Night of March 11, 2011...
Within the Network Radar Control Center in downtown Taipei, a workgroup of several dozen personnel bustled, processing information. Soldiers at the entrance stood their tedious posts, bored.
"Elder brother, how much longer until the shift change?" inquired a recruit with a distinctly boyish countenance.
"Cannot endure it?" replied the middle-aged soldier, a cigarette dangling from his lips. "Forty minutes remaining; stand your ground patiently..."
"Truly perplexing why we must guard this location? Enlistment was intended to experience the impassioned combat of manhood. Yet, before reaching the front lines, the front was withdrawn back to the city. What manner of combat is this?" the recruit lamented.
"Genuinely desire combat?" the veteran suddenly gazed at him, inquiring gravely.
"Mm..." Perhaps startled by the veteran, he nodded involuntarily.
Without further ado, the veteran delivered a slap, felling him to the ground.
"Why did you strike me?" the recruit exclaimed indignantly, clutching his face.
"Consumed too many films, have you?" The veteran seized his collar, forcibly hoisting him from the ground. "Presume yourself some invincible cinematic hero? Cease your fantasies, brother. We are merely those extras, appearing for scant seconds, dispatched with an 'ah' before the camera even pans, do you comprehend the implications of warfare?"
"To fight for the nation, death is glorious!" The recruit's eyes flickered, prying the veteran's hands from his collar.
"To fight for the nation, death is glorious?" The veteran recited the government recruitment slogan with a vacant expression.
"What sort of 'fight for the nation' is this?" the veteran spoke with a desolate tone. "I once deeply believed this maxim, hence leading my class of over forty students to enlist together. Now, I alone survive."
"You were a teacher?" The recruit was astounded.
"Formerly taught advanced calculus to freshmen. A year ago, when the government recruited at the university, I switched professions to soldiering..." The veteran exhaled smoke rings absently.
"What does combat feel like? Is it exhilarating? Does navigating through a hail of bullets truly impart a sense of being alive?" he inquired with the eagerness of a child listening to a story.
"Not as many ruminations as you describe. Only aberrations indulge in excessive contemplation on the battlefield." The veteran smiled faintly, rapping his head. "There, every moment is devoted to contemplating survival. Once truly confronted with peril, individuals invariably mature..."
"How I yearn for combat!" the recruit sighed.
Yet another slap imprinted upon the other half of his face, though significantly lighter.
"Why strike me again? My lack of retaliation stems from respect; do not mistake it for fear!" He genuinely bristled.
"Do you understand the meaning of combat?" the veteran posed the identical question.
"To achieve merit and establish a reputation!" the recruit declared resolutely.
"It is not thus," the veteran sighed helplessly.
"Warfare signifies death; innumerable individuals perish in this man-made calamity. No one desires death. Is that not so?" 1 whispered the answer beside the veteran's ear.
The recruit's reaction was remarkably swift; he instantly raised his rifle, chambered a round, and aimed at 1's head. His movements betrayed no tension, utterly belying his novice status.
"Friend, what business brings you here so late?" The veteran did not turn, as 1 pressed a gun against his nape.
"To eliminate," 1 stated placidly.
"Lower your weapon, hands on your head!" The recruit shifted slightly leftward, marginally expanding his attack vector.
"Quite professional, yet you appear merely a recruit," 1 smirked.
"Gratitude for the compliment; I have practiced with model firearms since childhood," his muzzle remained perfectly steady.
"Greatly desire to be a soldier?" 1 inquired.
"My aspiration is to become a professional mercenary, engaging valiantly on the battlefield," the recruit shifted another half step.
"Brother, he is still a child. Please spare him, alright?" the veteran pleaded.
"No need to implore him; I shall rescue you imminently. Everything is under my control..." he asserted with supreme confidence.
"Is he significant to you?" 1 disregarded the self-aggrandizing recruit.
"Negative," the veteran observed the exhilarated youth. "He strongly resembles my former students. Naive, ignorant, yet similarly impassioned..."
"Apologies, I possess no compassion," saying thus, 1 swiftly shifted his muzzle sideways. The recruit perceived an opportunity, preparing to fire, yet a silenced bullet had already penetrated his cranium. Before he could depress the trigger, he departed this world. A life yearning for combat concluded.
"Why did you fire? With your stealth, approaching undetected, you could have simply incapacitated him. Why resort to killing a child?" Tears blurred the veteran's vision.
"On the battlefield, anyone wielding a weapon must possess the resolve to be killed. Myself included," 1 retracted his weapon, pressing it once more against his neck.
"What is your objective here, precisely?"
"I informed you," 1 depressed the trigger. "To eliminate."
Surveying the corpse on the ground, a plan formulated in 1's mind.
He rapidly divested the veteran of his uniform, donning it himself. Shouldering the assault rifle, he strode purposefully towards the control building.
Just as he reached the entrance, sirens blared. Dozens of soldiers streamed out of the building, brushing past 1.
"Detected?" 1 watched the soldiers sprint towards the main gate.
Paying little heed, he entered the building.
"Halt!" Within the building, a grand 'reception' awaited him. The expansive lobby was filled with sandbag barricades, behind which easily seventy-plus individuals aimed heavy weaponry at the entrance.
1 nervously raised his hands, legs trembling.
"Which damn unit are you from? Didn't your CO brief you on the defense plan? Why the hell did you enter here?" A bearded middle-aged man with stars on his shoulder bellowed.
"I arrived only this morning; conscripted during the military expansion, forcibly made a soldier. Before ascertaining my commanding officer, I was pushed out on patrol. Seeing others run towards the main gate, I presumed it safer here..." 1 explained, voice trembling.
"Damn, another terrified rookie afraid of dying. Come over," the officer stated contemptuously.
1 grinned foolishly and ran behind the officer's barricade.
"Say, sir, whom are we ambushing? Such a grand formation..." 1 inquired curiously.
"Refrain from asking what doesn't concern you. Grown man acting like an ignorant child?" The officer stared intently at the entrance, speaking softly.
1 ceased talking. Silence enveloped the lobby; everyone gazed towards the entrance. Imperceptibly, 1 pulled the pin on a high-explosive grenade within a nearby ammunition supply crate.
"No one is coming..." 1 stated from the second-floor stairwell landing.
"How do you know?" The officer turned, looking at the smiling 1, a sense of dread surging within him.
"Because, I have already arrived. Enjoy the festivities!" With that, he swiftly ascended towards the second floor.
"Boom!" A massive explosive shockwave surged into the stairwell; 1 leaped precisely onto the corridor above.
After three seconds, the shockwave subsided. Peripheral soldiers began converging back towards the main building. Utilizing these three seconds, 1 regulated his breathing and commenced advancing towards the top floor.
Meanwhile, within the Presidential Office Building in Taiwan...
"Central Network Radar Control Building under attack?" Chen Bian roared into the telephone in disbelief. "Were you not instructed to heighten vigilance?"
"We did establish an ambush, but the enemy infiltrated disguised as our soldiers..."
"Spare me the excuses! Now, protect the control room's security at all costs! If a single computer in the control room is damaged, I'll have your head!" Chen Bian furiously slammed down the phone, gazing at the profusely sweating Yang Wei before him.
"If deductions are accurate, the perpetrators of this assault are precisely the three individuals you received from the airport. How do you intend to explain? My First Secretary?" Chen Bian inquired with glacial tones.
"Sir, the fault lies entirely with the delayed intelligence report. By the time I learned the sole Korean doctor in the medical team perished in a traffic accident two days prior, they had already commandeered a vehicle and absconded..." Yang Wei diligently deflected responsibility.
"More excuses?" Chen Bian slammed his hand on the desk. "My subordinates excel only at fabricating damn excuses! Your mouths are formidable; all talkative now. Wait until the Chinese army attacks, push all of you to the front lines, talk them to death!"
Yang Wei remained silent.
"An opportunity for you: immediately lead reinforcements. Dead or alive, I want to see his face!" Chen Bian's temper somewhat subsided.
"As commanded!" Seizing the rare chance, Yang Wei swiftly departed the office. Anything was preferable to facing the nearly apoplectic Chen Bian.
"One after another, behaving thus? How can this conflict possibly proceed?" Chen Bian sighed, leaning back in his chair.
"They cannot be entirely blamed," Satan emerged from an adjacent room, followed by Angel and Dove.
"If your provided information is accurate, the infiltrator belongs to Special Operations Team 7," Satan found a chair and sat.
"Special Operations Team 7?" Chen Bian recalled, suddenly exclaiming in astonishment, "The previous assassin..."
"He too was from Special Operations Team 7," Dove toyed with the Newton's cradle on Chen Bian's desk.
"The previous one alone was that formidable? This time, three have arrived?" Chen Bian stared blankly at Satan.
"It is not as dire as you imagine. In a sense, they resemble us: new soldiers reliant on advanced weaponry. However, this time they lack equipment. At best, they are merely three exceptionally skilled ordinary soldiers. Two bullets, and they perish just the same," Satan stated with a smile.
"Excellent, excellent," Chen Bian felt relieved.
"Do not celebrate prematurely. A more troublesome matter awaits you now," Angel, hitherto silent, tossed a flyer before Chen Bian.
Gazing at the flyer, Chen Bian's eyes widened progressively.
"Protest march!"