#1 by Illogical Lemon

Chugoku Gate Construction Site, Hokkaido System
January 2, 807

The station was in chaos. Despite the fact that DSE knew of the Kusari Empire's impending attack, and were well prepared for the fighting outside their station, they had overlooked a major detail - the Samura employees working on the station. They hadn't been informed by the DSE or by their superiors of the attack, and went into a state of panic when the time came. As such, rioting was taking place all over the station, as the DSE security tried to keep the peace and hold back the screaming masses who were attempting to reach the escape pods.

However, not all of the Samura employees were caught off-guard. There were a select few who had been posted on this station since its construction, who had been waiting and preparing for such an opportunity. As soon as the first alarms went off, they made their move. Mixing in with the crowds in order to move around the station, they used the confusion to make their way towards the restricted sections. There, while the guards were preoccupied with the rioting, they managed to sneak in and aquire various documents and blueprints – items they'd been waiting for years to take. With these in their possession, they escaped the restricted areas and disappeared back into the masses.

Shinjuku Station, New Tokyo System
A few days later

Nagahide stood in his office, staring out of the window. His office was immaculately tidy, mainly because he spent so little time in it. He had countless identical offices all over the station, and switched between them seemingly at random. Officially to the company this was done to protect him from assassins and terrorists, however the truth was that it made it impossible for anyone to know where and who he was meeting.

The room was very simply furnished – a single desk with a computer at the side (which was never used – it contained only basic and 'official' data, in order to throw off any overly curious employees or spies who should gain access), and three chairs. The walls were plain and bare, just a basic silvery steel as could be found in the corridors or elsewhere in the station. The window technically wasn't one – it was in fact a highly advanced monitor screen, connected to a series of cameras positioned elsewhere on the station, set up to make it indistinguishable from a real window. Also, the room was completely bare of any cameras or other security measures, ensuring that anything that went on inside was kept a secret.

The communicator on Nagahide's ear burst to life suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. “Sir,” the voice of his secretary came through, “A message has come through for you.” “Go ahead.” Nagahide replied in a friendly manner.

“Yes, sir. The message is, 'The shipment bound for Sapporo has arrived, however we need some help getting everything unloaded and set up.'” Nagahide froze for a second as he understood the meaning of the code, before quickly composing himself and replying, “Thank you, Osei. Oh, and that reminds me, could you inform the news services that I will be making an announcement in an hour?” “Yes, sir.”

With that, the communicator turned off. Nagahide stood motionless for a few seconds, before a wide grin spread across his face. After years of waiting and wasted resources, Operation Full Circle would finally pay off.