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The Florida Everglades are a subtropical wetland, the largest wetland in the United States, and as of the fine year of 2034, little more than a mana-saturated deathtrap. The concentration of mana in Miami was often suggested as a reason for this, but dismissed by the official Coven policy. Unfortunately, the mutated, oversized, half-skeletal alligators and other such borderline-Wyvernic wildlife made it difficult to investigate the specifics of the problem.

Enormous, yard-thick, mana-infused trees clawed at the sky - sometimes literally. Most of the vegetation had a faint glow to it from the sheer mana saturation. A normal human would be hard-pressed to carve a path even with a machete. Most people would become entangled or lost in short order. From there it would be only a short stretch of time to being devoured by the local wildlife (or wildundeath, as it often was).

Petrachkov indulged in a few choice expletives, meanwhile examining his surroundings, finding plant life that would likely not strike back, then jammed it into the appropriate spots, slowly turning into precisely the colors of his surroundings, albeit minus the full glowing effect. It made little difference; if they couldn't catch him by his anti-magic signature, they wouldn't be able to notice the entire lack of glowing on his person. And he could mostly deactive his REF, which helped. A little, anyway. He tried it out and found that the glow increased a little at the edges. Probably enough to blend in. The REF had a cut-off zone, and Petrachkov found he could draw it to within an inch or so of his skin. Perfect.

That done, Petrachkov surveyed the area, looking for... whatever tools it was he had to determine his exact location. His map would have the meeting location, too, hopefully. Too many... drugs in his system. His head was cloudy, he wasn't thinking straight. Just running on instinct. It'd clear up in a few minutes, according to his experience, right about when the patrols should be showing up to check out the rocket.

Petrachkov was wearing armor for a reason. There were steel plates between him and the snake, and though his REF was compressed, it still existed, just above the skin. Whatever schmancy magic this snake was carrying up its... fangs, Petrachkov was relatively confident that his armor and his compressed REF would be enough to deal with it.

And if it wasn't, popping the REF in full would do so.

That said, Petrachkov kept an eye on it while the TVI began orienting him, determining his location, and plotting waypoints, all while preparing a terrain overlay for his examination.

Petrachkov traced the sound of the engine with his rifle, a meaningless gesture that he had picked up in order to counter paratroopers. In fact there might be some "jumpers," but they wouldn't be coming down on parachutes. Nobody used those anymore; it simply wasn't practical.

Petrachkov swept the area for the snake again. It had stood out to him, which by his instinct told him it was trouble. It might be a snake. Or it could be a mechanical device. cyNet3 wasn't big into hiding their work, but it was entirely possible that for the sake of the work here it was concealed under a fake skin somehow manufactured for the purpose. It was paranoid of him to suspect such a thing, but paranoia had saved his life innumerable times.

For now he moved away from the snake in a direction perpendicular to the intended rendezvous point. He didn't have long before the concerted sweep was made, and he'd want to be out of the way before that happened. A dead zone would only pick up if there weren't mana between him and the enemy, but if they were to say step on him, they'd probably be able to see him at that point.

Once he'd traveled some thirty meters, Petrachkov checked the area behind him for the snake; if it was clear he intended to proceed toward the rendezvous point. If not, he'd eliminate it and then make progress.

The good news was that the amount of work going into such a project meant that the Coven troops could move only so fast. They would be at marching speed or slower, and Petrachkov could cover ground faster than they could. The one problem is that they would be sweeping in his direction - he'd have to pass nearby. Then he'd have to cross a river, and how he would do that was up for debate. There were bridges, but it might not be safe to cross by any of those. He'd have to take care of that problem when he got to it.

For the moment he began moving at a slightly accelerated pace directly toward the rendezvous point, checking occasionally to see if he could spot enemy forces or any other indication of observation. So long as he hadn't been spotted, he was completely safe.