By In 2023, two Peruvian military helicopters flying along the border with Ecuador are both sniped and explode. Later, Peruvian Zarumilla Exoframes speed along a river to reach allied forces that are under fire. The pilots wonder if the enemy is the Venezuelan Army, or perhaps mercenaries hired by the Venezuelan government. The Peruvian squad enters the jungle, and pilots discuss an intercepted enemy message and the call sign “Carhuincho.” As the fog clears, the squad finds that the enemy force has already withdrawn. The squad spots Exoframe footprints in the dirt and starts searching the area until one of their men is sniped from an unknown location. The squad members take cover behind large walls cut into the hillside, but the sniper hits another Zarumilla. A third Zarumilla is sniped when attempting to fire on the sniper’s position. The remaining team members attempt to retreat while using the wall as cover, but one of them is sniped while trying to cross a gap in the wall. The three remaining pilots reach relative safety, and one of them concludes that if the enemy is laying down mortars, they must be carrying minimal arms. He thinks the three of them can scatter and catch the enemy on the move. Elsewhere, an Obambo squad marches through the fog and sets up new mortar positions. The Zarumilla pilots find a piece of mortar equipment left behind as a decoy, and one of the pilots thinks they’re being hunted rather than the other way around. He is then sniped by the enemy, causing another pilot to panic and fire wildly until he runs out of damage. He babbles about the Carhuincho deity and is sniped when attempting to exit his unit. The last remaining pilot opens fire and picks up a second machine gun while trying to fall back. He escapes to a nearby ruin and spots a trail of Gel heading up stairs. He reaches the top and finds a half empty bottle of Gel, and his proximity alarm goes off just as the sniper is detected and opens fire. After sniping the last target, Zahir is informed by Jamal that all enemies have been eliminated.
This episode, which seems to be set adjacent to episode 1, invokes a tense atmosphere as a team of Peruvian pilots are picked off one-by-one by Zahir. They’re all outmatched from the start, not just by Zarhi’s sills, but also the advantage he holds in using the fog and terrain to his advantage. It’s no surprise that morale immediately takes a toll and the pilots start to panic, with some of them invoking the name of Huallallo Carhuincho, the fire god of Incan mythology. The ever dwindling squad acts increasingly erratically, until the last member is lured into a trap by Zahir and picked off. This episode definitely demonstrates that even though Exoframes can be great tools of war, you still need to have good pilots in control.
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