Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.
Sunday
An RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance drone could be seen cutting through the skies, flying at the maximum speed it can safely reach without causing any damage to itself, heading towards the direction where only two countries are situated: Eden and Esparia.
It was on its fourth hour of flight for this mission, having taken off from a land base in America due to its inability to take off from an aircraft carrier. Nevertheless, because of its long-range endurance capabilities, that was sufficient enough for allowing it to go and collect intel while returning without having to worry about the risk of falling out of the sky since it could handle a mission that could last for more than 36 hours.
Not too far from it, there was an aircraft carrier that was acting as the commanding base of this mission. An E-2 Hawkeye, a squadron of fighter jets and an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft took off from the aircraft carrier with the assistance of the steam catapult.
It too was starting its mission to act as an early warning system for the Global Hawk with the squadron acting as the guard for the E-2 that was keeping an eye on the reconnaissance aircraft just in case anyone in the targeted location discovered it and did anything that might pose any threat to the aircraft.
The mission had started very well and many people acting as the team members of the mission hoped that the mission would conclude well without any problems.
…..
[Sir, the booking of the private plane has already been completed and your family should be in the air in a matter of half an hour. However, since they don’t have visas to come here, you will need to have someone from the migration department grant them entrance to the country] Nova reported to Aron, who was reading the report he received from the ARES members who had been observing the whole raid by the FBI who were acting as if they were employees from the utility company.
“Good. I will be personally welcoming them at the local airport. Inform Alexander about it,” Aron instructed, to which Nova immediately complied by sending the message to Alexander’s glasses who responded without any delay assuring them that they can consider it done.
[He gave us the approval and will be sending us the official documents soon] Nova informed Aron about the successful arrangements.
“Good. How many hours until the graduation ceremony?” Aron inquired after he remembered that today was Sunday and it also marked as the final day for the soldiers in training to graduate.
[You still have a few more hours, while they still have a few more days to fight in the war before they are able to receive their final evaluation. I will inform you when you are required to log in to attend it] Nova added, receiving a nod of understanding from Aron.
His eyes raised in some astonishment as he continued reading the document that held information about Esparia’s recent movements which had been quite erratic since Eden’s press conference, to which Esparia responded with one of their own.
However, since they didn’t have any counter-evidence, it ended up only being a press conference that was full of accusations with not a single piece of evidence to back them.
But at the same time, they also hinted about Eden doing something weird and mysterious activity on the island that had been covered with brown clouds for a few months and was trying to divert the attention of some people away from them, putting pressure on Eden to do something big that would return these people’s attention back to their fight once again if whatever they were doing there was indeed a super secret.
The silence in the room continued for a few more hours until Nova reminded Aron that he should start preparing himself for the graduation ceremony of the trainees.
Aron said nothing and simply closed his eyes, after which, Nova immediately logged him into the VR where he found himself already donning the uniform of the Commander of the Army which he liked quite a lot since it made him look imposing and commanding. He was then teleported into a convoy that stood right at the entrance of the graduation compound which was filled with an eerily silence, as if there was no one.
The convoy then gradually made its way as it entered the silent stadium where rows and rows of soldiers were arranged in groups of 40 by 40, who stood motionlessly like statues, only their eyes moving as they watched the convoy come to stop right after the entrance before all the cars in front and behind the General’s left, leaving only the General’s car, which immediately opened its sunroof, allowing Aron to rise and stand through that opening.
This immediately resulted in all the forty thousand soldiers adorned in ceremonial uniforms saluting at him in unison as if they were being automatically controlled but they were not. In fact, this was a result of the training they had received throughout these three and a half months that they had spent here. And thanks to that, they felt respect and adoration towards the General that was now ingrained from the very depth of their subconscious.
Aron returned the salute and by the time he put his hands down, he felt a sense of pride rising from the depth of his heart, he felt the worry of the safety of this place would also be soon removed from his heart as in the upcoming days, Eden was going to become the safest country in the world. As he did so, the soldiers also lowered their salutes and returned to the attention position.
The announcer or the controller or the MC of the event who at this time was Athena, was present in her physical body, while also being donned in ceremonial military attire that perfectly complemented her beauty.
She announced the commencement of the troop inspection, which was immediately followed by the start of the General’s car as it drove a few meters away from the soldiers, who remained still as statues, turning only their heads to maintain their eyes on the general as he passed in front of them with the military songs playing in the background a result of the military bands hard work.
This process took more than half an hour, as Aron needed to pass in front of more than forty thousand soldiers, who for the whole time didn’t even shake or move, earning Aron satisfaction due to their remarkable discipline and composure throughout this time.
The inspection was soon followed by Aron giving a speech to the soldiers which was pretty emotional for the soldiers acknowledging their hard work and dedication. After this, they finally received the results of their hard work.
Those who were appointed to different commanding positions were called forward to receive their appointment documents. Along with that, all the soldiers were also shown a hologram that displayed their appointed position and the points they had gained throughout their training.
If they wanted any more details of their performances and why they had earned those points, they could access them later when they were handed the VR glasses after their graduation ceremony after they had left the simulation pod and received their uniforms and other equipment tailored according to their own specializations.
The ceremony continued with a flyby of the fighter jets, which the soldiers had fought alongside for a very long time as they endured the challenges together, instilling a bond between the soldiers and their military equipment.