The cabin door slid open, and a crew mber dressed in a dark flight suit and wearing Night Vision Goggles leaned out, gesturing in the direction of Song Heping.
Song Heping turned to Samir.
The two made eye contact amidst the roaring rotor wind and swirling dust.
"This is as far as I take you, Samir."
Song Heping raised his voice to make sure he was heard.
"Boss!"
Samir stepped forward and shook Song Heping's hand firmly, his palms broad and strong, yet slightly damp at this mont.
"May Allah bless you! I'm looking forward to your good news!"
"Take care of yourself, and consult with Yusuf more if anything happens. You're good at fighting; in the political arena, your cousin Yusuf is better than you."
Song Heping gave Samir's hand a return squeeze.
"Rember, no matter what news you hear, stay calm. The wind in Baghdad always blows towards the side with the strongest power."
With that, he no longer hesitated, turned around, bent low against the strong downwash, and rushed toward the open helicopter door.
The crew inside reached out to pull him up. Almost as soon as he was on board, the door quickly closed.
Samir retreated to a safe distance, watching as the black "Pathfinder Eagle" lifted off lightly, quickly ascended, and then dived north into the pitch-black night sky, soon disappearing into the vast darkness.
Inside the MH-60M "Pathfinder Eagle" cabin.
Local ti: 01:30.
The cabin had undergone simplified modifications, with standard seats removed and folding canvas stools along the sides. The central space was used for loading cargo or personnel.
The cabin walls were covered with sound-absorbing material, making the cabin noise significantly lower compared to a regular Black Hawk.
Aside from Song Heping, there were only two pilots and a machine gunner on board, all silent and focused on their respective tasks.
Song Heping put on a noise-cancelling headset provided by the crew, through which ca a calm briefing from the pilot: "Sir, heading 035, estimated flight ti one hour and ten minutes. Please let us know if you feel uncomfortable."
"Understood. Thank you, I don't usually get airsick."
Song Heping responded briefly.
He fastened his seatbelt, secured his backpack at his feet, and then took out his reinforced tablet computer, connecting it via a physical data line to the helicopter's temporary tactical data interface.
The screen lit up, and using the port and password provided by Duke and a temporary ID, after a brief handshake, real-ti intelligence data from the US Army started streaming in.
Despite being in flight, the data link maintained a relatively stable connection through the helicopter relay.
The screen was divided into several windows:
Window A (Real-ti Satellite Imagery): Displaying the helicopter's current approximate position and planned flight path.
Window B (Target Area Surveillance): Focused on the hilly area of Highway 1, with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images overlaid with infrared images.
The red thermal signals representing the ambushers were still clear and relatively stationary on the canyon's cliff tops.
No additional forces or unusual movents were detected.
Window C (Masoud Mansion Area): Thermal signals showed multiple vehicle engines near the garage of the mansion in a low-power warm-up state, but the vehicles had not moved.
Inside the mansion's main building, the distribution of personnel thermal signals differed from the usual nightti mode, with more people seemingly concentrated in a few rooms.
Window D (Barzani's Forces Movents): About thirty kiloters west of Kirkuk, a chanized battalion-sized convoy was resting at a temporary field camp, but engines were not completely shut down, indicating a state of readiness to move out at any mont.
The situation hadn't further deteriorated, but the crisis was not yet averted.
Everything hinged on the ti difference.
Song Heping closed the general intelligence screen and brought up the professional terrain analysis data stored on the local device.
He focused on studying the western cliff of the hills.
According to the data, the western cliff was the steepest, with an average slope exceeding 65 degrees, but it wasn't entirely smooth.
Millions of years of weathering and rain erosion had left countless vertical cracks, protruding rock ridges, and small platforms on the rock face.
So of the deeper cracks might even provide partial cover.
The rock composition was mainly listone, relatively solid, but the surface could have loose gravel.
He needed a route that could lead a thirty-man team, each carrying about 25-30 kilograms of equipnt, to climb stealthily to the top of the cliff at night.
This required excellent climbing skills, physical endurance, and either prior knowledge of the route or precise real-ti guidance.
At the sa ti, he marked several points that seed potentially usable.
A preliminary climbing route gradually beca clear in his mind: starting from the bottom of a vegetation-rich ravine on the canyon's west side, using a zigzag rock crack system to ascend, with three larger platforms for rest and adjustnts along the way, and finally flipping onto the top from a cliff edge shielded by a boulder.
The total elevation difference was about 45 ters, with an estimated climbing ti of around 30 minutes.
But this was just Plan A.
He had to prepare Plan B: if detected during the climb, or if there were concealed sensors or sentries on the cliff, it might be necessary to perform long-range precision elimination with a sniper or launch an assault with the team.
Plan C: If the climb failed or the enemy's ambush position exceeded expectations, it might require finding alternative approaches from the canyon floor or side, but that would an longer exposure ti and higher uncertainty.
An excellent Special Forces Commander would never plan with less than two backup sches.
Just as he was repeatedly simulating the details, the pilot's voice ca through the headset again: "Sir, we are about to enter the Hulmatu area. Descending altitude in five minutes, heading to the designated landing coordinates. Please prepare for landing."
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