The frigid night wind cut across the vast desert in northwest Illinois like knives, lifting tiny grains of sand that pelted painfully against their faces.
Song Heping reached up to tug at his tactical scarf, shaking off the dust that had settled on it.
According to an agreement with a tribal militia they had first contacted, Song Heping personally led the team, choosing this cold night to quietly cross the border.
With him were Samir, Naxin, and an efficient support team.
The core of the team consisted of the silent and reticent "Sand Fox" squad, Persian special forces soldiers, along with some of the most loyal and elite "Liberation Forces" militiamen.
They carried limited basic supplies and urgently needed medical materials as they once again set foot into this ominously dangerous desolate land.
In a leeward sand valley near the designated coordinates, the scene was both grim and sobering.
