Vee’s breath slowed, her heartbeat steadying to a controlled rhythm as her avatar materialized, crouched and tense, in the dense virtual jungle. Vines curled around ancient stone ruins, and patches of mist clung to the ground, creating an eerie silence. She quickly ducked behind a crumbling wall, hugging the cover instinctively.
No sound. Vee’s hand hovered over the audio settings on her HUD - everything was calibrated, no malfunctions on her end. The quiet was intentional, a trap disguised in stillness. She activated her comm, keeping her voice low and controlled. “Stein, you there?”
After a moment of static, a reply came through, hushed but clear. “Two clicks north. We’re pinned, playing dead. They’ve got us boxed in. If you can come up behind, you know what to do.”
A slow smile crept across her face. Oh, she knew exactly what to do.
She pulled up the HUD’s tactical display. The map was minimal - just a pulse on her radar, showing her position and the vague outline of the ruins. No exact details, nothing to reveal her enemy’s precise coordinates. But Vee had a few tricks up her sleeve. Activating her sensory enhancers, she maxed out the audio and motion sensitivity, dialing everything up to a crisp 90 percent. If they moved, she’d catch them - even the faintest shift would light up her radar.
Activating her camo, she melted into the shadows, her form blurring until she blended almost seamlessly with the jungle. Moving at a steady, deliberate pace, she slipped from cover to cover, her pistol drawn and a dagger sheathed against her thigh. Her sniper rifle stayed slung across her back, heavy but quiet, and grenades sat in a crisscrossed bandolier across her chest. Her setup was light and tactical - perfect for stealth, and exactly how she liked it.
“Stein’s beacon’s still lit,” she muttered under her breath, eyes narrowing as she crept forward. The jungle pressed in on her, thick with ferns and hanging moss, the dense foliage a double-edged sword. Visibility was low, but it worked both ways - they wouldn’t see her coming. She moved silently, her gear whisper-quiet against her. Every step was controlled, intentional, her breathing a slow rhythm that matched the pulse of the jungle.
Her HUD pinged with her team’s health stats. Stein was at half, Ladera was critical, and Skater - Skater was pulsing in red, one hit away from death. The rest were holding on by threads, spread across the field in small clusters. If she didn’t reach them soon, they’d be wiped out.
System Notification: Objective Updated - Save Team from Hostiles. Mission Difficulty: High.
Her grip on her pistol tightened, the message disappearing as quickly as it appeared. She silenced her comms, taking no risks - even a faint click could give her away.
The silence stretched, almost becoming an entity in itself, thick and weighty. Vee scanned the jungle, eyes darting for movement, waiting for any slip-up, any telltale sign of her opponents.
There - a flicker, the faintest glitch of motion. Vee froze, heart pounding once before she forced it to settle. She marked the position on her radar, mentally mapping her path. A broken stone wall loomed ahead, jagged and moss-covered, with sections that reached high above the jungle floor. Perfect vantage point.
Deciding speed was the better gamble, she activated her foot boosters, leaping up the wall in one swift movement. Her hand and foot claws dug in, propelling her upward with quick, efficient bursts. The high ground came up fast. She crouched low, still in stealth, and waited, counting heartbeats as her senses sharpened, listening for any indication that she’d been spotted. The jungle remained deathly still, unaware of the predator now perched above.
She crept along the top of the wall, her balance precise, steps muted by her stealth dampeners. Every instinct was wired into this, each muscle a coiled spring of potential energy, ready to react to the slightest hint of danger.
Finally, she reached a segment of the wall half a click from her marked position. She dropped to one knee, her rifle sliding from her back, its tripod locking into place. Vee exhaled slowly, sighting through the scope, and began a calculated scan of the area.
There - a flash of movement. She adjusted, zooming in. Her opponent was crouched behind cover, unaware, their rifle trained forward, perfectly oblivious to the hunter above. Vee allowed herself a moment of satisfaction, her finger steady on the trigger.
System Notification: Locked Target - Enemy Sniper. Accuracy: 95%.
With the precision of a machine, Vee pressed the trigger. The shot rang out, sharp and satisfying, her rifle kicking back in her hands. Through the scope, she watched her target collapse, a pixelated explosion marking their death. But she didn’t linger - the shot would draw attention.
Her comm buzzed faintly. “Mad Kat! Saw the shot. Nice one, but they know you’re here now.”
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Vee’s grin was razor-sharp. “Good. Time to play.”
She disassembled her sniper setup, pulling back as quickly as she’d appeared. The jungle around her pulsed with sudden life - distant shouts, hurried footsteps. Her radar blipped with incoming hostiles.
Dropping down, she activated her agility booster, moving through the underbrush at a brisk pace, her camo adapting to the surrounding greens and browns. She heard another faint buzz on her comm.
“We’re rallying north,” Stein’s voice crackled. “Keep them busy, we’re making a break for it.”
“Roger that,” Vee replied. “I’ll give them a few distractions.” She checked her grenades, weighing her options, then grabbed two smoke canisters.
System Notification: Deploy Smoke Grenade - Use 1 EXP to Boost Duration?
She accepted the boost, launching the canisters in opposite directions. A thick fog of smoke filled the jungle, creating layers of cover. Now she could hear their footsteps, her radar showing their uncertain movements as they maneuvered through the haze.
One came too close - she caught the glint of his gun barrel before he saw her. Vee surged forward, slamming her pistol’s muzzle against his side, muffling the shot as she fired. His health bar plummeted, his figure collapsing silently.
The jungle quieted again, but she didn’t stop. Another faint motion registered to her left. She sidestepped, pivoting to catch her opponent in a chokehold, her hand knife flashing in a swift arc. His avatar pixelated, his body collapsing without a sound. She released him and continued forward, weaving through the smoke, a wraith moving with lethal precision.
Her comm buzzed again, louder this time. “Vee! They’re zeroing in on you. We’re almost in the clear.”
“Good, let them try,” she muttered. Her HUD lit up with new markers - a whole squad moving in from the south. Time to thin the ranks.
Vee pulled another grenade from her belt - this one a flashbang. She lobbed it high, watching it arc through the trees before it detonated, flooding the area with blinding light. Shouts erupted, her radar showing figures scrambling, disoriented. She didn’t waste a second, rushing forward with her pistol raised, dispatching two more with quick, precise shots.
System Notification: Combo Kill! Critical Hit - Stealth Mastery bonus.
A new message blinked into her vision, the system’s dry humor cutting through the tension:
“Congrats on the carnage, Mad Kat! Remember, stealth is an art form - not a chaotic paint splatter.”
She smirked, darting to the side to avoid a bullet that whizzed past her, digging into the ground. So they were finally starting to rally. Good. She activated her agility booster again, sliding into cover as more shots peppered the jungle around her. She could hear them, barking orders, their movements growing more organized.
But Vee thrived on this kind of pressure. She was already calculating her next steps, her mind mapping the terrain, factoring in every advantage she could exploit. The ruins, the broken walls, the hanging vines - all of it could be used to her advantage. She watched their positions flash on her radar, mentally counting down the seconds until her smoke cleared.
When it finally did, she was waiting, crouched and ready. The squad stumbled into the clearing, rifles raised, alert but tense. She saw the moment they realized they were alone - a brief pause, a flicker of uncertainty. That was her opening.
“Looking for me?” she taunted, her voice echoing from the comms she’d hijacked.
They whipped around, and in that split second of confusion, Vee struck. She lunged from her cover, guns blazing, her movements a blur as she weaved through them, her strikes methodical and unrelenting. They went down, one by one, her HUD flashing with kill notifications until the last of them dropped, a digital scattering of pixels fading into the jungle floor.
The comm clicked again - Stein’s voice came through, breathless but triumphant. “We’re in the clear, thanks to you. You just saved our skins, again.”
“Just another day at the office,” Vee replied, holstering her weapons as she scanned the jungle one last time. “Let’s get out of here before they send reinforcements.”
System Notification: Mission Complete - Objective Achieved. EXP gained.
With the mission wrapped, she felt the tension ease, her shoulders relaxing as the last digital remains of the enemies faded from her view. She exhaled, steadying herself as the faint hum of her HUD faded, the screen clearing as it switched to mission results.
System Notification: Bonus Achieved - Full Squad Rescue. Stealth Rating: 92%. Bonus EXP +500. Skill Unlock - Jungle Guerilla (Passive): Increased Agility and Camouflage in dense terrain.
A satisfied grin spread across her face. The Jungle Guerilla perk would come in handy. She holstered her weapons, running a quick check on her remaining gear as she scanned her radar. Her team’s signals were moving north, steady and unbroken - they’d made it out, thanks to her timely intervention.
Her comm pinged one last time, Stein’s voice coming through with that trademark dry tone of his. “Vee, if you ever feel like going full commando, I’ll personally lobby for you to join the squad. You saved our hides out there.”
She chuckled, stretching her neck with a roll of her shoulders. “Don’t get too used to it, Stein. I like playing the ghost.”
“Right,” Stein replied, laughing. “With moves like that, it’s a good thing you’re on our side. I owe you one.”
“Just keep the next drink on you, and we’ll call it even,” Vee replied, her grin widening as she closed the comm. She gave one last look at the digital jungle around her, taking in the quiet as her avatar stood alone among the ruins. There was a certain satisfaction to missions like this - moving unseen, weaving through chaos, and striking with precision.
Her HUD chimed with the mission summary, displaying her team’s collective stats. As the summary dissolved, the system sent one last snarky message her way:
“Not bad for a phantom. But remember - in the next mission, try for ‘silent but deadly’ rather than ‘silent but slightly chaotic.’”
She rolled her eyes, but a smirk tugged at her lips. The system’s dry humor was growing on her.
She tapped out, logging off as the jungle faded, her real-world senses returning as she removed her helmet. The familiar hum of her room surrounded her, a stark contrast to the wild intensity of the mission. She ran a hand through her hair, still feeling the aftershocks of the adrenaline pulsing through her veins.
“Just another day at the office,” she muttered to herself with a wry grin, already looking forward to the next one.