Duel on Zen

Chapter I



The best sniper in the Confederacy at the time was First Sergeant William Hale. He was a tall man with short, black hair a tanned face. He wore his uniform with pride and his C-10 rifle always seemed to be slung over his right shoulder.

When William Hale was young he enjoyed hunting and going to shooting competitions(which, by the way, he was never beat). His home-which had been on the now destroyed Chau Sara-had been filled with trophies and other various awards. He was a known man in the Confederacy; so known that General Duke had hand-picked him to become part of Alpha Squadron.

Before the destruction of Chau Sara, Hale seemed to turn up somewhere in each major battle to stop the Sons of Korhal from defeating the Confederacy. Right after the destruction of Chau Sara William was sent to train new recruits to shoot, so that they could battle the two alien enemies that had seemed to come out of nowhere. Although he didn't like it, he was given a free promotion and could be brought back into the battles if needed. So he trained the new guys to shoot.

Lined up before him were ten young men. They stood at the position of attention, not blinking, and from what it seemed like to William, not breathing. They stood like statues. William looked each of them over carefully.

"All right," he said, "I'm sure you know the basics. Breath in-or out- before pulling the trigger, and compensate for the wind."

He pointed to the green field in front of them. "See that target?"

None of them did. He un-slung his rifle, crouched down, aimed, and pulled the trigger. The bullet shot out with lighting speed, and, although only William saw it because of the scope, hit the center of the target.

The recruits lifted their binoculars and observed the paper targets. They were quite impressed.

"Excellent shot, sir," one said.

William smiled. "Of course it is. now, you don't get to shoot until tomorrow. Return to your barracks."

Two hours later William Hale stood in front of Colonel John Mel, the commanding officer of the base. The room was large with blue carpet and very well lighted.

"Have a seat, William," the Colonel said gesturing at the chair in front of the desk. William did as he was told.

William liked Colonel Mel as an officer. He wasn't too strict, and allowed smoking in his office. William pulled a cigarette out of his shirt pocket.

"Good news, William. You're being moved onto the battlefield," Mel said.

William's eyebrows raised. "Oh?"

"This order is from General Duke himself. You will go to planet Zen, which is, of course, under Mengsk's control. The most interesting thing about this is that your primary objective is to take out an enemy sniper at the capital."

"Another sniper?" This did not interest him. No other sniper had ever compared to him.

"Yes, she is as good as you are, perhaps better."

"She?" William asked. There was no worry in his voice, and he seemed to ignore the second half of what the Colonel had just said.

"That's right, Mengsk's second-in-command Sarah Kerrigan. Her senses and such have been increased because of the fact that she's a Ghost."

Now William was interested. He rubbed his chin and said, "No worries sir. Kerrigan will be out of the Confederacy's way."

"Excellent. Once your mission is completed you'll have to return. You're dismissed."

William stood, nodded at the Colonel, and left. He was glad to be returning to battle.

***

The next morning, William awoke earlier then usual. He had cleaned his rifle last night, and it looked good as new. He ate his breakfast and went to the starport to be taken to Zen.

"Hope to see you again, sir," a private said as William stepped onto the dropship.

"You will," William replied and took a seat in the cockpit behind the pilots.

"We're clear to go," the copilot said and the ship headed to Zen.

William Hale never said a word.