The New Generation was a special corps split into several units comprised of seven people. At this time, all members of Johan's unit received a notification tagged 'Secret order', which signaled the commencement of their mission.
Johan and Lucy received the message and left Martin and Lenny to go prepare. In less than ten minutes, the team convened at the shores of the island, where a speedboat was waiting for them. Roughly two miles from the island was an aircraft carrier that served as a waiting point for those en route to the island to gain clearance before proceeding by boat. The unit got off at the aircraft carrier where a chopper was waiting for them, and soon enough, they took off.
~Hausen~
Hausen was secretly used as a ballistic missile base, located at the outskirts of Brezovica, one of Kou's neighboring countries. But due to undisclosed circumstances, the missile operations were shut down, and the base now housed a guerrilla group known as 'Striking Hand'.
No one knew how it was formed or who formed it, but the group had fearlessly declared war on Kou. Notwithstanding that Kou was a leading nation in the UWA with strong military forces, they were still unable to fully extinguish Striking Hand. The information behind the war between the Republic of Kou and the Striking Hand had numerous theories behind it, making it difficult to draw a definite conclusion.
However, this was of no use to the members of the New Generation on their way here. Kou was west of Brezovica, and the town on that side of the border was Hausen. They first arrived at Kou on a private plane before taking a van and driving across the border into Brezovica.
The climate fluctuation here was different, and though it was almost winter, it had started to snow at Hausen. The ballistic missile base was surrounded by pine trees, perfectly concealing the base.
Lucy's unit parked their van a distance away, safe from prying eyes as well as the base's radar.
The team huddled for a final briefing before sitting out.
"Okay listen up," Lucy spoke up.
"Our mission is to rescue a prisoner named Hidalgo Davila… you already have a picture of him. The mission sounds simple and should be simple given our abilities, but the president ordered we do so without triggering any alarms or doing anything that could lead back to us…"
"I'm fetching the schematics of the base and I'll be directing the mission from here. You're to remain on radio contact at all times and use your powers cautiously. Do not kill any hostiles, but incapacitation is allowed. Proceed carefully and silently so we can get this over with… any questions?"
Lucy urged. She wasn't her usual lovely petite self but had the air of a captain leading her team on a mission. This was why Dr. Ilene chose her to head this operation.
Seeing that no one had any question,
"Move out!" she ordered.
The members of the New Generation wore their black uniforms with masks to obscure their features. Johan's uniform was a bit special in the sense that he wore a weighted vest over his uniform and weights were attached to the soles of his boots. The total weight of the vest and the boot amounted to 250kg. Even modified humans like them found it difficult to move around with that weight. However, everyone knew Johan's reason why and didn't bother.
Bonnie, a lady among them, brought a sniper rifle along. Their order was against killing, but it said nothing about using tranquilizer magazines, and she was the best sniper on the team.
The trees stood tall with their branches layered in frost from the snow. The snow-covered ground stretched as far as the eyes could see, with only the launch pads and control towers breaking up the landscape.
The team silently closed in on the base. They got close enough to see the base but couldn't proceed any further or they would engage the hostiles. The entrance to the base was wide open but was guarded. Then, Lucy's voice sounded on the established line,
"I'm done getting the layout of the base. I'm getting clustered heat signatures from the lowest floor of the base, which should be where our target is held. There are over a hundred hostiles on the base, but we'll only have to deal with thirty-six of them if you follow my instructions…"
"What's the plan chief?" asked Wade.
"There are ten hostiles at your position… two at the watch tower, four were guarding and watching the flanks of the entrance, and four were wandering the periphery of the forest. Wade and Connor, you both are at the front…"
Before Lucy could conclude, Wade interrupted,
"Then we take out the ones in the forest and proceed from there. Let's move!"
While he still spoke, Wade was already on the move. However, Lucy's voice sounded from the line, clearly irritated,
"Wade, don't you dare take another step… I haven't given the order yet."
"What's there to debate about? It's the same plan you have…"
"Can you both argue any quieter?"
Bonnie scolded in a low tone.
While they argued, Johan looked at the entrance, observing the guards.
"Can you guys stop arguing already? The plan isn't going to work."
He pointed out and proceeded to explain.
"If you look closely, the hostiles in the forest move within vision range of those guarding the entrance. It could be to make swapping positions easier or maybe to cover up the blind spots in their formation…"
"What blind spots?"
Wade asked.
"The pine trees are huge, making it difficult to see from the watch tower, and the added layer of snow makes it impossible. It'd be impossible to take out the near hostiles without alerting those at the entrance, and you can see the plan going downhill from there…"
Everyone silently mused Johan's line of thought, thinking it made sense. He continued,
"The plan should be attacking those at the watch tower first before proceeding downward."
"I could snipe them from here…"
Johan shook his head,
"You can only snipe one person at a time… there are two of them. Plus, your ability sets off an explosion afterward…"
"What's your plan then?"
Lucy asked over the line.