Due to a good suggestion from DC20, author of Flashpoint (which, DC20, is awesome, BTW), I've reuploaded all seven chapters with some modifications, primarily relating to distance. Note that I've researched these rifle ranges; they're all reasonable.
Overall, it shouldn't be a major issue. Your reviews will still apply properly. Still, enjoy these Chapter V2.0's.
Chapter 1: Failure
A flock of birds chirped as they flew over Fort Amatriain, located in central Gallia. The base was filled with militia soldiers going about their daily tasks. At one end of the base was the shooting range, a large open expanse of dirt lined with targets. It was unpopulated at the moment, save for one soldier.
Standing in front of a small wooden fence, Corporal Marina Wulfstan took aim at a target board spaced about 300 meters away. The 24-year-old sniper was a pale individual with jet black hair, part of which covered the left of her two violet eyes. Slim in figure, Marina was considered by many to be a beauty, but her personality and reputation were enough to keep potential wooers away.
Slowly squeezing the trigger of her GSR-XX, Marina fired, sending a sniper bullet right through the exact middle of her target. Upon reloading, Marina took aim at another target, this one 325 meters away. Again, her shot went through the exact middle. For three more shots, the cycle repeated, though the targets became progressively more and more distant.
As Marina slid open the loading chamber of her rifle for another shot, she heard someone whistling behind her, obviously impressed with her marksmanship. Turning, she saw Squad Seven's war correspondent, Irene Ellet, leaning against a wooden column. She had her trademark notepad and a fresh pencil in hand.
Ellet then said, "You know, with a shot like that, you'd make a pretty good photographer."
Ignoring Ellet's remark, Marina loaded her rifle and took aim at another target, 425 meters away. Her rifle cracked loudly as she fired, hitting the target squarely in the middle. Again, Ellet whistled, impressed by Marina's accuracy. She hadn't even used the scope of the rifle, which lay on a nearby table.
"Not bad, not bad," said Ellet.
Marina ignored Ellet as she turned to Squad Seven's mascot, Hans, and said, "Hans, more ammo."
"Moink moink."
Hans scurried off to get some more sniper rounds for Marina. As the porcavian went out of sight, Marina heard Ellet ask, "Mind me asking where you learned to shoot like that?"
Marina didn't even turn an eye to Ellet, discretely showing she did mind. But at that moment, another woman's voice said, "That'd be due to her father."
Turning, Marina saw a fellow Squad Seven sniper, Catherine O'Hara, come out from behind a fence. The 35-year-old EWI veteran was a pale woman with dark brown hair, though one could tell just by looking at her that she had a troubled past. Marina had known Catherine ever since she was a little girl; Catherine had been something of a godmother to Marina since her childhood.
"Her father?" Ellet asked Catherine.
"Marcus Wulfstan," Catherine answered. "He was a comrade of mine in the First War. The Sniper Wolf of EWI. Damn good shot. Had over a hundred kills by the end of the war."
"I see…" said Ellet, now intrigued and writing notes in her notepad. Turning to Marina, who was now seated on a wooden footstool, Ellet said, "Care to comment?"
Again, Marina didn't answer, but turned a cold stare at Ellet to silence her. Ellet was left visibly sweating at this glance.
"She's never liked talking about him," Catherine said to Ellet. "Not since he died ten years ago."
This remark provoked a scornful stare from Marina directed at Catherine. Catherine did not waver to this; she was used to being a hated friend, of sorts.
At that moment, Hans returned with a small box of sniper rounds balanced on his back. Marina bent down and took the rounds from Hans, and then patted the porcavian behind his ears. She then loaded a round into her rifle and took aim at a target. This one was 450 meters away.
Ellet then said, "You know, compared to the others, she seems to be holding up pretty well."
Catherine knew what Ellet meant. With a sigh, she said, "We all miss her, Irene. Isara… she was…"
At that very moment, Marina fired another shot. But barely a second later had an audible, yet quiet gasp slipped from her lips. Her shot had missed completely and had hit a tree that was behind the target.
"…Dammit…" Marina cursed.
Marina's misfire came as a shock to Catherine. In all the battles they had fought together in, Catherine had not once seen Marina miss. In addition, the look of shock on Marina's face was one Catherine was not accustomed to.
"Marina…?"
Grimacing, Marina said, "…How could I miss…?"
"What's this? The great Marina Wulfstan has lost her edge?" said a snide male voice.
Turning to the source, Marina, Catherine and Ellet saw another sniper, Cezary Regard, walk onto the scene. The 23-year-old male sniper had gray hair and blue eyes. His gaunt face was reminiscent of a serpent. Neither Marina nor Catherine was pleased to see Cezary; he made a point of being one of Squad Seven's more disliked members.
"Knew it would happen eventually," Cezary taunted. "I'm just glad I got to see it when it did."
"…"
"Not gonna say anything? Tch, pathetic…"
"Knock it off, Cezary," said Catherine. "Everyone misses at some point."
"Sure, sure. But Marina here only seems to miss when it counts."
Marina glared at Cezary for this remark; what he had just said was like a slap to the face. "…Shut up…" Marina hissed, yet she did not show her anger.
"What's that? Must've hit a soft spot."
"Cezary, that's enough!" Catherine nearly shouted. "She did everything she could in that battle!"
"And despite all that, it still wasn't enough. When push came to shove, I wouldn't have choked like she did. I wouldn't have missed."
"…Shut up…" Marina hissed again, glaring at Cezary.
"Or maybe… maybe you didn't choke in the first place. Maybe you meant to miss…"
"Shut up!" Marina said in an uncharacteristic tone of anger. At that same instant, she drew her pistol, a Colt .45, and pointed it at Cezary's head. This action frightened Hans, who squealed as he scurried away.
"What's going on over here?" shouted another voice.
The three snipers turned to see Welkin, Rosie, Largo, and Captain Varrot walk onto the scene. Largo was the one who had spoken.
"Corporal Wulfstan, holster your weapon immediately!" shouted Varrot.
"…" Marina complied with the order and holstered her gun.
"You had better have a good explanation for this."
"She was provoked, Elle," said Catherine. "The things Cezary said were completely out of order."
"That may be, but it does not justify pointing a gun at a comrade."
"…Not my fault…" Marina mumbled, strangely distressed.
"Marina? What is it?" asked Rosie.
"I– I tried not to miss, but… dammit, Isara… I couldn't save her…"
Marina turned away from everyone else so they couldn't see her face, but everyone could tell she was in pain. Catherine walked up to her and put a hand on the sniper's shoulder.
"It's not your fault, Marina," said Catherine.
"Don't fool yourself," said Cezary. "We all know she's to blame. She had a perfect shot at that sniper, and she botched it. Missed his head by an inch. Like I said, she can't take the pressure when push comes to shove."
"Marina did everything she could, Cezary!" Rosie snapped.
"And her best didn't cut it, Stark. If it had been me in that spot, I wouldn't have missed. I never miss."
Cezary spun on his heel and turned to leave. But as he did, he was suddenly stopped by Welkin, which came as a surprise to the others.
"Do you mind, boss?" Cezary said to Welkin.
"Cezary, how do you know so much about this?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You just said Marina missed the sniper by an inch. How do you know that?"
Cezary suddenly became strangely nervous. It was as Welkin thought; he was hiding something from them.
Holding up the microphone to her recorder, Ellet said, "Care to clarify on this little fact?"
"I… uh…" Cezary was clearly stalling.
"Private Regard, you will answer Lieutenant Gunther's question," said Varrot.
"Start talking, you little weasel," said Largo as he loomed over Cezary in an intimidating fashion.
"You saw him too, didn't you?" said Marina, getting the attention of the others. She had recollected her stoic disposition. "You saw that sniper, but you didn't shoot him. You knew he was going after Isara, but you didn't take him out."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Cezary said vehemently.
"I saw you, Cezary. I saw you lower your rifle, so I had to take the shot. If you had taken him out, Isara wouldn't have died."
The others were stunned by Marina's accusation, though Ellet was also delighted by the intriguing story. She made sure to get every word on her recorder.
"And it's not the first time," Marina continued. "Back when we took the Vasel Bridge, I had to save Nadine because you didn't take out a sniper that was targeting her. And in Barious, you let a group of scouts sneak up on Wavy and Karl."
"That's outrageous!" Cezary snarled.
"And what about what you tried to pull at Fouzen?"
Cezary's eyes shot wide open at this. He almost looked scared at what Marina was going to say next.
"When Vyse's group was evacuating the Darcsen camps, you tried to shoot them as they were fleeing."
This produced several audible gasps from the others.
"You're crazy!" said Cezary.
"Am I? Maybe that broken scope of yours will say otherwise. I had to shoot it out to stop you. I hear you blamed a mortar round for it. Nice cover story."
Cezary was visibly sweating at this point. Now angry, Welkin said to Cezary, "Is this all true?"
Cezary knew he was caught. His expression suddenly turned snide as he said, "What can I say? I say less dark hairs in the world would be a good thing."
Everyone was dumbstruck by Cezary's words, even Ellet.
"That Imp did me quite a favor, actually," Cezary continued. "That oily little brat really got on my nerves."
"You… you bastard!" Rosie screamed as she stormed up to Cezary and punched him in the face. As she continued attacking Cezary, Rosie screamed, "How could you let her die? How could you, you bastard?"
Largo was forced to pull a crazed Rosie away from Cezary to keep her from killing him barehanded. "Rosie, knock it off!" Largo shouted commandingly. "This isn't gonna bring the kid back!"
Cezary pushed himself to his feet as he hissed, "Ach, crazy bitch!"
"Cezary!" Welkin said angrily, yet without shouting. As the sniper turned to him, Welkin said, "I have put up with your attitude so far because you have skill. But what you have just said crossed the line."
"Tch, so the kid got killed. Boohoo. That's war for you."
"That may be, but you had an obligation to this squad to protect your teammates, regardless of their heritage!"
"I only follow one obligation, boss, and that's to me."
"Is that how it is? Fine… Cezary Regard, by my authority as leader of Squad Seven, you are hereby dishonorably discharged from the squad, effective immediately."
"Say what?"
"You heard me. I want you out of my squad, immediately! I don't care what you do with your life, but I'll have no part in it."
"So that's it, huh? Booted out for following my beliefs? Tch, damn Darcsen-lover…" Spinning on his heel, Cezary said, "Fine, I was getting sick of you too, Gunther. I'm outta here."
Cezary barely took a step before Captain Varrot said, "Not so fast, Private Regard."
"What, you have a problem too, Captain?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. What I've heard of your actions borders on treason."
"You've got to be kidding me." Pointing at Marina, Cezary said, "You actually believe what she's saying? She has no proof!"
"Whether or not I believe her is beside the point. Until a formal investigation has been conducted, I am placing you under house arrest according to military law."
"What? You can't do that!"
"I can and will, Mr. Regard, until we figure out whether or not you are guilty of such accusations. You are to be confined to the barracks until further notice."
Cezary wanted to argue the issue, but he knew he had no choice. As he turned to leave, he took a furious glare at Marina, who stared back at him with her uncovered violet eye. She could tell that he was blaming her for his predicament, but she felt that he deserved such a punishment.
As Cezary stormed off, muttering angrily to himself, Welkin let out a deep sigh. Largo, who had finished calming down Rosie, asked, "You alright with this, boss? Just kicking him out of the squad like that?"
"It would do no good to resort to violence," said Welkin. "Besides, this is the best way I can think of to honor what Is was trying to accomplish. I can't change his views… and to be honest, I don't think anyone can…"
"Lieutenant, I'll need your help with the investigation," said Varrot. Then, turning to Marina, she added, "Corporal Wulfstan, I will need you to come to my office in an hour to provide an official testimony."
"Understood," Marina said simply.
Varrot then walked off in the direction of the command center with Welkin in tow. As the two left, Ellet said, "Well, it certainly isn't front page news, but it's a scoop nonetheless." She then left the area, leaving Marina, Catherine, Largo and Rosie at the shooting range.
Marina slumped down on a wooden stool with a sigh. The others could tell that ratting Cezary out hadn't been easy for her, despite how easy it was to hate him.
"Marina?" said Catherine. "Are you–"
"Leave me alone…" Marina interrupted silently.
Not wanting to disturb her further, the others decided to leave together. Marina spent the next half-hour sitting at the shooting range, but fired no more shots.
A few minutes after her testimony to Captain Varrot, Marina was walking to the mess hall of the barracks. She had told the Captain most of what she had already revealed, though this time it would be on record.
Marina had gone into much greater detail in her testimony of the events using the maps of the combat zones, citing where she had been and where Cezary had been at the times of his crimes. It wasn't enough to get a conviction, though Varrot told Marina that it was a start. Welkin, however, was getting the final piece of the puzzle: the damaged sniper scope Cezary had used at Fouzen.
Knowing Cezary would likely go to prison for his crimes gave Marina a mixed set of feelings. As a soldier, Cezary was undoubtedly lethal as a sniper. But as a person, he was no less than despicable. He clearly deserved to pay for his crimes, but although Marina hated him, she wasn't sure Gallia could afford to lose such a skilled soldier.
As Marina entered the mess hall, she saw many of the other Sevens chatting amongst each other. But as she passed, some of them gave Marina odd glances. It didn't take her long to realize they had heard about Cezary.
"Marina!" shouted a familiar voice.
Marina turned to see Edy Nelson, Homer Peron, Kevin Abbott, and Knute Jung approaching her. Kevin and Knute were friends of Cezary's, though they didn't share his anti-Darcsen sentiments.
"Marina, we heard from Catherine," said Edy. "Is it true? Did Cezary–"
"Yeah… it's true," Marina replied.
"I– I can't believe he'd do such a thing," said Kevin. "E– Even for someone like him."
"A real shame," said Knute. "Such potential all gone to waste."
"Oh, don't give us that crap, Knute!" Edy said harshly. "He had it coming!"
"Miss Edy, please calm down," said Homer. "There's no need to– UGH!"
Edy had slugged Homer in the gut due to his interruption, though Marina knew the engineer enjoyed such punishment.
"Homer, please, I'm ranting!" Edy snapped. Then, turning back to Knute, she continued, "That Cezary is such a jerk! I hope the Captain throws the book at him!" Then, turning to Marina, Edy asked, "She will, right?"
"I guess so…" said Marina.
"Oh good! One less pain in the butt is something we all need right now!"
As Edy continued her ranting, Marina walked away from the group and headed toward a table. But on the way, she saw Cezary glaring angrily at her from a table in the corner of the mess hall. She glanced back at him, but didn't stop walking.
As Marina walked on, Cezary stormed toward her, brushing past Freesia York and Montley Leonard. Before Marina could reach her destination, Cezary had grabbed her by the wrist.
"You've got some nerve, you know that?" Cezary hissed. "I'm facing a life sentence because you decided to fink on me!"
"…"
"Tch, guess I shouldn't have expected otherwise from Gallia's ace sniper. You can't stand having your thunder stolen, so you decide to take out the competition! That's what this is about, huh?"
"…"
Marina stayed silent as she glared at Cezary, and then tugged her wrist free of Cezary's grip. She then continued walking away from him.
Infuriated, Cezary forcefully seized Marina by the back of her collar and shouted, "You think I'm done yet, Wulfstan?"
The other Sevens were shocked by Cezary's actions. But before anyone could pull the two snipers apart, Marina had thrust an elbow into Cezary's gut, stunning him. Recovering as he stumbled backwards, Cezary drew a knife from his belt. Susie Evans screamed as Cezary took a stab at Marina, who knocked his arm to the side. She then twisted his arm, causing Cezary to yelp in pain as he dropped the knife, and then thrust an elbow to his chest, knocking him back.
"Errgh! You BITCH!" Cezary shouted.
Before Cezary could try anything else, though, Marina pulled out her pistol and aimed for Cezary's head. Cezary smartly stayed put, knowing Marina could shoot at a moment's notice. He was visibly sweating.
"…You make a move…" Marina said as she cocked the hammer on her gun. "And I'll put a bullet in your head. Got it?"
For a short moment, the mess hall was silent as everyone stared at Marina and Cezary. The silence was soon broken by Welkin and Alicia, who pushed their way through the crowd.
"What's going on here?" Alicia demanded. "Marina, what are you–"
"Cezary started it!" shouted Oscar Bielert. "He tried to kill her!"
Alicia and Welkin then saw Cezary's knife on the floor. Alicia moved to recover the knife as Vyse Inglebard and Alex Raymond trained their weapons on Cezary, who had put his hands behind his head.
Seconds later, Cezary was being led away from the mess hall by Noce Wordsworth and Hannes Salinger. As they dragged him off, he turned toward Marina and said, "This isn't over. Someday, somehow, I'll get you for this, Wulfstan!"
"Shut up!" growled Noce. "Keep moving!"
The members of Squad Seven watched as Cezary was hauled away. Taking a deep sigh, Marina holstered her pistol.
"Wow, what a jerk…" said Audrey Heitinga. "He's gonna get soooo busted."
"You said it," replied Ramona Linton. "I mean, he's gonna spend the rest of his life in jail or something, ya know? And he's so ruuude."
The squad became alive in conversation at what had transpired. Minutes later, Rosie and Catherine emerged from the crowd and approached Marina, who had sat down at a table.
"Are you alright, Marina?" asked a concerned Catherine.
"…"
"We'll take that as a yes," said Rosie.
"Is everything alright?" said Welkin as he and Alicia walked up to the three.
"As far as I can tell, boss."
"That's a relief," said Alicia.
"I never thought Cezary would try something like this," said Welkin. "Makes me wish I'd never brought him into Squad Seven in the first place."
"Welkin, don't say stuff like that," said Alicia. "It's not your fault this happened."
"I actually agree with the boss, Alicia," said Rosie. "Honestly, I'll be glad if I never see that weasel again."
"I don't think Marina will get such a comfort, Rosie," said Catherine.
"What do you mean?"
"If Cezary goes to trial for all this, Marina will have to testify against him," answered Welkin. "Marina–"
"If it comes to that, I will," said Marina.
"I'm sorry you had to be put through all this, Marina. I guess Isara's death hit us harder than we thought. Please, get some rest. We could all use it."
"…"
As Marina got up to leave, Welkin added, "And Marina… what happened to Is wasn't your fault. I know you did everything you could."
Marina said nothing, but Welkin could tell she was thankful. She left the mess hall without another word.
For several minutes, Marina walked through the corridors of the barracks. As she did, she suddenly heard a high pitched squealing sound coming down an adjacent hallway. Seconds later, Hans came scurrying around the corner, squealing loudly. Marina knelt down to face the porcavian piglet.
"Hans… what's wrong…?"
"Moink-oink moink! Moink!"
Hans quickly turned around and scurried back in the direction he had come from. Marina followed the piglet around several turns and down a flight of stairs. Then, on reaching the bottom of the stairs, Marina was met by a shocking sight.
Both Noce and Hannes were on the ground, injured yet still alive. Noce was unconscious, while Hannes groaned as he tried to push himself up. A broken table and shards of glass littered the floor.
Running up to Hannes, Marina shouted, "Man down! Medic!" Looking at Hannes, Marina said, "What happened?"
In his usual stoic manner, Hannes grunted, "Cezary. Got away."
Marina looked on the floor to see a set of ropes, apparently cut through with a shard of glass. Then, she looked up upon hearing a revving engine. Marina ran up to the nearest window in time to see Cezary speeding across the base grounds on a stolen motorcycle. Marina pulled out her pistol, but Cezary managed to drive out of her line of sight before she could shoot.
Marina ran for the nearest exit as Fina, Squad Seven's medic, arrived to tend to Noce and Hannes. As she ran outside, Marina saw as Cezary sped out the east exit to the base. He was too far for Marina to make a shot with the sidearm.
"…Damn…"
Grimacing, Marina holstered her weapon and turned back toward the barracks. As she walked to the entrance, she was met by Captain Varrot.
"What happened?" Varrot asked Marina.
"…Cezary… he got away…"
End of Chapter 1
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