Chapter 1159 - Missions To Fend Off Marcus' Attacks (3)

~ Rest stop for large vehicles, South of Sacramento ~

Eric's squad reached the resting stop which was marked as the location where Marcus' forces will attack the convoy which carries merchandise for White corp.

They have about one hour before convoy of trucks is scheduled to arrive. Assumption is that the attackers are also going to arrive before the convoy, and Eric estimates that current timing gives them at least fifteen minutes up to half an hour to assume their positions.

Imani was checking for good sniping positions while Masika showed Eric and Zack how to effectively use tablets to navigate drones in order to scout the area.

Eric doesn't have much of an opinion about Imani and Masika. Since Sarah brought them, they must be capable to take care of themselves. His plan doesn't rely on snipers, so as long as the two of them don't get into trouble, he is fine with that and if they help out by taking down few enemies, that will be even better.

Looking around the resting stop, Eric can see a number of hills which are perfect for girls to climb up and stay away from action (and danger).

Zack was wary of Imani and Masika. No matter how he looks at them, they are little girls. Well, as a twenty-three year old man, he is one of the youngest men in Eric's squad, but these two are super-young.

When he heard Masika talk about strategies which depend on a given terrain and number of people involved, he had to admit that he is impressed by her knowledge, but she is still a kid. He wished that Imani and Masika go back home, or at least far away from here, so that he does not need to worry about them because if anything happens… Sarah will punish them.

He shared his thoughts with Eric when Masika and Imani were out of the earshot.

Imani suggested several good-for-sniping spots for Masika and her, and Eric picked two.

Masika and Imani exchanged glances. He picked two furthest away from the resting stop, it's obvious that he wants to keep them away from 'the action'. But Sarah told them to listen to his orders (unless it puts them into danger), and to observe and assess.

The two of them got their equipment (rifles, ammunition and camouflage) from the vans and headed toward two destinations which Eric selected.

With their earpieces Masika and Imani can hear what others are saying (besides regular communication), and Eve-vision is allowing them to share vision range with any of the drones.

Based on the information received from the spies, they know when and where attack will happen. However, they don't know how many enemies will be present, or what kind of weapons they will use. Drones scanned the area, so a remote-controlled bomb was excluded from the options, but anything else is a possibility.

Jeff shared information on the convoy with Sarah and Aiden and they told Imani and Masika: fifteen semi-trucks which are carrying parts via I-5 highway. Nothing flammable, or too valuable in current state, but at the destination load will be assembled and end products will be worth a lot of money. If this convoy is attacked and they steal the load, it's not just the value of parts, but it's the fact that they will disrupt work of several factories and that will cause a chain reaction in several departments of White corp.

But that is all business. For this mission, Eric knows that there are fifteen trucks coming their way and they need to take down unknown number of enemies who are after those trucks.

They all assumed their positions and then they waited…

Other than two parked RVs, the resting area is empty. Eric got his men to hide vans they came with down the road. It seems that people from the RVs went down one hiking path which leads to a lake with good fishing spots. That is perfect, at least they don't need to worry about random casualties.

They didn't wait long when two silver passenger vans without license plates arrived, and people started coming out. Based on their green-ish clothing and weapons around their belts, Eric's squad knows that these are the enemies they are waiting for.

"No one moves. Wait for my command…", Eric's voice rang through earpieces of everyone in his squad.

When all enemies came out of vans, drivers parked their vehicles at the end of the resting area and returned to join the others. There was a total of eighteen men. Two men held a large map and discussed their approach for a minute before telling others where to go. Eric counted total of twenty men with guns and knives hanging from their belts.

Because of the drones, Eric heard that they are planning to wait in nearby bushes for the convoy to arrive and then when drivers come out for a bio-break, they will ambush them. This is exactly what Eric predicted during planning.

"By assuming their positions, they will scatter, and it will be easier to take them down swiftly…", Eric explained his approach. "Focus on the ones who are closest to you and wait for my command…"

Eric's squad watched the enemies who were settling down, and drones were hovering silently above the scene. Eve is controlling drones in a observe-only mode with no intention to interfere or change locations which Eric and Zack specified, unless someone is in mortal danger. Eric arranged drones strategically through the rest area.

Imani and Masika observed all that from their sniping spots. They are far away, but that distance is not enough to impact their precision.

Both Masika and Imani noticed from their elevated positions another silver passenger van approaching the resting area and they concluded that those twenty men are having more buddies joining them.

'CRACK!'

Masika swiftly turned toward the sound of a branch which snapped not-so-far behind her.

There was a moment of complete stillness while she looked at the man in green-ish camouflage outfit who stared back at her. Masika is covered with a blanket which has camouflage patterns, but at that distance, it's just a blanket.

Masika's brain worked a thousand thoughts a second. He is obviously an enemy, and he spotted her. He came from behind, and because she is far from the resting area (and the drones), drones didn't alert them about the man. He is holding a gun, and she has a rifle with a silencer. The silencer is muffling the sound of the rifle, but it is not absolute. If she shoots, will she alert the others? If that happens, their surprise attack is not a surprise anymore… but if she delays, she might end up being hurt, or worse.

'POP!'

A muffled sound of a riffle sounded, and the man fell on his knees in a slow motion while blood oozed from the hole in his forehead.

Masika held her breath, hoping that the sound was not heard by other enemies, but she didn't have time to verify because her eyes widened in horror when man fell all the way down, revealing that there are eight more people behind him. Men looked in confusion at their companion who fell down and wondered what that sound is… until they saw Masika.

They started yelling and pulling their guns out and the hell broke loose.

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