(Author’s POV)
The war room was tense. The soft blue hue from digital monitors was the only light, casting shadows over grim faces. Selene Zhao stood in the center, her coat off, sleeves rolled, staring down at a live operations map riddled with new red indicators.
Jiang stood beside her, expression unreadable, jaw tight.
“Another shipment was intercepted near the Laos border,” He said quietly.
“Driver was loyal. Killed instantly. Cargo’s gone”.
“That route was changed last minute. Only five people knew. Including us” Selene’s eyes narrowed. She tapped on the screen, flipping through the logs.
“The night before, we lost signal from two minor outposts,” Jiang continued.
“We thought it was a technical glitch. It wasn’t. One’s been taken over by the Red Talons. The other…” He hesitated
