The large concrete hexagons were often used as improvised military bases and were quickly built with the help of heavy machinery. People understood that if they saw one of these things it was better to not get close to it and just continue on their way minding their own damn business. In the case of the hexagon that Rauni and Louhi had encountered, it was about 50 kilometers south of Ranthal and stood with an impressive double"leaf iron gate looking to the west surrounded by lush green grasslands, a perfect habitat for the inoffensive beasts that had fled as soon as the military installed the structure. 100 meters away from it there was a bifurcation of the southern highway that didn't lead to any kind of town and the mercenaries thought it'd be a good idea not to touch it. After all, it was a lot better to remain in their initial position along the right side of the main road inside a small forest.
The "Black Mantle" soldiers were the main defense of the hexagon. These highly skilled warriors were nicknamed after their clothing which was formed by several dark-colored equipment. The main one were several metal pieces that were distributed throughout the body: one on the chest, one on the back, one on each shoulder and the last one on each knee. When all of them were synchronized, a green light gave the signal to the soldier to activate the suit. At the push of a button, all parts were interconnected with a nanorobotic mesh that girded the body regardless of its shape and allowed the user to protect themselves from extreme temperatures, cuts and even plasma shots. On their heads they wore a black helmet with a dark visor made of a material similar to glass (but much more resistant) that covered the entire frontal area. The HMT"03 was top-notch technology with its high quality building materials and the built-in software that allowed soldiers to expand the visual and sound perceptions of their surroundings, geolocation tracking, voice communication and the assistance of an artificially intelligent program called "Iris".
Each soldier was trained in hand"to"hand combat and in the use of both bladed and plasma weapons. These skilled military men wielded a graphene tactical knife and a 76"S plasma rifle, a long, heavy and slow to use but deadly weapon like no other. It had a metal base that covered a complex circuitry that connected to the base motor powered by a cylindrical plasma battery that transformed the energy into concentrated and highly destructive ammo. Weaponry like this was only used if the higher order was "shoot to kill." These items belonged to the cutting-edge technology of the Namurova militia, who had made sure to invest a good amount of millions of kuramas in research and development of their top"notch soldiers. Certainly, the armed forces were a vital matter for the Namurovian government.
Around 11:30 p.m. the soldier who was at the southern tip of the hexagon detected a strange movement in the trees that started the distant forest that was located beyond the road. Even with the night vision activated in his helmet it was impossible to see, but the device indicated that there was definitely something out of place. He tried to communicate with his superior by pressing a button on the left side of the helmet.
"Jiménez here. I request permission to corroborate an anomaly in the surroundings. It appears to be an animal, but Iris indicates that its behavior is a bit strange." The man released the button and waited. There was a sound of static that caught his attention and the answer came a few seconds later.
"Permission granted. Proceed carefully. " A voice from the other side answered.
The soldier moved with light footsteps across the moor at incredible speed, pointing with his rifle at all times. He stopped short at the edge of the road and began swinging his weapon from left to right. His posture and general handling gave away his years of experience. He expertly looked around him and paid attention to every detail looking for what really was out of place. It seemed absurd to him that he had to rely on a machine to do his job as a soldier and even worse that he couldn't get around its restrictive existence. If he returned the helmet and it revealed unreported information by the soldier that would become a huge mistake for someone from the elite. The consequences of this depended on how important the task at hand was and in this case it had top priority.
Jiménez approached the place where the first trees of the lush forest stood across the street and among their tangled branches he checked every inch using helmet's white light that increased the visibility of the sector and provided different data such as the type of vegetation, humidity and temperature indicators and a series of gauges that opened if the soldier gave the vocal command. He kept going inside while Iris just sent the "Unknown Anomaly" message on the screen. Still, his professionalism did not let him lose his patience and he continued until he was still in the middle of three thick trees where he seemed to have heard a strange noise.
The soldier turned on its own axis with his gun raised and doing oscillatory movements. A deathly silence invaded the area and Jiménez remembered a horror film he had seen recently where the lack of sound always invited the viewer to prepare for the worst. The man dismissed the thought by being ashamed of himself.
"Iris, report of the area within 20 feet." the soldier ordered the AI. The function allowed him to identify what detail was out of place with respect to normal parameters of the area. For example, an insect that does not belong to the fauna of the place.
"Acknowledged," answered a female voice with a mechanical and neutral tone.
The soldier stood still with his back to the hexagon between the three trees that narrowly intertwined their branches, waiting for the report of the device. But neither the voice nor the images seemed to present themselves at any time.
"Iris…?" Jiménez asked the device but there was no response. He hit the helmet a couple of times and suddenly the image began to blur and interfere. His visor light made a couple of cuts and was filled with messages indicating different errors and failures.
The man dropped his rifle hanging it over his shoulder and quickly removed his right glove so that he could remove his helmet, using the fingerprint reader in the base. He did so and the helmet clicked open giving way to the rough face of a man with a shaved head and no facial hair. Pulling it forward he realized that there was something cold and metallic on his neck pressing hard against his skin, something that would surely leave a mark on him.
The mercenary had planned carefully the act: He waited until the soldier had passed the largest tree and stood behind him with the delicacy of a feline. Rauni had planned to kill the soldier, but Louhi convinced him not to do so, so he used Siagon by the blunt side bathed in Greyblood, a rare and prized distillate only found in the black market for its high effectiveness.
"Greetings, government dog." said Rauni. "If you don't move or speak, no one will get hurt and we'll all go home happy."
"You think so?" The soldier pronounced with a smile on his face.
"It depends on you, my friend. Put your hands up." the blond ordered.
Jiménez obeyed slowly and just before surpassing the level of his broad forehead, he tried to make a maneuver to remove the weapon from his neck, but it was too late. The soldier felt that his arms were strange, as if the muscles went numb the more he tried to move them. He slowly realized that his legs felt the same. Finally, overcomed by the effect, the soldier fell to the ground making no more noise than the contact with the wet grass.
"Contact drug ...? Who the hell are you…?" The soldier tried to turn around, but it was impossible with the sensation of absence in each of his limbs and an enormous weakness in the rest of his musculature. It looked like an anesthetic, but it kept Jiménez conscious at all times.
Rauni easily put a blindfold on him. He glanced at one of the points from which the suit extended and placed a device the size of an earphone on it that stuck in an instant by magnetic attraction.
"All set." said Rauni through his communicator in his left ear.
"I'm running the software, give me a couple of minutes. Remember that drug will only work for an hour, so move as fast as you can." Answered Louhi over the transmitter. "Oh, and Rauni ... Don't screw it up."
"I know, I know." he said angrily while turning to the soldier triumphantly. "Very good, you earned another day to live. You're going to stay here while I go in and some fun. What do you say?"
A spit filled babble was the only thing that came out of Jiménez 's mouth, but on the inside he was cursing him as curiosity killed him. Who would be trying to make a robbery using such an expensive contact drug? He thought right away that it could be a spy from Minevum, however the information about the hexagon itself was managed by only a handful of people. Actually, he as part of the militia didn't know what was the thing that they were protecting.
When the hacking device was ready, a small green light came on and the armor began to contract rapidly towards the center pieces. Rauni carefully removed the device he had installed earlier and removed all the pieces from Jiménez 's body, leaving him in a tight fitting camouflage patterned clothing. The mercenary rearranged the pieces of the armor comparing them to make sure he was not mistaken. Then, he put them around his body only dressed in cloth pants and a black T-shirt. When he put the last one on, the armor automatically spread throughout his body girdling it with a deepblack color.
"I think it makes me look fat." he said with a disappointed intonation.
"Could you please focus?" Louhi replied with a mixture of anxiety and anger.
"Come on, man. Don't be like that... Is the helmet ready?" As they spoke, Rauni looked at the stiff soldier's boots and decided they would fit him easily. When he was done changing, we left his regular footwear and his sword by a tree.
"Yes, the communication system has already been tampered and all additional functions are disabled, so hurry the hell up.I'll answer for you if other members speak to you."
"Yes, sir." the blond joked. "Hey, don't forget to go for the sword and boots."
The black helmet sealed on the mercenary's head when he registered a new fingerprint. Rauni looked around confused and scared to look at the world through the technological device that didn't stop showing signs. He remembered the stories of the past world, where these things were only called something related to fiction.
After picking up Jiménez 's plasma rifle his appearance was of one more elite soldier of the Guard, with the only detail that if someone paid enough attention to him they would realize that he was carrying a revolver too old for the times on his belt. It was a Colt Single Action Army with two additional spare magazines. Gunpowder weapons had lost popularity due to their low effectiveness and high associated cost, but a weapon as old as that could only be owned by a true Past World fan or collector.
The mercenary returned walking calmly while listening to the false conversation that Louhi had with the captain of the squad.
"I'm heading to my position again. The anomaly was just a creature." Louhi aggravated his voice as much as he could, imitating Jiménez 's.
"Hurry up soldier, the change of round has already begun. Head inside." ordered the captain with a sour voice.
Rauni kept his mouth shut, even if he was tempted as hell to say something to this "captain" or to just start humming as he despised the silence. He walked slowly toward the huge doors of the hexagon and his thoughts got interrupted again.
"Jiménez , was I clear?
"Yes sir!" Louhi exclaimed in surprise, forgetting that he should behave like a soldier.
As he got closer, the structure looked more and more imposing and difficult to infiltrate. He began to rethink all the details of the plan and endless images and situations invaded his mind like a whirlwind, one variable after another, an error present in each step. All that mess was inside his head until he was in front of the great doors with the shield of the National Guard. His fears turned to emotion and his heart began to pound, eager for the precious loot he'd have in his hands in a few minutes. As someone had once told him: "If you make a mistake, you fix it on the spot. Improvise and give life a counterattack."
The double-leaf doors were flung open. Two soldiers came out of the hexagon wearing the same equipment. They bowed their heads in salute to Rauni and the other soldier who was also about to enter. They both responded, although the blonde's greeting was much more awkward.
It was his turn now. Both entered the fortress and when they were about ten meters away from the gates, they blocked the access again with a roar that shook the ground. However, for Rauni that was a sound of victory. From now on, it would be a piece of cake. Or so he thought.
"Rauni, I need to focus on the next part of the plan. I need you to avoid contact with others at all costs, but if someone does speak to you remember that you are a soldier of the Royal Guard. And I insist, don't screw it up. If you understand, adjust the rifle." Louhi warned him and after a few seconds, the blonde obeyed.
He waited a few minutes for Louhi's signal as he glanced at the soldier on his left. He started to look around him without moving his head and tried to observe and analyze all the variables around him just as he was once taught. The high walls were identical inside so there was no possibility of climbing them. In two of them there were cameras that pointed towards the door that Rauni guarded. The perimeter was surrounded by dry grasslands and undergrowth damaged by the soldiers' footprints and the marks of a small gray vehicle that was parked at the back of the hexagon and seemed prepared for a fast movement of materials and passengers.
The center of the hexagon was what mostly caught the attention of Rauni, since it was evident that something had impacted the earth. An almost perfect circumference of about ten meters in diameter sank the ground by at least one meter, clearing the sector of any type of vegetation. In the center of it there was a transparent plastic tent which isolated three scientists who were frantically arguing in front of a table, surrounded by a series of machines and holographic screens. Rauni could not hear the conversation nor could he distinguish what was the object of discussion. For the first time he wondered how he would distinguish the space stone from others that were scattered around or others that the scientists could be working on.
He waited and waited. Rauni had managed to stay calm for a while, but after 20 minutes he started to worry that he'd not receive any signals from Louhi. He moved his right foot desperately, begging to some higher being that nothing had happened to his partner.
"Shit!" The blond slipped out.
"Hey? What's the matter, Jiménez ?
Rauni was so deep in thought that he paid no attention to his fellow guard, who insisted again.
"Jiménez ! Listen to me, you piece of shit!" At the shout, Rauni paid attention to the outside world and remembered that his name was temporarily Jiménez , as indicated by the suit on his chest.
"Sorry, what is it?"
"What the hell is wrong with you? Shutting you up usually takes more work than shutting up a donkey" the soldier continued, followed by a laugh. His voice revealed that he was slightly older than Jiménez .
"I'm fine, man. Don't worry."
"If you say so…" The soldier was silent for a few minutes but glanced at Rauni from time to time. Experience told him to be wary of every detail that changed the status quo. He decided to watch him from head to toe, without being too discreet until he finally decided to reopen the conversation.
"Man, this is so boring. Apparently, there are some geezers that are playing with a goddamn stone, what could be more boring than this? Did they really need that much paraphernalia for something like that?" The soldier commented.
"You're right," replied Rauni, trying to shorten his answers. "but something like this is not bad, from time to time. I mean," he hesitated. "it's a simple job."
The soldier glanced at him again. His right eyebrow rose behind the blackened glass.
"Yeah… By the way, have you heard from Skell?"
"Of course. I heard he's doing pretty well." Rauni began to notice where this was all headed. He just needed Louhi to hurry the hell up, more than ever.
"Ah! So you've talked to him lately. And tell me, what has he been doing?
"Well, you know. Something here, something there ... working, like all of us, right? You have to earn a living somehow." The blond man excused himself as naturally as possible, trying to buy time.
"For sure. Some enter the military, others are dedicated to selling, others are hunters and there are other slackers, whom I detest, who always try to steal as the miserable rats that they are." The soldier began to put an increasingly serious tone at the end of the sentence.
Rauni stared at him for about five seconds and laughed pretty loudly. If not for the helmet, everyone in the Hexagon would have heard his laugh. The soldier kept his eyes on him at all times, even when he finished laughing.
"Ah? It wasn't a joke?" Rauni asked, pretending to be confused.
"Of course it was. Here comes the punchline." The soldier raised his rifle and aimed at Rauni, releasing the safety. "Put your hands up, you son of a bitch."
"What a pain in the ass..." the blond thought. He smiled inside the helmet and imagined how much fun it'd be everything from now on: threatened by elite soldiers, no response from Louhi, their lives at risk, but also with the chance of winning it all. The party was just about to start and Rauni had already had his first drink.