Legacy Chr: Minor Annoyance

Verra had chosen a rocky ridge to position herself, her special cloak pulled over the length of her body and her gun also blanketed by a similar, but smaller piece of material. She had covered it with local gravel and dirt so it would blend in with the surrounding gray rocks, and she was proud to say that beneath it, her form beneath it looked very much like the sloping but pointed rocks that surrounded her.

The team had dropped in planetside some three days ago, taking half of one to get to their positions. Aramathea, Jatiig, and Unaona had set themselves up to the North-West of the base, keeping out of sight to get their diversion ready so Thendria, who would be waiting in the East, could grab their target, while Verra had been nearly motionless for two days, keeping an eye on the starport so the target couldn't escape.

She had chosen one of her most balanced rifles in terms of power and firing rate, able to plug a human tank in three or less shots, and still have time to zone in on another before they could try to zone her in. She had contemplated using one of her heavier rifles, which would have been able to take out tanks in one, but she couldn't afford the three second reload time, and her lighter rifles might have been enough to puncture lighter shuttles, but they would take too long to down a tank or, fathers forbid, one of those walkers if trouble came her teammates ways.

Earlier that day, their target, an officer in human space fleet, was making a routine stop to observe conditions on the base just as their intelligence had found. Verra was called in and commissioned to bring back the officer alive, at all costs. Unlike other missions before it, the commanders would not tolerate failure in this effort, but what the effort was, she hadn't been informed.

It was only three more minutes before everything went into motion, so she clicked her com-link twice for everyone to get ready. Eight clicks, two every other second, was her confirmation and she steadied herself for things to get into full swing when she heard a human speaking in its native tongue. Training  forbade her from reacting since it hadn't seemed to have opened fire or speak in a threatening tone as though it had spotted her. No, its tone was almost like it was complaining...

Private Marvin, or just Marv, was dragging his feet along in the gravel of the rocky ridge, gun dragging by the strap from his hand, and helmet dangling on a finger. Why he was alone on a patrol to some random cliff was beyond him, but he was sure it had something to do with the Lt. Colonel under the impression that he'd somehow mess things up for the inspection.

Okay, maybe he could've used a bit less bleach when he cleaned the pool, or oiled his weapon better so it didn't burst when his bullets got stuck behind each other, and perhaps he could have avoided setting that hummer on fire by closing the fuel tank, but still! Anyone could have made those mistakes!

“Grrr...stupid Colonel...stupid base...stupid patrol. What's the point of being out here anyways?!” Marv flung his helmet forward, watching it bounce off one of the smoother rocks, “This is idiotic! What could possibly happen in the middle of nowhere?!”

Verra blinked as she felt something tap her leg, then heard the human yell at nothing in particular. Had the human identified her? Ordered her to come out? Something told her no, so she kept her composure and her eye on the shuttle, one hundred-sixty seconds remaining...

Marv plopped onto the ground, setting his gun next to him. He looked up to the cloudy, gray sky, though it never rained unless there was a hint of purple in the clouds. It tasted like toothpaste for some reason.

Marv puttered his lips in exasperation, looking around rather bored. He scooped up a handful of gravel, held it out from his side at arm's length and watched it pour from his hand. At that moment, a strong gust of wind sent some of it right into his face. He sputtered and spit the dirt from his mouth, brushing off his face.

With a sigh, he took another handful and let it pour at arm's length in front of him, so the wind wouldn't blow it in his face this time. A gust came rushing up the side of the cliff from in front of him, having caught the wall of rock and forced upward, breaking at the ledge and again sending the gravel and dirt into his face as it fell, and again he spat out the dirt and shielded his eyes

“Oh come on!” he declared, brushing his face off. He was blinking away some of the particles in his eye when he thought he saw something, looking over to smoothish formation to his left. He looked it over, but didn't see any more movement.

The sniper was worried she had been spotted, the material covering her gun having been lifted a bit from the wind sheer up the cliff-side. Verra remained silent listening for the human to call her out in its language, but it never came. Either she was lucky so far, or the human was just inept.

A sneeze seemed to clear Marv's nose of whatever dirt had gotten blown in, and he wiped his nose with his sleeve. He heaved a sigh and took a drink from his water canteen, “Damn it, it's hot today. 2331 and they still got us wearing this thick crap.” he undid the fasteners for his layer of armor, pulling it over his head and dropping next to him, “Ahhhhh...so much better...” he took a finger and flapped the collar of his shirt to let out the hot, stale air that had been trapped.

“Ugh...Outta the way base and it's a damn sauna, but at least there's nothin' those alarians could want here.” Marv's eye twitched as he remembered the conditions that led to him being assigned there. He stood up and started to pace around irritably, “Nice, cushy base, orbital defense grid, cute women,” a dumb look formed on his face at the last thought, but it quickly changed to ire, “And those dumb giant broads go and ruin everything! Of all the bases to attack they just had to come to mine!”

“Just enjoying the peace and quiet and then BOOM! Whole base up in arms. Try to keep outta the way on top of a building, but noooo~. Big half-visor in my face and friendlies shoot shells my way. Hit the ground and before I can even look up she fuckin' chokes me with two fingers!” he closed in on the closest rock and gave a swift kick, followed by a series of stomps on to the rock face.

Verra's heart nearly skipped a beat when she'd felt the human's tiny kicks, thinking he'd finally found her. But as he continued, it seemed like the human was just venting, taking out his anger on her camouflaged leg. It was a bit annoying, but she was a professional, and letting the antics of a lone human get to her was counter-productive. Twenty seconds until they made their move.

Her eyes widened as she felt the human climbing on to her leg, adjusting himself and apparently getting comfortable. If that wasn't bad enough, she felt him lay back and rest its head against her bottom. Verra held it together though, not moving a muscle, though she felt the cloak heating up as she blushed from the circumstance.

“Damn it, can't this mess just get over with? I mean, what did we ever do to them? And for that matter, why are they all chicks?” he turned onto his side on the rock, noticing it was rather comfy for stone, “Hmm, not bad.” he ran his hand over the slope, some of the gravel being dusted away. He blinked, noticing something underneath.

Marv was about to investigate when he heard the distant rumble of tank fire and the subtle pops of machine guns. His radio came to life, a voice yelling about an alarian attack. Marv sprang from the rock, heading for the ledge and peering off into the distance where clouds of dust were picking up.

“Oh no...not again...” he started pacing back and forth, looking at the valley below, only just making out what seemed to be a convoy of tanks and hummers, “No no no no...Now it looks like another escape and reassignment...and with my luck, I'll get sent to a moon base next...” Marv began to sulk as he usually did when things went bad, but at the last minute, he was overcome with a sudden sense of determination.

Without a word, he strapped his body armor back on, retrieved his gun, and plopped his helmet on his head, “Not this time...I'm due for my moment, and no one's going to stop me. YOU HEAR THAT ALARIANS?! BRING IT ON YOU BIG BLUE BI-”

With three quick shots of her high-powered rifle, Verra disabled the human officer's shuttle once and for all. Moments later during the convoy's surprise, Thendria reached the 'hummer' in the middle and retrieved it. She kept a stern watch on her teammate to ensure the humans weren't going to try and shoot her.

Her eye twitched as the high-pitched squeal of something rang in her ear. Finally confident in Thendria's safety she pulled off the cloak and looked over to the human, a male in appearance and inclined by his deeper voice, but his screech was much higher than what he'd been speaking in so far. The multi-lensed patch over her non-sniping eye zoomed in a bit on him, and she found that he seemed to be terrified from the sudden firing of a weapon that was longer and a bit louder than his tanks, and likely the fact he'd been standing next to an enemy the whole time.

Trying to catch his breath and having fallen onto his rear, Marv looked up to the alarian sniper who had been right under his nose the whole time. Literally! The green eye that wasn't covered was cold and focused, staring at him until he felt frozen in place, unsure what to do, completely at her mercy.

Verra turned away and started for the rendezvous, stopping after a few steps and looking back to the human soldier. She tucked away her dyed, dark brown hair and looked away after a second, trying to hide her flushed purple cheeks, wondering why in the world she was getting so worked up over the actions of a cowardly, inept human soldier.