The Vanguard Vixen

Modern Technology

The missile struck the building right of the one Lewis was in, and being higher, part of it collapsed down onto it. Soldiers ran around taking shooting positions, but Turana from her aerial point knew there would be no Vanguard soldiers, at least not yet.

The Vanguard army, if they were to use their air force sent the basic jets first. They rained down destruction until the enemy was too broken to set up a proper stand. Then the ground force came in to sweep, and they didn't take prisoners in these kinds of assaults.

Now certain that the M48 wasn't a threat to her Turana grabbed it firmly and leapt over the edge. It was three storeys high but that distance wouldn't bother her much. She dropped into a roll and ran forward immediately, ready for any sort of obstacle.

The mercenaries were however too focused on the much bigger problem that was dropping bombs on them. The jet flew across again, but this time the attack was aimed at the mercenary tents further to the left. Turana ignored the noise and sprinted forward towards the gate.

They saw her coming, hesitated for a bit as they contemplated on whether to keep their heavy artillery aimed at the threat above or the threat below.

They chose her.

And she had expected them to. The priority after all was to keep Lewis in their hands. The main point of the Vanguard attack was to get him, and so was hers but she was the much closer threat.

The moment Turana pulled the M48 trigger for the first time she almost lost her balance. Despite being the same size as ordinary hand help weapons it had been modified to inflict heavier damage so its recoil packed a punch too. Immediately she adjusted the position of the barrel slightly to her centre so it wouldn't have as much effect on her body's motion. The bullet itself was heavy armor piercing, and it tore through the mercenary's helmet as though it was tissue paper. Turana had aimed lower for his chest and she once again had to adjust her hold so she would get her aim right.

The next one on seeing what she had done turned his weapon on her. The same weapon he had been aiming at the jet before. A steady warning ping from the gun alarmed her but she already knew what was coming. Turana dived out of the way and the RPG missed her entirely, destroying a corner of the building she had been in before.

Her next two bullets were accurate, the first to his sternum and the other to the gate lock. Headshots were fatal and the preferred method for most highly trained professionals but Turana found that it was muscle memory for her to aim lower, to the the sternum of her target. A weapon like the M48's bullets would rip through the bone and shatter the entire rib cage along with it, and the most probable cause of death would be perforation of the lungs from the broken bones, or if her victim got lucky and she hit their heart a quick death. The bones damaging the heart too would be part of the equation in some situations. However if the target somehow stayed alive after the bullet went through their sternum, they wouldn't survive the extensive damage to the spine.

She kicked open the gate, taking in the compound and where all her targets were. Those that mattered and those who didn't.

Those that mattered were the ones that were so desperately trying to shoot down the jets overhead. Those that didn't were the ones that were trying to shoot her. The compound was clear of all hostiles by the time she got to the door. She stopped to weigh the situation on the outside.

There was only one jet, wreaking havoc over the entire dark route and no one had managed to take it down yet. Turana sighed and took aim.

There were tiny red digits in percentage format in the corner of the scope when she looked through it, and Turana only had a mild idea of what they meant. If what she thought they meant was what they did, she had to get the number much higher to be able to hit the jet.