The next day...
After informing the general of the black op's division and the prime ministers of his findings, Missio was waiting anxiously in his room, constantly adjusting his clothes. The silence stretched for longer than necessary and he felt an uncomfortable sensation crawling up his spine. He drew a deep breath and slumped into his chair. Then, his phone rang. He flinched, picking up his phone and answering the call.
"Ah, yes. Missio, how are you?"
"I'm doing fine."
"Great, because the council has agreed on the arrest of the drug lord – Sun Daishen."
Missio gulped. "Really? That was…quite fast."
"Of course, it was simple, really. All the ministers were in favor of arresting this powerful drug lord, but the minister of foreign affairs was against it for some reason."
'Of course, he would reject the idea. That would probably mess up our relationship with Ashland.'
Missio's thoughts ran wild as he asked the prime minister.
"So…Who's going to Kharagen?"
"You, of course. The Lieutenant General's own team should be plentiful to solve this case."
Missio clicked his tongue. "…Okay, sir."
"Amazing! I hope you can come to the base by 2 pm."
"Yes, sir." Missio groaned.
"Great, I'll see you soon."
The prime minister cut the call. Missio heaved a sigh of relief, tucking the phone into his pocket. He pulled back his hair and adjusted his collar.
'Above the system yet still trapped by it…How ironic – How ironic, indeed.'
A sour smile spread across his face as he thought those things. He tapped his music box which seemed like a void in a colorful world. He coughed and stood up, checking the time on his own digital clock.
"10…still got a lot of time." He muttered to himself. "Let's prepare mentally for this, shall we?"
He placed the clock down and grabbed his katana, sliding it into its sheath. He rubbed his fingers against the thin fabric of his fingerless gloves as he exited his office. The door locked behind him as he walked down the long hallway, covered in sunlight.
***
A few hours later...
Missio sat in the passage seat of Henry's car. Krishna, Eira and Mary were behind them. Henry was calm driving, weaving through the streets of Romulus like a veteran driver. Missio stared out of the window, thinking in his own world.
'Man…Kharagen…I really don't want to mess up our relationship with Ashland. If we fail this mission or get exposed, then we're doomed but…why wasn't the PM so worried? Is there some secret political motive behind this? Please do not derail anything…for the sake of Pangea.'
Then, he looked forward, seeing the traffic of the streets. He crossed his arms and leaned back.
'Other than that, I'm just waiting to get unbanned. Man, those guys are gonna regret complaining once I destroy their trade hub again~…I wonder how big bro is doing?'
Then, the car stopped, shoving Missio forward. He looked ahead and saw that they had stopped at the entrance to the base.
"ID, please."
Henry pulled out his Id and handed it to the officer. The soldier scanned the Id and the scanner clicked with green light. He nodded and handed it back. Henry tucked it back in his pocket and the gates started to lift. He pressed the accelerator and entered the military base. Many green camo vehicles were driving from one point to another. Missio leaned his head out, feeling the wind.
Henry stopped near a hanger, shutting off the car. Missio groaned and pushed the door open, stepping outside. Henry unlocked the truck, and he grabbed his katana from the trunk. As he sheathed it, he thought in an annoyed tone.
'This is really inconvenient.'
He complained a little in his head before following his mates into the hangar. As they entered, they saw a black jet being polished and refueled. Many people on scissors lifts were maintaining the jet with utmost precision. The team approached a small table surrounded by many officials in uniform.
"Ah! Lieutenant General, you're right on time. Here let me get you a seat."
An official guided him to his seat. He sat down, awkwardly thanked the man. His team stood behind him wearing the official EOC uniform. Krishna clicked his tongue and mumbled under his breath.
"So, he gets a seat while we have to stand. So much for equality."
"Shut your mouth, Krishna." Henry hissed. "This is important."
"Okay – okay~" Krishna inwardly chuckled.
Missio ignored them and focused on the meeting. A hologram generated in front of his eyes as the official began explaining.
"This is the city of Kharagen, but we don't have to focus on that." The official said zooming on the forest near the capital of Ashland.
"What we must focus on is this abandoned building near Kharagen, but you see…it's not abandoned. Intel shows that a bunch of hooligans are rallying up there and selling drugs. The drugs that we're sold to the recently arrested Dick Quartel."
Everyone at the table frowned. Gazes fixed onto the man as he restarted the briefing.
"We've identified the hooligans as teenagers and some drunken, cracked old bastard. We didn't do much investigation into the matter of their boss since he is anonymous and doesn't show his face much, but we have found that he personally delivered all of Dick's packages. End of the briefing, thank you."
As he said those words, the official sat down and lowered his head. Heated debates began to spring onto that table.
"How can we send the first unit to apprehend a bunch of kids?"
"What a joke?! Kids giving drugs to a politician, bullshit!"
"I don't think we should fight over such matters."
Missio leaned back in his chair, tapping his headphones. They instantly blocked all sounds coming from the outside, relaxing his nerves. Soft music blasted through the black headphones as he slowly drifted into his own world. Suddenly, he felt his phone buzz. Interrupted and alerted, he pulled it out and found he had been sent a message by an unknown number.
[Lieutenant General, Missio Augustus. May I have chat with you over messages?]
[Who are you?] Missio replied in a perplexed manner.
[The foreign affairs minister. I must inform you of something – 0124.]
Missio paused. The number the man had written to him was something only high-ranking politicians used to identify fakes. He typed back in a rapid manner.
[Okay, what do you want to talk about?]
[Be careful when on the mission. There's a reason other than our relationship with Ashland that made me object.]
Before he could respond another message came. [The drug lord…he's special.]