A Shot In The Dark

Escalation Into Darkness

The slightest movement.. The slightest big breath, or jerk of my spastic body.. And that would spell the end of me. I knew this was going to happen, I almost could feel it in my bones. I lowered my pulse rifle to my side.. Feeling the cool breeze shoot into my mask and caress my face softly. I released my finger from the trigger; and it was over.

To make any sense of this I would have to go back two months.. Back to the moment where I decided to be a hero.

I was top of my class, there was no one who was even close to me in the IQ test, the physical endurance/strength aspect of our line of work. There was nothing that I couldn't do, and do better than EVERYONE else at the academy. One of my classmates approached me, a small woman who was.. Sadly bottom of the pile when it came to being top notch. "H-hey. Can you give me some pointers with aiming? I know I can.. I can outsmart people, I haven't proven it yet.. B-because.." I interrupted her with a swift hand movement. "No need to explain anything to me. The best advice that can be given out about aiming a pulse rifle is think of aiming with your finger, line up the barrel of the rifle where you want that munition to go. And be one with it. Embrace its kickback and fall in love with the noise. You are disconnected from your rifle, be one with it. And it will pay you back in full."

My tacky advice about how to become a better shot might prove to be not enough for this small girl, but I had to try. She was shivering just at the opportunity to talk to me. "W-wow. You make it sound so poetic! I will definitely try this. Thank you so much!" I looked upon her and smiled as she walked away from me. She didn't have an official jacket yet, so I had no idea what to even call her. It would be in my best interest to just not call her anything, and let the situation die off. My commanding officer, Strike Commander Morrison, approached me and I saluted him.

"At ease, soldier." Morrison spoke outright. It was no secret he was the best soldier we've ever had, and it only took seventy six of them to get him. Me? I was number seventy five. Just behind him and I missed the mark on being in his shoes by one literal shot. Missing that shot ensured that Morrison would be the one to take over, become the infamous Soldier Seventy Six. I lowered my arm to my side and he began to explain my next assignment.

"We have a.. Unique opportunity to all soldiers willing to take a risk and do something that has never been done before. And yes, before you even as, I did try to throw my name in the hat. But the decision makers felt it would be best if I remained here, in charge of the operation. Your task is to oversee an Omnic factory and ensure that no.. Funny business is going down there. We trust the Omnics as of today. But tomorrow is another day, soldier."

I scoffed at the word 'Omnic', those dastardly robots always seemed like they were up to something.. Always seemed as if they were planning the downfall of humankind.. But who was I to question them? They were hyper intelligent killing machines built for the sole purpose of, 'Keeping the peace by any means necessary.' They couldn't POSSIBLY turn on the very things that gave them life, could they? Who knows. I don't. I nodded at Morrison, "Where is it, sir?"

"The mission takes place entirely in Korea. South Korea to be more exact." My ears perked up upon hearing this. For more than one reason. I nod at his words and tried to hide my excitement at the opportunity. "I will gladly take this assignment. Thank you for this opportunity sir." My words only made him realize he forgot to mention things, which might be bad. "You will be working directly with Winston and Tracer. You know, Lena. The small loud one who teleports at will? They will be your backup in case anything goes wrong." I nod yet again, and Morrison's hand rose to his temple and he saluted me, nodding, he then turned and walked off into the dark. Now is where I could show my excitement to only myself.

South Korea? You mean, THE South Korea?? The one place in the world that I've always wanted to go and never been given the opportunity to do so? I could potentially see the Meka training facility. I hear it's run by Hana Song. My absolute biggest crush in the whole world. That.. Is just wishful thinking. I'm sure Hana has way better things to do than to just fart around a boring ass Omnic facility.