Anna has no choice. She is not sure whether she can take on 5 automatic rifles with a pistol. Then, a detail from the corner of her eye caught her attention. It was Theo. He was climbing back into the hallway behind the rest of the mercenaries. She smiled.
"What's that smile for? Are you excited?" Jason reached for her hand.
Will has lost all hope. He is shivering on the floor, praying for Anna's safety. The second Jason's hand made contact with Anna's, she kneed him in the crotch and kicked him away.
"Fuck!" Jason stumbled backward in pain. He started raising his gun. The 4 people behind him noticed what was going on, and started aiming their rifles, too.
"Can't believe it has come to this," Anna whispered under her breath.
She unholstered the Golden Rose and drew it at lightning speed. Without aiming, she lifted it up to Jason's head level and squeezed the trigger.
BANG! It was the sound of a gun she had never heard before. It was a beautiful sound. The sound of the discharge of the last gift from her father. Rose-colored flames spouted out of the end of the golden, engraved barrel. Soon came the familiar smell of gunpowder. Most people are intimidated by that smell, but there is nothing that reminds Anna more of her home than the smoke out of a deadly weapon. But this time, there was a new smell mixed in, the smell of fresh blood.
Jason collapsed onto the floor. The bullet went in cleanly between his eyes and out the back of his head. The wall behind him was covered in blood and brain matter. Loud screams soon followed the deafening roar of the Golden Rose. With no time in between, Anna put her other hand on the handle and whipped the pistol left and right, and pulled the trigger twice. Two more have fallen with holes in the perfect middle between their eyes. She looked into the distance and saw Theo standing above two bodies with his blood-stained blade in his hands. The floor was painted red. He looked up at Anna and said,
"Clear." The automatically armed mercenary squad was wiped out in less than 2 seconds.
Will looked up at Anna in awe, not believing what just took place before his eyes. Anna was standing tall, with a golden pistol between her hands, a cold smile like she had just finished off her prey. She looked just like the Battle Queen in the storybooks he read. Theo came running towards them.
"Come on, Will. We have to take back the principal's office quickly." Anna turned towards him and offered his hand.
"O-Okay." Will wasn't sure what he was feeling at the moment. Fear? Admiration? Gratitude? Perhaps, love?
After Anna pulled Will onto his feet, she walked towards the mercenaries' corpses. The screaming had died down. Anna pulled a combat knife out of Jason's belt.
"Take this. It looks bigger." Anna tossed the knife at Theo.
"Whoa. Thanks." Theo struggled a bit to catch the handle.
Anna holstered the Golden Rose and picked up the rifle Jason was holding. It was a Mark-4 assault rifle, built by the Derunce Empire, a country that's supposed to be at armistice with the Gladakia Meritocratic Republic. Like a child getting on a bike, she swiftly took out the magazine, checked the ammunition, put it back in, cocked it, caught the ejected bullet, and put it in her pocket. Doesn't matter how many times he sees it, Will is still impressed by Anna's efficiency and familiarity with a firearm.
"Everyone, your lives are not saved just yet. Stay still and quiet. We will inform you over the speakers when it's safe to move." Anna yelled into the crowd. She had regained her composure.
Nobody dared to make a sound.
After Will grabbed a couple of stun grenades from the mercenaries' bodies, the three of them started making their way towards the office.
"That was pretty smooth, wasn't it?" Anna said with a smile.
"Yeah. It went better than I thought." Theo said.
"How are you guys so calm? We almost died. When things started going south, I genuinely thought everything was over." Will yelled frustratingly.
"But it didn't, did it? And it's all thanks to you, Will." Anna kept her smile.
"Ah. I guess you are right." Will sighed. "Anyways. You two, how did it feel?"
"How did what feel?" Theo asked.
"Your first confirmed kills," Will said.
They didn't respond.
"Oh, um, sorry for asking after what you ju-".
"Who's there?" A voice came from around the corner.
The three stopped. Anna held the rifle tightly. They stayed close to the wall and were ready to come around the corner guns blazing.
"A-Are you guys students? I heard you guys talk, and you didn't sound like mercenaries." The voice was trying to sound assertive but came across with fear.
Anna knew that he wasn't a threat. She waved at Will and Theo signaling them to lower their weapons.
"Yes. We are all 6th-year students here. My name is Anna Hastings, beside me are William Gordon and Theodore Berkeley. From your tone, are you a student as well?" Anna asked.
"Yeah. I am also a 6th-year student here. I am Christopher Arden." He said as he walked around the corner. "Call me Chris."
His disheveled form was on the same level as well-groomed Will in terms of looks. He had blonde hair, just like Anna, but not quite as shiny. He had a medium-sized figure but was still taller than both Theo and Will. He gave off the vibes of a prince, reminding Anna of that time she brought Will to a salon as a joke. Although, it's quite literally true in this case, as the son of the Five-Star General is basically the equivalent of a prince in a monarchy.
"Chris Arden? You are the one the mercs are all after, right?" Will asked.
"Yes, indeed," Chris said with a sad look in his eyes.
"So, if we turn you in, we will be safe, right?"
"Will! How can you say that? We can't sacrifice prince-I mean, Chris here. Plus, we already took out a squad of mercenaries, do you think they will just let us go?" Anna scolded Will.
"That's true. I am sorry, Chris, that was pretty insensitive of me to say." Will turned towards Chris and apologized.
"It's fine. It would be the most logical solution here, have you not killed a squad of merc-Wait! What? You guys took down a squad of mercenaries?" Chris sounded very surprised.
"Of course! We have Ms.Hastings here. There is nothing she ca-"
"Theo. Stop showing me off as your trophy. Anyways, there's no time for details. Chris, as the son of General Arden, you should be pretty sufficient with a rifle, right?" Anna asked.
"Yeah, I should be fine," Chris said.
"Great, take this, then." Anna passed the Mark-4 AR to Chris.
"Wait, what will you use, then?" Chris took the rifle.
"I still have something in my holster. Let's go!" Without waiting for a response, Anna dashed down the hallway.
After a short while, the squad of four arrived at the door of the principal's office. There were many windows connecting the hallway and the office. Theo had been tasked with scouting the room. Anna, Will, and Chris were sitting against the wall beside the door below the windows, waiting for Theo's return.
"Theo? Are you done?" Anna whispered around the corner where Theo went for scouting.
"Yeah, Anna, I'm here." Theo crouch-walked around the corner.
"So, what did you find?"
"The principal's safe. He has been knocked out and is tied to a chair. There are 5 mercs. One at the front door, and one and the back door. Another one is standing beside the principal, and two more are watching a girl."
"A girl?"
"Yeah, I didn't recognize her, though. She did look a little bit like Anna."
"Charlotte! That has to be Charlotte!" Chris yelled under his breath.
"Whoa, calm down, Chris. Who is Charlotte and how did you recognize her by simply knowing she looks a little like me?" Anna moved her hand down in the air, signaling Chris to lower his volume.
"S-Sorry. Charl is my little sister. She is a year younger than us. When I first saw you, you reminded me of her a little. Damn those bastards. They must have thought that they couldn't get me, so they targeted Charl, instead. Theo, could you tell if she is safe or not?" Chris said.
"Yeah, she looked fine. She wasn't even restrained. She was a little scared, though." Theo said.
"Whew, that's good. I guess they are not dumb enough to hurt a hostage." Chris sounded relieved.
"Those scums, how could they kidnap a little girl!" Anna gritted her teeth.
"She is not exactly little. She's only a year younger than us, Anna." Chris said.
"Ah, whatever. Anyways, Will, what's our plan?" Anna turned around to Will.
"Enclosed hostage situation, huh? Um… Um… Right! Standard breach and clear operation should work. I still have 2 stun nades with me." Will said. "Let's see, we only have two shooters with us, but that's all we need."
"Hastings."
"Yes!"
"Take out your pistol and wait at the front door. You will take the door guard and the two with Charl."
"Roger!"
"Arden."
"Here!"
"Grab the rifle and go to the back door. You will take the other two. Single fire only, since we are in a hostage situation."
"Roger!"
Chris is looking a little concerned. It's no surprise, Anna thought. This is his first real mission, and his little sister's life is on the line here.
"Chris, it's okay. You can trust Will with your life." She comforted him.
Chris nodded, looking a little less nervous.
"Berkeley."
"Yes!"
"You will prime the stun grenades. I will break the window, and you throw them in, clear?"
"Roger!"
"Alright, everybody, get in position. The mission commences at the breaking of the glass. Shed no blood other than that of the enemies. Let's end this in less than 3 seconds."
"Roger!" The three said in unison under their breaths.
Anna and Chris got to their respective entrances, holding their weapons tightly. Will gave Theo a "go" hand sign.
PING! PING! The sound of the safety pins on the stun grenades is heard. For the next 2 seconds, nobody breathed.
CRASH! Will smashed the window with a utility hammer.
"What was that?" A voice came from inside the room.
BING! BING! They could hear the sound of the grenades bouncing on the ground, and…
BOOM! A deafening explosion at 170 decibels is followed by a blinding light at over 7 megacandelas caused by instantaneous combustion of pyrotechnic magnesium and potassium nitrate shook the floor.
BAM! BAM! The two breachers kicked down their doors. Anna quickly scanned the room, located the targets, set their priorities, aimed the Golden Rose, squeezed the trigger once. Between the eyes. At a flick of her shoulder, the other merc came to the center of her ironsight, she squeezed the trigger a second time. Through the left temple. The one that was guarding the door is writhing in pain from the stun grenade. With no hesitation, Anna raised her pistol and whipped the merc on the back of his head. All at the same time, Chris put two bullets each into the remaining mercs, one in the chest and one in the head. The 5 collapsed almost simultaneously. From the time the stun grenades detonated to the clearing of the room, everything was over in less than 2.5 seconds.
"Tend to the hostages! They are the priorities!" Will yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to overcome the ringing tinnitus remnant from the stun grenades.
"Roger!" Anna and Chris responded.
Anna and Chris went to Charl while Will and Theo went to the principal.
"Charl! Are you okay?" Chris held his sister in his arms and yelled.
"C-Chris?" Her eyes were shut from the aftereffects of the flash.
Anna took in the scene. It was like a prince holding a princess he had just rescued. And then she smiled at the realization that this was basically exactly what it was.
"Yeah, that's me, your brother. I am here, Charl. There's no need to be afraid anymore." Chris comforted her and held her tight.
"Really?" Her voice was starting to break. "I-I was so-so scared." She broke into a sob.
"It's okay, everything is alright now, we are here to save you." Chris was almost about to cry as well.
"We…?" Charl asked.
"Yeah, we have Anna Hastings and her friends here, they also saved you." Chris let go of his tight embrace and Charl slowly opened up her eyes.
"H-Hastings? Anna Hastings?" Charl sobbed.
"Yeah. Do you know her, Charl?" Chris looked up at Anna, and back at Charl.
"Of course! She's famous! Ms.Hastings, thank you for helping my brother and me." Charl slowly sat up. The aftereffects of the stun grenades are beginning to wear off.
"No, it was simply a call of duty. Also, I didn't expect a literal princess to be my fan." Anna smiled.
"Princess?" Charl turned to Chris, but he just shrugged.
"Anyways, how's the principal doing?" Anna turned to the other two.
"He is fine. Probably suffering from a concussion, but not at all threatening." Theo reported.
"Good," Anna said.
Will raised his hand up in the air. The four all turned their attention to him.
"Well, squad. Theo, 2 confirmed kills, Chris, 2 confirmed kills, and Anna, 6 confirmed kills. No casualties, 2 and 3 seconds of operation time. With that, we have accomplished our first mission!" Will cheered.
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