A/N: Not the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, the 3rd Recon and Surveillance team. Don't know what y'all were thinking.

The White House
Washington DC

3rd POV

In DC, President Dirrel is discussing things about Japan with his advisers in the Oval Office.

President Dirrel: What's Japan doing? They moved an entire division through the gate, and stood by. I understand the importance of a FOB, but they should at least send some troops out.

A/N: FOB means Forward Operating Base.

Advisor: Their first mission regarding this has been purely to evaluate politics. They're only interested in controlling certain areas.

Dirrel: I guess I can understand that. Basically like Hearts and Minds in Afghanistan and Iraq. But these people attacked them for fucks sake! But it's their call not ours. Isn't our boys in Okinawa and Fuji helping them out?

Advisor: Yes sir. They're currently assisting with guarding the Gate and hosting joint trainings with them.

Another advisor buts into the conversation.

Advisor 2: But sir the other leaders are hoping Japan drops the ball on this, hoping they fail and face backlash.

The President takes a second before responding.

Dirrel: Then let's help them not fail. Sure, if they do, we'll go down with them since we won't have any plausible deniability. But Japan has been our friend and ally for years.

The Advisors all think on this, then nod.

Advisors: We're with you all the way sir.

Dirrel: Speaking of friend and ally, has our man on the other side reported back yet?

Advisor: No sir, we haven't received word from him yet. But Second Lieutenant Kesler was ordered to make a report as soon as possible.

Dirrel: Well let me know as soon as he does it. In the meantime we'll show the rest of the world we're standing our ground with our support of Japan.

Advisor: Of course Mr. President.

A/N: If you're wondering why this a complete 180 from the canon Dirrel. It's because this for the plot of future chapters. Also because I hate how the US is always a bad guy in anime. Like for fucks sake! We're not that greedy!

Alnus Hill
5th Combat Team FOB

J POV

Me and Itami are currently standing in front of the desk of Major Higaki awaiting our new orders.

Higaki: We need intelligence to decide future policy. Investigating their political base, religious faith, and what kind of industries are most prevalent in this world are at the top of our upcoming fact finding missions.

Itami looks at the Major very unenthusiastically and says:

Itami: Well that sounds like a great idea. Best of luck to the dummy that gets that job.

In return, Higaki gives him a smug grin.

Higaki: Well congratulations, "Dummy" it's all yours.

Itami's eyes widened as I titter at his misfortune.

Itami: Huh?! But why me?!

Higaki: Because why not?

Itami: Well I can't do it all by myself!

Higaki: Relax dummy, we wouldn't entrust it to just you. We've already organized the six Deep Reconnaissance and Surveillance units we need. You along with Lieutenant Kesler will be commanding one of them. Your mission is to make contact with locals inside the disputed area. Lieutenant Kesler will be acting as your 2IC.

A/N: 2IC means 2nd in command.

Me: So basically a Hearts and Minds strategy sir?

The Major nods but I'm a bit skeptical.

Me: Sir, with all due respect, that didn't work so well in Iraq and Afghanistan. Especially when we were the ones that came into their country.

Higaki: Just don't get your asses shot off and start friendly relations with them. Just remember Kesler, this isn't the Taliban, these people aren't terrorist.

I reluctantly say a "Understood sir." And he continues.

Higaki: Lieutenant Itami, as much as it pains me to say this, you are officially in command of the 3rd Deep Reconnaissance and Surveillance unit.

We both salute, Itami incredibly disappointed and me slightly concerned, and walk out of the command post. We're heading towards the rally point, when Itami asks me something.

Itami: So why did I get paired with you again?

Me: Probably cus the politicians thought it would make good PR. You know? A dynamic duo I guess.

Itami: So we're pretty much stuck together.

I nod and raise an eyebrow.

Me: Yeah, but why the hell am I 2IC?

He looks at me like I'm stupid and sarcastically says:

Itami: Uhh maybe because I outrank you?

Me: I know that but I'm better trained for this.

Itami: What's that supposed to mean?!

I don't answer and stop him because we're nearing the rally point.

Me: Hold that thought. We're almost there.

We arrive at the rally point and Sergeant Major Sōichirō Kuwahara assembles the unit.

Kuwahara: Fall in!

Kuwahara salutes us both.

Kuwahara: 3rd Recon Team ready to go sirs!

Me and Itami salutes back to him.

Itami: Hey, Old School!

Me: Good to see you again Kuwahara.

Itami inspects the unit.

Itami:  So, how we looking here?

Itami: Uh...well thanks for falling in or whatever...I'm First Lieutenant Itami, nice to meet all of you.

Me: Jesus man. Are you sure you're an officer? (Turns to unit) Well if you don't know me, I'm Second Lieutenant J Kesler of the United States Marine Corps and I'll be the 2IC of this unit. Today, we'll be heading out to make contact with the locals. Hopefully these locals won't kill us, like the ones that currently litter the field out there. But sure to stock up on ammo, water, and food. Remember, This is a Hearts and Minds strategy. When we make contact I expect you to treat the locals with respect like any marine would. Am I understood?

3rd Recon: Yes sir!

Me: Semper Fi. Itami all you man.

Itami looks extremely depressed.

Itami: I miss one train to sexy Shimbashi and now I'm in a platoon full of dudes.

Me: I was a fucking tourist on leave. But I'd definitely take this place than going back to the hell I was in.

I turn back to the unit as they await orders.

Me: We're Oscar Mike! Get in your Victors!

Itami: Alright let's get cracking people.

3rd POV

Sergeant Kuribayashi says something under her breath so that both officers and others couldn't hear.

Kuribayashi: You've got to be kidding. This is the dipshit they sent us? I'd rather have the American give me orders than him.

Kuwahara: Mount up!

Time skip

After the team makes peaceful contact with a small place called "Coda Village" they gave them some directions to another village a few klicks away. J's currently in the lead Vic with him behind Itami and Kurata as Kuwahara and Sergeant First Class Akira Tomita in the back.

Itami: Man it's so bright just like I hoped it would be!

Kurata: Oh, come on Lieutenant we've got some beautiful scenery back home. I mean for me, I was figuring I'd see freakin dragons or maybe a fairy.

J looks at Kurata concerned and continues to do what he was doing, which was sharpening his knife.

Kurata: Look at all the towns we've seen, just the same old boring humans all over the place. I'm pretty damn disappointed.

Itami: Oh that's right, you got that whole cat-girl thing.

J leans in and says:

J: That's what we call a fetish my friend.

Kurata: It's not a fetish! It's...just an interest.

J rolls his eyes and leans back.

Kurata: Anyway, what about you Itami? You got a preference?

Itami slightly blushes and says:

Itami: Well, uh...magical girls are cool.

J makes a tsk sound while shaking his head and plays some music on his sidewinder.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

J tunes the two weebs in the front out and continues to sharpen his knife.

Then Itami and Kurata start singing some anime theme song. Interrupting the good guitar play in his ear.

J reaches to his com and presses down on it.

J: (Radio) Itami, Kurata, With all due respect, Can you shut fuck up.

This causes the two to look back at him.

Itami: You didn't have to say that over the radio!

Meanwhile with Kuribayashi, she's listening to the radio next to her while J is still transmitting.

J: (Radio) I'm just trying to make sure I'm heard.

The amount of sarcasm that sentence had gave enough information for her to know he's smirking on the other end.

Kurata: (Radio) The whole unit heard you!

J: That's the point dumbass.

Kuribayashi was trying to stifle a laugh as she and the rest of the unit was listening to this banter.

Back with J, they stops their banter and continue on. J sheathes his knife as a very familiar stinging starts on the right side of his neck.

J: Hey can we stop for a sec? I gotta take a piss.

Itami: Right now? Well alright.

Itami reaches for the radio but the voice of Kuribayashi comes through.

Kuribayashi: We heard and I gotta take one too.

The convoy stops as J and Kuribayashi step out of their vehicles and head for the nearby woods.

Itami: Geez she's a tomboy ain't she?

Kurata: Yeah. Most of the base is scared of her man.

Outside, J is doing his business but when he finishes he opens a pocket on his vest. He uncaps the thing in his hand and a sting is present on his leg. His pupils dilate as he puts the cap on the thing and keeps it in his fist.

With Kuribayashi, she walks out of the woods after she finishes her business. She spots J as he walks back to the lead vehicle, but as he walks, she sees something fall from his hand.

She walks over and picks it up and looks at it confused. She mutters:

Kuribayashi: A morphine shot? And it's used...what the hell was he doing?

Suddenly she hears Itami yell at her.

Itami: Hey sergeant! Come on, we don't got all day!

She takes the empty morphine shot and returns to her vehicle.

Time skip

J POV

After taking some meds, I tried to relax as I felt a little numb. The sun was setting and Tomita decided to ask something.

Tomita: By the way, what are we doing with gear that's ancient history? I mean, our vehicles seem to be pretty modern and up to date. Don't they?

Itami: It's probably just a cost management thing. Guess they figured worst case scenario, we'd ditch and run like hell.

Me: You think I brought this M16 voluntarily? I would have brought an M4 or M27 if I had the choice.

Tomita: So we were given weapons we could afford to lose?

Itami: Yeah besides, all that new stuff has all that gadgetry that needs GPS. No satellites out here, so no need for it. Am I right?

I nod as Kuwahara gives Kurata some directions.

Me: Shit, normally I'm used to taking the long way to places. Roads like this would be chalk full of IEDs.

I feel someone staring at me, so I look over to see Tomita looking at me curiously.

Me: You got a question, sergeant?

Tomita: Well, no one really knows who you are. More specifically what got you here.

I look down a little hesitant since everyone else can hear but I do tell my story.

Me: Well, I grew up in LA, and my father was a marine. He inspired me to become one. Our family was built of marines, almost every generation of Keslers had a marine. Well enough of that, when I enlisted, I was sent to Camp Pendleton for basic. Then, I deployed to Iraq for a tour, then Afghanistan for two more.

Tomita: What was Afghanistan like?

Me: Well, everyday you gotta worry about the Taliban attacking. You usually get shot at once or twice a day, but then there's the fact that they live there and know the terrain better than anyone else. They also can blend into the civilian population, making it hard to trust locals a lot. Other than that, it's a hot ass desert.

Kurata: Speaking of desert, your hat. Doesn't it kinda clash with your uniform?

Me: It was a gift, I always wear it no matter what.

Kurata looks back front as I turn my attention back to Tomita.

Me: Well, after my last tour, I was granted leave and came to Tokyo. And that's how I got here.

Tomita: What about the Ginza Incident? What were you doing at the time?

Me: Well I was looking for the Imperial Palace. When shit hit the fan I used the gun I was concealed carrying at the time.

I say, patting my colt.

Kuwahara: You certainly did well in our prep drills. You're quite experienced.

Me: I was trained by my dad at a young age, Corps taught me the rest.

Kuwahara: But you did fight differently. Some things you do are quite unorthodox.

Me: I was trained in guerrilla warfare while you were trained in standard combat. We have completely different SOPs.

Itami: Hey Kesler, didn't you say you would've volunteered for this job at one point?

Me: Yeah I mean, as George Orwell once said: "We sleep peacefully in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf."

Itami: Wait, didn't you enlist when you were twenty?

Me: Yeah, I went to UCLA for a couple year then enlisted. I did the rest of school while on deployment, which was a pain in the ass. But it got me qualified to become an officer, ROTC in high school and college helped a little too.

Kuwahara: Didn't you say that your family was built on marines? What do you mean by that?

Me: Before WWII. My great great grandfather fled Germany and enlisted. But they changed his name to Kesmen just in case Germans happened to be in Japan for some reason.

Itami: I didn't know you had German roots.

Me: There's a lot you don't ask me Itami. But yeah, I do. I'm fluent in German because it's always taught to every generation. Gott Mit Uns.

I finish up and look out the windshield to see tons of smoke. Gives me memories of the Camp Fire.

Me: Yo! Smoke at our ten!

They look and turn towards it.

Time skip

The Night

After getting to the edge of the forest, we're currently overlooking the raging forest fire in front of us.

Kuwahara is looking through a pair of binocs looking for anything of particular interest.

Kurata: Yup, it's on fire alright.

Me: OH MY GOD REALLY?! I didn't fucking notice Kurata.

Kurata immediately regrets ever saying that as Kuribayashi starts chuckling. You can practically smell the sarcasm in my voice.

Me: But seriously, this ain't nothing. The Camp Fire was ten times worse than this.

Kuribayashi: How so, Lieutenant?

Me: It almost burned down two whole towns and is recorded to be the deadliest fire in California's history, Sergeant. I was in California National Guard and witnessed the entire thing myself.

A/N: Almost got to mine too. Good thing there was a huge ass mountain to block it. Also this was back in 2018.

Kuribayashi eyes widen with shock as I sigh saddened.

Me: Bad fall season for Pops...

I remember the time when Pops called and said that his ranch almost got burnt down near Concow while I was helping evacuations in Paradise. Until I'm snapped back to reality by Kuwahara.

Kuwahara: Uhhh Lieutenants? You gotta see this for yourselves.

Kuwahara hands Itami his binocs while I use mine and we both see a huge red dragon raining literal hellfire on the forest.

Itami: Holy crap!

Me: Mein gott is that a blutig dragon?!

A/N: Try and translate. You know what languages he's fluent in.

Kuwahara: That thing is like King Ghidorah with only one head.

Itami: You really are a classic, I'll tell you that.

Me: I would've went with those creatures in "The Great Wall" but with wings. Ghidorah is too old for my blood.

Kuribayashi walk up to us.

Kuribayashi: What would you like us to do Lieutenants?

Itami: Sergeant Kuribayashi, do you think you can hold my hand for me?

Suddenly he gets all scared, like a green recruit firing a SMAW for the first time.

Itami: Your commanding officer is getting kinda scared over here.

I give Itami a sideways look as Kuribayashi scoffs.

Kuribayashi: Eat it.

Itami: Is that a no?

I laugh and pat Kuribayashi's back.

Me: That was good, I like you.

I look back to Itami, but before I do, I could have sworn I saw Kuribayashi with a tinge of pink on her cheeks, but I wave it off as nothing.

Me: As for you Itami, with all due respect, go fuck your self and hold your own damn hand.

Kuribayashi giggles as I laugh with her.

Suddenly the dragon lets out a loud roar, causing Katsumoto to aim the 50 at it ready to fire.

Me: Wait! You shoot that thing and we all get turned into human tempura!

He lowers the 50 as we look back to see the dragon flying away.

Kuwahara: Looks like it's bugging out.

Itami thinks for a moment and speaks up again.

Itami: So think about it. Why would a dragon burn down an entire forest with nothing else around?

I think on it for a minute until I remember that a village was supposed to be in that forest. My eyes widen as Kuribayashi speaks up.

Kuribayashi: Well Lieutenant, ya know if you're really that curious about it, maybe our new dragon friend would be happy to sit down for a quick interview.

Itami gives her a deflated look and asks:

Itami: Are you always like this?

While they bicker I still stare at the fire and out of the blue say:

Me: So it really is like The Camp Fire...

Everyone but Itami looks at me confused until I clarify.

Me: That bastard burnt down the village that was in there.

Everyone adopts a concerned look as the also look towards the fire.

Itami: Hey Top, we're gonna have to wait to set up camp.

Kuwahara nod in affirmation and tells everyone to mount back up. But I stay behind and stare at the fire.

Itami: Come on Kesler, we gotta go.

I turn my head to look at him.

Me: You don't know Itami... you don't know what it was like. We're were surrounded by fire and it sounded like an artillery strike outside. I thought everyone with me was going to die a horrible death...

A/N: If you don't understand what I'm talking about, watch "Fire in Paradise" on Netflix. I watched it and was shocked to hear the accounts of the fire even though it was close enough to threaten my town too.

Itami puts his hand on my back and lightly pushes me to the Vic.

Itami: I know, but it's in the past. You gotta move on.

I silently tear up and look at him through my sunglasses, even though it's too dark to see through them.

Me: That's easier said than done, Itami...

A/N: Well that's it for this chapter.

Now ya gotta wonder. What did that last line mean? Well all will be explained in due time and by god it will probably rock you.

But with that I thank you for reading it gives me so much joy to see people reading this even though I think it's absolute shit. Have a g'day or night out there where ever you lads are. Flatcap is out.