Chapter 314 - The Regional War (Part 2)
Day 376. 16:00 hours.
The coalition mansion.
Tessa's room.
Alessia knocked on the door. The glow warm. The belly heavy — nearly six months pregnant with Jin. The doctor turned diplomat. The first wife who had integrated the Hearth.
"Tessa." Alessia called, her voice gentle. "Can I come in?"
The door opened. Tessa stood in the frame — the Hearth's leader, the woman with the Warmth Aura. The civilian Enhanced who had joined Olympus months ago, who had brought her people to the compound. Kiko. Sarah. Father Emil. Jomar. Bert. Lianne. She had been quiet since the reveal. Since the machine. Since the knowing.
"Alessia." Tessa greeted, her voice soft. The Warmth Aura pulsed passive — the 5-meter radius of warmth she could not turn off, the warmth that had kept the Hearth alive in the dark, in the cold, in the months after the freeze.
"I need to ask you something." Alessia murmured, stepping inside. She sat on the chair by the bed. Tessa sat on the bed. Two women. The doctor and the Hearth. The first wife and the civilian.
"About the Visayas." Alessia stated.
Tessa's eyes changed. The softness shifted — recognition, memory, something deeper surfacing behind the warmth.
"The Visayas." Tessa breathed, her voice tightening. "You found them."
"Satellite imagery." Alessia confirmed, leaning forward. "A coalition. Based in Cebu. Organized. Civilian. A network of settlements. Coordinated. The signatures suggest a government."
"A government." Tessa repeated, her voice thick with recognition. "The Red Cross network. The old network. Before the freeze. We were part of it. The Hearth. Tacloban. We were the Tacloban chapter. The Red Cross had chapters across the Visayas — Cebu, Iloilo, Tacloban, Bohol. The chapters coordinated. Disaster response. Relief. Supply chains. The network existed before the freeze."
"And after?" Alessia pressed, her dark eyes steady.
"After the freeze — the network held." Tessa answered, her voice gaining strength. "The chapters that survived reached out to each other. The old frequencies. The old protocols. The Red Cross had emergency protocols for everything — including a global freeze. The protocols were theoretical. Never tested. But they existed. And the chapters that survived used them."
"The coalition." Alessia realized.
"The coalition." Tessa confirmed, nodding slowly. "The Red Cross network. Grown. Organized. Into a government. The chapters became settlements. The coordinators became leaders. The network became the Visayas Coalition."
"Who runs it?" Alessia asked, her voice quiet.
Tessa was still for a moment. The Warmth Aura pulsed — a flicker. Emotion. Memory.
"Dr. Reyes." Tessa whispered, her voice carrying the weight of years. "Dr. Amelia Reyes. The Red Cross regional coordinator for the Visayas. Based in Cebu. She was my boss. She was the one who sent me to Tacloban. Trained me."
"Amelia. The woman who taught me everything. The woman who told me — if the world ever stops, go to Tacloban. Start there. Help who you can. The network will find you." Tessa remembered, the thought warm and aching and full of gratitude.
"She was the one who told me, before the freeze, that if something ever happened — if the world ever stopped — I should go to Tacloban." Tessa continued, her voice steady. "Start there. Help who I could. The network would find me."
"The network found you." Alessia noted.
"Three months after the freeze." Tessa confirmed, her eyes glistening. "The old frequency. The old protocol. Dr. Reyes on the radio. From Cebu. She had survived. The Cebu chapter had survived. The network was alive."
"And you left." Alessia stated — not a question. The knowing.
"I left." Tessa confirmed, her voice quiet. "The Hearth came to Olympus because Olympus was stronger. The wall. The Enhanced. The food. The future. The Visayas Coalition was surviving. Olympus was building. I chose building."
"I chose building. I chose Olympus. And I left Amelia behind. Left the network behind. Left the coalition behind. Because Olympus was the future. And the coalition was the past." Tessa realized, the thought heavy with the weight of a choice she had made months ago and carried every day since.
"Dr. Reyes." Alessia pressed, her voice careful. "Would she talk to us? Would she ally?"
Tessa was quiet again. The Warmth Aura steady. The consideration. The memory. The woman who had been her boss, trained her, sent her to Tacloban.
"Yes." Tessa declared, her voice certain. "Dr. Reyes would talk. Dr. Reyes would ally. The Visayas Coalition needs what Olympus has — protection, the wall, the Enhanced, the military. The coalition is civilian. Support-types. Farmers. Medics. Engineers. Not soldiers. Not Enhanced — not many. The coalition has a few. But not enough. Not against the regions. Not against the garrisons. Not against the warlords."
"The warlords." Alessia repeated, her voice dropping.
"Not just North Luzon." Tessa confirmed, her jaw tightening. "The Visayas has them too. Local warlords. Men with guns. Men with a few Enhanced. Men who took over settlements, took over supplies, took over people. The coalition fights them. But the coalition is civilian. The coalition loses. Sometimes. The coalition needs Olympus."
"Olympus needs the coalition." Alessia countered, her glow pulsing warm. "The population. The network. The allies."
"Allies." Tessa repeated — the word that meant not alone. Together. The word the Hearth had chosen when they came to Olympus. The word the Visayas Coalition would choose if Olympus reached out.
"Not alone. Together. The word that has kept the Hearth alive. The word that will keep the coalition alive. The word that will keep Olympus alive. Not alone. Together." Tessa realized, the thought warm and steady and certain.
"I'll talk to Dr. Reyes." Tessa declared, her voice steady. "I have the old frequency. The old protocol. If she's still on the air — I can reach her. Today."
"Today." Alessia confirmed, standing. "Reach out. Tell her Olympus. Tell her the Federation's seven failed. Tell her the Regional War is here. Tell her Olympus wants to talk. About alliance. About the future."
"The future." Tessa murmured, the Warmth Aura warm and steady. She had chosen building. Chosen Olympus. Now reaching out — to the Visayas, to the coalition, to the woman who had been her boss, to the future.
Alessia stood. The belly heavy. The glow warm. The diplomat who had integrated the Hearth. Now integrating the Visayas.
"Thank you, Tessa." Alessia offered, her voice warm.
"Thank you, Alessia." Tessa answered, her voice soft. "For asking. For including us. The Hearth. We are Olympus. But we are also the Visayas. The network. The coalition. We are both. And both are needed."
"Both are needed." Alessia confirmed, understanding. She left the room. Walked back to the Atrium. Found Jae-min. Told him — the Visayas Coalition is the old Red Cross network. Dr. Amelia Reyes runs it. Based in Cebu. Civilian. Support-types. They need protection. They need Olympus. And Olympus needs them.
The alliance was beginning.
The Regional War was beginning.
And Olympus was not alone.
— • • • —
Day 376. 19:00 hours.
The central mansion.
The Atrium.
The narra table.
Dinner.
The household gathered for the first dinner of the Regional War. The household that had sent Rose back to the Federation, analyzed the regions, reached out to the Visayas. The household at war.
Hua served dinner. Rice, soup, fish — the fish was good. Twelve days to delivery. She moved slow, sat when the food was served, her hand on her belly. Eun-hae — days away.
Jae-min sat at the head with Alessia on his lap.
Yue beside him, the arm whole, the marble eyes calm.
Ji-yoo at the table, Min-joo beside her, six weeks pregnant.
Anna — who had walked Rose to the gate, watched her former captain disappear into the snow, said come back. Rose had said I'll come back.
The spy was planted.
The knife was in the Federation's back.
Gabriel. Jennifer. Elaine. Mei. Rico. Yi Chen. Mark Jordan. Aiko. Paolo. Vasquez. Sakura. Yoona. Sera. Haitao. James. Tessa. The household assembled. At war.
"Status." Jae-min commanded, his voice the captain's voice. The dinner briefing. "Regional War. Day one."
"Rose." Mei reported first, her violet-blue eyes on the tablet. "Departed 12:00 hours. South gate. On route to Manila Bay. Marine tunnel. Transport to Taipei. ETA Taipei — Day 378. The spy is en route."
"North Luzon." Yi Chen reported, his golden eyes sharp. "Satellite surveillance ongoing. The garrison in Baguio — signatures unchanged. No movement. No mobilization. Yet. But the eyes are there. They're watching. We're watching them watch."
"South Luzon." Anna reported, her voice steady. "No refugee contact yet. The southern scouts are deployed. Monitoring the highways. When the survivors come, we'll know. And we'll process them."
"Visayas." Alessia reported, her glow warm. "Tessa reached out. The old frequency. The old protocol. Dr. Amelia Reyes in Cebu responded. The Visayas Coalition is real. The Red Cross network is alive. Dr. Reyes wants to talk. About alliance. About the future."
"Future." The table echoed.
"Mindanao." Mei reported, her voice flat. "Dark. No new data. The unknown remains unknown. We watch. We wait. We do not go."
"Bicol." Anna reported, her voice dropping. "The fifth front. Mayon. The nest remains. The things patrol Legazpi. The deposits on the slopes still glow red. The 9th Infantry remnants are retreating north — they'll reach the compound in two days. We'll process them."
She paused, her dark eyes finding Mei.
"Mei is analyzing the stone data from the scout sensors." Anna continued, her voice careful. "The energy signature matches the Day three file — Jae-min's Manila report. Same stone. Same source. Mayon. The stones are energy stones. One stone — one year of power. The slopes are covered in them. And the Federation will come for them when the machine dies."
"Five fronts." Jae-min summarized, his dark eyes sweeping the table. "Rose — en route. North Luzon — watching. South Luzon — waiting. Visayas — talking. Mindanao — dark. Bicol — off limits. Five fronts. And Olympus in the middle."
He paused. His dark eyes moved across the household — the faces, the wives, the children growing in their bellies, the uncle who had come downstairs from the hospital, the Right Hand who had sent her former captain into the snow, the heir watching the garrison, the divine fundamental turned spymaster, the Hearth's leader reaching out to the Visayas.
"Five fronts, the Regional War, the war we did not choose, the war that came to us, because we are here, because we are strong." Jae-min weighed with grim resolve, the thought heavy.
"Everyone who is not strong wants to be strong, and the way to get strong is to take what the strong have, but we are Olympus, we held the seven, we held Rose, we planted the spy, we have the wall, we have the Strike Team, we have the household, we have the nine, the babies, the next generation, the reason." Jae-min felt with fierce love, the thought warm and absolute.
"But we are Olympus." Jae-min declared, his voice steady and certain. "We held the seven. We held Rose. We planted the spy. We have the wall. We have the Strike Team. We have the household. We have the nine. The babies. The next generation. The reason."
"The Regional War is here." Jae-min stated, his voice the captain's voice — the voice that held. "And Olympus fights."
"Olympus fights." The table echoed.
The snow fell against the skylights. The narra table. The Steinway. The household. The dinner. The war. The nine. The babies. The next generation. The reason.
The Regional War had begun.
And Olympus was ready.
For the north. For the south. For the Visayas. For Mindanao. For Bicol. For Mayon. For the stones. For the regions. For the warlords. For the refugees. For the allies. For the enemies. For the Philippines.
For the nine.
Always.
Forever.