By Shirasu stays in her room until almost noon but leaves for an SDC briefing. The briefing notes that the Metazone Temple is located in the center of Mirbala Canyon, about 2,800 meters above sea level. The steep landscape provides natural fortifications that make the temple difficult to attack. The SDC has picked up a massive increase of chatter at the temple, plus they tracked three cargo helicopters approaching the temple. The flag had an IC temple embedded in it, and when it ceased transmission it was headed in the direction of Metazone being its likely destination. Shirasu records Ichiyanagi jogging outside the base in the rain, and he stops briefly when he notices her. Olowokandi comments on Shirasu taking landscape photos as well, and she says that it would be nice if today kept being quiet and dull. Akagi visits an empty bar to meet an informant named Naraya who wants to talk off camera. Later, he documents that he reached out to Naraya to put out feelers for a meeting with Ru Pou. His power is such that it’s entirely up to him if the peace agreement will become a reality or end in failure. Akagi recorded the informant saying it would cost a lot of money to set up a meeting so that he can maintain some leverage over him. The SDC mission briefing lays out that due to Metazone’s location, the only workable approach route is a HAVWC parachute drop. Nikkanen tells Shirasu that people assume parachute drops are a thing of chance, but in reality you have almost complete control over your direction of descent. However, Aqbal notes that there’s nothing more dangerous than parachuting into enemy territory because you’re out in the open sky with nowhere to hide. Beroqui comments that if it wasn’t because their mission was to retrieve the flag, they could just blow up the temple with a few rockets. Naraya sets up a meeting with the leader of an insurgent group connected to the Gelut sect, and its leader promises to set up an interview with Ru Pou. Shirasu records people eating in the mess hall and sits down to work. Olowokandi sits down at her table and asks to look at the photos on her laptop. He sees her landscapes and comments that she seems more like a photographer than a journalist. He then explains that when he was younger his country was at war and that many journalists showed up to take pictures but didn’t care about the people’s suffering. In contrast, he thinks that Shirasu loves taking pictures. In the command center, Su-Ming and Eversalt discuss the strength of the rebels and the risks involved with a parachute drop. Eversalt concludes that they don’t have enough intel, so they need to dispatch a recon UAV. At the briefing, Shirasu asks Eversalt for permission to accompany the team on the mission.
The Gelut sect has ruled over Uddiyana for a thousand years, but it also has an ancient history as a feared assassin cult that is shrouded in mystery. Akagi is taken to the Gelut temple for his meeting with the stone-faced Ru Pou. He asked a question, but Ru Pou said nothing in response, thus ending the interview. Eversalt objects to allowing Shirasu to be put in danger, but Shirasu insists and says that she feels like yesterday she saw a side of them she wasn’t supposed to see. She thought they seemed scary, but she thinks that she was wrong and wants to go out to see things for herself. Olowokandi backs Shirasu up and says he’ll vouch for her safety, as long as she doesn’t have to pee during the mission. After the briefing, Aqbal tells Shirasu that Eversalt isn’t the hard ass that she comes across as. Beroqui gives Shirasu a helmet and heavy armor for protection. Shirasu boards the helicopter right before it takes off. In Subasci, Akagi sits in a bar and laments getting nothing from Ru Pou. He looks over other pictures that he took around the city. The helicopter approaches the canyon and deploys the Predator drone. The helicopter comes under fire from insurgents in the cannon, and Olowokandi is hit, preventing him from piloting the helicopter. Shirasu grabs a first aid kit and tends to his wound. Later, Olowokandi is taken to the infirmary after returning to base. Eversalt thanks Shirasu for helping Olowokandi and says she won’t put her in such a position again. She then says she’ll have the helicopter’s video footage ready in 20 minutes. Shirasu finds Ichiyanagi in the HAVWC hangar and takes his picture.
This series is definitely a slow burn, but things are moving along. The SDC wants to conduct recon on the temple where they believe the flag is being held, but the mission goes south. Eversalt didn’t want Shirasu to go out of fear for her safety, but in the end it’s Shirasu who saves the day by helping Olowokandi. In the capital, Akagi sets up a meeting with the mysterious Ru Pou that goes nowhere, so you have to wonder, what’s the point? As time goes on, it seems that Shirasu is getting more accustomed to this assignment with the SDC and creating bonds with its members. That, of course, will make her job harder if bad things happen to them on subsequent missions.
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