"Colonel Kim." I approached him and nodded before I shake his hands firmly. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Your reputation proceeds you, Major Xenov." He responded as he smiled to me. "It is an honor for myself too."
Lieutenant Colonel Kim Dae Yeon is a tall man – even taller than Dong and only slightly shorter than me. He looks to be in his middle 30s with a crew cut black hair, and dressed in his brown uniform. Similar to Dong, he also seems to be a decorated officer with more awards shown on his uniform - 4 medals and 3 ribbons. He also has this distinguished physical appearance on his right eyebrow, where a little but apparently horrible scar is present. I can only imagine that both he and Dong had perhaps taken a tour of duty together where they experienced either a horrible accident or wounded in action.
Without any further chit chat, he continues on telling us what is on his mind. Just like what I have guessed, he indeed wants to talk about his unit's task in conjunction with my unit, however the form of assistance that he requests is not the same as what I have imagined. He requests the Gray Phoenix unit to actually really help them in installing all of the necessary communication equipment on one of the islands located on the eastern section of the archipelago, instead of just keeping guard on them despite the fewer personnel in my unit. The said island is indeed the same one as what my unit has thought – the one with the distance less than 20 kilos from one of the islands under my unit's authority. In return for the favor, the Crimson Vulture unit will assist my unit in our investigation process on the first island.
Alek quickly asks him if they do not mind since that will mean they have to spend an extra amount of gasoline for their transport trucks. Yeon chuckles softly, and says that the units responsible for installing communications equipment are also supplied with some extra fuels since they also need to carry heavy equipment along their way anyway. He also adds that based on the quick calculation done by one of his Field Operatives, their unit will still have enough gas even if they decided to assist us on one more island. Hearing that, Alek only nods in understanding.
"Then, should we go straight right away to that island once we arrive at the Air Base?" I asked him.
"Yes. But please lead the way to your island once we are finished with the installation, and do not go too fast away from my unit." he clarified. "I believe I do not need to stress that we are practically blind on direction once we get out from the Air Base."
"Since the compass will most likely malfunction on the whole archipelago as well… Right…" I said as I nod and sigh. "Very well, we shall assist you."
"Much obliged..." he ended the conversation before shaking my hand again, smiles and goes back to his unit. "Here is hoping that everything will go smooth later on. Once again, I thank you for agreeing to assist us."
Back to my unit's table, I look at the overall map again more thoroughly and right at that moment I feel like there really is something odd on why Yeon asks my unit instead of Polar Bear unit to assist his. First of all, the southeast section of the islands has 1 island distancing less than 11 kilos from one of the eastern islands – that is almost half of the necessary journey compared to the northeast section.
Why did he choose to ask for my unit's assistance instead of Polar Bear unit? Then, comes the second odd thing for me – the Polar Bear unit has the most numbers of personnel in it reaching the amount of 10 which is twice the number of personnel in my unit. He would definitely have more manpower in assisting him to install the communication equipment and would have his task done quicker too. Unless Colonel Dmitry Pavlov of the Russian Army, the leader of the Polar Bear unit refused to assist him earlier, I wonder why he asked my unit instead.
"Jon?" Dong called me.
"Yes." I answered him right away while still looking at the overall map.
"Is there something else on your mind?" he asked.
"No… not exactly…" I replied with my left hand covering my mouth, still concerning if Yeon has something else on his mind outside of his unit task or rather, if I am still missing something.
But if that is so… what is it that I am missing? Does he have his own hidden agenda? What could it be? No matter how hard I look at both maps back and forth I still cannot figure it out. Turning my attention to him for a while, he does not look like he has some other plan on his mind since I can clearly see him managing his unit and discussing with his vice commander. Colonel Pavlov, who is also grouping up with his unit right on the center of the room, does not look like he just had some kind of a dispute or disagreement with Yeon, or the rest of the other unit commanders either. Looks like I just have to keep this thought to myself for now, and I just need to go back to listen at what else my operatives have to say.
Back to my unit, Takeshi has finished calculated the ideal route for us to go after the first island. According to him, no matter which island we are to take next after the first island, the furthest 2 islands would be best to be investigated last since those islands have the distance of more than twice compared to the first one and the other in Crimson Vulture unit's zone of authority.
I tell him that he does not need to count the exact distance of the furthest islands since I can also see the significant difference – 6 out of the 8 main islands have the distance of less than 1cm apart from each other on the northeast section map, while the other 2 are roughly 2.5cm away from the nearest islands. Therefore, it should be no problem if we are to investigate the islands westward after the first, before we will finally go to the last 2 islands. Everyone nods in agreement before Alek proceeds to continue with the general environment condition of the zone.
Alek says that during this time of the year, the sky will stay dark all day there since the Sun is more to the Southern position than North. Also, since it is already winter some part of the water body between islands may be completely frozen, confirming that transportation by land is indeed possible, especially if the region is in the northern section.
Most of the soil formations of the main islands are poor, meaning that we will find very limited soiled grounds and will be mostly permafrost once we get there. However, that is not what we should be concerned about but instead, the presence of slippery algae on the stones and also the permafrost surfaces. It will be harder to distinguish between snowy rocks or stones and permafrost surfaces. The species of algae there usually only grow on the rocks and stones, and because of the difficulty in distinguishing them, we should take more care in walking on that area so that we will not fall and cause unwanted injuries.
"In other words: No running." I concluded.
"Da, Mayor." Alek confirmed.
Continuing on with the environment, he also mentioned that there are several numbers of fauna there and some are even considered endangered. Arctic fox, polar bear, seabirds are considerably common but marine mammals like walrus, seals, narwhals, and fin whales are rarer to be seen. No matter which ever we may find later on, we should also take care not to harm those animals even on the worst case scenario where we are under attack by a threat.
"But what if the threats themselves are those animals? Let's say, the polar bears." Flint suddenly butted in sarcastically. "Should we just let them chew on us, then?"
"That, Flint… will be the last choice where we have to take them down." Dong sighed as he turned to him while having both of his arms crossed.
"Hmph… I guess that it will be all different when we have all run out of food…" Flint scoffed, and for some reason he also smirked.
'Great… What a way to break the ice between us.' I think to myself upon seeing his uncooperative behavior. Nevertheless, he is not completely on the wrong point since we will indeed need to hunt should the investigation goes terribly wrong and wiping out our food supplies. It soothes my mind a little when Dong quickly decides to review and conclude every necessary step that we will take later on the field of operation. As for the more detailed course of actions, and also our weapons and equipment will be all discussed further once we arrived on the air base.
Apparently, our unit is not the first one to have our discussion done. The personnel of both Bronze Falcon unit and Polar Bear unit have also sit down surrounding their tables and seem to be discussing other topics with each other. The Dark Bison and the Crimson Vulture units on the other hand, look to be still discussing what their course of actions should be vigorously – I notice that there are absolutely no one inside their units who does not participate in the discussion, which is something that I believe is admirable.
I consider that this may be the right time to talk a little more with each of the personnel in my unit, but just then the entrance to the room suddenly opened and someone else enters the room. It is Gabe, and he seems to have something serious on his mind as he walks fast towards Lieutenant General Diatrich. My seat is not too far from where they are standing, however I cannot hear or guess what they may be saying. Once he is done, Lieutenant General Diatrich falls silent for a moment before nodding and proceeds to tell us the remaining time before our departure to the Air Base.
"Gentlemen," Lieutenant General Diatrich clears his throat lightly, "you have now approximately 3 hours before your departure to the Air Base. You are free to do anything you like within the given time, but you are all expected to be present by then. Please use your time wisely."
He walks out of the room quickly but still having his composed expression, giving me a hard time to figure out if he has just reacted to what Gabe said to him or that it has nothing to do with it at all. Shortly after, all of the unit commanders and operatives stand and walk out the room leaving me and Gabe alone. He is still looking at Lieutenant General Diatrich's desk full of documents, so I decide to approach and talk with him for a moment.
"How does it feel to be finally able to get back on the field?" Gabe smiled as he is still looking at one of the maps.
"Relieving." I answered plain and brief.
"Heheh… I have seen the lists of your unit, Jon…" he replied as he finally turns to me. "2 freshers, an elite, and a veteran."
"Please do not tell me that it was you who decided to put those guys with me." I teased him, although deep inside I really do not mind at all.
"Nope." he answered me almost right away. "As far as I know, it was completely random on who would lead whom else."
"Is that so…" I only nodded and gulp.
"You have something on your mind, do not you?" Gabe replied, picking up my inconvenience. "What is it?"
"Hypothetically speaking, when a communication task unit asks for assistance to a small support task unit, what may have caused it?" I asked for his opinion.
"The larger support unit had either been asked to assist the other communication unit, or the unit commander simply refused for… whatever reasons." Gabe shrugged and answers it very quickly.
"Even though the said unit have twice the amount of personnel and vice commanders compared to the smaller one?" I lifted my left eyebrows. "The vice commanders may split up from the main unit if the commander permits, right?"
For a moment, Gabe falls silent upon hearing my last words. It also looks like he begins to sense that there is something odd about it. Considering how urgent the situation is, it is very unlikely that a larger unit will refuse to assist the smaller one, especially if the former have been provided with heavier weaponries and equipment. Unless…
"Do Russia and North Korea have some sort of disagreement or tension as we speak?" I am eager to find out more on what may have caused it from him.
"No… At least not from what I know until now." he shook his head and turns his eyes away from me, but I know for sure at that moment he has already taken this matter to his concern.
The mood between us begins to darken. Gabe does not show any signs of recalling something that may have a correlation to the possible cause while I also have no more ideas inside my head about it.
"Look… you still remember how to make the emergency Morse code machine, do not you?" he switched to another question, possibly to ask if I can make the vital actions if any worst case scenarios are to happen.
"I believe none among us from back then will be able to forget…" I treated that question like it has a single obvious answer.
"Good. Then, as long as the rest of the men in your unit are willing to fight for their lives no matter what happens, you will be able to return alive…" he held his breath, apparently hoping that all of our speculations are just an exaggerated paranoia.
I am not sure what else to say, and he just begins to walk away from me and heading to the door. But before he walks out of the room, he tells me something else.
"For my part, I will not worry about you." he said as he has already grabbed the door knob. "Because the transport trucks that you will use have all the necessary things you need in order to stay alive, even when things go completely wrong."
He walks out of the room and closes the door just as he has finished with his last words.
'Wait… Dong was the first one to suggest about the whole assisting plan, was not he?' I recalled as I begin to walk out of the room. 'He must have seen the overall map first, before he proceeds to speak up about it. Was he that careless as to not realizing the less effectiveness of his suggestion, or rather… he already knew all along and he has a hidden agenda of his own?'
Looks like I will have to worry more not about the 2 Lieutenants, but rather him, my own Vice Commander…