“There’s not much time, so I’ll be brief,” I said. “If anything is unclear, ask Anton about it later. I’m currently flying at an altitude of 13,000 meters, but I’ve been intercepted by an aircraft of unknown origin. It’s not responding to my transmissions or my IFF system. The unknown aircraft has launched air-to-air missiles. I’m taking evasive action, but I expect I’ll be shot down. Kouki, Anton, please find a way to escape Russian territory without my help. I don’t care how you do it, Anton, but protect Kouki and get him back to Noa headquarters at the Hakone base. Clare out.”
After quickly explaining the general situation, I ended the transmission and hurried to the cockpit, which was full of the sound of the alarm.
“What’s the situation?” I demanded.
“Evasive action is in progress. Our missile defense system is active, but the attack is coming from beyond the horizon... It’s difficult to counter it with this aircraft’s defense systems.”
“Descend! Prepare for an emergency landing at sea.”
We’ll have to survive this attack before we can attempt any kind of landing... I reminded myself.
My thoughts focused on finding a way we might get out of this alive.
If the emergency landing succeeds, they’ll probably attack from—
“More unknown aircraft detected! At 10 o’clock... there are... 5, 12, no, 15 craft in total! Damn! Stealth planes?! High-speed projectiles are breaking off from the unknown aircraft! They’re probably missiles!”
“Evade them!”
“I can’t! There’s no time. The missiles are on us!”
I instinctively closed my eyes tight as I braced for the impact... but it didn’t happen. I could still hear the shrill sound of the alarm as I opened my eyes.
I was so tense that my throat had dried up, but I somehow managed to speak. “Did they miss?” I asked the pilot.
“No, the missiles passed close by us and then headed for the missiles fired by the unknown aircraft behind us.”
“We have a response from their identification on the friend or foe systems,” said a crew member. “The aircraft ahead are from the Russian Space Defense Forces.”
“They’ve shot down the missiles behind us,” another one added. “The unknown aircraft is moving away at high speed.”
They saved us? Why would the Russian military save us? And why would the Space Defense Forces have aircraft here? I don’t know what’s going on.
“The Space Defense Force craft are about to come flying alongside us,” the pilot reported.
I looked out of the window and saw a newly developed Russian aircraft flying by us. I’d only ever seen aircraft of that type pictured in reference data.
For some reason, there were no markings on the aircraft to indicate the country or unit it belonged to. The whole thing was jet black.
“Now I see...” I murmured.
The aircraft that had saved us wasn’t actually from the Russian space defense agency.
That means the next transmission we’ll receive should be...
“Expect a transmission to come through on the frequency of the Strategic Rocket Forces,” I ordered.
“But... Ah, there it is! A transmission from the Strategic Rocket Forces. This is—”
“Have we got a rendezvous point at sea?” I interrupted. “We need to abandon this aircraft! Have all crew members prepare to disembark!”
If my worst fears are true, Kouki is in great peril right now. If I’m not there to support him, he could be assassinated by the extraction team.
✦ ✦ ✦
After abandoning our aircraft and enjoying a swim in the sea, my subordinates and I were rescued by a powered suit carrier ship that appeared to be a Russian ship with all of its markings erased. After that, I was confined to quarters aboard the ship.
Based on the size of the room and the furnishings, the room I was in appeared to be the quarters of a high-ranking officer, so you could say they were showing me warm hospitality.
“Excuse me...”
There was a knock, and then the door to the room opened. The man who entered was wearing a military uniform bearing no rank insignia of any kind.
The man sat on a chair facing me and produced a file that he was carrying with him.
“Can I ask a question before I take a look at that?” I asked him.
“Please go ahead.” The man put the file down on top of a desk and looked at me somewhat nervously.
“I want to check that I’m right about something,” I said. “You speak fluent English with no accent, your aircraft and this powered suit carrier have no identifying marks, and there’s no insignia on your uniform. You must be with the Russian Internal Troops. Your unit must be a secret unit attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Is this true?”
He was silent.
“Based on the scale of this unit, I’m guessing this is the National Security Unit?”
The man stayed silent. I took this as an affirmative.
I picked up the file on the desk and looked through it. It contained a lot of detailed information that hadn’t been available to me during my confinement. The man then gestured towards a personal terminal he was carrying so I could access digital records on the memory chip that was included in the file.
I don’t know what’s on this thing. I’m glad I can avoid putting it in my own terminal.
“Please go ahead,” he said.
I placed the memory chip into the terminal and accessed the data. It contained details about the Alice Project, records of the Chernobog combat unit that Kouki was working with, and detailed documents regarding the unit’s members.
I need to take this memory chip back with me...
“Would it be possible for me to keep this memory chip?” I asked.
“Please do. We’d also like to give you a map of an underground tunnel of Old Moscow prepared by the administration, which is where Mr. Arakawa is currently under siege. We can also prepare a powered suit with counter-EMP capabilities and some combat gear that we think you’ll need.”
“This is all very kind of you. What do you hope to get out of this?”
“We hope we can rescue someone who this world considers precious.”
“You’re misleading your own president into thinking our aircraft was shot down just for the sake of rescuing this important person? I find that hard to believe.”
The man was clearly troubled by this. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed before he said anything. “Our main concern is the long-term survival of our nation. The nation is currently in a deep crisis. A terrorist organization known as New World has found their way into the high offices of our government. There have already been several high-ranking officers arrested on the orders of government officials. If the information known to Mr. Arakawa were to leak out, we would go from being recognized as a federation to being considered a rogue state. If we were suppressed by force—”
“The United Nations would get involved... and Kouki’s mother, Miki Arakawa, has an immeasurable influence over the United Nations.”
“Exactly. In that case, a third world war would break out. In the worst-case scenario, the Russian Federation would be pitted against the entire world. Even if Mr. Arakawa is able to escape by himself, we anticipate there’ll be devastating retaliatory measures taken against us.”
Indeed, it was clear from his data that the only reason New World had been able to break through our forces surrounding the island during Alice’s abduction was because of having support from the Russian Navy. If Kouki found out about this, he would no doubt take retaliatory measures, just as this man said.
On top of that, our methods had changed lately. If we were to broadcast propaganda over Noa’s satellite network to paint Russia as the enemy, we could manipulate the public opinion however we wished. Judging by the effect our broadcasts had on sales of cosmetics, you could say that we were capable of something close to brainwashing.
“I understand,” I said. “Let me ask again: What’s your goal and what would you have me do?”
“Our goal is to rescue Mr. Arakawa and send him home safely. We will deliver all documents related to the Alice Project and New World, along with all relevant personnel. Any officers in the Internal Security Unit found to be affiliated with New World will also be handed over to Noa. In exchange, we ask that you refrain from taking retaliatory measures.”
“Very well. I accept your conditions.”
The man relaxed.
Now I need to study these documents to find a way to get Kouki out... I pondered. If I use these underground passages and then blast a passage halfway to Kouki’s location, I can travel the rest of the way to the underground subway station using the ventilation shafts.
The problem is what to do after that. To round up all members of Chernobog and escape, I’ll probably need immediate assistance from the National Security Unit.
Once I’ve rendezvoused with Kouki, I could contact Miki and I could ask her to dispatch the commander and his unit...