episode_0056

The moment I closed my eyes to catch my breath, a short alert sounded from my personal terminal.

The moment I checked the caller, I sprang up without realizing it.

[Sender: Section Chief Han]

‘Section Chief Han-nim?’

I never dreamed he would contact me.

He hadn’t contacted me even once since I left Chronos.

[Warning: This message will be automatically deleted 1 minute after confirmation.]

Holding my breath, I quickly read through the long message.

To summarize, it was like this:

The news was that Bulldog had recently been creating an atmosphere of fear within the mercenary group and was desperate to find me, having joined hands with Nessis Corporation.

And amidst all that, there was also an implication that he was preparing something internally with some mercenaries who resented Bulldog’s tyranny.

[The situation is too bad… I couldn’t possibly not inform you. I don’t know how much longer I can hold out. I only hope this message reaches you safely.]

A minute passed in an instant.

[Message deleted.]

I tried to call Section Chief Han, but only a dial tone repeated, and he didn’t answer.

The worst-case scenario, that something might have already happened to him, churned in my mind.

When I first fell into this world, he was a grateful person who quietly looked out for me.

‘Rather than being hit first… I’ll strike first.’

Bulldog, and Nessis Corporation allied with him. Malignant presences that could no longer be left alone.

‘There’s no need to poke a beehive, right?’

Kaien’s words suddenly came to mind.

Her advice to avoid direct conflict with corporations. But now, the situation was different.

Immediately, I operated my personal terminal and input the coordinates of the Chronos Mercenary Group’s base into Asura’s navigation system.

The distance from Terminus to the Chronos base was considerable.

It would take dozens of hours with Asura’s own boosters alone; a high-speed transport ship was needed to shorten the time.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I headed to Scarlet’s workshop.

As I urgently pushed the door open and entered, Scarlet, wearing a welding mask, turned to look at me with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“I need help.”

I revealed everything without reservation: Section Chief Han-nim’s message content, the current situation, and the fact that I had decided to destroy the Chronos Mercenary Group.

As my story continued, Scarlet’s expression grew increasingly serious.

When the story ended, she stared at me silently for a moment, then, with a resolute expression, picked up tools from the workbench.

“Alright. I’ll go with you.”

“It’s too dangerous. This isn’t something for you to get involved in.”

I tried to dissuade her, but Scarlet’s resolve was firm.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think I’d let you go to such a dangerous place alone again? And it seems you’re mistaken, but I can perfectly well protect myself, you know?”

She tapped her chest confidently as she spoke.

I realized I couldn’t stop her anymore.

“…Thank you, Scarlet.”

“Save the nagging for later, let’s move quickly! We need to contact Kaien and borrow a transport ship first.”

Scarlet quickly contacted Kaien, and Kaien readily and swiftly provided the fastest military-grade high-speed transport ship in Terminus.

She didn’t press us about our destination.

Scarlet and I boarded our respective mechs.

Scarlet climbed into her agile medium-class mech, Red Spider.

Its armor, a harmonious blend of red and black, and its multi-jointed auxiliary arms, reminiscent of spider legs, made it an impressive mech.

The heavy ramp of the transport ship closed, and we soared into the darkness, heading towards the Chronos Mercenary Group’s base.

****

Underneath the Chronos Mercenary Group’s base, in the solitary confinement area where only cold, damp air circulated.

Only a faint beam of emergency light barely illuminated the darkness.

Beyond the rusted iron bars, the weary sighs of three men, once part of the same mercenary group, occasionally leaked out.

In the innermost solitary cell, Section Chief Han, dressed in oil-stained work clothes, sat slumped on the cold floor, his back against the wall.

In the cell next to his was Milo, an old mechanic who had been targeted after giving Kang Jin-woo a few maintenance-related pieces of advice.

Across from him, Leo, a young technician who had been dragged in for the reason of having helped repair a mech, gazed blankly into the air with hollow eyes.

“Damn it, what did we do so wrong that we have to be stuck in this pigsty?”

It was Milo who first broke the silence.

He roughly ran his hand through his disheveled hair, as if he hadn’t properly washed for days, and grumbled his complaints.

“What’s so wrong with giving that guy a few extra parts! It’s been ages since he ran off from the mercenary group, why are they making such a fuss now?!”

“Mr. Milo is right.”

Leo agreed in a hoarse voice.

His face was pale with fear and despair.

“All I did was watch from the side… but that bastard Bulldog had fire in his eyes. He’s treating us like traitors.”

Section Chief Han listened to their conversation in silence.

“Lately, he’s failed several missions and has been groveling to those Nessis Corporation bastards, so he’s become extremely sensitive. That’s why he’s taking it out on us, isn’t it?”

Milo said, sneering.

“Failure of missions, my ass. It’s just his terrible leadership. He only knows how to badger his subordinates, I’ve never seen him plan a proper operation.”

Leo also vented the frustrations he had accumulated.

“He treats even the pilots like parts, he’s just trash.”

Now that they were trapped in solitary confinement, it seemed they finally found the courage to speak their minds.

“By the way, Section Chief Han-nim, why were you arrested and brought here? You almost never even left the hangar, did you?”

Milo turned his head and asked Section Chief Han.

Section Chief Han was silent for a moment, then replied in a low voice.

“…It’s just that I fell out of favor. Perhaps he thought an old man like me was asking around without tact, or… he might genuinely believe I’m colluding with that Kang Jin-woo.”

His voice was tinged with bitterness.

He couldn’t bring himself to mention the message he had sent to Kang Jin-woo.

He didn’t want to needlessly drag those two into an even more dangerous situation.

“Seriously, this damn mercenary group needs to collapse as soon as possible. I’d rather starve to death here than grovel like a dog under that Bulldog.”

After Leo muttered in resignation, a heavy silence descended upon the solitary cell once more.

It was then.

Deep rumble-!

The entire ground shook violently, and dust poured down from the ceiling.

The old iron bars of the solitary cell rattled precariously, and the faint emergency light flickered, briefly plunging the area into darkness.

“W-what? Is that an earthquake?”

Milo cried out in surprise, pulling his back from the wall.

Leo, terrified, covered his head with both hands.

Crash-! Bang bang bang crash-!

It wasn’t an earthquake.

From outside, ear-splitting explosions and the violent sounds of metal clashing and tearing apart echoed clearly even in the underground solitary cells.

“W-what is that sound? An enemy attack? Who dares to attack our base…!”

Leo stammered, his face pale.

Milo also looked bewildered, with an expression that showed he didn’t understand what was happening.

But Section Chief Han’s eyes were different.

‘Has it already begun?’

They had originally planned to start the next day, once Bulldog’s direct unit left for a mission, but he sighed at the uprising starting earlier than expected.

They needed to ensure it was done thoroughly, as much as they had prepared.

“It seems we’re really doomed! Rumors that our mercenary group’s strength has fallen miserably must have spread far and wide outside!”

Milo burst into a hollow laugh as he spoke.

“Otherwise, which crazy bastards would dare to attack the Chronos Mercenary Group headquarters head-on? Everyone’s looking down on us!”

“Well, it’s true that mission failures have been frequent lately… and we’ve lost so many mechs and pilots…”

Leo clicked his tongue and chimed in.

“Even so!”

Milo suddenly raised his voice.

A strange sense of pride surfaced on his face.

“Isn’t our Chronos Mercenary Group quite well-known in this business? Even if our strength has weakened…!”

He said that and needlessly cleared his throat.

It was a complex feeling, a mixture of love and hate for the mercenary group.

For several tens of minutes, the violent sounds of combat continued without ceasing.

Explosions, screams, and the roar of unknown mechs mixed together, driving the three men in the solitary cell into fear and anxiety.

They simply waited quietly for all this commotion to end.

And finally, all sounds faded away as if they had never been there.

A terrible silence.

A silence deeper and heavier than before pressed down on them.

Milo and Leo merely stared blankly at each other’s faces, not daring to open their mouths.

Only Section Chief Han gazed with trembling eyes at the end of the dark corridor outside the solitary cell.

Heavy footsteps approached, growing closer and closer.

Crash!

The old iron door leading to the underground solitary cells was violently ripped inward, and a dull thud of someone tumbling down the stairs was heard.

“Gasp! Ugh…”

Along with a groan, a dusty silhouette fell miserably to the floor of the corridor in front of the cell.

It was Bulldog.

His face was caked with blood and dirt, and his uniform was torn to shreds.

And behind him, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness like a shadow.

Bulldog looked up at the figure with terror-stricken eyes, crying out almost like a wail.

“Cog7… no, Kang Jin-woo! Please, please just spare my life! I was wrong about everything! I’ll give you whatever you want! Credits, mechs, or even this entire mercenary group…!”

His pathetic scream echoed hollowly within the cold, underground solitary cell.