Lexicon: II

Trough The Shadows

Location: Lao Jungle – En Route to Tanggapan Corp's Second Lab

The jungle closed in around them as they moved, the trees towering like silent witnesses to their mission. The humidity was suffocating, each breath thick with the scents of wet earth, decay, and an undertone of something sickly sweet. Their boots squelched in the mud, each step heavy, as if the jungle itself was trying to hold them back.

Kinan led the way, his eyes scanning the dense foliage, every sense alert. Behind him, the team followed in a tight line, each one focused, silent. They had been walking for hours, and the strain was beginning to show in the tightness of their jaws, the sweat beading on their faces.

Price broke the silence, his voice a low murmur. "HQ confirmed the location is just a few klicks north. Small facility, but reports indicate heavy resistance. This one's not a simple in-and-out."

Haya's face was unreadable, her hand resting on the hilt of her katana as she moved. "We'll do what we have to. We've come this far. Let's make sure it counts."

Snake, scanning the surroundings with a practiced eye, nodded. "They'll have defenses, traps. Expect resistance from the moment we set foot on their ground."

The gravity of their mission was like a weight on each of them, but it was a weight they carried willingly. They were a living barrier between the world and Tanggapan's virus, and there was no room for hesitation.

---

They approached a narrow valley, the ground sloping downward into a gully filled with dense undergrowth. It was the most direct path, but also the most dangerous. Kinan halted, raising a fist to signal the team to stop.

"Stay alert," he whispered, his eyes scanning the shadows that stretched across the jungle floor. "This place has ambush written all over it."

They moved slowly, weapons at the ready, their eyes sharp as they stepped through the thick foliage. The silence was thick, oppressive, the jungle holding its breath.

Suddenly, the stillness shattered. A series of clicks and whirs echoed through the underbrush, and within seconds, gunfire erupted from the trees, bullets tearing through the leaves, cutting through the air like deadly whispers. Mercenaries hidden in camouflaged bunkers opened fire, their faces obscured, their positions nearly impossible to spot.

"Take cover!" Price shouted, diving behind a fallen tree trunk as bullets slammed into the ground around him.

The team scattered, each of them finding whatever cover they could as the ambush unfolded. Hoshino crouched behind a large rock, her shotgun loaded, her gaze fixed on the shadows where the shots were coming from.

"We need to draw them out," Kinan growled, firing into the trees, his bullets cutting through the foliage.

Snake spotted movement to his left—a mercenary trying to flank them. Without hesitation, he fired, the shot hitting the man in the chest and sending him crashing to the ground. "Watch the sides! They're coming in from all angles!"

Haya moved swiftly, darting between trees, her katana in hand. She slipped through the shadows like a ghost, approaching the nearest bunker undetected. With a swift, precise strike, she took down the guard, her blade slicing cleanly through his throat, his blood pooling into the earth.

One by one, they fought their way through the ambush, each shot, each swing of the blade a desperate push for survival. The jungle became a battlefield, the ground littered with bodies, the air filled with the scent of blood and gunpowder.

Finally, as the last mercenary fell, the jungle fell silent once more, the ambush defeated. The team regrouped, their faces smeared with dirt and blood, their breaths heavy.