The White Feather- A story of infinite worlds

The Tiger’s Claw

Next morning, Thomas was sitting alone in the meeting room, smoking and murmuring to himself. After some time, Veda entered, followed by Nova and the other leaders. Thomas gave Nova a brief nod and Nova responded with equal courtesy.

“So now that our path is clear, how do we walk on it? Do we make an army of commoners and order them to plunder each and every possession of The Chakra?” Veda asked, fixing his gaze at Thomas.

“No, I say let the riots fester for now. We make an efficient and stealthy group of mercenaries and snatch high priority locations from The Chakra. The riots will keep the people of Chakra busy so the security will be low at most places. I have an elaborate plan for the team.

Besides, we don’t have the resources to maintain an army. The Chakra may have lesser number of men, but they are far superior in firepower.” Thomas said, looking at each member of the table.

“Tell us about your plan.” Magnetar said.

“I have named it ‘The Tiger’s Claw’. In this operation, we will make two teams to target two sectors, the legal one and the illegal one. A tiger’s palm has five nails, each of them deadly enough to tear up your bones. But a tiger uses only four of its nails, the fifth one is always kept hidden. It’s used in special scenarios when the predator needs assistance.

Like the tiger’s palms, we will have ten highly specialized soldiers; five for legal sector and five for the illegal one. But only four of each group will go on missions. The best one will only be deployed under special circumstances. I will be the fifth one in the illegal sector and we will find an expert to be the hidden nail for the legal one.” Thomas elaborated.

“But to pull off this operation, you will need sources inside The Chakra. I mean, if you are to invade a territory, you must have full tactical knowledge.” Serge said.

“We have access to most of the old assets and we have also successfully established some new ones. But I know that they can’t be trusted, so we don’t take a chunk of information from a single source. Instead, we take bits from a number of sources and put it together.” Thomas said, removing any doubt in the young leader’s head.

“And have you picked out men for your team yet?” Nova asked.

“Not yet. We have to be careful. We have to make a background check for every potential candidate. Records can be planted, so we have to physically visit their neighborhoods and ask around. There is a lot at stake, and The Chakra knows it too. They will try to infiltrate us in any possible way, so we have to look out for landmines on each step of the way.” Thomas answered. Nova was satisfied with this answer and exhaled deeply.

“Then let’s get on with it. We have no time to waste.” Veda said and adjourned the meeting.

“Sir, here’s the list of candidates for guard duties. But I’m confused, why do they need to be good with sniper rifles?” Thomas’ butler asked when Thomas was getting out of the meeting room.

“Thank you for the list. I’ll take a look at it as soon as I can.” Thomas said, smiling.

“Listen, the list for sniper candidates just came in. We’ll have to check them out personally.” Thomas said to Veda.

“I have to be in a lot of places. Why don’t you take Amanda? You trust her, right?” Veda said, pacing towards the stairs.

“Yeah, we could do that.” Thomas said dreamily.

“How do I look?” Amanda asked in the evening.

“Dosen't matter. We don’t have time to waste.” Thomas said, without looking at her. He was placing extra magazines inside his socks.

“Damn! I really miss that utility belt.” he murmured.

“I love it when you talk dirty.” Amanda said and chuckled.

“Yeah, don’t go out there with that attitude. No one is happy in this city except the people of Chakra, and you don’t want them to think we’re from the Chakra. Got it?” Thomas said, looking at Amanda for the first time.

Amanda could tell from his eyes that he was dead serious. She couldn’t find words to reply, so she just nodded. She couldn’t believe that she had become foreign to the very people of her city. The realization made her head pain.

But as soon as they got to the heart of the city, they realized that the reality was the exact opposite of what they thought. People were happy! You could tell it by simply looking at their faces. There was chaos, no doubt. But standing up for the right cause gave people the best feeling in the world- The sense of Freedom. It was this feeling that was coursing through their veins and once a person decides to lay down his life for a higher cause, he is deadlier than any soldier without a purpose.

Thomas knew this because he’s had that feeling for decades now. And it made him inexpressibly happy to see other people share the same fire that was burning within him.

“Why are you so delighted?” Amanda asked, surprised.

“Well, you don’t wanna be the odd one out or they’ll think you’re from The Chakra.” Thomas said, mischievously smiling.

“There’s a football ground right around the corner. Stop the car there.” He said to the driver.

“So tell me about this one.” Amanda said.

“He’s a soccer player. Twenty one years old, short height and thin.” Thomas said, observing their surroundings.

“I see a lot of candidates with a strong built, why did you choose to see him first?” Amanda asked.

“We’re looking for a sniper, not a gunner. Built dosen't matter here, the only thing that matters is that he has the three fundamental skills.” Thomas said, lighting a cigar.

“And those skills are….?” Amanda asked curiously.

“Stalking, range estimation and of course, shooting skills. A soccer player has high probability of having at least two of them.

Stalking is as crucial for a sniper as shooting. Snipers are almost always outnumbered. So behind enemy lines, they must be able to move tactically towards the target without being seen. In soccer, you have to master movement in order to get past defenses successfully.

Secondly, a player has to always estimate the range for his shots to land in the goal post. Same way, a sniper has to estimate range in order to hit the perfect shot. I know you think that there’s a lot of difference in using legs to hit a ball and using the fingers to blow someone’s head off. But it’s not so different.

Now of course, we have shooting skills. In this one, a playe….” Thomas was explain but the driver interrupted him.

“Sir, we are here.” He said.

“Very well, I’ll tell you about it some other time.” Thomas said, nodding at Amanda.

“Oof, thank god. You and your damn lectures; I asked you a simple question, you didn’t have to go all Mike Tyson on me.” Amanda said, relieved.

Thomas went inside the ground and stood at a corner, watching the lead striker as he made his way through the defense. The striker looked at Thomas for a second and the distraction led to an uncalculated shot. The ball missed and landed at Thomas’ feet.

“Yeah, that’s not our guy.” Thomas said and kneeled down to lift the ball.

A swift wind brazed above Thomas’ hair and a dull breaking sound came from the wall behind him.

“What was that?” Amanda said casually.

Thomas didn’t answer. He lifted Amanda up on his shoulder and sprinted. As soon as they were in the alley, Thomas took out his pistol and looked at Amanda.

“What was that about?” Amanda asked, baffled.

“That was a f*****g sniper. Come on, they’re onto us.” Thomas said and took Amanda behind him.

“Let’s get out of here. Keep an eye out for any strange stuff.” Thomas said as soon as they reached the end of the alley.

He could see the car and the driver speaking on the phone. He signaled the driver to start the engine.

“On the count of three, run.” Thomas told Amanda, looking at the rooftops.

“One…..two….” Thomas was about to break into a run but a bright flash lifted him off the ground and pushed him away.

He heard a loud ringing in his ears. He looked around while lying on the ground. The car was tossed over and was burning. The driver’s pieces covered the road. Amanda was on the ground behind Thomas, unconscious.

His legs shook and his ears bled as he got up and dragged Amanda behind cover. He pressed his trembling hand against her chest. There was a pulse. Thomas was relieved for a brief second. It was at this time that he felt a vibration in his pocket. It was his phone. He took out the mobile phone and looked at an unknown number.

“The streets are not safe, Mr. White. If I had pushed that detonator a second later, my men would be eating your grilled meat for dinner. Yum, tasty grilled Hahahahaha…….” The man on the other end said.

He hung up the phone before Thomas could ask anything. Thomas recognized the voice, it was him.

“What? What just happened….” Amanda said weakly.

“Let’s go.” Thomas said and lifted Amanda in his hands.

It was a long walk. Thomas fell from his high horse and saw exactly what he was dealing with. Now it was time for some serious brainstorming.