Never Judge

"Two dead, eight remaining." Cedric heard one of Leon's team leaders say over the radio.

"Have you sent the team to get Guan Ming?" Leon asked.

There was some static over the radio, increasing the tension and anxiety in the room as they waited for the men on the ground to respond.

"Not yet." The team leader said over the cracking radio.

"Can't we get better communication devices?" Ian grumbled. "You're the richest man in the country!"

"That's the safest one to use at the moment." Cedric said as he kept his attention on the radio. "Lucius Ting nor his allies would never think that we were using older technology to communicate. As you said, I'm the richest man in the country, I should be able to provide my men with the best." Cedric said with a grin.

"What's the delay?" Leon asked the men on the ground.

"Sir, they are using a military maneuver that is practically impossible to defeat." The team leader reported over the radio.

"What maneuver?" Leon asked as he drummed his fingers on the table, annoyed that his subordinate was keeping him waiting.

"The Den, sir." The team leader replied.

Cedric was shocked when the normally composed Leon turned pale at the mention of The Den. He couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with Leon's past.

Going against his nature, Cedric decided not to question his head of security. He knew that Leon had many dark secrets and that this could be one of them.

The man's secrets never bothered Cedric, it was because he knew where Leon's loyalties lay and that he would never betray Cedric.

"Have the rescue team and the rest of the decoy teams all rush to their target locations all at once." Leon ordered, taking control of the situation.

"But sir, they have the whole place in their sights." The team leader said.

"There are only eight of them for fucks sake! They can't hit you, trust me, that's the weakness of the Den, it only looks strong, but in reality it will crumble out of panic and worry." Leon barked over the phone, pushing his men to do as he said.

"Yes, sir." The team leader replied as he knew he had no choice but to do as Leon asked.

"One more thing, as our people go to Guan Ming's location, make them take a detour, go further away before finally converging with his actual location." Leon said as he realized it would be best if that team was much harder to target.

"Copy, sir." The team leader said over the radio.

"Get the sweep team, I need them to do something and fast." Leon called out to his subordinate who quickly patched him in with the sweep team.

"Your orders, sir?" The leader of the sweep team asked.

"Get whatever shield and uniforms you can from our enemy's escape team, wear them and distract the eight survivors." Leon ordered.

"Sir, our own men will attack us." The team leader of the sweep team said in a panic.

Cedric could imagine the man going pale, thinking that Leon was sending all of them to their deaths.

"Do you trust me or not?" Leon asked the man, shouting over the radio.

"I trust you sir, with my life." The man said.

Cedric knew that most of Leon's men were even more loyal than their head himself. They all knew who Leon was back when he belonged to the military and even when he was a mercenary after he had left.

Leon never hired anyone that he couldn't trust nor people who didn't trust him. They all knew what he was capable of and they all had fate in his decisions.

"If you do, then do as I say." Leon said in a much calmer tone, something that surprised Cedric.

"Yes, sir." The leader of the sweep team said before ending the radio communication.

"Get the team leader of the Alpha team back on." Leon told his subordinate. The other man quickly jumped into action and got the team leader of the Alpha team on the line within seconds.

"Sir, you wanted a word with me? What are your orders?" The team leader asked.

"I have set up distractions, I need your men to trust me and to focus only on the eight. Anyone aside from the eight are friendlies, is that clear?" Leon asked in a stern but calm tone.

"Sir, yes, sir." The man said in reply.

"Good, now tell your men and begin the assault in five minutes." Leon told the man before cutting the line.

"The sweep team should be ready in five minutes." Leon whispered to himself as he did the computations. "They will arrive on the scene three minutes from the moment the attack starts. The enemy will be distracted for two minutes, giving us enough time to stop most of them-"

Leon suddenly stopped mid sentence and raised his head in panic, there was something he had missed out and he needed another team to do it for him.

"Fuck." Leon cursed as he looked at his subordinate.

In Cedric's opinion, Leon's subordinate looked more scared than Leon the moment he had cursed. He wanted to laugh, but Cedric knew it would be quite inappropriate to do so right now.

"Can we get in touch with the military or the Sebastian Family's private malica?" Leon asked.

"Yes, sir, but it will be over the phone, we can't communicate with them via radio. This one is way too old." The subordinate said as he pointed at the large box that was placed on the meeting table.

"Then get them on the phone!" Leon shouted, making his subordinate jump before calling the general that had been deployed.

"Sir, General, my boss, General Leon would like to speak to you." Leon's subordinate said in a calm tone as if Leon did not just shout at him.

Another thing that confused Cedric, was the fact that Leon's man didn't seem to be afraid or intimidated by the General. It was also the first time that Cedric had heard anyone mention what Leon's rank in the military had been.

Cedric knew that Leon had a very successful career, he didn't realize that Leon had  made General at such a young age. It seemed impossible and yet the man at the other end of the call did not correct Leon's subordinate when he called Leon a General.

"Did you know?" Cedric asked Ian, he knew that his assistants knew Leon better than him having trained and lived with Leon while waiting for Cedric to reveal himself.

"Yeah." Ian said with a nod. "Leon is the second youngest general ever and the youngest in modern days. The one that holds the honor of being the youngest was some man during the revolution. One of our heroes."

"Dad really built the best team possible for me, didn't he?" Cedric asked as he glanced at his former assistant.

"Yeah, I was the odd one out." Ian said with a chuckle as he referred to his lack of early life achievements.

"You were picked for a different reason and we both know it." Cedric said as he shook his head.

"General, it's been a while. I need a favor." Leon said over the phone in a happy tone.

"My men will be conducting the rescue mission and the decoys-" Leon was seemingly cut mid sentence as his lips drew a line. Cedric knew that his head of security was already trying his best not to answer back and raise his voice.

"General, please, we have limited time. You will need to listen to me and do as I say. This will be for the benefit of the military and it will truly make your men look like the heroes of tonight." Leon told the General as he sold his plan.

Cedric knew that Leon was willing to give up all the glory as long as his mission was achieved. At this stage, Leon no longer cared about glory, nor had he ever cared. It had always been about the success of the mission.

"Good, good." Leon said with a nod. "Your men will attack the terrorists, take at least two alive but the rest can be killed."

There was a pause from Leon as he listened to what the General had to say. Cedric could see that it was good news, because Leon's expression turned lighter as the side of his lips curled upwards.

"The leader of my Alpha Team will be the one to give the signal, do not act without his command and do not do anything besides what you need to do." Leon said in a stern tone as if commanding the General.

"General, too much is at risk here, it's far more than neither you nor I could comprehend. So please, follow the plan to the dot. There will be no need for you to improvise, am I understood?" Leon asked, it seemed as if the General was a child that Leon was lecturing.

"Thank you, General. I will inform Mr. Reyes and Mr. Sebastian of your assistance today." Leon said as he dropped the call.

"Will your plan work now?" Cedric asked.

"As long as this general doesn't fuck up, yes.." He said with a definitive nod as they were left to wait.