Book Marksman: Chapter 5: When the Going Gets Tough.

Next installment of the Marksman series.

Omega Team has been recruited into Spectre Division, a special decision of U.S Special Forces dedicated to off the books black ops operations. They must agree to disappearing off the face of the earth, but can they make that decision?

Marksman: Chapter 5: When the going gets tough.

Soulless stared down the scope of the rifle, and double checked that the crosshairs were still where he had them. He nudged them over to the right a bit, where the target's left lung and heart would usually be. His trigger hand tightened around the pistol grip of the rifle, his other around the bipod of the rifle.

Breathe. He moved his finger into the trigger, but didn't begin to press, for fear that the custom trigger would go off at the slightest touch, as it was designed to.

Exhale. The crosshairs fell a little below the spot Soulless was aiming for.

Inhale. The sights rose again, a little above the target again.

Exhale, slowly. The crosshairs falling through the target zone slowly.

Soulless squeezed the trigger.

The rifle kicked against his shoulder, but the gunshot was only a small crack, the suppressor on the end of the barrel effectively silencing the blast. Downrange, the dummy shuddered, part of its back blowing out. The fragmentation round had shattered on impact, driving its shards into points throughout the dummy's body, including its fake heart and lung. The console next to Soulless dinged, and he looked at the results. Two pieces of the round had pierced the heart, and four had shredded the lung. A lethal shot.

Soulless, satisfied of his new MSR'a accuracy, opened the bolt, letting the empty casing spiral through the air and clatter to the ground.

---------------
Two days earlier. . .

Soulless sat down into Spectre Division, a special decision of U.S Special Forces dedicated to off the books black ops operations. Can they adapt to the new rules in time to survive?

Marksman: Chapter 5: When the going gets tough.

Soulless stared down the scope of the rifle, and double checked that the crosshairs were still where he had them. He nudged them over to the right a bit, where the target's left lung and heart would usually be. His trigger hand tightened around the pistol grip of the rifle, his other around the bipod of the rifle.

Breathe. He moved his finger into the trigger, but didn't begin to press, for fear that the custom trigger would go off at the slightest touch, as it was designed to.

Exhale. The crosshairs fell a little below the spot Soulless was aiming for.

Inhale. The sights rose again, a little above the target again.

Exhale, slowly. The crosshairs falling through the target zone slowly.

Soulless squeezed the trigger.

The rifle kicked against his shoulder, but the gunshot was only a small crack, the suppressor on the end of the barrel effectively silencing the blast. Downrange, the dummy shuddered, part of its back blowing out. The fragmentation round had shattered on impact, driving its shards into points throughout the dummy's body, including its fake heart and lung. The console next to Soulless dinged, and he looked at the results. Two pieces of the round had pierced the heart, and four had shredded the lung. A lethal shot.

Soulless, satisfied of his new MSR'a accuracy, opened the bolt, letting the empty casing spiral through the air and clatter to the ground.

---------------
Two days earlier. . .

Soulless sat down in the briefing room. He was wearing fresh fatigues, and a new Kevlar assault vest. He had his combat gloves cleaned of all the dust, dirt, and grime he had picked up from his time in Afghanistan. His Glock 17 was sitting in his holster, cleaned and oiled. It had a new red dot sight mounted on top.

He had been waiting in the room for the past 5 minutes after he received a note ordering him to this room with the access code for the door. The note wasn't signed.

He had found his way to the door and used the access code. The door, reinforced with titanium steel, locked behind him.

The room had a separate oak door on the wall opposite to the reinforced one. Soulless was facing the oak one. Two chairs were on the other side of the metal table. They were empty.

Suddenly, the oak door opened. Three men stepped through, two of which Soulless recognized. The first was a man in a suit and tie carrying a briefcase. The next two were the lieutenant that had met Soulless at his team's base in Afghanistan, and the second was Leko. Leko stood by the door, his arms clasped behind his back. The lieutenant and man, who Soulless dubbed Suit, sat down.

“Seargent." Suit said, extending a hand. Soulless shook it, and nodded to the lieutenant, who nodded in return.

“So." Suit said, opening his briefcase and retrieving a file and recorder. “How would you define the term, ‘black ops' sergeant?"

Soulless noted that Suit had activated the recorder. “Off the books operations that are dirty but necessary."

“Very good." Suit said, opening the file and passing it over to Soulless. “Is all of the information this file contains current and accurate?"

Soulless flipped it open. It contained a photo of him, his age, weight, hometown, family names, rank, Social Security Number, the works. These guys had done their homework. “Yes."

“Good." Suit took the file and placed it back into his suitcase. “Seargent, we've been interested in you and your team for a while now. Your recent operation in Afghanistan is what caught our attention first. A little digging revealed more."

“Then you must have heard of the fiasco off the Aleutian Islands." Soulless said carefully.

“Sadly, yes, and I extend my deepest sympathies for your lost men, but that isn't why we are here today."

That was a surprise. “Then why are we here, sir?"

Suit smiled. “To offer you a job."

Soulless blinked. He was already a member of the newly formed U.S Special Forces, who were more elite than the Navy SEAL teams in some cases. Why the hell would he ever want to leave?

“Would you mind elaborating on this, sir?"

Suit looked to the lieutenant. “I have already had similar talks with your teammates, and they have all agreed of their free will, without knowing their teammates opinions. I'm not doing this to tell you that your buddies joined, so you should to, but just to let you know we aren't giving this opportunity to solely you. Plus," he said. “we're a little short on snipers of your caliber."

“So what would this job entail?"

“Firstly, you disappear. Are marked KIA and a letter is sent to your family describing your death and notifying them of failed efforts to recover your body. You are then wiped from the U.S Special Forces database completely. And I don't mean we drag your file to the trash bin and empty it. We clear it completely. No evidence that you ever existed other than a dog tag tally and a bright red KIA marking."

“On the other hand." Suit said, continuing the explanation. “You receive fourty thousand dollars a month for however long you serve, deposited into a separate account, which is then transferred to a personal account of your choosing, plus a twenty thousand dollar monthly payment for life as a thank you bonus."

Soulless nodded, but inside, he was screaming in surprise. That was a #%$@ ton of money, and for the rest of his service and life too.

“You will be sent to our personal base, which is, coincidentally, just north of the Arctic Circle, in Alaska, which happens to be your home state." The lieutenant said. “There, you will train with your new equipment and weapons, before you are deployed as an actual team."

Soulless mulled it over. His friends and family would think him dead, and he would have no way to tell them he wasn't, but on the other hand, it was a lot of money, which would have him set for the rest of his life, and he would still be serving his country. He would be doing something meaningful.

“If you need time to think, sergeant, then we can give it to you. We are in no hurry."

“No." He said suddenly. “I have decided. I will join you."

“Excellent." Suit said. “Preparations for your departure will begin immediately. Leave this room and speak to no one. Head to your bunk in the barracks and grab your essential belongings, and meet in Room 236B. We will be waiting."

Soulless stood and the door behind him opened. Suit gestured, and he turned and left.

Walking down the hall, he noted that soldiers were going about their business. Several acknowledged him, but, complying with his orders, Soulless did not return the greetings. Instead, he proceeded swiftly but calmly past.

He arrived at his quarters and grabbed his iPad, watch, wallet, and AR-15. He also grabbed his small backpack that hung by the door on the way out, and began to make his way towards Room 236B.

Soon he was staring at the door to Room 236B. He swiped his access card and the door opened. Inside was the lieutenant, standing next to Leko. As Soulless stepped inside the door, he noted two guards standing against the wall the door was set into. On the table the lieutenant and Leko were standing behind sat a new pair of black fatigues, a backpack, and a new Glock 17 in a holster. Soulless picked it up and raised an eyebrow.

“I know, you already have one, but this one is custom made for you. Precision laser-cut barrel, match grade triggers and firing pins, red dot with customizable colors and shapes, and more."

Soulless picked it up and set his own Glock on the table.

“Change into those fatigues and follow us out." Leko instructed as the lieutenant turned to leave. “There will be a pair of Blackhawks waiting on helipad four. Get in one. I don't care which."

Leko turned and left, quickly followed by the guards.

Soulless removed his top camouflage shirt and donned the black one. He then put on the top jacket, and changed the pants, and then began tying the laced on his new black combat boots.

Finally, he strapped the new Glock onto his right thigh, so his hand would hang right next to the grip of the pistol.

Grabbing his AR and his backpack, Soulless, wearing his new black fatigues, stepped out the wooden door, and found himself on the edge of the aircraft zone for the base.

Over on helipad four, Soulless spotted two Blackhawks spinning up, the crew and passengers all wearing black fatigues. Soulless began to walk towards it, passing random soldiers as he did. Many looked at him, then looked over his black garb, and looked at Soulless curiously again, but he stayed focused on the Blackhawks.

He reached one of them and jumped in, and found himself sitting among his teammates, who were all carrying small backpacks and their rifles, wearing the same black fatigues as him. Even Rock was there, looking strange out of his pilot's gear and in the black clothing of an operator, had an M4 and a backpack. He was now officially a member of Omega team.

The lieutenant came over. “Before we take off and head to the airfield, there's one thing I need you all to do."

He raised a bag full of what seemed to be detonators. Each was labeled with one of Omega team's members names. “Take the one assigned to you. Pressing it will begin a purge, clearing your data from the U.S Special Forces system. You will, effectively, cease to exist."

Soulless tooled the bag and reached in, grabbing his detonator, and then passed the bag around. Looking at his detonator, he noted there was nothing special about it other than a loop of wire with a tag that had Soulless' name engraved into it.

Soulless looked up at the rest of his teammates. They were looking at the detonators in their hands.

Then Dark clicked his.

He was followed by Titanium and Platinum, then Rock, then Evil. The detonators beeped once and then remained silent.

His teammates looked at him.

“Well." He muttered. “Here goes."

He clicked the detonator, and his new life began.

Thanks for reading guys!

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@MR_EVIL_OVERLORD
@TheTitaniumTitan
@ThePlatinumTitan
@rocktomb34
@Lekosa1
@The mysterious lieutenant, who will be revealed in the next chapter ;>

 

Sorry >,<

Thanks guys! New character coming to the series next chapter (lieutenant) and another random feature. Keep your eyes peeled!

You know who you are silly