During the trip, Piña and Mike were conversing with questions mostly from Piña about how strong the United States, and many other things related to that topic.
Meanwhile, Bozes also conversed with the members of the USMC in the Cougar MRAP.
Hoping she can wrest some information from them.
After all, information was power, Piña needs as much as she can get her hands on to give her an edge in this desperate situation.
As they continued their way towards the USMC headquarters in the New World, the scenery changed bit by bits.
Signing they arrived the territory controlled by the USMC.
The scenery there was no longer familiar to Piña and Bozes.
What had once been a bare hill now a fortress.
A flight of three helicopters on a training mission greeted Piña, as they turned overhead while flying a Nap-Of-Earth course.
Their powerful engines created a mighty downwash that seemed like it was going to sweep the surface clean.
Hunter 2-1 drove down the newly-built road among the flying sand and dust.
After passing the squad of the OPL (Outpost Picket Line).
They entered the territory controlled by the USMC.
The large space they had just entered was called the FEBA (Forward Edge of the Battle Area), which was used as a training and practice area.
At the same time, it was a boneyard for numerous Wyvern corpses, as well as where the children of Coda Village's refugees went to work.
The first thing Piña saw was the USMC troops formed up into squads with a flagbearer at their head holding their unit flag high above himself.
The speed of the vehicles left them far behind, but before Piña could turn to watch them, the skeletons of several buildings came up by the side of the road.
The USMC had considered the possibility of street-to-street fighting during a theoretical invasion of the Imperial Saderan Capital, so they had asked Master Cato to supply blueprints of an average residential building in the city.
They had turned these blueprints into mockups of Imperial Buildings, which the Marines used to practice their Urban Combat tactics.
Initially, Piña had no idea what these troopers are up to.
In the New World, the most common form of attack was having infantry or cavalry charge into close quarters with the enemy while shouting "Waaaaagh!" or some other bloodcurdling battle cry.
Once contact was made, it was every man for himself.
They would strike down the enemy with blades, spears, or shield bashes.
Unlike the barbarian tribes on the frontier, the Saderan Army did not allow their Legionaries to fight by themselves.
Instead, their Centurions would maintain order and rotate out the men on the front line of the formation to the rear as they got tired.
Their enemy would fight until they got tired and then they would be cut down, but the Saderan Army would always have their freshest troops in the frontline, while their tired and wounded would recuperate in the rear.
This basic combat tactic remained the same whether they fought on open plains or dense city streets.
The Commander's job was to raise the men's fighting spirit, train their fighting skills, and lead them victory over the enemy.
However, the United States were different.
They did not use shields, nor did they form a dense Tetsudo formation.
They would spread out to sprint, halt, and drop prone, all the while communicating with hand gestures.
They were closely-knit, well-oiled machine that switched between stillness and motion with a fluid grace.
At the same time, they were raising metal staves in all directions.
They looked like hedgehogs.
What on earth are they doing? Piña tilted her head as she thought, but could not find an answer.
"They're all holding staves like Mike. Could it be the USMC are mages? If that's the case, is that the secret of their power?"
Bozes answered Piña's question with a question of her own.
"But mages are rare since magic is a special ability. Then, does that mean the USMC can produce mages in large quantities?"
Piña could imagine how those staves could strike down the enemy with beams of searing light.
After that, she understood what the USMC were training for their movements were calculated to conceal themselves and respond to to the enemies own movements, in order to find their foe and kill them in any environment or surroundings.
Even if they were ambushed from the dark corners, even if they were fired on from high windows by snipers, even if they were flanked from both sides by Imperial Cavalry, before the enemy troops could close the distance to the USMC, they would be turned into Swiss Cheese by their fire-staves.
"No, these metal staves are not magic. In they're language, they are weapons which called 'Guns', 'Rifles', or 'Small Arms'." From the side, Lelei denied Bozes.
"The United States Marine Corp uses these guns as the basis of they're fighting ability. In order to make full use of they're guns in combat, they have trained and developed they're skills to this level." Lelei explained to the Imperial nobles.
"Their weapons?! That is to say they're like our swords and bows?!"
"Yes. The principle is simple. They enchant a piece of lead with explosive magic, seal it within the metal tube, and then they let the lead fly free." the petite blue-haired mage explained.
Mike just chuckled after hearing Lelei still thinks their weapons are magic based.
But said nothing.
The others also chuckled after hearing Lelei's answer.
The blue-haired mage turned her head towards him.
"Is something wrong, Lieutenant Ramirez?".
"You almost said everything right Lelei. But you were wrong on one thing about our weapons." he said in their language.
Lelei tilted her head.
Piña moved closer to Ramirez with an interested look on her face.
"There is no magic used in our weapons. These weapons only used a chemical reaction to create a miniature explosion in the chamber. Therefore, it is called "Gunpowder" or black powder. But you can call either of them as you like to call it."
Lelei tilted her head questioningly once more.
"Black Powder?"
Ramirez nodded.
"Black Powder. It is a mixture of several materials. Because of its highly reactive nature, it is widely used in my world for mining and many other things which requires controlled explosion..."
Lelei nodded in understanding.
Mike's explanation about Gunpowder in great and scientific detail could go like this:
"Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate (I.E., burn) at subsonic speeds, whereas high explosives detonate, producing a supersonic wave. Ignition of powder packed behind a bullet must generate enough pressure to force it from the muzzle at high speed, but not enough to rupture the gun barrel. Gunpowder this makes it a good propellant, but is less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications."
Piña sighed in desperation because she couldn't understand what they were saying and looked out of the window with a dissatisfied expression searching some kind of hope.
While inspecting the piles of Wyvern corpses on the battlefield, she had found many huge holes in the bodies.
A closer inspection of their shattered scales revealed lead chunks and other fragments.
Working backward from there, Lelei had deduced the mechanism of firearms by careful analysis of what she had seen, heard, and learned.
Mike's explanation strengthened what she heard and completed the puzzle in her head.
Completed what she already knows.
Either Piña convinces her father to surrender immediately, or the Saderan Empire will be annihilated from the ground.
Either by the War machine by the might of the United States.
Piña's vision suddenly blurred, thinking about what Mike had said about their weapons.
It's not magic, but a weapon? So since human can make these weapons, they can distribute them to all of their Marines?
If that's the case, then obviously the way they wage war would be different.
No matter how many men with spears or swords we raised, their numbers would be useless in the face of an enemy who fought like this.
As these thoughts ran through her mind. Out of the blue, a LAV-25 roared up besides them.
The Marines who rushed out of the vehicle swiftly formed a neat firing line; their weapons pointed at imaginary opponents.
At this moment, Piña could vividly imagine Cavalry and Infantry being gunned down in their ranks, and she furrowed her brows in anxiety.
"Too slow! Move your asses faster! Again!"
In response to their Commander's rebuke, the troopers got back onto the APC.
After watching them training like, Piña could not help but think.
So there's a huge difference even from their basic styles.
Unlike the fear which had been deeply engraved her souls in Italica, she was afraid because she could now understand her opponent, and it frightened her.
Piña turned back to look inside the Cougar, and she saw Mike, Foley, James, and the others holding the non-magical weapons they called "Guns".
If they were weapons, Piña and Bozes should be able to use them if they got their hands on one of them.
If they could fully understand these weapons and obtained them, then at least future battles would not like be one-sided slaughters like what had happened previously.
Piña understood the importance of this.
Her aim now was to obtain these weapons and pass them on to the best craftsmen she could find and force them to make more, at any cost.
As though reading Piña's thoughts, Lelei quietly chimed in from the side.
"That would be pointless."
Lelei pointed outside, through another vehicle's windows.
On the open ground, something that looked like a cross between a crazed elephant and a block of metal was thundering towards them.
It was a M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank.
"When they say 'small arms', they mean that these weapons are small guns. So that means that there should be 'big guns' as well."
They looked at the Abrams as it turned its turret, their eyes going to its 120mm gun.
"Does, does that spit fire too?"
Piña's thoughts were not the same as Bozes' murmured words.
She realized that the Iron Elephants and Iron Carriages were used by the otherworlders as Armored Units.
The Iron Pagasis and Fire Dragons are used as their Aerial Units.
"I have seen something similar to it myself, it was beautiful to behold and terrifying to get hit and get killed by it."
No Blacksmith in the Saderan Empire could make such a thing.
And it was not just the Empire, but nobody on the continent could build stuff like that.
It probably would not make a difference whether she searched the underground world of the Elves or among the master craftsmen of the Dwarves.
It was a monster from another world, and she could fully believed the stories made by the people of Coda Village that it actually killed the Ancient Fire Dragon.
Iron Pegasi, Carriages, Fire Dragons, and Elephants.
What was this the USMC, this force that could produce these things in such great numbers? She looked at Mike thoughtfully.
A terrifying thought, I was naive enough to think they were both equals to begin with.
She even remembered how he said about the United States of America being a sleeping Giant.
Once rudely awakened, there's absolutely nothing that can stop them of their die hard will and determination.
"Such terrifying power... Why did we even attack them in the first place?"
In response to Piña's quiet mutterings, Lelei replied.
"The Saderan Empire has trod on a Griffin's tail."
"You, you... Don't talk like it doesn't concern you! The Saderan Empire is in a crisis for survival, how can you speak so easily about it!"
Bozes angrily grabbed Lelei's shoulder, and in return, she received an even more hateful answer.
"I am of the Rurudo Clan. The Empire's well-being has nothing to do with me."
The Rurudo were a nomadic people. Although Lelei had settled down near Coda Village, she and her people had never had any particular opinion about the Saderan Empire.
Tuka, who had been listening but did not have the chance to cut in, rushed to raise her hand and say.
"Yes, I'm an Elf!"
"..."
Rory remained silent.
She did not need to say anything and simply smiled.
The Saderan Empire had made the Allied Kingdoms bend their knees and ruled over its citizens with force.
The Emperor did not expect his subjects to love, respect, or do anything but fear him.
The Saderan Empire's policy of conquest, suppression, and rulership through violence had led to the present situation - despite its dominance over them it did not have the loyalty of its subjects.
It was only now that Piña realized the consequences of the Saderan Empire's actions.
She watched back at the Marines in Italica.
From their perspective, they were doing what was necessary to do, it was not for conquest but rather, in retaliation against the Saderan Empire.
There was also mutual respect amongst each others forces, and they even established friendship between them and the people of Italica from what she seen the night before.
Not to mention when ordered, they would obey their officers with extreme dedication to their orders.
Without dedication within the ranks of the Saderan Army, everything would be a mixed of undisciplined soldiers and lazy, corrupt officers.
Thinking about it gave her a headache.
-
Piña and Mike were brought to Alnus Hill now named as Fort Alnus, to a building with a plaque on the front that read.
"New World Expeditionary Force Command of the United States"
Escorted by a uniformed female officer, Piña and Bozes were guided up a flight of steps and into the depths of the building.
Following that, they were brought to a waiting room for a short time.
The room was unappealingly small, it had little in the way of decoration it only had the flag of the United States in the left wall, A statue of Abraham Lincoln and Pictures of the founding fathers.
But the chairs we're very comfortable.
It must have been the work of a renowned craftsman.
Just as they were getting bored of this room, a knocking came from outside.
Piña and Bozes practically jumped out of their seats.
The man who entered looked like he had reached middle age.
His black hair was streaked with gray, and he had a crewcut the way Glenn did.
However, unlike Glenn, he had a small warm smile on his face.
He seemed gentle enough, but there was a hint of strength within that kindness.
Piña felt that his green uniform was too sparsely decorated.
Apart from the set of three stars on his uniforms shoulders.
In truth, she found it hard to believe he was a General of these battle hardened Marines.
After all, in her experience, a high-ranking officer's chest, shoulders and entire body would be plastered with medals, and other decorations.
This austere look of his made him seem like a humble footsoldier.
However, since she had arrived here, Piña realized that this army despised meaningless ornamentation and instead valued actual competency.
Therefore, she had no doubts about this man.
She immediately understood that the man before her might well be the highest-ranking officer of this otherworldly army, or at least, he was one of them.
Behind Jackson, Glenn stood at attention behind the middle-aged man, whispering into his ear from time to time.
Glenn seemed to be a relaxed person who was nevertheless devoted to his job.
There was another man behind Glenn.
He had a sly smile on his face, and he arrived not long after the female officer.
They all wore the same Green Uniform, though there were differences between them.
From Piña's observations, she concluded that the mottled Marine Corps Green Uniform must be some sort of camouflage used in combat, and it was different from the single-colored green uniform used for ceremonial purposes.
Finally, Lelei and Mike entered the room, standing beside the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man smiled and said something to Lelei and Mike.
The two nodded and then Lelei translated his words to Piña and Bozes
"This is the General of the USMC, his Excellency General Jackson." Mike re-translated those words
"This is Lieutenant-General Jackson, Commander of the USMC." Lelei translated
Following that, Piña also introduced herself and Bozes to this Lieutenant-General Jackson.
Because Lelei still did not fully understand any their Language, while Mike can understand them.
And so, he translated for her.
"This is her Imperial Highness, Princess Piña Co Lada."
"Thank you Lieutenant, I have a question. How do they address the members of royalty in this world?"
"From what I learned, there are slight differences between men and women. But for ladies, "Francea" will do for now."
Mike nodded and gestured to Piña and Bozes to take a seat.
"Please have a seat, Francea and Miss Bozes."
After that, Jackson and his entourage sat down one by one, and they began speaking, while Lelei and Mike served as their translators.
"I believe this is uncalled for. But, what happened to bring Your Highness here in person?"
"The truth is, my nation had done many atrocities to your country. We deeply regretted the events that followed after their defeat in your world, and we hope you will forgive our nation. Even if it takes to sign an unfair treaty."
"I've know this is in the past now. Did some occurrence happened to make you come here?"
"Well..." she couldn't just say, "We've seen your power and we will present the unconditional surrender of the Saderan Empire, so please spare us." and other similar statements.
However, unknown to her, Mike explained Jackson her reasons in his language.
"She feared that they angered the USMC when I am going to be sent to the Capitol to report the ongoing war. As such, she took this opportunity to offer some peace treaties in order to spare her nation. Hence, she misunderstood the meaning when I was called back to the Capitol."
"I see. So this is a misunderstanding, huh? Well since she's here, we would like to hear what she has to offer to us."
Jackson said before turning back his attention to Piña and Bozes.
"This man had told me what happened." Jackson started to explain.
"Although, we wish for your Highness to continue being an intermediary between the Saderan Empire and us. If the events that have caused you so much grief require it, we can also reconsider the terms of the treaty that we can agree on."
Their attitude to diplomacy was to respond flexibly to minor setbacks.
However, this way of thinking was quite problematic for diplomats, in particular, Piña, who represented her nation.
To her, denying the terms they wanted was equivalent to the Americans attacking them.
Therefore, she misinterpreted Jackson's words as "If you don't do as we say, we will destroy you." The addition of "We wish for your Highness to continue being an intermediary between us and the Saderan Empire" made her feel even more uncomfortable.
"No, no, actually-"
The man with the sly smile, who had been sitting to one side all this time, suddenly cut in.
"I've been briefed by Liutenant Ramirez. May I ask what was the real reason why you came here?"
Halfway through Lelei and Mike's translation, Piña and Bozes were already sweating bullets.
In the end, they still could not silence Mike.
The two of them had tried to cut in at every possible opportunity, offering every lewd temptation they could muster, but ultimately, none of their attempts worked.
"I confess, I wanted to laugh when I heard you two came here almost as if you were begging for forgiveness. Especially when this man here," he gestures to Mike "had claimed that you were here for the sole reason to prevent Mike to go to the Capitol, am I right?"
The way he smiled while earnestly asking.
"Did you really think you can expect forgiveness from us?" made Piña think of him as a snake, with all the accompanying negative impressions.
He refused to drop the matter and kept asking questions like "Why did you came here?" , "Was there any reason to prevent him from going there?" during any lull in the conversation. It was clingy and annoying to say the least.
She could almost hear Mike's mutterings, "Your talking as annoying as you are." and it seems he was getting annoyed as well.
He did nothing wrong, yet he was called to his Capitol.
The words of this snake-like man, while not inherently judgmental, sounded like he was condemning them every time he spoke.
"..."
Piña could barely squeeze out a response, and in the end, Lelei and Mike said something to the man with the sly smile.
Following which, the sly smile became a mocking smile, and he introduced himself.
"I do apologize for not introducing myself. My name is First Liutenant Tate, and I am pleased to meet you."
To Piña, it sounded like 'I'm Tate', remembering it.
This might take a very long time to negotiate with these strange people.
-
December 13th
Local Time 11 o'clock
In front of Alnus Gate
Todays sunshine was exceptionally bright.
Mike was standing still, a blank expression on his face.
The First Lieutenant was still tired after he had to wake up earlier by James acting as his alarm and he had to finish his reports before he return to DC.
"So slow..." he sweated.
For the most part, everyone everywhere should have a sense of time, but he did not know how it was for people in the New World.
After all, they did not have clocks, so they might not have the habit of being on time as well.
So I'll wait then, Mike thought as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
Eventually, the people he was waiting for finally arrived.
"Joseph, Millie you guys took so long!"
"Sorry, Lieutenant, we were delayed because we were taking care of things."
In contrast to the uniformed Mike was wearing the standard Dress uniform.
Whilst Joseph and Millie were in civilian clothes.
"It's so hot out, where are you going to wear this so much?"
That had been Tuka, speaking in a soft voice.
Lelei gave Mike a long and intense look, while the black-clad Gothic Lolita had followed of course.
Mike, the Commander and Leader in charge during the battle with The Ancient Flame Dragon, was not the only one being summoned by the Senate.
Several other witnesses from the affected Refugees had been called too.
Among these "Affected Refugees" the presence of Lelei was essential because she could translate for both sides.
Lelei's services were in high demand recently, almost to the point of abuse.
Still, the amount of work was overwhelming.
All they could do was ask her to bear with it.
Lieutenant-General Jackson had even told her in person that after the meeting with the Capitol as well as ambassadors from different nation's, as compensation for her hard work, he would arrange for her to have fun and relax in America before coming back.
Tuka would be coming along because she would be the living proof that the New World contained other sentient species besides Humans.
Her mere existence would answer many questions, and to the media, it would have great persuasive power.
As for Rory... Well, she looked human enough and resembled a child.
With that black priestess' garb on top of that, what if she was mistaken for a cosplaying girl brought along to make up the numbers?
Although demigods were feared and respected in this world's legend (not including the countless stories of luckless others being killed off), it would be troubling if she wanted to demonstrate her "Divine Power" in the Capitol.
As a result, Mike was in a dilemma over how to handle her.
But the main reason they had brought her along was because she said.
"How could you leave me out of something so fun?"
In addition, Millie and Joseph were there as their guards.
Mike shook his head and turned back to the others.
"All right, that should be it. Then, let's move out."
Just as Mike said this, a car drove up in front of Mike and stopped there.
Tate got out of the passenger seat and raised a hand in greeting.
"Sorry, sorry, the procedures took a bit more time than anticipated."
'What was this guy up to?'
Just as Mike was starting to get annoyed by looking at him, Tate opened the rear door of the vehicle and invited the two people within to a light.
"Her Imperial Highness Piña Co Lada, and her Excellency the Marchioness Bozes Co Palesti. These two will be accompanying you secretly to Washington. Please take care of them."
Piña and Bozes got out of the car and lined up in front of Mike.
"Oi, Tate, we never talked about this." The First Lieutenant protested.
"Ah? Didn't I tell you before? Then it shouldn't be too late to explain now, right? I've made the arrangements with Omni Shoreham Hotel. Go and enjoy your three-day vacation."
"You... Ah, forget about it. It's useless now."
"Heh. Well, it doesn't matter, don't worry about it. In any case, Her Imperial Highness will be an important intermediary between our government and hers, so it was only natural that she requested to come to our country to learn about it."
With that, Tate drew close to Mike and spoke softly to him while sliding a white envelope to Mike's pocket.
"Courtesy of Lieutenant-General Jackson. Use it to show our guests a good time. Show them the meaning of American hospitality."
Mike sighed and turned back to the others.
"All right. Let's get in the car."
They took seat one by one, and the miniature convoy had departed.
Because of their increased number.
Piña, Bozes, Mike and Millie sat in the same car.
Meanwhile, Rory, Tuka, Lelei, and Joseph went with the same car.
They passed the borders of the Gate under the Ferro-concrete sarcophagus like a dome.
The car steadily moved towards the other side of the where DC awaited them.
Now, what will happen, they wonder?
As the Gate's dome opens.