Going Rogue

09th March 2032

13:21 (22 hours to doomsday)

Philippine International Convention Centre

Sohel, Annabelle and Jacob were left stunned by Naoki's comment. Sohel asked, "What are you talking about? Isn't Mei…"

Naoki said, "Yes. The only other survivor of Project Spectre. Mei Watanabe. That's her. She was an exilent subject, the best assassin candidate that the project had gotten their hands on. But her mental mortitude was low; if she had completed the training, it'd break her mentally. So the trainers decided to dispose of her."

Jacob asked, "But..."

"But Harutora had somehow grown affectionate of her. So, he couldn't bring himself to give the order to dispose of her. So, he locked away her memories of her training and then adopted her as Naomi Kobayashi, my actual sister who died the same year in a road accident."

Sohel looked at Mei, who was sitting on the floor with an expressionless face, looking down.He looked back at Anoki and said, "But..."

Naoki interrupted him again and said, "Let's talk later. We don't have much time. You are in big trouble, Ghost."

Everyone got a little surprised at this. Jacob asked, "What do you mean?"

Naoki answered, "To be exact, both Ghost and Princess are in trouble. Both of you know too much of SNA's dark past. And I believe that the General's Council will do whatever they can to make sure that you two can never speak up about it, and even if you do, no one will believe you. Just like they did to me. As you already know, I'm dead on paper, and with all the things they made me do, lying has become natural for me. Princess comes from an influential family, so I doubt they'd do anything drastic to her. But you, you need to be careful."

Sohel asked, "So, what do we do now?"

"I'm going to go after Kuroshima. He needs to be stopped here and now. If I can get to his hideout, I believe I can find a way to disable the nukes from afar. He's bound to keep a kill switch if things go south."

Annabelle said, "Huh? How're you going to do that?"

Naoki said, "Give me your tablet."

Annabelle looked at Sohel, and Sohel nodded. Annabelle gave the tablet to Naoki. Naoki gave it back after he did something on it. Annabelle looked at the tablet and was shocked when she found a red dot moving on top of a map on the screen. Naoki said, "The bullet I fired on the helicopter was a tracking bullet. It's currently tracking the helicopter. I just have to follow the GPS."

Sohel said, "We're joining you. The more, the merrier."

Just then, Sohel's coombs buzzed.

"Phantom to Ghost, how do you copy?"

"Solid copy, general."

"Get back to New Eden ASAP and get ready to lead platoon Echo. The Bravo Squad shall lead the platoon and protect the defusal squad as they defuse the nukes."

"But sir, we need to go after Ito. We have his location. If we can stop the detonation from the source control panel, we can ensure the nukes don't go off."

"Don't argue your orders, Captain. Do as you've been ordered."

The connection cut. Sohel said, "ARIA, connect me to general Overlord."

"Connection failed… No response from the recipient."

Sohel clicked his tongue. Naoki asked, "What happened?"

"General Phantom ordered us to get back to New Eden and go help the detonation unit."

"What will you do?"

Sohel glanced at his squadmates and replied, "We're going after Ito."

"Are you sure?"

"From what you've told me, I'm getting labelled a rogue either way. Now the question is, Will you let me come with you or not?"

"I'm not complaining."

Sohel then said, "Let's go then."

As Naoki and Sohel turned and started heading towards the stairs, Naomi's sudden voice stopped them. "Wait. I'm coming too. I have a score to settle."

Sohel asked, "Are you sure?"

Naomi nodded. Jacob said, "I'm coming too, boss. The more, the merrier."

Sohel didn't complain. But he did complain, as Annabelle said, "I'm coming too. You need someone to handle your tech."

"You're a non-combatant, Ann. It's not safe."

"You think I care anymore? I'm coming, and that's the end of this argument."

Sohel then said, "All of us are going then. Let's move before SNA gets wind of us."

All of them got out of the building and got on Sohel's rented Toyota. Naoki got on the driving seat with Sohel beside him. Everyone else got on the back.

Naoki asked, "Where are they going?"

Annabelle looked at the tablet and said, "They're flying over the Philipine Sea. Going towards Japan."

Naoki clicked his tongue and said, "Tch. We need an aircraft."

Sohel said, "SNA is supposed to send an aircraft to Manila airport carrying the defusal squad. We could hijack that one. No, that'd be dangerous."

Sohel's forehead skin wrinkled. Annabelle's smug laughter broke his chain of thought. He looked back and asked, "Why are you laughing?"

Annabelle said, "You seem to be forgetting who I am. A British Sikorsky S-76C helicopter will be ready to take us to Japan in 30 minutes. It's on its way to Manila airport now. Just go straight to the runway gate, and I'll do the rest."

Naoki pressed on the gas as he smirked and said, "Now that's the type of nepotism I can get behind."

Annabelle asked, "So, we're on our own now? Five people vs. a freakin army?"

Jacob replied to her, "Looks like it. Well, you're free to get off if you're scared."

Annabelle retaliated, "Shut up. I just wanted to know if I can expect some backup or not."

Sohel said, "Good idea. I don't know if it'll work, but I can try something."

Annabelle asked, "What will you do?"

Sohel replied, "I'll record a few voice messages."

Sohel said, "ARIA, start voice recording. I got a few messages to record."

Jacob asked, "For whom?"

"Calling for backup, just in case."