"Virus-Two copies, Osprey. We are almost in position. Out." Firdaus said quietly into his microphone as he crept slowly towards the brothel. For the past half-an-hour, the other three members of Virus had quick-marched themselves to a prime flanking position on the building's southern side. It took a far longer time than a direct assault and involved a lot more leopard crawling than Firdaus liked, but as he looked at the lightly defended building, he had to admit, it was definitely worth the effort. As Wei Jie had predicted, guards on the outside were minimal, just two half-asleep men on chairs, their AKs leaning against the wall beside them. After all, Khanya was probably not worried about who got in, but rather who got out.

He inched his way forward; they were now just fifty meters away from the brothel. Looking back, he did a final check to make sure that Adelaida and Wei Jie were following behind him before continuing onward, slowly crawling towards the two guards by the door and taking care not to make any sound. Firdaus doubted that the guards could see them, as tired as they appeared to be. The desert version of the Japanese Jeitai camouflage pattern worked quite well in the Somali desert and - Firdaus made a note to thank Allah specifically for this blessing on Friday - it was a cloudy, moonless night.

"Adelaida, Firdaus, the guards are yours." Wei Jie's muted voice came over his headset. Nodding to no one in particular, Firdaus slowly pushed his primary weapon, a 552 commando outfitted with a simple red dot sight, foregrip and laser targeter, to his back, beside the Remington 870 that was his breaching tool. He drew the silenced QSW-06 from his thigh holster and slowly continued moving forward. While everyone on the team stuck with whatever weapon they had used in their respective armed forces, the QSW-06 was the only weapon that Wei Jie insisted on being standard, and with good reason. Fitted with a silencer and firing a specialized subsonic round, it was as close to a truly silent weapon as they could get.

"Understood. Firdaus, wait up." Adelaida said, thought Firdaus wished she had chosen a better time. He was now barely twenty meters from the guards and was probably a sharp breath away from being detected.

"Virus-Three to assault element, you're still in the clear." Geoffrey's voice came over their headset. "The two sleepyheads are your only opposition so far, but I would not make too much noise. I can see armed men in the brothel through the windows. Looks like Khanya's throwing some kind of party."

"Not the good kind, I imagine." Firdaus muttered darkly, just as Adelaida pulled up alongside him. Wei Jie still lagged behind, but Firdaus could understand why. After all, he was the one lugging the nine-kilo grenade launcher. Firdaus smirked as he recalled the first time he saw the Chinaman slinging that beast across his back. At first, the Malaysian had thought that it was something Wei Jie had been taught during his time with the PLA, but upon asking, Wei Jie had rather sheepishly explained that he just liked the launcher. It was by no means a bad thing. The QLB-06 - or 'nine kilograms of fuck you and everything you stand for' as Geoffrey eloquently called it - proved to be incredibly useful for anything between taking out lightly armoured vehicles to knocking down troublesome walls.

"In position," Adelaida reported. "Left or right?" She whispered.

"Take caution, searchlight swiveling." Geoffrey warned.

Fridaus grimaced. "Left, and let's do it fast." He said and took aim at his target with his pistol. With a nod to Adelaida, the two of them fired almost simultaneously, their weapons barely making a sound as the bullet left the muzzle. The two guards jerked slightly, as if they had awoken with a start, then slumped in their seats, completely still. "Wei Jie, rendezvous at the southern wall, searchlight is coming for us." 

"Understood. With all the noise they're making inside, I'd say we can make a run for it. I doubt they're paying any attention to what's going on outside, anyway." Came the section leader's response. Given the green light, Firdaus and Adelaida quickly got to their feet and made a mad dash for the wall, taking cover behind it just as the searchlight swept over their previous position. With his heart in his throat, Firdaus prayed hard that the searchlight operators would not notice that the two guards were now dead instead of sleeping. A second later, Wei Jie slid into position beside Adelaida.

"Two techinicals," Firdaus said and peeked around the corner. "I think we can take the both of them out with a single charge."

Wei Jie nodded. "Good plan. Wait for the searchlight to pass. Adelaida, take a look around the building and find us an alternate method of entry. I don't want to blast through a wall without knowing who or what's behind it and I don't like the idea of kicking down the front door either."

"Understood," Adelaida replied with a nodded and, sticking to the wall, skulked around the corner behind them with her G36K up and at the ready.

"Searchlight is moving...Moving...Still moving..." Geoffrey said and, as if for comedic effect, yawned. 

"Glad to see the effort you're putting into this," Firdaus said with a smirk.

"I know, right?" Geoffrey replied and Firdaus swore he could hear the mischievous grin in his voice. A second later, the sniper continued, "All clear. Make any moves you need. I'll continue providing overwatch."

Wei Jie nodded and tapped Firdaus on the shoulder, giving him the go signal to make his move. Without hesitating, the Malaysian dashed from cover and slid into position beside the nearest technical. He took out a small block of plastic explosive from one of the pouches attached to his belt - while Kazue carried all the larger block charges and detonating cord, Firdaus liked to carry small charges in case he ran into uncooperative walls - and unceremoniously placed it under the vehicle, directly underneath the oil sump.

He took out the detonator and making a quick check to make sure it was in test mode, pressed the button. A green LED lit up on the device, telling him that it was armed and ready to go. Satisfied, he ran back to the wall, taking behind the corner and in front of Wei Jie. "Armed and ready. I placed enough explosives to kill four technicals. These pirates are going to have one hell of a fireworks show." He said with a grin on his face. He could barely contain his excitement at things finally starting to kick off. 

Adelaida reported back soon after. "There's a small extension on the eastern wall. From what I can see through the tiny window, it looks like a storeroom. Regardless, it's a place with no one."

"Then that's our point of entry." Wei Jie said firmly. "Move out and assume two-man breaching person. Adelaida, you will be the point woman for this breach. Firdaus, set a timed charge and give it ten seconds. I want Osprey and Geoffrey to attack at the same time. Once the wall is blown, detonate your charge and kill the technicals. Hopefully all that chaos would be enough to stun the bastards inside to give us time to kill them without too much resistance. I want the brothel cleared quickly so we can cover Osprey for their assault on the main compound. All clear?"

"Got it," Firdaus and Adelaida replied one after the other and quickly moved to the eastern wall and adopted their positions. Wei Jie stood on the right with Adelaida roughly half a meter away and opposite him.

"Virus Actual to Osprey. We are setting up our assault on the brothel." Wei Jie said as Firdaus fiddled with the timer on the charge. "Twenty seconds until it all goes loud, so pick your targets. We have the technicals covered, so you can save your rocket for something else. Geoffrey, do you have-"

"We have our target," came a terse reply from Kazue. Wei Jie took that as a sign that his sniper was already concentrating on his target and was ready to shoot at any moment, otherwise he would have replied personally. "Osprey, we will be taking out one of the guards by the bofors. Take the other if you want, or you can leave it to us."

Firdaus placed the charge on the wall and quickly took up position behind Adelaida. "Ten seconds," He said over his headset. In a joking tone, he added, "Hey, Osprey, mind keeping Khanya alive long enough for us to see him? I think Virus has got some words for him."

"Target acquired," came Geoffrey's cool voice over the radio, and that quickly put an end to any light conversation.

Firdaus mentally counted down the remaining seconds. Five more to go.

"Minimal wind, distance four-fifty meters. Ready to fire." The sniper reported, probably trying to help co-ordinate the teams with the countdown that followed. "Three...Two...One...Sending."

And then, all hell broke loose.