The crash of thunder wakes up the dreamer, pulling her from her nightmare. She stands up from the wall she leaned on while sleeping, surveying the room she was in for hostiles.

She was in the living room of an abandoned wooden house, old enough to collect dust and cobwebs but not taken yet by the forest that surrounds it. She hears a crash of thunder again, this time more distant than before.

Looking in front of her, she sees a lit fire pit located in the middle of the room. The crackling of the flames was accompanied by the sounds of frogs and other nocturnal creatures from outside.

Walking closer to the bonfire, the dreamer is revealed to be a tall woman covered head to toe in a black bodysuit that hugged her frame and white armor plates with yellow trims that cover the vital parts of her body.

Her helmet resembled the face of a fearsome oni, complete with twisted, white teeth. What stood out from the helmet were the two black horns, with the right one cleanly cut near the base.

She sits in front of the fire and stares at it, reflecting on the events that happened prior. As she was deep in thought, the main door of the house opened.

The creaking of the old door echoes throughout the ruined home, removing the horned woman from her trance. With her helmet, she immediately switches to night vision mode to identify the person who entered.

The visitor was a man a few inches shorter than her, wearing a black bodysuit and armor pieces resembling bone. He was draped with a black cloak that resembled raven feathers, the hood obscuring pieces of the helmet that resembled a bird’s skull.

One would think this person is death itself if not for the visors on the eye holes, as well as the advanced sniper rifle he carried on his back.

Most people seeing such a person would feel their instincts tell them to fight or run from the mysterious figure. The woman, however, merely greeted the man.

“Welcome back Uncle Calian.”

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“Thanks. You have a good nap, Lutrex?”

“It was sufficient.”

“Good. ‘Cause we’re about to start the updated briefing.”

“Very well. Let us sit near the fire.”

The two walk towards the campfire. Lutrex sits in her original spot while her uncle sits opposite where she is.

After sitting down on the floor, Calian brings up his left forearm and activates a device on it with a tap on the screen. The screen glows a cool blue as the hooded man uses his fingers to navigate it while Lutrex patiently watches from the other side.

“Okay, info’s sent. Check your console.”

Nodding, Lutrex does the same thing as her uncle and opens the console on her wrist. After checking her notifications, she’s greeted to the mission brief page. After giving a thumbs up, Calian continues to talk.

“Alright, let’s go over your final test again. Your mission is to eliminate all anti-foreigner personnel present on the site and retrieve any information you find inside.”

“The location is an old sawmill in the middle of a clearing. The anti-foreigners there consist of mostly recruits and a single sergeant as their leader.”

“Aside from the sawmill itself, there’s a large warehouse behind it that could be used as their main office. That’s where the info would most likely be found.”

“What of captives and the like? What should I do if I encounter them?”

“That’s on you but they come second to the mission, got it?”

“Yes, uncle.”

“Good. When you’re ready, meet me outside.”

Lutrex nods as Calian stands up and walks towards the front door. The recruit takes a deep breath before standing up and turning around to look at the weapon propped on the wall beside where she slept.

The weapon was a sleek and boxy assault rifle, quite advanced in its design despite its simplistic look. The recruit picks up the gun and places it on her back. A magnet activates and sticks the rifle firmly in place without the need for a harness.

Finished with preparations, she heads outside to meet with her uncle. As she walked towards the exit, the white armor pieces slowly turned black to match the dark environment of the outside.