1419: Full Speed Ahead!

Full Speed Ahead!

--Silence.--

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. 

Except for the knocking sounds of rugged boots, the entire place was quiet.

And one by one, the superiors headed for their seats on the podium.

"Sir!"

Everyone immediately stood and gave a firm salute once their leaders readily faced them. 

At ease.

Landon gestured, speaking into the microphone already set up on his table.

Following that, the enormous white roll-down screen emerged, and the lighting in the room got dimmed down by quite a bit.

Landon took his seat, allowing one of the superiors to take the stage. 

The projector was turned on. 

And soon, the briefing began. 

"Today, you're all here to pick up your assignments," a stern cold faced woman said. 

General Sulian.

Her gaze was frosty and wasn't one to be trifled with. 

Inch by inch, her eyes scanned across the vast space. And though it was logical that those at the middle or at the back wouldn't get seen clearly by her, they still felt a cold sweat form across their foreheads from that single gaze. 

Gulp. 

~Click. 

Sulian clicked a button on the remote, and the next slide came on. 

.

"As some of you might've noticed, your mission ranks and code names are different from others. Well, think no further! Today, we'll be allocating assignments for 4 consecutive mission ranks; S, Double-S, Triple-S, and finally Platinum!"

What? Platinum?!

You have to know that some years back, the mission ranks had added 2 new ranks above the Triple-S rank. And these were the Platinum and Gold ranks. 

The Gold-rank was now the highest and deadliest mission rank!

It was almost akin to a suicide mission! 

And even though the Platinum rank was less dangerous than the Gold, it was still a deadly affair.

Platinum! Platinum rank!

Just what sort of mission was that?

Already, many felt their hearts constrict, clenching their muscles and feeling their breathing grow rapid. 

Scary... But also exciting!

Many began to dream of when they would ever be qualified for such a mission. 

To be selected meant that their capabilities, ranks, military contributions, and several other factors were very pleasing, long passing the qualified mark. 

What a mission rank!

(*^*)

.

Taking deep breaths, many stabilized themselves while listening to General Sulian. 

"Today, our briefings won't be as deep and detailed as before. After assignment distribution, you will meet your mission leaders and arrange your briefings, tackling these matters all on your own."

Everyone nodded, being that it was reasonable. 

After all, since these missions were top secret and classified, it wouldn't make sense for those in other missions to know too much about specificities.

In all sense, they were probably having the initial briefing hist to show who their Mission leader was, as well as to pass on various details to them. 

Looking at the various wardens and quite a few other top army and marine personnel, many guessed that they should be the mission leaders or would somehow be assuming or acting together with them while out on the field.

Hmmm...

"And just as usual, you will be given time to have your briefings, understand your mission information, come up with your infiltration or attack plan before submitting them according to each mission rank's deadline!"

For some missions, they would be leaving in a month. And for others, they would be leaving in a month and a half instead. 

.

Again, 2 out of these 4 missions had already had a pre-briefing set up a while back. 

These 2 were those who would be leaving in a week and a half for their mission. 

However, the reason they got added once again in the mix was because of new intel. 

Some things have changed. And additionally, they now had drones with them and other weaponry at their disposal. 

The military was like this. 

Plans that they made earlier could change at any time. 

Now, they had to go through all their earlier plans, back to the drawing board, and resubmit new ideas or counterattacks. 

One week and a half... Their changes won't be much, but at least, it should be an improvement from their initial plans. 

Of course, many were still anxious because of their missions' unknown factors. 

For example, those heading to Zohl, in particular, the empire of Titarian, had no clue of what the natural terrain there was like. 

Alright. Even in this summer, how much danger would mother nature give them?

For example, look at the case of the Zohl empire of Titarian where some of them were headed?

.

The Land of Hills. 

That was Titarian's nickname.

It was called Titarian, the land of hills, because supposedly, there were hardly any even or straight paths there.1

It was as bumpy and hilly as a camel's back.

Up, down, up, down.

This was probably why the people of Titarian had such strong and powerful hind legs. 

Thus, in such a place, terrain preparation was essential.

They couldn't even sneak up on a person because of the up, down, up, down terrain. 

Well, except the hills were covered with enough forest, sneaking by would truly be difficult. 

And who knows just what sort of creatures and attacks from mother nature they would find there? 

Again, it was also said that Titarian had all sorts of land terrains on its hilly plains. 

What was more unbelievable to Landon was that just within the same eye-view... one could find a desert-like hill filled with sand to a person's right... And to the left, a bushy, thick-forest hill instead.

How?

How was this even possible?

The more he listened, the more he always felt it went beyond geography and the earth's laws of the world. 

But then again, he wasn't on earth anymore, was he?

After all, wasn't it the Zalipnians that had a sacred island high above the sky covered by a backward waterfall?

The power of the Gods here was real!

So science wasn't always to be trusted. 

Thus, Titarian's entire landscape was also bound to defy logic.

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