April 12, 2050 - 05:01
Da Nang, Vietnam - VinaMed Warehouse
Pvt. My Phan
My stepped out of the shotgun seat in her assigned vehicle. She was currently standing at the client's warehouse.
Although it was still twilight, the warehouse was already bustling. Forklifts here and there, employees spread all around, making sure that everything was in order.
"Wow, that's a lot of people."
Chisato said as she walked up to My.
"Apparently getting paid enough to work night shift, or at least I hope they do." My replied, half-yawning.
Despite the cacophony of noises around her, My could hear the car door slamming shut quite loudly behind her. Shortly after, Long walked up next to My while drinking a can of Beast energy drink.
"Oh shit, where did you get that? I didn't see you drinking while driving here?" My asked.
"If I'm the one driving, you better hope that I'm awake and focused on driving. Unless you want me to drive your asses off a cliff or something." He barked.
"Sheesh… Just say you're not a morning person." My bumped him on his side.
"The sun's not even up yet…"
"Say… do you still have any?"
"I knew you'd ask, so I got a few more cans inside for you both."
"Thanks, man! You the best"
My then looked around the area for where they were supposed to meet up before heading out. There were the three huge armored trucks that they were supposed to protect and escort. If My was being honest, it was larger than she'd expected, easily taking up two lanes on a standard Vietnamese road.
Close to the trucks was a large group of armed soldiers, whom My presumed that they were the VinaSec guys. She could also see a few familiar figures in that group and a few wearing B.A.D. outfits and patches.
"Let's go, I see them over there."
My's group then headed over to the gathering and integrated themselves with the group.
"... take roughly three to four hours to get from Da Nang to Hue, assuming nothing goes wrong. Since we'll be taking the inland route, some part of the route will be narrow and hard for the truck to traverse, so we would have to take it slow there. There haven't been any bandits spotted in those rougher areas, but I want everyone to stay on high alert the entire trip, especially these red zones here, here, and here."
The man, around Harrison's age, pointed to the map on the board. He was wearing a VinaSec-branded military uniform with a woodland camo pattern, and on top of his head was an out-of-place Vietnamese officer hat, one of those old hats the military had during the Third World War.
"Inland route? Is there a seaside route?" Chisato asked no one in particular.
"Yeah, but ever since the war ended and the pirates got rampant, all the seaside roads on the north half of the country became dangerous as hell. Only the south half has the military guarding the coast and roads." Instead My, Long was the one who answered.
"Ah, I see… Haven't thought of that."
"Why? Wanted to take the seaside road so you can enjoy the view and get lovey-dovey with your girlfriend?" He teased.
"Yep, and you'll be the third-wheel driver that's gonna watch in jealousy."
"Jealousy? Nah, it'd be an honor."
"Yeah, honor, sure mister, sur-"
*Ahem*
They were interrupted by someone's cough. The trio looked up to see the old leader staring daggers at them.
"I told them not to hire mercenaries for this exact reason. They are just a bunch of unprofessional rabble." He complained loudly.
The soldiers under his command laughed at his comment with no care for their about-to-be comrades.
That irked the few B.A.D mercenaries in the meeting, but before things could escalate, Peter, who was in the front and near the leader, intervened.
"Your opinion about us does not change the fact that your company was looking to outsource its security jobs to our company." He replied with a hidden jab back at the leader.
"Tsk." Veins appeared on his forehead.
The leader pivoted away from the argument to go back to his briefing.
"Anyway, we'll all connect our comms to an encrypted frequency. Make sure not to use open comms unless it's absolutely necessary. As for the formation, the two AECVs will be at the front and end of the convoy. The Humvees will be leading the convoy right behind the AECV, then the SUVs will be guarding the rear. We'll keep the convoy in a single line."
"Do we have any aerial support?" Peter asked.
"Not anything that would fly near us. Only UAV support, and some gun drones."
"What happens if the convoy is ambushed?"
"We make a run for it! These trucks have to make it to Hue at all costs."
Peter had no other questions, and after a while, the leader shouted.
"Get on your vehicles; we'll leave at 5:15!"
The whole group dispersed back to their vehicles.
April 12, 2050 - 06:21
The convoy reached the military checkpoint at the edge of the city. The checkpoint took a while to clear before the convoy was back on the road, heading toward Hue.
My sat in the back, right under the minigun hatch. Her rifle, a Honey Badger chambered in .300 Blackout, sat on her side, while she held onto a can of energy drink that she got from Long.
It had been an hour since the convoy departed from Da Nang, and it was an hour of just seeing green on all sides. Great view if one were to travel Vietnam leisurely as a tourist, but not so much when you have to man a machine gun on top of a vehicle while it was cruising at 80 km/h. It didn't take long before My got bored and chilly from the constant wind blowing on her face.
"My, you know, it's not up to me to tell you what to do, but you should probably pop back up on the gun after you're done resting. SL's gonna get pissed off at you." Long reminded her while focusing on keeping distance from the vehicle in front of him.
"Well, it's not my preferred spot in the car. I'm only taking it because Chisato wasn't comfortable with manning the gun." My grumbled.
"I would take the big gun, but unfortunately for us, you don't even know how to drive, and Chisato doesn't have a license to drive, nor the experience of driving on Vietnamese roads."
"Ehe… I'd take the driver if I were more confident in my driving." Chisato said.
My mounted forward on the storage box between the two front seats and smiled at Chisato before looking at Long.
"How hard is it to even drive a car? This is an automatic, right? Yeah, this is an automatic shifter." My asked.
"Not hard, but I wouldn't trust my life in your hands. I'm too young and too handsome to die early to some boring cause like a car accident." Long answered.
"Ok, Mr. Handsome, how hard could it be? Look, hands on the wheel, foot on the gas and brake, make sure the shift is on the D~." She teased.
"It's hard…" Long answered hesitantly. Both My and Chisato could see him getting flustered by the teasing.
The two women exchanged glances with each other without saying anything, but within that short moment, they both had a conversation with each other. My continued her teasing.
"It's hard hmm? You? Or the driving?"
"The driving, clearly."
My laughed heartily before getting back to her seat and sipping the rest of her energy drink. She decided that it was enough goofing around and opened the hatch and poked her head out of the roof. It was still chilly from the speed, and there weren't any jackets for My to put on. These were the few times that My wished she was wearing anything warmer than just her usual leotard, shorts, and her gear.
Whatever, it's just a short while until it's warmer, she thought as she grabbed the minigun.
The landscape passed by her swiftly as the convoy cruised down a relatively straight and empty stretch of highway. There were only a few cars and motorbikes around them, all of which were civilians who had to travel the long and dangerous distance between the safety of big cities.
My scanned everything around her. It was all normal. No one around the convoy was suspicious, and there weren't any signs of an ambush.
It was quite boring. My hated this type of mission. She was more of a bombastic, fight-or-flight type of woman, and these boring escort missions were her kryptonite. She almost wished for something to happen during the convoy trip, something to spice up her time; however, she held back her wish.
Unfortunately for My, it seemed like fate had another plan for her and her group.