"What do you mean? What the hell do you mean? Adi, hang on!"
Alan hunched low and hurried between the buildings toward Adi's position.
At the same time, the Black Captain shouted angrily, "Adi said he was moving in. Why did you fire?"
"He knew I had my rifle trained on the place. Why did he charge in? The target was already trapped inside. Was he an idiot?" Alan shot back.
They were all trained fighters. Tactically speaking, Adi really had made a mistake. Why had he gone in?
"Adi! How are you? Adi, say something! Why did you rush in?" Alan demanded.
But Adi made no sound. He seemed to be dead.
"..." Alan fell silent, his heart sinking.
What was he supposed to do? Adi had made a huge mistake.
But Alan had taken off his earpiece and then shot a teammate. That made Adi's mistake beside the point.
Alan had cut himself off from the others. Even if both men were at fault, his share of the blame was clearly greater!
It infuriated him. He had removed the earpiece so he could concentrate.
Earlier, when Sacco threw a grenade and the enemy tossed out a wooden board, a sliver of the man's head had appeared in the window. Alan had missed his chance because he wasn't calm or focused enough.
His judgment had clashed with the Black Captain's. His coordination with the others had repeatedly gone wrong. Opportunities had vanished in an instant... And Lin Li could hear their tactics over the channel.
All those little things had pushed him, from every angle, to take off his earpiece and assume his favorite posture for a "perfect snipe."
He had done it before. It had never caused a problem.
To him, removing the earpiece had been a small