Assassination

"Performing kill. Standby."

The comms went silent. The ground team continued walking as naturally as possible, but tension weighed on their minds. There was an unseen enemy nearby with a scope trained on their position. Death could be just a trigger pull away.

Suddenly, a grey light flashed across the sky at blinding speed. A low, dull tone rung quietly in the next moment. The ground team stood still as silence filled the air for 3 seconds.

"Kill confirmed."

The ground team's tension eased with those brief words, and some of the agents audibly sighed. The enemy marker then changed to a faded red, showing they were no longer a threat. The other two members checked in over the squad's comms.

"No activity here."

"All clear on my end."

Cayce gave the OK to move forward, "All clear, ground team. Proceed with caution."

The ground team stayed low and crept forward as they moved closer to the edge of the enemy base. The path they used passed close to the downed enemy. Several glances passed over the sight as they moved past it. The armor laid face-down in the dirt with an old magi-rifle lying limply to the side. Smoke still snaked from the shattered visor, some of its fragments lying on the ground.

Palmo couldnt help but touch his visor and check it for any cracks. His armor was designed with abnormally high defense, but the sight was too disturbing. It left an unsettling feeling in his gut.

The three members of the overwatch team took turns moving forward slightly ahead of the ground team to stay in advantageous positions.

Soon, they reached their objective. One of the overwatch marked an enemy armor standing in a guard tower. Shortly after, the team marked all enemies at the perimeter.

"Ground lead, we count 18 nearby armors."

"Copy that, overwatch. Lina, you're up!"

At that moment, one of ground team's armors stepped forward. Her armor was black and the eyes glowed with a dark green light. The armor seemed thinner and sleeker than usual, perhaps designed for speed and agility. Two cylinders were mounted to her shoulders. They were special devices designed to conceal the armor when supplied with mana. Two long, single-edged blades were held to the armor's back by no more than a pair of automatic clamps.

Traditionally, the thin swords would be carried in sheaths to protect the user. However, the armored age rendered mere swords significantly less dangerous. What made the blades scary was the mana-enhanced edge. As long as the mana edge was active, the sharpness would be enough to cut through most materials. However, if the user stopped supplying the weapon with mana, it would return to being no more than a piece of metal.

The assassin ran forward with silent steps. After a few steps, she activated the concealment devices and vanished. The only way the team could tell where she was was by watching the teammate marker on the HUD, gently highlighting her outline in blue. Besides that, she was practically invisible. She strode forward and leapt several meters in the air, traversing the barbed wire fence.

After a few moments, her voice sounded over the comms, "Moving to the main building..."

Minutes passed. The assassin had successfully passed the guard line without being detected and moved freely within the compound. The ground team and overwatch stayed well out of sight. Once Lina assassinated the target, the two ground squads would attack the base from opposite sides.

Lina's voice sounded over the leadership comms channel, "Target found, sharing vision. Please verify target identity."

Cayce's vision was filled with the assassin's point of view. She was crouched and held a small camera device that looked somewhat like a metal snake slid under the door in front of her. The camera showed a man sitting at a desk shuffling through paperwork. An old-fashioned record player spun in the corner of the room as an old tune played. Despite the pleasant music, the man wore a scowl as he looked through the papers.

"Target verified, take him out."

Lina retracted the snake camera and stood from her crouched position while grabbing one of the long, thin blades from her back. Her perspective was still shared, allowing multiple people to verify the kill when it happened.

She then abandoned her stealth. Deactivating the concealment devices on her shoulders, she raised her foot and forcefully kicked the door in. The door was immediately ripped off its hinges and slammed against the opposite wall. The scowling man looked up in surprise and color drained from his face when he saw the tall, humanoid machine walk through the doorway.

There was no exit from the room besides the doorway. He was trapped in this office with a killing machine. The sword in Lina's hand glowed as the edge ignited with dark green mana. She stepped forward menacingly. The target stumbled away from the desk and pressed his back against the wall.

"No... No! Help- "

Before the man could finish calling for help, the assassin lifted the glowing blade and slashed down with a brutal attack. The blade cut straight through the man as well as the wall behind him. Surprised shouts leaked through the charred gash in the wall.

"Kill confirmed. All teams initiate phase 2."

After the command was given, Cayce's vision returned to his own perspective.

"Overwatch, we'll move on your mark," the ground team leader readied his group and waited for overwatch to take the first kills.

Cayce and his overwatch team quickly chose their targets and fired simultaneously. Three lights shot through the sky at incredible speeds. The grey light tore into the neck of an armor carrying many weapons while the red and brown lights each landed on other unsuspecting victims.

Cayce's target was thrown against a wall, leaving a dark stain on the wall behind the destroyed neck as the body crumpled to the ground. The red light hit the side of an armor's head and pushed him off the tower he was standing in. The old model armors used by the activists didn't have flight systems, so the man screamed in panic as he fell to his death. The brown light landed on a weak point on the side of another armor's leg, just under the hip. A sickening crack sounded and the man fell to the ground, dropping his weapon and screaming in agony.

Cayce immediately gave the signal, "Move in!"

Palmo and another heavy armor charged ahead first, trampling the barbed wire fence and opening a convenient path for the rest. The remaining enemy armors panicked when they saw an organized formation of armors storm the perimeter. The contractors were slightly outnumbered, but they had the element of surprise as well as greater combat experience and teamwork.

Palmo carried a sword and a large shield, having two rapid fire magi-guns mounted on his shoulders. It was a popular configuration. He acted as one of the shields in this modernized phalanx formation. Basically, he held the shield to the front and covered a large area with it by extending its coverage with high mana output. Then, high offensive fire would scream out from the gaps between the line of shields. The team would time shield movement so that the shields completely covered the group at one moment, then allow openings to return heavy fire when it was best.

The formation worked splendidly and soon, the nearby armors were all eliminated. Before long, the military presence in the base had been completely wiped out and the harmless remnants fled.

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In an office, a nervous man with dark hair and tanned skin paced anxiously.

ding!

He turned quickly and checked the message. At first, the man's face was filled with joy. The mission he requested had been completed successfully! But then, he continued to read and his eyes met the "proof of completion" attached to the message. Images and videos of ruthless carnage filmed from the armor's helmets showcased the skill and efficiency the contractors had when it came to killing. The man's joyful face gradually changed to one of concern and his brows furrowed deeply.

They were good...

Far too good...