I found myself in a forested area, a place where my drone body would thrive. I shot out a grappling hook from a similar location as a regular spider. The cable slammed into a trunk, going taught. Activating the internal winch, I flew towards the tree. It withstood my weight, and the spikes on my feet kept me anchored.

I was basically just a giant metal arachnid. Nothing wrong with copying a proven concept. But I still wondered why. A psychological advantage? Arachnophobia was a prevalent fear in most humans. Was such a weakness present in this reality? My training simulations stopped before we got to mental warfare.

The hydraulics in my legs worked well. I jumped from tree to tree, occasionally firing the grappling hook to swing farther. I was heading for a mountain I saw in the distance. The mission parameters didn't include enemy locations. If they weren't special ops, maybe I could find them through evidence they left behind. Or make an educated guess about where they would be.

Reaching the top took a few hours. This virtual battlefield was vast. It was nighttime. There was little to find, even with thermal vision installed. There appeared to be a river snaking its way around the mountain. No smoke pillars pierced the clear night sky. The crescent moon provided some light, so there was a chance they were relying on natural night vision instead of fires or torches.

Following the areas near the rivers was my best option. The treeline hid any other potential hiding spots and I didn’t want to waste time exploring the forest. The longer I took, the more likely one of the humans would see me. If I took long enough that the sun rose, sneaking up on them would be much harder. There wasn’t a time limit, but I was sure the human would fail me if I wasn’t quick about my task.

--

Hours passed before I found one of my targets. A human was out in the open. Alone. It didn’t appear to be a trap. Just the disgusting parasite finding a place to relive themself. I hid in the canopy, my mechanical body being surprisingly quiet. The temptation to kill was strong but I held back. This was an opportunity to find their base.

The human was in no hurry. I focused on the weapons and armor it wore. Ballistic armament, a two-handed rifle with a pistol sidearm strapped to its thigh in a holster. Plate armor on the chest, legs, and arms, with synthetic weaves covering the vulnerable areas in between. A helmet on their head and a backpack holding more ammunition or other necessary items. Good equipment is matched with a lack of discipline.

If this was just a run-of-the-mill soldier, there probably wasn’t much I would have to worry about. While their guns were more advanced than the ones in my reality, the drone I was piloting was durable enough. It could survive a minute's worth of concentrated fire. Assuming I gave them such a chance of course. What made them really dangerous would be any explosives or higher caliber weaponry at their base.

The human finished its disgusting ritual and began to head back home. I followed, making sure to not be seen or heard. It was a couple of minutes before we arrived. At least this one was smart enough to not relieve himself too close to the base. Would have been smarter to take a lookout with him. Might have seen me and saved himself from the trouble I was about to cause.

The camp was more advanced than I was expecting. Instead of tents or temporary roofing made out of plastic cloth, they used adaptive camouflage. It took me a second to recognize what I was seeing. One moment I was following a human, the next he vanished into thin air. I had to move to a certain angle and get close enough to almost break my stealth before the illusion was broken. There was a large house of some kind in the middle of the forest.

This reality level of tech was on full display. Using a collection of movable containers, a building had been made. Like a child's toy, they were stacked on top of each other. Clamps in between each container fastened each one to the other. Instead of a rundown or simplistic camp, numerous facilities were available. A firing range, a medical building, and even enough space to have a garage with a truck inside.

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The reason I had seen or heard such a clear human presence was because of an antenna sticking out of the makeshift castle. It glowed a bright neon green light dimming in brightness like a heartbeat. I had been informed of such a piece of military-level tech. It was a hologram projector and soundproofing barrier. From the outside, no one could detect anyone from inside unless they had vastly superior tech. Not even my thermal vision could break through.

I’d been lucky to find this base. If the human hadn’t been so hell-bent on having some alone time to relive themself, I probably would have been found before I detected them. But fate was on my side then. Hiding only worked so much to protect someone. If you didn’t expect to be found, you’d be all that more vulnerable. Like these humans were right now, the night guards dozing off or playing cards.

This was the ultimate test then. The hologram also functioned as an alarm system. Anything not recognized to have access would wake everyone up. Stealthfully picking off the humans one by one would be difficult. They were unlikely to leave the safety of their stealth bubble, much less wake up in the middle of the night to do so. Trying to get in was basically not an option for me.

All I had was my drone body, built for mobility and warfare. Nothing in its hardware was meant to counter such defenses. But I did have one advantage. I didn’t think like most AI, as I have recently found out. I could be a little… unorthodox in my problem-solving methods. If I couldn’t get in and they wouldn’t get out, I just had to change either one of the variables.

But before I do that, best to make some preparations. Nothing like some traps to catch a few rats.

---

It was cutting it close before I finished setting up my plan. An hour more and the sun was soon to rise. Already the sky was beginning to brighten in color. It was do or die then. I did a few quick activations of my pair of buzzsaw hands. They made a high-pitched sound but were much quieter than they should be. That wasn’t going to last. I started cutting into the tree in front of me as quickly as possible.

One of the guards on duty shot up from his chair, blinking away the exhaustion he must have been feeling. He couldn’t see me but he could hear me. I made sure to pick a tree with enough underbrush to cover me, but I was close enough to be heard. The guard looked around, trying to find where the noise was coming from.

He got as far as walking a few steps in my direction before I finished. Using some perfect lumberjack techniques, the tallest tree next to the guerilla soldiers' base began to tip over. Some proper math involved meant the toppled tree fell exactly where I planned. Right on top of the hologram antenna. With a solid crunch, the rod of metal shattered under the weight of the tree. The rest of the timber crashed into the temporary castle. It was safe to say everyone was awake after that.

Taking the guard's moment of shock as an opportunity, I implemented another unconventional use of my equipment. I shot my grappling hook at him. As I had expected, the grappling hook shot through protective armor like a hot knife through butter. He screamed as the hook found purchase and I pulled him back by the leg where it had hit him.

I ran while retracting the cable. I heard gunshots fired off from behind me. It would seem the human had kept a hand on his gun. Good. The more of a fuss he made, the easier it made the next part of my plan. A few intentional and accidental bumps into the terrain later, my bait stopped yelling. I ran a little bit further before I stopped in front of one of my traps.

It was a simple thing. A pit trap, with spikes at the battle. Just some simple camouflage above it. I hadn’t had enough time to make anything more complicated, but it should slow the humans down. I used my buzzsaw arms to toss the human behind the trap. He got cut up in the process, but I didn’t rightly care about that.

In a rush, I swung through the canopy, making a roundabout path back to the camp. They would be distracted by the sudden attack, a few still vulnerable because of the late night. With someone screaming their hands off, the leadership should feel rushed enough to send a rescue party. Cutting their fighting force by half while the rest stayed back for any retaliation. Without their alarm system, picking them off one by one should be easy as pie.

Divide and conquer, as they say.