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."