| "Deadly Preparations" | ||
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RGZS Outdoor Training Forest May 13th, 2008, 1207 hours There was not a sound to be heard. Silence filled the vast expanse of the woods that he found himself in. Lying prone on the ground he concentrated on making no noise at all; his breathing was controlled until it was hardly a whisper. His hands gripped the AS Silent Assault Rifle and held it in front of him, his finger poised on the trigger. His eyes scanned the vicinity for targets, finding none. Out there in the woods were nine men and women intent on making sure their bullets found their target, and he was their target. There was no one aiding him, no one supporting him. He was on his own, just as he would be when he went after Him, his demon. This was good practise. In fact, this was better than practise because here he was up against people who were trained to his own high standards, whereas the people he would possibly be against later would probably be criminals and thugs at worst, but more than likely there wouldn't even be any opposition. He turned his attention back to the area surrounding him, listening for any sounds that could indicate the location of his `prey'. The combined forces of Teams Myech and Kinzhap were not a prey to be taken lightly, and this was why he was operating at his peak. He was Ruzhyo, and he would win because of this fact. He rose slowly, having concluded that there was no one near him. He scanned the area once more before moving off at a slow pace, moving with the ease of a tiger in his own territory, his steps making no noise at all thanks to the damp ground that dissipated any sounds he may have made. His eyes searched for signs of movement or anything else that could betray the position of one of his quarry, but none were forthcoming. He decided to continue moving until he reached Knott Hill, a small rise to the north of the woods. He knew the high probability of snipers being on the hill but determined that it would be worth the risk. Twelve minutes later he reached the base of the hill. Still there had been no contact with any of the others, much to his surprise. He scanned the hill, looking for any signs of his quarry. Gratifyingly there were none. He didn't take that as accurate though, knowing full well that his people were adept in camouflaging and avoiding detection; after all, they wouldn't be here if they weren't the best of the best. Cautiously he made his way up the slope, watching his step, avoiding branches and twigs which could snap underfoot and give away his position. Several birds called from the trees, and the sudden noise caused him to freeze. Slowly he lowered himself until he way lying prone on the ground. The birdcalls ceased briefly, then began again without warning. Something is spooking them, he thought to himself. What could it be? He had an inkling that the answer may be one of his prey, so he began moving forward on his stomach, weary of the amount of noise he was making though it was not enough to betray him. There. Just a hint of movement that could have passed for something natural had it not been made by something in woodland fatigues. He took control of his every body action, making sure that not a single sound emanated from him. His eyes locked onto his target, cataloguing every available detail as he often did when he had a little time. It wasn't long before he identified his target as Nelli. He watched her for a few moments, then realising that lingering could jeopardise the hunt he took careful aim with the AS and pulled the trigger. The three paint cartridges ended their brief journey in the helmet on Nelli's head. She had the good manners to thumb her `dead' switch, shutting off her communications equipment, before gasping. Her head spun round in an earnest attempt to spot him, but it was too late. He was already on the move. He wondered whether they had placed another sniper on the hill, and six minutes later he had his answer. This time his position was off to the side of his target; Belov it was, judging by the way he held the rifle. Another time he would probably have used his pistol for such a shot, just to add to the fun of it all, but this time he was playing for keeps, and so once again the target was startled by the three paint cartridges that slammed into their helmet, cartridges that had come from the Silent Assault Rifle. As soon as he was sure the target had been hit he set off again, this time making his was carefully down the other side of the hill. It was another ten minutes before he saw movement once again. This time it came from two prey; Morozov and Lukin by the look of it. As always Morozov was taking charge and displaying his power over Lukin, simply because he was deputy to Smirnov. He didn't like Morozov, and that caused him to seek for a particularly humiliating way to `kill' him. He mulled over it for a minute as he trailed the pair, who despite their training were oblivious to his presence. Then again, they were being stalked by The Rifle. After a seconds consideration he began moving closer to the pair, who by now had stopped and lay on the ground, their heads turning as they looking for him. He was behind them though and moving closer all the time. It took fifteen seconds to close right up behind them, so close he could hear them talking. He didn't bother to listen, simply placing the rifle in his left hand and pulling out his pistol with his right. He then placed the muzzle of the rifle into the back of the Morozov's neck, causing him to tense. Lukin felt it, and as he turned to see what had caused his partner to freeze he was met with the elongated barrel of a silenced pistol. Behind the pistol was Nikolai's face, and he grinned at the Lukin before placing a bullet in his helmet. Like the good man he was Lukin let his head fall to the ground. "You fucking bastard," Nikolai heard Morozov say, moments before he felt two bullets hit either of his buttocks. When he turned around Nikolai was gone. Four down, five to go, Nikolai thought. Things were going well. Turning past a large tree he thought he heard something rush through the air, kind of like an arrow, but he knew this wasn't an arrow when he saw the paint explode just behind his head. Without thinking he began sprinting, aware that he was now making more noise. Shit, he thought, it's a trap. There was a patch of undergrowth about twenty meters ahead of him. Whilst still running at full speed he brought the AS up and fired a burst into the bush. The cry of surprise told him that he had guessed correctly, though he still heard footsteps behind him. Without a second thought he decided to turn the tables on his pursuer. When he felt they were fairly close behind he began to do a forward roll but stopped halfway through. This left him on lying on his back. The rifle was just too cumbersome for his needs at this moment, so he switched to the pistol, bringing it up just in time to fire two shots at the onrushing target. It turned out to be Innokentiy. The look of surprise on his face was priceless, but Nikolai didn't have time to savour it as he spotted movement in one of the trees. Had he not been lying on his back he probably never would have glimpsed Olesya perched on a branch, lining up her shot. He moved instinctively, rolling to his right then springing to his feet, laying a suppressing fire into the tree whilst moving steadily away from it. He knew she would be tracking his movements as he ran away so he did something unexpected: at the next tree instead of running past it he ran right round it. Having rotated 180� thanks to his inventiveness he was now running towards her, and though the shot on the run into the tree was quite difficult it posed no problem to him, and two quick shots later he was down to two prey. He spent the next hour slowly hunting Maksim and Klara. They were proving to be very elusive indeed, and on several occasions he wondered whether they were actually stalking him, but he soon confirmed that they weren't. He soon realised that he would need to use a different ploy if he were to catch these two, that was assuming that they were working together, but he felt quietly confident that they would be. He found a dense bush and worked his way into it, moving forward with the AS Silent Rifle probing through the foliage. Once the barrel was just pushing through the edge of the leaves he set it down and backed out. Moving round to the front he checked the bush; to the unaware it looked as though there was someone hiding in the bush with a rifle. After a quick look round to make sure they weren't close by he began scaling a tree, making his way hand over hand until he was about fifteen metres off the ground. There was a good deal of coverage below him from the tree's leaves, though there was a small gap which allowed him to watch the bush with his rifle in. Sure enough, seven minutes later he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. It was hard to place because of the floor of leaves just below him prevented him from getting a clear view, but he sure it was them. As they moved slowly around he could see that they had spotted the rifle in the bush, and were now formulating a plan. He saw Makism's hands move as he explained what he wanted them to do; from what Nikolai saw he gathered that they were planning to attack the bush from to opposing vectors, a move which he would have probably tried had he been down there hunting. Probably, he thought to himself with a small smile. He did tend to do the unexpected, much to the chagrin of those he worked with. And much to Maksim and Klara's chagrin now, he saw. They had carefully closed on the bush from behind, and for a second Nikolai was reminded about big cats and their hunting techniques. He shook it and concentrated on lining up his shot. From this height he knew the shot wouldn't be simple, and he had two targets spaced about fifteen metres apart, and that meant that he would have to make sure that he got both targets quickly, lest the second be alerted by the first's demise and get some shots off at him. He aimed the silenced pistol and waited for the pair to attack the bush. They were careful about it, lining their rifles up and then shooting from distance, covering the bush in paint. Before either of the duo had a chance to view the fruits of their labour they felt the impact of the paint-pellet on their helmets, not comprehending at first, but Maksim soon figured it out and began laughing. Up in the tree The Rifle was laughing quietly to himself. He had just one thought: Daniel boy, you haven't met anyone like me before. Return |
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