[b][i]Intermission: The First Arms Master, Part One[/i][/b]

[b]Sison Auditorium, Municipality of Lingayen - 9/30/2022, 8:00 UTC+8[/b]

The auditorium-turned-barracks had survived the bombardment and Tian Fei's feats of terrakinesis, and it was there that the Volunteers, both Arms Master and Normal, had made their base after Tian Fei's death and the withdrawal of the Chinese Fleet to an alternative landing site in the Ilocos Norte Province, where diehards who refused to believe that their former President was going to traffic them to a devilish cult had seized control of a stretch of coast. The theatre of war had shifted northwards, but it was up to the Volunteers whether to follow the fighting or not because something precious had been found where Tian Fei had made her volcano - Obsidian and [i]Diamonds[/i], both created by the heat and pressure of Tian Fei's terraknesis.

The Mayor of Lingayen had pleaded with the Government of National Salvation to order Noel Alonso - Promoted to [i]First[/i] Lieutenant after the death of Tian Fei, to keep as many of the Volunteers in or near the city as possible. Noel responded by offering the Volunteers mining claims on the broken volcano and full ownership of what they can get from said claims in exchange for staying and helping rebuild and refortify. There were also rumors that the Volunteers - all of them - would be formed into a new, elite group, 'Task Force Obsidian', that would be organized by the Armed Forces of the Philippines with support provided by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore (other ASEAN nations were at the frontline).

As for Noel Alonso, he had also made a private request to Imperial Princess Fukuyo of Japan to add her words and prestige to any attempts to persuade the Volunteers to stay, before sending a text to Regil saying, [i]If you have free time right now, why don't we have a bite to eat somewhere? I can't promise five-star accommodation, but, well, I do want to know more about who I'm working with.[/i]

At the same time as this was happening, Willard, the newcomer cryokinetic from Britain, received a message saying, [b]"[i]The First Arms Master ever to exist[/i] has been spotted in the environs of Lingayen. Do not try and apprehend; just attempt to negotiate."[/b]

Then he'd get a file detailing who exactly the 'First Arms Master' was - [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing]Alan Turing[/url], the famous pioneer of Computer Science who allegedly committed suicide after being betrayed and wrongfully punished by the Government he served loyally. It turned out he had faked his death and had been spotted various times in the past several decades, often to lend aid to his former nation and its allies. And now he was within reach.

Lei Qingshe was in a position to intercept this message. Regil and Regina Meitner would also have a copy of said message slipped into their phones by 'a friend of their father' who was planning something (if the sender could be trusted, of course). Would any of them inform Noel and the others of the objectives they had received?

As for Callie, Nil, and Henri, they'd receive a message from Alan Turing himself, saying, [b]"Greetings. The First Arms Master requests that you bring the American boy called Nemo, the Greek youth named Niko Makri, and the Australian Girl named Hannie Calvert to where he is waiting in the ruins of the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colegio_del_Santissimo_Rosario_(Lingayen)]Ruins of the College of the Lady of the Most Holy Rosary[/url]. Do not let anyone else intrude, even if you must deceive or misdirect or even teleport them away. The reward? Why, a key to victory against the Chinese Communists, of course... Assuming you trust my word that there is a chance to earn it."[/b]

Carroman and Kaitlyn, meanwhile, would find themselves 'coincidentally' bumping into each other as the Chaplain was given orders to heal another batch of injured folk, folk injured not in the battle, but in the scramble to mine precious obsidian and diamonds as well as in projects to clear out the ruined 'Kaiju-construct' that had been used to assault the defenders. Carroman had also been asked to do a funeral service for Alain Lancaster, one of the Arms Masters killed in the battle (as well as funeral services for countless ordinary soldiers who had died in the line of duty).

Marlena Dorn, meanwhile, was tasked with keeping Lingayen safe from Chinese infiltrators or stragglers, a task made easier due to locals armed with machetes and bamboo spears hunting down anyone caught wearing a PLA uniform. However, several Filipino families with Chinese blood, many of whom ran prominent businesses and shops, were suffering misplaced revenge attacks and occasional looting, something which she and several of Corporal Castro (Kaitlyn's friend)'s soldiers shared the duty of preventing.

As for Lotus Squadron, they were assigned to a nearby air base, close enough that some of them can make the trip to the city they had saved while at the same time flying patrols and sorties to guard the newly-valuable obsidian and diamond mine before the new resources ran out. Who will make the trip and how will their involvement affect the various interactions in the City?

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