1st Lt. Ryutaro Hatamoto

"Great you recovered fast, sir."

The smell of alcohol, unusually sterile compared to our inherently dirty nature of the work. That's what I found upon waking up.

"Sergeant Oonishi."

"You were asleep on the journey back, sir."

"Must be severe exhaustion after facing him plus my wounds... Honestly, I can't believe that I was in that state, as Okada is worse."

"That's correct, sir.. And before you ask me about him; Okada is in stable condition, considering that he had lost a lot of blood. But he's still weak and will be out from at least a week."

"Thank God," I answered my second in command. "He's strong, he'll be able to get through. Those Israelis who trained us clearly deserve credits as much as they can, people. By the way, I want to see Kokoro."

......

"Hi" she exclaimed upon I am back in her sight.

"How's the spirit?"

"High sir!"

That's one of the calls of our instructor back at SF training back then when opening or closing a session which we won't ever forget despite both Kokoro and I are holding the same rank.

"That's what I like to see," I said. "Anyway, when we can play together?"

"Ah..." her face went red before it subsided. "As much as I want to do it. I want to do such a thing in places that are not giving up our location."

"Fair enough."

Then came an interruption in form of Nishikata.

"Sir... this is important. All officers are to gather in the underground number #2 briefing room. Our asset has something to do with it."

About time. I thought. This "Tamaraw" must have a lot of dirty laundries to share for the Chinese and more likely, his own government, want him dead.

......

Courtesy of US Joint Special Operations Command and the CIA, the joint underground briefing room was a marvel of engineering, with secure communication gear to friendly American and other allied forces that might require its services here in the Philippines. Larger compared to where Red Skull briefed us before our first mission, it's enough to accommodate a battalion-level headquarters with its full staff complements. Once it's determined that everyone required to attend has been inside, the reason for this briefing stood up, flanked by two towering troopers without any identifications before put his hands up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, everyone, thank you for coming. And let's cut through the formalities as time is a resource that we cannot afford to waste." Despite wearing civilian clothing just like most of us, I can already detect an aura of authority senior officers or political leaders have.

"First in business, to our Japanese friends present in this room, on behalf of the people of the Philippines, I expressed my gratitude for saving me from the shadows of death. Before you people showed up," he continued, "I always have a feeling that my time is not yet come, and I turned out right."

"My name is Major General Elpino Rey Balayo, officially, the commanding officer of Armed Forces of the Philippines Special Operations Command (AFPSOCOM). However, right now I am with a movement consists of mostly junior and some middle-ranking officers as well as NCOs of the entire AFP as well as other public forces like the Philippine National Police and Philippine Coast Guard in the spirit of the old Reform the Armed Forces Movement if you know our history of People's Power in 1986, at least before political intricacies corrupted it. It's called the Coalition of United Forces for a New Philippines - CUFNP in short. This country had long been struggling with corruption and lack of genuine leadership with patronage and incompetence as a norm, but the COVID-19 pandemic had made it even more prevalent than before..."

Now we are really about to dip our hands on someone's politics. Yet I know that this is part of our order hence we got sent here in the first place... *sigh*

"... It is also an open secret that contrary to the interest of the Filipino people and other freedom-loving Asians, the current government had seen it fit for it to lean slowly but surely towards the People's Republic of China, with the most serious part of it was two attempts to abrogate the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States, part of our Mutual Defense Treaty during the pandemic... This is treason in a highest degree!"

Everything inside my body instantly boiled, to 100 degrees upon hearing the general's explanation. Motherfuckers....

"I was lucky so far, and many more, but there were a number of us who were unlucky to be purged, those who loved our nation in body and soul."

"...Now, Look at these names..." His hand pointed towards the screen as a face appears on it. Below the picture was a name.

"This is Roman Ho." He started. "One of the most prominent business tycoon from the island of Mindanao. In fact he is from the same city as our so called 'president'"

Disgust, dejection, all sorts of bad sensation.

"...One of his benefactors in his presidential campaign, and in fact one of the largest. Hence he being one of Iriberri's most favored crony."

Other names were shown, and I quickly figured one thing connecting those names upon looking at Naicho or CIA dossiers shared to my phone; either they have connection to Chinese triads particularly in drug trade, or from the same island as the President.

"And before anyone of you ask, let's head for the next part. Course of action." The general continued. "Be advised, what we are currently doing and going to do is considered as sedition, rebellion, you name it. However, as legal and electoral has long since been failed or perverted and inaction means more suffering, we have to do this as act of last resort... We are going to take them out one by one. Others will help mobilize our citizen to rise up EDSA People Power's style and that's where we'll take over everything."

"Sir." I saw Major Yadomi stood up in attention, his hand raised. "I remember that the Chinese government had a secret agreement to protect President Iriberri against any attempts to remove him. How we will deal with such eventuality to the point of possibly provoke a new World War?"

"We have no choice but be ready to bite the bullet, my friend. Even if we all die here in the process, at least our people - and freedom loving Asians, will have a reason to hope and continue to fight against this creeping tyranny."

"Oh, by the way, before someone ask... when we take over, there will be no peace talks and definitely never be, a legalization, for the CPP...."

......

Upon dismissal, back in my quarter I cannot thought about things other about our part of this guy's crusade and how this sounds like a suicide mission to begin with. However with the implication that here I have a chance to settle the score with Black Tiger once and for all dampened most of the doubt. I saw it too on Kokoro, Himari, Izumi, the Major... every single of my comrades in arms.

He and his officers even told us that the official plan has not been laid down yet, but I understood why, with a need of flexibility and unpredictability that we must take into account. Our arrival must have been a boost for them, and like what he stressed during the beginning, time is not in our side.