Chapter 4

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.