The Ether Conflict Redux

Chapter 2: Priority Mission

May 3rd, 203X

Miho's Room, 7:00 AM

beep beep beep beep

"Mmm…"

Shifting a little bit under the sheets of her bed, Miho slowly opens her eyes and sits up, looking at her alarm clock and tapping its top to stop it from beeping anymore.

click

"Yawn… Oh wow, I slept almost 12 hours…" Miho says in a groggy voice as she looks at her alarm clock, then stretches her arms up in the air.

"Mmmn~…! Haah… much better," she hums to herself, then gets out of bed to go and splash some water on her face, but not before she turns on the TV to hear the morning news.

click

"...-rst case of actual terraform reversal in a small terraformed zone in central Siberia, with the Russian government stating that while it's still too early to make any definite conclusions, this new technology that was developed between the National Technological Institute of Russia and the MIT has already shown potential in actively combating the spread of such zones, and maybe in the future, even reclaiming them back."

That sounds nice. Perhaps Japan will become one country again in the future, Miho thinks as she turns on the bathroom sink and starts splashing some cold water on her face.

"In other news, the JGSDF presented yesterday in the Tokyo Exhibition Hall the new Type 30 main battle tank as part of the National Defense Arms Exhibition that has been held for the past few days now."

Drying her face with a towel, Miho then exits the bathroom and goes towards her wardrobe to grab a pair of clothes and get dressed.

"According to military officials, the new MBT will be using Electro-Thermal Chemical technology, or ETC, to enhance the firepower of the tank by significantly improving the speed of the projectiles up to 2.5 to 4 kilometers per second, therefore increasing the penetration of the so-called kinetic energy rounds. It has also stated that the tank will be boasting greater mobility due to the use of a bigger engine, as well a new type of metal alloy for armor, leading to increased protection and reduced weight."

Miho turns to look at the small TV for a moment as she retrieves her clothes from the wardrobe, currently a picture of a tank she has never seen being shown.

Hmm… I wonder if our Panzer IV is still battle worthy. I don't want to admit it, but as many times as we might upgrade it, it'll never be able to fight toe to toe with a modern MBT, Miho thinks as she makes her way towards her bed, then lays her clothes on it and starts changing. Maybe it's time we thought about a complete overhaul for it.

"This concludes the morning news. Next up is the documentary "Project Starfall: A myth, or Japan's most controversial experiment to date" and after that the documentary "Serum: The world's lost wonder weapon"."

This channel really likes showing documentaries, Miho muses in her mind as she finishes tying her boots' laces, then turns off the TV and grabs her room's key from the nearby bedstand. Standing up from her bed, she then walks out of her room and locks the door, then starts heading towards the mess hall to get breakfast.

The others aren't here. Did they go straight to the mess hall or did they decide to sleep a bit more? Miho wonders as she looks behind her in case any of her friends appear, but she sees no one. Well, it is a day-off, since it's the day after a mission, so they probably decided to catch more sleep.

Miho then starts descending the staircase, and after stepping on the ground floor, takes a right turn and finds herself on a hallway.

Such a beautiful day, she thinks as she looks out of one of the hallway's large windows, getting a view of the base's main courtyard, as well the garage depot, the main gate, and the helipad it has. Though as she reaches the mess hall's entrance, she finds Saori in front of it talking to her phone.

"No, thankfully they were compliant. Yeah, the JSDF took them, probably to interrogate them. Anyway, how have your mission been-oh, give me a second."

Saori lowers her phone slightly and covers the bottom portion of it with her hand, then looks at Miho.

"Good morning, Miporin," Saori greets her friend with a smile, with Miho waving slightly back and stopping in front of her.

"Good morning, Saori. Did you wake up earlier?" she asks, and Saori nods.

"Yes. Everyone except Mako woke up earlier, actually."

"Oh," Miho says a bit surprised, then motions with her head at the mess hall's doors. "Are they inside?"

"Hana is, but Yukari took her breakfast and went in the garage to check on the tank. Mako is still sleeping, I'll go wake her up around eight or nine. Ah! Before I forget, Mr. Nagumo went to shop for a few ingredients at Nagano, so Mrs. Nagumo is serving breakfast."

"Alright. Say to Tyler I said hi," Miho says, then enters inside the mess hall.

"I will. Hey, Tyler, you're still there? Mmm, Miporin is saying hi. Yeah, I'll tell her. Anyway, as I was saying…"

Entering inside the mess hall, just like Saori said, Miho finds Hana sitting at one of the tables, a small tower made of five stacked bowls settling next to her while she's eating rice from a currently half-empty, sixth bowl.

"Good morning, Hana," Miho says as she walks towards the table her friend is sitting, with Hana turning slightly her head to look who called her name.

"Mmh? Ah, Miho. Good morning," Hana says after swallowing the food she had in her mouth, a gentle smile forming on her face.

"How did you sleep?" Miho asks as Hana finishes her sixth bowl of rice and places it on the stacked bowls.

"I slept fine. You?"

"I feel like I slept a bit too much," Miho chuckles. Hana chuckles a little bit as well as she places the stack of bowls on her tray, then stands up to take them back to the kitchen.

"You did sleep very early," Hana comments as she and Miho make their way towards the counter where breakfast is served. "Were you feeling that tired from the mission?"

"Probably. It's been a while since we had to engage someone in a firefight. Most times things are quite, especially inside the zone."

Reaching the counter, Miho sees a short woman around Mr. Nagumo's age, and just like him, sitting in a chair but knitting a scarf instead of reading a newspaper.

"Good morning, Mrs. Nagumo," Miho greets the old woman as Hana places her tray on the counter, with the woman looking up to her and forming a gentle smile.

"Ah, Miho, good morning," Mrs. Nagumo says as she stops knitting and puts the incomplete scarf along with the knitting needles under the counter, then stands up. "Here for breakfast?"

"Yes," Miho responds.

"Great! Just give me a few minutes and I'll bring you some," she says back as she takes Hana's tray to go and put the stacked bowls on the sink to wash them later. "If you want more, Hana, just come and ask! We have plenty rice to go by."

"I will, Mrs. Nagumo," Hana says as the old woman goes further inside the kitchen, then turns to look at Miho. "If you'll excuse me, I need to talk to the director about this month's money transfer. Have a good day, Miho."

"Mmm. Talk to you later, Hana."

As Hana goes away, Miho turns her attention back to Mrs. Nagumo, who has already put two bowls full of rice on a tray and is bringing them back to the counter.

"Here you go!" Mrs. Nagumo says as she puts the tray in front of Miho.

"Two bowls?" Miho asks confused as she looks at the bowls, then back at Mrs. Nagumo.

"Saori came to get breakfast but then went out to talk to her phone, so I put one for her as well," she answers as she grabs two pairs of disposable chopsticks and puts them on the tray. "And if she doesn't want to eat, you could always use the extra food to last a bit longer until lunch."

"Mmm. Thank you very much, Mrs. Nagumo," Miho says and bows her head slightly, then takes the tray to go and sit at one of the tables. Taking a seat, Miho grabs one of the bowls and places it at the side of the table opposite to her along with a pair of chopsticks, then starts eating from the bowl in front of her.

I should probably call back home one of these days to see how mother and sister are doing, Miho thinks absent-mindedly as she slowly eats her food, lazily looking down on the table. I hope this time mother won't refuse to talk to me… Sister says she's been doing a lot better thanks to the treatments, but still… It'd be nice if I could hear it from her…

Hearing the doors to the mess hall open, Miho looks up to find Saori entering inside, so she waves slightly at her to come to the table.

"Is this for me?" Saori asks and Miho nods, then gulps down the food in her mouth.

"Mrs. Nagumo put it for you."

"Ah, I see. Thank you very much, Mrs. Nagumo!" Saori says at the old woman and bows slightly towards her, then takes a seat opposite from Miho and grabs the bowl and disposable chopsticks in front of her to start eating breakfast.

"How are Tyler and the others doing?" Miho asks after Saori takes a seat, before she grabs some more rice with her chopsticks to eat.

"He said everyone's doing fine, though Odysseus has been grumpy since yesterday because their mission got extended till today afternoon," Saori answers, then grabs a bit of rice with her chopsticks.

"Their mission was to provide bodyguard services for someone, right?" Miho asks and Saori nods. "Did something happen that caused the VIP to extend the contract?"

Saori shakes her head, then swallows the food in her mouth.

"It seems the VIP had an extra appointment, according to Tyler, so he extended the contract to cover that as well. But at least they will be back tonight, if their contract doesn't get extended again," Saori says cheerfully and Miho giggles a little. "Ah, speaking of which, the annual PMC meeting is in a week or two, if I'm not wrong. Do you think the Director will attend this time?"

"No, I don't think so. Blackout isn't part of Japan's MSS or under the PMC Supervision Association, so there's really no incentive to go," Miho says, then grabs the last of her rice to eat.

"It's really unbelievable how Blackout is still not registered inside the Mercenary Supervision System. Then again, maybe the Director made a deal with the government or the JSDF."

"It's most likely thanks to Mr. Shimanuki and his contacts in the JGSDF," Miho says after eating the last of her food. "Probably how the Director will get the data recovered from the drone's black box decrypted as well."

"I don't think even with close friends inside the JGSDF he'll be able to get the decryption key. It'd be really bad if something like that was to fall in the wrong hands…"

"But it is a possibility. And I don't think Blackout has the resources to crack military grade encryption or hire someone to do so."

"I suppose. If the Director asked for the data in the box, he probably has already thought of something," Saori hums. "And the bonus pay was rather high this time around. Not that I mind, it means I can send more money to my parents."

"Mhmm. Speaking of them, how are they doing?" Miho asks Saori as she grabs some rice with her chopsticks.

"They are fine, though they complain it's too cold in the north, as well my mother is constantly asking me when I'll retire and settle down to make a family. Which I can't really do because of the contract I signed."

"You know, you could have declined his offer all those years ago," Miho says as Saori eats the last rice in her bowl, then takes it and puts it on the tray along with her chopsticks.

"Perhaps, but with how things were back then, I don't think we'd have survived. The JSDF's pay was not all that much, and it certainly wasn't enough for three people; the Director really made us an offer we couldn't afford to decline," Saori responds as she gazes down on the table, then looks back up at Miho. "But well, I got to meet Tyler, so I think everything worked out in the end," she chuckles a little. "And there's no way we'd leave you alone, Miporin! You are our friend, we wouldn't let you shoulder such a heavy weight alone."

Miho gently smiles at this.

"Thank you, Saori!" she says cheerfully, then takes the tray with the bowls and stands up, with Saori standing up as well.

"No need to mention it," Saori says. "I'll go wake up Mako. Talk to you later!"

"Talk to you later!" Miho responds as Saori goes away, then turns around to go and leave the tray with the bowls to Mrs. Nagumo, then go see how Yukari is doing in the garage depot.

Leaving the tray on the counter, Miho exits the mess hall and turns right on the hallway, walking for a few dozen meters until see finds a set of doors on her left side, which she opens to exit out on the main courtyard.

The base hasn't changed all that much since we first came here, Miho muses to herself as she takes a moment to look around, not seeing all that much of the outside since the perimeter of the base is walled off with tall concrete walls. Well, except for the walls. They were simple chain link fences back then.

Miho then makes her way towards the left side of the base where the garage depot settles, a rather small, concrete building with a few ventilation units on its rooftop and two sets of large doors from where potential vehicles can enter or exit.

Ah, one of the doors is open, so Yukari must be still inside, Miho thinks as she gets closer to the garage, noticing that one of the doors is wide open, allowing for some much needed sunlight to pour inside since the fluorescent light bulbs hanging from the ceiling barely provide enough lighting for the interior.

"Yukari, are you here?" Miho asks loudly as she enters inside, the smell of oil, grease and diesel immediately hitting her nose.

"I'm over here, Miss Nishizumi!" Yukari is heard saying from somewhere in the garage, so Miho looks around, but only spots her team's Panzer IV and Blackout's Humvee with a M134 Minigun mounted on its roof.

"Uhh… where exactly?" Miho asks just as Yukari appears from behind the Panzer IV, wearing the same clothes as Miho, along with a pair of gloves. "Ah, there you are! Good morning, Yukari."

"Good morning, Miss Nishizumi," Yukari greets back, dusting off her hands a little as Miho walks towards her.

"Saori told me you came to check on the tank. Any problems with it?" Miho asks, then turns to look at the Panzer IV, still the same as back when they were practicing Senshadou, save for a few changes to better their odds of survival against enemies, such as welding an extra steel plate on the front of the hull's upper part, covering parts of the armor in explosive reactive armor (ERA), a better engine and suspension, and a laser rangefinder that they had installed on top of the cannon, at the part in front of the gun mantlet.

"No, Miss Nishizumi. Everything's in working order!" Yukari responds and looks at the tank as well, which is painted in a pattern similar to the U.S. military's woodland pattern, though the one in the Panzer IV also has a slight tinge of purple to camouflage it better when operating inside the terraformed zone.

"Mmm…" Miho hums quietly, then walks closer to the tank and brushes her fingers against one of the hull's Schürzen plates, feeling a chilling sensation on her fingertips.

"Yukari… do you think our tank is still battleworthy?" Miho asks slowly, looking a bit up to gaze at the turret's Schürzen plates, the Anglerfish Team's cartoony symbol still painted on them. "Despite all the upgrades we have given it… despite how good we may be as a crew… I feel like its time is long gone. The enemies we face on the field, even the infantry, are able to take us out in a single shot nowadays…"

Miho unconsciously grabs her right forearm and rubs it a little, while Yukari silently walks next to her, looking up at the cartoony anglerfish as well.

"Objectively speaking, the Panzer IV is a second generation tank, developed and used during the second World War as a medium tank, with the H variant we are using being outfitted with Schürzen plates for added protection against anti-tank rifles. For its time, it was quite a good vehicle. Not so much now. Fighting fourth and fifth generation tanks with it is simply suicidal. Even an IFV with an autocannon can knock us out from the front, assuming it's using APFSDS rounds. And we can't really modernize it like the JSDF did with most of the Senshadou tanks, because we have neither the resources, nor the infrastructure to do so." Yukari stares at the cartoony anglerfish for a few more seconds, before she turns to look at Miho. "For all intents and purposes, the Panzer IV Ausf. H has no place in a modern battlefield, even with the few upgrades we've managed to somehow put on it. It's simply too underpowered against even the IFVs or light recon vehicles, simply because of the generation gap. Having said that, though, it did carry us through the Chinese invasion and even made it out unscathed!"

Yukari curls her left hand's fingers into a ball and hits the side of her fist lightly on one of the hull's Schürzen plates, producing a thumping sound that echoes a bit through the garage.

"It might be old and outdated, but it's still as reliable as ever!"

"Ehehe, I suppose," Miho giggles and looks back at the tank, a soft smile forming on her face.

As she and Yukari gaze at the Panzer IV, Misako enters the garage, knocking slightly at one of the doors to get their attention.

"Good morning, girls," she greets the two as she approaches them, with Miho and Yukari greeting her back.

"Miss Misako, good morning!"

"Good morning, Miss Misako!"

"I hope you slept well, yesterday," Misako says as she stops a few steps away from them, with both girls nodding in response.

"Yes, Miss Misako. We slept fine."

"Good to hear," Misako nods, then readjusts her glasses a little. "Miho, the Director asked for you in his office. It's about your next mission."

"Eh? Did something serious happen?" Miho says in surprise, since most of the times when they get a mission, Misako brings a folder with the mission briefing for them to study before they get deployed.

"No, nothing like that," Misako shakes her head. "It's just that this mission is… a delicate matter, to say the least."

"...I understand," Miho responds, then turns to look at Yukari. "Tell everyone to gather at the mess hall in an hour to go over the mission briefing."

"Will do, Miss Nishizumi," Yukari says back and half-salutes Miho, then takes off her gloves to leave them on a nearby table and go find the rest of the girls.

"Is it another mission from the JSDF?" Miho asks as she and Misako exit the garage and start walking back to the main building, where the Director's office is.

"Yes, and it is a high priority as well. The Director is thinking of assigning Reaper squad as well," Misako sighs slightly, a serious expression on her face.

"So both us and Odysseus' squad? Is the mission that dangerous?" Miho asks surprised, since the Director almost never accepts requests that need more than a single squad to be completed.

"It's not that it's dangerous, but rather… it must not fail. The military essentially demanded the mission is completed whatever the cost."

"W-Why would the Director even accept something like that? And if that's the case, why didn't the JSDF hire more PMCs for it or turn it into an open contract?" Miho asks baffled, at which Misako shrugs.

"Sadly I can't answer your questions, Miho. You'll have to ask the Director directly for that."

Entering the main building, Misako and Miho go towards the nearest staircase and up the second floor, where the Director's office is located. Stepping on the second floor and taking a left turn in a hallway, they both walk until they reach a wooden double door, with Misako stopping in front of it and knocking a few times with her hand.

"Come in."

Misako opens one side of the door and enters inside with Miho in tow, who looks around a little, noticing that a few things have changed since the last time she was here.

The carpeted floor is the same, but… when did he install a chandelier in here? And the walls are now painted instead of the usual white. Even his desk seems new. At least the file cabinets are the same, Miho thinks as she stops in the middle of the room, while Misako makes her way to the desk, towards the man that is currently sitting behind it on a leather chair and is reading a document.

"Director, I brought Miho," Misako says and the man looks up from what he's reading, his brown eyes gazing at Miho's for a moment before putting the document he's holding to the side.

"Miss Nishizumi, good morning," he greets and Miho bows her head for a moment.

"Good morning, Director."

"Please, take a seat."

Motioning towards one of the chairs in front of his desk, Miho obliges and takes a seat, while the Director leans slightly back on his chair and retrieves a Manila folder from a drawer.

"Regarding your new mission, you'll be working along with Odysseus and her squad on this one."

The Director hands the folder to Miho, and upon opening it, Miho widens her eyes.

"I-Isn't that…"

"Imada Yukio, a high ranking official within the JSDF and a veteran of the Chinese Invasion," the Director says, using a finger to straighten his thick mustache a bit. "The man who managed to stop the red horde dead on its tracks in Nagoya with a force outnumbered five to one. A prominent figure that is endorsed by the public and is considered a national hero, with a service record to back that up."

"But here… it says we need to eliminate him…" Miho says slowly, then looks up at the Director.

"According to the intel the JSDF provided us with, Imada is trying to defect to the Chinese for some unknown reason, and so the military leadership approved his assassination."

"Then… couldn't the military just do it on their own? Why hire a PMC for something like this?" Miho asks a bit confused, and the Director chuckles in response.

"Imagine the backlash when the public would learn of this. Sure they could try to cover it up, but with how popular he is, that'd be extremely difficult. On the other hand, by hiring a PMC, especially one that isn't inside their supervision system or their little association, they can simply blame the Chinese for his death. You know what that means, don't you?"

Miho silently looks at the Director for a few moments, then back at the documents inside the folder.

"So… we are preparing for another war…"

"Unfortunately yes, Miss Nishizumi. The ceasefire won't hold more than a month tops, and the JSDF is getting ready for it. They have already started mobilizing the troops and most likely will be moving towards the edge of the zone by mid May."

Miho keeps reading what the file contains, before closing it and placing it on top of her thighs.

"This tangent aside, Imada will be meeting a Chinese handler two days from now in the abandoned city of Kanazawa. Make sure everyone in the meeting doesn't get out alive, especially the target."

"Understood, Director," Miho nods, then grabs the file and stands up from her seat. Bowing her head, she then turns around to go away.

"Ah, before you go. Me and Teruo will be attending the annual PMC meeting that's next week, and you and Odysseus will come along as representatives of your squads."

Miho turns to look at the Director in slight surprise, and so does Misako.

"That's all for now. You may go."

Miho bows once again and goes away, leaving the Director and Misako alone inside the office.

"You never told me you and Teruo would be attending," Misako says surprised as the Director leans back on his chair.

"It was a last minute decision. Teruo will get the encryption key for the black box there."

"So he did manage to pull a few strings for it."

"Indeed he did."

"Still, that's not the only reason, is it?"

The Director lightly chuckles at this, before turning his head to look at Misako.

"Nothing ever evades you, Misako. But you are right, it isn't only the encryption key. With how things are moving, we might need to get a third squad up and running, as well start upgrading some of our equipment, and the annual PMC meeting is the perfect place for this, since it has turned into a type of expo in the last years.

"That's true. If there is another war, we'll most likely get flooded with work again," Misako says and sighs at the end. "Do you think Japan will be able to even handle a war at its current state?"

The Director remains silent for a moment, grabbing the document he was reading previously to continue from where he left off.

"The right question isn't if Japan can handle another war, Misako, but rather what is it willing to sacrifice in order to win. Because that's the only option we've been left with. Either win, or die."

A/N: After almost a whole month, the third chapter is finally done! Took me a lot longer to write it despite having more free time thanks to the whole COVID-19 situation. I hope everyone is doing fine by the way despite the whole pandemic that has spread everywhere. Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter. Follow and favorite if you are interested on how the story will progress, throw a review if you have any comments to make about it, and send a PM if you have any questions. English isn't my main language, so expect mistakes and awkward grammar here and there. Thank you very much for reading the chapter, have a good day/night and stay safe! And remember to excersice social distancing to lower the chances of catching the virus!