[ilikeoldchangke]

Istana Bukit Serene, Johor, Malaysia

Istana Bukit Serene was known for its grandeur and opulence. The palace's design featured a mix of traditional Malay architecture and modern amenities, creating a luxurious and comfortable living space. Upon entering the palace, visitors would be greeted by a grand foyer adorned with intricate carvings and decorations. The walls were painted in soft, warm colours, and large windows allowed natural light to flood the space. Polished marble covered the floors, adding to the palace's elegance. The palace's reception rooms were similarly ornate, with high ceilings, elaborate chandeliers, and richly patterned carpets. The furniture was both luxurious and comfortable; draped in rich fabrics, plush armchairs and sofas lined the rooms, artwork and tapestries adorned the walls, a reminder of the royal family’s flair for opulence.

Aadil, the Crown Prince of Johor, was busy gathering up the family. Their bags were packed and they were about to head to the private airfield. His children were asking, why was their father not coming with them to the airport? Aadil just smiled and kissed his family goodbye. He paused and then added that he would join them soon. He looked at the ready-to-depart car, then he gave the commander in charge of the security escort a curt nod to send them off.

Politics was a minefield in this nation; with those in charge doing everything they could to hold onto power, while others went to extreme lengths in order to overthrow them. It was a battle of wills and a test of who had the most loyal followers. Aadil just never expected things to go south this fast. Regardless of how this would end, Prime Minister Razak was going to have trouble holding onto his position after this was over; his failure was what had allowed it to happen in the first place.

Ismail, the Sultan of Johor, was on his phone, demanding for federal troops to be sent down to his state to beef up defences for key installations. The situation was dire; two schools on opposite ends of the state had been attacked, with more than a dozen children killed and many more injured. The news had been replaying the tragedy the whole morning. Sultan Ismail wanted to shut all the schools in the state, but things were not moving as fast as he wanted them to. Instructions and information were trickling back and forth at a snail's pace.

Aadil: Ayah (father), the car is ready. You should go to the airport now. I will take care of the rest.

Ismail: I'm not leaving.

Aadil: Ayah... you need to go now!

Ismail ignored his son's wishes. He continued marching towards the entrance of the palace where his servants and workers were running in through a side door.

Ismail: What is happening?

Ismail demanded to know what was going on as frantic shouts and screams echoed along the opulent hallways. One of his personal guard rushed in through the door, informing him that the gates had been stormed.

Ismail: What?

Guard: A jeep crashed into the security booth. The driver tried to shoot at the guards but they got him first. There were explosives in the jeep, so we evacuated the guard house. A second vehicle tried to come in from the rear, but the guards got him before he came near.

Ismail: HOW DARE THEY!

Aadil: Ayah! You need to leave now!

Ismail: I'm not leaving my people behind!

Aadil grabbed his father's arm and pulled him towards the car.

Aadil: Think of the consequences if they get you! Think of the demands they will be able to make to force Razak's hand!

Ismail resisted at first, then he finally relented and rushed towards the exit. An explosion shook the grounds of the palace; the bomb detonated and the jeep by the front was ripped into shreds of mangled metal. A façade of stained-glass windows shattered and crystals from hanging chandeliers twinkled to the ground. Shrapnel and debris from the explosion were thrown in every direction as the palace was blanketed in billowing smoke. The people panicked and started running away from the scene in terror, desperately looking for shelter and safety. Ismail looked in horror at the ruins of the front of his palace. The security booth was gone, collapsed onto the manicured garden.

Strong headlights pierced the dark smoke that blanketed Bukit Serene. Three vehicles roared into the grounds of the palace; the men in the vehicles opening fire at the Sultan and his guards even before they alighted. The guards quickly returned fire, but it did nothing to stop their advance. A dozen men exited the vehicles and immediately engaged in a fierce firefight with the Sultan's security team. A hail of bullets ripped through the air as the men advanced on the Sultan's position with a ferocious energy, raining down death and destruction with relentless fury. The guards' pistols were easily out gunned by the attackers’ assault rifles.

The sound of bullets slamming into walls and into flesh, was accompanied by the symphony of screeching metal as the vehicles forced their way through the mangled guard post. It sounded like a hailstorm of destruction, a relentless wall of terror that grew in intensity as it came closer. A crescendo of shouts from the Sultan's security team, mixed with the death rattles from the dying men, created a curtain of terror that blanketed the scene which played out in front of the Sultan.

One of Ismail's personal guards collapsed to the ground, a chunk of his face lost to a well-placed round. Just beside the fallen guard, his eyes wide and bloodshot in horror, Aadil grabbed onto his father's bulletproof vest, and together with the guards, dragged him back into the palace.

Ismail: How dare they… How dare they!

The air cracked with miniature sonic booms as the bullets broke the sound barrier, slicing through the air like lightning bolts and embedding themselves into the walls. The deafening roar of the gunfire filled the palace grounds, joined by the sound of shattering glass and screams of terror from the people fleeing the chaos. Ismail shouted above the din to a number of staff and servants who were cowering in a corner of the palace. He shouted at them to run, to leave by the back of the palace.

Ismail: Leave! Leave the palace! RUN!

The sultan directed a quarter of his guards to evacuate the rooms on the upper levels.

Ismail: Get everyone out of the palace!

More guards joined the fight from within, putting out a blanket of lead across the grand entrance to keep the attackers at bay. Police sirens could be heard in the distance, growing ever louder as they make their way towards Istana Bukit Serene.


*


Poh Koon observed the attack from the back of a truck. Things were going better than expected. He squinted into the lens of the binoculars, watching the platoon of soldiers streaming into the palace. He heard the whoosh of two RPG rounds streaking towards the palace entrance and the explosion when it punched a car-sized hole into the facade wall. He had expected a more impactful result though. Of the two rockets fired, one exploded and the other was a dud. A third round was fired, and shards of steel and concrete flew when a second gaping hole into the palace was ripped open. Poh Koon smiled as he watched the flames leaping into the sky and the smoke billowing out from within. His soldiers kept advancing, firing indiscriminately, not caring who they hit while they closed in on Ismail and his security team.

Aadil: BACK! Back away from the entrance!

The palace guards closed protectively around the Sultan and the Crown Prince as they shuffled through the royal kitchen and out the back door into the Hibiscus Garden. They barely made a dozen steps out when bullets flew towards them from another breach in the back gates. The Sultan's guards took up positions, fanning out and using whatever cover they could find to draw enemy fire away from the Sultan and his son.

The oncoming bullets ripped through the air with ear-splitting cracks, the sights of the guns that fired them trained on the slightest hint of movement, with the intent to deliver nothing less than death. The air reverberated in the wake of their relentless energy, their impact was both fearsome and violent - each round was a beat on the drums of war. Each pulse, an echo of darkness that brought about incurable destruction. The onslaught of bullets was merciless, and the Sultan's security team was no match for it.

Ismail: Give me a gun! Give me a GUN!

Ismail snatched the offered handgun and began firing over his head at the section of soldiers advancing on their position. Aadil stole a quick peep and barely pulled his head back in time before a chunk of concrete was chipped off the wall where his head was at just a moment ago.

Ismail: The stables... Go to the stables. We can reach the armoury from there.

Ismail gave the order for his men to regroup. They had to get to the armoury.


*



The 7.62-millimetre rounds tore through the engine of the police car approaching the palace. The bodies within danced like a broken marionette dolls as they painted the interiors with splatters of red. The first car was stopped in its tracks by automatic fire, the two cars behind ploughing head on into the rear of the one in front. The platoon of soldiers waiting in standby at the rear of the palace opened fire, making sure that no help would come for the Sultan.

Poh Koon gestured to the commander of his battle-hardened soldiers, urging him to press the attack and end it. They were too exposed and would take heavy casualties if more reinforcements arrived. The commander gave the order through the radio, and the Burmese soldiers spread out in a pincer maneuverer towards the position where the Sultan and his men were boxed in. More than a dozen laid dead on the palace grounds as the soldiers took care of the retreating guards.

Poh Koon's attention was suddenly distracted by a flash of headlights. He turned and saw an SUV cutting across the hedges of the road and heading directly towards the perimeter of the palace grounds. Before the SUV crashed into the wall, several men exited the vehicle, diving low and taking cover on the ground.

Commander Hakim of the palace guard had his weapon out the moment he landed on the bed of manicured lawn. His vehicle crashed through the grille fence, bringing down an entire section of it as it rolled to a stop. Hakim had picked that particular section because he knew a water pipe that went under that section of fence had burst a couple of weeks ago. The soil beneath it had loosened and the footing of the fence was compromised. Contractors were due to come in to replace the fence; he never expected the delay to be a blessing in disguise.

Hakim knew the Crown Prince was going to be angry with him for leaving the royal convoy unescorted to the airport, but upon hearing the explosion, he was compelled by duty to turn back to the palace.

Hakim raised his pistol and put three rounds into the chest of a soldier. The body fell to the ground, its life extinguished in an instant. He then motioned to his men to move forward, knowing that the distraction they caused would not cover them for long. This was their chance to get inside the palace and save the Sultan, if they could make it in time.

Hakim: To the armoury... head to the armoury!

The soldiers were already converging towards the armoury, one half of the pincer breaking off to engage Hakim and his men. Bullets flew past them, many impacting against walls and some streaking off into the night sky. Commander Hakim put himself at risk multiple times, drawing attention to himself so that his men could make it safely across the open ground. Hakim and his team shot and fought their way across the lawn, thankful for the first time that the Sultan had plenty of marble sculptures scattered at regular intervals for them to use as cover.

Aadil caught sight of Hakim and his men approaching from the sculpture garden. He emptied his magazine while he shouted at the guards to cover their approach.

Aadil: Hakim... HAKIM! Get some cover for Hakim!

The guards fired at the same time, keeping the soldiers pinned down to buy Hakim and his men some time. With their commander returning to organise the defence, the guards on the upper levels took up prime firing position from the high ground, picking out the unsuspecting soldiers. While most of the staff evacuated, several male staff who were capable of fighting, decided to stay and help. They armed themselves with whatever they could find in the palace, from knives to gardening tools.

Hakim’s men unleashed a barrage of bullets upon the pinned down soldiers. Each shot found its mark, blasting through flesh and bone like a relentless hammer, spewing sheets of crimson mist into the still evening air. The men were so close that Hakim could almost feel their agony with each pull of the trigger, his shots shredding muscle and sinew until the wretched remains lay in an unrecognisable heaps. For the soldiers eager to box the Sultan in and claim the glory for ending the reign of a monarch, they never expected Hakim and his men to approach from their side.

Buying themselves a brief reprieve, Hakim re-deployed the available men. The men on the upper levels would cover the Sultan’s retreat, while the rest formed a defensive shield to cover their monarch. As the Burmese soldiers regrouped, Hakim and his men retreated with the Sultan and the remainder of the palace guard into the stables. Hakim immediately took control of the remaining guards and reorganised them.

One of Hakim's men suddenly fell face first onto the ground while clutching his stomach. He was shot earlier but forced himself to press on. The horses in the stables were in a frenzied state from the sound of gunfire. Several of them were striking the wooden barriers with their hooves, trying to escape. The sight of their owner panicking and shouting did nothing to calm them down either.

The armoury was an adjoining building located at the back of the stables. Hakim opened the door and the group quickly took what they needed. Ismail took his Winchester SX4 and a box of shells. He cursed as he loaded the weapon and stuffed fistfuls of shells into his pocket. The palace armoury contained only small arms and rifles that were used mostly for ceremonial purposes. Along with the Sultan's hunting equipment and some small explosive charges that they used for clearing trees in the Sultan's private hunting ground, it didn't carry the military grade arms that the group now needed.


Aadil was on his phone, trying to reach the local police commander. Unknown to him, the man he was trying to reach was already dead, shot in the back by his lieutenant who worked for Chan. The local police force was spread thin responding to the terror attacks, and the bulk of the Royal Johor Military Force, the Sultan’s private army, had been sent to the far corners of the state by corrupted officials. All that was left was the remainder of the palace guard that was held up in the small armoury.

Ismail: Aadil! Whoever is coming better come soon!

Ismail stuck his weapon out of a small window and sent four continuous bursts of slugs towards the approaching soldiers. Though they were all off mark and flew above their target, the reorganised enemy quickly shifted their focus on him, returning fire as they readied themselves for another assault on the Sultan’s position. The Sultan was quickly pulled back into cover by his men. He looked towards his palace and felt himself being consumed by the fury rising within him.

Through the dozens of windows in the palace, flashes of gunfire could be seen as the platoon of soldiers cleared each room, killing everyone in sight and engaging the guards on upper levels. Despite being out-gunned and outnumbered, the palace guards and staff still fought on.