Coincidences?

Not that it matters now, but here is the complete Sniperstory:
Remember, this was a collaboration, with no one author, and is very old.

Chapter 1

It was an overcast and misty day here in Boonum, a small country just on the outskirts of Boia. Shadow Company had been at that same post for over four hours and they were tired of sitting around. They wanted action and I mean hot sniping action. It was SHADOW, who rose up from his makeshift bed. That was tucked into the corner of their tent. Just lurking inside the shadows of their dim-light quarters. He looked around to see if his team was as restless as he was. Black Lightning was sitting at the table playing go fish by himself. Mr. Brown was reading Little Red Riding Hood that my sister's brother-in-law's drinking buddy's evil twin had sent him. SHADOW could tell that his team was getting itchy probably from the poison ivy they got. It was just too damn quiet there and that made SHADOW nervous. So, he went over and turned the radio onto some soft melodies. When all of a sudden in come running Private First Class Brandaman.

"Sir, SHADOW, Sir, your present is requested in the CP ASAP, Sir."

SHADOW got that look he gets when he knows there is a mission on hand. Not just any mission, but a mission where there is only one team who can pull it off. As SHADOW made his way to the CP he thought of the days when him and Rusty would take on such missions. He also thought of his ex-spotter, who had turned on him and is now under Rusty's evil spell. He knows one day that they would meet again. He just didn't know it would be that day...

Outlaw walks in. "Guys, I have your assignment there- mostly. Shadow, you got a D+, Rusty got an F, and Black Lightning, you got a D- but all that aside your uncle's father's mother's cousin's room mates have been spotted shooting the people who spotted them so you will find them which shouldn't be too hard.

Seeing the sitting in the mess tent, looks down, and sees ants crawling on his jungle boots. "Bugs… biggins shootin them is. That was a close one guys; gotta watch that irachnyd menace. Now go get your uncle's father's mother's cousin's roommates."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond... Things are a little unrest.

Knuckles is just lying in his hammock strung up to 2 palm trees, sipping a cool beer whilst listening to the crashing waves and his tropical surroundings. It's been months since his last taste of action, he remembered well... He remembers stalking across the rooftops, moving silently from ladder to ladder, making no sound and keeping barely a full breath of air for himself. Operation Blue-Eagle was the name; it was set in the airport of communist Moscow. His mission was to eliminate the one of the major communist leaders called Harwin Mcowski, responsible for the death of over 65000 innocent civilians, also to disable the airport's purpose of getting weapons across the border. The original plan was to cut-off Mcowski's escape route and take him out, Staring by sneaking into the airport and packing remote-detonated C4 inside Mcowski's personal plane's cargo bay, next to the fuel tank. He remembers making first contact. Two tangos on sentry duty standing beside a wall section almost completely hidden in darkness. From his position behind a heating vent he could hear their voices spurting wave after wave of total crap, waving their AK47's in a very unprofessional manner... "Amateurs" thought Knuckles as he took aim. Slowly and smoothly he practiced shifting the crosshair from target A to target B until he was ready...

Knuckles gently squeezed the trigger of his silenced PSG-1. The 7.62 NATO round making short work of target A, and with almost demon-like speed he moved the crosshair of his scope and fired, catching target B in the throat, sending him falling from the rooftops and landing headlong into the supply deposit and amongst confused enemy soldiers below. Knuckles ripped two fragmentation grenades from his TAC vest and lobbed them over the side of the building. They exploded, sending ripples of explosions throughout the enemy's fuel and ammo supply depot, sending bodies and debris flying... Now the game was truly afoot.

He made it down the side of the now ablaze building, dispatching a couple of following response troops with his Beretta M92 on the way, and made his way through the confusion toward the runway, using remote-detonate C4 to destroy the control tower, pockets of ammo crates and fuel drums. He remembers the heat, the panic, the screams, and the thrill... He stalked through the inferno, blowing away close enemies with his Beretta and taking-out further targets with the PSG-1, reaching for his binoculars he viewed the runway. Mcowski was heading for the jet. Knuckles reached for his remote detonator, but was pounced upon by an enemy soldier... Knocking the remote detonator into the flames of one of the nearby fires. He was now enraged! It was a short struggle. The communist was weak and confused and soon fell short to the Maverick blade sheathed in his tactical vest. Throwing the scumbag aside, Knuckles stood up... The plane was moving, the detonator was nowhere to be found... He reached for a grenade, but they had all been used up. Knuckles grinned menacingly... He had an idea. He picked-up his PSG-1 and aimed.

As the plane was passing he could see Mcowski looking through one of the windows, but to his humor he could see Knuckles was pointing his rifle at the wrong end of the plane… or was he? The plane took off, and was already in flight. Nearly 70 meters above ground, Knuckles took aim, and squeezed the trigger... The armor-piercing bullet flew through the air and slammed home, straight through the fuel tank and into the C4 planted earlier... The fuel ignited, blowing apart the back half of the plane before quickly turning the rest of the plane into a fireball and crashing into the end of the runway... Mission complete! Knuckles made his way back to the pick-up point and the chopper took him home.

Knuckles remembers that mission with a smile... Soon after the flashback, the telephone begins to ring... It was General Owen.

"Knuckles?" said Owen. "We have a new mission for you..."

At HQ he meets-up with General Owen and a mysterious character. The general introduces the character as "Rusty"... Knuckles has heard of "Rusty", born and bred in Knuck's own homeland and rumor has it amongst the corps that "Rusty" is one shit-hot sniper.

After being briefed, Knuckles was told that his target was the leader of the notorious "Shadow Company", calls himself "SHADOW". He also learned that he is not alone on this mission, but Rusty is going with him. The two are to rendezvous with a shady insider named "Glimmer", and the three of them have to eliminate the "Shadow Company", as they pose a threat to the security of the UK and its allies.

Also in the game alongside Shadow are "Mr. Brown" and "Black Lightning"; Both of which are said to be very dangerous…

With that said, Knuckles and Rusty set out in their issued plane toward their destination; they'd land in the coast, before moving inland toward their goal...

Chapter 2

Whilst flying over the jungle, the jet is attacked by a hind D chopper... unable to fight back, Knuckles and Rusty chute out and land in the depths of the secondary jungle...

After what feels like days in the tropical nightmare, night falls... The two snipers approach what appears to be some kind of makeshift shack, when a noise inside stops them in their tracks. A single nod of the head causes Knucks and Rusty to split-up, Knucks on the left and Rusty on the right.

After listening carefully, the noise appears to be something, which sounds like singing... Bad singing too. They approach cautiously, moving through the thick jungle towards the shack. Rusty glances at Knucks whilst drawing this Steyr TMP. Knucks draws his enhanced Beretta M92... With a nod Knuckles kicks down the shack door and Rusty leaps in. Seconds later he throws out what at first glance appears to be a man. It's hard to tell because it looks like he's been stuck in these jungles for a millennia and has had nothing to shave with.

Rusty orders the hermit to his feet and puts his TMP into his back forcing-out some words…

"Wait!" shouts the hermit. "I'm a friend. I was stranded here 3 months ago when our helicopter was taken-down by a heat-seeker and my squad was taken by the Shadow Company". Knuckles and Rusty's eyes lit-up.

Knuckles turned to Rusty. "Search the shack; Let's see who this guy is." he says.

After a few moments, Rusty returns. He is holding a Barret M82A1 .50 Caliber sniper rifle in one hand and a Beretta 92F in the other. "There's more," says Rusty. "See for yourself."

Knuckles cautiously enters the shack looking around. He sees a radio. Next to the radio are a few cards, tarot cards by the looks of it... funny thing is that they're all the same, the same cards with a picture of the grim reaper on it. "Odd" thought Knucks as he continued looking around. A calendar, numerous maps, and a makeshift bed, plus plenty of pelts and carved figurines from tropical trees, but he also notices a US issue army jacket with the rank insignia for "Private first class" on the shoulder, and an army insignia for a unit known as the "22 eagles". Knucks remembers hearing about the 22, they lost contact with HQ nearly 3 months ago, no-ones seen them since. Knuckles emerges from the dark shack and holsters his enhanced Beretta M92, "looks like he's for real" he says, "So who are you?"

"First Class Private Brandaman, at your service sir" says the hermit. "Need a shave don't we?" Knuckles replies, whilst Rusty creases-up laughing.

"What happened to your unit?" asked Rusty as he puts away his Steyr TMP.

"Sir, We were on a reconnaissance mission to the northern sector when we lost contact with our allies there, Sir!" said Brandaman.

"An ambush? By the Shadow Company?" asked Knucks.

"Sir, we believe so, Sir!" replied Brandaman.

"Well at least you're alive, how well do you know these jungles" inquired Rusty,

"Sir, like the back of my hand, Sir". "Sir, and another thing, I would most appreciate it if I could join you to help you eliminate the Shadow Company, Sir! They killed all my friends, Sir!" cries Brandaman.

Knuckles whispers "This kid could be useful. What do ya say?"

"How do we know he's who he says he is?" whispers Rusty.

"We don't have much choice... If he does turn-out to be an imposter, then we'll waste him later... but for now we've gotta get out of this jungle and to the rendezvous point before tomorrow at 17:00",

"Deal!" whispers Rusty.

The two Brits turn to Brandaman. "Okay Private, we need your help outta here. You've got point" orders Rusty and hands the young private his weapons.

"In return for your help, we'll get you home." says Knuckles.

"Sir, thank you, Sir" replies Brandaman.

It took the Private no less than 5 minutes to pack-up his gear, and borrowed Knucks shaving razor to freshen-up. But Rusty still narrowed his eyes in distrust; he still had his doubts.

"Lets go then!" jeered Brandaman as he leads the way into the hellmouth of the equatorial South American jungle.

Little did Brandaman know as he crossed the lake back to knuck that The Reaper is watching him. "Aahhh I had my suspicions about this kid." Slowly and quietly loads a tagger round in to (Sarah) his super9, aims and puts it into Brandaman's back with out him noticing all brand thinks it is a mosquito. As the Reaper slips quietly into the mist, he leaves his death card with the picture of the grim reaper handing someone a card on it.

"Damn skito's!" Yelped Brandaman.

"You okay Brandaman?" asked Knuckles, patting the young private on he back. "What's this?" inquired Rusty as he leant down. Rusty had spotted something, looked like a shell casing from a fired round. but somewhat different. The casing was smaller than your average round, and looked sort-of "home-made" like the back-end of a tagger round. Still warm too.

Knucks looks up to notice a playing card pinned to a tree by a small knife, it was an old tarot card with the grim reaper handing some poor guy a card, with the words "Traitor" written underneath.

Brandaman shivered.

"This is just like the one in the shack... who is this guy?" Knucks thought to himself) "Looks like we've got another player in the game, eh Rusty?" said Knucks.

"Yep!" Rusty replied.

"Brandaman, you know something! What is it?"

"I cant... he'll kill....".

"I'll kill you if you don't tell us... now who is it?!" shouted Knucks.

"Okay." Brandaman said, sitting down. "Its a guy named ~Outlaw~, calls himself ~The Reaper~, He was one of the ops of the original force in the north-east sector, top sniper he was, before they were attacked... we found this out just before we ran into the ambush set by Shadow and his men"

Knuckles and Rusty listened patiently whilst Brandaman explain all, the horror, the fear. He explained that Outlaw was the best hope for defense in the north-east sector should it be attacked, it was said he could shoot a hole through a spinning penny at 150 feet whilst still in the air... quite an achievement.

Rusty narrowed his eyes "So then what?" he asked.

Brandaman went on to explain how Outlaw got his name, during Nam he was known for raiding the battlefield for spoils and trophies during a fight. Calling himself the ~Reaper~ because of his cold killing and ruthlessness. This guy had a bigger war crimes list than what could fill a phone book!

Brandaman explained how when in Nam, he was captured and subject to some violent torture, before relief troops could rescue him and his fellow POWs. He explained how this left Outlaw slightly unhinged from reality, believing entirely that he is actually the "Grim Reaper" and acting accordingly, no matter who the victim was... Looks like this guy was some sort of double agent, responsible for the fall on the northeast sector.

"So why's he here?" asked Knucks.

"He's after me..." shivered Brandaman.

"Why?" inquired Rusty.

"Well...." stuttered Brandaman.

"Tell us!" shouted Rusty.

"Okay! Okay! I lied... I wasn't part of the 22nd... I was part of the force that annihilated them..." whimpered Brandaman "I was trying to get out of The reapers sight long enough to get away, I managed, but he still got me". Brandaman pointed to a small scar on his left shoulder, it was a flesh wound, if this Outlaw is as good as Branda reckons he is, he must've been real lucky to get away...

"Ever since, he's been after me... leaving reaper cards on my shack door" said Brandaman. Knuckles remembers upon entering the shack, noticing the tarot cards next to the radio... "You've gotta help me!" pleaded Branda.

"We'll help you up until we get out of this jungle, from then you're on your own..." assured Rusty. "Whoever this ~Reaper~ is..." Rusty took his lighter from his tac vest and started to burn the card "He's TOAST!".

"We must move quickly, if this ~Reaper~ is a double agent, then he's probably reporting our position to Shadow..." said Rusty.

"Hardly unlikely..." said Brandaman "I agree" said Knuckles "If he lives up to his reputation, he'll want to try to take us all out himself... nice style for a ~Reaper~ I think..."

Rusty nods, agreeing that the threat inside the jungle will work alone.

"Keep your eyes peeled! Once we're out of here we're okay... but until then... SPREAD PATTERN, 50 METRES, STAY IN TOUCH, RUSTY TAKE LEAD AND DOUBLE-TIME IT, BRANDAMAN STAY WITH ME, IF THIS GUY IS AFTER YOU, WE'LL MAKE HIM COME TO US" Ordered Knuckles. With all the jungle-sounds and rustling leaves, Knucks could see that Brandaman knew his hunter was out there, he could see him grip his rifle tight in anticipation. Knucks knew they were being watched, but until they had a fix on their newfound friend's position, all they could do was wait.

Meanwhile in the trees, the Reaper was watching, grinning precariously as he watched the red dot flash on his GPS... indicating Brandaman's position...

Chapter 3

Wile tracking through the jungle with Knuckles, Brandaman feels that his hunter is very close now and Knuckles can tell from the giant sweet beads on all over his body. Knuckles radios Rusty "All clear?".

"All clear" Rusty replies.

Knuckles turns around to check on Brandaman, and notices how small he looks compared to his M82A1 and says "How do you carry that thing all over the place?"

Brandaman is distracted by a noise in the distance and doesn't answer.

Then Knuckles hears something too and a second later Brandaman dashes behind an old stump along the path and gets in the sniper position, raises his giant rifle and without warning fires the 50 cal, shocking the ground and making Knuckles jump back behind a tree. Stunned and half-deaf by the noise, Knuckles peeks behind the tree and can only see a small movement back in the jungle flora. Knuckles takes aim at the movement and fires right when it seemed to disappear.

Rusty radios in "What the hell was that?"

Knuckles answers "I think we got the Reaper out here, regroup now!".

Brandaman fires again and the ground shakes.

Knuckles yells at Brandaman asking what's happening.

Brandaman ignores him for a second while keenly scanning the jungle mess. Then Brandaman stands up and signals an OK. They start to walk in the direction of were the enemy was thought to be. They come upon a 3ft wide crater in the ground and Knuckles asks "Why the hell would there be land mines right here?"

"Those aren't mine explosions, I did that" answers Brandaman.

"How?" replies Knuckles.

"While stranded out here a sat days rigging every bullet with explosives so when I do hit Outlaw there wont be anything left to hit him again" says Brandaman.

"You are in dire need of psychiatric care" suggests Knuckles.

Brandaman smiles, then quickly pulls out his MAC10 and swirls around in response to steps, but sees that its only Rusty.

Rusty looks confused when he sees the crater but Knuckles explains.

Brandaman tells them that he wasn't shooting at the Reaper, but someone else. Brandaman says that that enemy seemed to slip within the shadows of the forest and disappear. Knuckles noticed the same thing when he took a shot at him. They decided to stick together until they reached the rendezvous point. It wasn't much longer until they met up with Glimmer who was at camp next to a river. They all decided to take a break and get everything strait that had and will happen.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the area where Brandaman engaged the shadowy figure the Reaper finds the 3ft crater. "He's getting wise but he's also getting reckless." The Reaper picks up the spent .50 caliber cartridge, and sniffs it. "It's about half an hour old." He unloads the tracker round out of Sarah, catches it as it falls, and puts in his pocket then puts his specially designed and built 15 round mag on. Then he clicks his fingers and four shadowy figures rise from the swamp and jungle brush. Outlaw says, "Reapers, the target is now moving with two escorts. We can only assume they were sent to get him out some punk must really love his ass, especially after killing the 22eagles. Jackal, I want you to contact the boss man back at Hereford; were gonna need IlDuce to find out who these other two are.

As the mist rolls in and they disappear into it leaving no trace

Chapter 4

Just after they reached Glimmer's campsite, Knuckles, Rusty and Brandaman feel somewhat relieved now that they have one more.

The hair on the back of Knuckle's neck stands up on end. "There is something very wrong here..." he thinks to himself. Just as they are about to shake hands, Glimmer reaches for his sidearm... but he points off into the brush. There is something in the bushes catching the moonlight. But just as Knuckles, Brandaman, and Rusty turn to see what Glimmer is pointing at... it disappears.

Everyone quickly draws their backup weapon. Knuckles and Brandaman quickly and quietly move to flank whoever is in the bushes while Glimmer moves up. Rusty switches over to his APS2 (Steyr) and scans the surrounding area.

Glimmer slowly moves to where he saw the glint come from. He stops at the edge of a small clearing, then signals Brandaman and Knuckles to approach him. Glimmer only points to the ground. A single ray of moonlight penetrates the canopy, illuminating a spot in the clearing. In the light, there is an image carved into the earth... a lightning bolt.

All four quickly fall back to the camp site, gather their gear, and move out knowing that they were not only being watched... but they were also probably in someone's sights.

As SHADOW, made his way into the CP, he could tell something was wrong. He also felt a strange present in the room with him. He looked around, as if someone was lurking in the shadows. Then, the CO came out of the back and sat at his desk. "Have a seat SHADOW" he said.

"I prefer to stand sir" SHADOW replied.

"Ok, have it your way" replied the CO. "I've got a mission for you and your team, but you will be going it with one man short. It appears that Mr. Brown will be needed in Germany to handle a situation there. I figured it would be best for him to go being he doesn't have the experience the mission you are about to embark on is of the most important. We have gathered intelligence on this mission for months. All we were waiting for was confirmation and now our worst fears have come true. A team of snipers was en-route to a sector north of here, but their aircraft was hit by a heat seeker and went down. It is still unconfirmed if they are alive or dead. I am hoping for the latter, but the only way to find out for sure is to go in and see for ourselves. That is where you and your team comes in."

SHADOW interrupts the CO, "My team, two, against an unknown number. It smells like a suicide mission, but anything is better than sitting around here." The CO stands up and looks off into the darkest of the room. SHADOW could tell there was something wrong here and he said, "Sir, is there something you are not telling me?"

The CO just looked into the darkness and then, said, "You will be going in as a three men sniper team."

SHADOW responded, "But sir, you said that Mr. Brown was needed in Germany."

The CO again looked into the darkness of the room and said, "You will be taking a new sniper with you."

"A new sniper," yelled SHADOW, "I don't take on newbies; not without checking them out first."

"You don't have a say in this matter" said the CO. "You will be taking a new sniper with you and that is final. I give the orders here, not you. The sniper you will be taking is NOT a newbie and is very experienced. He has many confirmed kills and is high-trained in jungle warfare."

SHADOW looked off into the shadows of the room and said, "Is that him standing in the dark, hiding?" A shadow moved into the dim light of the room, but SHADOW couldn't make out his face. "So what is your name there?" SHADOW asked.

The figure just said, "Names don't mean much out here. It's how many bodies you rank up that counts."

SHADOW agrees and turns to the CO. The CO looks at SHADOW and says, "There is more to tell. You remember your spotter, Glimmer?"

SHADOW gives the CO that hard look of hate and replies, "Yeah, I remember. How can I forget? I taught him everything he knows and he turned his back on me. He went to the other side, last I heard."

The CO nodded his head, "You are right, he did go to the other side, but he has been here the last month or so. We are sure that he is behind the sniper team that was coming. We believe he was waiting for them to arrive and planned on teaming up with them." SHADOW got that look he gets when he knows what is coming up next. The CO paused and then said, "We believe that the sniper team may be Rusty and Knuckles, the best UK snipers there are."

SHADOW looked into the eyes of the CO and with a voice of pure hate said, "These two left me for dead and now they are going to pay for their mistake." SHADOW stormed for the door, but just before he left, he turned and told the figure in the shadows. "We leave at 0400 hrs; and I don't wait for anyone. So, be packed and ready to move out or find your own way."

SHADOW made his way back to the team's quarters. Once, inside he told Mr. Brown to pack it up, he was leaving for Germany at 1000 hrs for a mission.

Mr. Brown went to his bunk and started packing, but he could tell something was wrong with SHADOW.

"Hey, SHADOW what's bugging you?" Mr. Brown asked.

SHADOW said, "Nothing much, just got some good news and some bad news that's all. Nothing to concern yourself about, just pack up and be ready to leave at 1000 hrs." SHADOW made his way over to where Black Lightning was sitting. "Blackie, old buddy, we got ourselves a little Search & Destroy mission. It's time to let a little pain out of the bag." Black Lightning could tell that there was a whole world of hurt going to come down on someone or something. He just sat quiet and still, dealing out his cards, waiting for the moment when he gets that 3...

All of a sudden a private first class bursts in through the tent "SIR! We've got to move out! We've had reports in of activity 200 clicks south, southwest of here, could be your guys"

Chapter 5

Glimmer and Rusty sat around the temporary camp, sun set was approaching, and knuckles had taken Brandaman out for a quick survey of the surroundings... They had met before, whilst serving alongside SHADOW. Memories flowed freely, until a crackle of twigs behind Rusty startled the two into action. Glimmer grasped his rifle, back rolling off the log and taking up a prone position, whilst Rusty wheeled round his tRusty TAC plucked instantly from his Tac vest. Suddenly Rusty feels a hand on his shoulder; he turns round to see Knuckles grinning like a baboon in heat... "Shit! You promised me you wouldn't do that again you sneaky bastard",

Knucks just grinned and said "Just keeping you on your toes buddy." Rusty gave him one glance, and lightly punched him in the stomach.

"Just keeping you on yours!" Knucks, although slightly winded from the shock of it just smiled and sat down with a slight sigh. Meanwhile, Brandaman stumbled out of the jungle surroundings with a monkey hanging on his leg

"Help us off with this thing you bastards!"

The night crept in, and the others slept whilst the ever vigilant eyes of Rusty and knucks took turns to watch the surroundings. The sun rolled in across the jungle, bringing it to life once more. Somewhere a cockerel crowed

"Hang on a minute" Rusty mused,

"What the flying fuck is a cockerel doing in the jungle?!"

The group awoke, and Rusty decided to keep quiet about the cockerel, in case the others thought he was going insane. They moved off, covering good ground towards SHADOW Company's last known location. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose, as full auto fire lit up the early morning jungle. Lead whizzed through the air, planting itself deeply into trees, ground and Glimmer's left arm.

Separated from Rusty and Knuckles, who were slightly ahead, Glimmer lay clutching his arm, while Brandaman tried to keep back the invisible enemy. Rusty looked over at knuckles, lying near him.

"Sounds like AK fire Knucks... reckon it's one of SHADOW Companies scout patrols?"

"Yup," replied Knuckles, "it'd be just like SHADOW company scouts to be so reckless, lets get his over with right? - I need a crap" Rusty raised his head slightly, he saw clouds of muzzle smoke, he squinted into the dark shadows and made out the shape of people...

"Two bunched 11 o'clock, they're yours the one at 12 is mine" *BOOM* - suddenly a crater appeared where before the single 12 o' clock tango crouched... Brandaman had seen him. "Okay, so you take the one on the left, I'll take the right". Slowly they moved into place for a shot. Over the radio, Rusty said

"Prepare for shot, three, two...." the sound of one shot rippled through the air, but two bodies slumped… the firing ceased.

Rusty and Knuckles made they're way back to Glimmer after briefly scouting the area for any campers.

"Just a knick" knuckles laughed, glimmer summed up the courage to look at his wound, and saw that the round had passed straight through the edge of his Tricep. Brandaman lay down his weapon, and bandaged up Glimmer's arm.

SHADOW watched the four through his high powered rifle scope, the jungle was thinner here - he readied his rifle, and settled the sites on Glimmer's prominent rear end. As the cross hairs were settling down, a screaming came from above him. Chimpanzees raced through the canopy above him, startled by some unknown predator... he glanced back down his scope, and the four had disappeared into the surroundings... taking the sounds of the stampede as a warning.

"Soon", SHADOW quietly hissed under his breath, "soon" and he slipped back into the shadows...

Knucks paused for a minute, catching his breath... "You think that had anything to do with our target?" breathed Rusty. "Who else could it be? But how does he know were onto him... I thought this mission was top secret" replied Knuckles. "It was... better get on the radio to General Owen, looks like we've got a leak..." said Rusty whilst narrowing his eyes at Glimmer, who was looking shamefully at his bandaged wound, pausing only to look into the woodland surroundings with worrying eyes... He was hiding something for sure...

Knuckles activated the intercom.

"Knuckles, is there a problem?" asked the general, with a bead of sweat dripping past his right temple.

"You could say that general... Is this a secured line?" replied Knucks.

"Yes, What happened?"

"They knew we were coming general... how bout telling me why?" growled Knucks.

"What?! This mission is top secret!" cried General Owen.

"I know! It seems there is a leak in the chain of command there general... I suggest you find it and plug it before it gets us killed!" shouts Knuckles as he slams down the intercom.

"Well?" asks Rusty, "What's going on?"

"There's a breach of security at HQ, Owens on it, but for now we're on our own..." said Knuckles, grinning at Rusty... "This just keeps getting better and better" he replied.

"Hardly, the general seemed very nervous about something..." said Knucks

"It is an important mission bro" replied Rusty

"No, it's more than that... It's almost like the guy was surprised to see me again... I've known the general for years and I've never seen him like that... maybe?"

"Don't." said Rusty "Don't even think it, Owen's been good to both of us, he couldn't be the leak... could he?" asked Rusty.

Looking around the encampment, Knuckles could see that the sun was rising... He glanced to his left, Brandaman was loading a magazine and to his right Rusty was sharpening his blade whilst staring at Glimmer, who was still clutching his wound... Knuckles noticed how quiet Glimmer was, obviously paused in thought.

Knuckles approached him "Glimmer, you served under Shadow, right?"

"Yeah" Glimmer replied "Shadow trained me up personally." Knuckles nodded

"Did he think of you as a good soldier, well trained, enduring and strong willed?"

"The best he had... why?" asked Glimmer curiously. Knuckles sat down on the log next to him

"Because I wish to know why your cradling a simple flesh wound as if it was a body shot, and more to the point, I want to know what's got you so spooked..." said Knucks.

"Its nothing Lieutenant, I'm fine... honest... besides, you wouldn't understand" Glimmer replied

"Try me..." beckoned Knucks

"Okay then... This wound... It was from Shadow... During training, he taught me that a rifle is your best friend, second only to your comrades. He said that if a traitor was in his ranks, he would personally hunt them down himself, leaving a mark on his target before returning to finish them off" wimpered Glimmer

"Don't worry... As soon as he gets close enough, I'll take him out" assured Knucks.

"You don't understand, He's the best! No-one alive can kill him." said Glimmer.

Rusty approached "If anyone can do it, we can... Knucks and I were specially chosen for this by General Owen, He's a good judge of character in my book." he said. No sooner had Rusty mentioned Owen that Glimmer came over all cold.

"Did you just say ~Owen~? Jesus! You trust that back-stabbing asshole!?" asked Glimmer in a heated tone.

"Are you saying we shouldn't?" replied Rusty,

"Shit! You two have been duped all right... ha ha ha!" Glimmer laughed.

"Owen? A leak? Forget it, he's got a service history as long as my rifle!" shouted Knucks

"Yeah, but service to who? Ha ha ha!" Laughed Glimmer.

"I've just about had enough of this..." said Rusty, unsheathing his combat knife "You're the reason they're onto us, not Owen, I'm gonna plug this leak right now!" he said walking after Glimmer, who in turn reached for his sidearm. "WAIT!" shouted Brandaman, "What he's saying makes sense... think about it. Owen's the leak! It has to be..."

"Why?" inquired Rusty.

"For a start, Owen ordered the 22nd's chopper to take the de-tour over the jungle leaving it open to attack... I picked this up on a stolen frequency, also... I overheard Knuckles' conversation with him earlier, he didn't sound too pleased to hear from you guys... and also, he was the one that requested Outlaws transfer to the north east sector and kept it hidden from the corps..." said Brandaman.

"That's not all..." interrupted Glimmer "Once during my training with shadow I sneaked-up upon a group of VIP's, one was on an intercom... I heard the Owens name mentioned a few times, at first I thought he was a target, but then I saw his face on the VDU, and they saw me... I escaped and made it into the jungles. A day later I contacted my CO back in England... a guy named Colonel Jenson and he authorized an immediate dispatch, sending the two of you out here to rendezvous with me... What he didn't tell me was that it was Owen, not Jenson, that dispatched you. I tried to re-contact Jenson. When I picked up a transmission coming from the training camp authorizing my man-hunt, but when I tried to speak to him, his CO said that he had died in a freak explosion on his way home to see his daughter, and Owen was holding a special ceremony celebrating his achievements" explained Glimmer "You see now? It was Owen who killed Jenson and covered it all up, now he wants me... You two were sent to find me, and the three of us are all top targets for the Shadow Company, and Owen..." The group fell silent. Knuckles stood up

"Lets not start pointing fingers, we have a mission to do first, we'll deal with Owen later", Rusty nodded. "Shadow, Outlaw, even Owen?" Knuckles thought to himself... With the sun now fully out, taking out his GPS, Knuckles ordered the group to move forward in a covered advance. If Shadow and his men are close by, fighting them in this secondary jungle would prove more than difficult, once they reach Shadow's training camp, they can make their target come to them, not to mention learn more about who the leak is.

"Brandaman, take lead. Rusty, watch our backs. Glimmer, with me... Okay guys, lets move!"

Meanwhile, back at Shadow's training camp... Shadow had returned, the four mysterious figures dispersing into different tents. Putting his rifle aside, Shadow once again looked into the mirror, rubbing his scar softly he whispered to himself... "Soon"...

Chapter 6

Meanwhile in the mists of the swampy jungle after rendezvousing with Il Duce. Far from Shadow Company and after intercepting Knucks and Owen supposedly secure transmission the Reapers sit and try to figure out what is happening. "Jenson ain't dead he was transferred to a base in the highlands of Scotland, I spoke to him before we left" said Jackal. While re-adjusting the scope on his L96A1,

"Owens has dupped us all were all pawns in his game." replied Il Duce.

"But what's his motivation for all this." said Slim.

"Money, its all a game he made a deal with the Taiwanese for each sniper that dies on one team he get a half a million dollars and the same the other way around." replied Il Duce. Clutching his Dragunov nervously Slim added,

"So where do we fit in to the equation?" Looking through the sight of his PSG1, Jackal said

"We don't, were just extras in this fucked up Godzilla movie... What's that?" They all ready their weapons and look towards where the noise was. Outlaw and Robbo walk out of the mist behind them. Outlaw walks up to Il Duce.

"So what are we looking at?" inquired Outlaw.

"Jesus, you wanna stop doin' that." Yelled Il Duce. Playing around with the bolt on his McMillan M88, Robbo said. "We heard what you guys were saying. So what's our plan of action?"

"Well we could try and contact em but they may get a little trigger happy, so I say we head to that downed aircraft we found the other day and try to figure out a little better what's going on." Said Outlaw.

Holding his L96A1 with its kickass Predtech sight, the Reapers get to the downed plane and begin sifting through the wreckage.

"Hey, I found something." As the rest of the team converge on Il Duce, he shouts, "They look like some important documents. Look at these things, they got false info all over them, statements that say Owens never committed those war crimes he did, and there blaming them on Outlaw and us. What do you think we should do with em?" Outlaw say's,

"Burn em."

"Ok guys leave no trace of these things, hey wait we could use em to bring Owens down and put him away for life." Outlaw say's

"No, I don't think so by time we have told both sides they will be hunting Owens and if not then we will." Il Duce looks at the three diagonal scars on Outlaw's arm compliment of a terrorist from Operation: Just Cause.

"Hey those scars look like a half set of your Sergeant stripes. All I need to do is cut a symmetrical set, and you won't need those stripes on your jacket. Outlaw laughs as he puts his ghillied up boonie hat on. "Ok troops, were headin' to checkpoint Bravo, we gotta be there by this evening."

* * *

The group reaches SHADOW's training camp by nightfall, but its still full of motion. SHADOW had his men training hard all day. The four snipers take position at four points around the camp. Once in position, Knuckles radios to Rusty, "Rusty?"

"Check" Comes Rusty.

"Glimmer?"

"Check" Comes Glimmer.

"Brandaman? Brandaman? BRAN-"

"I don't wanna go to school today mommy!" murmurs Brandaman and then realizes what he's doing and quickly says

"Check, check!"

The camp was surrounded with a metal fence and two towers in the middle with heavy machine guns, spotlights, and fuel tanks underneath. There is wood building which is most likely were SHADOW is, barracks for the men, mess hall, a helicopter pad, the training courses, and what seemed to be a pit with a tarp over it and a ramp to go down into it. There are two people in each tower, one manning the M-gun, and the other with night vision monoculars and an AK47. There are two men guarding the wooden building, five men patrolling the perimeter, one APC, one jeep with a mini-gun mounted on the back, and about 20 men training. Knuckles says, "I'll get the towers, the rest of you take your targets. We fire one three", "one", "two", "thr-"

"Wait, wait!" Brandaman interrupts, "I gotta pee"

"Hurry up you retard!" says Knuckles.

"Ok, I'm done".

"One", "two", "three!"

All in a split second, Knuckles fires at the fuel tank under the tower's, blowing both at the same time. Glimmer fires at the guards around the perimeter. Rusty gets the men at the building, and Brandaman, about to fire, has a mosquito bite his trigger finger and misses the engine of the jeep and hits the tarp over the pit. Luckily the pit was weapons and ammo storage. The explosive shot sends even more chaos throughout the camp.

As SHADOW peered into the mirror at his scar, he remembered the day when Rusty left him for dead. Badly wounded and lying in the jungle to rot, SHADOW flashed back to that day, as if it was yesterday. Looking up at Rusty, as he looked down at him lying there bleeding and helpless. "I will get for this, you will not live to enjoy this pleasure." SHADOW said. Rusty just laughed and walked away into the jungle. SHADOW could hear him say as he walked away,

"Send me a postcard from HELL!" SHADOW knew that he would see the day when rusty paid for his treason, as well as Glimmer and Knuckles. He would not let them live to walk this earth knowing that they have killed him.

As SHADOW stood looking and remembering in came Black Lightning. "Hey, SHADOW you alright man?" He said, "You look like you are in another world." SHADOW just turned and said,

"Grab your gear and lets move out. I'm not waiting any longer. It's payback time!" Black Lightning in his calm, cool manner said,

"SHADOW I think we should wait, till nightfall. It would be to our advantage and beside the night is on our side." SHADOW knew his friend was right, but he wanted blood and he wanted it now.

"If we go now we would catch them off guard and surprise them." SHADOW said. "Even Glimmer wouldn't think we would be dumb enough to go after them in the day."

"May be your right I will go get our tag-along." Black Lightning said.

"We could head them off at Sector Bravo and ambush them."SHADOW replied, "To hell with that newbie, I don't trust him at all and besides we can move faster without him." SHADOW grabbed his trusty M24 SOCOM and his ghillie suit and started out the tent. Black Lightning quickly made his way to his tent and grabbed his APS-2 SV and took one last look at his cards.

"Damn, still no 3's." He thought to himself. As SHADOW and Black Lightning made their way into the jungle. They heard a yell coming from behind them.

"Hey, where in the hell do you two think you are going without me?" The newbie sniper yelled. "I am part of this mission like it or not." SHADOW replied back,

"Till I see you kill a man you are just extra baggage and nothing more."

"Yeah, I'm with SHADOW on that one there are just to many traitors around here. You can't trust anyone and we can't take the chance to trust you." Black Lightning said. Black Lightning gets right in the newbie's face. "We don't know anything about you not even your name." He said with a hateful tone.

"Ok, Ok, you all have a right to know my name. It's GERMAN SEAL and I am here at Mr. Brown's request. He know he was being sent to Germany on a mission and he thought it would be good to have me take his place." The newbie sniper replied.

"Well, well, well, I have heard of you. You are supposed to be one of the best. We could use you and if Mr. Brown trust you then we can." SHADOW said. Black Lightning just smiled and walked into the jungle.

As SHADOW and his team made it through the jungle it began to cloud up and a threat of rain was in the air. SHADOW knew it would muffle any noise and cover their tracks. It would also do the same for his enemy. Now it was a race to see who could get to Sector Bravo before the other. As the rain began to fall SHADOW picked up the pace. Black Lightning right on his heels and keeping his eyes wide open. GERMAN SEAL was bringing up the rear and he have an uneasy feeling about what was going on. When all of a sudden SHADOW dropped to his knees. Black Lightning drops right behind him and GERMAN SEAL was right behind them. SHADOW peered into the darkness as if he saw something strange.

"SHADOW, SHADOW what do you see?" Black Lightning said.

"Shhhhhh..." SHADOW replied. He pointed to the tree line and signaled movement up ahead. Black Lightning quickly departed to the right flank and scanned the jungle. GERMAN SEAL made his way to the left flank and set up a position. SHADOW dropped to his stomach and crawled ever so slowly where the movement was. He kept his eyes wide open watching for the slightest movement. Then there just about a 100 yards out he saw a figure. SHADOW slid into the dense foliage and popped up his lens covers. He peered through his scope and there was his target. He could make out the figure as a man, but could not see if it was hostile or friendly. SHADOW had sent an assault team out in the hopes to intercept the enemy sniper team. He thought it might be them lying in wait or taking a break. They had been out for a few days now and were probably tired. SHADOW wasn't going to take any chances and crawled in closer to see if he could confirm his target. Black Lightning had lost sight of SHADOW and decided to move up in support just in case SHADOW need some back-up. GERMAN SEAL saw Black Lightning advancing and kept his weapon ready.

Black Lightning made his way up to SHADOW's position and signaled SHADOW that he was going to make his way around to the right flank and catch whatever was out there in a crossfire. SHADOW looked through his scope trying to see if he could see if it was the enemy sniper team. It was just too dark and the rain was just too hard to see through. SHADOW decided that it was to risky too shoot, and maybe give their position away to the enemy snipers. He decided to move in closer and confirm his target. He crawled in slowly and quietly making his way up to where he saw the figure. Black Lightning had flipped up his scope covers and peered through seeing SHADOW make his way through the dense foliage. Black Lightning knew it was risky for SHADOW to advance closer, but he knew that SHADOW wasn't going to take any chances.

GERMAN SEAL waited in the rear, if he heard a shot he would advance to give cover-fire. Even though they all had radios GERMAN SEAL knew not to break radio silence. He would just wait and watch the jungle for any signs.

SHADOW was closer now and looked through his scope, there the target was. He trained his cross hairs on the target's head. Just as a flash of lightning and a roar of thunder sounded. Which light up the jungle, SHADOW saw his target. It was a makeshift dummy that may be the enemy sniper team had left to fool him. He also knew that it could be a trap to make him move into a better shooting position. SHADOW stayed in the dense foliage knowing it would cover him from any wandering sights. Black Lightning had saw the dummy too and shook his head. Saying to himself,

"Good one guys, good one." He closed his lens covers and slowly made his way back to where they first saw the target. SHADOW was retreating back slowly and in the cover of the jungle. When they got back to where GERMAN SEAL was they informed him of the situation.

"It was probably a trap, better to go around" SHADOW said. Black Lightning agreed, as well as GERMAN SEAL.

The team continued on through the jungle slowly and quietly, ever scanning the jungle for signs of their intended prey. It would be night in a few hours and the rain appeared to be letting up.

SHADOW thought it best to move quicker and try to get to Sector Bravo before nightfall. "We move in a staggered formation, 50 meters apart, Black Lightning leads." Said SHADOW. They began to quicken the pace, but still aware that there may be danger waiting for them.

Sector Bravo was just four clicks out and they slowed they pace. Black Lightning signaled to stop and drop low. SHADOW and GERMAN SEAL made their went to Black Lightning's position. Shadow laid the plan out to Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL,

"Blackie, buddy I want you to move to the west of Sector Bravo and set up a shooting position on their right flank. Stay in cover and go high ground. GERMAN SEAL, I want you to stay here and provide cover for us in case we have to double time it out of here. Remember they could be already here waiting for us or they could be on their way here. I'm going to move east of Black Lightning and set up position on high ground. From here we advance on our stomachs. Ghillie suits on, weapons ready, maintain radio silence." Said SHADOW.

Black Lightning moved out after putting on his ghillie suit and checking his gear. GERMAN SEAL moved into some cover in case the enemy ran into him. SHADOW crawled out into the dense jungle watching, looking ever so careful. Everyone was in position now and all they could do this wait and hope that the enemy was on their way. SHADOW's mind drifted back to when he was a sniper instructor and this young hot shot shooter came to him. He name was Glimmer and he wanted to be taught by the best. SHADOW could see promise in this young kid, so he took him under his wing. Treated him like a son that he never had and made him what he is today. All that changed though, after Glimmer met Rusty and Knuckles. They told him that SHADOW was evil and had plans to wipe out all the top snipers in the world. So he could sell his talent to the highest bidder. Glimmer would pay for his act of treason toward SHADOW, and SHADOW was the one who was going to make him pay.

SHADOW scanned the jungle floor for signs of the enemy and just as he looked off to his left he saw movement. The enemy sniper team moving in slowly and cautiously. SHADOW flipped his lens covers and trained his sights on the point man. It was Rusty, he moved his scope farther back and there was Knuckles with Glimmer close by, but farther back he could see movement. Who was it? He thought. Good God! It's Brandaman that little traitor. "Oh, you got to die, but first I need to take care of some unfinished business." SHADOW said to himself. He trained his cross hairs back on Glimmer and took a breath, holding it he slowly squeezed his trigger. He could feel the pressure of the trigger and then it released. BOOM! Looking through his scope he saw the bullet strike his target. Glimmer now laid dead a hole straight through his heart. The rest of the enemy sniper team ran for cover, but it was to late for Brandaman.

Black Lightning fired the same time SHADOW did and dropped him dead too. The battle of the best was now on. Before GERMAN SEAL squeezed his trigger, a round struck Brandaman in the back of his chest, bursting right through to the front. It was Outlaw. Sarah's round had flown true and found its target. Then as Brand began to fall, a mighty M88 .50 McMillan round slammed into the M82A1 making sure it was now disabled and inoperable. As Brand felt his life slipping away, Lightning's round struck finishing his life, but no one knew where or could not see the Reapers anywhere and as quietly as they appeared they slipped away into the mist.

Knuckles and Rusty lay near each other, their breath heavy. The drizzle was turning to mist with the heat of the jungle evening, and visibility was getting poorer by the second. "That was SHADOW for sure," Knuckles said, "anyone else would've gone for the rear man - he was finishing off business." Rusty replied. "Fight or retreat Knucks, it's your call - we can get away with this mist covering us, and finish this later when we have the advantage not him."

SHADOW peered through his scope at Glimmer's lifeless body. Then, he trained his scope on the area where Knuckles and Rusty had jumped for cover. The heavy mist was concealing them well and SHADOW knew they would slip away into the dark, misty jungle night. He still had to try to draw a line of sight on them, but it was no good. They were gone, long gone by now. SHADOW waited for an hour then made his way back to where GERMAN SEAL was. Black Lightning was already there waiting for him to return.

"Damn good shot, SHADOW." Black Lightning said.

"Yeah, it was the one shot I have been wanting to do for a long time. That was one hell of a shot you did too there buddy." Said SHADOW.

Black Lightning said,

"I know I hit my mark, but I could swear that the bullet hit before it was suppose too. Also the impact was much greater then I expected. I could swear also that I heard a .50 cal too." GERMAN SEAL responded,

"Yeah, me too, the shots sounded like they came from three different places." SHADOW replied,

"It doesn't matter as long as the deed was done and these two traitors are dead. Besides, may be I had a little surprise out here that they didn't count on." SHADOW turned and with a smile looked out into the jungle. He was the only one who knew he had an ally, one who was just as deadly. The team started they went back to the base camp, it would be first light before they arrive.

After, a meal and some much needed rest; SHADOW made his way to the CP to give his report. When he entered the CP, he was surprised to see General Owen. "General, this is a surprise. I heard you were dead." SHADOW said.

"You know how rumors are SHADOW. One minute you're dead, the next minute you're in Bangkok, stick fighting. The General replied. Both of them laughing heartily and out loud. The CO comes into the room and looked pleased to see SHADOW.

"SHADOW, I heard about your little trip last night, very profitable too from what I heard - Two confirmed kills, Glimmer and Brandaman. I never liked that little Private weasel anyway." The CO said.

As they sat and SHADOW went over the mission, The General seemed to be uneasy and nervous. Shadow could tell something was wrong, but he wasn't sure what it was. After, SHADOW finished the debriefing he got up and said,

"Well, I reckon I better go check out my gear and clean my weapon. The rain last night didn't do it or me any good. So, I'll see you later General Owen." The General nodded and SHADOW left to return to his tent. SHADOW walked across the base camp toward his tent when up come running GERMAN SEAL.

"SHADOW did you know that General Owen was here at the base?" asked GERMAN SEAL.

"Yeah, I just talked to him and the CO about the mission last night." Replied SHADOW.

"Something is fishy here because I heard that the General was the one who sent Knuckles and Rusty here. Also if you have another sniper team in the jungle, then, me and Black Lightning should know about it." GERMAN SEAL said. SHADOW just responded with a smile and said,

"Don't wrong about a thing there buddy, I got everything under control. Just be ready to move out at 1700 hours." GERMAN SEAL stopped in his tracks and said,

"I hope you know what you are doing, man." SHADOW just waved and went into his tent.

As Rusty and Knuckles withdrew, they knew they were being watched. Rusty made the remark, "Feels like we just fell into that movie predator." Knuckles just shook his head and smirked as they tried to find the way through the dense fog. He slowly looked around; he could see the silhouette of a tree, but there were two things hanging from it they were too big to be monkeys. As they approached, he realized what they were. There hanging in the tree was Brand and Glimmer's bodirs, and their weapons damaged and in pieces on the floor. There were also plenty of death cards. Not only did they finds Outlaw's personal death cards, but two new different death cards. One, with the devil half in shadow clutching a demonic sniper rifle of some sort, and the other had a hand with a death card in saying you've been killed by the ace. On the border was printed Hitman MH.

Rusty asked,"who the hell is this MH guy?" Knuckles said

"He's Owen's personal sniper. He was a retired sniper; looks like he came back for one last piece of action. He sports a deadly M40 fully upgraded with heat differential scope and silencing flash suppresor. I read about him he got some sort of marksman honor."

"So who is the other death card?" asked rusty.

"Well the first card is the Reapers, but this one looks like it belongs to Shadow. I think its best if we get out of here now that the Reapers are watchin us." said Knuckles which made Rusty uneasy.

As he turned, he saw a shadowed movement and panicked fired at it and it fell to the floor. The two snipers cautiously made there way over to it.

"Hot dog, I got my self the Reaper," said Rusty.

"That ain't the Reaper," said Knuckles, "That's one of his team though, check his tags." As Rusty checked his tags he noticed they said Martin'graf'Brown, and the Reapers motto Ever patient waiting for your time to come, the reaper shall swoop and carry your soul to the other side. Rusty looked shocked

"I know well knew this guy, I used to play ball with him every Saturday when I was younger."

"Well he looks a bit of a rookie, and his M40 don't look to healthy either. By the looks of it, he's been left out here to fend for himself." remarked Knucks as he thought, where are you Outlaw. Then he shouted, "Where are youuu?"

The Reaper, while sitting in a tree quietly, said to himself, "I'm right here, but I'm to far away for you to find me. These jungles will protect me, oh and by the way, did you like my present? Graf was slowing us down from a deadly scorpion sting and wasn't gonna live any way, so we thought we would let you think you're getting a little pay back.

Chapter 7

After finding Brandaman and Glimmer's body, Knuckles looked at the death cards again. For a moment he considered aborting. He noticed the stern but distressed look on Rusty's face. "Can't believe we walked straight into an ambush." Knucks said, shaking his head.

"Not your fault bro." Rusty replied "SHADOW's good, almost too good! I didn't think he was capable of doing this. Why did he string-up those bodies? As a warning?" Knuckles looked up at the bodies and their shattered rifles

"Cut 'em down, put them in their poncho's, that ain't no way to leave a soldier" Knucks said to Rusty. Rusty just replied with a nod. Knucks could see the look on Rusty's face as he carried out the request. He too looked like he had failed, "That must've been a first for him." grinned Knuckles. He watched as Rusty cut Brandaman and Glimmer from their snares. Rusty quietly put the two in their ponchos. He noticed Rusty even having the decency to close their eyes and wipe the blood from their faces with his own BDU's sleeve and water from his own canteen.

"All done." confirmed Rusty.

"Not quite." added Knuckles. "Missed a spot." He said. Taking a large plaster from his own medi-kit, unpeeling it, and placing it over the hole in Brandaman's head. A traditional military salute was awarded to the brave souls lost today.

Holding the newly found cards in his hand, Knuckles gave a few words for his fallen friends. He had made a promise to Glimmer that nothing would happen to him, and that Brandaman would get to go home, and he had failed them both. Then again, maybe he could still carry out his promise to Brandaman by burying him at home with his family, and get revenge for Glimmer by eliminating the Shadow Company; if he and Rusty could pull it off.

Taking a deep breath, he reminisced back to the firefight that had erupted earlier. A little one-sided, he thought. It was almost as if they were surrounded. He remembered taking-up position. Rusty just behind in a covering position, there was Glimmer just in front, and Brandaman was way out on the left flank. When the shots were fired, he could have sworn he heard three, not just two. He frowned, looked at the cards more closely. "Something's not quite right here." mumbled Knuckles

"Huh? Did you say something?" asked rusty.

"They're different." Knucks said, looking closely at the two cards in his hand.

"Yeah, I know. One's of a demon holding a rifle, and the other has a name called Hitman MH on it, big deal."

"Very good." said Knucks, "But look closer, they're from different decks!" Rusty gave a frowned, yet surprised look

"We've got another player in the woods?"

Walking over to the two corpses, Knuckles pulled off Brandaman's poncho. He rolled the body over, finding a huge hole in his back. Letting out a puff of air, He set him back down again, zipping-up his poncho, "This was no ambush, it was a crossfire!" Knuckles said, staring at the ground.

"What? A crossfire? But who? And where?" Rusty panicked, looking around "SHADOW?" he asked.

"No, SHADOW guys were from the front. This is someone else." Knuckles said shaking his head.

"The Reaper! And this Hitman fella! They were behind us the whole time!" vented Rusty.

"But how?" asked Knuckles. Rusty leant down next to B-mans body, rolled him back over again.

"Didn't he yelp from a mosquito earlier?" said a very grinning Rusty.

"Yeah, right before we first ran into the Reaper. Why?" asked Knuckles. Rusty drew his combat knife. Cutting Brandaman's BDU down the back. Running his finger over the left shoulder blade, he found a small hole. Plunging his knife into the hole, he flicked out a small, metal, bullet-shaped object. It flew in the air towards Knuckles, who caught it. After a brief look at the object, he could tell it was an M23 in-scripted homing beacon, but with a difference.

"A tracker? I knew it!" shouted Rusty.

"Yeah, we had thing like this in the corps special ops," Knuckles said, examining the device "But not this small. This is no bigger than a piece of grenade shrapnel! And it looks homemade. Whoever built this, they've used parts from bullet casings, GPS's, motion sensors, an in-scripted digital signal guiding system, and some stuff I can even begin to touch."

"What's the verdict?" asked Rusty

"Well, judging by the scratches and traces of green foliage, I'd say this was built by someone with spec ops equipment who was stuck out here in the middle of the jungle. It's the Reaper all right, but who is he? And why is he here?" Knuckles explained.

"Maybe we should find him and ask him." grinned Rusty "We'll get SHADOW later, lets even the odds a little."

"Rusty, I have an idea. Go southwards into the woods for 50 meters. Trust me." said Knucks.

"Affirmative! But why?" jested Rusty,

" Just do it and keep 'em peeled on my back you'll know what to look for, if the Reaper is near our position, we're gonna catch him!" Knucks said with an evil grin as he grabbed a smoke grenade, and set it off right next to his bag.

The two snipers made it look like a grenade had misfired and moved to get rid of it. As the smoke started to spread, Rusty grabbed his rifle and headed-off into the woods to set-up a sniping position. Meanwhile, Knuckles grabbed the dummy used before in the fight with SHADOW, and placed it on the log next to him, sat upright. Knucks stood up, took his lighter in his hand and the cards in the other. From his position outside the smoke screen, Rusty could barely see silhouettes Knuckles and the dummy. He looked through his scope to see better but the lens only magnified the amount of smoke. It didn't make things any clearer. In fact, it made it worse. only his laser would be useful in that kind of situation.

"How the hell am I supposed to cover him, if I can't even see him?" thought Rusty. Inside the smoke cloud, Knuckles donned his gas mask and started to torch the cards... "Hey Reaper, You think you're soooo hot. Go ahead! Shoot me! ‘Cause if you don't. I'm gonna spread all I know about your treason! And you're gonna wish I'd have killed you!" He shouted, whilst turning in a 360 degree angle, arms spread eagle.

From his perch, the Reaper was looking through his scope the whole time. He laughed when the gas grenade had gone-off. "Amateurs." He thought to himself taking-up aim. "There's no-way I'm gonna let him report me into the authorities. Better to finish the two of them off now! Then I can concentrate on General Owen!". He looked through his scope... "DAMMIT!" he grumbled, "Can't see shit through that smoke." He turned on his LAM (laser-aiming-module) unit and searched the smoke cloud for a silhouette. He aimed on the figure sitting down.

Meanwhile, Rusty spotted the lasers coming from a eastern position not far from his spot. He moved quickly and silently towards where the laser was coming from. "I'M HERE OUTLAW! C'MON, IM WAITING FOR YA!!" Knuckles continued to shout. There was a shot, the dummy flew sideways, whilst Knuckles took cover. Outlaw smiled as he started to see the smoke clear, waiting to admire his handy work. The smoke-screen cleared. He was horrified to see that he had blown-away a dummy. Suddenly, a hand reached up to him and pulled him from his tree.

"Hi there!" smiled Rusty as he quickly disarmed his opponent in trained military fashion, a short punch and the fight was all over. Rusty tied him to the tree. Soon after, Knuckles arrived at the perch, giving a boot to their new friend as a warm welcome, and gave a thumbs-up to Rusty. Knuckles turned to their captive.

"So Reaper, it appears we have a lot to talk about..."

What the snipers forgot about was the Reaper's team. Slowly, several laser sights lit up the heads of Rusty and Knuckles. Then out of the dense foliage came the Reapers, sneaking up behind them. Robbo pressed the M88 in to Rusty's back as IL Duce pushed the L96A1 in Knuckles. Jackal said, "Disarm them." As slim and wizard did so, Jackal untied Outlaw. "And you have a lot to talk about with SHADOW. Let's move em out."

The team headed for SHADOW's camp. The Reaper grimaces as he regains his breath.

"Sure, we can talk, on our way to HELL!" he says as the sun begins to drop.

Back at SHADOW's main camp, 1700 rolls around. GERMAN SEAL, SHADOW, and Black Lightning have their gear prepped and begin to move out. SHADOW over hears a scout deliver a report of some unknown troops' positions, then Owen's voice dismissing him. SHADOW's eyes narrowed. He thought to himself, "Who is this guy?" But continued on his way. As they left the camp perimeter, SHADOW caught a glimpse of General Owen standing outside of his tent staring at them with a strange smile on his face. SHADOW paused for just a moment.

"What is it?" GERMAN SEAL asked. SHADOW replied,

"I'm not so sure, let's go." Then the three moved off into the jungle.

As SHADOW and his team entered the jungle, SHADOW told Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL to be alert, real alert. SHADOW felt uneasy and didn't trust General Owen, even though he had worked with him before. If the General was the one who sent Rusty and Knuckles, then what was stopping him from stabbing him and his team in the back? SHADOW and his team continued moving through the jungle ever so slowly and carefully, scanning the jungle with their eyes. They were getting closer to the place where they last encountered the enemy sniper team. SHADOW signaled to hold up and he dropped down low. Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL crawled up to SHADOW position. Black Lightning asked,

"What's up, SHADOW?" SHADOW responded,

"We are less than 1 click from where we last encountered the enemy sniper team. I will stay on point, Blackie, I want you to take rear guard and cover our tracks real good. I don't want anybody to know we came by here or be able to follow us." Black Lightning responded with a nod. "GERMAN SEAL, I want you in the middle, 50 meters between me and Black Lightning. Keep your eyes and ears open, weapons ready at all times. Let's move out." SHADOW's team moved closer to the place they encountered the enemy sniper team. They were just about there when SHADOW signaled to stop and drop. He then signaled for both Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL to advance up to him. They both moved up to his position. "We are close and something just doesn't look right. It's quiet, too quiet. It might be a trap. I think we should pull back and go around." said SHADOW. The team backed up slow and easy, watching the jungle. Black Lightning could tell SHADOW was uneasy and that made him uneasy. He figured that SHADOW was being cautious because, of what he heard back at base camp. Still the same, Black Lightning wasn't going to take any chances, if SHADOW was uneasy it was for good reason. He has been with SHADOW for a long time and SHADOW always kept him alive.

Once, the team had moved back, they took cover in the dense foliage of the jungle. SHADOW thought it would be best to head back in, but this time from the East. There was better cover and no chance of anyone catching them in a crossfire. The team moved back into the area slowly, careful, watching for anything. When they got to where they last encountered the enemy sniper team. It looked as if there was a firefight there, empty shell cases, blood, tracks.

"There in the trees!" yelled Black Lightning. SHADOW quickly looked where Black Lightning was pointing. What he saw was an unholy sight, bodies strung up, left to rot in the jungle.

"Who and why would somebody do that?" asked GERMAN SEAL. SHADOW just kept looking with a ball of fury burning in his gut.

"I told him NOT to kill them, I wanted them alive!" SHADOW said in a harsh voice. Both Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL looked puzzled and then asked,

"What are you talking about? Him who? What is going on here? Tell us!"

SHADOW turned and looked at both of them, with a voice of regret said,

"Outlaw and his team, I hired them to track Rusty and Knuckles, but I didn't tell him to kill them. I wanted them alive, so I could take them back to General Owen. So, they could see that they were set-up by one of their own. Then when Rusty and Knuckles ran into Brandaman, it was like an added bonus for Outlaw. Glimmer was also set-up by General Owen, but he had to die for trying to kill me. I told Outlaw that I did not care if he killed Brandaman, but that I wanted Glimmer. He was also just supposed to capture Rusty and Knuckles." GERMAN SEAL and Black Lightning looked in disbelief.

GERMAN SEAL said,

"I knew General Owen was behind all is crap. He was taking blood money for years and funding Outlaw to train his team of assassins. He's been under close watch by the SAS for years." Black Lightning looked at SHADOW and he could tell SHADOW wanted nothing more to do with this. It was payback time, and they were going to pay for all they dirty dealings.

"We have to end this now, but where did they go and how will we find them?" Black Lightning said. SHADOW replied,

"I know where they are going and you are right Blackie, old buddy. It does have to end and end now. Let's move, we don't have much time."

SHADOW and his team made the way back to base camp, but it was too late. General Owen had already left to meet up with Outlaw. SHADOW went to the CP to inform the CO of what was going on, but when he went in the CO's office. He found the CO dead, two 9mm rounds in his chest and one in his head. A card stuck between his fingers, it was the calling card of The Reapers. "Damn it!" yelled SHADOW. He then ran to where Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL were waiting.

"Did you tell the CO what was going on? Is he calling HQ and informing them that General Owen is a traitor?" asked both Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL. SHADOW replied,

"The CO is dead, we're on our own. We need to get a chopper and get to Belong-Solong Airport. That is where they are going. Come on let's go."

SHADOW and his team jumped onto a chopper and headed off to try and intercept them. SHADOW laid out the plan as they made their way to the airport. "Blackie, you make your way to the roof of the control tower and set up a shooting position. There will be a private jet waiting by the large hangar, it's the General's. GERMAN SEAL, I want you to spot for Black Lightning and back him up, if he needs it. Be careful and make every shot count."

"What about you, SHADOW?" asked Black Lightning.

"Don't worry buddy, I'll be around and wait for me to shoot before you open up. Oh, and the General is mine." Replied SHADOW. SHADOW ordered the chopper pilot to set them down behind some old warehouses just across from the front of the airport. Once, they were on the ground SHADOW and his team took off running to get in position. SHADOW prayed that they were on time and that the General and Outlaw didn't escape.

They made it on time. The General's jet was still there. Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL made it to the roof of the control tower and set up their shooting position. SHADOW made his way to the back of the hangar, he was going to flush out the rats. As he quietly entered the hangar he could hear talking, it was the General, Outlaw, his team and Hitman. SHADOW un-slung his MP5SD6 from his shoulder and took cover behind some crates and barrels. He heard the General say, that the jet was ready and it was time to go. Outlaw asked,

"What about SHADOW and his team?"

The General replied,

"We'll deal with them later for now let's go." They all started to make they're way out of the hangar. Just then SHADOW popped out and yelled,

"Hey General, you should finish what you start!" As the surprised group turned around SHADOW drew down on them with his MP5SD6. With a burst of automatic fire SHADOW killed IL Duce, Robbo and Outlaw. The other's ran outside for the plane, Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL heard the gunfire and were ready. Jackal came out first and was heading for the door of the plane. Black Lightning leveled his crosshairs on him and BOOM. Clean through his back and out his chest, Jackal was dead. Slim grabbed Jackal and tried to drag him to cover, but it was too late. GERMAN SEAL fired a round and struck him down, dead as a door nail. Wizard and Hitman fired aimlessly at the control tower, but Black Lightning held Wizard true. He fired and hit his mark. Wizard was thrown back from the impact. Blood rushed from his chest as he lay dead. Hitman looked down at Wizard and figured it was time to run for it, but it was too late. Both Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL had a bead on him and fired. Both rounds struck him in the back and sent him head-over-heels to the ground. Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL scanned the area for their next target, but saw none. They could hear gunfire still coming from inside the hangar.

SHADOW and the General were in a heated gun battle, but the General was now out of ammo. He darted for the door and ran for his waiting jet that was now disabled. Thanks to Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL. SHADOW went after the General as he ran for his life. Realizing his plane was disabled the General ran down the runway trying to made it to the jungle outskirts at the end. SHADOW came out of the hangar and looked up at Black Lightning and GERMAN SEAL. He then turned his attention on the General. He raised his M24 and put his crosshairs on the General's back. As the General ran, SHADOW steadied his aim, took a breath, held it, slowly squeezed the trigger, feeling the pressure. SHADOW said,

"You can run, but you will only die tired." BOOM! As the bullet sped toward its target, SHADOW could hear the General yelling,

"AHHHHH! Don't kill me, please!" PSSST! The General stopped dead in his tracks, turned around and looked at SHADOW. SHADOW cycled his bolt, took aim and fired again. The General yelled, "NOOOOOO!!" Then his head exploded, and he dropped to the ground. Dead. SHADOW, then looked up and said,

"That one was for you, Rusty and Knuckles."

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