Complications

The wind whipped angrily against his armor as Cayce soared through the sky.

[ Approaching destination ]

Cayce lowered his speed and descended gracefully until he was only a few feet from the ground. Then, the grey jets of flame keeping the machine in the air quietly extinguished, allowing Cayce to fall the short distance and land lightly on his feet.

Skittering sounds could be heard as small creatures ran to hide among the pine trees. Cayce slowly continued on foot until the trees ahead gave way to a large clearing. In the clearing stood a research base for the Jelena Alliance. He lowered himself to a prone position behind a bush where he would stay to observe. His target was here, somewhere in the research base.

The Jelena Alliance was a cultish group which held the belief that people with blue-class mana were superior to the rest of humanity. They worked endlessly to build an exclusive society and tended to act rashly towards people who didn't have the "holy" mana.

"Open target file."

[ Opening file: Bain Devetol ]

Cayce's visor was instantly filled with documents and photos. The HUD's lights gleamed off his eyes in the darkness within his helmet as he reviewed the information. The target was also an armor pilot like Cayce. This pilot was an advanced level guard within the Jelena Alliance. Bain's most recent photo showed a burly man with only one arm. Despite the target's most recent injury, he was supposedly still stationed at this base.

Cayce cleared the documents from his HUD and activated his helmet's viewfinder. As a sniper, observation and patience were indispensable. It was common for snipers to spend several days watching the target in order to find and memorize any weak points and dangers.

Surprisingly, it wasn't boring at all. Cayce enjoyed the time spent watching and collecting information. It was kind of like fishing in a calm lake, waiting for the bobber to drop below the surface of the water. Time stretched on comfortably as Cayce watched from his prone position. Eventually, the sun fell behind the horizon and darkness enveloped the research base.

A few armored guards patrolled the perimeter, their lights sweeping across the trees as they checked for abnormalities. After a few hours, Cayce felt himself growing tired. He would need one last rest before beginning his assassination operation.

Normally, snipers like Cayce would work in pairs. This way, one could keep watch as they took turns sleeping or provide ballistics calculations when the other was shooting. However, Cayce's armor had a custom AI that was able to do all of that for him on it's own. There were plenty of solo types among the contractors, but there were very few did as well as Cayce. He was a rarity among the high-ranks.

After a brief check on his immediate surroundings, Cayce activated his armor's alert mode and gave the Greppen AI system full control. If one were watching the armor, they would think the man inside was highly disciplined to remain so perfectly still, but just inside the stern looking armor, Cayce was actually sleeping away peacefully.

The armor remained in the prone position for the next several hours, attently staring forward at the research base...

beep beep

[ Anomaly observed ]

Cayce awoke immediately, but didn't startle or jolt in the slightest. He wore a calm expression as he observed the abnormality in question.

His HUD showed a yellow square moving towards the base, but was still behind a large number of trees and was not yet visible. A few minutes later, the rumbling of a diesel engine could be heard as a transport humvee rounded the corner. The yellow square quickly changed to an outline once it entered his line of sight.

[ Hostage detected ]

Hostage?

Five red markers appeared above the transport. One floated above the driver's position while the others floated over the back of the transport. The ones in the back were accompanied by a sixth marker, this one being yellow. Soon, the vehicle came to a stop, but it was still some distance from the base. All of the markers changed to thin outlines as men filed out of the humvee and revealed their faces.

Cayce watched curiously. Why did the transport stop short of the base? He quietly pulled the high caliber magi-rifle down over his shoulder and adjusted the scope so he could better see what was happening.

Five men laughed as they shoved a handcuffed woman towards the forest. None of them wore any armor, but they all had rifles either in-hand or slung over their shoulders. It wasn't clear how many of the guns used old age ammunitions and how many used mana, but it hardly mattered if one didn't wear armor.

The handcuffed woman stumbled as she ran into the forest with a desperate expression on her face, yet the five men didn't chase her. Instead, one of them looked down at his wristwatch and started counting.

... These bastards

Cayce's dark armor suddenly moved from the prone position, leaving behind flattened foliage.

The woman wore a faded dress with patches stitched into it. It was easy to tell she was a civilian, not just from her clothes, but also from the way she ran. She reached a hill and desperately continued past it while gasping for air. However, the men didn't move yet. There was still some time left on the clock.

The cold night air stung her lungs, but she couldn't afford to stop. She ran as hard as she could, ignoring the cuts and scratches she got as she forced her way past thorned bushes and fallen branches. Her dress caught on one particular thorn bush, holding her in place like an insect caught in a spider's web. She gripped the caught portion of her dress and tugged with all her might, but it remained firm.

The mental pressure of the ticking clock was too much. What would those men do to her when they caught up? Her panic and desperation transformed into hysteria. She thrashed desperately as she tried to tear her dress free from the bush. Finally, part of the dress ripped and she was released from the grip of the thorns. Losing her balance, she fell to the ground.

At that moment, she heard a heavy set of footsteps thud against the ground.

... The sound was far too heavy

She looked up with panic in her eyes while breathing heavily. Before her stood a tall, dark machine with glowing grey eyes. Tears welled and streamed down her cheeks. Her face was flushed from running in the cold and her whole being shook from exhaustion.

"Please..."

She couldn't finish her words between the emotions and the need for air.

At that moment, the red marks on Cayce's visor flashed. The men had begun the hunt.

Cayce quickly removed his survival pack and threw a blanket around the woman. He then took a knee and placed a metallic hand lightly on her shoulder. The machine tried to lower itself to eye level with the woman, but she still had to look up to meet his eyes. The machine said only two words.

"Wait here."

The woman's heart skipped a beat. She didn't expect this. She was trying to beg this machine to kill her before the five men got here. Death was far better than what the five men said they would do...

The machine stood up and began to move in the direction of the five men. At first, she thought it was going to go tell them where she was, but the machine drew a blade and walked with slow, heavy steps back over the hill. The forest went quiet.

After a moment, the woman managed to drag herself back to the top of the hill. She kept low and peeked over to see if she could view the machine. She was just in time to see it reveal itself to the five cruel men.

If only there was enough light, she would have been able to see the color drain from their miserable faces.