Chapter 1
Rain. It always rains when I'm doing something important. For the third time I wiped water drops off of my binoculars and looked through them. There he was, just sitting there in that frickin' chair reading that frickin' book. I put down the binoculars and crouched back down, peering through my scope.
::"Easy Now. Line up your sights with your target." My instructor told me. "Check your calculations for the wind changes. Now set your sights."::
::I turned the knobs and lined my sight up with the distant target, just a marked paper image of a man's silhouette. I turned my knob to make up for the wind speed. I double checked my calculations and then realigned myself. I fingered the trigger and slowly began to squeeze.::
THIMP!
The silenced bullet sped from the barrel of my rifle right through a window and through my target's throat, shattering the vertebrae in his neck as it went. He collapsed and I quickly disassembled my rifle and placed the pieces back into its black case. I quickly slid down the buildings fire escape and hopped into a waiting vehicle.
::"Good Job. Cold barrel bull's-eye. That's what I like to see in you, Jared." My instructor patted my head approvingly.::
"Good job, Mr. Hunter." My employer told me. "Another perfect shot. I will arrange to have an bonus added to your pay."
The pudgy Galbadian man had been giving me jobs since I officially started working.
"I do what I am told." I said matter-of-factly. "Nothing more nothing less."
"Nevertheless I have rarely seen skills as acute as yours, you are to be commended." My employer purred.
Lip service. I had been in this business to long to not notice when I was being buttered up. I hated it. Why couldn't people just give me my next job instead of beating around the bush and making things all pretty? Probably would be bad for business.
"Don't feed me this crap." I spat. "Who do you want dead now?"
He was taken aback. Obviously he wasn't used to people practically slapping him in the face. I would pay to see this guy have to take orders from one of his employees. Better yet, I would pay to see him dead. However, he currently filled my wallet so I would put up with his "requests" but not his bullcrap.
"Very well." He said finally, handing me a folder. "Here is your next target. Do what you must to complete this job and we will see an additional fifty thousand added to your account. Do it before Thursday and we will give you a bonus of ten-thousand on top of that."
"Don't piss around with me." I growled. "Twenty-five thousand for Thursday or you can what until next Friday."
"Absurd!" He practically screamed. "I could hire someone else for half of what we are offering you!"
"Then do it. I'm out of here." I shrugged. "But correct me if I am wrong but it would take you until Thursday to find someone else and they would have to take at least a day to prepare. Looks like if I leave then this guy lives."
"Damn you!" He shrieked.
"Yo! Driver! Pull over will ya!" I shouted to the driver.
"NO! Wait!" He said quickly. "Alright I'll see to it. But you had better do it perfectly."
I laughed. "Don't I always? DRIVER! STOP OR DIE!"
SCCCCCRRRRREEEEEECH!
My Employer was thrown forward and I stepped out and left him there cursing and grumbling. I walked out into the rain and headed for my apartment.
I was an assassin and hit man. My name is Jared Hunter and I lived for the hunt. I was raised by the Galbadian Coverts and taught to be the best sniper in the world. I was part of the Black Ops experiment with genetic manipulation and I had since worked for them. They made me faster, stronger, they gave me acute eyesight and perfect hand-eye coordination, they made my body function better, for longer, with less food, no sleep and less oxygen. I was born twenty-three years ago and I had completed my final training three years ago and have been working for the Galbadian Government as their political Ace in the hole.
I walked into my apartment and dropped my case onto the bed. I walked to the bathroom and turned the shower on. I shaved and then wiped my face down before stepping into the shower. I let the hot streams warm my freezing body and cleanse me of the dirt and muck that I had gathered while lying on that god-forsaken roof for who knows how long.
Tomorrow I would go over the file and prepare for my next job. As for tonight, I would catch up on some much needed and desired sleep. I stepped out of the shower and towelled off. I brushed my teeth and ran a hand through my damp hair.
::"Keeping clean is just as important as firing your rifle." My instructor told me. "If you got sick and sneezed as you were pulling the trigger you could blow your only chance of taking out your target."::
::"Yes, sir." I said.::
Old habits died hard. I continued to make sure that I was spotlessly clean before I went to bed. It was drilled into me just as heavily as the rest of my training. And now, everything I learned was being made to serve not some pompous, political jackass but for me.
I turned on some music but kept the volume low so I could sleep. I closed my eyes and drifted off into the safety of my dreams.
Rain. It always rains when I'm doing something important. For the third time I wiped water drops off of my binoculars and looked through them. There he was, just sitting there in that frickin' chair reading that frickin' book. I put down the binoculars and crouched back down, peering through my scope.
::"Easy Now. Line up your sights with your target." My instructor told me. "Check your calculations for the wind changes. Now set your sights."::
::I turned the knobs and lined my sight up with the distant target, just a marked paper image of a man's silhouette. I turned my knob to make up for the wind speed. I double checked my calculations and then realigned myself. I fingered the trigger and slowly began to squeeze.::
THIMP!
The silenced bullet sped from the barrel of my rifle right through a window and through my target's throat, shattering the vertebrae in his neck as it went. He collapsed and I quickly disassembled my rifle and placed the pieces back into its black case. I quickly slid down the buildings fire escape and hopped into a waiting vehicle.
::"Good Job. Cold barrel bull's-eye. That's what I like to see in you, Jared." My instructor patted my head approvingly.::
"Good job, Mr. Hunter." My employer told me. "Another perfect shot. I will arrange to have an bonus added to your pay."
The pudgy Galbadian man had been giving me jobs since I officially started working.
"I do what I am told." I said matter-of-factly. "Nothing more nothing less."
"Nevertheless I have rarely seen skills as acute as yours, you are to be commended." My employer purred.
Lip service. I had been in this business to long to not notice when I was being buttered up. I hated it. Why couldn't people just give me my next job instead of beating around the bush and making things all pretty? Probably would be bad for business.
"Don't feed me this crap." I spat. "Who do you want dead now?"
He was taken aback. Obviously he wasn't used to people practically slapping him in the face. I would pay to see this guy have to take orders from one of his employees. Better yet, I would pay to see him dead. However, he currently filled my wallet so I would put up with his "requests" but not his bullcrap.
"Very well." He said finally, handing me a folder. "Here is your next target. Do what you must to complete this job and we will see an additional fifty thousand added to your account. Do it before Thursday and we will give you a bonus of ten-thousand on top of that."
"Don't piss around with me." I growled. "Twenty-five thousand for Thursday or you can what until next Friday."
"Absurd!" He practically screamed. "I could hire someone else for half of what we are offering you!"
"Then do it. I'm out of here." I shrugged. "But correct me if I am wrong but it would take you until Thursday to find someone else and they would have to take at least a day to prepare. Looks like if I leave then this guy lives."
"Damn you!" He shrieked.
"Yo! Driver! Pull over will ya!" I shouted to the driver.
"NO! Wait!" He said quickly. "Alright I'll see to it. But you had better do it perfectly."
I laughed. "Don't I always? DRIVER! STOP OR DIE!"
SCCCCCRRRRREEEEEECH!
My Employer was thrown forward and I stepped out and left him there cursing and grumbling. I walked out into the rain and headed for my apartment.
I was an assassin and hit man. My name is Jared Hunter and I lived for the hunt. I was raised by the Galbadian Coverts and taught to be the best sniper in the world. I was part of the Black Ops experiment with genetic manipulation and I had since worked for them. They made me faster, stronger, they gave me acute eyesight and perfect hand-eye coordination, they made my body function better, for longer, with less food, no sleep and less oxygen. I was born twenty-three years ago and I had completed my final training three years ago and have been working for the Galbadian Government as their political Ace in the hole.
I walked into my apartment and dropped my case onto the bed. I walked to the bathroom and turned the shower on. I shaved and then wiped my face down before stepping into the shower. I let the hot streams warm my freezing body and cleanse me of the dirt and muck that I had gathered while lying on that god-forsaken roof for who knows how long.
Tomorrow I would go over the file and prepare for my next job. As for tonight, I would catch up on some much needed and desired sleep. I stepped out of the shower and towelled off. I brushed my teeth and ran a hand through my damp hair.
::"Keeping clean is just as important as firing your rifle." My instructor told me. "If you got sick and sneezed as you were pulling the trigger you could blow your only chance of taking out your target."::
::"Yes, sir." I said.::
Old habits died hard. I continued to make sure that I was spotlessly clean before I went to bed. It was drilled into me just as heavily as the rest of my training. And now, everything I learned was being made to serve not some pompous, political jackass but for me.
I turned on some music but kept the volume low so I could sleep. I closed my eyes and drifted off into the safety of my dreams.