Scapegoat ~ How To Pin Attempted Murder On A Subordinate

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“Eyes up team. RADAR just said they’re about 15 mikes out so we’re on our own for this one” The softened voice of the hardened veteran would speak into her mic, one finger gently holding down the button on the side of her chest radio. She shifted uncomfortably in the underbrush of the valley grass she laid among. The scope of her rifle shifted slightly to put different humanoid shapes in view as she breathed heavily against the snow covered ground. Her warm breath trailing above her while she exhaled. “No helo means no covering fire. We do this quick, we do this quiet. Am I clear?”

“All clear LT.” A much smoother woman’s voice would return, followed by confirmation from two men as well. “Confirmed view of the penthouse. We sure this guy isn’t supposed to be here?” On the other end of the radio, Lance Corporal Faust was fingering the trigger guard of her anti-material rifle nearly half a mile away atop an incline facing the buildings. Her impatience to fire got her excited for her first operation in combat. “I’d hate to put a hole in someone important.” She'd chuckle out a laugh.

“That’s what RADAR said. The president is currently with the royal guard in east city, so whoever this is doesn’t have prior authorization.”

“Got it. 10-23 at long count?” A harsh, gruff male voice would request

“Yeah, on me.” Kim would sigh as she rose from her spot, feeling the rush in her blood once again. Of all of the crap Command made her do, she hated these kinds of missions the most. Thick residential, rich neighborhood complete with bystanders who could see something they’re not authorized to see. Her job? She was the magic eraser, making problems disappear for the investigation. Anything to supplement Operation Kingslayer. She would raise her weapon to her chest, reattaching the single-point mount on her plate carrier and allowing the rifle to lay slumped against her body while she slowly made her way from the tree line to the fence line covering the massive backyards of the housing. The whole of the neighborhood was quiet, seldom the occasional audible yell from inside the mansion. “On the fence. Overwatch, do you have eyes on me?”. As she said this, Kimono would wave a thin black stick above her head in the darkness, invisible to the naked eye. Faust, through her infrared optic, saw clearly the glow of the IR flare.

“All copies boss”

“Good, Op starts now. Safeties off, everyone’s weapon clear. GO.”

With this, the loud bangs of wood splintering could be heard on both sides of the mansion’s backyard as the two external fence doors blew open with the forceful kicks of the soldiers. Kim could see a much larger man enter opposite of her, standing six foot minimum and wearing all black. Specialist Tight, someone on loan to him from the recon team at the request of Command. His rifle rose instantly as he passed the threshold, firing two suppressed rounds into the two guards who were alerted to the crashing sound. Kim raised her rifle, dropping another man who exited the back sliding door of the building. Kimono sprinted to the door, covering the visible living space as the other two men finished dragging the bodies to cover and stacked up behind her. The second man, someone she didn’t know too well, was an operative of the royal guard she never caught the name of. Kim slid the door open and entered cautiously while scanning all visible entryways, slowly stepping in front of the warm fireplace before the sound of glass shattering dropped the woman into a half crouch. Her eyes jotted over to the sound of a slump, seeing a body drop from the second floor balcony into the snow. The corpse looking horrible from the bullet that nearly tore the man’s torso off.

“One bullet-catcher out. Check all angles next time”

Kim sighed as she wiped the sweat from her brow, the two men chuckling as they watched their superior nearly panic from the sniper’s action.

“Good work Q-TIP, keep eyes and alert us to anyone getting too close.”

“Affirmative”

With that, the squad continued on their path through the building. Following the map they were forced to memorize before the operation, Kim found herself stacked at the door to the office and workspace of the President of Earth. Exchanging hand signals with the two others with her, she’d allow Tight to ram the door with his battering ram. That was, until the sound of gunfire ripped through the door. Before Kim could even react, Tight was on the floor unresponsive as he continued to take rounds from the machine gun behind the door. "OH SHI-" She'd yell out as she backed up, seeing the wall litter with bullet holes that nearly hit her. She channeled her ki, her training she practiced for this very purpose. Her inner Zen focused on the world around her, and as she did, her instincts picked up on the spiritual signatures of the two behind the door. She raised her firearm against the wall, firing four times through the inner drywall at the small, weak powers she could feel inside. The sounds of twin slumps had Kim bust into the room while the royal guard went to check on Tight.
All Kim saw as she entered was the sight of two dead royal guards fallen against a machine gun nest premade inside of the office. Confused, Kimono walked to the nearby presidential desk to search and see where exactly the intruders were. Why were there royal guards here? There was supposed to be insurgents. Enemies of the state. As she turned back to the doorway, her radio clicked with a response, only hearing the sounds of a struggle before the sound of glass breaking inside of the building happened again from Faust firing her rifle. This ended with the sound of a single, distant gunshot and radio silence from Faust.

Kim looked horrified in silence as she put together what was happening. There was no way anyone would have been able to know where everyone was going to be unless they were part of the preparations of this operation. This was internal. This was a set-up.
Before she could even do anything, she could see the royal guard operative raising his weapon to her. Muzzle flashes blinded Kim as she felt the rounds ricochet off of her skin, the gun emptying its magazine with little effect to her body. She looked at her body in amazement seeing the damaged gear, but not a scratch on her skin. Her ki training hardened her body and spirit beyond the damage caused by the firearm.
Kim rushed the man, drawing her knife from her hip and slashing at his chest, drawing blood and causing him to backpedal before twisting and kicking her in the side of her head, knocking her off balance. As she fell, the operative drew his sidearm and dumped the magazine’s worth of ammunition into the side of her skull, but nothing seemed to work. Kim would land on her braced arm, kicking the man in the back of his knee to drop him to one knee. From there, she rammed the blade into his exposed back, finally finishing off the traitor. Her victory was short lived, unfortunately, as the spotlight from a helicopter illuminated her through the window of the office and a booming voice echoed through a megaphone.

“COME OUT OF THE BUILDING UNARMED, LAMELLAR. WE KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE. YOUR ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT FAILED, GIVE UP PEACEFULLY OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO USE ANY MEANS NECESSARY TO REMOVE YOU.” It yelled, as the sounds of footsteps filled the halls. Men armed with various weapons aiming down the hallway she just entered from at her. The sight was a gruesome one. An unarmed, seemingly injured soldier surrounded by bodies and covered in blood and bullet wounds. She would put her hands above her head, surrendering to the men, feeling the cold metal of the handcuffs against her wrists as she was being arrested. Dragged out to the front roundabout full of army and police vehicles. Her last sight being body bags being removed from the scene as they slammed the doors shut on the van that she was stuffed into. All she could hear was the final words spoken by the officer as he pushed her into the vehicle.

"You can't hurt anyone anymore terrorist"


Kim resigned herself to staying silent as the armed guards inside of the van stared at her intently, as if expecting resistance. She wouldn't fight it. It was all worthless to try and fight. She was just the sacrificial lamb. They needed to get rid of all loose ends to the Op. She lost. This seemed to be the end of the warrior.