The chirping crickets serenaded the crisp, cool air in a thick forest as deer peacefully grazed in a small glade. However, moments later, the ears of one of the deer perked up as the deer lifted its head, sniffing the air and scanning the surrounding area. The crickets stopped their chirping, hiding their presence as a shadow effortlessly slipped through the trees, reaching the forest edge using only the dim light of the moon.
Reaching the edge of the forest, the shadow stopped, reaching into a small backpack and grasped onto a pair of binoculars. Peering through them, he watched the perimeter of a small military base, with armed guards slowly patrolling the premises. "Just like the intel said…they're all on high alert. Seems like my client's wishes weren't as secret as he would have liked."
Sighing to himself, the man put the binoculars back in the backpack and reached towards his hips, double checking to make sure his weapon was still there and set to stun. Slipping the backpack back on, the man quietly stepped forward, using the cover of night to mask his approach towards the outer wall.
Reaching into the backpack, he grasped onto a grappling hook and spotted a point in the wall where the hook could latch on. Carefully aiming, he pressed the trigger, looking on as the hook and wire shot high into the air before hooking onto the chink in the wall. Satisfied with the grip after pulling down on the wire, the man lifted his leg up, and then lifted up the other before silently scaling up the wall.
Upon reaching the top, the man scanned the ground below, looking out for any guards that could be hiding in the darkness. Finding none, he dropped down to the ground and rolled forward, beginning his sneaky trek in between the buildings.
Looking at his wrist, he tapped a few buttons, bringing up a small map on a watch, marked with the target building, checking to make sure he was on the right track. Just have to make a right coming up…thankfully there's no light sources in the area so I should be able to…
As he was thinking to himself, he heard the bored sigh of a guard as he made his rounds, loosely holding onto his gun and flashlight as he sauntered through his route. Quickly moving ahead, the man grabbed onto his gun, quickly aimed at the guard, and fired, a faint blue glow quickly bursting from the gun in a circular pattern. Within a few milliseconds, the circle hit the guard, immediately causing the guard to drop to his knees and fall forward, unconscious.
Smirking to himself, the man rushed to the unconscious guard and kneeled down, checking the guard's breathing. Satisfied that his breathing was unobstructed, the man dashed away from the guard and in between two other buildings.
After a few tense minutes of navigating through the shadows, the man approached an unassuming gray three-story building that had two armed guards standing at attention in front of the main entrance, and several others patrolling its perimeter. The man looked on, carefully watching the guards as they haphazardly patrolled. "Can't just go in guns blazing as there's too many of them…maybe–"
The crackle of the guard's radios sounded, causing the man to flinch from the unexpected noise. "Be advised: Turner missed his scheduled radio check in. Stay on alert." The guards groaned as the radios fell silent, the two stationed at the front entrance sighing as their shoulders sagged. "That's two nights in a row now that he's been derelict in his duties. Think he fell asleep again?"
"Probably. The commander better rip him a new one tomorrow. Think he'll finally be court marshalled?"
"Doubt it. Dear ol' daddy will once again come in and save the day."
"I swear, if that happens and the commander buckles yet again…"
"Of course she'll buckle. She's trying to get into his father's good graces in hopes that she'll be promoted." Another guard called out as he turned from around the corner, approaching the two. "How do you think she got the promotion to commander to begin with despite her debacle at Lonato? She cozies up with the bigwigs."
Another guard walked up to the three of them. "Are you sure it was the commander who was in charge at Lonato? I heard it was Captain Willith and that the commander wasn't even there when it all went down."
"Nah, it was definitely her in charge. Had a buddy stationed there at the time and he claims that it was the 'freaks' that were responsible."
"You mean like…her?"
"Yeah, except they didn't use those freaky vines of hers. However, from what I've been told, their powers…just stopped working."
"That's impossible. There's no way that–"
The man watched as the guards patrolling the building all gathered together at the front, abandoning their patrols in favor of idle gossip. Smiling, he quickly made his way to the edge of the shadows and, after checking to make sure all the guards were still distracted, sprinted towards the building's side, the cool night air brushing against his face. Upon reaching the side, he pushed up against a window, hoping it was unlocked, but it wouldn't budge. Taking out his grappling gun again, he fired it at the top of the building, the hook gripping onto a raised ledge. Quickly scaling the building, he tested the second story window to no success, but upon reaching the third story window, the pane quickly slid open with little resistance.
Setting his feet on the side of the building, he jumped and swung backwards, before flying forward and through the open space, somersaulting into the almost pitch-black room. Sighing to himself, he once again accessed his holo-watch, this time pulling up schematics of the building. "Sure wished that the bottom window was unlocked…the server room would have just been a straight shot."
He whispered as he studied the layout of the building before turning off his watch. Approaching the door, he pressed his ear against the wood, closing his eyes and focusing on any and all sounds coming from the other side. Satisfied that there were none, he slowly opened the door, the hinge squeaking lightly before falling silent. Stepping foot into the dimly lit hallway, the man cautiously stepped into the hallway and looked around, not seeing any guards.
Nodding to himself, he stealthily made his way to the staircase, careful to not create any unnecessary noises that would give away his location. Calmly walking down the staircase, he made it to the first floor and looked around, hearing incomprehensible mutterings from the guards, who were still gossiping outside.
"The ones who should be getting torn a new one are you all if you ask me." He mumbled to himself as he quickly darted through the hallway, making his way to the back of the building. Opening an unmarked door, what greeted him was an empty room with another staircase in the middle, leading towards the basement. Slowly closing the door behind him, the man made his way to the staircase and descended, his senses heightened in search for any potential threats.
Upon reaching the basement, there was a locked door with a keycard terminal on the side, a red light glowing at it's right edge. Activating his watch again, he navigated his way to a file and executed it, his watch's output now matching what a guard's access card would look like.
The moment of truth if I was scammed or not… He thought as he pressed the watch against the terminal. A second later, the terminal beeped and the light quickly changed to a vibrant green as the lock clicked. Pulling down on the handle, the door swung open as he slowly took a tentative step through the door.
The musty air hit him in the face as the hums of several server racks serenaded him as he approached them. However, just as he was about to approach the terminal interface, a woman's voice called out to him. "So THIS is what you were after huh? Not the munition depot or even the commander…just some dusty servers."
Spinning around, the man saw a brunette woman whose hair was tied up in a bun and wearing a military uniform. Her brown eyes squinted at the man as she chuckled. "You thought you were so sneaky, ascending over the wall, knocking out poor Turner with that gun of yours, climbing through the third story window…did you forget that the base has hundreds of security cameras that were tracking your every movement?"
The man chuckled. "I had thought this was going too smoothly…so what…you created a honeypot? Let me get to my objective right before snapping the trap shut?"
"Give this man a prize! Got it in one try! What do you want as a reward: dozens of years behind bars from breaking and entering into a military facility? Life in prison for espionage? Or maybe…the death penalty for the murder of thousands?"
The man clenched his fists at her taunt, staring at her with a now steely gaze. "You've been greatly misinformed. I'm–"
"Oh don't even bother trying to talk your way out of it. It's well known you were the one responsible. You've been given the death penalty already, but should you surrender to me now, we could pull a few strings to make it just life if you so prefer. Quite a generous offer to a murderer like you if I do say so myself."
The man shook his head. "Sorry, but I'll have to decline your gracious offer!" In a flash, his gun was in his hand as he fired, the blue circles aimed at the woman as she dodged to the right, charging in towards the man, kicking the gun out of his hand, clattering across the floor. However, the man used his own legs to kick at her planted foot, knocking her onto the ground with a thud. She rolled to the left and quickly jumped back up, getting into a fighting stance. The two stared at each other for several moments before she charged back in, using hand-to-hand combat techniques taught to her by the military, trying to overwhelm the man. However, for each jab or attempt to subdue the man, he was effortlessly able to counter each and every attack with minimal effort.
With each dodge or block, the woman became more and more frustrated. Her windups became wider and longer. Her grunts changed to groans and huffs of frustration, becoming angrier and angrier with each second. She had clearly underestimated her opponent.
Stepping back, she glared at him, her brown eyes staring daggers into him. The man didn't waste any time in taunting her.
"What's wrong? Already needing a breather?" He called out, his voice condescending. "Training in the military these days must be lax if you're considered sufficiently trained."
The woman's eyes narrowed even more as she dropped her stance, shaking her head. "Oh you have no IDEA why the military considers me to be one of their upcoming stars! I had hoped that my talent alone would be enough to bring you to justice, but unfortunately…I need to change things up."
She raised up her hand, her body glowing a sickly green color before rumbling could be felt underneath them. An earthy, moss-like scent permeated the room before large, dark green vines suddenly shot up from the concrete, causing large cracks and fissures to instantly form as the vines lunged at the man. Dodging out of the way, the man had barely set his feet back on the ground when more vines appeared from below. Sprinting to his right, the man ran away from the servers to prevent her from accidentally damaging them.
As he ran, vines shot up from the ground just below him, narrowly missing him until one vine managed to graze against his foot. Falling to the ground, the man frantically stood back up to begin running when a vine snatched onto his ankle, followed by another vine grabbing the other. Vines shot out and grabbed onto his arms and forcibly pinned his arms to his side. The woman smirked as she stepped towards him, her hand still out as sweat fell from her brow.
"Not so cocky now are ya?!" She shouts as the vines' grip tighten. "I tried to show you mercy and gave you a chance to save your life, and you, like the idiot you are, rejected it. Now…"
Another vine appeared and slowly made its way up his body, before lightly coiling around his neck. "Now it's time for justice to be administered for the thousands of lives you mercilessly took from the world!" The vine began tightening around his neck. "I'm going to enjoy watching the life slowly–"
The man shook his head before staring at the woman, his body glowed for the briefest of moments just before the vines, which had been green and full of life, quickly wilted and turned pitch black, falling at his feet dead. The woman's eyes widened as her breath got caught in her throat. Reaching out both hands, more vines attacked the man, but the moment each vine touched him, they all withered and died as he slowly walked towards the woman.
"What–what's happening?!" She screams as more and more vines fall at his feet. "This–this isn't–!" Her voice was shaky and filled with fear as she stepped backwards, soon tripping over a dead vine below her feet. Falling onto the ground, she fearfully looked up at the man as he stood above her. Glaring down at her, he sighed before giving her a sympathetic look.
"Keep training, and I'm sure that someday, you'd be able to take anyone on." With that, he grabbed onto a piece of concrete next to him and smashed it against her head, knocking her unconscious. Kneeling down and checking to make sure she was still alive and breathing, the man nodded, satisfied. He then calmly walked across the room, stepping over cracks and dead vines as he picked up his gun, putting it into his holster.
He made his way back to the servers and, several moments later, had completely erased all the evidence that had been stored. With his mission complete, he made his way back out of the room and back through the way he had entered, using the rope connected to the grappling hook to repel down the building. Pressing a button on the gun, the rope connected to it was severed as he quickly darted away, not wanting to spend more time at the base.
After a few tense minutes, he had escaped over a smaller portion of the wall and sprinted towards the forest, reaching the edge into relative safety. Looking back, he nodded. "That should keep me fed for months…" He murmured as he ran back into the forest, on his way to report back to his client.