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"Fuck, that goddamn bastard."
Murphy ended the call and finally lost control, slamming his fist into a nearby tree to vent his anger.
Christensen's refusal to authorize early action essentially shifted all the operational risk onto the smaller recon team.
It was a good trade-off strategically—but a shitty deal for Murphy's team.
Seeing Murphy's grim expression, Dietz immediately understood what this meant. The most crucial part of the revised plan—the early launch of Operation Rick James—was now off the table.
With a sigh, he said, "Looks like we're in for a hell of a fight tonight. Good thing we came prepared."
As he spoke, he patted the bulging magazines on his chest, feeling the weight of hundreds of rounds and the comfort of his body armor. Dietz was genuinely grateful he'd gotten into that heated argument with Long Zhan.
If they had gone in wearing just light recon gear instead of full direct action loadouts…
He wasn't sure he'd be walking out alive.
"You should thank Long Zhan," Murphy said, recalling the moment, "He personally came to talk to me, told me to prep this gear. If not for him, you'd probably be rocking a plastic helmet."
Murphy couldn't help but feel a twinge of gratitude. If they made it back alive, Long Zhan would definitely be the one to thank the most.
"Oh my God, him again?"
Dietz widened his eyes in disbelief, thinking back to everything since meeting Long Zhan. He couldn't help but remark, "That guy really is something else.
He always does things differently from the rest of us, but somehow, the outcome is always the best possible one. It's unbelievable.
If the commander won't greenlight early action, maybe you should go talk to him. He might figure something out."
Dietz's suggestion snapped Murphy out of his thoughts.
"You're right. Long Zhan is a strange but brilliant guy. He'll think of something. You rest here—I'm going to find him."
With that, Murphy left Dietz and hurried toward Long Zhan's position.
Long Zhan, meanwhile, had finally climbed down from his perch in the tree. His butt had gone numb from sitting on a branch too long, and he was now stretching under the tree.
Murphy found him and quickly gave him a rundown of the phone call.
Christensen's refusal to move during daylight hours was a real problem. Long Zhan didn't want to be stuck here till nightfall, either—not if it meant a direct clash with Shah's Mountain Tiger guerrillas.
To keep himself and the team out of danger, Long Zhan had to think fast.
Solve the problem by identifying the pressure points.
Christensen's hesitation about launching a daytime op likely stemmed from two main concerns:
First, during daylight, villagers would be out and about. If the Quick Reaction Force assaulted the village of Kadaku and clashed with the Taliban, civilian casualties were almost inevitable.
If the BSOs (Battlefield Surveillance Officers) got hold of proof afterward, Christensen would have a political nightmare on his hands.
Second, a daylight raid would undercut the QRF's technological advantage—no way to sneak in, and taking out Shah and Taliq from among 200+ armed fighters would come at a high price.
If too many friendly forces got killed or injured, Christensen would have a hard time explaining the fallout up the chain of command.
Long Zhan realized these were the pressure points. He shifted his focus to exploiting them—and soon came up with a clever solution.
"Sir, I've got an idea. The question is—do you have the guts to go through with it?"
That phrasing was odd, a bit contradictory. Murphy didn't quite understand, but he was too anxious to care.
"If it solves the problem, I'll do whatever it takes."
Murphy had been best friends with Marcus for years and was close with Dietz and Matt too. They hung out all the time off-duty.
If it meant bringing his brothers home safe—and getting back in one piece to marry his fiancée—
Murphy would do *anything*.
Long Zhan read the determination in Murphy's eyes and said meaningfully, "We've observed some Taliban fighters in the village gathering up. There's a strong indication Shah might be preparing to leave the area. Reporting that would change everything."
"You're saying… I should *fabricate* intel?" Murphy asked in disbelief.
As the recon team lead on the ground, feeding false information back to command—that was something he'd *never* done.
Hadn't even *considered* doing.
"Fabricate? Where?"
Long Zhan grinned and replied matter-of-factly, "You *did* see Shah walking back and forth in the village with a bunch of guys, right?
We don't know what he's doing. So if I say I *suspect* they're mobilizing to leave—that's not a lie. That's actionable intel."
Long Zhan had used this kind of play before. It had worked out well last time.
This time the situation was even more contained. There weren't outside observers to deal with—no messy cleanup afterward.
The recon team was just five men. And they were all already in this together.
Risking their lives in a hopeless firefight against 200 militants, or submitting slightly exaggerated intel…
Life or death.
Long Zhan was sure everyone in Murphy's team would choose survival.
"You sneaky bastard."
Murphy laughed, thoroughly impressed. "That's a hell of a move. If I were Christensen and heard that, I wouldn't be able to hold back either.
If Shah slips away from here, it's practically impossible to find him again before Congress reconvenes. If he causes trouble during that time, Christensen's ass is grass.
But… your plan solves the problem, sure—but it's not exactly…"
"You get it better than I do."
If someone leaked the real story afterward, things could go south fast. Murphy added, "This isn't something the two of us can decide alone. Standard protocol—everyone votes."
If they were going to bullshit command, the most important thing was consistency in the story.
Even if it wasn't technically a breach of protocol, it would still count as an intel misreport—and that would bring heat if an investigation followed.
"Fair enough."
Long Zhan understood Murphy's concerns. After all, he was the team leader. Raising an eyebrow, he smirked, "If it comes down to showing up in court *alive*—or getting a flag draped over your coffin—I think they'll make the right call."
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