User:SPARTAN-08BLAM!/Halo: Rebirth

The prey was in the sights. Right now Joshua had the chance to give and take away the life of the Z’Kudu. The small deer like animal raised its head from the patch of brown grass it was chewing, seeming to sense its imminent peril. From across the ravine he could see it sensed danger. Joshua slowed his breathing and tried his best to regulate his heartbeat, this was his “Zen” mode. The trance like state sent adrenaline pumping through his veins. Time seemed to stand still as he slowly eased the trigger of the small but powerful hunting rifle and shifted it closer to himself. He stayed his finger and didn’t fire, he decided since his target hadn’t been there all day he should just leave. He heard a very distant, almost inaudible rifle shot and felt something in the pit of his stomach drop.

Two hours had past and Joshua hadn’t moved, except for his breathing. He was going to move when he saw something move, he sighted through his scope and saw a massive snake made of leaves and brush crawl forth to the deer. But this was no snake, this was his mission. Joshua was defending his planet from the U.N.S.C., after putting an embargo into effect Joshua and his fellow merchants grew restless and soon could no longer provide food for their families. With no new buyers arriving on the planet Joshua could simply no longer afford to feed his brothers and sisters.

The McIntosh family was closely knit and fairly large. Two months ago Joshua’s father had given him the merchant stand, ship, and goods to do what he wished, and then he ran off to join the Insurrection. Joshua had learned from rebel radio broadcasts his father had been gunned down while trying to bomb a mall in some heavily populated city in the inner colonies. His mother had died in a car accident when Joshua was ten.

After the embargo the U.N.S.C. had put boots on the ground to try and “intimidate” the rebels into giving up their need for independence. Ever since there had been sporadic fighting all over the planet. Joshua hadn’t killed anybody yet but he was prepared to whatever it took to be free.

The man was wearing a Ghillie suit. It seamlessly blended with the golden grass and made him nearly invisible. Joshua hated to admit it but if the other sniper hadn’t moved then Joshua would have left and probably have gotten killed. The large coniferous tree he was under masked him in shade and he wore dark blue clothes, the perfect shade to blend in seamlessly. Joshua brought his rifle to bear, and entered his “Zen” state. The cross hairs moved to the mans head. He slowly tracked this poor soul that was about to be ended. The “Unnie” was carrying a high powered sniper rifle, an srs ninety something was all that Joshua could remember from his briefings in secret “UnderGround” locations.

Joshua’s heart began beating intensely as he prepared to take a life: his first assignment. He was going to receive pay that would otherwise take him weeks to make at his stand. The unknown soldier stopped. This was Joshua’s chance he setup the sights and slowly began to ease the trigger. He closed his eyes as the bullet left the chamber, crossed the ravine and impacted in the mans unprotected skull a fraction of a second later. Joshua kept his eyes shut, and only reopened them five minutes later to make sure he wasn’t dead. He looked through the scope again and would have missed the man again except for the dark red spot on his otherwise perfect camouflage.