9. Clash of Giants

In which canon is now thoroughly kicked to the curb. This chapter was supposed to be out last week, but work got stupid. Anyways, glad to see the new readers, now let's get back into it.

Clash of Giants

"Demonstrate to the world, there is 'No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy' than a U.S. Marine."

James Mattis

1300 HOURS SPECIAL REGION TIME

Itami held onto the dashboard as the truck tore through the winding Special Region dirt roads. Behind his vehicle, the rest of RCT3's convoy moved with equal haste.

Nearby forests turned into a green blur as diesel engines propelled the Japanese vehicles to their destination. The calm blues of the skies above had long since been replaced by smoke-filled orange and reds of the ever-approaching inferno. Forest animals fled to safety as they attempted to avoid the strange contraptions on the roads and the fires beyond.

Kuwahara leaned over the center console and looked at the hellish scene in front of them. "How did we miss this? Were we careless?!"

"The fire likely started small, these things take time to grow." Tomita replied. "This can't be an accident though."

"What makes you think that?" Itami inquired with no small amount of trepidation.

"Everything feels like more than simple coincidence." Tomita braced himself as the truck rounded another bend. "Not long after we start leaving Alnus a fire breaks out. We have no units in this area and the leader made mention that there's some important Elf village nearby. Smells like scorched earth tactics to me."

Itami felt a pit form in his stomach. "Did you ever experience anything like this in Iraq?"

"Not personally no, but the Americans did more than once." Tomita responded. "The enemy doesn't want us to turn the people against them, so they use fear to keep them from being cooperative."

"Who would do such a thing?"

"The same kind of people that crash planes into buildings or attack civilians with wanton disregard for the rules of war." Kuwahara answered grimly.

Itami prayed that all of this was just an accident, that his team would arrive in time to save the day. The thought of forcing the enemy to turn on their people made the lieutenant feel sick. That was a shame he didn't know if he could live with.

"Coming onto a clearing now sir! The fire is just up ahead beyond this hill!"

Kurata shook Itami out of his trance and the officer quickly fell back to his training as he scooped up the handheld radio.

"All vics this is one, we're coming onto the source of the fire now! Get ready, we have civilians that need to be evacuated!"

"Ryokai!"

All of the other vehicle commanders answered back and maintained their dispersion behind Itami's truck. Now the soldiers could feel the heat of the distant flames, smell the acrid smoke in the air.

Itami waited with bated breath as the vehicles crested the hill and finally got a good look at the source of the flames. Anxiety quickly turned to despair as the gravity of it all hit both Itami and his soldiers, the trucks quickly slamming on the brakes as they stopped to take it all in.

Everything was on fire for as far as the eyes could see, miles of forest set ablaze and left to burn. "No, are we too late?!" Itami quickly got out of his truck and brought his binoculars up. The officer scanned left to right in a panic. Hoping, no, praying he could find some sign of life. Some sign that there were civilians who made it out.

Nothing just twisted trees and the crackle of cinders.

"Sir, it would be an act of extreme negligence for us to push any further." Itami lowered his binoculars dejectedly just as Kuwahara approached his side. "We should send this up and let Alnus Main know what happened."

"But, surely someone made it out…" The pit in Itami's stomach deepened as the officer let his binoculars hang around his neck. By now the rest of RCT3 had gotten out of their trucks to survey the damage.

A nearby Kurokawa shook her head. "Barring the risk of burns, there's a severe risk of smoke inhalation if we proceed any further sir." The medic sighed. "Loathe as I am to admit it, I have to agree with Sergeant Major Kuwahara."

She put a hand on her superior's shoulder and changed her tone to one of reassurance. "We did all we could sir."

"Something isn't right." Kuribiyashi chimed in. "Whoever did this moved fast, too fast. A fire like this takes time or a hell of a lot of interference."

Tomita nodded in agreement. "I agree with Kuribiyashi's assessment. We should send this up to Alnus and take immediate defensive positions-"

Then, a roar echoed from within the flames. A loud, powerful roar that drowned out Tomita's voice and shook the men and women of RCT3.

"What the hell, was that?" A nervous Kurata asked from within the truck as he slowly grabbed his rifle from behind Itami's seat.

All of the soldiers, including Itami, froze in their tracks, their eyes scanning the horizon for the source of the noise.

"Over there! Four O'clock high!" Katsumoto's frantic call out prompted Itami to bring his binoculars up again.

There, from within the flames, rose a massive creature. Red crimson scales, large wings that flapped as they propelled the beast into the air. The jagged horns and sheer size of the beast marked it as an apex predator of this world, the apex predator.

A dragon, a real fire-breathing dragon of medieval folklore. Itami stood there stunned, his inner otaku unable to muster any sort of enthusiasm as the officer's mind tried to comprehend it all. This thing was bigger than any creature Itami had seen thus far during his deployment

The dragon flew high into the air and roared in triumph spreading its massive wings farther before unleashing an inferno onto the trees below it.

"C-call it up."

Itami ignored Tomita's voice as he continued to watch the beast.

"Lieutenant Itami?! Sir?!"

Still nothing. The beast's golden yellow eyes now fixated directly onto Itami and the rest of RCT3.

"This can't be real, this can't be happening."

"SIR DO SOMETHING!"

Itami was snapped out of his trance and found face to face with an angry Tomita, his subordinate's hands holding both of his shoulders. Faced with such a situation against a hostile enemy force, Itami ordered his team to do the only sane thing to do.

"O-OPEN FIRE!"

On command, everyone opened fire. Handguns, rifles, the vehicle-mounted machine guns. Anything that could help put up a wall of lead was fired at the massive threat. To the credit of RCT3, it did stop the beast, but only because the now confused animal was trying to figure out what was harmlessly impacting off its scales. The dragon roared in defiance and started performing evasive maneuvers in an attempt to shake off its would-be attackers.

"Katsumoto get the LAM*!"

"Hai!"

Itami opened the door to his truck and scrambled to get back on the radio.

"Any station on this net! We have met with and have begun engaging a large armored organism of some kind. Our current weapons are-"

"Backblast clear!"

Itami paused at the sound of the telltale snap and pop of a launcher being fired. The panicked officer watched as a rocket zipped through the air and towards the dragon.

It was a good shot and even the dragon seemed surprised at the strange projectile whistling through the air toward it. At the speed both beast and rocket were going, an intercept was all but certain.

The dragon roared in pain and flailed about in the air as the HEAT rocket detonated against one of its arms and kicked up a massive cloud of smoke intermixed with blood. The impact coupled with the fact it had never been hurt in such a way forced the dragon to land as it attempted to assess the damage it had sustained.

"That's a hit! Katsumoto, another!"

"Roger that!"

This time Tomita ran to the Private's aid and assisted him in loading the launcher.

Meanwhile, the dragon looked at its new bloody stump of an arm and tentatively reached over to it with its other. Upon realizing the brutal truth the beast roared and looked at the Japanese soldiers with no small amount of fury. It would not allow this act of defiance to go unpunished.

The dragon had been the apex predator of this world for a time unmeasurable and nobody had ever hurt it in such a way. At least, that was what Itami was theorizing as the dragon began taking off again.

"It's taking off again! RCT3 suppressing fire!"

Unbeknownst to the soldiers of RCT 3, the dragon was no foolish beast. This wasn't the first time someone had attempted to use foul magic against it. Strong as the prey was, the dragon knew how to deal with such threats and it had already singled out Katsumoto as the one who had hurt it prior. Keeping an eye on the soldier, the beast roared another challenge, gained altitude, and then rapidly began to descend upon the Japanese troops.

"It's coming right at us, get the trucks spun up! Katsumoto?!"

"Rocket up!"

Katsumoto quickly moved over to the side of the trucks and aimed his launcher at the now charging beast. With steady hands, he quickly brought the dragon into his launcher's scope, the reticle now fixated on the creature's massive head.

"Backblast clear!"

"Clear!" Tomita answered as he slapped Katsumoto's back.

"Alright, dodge this monster! Fire in the hole!"

Katsumoto depressed his launcher's trigger and sent the fin-stabilized rocket hurtling towards the dragon. Time seemed to slow down as Itami and the others watched the rocket with ever-mounting anxiety.

Then, just as the rocket was about to collide, the dragon rolled to its side. The beast had watched, waited for Katsumoto to fire, and then timed its barrel roll so that the rocket would harmlessly fly past.

"It dodged!?" Itami and the others could only watch in horror as the dragon leveled itself out and continued its descent. Its mouth began to glow bright orange as flames began to bellow up from within its gasbag.

There wasn't enough time, all of the soldiers still hadn't piled into the vehicles. Itami could only continue to fire and watch on in horror as the dragon opened its mouth.

"Brace for flame!"

Then, there was a distant thundercrack followed by the shrieking of something incredibly fast-moving through the air. The dragon never had time to react as something exploded next to it and sent it tumbling into the forests below.

"N-nani?!" Itami and the others looked back at Katsumoto, hoping that it had been some strange fluke shot. The private hadn't even finished trying to load another round into his launcher.

"That wasn't me!" Katsumoto pointed up at where the dragon had been.

"That wasn't a rocket and it sure as shit wasn't ours." Tomita furrowed his brow. "Sounded like a tank."

"Tanks?! Here?" Shino crawled out from under one of the trucks and looked around confused. "I don't see any-"

"RCT3 this is Horseman One, come in over."

At the sound of the western accent over the radio, Tomita shook his head, the faintest glimmer of a smile registering on his lips. "Told you."

Itami reached into his vehicle with a still shaking hand and picked up the handheld radio. "This is RCT3 Actual."

"Good copy, what's your situation?"

Itami lowered the handheld and looked at his medic. "Kurokawa?"

"All clear taisho, no injuries at this time thank god." The medic breathed a sigh of relief and gave a thumbs up.

Itami nodded and returned his attention to the handheld. "H-hai, no casualties to report. My team and I are thankful for the assistance."

"Roger, be advised we don't have eyes on the target at this time. Can you confirm the kill?"

Itami looked at the rest of his worn-out team then back at the radio. "Horseman One, we saw the hit but are unable to confirm a kill at this time. The uh...the dragon fell into the forest."

Itami looked at the now settling dust cloud where the dragon fell. He could just barely see one of its wings jutting up over the treeline. No movement, just an eerie silence, did they kill it outright? Was this finally the end?

"Copy, give us a rough direction of where you are and we'll link up with you."

Itami took a deep breath to calm himself down. The way things had escalated and the general tempo of the day prior was beginning to wear him out.

"Yes, we're south of what we were informed was an elven village-"

"Oh c'mon! You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

Shino's sudden outburst gave the lieutenant pause. Itami felt his blood go cold and a pit form in his stomach as he slowly turned to look back at where the dragon had fallen.

It was moving, the dragon had taken a 120mm shell and it was getting back up on its feet. Momentarily dazed and now sporting a fresh black scorch mark on its chest, the beast didn't look any worse for wear.

One thing was for sure if it was pissed off before it was nothing short of livid now. Twice now it had been plucked from the skies, ITS skies. Someone had to pay for this insolence, someone who couldn't fight back.

"Coda…." Itami murmured the name over the net as he watched the dragon roar and take off towards the direction of the village.

"What? Say again RCT3?"

Itami pointed at his subordinates. "Everyone mount up! It's heading towards Coda Village!" As the soldiers scrambled into their vehicles Itami raised the Marines over the net.

"The dragon is alive! It's heading towards Coda!"

"What, how-" There was a pause, no doubt the tank commander was dumbfounded something was able to shrug off a 120mm shell. "-Copy, you said Coda? What's that, the village?"

"Yes, we're going to run a distraction and try to ward it away from the village."

"Copy, you get it into the fields and we'll do the rest. Horseman One out."

"Roger that Horsemen, we'll do what we can! RCT3 out!" Itami held on as Kurata gunned their truck down the road, the other vehicles following suit.

CODA VILLAGE

Despite all the strange events, today had been a most fortuitous one. The village had long needed supplies ever since the war started. Imperial troops and their vassals had demanded more than a lion's share of tithes from the villages.

This massive drain may have been easily compensated for by the larger more prosperous villages, but Coda was not such a village. For a time it seemed that the path to recovery would be a long one.

So when the strange soldiers brought their supplies and promised more in the future Goldorf and the others were nothing short of ecstatic.

Even if their food was quite difficult to prepare, what with all the strange fabrics and boxes to sort through.

Goldorf sat in his rocking chair at the front of his home and sighed in relief. The pleasant weather, good spirits, and food in his stomach had left the leader feeling nothing short of euphoric.

"Truly the gods have blessed us this day."

The elder reached for his pipe and took a few puffs. He watched the smoke rings drift upwards with no small degree of satisfaction as he took in the sights in the plains beyond.

Including the massive winged creature flying over the horizon.

Goldorf coughed violently and rubbed his eyes. Surely he had just been seeing things? Imperial Wyvern riders had been a common sight up until a week ago. No, it wasn't a hallucination, but the elder wished it was all the same.

This creature was larger and Goldorf had seen it enough times in the ancient books and heard it many times more in old wive's tales.

Flame Dragon, the flame dragon and it was coming towards Coda. Worse yet, Goldorf wasn't the only one who had seen it. The terrified town watchman's cries confirmed this.

"D-DRAGON! DRAGON!"

Then, all hell broke loose.

"Damnit! Why won't it pay attention?!" The lieutenant picked up his radio and looked back at the LAV. "LAV, what's going on? Where's that rocket fire?!"

"We only packed two rockets sir." Kuwahara responded from the troop bay. "We're recon remember? Heavy contact wasn't expected."

"Always expect the unexpected, the enemy doesn't always play by our rules." Tomita chimed in disappointingly.

"Yeah well, they also don't always come out of interdimensional gates either!"

Itami leaned out of his window and fired another burst at the dragon, grimacing as he saw more than a few tracers fall short. The dragon was deceptively fast and the men and women of RCT3 found themselves losing ground despite the speed of their vehicles.

The chase had long left the smoke-filled forests behind, replacing them with the familiar lush green fields of the Special Region countryside. Any semblance of a somewhat orderly movement had been cast aside in favor of a scattered formation across the plains. As a result, the trucks and their drivers quickly got a crash course in off-road driving.

"Damnit!" Itami slammed a fist on the dashboard. "Kurata, floor it!"

"I'm giving her all she's got Youji, it's hard enough not trying to tip over!" Kurata grunted as the truck's suspension system absorbed another harsh landing, courtesy of some air time caught jumping a small hill.

Itami held onto his radio and changed frequencies. "Horseman, RCT3. It's not stopping!"

"Not stopping?"

"Negative."

"Negative it stopped or negative it's still moving-"

"It's still moving dammit!" Itami looked over his dashboard, he could see Coda rapidly appearing in the distance. "What's your status? Can you see the dragon?!"

"No, continuing to pursue, out."

"'Continuing to pursue?!'" Itami repeated the line frantically. "What the hell does that mean?!"

"Don't bother sir, he's probably not listening." Tomita responded matter of factly.

Sure enough, Itami could hear the telltale sign of someone cutting the comms. Why didn't the Marines understand? Innocent lives were at risk, if they failed here they would lose all the progress they had made trying to establish a connection with the people.

Unbeknownst to Itami, the Marines did understand and the gravity of everything was not lost to them. More importantly, they were going to establish a connection with the people and in a way Itami would have never imagined.

For now, Itami could only grit his teeth as he saw the dragon draw ever nearer to Coda.

"Who the fuck told you to fuse the cone?"

"We've been using MPAT-A on the flying fuckers for weeks now? Nigga when's the last time you said MPAT-A?!"

A pause.

"This isn't the same! Do you see how big that bitch is?! Goddammit bro, now we gotta chase this stupid fuckin' thing!"

Kincaid held onto his gunner's controls as the tank was pushed to max speed down the winding forest paths. The spinning tracks had become a deafening roar so loud that even internal comms were often being drowned out in the noise.

"Benitez I swear to god you better not slide us into a shit-filled ditch." Kincaid took his eyes out of his sight the constant shifting and bobbing were playing hell on his stomach.

"Easy man, I got this! You just worry about actually killing what you shoot at eh?!"

The earlier shot was right, but the shell had been wrong. Wilkes had set the shell for airburst mode. Up until now, that ammo had worked great against the smaller wyverns and other targets, but the bigger dragon was going to need a direct hit. Anyone who had seen enough Kaiju movies knew that.

Elton stood up straight in his cupola, lowered his goggles, and raised his balaclava to block out some of the dust being kicked back from the Captain's tank. The entire platoon was moving at a breakneck pace.

As the tanks left the winding forest paths and emerged into the lush green fields, Aldritch addressed his platoon. "All Horsemen, Horsemen One, breaking cover time now, break." "Maintain displacement, Three, Four scan far, Two and I will take near, out."

All of the TC's rogered up the net.

"Hey I have an idea, how about we don't set our MPAT to airburst." Hicks chimed in sarcastically. "Right Four?"

Elton waited for Belligerent Three to cross in front of his tank and gave the still smiling Hicks a tall and proud middle finger. "Three this is Four, go fuck yourself. That kill's ours, how copy."

"Ooo~ solid copy, Three out."

"Fucker." Elton braced himself as the tank rumbled off the road and onto the fields, its tracks tearing deep into the previously untouched grass. As they began cresting the first hill he could just see the greens of distant tracer fire and, of course, the large dragon they were flying at.

"Kincaid we're cresting the hill, target is at the 12 our relative. Loader, MPAT!"

"Yeah yeah without the airburst!" Wilkes dropped back down into the turret, opened the ammo door, and flung the heavy HEAT round into the breech's hungry maw. "Up! Rest is on you gunner boo!"

"Roger, I'll kill the fucker this time."

"You better." Elton checked the belt for his .50 and smiled. "SLAP-T*? Wilkes you know me too well."

"I had a hunch something like this was gonna happen." Wilkes chuckled.

"Uh-huh, giant dragons and shit right?" Elton dropped back down into his station and looked through his TC's sight just as Aldritch came over the net.

"Horseman, Horseman One. Target is attacking Coda village at the 12, range 1500 meters. You are cleared to engage."

All of the TC's responded back and like clockwork, each tank's gun tube was pointed at the dragon. There would be no fluke shots this time. Today would be the first and last day the dragon learned that this world no longer yielded to its might.

"Gunner MPAT PC-erm no fucking, whatever goddamn dragon!"

"Identified, range 1500 meters!"

"Up!"

"Fire!"

Kincaid brought his reticle over the dragon and regarded the creature with nothing but disgust as he finished the fire command. "On the way!"

"No! Dammit, no!"

Itami yelled out in anger just as the dragon began breathing its flame over Coda. That was it, they had failed. The beast would probably die this day, but not without great cost. Massive gouts of flame washed down over the village below, covering the buildings and farmland. Itami could only hope the villagers had left, seen the dragon before it was too late.

Yet, something wasn't right and even the dragon knew this. The beast flapped its wings and recoiled in confusion at what was going on below.

"Taisho! Look, do you see it?!"

Itami brought his binoculars up and his mouth went agape over what he saw next. The flames were dissipating as if something had formed some sort of barrier between them and the village.

No, it was a barrier, a shimmering blue barrier.

"What the hell?!" Tomita craned his neck over Itami's seat. "Is that-"

"Magic! It's magic!" Kurata pointed at the spectacle. "It's gotta be magic!"

Whatever it was, the village was safe. The same could not be said for the large flying target hovering beside it.

The dragon was just about to attack when suddenly multiple detonations erupted across its body. The attack was swift, merciless, the beast never even had time to cry out in pain as it was plucked from the skies once more.

"RCT3, Horseman One. You're cutting off our fires, out."

Hearing the Marine's ice-cold tone over the radio Itami changed frequencies and picked up the handheld. Itami breathed a sigh of relief as his adrenaline began to wear off. "All vehicles displace and halt, the tanks are mopping this up."

"And just like that, the Americans arrive to the rescue, as usual." Tomita grumbled and rolled his eyes as the vehicle began to lose speed and come to a halt. Now all the Japanese could do was exit their vehicles and watch on in stunned silence as the legendary beast was made a fool of.

To its credit, the dragon still wasn't dead, but it was about to wish it was. The multiple impacts had destroyed its wings and put several huge holes in its body. Blood oozed from exposed organs and twisted bone, the dragon's once impenetrable hide now rent.

"All of that only for the tanks to put it down like a rabid animal." Kurokawa shook her head. "I almost feel bad for the thing, it never stood a chance."

"I don't. This creature was terrorizing these lands for far too long, it was good we showed up." Kuwahara clenched his fist. "This is what the SDF does, we help people."

"That stupid fucking lizard doesn't own this world anymore." Shino added in agreement. "It won't be bothering anyone again."

That was right, it didn't. Itami reflected on what his subordinate said as the onslaught against the dragon continued. Not even fire-breathing dragons could stop the technological prowess of the coalition. They were the new masters of this world, not dragons nor magicians. No, not masters, saviors they were here to save and get answers.

This dragon was just another roadblock on the road to progress.

Itami could only watch on and wonder which of the tanks his new Marine acquaintance Kincaid was in. How was he feeling about all this? Did Kincaid even know he had just saved a new friend?

Meanwhile, mustering what little strength it had, the dragon got back on its hindquarters, tried to run, but the tanks wouldn't allow it. Another barrage slammed into the dragon and destroyed what little left there was.

The dragon roared at its distant enemy one last time, a long and anguished roar that echoed across the plains. Then, the beast collapsed forward, dead. The impact could be felt as far back as the trucks and flocks of startled birds scattered from nearby trees.

Itami reached back into his truck and for the handheld. "Horseman, RCT3. Target down."

"Horseman copies, moving to your location now. Be advised, reinforcements are en route from Alnus. Keep the civilians out of the way, Horseman out-"

"Wait." Itami interjected just as the Marine was about to cut comms.

There was a pause over the net. "Send it."

"Thank you, for helping us and the village."

Itami waited for another robotic response, instead, a familiar voice answered back. "Horseman Four Golf copies, you're welcome. See you soon sir, Huckleberry out."

Kincaid, so he did know Itami was there. The lieutenant gave a dry smile. "Copy, Horseman Four Golf, RCT3 Actual out."

"'Huckleberry'?" Kurokawa repeated the name. "Making friends with the Americans are we sir?"

"Something like that, bit of a funny story actually."

No sooner did Itami put the radio down, the telltale screech of a jet filled the skies above. Itami and the rest of RCT3 looked up and watched as a Harrier banked hard over the dragon no doubt assessing the damage and reporting back to base.

"That's enough excitement for these old bones today." Kuwahara leaned against one of the trucks and took his kevlar off, revealing his graying military regulation haircut."Fast air already too, Americans work fast."

"So it would seem." Kurokawa added. "Lieutenant Itami, we should check on the village, make sure nobody got hurt."

"Agreed, sorry pops no rest just yet." Itami looked over at the still relaxing Kuwahara.

"Ah, well you know how they say in the SDF. 'No rest for the wicked!'" The older soldier chuckled as he put his kevlar back on.

"Hey sir, we have company!" Itami looked back at a now-pointing Katsumoto and then at where the soldier was pointing. Two robed individuals on horseback were riding up to their position.

"Hmm? Must be from the village, better tell them to turn back." Itami reached into his truck and got his language book out. As the two individuals got closer Itami raised an eyebrow as their more discerning features became apparent.

One was an elderly man garbed in thick robes. With his thick gray beard, long flowing hair, and odd staff he was wielding, he looked like more of a village leader than Goldorf ever did. Accompanying him was a young girl in similar garb and wielding a similar staff, though hers seemed smaller, less "decorated". What was odd were her physical features.

Itami was certain he had never seen young girls with short gray hair and eyes as green as hers back on Earth. Of course, in a world with magic and fire-breathing dragons, anything was possible though.

The pair approached the Japanese vehicles and the older man pulled on the reins bringing his horse to a halt. They both regarded the Japanese and their vehicles with no small amount of confusion.

Itami got his book out and gave a friendly wave. "Hi, hello. My name is Youji Itami, I am with the military."

The elderly man, surprised that the newcomers could speak his language, raised an eyebrow. "I am Cato El Altestan, Chief Sage of Coda." He beckoned for the girl to approach his side. "This is my disciple Lelei La Lalena."

"Good day to you." The girl bowed her head, her voice almost a whisper.

"Sage?!" Itami repeated the word. "Sage? Magic?" Itami pointed at the village. "Was that you earlier?"

"Yes, we were lucky to arrive when we did. We were training out beyond the village when we heard the ruckus." Cato rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Did you kill the Flame Dragon?"

Flame dragon, so the beast did have a name. Itami wasn't surprised and he hoped there weren't more like it.

"Ah no." Itami shook his head and pointed at the four tanks that were now cruising across the fields and towards the village. "They did, we helped."

Leilei and Cato turned their horses around and went slack-jawed at the sight of the strange metal behemoths that were tearing up the fields. One of the tank commanders looked over at the odd gathering and twisted a gloved fist into devil horns. A gesture that was promptly returned by Shino.

"W-what are those?"

"Um, hm." Itami put a finger under his chin quizzically. "Tanks."

"Tanks?" Cato repeated the strange word. "Tanks...I would speak with these 'tanks'. Good day to you!"

"W-wait not safe!" Itami tried to warn the two mages, but they were already off, chasing after the Marines.

"Ugh, it never ends! RCT3 mount up!"

Itami spun his hand and the rest of his team mounted their vehicles to chase after the mages.

CAMP ALNUS

Colonel Kane furrowed his brow at the Major standing before him. "Wait, they did what now?"

"A few hours ago one of the Japanese Recon teams went dark trying to assess some fire that broke out." The younger officer looked back at his notebook. "Upon reaching the area they were attacked by what was described by our forces as a 'fire-breathing dragon'."

"And our tanks killed it?" Kane couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Where is it now?"

"Dead near a village called Coda sir. We have forces moving in to secure the site alongside the Japanese."

Kane leaned back in his chair. "Great, first we have reports of superhumans wielding giant halberds and now fire breathing dragons."

"Any word from the Japanese?"

The major fixed his thick glasses. "Well, General Hazama's aid is on his way to look at the corpse."

"Of course he is, well then." Kane returned his attention to some paperwork atop his desk. "Keep me posted as the situation develops."

"Yes sir, good afternoon." Kane waited for the Major to leave before opening one of his desk drawers and taking out a half-finished cigar. He looked over the tobacco longingly and sighed. "Well, at least the recruiting ads are half-true now."

TERMS/ACRONYMS USED:

LAM-LIGHT ARMOR MUNITION. Japanese licensed version of the Panzerfaust 3.

SLAP-T- Saboted Light Armor Penetrator Tracer. Basically mini sabot .50 cal rounds. Will punch through most shit and fuck your day up. I know cause we had them on our tanks in Afghanistan.