Suspicion

Carlo could never bring himself to trust this Cobra guy from the Army Intelligence. If he weren't a legitimate agent of the Army he would undoubtedly shot him on spot. That is the thing that is in his mind, looking at the guy before him.

No matter how Carlo look at him, he looks rather suspicious even if he is from the Army. This guy must be a double agent and his suspicious stare never ceases as he looked closer towards his actions.

"That's all for my report!" Cobra gave our mission lead his report to him.

All the members of the Task Force Derby that includes all of us are looking at each other after hearing the reports. The Reds are seizing advanced weapons from a unknown sponsor. It could be a rogue country or their sympathizers.

Several Socialist Governments supported the movement during the height of the Red Insurgency in the 90's. I am not surprised if there were discrete support from sympathizers around the world that still supported them.

Their mission lead then stood in front of us and began to brief us of the changes of their approach in their mission. He told them that the people from the Army Intelligence had been seeking support days prior to our arrival. To no avail they kept on contacting the nearest Army Headquarters but could not receive any response.

"Listen closely boys!" The mission lead said and began assigning tasks to his men.

"We are three days late as this information has been gathered two days earlier. We should have arrived at least a day earlier but I think we still can make it." The mission lead paused and displays a map, "We are here, at the base of Mount Sibugay. Our destination two kilometres from our position. We have to evade enemy patrols and use stealth to infiltrate the enemy camp."

I am deep in thought with the situation at hand. The information these agents gave are murky. Based on what this Cobra guy said we are late in our approach in the area.

"It's hit or miss, the authenticity of the said reports can only be verified during execution." Carlo commented, worried.

"Sergeant Carlo, I need to have a word with you!" The mission lead calls his attention.

"Yes sir!" Carlo approached their commander and he took him to a secluded place to talk, twenty meters away from their gathering site.

"I know you are suspicious about those guys in the Intelligence, but for now we have to trust them!" the mission lead reprimanded Carlo.

"With all due respect sir, I cannot bring myself to trust the man." Carlo explained.

"We have no choice but to trust them. Also, I myself have my doubts. But if you have one, keep them in yourself and do not allow it to compromise our mission!" the commander said and left Carlo.

Carlo had no choice, he will have to follow orders blindly or I may be shot or be court martialed. He returned to his fold and gathered up his men after the short briefing of their approach towards the enemy camp.

A Private approached Carlo while he is on his way and said that the first team is on it's way with Cobra and his associates as guides. He could not object their commander's decision but he can only hope that his hunch about their intelligence asset is wrong.

Carlo belonged to the third squad and his the members have been reshuffled. Each squad has their dedicated soldiers with heavy weapons in powersuits. This makes for a more versatile squad, however, the power armors with their height as a dead giveaway for ambushes.

Powersuits despite being smaller than a mecha stands at least seven and a half feet tall. Most of these are bulky and heavy at the same time and is not designed for bad terrain. Mud and other elements in this jungle can damage the sensitive components of these suits.

Carlo left their position and headed to the coordinates provided by Cobra and his men. Cobra is left behind to take care of some things. He said that he is interrogating some spies from the Red insurgents. We have to leave since we are behind schedule.

The task force takes cover in the darkness of the night. They left after sun down to conceal their movements from the enemy. The men in powersuits were behind the scouting team in front. Carlo is placed last in the third squad. These things may be sturdy but it is not meant to function as tanks.

While navigating in the darkness of the night. They hear the sounds of the fauna as they notice their movements. They swiftly try to evade them as they close in towards them.

"Five meters!" The scout lead in the radio said and told us to stop.

They all stopped and observed our surroundings. The place during the night is eerie enough giving that odd atmosphere that they are being watched. The mission lead ordered us to spread out and take cover. The men in the power suits have no choice but to remain since they are not sure of their footing in the darkness of the night. One wrong step and they stumble to something or may loose balance due to the weight of their powersuits.

"Radio silence!" The mission lead told his men as he observed something west of our position.

"This could be an ambush!" Carlo said, uneasy of the situation at hand.

Sound from disturbed foliage and broken branches indicates that something is getting close. It seems like they are confident that they disregarded their surprise advantage over us.

Carlo and his men were ordered by their lieutenant to form a perimeter from all sides. Three of them in their powersuits were in the center to provide heavy fire support for the squad. It is convenient for other soldiers to hide since there is nothing that hinders them to. While they who are using powersuits cannot hide and we are praying that enemy weapons may not get through their armor.

Carlo haven't seen anything yet in his night vision as I scanned through the screen of his helmet. This looks like a well planned ambush. The enemy may have gone confident because of their numbers and are eager to kill soldiers and brag about it to their peers. He readied himself just in case and trained his sights at a bush eighty meters away from him.