War: A Business

Chapter 14: Arms Dealing

   We walked through the captured military base's gates.

   Military vehicles belonging to the Egyptian government are now in the rebels hands. A pile of dead bodies were burned in the center of a crowd of cheering rebels. A captured fast-attack vehicle parked in front of us. The driver gave us a ride.

   During the ride, Alice and the driver conversed in Egyptian. The vehicle turned right to the large building in the distance. During the ride, I saw the destroyed fortifications being rebuilt by the rebels. The rebels patrol the base with the captured vehicles.

We arrived at the large building.

  Two guards in Warrior-power armor armed with Heavy Auto-Laser guns and ballistic shields guarded the building.

They opened the door.

   Inside the building is rebels partying. Music blared loud electric music. Soldiers, still alive, were hanging up from the high ceiling.
 
A soldier hanged upside down from the far end of the room were being used for target practice for the drunk rebels. I stepped on a dead rebel on the floor.

"Are you all that barbaric?" I asked her.

"Well, most of the members."

"Oh."

"It happens everyday. The movement is almost full of poorly trained, undisciplined and inexperienced crooks and idiots. Victory in battle is very rare for us."

"That explains everything." I smirked.

    We walked up through 5 flights of stairs. We walked through the corridor in the 5th floor. We arrived at a room guarded by heavily armed rebels. They opened the door for us.

  We entered the room.

    In front of us is a curtain lighted from the other side of a grey curtain, showing a human silhouette.

"Is this the salesman?" The silhouette asked.

"Yes, sir." Alice answered.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"The leader of this movement."

"Oh. By the way, your guys are getting rowdy."

He sighed.

"I missed the old days where we won every single battle. The rebels from the past were experienced, trained, disciplined and smart. We fought for the cause: to liberate our country. We were a legit military force funded by the GIF. We almost captured the dictator until the 'Purge' happened. Now almost all of the members are untrained, undisciplined and dumb villagers who abused their power over civilians." he mumbled.

"My payment?" I interjected.

"Oh. Here."he said.

A suitcase slid out of the curtain.

"Thanks." I added.

"Goodbye."he farewelled.

I walked out of the room. Alice followed me.

"Well, that was awkward. By the way do you know what he looks like?" I asked her.

"No. Almost all of the rebels don't know what he looks like."

"Maybe, he is very ugly that he needs to cover his face?" I whispered.

She giggled. Her cheeks turned red on her pale face.

"Are you going now?" she asked.

"Not yet, I going to field test the weapons first." I answered.

"Can I come with you?" she asked.

"Sure, why not?"

She followed me outside the building. The vehicle earlier is waiting for us.

We got inside the vehicle.

Alice talked to the driver in Arabic. Then she sat down beside me.

We drove to the base's testing range.

As we drove through the base's roads, I asked questions to her.

"I'm very curious, how did you get your armored mutant pet?"

"He is not a pet. He is my friend. Anyway, I found him in the desert. He was lying on the dunes. His power armor was full of sand. I tried to pull out the armor, but his body was already the size of his armor and the armor was attached to his body. So I called the rebels to carry him to the cargo truck to the base. When we carried him back to base, we fed him, in turn,he'd fight for alongside us."

"Oh. Another question. Are you born here? Because in here, or almost all countries in the world, Caucasian people like you are a rare breed nowadays. "

"My foster father said that I was adopted. He found me when I was a baby in a wreckage. He named me because I had a necklace that has my name on it."

"Oh, that explains everything." I remarked.

"Whats your story?" she asked.

"Well.." I hesitated to talk about the painful past. I want to forget, but I still cant. No matter how I tried. No matter how fast I run.

"Are you okay?" She asked, staring at me. I must've look scared and panicked. I inhaled and exhaled using my mouth weakly.

"Yes." I answered. We continued walking like nothing happened.

We arrived at the testing range.

  I walked to the cargo containers full of weapons. The rebels are on the testing range observation deck. I walked in front of them. I grabbed a laser gun with a microcell to the nearest box full of weapons.

I showcased the weapon in front of them.

"This is the PH-Mk.20 assault  handheld laser weapon. It is the most cheapest, most effective, and most accurate laser gun out there."I advertised.

I shot the weapon at a metal sheet. The sheet has a burning bullet sized hole at the center.

"See? Accurate."I said after I shot the sheet.

The sheet were blown to bits.

"I didn't do that."I interjected. I jumped as the plate exploded. What was that?

A nearby building exploded.

"Take cover!" I yelled.

I ran and jumped down under a tank next to me.

  I realized that we were being bombarded.