Lady Trieu and the Demon Warrior of Hanoi by Mark W Sasse

Author:Mark W Sasse [Sasse, Mark W]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mark W Sasse

Chapter 20: The Red Switch

The rest of the world knew little of what had transpired in northern Vietnam over the previous two years. A Chinese-backed puppet broadcast released new information daily discussing the unprecedented coup attempt within the Vietnamese government, and how the Chinese had come to help stabilize the democracy. Vietnamese dissidents abroad painted a uniquely different picture of a brutal Chinese takeover—an assertion Beijing categorically denied. Beijing officials even released video of the supposed coup attempt, which the dissidents called a deep fake. Either way, the information flow out of northern Vietnam had been tight-lipped since the Chinese invasion. They had jammed signals, cut off power, destroyed cell networks, severed every Internet cable coming into the country, and constructed their own proprietary communication system. Even so, black market images and video of the truth still surfaced overseas, though no one on the outside could confirm that reality. One Vietnamese dissident set up a demon warrior website which highlighted all sightings, encounters, and video which existed outside Hanoi of Sun Quan. Of course, no one knew his name, nor could they verify the veracity of the website. The dissident went missing one day from his California home. Authorities found his body a week later floating the surf off one of the beaches in Southern Cal. His website had been hacked and destroyed from within. The LA County police had no suspects in the suspected homicide.

The mysterious Chinese man had been in Hanoi since the beginning of the invasion and had become the face of the occupation. No one knew his name or understood his connection to Beijing. But Sun Quan always stood at his side, and the generals and subordinates followed his every command.

One of those subordinates stood next to a bright red switch on the top floor of the facility. The Chinese man signaled to him from a short distance away.

“Sir, are you ready?” The general had placed his hand on the switch. The Chinese man looked blankly. “It’s strange, you know,” said the Chinese man. “When I was young, my mother used a red switch made from a Chinese red-bark birch tree. She had a small shoot from a branch she kept in the house, and when I did something wrong, she would hit me with it.”

Sun Quan had entered the room as the Chinese man reminisced.

“Sir?” asked the general for clarification.

“I learned to hold in my tears after a while.”

“You’re quite the fictional storyteller,” said the warrior.

“My dear, Sun Quan. All life is fiction. But we keep flipping the next page to see what will happen. We can’t help it. So, you’ve come to see the red switch? I think I shall have a picture of a Chinese birch drawn on this wall. Does anyone know if those would grow in this climate?”

“Whatever we want to grow, will grow.”

“That is exactly the answer I wanted to hear, Sun Quan.”

“Sir?” the general kept his hand on the switch.

“Sun Quan, tell me about the fight.”

“She’s done.”

“So easily? You truly think so?”

“Yes.

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