It was nearly midnight. Eva''s three natural satellites were providing more than sufficient light to the ground. The sky was so clear, that Ashton could almost count the number of craters all across the three moons.


    But rather than focusing on the sky above, Ashton was busy staring at the ocean as he sat on the edge of the terrace. The royal blue ocean wavesppedzily at the shore. For a moment the scenic beauty of the ce stole his attention. It was a perfect ce to spend some time with Anna.


    ''What even am I thinking right now?'' Ashton shook his head, ''I should concentrate on the job.''


    [Yeah, just like those guards are... fuckers have been snoring like that for hours already!]


    Ashton nced around the courtyard and saw a few guards sleeping while standing. If someone saw them, they would think the guards had worked hard the entire day, that''s why they were a bit tired.


    The sound of their loud snoring pierced the silent night like a bullet through unprotected flesh. Judging from their calm demeanour, no one would have been able to guess they were under attack.


    That being said, Ashton thought the guards were as vignt as they have been during the day. After all, they were useless during the day so he couldn''t expect anything else from them during the night.


    Apart from their snoring, everything was quiet. However, just like everything, the peace and the quiet of the night came to an end.


    "They are here."


    Ashton mumbled and the next moment a loud roaring of multiple engines was heard. The sleepy guards hastily woke up and rushed towards their posts. The mercenaries did the same. But the carsing from the front were just the beginning of their problems.


    While the guards rushed towards the gate, Ashton realised that a few enemies were approaching them from the ocean as well. The ind had been surrounded and so was everyone on it.


    The next moment, the guards open fired at the iing vehicles. However, the bullets simply bounced off of the armoured vehicles. The guards were slowly beginning to panic. But the mercenaries did not move a single step.


    Since the mercenaries were not allowed to operate turrets spread across the mansion, there simply wasn''t much for them to do. They couldn''t just rush in front of armoured vehicles either.


    "I should have taken a gun or something," Ashton mumbled before jumping down from the building, "Looks like I have to get my hands dirty. If only removing bloodstains wasn''t such a pain in the butt..."


    ***


    While the guards were unable to do anything to the assants, it was the same for the assants. Although they were equipped with heavy weaponry, their attempts to break through the walls were unsessful.


    Both parties would have been in a stalemate situation if it hadn''t been for the boats charging at them from behind. Their n was a simple one. They were going to distract the guards with the cars. In the meantime, the main infiltration force would arrive through the ocean.


    Since the guards would already be preupied with the frontal assault, the main infiltration force wouldunch a surprise attack on them from behind and trample everyone in their way.


    Once the guards were taken care of, they''ll capture the E bitch, hand her over to the Metal Sharks and be done with the job.


    In hindsight, the n wasn''t a bad one... but a terrible one. Why? Because it was obvious what they were trying to aplish.


    "Come on, let''s get going." One of the assants softly mumbled as soon as their boats hit the beach sand, "The guys in front won''t be able to hold them off indefinitely."


    The attackers began assembling their weapons and explosives. Even though a couple of them were on the lookout for potential trouble, they had failed to notice the man who had entered their numbers.


    While they were doing this, their leader, a metahuman known as Dobrich, left them behind to take a look ahead and make sure everything would go ording to the n.


    "Get the explosives ready. Those bastards have improved their defences." Dobrichmented, but he received no reply, "Oi, youzy bastards, have you all gone deaf- what the hell happened here?"


    Dobrich turned back to see he was the only one standing on the beach. The rest of the crew was gone, and their equipment was scattered all over the ce. Assuming the worst, he retraced his steps back to the boats, when he noticed countless bloody patches on the white sand of the beach.


    There was even a trail of blood that led up to one of the boats they had used to get there. The man instantly knew what was happening and immediately ran away.


    At that moment, he didn''t care where he was going, all he knew was that he needed to get away from there and inform the rest to abort the mission as well.


    After running for what seemed like an eternity, Dobrich stopped. He looked around while panting to make sure no one was following him. Upon making sure he was alone and safe, he began fiddling through the pouches tied around his waist.


    But before he could find what he was looking for, he heard a voice.


    "What are you doing here? You should have stayed there, I was about to head down to meet you. Well, you only made my job a bit easier, so thanks."


    Dobrich did not notice the person sitting right in front of him. Not until the man spoke first. The person''s face was covered in a ck mask. However, under the collective moonlight, Dobrich could see the person''s bloodied hands as he tried to wipe them off.


    The man''s weapon, a bloodied broadsword was next to him... alongside a pile of severed heads.


    "Bloodstains... I absolutely hate them." Ashton shrugged as if it was no big deal, "Cleaning it is always tiring, especially when it gets on the clothes. By the way, do you know a dry cleaner who can get rid of the stains?"