Kampong Salang
"Liberated Territories"
The Sultanate of Terempang
"...ʾašhadu ʾanna ʿaliyyan walī Llāh, ʾašhadu ʾanna ʿaliyyan walī Llāh..."
The adhan from the small mosque of the village, or 'kampong' of Salang reverberated through the morning air. Five men moved under the cover of darkness, from treeline to treeline under the crystalline night sky. The only thing watching them was the skies that twinkled above as the five men slowly and surely made their way through the bush. They were quite obviously police officers- a khaki uniform with a black headdress called the songkok, khaki shirt and short pants, black puttees and ankle boots. Their uniforms were heavily starched and ironed, which produced a rather cardboard-like unnatural texture. Of the five men, one of them donned a beret, standing in the middle of the group. Irawan Ahmad was their leader, although he stood in the middle while Adiputera, the largest of the five, took the place in front.
Despite their uniforms, all five were members of the police contingent at Seladang that had defected to the rebellion that overran the town. As the only ones with significant training in operating firearms, they were valuable assets to Imam Ridhwan's campaign against the Royalists.
"Comrades, it is time." remarked Irawan, as the group slowly crept towards one of the houses of the village that lay on the outskirts. They approached the wooden building on stilts, which had been outfitted with a satellite dish on its roof. The men could clearly see that there was a police officer on lookout from one of the outward-facing windows, while an officer and a soldier were talking to one another in front of the main entrance to the house. Silently moving to the side of the building, they crawled under the stilts of the house towards the staircase where the two guards were. One of the officers walked back into the house, while the soldier remained on watch outside.
Slowly, the men called out to the soldier and greeted him. Initially shocked, the soldier reached for his gun, although Irawan quickly assured him they were loyal to the Sultan.
"We're from Kuala Putih, under the orders of the Sultan," said Irawan.
The soldier nodded for a second, before replying in slurred and broken Malay.
"Show... show me your identification."
He reached his hand out, asking for the police identification of the officers which would have proved to him that they were indeed based in Kuala Putih under the Sultan's orders. The guard clearly was rather drunk- his eyes were not focusing, and his face was flushed red. A mercenary from some other East Asian state, most likely. Irawan fumbled in handing over the pass and dropped it onto the floor. The soldier leaned down to grab it, but he never returned. The cold circle behind his skull was most likely the last thing he felt before Irawan pulled the trigger.
"Go!" He commanded.
The four other men nodded, and Adiputera took a grenade from the body of the guard, pulled the pin and chucked it into the building. In a matter of seconds, one of the officers lunged out of the window before the building exploded into a firey blaze. He looked up, disoriented, before being cut down by one of the officer's pistols. This was no ordinary village that they were attacking. Several hours prior, four fighters from Imam Ridhwan's faction were captured while they patrolled the stretch of territory that separated Royalist territory and that of the Islamists. With a strength of only around 600 personnel, every man counts.
It was almost as if the village exploded into a flurry of chaos. A mob of men and women with pitchforks, torches, keris , improvised melee weapons and even firearms such as revolvers or hunting shotguns charged into the village from the jungle behind them. Soldiers and police officers from the other side of the village quickly rushed in to check when they saw the crowd, waving black flags inscribed with the Shahada, torching buildings, freeing the prisoners and brutally murdering one officer who had stepped out for a smoke break.
They released a flurry of rounds in their general direction, cutting down some men, but several officers quickly retreated when another was horribly cut down when several 12-gauge rounds from a police shotgun in the crowd exploded into his chest. The eight remaining Royalist troops quickly got into their vehicles and retreated from the overwhelming force, leaving yet another village to the rebels. Around 1/4 of the island was now under rebel control, mostly due to the fact 90% of the military was concentrated in Kuala Putih to assist in the Sultan's relief efforts in during the Typhoon, leaving the defense of the villages to a number of village constables who bore the brunt of the attacks. Times were getting increasingly desperate for the government of Terempang, but soldiers were quickly mobilized to rush to defend the 'border' and a cry for help had already been sent out to the international community.
From what it seemed like now, it would be the foreign intervention that would decide the victor of this royal struggle for power....
The adhan from the small mosque of the village, or 'kampong' of Salang reverberated through the morning air. Five men moved under the cover of darkness, from treeline to treeline under the crystalline night sky. The only thing watching them was the skies that twinkled above as the five men slowly and surely made their way through the bush. They were quite obviously police officers- a khaki uniform with a black headdress called the songkok, khaki shirt and short pants, black puttees and ankle boots. Their uniforms were heavily starched and ironed, which produced a rather cardboard-like unnatural texture. Of the five men, one of them donned a beret, standing in the middle of the group. Irawan Ahmad was their leader, although he stood in the middle while Adiputera, the largest of the five, took the place in front.
Despite their uniforms, all five were members of the police contingent at Seladang that had defected to the rebellion that overran the town. As the only ones with significant training in operating firearms, they were valuable assets to Imam Ridhwan's campaign against the Royalists.
"Comrades, it is time." remarked Irawan, as the group slowly crept towards one of the houses of the village that lay on the outskirts. They approached the wooden building on stilts, which had been outfitted with a satellite dish on its roof. The men could clearly see that there was a police officer on lookout from one of the outward-facing windows, while an officer and a soldier were talking to one another in front of the main entrance to the house. Silently moving to the side of the building, they crawled under the stilts of the house towards the staircase where the two guards were. One of the officers walked back into the house, while the soldier remained on watch outside.
Slowly, the men called out to the soldier and greeted him. Initially shocked, the soldier reached for his gun, although Irawan quickly assured him they were loyal to the Sultan.
"We're from Kuala Putih, under the orders of the Sultan," said Irawan.
The soldier nodded for a second, before replying in slurred and broken Malay.
"Show... show me your identification."
He reached his hand out, asking for the police identification of the officers which would have proved to him that they were indeed based in Kuala Putih under the Sultan's orders. The guard clearly was rather drunk- his eyes were not focusing, and his face was flushed red. A mercenary from some other East Asian state, most likely. Irawan fumbled in handing over the pass and dropped it onto the floor. The soldier leaned down to grab it, but he never returned. The cold circle behind his skull was most likely the last thing he felt before Irawan pulled the trigger.
"Go!" He commanded.
The four other men nodded, and Adiputera took a grenade from the body of the guard, pulled the pin and chucked it into the building. In a matter of seconds, one of the officers lunged out of the window before the building exploded into a firey blaze. He looked up, disoriented, before being cut down by one of the officer's pistols. This was no ordinary village that they were attacking. Several hours prior, four fighters from Imam Ridhwan's faction were captured while they patrolled the stretch of territory that separated Royalist territory and that of the Islamists. With a strength of only around 600 personnel, every man counts.
It was almost as if the village exploded into a flurry of chaos. A mob of men and women with pitchforks, torches, keris , improvised melee weapons and even firearms such as revolvers or hunting shotguns charged into the village from the jungle behind them. Soldiers and police officers from the other side of the village quickly rushed in to check when they saw the crowd, waving black flags inscribed with the Shahada, torching buildings, freeing the prisoners and brutally murdering one officer who had stepped out for a smoke break.
They released a flurry of rounds in their general direction, cutting down some men, but several officers quickly retreated when another was horribly cut down when several 12-gauge rounds from a police shotgun in the crowd exploded into his chest. The eight remaining Royalist troops quickly got into their vehicles and retreated from the overwhelming force, leaving yet another village to the rebels. Around 1/4 of the island was now under rebel control, mostly due to the fact 90% of the military was concentrated in Kuala Putih to assist in the Sultan's relief efforts in during the Typhoon, leaving the defense of the villages to a number of village constables who bore the brunt of the attacks. Times were getting increasingly desperate for the government of Terempang, but soldiers were quickly mobilized to rush to defend the 'border' and a cry for help had already been sent out to the international community.
From what it seemed like now, it would be the foreign intervention that would decide the victor of this royal struggle for power....
