Chapter 171
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Frank was in a bit of an annoyed mood as he stepped through a bush. His squad followed in a tight formation as they looked over every inch they could see multiple times. They waited for multiple moments for the scans to complete before they took their next step and proceeded to wait again, all while looking all over the area for any signs of Richie's squad or the person responsible for the fire.
He was certain that all the other squad leaders had the same idea s him. The idea was pretty rooted in reality and the other squad leaders would likely jump to the same probable conclusion. Quite simply, Richie's squad was all dead.
That was the reason why they all had the same grave faces as before. After all, Frank's squad moves much too slowly for them to arrive after anyone else. That is, of course, unless Richie's squad decided to have some kind of orgy on the job and didn't notice that their shitty low-budget outpost was set aflame.
Frank wasn't agitated about that at all.
…No, how could he be agitated that the shitty outpost that kept Mary's homecooked truffles that she had recently sent him. He had yet to eat any of them and they had gone up in flames! Frank wasn't agitated, he was downright furious.
The Empire was spending a lot for their pay on this job but they still gave them a super garbage dinky tentpost instead of an actual building. The damn thing was flammable! And some idiot set it on fire too! It was a total joke.
Frank ground his teeth as he seethed over the fact that he had lost his chance to eat Mary's truffles because of some jackass who attacked their absolute garbage outpost. He didn't show any outward signs of being enraged, but the members on his team could tell that he had become infuriated.
They had been around him long enough to know the signs: the slight tremble in his shoulders when he moved, the twitch on his lip, the excessive scowl on his face, and the way his eyes darted to places that he didn't need to look at. It was like he was trying to do their jobs in searching for something out of the ordinary. It just added fuel to what they believed he wanted to do.
While they knew that he would be in complete business mode when discussing plans, they also knew that when he got this bad it was bad for all parties involved. They didn't know what set him off since he had kept it quelled until they started their search, yet they also didn't have the guts to ask.
To them, it was obvious Frank was looking for an outlet to thrash.
And he was too. He was looking for the culprit responsible for taking his truffles away from him! Mary's cooking was divine to the man and someone had stolen it away from him and fed to the fire. He wouldn't be so pissed if someone else had chosen to eat it because, at least then it would have been eaten and someone would have known the great splendor of Mary's cooking!
But no! That bastard had, instead, chosen to set the damn thing on fire along with the rest of their stuff! Unforgivable!
The moment Frank had smelled the burning truffles was when his mood plummeted to the ground. Whoever that person was had made it personal. He vowed that he would return the favor if he ever got sight of the person responsible. He was hoping, praying even, that they chose to attack his squad. He also couldn't help but silently plead that he was lucky enough to find the bastard first.
And then their scanner detected movement ahead. He made a sharp gesture with his hands and notified everyone in the squad, including Frank, that someone or something was moving ahead of them. Following that, everyone turned to Frank for their orders.
Frank's eyes narrowed as he gazed ahead. Whatever was moving was being obstructed by the trees and bushes that were scattered amongst the forest around them. He couldn't get a clear view of anything. His gaze still didn't stop as he was silent for several moments before he made a curt motion to advance.
The rest of the squad moved into an assault formation and began their silent march forward.
Technically, Frank should have whistled to let the other squads know they found something. But Frank wanted to kill that bastard before anyone else, so he didn't do it. He refused to do it. He knew it would be several moments before the other squads noticed that his was moving ahead. He also knew that they would probably be annoyed at him for stealing the prize but none of that mattered to him at that moment.
He just wanted to avenge those poor truffles that had been ruined by a villains plot!
With his squad gathered into position, they all readied their weapons and turned their attention to Frank for the final clear. Frank took a deep breath and calmed himself as best he could, which wasn't much in the moment. Then, with a stern nod, he rolled across the tree he had his back to and quickly advanced in a tactical run with his weapon free.
He rounded a tree that blocked his view, the rest of his squad following close on his heels as they surrounded the point that movement was detected at. The view caused all of them to freeze.
Six people, all strewn about in a vague formation that they had been in before they were attacked. It looked like they didn't even have time to pull out their weapons. In fact, it was as if they had all been hit at the same time because there were no defensive wounds or signs of alarm amongst them.
This was not what Frank expected to see here. He blinked in surprise as he absorbed the scene before him for a moment before he finally began issuing signal commands. They were simple and straight to the point: check for survivors.
Frank then whistled loudly with his fingers. Since the target of his obsession wasn't here and there weren't even signs of a fight, he was sure they were dealing with some expert assassin. That meant it was actually a really terrible idea to be split up as they were. It was actually far better for them to wait for reinforcements together, which was sure to be coming soon since they were required to give regular reports. However, with their awful outpost down, giving those reports was completely impossible.
A few members of his squad took up strategic positions to keep watch while the rest examined those who were in Richie's squad. After a few moments, one of his men looked up to Frank and shook his head. This caused Frank to frown.
'If they're all dead, then what movement did our sensors detect?' That thought lingered on his mind as they waited for the other squads to arrive.
After a couple of minutes, the first squad to arrive was the eye-patched woman's. She looked over the scene before she proceeded to set up her own guard perimeter with Frank's squad. She would get the report when everyone else arrived. There was no need to make Frank repeat what was discovered.
Besides, she could tell with one glance that Richie had wound up getting taken out. She just didn't know how long they had been dead for or how Frank had found them. After all, they weren't on the path that Frank should have been taking. Plus, they were further ahead than her own squad, which was moving at Franks characteristic snail's pace. It all added up to something having happened while they weren't together.
As she leaned into a tree, she sighed heavily at how this simple job had turned bloody. It was a simple job and Richie went and got himself killed.
From afar, a distant "Mama" came across their little clearing, causing everyone to try and pinpoint the source of the sound. However, it came like an echo and was discordant, making it difficult to even understand the message. The only thing they knew was that one of the squads had been ambushed and called for help.
Frank's brow furrowed as his scowl became worse. That bastard was attacking someone else and refused to face him! He couldn't take such an insult and quickly made a few hand commands in rapid succession. This caused his squad to exchange quick glances before they swallowed any complaints and hurriedly moved into assault formation.
With Frank at the lead, they charged forward in a direction he thought the sound came from. The squad he left behind just gazed at him in confusion but didn't stop them nor chase after them either.
The woman sighed heavily again before she shook her head in disappointment. "I guess even that cautious bastard is crazy sometimes." She then looked at the remains of Richie's squad and stated, "Examine the bodies. Now that Frank has run off on his own, someone has to inform the others the details of the attack."
Since the cry to help was hard to locate, the other squads were sure to come here first as they knew where that was, generally speaking. It would be useful to know something about their enemy, as they currently had no clues.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Frank was in a bit of an annoyed mood as he stepped through a bush. His squad followed in a tight formation as they looked over every inch they could see multiple times. They waited for multiple moments for the scans to complete before they took their next step and proceeded to wait again, all while looking all over the area for any signs of Richie's squad or the person responsible for the fire.
He was certain that all the other squad leaders had the same idea s him. The idea was pretty rooted in reality and the other squad leaders would likely jump to the same probable conclusion. Quite simply, Richie's squad was all dead.
That was the reason why they all had the same grave faces as before. After all, Frank's squad moves much too slowly for them to arrive after anyone else. That is, of course, unless Richie's squad decided to have some kind of orgy on the job and didn't notice that their shitty low-budget outpost was set aflame.
Frank wasn't agitated about that at all.
…No, how could he be agitated that the shitty outpost that kept Mary's homecooked truffles that she had recently sent him. He had yet to eat any of them and they had gone up in flames! Frank wasn't agitated, he was downright furious.
The Empire was spending a lot for their pay on this job but they still gave them a super garbage dinky tentpost instead of an actual building. The damn thing was flammable! And some idiot set it on fire too! It was a total joke.
Frank ground his teeth as he seethed over the fact that he had lost his chance to eat Mary's truffles because of some jackass who attacked their absolute garbage outpost. He didn't show any outward signs of being enraged, but the members on his team could tell that he had become infuriated.
They had been around him long enough to know the signs: the slight tremble in his shoulders when he moved, the twitch on his lip, the excessive scowl on his face, and the way his eyes darted to places that he didn't need to look at. It was like he was trying to do their jobs in searching for something out of the ordinary. It just added fuel to what they believed he wanted to do.
While they knew that he would be in complete business mode when discussing plans, they also knew that when he got this bad it was bad for all parties involved. They didn't know what set him off since he had kept it quelled until they started their search, yet they also didn't have the guts to ask.
To them, it was obvious Frank was looking for an outlet to thrash.
And he was too. He was looking for the culprit responsible for taking his truffles away from him! Mary's cooking was divine to the man and someone had stolen it away from him and fed to the fire. He wouldn't be so pissed if someone else had chosen to eat it because, at least then it would have been eaten and someone would have known the great splendor of Mary's cooking!
But no! That bastard had, instead, chosen to set the damn thing on fire along with the rest of their stuff! Unforgivable!
The moment Frank had smelled the burning truffles was when his mood plummeted to the ground. Whoever that person was had made it personal. He vowed that he would return the favor if he ever got sight of the person responsible. He was hoping, praying even, that they chose to attack his squad. He also couldn't help but silently plead that he was lucky enough to find the bastard first.
And then their scanner detected movement ahead. He made a sharp gesture with his hands and notified everyone in the squad, including Frank, that someone or something was moving ahead of them. Following that, everyone turned to Frank for their orders.
Frank's eyes narrowed as he gazed ahead. Whatever was moving was being obstructed by the trees and bushes that were scattered amongst the forest around them. He couldn't get a clear view of anything. His gaze still didn't stop as he was silent for several moments before he made a curt motion to advance.
The rest of the squad moved into an assault formation and began their silent march forward.
Technically, Frank should have whistled to let the other squads know they found something. But Frank wanted to kill that bastard before anyone else, so he didn't do it. He refused to do it. He knew it would be several moments before the other squads noticed that his was moving ahead. He also knew that they would probably be annoyed at him for stealing the prize but none of that mattered to him at that moment.
He just wanted to avenge those poor truffles that had been ruined by a villains plot!
With his squad gathered into position, they all readied their weapons and turned their attention to Frank for the final clear. Frank took a deep breath and calmed himself as best he could, which wasn't much in the moment. Then, with a stern nod, he rolled across the tree he had his back to and quickly advanced in a tactical run with his weapon free.
He rounded a tree that blocked his view, the rest of his squad following close on his heels as they surrounded the point that movement was detected at. The view caused all of them to freeze.
Six people, all strewn about in a vague formation that they had been in before they were attacked. It looked like they didn't even have time to pull out their weapons. In fact, it was as if they had all been hit at the same time because there were no defensive wounds or signs of alarm amongst them.
This was not what Frank expected to see here. He blinked in surprise as he absorbed the scene before him for a moment before he finally began issuing signal commands. They were simple and straight to the point: check for survivors.
Frank then whistled loudly with his fingers. Since the target of his obsession wasn't here and there weren't even signs of a fight, he was sure they were dealing with some expert assassin. That meant it was actually a really terrible idea to be split up as they were. It was actually far better for them to wait for reinforcements together, which was sure to be coming soon since they were required to give regular reports. However, with their awful outpost down, giving those reports was completely impossible.
A few members of his squad took up strategic positions to keep watch while the rest examined those who were in Richie's squad. After a few moments, one of his men looked up to Frank and shook his head. This caused Frank to frown.
'If they're all dead, then what movement did our sensors detect?' That thought lingered on his mind as they waited for the other squads to arrive.
After a couple of minutes, the first squad to arrive was the eye-patched woman's. She looked over the scene before she proceeded to set up her own guard perimeter with Frank's squad. She would get the report when everyone else arrived. There was no need to make Frank repeat what was discovered.
Besides, she could tell with one glance that Richie had wound up getting taken out. She just didn't know how long they had been dead for or how Frank had found them. After all, they weren't on the path that Frank should have been taking. Plus, they were further ahead than her own squad, which was moving at Franks characteristic snail's pace. It all added up to something having happened while they weren't together.
As she leaned into a tree, she sighed heavily at how this simple job had turned bloody. It was a simple job and Richie went and got himself killed.
From afar, a distant "Mama" came across their little clearing, causing everyone to try and pinpoint the source of the sound. However, it came like an echo and was discordant, making it difficult to even understand the message. The only thing they knew was that one of the squads had been ambushed and called for help.
Frank's brow furrowed as his scowl became worse. That bastard was attacking someone else and refused to face him! He couldn't take such an insult and quickly made a few hand commands in rapid succession. This caused his squad to exchange quick glances before they swallowed any complaints and hurriedly moved into assault formation.
With Frank at the lead, they charged forward in a direction he thought the sound came from. The squad he left behind just gazed at him in confusion but didn't stop them nor chase after them either.
The woman sighed heavily again before she shook her head in disappointment. "I guess even that cautious bastard is crazy sometimes." She then looked at the remains of Richie's squad and stated, "Examine the bodies. Now that Frank has run off on his own, someone has to inform the others the details of the attack."
Since the cry to help was hard to locate, the other squads were sure to come here first as they knew where that was, generally speaking. It would be useful to know something about their enemy, as they currently had no clues.
Frank was in a bit of an annoyed mood as he stepped through a bush. His squad followed in a tight formation as they looked over every inch they could see multiple times. They waited for multiple moments for the scans to complete before they took their next step and proceeded to wait again, all while looking all over the area for any signs of Richie's squad or the person responsible for the fire.He was certain that all the other squad leaders had the same idea s him. The idea was pretty rooted in reality and the other squad leaders would likely jump to the same probable conclusion. Quite simply, Richie's squad was all dead.That was the reason why they all had the same grave faces as before. After all, Frank's squad moves much too slowly for them to arrive after anyone else. That is, of course, unless Richie's squad decided to have some kind of orgy on the job and didn't notice that their shitty low-budget outpost was set aflame.Frank wasn't agitated about that at all.No, how could he be agitated that the shitty outpost that kept Mary's homecooked truffles that she had recently sent him. He had yet to eat any of them and they had gone up in flames! Frank wasn't agitated, he was downright furious.The Empire was spending a lot for their pay on this job but they still gave them a super garbage dinky tentpost instead of an actual building. The damn thing was flammable! And some idiot set it on fire too! It was a total joke.Frank ground his teeth as he seethed over the fact that he had lost his chance to eat Mary's truffles because of some jackass who attacked their absolute garbage outpost. He didn't show any outward signs of being enraged, but the members on his team could tell that he had become infuriated.They had been around him long enough to know the signs: the slight tremble in his shoulders when he moved, the twitch on his lip, the excessive scowl on his face, and the way his eyes darted to places that he didn't need to look at. It was like he was trying to do their jobs in searching for something out of the ordinary. It just added fuel to what they believed he wanted to do.While they knew that he would be in complete business mode when discussing plans, they also knew that when he got this bad it was bad for all parties involved. They didn't know what set him off since he had kept it quelled until they started their search, yet they also didn't have the guts to ask.To them, it was obvious Frank was looking for an outlet to thrash.And he was too. He was looking for the culprit responsible for taking his truffles away from him! Mary's cooking was divine to the man and someone had stolen it away from him and fed to the fire. He wouldn't be so pissed if someone else had chosen to eat it because, at least then it would have been eaten and someone would have known the great splendor of Mary's cooking!But no! That bastard had, instead, chosen to set the damn thing on fire along with the rest of their stuff! Unforgivable!The moment Frank had smelled the burning truffles was when his mood plummeted to the ground. Whoever that person was had made it personal. He vowed that he would return the favor if he ever got sight of the person responsible. He was hoping, praying even, that they chose to attack his squad. He also couldn't help but silently plead that he was lucky enough to find the bastard first.And then their scanner detected movement ahead. He made a sharp gesture with his hands and notified everyone in the squad, including Frank, that someone or something was moving ahead of them. Following that, everyone turned to Frank for their orders.Frank's eyes narrowed as he gazed ahead. Whatever was moving was being obstructed by the trees and bushes that were scattered amongst the forest around them. He couldn't get a clear view of anything. His gaze still didn't stop as he was silent for several moments before he made a curt motion to advance.The rest of the squad moved into an assault formation and began their silent march forward.Technically, Frank should have whistled to let the other squads know they found something. But Frank wanted to kill that bastard before anyone else, so he didn't do it. He refused to do it. He knew it would be several moments before the other squads noticed that his was moving ahead. He also knew that they would probably be annoyed at him for stealing the prize but none of that mattered to him at that moment.He just wanted to avenge those poor truffles that had been ruined by a villains plot!With his squad gathered into position, they all readied their weapons and turned their attention to Frank for the final clear. Frank took a deep breath and calmed himself as best he could, which wasn't much in the moment. Then, with a stern nod, he rolled across the tree he had his back to and quickly advanced in a tactical run with his weapon free.He rounded a tree that blocked his view, the rest of his squad following close on his heels as they surrounded the point that movement was detected at. The view caused all of them to freeze.Six people, all strewn about in a vague formation that they had been in before they were attacked. It looked like they didn't even have time to pull out their weapons. In fact, it was as if they had all been hit at the same time because there were no defensive wounds or signs of alarm amongst them.This was not what Frank expected to see here. He blinked in surprise as he absorbed the scene before him for a moment before he finally began issuing signal commands. They were simple and straight to the point: check for survivors.Frank then whistled loudly with his fingers. Since the target of his obsession wasn't here and there weren't even signs of a fight, he was sure they were dealing with some expert assassin. That meant it was actually a really terrible idea to be split up as they were. It was actually far better for them to wait for reinforcements together, which was sure to be coming soon since they were required to give regular reports. However, with their awful outpost down, giving those reports was completely impossible.A few members of his squad took up strategic positions to keep watch while the rest examined those who were in Richie's squad. After a few moments, one of his men looked up to Frank and shook his head. This caused Frank to frown.'If they're all dead, then what movement did our sensors detect?' That thought lingered on his mind as they waited for the other squads to arrive.After a couple of minutes, the first squad to arrive was the eye-patched woman's. She looked over the scene before she proceeded to set up her own guard perimeter with Frank's squad. She would get the report when everyone else arrived. There was no need to make Frank repeat what was discovered.Besides, she could tell with one glance that Richie had wound up getting taken out. She just didn't know how long they had been dead for or how Frank had found them. After all, they weren't on the path that Frank should have been taking. Plus, they were further ahead than her own squad, which was moving at Franks characteristic snail's pace. It all added up to something having happened while they weren't together.As she leaned into a tree, she sighed heavily at how this simple job had turned bloody. It was a simple job and Richie went and got himself killed.From afar, a distant "Mama" came across their little clearing, causing everyone to try and pinpoint the source of the sound. However, it came like an echo and was discordant, making it difficult to even understand the message. The only thing they knew was that one of the squads had been ambushed and called for help.Frank's brow furrowed as his scowl became worse. That bastard was attacking someone else and refused to face him! He couldn't take such an insult and quickly made a few hand commands in rapid succession. This caused his squad to exchange quick glances before they swallowed any complaints and hurriedly moved into assault formation.With Frank at the lead, they charged forward in a direction he thought the sound came from. The squad he left behind just gazed at him in confusion but didn't stop them nor chase after them either.The woman sighed heavily again before she shook her head in disappointment. "I guess even that cautious bastard is crazy sometimes." She then looked at the remains of Richie's squad and stated, "Examine the bodies. Now that Frank has run off on his own, someone has to inform the others the details of the attack."Since the cry to help was hard to locate, the other squads were sure to come here first as they knew where that was, generally speaking. It would be useful to know something about their enemy, as they currently had no clues.
