Mercenary's War

"Package accurately delivered!"

Gao Yang shouted loudly, and cheers erupted on the missile launch site.

Dmitry, with a concerned look, asked, "Are you sure?"

Gao Yang replied firmly, "Confirmed! Completely confirmed! Both missiles landed in the designated target area! Congratulations, Colonel!"

Dmitry was stunned, then suddenly raised his hand.

"Yah! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!"

The usually composed and elegant Dmitry suddenly jumped up, waving his hands and ran quickly towards the missile launcher vehicle.

Gao Yang extended his hand, shouting towards Dmitry’s back, "Hey, hey, aren’t we supposed to be moving..."

Dmitry ran quickly, jumping and waving his hands wildly, until he met the first soldier, where he shouted, "Direct hit! Direct hit! Hooray~"

The composed Dmitry was unreliable now, so Gao Yang turned to Niva, only to see him slowly crouch down and finally sit down in the sand.

"Shouldn’t we be retreating..."

Gao Yang approached Niva, stopping mid-sentence, swallowing the rest.

Sitting on the ground, Niva stared at the starry sky, tears streaming down his face, motionless like a statue.

The composed Dmitry was running and jumping like crazy, whereas the always hot-tempered Niva sat on the ground like a thinker, making retreating seem pointless.

Glolov was slightly younger than Niva, but their ages were close. He walked over to Niva, gently patted his shoulder, and quietly said, "Major, congratulations, you succeeded."

Niva remained motionless, tears flowing faster on his face.

Peter also walked over to Niva and said solemnly, "Even after leaving the troops for so long, maintaining such a good skill condition, achieving a direct hit in the first combat operation was truly difficult. Major, congratulations to you and your brothers, each one of you is commendable."

Niva’s nose started twitching and snot began to flow.

Suddenly, Niva raised his hand, yelling, "Captain, did you see it! I did it, I launched the missile, first strike hit, second strike hit, did you see it? The unit disbanded, missiles retired, tanks went to the Steel Graveyard, but our spirit didn’t falter! Didn’t falter!"

After shouting, Niva suddenly grabbed a handful of sand and threw it into the air with all his might, yelling, "Why did you die so early! I told you there was hope, I said there was hope, why did you die so early, what’s wrong with living a few more years!"

The sand fell, landing on Glolov’s head, on Peter’s body, and on Niva’s face and eyes.

Neither Glolov nor Peter moved.

Gao Yang quietly turned around, and the rest of the Satan team remained silent.

Niva lowered his head, covering his face with his hands, then burst into a loud, mournful cry.

"The missiles weren’t Soviet, nor were the targets Soviet enemies. We had to secretly come here to launch missiles and then secretly leave, but ultimately it was for Russia, for your homeland. Captain, you are Russian, maybe you’re happy, I don’t know, perhaps you are more disappointed, but we ultimately launched the missiles, Captain, we are still valuable, we haven’t been forgotten..."

Gao Yang lowered his head, his heart pierced with pain.

Glolov sat next to Niva, gently placing his hand on Niva’s shoulder, shaking it slightly.

Niva embraced Glolov, beginning to cry, his tears and snot getting on Glolov’s clothes, while Glolov silently held Niva, unmoving.

Dmitry returned, but his euphoria had vanished, he simply stood quietly next to Niva, watching the crying with a bowed head.

At that moment, Gao Yang’s earpiece suddenly transmitted Tarta’s voice.

"Courier, I’m at the client’s house."

Tarta’s voice was hushed but his tone exuberant.

Gao Yang quickly responded, "If convenient, report the cargo classification."

Tarta hurriedly reported, "Mingyu report: visually, an airport building has collapsed by half; the building’s function is unclear. Cluster warhead results are splendid, completely destroyed a transport plane, four fighter jets parked on the apron, personnel casualties unknown, the planes in the hangar suffered no apparent damage, but multiple planes are parked on the apron, this is merely the observed result; further destruction will be discovered. Over."

Tarta spoke rapidly before quickly ending the call.

Gao Yang told Niva, "Damage report has arrived, a building collapsed, cluster warheads destroyed one transport plane and four fighter jets, personnel losses unknown, planes in the hangar are unscathed, but this is merely a preliminary observation. I believe the losses inflicted on the enemy are beyond this. Congratulations to you, Lieutenant Colonel, Major!"

Niva suddenly stopped sobbing, upon hearing Gao Yang’s slow damage report, released Glolov, wiping his face haphazardly with his sleeve, before rising from the ground.

Just now in tears, and now acting unaffected, Niva quickly used his sleeve to rub his eyes, blatantly blowing his nose, sniffling, "I just got sand in my eyes."

Insincerely excusing his emotional outburst, Niva promptly yelled at the missile troopers standing idly in the distance, "Why are you standing there! Enter relocation immediately, quick! Quick! Get moving!"

Niva ran bustlingly, directing everyone, causing the missile troops to scatter like disturbed hornets.

Dmitry sighed, then said to Gao Yang in a serious tone, "Major Niva, he, he always had a very good relationship with his captain; his captain cultivated and valued him highly. But, well, you all know, later the unit was disbanded, and his captain soon passed away, it was a heavy blow to him. Actually, his captain needed less than a year to retire, age-wise, Niva was supposed to succeed as captain, but... why talk about this? We should prepare to leave."

Gao Yang quietly replied, "I can understand."

Dmitry sighed, speaking softly, "Thank you for this opportunity, though it’s not... well, I’m glad to have the chance to contribute. Sorry we were all somewhat indisposed, now let’s leave, we’ve delayed here too long."

Dmitry walked away, and once he was far off, Gao Yang quietly said to the rest of the Satan team, "Never, never let them know the truth, everyone, please. I’m already extremely remorseful, so please never let them know the truth."