PROLOGUE
<ENEMY DETECTED>
The warning light flared on the see-through glass monitor. The red light pulsed in one direction. Visible from the distance, the enemy was rapidly approaching with extraordinary speed.
“Snake Eye, watch out! Left side!” A shout echoed from the communication device’s mouthpiece.
A female voice on the other end of the line screamed as she realized their enemy was closing in. Their numbers were far from small; it was a horde of enemies. Snake Eye turned in that direction. He was piloting a destructive machine and was currently inside its cockpit.
DUUMM! – An explosion echoed, deafeningly loud. It was right next to Snake Eye.
“Damn it, did you hit that Greed or not, Cloudy?!” Snake Eye yelled again. The man twisted the control knob and aimed his weapon at the approaching enemy.
DUUMM! – Once again, the explosion echoed. This time it was louder because he had fired it himself. In the distance, his shot hit the target. The enemy there fell and was destroyed.
Greed – a killing machine that has emerged since 50 years ago, ravenously killing any human it encounters. In that period, humans fought with these killing machines and they realized that their weaponry at that time was unable to bring down the killing machines.
Greed is just a title given to these unmanned killing machines. They come in various strange shapes. Some resemble humans, assigned as spies. There are also those shaped like mechanical animals, winged and wingless.
However, almost all Greed killing machines sent to war are Spider Greed models.
The Spider Greed model machines have a body design that resembles a spider. Possessing 4 long legs allows them to move quickly and be adept at sneaking. The 2 front legs, tipped with sharp knives, are often used to slash their victims at close range.
Greed is also equipped with sophisticated weaponry on their bodies. Cannons, high-tech rifles, and various guided missiles are also equipped on their bodies. Who controls that Greed? No one knows the answer.
Time rolled on, years passed. Eventually, some of those skilled individuals captured Greed alive and experimented on the killing machine. As a result, they were able to modify Greed into a vehicle that they could drive and control from inside a cockpit – named Genesis.
Its design was similar to Greed. The only difference was that Genesis was controlled by humans inside the cockpit, while Greed was operated automatically from a distance. To this day, no one knows who controls it or where Greed came from. All they know is, this is a time of war between humans and these killing machines.
<ENEMY DESTROYED>
“Hooray! You see that, Cloudy! Easy, right on target! Hahaha!” Snake Eye shouted as his explosion hit the target.
“Don’t get too cocky, Snake Eye. You’re still on the battlefield. Don’t get careless!” Cloudy, on the other end of the line, replied.
“Doesn’t matter. Just with that last one, I’ve killed 25 Greed. How about you?” Snake Eye boasted about his achievement today. The echoing noise from inside the cockpit didn’t disturb his focus at all. His eyes remained fixed on his surroundings, aided by the radar scans from his machine.
“Me? Uumm... 35?” Snake Eye widened his eyes.
“Huh? Seriously? Did you kill them, or did Steel Witch kill them?” Snake Eye grinned. He knew his teammate well. Cloudy and Steel Witch were assigned as snipers from a distance. Although they operated Genesis models that were the same, their machines were equipped with high-tech rifles capable of accurately hitting enemies at a considerable range.
“Oh, come on! Why does Steel Witch get the credit when I’m the one doing most of the shooting? Don’t you believe in me?” Cloudy replied, her voice feigning a pout.
“Hahaha... you’re a good liar.” Snake Eye moved to change location. The four-legged iron machine moved and slipped behind rocks and ruins, searching and scanning for enemies from behind cover.
“Snake Eye, Cloudy. Don’t talk so much during operations. Focus!” A voice reprimanded them. Snake Eye looked at the transparent glass screen display. It showed the Code Name of the individual speaking. The name Cobra was displayed.
“Sorry. Back to operations.” Snake Eye smiled and then maneuvered his machine towards the displayed coordinates.
Explosion after explosion echoed from one direction. From afar, a horde of Greed was seen battling several Genesis machines. Shots were exchanged. It was a very deafening battlefield and would surely claim lives. However, the team sent to eradicate the Greed at this coordinate was no ordinary team. They were an elite team that had served for a long time. Their movements, their agility in handling the Genesis machines, could not be matched by other squad teams.
Snake Eye arrived at the location. Several Genesis were visible in the front line. One of the Genesis was black, positioned at the very front. Snake Eye parked his machine next to Cloudy’s machine, which had arrived at the location earlier.
“Why hasn’t Hound Hunter moved forward yet?” Snake Eye observed the black Genesis.
“He’s aiming at the furthest Greed back there. See it? The biggest one.” Cloudy replied using their telecommunications system.
Snake Eye observed from inside the cockpit. In the distance, a Greed machine was visible, much larger than the other Greed. It had a rather large cannon on its back.
“Greed Launcher? Rarely seen.” Snake Eye swallowed his saliva.
“You know it. Maybe it’s the one leading the Greed attack this time.”
“How do you know?” Snake Eye pressed several touch buttons on the screen display, searching for information about the Greed Launcher.
“Since the start of the battle this morning, only these small Greed have been attacking us. The Greed Launcher hasn’t moved an inch.” Cloudy replied on the other end of the line, assessing the situation.
“Hey, Cloudy. I want to ask you something.” Snake Eye smiled as his fingers touched the transparent screen display.
“What? Don’t try to trick me again.” Cloudy responded on the other end of the line.
Snake Eye paused for a moment and then continued. “If this war ends, will you marry me?”
“W-What? Eh- W-What are you saying?!” Cloudy’s voice on the other end of the line sounded like she was holding back embarrassment.
“Hahaha... I’m serious, I’m asking you now. This is serious matter.” Snake Eye’s mind was already picturing those moments, even though his body was still inside this war machine’s cockpit.
Cloudy fell silent for a moment. Her communication channel went quiet. The girl was speechless. Of all times, why did Snake Eye choose now to express his intentions? Cloudy’s machine didn’t move. The girl inside Cloudy’s cockpit covered her blushing face.
“I-I don’t even know how to answer. D-Do you think... this war can end?” Cloudy replied. Snake Eye, inside the cockpit, smiled again.
“I’m sure... I’m sure this war will end... After that, I’ll come see you myself, propose to you. How’s that?” Snake Eye chuckled.
“Y-You... d-don’t you have any other time to talk about this...”
“I don’t think there’s any other time. Hahaha! We don’t even know if we’ll return to camp safely after this.” Snake Eye laughed again. At the same time, the girl who donned the Code Name Cloudy also smiled.
“D-Do you want to hear my answer now?” Cloudy asked. Snake Eye smiled and nodded.
He knew this wasn’t the right time to talk about this.
“U-Uummm... if that’s the case, I’ll answ-” Before Cloudy could finish her sentence, her machine was suddenly and violently shoved by Snake Eye. Her machine was thrown far to the side.
“DODGE!! CLOUDY!!” Snake Eye shouted loudly. At that moment, a streak of light flashed across Cloudy’s eyes. The missile hit its target. The impact struck the body of Snake Eye’s Genesis machine.
DUUMM!! – An explosion echoed. Snake Eye’s machine was destroyed and exploded. Cloudy, inside her cockpit, widened her eyes. Unconsciously, tears began to flow. She could still hear Snake Eye’s voice as if he was still talking to her through the telecommunications.
“SNAKE EYE!!!”
