AKASAKA PRESS CENTER, MINATO, TOKYO.

The inspector sounded vague on the other end of the phone as I talked to him about what had happened to Cesar yesterday when a classmate of his, Keisuke, tried to assault him and went so far as to hurt him. Normally I wouldn't worry too much knowing my son's background and what he’s capable of, but the real problem is that Keisuke was loose in the streets, being a real threat to other people, and most people aren’t capable of facing armed lunatics like Keisuke. If I had been there instead of Cesar, I simply couldn’t imagine what I would have done in that situation.

Inspector Yamamoto who was on the phone with me had assured that he was looking for the young boy, but that they had unfortunately not been able to find him yet. Keisuke had not returned home since his mother died, nor had there been any reports from any hospitals of a young man with stab wounds like the one Cesar gave him. The only other option was that he had died from his injuries, but nothing had been found even after several days had passed. It was as if he had simply vanished into thin air. No matter how hard the police searched for him, it was impossible to even find a clue.

In the end, the search was inconclusive, and I had other more important things I had to do besides look for a troubled boy at the moment. My work hadn't slowed down a bit for quite some time now, from helping the Japanese government join the Alliance, to trying to find the Empire's remnants on the run since the end of the continental war, as well as trying to organize the Strategic Tactical Army Of Rapid Mobilization project which was giving me real headaches, especially regarding the African continent, which had become a game of blaming the neighbors for destabilizing the region. But I couldn't leave them out of the plan, the place was full of necessary resources and raw materials for global industrialization. I was looking at the map of the African continent trying to think which was the best place to be the regional base for our troops, thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of putting something so important as well as how others would react to such a move.

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The office door suddenly opened, Xi'an appearing through it told me that there was an important call waiting, an old acquaintance wanted to talk to me, apparently he had some interesting news to share. And if that person had passed through Xi'an, it meant that he was someone important and would not come with trivial matters. So, intrigued, I accepted the call.

"Hello?” there!"

"How are you Mrs Adelis, I hope you are doing quite well."

"I couldn't stop noticing how you've got such a good team of bodyguards that you stopped hiring my guys."

"Viktor Radek, if you're calling about work, I'm sorry to tell you I don't have any."

"I'm on my way out of all this."

"I'm more into bureaucracy than organizing armies now."

"I know that, you made it quite clear last time, but that's not why I'm calling."

"Well yes, but this time it's the other way around, I'm the one who wants to hire, try to hire your team to be more specific."

"I'm sorry but my security team is just that, mine, plus they like the current pace, they are not mercenaries looking to do anything for money."

"Ahhh, I knew you would say that...."

"But I wouldn't call you if it wasn't for the fact that I think I have something that I'm sure you'd be very interested in for your little job as a multinational super secretary."

"Look, it's a simple job, one weekend and that's it, in and out."

"In exchange, my "current employer" is quite willing to collaborate with your project of that fast army against the Empire."

"....."

"Well if so, it would be a maybe, I would have to hear the details first."

"And even then it will be up to everyone to decide if they agree to participate."

"I can't promise you that everyone will go, that is out of the question."

"Never mind, the truth is that our employer is the one who asked for her."

"He wants to hire the "white girl" as his bodyguard for a weekend."

"He has been quite insistent on that, going so far as to cancel Fenrir's job altogether if we don't manage to contact her."

"Information Viktor, that's the game being played up here."

"No information, no negotiation."

Viktor started talking about the details of the job over the phone, he tried to play it down but I couldn't stop thinking that it was going to get complicated, especially knowing how lucky Cesar usually is.

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Botswana is a country that could be summarized as the African miracle, a first-world place in the middle of a region internationally recognized as a place of poverty and chaos. A country located in the southern region of the ancient continent, a place full of true natural wonders of fantasy and the like, but with perhaps an even more amazing history in politics. A firmly established democracy despite being in a place full of dangers and challenges known as Bechuanaland. It gained its independence from Britain in 1966. Unlike many of its African neighbors, which often suffered from armed conflict and authoritarian regimes after decolonization. Botswana however chose a different path. Instead of falling into corruption and instability, the country chose to establish a multiparty democracy and a strong rule of law. The life's work of a man of vision for his people, Seretse Khama, is a legend among his countrymen, a true example of leadership and wisdom. He came to power and instead of falling to the corruption of power like many others in the region, he chose a different path, fighting hard to create a paradise for his people. The country has sense been known for its independence and natural resources, especially its diamonds. But far from using them for his personal benefit, he made it his mission to redistribute the profits to his people. He invested heavily in social aid programs, education, health, and so on. Instead of turning his diamond mines over to foreign companies, he chose to take the work into national hands, which was certainly not easy at first, but with a clear vision and constant supervision, he managed to prosper. But his work did not stop there, because he was a great believer in democracy, true democracy, he went to great lengths to hold regular and fair elections. Although his government lasted from 1966 until his death in 1980, all those years were completely fair, chosen by his people. Even after that his successors, being all indebted to his work and memory, have also decided to honor his work by following in his footsteps of democracy and development for his birth. The place may not have the most beautiful capital in the world, but it was without a doubt a fully functional and truly prosperous country.

Or, that’s what I would like to say, but the truth is that the country had changed a lot since the beginning of the Continental War. While the whole world was busy with the threat of the Empire, Zimbabwe, jealous of the neighboring prosperity of honest labor, launched a military attack that took the country by surprise. In a little less than two months the country had been defeated when the then-president of Botswana was killed in a military attack aimed at his head. In place of a democratically elected government, Zimbabwe's dictator, Sizwe Mabena, put in place someone quite favorable to him, the new president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, who although with the title of President, is no better than his neighbor. The riches from the diamonds now only fill the coffers of the two families of the politicians.

Mokgweetsi Masisi knows that his popularity with the people is not on good terms, his opposition as a leader is quite high with a lot of detractors. So he is trying to build up a military force as quickly as possible to stay in power, but money is tight when you don't want to spend your diamond profits. So it seems that he intends to buy time by trying to reach a pact with the Alliance, he offers his country as a regional base for our rapidly deploying army, with the idea that with a greater military presence, even if borrowed and foreign, he will be able to deter his opponents. The only problem as always seems to be his neighbors, especially the leader Zimbabwe, who does not like the idea of having a large base with heavily armed troops so close to his regime, so Mokgweetsi Masisi plans to meet with his friend Sizwe Mabena and discuss this further and go ahead with his plan.

The only problem with his whole strategy is if he does not make his meeting, then the opposition may decide to act in drastic way. So he is quite afraid for his own safety during the trip. So he has decided to personally hire the private security group Fenrir, the same group of which Viktor Radek is its leader, to escort him during his political tour in the neighboring country.

Although I do not like the work done by Masisi, right now a good base in Africa is necessary for the overall plan of the Alliance. Even if it is part of the UN, does not mean that we can remove or take away governments at our whim, we have to respect all the governments of the world, whatever their political system. And if Masisi manages to promise us a base he will certainly be welcomed by the other members of the alliance, even when they recently rejected Russia as a host because of a possible civil war, as they consider an African country as "less important" they certainly don’t take it as a serious threat.

The part where my son comes into play in all of this is that apparently, somehow Masisi found out about the existence of the "white girl" and wants her to personally work as his bodyguard. Highlighting a stolen CIA report regarding Elise and her involvement in the battle of New York he said, “I consider her even better than Fenrir.” And well, that is simply because he is. He is willing to pay a very good sum in exchange for the job, even going so far as to promise a bag full of diamonds for her to put a price on it himself. Normally he would have ignored him, but remembering that Cesar had been looking for money to fulfill his dream of owning a car workshop, maybe this would be a good opportunity to get the funds to make it happen. The problem is that this is far from an "honest job", but it is one that will pay the bills, so it will have to be up to him whether he decides to participate in all this or let it go.

Although who knows, maybe, knowing his bad luck......