Chapter 48: Chapter Forty-eight.
~~~Nagasaki, Japan~~~
~~~January 27, 1943~~~
"You are dead, you will all die for what you have done!" A Japanese soldier shouted as he was subdued by a man wearing medieval armor, only made to perfection, plus it glowed.
Only nine days had passed since the first Xandarian warship arrived on Japan's shores, and the entire peninsula fell like dominoes. The air force could not defend itself against the Enderman, creatures that could appear intangible, with the bullets' damage not harming them, while they turned into aerial killing machines.
To make matters worse, Japanese infantry, trucks, or military vehicles proved to be of little help once the Warden was released. A single sonic shot from a Warden was enough to dismantle an entire line of tanks, not to mention the unfortunate soldiers who got in the way. It was like running into Black Bolt's scream.
"Hua," the Japanese soldier was forcibly silenced as the Xandarian man holding him delivered a heavy blow to his face, causing him to spit blood along with white teeth, apparently the steel gauntlet hit hard. "What do you say?" The man who hit the Japanese asked one of his companions.
What was peculiar about this one was that he also had similar features to the Japanese, slanted eyes and pale skin, but what was most striking was his head, bald and with a growth caused by controlled trauma since childhood. Since his head looked like a cone, a cultural aspect in the Jogos Nhai, gentrification to which the man belonged.
"He is threatening you," the Jogos Nhai simply answered him in High Valyrian, although many languages were spoken in Xandar, the most prominent and important were High Valyrian, Dothraki, and Yitian, the language of the Jogos Nhai, but the Unsullied did not understand Yitian, which for reasons of fate, in this world was known as Japanese.
The reason why the Jogos Nhai served as interpreter was, "Oh yeah?" The Unsullied said, being just seconds away from striking the Japanese again, but another voice interjecting, "Stop." That caused the Unsullied to retract his hand and look at the owner of the voice.
A Caucasian man, at least twenty-five years old, with a certain strange hairstyle, "Aren't you... Japanese, prisoner of war?" The Unsullied asked, analyzing the young man's physique. "He was found next to the boy," the Jogos Nhai replied, referring to the Japanese boy who was about to be beaten again. "They were hiding when a patrol found them hiding in what looks like a pit, besides, he has the American banner."
"American, eh," spoke the Unsullied in the common tongue, or English, "What is your name warrior?" The young man in question looked discerningly at both men, he had been captured months ago during a routine mission in New Zealand, and because of his... gifts, he was caged.
Or at least until through the crack of his prison, he could see thousands of unknown creatures firing what looked like missiles from the air, destroying the city in a matter of minutes.
"James... James Howllet." The young man replied simply, with a particular southern accent. "And yes, I am an American."
The Unsullied nodded, and with purposeful stride walked over to James, who bristled at the sight of his proximity, however, he soon noticed his purpose, as the Unsullied grabbed the chains that held his hands with both hands and, in a show of superhuman power, broke the chains.
James narrowed his eyes, as the Japanese soldier was shocked aside, he had seen something amazing before when the attack on the city began, and that is that he was saved from one of the missiles of the strange flying creatures thanks to James, who used his own body as a human shield.
It was there where he could see something great and terrifying, James had been badly injured, so much so that he had even lost his right arm and part of his face, but in a matter of seconds, he regenerated, as if nothing had happened, and now, another person was breaking the steel as if it were wet paper.
"Xandar is a friend of your country, so we will feed you, take care of you, and then you will be sent home," the Unsullied told James, giving James some good and confusing news, ''Xandar? Does that even exist?" he asked doubtfully.
"Yes, you will learn about it when you get to your country," the Unsullied then turned and gave an order to the Jogos Nhai, "clean him up and take him to the group with the other released prisoners, they will be taken to Kyoto to then be picked up by his people."
"Yes, General."
"What will become of him?" James asked before being led away, '"that is no longer your business warrior," the Unsullied replied condescendingly, without answering James' question, as he watched James being led by the Jogos Nhai to a building that had miraculously survived the attack of the queen's dragon.
Having finished here, the general looked at the young Japanese man with derision. " You no longer look so proud and strong. That emboldened look of your comrades was lost when my people arrived. You should not have attacked us, you should not have tickled the sleeping dragon. What a pity your land has become like this", the general said, pointing his hand around him.
Buildings were destroyed, the earth was scorched, thousands of bodies incinerated or turned to ash, and Nagasaki no longer existed, now, there was only an empty shell of what was once a metropolitan city. "You will burn in hell," the boy told him, but since Jogos Nhai was no longer there to translate, the general did not understand, but as they said, dead men tell no tales.
"General, the queen needs you, she has promoted a meeting with the generals", a group of horsemen approached where the general was, having cut the boy's neck seconds before, "I'll be there shortly, thank you", he replied, cleaning his sword with the boy's tattered clothes.
Sheathing his sword, he didn't bother to look at the boy's body but instead put his right index finger and thumb in his mouth, then whistled in a certain tune, with the loud sound spreading out, never taking his eyes off the sky.
Suddenly, a shadow covered him, then through the smoke revealed a wild-looking wyvern, grayish-brown in hue, 'Scar', Javon's mount, heeded his rider's call, reaching Javon in mere seconds.
"Come on, let's not keep the queen waiting," Javon said to his mount, then climbing through the wyvern's wings and onto its back, urged the creature to take flight, soaring into the air moments later.
In the sky, Javon got a better look at the state of the city, the number of places destroyed and the flames still flaring, as well as channels made in the earth, as if some meteor had crashed on the ground.
But it was not about some meteorite that hit, no. It was about the results of the battle. It was about the results of the battle... Or the massacre of equal measure, that had been the consequences of unleashing a dragon, and one of the most dangerous that inhabited Xandar.
And that dragon was now lying on the ground, with its long neck suspended over a group of people sitting at an outdoor table; Morghul.
The dragon of Queen Valka, a dragon with a personality similar to that of her rider, was stoic, fickle, and dangerous, even her physique spoke of it. Javon guided his mount to a part away from Morghul, ready to avoid any altercation that might be promoted between the two beasts.
"My queen," Javon knelt down the instant he reached where the group stood, fifteen people were counting Valka, who was seated at the head of the table, with Morghul behind her. "Rise and join General Javon." Valka's direct, curt voice soon came, and Javon heeded, rising and proceeding to sit in one of the free chairs.
"Japan is conquered, but some skirmishes continue in the far reaches of the major cities, but with the heart of Japan crushed, and the factories and war sectors destroyed, it is only a matter of time before we have Japan in our hands." Valka began the meeting, placing several maps of Japan on the table.
"The emperor is dead, so even if the people rise, there will be no direct ringleader to lead them, so it will be quick and easy to dissolve such uprisings, for the time being, all of Japan is expected to fall into our net, and more importantly, plunder all knowledge, be it history books, science, and blueprints. The king wants Japan's technological power in maritime matters, so bases, factories, docks, and shipyards will be removed from any of this information."