Unsurprisingly, Rotteligo attacked. Initially seemingly unable to survive, Karbalaya grew until it was now a great power on par with Rotteligo.
The cycle continued for 200 years. Then, miraculously, a month later, a peace agreement is about to be signed between the two nations.
The long fight is over. In Rotteligo, they call themselves Suins, but in Karbalaya they call themselves Karim.
The Karim was magnificent in appearance and outclassed humans in strength and everything else. It was no wonder as they were genetically engineered to survive in the harsh lands.
The Karims could have removed their animal ears, but they didn't. Embrace the past, not deny it, and create your own Karim culture. This was their creed.
'But the end of the surface fight doesn't mean the underwater fight will go away,' Seol thought.
It's unlikely that the two nations that have been fighting for so long will suddenly join hands and say hooray to each other. If anything, elite units like the Alpha Team might become more useful.
'I'm sure the Intelligence Bureau will be calling for a larger force.' It was the Intelligence Bureau that scouted Seol first. She's the best hacker on Karbalaya, so it's only natural that they would reach out to her.
Seol had always admired the Alpha Team, Bluefang. It's a special unit that's virtually unknown among civilians. Their work is largely covert. Difficult missions were also entrusted to the Alpha Team.
Bluefang is an elite special forces team that is known for its ability to accomplish any mission. It was her father who inspired her to join the team, which is characterized by its mercenary freedom.
A biologist and brilliant researcher, her father had been kidnapped by the Rotteligos, and it was the Alpha Team that rescued him. He survived and told her the story many times, and Seol came to think of the Alpha Team as heroes as a kid.
And she'd worked hard for all these years just to join the Alpha Team.
'But-'
Seol's eyes narrowed and she glared at Jean. Jean was sleeping with his legs propped up on his desk and his arms crossed.
'A child.'
She was a senior! And no one had beaten her, especially in her field, the world of networks!
Her team leader praised her "I heard about you, the best in the field!" and reaches out to shake her hand in admiration. Her co-workers beamed with pride and recognize her as a good member of the team.
Seol secretly sighed and realized that her silly and naive fantasy will never come true.
'Yeah, reality isn't that easy,' She thought, 'But as long as I show them my talent, they'll recognize me as a team member.' Seol clenched her fists in anticipation. And her opportunity came sooner than she thought.
_____
The plane's altitude plummeted. Seol's fingers were typing fast in the air as her face grew blue. She felt her insides whirl like she was on a roller coaster. With her VR on, she connected to the virtual world.
"When is it going to be released?!" Jean shouted, and Seol quickly answered. "In ten minutes!"
With that, Jean set the timer on his watch and shouted.
"Alright, then jump!" The last part wasn't directed at Seol. At Jean's command, the rest of the Bluefang team jumped out of the plane in unison. Seol glanced over. Even with her VR on, the view was quite the sight.
"Shit, shit, shit," Seol cursed under her breath, picking up the pace of her typing. Ten minutes. She'd given herself ten minutes to disable the enemy's electric shields. If she failed, the electric shield would roast her teammates.
Sweat beaded on her forehead. The plane that had dropped her team spun rapidly, her body rolling across the plane's floor. It was a military aircraft with only one seat, the pilot's.
In the empty cargo hold behind it, Seol gritted her teeth and hooked her feet into the netting on the wall as both her hands are needed to type. Her wireless earpiece picked up Jean's words to open their parachute.
Seol quickly pushed her thoughts aside and began to dismantle the enemy's defense system.
_____
Jean checked on his teammate, who had landed from a similar spot. In the distance, he could see a whitish cruiser in the night.
It looked like an ordinary cruiser, but it was a military cruiser, equipped with several systems to prevent Suin's access. But it wasn't registered to Karbalaya's system.
On Jean's beacon, the group swam out to sea and approached the cruiser. Jean spoke quietly. "Seol, dismantle it in three minutes." She said ten. He glanced at his watch, the timer rapidly dwindling.
"Working on it." The voice came back over the noise.
"I don't want to be a fish meal in this sea." Leon grinned, but he didn't slow down his movements a bit.
Seol glanced at the rapidly dwindling time. "Just a little longer, just a little longer."
If it was just turning off the cruiser's electric shields, she would have done so already. But what she was trying to do was disable the shields without her opponent noticing. That required a much more advanced skill set.
"Ten seconds. I'm counting."
Beads of sweat trickled down Seol's chin at Jean's words.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six-" His voice echoed in everyone's ears over the earbuds, and the group had arrived at Cruiser's side by then. Jean reached for the Cruiser's ladder.
"Zero, done," Seol said, and Jean's hand grabbed the ladder.
There was no static, let alone an electric shock. Beneath his mask, Jean smiled.
"Made contact." His words sent a chill down Seol's spine. But that wasn't the end of it. Seol stood by to assist the others on their way to infiltrate the cruiser ship.
Cautiously, the Alpha team split up into two following Jean's sign language and began to clean off the people on the cruiser ship.
It wasn't long before a gunfight broke out, and Seol cut the power to the cruiser on command.
With a snap, darkness descended on the cruiser ship. Unlike humans who can't see in the dark, Karims has night vision that is no different than in the day.
"Deck clear,"
"Interior clear,"
"Downstairs clear."
Seol was relieved to hear the voices over and over again. To get the cruiser to the shore, Seol powered up the cruiser and reprogrammed the automatic navigation system.
"Good work, Lady," Leon said, and Seol protested.
"What is that? A nickname? Can you give me a proper one?"
Kosaka smiled.
"What an impatient lady. You're still a greenhorn. You've got a long way to go before you can have a proper nickname."
"If I do get one, I don't want Lady. Please give me something else."
"Is a nickname you can choose on your own?" The team laughed heartily. The consensus was that Seol was still too new to get a proper nickname.
"Good work," Jean stiffly said over the comms. Seol narrowed her eyes and smiled.
"Thank you."
"Oh~ The leader approves."
"You're going to be called 'Lady' after all, aren't you?"
"It's her first deployment, being called rookie is enough," The team chuckled. Seol laughed along with them, feeling like she were with them together, even if it was only through communication. She finally felt like she was truly part of the Alpha team.
_____
T/N: Ai, Our Seol finally has her 'nickname'! Now, I wonder when will the smut begins.
_____
Comments
Post a Comment