Reaching the exterior wall of her room, I used a small device to temporarily disable the security system guarding her door before silently slipping inside.
Rhea was sitting at her desk, her back to me as she focused intently on whatever task she was engaged in. My heart raced as I quietly approached her, trying not to alert her to my presence too soon.
"So, you are here to kill me?" Rhea asked just before I reached her, and I stopped, my pistol trained on the back of her neck.
"No, but I do need you to come with me," I said slowly.
Suddenly, the woman leaned back and twisted faster than I could react, landing on her feet. I used my free hand to grab the chair before it could hit me and shot a dart into her neck. I caught her with the chair and pistol still in my hands, trying to now make any noises.
As Rhea's body went limp from the tranquilizer, I carefully lowered her into a sitting position on the chair. Knowing that she would be out for only a short while, I quickly secured her wrists and ankles with reinforced zip ties.
"She's secure," I whispered through my comms to Aquaria. "I need an extraction."
"No can do. It will attract too much attention right now, and you have incoming. As far as I know, Drexel and his crew don't know that Ziri'aK and her team are coming to help them. You are going to have to take out her teams that she is sending down while also making it look like they are trying to attack Drexel's team," Aquaria explained, and I groaned but got to work on gagging Rhea.
One thing that was nice about coming into this body was that it knew what it was doing. I had no doubt that I could do what Aquaria asked me, which was nice. Leveling up like in the last world had been fine, but just being awesome right off the hop was so much better.
With Rhea secured, I prepared myself for the next part of our plan: taking down Ziri'aK's teams while making it look like they were targeting Drexel and his family. It was going to be a delicate balancing act, but with Aquaria's help from her position in the sky, I felt confident that we could pull this off.
I exited Rhea's room, again using the device to bypass the security system, and made my way back outside. Aquaria directed me toward the first group of Ziri'aK's team members who had just landed nearby. The element of surprise would be crucial here, so I activated my suit's stealth capabilities once more.
As I approached the team from behind, I took out my plasma rifle and flipped it from stun mode before firing at the nearest enemy. They collapsed instantly with a smoking hole where their heart used to be, but that alerted the others.
While I couldn't kill Drexel's family, these soldiers were fair game, and I couldn't afford to hold back. Utilizing my advanced combat skills, I took down the remaining team members one by one, ensuring they wouldn't pose a threat to us or our target.
With the first group eliminated, Aquaria directed me toward the second group that was getting dangerously close to Drexel and his siblings. I moved quickly but carefully through the terrain, knowing that if I were discovered, it could put our entire plan at risk.
As I neared the location of the second team, I spotted them moving stealthily through the shadows. They seemed to be heading for an area where Drexel and some of his family members were gathered.
Adjusting my grip on my rifle, I lined up my shots and waited for the perfect moment to strike, keeping in mind that we needed to make it look like Ziri'aK's team was targeting the family. When the opportunity presented itself, I fired several well-placed shots, taking out multiple opponents before they knew what hit them. The remaining team members scrambled for cover, but I managed to pick them off as well.
I ran for cover, but I left two people alive, hitting them with trackers. I let them run back to their ship but got ready for the next part.
"Second group is down," I reported to Aquaria, catching my breath. "Are any family members coming out yet? What the hell are they doing?!" I growled. You would think, with all the fighting out here, he might be concerned!
Aquaria checked the cameras we had set up earlier. "Surprisingly, they seem to be holding their ground inside the bunker," she informed me. "It looks like Drexel has ordered his family members to stay inside. He's being cautious."
"Damn, that's actually smart of him," I muttered, frustrated by the unexpected turn of events. "Fine, keep tabs on them while I go get Rhea."
"You need to get Rhea out of there now," she replied urgently. "The noise from the fight has spooked the rest of the family, and they're starting to move around. They are all armed now, and Tala is going to check on her mother. You need to move fast."
I hurried back to Rhea's room, feeling a rush of adrenaline as the stakes grew higher. Untying her from the chair, I hoisted her unconscious form over my shoulder and began navigating my way back towards our extraction point while trying to avoid any encounters with the family members who were now on high alert.
Moving quickly but silently, I reached the extraction point where Aquaria had landed the ship nearby. Carrying Rhea inside, I laid her gently on one of the seats, making sure she was still secure.
As we lifted off, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at having successfully completed this part of our mission. But there was still much to do: We had to convince Rhea to help us take down Drexel, and we needed to deal with the looming threat of Ziri'aK herself.
As we flew higher into the sky, Aquaria turned to me with determination in her eyes. "We've got our work cut out for us," she said, acknowledging the challenges that lay ahead.