The hum of the rented hover truck filled the air as Ethan guided it over Kynara's uerrain. The vehicle, while reliable, was a stant remihat his own ship still sat in need of costly repairs. The twin suns hung low in the sky, painting the rugged pins in hues e and red. Ethan's thoughts were focused, his ret D-Rank promotion putting him on missions of far greater plexity and dahis one was no exception.

  The Syndicate had been fortifying their supply routes, likely due to mounting pressure to secure resources critical to their operatiohan's task was to intercept one such route and disrupt the transport of valuable materials. The mission was straightforward on the holo-s, but the reality rarely matched the simplicity of a briefing.

  As the hover truck reached the outskirts of the target area, Ethan brought it to a halt behind a cluster of jagged boulders. Stepping out, he activated his tactical suit's reaissance mode. His helmet sed the terrain ahead, highlighting Syndicate patrols, automated turrets, and a voy of three hover trucks approag a checkpoiled within a narrow yon.

  The route was well-guarded. Automated turrets perched on the yon walls swiveled in calcuted arcs, while drones buzzed overhead, sing the area for threats. Syndicate guards patrolled the ground in tight patterns, their ons at the ready.

  Ethan crouched low, activating his cloaking module. The device hummed faintly as it bent light around him, rendering him nearly invisible. He moved with calcuted precision, using the terrain to stay out of sight.

  As he he voy, Ethan observed the guards closely. Their movements, while disciplined, had predictable patterns. Two guards passed near his hiding spot, speaking in hushed tones.

  "…got orders to keep this shipment secure," one said. "Heard it's carrying something big."

  "Yeah, but we're the ouck babysitting it," the other muttered.

  Ethan waited until they moved on before slipping toward the first hover truck. The vehicle's rear partment was sealed with a biometric lock, but Ethan's AI-assisted hag tool made short work of it. The lock clicked open, and the door slid silently aside, revealing crates stacked ly inside.

  Sing the crates, Ethaified rare minerals, circuitry pos, and several sealed isters. One of the isters bore a distinctive insignia: a jagged sun surrounded by sharp rays, the mark of the Bck Sun Syndicate.

  Carefully opening ohan found a viscous, shimmering substance. His ser firmed it reaterial for the mind-trol alloy he'd entered before. Without hesitatioed a small explosive charge ihe crate, setting it to detoer he left the area.

  Ethaed the process with the sed and third trucks, sabotaging the cargo and disabling one vehicle's power sourtirely. But as he worked, a nagging unease crept over him. The Syndicate's defenses were formidable, yet there was no sign of reinforts. It felt too quiet, as if they were waiting for something.

  That suspi proved correct when his helmet's proximity alert fred. Vehicles approached rapidly from the west, kig up a cloud of dust as they he checkpoint. Syndicate reinforts spilled out, their ons raised as the guards at the checkpoint scrambled to respond.

  Ethan ducked behind a supply crate, his mind rag. He activated his cloaking module and repositioo a better vantage point.

  "Check the voy!" barked a anding voice. "Make sure everything's intact!"

  A guard ied the hover trucks, immediately notig the sabotage. "The cargo's been tampered with!" he shouted, raising his on.

  Ethan knew he couldn't stay hidden for long. Drawing his psma dagger, he moved swiftly, taking out the closest guard with a silent strike. Before the others could react, he switched to his ser pistol, firing precise shots that dropped two more enemies.

  The Syndicate forces retaliated with a volley of energy bolts, lighting up the yon in fshes of red and blue. Ethan darted between cover, his enhanced reflexes allowing him to stay ahead of their fire. His stant training aying off, every movement was deliberate, every shot calcuted.

  When a guard lobbed a greoward him, Ethan used his overheating cloaking module to vanish from sight, reappearing behind the attacker. He dispatched him with a swift, brutal strike before engaging anroup with his pistol.

  One soldier charged at him with a heavy melee ohan sidestepped the swing, driving his psma dagger into a oint iacker's armor. The soldier fell with a grunt, leavihan to face the remaining reinforts.

  Despite being outnumbered, Ethan maintained trol of the battlefield. He used the terrain to his advantage, sg the yon walls to take out the automated turrets before they could loto him. By the time the skirmish ehe ground was littered with defeated Syndicate soldiers.

  With the area secure, Ethan moved to a small a set up he checkpoint. Inside, he found a terminal loaded with unication logs and shipment mas. He ordered his AI to download the data onto his encrypted drive, sing it briefly as it transferred.

  The logs detailed the importance of the supply route and hi hidden facilities where the alloy was being refined. Ory caught his attention: a vague refereo mounting pressure from a higher authority. The details were scarce, but it was clear the Syndicate was w uight deadliheir desperation driving them to secure resources at all costs.

  "Who's pulling your strings?" Ethan muttered, his curiosity piqued.

  His helmet's proximity alert fred again. He'd spent too long at the checkpoint, and more Syndicate forces were en route. Setting the final charges, Ethan slipped away, leaving the yon just as a series of explosions tore through the voy and supply depot.

  Hours ter, Ethan stood in the guild's briefing room, reting the mission to Kael and the Branch Master. He handed over the intel he'd gathered, detailing the supply route's fortifications and the Syndicate's increased activity.

  "You hahis well," the Branch Master said, nodding in approval. "Disrupting this route will set them back signifitly. But their desperation suggests they're ramping up efforts elsewhere. We'll analyze this intel and pn accly."

  Kael added, "The fact that they're proteg shipments with this level of security shows how important these resources are to their operations. Stay sharp, Walker. D-Rank missions are only going to get tougher."

  Ethan nodded, his resolve firm. The mission had tested him, but it had also reinforced his determination to dismahe Syndicate piece by piece.

  As he left the briefing room, the weight of the day settled over him. The Syndicate ting, evolving and so would he. This was only the beginning of a much rger flict, ahan knew he had to be ready for whatever came .

  The fight was far from over.