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<DIV>The President's Son, and the Prime Minister's
Daughter" Part Two<BR><BR>2nd Lieutenant Chan Wen
Hong (PCC-Chris)<BR>People's Liberation Airforces
(PLAF)<BR>People's Republic of China<BR><BR>Akemi
Sato<BR>Special Assistant to the Prime
Minister<BR>Japan<BR><BR>==========================================================<BR><BR>Down
below the palace Akemi tried to keep her composure
amidst the thak-thak-thak of automatic weapons and the
deeper booms of the mortars. Around her the
Chinese and North Koreans seemed to be having no problem
enduring the situation, she supposed it was part of
living here.<BR><BR>She glanced at her security man, his
face was drawn into a tight line of concern and watched the
door.<BR><BR>She wondered if he was being paranoid or if there was
any real chance of...whoever it was out there getting
in. She thought not and she hoped Chan and the rest of his men
would be okay.<BR><BR>***<BR><BR>Sgt Qing hurried to the
armoured ambulance shouting into his radio. "Yes! Move
on those mortars now!"<BR><BR>A reply came through his
earpiece, finally they were getting the orders.
Making a satisfied grunt he pulled himself up to peer
into the cab of the vehicle. The drivers were down in the
footwells, taking cover.<BR><BR>"You two, up!" he
shouted.<BR><BR>The men straightened and climbed back into
their seats.<BR><BR>"You start the vehicle," he said to
the driver. And then looking at the orderly beside him. "You,
open the back, we're taking this vehicle."<BR><BR>"But this is
an ambulance not a combat vehicle."<BR><BR>"Flexibility is
the key to warfare," Qing smiled and jumped down looking
at the group of men who were crouching behind the
ambulance for cover.<BR><BR>"Alright, let's go," he said and
then led them into the back where the orderly had opened
the doors.<BR><BR>Qing pushed past him to get to the cab
and glanced around for the Lieutenant, he saw him
tugging on some armor with a rifle slung over his shoulder. "Go,
pick him up," Qing said.<BR><BR>The driver, nodded and
got the vehicle going, rolling across the raging fire-fight to
stop beside the lieutenant, Qing, popped the side door
and smiled to Chan. "Going our way sir?" he
asked.<BR><BR>The Type 03 in his arms had fired a full two mags
worth of ammunition, meaning Chan was running a bit low.
He hadn't had time to grab more than 5 additional magazines total...
the problem when you were responding to an attack rather than
initiating one. Despite the surprise though, the Chinese
security<BR>force had been putting up a tough and
determined defense. As a matter of fact, were it not for
those damned mortars, they'd have had the rest of the
insurgents in custody right now.<BR><BR>Hence why when the
Sergeant pulled up, the Lieutenant felt like the tide was
finally starting to turn in their favor. "Let's
go!" He shouted to the Corporal behind him, both
men breaking into a hard sprint for the WAM-bulance. As
soon as they loaded up into the back, Chan gave the
majestic palace turned hospital and humanitarian aid complex
a final glance. Somewhere in the maze of tunnels
and labrynth of hardened bunkers that formed it's bowels
was a woman he 'really' hoped to see again some
day.<BR><BR>It was a fleeting moment in which the realization
of 'just' what he was fighting for hit home. This
was no longer merely about playing out one's service until they got
what they wanted... it was war. It was about life,
death, and improving the future of a people too adept to
suffering for far too long.<BR><BR>"Try and make every
shot count." Chan checked the magazine in the well
of his rifle to insure it was a full load before slapping it
back home and pulling back the bolt. "We don't
know when reinforcements might arrive. You all remember the
rules of engagement... we take prisoners if we can, but
I want you all back alive." It was a bitch to fill out
the paperwork, the old joke bringing a small smile to his face when
it was reitterated by the Private next to
them.<BR><BR>Another mortar explosion, this time right behind them
as the shooters were obviously trying to target the
ambulance.<BR><BR>Sgt. Qing cursed under his breath, of course
they would be firing at them. He just hoped the other teams
would get to the mortars before the mortars found their
mark.<BR><BR>Putting that out of his mind he looked forward through
the cab's window and shouted to the driver, to the left," and
gestured with his hand towards a spot that would let the men get out
without exposing them to the fire from the pinned down Koreans
they were here to capture, or otherwise remove.<BR><BR>Fire
from said Koreans pinged off the vehicle as it rolled on
towards the spot Qing had indicated. Then everything went
crazy.<BR><BR>There was a loud boom, and the driver cranked
hard on the wheel, the ambulance tilted onto the left set of
wheels and then slowly tipped over to land on that side.<BR><BR>Qing
righted himself from where he'd fallen into the side of the
ambulance and looked around most of the squad was unhurt, including
Chan, but that would change quickly once the other mortars began
to fire.<BR><BR>"Sir," he said to Chan. "Time to
go?"<BR><BR>"Yeah." Chan nodded as he pushed himself up, figuring
this is why most 'sane' people opted to not use ambulances as
battle wagons. He looked down at a cut hand, removed the tie
that had been part of the dress uniform he was caught
flat-footed in, and roped it around for the sake of pressure.
"Everyone up! You two go left, we'll go right."<BR><BR>"Sir,"
the two soldiers sent left said and then made their way out into the
firefight. Qing nodded to the Lieutenant's hand. "Are you
going to be alright out there sir?" he asked.<BR><BR>"My mother
drowned all the weak ones, Sergeant." Chan smirked before moving
up to get out of the vehicle. "Clear the
emplacement."<BR><BR>Qing nodded hoping he wouldn't have to report
to Beijing that the President's son had been killed.<BR><BR>Oh well,
the old days were over, and you only lived once. He jumped out of
the back of the overturned ambulance in a low crouch and then hit
the deck as the shooters they had pinned down opened fire. Though it
was short lived. A short time later their two men added their
weapons to the symphony of firepower exploding around them and the
shooting stopped. Qing came to one knee and slid toward the cover of
the ambulance.<BR><BR>Not looking away from his gun sight he said to
the Lieutenant, "Go on sir, I've got you covered."<BR><BR>Chan and
his 'wingman' started searching the bodies of the four Korean insurgents
for anything that might be useful. They turned up a little bit,
marked maps, message encyphers, a letter or two... they also managed to
get a pair of hand grenades, a few AK-47 rifles, and a dozen or so
magazines. They traveled lightly whomever they
were.<BR><BR>The fighting stopped, the rest of the North Koreans breaking
off and running, and they were doing so with a NKA platoon in hot
pursuit.<BR><BR>"I think that's our cue to head back to the base
Sergeant." Chan smiled and gave his comrade a slap on the
back. "Something to write home about, I bet."<BR><BR>Qing smiled as
he replied. "Yes sir."<BR><BR>***<BR><BR>"Lieutenant," Akemi said as she
found her dinner guest nearly an hour after the fighting had
stopped.<BR><BR>They had let her out of the basement about an half an hour
ago but she had only just won free of the apologetic North Korean
President, and the first thing she did was to look for Chan. It was only
right she told herself, he did just fight to protect her, it would be bad
form if she didn't at least find him to offer her thanks.<BR><BR>Though
whatever words of thanks she had concocted while she searched for him died
on her lips when she saw him, dressed in body armour overtop of his dress
uniform, weapon still in hand. Akemi's lips quirked into a little
smile. She had always thought herself someone attracted to intellectual
men, and that the physical macho type didn't do it for her. But she had to
admit, the fresh from the battlefield look was sexy.<BR><BR>"Hi," she
said. "Glad you made it okay."<BR><BR>She shifted her feet. "I mean, thank
you. You and your men saved us."<BR><BR>She smiled as best she could and
extended her hand.<BR><BR>Chan smiled broadly at the offered hand, gracefully
accepted it and, following in the footsteps of Hollywood's greatest, gently
kissed the back of her hand. Officers were expected to be
intelligent and cultured after all. He looked back up with a little
bit of a guilty smile on his lips. "I've seen that done a dozen
times in western movies, always wanted to try it personally." Hoping
he hadn't overstepped his bounds, he became lost in her gaze
momentarily... only a sternly inquisitive look from her chief bodyguard
reminding him he 'was' shouldering a loaded weapon. "I think he's
rather upset." Chan smiled apologetically before unshouldering
the rifle and unloading it for good measure. "I'm glad you're
safe."<BR><BR>Cute and gallant Akemi thought still feeling the kiss on her hand.
"He is, but don't worry, he's sworn to secrecy."<BR><BR>"Just worried about the
weapon," the man said in English. "I can give you both a bit of distance
now."<BR><BR>Akemi smiled her thanks and the man moved off a bit, still close
enough to see danger coming but far<BR>enough so he was no longer breathing down
their necks.<BR><BR>Still time was short and her father always said a good
leader knew when to seize the moment.<BR><BR>She leaned in and kissed Chan
softly on the cheek. A chaste gesture, sure, but then this was the son of<BR>the
Chinese President, and even that was pretty damn daring.<BR><BR>Akemi stood
back. "Chan, there is something you should know," she said. "I am the Prime
Minister's daughter."</DIV>
<DIV>===========================================================</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>ACTIONS</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>1. Establish some back story for things to
come.</DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? <A title="http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017" href="http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017" target="_blank">Read reviews on AOL Autos</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>