Niki's excitement didn't last two hours.
Because Thom came to report again.
"Major, they've entered the town and seem to have switched vehicles, we've lost sight of them!"
"How is that possible?!"
Niki turned to look at the drone footage.
The MQ-1 Predator was still in the air, its camera pointed at the town.
But one look at the footage, and Niki knew there was a big problem.
The Afghan border town nestled among the rolling hills was a crucial node for border trade.
Though the town was small and the streets narrow, a bustling crowd surged through it like a raging tide.
The streets were congested with traffic, and pedestrians were everywhere. Because the town was on a highland where ultraviolet rays were ferocious, the street vendors liked to set up shades to block the sun.
This meant that from the air, even the roads were often invisible, with just the occasional glimpse of a moving vehicle's roof through the gaps.