Chapter 3 - Calm before War

Illania was kept in Mach's ship, mainly because of Mach's intervention. 

He didn't want to treat her like a war prisoner, especially when she'd be running from the enemy too. Other than that, he was intrigued by Atlas' reaction to her. 

Dr. Smith entrusted Atlas with Mach. The Doctor believed that an empathetic captain and crew were important to Atlas' development.

Meaning, it would be good to give him an example of humans as a people, and not just a military. Illania could help that.

Both Atlas and Illania stayed on the balcony outside of the island. Mach wanted to keep a good watch on them, so he told them to watch the ocean. The current plan was to keep their distance from the enemy at 100 miles, while sending planes to do the dirty work. 

With 40 F-35s and 72 F-22s, their fleet's strength was in the air. The fleet also had 20 reconnaissance planes, with the remaining aircraft being extremely classified. It had been 1 hour since they left the harbor.

Illania watched as the fighter jets were raised onto the deck. The roar of an engine sounded off as the first plane launched. She felt an odd feeling of safety. 

She never would've guessed that Earth had their own dragons. Despite the war being against her home country, she hoped that they would win.

Patrols were going to become regular. Four reconnaissance planes were deployed at all times. Everyone stood on the edge of their seats, fearing for war. Another hour passed by.

The carrier fleet would meet the enemy at Los Angeles, one of the United States' largest cities. They could only hope to get there in time. The enemy had a coast 90 miles from the city coast, while the navy base was at least 350 miles away. They were going to be late.

"Atlas." Captain Mach decided to visit Atlas on the balcony. Atlas responded with a straight posture and a stern salute.

Mach chuckled, not expecting Atlas to be so robotic. Illania simply looked confused at the situation.

"What are you thinking about, right now?"

Atlas gazed at the open ocean before letting out a small grin. 

"It's nice. Everyone acts immature when it's calm, but they're impressive when it's needed." 

Seeing Atlas' smile both calmed and scared the captain at the same time. He took a deep sigh before continuing.

"Where we're going, it's going to be a full out war. You're probably going to see a lot of shit that you don't want to see." Atlas looked at the captain, analyzing his facial expressions. "So, if you're ever feeling crazy, you can talk to me."

"What do you mean?" Atlas responded blankly. He didn't understand metaphors. 

Mach coughed.

"..uhm… For now, just focus on the fight, but find the kindness in humanity.." Mach spoke from his gut, even if it felt cringy. 

Something told him that he needed to talk before Atlas went off to war. Even though Atlas was superior to a human, Mach had doubts that he'd be immune to trauma.

"Yes sir."

Captain Mach went back to his post while Illania wondered what to say.

"..I'm-!" The roaring of a fighter jet cut Illania off mid-speech. Inside the island, Admiral Mach made quick commands.

"Launch two more squads to back up the forces in the south. I want to keep at least forty planes on the ship." From the sound of things, Atlas knew they arrived. He watched plane after plane take off. 

Princess Illania noticed Atlas' gaze and met it with concern.

"Are we under attack?"

"Not yet. We are launching a counterattack towards the shore."

"..." Illania wanted to persuade them to stop, but she realized the irony of those words. It was do or die anyway. The lucky ones would be turned to slavery, while the others would feed the dogs.

She looked out towards the fighters that slowly disappeared over the horizon.

…

Pat was a proud pilot of an F22 raptor. The plane is a monster of machinery, and his skills were to match. Despite his gut and experience, the situation excited him like he was flying for the first time.

[Five minutes from the drop point.]

The fighter squad's goal was to escort paratroopers to a rendezvous point 10 miles away from Los Angeles. The twelve fighter jets paled in size compared to the massive cargo planes. 

"Get the hell off my plane! Jump! Jump! Jump!"

Pat looked towards the cargo plane and saw lines of soldiers fly out of the door. He felt relaxed, before noticing an object on the radar.

[Unidentified aircraft approaching at 5 o'clock. Please identify.]

The escorting jets waited three seconds before two fighters broke from formation, and dipped sideways to attack.

From the cockpit, Pat could see its wings making strange motions. "Squad leader Pat here; it looks like a small dragon. Please take precautions."

The beast was simply watching the airborne convoy. An automatic alarm sent Pat into a jolt. [Incoming! Incoming! Evade! Evade! Evade!]

Flares shot up from the cargo plane as it took a steep curve. The swishing sound of flares sent adrenaline to Pat's ear. He'd never heard a cargo plane's flares in combat before. Amidst the flares, a projectile popped mid air. The fighter jets launched their own missiles.

The dragon tried to dodge the heat-seeking missile with a slight movement, but didn't account for the missile changing directory. It exploded with impact, and pummeled the small dragon with shrapnel before sending it to the ground.

The paratroopers continued their drop. Pat looked over his six to see the soldiers trickle down onto the landscape. Straight ahead was Los Angeles- which was now a burning battlefield.

[ All paratroopers deployed. Godspeed and good luck. ]

Pat split off from the formation with a second F-22. No one knew how bad the situation was on the ground, but the destruction was beyond chaotic. Pat's gut feeling no longer held excitement, but rather stress and rage. 

The enemy was expected to only be there for just 4 hours, yet the destruction was on another level. At this point, Pat dearly hoped that no one would need to resort to a nuke.