Shoot First, Worry Later

Newly finished with her training, Viktoriya Zaytseva joins her father, Dmitri Zaytsev, on her first mission. Targeting one of the most hated and corrupt individuals in Biko's government in hopes of gaining support for the insurrection while also creating a distraction to grab vital intelligence. With such a tight time constraint between the official's death and the lockdown of the data, the new insurrectionist and her father will have to work fast.



1300 HOURS, JUNE 29, 2518 (MILITARY CALENDAR)

BIKO SYSTEM, PLANET BIKO, HILL OVERLOOKING OUTSIDE DURBAN MUNICIPAL COMPLEX

"Don't shoot until I tell you. Once he goes down, we've only got one shot to grab the intel, and I'm not sure how long we've got before it's locked down, so I need to be in position to make the grab."

As her father's voice sounded through her earpiece, Viktoriya's breath was soft and steady, even as she clicked her comm unit twice in affirmative. The young insurrectionist peered through the scope of her rifle towards the courtyard about half a kilometer away from her. She could see her target, a well-dressed man of about fifty, speaking to the sparse crowd in front of him. Her finger rested lazily to the side of the trigger as she hovered the crosshairs over his chest, waiting for her moment to squeeze the trigger.

As still as her body remained on the outside, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. While her family had grown up hunting, and Viktoriya herself had been training for over a year for this very moment, this would still be the first life she was going to take. Laying there on the hill, rifle hovering over the target, all that she could think of was what she was about to do. Her breath started to quicken as thought after thought raced through her mind. What if he had a family? Am I really justified in taking his life? Starting to panic, Viktoriya shut her eyes and slowly removed her hand from the rifle.

"Okay. I'm ready. Take out the target and I'll make my move."

Her father's voice cut through the silence.

Slowly opening her eyes, Viktoriya thumbed the comms twice more and rested her cheek back on the stock of the rifle. Rather than worries and doubts filling her head, she now only thought of justifications. Her father was counting on her. The insurrection was counting on her. The people of Biko were counting on her. As she slowed her breathing, she felt her heartbeat do the same. One deep breath in, one out. Breathing in once more, she slowly let it out halfway, watching as the crosshairs fell down over the target's chest once more. Slowly and steadily, Viktoriya placed her finger on the trigger and squeezed. Jumping slightly as the first shot rang out, the young insurrectionist steeled herself once more and squeezed off two more shots into the target's chest as he crumpled to the ground, watching it happen in silence.

Dmitri Zaytsev walked casually into the lobby of the municipal building in Durban. Dressed in a business suit and holding a briefcase, he blended in perfectly with the rest of the lawyers and politicians walking about the building. Waiting patiently in line for the front desk, he looked out of the windows to the central courtyard, where a small crowd was gathered listening to one of the planet's most corrupt leaders. He glanced down to his watch. Twenty seconds since his daughter had confirmed his last message.

"Can I help you..."

It was at that moment that the first shot rang out, cutting the woman behind the desk off halfway through her getting his attention. Looking up and smiling, Dmitri reached into his jacket and drew his sidearm as the woman ducked behind the counter. He walked around the desk and levelled it on her.

"Run outside, and everything will be fine. Believe it or not, I'm doing this for the good of the people. I don't want to hurt you."

As the woman nodded and ran outside with the rest of the crowd, Dmitri set his briefcase down on the counter and opened it, removing a small computer of his own and hooking it up to the municipal system. Tapping a few codes away on the keyboard, he set the intrusion program working and looked back around the room. Filtering out the noise from the outside panic as the computer worked, Dmitri noticed the alarms blaring for the first time. Eyes flicking between the screen of his computer and the doorways as the progress bar slowly crept up, he began to grow anxious at how long it was taking. Finally, an agonizing four minutes later, the computer chimed once, indicating the hack and data transfer was completed. Quickly grabbing the laptop and shoving it back into his briefcase, Dmitri tapped his earpiece.

"I've got the data. I'll be coming out through the crowd, keep the police off me."

Two clicks of the comm. Turning to the door and walking out into the still panicked scene outside, Dmitri pushed into the crowd and slowly made his way away. Breaking out from the crowd, a police officer started to protest his retreat from the crime but was quickly silenced as yet another shot rang out. Climbing into his car, Zaytsev drove away to collect his daughter, their mission successful.