Rune Troopers: Self-Defense Forces Adventure - Chapter 2: Argentavis (Part 8)

Kuze was staring at the flight plan, waiting for the land that the IBUKI had spotted by radar. Ichinose was seated across from him and getting bored with the land that showed no sign of appearing.

He was about to doze off. Just then…

“I see it! Land!” The pilot shouted in exultation.

Kuze rushed to look out and saw the clear outline of land.

It was the first time he had ever seen land this way, and he leaned forward involuntarily.

“It’s a town…”

Kuze muttered to no one in particular.

The reconnaissance unit decided to lower its altitude, maintaining a triangular formation with three Ground Self-Defense Force Black Hawks surrounding the Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter.

As the helicopters lowered altitude, the land became clearer and clearer.

It had to be a city. No, it was a city, judging from its size.

Most of the buildings had white walls and brownish roofs, probably due to the stone materials used. Some of them seemed to be made of wood. It looked somewhat similar to the scenery of the Mediterranean Sea that Kuze had seen on a TV travel program.

There were no skyscrapers, but in front of what appeared to be a square in the center of the city, a building with a huge bell tower stood erect.

From above, one could see that the city was built along a crescent-shaped terrain.

The helicopter passed over a promontory at the tip of the city, above a building that looked like a lighthouse.

This must have been caught on camera and reached the fleet. There must have been a big commotion, Kuse thought.

He couldn’t believe it himself, but he had certainly felt a sense of unease about this world ever since he saw the mermaid and the huge bird with a person on it, appearing near the fleet.

The sight of the unfamiliar cityscape spread out before they left Kuze and the other SDF members speechless.

“Is that a castle?”

Kuze muttered as he spotted a huge structure that stood out from the rest of the city.

The helicopter, recognizing that it was most likely the most important facility in the city, turned its course in that direction.

Then the pilot’s voice echoed through the cabin.

“Radar has a reading! A flying object is rapidly approaching from 11 o’clock! I’m not receiving a friendly-aircraft identification signal match, Commander, do we evade?”

“What?”

Kuze stuck to the side door and checked the situation below. Then he noticed…

“It’s that bird!”

He saw countless huge birds flying away from the castle.

Apparently, one corner of the castle was an airstrip. The giant birds took off from there, catching the updrafts and gaining altitude at once.

On the back of the giant birds were people. They formed a brilliantly controlled formation as they passed under the helicopter squadron from the front, and made a sharp turn to catch up with it from the rear. It was a feat only a creature could pull off.

“What a turning performance……!”

Kuse heard the pilot grunt.

The co-pilot’s voice echoed through the cabin.

“The Commander has ordered us to stay in formation and refrain from any actions that might provoke the other aircraft.”

Kuze cleared his throat.

Surely, they were from this country. They must have scrambled against the helicopter squadron that arrived suddenly. The same thing would be done by the Air Self-Defense Force if an unidentified flying object appeared in Japan.

If so, the current behavior was disrespectful. The fault lay with the troops, so hostile action was out of the question. The MSDF officers aboard the white Seahawk helicopter were not mistaken in their judgment.

However, his subordinates looked uneasy.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“We’re surrounded, Platoon Leader Kuze!”

Kuze shouted into his radio.

“Listen up, all of you! Stay calm! Don’t aim your weapons on the other side! They have not turned against us yet!”

He had his men listen to their Vice-Commander’s voice to prevent them from being upset.

What was important for soldiers in such a situation was to have instructions for themselves, even if they were simple. Soldiers without instructions would start acting on their own. This was why the chain of command was so important.

But what are we going to do now……? The number of birds and people riding them is continuing to increase, Kuze thought.

“This really is a different world. ……”

Ichinose whispered to Kuze with a look of mixed surprise and excitement.

Speaking of which, from the sky, all the ships in the bay were either sailing vessels or galleys with rowers. On the roads, there were no vehicles to be seen, except for horse-drawn carriages and carts pulled by large birds.

The level of civilization they found was astonishingly different from the world they knew.

And now, here they are, a group of people surrounding a helicopter unit.

Their appearance was such that the soldiers could only call them warriors. It was no wonder that there was no response from the radio waves identifying them as friends or foes.

They were all convinced that the Fleet had wandered into a completely different world.

“Is that ……?”

A huge black bird moved forward to block the helicopter team’s path.

On its back was a tall woman, apparently wearing what appeared to be a black coat and was carrying a long spear.

In one hand, she held up what looked like the individual banner of her unit, and her appearance was somewhat reminiscent of a god of death.

Kuze felt as if his eyes met hers for a moment.

Through the gaps in her long grass-colored hair, he caught a glimpse of her beautiful face.

Her age seemed about the same as his own, or maybe a little younger. She could be described as a beautiful woman.

Her mouth moved.

I thought she said something like that.

Kuze had a feeling that she said something because he had no proof. But looking at her actions, he felt it was highly likely that she had said so.

He pressed the talk button on his radio.

“Commander, do you copy? This is 3rd Lieutenant Kuze.”

“Kato, this is Kato. Is there something wrong, Lieutenant Kuze?”

The voice of the Maritime Self-Defense Force officer who answered over the radio sounded rather frivolous.

But the fact that he was not distraught under the circumstances was another surprise.

Kuze reported to him, the Commander of this unit, on the current situation.

“The woman who seems to be the Commander of the group on that bird, I think she is trying to lead us somewhere.”

“I have a vague feeling about that, too.”  The Commander relayed. 

“We are in agreement. Let’s go with her.”

“Yes, are you sure? If anything happens to us after we land…”

“That’s why you guys are here, isn’t it? And as the old saying goes, ‘If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, you won’t get the tiger’s cub.’ I’m counting on you. Over.”

After the communication was cut off, Kuse remained frozen with the talk button pressed.

Kuse was as incredulous as he was about the bird as he was about the Maritime Self-Defense Force officer who had assumed Command under the Integrated Land and Maritime Operations. He was either just an idiot or otherwise a very brave man.

With that Commander’s decision, the helicopter unit began its descent, following the guidance of that woman-riding bird.

Below them, the vast castle came into view.