Lexicon: II

Mountain Madness

Location: Lao-Vietnamese Border – Mountain Range

The mountains rose before them like jagged teeth, their peaks hidden in thick mist. The air was thin, the chill biting, and the silence more unsettling than any jungle they'd trekked through. The path was treacherous, winding, and shadowed, like a grim prelude to the nightmare that awaited them.

The team moved in single file, weapons drawn, each of them carrying the weight of the betrayal from HQ like a loaded gun ready to fire. Hoshino scowled as she trudged through the narrow pass, her shotgun gleaming with fresh scratches from their last encounter.

"Whoever's leaking intel on us is a dead man walking," she muttered, her voice laced with venom. "Soon as I get my hands on him, I'm putting him down."

Snake, trailing behind her, smirked, his voice dry. "Might need to fight for that privilege. I've got a few rounds with his name on them."

Price, walking ahead, clenched his fists. "Focus. We don't know who's watching, and we sure as hell don't know who's coming. Keep it tight, and stay ready."

The team advanced up the narrow mountain trail, moving with grim determination. Tanggapan's rumored base—the last and supposedly most heavily fortified—was just ahead, hidden somewhere within the twisted depths of these mountains.

---

They crested a ridge, and Kinan held up a fist, signaling them to stop. Below, a narrow valley stretched out, dotted with ancient, crumbling ruins and surrounded by dense brush. Guarding the path were soldiers—Tanggapan's mercenaries—fully geared and waiting like hounds at the gates of hell.

Price studied them through his scope, his expression hardening. "They're not taking any chances. Heavy artillery, perimeter defenses, and look—more of those fucking monsters in cages."

The team's eyes followed his line of sight. Just beyond the guards were iron cages, each one housing grotesque mutations—humans twisted into unspeakable shapes, their flesh torn, jaws twisted, eyes filled with a dull but palpable rage.

Haya's hand tightened around the hilt of her katana, her voice cold. "They're using them as living weapons. When this fight breaks out, those things will be on us as much as the mercs."

Kinan smirked, his voice filled with a grim satisfaction. "Then let's give them something to regret."

They split into two teams, each one creeping closer along the ridge until they were positioned directly above the guards. Hoshino led the assault, hurling a grenade down into the middle of the group, her eyes flashing with dark glee as it detonated, scattering bodies in a spray of blood and shrapnel.

The mercenaries barely had time to react before the team opened fire, bullets raining down on them from the high ground. Snake moved with deadly precision, his rifle cutting through the guards, each shot finding its mark. Haya leapt from the ridge, her katana slicing through a guard's neck as she landed, blood spraying across her armor.

"Come on, you bastards!" Hoshino shouted, firing her shotgun into the nearest cage. The lock shattered, and the door swung open, releasing the mutated creature inside. It roared, its eyes fixated on the guards, its rage a mindless fury that couldn't be controlled.

The creature lunged at the nearest mercenary, its jaws tearing into his shoulder, flesh ripping and blood splattering across the ground as the man's screams echoed through the valley. More cages were opened in the chaos, the monsters turning on their captors, tearing through flesh and bone with unrestrained savagery.

"Let them take each other out," Price commanded, his voice steady amid the carnage. "We clear the rest."

The team advanced, picking off any mercenaries who managed to survive the massacre. Blood stained the ground, bodies littering the valley floor, a testament to the unfiltered brutality of the fight.