It was over an hour late, which was a bit unexpected and outside of the plan.
Jason's expression turned solemn.
"Received."
He looked up at the sky, sensing that dawn was approaching.
His concern about the coming dawn wasn't that infiltration would be more likely to fail in daylight, but that the high-altitude drones would be unable to provide logistics support due to their return trip.
For the Navy SEALs, who relied heavily on logistics support, this was unacceptable.
To say whether the Navy SEALs were strong, they were absolutely strong.
But without top-tier logistics support, no one could predict what would happen on the battlefield.
However, the sky was not yet bright, and the drones were still high in the air.
Jason decided to speed up.
He nodded to Trent and Brock, who were beside him.
Trent and Brock had already worked together to launch the Navy Special Warfare Rigid Inflatable Boat.
This rigid inflatable boat was about 11 meters long, with a fiberglass hull and an inflatable tubular collar made of reinforced fabric.
The rigid inflatable boat had a top speed of 45 knots, a maximum range of 200 nautical miles, and was equipped with two 470-horsepower diesel engines and two Kamewa waterjet propellers.
The inflatable boat was launched, and all personnel boarded.
This rigid inflatable boat immediately set off.
Amidst the roaring noise of the diesel engines, the rigid inflatable boat rode the wind and waves, speeding rapidly.
Navy Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat
In the dim distance, a brightly lit oil rig platform vaguely appeared.
As they gradually approached the oil rig platform, the noisy diesel engines of the inflatable boat quieted down.
They switched to low-power, silent waterjet propellers for propulsion.
Under the effect of the silent waterjet propellers, the rigid inflatable boat silently approached the oil rig platform, like a ghost ship.
As they got closer to the oil rig platform, they could clearly feel how large this platform, situated on the sea, was.
Huge truss-like piles extended downwards from the platform.
The deck platform, over thirty meters high, was brightly lit, while the connecting corridors of the lower columns were pitch black.
The entire oil rig platform looked like a complex steel frame, or like a half-built, unfinished building.
The rigid inflatable boat slowly docked next to a metal corridor on one of the lower columns.
Sonny and the others, who were responsible for vigilance, all aimed their guns upwards, alert to their surroundings.
And at this unsuspecting moment,
A thug was seen walking down the metal stairs.
At this moment, Clay and Sonny, who were responsible for the front, immediately aimed their guns at that thug.
However, before they could fire, Knox reacted even faster, rapidly turning his mp7 towards the thug stepping down the stairs:
"Clatter clatter clatter!"
The suppressed mp7 fired several muffled shots!
"Ugh!"
The thug, who had just started descending the stairs, had blood splattering from his chest and head, grunting as he tumbled down the stairs with a clatter.
Clay and Sonny, who were about to shoot, were stunned.
Clay, startled, stared intently at the fallen body, then turned to glare at Knox.
Sonny, also staring at Knox, subconsciously blurted out,
"What the hell are you doing?"
The others, who were on alert in other directions, also looked over.
Jason stared intently at Knox, his expression shocked and somewhat disbelieving.
When the Navy SEALs conducted tactical operations, each Navy SEAL's muzzle had its own designated position.
For example, Clay, who was at the front, would only aim his muzzle forward.
For example, Trent, who was at the rear, would only aim his muzzle backward.
Even if Clay at the front fired, Trent's muzzle would still only be aimed backward.
Everyone had their own position, and every muzzle strictly guarded its own direction.
This ensured that no matter which direction an enemy suddenly appeared from, the Navy SEALs team could immediately fire and kill the opponent, eliminating the threat.
And Knox's position in Team B was EOD, responsible for bomb disposal, not for leading the way or being on alert.
In such a situation,
Clay and Sonny, who were the point men, were actually a fraction slower than Knox.
Although it was just a simple small matter, such a small matter was far from simple in the eyes of these professionals.
Knox also didn't expect Vyron LV1 Speed skill to provide such a significant boost to his reaction and speed.
Almost in the blink of an eye, he completed the kill.
Simply because the enemy was armed and posed a threat, Knox decisively took action.
There was no extra thought; the opponent was taken down by him, and he was indeed a bit surprised himself.
However, as a bomb disposal Expert, Knox was steady with his hands and calm in his heart; killing a suddenly appearing thug caused no ripple of emotion.
Knox calmly aimed his mp7 upwards, on alert, and said without emotion,
"It seems you guys are a bit unprofessional."
"A bit unprofessional?"
Everyone in Team B, upon hearing Knox's words, had their eyes sharpen a few degrees.
It was clear that they were quite displeased with Knox, with a look that suggested they wanted to have a showdown with him right there.
Jason's face was dark, but he showed no emotional reaction, only raising his hand to signal:
"B2, go."
Clay reined in his dissatisfaction, lowered his long-barreled HK416 Assault Rifle, took out a boarding grappling hook, and hooked it onto the corridor railing.
A moment later, Clay climbed onto the lower passage corridor of the oil rig.
After climbing onto the corridor, he immediately pulled down his gp/nvg18.
He scanned the empty surroundings through his gp/nvg18, maintaining a serious vigil.
Behind him, Jason and the others successively boarded the corridor.
Jason's HK416 Assault Rifle was steadily aimed forward as he stepped to follow Clay.
Behind Jason, Sonny, Brock, and Knox followed in succession, with Trent, the medic, bringing up the rear.
The team advanced in a single-file formation, their muzzles aimed forward, backward, left, and right, moving silently forward and beginning to ascend the stairs.
Jason, walking in the second position of the team, lowered his muzzle and glanced at the thug's body lying on the ground.
The thug's eyes were wide open, and there were two deep bullet holes in his forehead.
He had been headshotted twice by Knox.
Knox had fired three shots within the extreme time limit of point man Clay's alertness, with two shots hitting the head.
This showed Knox's steady and precise shooting.
Jason frowned, feeling for the first time that he had underestimated this EOD external Expert.
However, he merely glanced, holding his gun and following Clay forward.
The team stepped past the thug's body.
Knox's steps did not falter; he did not spare the body another glance.
Trent, following behind Knox, squatted beside the body, quickly removed the akm from the body's hand, unloaded the magazine, and slid it into the sea.
Having finished this cleanup work, he quickly caught up with Knox.
In silent stillness, the Navy SEALs team advanced steadily in the night, moving up the circular staircase towards the higher oil rig platform deck.
Slow is steady, and steady is fast.
Upon reaching the oil rig platform deck,
Clay knelt on one knee, Jason squatted beside him, guarding another direction, and the others also aimed their muzzles in all directions.
In this dim, calm moment, with only the lapping of waves, Jason activated his communicator to report the action node:
"Operation Center, this is B1, we have reached the objective."
"Sunrise in 30 minutes."
"Operation commencing."
After completing the action node report, Jason raised his hand to signal:
"B2, you go first."
In most standard tactical formations, the captain is usually in the 1/3 position or even at the rear of the team.
This is to be responsible for the overall command and control of the team, maintain overall team visibility, and coordinate the actions of team members.
As the captain of Team B, Jason's primary function was also this.
He was not responsible for the point man position, leading the charge.
Jason stepped aside from the lead position and issued the command to begin the mission.
Clay, the point man, moved to the front, responsible for leading the way.
Behind him, Sonny, the heavy gunner, followed, and then Jason closely followed.
Brock followed Jason, Knox followed Brock, and Trent was still the rear guard.
No one spoke; only the slight crisp sound of footsteps on the metal plating could be heard.
And just then,
Davis's warning sounded in Jason's ear communicator:
"B1, this is Operation Center."
"There are two armed enemies 20 meters east of your position."