"Jason, let me speak first," Lei said with a smile, trying to calm Jason's emotions. He spoke in an objective tone, "Let me clarify, I'm not trying to cover for Clay. I'm taking a neutral stance here.
I think Clay's argument makes some sense. At least from his perspective, he didn't do anything wrong. The tunnel might indeed have some of Samir's associates.
After all, we know nothing about the tunnel and have no intelligence to refer to.
Besides, he didn't cause any major chaos. He shot Samir dead with a single shot. In such a dangerous situation, that's something a newcomer would struggle to do."
Lei's words seemed neutral on the surface, but in reality, he was still subtly speaking in Clay's favor.
"Come on, if it were Long, I think he could have done better," Jason disagreed with Lei's words, convinced that among the new recruits, Long Zhan was the most outstanding.
"Okay, I won't argue that. I also think Long is an excellent newcomer. But if, and I mean if, Samir was about to detonate the bomb, and Clay hadn't shot him, are you really sure you could have stopped him in time?" Lei asked, turning the question around.
Without hesitation, Jason answered, "I could have. I could have completely stopped him. I could have brought Samir back, but he ruined everything. Are you doubting my ability?"
"No, no, no, buddy, of course not," Lei quickly waved his hand and changed his approach, "Even if Clay made a small mistake earlier, the fact that we managed to retreat smoothly was thanks to the truck he grabbed. You can't deny that, right?"
"I only focus on the matter, not the person. Sure, he managed to grab the pickup truck, which did surprise me. But that doesn't make up for his mistake."
Thinking about the risks of grabbing an armed pickup truck, Jason's tone softened a bit.
Lei saw that approaching from this angle was having an effect, so he pressed on, "Clay made a mistake by acting on his own and killing Samir. I won't deny that. But I don't think it's that serious.
On the contrary, Clay was able to make an independent decision and decisively take out the target. His ability to think independently in such a crisis is incredibly valuable for a newcomer.
Then, he stormed into the enemy's ranks and got us a way to retreat. That showed Clay's courage and intelligence.
Courage, intelligence, independence—aren't those qualities that DG has always strived for?
Clay just lacks a bit of teamwork. The Green Team's training period still has six months left, plenty of time to correct that flaw.
Are you really going to end a young person's dream over such a small mistake?
You should know, if you include Clay's mistake in the mission report, it will be in his file. When he returns to base, he'll have to pack his bags and leave the Green Team."
Lei spoke at length, with each sentence serving a clear purpose.
Jason wasn't a heartless person, and in fact, he valued his teammates greatly. Lei's words struck a chord with him.
Especially the part about the young person's dream, which reminded him of the years he had struggled just to get into the lower ranks.
Something deep inside him was triggered.
"I don't know what you're talking about. All I hear is a bunch of white noise," Jason played deaf, throwing his gear onto the floor.
It was clear from Jason's expression and actions that his anger had been completely extinguished.
Lei, relieved that Jason had calmed down, teased him lightly, "Old buddy, tell me, back when you were training in the Green Team, could you have made a decision to shoot or not based on the position of the thumb of someone wearing a suicide vest?"
"At least I could see his thumb, to know if it was on the detonator, but Clay couldn't see that," Jason spread his hands.
Seeing that Jason had mostly calmed down, Lei dropped the final bombshell: "The reason I came to talk to you is that I don't want to let a good kid's potential go to waste.
Also, I want to remind you that maybe Clay reminded you of something.
But I want to tell you, Nate's death was not your fault. The mistake he made by acting on his own doesn't mean Clay will make the same mistake."
The moment Lei finished speaking, Jason stood frozen, as if struck by lightning, unable to respond for a while.
Indeed, Jason's anger toward Clay wasn't really because Clay acted on his own and killed Samir. It wasn't even about not capturing Samir alive.
It was Clay's lone-wolf behavior that reminded him of his recently lost friend, Nate.
The two had similar styles, and Jason was all too familiar with them.
It was because he didn't want to experience the pain of losing another teammate in future missions that he rejected Clay so vehemently.
His subconscious made him feel that if he kicked Clay out, he could protect him from dying on the battlefield.
This subconscious belief was very subtle. Jason, deeply caught in his own thoughts, didn't realize this issue.
Now that Lei, as an outsider, pointed it out, Jason tried to argue but found himself unable to refute Lei's words.
It was a hard truth for Jason to accept, but he had no choice but to face it, leaving him stunned in place.
Fortunately, someone stepped in to break the tension.
"This was an excellent operation, brothers. Very impressive. I'm proud of you all."
Eric, the team commander, holding a file, walked in and praised everyone. As he passed Long Zhan and Clay, he added, "You two did great. You're the best newcomers I've seen."
"Thank you, sir."
"I'll do even better next time, sir."
There was no need for salutes when an officer entered the room, so Long Zhan and Clay both stood tall, nodding and responding. Long Zhan seemed in good spirits, while Clay appeared somewhat downcast.
Clay's frustration came from Jason's reprimand, which had given him a strong sense of crisis.
Eric didn't continue talking to Long Zhan and Clay, but instead walked directly to Jason and Lei, saying, "I've already written up the after-action report.
Clearly, the biggest issue in this operation was with the helicopter.
Your B Team performed excellently, successfully rescuing an American citizen who had been trapped for over a year, allowing her to once again feel the warmth of her family.
In the operation, you killed eight terrorists, took out over twenty armed individuals protecting the terrorists, including a senior officer and a high-value target wearing a suicide vest, and seized an armed pickup truck.
That's the gist of the battle report. Jason, is there anything you'd like to add?"
As soon as Eric finished speaking, the entire garage went silent. All eyes were on Jason.