In the atmosphere filled with the sounds of bullets and grenades that were exchanged by both sides, it was very difficult for Chief Bogart to speak on the radio. 

“We're under heavy fire. We need a helicopter for extraction!” Chief Bogart finally yelled in his loudest voice. 

“The helicopter for extraction will be arriving in T-minus 5 minutes.” the voice on the radio spoke. 

Chief Bogart and the remaining 5 members left of his team had been under cover of a rock for the last 3 minutes and it was only this piece of rock which had kept them alive. 

The enemy had been continuously tossing grenades at them and whenever one reached them, they'll have to dodge away from the grenade. The grenades had already taken the lives of 2 other members of the team.

The chief extended his hands which were pressing tightly to his long assault rifle so that only the gun was out of cover of the rock.

Though he couldn't see the exact spot where the enemies were, his random firing did a good job, and he could hear the grunting sound made by 2 soldiers as they got shot by the bullets.

He reloaded his gun and then again began to fire again and this routine stopped only when the sound of the helicopter finally reached his ears. 

He looked up and found a helicopter slowing landing in a clearing in the forest behind their rock. 

“There comes our ride. Quick, soldiers! Let's get the hell outta this place. On my lead.” Bogart got up, turned his back towards the enemies and started running towards the helicopter, the remaining soldiers following the commander. 

The breeze blow over his face as Chief Bogart sprinted towards the helicopter at full speed, the enemies making all attempts to stop him. 

But those moments lasted only for seconds as midway between the helicopter and the rock, the commander collapsed to the ground after being shot by a bullet.

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The remaining soldiers retreated back to the cover of rocks, eyeing their commander who was slowly trying to get up. They wanted to help him but helping him would have meant risking another life. 

With their commander injured, they no longer had an idea about what their next step should be. It was however Daniel, a young soldier 25 years old fighting in only his 4th battle who finally stepped up with a plan. 

“You guys make your way to the helicopter, I'll distract the enemies.” Daniel said, clutching tightly to his m4a1. 

“Wait, you don't mean storming ahead, do you?” Mike asked. 

“That's what I'm gonna do. I know it's pretty much suicidal but if someone doesn't step up, all will die.” Daniel said. “Now, on my command, you'll all run to helicopter.” 

“But....” before Mike could speak any further, Daniel got up from the cover of his rock, advanced forward, firing at the enemies who were quite taken aback by this sudden act of bravery. 

After exposing himself to the enemies for a few seconds, he took cover of a tree and reloaded his gun, keeping the enemies busy meanwhile by throwing a smoke grenade at them. 

When the smoke had fully spread its blanket over the enemies, Daniel gave his team the signal with his hands and the entire rest of the team sprinted towards the helicopter, Mike carrying Bogart with him. 

After the smoke had disappeared, he threw a helium grenade at the enemies and then carefully took shots with his gun, killing 2 down with heashshots. 

Their mission was to launch an attack on a secret Keuka base hidden under the dense vegetation of Africa, but they hadn't expected it to turn from a brave attack on the base to running for their lives. 

“Hello, it's me Mike, we're safe and sound inside the helicopter. You gotta hurry up.” came the voice on the radio. 

Dan threw another grenade at the enemies and then his last smoke grenade and then ran towards the helicopter at full speed. The enemies no longer fired at Daniel as smoke had made Daniel invisible to them. 

Daniel jumped inside the helicopter whose blades were already rotating and as soon as he was in, the helicopter took off into the air. They were finally out of danger! 

Mike came towards Daniel who was now lying on the floor of helicopter, exhausted, trying to catch up with his breath. 

“What you did there, it was the bravest thing I've ever seen!” Mike exclaimed. 

“Yeah; anyway, how's the chief?” Daniel asked, slowly getting up. 

“Frank had removed the bullet from his body and is applying bandages to him.” Mike said. 

Daniel looked past Mike to get a view of Bogart but Noah and Steve, 2 other soldiers of the team were blocking his view. 

For a minute, the only sound that could be heard was the grunting sounds made by Bogart. However, very soon, the commander was up again. But his face no longer carried the charm and the defeat was visible on his face. 

“So, this is another defeat for us.” Bogart let out a sigh and then said “I've never seen a war drag on this far, as if it has no ending.”

---------------------------------------

Max knocked on the door to Kent's office and patiently waited for him to allow him to come in. 

“Come in.” came the hoarse voice of Kent. 

Max opened the door and found Kent tapping the keys of his laptop, his eyes not even looking up from the laptop screen. 

“So what's the news, Max?” Kent asked. 

“Sir, I think we found another candidate for your Mission Eagle.” Max turned on the screen of his tablet and showed the statistics of the candidate to Kent whose face had finally risen up from the laptop screen. 

“The name's Daniel Smith. He's a young and very brave soldier. He only fought in 4 battles, but he was brave in all of them. In his last battle, he very bravely risked his life for the safety of his teammates. With his co-operation and bravery, he might make a good part of the team.”

“Alright,” Kent said “Send him the letter.”

Hope you guys enjoyed the prologue.