Rune Troopers: Self-Defense Forces Adventure

“Hurry up! We take off once Platoon Commander Kuze’s Team returns!” Sergeant Yaegashi, Captain of the Third Team assigned to escort the heliport, yelled to the helicopter pilots.

It was difficult for eleven men to protect four helicopters from both air and land threats. The four helicopters had landed in a diamond shape, and all eleven of them had secured the perimeter. As long as the Dragons currently displayed no clear intent to harm them, they couldn’t fire a shot at them even if they passed just overhead.

“Ignite the Engines!” The pilot hurriedly prepared to restart the engines.

The engine warmed up sharply, and the blades slowly began to spin. However, it was still going to take some time to get them up to takeoff-ready power. That short time seemed like an eternity.

“Shit, seriously…”

“Damn…”

The convoy members around the helicopter were overwhelmed by the scene before them. The city was being burned to the ground. A Black Dragon and a Black Giant Bird flew occupied the sky. The Giant Bird landed on the ground, dismounted the soldiers on its back, and flew away again.

When the Black Dragon found a person, whether it was a soldier, woman, or child, it spat out flames from its mouth and slaughtered them without any distinction at all. It was as if to make an example of what would happen if they refused to be enslaved by the Empire. No, in fact, that did seem to be true. Fear was contagious. If the neighboring nations knew what had happened to the Nation of Marysea, they would feel more fear than hostility toward the Empire.

For that reason. Just for that reason. The massacre was happening right before their eyes, the UN forces. But there was nothing they could do about it. Because they neither had permission nor orders.

For the Self-Defense Forces, every action required permission and orders. Even if it was to protect human life. What could an army that could not even protect itself do?

Seeing the devastation in the castle, Ichinose couldn’t help but want to get out of here as soon as possible. He had enough of this. Being thrown into another world, and now he was about to get caught up in a war. He wanted to get back to his world as soon as possible.

He retreated toward the helicopter. To escape immediately. Suddenly, he heard someone’s voice. It was a girl’s voice.

“Everyone! Get as many people as possible inside the castle!”

“Yes, all right. Let’s split up.”

“Bastards of the Empire! You’ll see!”

It was Lalona. He understood why she had been so frightened earlier. She had known that such an inferno was about to happen. But now, without displaying any fear, she was holding the reins of the Giant Bird and boosting morale with her friends. …What was she doing?

“Oh, hey!” Ichinose ran towards them.

Lalona recognized him from his mount.

“Ichinose, what’s going on? We’d better get ready to run, or else we’ll be in trouble.”

“Wouldn’t that be bad?”

“Huh? What?”

“You’re not going to jump in there, are you? You’re gonna die.”

“You want me to do nothing because I might die?”

“Ah… No, no, it’s not…” Ichinose could not believe the girl in front of him.

And then he looked into her eyes and knew. She was going to fight. To protect her country, to save people. That was her pride. Ichinose had no words to say.

“Ichinose, I hope you can return to your original world!” Lalona said and smiled.

Ichinose stared at her smile in amazement. He had never seen such a pure smile before.

『Ichinose! What are you doing? Hurry up and get back to Heli’s location!』

Ichinose was startled by the voice of the Team leader coming over the radio.

Yes, what am I doing? What if I am in a place like this and the helicopter leaves me behind?

He was so anxious that he rushed back to the helicopter. It was then that Ichinose suddenly noticed that his surroundings were now clad in a shade of darkness. He looked back behind him. There was a wall there, and on top of it…

Grrr!!

There was a Black Dragon. It was more than fifteen meters long. An Evil Dragon with shiny, hideous scales and claws that could tear a man apart with a single blow. It had an overwhelming presence.

Steam was pouring from its mouth.

“E-Enemy attack!” A few guards who were present threw spears and shot bows at the Dragon as Ichinose was knocked back and crawled away.

Spears and arrows bounced off the Black Dragon’s scales as if they were children’s toys, and they fell down in vain. The next moment, the dragon unleashes a vicious breath at the guards.

“Gyaaaahhhh!”

Ichinose’s ears were filled with the screams of a desperate man. The area around him was scorching hot, and the smell of burning human bodies wafted through the air.

Ichinose ran for cover, half-crying. From behind him, he heard a thud. When he turned around, he saw the Dragon in front of him. It had come all the way down here.

How many people had it burned to death? It looked down at him with vicious eyes that showed no sign of mercy.

“Ah… Uh…” Ichinose froze in terror.

“Ichinose! Run!” Lalona’s scream-like voice echoed.

The Black Shadow moved.

“Uwaaaa!?” Just when he thought he would be killed. The Black shadow passed over him.

“What…?” Not knowing what was going on, he hurriedly looked where the Dragon had gone, and there was a helicopter warming up its engines for take-off.

A chill ran down his spine.

“Oh, no!”

By the time he shouted that, it was too late. The Dragon approached one of the Black Hawks and pounced on it with its massive claws.

“Threat Creature approaching!”

“Don’t let it get too close! Shoot it! Fire!” At the command of Sergeant Yaegashi, the three men around him returned fire with Type 89 rifles.

However, due to the custom of the Self-Defense Forces, the firing system was a single-shot type, and two of the three only fired warning shots into the air, so they did not damage the Dragon at all.

Ichinose was also aware that if they were dealing with a beast, it might run away at the sound of a gunshot. The huge Black shadow swooped down on the helicopter, ignoring the sound of gunfire.

The pilot tried to take off in a panic, but nothing was more defenseless than a helicopter just before takeoff. As soon as the Black Dragon seemed to cover the helicopter, the area was filled with the high, dull sound of metal clashing.

It broke one of the rotor blades. The helicopter lost its balance and crashed into the castle wall. It then crashed and overturned in a flowerbed full of beautiful flowers. The remaining rotor blades were either bent or shattered. A cloud of dust and smoke rose up in the air, temporarily blocking the view of the scene.

“Shit!!”

“Evacuate! Evacuate!”

The crews, unable to protect their helicopters, ran for cover to avoid debris from the crash. The three remaining helicopters were unable to escape with the platoon. The Dragon must have attacked them in the meantime.

In any case, in a battlefield where air control had been lost to this extent, even if they could accommodate the Platoon and fly away, they would not be able to make it back to the fleet alive.

The only way for the helicopters was to make a temporary retreat. When faced with the decision between total annihilation of all aircraft or escape, it was the helicopter pilot’s responsibility to do his best, even if it was ruthless.

“Taking emergency evacuation measures! Take off!”

“This is Green 2, taking off now!”

One by one, the helicopters tried to get out of the air before the Black Dragon arrived. The ground crews were left behind.

“Hey, the surviving helicopters are…?”

“No! Stop! Come back!”

The crew members noticed the helicopter surfacing amidst a cloud of dust and smoke, and shouted in unison. However, under enemy airspace control, the helicopter was unable to respond as it struggled to escape this airspace.

After the helicopter flew away, only a desperate silence remained in the courtyard.

“They left me behind…”

Ichinose slumped down and muttered. At that moment, a number of footsteps approached from the corridor leading to the courtyard. It was Kuze and the others.