GATE (Thus the JSDF fought there): Breakthrough

Chapter 22: Departure

General Barkley gave a big sigh of relief, standing up from the chair as a few of the JSDF and U.S. intelligence officers cheered and hugged one another.

"Someone tell Princess Pina that the king is dead. She may begin breaking down the rest of the Empire's forces, send her the body camera footage from the Raiders." The JSDF General tells his intelligence officers before looking at General Barkley in the room.

General Barkley shakes hands with the JSDF General as the two nod.

"It's a pleasure to be working with you, General." Barkley shakes the hand of the JSDF General.

"Overlord this is Harvey 2-1. I've got confirmed images of Empire soldiers surrendering. Seems word got to them quick." A drone operator says on the radio

"Good work Harvey 2-1. Let the others handle it, continue to survey." Barkley responds, taking a long second to breathe for once.

They had done it, not just the U.S. but the JSDF and Pina's soldiers. Maybe something good could come out of this revelation.

——

The constant beating of the propellors eventually slows down as the UH-60 Black Hawk lowers itself onto the helipad.

"All Raptor teams back at base. Good work everyone, drinks are on me tonight." Captain Sam says, turning off his MH-6M and bumping fists with his flight partner Lynn.

"Hear that? Sam's actually buyin' for once." The other pilots joke on the radio.

Ryan hopped out of the Black Hawk, lending his hand up for Kali to hop down from the Black Hawk as well.

With a quick look around, Ryan could easily tell they were in Alnus Hill which might've posed a problem to Jason because they left Druilla back at Italica.

Kali clung onto Ryan's arm, she was practically fighting to stay awake.

"Let's get you to sleep-" Ryan gets interrupted by a radio call.

"Watcher and Marine raiders report to the command center for debrief." Barkley ordered on the radio.

"Huh... guess it'll wait, just bear with it, unless you want to get some sleep alone?" Ryan tilted his head down to Kali who peeked one eye while she yawned.

With a small shake of her head, Kali finished yawning before she kept her tug on Ryan's arm. "I'll stay awake for a bit longer..."

"Hm alright then, if you fall asleep I'm not liable for you." Ryan joked back, helping her walk to the others who gathered in a small circle while the Raiders left for the command center first.

Jackson was in the middle of a stern talking to Delilah, he seemed to be a small bit angered by how she acted. "You can't just be doing that, what if that got someone hurt? I would've been reliable for it, what if you got hurt?"

Delilah seemed to be on the verge of rebutting before a familiar face walked to the group, in fact, two familiar faces.

Druilla ran from behind Aiden, running to Jason and jumping to hug him.

"Ah! Hey, quit it! Druilla!" Jason chuckles slightly as she starts to grab his arms and face, looking for any wounds or injuries as Jason fights back slightly. "Druilla I'm fine."

After a few seconds, Druilla stopped, taking a deep breath as tears filled her eyes once more and she hugged him. "No more after this... right?"

Jason took a deep breath, tightly hugging her a bit awkwardly because of his plate carrier. "No more."

Aiden looked at the two lovebirds with a small grin before returning his gaze to the other lovebirds who were arguing.

"Calm it you two. Go makeup with a smooch or something." Aiden spoke with a grin, nodding to the rest of the team before looking back at Delilah and Jackson. "Going to have to agree with your boyfriend Delilah, if someone or you got hurt it would've compromised the mission. Now, I don't think any of us are going to punish you but keep it as a reminder, if you got Jackson hurt you would've been breaking the compromise I set with you as well."