Chapter 4

"Yo yo, Azlan, you're finally there. Good grief, I was worried that you wouldn't make it, man," the man in the computer screen said.

"Hazri?" Azlan said to the large screen in front of him. He was standing in a huge room that was labeled 'Command Information Center'. He didn't know what it meant, but judging from the computer terminals, large screens, radar display and captain's chair a la Star Trek, he could guess that it was an operation center of some sort.

"Yeah, it's me. Glad you can make it. Any problem on your way there?" Hazri's face said.

Azlan glanced at the army man standing on his right, a major he deduced from his rank insignia. He had been there at the entrance demanding access into the facility when they got there. The poor MP had to explain over and over again that they did not have access into the facility, an excuse that the major refused to accept. If Azlan hadn't been there, the major would have probably tried to blow the door open with plastic explosive.

"Had some issues with alien fliers. Lost a few of my neighbours when they started shooting indiscriminately," he said mournfully.

The face in the screen sighed, "Yeah, I had to call for some help from the air force to escape myself. I'm so glad that the Yang Dipertuan Agong made me a jeneral. Probably wouldn't survive if the air force didn't shoot down those chasing me. I had to escape to the facility in Shah Alam, if not, I'd likely be there with you."

"What's going on, man? You didn't explain in the video-"

"Excuse me, jeneral," the major cut in, standing right in front of Azlan, "But instead of chitchatting, we have a very serious issue at hand."

Hazri raised an eyebrow at the major and asked, "Oh? What issue would that be?"

"Those things," the major pointed upwards, "Those things in the sky are attacking our country. We need to respond with maximum force and drive those aliens out."

"Oh, I see. That problem," Hazri said sarcastically, "And, pray tell, how would we 'respond with maximum force'?"

"Why, surely you have some weapons here. An army, a squadron of elite fighters, or maybe some missiles that we can use."

"An army? A squadron of elite fighters? Some missiles? I'm afraid none of those can be found there," Hazri said.

"What? That can't be..." the major staggered backward.

"The base you're in now is a disaster shelter, mejar, not a missile silo. We just don't keep those things here," Hazri explained.

"No ... but ... Kolonel Megat Iskandar said this base is our last hope," the major said as he fell to the captain's chair.

"Kolonel Megat Iskandar?" Hazri appeared suspicious, "What is your name, major?"

The major got back to his feet and saluted, "Mejar Ahmad Dani, sir!"

Azlan smacked himself mentally as he realized that he had forgotten to ask the major his name in all the confusion.

"Mejar Ahmad Dani, where did you find Kolonel Megat Iskandar?"

"Putrajaya, near the government complex, sir," he said.

Hazri creased his forehead. "Did he carry something that looked like a handheld cannon or an anti-tank weapon?"

"I didn't notice, jeneral. When I reached him he was bleeding and his right arm was blown off. I couldn't tell if he was carrying something before, sir."

"Azlan, press the armory communications button. I want to speak with the quartermaster."

"How do I do that?" Azlan asked, confused.

"There's a touchscreen panel on either side of the screen. Bring up the communications tab and choose 'Main Armory'."

Azlan touched the touchscreen panel and activated several buttons, "Okay, now what?"

"Press the button that says 'Shared Communication', then point it at 'Main Screen'," Hazri explained impatiently.

The moment Azlan did that the screen split into two, with the two faces appearing next to each other. The person shown on the screen looked surprised to be called. He looked too young to be in charge of the armory.

"Uhh, is there anything I can do for you, sirs?" the man said, appearing agitated.

"Where is Pegawai Waran (Warrant Officer) Rahim, koperal?" Hazri asked to the man on screen.

"He went with Kolonel Megat Iskandar, sir. I do not know for what reason," the man said.

"Did they take anything from the armory?" Hazri asked, his voice low.

The young corporal shuffled some papers before slapping his head and turning to another screen to his left. "Yes, sir. They took twenty-four of the new MR-5 rifles, thirty BA12 plasma grenades, twenty-four Interceptor body armours and twenty-four Mark 4 Combat Helmets, sir."

"Blast them!" Hazri punched something on his end.

"I'm just following orders, sir. The Kolonel-"

"That will be all, leftenan," Hazri said as he cut connection to the armory.

"Something's wrong?" Azlan asked to the screen, which had now returned to showing Hazri alone.

"Damned bastards took all of our MR-5 rifles. Damn them. What the heck are we going to fight with now? You know what? Damn this, I'm going there. Activate Subsection 5 and open Internal Bay Gate 47," Hazri said as he got up from his chair and walked away.

"Hazri, what the hell is Subsection 5 and how the heck do I activate them?" Azlan asked.

Hazri turned back to the screen and said, "Wall to your left, find the console with lots of schematic-looking dots and lines. Find Subsection 5 and Internal Bay 47. Then choose the options 'activate' and 'open'. Then the screen went black.

Azlan spent the next ten minutes just trying to find out how to switch the different layers of the display. Then he spent another five minutes trying to find the buttons that said either 'activate' or 'open'.

Hazri peered around the corner, cautiously checking if the coast was clear. He saw movements on the far side of the ruined area, a remnant of a former residential area from the late 20th century. The area was mown down last year following government plans to modernize the area and construct more high-rise low cost apartments to replace the old single-storey houses which used to be a hygiene nightmare for the local authorities.

Now, following the alien attack, the plans to modernize this area was buried under the rubble of the former single-storey houses. Despite that, this place was useful, as it provided refugees a safe enough place to rest and spend the night from the numerous dogface patrols. At this moment Hazri was using the fact that this place was frequented by human refugees to mask his presence from the dogfaced aliens.

Hazri took a deep breath and sprinted forward. His MR-5 rifle across his chest, he kept his head low as he crossed the ruins. He kept running, almost dropping to the ground when he noticed a dogface patrol turning his way. Despite that, he did not stop nor did he slow down in the least. He just kept going, using the ruins to cover his movements and running forward as fast as he could without making noise. Trying to reach his objective, he had to crawl and duck like a trapped animal from time to time.

Finally he arrived at Extraction Point Beta, where he was supposed to meet up with the rest of his team. He peered around cautiously, worried that they may have already been captured.

"Hello there!" he bellowed to the empty field as he crouched around the corner.

"Hello!" he heard a voice.

"I am Oracle, who's there?" he bellowed again.

"Gunjack, sir! Please show yourself," the voice said again.

Hazri breathed a sigh of relief. He walked out of his hiding place about the same time as his teammate, Gunjack, aka Corporal Mohamad Mazlan Abdul Hussin, came out of his hiding place. Gunjack urged Oracle to cross the field to his hiding place before surveying the area and aiming his MR-5 rifle to the dark corners of the buildings surrounding the Dataran Merdeka.

The moment Hazri arrived, Gunjack urged him in and closed the door behind them. It was dark, and Hazri turned on the flashlight equipped on his MR-5 rifle. Gunjack apologized for the darkness, as electricity to these parts had been cut long ago. Hazri understood very well and didn't blame Gunjack at all. With all the chaos and the collapse of the government, Tenaga Nasional that maintained the nation's energy grid must have suffered great losses, and had decided to cut support to all non-essential areas.

"Who else is here, Gunjack?" Hazri asked as he surveyed the room.

"Aeronerd is behind that desk, sir. He got hurt when we were escaping from that ... thing. This room was probably a security room back when Dataran Merdeka was still in use," Gunjack said, then went silent before continuing with, "What was that thing, sir?" Gunjack asked, shaking.

"I have no idea, Gunjack. Must be new dogface infantry," Hazri said, using the only answer he could think of.

"I emptied a full clip into them, sir. It wouldn't die. It just kept coming and chasing, even without legs and-"

"Enough, Koperal! Get a hold of yourself! If you don't know, the soldiers of Angkatan Tentera Malaysia endured the same problem back when they used M16 against dogface body armour. This is the same as back then."

"But sir, Angkatan Tentera Malaysia lost the war."

"I'm just saying it isn't hopeless. Back then, our soldiers knew they couldn't use M16s anymore, so they used anti-tank weapons. They just used up more ammo than what logistics could supply them," Hazri said as he walked around the desk, and seeing the wounded soldier lying on the floor, got down to his knee.

"How are you doing, Aeronerd?" Hazri asked as he examined the bandage on Aeronerd's leg.

"Better, sir. Don't worry about-"

"Mayday, mayday, this is Leftenan Abu Hassan of the 5th Wataniah Special Signals Unit. We are under heavy dogface bombardment at Yong Seng Building. Requesting immediate support from any available militia group. I repeat-" came a voice from an old police radio on one of the metal shelves by the wall.

Hazri exchanged worried looks with Gunjack. "Sounds like they're in a world of trouble," Hazri said.

Gunjack nodded. "Seems so, sir. What should we do?"

"Of course we must help them. Can't believe the radio still works though. Old stuff really does last a lifetime," Hazri said as he took out his map.

Gunjack informed hin that he had earlier fitted the old police radio with some spare batteries, but failed to call out and believed that there was a problem with its microphone part, then he came closer as Hazri placed the map on the desk. They both took out their tiny flashlights and shone it on the map.

"Okay, so we're here," Hazri indicated a point on the map with the words 'Dataran Merdeka' written on it.

"That's right, sir," Gunjack nodded.

"So where the hell is the Yong Seng building?" Hazri asked as he scanned the map.

"I think it should be near KLCC, sir," Gunjack said as he also scanned the map before he exclaimed, "There!" he pointed at tiny lettering near KLCC.

Hazri scratched his head as he looked at the map. "That's over ten kilometres, even if we still have the energy to reach there, we probably won't arrive in time."

"I may have a solution there, sir," Gunjack stated.

Hazri looked up at Gunjack. "What's your solution?" he asked.

"We ... appropriated an abandoned motorbike during our escape. That was how I was able to get Aeronerd here in one piece," Gunjack said.

"Can it still run?" Hazri asked.

"Should be, sir. It was a relatively smooth ride all the way here."

"How the heck could you have a smooth ride? I had to evade dogface patrols, screaming refugee kids and blast craters. And what about the rubbles and the rocks and the potholes?"

"My apologies, sir. Perhaps I should have emphasized the word 'relatively'."

"Heh, alright. Let's go, then. Will you be okay here, Aeronerd?" Hazri looked down at Aeronerd, who was still on his back on the cold floor.