Messiah

03:53

Kansai Airport, Kansai, Osaka

Sohel's Alfa Romeo stops on the runway just a few meters away from a C-21 jet. The engines of the C-21 were still running. 4 soldiers wearing SNA combat uniforms were standing beside the lowered ramp of the jet.

Sohel and Annabelle got out of the car first and then opened the doors of the backseat so the Yu sisters could get out. They escorted the Yu sisters to the jet and handed them over to the soldiers.

The soldiers saluted Sohel and Annabelle as they got closer. Once they were handed over, two soldiers took them inside the jet. Another soldier said, "Sir, as per your request, a Mil Mi-26 is waiting for you at Helipad 4F."

Sohel replied, "Nice."

Annabelle said, "Remember to keep the prisoners in constant exposure to low-voltage EMP. If those chips come back online, even for a split second, they're dead."

The sergeant nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am. I'll be careful."

Both of them nodded, and Sohel and Annabelle went back to their cars. They then drove to Helipad 4F and found the helicopter; it was ready for takeoff. An SNA soldier was standing outside the helicopter door.

Sohel and Annabelle got off the car, and the soldier came to them. Sohel nodded and handed him the car keys. The soldier then drove away in the car. The two of them got on the helicopter, and Sohel asked the pilot, "How long will it take to reach Makati?"

The soldier replied, "If we experience anything unusual, I can take you there in around 5 hours."

Sohel said, "That's good."

Sohel looked at Annabelle and smiled a little as he saw Annabelle had fallen asleep with her tablet still in her hand. He slowly took the tablet off of her hand and put it in her bag. He then leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes in an attempt to get some sleep himself. It didn't take long for him to doze off as the tiredness of the day had started to take over.

10:11

Philippine International Convention Centre, Pasay, Philippine

Sohel and Annabelle got out of a silver Toyota Vios in front of the conference centre.

Sohel said, "So, this is the place where the major's supposed to show up."

Annabelle replied, "From what Ms. Yu said, yeah. It is."

"Let's head in then."

Sohel and Annabelle headed in, and after getting the clearance to get in thanks to Annabelle, they quickly found out the hall where Dr. Ito's supposed to be presenting his research results. They got inside and sat down in one corner.

10:31

Three cars stopped outside the front gate of the convention centre. Dr. Ito, Naomi, Jacob and Sgt. Andrada got out of the car in the middle. Everyone except Dr. Ito was in their combat gear. Dr. Ito was wearing a black suit with an ashen shirt. Around 10 soldiers, all of them wearing the black and red suit of the SNA, got out of the other two cars.

All of them went inside. Soon, one after the other, people started to come in and take their seats in the hall.

11:00

At 11 AM sharp, Dr. Ito came on stage, along with Medusa and Jacob. Dr. Ito took his stand at the podium while Naomi and Jacob stood a few meters behind him on both sides. Sohel and Annabelle was shocked when they saw two SNA specialists standing behind Dr. Ito. It didn't take long for him to realise that the two specialists were Naomi and Jacob, as no one else would be able to be here at that time.

After Dr. Ito got sure that everyone was noticing him, he started his speech.

"Hello, my fellow researchers. As everyone knows, for years, different armies in the world have tried to create super soldiers. Like the German's during WWII, the Americans' Project MK-ULTRA during the Cold War, and recently the Project Aigle during WWIII by the French. And we know that they all failed.

Why? There were some big problems. The mental strain on the test subject, the test subjects not being able to reach their full potential due to mental restrictions, and the biggest reason, the reason that Project Aigle failed even after they were able to create the super soldiers, the fear of them going rogue. I'm happy to announce that I've finally found a solution to all of those problems.

But before I reveal my invention, I want to thank Mr. Tatsuo Kuroshima, founder of Kuroshima Industries and the owner of argueably the world's strongest PMC group, the Phoenix Company. Without his tremendous support, I couldn't have completed my research. Please come on stage."

A man stood up from the front row of the seats and went up on the stage. Dr. Ito made way for the man. The man was wearing a grey suit. He was in his late 50s, had a square face with a sharp jawline, and had dark eyes, which had a piercing look.

He stood on the podium and started speaking.

"Thank you everyone. For the past few decades, the world has been in a constant state of war, which was finally ended by the SNA back in 2024. But we all know that the war didn't actually end. The countries are just being forced to stay put by a greater force than them.

And I have a dream. A dream to finally end this war once and for all. No more stalemates, no more need for a greater force. I funded Dr. Ito's research, along with various other projects, to prepare to realise my dream."

Naomi seemed to get a call in her comms at that time, and after a moment, she said something to Jacob and left the stage.

"You might ask, How am I supposed to achieve my dream? It's simple, really. I'll just burn it all down. I'll burn down every single conflicting country, and then, from the ashes of those warmongering countries, would rise up the new world order. Just like a phoenix."

The speech sent all the people in the room into a state of chaos. Jacob quickly aimed his rifle at Kuroshima, which was followed by a call from Dr. Ito and a swarm of people, all of their age ranging from late teens to early 30s, wearing military forest camo and holding Ak12s. The other SNA soldiers standing throughout the room all aimed their rifles towards the newly appearing army.

Kuroshima said, "Behold, my Pheonix company."

Sohel couldn't stay put any longer; he took out his M17 from the shoulder holster and said to Annabelle, "Ann, get out of here. This place isn't safe."

Ann nodded and quickly got lost in the swarm of people trying to leave the room. Sohel found it weird that Kuroshima was still talking like he had an audience and looked around to find cameras. The speech was being live streamed.

Kuroshima said, "In the next 24 hours, one by one, 17 nukes will go off in 17 capitals of the world. That… is the first step I'll take towards fulfilling my dream."

Jacob yelled, "Shut up, old man. Get your hands on your head. You're under arrest for terrorism."

Kuroshima finally looked back at Jacob. He said in a really calm voice, "No one can stop the messiah."

Jacob gripped his rifle tighter and ordered, "What are you doing, soldiers? Apprehend them."

The SNA soldiers started causiously approaching the Phoenix Company soldiers. Sohel jumped to help them. But before any of them could get near, a loud boom was heard, followed by the sound of gas spewing out of something.