I finally reached the ground, and the water’s coldness penetrated my Furtiven suit as it graced the gravelly ground.

As I turned to face the camp, I watched as the beams of light sprayed across the ravine providing much luminescence. “Let's get started shall we?”

The constant sound of the water flowing beneath me left a tranquil feeling around the ravine.

Stryme and I couldn’t hear it up on the precipice we’d commandeered, but after much discussion, it was decided that here would be the best entry point.

Not only could the water mask my arrival, but the water tank trailer could also be used as a staging area for my assault.

I crept up to the water tank and shimmied myself underneath. “I’m in position Stryme, pinpoint everyone for me.”

“Three men on the east and three men on the west. They’re covering the spots the floodlights can’t reach.”

“Copy that.”

I snapped off my wrist and tossed it in the air. The small picture-in-picture screen appeared in my left eye, giving me a full view of the campsite. It was all Stryme told me, six men were still patrolling and they were on the east and west side.

Once I was satisfied, I recalled my wrist to my arm. I then switched between thermal optics and X-Ray optics, ensuring I could get a better gauge of everyone.

The majority of the ravine was covered by the light coming from the floodlights. That was my first target, lose the lights, then began dismantling these bastards. But things. Could change.

I proned underneath the water trailer and slowly made my way to the nearest tent. I switched to my X-Ray Vision, as I upholstered my SL70. As I looked into the tent, I realised that the one I had crawled up to was empty, something I had miscalculated, but regardless of that. I was still close to the generator.

I then clipped my SL70 together as quietly as possible and slid in the magazine, unclipping the safety. Once I tightened the suppressor for my SL70 in place and I then did the same with my pistol. Everything’s a go, I thought.

The three men who patrolled the eastern side finally appeared after fifteen minutes. One was walking to the front whilst two walked behind.

The guns they had were carbines, which left me a bit perplexed, because as far as I knew. The weapons used in the waste were guns, but those were scavenged and didn't have the pristine look I'd expected.

“Stryme, these men might be part of the convoys you saw. Their weapons look new.”

“I thought it, but I didn’t want to say anything, it might’ve messed with our plans.”

“That’s fine, we’re knee-deep already plus we need this water for the trip, let’s just get this done.”

“Right.”

“You ready?” I whispered.

“Yeah…”

I spun out of cover, taking aim and the three bastards and squeezed. They dropped like flies after the bullets went through their neck, back and head.

I scampered toward them quickly, as silently as I could and began rolling them off to the side in another blind spot where no one could see them. “Any movement?”

“You’re still clear Cypher.”

“Copy that. Fifteen left.”

After hiding the bodies in the southeast section of the ravine, I doubled back and made my way into the inner part of the camp.

With the number of shattered boulders that were lying around, one would think the ravine was underwater, with too much cover to use, but I was thankful for that.

“Cypher, we have a problem.”

“Fuck.”

“The patrol on the west broke off. One’s rounding perimeter through the west side whilst two are heading towards you.”

“Perfect. Guess I don’t have much choice then.”

I spun out of cover, floodlight beaming down on me as if it were the sun.

The moment I felt those beams, I felt exposed, as if I were signalling them to gun me down.

It wasn’t the smartest thing, but how the fuck did they know their own was gunned down? , exposing me to the two men that were charging toward me.

Two bullets hit the generator located at the camp’s centre.

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A spray of bullets zipped past my air as I leapt back into cover, switching to night vision. “THE BASTARD TOOK OUT THE THE GENERATOR!”

“SALAS, GET THE SECOND GENERATOR UP AND RUNNING?”

“Stryme…”

“On it.”

“WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?”

“THERE’S TWO OF THEM!”

“WHERE IS HE?”

“Right here,” I said, firing a bullet into one of the bastard’s heads who’d hidden when the lights went down.

“Is the man on the perimeter dead yet?”

“Negative Cypher, I missed the shot.”

Damn it…”deal with the one in the middle of the camp, I’ll deal with him!”

I ducked, spun in the opposite direction and raced through the camp, leaping over a boulder that appeared in front of one of the trucks.

The gravel dislodged itself from beneath my feet, almost making me fall, but enough to make me grater my knees as I pushed myself up.

“The party’s getting big Cypher, everyone’s out of their tent.”

“Slow response dontcha think”

“But fast enough to my liking,” Stryme said.

“Barely,” I grunted.

I made it to the southern section in a flash but didn’t see the bastard who was rounding the perimeter.

An array of footsteps erupted around me, forcing me to switch from night vision to Echo-Sight. As my SMB pulsed in action, dozens of footsteps exploded around me.

My SMB clutched my brain tightly, and began to squeeze it so tight I felt a tear run down my eye from the pain. Damn it, why is the feedback so strong? I hissed feeling my eyes glass from the pain.

As waves of footsteps exploded around me, they forced me to cancel Echosight with gritted teeth and frustration.

A man appeared in front of me with startled eyes, the moment he raised his assault rifle at me. I swept my feet in quick succession watching as the whiteness of his retina left trailed into a hollow gleam of white aura.

I snapped my wrist open, freeing my short sword, and twisted my waist, then drilled my sword into my chest, then twisted it to ensure the kill.

A dozen more waves of steps emanating from my Echo-Sight rumbled across my eyesight.

I rolled off the bastard I’d just down, snapping behind me taking aim carefully and firing five shots from my pistol

A bullet grazed my shoulder as two men dropped down, then with five more steps echoing to my right, I spun, brandishing my SL70 and squeezed the trigger, missing each shot as the men diverted and began to flank me from both sides. Shit!

“Stryme!” I growled.

“Give me a second, these bastards are moving like flies!”

I scuttled across the surface, jumped over a truck, and snapped left. One of the bastards came into view and as I was about to squeeze the trigger he dropped down like a bag of tomatoes, blood spilling everywhere. “About fucking time” I growled foolishly, giving my position away.

“HE’S ON THE WEST SIDE!” Some shouted.

Fuck, “How’s my flank Stryme”

“Complete Shit, eleven men converging on you fast, open fire?”

“Not yet, I have a plan.”

“Then make it quick, three men are rounding you from the left, whilst four are trying to flank you, and the rest are heading at you.”

“Gotcha.”

I yanked a grenade free, twisted the crown and lobbed it to my left. I waited for it to scuttle across the gravel, then turned right, raising my Submachine Gun. “GRENADE!” Someone shouted from the left.

A loud explosion bellowed across the ravine, shaking the ground beneath us, but not enough to stop me. I ignored it, sliding across the ground and shouldering myself to a boulder.

Once I heard the footsteps scuttling to my right, I raised my SL70 and waited. “Talk to me Stryme.”

“Grenade missed, but it slowed them down. The four men that were coming, swerved left to help. Take me out.”

“Finally.”

I switched to X-Ray sight, and the men were twenty meters off from me, so instead of waiting. I charged out, I leapt in the airing firing a wave of bullets that caught two of them in the neck, whilst the third got one in the chest.

The moment I hit the ground, the one who’d been hit in the neck sagged to the ground. I rolled, firing at the one who’d been hit in the chest and watch as he fought tooth and nail to stay alive, only for one of my bullets to fly through his skull, spraying matter all over the ground like a fountain.

“Stryme!”

“Two down, leaving seven left.”

“Seven? You said that that four were heading my side!”

“He disappeared.”

“FUCK, I’m exposed! kill that fucker before he sees me!”

“I have to find him first Cypher!”

I scampered up, switching to Echo Sight. The footsteps around me had stopped, lessening the feedback from my SMB.

I spun left, watching as small waves swarmed toward me, emanating from behind one of the trucks, which made me smile. “Found you, you bastard!”

I shot at the truck he hid behind, then watched his footsteps trail toward me.

The truck he was hiding behind was close, so I ran towards it, stepped on the bumper, and sailed in the air.

The bastard turned around to see me floating for a mere second before I buried a bullet in his head and then used his as a cushion for my fall.

“Stryme?!”

“One more down, five left…I think.”

“That’s not funny!”

“Heh heh, couldn’t resist”

Bastard.

“They’ve split up, I can’t cover all.”

“Then kill them!” I growled

“No need to shout.”

Thus began splattering across the ground in front of me. Dings and clanks followed as Stryme tried to take down the men who’d commandeered the ravine. If only his aim wasn’t shit, I thought bitterly.

I spun out of cover, scanned the area with my X-Ray Vision and saw two men retreating to the south to where the tents were. The remaining three men were heading to the eastern section.

As I charged towards the southern side, my heart felt as if it were about to explode. Not for fright, but from exhilaration. It’d been so long since I was in action, it made me feel as though I was born for this.

I raised my SL70 squeezed the trigger and emptied the magazine into the tent, watching as the men flail to the ground to their deaths without a wail.

“I got one Cypher.”

“Finally. One left.”

“He’s scrambling up the crevice to the east!”

“What? Wasn’t he just on the, already?”

“Yes, already…I don’t know who these people are, but fuck they are freakishly fast!”

I turned around, reloading the magazine of SL70 and headed through the camp, weaving through the trucks, shattered boulders and the one tent that was still there. “How far are they?”

“Twenty meters to your left!”

As I turned, annoyed and frustrated, switching to heat vision, I saw the waves of heat scampering up the ravine trying to make their way to the top of the precipice.

I knelt, zoomed in on the targets with my cybernetic eyes, and squeezed the triggers twice, hitting both of them in the back.

They dropped to the ground with a short scream and a loud boof, sending a wave of dust toward the camp. I scuttled over a boulder and watched the dead men twitch as they tried to reach for the weapons which were two meters from them.

I didn’t know who they were, nor was I interested. They were in ours. So to ease their suffering, I fired a bullet into their brains and watched the life leave their eyes as they stared into nothingness. “Life is cruel, but the Carib Waste is crueller” I whispered.

“Are we clear Cypher?”

“Yeah,” I grunted.

“About time.”

“Right…”