September 14th, 2023, 20:40 (Russian Standard Time 14:40)

  The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia (the president’s office)

  President Putin held a meeting with the six ministers from the major government departments at his office.

  The room’s atmosphere was grim. It was due to Minister Valeri Karpin’s report that the demands made by the Russian government had been unofficially denied by the Corean government. President Putin, who had been in a good mood for a few days now had a hardened look on his face.

  The Russian government was requested to make other demands in place of the hand-off of Hokkaido by the Corean government, and the Russian government requested 100 billion dollars and laser rifle technology on the 21st. However, the Corean ministry of foreign affairs told the Russian government they could only give reparations of 50 billion dollars. The offer was obviously unacceptable to the Russian government. Even if it was an unofficial answer, it was rude and sheer nonsense.

  “50 billion dollars? They want to write off Hokkaido for only 50 billion dollars?” Minister of Defense Mikhail Ivanov, who had held office for years, opened the meeting.

  “Yes, that’s right minister,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Valeri Karpin said while shaking his head.

  “What? How is that fair? I can’t believe they would reject our offer.” Minister of Defense Mikhail Ivanov, who was upset at the nonsensical offer from the Corean government, slammed the table.

  “Relax, Minister Ivanov! We’re with the president. Anyways, what’s the reason they lowered the reparations to 50 billion dollars and rejected our demand for the laser rifle technology?” Minister Igor Semshov from the national emergency department calmed the minister of defense who was acting out in front of the president.

  “They cited our failure to meet the 3rd agreement on the secret treaty.”


  Within the secret treaty signed by the Corean and Russian government, 3 stipulations followed the hand-off of Hokkaido and rail gun technology.

  First, Russia was to actively support Corea in the UN security council. Second, Russia was to cease all military activity within Manchuria. Third, Russia had to commence three ICBM strikes across Japan as planned. The first two agreements were followed by Russia, but the third one was never fully met. The war came to an end earlier than expected, therefore Russia was only able to commence only a single ICBM strike against Japan.

  “They think it’s our fault for not attacking Japan since the war was over earlier than planned? That’s no sound excuse. That’s just completely unreasonable,” Minister Mikhail Ivanov angrily asked the minister of foreign affairs.

  Minister Valeri Karpin fell silent and Minister Igor Semshov once again intervened while frowning, “Minister Ivanov! The matter won’t be solved from you being upset. Please relax.”


  “What? How could I not be upset by this?” Minister Mikhail Ivanov responded angrily and glared at Minister Igor Semshov for interrupting him every time he spoke.

  Minister Igor Semshov ignored Minister Mikhail Ivanov and spoke in a calm tone, “We must come up with a solution rather than just yelling at each other. Shouldn’t we at least accept the Corean government’s final offer or come up with an alternative solution instead?”


  The ministry of national emergency was as powerful as the ministry of defense within Russia. While the two ministers were bickering with each other, the silent President Putin finally spoke with a calm look on his face.

  “Minister Karpin!”


  “Yes, Mr. President!”


  “Tell the Corean government we regret its decision to solve the issue with Hokkaido with only 50 billion dollars.”


  “So, we are rejecting their offer, sir?”


  “Do you think I am a man who will give up Hokkaido for a small compensation of 50 billion dollars?”


  “Ah, of course not, sir. I’m sorry.”


  “It’s not as if we didn’t expect a result like this. From now on, we will take care of things our own way.”


  President Putin’s voice was calm and cold. His supporters could tell how enraged he was.

  “I will call for another meeting within this week. I would like the other ministers to take care of the matters assigned to them.”


  “Yes, sir. Understood.”


  President Putin had given the ministers instructions on what to do next for the next hour and concluded the meeting. He called the secretary when only he and Minister Valeri Karpin were left in the room.

  “Yes, Mr. President.”


  “Call the director of the SVR (Foreign Intelligence Agency).”


  “Yes, understood, Mr. President”


  * * *

  September 14th, 2023, 20:45 (Kurdistan Standard Time 14:45)

  The Republic of Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, Maku, Azerbaijan park

  The six unidentified vehicles kicked up dust and stopped at 1.3km away from the reconnaissance platoon’s temporary sentry post. The Corean soldiers could not help but feel suspicious about their activities.

  “Corporal Kim, sir! Who are those guys? Should we just take them out and start blasting, sir?” Private First Class Gwak Young-hwan, who could not even take a break for a minute from the men approaching their location, spoke to Corporal Kim Sung-ho while looking at the footage from the SI-Q (Super-eye Reconnaissance Drone) with his X-K01 console.

  “You want to end up at the brig for that, private?”


  “I just want to pull the trigger and go there instead. I think it would be better than standing here in the heat all day. Sir, really, what the hell are they doing?”


  The 4.2-inch HD screen showed footage of six pickup trucks armed with heavy machine guns parked on the sides of the road, along with armed men in different uniforms.

  These were the typically armed pickup trucks used by the militia, armed groups, and terrorists as official equipment for transport. They were also called technicals.

  The leading truck was armed with a 12.5mm Deshika heavy machine gun that could easily destroy a sedan, while the other five trucks were armed with the North Korean Type-73 guns.

  Iran had been completely cut off from buying weapons from the U.S. since the 1970s. When Iraq invaded the nation in 1980, it bought a large number of tanks, anti-tank rounds, rifles, and Type-73 guns from North Korea. Iran started to manufacture copies of the North Korean Type-73 machine guns until the war against Iraq was over. It seemed the Type-73 heavy machine guns were now distributed to the local militia after 40 years had passed.

  “How the hell am I supposed to know? They must be Iranian militia or Iranian soldiers guarding the border.” Corporal Kim Sung-ho touched his KS2 rifle with the C-200P plasma smart grenade in the sentry post while answering his subordinate.

  “Judging by the fact they are not in official uniform, I think they are the militia. God, I’m getting more pissed when I think about it. I was just about to take a break, and it had to be the militia and not the Iranian military.”


  While Private First Class Gwak Young-hwan complained, the platoon commander gave his orders through the radio-

  Headquarters wants us to avoid conflict. Do not fire first, and just keep watch.

  When they heard the platoon commander’s orders through the Turkion-Xm radio on their helmets, Private First Class Gwak Young-hwan looked at the display.

  “Sir, aren’t they installing IEDs?”


  The X-K01 console display showed 20 armed men installing something on the road.

  “I guess they are trying to stop us from getting closer!” Sergeant Lee Jin-tae glanced at the X-K01 console’s display and brushed it off.

  “I think we must be careful during our next construction project, sir.”


  “What are you worried about? You think that’s gonna work on us?”


  The Iranian government was against the Republic of Kurdistan’s independence but did not want to go into military conflict against the new military power, Corea. The Iranian government used the militia to patrol the border near the Republic of Kurdistan instead of the Iranian military.

  * * *

  September 14th, 2023, 21:30 (Russian Standard Time 15:30)

  The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia (the president’s office)

  Director Evgeny Lebedev from the SVR (Foreign Intelligence Agency) entered the president’s office.

  “Did you call for me, sir?”


  “Take a seat, director.”


  Director Evgeny Lebedev was one of President Putin’s closest supporters for over 11 years.

  “How are our plans for Kim Jong-un going?” President Putin asked Minister Valeri Karpin first.

  “We have determined direct contact with Kim Jong-un will be difficult, so we scheduled for a meeting with the representative of the People’s Labor Party from the North state, Senator Kim Hyung-won.”


  Kim Hyung-won, who was the closest supporter of Kim Jong-un before the unification, founded the People’s Labor Party at the North state. It now had 54 congressmen and 4 senators as its party members. The NIS had put him under the ACS list.

  “Whatever happens, we must persuade him and get him to act for us.”


  “Yes, Mr. President! We will use every means necessary to persuade him.”


  When the hand-off of Hokkaido went awry, President Putin decided to use Kim Jong-un, who had woken up from his 8-year coma, as a pawn for his scheme.

  “Yes, sir.”


  President Putin nodded his head and spoke to director Lebedev while looking at him, “Director Lebedev!”


  “Yes, Mr. President!”


  “We need the SVR to start operations within the Iranian government.”


  “Iran, sir?”


  “Yes, we will provide the Iranian government weapons and have them hinder the Republic of Kurdistan’s independence.”


  “If that happens, that would cause diplomatic issues with Corea.”


  “Isn’t this an unofficial activity? Make it top secret.”


  “Yes, I understand, sir.”


  President Putin stood up with his hand behind his back and walked over to the wall with a world map hanging on it. Then, he continued to speak quietly, “A two-pronged approach! We should use this chance to shake up Corea.”


  President Putin wanted to use Kim Jong-un to cause chaos within Corea while using Iran to prevent the Republic of Kurdistan’s independence. If that was the case, then Corea would have no choice but to be involved with the war in the Middle East due to their financial aid and military aid for the country.

  President Putin planned to force Corea into domestic and international disputes to create an opportunity for Russia to begin its military actions to take over Hokkaido.

  “We will deploy agents to Iran immediately, sir.”