Chapter 1 - The Meeting

Name:The Black Market Author:Condemned
Year 2050, ten years after the invasion of an unknown group on Earth.

Inside a big room, several individuals in army uniform were sitting around a round table. They all had solemn looks, like something terrible was about to happen.

One of the individuals with two stars on his shoulders glanced at one of the soldiers standing at the back of the room and called him in a deep and authoritative voice "Colonel Sanders, tell the generals about the current status of Operation Extraction."

A tall and lean man wearing glasses walked forward and saluted the general who called him. He adjusted the rim of his glasses and glanced at the generals in the round table before he said solemnly "Based on the vital signs shown by the transmitter, all members of the Eagle Reconnaissance Squad were killed except for their captain, Major Murphey, but his status is currently uknown after we lost communications with him during that ambush. Although we lost contact with the squad, but before that happened, Captain Murphey reported that they were able to gather some information about the origin of our enemies."

All the generals felt nervous after they heard the report.

Information pertaining to the origin of that unknown group was vital for their battle. The information from Major Murphey might be significant enough to help them turn the tides of the war against their enemy. Although they were uncertain of what kind of information Major Murphey holds, but it was still enough to make these war elites tremble in excitement as this information might create a big impact in the following clashes with that group.

"Where was he last seen? Give me the exact location." a handsome middle aged man with three stars on his shoulders said while looking at Colonel Sanders making the latter tremble in fright.

This handsome middle aged man was Major General Cale Sylvann, one of the leading figures of Earth Alliance. He was known for his tremendous skills in using guns. Any kind of guns will turn into vicious killing objects in his hands. And even in close combat, no one will dare say that they were better than him. Major General Cale Sylvann, also known as the Gun Sovereign.

Colonel Sanders' lips trembled in obvious dread as he glanced at the cold face of Major General Cale Sylvann. He cleared his throat and calmed his heart before he said in a shaky voice "Sir, I can only provide you with his approximate location since we chose to destroy our satellites two weeks ago."

Cale's eyes turned darker when heard that and said with a hint of anger "Why am I not aware of this?! And what made you decide on destroying our only 'eyes' in this battle!?" The room's temperature went down by several degrees following his anger.

An old general with one star on each of his shoulders said in calm tone "Little Cale, calm your anger. It was me who suggested in destroying our satellites. And you were out on a mission when we held a meeting about this. We destroyed the satellites since they were wrestling control for it. After they were able to hack 30% of our satellite's network, we decided to destroy it completely to avoid them from locating our exact locations."

Cale's anger subsided after hearing the old general. He sighed heavily and said coldly "Then give me his approximate location. I will personally go and save Major Murphey."

The generals on the round table looked at him in surprise and the old general said hastily "No, it is too dangerous for you to go there personally and we are not even sure if the information in Major Murphey's hands is worthy enough for our men to sacrifice themselves in getting it."

The other generals nodded their heads solemnly.

"Don't worry, I have accomplished several missions similar to this one and I'm a hundred percent positive that I will be able to save Major Murphey if he is still alive." Cale answered in a calm voice while looking at the rest of the generals.

The old general sighed and shook his head "Just make sure that you will return alive. Humanity's strength will be crippled if we lost a strong general such as you."

Cale smiled and looked at one of the generals sitting on the round table. His eyes were closed like he was sleeping, but no one called him out for doing this. His head was bald with thick white eyebrows and tall nose. Although his face was covered in wrinkles signifying his old age, he was still one of the strongest man in the current Earth Alliance. He was the Grand Commander of the Alliance and held the highest position, just below the president. "Grand Commander sir, please allow me to take this mission."

The Grand Commander glanced at him briefly before closing his eyes again. His aged voice traveled in their ears "Granted." He answered simply but no one objected his orders.

Cale smiled brightly and stood up from his seat as he gave the grand commander a salute of respect.

"You may go." The grand commander waved his wrinkled right hand in the air signaling him to go.

Cale saluted one last time, before going out of the room.

Inside the same room, the old general said in a worried tone "Grand Commander sir, are you sure about making him go for this mission? That kid is quite reckless and he might do something foolish. We cannot afford to lose him."

The grand commander's eyes sprung open and he glanced at the old general "General Woods, you know that kid, and we can never change his decisions. Once he decides on something, then there is no turning back anymore."

The old general sighed and looked towards the door wanting to make a hole out of it, so that he can see the silhouette of the middle aged man that he admired so much.

"Colonel Sanders, follow Major General Sylvann and provide him the last informations provided by the Eagle Reconnaissance Squad before we lost contact with them. And also, follow him in extracting Major Murphey." The murky eyes of the old grand commander flashed with a hint of worry. Although he believe in Cale's strength, but bullets has no eyes and it will only take a moment of carelessness to be killed.

"Sir yes sir!" Colonel Sanders answered loudly while saluting the grand commander.