This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.
***
CH18: PRIVATE CHAT AND DEDUCTIONS.
"Come in, Eagle nest. This is Bravo 1" Korede Balogun said into the comms.
"This is Eagle nest. Bravo 1 SitRep."
"Mission was an ambush. There was no deal here. Alpha squad has been captured. Currently searching location for actionable intel on their whereabouts."
In the command center, Commander of the Eagle squad Colonel Kola Balogun stood up from his seat in shock
"This is Flock Leader. What happened, Bravo 1?" Colonel Kola Balogun's shocked voice was heard.
"Intel was false. There was no deal here. They set an ambush here for us to walk into. FYI Alpha team was surrounded and had no option but to surrender. Any gunfire would have led to the death of the entire team. We need to find them soon."
Something Korede said caused a ripple in the colonel's eyes. His expression quickly straightened and he calmed down.
"Try to find any clues on your side. We will do the same here. It seems they have something big planned."
"Agreed. Bravo 1 out."
Colonel Balogun turned to the people in the command center.
"Our people just got captured. Turn over every rock, FIND THEM!!" He said as he took a file from the desk in front of him and walked out. They quickly got to work using every resource and means available to them to find the missing soldiers.
Colonel Balogun walked down the corridor and entered his office. He looked through the file he was holding. He finally found what he was looking for. It was a number, which he dialed.
**
When Korede finished reporting to HQ, the rest of the team were surprised. They thought he would have more to say but he just reported the situation and kept quiet as if waiting for something. Mary and Fatima were getting impatient. Their team was kidnapped and instead of doing something, here they were just standing around. Mary couldn't hold it anymore.
"What are you doing? Are you going to say something or are we just going to stand here all day instead of going after them?" She asked angrily.
Korede didn't react to her angry outburst. He just said a word,
"Wait"
Mary was about to spark but before she said anything the phone rang. Korede quickly picked the phone and put it on speaker.
"Are we secure?" He asked
"From my end, Yes!" the person on the other side responded.
The team recognised the voice instantly. It was Colonel Kola Balogun's voice.
The file Colonel Balogun was looking through was a report compiled on the port. The number he dialled was the line for the port's control center. Others didn't realise it but Korede had sent him a code requesting for a private, secure line.
The code was FYI. Normally it stands for 'For Your Information'. However, Kola knew Korede would never use such an informal speech during a mission and especially not in a tense situation like this. So, he knew straight away that it was a code.
Many years back, Kola had sent Korede a gift a week before his birthday. He was on duty and wouldn't be able to make his brother's birthday. To stop his brother from opening the gift beforehand, he wrote on the wrapper, 'FYI, only open it on your birthday'. Later when Kola got back, young Korede asked why a soldier would be using acronyms. Kola laughed and told Korede
"The military is probably the one that uses acronyms the most. There is an acronym used in the military that's close to FYI. That's FYE."
FYE- For Your Eyes/Ears only.
Since then, whenever the brothers wanted to talk or do something in private, they would use the code FYI when they actually meant FYE. Hence, when Korede used FYI during his Situation Report(SitRep), he knew Korede wanted to speak to him privately.
"Ok, the others are also listening in." Korede said
"So, what's so important that you had to speak to me in private." Kola asked though he had a faint suspicion of what his brother was thinking.
"I think we've been compromised." Korede said clearly.
"What!!" The other Bravo team members were shocked. Korede merely waved his hands at them indicating for them to calm down.
"So you think we have a mole here?" Colonel Balogun asked
"Perhaps but not necessarily. We might have just been hacked" Korede replied.
"That's logical." Colonel Balogun agreed. He would rather believe they had been hacked than them being betrayed by one of their own.
Mary couldn't take it anymore, "Can someone explain what the FU*K is going on?" She asked angrily totally losing her composure.
"Corporal, Language. Need I remind you, you're talking to a superior officer?" Colonel Balogun admonished her. While he understood her emotional state, it was no excuse for a soldier to lose their discipline.
"Apologies sir. That was my fault. I promised her an explanation." Korede said, trying to diffuse the situation. He turned to the team
"After listening to the recording during the mission brief, I noticed a few things that didn't feel right. I didn't mention it cause I didn't have an answer and I expected NDI's intel analysts to have noticed it. Since they didn't mention it, it was probably irrelevant. However, for some reason, they kept bogging me.
First, the Emissary said he had heard of the Don's reputation, meaning he should have heard of the Don's 'patriotic' tendencies. If he has access to an intelligence network as good as we think he has, I believe he should know the Don is under surveillance. Yet, he explained his plans and objectives to the man before he agreed to help him. Doesn't that feel weird?"
The team members nodded their heads.
"Another thing. Lawal, this is more your thing. I noticed when he was speaking, there was a disdain and grudge for the country in his tone, though I'm not sure. Can you recall?"
Temitope Lawal tried to recall the Emissary's speech and follow along with Korede's line of reason.
"Yes, it's there." Temitope agreed. "But not to the country but our military. The emotion came out when he mentioned bombing our base." He added.
Korede also agreed now that he thought about it. Everything started to fit.
"Another weird thing is that the NDz guys that captured Alpha team think they're mercenaries. Recall he was talking about 'hired guns' and 'employer'. Those are terms used in the mercenary world.
"Stop with the vague ideas and tell us what you think already, kid" Colonel Balogun's voice was heard. To which the team agreed. Korede decided to just say everything he was thinking.
"Here's everything I think happened. The Don must have realised that the Emissary knew about his 'patriotic' reputation when the Emissary said that he had heard of the Don's reputation. The Don must also have realised that there was something off when the guy proceeded to tell him his plans even when he knew about his reputation. That's why I think the Don explained the reason for said reputation and used it to pass off the deal to the NDz. He didn't want his group to be part of what he didn't feel right about." Korede looked at each team member. Seeing they understood, he continued.
"But that begs a question. This guy is a foreigner and from the way, the Don said 'visitor from afar', he most likely not African. So why those this guy hold a grudge against our military since we only operate in Africa as Peacekeepers? The only answer I can think of is a military outfit that could have operated somewhere else in the world covertly."
Everyone realised what Korede was hinting. They said together, "Elite Special Forces"
"So you mean his grudge was most likely caused by a unit under JSOB?" Fatima asked, following along with Korede's reasoning.
Korede nodded, "Yes. Think about it. The Don is always under surveillance by the DSS. Now there is a recording of him discussing Nukes and Haram boys. That's outside their jurisdiction. Hence they would surely pass it to a military arm I.e the NDI. Once the NDI verifies the intel, who do you think would act on it?"
Sparks went off in everybody's head, "Elite Special Forces under JSOB"
"Indeed. I believe he planned this out so that JSOB would get involved. He is using this to settle his grudge. If so, this mission would be more dangerous than we expected. That's why I asked Abdul-Lateef to set up a sniper's post from a place that could overlook the entire port and its surrounding area. However, it looks like I had underestimated this guy's planning. Even the intel we got that led us to this place was fed to us. That's the only way they could have set up such a perfect ambush for us to walk into."
"So, do you think the object is not that valuable and this guy is just out for his vendetta.?" Colonel Balogun asked. However, before Korede could answer, Mary held his shirt by the neck
"If you knew all this, WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING? The mission could have been called off"
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion really matters to me.]