Kōyōjima Island, Harukami Shogunate.

  Inside a C-157 Strategic Airlifter. 92nd Elysian Airborne Regiment.

  August 11th, 1427. 10:25 AM

  The clouds broke open as a large circular formation of massive aircrafts emerged above the dark typhoon barrier. Flying above the clouds, the C-157s had avoided the extreme untraversable turbulence within the typhoon surrounding the archipelago. Inside the cargo hold of the central aircraft, a pristinely suited figure sat nervously surrounded by men in urban camouflage uniforms.

  “Oh shit-!” Ambassador Anderson yelped in terror as the C-157’s rear ramp opened, revealing the open blue sky. He tightens his grip on the foldable canvas chair, barely hiding the fear of what’s about to come.

  “Don’t worry! Next is the exciting part!” The leading Lieutenant laughs cheerfully at Anderson’s reaction as he checks the body straps around the Ambassador one last time, a reaction he had missed the most from seeing new recruits trying to jump off a plane for the first time. “We’re clear to jump!”

  Looking around the cargo hold of the C-157, the lieutenant nods in approval at the neatly packed rows of pallets containing ammunition, heavy weapons and several UMT trucks. Other aircrafts also opened up their internal cargo bay, carrying food aids in the form of canned food, MREs and medicines instead of heavy weapons.

  Flying nearly a thousand tons of food and equipment among ten strategic airlifters, it was clear that President Irwin was extremely serious about establishing relationships and hopefully a foothold in the far south of the Eastern Continent, so much so that mobilizing resources to put a thousand tons of food onto sixteen airlifters from all over the country and the Eastern continent was done in less than 24 hours. Not to mention the 92nd Elysian Airborne Regiment as well, who were tasked with maintaining order and distributing supplies to Harukamian civilians.

  The red light inside the C-157 flying at the center of the formation lit open, signalling the preparation for the jump.

  “This is your pilot speaking. We’re almost over the drop zone, lads. You know what to do.” The voice over the intercom calmly announced, as if he had done this hundreds of times.

  “4th Platoon! Ready up! Link your chutes!” The lieutenant stood up with Anderson strapped to himself.

  The men inside followed suit, checking each other’s parachutes just like they had done before during training. Several “Clear!” were announced as they finished the procedure, hooking their parachute wires to the long tether hanging next to them.

  The red lights were switched off, replaced by a green light as weapon and ammunition pallets were quickly ejected off the C-157 by parachutes attached to them. Looking back and forth to check the cargo bay to make sure it's empty, the jumpmaster standing near the rear ramp gives the lieutenant a thumbs up.

  “Go! Go! Go! Out of my fucking plane! Let’s go, people!” He waved at the troopers as he yelled clearly, directing them to the rear ramp.

  The lower ranks went first, jumping off the aircraft in turn as wires pulled their parachutes for them. “One, two, five, ten, forty… clear!” The lieutenant counted. “That’s all of ‘em! Thanks for the ride!” The lieutenant salutes the jumpmaster and rushes towards the opened rear ramp.

  “Wait, no!” Anderson yelled at the man to no avail. Being tightly secured to the lieutenant, Anderson couldn’t stop the man from moving to the opened rear ramp.

  “Fuckin’ glory to the 92nd!” The lieutenant announced with a happy grin on his face as he leaped off the ramp. “WOOO!!!”

  Anderson finally snapped. “NOOOOO!!!!” His yelling overpowered the four loud turbojet engines of the C-157 as he and the lieutenant free fall for a short distance before their parachute deployed.

  Yukihara Mountain

  Joker observed the paratroopers landing on the rice field down below with a pair of binoculars in his hand, sitting on a half-broken roof. “I’d rather let that elf hooker fuck me in the ass…” He curses. “Now the Army is getting involved.” Joker laments at the sight.

  “We’re not here to compete with the Army, buddy. Better keep our mouths shut until we get home.” Richard said, sitting next to Joker with his own pair of binoculars.

  “I got good news and bad news.” Staff Sergeant Boris called for the two on the roof. “Which one do you beanheads want to hear first?”

  “Bad news first.” Joker raised his right hand, eager to hear whatever the Staff Sergeant had in store for the squad.

  “Bad news is, the new Empress allowed us to accompany her forces to go down south for the raid.”

  “How’s that bad news? President Irwin’s order was to help the Harukamians out wherever possible?” Richard tilted his head, leaving his binoculars to the side.

  “Fuckin’ idiot… Do you not want to get this over with and go home?” Boris asked, trying to explain to Richard about the danger they’re about to put themselves through.

  Richard chuckles. “I think it’s going to be alright, Staff Sergeant. Our rifles are still more than a match for ‘em! All our problems have been solved by bullets ever since we landed here. If these guys can survive with muskets and swords, then we can crush whatever is about to be thrown at us! Besides, going on a raid like this would probably give us promotions right?”

  “We don’t even know what we’re up against here, and that worries me the most.” Boris said, recalling when one of the men in the company was caught off guard by a Blood Spider.

  “I suppose you’re right… What's the good news then, Staff Sergeant?”

  “Good news is, we’re still getting air support along with weapons from the airdrops. Airborne guys ain’t gonna be using ‘em for humanitarian duties.” Boris let out a sigh, knowing the implication of what’s about to happen.

  “Yes!” Joker exclaimed as he clenched his hands tightly, barely containing his excitement at the prospect of getting his hand on a high-tech missile launcher.

  Lewis closes the CPU-4 field computer, unplugging it with the radio set as he finishes transmitting his message to Anzuri City. “I’m completely against going with these guys, Staff Sergeant. We’ve just arrived yesterday and now we’re moving on a risky raid? We barely know anybody here, this is too reckless.”

  “I agree with Lewis here.” Rita joined in, resting on the porch. “Almost all of the people here tried swarming us for food. I gave a kid a candy and twenty more showed up, begging for the same stuff.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “What do you think, Milt?” Richard looked around. “Where is the guy?”

  Several strong footsteps rang out from the inside of the house before the sliding paper door was quickly pushed aside, revealing Milton catching his breath. “Them scrawny little scumbags clung onto me trying to steal food! I had to give ‘em my entire ration just to be let go! Even the guards here joined in for the food!” He calms down, taking several short breaths. “I think the parachutes attracted their attention though, a lot of ‘em didn’t know what those were and just began praying to their God or something…”

  “You’re lucky they’re not trying to steal our stuff to flog in the black market or something, probably too scared or not understanding what we have.” Richard said, helping Milton to stand up from his sprinting into the building.

  Lewis stood up, folding the field computer and shutting it down. “I’m not sure, Staff Sergeant. They seemed to be respectful despite their dire circumstances.” He comments, remembering the Harukamian’s sometimes extreme politeness towards the arriving Marines. “I’m going to walk around a bit, maybe even talk to some of the locals if you’d give me the permission, Staff Sergeant. It won’t be long.”

  “I’ll go too.” Joker slides down from the roof carefully so as to not damage it.

  “Haiz…” Rita sighs. “I’ll watch over these two idiots. You have my guarantee, Staff Sergeant.”

  Boris thinks about their request carefully. Letting his subordinate roam around to mingle with locals again is certainly something he wouldn’t like to be on his record, but knowing the impending raid tomorrow, perhaps he should let it slide. Gathering crucial information in short notice that could help keep themselves alive is more important than a bad track record, he thought.

  Rita’s watchful eyes could certainly keep the two others in line, Boris decided. “Fine, but you have to return in 12 hours.”

  Yukihara Shrine.

  6:40 PM

  “This place felt… misty.” Lewis comments, taking a picture of a Torii gate on the step leading to the shrine ahead with his camera before inspecting its wood. “A bit weathered too, probably haven’t had decent upkeep in a long time.”

  Joker breathed heavily, tired from walking hundreds of steps up the mountain. “Fuck… I think I hate stairs now.”

  “Take these.” Rita offered a few energy tabs to Joker which she had taken from one of the newly delivered supply crates. “Your reward for not running around with local girls.”

  “How could I? You were on my ass the entire afternoon!” Joker argued, taking the tablet and putting one in his mouth.

  The three of them had been walking around the small city, dodging curious onlookers and desperate beggars alike. Although difficult to convince, several helpful Harukamians did eventually show the three around the area in exchange for their valuables and ration while the Elysian Airborne troops set up a makeshift aid distribution center in the neighborhoods near the mountain base.

  Due to the overwhelming amount of people pouring to the neighborhoods searching for help, the shrines on the mountain were relatively quiet in comparison. Lewis couldn’t hear much else besides cricket noises.

  He shifted his eyes towards the sky, admiring the unfamiliar starry sky seldom seen in Elysia with a particular focus on the blue and yellow moons as he began reflecting on what had happened. “You know, these past few months,” he said, catching the attention of Rita and Joker. “It has been a ride. Our entire country gets transported to this… who knows what world this is, everybody had different names for it. The Azurians call it Spriga, the Harukamians call it Sekai and we call our old world Elysium.

  “These past few months had been,” Lewis paused, giving himself some time to reflect. “More than bizarre, even if we minus the fact that we got transported to this world with no explanation. Not all of it is bad though, despite the new wars we found ourselves in.”

  Joker smirks deviously, finding an opportunity. “Yeah, you even find yourself inside Alic- AGH.” Rita slaps the back of his head, cutting his teasing short.

  “I’m watching you.” She pointed at Joker, staring him down which caused the man to shut up.

  The trios eventually arrived at the dimly lit shrine on the side of the mountain. The place was dimly lit with several lamps left unlit, a consequence of constant shortages. There were also several people praying, folding their hands together as they stood in silence at one of the wooden board-like frames where several name tags were hung.

  The atmosphere was a bit depressing, but the cultural significance of this place to the Harukamians was unmistakable to Lewis. A large, luminous tree is prominently located at the center of the shrine, providing most of the light around the yard. The alien scenery immediately caught his attention, who quickly snapped a photo again but this time with a flash to help with lighting.

  “You should put that “thing” away,” A fox girl in a white and red outfit stepped out from one of the buildings, holding a cylindrical paper lamp which helped outlining her four-tailed Kitsune form. “You’ll disturb the serenity here.”

  Lewis folds the camera down, putting it back to his backpack. “I’m sorry ma’am, we’re just looking around.”

  “Many people come here to seek spiritual help from the Kami, perhaps you’d like to pray as well?” She asked the trios, paying attention to their peculiar outfits and weapons.

  “It’s alright, ma’am. I’m not religious.” Lewis answers.

  “You don’t have to be, anybody can pray. There were some children that came here praying that the Kami would give them and their family something to eat everyday, and their calls were eventually answered.” The kitsune said, referencing the recent airdrop by aircrafts overhead. “Still, you outlanders claim that you were no gods, even though you can have food delivered to you from the sky.”

  “I understand your sentiment,” Rita said to the kitsune. “Many Azurians have had the same.”

  “Azurians…” The kitsune mumbles, trying to recall the time when there was no typhoon surrounding the archipelago, when trade and contact with the outside world was normal. “It’s been so long. Must be nice in Azuria right now…”

  “Our goal here is to help people and to lift them up, that’s why we fight.” Rita said to her, emphasising the helping part. “A country free of war and suffering is only a good thing.”

  “So, you’re determined to fight for that? Even putting yourself on the line? On a world that isn’t yours?”

  The three of them nod. “That’s our mission, and we’ll finished it no matter what it takes.”

  “I see.” The kitsune smiles. “It’s best that you pray, it doesn’t matter what god you pray to. Whether it’s Kami or Miritta, whoever gives you strength.”

  The three of them began praying at the shrine, clapping their hands together as they attempted to mimic the locals' traditions. Closing their eyes, they felt as if some of their prayings were being heard, an alien feeling for mostly atheistic Elysians.

  Lewis opens his eyes, looking at the wooden name tags hanging on several trees.

  “Each of them represents a soul to the Kami.” The kitsune explained. “Dying warriors, grieving mothers, innocent children,... All were killed at the hands of the Onibanes and Kibaōkami.”

  “I’ve heard of them.” Joker finally spoke up, breaking the silence he had been maintaining ever since Rita knocked on his head.

  While the kitsune shrine maiden, Rita and Joker were discussing what they were about to face, Lewis noticed a peculiar metallic name tag hanging on one of the trees. Reading it, he realized it belonged to a killed Elysian Marine.

  “That’s the guy who got killed by Blood Spider!” Lewis looked around, finding a familiar figure sitting alone away from sight. He was looking at a photo in his hand with a flashlight before quickly putting it away as he noticed Lewis approaching him.

  Finally noticing the man’s rank patches, Lewis widened his eyes in surprise. “Captain Raleigh?”