War Of Elysium: Omnibus

Hard plastic mattress, rough cotton pillow, no blanket. It was the infirmary. How many times had she awoken like this? Dazed, confused and fussed over by Sash; no, Iris.

"Hiya, sleepy." Iris whispered. Her voice was the only blanket Lara needed. Warmer and softer than the best cotton.

"Was I out long?" Lara asked.

"No, less than an hour."

"Any damage?"

"Some internal bleeding, it's sorted now. Your rib is broken but it's nothing major. You'll be fit to fight after a nap and some good food." Iris told her. She stroked Lara's hair from her face. That's when Lara noticed that her combat mask had been removed. Instinct took hold and her hand moved to cover her face. Gentle cotton met her hand. Her mother's scarf. Iris must have swapped them out while she was under.

"Reese brought it." Iris told her. She knew what swapping her mask meant to Lara so Lara knew she had done it properly, with the curtains drawn and no witnesses but herself.

"Thanks." Lara said. She meant it, her mother's scarf always brought her comfort and she wore it anytime she wasn't in uniform. Then she noticed she wasn't in uniform. She was in a hospital gown. She hated Elysium's hospital gowns. They were a hideous mix of orange, green and blue leopard print with a buttoned window on the lower back for 'easy access in emergencies'. "Please tell me he brought some clothes too." She begged. Iris shook her head.

"He did not. I've got some spare in the staff room. You can borrow them. Do you want me to stitch up your top or just throw it out?" Iris asked.

"Thanks, Sash. Just throw it out, I've a dozen just like it." Lara answered. A light slap on the hand told her she said something wrong as Iris looked around for eavesdroppers.

"Iris." Iris said in a scolding tone.

"Sorry... Iris." Lara said, she didn't realise she had slipped up. It had been a long time since she had. She must still have been light headed.

"Right, clothes then food. Is Ade okay?" Lara asked as she sat up. The painkillers Iris had flooded her with numbed the worst of the pain but a severe ache still persisted. Iris stood and glided over to the closed curtain beside Lara. It swung open and Ade sat no longer wearing Lara's hoodie but a well fitted black cardigan and navy blue shorts. "Of course you took her clothes shopping in the hour I slept." Lara laughed.

Iris looked offended at the implication Ade's outfit was specifically chosen.

"That's just the best I could get in the lost and found. We'll get her some real clothes later on. For now, you both need fattening up." Iris said, nearly jumping up from her seat. "You, get dressed." She ordered as she closed the curtains and threw a set of clothes at Lara.

Ade tip-toed, Iris near floated and Lara could barely limp.

"Hold on, ma'am. We need to set the records" A nurse shouted from across the room. Iris grunted and groaned but still grabbed a set of three clip boards.

"Adeladia Tempish. Middle name?" She asked as she started writing. Ade hesitated with her mouth agape. "It's for your medical records. Nothing major." Iris reassured.

"No middle name, Just Ade Tempish." Ade meekly said. Iris continued writing and mumbling to herself. A smile crept across Ade's lips when she looked at Iris' focus. Her tongue stuck out to the side, her jaw jutted forth and her eyebrows wrinkled and furrowed. A far cry from the typical grace and elegance most associated with her. "Age: sixteen Height: short-ass. Weight: too little. Injuries: Big ass metal spike to the abdomen, random lacerations. Attained in field. Patient notes: New recruit, needs medical profile." She finished writing and pulled a sticker from the form. She stuck one half on the paper and the other on Ade's forehead with a smile. She pulled the next form. "Name: Lara D'julianos Black. I will never get over how great of a middle name that is. Height: One-sixty-five. Age: Twenty two. Injuries: Fucked. There we go. That's that done." She said with a smile. She turned to leave.

"Hang on there." Lara said. "I see three pages. Don't worry, I'll fill out the last for you, babes." Lara said with a laugh. She grabbed the clipboard and immediately doodled a small cat at the top of the page. "Name: Iris Commons. Height: Giant."

"Five foot ten." Iris corrected with an evil glare.

"Exactly. Weight: Not going anywhere near that one." Lara laughed.

"Wise." Iris commented again. Her glare getting no less murderous.

"Age: 27. Not that she'd ever admit it."

"Ade, darling. Say goodbye to Sgt. Black. Her injuries are worse than we thought, it seems she won't make it through the night." Iris calmly said. Her serious glare broke and a small snicker broke through.

"Injuries: Married, sadly terminal." Lara finished. She swapped out the clipboard for a red lollipop and offered it to Iris with a grin so wide it shone through her mask. Iris laughed as she swiped the sweet from her.

"Come on, Sparks. Food awaits." Iris said with a mocking grin and a hand on Lara's shoulder.

"You too, Adeladia. You're not a vegetarian are you?" Iris asked. Ade shook her head. A grin had found its way onto her lips and she struggled to shake it. Lara knew that Iris had been playing up the banter in hopes of making Ade smile; it was working. She seemed less on edge, somewhat awkward but who wouldn't be after getting whisked away by a bickering special forces unit?

They walked to a connective tunnel where a set of rusted old platforms lay. Pretty and clean were terms for the upper layers of Elysium, this was the transit hub. Truly military in function and appearance. Soldiers lined the platforms, armed to the teeth, waiting to be taken from here - The entry wing - to all the rest of Elysium. Some would head up, to the higher layers like the residential and strategy sectors. Some would head outwards, to the civilian sector that wrapped around the perimeter of the central ring. Lara, Iris and Ade were headed deeper inwards. They sought the market floor. A square kilometre dedicated to providing the 'less than militarily necessary amenities' within the ring. There were four market squares throughout the central ring, and one in the outer ring; though the outer ring market was no place for a sixteen year old. A black pill shaped pod arrived at the station. Lara grabbed Ade's hand and dragged her aboard. There was a clear separation within the pod. Half of the people within stood rigid, filed and formed. The other half were sat at ease and dressed in casual clothes. Military and civilian. There was no animosity between the groups, they all worked to the same purpose within the same walls. Respect and manners were apparent. The elders and youth were seated, a group of young military cadets carried bags on behalf of a group of elderly farmers. It was a strange sight when Lara first arrived. She was used to the wasteland that the British isles had become after the old war. Civilians were hunted by illegal ministry slavers, raider Mack bands devastated ministry settlements while trader Macks attempted to make a peaceful living. The borders were tightly controlled as to prevent British Mack groups from fleeing to the remaining European mainland. Elysium was a relative paradise.

"Next stop: Market square. This pod terminates at: Barracks M11. Please mind the gap." The automated voice announced. A group of men shifted aside to allow the three to disembark. One of them nodded to Lara. She had met him before but she couldn't quite place him. She responded with a polite smile and ducked past him before he could realise she had no idea who he was.

The station was packed. A thousand people with enough space for maybe three hundred. The other platform must have been shut down for maintenance. They shuffled past and squoze through, Lara keeping a tight grip on Ade as to not lose her in the crowd.

They marched like a warband through the tunnels and alleys that made up the lower layer. A spiderweb of interconnecting networks of tunnels and dark streets. There would be a sense of unease about walking through the dimly lit and rusted route had it not been for the constant flow of marines stopping to salute and show respect to Lara and Iris. It seemed they were something of celebrities amongst the infantry. Civilians, pilots and logistics wouldn't pay them a second thought but it seemed every man and woman wearing a scar and a rifle knew them and admired them.

"Well then." Iris started. The door opened and the great market was unveiled. "What do you fancy?"

Carts beneath cotton tents sold strange meats and unique vegetables. The smell of turmeric and pepper carried from an alley to the left marked 'Curry.' There were Korean stalls, Indian shop fronts, Polish cafeterias. All dedicated solely to creating the curries of the world. The next street was for kebabs and after was pastries. Each street and alley held a new scent and sound. They passed an old lady boiling a fragrant rabbit stew while a young boy juggled tinned beans behind her. A teenage boy took Ade's attention as he offered her a pastry. No money exchanged hands. Within Elysium, food was a human right. They had an abundance and offered it freely. People studied for years to open a food stall, some stalls were so popular they were allowed to open whole restaurants on the upper floors.

Lara turned quickly into a side street. It was noticeably less populous but the chefs and cooks looked no less happy to be working. Ade followed quickly behind her but Iris slowed.

"Really?" It was obvious why she disapproved. There was a whole world of culinary perfection before them and yet Lara had returned to the same place after every single mission.

It was a small burger shack, ran by an old man in a ten gallon hat. "Burgers are an integral part of the culinary world." Lara meekly defended as the kindly old man offered her a wrapped burger before she could even open her mouth to order. She thanked him with wide eyed glee at the monstrosity he handed her. She peeled back the paper wrapper to expose a slab of greasy, tender beef; a square of spiced cheese and an entire runny egg squashed between two pieces of freshly baked, sesame seeded, bread.

"As your doctor, Sparks, I can not recommend putting that in your body." Iris said with a shameful head shake.

"I took a bullet; I can take a burger." She joked.

"I- I'm not sure that's true." Iris responded, appraising the slab of breaded meat leaking in Lara's hands. "Adeladia, darling. What will you be having? And if you say the same as her, I don't think our friendship will ever recover." Iris asked with the slightest wisp of a grin. Ade stood, clearly overwhelmed by the choices before her. Her eyes darted between a Sushi cart, a Japanese noodle bar and a taco stand. After hesitating for all together too long her eyes fell to an old woman in a colourful headscarf. She seemed entranced by the woman's food. She didn't say anything but just walked over.

"Hello, dear." The old woman greeted. She didn't smile but she looked Ade straight in the eyes.

"Dobryy den." Ade greeted. A smile came to the old woman's eyes but seemed to skip over her lips.

"Chto ya mogu dat' tebe, Moya dorogaya?" The woman asked. Her voice was harsh as a long time smoker but her tone, at least, was kind and warm.

"You are making pelmeni?" Ade asked.

"I am, you want broth or sour cream?" She asked as she began preparing the dumplings.

"Erm, broth, please?" Ade requested. She sounded meeker when she spoke English and the old woman picked up on the fact. She chuckled and reached beneath her cart. She produced a much larger bowl than the other customers had received. She filled it with chunky red broth and placed a small piece of rye bread on the side of the plate. "You are too small. Freeze come the winter. Eat." The old woman said with a wink as she lined the rim of the bowl with the dumplings. The steam that rose from the bowl nearly brought tears to Ade's eyes but she hid them. She thanked the lady and moved to return to Lara and Iris.

"What is that?" Iris asked with genuine curiosity.

"Dumplings. Filled with beef, pork and onions. Just like my father used to make." Ade told her. She offered one which Iris took with a smile.

"Oh, wow. That's gorgeous! Spicier than I thought?" Iris was nearly shouting, or at least spoke much too loudly. It made Ade laugh a little. Iris ran over to the woman and her stall who gave her a bowl just as lovingly made, though much smaller than Ade's.

"Where is Lara?" Ade asked upon realising that she was absent. Iris choked on a dumpling in an attempt to speak. She covered her mouth with her fingers and finished chewing before answering. "She went off to eat that disgrace of a burger." She joked before returning to her food.

"Why did she have to leave to eat it?" Ade asked.

"Well... She can't exactly eat with a mask on?" Iris pointed out. "She doesn't wear it for fun. She has to be in private to take it off, so there's small rooms dotted about for Macks to take their masks off." Iris told her. Ade realised that she had stopped thinking of Lara as a Mack. The teachers in her school always warned her to avoid Macks. She said that they were dangerous, that they kidnapped children for blood rituals and raided villages to glorify their gods. Then there was Lara, who wiped away her tears when she cried; who pulled back her hair when she threw up; who held her hand so she wouldn't get lost in a crowd. It was obvious she had been lied to but she still didn't find herself thinking of Lara as a Mack. The idea was entrenched within her. She was a woman who was wearing a mask and that was all. It was a strange conscious dissonance but it didn't matter. Lara was kind to her and that is what mattered.

"Don't worry, I'm here!" Lara shouted through the crowd as she walked up the street. "I know, a few minutes without me... How could you ever survive?" She joked. Lara felt Ade's eyes burning into her. She had no idea what she was thinking but knew she was conflicted by something. She hoped a kind smile would disarm Ade but knew a difficult conversation would be had at some point. "Right." Lara started. "Enough fucking about, we have work to do." She said, spinning on her heel and marching back to the station.

The trip up to the research wing was a quick one. First a pod to the main junction then the VIP elevator underground. There were no issues along the way, they walked to the station without detour and jetted away. The elevator was another story, however. The entry process was convoluted enough normally, but now they had a random Russian child waddling along with them. People rushed past to make it to their transports. Shuttles launched and freighters departed. It was chaos, it was home.

They approached the high security zone. Three guards stood behind a turret. Metal shutters were clamped shut and a woman sat in a bulletproof box holding the key.

"Evening, Clara." The woman greeted.

"Lara." She corrected. The woman was unbothered and activated a small scanner to which Lara pressed her wrist. Iris did the same. "This is Adeladia Tempish. I believe the Arbiter has cleared her." Lara said, resting her hands on Ade's shoulders.

"Any ID, girl?" The woman asked. Ade shook her head. "No access then." She declared.

"Bullshit!" Lara shouted. "The Arbiter personally cleared her!"

"The Arbiter cleared Adeladia Tempish. There is no reason for me to believe that this is Adeladia Tempish. Either present her ID or bring Vasily to vouch for her. Otherwise, move along." The woman droned on. If it hadn't been for Iris' timely intervention, Lara likely would have tested just how bulletproof her little box was.

"Vasily is dead, Carmine. I have top level clearance, I vouch that this is Adeladia Tempish." She firmly stated. The woman didn't know how to respond. Iris did have top level clearance and Ade had been cleared. Lara looked into her eyes and could see her considering her options.

"Bernie vouches?" The woman finally asked.

The shutters slid open, it felt a greater victory than any achieved in battle. Within was a series of barriers and guards all with their rifles ready to fire at a moments notice. "Gate six! Clearing." The guard captain announced. The shutter clamped shut behind them as they walked through. Two guards accompanied them down. The rusted steel of the junction gradually shifted to pure white tile and black steel reinforcements.

"Welcome home, Raptor." An old man greeted as they stepped out of the elevator. His wrinkled arms were outstretched and Iris ran out to hug him.

"It's been too long, Emanual." She called as she buried her face into his shoulder.

"Dr. Sintred." Lara greeted formally. His smile was no less grand when met with her distance. "This is Ade, Vasily's daughter." Iris explained. Ade shuffled towards the doctor. She held out a hand to shake his. It was an awkward sight. She shook limply and he moved all too slowly over to her. He hunched over a simple oak cane and stood maybe a foot shorter than he would have been otherwise. "Dr. Sintred. I- I've read much of your work." Ade told him.

"Oh? In which subject? I was under the impression you were in the genetics field." The old man inquired. His lips cracked and chapped as he spoke. Lara had known him for a few years now and yet she was still uneasy around him, by no fault of his own. It was the manner in which acted when he knew Lara was present. She knew he had some measure of discomfort in the fact that she wore her mask. She often wished that he would wear a mask, if least of all to block out the smell of whiskey and tuna that seemed to accompany his every word. The wisps of grey that were once, generously, called hair now survived only in his nostrils and took refuge within his ears. His lab coat carried stains it would take a full team of scientific experts to identify. Somehow, despite his otherwise appropriate lab attire, he still wore swimming shorts. From beneath them poked out two wrinkled twigs; more or less bones covered in a thin film he called skin.

"Your paper on the applications of gravimetric fields in propulsion technology. It was ground-breaking." Ade said. Lara snickered a little. The girl had barely spoken a word all day and yet within a moment of meeting the old man she came out with what might as well have been ancient incantations. The old man joined her in laughing. "A little before your time maybe, but I must say; easily my proudest moment." He bragged. Ade shone a grin back to him. It seemed Ade had actually made a friend, one who she felt she could talk to. A twinge of jealousy might have wormed its way into Lara but she told herself as long as Ade was comfortable then all was well.

"Right. You kooky kids have fun. I'm going to go find Garrison." Lara said. She excused herself and walked alone along the winding corridors. Her hand glided along the cold walls and bounced from table to table. She reached Raptor's private wing. The common room was empty. Nobody in the kitchen, though Archi had left his dishes in the sink. She slumped on the wide couch and caught her breath. She had managed to hide the pain in her rib all day but ignoring it hadn't made it any less agonising. With a great effort and an audible exertion she sat up and pulled out her comm.

"YooHoo..." She signalled.

"OyOy! Anybody heard from the old man yet?" Archi responded.

"I've not. I was signalling to see if any of you had?"

"Nothing on my front, Lazza. I know Reese went off to get briefed."

"Where even are you, Arch?"

"I'm playing chess with one of the corporals."

"How bad are you losing?" Lara asked with a cackle. To date, Archi was zero for forty against the squad. After his fortieth defeat, he decided to challenge the random staff within the research bunker. So far he had been beaten by: a lab assistant; Dr. Sintred's grandson; the dinner lady; half the cleaning staff and a low difficulty chess computer the lab boys whipped up to keep Archi distracted.

"Games only just started smart-arse. I've a good feeling about this one though." He responded with absolute sincerity.

"Checkmate." She heard a strangely accented young woman say over Archi's comm.

"Fuck." He sighed, genuinely disappointed. "How? It's been two moves?"

"Fool's mate... You fool."

"Fuck." He repeated.

"Get some lessons, Arch."

Lara almost felt bad for listening in on the game. Almost.

With nothing better to do, Lara flicked on an old film and kicked her feet up. She just about nestled in when: "Kid? You there?" It was Reese.

"Yup. I'm here. Please tell me there's something for me to do."

"Get to Daphi. We're heading out."

"Already?" She protested. She hadn't even began to heal from the last mission.

"High priority. Rest up afterwards."

"Is it at least someplace warm?" She asked, nearly begged.

"Oh, yeah. I hear upstate New York is lovely mid-January."

"Wait... That's deep ministry territory. What are we doing so far west? "

"Briefing at Daphi. Sash is staying behind to figure out Vasily's files."

"Sir!" Lara called out as she arrived at the hangar. She had dressed in full combat gear. A black ammo carry vest over a white compression shirt. A dark grey ballistic mask and goggles with her hair tied back into a ponytail. She wore carbon tipped fingerless gloves and sturdy beige combat boots. Garrison saluted and ushered her aboard. They were moving fast, no time for formality.

"Here." Reese said as he held out a duffle bag. Lara sat across from him, taking the bag and checking through it.

"Take off in three... Two... One." Archi announced. The bag contained a set of pitch black clothes and armour modules that were designed to be attached at desired points on the clothes.

"Stealth gear." Reese pointed out.

"A stealth op so far behind their lines?" Lara asked. What used to be New York was only a few miles north of Hypatia's farming territories. Security would be high and opportunities for dying would be plentiful.

A hologram appeared. An old fort and a new one. "This is Fort Drum." Garrison began. "During the old war, we trained infantry and intelligence here." The hologram updated. What looked to be an active military base was left abandoned and decrepit. Walls crumbled and flags fell low. "The Martians struck here early on forcing us to abandon the base." His voice felt dire. He must have been there when the fort fell. Lara couldn't tell if his experience with the base was fortuitous or an ill omen, instead she elected to take the slight dread she felt creep along her spine as nervousness for such a risky area of operations.

"Sir?" Reese injected after Garrison paused to gather his thoughts. Garrison nodded to him. "The base is abandoned. What reason could we have to infiltrate it?" He asked. The hologram changed again. A labyrinth of tunnels sprawled out from beneath the old fort. One tunnel, wider than the rest, spanned out much further. It went so far as to disappear off the edge of the map.

"The Arbiter received intelligence that deep beneath the fort is an underground research bunker. Our spy within the centre reported that they have successfully developed a prototype power generator. Reports indicate that a single generator could power the entirety of Hypatia for decades. We need that generator." Garrison's briefing was direct. It was clear there was much he couldn't tell them.

"Why do we need a generator? We already have a power surplus at Elysium. We'illa isn't lacking either." Reese asked. He shuffled to hand a sheet to Lara while she changed. Modesty was a difficult trait to keep in the military but that didn't mean it wasn't worth trying at times.

"I understand it is designated for 'project Oblivion'." Garrison informed him.

"The war winner? It's that close to completion?" Reese asked. Within the R&D department at Elysium there were projects marked as 'War winners'. These projects were believed to have the potential to turn the tide of the war. The first project was the creations of SBAs, with enough development time it was believed every soldier in the alliance could be given one. A bulletproof army. That was the scale of so called war winners.

"It is." Garrison confirmed.

Silence had to fall within Daphi. The engine hum lessened and the briefing was cut short. They had reached the mainland. Daphi would escape any sensors or RADAR but a farmhand with keen eyesight could easily get them all killed. Archi flew low, low enough that grass and wheat tickled Daphi's underbelly. If he flew any higher the watchtowers lining the land would spot them. With any luck they might just think Daphi was a shadow dancing in the night.

She touched down lightly. Snow blanketed the trees under which she hid. She'd have been invisible had it not been for the pale red moon creeping its way across the sky. Reese dismounted first, rifle ready. He scanned over the area before whispering "Clear." Garrison was next. Subtlety was not his specialty. He dropped with a thud and the ground snow crunched beneath him. Lara patted Archi on the shoulder. "Good flying, Arch." She whispered. He gave her a thumbs up while checking over his instruments and winding the engines down.

"Recon." Garrison ordered. Reese ran on and Lara followed soon after. The fort was close by, just over the hill. It was bright out, too bright. Even in her new stealth gear she felt exposed and obvious. Recon may have been her specialty but stealth was Reese's. He moved like a shadow. Lara knew how good he was, she had grew up beside him after all, but it always impressed her how such a large man could run so quickly without making a sound. How he could tread through snow and leave barely a footprint. How he dodged every twig and shifted around light sources. At times she could have sworn he wore his own shadow as a cloak while she dragged hers along like a curious pitbull on its leash.

They took shelter inside a crumbling old brick house. They overlooked the entrance to the old fort. There was no sign that anybody had been there in years. Lara took out Hou Yi and adjusted its scope. There were animal tracks, foliage and even a lone wolf but no trace of a scientific research team. She pressed a button on her wrist tablet and her eyes shifted to a synthetic gold. She could see heat signatures and infrared light through her lenses. Lasers tracked the wolf. She followed the invisible laser back to its source. A series of hidden turrets. They were clearly programmed to track targets but not to fire on animals.

"Turrets, still active." She told Reese in a hushed whisper.

"So they really are still in there?" He said to himself.

"What's the plan?" She asked. She could see no way to sneak past the turrets but knew Reese saw these kind of situations differently from her. He lay there beside her on his belly and motioned for her to pass her rifle. She did. "Where are the turrets?" He asked. Lara pointed them all out. There were six in total and all had a open view of the entrance. "This is a trap." He declared in a whisper.

"Obviously." Lara pointed out. "They wouldn't make it easy."

"No, this isn't the main entrance. It's a decoy." He said. "Lets report back." They rose from the building and ran back to Daphi.

"Report." Garrison ordered. He and Archi had been busy covering Daphi in snow and foliage as to hide it come morning. They had done a good job, only the door remained visible.

"No guards, no sentries, no patrols. Six hidden infrared turrets." Reese recounted. "I don't think it is the entrance." He confessed.

"No?" Garrison questioned. "Then where?"

"I couldn't say, sir. Do you remember there being any local bases nearby?" He asked. Garrison brought up the hologram map. They all saw why Reese thought the entrance would be off site. There was a single tunnel stretching far beyond the others. It was marked as collapsed but it was obviously a lie, or at least Lara began to think so. She watched Garrison and Reese's faces closely. They shared a furrowed brow and concentrated scowl. Plans were being silently communicated between the two men while Lara and Archi stood out in the snow, slightly confused.

"Satellite scans." Garrison declared.

"Sir?" Reese questioned. They all knew there were no satellites anymore. There hadn't been any in decades. The barrier made sure of that.

"It is an old base. There will be scans from before the war. Maps and photos. See if you can get any up?" Garrison said. He was hesitant yet hopeful in his plan. Lara used her wrist tablet to pull from the old archives. There were satellite images of the area but the base was unrecognisable. More of a campground and fields than actual concrete fortification. These images were clearly from long before the recontact event. She sent the images to Daphi's hologram projector. They overlaid it onto the new 3D map. It was plain to see. There was a mound above the tunnel and it lead all the way to what looked like a recycling plant on the old map. It must have been a cover back then for some secret operations.

"There. Twelve kilometres west of the main fort. Some kind of waste facility. It leads back to the fort." Lara pointed out. Reese looked at the map and nodded. He agreed. He gave a look to Garrison as if to ask permission to go.

"Check it out, on foot. Report what you see back. Don't engage. Understood?" He ordered.

"Sir." They both agreed.

The route was easy at first. Six or seven kilometres of farmland. Cattle, swine and flocks of sheep slept beneath the stars. It was once they reached a small creek did the issues start. A good sign in Reese's eyes. He always said the more people that were willing to hurt you on your way, the more the end goal must be worth. The first patrol passed them by. Mechs, no issue while they wore their stealth gear. It made them nearly invisible to passive scanners. They would struggle more if active scans took place or if an operator would take control. They ducked in the tree line and picked off three guards from a distance. They wouldn't be missed for at least an hour. They decided to hide the bodies to make the ministry think they were defectors rather than corpses.

They clambered up a cliff side. It wasn't in the original maps, it must have been man made but why would the military have spent the effort to create a sheer cliff behind their secret entrance? The view from atop was perfect. A snipers wet dream. It was still a little over four kilometres away but Hou Yi could fire much further. They lay prone and set up a nest to shield from the wind.

Her scope reached its maximum magnification, she would have to grab the electronic scope before the main assault. She took a handful of snow and placed it beneath her tongue. She steadied her breathing and lowered her hood. She rested her cheek on the butt of her rifle and focused her eyes through her scope. Six guards on the wall closest, south. West had eight. The north was the main entrance and east was the facility. Armed barriers dotted the perimeter and dogs wandered the lot.

"Anti-air emplacements and guard posts." Lara whispered as she scanned over the base. Reese handed her a small sheet of paper and a pencil which she took in her left hand and started drawing a map of what she saw. She kept her cheek to her rifle and her eye to her scope while she drew out the shape of the perimeter walls, the parking area, the turret positions and anything else of note. Reese took the rifle and had a look for himself. He muttered inaudibly to himself as he planned out his assault.

They lay for hours in the snow. Mapping patrol routes, looking for weaknesses and discussing plans of attack. Reese favoured a stealth approach, Lara wanted to hit them from afar. The snow mounded atop of Lara as she lay perfectly still. Dawn breached the horizon and light swarmed across the sky. Long shadows began to shorten and the wilderness seemed to awaken. Birds chirped, bugs cricked and the snow began to thaw. The ice climbing the trees around them began to shimmer and shine as beads of water ran down the trunk.

"What's that?" Lara asked. A glimmer on the horizon had caught her eye, then another, then another. It was too far away for her analogue scope to see but it seemed to be getting closer. They were ships. Four, maybe five of them. Most were transports, elite and armoured. There was one other. A luxury craft. A symbol marked it but she couldn't make out what it was.

"What?" Reese asked. She handed him the rifle and he tried to focus in on them. "I can't track them, they are moving too fast." He said.

"Four armoured transports, one luxury shuttle. Looks like a VIP convoy." She told him. "There's a symbol on the luxury craft." She explained. Before even describing it she saw Reese's face drain of colour. "It's a diamond." She began. "Green field behind it."

"Steel bars around it?" He interrupted. She nodded. She couldn't tell what was going through his mind. It was a rare day that she couldn't read him. A mix of fear and fury. He looked nearly confused but also completely sure of his purpose. She hesitated to speak. She hoped he would explain what was going on but a few minutes of silence passed and not a word came.

"You know who it is?" She asked. His eyes darted to her. He was so consumed in thought that he seemed to forget that she was even there for a moment. His eyes returned through the scope. He took a deep breath, handed her back the rifle and told her in a tone most dire: "Sect Head Lazlow."

She feared. She knew what this meant. If he was here this mission that was already near suicide had just gotten so much worse. Lazlow was a member of the Sect council, the leading body of the ministry. There were eight in total. The eight most powerful, and protected, men and women in history. More than that, Lazlow was one of 'the big three'. His guards would be elite and plentiful. "Well... Shit" Lara muttered. It was all she could think to say. "W-what's he the councillor of?" She asked.

"Crime and punishment." He told her. "We've had run-ins before." He took a breath and steadied himself. "Are they landing?" He asked.

"Yeah. His security team is doing a sweep." She said. Lazlow was hovering a few meters above the ground waiting for the all clear. "I could take a shot when he gets out? Main rounds will get through any defence he has." She suggested.

"No. The generator comes first. We take him out and the M.O.Gs will be here in seconds." He ordered. "Lets head back. Get our orders." He said.

The run back was silent. Lara realised half way through that she had forgotten to put her hood back up. Normally Reese would have pulled it over her eyes and threw a snowball at her for being so careless but he didn't notice either. He was clearly deep in thought.

They made it back easily enough. A few patrols passed them by and a farmhand stopped to chat with them, clueless of the heavy armaments and high explosives they were adorned in.

"Sir, lots to report." Reese said through panted breaths. Lara left the report to Reese and instead ran straight into Daphi to warm up. It wasn't as cold as Russia but far from the beach day she had hoped for. As she climbed in, Archi handed her a ration pack and only then did she realise how ravenously hungry she had grown. She devoured the pack in seconds, nearly choking on the tough slab of salted beef within. Once she was done, she put her mask back on and told Archi he could come back into the cabin. He laughed at her for finishing so quickly and laughed harder as she started to hiccup.

"Form up." Garrison ordered. She and Archi quickly filed out of Daphi and stood rigid beside Reese. "The mission remains the same." He told them. "Lazlow is a low priority target. Understood, Reese?" He said, looking specifically at the Lieutenant. He didn't respond. He knew an order was absolute but he clearly wanted a shot at Lazlow. "Understood?" Garrison coldly repeated.

"Yes, sir." Reese answered.

"Good." He continued. "The last thing we need is to draw Malthines' attention before we can get our hands on that generator." He began to pace back and forth, clearly deep in thought. "Lieutenant... I will defer to your expertise. Do you believe stealth infiltration is possible?" He finally asked. Reese didn't answer for a moment. He took the map Lara drew and considered.

"Complete stealth? No." He admitted. "But, if you were to create a distraction... I could - maybe - sneak past the outer defences. Inside is another story. I have no idea what to expect, I could be killed right off the bat." He explained.

"We won't win a frontal assault." Garrison declared. "A small chance of sneaking in is better than no chance of shooting in." He sighed, he knew he was about to order Reese to risk effective suicide and took the responsibility seriously. He steeled himself, placed a hand on Reese's shoulder and asked: "What do you need?"