21st century Goguryeo

Chapter 313: Epilogue-2

April 10th, 2023, 16:00

Corea’s southern state, Kyungi-do Paju, Jangdan-myun, Dongjang-lee (the Paju National Veteran’s Cemetery)

Two years and one month had passed since the East Asian war was over. The Corean government had made 1/250th of the previous DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) spanning 220,000km2 into an ecological national park. Mines from the area were removed with minimal damage to the environment for a whole year, and the DMZ area closest to the Dora Mountain Peace Park was selected to become the Paju National Veteran’s Cemetery that hosted all the veterans who passed away during the East Asian war.

Nosang-lee, the place where many endangered plants and animals were flourishing, and where those who passed away in the line of duty were resting, was also now the home of former President Suh Hyun-woo.

President Suh Hyun-woo, who had lived in his home in Seoul after his term on March 31st, 2021, built a small home at Nosang-lee and moved there after the Paju National Veteran’s Cemetery was completed.

“You went there again?”

When President Suh Hyun-woo walked back to the house with his two bodyguards, his wife opened the front door and greeted him.

“Of course! It’s the only thing I enjoy doing these days!”

President Suh Hyun-woo laughed heartily, waved at his bodyguards to rest, and walked into the house.

“Take a shower. Your sister-in-law was concerned about your health and sent in some medicine for your knee.”

“My, my, I am as healthy as a horse. I’m basically unemployed and doing nothing these days...”

“You need to start thinking about your age, dear. You walk a few kilometers to the veteran’s cemetery every day.”

“It’s good exercise!”

“All right, just take a shower and take your medicine.”

“Okay. Ha ha ha.”

Former President Suh Hyun-woo was ridden with guilt from starting the war against China to unify the nation and causing many young men to lose their lives. He would go to the Paju National Veteran’s Cemetery every day to ask for forgiveness from the veterans resting there and attempted to wipe away some of the guilt.

* * *

May 13th, 2023, 10:00

The southern state, Jeonnam Muan-kun, Samhyang-up, Wangasan-lee

The sound of traditional instruments was blaring in town, and a traditional wedding ceremony that was hard to see these days was going on in front of a home at Wangsan-lee.

There were many white tents propped up and it seemed everyone from town was there for the ceremony judging by how packed the tents were. A bride and groom were in traditional wedding attire at the center of the tents and were now sharing a drink to commemorate their union.

The groom seemed to be pleased and had a toothy grin during the entire ceremony. Some of the guests noticed as well and started to tease him. Among them were soldiers in uniform with beret who teased the groom and laughing together.

“Jesus! Hey! If you keep laughing like that, your lungs are going to get winded.”

“I guess Master Sergeant Oh will pass out before the ceremony. Hehehe.”

“Hey! Are you really going to pass out before your first night together? Ha ha ha.”

The groom, who had been laughing the whole time, glared at the soldiers with a clenched fist to signal them to pipe down.

“Hey! Master Sergeant Oh! You’re still going to give your subordinates crap on your wedding day? I’m so scared!”

“Hey! You’re going to scare your bride. Put that frown upside down. Hehe.”

The groom was Master Sergeant Oh Young-taek, the vehicle commander of the 712 tank and top gun during the East Asian war. The soldier guests who had been teasing him were his crew Sergeant First Class Kim Young-joo, Staff Sergeant Yeom Hoon-gi, and his best friend, Master Sergeant Lee Kyung-suk.

Master Sergeant Oh Young-taek served as a quartermaster for a year and was discharged. He received many medals for his actions during the war and received a considerable severance package. He used the funds to start a large organic farm back home. After going on a blind date set up by his parents, he finally was able to get married despite his age.

Master Sergeant Oh Young-taek smiled until the entire ceremony was over and was teased by the guests who came to congratulate him.

* * *

June 4th, 2023, 14:00

The southern state Kyungi-do Sungnam-si, the 1st aerospace fighter wing’s Sungnam base

After the war was over, the 10th fighter wing’s base at Suwon was moved to Mankyung (Jirin) and the 15th special forces fighter wing took their place. Finally, the 1st aerospace fighter wing was officially founded, and the base used by the 10th fighter wing hosted them.

The 1st aerospace fighter wing had become the organization that every Corean pilot wanted to serve under, and applicants were at an all-time high. One year later, there were now 24 Three-toed Crow space fighter jets, where only four jets existed previously, and positions for pilots finally opened up. Skilled pilots from across the country started to apply for the position.

Lieutenant Colonels Choi Young-ho and Jeon Chang-bin, who had become top-gun during the East Asian war two years ago, also made it to the final 35 candidates after applying. Today was their first day to fly into space as pilots of the Three-toed Crow jets.

Lieutenant Colonels Choi Young-ho and Jeon Chang-bin were now the Corean aerospace force’s pilots and they had their Three-toed Crow jets 5 and 6 lined up next to each other on the runway, standing by for take-off.

Soon the control tower gave the go to take off.

-This is mission control! Jet 5, and 6 prepare to take off. –

-Jet 5, copy that. –

-Jet 6, copy that. – action

When the two Three-toed Crow jets started to fire up their dual C-PTZ-2000 engines after communicating with mission control, the jets rose vertically and disappeared.

After they went past the 1st and 2nd orbital velocity and broke through the atmosphere, the two jets started to raise their speeds to break through the outer atmosphere once more.

Soon, the jets reached 1000km in altitude and finally started to fly into space that the pilots only dreamed about flying into. The view of the planet from the cockpit was indescribable. It was completely different from the view the pilots could see from the 30-45km above the surface on their Phoenix and Black Phoenix jets they piloted before.

-Holy crap! Hey! It’s beautiful! Don’t you think so, Chang-bin? –

Lieutenant Colonel Choi Young-ho seemed to be mesmerized by the view that he forgot he was in the middle of a training exercise and called for his buddy Lieutenant Colonel Jeon Chang-bin.

-Hey, Lieutenant Colonel Choi, this is a training exercise! Start focusing, you idiots! –

Colonel Lee Doo-ho, who was in mission control, scolded the two pilots for making unnecessary communications.

-Ah! Sorry, sir. –

-We will now circle the planet by following our designated flight path. If there are any issues with your jet, report them immediately. –

-Jet 5, copy that. –

-Jet 6, copy that. –

The two Three-toed Crow jets that had flown 5000km above the surface started to circle the earth along a set path.

Lieutenant Colonel Choi Young-ho’s heart was beating out of his chest from being finally able to fly across space just as he dreamed of. When they started to fly towards the other side of the planet, the pilots could see the moon covered by the earth.

Lieutenant Colonel Choi Young-ho opened up the flight wing’s communication line and spoke to Lieutenant Colonel Jeon Chang-bin.

-Hey! Do you see the moon over there? –

-Stop! You’re going to get us into trouble. –

-Ha ha! Don’t worry! I turned off the external communication lines and talking to you on the flight wing’s channel. –

-God damn it! Thanks to you... we’re gonna have to get P.T’ed again! –

-Hey! Chang-bin! How long do you think it will take us to go to the moon? Should we pretend we’re crazy and take a trip there and back? –

-You crazy bastard! Do you really want to end up in the brig? –

-Ha ha ha, I’m kidding man! I’m sure they’ll give us a mission to fly to the moon someday. I can’t wait. Ha ha ha. –

-I never should have applied for this position with you. I must have been out of my mind. –

-Hey! How could you be so mean? We’re friends, aren’t we? We need to stick together! Hehehe-

While the two pilots were joking around with each other and glancing at the moon, Colonel Lee Doo-ho from mission control turned on the emergency communication line and scolded them.

-Why you- Hey! Who told you guys you could turn off the communication line? Do you want your asses to be P.T’ed again? I swear you will have to answer for this on the runway when you’re back! –

-Ah! This is Jet 5! Sorry, sir. –

* * *

June 19th, 2023, 10:00 (Italian Standard Time 18th 19:00)

The Positano Beach, Campania, Italy

Positano Beach was considered to be the most beautiful beach on the southern side of Italy. Many fine round rocks were glimmering on the beach from the sunlight. Many tourists from across the world were wearing swimsuits and sunbathing on the beach to relax.

There was one burly Asian man with a scar on his shoulder wearing shorts and busy taking pictures of the beach.

The man was Team Leader Lee Young-gyu, who had arrested Charles Lee from Cebu, Philippines in 2016. He was a chief at the time, but now he was the team leader of the Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation’s investigative unit.

Two other burly Asian men were watching him from the road behind the beach. These men were agents from Corea’s NIS foreign intelligence team 2, Team Leader Lee Ja-sung, and Assistant Manager Park Gi-oong.

The Corean government agents were here to arrest Lizzy Ahn, who was involved in the defense industry corruption scandal that shook up Corea seven years ago. The Corean government had given up on arresting her after agreeing with the U.S. government, but the political stances changed after the war between Corea and Japan was over. Therefore, the Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation decided to arrest Lizzy Ahn.

However, Lizzy Ahn had fled the country with her funds when her adopted father Tony Ahn was murdered during the war in 2021. The NIS foreign intelligence department worked with the Secret Bureau of Corruption Investigation and tailed her for two years. The agents were now finally able to move in to arrest her today.

Team Leader Lee Young-gyu continued to take pictures of a woman lying on a beach chair at the beach. It was their target, Lizzy Ahn. She had toured across Europe for the past two years and was taking a vacation at Positano since May. Since she had an astronomical amount of secret funds, her plans seemed to be just touring the world and enjoy the rest of her life.

When Team Leader Lee Young-gyu took a photo, it would be directly sent to the smartphone of Team Leader Lee Ja-sung who had been standing by on the road behind the beach. Team Leader Lee would then check to see if the subject was Lizzy Ahn. She had so much plastic surgery done on her over the past two years that to the naked eye, she would look like a completely different person. However, the software that the agents were using confirmed that it was Lizzy Ahn.

“Team Leader Lee! Is that her?” Assistant Manager Park Gi-oong asked.

“Wow! She looks like a completely different person. The program says it’s the same person though.”

“Oh! Is that so?”

“Send the signal to Team Leader Lee!”

“Yes, sir.”