Chapter 100 - Convoy To Moruguri
"Hitman 2, this is Hitman 11. The backside looks clear, no visual of enemies, report complete, over."
"Hitman 2 copy. Stand by for orders, over?"
"Hitman 11 copy. Hitman 11 out."
Del put his radio receiver back into his pocket. The convoy moved through the concrete road connecting Halivaara to Moruguri. Grassland surrounded the entire road. Wreckage of tanks, armored vehicles, and aircraft was a common sight. All of them had rusted away from the constant environmental deterioration.
The grasses weren\'t always green, some of them were charred, others were buried below a pile of earth that had been turned upside down.. The craters on that grassland suggested that a bombing campaign had happened in that area. There were also several trenches on the grassland with dead bodies sometimes pilling up.
"Battle of Borders," Sharon muttered. "Imperial forces commenced a large-scale offensive on the Federation around ten years ago, we got pushed back and we ended up in here and in this stalemate. Right now, we\'re trying our best to fight the little skirmishes," Sharon explained.
"I don\'t get it."
"What do you mean?" Sharon asked.
"Ilbistirum Federation has more manpower than the Empire, why would we even struggle against them?" Del asked.
"First, we have rules in warfare while they don\'t. Second, they dare to attack the civilians because rights are not really a thing there. Third, our military is spread thinly because terrorism is one of their main tactics," Sharon explained.
"I see," Del nodded.
"The recent terrorist accident is the worst. The explosion is so big. Bodies were burning, and people were… I\'d rather not talk about it." Sharon held her mouth with her hand. Suddenly, she threw up on the road. Del offered her his handkerchief. She took it, "Sorry, it was just nauseating."
"I get it," Del nodded.
Del had an idea how a bomb victim would look like. Their arms could be separated miles away from their body. Their soulless eyes would be looking at the sky. Blood was scattered everywhere. Intestines would be scattered on the floor with their brown abdomen content. Del had an idea how bad it was at the very least.
He recalled that the bomb managed to kill thousands of people, it must have been a pretty large bomb or it wouldn\'t be able to kill that many people. It seemed that this bomb and terrorist accident would need to be investigated in the future. It might be worth noting about that.
"Hitman 11, this is Hitman 2, I have visual on possible adversaries on three o\'clock, stand by, over," Del responded by looking at the right direction for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. Anna readied her rifle and aimed it at the right direction. Del pulled his pistol out of the holster and held it with his left hand.
"Hitman 2, we have no visual on possible adversaries on three o\'clock. Interrogative, can you be more precise, over?" Del asked.
"Hitman 11, possible adversaries were last seen in one of the trenches, do you have visual, over?" Hubert asked.
Del looked at the trenches. A dark blue uniform sticked out of the trench. It didn\'t move, nor show any sign of movement. It might be a good idea to put a bullet on his head. However, he needed to have a permission to engage the enemy.
"Hitman 2, I have visual on the possible adversary, do I have the permission to engage?" Del asked.
"Copy that, Hitman 11, you have my permission to engage. Everyone, be advised, prepare for enemy ambush," Hubert said.
Del patted Anna\'s back. Anna nodded and she sprayed the body of that Imperial soldier with her assault rifle. 5.56 bullets flew at the direction of that soldier. The Imperial soldier dropped dead on the ground. Del felt that cold sweat started running down his face. It could be a sign of ambush or it could be the sign of someone actually hiding from the convoy.
"Hitman 2, this is Hitman 11, target has been neutralized, standing by for further orders, over," Del said over the radio.
"Hitman 11, no more orders for you, out."
Del\'s palms were sweating as he held his pistol with his light hand tightly. What If the Imperial soldiers set up an anti-tank mines in front of him. If that were the case, Del could die quite easily. But again, he was in a jeep and the tank would probably be the biggest threat that the Imperial soldiers had to face.
"Del," Anna held his hand, "Relax, we\'re in this together. Besides, if someone is going to ambush us, we\'re not even a high-priority target."
"You don\'t make this any easier, don\'t you think?" Del just smiled.
"Why didn\'t the Hubert told the machine gunner to kill the Imperial soldier?" Sharon asked.
"No idea," Del answered.
Anna grabbed put the M16 on the back alongside with the medicine supply and she grabbed the RPG from Del\'s backpack and attached the tandem warhead into that RPG. She then put the RPG on top of her thighs. It was not like there was anything to shoot, Anna just worried about another tank coming at their direction and shooting them without giving any chance for them to shoot back.
"Is that the tool that you two use to kill those tanks that blockaded our way?" Sharon asked.
"Yeah," Del answered.
"Neat, you two are really the perfect security details for all of us. Alina did a really good job recommending you two. At first, I was skeptical, but now, I am confident that you two will keep us safe from those imperial soldiers," Sharon said.
"It was just our luck," Anna commented.
"Nah, it was skill, I saw it from afar. You two cast a very powerful magical spell that managed to destroy a lot of tanks at once. A mage like that would get drafted to special units in no time," Sharon said.
Del stopped Sharon from talking. Del asked her to be quiet. There was a transmission coming from the radio and Del listened to it. The news wasn\'t good at all.
"All units, be advises, we have a report of a tank platoon coming our way."