(17. A) Attacks and misdirections

"Anila. What should we do?", a young lady no older than 12 or 13 pouted at the vibrant sight of a festival from the air with a pair of binoculars.

"Our only goal here is to extract the fourth elder after his speech and sniff out the infiltrators my brouugh... my brotheough... my idiot womb parasite managed to miraculously spot", the girl fixed the microphone by her lips and switched her binoculars out for a stack of reprinted photos.

"Roger that"

"Copy"

"Yes ma'am"

"Check your locations for the families in the photos and stay within actionable distance of each other. Keep comms open, I want everyone to hear the deaths of those who get caught slacking"

"Haha. Funny joke ma'am... that was a joke, right? "

"It was not a joke. Madam Anila is looking forward to hearing us fuck up"

"You mean she's looking forward to us being killed you bastard"

"Cut the chatter. Lock down the stage. If worse comes to worse, open fire on the crowd. Everyone here is willing to lay down their life if it means keeping our lord safe and happy", the little girl patted the shoulders of the snipers in her helicopter and picked up the binoculars once more to spot intruders.

Two other helicopters hovered around the area, each of them had a pilot, a spotter, and two marksman that scanned the beachfront. Another two helicopters flew back and forth through the property's more inland. They constantly picked up and dropped soldiers off from a nearby encampment.

"Ma'am, the perimeter is nearly complete. I received word that the blockade will be complete in thirty minutes", Anila locked onto a young lady who stuffed a satellite phone into her purse.

"Good, now do the rest of you have any good news", slowly, her eyes snapped onto each of her scouts.

"I don't see anyone I don't recognize by the food stands"

"Bathrooms are clear"

"Stage. Is clear. It's weird though. If I were an assassin, I would take out my target just before they were under the eyes of hundreds...", the sound of a choking and a wet gasp escaped the speaker's lips before a violent thud broke the communication device.

"The bastards killed Kendall"

"I'm going now!"

"Already here. Fourth elder is secure"

"Sending the body double onto the stage now"

"Extracting now"

"The suspect is breaking left toward the yoga center from the spa hall..."

"I have eyes on the stage"

"I'm here. Alex is also dead. Clean cut. Headset is missing, one of them has our line. These are assassins"

"There's someone with a camera pointing toward the backstage. We have journalists too. Should we capture or kill them?"

"In pursuit. Different person, this one is headed to the sports center in a stolen vehicle"

"We are with you, look up"

"I got stabbed, she's going through the mud baths now. Headed toward the Pop-up shrine to our lord. Shit, it's a clean cut... I'm... bleeding..."

"Fuck. What is happening? We can't even see them until they are killing us"

"This... I've heard stories"

"These guys are Ghosts"

"No way. We are going against people like Madam Lagrange"

"No. Nothing like that. This is probably a training session. These are just the wisps of the organization. If these were real Ghosts..."

"Hey. Hey! Fuck, I'm on my way"

"These bastards. They killed her. I'm going to..."

"You are all going to shut the fuck up and clear the chatter. Now!", Anila calmy spoke into the mic and watched as her people exposed themselves to the enemy one by one.

"Control your emotions, stop moving your mouths, and look around for a moment. Count the number of people around you and remember their faces. Wisps, ghosts, journalists, it doesn't matter. We will get rid of them all for our lord", Anila pointed at the person she spotted. Almost as if the assassin sensed the shot coming, the person dodged out of the way and only got a nick to the shoulder instead of a hole in the chest.

"There you go, follow that", Anila pointed elsewhere, and another shot marked an assassin that circled one of her team members.

"Wow. The rodents are well trained aren't they", Anila smiled even wider as she focused the other sniper on a different suspicious individual.

The crowd jumped into a panic upon hearing the first gunshot. The second completely threw them into a frenzy. The third and each following shot was covered up with even louder music from the stage. The next assassin Anila spotted jumped out of the way so quickly that it was obvious the idiot was looking directly at the helicopter and the snipers. The man slipped through the dense parts of the crowd and once he dipped through the dense food stands.

"Someone, calm the crowd. And get the body double to control the crowd. Wesley, get grandpa and grandma on the line and tell them we have circus rats. I need an extermination team over here asap...", as she gave the orders the situation took a turn.

"Ma'am, I've just received a wide broadcast. Your grandfather is awakening to our lord's gift and your grandmother is protecting our lord at an undisclosed location. I don't know the full situation but there appears to be rumors of a minor explosion in our lord's chambers as well", someone responded to Anila's commands.

"What?", with no time to settle that information, the helicopters were thrown out of their stable hover. The people on the beach doubled over to hold their ears. A mushroom cloud exploded out on the highway next to the sports center.

"EVERYONE BACK OFF. Let the bastards escape", Anila grit her teeth with a broken smile. Anger spilled out of her voice and body without end.

"Keep track of them. Let them know we are following their every move but don't force them into a corner. I don't want more casualties", Anila turned off her mic and tried to control her trembling hands.

"Ma'am. The decoy is not getting onto the stage", someone informed.

"Throw him if you have to", Anila took a deep breath and growled into the mic. The fake fourth elder walked onto the stage around now. The man nearly jumped out of his own socks when the music stopped, and the crowd turned towards him.

"Ma'am, we have an issue", a voice crackled over the comms.

The real fourth elder stormed onto the stage and addressed the flock.

"Hello everyone. I have horrible news...", the elder nearly jumped onto the mic and rolled. *BANG*.

Blood exploded out from his shoulder as he was thrown to the ground.

*Bang*, the shot missed and ricocheted into a speaker with. Half a dozen members of the crowd swarmed the shooter and beat him to death.

"*Bang* Our lord and high priest have ordered us to return to our homes, to lock our doors and protect our lives", the man dropped to a knee and rolled once more to avoid another killing shot.

"While we were here, invaders approached the island and attacked our lord's home… *Bang*", the elder fell to the ground and dropped the mic. The body double froze and looked towards the mountain peak...

One by one, everyone looked over to see ash swirl out of their lord's personal space. The new gunners slipped away from the crowd in the confusion but this time...

*One person sings*

*Two people... three... four...*

Everyone on the beach sang a hymn Aaradhya would be familiar with. It was a tune of respect, faith, love, and above all, Death. A hand flew out to a retreating assassin.

"I saw you", a woman with a Glasgow grin twitched her head as another hand reached the assassin from behind.

"Your allies killed my son and his friends in that explosion. Please, join them in meeting the judgment of our lord", a voice whispered.

One by one, assassins and journalists, all of the unfamiliar faces in the crowd. All of them were swarmed by the flock and ripped apart.

"This feels wrong...", Anila frowned. The crowd swarmed around numerous blood fountains since the enemy was found but… *Boom*.

A mushroom cloud of sand and dirt threw the crowd onto the floor. Hundreds of people were injured or killed but more importantly, the song raged on. The flock raged against the assassins and journalists with a passion similar to cornered beasts.

"How are the checkpoints? Did they find anything?", Anila looked towards the row of resorts further inland. She could see the reflective scopes of dozens of snipers along the rooftops with her binoculars.

"Why aren't they scanning?", all of the reflective scopes remained stationary.

"Call it in. I want eyes on Jackal two. I think it's been hijacked", pure intuition guided her judgment. One of the helicopters lagged behind by a few seconds during a takeoff from the roof of a hotel. As she watched it, a message crackled in her headset.

"People are air dropping out of Jackal two. No response on the comms", Not even two seconds later, the second helicopter flew off course and smashed into the first. Both crashed into the forest below and started a fire.

"Distractions. I fucking knew it. The attacks are distractions. I want everyone to regroup. Someone go find out what the seventh elder is up to. His message should have been sent out before the fourth's announcement. Our first priority is to find our missing headset. Until then, keep comms open and stay silent", Anila switched channels to just the people in her helicopter, crossed her fingers, then pulled out a map and marked it with a pen.

"Intruder sightings, barricades. Explosions, survivor relief. Wildfire, fire brigade. Several paratroopers, search parties. It's safe to assume they know our routes…", she spoke as she drew up a rough idea of the enemy movement.

"These are Professionals. Likely Ghosts, the ones we found are expendable Whisps. The real hunters are going to dig down and wait for nightfall when we are exhausted from being on high alert. It's also likely we won't find that missing Mic. I'm sure a real ghost has it", One of the snipers chimed in.

"Keep in mind, there have been no reported attacks on the eastern front, basically telling us their targets are to remain untouched until they want to act. It's the calling card of the ghosts", the other sniper said.

"But why attack our lord so early? Unless...", the first sniper shot a fleeing assassin in the leg. The crowd pulled the person into the fleshy mass of anger and death.

"Where is my grandma and our lord!", Anila switched back to an open channel, but one answered seeing as how no one knew. Well, nearly everyone.

"Your objectives should be in there", the seventh elder pointed to the mouth of a cave hidden behind a rather large boulder. The entire area was covered in algae and suffocating fish. A stranger dressed in the same clothes as a butler waved his hand. Two men in blackout wetsuits entered the cave with flashlights and nodded back toward their boss.

A quick look away from the scene, one would notice that the entrance was all the way on the south side of the island. A steep and rocky path led all the way down a sheer cliff face to a small little opening that opened up to a massive cavern with glowing algae along nearly every surface. A Giant whirlpool at the bottom of the cavern drained the water that rushed in from the ocean.

"Take this map. If you get lost in those tunnels, you are as good as dead", the sixth elder looked over his shoulder and pulled a map out of his sleeve. His pupils flashed chaotically with green light as more and more people in wetsuits found their way over from the forests above or from the sheer cliffs below.

The seventh elder, not understanding the situation, stomped his foot and huffed with annoyance.

"So. Where is my money and when are we going to leave this place?", the seventh poked the man in the butler outfit.

"How could I forget? What was promised is down there", the butler pointed to the whirlpool.

"What? You can't be serious", the seventh looked over the edge and before he knew it, he was falling down into the rapid water below.

"Would you also like to rush me?", the butler asked the sixth elder with a scowl.

"NO! I can uh, I can wait. Yes, I can wait until you've all completed your mission… I mean, uh, wait until you see fit…", the sixth elder leaned against the wall and shivered uncontrollably.

"Smart. Have Echo help this kind sir with his reward. Alpha, Charlie, scout the way forward. Delta, go topside and reign in the situation. Tango, Zulu, docks and airports. I want this island locked down before our marks arrive. ETA…", the man looked over to a person in a bulky wetsuit.

"Three hours before Lamplight touches ground. Five before Davey reaches port according to surveillance", the person typed on a waterproof laptop and reported what they learned.

"Two hours. I want the Qajar Cat in the grave in under two hours. If none of you can do it, don't expect a recommendation for the open seats", the butler sat down at a table someone set up for him and the person in the bulky wetsuit. The sixth elder also received a seat.