บท 15: The raid[1]

The atmosphere in the car was tense and If one listened closely enough, they could hear the loud, fast pounding of hearts which sounded like race horses on a track.

If one observed carefully enough, they would see the little unwelcome droplets of sweat on the foreheads of some of the occupants of the car as if they were seated in a furnace rather than an air conditioned large armored vehicle.

The occupants of this vehicle were none other than Chi Lian, her brothers and special soldiers who had been assigned the mission of taking down a group of rebels that was planning to bomb different places in different cities of the empire.

From the information gathered, the kidnapped children were to be transported to different cities and armed with bombs which would go off at the same time.

Such a catastrophe would instill a fear in the citizens of the empire and spread word that the network of the rebels was far wider than they thought.

A team of special elite soldiers and state agents had been put together to execute the rebels, save the children and disarm the explosives.

Chi Lian and her brothers were forced to travel with the soldiers by the state minister for security for their own protection. It had been one thing to fantasize about the operation and another to actually take part in it.

While Chi Lian was hardly nervous because she did this sort of work in her former life, her brothers on the other hand were nervous wrecks.

Chi Rui in particular was gripping her hand so tightly that if he could break her bones easily, they would already be broken.

The three armored vehicles were speedily but stealth fully making their way to Muyu slums where the rebels were holed up and preparing for their mission tomorrow.

"I want to pee." Chi Rui whispered.

"It's just your body reacting to the nerves."

"I know, but I can't help it."

"Be brave brother, you are a man." Chi Lian said.

"A handsome man that is not ready to die in an explosion." He whined.

"Shut up." Chi Wei barked. He was nervous as well but it would be embarrassing to admit that in front of his sister who was showing no weakness.

"Everything is going to be okay." Chi Lian squeezed his hand and he leaned back against the solid wall of the vehicle.

Some of the soldiers were deep in conversation and laughter as if they were heading into a normal raid to capture thieves rather than rebel territory with explosives.

"How are they so unbothered?" Chi Wei asked.

"Because they have done hundreds of such operations, I really admire them."

Chi Lian's mind moved to the days in her former life when she was a soldier. She missed the feeling of unity, camaraderie and togetherness of the army.

It was like a family, one that protected each other and left no man behind. It was better than real family in some cases. Just take a look at her aunt and her cousin. They were the worst kind of family members one could have.

"When should I put up the article?" Chi Wei had it locked and loaded, ready to go. He was anticipating the reaction of the citizens when they read it.

"As soon as the raid starts,"

"Why am I here?" Chi Rui whispered.

"You are here to protect Chi-Chi in case something goes wrong." Chi Wei rolled his eyes as he said this. "Besides, someone needs to hold the camera as Chi-Chi narrates for the viewers the events as they unfold."

Ring_, ring, a phone rung in the car which prompted silence, everyone looked in the direction where the ring was coming from.

Chi Rui fumbled with his hands as he tried to silence the blasting phone amidst angry glares. One of the instructions they had been given was to switch off their phones and yet he had forgotten to do such a simple thing.

One of the soldiers looked at the leader of the squad and whispered, "Are you sure they should be coming with us?"

The leader sneered and answered, "We follow orders, and we don't question them."

While he was on board with following orders, he was clearly unimpressed with the failure of Chi Rui a civilian who clearly should not be involved in the mission to follow orders.

"Is there a reason as to why your phone is not switched off?"

"No sir," Chi Rui replied nervously.

"I apologize for the mishap, it will not happen again." Chi Lian humbled herself and apologized.

"Make sure it doesn't happen again. This is a stealth operation, if that phone rings as we make entry into enemy territory then the rebels could be alerted and have a chance to fight back or escape."

"Understood sir," Chi Rui replied.

The soldier looked away and Chi Rui let out a breath of relief. He was glad that such a menacing gaze was not concentrating on him anymore.

Soon, the car slowed down which was an indication that they were almost at their intended destination.

"From here we go on foot, be careful not to make any unnecessary noise. Watch your steps because the place could be booby trapped and when you shoot at the enemy aim to kill, because they will not hesitate to kill you. And last but most importantly, don't die." The squad leader addressed his men.

"Yes sir," they barked.

Carefully, the soldiers made their way through the tiny pothole road filled neighborhood. Some of the curious neighbors peeped through their windows to see what the fuss was about. The soldiers forced them to go back inside and hide.

Chi Lian was worried that some of the neighbors could have been paid off by the rebels to alert them about police presence in the area so she sent two of her fly drone cameras to scout the ware house and its surroundings.

Chi Rui who was carrying a camera was right behind her and Chi Wei who was carrying a lap top was behind him. They were surrounded by soldiers on either side.

Luckily, they got to the ware house with no incident. According to the footage on her virtual screen, there were six rebels in the ware house. The leader, Venom was outside smoking a cigarette.

The children were huddled together in a corner where they were sleeping on cardboards and hugging each other for warmth.