Once everyone landed on their landing position, Ryan made sure that all of them safely landed.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5…" Ryan counted and all of them were accounted for.
"Sound off," he said quietly.
"Two."
"Three."
"Four."
"Five."
"All here," the last one confirmed.
Ryan gave a small nod.
"Good."
He immediately dropped to one knee and began gathering his chute, pulling the canopy in tight and stuffing it into the foliage around him. The others did the same, working fast and quietly, dragging the fabric into shadows and covering it with leaves and debris.
"No traces," Ryan reminded them. "We weren't here."
"Copy."
Within seconds, the landing site looked untouched.
Ryan brought his M4 up and scanned the area.
The tree line gave them cover, thick enough to break line of sight from the nearby roads. Beyond it, faint light from the city bled through the gaps—fires, scattered power sources, distant movement.
"Check comms," Ryan said.
"Green."
"Loud and clear."
"Signal stable."
