Chapter 10:

*SQSSSSSSH!*

*GUHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA*

"GODDAMMIT!" one after the fucking other!

This thing just appeared from the water and ate our Captain's head like eating a fish ball on a stick. And right when he's about to say something about my wife! This thing retreats back into the water. Denying me the knowledge that I need to know.

*GUHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!*

It laughs mockingly at me.

"FUCK YOU!"

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *CLICK!* *CLICK!* *CLICK!* *CLICK!* *CLICK!*

"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

In my rage filled state, I throw the empty gun into the river, in an attempt to hit that thing with it. But the gun didn't hit anything in the water, nor did that thing react to it in any way. My heart is beating fast. I'm clenching my teeth to the point that my very own teeth are digging through my gums. My 'eyes' stare with all the force that I can muster.

"Haa… haa… haa… haa…!?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

"…"

"Iffy?"

IF looks back at Planeptune, the nation where she was born. The nation where her best friend once ruled. The nation which her morals were based upon. For her, Planeptune wasn't just the Land of Purple Progress, it was the land where her golden treasure lies. The colorful dreams she once dreamed, were right there in that nation.

"I thought I just heard someone scream…" IF replied to her friend.

"Who screamed?" Compa asked.

"I don't know"

The sun peeks over the horizon, the dark sky about to be defeated by the light of the sun. Virtua Forest is quiet. The monsters and animals are snoring away, coupling its harmony with the melody of the trees rustling in the wind. The Lush green gives off a feeling of divinity, like a mother inviting their children to play.

For IF, the thought of hiding in Virtua Forest forever crosses her mind. How easy it would be for her to run away now. From everything that's happening right now. Sure, she will have to stay here until her last breath, with no hope of returning to society. But if society is like this, then a cabin in the woods with just bare necessities is a great option.

However, she can't. Her feelings won't let her. Her heart won't let her. Her rage won't let her.

She has a duty. And she will see it through.

"Iffy?"

"Ah. Yeah… sorry. I was lost in thought" IF responded to the nurse.

Both of them enter the small wooden cabin. The cabin itself is situated between 3 large trees. From above, you can't see anything since the roof has plenty of leaves to camouflage from birds. It's also easily missed if you're not directly facing the cabin. Because it's surrounded by 3 large trees, all you'll see from the sides is the one of the trees itself.

They've trekked a random route towards the cabin, since they fear that they might be followed. Luckily no, one followed them, and not one of the birds in the sky spotted them during their journey.

The cabin is pretty small. In fact, it was designed to have 4 people in mind. With a fireplace on the right, a table in the middle, a corner couch by the window that's facing the front. There's a small kitchen at the far end, a working fridge, and stove. The rooms are on the second floor, accessed through the stairs that you'll find if you round the corner at the far right.

"So then, the rest of you that's not coming can stay here. There's plenty of food here to last you guys for months. However, don't think there's going to be someone refilling them"

"What's going to happen to us…?" a female operative mumbled.

"At the very least, you'll be living in peace. I don't know when Lastation will find this place, but until then, no one is going to disturb you"

"…"

No one speaks. Of course, they know. Lastation is going to flip Virtua Forest upside down to find more Planeptunians.

"If there are no more questions then, let's proceed to talk about our plan for Lowee. The 5 people that are still in, please gather"

IF, Compa, 1 operative, and 4 soldiers all walk towards the dining table, surrounding it. Compa brings out a map from her bag. IF spreads it on the table, as Compa turns on the lights for all of them to see.

"All right. How much do any of you know about Lowee's national defenses?"

"Lowee's defenses consists of AAs, SAMs, and Anti-personnel artillery, from what I heard" the operative answered.

"What else?"

"Hrmm… Wasn't it contracted by a private company? My buddy in Lowee made a big deal about it back in the day" a soldier answered.

"Who was the contractor then?"

"…Planeptune's?"

"That's right. One of our PMCs was contracted to make their defenses. But what you don't know is PMCs in Planeptune are all fronts for our military and tech. Not a single one of them is truly private"

"So you're saying the military tech they have right now is the same as ours?"

"Before Ge… I mean, Lady Purple Sister ruled the world, Lady White Heart and the PMC made a deal to improve Lowee's defenses. Under one of the clauses of the deal, Lowee signed a beta test for all future weaponry that the PMC is researching. And right before the shot was heard all over the world, they've been recently supplied with ICBMs, although never used"

"So what are you saying Commander?"

"We'll head to Lowee and launch their ICBMs at Lastation"

"…Woooo…" one of them whistles.

"So? What do you think?"

"What's their defense like, Commander?"

"Not tight, in fact. Only the Guards are guarding the whole nation now. With Mina at Kei's side right now, before the war happened, majority of Lowee's might was transferred over to Lastation. Because of our national defenses though, we were able to cut down their number to a crippling degree, especially Lowee's"

"What's their current status though? Do we have a mole there?"

"No, we'll be going in blind"

"So where are the goods then?"

"It's located right here under this Basilicom" IF pulled out a red marker and encircled on of Lowee's Basilicoms.

"See this park here?" IF pointed to a large park near the encircled Basilicom.

"It's the hatch that launches the missiles. At the time, it was an open-secret that Lowee was hiding something under this park"

"How do we launch it? Do we have the codes for it?" another soldier asks.

"Unfortunately, it's in Lowee's main Basilicom. There are 3 places where they would secure it: The old vault underground, Lady White Heart's former office, and the only bank inside this mall next to the Basilicom"

"They have a mall next to the Basilicom?" one of the soldier's have question marks floating above their heads.

"Don't worry about it. While I say physically, the actual key itself is encrypted. We will have to brute-force the password. Operator?"

"I do have my laptop with me. But if we're going to brute-force blind then I suggest we have to remotely login to Planeptune's servers" the operator said.

"Do you have the SSH password?"

"I have it in my password manager"

"Good. Time is short; their alarms are going to sound off once we take the key, so we need to get to the codes while en route to the missiles. If they go off, I'm willing to bet Lastation is going to send their birds to stop us"

"Then we need a…"

"…vehicle. I suggest we find a Humvee and rendezvous with the rest once we confirm the location of the codes"

"Good job, soldier! That fucking woman won't know what hit 'em!" the General is pleased.

"Any word from the scout squad? There?"

"No sir, radio still radio silent!"

"Damn what the hell are they doing? What's their last known location?"

"The river sir, near River Rayd street"

"Have we already sent a rescue team?"

"Yes sir, ETA 10 minutes"

"…"

In one of the destroyed buildings of Planeptune, near one of the gates of the Nation, specifically the east side, a General of Lastation's military stands and thinks of the current situation he's in right now.

2 events happened today. One, IF, the leader of the Militia group, is now planning to take ICBM's and launch it at Lastation. And two, the 'Mystery' man that the whole world has been searching for has been found. Although he doubts the validity of the claim. He has to confirm it though before he makes any calls that 'Mystery' really is found. In the email he received from his Superior, The Oracle, there was a series of questions that he needs to go through before he confirms it as the 'Mystery'.

The reason he was called 'Mystery' is quite simple. There's no one in the records in all of Lastation, Lowee, and Leanbox that matched the name 'Jared'. Sure, Jared isn't a unique name, and the name is generic enough to have almost 50K hits in the entire database.

However, none of them passed the series of questions that was provided. When the search widened to ask everyone, that also yielded to no results. Thus, the search narrowed to Planeptunians. Right now, a slight possibility that 'Mystery' is in Planeptune, means that he should follow orders to find and catch this elusive sapien, before he escapes Planeptune or is slaughtered by those things.

But IF is the bigger issue here, there won't be a Lastation to bring back 'Mystery' if IF's plan becomes real.

"General!"

"…! What!?" a soldier suddenly popped before him. His rough face started him, jerking him off his thought process.

"General! Come here! You've got to see this"

The operator hurriedly walks back to his station while the General follows behind. He double clicks on a video.

"…! Put it up!"

"Sir!"

The projector blinks for a moment. When the projector comes back to light, it shows a video on the wall. The General watches the video play out, his eyes wide as a saucepan, his mouth agape. His breathing is getting faster, his heart beating rapidly. What he's looking at is horrifying. No. It's gone beyond that, it's not horrifying anymore.

It's downright insanity.

"My god…"