This is too much for a reservist.
She knew it, she should have known it.
Alina sneaked among the muck and mud on the ground. The heavy storm on top of their heads helped them to cover their infiltration deep inside the forest. However, what Alina found scary was the goblins walking in the forest.
Yes, the target was a goblin, but the securities weren't limited to goblins. That particular goblin was guarded by an army, an army of armored vehicles, armed soldiers, and so much more. Right now, both she and Ilya were looking at a main battle tank, currently sweeping the area with its commander sticking out from the hatch.
Ilya said it was an old tank, pretty much outdated in the grand scheme of things. However, that 'old' tank was the newest T-90M that Russia used in Ukraine. For Alina, it was as if an insurgent found its way to Russia's armory and stolen all of the hardware there. Her guts already told her to run, but if she ran, the goblin overwatch on the guard tower surrounding the outpost would notice her.
The outpost was like a fort. This was unlike the druid's village. The whole structure was a rectangular reinforced concrete fortress with four guard towers stretching high with a searchlight, watching the forest that surrounded it. In each tower, a goblin with a sniper rifle was watching, looking for any sign of disturbance.
If not for the storm or the night sky, they would be dead. To make matters worse, just at the last minute, after Ilya's spaceship left them both, Ilya told Alina that this area was under no one's jurisdiction. This was a no man's land. So, there would be no support from NAF or anyone else. Just herself, Ilya, and her own rifle. For this operation alone, Ilya ordered Alina to turn down her LGMMGM to its lowest setting to prevent anyone from seeing the beam from the magical rifle.
"M13, two guards, halt," Ilya whispered. Though a whisper was the wrong impression, she literally sent her thought to the receiver on Alina's helmet, and the speakers on Alina's headphones transmitted the voice, Ilya simply opened her mouth without letting out any voice.
Alina crouched still, her LHMMGM trained right at the goblin's head. She was ready to pull the trigger. Ilya already did the same thing. Ilya then commanded, "Alright, open fire."
Silently, both the bullet and beam flew through the thin air. In an instant, both weapons penetrated through the goblin's ballistic helmet, and they immediately fell to the ground with a thud that was masked by the storm.
[BP +500]
"I think they're down, M2," Alina whispered.
"Let's proceed, M13," Ilya whispered, instructing Alina to continue moving.
Moving swiftly and silently through the dense undergrowth, Alina followed Ilya's lead, each step measured and cautious to avoid making any noise that could give out their presence in an instant. The camouflage did its job of masking their movement, but if they did anything harsh, it would mean game over.
She swore this mission would fit neatly inside the Call of Duty campaign. It had every aspect of it; an unrealistically difficult mission, two people against an entire army, with the odds stacked against them.
As they advanced, Alina couldn't help but feel a surge of adrenaline mixed with a tinge of fear. This was far beyond any reservist training she had undergone, she shouldn't be here, and yet, why didn't she refuse? Was it because of her ability as a vampire?
The rain-soaked trees provided sporadic cover as they approached the outer perimeter of the fortified outpost. Ilya signaled to Alina, pointing towards a small, poorly lit service gate on the side of the main structure.
The problem? A BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle was guarding it. Sure, she had survived an attack from a dragon, but she had some doubt whether she could take a 30mm round head one, even with the shield generator.
"We definitely aren't going that way," Alina commented, knowing what devastation a 30mm cannon fired at them would do.
"Do you have any idea?" Ilya asked.
"There," Alina pointed her finger.
An empty dark spot right on the southeast guard tower.
"I can teleport us there, just hold my hand."
"Sounds like a plan to me, the target is somewhere in that outpost."
Gripping Ilya's hand firmly, Alina focused her energies on the shadowy base of the southeast guard tower. In the blink of an eye, the landscape around them shifted as they utilized her teleportation ability. The sudden disorientation from the rapid movement subsided just as quickly as it came, and they found themselves crouched in the shadows of the outpost's structure, mere meters from the guard towers.
The storm continued to rage, masking the slight noise of their sudden appearance. The cover of darkness and the howling wind were their allies as they moved to assess their new position. Peeking around the corner, Alina scanned the area. To her relief, it seemed their sudden appearance went unnoticed. The goblin sentry in the tower above was preoccupied, peering out into the storm, likely straining to see through the torrential rain.
"Clear so far," Alina whispered, her voice barely audible over the storm. "I'll go up first, neutralize the sentry. Cover me."
Alina dropped her Lahmum, replacing it with her saber. She then gazed at the sentry tower right above her. She teleported into the tower. Before even anyone noticed her, she stabbed her saber straight into the goblin's neck, killing him instantly.
She then caught the sentry's body, making sure that his body didn't make any noise. As she caught the body, she heard a radio communication from the radio on the sentry's body. She grabbed the radio.
"ЦП, это Дмитрий 3, мы нашли что-то подозрительное, разрешите проверить, прием."
"Это ЦП, понял. Будьте внимательны и готовы ко всему, конец связи."
Alina could only mumbled out her thought, "Russian?"
"Wait, let me activate the translation mechanism," Ilya replied. "Connect the radio to our channel, M13. Let's hear what they have to say."
Alina grabbed the radio, opened a cover for the speaker slot, and plugged one of the cables coming out of the radio on her back into that particular radio. She waited for a while, and in an instant, she could hear the voices from the goblins in the area.
"Alright, I gather its radio signal, feel free to unplug it now," Ilya said.
"Righto."
"Let's search the control room, and shoot any camera you find."
With the radio successfully linked to their communication system, Alina and Ilya moved cautiously from the guard tower, deeper into the fortified outpost. Each room and corridor was navigated with precise coordination, their movements almost silent against the continuing fury of the storm outside. It seemed that the whole patrol was outside.
Alina and Ilya paused at the corner of a dimly lit hallway, surveying the route ahead which led to a series of rooms that likely housed their main target. The map Ilya had glanced at briefly before the mission showed a central command room not far from their current location. This was where they expected to find the leader of the goblin anarchists, the primary target of their mission.
They reached a heavy steel door that required a security code. Ilya pulled out a compact hacking device, attaching it to the door's keypad. Within seconds, the device beeped softly, and the lock disengaged with a heavy clunk. They pushed the door open, entering a room filled with monitors and electronic equipment.
"Talking about high-tech," Alina whispered.
Inside, two goblins manned the various stations, oblivious to the silent threat now inside the room with them. Alina and Ilya acted swiftly; Alina's saber flashed in a swift, silent arc, taking down the nearest guard before he could react. At the same moment, Ilya used a suppressed pistol to neutralize the second guard. Both goblins slumped to their chairs.
"Alright, that's CP down," Ilya said.
"Clear," Ilya whispered, scanning the room for any additional threats. Alina nodded, her eyes quickly taking in the banks of monitors, some displaying camera feeds from around the outpost.
They used the room's equipment to their advantage, scanning through the video feeds to locate the goblin leader. "Found him. Command room, lightly guarded, a floor down," Ilya said.
"I see him, let's get to him, fast."
They left the surveillance room, heading towards the central staircase that led downwards. Ilya led the way with her rifle shouldered on its ready position while Alina covered their back. Strangely enough, the hallway to the leader's room was rather unobstructed.
Eventually, they arrived at that room.
"Ready, 3, 2, 1, engage!"
Ilya kicked the door down. Inside, the goblin's leader was sipping a glass of whiskey. Before he even realized the two were there, the goblin's leader dropped dead as Alina released a barrage of Bloody Swing at the goblin leader, turning his body into nothing more than minced meat.
[BP +2,500]
[Level Up! 12 Skill Points Available! New Class is Available]
Ilya then took a picture with her phone. She walked to the goblin's corpse and put his finger into her screen. A big checkmark appeared on her screen, alongside the transfer of 100,000 Leas into her Nexawork account.
"Alright, we'll clear. Let's exfil out of this outpost."