0155 May 16th, 2020 CE

0357 Sun 46th, 196 AE

Port City of Filanneas

Jacob stared out at the horizon whilst standing and carrying his gun. “I see the first cargo ship.”

Issac walked over. “The port seems to be a bit small.”

“As long as it can offload, we should be fine.”

Issac glanced over at Jacob. “Say, why did we even need a port? Couldn’t they have just offloaded on the beach?”

“We will be dropping cargo into the fucking water. These are civilian cargo ships, they can’t do amphibious operations. We do have ships capable of amphibious stuff but there aren't enough of them to keep us supplied constantly. That cargo ship should be bringing in ammunition, food, and whatnot. Everything we need.”

Crates of supplies came off of the cargo ship. Ammunition, food, building materials, and much more. It wasn’t long before a passenger ship also showed up and started offloading people.

Jacob watched as the ships offloaded. “Seems like we will be getting Seabees too.”

“What for?”

“Modernizing the port probably.”

The Seabees is a nickname for the Naval Construction Battalions that formed the Naval Construction Force. In order for the port to accommodate more ships and speed up offloading, the Seabees had been ordered to modernize it. Luckily, the battle did not damage the port area at all and because it was not a port that housed Elven Navy ships, it wasn’t even struck by missiles.

Ocean near the Elven Nation

Renout looked around as he got off the back of the aircraft. It didn’t take long for him to realize that he was on a massive ship. It felt more like a metal island than a ship but it was definitely moving. The top of the ship was flat with the exception of a building to the right near the center of the ship. There seemed to be many aircraft sitting on the ship. Looking into the sea, many other ships surrounded this ship.

Renout followed the others. His curiosity wore off soon. For the entire flight, he had worried about his family. That didn’t change even now. He couldn’t forget his sister’s laughter as they played around and his parents’ smiling faces at the dinner table.

The second Osprey soon landed on the USS Carl Vinson. Frery got off and glanced in awe around him. It didn’t take him long to realize that this was an airfield. He watched as an aircraft took off. “Amazing!” The fact that the Americans were able to make an airfield go on sea awed him.

Hearing his outburst, others turned to look at him in bemusement. Frery was sort of an outcast in his country. He was never invested in magic but much more focused on mechanical things. Of course, he wasn’t being mistreated. Others were just surprised that he never tried to develop his magic skills.

A uniformed person greeted them. “Welcome. I’m Lieutenant Commander Jensen Lowe. Does anybody here have injuries? A show of hand please.”

A few Magusians raised their hands. “Ok, we will get you guys treated. How many of you guys are hungry?”

All of the Magusians raised their hands. “And fed. Ok for those who are injured, please follow my friend, Petty Officer Gerald Phillips.” Jensen pointed towards Gerald. “He will lead you to the med bay. Once you are treated, you will join the others in the cafeteria. Everybody else, follow me.”

Frery was amazed as he was led through the interior of the aircraft carrier and towards the cafeteria. The interior looked so much more well-polished than the ships that the Magus Imperium have.

An hour later

After their meal, Jensen got all the Magusians attention and made an announcement. “We will be transporting all of you via aircraft back to your country. Your government will be providing ground transportation back to your homes. They also seem to be offering relocation and support services if you have lost your homes. I’m not sure about the specifics of that. You will have to ask your government. Any questions?”

Renout raised his hand. Jensen pointed at him. “Yes?”

“I have a family who has also been captured by the elves. Do you know if they have been rescued? Is there any way that I can find them?”

“We have already rescued a few people but I’m not exactly sure if any of them are your family. I will bring up your issue with my commander. I think it will be best if you bring it up with your government.”

With the others, Frery was led to the aircraft that was supposed to take them home. This aircraft disappointed him a bit. It was sleeker but still similar to a Machian bomber.

The C-2 Greyhound lifted off of the aircraft carrier carrying all the Magusians. Frery had stared in wonder as the aircraft took off from a ship. A few seats down, Renout sat with an unhappy look on his face.

0224 May 16th, 2020 CE

0412 Sun 46th, 196 AE

Port City Of Filanneas.

Blake stood up and stretched. “What do we do now?”

Finn glanced around the deserted street. “Well, we are to garrison this city until further notice.”

M1A2 Abrams and Bradleys of the 1st ABCT moved in an orderly fashion out of town. Elements of the 2nd Marines also followed.

An hour or so later

Finn walked into a tent where the medics were tending to the wounded. “How are you doing Curtis?”

“Fine.”

“Are you getting discharged?”

“Not yet.”

“Hm?”

“Don’t go assuming things. Had a long chat with the psychologist. I’m staying. I’m a soldier. I have an obligation to you guys.”

“Are you sure?”

There was a look of determination in Curtis’s eyes. “Yes. I’m sorry for having to deal with me.”

Finn sighed. “It’s all fine. Not everyone can handle this. You are a good man… maybe too good for war.”

“Give me another chance, Sergeant.”

“That’s what I am doing. We have been garrisoned to protect this place until further notice. So rest up. Shouldn’t be much to do for now. Surprised you haven’t been sent back seeing that you got shot in the leg?”

Curtis smiled. “Didn’t penetrate. Just hurt like shit.”

“Good to hear.”

0700 May 16th, 2020 CE (Central Time)

Nashville, Tennessee

Jack took a sip out of his coke as he watched the news.

<<<“We begin this morning with the ongoing protests about the Elven War. Counter-protests have been occurring in response to the recent anti-war protests. Members of both parties on Twitter have expressed their support for the continuation of the war. A few hours earlier, President Hayes addressed the American people. Saying that he firmly stands behind the war. And saying that the elves are fanatics worse than the Japanese in World War Two and that this war is necessary to prevent the loss of innocent lives. Joining us today is political analyst Bill Oscuro. Bill, thank you for joining us today. What do you think of these current protests and the pushback it’s experiencing?”

“It’s my pleasure to be here. Well, the current protests are actually quite normal. For any war, they are bound to be protests. In every recent war in American history, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, there were mass protests. I’m not surprised about this at all. However, what is interesting is the significant opposition that these protests are experiencing. It's quite unprecedented.”

“So is this surprising seeing that it's unprecedented?”

“No. No. It’s not surprising at all. The fact that these elves are literally enslaving and massacring humans has created a negative public opinion of the elves and reduced the scale of the protests we are currently having.”

“So what can we expect in the future?”

“As you said, there has been a lot of push back from the public about these anti-war protests. I really don’t expect any significant protests but there definitely will be…”>>>

Jack switched the channel to another news network.

>>

“Huh… this is one of the few times that I have actually seen these two news channels kinda actually agreeing on something,” Jack muttered to himself as he turned off the television.

0850 May 16th, 2020 CE

0725 Sun 46th, 196 AE

A few miles further into the Elven Nation

The forest soon gave way to hilly but treeless terrain. Dust came out of the back of the two Bradleys as they drove down the road. It was quite a large road and led to the next city a few hundred miles away. In the lead Bradley, the driver, without taking his eyes off of the road, spoke to his commander, Staff Sergeant Clyde McKinney. “I don’t feel that safe here. We are only two Bradleys.”

“Nothing to worry about. We have an armor company right behind us and three combined arms battalions further behind. We are just scouts, we can pull back whenever things get iffy. Just continue driving down the road.”

“Ok, sir.”

“Stop,” Clyde shouted to his driver.

The two Bradleys came to a halt. Clyde looked through his imaging system and scanned the town miles in front of him. “Small town. The road cuts right through it. Seems to be armed civilians again. Probably need to secure it so the main force can use this road.”

Clyde got on his radio.

>>

A few minutes later

<<<”You called for a tank platoon? Staff Sergeant McKinney?”

“Yep.”

“Second Lieutenant Bob Craig. What’s the situation here?”

“Just a town with a few elves, nothing too much.”

“My platoon will lead then.”>>>

The four Abrams formed into a wedge formation as they drove towards the town. Rifle shots pinged off of the lead Abrams. They came to a stop. The machine guns on the Abrams opened up on the elves. The boxes and furniture that the elves were hiding behind were torn apart. The Abrams formed a column formation on the road and moved into town.

<<<”I don’t see any elves around. Feels like a ghost to… we have an elf that's surrendering in front of us. Can your boys secure him?”

“Understood.”>>>

<<<“Secure him. Be careful, this might be an ambush. We’ll keep an eye out.”

A total of six infantrymen came out of the two Bradleys. Clyde watched as the squad leader of the dismounted infantry shouted at the elf. The elf dropped all of his weapons. The soldiers moved in and quickly secured him. Just then, a few elves slowly came out of their houses. The infantry quickly reacted and aimed their guns at the elves. The elves all put their hands up.

20 minutes later

The elves formed a line and threw their weapons down into a pile. It was only rifles, pistols, and submachine guns. Infantry stood around keeping an eye on the elves. Clyde mused to his driver. “Seems like these townspeople are much less inclined to fight. We killed like what? 10 elves?”

“This feels so much different from the city.”

The entire town was secured in less than an hour and all the weapons were confiscated. The two Bradleys continued on with their reconnaissance.