32 3 WEEKS OF ATTRITION.
Boom!! Boom!! Boom!! 3 other shots were released in quick succession, leading to the death of three other leading officers as the police offensive quickly faltered.
Clark was finally able to pinpoint the shooter this time. He was standing in a car, in the middle of the retreating terrorist's vehicles.
Executioner Dave, Clark recognized him immediately. Everything seemed to pause in time, to better decorate this moment. The executioner's long hair waved with the wind, as he watched keenly with his hawk-like eyes.
Most of the new soldiers’ eyes sparkled in admiration, as the Executioner's face suddenly seemed to be covered in a unique heavenly glow.
Clark was sure that most of the female terrorist soldiers were probably already screeching inwardly with excitement, right now.
“To the forest,” Executioner Dave repeated the order, as the soldiers quickly took advantage of this chance to force their retreat.
The police decided to wisely stop the pursuit, as they also retreated. Clark finally heaved a sigh of relief, as the entourage of terrorist cars went deeper into the forest.
After retreating for over an hour, they finally stopped to erect a new base. They camped inside the forest, as they quickly set up a defense perimeter.
The atmosphere within the camp was very gloomy, as the terrorist base lost 10% of its armed forces just from this one clash. Clark could’ve taken advantage of the chaos to complete his mission, but the chaotic battle was not under his control, anything could happen at any moment.
He was surprised, as the commander of the base called for him an hour later. On reaching his car, the commander first congratulated him for his performance. Before telling him not to be to set on the death of his brothers, that they died for a good cause.
“Whose brother, you hypocritic piece of shit?" He snorted inwardly, but planted a pained expression on his face, as the commander continued.
He finally told him to drop his armor for repairs, as it sustained a lot of damages from the battle.
After dropping the armor for repairs, he thought of the last words of the commander as he returned.
The commander said that if everything goes according to his calculations, they will be delayed for a week or more, making them miss the time for the mission assigned to their base. He said the last part while shaking his head with a bitter smile.
On thinking of the fact that they would miss the mission, Clark suddenly felt better. After a long day of battle and run for survival, he finally retreated to sleep for the night.
...
For the next few days, the terrorist organization laid low, as they licked their wounds. Surprisingly, the high-grade soldiers gradually got close to Clark, as they already thought of him as their future comrade.
His recent performance assured them, that he would most likely become a soldier of the same rank as them, thereby heralding a new executioner.
They gradually opened up, revealing their secrets to him, excluding only the ranged specialist among them. This guy Dave, was simply a hermit as he barely even smiled. He hardly replies, even if the other high-grade soldiers engage in a conversation with him.
The commander’s calculations and predictions were rendered useless after the police found the base’s hideout in the forest, on the 4th day.
They decided to take the dirty route, they harassed and attacked them every day as they refused to let them recover their strength.
This slowly morphed into a battle of attrition, as the police attacked while the terrorists defended. During these small-scale skirmishes with the police, some soldiers shined by performing exceptionally, while others simply died and were forgotten.
This dragged on for 3 weeks, as the terrorist organization was gradually reduced to 40% of its original strength.
The commander finally became concerned, as he ordered that they are charging out the next day. He was ready to personally spearhead their breakthrough, as he already got fed up with the police harassment.
After 3 weeks of staying with them, Clark already perfectly integrated with them and he also learned other confidential secrets. He finally learned why the commander always never participates during battles.
The commander got injured in a great battle against an army division by the division’s commander, who was also a high-grade soldier with the 2nd breakthrough under his belt.
The injury almost incapacitated him, but after treatment, he finally recovered a bit. He could still battle, but every battle will worsen the injury, bringing him closer to death.
He could receive better treatment, but he didn’t have the qualifications to visit the higher ranked terrorist bases, to receive treatment there.
His deciding to enter the battle, was an indication of how dire the situation was. The whole base started preparing for the next day with heavy hearts, as the base was at an all-time low since the new soldiers were recruited.
That evening, Clark received his armor. They refused to give it to him back previously, as the commander said that he didn’t need it for all the last skirmishes against the police. The commander advised that he needed the experience, as training.
That night, he was somehow excited about the battle, and also worried for the policemen. “This is the first time that I’ll see a high-grade soldier, higher than me in the rank fight,” he thought in anticipation.
The next day, everything was ready as they got up and left very early in the morning around 6:00 am. The atmosphere among the soldiers was tense, but the new soldiers were excited, as they were going to see their commander fight for the first time.
All the vehicles moved with speed, as the terrorists planned to get as far as possible before encountering any police force. After more than 2 hours of traveling, the inevitable finally came, as they met the first entourage of police vehicles.
The commander didn’t say any words of motivation, he only growled in the transmitter an order to advance.
[Thank you for reading this chapter I really appreciate it. Please if there is any problem with the translation quality or there is any wrong spelling or sentence, indicate I'll try to fix it immediately.]
