The Story of Blood and Roses

"They'll have men ready at each front to welcome us," his voice rang, loud and clear throughout the room. The whirring of the air conditioner was the only sound in the room. The men sat stoically, looking at the projection on the screen in front of the room. The screen projected the image of a map of Syracuse. It was the very same image that Anthony had taken time to map out with different markings. It was a sight to behold—a truly well-planned battle strategy. He was extremely good at it.

"They have three places that they have distributed the shipment in. Those three are in blood red on the map. We need to surround these three locations, but we have limited resources, hence we will have small groups securing the area." There were a few murmurs that rose, but Anthony silenced them with the raise of his hand. "Take your turns and make your opinions known." His voice was calm and collected. He had expected it. These men were well versed with the art of confrontations and knew when to point out problems or when to ask questions. Anthony trusted their judgement to find out problems in the plans.

"The third location that you have highlighted seems to have been situated in a position which makes it have only one entrance and exit. I think it gives us a definite advantage. We could send in a smaller group for that one to secure the location. The others are more open and reinforcements are easily available in those spots, it would be harmful if we didn't make the groups stronger for those ones." Anthony nodded at the suggestion. The man was part of Ethan's crew, and despite not knowing his name, I knew that he was one of the best men working under Ethan. Ethan, who was leaning on the wall beside Anthony, looked on with a look of pride. The man was clearly his subordinate and someone he had helped train or the like.

"That is a good plan, but what do you think will happen after securing the area? This is not legal war, you need to take what you get and get the hell out of the scene before reinforcement comes," Anthony said. The idea was good, but mostly not well thought out. If he came up with something worthwhile, it would be a good plan to go with.

"It is safe to assume that the security will be highest there, so it will take time for the people there to secure the spot. We need to get a head start on things and the bigger groups can clean up faster and send for reinforcement to that area as soon as the work is done."

"That would be incredibly risky," I let my opinion know. Anthony looked at me and gave me a nod of approval to proceed. "Whoever goes in there would be at risk. Just because the place has one entry and exit doesn't mean that it is easier to secure. You also need to think about the people that we are sending in. If by any chance, which is very high, they get surrounded or the exit is blocked, they will have no other way than to surrender." The man gulped and looked down. "And forget about getting reinforcements in time. If they start later than the other two groups they will be warned and the people going in will be doomed. It is an incredibly stupid plan," I summarized.

"Mia," Anthony called me out. "Do you have any other plans?" His eyes glittered at the prospect.

"Maybe," I replied, my intention to tease... almost. His smirk grew and he waved at me to proceed.

"From reports that we have gotten from Eric and his team, we have come to the conclusion that a larger portion of the shipment—that is sixty percent of it, is inside that deserted, half-constructed building." I looked at Anthony and gave him a nod. He nodded, too, and changed the image to that of the building in question. "As you all can see, this place offers no area to hide people. What you-" I point at the man who had given the previous suggestion, "have said does in a way work here. We need to let a very small group enter the premises. We have a team ready a few miles away so that no one gets stuck in the building." The crowd murmured again. This time, it was Ethan, who silenced them. "There is minimum chance of civilians being involved." I turned to the group for any questions, but it was Anthony who asked his question anyway.

"And where do you plan to get such a force from? We have a crunch of resources and not enough people to distribute between the three spots; we cannot spare people for that location."

"Firstly, Anthony, you underestimate me." I gave him an inconspicuous wink that I was sure no one saw. I was at the back of the room and everyone had turned to face Anthony as he had spoken. As the words left my mouth, they seemed to turn around and gape at me. I was making quite an impression. Anthony, on the other hand, just smirked and returned my wink.

"Go ahead. Explain to me, Mia," he challenged, playfully.

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