Visari Square- Part IV

"The Lord is my Shepard. The Lord is my Shepard. The Lord is my Shepard."

I whispered that single phrase over and over to myself as I timidly crept the dark, desolate hallways inside the Helghan building. I was raised in a Lutheran Christian family on Vekta, and we attended our church in St. Herman every week. I was never exactly the most religious or spiritual member of my family, but I did believe in God, and I needed His help more than ever.

There were very few lights inside the building except for my M82'sflashlight shining the walls and the soft bluish glow of my PDA strapped on the front of my gear. I feverishly scanned the walls, corners, and open doorways for any hiding Hig that's just to ambush me. The loud chaos outside grew more and more quiet as time went on. Marco took cover in the other side of the building, away from the enemy's sight. He didn't need to cover me it was just our hawkeye Andrews and the Higsniper taking slow, careful, deliberate shots at each other. I reached the comlink on my left ear and contacted Andrews

"Hey, Aussie! How are yaholdin' up?"

"Psh! Are you frickin' kidding!? This Hig's a bloody amateur! "

Man, that sure wasn't the response I'd expected. To me, that Hig was practically the Grim Reaper waiting to take me under. Then again, I was a Medic; I wouldn't know shit about what makes a good sniper and what doesn't.

"What do you mean?" I queried.

"His spotter's found me and made me the target, but the sniper's fired at least six shots at me and come nowhere close! Not only that, but he's movin' all over the damn place, which makes it easier for me to spot 'im!"

"How the Hell can you see him? I thought enemy snipers wear cloaking devices!"

Yoshiro got a word in this time. "They do, but they're very sensitive! They only work if you're standing perfectly still! If you move around, the cloak loses its effect and you become a sitting duck! And this jackass' moving around like a target in a shooting gallery! Right now, we see him on the third floor, center building, fifth window on the right!"

I peeked through a massive hole on the side of the demolished building and saw what Andrews was talking about. I couldn't tell what the sniper was doing, but I did see a weird sort of "warp" on the third floor on the center building. Suddenly, the Hig's invisibility completely deactivated and I saw him stumble into the building!

"Fuck yeah!" shouted Andrews, "I got the bastard! Looks like I hit his left shoulder!"

"Holy shit!" I cheered. "Did you kill him!? Can you confirm it!?"

"Ahh…negative. The amateur got lucky. Looks like I only wounded him. You go over there and finish 'em off. But be careful, that spotter could still be there, and his cloak's most likely still working. Be careful."

"Copy that!"

"Hold up kid!" Marco chirped in. "We'll take this guy together. Wait for me, alright?"

"Yes sir!"

I frantically raced past the rest of the empty hallway, my captured StA rifle constantly slapping against my back. I turned the corner at the end of the hallway and went up the flight of stairs leading me at last to the sniper's lair. I finally saw my fallen foe in pain from Andy's bullet. He looked vastly different from any Hig I'd seen before. He wore a pitch-black ghillie suit from head to toe. His mask was flat, ovular, and had three glowing red lights that formed a triangular shape. I assumed those were the eyes (I wondered what the third eye on top was for). He was lying against the wall with blood dripping from his shoulder. His wound didn't look fatal, but he wouldn't be fighting anymore without treatment. His rifle had fallen on the floor to his left, useless now in his condition.

"This is it!" I thought. "This guy's wounded, he's on the floor, and he's in no condition to fight! This guy- this guy- will be my first kill!"

And that's when I made Rookie Mistake #1: I went in without backup.

I said one last prayer in my head and carefully stepped inside the room. The sniper was about fifteen meters away from my. I lifted the M82 at my right shoulder and pointed it at the wounded foe.

Already, I made Rookie Mistake #2: I hesitated.

I stared deeply into the sniper's burning red eyes as he stared back at mine. I wondered what face was hidden behind the young soldier's mask. Who would I be killing? A man?A woman?A seasoned vet from the Invasion?A young rookie on his first mission?A fanatical Visari-worshipping psychopath we know and hate? Maybe just a kind, friendly guy who got caught on the wrong side of the war?

"Well, what are you waiting for, Vektan?" The Hig spoke to me in a surprisingly light voice not fitting for a hardened grunt. "Do it! I'm wounded and can't fight! Kill me!"

. My finger hastily crept on the trigger. One shot, and those red eyes would be dim forever. I held my breath, took aim, and prepared to send this red-eyed fuck to Hell.

And just half a second later—"What the Hell? MARKUS, BEHIND YOU!" shouted the Andrews.

I immediately turned around and saw another Hig pointing a pistol at my head!Shit! It's the spotter!

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Thank God! A shot from the Aussie knocked the weapon away from the Hig's hands. "Aw dammit!" He shouted! I'm out, and that was my last clip!"

Shit. I'm on my own.

The Helghast was grabbing his wounded right hand in pain. He wore the same black hood and flat, three-eyed mask as his ally.

No fucking around now. I seized my opportunity and prepared to shoot him down. I pointed my rifle at his face and...

CLICK!

What the fuck!?

CLICK! CLICK!

Oh God, no!

Suddenly, the spotter let out a hoarse chuckle from behind his mask. Turns out, I'd just made Rookie Mistake #3: "Forgot to reload, rookie!"

He dug out a knife with his left hand and charged towards me. He sliced the knife in a downward motion towards my shoulder, but I blocked his attack in time with my empty rifle. I then kicked him away from me and tried to pull out my M4 revolver, but it was too late. The Hig charged into and dug his knife into my lower abdomen! I cried out in pain and dropped the revolver!

Fighting the pain, I rapidly punched the Hig in his face until he let go of the knife and fell onto the ground. Before he could get back up, I reached around for the captured StA rifle on my back and slammed the butt against his mask. In that brief moment, I completely lost control. I could feel the adrenaline and anger taking over me. I bashed my rifle against that bastard's skull over and over, his mask making a loud, crunching noise every time. More and more of his blood splattered my gear with each swing, but I didn't notice. I no longer cared who this fucker was or who he was trying to protect. All I wanted was to see those fiery red eyes on his mask to go out forever. "Die! You! Son! Of! A! Bitch!"

And just like that, it was over. After one last tired swing, I stood there with my hands on my knees, shocked over what I'd just done. The spotter's mask had been mutilated. Parts of his bloodied face were shown underneath. He wasn't moving. He wasn't attacking. He wasn't breathing.

He's dead. I killed him That son of a bitch is dead.

Ahg….dammit. The knife.

I began to feel the stinging pain from the knife setting in. I gradually pulled the knife out of my stomach, the pain becoming more and more severe. Eventually, I managed to get the bloodied knife out.

"Bastard!"

The sniper! You gotta be fucking kidding me!

And there he was. The sniper decided to make a last stand, pointing his pistol at me.

I frantically turned around, pointed my StA at him and greased the bastard.

RATATATATATATATATA! He was dead in an instant.

Finally, Marco arrived through the other side of the room. I was in for one hell of a scolding for disobeying his orders. "Markus! What the fuck, kid!? I told you to wait for me so we could take those guys together! Do you realize the danger you put yourself in by goin' in alone!? What the Hell were you thinking!?"

"I… I mean… I didn't think they were…" I had no answer. And I knew saying "Sorry" like a 5-year-old kid who broke his mother's dishes wouldn't help either. All I could hole for was that the Corporal wouldn't pin me against a wall and execute me.

However, I could see Marco checking out the two Higs that lied dead on the floor, and the irate grimace on Marco's face slowly disappeared, He sighed, "Well, you did manage to take out two Helghast by yourself. I guess that's not exactly a bad thing. But from now on, when I say 'let's take 'em out together', you do it! Understand!?"

"Ye—yes sir." I wheezed.

Satisfied, Marco turned and reached the comlink on his ear. "Redfield, this is Velasquez. Area clear. Both targets are down. I repeat: both enemy Marksmen are down." He paused for the Sarge's reply.

"Copy. I'll get that APC started up ASAP. We'll meet up with Narville before the day's over."

He gestured me to follow him out of the building. I took a few steps toward him, until I took another look at the fallen sniper to the right. I remembered seeing so many pictures of Helghast citizens without wearing masks-pale, ghostly and almost hairless-but I've never seen one up close. I knelt down beside the enemy's corpse and stared into his now lightless mask. Despite the numerous wounds he'd taken on the torso, his mask wasn't even scratched, so his face must still be intact.

"Markus? What are you doin'?"

"Gimme a minute, Sarge! I just wanna see something!"

Something in my gut told me that it would be a decision I'd regret making for the rest of my life, but I just had to know what face really hides behind the Helghast's mask. I tenderly pulled off the sniper's hood and slowly removed the mask… I gasped in horror at what I saw.

Oh, my God.

It was a girl. The sniper was a young girl, probably no older than 17. Her skin was pale, but not as those of the people I saw in the pictures. She had two jade-green eyes that nearly turned up into her skull, and her mouth was still open in an almost shocked expression. She had short grayish-white hair that seemed more suited for a 60-year-old lady than a teenage girl and wore it in a ponytail.

For years, we Vektans were trained to treat the Helghast like animals. Like subhuman freaks from a Godforsaken alien rock. Even before the Invasion, we looked on them with both fear and hatred, and wished nothing but utter destruction on them. When they invaded Vekta, our hatred for them only intensified. Now, for the first time, all my prejudice and hate for the Higs vanished completely, replaced only by sorrow and regret.

"Markus, what are you-". Marco came in and saw me about to burst into tears.

"Come on, kid." He sighed. "It was you or her, you know that. She was trying to kill us earlier, remember? I'm sorry, but this is what happens in war; you can't afford to show any kind of sympathy for the enemy. Besides, she was a Hig anyway—she deserved it. They all do. Now let's get back with our unit. Markus?"

"I'm coming."

"Markus!"

"I'm coming, dammit! Just… go on! I'll meet up with you guys soon!"

Thankfully, he left the room. I took one last sad look at the sniper's face before gently closing her eyes for her. Then, I noticed a small chain hanging around the girl's neck. It turned out to be a pair of dog tags in the shape of the Helghast Triad. I couldn't read it because it was written in the alien Helghan alphabet that none of us could read. I grabbed my StA and stood up, ready to meet Marco and the others in the plaza.

"Comin' Marco!"

End Part IV