The white light flickered brightly and then dissipated, revealing Alex back in the familiar darkness of an Ironhold city during the night with Reddy unconscious at his feet.
Alex pulled out his modern watch and glanced at the ti under the soft light of the moon. 10:47 PM. In about ninety minutes, Reddy will be awake based on the sedation tiline that Dr. Patel had given.
Now he has only about ninety minutes to prepare everything.
Alex looked around himself. He had deliberately chosen this arrival point with care.
Yes, now he can choose his landing places too, but the condition is that he must have gone to that place before.
At the mont, he was standing at the foot of the Mangshan Mountain Range, the exact spot where he once tracked the bandits down using his drone months ago.
But their old hideout was ruined. The bandits had dispersed and reassembled elsewhere in these mountain ranges.
Alex had no idea where they were now either. This was the whole point of bringing Reddy with him.
A trained person could find them using proper reconnaissance, sothing Alex could not do alone without ensuring that he did not hurt Lucy in the process.
The mountain air was cool and crisp.
Leaves rustled in the wind of the night. Off in the distance, the rocky peaks stood like jagged teeth against the stars in the sky.
The location is remote enough that Reddy would believe they were on so isolated private island.
Dark enough that details would be hidden.
Similar enough to countless rural mountain regions that nothing would seem out of ordinary.
Alex began working right away.
He had transported all the tactical gear that Desai had managed to deliver earlier in the evening.
Now he began unpacking and arranging everything with deliberate care, making it look like a professional operation staging area.
"First of all, the tactical vest."
The vest was black and military-issue, with ceramic inserts for safety. There were also three miniature body caras secured to the tactical vest in different locations - chest mount, shoulder mount, and side mount.
Three angles of coverage, just like he had said would happen during the phone conversation with Reddy.
These were real modern caras, though they would never transmit their pictures anywhere else other than to him.
Now, the night vision goggles. Cutting-edge models with the ability for a thermal overlay. These would be essential during the real mission.
Then the non-lethal arsenal, carefully set up: flash-bang grenades, smoke grenades, and sleeping gas containers.
All real, all functional.
Alex had specifically requested non-lethal options because he knew Reddy’s religious principles would make him refuse to kill; Otherwise, Alex might not have been satisfied until he had blasted the bandits’ entire den to pieces
After the weapons he has a comprehensive dical trauma kit with bandages, antiseptics, and ergency supplies.
Climbing rope and a harness for the mountain terrain.
And finally, the most critical piece of equipnt: the drone.
Alex carefully unpacked the sa military-grade Ninja UAV that he had used months previously to find the original hideout of the bandits.
Thermal imaging, life sign detection, long-range capabilities for Reddy to move through their hideout.
After all the equipnt had been arranged in neat rows, Alex pulled out the final elent: the briefing docunt.
It needed to provide enough information about the mission so that it seed genuine.
The docunt was printed on stamp paper with a fake production company logo at the top. It contained:
A rough, hand drawn map showing a circular search zone approximately fifteen kilotres in diater, centred on their current location the very sa map that he has drawn months ago for the Miss Evelyn.
OPERATION: RESCUE CHALLENGE
OBJECTIVE: Locate and extract participant from holding location within designated search zone.
TI LIMIT: 48 hours maximum.
RULES: Maintain operational security. Minimize detection. Extract participant safely at all cost. All actions will be fild. It is a one-ti shot only.
EQUIPNT: Use all resources as needed.
That was it
Just enough to make it seem like a legitimate reality show challenge where Reddy had to use his actual skills to locate the target through reconnaissance and tactical thinking.
Alex left the briefing docunt on top of the equipnt pile so that Reddy could see it the mont he woke up.
He stepped back and surveyed his work.
Perfect.
Alex retreated approximately five hundred ters away to a concealed position behind a cluster of large rocks that provided good cover. From here, he could monitor everything through the drone feeds and the cara in the Reddy’s suit without being seen.
Alex settled into his hiding spot and pulled out his tablet. The screen glowed softly in the darkness. He opened the drone monitoring app and confird all systems were operational.
Now ca the boring part: waiting.
He checked his watch again. 11:15 PM. Reddy would wake in approximately one hour.
This would work.
It had to work.
Lucy’s life depended on it.
At 12:17 AM, Reddy woke finally.
From his hidden location five hundred ters away, Alex could not view the awakening directly. However, he understood it to be so because the body cam feeds on his tablet turned on as a result of motion sensors triggered by the awakening motion.
Alex watched the screen intently.
Reddy did not move for exactly fifteen seconds. Pure military discipline and training kicked in imdiately it says to always assess the situation before taking any action.
Check for imdiate threats in the vicinity try to gather information about surroundings.
Only after those fifteen seconds of complete stillness did Reddy sit up slowly and look around.
The cara angles showed his assessnt from his point of view. He touched his neck where the IV had been, checking for any issues. He rotated his shoulders and stretched, testing his body’s response.
No grogginess, no disorientation from the sedation can be felt in the body.
Whoever that guy has hired had done excellent work with the dosage.
Reddy stood up carefully and look into his surroundings: mountains silhouetted against the night sky, trees rustling in the breeze, equipnt laid out in organized rows nearby.
He walked over to the equipnt staging area with the confident steps.
First, he picked up the briefing docunt and read it carefully under the moonlight.
Then Reddy examined the equipnt piece by piece.
He examined each weapon and tool with the thoroughness of paranoid individual
Finally, Reddy picked up the tablet with the drone controls.
He powered it on and spent several minutes familiarizing himself with the interface.
Alex smiled slightly in his hiding place
Good. Now, Action!
Reddy began his reconnaissance.
Alex watched through the tablet feeds as the drone rose into the night sky with its characteristic buzzing sound, ascending rapidly to operational altitude.
On Alex’s tablet, a second screen activated showing the drone’s cara feed alongside the body cara views. He could see exactly what Reddy was seeing through the thermal imaging overlay.
Reddy flew the drone scanning the mountains sector by sector like a professional. He started with the nearest slopes, then worked outward in expanding circles.
Alex seeing him working couldn’t help but lant that jobs like these should be only done by the professionals.
Unlike him, who has taken much longer to get familiar with the drone, Reddy didn’t need a more than 5 minutes to get used to the equipnt.
First ca the mountain sector: Nothing but terrain and scattered wildlife. Small heat signatures that were clearly animals, not human.
The second area was much the sa, as the first one. The screen showed slopes and dead trees and rocky outcroppings everywhere.
Then, the third sector was scanned, approximately three kilotres northeast of their position finally so big life signatures of humans are detected. Alex at once beca focused on it.
Reddy too imdiately adjusted the drone’s altitude and position for better observation. The thermal imaging resolved into clearer detail.
A cave entrance, partially concealed by rocks and vegetation but visible from above.
Three distinct heat signatures positioned outside the cave entrance. Guards, standing watch in a loose periter pattern.
Multiple additional heat signatures visible inside the cave entrance where thermal imaging could still penetrate. At least nine more people gathered in what appeared to be the main chamber.
Twelve distinct heat sources total.
But there was one more signature that made Alex’s heart beat faster.
Deeper in the cave, separated from the main group by what appeared to be rock walls that blocked thermal imaging, was one isolated heat signature. Smaller, positioned away from the others. Not moving much but enough to show that she is still alive and well.
Lucy.
It had to be.
Alex heaved a sigh of relief.
After thirty seconds of observation, Reddy brought the UAV back as he was able to confirm the location as well as the surrounding terrain.
He landed it carefully and imdiately began organizing his gear for the mission.
The rescue operation was about to begin.
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