Act 1, Chapter 5: Finding The Pieces

1021 hours, 30 June 2004…

I've arrived at the front of Major General Jacob Vanderhall’s office door with a tinge of nervousness. Even if I was the most feared pilot in this airbase with such notoriety in my flying skill and in a decently higher rank, hearing the higher rank’s bark still gives me a massive PTSD of it.

And to add a salt in the wound, Jacob Vanderhall was the older brother of Commander Jason Vanderhall, with a sterner and more stoic demeanor where failure is not an option for any missions.

I took a brief breath and gently knocked on the door 3 times.

"This is 2nd Lieutenant Rayburn Yorkshire, callsign Wyvern-1. Beckett Jules told me that Major General summoned me. May I come in?"

"Go ahead."

Just after his brief approval, I opened the door and entered the office with a subtle bow of my head as a sign of respectful entrance.

Inside his office, Major General Vanderhall was standing behind his desk, observing the view through the window whilst clasping his hands behind his back. While I was slowly closing back the door, I queried with a hint of nervousness.

"Pardon the intrusion, Major General Vanderhall. If I may ask, did you have the investigation result about the Sauveterre attack?"

“Of course.”

Major General then glanced back with a subtle smile as he picked up the files from his desk’s locker and finally sat back at his desk.

As I sat down on the chair in front of him, I then put down my paper files beside his own as I inspected the file’s cover with a ragged and slightly torn texture. Which gives me a suspicion that this document was stolen from the terrorist HQ that was responsible for the Sauveterre terror attack.

It’s titled: The Rise of the Far-Right Group through the Anti-Globalism Movement.

Huh?! Far-right group?! But… it’s so unusual that he’s bringing up such a conspiratorial topic for this vital investigation.

In my grasp, the Major General’s document was probably around 40-ish pages. While I was swiping around each page on each chapter, Major General then gently pointed his right finger at the paper’s surface with a low tone.

"I reckon you should jump into page 14."

Without any response, I went through page 14 and read the following sentences from the designated chapter.

***

Chapter 4: Shadows of the Past

A suspected operative of the Grey Men organization, posing as a Zalanthian Marine, was apprehended in Sauveterre, the westernmost region of Valus. Rigorous interrogation and biometric analysis have confirmed the individual’s origins as 100% Bristan-born. However, intelligence reports indicate that the organization’s composition is far more complex: 60% of its members are Zalanthian, 30% are Bristan, and the remaining 10% are from a variety of nations.

This diversity reflects the Grey Men’s broader goal—to destabilize not just one country but the entire global order.

The 5/7 Incident, a coordinated series of terrorist attacks targeting the Triple Towers in central Zalanthia, left an indelible scar on the global psyche. Unlike isolated acts of violence, this operation’s scale and precision revealed a deeply orchestrated agenda. While Sauveterre, like many regions, mourned the tragedy, it also became a flashpoint for rising tensions between immigrant communities and native populations.

Grey Men operatives exploited this divide, further fueling xenophobia and societal unrest. Immigrant communities, particularly those from the Middle Eastern hemisphere with a Muslim majority, have become convenient scapegoats. This narrative, though simplistic and often misleading, has worsened trust and unity, paving the way for more conflict.

The Grey Men’s sophisticated weaponry and supplies have been traced to Fritzerland, a high-security region in southwestern Brista near the Valusian border. This discovery has prompted critical questions: How did a terrorist group infiltrate one of the most secure military facilities?

The likely answer lies in ideological subversion, a covert strategy used to destabilize nations from within. It is a tactic with a storied history, from the Bristan Conzi regime’s propaganda campaigns in the 1940s to the NSC’s operations during the Cold War. By sowing internal discord, adversaries weaken their targets without direct confrontation.

The current crisis echoes the ideological battles of the 20th century. During the 1980s, at the height of the Cold War, the Chekian Socialist State Republic (CSSR), backed by the NSC, sought to expand communism globally. Rather than using overt military aggression, they relied on subversion, infiltrating and destabilizing governments to bring nations under their control.

In response, the AJF (Allied Joint Forces) made a controversial decision: to counter communism with fascism. Unlike communism’s collectivist ideals, fascism promoted ethno-nationalism, centralized control, and societal solidarity. Despite its eventual defeat due to numerical and logistical disadvantages, fascist principles left a tactical imprint that lingers in modern conflicts.

Following the fall of the Bristan Conzi regime, the AJF recruited former Conzi POWs to aid in rebuilding efforts. These individuals assumed critical roles within the Heptagon, contributing to defense planning, aeronautical engineering, and military strategy.

This decision, however, proved disastrous. In 1992, during the Gulf Crisis, these operatives orchestrated a massive data breach, leaking classified intelligence to hostile forces. The aftermath was catastrophic: key figures implicated in the leaks were assassinated, often under the direct orders of the very individuals the AJF had sought to rehabilitate.

It is now clear that these former Conzi operatives never truly abandoned their loyalties. Instead, they used their positions to undermine the Allied Forces from within, prolonging conflicts and advancing their own agendas.

The Grey Men are not merely a terrorist group; they are the culmination of decades of ideological manipulation, betrayal, and unchecked extremism. Their actions represent a direct challenge to the global order, blending fascist and communist ideologies into a dangerous, hybridized rebellion.

The lessons of the 5/7 Incident remain clear: failure to address the roots of subversion, internal division, and the exploitation of tragedy will only invite further catastrophe.

***

Just after I read the 4th chapter of this document with a concerned nod, he looked down with a slight grave of his sight. Lowered his tone into a subtle desperation, right after he heaved a sigh.

"Until these days, these cases were never solved. Where the exposer ended up assassinated too. And we will always be sitting ducks. Waiting to be devoured by the great sharks."

But still, there’s no way we could just give up like that! We’ve won various wars that have been fought for years, and we have proved it! By any means!

With a slight sliver of hope in my mind, I then queried again with a subtle tone increase.

"But would you mind explaining how these Grey Men are rising back from their dead? And is there any way to stop this useless war with Valus?”

Just after his brief silence, he then swiped the document’s page into a new chapter and ordered me to read the following.

***

Chapter 6: Finding The Pieces

Brista faced a massive economic collapse over the 13 years following the end of the Cold War. The fall of Communist Chekia and the Brenlin Wall left the nation without direction. As Brista emerged from the grip of both the AJF in the west and the NSC in the east, its people dreamed of rebuilding—a new beginning under a new system.

However, rebuilding a nation tainted by its past atrocities proved to be a monumental challenge. Both the AJF and the NSC imposed strict restrictions on Brista, seizing much of its intellectual property and technology to prevent any resurgence of fascist ideology. These restrictions, coupled with the stigma of its wartime actions, ground the nation’s progress to a halt for five long years. Poverty, corruption, famine, unemployment, and bankruptcy spread like wildfire, leaving Brista scorched and desperate.

In 1995, as Brista’s economic crisis deepened, the Federal Bristan Defense Force (FBDF) devised a desperate plan to revive the nation’s economy. They set their sights on Koscher Island, a resource-rich territory in the Cayman Straits near Valus’s southernmost border. Despite receiving harsh warnings from the Valusian Royal Forces, the FBDF launched a swift invasion in 1995, occupying the island within two weeks without significant resistance.

Publicly, the Bristan government claimed that the occupation was temporary and intended to stabilize the island before transferring it to Zalanthian control. In truth, however, Koscher Island became the linchpin of Brista’s covert resource-extraction operation.

Key to this operation were former Conzi POWs, who had been repurposed by Zalanthia after the war and were now working alongside Bristan officials. Under the guise of industrial recovery, these operatives played a dual role: aiding in resource extraction on Koscher Island and secretly reviving one of Brista’s most dangerous and classified military projects—the Thundaga-3 Anti-Matter Warhead.

The Thundaga-3 was unlike any conventional nuclear weapon. This warhead utilized antimatter, a substance so volatile that its collision with regular matter would result in annihilation—a reaction that disintegrates all nearby matter into subatomic dust.

The project relied on Quantonium, one of the rarest and most unstable elements known. Quantonium's properties made it uniquely suited for harnessing antimatter reactions, but its extraction and refinement required highly advanced technology and immense resources—resources Brista lacked until their occupation of Koscher Island.

Compared to traditional uranium-based nuclear weapons, the destructive potential of the Thundaga-3 was unparalleled. While a nuclear blast devastated cities with heat and radiation, an antimatter detonation would obliterate everything within its radius, leaving behind no radiation—only void and silence. The Bristan military saw this as the ultimate equalizer, a weapon capable of leveling the playing field against the AJF and NSC, who vastly outmatched Brista in conventional arms.

The revival of the Thundaga-3 project was kept under the tightest secrecy. Even within Brista, only a select few military and government officials knew of its existence. Yet, whispers of the project began to surface in international intelligence circles, sparking fears of an arms race unlike any the world had seen before.

As Brista’s leaders clung to their dream of national restoration, they failed to realize the risks of their ambition. The pursuit of such a weapon not only risked igniting a new global conflict but also threatened to expose the nation to further condemnation and isolation.

***

Unfortunately, the document was so damn long that I had to put it down and address Major General himself with my question.

"Ok, we've just talked about the Grey Men’s agendas with their plan for mass destruction. But would you mind explaining to me who's in charge of this organization?"

He looked for another way for a second to think of an answer. But all of a sudden, he lends me his 2 more documents into my sight with a subtle smile.

"Hmm… my apologies that I don't recognize the name of the leader yet. However, if you wanted to know more, I got more of these if you wanted to read it by yourself."

It was so fortunate that there was someone I could trust. Where I spouted my gratitude even harder, like a blessing from the Guardian Angel itself. All the while, I shook his hand and stood up from the chair.

"Wow, thank you so much, Cpt. Jason. You're really helpful with these topics. My greatest apology if I somehow burdened you. Thank you so much, Major General Vanderhall, and I’m leaving now.”

"No problem. But always remember, don't tell anyone about this. Because it is rumored, several Zalanthian Air Force pilots are conspiring together with the Grey Men."

"It's alright. They will be toast if they do so.”

Finally, I left the major general’s office in satisfaction. Despite that, I have to be cautious when entering this rabbit hole, or else someone who's in charge will catch me, and I'll be in massive trouble.

Note:

My greatest apology if the info-dumping was too torturous for you. (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

But this was vital for the next chapter where the MC had to find the pieces to find out the real perpetrator behind this useless war. (〃￣︶￣)人

And thank you for giving this book a check! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o