Commence Operation Lost Delta

13:00

Indian Naval Base, Goa 

16 people wearing full combat gear were waiting in a large hall. The hall was totally empty, other than a podium kept on a small platform. And there was a big monitor on the wall behind the podium. All of them were carrying SKS rifles with a 1911 pistol as their sidearm. Suddenly, 9 SNA soldiers enter the room. All of them in their black and red combat gear. They were carrying AK-12s with a standard-issue Glock-19 as their sidearm. Without talking to anyone, they moved to a corner of the hall and stayed there.

In Admiral Agarwal's office room, Lt. Malhotra was arguing with him while Lt. Kumar was standing quietly.

Lt. Malhotra says, "Sir, how could you do this? Why did you give the leadership of the operation to that kid? He's an outsider and a kid."

Admiral Agarwal says, "Listen, Atharva. You need to calm down. It's their OP in the first place. We're the ones who requested that they let us accompany them."

"But, sir, he's still a kid. I don't think he's anymore than 24."

"The 'kid' that you're talking about has faced more combat than you. Remember the Rooppur incident last year?"

"The one where the SNA was able to take down one of the leaders of the NWO?"

"Yeah, that one. It was he who led that op. And it was his first mission. He has only been on active duty for just over a year, but he has already taken down two of the seven NWO leaders. You shouldn't take him lightly."

The conversation doesn't exactly convince him, but still, Lt. Malhotra decides it would be better not to argue with the Admiral about it anymore.

He says, "Let's go, Nehal."

Both of them leave the admiral's office. While going towards the hall, Nehal says, "You know, I don't exactly like that dude too. But for now, I guess it would be better for us to follow him rather than argue amongst ourselves for leadership."

Lt. Malhotra nods but doesn't say anything. They entered the hall and began gathering their squad in one place.

In a changing room, Sohel and his squad were gearing up when Sohel got a call. Sohel moves to the side and takes out his phone. He sees that it was Ann who was calling him. He picks up the call and says, "Yeah, Ann."

"Hello, how's it going on the field?"

"Everything's going smoothly for now. What about you? How's Artemis?"

"I landed in New Eden a few hours ago. Thankfully, no one touched Artemis while we were gone. So, I should be able to join you with Artemis by tonight."

"That's good to hear. Keep up the good work, Ann. Counting on you."

Ann chuckles and says, "Good bye."

The call cuts.

As he gets back, Naomi asks, "What did Ann say?"

"She'd be able to join us by tonight."

Jacob says, "What's she gonna do in the meantime? Play with her toys?"

Mitali rolls her eyes and says, "Her playing with toys is actually more helpful than your being here."

Naomi adds with a mischievous smile on her face, "It's at least better than being the court jester."

Everyone laughs.

Jacob runs to Sohel and says, "Brother, help me."

Sohel controls his laugh and says, "Come on, girls. Don't tease him too much. Every team needs a comedian."

"Not you too, brother," says Jacob in a hurt tone.

Everyone laughs again.

Mitali says, "Hey, look. They finally gave us an emblem."

She turns and shows her right sleeve. There was an emblem in the same place where the SNA emblem is on the left sleeve. The emblem was a white skull splashed with red, green and yellow paint, with two bloody knives crossed behind it.

Naomi checks her right sleeve and says, "Ohh. Didn't notice it before. Took them a whole year to design it. Well, better late than never."

Sohel says, "Don't forget. We weren't a full squad until Mitali's graduation in December. I'd say two months is a good amount of time."

13:20

Indian Naval Base, Goa 

Sohel and his squad get into the hall one by one. Sohel had his helmet in his hands. The moment the SNA soldiers saw him, they fell in line, and one man came up to him and saluted him.

The man says, "Sir, my squad is now officially under your command. Whatever you want us to do, just give us a word."

Sohel says, "Thank you."

The man goes back to the SNA's file and stands in front of them.

By then, other soldiers were also on file. The hall now had four files. From left to right, the first one was of the SNA, the second one was of the Indian Navy led by Lt. Malhotra, the third one was of Lt. Kumar, and the last one was of the Bravo squad.

Sohel gets straight to the podium and starts talking, "Good afternoon, soldiers. I'm Captain Ghost. I've been assigned the leader of this operation."

The island's bird's-eye view shows up on the monitor behind Sohel.

"For the past nine days, mysterious disappearances have taken place on this island. Our job is to land on this island, investigate what's happening there, where the disappeared people are, rescue them if they are alive, and finally take care of the cause of this situation. There are four squads of us. So, we'll land on four corners of the island and make our way to the administration building in the middle of the island. This way, we can search for the missing personnel on our way. Do any of you have any preference regarding where you want to land?"

Lt. Kumar raises his hand.

"Yes, Lt. Kumar."

"Sir, it would be better if my squad took the west side. We've been specially trained to operate in forests."

"hmm. Okay then. Lt. Kumar's squad will land in the west. Lt. Malhotra's squad will land on the pier on the south, the SNA squad will land on the north, and my squad will land on the air strip on the east. I would also like to give you all temporary call signs for this mission. SNA's squad will be known as Seeker 1, Lt. Malhotra's squad will be known as Seeker 2, and Lt. Kumar's squad will be known as Seeker 3. Each squad member will be designated by their squad call sign and a number from 1 to 9. Like Lt. Malhotra will be called Seeker 2-1, his second in command as Seeker 2-2, and so on."

Sohel looks at the Bravo squad's file and says, "We don't need any call signs as we already have one. As for Mitali, who doesn't, she will go as her original call sign, Bravo-5."

Sohel looks at all of them and asks, "That's all for the briefing. Any questions?"

Everyone replies at once, "No, Captain."

"Good. Then we move in 10 minutes. Operation Lost Delta is a go."