12

Getting out of the wetland, the rest of the hike went quickly. When I finally reached the airport, the promised ride was already there waiting for me.

Although, we'd been calling it an "airport", but now that I saw it with my own eyes, it was only a short, makeshift landing strip cleared beside a farm. The sleek military grade aircraft looked undeniably out of place on it. But to me now, that sight was better than an oasis in the desert. Being able to rest my legs and catch my breath, if even only for a moment, was nothing short of a preview of heaven. If only someone had arranged me a change of clothes too...I wonder if the swamp stench is ever going to come off...?

"Then, allow me to go over the operation," Jinguji briefed me via a convenient video call in the cabin of the jet, as it took off. "Following our unfortunate encounter at the factory, the enemy has loaded their super weapon, dubbed as, 'Metal Gear Dogoo', or M.G.D. for short, aboard a ship disguised as a regular tanker. Remote reconnaissance says they're passing the southern peninsula as we speak. We estimate they will reach Lastation's west coast by early tomorrow morning."

And we are to somehow stop that? There's not a whole lot of the day left.

"The situation is indeed dire," Jinguji said. "It's the holiday season and there are several resorts built along the coastline. The moment that ship reaches the shore with that dreadful thing, there will be no holding back the chaos. We'll have a full-fledged mass panic and widespread destruction in our hands. There'll be no avoiding casualties either. One way or another, the ship must be stopped before that."

I wish it were that simple.

"The jet will catch up with them in about half an hour. The sun will have well set by then. To keep the enemy from detecting your approach, we will do a high altitude airdrop. You will make your approach in the dark. Get on the tanker the best as you can, then relocate Ran Ran once more. We've learned that the enemy has brought her along to run last minute calibrations on the M.G.D. Learn from Ran Ran if it has a weakness and make it inoperable, by whatever means necessary. If you manage that, the enemy's master plan will have failed. It would be appreciated if you could escort her to safety afterwards, but we can't afford to get greedy at this point. Your priority will be disabling the enemy's super weapon, first and foremost. If it looks too unreasonable to do both, then you may have to give up on the idea of saving the scientist."

"Um...You mean, I may have to run and abandon Ran Ran, if things get bad…?"

Giving her false hope time after time again, only to leave her to death, would that be any different from pulling the trigger myself?

"Of course, we hope it won't come to that," Jinguji said. "But let us be realists. The ability to make tough calls like that in tight moments is one of the reasons why I requested your aid for this mission, K-Sha, and not any of our other allies. If Lady Noire were in your place, I believe she would never consider giving up on an ally, not under any circumstances. But in desperate times like these, that benevolence could become her undoing. And mean the deaths of a lot more people."

So basically, you're saying I'm a cruel person, who wouldn't think twice about abandoning another person? And because my cruelty has use, I have a reason to be here.

That's hardly praise.

I wonder if Jinguji really loathes me.

For what I used to do. For who I am...

"K-Sha? Are you still listening?"

"Oh, I am!" I hurried to shake off the negativity building up within my chest. "Then, so long as the enemy's super weapon becomes useless, it's a mission complete?"

"Yes. That thing is our number one threat. You could say it's the symbol of their entire organization, they depend on it. Personally, I'd prefer to see the whole tanker to go down in the waves, that foul technology with it. But so long as the enemy cannot boot up their trump card, their offensive will fall apart and your job is done. After you've achieved that, leave the vessel by any way you're able, and we'll send a vessel to pick you up. Lastation's security corps will take care of the follow-up."

"Are you sure they'll manage?"

I may have defeated one of the enemy aces, but there are still two more remaining, plus the leader. It should go without saying that even without the M.G.D. behind them, they're a dangerous bunch.

"While we may have had our failings in the past, try not to belittle our operatives too much," Jinguji expressed her faith in her troops. "So long as they know what they're dealing with, they can pull their weight. Rest assured, once you've done your part, we will handle the rest."

"Okay..."

Well, my mission wasn't easy enough that I could afford to worry about others.

Finding a weakness in that behemot—and I'd like to try and save Ran Ran too while I'm at it. I can't easily look Noire in the eyes again, knowing I've let an innocent civilian—well, an innocent pig—take one for the team.

"Let's give this operation a one more try then!"

What now?

The ride was going to take a while longer, so might as well take the chance to clean my guns.