Chapter 48

Chinook’s emergency radio functioned even in severe weather. The helicopter received information about the changed location. They used every fail-safe to make sure the information was not leaked.

Captain yelled at his team members, who were rushing to start leaving.

“What are you doing, get some rest and let’s eat lunch before heading out.”

Another battle was anticipated. It was time to get fully rested and recharged.

Mike glanced over at Captain, then yelled, “What are you doing? Hurry! Jang Shin, are you finished checking the equipment?”

“Yes, sergeant.”

“Miguel, start the engine.”

“Emil, do you want to get your butt kicked?” Mike nagged at his team members fervently.

Jang Shin had lifted his spoon late to finally eat after finishing loading the vehicles, but threw it down and ran to the pickup. Emil and Miguel jumped onto the pickup and grabbed the machine gun, and Ombuti started the engine. Even the sluggish Morris grabbed his gun and ran.

Mike and the team members had assumed wrong. They thought that Captain was nagging them because they were moving too slowly. That’s how anxious they had been.

“Oh, you guys are driving me insane!”

Captain watched his team members scramble around like popping popcorn and hit his chest.

“Mike, what do you think you’re doing? Tell them all to stop and rest.”

Sergeant Mike’s eyes grew wide.

“You really mean that?”

“I’m tired; don’t make me say it again.”

Captain frowned.

Only then did the team members relax, lift their spoons, and lay down under the shade.

“Where’s Black?”

“As always, he’s doing his weird dance.”

At Burimer’s answer, Captain nodded his head.

He was incredible. His physique was great, but his mind was greater. Even the Captain himself had become mentally exhausted from the anxiety of continuous battles and traveling. Black Mamba was a unique character that didn’t miss one session of meditation even when they were in this horrific situation.

His judgment skills were also amazing. He didn’t say much, but he was able to read everything on his mind like an x-ray.

“When will he finish?”

“It will probably end after an hour.”

“We don’t have time. Call him over quickly.”

I didn’t want to bother him if I could, but I had to confirm something with him.

“Is there a problem?”

Black Mamba stood bare-chested with his hand on his chin. Sweat followed the lines of his tanned muscles and dripped drop by drop.

“Hm!”

Captain’s eyes gazed at Black Mamba’s upper body. The silky smooth skin was roped with muscle. It was the perfect body with not an inch of fat. Captain stared at it as if in a trance. He looked like a sculpture from Renaissance times.

“Captain, stop looking at me like that. I’m not a homo.”

Captain’s hands had been slowly reaching out, but he flinched at the words. He had wanted to touch the muscles.

“Uh hem! Black, you have to rest when we rest.”

“I know you need your rest. They say that if you rest one day, you will know; if you rest two days, the surrounding people will know, and if you rest three days, the enemy will know.”

Captain mulled over Black Mamba’s words for a moment. If he really was different from normal humans, he wouldn’t have said something like this.

“Whew, I think I know why you are so strong. Did you say it was Oh Keum Kon? Could I be trained in this also?”

“If you can run with two tires attached to you and hang upside down for five hours, you can. If you can stare at the end of a needle for 72 hours without blinking, then you can.”

Captain was at a loss for words. He felt dizzy from the words ‘then you can.’

“Is that a joke?”

“No. It’s the truth.”

“Hahaha! I’ll cleanly give up on it. Black, how far can you pick up the enemy’s movements with that unique skill of yours?”

Black Mamba stared at Captain with suspicious eyes.

‘Does this person really think of me as a radar?’

It didn’t make him feel good about it. The sudden battle had caused him to reveal all his hidden skills.

“Ah, operating with a call name is only reserved for the top soldiers. I’ve already let the rest of the team members know. I don’t want to stand in front of a judge for revealing the secret. If the pension gets canceled, how will I survive my retirement?”

The quick-witted Captain hurriedly spouted nonsense.

“It changes depending on the surroundings. If there are no man-made noises, I can read up to 100m. I can sense a human presence up to 300m, and the movement of vehicles or bikes up to 8km.”

“Hm, you’re not human.”

Captain sighed. He was like a highly sensitive bio radar. With Black Mamba, the scale of any planned operation can be expanded to ten times normal capacity.

Captain looked around at his team members.

“Good; we’ll trust Black Mamba’s skills and go into cover for an ambush. I don’t like stalkers. Let’s refreshingly break them apart and move on comfortably.”

“I agree with that plan also,” Burimer agreed.

“Black, you have a mini music player you use, don’t you? That, what do you call it, walkman.”

“I do.”

“Does it work now?”

“It does.”

“Good, sell that to me. I’ll give you five thousand francs.”

“I don’t like IOUs. A box of Ciacarell.”

“C’est bien. (That sounds good.)”

That night, when the sun went down, the well-rested mercenaries started to move busily. The only people knowing the details of Operation mirror were Captain, Burimer, and Black Mamba.

The team members were setting Claymore mines in the area where the supplies would be dropped. Jang Shin and Ombuti assembled the grenade launcher and got into position.

Sergeant Mike was confused about the situation the entire time he was preparing the land mines.

‘Are they saying that it’s okay to destroy all the given supplies?’

The current battle tactic did not include the protection of the supplies. If a battle occurred, their supplies would be destroyed. Unless Captain had lost his mind, he wouldn’t have planned such a tactic.

“Captain?”

The Captain, realizing Mike’s confusion, smiled.

“Mike, gather the team members once the Claymore and land mines are in place.”

Once the team members gathered, Captain started his briefing.

“Our current strategy is the ant lion’s pit. This is the point where Chinook will drop off the supplies. They will be dropping off the supplies at a point 7 km south towards Amju in a place called Trident Rock.”

“What are you talking about?”

Captain didn’t answer Mike’s question separately. After the beating from Black Mamba, his personality may have been reconstructed, but his impatient nature had not changed.

“We will dig a lion ant’s pit here and wait. It’s a situation warranting sadness and anger, but we cannot trust the government headquarters. There is a high possibility that a mole has penetrated the government headquarters. I am planning to change the location of the supply drop.”

Finally, the team was able to definitively understand Captains objective. They understood why the operation was called an ant lion’s pit also.

“I am hoping Frolinat will not show up. I sincerely hope that my suspicions will just be an alarmist reaction. They will have intel agents in the surrounding areas. I’ll split you up into groups.”

Captain stopped talking and looked around at his men.

“Mike will head to Ekiya with Belman and Miguel. You will collect the supplies at the newly set location. Burimer, I need you to gather the others and record something for me. Our situation is that we received the supplies. Do you understand?”

Burimer read Captain’s mind immediately.

“Yes, understood.”

“Black Mamba, you know why I named this place the ant lion’s pit, don’t you?”

Black Mamba looked out into the wide-open space and nodded his head.

“There are no obstacles. In one minute we should be able to clear 30 of them. It will be best to start at 600m. It will be troublesome if your lover gets too hot…”

Black Mamba stroked his Dragonov gun.

Captain handed his Dragonov to Black Mamba.

“Black, however good your skills are, your lover won’t be able to last long. Take turns with both guns. You can aim the zero point at the punks heads.”

“Sounds good!”

Both Captain, who was uttering horrid words, and Black Mamba, who accepted them blandly, were already lost in the inhuman state of war. It had been a long time since they had buried their human dignity in the sands of Sahel.

Burimer gathered the team and started to record. They even cleverly added background noises of tools clashing against each other. Captain smiled as he nodded his head. This was why having an experienced sergeant was important. He didn’t have to explain every little detail to him.

Captain checked his watch.

Twenty-one hundred; it was time to get ready for the helicopter landing.

Captain called Mike over.

“Mike, 7km south of Amju there is a small oasis. There, you will see three large boulders called Trident Rock. In 2400 hours, Chinook will show up. Direct them there and collect the supplies. After collecting the supplies, you will return here.”

“Captain, why do I have to go?”

Mike couldn’t hide his discontent. For someone who liked blood as much as he did, this task was driving him crazy. There would soon be a battle, and all he was going to be doing was collecting supplies. It churned his insides.

“If there is no mole, then this will all pass quietly without a battle. Burimer has to be in charge of the grenade launcher. Do you expect Black Mamba to go pick up the supplies in place of you?”

“Ah, never mind. Of course, I should be the one to go.”

Mike was offended, but he immediately put his tail between his legs. Just hearing Black Mamba’s name made his heart drop. The pain of his beating had been eternally engraved into his brain. Just thinking about it made his muscles spasm.

“Mike, collecting the supplies is more important than the battle. Its success will determine the survival of the team. Another motive is to misdirect the enemy. Your role is important. Belman, take Miguel and lure them here.”

“Understood.”

Mike took 3 pickups and headed toward Amju.

At twenty-three hundred hours, it was time for the helicopter to arrive at Kanem. Lattell’s team got ready to greet their visitors.

Captain raised the satellite phone antennae.

-Come in, Alpha. This is Bravo.

-This is Alpha. You may speak Bravo.

-Has the helicopter left?

-It is set to arrive in 48 minutes.

-The supply drop location has been changed. Do not go to the initial location. There is a Strella waiting there. Go 7 km south from the initial location towards Amju oasis to a place called Trident Rock. Coordinates are 021 423. The signal will be 3 flares.

-Understood. Wait a moment.

-I’ve gotten into contact with the helicopter. Let’s hope for the best.

-Roger

After finishing the transmission, Captain smiled, organized the antennae, then returned. There is no pilot crazy enough to come to a place where a missile was waiting for them.

The mercenaries were all in their respective positions and waited.

The desert night was silent. He blasted the sound as high as possible so that the noise of the walkman echoed through the desert. Burimer cleverly left some lanterns on at certain points.

Would the enemy show up?

There was nothing left to do but wait.

The 3rd Frolinat army was 15 km south of Tanga.

Clash! Thud! A loud noise was coming from the command center and the barracks. Not a single person loitered around the barracks.

Ahmud could not control his anger and was currently hopping mad.

The surprise counter-attack had failed. He had lost all his men and had practically been beaten over the head in punishment as he ran away. The prideful Grosser was extremely frustrated about this. Informing Habib of this was his immediate concern.

“Muhammad!”

“Yes, your excellency.”

The aide who had been cowering in a corner shot up like a bullet and stood at attention. He was strictly trained. Blood was trickling down Muhammad’s forehead. It was due to getting hit by the cigarette tray that Ahmud threw.

“Status report.”

“We have a total of 1,300 men, at the current number.”

A large decorative piece that had been on the desk went flying. It was a figure of a donkey that Ahmud prized.

Muhammad quickly avoided it.

Crash! The wine cabinet broke into pieces. Ahmud’s eyes opened wide.

“You idiot, I’m asking you how many men we can send out.”

“If we leave out the government guards, we barely have 150 men.”

Ahmud raised his thick eyebrows. Ice shot out of his eyes.

“What? Why do we only have that many men?”

He asked this as if the aide had intentionally taken some men out behind his back.

The 3rd Frolinat army Habib had 2,400 men. Excluding the 500 guards and 600 Musta independence fighters, 1,300 men were at Ahmud’s command.

There were 700 newly-trained soldiers and 600 child soldiers forced into service. Currently, there were 700 soldiers tracking the Makumbo army that was moving toward Kanem province. A hundred of them were trying to find Makumbo. Based on his calculation, the math did not work.