Wings of Honor: Meeting The Enemy

Chapter 16: Meeting Up With McManis

Dear Alfonsii,
Greetings from Belgium!
While it has been a long time since we last talked, (the last time I remember was when all of us met up at that parlor) I was surprised a letter managed to get all the way from Romania! No offense.
Nonetheless, I am doing well. Thank you.
I hope that you are doing okay as well. Even though we may be on opposite sides of the war, I still view you as one of my best friends. I hope the feeling is mutual.
Despite this, please forgive my vague details in this letter. You know the reason why.
Salinas is still okay, from what information I have received from home. The valley is still as beautiful as ever, and still agriculturally focused. The school still stands, and is still the bastion of brotherhood we both know it not to be.
Christian, Andy, and Sal are also doing well. While I have not made contact with them for a while, my contacts in the registrations office have assured me they have not been drafted. So I guess it's just you and me fighting this damned war Alfonsii.
While I would have wished to write a longer letter, the night watch can only be stalled for so long. I pray that you are well and remain well. I pray that when we meet again, it won't be as enemies.
Godspeed and God's Bless,
1st LT Marvin Jerez

This one knocked us out.
Knocked us all out.
I was literally shaken awake by Travers.
"Captain! Captain!"
I took a sharp, long breath. Almost sneezing after snorting half a pound of dust. I opened my eyes.
He looked over me in the distance before turning his attention back.
"Lots of villagers. Gonna need that silver tongue of yours."
I groaned, sitting up. My vision was still blurry, and the world still felt like it was spinning. I knew if I tried for any of my weapons, it wouldn't look too good, let alone if I could even hold and aim any of them.
I looked over, spotting the large, black figure of Grace. Her peaceful mind still knocked out.
I tried rubbing some clarity into my eyes, but that didn't do much except get mud in my eyes. But with the help of Travers, I got back on my feet.
I took a few uneasy steps forward, spying the large group of people armed with pole based weaponry.
We may have had the advantage in range weaponry, and on a defensive position, but they easily outnumbered what ammo we had left.
"Stand down!" I yelled. "I am unarmed!"
I found myself shakily walking forward, not too far. The clarity of my vision rapidly returning to me.
A man dressed in high ranking robes separated himself from the crowd. He was on the front lines, but now he walked out, still a little ways away from me. I faced maybe a platoon of well organized militiamen lined up in box formation.
And here was I, a lone soldier with another rifleman behind me, tending to a ginormous NightWing that was still unconscious.
"Are you a friend, or an enemy?" He spoke strongly across the divide.
"A friend... until I'm attacked." I said in response.
He raised his chin at me. Then he looked over behind me. He pointed.
"That's a Night Dragon?" He said.
I looked back to where he was motioning.
"Yeah." I said. "But she's one of ours." I turned back towards him.
"They are dangerous, unpredictable creatures!" He spat at me.
All the soldiers lowered their spears to make ready. Evidently trembling that they were so close to a dragon this size.
"Maybe." I said in response. "Which is why she is a valuable ally, and will not attack you unless you attack first." I strongly said, regaining my strength.
The man in blue colored robes chuckled. "And who might you be? 'One who controls dragons?' "
I looked him straight in the eye, slowly walking forward towards him.
I walked as far until all the spearmen shifted simultaneously, filling the air with a wood and metallic rattle.
I halted.
I spoke softly to him.
"My name is Captain Marvin Jerez. Squad leader of the One Hundred and First Airborne's First Squad. At your service."
I extended my hand.
He looked it over, then looked me over.
Travers was probably looking up from Grace's side towards me, panic stricken.
I heard a mumble, then a shuffle.
It was as if they all collectively decided I was no longer a threat, and the attention shifted to something behind me.
I turned, seeing Grace stir.
Mmmph. What happened?
But she recovered faster than me. Her eyes shot open wide.
Marvin!
"Easy Grace." I left them and walked up to her, hands up and openly splayed. "Take it easy."
She also took a sharp breath, which rattled the militia even more.
Are you okay? She asked.
I looked back at the people behind me, seeing how tense and jumpy they were. One wrong move, and we'd be in a shooting match.
I nodded. Fine.
She exhaled a little cloud of smoke from her nose, which seemed to put the millitia a little more at ease. But she kept eyeing them closely, monitoring the future, and keeping her breath weapons ready to blind and burn them if something goes wrong.
I took a deep breath and a similarly deep exhale. I then turned back to the men in the robes, hands still open. I threw them up a little, letting them slam back against my uniform, kicking up a little dust.
"Now you believe me?"
The man in the robes looked us all over and rolled his head a little.
"It won't attack?" He motioned with his eyes, looking directly at Grace, who now nearly curled up against Travers, ready to protect him if necessary.
"Not unless you hit first." I kept saying the same thing over and over again.
The man in the robes sighed. He made a signal with his hand, which caused the militia to stand up straight with their spears. He turned to address them in a grandiose voice.
"Let it be known that not a soul lay a hand against any one of these men or beasts, lest May Lord Faqua be in your favor." He eyed Grace.
They had a momentary standoff.
"Then you are travelers, correct?" He turned to face me. "You look shaken, and likely low on supplies. You can join us in Hardersfield. Come."
Me and Travers exchanged glances. Grace motioned me back.
"Do you have any idea where we are?" Grace asked.
I looked at Travers. "I have no fucking clue."
I grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet.
We regrouped with the soldiers, following behind them. But then became a little uneasy once a few of them sectioned off and came against our sides.
I noticed Travers hook his thumb under his sling, about to bring his rifle to bear.
I held my arm out against him.
"Don't give them a reason Travers."
He squinted at me. I don't trust them. They are armed and dangerous. And they don't like Grace, I have a feeling they'll attack her the instant she enters whatever village. But he nodded, moving his hand to only grab the sling with his fingertips instead, resting his hand.
Grace kept low. Keeping her head and body still, but her eyes scanned around at the soldiers against her. I could only imagine what they were thinking of her just from the welcoming committee alone.
But I took a breath, finally fully out of grogginess. It was my job to ensure we could build good relations with this settlement. Even though they already disliked dragons, getting them to not attack Grace was a major win. I knew that much.
But still. I didn't know where we were going, or where we are in the first place.
But then I had an idea.
I turned back to Travers. "Three strike return fire order. After that, weapons free. Lethal force to match legal force."
He nodded.
"Stay with Grace. Keep your heads on a swivel."
He nodded again.
I picked up the pace to a quick jog, gaining a few soldiers attention as I moved up the line. I spotted out the blue robes of the leader.
"Sir? Sir!"
The man looked over his shoulder, glancing at me in disdain.
"If I may ask, I still have a couple questions."
He held for a moment, then motioned his head for me to walk alongside him. I quickly took the opportunity.
"Thank you."
He only made a grumble noise.
I looked at him through the corner of my eye, keeping straight.
"Do you know where we are? In terms of the continent?"
"Continent?" He looked over at me. "We don't know how far the land goes. Only the traders venture out further than five leagues here."
I sighed. So that's not very helpful. "So how about landmarks? Anything of note nearby?" Maybe I can piece some things together.
The robed man looked over at me. "Quite a lot of questions from a stranger." He said.
I chuckled. "Just trying to get information." I explained.
"Hmm." He nodded. "A smart man knows how a battle will end before he enters it."
I held my breath for a moment.
Sun Tzu.
"There is not much around the village of Hardersfield. We live on a peninsula, well protected from the dragon attacks that plague other cities."
That narrows it down some. But Pyrrha also has several spots that could be considered peninsulas.
I needed a base of reference. Something I could use alongside my compass to triangulate my position. A landmark, a prominent feature. A town, a road, an important hill. Anything!
"There was a rumor long ago that some of the children stirred, only now has it been brought to our attention once more. There was, what was described as, a broken city. But the structures were huge, as if they were built by dragons."
"Dragons?" I turned to him.
He scoffed. "I don't believe those stupid beasts have the intelligence to build anything more than a nest. Merely... robbing us of our own structures that we built."
I heard a large huff. Turning in time to see a smoke cloud drift away behind Grace, roughly around the height of her snout.
"Pardon me sir, but I beg to differ."
"You?" He looked down at me. "What does your experience as a stranger have amongst dragons?"
I chuckled. "Well... I'd tell you, but it'd be above your pay grade right now."
He looked at me confused, then dropped it. Picking up his pace, he moved closer to the front.
I hung back, regrouping alongside Travers and Grace.
"Did you find anything Marvin?" He asked.
"No," I stated. "Nothing more than that we are on a peninsula."
"Well that narrows it down quite a bit doesn't it?"
Me and Travers chuckled at Grace's sarcasm.
"But I did pick up a lead, although it might not be any more than a rumor."
"Well... Anything at all is better than being stuck on this rock." Travers high-stepped to exaggerate his point.
"I'll look into it. But in the meantime," my eyes met the growing figures of thatch houses and stone buildings as we crested this hill. "Get your game faces on. We're here."
But just as we were about to enter the town, the man in the robes halted me.
"Captain Mar-ven."
Grace audibly smirked.
"You must leave your dragon here. Such beasts may not christen Hardersfield."
We both looked back at Grace.
I-it'll be fine.
I bowed my head at her. You sure?
Grace laid down on the grassy dirt floor. Positive.
I mumbled. Oh well. "Very well. Grace will stay right here." I looked back from the man in robes back to Grace. "Stay here, but don't let anyone hurt you."
Grace had a cheeky smirk that bared her teeth. I won't.
I had an equal smirk because I knew she knew something was going to go down.
In return, we followed the robed man into town. One thing I noticed was that the militia had pretty much evaporated. I saw a few people duck into houses and assume the rest did likewise.
"We don't get a lot of strangers come through these parts." the robed man said. "Let alone exotic tradesmen like yourself."
"Um, excuse me," I spoke up. "We're not traders."
That stopped the man in his tracks. "Then what are you?" he inquired.
"Soldiers." Travers answered for me.
"Soldiers?" the man scoffed again. "You have no armor, no weapons. You can't be soldiers."
"Yeah. We are." I backed Travers up. "Only we have technology. Where we come from, battles are waged from afar, sometimes to the point where you can't see your enemy. The armor you speak of only weighs you down and you can't move as fast. The weapons we carry," I showed him my MKB. "Are like your crossbows, but they can shoot their bolts hundreds of times faster, thousands of times further, and sound like lightning and thunder."
I know, a little dramatic, but I was done explaining firearms every time I encountered a new settlement. So if you were a medieval-age swordsman and didn't know what I was talking about, or at least understand the feeling I was trying to push across, you simply wouldn't understand period.
But the man scoffed again.
"You talk of magic. Your words are utter foolishness. Do you have the courage to back them up?"
I smiled at him, holding Travers back.
"My pleasure."
I held up my MKB in the crook of my arm, charging it. I took aim at an overturned wooden bucket. Squeezing trigger, I let off a round, sending it flying.
After waiting out the ring of tinnitus, and pulling the man up off of the floor, I withdrew the magazine, racked the bolt, and retrieved the round.
"Convinced now?" I asked, cleaning off my round, replacing it back into he mag and back into my rifle.
"Awesome." he only gasped out. Then fell on his knees, head in the mud. "Are you Gods?"
I didn't even react to that, dragging him up like he was a scared private.
"Hell no!" I pushed him to his feet. "Don't you dare start treating us like ones. It's the technology, it's so far advanced, it seems magical to you. Now get up and keep taking us to wherever we need to go. I'm hungry, and tired of this bullshit."
The man in the robes quickly got up. "Yes m-lord"
I grabbed him by his armor collar one last time.
"Captain. I'm rank of Captain."
I let him go, stumbling back. He got back up and started to lead us again.
Travers walked up to me. "Sheesh Marvin."
I rolled my eyes, smiling. Slinging my rifle, I followed after them.