Chapter 1823 - 1382: Friendly Reminder_3

"Just a few words."

Song Heping said, "There's something urgent."

Jensen waved his hand, signaling the guard to let him through: "Let him in."

The briefing room was filled with smoke, not from cigarettes, but from a mix of electronic cigarettes and coffee steam.

The large screen was divided into twelve sub-images.

Drone real-time monitoring, satellite multispectral images, team helmet camera test signals, a 3D modeled map of Badi Town, communication status chart, meteorological data flow.

The air also carried the scent of sweat, the agitation of caffeine overdose, and that unique oppressive excitement before a major battle.

Major General Duke stood at the central tactical table, hands on the edge, body slightly leaning forward, staring at the building models on the screen.

Lemont leaned against the opposite wall, holding a white ceramic coffee cup, but Song Heping noticed the cup was already empty, and he was merely unconsciously rubbing the handle with his fingers.

Four Delta officers were surrounding Duke, checking the operation checklist.

Song Heping recognized one of them.

Captain Marcus, Commander of Delta Force.

Marcus looked up at Song Heping, nodded as a greeting, but his gaze quickly returned to the tablet in his hands.

The screen displayed vital signs data for Team A's six members.

Heart rate, body temperature, blood oxygen—all normal.

"Song." Duke didn't look up: "Is your unit all set?"

"They have reached the preset location and completed preliminary reconnaissance, no abnormal contacts."

Song Heping moved to the side of the tactical table, maintaining an appropriate distance.

"General, I've examined the building structure; something's not right. The walls are too high, windows are too few, heat sources are distributed abnormally. It could be a trap."

Duke finally looked up, eyes showing the bloodshot signs of sleeplessness, but still sharp as an eagle's.

He looked at Song Heping, paused for two seconds, then spoke: "We've done comprehensive reconnaissance and assessment. Drone, satellite, ground reconnaissance team, all data indicates only one target inside the building. The wall and window anomalies align with the target's background and the area's instability; it's been shaky here for a while."

"But the street is too clean, and no neighbors around," Song Heping said.

"During the 1515 control period, this was a stronghold; residents either fled or died." This time, it was Lemont who responded: "Post-conflict satellite images show the population density here is less than twenty percent of the pre-war level. Empty houses are quite normal."

Song Heping nodded without insisting further.

He had said what needed to be said, anything more would be pushing it.

"Alright, I just mentioned it. You're the professionals; you decide."

He turned to leave, Duke's voice came from behind: "Song, your mission is perimeter lockdown. Ensure no one enters or exits Badi Town. The rest is up to us. Delta Force is the world's top special operations unit, we have the most advanced technology support and tactical planning."

Song Heping didn't turn back, just raised his hand to indicate acknowledgment.

He opened the door and walked out.

Back in the hallway, he checked his watch: five twelve. Forty-eight minutes from the start of the operation.

Five fifteen, thirty thousand feet above Badi Town.

An RQ-4 Global Hawk drone hovered silently at the bottom of the stratosphere like a giant metal albatross.

With a wingspan of thirty-nine point nine meters, the thunderous sound of its four turbofan engines was almost impossible to reach the ground in the thin air at high altitude.

Loaded in its sensor bay were synthetic aperture radar, electro-optical/infrared high-definition cameras, and a signal intelligence collection array, currently transmitting encrypted real-time data streams of the target building and the surrounding five hundred meters area at a rate of one gigabit per second back to Mosul Base.

Meanwhile, three MQ-9 Grim Reaper drones established standby orbits at five thousand meters altitude.

Each carried four AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles and two GBU-12 Gemstone Road laser-guided bombs under the wings.

Their mission was not proactive attack but establishing aerial deterrence and providing immediate fire support.

If any organized armed forces tried to reinforce or the target attempted to make a forceful getaway by vehicle, they would drop precisely guided death within thirty seconds.

On the ground, covert reconnaissance by the Central Intelligence Agency had been ongoing for seventy-two hours.

Forty-eight hours ago, two old Isuzu trucks entered Badi Town, painted with the World Food Programme's blue logo and the United Nations abbreviation on their bodies.

The trucks were loaded with flour, cooking oil, children's nutrition packages, and basic medicines.

The drivers and "aid personnel" were Arabic, holding passes issued by the Kurdish Autonomous Region Government and UNHCR identity cards.

They set up makeshift tents in the town center square and began "distributing humanitarian supplies."

But in reality, reconnaissance equipment was hidden in the truck compartments—AN/PPS-26 through-wall motion detection radar, MSS acoustic sensor arrays, and AP4C chemical agent detectors.

Among the three "medical personnel" at the aid point, two were reconnaissance experts from the Central Intelligence Agency's technology department.

Twenty-four hours ago, a "water resources engineer" visited the Badi Town Mayor's Office, claiming to inspect the post-war water system restoration commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme.

He entered the town government building, a three-story structure, one of the few houses still intact in the town.

While "repairing" next to the rooftop water tank, he installed a wide-angle surveillance probe disguised as a solar panel.

This probe covered the entire town in view, especially the northern area where the target building was located.

All this visual, auditory, thermal signal, chemical characteristic, and motion data intelligence was summarized to the analysis center at Mosul Base. After algorithmic screening and manual interpretation, a seemingly solid and reliable conclusion was drawn—the target building holds only one adult male, no signs of large-scale armed personnel gathering, no signs of massive explosives storage, no chemical weapon characteristic spectrums.

Yet, Song Heping's doubts lingered like a thorn, always nagging at him.

He returned to his room, turned off the lights, sat in darkness, picked up the satellite phone, and connected with Milosh.

"Boss, we're in position."

Milosh's voice came through, the background had the subtle hiss of desert wind brushing against rock.

"All groups are ready, no abnormal contact. But the town is eerily quiet, not even a dog barking."

"Maintain the highest alert level," Song Heping said. "Report immediately if you hear or see anything unusual, be careful, I have a bad feeling."

"Understood. What about the Americans...?"

"They're proceeding as planned. We're doing what the contract states: blockade, surveillance, providing support if necessary. But remember, if the situation worsens, protecting team members is the top priority. Contracts can be re-signed, but dead people can't come back."

"Got it, don't worry." Milosh paused for a second, then joked: "Be careful yourself, boss, those Deltas are professionals."

"Yeah, it's the ones who know how to swim who drown..."

Song Heping hung up after saying this.

The conversation ended.