The Unsung War Pt.4 - The Red Cars Are Quite Red I Realize
Replies:
@RepublicMaster: Thanks Will!
@Schulmanator: Thank you!
@ggamgus: Thanks Emir, and yup, that's exactly what it is 
@NMUSpidey: Nice hearing from you Spidey! Thank you very much!
@IL.:Thanks! Haha, this actually is about a tower, but not the WTC. It's actually based on the previous entries about the Rodina Tower in Hiigara.
@TekindusT: Thanks Daniel!
@Hazani Pratama: Thanks man.
@agunter999: Thank you Alex.
@Thande: Thanks man, I sent you the link in the comments (:
@SimCoug: Thank you very much! I hope you'll enjoy it as well.
@111222333444: Hehe, of course it did Carl ;D. Lol.
@Forthwall: Thanks Shubby!
@Huston: Appreciate that Kyle, thanks (:
@spursrule14: Thank you for the recognition. Dude, I swear, the spurs almost had those finals. I can't believe the Heat won, I was pulling for the Spurs having once lived in San Antonio...
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Khalil woke up Haresh, who had drifted off to sleep. Haresh squinted as the plane’s cabin lights came on. The other passengers quickly rose up from their seats in a rush to get out of the crowded plane. Haresh pulled out a Boston Red Sox cap from his carry on laptop bag and pulled it down over his head. “Baseball fan?” Khalil asked amused. Haresh laughed. “I could never get into cricket.” They walked down a stairway into a bus, which drove them from the ramp to the main terminal. The terminal was rather empty at this time, and they quickly picked up their bags at the baggage claim and headed outside. On the other side of the arrival area, a tall man in a black suit, probably in his early thirties, held up a sign which read their names. They walked towards him. He introduced himself as Amir, and showed them their way to a white jeep.
The jeep had no air conditioning, so Amir rolled down the windows for Khalil and Haresh. A hideous stench rolled into the jeep, causing the two to gag. Amir laughed. “You’ll get used it.”, he said with a smile. He turned the radio on. Khalil recognized the song immediately. “The red cars are quite red I realize…” he hummed. Amir glanced at him.
“Oh, so you recognize it?”, he asked.
“Yeah, it’s the Kingston and Boyce song that won AINVision, some band called BOY right?”
“Yup, that’s the one. I think the lyrics are kind of stupid. ‘Seven little numbers’, like what the hell bro, but it’s so damn catchy. That’s the only reason it’s on my iPod.”
“Agreed” Khalil said. He was beginning to like Amir. “You new here?” he asked. He hadn’t seen Amir before during his previous rotations at the embassy.
“Yup, just landed the job. My wife and I moved in recently from Masel.”
“Oh, so you’re from Atlantsia too? Why the hell did you come to Afghanistan?”
“Same reason you did probably. A well-paying job that others are too scared to take up.”
A large orange building gated in by a tall security fence came into view. A maroon and gold flag with the Atlantsian coat of arms waved softly in the wind. The moonlight cast an eerie glow on the Atlantsian Embassy. Amir parked the jeep outside and carried their bags towards the residential quarters. Khalil and Haresh followed. They met Amir on the staircase just outside of their rooms. “We’ll be visiting the compound tomorrow as well as some other parts of Kabul so you two can familiarize yourselves with the location.” Amir noted to them. “We’ll brief you tomorrow at about one o’clock in the dining room. Get some rest until then.”
The streaks of sunlight shone through the window of Khalil’s small bedroom when he woke up. It wasn’t the sun though that woke him up, but instead a loud afternoon prayer being amplified by large speakers from the nearby mosque’s minaret. Khalil was still a bit drowsy, but he decided since he was already awake he may as well prepare to head to the compound. He took a quick shower, changed into a comfortable button down shirt and khakis, and headed towards the dining room. Haresh was already there, happily eating some traditional Afghanistan cuisine and talking with Amir at the dining table. The room was large enough to easily accommodate a large rectangular wooden dining table with about twelve chairs seated around it, two on each end, but compact enough to where it only allowed guests enough room to be seated. A wall facing the south was made completely of glass, and through it one could see the slums of Kabul being enveloped by the towering Hindu Kush Mountains. The other three walls were not lavishly decorated, but instead provided space for large bulletin boards filled with information relevant to anything of importance in the area. A small, but not ornate, chandelier hung barely over the table, which today was filled with all types of food. Khalil took a seat next to Haresh. An older man with graying hair and a soft smile, dressed in a desert camouflage uniform made his way into the room. Khalil instantly recognized General Faruq, who he had become close friends with while working at the embassy. “Ahh! If it isn’t our little golden boy himself!” the General remarked when he saw Khalil. “It’s twelve o’clock! Did the goddam prayer wake you up?”
Khalil nodded with a smile. “It’s great to see you Faruq!” he said.
“You too Ambassador Khalil. How are you?”
“Well, I’m in Afghanistan again…”
“Yeah, we’re not that good at giving vacations are we?” the General laughed. He nodded towards the food sitting on the table. “Help yourself. We hired a new chef, and she’s marvelous. Try the tandoori and naan. They’re quite spicy, but I head spicy food raises your metabolism, so we’re all good.” Khalil laughed and took hearty servings of everything. He agreed with the General. The food was amazing. Haresh nudged him. “We’re going soon. Amir went to start the jeep.” he said. Faruq sighed. “Well, I thought there might not be enough time. I’ll just tag along and brief you on the way.”
As they headed outside towards Amir’s jeep, another man greeted them just outside the dining room. He was dressed up in desert camouflage as well, similar to General Faruq, but that was about the only similarity. He was much taller than the rest of them, probably about 6’3”, and he had an American Flag stitched to the side of the uniform’s sleeve. His wavy brown hair was swept to the side, and he had on a pair of aviator glasses that made him look like Christian Bale playing Bruce Wayne. General Faruq seemed discomforted by the man’s appearance. “Men, this is Sargent Richard Kayne from the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States. He will be accompanying us as we head towards the compound. The Emirate of Atlantsia has agreed to coordinate the attack strike with the United States, hence his presence.” Sargent Kayne nodded and smiled. Khalil was shocked. If anything were to go wrong with the mission, Atlantsia would be charged for all faults at the mercy of the U.S.
The jeep’s lack of air conditioning made it a burning inferno during the daytime. Amir once again rolled down the windows, but the 5-seater was completely filled, and the body warmth of the others countered the cooling of the dry desert wind as they sped down the A76 highway towards the compound. Haresh sat beside Amir up front. The two seemed to be getting along well. Sadly that left Kayne in the back, and his massive muscular figure was squishing Khalil, who was seated between him and Faruq. Faruq relayed the briefing in extreme detail. “This is the Shash Darak district, which is relatively close to the embassy of Saudi Arabia and the ISAF HQ. We have strong evidence to support that the insurgency group operates many of their inter-city sales of opium around this area, primarily towards the south side, where the slums are located.” He pointed towards a busy interstate on their left. “That’s the A01 highway you see, which can fast-track anything towards the Kabul’s International Airport, or directly out of Kabul and into the Hindu Kush. It leads directly to Peshawar, Pakistan. It also makes the Shash Darak area a prime location for the sales. We have more reason to believe that the insurgency group is indirectly-rooted with al-Qaeda, hence the American involvement in our operations.”
They reached the Ansari District about forty minutes later. The slow moving traffic of Kabul’s inner-city streets had heavily delayed them. Faruq directed Amir towards the compound. They finally arrived at the location a few minutes later.
It was nighttime before they decided to leave. Kayne had suggested since the attack on the compound would be at night, they should familiarize themselves with the location during the dark. The advice was helpful. They were able to pinpoint two nighttime guards on the roof adjacent to the compound. The “compound” was actually a large abandoned warehouse with a faded bluish-gray coloring. It had been fenced off by a small parking lot, allowing it only to be accessible by going through two nearby buildings. Khalil had recorded on his notepad the large commercial office with a Pepsi-Cola advert on its side. The rooftop of this building would provide the perfect cover for reconnaissance soldiers since a bright billboard blocked the view of the roof from the balcony that the guards were on. Khalil couldn't help but smile. When the attack team arrived, they would be ready…
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For all legal purposes, The Emirate of Atlantsia is a SC4 City Journal, and is not affiliated with any real life companies or organizations. All characters depicted are purely fictional, although all areas listed exist in real life.
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