NationStates Jolt Archive

Itherian Jungle, 2 Miles West of Coopersville, Juko
10:37 P.M.

The rain poured mercilessly upon the darkened jungle floor. To the casual observer, the night was only moved by the falling of a leaf of the sporatic movement of a bird. But if one looked hard enough, they would see Lt. Powell sneaking across the grounds. Over his eyes rested a headset with three glowing circles, a night-vision (NOC) visor. On his back sat his only friend out here, next to his knife and pistol: his M-24 sniper rifle.

As he ran through the forest, he played the mission briefing in is head.

"Your only objective is to get to Coopersville undetected, sneak to any building you see fit to get a line of sight to the senator's villa, and cap the bastard. That's it. He's being a bad influence to the government and he needs to be dealt with. Now go. Get the hell out of her Powell."

Powell snickered. His superior, Lucas Spinner, was never a man known for his politeness. Time before last, Spinner had greated Powell with a, "What the hell are you doing here?" instead of a nice, "Greetings, Powell." He got used to it. That was part of the job, getting used to it.


Coopersville, Juko
11:01 P.M.

Rain still falling, Powell, walked back against the wall up alley after alley trying to get to the middle of the city. Finally, he say the senator's villa. He looked around.

The only good spot is that hotel three blocks down he thought. It would be a long shot, 786 yards after he laser counted it. But it was his job, so he did it.

He clambered up the side of the hotel into a vacant room. Light's still off, he set his rifle down on the window sill, put up his spotting scope, got his NOC equipment out, and waited for morning.

At 6:00 A.M., when the senator sat down for breakfast, there would be a nice serving of hot lead with his eggs over-easy.

Coopersville, Juko
5:47 A.M.

Lt. Powell woke up from his sleep with just enough time to get ready for his shot. The day was bright, sunny, and windless. Perfect conditions for a sniper. He picked up his M-24 and rested the bipod on the window sill. Sitting in a chair, he looked down the scope right into Senator Miller's breakfast room. And who should be entering at that moment but the man himself. This was Powell's chance.

He checked the wind and humidity with an electronic antennae and then guaged the distance with his spotting scope. Slight westerly wind, 2% humidity, 768 yards. He clicked his scope to a different setting. The bullet would drop four inches and would move to the left two. Now looking through the scope, he saw the chest of a beautiful woman, probably the senator's maid. She had on a necklace with a blue diamond on it. That was exactly where the crosshairs were. Ok he thought let's get this over with.

But something happened that he didn't plan.

A child's balloon rose steadily into the air just out of Powell's sight. When he pulled the trigger, the blast bounced off the balloon and pushed the bullet up and to the left more than needed. Powell saw it all in slow motion. Immediately he pulled the trigger again, not moving the gun. But it was too late. Through the scope, he saw two people dead: the senator, his target, and the maid, the blue diamond shattered by the shot.

As a loud bang echoed throughout the city, Powell just stared. People all around were screaming and looking for the source of the noise, but Powell was too well hidden. What had he gotten himself into?

Two guards entered the room. He had no choice. He offed both of them.

Now the count was four.

He heard a siren ring throughout the city. The gates had been closed. Coopersville was now a fortress, enclosed by huge walls topped with barbed wire. He pulled his rifle back into the room and shut the window. He would have to lay low until night.

That was when he would make his escape.