At this time, in the camp, adjacent to the empty space in the middle, was the brain of the operations going on in this area of the war zone. Or at least that was the place designated for it.
Today, the place was crowded with people in decorated uniforms, with the one leading listening to the commander of the camp speak about action plans while studying a map.
He was about to raise some points when they heard guns being fired, making him ask something else:
"What is going on?"
The base commander looked at his assistant who immediately took his radio. A few moments later he informed them:
"There is a suspected hostile approaching the camp but the sentries are having trouble neutralizing him."
The general frowned:
"One person?"
"Yes, sir."
"Explain."
The assistant thought for a while then said:
"It would be better if you see for yourself, sir."
This made the general nod:
"Show me."
With the permission, the soldier went to the laptop on the office desk to the side and input some commands. Soon, the main screen on the wall left its sleep mode and began showing the feeds of the surveillance devices.
Everyone saw how the assailant weaved between bullets and closed in on the camp. With less than fifty meters to the camp's gate that seemed to be the target, the higher-ups, now used to staying in offices with air conditioners turned on to the max started fidgeting as the general frowned:
"What do we know of the assailant?"
The commander took over as he had taken advantage of the previous period to get himself up-to-date:
"We just know that he is a man, sir. Apart from the details that could be analyzed from the video, we just know that he came from the west as we have lost contact with some patrols on that side."
The general remained focused on the screen:
"And his target?"
"We don't know, sir, but it's impossible for one person to end the war and there is no information we have here that would need someone of that caliber attacking us."
The general growled, showing that he was not as calm as he was showing:
"What are you getting at?"
The commander took a deep breath as by this time the assailant was less than ten meters from the gates and he was running out of sentries' heads to practice his shooting on:
"Sir, you are the only HVT here."
The general suppressed the impulse to turn his head in shock and took a deep breath.
"Commander, organize the defense of the camp and take care to minimize the casualties."
"What about you, sir?"
"You don't need to care about me. Go, soldier, it's an order."
"Yes, sir."
After saluting, the commander left the room and took out his radio:
"This is commander Anton. Can anyone confirm for me if the assailant stopped using his assault rifle due to running out of ammunition?"
"... Commander, this is corporal Ivan. I went through the video feed and I can confirm that the assailant had already emptied the three magazines he had on his vest and the fourth that had been engaged in the rifle at the beginning. He doesn't have a backpack so it is safe to assume that his rifle can't be used anymore."
"What about his pistol, how many magazines does he have for it?"
"Unknown, sir."
"Alright, let's consider that he will run out of ammo for the pistol too. Move any ammo case that is close to the door. We are about to lose it so take cover 20 meters from it. Move the big guns from the armory, we will suppress him with firepower. Make sure to move any casualty, dead or alive from his reach. They can be sources of ammunition."
Taking a breath, he turned to his assistant:
"Call back those that can be called back and ask for reinforcements from the back. They will either avenge us, take care of our bodies or help us repel the invader."
With a deep breath:
"Also, send them the video feed. That way they will know what they are against and even if we die the information will not be lost."
The assistant gritted his teeth:
"Yes, sir."
The commander went back to his room, and with a grave expression, took out his things from his time in the special forces.
Ignoring the noise, he put on the solid bullet proof vest, took more ammo and, raising his bedding, he took out an assault rifle. He checked his pistol once again, more seriously this time, unlike in the morning when he just routinely chambered a bullet.
Meanwhile, just as the base's commander thought, Lucas was running out of bullets. When he used the last one to perforate an additional hole on some sentry's head, he holstered his pistol back and, remembering his taekwondo courses from his time in university to his time training in the army, he spun in place and delivered the accumulated force to the gate through the sole of his left foot.
He must admit that he quite liked the result of his action. After all, who didn't dream of being cool and overpowered during those rebellious teenage years?
With the blow having been aimed to the middle of the gate where there were some solid supports, the force managed to be spread enough for the gate to not be perforated. It did however cause it to fly off its hinges and impact some of the covers the soldiers were behind.
He smiled at the heavy firepower that had been prepared for him. Before anyone could press the trigger, he took out his knife and disappeared from where he was.
As the one sided massacre was going down, in the command center, the brass present was looking at the uninterrupted video feed with sweat on their back. Even if they didn't know what the assailant was looking for or if the commander had been right in the general being the high value target that was being aimed for, they knew that with what he was showing, he was proving himself capable of decimating the whole camp so they were in danger, closer to certain death than ever.
They looked at the general with fiery hope because while they wanted to run from this bloody place, if they did so without his order, only a merciless execution would see them off as they would then be stamped as deserters.
The latter, showing his grit that brought him to this position of power with a solemn face and hardened eyes was thinking hard to understand:
'Is it the Americans? Have some of their super soldiers program borne fruit? But there have been no signs, no rumors, no weird piece of intelligence. Was I kept in the dark? Or maybe it's the rumored hermit cultivators of China? But those are just legends. What's more they have nothing to do in this theater. What with all their other arrangements around the world.'
Not managing to get any answer, he saw that the number of resisting troops had dwindled. Hardening his heart, not for the dying soldiers but for the handle he would be giving his opponents back home, he resolutely turned around:
"We are going back to plan for the reinforcements. This is an insult to the mother nation, we can't let it go unpunished. This rogue must be buried here today."
"Sir, you are right. Once in the car, I will immediately contact the rear to prepare."
As they all hurried to the cars they brought here, they didn't lose any time to leave the camp through the other gate. As they were on the road, they heaved sighs of relief with the sounds of battles not moving closer to them.
What they didn't know was that, at that moment, Lucas was receiving an transmission:
"Bee, this is honey. Target acquired."