‘Do you know why we brought you here, Sergeant?’

  Benjamin Earl stood at attention. His body was rigid as he stood in front of two Lieutenant officers, Brown and Simmons. Ben stood at 6’3, he had a hulking physique, and his black hair was clean shaven and tidy like any soldier that joined the United States military. The perfect image of what a soldier should look like.

  The office was simple. A temporary building with a desktop fan blaring as it tried to combat the heat trapped inside while the air-conditioning unit remained broken as sand clogged its internal components. The table was a foldable desk, while they had simple plastic stacking chairs that seemed brand new. But its decorum couldn’t sedate the rising tension Ben felt as the officers eyed him intently.

  He was called in, separated from his platoon without an understanding as to why he would be singled out. Did he do something wrong? Was he unknowingly involved in something that could jeopardise his career? His mind raced to occasions where he might’ve done something wrong that could warrant an invitation to the officer’s quarters for a private debriefing. Ben glanced at the clock mounted on the wall. 0500, 30th of October, 2016. His heart calmed as he realised that he had arrived just in time.

  ‘No, sir,’ Ben sharply replied. Doing his best to hide the quiver in his voice.

  ‘At ease,’ Lieutenant Brown, an astucious man who refused to leave the Zabul region of Afghanistan unless the war was truly won. Said to Ben while he gestured for him to sit down at the chair across from their table. ‘You are not in trouble. We are here to give you a briefing on your mission.’

  ‘Permission to speak, sir,’ Ben replied. Brown gave him a nod for him to speak his mind freely. Well, as freely as any soldier would be allowed. ‘I was just briefed to go to Qalat yesterday with the rest of my platoon. Does this have to do with what I am already briefed about?’

  ‘No, this is entirely different,’ Simmons responded before he put down a file on the desk across from Ben. ‘We are having troubles in the area and we are putting together a team who can investigate and determine who is responsible for the ambushes. You’re tasked to neutralise them.’ Simmons tapped the file, ‘read everything here and give us your thoughts once you are done.’

  Ben opened the file to reveal pictures of a destroyed military convoy. It was an assortment of US and other Coalition Forces vehicles destroyed from what seemed to be an ambush. The file stated that every electronic component in those vehicles had been destroyed. Is the Taliban using EMP weaponry? Ben reasoned to himself as he continued looking over the strange report. Blood was found in the area, but no bodies or survivors were located near the points of the ambush. The more Ben read, the more it made no sense about how the convoys patrolling the Zabul area were destroyed. What caught his eyes were the damages on the vehicles. One picture showed three large gash marks on a Humvee driver’s door. The metal bended and distorted around the scratch mark. Yet there was no scorch mark or indication that any explosives were used.

  ‘This is strange, sir. It doesn’t seem like something the Taliban would do.’ Ben said as he pointed at one of the reports. ‘No ammunition or spent casings found in the areas of the ambushes. I can’t make out how any of this makes sense. In all honesty, they seem like fakes.’

  Brown nodded in agreement as he took the folder from Ben. ‘You wouldn’t be the first to say that. None of us understood who or what conducted those ambushes. Though we might have a few guesses.’

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  ‘Like what?’

  ‘The Russians and the Chinese are a good contender.’ Simmons gave a tired groan. ‘We know the Russians are putting up bounties on American troops. It wouldn’t be far from reality that they hired private military entities to engage with our forces. However…’

  ‘That doesn’t explain how every electronic device was destroyed.’ Browns finished his sentence. ‘No one will have that sort of technology and even the Chinese are decades away from developing a working prototype. The next possibility is that robot, but intel points out that the Lenin Unit hasn’t left the Hindu Kush mountains since the Soviets left the country in the 80s. It and the community it is protecting also don’t like anyone so we can't ask them. Which will mean we are facing an unknown element.’

  Ben raised a brow, he found it difficult to believe that there could be any other military entity in the area that would get into conflict with US forces. ‘Is there an indication they are working or allied themselves with the Taliban?’

  ‘Even they are freaking out. We intercepted their communications and we can confirm that they are not friends with them.’ Brown confidently replied, though Ben noticed that the officer was shaken up by the whole situation. ‘You will be in charge of a squad of eight soldiers. All of them are already briefed about the mission and they should be ready to move out soon.’

  ‘So why am I needed? Seems like you already have everyone you needed and told them what they needed to know,’ Ben pointed out. He couldn’t help but feel there was more to the mission that was told to him. While the report he was given was extensive, there were far more blanks that were conveniently left out. However, he was smart enough to not pry on information that he knew he shouldn’t know. Instead, all he needed was a reason as to why he was called in.

  ‘Because we believe your leadership capabilities and skill set would be best utilised in this mission than if you go to Qalat.’ Simmons said as he pulled out his notebook to read out from. ‘You are also fluent in multiple languages, Dari and Arabic being the most important. You also have proven to be capable of leading a squad under difficult circumstances. Most importantly, you survived a particular and brutal ambush in Registan. Like or not, you are the most qualified person for the job.’

  ‘You will have a interpreter joining your squad,’ Brown continued. ‘His name is Muhammad Bahnam. He is part of the Afghan army. Since you will be going to local communities in the region to conduct interviews. He will help you when necessary.’

  ‘Will there be any other additional support?’ Ben asked.

  ‘Negative, you are going alone. This mission is top secret, and no one is to know anything about this or the ambushes that happened. We will have radio communications, but don’t expect any reinforcements or aid. For all tense and purposes, you are alone. If people asked, just say you are going on patrol. Any questions?’

  Ben shook his head. At the back of his mind, he knew there was a lot more he wasn’t told. But he preferred to get the mission over and done with and meet his squad to prepare to head out to deal with the mysterious threat. ‘No, sir.’

  ‘Good,’ Simmons gestured to Ben to be at attention. They salute each other before dismissing Ben to head out of their office so he could get ready to meet his new squad. As the beating sun scorched his skin, he would take the first steps that would make him become the man he was destined to become.