The two are silent during their trek through the forest, too focused on the objective. The night vision in their helmets allowed them to see through the darkness of the woods, allowing them to move swiftly in the dark.

After half an hour's trek, Calian sees a break in the trees and holds up his right arm with his hand closed to signal to stop. Lutrex does so and slowly approaches her uncle.

"Are we here, Uncle?"

"I think so. Crouch down and head to the fallen tree near the edge of the clearing."

The oni nods as she crouches down and follows her uncle to the designated point.

In the small clearing in the forest, there is an abandoned lumber mill converted into a base. Using their helmets, they can zoom in and watch from far away.

From what they could see outside and above the walls, the base has wooden watchtowers with guards on top of them. Guards can also be found standing guard outside the walls.

The watchers are all wearing patchwork armor and carrying outdated weapons in their hands or slung on their backs. A closer look shows that most of them have a lack of interest in their work as many of them are smoking, drinking, or just chatting with one another.

Calian talks to Lutrex through their helmet comms, making sure that they can't be heard by anyone outside.

[CALIAN: "Intel's good. These guys got the leftovers."]

[LUTREX: "Leftovers?"]

[CALIAN: "Outdated gear. They shouldn't be a threat to us with our barriers or armor."]

[LUTREX: "Father said that you should not underestimate any opponent, regardless of their appearance or equipment."]

[CALIAN: "Yeah, well I don't have plans on nuking the area just to take them seriously. Besides, the way they carry themselves is a giveaway of their competence."]

[LUTREX: "I see... I will take that into account and observe the body language of targets."]

[CALIAN: "Atta girl."]

Calian stands up and puts a hand on a tree near him while he continues to talk.

[CALIAN: "I'll be supporting above, giving you a bird's eye view of the area. I suggest scouting around the edge of the clearing for any easy ways into the base."]

Calian and Lutrex activate their cloaking devices, rendering them near invisible save for the distortion of their silhouettes in space. While Calian climbs the tree, Lutrex starts to move around the edge to look for an opening in the walls to enter.

The older agent eventually reaches a large branch high enough to watch over the sawmill. After setting himself up on it and crouching, he opens a pouch on his torso and pulls out a spherical, metal ball.

After clicking its top, it activates and starts floating in the air using small thrusters inside holes around its body. After a few minutes, the small drone flies towards the base while enabling its cloaking.

Inside Calian's helmet, the HUD displays the live feed of the drone. Gaining a bird's eye view of the sawmill, he spots a collapsed wall on the right side of the base.

The wall is located close to the vehicles and other large objects, perfect to be used as cover. Calian contacts Lutrex as he shifts his attention between the video and the view he sees.

[CALIAN: "Hey Lutrex, you there?"]

[LUTREX: "Yes, Uncle."]

[CALIAN: "There's a collapsed wall on the right side of the base. You can slip in there and-"]

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[LUTREX: "I am already in front of it, Uncle. There is a guard standing in front of it, however.]

[CALIAN: "Don't worry, I'll handle him. Just be ready to move when it starts."]

Calian stands up from his position and opens another pouch, pulling out a baseball. He winds up and then throws the baseball toward the wall, expecting it to bounce and ricochet near the guard to get his attention.

Unfortunately, the ball completely misses the wall, sailing far above it. The ball hits a stack of car engines, toppling them and causing a loud crash. The noise gets the attention of all of the guards outside, including the one guarding the broken wall.

[CALIAN: "Uh... I meant to do that."]

The guard standing in front of the broken wall goes to check on the sound, walking inside the opening and leaving it undefended.

[CALIAN: "Now's your chance! Go go go!"]

Lutrex equips her rifle as she runs stealthily into the opening, cloaking still enabled. She enters and immediately hides behind one of the vehicles.

Calian contacts her again as he equips the rifle on his back, pointing it at the crowd of guards pooled near the accident area.

[CALIAN: "Alright, see the warehouse? There's a good chance the main office is there along with any information."]

[LUTREX: "Understood, I will go there now."]

[CALIAN: "Be careful not to get too close or they'll see the distortion through the moonlight. And avoid physical contact."]

As Lutrex slowly moves towards the warehouse, the guards all converge and group on the collapsed engines and wonder what caused it. The hooded agent grinned under his helmet, thankful for the stupidity of the guards.

With the distraction, Lutrex reached the open doors of the warehouse without a problem. She sneaks inside and sweeps the entire room with her gun to check for any enemies.

The warehouse was dark, with only the moonlight lighting up the interior. The building was largely empty save for a few folding chairs and tables scattered around. Two things stood out to her, however. They were a cellar door close to the entrance and a mezzanine floor with a small office on it at the back of the building.

Deciding to check the office first, she enables her cloaking device again while slowly walking up the stairs. Reaching the office, she looks inside through the window only to see the room completely devoid of furniture.

Remembering the cellar door, she contacts her Uncle first to tell him of her next move.

[LUTREX: "Uncle, are you there?"]

[CALIAN: "Hey, you got something for me?"]

[LUTREX: "Unfortunately no. The warehouse is empty of any information."]

[LUTREX: "However, I did spot a cellar door that could lead to their real base. I wanted to inform you first of my next decision in case I need assistance. And because the concrete could interfere with communications."]

[CALIAN: "Thanks for telling me. You head down while I keep the guards busy up top. Be careful inside. I assume it'll be cramped down there so there's no use avoiding or hiding. Do your best to kill them without being spotted and keep it quiet."]

[LUTREX: "Understood."]

Lutrex disables her cloaking to conserve energy before heading to the cellar door. As she kneels beside it, she tries to lift one of the doors but finds that it's locked from the other side.

She places a hand on the gap in the frame and produces a puddle of black liquid on it. After a few seconds she lifts her hand up to show that the puddle had formed a thin, sharp blade on her palm to cut open the bar used to lock the door.

After receding the black liquid, she opens one of the doors slightly to peer into and check if there is anyone in front of it.

After a few seconds, she concludes the entrance is clear before opening one of the doors. As she steps inside, she is careful to close the door without making a sound.

After getting a clear view inside, the stairs she's standing on led to a narrow passageway, filled with doors both open and closed. Some had lights on while others were off. At the far end of the hallway was a room with open lights, sounds of a TV and laughter.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she crouches and places both her palms on the ground to create a sizable puddle of black liquid. She stands up and with a flick of a finger, the puddle splits into smaller ones that go under each room in the hallway.

Lutrex then proceeds to walk towards the open space at the end of the hall while producing a black ball on her hand made of the same liquid.

When she got close enough, she pressed herself against the left wall and inched slowly toward the corner. She peeks her head out to see a makeshift living room with 5 people outside of their armor.

Spotting a coffee table in the middle, Lutrex throws the black ball onto it. The ball lands on the table, getting the attention of everyone there.

The 5 in the room stare at the ball as it forms 5 holes, each pointing at a person. Before they could react, the ball shoots out large needles toward their heads and kills everyone instantly.

After that, the needles and ball turn back into a liquid as they return to Lutrex. The previous black liquid that entered the doors in the hallway has also returned, creating a black pool in front of her.

She reaches down with her hand, causing the liquid to go back inside her. She stands up after retrieving the liquid and then looks in the direction opposite the entrance. She continues to walk, gun in hand as she continues her sweep of the underground base.