Torres hummed, watching as the UEG Representative finished the chat with the military staff of the many greats of their world. The Russian and Chinese representatives seemed less than pleased with the news that some of their own might have been taken, while the British, Japanese and even American ones might've looked calm, but Torres could see the burning fire behind their tank force commander's otherwise-calm gaze.
Hazama himself was there, uncomfortable while talking to the UNSC's civilian rep in regards to what the UNSC was going to do next. The rep herself intended to send a message to the UN via telephone line through the Gate, with the added greeting of the UNSC and UEG when it came to meeting their alternate, past counterparts. The US, rumor had it, was considering deployment of the 82nd Airborne as a reinforcement for the UN Forces.
They watched as the civilians were being taken to the Gate. He'd heard one of the men they recovered begging them to help some girl named Noriko. The girl had been taken by the Imperials toward their capital, alongside a few of the other female slaves that some of the noblemen found to their liking. Torres scoffed, abandoning that trail of thought before his own blood would start to boil.
He felt a hand clap on his back and turned to see Itami walking up, a grim look on his face, kind of like with the rest of the base. He said to Torres, "Richard and Tyuule just came back. Looks like the UNSC's actively preparing their BCTs for immediate tactical deployments across the wider front. They wanna form an MSR toward the center of the Empire and secure several key cities satellite and orbital surveillance spotted. Time before the main force begins a concentrated assault's estimated at two days."
"Fuckin' hell..." Torres murmured, "This is gonna be another Iraq. I can feel it."
"You weren't there during the original invasion, man. You were still a kid," Itami remarked.
"No, but my dad experienced it. Platoon commander in the Corps, ran with a squadron of FORCE RECON for the duration of the fight," He replied, then continued, "He told me just how fuckin' crazy the situation got. I wonder if the UNSC's considering an Air Campaign at all. Y'know, take out the Imps' Wyverns and whatever other dangerous threats exist out there before pushing in."
"We are," Richard said, approaching them with his kit on his back. Torres and Itami turned to greet him and saw he was calmer than when he'd left. "The admiral and Colonel ordered Longswords and Broadswords to set up CAP and load up on AP and HE ammo, just in case we find ourselves facing another Dragon or two that have thicker armor than your standard little Wyvern. Aside from that, we'll have Longswords running CAS and bombing missions near Imperial cities. Precision strikes to decimate command structures, removal of obstacles, that kind of shit."
"Sky's gonna be full of UNSC Air assets, then," Torres smirked, then patted him on the shoulder, "We gonna be green for our ops, too, or will we have to take care not to get ourselves sandblasted by UNSC cluster bombs?"
"We'll be fine. Command assured me we'll be able to call air assets as we need them... If we need'em, anyhow," He smirked, "They're airlifting a bunch of Warthogs for me and my platoon to use so we don't crowd you folks up. Also, Doc Halsey upped the prep time to four days now, just to make sure we'll have a proper supply line for when we begin pushing deep into Imp lands."
"Ah, logistics, the ever-present issue of armies, no matter the day and age," Itami chuckled by the side of his fellow lieutenants, both of whom smiled. He then inquired, "You folks still gonna be with us, or are you gonna be working with the main body of the Armed Forces of the UNSC?" as he took his officer's cap off. Torres did the same, running a hand through his buzzcut hair.
"Doc Halsey said we'll be sticking around," Richard replied, hefting his MA40 onto his shoulder properly. We'll be the force recon going in ahead for the UN troops when they join and both sides' officer corps want our people to be able to work together, so they're testing interoperability by forming a company-level mixed Recce Force that combines the UNSC, US and SDF."
"What about the RuAF and the PLA?" Torres asked.
"Forgot to metion the UN troops there... Oops." He smirked, then shrugged, "Other RCTs and Platoons will be dispatched to the FOB when the eggheads come by to check on the Gate itself. They'll be working with the other HITMAN elements, as per the requests of their COs. So, all-in-all, multinational force time and an attempt at an early unification of mankind, of course."
"Nice," Torres grinned, then paused, "Wait, going back to the Dragons for a mo', the hell happened to the remains of the Fire Dragon?"
"Half of the surviving bits of the thing are in our care. Other half should be coming the way of your researchers, seeing as both ONI Materials and, I assume, your defense contractors are gonna wanna take a look at that bastard's scales to see what they can do in regards to small-arms protection in the form of armor," The man hummed, then looked back to see Tyuule walking up to them.
She smiled, then saluted all three of them, before stating, "Seems we'll be sticking around a while longer."
"Kurata couldn't possibly be happier, ma'am," Itami replied, smirking. Tyuule rolled her eyes, but still wore a smile.
"Sergeant Kurata seems very interested in demihumans," She replied, obviously aware of the man's proclivities from previous encounters.
Torres sighed, "You have no idea..." before continuing with his previous trail of thought and stating, "So, we may be seeing new armor inserts or body armor coming from the scales of the big boy your air force pretty much turned into a bloody confetti?" and gauged Richard's reaction. The man simply offered a nod, to which Torres smirked and said, "I always wanted dragonscale armor to make a comeback."
"Big fantasy nerd over here," Itami quipped, tilting his head to the left.
"Oh, shut it, Youji! Like ya ain't, what with all your Isekais!" Torres shot back, a grin on his face.
"You two need to teach me about this shit. I feel like a deer in headlights whenever you start," Richard quipped, grinning, while Tyuule let out a chuckle. The two Earthlings from the past/alternate history looked to one-another, then to Richard and grinned like Cheshire cats. Tyuule, of all people, suddenly felt a chill shoot up heor spine from that. She wondered just what Richard had volunteered himself for.
The discussion between the officer cadre and UNSC Rep seemed to have finished and the captain commanding Misfit approached the group with Hazama. Recker Cole was the man's name, if Richard recalled correctly. Marine tanker. He and Hazama stopped in front of them and he began, "Well, ladies and gentlemen, good news for HITMAN-3. Seems as though Doc Halsey's interrogation tactics were... Eerily successful."
"Indeed," Hazama started, "We will want your force to scout out a dozen or so Imperial towns and villages across the road we find ourselves on while our forces are prepared and communication is established with the UNSC's high-command so we can properly coordinate our operations. There's a supposed crossroads town that goes onto a major supply route and highway from the imperial capital that'll be our objective."
"So, go in, secure several towns, then find this big crossroads one and take care of it, too," Richard commented.
"Sounds decently easy," Torres added, shifting on his feet.
"It hopefully should be," Hazama stated, "There'll be a briefing come tomorrow morning at Oh-Seven Hundred hours. I expect you all to be there, ready to deploy with your fireteams."
"Wait, so..." Itami started, "Does this mean the UN has agreed on ratifying a proper war goal for us?"
"The UN's preliminary goal right now is liberating any other possible enslaved Earth citizens the Empire may have in its camps," Stated Cole, "Other than that, the UN Security Council is convening tonight for an Emergency Session in regards to what the Big Five of the UN should do. Though, considering they agreed on ratifying the deployment of a UN Task Force to the planet..."
"First time humanity has ever actively come together like that in so far during your twenty-first century," Remarked Richard, crossing his arms to his chest, "Good to know the UN is taking this shit seriously, too. Nobody treats their fellow man this poorly without some kind of repercussions. Repercussions which, mind you, the Empire is about to feel fully for their little fuckups."
"Real bloodthirsty today, aren't we?" Inquired Torres.
"Hey, gotta hunt something, don't we?" Richard shrugged, "Idle hands are the devil's plaything and all that."
"Fair enough, I guess," Itami remarked.
The General and Captain turned to one-another, then saluted. Cole repeated, "Again, oh-seven hundred hours tomorrow. See you folks there," and he and Hazama dismissed them and departed. The group watched the two men leave, presumably to brief everyone else as well. A UN BMP loaded with a bunch of troops rolled out of the motor-pool, followed by a GAZ truck and a few more IFVs. All the while, a unit of AAVs and MRAPs returned to the motor pool, meaning this was a changing of the guard, or patrols, or... Whatever.
Itami was partially worried over what the UNSC was going to do to the Empire. He had to admit it to himself. These were an even more-advanced version of mankind they were dealing with. One that went through a war against a genocidal Alien faction up above and is still dealing with the repercussions of that alien hegemony being destroyed. Of course, they'd have weaponry that surpassed everything.
Hell, the man was actually worried over how they'd fare if they ever came to blows with the UNSC. The distant drone of engines took his attention away from that for but a moment, however. All of them looked up, watching what looked like shooting stars entering the atmosphere as night-time set upon the continent of Falmart. About a dozen objects.
Of course, everyone knew what those were. Not stars, nor meteors.
UNSC Aircraft were going in, either for landing or to begin bombing runs on selected targets across the Empire's territories. Richard utilized a pair of binoculars to see what kind of aircraft were coming in, before stating, "There's the first wave of Longswords prepping for their bomb runs... Gonna be harassing the Empire's supply lines for quite a bit, I imagine."
"Indeed," They heard Rory speak. All of them turned to see the Apostle strolling toward them with her trademarked smirk as she spoke, "I heard from your comrades and the Warrior Bunnies present that your people finally declared the War, Lieutenant. What drove Doctor Halsey to cut the politics out and finally go for the kill? No. Let me guess. The Empire killed some of those they captured to... Send a message."
"Happened before?" Richard inquired, clearly miffed.
Rory chuckled, "Always when there's a war in preparation. Some take the hint, some do not..."
"We ain't," He replied, "Because we have the guns to back our bravado."
"I know," Rory nodded. She hummed, then said, "There's movement in the Gods' ranks... Emroy seems to have calmed himself for now, but the other Gods are still concerned over the UNSC's and, now, the UN's presence. Hardy has also been missing for a while, which is not particularly decent news. I'd expect things to get somewhat dangerous in the coming weeks."
"They will be. For the Empire," Richard noted.
"I agree," Tyuule added. Rory hummed. She appreciated the cockiness of would-be God-killers, but she also hoped she never had to see how their weapons performed against Gods. If push came to shove, however, and one of the Gods decided they had to defend some of their pet creatures, she didn't know what she'd be able to do to stop a titanic fight from occurring.
She shook her head, then quickly switched topics, "Queen Tyuule. The UN has installed something very akin to an Imperial or Shrine bath, if you wish to join me and the other two young women that the UN and UNSC helped rescue from the Fire Dragon. We can give the men some time for themselves before we all deploy to this operation against the Imperial Forces."
"... Oh?" Tyuule looked on, surprised.
"Ah, yeah, the 'Onsen' copies," Torres sighed, "More stereotypically Japanese than that, it does not get."
Itami nodded, "Well, command wants to make our stay and the stay of our group of refugees as welcoming as possible here. The UN and our civilian contractors helped build the stuff up. Pretty sure Kuribayashi and Kurokawa also helped with that, so..." And he tugged at his collar. Torres hummed, then looked to Tyuule. The girl, meanwhile, looked to Richard, who simply gave her a nod and a smile.
Torres murmured to himself, "Are we sure these two aren't a thing...?"
"Dunno, man," Itami snorted, "It's fun to watch, though."
"Hush," Torres said, then grabbed Richard by the arm and said, "Alright, c'mon, bud. Guess we're playing cards while the girls have their night out..." dragging him away. The trio of Lieutenants marched up to the barracks. Torres started, "Richard. My man. You good?" and looked at him. The confused Lieutenant quirked a confused brow at his parallel timeline comrade and the American clarified, "You and Tyuule."
He rolled his eyes, "Not this shit again... It's a professional working relationship."
"Sure..." Itami replied, "I mean, if the stares you folks are giving each-other are professional, I'm one of the elite soldiers of the SDF."
Torres snorted, aware of the 'truth' of that statement as they marched inside. There, they found Rosie and the others, playing cards. Kuribayashi was actively losing with her hands, while Ivanov and Ikari, both of whom had tagged along after healing, were watching Kuribayashi, Rosie and Kurata actively fighting against Kurokawa, who seemed to have a mean streak of wins.
All of them turned to face the group, with the USMC included, but before they could salute, all three men ordered, "At ease..." and joined them at the table. Torres was the first one to speak, "You folks do know gambling ain't legal in our God's militaries, right?" and watched the stunned faces of each of them. He smirked, then said, "I'm kidding. Keep it up."
The crew let out chuckles, before all of them turned back to the table. Richard sat himself down beside his own soldiery and asked, "Who's winning the hand?"
"On last check, it was Rosie," Whispered Ivanov.
Stavrov hummed, then countered, "Kurokawa's got a damn fine poker face, though. She's won the last couple hands."
The three Lieutenants looked to the Medic of the JSDF, one of the three Medics of HITMAN-3, focused on her cards. She peeked over the hand every once in a while, pointedly staring at a smirking Rosie. Beside her, four stacks of neatly-arranged poker chips sat. Meanwhile, everyone else was down to one or two stacks. Kuribayashi sighed, then dropped her cards(and face) on the table and whined, "I fold..."
"So do I," Kurata raised his hands in surrender and gently set his cards down.
"Cowards," Rosie murmured. The two women now remained alone at the table, it being up to Rosie to finally end Kurokawa's win streak. The two women glared at each-other, despite their seemingly impenetrable poker faces. A contest of wits played out before the squads of UNSC and UN soldiery, the tension in the air growing thick enough to cut through with an Energy Sword.
Kurokawa pushed her chips in, then said, "All in..." still maintaining that poker face.
Rosie grinned, then threw the cards on the table, "Full house. Look and weep, my girl."
Kurokawa snickered, then dropped her own cards on the table, "Royal Flush. Sorry, honey..."
Rosie's jaw dropped, while the rest of the crew laughed aloud. Kurokawa was gathering her chips. She hummed and said, "This was fun, ladies and gentlemen. Who's next in line to lose their month's salary?" to which everyone present, save for the officers, hesitated. Torres and Richard sat themselves down in Kurata and Kuribayashi's seats respectively, while Rosie remained at the table. Kurokawa smiled, then asked, "Looking to get your behind handed to you again?"
Rosie grinned, "No, honey. I'm lookin' to earn my money back."
"A rematch then, double or nothing," Kurokawa nodded, "And the boys can be our backup."
"God, what the fuck kind of luck does Kurokawa have...?" Murmured Kuribayashi, still sore from getting her own behind kicked one too many times by the team doctor.
"She gets incredibly rough when playing Poker," Ivanov observed in a murmur. Kurokawa smiled at the man, then turned back toward the table and started dealing the cards. Stavrov chuckled, then elbowed the man in the shoulder, a grin on her face, while Ikari checked her sniper in the background, choosing to keep her distance from the entire clusterfuck. Understandably, too, considering this whole clusterfuck of inadequate behavior within the ranks of both the UN and their militaries. Alas, no point to try and figure it out...