The Orzstok helicopter landed on the roof of the National Broadcast headquarters in Kingsville. Men in kevlar armors and plexiglass helmets hopped out, assault rifles in hand.

They took down the terrace door with a battering ram and descended down the stairs and into the main building. The man leading them in was Dulvers.

The panic began the moment the employees noticed the armed gunmen arrive. The men in kevlar fired shots at the ceiling.

The collective panic went up. More kevlar clad gunners charged through the main gates and blocked all the entrances.

"No one's gonna move!" Dulvers growled and fired a few more shots as he walked into the lobby.

About thirty operatives had invaded the building from the front gates. Ten others had arrived by the Orzstok.

Dulvers and nine others were on crowd control. The remaining thirty had secured the main gates and blocked all exits.

The operatives with crowd control duty rounded up all the employees into the big courtyard at the center of the building.

Dulvers watched as two other operatives declared all employees to surrender their cellphones. They carried two big garbage bags in one hand and aimed their hand guns at the employees with the other. Most employees dropped their phones into the bag out of fear. The more heroic ones who tried to resist had the pistol fired near their ears, deafening them temporarily while their cellphones snatched out of their pockets.

It had taken less than fifteen minutes to cut all individual communication to the outside world.

Five minutes later, Ian Harper dragged the editor in chief towards Dulvers. "This is the man in charge of everything, Steve Nelson."

Dulvers nodded at the man. "You must've read news in front of a camera yourself as a rookie, haven't you?"

Nelson nodded hesitantly.

"Good, we want you to read a bit of news we wanna broadcast tonight," Dulvers said. "Gather a crew and prepare the set. Let's have a jolly good show."

#

Command was back in the hallway she'd been in five months ago. Inside the main building of the High House of Justice, on the same bench she'd been in five months ago, awaiting another trial, dreading to face the Council of Firsts. But something was different this time.

Catharine Dale was right next to her, sipping noisily from a box of orange juice. "I bet you are feeling dumb, aren't you?"

Command sighed.

"You probably thought you were really smart, probably thought you and Luce had everything under control," Dale had spared everyone the sight of her wacky wardrobe choices for that day. She simply wore her clandestine blacks with the lapels and hem of her skirt lined with red. It was mandatory for officers of her stature to dress in their proper uniforms. "It's not your fault that you were unlucky. I bet you knew you both were shivering each time you saw me come to your office."

Command wanted to groan. But more than anything she wanted to punch this bitch square in the face.

Yes, the clandestines had succeeded in their mission. They had finally uncovered Command's secrets. They had arrested her straight from her office that day.

They hadn't even allowed her to see her family. And she was sure, the matter was so serious they weren't gonna tell her son and husband why she was being tried.

"You didn't even think of anyone other than yourself," Dale said. "All those agents will lose their jobs. You'll get old in a prison with at least a roof over your head. But in our current economy, they will barely land the job of a dishwasher at a restaurant."

Command's hands had already become fists. The urge to punch was getting worse.

"Your husband will raise your son on his own. He might even marry another woman."

"Catharine!" Command snapped.

The clandestine officer raised an eyebrow. Then she smirked. "You're gonna hit me, Command? You really think that's gonna make things any easier for you?"

Command bared her teeth like a dog and suppressed a growl. She looked away.

Cathrine kept smirking. She was enjoying this more than she should have.

"Then there's also Luce," she said.

Command groaned. Cathering kept going.

"He is a clever one. He jumped ship and left you alone to sink. I mean, I'm quite surprised a man of his caliber stuck with your no-good division for so long. While investigating what happened in Sector 22, I realized that Luce really wasn't the one responsible for Lisa Neville getting away. Or even the truck getting stolen. It was you Command," she said. "It is all on you and your poor administration skills."

This time Command didn't glare or groan or bare her teeth. She just looked down at the floor. She thought of Luce too. She wasn't going to admit it, but Dale was right. Luce wasn't going to come. He wasn't an idiot. If he took all emotions out of the equation, his failures were indeed the result of Command putting too many responsibilities on his shoulders at once.

He was an intelligent man. He'd received her message about Dale uncovering their plan. It would be better for him to not come back.

She looked up at the wall in front of her. The bronze plaque was just as shiny and lustrous as it had been five months ago. Protection of the law is the service to humanity.

"You failed everyone, Command," Dale said. "But most of all, you failed yourself."

A steel head walked out of the hall of justice and snapped a salute at Dale. "The Council has summoned her, ma'am."

Dale nodded and looked down at Command. The woman didn't stood up and the officer started to lead her down the corridor.

As they arrived close to the tall doors to the hall of justice, Command said, "You were right, Catherine. I fai–"

BAM!

The women paused in the doorway. The floor rattled as if shaken by a distant earthquake. But it wasn't an earthquake. It was something that Command had heard all the time back when she was on the field as a soldier.

BAM!

She couldn't mistake it. It sounded like a hand grenade.

"What the hell is going on?" Catharine muttered.

The steel head was pulling out his hand gun.

BAM!

This one was a lot closer.

Dale gestured at the steel head with her hand. "Hey, go and tell the Firsts that–"

She never got to complete her sentence. A group of kevlar clad men were rushing down the hallway towards them. Men in kevlar and plexiglass helmets and assault rifles.

Operatives!

The one leading them was a tall man who towered over everyone by more than a few inches. Command couldn't believe this was really happening. He had really come back!

#

The first thing Luce did when he arrived at the main hall of justice was shoot the steel head in the chest. Next he kneecapped Catherine dale. The woman went down shrieking like a dying hen.

Command watched him in disbelief as he made his way towards her, leading his squad of operatives.

He came to a halt in front of her. He gestured to his operatives to go ahead. "Go and get the Council of Firsts in our custody. No one shall escape."

The operatives went ahead. Command kept gaping at him. Then he turned back to Command. He took off his helmet and grinned at her. The expression looked so strange yet real on his otherwise stoic features. "You really thought I abandoned you, right?"

#

Command was trying to shut her gaping mouth. She was doing a really bad job. Luce came back. He had a squad of operatives with him. They had attacked the goddamned High House of Justice. And he was grinning. AGENT LUCE WAS GRINNING!

It all felt like a dream but it wasn't. It was all really happening. His squad of operatives had really charged into the main hall of justice and escorted the entire Council of Firsts.

Command couldn't just stand and watch anymore. "What the hell is going on?!" she cried out.

"What does it look like?" Luce shrugged. "It's a coup d'etat."

#

(Trumpets went off before a man in his mid forties came on the television screen. He was dressed in an immaculate navy blue business suit and a darker blue tie. There was a large screen behind him that covered the entire background. The screen illuminated the logo of National News Channel.)

"Dear citizens of Ardvenia, I'm the chief director of the National News Channel, Steve Nelson. But today I'm going to address you all as nothing but how I began. As a simple journalist. An interesting series of developments have unfolded in our city of justice, Kingsville."

"Last night the Line tower was invaded and this morning the High House of Justice was taken over by the rebel group, Last Hand. We might be witnessing the first coordinated people's revolution in Ardvenia since the fall of monarchy.

(The screen behind the man flashed with the images of the burning building. The fluttering flag of Last Hand.)

"Today at the studio, we have one of the captains of this revolution in the studio with us, chief Dulvers. And he wants to address you all on the behalf of his leader. You may announce your message now, chief."

(A man slightly older than Nelson came on the screen. He wore a dark kevlar armor similar to the one operatives wear but his was streaked with silver.)

"We don't have big speeches to make to appease the lot of you. We aren't like those who reside in the castle of vanity that is the Seat of Authority while the people die of hunger and disease. We used to work for them, laying our lives on the line to protect that very vain castle. Only to realize that its residents barely flinched at our deaths. And that brought us to another realization that our deaths were the ones in vain more than anything else.

"But that stops today. As someone who is tired of seeing the meaningless deaths of my men, I appeal to you all, my operatives, chiefs, agents and my fellow citizens of Ardvenia. You are people too. You are not fodder for the Seat of Authority's exploitation. Rise, my people. Rise and revolt against this injustice!

"And to those vain residents of that castle of exploitation, I have just one message: We are coming for you next."

(to be continued...)