February 15, 2021, 09:00

  SinYokota underground bunker in Chiba Prefecture, Honshu, Japan

  No intercontinental ballistic missiles fell on Japan, due to the great sacrifice of the three surface combatants, including the Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). Instead, tactical ballistic missiles that had launched across the Corean peninsula greatly damaged the Yokota Air Force Base’s 566th THAAD battery and the Mass and the US Army Base’s 211th THAAD battery.

  Besides, the air defense unit and the radar unit, which had been responsible for the anti-aircraft defense across Japan, had survived several air raids and missile attacks before, received severe damage. As a result, it was no exaggeration to say that most of the units responsible for the defense of Japanese air space were destroyed, except for the surface combatants of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

  As a result, the United States and Japan focused on defense from Russia’s intercontinental ballistic missile, which could be equipped with a nuclear warhead. The Republic of Corea had identified the location of the antiaircraft batteries of the U.S. and Japan. Then, it hit those locations by firing tactical ballistic missiles. Russia’s intercontinental ballistic missiles were nothing more than baits equipped with normal high-explosive warheads.

  “How long are you going to let the Coreans attack our territory?” Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro, who had received a report from Strategic Operations Officer Yamada Tetsuto about the damages in the early morning attack, asked Captain Bruce Wright, the commander of the U.S. forces in Japan, rather than to Minister of Defense Shibasaki or cabinet officials.

  “It will start soon.”


  Actually, Bruce Wright had worked as the chief of operations for the U.S. Command in Corea three years ago. He was attached to Corea and wanted to avoid war against it. But he was just a commander who had to follow orders from the head office. He really hoped the battle would not happen again. If one or two more battles continued, it would be hard to avoid the war.

  “Soon? That’s it?”


  “Oh, sorry. I was thinking of something else.”


  Captain Bruce Wright, who had only given a short answer because of thinking other things, corrected his posture and continued talking. “Deputy Prime Minister, please do not be too impatient. Because of the attack by Corea and Russia, our 7th Carrier Strike Group’s Ronald Reagan and three Aegis ships were sunk.”


  “I heard that. I respectfully express my condolences.”


  “Thank you. Currently, the 3rd and 9th Carrier Strike Groups that departed from the Hawaiian Naval Base have covered 450km. They will arrive at Yokosuka Port by dawn tomorrow. Also, the 1st Carrier Strike Group departing from the Port of San Diego will arrive in two days.”


  “How many marines will land?” Minister of Defense Shibasaki interrupted.

  “Two marine brigades are on board for each Carrier Strike Group.”


  The Marine Corps Brigade that Captain Bruce Wright mentioned was an operational unit that was reorganized from the existing Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) by further enhancing its armor and mobility. The official unit name was the Marine Expeditionary Activation Brigade (MEAB).

  Each unit consisted of six ground forces of two Armored Battalions, Armored Vehicle Battalion, Landing Battalion, Artillery Battalion, Air Defense Battalion, one air force of the Helicopter Aviation Corps, and the Brigade Service Support Group. The total number of troops reached 2,300. One important thing was that all of the military equipment used by these units were state-of-the-art equipment that had not been introduced to other countries for security reasons.

  In the case of the Armored Battalions, they operated the M4A1 Warthog tanks that were equipped with a 16MJ-class railgun. The armored vehicle battalions operated the M5A1 Hussar armored vehicles. The Artillery Battalion operated various self-propelled artillery. First, there was an unmanned turret system, which was the next-generation self-propelled artillery that succeeds the M-109A6 PIM Paladin self-propelled artillery. Second, there was an M-2001 Crusader self-propelled artillery that operated the Excalibur Guided Munitions. Finally, there was an M-1203 NLOS-C self-propelled gun equipped with two 32MJ-class railguns.

  Additionally, to defend the artillery battalion from the air force, an air defense battalion was established to operate the M3 shooter, an anti-aircraft defense system similar to that of Corea’s Sky Horse. The M3 shooter was operated with the 18 FIM-92F Stinger short-range missiles in the nine launchers.

  Also, the Helicopter Aviation Corps operated 24 AH-66 Comanches. The AH-66 Comanche was a stealth attack helicopter, not the AH-64E Apache Guardian, which was currently the world’s strongest. The AH-66 Comanche was designed for stealth. Each of the four AGM-114L Hellfire missiles and a Hydra 70mm rocket was mounted on the wing-shaped hardpoints protruding from the inside. Four AIM-9R sidewinders were installed in the lower center internal armament room. And at the bottom of the front, an 8MJ-class automatic rail gun was installed.

  The carrier strike groups carrying the latest U.S. military equipment that had been wrapped in a veil were slowly entering the seas of Japan.

  “Is that so? That’s great. But I think the military strength is not enough.” Upon hearing a brief explanation from Captain Bruce Wright about the MEAB, Minister Shibasaki said, as if he was worried.

  “We have 14,000 troops. Each MEAB is capable of independent operations. Also, the equipment that I described before is the world’s strongest. It is enough to win the battle against the Corean army.”


  “But what if Corea sends additional landing troops to Japan?”


  “Corea will no longer be able to launch landing operations in Japan. We have 4 carriers and over 350 aircraft are in operation. Besides, there are over 35 Aegis destroyers. This will be enough to cover both the Corean Navy and Air Force.”


  “I feel relieved to hear that.” Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro, who had had a tearful face a while ago, showed a bright smile.

  “So, when do you strike back?” When Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro smiled with a satisfied expression, Minister of Defense Shibasaki asked again.

  “Probably after all the marine brigades arrive at Yokosuka Port, they will start a massive retaliatory attack.”


  “Then it won’t take more than two days, I guess.”


  “That is right.”


  “Our self-defense forces will also finish reorganization by that day.”


  ***

  February 15, 2021, 19:00

  E-Mart Ja-yang branch in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul

  Namgoong-won, who had worked as a senior researcher at the 17th Fighter Wing Underground Research Center for four years, was given an important task from the National Intelligence Service. He surrendered the life at the underground research center and returned to the National Intelligence Service three days ago.

  In recognition of his contributions so far, Namgoong-won was promoted to manager at a high speed and was appointed as the second manager of the Cyber Security Bureau, not the counter-terrorism investigation bureau, according to the current assignment.

  Namgoong-won was the only person in the history of the National Intelligence Service who was promoted to manager in 6 years of joining. But nobody complained about it. That was because everyone admitted he had served the country and sacrificed himself more than anybody.

  “Can I buy this?”


  “Nope.”


  “Why not?”


  “Because you will only play with that all the time.”


  “No, no. I will only play with it when I need to relieve my stress.”


  Namgoong-won and Lee Hye-jin were having a lovers’ quarrel at the electronics section in the E-Mart store. To be precise, it was more like a scene where a son asked his mother to buy a toy rather than a lovers’ fight.

  “I swear, oh, please believe me……”


  “Alright! But you can play with it only four hours a week. Okay?”


  “Yes, ma’am! Ha-ha-ha.”


  Namgoong-won had sold his studio apartment in Seoul because he had been spending all his days during the last six years in the underground research center. So, after coming back to Seoul, the first thing he had done was buy an apartment overlooking the Han River. After work, he went shopping with Manager Lee Hye-jin to buy household goods. At that time, the virtual enhancement game machine captured Namgoong-won’s attention in the E-Mart electronics section.

  “Are you that glad?” Lee Hye-jin asked.

  Namgoong-won grinned from ear to ear as he put the game console in the cart. Lee Hye-jin smiled, thinking he was cute.

  “No. I like it less than my wife! Hahaha.”


  “Jeez. You are so good at flattering.”


  “No, I mean it.”


  “Sure. Just go and pay. I’m hungry.”


  ***

  February 16, 2021, 09:00

  The conference room of Cybersecurity Bureau, National Intelligence Service, Gangnam-ku, Seoul

  “As you all know, we don’t have much time left. At least by today, we have to figure out about Scorpion! Division 1, do you understand?”


  Right now, in the Cybersecurity Bureau’s conference room, executives who were team leaders or higher were gathered to discuss.

  “Yes, I will do my best,” Manager Chun Hyuk-jun, head of the 1st Division of the Cyber Security Bureau, replied, rubbing his neck.

  All of the members of Division 1 had been working for four days without sleep to find information about the Scorpion organization. However, they had not found anything yet. So, all the 20 people including Manager Chun Hyuk-jun looked pretty awful.

  “Doing your best is not good enough! You better find something by the end of today!” Director Youn Ho-il lifted his eyes and said.

  Manager Chun Hyuk-jun straightened his upper body and answered, “Yes, sir.”


  “How are the things going in Division 2?”


  “We are searching through all of the U.S. government’s computer networks, but we couldn’t find any clue yet,” Namgoong-won’s voice got smaller and smaller as he spoke.

  “Why are you speaking quieter? You didn’t work late and went out with Manager Lee, did you?”


  “No, sir. We came to Seoul recently, so we had to go shopping for some household goods. Please understand this.”


  “Understanding, my ass. Our chairman is very worried about this matter! He is checking on it every day while he works in the Blue House!”


  “Sir, don’t worry. We will definitely find something today,” Namgoong-won said confidently.

  Director Youn Ho-il looked at Division 3 this time.

  “Anyway, team leaders of Division 3, listen. Since your manager went to Washington, you just support Divisions One and Two. That’s your job. Get it?”


  “Yes, sir.”


  Three team leaders from Division 3 answered together. Currently, the head of Division 3 of the Cybersecurity Bureau was Manager Lee Il-woo. He went to Washington, D.C. as the head of Team B, Information Analysis.

  Four days ago, the Counterterrorism Bureau of the National Intelligence Service learned about the organization named Scorpion through Yagumachi Genzo. It was an assassination mercenary organization. They also got to know about the USSC, a secret organization that could even control President Trump secretly. Since then, they began to investigate those groups. Accordingly, all the personnel of the Cybersecurity Bureau were mobilized to investigate, but there was still no achievement.

  ***

  February 16, 2021, 19:00

  The office of Division 2 of the Cyber Security Bureau, National Intelligence Service, Gangnam-ku, Seoul

  After the entire meeting, Namgoong-won and the team leaders had returned to the office of Investigation Division 2 and had had the team meeting about what to do today. Namgoong-won sat in front of the computer and fell into deep thought for a moment.

  He thought, “Clearly, they will use an independent computer network. That is probably why I can’t find them even if I used Hocula! There will be no way to find them. What should I do?”


  He put his feet on the desk and tried to think of a way. But he couldn’t think about anything.

  “Hocula!”


  – Did you call me?

  Hocula was located at the Underground Research Center in Chung Joo, but Namgoong-won could always talk with it because it was connected to his watch.

  “If this organization is using an independent network, will there be really no way to find them? I’m trying to get some idea, but I really can’t think of any.”
-

  Won!

  “Yes?”
-

  I’m not a god almighty. I have no way, neither.

  “You have become a fluent speaker these days, haven’t you?”


  – I am Hocula, an intelligent supercomputer capable of self-learning.

  “Yes, yes, I know. Just try to help me out here.”
-

  Is President Trump the only person currently connected to the USSC organization?

  “Yes.”


  – Alright. From now on, we have to hack into Trump’s personal smartphone as well as all of the White House’s phone systems. All the locations where President Trump would use the phone need to be checked.

  “And?”


  – Check the locations and direct field agents to investigate the suspected areas.

  “Wouldn’t Trump talk to a lot of people on the phone in a day?”


  – But this is the only way.

  “Ok, then. Can you hack his phone? Me and my team will work on the White House phone system.”


  – Okay.