A Few Hours Later...
The jet cut silently through the night sky.
Inside the aircraft, Lig sat beside the window, fully dressed in his Captain of AOB uniform. The insignia on his chest reflected faintly under the cabin lights.
He remained quiet for a while, watching the darkness outside.
Then he stood up.
Without saying a word, Lig walked towards the soldiers' cabin.
Before entering, he removed his Captain's uniform and changed into the clothing of an ordinary soldier. He pulled a mask over his face, making sure his identity would remain hidden.
Then he stepped inside.
Inside the Soldiers' Cabin
The cabin was quiet.
Several soldiers sat in their seats, preparing themselves for the mission.
Lig took an empty seat beside their leader.
She glanced at him.
Lig looked towards another soldier.
"S2 looks a little uncomfortable."
The leader smiled faintly.
"Yeah."
"His wife is in the hospital."
She paused.
"Any moment now, he could become a father."
Lig looked at S2 for a moment.
"Oh..."
The leader extended her hand.
"And you can call me Maya."
Lig nodded.
"Alright."
Maya looked towards him.
"And you?"
"Neps."
Lig gave the name without hesitation.
Maya smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Neps."
Lig looked towards S2 again.
"Then why is he here?"
Maya's expression changed slightly.
"Because it's his job."
Lig frowned.
"But... he shouldn't be here, should he?"
Maya sighed.
"Silly."
"If he refuses, he'll be out."
Lig looked at her in surprise.
"What?"
"Not only him."
She glanced around the cabin.
"None of us wanted this."
Lig remained silent.
"But you all signed up for this," he said. "You promised that you'd give your lives for your people."
Maya lowered her gaze.
"That wasn't exactly our wish."
"We had to."
She paused.
"When we were young, we were told that this was..."
Her voice faded.
Lig quietly completed the thought.
"...the right thing?"
Maya nodded.
"And the others?"
She raised her hand and pointed towards one of the soldiers.
"That guy over there."
"He's the only son in his family."
"His sister is around fifteen."
"He works and supports her education."
"Her dream is to join AOBST..."
She paused.
"Allies of Blossoms Space Technology."
Lig looked towards the soldier.
"His code name is S1009."
Lig's eyes widened slightly.
"Woah..."
He looked around the cabin.
"And the pilots?"
Maya gave a small smile.
"One of our pilots is a mother of four."
"We all have a single promise."
She looked towards the others.
"To go back to our families."
"We will."
Lig nodded slowly.
"Oh..."
He stood up.
"I understand."
Lig returned to his cabin.
Once inside, he changed back into his Captain's uniform and sat quietly in his seat.
He closed his eyes.
For several minutes, he didn't move.
Nemo sat nearby, watching him.
"Something is wrong."
Lig opened his eyes slightly.
"Some promises..."
He looked towards the window.
"...will rust."
Nemo remained silent for a moment.
"Always."
She looked away.
"It has happened before."
A sudden tremor passed through the aircraft.
Rrrrmm...
The cabin shook slightly.
A few seconds later, the pilot's voice came through the intercom.
"Prepare for landing."
The jet descended through the darkness.
Then came the final announcement.
"We have landed."
Lig walked towards the second gate of the air base, with Nemo following a few steps behind him.
The early morning air was cold and quiet.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then Nemo noticed that Lig had been unusually silent.
She slowed her pace slightly.
"Is there something you've been thinking about for a long time?"
Lig kept walking.
"Yes."
Nemo looked at him.
"What is it?"
Lig remained silent for a moment before answering.
"When the Eastern Kingdom gave us permission to fly through their territory..."
He glanced towards the distant horizon.
"...I noticed something."
"The view of the Western Kingdom from the air was terrible."
Nemo listened carefully.
"Near dawn, almost the entire region was covered in darkness."
"Even throughout the night, only a few places remained lit."
Lig's eyes narrowed slightly.
"And far away..."
"One small area was completely different."
"The Upper State."
"That place was filled with light."
He continued walking.
"But here..."
He looked around at the Eastern Kingdom.
"...the entire place looks almost like heaven."
Nemo frowned.
"And you don't think that was simply because of the altitude?"
Lig shook his head.
"No."
"We were barely five thousand feet above the ground."
He paused.
"So the difference shouldn't have been that extreme."
His expression became more thoughtful.
"They never tried to..."
A familiar female voice suddenly came from behind them.
"Sometimes..."
"...it can make a person a virus within a system."
Lig stopped.
Nemo stopped with him.
Both turned towards the voice.
Standing a short distance away was a girl who looked almost unreal beneath the pale light of dawn.
She was slim and athletic, standing no more than five feet eight inches tall.
She wore a Girl MTech Suit, its advanced design fitting closely to her figure while remaining built for mobility and protection.
Her long, milky-silver hair moved gently with the morning breeze.
Her ruby-red eyes remained fixed on Lig.
For a moment, she looked almost like an angel who had stepped into the air base.
Lig's expression changed instantly.
"Mizuki..."
He stared at her.
"You?"
He took a step forward.
"Here?"
His eyes moved briefly over her suit before returning to her face.
"What are you doing here?"
Mizuki looked directly at Lig.
"For the mission you planned."
Lig stopped.
His expression changed.
"WK90?"
Mizuki nodded.
"Yes."
Nemo, who had been standing beside Lig, looked between them with a confused expression.
"WK90?"
Lig didn't answer.
Nemo looked at him.
"Sir... what is WK90?"
Lig remained silent for a moment.
Mizuki continued looking at him, as if the two of them already understood something that Nemo had never been told.
Nemo's confusion grew.
"You both know what that means?"
Lig finally looked towards her.
"Yes."
Nemo frowned.
"And I don't?"
Lig said nothing.
Mizuki gave a faint smile.
"Seems like someone was left out."
Nemo looked at Mizuki.
"Left out of what?"
The smile disappeared from Mizuki's face.
"Something that wasn't meant to be discussed here."
Lig's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Mizuki."
She looked back at him.
"What?"
"How much do you know?"
Mizuki's ruby-red eyes remained fixed on his.
"Enough."
Nemo looked at both of them again.
"Can someone please tell me what WK90 is?"
Neither answered.
For a few seconds, only the distant hum of the air base could be heard.
Then Mizuki quietly said,
"You'll find out soon enough."
Nemo's expression hardened.
"Lig..."
Lig turned away.
"Let's move."
Nemo followed him, but she kept looking back at Mizuki.
Something about the way they had spoken made one thing clear.
WK90 was not just another mission.
And somehow...
Lig had known about it long before she did.
Nemo had seen Lig remain calm in situations that should have frightened even the most experienced soldier. She had watched him walk through uncertainty without hesitation, as though fear itself had become something he had learned to live with.
But this was different.
When Mizuki mentioned WK90, Lig had not looked surprised.
He had looked caught.
For a brief moment, there was something in his expression that Nemo could not understand. Something he quickly buried beneath his usual calmness.
She stared at him silently.
A strange uneasiness settled inside her.
For the first time, a question entered her mind that she had never seriously considered before.
How long had Lig been hiding things from her?
Before she could ask him, the moment was interrupted.
The moment they stepped inside the air base, a loud emergency siren suddenly tore through the air.
AOOOOOOO-wurrRRRRR—AOOOOOOO-wurrRRRRR!
The sound echoed across the entire facility, vibrating through the metallic corridors and spreading towards the runway outside.
AOOOOOOO-wurrRRRRR—AOOOOOOO-wurrRRRRR!
Nemo stopped for a moment.
The atmosphere of the air base had changed instantly.
Soldiers began moving quickly through the corridors. Pilots hurried towards their assigned sectors while the sound of hurried footsteps echoed all around them.
Then, the announcement system crackled to life.
A voice came through the speakers, urgent and commanding.
"Attention, all soldiers and pilots. You are requested to make your way from Sector 776 to Sector 777 immediately."
A short pause.
"I repeat. All soldiers and pilots are requested to proceed from Sector 776 to Sector 777 immediately."
The announcement ended.
For a second, there was only silence.
Then the siren began again.
AOOOOOOO-wurrRRRRR—AOOOOOOO-wurrRRRRR!
Nemo slowly looked towards Lig.
He was already watching the corridor ahead.
His expression had become unreadable.
And somehow, that frightened her more than the siren.
Who was Mizuki?
What exactly was Mission WK90?
Why had Nemo never heard about it before?
And most importantly...
What had happened in Sector 777?