original

The Black Market

Capítulo 1: The Meeting

The year 2050, ten years after the invasion of an unknown group on Earth.

Inside a big room, several individuals in army uniforms sat before a round table. All of them had solemn expressions as if something ominous was about to happen.

One of the individuals with two stars on his shoulders glanced at a soldier standing at the back of the room and called him in a deep and authoritative voice "Colonel Sanders, tell the generals about the current status of Operation Extraction."

A tall and lean man wearing glasses walked forward and saluted the general who called him. As he adjusted the rim of his glasses, he glanced at the generals surrounding the round table before he addressed them solemnly.

"Based on the vital signs shown by the transmitter, all members of the Eagle Reconnaissance Squad were killed except for their captain, Major Murphey, but his status is currently unknown after we lost communications with him during that ambush.

Before we lost contact with the squad, Major Murphey reported that they had managed to gather some information about the origins of our enemies."

All the generals felt nervous after they heard the report. Knowing one's enemy was vital for any battle. The information from Major Murphey could be significant enough that they may turn the tides of this battle against their enemies. Although they were uncertain about the information that Major Murphey held, it still made these battle-hardened men excited because that information could make their future battles easier against those bastards.

"Where was he last seen? Give me the exact location," a handsome middle-aged man with two stars on his shoulders said while looking at Colonel Sanders, making the latter tremble in fright.

This handsome middle-aged man was Major General Cale Sylvann, one of the leading figures of Earth Alliance. Known for his excellence with guns, any kind of gun that fell into his hands became a harbinger of destruction. Even in close combat, if he claimed second, none would dare claim that they were first for he was Major General Cale Sylvann, the legendary Gun Sovereign.

Colonel Sanders' lips trembled in obvious dread as he glanced at the cold face of Major General Cale Sylvan. He cleared his throat and calmed his heart before he said in a shaky voice, "Sir, I can only provide you with his approximate location since we chose to destroy our satellites two weeks ago." Cale's eyes turned darker when heard that, and he said with a hint of anger. "Why am I unaware of this?! And what made you decide on destroying our only 'eyes' in this battle!?" The room's temperature went down by several degrees following his anger.

An older general with a star on each of his shoulders said in a placating tone, "Major General Cale, calm your anger. It was me who suggested in destroying our satellites. And you were out on a mission when we held a meeting about this.

We destroyed the satellites since those bastards were wrestling control for it. After they were able to hack 30% of our satellite's network, we decided to destroy it completely to avoid them from locating our exact coordinates."

Cale's anger subsided slightly after hearing the old general. He sighed heavily and said in a detached tone of voice, "Then give me his approximate location. I will personally go and save Major Murphey."

The generals around the round table looked at him in surprise and the old general said hastily, "No, it is too dangerous for you to go there personally. We're not even sure if the information in Major Murphey's hands is worthy enough for us to sacrifice our men."

The other generals nodded their heads in agreement.

"Don't worry, I completed far more dangerous missions than this one. I'm a hundred percent positive that I will be able to save Major Murphey, if he's still alive that is," Cale answered in a calmly while looking at the rest of the generals.

The old general sighed and shook his head "Just make sure that you will return alive. Humanity's strength will be crippled if we lost a strong general such as you."

Cale smiled and looked at one of the generals sitting on the round table. His eyes were closed like he was sleeping, but no one called him out for doing this. His head was bald with thick white eyebrows and a tall nose.Although his face was covered in wrinkles that signifies his old age, he was still one of the strongest men in the current Earth Alliance. He was the Grand Commander of the Alliance who held the second-highest position just below the Alliance Head.

"Grand Commander sir, please allow me to take this mission." The Grand Commander glanced at him briefly before closing his eyes again. His aged voice traveled around the meeting room, "Granted."

He answered simply but no one objected against his orders. Cale grinned and stood up from his seat as he gave the Grand Commander a salute.

"You may go." The Grand Commander waved his wrinkled right hand in the air, signaling him to go.

Cale saluted one last time, before going out of the room.

Inside the same room, the old general said in a worried tone, "Grand Commander sir, are you sure about letting him go on this mission? That man is quite reckless, and he might do something foolish. We cannot afford to lose him."

The Grand Commander's eyes sprung open and he glanced at the old general "General Woods, you know him, and we can never change his decisions. Once he decides on something, then there is no turning back anymore."

The old general sighed and looked towards the door, wanting to make a hole out of it so that he can see the silhouette of the middle-aged man that he admired so much.

"Colonel Sanders, follow Major General Sylvann and give him the last information given by the Eagle Reconnaissance Squad before we lost contact with them. Aso, follow him in extracting Major Murphey."

The murky eyes of the old Grand Commander flashed with a hint of worry. Although he believed in Cale's strength, bullets had no eyes and a single mistake in that kind of a battlefield meant death.

"Sir yes, sir!"

Colonel Sanders loudly answered and fiercely saluted the Grand Commander.