We prepped for the night with our makeshift routine. I took charge of preparing the meal. Mira helped by chopping the wood for the fire, Alice, the sniper, kept watch, her eyes scanning the surroundings through her thermal scope after hunting down some rabbits for us. The quiet rustle of the forest was only punctuated by the occasional crack of the fire, the air thick with fog, and the smell of cooking meat.
As the stew bubbled over the fire, I stirred it with a ladle, trying to keep the heat steady while Alice’s eyes remained glued to the distant treeline. It wasn’t much, just a simple rabbit stew with the salt and pepper from our MREs, but it was something. At least they seemed to appreciate it.
“You can cook, I’ll give you that,” Elene said, giving me a rare smile as she speared a piece of rabbit with her fork.
“Not bad, for someone whose history might only be studying and studying,” Mira teased, giving me an almost playful look. I could tell she didn’t mean any harm by it, but there was something underlying in her words like she was trying to figure me out.
[Alice - Marksman Engineer Catkin - Level 35]
Alice didn’t speak much, but she gave a silent thumbs up, acknowledging the meal while never breaking her watch.
I sighed inwardly. I couldn’t help but wish I had tanks or armored vehicles like the previous contractors had something that could make me feel useful. But, for now, this was my reality. Alone with these three.
I glanced at them, wondering about their mission—what kind of operation had they been pulled into? What was it that they needed my help with? And more importantly, what did they want from me? I still didn’t know the full story behind them, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to ask. I wasn’t afraid of dying; in fact, at this point, I wasn’t sure what I was still hanging on to. But them... I wasn’t so sure.
We finished the meal, and as the night settled into a quiet lull, Elene casually dropped the bombshell, her voice steady as she took the last bite of the rabbit stew.
"Ain, Mira, Alice, I need your help," she said, setting her bowl aside and locking eyes with us. "We’re outmanned and outgunned, so I need the two of you to support me and Alice. Ain, I know you’re still level 13, but we need all the help we can get. If this mission goes sideways, I can’t guarantee what will happen to the three of us."
I blinked, not sure if I’d heard her correctly. “Sure…?”
"Great," Elene said, nodding as if the decision was already made. "Ain, you’ll be with me. Mira, you’ll be with Alice. It’s a straightforward job—we need to take out five key figures controlling Solimat. If these five are killed, the Federation could swoop in and claim the abandoned town from Divinity."
The words hit me like a ton of bricks. I blinked at her, taking a moment to process. "Woah… wait a minute. I think you know our odds, right?" My voice carried a mix of disbelief and caution. Case was an anomaly, taking armored vehicles like a true video game protagonist, I wasn’t sure I would be able to do that.
"Yes, I’m fully aware of that," Elene responded without missing a beat. "But judging by your level, I’m guessing you don’t know how Divinity operates. These five figures are the ones commanding the Corrupted. Think of it like this—imagine you're dealing with zombies, but not the incoherent, stumbling kind. No, these are coordinated zombies... with guns, under the control of these figures."
I raised an eyebrow, trying to wrap my mind around it. "Coordinated zombies with guns?" The thought was both bizarre and terrifying.
"Yeah. These five control different areas, and they make sure their Corrupted forces stay organized. If we take them out, the Federation can step in and handle the rest. Without those figures, Divinity’s grip on Solimat will weaken since all of the soldiers return to a husk. But if we fail… well, you can guess what happens next."
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“You’ll be dead?”
“Well, you can say it like that,” Mira said, nonchalantly.
"Great," Elene said again, a slight smile tugging at her lips, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes, maybe because it was a forceful smile. "We don’t have that much time. Let’s get ready, we’re heading into the town.”
They doused the fire in an instant, the flames hissing out as they were smothered. In the same breath, I attached the night-vision goggles to my helmet, the soft click signaling my readiness. The rest of the group was already on their feet, moving with a fluidity that spoke of countless hours of training. Each person was outfitting themselves—strapping on gear, checking weapons, adjusting equipment—nothing was wasted.
The four of us jumped into the JLTV and we drove out of the campsite, leaving only burning ash behind. Alice drove the car without saying a word, her weapon, an unknown Barrett rifle, was lying down in the empty space between her and Elene on the front seat.
I kept my hands on my M249, sensing that this would be a long and heavy outing. My MRAD was safely tucked in my inventory, but if the need arose, I'd pull it out. The JLTV bounced over bumps and patches of rough road without any trouble.
Eventually, we arrived at the edge of the town. Mira dropped Elene and me off before driving off again. A new objective appeared in my peripheral vision: three targets—Belikov, Uley, and Mosley. Well, that was a hell of a lot of targets.
“How many days do we have?” I asked, knowing these targets would be well-protected.
“One. That's right—you won't be getting any rest soon, Ain,” Elene added.
I flipped down the night-vision goggles, and everything turned green. The dark silhouettes of high-rise apartment buildings and overgrown trees dotted the horizon. Elene motioned for me to follow her, signaling for me to stay quiet.
Here’s the thing, though. The woman was holding an M4—an unsuppressed M4—while I was gripping an M249. "Quiet" was the last thing either of those weapons could manage. Still, I would entrust my life to this special operation person accompanying me.
We avoided the main road, moving quietly through the overgrown bushes and abandoned apartment building to stay out of sight of the soldiers patrolling the area. Elene’s warning was clear: “If you alert one of them, the rest will come for us. We won’t have time to think.”
I nodded, understanding the stakes. I had enough IFAK and stims to support us, and at least with those, Elene could keep fighting if things went south. We stayed low and kept our pace steady, knowing that one mistake could turn this whole mission into a disaster that neither of us could handle.
Case did a good job, handling the armored vehicles, but it didn’t mean that Divinity didn’t have any more of them around. In fact, I saw several of them wandering on the main road, patrolling the area. The thought of getting hit by the BMP autocannon made me shudder.
“Hey, do you have an anti-tank guided missile?” Elene suddenly asked.
“I have, why, do you want to take out a vehicle?” I asked her back.
“Probably, give one to me,” Elene said.
I pulled one of the NLAWs from my inventory and then gave it to Elene. Elene put the NLAW on her back and we continued to move toward our objective. We pressed on, moving silently through the overgrown bushes and abandoned buildings, our only company the occasional rustle of the wind and the distant hum of the town. The night was quiet, too quiet for comfort, but that didn’t mean we were safe.
Elene motioned for us to slow down as we neared the edge of a crumbling apartment block. She signaled me to take cover behind a broken wall while she moved ahead, her M4 in hand, ready for anything. I stayed close, watching her movements with an intensity that matched hers.
Our first target was Uley, who was located on the very top floor of the abandoned apartment building. The good thing was, the whole apartment was bright, making our night-vision goggles unneeded. However, it meant that the quiet option was out of the window.
“Looks like we have to do it the loud way,” Elene sighed, looking at the well-guarded entrance of the building.
“Well, I have an LMG and an MG-338, alongside a juggernaut suit,” I added.
"No kidding?" Elene raised an eyebrow. "That should make things a lot easier."
I nodded and pulled the MG-338 from my inventory, handing it to her. "Here, take this. And these too." I tossed her two more ammo boxes to make sure we were stocked up. Elene seemed not to be fazed by the weight of the machine gun.
I pulled the juggernaut suit from my inventory and slipped it on over my clothing, making sure each piece of the suit, along with the bulletproof vest underneath, fit snugly with my combat gear. I adjusted the straps and secured everything in place before throwing my tactical gear back on top of the ballistic suit. Satisfied, I double-checked my equipment—ready to go.
Elene gave a nod of approval, her eyes briefly scanning the layers of armor I’d just added. She knew taking down a juggernaut wasn’t something you could do without some serious firepower or tactical advantage. Most soldiers couldn’t manage it alone without specialized tools, and the suit would definitely give me the edge I needed if things got rough.
“Alright, we got a whole fucking building to take down,” Elene checked on the ammo on her MG-338.