21st Century Goguryeo

November 17, 2023, 19:30

Northern State, Pyeong-yang-si, Potonggang-ku, the Peace Square

Protesters, more likely rioters, broke through the first line police barricades and flocked to the Peace Square.

Riot police from other regions had been urgently mobilized to Pyeong-yang, but they were outnumbered by the citizens joining the protests.

As crowds flocked to the site where the bombing took place, a police officer overseeing the protests from the top of the water cannon ranted and raved through a loudspeaker.

"Stop over there! Stop them somehow!"

Like a furious wave, the protesters rushed even more when they heard the commands from the loudspeaker. Riot police, a company-sized unit, tried to stop the crowd by raising shields and wielding stun batons but it wasn't enough.

As protesters in the front row fell after being beaten by stun batons, hundreds of other protesters in the back row rushed forward to clash with the riot police.

"Shit, where is the backup support? Fire the water cannons!"

A powerful stream of water gushed out of the outlet mounted on top of the water cannon as soon as the commander gave the order.

Whoosh~ Whoosh~

The water cannon's name had been changed to Chamsuri vehicle, implying that "water should be used properly," as negative perceptions of water cannon arose from violations of human rights during the past rallies and protests. As such, four Chamsuri vehicles were gushing water everywhere to stop the crowd.

Ouch! Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Protesters were knocked down like falling leaves by a powerful jet of water. Rioters kept their distance from the police, and soon after, there was a momentary lull. Suddenly, a man wearing a black face mask took out a fire bottle and threw it at the Chamsuri vehicle.

Whizz~ Whizzz~

More than 20 fire bottles were thrown at the Chamsuri vehicle at the same time.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Some bottle bombs flew short and fell on the ground, blocked by the gushing stream, but around 10 bottles fell right on the Chamsuri vehicle.

Fwoosh~

The fire spread rapidly when the bottle bombs fell and exploded on the Chamsuri vehicle. Another vehicle, attacked by more than one bottle bomb, burst into a huge fire, and the officers inside the truck screamed and jumped out.

"Hey! Fire! Tackle the fire!" The commander also jumped off the Chamsuri vehicle and yelled.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Rioters shouted and rushed towards the riot police when their four Chamsuri vehicles were attacked by the bottle bombs.

"Re-retreat! Back off, everybody!" The commander, being the first one to abandon the useless Chamsuri vehicles and withdraw from the site, ordered the troops after the attack.

Four helicopters were flying over the south side of the Peace Square with a distinctive engine sound.

It was a security helicopter carrying Governor Ahn Dong-tae from the Northern State Government Office Building to the Peace Square.

Armored vehicles somehow arrived and lined up at the helicopter landing site located within the Peace Square, and soon after, more than 300 fully armed soldiers stepped down with laser rifles.

Captian Kim Kwan-joon, who wore dark sunglasses even at night, got out of the C-161P light tactical vehicle and glared at the Peace Square which was in a total mess.

Rioters had taken over the site of the bombing as police rushed to take control.

"Commie bastards! I fed the starving bastards and now they're going nuts," Captian Kim Kwan-joon, a rightist, turned his head toward the helicopter as it approached.

Dubdubdubdubdubdub~

The four helicopters stirred up gusty winds and landed one by one at the points secured by the security force. Soon after, Governor Ahn Dong-tae and Mayor Kim Jin-kyu alighted from the helicopter that landed right after the first one.

"Salute! Kim Kwan-joon, captain of the security force, sir."

"Captain Kim! Glad to get a prompt response from you. Hahaha!"

Captain Kim Kwan-joon of Governor Ahn Dong-tae's Security Force, had refused to follow the order of the Commander of the State Guard. It wasn't a rejection per se, but he carried out the unit's mission immediately, which was to protect the Governor's safety in the event of an emergency.

The Governor shook hands with Captain Kim Kwan-joon and even patted his shoulder since he was the only one who responded to the Governor's request positively.

"How many guards are currently deployed?"

After shaking hands with Mayor Kim Jin-kyu, Captain Kim Kwan-joon answered in a firm voice, "Here, governor, please refer to the map as I explain."

An aide-de-camp next to Captain Kim Kwan-joon shared the screen from his tablet computer.

"We've deployed 50 soldiers to cover each of the six different locations, and here we have 300 security soldiers."

They planned to suppress rioters at the Peace Square and prevent additional rioters from entering the Peace Square from six different connecting roads.

"Sounds like a plan. Make sure to subdue these men who are trying to overthrow the government."

"Governor, are you really authorizing the use of firearms?"

"Didn't I already tell you on the phone? Use of firearms approved. Those mobs should get their asses kicked," Governor Ahn Dong-tae talked relentlessly as if he had a sworn enemy among the rioters.

"But as you know, the use of firearms is likely to be a problem in the future, governor!"

Captain Kim Kwan-joon wanted to avoid legal liability for injuries caused by using firearms, so he made an empty gesture to hint at Governor Ahn Dong-tae.

The Governor smirked and glanced at him, implying that he already knew what Captain Kim Kwan-joon was hinting at.

"A state of emergency has been declared. As a Governor, I have enough power to approve the use of firearms, so go and control the rioters right now."

"Governor! Do you truly mean to...?"

"Oh, Mayor Kim, are you going to keep interrupting me like that?"

Governor Ahn Dong-tae cut off Mayor Kim Jin-kyu, who was trying to dissuade him, and ordered Captain Kim Kwan-joon again.

"Initiate the plan."

"We will continue to monitor the protest movement then initiate our plan afterward."

"Ha ha, they are rioters, not protesters. I'm telling you."

Governor Ahn Dong-tae walked towards the protesters. He passed past the guard soldiers in the front who were guarding the surroundings with a laser rifle.

"It's dangerous, governor!" "Oh, why are you doing this? Step back." Captain Kim Kwan-joon and Mayor Kim Jin-kyu shouted together.

All of a sudden, something flashed on the roof from the building behind the protesters, followed by a gunshot, and that was when Governor Ahn Dong-tae fell.

"A sniper. 2 o'clock, a rooftop on the 15th floor," one of the commanders from the security force yelled, then guard soldiers shoot their laser rifles in the said direction.

Pew pew pew pew pew~

The roof of the 15-story building was severely damaged. On the other hand, Governor Ahn Dong-tae groaned in shock on the ground, but he wasn't injured as he was wearing a protective suit.

"As of now, each company will be deployed to quell protests. The use of firearms is approved. Roger that," Captain Kim Kwan-joon, the chief of the Security Force, immediately issued an order, thinking that approval of firearms was inevitable to protect the Governor.

Pew pew pew pew pew~

Peeeeeeeewu~

Protesters fell helplessly, bleeding, in the sudden stream of red laser beams.

"Ouch! Aaaaaaaah!"

"They are attacking us. Run! "

Protesters screamed and scattered everywhere after dozens of people fell onto the ground bleeding in the blink of an eye.

What was now seen at the Peace Square in Pyeong-yang was a repeat of the tragic history of the 5.18 Gwangju incident, where the military that existed for the citizens used firearms against them. Firearms were also used at the six connecting roads to the Peace Square, which caused a huge number of casualties.

* * *

November, 17, 20:00

Northern State, Pyeong-yang-si, Yongsung-ku, the mountains of Imwon-dong

In the dark mountains without a light, a black shadow was moving slowly on the hillside under the moonlight shining through the clouds.

It was Goo Sang-sik, the Foreign Intelligence Unit 1 agent who was attacked by an unidentified gunman in a warehouse and had run away into the mountains. He had been running nonstop from the nine-hour chase and was now crawling with heavy breathing to see if he had the strength to walk.

The backpacks full of money on his back had become tattered as they took several shots during his escape. It was doubtless that the cash in the backpacks must have been severely damaged to the point that it could not be used anymore.

"Huff! Huff!"

Goo Sang-sik, who had not sipped water for nine hours, threw away the backpacks when he saw a small stream and dunk his face into the water.

"Ho! I feel so much better now."

Goo Sang-sik drank a lot of water, laid on the ground, and looked at the blurry night sky. When he caught a glimpse of the moonlight and the twinkling starlight through the clouds, he felt burdened. He was saddened by the fact that he betrayed his comrades with whom he had been together for many years, and now, he had become a fugitive wandering the mountains.

He was filled with regret. However, he knew that regret will not make any difference; instead, he thought about how he would live with the cash once he escaped from this place.

Rustle! Rustle!

The sound of rustling leaves was heard weakly from the other side. Goo Sang-sik, who was specially trained, intuitively sensed that it was the sound of human footsteps and hid behind a tree.

"Fuxxing bastard is following me to the end," Goo Sang-sik mumbled to himself as he pulled out a handgun with a silencer from his lower back and slowly pulled the slide.

The visibility was less than 10m under the cloudy moon.

"Wait, is there more than one?"

Goo Sang-sik pricked up his ears and he listened intently. At least three people were there, judging from the sound of footsteps walking through the leaves.

A sound came very close from his back. He turned and tried to aim his gun, but his hand was struck by something that dropped down from above. Another heavy attack on his face followed.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

His face was marred from the relentless attacks, his head was banged on the ground and he fell like a giant tree. His face was covered with red blood coming out of his mouth and nose…

Goo Sang-sik's vision was distorted when he fell, but soon something appeared above his eyes.

"We have caught him."

It was the voice of Team Leader Park Gi-oong.

- Ah! The hard work is over. Good job!

- Are we heading down the mountain now, team leader?

The voices of Youn Tae-jin and Oh Hyuck-soo were heard one after another from the silent PM-1 communicator.

"We will head down if he's the one we're looking for."

In a short time, Manager Youn Tae-jin and Assistant Manager Oh Hyuck-soo, who had their TCS mode turned off, approached from a distance. They were wearing eyewear that enabled daytime vision even on nights.

"Thank you for your hard work, sir!"

Oh Hyuck-soo grabbed Goo Sang-sik's face with one hand and scanned it with a face recognizer.

Whoosh!

"Ah-ha! He belongs to Foreign Intelligence Unit 1; his name's Goo Sang-sik. Wow! This is the guy from the Emperor's Salon on the surveillance camera?"

"Really? Good. Let's head down now! Team Leader Lee!" Manager Youn Tae-jin said with a bright smile on his face.

"What about this guy? Assistant Manager Oh Hyuck-soo pointed at Goo Sang-sik who had blacked out.

"What do you mean, mister? You have to carry him on your back!"

"What?!" Assistant Manager Oh Hyuck-soo frowned upon hearing Manager Youn tae-jin's words.