CTF Haymaker

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16

Chapter 1

CONFIDENTIAL
FLASH
FM PACOM
TO
MKIARG
USS MAKIN ISLAND
USS SOMERSET
USS COMSTOCK
11MEU
PHIBRON 5

SUBJ: HADR OPN IVO TAUROS

PROCEED AT BEST SPEED THROUGH PACIFIC RIFT. ALT-EARTH NATION OF TAUROS REQUESTING HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE/DISASTER RELIEF FROM RECENT EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI.

SITUATION:
INITIAL REPORTING OF LARGE-SCALE DISASTER IN TAUROS. UNKNOWN GROUND SITUATION. STAND BY TO RECEIVE UPDATES. JAPAN HAS PLEDGED DDH IZUMO. AUSTRALIA PREPARING AIRLIFT. EQUESTRIA SENDING ARMY.

MISSION:
STAND OFF TAUROS COAST AND ASSESS SITUATION. CONDITIONS PERMITTING, LAND ASHORE AND CONDUCT HA/DR OPERATIONS. ENSURE SAFETY OF TAUROS CITIZENS. COORDINATE WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO ENSURE HANDOVER OF OPERATIONS WHEN ABLE.

EXECUTION:

COMMANDER'S INTENT:
CONDUCT OPERATIONS WITH MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS, MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY. COORDINATE WITH PARTNER NATIONS. DEMONSTRATE GOODWILL OF THE UNITED STATES.

END STATE:
TAUROS ABLE TO ADEQUATELY CONDUCT OWN OPERATIONS IN SUPPORT OF CITIZENS. SITUATION STABLE.

COMMAND RELATIONSHIPS:

11MEU IS THE SUPPORTED COMMAND.

MKIARG, MARFORPAC, PACFLT, AND PACOM ARE THE SUPPORTING COMMANDERS.

RELEASED BY ADMIRAL L. H. SIRRAH, PACOM

CONFIDENTIAL

Colonel Roger Candless, United States Marine Corps, glanced at the printed message on the table. Across from him was Captain Catherine Lombard, United States Navy.

"What do you think?" Candless asked.

Lombard sat back and crossed her legs, hand going to her chin. "It sounds like you have your work cut out for you. I read the weather report a few minutes ago and Minos was basically wiped off the map. I doubt we'll be able to find a decent pier or even a harbor to pull in."

"Well, as long as the LCACs work." Candless would have shrugged, but was too deep in thought. The mission ahead was not something he wasn't trained for. It was just something he'd never done before, and tens of thousands of people were depending on him.

USS Makin Island, Lombard's ship, was currently headed west for the rift. They would cross and be only one more day's sail from Tauros. Then, Candless' Marines would deploy.

"I'll get started on a volunteer signup, if you need some extra hands," Lombard offered.

Candless nodded. "Maybe. I'd like to get started on recon as soon as we can, and then I'll make a decision."

Lombard bid him goodbye and Candless left her stateroom. He oriented himself in the ship's narrow passageways and headed for EXPLOT to get more information.

The Expeditionary Plot kept watch on indications and warnings that could affect the Amphibious Ready Group. The ARG, Makin Island and two other ships, had plenty of its own sensors, but also pulled in data from everywhere around the US military.

Reports were still trickling in about Tauros. One of the sailors grabbed some raw satellite imagery to show to Candless. It didn't have landmarks and important references without being perused by an expert analyst, but Candless could see the place was obviously wrecked. The waterfront of Minos was basically flattened, and debris appeared to be everywhere.

Of course, the satellite pictures wouldn't be as good as those from an aircraft, and Candless intended to get helicopters up as soon as the ARG was within range.

"Does anyone speak Minotaur?" he asked.

He didn't expect an answer, and didn't get one.

Later that day, Candless was reading any available news. The shipboard TV showing the American Forces Network was currently playing CNN. Alt-Earth was always an interesting enough topic for talking heads and they were covering the disaster round the clock.

There was an interview with some pony, apparently a geologist. He explained that according to their geodetic sensors, Tauros had been hit with the double whammy of an earthquake that triggered a tsunami. Candless wondered if "double whammy" was a scientific term.

He looked at the map on TV. It wasn't great, only showing a few landmarks. Surely somewhere on this ship there was a better one.

Candless checked his email and was mildly surprised to see himself CC'd on a message chain involving people all the way up to the Admiral in charge of US Pacific Command. A couple of Japanese names stood out.

He saw another message from Captain Lombard. It was addressed to another Japanese address, this one ending in .msdf
From the context of the email, he gathered that she was reaching out to her counterpart, the Captain of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force ship JS Izumo. It was vaguely shaped like Makin Island with a large flight deck, but lacked the size and the well deck.

As Candless sorted messages a new email popped in. It was addressed to him, and CC'd both Lombard and the Japanese Captain. As he read it, it became clear that Candless had found his own counterpart. It was signed by Colonel Takahiro Morita, Japan Ground Self Defense Force.

Candless replied with a greeting and described a few basic capabilities of his Marine Expeditionary Unit: two thousand personnel, construction equipment, ground and air transport, desalinization, medical. It wasn't the first time he had ever worked with the Japanese. This operation wouldn't be the first time he'd ever worked with Australians, either.

Morita replied that the JGSDF was bringing 300 troops and 42 vehicles, capable of much the same mission though on a smaller scale. Izumo had ten helicopters, some of which could lift the trucks. Ideally, Izumo would be able to offload equipment at a pier.

Lombard sent another email, passing along the contact information of an Australian Air Force Colonel, Paul Hogan, who was heading up the airlift.

In a private email, Candless sent back, Is he really named Paul Hogan?

Yep, Lombard answered. Wonder if he'll call your Ka-Bar "a knife?"

Grinning, Candless sent Hogan a message, CC'ing the others. It looked like the gang was coming together. Some of his earlier apprehension over heading up the operation was fading.

The next day, the framework of the coalition had started to form. Colonel Morita spoke decent English and he had a conversation over video teleconference with Candless and Hogan. The Australians were coming with six C-130 transport aircraft. They would be packed with supplies and personnel, and could subsequently function as transport inside Tauros.

They still hadn't heard from the Equestrian commander personally, but had heard they would be bringing one hundred pegasus guards, with a ground force to follow within a week. Candless had to remind himself that Alt-Earth was still adapting to the differing technology level and that mass transport was not yet common.

The United States had scrambled up two Minotaur translators and would be flying them in soon. The Equestrians had two translators. Australia provided one. Japan provided three, but one of them didn't also speak English.

It was still a comparatively small group to be handling the welfare of a whole country, even a small one. Communication, even among allies like Australia, Japan, and the United States, would be difficult. Whole flurries of emails back and forth were already flying.

Still, one of the hardest problems to solve was naming the coalition. A humanitarian operation wasn't supposed to sound aggressive. Exactly what non-aggressive term to use was up to debate.

The Equestrians stumbled the email chain late. Some Private who accidentally hit reply all said, "I thought it was called Operation Haymaker???"

Whoever that was probably got a tongue-lashing from their commander, but the name stuck. Combined Task Force Haymaker was established with Candless as the lead.

He attended the area brief ahead of the landing. Someone had come up with a logo, a pair of crossed pitchforks. It made a decent, easy to draw symbol. Candless could see it probably stenciled on vehicles and equipment soon.

The brief covered the area of Tauros, some of the terrain features, some of the demographics and population statistics.

Tauros lay between two mountain ranges that separated it from Equestria and the Dragon Confederation. Mines in the northeastern mountains were especially rich in gems. The wide valley in the center of the country gave way to grasslands. It all ran down to a relatively flat coastline.

The harbor at Minos, if it was in decent shape, might be able to support some large ships. There wasn't a single airport in the whole country. Once again, slow technology transfer, but also, minotaurs generally didn't trust aviation.

Minotaurs were perceived by most as outgoing and strongheaded. Their government had asked for help. Analysts weren't sure if the people felt the same.

Either way, they definitely needed it. Deaths could number in the thousands after the earthquake and tsunami. Those living further from the coast had fared better, of course, but even with the average minotaur's physical strength they needed help cleaning up. Not to mention restoring utilities and distributing food.

Most of the food would be provided by the Equestrians, who ate a lot of the same things. "Haymaker" indeed. The Australians could probably lift in a lot, as well.

The brief touched on a few other issues. Criminal elements could seize the opportunity to loot or worse. Tauros wasn't on good terms with its neighbor, the Dragon Confederation. Internal elements of the minotaur political apparatus might cause problems.

Candless had a few other questions left to answer before landing. Once there, they would have to make contact with the Equestrians. A site for airplanes to land would need to be selected, and prepared if necessary. The port had to be inspected. And above all, people had to be helped.

They were almost within range of Tauros, and it was time to go to work.

Author's Note

I want to play a game.

This is a comment-driven story.

Chapter 2

Chief Warrant Officer Jacob Henry leaned against one of the Humvees in the belly of the LCAC. He and his team of Marines were part of the first wave to land in Tauros along with a Navy beachmaster unit.

Martinez, Cisco, and Wall, all midlevel enlisted Marines wearing their green digital MARPAT, were nearby. Like Henry, all had their rifles close. None of them wore body armor, though. This wasn't a hot situation.

That didn't make their job any less important. As one of the MEU's CI/HUMINT teams, they were the ears closest to the ground. The broad guidance they had been given was to figure out who needed help.

It wasn't Henry's first rodeo, though the first with actual bulls. It wasn't his first trip through the rift, either. He looked towards the shore of Tauros as the LCAC sped forwards at forty knots. They would be there soon, and have to figure out how to work with the locals.

That was where Specialist Lee came in. He was in the Army, and had been flown out so fast he'd barely had time to pack. He was young and looked younger. But he spoke Minotaur, and they needed him.

Lee clutched his own rifle, looking awkward and out of place in his grey ACU uniform. He'd already thrown up with seasickness once.

Henry glanced up, spotting a Huey overhead. That would be the boss, on his way to meet the king.

Colonel Candless checked his notes and glanced over at the translator sitting next to him in the helicopter. Robert Fantone was a DIA employee, somewhat overweight, and in a suit and tie, looking completely out of place next to Candless. At least he was a cool customer, looking almost bored strapped into the helo seat.

The map Candless consulted was the best he'd found ready aboard Makin Island. It didn't tell him everything he wanted to know, but would do for now.

If he had to make a comparison, he'd say it was the size of Delaware. Not as populated, though.

The earthquake had rattled the whole country. Equestria's northeast was relatively sparsely populated and little damage had been reported there. The Dragon Confederation simply didn't have many structures.

The Minos Peninsula had been hit the hardest by the resulting tsunami. It was likely the roads in either direction were washed out. As for the city itself...well, they would be lucky if it wasn't flattened. Maybe Colonel Morita could offer some perspectives from the tsunamis Japan had suffered.

They'd already flown a few helicopters for basic reconnaissance, but some things would need to be checked with the naked eye and up close. Down below, Candless could see the hovercrafts making their way to shore. Between Makin Island and its two fellows, Somerset and Comstock, there were four of the LCACs.

Makin Island also carried an aviation unit, consisting of twelve MV-22 Ospreys, four CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters, two of the Hueys like Candless was riding on, and four Navy MH-60 Seahawks. There were also six AV-8B Harrier jets and six AH-1Z Super Cobra attack helicopters, but that wasn't related to humanitarian assistance.

The Huey headed for Minos. Candless studied the devastation down below, casting a critical eye on the ruined buildings. Some of them actually didn't look so ruined at all. The ones that appeared fairly intact were made of sturdy stone.

Candless remembered pictures he'd seen of minotaurs. The whole species were all uniformly big. The average male was around three hundred pounds, and most of it muscle.

The minotaur king, King Coal, turned out to be a little bigger than that. It made the small gold crown perched between his horns seem all the more delicate. After the helicopter landed in the castle courtyard, Coal came out to greet them. Candless braced, and fortunately didn't get his hand crushed in the handshake.

"Roger Candless," he said through the translator. "It's nice to meet you, King."

Candless had never addressed a head of state before. Fortunately, Coal seemed the jovial sort. He pointed at the Haymaker logo stenciled on the side of the helicopter and said something to another minotaur that the translator chose not to repeat.

He turned to Candless. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Colonel." Coal cocked his head, his long horns nearly knocking over a subordinate. "I hear that you are a Marine, a great warrior."

"No greater enemy, no better friend," Candless quipped. "We're here to help, sir."

"Yes, yes," Coal nodded, his face turning serious. "The disaster was unprecedented. I have never seen anything like it."

"Let us know what you need, and where you need it," Candless said.

Coal barked something at one of the minotaurs following him. The younger male rushed forward with a scroll.

Coal opened it to show Candless. The paper was at least several feet long. "You can start with this."

Flight Lieutenant Alexander Jordan peered down from the cockpit as the Royal Australian Air Force C-130 swept low over the beach. The Americans had supposedly cleared the strip of beach for aircraft, but it never hurt to be sure.

Seeing no obvious obstructions, Jordan made a sweeping turn to line up with the mile-long graded strip of sand and gently touched down, passing over the green-painted construction equipment that had made the impromptu runway. The C-130J Super Hercules was built for rough field operations, and while it bounced around a little, the landing was secure.

Jordan taxied off the strip and onto a parking area. The tsunami had really done a number on the land. He'd seen the capital city on the way in. It shouldn't take too much effort to send in supplies by truck or something.

He'd never flown a whole planeload of hay before. Fitting, perhaps, given the name of the task force, but still unusual for a military aircraft.

After parking, Jordan shut down the aircraft. He unstrapped and turned to the man next to him. "Sir, by your leave."

Group Captain Paul Hogan nodded. "Go see if they need you to do anything."

The RAAF ranks didn't make any sense to an outsider. Having worked with the Americans before, Hogan responded equally well to either Group Captain or Colonel.

Jordan disembarked the aircraft. He took a personal pleasure in visiting a new country, but that was tempered by the disaster.

A Japanese UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter came in for a landing, beating sand into the air. Off in the distance, almost to the horizon, Jordan could see a cluster of ships. That would be the Japanese and the Americans. He wondered if the Equestrians had arrived yet. He'd never met a pony. Or a minotaur, for that matter.

Captain Lombard lifted her binoculars. From the bridge of Makin Island, JS Izumo was visible in the distance. The Japanese vessel was like a half-scale version of her own ship.

Out the other window was the shore of Tauros. One hundred sailors had been identified to go ashore and provide helping hands to the Marines. Of course, the ones staying behind still had jobs to do. If nothing else, relaying communication from ashore back through the rift.

The anomaly hadn't been there when Lombard had started her career, but it sure was now. She didn't understand the physics involved, not even with her nuclear engineering degree, but somehow it worked and the thing was a portal to another place. It just happened to be a similar planet populated with a dozen sapient species right out of a story book.

All day, LCACs had been ferrying equipment to shore. She'd heard the Australians coordinating through the air traffic center on the ship. If a suitable pier was identified, Makin Island would pull in and begin providing electricity and fresh water.

She checked her messages, seeing a supply ship was scheduled to arrive the next day. Getting a USNS cargo ship into port could provide the minotaur with refrigeration and many more supplies. Well, first they'd have to load it with vegetarian food. The Marines would probably be happy to give up their veggie MREs.

Colonel Takahiro Morita was now ashore. The JGSDF was setting up its own tents next to the Marines, building into an impromptu city. He'd barely had time to eat during the day and now took a moment to sit down with a can of chicken and rice. He'd neglected to bring a nicer can opener than the small folding one provided and didn't feel like calling his aide to get one. It wouldn't have been necessary if the Ministry of Defense saw fit to equip the SDF with rations that were easier to open, like the American MREs.

He finished up with the can and picked up the included chopsticks. As he ate, he mentally reviewed the operations still happening around him. The main force of humanitarian assistance was now established just west of Minos. Not all equipment was ashore yet, but it remained to be seen the suitability of the Minos port.

Air was not a problem. The makeshift runway was holding. The Americans had been bringing in their Ospreys. If there was no other way to get the heavy vehicles off Izumo, perhaps the heavy-lift CH-53's could do it.

Some minotaurs had already approached the camp. The task force had provided what they could. Water, mostly. Bulk supplies of food had yet to arrive. They still fed who they could, but Morita got the feeling that there wouldn't be enough to go around if every minotaur in the country showed up.

That was on top the problems of their reaction to the task force. Whether by ignorance or apathy, they'd already caused a few problems. None of them seemed to understand that it was a good idea to keep off a runway.

His aide, a Captain, came in. "Sir, the Equestrian pegasus unit has just arrived."

Morita stood up and took a quick glance at his uniform. The JGSDF camouflage was roughly the same color as MARPAT but not digital. His boots were scuffed from being on the ship, but ponies didn't wear boots anyway. He grabbed his hat and went to meet the Equestrians.

Chapter 3

The Humvee came to a stop. Henry stepped down, holding onto the passenger door as he disembarked.

He looked east, into the ruins of Minos. The road was paved with cobblestones, but the tsunami had washed soil over it and littered it with debris.

"I'll take point," Henry said, closing the door and walking forward. He wasn't expecting IEDs or anything, but to get the Humvee by the wreckage unscathed it was a good idea to take a personal look.

Three minotaurs approached. One said something in their own language to Henry. Based on the, uh, udder, this was a female. The two smaller minotaurs with her were likely kids.

Henry called for Specialist Lee. He talked to the three minotaurs, working out that they were looking for someone.

"His name is Copper Kenny," Lee said. "That's a pretty common naming convention for them, some mineral followed by a formal name."

Henry wrote it down, but there wasn't much they could do other than promise to keep their eyes open.

They picked their way east, following the road. They would probably find quite a few more displaced citizens before the day was out. Henry asked Lee to stay with him for that reason.

"Tell me what you know about Tauros," he said. It was partially for conversation, partially to fill in any gaps in Henry's memory.

"They have a theme that is almost like Greek," said Lee. "Of course, that isn't so interesting when you take into account that most Equestrian names are puns on human places."

The rift had definitely changed things. Who knew what they would discover next?

Looking down from the cockpit of the C-130, Jordan noted the destruction along the coast, centered around Minos. The tsunami hadn't washed the whole coast of Tauros, but the earthquake had also shaken dwellings up and down the country.

The back of the plane was empty and the loadmasters sat on the tailgate. Jordan and crew were out for a familiarization flight. It was not only to check the accuracy of the charts, but to get eyes on the territory where they would be operating. Once the ground forces had pushed further inland, there would probably be more work. Maybe cargo drops.

The roads looked reasonably intact from the air, but a few thousand feet was a long way. Up in the mountains, maybe that would be different. A whole pass collapsing could take months to clear.

He turned inland. The sky had zero pollution, and he could see to the horizon, where the mountains to the north rose up. A leisurely flight of an hour took them on a loop over the highlands. The center of the country appeared green and growing, rising up to forests and eventually high peaks. In the winter, the skiing might have been good. Supposedly there were some mines out this way, though what exactly they produced no one seemed to know.

Corporal Shino Hitoshi checked the map and squinted forward through the windshield of the Komatsu LAV. The road ahead ran north, up into Tauros' farming country. It was mostly clear, but not really made for vehicles. Hitoshi wondered if that was why they had sent the Japanese north, because they were used to narrow streets.

The LAV, while sharing its name with a North American armored personnel carrier, was instead a four-wheeled vehicle roughly shaped like an SUV, but armored against rifle fire. It rode high on independent suspension and could mount a gun on top. While the four of them inside carried their Howa 64 rifles, no one was on the alert. So far, there had been no indications of hostilities on the humanitarian mission.

He and his squad were on a simple recon mission. They had a radio and supplies for a few days. Their main job was just making sure the map was accurate.

Well, for the main roads, at least, that shouldn't be too difficult. Hitoshi periodically checked the GPS and if he happened to spot a landmark, put it down on the map spread across his knees.

In the distance, a few buildings came into view. On the map, it was probably the city of Diony. This was a farming area, and they'd already passed field after field. Most of it seemed to be grain. Hitoshi was from the city and couldn't tell exactly what it might be. It looked like a lot of food. Then again, minotaurs probably needed a lot of food.

They passed a sign with some words painted on it. Based on the GPS, this was Diony. There were a few cracks in the walls of a few buildings. Standard earthquake stuff, Hitoshi had seen it before.

As he looked around, though, he didn't see anyone. The buildings didn't look that damaged. Were they at lunch or something?

"Pull up there," he said to the driver. They came to a halt in what seemed to be a town square. Nothing stirred. The only sound was the LAV's diesel engine.

Could the minotaurs have seen them coming and fled? Did they not get word from the capital that help was coming? Was there something else going on?

"Call it in," Hitoshi said to the radioman. "Then, let's get going."

The meet-and-greets had been taken care of, the chain of command had been established, and now it was time to begin business in earnest.

Sky Colonel Spitfire had arrived with a unit of one hundred pegasi. Spitfire herself was apparently the leader of a trick flying squadron, though she was here along with everypony else on a volunteer basis. Hogan seemed to know who she was, though none of the humans had ever met her before.

"The Equestrian Army will be on its way," she said, using good English. "They have more supplies. I was told there will be three hundred of them."

The pegasi had arrived with sparse equipment. Each of them had carried in a bale of hay, a spear, and their personal items. The hay, while not appetizing to any of the humans, would sustain minotaurs in need.

The group of CTF leaders and their aides had gathered around a table in the command tent, minus Captain Lombard who was wired in via teleconference. Candless and Morita wore their green camouflage. Hogan wore his green flight suit.
Spitfire wore a blue utility-style uniform. To Candless it most resembled a US Coast Guard uniform, not the least of which was because it came with a ball cap. He was sure Lombard probably had a ball cap. He himself wore the usual Marine Corps eight-pointed cover. Morita's hat was rounded like a cylinder. Hogan, of course, wore a bush hat.

But it was the differences that brought them together. Each had their own expertise to bring to bear on the problem.

He did have to ask, though, "Why bring spears?"

Equestria surely had to have issued projectile weapons, Candless knew the technology had made it across the rift. A sidearm was much more compact than a spear taller than a pony. A spear didn't make any sense from a regalia standpoint, either, with the utility uniforms.

"A spear has a nonleathal side, too," said Spitfire. "But given an absolute need to kill, it's all about penetration."

"That's a good point," Candless acknowledged. "If we were to run across aggressors, I'm not entirely sure a 5.56 round would do very much to a minotaur."

"JGSDF has 7.62," Morita reminded him.

Candless nodded. "Right, and somewhere in the MEU we have a handful of M14's, M40's, and Barretts."

"Somerset has a pair of 30mm chainguns and all the ships have 20mm gatling," Lombard added dryly. "It's not a pissing contest, gentlemen."

"The dragons would win it anyway," said Spitfire.

That was a definite shift in the tone of the conversation. "Are we expecting trouble from the outside?" Candless asked directly.

"I would just expect trouble from dragons in general," Spitfire said. "That's not my lane, though. When the Army gets here, they'll probably have a few analysts to add to the combined intelligence cell."

Invasion was not a scenario typical in humanitarian missions. Candless made a mental note and then followed the conversation back to other matters.

Minotaurs were...well, Candless didn't want to call them stupid, that would imply a lack of brainpower, but they certainly were isolated. Being in a small country between two mountain ranges would do that. They had a few unique ideas about the way the world worked.

Apparently, once a geologist had explained to the minotaur government exactly why the earthquake had occurred, the king's first response was to organize teams of the nation's strongest minotaurs, which is to say all of them, to punch the tectonic plates back into place. The human observers were incredulous, but the Equestrians were at the very least curious.

Candless did at least ask, "Is it working?"

"Not that we've detected," replied his aide.

Candless reminded himself not to look down on anyone just because they were different or hadn't had the same opportunities. Maybe he'd find funding to build them a library or internet café or something.

They discussed general lines of effort. Spitfire had a few things she could add to the maps, though an expert would have been better. The group agreed that while they needed to help the closest minotaurs, the rest of the country still needed a survey to figure out what else might need fixing.

When the meeting was over, the leaders went their separate ways. Candless ended up walking out with Spitfire. She paused to grab her spear.

Candless decided maybe instead of a Beretta he would begin carrying his Ka-Bar.

Chapter 4 Author's Note

Chapter 4

The leadership met with King Coal to discuss the requirements of the misaion and hopefully refine the list of tasks.

The meeting took place at the castle. Candless considered the lunch to be fairly lavish, if vegetarian. While he couldn't fault a king for entertaining guests, it reminded him of the current situation.

Each member had a few talking points for the meeting. The Americans and Japanese both had ground teams surveying the country. The Ospreys and Super Stallions were handling lift duties while pegasi and smaller helicopters like Seahawks took on the messenger and scout role. The C-130's kept busy ferrying back and forth, sometimes into Equestria, sometimes back to Earth.

Coal sat back, steepling his fingers. "You humans talk of stallions, seahawks, ospreys and others. My question now is: have you ever named one of your military vehicles after the great minotaurs?"

"I think the Army was working on a robot-converted Bobcat construction vehicle for mine clearing," said Candless. "Plus, NASA has a series of rockets."

Robert Fantone, sitting beside him translated it. Candless trusted him to explain things like NASA if Coal had additional questions.

Robert wasn't the only translator working. While Morita spoke English well enough, there could be no risk of misunderstanding and had a translator beside him for Minotaur-to-Japanese.

After Coal's interruption to ask about vehicles, the conversation shifted back to the mission. Both the minotaurs and the CTF traded information back and forth to establish a bigger picture. Candless heard his aide's pen scratching rapidly.

Repairs to the longest pier would be completed shortly. Lombard had been able to make the trip, and she explained how it would allow Makin Island to pull in and connect its desalinization and electricity plants to the Minos grid. Perhaps the other two American ships and one Japanese ship would be able to dock once other wharfs became available.

"We've also been tracking Chinese fishing vessels appearing through the rift," Lombard said. "They may be taking advantage of your distraction with the disaster. They're certainly inside your economic exclusion zone, your majesty, though we haven't tracked them inside your territorial waters yet."

Coal's nostrils flared. "What are they doing here?"

"Fishing."

He hesitated, and then relaxed. "Well, if that's all."

"Even if you don't need the fish yourself, my concern is that allowing them to violate international law is setting an unwise precedent," she pointed out.

Coal swept his arm around, gesturing at the diagrams and photos on the meeting table and at the ruined city out the window. "Look around. Where do you think my priority is?"

Lombard adopted a neutral expression and did not reply.

"Internal to Tauros," said Morita, "there is the issue of Diony."

Coal nodded. "I too have heard of the mystery. We have found tracks that appear to lead north."

"I'll send some ponies to take lead on that," said Spitfire. "We can fly low and slow."

"Do you have any translators?" Candless asked. "That could help our efforts."

The king said something to one of his underlings and they left the room. "I will see who we can find."

The meeting ran down later and the CTF personnel headed for the exit. They'd flown a Navy Seahawk to the meeting. It was a little larger than the Hueys, and also simplified logistics of dropping off everyone else first before flying back to the ship with Lombard.

While the pilots spun it up, Spitfire got Lombard's attention. "Some of my scouts are reporting dragons on the northern border."

Lombard nodded. She'd read the report.

"If necessary, could you...'set a CAP' I believe is the expression?"

"I'd talk to Candless; they're his Marine airplanes, just my ship."

"My mistake. I do not typically think about ships, much less whose aircraft are aboard them." Spitfire chuckled and touched her Equestrian Air Force insignia.

"Are you that worried?" Lombard asked.

"No, but it never hurts to plan ahead. It's so unlike dragons to...patrol. They generally remain well within their own land."

Lombard considered it. "Dragons are pretty big, right? I don't have any ships with Aegis, but we do have SPS-48 and -49 radars. Once we can spare stationing a ship away from Minos, I'll make sure we keep an eye out."

The helicopter came to life and soon it was too loud to talk. They boarded with the rest and left the castle.

Diamond Joe didn't get the jokes about The Simpsons. He still spoke English well enough, so they made full use of him. He, Borax Kate, and Schist Steve had come to work at the headquarters. The three of them helped out with translation and filled in local knowledge where necessary.

Kate couldn't leave her calf, though, so the kid came along. He didn't speak any English but wasn't old enough to deviously use it to his advantage. He wasn't very fun to play with, though, because he liked to headbutt. Marines learned to keep a safe distance.

The Borax kid still lifted spirits and gave everyone a reminder of what they were in Tauros to do.

Henry looked through his binoculars at the distant river. It ran down out of the eastern mountains and flowed to the sea. The river was apparently the border between Tauros and dragon territory.

He could see the road - or what passed for one - going that direction. It looked like it forded a shallow spot on the river, but it was barely there on the other side. It wasn't on the map, either. The further east they'd driven, the narrower it had gotten.

"Is that a dragon?" Specialist Lee pointed. Henry looked.

He couldn't imagine what else the dark shape circling in the distance could be. It hung around, perhaps watching them. He didn't know how good dragon vision was, but it had to be at least a few hundred yards away.

Eventually, it swooped behind one of the rising mountains and was gone.

"Come on," Henry said. "We're going to Phobos next."

"I heard they have a lot of mines in that area," commented Lee as they walked back to the Humvee. "I think they mine precious stones."

They got on the road, calling in their position. It had taken them more than a day to navigate through Minos and traverse the road to the eastern border. Who knew how long it would be to the next stop?

Fortunately, there were supplies. Someone would fly them out some fuel and rations. It would be a long walk if they didn't.

Chapter 5

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6

The human journalists were guests of the CTF. They did good work covering the humanitarian efforts, but were limited to HQ. Getting access to the rest of the country depended on getting a ride on a CTF vehicle.

Equestrian news crews were not so restricted. Pegasus reporters were already entering Tauros and covering broader areas of the country.

Spitfire suggested the CTF to set up a desk in HQ devoted to watching Equestrian news. Media reports were another way to get information in addition to ground teams and airborne reconnaissance.

In addition to the CTF, NGOs had begun to arrive. The American Red Cross began loading supplies and personnel in Hawaii for transport via C-130. Their Equestrian counterpart, Red Sun, had already mobilized. HQ itself was military-only, but the compound surrounding it was getting crowded, especially with the arrival of more and more minotaurs seeking aid.

Celebrities, too, had begun to pitch in, though most of them limited their efforts to Twitter. Bono was supposedly in Manehattan doing a charity event. However, a more homegrown personality had already arrived.

Iron Will was some kind of self-help guru who was well known in Equestria. By King Coal's request, Iron Will had been invited to HQ. No one was really clear what he was supposed to do, perhaps not even Iron Will himself, but he spoke several languages and at the very least was good for a spectacle. He was constantly making speeches that appeared to lift everyone's morale, particularly his disaster-afflicted fellow minotaurs.

Spitfire was reviewing weather reports when Captain Flash Sentry walked into her office tent.

He wore simple green fatigues and carried a spear. Despite being a pegasus, he was a member of the Equestrian Army, in fact the commander of the ground element sent to Tauros. He struck Spitfire as a little bit junior to be leading such a force, though she knew the Army did things differently. Regardless, she had a copy of the order designating him and signed by Princess Twilight, and would not question it.

"Captain, how was the trip?" she asked.

"Better now that it's over, ma'am," he replied. "How are things here?"

"Busy. We're only just understanding the full details of the situation and now we have to rush to get the aid everywhere it needs to go. Where are your forces?"

"I have two hundred with me. The other hundred are coming over the pass up north. The Crystal Empire dispatched them separately. We've been in communication."

"There was a Japanese element near there," Spitfire said. "They've been working the central portion of the country, with the Americans in the south and east."

They both paused to consult the large map on the wall. It was taped over a magnetic board so symbols could be moved around. Spitfire added one that represented the oncoming forces from the Crystal Empire.

"I'm surprised you know your ground symbology, ma'am," said Flash.

"You have to know these things when you're a Colonel," Spitfire replied mildly. "Though I will admit that I needed help with the symbol for the American MAGTF. It's infantry, fixed-wing aviation, and armor with amphibious capability." She indicated the headquarters symbol near Minos. "They didn't unload their tanks, though, so that simplifies things."

"It looks like we have teams in just about every city and town," Flash observed, looking at the other blue symbols scattered across the map. "Did we break it out by nationality?"

"We thought about it, but ultimately it doesn't matter much. All of us bring something unique to the table, so we decided to compromise and do it the American way."

Spitfire chuckled to herself. Flash frowned. "Why not us? Tauros is closest to Equestria. This is our planet, after all."

"Don't take it too hard," said Spitfire. "All the countries involved here have trained with the Americans before, so we're on the same page. Not to mention, they brought thousands more troops."

She checked her watch. "The combined forces sync meeting is happening soon. We'll all circle up and trade information on what happened in the last few hours. Come on, I'll introduce you."

The command group met around the headquarters table once again. The commanders of each force, backed by their assistants, were in attendance. Captain Lombard again participated via teleconference.

It was not an actual table, just a couple of folding tables put together. Everything was portable.

Despite the temporary nature of the CTF, good progress had been made. Teams had managed to make it to most places in the country to scout damage and determine the aid required. Based on reporting and some drone scans, it was looking likely the missing minotaurs from Diony had gone north, possibly into the narrow valley between the two mountain ranges. No one was yet sure on why, or where they were now. It was a long walk, either way.

A minotaur named Brass Knuckles was heading up a homegrown relief effort in Pavor. It was the most remote area of the country and relief teams hadn't made it there yet. Plans were in the works to airlift supplies.

It might not even be too early to discuss the end of the mission. That is, if no other misfortunes came along.

Chapter 7

Lombard was asleep in her stateroom aboard Makin Island when she was awakened by a phone call. There was no way it could be good news, not in the middle of the night. She braced herself as she picked it up.

"Ma'am, we have a CASREP from Somerset. They've collided with a fishing boat."

"Chinese?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Casualties?"

"No injuries. Good hull integrity on Somerset but there hasn't been a full inspection yet. The fishing boat sank. Six Chinese nationals pulled from the water."

Lombard sighed, swinging her feet over the edge of her rack to put on her boots. "Get me a secure line to Pac Fleet. I'll be down in a minute."

The Humvee pulled into the headquarters motor pool. Henry stepped down and headed for the intel center.

He and his team had completed a loop up through northeast Tauros. They'd radioed what they could and were now bringing in what they couldn't.

He found a young Marine on duty and handed over digital camera chips and handwritten notes.

Behind him, the rest of Henry's team came in but he waved them off, with the exception of Specialist Lee, who would be needed to translate some recordings of minotaurs.

"Did you happen to hear anything related to giant bats?" the analyst asked as he began to sort through the data.

Henry frowned. "No. Do we have giant bats around?"

"We pulled a news article that had something related to that." He gestured towards a printout of a translated document.

Lee picked it up, scanning the page. "I think...this looks like an Equestrian tabloid."

"You speak Equestrian?" Henry asked.

"No, but just look at it." Lee gestured.

Henry gave it a look. "You know...it does give off a National Enquirer vibe. Batboy, batpony..."

"Great," said the analyst. "Now we have to deal with fake news, too."

Jordan completed the eastern loop of the racetrack pattern and headed back. The C-130 was throttled back, flaps at maximum as it cruised at just one thousand feet. It wasn't quite as good at recon as a ScanEagle drone, but covered more ground. Command also had the idea that perhaps seeing an aircraft could help bouy the spirits of those in need who had not yet been helped.

Jordan and his copilot followed the next leg of their route, which took them northwest. The northern part of Tauros was mountainous. There was apparently a little valley up there, though surrounded on all sides by rugged terrain.

The plane passed just north of Diaemos and headed west for Pavor. A secondary function of this flight was scouting good drop zones. Ground forces would need to get to Pavor to help, but supplies could be brought in via air.

"Alex, two o'clock," said his copilot. Jordan looked. A small dark shape moved against the sky, soaring over the mountains to the north.

"Dragon, do you think?" Jordan said.

"There's another one."

Jordan gave the turboprops some more throttle and began to climb to an altitude that would clear the peaks. He started a slow turn to the right. "Is it just me, or are they inside Tauros?"

"If we can see them from here...yeah, they'd just about have to be."

While the copilot called it in, Jordan completed the turn, the plane now pointed northeast and headed towards the dragons. He'd now picked out three or four. It wasn't until the plane was closer that he realized just how large they were.

A purple, a red, and a green dragon were flying conservatively, as if just hanging out. Jordan banked the plane away, so as to not be heading directly for them. The smallest was the size of a fighter jet. The largest wasn't quite as big as the C-130.

The copilot took the controls and handed Jordan a small point and shoot camera. As they flew by, he took a couple of snaps. The dragons had clearly noticed the plane, and seemed to have formed up, as if defensive.

Jordan turned back south. Whatever was going on, a defenseless cargo plane had no business in it.

Somerset did not seem badly damaged, but it never paid to assume. Lombard had requested additional support, but it would be a while before the Navy could get another ship through the rift and into Tauros waters.

So she was surprised when a sailor in Makin Island's command center reported new contacts detected.

"What do we have?" she asked.

The sailor manning the GALE electronic intercept terminal refined the signals and queried the computer. "It's putting off Dragon Eye radar. It's a Chinese destroyer."

Well, this day had just gone from bad to worse. Still, maybe it would solve a problem. Lombard went over to the watch officer. "Tell Somerset to contact them and see if they'll take the wrecked fishermen.

"Then, ask Pac Fleet to send us a destroyer of our own."

Chapter 8

If the Equestrian tabloids were bad, the minotaur ones were even worse, or at the least, worse informed.

Japanese/Dragon conspiracy? read the headline of one. Will "Godzilla" soon be paying a visit?

Setting up a group to collect intelligence via the news had seemed like a good idea, and had produced a few results, but it was becoming almost not worth it trying to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Candless sat back from the morning intelligence briefing. Things had been going so well. Then, one of the ships had been involved in a minor diplomatic incident which caused the Chinese to respond with a warship to "protect their citizens." A coast guard ship would have been a lot less provocative.

That was on top of sightings of dragons inside Tauros.

The CTF commanders sat around the table in the situation tent. Lombard, as usual, via teleconference. Spitfire had invited Flash Sentry, the officer in charge of the Equestrian ground unit. The translators were all there, taking notes. Also, for some reason, Iron Will.

The briefing was unclassified so they didn't have to work through the process of clearing sensitive information to release to the multitude of countries involved. That meant there wasn't really a problem with guests being present, but that was a slippery slope. Candless made a mental note to ask someone to restrict onlookers. At least the media types hanging around camp hadn't managed to slip in.

It came Lombard's turn to present a status report for the Navy side. "The destroyer USS O'Kane is inbound through the rift. She'll be on surveillance and security enhancement detail."

Candless read between the lines and was fairly sure the other military members did too. This was directly balancing the Chinese.

Who knew why the Chinese were even here. To be fair, the rift wasn't that far from their territory, but not close enough that they could legitimately claim anything. Candless made a mental note to ask Lombard to set Tauros up with some naval advice before the CTF left.

The other members read their own pieces of the brief. Teams were still canvassing the country for the missing minotaurs from Diony. Airlifts via Osprey had started to really make a difference in supplying stranded minotaurs. The Equestrian Army coming in from the Crystal Empire had made it to Pavor and began setting up relief there.

That was the best news of the morning. When the meeting was over, Candless flagged down the helicopter pilot he had on retainer. After a quick talk with Spitfire, she loaned him Captain Sentry and the two of them loaded up in the Huey. Robert Fantone, the English translator, and a pony who would translate into Equestrian, went with them.

Flash spoke a little English, but it was next to useless with the noise of the helicopter even with intercom headphones. Candless idly wondered if, because English was the universal language of aviation, that gave pegasi more exposure to it.

The Huey flew into Pavor. An Osprey was just ahead of them. The landing zone marked by the Equestrians was just large enough for the two of them.

As Candless stepped down, he looked curiously at a couple of Minotaurs that were opposite the Osprey, apparently prostrating themselves. He glanced around, trying to figure out who they were kowtowing to.

An Equestrian Army Lieutenant came over and spoke briefly with Captain Sentry.

"He says the situation is stable, but could be better. It looks like maybe the damage from the earthquake wasn't as bad here."

A female minotaur wearing heavy jewelry walked over and stood with her arms crossed.

"This is Brass Knuckles," the Equestrian soldier introduced via translation. "She'd been heading up efforts here."

"The supplies have been most welcome," Fantone translated for her. "Though I'm worried about the rest of the country."

"Tauros is in good hands. And hooves," Candless replied.

The group talked a little more, getting a feel for the situation. Supplies would keep coming in, but the Equestrians would begin to move south to join up with the main headquarters.

When it was time to go, Candless couldn't help but pause a moment longer. "What are those minotaurs over there doing?"

The Osprey lifted off. The small group bowing to it raised their hands to the sky.

"They are paying tribute to our saviors," said Brass Knuckles. "I know it's just a machine, but some are rather more sentimental."

It was an awkward feeling, Candless thought, knowing he'd accidentally started a cargo cult.

They boarded the Huey again and Candless directed a detour back to Minos to meet with the king. Now that all the major cities in Tauros had been contacted, it seemed like a good time to provide an update.

King Coal was happy to hear the news that the humanitarian mission was going well. However, that was not what he wanted to talk about.

"We have heard about a being of great destruction," he said, his voice turning lower and more worried.

"What kind?" Candless asked.

Fantone spoke back and forth with the king for several minutes, apparently trying to get enough detail to figure out exactly what was going on. It seemed King Coal didn't know himself, though.

"He just said it was called a destroyer," said Fantone. He looked at Candless. "Surely you don't think...?"

"Where did you hear this?" Candless asked.

Coal's eyes brightened. "Iron Will came to visit earlier! He always knows just what to say."

Chapter 9

At headquarters, Colonel Candless reviewed reports. It was mostly snippets from various sources around Tauros put together by the intel Marines.

The Navy Commander who had come ashore to oversee medical facilities had advised him to be on the lookout for disease in the wake of the natural disaster. That had involved a round of research regarding what ailments were common in this part of the world, not to mention the ones to which minotaurs were susceptible. More importantly to Candless, researching the diseases that could be transmitted to humans.

It was good that he had people he could delegate tasks like that to. Otherwise he would never get anything done. There was just so much that needed doing, and everyone naturally looked to him.

His aide found him, passing a reminder of the daily sync. Candless headed for the meeting table.

The other commanders arrived and the group held the meeting. Iron Will was not present. Candless had made sure the Marines on duty tightened security.

Lombard briefed the naval side of things. The destroyer O'Kane was now on station in the waters southeast of Tauros. Candless was sure that news would get a rise out of the minotaurs, which was why he would strive not to mention it. Lombard also passed along the location of the Chinese ships, though Candless left those tasks to her.

The other commanders had news. Supplies runs were going well, though the Australian planes would soon need more maintenance than could be had at the dirt airstrip and would have to go home. That could put a dent in supplies, but Lombard chimed in to indicate more supplies were on the way via sealift, having finally started to arrive since being dispatched at the outset of the CTF formation. USNS John Glenn had arrived on station to support unloading. Despite being an auxiliary, Candless asked to have it added to the tactical picture, though knowing it would become more crowded with everything else going on. The dot appeared just offshore, to transfer from cargo ships to LCACs.

The Japanese went next. The young Captain who briefed spoke carefully, reading from a piece of paper. Candless wondered why he seemed reluctant, having already briefed the group on previous days.

"We have received intelligence that the minotaur leader, King Coal, has begun to sell tickets to a big event. It is being called 'The Big Destroy.' We believe it is related to destroyer ships near the coast. The minotaur populace has become highly enthusiastic, some of them establishing shrines to destroyers."

Well, that explained the soldier's reluctance to speak, delivering head-shaking news like that.

"We started a bloody cult," said Hogan, exasperated.

"I'm more concerned about them squandering money they can't afford during this crisis on entertainment that likely won't happen," said Spitfire. "Where did the king think something was going to be destroyed?"

"He did not know," the Japanese Captain said. "They were advance tickets."

Candless sighed, but he couldn't be angry. Bad news was better than no news at all. Intel was doing its job, telling him about things before they happened. Hopefully Coal wouldn't ask him for something to be destroyed.

The talk turned to reports of dragon activity on Tauros' northern border. There was a good chance that they had made incursions to the minotaur airspace, though no one had sighted them on the ground yet. Minotaurs might be territorial, but had little regard for the sky. Dragons had little infrastructure and even less in the way of defined borders. Neither side probably saw border crossing as a huge problem, but Candless felt a little annoyance that the rules didn't seem to work the same here. He wanted security, but strictly enforcing the borders might been seen as heavy-handed, even by the minotaurs they were trying to help. At any rate, they didn't have enough manpower.

Speaking of, the talk turned to how the humanitarian operation was going. The news was good there, at least. Sustained effort by the Marines, Soldiers, Airmen and -ponies, and Sailors had reached all population centers of Minos. The tide had turned, and while it might take years to rebuild Tauros, the immediate needs had been met and the citizens were getting the help they had been promised.

Candless didn't know when his mission here would end, but he could envision that it might be within a week or two. Of course, that would depend on more assistance forces coming in - the CTF was just the first responder. But they were over the hump, provided nothing else happened.

Chapter 10

The intel troops set up the morning brief, but Candless already knew what the big news was. There had been a remarkable increase in dragon sightings over the past twenty four hours.

Sure enough, that was the headline the young Marine briefing the group led with. "We've seen a notable spike in dragon activity." He indicated the map projected behind him.

"Most dragon sightings have happened to the north. A few have been to the east. We have several confirmed border incursions."

"We'll have to take this to King Coal," Candless commented. While it was a humanitarian mission, security was part of that. He looked at the briefer. "Any assessment on the dragons' intentions?"

"No sir. None of them have communicated with CTF personnel."

"It would be nice if they wanted to help," said Spitfire.

"Do we have a line of communication?" Candless asked the room.

"Princess Twilight knows a dragon," said Flash Sentry.

"Does that get us what we need?"

No one was sure.

"All right, let's engage diplomatic channels, and maybe see if we can find a dragon interpreter," Candless said.

"Most of them speak Equestrian," Spitfire offered. "That simplifies things, at least. But I'm not sure what they have for government to engage. There is some kind of ruling system, but I'm not aware of any foreign engagement. It's less a country and more a large tribe."

Candless noticed Lombard on the teleconference screen speaking to someone off-camera with her microphone muted. She came back and said, "If I can break in. I just received a report that our destroyer was overflown by a dragon at close range. O'Kane secured SPY to avoid injuring it. We should have more about the encounter soon."

"Is that going to be a problem?" Candless said.

"No," said Lombard, "but my concern is if a dragon decides to do something to a fishing boat. The dragons may not know it, but giving the Chinese an excuse would be a headache for everyone."

No kidding.

The meeting broke up. Candless flagged down his helicopter pilot and got ready for a flight to the royal palace.

Chief Warrant Officer Henry sat in the back of a Humvee, his squad gathered around him and the ScanEagle downlink terminal. They couldn't control the small drone, only see the feed from its camera. Someone back at headquarters had launched it and was flying it, but they had gotten a few minutes of use to help scout the territory ahead.

They were west of Phobos, intending to venture into the mountains in the northern part of Tauros. Unlike the rest of the country, boots hadn't yet been placed on the ground there. It was rough territory, but few minotaurs lived there and it hadn't been as affected by the earthquake.

Cisco, and Wall compared the ScanEagle feed with a map of the area they'd managed to get. It wasn't a very good map, but better than nothing, basically being just a black and white shot from a satellite and printed from the BAP on the amphib. A small NGA logo was on the bottom left with scale information.

Henry lifted the microphone, attached to the radio that broadcast through the Humvee's whip antenna, and said, "Swing a little further north."

There was a shadow on the map that the satellite hadn't been able to capture much detail. It was on the northern side of a small valley, perhaps a cliff.

The ScanEagle turned and pointed its camera ahead. Slowly, details came into view on the screen. It was definitely a sheer face of rock, but there seemed to be something at the bottom. A cave?

"Is that movement?" Martinez asked, tapping the screen.

"Looks like it." Henry squinted, impatiently waiting for the drone to get closer. Definitely something there.

Shapes began to emerge, sharpening as the distance closed. Henry realized he was seeing dragons, several of them. And then, he realized, there were minotaurs among them.

The drone pilots were apparently watching, too, and focused on the details. The creatures were doing something, apparently related to the cave.

No, the minotaurs were doing something. The dragons stood around the perimeter, attention focused inward. Almost as if...

One dragon glanced upward and then took off, heading directly for the ScanEagle. The camera turned away as the drone maneuvered, but a second later the screen went black.

Henry glanced up, towards the mountains where the cave lay some twenty miles distant. They were still on the trail of the missing minotaurs from Diony, and he had a suspicion that they'd just found them.

"Are the destroyers here?" King Coal asked, eyeing Candless. "Do you have more."

"That's the Navy," Candless said, brushing the question aside. "I wanted to ask you about dragons on the border."

There was some commotion and a young Marine in a flight suit burst into the room, breathing hard.

She glanced around quickly, apparently only just realizing what she had done. Still, she pressed forward, gesturing behind her. "Sir, there's a call for you in the helo."

Candless stared at her, trying to convey the seriousness of his meeting with a head of state. Still, "Is it important?"

She hesitated, but then nodded. "Yes, sir. You need to hear this."

Chapter 11

King Coal sat rigid in the helicopter seat, fingers beginning to bend the metal. It was easier to just bring him to headquarters and get fully spun up on the developing situation than try to communicate back and forth with the castle. He'd even been eager to ride the helicopter, but that enthusiasm was gone shortly after takeoff.

Still, it was a short flight and they arrived at the makeshift base in a swirl of dust. Candless squinted and set off through it, only to suddenly turn around and grab Coal by one horn, yanking his head down beneath the rotor blades as he exited the Huey.

"Sorry," Candless shouted, "I just didn't want you to get your head chopped off."

He forgot the language barrier for a moment, but Robert Fantone the translator helpfully jumped in.

The language was the last thing on his mind as he strode into the command center. A Captain handed him a file. "Sir, here's what we have."

They were screenshots from a drone video. Candless went through them. "Are we sure the dragons have kidnapped minotaurs?"

"Calfnapped," Fantone said quietly.

"Who do we have in the area?"

"One CI team." A Major, wearing combat gear with an M16 slung across his chest, stepped up. "They're almost in position to give us eyes. We're also launching another ScanEagle."

Candless did a quick count of the dragons and minotaurs around the gem mine. "Get two platoons, airborne insertion, backed by Harriers. Go friendly, but condition one."

The Major turned away to make it happen.

Candless stood for a moment, and then turned for where the classified communications were kept. "Get me the PACOM J3. J3 Actual, if you can."

The Pacific Command Director for Operations was a Navy Rear Admiral. Naturally, he'd been following the situation in Tauros and accepted the video call.

"Sir," Candless began. "We have a developing situation here. If needed, how fast can we get strike assets into theater?"

Flash Sentry had never been aboard a ship before, particularly not an American aircraft carrier. Well, this one was technically not an aircraft carrier, but it was a ship with aircraft on it. He had never had the chance to get a talk shop with human aviators, either.

"The engine ducts out these nozzles to lift the get vertically into the air," the Marine Captain was showing him as they walked beneath the wing of a Harrier. "The engine's made by a company called Rolls-Royce." He chuckled. "The model of the engine is 'Pegasus.'"

Flash started to ask a question, but a booming voice from a speaker somewhere ordered "Attention on the flight deck. Now launch the ready 15."

Near-simultaneously, an Air Force pegasus appeared, pausing briefly to ask the armed sentries for permission to come aboard, and then made a beeline for Flash.

"Sir," he saluted. "Colonel Spitfire wants you to go with the Marines on a mission to rescue minotaur hostages from dragons.

Flash and the Marine pilot next to him both reacted to the news with surprise. "Where? Now?"

"Yes sir. You're flying on..." The other pegasus checked a notepad and read off the callsign of an Osprey. "They should be taking off from the ship soon to pick up the fighting forces at HQ, and then straight up into the mountains. Apparently some dragons are keeping some minotaurs to do work for them." The airpony shrugged. "It's all I know sir, they might tell you more on the way."

It was still painfully little information, but Flash had orders from Spitfire. He dashed across the flight deck to pick up his spear from where he'd left it leaning and headed for the Ospreys that were just spinning up.

Henry lay on his belly, binoculars just peeking over the final ridge between his small team and the mine below. The Humvee was well back from the ridge, but if a dragon decided to fly high enough, they would still be easily spotted.

Orders were still slow in coming. At the moment, it seemed the plan was to approach peacefully and inquire as to the situation. If it was determined that it really was what it looked like - dragons forcing minotaurs to mine gems - then the force would arrest the dragons.

That was the part of the plan Henry was most skeptical about.

Off in the distance, he heard a faint sound of propellers. Scooting back off the ridge, he gestured for the rest of his team. The Humvee rolled forward and picked him up. They crested the ridge and headed down into the valley just as the two Ospreys came into view. Henry kept his eyes on the sky and was rewarded with the sight of a pair of Harriers making lazy circles at altitude.

The dragons appeared to be taking notice now. The two Ospreys titled their propellers up for landing, making a slow pirouette to position their aft ramps towards the mine. As the tailgates opened, Henry wasn't surprised to see a mounted .50 stationed on each.

Henry directed his driver to rendezvous with the incoming troops. He had the minotaur translator. Dragons usually spoke the same language as ponies, so they'd brought a pony.

The force had landed within three hundred yards of the mine. The dragons - eight of them - were still hanging back, warily watching and keeping the minotaurs behind them.

Henry's team was rolled into the infantry force and the Equestrian they'd brought to translate. He checked his rifle, putting a round in the chamber and clicking the safety on.

Fifty men and a pony started the walk across open ground.

Chapter 12

Flash Sentry's mouth was dry. Staring down dragons wasn't what he'd thought he would be doing today.

There were a few boulders large enough to cover behind scattered around the valley floor between the landed Ospreys and the entrance to the mine. The CTF group walked in a loose line, advancing towards the eight dragons that by all appearances were forcing captured minotaurs to work.

He carried his spear under one wing, within easy reach. The tip was razor sharp and magically reinforced. It would probably penetrate dragon hide, though against some of the biggest dragons it might as well have been a paper cut. The Marines around him had expressed concern that their rifles might have a similar lack of effect.

They were backed up by machine guns and close air support, if it came to that, but none of it was enough to give Flash a warm and fuzzy feeling.

It was an American expression. In Equestria, everything was assumed to already be warm and fuzzy. But Flash couldn't let himself be distracted by semantics right now.

The Marine in charge, Major Havioner, stopped at fifty yards, raising his fist. He nodded to Flash.

"What's going on here?" Flash called, making himself heard. "Who are these minotaurs?"

"None of your business," replied the largest dragon, who was probably forty hooves tall. He snorted, a brief puff of flame coming out of his nostrils.

Flash repeated his words to the humans.

The minotaur language translator, Specialist Lee, the one in the different uniform, tried next. There was some muttered reaction from the crowd of minotaurs before one of them suddenly shouted a few sentences.

The dragons began to hurriedly crowd the minotaurs towards the entrance of the mine even as the translator called, "They say they're being held against their will!"

"Stop!" shouted Major Havioner. "Let them go!" Flash hastily translated it.

That earned a glance from the dragons to their apparent leader, but little other reaction.

The Havioner glanced at Flash. "Give them my exact words: 'This is your last chance. Stop and let your prisoners go, or we will attack.'"

Flash gulped, and translated it.

That finally got a reaction, though probably not the one for which any of them had hoped. The dragons paused, trading glances, and then the leader charged.

"Fix bayonets!" shouted Havioner. Flash raised his spear.

Most of the Marines hadn't quite gotten their bayonets on before the lead dragon crashed into the line. He came straight for Havioner, who screamed "Open fire!" as he threw himself out of the way.

Fifty rifles opened up. The .50 cals on the Ospreys held back for the moment, their targets too close to risk friendly fire.

That changed when one of the dragons spread their wings to get airborne. Ounce-and-a-half slugs at 3,000 feet per second didn't obliterate the dragon like they would have a human, but a couple dozen of them definitely put the target down.

Most of the fighting, however, was done at close range, especially the first dragon who had barreled straight for the center of the line. As Havioner ducked the charge, the dragon's head snapped to Flash.

All he could do was lunge with his spear. There was a human expression, "bringing a knife to a gun fight" and Flash had never more desperately wished to be somewhere else, preferably at range with a weapon that wasn't a thousand years old.

Even still, his spear found its mark in the dragon's side. Flash's opponent roared and drew back. Knowing what was coming next, Flash ducked and used his wings as thrust forward, dodging beneath a gout of fire. He stabbed again.

Havioner rolled to get up and came to his knee, firing at the dragon's face from only a few feet away. Flash couldn't see what the result was, but the dragon subsequently twisted and lashed with his tail, slamming the Marine to the ground.

Flash zipped under again and opened another wound with his spear. The dragon turned away from Havioner, which allowed the man to raise his rifle and thrust the bayonet into the dragon's belly. He still lay flat on the ground, apparently unable to move his legs.

With another roar, the dragon turned back to the attacker that couldn't get out of the way and incinerated the Marine from five feet away.

There was nothing Flash could have done, and he couldn't afford to think about it now. He lifted his spear again, but a dozen Marines suddenly pushed past him, screaming and charging with their bayoneted rifles raised. Many knives - and hundreds of bullets - did what a spear could not. The dragon tried to retreat, but was surrounded. He tried to fly, but his wings were shredded. He tried to defend himself, but arteries were opened. They were still stabbing him even as he fell onto his back and died.

Flash had the presence of mind to look around. Seven dragons lay dead or dying on the rocks of the valley. One had lifted off and was flying away into the distance.

A Harrier swooped by in pursuit. There was a faint brrrrrrt and a trail of smoke from the airplane, and the dragon convulsed in midair, crashing to the ground.

"Corpsman!" someone shouted.

Flash almost looked at what had become of Havioner, but forcibly turned the other direction. That only put his eyes on a Marine who had deep claw gouges on his upper leg and another who lay still with a crooked neck.

A Marine Lieutenant grabbed Flash's shoulder. "Sir, you're a Captain, right?"

"Y-yes."

"You're senior now. We're going to get the wounded loaded for transport and take one Osprey out of here. We're going to leave a force here to clean up and repatriate the minotaurs and hold ground for reinforcements."

Flash realized he was being told, not asked, but nodded. "I'll stay."

"Oorah," the man replied and hurried away.

Flash blinked and swallowed, surveying the suddenly quiet ground. He took a couple of deep breaths. Things had gone from peaceful to Tartarus and back to peaceful in under five minutes and he was still mentally catching up.

Something splashed on his nose. He looked up to see the blood dripping off his spear.

It was a good thing hay tasted the same coming up as it did going down.

Chapter 13

The Osprey carrying medical evacuees skipped the headquarters and landed directly aboard Makin Island. They'd called ahead and hospital staff were already waiting on the flight deck with stretchers.

Captain Lombard looked down from the bridge, her mouth tight. The conflict had happened far from her ship, but that didn't mean it would stay there.

She ordered security teams to set up around the flight deck, and for the CIWS mounts to be made ready. She also put out the call to other ships under her control: be ready.

She then called CTF headquarters. As soon as Candless was available, she had something important to tell him.

"This got really real," muttered Specialist Lee. For the moment, he wasn't needed for translation and sat on the Humvee's tailgate with Henry.

It wasn't Henry's first combat, or even his first experience seeing countrymen killed. But he agreed with Lee.

"What's going to happen next?" Lee asked.

"Hopefully nothing," Henry replied. "In the meantime, we should probably work on getting these minotaurs back over the mountains and home."

"They told me they'd left Diony in fear of aftershocks and to find help, maybe in Diaemos. The dragons had apparently discovered the old mine across the border and seized the opportunity to increase gem production."

"I didn't see any of them wearing jewelry."

"They eat them," said Captain Sentry, joining the conversation. "Gems are a delicacy to dragons."

The Equestrian soldier still looked shaken, but had taken charge of the group of troops left to secure the area until reinforcements arrived.

Speaking of, the sound of rotors announced the arrival of two more Ospreys.

"They just went along with that?" said Henry, "being forced to work?"

"Herd creatures, said Captain Sentry. "We do have a tendency to let things get bad because no individual is willing to step up and lead a change."

"Sometimes, I think that applies to us all," said Henry.

"Three dead and six wounded, sir."

Candless frowned deeply, though not at the young doctor who had delivered the news. This was not an active war, but bloodshed could not be undone. Things were different now. He would be required to meet with some very important people who would want to know exactly what was going on in Tauros and what he was doing about it to ensure no more American lives were lost.

To that end, he turned to his operations officer. "Unload the armor and get it set up around base." The tanks and APCs aboard the ships would certainly help with defense.

He considered ordering the engineer detachment to build defensive berms, but discounted it against adversaries who could fly.

The journalists around the headquarters were going to notice, but there was no helping that, particularly since the casualties. Candless ordered public affairs to begin preparing a statement.

Corporal Hitoshi ate lunch with his squad, as well as some Marines. The group of them had traded a few rations in the combined mess tent.

"It's just like GATE," another Japanese solider was saying in passable English. "I heard they were dogfighting with dragons."

"Is that why this mystery meat seems kind of scaly?" said a Marine. His friends laughed. One of the Japanese troops translated for the others.

"My grandmother would want some dragon scales for her homemade medicine," said Hitoshi.

"Let's hope those Chinese fishing boats off the coast don't get wind of this," said one of the Americans.

That was something the Americans and Japanese could agree on.

That was about it, though. A couple of Marines had offered to swap hard drives with Hitoshi, but he wasn't a fan of any of their TV.

Spitfire knew about the engagement as soon as it had happened. While the humans lamented the lack of satellite relays on this side of the rift, the ability to have a drone over the battlefield and beam video back to headquarters seemed pretty advanced compared to her spear.

Still, the concepts of mission, image, and politics were universal and she knew as soon as she saw the battle begin that things had just changed fundamentally. Even while the fighting was still ongoing, she'd ordered her executive assistant to contact Canterlot immediately.

Aside from her own country's reaction, she was concerned about what the Americans would do. Colonel Candless seemed levelheaded, but wars were not ordered by field grade officers. And if there was one thing Americans seemed to be known for, it was militarily pummeling weaker countries.

Spitfire had studied a lot of American history. Partly because she believed Equestria was heading in that direction, but also because their two governments seemed especially eager to engage. There were lessons, both positive and negative, to learn.

Speaking of history, she glanced at the large map where all forces were marked and saw a Marine adding a new unit: USNS Wally Schirra. John Glenn was already present, and she idly wondered what a second ship named after an astronaut was doing.

Chapter 14

Candless met with Colonel Spitfire to discuss more details of her world. He just didn't have the depth of experience to judge the dragons.

But first, he gave her an update on the battle of the day before and the effects going forward.

"We've gotten the kidnapped minotaurs back to their homes. Once they were freed, they insisted on walking all night. King Coal wanted me to extend thanks to all CTF members for finding them. Also, on his orders, we've caved in the gem mine."

Spitfire nodded. "There may be others, though. The dragons have their own sources, but this whole area is rich in minerals."

"They don't have any mechanical or otherwise methods of mining besides manual labor?" Candless asked.

"Dragons don't have much in the way of any kind of infrastructure. That's why bringing in bombers probably won't be useful."

She'd overhead his conversation with PACOM to coordinate strike assets. There were a handful of B-1's in Guam that could support, not to mention Tomahawk missiles aboard O'Kane, but Spitfire was right: those weren't really useful against moving targets.

Candless looked to his assistant, who handed over his daily schedule. Captain Lombard wanted to meet with him in person, but he still had a few minutes left before boarding the helo.

He turned back to Spitfire. "I'm going to recommend Captain Sentry for a Silver Star."

Spitfire nodded. "What about your Major?"

"By all accounts, he died bravely," said Candless quietly. "However, not to speak ill of the dead, but he was in command and failed to resolve the situation peacefully. We might say he started a war. Someone, I'm sure, will."

Candless paused. "Be that as it may, I'm going to put him in for a Silver Star, too."

He turned to go, but Spitfire called him back. "I think you're right. I'm not saying we didn't do it for the right reasons, but we might have started a war."

"I suppose that's up to the dragons."

Candless headed for the helo, which was waiting for him. It was a short flight to Makin Island. He saw Lombard waiting for him on the flight deck as the Huey came in for a hover.

As the helicopter landed and began to wind down, Candless opened the door and ducked under the blades, walking towards the ship's island. On the way, he passed a Harrier and stopped short, staring at the two-inch silhouette of a dragon freshly painted on the side.

"Like it, sir?" a young Marine mechanic asked, grinning as he walked over.

Candless stared at him. "Take it off. This is a humanitarian mission."

"But-" The kid wilted under Candless' look. "Yes sir."

Candless continued walking, meeting with Lombard just outside the door to the interior of the ship. She carried a document bag with a lock on its zipper.

"If your bird's still spinning, can we go for a ride?" she asked. "The meeting's actually taking place over on Wally Schirra."

Confused, Candless shrugged. "Alright."

They went back to the Huey and Candless relayed the instruction to the pilot. It was only a half mile or so to where the Navy cargo ship Schirra was anchored off the coast. While being for a completely different purpose, it was almost as big as Makin Island. Some of the heavy-lift MH-53's had already transferred some supplies to shore. The Huey touched down on the aft deck.

A man in civilian clothes was waiting for them and escorted Lombard and Candless into the ship. He shook hands with both. "I'm Brian Alux. Please come with me."

Still confused, Candless followed him, down several levels and into the ship's storage areas. They started passing men with weapons and body armor, black, without markings.

The three of them entered a larger compartment. Half a dozen armed Marines - not part of Candless's unit - were there. There were also two large, wooden crates that measured perhaps a dozen feet long by a few feet in the other dimensions.

"Do you have the paperwork?" Alux asked. Lombard nodded, and began to open the bag she carried.

"Who are you with?" Candless finally asked.

"The Department of Energy," Alux said.

Candless sized up the security group again, a few details coming into focus. "Oh."

Lombard handed him a clipboard, containing two pages and a pen. The bottom page was a nondisclosure agreement. The top one was an order.

TOP SECRET

Colonel Roger Candless, Commanding Officer, 11MEU,

You are hereby authorized need to know of special weapons deployment in alternate world areas.

Specific briefing and special access program read in to be carried out on site.

As authorized by US Secretary of Defense.

TOP SECRET

Candless reluctantly signed the NDA. Lombard took the clipboard back.

Alux gestured to one of the other men standing around, who lifted the top of one of the crates. Inside was a green metal box almost as large as the crate itself, with yellow stenciled letters that read B61 and a serial number. Candless was an infantryman, but he imagined the aerial weapon inside was a silvery and dart-shaped.

"This is insane," said Candless.

"I agree," said Lombard, "but if we're going to have a war, you should know everything available."

And, he couldn't argue with an order from SECDEF.

Alux walked him through a few particulars that Candless forced himself to pay attention to. He couldn't imagine a situation in which he would order a Harrier to drop a nuclear weapon on the dragons, and prayed that he would never come up with one.

The flight back was quiet. No one asked him what the meeting had been about, for which Candless was grateful. He wouldn't have told them, of course, but he'd rather not think about it himself.

The US was still a little nervous about the magical and powerful creatures on the other side of the rift, so Candless could maybe understand nuclear weapons for "just in case" sake, but this was the first time he had ever personally been involved.

Now, he really hoped the dragons wouldn't have a war.

Chapter 15

Colonel Candless spent the entire morning having one video teleconference after another with increasingly important people. MARFORPAC, PACOM J3, PACOM commander, and a couple of reps from State.

They all wanted to know what had happened at the mine. Some of them praised him for rescuing the group of minotaurs. Some of them rebuked him for not keeping the peace. All seemed to want to tell him what to do next.

Advice was welcome. But none of them understood what the dragons might do next. Neither did Candless. Really, no one did.

But maybe some better than others. When he had a moment, Candless went to find Spitfire. If anyone at least had experience with dragons, if not actual understanding, it would be the Equestrians.

And he hoped they could come up with a better solution than nuclear weapons.

They'd talked for several minutes. Spitfire sat back, touching her forehooves together and frowning in thought. "This isn't going to be easy."

"We have options," Candles reminded her. "This is just the best one."

"Still..." She sighed. "We have to contact the Dragon Lord to see if he can corral wayward dragons, and make sure nothing like this happens again. But they don't have telephones or embassies or diplomats. To contact the Dragon Lord, we'll have to go into the dragon lands and find him. The dragons could see that as violating their territory. And we don't know if he's even be able to exert influence over every single dragon to stop those such as the ones that kidnapped the minotaurs. Or worse, he could have ordered it."

"Sending an envoy would be dangerous without escort," said Candless. "But the safer we make our mission, the more it looks like an invasion."

Spitfire paused to consider it. "I think our best option is to go for stealth. Two pegasi."

"That sounds dangerous."

She nodded. "And I would appreciate on-call close air support."

Candless nodded, accepting the recommendation. "We'll get your ponies some radios and GPS beacons and set up a Harrier CAP offshore. I'll also ask Captain Lombard to move our destroyer for radar coverage."

Spitfire got up. "I'll set up the mission."

Chief Warrant Officer Henry sat crosslegged in the grass beside the team's Humvee. Cisco and Specialist Lee sat nearby.
Martinez and Wall were pulling guard duty, rifles loosely slung as they kept watch.

They'd relocated to Phobos, watching the line of mountains that made up the border of Tauros and the Dragon Lands. It wasn't like standing watch at a border guardpost, though that was effectively the role they were filling. After the rescue of the minotaurs from dragon enslavement, everyone was on high alert for future aggression.

From where Henry sat, it didn't look like anything would happen. Of course, he'd seen enough crises to know that could change in a moment. But for now, the sun was shining and a nice breeze ruffled the grass.

He looked down glumly at the vegetarian omelet MRE in his hands. At least combat would be preferable to eating this.

The rest of the squad had gotten a better selection and seemed to be in higher spirits. Lee was speculating to the others as he ate. "So...I hope we get this wrapped up soon. Guerrilla warfare against dragons could kind of suck."

Wall shuddered. "COIN against fire-breathing lizards that weigh a ton."

"I wonder if Sidewinders will guide on dragon fire," said Cisco.

"Wasn't there something like that in an anime once?" said Lee. "We should ask the Japanese."

"I would kill for some katsu curry right now," said Henry.

He glanced up at the sound of turboprops. One of the Australian C-130's came along, tailgate open. As the group watched, two pegasi stepped out the back and into the airstream. They headed north.

The word had gone out about the diplomatic mission. Henry silently wished the ponies luck. A recon mission into potential enemy territory was not a mission to relish.

Lombard walked through the combat center aboard Makin Island. Glancing at the picture, she saw that O'Kane had closed on the Dragon coast. The Chinese destroyer was in trail, though not a close shadow, likely just keeping an eye on things. O'Kane's SPY-1D radar picture was being fed to the rest of the American task force. It was never intended to search for dragons, but with that much power, it could pretty much see everything airborne.

Four Harriers had set up a CAP overhead O'Kane. If word came, they could dash to help the Equestrian stealth diplomatic mission within a few minutes. But, being realistic, if two ponies got into trouble in the heart of dragon country, that might not be fast enough.

It could be frustrating respecting the twelve nautical mile limit of international territory, but this wasn't an invasion and the actions of a few didn't represent those of the rest of a society. Lombard, too, was thinking about solutions that didn't involve the weapons stored in Wally Schirra's hold.

The two pips displayed on the map of the pegasi's beacons had tracked steadily north and west. That is, until they came to a stop.

"Ma'am?" called one of the ponies. She sat back from the radio table next to the Marine operators.

Spitfire had been waiting for contact from the mission to the dragons. She'd sent two of her trusted lieutenants.

She got up quickly, gesturing after her to Candless, who was sitting nearby. He got up, too.

Spitfire walked over and took the headset. "Colonel Spitfire."

The voice on the other end was keyed up, but steady. "Ma'am, we found them."

"Have you made contact?"

"Yes ma'am, we did. We're coming back now."

Spitfire let out a sigh of relief. "Well, how did it go?"

"We delivered the message, but they wouldn't let us see Dragon Lord Torch. They, quote, 'want someone more important' to meet with him."

Spitfire had been afraid of this, but at least the dragons were willing to talk. "All right, we'll get a team set up. I trust you told them we might arrive via helicopter?"

"Yes ma'am." The voice on the radio paused. "Related to that, when they found out the humans were here, the dragons said they wanted to talk to somepony named 'Godzilla.'"

Chapter 16

"Not that I want to roll in hot on a foreign head of state," said Candless, "but if things go south in the meeting with Dragon Lord Torch, we need to have a plan."

He turned to Spitfire, who sat beside him at the table. "How big did you say this guy was?"

Spitfire turned her head and repeated the question in Equestrian to one of her lieutenants who'd met with the dragons. She replied, "Big."

Pausing to consider for a moment, Spitfire went on. "Knowing what I've heard about him, and knowing what Harriers can carry, I don't think anything short of a Maverick or a five hundred pound Paveway would seriously injure him."

The rest glanced at the conference room map, referencing the terrain.

Colonel Morita spoke up. "Can we ask him to meet us on the border, and by the seashore?"

On the other end of the teleconference screen, Captain Lombard took his meaning. "O'Kane could support that with five-inch and SM-2's."

"And with the much closer meeting, we can also use tanks and Cobras with TOW," Candless finished. "Now we just have to get the dragons to come."

"What if they won't?" asked Group Captain Hogan.

"Just Harriers escorting Ospreys, and try not to start trouble," Candless decided.

The commanders began to pull the plan together. Spitfire sent sent another mission of pegasi to arrange the meeting. Meanwhile, Candless told one of his aides to get the State Department on the phone. This was above his paygrade.

In days of yore, the on-scene military commander was often the official representative of the government. It was often a sailor, given the distances involved. Maybe Captain Lombard knew how to negotiate a multinational peace conference, but if he had modern telecommunications, Candless was going to use them.

The talk turned to how to arrange the meeting itself. Exactly where to hold it would be a little difficult. According to scouting reports and drone footage, the East River, which trickled out of the mountains, wasn't too deep by the time it reached the sea, but the coastal road was pretty much just a series of shallow places to get across it. They couldn't very well have a meeting in the middle of a flowing stream. But then whose side of the border would they hold the meeting on?

"We don't have a Seabee detachment, but if your construction Marines could build a runway, maybe they could build an island in the middle of the river," Lombard suggested.

It was an idea. However, there were fifty miles of still possibly damaged road to get construction equipment there. Instead, Candless ordered the CH-53 heavy lift helicopters in the MEU air wing to transport it. Those same helicopters would probably also be busy ferrying building materials to make a comfortable meeting place.

Although, if Dragon Lord Torch was really that big, then it might be difficult to slap together a building large enough to fit him. Candless also hoped the meeting wouldn't take so long that he would be expecting a meal.

He sighed to himself. No greater enemy, no better friend-

-catering extraordinaire.