All Part of the Plan

[Subject 37]

Agamar
[member="Laguz Vald"]

."Well." Kiran said quietly as he adjusted the scope on his rifle, shifting slightly so that he could peer through the scope. "It's called precision."

The weapon that he held was sleek, a long black sniper rifle with a scope sitting atop it and a bi-pod mounted towards the end of the barrel. He shifted slightly, his weight leaning against the weapon as his head was pressed against the side of the stock. He frowned for a moment, his hand coming up to slowly turn one of the range nobs on the side of the scope. A small nod of satisfaction and Kiran returned the hand to right beneath the trigger guard. "I don't need a tank, or a bigger rifle, because I only need one shot."

There was a loud sigh over the comm.

Kiran smiled slightly.

"Listen kids." Kiran continued on the radio, speaking to the three other teams that were deployed around the ridge. "When I was your age, I didn't get fancy tools like sniper rifles and range finders. When I joined the Son's we had one Assault Rifle and a broken pair of macro-binoculars, you should be thankful for the equipment that I deem to give you. Now shut up and tell me the range."

The man beside him shifted slightly, looking through his own scope.

"Four hundred thirty two Meters."

Kiran nodded, then slowly pulled back on the Rifle once more, adjusting the scope one more time before finally his targets came clearly into view. A group of men position on the beach opposite the cliff that he was laying on. There were twenty three of them in all, at least that they had spotted. Most of them were scattered around the camp, some eating, some sparring with one another, and some actually sleeping.

The flags that dotted the camp marked the place as Mandalorian, the ancient mythosaur skull hanging proudly on a backdrop of solid blood red, a large sickle like weapon sweeping beneath it. That was the mark of the Feron Clan, a pack of Mandalorians that centuries had come from humble farming origins. They weren't anything major or influential, in fact as he understood it they were relatively unknown, but they would suit his purposes well enough. "Laguz, got eyes on the Chief?"

 

[Laguz Vald]

Laguz did, in fact, have eyes on the chief.

Xe was rather unable to articulate that at the moment, however. This was in most part due to xir pretending to be a nearby rock on the beach. The plain-sight hiding spot offered xem an unique vantage point on the goings on in the makeshift camp. It was brilliant, really, how xe’d positioned xemself. The shifter had made xir way to their end of the beach across the seabed, avoiding curious fish who would prod at the amorphous blob dragging itself over the ocean floor. Afterwards, xe’d slowly climbed up the harsh surface of the half-submerged outcropping, until finally, Laguz had assumed the shape of another rock formation, blending in seamlessly.

Unfortunately, stone wasn’t in the habit of talking. While xe could, probably, maybe, create a flesh pocket inside xemself and carve out a rudimentary mouth, the shifter knew it was too risky.

So, knowing that [member="Kiran Vess"] was keeping a watchful eye on the quaint scene, Laguz painted a conspicuous ‘yes’ on xir rocky behind, safely obscured from any prying Mando eyes.

Half a breath later, the syllable was replaced by a question mark.

And the merc waited, because jobs like these were the only ones xe had any patience for.

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Laguz Vald"]

He chuckled slightly. "That's a good look for you."

The idea of shapeshifters had never quite settled for Kiran.

Oh he liked Laguz, as much as someone like him could anyway, but the concept of what she could do, what she was capable of had never really quite been put in the correct place for Kiran. He knew that she could basically be anything, a talent that he appreciated for it's military application, but was also weary of due to it's social ones. He supposed that he didn't have any right to complain given his own social skills, but still, the idea that at any time she could decide to turn into a direct copy of him and go and make out with Alric...well that unsettled him more than having a turbolaser aimed at his face.

"Get ready." Kiran said as he slowly pulled the rifle back against his shoulder. "Take the Chief as quickly as you can."

They would strike simultaneously, all the positioned sniper teams and Laguz. "Make sure not to damage the armor, best to go for the throat."

The plan was for Kiran and the others to take out as many of the Mandalorians as they could as quickly as they could while Laguz ended the life of the Chief. That was the reason for the use of the SI-19 sniper rifles, they would be able to fire rapid, almost undetectable bolts in order to take out the Mandalorian tribesmen before they had a chance to properly respond, once that was taken care of Laguz could un-morph herself from her current form and take out the chief without damaging his helmet, or his precious armor.

 

[Laguz Vald]

[member="Kiran Vess"]

There was another reason why Laguz had forgone the option to morph a mouth and answer Kiran physically. Xe was cradling a precious piece of weaponry inside xir folded body, and even a remote chance of it slipping out wasn’t worth risking. It would blow the op they’d been preparing for nearly a week, and make the next attempt that much more difficult.

A neat slice of technology, though. Borrowed from the Ssi-Ruuvi folk down in the dark corners of the Galaxy, the stun bolts it fired happily ignored nearly all forms of armor and blade.

It was perfect, really.

Then the Mandos started falling to the ground. The rest of them jumped to their feet, grasping for blasters. More were mowed down as they glanced about frantically. Searching, panicking, yelling orders. The chief was the loudest of all, with a beskad in one hand and an assault rifle in the other. His buy’ce glared from the sun as he pivoted on the spot, searching for the enemy.

The group started firing back; random shots into the shrubbery. Ineffective. One by one, the scattered tribe were being decimated, pulled asunder from the invisible rain of bolts.

It was then that Laguz lunged forth, every cell in xir body coiled for the transformation mid-vault. Even if a Mando noticed, they were all too far and too distracted by the pinning fire to do anything about it.

And the chief, the poor chief, was stumbling back, raising his gun.

Too slow.

The merc fired first. The bolt hit him square in the left side of the torso, and his rifle fell into the sand. His numb arm flopped and he brought his other one around in a wide arc.

A second too late, and Laguz would’ve been sliced clean through by a beskad spinning end-on-end. A quick splice of xir amorphous body saved xem from the fate, and the blade clanged uselessly against the rocks.

Xe finished the job with two quick pulls of the trigger and forced the chief down on his knees.

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Laguz Vald"]

It was all very fast.

Very clean.

The rifles that they'd brought had been designed for that, for precision. It was a beautiful thing really, seeing the Mandalorians so disoriented and so confused. They didn't know where the shots were coming from, they couldn't even hear them.

That was the issue with most rifles, even Verpines left a signature, these rifles? Nothing.

For force users there was always their own little early warning system, something that alerted them something was coming, but the way Kiran understood it was that they didn't always know what. Visuals helped them, as did sound and a number of other factors. That was why it was usually a fool's errand to use a sniper rifle against a force user, but with this, their plan, even the powerful leader of a Mandalorian Clan wasn't any match.

Though, perhaps the shapeshifting rock helped.

"Kill them all." Kiran whispered into his comm. "No Mandalorian walks off that beach."

It was an integral part of the plan, and as Kiran pulled the trigger one more time he felt no regret.

It was his job after all.

 

[Laguz Vald]

The last of the Mandalorians hit the ground with dead thumps around xem. Laguz noted the complete silence that descended upon the beach in the back of xir mind. The majority of xir focus, however, was devoted to the task at hand; peeling the chief out of his precious armor.

During xir time with the Primeval, the shifter had grown quite accustomed to the sight of beskar’gam. Xe’d seen all shapes, all sizes. It was durable, alright, but the body underneath was just as feeble as any other. Once xe’d figured out the weak spots, xir rounds quickly turned the flesh into emmentaler. The new ones xe had now – especially for Mandos – didn’t ricochet around quite as nicely, but they punched straight through the armor, so there was that.

No need for pain-in-the-ass shots to the transparisteel of the buy’ce. Or, Sargon forbid, aiming for the gaps in the plates.

Some of the most difficult kills in xir career were Mandalorians, there was no denying it.

Then again, some of the easiest kills in xir career were also Mandalorians.

They were a strange lot, really. Skilled, but too often blinded by such impractical concepts as honor and pride. Take the chief, for example. Instead of going for a sidearm and unloading a clip into his attacker, the man had instead pulled out his beskad. His sword.

Living under a rock or not, everyone in the Galaxy knew not to bring one to a gunfight.

“We’re done here,” Laguz spoke into xir comlink and rose to xir feet. The merc glanced in the general direction of [member="Kiran Vess"] and pointed at the neatly stacked plates of the beskar’gam.

It was much easier removing armor from a living body than a hole-riddled corpse. Though paralysed, the chief’s limbs were easy to manipulate. Rigor mortis would’ve been a whole another schutta.

“You can shoot him now.”

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Laguz Vald"]

The sniper rifle leveled for a moment, the crosshairs of the thermal scope coming over the mans head. There was no stalling, no spill of words or dialogue that came from Kiran. He simply pulled the trigger.

While he had fun doing his job, they were also here to get things done. The slaughter of these Mandalorians, the taking of their armor, and the capture of their base and equipment was all part of a greater plan. It was brilliant really, and in truth he wished that he'd thought of it.

"Lets get down there." Kiran said to the others as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. "On the double."

Things were moving fast now.

Saeva was being hired all around the galaxy, the company was expanding, and more than a few of the corporations larger projects were beginning to look like they were getting more and more bloody. This one in particular was...interesting. He hadn't expected a one-off jailbreak to turn into something this messy. Though, if they managed to pull it off they would not only be rich, but would very likely go down in history as one of the most vilified organizations in the galaxy.

Kiran liked the thought of that.

A lot.