Devastation, that is how one can describe Earth. Years ago, large meteors struck the planet, destroying much of the world before. Irreparable damage was caused, lives were lost, countries ended, alliances reformed. From the ashes, humanity began to rebuild their cities, and discovered that the meteors were in reality technology from another world. With this technology, they were able to develop machines unlike any before. Machines like giant robots.
However, this story has nothing to do with Earth. Instead, let's focus on another world, galaxies away. A world similar to Earth, inhabited by a race similar to humans. A world on the brink of a disaster of its own.

---

"Man, that was a nice nap," a woman in her late 20s mumbled, yawning. Blinking her sharp golden eyes, she looked around and noticed something. "... Son of a bitch, the place is in the middle of fucking nowhere." Upon realizing that, she ran her fingers through her short blonde hair in irritation. Sighing, she played with the single braid in her hair, on the left side of her face. With her above average height, only slightly curvy body, and lean muscles, she wasn't exactly the picture of femininity. Wearing a pair of jeans, a yellow shirt, and a brown aviator's jacket, she kind of stuck out in the green forest she was looking at. Now, you might ask, what is she doing here in the middle of nowhere? Well, this woman, Aribelle Miros, was someone who needed some cash, and just happened to have the credentials necessary to be hired for some project in some kind of base out here. The credentials? Let's see... No family? Check. Single? Check. Capable of putting up a fight? Check. Desperate enough to risk life and limb? Check.
Basically, she was hired because, as far as she knew, no one would miss her, she can punch someone's face in if she needs to, and because it's really her only good option. So, with a sigh, she started trudging through the woods, mentally patting herself on the back for wearing her brown steel-toe boots. Unknown to her, she was being watched by a camera nearby.

---

"Sir, the new test pilot has arrived," a man in his 40s reported. He was a bit out-of-shape, but was a little on the tall side so her could probably overpower someone unprepared. With his somewhat graying black hair and brown eyes, he looked more like a man who should be working in an office, instead of an armed base for a company making weapons.
"Hm," the man in charge, a guy in his early fifties who's violet hair wasn't showing even a sign of gray. His eyes were a bit hard to see, considering he was wearing a pair of circular shades that were hiding them. Tall and somewhat muscular, he was an imposing figure, given the neutral look on his face he had at all times. As for what he was wearing, it was a gray business suit, under an open black trench coat. Looking at the screen, he gave an order. "Have the other pilot test her before she finds the base. I want to be certain she is capable enough. He's authorized to use deadly force, if he judges this Aribelle to be lacking."
"A-Are you- y-yessir," he stopped himself from questioning his boss' orders when the man aimed his hidden gaze at him. "Impulse 1, come in Impulse 1. You have orders from the professor. You are to head into the woods and locate the new candidate. Your orders are to test their abilities, and silence them if they are insufficient."

At the base's edge, where the woods ended, a lone figure was sitting. A pilot of a machine who doubled as a fantastic footsoldier when the need arose, A tall man who looked to be in his mid 30s, relatively built and in very good shape, his hair a bit longer than most place's military standards, but not so much that it could be grabbed, naturally a vaguely reddish brown colour. He was wearing a standard grey piloting jumpsuit, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and the zipper undone to about his stomach revealing a black undershirt, and above that, an olive drab jacket with multiple pockets. His right hand was covered by a leather glove, the left bearing a fingerless equivalent. The pair of dark-lensed glasses worn over his eyes added to his not-quite-within-standards appearance.

"Impulse 1 here. Acknowledged," He responded. A suitcase-shaped piece of metal next to him was hit in the center with a balled fist. A hiss of air escaped it, and the block began rearranging itself into the shape of a futuristic, two-barreled rifle. He picked it up and slid his hand into a gap on the grip, and when he squeezed it, a bladed chain emerged above it. A squeeze of a secondary trigger down by the grip activated the saw, which would be useful for removing any foliage in the way. It was a bit loud, though, so for now he gave the grip another squeeze and retracted the blade.

With the weapon in hand, he scooted off the ledge he was seated on, landing in a squat on the ground about 10 feet below. Almost immediately, he was standing again, and he bolted into the treeline. While running, he flipped a switch on the side of his rifle. The lethal rounds loaded into the magazine would be ignored in favor of the secondary mag's non-lethal bullets. The barrel on the uppermost part of the gun closed, and the one below opened, allowing them an exit. The rounds themselves were comparable to long-ranged tasers, but with enough impact to hurt even if the electric charges couldn't activate.

Aribelle stopped where she was, kneeling down to grab a twig. Using said twig, she drew a mark in the ground in case she finds herself going in circle. After all, it would suck if she were to wind up lost or something. Satisfied with the mark, she casually threw the twig over her shoulder and kept going with her hands in her pockets. Glancing around, she noticed a stunning lack of any wildlife. Then again, she hasn't been here very long, and there is the possibility that the guys in charge of the base had all the animals removed so that no bunnies wander into the machinery or something. Before she could think more about it, she had some branches in her way to grumble about. After shoving past them for a bit, she could have sworn she heard some- Spinning around, she lifted a forearm to block a branch that happened to be flexible enough that it swung back at her after she pushed it out of the way. "Heh, guess I'm smarter then like 50% of travelers in movies and shows," she joked before she kept going.
If she had paid attention, she would have noticed that the branch that tried to smack her in the back of the head wasn't real. She would have noticed that the limb as attached to a fake tree that was placed there specifically to swing its branches at the unaware traveler, in order to stun someone incapable of defending themselves from such a simple blow with blunt force. As Aribelle left, the branch reset itself, so that it would look like it was a completely normal branch.

---

"... I feel like I'm being watched," the blonde muttered, glancing about in suspicion. She was smart enough to know that if she actually turned to look, whoever is watching would know she was on to them. And who knows what would happen if that were the case. So, like earlier, she knelt down to look for a twig. However, in reality she was using the brush to sneak a look around. Noticing a camera, she smirked. So, they're watching her huh? Grabbing a handful of rocks, she stood up and kept going. If they're keeping an eye on her, they must be up to something. And while the handful of rocks isn't much of a weapon, it's still something she can use to defend herself if something were to happen.

As soon as Aribelle stopped moving, so did her pursuer. Crouched beneath a growth of shrubbery, he ran a finger along the arm of his glasses. His vision zoomed in, and while doing so, scanned her face and general shape. After a few seconds of watching, she would be coated in an outline of sorts, a tracking measure. Only from his point of view, of course. Giving your target a real aura was a good way to tell them they were being followed. The display with the branch trap got a smile out of him, but he remained completely silent as he stood and began moving from his original position.

He approached from behind, and when she mentioned aloud her suspicion, he ducked beneath the roots of a large tree, back pressed against the wood. His grip on the rifle's handle tightened, and he pulled a suppressor from his belt. It was swiftly screwed onto the gun's barrel, the one that fired lethal rounds, and the switch was flipped to the actual bullets once again. He remained still, patiently waiting for Aribelle to get some distance away. When he was confident she'd gone far enough to not immediately detect him, he pointed the rifle from the root cage he hid beneath and took aim.

He pointed the gun at an old tree, near devoid of leaves and terribly dry. Better as firewood than as a plant these days, it looked like. His finger entered the loop around the gun's trigger, and with a tight pull, a burst of metal propelled at extremely high speed shot forward. The bullets tore through the base of the tree, leaving it standing by barely an inch of wood after they tore through. He shot in a way that would send it toppling in Aribelle's direction.

As soon as Aribelle stopped moving, so did her pursuer. Crouched beneath a growth of shrubbery, he ran a finger along the arm of his glasses. His vision zoomed in, and while doing so, scanned her face and general shape. After a few seconds of watching, she would be coated in an outline of sorts, a tracking measure. Only from his point of view, of course. Giving your target a real aura was a good way to tell them they were being followed. The display with the branch trap got a smile out of him, but he remained completely silent as he stood and began moving from his original position.

He approached from behind, and when she mentioned aloud her suspicion, he ducked beneath the roots of a large tree, back pressed against the wood. His grip on the rifle's handle tightened, and he pulled a suppressor from his belt. It was swiftly screwed onto the gun's barrel, the one that fired lethal rounds, and the switch was flipped to the actual bullets once again. He remained still, patiently waiting for Aribelle to get some distance away. When he was confident she'd gone far enough to not immediately detect him, he pointed the rifle from the root cage he hid beneath and took aim.

He pointed the gun at an old tree, near devoid of leaves and terribly dry. Better as firewood than as a plant these days, it looked like. His finger entered the loop around the gun's trigger, and with a tight pull, a burst of metal propelled at extremely high speed shot forward. The bullets tore through the base of the tree, leaving it standing by barely an inch of wood after they tore through. He shot in a way that would send it toppling in Aribelle's direction.

While she did not hear the bullets, she certainly heard the sound of the tree's base breaking apart and the tree falling towards her. Glancing swiftly to judge the size of it, she rolled to the side while swearing under her breath. After all, she could tell that the tree was too wide for her to get out of the way entirely. So, the best she can do is to roll as far as she can, and then try to push it to the side. So, stopping on her hands with her body curled up, she brought her feet together. Uncurling like a spring, she kicked out both legs at the side of the tree, at a slight angle so that she isn't making it just spin. Luckily, she was able to put enough force behind it to keep herself from being squashed. However, she saw that tree earlier, so she knew it was nowhere near suddenly falling over like that. It took less then a second for her to put two and two together and get 'fuck there's someone taking potshots at me'. Swinging her legs back under her, she swiftly got into the brush. Swearing in her head, she quieted her breathing.

---

"What's the candidate's status?" The main in charge questioned.
"Her heartrate has gone up, however it shows no sign of panic. She's also masking her breathing, so it's a little more difficult to track it. It's as if she's used to being shot at... Sir, where did you find her?" The operator asked. The man didn't answer, merely watching the screen.

---

'Alright, I have no idea how many enemies there are, or what kind of weapons they're using. They're either a sniper, or they're close and are using a silencer,' she thought to herself, eyes narrowed. Most people probably would have already tried that trick with the hat or the jacket on a branch, or something. However, she doesn't know if they were able to see her enter her hiding place, so she doesn't want to risk blowing her cover. Glancing about, she took stock of where she could go. 'If I could climb the branches, I might be able to spot them. Problem is, most of the branches are too exposed. I could duck behind trees, but considering that tree was ripped apart so easily, I doubt they'd provide much cover. Those large rocks over there could probably stop a bullet or two, but I'll be too vulnerable on the way over. The brush is probably my best cover, but even that doesn't do much... I need a distraction.' Taking one of the larger rocks she grabbed, she glanced over to a nearby bush. With as much care as she could to keep herself from being exposed, she threw the rock over there to make some noise in the other bush.

"Not bad," the shooter thought to himself, carefully withdrawing the weapon's barrels from the open space in his cover to keep them from being spotted. He held the weapon closely, finger off the trigger, as he watched his target escape the falling tree. He could tell she already knew something was up. That meant this was about to get a lot more interesting. Slowly, he slunk into the bushes, lowering himself into a crawling position to get beneath a tree that had fallen of natural causes long ago. He moved very quickly, but with a precision that prevented any accidental rustling of leaves or cracking of twigs. When he came back to an idle position, he looked down the weapon's sights, scanning the area for the outline he'd given Aribelle before.

When he took notice, he watched and waited, once again switching ammo types, and thus barrels. He took the few seconds needed to swap the suppressor to the non-lethal one, then flipped the switch on the gun. "Note to self, start bringing two of these things." With the gun prepared, he gripped the handle again and took aim at the place the outline was faintly visible. As he watched, he saw her arm flail outward, and a rock sail through the air and hit another plant. "Oh, that's clever." With another smile, he readied his gun, firing a single shot in the direction the rock landed to fake her out into thinking he didn't know where she was.