[Setting: The Satellite Research Shack, Geo-Thermal Valley]
The small, salvaged shack was now their temporary Base Camp. Leo and Lara worked with quiet, practiced haste, stripping the neutralized Trinity guards of their gear and preparing for the next, critical stage: infiltrating the Soviet Installation and securing its Comms Tower.
Leo was meticulously dismantling one of the guards' assault rifles, scavenging high-quality parts. His Mind (18) was entirely focused on the System's crafting requirements.
"The Trinity armor is Tier 3, composite plating. My pistols are ineffective against sustained fire," Leo explained, stacking the salvaged materials—metal scraps, ceramic plating, and specialized circuit boards—onto a clean tarp. "We need high-penetration munitions and a suppressed heavy rifle."
Lara, meanwhile, was utilizing the camp's firepit to refine the Bear Hide she had retrieved. She was patching the hole in Leo's tactical jacket and reinforcing their boots with the thick fur.
"I found this," Lara said, handing Leo a familiar, heavy object—the Partner Bow. "It was snagged on a pine branch fifty feet from the shack. Trinity missed it."
Leo took the bow, his relief palpable. The loss of his main weapon had been a massive tactical disadvantage. He instantly began upgrading it with the salvaged Tier 3 components.
System Notification!
[Weapon Upgrade: Partner Bow]
Materials Consumed: 12x Salvage, 4x Cloth, 3x Hardwood, 2x Composite Plating.
Upgrade Complete: Tier 3 Suppressed Tactical Bow (Increased Draw Weight, Integrated Rangefinder, Enhanced Stealth Capability).
Leo slung the upgraded bow over his back. "Much better. Now we go silent. The Soviet base is a labyrinth, but the Comms Tower is the weak point. It holds the network logs and, more importantly, a detailed map of the Geo-Thermal Valley and the first clue to the path of the Prophet—the Copper Mill."
Lara grabbed the powerful, salvaged Trinity Assault Rifle and began loading the custom high-penetration rounds they had quickly crafted. "We follow the valley perimeter. We use the geothermal steam vents for cover. They're noisy and blinding."
Leo nodded, checking his leg wound one last time. It was stable. "The Comms Tower is the highest point. It's defended by a single Heavy Gunner and a surveillance network. We need to split the distraction."
[Setting: Infiltration of the Soviet Installation Perimeter]
They moved across the frozen valley floor under the cover of a dense, swirling geothermal steam vent. The hiss of the steam masked their movements, and the boiling water was a perfect deterrent to patrolling guards.
Leo, utilizing his Recon Sense (Mind 18), saw the entire security grid: cameras, patrol routes, and the weak points in the dilapidated Soviet fence line.
"Three guards patrolling the main gate, two more near the rail car depot," Leo whispered into the comms headset he had salvaged. "We skip the main gate. There's a drainage pipe near the abandoned fuel depot—it leads directly inside the installation's maintenance tunnels."
The drainage pipe was narrow, dark, and frigidly cold. They squeezed through, emerging into the chaos of the former Soviet Prison Block. The air was thick with diesel exhaust and the low hum of Trinity generators.
"Trinity is using this old prison block as barracks," Lara noted, her pistol raised. "We go high. Roofs and scaffolding."
They ascended the crumbling architecture, moving like shadows. Leo planted his new Scrap-Grenades at two strategic choke points—stairwells used by patrolling guards.
The Comms Tower loomed high above the prison, a massive, rusted structure topped with satellite dishes.
"Final approach," Leo confirmed. "Two snipers on the adjacent tower. One Heavy Gunner defending the Comms Tower platform itself. And the network hub is inside the maintenance shed below."
Lara pointed to a long, icy cable zip-line connecting their current rooftop to the Comms Tower. "I take the heavy gunner and the snipers. I need cover for the approach. You hit the network hub and decrypt the map."
"Agreed. I need five seconds of cover to execute the Decryption Hack."
Lara took the zip-line, moving with impossible speed across the gap. The second she landed, she was moving.
The Heavy Gunner—a colossal figure in full composite armor wielding a heavy machine gun—instantly turned, his weapon beginning to spool up.
Lara was faster. She fired a Poison Arrow from her suppressed pistol at the guard's exposed neck, stunning him momentarily. Then, with devastating force, she drove the Grapple-Axe into the guard's knee joint, collapsing the leg and dropping the massive Trinity operative.
Simultaneously, the two snipers on the adjacent tower locked onto Lara's position.
Before they could acquire the target, Leo acted. From his concealed position on the rooftop, he fired two rapid shots from his Tier 3 Suppressed Tactical Bow. The arrows, tipped with high-grade shrapnel, hit the snipers' exposed fuel tanks on their backpacks.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The two snipers were engulfed in silent, brief, orange plumes of fire, their threat neutralized instantly.
Leo sprinted down the scaffolding toward the Comms Tower maintenance shed. Inside, the terminal for the Trinity network was operational.
"Lara, I'm at the terminal! Five seconds!"
Leo slammed his portable Decryption Tool into the terminal port. His Mind (18) was a weapon, forcing the complex military encryption to yield.
System Alert!
[Action: Decryption Hack (Trinity Network)]
Mind (18) Check: SUCCESS!
Data Retrieved: Full Geo-Thermal Valley Map, Copper Mill Key, Trinity Intel (Konstantin Location).
[Objective Complete: Map and Intel Secured!] - +1500 EXP
"Map secured, Lara! The Copper Mill is the next major objective—it's where the Trinity forces are mobilizing!"
Lara, having finished off the Heavy Gunner, jumped down to join him. She was breathing hard, her hands smeared with oil and blood, but her eyes were triumphant.
"Konstantin is at the Copper Mill," Lara confirmed, looking at the newly downloaded map on Leo's tablet. "He's establishing his forward base there, right at the entrance to the geothermal valley's ancient tombs."
Leo looked at the map. The Copper Mill was a fortified Trinity fortress—the most intense combat zone yet. It was where they would confront the full might of Konstantin's army, rescue any captured locals, and finally retrieve the key to Kitezh.
"We move now, before they realize their network is compromised," Leo said, checking the suppressed assault rifle. "We're done with stealth. The Copper Mill requires overwhelming force and precise tactics."
They exited the Comms Tower, vanishing into the maze of the Soviet Installation, ready for the bloody confrontation ahead.
Chapter End.