The Heart Darkens

Wet Work

The ebony-black scout helicopter flew at a low altitude at sunset. Inside, stationed the lone but well-prepared TECH Agent, Matthew Cade. Taking another pill from the vial he was given and setting it away, Matthew was just about to drop off right at the perimeter of the city "Khost" to find this informant, potentially in the midst of an armed detail. Matthew wasn't expecting the best of the best to be there but he did expect both hostile and civilian forces to be in the city. He would have to enter relatively under the radar to insure no casualties. He wasn't about that. It was just between him and Pestilence.

The helicopter slowed down as it flew closer to the ground. Matthew sat up out of his seat, just as he reviewed the map of Khost and put it away in one of his pouches. He grabbed onto the door of the helicopter and slid it open with a grunt. He was hit by the wind striking his face and his brown hair ruffling over because of it. It took him a moment to prepare, before Matthew leapt out with all the confidence in the world, falling about 10 feet before going into a roll on the Afghan planes, catching himself before rolling too far. As soon as he did so, the helicopter spun around and flew back the other way, quickly deploying the lone soldier outside of the city to keep a low profile, as if Matthew had never even arrived. Matthew quickly drew his pistol and aimed it around to secure the area, before looking towards the helicopter as it flew away.

With deployment out of the way, Matthew just had the concern of trying to get to the city, which was not too far. He recognized the road next to the field leading to Khost. He walked up to the edge of it and noticed the tire tracks on the sand, heading South using his keen eye to look at the grains in the ground. Knowing which direction to go, Matthew holstered his pistol and jogged back into the fields South. 

It wasn't long before he could see smoke rising from the sky ahead of him, so he slowed and leaned forward to inch his way into view of the city. He crouched down as he approached a muddy cliff, which he could easily and accidently slip down if he wasn't careful. For the moment, he wouldn't do so, as he would take the time to scout the city from his position. Khost was not a big city. The commercial buildings lined a large main road. There was the university, and a number of living quarters. However, one half to a third of the city was ruined, on fire and charred from the ground. Khost was a site for a large firefight, in which the US lost against the Tailiban's superior manpower. They now held the city, and Matthew could even see a duo of soldiers patrolling the salt marsh ahead of him. Matthew would look around for places of interest, where he thought the informant would be. Matthew took a look back at the university, and pulled out a small pair of binoculars to look at the roof. A group of Taliban guards were on top and had already secured the perimeter. Down below, he would see more Taliban armed with AK's, but also a uniquely black humvee parked under a building's cover, hiding just barely. The university was definitely a good start to the TECH Agent's investigation.

With a plan in mind, Matthew slid down the muddy slide into the salt marsh's water. The duo of guards were ahead, and they didn't seem to see or hear or even know Matthew was there yet. Matthew made use of the environment by pulling out a thin elastic wire and submerging himself completely into the waist-deep water, holding his breath as he advanced towards the duo. He moved slowly, to not make much ripples in the water as he saw a pair of legs in the water ahead of him. He slowly moved around them as they walked forwards in the water, allowing Matthew to get behind the man. After checking on the other pair of legs, Matthew quickly rose out of the water and violently wrapped the wire around the Tailban's neck and pulled him down into the water, making a sudden splash but ensuring Matthew could quickly choke the guard with limited complications. The splash attracted the attention of the other guard, who moved forward while calling the drowned guard's name. He aimed his AK into the water, and slowly moved forward. He stopped when he felt the corpse of his other beneath his feet, soft and lifeless. By the time he realized what happened, he felt a sharp pain in his heel. Matthew stabbed the other guard with his combat knife in the leg and used it to pull forward to get the guard off his feet and into the water. Once he crashed, dropping his gun, Matthew would stab the guard in the eye as he screamed under the water, unable to be heard by anyone as he very quickly passed out from his injury, presumably to bleed out unconscious. To just be sure, Matthew stabbed the guard in the neck and quickly pulled his knife out, before rising from the water with only his head out. Blood rose from the bottom of the water, as Matthew quickly picked up the AK-47 by the sling and put it around himself, resting it on his hip as he quickly checked the chamber by pulling back the bolt handle and checking the bullet inside.