ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (1)

Amazing Grace II

March 3

Command Center, Mountain Fort 2nd Level (2nd Floor Above Ground), Gift Mountain Forest Area

"What was that sound!?"

Suddenly, Alphon's eyes widened at the sound of simultaneous explosions. Sulligan, who was standing by his side, could not hide his surprise at the sudden situation.

"The South Sentry has lost contact with us!"

"The West Sentry has also lost contact!"

"We have several flying objects, possibly enemy, circling around the fort!"

The sound operators, who are in charge of communication by faith shells, reported on the current situation. The communication with the units monitoring the fort's perimeter has been cut off one after another, and no information from the outside is coming in. Furthermore, the fort was surrounded from the air by enemy air weapons.

"There is no doubt that we are under enemy attack! Furthermore, the communication breakdowns were occurring simultaneously in all directions. If this is the case, there is a strong possibility that we are already surrounded!"

The sound operators surmised the current situation. Sulligan's complexion was getting worse and worse in the face of this sudden enemy attack.

"At any rate, gather information!"

With his orders, the sound operators strived to gather more information and grasp the current situation. The command center, with its numerous clanging shells and words exchanged back and forth, was clearly in a state of confusion.

"........."

Alphon, sitting in his chair, simply gazed in trepidation at their noisy and flustered state in the face of the enemy attack.

3rd Level (1st Floor Above Ground), Inside the Fort

In front of the great door that closes the entrance to the fort, there was a soldier standing with a gun in his hand. Outside the fort, his fellow Imperial Guardsmen were supposed to be on guard against the outside enemy.

"This is the main gate... all clear."

He used his short-range faith shell to report that there are no intruders. Then, a faint noise to his right rattled his eardrums.

"...?"

The soldier looked in the direction of the sound. At that moment, someone suddenly appeared behind him and blocked his mouth.

"Mmf...!"

The soldier tried desperately to resist, but immediately after that, he felt an intense pain deep in his back, and his consciousness faded away.

"...!!"

The soldier was stabbed in the back with a knife, and soon after, he died. The red blood from his back trickled down the blade of the knife to the floor. The green-speckled soldier who killed him pulled out his knife and laid the dead soldier on the floor, then dug into his pocket and grabbed the key to the great door.

Creaaakk...

The great door of the fortress is opened. From behind the door, a number of SDF personnel and Marines, dressed in the same mottled clothes as the soldier who took the key, emerged. At their feet lay the bleeding corpses of the fallen Imperial Guards. The guards, who had been preparing for an attack by the outside enemy on the other side of the door, had already been neutralized minutes before the soldier was stabbed in the back. Armed with rifles, they quickly and swiftly flowed into the interior of the fort, bending down one after the other.