Connected World's
Aftermaths
Amid the chaos left in the kingdom, the Marines, who had fully disembarked from the transport helicopters, began to secure the perimeter.
["Situation?"]
The Blackhawk helicopter, flying in space carrying the commander's code name Eagle 2-6, began contacting troops on the ground.
Riria and Suzu, watching from the helicopter where the kingdom was still engulfed in the burning flames, begin to exchange views.
They seem to be aware of something that they have forgotten in this world, and it is a matter of fact that their world is without magic like this world, if it is about military operations, so the technology is still very superior to conventional methods in this world.
The Marines securing the Tiara boarded the CH-53E Helicopter, starting to observe it around before it began to signal the pilot for takeoff.
("Instead of Romeo 6-7, the package has been loaded onto the helicopter")
["Copy, secure the area, good work"]
Tiara, who was still unconscious, was taken to the Delta headquarters where several pairs of eyes from the Marines escorting Tiara's fainted body, staring with a look of wanting to kill her right now .
"Wish I pull the trigger right now, let me, Sergeant One"
The corporal, who was sitting opposite Sergeant One in the helicopter, began to give him a stern look.
"Don't kid, I know you hate him so much, but we have things to do"
Sergeant One's orders to Corporal, it's true that Tiara killed one of their comrades in a way that makes all the marines want to avenge Alfred's life, but it seems the CO at Delta headquarters has another agenda.
Right on the way back to Headquarters, the Marines once again check on Tiara's condition before they start putting up iron handcuffs that tie both her hands and feet.
At the base when the Helicopter landed on the helicopter's runway, the Marines quickly dropped Tiara from the helicopter towards the interrogation site in the Command building.
'The lieutenant general will enjoy this very much'
Thought First Sergeant when he saw Tiara being carried by several Marines, the second helicopter that landed later appeared to be several marines carrying the knight to the holding room.
It is quite surprising that from the provisional report, the majority of soldiers who attacked the Rosella kingdom were female knights.
"Keep your hand, you traitor to humanity"
One of the knights appeared to be cursing at the Marines forcing them to follow the Marines to the detention building.
"Shut up, Move"
The Marines quickly used his foot to kick the knight to continue on the path.
"Grr.. how dare you"
The knight still looked arrogant and haughty, making the Marines' patience barely run out seeing their attitude.
"Basic doesn't know himself"
The upset Marines began to support the Knight as if he did not care about gender.
'They seem to hate this army a lot, huh?'
John who saw it could only sigh in silence when the business they were about to face would be even more troublesome.
'Reports of six confirmed Marines dying in the kingdom alone are enough to give Lieutenant-General and Admiral a headache, I'm not sure if they're even ready for the consequences that would happen if they were interrogated by the media about why any Marines died on a mission nobody knows about'
'Again'
John began to glance at the Blackhawk Helicopter which looked like it was going to land down Colonel Sanders along with the two "Hero" of this world who are residents of Japan who can somehow be summoned to this world
'The problem is getting more and more huh?'
The human kingdom that is currently in the Alpha Company's reconnaissance with Raidsoc and Navy SEALs, their last report, stated that the King was willing to discuss the situation of the third "hero" who are in their kingdom, but there is still no confirmation of their return to our hands, which means.
'Where they might be willing to return the three humans, even if they wanted to, I doubt they would give it away without some sort of compensation, it would be very interesting how the Lieutenant General would treat them'
John began to walk into the prison where he would inspect the prisoners and special prisoners who would be personally dealt with by the Chief Warrant Officers.
...****************...
The situation of the Rosella de Voir Junois Kingdom, which was still in the midst of chaos slowly began to seem to improve slightly, The Marines who worked extra mile to put out the blaze that burned down every house used water from a nearby river with the help of the CH-53E Helicopter, often known as the "Big Fella" because of its ability to carry a cargo of more than 20 thousand tons of cargo, it began to pay off
Jonathan, that's my name, I'm a Marine who just happened to be spared the very troublesome work of putting out the blazing fire in this kingdom, now standing in front of the entrance of Rosella's castle like a fool.
Standing alone in front of the entrance as if you were a royal knight of the past two hours more, seriously, did Rosella hate me so much that she told me this while giving a sweet smile towards me.
'Man, he's very dangerous to my mental health'
It's a lie that I say I'm not interested in the species in this world that are so high in their specifications for modern humans like us.
One smile with features on their bodies gave a strange sensation in my head, I think now I understand how the Marines feel when they see Rosella for the first time in their lives.
"I swear, if it wasn't for her being beautiful, maybe I'd protest her"
"Hee~ And who do you call beautiful?~"
"Well.... Who else, it's obvious it's you......."
Wait, why would anyone answer me?
When I looked to my left side, I wanted to disappear from this world.
"Hehe.... Do you admit that I'm beautiful?"
"NOPE, you're just imagining"
I replied in a half-hearted tone, honestly why does she like it so much near me, what exactly does she want from me!?
Rosella de Voir Junois, lucky since I was dragged by her about why I didn't tell her that her kingdom was attacked, Rosella demanded all sorts of answers that would make her satisfied that I answered with one simple sentence that was easiest for a person like her and how a person like me could understand.
("Why ask me? I'm not the leader, I'm just a Marine")
It was my answer that led me to be instructed by Rosella (who was a little angry at my reply) to guard the entrance and stand here for two more hours.
"Hooo...."
Rosella stood beside me staring at the settlement of residents who had been burned by the fire but had been extinguished right after sunrise.
"You people, I don't know why you're going that far to help us, honestly I'm still suspicious of you, but one side I also thank you for showing how serious you are about this diplomatic thing"
"....."
I chose not to answer her, Rosella once again smiled as she looked at me, my eyes to catch a glimpse of an angel-like figure with an aura of beauty radiating from her, too dazzling for a poor soul like me.
I quickly turned my gaze to the other direction trying not to see it, my sudden action immediately made Rosella look at me with a slightly astonished look.
"Why?"
"There's nothing, it's just me imagining"
"Imagination?"
"Yes"
"Hoo"
Rosella smiled a little idly, she started to comfortably do something that almost made my heart stop right then and there.
"hm...why do you even want to, Miss Rosella"
She who leaned back on my arm, made my eyebrows slightly raised, Rosella who heard my formal tone towards her instantly gave me a sulking look.
"Foooo.... Why the hell are you!"
"I don't know what you mean, Miss Rosella"
I know very well that he does not like to be called that, which is why I deliberately call him that.
The sulking Rosella started walking away from me, she seemed to really dislike me being formal towards her, well, after all it was none of my business.
The process of cleansing and restoring the Kingdom seemed to be proceeding smoothly, I who saw it from a distance could only apologize to my comrades who worked hard there.
Just as the sun was above my head, it had clearly become an alarm in my head
Seven full hours I was standing in front of the entrance gate, seriously, did he want to torture me!?
["To all units in the Administrative Region, gathered at Charlie's meeting point"]
My radiation echoed, I heard that, immediately replied and started moving towards the meeting point.
It's quite a relief that I had to quit Rosella's unreasonable orders.
Just when I was at the meeting point, something that I really hated actually happened in front of me.
At the meeting point hundreds of marines from various units seemed to gather, but not only the Marines who were there, some residents with Rosella and royal knights also appeared there.
In the corner of my eyes was a crying child staring at some of the bodies that were here.
At least 17 civilians were killed and 2 new recruitment squads were killed in this incident.
A woman from the elf race seemed to hold back tears at the corpse of her father who was lying stiff.
"You are the bravest bastards, thank you for your service"
Lieutenant Colonel Anderson, interim chief at the FOB headquarters of the Rosella Administrative Region, is currently giving a speech to 351 marines fighting in the kingdom without reinforcements for three more hours, he who was dressed in the formal "Dress Blue" Marines for the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, resumed his words
"Also for you new recruits, we hold high regard for your sacrifice, you show your courage and the determination you should have to protect your family"
In front of us, the six Marines lying stiff with no injuries at all was proof of their sacrifice plus two from the new recruits, enough to make this moment to the point where we were, he said, I can show them how we handle it.
My eyes were then fixed on one of the crates where the Marine was CO First Sergeant Alfred, he I could tell my campmates when I first entered the Marines, he said, right before the assignment contract separated me from the rest of the Bravo Company.
Even though we said we were just camp partners, but to me he was like family, seeing him killed in this world made me a little upset and angry at the same time.
"Also"
Lieutenant Colonel Anderson then walked toward some of the residents who were crying over their dead families.
In front of them, he knelt down with a face full of regret he showed them. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of your family, we apologize"
Anderson, a Marine who was labeled as the most stubborn marine, for the first time I saw him express himself like that especially as he stared at the two orphans who might be 13 years old.
For Rosella herself, she only realized how they had behaved to someone who had died.
'I don't think that they even want to kneel before the common people and sympathize with the loss of a family member that's none of their business'
"All up!"
Eight Marines in formal uniforms appeared to be approaching the coffins of the marines and taking them to two CH-53E helicopters parked not far from the meeting point, we stood straight up and saluted those who fell.
One by one the crates were brought into the helicopter, my eyes then fixed on the last one the Marines would carry.
Alfred's crate, he's not very familiar to me, but I really remember the time we were in camp.
'..... See you, fellas'
The unexpected happened shortly after all the dead marines were brought into the helicopter.
"All Attention!"
All attention was immediately drawn to Anderson who seemed to still be unfinished.
"Honor!"
Anderson's orders to the two chestless corpses lying in front of us, hearing the instructions, we simultaneously saluted those who had fallen.
One of the unwritten codes of conduct in the Marines is to uphold respect for those who devote themselves to the Marine branch, no matter which country you are from, once in the Marine Corps, then you're part of us too.
[Marine Moto Reference: Never lie, never cheat or steal; hide by an uncompromising code of integrity; respect human dignity and respect others. Honor compels Marines to act responsibly, to fulfill our obligations and to hold ourselves and others accountable for every action]
The eight Marines began retrieving the coffins from the helicopter where it appeared that the two coffins were indeed provided from the base for this matter.
Anderson, who was leading this, got a strange look from all the inhabitants of this kingdom, even Rosella herself did not expect that we would do this.
When they finished putting the body into the crate, two flags logo of the United States Marine was stretched and folded neatly form a triangle which was then carried by Anderson family members of the recruit
A single parent wife and an orphaned Elf girl are both indirect victims of this incident.
"Your husband is a hero, in the name of the Marine Corps, we have great respect for his sacrifice"
Then the second flag he handed over to the Elf woman where her face seemed to hold back the tears that had wanted to come down from her face.
"I'm sorry for your loss, accept our respect for your father"
The elf did not take the flag that Anderson gave, instead he looked at Anderson with the same gaze as before.
"For what? Did you just do that just to satisfy us who were crying left behind by our family!?"
"......"
"My father will never come back! Are you satisfied! You humans have always been, first you take my mother! Now my father!"
Anderson knew very little about the conflict of this world, with the position still on his knees, Anderson chose silent silence to see the female elf crying and snapping at him with a loud tone.
The elf seemed to ignore Rosella's gaze towards her and continued to smite her with insults before she ran away from there leaving an atmosphere still shrouded in sadness from the inhabitants of this kingdom
All of them who had noticed Anderson being snapped by that Elf, could only remain silent, they all knew very well how the elf felt and it was only natural that he reacted so.
Anderson then stood up and stared at the squad of marines in formal uniforms.
"All units, ready!"
Jonathan and the Marines in the front row began to advance and point their weapons upwards.
"Fire!"
The first seven shots were fired from the firearms they were holding.
"Fire!"
Seven more shots were fired
The last shot came back.
Rosella saw this a little carried away by the emotions of this strange ceremony.
'They....'
Rosella did not expect them to still respect the troops they recruited even they did not budge when scorned and cursed by the Elves as if they really cared about the feelings of the elves.
In the sky seemed an iron object that had leveled Tiara's army, began to approach the kingdom, at first Rosella thought that they would attack but the thought was immediately denied when she thought it was absurd.
But what the flying iron object did made it a little carried away into sadness.
'Missing one man'
'Simple form but has a very deep message'
Jonathan thought as he looked up into the sky where the plane, which was tilting sharply up, still seemed to be flying away from the formation of the plane.
...****************...
The unprepared formality I experienced ended, the last time I had to be in this formation was the return of one of my former Squad members who died during the mass evacuation of Afghanistan.
And for the second time I had to experience this, it was enough to make my mood shatter into pieces.
"Hey, Jonas"
"hm?"
I who was relaxing under the tree glanced at Rosella who was sitting beside me, a very soothing atmosphere plus the afternoon wind that was blowing slowly made me a little sleepy
"Why did you do that?"
'What did he mean about the ceremony?'
I just moved my shoulder in response.
"Somehow, I think it's just our selfishness"
"Selfast?"
"Yes...... Our world is too advanced for a civilization like you can understand, our civilization in short, a world where we value lives and will cherish every single life that goes from the world"
"...... Is that so?"
"Yes"
I closed my eyes while daydreaming in my own mind trying to take my mind off of situations that could give me a headache.
To Rosella herself, she silently stared at the dreamy-looking Jonathan.
"What about you, Jonathan"
Hearing my name on the call, I slightly turned towards him who was looking at me with a look as if he wanted to know something.
"If I were a person, we humans have gone through a lot, we as a race are too advanced for civilization so it's only natural that you still can't understand why we do that, I think, I think, what we've got now is much more interesting than it was 70 years ago"
hearing my reply, Rosella began to talk about something else about the world we came from that was quite interesting.
"What do you think of your world as such, do you like it?"
"I can't say that our world is boring, just because our world is so advanced that we get too used to it"
"Hoo"
Rosella seemed more interested, I who did not want to comment further, chose to close my eyes while enjoying the wind under the tree.
'Beautiful day' I thought as I stared a little at the clouds of this world.
...****************...
Somewhere in the Kingdom somewhere
The Throne Room of a woman around the age of 40 years with the position as Queen of this city, he seemed to talk to a female knight with iron armor.
"Your Majesty, do you really believe them?"
The queen who was leaning on one arm, seemed silent for a moment while staring at him with a cynical look.
"My daughter did a natural action by attacking the place of the enemy of man, but I also did not expect that he would be defeated so quickly"
"Well what should we do, Miss Queen?"
"Hm..~ With our current condition, we can't possibly attack, not to mention I don't know how the fate of my daughter who decided to go to war there, tell me, Duke Yujin, do I have to finish off every kingdom of the human alliance because of this?"
The man by the name of Yujin chose silence not to answer the Queen when he was looked at with a view full of hatred
"I'm not sure about that Miss Queen, even if we knew that the human race was on Rosella's side, we couldn't just attack them without the support of another kingdom"
"Hee~ Is that?"
The Queen with a cynical face started to stand up, the calm aura around the Queen turned instantaneously cold as ice cubes made the Knight goosebumps a little scared.
'Damn it, whoever it is against us, you can't possibly fight it'
Thought Yujin as the Queen walked out of the room heading somewhere else.
...****************...
On the helicopter runway of Delta headquarters, there are 15 UH-1 Venom helicopters with two M134 Minigun weapons on the side of the helicopter exit mounted ready to shoot whenever Gunner uses the weapon.
The helicopter, codenamed Venom 2-2, from the 2nd Calvary unit, the 2nd Company Air Assault Regiment, began preparing to see the Marines walking toward the helicopter.
The operation this time that Lieutenant General Norman had authorized was the "Kingdom Shield" where they will form a perimiter and add a large enough army to the Rosella area to prevent the invasion of the kingdom Tiara Vunois Claudisse
Operation that sounds very simple but difficult for the troops sent makes every squad in the helicopter must think extra about the war crime that is likely to occur.
"Yo bro, are you really going to wear that helmet?"
One Lance Corporal asked another Lance Corporal who looked to be wearing a Vietnam-era combat helmet that he could somehow have.
"Why the? Gunnery Sgt, let me know, you don't think it's cool to wear this helmet?"
"Well, maybe you have a point"
The first squad of 90 combat-ready Marines was sent there with extra munitions to be carried by three CH-53E helicopters following from behind the UH-1 helicopter squad.
Elsewhere, Riria along with Suzu were both currently in the Lieutenant General's room.
"I'm sorry if we interfere, Lieutenant General Norman"
Suzu said in a polite tone, both of them were a little nervous before the Lieutenant General especially about what they were going to say right now.
"I'm getting straight to the point Lieutenant General, can we go home right now?"
Riria in a clear tone immediately blunt about what their intentions are to face the leadership of the United States forces in this world.
...****************...
"Is that so...."
The Lieutenant General was silent for a while before starting to stare at the two with a slightly sympathetic look.
"I'm sure you must have known about your situation that disappeared from our world, right? So sorry, for a while I haven't been able to get you back, so please be patient"
Riria then pulled out her phone and showed what was on her phone screen.
"I've been so ignorant about my family, I always thought that they never loved me, but after I was in this world, I realized many things, I really missed home..."
"...Lieutenant General, please, at least let me call my family"
Riria's gaze seemed to hold back tears when she saw news from her cellphone screen where many news reported about Riria's mysterious lost status even to the point of making her family panic not to mention her father who she had been all this time not liking was precisely the person who was most affected by her loss, making Riria feel extremely regretful.
Not only did Riria feel that way, Suzu and the others must also feel that way.
The Lieutenant General, who was still in his seat, began to tell them what they should know, hoping that it was the right choice for both.
To Lieutenant General Norman himself, after the two girls came out of his room, his gaze was fixed on the documents on the table where reports of the posibility findings of more than 100 humans from their world had been sent to this world over the past 60 years.
'I have to find answers and ask them to stop it immediately. If they refuse'
His sharp gaze was directed to the airport while it was still the paving stage by the Combat Engineer team, even though the two carriers had returned to their world, but that did not mean they did not have any assets here.
'Fuck the ministry, I'll find a way for them to listen to us'
...****************...
Human Kingdom.
In the royal parlor, Lieutenant Fujiwara dressed in formal officers began to enter the room where King Arthur as the ruler of this kingdom was waiting for him.
"Thank you for being here, Miss Fujiwara"
Welcome Arthur as Fujiwara escorted by two armed Marines enters the room.
As Fujiwara sat down, the King along with Tokiwaki, Houki and Rin who were standing behind the King remained silent waiting for King Arthur to start opening the subject.
"Lieutenant Fujiwara, can you tell me what you want right now?"
Ask Arthur with a smile without knowing what Fujiwara will say next will make the atmosphere of the room immediately quiet.
"I got straight to the point, regarding the three of them, I want to bring the three of them right now back to our headquarters as well"
hearing that, Arthur raised one eye eyebrow.
"Sorry Miss Fujiwara, about that, can you tell me why you want them?"
Arthur's calm tone concealed a certain threat behind those words.
'This is so bad, why did Fujiwara-san even speak to the King like that?!'
Tokiwaki could not believe what he had heard, this was the second time he had seen this kind of conversation between Arthur and Fujiwara-san, but the tip of the conversation was always unclear as if Arthur did not want to let go of the three of them, only this time he saw the flat expression of Fujiwara without showing any expression of fear or hesitation.
"King Arthur, you as the ruler, I still respect you, but as fellow citizens of the world there, the three of them who are here are part of us, it is only natural that we want them back. And stop the way you try to procrastinate, we're running out of patience for your response"
"Does that mean you're threatening us?"
"If it's an aggressive act from us, no, we don't have any intention of it, at least not yet"
Firmly Fujiwara to Arthur, Tokiwaki and the two girls fell silent not daring to comment anything other than staring at Fujiwara who still put a flat face to Arthur.
"You know the consequences if you don't listen to what our demands are, our wishes are simple, return ("all of them") to us, then we won't harass you, I hope you understand that"
Fujiwara then handed over the intelligence documents obtained from the SEAL team in this kingdom.
"We give you a week from now to tell us what you know, and I hope your cooperation. And for the three of you, you better come with us now, we'll take you home"
Arthur was made unmoved when he saw the report of the findings written there.
As if unable to say anything, Fujiwara along with Tokiwaki, Houki and Rin began to walk out of the noble's living room leaving Arthur with the documents in his hands.
'So so yeah'
'They intend to fight against us if they don't give all the people they've ever called into this world'
Negotiations or should be said as a persuasive action from the Marines managed to make Arthur not budge will 'Pressure' given to his kingdom.
What the Normans wanted was quite simple, giving all the information as well as returning in full all their inhabitants to their hands and promising never to do that again, and if it remains in violation then the whole army of men from the other world will declare war on his kingdom, interesting to Arthur when they so clearly threatened him here with a note from plain paper made him almost laugh.
'They think who they are? We're not that stupid'
...****************...
Walking down the streets of the Junois kingdom which was in the stage of recovery due to the war was enough to spoil his eyes.
Along the gazing eyes, several marines seemed to be shoulder to shoulder rebuilding and removing the accumulated remains of the ruins.
Residents in this kingdom did not even show expressions of fear or doubt in their eyes, instead he could see the happy and joyful gazes of the residents.
"Mr man! Please take this"
two residents approached the Marines, who were working to build houses, both of whom were women of a half-human race who had animal ears on their heads.
Smiling, the two women looked happy when the Marines received their food.
"Man, I think I can find a wife here"
One of the Marines joked when he received the meal, the second Marine who looked at him with an annoyed look began to kick his leg.
"Don't you dare assume that you can control them alone!"
"Ha!? What do you mean it!"
The two began to argue about something stupid.
Somewhere not far from the Castle, Rosella is with Jonathan who happens to be escorting her for a reason she never knew what it was, the two who were currently on top of the building facing directly towards the hills not far from the Kingdom, kept quiet for a while before Rosella started to open the conversation.
"What do you think of our place, Jonas?"
"Well, can I say, pretty good?"
"Can you tell me where it's good?"
Jonathan was made to think for a while before he glanced at the nuances that were very shady as if nature in this world was still very awake.
"It may be a question of how the world is still far from industrialization where air pollution makes many animals extinct over time"
"oh?"
Jonathan chose not to go any further on how their world got to the point of a highly advanced civilization, because it would be a very upsetting story to explain.
"Jonas, do you think I'm worthy of leadership"
Rosella's eyes looked in a very different direction than what she saw, making Jonathan have to choose his words very carefully.
Rosella's gaze looked very hollow and filled with deep silence, it was only natural why he was like that after how the fate of their race in this world for hundreds of years was in the perception that the Devil race was the enemy race of humanity.
It is very ironic, humans will always be easily paranoid creatures of many things and tend to justify things that are not necessarily true.
It is not much different from Earth.
The day passed, Jonathan who was currently under the leadership of Colonel Anderson, 32nd Mechanized Infantry Regiment Unit, 1st Company, 1st Company, he did his daily routine where he patrolled and guarded the royal entrance area where several posts had been set up by the Marines.
'Just two days after the incident, the Kingdom of Junois is now a military base entirely controlled by the Marines'
Another thing he did not want to say to Rosella was the fact that it was likely that the Lieutenant General deliberately used the invasion as the main gateway to form a leading military base capable of accommodating at least 3 Regiments Mechanical infantry who each had at least 1 Abrams and 3 Bradley-type IFVs for each Regiment.
Although not significant, but the number of military equipment dropped here such as heavy equipment ground defense artillery base M777 Howitzer and Tank Paladin self-propelled Artillery is enough to be a signal that the Lieutenant General has his own agenda about what will happen in the future.
My guess was right on target, the answer to my question was answered after a convoy of helicopter units arrived and began to park the helicopter not far from the Anderson camp headquarters that was established.
There are at least 7 Venom Helicopters and 5 AH-1Z Vipers, no matter what Lieutenant General thinks about this base, I dare to assure you it may not bode well for our assignment.
