The mask smelled a touch foul, as the group's equipment often did. Shrill buzzing broke the silence of the plane, prompting Undyne to abruptly rise, the other five members of Raven Company following suit. They lined up in the center of the cargo bay, facing the door. Another soldier, secured by a harness near the door, causing a grating whine to emanate from the door as it slowly slid open, revealing the night sky.

The six elites readied themself, watching a blinking red light above the tethered soldier. One more time the buzzer sounded, and the light turned green. In unison they sprinted forward, leaping out of the plane. The captain tucked her arms and legs together, allowing herself to slice through the air like a hot blade through butter.

She breathed deeply. Rapidly. Her stomach dropped as they picked up speed, tearing through the cloud cover. Far below, she could see the brightly lit nuclear compound. She dragged one of her arms through the whistling air, watching the number on a digital display rapidly dropping. As it struck 200 feet, she yanked on a cord tied to the pack.

The fluttering of silk and nylon ripped through the air. She let out a sharp grunt as her parachute stopped her short, legs kicking out in front of her. Before her hung steering lines which she expertly pulled, hooking herself hard to the right. Her eyes remained focused on a small break in the trees forming a small clearing beneath her. She continued the slow, tight spiral down before her feet finally made contact with soft grass, then walked forward a few steps, letting the chute fall to the ground behind her.

Undyne knelt down, bundling up the parachute before tucking it back into the backpack. Immediately, she took the radio pinned to the left of her chest, looking around at the tall trees around her.

"Raven One is on the ground. Other birds, check in."

"Raven Two on the ground."

"Raven Three on the ground!"

"All Ravens are in position. Raven Two, meet at the rendezvous."

The plan was simple. Six operators were to parachute behind enemy lines around the nuclear compound, and simply perform reconnaissance. She slung the silenced rifle from over her shoulder, making her way deeper into the woods. The distant glow from the compound's lights acted as a guide for her as she slunk through the darkness and up the incline.

As she neared the treeline, she flattened herself to the ground, crawling towards the opening. From the peak of the ridge, she could see one of the other soldiers already positioned waiting for her. The other four were stationed elsewhere.

"On your right," she muttered as she took her position. Baker, the soldier, glanced over his shoulder, handing her a pair of binoculars. She sighed, settling in as she looked through them at the compound. The captain shook her head as she gazed downward.

"Double reinforced walls...anti-aircraft and anti-personnel turrets at every corner...more armed subjects then you can count…" She clicked the radio again. "Raven Three, what do you see?"

Silence.

"Raven Three, check in?" A click. And then the cold metal of a gun barrel, pressed against the back of her head. She froze.

"The others will not be responding to your orders anymore, Captain," Baker whispered.

She slowly lowered the binoculars, keeping her eyes fixed on the compound.

"What is this…"

"Change in command. You see...myself and the others...we personally like to be on the winning side. You really believe you monsters will come out on top? Look at this place. It's a fortress. You won't be able to take it, let alone mount a successful on the continent. You will be walking into things you can't possibly imagine."

"Why are you telling me this?"

She heard the hammer on the back of the pistol click. "Because I won't have to worry about you telling anyone. Kind of hard to make statements like that when you're just a pile of dust."

Undyne chuckled. "I always had suspicions about the lot of you." She twitched one of her fingers.

"Well, I'm happy we could satisfy those," she could hear the smirk in his voice.

She flicked her finger down, and he let out a strangled grunt as a spear drove through his back, pinning him to the ground. There was a soft thud as the gun fell to the ground. With an angry huff, she slowly stood up, picking up her rifle. Then aimed it down. Baker coughed, spitting up blood as he groaned out.

"You monsters are the same...always thinking you're in the right...never admitting you've done anything wrong...you think we're the only beings around with secrets? I...I know you all have some...don't know what they are...but I know you have them…"

Undyne narrowed her eyes. "Yeah...you're right...we don't open up about all our secrets. But at least we know what side we're fighting for. I'll see you in hell."

The single gunshot was muffled, and Baker fell still, blood trickling from his head. She got on the radio one more time.

"Alright, gentlemen...you want to play Hide and Seek? Well, game on." She switched the radio off, moving deeper into the woods, but quickly she pressed her back against a close by tree. She knew they would be close...likely trying to encircle her. After a moment's pause, she dared to poke her head around the tree. With her eye having adjusted to the dark, she could just barely make out two shapes gradually moving closer. Slowly her rifle's barrel began to rise, but was quickly forced back as bullets slammed into the tree. Bark glanced off her cheek and she let out a frustrated grunt.

The silenced pings echoed back and forth through the trees as they pushed their assault. She poked around the other end, letting off a short spray before being forced to duck back in. The tree branches crossed high above her, and looking up at them an idea formed in her mind. She waited until the firing ceased, signalling the elites needed to reload, then took the few precious seconds to clamber up the tree she had hid behind, into the leaves.

By the time the two soldiers had reloaded and were ready to fight again, she was nowhere to be found. She watched, amused, from the treetops while the two began to anxiously look under every nook and cranny, searching for her. The third soldier approached from the south, speaking briefly and quietly with the two before splitting off again. Undyne cautiously maneuvered her way from tree to tree, using the thicker and closer branches as ample footing.

Then came the sudden mistake. The strap hooked to her rifle snagged on one of the smaller branches, slipping it off of her shoulder. She could only watch as it fell, silent as a knife through the air, before clattering loudly on the ground...right behind the soldiers. Immediately she whipped out her sidearm, firing two bullets into the first, and another two into the second. Both collapsed without a sound. She let out a frustrated huff.

Not wanting to risk giving herself away by moving along the ground, she stuck to the branches, searching the forest floor for signs of her remaining two adversaries. For what seemed like hours, the only sounds audible were the little night critters roamed the woods, and her guard began to slip. She let out a long sigh, leaning back against one of the trunks. Her head thunked against the trunk, and as she looked up, she frowned. A black shape moved in the treetops with her. She raised her hand, two glowing spears appearing beside her, then she thrust her hand to the sky and up the spears went, severing two of the branches.

There was a startled yelp and the shape, one of her foes, plummeted out of the trees. As he fell, the soldier bounced off of Undyne's branch, pulling her down too She managed to right herself, grunting as she hit the ground. Her opponent was not so lucky. By the time she reached him, he was already dead, his neck broken.

The cock of another automatic rifle sounded right behind her. She materialized a shield and whirled around, as the shield connected with the barrel of the rifle. The gun flew from her assailant's hand, though she was left exposed. He gave her a sharp kick to the stomach.

She grunted, rolling over backwards as he took out a pistol. She brought the shield in front of her, keeping curled up behind it as bullets flew. In her hands the shield vibrated as bullets continuously pinged off of it. Just eight shots later, and she heard a click. With a smug grin, she lowered the shield, raising her own pistol...only to hear another click. The two elites stared each other down as realization swept over them.

Undyne dropped the empty pistol, a spear taking its place. The soldier smirked mockingly.

"I thought you believed in honor, yet you cannot defeat me without the use of cheap magic tricks?"

Undyne narrowed her eyes at the taunt. She wanted to behead him, but...sometimes it felt better to do things the old fashioned way. She lowered the spear and shield, both dissolving as she cracked her neck. The pair readied themselves. Her opponent struck first, a fist flashing out to her face, followed by a swift kick. She kept one arm up, deflecting the punch away with ease, before ducking down, watching the foot fly past her head.

She kept herself close to the floor, swinging one of her own legs around to hook his legs. It worked beautifully. He let out a yelp as the soldier landed on his back, then gasped as Undyne pressed her boot against his throat, digging it in. She felt him claw at her leg, gritting her teeth as he tried to suck in air, to no avail. His gasps turned to desperate wheezes as his cheeks grew redder, then purple. She continued to dig her foot in, refusing to let up even as his struggles grew weaker with every passing second.

Finally, with one more twitch, he fell still. The captain still kept her foot on him, not taking any chances. Nearly a minute after he had fallen still did she finally let off. She stepped over the bodies, picking up an empty pistol. She kept walking forward, looking around until she picked up her rifle next to the other two bodies. Only then did she turn, sprinting back into the woods to where her extraction would be waiting. The others would have to be warned.