Following Gideon's orders, they activated their scopes and checked the red dots. Everything was on and working.
They pulled their night vision goggles down from the rails on their helmets. The night vision was functioning properly.
Lyra approached and reported to Gideon that three drones had been launched and were heading toward the skies above Moko's encampment. Gideon nodded.
"Suppressors on!" Gideon commanded.
"Understood, Captain!"
Lena and the others reached into the pockets of their carrier vests and attached the suppressors to the front of their rifles.
The devices were essential for dampening sound —quieter meant a cleaner ambush.
"Stay close. If we make contact, eliminate fast!" Gideon ordered Luke and Lena, who were operating as Falcon Two.
"Copy, Captain!"
The two of them took off running from the wolfkin village, heading northeast into the forest, moving with full caution. They hoped to avoid running into any of Moko's patrols.
Even if they did, they'd open fire before anyone could react. Quick takedowns, clean and precise.
Gideon stepped off the main path, with Lyra following behind him, carrying her M4A1 and laptop in her backpack.
Gideon raised a clenched fist. Lyra recognized the signal—it meant stop. The two of them immediately took cover behind trees as they spotted a cavalry patrol moving down the dirt road.
"Three personnel. Cavalry patrol," Gideon whispered, his mic and earpiece transmitting through his helmet.
"Stay close and alert. Targets nearby."
"Copy," Luke and Lena responded.
After two of the cavalry personnel walked off the road and disappeared into the woods, Gideon and Lyra resumed their approach. They moved slowly through the forest, seeing only trees and grass ahead.
If any enemy or object approached, it would show up in bright green. Night vision only had one major flaw—blinding light would overwhelm it.
But Moko's forces didn't have flashbangs or anything like that. That was a relief, though Gideon and his team still had to be careful around magic users. They didn't know much about the magical capabilities in this world yet.
After sweeping the area, they finally reached the designated mission spot. Lyra spotted it first—a fairly tall hill, perfect for executing a shot with a sniper rifle.
"Falcon Two, status?" Gideon asked.
"Falcon Two here. We're at site," Luke reported.
"Wait my signal."
"Copy. Over."
Luke and Lena were now 700 meters from Moko's camp. Fortunately, the enemy hadn't set a perimeter too far out, making the duo's position harder to detect.
They dropped to prone, swapping out their scopes for 10x42 binoculars. With those, they could survey the enemy camp in detail.
"They're just lounging around, drinking. What are they thinking?" Luke muttered.
Lyra and Gideon made their way up the hill along a narrow path. At the top, they hid behind a large tree. Gideon pulled out his scope and started observing.
"Not clear."
"Let me," Lyra said.
She sat down against the tree trunk and opened her laptop. Gideon glanced up, focusing his eyes on the sky.
The three drones were flying high enough to avoid detection—no sound, and the enemy was too relaxed to notice.
"Sync complete!" Lyra said.
Gideon turned to see three live images from the drones. He could clearly make out seven large tents guarded by elite troops.
Those seven tents were different from the regular soldiers' tents—clearly indicating the people inside were not ordinary.
"Falcon Two, Viper location?"
"Negative. No visual Viper," Luke replied.
"Stay alert."
One of the big weaknesses of this mission was that they didn't know what the enemy commander looked like.
With seven tents and potentially seven commanders, they had no idea who was who. And none of them were stepping outside.
While they waited, Gideon opened a long black case and began assembling his Barrett MK22—attaching the scope and bipod.
Lyra watched him, then set aside her laptop and picked up her binoculars and kestrel.
She lay down next to Gideon, raised her hand, and began gathering data—wind speed, distance, elevation. That would help Gideon take an accurate shot.
"Only one of the seven tents has more than two guards," Gideon noted.
"Think that's Viper?" Lyra asked.
"Looks like it."
Still, no one came out of the tent. If he ordered Luke to stir up trouble, there was no guarantee the target would appear.
"Grab the FLIR," Gideon ordered.
Lyra knew what that meant—thermal scope time. She mounted the FLIR in front of the sniper scope, and Gideon could now clearly see two heat signatures inside the tent.
'What the hell…'
"What is it?" Lyra asked.
"Nothing. Focus on kestrel."
'Seriously? What the hell is that?'Gideon grumbled.
Through the thermal scope, he could see two people inside—having sex. Gideon could see everything. They were enjoying themselves in the cold night, completely unaware.
"Falcon Two. Set timer," Gideon said firmly.
"Copy. Timer set. Over," Luke responded.
Luke stood up. Lena instinctively got up to cover him. Her eyes scanned ahead, watching for any guards who might have noticed them.
Luke took out a pack of C4 and set the timer to 90 seconds. He didn't plant just one—he set three charges in separate locations before activating them.
Lena stuck close, rifle pressed to her cheek, ready to shoot anyone who got suspicious.
"Falcon One, come in!"
"C4 planted, waiting for order," Luke reported.
"Understood. Wait my signal," Gideon said.
Gideon took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Lyra still held the kestrel. Wind speed readings came in, along with elevation and distance data.
"Wind steady. 10mph, right to left. Range to target confirmed: 800 meters."
"Copy. Elevation?"
"Elevation: 6.2 mils up. Windage: 1.0 mil left," Lyra replied.
He adjusted the turret windage according to her readings. With that, Gideon could take the shot—as long as the couple kept at it in the same spot. Only he could see what was happening.
"Falcon Two. Activate C4!"
"Understood. C4 Activated," Luke said.
Luke stood and pressed the remote in his hand, triggering the countdown on the C4 charges. The clock was ticking. Gideon had confirmed the target.
"Sync watches. Move when 30 sec to clear," Gideon said.
"Roger that," Luke and Lena confirmed.
Lyra turned to look at Gideon's face—focused and dead serious. The entire operation rested on his sniper skills.
If he succeeded, there was a chance the enemy would retreat. If not, no one knew how they'd react.
But since Gideon was ex-Delta Force, with missions way harder than this under his belt, Lyra didn't have any doubts about his ability.
"Target not confirmed. What do we do?" Lyra asked.
"I'll handle it."
"On your mark!" Gideon called out.
"Three… two… one… send it!"
BANG!
The .338 Norma Magnum round tore out of the Barrett MK22 with a sharp crack, followed by silence.
It startled the enemy camp, but they were confused about the sound's origin. No alerts, no commands to brace for attack.
Thankfully, the sound didn't reach the tent, and the couple inside kept right on going, wrapped up in their moment.
Through the FLIR scope, Gideon saw the bullet strike the man's body as he was on top—doggy-style.
He collapsed onto the bed, unmoving. The woman screamed, calling for guards. Now Lyra could see what was happening.
"Impact. Panic response. Blood trail. Target down," Lyra confirmed.
"Falcon Two. Target down. Distraction point!"
"Chaos confirmed, Falcon One. Frag grenade out," Luke replied.
"Copy. Begin Phase Three."
"Understood. Team fallback. 45 seconds to clear," said Luke.
Lyra glanced back and confirmed the extraction route was clear—no enemy movement, no heat signatures.
"Route Charlie is green. Meet me at Rally Point Echo. Out!" Gideon ordered.
"On move!" Luke replied.
Gideon quickly disassembled his sniper gear, packed it into the long black case. Target down—it was time to get out.
Lyra redirected the three drones back toward the village. She stowed her laptop and moved to cover Gideon as he packed his rifle.
"Movement detected!" Lyra called out, spotting soldiers heading toward the hill.
"Take them down. Flashbang!" Gideon ordered.
She nodded, pulled a flashbang from her belt holster, yanked the pin, and tossed it forward. It rolled, then burst—blinding flash, no magic could stop it.
"Move!" Gideon barked.
Still, some enemy troops weren't affected and kept charging.
BLAST!
An explosion hit the far side, toppling trees and crushing soldiers who were chasing Luke and Lena. Their side was clear—no one was following.
Gideon and Lyra kept running, leaving behind the soldiers who came at them with only swords and no armor. Gideon handed the black case to Lyra, flipped the safety off his M4A1, and opened fire.
One bullet, one enemy. The soldiers stood no chance against modern firepower. Gideon reached into his belt holster and pulled out a frag grenade.
He hurled it while sprinting back toward the village—toward the team's rally point.
BLAST!
The frag exploded, injuring many and tearing them apart with deadly shrapnel. Gideon ducked to avoid the blast and glanced back once the smoke settled.
"No movement!"
"Return to Rally Point Echo!"