Embassy

Having landed in the airport in Kabul, I was feeling a strange sense of excitement.

Well, it wasn't that strange if you think about it, going on an adventure in a foreign land, exploring the cuisine and sightseeing its capital, going on a mission to save a filthy rich guy so you can mooch of him and many other interesting things.

As for the specifics of said rich guys kidnapping, apparently some organisation called the ten rings broadcasted publicly that they kidnapped him when he landed in Afghanistan for some buisness related matters, and from what I heard from the system, its to put pressure on some other rich people. Needless to say, the kidnapping sent waves throughout the world and it has been one of the most discussed topics in the entire world. 

Anyways, all in all, as soon as I walked out of the plane, I went to find my backpack with the food and water in it. No odd things happened like having my stuff stolen, like it used to happen in my previous life, and I walked out of the crowded airport with a smile on my face.

Looking at the city center, with some high rise buildings sticking out like sore thumbs, and then at the rest of the cities buildings not exceeding 2 or 3 floors, I started heading towards the city centre. The mountains in the background, covered at their very tops with snow, made for an interesting scenery.

Touring the city at a relaxed pace, I sat down in a nearby park, fleshing out my plan of actions for the rescue. 

'First, gather Intel, I need to find where he's held, then I'd need to scout the place to see if there was anything dangerous for me there and to determine whether I could just bum rush that place or not.'

'Next, get to the hideout or whatever it is, considering that this was entirely foreign territory to me, I would probably need a guide or two to help me figure out how to get from place to place. Maybe a vehicle or something so that I can get there easier if its possible.:

'Next, how to get stark, and any other captives if there were any, out of there safely. After all they're normal humans so they would probably starve to death if they were forced to run through the middle of nowhere for days on end... Maybe I could just let them hide in the cave after I eradicate the ten rings guys while I would go call help?'

'Meh, ill cross that bridge when I get to it, no point thinking about the future if its uncertain.'

<Wow, I didn't expect you to randomly say something smart for once.>

Ignoring the insult... Or the praise? I asked myself how the hell would i gather Intel on a terrorist base that was located in the middle of nowhere.

Honestly, other than just figuring out the place where it is, I could also try to join them and to find out their base like that. Although then arises the issue of, what if they have multiple bases or if you had to prove your loyalty in some annoying way before you would be permitted to join them.

I guess... I'd need to start as soon as possible. Rumors should prove pretty valuable for such things, so the first stop is just moving around the markets and see if I'd overhear anything useful. 

Actually, no, I had a better idea! 

Changing directions, I started heading towards the American embassy, with the idea of finding out as much as I could from there. 

My reasoning for it was simple, not only would there be countless tourists there right now trying to find out how to get home as quickly as possible after that incident, it would also require a lot less effort than trying to find out info from the locals due to the language barrier in place. 

Having spent 15 minutes walking to it at a relaxed pace, I entered the building before sitting down nearby and started to think how to approach gathering information. Yet no more than 5 minutes had passed before someone was asking people around the embassy about the incident?

Stealthily following behind the person that was doing the work I needed to do, 30 minutes later they turned yet another corner of the embassy. Not thinking too much about it, I followed an odd 15 seconds later. 

Exactly as I turned the corner, the man's stern voice resounded in front of me. 

"Why are you following me?"

Wow, he apparently had caught on. Professional acting skills, go! 

"Oh, hi there, I saw you were investigating the stark guys kidnapping so I just followed you around as I wanted to learn more about the entire incident." I replied while looking at the Man. 

"Huh???" 

"Yeah, I want to know as much about it as I can. I'm a civilian who came here on vacation, and I only heard about it as I landed. Needless to say I want to avoid their entire territory since I don't want to get my ass shot, you know?" as I said that, I slowly reached for my pocket under the man's wary gaze, pulling out a crumpled ticket and my passport." Look, here's my passport as well and I even have my ticket still on myself, although it's a bit crumpled."

"I...okay I guess I was too sensitive then. The gist is that the convoy that Stark was on was ambushed by them, but thats not the issue. The issue is that it happened while he was going to the nearby US army base. That stirred up the entirety of the US forces stationed here, yet they can't really do anything as it would endanger Starks life if they act recklessly, with the addition of them being clueless on where Stark is being held as the ten rings have multiple bases in these areas." the man explained in detail. 

"I see, and where was the place where the convoy was attacked located? Or more specifically, wheres the ten rings territory, so i can avoid that place. " 

"The North of the city has connections to the ten rings, so stay clear of it, and the entire area north of Kabul is controlled by them, with almost all their bases being there. If that's all then I'll be going, and don't follow people randomly like this again, or you could get into life threatening trouble, got it?" the man warned me sternly. 

"Got it, got it, I won't do it again, and thank you for your help." turning around after thanking the man, I walked away while waving at the confused guy. 

Having spent an additional ten minutes loitering around the embassy thinking about what to do and trying to see if I'd have any other interesting or lucky encounters, I gave up after I had no luck with that endeavour. 

Like that, I left the embassy and proceeded towards the south of the city for a quick fifteen minute long exploration, as a reference to compare it to the north, controlled by the rings, later. 

Lively streets and plenty of people active, mostly smiling or neutral expressions, got it. 

With that out of the way, I turned towards the North of the city.