Disclaimer: This is a work of original fiction. Any resemblance to actual locations, characters, events and incidents are purely coincidental.

Chapter 1.2 -- The other side (Part 2)

Abandoned Building (Rooftop), US Route 2, Alburgh, Vermont, USA, 7 November 2020, 1000 hrs

Near the North Hero Bridge...

A lone Young Templar lies in a prone position on a rooftop building camouflaged while looking at the sniper rifle’s scope. Her name was Sally Flannery. In her past, she was a former human with a happy family. Now, she is a full-fledged Young Templar and resents humans just like any other Young Templars. As she peeks at through the scope, she can see several soldiers of the New York National Guard smoking and chatting away while standing guard at the other end of the North Hero Bridge. ‘Silly humans! They should never smoke and chat in their guard posts while standing guard. No wonder we can destroy their safe zones and military bases easily.’ Sally thought as she silently observes them from a distance.

“Sergeant Flannery,” Sally hears her name call out from the Communication Headgear attached to her Young Templars’ ARIH helmet. “Please come down from your post a bit. We just received a message from the higher ups of our regiment and Lieutenant Blair wants to gather all of us in our shelter so that he can announce the message to us.” .

“Roger that, Sergeant Hass. I will be there in a minute.” Sally informs Antoine through the Communication Headgear as she stands up and slings up the M110 SASS Sniper Rifle to her back before making her way down from the building’s rooftop.

Camouflaged Dug-Out Trench (Underground), Near US Route 2, Alburgh, Vermont, USA, 7 November 2020, 1002 hrs

After walking a few distances, Sergeant Flannery arrives at the squad’s Dug-Out Trench to meet up with other Young Templars for the briefing conducted by Lieutenant Blair. As she enters, she sees them waiting for her before the briefing could start. “Sorry I'm late, Lieutenant.” .

“It’s alright, Sergeant Flannery.” Alex excuses Sally for being a little late. “Since the entire squad is here, I can present to all of you the message from the 14th North American Regiment’s headquarters. But first take off your facemasks.” All the Young Templars in the room take down their facemasks as ordered before the Lieutenant tells them the details of the message.

”Attention, Ravens of Section 10-A and B. Operation SkyEye is a complete success. Thanks to SkyEye, we received credible intel that the Grand Isle Safe Zone is working with LifeCure Global Pharmaceuticals. Hence, the safe zone is now a legitimate military target of the Young Templars. To destroy the safe zone, we will conduct Operation NightStorm tonight at 0100 hours and invoke the use of Evolved Zombie, Grudgies to tear down the safe zone’s defences before the 14th North American Regiment storm and destroy the safe zone. During Operation NightStorm, Soloman’s Protocol will be in-effect. As for Section 10-A and 10-B, your job is to assist us in releasing the Grudgies at 0050 hrs and take out any enemy defenders guarding the safe zone’s entrances.” .

“There’s no need for the Ravens to storm the safe zone since the 2nd Grim Reapers Operations Wing will cover us with AC-130 air support during Operation NightStorm. Hence, the 14th North American Regiment will destroy the safe zone, while the Ravens must secure and hold the safe zone’s entrances until the operation ends. If you encounter any survivors trying to flee the safe zone via foot or in-vehicle, your job is to prevent their escape by whatever means necessary. Once captured, kill any survivors that are above the age of 16 while keeping those alive that are 16 and below. Your squad’s commanding officer will brief you on what to do next to prepare before NightStorm begins tonight. I’m grateful for the Ravens taking part in this military operation and would like to congratulate them in person once the military operation concludes successfully. May the Young Templars’ faith guide us to victory. Yours faithfully, Colonel Arlo Ross of the 14th North American Regiment.” .

Once the Lieutenant finishes saying the message, it disappoints some of the Young Templars that they cannot take part in storming the safe zone. Some even wanted to take part in the storming of the safe zone and kill every surviving human living down there. Though Sally has a negative perception of humans, she feels disgusted to see her comrade-in-arms wanting to massacre surviving humans in the safe zone. She would rather see Young Templars take over the entire world and enslave the remaining humans instead.

“Section 10-A, show some discipline!” A Young Templar standing beside Lieutenant Blair angrily calls out her squad. She is Sergeant Major Katie Perez and 2nd in command in-charge of leading the squad after the Lieutenant. “Our order is to secure and guard the safe zone’s entrances. We are not supposed to storm the safe zone.” .

”Stand down, Sergeant Major Perez. I shall take it from here.” Alex tells Katie to stand down while he takes over the situation. “Section 10-A.” Alex addresses his squad in a calm but firm manner. Hearing the Lieutenant’s address, the squad quietens down and stands firm. “I understand that all of you want to take part in storming the safe zone. I too wished our squad to join with the 14th to storm and destroy the safe zone. However, an order came down from the top, which requires us and Section 10-B to secure and guard the safe zone’s entrances so that the 14th North American Regiment can withdraw safely once Operation NightStorm concludes. Hence, we have no choice but to follow the order given by Colonel Ross.” .

After the Lieutenant explains to them, the Young Templars of Ravens’ Section 10-A fully understands the order given by Colonel Ross and dare not question him any further. Seeing his squad accept his reasoning, Lieutenant Blair intends to give further instructions on what his squad needs to prepare for the upcoming operation. “Section 10-A. Before Operation NightStorm begins, there are some tasks we need to do.” .

”First, several military trucks from the 14th will arrive near our shelter at 2200 hours to deliver the military containers that contain the Grudgies. To avoid getting spotted, me and Sergeant Major Perez will assist the 14th to move the military containers and place them on the North Hero Bridge at 0020 hours. This is when the enemy is changing shifts and there will only be a soldier guarding the safe zone’s entrance. Hence, Sergeant Flannery and Sergeant Hass will take out both the floodlights and the lone soldier while deploying the Grudgies.” .

“Second, should there be any vehicle trying to escape the safe zone, Sergeant Nadeau and Sergeant Kozak will disable them using AVR-25 Launcher. Since any escaping vehicles might try to make a run for it, I will place them at the rear line so that they can intercept any escaping vehicle. For extra measures, Sergeant Darrell and Sergeant Vine will join with the Demolition specialists at the rear line. Their job is to detain any survivors from the destroyed vehicle so that we can interrogate them. Should the four of you encounter any hostile survivors trying to shoot or kill you, you can take them out. However, if you encounter any injured survivors. Please treat them with first-aid and then detain them.” .

Lieutenant Blair pauses for a second before finishing his statements to end the briefing for his squad. “Once Operation NightStorm ends, the 14th North American Regiment will withdraw from the area completely and the remaining Grudgies will be left there to prevent any humans from rebuilding the destroyed safe zone. We will only leave once the last Young Templars cross the bridge of North Hero Bridge and receive confirmation that Section 10-B cleared the South Hero Bridge of Young Templars as well. Once received the confirmation, we will depart back to our base at Fort Drum in our Cougar HE vehicles. Under Soloman’s protocol, we have to bring back any injured survivors for processing before the top brass of our regiment decides what to do with them. Other than that, do you have questions to ask?”

However, none of the Young Templars did not answer back the Lieutenant’s question as they fully understood his instructions. Some of them even shook their heads at Lieutenant Blair as they were looking forward to take part in Operation NightStorm. Without further ado, the Lieutenant dismisses his squad with a salute as he ends the squad briefing. They salute back at Lieutenant Blair and Sergeant Major Perez before splitting up to prepare for the weapons and gears needed for tonight’s military operation. ‘Can’t wait to see the cries of despair from arrogant humans when we destroy their safe zone tonight.’ Sally thought excitedly as she left the squad’s shelter to head back to her original post.

To be continued...

End of Chapter 1.2

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