Fernando rested along the border of the woods. He sat with his knees up, drinking from his flask. Two SCAR units were posted up along the east entrance. There was no point in taking them. He had to play the waiting game.

  Truthfully, he could take them on if he really wanted to. Laziness was a drug that never faltered.

  He swirled his almost–empty flask and sighed. Sitting around was boring, but it was better than being in a fight.

  It’s not that Fernando didn’t enjoy battles; it was just that he was too lazy to care. Today was the day he would usually kick back and watch television alone, eating a burger with a cold drink. Instead, he was out here with an almost empty flask, which was worse than a kick in the nuts.

  He took a cigar out of the inside of his jacket pocket and lit it. The gentle smell of vanilla put him at ease. It was a much-needed smoke.

  “Fernando, you there?”

  “Alice… good to hear your voice.”

  “Let’s communicate on this separate channel. I’ll move us both to the main one if necessary.”

  Fernando shrugged, though Alice was nowhere near to see. “Whatever makes the clock tick.”

  “I apologize, you have to play the waiting game. Though I believe you hardly care.”

  Fernando found it weird how Alice switches to a more formal way of speaking when she’s in charge of communication. Though he never pointed it out.

  “As long as I have a drink or a cigar…”

  “I see you’re never going to change.”

  Fernando laughed hard, yet briefly. “Change is irrelevant. It’s also too much work. I much rather keep things simple.”

  “Including your hobby?” Alice asked after a brief pause.

  That question caught Fernando off guard. He knew his secret hobby was morally and ethically wrong, but it brought in more money than working with Ruben.

  “I plan to keep living the way I know.”

  Alice didn’t respond. Instead, she shifted the topic.

  “Two signals are still there. I don’t know if you want to take them on or not.”

  “What’s the status with the other two?”

  “I lost contact with Sydney. Assuming she activated her EMP, I’ll regain contact within five minutes. As for Jill, she’s making her way deeper in the area.”

  Fernando sighed. “Is there a point?”

  “You take away two backup units.”

  Fernando sighed. “I'd better be gettin’ a bonus for this.” He stood, removing the gun from his holster. “Let’s get this done quickly.”

  Seconds later, he heard a noise from the trees. Something quick was moving above. He paused and wondered if it was an animal.

  The sound of movement reappeared.

  “Alice… something doesn’t feel right.”

  “Let me check………… Fernando…!”

  He circled in one spot, his gun held by his side. “Anything I should worry about?”

  “I’m seeing a signal nearby. Stay alert.”

  He joked. “How alert should I stay?” He brushed it off with a quick laugh, which was quickly erased.

  “Argh!”

  Something quick came, swept his legs, and hid within the woods. Fernando quickly stood. Staying on the ground made him vulnerable to attacks. Not like standing in the woods alone was any better.

  “Alice, a little help here.”

  “Its presence is unpredictable. It’s… my radar isn’t tracking it properly.”

  “Hm? Well, help a man out and get it to—”

  Fernando took a kick to the back, causing him to fall over on his face. Again, he quickly stood and looked around.

  There was nowhere for him to go. If he exited the woods, it would draw attention to the other SCAR units, something he wanted to do, but couldn’t because of this issue. Going further in would only be worse.

  “Hit again. This thing’s attacking my blindspots.”

  “Remove the hat, and maybe you’ll be able to see better.”

  He sneered. “Jokin’ at a time like this is—I don’t have a word for it.” Fernando adjusted his hat more downward.

  He listened carefully to the movements in the trees. Whatever attacked him was sudden and careful. The thing only attacked when Fernando got distracted or didn't pay full attention.

  Fernando scanned the area with his cybernetic eyes. The scanner caught something moving, but it untoggeled in a heartbeat. For some reason, it was like whatever was up there wasn’t able to be tracked.

  Or… it had technology where it couldn’t be tracked.

  “Something tells me this isn’t your ordinary SCAR unit.” He said to Alice over comms.

  “Fernando, I can’t get a signal on it or anything. It’s like nothing's there.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Something’s here, alright.”

  And that something came after him from behind. Fernando heard the movement and rolled over.

  The wood didn’t even creak. That alone sent a chill through him.

  “Yeah,” Fernando said, circling slowly, “this isn’t standard issue.”

  Above him, the thing moved.

  It leapt from branch to branch without breaking leaves.

  Then he saw it.

  Dark blue metallic armor with a yellow, honey-combed visor. This SCAR unit wasn’t bulky, but slim, with claws that looked like they could cut through the strongest metal. It was made for this type of elusive combat.

  “You must be an A-tier.” He said.

  “Fernando,” Alice said quietly, “I think I know what you’re dealing with.”

  “Little late for labels,” he replied. “Any helpful weaknesses?”

  A blur.

  The SCAR unit dropped from above. Fernando barely got his arms up before the impact slammed into him like a freight train. He skidded across the forest floor, dirt and leaves.

  “There goes my cigar,” he said in disappointment. He kicked himself backward, barely avoiding a second swipe that carved through a tree trunk instead. The bark split like paper. The adrenaline started to kick in. “That’s new.”

  The unit didn’t rush him. It circled as though it studied him.

  “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Fernando said, flexing his fingers, and taking out another cigar from his pocket, while putting his gun back into the holster. “Figures. Give me a sec. Let me light this first.”

  The unit lunged.

  “Selfish bastard!”

  Fernando met it head-on this time, ducking under a claw and driving an elbow toward where a human ribcage would be. His strike glanced off reinforced metal, sending a shock up his shoulder. The unit retaliated instantly with a knee to the thigh and a strike across the chest.

  Fernando hit the ground again, this time hard.

  Before the unit could finish it, he rolled, grabbed a fallen branch, and snapped it in half, jamming the broken end into the ground as he pushed himself upright.

  “You’re fast,” he admitted between breaths. “Like lookin’ at light itself.”

  The helmet tilted again.

  Fernando’s heart pounded. He turned slowly, every sense screaming.

  “Alice,” he said under his breath, “if this thing hits me again—” He grabbed onto his right pec with claw marks that made him slightly bleed.

  The SCAR unit stood there, not taking advantage of vulnerable Fernando.

  “Alright,” he said, thumb brushing the worn grip at his hip. “No more dancin’.”

  His cybernetic eye whirred and kicked into full combat mode. He drew his revolver and quickly fired. The unit bounced around the place, making it impossible for Fernando to hit with accuracy. His bullet couldn’t track the target as well since the target wasn’t consistently on a radar, so using auto-aim was out the window.

  Fernando fired again.

  The shot cracked through the forest, the bullet grazing its shoulder plate while it attempted to twist away.

  “Gotcha,” Fernando said.

  The unit approached Fernando with confidence.

  Fernando fired multiple times.

  One shot finally connected at the unit’s thigh.

  It hissed and sprang backward.

  “Just a tiny dent?”

  The SCAR unit crouched low. It didn’t rush him again. Instead, it watched.

  Fernando’s cyber-eye pinged a warning: ADAPTIVE LEARNING DETECTED.

  “…Of course,” he sighed.

  The unit suddenly bolted, not at him, but around him. Fernando spun, firing on instinct as claws slashed past his coat, tearing fabric and grazing skin.

  Pain flared, but thankfully it wasn’t deep.

  Fernando slid back. “There.” He fired once more.

  The bullet clipped the unit’s helmet, sparks flying as it recoiled into the trees again. This time, it didn’t vanish immediately.

  It lingered at the edge of the woods with its honey-combed visor staring right at him.

  He popped the cylinder of his revolver open with a flick and inserted a special round.

  “Death grips,” Fernando said. “I’m a little annoyed. You knocked away my cigar, and interrupted when I tried smokin’ another.”

  He snapped the cylinder shut.

  The SCAR unit bounced around from tree to tree again, making it impossible to hit. Fernando couldn’t scan it, so he waited carefully.

  The unit lunged at him. Fernando flicked to his right and fired.

  The bullet tore through anything that came into contact with it. The SCAR unit staggered mid-leap as the round pierced cleanly through its torso, exiting in a burst of sparks and dark fluid.

  The unit slammed into the ground hard this time.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  The SCAR unit twitched before standing up.

  Armor split where the bullet passed through, internal systems exposed and sparking, but the thing still moved.

  Its head tilted. The eyes flared brighter.

  ADAPTIVE RESPONSE ENGAGED.

  “You're really annoying me,” Fernando said.

  The unit exploded forward.

  It closed the distance faster than before, fueled by something ugly and desperate. A clawed strike slammed into Fernando’s shoulder, sending him skidding across the dirt. He rolled, fired blindly, felt one shot connect, and another glance off hardened plating.

  The SCAR unit didn’t retreat. It pressed forward.

  Fernando barely got his arms up before a kick caught him in the ribs, cracking something painfully. He gasped with his vision stuttering as his cyber-eye recalibrated under stress.

  “Alice,” he hissed. “Now would be ideal,” he threw a small device to the ground.

  The unit raised its arm for a finishing blow…

  But the air folded.

  A sharp blue fracture split reality beside Fernando.

  Alice stepped out of the light blue warp and didn’t hesitate. She pointed her sniper right at its head and fired a devastating blow. It stumbled and fell a few feet away.

  “You always wait till the last second.”

  Fernando coughed and grinned despite the pain. “Builds character.”

  The SCAR unit stood, damaged, but obviously furious.

  “This thing doesn’t quit,” Fernando said, annoyed.

  “I can stun it with an EMP. Five seconds or so.”

  “Long enough,” Fernando said, pushing himself up, the revolver already back in his hand. He slipped another unique round inside the revolver. His cybernetic eye locked onto the damage he made earlier.

  The unit attacked again.

  Alice maneuvered and stuck the EMP device onto its leg.

  The SCAR unit hit the ground like it had been dropped from space, limbs trembling and visor going in and out of darkness.

  “Five seconds!” Alice snapped.

  Fernando didn’t waste them.

  He stepped forward, leveled the gun, and fired straight into the exposed head.

  “Sunsoaked.” He announced the name of the special round and fired.

  The special round detonated inside the armor.

  The SCAR blew up there with a small but decently loud blast.

  Silence returned to the woods, broken only by Fernando’s ragged breathing.

  “You good?”

  “I’ll live.” He glanced toward the warehouse. “The hell is that doing here?”

  “I didn’t expect an A-tier agent here.”

  “Then whatever’s inside is worse,” Fernando said.

  “Wait, look,” Alice said, pointing at the east wing entrance. “The two SCAR units are stepping away from their post.”

  Fernando tipped his hat downwards. “Shall we?”