M.A.I.

Inside the reeking dark room, strapped to a dirty electric chair and his left hand bleeding, John Pilot thought about his life.

He could see bright colourful lights from the narrow window, reflecting on his hands and face,

He heard people lamenting outside singing Spanish songs about misery and pain.

He saw his dead comrades strapped opposite to him to the wall, who were tortured till death and remembering them, he cried achingly.

And there, he thought to himself, this could be it, the end of him.

Few days back, John Pilot, the renowned analyst & tactician of the Rebellion army, along with his team were in search of M.A.I., an artificial intelligence system which they recognised as helping the Apostles of Sinew. The Rebellion realised it when their communication systems were affected profoundly.

M.A.I. was the Apostles' trump card, they hid it from public and heavily protected it from the Russians in-turn nobody knowing where it was located.

But two days back, Pilot received an Intel from Maria that the A.I. was placed in a scheduled location, heavily protected inside the Denise forest by the Sinew.

And after 3 years of losing side, the Rebellion was ready for anything.

They wanted to retrieve it as soon as possible.

The Rebellion militia had camped at the Denise forest with Russian made weapons and high-grade bombs.

And the forest had dangerous swamps and wild animals ready to prey anything, but the Rebellion was wilder than them, they were ready to prey the Apostles of Sinew who made them suffer for 4 years.

They were force trained by the "Elders" who taught and built them everyday at the top of the Advent mountains to become a soldier of fire.

The elite team consisting of 14 in number were preparing for the attack while hiding inside the forest creek.

They primed their guns and explosives for the attack and ready to strike at night.

Pilot was sitting on a boulder, he was very tall with long hands and strong legs and he always looked like he is ready to pounce at his enemy. But deep inside Pilot was hesitant, he wanted this Bullshit war to end, he always wanted to move to Jenera to see it's beautiful sunsets and beaches.

This was their 122nd assignment, all appointed by an anonymous individual/institution and he never really appreciated the undertaking.

Yes, he was a soldier and indebted to fighting for freedom but when life give you harsh situations, maybe you're done with that cup of tea.

He was tired of the endless pain and losing comrades over and over again.

He stared at the sky while enduring the pain over his chest. And then he saw a bird with long wings and strong beak, and the next minute he knew it was no bird.

He got up and started to run and even before he could tell his team, they were bombarded by the Imperial sinew bird camouflages. The place was blitzed with hundreds of bombs turning it into a war zone.

The brothers-in-arms fell to the ground, Pilot saw his comrades getting killed just like in Ariyos.