The bombs were heard all over the territory. The fires were visible for miles and the fallen ash settled on the ground even in the most far fetched corners.

The soldiers flocked to the army centre and now I was stood amongst a crowd of thousands of whispering men awaiting an explanation.

I held my hand up, ordering a silence which instantly swept over the entire army.

"I'm sure all of you heard the explosions. And before rumours spread and the truth is distorted, I better inform you of the truth," I began, speaking loudly so all could hear, "Tonight at quarter past midnight, bombs planted by Andrea Martinez were detonated in the homes of Commanders Eduardo Siciliano, Paulo Salvatore, Mario Rossi, Emiliano Fruili and Rafaello Carlucci. They and their families were all killed."

I had every single set of eyes on me as a deadly silence took hold. Only the crackling of the distant fires and cries of wild animals trapped in the flames could be heard.

"And whilst this is a huge tragedy for the Stella pack and those men will not be forgotten, we have no time to grieve. We have already lost too many lives at the hands of Andrea Martinez and for now the mourning and funerals will have to wait. We will honour the deaths in another way: by taking him down once. By protecting our civilians, our children, our mates, our elderly and our sick.

There was a cheer of support throughout the army.

"Martinez has shown us tonight that he wants to play dirty," I continued, "So fine. We will do this his way. That means we will show no mercy, we will take no prisoners, there will be no rules and no tactics will be considered too brutal. This will be like no war we have ever fought before but we will carry the same Stella strength, bravery, resistance and resilience that has taken us to victory time and time and time again. We have never been defeated before and if Martinez thinks his bombs and machine guns can, he is gravely mistaken. That fucker is a dead man. He has been since he first set eyes on my Luna all those months ago and his inevitable fate is long overdue."

There was another cheer. This time louder and more passionate.

"We may have lost our head commanders," I added, "Five strong, skilled, intelligent, cunning warriors. But it's going to take far more than that to bring the Stella pack down and I'm sure their deputies will do them proud in stepping up to fill their roles and lead our squadrons to victory. So arm up, soldiers and prepare for battle. Your seniors will deliver your first orders shortly."

With that, they all disbanded, with lary shouts and applause.

But I couldn't bring myself to smile and cheer like they did. My speech had been a success. I needed to keep up the morale if we are to stand a chance but with the sky still aglow with the blaze of the explosions, the victory I talked of wasn't in sight. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

I marched over to Blair who stood briefing the five deputy head commanders, now just the head commanders. Their faces were all paled, probably the shock of losing their bosses or maybe the immense pressure they suddenly had on their soldiers.

But Blair and I had devised a plan for each of the five divisions they commanded. All they needed to do was carry out my orders.

"So in summary," Blair began, "Division one: border defence. Bombs on the roads, machine guns hidden in the trees, Patrols covering every single possible entrance. That includes Seattle and the airport.

Division two: base defence. The fortification is nearly complete. There are towers to position snipers and machine guns. Soldiers on patrolling the walls are to be unarmed with additional hand grenades. Scouts with communication devices are to be position a mile around the base ready to feedback information and stop them before they get anywhere near the civilians.

Division three: targetting Martinez. Your job is simple. Track the bastard down and kill him. But simple doesn't mean easy. He's sly and cunning. We know he's not easy to find. But the men in division three are the only soldiers permitted to delay the deaths of Martinez's men.copy right hot novel pub