The Well Church 3
After dispatching the rescue team to the site, Section Chief Choi pinpointed the location of the cave based on the intelligence gathered by his agents. He sent a drone to the hills near Agirestan, but it failed to detect any movement. "Where the hell are these guys?" Choi grumbled. A Starlink Aviation staffer replied, "Perhaps they've retreated into the cave to escape the midday sun. Let's wait a bit longer." Choi kept the drone hovering over the hills while monitoring for the hostages' location. Five hours later, news arrived that the rescue team had reached the vicinity, and the drone, low on fuel, returned to Bagram Airfield.
"How long for refueling?"
"Thirty minutes. But since it’s been flying for so long, we need to perform a brief inspection..."
"We have no choice. The mission is impossible without the drone, so proceed with the inspection."
While the drone was being serviced, Choi focused on the intelligence streaming in from the field. An agent in contact with the negotiation team reported urgently. "Chief, we have intelligence that the Taliban have moved up their schedule and intend to execute the hostages tonight."
"Those bastards are doing everything they can to corner us."
"There is also intelligence that they are holding the hostages in separate groups of men and women."
"Hmm... If I were the Taliban, I’d keep the women in the village and the men in the cave."
"Chief, we have information on the village of Agirestan."
"What is it?"
"The Taliban are staying at the village chief's house. It’s said the chief is buying and transporting large quantities of food to entertain his guests."
"Did you get the location of the chief's house?"
"Yes. It’s the largest house in the village, right in front of the town square."
"Then we just need to find the cave."
Choi waited anxiously for the drone to be serviced so he could confirm the hostages' location. Two hours later, as soon as the maintenance was finished, the Starlink staff launched the drone and sent it straight to the hills. Since there was no movement in the dark hills, Choi redirected it to Agirestan, where the intelligence had originated. Having already identified the chief's house via satellite, he switched the drone's electro-optical camera to infrared mode. However, he couldn't confirm the presence of hostages from the roof. Despite the late hour, he spotted two men standing guard at the entrance of the house, and he made his decision.
"The chief's house seems correct. Let's move the drone back to the hills."
As the drone returned to the hills, something presumed to be a vehicle was approaching at high speed. "Chief Choi, a vehicle is moving toward the hills."
"Let's follow it with the drone."
While the drone tracked the vehicle, Choi picked up his radio and contacted the rescue team waiting nearby. "This is Nest. Gamma Team, come in!"
"This is Gamma Team!"
"A vehicle is moving toward your position. Do you see it?"
"Yes. It’s moving toward a shack next to the hills. Monitor its movements!"
The vehicle didn't go to the hills but to a shack nearby. As people stepped out of the car, someone emerged from the shack. "Damn it! It wasn't the hills, it was the shack." The man from the shack greeted the man from the car, and they went inside. For a long while, there was no movement. Then, the door opened, and several people dragged someone out and forced them into the vehicle.
"Can you identify the person being dragged out?"
"No. It's too dark. And looking at the silhouette, it seems they have something over their face."
Choi had no choice but to follow the vehicle. After thirty minutes, it stopped near a highway.
"Are they going to execute them right here?"
The men got out of the car, dragged the person from the back seat, and moved them to the front of the vehicle. Using the headlights as a spotlight, the Taliban began filming. They forced the man, presumably a hostage, to his knees, and a masked man shouted something for a long time. A moment later, the masked man removed the hostage's hood. The Starlink staffer captured the face illuminated by the lights with the drone's camera and spoke to Choi.
> Initiating facial recognition program.
> Generating facial fingerprint...
As the program automatically created a facial fingerprint from the node data on the screen, it began comparing it against the database. "It is presumed to be Seong Min-seok. Accuracy is 89%."
After removing the hostage's hood, the Taliban shouted something, drew their rifles, and fired at the man presumed to be Seong Min-seok. The hostage collapsed to the side, and the Taliban immediately boarded the car and drove off. Seeing the hostage fall, Choi cursed under his breath. "Follow that vehicle."
The Starlink staff were horrified to see a man killed for the first time, but at Choi’s command, they snapped out of it and began manipulating the controls to track the vehicle. Choi steadied the staff, and fortunately, they regained their composure and operated the terminal. The vehicle traveled to the village of Agirestan, stopped at the chief's house, and the men went inside. Choi picked up the phone to report.
"Director, one more hostage, presumed to be Seong Min-seok, has been executed."
"Fortunately, we have confirmed that hostages are being held at the chief's house in Agirestan and at a shack in the nearby hills. I would like to initiate the rescue operation immediately."
"They say they will not negotiate for anything other than the release of the Taliban."
Having received the order from the NIS Director, Choi radioed the rescue team. "Rescue team, respond. This is Nest." The three rescue teams responded, and Choi announced the start of the operation. "Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie teams, confirm the locations of the hostages I just sent and begin the rescue operation. Above all, the safety of the hostages is the priority, so be careful."
The rescue operation was