H-hour minus two hours, 2:30 AM.
Southwest outskirts of Bayji, in the barren desert area.
The mercenaries of the second battalion silently infiltrated forward under the cover of night and terrain.
In the darkness, these elite mercenaries wearing desert ghillie suits and equipped with rifles and crossbows fitted with silencers, blended into the night with heavy face paint, as if they were part of the night itself, making it hard to distinguish them even with infrared reconnaissance equipment.
Wells personally led a Vanguard Group, using thermal imaging and low-light night vision devices, to precisely locate and clear out two forward observation posts set up by the 1515 in the southwest.
The process was clean and swift, almost without making any sound.
Only the slight friction sound of a dagger slitting a throat and the dull thud of a body hitting the ground, quickly dispersed by the night wind.
A secure path was rapidly cleared.
