Qi Lian stood on a rooftop staring over at the lighthouse on Valcour island. Darkness had already begun to overtake the light as the sun moved below the horizon. There was still sufficient light to see, but soon there would not be. The Code Blue troops were getting antsy to begin the assault on the island. Qi Lian had told general Howard's staff that now was the time to begin the attack, but now she was unsure. Should they wait for the next wave of Code Blue soldiers? If it was going to take them less than an hour to arrive would it make that much of a difference to just wait?

There was conflict in Qi Lian's mind on this point. Something was telling her she should start the attack now, yet that lingering doubt persisted. What was troubling Qi Lian the most was the choice of location. Yes it was as close as you could get to an ideal location to intercept an assault. On the other hand it offered no easy escape route. It just didn't seem like the kind of location that Han would choose.

Maybe that was the point of him choosing the lighthouse. Perhaps it was meant to throw her off her game, make her second guess herself. He had really done an excellent job, if that was what he had intended.

"I think they might just go in before you send the orders if you wait much longer Qi Lian." Clayton said, breaking the silence.

"I know, I guess I am just nervous that Han Xin has something up his sleeve." Qi Lian replied.

"Your gut has been pretty good thus far, what is your gut telling you?" Clayton asked, while aiming his sniper rifle at the lighthouse.

"It is telling me to go now. I just don't want him to have a small force attack us from behind or anything like that. We don't need to have an even larger loss of life." Qi Lian responded.

"Pops has been keeping an eye on the rear flank. And you have Martin and our medical staff over there. I don't think they are going to be able to sneak past us all." Clayton stated in a reassuring manner.

"Of course you are right Clayton. I will give the go, I just need one moment." Qi Lian said.

Qi Lian took a walk around the rooftop, trying to see if there was any good place for Han to hide a swath of soldiers. She could see some small buildings on all sides of her. Perhaps they could hide in those, but she had been watching closely for a while and hadn't noticed anything that would make her suspicious. The only Red Tide activity seemed to be coming from Valcour island.

Qi Lian took a deep breath. She was finally ready to give the go ahead. But first she had to do her part. She reached down and pushed a button on her watch. She waited a moment and then gave the go ahead to the Code Blue soldiers.

A wave of boats approached all sides of the island at rapid speed. The Red Tide soldiers in the lighthouse began firing upon the boats. Clayton pulled back on the bolt action of his sniper rifle and took a shot.

The rooftop that Clayton was laying on was just over a mile away from the lighthouse. Taking sniper shots from this distance was equal parts art and science. He knew he had to aim a bit above the target because at this distance gravity took its toll and the bullet would fall a bit. Clayton's aim proved true as the bullet shattered the skull of the Red Tide sniper who was sitting near the light of the lighthouse.

"Not so difficult when you hold still." Qi Lian heard Clayton say out loud.

A few moments later the skyline was lit up and smoke began to rise all over Valcour island. Qi Lian's plan of attack had included an element of confusion. She had used the computer program, which she had designed while in China, to override the AI control systems of several of the boats in the surrounding marina. Earlier some Code Blue soldiers dressed in civilian clothes had gone about loading the boats with explosives.

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With one touch of the button on her watch Qi Lian had sent the boats speeding to the shoreline, unmanned. With a second push the explosives discharged, which blew rock and wood and trees into the air in one large mangled mess. Clayton used the opportunity provided by the confusion to continue picking off the Red Tide snipers. Clayton kept pulling back on his bolt action, carefully lining up each shot one after the other.

This cleared a path for the Code Blue soldiers, using a different set of boats, to land on Valcour island. At this point Qi Lian had descended from the building. She and Jeffrey were going to lag behind the Code Blue soldiers. It was part of the plan, to ensure that there was not a surprise attack from the rear by the Red Tide.

Qi Lian ran at an incredible pace to her boat. She was surprised upon her arrival to find that Jeffrey was not yet in the boat. She had a moment of panic upon this discovery. Perhaps the Red Tide soldiers had attacked him?

Then Qi Lian heard the squealing of tires. She turned and could barely see two cars racing off away from the battle.

"Jeffrey are you OK?" Qi Lian asked using her watch communicator.

"I am fine, don't wait on me, go help them in battle. I am taking care of a loose end." Jeffrey yelled into his communicator.

Qi Lian got into the boat and fired up the engine.

Several moments before arriving at Valcour island, a large explosion on one side of the lighthouse created flames that seemingly engulfed the entire side. The Code Blue soldiers had done as Qi Lian had instructed and began throwing hand grenades at the ground around the lighthouse. This was an effort to blow as many of the landmines as possible, reducing their risk when attacking on foot.

The explosion had caused some of the newly restored masonry to be shattered, leaving piles of stone. There was the distinct scent of burning flesh, which was a quite unpleasant smell.

Qi Lian began walking around the island. She could see that Clayton had been quite effective in removing the Red Tide snipers. If any had survived it appeared that they were no longer inside the lighthouse. Qi Lian looked over and noticed a Code Blue soldier who had been overpowered by three Red Tide soldiers. She ran to his aid. Just as the were about to murder the Code Blue soldier, Qi Lian leaped and slammed into the Red Tide soldiers, knocking them all to the ground.

She pulled out her knife and killed the one who was directly beneath her, slitting his throat. The other two got up and came at Qi Lian. She jumped to her feet and then moved backward to give herself time to maneuver. She then moved her left side, grabbing one of the soldiers in the process. She proceeded to slam him into the female soldier again causing them to fall to the ground. Then two shots rang out, as the Code Blue soldier had gotten back to his feet and shot the two who Qi Lian had knocked down.

Qi Lian nodded her head to the soldier and then ran back toward the lighthouse. Once inside she ran up the stairs leading to the light. Once at the top she had a birds eye view of the scene. She could see that the Code Blue soldiers seemed to have the upper hand at this point.

But where in the world was Han Xin? It was getting quite dark now, but there was still light from the fires that were burning all over the island at this point. She searched around the whole island, at least the parts she could see, and found no sight of Han Xin. Nor did she see Qi Jiguang anywhere. Qi Lian's head began to hurt. Where the hell were those two?

Qi Lian began frantically searching the island. She picked up the heads of the dead to see if either of those men was among them. But none of them contained the face of Han Xin or Qi Jiguang.

Qi Lian pushed a button on her watch to communicate with Clayton.

"Any sign of Qi Jiguang or Han Xin?" Qi Lian asked.

"I haven't seen them, and pops said he hasn't seen any activity down here eith... look out!" Clayton yelled after seeing someone moving with incredible speed in Qi Lian's direction.

Qi Lian turned and was nearly caught by the knife of a passing Red Tide soldier. She had briefly forgotten that there was a battle going on. After moving out of the way, Qi Lian grabbed the arm of her attacker and flipped her to the ground. Then Qi Lian stabbed the knife into the Red Tide soldiers chest in the only area that was not covered by tactical gear.

Now she ran back to her boat.

"Thank you Clayton." She said into the communicator.

Now she switched over to Jeffrey.

"Jeffrey have you seen Qi Jiguang or Han Xin?" Qi Lian asked.

"No Lian, but we are in pursuit of a group of Red Tide soldiers who were fleeing the scene as the battle was beginning." Jeffrey said.

"Where are they heading?" Qi Lian inquired.

"They are heading south, and they are moving pretty rapidly." Jeffrey said.

"Please just stay with them, don't engage. I truly hope they will lead us to Han Xin." Qi Lian requested.

"You mean he is not at the battle?" Jeffrey asked.

"No he is not." Qi Lian replied.