As Mitchell, Sipes, and Nomad entered the so-called "Tech tent" where Kozak had set up his gadgets and electronic equipment, the Ghost in reference motioned them over.

"I've got a few leads." Kozak reported. "First up is this drone's payload."

"Which is?" Nomad asked.

"It's a prototype Riot Coil." Kozak replied, motioning to a larger-scale blueprint on a nearby laptop. "Basically a supercharged Tesla coil with enough power to stun living targets and knock them out cold. The effects of it are similar to a Tazer shot or XREP shell, meaning our OpFor had plenty of time to get the hostages to a safe location."

"What else?" Sipes spoke.

"The drone's also been modified with a micro solar panel so it doesn't need to line up with a charging rack to replenish the battery." Kozak said. "Thing is, that normally would mean we couldn't trace the charging rack using the drone's internal coding."

"However, the solar cell needs to have an assigned area via GPS to ensure it goes to proper areas to recharge." Kozak continued, motioning to a map of the Everfree with several red circles drawn on it. "Using the GPS data, I figured out how many places its gone to for a recharge. Using that as a base, I believe that our hostiles took the Elements near this mountain range, here."

Kozak pointed to the destination on the paper map, and Mitchell smirked in approval.

"Good work, Kozak." he replied. "Get the rest of the Ghosts together. We've picked up the scent."

====

Later, As Mitchell watched the three Ghost teams choose their weapons and equipment, Celestia came forward to stand beside him.

"I wish you and your team good luck." she said. "Hopefully we'll have everypony back safe and sound within due time."

"I agree." Mitchell replied. "Trust me, we'll get this done and be out of your...mane soon."

"And what if there is more to do?"

"Then we'll stay for as long as you need us." Mitchell replied as the three Ghost teams, supported by two Solar Guard Platoons, ventured into the Everfree, with the Ghosts in a defensive triangle formation.

====

"Jesus." Sipes spoke in a low voice. "How does anyone get anywhere in this forest?"

"Beats me." Midas replied, as he brushed away a few curious bugs flying near his head. "I'm getting flashbacks to our jobs in Caimanes during Operation Kingslayer."

"I second that." Holt added, chuckling. "El Cerebro had some pretty cool ideas. Too bad they were all based around drug smuggling."

"What exactly do you mean?" Lt. Sharp asked.

"A few years ago, we deployed to the country of Bolivia to topple the ruling government there." Nomad replied. "The term "ruling government" is kind of wrong, though. The Santa Blanca drug cartel controlled large portions, if not all of the country, and had a tentative alliance with their Unidad armed forces."

"Took over six months to do it, but we toppled the Cartel and arrested its leader, El Sueno. A few months later, we redeployed to extract compromised CIA assets, but the Extranjeros shot us down. Took an additional three weeks to bring them down."

"Man, Kingslayer was one wild ride, when I look back." Weaver smirked. "Hey boss, you still got the tapes from when...the jungle moved?"

"Yeah, stashed on my MRT." Nomad replied instantly. "What about them?"

"Just checking we still had them."

"What do you mean by the jungle moved?" 30K asked.

"That's a part of Kingslayer we'd rather not talk about right now." Nomad replied, and his tone silenced any further questions on the subject. "Focus up, objective area in two mikes."

As the Ghosts reached the cliffside, Gates motioned over to Nomad and Hunter Lead.

"You sure this is it?" Gates asked. "There's nothing here."

"Kozak?" Hunter Lead asked

"Yeah, I'm on it." Kozak replied as he brushed his hands along the stone before stopping and turning on his magnetic vision mode built into his Cross-com eyepiece.

"Bingo." he smirked, unhooking the holographic mesh from its mounts, revealing the cave system they had been searching for. "Clever bastards."

"What was that shit?" Adams asked with a tone of surprise.

"Holographic canopy." Kozak said. "If you program it right and have a good power source, you can mask nearly anything using the surrounding area. DARPA was researching it for use in tank camoflage systems. Seems these guys have a pretty good supplier."

"Focus up, Ghosts." Nomad said. "In we go."

As they proceeded into the cave system, while they descended they could see signs of habitation. Bags of waste, a few spent lanterns, and dead box batteries could be seen at an increasing rate. The Ghosts loaded and prepped their weapons while the Guards took the rear.

"Atrium up ahead." Trevor motioned forwards. The Ghosts exited the caves into a large open-roofed area, which was populated by crates of gear and ammo, various technological gadgets, a comms relay, and a large shipping container that lay in the back near a command center.

"Jackpot." Nomad grinned. "Griffin, do you copy?"

"We copy loud and clear." Mitchell replied. "We're watching through your cross-com feeds. Find the hostages and shut this operation down."

"Copy." Gates replied. "Let's move."

"Hold up!" Kozak motioned. "MG nest, upper balcony!"

Gates threw a Sensor Grenade, and the forms of at least fifteen hostiles guarding the crate and command post could be seen, with three men on the mounted machine gun.

"Alright, I've got a plan." Nomad said. "Hunter team, Sync Shot the MG crew, make sure they go down quiet. Castle Team, get the Guards and make some noise elsewhere. We'll need a good distraction to make it out of here. Patriot, follow me. Once we've retrieved the HVTs, search for as much intel as you can get."

"Roger that." the other team leaders said as they moved into position. As the Ghosts of Hunter Team dropped the MG crew with three synchronized shots, Castle took the Solar Guards and moved to a cave system on the right. Nomad motioned to Patriot team, and they activated their cloaking systems, advancing on the container.

As they did, a Bodark soldier cried out upon seeing the casualties on the machine gun. As both sides opened fire, the Ghosts moved to attack positions.

Update!