The terrorist group traveled deep into the nearby forest, to ensure they were not followed before they stopped for a death count.
They suffered a huge loss from this battle, as they lost 60 recruits from the original 115 recruits, and also lost 20 old soldiers. The loss was huge, but it was within their tolerance range.
After the death count, the commander finally came out to meet the soldiers. "There have been new unexpected changes,” he announced.
“The old soldiers are already familiar with this, so my advice is for the recruits. There is a high chance that the police force of all nearby towns is already being deployed to intercept us, that is why we didn’t clash aggressively with the first police force”.
“We could have killed them completely, but in return, we would have been surrounded from all sides without an escape route. We would have won the battle, but lost the war”.
“Get prepared, because we will be breaking out from a strong and very prepared opposition now. All recruits who recently transited into soldiers, you have my permission to take better weapons of your choice from the armory. Clark, follow me, I have a present for you”.
Under the envious gazes of all the soldiers, Clark followed the commander to his car. He went inside the car after the commander, he slowly closed the door after entry while calming his emotions.
Despite grinning inwardly, he still tried to be extra cautious, as this man was simply stronger and more perceptive than he was.
“Clark, I didn’t expect such a performance from you. I watched you, despite not killing a single police officer, it is still commendable that you shot at them and managed to survive long enough, till we broke out”. The commander said with a smile.
Clark smiled nervously, as he didn’t expect this man to know that he didn’t kill any policeman. For a second there, he thought his cover was blown.
The commander continued, “I’m impressed, Clark. If you continue with this brave performance of yours for the organization, you’ll surely be rewarded immensely”.
“Congratulations, I already nominated you to be the one from this new batch of soldiers to go to the organization’s exobeast reserve. There is a high chance that you’ll have a breakthrough if you go. After observing you for all the time you have spent with the base, I am confident in you”.
His expression suddenly became stern, after he finished his long words of praise, as the atmosphere became tense and stiff in the car.
Clark’s heart almost leaped to his throat, as his brain quickly went to work, thinking of the reason for the commander’s sudden change in expression.
“I have only one warning for you Clark, don’t ever get complacent and forget your training,” the commander finally broke the silence, as he spoke solemnly.
Seeing how shaken Clark was, he smiled again and said. "Good, don't ever forget this. Complacency is the killer of dreams”.
“Ok, I told you I have a present for you. Our break out will not be as easy as I made it seem. There will be lots of casualties, so I want to give you a present in advance to protect your life”. Clark finally relaxed on hearing what the commander said while heaving a huge sigh of relief inwardly.
After he finally calmed down and recollected what the commander said, he grinned inwardly as he already knew what he was about to be given.
The commander didn’t betray his hopes, as he continued. “I’ll give you the exotic armor in advance. Use it wisely, and prove to me that you are worthy of it in the upcoming battles.
Don’t get your hopes too high about the exotic sword, you’ll still have to break through first to get it”.
He suddenly snapped his fingers and a soldier opened the car door. “Take him to the advanced tech armory vehicle,” he told the soldier.
“Yes sir,” the soldier answered, as he made a gesture at Clark to follow him. In his mind, Clark yelled in relief, "FINALLY!!”
He was finally able to see the huge armored vehicle, housing the terrorist's armory. Before being taken there, he naturally asked for an excuse to bring his bag, which was approved. The soldier escort stood outside, as he told him that he was the only one allowed to go in.
He went in with confidence, as his brain already started fantasizing about what he would see inside.
The first thing that caught his eye on entering the car was a huge computer by the side, and a safe at the front, directly facing him. Both eye-catching gadgets were, without doubt, the things with the greatest value here.
The back of the vehicle here was blocked, so the driver could not see him nor could he see anything here, but he was sure that there were hidden cameras here. He brought his bag down as naturally as possible, before discretely activating the jamming field device.
“This is the greatest mistake you’ve ever made, for allowing me here,” he thought with a grin on his face. He didn’t show remorse, as he hacked their database using the hacking device to get all the information that he wanted.
With the help of his superior gadget, he was able to bypass every firewall, without triggering any alarms.
To his surprise, this small terrorist base had 4 high-grade soldiers who already had their first breakthrough. “Combined with the commander, damn, that’s 5 high-grade soldiers,” he thought resentfully.
His resentment didn’t interrupt his actions, as he quickly checked all their weapons and armor. They naturally had exotic armor and a sword, but they were of slightly lower quality compared to his standard military gears.
What came as another surprise to him, was that one of the 4 high-grade soldiers had an extra exotic weapon apart from the commander. This was an unexpected discovery, as he just got himself another formidable opponent.
This soldier was the only long-range specialist among the 4 high-grade soldiers, and he is also the 2nd in command, in the whole base. His other exotic weapon was a very powerful sniper rifle, about the same grade as his military 2-form gun. Clark mentally marked him as his first target to eliminate by all means.
He discovered that he was beginning to take too much time, he quickly checked the safe, and the code to unlock it was written there.
He inputted the code in quickly, as the safe opened with a soft click sound. He found only the armor in the safe, which kind of disappointed him, he expected to see more. He quickly wore it on, while also checking the database for where the exotic sword was kept.
He finally found it, it was hanged to the walls of the vehicle and concealed with a camouflage device. These measures employed, succeeded in hiding it in plain sight. He left it, but mentally noted down, “I’ll leave you for the d-day,” he muttered silently.
After coming out with the armor on, the soldier respectfully cleared the way as he went back to thank the commander.
After all, was done, he settled down as the commander instructed that they’ll be storming off the next day. A lot of soldiers were enraged because of the assault today. So they prepared themselves, while some boasted that they will vent their anger by killing a specific number of policemen.
The area became chaotic, as the soldiers argued on who would have the most kills. As all these happened, Clark silently found a place to sleep peacefully.