Chief Warrant Officer Jacob Henry leaned against one of the Humvees in the belly of the LCAC. He and his team of Marines were part of the first wave to land in Tauros along with a Navy beachmaster unit.
Martinez, Cisco, and Wall, all midlevel enlisted Marines wearing their green digital MARPAT, were nearby. Like Henry, all had their rifles close. None of them wore body armor, though. This wasn't a hot situation.
That didn't make their job any less important. As one of the MEU's CI/HUMINT teams, they were the ears closest to the ground. The broad guidance they had been given was to figure out who needed help.
It wasn't Henry's first rodeo, though the first with actual bulls. It wasn't his first trip through the rift, either. He looked towards the shore of Tauros as the LCAC sped forwards at forty knots. They would be there soon, and have to figure out how to work with the locals.
That was where Specialist Lee came in. He was in the Army, and had been flown out so fast he'd barely had time to pack. He was young and looked younger. But he spoke Minotaur, and they needed him.
Lee clutched his own rifle, looking awkward and out of place in his grey ACU uniform. He'd already thrown up with seasickness once.
Henry glanced up, spotting a Huey overhead. That would be the boss, on his way to meet the king.
Colonel Candless checked his notes and glanced over at the translator sitting next to him in the helicopter. Robert Fantone was a DIA employee, somewhat overweight, and in a suit and tie, looking completely out of place next to Candless. At least he was a cool customer, looking almost bored strapped into the helo seat.
The map Candless consulted was the best he'd found ready aboard Makin Island. It didn't tell him everything he wanted to know, but would do for now.
If he had to make a comparison, he'd say it was the size of Delaware. Not as populated, though.
The earthquake had rattled the whole country. Equestria's northeast was relatively sparsely populated and little damage had been reported there. The Dragon Confederation simply didn't have many structures.
The Minos Peninsula had been hit the hardest by the resulting tsunami. It was likely the roads in either direction were washed out. As for the city itself...well, they would be lucky if it wasn't flattened. Maybe Colonel Morita could offer some perspectives from the tsunamis Japan had suffered.
They'd already flown a few helicopters for basic reconnaissance, but some things would need to be checked with the naked eye and up close. Down below, Candless could see the hovercrafts making their way to shore. Between Makin Island and its two fellows, Somerset and Comstock, there were four of the LCACs.
Makin Island also carried an aviation unit, consisting of twelve MV-22 Ospreys, four CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters, two of the Hueys like Candless was riding on, and four Navy MH-60 Seahawks. There were also six AV-8B Harrier jets and six AH-1Z Super Cobra attack helicopters, but that wasn't related to humanitarian assistance.
The Huey headed for Minos. Candless studied the devastation down below, casting a critical eye on the ruined buildings. Some of them actually didn't look so ruined at all. The ones that appeared fairly intact were made of sturdy stone.
Candless remembered pictures he'd seen of minotaurs. The whole species were all uniformly big. The average male was around three hundred pounds, and most of it muscle.
The minotaur king, King Coal, turned out to be a little bigger than that. It made the small gold crown perched between his horns seem all the more delicate. After the helicopter landed in the castle courtyard, Coal came out to greet them. Candless braced, and fortunately didn't get his hand crushed in the handshake.
"Roger Candless," he said through the translator. "It's nice to meet you, King."
Candless had never addressed a head of state before. Fortunately, Coal seemed the jovial sort. He pointed at the Haymaker logo stenciled on the side of the helicopter and said something to another minotaur that the translator chose not to repeat.
He turned to Candless. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Colonel." Coal cocked his head, his long horns nearly knocking over a subordinate. "I hear that you are a Marine, a great warrior."
"No greater enemy, no better friend," Candless quipped. "We're here to help, sir."
"Yes, yes," Coal nodded, his face turning serious. "The disaster was unprecedented. I have never seen anything like it."
"Let us know what you need, and where you need it," Candless said.
Coal barked something at one of the minotaurs following him. The younger male rushed forward with a scroll.
Coal opened it to show Candless. The paper was at least several feet long. "You can start with this."
Flight Lieutenant Alexander Jordan peered down from the cockpit as the Royal Australian Air Force C-130 swept low over the beach. The Americans had supposedly cleared the strip of beach for aircraft, but it never hurt to be sure.
Seeing no obvious obstructions, Jordan made a sweeping turn to line up with the mile-long graded strip of sand and gently touched down, passing over the green-painted construction equipment that had made the impromptu runway. The C-130J Super Hercules was built for rough field operations, and while it bounced around a little, the landing was secure.
Jordan taxied off the strip and onto a parking area. The tsunami had really done a number on the land. He'd seen the capital city on the way in. It shouldn't take too much effort to send in supplies by truck or something.
He'd never flown a whole planeload of hay before. Fitting, perhaps, given the name of the task force, but still unusual for a military aircraft.
After parking, Jordan shut down the aircraft. He unstrapped and turned to the man next to him. "Sir, by your leave."
Group Captain Paul Hogan nodded. "Go see if they need you to do anything."
The RAAF ranks didn't make any sense to an outsider. Having worked with the Americans before, Hogan responded equally well to either Group Captain or Colonel.
Jordan disembarked the aircraft. He took a personal pleasure in visiting a new country, but that was tempered by the disaster.
A Japanese UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter came in for a landing, beating sand into the air. Off in the distance, almost to the horizon, Jordan could see a cluster of ships. That would be the Japanese and the Americans. He wondered if the Equestrians had arrived yet. He'd never met a pony. Or a minotaur, for that matter.
Captain Lombard lifted her binoculars. From the bridge of Makin Island, JS Izumo was visible in the distance. The Japanese vessel was like a half-scale version of her own ship.
Out the other window was the shore of Tauros. One hundred sailors had been identified to go ashore and provide helping hands to the Marines. Of course, the ones staying behind still had jobs to do. If nothing else, relaying communication from ashore back through the rift.
The anomaly hadn't been there when Lombard had started her career, but it sure was now. She didn't understand the physics involved, not even with her nuclear engineering degree, but somehow it worked and the thing was a portal to another place. It just happened to be a similar planet populated with a dozen sapient species right out of a story book.
All day, LCACs had been ferrying equipment to shore. She'd heard the Australians coordinating through the air traffic center on the ship. If a suitable pier was identified, Makin Island would pull in and begin providing electricity and fresh water.
She checked her messages, seeing a supply ship was scheduled to arrive the next day. Getting a USNS cargo ship into port could provide the minotaur with refrigeration and many more supplies. Well, first they'd have to load it with vegetarian food. The Marines would probably be happy to give up their veggie MREs.
Colonel Takahiro Morita was now ashore. The JGSDF was setting up its own tents next to the Marines, building into an impromptu city. He'd barely had time to eat during the day and now took a moment to sit down with a can of chicken and rice. He'd neglected to bring a nicer can opener than the small folding one provided and didn't feel like calling his aide to get one. It wouldn't have been necessary if the Ministry of Defense saw fit to equip the SDF with rations that were easier to open, like the American MREs.
He finished up with the can and picked up the included chopsticks. As he ate, he mentally reviewed the operations still happening around him. The main force of humanitarian assistance was now established just west of Minos. Not all equipment was ashore yet, but it remained to be seen the suitability of the Minos port.
Air was not a problem. The makeshift runway was holding. The Americans had been bringing in their Ospreys. If there was no other way to get the heavy vehicles off Izumo, perhaps the heavy-lift CH-53's could do it.
Some minotaurs had already approached the camp. The task force had provided what they could. Water, mostly. Bulk supplies of food had yet to arrive. They still fed who they could, but Morita got the feeling that there wouldn't be enough to go around if every minotaur in the country showed up.
That was on top the problems of their reaction to the task force. Whether by ignorance or apathy, they'd already caused a few problems. None of them seemed to understand that it was a good idea to keep off a runway.
His aide, a Captain, came in. "Sir, the Equestrian pegasus unit has just arrived."
Morita stood up and took a quick glance at his uniform. The JGSDF camouflage was roughly the same color as MARPAT but not digital. His boots were scuffed from being on the ship, but ponies didn't wear boots anyway. He grabbed his hat and went to meet the Equestrians.