"So, you are the infamous computer girl - Suruya Yurika."
Yurika stood there, shyly, holding her tablet.
"A-And you are... M-Mr. Koch?"
"Koch Doutchy. Come, I'll show you around the most fortified island in Yeuropa."
"Y-Yessir..."
Koch's Guards followed as Yurika stayed close to Koch.
"Do you know him?"
"Who..?"
"The man behind Stardust..."
"F-Filak Burgundy, you mean?"
He stopped, and turned around.
"How do you know his name?"
"M-Miss Orsis told me..."
He looked down a bit, serious, and then chuckled.
"Right, you're clear then."
"Is there something wrong..?"
"No one knows his name except a specific group of people. If you could say who he was you're prolly a spy. That's how we go around here."
"T-That's a smart system..."
"Thanks. Took me like 20 minutes to come up with it."
And then he bursted out laughing, and stopped, looking at her with a smug smile.
"I-Is something wrong?"
"You can hack anything electronic right?"
She nodded weakly.
"Even radios, I'm guessing?"
"D-Depends on the era of the radio! There are electronic ones and--"
"Zip it. All I needed is an answer. Not some radio-technologies lesson."
"T-Then... Then it's 50/50!"
"Good."
"We can't let the operation happen now..."
"Why is that, Sauer?"
Sauer was walking circles in the cafe, really nervous. It was a really tense environment since what happened last night... No one could properly stay calm.
"W-Well... W-What would we do without him?!"
Jericho smacked her lips, getting up.
"We really don't even need him. If we work well we might even pull off an S ranked result if we try hard enough."
"But he's like the core of our team..!"
"We. Don't. Need. Filak. To. Succeed."
At this point Jericho was in Sauer's face, looking kind of annoyed.
"Filak this, Filak that! He's a captain! He isn't some sort of... Thing, that we need to live! You gotta stop dreaming about him and we don't need to depend on him!"
"Y-You're wrong, p-plus I bet you like him more than I do!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
Walther quickly ran into between them.
"Frauen, Frauen! We don't need unezzecary fights right now!"
"You stay out of this, Sauerkraut!"
"Zat was not very nice!"
"Do I really care?!"
Daewoo came to Jericho and put his hand on her shoulder.
"What is it-?!"
She quickly stopped, as Daewoo looked really melancholic, and somewhat serious.
"...Please. We can't fight at this time. We can settle this after everything goes well."
At this point she calmed down, sighing, and putting her hand on her forehead.
"Alright... maybe you were right, Sauer, we need his brains to do proper maneuvers and all... But we don't gotta depend on him THAT much."
Everyone went quiet, as Sauer sat down, sighing.
"If we don't have to depend on him that much, then what do we do during the crossing? How's he gonna lead us that way? We won't be able to use radios because they might just intercept us."
"You're wrong."
Everyone quickly turned to the door, with Filak coming in, struggling to walk but still walking almost normally. Sauer quickly ran to him and hugged him, as Filak smiled a bit.
"Did you miss me that much? You know you could've visited me. This base isn't that big."
"I'm sorry I just can't hold myself!"
Jericho cuts in, saying somewhat doubtfully.
"Really, cap? What do you mean that Sauer's wrong?"
"Well, we did get new radios that I haven't told anyone yet about. Just in case, I kept it secret."
"Really?!"
"Yeah, they're supposedly untracable as tested by the engineers. I'll tell you more after I eat. Anyway, what's for lunch?"
Sauer let go of him and he went to eat, small talking with the others.
"Are you spacing out?"
"Eh?! What?!"
Yurika quickly raised her head, she was eating next to Koch, who was already finishing his meal. Koch laughed a bit, giving her a bit more orange juice.
"You sure you don't drink?"
"N-No, sorry..."
He chuckled, getting up to get himself some more alcohol.
A lot has been going on in Yurika's mind. One person in particular being the "Starman" himself.
"...I just hope he's okay."
"Who is?"
Koch already came back. That's how much Yurika is spacing out.
"A-Ah... I was worried about my dad back home."
"Is something wrong with him?"
"No, I'm just kind of worried about my parents... I should've stayed home... I'm really not good with guns and and... all of this military activity is giving a bad mark on my mental and physical health..."
"It's alright. Soon the Feds are gonna retreat and once we control Yeuropa, then we can relax and finally relax in the beaches of victory."
Yurika looked at him a bit and back down, sighing.
"Am I gonna be treated well after this..?"
"Just don't betray us and you'll be fine."
Koch grinned at her, and Yurika nodded.
"We're going to see if we can plant a beacon on a nearby small island near the main Jargen island where the base is. After all it's part of an archipelago."
Wesson looked at the others, nervous a bit since there's still tension in the room. Not only that, they're gonna be super close to getting Koch back... she just hopes he doesn't leave or get killed in action. She couldn't hear what Filak was saying anymore. She had to do something to settle down everyone in the group and also save Koch.
"...So who wants to be the strike team lead?"
Wesson jumped up due to reactions and shouted out.
"Me!..."
Filak froze in place, looking at her a bit surprised.
"You sure you can handle it, Wesson..?"
"Uhh.. Uhm..."
She quickly processed what she got herself into and nodded twice.
"Very well then. You can tell me if you don't want to right now you know."
"No - I can handle it."
"I'll not be coming, you know. Are you sure you can take it?"
"Do you not trust me, commander?"
She looked at Filak sharply in the eye, more serious than ever.
"...I don't know what's pushing you, but I'm happy it does. Commanding the team down there is in your hands."
Wesson nodded.
Everyone in the room were surprised but respected her bravery, as Wesson gulped a bit in the pile of nervousness she was swimming in.
The tension relaxed a bit when some went to bed at night, getting enough energy for the next day.
Both sides were ready for any tension breaker. And a lot of worried stacked on each other. It's gonna be rough and wild. This is what a beginning of an offensive is about.
