Finding the Rebels: A Needle in a Haystack (part 3)

Posted on Tue Mar 10th, 2015 @ 3:26pm by Ensign Maria Delgado & Staff Sergeant Thomas Bosley & Commander Thaddius Storm & Lieutenant Arnon Barak MD, PsyD & Lieutenant Illise Hale & Private 1st Class Trent Kushner
Edited on on Tue Mar 10th, 2015 @ 3:44pm

991 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Deadly Diplomacy
Location: Planetside

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

The comm system went active with the sound of crunching leaves and Trent whispering "...No...no...son-of-a-bit...OW!" A loud thump crashed over the link indicating the sound of someone being knocked to the ground. Leaves crunched and twigs snapped wildly all accompanied by a slurry of expletives from Trent and grunts from an unknown person. Finally two swift cracks of a fist connecting with it's target ended the commotion over the link. For a number of seconds the link remained silent until Trent started speaking, clearly winded. "Son of a...The bastard STEPPED ON ME!"

Bosley muffled a laugh. "Just shows how good you are at your job, Kushner."

"Yeah, well, the secret is going to get out really quick now. They do a comm check every ten minutes. I figure it's been about five since the last one."

He turned to the others. "Okay, you heard the man, we'll set up at his twenty."

[NEW]

"I would suggest we move now and we do so quickly. These men are not very skilled and there is a possibility we can replace their sentries with our own to cover the comm check.

"I'm not so sure. Wouldn't they know their own guys? Why do you think we should replace them?"

"Because Sergeant Beckinsale has already terminated two of their men." Thaddius replied with a smile.

He nodded. "Good point. Let's go."

[[Elsewhere behind the team]]

Amarylis was perched on a hill approximately two hundred meters behind Storm's team. I had been far too long since she found herself behind the scope. Her rifle of choice was an old style three hundred Winchester Magnum with a suppressor to mask her position. Standard federation weapons would leave a trail and allow her enemies to see where she was. A trained eye could place a back bearing upon her fire.

Amarylis gently adjusted her position placing her cheek securing against the stock of the rifle. She closed her eye briefly opening it allowing it to focus upon the reticle in the scope. Her breaths were calm and slowed. The reticle centred upon the skull of an unsuspecting mercenary.

The next moment, his skull was replaced by a red stain on the wall.

"Commander we have three down." Amarylis said into the comm.

Arnon sighed. The nerve pinch would leave bruising on the neck of his target and if a third party was involved they might recognize it. The knife then. Moving as quietly as possible, he slipped in behind a soldier lagging by himself. In no time Arnon had the man's mouth covered and a blade between the man's ribs and into his heart. Silently he dragged the man off the trail. Arnon waited a moment to make sure that no one noticed the man's absence, then swiftly exchanged jackets with him and put on his cover. Arnon put on the man's pistol belt and ammo bandolier and put them on then picked up the man's rifle. He also took the man's commset.

Arnon activated his comm.

"One more down, Commander," he whispered. "I have his kit. What would you like me to do next?"

Illise pulled out a wicked-looking mek'leth from it's holster on her back. It was time to get down to business. With the blade in one hand and her tricorder in the other, Illise scanned for more patrols. One was coming up on Arnon's position. If she warned him over comms, they would no doubt overhear and be alerted to the fact that he was not one of their own. Being relatively close, she stuck up on the patrol. A lone man with a rifle walked through the woods, his steps making all manner of noise. From the way he moved she knew that he could be silent if he chose to be. It relieved Illise a little to know that their presence still went undetected, at least for now. She hid behind a tree while he passed her, then quickly stepped out from behind it. It was over in a moment, with a swift slash to the throat. The man spun and fell to the ground where the blood pooled beneath him.

Illise made a brief examination of the body. She scanned him and then turned out his pockets. He carried no identification or insignia on his clothing. He was not Panerian or Octurian - he was human. Illise tapped her comms. "I've got a human male here, sir. I guess this answers the question of whether or not any of them was behind the attack on the Calypso. Unless we're dealing with mercenaries on the perimeter." She picked up his comm unit and then logged her scans of the body along with a geo-tag as evidence for later, just in case.

Arnon shifted his position. His sensory empathy was bothering him. He'd found the heart of his target using SE easily, but now that he thought about it...Arnon took another look at the body.

"Commander," he whispered into his comm. "Mine was wasn't a local either...Bajoran it seems. Miss Hale is on to something."

Maria whistled under her breath. "That puts a whole new spin on this. Maybe we should take out the phaser canon and report back to the Captain?"

"Mercenaries. It is not surprising given the sudden extremes the Penerians have taken. There is no evidence in the history of the war to support such a course of action and they called us here. Someone is trying to profit from this. Get the information to the Calypso immediately. Then we will take out this cannon." Thaddius stated as he examined a body searching for any clues as to whom might have sent the mercenaries.


(To be continued...)

PFC Trent Kushner
Marine

Staff Sergeant Thomas Bosley
Charlie Platoon Leader

Lieutenant Commander Thaddeus Storm
Security Investigations

Sergeant Amarylis Beckinsale
Marine

Arnon Barak
Chief Counselor

Ensign Illise Hale
Science Officer

Ensign Maria Delgado
Science Officer

 

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