It has been three full months since the first shot of "The War" had gone through the head of that Milium guy. Me and Parmadita was immediately evacuated from J-MEF, then debriefed from our mission which they deem a failure. They knew it wasn't our fault, so I was reassigned as a field scientist for The Agency. They gave me some basic training again to familiarize myself with this war. Because of my involvement in The Agency, I'm technically an active combatant now. Killing the enemy is always an option.

Thankfully, the start of the war didn't force me and my wife to get a divorce. We somehow survived all of the legal trouble that might ruin our relationship. Through the power of The Agency, it's somehow OK for us to work together again. They said even though usually things turn sour between married couple when they are working in the same area, both of us got an exception. Agent C said, as long as we're keeping our team work, everything should be okay.

Currently, Parmadita is working as an observer of a combatant, which is me. She feeds me with real time, situational information as I work in the field. Our line of communication is absolutely being helped by the technology from our magical pendant. Shamefully though, even with its efficient power consumption, theoretically infinite range capabilities, and compact size, it does have a flaw. It is unconfigurable once the pendant is paired with another one.

That flaw doesn't bother me much. I would rather have her voice in my ears than any other person in The Agency. But enough about the pendant, lets talk briefly about the war.

Every war has a rule and this one is no different. The short version, because of the shield technology, everything changes. With changes of situation, comes change of rule. The rule of law that's agreed upon by all parties involved.

First, it is forbidden to use destructive weapon that might weaken or destroy the structure of buildings. Second, ranged weapon that's propelled by magic or combustion is not allowed. Killing is done by hand to hand combat, always. Lastly, the dead must be returned to the demilitarized zone (J-MEF) as soon as possible.

Of course, those rule need to be enforced. Every side choose to use their ultimate deterrence as a guarantor, a weapon of mass destruction. Both sides have it, both sides will use it. Anyone that breaks the law of war that doesn't get punished in the Court of War, will immediately be answered with the launch of said weapon.

The Court of War was established within the demilitarized zone, or J-MEF. Any court proceeding will be witnessed by both Milium and The Republic's eye. If found guilty, they will be met with a noose personalized to the size of their neck.

Based on that rule, every branch of the military agrees that the battle will be won by information and brawns. My current mission is exactly that. To retrieve classified information and defend myself at all cost.

Right now, it is the first day, of the first month, year 2027. Milium uses the same calendar system that we do, thankfully. So we don't really need a conversion system when trading with each other. Locally speaking, it's called the first day of Lernen, the month of Fir, the year 2027. Lernen as we all know, is a god from a religion long lost to history. He is the god of learning, as the name suggest. Right now, we are about to learn something, hopefully about an artifact in Milium.

We are currently 3.5 kilo-arms away behind the enemy line, flying by the help of a wind powered glider. This vehicle can fly at a cruising altitude of 15 kilo-arms.

Lukman

Are we there yet?

I'm talking to Barnabas, an agent that's assigned to me because of his long history of field service. He acts as a navigator and handling the glider at the same time. The higher ups forbid any use of active radar technology to avoid detection. The glider itself is single use only, you'll see why in a moment.

His eyebrows frown, eyes squinting, trying to make sense of the map he's reading.

Barnabas

I don't know Lukman, maybe my years of flying alone have decreased my tolerance of others, so how about we cut the chat to a minimum?

Miss Rose

No, we won't have that.

Barnabas

Damn you Rose, can't I get some peace and quiet around here?

That was Miss Rose. She is talking to him through the same kind of pendant that I'm wearing. Her role is the same as Parmadita, Minus the romance and attractiveness to each other it seems.

Miss Rose

Also, why did you not approve the tools I recommended? A camera drone in your arsenal will always be useful. Especially when it's not as big and cumbersome as it used to.

Barnabas

The problem is, they have the technology to counter any kind of small drone. If they have the counter to it, then it will just be dead weight. Useless.

Lukman

Could've worded it better.

Barnabas

Shut up, stupid couple.

With a small voice, Parmadita laughed as silently as possible through my pendant.

Parmadita

Hehehehehe

It's a cute laugh, feels like an infinite healing item for my soul.

After that, Barnabas didn't reply back. He decided to remain silent. The silence goes on for another ten minutes, honestly it's very awkward. I decided to break it with a question.

Lukman

Tell me again about this operation of yours? Operation Bed Flowers or something. They haven't briefed me into it. I assume my expertise is needed, but that's all I know.

He folded up his map and put it in his pocket. His eyes turn to me with some level of annoyance. I think he hates me for even trying to speak. Can't help that, not like I can change his behavior, at least it isn't as awkward.

Barnabas

You haven't learned anything about it because it's way above your pay grade. All you need to know is that, we need to enter a museum silently, read some magical artifact that's stored there, and get out A.S.A.P.

Just follow my lead.

Lukman

This is the first time where I didn't get a full brief about the objective, just the name of the operation.

Barnabas

The fewer people know, the better. Also, we are close to our destination. Prepare your fall-boot, tap your feet together twice. Does it feel lighter?

After tapping my feet boots together, it glows a faint blue hue. The mana contained inside activates this magical device. Barnabas tilt the glider down, decreasing our altitude. I can feel my boots became lighter, pushing me upwards. This is not the first time I used this, but its not like I'm accustomed to it.

Barnabas

I know you've para-jumped before. The difference between this and parachute is that you don't pull a cord to slow yourself down. You remembering the steps alright?!

Lukman

Yeah I do. Jump out, follow your direction, tap the boots when we're reaching fifteen hundred arms.

There's an altitu-measure on my arm. It looks exactly like a watch. The difference is the hand of the watch indicates how far I am from the ground level. It also have a Universal Positioning System or UPS. The data is wired to the pendant directly so it can be sent to my observer.

Barnabas

Exactly!

Remember, we are aiming for a field of green plains, it has a lot of tall grass around it. We will use those as covers, then we must sneak our way in from the basement. You ready?

Lukman

Do I have a choice?!

Barnabas

Nope! See you at the bottom!

Barnabas flicked on the auto-pilot function and goes to the back of the plane. I followed immediately behind him, with my boots now ready to be activated. Both of us are already wearing our parachute backpack as a backup if our boots aren't working properly.

Barnabas pushes a big red button which opens the backdoor of the glider. As it's opening, I feel a gust of wind rushing away from me, like they're sucked out of the glider. The sound is so loud that I can't hear myself thinking. Thankfully we can still signal each with our hands. I glimpse his mouth moving about. He said something to his pendant. Might be a good idea to talk to Parma before I jumped off.

Lukman

Wife!

I accidentally yelled to her, because I'm trying to speak without being able to hear myself say it. It's like someone is constantly using a leaf blower near my ears.

Parmadita

Husband!

Lukman

Wish me luck!

Parmadita

I love you, good luck, godspeed!

Lukman

Love you too, godspeed!

Barnabas jumped away from me, his face facing the direction of the glider. I did the same thing immediately after, just like the para training taught me. This position makes sure I won't get flipped mid air when the wind pushes me back.

We are at an altitude of 14 kiloarms now. From up here, I can't really see anything but a smudge of buildings and roads all over the place. Barnabas is falling a bit faster than me. He is falling by a constant speed and direction below my vision. He's giving me a signal with his hand. "Follow his direction", he said.

Although I'm wearing a special suit which regulates my body heat, the cold can still pierce deep into my skin. The soul shield that I'm wearing doesn't appear to dampen the freezing air that punches me. Interesting, I guess it doesn't see it as a threat.

We are reaching 10 kiloarms and I still need to steer myself towards the destination. There's no communication coming from Parmadita, I think she's giving me time to think while falling.

After moments of fortunately uneventful fall, we are finally at around 5 kiloarms in altitude. Barnabas is again, giving me a hand signal. His arms move around in circles above his head. I think he wants me to activate the boot soon. Although I can't hear him clearly, he's screaming out his lung toward my direction.

Barnabas

BOOTS! NOW!

I clapped both of my feet together. A bright blue glow emanates strongly immediately after. I'm jolted upwards. It's slowing my fall enough to erase this freezing cold air around my face. I spread my body wide, maximizing drag, then lean forwards into the landing target. This slow fall will goes on for another minute or two.

I'm now slowed down, almost to a stand still. We have reached 10 arms in altitude, I can practically smell the grass and dank swamp below me. Barnabas landed right before me, with his backpack thrown into a nearby bush.

I land feet first without issues. The parachute backpack behind me now weigh enough to make me feel encumbered. I can't wait to chuck it away.

Barnabas

Throw it there, we will need it for extraction.

Lukman

Sure.

Wait, someone is calling me.

Parmadita buzzes my pendant. She realizes that my altitude hasn't changed for a moment on her monitoring device. I'm stopping the buzz with a single touch.

Parmadita

Lukman, Parmadita here, you copy?

Lukman

Crystal, will update soon.

Parmadita

Alright, don't do anything foolish. Go there, follow Barnabas, and then get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

Please.