VIII: First Plan

June 27, 2023

'Rumors were real, huh?' Moona thought while sitting on the cemented floor. Infront of her was Pekora pointing her sword at her.

"You really improved. I'm proud of you," Moona said with a sigh of relief.

Pekora suddenly dropped her sword and hugged Moona.

"Hey, now. Wait, are you crying??" Moona asked, noticing her shirt getting wet.

"I can't do anything without you," Pekora sobbed while tightening her hug.

'Without me?' Moona thought, realizing what she saw that time when she read Coco's fate, which also showed her fate in the process.

--

June 29, 2023

7:09 pm, Fukuoka Prefecture

Instead of returning to Military Island or their base at Nagasaki, Moona decided to settle in Botan's underground base. They were both silent because of what she revealed until they reached Botan's restaurant.

"Uhh, where's your baggage?" Botan asked with a cold tone.

"They'll arrive tomorrow. I just decided to live here so I haven't prepared myself."

"Okay then." Botan opened the door, showing an empty restaurant.

They started walking towards the kitchen area. Botan stopped in front of a metal door, protected with some sort of passcode lock. After Botan typed the code and turned the doorknob, the door opened, revealing a staircase that led to the underground base.

"Holy shit, this is huge," Moona was astonished by what she discovered.

As the lights were lit up, the underground base revealed a long hallway, with rooms on each side. At the end of the hallway, a huge reception area the size of a soccer field can be found.

"The government gifted me this, disguised as a souvenir store from above before. But I decided to change it into a restaurant. Well, my agents agreed upon my decisions."

"Wait, don't tell me.."

"Yes, you're right. What you met before weren't just employees of the restaurant, but they were agents assigned by the government. Some of them have military experience. But since they rarely get missions, they decided to go undercover as my staff."

"So that's why they can handle guns before."

"You just realized that right now? Goodness," Botan sighed in disbelief.

"Sorry. Your ramen just made my mind flow into nothingness," Moona scratched her head while laughing nervously.

They entered a room similar to an office. Looking beside them, Moona saw a table, containing a dry-erase board with the map of Japan printed on it. Approaching the board and grabbing the coin-shaped chips located on the left side of the table, she focused on pinpointing the allies and enemies' locations.

"So they have Hokkaido, Aomori, and Akita." Moona started placing red chips on each prefecture.

"While we have Nagasaki, Fukuoka, and the Military Island." She then placed blue chips on each prefecture again but this time, she placed the last one at the ocean, considering the map being a map of Japan rather than a world map.

"The government has their troops heavily positioned in Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata." This time, she placed green chips on each prefecture.

"Can I use a marker?" Moona asked while grabbing a marker beside the table.

"Of course, you can," Botan responded, crossing her arms.

"Okay then. Now, a border was made," she drew a line between prefectures with red chips and prefectures with green chips.

"What's your point? Do we counter-engage? Do we sneak under enemy lin-"

"Yeah, that one."

"But how do we sneak if they have troops guarding on ground?" Botan sat on her chair as she leaned on it.

"Did I say we're going on land? We're sneaking on the sea. How did you become the notorious Apex Predator without knowing this one?" Moona gave a smug face.

"There's no sea in Russia," Botan replied with a poker face.

"Fair enough. But if Pekora-shachou somehow manages to finish the first Elytra wings, we can go for an aerial route instead. Faster, versatile, and can cover a wide area while being stealthy. The only problem is the loadout capacity because you can't just bring a heavy gun while flying."

2 weeks ago, Pekora, with the help of Flare's company, started inventing an aerial vehicle which they called 'Elytra Wings.' It can lift a single person up to 300m above sea level, is easy to maneuver, and can last up to 4 hour nonstop flight. The only problem, just like Moona stated, is that it can't hold much weight, which means you can only bring 1-2 rifles.

Intrigued by the story of the rabbit girl's invention, she glanced at Moona, interested on Shachou's past,"So uh, looking at that girl, she seems clueless about combat and some shit. How does she manage to invent something without basic knowledge?"

"It just works," Moona shrugged, still staring on the board.

"Okay? That's a very nice answer," Disappointed by her answer, Botan crossed her legs and squeezed her eyes shut. But looking at Moona's face, it seems like she's also amazed by Pekora's knowledge.

"The only thing we need is an event. Something that would make them... gather with each other for us to take advantage." Moona laid her finger on her own chin.

"Wait, did you say a gathering event?" Botan's eyes widened as she hurriedly grabbed her laptop inside the drawer of her pedestal desk.

"Gathering event..." she murmured as she started searching with a narrowed look.

"First of all, I did research about the Resistance. It seems like they're keeping their leader's identity as a secret, but as far as I know, she's a girl." Botan informed as she continued typing on her laptop.

"As expected from you, Apex Predator." Moona grinned with a teasing manner.

"Shut up. Let's continue. I noticed something odd. There's a result of the Resistance on the government website. They already have information about them yet they're doing nothing. Something's wrong. No, there's already something wrong from the start." Botan stopped typing and then snatched something inside the desk. She was holding a newspaper in her hand.

"How did they annex Hokkaido in the first place as their own base? Only the government gives permission to almost everything, including the country's sovereignty. The Resistance claimed Hokkaido for 2 years and the government didn't do anything. Don't tell me..."

"Pekora-shachou was right, they replaced the Minister of Defense with someone who's allied with the Resistance," Moona stated, satisfied from the fact given by the former Minister before.

"The slow response of the government during the Aomori Invasion confirms everything," she added.

"In that case, the Resistance are not our only enemy, but also the government itself," Feeling betrayed, Botan clenched her fist and returned her attention to her laptop.

"You're right."

"We should get back on track. Accordingly, there will be a gathering event at Akita next month. It says here that every Resistance Army from around the globe would meet up. Wait, WHAT?? AROUND THE GLOBE?!" Terror overtook Botan's face, shocked by what she discovered.

"That means it's not just a civil war anymore."

"It's world war now."

--

10:12 pm, Aomori Prefecture

Aqua yawned as she unexpectedly woke up from her sleep. She was walking towards the kitchen, clumsy enough to bump into a chair, when she saw Choco examining the map of Japan.

"Why are you still awake?" Aqua asked while scratching her eyes.

"Oh, yeah. I'm looking at this map. Well, do you know that big-ass sword standing in Iwate?"

"Hmm. Yeah..." Aqua responded drowsily while she started chugging a carton of milk she grabbed inside the refrigerator.

"Based on studies, that sword thingy has high deposits of oil. If we successfully took Miyagi and Iwate, then we can keep the unlimited sources of oil."

"Yeah. That's good..." Aqua subconsciously nodded, "I'm going back to sleep, go to sleep after that..." She then returned to her bed to sleep.

"After the meeting with the Resistance worldwide, we will start our global domination," Choco grinned, intertwining her fingers, as she reminisced about her masterplan.

--

August 13, 2023

5:12 am, Fukuoka Prefecture

"Today's the day," Moona sat beside Botan outside the restaurant while sipping her coffee.

"The Resistance already occupied Miyagi, which leaves Iwate locked from the rest of Japan. Within a month, we inspected the geography of those prefectures. As you already know, Iwate Prefecture is known for its landmark of a giant sword piercing through the ground. I think they're planning something about that sword. Nonetheless, we're lucky that the war hasn't started yet. Well, annexation still goes on." Botan leaned on the wall and took a view from the sky, thinking of whether she should feel relieved or worried.

"That's why we need to hurry. Pekora-shachou is arriving today," Moona spoke while gripping her cup of coffee.

Suddenly, a familiar car stopped in front of them. The door opened, revealing the rabbit girl.

"Moonaaaaaa!!!!" Pekora rushed towards Moona and hugged her, almost spilling her coffee.

"Hold on, Shachou. I'm having a coffee here." Moona struggled to prevent her coffee from spilling over.

"Hello, Botan." Pekora glanced at Botan and waved at her.

"Hello." Botan spoked with a cold tone and sipped her energy drink.

"Energy drink in the morning?" Moona tilted her head.

"Why not?" Botan continued chugging her drink, not giving a shit on what Moona said.

"Okay. So, other equipment will arrive later on, but I already brought the Elytra wings," Grabbing the said equipment inside the car, they saw her carrying a grey wings the same size of a suit, "I'd say it's very lightweight. And it's already been tested by me." she said confidently while smirking.

"Based on the reports, Pekora experienced 52 accidents from testing the wings." Moona whispered to Botan, but she intentionally louded her voice so Pekora could hear what she said.

"Don't be like that, Moona," Pekora gave a weak punch on Moona's shoulder, who was still chuckling.

"Haha, okay geez."

"But, I missed you Moona." Pekora leaned her head onto Moona's shoulder.

"I missed you too, shachou," Moona hugged Pekora. She then buried Pekora's head into her chest, "Go on. Cry it all."

"I'm not crying." Pekora's muffled voice can be heard.

"Sheesh. Tee-Tee moment? In front of my energy drink??" Botan groaned and shifted her attention on the streets.

Pekora stood up and gave the wings towards Moona and Botan, "Okay, both of you should practice using the Elytra."

They tried using the wings. Well, Botan kinda struggled at first because it's her first time to fly using the equipment, but she got a hang of it. It was easy to maneuver. It's like controlling a hoverboard. They continued playing around with the wings when Kanata went outside from the underground base.

"What's with the ruckus- WAIT WHAT?" Kanata screamed with dropped jaws and arched eyebrows.

"Good morning, Kanata," Botan and Moona greeted at the same time.

"So they're the new recruits," Pekora said to herself.

After the day when they visited Kanata and others, they immediately moved to Botan's base. They became comfortable living underground. There's only no window. But everything's air-conditioned.

As they both landed on the ground, Pekora shook Kanata's hand, "Usada Pekora. Nice to meet you"

Kanata gave a smile and shook her hand in response, "Amane Kanata. Nice to meet you too."

Pekora felt pain on her hand, "Ow."

"Sorry, I can't control my hand strength." Kanata bowed as an apology.

"No, no. It's okay," She was impressed by her strength while massaging her hand.

Another hour passed, Coco and Towa woke up and sat on the chair beside the counter. Since the amount of people started building up, the others went back inside to discuss everything about what they had planned. The new recruits introduced themselves and their abilities, giving Pekora an idea on what strategy they should pull in a particular situation. After the introduction, they continued discussing their first mission against the Resistance.

"Okay. So, according to Moona and Botan, the event will take place in Hotel Mikai. That's why we need to set our equipment near the target hotel without getting spotted. The next building nearby the target is Hotel Iwaba. We should occupy that hotel as our power position. We have a destroyer escorting us to Akita, but it can't go near the commercial area since battleships might patrol nearby. That's why we will use Coco's dragon form to reach the ground. The meeting will start before midnight so we won't be visible in the night sky. Plus, only a few buildings have electricity, our power position is excluded." Pekora presented the map on the table while pointing out key points from them to utilize.

She then stared at Botan, "Sniper would be useless since they'll probably gather in the reception area, where thick walls cover the entire place. Other than that, we should at least determine the Leader's real identity."

"Fuck." Botan only cursed in response, holding her forehead with her palm.

"Instead, you will attend the event. Prepare a pistol and a knife, if necessary."

"Nice." she smirked with excitement visible on her face.

"What about us?" Kanata said while pointing at Towa.

"Kanata can shapeshift and imitate other people, she should go with Botan," Moona suggested.

"Good, good. Me, Moona, Towa and Coco will stay on the rooftop of Hotel Iwaba. If something out of the plan happens, report immediately. We would have a brutal encounter after that. Brace yourself for tonight. Understand?" Pekora yelled, slamming her hand onto the table.

"Yes, Shachou!" All of them saluted with a cheerful tone.

"Wait, what time is it?" Pekora checked her phone, "It's currently 8:02 am. We should board the destroyer before 12pm. Pack your stuff!"

"We're sneaking behind enemy lines."