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"Let's hope we are not jumping straight into another viper's nest now."

"Not like we have much choice," Faith called out from in front of me, "They have more numbers than us, I will say that whatever this is, I have a bad feeling."

"Let me guess, maybe it's because they seem to be forming up around us," I motioned only to feel a jolt of pain across my body as I did so.

"Damn, I think I took a harder beating than I thought."

Out of instinct, I attempted to flex my leg muscles, only to feel a rushing pain that seemed to not go away even as I stopped doing so. I clenched my fist in a weak attempt to endure the pain, only to trigger another reverberating sensation of anguish arising from my wrist. I almost followed by slamming my arm to the side of Faith's plane but I stopped a little before doing so, one because it would hurt Faith. Two and more importantly is because it would hurt me more so.

"Shit! Why does everything have to start hurting now!"

While I remained wallowing in pain by myself, I could feel the plane starting to change directions ever so slightly. Jolting up in a panic I thought that Faith finally lost it and decided that maybe she can take on a whole squadron of planes. Luckily my fears subsided as I realized faith was just following the group.

"What are you all worked up about?" Faith snarked, "I may not be smart but I'm not suicidal, you should know that."

"Well, she isn't exactly wrong there… Wait did she finally admit to not being some fucking genius at everything she does?"

I gave a grimaced grin, "Never thought I would hear that coming from you."

She looked back and gave an offended look, before waving me off and turning back around.

"What, it's true!"

I finally decided to relax myself or attempt to at least. Leaning back against the supposed seating of the plane, I grabbed my chest only to feel my very frantic heart still rapidly pulsing.

"Come on now, don't get a fucking heart attack now will you. We still don't know if we are safe or not. Well, actually that would be justification to continue beating like no tomorrow… Just cooperate with me once alright!"

I tried to do a big inhale of oxygen only for halfway through my chest to begin to burn.

"This now! Give me a break!"

While normally I would be able to bear the pain of getting chest strains, due to the current circumstances I could not. Especially since whatever pain I feel in my body just reverberates to the rest of my limbs for no apparent reason. I'm pretty sure whenever I take off my very tattered uniform that I would be basically just covered in bruises.

I shuddered to myself silently at the thought of even attempting to take off my uniform. Whenever I come bruised normally from soccer it already hurts tremendously, but with all of this? I would be hell, well technically not as I already went through that with that "wave of calamity," speaking of which, I need to figure out when the next one is…

As I focused back onto my hud that I still have not gotten used to even after a month, my eyes lingered then darted to my health as I saw it was slowly decreasing.

"What?! Am I poisoned or something? No, if that was true then something would be up next to my health bar, maybe it's something internal? Either way, I have to not slowly die so let me just…"

I willed my menu to navigate to my inventory, once there I selected a health potion that I probably absorbed whenever I was frisking that mage dude.

"What was his name again- eh forget it, he might be dead for all I care. Bitch probably had it coming too, uncooperative cunt."

Grabbing the potion from the seemingly infinitely storing bag-like thing that my weapon gem is, I gouged it down. Tasting the shitty flavor that came along with it would not be the best right now. Though I did glance and quickly see that compared to the others I drank that had "Poor" quality, it was "adequate" or "normal" I forgot.

Seeing my health drop to begin to reverse into a slow but steady uptick, I felt relief as I slouched once more.

"Maybe it was the potion kicking in that made me feel better… Does this world have sedatives or something?- Nah I doubt it, they barely seem to have basic reasoning in their tech tree most of the time."

I lazily closed my eyes and contemplated trying to sleep. I gave a deep sigh but was only met in response with a particularly large amount of rainfall just pelting me.

"Right Alex, no sleeping, that's a luxury you have not been able to enjoy ever since… a month? Have I been here a month? I mean at least a month, but more specifically since I got kidnapped."

I chuckled to myself slightly in pity to myself and partly to wash away any sense of sadness that seemed to well up inside me more and more often.

"At this rate, I'm definitely becoming depressed sooner than later."

I corrected my posture as best as I could without making my body ache much worse than it already is before peering to my right.

"If this bullshit devolves into a firefight I might as well get a small idea of the level of strength these supposed unknown factors have."

As I lifted my head and felt the not-so-calm breeze of the wind rushing past and into me, I actually was confused for a few moments. Mainly since for some stupid coincidence the planes, dragons… the things were actually World War 1 era planes. Well not exactly, the cockpits were larger and also covered completely by glass. The frames seemed to also be larger, but other than that and a few minor changes, like the oddly shaped guns and the material, they seemed to be a 1:1 museum replica.

Rubbing my eyes I wiped some of the water that was still pestering me to see if I could see any other details. The planes seem to be painted a dark black, sort of like with a layer of tar from the looks of it, or this world's equivalent. There were weird engravings that seem to be a similar but dulled shade of the color that the staff that… Pherso! Pherso was using.

"Wait so does that mean they are magic powered?"

Now focusing on dulling the constant ringing in my head, it did seem that there was no real hum of the engine that normally one would hear from a plane. Instead, the only real noise was coming from the rotors of the things, so that's probably why they were able to sneak up on us so suddenly without us noticing.

"I'm tempted to make a signal or something to try to get some damn explanation of where we are going and what's going on, but then again, they could take that as hostility and just blow us to kingdom come."

I decided against doing anything stupid for now and peered over the side of the plane to see Nickoli's tank dangling on. It was moving like as if it was just being casually carried along for a ride. Even though normally there was no way in hell that a tank that also seemed to be a giant toaster from World War 1 would be able to be lifted by this dinky plane. Well, it's not really dinky but still, unrealistic, but something I've gotten used to in this crazy fucking world.

My neck started to ache more than normal so I just leaned back into the seat of the plane. It's the only comfort I've been able to enjoy for this whole entire experience. I looked upwards only to see a thick layer of dark clouds blocking any chance of seeing the night sky. Which in this world surprisingly seemed… actually much more beautiful than back home.

"I heard it's because of pollution or something, the stars don't actually get dimmer it's just the fact that we humans fucked up our planet so much with industry that the sky lost its glimmer. Maybe this world found some alternative to such destructive shit, well in the environmental sense, these things seem to pack a punch in of themselves."

I flashed back to the pounding of the ground from the explosions that erupted. Probably from this world's equivalent to dive bombers just laying waste to anything and everything. Luckily I came out mostly unscathed physically, well except my hearing which is still ringing a little but is slowly but surely dying down.

Almost on cue to remind me, one of the escorting planes flew above us. While it was still a bit away so we were not in danger of colliding, I could see that there were several drill-like things hanging on the bottom of it in rows.

"Probably said bombs, their design does seem interesting."

Unlike any conventional bombs, these seem to be meant to lodge themselves in the ground. Maybe they have issues stopping them from rolling and missing, or something who knows? I mean it would make sense as they lack that glidey thingy that most drop bombs have to control their fall. Might be something they have just not discovered or not gotten to in the tech tree.

"Hey maybe if everything goes to shit I can rat my way out by saying I can improve their tech. Granted I don't know how half the shit I read about in books actually fully works and if there are any alternatives here, but I at least know what they look like."

"Alex!" Faith suddenly screamed.

I instinctively jolted for my weapon that I have attached on my right side. My muscles straining themselves but still relenting with the possible urgency. However, I quickly calmed much to my own body's dismay as I stared back at Faith who was just giving me a weird look.

"For what purpose?" I groaned loudly as I relaxed my muscles.

"I thought you were asleep," she explained as she turned back around.

"And why is that?! You clearly saw my eyes open!" I said with an exasperated sigh.

She gave a nonchalant shrug, "People sleep with their eyes open all the time back at camp."

"You still have not explained what this fucking 'camp' that you bring up from time to time is," I grumbled annoyingly.

"Don't worry about it, at this rate I'm not sure I'll even be able to go back there," she seemed to solemnly mumble as she visibly slouched.

"Looks like I struck a chord. Might as well leave it here before she either lashes out or just barrels down toward the ground and gets us all killed. I honestly would not be surprised with her, well technically not as she seemed to be super impartial to not getting killed when it comes to things… But then again it's her, so hell if I know."

I decided to begin my favorite pastime that I normally did whenever I had free time with Conrad and I basically put my body on autopilot. Melting into the seat I sort of just let my body and surroundings go as I instead focused on my mind. Normally just being with one's mind alone would be rather boring, even with a good imagination, but at least in this world, there are a lot of more things to do other than reminisce and daydream.

I began to navigate my menu that I have been plagued but also blessed with throughout my entire hell ride in this world. First stop, my health, it was now sitting halfway, with there being no change in it that I could tell. Looks like that potion that I nabbed stopped whatever was making my insides turn to mush. Of course, I would prefer to be at maximum ability potential if something were to happen, but I rather just wait for it to naturally tick up over time.

Right below that is coincidently my second most valuable resource, obvious since, without it, I would most definitely be dead, SP, also known as Soul Power. I was considering lifting my wrist as I remember Gorlith quite vividly crushing his massive weight on it as he was trying to make me kiss the dirt, but I just looked back over to my near-full SP bar, reminding myself what a crutch Hero skills are.

"Though now that I think about it, I only remember him using one skill. Right, 'Shield Projection' or whatever, he basically just had an extra shield that he could manifest and control however he liked. That must be what blocked my Crystal Shot X initially. I guess that most likely means he is either 1, multiple levels ahead of me, 2 using better power-up methods, or 3, he just counters me due to him being an all-defense build compared to me who is just attack."

"Wait why am I saying built like this is a game, this isn't Olden Amulet Alex. Get that stupid thinking out of your head."I mentally hit myself as I changed the topic internally by moving to the MP, or Mana bar, the most useless of them all so far. Conrad promised to teach me magic down the line, but he said it's more of an experience than a step-by-step thing, or something along those lines. Either way, I've seen its potential, like how Kazen used that higher-tier spell, or how Conrad was able to heal.

"Man that sure would be nice right now… But then again, I don't even know my own affinity, if only I was able to grab some magic totem or book or whatever equivalent Conrad mentioned so then I can finally use this seemingly useless part of my kit."

Brushing past my glaring waste of a bar until I learn magic, I turned to the others. Faith, is also on half HP or so like me with a full bar of SP and MP. Nickoli has around 3/4th of his health and also a full bars like Faith. Then Con-

[Conrad has left the party]

"What?"

I got out of my fuzzy dead trance and clenched my muscles with anxiety. As I looked to where normally Conrad's status bars would be, there was nothing.

"The fuck? Where did he- No, it might have been a mishap or something, maybe his glasses- thingy or whatever got wet and he clicked the wrong shit. Yeah…"

I hesitantly looked to my side down at where I would see Nickoli's tank dangling on if nothing was obstructing my vision. I furrowed my brow in worry but I attempted to ignore it as there was quite literally nothing I could do, they were dangling quite a ways away anyway. I shifted back to my original position and relaxed myself as best as I could.

"Yeah it's nothing, now what's-"

Suddenly a feeling of… uneasiness overcame me. I was brought back from my attempt to reenter my 'Happy Place.' Focusing on it I was able to realize it was the us starting to lose elevation. Normally it would be rather distinct with the ear popping and the pressure changing, but since we are in an antique plane, the change is much more subtle.

"Does this mean we are going to land soon?"

"Well duh, why else would we start descending, dumbass.""Fair point, and shut the hell up."I gave a weak attempt of a deep breath, expecting a backlash from my body but I was instead relieved with no pain spike arising. I took a couple more breaths before finally using my hands to fix my posture and raise my head once more. Looking to the sides of us I could still see the planes that are escorting us, though now a little farther away… are a few missing? Whatever, it seems they have not decided to kill us just yet at least.

Much to my relief the rain started to also let up, so now I was able to get a better look at our surroundings at least around us as it was still fairly dark outside. But I could make out the shallow outlines of what I can safely assume to be the sun rising, or getting ready to rise better yet. Even so, with the darkness blanketing the land, I could make out several lights in the far-off distance… almost like a… runway? I couldn't exactly make it out from this distance away, but there was definitely a long strip of sorts a ways forward.

"I would say at our current pace another few minutes till landing, that means another few minutes for me to think of a plane if things go awry."

As I began to attempt to formulate a plan, I saw Faith's silver hair begin to flow some distance in front of me. As I turned it seems that her hood finally loosened enough to let go, leaving her hair to just begin flying everywhere. Not the first time I'd seen it like this, though normally she would try to hide it under her dark cloak.

"Odd that she has not tried to cover that up… well then again we have more pressing matters at hand really…"

Ignoring the sudden flash of hair, I looked back out onto our supposed landing zone.

"If they have World War 1 planes, does that mean they have all tech related to that era? I mean it would make the most sense, but then again, I should be smart enough to know that trying to assume usually gets me fucked up somehow."

Since we have gotten closer I could make out a number of more details previously unknown. 1 there were several buildings lined up on the side with varying sizes, along with them lots of… huts? Tents? I don't know but smaller scale things. I can't make out the material due to the shade of the night, but they seem rather simple, square, and compact. Like they were made for efficiency rather than looks.

"If that's the case then these guys might be more than some ragtag group of crazies. Might be an organized fighting force, or organization, or something like that. Which is both good and bad… mostly bad… let me just hope that it's more than meets the eye."

I could also now make out the runway better. It was definitely not paved or covered in anything as I can see a few small holes and larger-than-normal rocks litter it. So at best compact dirt and cobble, at worst, it's legit just loose dirt and this landing is going be shitty like the rest of them. Then again, Faith has improved considerably ever since she received her flyable weapon forms.

"If I want any chance of escaping, or just not trigging an immediate pre-emptive attack when we land, I'll hide my weapon."

I changed my weapon form to one of the original ones that started it all, the Leaf Pistol.

"If I'm going to tuck this in and keep it hidden, I might as well make it as comfortable as possible. The leafy texture for sure will feel tons better than cold metal digging into my skin."

I lifted my back shirt and stuffed my gun like as if I were like one of those concealed-carry guys back in the States. Hopefully, it's small size and my uniform will be enough to conceal it well.I can only pray that I don't get called out, or worse, just shot on sight.

"Alright, I know I still am tired as hell but let me just do my darndest not to get dropped from the get-go. If there is some higher power at play here I hope you give me mercy just this once."

Touchdown was rocky, as I felt the screeching of Faith's weapon form's brakes begin to kick up dirt, and whatever else was in its path. I squeezed my pocket with my phone and earbuds ever so slightly. Maybe as a good luck thing, or maybe I was just telling my family I was going to leave them, even though I technically did leave that world.

"Ah the damn technicalities, there going to be the death of me, just kidding, it might be these guys for all I know."

After a few more moments, the plane seemed to screech to a halt, followed by a sudden jolt from behind. I knew what it was before it even happened but seeing as this world does seem to follow a few laws of physics, Nickoli's tank rammed into us, albeit slower than what were going at when we first landed.

Before I was given time to continue to groan internally on the mechanics of this world, a bright light flashed onto us from… above? I instinctively covered my eyes in an attempt to get to the bottom of things, but my alertness only increased as I heard the sound of people- no… yeah sure people moving quickly. I still did not even bother to peer my head out from the plane, and with all of these unknowns starting to pile on, I was only accompanied by my own thumping heart in my confusion.

A gruff yet loud voice spoke up which pulled me from my confusion, "Unknown units, identify yourselves!"

"Right, well, should I do this with the formalities or without-"

However, I was not given a chance to speak, as Faith did so for me, "I'm Faith, in the back seat of this plane is Alex, and the tank we dragged along has Nickoli and Conrad inside." she announced in response.

"Nevermind we are dead."

There seemed to be an amount of murmuring that began around us.

"Well… maybe this was the right call?"

I peeked my head over the side of the plane to see… Humans? Wait no- People like Conrad, Demi… Beasts? I think? I mean some clearly have animal features, with weird pigmentation of skin, and animal ears protruding from their heads. I think I also saw some tails but I'm not sure exactly.

"I mean Conrad was chill with us, maybe they will be too?"

The voice from before again boomed, this time I can make out the source of said voice, it being farther in the back behind the roughly formed perimeter around us. I could not make out any faces due to the glare from the light, but it was definitely coming from back there… somewhere.

"What is your unit number, and what was the status of the mission you were assigned from said unit?" the voice asked.

"Unit number? Status? I think they think we are one of them, though I'm pretty sure that facade will break once we get up from our seats. Either way, letting Faith continue this dialogue might just fuck us, so I'm taking control here.

"We don't know!" I stated back.

The number of mummers increased drastically from the Demi-Beasts surrounding us, oddly they seemed much different than those few we met back with Conrad, these seem to have some sort of uniform. And also… a stick…? What could that be for-

"Quiet you yappers!" a new voice boomed from the same general direction of the last one.

I could see the posture of the many Demi-Beasts all stiffen as they heard it.

"Must be some kind of leader here, 'cause clearly he has a grip on these guys."

"What do you mean, 'You don't know?' how do you forget something you assigned back in training camp?" The voice chastised in their tone.

"Cause we never went to a cam-"

"Because we never went to a training camp and due to that, not given a unit number. We also don't know what you mean when you speak about this 'Misson?'" Faith spoke for me abruptly.

She also was standing from her seat, now standing and looking down on the Demi-beasts as they adjusted their aim to their current position. This time there was no mummer, instead, the voice that seemingly disciplined the riff-raff from before cried out.

"So that means- Soldiers, ready your arms!"

As soon as he said that, the sticks that I thought the various Demi-Beasts were carrying, were actually… guns?!

"Wait fucking guns?!"

I felt the tension in the air switch from one of confusion to one of danger for everyone involved as I saw the end of the barrels of these supposed guns. It seems the weird angle they were in are what led to my assumption of them just being large sticks or something. Nonetheless, I turned to give a glare at Faith, even if it was the last thing I did before being turned to Swiss cheese.

Faith ignored my glare and instead pressed on, "I think you misunderstand, we are not your enemy," she attempted to reason.

"What is there to misunderstand?!" the voice accused, with it the source of it, a larger-looking Demi-Beast that looked to be even taller than Conrad.

I could tell he was more important than the rest of the supposed grunts here as his uniform was fancier, cleaner, and looked sharper with its various cut edges and sleekness. But still no details were distinguishable.

"If you did not go to a camp, you therefore are one of them!" he fumed as he pointed a finger at Faith, "One of those dogged traitors!"

"Traitors?! What the fuck is he on about?!"

"We can't be traitors if we were not aligned with anybody to begin with," she attempted to elaborate.

I was already uneasy with the unknown predicament we were put in, but now with everything combined, I can only look on in dread while praying that Faith does not say some stupid shit.
It also was not helping that I was unable to have some semblance of security with having my weapon at the ready, and I'm fairly sure if I try to man one of the machine guns on Faith's thingy I would get zapped due to weapon restriction dumbassery.

"Ah, I get it," the barking idiot of the Demi's stressed, "You're one of those self-named freedom fighters!"

I could only give an annoyed and dumbstruck look as I saw him have his very stupid 'Eureka!' moment. If this was a normal situation I would have not hesitated to smack him upside his head and knock some sense into him.

She began, rather calmly considering everything, "No, you are incorrect. We are, Heroes-"

As soon as she could finish her last syllable of 'Heroes'. I can assume this world's equivalent of cocking a gun happened as the sound of very loud humming could be heard from each of the… rifles? Let me just say guns of the Demi's around us. I was somewhat surprised that they had not done anything to Nickoli's tank which was just a ways behind us.

"Actually now from the looks of it, he might just be trying to play dumb by pretending the thing is empty. I mean with no lights coming from the inside and it already being dark one would not be dumb to assume it's just decommissioned or something."

"Are you all going to actually listen, or are you just going to blast us?" Faith seethed, "We have with us valuable information and potential assets that could help you all out."

There was a momentary pause in the audible weapon humming, followed by the initial voice that spoke up coming back into the picture.

"What information, and what assets," he questioned with a hint of curiosity.

"Wait she is actually negotiating? Calmly at that? This is fucking groundbreaking. Either way, it might actually work…"

"I would be willing to elaborate on said information, only if you could calm down with the hostilities," she enunciated.

That however seemed to strike a nerve with the leader who was just yelling earlier as he piped up again.

"Who are you to be asking for concessions!" he bellowed angrily, "Just so you know, we could just get the information out a different way, since I'm not sure if you can tell little pup but you're rather outnumbered."

Faith seemed to remain impartial and instead continued even with this guy's snide remarks, "And I would prefer to speak with someone with a little more common sense and less of a temper," she continued, "Maybe someone of higher leadership, surely they would know of the value in this."

"That's rather rich coming from you Faith… Either way, she seems to be rather intricate with her mannerisms and temper. I guess I should not underestimate her when it comes to things, well mostly at least."

I could practically see the smoke coming out of the Demi's ears as he fumed in anger, "Why you little-"

"I think that's about enough," a third female voice interjected.

Everyone apart from us stiffened in reaction to this new actor. Probably a high-ranking person if even the guy about to go ballistic on us while not at attention seemed to have paused in his tracks. The quiet created was impalpable almost, with the only sound being of footsteps approaching from somewhere.

"At least he has the decency to know when to hold his tongue."

"And who might you be?" Faith called out, breaking the silence.

"Oh? Apologies young miss, where are my manners," he acknowledged, "My name is Putch, I'm the Major in charge of the special operations battalion that is currently operating at Airbase Zaklo."

"Major?! Like the literal rank in the U.S. Army?! Why do they have that here?! Also special operations? Like are they spec ops or something? I mean their dark colors on their planes would actually make sense then…"

As he finished the source of the voice finally came into visible discernible view. A small figure emerged from the side of the building that was parallel to us. With their smaller figure and feminine voice I can assume they are a female as it would be the only real explanation for their different figure. Even so, the pause that she forced upon everyone so far tells that she is clearly of high rank.

"I don't really know where Colonel falls in the military hierarchy but I at least know it's somewhat highish, at least here for sure."

Faith stirred slightly then began addressing our new guest, "Greetings Major Putch, I'm not sure if you caught my name but-"

"Forth… Was it?" Major Putch interrupted as she turned her head for confirmation.

"Wrong."

As I turned back to Faith she seemed to be slightly irked with the way she seemed to be slightly tense but she proceeded to correct her, "It's Faith, not Forth."

Major Putch only gave a small smile as she walked closer to us, past the soldiers that for some reason still were probably preparing to kill us as the humming from their weapons continued. Compared to the Beast people who were attacking us earlier, I can actually make some sense of their facial expressions. Even so, from what I'm understanding she isn't just doing this out of her own good will.

"She has something planned… But for now, I'll be careful where this whole ordeal goes…"

She turned around to face the soldiers still standing as stiff as a row of statues aiming their weapons at us.

"Are you guys mentally declawed or something? Put your weapons down this instant," she sternly scorned with a presumed glare.

The various soldiers all put down their weapons and stopped the subsequent droning hum that was emanating from them. Many seemed to look away or down, looked like embarrassment from the facial expressions I could vaguely see, but at least they won't be at ready to fire squad us.

Another thing I noticed is the oddly colored streaks of hair that were falling off of the cap they were wearing.

"Brown… tan… black? Actually, it might just be my eyes deceiving me due to the floodlight overloading my eyesight. I'm still slightly straining my eyes having to deal with it."

"I don't wish to judge your operational competency… Pitch?" Faith acknowledged.

"Pitch? What-"

"Hm?" Major Putch puzzled as she turned around to face us once more.

"Putch, Major, correction," Faith clarified with a clearing of her throat, "Are you sure it's wise to put yourself in an unprepared position, after all, you don't know our capabilities after all…"

"Is she trying to help us or not?! Why bring this up now of all time?!"

"Oh, no worries lit- Faith," Major Putch said with an indiscernible look, "I know you and your companions, accomplices-"

"Allies in mutual interest only," Faith interrupted to correct.

"Harsh, but not out of character."

"Allies in mutual interest," she mumbled, "Well it's not my job to pry into it, nevertheless, leadership knows your abilities, or at least as much as you let on in your encounter with the Mythical Greatshield Armament wielder."

"Wait so that whole thing was not a fluke? They knew we were there? Don't tell me they have some sort of C.I.A. equivalent here…"

"Were you spying on us or something?" Faith grumbled as she crossed her arms.

Major Putch started slowly walking closer, her hands on her back, "Me? No, I don't have that level of clearance, the Colonel, however? Most likely, but that's not something I can speak for him on."

"Colonel? Another U.S. army rank… So before it was Roman and now it's modern ranks… this world sure is weird, shitty over everything, but still."

"I'd like to have a word with this Colonel then," Faith growled.

Major Pit- Putch, perked up at this, and promptly straightened her posture, "How convenient then, since the Colonel actually wishes to see you."

"Is that so?" Faith asked cautiously.

"Yes, very much so," she confirmed with a smile.

There was another silence that began as both of them had a practical standoff. I only could look at each of them to see which would act or break first, but both remained steadfast. That was until finally a previous voice broke the impasse that was created.

"Major-" the barking idiot who was preparing to execute us stepped up once more.

"What is it Corporal Jilmon?" Major Putch turned with an annoyed tone.

"So Jilmon is his name… people here need to get some normal names for once…"

Jilmon started hesitantly as he emerged from somewhere I don't exactly know as the floodlights dulled my vision slightly, "Putch why are you even-"

"Major Putch to you Corporal," she scolded.

Jilmon jumped slightly from the scolding, but he continued his approach, albeit more fearfully, "R-right, ahem. Major Putch.

"Better," Major Putch said with a hint of gloat.

He began once more. "Speaking from a position of confusion as from my understanding a number of unknown targets entered this base and proceeded to practically proclaim their allegiance to the enem-"

"Allegiance? Ha! What a joke!" Major Putch cackled suddenly.

Even I was slightly taken aback as she began to just laugh. The Corporal was dumbfounded as he seemed to be just as baffled as I was. Faith remained impartial and was the first one to address her.

"Are we going to get on this? I assume this Colonel person would probably want us to meet them as soon as possible," Faith brought up.

Faith speaking up seemed to knock Corporal out of his trance as he looked like he was about to speak up once more, only for the Major to signal him with their hand to stop a distance away. Then they once more turned to Faith with an expectant look in their eyes.

"You're very much correct there…" she trailed off. "Fifth?"

"Faith," Faith deadpanned.

"Oh right!" the Major remarked, "I apologize I'm not the best with new names and faces."

"It's… whatever," Faith huffed, "I'd rather not waste time as you can probably tell, me and my allies are very exhausted."

"No worries, if, what you say is true and faithful, I'm sure the Colonel would be willing to provide accommodations if necessary," Major Putch explained, with some emphasis on 'if'.

"I would worry not on the assets that will be provided but more on your subordinates who seem to be very willing to threaten and damage said assets that are willing to cooperate," Faith formally affirmed with a side-eye towards the Corporal.

The Corporal could only give her an ugly look in response to her snarky remarks.

"I understand your concern, and I can sympathize," Major Putch nodded, "Unfortunately negotiation skills are not really instructed at the training camps they are sent to after signing up. It's all just… shooting and other basic drills really…"

"So like basic training in the army? I guess it would not be too out there with their military ranking structure."

"I'm glad we can agree, now then, should we not get a move on?" Faith asked as she uncrossed her arms.

"Right! We don't want to leave the Colonel waiting," she chirped as she waved for us to follow her, "I will need you to trust us to care for these vehicles with us as we enter the building if that's alright."

"Well about that…"

"That will not be required," Faith noted with a smirk, "As I can just do this."

"Wait why is she smirking-"

Suddenly the weapon form of the plane began to morph and contort into a smaller size. In that process it forced me to fall almost flat on my ground, only avoided by catching myself. As I turned back, Faith's weapon form was one of the smaller ones that she originally had when she first arrived here. Putch seemed surprised as their gaze turned from Faith to me as I fell onto the ground.

"Give me some warning jackass."

"Oh! I vaguely remember hearing another voice before I arrived here, that must have been you," Major Futch perplexed, "And I think Faith mentioned you as well."

"Yeah, it was probably me," I grumbled as I got up from the ground.

While my body was still strained it at least was not as painful as I was feeling earlier trying to just my arms. Getting up and wiping my pant legs a little, I was able to get a better look at Futch. Their uniform was also black and rugged but it did not seem very ornate in anyway. Even so, the sophistication of its design was definitely a tad better than the rest of the common soldiers that I can make out.

"I can see why the Colonel had such a special interest in you…" Putch muttered as she put her hand to the side of her face.

"Maybe it's a field uniform, maybe the actual uniform is much more pretty like the pictures. Or maybe I'm overestimating how important they actually are, I don't even know."

"Isn't there one or two…? More of you fellows? Or am I confused again?" Major Futch coaxed.

"Nickoli and Conrad!" Faith called out, "You can come out now!"

The tank that was Nickoli's weapon form began to shake slightly. This caused a few of the onlooking Demi's to stir but none did anything rash. After a few moments, Nickoli popped his head out of one of the side hatches.

"Is it safe to come out now!" He yelled.

"Yes it's all good," I sighed.

As I finished saying the all-clear, Nickoli's tank also began to contort and morph into its smaller tankette form which he uses for everyday travel usually. He then popped his head out from the L3-styled form as that was his favorite to use, even though it was inefficient. But what was much odder, is how Conrad was not popping out from the very small tankette for his size.

"Were there not two names you mentioned? Or did my ears deceive me?" Major Futch guessed.

"Where is Conrad…"

"Yeah…," I mumbled as I looked at Nickoli, "Hey Nickoli…"

"Yeah?" Nickoli asked as his tankette rumbled over closer.

"Where is Conrad?" I interrogated.

"Ummm," he began to look around as if he was oblivious he was riding his tankette, before checking the limited space the tankette allows, "I don't know."

"What?!" I grunted as I clenched my fist.

Nickoli seemed oblivious to my growing frustration as he just looked up to me.

"I thought he was with you?" he shrugged.

"Why would he go with us?! He always goes with you dumbass!"

I grit my teeth but I try to remain calm though I could not stop myself from tensing my muscles.

"Where is he?" I growled.

"Where is who? The 4th member of your party?" Major Futch asked.

"Who else? The fucking wind? Of course!"

"Yes…," I sighed in frustration.

"Oh, so that's what that was!" Faith brought up.

"That's what, what was?!" I seethed.

"You also got it right? How Conrad left the party," Faith remarked.

"So that was not a fluke… Why… Why…"

"Why would he…" I began.

"Might have been a traitor for all I know, it was a bit too convenient you found a strong ally in a secluded town," she interrupted.

"Could he have been a traitor…? No… Was I duped… Conrad…"

I could feel the blood begin to rush through my body. Unconsciously I began to grip my side."Oh yeah!" Nickoli suddenly blustered, "He told me to meet up with you guys! Since he was having a fight with the big shield dude as they started attacking me."

"So you just left him!" I exploded as I stepped forward.

"Why did he fucking leave him?!"

"Because you told me to always listen to him!" Nickoli shrunk back in response.

"Shit… I did…"

"So from what I'm understanding," Major Futch stated which made all of us turn our heads, "You guys left him behind…?"

"So we just fucking abandoned him?!"

"Why did you not bring this up earlier!" I sneered angrily.

"I tried! But everything else was too loud!" he screamed back, before hiding in his tankette.

"..."

"Why… Did we just get Conrad killed?"

End of Chapter 25

Authors Notes:
Hello everyone! I firstly apologize greatly for the large large delay that happened this week. I'm currently in D.C. and I forgot my laptop charger, due to that I was forced to type out a good chunk of this chapter on my phone. Alongside that, I was very busy doing stuff like talking to senators and seeing the sights. Luckily I was just able to finish this as of now. But do be mindful of some spelling mistakes.

Expect the next chapter to be chapter 1 of Locked and Loaded by rewrite coming next week Sunday. There should not be any delay as of then as I'll be going home this weekend. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I was also writing an Omake that will be at the end of this chapter. It was meant to be a surprise for the July 4th weekend but because of all of these delays, I'm just going to tell you to enjoy it. Anyway, now I will continue my multi-mile walks in the heat so yeah.

Thursday edit: So FFN was down so the upload got delayed even further.

Friday edit: I just got home from the airport as well so yeah. Also, the site is still down.

Saturday edit: Site is still down.

Sunday edit: Site back up after like… forever. Sorry for the delays.

MWP Server: Dis co rd. gg / Bu ha 9 Qa Kz W

"Freedom Day" (4th of July Special Omake)

[A Week~ Before the Wave of Calamity]

"It's a shame I won't be able to participate in the Imperial Crowning Day celebrations, usually it brings a good amount of business to my workshop," Conrad sighed as he lay down his axe.

"Imperial Crowning Day? What's that?" I mumbled as I pushed the fresh-cut chopped log to the small pile we had.

"You don't know what-," He paused for a moment, "Oh right, sorry I forgot that you're an outsider technically."

"Yeah… so?" I asked expectantly.

"Well, do you want the simplification or the whole story?" Conrad asked as he lifted his axe once more.

"Short version," I huffed as I heaved the log onto the top of the pile.

"Well… at a time before I was born when the Imperium just first conquered the collective as its called now, the need for leadership was required," he said.

"Wait what was the collective beforehand?" I questioned Conrad.

"Um… I think a council of sorts, I do not recall exactly as by the time I was born the system was rearranged a while ago," Conrad shrugged as he brought his axe to begin chopping once more.

"Like a parliament? A senate?" I guessed.

"No, like a small group of around… 10? Like I said I don't recall," he heaved as he continued chopping.

"So like an oligarchy?" I remarked.

"Oh yeah! That's the word!" he chirped as he pushed another log off the platform.

"So is this 'Crowning Day' just the celebration of the new leadership being established?" I asked.

"Spot on! … Did I use that one… correct?" he smirked.

"Yes, you did," I nodded as I grabbed another log.

"Nice! I think I really like your lingo… it's… unique," he chuckled as he continued.

"Thanks, too bad I can't really get behind your lingo," I said with a sheepish smile as I put another log in the pile.

"Alright, it's not that easy to pick up after all," he shrugged.

"Yeah… It's just interesting learning stuff from literally a different world, how even here similar versions of government form, and also environment," I stated as I leaned against a tree.

"Let me just take a small break."

"Keep that spark of yours, it will get you far here, I hope at least," he encouraged, "Unlike me, you have much more time to enjoy this world than me."

"... Well he isn't wrong, but I did not expect it to be that pessimistic."

He briefly paused his chopping for just a moment, but then continued, "Don't worry about it, I'll make sure these old bones will work themselves until they can't."

"..."

"Who says you need to move to learn?" I asked Conrad.

"Hm?" he grunted as he turned to face me.

"Well we have something similar where I came from," I began, "We have Independence Day, or 4th of July as it's sometimes called."

Conrad began, "Is this a celebration or-"

"No," I interrupted, "It's a holiday, planned… celebration? If that makes sense. It's something done yearly at the same time."

"So like a solstice, or like the founding of a nation?" he continued.

"Yeah, I guess like that," I affirmed.

"So was this holiday the founding of your nation?" he attested.

"Yeah, it's the day when America got independence from Great Britain and became a free country," I elaborated.

"Independence? Like they split off?" he pressed on.

"Yeah, split off, became free of their rule. We celebrate by shooting off explosives into the sky and hanging out with family," I nodded.

"Hanging out…?" he was puzzled.

"I spent time with my family," I corrected myself.

"Ah, well it must have been marvelous," he remarked in amazement.

"Yeah… it was… it made us all very patriotic. Pushing aside all differences and uniting under the flag of the nation," I reminisced.

"I heard about that tradition in Old America," Faith suddenly spoke up from behind me.

I jumped slightly at her voice as it was unexpected but I calmed down immediately as she circled around the tree I was leaning against with Nickoli.

"Glad of you to join us, Faith," I acknowledged her.

"I just happened to come across you all. I was busy looking for a new takeoff spot," she shrugged.

"She probably hit a tree or something and the following tumble from said tree made it ruin her makeshift airstrip."

"I see," I mumbled as she continued to strut along her path with Nickoli in tow.

"... I honestly might not get this opportunity again…"

"Hey! Faith!" I hollered.

She seemed kind of surprised as she pivoted her head towards me with a puzzled look.

"Do you have something similar to Independence Day?" I asked.

She paused for a moment, I was not sure if it was out of growing anger or her thinking of a response. Either way, I mentally prepared myself for whatever spiteful thing she would spit at me.

"Well… the only thing I can think of," Faith began from a mumble, "German Victory Day."

"German Victo- Oh right, German Victory, I forget sometimes."

"It's a day where we commemorate Germany's victory over the Allies," she elaborated further, "I think it ended whenever the commander of the allies, Franklo… Franklin? Either way, he was executed. Now every year we celebrate with various parades over the Greater Reich which are meant to bolster national pride."

"Oh. Right, Nazi cruelty… I still feel like I've heard of something similar happening in a book though…"

"I see…," I responded with hesitation, before turning to Nickoli trying to change the topic, "What about you Nickoli?"

"Well since the Soviets won-"

"Um…," he mumbled timidly, "We do have that, well, well, used to a-actually."

"Used to?" I questioned.

"Yeah," he stuttered, "Last tim- time there was a big accident that almost made a lot of people die."

"Accident?" I pressed.

"Yeah…" he vacillated, "I'm not sure though as I was very small when it happened."

"I see…" I sighed.

"What did I expect to be honest?"

"Maybe we can celebrate something like that here," Conrad suggested.

"What?" the trio of Us hero piped at the same time.

"Yeah, it's not like the people here will appreciate us for their celebrations," he maintained.

"That's stupid, it would just be a meaningless celebration," Faith dismissively muttered as she turned away once more.

"Well not if give it some meaning," He continued.

"And how would we do that?" I asked with my arms crossed.

"Hm… let's start a nation!" Conrad perked up.

"Sure, if only it was that easy."

"Yeah… sure…" I nodded sarcastically as I got up once more.

He remained adamant however as I turned to see him with his shoulders wide and standing proud.

"I'm being serious, I mean the other Mythic Heroes have patron states, why should you also not have one?" he objected.

"Because people actually like them."

"Since nobody here likes me, that's why," I countered as I began to walk toward one of the previously chopped logs.

"Exactly! With us creating a new country, we should find plenty of people to support us!" he proclaimed.

"Optimistic as always, but unrealistic Conrad."

"Sureeee," I sarcastically noted, "Let's just finish cutting up this tree so we can eat."

"Just keep that in mind, Alex, I can promise you this, if you truly are what you say you are on this, many will follow." Conrad reiterated before returning to log chopping.

"As if Conrad… As if…"

End of "Freedom Day" (4th of July Special Omake)