"What's all this?" Ahmin stepped forward and asked. But no one seed in the mood to answer her.
Their attention was fixed on the new equipnt. Ahmin was exasperated to see her subordinates ignoring her presence.
For the first ti, she felt GSS's entry into her militia had turned her girls into greedy opportunists instead of idealists.
Sure enough, luxury and wealth could corrupt people. There was no way to stop it apart from control.
Of course, Ahmin rely lanted inwardly. She knew her girls weren't the type to abandon their ambitions—to contribute to founding a nation that belonged solely to them.
At the sa ti, she couldn't bla them too much. Even she was dazzled by the vehicles.
All modernized and modified. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw a Toyota Hilux mounted with a Gatling gun on its rear bed.
So were fitted with fras for pure troop transport. A few had twin cannons paired with sophisticated electronic computing systems onboard.
Notably, the weapons didn't even require exposed personnel to operate them. Everything appeared to be autonomous, with minimal human input.
Such oddities drew attention, and the crowd surrounded the vehicles, questioning the GSS operators nearby.
From the conversations, Ahmin learned that the weapon controller sat safely behind the driver inside the cabin, avoiding direct exposure to danger.
There were also mortar system variants. Even the most basic modified truck, equipped with a .50 caliber machine gun turret, completely outclassed her militia's existing firepower.
Receiving no direct answers, Ahmin moved to stand beside Xiao Yue and Tang Ziyi, whose focus was entirely different.
"What's with this truck?" Ahmin asked.
"Well, it's a portable air defense unit, fitted with eight Stinger missiles and a compact mini-radar system," Tang Ziyi replied, glancing back.
"Woah, I didn't expect we could fit that much into a Toyota Hilux," Ahmin said in disbelief.
"Think of it as a… improvised terrorist version of anti-air defense system," Tang Ziyi shrugged.
"Hey, hey—what terrorists? We're a militia. Don't label us like that," Ahmin protested.
"I an, with a max range of 50 km and an altitude ceiling of 8–9 km, capable of detecting low flying aircrafts and drones. The system should suit your needs."
"My friend Tang, I don't even know what excuse to use to hide you all if we ever deploy these," Ahmin sighed.
"Well, about that…" Tang Ziyi paused. "You won't be able to use them without our permission."
"Backdoors, I suppose," Ahmin replied, neither angry nor surprised. She had expected such restrictions given the nature of advanced technology.
"Uhh, similar—but we don't have any button or code to directly incapacitate the system," Tang Ziyi explained. "As you know, in the modern era of electronics, outsiders' weapons are never truly yours. Even if we don't include those obvious fail-safes, as long as we control the codes and secure them, we still have a way in."
"I understand what you an," Ahmin nodded. Her expression eased as she grasped the implications of the computing systems involved.
Codes that weren't hers would never truly belong to her, even if she paid for them.
"Wait," Ahmin suddenly realized sothing. "Don't tell all of these products are yours!"
The image of GSS in her mind shifted once again into sothing far more monstrous. She had underestimated them—no matter how much she had tried not to.
Tang Ziyi and Xiao Yue chuckled without answering, but their reaction said everything.
"Commander Ahmin, let's move on to our beast here." Tang Ziyi led her forward and whistled. "A mighty 120 mm firepower platform to support your frontline troops. Do you like it?"
"F**k!" Ahmin finally swore, standing dumbfounded at the sight of four wheeled 120 mm artillery pieces, their shells neatly stacked beside them.
How had things escalated so quickly? Just monts ago, she thought MANPADS and small-scale factories for firearms and protective gear were already beyond expectation.
Xiao Yue laughed at Ahmin's stunned reaction and warned Tang Ziyi not to overwhelm the poor commander. Tang Ziyi only smiled and wrapped an arm around Ahmin's shoulder.
"What are you so stunned about? As a commander, why is your acceptance threshold so low? Co on, let's move on to the individual soldier systems," Tang Ziyi teased. "You're our ally—how could we treat you poorly?"
Low acceptance? Ahmin was speechless. Soone needed to explain how all of this had even arrived here.
Xiao Yue and Tang Ziyi could guess her thoughts, but neither bothered to explain.
It was nothing more than components manufactured by Elena, transported nearby with heavy-lift helicopters, before the Spirit Fox sisters handled the final leg— hauling everything into position near the base. All of it had taken place between midnight and early morning.
Still in a daze, Ahmin was led toward rows of AK-74s, PKMs, DShKs configured for long-range fire, and AGS-30 Atlant systems.
Naturally, these small arms were chosen to resemble those originating from Country R—ensuring that, if investigated, suspicion would be redirected.
After all, most firearms in the black market had historically leaked from Country R due to instability and corruption. Adding more bla cost nothing. A win-win.
Country R: Huh?!
Tang Ziyi couldn't very well equip the militia with firearms chambered in 5.56 NATO or 5.8 Motherland cartridges, right?
Those two calibers were tightly controlled in weapons smuggling, with only a small portion circulating on the black market—far too little to make their scenario believable.
Ahmin sighed heavily, her expression grave as she examined the high-cut helts fitted with ear protection and night-vision binocular goggles. Not to ntion, every firearm appeared to be built with future modifications in mind.
"Tell straight, you two. What exactly do you intend for us to do? I know nothing is free, but this is too much!" Ahmin gasped, looking back and forth between Tang Ziyi and Xiao Yue. "I'm warning you—if any mission requires the blatant sacrifice of my sisters… I—"
"Please don't asure our intentions by your forr allies," Xiao Yue cut her off. "In our plans, as long as your militia doesn't offend us, we're looking at a ten-year horizon."
Tang Ziyi backed Xiao Yue's claim and finally managed to calm Ahmin after ntioning an upcoming combat mission that would require her militia's cooperation.
Ahmin clicked her tongue and glanced around, realizing that her militia now possessed the power to steamroll every faction in Country S—if not for their limited manpower, especially as an all-female force.
"Just give the report so I can read in peace," Ahmin relented, quickly dragging the two GSS leaders away, afraid her heart wouldn't withstand any further excitent.
She was right—because Tang Ziyi hadn't even begun to introduce additional "gifts," such as internet infrastructure and communication modules for both military and civilian use.
…
"Twee!" Ahmin spat out her tea upon hearing Xiao Yue's briefing about the upcoming mission requiring militia participation.
Xiao Yue deftly shielded herself with the nearest newspaper and frowned.
"Sorry, I was too shocked. At this rate, I should prepare heart dicine before listening to you," Ahmin said.
Everyone laughed and shook their heads. It was the first ti they had seen their leader lose composure—though inwardly, they were no different.
At present, everyone was gathered in the eting: Tang Ziyi, Xiao Yue, Ahmin, and her subordinate officers.
Xiao Yue laid out the mission requirents—simple and direct. Based on intelligence that ISIS leadership was planning to et with a general from Country S—clearly to coordinate a campaign against the Kurds to discuss about the cakes—she intended to seize this opportunity to completely cripple the leadership in this theater.
Wiping out enemy's senior figures early on brought imnse benefits and opportunities for follow-ups so long as their situation didn't create martyrs.
From Tang Ziyi's and Ling Qingyu's prior assessnts of this world's version of ISIS—which differed significantly from the one in their original world—this variant was more dangerous, more rational, and far less predictable than typical terrorist groups.
Because of that, Xiao Yue chose to eliminate the threat at its root.
Lest, in the future, these uncontrollable elents hinder their expanding influence.
Naturally, Ahmin wasn't dumbfounded by Xiao Yue's idea, but by her thodology. According to her, GSS and the militia would launch a three-pronged assault from three directions as coordinated counterattacks.
To the northwest, the militia would retake the hilltop bases, consolidate their defenses, and conduct mountain warfare to contain the enemy.
To the south, against governnt forces, they would execute a rapid vehicle assault—applying shock-and-awe doctrine under the cover of artillery, taking swath of towns and villages.
To the southwest, another elent would carry out probing advances, gradually pushing the frontline forward after softening enemy positions with relentless drone strikes. If vulnerable, the arrowhead would breach through and consolidate position for future offensive.
Right—Ahmin still hadn't seen these slow cruise drones described by Tang Ziyi, but the re image of countless projectiles filling the sky was enough to stun her. Here, these drones' objective was to paralyze HQ and instill fear as well as destroying enemies' backline.
Of course, the final—and most critical—piece of the plan involved GSS operators working alongside Ahmin's commandos to conduct an aerial assault directly onto the enemy leadership's compound. Eliminate or capture the targets, then withdraw.
A decapitation strike to cripple the opposing forces and buy the Kurds in other regions the ti and space they needed to survive while hoping the enemies suffered montarily collapse and creating psychological deterrence pressure.
There was only one chance that both factions gathered in a single compound from Athena's intel.
So, no doubt, the operation required utmost care and diligence.
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