The Butcher

The fall was scary. Sochi could feel the air all around her, the wind in her hair. She couldn't breathe and she couldn't feel her legs. Soon she felt herself drifting into what felt like sleep when someone kicked her in the back. The kick was so painful and sharp that she immediately jerked awake. It was Sachin muttering something to her. Sochi opened her mouth to answer and took a sharp breathe, then closed her mouth. She then realized Sachin was doing something with his hand, pressing a button, then his parachute blew open. Sochi decided to try it as well. Pressing the button really hard, then she released her hand. At first nothing happened so she kept pressing the button, panicking now as she realized she was quite close to the ground and hadn't released her chute. On the fifth press, she felt the parachute come to life and heaved a sigh. 

When she finally landed on the ground, she didn't have time to do anything or rest as Sachin had already started moving. The island they were on seemed to be deserted but Sochi could not feel any strange emission like she had felt on her team's last outing rather the island seemed quiet. Walking down the slope, Sochi could feel the cold in her bones as the island was covered in ice making her steps slow and steep. By the time she reached Sachin, her pants were soaked and she felt like she was freezing, he could have warned her on what to wear, she thought. "Good, you're here. We are to clear out this bunker, should be easy seeing you bested one of mine. Stay alive," Sachin said, open the trap door and dropping inside. Sochi took one last look around her surroundings and followed Sachin. 

The bunker felt warm, compared to the cold she felt outside but she wasn't at ease, something was not right here. Sachin was nowhere in sight so she had to find her way around. The place seemed empty at first making it easy for her to move about. She was almost through the third room when she felt the blow to her head. Sochi fell losing consciousness. 

When she woke up, Sochi was tied down to a table. There were people around her and she had drip lines set down into her veins. She tried shouting but she was gagged. The people in the room seemed to be running some sort of tests on her. She tried to look at them but they were wearing masks. "She's awake, induce her again" someone said and before she could show her willingness to cooperate, she felt the dizziness hit her and she slept off. 

When she woke up again, someone had loosened her ties and removed her gag. The notification bar was up, she had a new message. 

HOSTILES IDENTIFIED: OPERATION KILL ALL HOSTILES 0/12

Sochi chuckled. The system seemed to be broken because she was feeling very weak and tired and nothing in her body seemed to be in the right place. "Water," she muttered, her voice was low. No one responded to her. "Water," she repeated. Someone brought water in and pressed a button on the bedside which raised the bed a little bit. Sochi felt her hands coming together and tried to make the fiery hands move again but nothing happened when she clapped her hands. The person giving her the water looked at her, "what are you trying to do? We removed your contraption, so you can't do anything weird," he finished, taking away the water and walking out of the door. The notification had a count down and one bar was already down. Sochi felt like she was at the end of her wits. "Search inventory," she muttered. Her inventory list came up. Sochi pulled the healing stone. It was one of the most expensive items in the store and was supposed to restore both her magical abilities and physical abilities in a few seconds. "Use" Sochi muttered and closed her eyes out of fatigue. 

She woke up to the noise outside, someone was banging on a door. Sochi looked around her again, there was no one in sight. Pulling out an arm sword from her inventory, Sochi cut off the tape and pulled out the drip lines. She stood up, slowly as she was afraid she would feel dizzy. Surprisingly, she wasn't. The stone must have done a very good deal of good. Sochi took her first few steps gently, avoiding any sharp moves. Peeking into the next room to confirm no one was in there, she stooped low and crawled into the space. Whoever these people were, they were dangerous. There were all forms of weapons in the room and it seemed they had left for something. She was about to walk out of the room when the door opened. A man walked in, with a drink in hand. Behind him were three more people. Sochi thought real quick about how to play it, she had a short time before her timer clicked off. The man was walking straight to where she was hiding. Sochi waited and, then when he was within arm's reach, sprang on him, sword into the heart. The shock on his face and that of his colleagues lasted for just a moment and they sprang into action. Swords were flashing within seconds and bullets were in the air, all aimed at Sochi. Sochi realized she needed to change tactics. "System, improve speed and agility" she said. 

The increase in speed and agility gave her an advantage. Sochi was swift and moved with ease, cutting through them with more ease than she had experienced with the gold statues. By the time she was done and the four of them were dead, she was covered in blood. She quickly took a healing potion from her inventory and drank. As she gulped down the last drops of the healing potions, another set of the people were entering. ANOTHER WAVE? she thought, readying herself to swing into action. 

By the time she was done with the people and the system had confirmed her kills, 12/12, she heaved a sigh. Where is Sachin? she thought. She began combing through the building looking for him. She was not sure how they had gotten split up, but whatever had happened, she needed to confirm if he was alive and well. The cave seemed to be built in different levels with each level seemingly becoming hotter. By the time Sochi was at the sixth level, she started feeling the same feeling she felt on her first raid. Sochi began searching from door to door. She didn't want to call out for Sachin as she didn't know who was listening. When she opened the fifth door, she saw him bent over hana, harvesting. "What are you doing?" she asked him, walking towards him. Sachin turned around, with a look that said amazed on his face. "Hey, you survived," he said, "come join me" Sochi was surprised, "what is this place?" Sachin stood up and turned around to look at Sochi fully. "The raids we go on, they are to get hana and minerals for the government, which in turn are supposed to be used for the people," he said, harnessing hana as he spoke. Sochi had never seen anyone do it like him, he seemed to absorb everything with every part of his body. "But instead, they divert them to their private companies and use them to enrich themselves and that I wouldn't stand. I can't do much, but I can make sure they do not get too much hana to create their private armies." Sochi was amazed, he was some sort of rebel, but that brought a question to her mind. "Sachin, I have another question, why did you bring me?" Sachin turned towards again, this time in a very slow manner, looked her dead in the face and grinned. The grin sent chills down Sochi's body, "you were my scape goat." At that moment, the system notification bar popped up, eliminate threat, 0/1. Sochi knew it was either him or her.