The Uprising

CHAPTER 25

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Thirteen hours to go.

I memorized Daniel's plan. If he didn't want to be the mysterious masked leader of a secret organization, he would have a career in playwriting. He had outlined every detail down to the last minute, where we should be, what we should say, and even our reactions. Jordon went to speak with the rest of the members to guarantee they were all in order. That was his task. Amelia and I were tasked with ensuring that nobody tried to take leadership. The building should be under lockdown until his return. No one could come in or leave.

I paced back and forth in the office, my Seraphim uniform suddenly feeling oddly tight and uncomfortable, while Amelia was spinning in the chair behind the desk. How she could be comfortable was beyond me.

The alarm went off. I didn't even know they had one Amelia stop spinning and locked eyes with me. "They're here," By they, she meant the Defenders.

Five guards armed with assault rifles followed to the ground floor. Nervous was an understatement. I didn't know anything about The Defenders. The only piece of information I had was that they were a part of the Three Rings. They also mainly contained non Seraphims. They are to considered dangerous.

There were only four Defenders, three men, and one woman. The men had on the regular black combat suit. The woman was dressed in a white Seraph uniform, the same as ours. "It's good to see you again, Amelia," The woman voices. The area was poorly lit. I could bearly make out their facial features. From her tone, it is evident that this wouldn't go well.

"I would say the same. Though, it's never pleasant to see you, Brianna," Amelia spits, which was far from what Daniel wrote. I'm pretty sure the paper specifically told her to greet her politely without the usual level of sarcasm. "So what brings you to Base B?'

"You already know about Atticus's situation. We were sent here to take temporary leadership of Base B so that it doesn't fall because that would mean the end of the Three Rings," She explains calmly.

"That's nice and all. Thanks for your concern. We are fine. We have Daniel."

"Oh, where is he?"

"He will be back very soon."

Amelia was doing everything she could to stay calm. I wonder why she doesn't like her. She doesn't seem all that bad. "Well, until he returns, I must insist that we stay." Amelia clenches her fist.

"And I insist that you all leave. When we need you or not because we already have a few defenders here. You already know Jordon and Dash." Amelia's words came through her teeth.

"You know. Not because you left Base X makes you a part of Base B. You think you belong here, little girl?"

Oh, bad history. That explains a lot.

"I'm glad you finally said what's on your mind, Bri but you still have to leave."

"Why would I listen to you?" She folded her arms across her chest and raised her chin.

"Because if you don't, we'll kill you." On queue, ourguards aimed their weapons at our uninvited guests. "I would leave if I were you."

"Fine. We'll leave but don't come running to us when you all fail." She paused. "Hope you enjoy being here while it lasts,"

They walked out the door. Just like that, they left. I thought it would take much more than a death threat for that to happen. Amelia exhaled loudly as if she had just run a mile. The guards went back upstairs when they realized that there was no longer a problem. "Who is she?" I question out of curiosity.

"She is the leader of the Base X Seraphims and Defenders. She helped to train me. Everyone got mad when I decided to transfer."

"Oh, why didn't they want you to leave?"

"I was one of their best, and they envy Base B"

"Envy? Aren't you all a part of the same organization?"

"The Three Rings should be unified. The symbol might represent unification, but we are very much divided. Base has always been the biggest and the brightest of the two. That bothered a lot of the other bases"

"I thought three leaders had equal power."

"They do. As I said, Base B will always be at the top. That won't change."

"Base X wants to be at the top?"

"That's their wish"

Why does this have to be complicated? Why did they have to split themselves into three groups? Then three sub-divisions and further into bases. It's too much if you asked me.

People hate being told they are second best. If I was their leader. I would call it the Circle and let everyone come together instead of creating three separate groups of people. Maybe I would let the sub-divisions stay. Even that structure would end up posing a challenge in the end.

"Let's see how Jordon is held up in the Underground."

The Underground was self-explanatory. It was located under the building. It was approximately fifty feet in length and thirty feet wide. They trained and stored weapons there. We took the elevator next to the regular one. I wonder what it looked like. The way Jordon described it, I expect a place with sweaty men, workout equipment, and an armory.

The elevator rattled; it was old, forget old; it was ancient. The buttons were covered in metallic rust. This was by far worse than being in the center of a gunfight. One loose cable could send us falling; we would be like tomatoes hitting the ground.

The Underground didn't disappoint. It wasn't what I expected, but it still didn't disappoint; instead of sweaty men. They were men behind computer screens; some of them surrounded the small rectangular boxing ring that was at the back of the room. On the wall to the left of the boxing ring was an array of guns-handguns, rifles, sniper rifles, and others that I didn't recognize.

"Wow!"

"Yeah, I know it's a lot," Amelia comments.

"How did it go?" Jordon asks once he spots us.

"They will be back. Hopefully, Daniel gets here before that happens."

I hope he did.

"I think I deserve a standing ovation because dealing with Brianna wasn't an easy task. Do you know how many times I wanted to hit her while she was talking all that crap," Jordon gives her a bemused smile. "Oh, I'm here to take over, or the Three Rings will fall," she mocks, allowing her voice to sound distorted in the process. To be honest, that is exactly how Brianna sounded.

"Just because she's Twenty-six doesn't make her smarter. It makes her old. She's three, just three years older than me."

"Being Twenty-six doesn't mean you're old. Jason is Twenty-six, and he would say you're ageist," Jordon puts out.

"What if I am? This organization is ageist."

Jordon and I didn't say anything. He pull me away from her. Towards the section with the guns on display. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just hope Daniel makes it back here because if he doesn't we are about to have a really bad day."