Ethan and Lyra slipped past the outermost patrols surroundihar's pound, the dim light and rough terrain cealing their movements. Iris had temporarily disabled the security systems, ahan's helmet dispyed a clear yout of the base, mapping their path to minimize dete. They had limited time before the systems reactivated, so every sed ted.

  Ethan g Lyra. "Stick to the pn, quiet and effit. We thin the guards and weaken defehen we move in."

  Lyra nodded, her grip steady on her rifle. "Let's make it quick."

  The two moved through the shadows, their footsteps silent on the hard-packed ground. They entered the first of Xelthar's guards at a side entrahan activated his psma dagger, dispatg the guard with a swift, quiet strike. Lyra took out a sed guard with her silenced pistol, and they advanced into the heart of the base.

  Ihe pound was a maze of metal corridors and reinforced doors. The air was thick, smelling faintly of chemicals and maery. As they made their way deeper, Iris's voice broke the silen Ethan's ear. "Security backup systems will reactivate in ten minutes. Additional surveilnce is likely."

  "Got it," Ethan replied. He gestured for Lyra to take point, keeping an eye on his helmet's HUD as it mapped their route.

  They moved quickly, eliminating guards with seamless efficy, their plementary skills making the infiltration nearly effortless. Lyra used her rifle and silenced shots to cover Ethan as he dispatched enemies up close, eaent smooth and instinctive. His heightened reflexes allowed him to anticipate threats, adjusting to the rhythm of bat as they went.

  After several turns, they arrived at a series of doors marked with the Bck Sun Syndicate's crest. Lyra set up a hag devi the panel. With Iris's assistance, she quickly overrode the lock, and the door slid open, revealing a dark room filled with steel tables, crates, and several tainers marked with the syndicate's symbol.

  Ethan sed the room, his helmet deteg faint traces of alloy-based pounds ihe tainers. He picked up a small ister beled with a coded tag and exami, seeing the subtle gleam of liquid metal within. "Mind-trol alloy," he muttered. "But not much. It looks like they're still iing."

  As they moved further into the room, their attention shifted to the tables he back. Several bodies y sprawled across them, their faces frozen in pain and horror. They wed clothes, likely civilians from nearby outposts who'd been brought here for experimentation.

  Lyra's jaw tightened as she looked over the bodies. "Failed experiments. They tried the alloy on them, and when it didn't work…"

  Ethan's fists ched. These people had been taken, experimented on, and then discarded when the alloy didn't work. This wasn't just a bandit stronghold; it was a testing ground for the syndicate's inhumane experiments. He forced himself to look away. "We o fihar and stop this."

  They left the room and tinued moving, pnting small charges along power reys and unication hubs as they went. These charges would detonate in a timed sequence, creating distras and cutting off unication lines within the base. As they reached another corridor, Iris's voice returned with a.

  "Auxiliary security systems reactivating. Hostile preseing, expect heightened patrol activity."

  No sooner had she spoken than the arms bred, eg through the base. Reinforced doors slid shut behind them, and heavy footsteps echoed down the hall. A squad of elite guards, Xelthar's best, rouhe er, eae high-grade syndicate armor and carrying advanced rifles.

  Ethan signaled for Lyra to take cover. He tossed an EMP greo the squad's path, disabling their ons, and then charged forward, psma dagger drawn.

  His enhanced reflexes took over as he closed in on the first guard, sidestepping their sluggish swings. His dagger sliced through the armor's oints with precision, eaent calcuted and trolled. The guards, though heavily armored, were unprepared for the speed and efficy of Ethan's attacks.

  Lyra covered him from behind, her shots hitting strategic points to slow the guards and prevent them from advang. A guard lu her, but Ethan intercepted, twisting his dagger into the guard's shoulder joint before delivering a quick strike to his chest.

  One of the elite guards, wielding a reinforced baton, swung at Ethan with deadly force. He dodged, his helmet HUD mapping the on's trajectory and calg his ter. He ducked under a sed swing, then pivoted, striking at the guard's knee joint t him down before delivering a final blow.

  Whe guard fell, Ethan and Lyra took a quient to catch their breath, sing the area for any signs of movement.

  "They're reinf fast," Lyra noted, reloading her rifle. "Xelthar has to know we're here."

  "The's keep moving," Ethan replied, adrenaline pulsing through him. "The more we disrupt now, the easier it'll be to get to him."

  They made their way through another series of corridors, each fight testihan's improved reflexes aened processing speed. Every step felt natural, his training paying off in fluid movements and precise strikes. With each frontation, he could feel his skills sharpening, each motion instinctive yet perfectly trolled.

  Eventually, they reached a secured room beled "aer." Lyra set up another ha the door, and they slipped ihe room was cluttered with terminals, monitors, and stacks of hastily assembled dots. Iris began sing the files while Lyra searched through the data terminals.

  "Not much here," she muttered, scrolling through a list of encrypted files. "Just territory pns, supply routes, pnned raids, local syndicate tacts. Nothing major."

  Ethan frowhe intel would be useful for disruptihar's immediate operations, but it wasn't the critical breakthrough they had hoped for. "It's not useless, but it's no smoking guher. Let's grab it and move on."

  Iris initiated a secure transfer, uploading the data to the guild's work. "Data upload plete. Additional reinforts are verging on your location."

  Ethaured to Lyra, and they moved bato the corridor, following a side route. But as they turhe er, another squad of elite guards blocked their path. This time, the guards were better prepared, outfitted with heavier armor and advanced onry.

  The ensuing battle was intehan's mind raced as he calcuted each move, his heightened reflexes allowing him to dodge and ter with precision. The guards attacked in disciplined formation, their coordination a challenge even for him. But he adjusted his approach, using his psma dagger and agility to outmaheir defenses.

  Lyra covered him from a distance, her shots taking out guards as they advanced. Ethan's movements were quid sharp, each strike methodical as he took down one guard after another. His ret training had honed his body's reflexes to a razor's edge, allowing him to predid ter their moves almost instinctively.

  One guard lunged, swinging a reinforced staff at him. Ethan dodged, sidestepping the blow and delivering a swift strike to the guard's exposed side. He followed with a well-pced kick, knog the guard back, then closed in for a final blow. As the st guard fell, they resumed their route, moving closer to Xelthar's inner quarters.

  After ralizing a few more patrols, they reached a door marked "trol Room." Ihe ss dispyed a live feed of Xelthar's territory, with maps detailing outposts, supply lines, and raid targets. Lyra quickly accessed the data, while Iris sed the files for any relevant intel.

  "It's mostly just local pns," Lyra reported. "Supply routes, targets, and syndicate tacts for this area. Nothing linking him to the rger syndicate pns."

  Ethan nodded, uanding. It was useful but only relevant to Xelthar's operations within this territory. Still, it was enough to disrupt the syndicate's influence here and make things harder for them to trol this region.

  They initiated a download, sending the data to the guild's secure server. Just as they pleted the trahe arm bred louder, and heavy footsteps sounded in the nearby corridors.

  "We're out of time," Lyra said, her toehe main security forces are verging on us."

  Ethan took a quick look at the map on his HUD. "We're close to Xelthar's quarters. If we push through, we end this."

  With their ons ready aermination steeling their resolve, Ethan and Lyra pressed onward, heading toward the heart of the base. They had gathered enough io hihe syndicate's trol here, but now it was time to finish what they had started and eliminate Xelthar ond for all.