Chapter XVIII - Another Case Before the Storm

- inside the Müller, Donitz Class Frigate. Hangar Area -

- 1400hrs, local time -

More than 150 men and women that are part of the PMC group are gathered in the hangar that has two Gunships that are being placed on the right side of the large room, chattering about the upcoming mission that was rumoured by the guys that escorted Jeanne. some of them are sceptical while some are eager to know the new world around them as it felt "retro" to them, though, they knew that they were sent to Verdia isn't about recreation and simple scientific purpose as they were tasked as a liaison between two worlds that just made contact with each other. As the room started to get noisier every second passed, the metallic blast door on the far-left front of the hangar split and slid open diagonally and their higher-ups walked in along with their guest who is wearing a fantasy-esque nobility outfit as if he was cosplaying someone, his body built is no joke though as some were quite surprised that he's massive.

"Commander on deck!" one of them shouted, and in the instant, the whole room stopped their chatter and instantly saluted Jeanne, to which she replied with a salute.

"Settle down everyone, I'll start the briefing," she said, starting up the holographic projection on the wall behind her. "but beforehand, I'll introduce to you our representative from the Kingdom of Apolo-"

"Apollyon, miss" the man corrected her. Jeanne slightly blushed as she made that spelling mistake, clearing her throat right after, "Apollyon, yes, that. And thus, He will give a speech about himself. Sir, you may…" she gestured for him to stand at the podium that was set earlier on beforehand for this specific occasion. As the man stood there, his aura of nobility was to shine which slightly inspire some of the mercs there.

"To give such an opportunity beforehand, I thank you, commander." He said, smiling, glancing around at the people gathered in the hangar. "For a long time… I always wondered if otherworlders were to have the same body structures as the [Heroes] of the past generation, slim yet built to be agile, just like the average young lads and lass of ours. nonetheless now, in front of me, are soldiers, warriors, beaming with pride from their home world." Some of the men exclaim in excitement; "hell yeah we are!" and "Of course!" made the Marquis chuckle.

"It seems that all of you are in high spirits, ah, where are my manners, I am Marquis Jordan of Heisenberg, and my territory is located on Himeja Island situated near the fjord of this side of this continent. Currently, I'm in command of the 3rd battalion that was formed. Beforehand, I apologize if some of you regarded our request as quite a burden, I know this conflict isn't yours as each of our affiliations is essentially not related in any political and in any manner whatsoever, however, our kingdom already had enough of this everlasting war for more than 200 years, and our strength alone isn't enough. This is why we thank your envoy who bravely came to us as he was [Summoned] by the enemy who seek our demise to have the opportunity for us to establish an alliance and I hope we all can work together as allies well. Soldiers and Travellers of [Earth], I can't thank your consideration enough".

The crowd clapped as he concluded his speech, Jeanne then took over the podium after he stepped down and returned to his standing position beside Jaeger. "Looks like they quite like your charm sir", Jaeger complimented, still in his at-ease posture. The Marquis simply smiled, "I've seen many men and women under my command come and go, most of them usually are fledglings from the academy who boast their capabilities as the best. And yet, these people… I could see they'd seen the horrific truth of conflicts for many years and from that, I put a faithful respect to them as I personally never went to a massive battle before. It's pitiful, isn't it? For one of the generals of an army never saw real combat before."

"No sir, not at all. Some of the generals in my home world were also the same. I don't think it's a big issue".

"Thank you for reassuring me Young Wolfenford... Say, mind for you to tell me some stories of yours later and for a cup of tea? I'm quite interested in Count Eoflora's only son".

Jaeger's stoic face slightly breaks into a small smile that's slightly saddening, "It might not be a pleasant one but… it's my honour, sir".

The room then went slightly dark as Jeanne finally started the briefing. The projection is now focused on the world map of Verdia, having multiple continents scattered around the equator, and from the looks of it, there are 3 massive continents, two of which are arctic regions which are far more massive than Antarctica on Earth, and several smaller continents which looks like massive sets of archipelagoes. "alright, listen up, this is the data of the orbital photograph taken from the destroyer that was supposed to act as the surveyor of this planet, we're still figuring out how did it was destroyed awfully as our researchers are examining the wreckage that was salvaged. Regardless, their loss was unfortunate but it's a miracle all of the geographical data was collected right before they lost contact with [Return Station]."

The map then zoomed in on the continent, which is named "Auterrbar" according to the locals, and zoomed even more to the middle part of the continent, which has the data of the borders of each nation as she was given the map of the continent by the Marquis since Jeanne requested it to be scanned for her database. "our client has informed that before we are accepted fully here, we needed to do a mission on several AoI (area of interest), located at the Holy Kingdom of Nelimista, Avalon Empire and Belkannt Dominion." Several green arrowheads on the projection appear and point down towards several points on each territory of the aforementioned nations, marking several villages and a city. "Our objective is to investigate several of these marked locations, as the Apollyon's intel mentioned that these areas had churches that conducted experimentations on humans. preferably, if we found out that it is true regarding such activities were conducted, the destruction of said churches will be done with extreme prejudice." The marquis was slightly shocked at her way of saying it as if she doesn't care what will happen to the surroundings, what's more, he saw some of the men in the crowd has this ominous-looking smirk painted on their faces.

"Though do not cause any civilian casualties or even witness in the process, this is a covert op. if you were ever to find any in AO, try to escort them out. 4 teams consisting of an 8-man fireteam will be inserted along with their assigned dropships and two pilots, and since there are a total of 8 AoI, the investigation will be conducted for exactly 10 days per Area. All four Fireteams will be designated [Alpha], [Bravo], [Delta] and [Omega] and further planning will be done by each squad leader as they have reached their designated LZ (landing zone). Any questions?" the crowd murmurs started and it lasted a couple of minutes, as it resided, some of them raised their hands and answered their questions one by one.

One of them asked about their supplies, etc, while the other questioned if they're allowed to use their private equipment, to which she answered it is okay to do so but there will be additional pieces of equipment that are provided which is far better than they have. Having their questions answered thoroughly, the crowd is satisfied, returning to their silence. "right, no more questions? Good. Additionally, as per decree from His Majesty Somnus von Apollyon. We are allowed to set up a Forward Operating Base (FOB) several kilometres outside the capital walls, along with that, we are going to be provided with more than 10 tons of raw food materials and will be replenished if we are low on supplies."

"so basically, free pizza?" one of the mercenaries crack a joke out of the blue, and nearly all of the crowd laughed, even the Marquis. "yes 2nd Lieutenant, free pizza, but you're going to cook it for us"

"Aw man! I hate making my own food!"

"your problem, not mine. That aside, this concludes the briefing, Operation codename [7th Trumpet] will be initiated 4 days from now, and fireteam distribution will be mentioned at 1800hrs. the mentioned personnel will be gathered at the briefing room in section 2 and the ones that aren't being assigned to this mission will help with the construction of the FOB. Dismissed!" As the briefing ended, the lights came back and the projection turned off. The crowd started discussing yet again, though, for unknown reasons, a handful of them took a glance at Jaeger with a rather scornful look, which he knew and ignored. The guest and their Commanding Officers then left the hangar area, leaving the crowd to discuss to their heart's content.

As they were walking through the corridors of the ship, the Marquis is still on his awed expression as the interior is brighter than the ships he was in and it has a metallic finish on the surroundings, yet he remained calm about this. "I still can't believe this kind of ship existed and I'm walking inside of it, an amazing piece of work done by human hands…"

"Really? I thought the interiors were rather dull" remarked the female commander, still scribbling something on her tablet. "I told the engineers to have a livelier interior and this is what I got, damn those bastards didn't hire interior designers or probably got lazy"

"well… since this is a warship, I do not mind this kind of interior. Though…" he looked at Jaeger who was walking slightly behind, "how about you young Wolfenford?"

Jaeger snapped out of his long thoughts as he walked, not sure what to say, he just shrugged his shoulder, "Anything is fine for me honestly, I'm not a fan of ship interior design". The way he said it made his sister elbow his waist, "Oi… at least give me praise for designing this thing, especially how the higher-ups wanted 4 designs in just 4 months"

"It's your issue, not mine. It's not like we'll be assigned to this mission for years… right?"

She didn't answer and just look away, "Don't tell me… we're going to make some sort of small colony on this planet?" he continued, slightly concerned. Jeanne cleared her throat, as she acts like she was trying to divert the conversation. "we have our orders from the higher-ups, Archie, and mine is to not say anything about the next step of this alliance, then again…" she glanced at the Marquis with a reassuring look. "I can assure you, Lord Jordan, that we do not have any harmful intention towards this world as public opinion back in our world is needed in the future when we return home."

The marquis didn't say a word and just smiled at her, ignoring that she might've been planning on something that he might not know. As the three went on about the roster of the 4 teams, suddenly, a magic sigil appear out of nowhere on the floor, making them stop their tracks. The sigil shone brightly for several seconds, and as it cease to exist, Christina now standing in front of them, correcting her hair as it was slightly disoriented on her bangs. "ah, hey guys! The ship is very large honestly, I kinda miscalculated my teleportation spell and ended up in another room several times but hey! I found you all eventually so… give me a tour around! Would be fun right?"

Jeager sighed, not the fact that she roam around without permission, but the fact that she nonchalantly did a teleportation spell in front of the one that he is worried on if that certain person saw it, which is Jeanne who is now mouth agape and eyes wide as she was completely dumbfounded. "ah s**t… you just made her gone haywire"

"eh? What did I do?" Christina innocently said. Jeager gave a hint by pointing down at the mana trace on the floor as it still slightly glows, "Teleporting in front of a researcher from a world that doesn't have magic, you do know what will happen"

Christina, in the realization of it, could only say "Ah…" and chuckled nervously. "Jeanne, don't you dare bombard her with questions" he continued, snapping her out of her dumbfoundedness.

"I… I really need to know how magic works, ASAP"

"ughh… Of course you would say that…"

"Hey! It's part of the pact you know! Not that I'm doing it out of my Intrusive curiosity but it's part of the alliance mission too!"

"Intrusive what now?"

"… forget about it"

"… riiiiiighht…"

It went silent for a moment, quite awkward for them since Jeanne and Christina had just gotten acquainted with each other, on the other hand, Christina casually wrap around her arms at Jaeger and ruffled his hair. "you know, I saw how dignified you are back there during that meeting on that massive hall thing, maybe having your dad enlisting you wasn't a bad thing after all~ I'm proud of you"

"that's quite a sudden change of attitude about me being a soldier"

"I still haven't forgiven how you are in the military area of the profession though. if I meet August, I'm going to smack his wits limb to limb…."

Jeager shuddered as she's giving a very murderous aura that he never saw, "… never mind then". The way they had conversation slightly made Jeanne jealous, though, she didn't show it. Since she doesn't know the truth behind it until she realized one thing…

"wait, Lady Christina, who is this August you referring to?"

The Archmage raised her eyebrows since the only August in her mind is only one and he's also quite famous with his name, "hmm? It's obviously August Wolfenford, the summoned hero back then before this war started and my husband~"

"hu-husband!?" she looked at Jaeger, who gave a look that says she was telling the truth. "then… Archie… you know that I'm…"

"I've known it since 2nd grade you know? I overheard Dad's convo back then with a child protection officer in the living room back then about confirming the legality of your adoption, though, I still treat you as my little sister."

"… I hate you" She stormed away from them, slightly running, leaving the three and making Jaeger confused by her action. "well… that's one way to upset a girl," Christina remarked, confusing Jeager even more.

"what did I even do? I literally just told the truth"

"… you're just as oblivious as your father huh?"

"I'm not, I'm just being a good brother"

"That's where you're at fault"

"… I don't get women sometimes…"

"but don't you have one back then?" Jeager broke away from her arms, a slight scowl was to be seen on his face. His slight loss of composure wasn't because of her reminding him about his ex, but rather how does she even know about it since Jaeger himself never mention anything about that topic over the past couple of days. "did you tap into my memories or something?! You do know I have my privacy on many things! I don't want to talk about this, I'll be taking my leave"

Jeager stomped his way out, turning on the corner of the corridor. Christina was rather baffled as she wasn't expecting that kind of reaction from him. "well… there he goes." She said, having her hands on her hips.

"you know Lady Eoflora… you just made our guides in this ship abandon us in this corridor that we do not know. And your son is right, people have their secrets that they don't want to tell, even to their parents. Well… just like my son" Jordan's statement made the carefree Archmage chuckle nervously in her embarrassment. She does know that Jaeger doesn't want to talk about it since the memories she peeked at also included his inner conflicts, but she's still curious as he's still her son, even though they only met several days ago. Then again, what Jordan mention hit her reality like a freight train.

"I… I'll apologize to him later on, but right now… I think we need to think about something else"

"something about what to be exact??"

"how do we get out of this ship?"

"can't we just teleport out to the pier instead?"

"oh… right, how can I forget about that…"