Faded Ghost

I march across the frozen snow. My hand on the icebergs, exposing the path. The sound of the jets has long vanished. For the few minutes I've been walking, the winds have picked up drastically. Warping into a harsh sidewind, pelting me with pellets of ice and fridge winds. I should have worn an extra layer or two. I'll need to ask Chloe where the mission will take place next time... A faint ray of light shines through the savage blizzard. I'm assuming that'd be the guard tower's spotlight. I continue walking, the source of the light dimly shining through the crosswinds. The final iceberg fades away from my hand, indicating the final approach. I guess ill have to rely on this tech again. I slide on my jacket's hood, sliding down a hidden dark kitsune mask inside. I reach my hand over my watch, pressing a button. My body fades out of view, leaving a vague outline of what once remained. My flight suit is lined in an extremely thin layer of Astrapi, allowing for cloaking abilities. But to allow mobility and flexibility it's extremely thin and broken up, woven into small pieces. Resulting in me being NEARLY invisible. Being still, I doubt anyone will see me without a hard look. But it's not something I should rely on, more a last-ditch effort. I glance over my clothing, slipping on similarly made black gloves, covering my whole body. I never like wearing these gloves, the electricity always shocks me. Now hidden I continue my last trek. I cant see the physical base through the dense frozen winds, but the light will be my beacon. I march towards the source. Holding my ground when the gleaming light sweeps my area.

The light sweeping above me, I place my hand on the fortress's walls. I glance to my right. Seeing another faint beam sweeping in the distance. If my memory serves me right, no guards were patrolling the walls. I slide back my jacket's sleeve, exposing my long rubber gauntlets. I point my extended hand towards the snow. with a little hop, I quickly clench my fist. The rubber catapults from my arm. Leaving only a small metal ring and spider web weaved string connected my arm. In a fraction of a second, the rubber expands, throwing me into the air. As I scale the wall, the rubber deflates. Retracting onto my wrist with a buzz from the retracting motor. I latch onto the 50-foot wall, barely catching myself. When they said base, I wasn't expecting a fortress. But with the data, they're supposed to have inside. The wall security makes sense. I climb on top of the wall, dropping onto a walkway nearby. With the walls contesting the vicious side winds, the snowstorm easies off. With a portion of my vision restored I scan over the internals of the base. Down the middle of the base lied a runway, separating the base in two. Mirrored on both sides of the runway, laid rows of hangers with barracks scattered behind them. On the far side of the left lied 2 buildings. On the close side lied one large two-story building. springled over the entirety of the base, lied soldiers patrolling and traveling. in this snowstorm, there's no way ill be able to contact Chloe for directions. It'll be a gamble but bigger is better right? Plus it's closer than the two far ones. I peer over the edge of the walkway, hunting for a way down. In each corner lied a staircase trailing down to the base. I head over towards the left tower's staircase.

Reaching the tower's wall I peer over the edge once more. Walking inside is too much of a risk with the guard. So ill just have to drop the remaining 10 feet. I slide off the edge of the walkway, catching the icy cliff with my frozen fingers. Dropping down, I land on the icy thin stairs below without issue. I hover my hand over the snow plastered guard rail. Carefully beginning my descent, I test my weight on each step before commitment. I make it down around 16 steps before disaster strikes, I slip. I land on my back, gliding over the snow and ice-covered stairs. After a painful landing, I reach the bottom. Sliding across the ice for an additional 5 or so feet. I lay there for a few seconds processing the event that just occurred. Sitting up, I look back up towards the hundreds of steps slide. The trail of missing snow pathing my fall. I throw my feet under me, forcing my aching behind upward. Cant be writhing in pain in an enemy strong hold, especially with patrols... Glancing around, I find a door between the building and the wall. I limp towards it, slowly brushing off the pain. I scrape off every corner and inch of snow and ice I find on my suit. Slowly push the door open, I stepping into the darkness. Gently shutting the door behind me. I find myself in what seems to be a storage room. I slide my icicle fingers around the storage crates, looking for anything that seems valuable. Content on finding nothing profitable, I make my way to the door on the other side of the room. I place my ear on the door, Hunting for the smallest of footsteps. I place my hand on the doorknob, jolting me with a shock. I despise these gloves. Replanting my hand on the nob, I open the door. As I peek outside, I slowly slithering my body outside the room, gently shutting it behind me. I follow the random hallway in search of any useful terminal. At the end of the hall, I find a downward staircase. Across from the stairway lied a hung-up sign.

"<--Storage, \/ servers"

Severs sound like the jackpot for useful data. I flutter down the staircase as if a mouse evading a cat. Arriving at the bottom I find myself in another hallway. Along the hallway, several doors, each displaying a sign, exposing its contents. Armory, CCTV, ammo depo... Is none of these doors actually the server room?! I quicken my pace, disregarding my silent nature. Gliding by several other doors I finally find myself at the server room. I gently push open the door, regaining my hidden aura. A dark blue light illuminates the room. Accompanying it lies all the beeps and boops scattering across the whole room. Server towers line the room as I march past them, hunting for a terminal. Finally meeting one, hidden behind one of the rows of servers, I take out a USB, sticking it into a port. Now all I have to do is wait. I walk back to the wall, sliding behind a different row of towers. The door yelps open as a soldier rustles in, rifle readied on his shoulder. Was I being too loud? I lay prone on the ground, watching his boots approach with a tap. He steps in front of each row, pausing for a few seconds, then searching the next. He goes through each line before reaching the terminal. the tip of the muzzle falls towards the ground as he steps towards the terminal. I slowly inch to my feet, placing each footstep carefully before peaking around the corner. I can't let him remove my USB. I watch his hand slide from his weapon down towards the USB. He cancels, flicking back around, re-readying his rifle. Did the bastard sense me? His boots once again begin their slow taps across the floor. I line my body against the server tower as closely as possible, hoping to blend. The tap arrives right beside me, pausing around the corner. The soldier peeks around the corner, looking directly through me. He throws his rifle inches across my face, pausing there. I hold my breath, forcing my body to not flinch a muscle. After what seemed like ages, he finally begins to walk in front of me. As he steps past me, I launch onto his neck, dragging him to the floor while kicking his rifle away. After he finally stops squirming, I brush myself off and walk over to the terminal. Ripping the USB out and sliding it into my pocket. I don't get paid enough for this,

Chloe: "Pha-... phanto-... do ou-... opy-..."

Jax: "CO? You're breaking up, please repeat."

Chloe: "Air-.. ike-... commenc-... fall ba-..."

Jax: "Repeat one more time, you keep breaking u-"

The ground rumbles as the sound of explosions fill the air, the airstrike? I thought it was supposed to happen AFTER I got out, damn it. Who the hell commenced the airstrike if I didn't?!?!

I'll think about it when I'm not about to get my ass blasted to dust.