She sat bitterly as she glared ahead with a scornful gaze in her eyes. Hers hand fidgeted as she prepared herself to extract a vengeance only one and a half days in the making. Though her body ached from the (probably non-existent) pain from her previous operation's injuries, she continued to push on as her intricate plans began to race through her mind.
She muttered to herself in contemplation as she tried decipher the trickster's moves, "What the hell kind of sorcery did he pull-"
Her hands fumble as she drops and scatters a deck of cards around her, "Gah! God damn it." Dismounting her seat, she reaches down and snatches the various face cards that'd cost her good money to Specter. Wraith pauses and inspects a card for a moment before rising back up to her seat. Looking back out, she sees a familiar figure rear around the canteen's doorway. The near-identical uniform of their squad and the face of a man who desires nothing else than to jury-rig an incompatible under barrel grenade launcher onto their FN FAL.
He greets her with a surprised tone of concern, "Wraith? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in med bay?"
She puts aside the deck of cards and smiles at their squad leader, "Ah, don't worry about it. I was determined safe to return to duty."
"They crashed a car into you!"
"Just a couple bruises and cuts, nothing life threatening or crippling," she averts her eyes to a visible bandage on Crystal's arm, a bullet wound slowly recovering, "I could ask the same of you, no? I'd say you had it worse, that bullet must've stung pretty bad."
"It's been looked over by the medics over at the infirmary and I know what I can handle. I can still work just fine."
"Hey wait, isn't that I told you?"
Crystal glares at her, "I suppose that would be correct. I just needed to check in on you, is all. Average person doesn't just walk away from a car crash unphazed."
As her chat with Crystal continues, her bubbly self begins to reemerge as she takes her mind off of swindling her fifty bucks back from Specter, "Aw, ya really care about me that much?"
Crystal redirects his glare back at Wraith, "Wha- Should I not worry about the well being of my squad who has fought alongside me over several operations and have saved my life numerous times?"
Wraith giggles, "Yeah, yeah. I suppose that's fair."
She grabs the set aside cards as her returns to attempting various shuffles that may rig a game in her favor.
"You've taken a sudden interest in those cards for quite a bit now, what's going on here?"
"Specter's scammed me out of a good chunk of my wallet and I want to get back at him."
Crystal sighs, "He's our resident ghost and spy, he's a trickster. You won't to be able to fool a shark with his own tricks."
"This isn't a matter of the money anymore, it's about my pride."
"Naturally, what squad's complete without a little infighting? Well, I hope you two make some 'amends' and finish up with this squabble. We've got a critical operation coming up and I need the both of you in prime condition?"
"Agh, it's only been a day since we made that deal, we're already active again? What does Overwatch expect us to do this time?"
"Negative, you'll have some down time to prepare. Our little friend we captured back at that ambush just gave us some vital information. I believe he's given up the location of an Igneous outpost in this region, must be how they've been rapidly responding to our moves."
"Ooh, finally. Something we're experienced in. Just call on me when the time comes, I'm always ready-"
"Negative there, too."
"Eh?" She was taken aback for a moment by her squad leader's seemingly doubt of her capabilities."
"Like I said, I worry about the well being of everyone in my squad. Your injury worries me, it might hamper your marksmanship."
"But you've seen me on the field, haven't you?"
"I'd trust in what I can see than what I cannot. Meet me by the gates in an hour or so, take your sniper."
"Alright ... " As Crystal turns away, she returns her attention to the deck of cars in her hand, attempting to think of a ploy to deceive the Specter.
One Hour Later
Climbing back into the watch tower, he sat patiently as he waiting on their resident sniper to arrive for her pop-quiz in sniping. To his side laid various pieces of cardboard and sheet metal, targets he'd laid out and surprising had excess of. Sure, he'd snatched them from their training course, but the cadets break a few targets every other day anyways. Remaining in silence and paying attention to the environment around him, he hears a soft footstep among the gently blowing wind. Leaning out of cover, he sees Wraith stepping out of the premises of their facility, a bolt-action in her hands and a signature green camouflaged cape draped over her upper body.
He waves over at Wraith, "Oi! Up here!"
The caped figure turns towards the watch tower and begins pacing towards it. She smiles and waves at Crystal who in return nods and steps towards the other end of the watch tower, picking up a pair of binoculars and making space for Wraith to prep her sniper rifle.
"So, what's going on today?"
"Nothing much, really, I'm just going to have you fire at a few targets' all."
"Really? That east? You're not sending me out on a shaky helicopter to hit something basically across the world?"
"Nope, simple day today. Get your sniper ready and I'll spot some targets for you."
"Mhm."
He looks through a pair of binoculars for a moment, scanning through the various targets he left out, "Let's see, target about 165 South, 400 meters out. Take it down."
"Aye, sir."
Crystal pauses and looks at Wraith, who sat in silence lining up her shot. He can see the slightest of movement from her hands as she shifts her sights onto the target.
*BANG* A shot rings out through the field as Wraith cycles in another round. He raises his binoculars and settles his eyes on the cardboard piece, a clean hole sits near dead center in it.
"Alright, good, good." He scans around the hills again, "Another target 195 South, around ... 600 meters?"
Wraith goes into silence once more as he readies another shot. She pauses for a moment as she shifts her sniper again, Crystal looks at her expectantly, await her to fire.
"Chief, did you get your eyes checked? Doesn't look like 600 to me."
"Eh, figure it out yourself, do I look someone who knows how to spot to you?"
She looks at the crouched agent with a pair of binoculars in his hand, "Well, yes."
Crystal pauses for a moment, "Just find your damn shot."
She giggles for a second before slightly lowering her scope, firing a slight moment after.
"Dead on, good work."
"Ya know, maybe I should be the one giving this lesson."
"That's not the point of this test."
"Mhm, sure chief."
"Two targets about 185 and 180 out. I'd say about 550 meters between the two of them. Take them both out as fast as you can in quick succession."
"Ah, so now you've found your range."
She cycles in another round as she looks at the two target. One cardboard target stationed near a flat plains and another metal sheet somewhat concealed behind a tall hill. She looks between the two before settling her sights on the furthest target on the hill, raising her rifle slightly. Making small adjustments, she holds her shot for a moment before firing a deadly, precise shot.
"Dead on."
Her hands hastily cycles in another round as she lowers her sniper rifle back to the plains. She doesn't take much time as she pulls the trigger once more, it was an easy shot.
"Impressive, impressive. One last target for the day, directly head on, 180 South. Distance ... fucked if I know, I just took the ATV as far as I could."
"This is why you wouldn't pass sniper academy."
In the far distance she sees a metal sheet opposing her in a valley between two towering hills. Cycling one final round, she stares it down as she tries to find the range.
"You know no sniper worth their salt would try to shoot something that far, right?"
"You dropped an Igneous officer on a PT boat from across the fucking sea, apparently."
"Is that a challenge?"
Her eyes hone in on the target as she begins to raise her sniper's sight up high, bringing it up several notches. She pauses for a moment, deciding that she's done all she could to ensure her shot is precise and deadly, she pulls the trigger.
Crystal pulls up his binoculars and focuses in on the metal sheet, a clean hole is pierced through it, a near center bullseye.
"Oh shit. Well then, suppose you're good to go."
"What else did ya expect from me? Canadian snipers are the best in the world."
"Sure, sure. Get some rest and prepare in the upcoming days. Igneous is gonna have storm coming up.
"This whole course and you're still worried about me?"
Several Days Later
"Greetings, Apochrosi squad. Recent interrogations and reconnaissance work has uncovered the presence of a sizable Igneous outpost within close proximity of main headquarters. The destruction of this facility would be critical in crippling Igneous operations in the region and allowing us to focus our resources on far more important matters. Your squad will be running a stealth operation in order to sabotage the encampment whilst gathering information about Igneous' operations and recent alliance. Artillery and Dyanami squads will be on standby to assault the outpost once your operation is finishes or should things go south. Good luck."
Two agents sit crouched in a field of tall grass as they looked over the heavily fortified position in front of them. Their black camouflaged uniforms concealed them nearly perfectly as they remained just barely outside the outpost's perimeter of floodlights. On the other end of the perimeter they can hear the rumbling of several vehicles travelling upon a hastily flattened dirt path.
"That'll be a good amount of the outpost heading out on operation, reckon we should head in?"
The agent next to him shrugs, "Might as well."
Rising from his position he begins making pace to the only entrance through the facility's sheet metal layered link fences, it'd be a long walk to the other end of the outpost's perimeter.
A cold breeze flew through the hills as he pulled his scarf closer to him, "Christ, it's freezing cold out here."
"Just deal with it, you'll get used to it in Canada."
"We're in the midst of Winter and it's fucking midnight, what do you expect from me?"
The agent walking next to him laughs for a brief moment, "You're not from Canada, aren't you? Somewhere tropical? Florida, South America, the Caribbean?"
His voice was muffled by the scarf warming him closely, "It doesn't get this bad back in England, why couldn't we operate somewhere warmer?"
"You'll learn to love the cold and warm Summers. Much better than boiling somewhere in Arizona."
He sighs, some his breath escaping his scarf and condensing in front of his own face, "Let's just get in and finish up our work here, what I'd do for a break from these constant operations."
"Damn right, ya heard about the disaster yesterday-"
He pauses as he sees a barely visible silhouette in a portion of the grass barely illuminated by the floodlights, seemingly turned against them.
"Aren't we the only ones out here?"
He turns to his buddy to see him raising his assault rifle, he follows suit and grabs his own pistol. Aiming the iron sights at the figure's general vicinity of a head. His grip firms as his finger slowly pauses on the trigger, waiting for his colleague to make the first move. He sees him slowly approaching the dark figure, seemingly trying to confirm his target.
"Step out of the grass and identify yourself!"
The figure shifts for a moment before returning to his original position.
"Are you deaf? Step out of the grass and identify yourself-"
*WOOSH* He's startled and taken aback for a moment as the sound of something audible flies by him. Looking around he turns to his partner but was horrified to see him collapse to the ground. A sizable hole lied in his head as viscous red blood began to flow down his skull. Ducking into the foliage, he looks back out at the dark figure, but he was not greeted by a blur in the grass. He was greeted by a man dressed in an identical uniform and gear to his raising a silenced pistol at him.
"Hey- Hey- Look-"
A muzzle flash would be all he saw before collapsing lifeless to the ground.
Crystal
"I have visuals on their main entrance, their convoy appears to be moving out now. Should make our job a little easier. Will begin moving soon."
"I-is this why you brought that Igneous uniform? I hope you aren't planning to waltz right in."
"Don't worry about me Wraith, I'm not that idiotic. Entrance's probably going to be guarded, I'll try to hop the fence or find some other way in. You seeing anything on your side?"
"Alright, good, good. Err, don't see anything movement over here, should be good to go."
As the last of the armored vehicles left his sight, he began to move and prepared to sprint and jump over the short linked fence.
He suddenly freezes, both from the breeze of the Canadian wilderness and a warning from his over watching colleague, "Hold on! I see two guards walking towards your location."
He pulls out his silenced pistol as he turns to take out the two Igneous operatives.
"No, don't. Stay where you are and lure them to you, I'll take one out, whip around and take out the other."
"Didn't you warn me about pulling off something stupid."
"Trust me, have you hand over your holster."
"Hope you don't get me killed."
He sat waiting in the tall grass, his legs ready to jump back and fire a round into a startled agent. A shiver goes up his spine as he hears the barely audible footsteps against the soft dirt approaching him, either that or it was the -10 degrees Celsius winter.
He hears a startled mutter from one of the two, "Aren't we the only ones out here?"
His heart skips a beat as he hears an assault rifle being racked back and raised, though he would not flinch or jump.
"Step out of the grass and identify yourself!"
He shifts for a moment and keeps his hand over his holster, ready to hastily whip it out and fire a round behind him.
"Are you deaf? Step out of the grass and identify yourself!"
"Firing."
Behind him, he can hear the sounds of a sniper's round striking a human's skull, he was sure to have been killed on the spot. Leaping back and swinging around, he pulls out his sidearm and points it at a cowering Igneous agent.
"Hey- Hey- Look-"
He would not listen to the operative's protest and near instantaneously fires a round into his head, executing him on the spot.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
His earpiece crackles to life, "Brutal, dude just wanted to surrender."
"Can't risk a single thing in an operation this critical."
"You risked following through with my plans."
"I can trust you not to horrendously fuck up, I can't trust a hostile agent."
"Aw, always happy to help."
Stepping away from the corpses, he puts some distance between him and the fence, placing himself on a shorter part of blockage without any sheet metal blocking. Taking one final step back, he lowers himself to a running stance and takes a moment to plan out his next move.
Watching from afar and from an entirely different front, Wraith can only see a small hint of what her colleague on the field could be doing. She saw Crystal stand still and pause, seemingly preparing for what's to come. Confused on his inaction, she reaches for her radio, but suddenly realizes what their somewhat reckless squad leader has in mind.
"Wait a moment, please don't tell me you're going to-"
"Trust."
He lunges forward with a sprint and closes the distance between him and the barricade in a moment of seconds. Leading up he grabs the tip of the fence and pulls himself up as he utilizes what momentum he had to fling himself over the fence, landing with a roll to the size to minimize any damage that could've come across from the fall.
"Crystal, I haven't got visuals on you now that you're in the outpost, I'll keep you updated on anything that occurs out here. Try to meet up with Specter in there, he should've landed on the opposite end by now."
"Affirmative. Crystal-1, going dark, over and out."
Now that he was inside of enemy territory, he displaces his coat to reveal a snow camouflaged uniform of a different make and model of his typical gear. Checking himself over, he found himself to be covered in gear used as the standard issue for Igneous operatives. On the very possible chance that he would be spotted, he could hope that they mistake him for an actual operative and pay no mind to him. Looking around him, he saw a corrugated metal wall directly in front of him. A hastily made shelter that provided protection from the elements, if it was good enough to transport nuclear warheads, it was good enough for a rowdy group of soldiers. And a rowdy group of soldiers he did hear from the thin walls.
"Heh, I'll fuckin' *hic* tell you. Those *hic* Ervna bitch heads won't see it coming."
"Are you drunk? That was last week, they destroyed two of our fucking tanks."
He steps away from the building, "Wraith, I think I found their barracks, appear to be in a relaxed state."
"Good, good, should be simpler for you, then. Just keep away and you'll be fine."
"Got 'cha."
Adjacent to the barracks he saw another building adjacent to it, nearly identical in material but much larger. Deciding that would be his next lead, he starts an urgent but slow pace, ensuring his footsteps are nearly silent. Pausing by a corner he takes a moment to stop and listen.
Something approaches.
Only a single pair of footsteps, it seems. Looking around he sees nothing to take cover behind, as such, he pulls out his knife and prays that no one else is in sight. The footsteps grow more audible as they come closer. He rears his knife back and prepares his left hand to grab the assailant's collar. The footsteps rear only a feet away as he prepares to jump out, then they stop. He sat surprised but relieved as he waited for the unknown operative's next move. From around the corner he heard some form a lid pop off, then a click, followed by several more clicks.
"Fuckin' piece of shit lighter, give me a flame already-"
"Ah, finally."
The crackle and sizzle of a small flame was audible to the two of them, the unknown seemingly lighting a smoke to let off some stress. The man let in a breath as he pulled the cigarette, shortly blowing out a barely visible flow of smoke moments later. Briefly believing he'd leave, he's startled back to attention as he hears the man beginning pace again. His arm with cigarette in hand was the first to appear to him, prompting Crystal to lunge at the man. He grabbed the man's collar towards his position and swung the knife into his neck, digging deep and causing devastating damage as he yanks the knife to the side. He was a dead man near instantaneously.
"Crystal-1, one Tango down."
"Hide that body and move on. Be careful, they might notice if everyone of their guards went missing."
"I'm not bloodthirsty, I'll be fine."
"Just take it easy."
Pulling the body back behind the building, he peeks out and sees an alley devoid of any Igneous eyes or operatives. He sprints to the other building and pauses to listen in for any footsteps. The outpost is eerily silent with nearly half of their agents having left for operations in a convoy. Satisfied with his ability to not alert everyone in a half mile radius, he carries on with a slow pace, his body lowered to give him full control over his movement.
"No backdoors, they can't even make it easy for me."
"Was going to make some joke about that, but you're kind of in a life or death situation right now."
"You can host your shitty stand-up comedy later."
"You're no fun."
Glancing around a corner he sees a watch tower looking over the entire outpost with an eagle's eye, akin to their own. It had vision over the somewhat narrow alley he'd travel down and moving the other way into the center of the outpost whereas an agent just went missing didn't sound appealing to him either.
"Watch tower, what are the chances I could drop em?
"I wouldn't recommend."
"He's not looking my way, I could just line up a shot-"
"Crystal, you realize I have a sniper in my hands, right?"
"Hmm, any other towers?"
"Negative, they've been vacated when the convoy headed out."
"Hold your shot, let me see if they'd have a good view of the body."
Turning back the way he did, he walks down the alley between the two buildings, despite being the spot whereas an agent just went missing. Taking slow and quiet steps, he peeks out to see only the lookout's upper body, a few sheets of metal able to perfectly conceal someone laying down. He scans around the center to spot any agents in sight, the center is silent and empty, much to his relief.
"Take the shot."
He quickly rushes back the way he came back into the quiet alleys of the outpost. Heading back to the narrow alley, he takes a glance at the watch tower to see it empty.
"Good shot."
"Canadian snipers are simply the best in the world."
"You're smiling over there, aren't you?"
"No?"
"Naturally."
Leaning slightly from the corrugated metal corner, he scans the middle once more to see another Igneous operative standing around, seemingly enjoying the cold breeze. Concealing his knife and pistol, he steps back for a moment before continuing with a normal pace, making himself inconspicuous. Walking out into the center, he sticks by the side of the building and spots a door on the other end of the wall. Tilting his head somewhat to the ground, he can feel the stare of a pair of eyes on him. He hears no footsteps approaching him nor calling out to him, much to his relief his masquerade seems to have worked. Opening the door, he quickly steps inside and was greeted by an assortment of various piled crates. More concerningly so was an Igneous operative standing by an open box, looking up at him.
The operative looks at him for a moment, who was covered with a balaclava and light jacket. "You can't handle the cold either?"
He shakes his head, prompting the agent to respond, "Of course you can't, probably from somewhere warm in the U.S. What are you here for anyways?"
Crystal was a natural silver tongue when it came to lying to his quartermaster to snag a few extra grenades or magazines, he would be in his natural domain to deceive the Igneous guard, "I uh, just needed a few extra magazines is all."
He laughs, "You're looking for some extra grenades, aren't ya?"
"I don't know what you're-"
"Don't sweat it, the chief never notices, you'll be fine. Crowbar's by the office, have fun."
"Thank you."
He quickly paces behind a pillar and piles of crates, looking around for where this office may be. He finds a room in the corner with a pair of windows, inside was an ornate desk with a laptop on it, though a notable lack of a crowbar. Scanning the storage room, he saw yet another guard prying open a wooden crate with a crowbar.
"They're separated, I could try something."
He steps towards the Igneous agent, "Aye, mind if I borrow that real quick?"
He pauses for a moment before yanking hard on the crowbar, breaking open the crate, "Phew, here.
"Appreciate it," he grabs the crowbar from the man.
Stepping back to the pile of crates near the entrance, he can see both of the guards minding their own business. He steps behind one side of the crates, hiding him from the idle guard and putting him in sight of the pre-occupied guard. Gently placing down the crowbar on a crate, he quickly upholsters his silence pistol and his combat knife. His footsteps silent and the guard unaware, he raises his pistol towards the direction of the idle guard and prepares himself to stab the agent scrummaging through a box of ammunition. Raising his knife, he swings it into the back of the agent's neck, yanking it once more as he did with the agent in the alley.
"Hey, what's going on over-"
He quickly slides to the side and fires his silenced pistol at the startled guard, the two of them collapse to the ground quickly. He hastily gets to work and drags both of the guard's body into the office, they at least won't be spotted instantly the moment someone steps it. As he drops the last body, he notes the laptop on the table and takes a second to crack it open.
"Crystal-1 to Wraith, you copy?"
"Loud and clear."
"Found a storage room, two guards neutralized. Found a laptop."
"No time to look at it, just take it with you."
"Affirmative, by the way, what's Specter doing?"
"Apparently the watch towers weren't empty, he just took out one of the guards. He's currently taking a look at a few vehicles, 'my kingdom for some explosives', apparently."
"Lead him to the storage room, I've got an idea. Largest building on the side I entered."
"Affirmative."
Specter
"Wraith to Specter, do you copy."
"I've heard you the previous five times, what is it this time?"
"Crystal just cleared the storage room and needs you there, he's got a plan."
"Aren't we supposed to be on opposite ends? This better be a good plan, then. Lead me to him."
"Looks to be their largest construction in the outpost, just head towards the center and take a glance at each building, I'm sure you can figure it out."
"Useful as ever, Wraith."
"Welcome."
He places his hand on the broke down jeep in front of him, glancing out of cover as he tries to avoid the sight of the two guard in front of him. Their newly immobilized vehicle was a gift from him, courtesy of a few metal sticks being jammed forcefully in its engine and its tires slashed. Though the sheer audibility of a scrape of metal through the quiet night he did not particularly anticipate, leading him to hide behind his own handiwork.
"Are you sure you heard something out here?"
"Of course I did, it was somethin' jarring, like metal."
"Wha- Luke, do you not see how shitty these fences are? They just glued a few plates of metals and called it a day. Simple fuckin' breeze could probably collapse it."
"Does metal falling down sound like scraping and screeching to you?"
"I think you need to get your ears checked. How long have you been on operation?"
"That's besides the point, something's out here."
"Some deer or rodent probably broke in. Eh, might as well protect our rations, then."
He's only mildly annoyed as the skeptical of the two continued to search with his comrade, now having to find a way to weasel out of the situation. Looking around his immediate position he finds a few decently sized scraps of metals, large enough to fit in his palm. He wasn't an athletic or parkour expert like Crystal, so he may had tore down a few metal plates on his way in.
"Specter, another guard's investigating your entry point, he heard you crashing against the plates. Aren't you supposed to be our infiltration expert?"
"Breaking through or jumping a metal fence isn't covered in training."
"Almost nothing you do is covered in training," she sighs, "Just keep to the shadows and get out alive."
He grabs a scrap of metal and looks at the various shadows around him, anywhere that would take a moment to comprehend in the darkness. A small spot between a motorbike and fence was barely visible and in a somewhat realistic tossing range. Keeping his head out of the light, he glances out to see the two scanning the area, not paying their attention to any particular location. He rears his arm to his side and chucks the metal plate far besides him, a loud clank upon impact.
"Over there!"
"Just a plate falling off, Luke, don't worry about it. ... God damn it, get back here."
The paranoid of the two continues to step towards his distraction, though much to his annoyance, the other stands watching over him.
He mutters silently under his breath, "Shit, they aren't stupid."
Planning on his next move, he realizes the silenced pistol in his holster was specially designed to drop a few Igneous agents with little to no noise. He pulls out the pistol for the first time in the operation and racks back its slide. He'd dispatch the guard taking watch first before moving on to the more unaware of the two. Rising out of cover with his sidearm raised, he fires two rapid shots as the startled operative comes into his iron sights."
"Luke!-"
He would reach for his SMG as fast as Specter rose out of cover, but too slow too late, as he'd barely yell out a single name. Glancing back upon hearing his name being called out, he would only catch a glimpse of the shadow from the corner of his eyes as a bullet strikes him in his skull.
"Two down, moving."
"That's nine down now, you two need to lay off the trigger."
"Can't get caught if no one's left to see us."
Crystal's voice would come over the radio as he sat patiently but alert in the warehouse, "The hell are you doing over there?"
"Silence, don't get me caught."
He rushed towards the alley of the outpost's garage as he began to progress towards the center, not bothering to leave the bodies concealed or hidden. His pistol and and fixed blade raised as he never hesitated to take out another agent, their life for his. Pausing at a floodlight, he takes a short moment to glance out before proceeding, preferring to rush through with speed over taking it tactically slow. Though he only pauses as he sees a small squad of agents only recently armed to the teeth.
"Minor road block over here."
"Watch tower?"
"Entire squadron," he pauses, "They've got fucking assault rifles and shotguns."
"Okay so, they'll definitely notice if half of their men go missing. Take another path."
"Guess I'll go the other way."
He quickly sprints the other way back towards the two bodies near the vehicles, deciding to take a detour and travelling the other path whereas he'd entered. Naturally, he saw another Igneous agent looking around the area. Unfortunately for him, four was bigger than one, wouldn't notice a guard who went off on his own going silent for a few moments compared to an entire squad. As such, he raised his pistol and fired, dropping him instantly."
"Tango down."
"Christ, you even heed my advice?"
"You expect me to climb a building and escape the encirclement?"
"You're supposed to be an expert in this field."
"I haven't raised the alarm, no?"
As he neared the corner, he took a brief moment to shove the body somewhat into the shadows. He sees the floodlight of another corner in the distance and runs to the side of the building. Despite being hasty and somewhat reckless, he remains near silent as he controlled his body and footsteps well. A trio of guards stand scattered away from each other, each lazing around and another taking a smoke.
"Looking at the center, a few agents here. Where am I going?"
"Should see three or so buildings on the opposite side, largest of them is the warehouse. Only a front entrance leads into it."
"I've got a uniform under this cloak, I could try-"
"You two are sometimes scarily alike in stupid plans, except he was sensible enough to suggest it as a joke. Take off your cloak and walk normally the alley on the other side, sneak around the corner and take the long way around."
"Alright, alright. Look, Wraith, you don't have to worry about my plans so much."
"I've learned to worry about those I work closely with, now focus back on the operation."
Displacing his cloak and tossing it to his side, he waits until most of the guards are preoccupied and takes a slow pace towards the other end of the alley. He makes himself appear pissed off and begrudged as he shambled through the snow, appearing displeased from spending multiple months in the Canadian winter. One of the guards glance up at him but pays him no further attention as his masquerade fools him.
"Took your advice, they bought the disguise."
"Good, good. Just head towards the side of the warehouse and enter the front door from there. Mind the body in the alley."
"What body- Huh, gruesome mess."
"Least he had no other choice, that spotter wasn't even looking down your direction."
"Pay no quarter, could've turned around any moment."
"Just get to the damn warehouse."
Walking past the slowly drying pool of blood, he narrowly avoids soaking his shoes in the viscous red liquid. Cleared by his colleague, it was trivial and peaceful walk as he paced towards the other end of the outpost. He stops by the two open alleys and corner he has to turn, but quickly advances as he finds it to be clear. Turning the corner and looking out at the center, he finds the usual three guards still lazing about. One of the guards steps inside of the outpost's barracks, much to his relief.
"Tell Crystal I'm about to enter."
"Got'cha," ... "Oi, Crystal. Don't shoot the next person to enter. We don't want another blue-on-blue incident back at Red Crimson."
"He snuck behind enemy lines and we saw a sniper glare, what did you expect me to do?"
"Fair, just hold your fire."
Turning the door's handle, he quickly steps inside and shuts its behind him. Looking up he sees an agent dressed in an identical uniform standing by a pillar and with silenced pistol in his hands.
Crystal
"Ah, about time you show up."
"Was wondering what you were doing yourself."
"Don't check the office." he holsters his pistol and grabs a crowbar lying on a box to his side, "I took a look around and apparently they've got some explosive charges in one of these boxes."
"A distraction? What'd you expect to do with those fireworks?"
"Well," he grabs a laptop from his back, "I've already got what we've need. Let's leave them a little surprise, yeah?"
"I hope that thing's got something important on it, it would be a lot wiser to sweep the place for information."
A voice interjects on their radio, "You've killed 10 men and there's an armed squad on the move, you need to get moving, STAT."
Crystal responds, "Affirmative," he turns off the radio's receiver, grabbing the crowbar and beginning to make pace towards a crate in the corner, "The fuck did you do out there? Eight dead? I've only cleared this room that guard out there."
He takes the crowbar and places it on the crate's lid, pausing for a moment he yanks it down and pulls open the lid. Within the crate he was greeted by several pounds of sweet, glorious high explosives and several disabled detonators within.
"Sweet glory, Prometheus's going to be proud of this."
"Which idiotic officer do you think approved of storing several high explosives in their main stock pile?"
"Eh, can't complain myself." He grabs a few bricks of explosives and a detonator, "Grab a row of explosives, each of them correspond to its respective detonator. I'm sure they've got a generator around him. I'm going to place one of these on their barracks, oughta give them a rude awakening."
"Ruthless, I like your thinking."
"Best not linger here any more, let's get moving."
Specter nods as he takes his own set of explosives, hiding them in his jacket as did any member of an unspecified organization of terror in the middle east region. Crystal leaves behind one of the brick of explosives as he plans to erupt the entire warehouse in hellfire with a chain reaction. The various grenades hopefully adding to the spectacular view. Stepping out of the warehouse he immediately turns to the alley of which he came and started to get to work. Taking a few pauses by the alleys, he keeps an ear out before leaping to the other side, minimizing his time in the light.
"Parry this, you fucking Igneous," he muttered under his breath as he placed a brick of an explosive substance next to the barrack's wall. Looking the other way, he realizes he hasn't explored any other area of the outpost at all. Better late than never, he makes pace towards the next building down and decides to place another brick there.
"I'm sure it'll hit something important," he'd reason with himself, gently slapping another brick on the wall as to avoid making any noise. One final brick of death in his hands, he decides to take a trip to the other end of the facility. Running through the alleys and pausing by the open center, concealing the explosive brick in his coat as he passed by unassuming, the two guards paying no attention for some ungodly reason again.
"Hey, looking at a long building here-"
"It's their dining room and kitchen, they've got all their rations in there." Specter quickly called in on Crystal's inquiry.
"Hot damn, be shame to waste some good food."
"They're rations, do you honestly expect any of it to be missed?"
"I mean, if you're starving."
"Just place your brick and get out of there."
Placing the last brick of explosives on the outpost's only supply of food, he smiles and steps away.
"Alright, I'm headed out. Let's watch these fireworks."
Wraith's voice comes in again, "Jumping the fence again?"
Crystal walks around the perimeter of the canteen, looking for the shortest portion of the fence. Staring down the alley, he sees his more "stealthy" colleague attempting to climb over a fence, dialoging several plates on the way. Grinning as he's about to display his far superior fence bypassing skills, he steps back as he lowers himself once more, about to leap over the fence again. Starting a sprint, he jumps up and grab's the fence's tip, pulling his hands up and flinging himself over. And in an instant, he was out of the outpost.
"You don't have to boast like that."
"I'm sure you alerted half of your base with those climbing tricks."
"Just start running, before they find us and I get my hands on you."
"Oh shit-"
He musters the fastest sprint he could manage and fled to the hills in the distance. Holding a detonator in his hand and a laptop he haphazardly stuck onto one of his gear slings, he grinned at the fruits of his labor. Jumping behind a small bump in the terrain, he pauses and wait for his less athletic colleague to catch up. He pulls out his detonator and holds still on standby, Specter understands what must be done and grabs his own trigger as he steps over the hill.
"Hellfire in three. ... Three, two-"
"Nah," he hears the clicking of a trigger being pulled to his right, prompting him to immediately pull on his detonator. They waited in anticipation for a moment as they looked out at the outpost. As if being punished by a divine intervention, a blinding light erupts from the warehouse as a great explosion shook the valley, a powerful shockwave knocks them back for a moment. From the holy light back into hellfire, the construction was covered in a raging inferno, only the remnants of a past civilization remaining. From the sky, scraps and chunks of metal briefly rained down and smashed into the Earth beneath them.
"Hot damn," Wraith's voice came in over the radio, in awe of their firework's handiwork, "No words, just a job well done."
She pauses for a moment as she takes in the view, "I've called in our exfil, I'm sure they don't need a flare this time. All we can do now is hope the Dynami squads don't catastrophically screw up their ambush on that convoy, and this'll be a critical success."
He sat in silence for a moment before hurrying back to his feet, leaving the detonator as he hurried away from the facility.
Mission Debrief
Operation Status: Success | Outpost destroyed, convoy eradicated
Casualties: 6 | Several Dynami operatives
Summary: Following the departure of a sizable convoy from the Igneous outpost, agents from the Apochrosi squadron seized the moment and began their infiltration into the structure. Agents Specter and Crystal were the only two to enter the facility as Wraith stood by as over watch. Both operatives met up at the warehouse of the outpost, dispatching roughly ten agents in the process, and put into motion their plan to destroy the entire facility. Planting several explosive charges around key bullrings, Crystal and Specter fled the premises undetected, taking a laptop found within the Igneous quartermaster's office in the process.
Dynami squadrons successfully ambushed the unaware Igneous convoy, though not before sustaining several injuries and casualties. The convoy's power and size had been underestimating, boasting several Igneous squadrons, two APCs, one tank, one IFV, and various supply trucks and armored vehicles. Initial engagement successfully saw the destruction of an APC, the immobilization of one tank, and several agents killed. A resulting fire fight would see a slow Ervna victory as several injuries and casualties would be suffered from the remaining vehicles and tank.
"No way in hell Igneous managed to scrounge up all that armor by themselves. IFVs, APCs, tanks, we are far outclassed in traditional warfare. Any operation could be death trap if we aren't careful with our intel and moves. Figure out who the hell has been funding and supporting Igneous and show em' what we're made of." Prometheus-1's remarks