The Start of the Day Where Everything Changes - Mission Summary
The sun was rising in the horizon, directly in front of where Philip and Celine were facing. The glare of the sun penetrated to the skin and to their eyes. If viewed from behind them, only their silhouettes can be seen as the rays of the morning sun glares in between their heads
Celine had her head resting on Philip's right shoulder because her neck felt stiff a few hours ago, even though as a martial artist, she should have high resilience from her neck being used without rest. Philip didn't mind it nonetheless, there's no feelings looming around, only tiredness from being awake for so long
That's what Philip wanted to believe anyways
"This view never gets old..."
Celine commented with a warm voice. She enjoys watching sunrises and the warmth she feels when the sunlight touches her skin and cheeks
Meanwhile, Philip was looking at the Sun with dreadful and piercing eyes. This is the day that Philip's been waiting for, and probably the most dreadful one
"I think it's time"
Philip broke the serene moment between the two of them
"Yeah, I think so too"
Celine lifted her head away and stood up. She then stretched her arms and back to wake herself up. Philip took a glance at her figure
Her arms and legs were slender, but that's about it. Her oversized shirt was covering most of her skin. Though, there are noticeable marks and scars at the edge of her sleeves and around her forearms and thighs
Philip then also stood up and they went on ahead to the Cafeteria. There, the whole squadron met up with Philip and Justine, they ate a heavy breakfast together and requested for packed lunches for their secret mission. The chefs worked overtime and prepared the best meals for the squadron. They considered everyone's usual order and asked Philip and Justine of their favorite cuisine and dishes
"Where did you sleep earlier by the way?"
Justine asked Philip when they were eating together
"There was this garden at the rooftop, I stayed up all night"
"Is the view good?"
Justine seemed to have wanted to come with Philip and see the garden for herself. From when the time she first visited this military facility, she never saw garden on the rooftop
"Yeah, the view is great. Celine also happened to visit the garden and we watched the sea together"
"Really?"
Justine seemed envious
"Justine, let's go on a date after this is over"
"A d-date?!"
"Yeah, I apologize that you don't get to see the view. The garden will be destroyed today because of some unforseen circumstances happening in the facility"
"..."
Justine didn't comment anything at Philip's vision of the future. She knows that it's vague and she wants to see it for herself
"If the garden is that pretty... Then we should take it!"
"Take it?"
Philip was confused, he doesn't know how would Justine do that unless they copy the same trees, plants, and facilities from point A to point B
"I can manipulate the vector of gravity, have you forgotten?"
"Oh yeah! Right..."
"You think it's a good idea?"
"Hmmm... Nah, the only worth that the garden has is the view of the ocean. Don't worry, let's build a garden ourselves in the future. Sounds good?"
"That does sound nice. If you say so, I won't do anything"
"Alright"
After everyone has finished eating, they went ahead to go towards the meeting room for the mission summary. Chris will summarize the mission for them before they depart
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Time till countdown:
>_ 11:09:56
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~~~
"Alright, since everyone is here, I'm going to quickly summarize the mission at hand"
Chris pulled a white board in front of the round table and explained everything to the squadron plus Philip and Justine
"First, everyone will choose their weapon arsenal and personal vehicles to use as tools in this mission. We have a variety of modified vehicles and weapons that are engineered from Mark's metals and reversed engineered from Sheena's upgrades. Sheena can still upgrade these equipments exponentially if she needed to"
Philip became interested at what the military has developed in terms of their adaptation of Sheena's upgraded technology and Mark's mega alloys and giga alloys
"Upon choosing your desired equipments, weapons, and vehicles, all of you will deploy and depart to the designated location. Of course, the Heaven's Truck is going to be your primary vehicle since Tenshi has all of her toys in there. The rest of the desired vehicles will follow via autopilot mode"
Philip was impressed because the military already has autopilot feature on their vehicles, where other automobile companies has barely smart autopilot systems. Also, he is quite excited to see the interior of the Heaven's Truck that he saw yesterday when he first arrived here
"The ETA of your arrival will be approximately 3 hours to your destination. The GPS will be updated in the vehicle of your own choosing. Once you arrive at the location, you will have to dismount the Heaven's Truck and go on foot. You will be a few kilometers away from ground zero"
Philip thought that if they have to walk for a few kilometers before reaching the epicenter if the unstable Mana Hotspot, then he would grab a motorbike or something. The others also thought about this and thought that they should bring drones, helicopters, or upgraded hoverboards. Though, they still need to have a talk about it later
"Reports were saying that our scouts couldn't capture any images around the boundary of ground zero in a 5-kilometer radius. Even the satellites couldn't see anything and if the scouts were to come close, they would die from being under the exposure of excessive Mana present around that area"
Philip narrowed his eyes from the suspicious reports. In his own understanding and logic, Mana wouldn't be able to block camera footage, pictures, or satellites, unless it's someone else's doing
"So, the mission is to investigate, explore, and discover anything around the ground zero?"
Mark took the lead as the squadron leader and asked
"Yes, after you all investigate and explore, you will collect samples of anything inside there. Whether it be magical herbs, mystical plants, or any moving things that possess Mana"
"What if there will be magical beasts? Like birds, underground critters, and many more? What will we do?"
Elaine asked
"You think there will be those kinds of animals from magical fantasy stories?"
Tenshi rebutted Elaine's claim
"There's a possibility, right? If the unstable Mana Hotspot has spread excessive amounts of Mana around itself, wouldn't the animals be affected as well? Though we don't know how they changed or coped with the Mana in the air"
"That's true, you have a point... If it comes down to that, you can kill any magical beasts and collect samples of their meat, blood, bones, and tissues for testing and experimentation"
Chris gave the instructions to the squadron
"After that, everyone will go to the ground zero and investigate the ruined base by the unstable Mana Hotspot and the mouth itself. To which you will enter the mouth and see what makes this Mana Hotspot special from the rest. Search for the Divine Star and take it to deactivate this Mana Hotspot"
Everything that Chris just said was written on the whiteboard by illustrations, arrows, and markings. Everyone nodded at Chris' explanation and they understood it correctly. However, Philip only looked at Chris straight in the eye
"So, let me remind you the importance of this mission... As you may have known, these Mana Hotspots appeared around the Earth four years ago. These hotspots are bounded to the world and they are the sources of Mana that we have recently been using and allowing us to use our abilities. The origin of Mana is currently unknown and it's a concept that we must be wary of"
"..."
"With that, our duty is to prevent the public from knowing the existence of Mana in our world. Since we are the military, we operate in the frontlines and deal with physical matters. Because of this unstable Mana Hotspot, it endangers the secrecy of the existence of Mana to the masses. If the Mana inside that Mana Hotspot has spread around the world, anarchy across all countries might occur. Normal people will be able to gain abilities and who knows what they might do with their powers"
"..."
"We must prevent that from happening by securing the hotspot and taking the Divine Star to deactivate it. That's where the squadron comes in. The squadrons across the world were developed and made by an unknown individual to protect the world from danger that are scattered across the world. We, the Los Angeles Division, is tasked for this mission. Is that understood?"
"Yes"
The squadron members said in unison, except for Philip and Justine
"Alright, now that that's out of the way... Squadron!"
"Yes, master!"
"Yes, sensei!"
The squadron members stod up in unison
"We protect the the world from danger..."
"We protect the the world from danger..."
The squadron members followed Chris' words. They're reciting their vision as a squadorn of Los Angeles Division
"...we put our lives at risk for humanity..."
"...we put our lives at risk for humanity..."
"..."
Philip and Justine only watched them while still sitting. Philip refused to follow them as he don't feel like it
"...as long as humanity thrives on, we will use any force necessary for protection"
"...as long as humanity thrives on, we will use any force necessary for protection"
"..."
"Now, everyone is dismissed and the mission has already started! Go to the hangar and choose your equipments, weapons, and vehicles"
"Yes, master!"
"Yes, sensei!"
The squadron members then walked out of the meeting room with E-1 following closely behind
"Justine, you go on ahead, I'll follow in a minute"
"Hm... Okay"
Justine didn't asked anymore question since she thinks she has an idea about what he has to do. She closed the door behind her after she left the room
Chris turned around after erasing the writings on the board and noticed Philip
"What are you still doing here?"
"I have a few questions, Chris"
"..."
Chris became interested at Philip's attitude right now and he sat on the table while looking down at him
"What are your questions?"
Chris asked with sarcasm and confidence. He currently doesn't like Philip too much as he just couldn't trust him
"Why won't you be able to join the mission again?"
"I'll be monitoring the squadron in the main control room and watch via satellites"
"But I thought the satellites can't capture any footage around the ground zero?"
"That's the thing... I have to keep watch in case something happens around the ground zero. I will also monitor if there are any changes outside the perimeter. Don't worry, I will be providing support from the skies in case something happens"
"..."
Philip kept quiet and he is very suspicious of Chris, though a part of him wanted to believe him, even though Chris will be gone today
"Hm, alright, I trust you"
Philip lied and he stood up to leave. Before he opened the door, he slightly turned his head to the left and asked another question. Chris raised his eyebrows from curiosity
"Are you strong?"
The question was cryptic and Cheis was confused as to why he asked that. Nonetheless, he answered it anyways
"Yes, I'm stronger than the entire squadron combined"
"Plus E-1?"
"Yes"
"I see"
Philip turned his head back and exited the meeting room
"How unfortunate..."
Philip muttered as he walked through the hallway
Philip regretted that he wouldn't be able to save Chris later today because he needs to be in the unstable Mana Hotspot, even if his personality is trash in his own belief
Yesterday, Philip knew that a tragedy will befall in the military facility, but today, he knew that a lot of people will die, including Chris. The closer the time for the catastrophe to arrive, the more Philip van see clearer into the future. His peripheral vision around his eyes were constantly flashing ever since the sun rose this morning. This meant that the Future Vision ability is always activated and he could see it, that's why his expression is serious this entire time
He kept walking towards the hangar where the vehicles are parked. He knows the route since he saw it yesterday
At this moment, he activate the Extreme Self-awareness ability
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Time till catastrophe:
>_ 10:56:23
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