The Assassination of the Aula (PG-13)

[Noblejanobii]

Solo missions are never fun. I’ve always found having a partner, or a group, at your side was more ideal. You could cover more ground, more quickly, and have multiple chances to hit the target in the best possible way. This is not true when it comes to a solo mission. You have one shot, maybe two, if you’re lucky. Depending on the target, I can get lucky. But usually not, since most of my solo targets are under siege from multiple assassins at the same time. We all have the same goal, to successfully take out the target. However, not all of us get so lucky in the arena of battle.

So far, I had been a busy assassin. The first week of this mission, I had taken out five of my intended targets. It had taken multiple tries though, since these were merely minions. They were fast, they were aware, and they always came with hidden surprises. Not all minions were like this, but from the Dominion, it was to be expected. Their leader was especially cruel and cunning to those who tried to take out his workers. I always hated coming after these minions, as their superiors were much easier to take out for me. I never understood why I was sent after these low lifes anyway, since I usually only injured them and then another assassin took them out. Nevertheless, my current targets were three more of these minions.

I laid flat on my belly, peering through the scope of my gun at the sandy streets below me. My targets would soon be approaching, from what I understood. The information I had been sent said they’d be coming back through this town before heading to their hideout. I was to take them out before they reached their destination. Usually I would be much more relaxed in this type of situation, but all three of my targets were already aware that someone was after them. I had tried to take them out earlier, with the other five targets I had disposed of last week, but these three had proven to be especially tricky. My employers did not have near as much information about them as they had my other targets, resulting in these three being sort of wild cards. The other five targets I was able to somewhat easily track and get within a shot or two. However, Agents II-III, IV-V, and XII-XV had proven to be of a different variety than the rest. This was most likely the last chance I’d receive to take these three out. I would have to aim true.

I recognized their red cloaks immediately. They walked single file, one right behind the other. In front was Agent II-III, with IV-V and XII-XV right behind him. This was going to be a tricky shot, but I could manage. I shifted my Barrett ever so slightly and sucked in my breath. Squinting my eye, I tightened my finger on the trigger. I counted the passing seconds in my head, and then, just as the red cloaks came into view, I pulled the trigger. The bullet shot through the air like a lightning bolt. I watched as Agent II-III fell immediately and blood erupted from Agent IV-V’s shoulder. Curses! I had missed the triple hit. Agent XII-XV grabbed his still living partner’s shoulders and began to dash through the crowd, leaving poor II-III behind. Fine, I could deal with the chase. The crowd began to scatter at the sight of the dead body and parted for the two red figures.

Slinging my rifle across my back, I leapt out into the open from my perch. I tucked and rolled as I hit the ground, taking off into a run as soon as I was up on my feet. With my left hand, I drew my Beretta Cheetah from its holster on my thigh. With one slick hand movement, the safety was off and the gun was cocked. My targets were in sight, Red Barons in this desert town. I opened fire and hit both targets several times, but the two were still able to run, despite their overflowing wounds. I growled to myself. I’d have to get closer. Focusing my energy into my sprint, I swung the gun to my side and began to gain on my targets. XII-XV made the mistake of looking over his shoulder and I saw the terror in his eyes at the proximity of II-III’s killer. I raised my gun again, slowing down ever so slightly to get a better shot, and aimed at IV-V’s head, when suddenly blood shot like a sprinkler from the man’s head. His body collapsed and XII-XV did not miss a beat, darting off into a nearby alley. I turned to chase after the agent when a bullet grazed my face. My cheek stung but I received the message. I knew exactly who this daredevil was, the second best assassin that regularly went after the Dominion clan, the French Cavalier. I raised my sights to the rooftops far above me and caught sight of the French Cavalier at his perch when I heard a gun fire and everything went black.

[Noblejanobii]

It was several days after the incident with the French Cavalier and my back still stung severally from the bullet wound that Agent IV-V had given me before he died. The jerk. I had at least received a eighty-seven percent commission from him for fatally injuring him. I had received a one hundred percent commission from Agent II-III, but nothing for even injuring Agent XII-XV. Apparently he was still on the loose and had not returned to his base as my employers had thought he would. Instead, he moved on to another town. So be it. I would catch him at a later date. I had bigger fish to fry right now.

My next target was a much larger deal, and even if I missed a few here or there, I’d still get paid in full if I did well enough of a job. I had tackled this kind of mission before too. This would be my fifth time to assassinate at this festival in particular. Every year, clans from all over the world gathered at this town for two weeks to celebrate. Each clan was celebrated a different day, and today was the celebration of the Précis clan. My job was to take out as much of the clan as possible. This sort of thing happened every year. In fact, seven other clans had already been slaughtered just this year. Yet these clans always insisted on coming, every year. It was like they did not really care, probably because they took out many assassins in the process. As a tactic of protection, assassins usually changed targets every year, with the newer assassins taking on the weaker clans, while the more professional assassins, like myself, took on the big dogs. Those of us that took out the most targets got the largest payout. In the past four times I had participated in this blood bath, only once had I taken home an above average pay. I intended to do things differently this time.

I saw the procession of the Précis clan begin and took aim. The Précis clan was a tricky bunch, and usually, if you had not taken on their sister clan, the Argots, you not be as prepared for the Précis clan. I had done average against the Argots, for, at the time, I had not known a trick I later learned at the Ancient Cultural Tradition festival. Now I would apply that trick here. It was a fairly simple idea. The way the Précis clan, and others like it, structured their processions was a particular pattern that only those with connections inside the clan were aware of. The minions were out in front, labeled by the numbers on their shoulders, with the number of minions varying anywhere from ten to twenty. The key was to not take out the leading minion first, since not only did that alert everyone else behind them in the procession, but also because the leading minion was usually the most unpredictable. Their attack patterns could only be best judged after having taken out the majority of the other minions.

I closed my left eye and peered through the scope, zeroing in on the numbers on the shoulders of the minions. The first number I spotted was nine. I knew from the information gathered by my employers that nine would not move until I had taken out eight, six, and three. That was another thing about the Précis clan, their minions stayed in a particular formation until specific other members had been taken out before them. This was why you always took our number two first. No one was ever connected to two, and two was only connected to one. I swung my gun slightly to the left and spotted two. Adjusting my aim ever so slightly, I put the crosshairs right where his heart would be in ten seconds. I counted in my head, listening to the beat of their marching feet echo below me. My finger tightened on the trigger, then pulled. I pulled the trigger four times in a row, then ducked down into my hiding spot. If I performed the attack correctly, several things should have occurred at once.

Firstly, starting at minion two and ending at minion five, my bullets should have struck each one in the chest and killed them. Minion one should have bolted and the rest of the minions should have taken up defensive formations. Then, approximately a minute and a half after I had fired, the final minion in this squad would fire on me. Just as I predicted, bullets exploded against the opening where I had been firing from. Debris clattered down into my small hole but it was nothing too bad. When the shots stopped, I peered out a second hole I had carved a little lower than where I had shot from to see what damage I had caused. My prediction had been exactly right, but then I spotted a glint of light across the street. It was a reflection off a rifle! I began to climb back up to my sniper point and resumed my position. I prepared to fire on the sniper instead when they flashed my scope, several times in a row. It took me a moment to recognize that this was morse code. L-K-L-A-T was all I got before gunfire ripped apart the perch where the other assassin was at. Oh well, I’d figure it out later if it was truly important.

I adjusted my aim and began to fire again, taking out minions six through nine. I frowned. Where were ten and eleven? Not only had they had stopped firing on me, but they had disappeared all together! I decided to let that slide for now and turn my focus back to minion one. I shifted my Barrett and lined up my scope on the minion’s back. I was about to pull the trigger when a loud revving sound caught me off guard. I looked up from behind my sniper just in time to see ten and eleven shoot down the road on motorbikes. Ten grabbed one and helped him onto his bike before shooting off. Oh this was so not fair! I groaned loudly and slipped back down the chute. This time, instead of stopping myself some of the way down like I had before, I slid all the way down to the ground below. I crawled out from the ruins of the old building and slung my rifle over my shoulder. Fine, they wanted a motorbike chase, I’d give them a motorbike chase. I’d give the other planted assassins somewhat of a fair chance to give me a little of a challenge, since I knew neither the French Cavalier nor Ash Wind would be here today, and they were by far the best marksmen I knew that could give me a run for my money.

I pulled my Cheetah from its holster and mounted my Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R. A grin split across my face; this was going to be fun. I shot off after the minions, quickly gaining on them. The perks of owning one of the fastest motorcycles in the world. I sweared around a food cart and opened fire on minions ten and one as soon as I had an opening. One went down first, and I had to twist out of the way to not run over him. Trust me, even as an assassin, that’s not something we like to do. Ten was injured from the looks of it but he was not going down without a fight. I opened fire again as my bike charged after the minions like a predator after prey. After three more shots hit him in the back, ten fell, leaving only eleven. Eleven knew his inevitable doom was coming and started to slow down. I fired three times into his back and the man dropped like a fly. I twisted my bike and began to turn around when a bullet slammed straight into the arm I was using to sheer the motorcycle. For those you aren’t aware of how motorcycles work, you need at least one arm to steer. I was currently using none.

The bike swerved as I tried to regain control it, then decided that this was not going to work and threw me from it. I tumbled onto the ground with a groan but before I could settle, I found myself being dragged inside some of the buildings right before bullets rained down where I had just been. I glanced up and saw none other than Refrain Sora, a close friend and ally of mine in the assassin community. He must of been the one signaling me earlier.

“Raven!” he growled out. “What are you doing?”

“Um…” I stared at him in confusion. “I was killing my targets so I get paid?” Sora groaned loudly and shook his head.

“Not that, you idiot! I meant why were you pursuing them in the open! The big dogs were right there! They could have easily taken you down!” I paused in thought. Refrain was right, behind all the small fry there were always a trio that posed the most threat from the clan. They were the ones assassins had to worry about the most. They were also the ones that brought the most pay if they were taken down. I looked back outside and saw something of an expected sight.

The small fry had been taken out rather quickly and for the most part, none remained. However, the big trio were in full force. If the pattern held up, that meant 3 was meant to take out the most assassins, but his defenses were the lowest if you knew your stuff. 2 was a balancer, neither offensive nor defensive, merely meant to serve as backup for 1 and 3. Then 1 was the main defense, a wall. It was difficult to take 1 down, usually. I had never succeeded in doing so. I looked at Sora and he sighed loudly when he caught the look in my eye.

“Yeah, I’ll cover you. 3 first, right? That’s your style?” I smirked at Sora and nodded. He knew me well. Most people took one 1 first because it required the most ammo to take down and usually rewarded the most money. However, in my days of assassination, I had found most people failed to kill 2 or 3 as a result. They ran out of ammo or died before they could succeed. I always tackled 3 first, even in practice. While 2 was the easiest to take out, you couldn’t take on a 2 without taking out a 1 or 3 first. Thus, I would get two kills while everyone else worked on the 1. I started to crawl when I felt my wounds sting and was reminded of their status. Sora noticed and laughed at me.

“It’s not funny!”

“No no, I’m just laughing because you literally always get wounded on every mission. Yet, I never see you shy from another mission. You could be on your last legs and you’d still charge head first into battle. I respect that.” He took my bleeding arm, whispered a few words, then hit the wound. My wound ceased hurting and I nodded my thanks. With that, the two of us charged out into the open again. Cocking my sniper, I fired three times without evening casting a glance through the scope. I knew what I was doing.

3 was standing on an elevated platform, higher than 1 or 2, making him an easy target. However, 3s always had high senses. The first three shots were meant to injure or alert the 3, make it seem like I didn’t know what I was doing. And that is exactly what happened. Two of the three bullets missed 3 entirely, while the third slammed into his leg. 3 cried out in pain and his attention turned to me. He immediately aimed the two guns he was carrying at me and fired, just as I predicted. And if my prediction followed through, then I didn’t have to move an inch from where I currently stood. I smacked the buckle of my belt and a pink shield formed around me. 3’s facial expression twisted in anger as his bullets bounced straight off my shield. The pink shield faded from around me and he took aim again but before 3 could shoot, a tidal wave of bullets knocked both guns from his hands. 3’s head snapped to the ruined clock tower beside me, where Sora was currently perched.

That was the cool thing about having Sora as back up. Being an African American male, everyone kind of expected him to be on the lower intelligence side of the assassination. Yet, Sora proved again and again that such stereotypes were never to be trusted. Along with the four knives and two pistols he carried, Sora’s true weapon of choice was none other than a Rheinmetall MG 3. Oh how he loved that thing and the destruction it could cause. I could see the smirk on Sora’s face in my mind’s eye at 3’s recoil from his gun. I couldn’t dwell on it too long though, for my opening was now or never.

Like a devil in a white city, I struck my victim where he would have no chance of survival. My scope lined up with his heart, I only needed to pull the trigger once before the man crumbled. 1 immediately took notice on the lack of firepower and spotted my smoking gun as the source. He prepared to fire on me when a barrage of bullets sprayed down on him from the ruined clocktower. 1 couldn’t take all the hits and toppled like a weighted tree. It wasn’t the ideal setup to have 2 last, but I could deal. He was the easiest to take down. I shifted my aim to 2’s heart when I felt my pulse quicken.

Something was off with this guy. I realized something. 2 hadn’t made a move this whole time. Usually they served as backup for 1 and 3, but 2 had not done that at all since 1 and 3 had begun their assault. Even now, his attire left him a mystery. A dark green cloaked covered all of him, hiding any indication we could get about his weapons, defense, or body structure. That was strange, way out of the ordinary. This was bad. Very bad. The Précis clan was up to something. I sucked in a breath and prepared to aim when 2 moved and I saw the glint of sun on metal. My blood ran cold as I recognized the weapon he was wielding.

“Everyone retreat to cover!” I yelled at the top of my lungs as I darted to the base of the clocktower. I barely made it in time when I heard the loud whining then rapid fire of bullets. No wonder they had kept him hidden. The Précis clan had come packing a M134 Minigun. I flinched as I heard screams and yells erupt from everywhere as the bullets rained out of the minigun. All the while, 2 was laughing at the agony he was causing.

“Raven! Are you all right down there?” Sora called from a few floors above.

“Yes, I’m fine!” I yelled back. There was no way 2 could hear us over his minigun. “We have to take out his minigun, Sora!”

“Yeah!” Sora yelled above the sound of bullets ripping into a nearby building. “But how? These clans don’t usually pack this much firepower! I’ve never faced a minigun before.” I had, in practice, but never in the field. In the field, it was an entirely different place too. Thus, this meant we were facing another battle entirely. How we were going to disable the minigun to take out 2?

I instinctively ducked as I heard the minigun’s bullets shred through the ruined clocktower. As the sound pounded against my skull, an idea sprung from the pain. As soon as the bullets moved on, I lifted up my head and called out to Sora.

“Sora! I’m going to move to the next building over to get a vantage point. When I signal you, shoot for the minigun, but be prepared to flee if necessary. I’m going to take him out while he’s distracted.”

“Okay! That’s crazy enough that it just might work!” Standing up and shouldering my rifle, I ran through the lower floor of the ruined clocktower. For a brief second, as I traveled between buildings, I was in the open again, but 2 failed to notice me. As soon as I was inside the next building, I bolted for the stairs and climbed all the way to the top floor. I passed dead, injured, and terrified assassins as I climbed. None of them tried to stop me, but I could feel them uttering prayers as they saw me run towards my doom. So be it. As I reached the top floor, I spotted the best vantage point. It was currently inhabited by the body of a dead assassin. I ran over and moved the body, recognizing the individual as the Equestrian McNair, best known for her assassination on horseback. I sighed and laid her body down nearby, giving a sign of the cross before sliding into the spot she had been. Her weapon was nowhere to be found and I didn’t doubt if you looked at the ground below you’d find it. Snug in my spot, I aimed at 2 through my scope then let out a high pitched whistle.

2 immediately spun towards me, his mistake. Sora’s bullets launched from the clocktower, slamming into 2’s side, arms, and minigun. 2 cried out in pain, blood erupting from his wounds. He turned back towards Sora and I heard the minigun let out a sharp whine as I spun into position. It was damaged but not out of commission. 2 now had his back to me, and I fired. He tumbled like a pile of logs and the battle was finally over.