8 A Grande Entrance

They arrived at Zamboanga port around 1600 hrs. It was the expected time of arrival for them. An officer of the Navy was waiting for them. Revo was the first one to get off the truck as the truck stopped near the BRP Tarlac that was docked at the port. The officer walked towards Revo, who was the first one to go out of the truck.

Revo saluted and said "Hello Sir, I am Technical Sergeant Revo of the Philippine Marines" And the officer nodded "So you are the detachment that is to be transported to Jolo am I right" And Revo looked at the officer and said "Yes, Sir" after replying to the last question of the officer.

The other squad members just got out of the truck. "I have my team ready, sir," Revo stated as he felt they were all behind him.

And when Revo turned around, they all looked like they were covering their faces. Even the officer that was in front of them give a bit of chuckle, and Revo almost burst out in laughter. "What are you guys even wearing right now?" he asked as he was looking at them weirdly.

"Sir, we need to cover our faces so that no one will take our pictures." Servo 2 stated. And then Revo replied, "You know that you only made yourselves a primary target for pictures because of what you guys been doing.

You are just attracting people to get suspicious of you. Remove those masks and shades." Revo turned around and fix the duffel bag that he was shouldering. After that, they entered the BRP Tarlac, and as expected, they separated the enlisted from the officers.

The travel from Zamboanga port to Jolo was around 6-5 hours. And with that the BRP Tarlac arrived at Jolo around 22000 hrs.

They docked at the port of Jolo and Revo and the others bid a farewell to the commander of the BRP Tarlac for the lift and then they got picked up by the 12th Marine Battalion logistics. "Hello, Technical Sergeant Revo." The Sergeant welcomes them with open arms as they are guided to the military truck of the 12th Marine Battalion.

"Sir, upon entering the Military base the commanding officer is calling for you" the Sergeant had a different type of accent when speaking in English. "Is that so, then shall we?" Revo said as he goes to the back of the truck and as he was about to hop in there was a hand that has offered to him and it was a woman Staff Sergeant.

And when Revo looked up, he saw the Staff sergeant and upon looking at her. Revo eyes suddenly hurt and he rather covers his left eye.

``What the heck it hurts. I was not lusting on her why arggh`` Revo backed a bit and so the Staff sergeant goes down of the truck meanwhile the other squad member hops on the truck. Servo 2 and 3 looked at their group squad leader that was approached by the woman Staff sergeant.

"Please, I can take care of this," Revo said as he goes up at the ramp of the truck. Servo 2 and 3 felt a bit worried about their group squad leader.

But then the Staff Sergeant was quite worried about Revo even though she didn't know him fully. After the truck, move towards the base.

They enter the base peacefully. There were no attacks recently in the jungle, even in the villages there were no signs of enemy passings. And because of that, the Marine battalion got worried because the known group in Jolo was mostly aggressive ones.

The truck stopped at the parade grounds of the marine base. Revo was the first one to get out of the truck and head towards the Marine commanding officer's office.

Meanwhile, the other members of the Alpha team is introduced to their barracks. Some of the normal Marine soldiers were looking at them as they seem the Alpha team was wearing a bit of darker pigment of the uniform. And so there were some attracted to their role in the base.

Revo knocked on the door after knocking 3 times. Revo heard a rough tone of voice saying "Enter" and Revo entered. First, he saluted at the Lieutenant Colonel that was looking at the document that was on his table.

"I heard many things about you Technical Sergeant Revo, and the Alpha Team you have been with. But I am also fond of the training you have endured in the MARSOG and I am proud of it. The task we have here is a onetime strike. We heard from an intelligence source that the enemy has been planning multiple attacks across the entire island and destroying and cutting its connection from mainland Mindanao. As the Commanding officer that is stationed here, we asked the Mindanao command to send us some MARSOG operators. And luckily we have the Alpha Team that is on standby."

And the Lieutenant colonel handed an envelope. "I will be the head of this operation. You are the secondary officer on the ground. Within a specified time alotted for this mission,"

After that, Revo grabbed the envelope and replied, "I will brief the team about the mission we are going to take under this battalion and we will succeed on this mission you have given us. Thank you, Sir" the Lieutenant colonel nodded.

Revo then walked towards the barracks that were assigned for the Alpha Team upon entering. They were in their free time. Servo 1 and 2 were cleaning their weapons. Servo 3 and 4 were checking their pieces of equipment, and Servo 5 and 6 were cleaning the barracks. And when Revo entered the barracks. Servo 1 stood up and said. "Group Squad leader on deck attention!" Revo looked at them and said.

"We are going to the briefing room prepare and be ready for this mission" All of them nodded and Revo dropped his bag at the bunk that was assigned to him. After that, Revo walked out, and the rest of the Alpha Team followed him. They entered a room that phones are not allowed, so they left it outside.

And when they enter there were some Staff Sergeant that was preparing for the mission and the Lieutenant colonel was also there. Revo stood in front of them and the team sat on the chairs that were open for them. After that, Revo began pointing on the map where each of them was to be positioned.

"Alright, I have gotten the mission that was offered to us. We are doing a nighttime reconnaissance on a compound a few clicks away from this base that compound is a holding outbuilding for a planned attack on the whole island by an armed militant group that is headed by Al Hemeim Masad of the Kalif Armed group, Reco Malki one of the bomb experts in 2000. Local people have sighted these two people on this island. And sadly, the forces on this island are not sure if the information is real, so we are conducting reconnaissance on the compound. Upon finding that the two HVT is on the compound, the Head operation officer. The Lieutenant colonel will give us either the Green Light to execute plan A, which is to capture two of the HVT and clear the compound, or Plan B of the Green-Light Kill the two HVT inside the compound. And then if it's Red Light there will be also two plans, Plan A is to retreat and then call for immediate help from the entire base and before engaging the enemy, or Plan B retreat and just verify the location of the HVT's."

All of them nodded as they understood the mission details. "We will move at 01000 hrs so better get ready after an hour and we will be moving. Our primary Infil in the area is a car and not an armored one. It will be too noticeable if we move in with an armored personnel carrier in the area."

After that, Revo nodded and said "dismissed"

After an hour, all of them were ready and their gears were on them. Revo was the lead, so he is the first one to say.

[Radio: Alpha H ready and communication are now open] after saying that on the radio, Servo 1 followed with.

[Radio: Alpha 1 ready and communication ready]

[Radio: Alpha 2 ready, lock-in and loaded and communication ready]

[Radio: Alpha 3 ready for this mission and communication ready]

[Radio: Alpha 4 ready 1st sniper and communication ready]

[Radio: Alpha 5 ready and communication ready]

[Radio: Alpha 6 ready 2nd sniper and communication ready]

After that, Revo nodded, and he drove the convoy off the base. They first go around the city so that they were not people that will look at what they supposed to be doing. After a few turns and circling, Revo goes to the village area target.

[Radio: Dragon, this is Alpha H. We are clear to Salvation over]

The lieutenant colonel replied with [Radio: Alpha H clear for Salvation over] after that the Lieutenant colonel points the Salvation codename on the board, which means the convoy has left the city and heading towards the village.

After that, the convoy reached the village and Revo once again notify the headquarters.

[Radio: Dragon, this is Alpha H. We are clear to Monster over]

The lieutenant colonel replied with [Radio: Alpha H clear for Monster over]after that, the Lieutenant colonel points the Monster codename on the board, which means the convoy has entered the village and proceeds to their target.