A large room inside the West Building of the Bal Research Institute.
The room is bright and carelessly scattered, with bottles filled with unfamiliar liquids and solids lying around.
Researchers gathered in the back are being taken hostage, and five masked armed men are encamped.
One of them turns his back in front of the hostages but keeps his weapon ready, while the other three shoot ether guns at the wall where Alf and Jin are hiding.
Sandwiched between them, a person who seemed to be the leader of the masked group was standing with a spear.
The entrance to the large room is high, and on the left and right of it are slanted stairs leading down to the large room.
Using two columns and a flower bed, Alf and Jin were standing low and guarding against the enemy in the lower floor of the large room with their backs.
"...Yakko-san, as soon as he saw this, he threw it away without hesitation."
Jin continued speaking in a whisper on the communicator.
"What is it? If you think you're an amateur, there's no hesitation in your reaction."
Black 2's female voice is heard on the communication device as a noise is heard from the ears of the two.
(Zaza... anti-imperialism or anti-ether... something like that?)
“I can’t say for certain. ……But an ether gun and an orb golem weapon.
What's the point of a thinker occupying this place after taking out such a rare item?
There was no claim of responsibility, and the motive is unknown.
A force that has the merit of attacking such a research institute…… Is it around some company? Well, it's not our job to interrogate."
(... Let's get the security forces to do their best.)
"Well... that's the end of the small talk. Is it time for him to be ready?"
More noise came from Alf and Jin's ears.
"Oh, this is Black 3. Arrived at the planned point. Clear."
"Black 2 understand. After the communication ends, we will go down after a count of 20.
Black 3 needs support before 5 counts. clear"
"Black 3. Understood. End of communication."
"Black 1, Black 4, okay. End of communication."
Despite the battlefield, Alf and Jin closed their eyes.
(Don't be hasty, Alf. Be careful and quick.)
Quietly…calmly…I counted the seconds with my eyes closed as if I could feel the silence.
10……9……8……7……6……5
Palin! A loud sound rang out.
The window glass on the high catwalk at the back of the large room broke, and from there the man called Black 3 dashed out with his arms crossed in front of his face.
While everyone inside was surprised by the sound, Alf and the others quietly closed their eyes without even a sign of moving.
"The timing you've been waiting for!"
Black 3 staggered as he landed with a slippery landing, but quickly drew up his bowgun and fired at the shoulder of the enemy in front of the hostage.
The other guys also tried to respond to it instantly and quickly, but--
(──Ether Light──Down)
The light in the large room, which should have been bright, suddenly dimmed, and the visibility of the enemy and Black 3 was impaired by the sudden darkness.
Even the hostages nearby.
"Wha! The light...!?"
Even the hostages were surprised by the sudden turn of events.
Immediately after that, two footsteps resound in the room.
In the darkness, a dull sound resounded over and over again in the room, and the occasional sound of something like hard metal falling and screams could be heard.
The enemy hurriedly tried to activate the ether in order to gain visibility, and a faintly burnt yellow light gathered at his hand, but the light disappeared as if it were scattered by the approaching figure.
"Over there!!"
I heard the voice of a man who seemed to be the masked leader, but immediately after that I heard a quiet, dull sound of something falling.
Then the sound disappears, and after it becomes quiet, a voice mixed with noise can be heard in Alf and Jin's ears.
(──Aether Light──Restored)
When the lights were turned on again in the large room, the figures of the masked men and the two men were standing nearby.
Alf quickly checked his surroundings and confirmed the safety by looking at the hostages.
"Okay, everyone. Operation over. Well done."
Yes, everything was a stepping stone for this.
Invasion of the Flag Squad.
And the first move was to warn Alf and the others by giving them location information by attacking them from the front.
Next, in order to create an advantage in visibility, Alf and the others close their eyes and use a light source to blind them.
The third move is to make the Black 3 attack from a different direction with a surprise attack to ensure the safety of the hostages and to distort the direction of the enemy.
It was all according to her strategy, the brain of Flag.
"I'm glad it ended safely. Commander, Alf, are you two injured?"
After a short pause, a woman with pink hair and glasses walked into the large room to join Alf and the others.
She is the woman who was called Black 2 in correspondence.
"No problem. Aki also had a hard time interfering with the ether lamp and planning the strategy."
"Useless words.
As expected, it was difficult to find the orbital source of the ether light from the complex structure of the research institute and the flow of ether."
"Captain! Good work!"
The man who was called Black 3 in the communication also comes down to the first floor and joins us.
"Thank you for your hard work, Buffer. It was a good covering fire."
"Oh, thank you!"
"Yes. But buffer?
The timing of the surprise attack was waiting! "Can't you just shout out something like that?" ”
"Goo... I'm sorry..."
"Well, Aki. Things went smoothly thanks to Buffer's attention.
It was the action that Aki was aiming for. But buffer. It doesn't change that he's defenseless. Be careful next time.”
"……Confirmed"
"Okay, Aki, arrange to contact headquarters. Flagg will hand over these armed men to the security forces from now on."
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“After that, I will leave the on-site command and the escort of the armed group to you and the security forces.”
The frontier guards of Odon have gathered, and Jin is handing over to the security corporal at the entrance of the Bal Research Institute where Alf and the others descended.
"Then we, Odon Empire's 4th Independent Special Forces Flag, will start withdrawing from now on. The rest is up to you."
"Ha! Thank you for your cooperation."
A total of 18 masked armed men were captured.
There was also the need for a considerable number of personnel, and before I knew it, the sky had turned pale blue as it also served as a guard.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help."
"No, this is also a mission, so there is no need to thank me."
"Well, don't say that. Your tactics earlier were brilliant."
"I'm late in introducing you.
"My name is Curwen Ofar, and I am the director of our Bal Research Institute."
"I'm Jin Douglas, captain of the Odon Empire's 4th Independent Special Forces Flag.
……In the past, I am very aware of Mr. Curwen of the Ether Excavation Corps. ”
"There were times like that.
"I am aware of Jin-Douglas-dono, the mighty general whose name resounds throughout the continent."
"Independent Special Forces... I'm honored to meet you, to be the leader of the unit that was launched on that day 14 years ago.
"Also... the battle just now was brilliant... but what surprised me the most was him there."
Curwen looks at Alf, pauses, and speaks again.
"You still look young.
"It's amazing that you can do so many duties at your age."
"No... I'm still immature."
"Don't be so modest. Fufu...I'm looking forward to his future, Jin-dono."
"Exactly... then we are here."
With that said, the four Flags tried to leave the scene.
"Oh... just one last thing.
"...May I ask his name?" ”
The boy soldier turned again and gave Curwen the Odon salute, with his left hand behind his back and his right hand on his left shoulder.
"I'm Alfred Hawkman, belonging to the Odon Empire's 4th Independent Special Forces Flag."
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Out of Walter's signal
World Calendar 1615 Northern Odon Empire Bal Research Incident
An armed group suddenly attacked the Bal Research Institute, an etherology research facility, and barricaded itself in the laboratory.
Of the Odong guards who fought back, seven were injured, one of whom was seriously injured.
Later, it was successfully suppressed by Odon's 4th Independent Special Forces "Flag". Fortunately, no civilians were injured.
In the interrogation that followed, the armed group remained silent about its purpose and motives, and there seems to be a strong view among some that it was sabotage.
However, no one expected that this was not the solution but the "opening".
…except for one person—
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