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"Lieutenant Cardinal," Elevander responded. Considered an average woman by her kind, Elevander was a fair beauty that would've been swamped with beauty companies that vied for someone like her. Long locks of sleek black hair, milky white skin that didn't make her look like a Twilight vampire, and blue eyes that could pierce plate with ease. What detracked from her natural beauty, however, was her taste in clothing which could be summarized as "Gandalf but black and ostentatious gold leaf gliding." Not that Barry or Jay cared much, but it spoke well of Elevander's character.

"What brings you here to this neck of the woods?"

"The king wants you to be ready in a week, and no more." Silence reigned for a few seconds before Barry responded.

"I'm sorry but what?"

"The king cannot afford to spare any more time and wants you and your men to be ready within a week." Elevander, to her credit, looked apologetic as she spoke again. "I objected, of course, and so did the others but... the situation has gotten dire at the front."

Barry reigned in his emotions, but it was clear by his gritted teeth and crossed arms he just about to throw hands. He quietly digested the news he was given.

A week.

Seven days to accelerate the already abridged crash course in tanking for the girls, before they would be deployed to fight the demon king's army. It had been two weeks since their arrival, but they had started the training at the fifth day. Progress had been admirably (and amazingly) made, but Emiya and Aya weren't DJ and Enrique. They haven't developed the physique, muscle memory, or instincts to play the role of loader and gunner. And they now given seven days to get them ready for combat.

"How bad is it?" Barry sighed as he leaned against the stable stage.

"Bad enough that messenger arrived bloodied and in a state of mania." Elevander joined Barry with a sigh. "Seven days are not enough, is it?"

"Frankly, no. As much as those girls are making good progress, they're not ready for combat. Too slow, not coordinated enough, Aya still needs to develop the muscles to load the gun adequately, and Emiya still consult her notes every few minutes."

"I'm afraid that even if you explain it to the king, he will not budge. As much as I disagree with this, I cannot blame him. It is important the front is maintained at Heavenly Pass, otherwise the kingdom will be flooded by a tide of demons."

The current situation with the war was that the Royal Army and the Demon Army were at an en passe at the valley to the north, the Heavenly Pass. It was the only clear path through the mountain range that separated the kingdom from the frigid north, and thus imperative at the Demon Army be tied down at the pass. It was more manageable to stem the flow when funneled through a pipe than a river, as a wyvern rider had explained to Barry.

"Fuck." was all the man could muster before he walked back into the stable, Elevander in tow.

It is 1:08 AM EST as of writing what I consider to be a deluge of words from my mind. Not sure if this flows right but frankly I'm just happy I submitted something, even if I'm late to the party. Also, technically my first post on this subreddit, so yay.

Before I sign off, here's a joke title if this ever becomes a LN or something like that:

Whisked Away to Another World With My Friend, But For Reason So Did Two Schoolgirls and A Tank.

So much for a vacation in Japan.

If Barry was told that he would be a victim of those dime a dozen isekai plots, he'd laugh at whoever said that and move on. If he was told that one of his friends, two unlucky Japanese schoolgirls, and an Abram main battle tank would be isekai'd alongside him, then he'd question if whoever said that was on drugs and get the hell out of dodge. Unfortunately, and he'd never really expected it, life took the Corps's big green weenie and fucked him over with exactly those circumstances.

"Excuse me, ladies," Barry sidestepped past a pair of honest-to-God maids dressed up in stereotypical French maid dresses. They spared him a glance but otherwise left him alone as he strode away.

While he knew that they were maids, it still boggled Barry that the maids weren't dressed up as a gimmick or to get a kick out of it. That they were legitimate uniforms and they were contracted to clean, cook, and deliver around an actual medieval-fantasy castle.

Or that the castle was an actual medieval-fantasy castle made out of wood and stone, guarded by soldiers decked in real medieval gear and magical defenses.

And wasn't that a hoot? Honest-to-God - and Barry had invoked the Big G aplenty the past few days - magic, complete with all the glowy bits, incomprehensible crusty tomes, wooden staffs and wands, pointy hats and baggy robes. Magic was, after all, how he and others arrived to this world - whisked away by magic circles while on a hike in Japan's forests because that's apparently how the spell meant to find heroes from other worlds worked.

Barry clenched his fists and held back a punch to the wall. It was supposed to a month of relaxation and chill, time spent with his buddies from the Marines and with their families. Instead, he and his buddy Ray - who was father of three kids, wasn't that a lovely fact - were kidnapped alongside two unfortunate schoolgirls and forced to be heroic saviors of a kingdom whose opponent was a demon king with massive demon army behind his back.

"Goddamnit, you'd had worst days," Barry's voice quietly echoed in the hallway he was in, as he made his way through the castle's living quarters. "It's not like an army of literal demons is any worse than the fucking Taliban or the big green weenie or limpdick politicans."

His boots thumped against the fancy purple and gold-trimmed carpet of the hallway, a sign that he had arrived at the more fancier accommodations in the castle. Meant for foreign dignitaries and the like, the two schoolgirls were given a room together no thanks to the ladies in the Royal Family. Meanwhile, Barry and Ray were given their own private quarters - that were admittedly just as nice as the ones here - at the castle's barracks, on part of them being veteran warriors.

Once he found the door that was the girls' room, he rapped his knuckles loudly against the wood. A muffled shout of Japanese was heard and the door swung open. A 15-year old teen greeted Barry, her auburn hair disheveled and her leafy green eyes lidded with early morning fatigue. Before she could say anything, she yawned loudly and stretched her limbs.

"Got a good night's sleep, Emiya?" Barry asked. "And how's Aya?"

"Y-Yes, sensei," the girl, Emiya, answered as she looked behind her. "I had a good night's sleep. Aya is asleep, though."

Barry hummed and angled his head so he could see past Emiya. The room was a spacious affair complete with a (closed) window balcony, cabinets as tall as the room, and a large roughly king-sized bed with purple and red silk sheets. On the bed laid the other 15-year old school girl, hair red as an apple, limbs splayed out like an octopus, and very deep in sleep.

"Alright then. Uh, get cleaned up and kit up. Another day, another training session." Barry tapped his plate carrier for emphasis.

A crisp, "Hai, sensei," and Emiya closed the door. Barry leaned against the wall next to the door, closed his eyes, sighed as he waited for the girls to come out.

Christ those girls shouldn't be here. While he was upset that he and Jay were abducted away from their home and families, he was even more upset over the fact that these two girls were dragged into this mess too. It was typical for an isekai plot to have a young main character, but Barry rather preferred that those girls were doing girl stuff and not have to go fight, and possibly die in a painful way, against an army of demons.

"Can't believe we're still doing this shit, B-man," Barry swiveled his head to see Jay, kitted up with a shotgun slung over his shoulder, approach. While the Marylander was what people saw when they thought of a big burly black man, he was in fact the Barry's driver back when they were in the Marine Corps - back when they were crammed in a hot metal box with two other guys, shoved into the Suck that was the Afghanistan.

Barry pursed his lips as he glanced back at the girls' room. "Shit man, I know it's unbelievable and I'd rather not do all of this... but-"

"But you'd trust them and not anyone else in this whack-ass world, I know that man," Jay crossed his arms, "I'm just not sure if they'll be able to do it, y'know. We can train 'em but sure as hell we ain't the DIs back in Parris. Fuck man, they're only fifthteen."

"Not like we got any better choice, Jay. Can't really operate the tank with two people and if I'm being honest, better those girls be with us in the box and not outside it. Tracking?"

"Trackin', B-man." Jay glanced at the door. "... just wishing we weren't in this shitty situation."

The girls' door opened and the two men were greeted with the sight of Emiya and Aya clad in the same kit issued to Marine tankers, complete with M4s on slings. When they had recovered from the abduction and settled down, the Abrams - the same one that Barry commanded in Afghanistan - had its bustle racks loaded with bags; all of which were filled with clothing and equipment. And for some reason, there was gear suspiciously fitted to the exact measurements of Emiya and Aya.

"Good morning, Barry-sensei and Jay-sensei!" Emiya chorused. Aya, still groggy and very much unhappy at being awake, mumbled an approximation of Emiya's greeting.

"Yo. You girls ready?" Jay asked, a bit of genuine concern leaked. A family man and a father of three children, Barry wasn't surprised he would be tad more gentle with the teens. Hell, Barry had a kid himself and he'd be damned if any harm came to the unfortunate teens stuck with them.

"No worries, Jay-sensei," Emiya was adamandment on the honorifics despite Barry's or Jay's objections, "we are ready for the day!"

Aya mumbled something in Japanese and threw a thumbs up. Barry sighed and started to lead the assembled crew out of the castle.

When they had been summoned, the ritual had been carried out deep inside the castle for the sake of security and secrecy. A sound idea and would've been fine had the magic brought forth a person, but circumstances meant that the Royal Family had to employ several high-level mages and hundreds of workers to allow an M1A1 Abrams to drive out of the castle's depths.

To preserve what little secrecy there was left, the tank was to be kept squared away among the stables used to house the wyverns of the elite royal cavlarly. Because of course the fantasy world had a cavernous stable meant to housed large flying lizards that could breathe fire and whatnot.

Mercifully, when the crew arrived to the stables it was devoid of the wyverns and their riders - the war with the Demon Army required the full deployment of the Royal Army, including its elite riders. It also meant that Barry and Jay wouldn't have to butt heads with the frankly arrogant and pompous riders, who thought of them and their tank as nothing more than a one-trick novelty.

The quartet approached where the tank was kept, inside a spare wyvern stable. While the stable gate was large - as they were meant to keep creatures large as a Chinook helicopter contained - it wasn't much for Barry and Jay to push open together. And inside was the large tan steel beast that was the tank isekai'd alongside them, the name Hot Pocket stenciled on the bore evacuator. The very same tank that Barry commanded alongside Jay, DJ, and Enrique when they were deployed to Middle East.

And now we're back to it, again. This time only just me, Jay, and two girls who shouldn't be here.

Barry looked at Emiya and Aya. "Alright girls, same as last time. Clear your rifles, stow 'em, and get into your positions. We'll start the training in a few."

A pair of "Hai" was chorused and the girls admirably followed Barry's commands. Marines they were not, but they at least had a sense of diligence he wished other Marines had. Jay wordlessly went to the driver's station and Barry made to follow suit. But before he could take another step, he heard the telltale clacks of heels on stone.

"Too early for her to be coming down," Jay commented, the man halfway through the driver's hatch. The teens peeked their heads through the turret hatches, but Barry gestured them to go back inside.

"Just practice what you learned last session." Barry ordered and he turned around to meet the arrival.

The "her" Jay mentioned was the court mage of the Royal Family, Elevander, an Elven woman with a taste in fancy gilded robes, pointy hats, and heels. In the initial days there had been some animosity between the Elven lady and the veterans, as she was the one who enacted the ritual that led to the four of them being isekai'd. But when it was explained that the ritual was never meant to do... any of what had happened, and that the court mage had spent days in the libraries in search of answers, said animosity mellowed out.

"Ma'am," Barry didn't salute her but gave a nod to the Elf in front of him.

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