Cyberpunk: Spartan Walker

He nodded and walked out first, staying away from the overhead lights and walking along the shadows of the warehouse.

Tommy and the rest of the team followed, stopping where the shadows were darkest. Winnie held up five fingers and Naomi handed her the jug of acidic liquid. Winnie pointed to her watch and shook her five fingers.

They nodded.

Then Winnie pointed at Naomi, then pointed two fingers around the camp, and then cut on the other hand like a guillotine. Naomi nodded and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Winnie and Fjeld also left, heading towards the barracks they had scouted earlier. There is a crawl space under each barracks. Tommy ran to the farthest barracks and ducked into the gap under the barracks. He paused for a moment, listening for any noises, footsteps, sirens—all still quiet. They were not discovered, but they were given only five minutes to complete their mission.

Tommy took three pieces of gum out of his pocket, threw them into his mouth and chewed them. He crawled to the center of the barracks, carefully took out a rag from his coat pocket, poured the acidic liquid on it, and gently wiped the bottom of the wooden floor with it.

God, this stuff smells so sour it's going to make my teeth sore.

He wrinkled his nose sadly, and his eyes were so smoked that he could barely open them. He was extremely cautious in his movements in order not to soak the rag with acid or get the acid on himself. When the rag hit the plywood, the board began to smoke and burn.

He soaked a one-square-meter floor with acidic liquid and looked at his watch. It only took 30 seconds. It was now 04:55. Just enough time. He set the three stun grenades to be timed to detonate in five minutes, and then used chewed gum to fix the stun grenades next to the acid-corroded part of the floor.

Under normal circumstances, stun grenades cannot penetrate one centimeter thick plywood. However, once the acid eats away at the loose fibers, three stun grenades are more than enough to blow that square floor into millions of pieces - let them shoot straight in T Company's sleeping quarters. It won't be fatal, but it will definitely make the place a mess.

Tommy climbed out and sneaked back into the warehouse to join the rest of Team Silver. He looked at his watch: 04:58.

Winnie pointed at Naomi, then at herself, and then made a curling movement in the corner of the warehouse. He pointed at Fjed and motioned for them to go to the opposite corner, and he immediately went to the opposite corner.

Winnie and Tommy crouched on the ground, waiting for the moment of action. They had an unobstructed view of the center of the camp, the athletic areas, the drill field, and the flagpole in the center.

A corporal and two guards came out on time. They unfurled the green-striped flag, and the corporal fastened one corner of the flag to a lanyard hanging from the flagpole.

Tommy glanced at the distant forest. All the trees outside the protective net of Company T's barracks had been cut down. He knew the forest was more than a hundred meters away—nearly two hundred meters away. Such a long range cannot guarantee that Grace and Anton will hit any target.

He drew his dart pistol and turned on the safety.

At 05:00, the stun grenade exploded, and a blinding light burst out from below the barracks. The sound of splintering boards and the screams of the men and women of T Company suddenly filled the air.

The corporal who was fixing the flag quickly let go and turned around to look around. The searchlights on the surrounding guardrails all lit up, shining on the barracks inside.

In the chaos, no one noticed that one of the guards near the flagpole dropped his rifle with a whimper, clutched his neck and fell face down on the gravel.

Seeing that the situation was not good, his companion was so frightened that he knelt down.

Tommy opened fire and rushed to the center of the camp with the wind at his feet. His first shot missed, and the kneeling guard whipped around to face him. Naomi and Winnie then shot him in the back.

Tommy aimed at the corporal, who was scrambling to get his gun out of its holster. Tommy fired two Knack darts, hitting him in the chest. He fell to the ground.

Two more guards came around the corner of the warehouse, shouting and aiming their guns at Tommy.

He stood in the open, so far apart that the dart pistols could not knock down the guards.

A guard opened fire. The bullet grazed the flagpole and came within five centimeters of Tommy's head.

The guard suddenly stiffened, dropped his rifle and grabbed the back of his head frantically. A dart shot into his skull. He screamed and fell to the ground rolling around.

Another guard twitched, and just as he pulled out a dart from his thigh, another dart hit him in the chest, and he immediately fell straight to the ground.

Tommy made a gesture to thank Grace and Anton. Then he took off the flag from the lanyard and tucked it into his shirt.

Winnie motioned for the silver team to move forward, and Naomi led them to the net.

Naomi didn't slow down her sprinting pace as she neared the wire fence. She ducked and rushed toward the metal mesh. Just as she was about to touch the guardrail, Tommy noticed the outline of the acidic liquid etching it.

A jagged gap was opened in the protective net. Naomi rolled to the outside, got up and ran away. Tommy waved for everyone to get through. When he finally emerged, he cast a quick glance behind him.

The military camp was in chaos. Searchlights were everywhere looking for targets, and there were screams in the barracks. A tank rumbled into action and crunched into the center of the base.

They ran all the way, and the intermittent sound of machine gun fire came from behind - at this time, they just ran into the safety of the forest.

Winnie panted and laughed softly: Well done everyone. I think those guys used real guns this time.

Naomi held up the casing of a 7.62mm bullet. Yes, that's right.

Go ahead, Winnie said. Let's not stay here. They're pissed off now.

Team Silver moved silently through the forest. They walked specifically in the shade of the trees, and when they saw the Pelican troop carrier searching for them overhead, they hid under the logs.

At 05:45, they reached the clearing designated as the retreat landing zone. According to the plan, they met with Sergeant Major Mendez at 07:00. Of course, the Sergeant Major had rarely let them get away so easily - so John arranged for the Silver Team to come to this place as well. But they had to stay hidden.

Anton and Grace would stay somewhere in the treetops to cover Team Silver until they were sure there was no danger. The silver team squatted in the bushes and waited quietly. Soon, the blue team led by John and the green team led by Kurt-051 also arrived one after another. Their hiding spot was located in the bushes farther away.

Tommy knew they were not safe yet, that Company T might be searching for them, and that they might be restless during this time. They were eager to show off how successfully they had completed their mission, or eager to see the captured flag. To their credit, Silver Team just stayed there, neither moving nor speaking. The golden team was nowhere to be seen.