223 The Outpost Strikes! (2/2)
”Okay, I can agree with that.”
After getting the confirmation, Jun turned to the four soldiers who stood dazed at the sidewalk. The four turned to each other and managed to come up with a decision within a second. The medic turned to Jun and nodded his head.
”That's great then.” Jun smiled, then faced Corwin. ”Now before we get to planning, I want to see the armory.”
After some additional chatter and quarrels, Jun was brought to a nearby building which happened to be the bank. He was allowed entry simply because he highlighted the importance of knowing the available weapons they could use.
Most of the rifles were standard military Armalite while the pistols were imported from other countries. A few sniper rifles were on the rack and they only have the default scope. There were a few other interesting things that caught Jun's attention.
Now that he grasped their firepower, Jun requested for a short briefing. He wanted to know what they know about the town and those occult people.
Corwin knew that information was a powerful weapon and if he wants this operation to succeed, he had to remain truthful. Besides, the information Jun wanted should be considered general knowledge. Jun could easily know this by asking any local he might encounter.
Taytay had six large cemeteries; both public and private, and most of them could be navigated via the national highway. The Municipal Building can be found on the Don Hilario Cruz, inside the Club Manila East.
Afterward, the important questions came. Jun was briefed on the places where the military encountered aggressive survivors.
Upon looking at the map, everyone realized something strange. The encounters—drawn as a star on the map—increased in numbers, the further the military tried to get closer towards the Municipal building of Taytay.
Although Corwin reads the daily records on the number of casualty rates, he doesn't have enough time to read the place of encounter and mark them on an actual map. He became surprised with the discovery and shook his head at his foolishness. It seems like the dire state of the country caused his mind to become clouded.
”Get everyone ready, we'll attack after I finish some preparations,” said Jun as he stared at the Taytay map.
”What preparations? Can we help?” said Jaquez Rosario, the major who was assigned to lead the army.
”Sure, just make a lot of sticks, barbecue sticks.”
—
The 200-men strong army marched on the national highway. It was the total number of troops the outpost could direct towards this expedition. Some of the soldiers were still out and were performing the clearing operations while others were still recovering from their injuries.
The sole Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) stationed at the bridge for its defense was brought over for the operation. It's armed with a 25mm autocannon and a 7.62mm machinegun. A few soldiers boarded ontop of the vehicle to get higher ground—armed with rifles as they scouted the horizon.
In its usual place, the APC was used to block the bridge together with a few other trucks.
The army's goal was simple: to attract as much attention from the rebel forces. This would be the first time the military sends this number of soldiers. The Whisperer and the Queen would be forced to respond if they wanted to save their people.
And even if they don't come out, Jun's elite group would be tasked to hunt them.
Jun's group hitched a ride until they got back to where they parked their truck. The five of them boarded the truck and Suico Panaligan, the driver, drove in a separate direction of the army.
Jun finally got acquainted with the squad. Last night, no one really bothered to get close to each other since they have their own agendas. Now that they're together on one mission which could possibly save numerous lives, they set aside their awkwardness and acted like professionals. To be honest, except for Carl, everyone was quite cool with Jun.
They have no intention to hurt Jun nor befriend him; they're just following their orders. Two people were quite friendly with him, Morgan the medic, and the rifleman he saved, Christian. The last member of the group was Saul, the automatic rifleman. He appears neutral to Jun but appreciates the help he gave Christian.
As the military continued matching towards the Don Hilario Cruz, numerous hidden survivors from afar secretly vanished and appeared at the teleport portal at the town's municipal plaza.