SS1 7.3 - Hot Exfil

  Waiting took a big portion of shooter job. My effort to kill Old Jack using precision shooting was not an exception for that nature. While waiting for Old Jack to show up, I spent my time eating melon seed while observing the rocky opening.

  A moment ago, a pack of six white rumps took their time to drink from the small pond in the opening. Now, they were leisurely grazing the scattered grass patches near the pond. The buck and its harem were really nice mid-size game. By using subsonic round, I would definitely knock down two of them before the rest realized the danger and escaped to the woods.

  Unfortunately, only hunter above C-rank could digest meat, fish, and fruit from the wild. Other than that, House of Hunter also forbade hunter below B-rank to harvest wild game and wild fruit. Well, it’s not like I and Ariel would suffer from lack of money and food, so the prohibition didn’t bother me.

  Then, I was checking the clock in my tablet and found it was already 4:20 pm, when the white rumps suddenly ran in hurry to the woods. My heart instantly skipped a beat as I put down my tablet, and a moment later a big wyvern gently landed on the opening.

  It had big head like a catfish but with two small horns, long neck like snake, wide batwing, giant eagle legs and claws, and long tail like stingray. It stood in its legs and had about 3 meter tall shoulder height. With ease, I recognized him.

  ‘Welcome home, Old Jack,’ I muttered before turning my gaze to Ariel and signaled her to silently crawl over to me.

  A moment later, Ariel already kneeled behind my shoulder and checked on Old Jack using a binocular.

  “He has a little girl with him,” Ariel said in whisper.

  “Yeah,” I said as I used the rifle scope on top of TRG M10 to check the kid.

  She was about five-year-old and she was still alive. Old Jack gently put her on the ground before him. He looked straight to the little girl, and I could see a small grin in his wide lips. Well, in a moment Old Jack would gulp down the little girl, unless I did something to stop it.

  The problem was, Old Jack landed on a spot near the trees line in the opening edge. It was about 350 meter from my position.

  “Berg,” Ariel said in low voice. “Can you headshot Old Jack from this distance?”

  “I can try, but it will be like announcing our position with a loud scream.”

  Resolve instantly flashed in Ariel’s eyes. “Let’s try it and save the little girl.”

  “Got it,” I said as I detached the suppressor and replaced the subsonic AP round with regular AP round. “Once I give you the signal, go get the little girl.”

  “Ariel will definitely get the little girl,” Ariel firmly said. “But, can you climb the cliff without a rope?”

  “I can.” I made final dial for the scope and put the safety lever off as I added, “And once I reach the cliff top, I will set up the rope to lift the little girl.”

  “Okay.”

  Wasting no time, I took aim. By using 1.5 MOA weapon system I could headshot someone from 400 meters as long as I had enough time to become intimate with it. As for my current precision rifle, it had sub-MOA for 5 grouping. I had also never fired it beyond 200 meters, but I had deep experience with similar system.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  The wind was also dead, while the target was several times bigger than human head. And so, I confidently calculated impact point at a spot slightly above Old Jack’s left ear. From my angle, it would deliver clear penetration to Old Jack’s brain.

  Old Jack’s skull maybe was equivalent to 9 mm thick armor plate, but I was sure I would defeat it. When you fired it from 12” barrel, 6.5 mm CBJ AP could penetrate 9 mm thick armor plate from 400 meters and created 6 mm entry hole. Not even 7.62 mm NATO could produce such level of penetration.

  As for my TRG M10, it had 16" barrel and would give the projectile additional stability and velocity. It would create a tunnel in Old Jack’s brain with ease, and if one tunnel was not enough I would keep making another one until he dropped dead on the ground.

  And finally, I gently squeezed the trigger right after Old Jack pulled his head back while opening his wide mouth.

  Bang!

  The 6.5 mm CBJ had very gentle recoil. With ease I maintain my sight to Old Jack’s head, and saw he slightly jerked as the round hit him in the head. I also saw a faint pink mist on the other side of his head. However, he was still standing in his two legs. I immediately sent second shot.

  Cla-clack!

  Bang!

  A moment after the second round hit his head, Old Jack tumbled to the side and hit the ground. Then, his upper body lay still while his legs continuously sent a weak kick to the air. I’m afraid it was a sign of Old Jack’s regeneration was working in full rotation to mend the fresh holes in his brain. Without delay I tried to prevent it.

  Cla-clack!

  Bang!

  Cla-clack!

  Bang!

  Cla-clack!

  Bang!

  Another three rounds perfectly hit Old Jack’s head, made it shrunk like a deflated tire while puddle of blood around it getting wider with each shoot. Then, I was about to replace the magazine when I felt a light shook in my shoulder.

  “Berg, you already killed Old Jack.”

  I was a bit taken back as I took my eyes from the scope. Then, I turned my gaze to Ariel and found she held my tablet.

  “Your third shot had killed him,” Ariel informed me on more time.

  “Got it,” I replied as put the safety lever on.

  Honestly, I really didn’t hear the buzz from my tablet when it received notification for Old Jack kill. If Ariel didn’t wake me up from my zone, I was sure I would keep hitting Old Jack until his head became porridge.

  Without delay Ariel then scaled down the cliff. She reached the rocky opening’s surface in no time, and then with everything she got she ran over to the little girl who still silently sat in front of Old Jack’s dead body.

  As for me, I put my TRG M10 to my inventory and replaced it with suppressed P320 Flux Raider. Then, I climbed to the cliff top while in the distance orc roars filled the air to the brim.

  When Old Jack showed up in an area, low-rank monster would stay away from his resting spot up to 2 km. In a glance it was far enough to give us escape time, but orc would close that distance in a few minutes.

  So, I pushed myself to reach the cliff top as fast as I can. Fortunately, the cliff wall had lots of spot where I could get good grip and foothold. Even beginner climber would scale the cliff with ease.

  It took only a few minutes before I reached the cliff top. Then, I was about to set up climbing rope when a head of little girl popped up in the cliff edge.

  I immediately offered my hand to help her made the final lift. Then, while the little girl sat on the ground and wiping away her sweats, I checked the cliff wall. I found Ariel was only a few meters behind the little girl. It seemed she took the climbing route next to the little girl, and stayed a few meters behind her because she wanted to guard the little girl in case she had a slip of foothold.

  “Good job,” I said to Ariel as I helped her making final lift to the cliff top.

  “Yeah,” Ariel happily replied.

  I then turned my gaze to the little girl. “Is she a demi-human?”

  “No,” Ariel replied. “Kara is a D-rank from Silva Family.”

  Big question mark instantly popped up in my forehead as I looked at the adorable little girl. “She is a D-rank from Silva Family?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How did Old jack manage to snatch a D-rank junior from Silva Family?”

  “Berg, we can ask her later,” Ariel firmly said. “For now, we have to erase our trail.”

  “How do we do that?”

  “Cover the whole rocky opening using tear gas. It will hinder low-rank monster ability to track our trail for 20-25 minutes.”

  “I see.”

  Wasting no time I bought three crates of 8-pcs tear gas grenade. We then deployed it to every corner of rocky opening. Kara also helped us throwing the tear gas, and she could throw it as far as the trees line in the opening’s edge.

  A moment later, thick tear gas blanketed every inch of opening’s surface. We then started our exfil. It would be nice if we have chopper to pick us up. Unfortunately, our situation was not that good. We could only rely on our feet and fate.

  ‘What a lovely hunting,’ I muttered as I followed Ariel and Kara while guarding our rear.

  *****