The Red Hand

Meanwhile, while Akagi was hopping around Japan.

"Ahh, man. This is great!" Ichimon cracked open a cold soda as he sat on the couch. The rabbit-man was tasked with harassment of JSDF forces around Hokkaido, something he'd been struggling with. His last attempt ended in a retreat after he took heavy damage from an artillery round. He'd made the false assumption that normal weapons couldn't hurt him, and nearly paid the price for his arrogance. With Elna's recent stunt, the Americans had begun to get involved with hunting Libra and were deploying smaller special forces to take them down.  Herlex had warned him the Americans were moving some assets into the region, but Ichimon dismissed it as being too little to matter.

"This is the life, a nice cabin in the woods all to myself and as much food and drink as I can steal." Ichimon smiled as he walked out onto the patio. He'd killed this cabin's inhabitants and had been squatting here and looting from nearby towns for weeks. Most of his recent activity after healing was causing chaos and hitting a few JSDF patrols.

"Herlex was all skittish about the Americans, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of them!" Ichimon laughed. "Even if they do show up, what are they gonna do to me all the way out here?"

Soda in hand, he looked up at the clear blue sky. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, except there was what looked like a plane flying in the distance. "Too bad I don't have any long-range attacks. Shooting down a passenger plane would be fun!" He sipped his soda. "Maybe I'll head into town in a bit, saw some clothes that might look nice on me."

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<AC-130 Crew POV>

"Signal strength is Five-by-Five." Drone Operator Alex Gummer looked at the fire controlman sitting next to him. "Drones are ready to launch whenever we're ready."

"Confirmed to engage. Command has given the operation the green light." The pilot came over the radio. "Make sure to watch out for the boys on the ground. JSDF taskforce Charlie 2 is moving in along side our boys, so keep an eye out for friendlies. Ground forces will start moving in once we fire off our payload, Standby." The pilot went silent for a moment before speaking again, he'd been contacted over his comms. "Target is currently within his residence and does not seem to suspect the pending strike. Sky is clear and we've got visual on him."

"Good! let's make those bastards pay for Yokosuka!" The co-pilot exclaimed.

"Alright!" The rest of the crew.

Drone operator Alex Gummer flicked a series of switches causing the large cargo bay of the AC-130 transport to open.

"Deploying drone 1!" He called out, and one single mid-sized drone dropped out and began flying around the plane. Seeing that everything was all good, drones two and three were deployed and began circling around. These were top of the line military drones intended to dock within a mothership, fire off long range strikes and return for rearm and reuse. Normally the gunship wouldn't get this close, but the operation planners wanted to use its main gun in addition to the drones.

"All drones are reading loud and clear. Weapons are armed and ready to go." Alex said as he input fire coordinates for their long-range missiles. They each carried three rockets. Akagi's intel on the returnees had given the military some ideas about which weapons would be effective, so they chose to use anti-armor hellfire rounds. The AC-130 was basically a drone carrier, but it also packed a 105mm cannon which would also be fired.

"Fire one!" The fire control operator called out, and the three drones launched their first salvo toward Ichimon at his little house.

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<Ichimon POV>

"Uhh." Ichimon watched as the drones circled the larger plane. "I don't think that's a plane." A few moments later, he watched as large flashes erupted from each as they launched their rockets. "Aw fuck." He ran back inside the house, but didn't get too far as the rockets impacted the structure about ten seconds later, causing a massive explosion.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

The cabin was destroyed as the rockets struck it. Ichimon was severely injured by the explosions.

"Those bastards!" He pulled himself out of the rubble. "I'll fucking kill them!"

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<AC-130 Crew POV>

"Target is still alive." The fire control operation said. "Fire two!"

The drones launched a second wave of rockets which again impacted the area around Ichimon. He'd taken a lot of damage from the first strike and couldn't move fast enough to get out of the way. This time the AC-130 also fired its massive cannon, which impacted moments after the rockets creating another massive explosion.

The ground troops below began to circle toward the target, armed with heavy anti-armor weapons designed to destroy tanks.

"No movement detected on scopes, switching to scan." Operator Gummer said, flicking a switch. After looking for a moment, he sounded out. "Target appears to be alive but immobile. Providing coordinates."

"Rodger that. Fire three." The fire control operator called out as he launched the last payload as the two secondary 25mm cannons opened fire on Ichimon's location.

"Confirmed hit. No, further movement from the target. Ground forces are closing in, be aware that any further action will be danger close. Drones 1-3 are returning to the docking bay for maintenance." Gummer reported.

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<Captain Yomigawa POV>

Yomigawa and his team were hiking up the side of the mountain as part of a joint op between the U.S. military and the JSDF. Their forces were spread out in a net to prevent Ichimon from escaping, and they'd been given heavy anti-material rifles to bring him down if he survived the blasts.

"Never thought we'd be teaming up with the Americans to hunt down a terrorist on our soil." Inugami laughed. "First that cat, and now we're hunting a rabbit. What the hell."

"Well, that cat is the reason we're still alive. And why we were picked as part of this operation." Captain Yomigawa spoke. "We're basically the only military forces that have engaged these people and lived to tell the tale." Their survival was basically just down to luck and whimsy on Chloe's part.

"Do you think the Americans managed to take him out?" Toya asked. "Those were some seriously high-grade munitions they just expended." The explosion was so large they could see if from their starting position.

"I sure as hell hope so!" Ishizawa said. "I'd rather not get toyed around with by another one of these freaks."

"Just be glad we're not facing that cat's boss." Captain Yomigawa sighed. "You saw that footage, she obliterated the base without breaking a sweat, and she killed members of the government without any issue."

{She's not part of Libra, but I just hope we don't have to face her at some point.} Yomigawa thought to himself.

"Yeah, seriously." Toya nervously laughed. "What are we supposed to do against something like that!"

"Not fight it!" Ishigami exclaimed. "No thanks, man. You saw that shit on TV. She's like some kind of real fucking demon!"

"I think we'll be coming up on the target zone in a moment, so cut the chatter." Captain Yomigawa instructed them to shut up and they all went silent. Poking their head through the trees, they were greeted with a massive crater. The cabin was completely demolished, and there were no signs of movement from the blast zone. Other U.S. and JSDF forces began to appear as they converged on the point where command said a signature was showing on their equipment.

After a bit of searching and clearing rubble. Ishizawa called out. "I found him. Ugh.. or what's left of him. Holy shit." She turned away from the grim sight. "He's over here, and over here, and I think a little bit is over by you Inugami." She pointed down to his feet.

"Jesus!" Inugami exclaimed. "Is that his eyeball! Please tell me that's his eyeball."

"Poor bastard never stood a chance." Toya whistled. "Literally not even enough left of him to fit in a shoebox."

Captain Yomigawa put out a call over the radio, and other forces converged. "Well, I'm just glad we don't have to fight him." U.S. troops began collecting body parts for analysis. "Keep an eye out while the others do analysis, HQ wants this guys body for study."

"I guess these guys aren't so tough." Ishizawa laughed.

"If he'd survived that. I'd begin to believe they really are unkillable." Inugami chuckled. "That was some serious munitions."

"I wouldn't start making assertions like that Ishizawa." Captain Yomigawa spoke. "This guy was apparently one of the weaker ones. On top of that, we had total surprise. Don't start breaking out the wine until we've got all of them." He knew better than to underestimate the returnees.

"Fair, that crazy demon lady could take tank rounds and seemed not to care." Ishizawa sighed. "I just hope that's not common among some of the others. I've seen claims on the internet that the higher-ups in the organization could eat nukes and survive."

"There's no way that's true." Ishizawa scoffed. "They aren't that strong. Just put enough high explosive on them, and they go down like anyone else." 

"Apparently, that Hishya girl can turn into a dragon, and you saw that crazy battle between her and that Akagi woman, right? Toya interjected. "Those two caused that much damage just fuckin around in an exhibition match. At this point, I wouldn't be shocked if they could eat most things we've got and walk away."

"A dragon is just a big fat slow tank that flies." Ishizawa laughed. "That little girl would find out quite quickly just how easy of a target she'd be. I think a few SAMs and she'd run away with her tail between her legs."

"At least we won't have to fight something like that. The girl seems way too nice for that." Toya laughed as he bent down to help the recovery team collect parts.

"She's in your strike zone, and a dragon is exotic, so go for it." Ishizawa laughed. "Don't you watch anime and talk about getting a cute exotic wife?"

"That cat was honestly more my type. Fluff is superior to scales." Toya gave an embarrassed laugh. "Plus, that dragon girl is like 19? Too young for me, I'm no creep." Toya was nearly thirty.

"Ah, so you want a girlfriend that would kill you. That cat was kind of psychotic, reminds me of some women I used to go to school with." Ishizawa poked at him. "You can fantasize about being tied to a bed while she skins you alive. But you'd probably like that, huh?"

Toya rolled his eyes. "Weren't you the one crushing hard over that dude they got working for the RRT?"

"The man is a walking tank with abs the size of my head. I'm obligated to like him." Ishizawa smirked.

Captain Yoshigawa looked at the two of them. "You two act like brother and sister, I swear." He shook his head and walked over to some of the other squad leaders who were having a discussion. This wouldn't be the last joint operation between the U.S. and Japan, and it showed that as hard as it may be. They can kill a returnee.