[WARNING -- EXPLICIT VIOLENCE]
[WARNING -- EXPLICIT VIOLENCE]
At 18:00, day 213, Alfred reached the coordinates Egon had given him. He informed Egon of his arrival and hid in a small house for twenty minutes to arm eight drones and connect them to his suit's operating system. Two for surveillance. Six for combat. Of them, were two missile carriers with four mini-nukes each and three shooters with 100 rounds each, 50 per canon. The last shooter, a newer model, carried 75 rounds for one gun. This model was extremely agile, designed for maneuvering and speed over firepower.
Alfred marked his and Egon's signals as friendly and set the drones' their initial direction. He gave basic orders to the AI system to coordinate their actions. This AI, developed by the Germanic Empire's scientific department of the military, was trained to operate the drones with the efficiency and expertise of a master drown operator.
Egon joined Alfred soon after. They checked weapons, grenades, magazines. Alfred set the drones on standby, ready to be deployed at his command.
Then alfred handed egon his rifle: the siege piercer. He felt the weight of his old rifle. He whispered, "I missed you."
The rifle connected to his suit as he loaded the magazines. Explosive rounds and regular, 20 each.
It was a weapon made to kill armor: the siege piercer. The successor to tank-busters of the past. Large yet lighter and more compact than its predecessors. One man can wield it like an extension of his body.
They moved to the Overwatch Point Egon had prepared, on the rooftop of a tall building. Egon steadied his rifle to observe the enemy's location while Alfred used binoculars.
***
The sun began its descent, casting a warm glow across the landscape. At 19:00, they had 10 minutes, maybe less, before darkness was all. The target house stood in the distance, surrounded by sleek gray sand with occasional black rocks and a few dead, spiky trees.
Through heat vision, alfred counted movement. Forty, maybe forty-five.
"The last of them." Egon said.
"Are you sure?"
"No. Not really. If any survive, we'll handle them, later."
"Fine," Alfred said, then turned to Egon. "Take the first move."
Egon took a deep breath and adjusted his position. He aligned the scope and lined up his shot, tracking the movement of figures inside a window of the distant target.
Just before he squeezed the trigger, he glanced at Alfred. "To answer your question, No, I haven't gone weak. But I've changed."
"How bad is it?"
Egon hesitated, then responded, "A bullet found me yesterday, and today my knife missed. My precision's off."
"Maybe it's just age." Alfred said. "You're not as young as you used to be, you know."
"No, it's more than that. When Charlotte died—she's dead, by the way—I felt sad. It wasn't much. But it was enough."
Alfred lowered his binoculars. "Do you remember our motto?"
"I do."
Alfred began reciting their motto. "In the face of adversity, I stand with unyielding strength. I am self-sufficient and unbreakable."
Egon joined in. "I have no feelings. My mission shall not be hindered."
Alfred paused. Egon continued. "Through skill, I conquer every challenge. I am a relentless force, I leave no task incomplete."
They finished together. "Bound by unbreakable brotherhood, we march as one."
Egon leaned back into the scope. "I strike with precision."
The bullet traversed 200 meters in an instant, piercing through glass, and landing in the skull.
"That's one," Egon said flatly.