"Captain, target vehicle spotted. Two modified trucks approaching from the southeast on a dirt road, three kiloters away," ca the report from the observation post through the headset.
"Record the license plates, analyze vehicle characteristics. Let them in," Gals whispered. He wasn’t aiming to crush them, but to figure out exactly what this base was operating and who was behind Hendrick.
The trucks pulled into the clearing before the cavern, about fifteen ard individuals disembarked and took up guard, unloading so crates and barrels from the trucks and moving them inside the cavern. Their equipnt was mixed, but the actions of key mbers were clearly those of professional soldiers. Gals noticed that one individual seed to unconsciously pull at his jacket sleeve as he got out, revealing a unique electronic wristwatch on his wrist—the type issued to Special Forces of an Eastern European country several years ago, later recalled due to safety issues, yet still in circulation on the Black Market.
"Retired Eastern European soldiers?" Gals thought. This explained part of the equipnt source, but what about the radioactive materials and precision electronic components?
About an hour later, another set of signals was captured. Not from vehicles, but figures silently erging from the depths of the rainforest, moving with such professional stealth that they almost blended into the environnt. If not for the drones equipped with the latest multispectral scanning, they’d be hard to detect.
This group did not enter the cavern but instead concealed themselves at several key positions outside, establishing covert observation posts. Were they... surveilling the people inside the cavern?
"Two groups? Not allies?" Gals keenly sensed the anomaly. Inside the cavern were Hendrick’s n (or his employer’s), but these outside infiltrators, their purpose was unclear. Congo Governnt Army Special Forces? Or another intelligence agency? Or... is it a case of black against black?
He decided to wait a bit longer.
In the early hours before dawn, there was so movent inside the cavern. Several individuals carried out heavy, lead-sealed boxes with radiation warning symbols and loaded them onto one of the trucks. anwhile, others were bringing out long, moisture-proof cloth-wrapped objects from inside, resembling... missiles? Or rocket launchers?
Just as the loading was about to complete, a sudden upheaval occurred!
Those outside infiltrators suddenly opened fire! These were not indiscriminate shots but precise targeting and sniping! Instantly taking out two sentries at the cavern entrance and several guards near the trucks. The gunshots were silenced, blending into the cacophony of the rainforest night.
The ard personnel inside the cavern reacted swiftly, imdiately relying on vehicles and entrance cover to counter-fire, with fierce firepower. Both sides fiercely exchanged fire in the darkness, bullets tracing luminous paths through the vegetation.
"Third-party intervention... opportunity," Gals instantly realized the chaos was a perfect cover. "Group A, cut off the southeast retreat route and set up claymores. Group B, infiltrate with from the west side, target: that truck loaded with radioactive materials and suspected missiles. Group C, provide suppressive fire, focus on attacking the opposing command nodes. Move!"
The xico Squad moved like ghosts into the battlefield. They didn’t engage in the fray between the two parties, instead leveraging the noise and distraction from the crossfire to swiftly approach the target truck. Gals personally led the team in dealing with two guards attempting to flee by vehicle, quickly inspecting the cargo on board.
The lead-sealed boxes were indeed radiation sources, with the instrunts showing considerable intensity. Those long objects, upon peeling back a corner of the moisture-proof cloth, revealed Russian-made "Short Horn" anti-tank missile launchers, along with several missiles, albeit with modified models.
"Not ordinary smuggling... they’re planning sothing big." Gals felt a chill. The destructive capability of combining such weapons with radiation sources far exceeded that of ordinary terrorist attacks.
He instructed his n to quickly take photographs, samples, and installed miniature trackers and remotely detonable explosives on the truck’s chassis and cargo. He then swiftly issued an evacuation signal.
Just as they were about to pull out of the crossfire zone, a sharp, screeching sound resounded from the sky!
Not bullets, but rockets! At least two, trailing fiery tails, crashed into the depths of the cavern!
"Boom—!!!"
The blast more violent than any previous explosion by tenfold! The entire mountainside felt like it shook, the cavern entrance spewing scorching fireballs and thick smoke, the massive shockwave flipping nearby vehicles and personnel as if they were toys!
"Aerial strike?! From where?" The Gals Squad was thrown to the ground by the impact. They hadn’t heard any aircraft sounds.
Imdiately following, the second wave of attacks arrived. This ti with denser, small precision-guided munitions, like the sickle of death, sweeping clean the remaining resistance forces around the cavern, whether Hendrick’s n or those infiltrators, all evaporated under indiscriminate fire coverage.
Gals looked up, vaguely seeing tiny moving spots high in the night sky, briefly disappearing.
Drones. High-altitude long-endurance stealth drones. This level of strike wasn’t sothing the Congo Governnt Army could accomplish, nor was it possible for ordinary rcenaries or drug traffickers to possess. This was the act of a major power.
"Withdraw! Retreat at full speed!" Gals hesitated no longer. The place had turned into a deathtrap; they needed to leave imdiately.
The squad vanished into the rainforest at maximum speed. Behind them, the cavern direction continued to burn, explode, like the gates of Hell opening. That mysterious base, along with the secrets, weapons, radiation sources inside, and most personnel from both warring parties, evaporated in the sudden, skyward dinsional-down attack.
Who launched the strike? United States? France? Or another major power intent on keeping secrets from exposure? Who was truly behind Hendrick, inviting such absolute obliteration? And would the trackers they planted survive on the truck that possibly left early?
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