Mercenary's War

Chapter 2479 - 2455: Commission Cut

We have to settle everything before Salim gets here with his men, otherwise how are we supposed to explain to Salim that we captured Fahad, and then traded him for ransom money.So everything has to move fast, get it all done before Salim arrives. As for how to explain that we took Fahad alive and then somehow let him slip away in the end, that’s the least of our worries.

"Grand Ivan, this is Ram. I’ve captured a Saudi Arabia major general alive, and seized two Apaches and one Black Hawk. Now I want to trade the man and the helicopters back to Saudi Arabia for ransom. Can you help act as the middleman?"

Gao Yang went straight to the point. Grand Ivan wasn’t vague either. After thinking for a moment, he lowered his voice and said, "I can be that middleman. I don’t have much direct contact with the Saudi Arabia official government, but my standing is enough to do this."

"Very good. So is the ransom going to count as income for Solar System Company, or as our own side hustle? I don’t mind either way, so I need your opinion."

"Of course it’s side money for Satan, this has nothing to do with Solar System Company. Have Polovich use my name to get in touch with Saudi Arabia. He knows the Middle East very well and has plenty of personal connections he can use, and him stepping up won’t trigger any special suspicion from Saudi Arabia, because this kind of thing is pretty common."

"Got it. I’ll contact Polovich right now."

After hanging up, Gao Yang said to the people next to him, "Grand Ivan can be the middleman. I’m calling Polovich now; he’ll handle the specifics."

As he spoke, Gao Yang dialed Polovich. Once the call connected, he went over everything again.

Polovich was excited and very pleased. He laughed loudly and said, "My brother, this is a big score! If we run it right, we can make a pile of money! That’s why mercenaries make money only when they run into side deals like this. One job like this can keep you set for life. A Saudi Arabia prince and real-power major general in one—your luck is insane."

Gao Yang laughed. "Luck’s good, but the risk is high too. My only condition is you keep us out of it. You can do that, right?"

Polovich said eagerly, "Of course I can. I’ve got personal connections in Saudi Arabia, I can get the word to the Royal Family very easily. My own status isn’t quite enough, but with Grand Ivan endorsing it, that’s no obstacle at all. But there’s no way it can be as fast as you want. Getting it all done before dawn is impossible. Think about it—do you think the big shots who can actually make decisions are awake at this hour? Who dares disturb them with something like this? So the soonest reply you’ll get is in the morning, and at the latest, before noon."

What Polovich said made sense. Right now Gao Yang’s headache was how to handle Fahad properly.

"Fine. Just do it as fast as you can. Best if you get the news out right now—maybe some big shot happens to be awake."

Polovich said excitedly, "Good. Now let’s talk payment. By convention, we take a thirty percent cut of the total. Whether you pay it or Saudi Arabia pays it depends on how the talks go. Of course I’ll try my best to make Saudi Arabia pay the cut. But given our good relationship, for this deal we only take a twenty percent commission. Any objections?"

"Hold on a second."

Gao Yang covered the handset and said to Yake in surprise, "Polovich says it’s a thirty percent skim, and because of our friendship he’ll only take twenty. Is the cut really that high?"

Vasily shrugged, and Yake nodded. "Thirty percent is standard. Twenty is actually very fair, because Grand Ivan and Polovich have a lot to handle on their side. They have to make sure the money is safely delivered into our hands, and they also have to handle transporting the helicopters to Saudi Arabia. Any step in that chain carries big risk. Asking for thirty percent isn’t excessive. In fact, Justin could do this job too, but believe me, he’d want at least thirty as well."

Glolov also said quietly, "Thirty percent is fair. Mercenaries have to conduct trades when neither side trusts each other. Once you need a third party as middleman, you’re looking at paying at least thirty percent. Sometimes it goes up to fifty."

Gao Yang took his hand off the phone and said to Polovich, "Twenty percent commission, no problem. Thanks, man. But if possible, it’d be best if Saudi Arabia picked up that tab, haha."

Polovich laughed. "It’s settled then. Are you calling Uriyangko, or should I? He gets a cut of this too. Once he hears the news he’s going to be over the moon."

"You give him the good news. I’ll let you have that pleasure."

Gao Yang hung up and let out a long breath. "All right, now we just wait for news."

Vasily pointed at the prisoners in the distance and said quietly, "How do we handle them?"

Gao Yang waved his hand. "We stayed in the dark. Leave these guys alive and hand them over to the Houthis Armed Forces. We have to give Salim a little something."

He glanced at Fahad, their walking gold mine, and frowned. "As for this guy, we’ll fly him by helicopter back to our camp. Guard him well. He’s walking US Dollars. We’d better take good care of him."

Glolov spread his hands. "How are we going to explain it to Salim?"

Gao Yang smiled. "Explain? Explain what? We took the prisoners and seized the helicopters on our own skills. Of course we decide what to do with them. Just say we’re sending the helicopters back to Russia for research. What can he say? He’s got two lieutenant colonels here, nine helicopters shot down, the entire Saudi Arabia Crown Forces unit lying here. What’s there for him to be unhappy about?"

Just judging from tonight’s results, Salim would be shining bright within the Houthis Armed Forces. It was more than enough to repay his support.

"Get in touch with Salim, ask him where they are now."

"Just checked. They’re still forty kilometers out, at least an hour before they get here."

Gao Yang checked his watch and said, "No idea if the Crown Forces managed to send word back home. We have to watch out for airstrikes. Those guarding the prisoners, stay sharp. Everyone else, pull back in good time. Don’t all hang around here for the show."

After giving the orders, Gao Yang spoke loudly into the radio, "Pigeon, you take that Black Hawk and fly the first group back to camp. Tyrannosaurus, Tarta, you two head back as well. And by the way, the Apaches—we’re selling them. Selling them back to Saudi Arabia."

Eileen immediately came back over the radio. "Sell them? And sell them back to Saudi Arabia? Boss, I haven’t even warmed up the stick yet. At least let me take her up for a few more spins, okay?"

Gao Yang said irritably, "Spin what, spin. Save the fuel so we can actually fly the birds back. If you burn it all, how are we supposed to deliver the helicopters, haul them back on trucks? I’ll get you helicopters to play with all you like later. Stop trying to join the fun now."