STORM - 01

He called himself “STORM” whenever he’s on camera, and he liked the sound of it. His mates gave him that nickname because of the way he typically operates, and creating a storm wherever he goes on a mission. Gear was stacked like trophies on the deck behind him and his unit. His fingers still smelled of coffee and grease; the Cantilla mission start time pressed close, today the valley was his prey.

While his unit was busy gearing up and preparing all their equipment. He went outside of the building they had been stationed at, and held his phone in front of him to let the front camera find his grin. He checked himself out and was happy with the way he looked, all geared up, hair neatly combed, looking bad ass.. It wasn’t about facts, it was theater to keep his followers engaged and as proof for the people who ate his bravado. “Hey guys, a quick update from the Cantilla region, we’re gearing up for a full tactical assault on the ARS, our unit has been planning this mission for months.” he said, voice loose with swagger. “The ARS won’t stand a fucking chance guys” He leaned closer, eyes bright. “ We’re gonna fuck them up real good. They won’t see it coming until it’s too late. STORM is out” He laughed, pressed the stop button. He didn’t need to do a second take, he’s done this hundreds of times. He then did some editing on his phone quickly using some templates he had carefully customized for all of his previous posts, some graphical adjustments and automatic captioning. He remembered to turn off all the automatic tagging, including geotagging, as instructed multiple times by his commanding officer. He felt the small, sweet rush of the share button.

The post went live. Notifications chimed, a handful, then a trickle, then a flood of comments that fed the bravado: “Do it, Storm,” “Post after pics,” “Bring back receipts.” He felt the familiar buoy of approval and slid the phone into his pocket as he swung a rucksack over his shoulder. The plan, the months of logistics, the rehearsed cadence in his head, all of it pulsed steady as the adrenaline started to build up.

His unit then started preparing for the long trek to get closer to a region known to be controlled by the ARS, the exact boundary was not a well known fact, and it seemed to have grown everyday. From the months of planning, the unit found an abandoned building far enough from any known activity and they had done a recon mission to scope it out and confirmed that it was abandoned and there’s no known activity, with no technology infrastructure during the scan. They have decided to do their assault in the afternoon, since it’s a well known fact that the best time to attack is at night for coverage, and the fact that most people will be asleep. But they wanted to attack in the afternoon just after lunch time, when they’re less active after a meal, and never expect an attack during that time.

After 3 hours of inconspicuous travel, the unit reached the scoped out abandoned building, and started to set up further in one of the more hidden rooms. They’re just one kilometer away from the known boundary of the controlled region. Adrenaline was pumping, they’re ready to attack, and from their intel, they know that there are about 15 to 20 militants based in the region. They will have no problem taking them out silently, and maybe even take a few prisoners for their benefit.

Before the start of the assault, despite his other unit members' objection, Storm decided to do one last post. He promised them that it would only take a few minutes, and he would be ready for the mission. He rushed to create another video post, doing his typical routine. What he didn’t notice was a tiny icon in the corner of the screen he usually killed but skipped that time: automatic tagging. Habit and hurry had made him sloppy. The tag glowed on; the post carried a neat, clickable Cantilla Region stamp, and also automatically added hashtag tagging the ARS since he mentioned it on the video. He should have turned it off. He didn’t. HUGE MISTAKE. He then just turned off his phone and got ready for his mission before even looking at some of the notifications that came in after his post.

Across town, not far enough for him to care, a different phone buzzed. A hand he would never see unlocked the screen. Someone watched his grin, the hash tag, the pinned location. They did not laugh. They forwarded it. They marked it. They moved in a way he never imagined his chest would register until later.

See it for yourself, the follow up post that the ARS posted everywhere including from STORM’s own account.

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We will see what will happen to Storm……