The meeting ended just after 9 o'clock, leaving nearly 20 hours until the operation.
The members of the action teams, whether it was Alpha Team that was responsible for providing cover or Bravo Team that was carrying out the assault, had already prepared to engage in combat as soon as they boarded the aircraft.
This meant that for the next several hours, until the one-hour assembly for the operation, everyone had nothing to do.
Under the first-level combat readiness, leaving the base for "shopping" in the city was impossible.
Everyone had to patiently stay at the base.
Long Zhan had intended to have a heart-to-heart with Mandy to resolve their misunderstandings and get to know this senior CIA intelligence officer when he was at the DEVGRU headquarters conference room.
Now, with nothing to do, staying idle at the base was just a waste of time.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Bravo Team members were busy with their own tasks, some napping, some walking their military dogs, and others like Clay playing with various high-tech equipment, Long Zhan made two cups of coffee using the coffee machine, adding two packets of sugar to each, and found Mandy, who was daydreaming alone in the conference room.
"You seem a bit out of sorts. Have you been working too hard lately? Here, a cup of coffee to cheer you up."
Long Zhan displayed his natural charm. Despite this being their first verbal exchange, he spoke as if they were old friends.
"Thank you!"
Mandy looked up and upon noticing that it was Long Zhan, who impressed her with his performance today, she accepted the hot cup of coffee without hesitation.
"I’m really sorry about what happened in the Killing House last time. I hope you can forgive me. If you're still unsatisfied, I can let you hit me back, but only if you can actually land a hit, because I’ve learned Tyson's butterfly step recently, I’m as fast as lightning."
Long Zhan's teasing tone, combined with his exaggerated dodging movements, made Mandy unable to hold back her laughter.
"You have a beautiful smile, like a star at night, captivating yet mysterious."
Long Zhan generously threw out another compliment. Women were generally the same when it came to this, sweet words often worked wonders.
Most of the men in the base were married, and the only single man, Sonny, had his eyes on Davis. Mandy's job as an "intelligence officer" was unique, and it likely meant that it had been a long time since a man had praised her like this.
Now, being so boldly complimented by Long Zhan made Mandy feel a bit shy, and she could only drink her coffee to cover it up.
As she took a sip, her gaze towards Long Zhan became more complex.
Mandy liked to add two packets of sugar to her coffee, a habit quite different from most people, and the coffee Long Zhan brought her happened to meet this preference.
Was it a coincidence? Or was it intentional?
Mandy couldn't tell, but one thing she was sure of was that her mood had greatly improved after their brief interaction.
With her mood lightened, her perception of Long Zhan had completely shifted.
As their conversation deepened, discussing the various interesting things from their daily lives, the previous barriers between them dissipated.
By noon, they agreed to have lunch together at the base and took a walk after dinner.
Their relationship progressed smoothly. While they weren't yet close friends, at least they had become acquaintances who could greet each other with a smile.
...
At 2:30 AM!
After a few hours of sleep, Teams Alpha and Bravo all got up and entered the base's departure assembly point to begin the final preparations for the operation.
This was a necessary process before every mission.
On one hand, they needed to check all equipment and gear to ensure nothing had been tampered with or damaged, ensuring everything would function properly during the operation.
For example, checking if the infrared night vision goggles were fully charged, whether the IR laser pointer was operational, and so on.
Electronic devices can sometimes malfunction for no apparent reason.
On the other hand, they needed to make some temporary special adjustments to certain equipment and armor to better suit the designated operational method.
For this operation, which involved infiltration, the primary consideration was concealment.
Thus, they needed to check their weapons and ammunition to ensure they had switched to subsonic rounds, which significantly reduced gunfire noise. If they had not, they needed to change them promptly.
Items like grenades attached to tactical vests could easily get caught on something during nighttime operations. There was a risk of the safety pin getting pulled out.
Therefore, they used cheap yet effective black tape to wrap a few layers around the upper part of the grenades, covering the safety pins beneath the tape.
They also checked if the silencers were tightened, whether the combat environment was suitable for wearing bulky ballistic vests, and if they had prepared mixed tracer rounds for nighttime operations...
There were many such preparations, covering various "unnoticeable" details.
However, these seemingly insignificant preparations were the valuable experiences accumulated by counter-terrorism special forces over the course of decades.
The formidable combat capability of special forces is built on the foundation of numerous "insignificant" details.
At 3:30 AM!
A rumbling sound came from the base's main gate as it retracted upwards.
"Let's go!"
Jason shouted, and the “scuba van” started up once again.
Seven men, either tall, fit and strong, or stocky and sturdy, all fully armed, were quite a challenge to fit into the 4-meter-long van.
Fortunately, due to the constraints of the operation’s combat environment, with the doors inside the target building being relatively narrow, and the fact that entering the second floor required climbing, meant that they couldn't carry heavy backpacks loaded with over 60 pounds of combat supplies.
Instead, they had tactical backpacks that were about the size of a school bag, allowing them to carry essential items for CQB operations, such as plastic explosives, equipment batteries, and emergency medical supplies.
Without the seven bulky backpacks taking up the already limited space, the Bravo Team members could just barely squeeze into the van.
After about 20 minutes of progress at a snail’s speed, the scuba van, creaking and groaning, finally arrived outside of Lionheart’s town.
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