Mercenary's War

The camera aggressively focuses on a person wearing a headgear, holding a handgun and a rocket, creating a scene that doesn’t seem dangerous, only intriguing.

Three curious young men huddled closely, then one ran behind Tarta and made a face, while the other two jumped and laughed in front of the camera, as the one making a face reached out to lift Tarta’s headgear.

"What is this? Performance art? Or..."

Tarta suddenly fired the gun.

After the young man causing trouble in front of him fell to the ground clutching his stomach, Tarta said sternly: "This is a very formal act of terrorism, you idiots."

The young man shot in the stomach crawled on the ground, letting out painful screams, while the other two were simply scared stiff, as were the cameraman and the journalist.

The two young men fled immediately, and the journalist covered his face, shouting: "What have you done! Oh God, call an ambulance quickly!"

Tarta fired another shot, hitting one of the escaping youths, and said in a disgusted tone: "Idiots, I hate these little punks. Okay, let’s return to our serious topic. Do you want to run away? I’ll shoot anyone who dares to move. Didn’t I say I’m a terrorist? Did you think I was joking? Also, is this not a live broadcast?"

At this moment, another interview car arrived, and a journalist and two cameramen rushed over quickly, with the journalist almost pushing the microphone to Tarta’s mouth, loudly asking: "Sir, please tell us what you want to do."

Tarta very calmly and seriously repeated his words, as a camera assistant dragged the shot youth to the side, and sympathetically made a call, but that was it, no one cared about the annoying youth anymore, and the interview continued.

The interview went smoothly, and as the third media outlet arrived, a large fleet rushed over, directly to the square outside the Colosseum, where several armed people in plain clothes got off.

"Stop filming, go to the side!"

As the leading man loudly commanded while running briskly, Tarta raised his handgun and fired into the sky, then shouted: "I have a VX gas bomb in my hand, I have companions, and many more similar gas bombs, my demand is that journalists cannot leave. Starting from now, in ten minutes my companions will launch gas bombs, creating an unprecedented massacre in Rome."

After speaking very calmly, Tarta shook the rocket in his hand, loudly asked: "To prevent you from making any misjudgment, I brought one as evidence. Do you want me to demonstrate it here for you, or do you want to examine it before deciding?"

The leader approached Tarta, glanced at the journalist, then said to Tarta: "What do you want?"

Tarta smiled: "My requirements are very simple. The leather headgear is attacking my companions in a mall. You must ensure the safety of my companions and escort him to a designated location, otherwise, ten minutes later, my companion will fire a gas bomb, and one will be used every ten minutes thereafter."

After finishing, Tarta shouted: "Did you hear? Now start timing, if I don’t receive any message within ten minutes, we will use VX rockets."

The leader pondered for a moment, then immediately said: "Give me the rocket, I need to verify it, and can I take him away and send him to the hospital?"

Tarta handed over the rocket, chuckled: "Of course you can, you should verify the goods. Let me remind you, if any of you shoot me, then thousands of people will accompany me in death, so consider carefully before making any decision."

The leader took the rocket, examined its appearance which looked completely like a normal rocket, and frowned in doubt. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Tarta smiled: "When you open it, be careful, it’s VX inside, but also try to be quick. Our time is precious, ten minutes, don’t forget only ten minutes."

The negotiator pointed at the journalists, asking: "Can you let them leave? I don’t want things to get complicated. Their involvement will only thwart your wishes."

Tarta shook his head: "No, buddy, let me be direct, the person you are besieging must be able to leave safely, otherwise, we really will use this thing."

A person holding the rocket quickly ran away, while the one negotiating with Tarta calmly asked: "Tell me your requirements, please be more detailed."

Tarta said: "Do you know why everything that happened today happened?"

The negotiator lowered his head, and when he looked up again, looking helpless, he said: "I’ve said, it’s better to clear the scene, with them here I can’t say anything to you."

Tarta waved to the journalists, saying: "The following conversation involves confidential matters, it will embarrass your official government. So please wait for a moment, but don’t leave, I’ll come back."

Swaggering away a few steps, Tarta said: "Now can we talk? What do you know?"

The negotiator looked gloomy, speaking quietly: "I know what’s happening, but I want to know if you’ve thought about the consequences of doing this."

Tarta laughed: "I came here without planning to return alive. Now I’m the strong side, your time is limited, better say something useful. If you know everything, then I’ll make it simple, send the people in the mall intact to the location I designate, and you must also ensure that Mario’s people can’t harm them. Maybe Mario wouldn’t care how many people die in Rome, but you certainly do, right? Please tell me your name and position, I need to confirm if you’re qualified to talk to me."

"Berif, from the Ministry of Internal Affairs Security Committee, I want to say please don’t act rashly. Do you know how many snipers have their sights on your head?"

Tarta smiled without responding, as the person who went to verify the rocket returned the news, changing Berif’s expression immediately.

"Our people can’t determine the composition of the liquid inside. I need to send the liquid to a sufficiently safe laboratory for testing to be sure if your demands can be met."

Tarta sighed impatiently: "Do as you wish, ten minutes, in ten minutes our people will launch a similar rocket, you can do whatever you want, anyway, our timing is set, just ten minutes, we’ve all prepared for death. Are you prepared?"

Berif’s expression fluctuated, while Tarta indifferently said: "Our purpose is not killing, but to save the people we want, we’re willing to kill all the people of Rome. So, okay, I’ll give you a small hint, CIA made a batch of miniaturized chemical weapons in 1986, I don’t know if what I have is one of them."

Berif pointed at Tarta, sternly saying: "Agree to your demands, don’t let journalists get involved, tell me how to deliver your people where."