"Did you hear the news?" asked Bej. "We have a new ally."

I glanced at him skeptically, then returned to removing the dust from my fur. "Really? Who would be stupid enough to openly oppose Iridia? I mean, apart from us."

"The Crown only mentioned that they are called the "United States of America", or "US" or "America" for short, and that they are from far away. There have been rumors, though. Rumors that we opened a portal to another world to escape Iridia, but then we found the US there."

"Uh huh, and I suppose they are sending a million soldiers with a million pieces of artillery on a million ships," I responded, giving my tail one last wipe, "and all just because we asked."

"Well, you have to have hope," he responded.

"Look, Sarroc invaded us. Sarroc has been endorsed by Iridia, and has received military aid from them. Iridia has allied with the Dragon Council, so we're extra doomed. We could barely take fifteen dragons, let alone five hundred. And that's not including however many aircraft Iridia decides to let Sarroc use. And, you know, all the ground and naval forces Sarroc has plus the ones they get from Iridia."

We were interrupted by a messenger arriving, "I am looking for Captain Lyka Hrett?"

I flicked an ear, "that's me."

"His Majesty the King wishes that you are made aware of certain current events. You have heard about our new ally, the United States?"

"Yes, we were just talking about them. There's a lot of rumors."

"I can't speak to any of their validity apart from the message I was ordered to give you. I ask that you hold any questions until the message is finished." the messenger cleared their throat and started to read from a piece of paper.

"We, the Varran Crown, have a new ally. Said ally is the United States of America, which may be called the US or America for simplicity. They will be sending aid to repel the Sarroc invasion. This aid will consist of only a few air units at first, as the transport of ground and naval units will take more time. You, as a captain of the Varran Airborne Combat Forces, will help the US airborne forces adapt to Iridian strategies and tactics, as well as assisting in a cultural exchange."

A moment passed as we waited to make sure the message was finished. Then Bej burst out laughing.

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"Wait, they'll be sending air units? Do they mean like trained birds? We only have aircraft because we captured and reverse engineered Iridian aircraft, and dragons are ruled by the Council, so if the US has dragons then they're not our friends."

The messenger nodded, "I understand your misgivings, and a demonstration of capabilities and exchange of information will be performed before any joint activities. However, the Crown also wishes you to know that the US Air Force is quite powerful. Specifics are scarce, I'm afraid, but I believe that they said that they will be mostly sending what they call 'Super Hornets'."

"Super Hornets? What, like large stinging insects?"

"I have not been informed of what they are," the messenger bowed, "and I am afraid that I must take my leave, as I have to inform the other Airborne Combat Forces captains. The first few units from the US will be flying in tomorrow. You will meet them 10km off of Ela Point at noon, then escort them to the Ratern Air Base. Additionally, the American version of the magical communications system, or the manacomm as I've heard you call it, is incompatible with our standard. The units arriving will be equipped with equipment hastily made compatible, however the range is expected to be only 10 or 15 kilometers, and it will only be able to operate on frequencies 500 to 650. Frequency 555 will be used for main communications with the Americans." He bowed, then left, and I turned to Bej.

"Well," I said, "We'll find out more about them tomorrow."

• • • •

I ran through my preflight checks, then turned on my aircraft. The runes on the engine in front of me glowed as they accepted magic from the storage, then dimmed as the flow stabilized. The propeller began spinning, quickly becoming a circular blur emitting a buzz that made my ears instinctually roll back. I let the wind ripple through my hair for a moment before putting on my helmet and closing the cockpit. The sound immediately dropped to a tolerable level. I increased the throttle, letting the aircraft roll forwards, speeding down the runway until I felt my wheels leave the hard packed dirt as I took off.

I circled the air base once to give Bej time to take off, then we both turned east, towards where we would meet the American forces for the first time. Bej and I bounced ideas back and forth across manacomm about what the US would bring, with the ideas becoming more and more unreasonable and absurd as time went on.

We reached the meeting spot about ten minutes early, and settled into a lazy circle some 5000 feet above the ground. While waiting, we got a direct message from the mainland, straight from the King himself.

"Captain Lyka Hrett, Sergeant Bej Adlend. This is King Adrien. The US has encountered unexpected delays, and will be delayed by about 15 minutes. Please wait at the meeting location until they arrive. You must be polite, as I don't wish to make a new enemy."

My tail started to wag against my seat as I reached for the transmit button. I was talking to the King! "Yes, your majesty. I will make sure it is so."

I switched back to the private frequency, "well, we have to wait a bit."

"Like that's new."

"True. I wonder though," Bej paused, "how is their manacomm equipment incompatible with ours?"

"I dunno, we could ask when they arrive."

"Yeah, true."

Ten minutes later, I saw a few dots to the east. I checked the time. It was about time for the American forces to arrive. I took a deep breath, stopped Bej from doing more practice strafing runs on whales, and then we set off towards our new allies.