Vee took a deep breath, steadying herself as her scope trained on the enemy. She noted their stance - wrong angle, wrong direction - every detail screamed target. Without hesitation, she exhaled, lined up her shot, and squeezed the trigger twice.
Pop. Pop.
Two shots, one to the chest, one to the head, both deadly precise. She didn’t leave anything to chance, accounting for how their body would drop, just in case they were running a personal shield. As the figure crumpled to the ground, she didn’t linger. Quickly, she scanned the area for further movement but saw none. Not wanting to stay exposed on the ledge, she deployed a decoy. Her projector kicked in, casting a hologram of herself as if she were still there, crouched in position, surveying the jungle.
With her decoy active, Vee activated her inertial dampeners, leaping down from her vantage point and landing in a soft crouch, her pistols drawn, rifle back in its holster. She moved silently toward the last known position of her target, banking on the decoy to pull any nearby eyes her way.
The decoy mimicked her pre-programmed movements, scanning and shifting as if it were about to fire. It didn’t need to last long - just enough to make anyone watching hesitate. As she crept through the undergrowth, her eyes narrowed at a strange patch of terrain that looked… wrong. The angle was off, almost like the ground was floating. Trusting her instincts, she veered around it, keeping a cautious distance. As she circled, the visual distortion revealed itself for what it was - a camo shield masking an enemy position.
Perfect.
She rolled a stun grenade in her palm, feeling the slight weight before hurling it into the camoed area. She ducked behind a small outcropping just as the grenade detonated, a sharp burst of light and sound tearing through the cover. The blast wouldn’t hurt her thanks to her shield, though it would temporarily deplete, leaving her vulnerable for a few seconds. But she didn’t wait. Using the chaos, she leaped over her cover, pistols raised, fingers already on the triggers.
Her shots found their mark. The enemy dropped, and Vee moved in swiftly, her eyes scanning for ammo or intel. All she found was a masked figure clad in high-tech black gear. Whistling softly to herself, she inspected the gear with care. It was impressive, almost too flashy for their rank. But a few overly conspicuous components stood out - too obvious, like a setup.
Tracers.
The last thing she wanted was to pick up a bug that might alert her opponents to her every move. She pulled out an incendiary round and dropped it onto the body. The flames erupted, consuming it in moments. Any signal they’d hoped to track was now nothing more than cinders.
A few yards away, the remains of her previous target had already dissipated into dust, indicating that they’d respawned. Guess the respawn point wasn’t far, she thought, shrugging. As she moved to leave, her instincts flared again - a warning at the edge of her senses.
Vee didn’t hesitate. She dropped to the ground, activating her stealth, just as a shot whizzed past, close enough to ruffle her hair through the haptic feedback of her suit. She rolled onto her back, still hidden by stealth, and fired twice, each shot aimed with calculated precision - one into the chest, one into the head. The hostile collapsed, and she followed with another incendiary round, watching the figure vanish in flames.
System Notification: Enemy Respawn Delay Extended. Skill Bonus - Deadly Reflexes.
With two down, she wasn’t sure how many more were waiting, but she was on a roll now. No sense in slowing down. She darted toward Stein’s beacon, only a hundred yards away, when a flurry of concussive rounds cracked through the trees ahead. These guys weren’t playing around, packing serious firepower. She tracked the gunfire’s direction, noting its rhythm and avoiding any chance of friendly fire.
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Creeping up behind one of the shooters, she swapped to her daggers. They were silent, efficient, and right now, the better option. She slipped up behind the target, her blade slipping between the armor plates at the neck, then slicing across his throat. The kill was quick, silent - only the abrupt halt of his gunfire marked his fall. She dropped an incendiary on the body, then grabbed his rifle, holstering her pistols as she took aim, firing in the same direction as her fallen opponent.
Her decoy was working flawlessly - it mimicked her actions, complete with the sound of gunfire. With the rifle she’d picked up, she kept firing in short bursts, blending into the squad’s rhythm. For now, the enemy couldn’t tell her shots from those of her fallen target.
System Notification: Decoy Duration Extended - 60 Seconds Remaining.
Vee kept up the ruse, moving with precision as bullets whizzed by her, one laser briefly tracking her before moving on. She had to give her enemies credit; they were coordinated, and this was no easy squad. But she didn’t make it as far as she had by backing down.
The next target put up more of a fight. As she crept up, her foot barely brushed against a tripwire, alerting her enemy just as she prepared to strike. He whirled, drawing not a gun, but a kukri - a wide, curved blade that gleamed with an unsettling edge. He moved with skill, charging at her in a powerful arc.
Vee stepped back, hands raised, drawing his focus to her seemingly empty grip. But as she spread her arms, her magnetic holsters deployed, snapping her knives into her palms. She grinned, dropping into a defensive stance, her weight light on the balls of her feet.
They circled each other, his eyes narrowing as he calculated his strike. She waited, reading his moves, noting the slightest shift in his stance. He lunged, but she skipped backward, just out of reach. Using her momentum, she activated a feature of her rig she rarely got to use - the toe grenade. With a deft kick, she dislodged a marble-sized concussive grenade hidden in the sole of her boot. It shot forward, sticking right to his armor.
He glanced down, eyes widening. Too late.
The grenade detonated in a low, controlled burst, sending him staggering back. In the split second before he recovered, Vee sprang forward, her knives flashing as she struck. Two precise slices cut through his defenses, and he fell, crumpling to the ground.
She took a moment to admire the high-tech setup in her boot. “Gotta love the new upgrades,” she muttered with a grin. Spending the experience she gained on gear enhancements was one of her favorite parts of playing. And every upgrade carried over between games, because she spent her exp on Prime Avatar upgrades, not just in game ones. Making them universal, Grid wide.
No time to linger - she holstered her daggers, grabbed the kukri, and ran, the weapon’s weight familiar and satisfying in her grip. She was only a few meters from Stein’s location now. Her HUD highlighted her teammates as they moved, marked by the faint red glow of the enemy approaching them.
More rounds erupted through the trees, a chaotic hail of bullets. She saw Stein pinned behind a fallen tree, his health bar dropping dangerously low. She didn’t hesitate - with the kukri in one hand and her pistol in the other, she leapt into the fray.
“Mad Kat, is that you?” Stein’s voice crackled in her ear.
“Don’t worry, I’m here to clean up.”
With a spin and a slash, she cut down one of the approaching enemies, her pistol barking as she shot another in the head. The forest filled with the sound of close-quarters combat, her teammates rallying as she cut a path through their attackers.
System Notification: Heroic Rescue - Team Morale Boosted. Temporary Health Regen Activated.
The notification flashed in her HUD as her team regrouped. Stein, still breathing hard, looked over at her avatar with a mixture of relief and disbelief.
“Mad Kat, you’re something else.”
She smirked, twirling the kukri before holstering it. “Stick with me, Stein. I’ll get you out of here in one piece.”
As the remaining enemies retreated, her comms buzzed again. “Alright team, let’s move. They won’t be gone long.”
Her squad gathered behind her, battered but breathing, as she led them through the jungle.
System Notification: Mission Update - Extraction Point in 300 Meters.
The familiar thrum of victory lingered in the air as they moved through the foliage. It wasn’t over yet, but Vee could feel it - the rush of triumph, the thrill of survival against the odds.
Only one more game to go.