Time Traveling Hero

"Hey Hiro, get up already! Why were you even sleeping out here in the first place!?"

Ugh, what's going on? I lazily opened one of my eyes to see Roberto peering into my face. "Wha 'ime izzit?"

"It's around 9 in the morning right now, but more importantly!" I was suddenly lifted up by my shirt as he pointed towards my tent. "Why the hell are those Models in your tent instead of you!?"

"Huh? I told 'em 'ey could, duh." I let out a toothy yawn as he released me, and I rubbed my closed eye before finally opening it, glancing around me.

"Uh, why am I surrounded all of sudden? Did I do something wrong?" I yawned out, glancing at the people from Roberto's squad.

"Of course it is! Why the hell is our Hero sleeping outside instead of those damn Models? Did they force you?" Asked one of the soldiers. He had brown dreads along with skin lighter than my own, and on his uniform was his name, Raquez.

"Uh, did you not just hear me? I told them they could," I repeated, and Roberto shook his head.

"You know how dangerous it is to do that? What would happen if you caught some prehistoric disease?"

"Oh, the TRTF's technology is more than advanced enough to take care of it, so I wasn't really too worried about that," I said, stretching my arms upward before rising to my feet. "More importantly, what's all the commotion I've been hearing?"

While I hadn't been awake long, the first thing I had noticed was the amount of voices in the distance, somewhere outside the clearing. Roberto scowled before sighing. "Whatever kid, just don't pull a stunt like that again, got that?'"

"Roger Dodger Sir!" I saluted him with a wide smile, and he shook his head.

"Crazy kid you are. Anyway, as for the commotion, there's a dinosaur nearby-!"

"DINOSAUR!? I yelled out, the remainder of my tiredness vanishing from my body as I heard those words. Everyone seemed slightly taken aback by my sudden outburst before recomposing themselves.

"Uh, yeah, there was a dinosaur that got too close to our camp, so we've been trying to lure it-!" Roberto started, but I ignored him, appearing in the middle of the camp, following the sound of the voices.

Calm down Hiro, this could be very dangerous, ah who am I kidding, let's go see that dino already!

After failing to warn myself of the possible danger, I appeared in front of a large number of spectators, who were watching one of the squads deal with the big dinosaur.

"Huh? The hell did this kid come from?"

"Oh, sorry for buŧŧing in, but I wanted to see what all the commotion was about," I apologized before looking forward again to see the squad in action.

"Kite it this way, but be careful not to use lethal weapons against it! We don't need it rampaging out of control and calling it's herd to us!"

"Easier said than done ma'am! Nothing we seem to do is working!"

I watched the squad use long metallic rods with rounded points on them to try to guide the dinosaur amidst the large clouds of dust away from the encampment, but to no avail as we heard a loud roar penetrate our ear drums, clearing away the dust. .

"Ah shit, it's heading towards the camp! Hurry, try and get in front of it!"

The ground started to rumble slightly as we watched a shadow emerge from the dissipating dust, and everyone around me started to fall back as they watched the dinosaur; everyone except me.

"Is that what I think it is?" I muttered aloud, taking a couple steps closer before I was able to fully see it.

With two large horns protruding from above its eyes and one small horn above its nostrils, a large, scaled plate coming off its head, four legs the size of tree trunks, and blackish-blue scales covering its body, I was met head-to-head with a Triceratops.

"Oi kid, get back here already!? Do you wanna get skewered!?"

"Nah, I'm good for both!" I yelled back in response. I wonder if I can get closer to it somehow…

I appeared to the Triceratops side, looking it over. "Hmm, you're even bigger up close!"

The dino, bewildered, turned to me before letting out a ferocious roar, in which I promptly stuck some leaves into its mouth.

"You're probably just hungry, aren't yah?" I said, watching it eat away at the branch full of leaves I had given it. Its eyes looked into my own with curiosity before letting out a small growl, taking the rest of the branch in its mouth before nudging itself against me.

"Oh! You're softer than what I was expecting," I said, rubbing it's snout before giving him another set of branches to eat. "Soft but durable, huh? I would've thought it to have been rock solid, but maybe this has its benefits as well?"

"Oi! Hiro!"

I turned my attention away from my new friend to see Roberto coming towards me before stopping a safe distance away. "The hell are you doing!? Are you actively trying to die!?"

"Oh no, just thought I would lend a helping hand. He's quite friendly you know," I said before continuing to rub it's snout, the triceratops letting out a small purr as I continued to feed it some food. "He was just hungry, isn't that right?"

He gently nudged me again, and I let out a small laugh before putting my face against his. "Oh, he's quite warm as well! I could get used to this, hehehe."

"Oh wow, thanks for that kid! You've got guts, I'll give you that much!"

I turned towards the squad that was supposed to lure it away start to approach me, and the leader, a young woman with reddish-black hair and creamy skin, gave me a wide grin, detracting her rod until it became no bigger than her enclosed fist, putting it around her waist.

"I haven't seen you around before, are you a new recruit?" Upon a closer look, it looked as if her name was Kimberly.

"Oh yeah, I'm the new Time Traveling Hero. You can call me Hiro," I said, turning my attention back to the dinosaur, who seemed entirely calm for now.

"Oh, a new Hero you say? Man, I swear they get younger each year," Kimberly said as she walked up next to me, looking over the dinosaur. "Gotta say though, that was pretty reckless of you; you could've easily died."

"Eh, I figured I was fine," I responded, and she looked at me curiously.

"How so?"

"Well, it's an herbivore, so I know it's not gonna find me appetizing, and since it's early in the morning, I figured it just might be hungry. If it wasn't, I had a backup plan, don't worry," I said, feeding the dinosaur some more of that leafy good stuff.

"Confident I see; we like to see that in a Hero. Our own Hero could learn a thing or two from you; she's quite shy you see," Kimberly said, petting the dinosaur along with me.

"Hey, don't encourage his bad behavior Kimberly," Roberto said as he finally decided to approach me. "Bad enough he didn't sleep in his tent last night, he just up and ran off on me as soon as I mentioned dinosaurs. Honestly, this kid is more trouble than he's worth."

"Oh, you got stuck with Roberto huh?" Kimberly said. "We may not be from the same time, but I've worked with this stick in a mud to know that he's a real party pooper, isn't that right you cute lil dino?"

The triceratops squawked softly in response, nudging its face against hers.

"Anyway, I think it should be fine now, so let's send it on its way," Kimberly said, and I nodded.

"Alright, see you later Trikey. Don't get eaten out there," I said, nudging him away.

Seemingly getting the message, Trikey started to walk away, each footstep causing the ground to rumble slightly as it walked away from the small pathway in this forest.

"As for you, you're coming back to the tent so you can just observe, got that?" Roberto said, and I scowled.

"Actually, I had been meaning to ask you all something about the operation," I said, and Roberto rolled his eyes.

"Seriously? Is that why you wanted all those details about the operation last night?"

Before I could respond, I noticed our squad's Models approaching us, Model 2512018935 waving at me.

"There's our Hiro! I was wondering where you went! We just wanted to thank you again for letting you sleep in your tent; I honestly think that's the best night's rest I've had on a mission!" She stopped when she reached me, freezing at Roberto's sight. "Oh, hey Roberto…"

"Did you swindle him somehow when I wasn't looking? I mean, why else would he let you models sleep in his tent?"

Kimberly looked bewildered. "Huh, you let them sleep in your tent? Whatever for?"

"I had some things to think about, and I also wanted a good view of the night sky," I said simply before turning to Roberto. "I did it of my own free will, so don't worry about it."

"Yep, Master did it out of the kindness of his own heart," Anna said, agreeing with me.

"Yep, that takes care of that; now, onto what I actually wanted to talk about," I started, pulling out Nymphy and showing the operation details, "I found a couple things strange about this operation-!"

"Now hold on, I wasn't finished talking about this yet!" Roberto yelled out, and I frowned.

"But it was already explained, right?"

"Well, yes, but-!"

"And nothing happened to me in the end, right?"

"Yeah, but-!"

"So really, there isn't a problem, right?"

"Uh, well, if you put it like that, but-!"

"Then there we go, problem solved," I said simply, yawning loudly. "Anyway, I guess we should probably talk about this within the confines of the encampment rather than out here in the jungle, where dinosaurs could attack at any moment. Now let's go!"

"…Huh?" Roberto seemed flabbergasted, and Kimberly laughed.

"Oh man, this Hero's logic is astounding! I guess we have no choice but to listen to him huh, fellow squadron leader!?"

"…This kid has put more stress on me than any mission I've been on," Roberto muttered, and we all went back to the clearing to talk.

-------------------------------

"So, what exactly about the operation did you have a problem with Hiro?" Roberto asked.

We were all inside the "War Tent" as they put it, and I had gathered all the squadron leaders and their respective Models plus Anna in here to tell them what I had found out.

"Well, I don't have an issue with the goal, but more with how we reach that goal," I started, putting down Nymphy to expand upon the holographic mission details so everyone could see.

"Your battle tactics are sorely lacking, and that's putting it mildly. For example, take Squadron 35 for example, the one I accompanied with for this mission."

I zoomed in on the details of the 35th Squad before continuing. "As you can see, the battle tactics here seem to be sorely lacking; it seems more like use whatever's necessary at any given point instead of utilizing the squad's unique strengths. Honestly, I find that this would probably lead to at least 5 people in the squad dying due to lack of command."

Everyone's faces paled at my words, except for Roberto, who gritted his teeth at my words.

"While they give us a plethora of information on the enemy, their base's layout, and the weapons they use, they don't give us an idea on how to best overcome this enemy."

"That's because they always let the squadron leaders decide on the spot what to do best depending on the situation," Roberto said, and I nodded.

"I already figured that."

"Then why are we here?"

"Because going in without any semblance of a plan, or at least the basis of one, is just suicidal, whether fighting enemies within a game or warring against one another in real life. But there's more than just that that I found wrong about this operation."

I moved the mission details my right before raising my hand up, bringing up a variety of weapons we had at our disposal. "Not only is there no plan, you also don't make full use of the weapons you can use. Some squads seem to have weapons better suited for another squads mission, and some squads have weapons that would only hinder the objective they are trying to accomplish; you get the gist."

I sighed as I swiped away everything, rubbing my eyes together. "And don't even get me started on the Models; they could be put to so much use than just the apparent fodder you think they are. Honestly, this entire thing is just one jumbled up mess."

Dead silence permeated the room, before Anna looked over at me, asking the question on everyone's mind.

"What does Master wish to do by telling us all this, Master?"

I grinned, slamming my hands down on the table as I looked at all the squadron leaders.

"Why, I'm gonna lead you all to victory!"