King Me

Part-Time Sniper

Aurelia entered the room, head down, facing the hologram timer she'd pulled up on her alien device, "The next team should be here in five minutes," She announced, and Conner laughed with... excitement?

The King of Tanks burst to his feet, pulling his rifle from his back, "They might be falling from the sky like the big boys did! Let's see if I can't pick a few off," 

Aurelia nodded, "A clever idea. Ren, accompany him," And he head turned to Yancey, "You as well," She stepped closer to Yancey, reaching a hand up to her shoulder, pulling Yancey's head down to her mouth, "Viewing one proficient in the art of death will aid your progress towards becoming desensitized to it," The thought made Yancey's stomach churn, but she was on Aurelia's good side for the moment.

Conner jeered with approval, looping an arm over Yancey's shoulders, and pulled her towards the stairs with him, "Come on, we gotta hurry!"

Yancey eyed an elevator, and pulled free of Conner. She found it to be quite operable, and the three rode with haste to the top of the massive tower. It wasn't one of the large ones that reached straight into space; those acted only to obscure the massive panoramic view they found at the top, mostly the sight of crippled towers. Some of them had been ravaged by the deceased Fire King, appearing more as massive skeletons than the remains of towers. Conner hurried to the ledge of the massive building, laying straight down onto the ground and pressing a button on the side of his rifle that kicked out a pair of bars, propping the weapon up. Next, a massive scope flicked from the side of the rifle to the top beside where Conner's head rested on the stock, and he held it an inch away from his eye.

Now Yancey's heart rate was spiking. This was a battlefield, and she knew that their enemies could be searching for them, just the same as they currently looked. Her head between crosshairs, just waiting for the right amount of pressure to be applied to the trigger, and her head would explode. It's strange that I'm even worried about that. But it's different then when I had my own gun to my head. That was the first time I've had control of anything since I've been here. Now it could come at any second. No, worse, it could come at any second and tear my arm off like Faust's was.

The memory of Faust, squirting blood in a sickening rhythmic fashion, came into her head without prompting. She felt sick. Then I'd be even more worthless then I am now. Would they even try to lug me around with them?  Yancey wondered, glancing at her two companions. 

"Oh shit," Conner's voice was hardly audible, but atop the silent rooftop, it was quite clear, "I see one. Flying around buildings," Yancey's heart sank at this. It was best that Conner found them before they'd found her own team, yet she didn't feel any better at this thought. BLAM! Conner hadn't waited for prompting, sending a shot roaring far off into the distance beyond what Yancey's eyes could detect. "Shit, missed him," Conner growled, refocusing.

"Poor bastard's glancing around. Trying to figure out where the shot came from," Conner chuckled. This time Yancey plugged her ears. She couldn't handle the thought of some other poor soul, gusting around the sky, looking for a sniper that could take their life at any moment. She didn't hear the next shot, but the power the weapon dispersed caused a small shockwave to pulse over her. Yancey could see a tiny explosion off in the distance, and Conner raised a fist into the air,

"Got the sum' bitch! Hell yeah, let's see if his buddies come checkin' on him," Conner cheered, readjusting the weapon. "Shit!" Conner exploded too his feet, leaping straight back onto the ground. Not a moment later, the spot he'd been sitting on exploded into rubble, "One of them saw me! Come on, we gotta move!" A barrage of shots followed, annihilating the side of the roof Conner had been shooting from. Yancey screamed, covering her head and falling to the ground. Conner was on his hands and knees, crawling towards her, screaming commands that she couldn't hear. Rubble dashed across the rooftop as the fire continued, billows of dust the last thing Yancey saw as she closed her eyes.