Immersion Online

They were flying low and could just about start to see some sporadic lights in the distance from the African mainland when the pilot got on the coms.

“10 minutes to target. We are on schedule. Silent mode on.” The sound of the helicopter muted as it went into stealth mode. It still made quite a lot of sound, but it wouldn’t carry as far as it normally did. The disadvantage was that it couldn’t maintain anything close to top speed.

Nathan started to check the gear for the second or third time while looking around. The other guys didn’t need any reminder to do the same. There were five of them, excluding the pilots and the medic, who wouldn’t join them on the ground.

It was Sergei, a former Spetnaz sniper. Solid. Quiet.

Rodrigez and Smith were both American and had Ranger badges, although not on them right now obviously. Nathan was pretty sure that they had some spec-ops experience as well. They were typical shooters and damned good ones at that.

The last one was a big Australian called Brown who had recently quit the Aussies local version of the SAS. He was the only one Nathan hadn’t worked with before, so he kept an extra eye on him. So far, he checked all the boxes. Also, as support whose main objective was to secure the extraction area, hopefully, he shouldn’t see any action.

In and out quietly, that was the plan.

As they often did, command back on the boat decided that this was the perfect time to give a recap of the mission goals. Like they needed the reminder.

“This is Overwatch. The latest intel shows the target is still in the big structure in the northern part of the camp, due east from the LZ. You have a green light. Remember, getting the VIP out alive is the only acceptable result, so do not take any chances. The other two are secondary. Over.”

“This is Headhunter, acknowledged. Out,” Nathan replied. One of the perks of working in the private sector was that they got to choose their own call signs. He did a quick communication check with the rest of the team while thinking back on the planning of the operation, and the many things that could go wrong.

The VIP, Vincent Hoth, was kidnapped from his yacht outside of the coast of Africa approximately three weeks ago, along with his assistant and his bodyguard. Probably. The crew of the boat was found dead on the drifting boat, so details were somewhat foggy. Luckily for Vincent, as the CEO of a global investment company, he had the best insurance money could buy. Insurance which also covered kidnapping. They started to look for him the second the alarm went off, and since as part of that insurance agreement he had a small implant surgically placed inside his heel, they knew exactly where to look. That is where his luck stopped, however, as the signals put him on the west coast of Africa.

Several years back many of the countries on the west coast of Africa had dissolved into war and chaos. The whole area had become some kind of tribal anarchy zone, and all diplomatic relations had stopped as there was no longer any government to relate to. The whole thing culminated in a free-for-all, where most of the natural resources ended up in the hands of “private” companies. Security was always a high priority for these companies as the Africans, in general, were not too happy with the recent development, and everyone was out to get theirs.

There were still deals to be made if you knew the right people, though, and clearly Vincent did not. As far as the insurance guys could tell, he had been out randomly joyriding along the coast when he was taken by one of the many small local warlords that operated in the area. Initially, they didn’t even know the warlords' name or tribe, but they knew the type. He was either looking for money or blood. When they didn’t receive any demands and had been unable to otherwise make contact, it was decided to look for alternative options. An acceptable option was found.

The team speed-roped down approximately five klicks north of the target village. Though the helicopter could run virtually silent, even the lowest sound carries much further than you would think on the African savanna, so some walking was necessary. Still, there was quite a lot of vegetation in the area. Not enough that it hindered the extraction team in any way, but enough that it helped limit their visual impact on approach. In the dark, they should be practically invisible.

“Eagle to Overwatch, insertion complete. Pulling back to hoover. Over,” the pilot reported while giving a wave through the window and disappearing into the sky. Even with night-vision goggles, he could only be seen for a second or two before he was gone. They were on their own now.

“This is Overwatch, copy that. Headhunter, proceed when ready. Over,” came the instruction from the mission control, currently on a small frigate in international waters somewhere west.

Nathan looked around, confirming that everyone was ready. “Headhunter proceeding. Out,” he replied and signaled that it was time to move out.

Smith took the point followed by Rodrigez, Nathan, Sergei, and Brown. They walked 5 meters apart, each scanning their sector. There was no uncertainty. They were all veterans and knew their role. They only packed the bare minimum, so it was easy going. Still, there was no rush. Better to be safe and thorough, making sure that there were no surprises.

Two klicks from the target, they passed the extraction point. Nathan notified Overwatch and signaled to Brown who promptly peeled off. His job was to secure the area, dig in, and provide cover on the return. The rest continued in silence.

As they closed in on the target village, it was time for yet another team member to get in position.

“Shadow, set up on the high ground over there,” Nathan quietly said while pointing to a small hill overlooking the area. Sergei nodded and moved away.

The rest did a quick recon of the area while waiting. It confirmed what they had already seen from the drone photos as part of the briefing. To reach the target building, or more of a hut or a shack really, they had to sneak past two other smaller shacks, probably used for storage. Drone thermals showed that during the night two guards were sitting outside where they believed the door probably was, in front of a small fire. Two or three people were inside the building. Past the fire there were several other buildings, with multiple people lodging. Intel was a bit unclear on the precise number, but between forty and sixty was the best estimate. Too many to handle in a firefight, even though there was no reason to expect anything other than small arms.

On the west side, there was a small homemade pier and some fishing boats. There was also a parking area with a couple of vehicles, and a dirt road going southeast. Satellite photos had shown that it was a two-hour drive to anything worth mentioning. No reinforcement was expected.

Coming from the north they should be able to move directly to the target, circumvent most of the hostiles, and extract with minimum risk. That only left the two guards.

“Shadow in position. Confirming two hostiles, both facing the fire. One possibly sleeping. No other hostiles visible.” Sergei had also done a recon through the scope before reporting in.

“Headhunter, acknowledge. We are moving in.”

Rodrigez moved around on the left side, Smith on the right while Nathan moved up in the middle. They moved slowly; carbines ready to fire. Before Nathan got in position, Smith got on the coms.

“Buck got visuals. The left hostile is standing facing the fire. He’s got an automatic weapon on his back. The second hostile is sitting with his back against a tree-stump, also facing the fire. He’s got a rifle of some sort, leaning against the three-stump behind him. NVs are off. Got a solution for both,” he whispered into the mic connected to his neck.

“Nightrider confirming visuals, also got solutions. Say the word, boss,” Rodrigez added from the left.

“Hold,” Nathan ordered. He moved around the last shack-quickly confirming that it was empty through a crack in the wall-and went low while crawling past a bush to give him a clear sight towards the enemy. The fire made his NV goggles useless, so like his teammates, he had to flip them up. It shouldn’t matter. The two guards were easy to see silhouetted against the flames, which were taller than expected. It popped and crackled from time to time. That could be useful.

The challenge here was that the two guards had to be dealt with quickly and most importantly quiet. If any of the two were able to sound the alarm or notify the rest of the camp in any way, this would quickly end up as an extraction under fire. At best.

Prepared for silent takedowns, they had suppressors on their carbines loaded with subsonic ammo. It didn’t make too much noise, but it was plenty loud enough to disturb someone dreaming restlessly in a quiet camp. The sound insulation on these huts wouldn’t exactly impress anyone either. It was a risk they were prepared to take, but looking at it now, perhaps there was another way.

“We’re doing knives. Nightrider, you got the one on the left, I got the right. Move closer and wait for my go. Use two clicks to indicate that you are ready. Buck, move up on the right so you’ve got a clear angle. Shadow, sharp eyes.”

Nathan got down and started crawling forward, moving slowly towards the drowsing guard. He couldn’t see the others in the dark, but he knew they were moving up parallel to him.

“This is Buck, reposition complete. Got solutions.”

Nathan moved slowly closer until he was around ten meters away. He got to his knees, quietly lowered his carbine so that it was hanging barrel-down in front in the two-point sling. He grabbed his knife in an icepick grip with the edge out. He heard two quiet clicks on the coms and took a last quick look around before he gave the order.

“Execute!”