Chapter 7: Reconnaissance

(Location: Burrel Military Rendezvous Area | Burrel, Mat, Albania)


It has been two days since the three men received the phone call from the hostage-taker and had travelled to Burrel to rendezvous with the Special Forces troops that the Albanian nation had solely prepared for this mission; according to them, Konstantin had always been a notorious enemy ever since he left the Russian army, and no matter how much the army tracks him, he always slips away with no evidence left. Having a somehow firm and clear proof of where he is, the Albanian troops are in high hopes that they could finally take the man down.


However, they also had to ensure the safety of the two Korean soldiers who were requested by the enemy militia in lieu for the hostage. With this case involving two countries with its own concerns, both countries agreed to conduct a joint Black Operations mission of the Albanian and Korean Special Forces.


"At about 15:00, the Korean troops shall arrive at our base," The Albanian Lieutenant Colonel informed everyone who was at the office: five Albanian Special Forces troops, the two Korean soldiers and the doctor, "Our mission debriefing shall begin at 18:00, then the mission shall take place. Are there any questions?"


There was silence in the room, and the superior in the room assumed they had understood.


"Alright. Dismissed," The Lieutenant Colonel said, and the Albanian forces immediately left the room, leaving the three Korean men behind. Si Jin and Dae Young were casually seated at the backmost part of the meeting area along with the civilian doctor—the only one in the room who seemed to be amazed and overwhelmed in the military procedures and meetings.


"Daebak, so this is how you do it here. It’s even way cooler than the ones I see in the movies," he whispered to Si Jin who was sitting on his left, "I never knew being in the military was this cool,"


"Join my platoon, I'll make sure you suffer after making two girls fight at each other, even if you would argue it was unintentional," Si Jin jokingly replied to the doctor.


"I'll choose another platoon then,"


"You can't," Seo Dae Young joined in the two, "Only the commander can assign you. Besides, you still can't escape both of us. I'm the drill instructor for privates,"


"He's really way harsher than how he seems to be," Si Jin patted Yun Gi on the back, "Trust me. I may be his captain, but I never escaped his wrath as Tae Baek's devil drill instructor,"


Min Yun Gi gulped, "Aish, are you convincing me to join you or not? Geundae, why would you say you'll be keeping an eye on me when you just used yourselves as exchange for Hye Jin?"


The two soldiers were put to silence.


"Are you even certain that this plan would work?” Yun Gi asked them once more, “Aren't you getting too big-headed that you'll live through whatever plan you've come up with?"


Si Jin crossed his arms as he got up from his seat and faced the doctor, "The fact that you can casually talk to us about the things that amuses you instead of telling us about your doubts, or even break down on tears because of your worries, only means that you're comfortable and confident about something."


"I was asking for your opinion, not mine," Yun Gi grumbled.


"The opinions of the civilians make up a big part on the success of the mission. If you, a doctor, can confidently put your trust on us soldiers, then there's no room for doubt here," Si Jin smiled, "Right, Sangsa Seo Dae Young?"


"Yes sir," Dae Young affirmed.


"Aish, you're too confident. You're starting to make me doubt now," He glowered at the two happy soldiers when suddenly the door of the small meeting room clicked open. Three soldiers eventually walked in with their black berets on their side pocket. "Looks like the Korean Team's here,"


"Sergeant Seo?" Sergeant Choi, who first entered the room, noticed Alpha Team’s second-in-command who was sitting on the chair. "You're alive!" He, along with the two other sergeants came in running and greeting the two soldiers, who also were just as thrilled to see their teammates after ten months. While the five men were jumping and huddling together, Min Yun Gi sat dazed and isolated, covering his ears at the men shouting at each other.


For a moment there, they looked more like long-lost brothers than soldiers, Yun Gi thought as he continued observing their joyous reunion, hearing the same few lines being shouted at each other.


"We missed you a lot!"


"I'm sorry we left you!"


"We thought you were dead!"


Yun Gi indeed felt out of place for a few minutes, until the long group hug was ended by the Captain himself, "I know we guys miss each other a lot, but we still have to talk about the situation," He said, and the men refrained from their long huddling; their circular formation immediately transformed into a line.


"Wow, you're really the boss, aren't you?" Min Yun Gi blinked, seeing how Yoo Si Jin made the group of men obey his command.



Without paying attention to Yun Gi, Si Jin went on with the talking, "I shall be giving you information on what's going to happen before the main debriefing tonight at around 18:00. The reason why there shall be a participation of the Korean Special Forces team is because of our involvement in the hostage-taking. Due to diplomatic and political protocol, we have agreed with Albania that each team shall handle its own case, but will still work together. Albania will focus on the enemy militia, while we focus on rescuing the hostage,"


Yun Gi watched Si Jin as he went on instructing his men, "Right now, the Bravo team of the Albanian Special Forces are conducting reconnaissance in the enemy's location. To prevent havoc and preserve the peace in the area, the Alpha Team of Albania, and us, the Alpha Team of South Korea, shall conduct a Black Ops mission on this matter," Si Jin continued, "I'm sure you were previously informed about this,"


"Yes, Sir," The four replied.


"The hostage is a Korean nurse, this doctor's wife." Si Jin pointed at Yun Gi who was also paying attention as the captain went on, "For this, we shall follow our usual formation. Piccolo will be the one on lookout. Snoopy, Harry Potter will be joining in the raid, while Wolf and I will be used as a decoy for this mission. The whole details of the plan shall be relayed later tonight, as well as the night before we head out for Bulqize. For now, you take a break from your travel. Are there any questions?"


"No sir," The four replied firmly in unison, and Si Jin smiled.


"Then that would be all," Si Jin said, letting go of his strict side and suddenly turning back to the character of a sweet and caring hyung, "For now... Let's just catch up with each other's lives while waiting for the debriefing to begin,"


All five of them shifted from their firm serious position; they now had casual, smiling faces as they all started having real and genuine conversations—talking about things they've missed during the past ten months of being isolated. Sergeants Im Gwang Nam and Gong Cheol Ho sat down and got to know the mission doctor, asking him if he was among one of those deployed for volunteer work in Urk back then.

“I...haven’t been to Urk,” The doctor gulped as he saw the two men having pistols on each side of their belt. These men are deadly, he thought

On the other side of the room, Sergeant Choi and Sergeant Seo were also having their own conversation, "I figured you wanted to hear about Lieutenant Yoon,"


Dae Young’s eyes perked up when Sergeant Choi mentioned her name, "What about her? How is she?"


"She's pretty sad, but she's doing well," Sergeant Choi narrated, "The lieutenant shall be assigned in Urk in a week or two. It's not that far from Albania, so you might want to consider visiting her and the troops,"


"Does she know about my current state?" Seo Dae Young asked, "I was planning to surprise her if she still had no idea,"


"You actually could, since the Army cannot freely disclose your survival because your cause of death has been issued already, so it would wait until you formally show up at the base. She does not know, so you can do so,"


"Mwo?" The two sergeants turned their heads when they heard the Captain ask. Si Jin made his way to the two sergeants, "Our cause of death was issued?"


"They had to fake it, Sir" Sergeant Choi explained.


"How did we die?"


"A vehicular accident, Sir,"

"Ah, jinja?" He said with a displeased shrug, "That simply cannot compare to what we've been through for the past three months. Jamkkanman, are our loved ones informed about this? Does Kang seonsaeng think I'm dead?"


Sergeant Choi sighed, and then let out a nod, "I broke the news to her. Lieutenant Yoon also thinks of the same thing. Only a few knows about your survival,"


Si Jin reluctantly nodded, moving away from the two men with his head down and his hands on his pocket. "She didn't read my letter, did she?" He asked himself as he remembered the contents of the letter he wrote before leaving for his mission. "I remember writing her to not hold onto me for too long. Aish, I’m an idiot,”



But what about your promises to me? Did they mean anything to you? Kang Mo Yeon's melancholic voice started ringing inside his mind once more.


You didn't come back. You didn't come.



"Ah, right," Sergeant Choi voiced out, "I heard Kang seonsaeng was planning on going here,"


That news made Si Jin glance at him instantaneously with a hopeful look in his eyes, "Right now?"


"In a few months. Song seonsaeng told me about it. Kang Mo Yeon-ssi was planning to volunteer in a refugee camp on your anniversary,"


Si Jin raised an eyebrow, "Umm, our anniversary was already a few months ago, I believe,"


"It's your death anniversary I was talking about, Captain,"


"..."


"..."


Oh. Okay. His shoulders slumped once again as he walked away, moving to the door.


She's convinced that I'm dead.

That just makes me sad.


"I'm sorry, Captain. We can't just tell her about it until you physically show up either to her or at the base,"


"Ani, It's fine, everything's fine! I'm not sad!"


Liar. Seo Dae Young glanced at Si Jin, "We never asked you if you were sad or not,"



"I just said that just in case you thought I was," He looked back with a pretentious smile and a thumbs-up, while his other hand reached for the doorknob, "I'll just go out for awhile, I have a meeting with..." I don't have a meeting with anyone though, "...with the Lieutenant," He said before opening the door and eventually left the room.


She thinks I'm dead.


She'll probably find another man.


Why did I even write in that will that she to move on? Aish...
 

Babo, Si Jin. Babo.

Thankfully, Yoo Si Jin was a man who had his mind over his heart, and was not easily conquered by his depressing stupor. He made it back in time for the debriefing. Walking back inside the room they previously lounged in, he went back to his seat beside Yun Gi and Dae Young. Si Jin noticed that the room had a different physical set-up from when he left the room awhile ago: there was a long, rectangular table placed in the middle, and each side had a particular team seated on it. On one side were the Albanians and on the other were his teammates.


The sergeant stared at him as Si Jin made himself comfortable on his seat, "The truth. Where'd you go?"


"I felt sorry for myself for being psychologically murdered by my girlfriend," Si Jin whispered to Seo Dae Young while the room was gradually being filled up with military personnel, "But then I realized I am not the only one being considered dead by his own yeoja, so I don't feel that bad anymore. Besides, we still have a nurse to rescue so let's not get that into our heads for now,"


"Ya—" Dae Young was about to start another banter with Si Jin when the mission's commanding officer made his way inside the room. Everybody stood up to acknowledge his presence.


"Please sit down," He said, and everyone followed. While a few soldiers from the Intelligence Team were busy setting up the projector to flash a geographical map on the screen, the Commander began to speak, "I won't beat around the bush, and I shall get to the mission's details immediately. As all of you know, this is a joint covert operation, with the task divided into two teams,"
 

The Commander pointed to the left side of the table, "The Alpha Team of the Albanian Special Military Units shall be taking down Russian's well-known ex-Spetznas soldier Konstantin, while the Alpha Team of the Korean Special Forces is in charge of the hostage rescue,"


"The Bravo Team had just confirmed the exact location of the enemy, which is in a remote town Bulqize, somewhere far away from its centre. Phone calls directed to Doctor Min shall be rigged and monitored. According to the enemy's side, the time of exchange shall take place one week after the date of instruction, which leaves us four days until we head out and mark our positions in the hostage building. The two Korean Alpha Team members, Captain Yoo and Sergeant Major Seo is asked in exchange,"


"However, we have come up with a plan," The projector flashed a satellite photo of a rectangular building presumed to be the place where Konstantin is hiding, "This building has two floors, and two main entrances: one at the front, and one at the back. The building's entrance has a distance to the gate of about 30 to 40 meters. Each team shall secure their places on one entrance, the snipers evenly distributed on the windows. Albanian Alpha shall be on guard while the exchange takes place, and shall make sure that the doctor and the soldiers are safe from harm during the exchange,"


"The Korean Alpha shall stay on their place until the 'go' signal has been commanded." The Commander added, "Remember that the success of this mission lies with the communication and teamwork of each one. A small flaw of the execution of this mission shall mean the downfall of everyone. For now, that would be our initial plan, but it would change depending on the circumstances that we are still about to gather. Are there any questions regarding this matter?"


"No sir," everyone replied.


"Then we're set to pack up. Korean Alpha shall be the first batch of Black Ops to travel tonight. We would also need the Doctor's phone to monitor all incoming calls," The Commander said, finally dismissing everyone.

Si Jin and Dae Young bid goodbye to the rest of their team members before they left the room and departed for Bulqize, while the Albanian Alpha Team prepared for the next vehicle. A soldier of the intelligence team took Yun Gi's phone and attached a microchip to it, "This