Winds of Destiny: Rising ~ {Hawks x OC}

Chapter 20: Hope and Faith

The President of the Hero Public Safety Commission walked into the large conference room on the fifth floor and took her seat. Around the wide conference table sat Shadou, Misaki, Gran Torino, and Detective Tsukauchi. The five of them comprised the only authorized personnel within the hero and police forces who were aware of the full agenda to combat the Paranormal Liberation Front, other than Hawks. She could almost feel a palpable tension hanging in the stale air of the meeting room, likely due to the severity of the agenda they'd gathered to discuss.

The undercover officer they'd planted within the hospital had finally captured photographic evidence of the doctor with a miniature Nomu early in the week. He'd also reported the discovery of a hidden laboratory in the basement that could be accessed by way of the morgue where the doctor was likely to be conducting his research. That, coupled with the coded message Hawks had passed to Misaki during their last outing gave them everything they needed to finally make their move on all the Liberation bases throughout the country, as well as the hospital in Jaku.

Two days ago, a high-priority meeting had been held at the Safety Commission Headquarters for all of the heads of every hero training institution across the country. They had been invited, unbeknownst to them, to discuss the capacity in which their students were to be involved in the upcoming raids. Although the President had the authority to determine any hero's involvement, while the students were still in school, they were ultimately the responsibility of the institution they were enrolled at. The principal of UA had been the only one willing to allow his students to participate in the main battle areas. The rest would be filtered throughout the satellite base monitoring teams for backup.

If the President had her druthers, she wouldn't be sending any of the students into the main battles at all, but the Principal of UA had been confident in his students' abilities to handle themselves safely and professionally in that situation. Given their past involvement as a target of the League of Villains, she had been inclined to agree with him. Even though it made her uncomfortable, the unfortunate truth of the matter was that their involvement was necessary. They would have several of their pro-hero teachers to supervise them, and if their Principal believed in them, she had no reason not to as well.

The President looked around, meeting the eyes of all those in attendance before speaking, "Let's go over the plan. We can't afford to let even the smallest detail slip through the cracks or we're likely to end up with an even greater disaster than Kamino on our hands."

Detective Tsukauchi nodded to her from his seat and began to lay out the plan they'd outlined so far. "Early Saturday morning, the police will coordinate with several mid-ranking hero agencies around the country to move on each Liberation Army base, while the main force, led by Edgeshot, conducts the raid on the Villa at Gunga Mountain. I will be coordinating the raid on the hospital, which will be led by Endeavor."

The detective looked across the table at Misaki who nodded in response and lifted the remote to turn on the television screen on the far wall. A spread of pictures split into two groups appeared on the screen.

The detective continued, "All of the top-ranking heroes in the country will be split between these two teams. Evacuation teams will quickly and quietly usher civilians out of harm's way directly prior to the commencement of the raids. We plan to keep the majority of the fighting as contained as possible within the hospital and the villa, but support teams will be in place should the battle spread outside those zones."

"What about the students?" The President asked, looking to the detective.

"Team A will provide backup support to the villa raid team." A spread of the students that had been assigned to the villa raid team filled the screen. Several of the photos darkened slightly, highlighting four specific students.