Rhett's POV

The moment we landed here, our senses became on high alert. We all felt uneasy. Normally, we would abandon this mission and re-group, but at the last moment, intel had come saying that there were two American prisoners. It could be a trap, but if there was the slightest chance it was true, we had to save them. Yoong led the way and I brought up the rear. We made sure to keep Kyou extra safe. We wouldn't allow his child to grow up without a father or his wife without a husband. All we had were ourselves and the limited weapons we had. We hadn't been prepared for this sudden ambush. We took cover, covering each other's backs. We took our rest when we could. We were covered by the forest of trees and soon, nightfall came. We were all exhausted, but we still kept our senses sharp. We rotated sleeping shifts. Our jet was due to land in exactly twenty-four hours. If we missed it, we were on our own. They would only wait 5 minutes tops in this dangerous territory.

"What's our stock?" Yoong came up.

We were both a bit sore, especially after not recovering fully.

"Not as bad as I thought. Still got grenades, flash and smoke. Magazines, we're okay for now. Got a rocket launcher from one of the enemies we killed and some extra magazines and other stuff. Still got our trusty knives as always" I said.

He sat down and winced. He had been grazed, but our emergency first aid kit patched him up some.

"Could our intel have been that bad?"

"I don't know, L, but we surely can't trust anyone else" I said and he nodded.

2 hours later, me and him went to take some rest.

Yoong's POV

We crept slowly up at the compound. We had all researched thoroughly of the guards' positions. Whatever was inside was valuable, or just made to look like it. Either way, we had to breach it. Our mission here had been simple: take care of everyone inside. But now things had been turned sideways with the new information of prisoners. Nothing ever went according to plan, sadly. I nodded to my teammates, and we paired off. I kept Kyou close to me. I made sure he would at least return. 

"L, they got eight guards shifting rotations. Looks like they change shifts every 8 hours. Ash and I can take care of the first group, but no telling what that might trigger"

We had the most advanced high-tech gear the world could offer, even before it was on the market. It was necessary and some were prototypes. I gave a stand back signal for now and carefully watched for any other movement inside the compound. But time wasn't on our side so I gave the go ahead. As Ash's team distracted, Kyou and I slipped inside. The others would watch and report any movement. We could hear the alarms sounding and I cursed. We sped up, clearing every room, both of us watching our backs. As ordered, we took out everyone we saw. Then we came to a room and saw two young children, a boy and a girl. They looked sedated and malnourished. I didn't even think about what they had done to them. I nodded to Kyou and we each took one of them.

"I got two kids, a boy and a girl. Sedated, it seems like" I whispered into my mic.

"Come out, L. We got company. Must be reinforcements" Rhys said.

He had an urgent tone and we both rushed out of there, using one hand to fire while the kids were slung over our shoulders. We met with our team and they covered for us. We disappeared into the dark forest, going deep. We got onto high ground, climbing up trees. 

"Make sure they don't got trackers" I ordered and my men quickly searched their bodies.

"L, look at this" Rhett had an angry voice.

I walked over and saw what had made him angry. There were burn marks as well as marks that looked like whips on their bodies. I exhaled. The two had been tortured. But why? They were just children. Maybe sixteen at the most. What worried me was that we couldn't make contact. We had lost our satellite phone during the ambush. At this rate, we would miss our extraction time and we would be stuck here and that was dangerous. I took out a map and was worried. The nearby village was at least thirty miles out and who could we trust there? For all we knew, our enemy had people there too. But there was no choice. Our priority was getting the kids to safety. We had to risk it.

We went at dawn. We had only a few hours left before our extraction time. We covered each other as best as we could while protecting the kids. They were still asleep. We had to move quickly as possible. Soon, we saw a village near ahead. This must be the village. But it was deserted. We frowned, wondering why it was so empty. As we searched, we found scorched marks. Someone had set a fire to this village. Covering our mouths, we tried to find anyone here. Or a phone. But after searching, there was nothing. We heard gunfire.

"! L, we got company!"

We were forced to take cover with what little we had. There were trucks, and we hid as we were bombarded. We threw a cover over the kids, hoping the enemies would be distracted by us to notice them. We fired in a spray motion. We took out the first wave.

"L, I think I see a phone. I'm going to try to make a run for it"

"We're under too much fire, Rhys. Stand down. I repeat, stand down" I ordered.

"We're going to die at this rate. We need to risk this" He replied.

He took off before I could respond and I cursed.

"Cover his !"

We moved closer and grabbed some rifles from the enemies that we had killed. We emptied our clips.

"I got it!"

He ran back towards us as we covered as best we could. Ash and I grew some grenades, knocking some out. 

"This is Icarus. We are under fire at a village. I repeat, this is Icarus. We need immediate extraction"

There was some static. I hoped the message had gone through. 

"I just hope you didn't send a message to the enemy, mate" Rhett said.

Nobody's POV

"Sir, we just received a communication!"

The Secretary of the Navy jumped up.

"This is...Icarus...under...fire...village...need...extraction..."

The message was not coming through clearly, but they understood it.

"Get me a damn map and get the hawks over there!" He ordered.

People worked quickly to send support. He just prayed they would make it there in time.

Back in Syria, Yoong's team were running out of ammo and grenades. Just when they were about to be overcome, helicopters appeared and machine guns were heard as they fired at the enemy. They all breathed a sigh of relief and almost laughed. A couple of the helicopters landed.

"Need some help?"

They loaded onto the helicopters and took the kids with them. The helicopters soared as the others provided backup as they were flown back to a US navy base nearby.

~~~~~~~

Taeyeon's POV

It had been five days since then. Yuri was a wreck, although she pretended to be okay. Sica was monitoring Kenzi closely. We could hear her worry as she tried to be strong. We were with our families at home. Taco was sad and whimpered now and then. Then suddenly, he got up, racing to the door and barking. We were confused at this sudden change.

"Kyou!"

Kenzie struggled to get up and he laughed, hugging her.

Taco barked and barked and we saw Yoong. He smiled and pet his dog. Yuri's and his gaze met. Yuri almost ran straight to him and she hugged him so tight, I thought she would choke him to death. Kyou and Yoong were both covered in cuts and bruises, but otherwise seemed fine. 

"I thought I lost you" Yuri whispered, crying.

He just smiled sadly, not letting her go either.

"They probabaly should rest. They've probably been through hell" Sica said, a smile of relief on her face.

We also greeted the two with relief, happy they were okay. Now Yuri and Kenzie would be able to rest in peace.