Well Oiled killing Machines (Part 2 of 3)

Location: Cargohold of Cheetah class Covert ops frigate callsign 'Smooth Move'
System: Unknown
Constellation: Unknown
Region: Unknown

Jarik Utoni checked the weapons. They had opted this time to bring slightly more firepower along and the weapons mounts in the Mole class drop ship were bristling with Minmatar made weapons. Jarik moved his hands over assault rifles, pistols, a rocket launcher, bandoleers full of grenades, and even a fifty caliber minigun before resting his hands on his custom sniper rifle mounted next to a similar rifle that Mag had taken along. Jarik shuffled around the dropship to where Mag was standing, clutching at her belly.
"You alright?" he chided,
She gave him a stare that could mine Mercoxit but just then the voice of the pilot came over the speakers
"Two jumps out folks"
Mag seemed to turn another shade of green when the warp drive was activated and excused herself. Jarik, in a fit of boredom, struck up a conversation with the pilot.
"So, pilot, what's your name?"
a hologram on the floor of the room he was in came to life, a well-groomed Caldari Detis male was projected into the room.
"Names? I didn't realise we used names in this business. In any case you can Call me 'Rain'."
Jarik nodded, "True enough, I must admit I'm surprised to see a Caldari flying a Minmatar ship, especially a tech II ship."
Rain laughed,
well I've been training Minmatar ship piloting for a long, long time, I can't fly Caldari ships to well so it's a tradeoff to be certain. Say you're kinda young to be killing people aren't you?"
Jarik looked at the ground,
"We didn't really have much choice in the matter. At this point though I'm happy with the life."
Mag reentered the room, a sour expression on her face. Rain continued to speak,
"We're almost there, I just need to warp the the planet and deploy your dropship. Then, the mission is all yours."
"Alright" Jarik said, "Mag, you want to stow the gear and prepare?"
Mag nodded and turned to the hologram of the pilot,
"I'll need an hour after we're all done warping and jumping and whatever to put my stomach back where it belongs."
"I'll see that you get all the time you need." he said as his hologram dissipated

2 hours later

Jarik sat down and strapped in next to Mag.
"We ready for this?"
Mag nodded,
"We were trained for this, let's get it done"
a small hologram of Rain materialised on what had looked like an armrest between Mag and Jarik.
"You two ready?"
Affirmative." came their response in unison
"OK, uncloaking, launching dropship..."
The sensation of falling was immediate,
"I hope they weren't kidding when they said these things pilot themselves." Jarik joked.
"They were kidding," came the voice of Rain "I'm piloting this too, remotely mind you."
Jarik shrugged, "OK then, set us down in the forest here, then bury the dropship, after that don't contact us until we contact you."
The dropship they were flying was not your usual dropship, shaped like a cylinder with four smaller cylinders attached to it's sides it was meant for one purpose only, disappearing. Upon landing it uses laser etches in it's lower frame to dig itself a hole in the ground. After it's deep enough it can be covered in vegetation and accessed through an elevator in the center of the ship.
The ship landed and Jarik and Mag grabbed assault rifles to secure the perimeter. as they watched the dropship quickly dug itself a hole just deep enough to make it look like part of the surroundings and when the all clear was issued the elevator popped up out of the ground.
"Let's get our gear and prep for the mission."
Jarik nodded and fell in behind Mag as they entered the dropship and suited up in a specialised optical camouflage.
"You ready?" he asked Mag
"I'm ready for anything, let's kill us some bad guys."

Well Oiled Killing Machines (1 of 3)

Location: Planet-side military outpost 9-16
System: Classified
Constellation: Classified
Region: Hemitar
Time: 13:00
rifle range 3

(One year after being paired with each other)
Jarik Utoni sprinted to the next post and set up his rifle,
"Calm, calm, calm" he whispered over and over to himself while trying to steady his breathing.
One shot, two shots, perfect aim. he moved onto the next target, his spotter, Mag, pulling up the rear, unholstered her pistol and dropped two more of the plywood targets in quick succession.
"Nice shot." he said over the private link they shared, "Oh c'mon Burn, you make it sound like I'm better than you." They came to a large concrete structure, Mag motioned to the roof, "Three targets on the roof." Jarik nodded and focused his specialised implant and using a combination of depth perception and x-ray vision he marked the three target's as well as two more that were 'hiding' behind a door. Thy stacked up at the door and Jarik unholstered his revolvers. "Mag, breach charge on the door." She nodded and placed the square charge firmly on the door and they braced for the concussion. The deafening boom was the sign to move and as a well oiled machine they moved, dropping the two hidden plywood targets quickly and moving to the roof to eliminate the rest of the 'threat'.
"Well done operatives" came the voice of their commander, Cpt. Jor Atkin, over the firing range's loudspeakers "Report to section-5 for debriefing and reassignment."
They looked at each other and Mag said the words they were both thinking; "Reassignment?"
Jarik shook his head, "If it's another stint at the base proper I'm going to have to recommend we run away." They shared a nervous chuckle and returned to stowing their gear. Recently the other kids at the base had began to envy and hate the special treatment afforded to Spc. Burn and Mag, a few more deaths occurred before they had been moved off the base to a more secluded outpost on the planets surface.

Cpt. Jor Atkin studied the report and the mission parameters. These, the RMS Tactical's newest assassins, were being sent on the hardest job they had... and for what? 'A test' it said. Jor scoffed, you'd think after loosing some 20 recruits and an instructor to these two they would at least send them on a small mission, to test their capabilities. But I guess killing instructors leaves little to doubt in the Major's mind. Here they come, the scions of destruction.
"Burn, Mag, Atten-shun!" The two immediately snapped into attention, perfect in every way, despite being as young as they were, they were well trained killers.
"Burn, Mag, I have a mission for you." he handed them each a folder,
"Target is a Caldari mercenary known as Korvish, he was recently hired to kill some friends of ours so we're going to kill him first." he paused to let the information sink in, "You will be sent to the location on board a capsuleer piloted Cheetah so take what you need and nothing else. any questions you have will be answered by the full briefing that you contain in your hands."
"Dismissed!"


Jarik looked at Mag and back at the manila envelope he held in his hands, he could barely hold in his excitement.
"Our first kill Mag, our first kill awaits!"
She looked back at him skeptically,
"So Captain Horace Slait doesn't count as a kill?"
Jarik made a face,
"Mag, he attacked us first. I don't think that really counts"
it was her turn to make a face,
"We were unarmed and he opened up on us with a sub-machinegun... and you don't want to count that as a kill?"
Jarik laughed,
"Well guess it was awesome, doesn't mean it counts as a kill in the sense of the word."
she continued,
"AND he had twelve of his recruits attack us multiple times in the days leading up to it"
Jarik looked back over,
"Mag..." he whined
She smiled and opened her envelope, quickly scanning it's contents.
"Oh look! she exclaimed, it's already officially one of our kills"
Jarik read:

Operatives,
Spc. Burn and Spc. Mag have been requested to take out mercenary commander Korvish, last name unknown. He was last seen in the classified system in the classified constellation in the classified region on the planet classified. Pilot designation: classified is to fly a cheetah class covert ops frigate and shuttle the operatives through hostile space and deploy them onto the planet, he will then warp to a safespot (bookmark is attached to this message burst, pilot) and await the all clear from the ground team, individual instructions will follow below.

-Major Jeff Kull
Commanding officer
Military Installation 462-b

Operatives Burn and Mag,
After your recent exploits in eliminating a traitorous captain from our ranks it has been deemed that you are ready for missions of a real and dangerous nature. your first mission's target is a Caldari male known for the merciless deaths of multiple Minmatar patriots. He is to be shot once in the head and his lieutenants are to be killed as well, we recommend you come back in one piece but I'm sure the pilot of the cheetah would like nothing more then to get paid either way. this is your first mission but by no means your first kill, we know what you two are capable of, get it done.

-Major Jeff Kull
Commanding officer
Military Installation 462-b

Jarik looked over at Mag who was beaming from ear to ear
"Fine." he huffed
she laughed
"let's get back to work then"
Jarik turned his attention to his weapons
"What to bring..."

With Lethal Force

Location: Planet-side military installation 462-b
System: Classified
Constellation: Classified
Region: Hemitar
Time: 10:00 hours
Simulation Room 256

Jarik Utoni sighted down his weapon, for the last year it had been his constant companion on the firing range. Today it had been fit for maximum accuracy. With a thought he linked his implant to the scope, taking full advantage of his unprecedented control over the device plugged into his head. Wordlessly he began taking note of features of the wall small indicators popped up around possible weaknesses. There, a small crack in the wall's surface betrayed a structural weakness, one problem though, it was three meters above the target's head. Still the weakness was there and as the Cpt. often said, you have to exploit the weakness. Jarik refit the rifle to a .308 barrel and calibrated the ammunition to compensate. To exploit the weakness, he needed to make a deflection shot, into the weakness in the wall followed by a deflection down and into the skull. Jarik Got back into position and took aim.

Cpt. Jor Atkin Looked on through the viewing booth in simulation room 256. He frowned as he studied the feed from his student's implants.
"Why is Burn running deflection programs? He better not be doing what I think he's doing." The shot echoed from the rifle and the technical specs from the shot flashed on the screen. Jor shook his head, the bullet had indeed deflected from the weakness in the wall but had bounced off the target rather than scrambling it's brains. Jor sighed and keyed the intercom,
"Specialist Burn, if I ever see you try something that stupid again, I'm going to have you doing sit-ups 'till you bleed. Is that clear?"
"Crystal sir."
"Good, run a few basic long range sims then report to the exercise yard at 12:00 hours."
The simulation chamber shifted to the desert interdiction scenario as Jor walked out.

Time: 11:30
Location: Exercise yard

Jarik flashed his ID to the gate guard and stepped through into the yard. He didn't mingle often with the other men, but they all knew him, he was the top marksman on the base, and the scrolling score sheet on everyone's datapads made sure they didn't forget. Jarik glanced around, making note of everyone present. To his left there was a group of boys sparing, their battles were of stamina, Jarik had been taught to exploit weaknesses with deadly force, stamina wasn't his strong point. A female voice interrupted his concentration,
"You wouldn't happen to be Specialist Burn would you?"
Jarik slowly turned around to face her
"Who wants to know?" he asked cautiously,
The Sibiestor girl grinned,
"Spc. Mag at your service." at Jarik's quizzing look she continued, "I'm second on the scoreboards, right after you."
Jarik glanced at his datapad to confirm,
"OK, so... what do you want?"
She smiled, "Just to meet the other kid that Cpt. Fjord rages about when I miss a target."
Jarik's face registered confusion,
"Cpt. who?"
"Fjord, Cpt. Jane Fjord. I'm basically the poster girl for her sniper program on the base, You and I are in direct competition, but with the scores you post regularly I have no designs upon the first spot."

"Hey!"
Jarik turned at the sound of someone yelling,
A Krusual teen, just about Jarik's age accosted him.
"You're that idiot who's scores keep flashing over mine!"
Jarik read in his stance that this kid wanted a fight and he tensed. The boy continued,
"I'm the number one fighter here, so I figure if I kick your ass they'll stop spamming my datapad with your scores."
Jarik snorted, "What makes you think you can kick my ass?"
The Krusual smiled, "I brought friends."
Three of them now, all Krusual, and the circle forming around the group negated any escape. Somewhere deep in Jarik's subconscious a switch was flipped; from passive, to lethal. Mag stepped in beside him and reset to the ready stance,
"Snipers stick together Burn." she said, Jarik nodded, and then they attacked.
Jarik switched to autopilot as his training took over, duck, deflect, roll, jab. Then in an instant a weakness was displayed by one of the boys, both Jarik and Mag exploited it. Mag somersaulted over his head and delivered two swift kicks to the back of the target's knees, Jarik followed with debilitating uppercut to expose the neck and with a quick grab and a twist, snapped it. The boy's lifeless body slumped to the grass legs bent in an unnatural position. But Jarik didn't hesitate, the surprise of their attackers was an easily exploited weakness and the two well trained assassins jumped on it. Another of the Krusuals fell in a heap of exposed bone and flesh. only one remained, and he was on the defensive now. Mag and Jarik worked in tandem, blow for blow, ever shifting positions to remain unscathed, then Jarik saw the opening that Mag gave him, and took it, shattering the spine of their attacker. He fell crying and moaning in pain, instantly paralyzed from the waist down. Breathing heavily and drenched in sweat they finally became aware of the world around them, the ring of onlookers was thinner, some were wretching at the sight of the bodies, Jarik and Mag just stood there, looking at each other, expressions carefully neutral.

Major Jeff Kull watched the security footage of the fight again the red glow of the holoreel enhancing his features as he grimaced at the execution of their attackers by these two top tier snipers. He turned to the man and woman at attention in front of him,
"Captain Atkin, Captain Fjord, please explain this incident."
They looked at each other and Jor Atkin spoke first,
"Sir they are the two best snipers we have they are trained killers."
Jane Fjord added, "Since the day they were taken they have been trained for the singular purpose of killing. I surmise from the footage that these boys attacked them and they responded according to training, with lethal force."
Maj. Kull looked uninterested, "Captains, I wasn't talking about that part of the incident..."
He rewound the holo-recording and played back the takedown of the first boy,
"You see them move? Each time one attacks the other reacts in harmony, they strike perfectly and with deadly precision."
Cpt. Atkin flashed a look of surprise and reexamined the footage.
"By the Elders Major, you're right!"
Maj. Kull called up the schedule on his screen and began to make adjustments whilst he talked,
"Captain Atkin, Fjord, I want you to put these two on a sniper team together, I want them trained and put to use in the field within a year."
"Yes Sir!" they said in unison
"Get it done, Dismissed"
They snapped a quick salute and left together.

As they left the doors closed behind them and Major Kull was left alone. He finished setting his schedule for tomorrow and called up the footage of the battle again. Highlighting each of the combatants he brought up their full files.
"Initiate level 5 datawipe, code: 7479-34-9265 Subjects Jarik Utoni and Terra Flores."
The base AI immediately replied;
Code accepted, initiating level 5 datawipe of all Republic documents relating to subjects Jarik Utoni and Terra Flores... please wait...
Documents erased, backups have been established on server 4.
Major Jeff Kull pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking a slow drag before exhaling, and activated the F.T.L. link to the Republic Military School.

In Their Memory

Jarik Utoni looked out the viewport on his private shuttle. Umokka II, temperate planet, near enough to the Valhalla Industries home office that he had sometimes gone planetside, if only to enjoy the scenery. Gone now though, the Sansha Nation had been thorough, huge pits blasted in the forests, scorch marks where the dropships had landed and the bodies, everywhere the bodies. Jarik unlatched his restraints and moved to the back of the shuttle.
"5 minutes out sir." came the pilot's voice on the intercom
Jarik keyed the intercom, "Set us down in one of those blast marks in the forest."
"Aye sir."
The shuttle maneuvered into position and deployed it's landing gear, gliding to a stop as the engines powered down.
"We're on the ground sir, shall I unload the Cargo?"
"Yea, put it in the center of the blast, and anchor it to the ground."
Jarik disembarked the shuttle and focused his attention on the cargo doors. Suddenly they began to open, and the statue came full into view. The statue, almost 10" tall was an image of every race in New Eden, standing together, their respective weapons held high in defiance of the Sansha incursion. On the base a plaque read: Remember forever, those that were lost here, Fighting and dying not for a cause, bot for survival, New Eden must stand together, or we will die alone.
As the statue was being anchored Jarik read the plaque again and keyed his comlink.
"Salute!"
Far above in orbit a lone Maelstrom piloted by Reven Haze began firing it's heavy 1400mm howitzers in a 21 gun salute, though they could not be heard they could be seen from the planet.
Jarik looked again at the statue, a lone tear trickled down his face.
"For you, the lost, for you we fight."

Sniper

Location: Planet-side Military Installation 462-b
System: Classified
Constellation: Classified
Region: Hemitar
Time: 7:00 hours

It had been three years since Jarik Utoni had been abducted from the planet of Matar. It was his birthday in 6 days, he had kept track of that sort of thing, the only way he could keep himself sane through the lectures and exercises. Since that day in the 'Dark Room' he had been slowly and carefully trained in the arts of stealth by his instructors. Most of the other kids ignored him which is just as well, fights were regular here, and often deadly. Jarik was shaken from his daydreams by the sound of the lock on his door being rattled. He focused on the door and activated his ocular implant's infrared and saw the faint outline of three men, one of whom had the build of his commanding officer, Captain Jor Atkin. Jarik relaxed, if Cpt. Atkin was with them these men couldn't hurt him.

Captain Jor Atkin was furious,
"Tell me again how many dead?"
Cpl. Loon glanced down at the datapad,
"Most of the gate guards were killed as well as three of the recruits before they were able to get back inside."
Jor glanced at the guard attempting to unlock the door to his best recruit's cell
"Numbers, Jessica, I need numbers!"
"Approximately 25 personnel Captain."
"Fuck," He glared at the guard. "Give me those... you couldn't unlock a door if your life depended on it, which it might."
Jarik was standing at attention when Jor finally unlocked the door.
"Burn," he said "Stand easy, we have a problem."

"What can i do to solve the problem Captain?"
"Well Burn, it's probably best if you knew the problem in the first place."
He motioned towards Cpl. Loon,
"Please enlighten him Jessica, full disclosure please."
Cpl. Loon seemed distressed,
"But sir, he doesn't have the proper security clearance, in fact he doesn't have any."
Jor looked annoyed,
"That's an order Jessica, he is our only chance to fix this without outside help."
"Alright captain, alright."
She turned to Jarik, angry at being forced into this.
"Two days ago we received word that a covert ops frigate had breached the perimeter on the gates to this system. This morning at approximately 3:00 hours we lost contact with our field operations team. At 5:00 hours we lost contact with our guards on the gate. since that time anyone trying to check on the guards or get anywhere near the front gates has been shot down."
She turned the datapad to Jarik to show him the map.
"Here are the known dead and the presumed dead, shown as maroon and red 'X's on the map"
A large yellow circle was highlighted over the entire front of the base
"Here is the estimated killzone based on patters in the dead and the shot trajectory triangulated by our spotters."
Jor spoke up,
"In all honesty Burn, you are the last 'expendable' asset we have to deal with this threat."
Jarik smiled, seeing an opportunity.
"I will help you under one condition,"
Cpl. Loon's expression was one of mortification whilst Jor just smiled,
"I would like my branding ring back, and anything I salvage in the field will be mine to keep."
"Absolutely NOT!" Screamed Cpl. Loon, "If you think that we would be stupid enough to....."
Jor cut her off,
"I will personally train you in the use of any weapons you find while you are out there and we will immediately go to the impound to get you the ring."
Cpl. Loon just stared whilst Jarik smiled.
"Then let's get started shall we?"

4 hours later---

Jarik Slowly crept through the grass, it had taken him a while but he was now near the estimated location of the enemy sniper. The forest surrounding him lay still as if waiting for what was to come. He taped the mic twice to indicate that he was in position. Suddenly he heard the retort of the snipers weapon.
Once...
Twice...
It came from behind him and above. He uploaded his implant's visual feed to the base and began to advance on the position. Suddenly he heart a warning shout and was attacked from the side by What must have been the sniper's spotter. Jarik sprung from his spot and rolled into a riverbed to dodge the incoming fire from what sounded like a revolver.
"No, no, don't bother, I'll take care of him." he heard his assailant say.
Jarik thought back to his covert movement courses, a distraction, he needed a distraction. He grabbed a stone from the stream and lobbed it over the mans head and into the tree behind him. The distraction worked and as the man turned to look behind him Jarik was able to lunge from his hiding place and catapult to the mans back, executing him with a swift twist of the neck.

Now to set a trap for the sniper, He propped up the spotter's head and used his revolver to shoot the dead man in the gut, he then emptied all but one bullet into the ground and placed its barrel in one of the spotter's hands posing the other one over the slowly widening blood stain. He had no idea if the sniper was watching but this was his only chance to catch him. Jarik took up position near the body and splayed himself out making sure to have one hand holding the gun by the handle. He switched to infrared and waited breathing shallow and slow.
Not ten minutes later the Jarik's ocular implant registered movement in the clearing,
"Ah fuck, he couldn't even handle a ten year old kid."
The man approached the body and began searching taking bandoleers of ammunition and canteens among other things. Jarik slowly repositioned the revolver and aimed it at the sniper's head.
The man did not scream as he died, he didn't have enough time to, at close range the 50 caliber round from the revolver vented the sniper's skull sending gore and chunks of skull flying into trees on the edge of the clearing. Jarik got up and eyed his handiwork and activated the branding ring. Two marked corpses later he began collecting weapons.

Both of the men were using Minmatar Weapons, despite being Caldari themselves. from the site he recovered two 50 caliber revolvers and ammunition, a spotting scope with multiple interchangeable lenses and 150x zoom, and a Sniper rifle, interchangeable barrels, multiple weapon mounts and ammo calibration software built in to maximise penetration and accuracy. After he gathered all the stuff together he keyed the 'all clear' to the base and made double time back to the gates.

Jor met him at the gate,
"Burn, I am pleased with your work, these weapons will be returned to you when we deem it appropriate."
Two guards advanced weapons trained in Jarik.
"This is not unreasonable Captain, as long as I have access to them for training."
"You shall Burn, you shall."
He motioned to the guards to retrieve his weapons.
"Your firearms will be kept in a weapon locker that only I have access to, you will get full access when your training is complete."
Jarik smiled as he turned over the weapons,
"When does my training start sir?"
"Immediately, report to the Quartermaster to be briefed on the weapons you recovered. Then later we'll calibrate them."

Induction

Location: Planet-side military installation 462-b
System: Classified
Constellation: Classified
Region: Hemitar
3 Hours after Jarik's abduction at the hands of an RMS blackops team

Jarik Utoni woke with a start, the room he was in was pitch black and he found that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
"Good morning kid."
Jarik jumped at the sudden sound of a voice behind him and turned to face it.
"Don't worry, I'm just here to beat the living shit outa' you!"
Jarik heard the fist fly before it hit him square in the stomach, he doubled over and wretched into the blackness.
"Aww kid, don't give up now, the captain said you were a perfect recruit."
Jarik heard the fist again and this time he swung his head out of the way in time.
"Good, good, I was hoping you would put up a Little fight."
Jarik's eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness, and he was barely able to see his assailant.
"I admit this is my favorite part of the training." the man continued, "Shall I recite the orders for you?"
He took another swing at Jarik but by this time Jarik had timed his movements to compensate.
"'Beat the living crap out of each recruit'."
Jarik saw the glint of the man's goggles. whatever they were they made him able to see.
"I choose who lives and dies in here kid."
He took another swing and clipped Jarik's shoulder sending him spinning to the ground.
"Gotcha!"
Jarik saw the man's shadow leap towards him, and Jarik moved. Before he could react Jarik had delivered a barefooted kick to the man's face shattering the goggles. He staggered back clutching his face and tore off the ruined goggles throwing them to the ground.
"I'm gonna fucking kill you!"
He ran towards Jarik but with his eyes gone he couldn't see the wall he ran into.
"Where are you?!" The man got on his hands and knees to feel around.
3 minutes passed before the man grew silent.

Captain Jor Atkin looked at his watch. "Time" he said, "Let's take a look at the damage shall we?" He keyed the switched and opened the door and found the body of Private Wilson laying in a pool of his own blood.
"Ah, fuck." he looked around the room for the kid, and there he was, a look of contempt plainly visible on his face.
Jor smiled, "Congratulations 'Burn' you passed the first test."
Jor looked back at the body,
"You're a bloodthirsty little fella aren't you?"
Jor could feel the kid searching for weaknesses, it chilled him to the bone.
"My name's Jarik..." he finally said
"No," Jor responded "You will answer to 'Burn' from now on."
"I am Captain Jor Atkin and from this day forward I am your commanding officer."
"Now you need to report to the medical wing of the base, I'll have my personal guards escort you."

((The Implant))

Jarik Walked down the rust brown halls of the base, escorted on either side by huge men, almost as scary as Jor was.
"Here." one of them motioned into a room.
one of them picked him up and placed him on the table. An AIMED walked into the room it's synthesized voice chirped forth
"Burn, please lie still whilst I administer the localised anaesthetic."
Jarik, interested now allowed the AIMED to administer to a spot in the side of his head.
The AIMED noting it's subjects sudden interest in the procedure continued to explain.
"What we are doing now is applying the Hardpoint,"
The AIMED showed Jarik the device,
"What this does in act as an anchor to the Nano-assemblers who will build the circuitry in your head to the specifications contained within said implant."
The AIMED filled a syringe with Nano-assemblers an turned towards Jarik.
This will itch please try to hold still.
Jarik Felt the ants enter his head, squirming and scratching. Only the restraints holding his arms to his side kept him from scratching out his eyeball.
"Make it stop!" he screamed.
"Please remain calm"
Jarik squeezed his eyes shut and just screamed.

It felt like forever but the ants stopped scratching, Jarik slowly opened his eyes.
"Implantation successful, Ocular implant is responding to external stimuli."
"Burn please access your implant."
Jarik could feel the implant in his mind, like an extra room in his brain. He found the door for the room and opened it. The room changed colors, a little subtext in the foreground of his vision let him know what he was seeing. Infrared, X-ray, light enhancement, Zoom - 2X - 4X - 10X - 150X.
Jarik switched to x-ray and looked around the room finally looking towards the mirror.

Behind this mirror sat Captain Jor Atkin and Corporal Jessica Loon.
"Corporal, are you sure you locked out the X-ray capabilities in that implant?"
Crpl. Loon consulted the database
"Captain, we locked out all but light-enhancement, somehow he has broken through the neural blocks and has access to every capability."
Jor frowned and looked at Jarik's medical printout
"We'll just have to work with it then."
His eyes widened and he turned towards Cprl. Loon
"I want him in the sniper program in three years Corporal, get it done."
Crpl. Loon keyed the command into the computer.
"And his training until then?"
Jor smiled,
"If a class has covert in it's name I want him taking it."
Loon showed her surprise this time,
"But that will take..."
"Yes," he said "over 5 years of training."
He looked back into the room at the seven year old Brutor who at this point was looking directly at him.
You will do great things Jarik Utoni, he thought, it's in your genes.

Taken

Agent Azik Crane of the RMS tactical squad alpha-omega scanned the busy market for prospects. Standing at just under 5'6 and sporting a short cut mohawk Agent Crane was a frightening representation of the Krusual tribe. He stopped for a drink, even with all the assurances from HQ this still felt like slavery. HQ said these kids would grow to become the silent protectors of the Minmatar ideals. Azik spat, it still felt like slavery, but disobeying command was like signing your death warrant. He spotted a child, a young Brutor, no more then 7 years old, as he stole from one of the vendors. He reached for his comlink,
"Dragonfly to Baker, I have acquired a subject, stand by for relevant information."
"Copy that Dragonfly awaiting package."
Agent Crane moved through the crowds to get a good visual on the subject who was now enjoying the fruit he had stolen in the shade of an awning. Information collected from the Census breu and other sources scrolled across his vision until a complete data package had been built, this he sent to HQ as he read it himself.

Subject: Jarik Utoni
Race: Minmatar
Tribe: Brutor
Sex: M
Age: 7
Mother: Lizbeth Utoni (deceased)*
Father: Gerad Utoni (Deceased)**
Wanted for: Petty theft, Arson,
Known Accomplices: None
- - -
* - Mother died in an industrial accident
** - Father died of an overdose of Crash

Agent Crane's comlink chirped,
"Dragonfly, this is Baker, you are cleared to apprehend the target individual and prep him for transport."
"Roger that Baker, apprehending subject."

Jarik saw the man with the funny haircut watching him. The scary man was talking to himself while sneaking glances in his direction. Jarik had seen that look before, Tovar's gang had always looked at him like that right before they chased him out of the market. He'd shown them though, his friend, the fire, had made sure they would never bother him again. Jarik saw the scary man approach him slowly.
"Hello Jarik, do you want to come with me?" Jarik started to shake his head
"I know a place with a lot of fruit just like that one."
The man knew his name, he had never told anyone his name.
"Go away."
The man started to reach towards him
"Here, let me show you."
"No!" Jarik stood up "Leave me alone!"
"I can't do that kid."
His hand darted out and took hold of Jarik's forearm. he struggled feebly at the iron grip of his attacker.
"Let go!"
The man began dragging him through the market and the man started to talk to himself again.
"Baker this is Dragonfly, target secured, I'm heading to the dock."
Jarik struggled again in the mans grip, then he saw the fire merchant. He was in his regular spot near the dock as he was dragged by he snatched one of the firemakers and placed it on the man's arm, willing the man to burst into flames.

Agent Crane felt the pressure of something against his arm, then he felt the heat, then the pain.
"AARRRGGH!" he screamed and let go of the Jarik's arm to clutch at the burning hole in the center of his forearm. With his good arm he radioed HQ
"Target escaped, I've got a giant fucking hole burned in my arm and the kid got away!"
"Stand by Dragonfly, Medics have been dispatched and containment teams will capture the subject."
The medic arrived shortly and the backup teams, all in plainclothes attire, chased after the fleeing kid.
"Fuck," he said as the medic tended to his wound, "I hate kids."

Jarik ran, he could see that men were following and they were fast! faster then Tovar's gang had been. He took a hard right into a narrow alley but found that the other end was already blocked by a huge Brutor.
"you're not going anywhere kid."
Jarik tried to dart around him but found himself dangling by the feet before he cold even scream. The Brutor held him upside-down with one hand and with his free hand reached into his jacket for a syringe. Jarik panicked and reached for the firemaker but the man had already injected the warm fluid into his neck. As he lost consciousness the firemaker slipped from his hands and clattered to the ground.

Jor slung the now unconscious kid over his shoulder.
"Hey Jor, doesn't he remind you of you when you were that age?"
"Yea, except for the whole, 'Burn holes into guy's arms' thing."
Jor bent down to pick up the firebrand that the kid had dropped.
"Hey guys, look at this."
Jor showed them the firebrand, the Minmatar Republic symbol covered by pieces of charred flesh was visible on the firebrand.
"Azik got branded with the symbol of the republic!"
They were all laughing as Jor keyed his comlink,
"Target codename 'Burn' has been subdued and disarmed. We are en route to the transport."
"Rodger that Zeus, alternative surveillance confirms that 'Burn' is in custody."
"They're getting younger every year" said one of the men behind him
"Relax Kiver, he'll be in training for at least 5 years."
"Jor, don't tell me that abducting kid's doesn't bother you, you're parents...."
"Don't even go their Kiver, this kid will be one of our soldiers, I will train him to be the best, as I do all of our soldiers. He will know me as Captain Jor Atkin and you will address me as such for the duration of this mission."
Kiver stiffened up "Yes sir."
"Now let's get back to the ship."

Poetic Justice

Three days he had been in this forest.
Three days out of his 16 years of life.
Three days of watching, waiting.
But finally, there he was.
Operative Jarik Utoni, callsign; 'Burn' called up the information on his target and used his ocular implant to confirm identity.

Target: Amarrian holder, Admal Shaznadas.
Crimes: Slave owner, Taking of slaves in Minmatar space, murder of Matari diplomat.
Image relay: target confirmed
Confirmation from HQ: Confirmed
Operative 'Burn' you are cleared to take out the target

Jarik shook his spotter, a Sebiestor female known as 'Mag', awake.
"That bastard finally show up?" She whispered.
"Yea, he's at the compound now and I have his bio-signature locked."
"Great," she said, "More waiting"
Jarik smiled "You didn't complain about waiting while we were on the ship..."
Mag smiled in return, "We didn't have to worry about making too much noise on the ship."
An incoming datastream from their transport broke the mood

'Burn',
Amarrian covert ops vessels have been detected making drops on the planet, looks like the cat's out of the bag. you need to get the job done and get back to me ASAP.
-'Spook'

"What's the word?" 'Mag' asked
Jarik turned the wrist com so she could read it.
"We need to go loud to wrap this up, so I'll have to go to plan B"
She grimaced, "you really do have a thing for fire don't you?"
Jarik smiled, "Thought you would have understood me before sleeping with me."
She searched her bag for the x-ray lens and handed it to Jarik
"What? Heck no, I just needed the sex, the less I know the better."
Jarik smiled as he finished prepping the rifle and took the x-ray lens from her.
"We're kids right? we don't know any better."
She laughed openly at that.
"Right, if you ignore the 5 years of training to kill people and the 5 years of actually killing people, we're totally still kids."

After 3 more minutes of preparations in relative silence they were ready
"Mag, find him"
"Got him, Burn, 150m in the slave quarters, looks like he's in the middle of a beating"
"Poetic justice then, Wall thickness and composition?"
"First wall 1cm of steel, second wall 6cm of brick."
Jarik adjusted the ammunition composition to compensate.
"Mag, Wind speed?"
"3 knots south southwest, Burn"
Jarik Adjusted the sights and looked through the scope. Mag was right, the outline he could see with the X-ray sight and utilizing the Bio-signature gave him the distinct impression that he was beating someone.
"Is there a pattern to his movements?"
"I count 3 seconds per 'strike' Burn. His head is stable for two seconds and then one second when it sweeps forward in an arcing motion."
"In 9 seconds I send it."
Mag nodded and they both shielded their hearing.
3...
2...
The figure of Admal stopped the rhythmic striking moving and turned to present his profile
Exhale...
Trigger...

Jared was crying, his mother was getting beaten mercilessly by the master, he didn't understand.
"Why why why why why?" he cried into his father's arm
Jared turned to face the master and screamed,
"WHY?!"
Admal stopped beating Jared's mother and turned to face him.
Then his head exploded.

"Target down, Burn, let's evac."
Jarik smiled and set a burning match to the gasoline soaked underbrush as he pulled out to the evac pods.
During the accent the burning underbrush began to take the shape of the Minmatar Republic symbol, something he had been working on for the two nights he was there. Jarik smiled as Mag realised what he did.
"That's gonna anger the brass."
"It always does Mag, it always does."