Liam got out of the pilot seat, and when the man who was being held saw this, he opened his eyes. He had been silent, but just as he was about to scream, Liam threw a Pulse Blade right at his throat.
Liam was fast and decisive.
Blood poured out of the man's throat like a fountain had just been opened, and his helmet now had droplets of blood on it. This was his first official kill. He didn't even get the chance to speak to his first kill.
[Is this your first kill?]
"How do you know?"
[Your heart rate is elevated, and your pupils are dilated.]
Liam was silent and didn't answer. He just looked at the man's life pouring away. After mourning for a minute, he steeled his heart. This was his first kill, but it wouldn't be his last, for sure. This world would force him to kill many—be they human beings, aliens, or maybe even gods.
"BT, stealthily keep the perimeter clear. I will go inside alone."
[But Liam, there are many people inside.]
"And that is the reason I should do it alone. Once they realize that you have infiltrated, they will kill the men I want to free. Don't make people feel too desperate. Give them hope."
[I understand. I will make sure no men come close.]
BT moved back and soon vanished into the sand dunes and ridges, taking the corpse away too.
Liam crouched low behind a jagged dune, his breathing slow and steady. His high-resolution HUD scanned the perimeter of the heavily guarded circular mound in the distance. The sandstorm provided natural cover, but the border guards' elevated towers and roaming sentries posed a significant challenge. The mound—he could recognize some parts of it.
He tapped his forearm panel, activating Cloak. His body shimmered, blending seamlessly with the sandstorm. He moved forward, light-footed. The first guard was perched in a tower, casually scanning the horizon with binoculars. Liam silently scaled the back of the tower using the suit's built-in Grapple. As he reached the top, the guard turned too late. With a flick of his wrist, Liam deployed his Pulse Blade. A precise strike to the back of the guard's neck sent him to the halls of death after gurgling a bit, and Liam gently lowered the body to avoid noise.
He scanned the camp again. Two guards stood by a small guard post near the main entrance. Their rifles were slung lazily over their shoulders, their conversation lost in the wind. Liam crouched low, analyzing their patterns. He rushed toward the first guard, disarming him with a swift twist and landing a clean blow with the hilt of the Pulse Blade. The second guard barely had time to react before Liam disabled him with a calculated strike to the leg, followed by a sharp jab to the shoulder.
This time, there was noise from the man's mouth. Seeing no other choice at the moment, Liam snatched the AK the man had strapped to him and shot at the others.
"Ah, fuck!" Liam cursed. He wanted to take down the guards stealthily, but that was now out of the window. As soon as Liam killed the two men, he went into Phase Shift and ran in another direction. The men from inside the mound came pouring out toward the sound of the gunshots.
Liam climbed the side of the mound away from the entrance. As he climbed over, he finally got to see what was happening inside. There were multiple machine guns pointed at the entrance, and inside the mound—which also contained the entrance to the cave—there were guns, ammunition, missile heads, incendiaries, and all kinds of weapons, courtesy of Stark Industries.
The militants came to see what was going on, and soon many of them were shouting and yelling, confused about what had happened here. This small movement showed that even if they were better than the ones in Gulmira, they lacked proper training to deal with such situations.
Liam proceeded to kill the two sentries with machine guns using the Pulse Blade. The blade not only struck their necks but also ensured they couldn't utter a noise as the blood rushed out.
"Time for some fun," Liam said as he took out a small disk and threw it on the ground. The disk proceeded to open a semicircular light shield—the A-Wall. It deployed an invincible particle wall, destructible only at its small circular base, that blocked incoming shots and amplified outgoing ones.
As soon as the A-Wall came up, he started firing at the men. Liam was in Cloak mode, so it was already hard for them to spot him, even though they were on alert after Liam came out of Phase Shift. The small bunch of men who were on alert were instantly downed, and the other bunch retaliated when they noticed Liam.
But the A-Wall made sure that none of the bullets could even come close to Liam. As Liam was killing these men, BT sent him a message.
[The radar has picked up a small explosion inside the cave.]
"What?"
This made Liam, who had just killed these men, move in a bit of a hurry. A small explosion could mean anything inside. And thus, after dealing with them, he used Cloak mode again and made a run inside.
There were men guarding the tunnels, and Liam had to use his gun or his Pulse Blade. The Pulse Blade came in very handy as it allowed him to target enemies that couldn't be positioned through his eyes. BT helped navigate by analyzing the terrain and ensuring he was on the right path to the location.
As he came close, he suddenly heard more gunshots further inside the tunnel. This made him sweat, and he broke into a faster and more frantic run. Liam burst into the final chamber of the cave, heart pounding and blood roaring in his ears. His HUD painted a grim picture: six hostiles, all armed, their weapons trained on a frail, bearded man—Yinsen. The man was on his knees, with his borrowed gun pointing at them.
He wasn't ready to give up just yet.