[b][i]Intermission Four - Darkest Hour[/i][/b]

[b]La Trinidad de Manila Academy - 12/1/2022, 8:24, UTC+8[/b]

[center]
[url=https://www.imgchest.com/p/md7oqkxr4p6][img]https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/45xcvve9ja7.jpg[/img][/url]
[i]Far Eastern University In Real Life; the location and structures are used for La Trinidad de Manila in this timeline for convinience[/i][/center]

As Henri, Nil, and Callie talked, Myron Makraig continued to worry about Noel, not helped by the fact that Tonka and Oskar had just suddenly vanished. This was bad; he was on the verge of calling up old terrorist contacts in order to break out the First Lieutenant who had believed in him when no one else would. But that meant putting himself in their debt, which can harm his friends later on - Friends who would not forgive him for the measures he took.

This time, he cannot blame them if they abandoned him; only himself. But what else can he do? Let the First Lieutenant - A mere 18 year old - suffer underneath a depraved avatar who took joy in torture? Noel Alonso deserved better; he cannot just let him spend another day in that deep dungeon like so many others have already.

"I can save him, if you'd accept a freebie," a voice suddenly said from behind him. It was a tall, beardless, blond man wearing a tank top, trousers, and work boots that showed off his lean, toned arms; Myron recognized him as [I]Diligence[/i]. "In exchange, well... I notice Nico Makri is indisposed, right? Pass him a 'get well soon' card for me, and tell him I haven't given up on his' becoming the [i]real[/i] Humilitas."

It was all Myron can do not to scowl at him...

[@Chiro][@Nimbus]

[b][i]Refugee Camp North of Manila - 12/3/2022, 11:00, UTC+8 (Three Days Later)[/i][/b]

The Philippine Government of National Salvation's forces were spread thin and were not well-equipped for the sudden strike by the Corriente Family's private army. This was the second time Crown Prince Shinyahito was caught unawares by various political clans' intrigues against each other and the PGNS. 

But as Cristina took her sister away into her Imaginary Space for a 'private settlement' of their issues, the boy can think clearer now about how to save the camp from this assault without excess collateral damage.

"Nil!" his tone hardened into one of command, "Stay with me! Do not fire unless we are attacked; do you get me?! If you fire at random, we'll end up harming innocent people! So don't fire until I give the say-so!"

Then he turned towards Mikey and Archer, saying, "You two! Arms Masters can use ordinary guns too, so go find some and fire!"

And as if to set an example, the Crown Prince drew a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_Nano]Beretta Nano[/url] he had concealed in his jacket and fired at two of the machete-wielding infiltrators who were chasing a mother and child. One was brought down, the other remained. As he saw that Nil had a clear shot, he told her, "Okay, you can fire at him and only him until he is hit, got it?"

From her new vantage point, Mikey could see that the battle outside was not going as well as it should; the Corriente Family's thugs had put machine guns and armor plates onto four Toyota Pickup Trucks that had broken through the camp fence and offloading squads of well-armed militia, while motorcycle-riding gunmen - sixteen of them on Chinese-made vehicles, rode around shooting at anything and everything. Philippine Government of National Salvation forces were rallying, with Military Police and Regular Army and Police units organizing themselves into a cordon around the camp while others swept the area for infiltrators.

What can she do right now?

[@Gerlando][@Digmata][@ctrlsaltdel][@Archazen]