JS096, using night-vision goggles to guide him through the drenched woodland, found himself standing by a fallen tree, lying to one side of a clearing in the forest that was overshadowed by the densely packed branches of trees above. He was about to proceed when something grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him over, falling on his face. Stunned, he didn’t resist as he was dragged behind the dead tree next to him. “What do you think you’re doing here!” Snapped someone, in a tone of voice like a hybrid mix of whispering and exasperation. “Looking for Corbec.” JS slurred, still slightly dazed. “If you direct me to him, it would be much appreciated.” JS was slapped, somewhat jogging him out of his confused state “I am Corbec, fool!” Corbec hissed. “Do you know you were nearly shot?” “Shot?” JS said, regaining his lucidity. “No, why?” “I’ve been trailing that sniper for ages now.” Corbec said, wiping rainwater from his face. “Problem is, he’s got a friend. They outnumbered me so I could never get them both dealt with before the other came to the rescue.” Corbec said, taking a quick peek over the top of the log. The sniper’s rifle cracked again, forcing Corbec back down amidst a brief shower of woodchips. “However, now the odds are even.” Corbec said, smiling. “What’s going on again?” JS asked, still rather out of sync with affairs. “I need you to handle the sniper while I toast the other guy, alright? Now, he’s on the second branch up on that big tree directly ahead of us. It’s a little bit further back from the first lot of trees, but you could still spot him, I’m sure.” “When do we start?” “As soon as I feel like it.” Corbec said in a very unruffled way, as if being shot at was normal for him. Slowly, it dawned on JS that this was likely to be the best time he’d get to kill Corbec. He didn’t even have to look at his PDA to know that the tree canopy obscured all view of the ground, his own helmet-mounted camera had yet to be replaced. There was a vague possibility for the remote cameras scattered over the island, but he doubted one was sitting in this remote spot of the island. The only camera he knew for certain was present was Corbec’s, still attached to the side of his AK47. To him, time seemed to crawl to a snail‘s pace. The pounding of his heart drowned out other sounds, and as if on autopilot, he slowly started to raise his M4 machinegun. Corbec was facing away from him, taking another look around the log. All he had to do was fire a single shot to the base of Corbec’s neck. One shot. Bam. Easy. But Corbec turned around. Taking a glance over his shoulder, Corbec’s eyes widened in horror, and he reached fro his AK47. JS then noticed, the eyes weren’t looking at him, but something behind him. “Get out of the way!” Corbec barked, and time came back to normal for JS. He turned, seeing the Forsaken man looming over, machete poised for a strike. Then, Corbec barrelled into JS’ potential killer, throwing him off of the log. Grappling with the Forsaken pinned beneath him, Corbec managed to get his AK between him and the machete. “Go! Deal with the other one! Now!” He grunted. JS stood upright, bringing his M4 to bear on the position Corbec had described. Despite the low quality night vision, he could still make out a crouched figure perched on a sturdy-looking branch. He flicked on the laser sight, put the rifle butt to his shoulder and pulled the trigger. But nothing happened. The gun was jammed. “Bollock it!” JS spat, dropped the gun and reached to his belt for his pistol instead. It was a long shot, but he didn’t get to where he was today without being a good aim. His hands brushed against something, and he grasped it, swinging it out in one fluid motion. By then, the sniper had realised he was rumbled. The figure turned to jump from his current branch to the next one down. But JS had already fired, and this time there were no jams or accidents. There was a problem though. JS hadn’t fired his pistol. It was his compact, single-shot climbing aid. So rather than a high-velocity slug screaming toward the target, a serrated, razor-sharp piece of durable metal arced lazily through the air and found its way into the sniper’s thigh. This was, of course, just as the sniper was dropping off the branch he was on. Even this far away, JS heard him scream in agony. The sniper was now hanging over the edge of the branch, secured only by the agonising arrow of metal speared into the meat of his leg. The cable attached to said arrow wound over the branch and was anchored in place by JS’ weight. If it weren’t for the sniper being in such terrible pain, it would almost have been comical. Desperate to break free, the skewered sniper thrashed and squirmed, pulling at the cable to remove the thing that had impaled him. He succeeded, but only then did he remember that Gravity was a cruel, cruel mistress. Suddenly bereft of the cable’s support, he fell. On the way down, he smacked into the next branch down, causing it-and probably some of his bones-to snap with a cringe-inducing thwack. The sniper was undoubtedly out of the fight. Simultaneously, Corbec delivered a devastating blow to the wrist of his still pinned enemy with the stock of the AK47, shattering it. Screeching and swearing, the man was helpless as Corbec bashed him with another swing of the rifle stock, knocking him out cold.