The following morning, everyone boarded the helicopter and went toward Black Swan's base. Steve asked James and his team to not accompany them as things could get heated with him being there.
There was only Steve, Cho and Drac transporting Hamza and his three friends along with a native pilot that Syiara barely convinced to act as the pilot. Hamza was much more relaxed after their last night's talk, he was enjoying boarding the largest helicopter which he had only seen from a distance.
The first time, they were blindfolded and restrained but this time they could thoroughly enjoy the beauty of the King Stallion, the largest helicopter in the region. With a maximum capacity of over fifty personels the thing was a beast of the sky.
" Remember to not do anything stupid. Drac I am specifically telling you that and come back safe alright?" Suddenly Syiara radioed over to warn them. She still believed it was a foolish idea despite hearing Hamza's testimony. There were too many unknown factors that a three man squads couldn't deal with.
" We will. I will talk to you later and don't forget to wear something nice for our date." Drac teased.
" That's the best you are going to get....come back safe." She cut off the line whispering something that Drac couldn't discern. He put down the radio and pulled out their emergency equipment and started going over them one by one.
Hamza looked at the bulky and sophisticated arsenal and didn't know what to think about it. They were only going to drop him off, was there a reason why they needed this much firepower?
" Kid, what did I tell you yesterday? Always be prepared for anything. You and I may have come to an understanding but that doesn't include your father. Last I heard he was frantically running around in the desert searching for you, that's when he got the call from us." Steve paused.
" I didn't know.."
" A good father doesn't show his affection by talking, but by taking action. Imagine thinking your son is with a stranger, it's fine to get agitated and make a wrong move which is why we can't show any weakness before you explain everything to him." Hamza nodded. He did promise to resolve the conflict and intended to do so.
His friend came closer to ask what they were talking about, he also explained to them so they didn't cause any unnecessary commotion. If Steve was a sly person, he could have easily manipulated Hamza to do his bidding.
Few people armed to the teeth going inside someone else's home and even getting direct access to their leader? Wasn't that a simple recipe for disaster? Although, Steve and his men would have ultimately lost their lives but they would have accomplished their mission of gathering info and taking out the top brass of the organization.
It was Hamza's naiveness of not knowing much about the outside world but fortunately for him, Steve wasn't on a kamikaze mission at the moment. Same couldn't be said for people that were about to receive them.
After flying for about an hour, they were reaching the vicinity of their destination.
" How far are we?" Steve asked the pilot.
" Just few clicks away."
" Alright, do as we discussed. Don't miss anything." Steve commanded. He wasn't sure how they were about to be received which meant there was a possibility of him not being able to go inside the actual base.
He asked his team to install their high tier equipment under the helicopter so that they could easily take high quality visuals and audio to later decipher if they were truly connected to the people they were hunting.
After a few minutes, they came across a large gathering of people. Most of them looked like military aged men but there were few ladies tucked away in the back probably the families of Hamza and his friends.
They could also see a large convoy of vehicles lining up making a semi-circle around the landing zone which was also marked with an X symbol. It was a common vehicle in the region equipped with artillery rifles on the top that could potentially shoot a helicopter if it was flying at low altitude like their.
The pilot slowly landed the craft while Steve and his people readied their weapons. Hamza was excited to see his father but Steve stopped him and asked," Wait here first."
" Why?"
" It's dangerous for you to start running suddenly. Let us go out first and when I call you come out with your friends." Hamza decided to trust Steve.
" Just be ready, we don't know what going to happen alright?" He also asked the pilot but both knew if they started taking fire, there was no chance for the bulky helicopter to get away without crashing.
Steve exited with his rifle hanging from his shoulder and right after him, Drac and Cho jumped down the helicopter with their hands firmly placed on their own weapons.
Meanwhile Daris and Ahmed were excited to see someone exiting the helicopter but when they saw it was a bunch of armed men, his happy face turned cold again. Steve didn't care and walked slowly toward them and stopped few feets away.
He was being angrily stared at by fifty other people from young to old even children were not happy to see him.
" Are you Hamza's father?" Steve asked as soon as the helicopter stopped making sound.
" Where is he?" Daris asked calmly.
" He is here. It's just I don't like everyone pointing guns at me and my men, what if you go back on your words after seeing your son?"
There were only few that understood him but it only took one of them to point his AK upward for others to follow suit. Steve was now facing about thirty gun barrels right to his face but instead of being scared, he felt amused.
His identity was well known among the rogue groups and whenever he would destroy their bases they would recognize him and his men. If there were traitors among their group, they wouldn't refrain from shooting him on the spot. He might be dealing with a sneaky enemy but he was ninety percent sure they wouldn't show themselves in the open.
" Bring my son to me!" Daris on the other hand was starting to lose it.
" I will as long as I have your word that me and my men will not be harmed."
" Fine." Daris obliged as Steve send signal to release the hostages.
Hamza came running along with his friend, seeing them unharmed Daris was elated but Ahmed stopped him.
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