Coming of Age

The gunfire came from an alley; this was taken care of by a grenade lobbing. Chunks of brick hit Valid in the face; made her wince in pain for a second. Perception glanced at her face in kind, but quickly turned his attention to the alley. Crouched, pistol at his knees, he peered around the corner. The smoke quickly dispersed from the alley, Perception saw two bodies, or what was left of them. “All clear lets move on,” quickly after stating the claim, an overhead crack was sounded. Perception and Valid stopped dead in their tracks.

“What in God’s name was that? Never heard a sound quite like that.” Valid said as she ducked next to a wall. Perception was crouched peering into the sky, with Valid acknowledging the sound, it triggered him to walk into the closest high rise. He arrived at the roof and cityscape revealed a downed helicopter tattered and burning. “Really?” he stated.

“Really what” Valid questioned, as she donned her sniper rifle; peering through the viewfinder she focused on the crash site. “Two bogeys, wait, look like friendlies.” She zoomed out and saw three blurs; she focused on the blurs. Seeing no uniform Valid quickly squeezed off three rounds; each one for the back of their skulls. Turning back to the crash site, she saw no movement. Perception recognized the raised eyebrow and hurried to the first floor. He radioed to Valid: “Cover me; I’m going to check it out.” Still high above the ground Valid conceded as her position was optimal for sighting. Replying to his order, “all clear boss man, you can call me God.” She smirked and continued, “keeping an eye out for you.” He shrugged off the quibble and ducked. “Still clear, I got you in my sights.” Perception neared one blade of the helicopter; it began to sag as the heat from the fire started to take affect on its structure. Amazed, he touched the blade with his index finger; this blade didn’t have one scratch.

“Admiring the coloring sir, or is that mind working?” The gears in Perception’s mind began to spin, why this helicopter, why random? The fact of the matter was that anti-aircraft weapons were miles away, not next to the building. How this aircraft crashed was a mystery. He remembered the crack and started to question what the sound really was.

“Valid, that sound before the helicopter crashed, what could it have been?” Perception had already begun to query his own statement; however, brainstorming came to a blank. Just as his mind began to give up he remembered back to the sagging blade of the helicopter. Fire from a crash doesn’t get that hot until hours after the crash to make a blade sag unless it has jet fuel to encourage it. Even then, the blade would take at least an hour to start sagging. “Valid, this fire is hot. Hotter than hot, the metal is already bending; brainstorm weapons.”

“Well, only answer I can think of is a well directed plasma ca- sir duck.” Without hesitation Perception ducked, he saw a bullet trail wisp over his head; glancing his scalp and leaving a dull feeling. A grunt sounded behind him; hearing a crash he viewed the fallen body. The bullet had made a clean hole in the enemy’s forehead; seeing this, he gave the thumbs up to Valid. Peering through the scope she saw this statement of goodwill; the headset belched into her ear:

“Thanks for the cover, knew you were good but I thank you for being better than I had once thought.”

She offered her gratitude and quickly went back to scoping the ground. How many more enemies was grabbing at Valid’s forethought, as she had plenty of bullets but little patience. Perception slowly danced around the crash site looking for survivors, knowing this was a fleeting cause he soon grimaced knowing several of his colleagues were burning inside. He went to shadows taking cover as the black dark over took his body. He was waiting, for what only he knew. He envisioned a set of troops, about squad size, arriving to ascertain the damage inflicted.

“You know sir, I hate when you’re right,” this was stated as she viewed his smile through the scope. She re-focused on the squad and garnered the information she needed and made quick but precise calculations in her head. Just as she was about to begin her religious executions, a quick burp from the headset interrupted the ceremony. She knew this meant for her to lay off a moment as he needed silence.

Cloaked in darkness, Perception knew they would survey the scene. He awaited the usual patrol scheme; they first checked the scene to be safe. They then walked out behind the pillars of the buildings; out into the open. Perception saw their trump card; he radioed to Valid.

“I see it sir, got it in my sights.” He knew she would definitely not fire into this particular squad. One of the smaller, but beefier soldiers shouldered an M-45 Armor Piercing Rocket launcher. She knew the capabilities and limitations of this weapon; they were few and far between. The self-proclaiming God was silent now.

Lassoing his weapon to his back, Perception moved slowly towards the enemy. This target was a vulnerable, but tall and slender; meaning that he could move. He carried some form of a weapon which was anchored to his thigh; Perception planned out his attack. Move quietly and swiftly, take him from behind. He did just that; however, nearing his rear, about an inch away, the soldier perked up and began to talk. Perception discerned that an Armored Personnel Carrier was approaching; APC for short. The soldier went silent, and Perception put one arm, hand holding knife to his neck. His other hand held him still as he began to whisper into his ear.

“Where did that weapon come from?” He yanked his enemy to answer, he let a small breath leave his mouth; the soldier was shaking. He answered.

“Over the next ridge, it’s on a truck.” The soldier gave up the location and coordinates to Perception; he obviously wanted to live. Feeling merciful he put him to sleep instead of jabbing his insides. Signaling for Valid to join him, she perked in:

“Can I take them?” Anxious to hear his reply she began to eye her first target.

“No, get down here fast, we need to get to that area.” Pereptions eye’s refocused on the site; he saw a body, charred but not too bad off. The enemy took a knife, stabbing him in the stomach and watched him churn in pain. Standing up now the soldier smirked and then put a bullet in the head of the injured soldier. Feeling an anxious culling, he revered putting bullets inside everyone’s head over the next ridge. He began to move slowly into the dark.