The howling winds of the desert were loud enough to make me shiver, not from the cold but from its ferocity. A trail of wind brushed against my neck, sending roves of goosebumps down my back. It felt good, to feel such bliss. The acidic scent of the wind only made my mouth water, which was happily being quenched from the water I’d been guzzling ever Cobra Squad.

I stood by the gates of Sauter’s waiting for Rook to arrive. He was my escort out of Saunters and to some remote location where transportation would take me to Devil’s Reach or close enough for me to sneak in.

The men of Saunter’s eyed me, forcing themselves not to point their rifles at me whilst I stood there. Good…I thought it’s always good not to trust outsiders. I wouldn’t trust me either if I were them.

My lips drew into a smile unexpectedly and a Man to my right, at the edge of the stairs, saw me, then smiled devilishly, tapping the pistol at his hip. Can’t wait to use it eh? Sorry…not today.

As I stood there, I began to look at the variables of the situation, noting how drastic things have changed since Elhisia’s initial kidnapping.

Elhisia Weitson, the heir-apparent to the Welkey’s Industrial District taken from The Broken Sphere by the same rioters in which our Dear Commissioner fought long and hard to quell. “Yep,” I said aloud. “I could read the headlines.”

But not one mention of Automatons and job replacement, I mused, bitterly. Then it hit me. Did someone leak the contract to the Union? That’s the only reason why the mass protest started, someone with inside information knew of Colvolt Weitson was gaining the exclusive rights to clear all landfills within the Antillean Federation.

Of course! I thought that’s why the protest started. Information was leaked! But who leaked it? That was the question that pounded across my mind as I sat there, waiting for Rook to appear.

We know someone powerful is backing Rikor Haek, but who? There’s no way he could take Devil’s Reach without a pocket, I don’t care how good he is.

Is it someone close to Colvolt? His inner circle maybe? There’s so much I didn’t know about this kidnapping, yet, here I am, in the god damn WASTE, ready to rescue the girl. On top of that, I’d been tasked to recover something called a lineagecube?

This detail is shit! I grumbled to myself, there are too many unknowns for me to make a proper judgment call. Ugh.

“Cypher,” Rook called out, making me turn towards him. The kid was draped in a cloak. I guess to cover himself from the dust. “Ready?” he continued.

“As I’ll ever be.”

Rook signalled to the guards and the gates groaned open, with wind pummeling its way through allowing a piece of tumbleweed to trail inside.

Men gathered behind me, holding what seems to be a bridge made of both metal and wood. The men ran outside with their wooden panels placing them one by one on top of each other. Once the wood had reached a satisfactory height, they slowly began turning each pole around a specific area until they were satisfied.

What are they doing? I asked myself. I switched my vision to Night Vision, watching as everyone become a skeleton. The angle I was at, wasn’t the best, but I could see that each pole placed in the sand was specifically placed between the land mines at varying angles.

Once the poles were settled, the men began extending the bridge slowly and eventually finished within thirty minutes. Rook had disappeared in that period but appeared with a buggy. I got in and rocked our way across the make-shift bridge and drove across the desert in quick haste.

◆◆◆

After thirty minutes of travel, a small camp came into view. It had no walls, unlike Saunter’s settlement, but five…no make that eight blocks curving around the campsite

As we got closer to the camp I noticed the top of the blocks had multiple nozzles. “You have turrets set up in the open?” I asked. “Yeah…how else would you have us do it, in a cave?” Rook answered.

Rook typed in a code once we got closer and we drove past the turrets. I couldn’t believe it, in all honesty. Mr Black had set up a base of operations within the Waste, with solar panels and generators set up on the outside.

No one would dare try to approach this camp after spying on the set-up. It sent a clear and concise message to send.

‘Don’t fuck with me.’

…and I’m sure no one did.

Other than the buggy I arrived in, they were five more buggies set on the left side of the camp. On the right were tents, about ten of them. In the middle of the campsite was a large cistern about fifteen meters tall, and one meter wide. Overkill in my opinion, but I guess it did what needed to be done.

“What are you bastards doing here?” I asked Rook. “You aren’t part of team Cypher, you said so yourself, so I can’t tell you.” Rook said, walking off. His eyes had a sternness about them now, instead of the innocent nature I saw when we first met.

It was like he kept his emotions in check after I handed him to the ground back in Saunters, but now that we were alone. His guard was up, 1000%. “Follow me,” He said, looking back at me.

We walked past a cistern heading towards a large truck, which was hidden behind a butte that had a large satellite antenna attached to a metal beam, stencilling from the ground up. Rook raised his hand, pressing a button on his gloves and the side of the truck snapped from the button.

The truck opened up with small crates of assault rifles, submachine guns, pistols and equipment I hadn’t seen since my ISOP days.

Rook walked up to the truck, pulling one of the cases free, dragging it to my feet. I pressed his thumb against the top of the case and it snapped open with compressed air gushing out.

“Mr Black said this was for you. It’ll help with you your infiltration.” Rook said.

“I haven’t worn one of these in years Rook, how the hell would I know it fits me.”

“It does. Now hurry up we’re up against time here.”

A Furtiven Suit I thought wryly. It reminds me of when I was in my Black Ops Unit, Dawn Light.

I pulled the Furtiven Suit free from the crate, feeling its matte-black colour with hexagonal lines stitched into it. The suit was smoother than I remembered, closer to a tile in texture.

The Furtiven Suit officially known as The Specialist Tactical Infiltration Suit was designed for Infiltration Special Operators who engaged in special assignments such as covert reconnaissance, assassinating high-value targets, hostage rescue and sabotage.

I’d never done any hostage rescue operations in my short tenure as a Dawn Light agent, but I was well trained.

I unclipped my medi-bag, magazine bag and the bag which held the lineagecube from my flack jacket before I unfastened it. I pulled off my shirt, pants and combat boots, then slid my legs into the suit.

The suit was cold on the inside but warmed up which I celebrated internally. Once I slid my arms down the sleeves, the magnetic clips of the suit adjusted to my size, then fastened as the suit compressed itself around my body.

“Perfect.” Rook said. “There’s a control for the Reflecta Shade on the digital pad beneath at the bottom of your wrist.

I flipped my wrist and saw a button red light that pulsed like a heartbeat. I touched it, then trained its location to my memory. A digital inlay popped up showing three options. Mirror. Black. White. A pity this couldn’t be linked to my cybernetic systems. If Nova was here, she’d ensure that was possible.

“Whenever you’re ready,” I told Rook

The kid tapped a button again, closing the truck and led me out of the campsite. We walked a few meters, then travelled down a steep slope in an open area. Rook tapped his digital keypad again and a Kite appeared in front of us.

“Optic Camouflage? For a Kite?” I asked.

“Yes. Isn’t that a bit ambitious?”

“Haven’t you met Mr Black?”

“True.”

The Kite was a small jet craft with a minimalist design copied from a Fighter Plane. The Kite was like a flat helicopter with no weapons onboard. It was mainly made for reconnaissance and weapons delivery for agents behind enemy lines. It only had room for cargo, oil and the pilot.

“Wait a minute, you want to put me in the cargo hold? What the hell is this Bullshit?”

“You don’t have to worry, there’s a Wingsuit here.”

“I’ve never used a Wingsuit in a mission before!” I snarled, annoyed.

“There’s no other way to get you there fast Cypher. We don’t have a choice, if we did, we would’ve simply let you go off on your own, but the trek is too long.”

“Whatever,” I growled.

Rook walked on over to the King tapping the side of the Jet and opening the cargo hold. He pulled out what I assumed was the Wingsuit and tossed it at me. I put the god damned Wingsuit and nestled it into the cargo hold.

As I lied on my back and fastened myself to it, lights slowly came on providing me with some form of luminescence.

Thirty seconds later, the engines of The Kite began to spool up slowly, then Rook appeared in front of me on a screen I didn’t anticipate.

“You strapped in Cypher?” Rook asked.

“Yeah…”

“Alright…”

The surging sound of the engine spooled, giving me goosebumps. I’ve never been on a Kite before, but I’ve heard the stories. Stories on how much they rattle and they aren’t fun to ride in. “It’s like a nail being trapped inside a paper plane,” Jix told me.

“I really need to check in on him,” I said aloud, not realising it. “What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“Alright…I’m taking her up.”

“Wait…why don’t you have on a helmet?”

“Oh…I’m flying it remotely.”

“WHAT?”

“I’m flying it remotely,” Rook said with a grin. “Sit tight Cypher. You’ll be there in eight minutes top.”