The Hounds of Helghan (9)
Even with the protection of her visor and helmet, Runa swore that she could still taste the salt in the air as she took a cable car connected between the mainland and her destination: an offshore fishing village. On towering rocks battered by wind and waves, people managed to make homes and livings there—a testament to Helghast adaptability. As with the cities inland, there were streamlined transports reserved for the military, much quicker and better maintained than those left for the civilians. Runa couldn't overlook how rusty and rickety the other cable cars were.
As she stepped off the military cable car, she talked into the radio built into her helmet. "Sir, I arrived at the village."
Colonel Radec's grizzled voice issued in reply. "Copy that. Search it inside and out for the mercenary. If the intel is correct, then the village is where he'll be hiding. I do not have to repeat the briefing to you, do I, Lieutenant?"
"No, sir, you don't."
"Good. I expect you to contact me again once you've taken out your target." Radec went silent after that, and Runa was left to undertake her first mission.
The ISA had hired a mercenary to infiltrate Helghan and feed them information on the infrastructure, lie of the land, and such, no doubt to scout for holes of weakness. Runa was tasked to hunt down the merc and put an end to his reconnaissance.
None of the villagers spared her a second glance as she entered the market. Military presence was a common sight to the Helghast people. Runa would actually attract more attention if she walked around without her elite shock trooper armor, with her head exposed. In a population of bald heads and washed out sparse hair, her blonde locks would draw many wide-eyed stares and stick out like a sore thumb.
As an elite shock trooper, she could operate without a support unit. She was trained to fend for herself, to take on missions that favored stealth and mobility over brute strength and firepower. Her red-tinted gaze swept over the market scene. A ragtag gang of kids scampered past her and wove through merchants and sellers, who swatted at them and shouted at them to scram. If the merc was smart, he'd blend in and hide under civilian garb. She would have to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior. Not to mention offworld technology. Mercenaries were infamous for their access to weaponry bought off the black market. That weaponry would be her best clue to the merc's whereabouts.
Runa left the market to pick her way through the craggy outskirts of the village. The merc didn't seem to stir up a ruckus yet. Not in the heart of the village, anyway. Her intuition served her well as she spotted fallen bodies of police officers. She knelt by the nearest one and plucked off shards that had pierced through his chest plate.
"Porcupine," she muttered. That portable ISA rocket launcher was a favorite among mercenaries. Other bodies were littered with the same shards left behind the little rockets. If the merc kept those handy, he had to be covering that shoulder-mounted system.
Runa followed the trail of carnage to the lower levels, closer to the sea. And to the petrusite power plant. Coolant pipes snaked up the sheer rock faces to feed seawater into the facility. Petrusite-powered lamps cast harsh lighting through the gloom. She walked along the wire fence, spotting a few workers coming in and out of the plant as they went about their business. Several meters ahead of her, also outside the fence, was someone in similar garb as the workers. But not quite the same. Her sharp eyes spotted extra cloth covering his shoulders.
"You, there," she called. "Do you work here?"
The man jolted at her voice. He rubbed the back of his head, as if out of sheepish embarrassment. "Er, I'm new. I, uh, forgot my ID to get in." He sounded like a Helghast. Then again, with enough time and effort, it wasn't too difficult to pass off a Helghast accent.
Runa beckoned to him. "Your identification papers. Let me see them." As part of the military, she had authority to search any civilian for proof of being at the right place at the right time. Failure to comply was grounds alone for an arrest.
He took a few steps forward, though with visible hesitation. Then he stopped. Then came an explosive hiss from above his shoulder. Runa ducked out of the way. He was the merc she'd been looking for, after all. She had expected the Porcupine, and expected that he would try to take her out. Being alone made her ripe for targeting. Runa darted sideways to dodge more incoming Porcupines. Charging straight at him would kill her.
She may not be armed with the Porcupine like the merc, but she had something just as quick and deadly. She moved faster than he could pull out an SMG. With a savage blur of her arm, in less than a second, she sent a throwing knife into his Porcupine launcher. She sent another knife into his torso. The blows knocked him back, and he fell with a pained cry. It was then that Runa shifted her attention to the plant workers gawking at her from the other side of the fence.
"Nothing to see here," she called. "Get back to work."
Her firm, hardened tone had effect. The workers dispersed under her command. She strode up to the fallen mercenary, whose blood pooled from the knife embedded in his belly.
His blood was bright red, evidence of originating either from Earth or Vekta, worlds more habitable and oxygenated than Helghan. Though she hadn't spilled any of hers today, Runa knew that her own blood was much darker, almost purple like a bruise, from sparse oxygen in Helghan's atmosphere. This man was her first offworld enemy, so she couldn't help but be startled for a split second just how bright red his blood was, how beyond skin-deep the differences were between their peoples.
She knelt down and wrenched off the respirator to reveal a very un-Helghast-like face—bearded, head full of dark hair, red cheeks. Runa yanked out the knife from his belly to hold the bloodied tip just under his chin.
"The ISA's not going to hear any more from you, mercenary," she told him in a cool, level voice. "You've snooped around here long enough."
The man said nothing. His only response to her was baring bloody teeth in quiet defiance. Runa angled the blade to slash it across his throat. The mercenary went limp with a strangled gurgle. He gasped and sputtered on his own blood for a few moments before he fell silent forever.
She fought to still the trembling in her legs as she rose to her full height. She knew she had to remove his respirator to confirm his identity, but she wished she had left it on him, so she didn't have to watch the light of life flicker out from his eyes. Yes, she went through rigorous training, but she had never killed anyone before. This was her first kill. She would rather not have seen the man's face while she had taken his life.
She wiped the knives clean of blood on the dead mercenary's garb before reaching for her comms. "Colonel Radec, I've located and eliminated the mercenary. I sent screenshots and a DNA sample confirming the kill."
"Excellent," came her commanding officer's reply. "That went quicker than I expected. Take any and all information he may have on him and report back to the academy."
Runa searched the mercenary's body, rummaging through pockets to dig up intel he had yet to send to the ISA. She carried it with her from the fishing village, to Pyrrhus, and at Radec's office she handed it over to him.
"Once again, Lieutenant, excellent work," the colonel said as he perused the salvaged intel from his desk. "I reviewed what you've sent me. That was a quick, clean kill. And he carried the Porcupine on him. That blasted thing has taken out many men before. I shouldn't be surprised that your mobility as an elite shock trooper was ideal against that kind of setup." He looked up at her, then asked, "What's wrong?"
Standing to attention before him, she squared her shoulders. "Nothing's wrong, sir."
A soft chuckle issued from him. "Don't give me that. I can see that your hands are shaking."
Runa braced herself for a reprimand from the colonel. There was no room for weakness in his ranks. She had joined the army to become a soldier. Of course she was expected to kill.
However, instead of stern words directed at her, Radec kept his voice soft and low. "That comes with the first kill. I'm sure you've gotten word that my first involved my brother. But I bet you don't know that I came away from it trying to keep my hands from shaking."
"N-no, sir, I didn't know that."
Radec stared down at his gloved hands that he folded over his desktop. "I tried to hide it, of course. My men took no notice of it. They were too busy corralling the people we rescued. Make no mistake, I have no fondness for my brother, who'd been nothing but cruel to me when we were boys. On top of that, he was a criminal who deserved death. Still, after I put a bullet in his head, my grip on the pistol wasn't as steady as I would've liked. I held his life in my hands, and in the next instant, I snuffed it out. My body struggled to process that, to catch up and come to terms with what I decided to do. I remember the feeling to this day." He lifted his gaze back up to her. "Don't you forget it either, Lieutenant. Remember what it feels like to take a life, to watch it fade away from the eyes of the enemy. Remember it so that you understand what it means to hold on to your own life, and to protect others if you must."
Runa inclined her head at him. "Yes, sir, I'll make sure to keep that in mind."
"It gets easier with time. Not easy, no. Never easy. There's a difference between easy and easier."
She considered her superior in thoughtful silence. It didn't seem like him to admit even the smallest glimpse of vulnerability. The swell of appreciation she felt for him now was the same as the time he helped her turn down her brother's matchmaking attempt. She snapped a salute at her commanding officer. "Thank you, sir. I'm ready for my next mission."
"Good. I've already downloaded the briefing into your holo-viewer." Radec rose and tucked his hands behind his back as he turned away to stare outside the window. "I trust that you will do as well as the last time. You're dismissed."
Emboldened by Radec's trust in her, she left his office to find that the trembling in her hands had subsided.