Chapter 1051
“No. We’re not leaving you behind p>
Master Ellis stated firmly.
The entire operation to dismantle the syndicate had initially been greenlit because of Mishka’s repeated assassination attempts on Mira.
As the core combatants of this mission, there was no way Mira and her mentor were going to abandon Dominic to the mercy of a corrupt government acting as a puppet for the local cartels.
Officially, they wouldn’t dare harm a foreign diplomat, but they would certainly use him as a bargaining chip to extort Mavaria.
And if the negotiations went south, the Balkanans had countless clandestine methods of making political prisoners quietly disappear.
Therefore, as the squad’s deadliest assets, Mira and her team had to remain behind to protect Dominic.
Despite his protests, Dominic ultimately caved to their stubborn insistence.
Staying behind were Dominic and his six security agents, along with Mira, Master Ellis, Owen, and four of their elite bodyguards—a total of fourteen people.
York Vance and Harvey Rivers crossed the border, tasked with escorting the rescued civilians to safety.
In return, the Balkanan military assigned a full company of a hundred elite soldiers to “escort” their small group back inland.
It wasn’t ideal, but fighting a hundred soldiers was infinitely preferable to taking on an entire fortified border checkpoint.
Dominic watched the last of the refugees cross the checkpoint into Mavarian territory, finally letting out a massive breath of relief.
Now that the civilians were on friendly soil, surrounded by the Mavarian military, they were entirely out of danger.
Meanwhile, Mira dialed James Barlow, instructing him to procure fourteen tourist passports bound for the Javenaire Federation, along with fourteen sets of civilian clothing.
“What about the passport photos?” James asked over the encrypted line.
“Find photos of thirteen men and one woman, and acquire wigs that match the hairstyles in the pictures.
I’ve already messaged you our heights. As for facial structures, we have the skills to alter our appearances to match the IDs.
Furthermore, the fourteen of us plan to break away mid-transit. We need you to stage getaway vehicles along our route p>
“Consider it done, my dear Mira,” James replied confidently.
The group of fourteen was loaded back onto a single bus, flanked on both sides by heavily armed military transports as they began the long drive inland.
Throughout the ride, Mira and the team brainstormed their escape. Allowing themselves to be dragged back to the capital was suicide there was no telling into which black site they would be thrown.
Once they arrived, they would be stripped of their weapons and supplies, indefinitely detained, and entirely at the mercy of a hostile government.
When Mavaria inevitably demanded answers, the Balkanan officials would simply
play dumb, claim no such detainment happened, or insist the group had absconded into the jungle.
The excuses were endless.
The Balkanan government was deeply corrupted by the syndicates; expecting diplomatic immunity from them was a laughable fantasy.
The problem was the dozen or so guards stationed on their specific bus. They were
in constant radio contact with the convoy outside.
Even if Mira incapacitated the guards on board, the soldiers in the convoy would instantly realize something was wrong and box them in.
They needed a way to force the entire convoy to halt and group up. It was the only way to deploy the knockout gas effectively against the whole detachment.
Otherwise, escaping was a pipe dream.
Just as they were racking their brains, the convoy suddenly screeched to a halt.
A blockade had been set up across the road. It was the exact same militia faction Mira’s team had knocked out the night before.
The military troops immediately drew their rifles, but the bandits held their ground, brandishing their own weaponry. It was a vicious standoff.
The night before, Mira had viewed the militia as a violent nuisance. Now, she was silently cheering for them to put up a hell of a
fight hopefully enough to annihilate their military escort.
Watching the tense stalemate drag on, Dominic turned to the commanding officer on the bus “Why don’t you deploy all your me to dea with them quickly? We’ll stay put and watch the bus. It’s better than sitting here wasting time p>