by Pershing's Own and the President's Own. To honor every armed servicemember with a performance one final time before we depart this afternoon. Beginning! With the National Anthem! Please, all Americans, whether you are at home or here today, please stand."

Every single American followed this order as they stood to honor this 'national anthem.'

All journalists stared down at their pamphlet as the loudest and grandest performance yet came.

This was titled 'The Star-Spangled Banner', and after that there were just two more songs.

"Oh, say can you see~ By the dawn's early light… What so proudly we hailed… at the twilight's last gleaming…"

As the joint bands continued performing, the non-American had to watch stunned at the display. They used to have no concept of what a national anthem was. But many had to admit that it was a beautiful concept, a single song to honor the country its citizens hail from.

"Atlas should take notes." Quipped some Vacuo reporter to the Atlas one.

"Shut up." She returned

The anthem was short, concluding after just under two minutes with the vocal elements of the bands singing "Oh, say does that star-spangled banner O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

Claps came as the Americans who could, once again took a seat. There was no rest as suddenly the bands erupted into an incredibly exciting tune, beginning with high tones of flutes then with the grand tones of trumpets. 'Over There' as it was titled on the pamphlet.

The sung part began with just a single female singer stood by a microphone

"Johnny get your guns, get your guns, get your guns, take it on the run, on the run, on the run. Hear them calling you and me~ Every son of liberty. Hurry go today, don't delay, make your daddy glad to have had such a lad, tell your sweetheart not to pine, to be proud- her boy's in line."

She finished singing as behind her every vocal element of the band began to repeat "Over there, over there, send the word, send the word, over there, that the Yanks are coming! the Yanks are coming! The drums rum-tumming everywhere!"

The song continued, clearly an energetic call to action, but it seemed to serve it purpose as many in the audience watched with smiles at the display at the nearly hundred people in the joint symphony of band played for a short few minutes, the song continuing in its ecstatic cadence as every instrument was utilized to its full potential

As the song began to conclude

"Over there! Over There! Send the word! Send the word! Over there! That the Yanks are coming! The Yanks are coming! The drums rum-tumming everywhere! So prepare… say a prayer. Send the word! Send the word to beware! We'll be over, we're coming over! And we won't come back till it's over over there."

Celestine has to join in the applause as she had to appreciate whoever was in charge of picking these songs. This one particular being a very good representation of what happened at Shion, a collective effort to come over here, and they never did leave until it was over.

As the band's instrumentation stopped, the host returned to speaking "And finally…" His speech was matched with a few drummers beating in waiting "We would now like to salute all the men and women from our Armed Services as the orchestra, bands, and choruses, perform the Armed Forces Medley. Again, I would like to call on all of you who have or are currently serving and join in as the song of your service is presented."

The trumpets finally sounded "The United States Coast Guard!"

"We're always ready for the call, we place our trust in Thee. Through surf and storm and howling gale, high shall our purpose be."

Then suddenly stepping to right of the stage came an older man in a blue decorated uniform followed by flag bearers and a rifle bearer. People had to wonder who this was until a graphic came on the screens that read 'Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, Command, U.S. Coast Guard.' They had heard mention of the coast guard before but again everyone was reminded as to the breadth of the US Military, an army, marines, a navy, an air force, and a coast guard.

"'Semper Paratus' is our guide, Our fame, our glory, too. To fight to save or fight and die! Aye! Coast Guard, we are for you."

Laurence smiled as he gestured to the stage behind him as more men began climbing up "The United States Air Force!"

"Off we go into the wild, blue yonder, climbing high into the sun. Here they come zooming to meet our thunder, at 'em boys give em the guns! Give 'em the guns!"

The Air Force general gave a salute as the graphic on the screens read 'General Malcolm Granger, US Air Force.' The flag bearers and rifle bearer marched in place and faced the audience.

"Down the dive, spouting our flame from under, off with one helluva roar! We live in fame or go down in flame! Hey, nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force."

"The United States Navy!" A few in the crowd stood up, mostly amongst in the marines as the song began

"Anchors aweigh, my boys, anchors aweigh! Farewell to college joys, we sail at break of day!"

The rifle bearer and flag bearer performed much of the same routine as the others. They had the most unique uniforms yet, they were white which to the crowd emanated that of the Atlesian military's though the navy's uniforms gave a much different air! 'Admiral Michael Gilday, Chief of Naval Operation, U.S.' Smiled as he saluted towards the crowd.

"Through our last night on shore, drink to the foam! Until we meet once more, here's wishing you a happy voyage home!"

The instrumentation had a sudden and dramatic shift in tone as more flag bearers in deep blue uniforms appeared. It was when they noticed that every group flag bearer not only waved their service flag but also the United States flag.

"They really love that flag." Celestine sighed and said to herself as she noticed, Lisa beside her nodded in agreement.

"The United States Marine Corps!" She had to fight the urge to scowl when every marine stood

"From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli! We will fight our country's battles in the air on land and sea!"

'General Alexis Alexander, Commandant, US Marine Corps.' The first female general on stage, stood in attention as the bands continued the performance of her service's hymn.

"First to fight for right and freedom and to keep our honor clean! We are proud to claim the title of United States Marines!"

'Honor' Yeah, right. Though she did have to acknowledge the quality of the hymn, and all the songs to have come before it, these Americans sure knew how to rile up a crowd with their music.

"United States Army!"

The entire 173rd airborne brigade and the battalion of 75th Rangers stood as the cadence came "First to fight for the right, and to build the nation's might, and the Army goes rolling along! Proud of all we have done, fighting till the battle's won!"

'General Townes, Chief of Staff, US Army' Sang the song as he himself stood in salute, he clearly knew the lyrics by heart whoever he was.

"Then it's Hi! Hi! Hey! The Army's on its way! Count off the cadence loud and strong! For wherever we go, you will always know that the Army goes rolling along!" The band finally finished performing.

As cheers from every man, woman, and child came from the crowd of soldiers and citizens.

"It saddens me that we now have to conclude today…" The host spoke amongst the cheers "But this is the end of our show, thank you all for coming. God Bless! And God bless the United of America!"

---

"From the halls of montezuma to shores of Tripoli. Hm. Hm. Hm." The man could not be bothered to recite the rest of the lyrics, so he simply hummed them as he bounced an aerated ball up and down the pavement

Doctor Thrax played alone in the court he had set up outside the White Fang compound in menagerie. His sweat pouring out from the neck area of his head scarf, he decided to give one last throw of the ball down range to the single hoop he had welded together.

"You people make good shows." He said to nobody in particular "But I know you all make wonderful corpses as well hehehehe." The ball landed perfectly through the hoop.

Just like everyone on Remnant and maybe even back in the States, Thrax watched the parade, he was among the few though to not watch with any particular emotion. His handlers in the White Fang, some no name grunts, were clearly fearful as they watched the parade show off even just a small percentage of the United States' military might.

Everyone who was not an enemy of the states probably watched it much excitement and glee. Thrax had to scoff at all of this, for all that he hated about the United States, they sure did know how to captivate world, and whatever it is they wanted to achieve with this parade. It worked, at least on Remnant.

He heard footsteps coming from the compound and he almost rolled his eyes at seeing who it was. "Cinder…"

"Doctor…" She smiled, but said sinister smile disappeared "Where. Is. It."

Under his scarf, Thrax had to smile, this woman really thought she could intimidate him. "What?" His sarcasm leaked through "You watch the parade and get all scared?" He cackled

As Cinder rushed forward delivered powerful blow to his chest, a heated one, one that sent him flying a few feet back, tumbling on his back, he pushed himself up, painfully cackling all the way. Cinder approached him, a fireball in her hand "You will NOT. Speak to me like that.

Thrax tilted his head "What? You want to kill me? Torture me? Go ahead, you lose your best asset against the Americans. Ask respectfully, with politeness, and maybe I'll tell you the progress to my little project."

Cinder grit her teeth at the challenge, simply staring at Thrax. She relented; the fireball dissipated in her hand. As a forced smile came to her face. "Doctor, may you please tell me how your project is going?"

Thrax cackled as he painfully stood up "There… Better. And for your information, it's done."

Cinder forced smile become one of genuine glee "Good. I will contact Watts now."

"You may also stop calling it the Yellow, or a project now. Back home, on Earth, we had a name for this substance, my namesake actually." He looked up as if reminiscing. Cinder stared at him, ready to make a retort about him being crazy, but then she remembered that he was telling the truth after all, and that he was alien.

"What?"

"Anthrax."

---

Hoooooo boy, finally the Shion arc is done and it's time for a Thrax time! Lesgoo. Anyway I hope you all like this chapter, I wanted to give a proper showing of the military in a big way as there won't be a lot of military stuff for a while in the next arc with a bigger focus on certain other shenanigans, plus Thrax. I took great inspiration for the parade with the 1991 National Victory Parade and the Memorial Day Concert, check those out, those are cool.

That Sergeant Bellavia speech is a real thing by the way, so are his badass actions. I just modified both a little to fit the story, you should check out his actual speech, cool ass dude. You might know it from the cool Metro Boomin edit of it that went viral on Twitter and YT.

I hope I didn't bore you all with the parade and y'all are just as enthusiastic as me about parades and military anthems, I mean come on, y'all are reading a military fanfic, you should be. And I thought it made sense narratively as this wouldn't be the first time the US did something like this, think Paris, 1945, or, again, 1991 at Washington.

OmegaDelta: They did not expect it.

Vmoneywashere: Keep up the good work! Thanks, I hope this chapter is a blast for you too. Actually I just checked the C&C wiki on that though, it says 'Spectre' Gunship with no specification on the aircraft designation and a AC-130 model is the only aircraft with the name 'Spectre' so I just went with that.

Monster King: Thank you, king.

Dare Seize the Fire: Oh they were very much caught off guard, I didn't want to talk about the fallout all too much though since I feel like it would be redundant, hence the time-skip.

VGBlackwing: Chill dude, but yeah RWBY, as usual being stupid.

Wolves567: Thrax is done ohohohoho.

Randofox: Here it is!

Ianjoaqui33: Nah theyre dead.

Ravenguard0009: Yes it does, it's a Spectre gunship. Theres no big boy drones because of lack of refueling, I did mention a few sentry drones though. Thrax made anthrax indeed.

GrailGuardianXIX: youll se more reaction soon.

: LESGO

Maglad: Thanks! There will be more reactions and general stuff on the aluien part soon. This chapter I really just wanted to focus on giving a proper conclusion to the Shion arc and giving a (for now) send-off to the US military to give more focus on Thrax and other stuff.

Onyx Gabriel: Thrax be here, and yes, murica, fuck yeah.

Gunfighterxy76: They be victorious! Well the yellow is Anthrax, but you have to remember that Thrax had to work with what little materials and work force he had on Remnant so it might not be as potent, but it's still a terrifying notion to the rest of Remnant who have never faced anything like it. And here you go, the other Generals get a spotlight, and also nah I cant give them the 5 star title, even in C&C canon theyre only 4 star, and 5 star hasn't been a thing given to people for decades now since it's unnecessary given Secretary and Chief of Staff roles.

Twylaken: Here it is.

IIIArmaliteIII: Uhmm, idk if you read the foreword dude, but I did say I want to be realistic and what you suggested is just so very unrealistic, 5 star is a title not given to people anymore (The C&C Generals, are also just 4 star canonically to C&C), 6 star doesn't exist, 7 star definitely doesn't exist, Ironside, the Chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff is not the 'Supreme Commander in Chief', that's the president lol, the CJCS role is the chief military advisor of the President.

Rollynolly: The European union exists IRL lol, they will definitely play a role here.

Trigger2019: don't worry, she's just emotional RN.

Afgt: I did a time skip to avoid the redundancy of all the reactions of an alien reveal, I think doing it this way is more interesting.

Texan3313: Ey! Thanks for joining the discord! And yeah you were right RWBY didn't end up doing anything too bad to the American's reputation on Remnant at least. But the evidence was substantial so it couldn't just be denied.

Guest: Well… They didn't cause too much harm

Fleeting Spectre: Nah the other GLA generals are dead as per what happened in the game, Thrax is the only one still alive.

Roy4: Exactly, you were right, they did not heavily affect the Americans. But it was not a full win-win, Pres. Benny boy now has to navigate some fucky political climates.