Chapter 112 - Rushing To Halivaara
Chapter 112 – Rushing To Halivaara
Del was shocked by that statement. If Hubert died, it would be catastrophic for Cassandra. The plan was to escape to Lullin as fast as possible, but they wouldn't do that plan if it meant that Hubert would die, right? It meant a sudden change of plan.
"Wait, wait, wait, before you tell me everything, let me say something. I didn't find any dead body of MSVI members. Where are they?" Del asked.
"They were heading to Halivaara," Alina answered.
"The HQ?"
"Yeah, they wanted to grab more medical supplies first. I don't know about their fate though. Halivaara will suffer the same fate if my observation is correct. The imperial always sticks to the same one tactic on a single area of operation," Alina said.
"Shit…" Del muttered.
If they had to enter Halivaara again, it meant they had to put on a new clean MOPP suit which was not really a big deal, but the risk was rather questionable. At one side, Del wanted to search for Hubert so Cassandra wouldn't enter a state of revengeance against the imperial military. It would cloud her judgement too much.
At another, either Del or Anna would have to enter the primary target of imperial military just for the sake of rescuing one single guy that might or might not have any significance importance for the federal military. There was also the risk that one of them would have to fight the imperial military alone.
"Anna, can you go to Halivaara, alone?" Del asked Anna.
Anna was surprised. "What? Why would I go to that town?"
"You need to search for Hubert. One of us has to take care of Alina since she is still unstable. For that matter, I will take care of Alina. You will go to Halivaara now. What do you need? Do you need an upgrade?" Del said.
"Upgrade, huh? Nah, I think I don't need anything for now. However, any antidote for nerve gas will be appreciated," Anna said.
Del grabbed the medic bag from the backpack inside of the storage. She then gave the medic bag to Anna. "This should have whatever you need. Don't forget the MOPP suit! There is no antidote for mustard gas. Ah, don't forget to bring one or two gas masks! I think that's all that you need."
"Ok, do you have anything else to tell me?" Anna asked.
"Nothing else, I will drop you three miles south of Halivaara. Approach the city carefully, if you find Hubert, immediately call me using the radio. I will bring the MRAP there as soon as possible, got it?" Del asked.
Anna nodded in understatement. Something concerned her. If a tank unit came to Halivaara, it would be disastrous. Usually, those who attacked using a chemical weapon would be equipped to counter the same weapons. In short, they would take the risk to attack the gassed Halivaara. "How will you protect me from afar?"
"I will use the Kornet missile to protect you from afar," Del said.
"Ah, it gives me a slight convenience." Anna said.
With that, the brief finished. Anna would be sent into Halivaara while Del watched her from afar. The ATGM would make sure that any tank approaching Halivaara would be dealt swiftly by Del from afar. However, any tank unit that entered the town would be the signal for Anna to start retreating due to the dangerous circumstance.
Still, it was not like the imperial military would be crazy enough to do that. Del only gave that idea as a contingency plan. There was no guarantee that the plan would work, but hey, it was the best plan for now. The other plan was unfeasible.
Del moved to the driver's seat and he drove to the direction of Halivaara. With time against them, would they be able to reach Halivaara before everything went worse? Del was confident about his abilit to drive fast enough to reach the outskirt of Moruguri, would Anna be enough to infiltrate the town though?
===========
Del set up the Kornet missile near on top of the hill. The hill was located on the east of Halivaara and it gave a clear view to the west of Halivaara. Anyone that attempted to enter Halivaara would be intercepted by Del first. The truck was parked close to the Kornet missile tripod. It was a huge target, but Del would be able to shoot farther than anything that the imperial military had to throw at him.
The town wasn't gassed yet which was quite fortunate. Anna rushed towards the town alone to alert Hubert and the others to escape the town. They sticked to the first plan since positioning Alina in a dangerous position such as in Halivaara would be unwise.
"Missile is ready to be fired," Del reported through the radio.
"Copy that, I'll search the town for Hubert."
Del observed the town from the scope of his Kornet missile. Alina was laying down next to Del so Del could response to any emergency immediately. If Alina had any complication, he could help Alina immediately without having to run towards the truck first.
"Hey, don't tell my brother about this, do you understand?" Alina gave Del a request.
"Why?" Del questioned that decision. Del immediately wanted to tell Cole about the circumstances that happened to his little sister. Why would Alina want Del not telling Cole about the accident?
"Cole doesn't exactly approve my current activity. He said that the activity is too dangerous for a little girl like me."
Cole wasn't exactly wrong about that. If it were on Earth, Del would be terrified too if he knew that he would be sent into a war zone where everything could happen without any preparation to deal with unconventional threat. Was it because the military keep everything so secretive to the MSVI, or was it because the military was too incompetent to give everyone a gas mask?
"I see why he said that. I meant, I also don't want Anna to enter circumstances like that unless it's absolutely necessary," Del said.
"It's ironic to hear that from a person that just sent his own sister into a danger zone alone." Alina giggled.
"Well, Cassandra and her have some sort of relationship. Let's just say that Cassandra gave her another chance to live," Del replied.
"Ah, that's Mrs. Gable for you. She is one of the most skillful surgeons in the university. Although her specialty is general surgery, she pretty much could do anything as long as it doesn't involve opening the brain or the thorax," Alina said.
"Ohhh," Del said.
Where did Anna go? Del couldn't see where she was from the scope of the missile. Del rotated the scope left and right to find Anna. He found her arguing with one of the soldiers. The soldiers were guarding the medical tent. Anna was indeed looking suspicious with the MOPP suit and the lack of contractor's patch.
"Anna, what happens there?" Del asked through the radio.
"The soldiers don't let me to enter the medical tent. The guard said that a surgery was underway and they couldn't be disturbed," Anna replied.
"Isn't there any way to warn them about the incoming gas attack?" Del asked.
"I'll try," Anna answered.
Del eavesdrop the converstation between Anna and the guards guarding the tent. She warned them that the imperial military would attack them using a gas artillery shell. However, the soldier laughed it off. Their reasoning was because there wasn't any artillery that was capable of reaching Halivaara.
It was also Del's first thought before he knew that Moruguri got attacked by the exact same gas. Why would they be so ignorant? Thinking about it, there was almost no survivor in Moruguri. It was expected for the intel to arrive so late to Halivaara.
"But sir, we are under the threat of being taken over by the imperial military using a weapon of mass destruction," Anna said to the soldiers.
"Kid, take a hike. Like I said before, there is no artillery that is capable of attacking this town. Our scout doesn't report anything suspicious from the imperial borders either but the large explosion that almost wiped off the upper chain of command of imperial military."
Anna grumbled as she walked away from the medical tent. Del told Anna not to give up, btu she said that the soldiers had begun aiming their rifle at Anna which she didn't like. Anna just waited for the surgery to finish by standing up across that medical tent.
"Anna, what're you doing? You need to inform Hubert asap!" Del shouted.
"I can't. I don't want our attempt to turn into a friendly fire accident," Anna replied.
Del sighed in disappointment. All he could do was not different from Anna. All he could do was to wait and see what would happen. However, it was immediately interrupted by a loud whistling from the sky. It was a very familiar sound.. It was an artillery being fired at Halivaara.