RED DIAMOND

Chapter Fifteen - Fiona

A refreshing breeze met the three of us as we stepped out of the supersonic plane and descended down some stairs. It was a big improvement from the stuffy plane. The environment was much different compared to home, with dense trees surrounding the area and huge mountains peeking over top of them in the distance. The sun was setting, and the sky was glowing a brilliant shade of orange to purple causing the trees to cast long looming shadows across the pavement platform.

The RD outpost buzzed with commotion as people made preparations for the upcoming mission to find a Black Arrow base, supposedly hidden in the jungle.

A chinese guy - about my age - stepped out of a buggy ahead of Sam, Fiona, and I. He had jet black hair and wore a Red Diamond uniform. I stepped forward and extended my arm, shaking his hand.

"Lieutenant Harmon?" He asked.

"Yes."

"I'm lieutenant Zong, part of the Red Dragon elite squadron. It's an honor to have you and your team here. It's a tragedy what happened back in Canada, you have my condolences." He said in a thick Chinese accent. Nonetheless, his English was very good.

"Thank you lieutenant. I've heard much about your squad and what you've done for Red Diamond." I motioned to Fiona, "This is captain Fiona and Samuel."

Zong shook both of their hands, "It's an honor to meet you. Come, I will take you to Commander Zhang."

We climbed into Zong's buggy and drove through the busy outpost. Zong took us to the commander's lodge. Zhang was waiting outside by the door. He wore an RD uniform, had shorter, slicked black hair and wore a grim expression. Zong parked the buggy and we walked up to Zhang.

He shook my hand, "Good to have you here lieutenant," Zhang motioned for us to come inside, "let's get to it."

We followed him inside the lodge. It was pretty simple inside, the main area was a command room completed with a variety of wooden furniture and a map of the jungle on a large octagon table in the middle of the room. A wide set of stairs led up to a dark, second floor. Zhang immediately headed over to the table.

"Here's what's been organized," Zhang began, extending a hand over a certain point on the map, "You and your team will be searching this portion of jungle in the morning with the Red Dragon elite squadron. You will be given advanced search equipment to help find the base, along with two buggies. The equipment was made by BlueBird Tech, so it's top notch. If you find the base, you will return here immediately and then an attack will be organized. Your only mission is to find the base."

I nodded once, "Understood."

Fiona nudged my arm with her elbow, "BlueBird Tech, that's where Aluna works!" she exclaimed under her breath.

"Good. Now, Zong will show you to your lodgings, where you will spend the night."

We nodded firmly and left the building, once again getting into Zong's buggy. We drove in silence to a somewhat larger building in the area. Zong parked the vehicle and we stepped out and into the building. The outside looked kind of deceiving, inside it looked almost like a modern hotel, except for no elevator. The walls were red with gold lining and rims, pillars held up a second floor. Lantern lights hung from the walls and ceiling, the lanterns cast their designs as shadows onto the floor and walls. A girl, about eighteen, sat behind a brown marble desk. Smooth stone stairs led up to the other floors.

Before I had walked in, the outside led me to believe that the inside wasn't going to be as nice as this. I wasn't expecting the red and gold walls or all the cool designs of landscapes and animals literally everywhere. From the outside, I thought that everything was going to be like walking into a cheap hotel or a barracks.