06:20
Academy Building, New Eden
Sohel slowly opened the door and went in. The office too was the same as before. The only difference was that there were eight pictures of eight different people showing on the screen behind the general, and he was sitting in his chair with a really serious look on his face. Sohel had never seen this face of him before.
General said, "Sit."
Sohel pulled a chair and sat down in front of the general. Both of them sat there in silence for a while before Sohel decided to break the quiet.
Sohel asked, "What happened unc… Sir? "
The general looked up at Sohel's face. Sohel could clearly see the expression in his face. It was a mix of anger, helplessness and determination.
He said, "Do you see the photos behind me? All of these people were killed by Major Shadow and the past few weeks."
Sohrl gasped, "WHAT?"
The general continued, "Yes. And the only thing connecting all these people is that they were a part of Project Spectre."
Sohel's forehead wrinkled as he heard that. He said, "Isn't it about time that you revealed to me what the fuck is the project Spectre? This name has been roaming around me for months now."
The general was going to say something but got interrupted by a sudden door opening.
The door to the general's office swung open as a man entered the room as he said, "Let me explain what project Spectre is."
He was an old Japanese man in his early 60s, tall and fit, with white long hair coming up to his shoulder and grey eyes. He had a stern look in his eyes, capable of striking fear into his enemies hearts even at that age. He was wearing the same uniform as General Overlord.
General Overlord got up and said, "Oh, you're here already? Sohel, meet General Phantom. The… "
General Phantom interrupted General Overlord again and said, "Ahh. No need to use my call sign here. It's just us three." He extended his arm at Sohel for a handshake. Sohel grabbed the hand.
He then said, "I'm Major General Kouji Hiroyuki. The representative of Japan in the SNA general's council and leader of the SNA's espionage division."
Sohel nodded and said, "It's an honour to meet you, sir."
The general said, "The honour's all mine. I got to meet the infamous Ghost after all. Your records in the academy are exquisite. Also your field work."
Sohel was going to say something, but he got interrupted as General Hiroyuki said, "Now, about Project Spectre. It's a failure of mine. I approved the project without running thorough checks."
"Hmm?"
"It was all the way back in 2013. Just when the Seven Nation Army was formed. We were a newly formed coalition and pretty week. The idea of cooperation wasn't that clear yet. I was just appointed the representative of Japan in the coalition, and I wanted to do something that would make Japan look like the superior of the seven counties.
That's when one of our young researchers, Harutora Kobayashi, came to me with the plan for this project. The plan was to enlist children as they were young teens and nurture them to create an army of perfect super soldiers.
I know it sounds bad, but we were just that desperate. So, I approved the project without checking the details. I had thought their training would be light. Like they would just be mentally prepared for a few years before training their bodies.
But it turned out that wasn't what Harutora had in his mind. He made young children go through hellish training. Inhumane punishments were given for failing a training drill. Little children were made to kill real people.
As expected, most of the children went either went insane or decided that suicide was a better option."
Sohel was horrified at the description. He asked, "All of these things happened, and you did nothing?"
"The training method was hidden from us. But we eventually found out and ordered them to abandon the project and fire Harutora and everyone else who were part of the project.
But Harutora had other plans. He had stolen all the documents of the project and decided to join the NWO. We eventually had to kill him and get back the documents."
Sohel asked, "But what does any of this have to do with Naoki? I mean Major Shadow?"
General Overlord said, "Major Naoki Kobayashi is the only perfect soldier the project had produced. Also the only one alive."
"And what do you want me to do?"
"We want you to capture Major Shadow and get him back to New Eden. If word gets out that one of our specialists has gone rogue, it would be the perfect excuse for others to question our promise to protect the signed countries. Which would be really bad right now. NWO is planning something really big. We can't focus on them and the hostile countries at the same time."
"And I'm guessing I have to go alone?"
General Overlord said, "We can allow you to take one other specialist with you. Except Medusa. She'll try to kill her brother the moment she finds her."
"I have a thousand more questions but I'll let them be for now. One specialist, huh…
I'll take Princess with me."
General Phantom said, "Oh? Can I ask why? I thought you'd take another fighter with you."
"Medusa is out of the equation. Blast isn't really someone you'd trust in stealth missions. And an engineer-class specialist would be more valuable than a healer in this mission."
General Phantom gave a nod of approval and said, "Nice thinking."
Sohel asked, "When do you want us to move out?"
General Overlord said, "Tonight would be best. I think you'd want to attend the funeral."
Sohel said, "Hmm. Thanks for allowing it."
General Overlord said, "No problem. You should go and get some rest now. And remember, you're on your own in this one. If you're caught, you were not acting on SNA's orders."
Sohel Chuckled as he headed towards the door and said, "At the end, it's your reputation over a soldier's life, eh?"
He left before the generals could say anything.
Sohel got out of the building and got in his car. He just sat there in his car for a while, just thinking about everything that had been revealed to him in the last hour. He needed time to process the information and prepare mentally for what was to come.
06:35
San Pablo City, Philippines
The man got out of that room and got into another room that looked like a small office. It was messy. Papers lying everywhere, a fan revolving on top, and overall a dirty place.
The man took out his phone and dialled a number. After a few rings, the call connected. A sweet female voice came from the receiver, "Hello."
The man said, "You got a job. Gather your sisters."
The female voice sounded serious. She said, "Who do we have to kill this time?"
"Subject 24. Goes by the name Naoki Kobayashi."