Sniper: Angel

[Crash Calestorm 0]

The following log takes place seconds prior to the start of our 03.21.11 Sim…

 

Warrant Specialist First Class Nyetta Cikorski was prone on the ground, the scope of her rifle held to her eye, the target unwavering in both the digital and fixed redundant cross hairs.

 

She’d already been in position for hours, and unlike most operations that the Domani woman had been deployed on since enlisting three years ago, the mission was moving relatively quickly. The squad had been deployed with uncompromising orders: track the enemy, no more and no less. There would be no immediate rescue of the downed visitors from the stars, at least at the ministrations of Kailchev’s Red Squad. A bit narrow minded, but orders were orders.

 

They had all heard the explosion, and witnessed the resulting cloud of fire and smoke; an investigation by the two squad operatives on recon point had confirmed that the Weioidian-like foreigners had blown their downed transport craft.

 

Nyetta was encouraged by this act, which could be recognized as the standard operating procedure of learned military operatives. Perhaps these so called officer leaders from the USS Komanchay Kareek were not so different as was thought among the rank and file of the joint Doman and Amadacia government forces.

 

First Squad was aware that the star dwellers had located shelter in a cave; First Commander Enorcha had sent Nyetta to a forward position in order to maintain watch, joking that she would be the divine being sent to shadow her travelers from the stars. As Cikorski maintained her posting, the first and second fire teams had formed standard flanking positions, moving through the underbrush of the tropics relative to the movements of the Komanchays just as the sniper specialist did, watching and waiting for the intended targets.

 

A Sean Chan patrol squad was currently moving through the mapped grid area, passing very close to the cave dwelling of the visitors. Most of the Star Foreigners were inside, though one had ventured outside; Nyetta expected the female to be unceremoniously exterminated if spotted. The warrant specialist had reported into her squad leader, though his orders were clear – do not fire until given the word.

 

The Chan rebels, the mismatched clothing they wore at odds with the deadly weapons they carried, paused to inspect the exterior of the cave area perfunctorily. Soon, they moved out, away from the area and continuing on their assigned route through the jungle.

 

Nyetta quickly reported the renewed movement of the Chan patrol; shortly after she had given the visual to verbal report, a single quiet command was spoken over her helmet’s audio link – “Anicash.”

 

The warrant specialist steadied her scope, breathing in through her nose, out through her mouth. The trigger was pulled, igniting the chain reaction within the weapon, expelling the slender cylindrical bullet. The target she had acquired as the patrol leader lost the use of his head in short order.

 

In quick succession, the other soldiers were dispatched; some never moved beyond where they had placed themselves within the patrol, while others caught the bullet on the move as they attempted to locate cover. The palm leaves and flowers indigenous to the tropical region were splattered with blood, brain matter, and muscle.

 

Cikorski reported back to her leader, her words simple and direct. “It’s done.”