00:27
Female Cadet Dormitory, Academy District, New Eden
Luna and Shirley ran through the corridor, knocking on every door and asking the students to come out. As they came out with scared and confused looks, Luna and Shirley asked them to gather in the dining hall on the 3rd floor before running upstairs to gather more students.
Around 15 minutes later, most of the students of the building gathered at the dining hall. The hall was dark, with only the mobile flashlights trying to light up the hall.
Luna suddenly climbed on top of one of the long rectangular dining tables in the middle of the hall and loudly cleared her throat in order to gather the attention of the students on her. After she was sure that she had their attention, she said, "Sisters, you might be thinking why I've gathered you here at this moment. The answer is pretty clear. We've gathered here, almost 150 students. None of us are completely green and have received at least 6 months of training in our home military academies. So, why at this critical time are we sitting in our dorms while our peers are dying down there? Are we so powerless that we can't even protect ourselves?"
A student from the crowd said, "All of them have guns. You won't even find a bullet if you search the whole building."
Luna replied, "That's true. They do have guns. But we have the advantage here. This building is full of narrow corridors and corners. Meaning most of the fights will be close combat. Remember what our DI said yesterday about guns and close combat scenarios?"
The student replied, hesitation in her voice, "But still… "
"Still what? Do you actually want to play damsel in distress? Then go on. But I'll fight. Because I know I'm my biggest bodyguard. My dad didn't teach me to be a coward."
Shirley was standing silently on the ground next to Luna. She spoke up. Luna's speech had given her a newfound sense of courage. "Come on, girls. We are better than those idiots. We've been chosen to be here because we're the best of the best of the best. Can we really call ourselves that if we can't even gather the courage to stand up for ourselves against opposition?"
An audible hum filled the room as the students talked among themselves. All while sounds of gunfire and explosions came from outside.
After a while, one of the students said, "OK,... "
"Luna, Cadet Luna Chowdhury."
"Ok, Luna. We'll fight. What do you want us to do?"
A big smile appeared on Luna's face as she started to discuss her plan.
Present Time
00:58
Jacob was horrid as he saw the lift door open. He quickly understood what was happening as Luna and Shirley appeared from the lift and gestured towards Jacob to come to the lift.
Jacob wanted to reprimand Luna for her daring move, but in his mind, he knew there wasn't any other way to survive this conflict.
Jacob asked, "Does anyone have any smokes left?"
Two of the soldiers replied that they do.
Jacob then said, "Good. Create a curtain between the compound and the reception area. Quick!"
The soldiers nodded and sequentially threw multiple smoke grenades and created a curtain of smoke.
Jacob then gestured to the soldiers to move towards the lift. The soldiers, along with Jacob, quickly got to the lift, and the lift door closed. As they started going up, Jacob put his right hand on Luna's head and said with a smile, "I should be scolding you for making such a dangerous move, but that was a big save. Thanks, kid."
A big smile appeared on Luna's face as she replied, "Daddy didn't raise me to run away from my fights."
The lift door opened on the third floor, and as they got out, Luna said, "We have set up a makeshift medical camp in the dining hall; anyone injured, please get there. We are also guarding the stairways and lifts to fight off any incoming forces."
Jacob said, his voice back to being stern, "You heard the kid, lads. If you're dying, go to the dining hall; the rest, come with me."
As Jacob was about to walk, Luna grabbed her by her plate carrier and started pulling him towards the dining hall as she said, "Where do you think you're going with that tomato of a face?"
Jacob tried to retaliate, saying, "But…"
But Luna shut him off. "No buts. To the dining hall we go."
As they went to the dining hall, the girls in the stairways on the 2nd floor confronted the attackers. They hid next to the wall on top of the staircase and just as the first soldiers got up, they were hit by chair legs, curtain rods, and many other makeshift melee weapons. Just as the first guy got hit, the girls hid themselves behind the bodies of the soldiers they hit so the rest of the attackers couldn't get a shot. Then they pulled the pin on a few of the grenades attached to the soldier's utility vest and pushed them off, making them roll down the stairs, taking everyone behind them with them. And before the soldiers even realised what happened, the grenades exploded, taking the lives of almost all of them. The ones who survived were too concussed to be on their feet and got captured and tied up with bedsheets.
As Jacob and his soldiers got their wounds bandaged, they saw in awe as one after the other, a girl would come in and report to Luna about the killed/captured soldiers.
Jacob was too stunned to speak. Luna said, "So? What do you think?"
Jacob stuttered before he said, "You—have outdone my expectations. Good job."
Same Time
16:10 (local time)
Watson Estate, Pound Hill, Crawley, England
A white SUV stopped outside the house. Sage was sitting in the driving seat. She came to speak with Annabelle alone. But just as she was about to get out of the car, ARIA's sudden voice stopped her.
ARIA said, "General, urgent message from the Tokyo HQ. Should I play?"
Sage replied, "Go ahead," with concern.
The message played.
"This is the Seven Nation Army Tokyo HQ. Japan is under attack. I repeat, Japan is under attack. The Korean Navy has fired missiles on mainland Japan. We have lost all contact with New Eden just after they sent a distress signal asking for reinforcements. I ask all six HQs to send reinforcements for Japan and New Eden.
Order 17A is in effect. I repeat, Order 17A is in effect."
As the message ended, Sage was too shocked to even move. She said, "ARIA, contact HQ. Tell them that Order 17A is in effect and ask all SNA bases in Western Europe to get ready for war."