The gravel and dirt ground together as she shifted. The sound seemed the loudest thing she’d ever heard. Every pop and crackle of her armor against the earth made her more tense.
“You’re thinking about it too hard. I’ve seen you move up behind a target on two feet without a sound. I know you can move silently on your belly too.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
“Take a break from that. Come over here and set up. Target is east in that valley.”
Pen picked herself up and moved to Ash. East looked down from their position into a large valley. A small makeshift training ground sprouted up from the valley bed. She pulled the sniper rifle out of its case, extended the monopod from the buttstock and the bipod from the lower receiver, and settled back down on the ground. Ash sat to her left and lifted the range finder to her eyes.
“Shooter ready?”
“Ready”
“Target is 1,070 meters. Standing by a blue building. Seen?”
“Seen.”
“Large rock directly to their left?”
“… Not a rock, a shrub.”
“Good.”
“Target has two holes in it.”
“Fou- five holes.”
“Good.”
“Distance is 1,070 meters. Elevation is 130 meters. That’s all I’m giving you today. You don’t have a DOPE so what’s the math.”
“Wind is 5 kph, temperature is negligible, gravity is half ES so will have less effect on the higher caliber...”
She spent a moment going through the math and made adjustments to the scope, praying she had all this down.
“Okay.”
“What are you aiming for?”
“Center mass.”
“Let’s say they’re wearing body armor and in a vehicle.”
“12.7 by 99mm won’t care.”
“Correct. Let’s see your math. Send it.”
Penelope took in a breath, relaxing her body as she exhaled. As the last bit of air left her lungs she squeezed the trigger. The crack of the rifle was followed by the echoing of the bullet breaking the sound barrier. The kickback of the powerful rifle almost surprised her but she kept her attention on the target. Ash was watching on the rangefinder.
It took just under a full second before a third gravelly kick echoed, though it took a few seconds longer before it reached back to the two of them. The bullet struck just past the intended target.
“Excellent shot Pen.”
“Really?” She looked through the scope trying to refocus on the target.
“No, you missed.”
“…fuck.”
Ash chuckled.
“Don’t worry, for a first go of things you did well. You didn’t master close combat in a week, and you won’t master this in a week either. Just remember. You’re used to instinct and improvisation. Quick thinking. This is different. It’s a checklist, math. You take your time, check each box in order, and you’ll hit your target.”
Pen sighed.
“You’ll get it. Now, let’s pack this shit up. Captain’s expecting us back.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
---
Pen sat in her room. They would drop out of FTL soon and she’d see what this little colony was all about. She flipped the small disc in her hand before setting it on a shelf at chest level and tapping it twice. She took a few steps back and waited for the light.
She saluted.
“This is former Captain Penelope Aster. Identification number A238. I will be including a biometric scan to confirm my identity. I make this message to confirm the claims of one Captain Deag of The Blue Nebula and her crew as to the contents of the three crates being delivered back into Terran hands. A detailed inventory of the recovered crates will be included at the end of this message. I found the crates aboard a smuggling vessel of some kind along with an operational defense turret that I was, thankfully, able to deactivate. I can confirm that the turret has been disposed of with the scuttling of the smuggler’s ship as per retrieval/denial protocols. The crates I recommended be returned to the UEMC and the Captain has agreed to carry this out in good faith. On a more personal note, I recommend highly that this accounting be turned over to MP’s and an investigation into how such equipment found its way out of our hands, and to where it was headed, be launched. Thank you.”
She gave another salute before stepping forward and ending the recording. After adding the biometrics and her inventory of the crates, she slipped the recorder into her pocket to give to Deag. Only a few moments later did she hear the increased thrumming of the engine and the minor tremors as the ship dropped out of FTL.
Penelope looked over to her neatly packed things before heading out of her room for the bridge.
---
Deag watched his console as the ship dropped into the Raxian system. He engaged sub-light engines and set a course for the colony. Given the point they dropped out of FTL it shouldn’t take too long to make planetfall.
“Gareth, go ahead and inform the colony we’re on approach. We can open a communication with them once were closer.”
“I’ve already sent the message. They should already be expecting us but I’ll let you know when they respond.”
The door to the bridge slid open and Penelope walked over to Deag before she took to her station. She didn’t say anything but she slipped the recording disc from her pocket and set it on the arm of Deag’s chair.
“… Thanks Pen.”
“Of course. They’ll treat you fine. A nice tidy reward, I’m sure.”
Deag nodded and Pen moved over to her console.
The ship sailed towards the planet. Its engines were silent in the void of space but their reverberations could be felt through the hull. After a few minutes, Gareth spoke up.
“Um Captain… the colony still has not responded.” Concern dotted his voice.
“Not entirely unusual, no?”
“Generally, but they responded to our pre jump ping quickly. In system, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes even with older comms technology.”
“Are we within range to establish direct communication?”
“It’ll be spotty but yes.”
“Hail the colony then.”
“Hailing…”
They waited but no response came. The Nebula closed on the planet.
“I’ve hailed multiple times now, still no response.”
“Broken communications system maybe? Or a loss of power? They have us hauling energy cells but they didn’t make it sound like they were in dire straights or anything.” Deag lifted a paw to his head ponderingly.
“They didn’t say anything about running low on power?” Pen asked.
“No, nothing of the sort. And they didn’t strike me as the sort to not mention their desperation in fear of us upping the price or anything. The Tinsne know I would never do something like that.”
Just as he finished his thought, an incoming hail from the colony lit up Gareth’s console.
“Here we go Sir.”
A claw tapped the screen and a black square showed there was no video coming through. A voice could be heard though and it was clearly distressed.
“Ssss… I… I cant establishhh a video connection but I don’t have time. Please, please you have to help us.”
“What’s wrong? What’s happening? We have the energy cells, we can land-” Deag started.
“NO! No, do not land. We’re under attack. Pirates. I don’t have much time. Some went into the town but the rest are carving their way through the spaceport. Please, you must make contact with the nearest patrol, but they will need proper armaments. The frames have been… I don’t know what but they’re lethal beyond imagination. Please! They aren’t even demanding anything, they just started killing… what was… Silence have m… you’re a H-”
A cacophony of pops came through followed by silence as the transmission was terminated.
The bridge sat in silence for a moment as they processed what they’d heard. Gareth spoke first jumping into action.
“Sending out a distress signal. A Tinsne patrol should be able to pick it up. They’ll come running…”
Deag looked gravely at Penelope who only returned the look.
“What? Gareth asked.
“That wasn’t the sound of an energy weapon…” Deag responded.
“That was the sound of standard issue TAR in full auto. 5.56 rounds.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we have a crate full of them in our cargo hold and I’ve been on the wrong end of them too many times to count. I know that popping sound.”
Deag stood from his chair and began pacing around it.
“How long till a sufficiently armed patrol can get here?”
“Not soon enough… not ever actually. There is nothing a patrol could do against that kind of weaponry Deag. They’d be slaughtered.” Pen stood.
“Pen what else is there? A full military response would take far longer. I don’t know how humans do it but it would take cycles for the Tinsne’s standing military to get here. We can’t wait that long.” Gareth’s frills were practically flapping.
“I’m not suggesting we do.”
“Pen, I don’t like that look… what are you thinking?”
“Oh, I don’t know… I have a hunch. I think we may be able to finish a certain Tinsne smuggler ship’s delivery?”