Plan failed
'Yes Mr. Ruuy,' the rebel beside him nodded.
The cake simply wasn't large enough to be shared. Some of the rebels had to go! Of course, they couldn't tell them that to their faces, so they had to resort to this.
In a way, the short attack range of the Predator was a blessing in disguise, allowing them to hide their true intentions.
If some of the rebels got suspicious and started complaining, the Predator was there to take the blame.
A malfunction was a passable excuse for every plot which involved mechanical equipment!
Not knowing they had been consigned to death, the rebels at the periphery brandished their weapons in elation, anticipating the arrival of the soldiers.
'That sniper is the one who can cause the most trouble for us at the moment… and we can't just blast him out of the sky at this range or else we won't be able to conceal that the Predator's attack range isn't exactly that short…' Mr. Ruuy stroked his chin in thought.
It wasn't yet time to shed all pretenses with the rebels.
They still had their uses. Once they outlived their usefulness, all they had to do was instigate a 'final battle'; a large scale clash between the rebels and the army, one for the history books.
Predictably, the rebels would lose and the army would declare themselves winners of the conflict.
They would make a good sacrifice and be vilified while the bigshots escaped to other planets in pre-arranged spaceships loaded with supplies to last them a year's journey in space!
Win-win situation for everyone.
But right now wasn't the time for that yet.
The rebels were gullible but they weren't that stupid. They would realize something was wrong if the Predator shot down the winged sniper who was hundreds of feet in the sky, then proceeded to hose down the area, killing both rebel and soldier alike.
'Pesky,' Mr. Ruuy scoffed.
He also couldn't reveal his trump card- his three Energy Core Formation Stage bodyguards- that easily as the rebels would ask why he didn't deploy them against the soldiers to prevent losses.
What a joke; he wasn't planning on sharing the profit with the rebels here!
There was no way he was going to help them prolong their lives; if anything, he wished they would die sooner.
He wasn't that good a Samaritan to help them get over this hurdle easily.
Someone had to suffer losses and he didn't plan to let that be him!
At that moment, the rebel beside him broke him out of his reverie with a shout. 'Mr. Ruuy, they just threw the brunette soldier in our direction!'
Mr. Ruuy lifted his head in shock. 'Huh?'
What kind of demon had possessed the soldier to toss her fellow soldier into an enemy encampment?
How ever Mr. Ruuy looked at it, it made no sense!
If anything, it was very suspicious.
Mr. Ruuy narrowed his eyes.
What were these soldiers up to?
'Mr. Ruuy, do we fire?' the rebel beside him kept pestering.
The brunette soldier performed an impressive roll while airborne, allowing her to face the hill, and suddenly stretched her hands at the Predator.
Something's wrong!
'Quick, fire! Fire at once!'
But it was too late.
An impressive pillar of brownish red earth, about thirty meters in length, penetrated the Predator, impaling it!
Sparks fizzled from destroyed internal components and the true nature of the Predator was revealed.
Instead of the dome shaped head of a Seeker, it had a triangular head from which muzzles protruded out of.
Everyone stared blankly at the suspended Predator war machine in shock.
Naz's eyes went wide behind his goggles. 'Fuck, that's a Predator! How did the rebels get their hands on one?!'
Mr. Ruuy's face became ugly. 'Shit!'
He truly hadn't expected his plan to fail like this!
What happened to the army charging headlong into the trap? Since when did the Red Desert Army learn to exercise caution?
He had made an oversight!
The Predator was the core of his plans; with it destroyed, the situation was no longer in his control.
'Retreat! Tell the experts to cover my escape. They should rendezvous with me at the meeting point when this is over!'
Without hesitation, Mr. Ruuy decided to flee.
He wasn't a Super, and he didn't have a racial talent focused on combat.
He was simply asking to be killed if he decided to stick around!
He hadn't lived and survived in the business world for that long by being brave but rather by being shrewd, conniving and cowardly!
The rebel beside him didn't hesitate and he raised a communicator to his mouth to relay orders.
In seconds, one of the hills erupted and three peak Energy Core Formation experts surged out!
That was when the black haired soldier who had breached the periphery of the rebel defense line also erupted with the aura of an Energy Core Formation expert!
'The soldiers actually had two Energy Core Formation Supers?' Mr. Ruuy's jaw dropped.
Safe to say, his plan had completely failed!
Face grim, Mr. Ruuy climbed into a waiting black shuttle with the rebel and zoomed off into the distance!
'Don't let him get away!' Luther yelled as he barreled through hordes of rebels, bodies flying all the way.
Yoselin instantly sprang into action, red earth churning beneath her feet, propelling her forward at extreme speeds after the flying shuttle.
One of the three Energy Core Formation experts tried to stop her but Naz blocked him.
'Your opponent is me!' he roared, throwing a nasty punch!
A huge wave of red Pugilistic energy shaped like a fist shot out like a missile, sending the enemy expert hastily crossing his arms to defend.
'Pugilists can launch ranged attacks too? I'll worry about that later; right now, I have to make the most of my boost to Eighth Gate to take down at least one of the enemy experts!'
Luther rushed to the nearest enemy expert and turned on the heat.
The expert's eyes widened in horror as suddenly he was struck with intense sensations of dizziness, nausea, confusion, and weakness!
His body wasn't listening to him anymore!
*BANG!
A bullet penetrated the middle of his forehead, sending him to his death even as he wondered how he died.
Fubar calmly ejected the round and aimed at another rebel.
Without the suppression of the Predator, he had become a grim reaper; every shot claimed a head!
Only two experts were left; Naz was clashing with one who was also a Pugilist while the other solemnly looked at Luther.
Slowly, he walked forward, serpents of red hot flames coiling around his elbows.
'I can only hold on for fifteen more seconds… I have to end this fight quickly!' Luther narrowed his eyes and dashed forward!