05: 40
Monarch Highway, Austin, Texas, United States
Two people were sleeping in a black Mitsubishi Lancer SUV parked outside of a gas station. The sky was still dark, so their faces weren't clear.
The phone of the person in the passenger seat buzzed. The person woke up after the phone rang for a while and picked up the phone.
"Hello."
...
"This… It's bad."
...
"Yeah, don't worry. I'll see what I can do. I doubt he'd believe my warnings though."
........
"Yeah. I know. I'll try. Yeah, thanks for the help."
He cut the call. The man looked at his phone screen for a few minutes as if he was thinking something and then looked at the man in the driver's seat and said, "Naoki, I need to send a message. Help me a little."
Same Time
22:04
Academy Building, New Eden
On the top floor of the building, in the general's office, General Overlord was sitting in his chair with a serious look on his face. He was staring blankly in front of him with his hands locked with one another in front of him. After a few minutes, he got up and walked out of the room while saying, "ARIA, activate order 17A. Summon all specialists, specialist candidates and any other officer of the rank of major and above in the conference room."
22: 11
Shooting Range - 2, New Eden
Elina and Arina got in the shooting range as Arina complained, "For real, Elina. Why do you have to do shooting practice now? It's past dinnertime." Both of them were wearing a see-through raincoat over their white and blue uniform.
As they scanned their IDs and walked towards the weapons rack, Elina said, "Oh, come on. We spent the whole day stuck in our room. Stretching a little bit wouldn't hurt, ya know?"
"Then go yourself. Why drag me with you?"
"Why are you complaining? You don't want to hang out with me?" Elina made a crying face.
Arina got worked up seeing her face and said, "Ok, ok. Let's do it. What about a competition? Dinner's on the loser."
"You got it."
Arina smiled. "Cool. What will you shoot?"
Elina picked up a small pistol from the weapons rack. It was a compact pistol, slimmer than the normal ones. It had a black metallic paint with just the trigger being painted white.
Elina said, "SC-9. One of the first weapons developed by Watson Industries. Designed by Samuel Clark himself. Shoots a type of 9mm bullets. Has no casing. Just the bullet shooting out with the power of electromagnetic force. This means no recoil, no sound and no bullet casing. The perfect stealth weapon."
Arina picked up a 1911 pistol as she chuckled and said, "There goes the Watson Industries fangirl. Yes, that pistol is good. But I'd rather stick with something more battle-tested. Like this 1911. Been in service for more than a century. Why? Cause it's reliable."
Arina was suddenly interrupted by ARIA's voice. "Attention! Attention! Order 17A is in effect. I repeat, Order 17A is in effect. All specialists, specialist candidates and any other officers of the ranks of major and above are to be present in the conference room as soon as possible. I repeat, any specialists, specialist candidates and any other officers of the ranks of major or above are to be present in the conference room as soon as possible."
Arina and Elina looked at each other with shocked expressions. Arina asked, "Isn't Order 17A…"
Elina replied as she put the pistol back in the weapons rack, "The order to prepare for war. We're at war."
"With whom?"
Elina ran towards the door as she said, "I don't know. Let's see what the general has to say. You go back to our room. I'll call after the briefing."
22: 44
Academy Building, New Eden
A personnel-carrying bus stopped in front of the building, and Elina got down from the bus along with a few other officers. All of them were wearing a new uniform. The design of the new uniform was the same as the old one except the white part was now black and the blue part was now red. All of them were wearing transparent raincoats over their uniforms.
As Elina approached the door, she saw De Luca standing next to the door with his dog and another man. Both of them were wearing the same black and red uniform.
Elina approached them as she said, "Looking good in that black uniform, De Luca. You too, Sifat."
De Luca replied with an awkward smile, "Thanks. But I wished we'd never have to wear it."
Sifat said, "Yeah. Having to wear our war uniform when we're yet to graduate from the specialist program… Not what I had in my Academy bucket list."
Elina squinted her eyes as the rain was hitting her face as she said, "Let's go inside first. Or this rain is gonna create a hole in my face."
They laughed as they walked inside.
22: 55
Conference Hall, Academy Building, New Eden
The three of them entered the conference hall, and the expressions in their faces dropped. The only time they had come to the conference hall before was on the day of their entrance ceremony. The difference between the atmosphere of the hall on that day and today was night and day. There was no red carpet, no balloons, no confetti, no tables full of food. Most importantly, there was no smile on anyone's face. There was no music; there was just an intense humming noise of many people talking to each other.
Suddenly all the humming noises stopped as the door next to the stage flung open and General Overlord, along with a few high-ranking officers, entered the room and climbed straight to the stage. He didn't wait for anyone as he went straight to the podium and said, "Men, I will be blunt. We are in a state of war."