Jamie and I traveled across Europe and Asia, trying to find some kind of safe haven, accompanied by William, who had taken it upon himself to be our personal body guard.
As youngsters, Jamie and I had visited Scotland for about a year. She had met a kind man who had been a bomb technician. He had taken her in like a father and taught her everything he knew, which included a very heavy Scottish accent. Of course, all things must come to an end, and the man was gunned down shortly after we left. Jamie uses his accent as a tribute to his death. It reminds her of that short period of happiness that was stolen away from her by Jon Wang; it gives her a reason to fight.
William’s father had been an American marine sniper, so Will had learned everything about combat and weapons. His father had taught him Krav Maga, Karate, and Tai Chi until the day he was blown up. The teenager remembered everything he was taught and used to save people’s lives. He was smuggled across the Atlantic Ocean and landed in England. That’s where I met him.
I was running from some troops after stealing an entire shipment of food from them. London can be very confusing if you are too busy to pay attention to where you’re going. They managed to corner me in an alley with no way out. In those days, I wasn’t experienced enough to carry a weapon with me. It would have been over for me if William hadn’t sniped down all of the soldiers from an adjacent rooftop.
I had never been taught anything, but I had taught myself everything I needed to know to survive. I knew how to think fast, improvise, shoot, and strategize, so I was elected team leader. I also had a knack for technology and computers, making me the tech specialist.
When roaming through France, we had picked up an ancient weapons specialist. He was thin, well built, dark-haired, pale skinned and only thirteen years old. There was a rumor that he was part of France’s royal bloodline. Half the time he was rambling in broken French, so we couldn’t understand him, but he was a good fighter. He decided to accompany us, also being an orphan of war. His name was Robin.
Then, as we crossed the corner of Russia, we picked up Ulna. She was a skinny, tall girl, who could steal around without making a sound. She loved using combat knives form many different cultures to kill silently. Her English was good and, unlike her parents, she was sympathetic with England. Ulna packed her bags one night and followed us for three days without suspicion. When we finally did catch her, and she explained her sympathies, we unanimously decided to induct her into our gang.
After several months, we made it safely into Mongolia. That’s when we met Don, our linguist and negotiator. He had made it all the way from Namibia all on his own, using only his silver tongue. He was an immediate addition.
Now we were a pretty well built: we had a tech specialist, a bomb technician, a sniper, an ancient weapons specialist, a sneaker, and a linguist. That wasn’t the only thing that impressed me. No, it was the fact that we all had different nationalities. Jamie was from Scotland, being my half sister, I was from England, William was from the U.S.A, Robin was from France, Ulna from Russia, and Don was from Namibia, which lies in the southwest of Africa.
With these new allies, it was rather easy to sneak across the north-west border of China. After all, Wang has more important things to worry about than a group of teenagers. We attracted little notice.
Once in China we started for Hong Kong, where Wang’s main base was located. We had a plan to infiltrate HQ and take it from the inside.
First, we would be taken as prisoners. The prisoners were all kept in one large cell and were murdered every three weeks to make more room. In between, the people were held, abused, and tortured for information.
Don spoke fluent Chinese from his travels; he would make nice with the guards and get the supplies Jamie could use to build a bomb. It didn’t need to be big, just big enough to get the guards to come in. Then, Will, Ulna, Robin and I would attack the guards while Jamie and Don disabled the door. Hopefully, the other prisoners would follow our lead and we could take down the guards and escape the cell.
Our gang, not including Robin and Don, would head directly for the armory. We would storm the place and get the weapons suitable to our specialties. From there, each person would split up. I was headed for the main computer and electrical room to take down the tech. Jamie was headed for the reactor room, which was separate from the computer room as a failsafe; even if the tech went down, Wang could still fire his nukes. Jamie was in charge of disabling the nukes without detonating them or anything else.
William was headed straight for the roof. Once it all got started, Wang would call for reinforcements. Will was in charge of picking off soldiers and jeeps headed for the base by the main road. Ulna was in charge of being our shadow monster. There was a thick forest surrounding HQ. Dressed in dark clothes, Ulna would come out and take out soldiers without getting caught.
Robin and Don were in charge of getting all of the prisoners out of the base. Once outside the gates, they would meet up with Ulna and she would help get them to a safe location.
Reports claimed that in precisely two weeks and six days, Jon Wang was having a meeting with his commanders. He would be staying at the base over night.
That was when the plan was to be initiated. Of course, it was a tight time frame, but, if plan rebel worked, the prisoners would survive, Jon Wang would finally be dead, and the war would be over.
Finally, it came to the big day. Don had spread a rumor that members of the Rebellion, the worst enemy of Wang, were going to be in the small abandoned village about fifty miles south of Hong Kong. So, that’s exactly where we were on December 4th.
Apparently Wang had gotten wind of the rumor because, as expected, he sent troops into the village.
William was on a roof, hid rifle already aimed down the main street entrance into the village. Ulna was in an alley to the left of the street, while Robin was on the opposite side. Their stations were about fifteen yards from the entrance. Jamie was lying on her stomach behind a barricade to the left side of the street about fifty yards away from them. I was on my back beside her, clutching an AK, loaded and ready to fire. Don was stationed just outside the village, hidden amongst the brush next to the road with two cougar magnums. In this time, it was hard to find sonic weapons.
Earlier that day, Jamie had buried two remote detonation sonic land mines, or RDSLMs for short, on each side of the road about five yards away from Ulna and Robin’s stations. The troops would be in a 5-4-5 formation; five in the front, four in the middle, and five in the back.
Jamie’s mines would take out the two side men in the front row, while I would pop out and take down the other three in the middle. While this was happening, Will would start taking out the back. He would kill the left outside man, the middle man, and the right outside man. Don would step out onto the road and take out the other two.
Also, Ulna and Robin would stealth attack from the outside and take out the middle four. That would take care of them and put on a good show, but then Jon Wang always has five ninjas surrounding, waiting to swoop in if something goes wrong. If we didn’t put on a good act for Wang’s report, then he would immediately become suspicious.
After the battle, we all would regroup in the street, giving the ninjas time to surround us. Don was to be taken first, being the supposed “weakest”, and I was to be taken last since I was the leader.
There we were, in our positions, waiting. I touch my ear piece, “Everyone in position.”
One by one, each member confirms in their own way; Ulna in Russian, Robin in French, Don in English, Jamie in her thick Scottish accent, but it was Will’s that really made me laugh.
“I am ready to pick them off one by one like a hawk in a gofer field, Ma’am.” He says, his bright blue eye hidden from view by a long black scope.
I laugh a little then speak one last time before the attack, “Ear pieces on at all times. I wanna know if anything goes wrong.” Once more, I hear them respond before we all focus on our targets.
I wait calmly, holding the gun to my chest, my heart beating quickly from adrenalin.
A voice whispers in my ear, “Jamie, the group just passed me spaced a foot apart for each row.” Don tells my little sister.
“Rodger that, Donny.” She breaths, her thumb impatiently running over the button that would detonate the mines. We like to call it “Jamie’s button finger”.
Ulna’s voice comes through my com sporting a thick Russian accent, “First row has passed me.”
Jamie counts slowly. I know that when she reaches five she will press the button, “One, two, three,” I get prepared to leap up, “four…five!” She shouts, her thumb slamming down on the button. It was perfect timing. The RDSLMs went off just as the two men were about to step on them.
I leap up. Everything slows down; I fire three short bursts as I see William’s first target’s head explode from a well placed shot. Robin sinks the tip of his sword into the spine of his first man as well.
My rounds make contact, killing the first row. Ulna and Robin are already done with their first victims and onto the next, just as Will’s last man falls to the ground with a bullet in his wind pipe, just between the blades of his chest and just above his armor. I see Don step out onto the road and fire two shots, hitting both his men in the back of the head.
It was over in seconds. Then I hear Jamie, “Boom!” She smiles rebelliously and stands, already making her way to the meeting point. I follow her and soon enough everyone is standing there talking it over.
Not a moment later, five figures wrapped in black appear around us, their swords glinting in the dim sunlight. William couldn’t help but look over and grin at me. “You called it, ginger.” His eyes say.
One of the figures pulls down the cloth covering their mouth, “Will you surrender quietly?” I can tell by their voice that the figure was a woman.
My eyes narrow as I puff out my chest indignantly. I hear a string of Russian from Ulna, but it is Jamie who starts the fight truly.
“You have no honor!” She growls at the figure, spitting on her. If there is one thing that a warrior cares about, it’s their honor. There is an insult in Chinese from one of the other shadowy figures.
I see the girls eyes narrow in disgust, “For that, you shall be the first to die.” The girl leaps at my sister her sword high above her head, ready to strike.
Robin, having a fondness of my little sis, immediately counters the blow with his own sword. Taking their cue, the other ninjas attack their designated opponents without hesitation. We put up a valiant fight. Don, having only his magnums, is quickly disarmed and knocked unconscious.
Jamie was next. The girl was obviously the most powerful and her disgust at Jamie fueled her, giving her even more power. Robin had quickly passed her a broad sword just before the others came after him, but he had other things to worry about and he knew Jamie could take care of herself. My sister is small, skinny, and lacking in muscularity. She could barely lift the sword, let alone fight with it.
After a moment, the ninja had broken her leg at the knee, making it impossible for her to stand or fight. This only made it harder for the rest of us.
The girl ninja went after the member of our group who appeared to be the strongest: William. Now, Will was fighting two karate masters with nothing but a combat knife. The ninja who had taken Don down decided to come after me.
Ulna was the third to fall. While she was fast, stealthy, and strong, she operated by surprise, not by hand to hand combat. Also, she only had two small daggers to fight off a much longer blade. The ninja sliced through the armor guarding her stomach and, while she was bent over clutching the bleeding wound, round house kicked her in the temple, knocking her out.
This ninja then went after Robin, who was in a fit of rage after watching his beloved Jamie fall in a yell of pain. It was surprising that he lasted longer than Will, having only one double-sided sword to fight two opponents with. Will had been trained in combat all of his life. Even when the two ninjas disarmed him, he kept fighting, dodging blow after blow and landing a couple of his own before, finally, the female landed a snap kick in his face.
He tried to get back up, but the girl kicked him hard in the side to keep him on the ground. Right after that, the three idle ninjas took down Robin easily, making me angry. They had given him no chance at all by triple teaming him.
Now I was surrounded by five ninjas with nowhere to go, but I still had one trick up my sleeve, “You claim to have honor, but five of you have cornered one girl with no weapon. Where is the honor in that?” The girl ninja steps forward to look at me more closely.
She shouts something to her men and they fall back, forming a square around us. Then, the girl pulls off her cloth mask, revealing a quite beautiful sight.
It is an Asian girl with luscious red lips and jet black hair pulled back into a bun. I have to admit, she was one of the prettiest girls I have ever seen.
“I am Sui Ling, daughter of Jon Wang. I challenge you to a hand-to-hand fight.” Her English was superb for someone who was born in China. Sui Ling unsheathes her sword and hands it to one of the men in the square.
“I accept.” I say grimly. So maybe it wasn’t the best idea, seeing as she was a karate master and I had no fighting experience what-so-ever, but the point wasn’t to win. Also, it was too late to back out now.
I kick for her head, but she grabs my leg and pulls me forward. I start to fall forward; she releases. I slide gracefully to the ground, until my legs face opposite directions. I was just lucky that I was flexible.
Now it was time to give in. She steps closer to me, holding out a hand, and looking down upon me, “Do you surrender?”
I meet her condescending look with a glare of cool pride, “A true warrior knows when they are defeated. I surrender.” I might be defeated, but I can still mess with her mind. I can tell that my words trouble her.
She can’t help but inquire, “If you are a true warrior, then why do you rebel against your leader?” In her eyes I can see that she wants to know because she has no reason to fight with him.
I take her hand and stand, holding my head high, “A true leader doesn’t murder innocent people for no reason. A war will never end until blood is she no more on either side. Until the day when that murderer you call a leader is dead, I refuse to stop fighting.”
The girl frowns, “But what can five children do against an army of thousands?”
“We can kick their asses.” I hear Will groan. One of the ninjas kicks him in the side again and the teenager cackles fiendishly.
“It is not the size of the force, only the size of our hearts.” I say cryptically.
The girl’s frown deepens. I know that she can see logic and reason in my words. Doubt of her father is written in her black eyes.
One of the ninjas binds my hands and puts a black canvas bag over my head while another bandages Ulna’s wounds. The others are busy transferring my bound and blinded companions into a jeep. They transfer me into the jeep last. I smile slyly, knowing that they had just sealed their own fate.
To Be Continued…
