The Last Hero by Nathaniel Danes

released it.
    “Captain, you stay here. Keep everyone quiet and under cover. Carefully arrange a defensive position just in case. Have a squad ready for rush support in case I call. Gabriel and Simms, you’re with me.”
    “Sir,” Jones interrupted, “shouldn’t I lead the attack? It’s unorthodox for the commanding officer to leave the bulk of the unit behind to lead a small raiding party.”
    “I appreciate your objections, and you’re right, this isn’t by the book. Nothing about this mission is by the book. I want to get a look first hand at the enemy to see what I can learn about them.”
    “Understood, sir. We’ll have your back.”
    “I know you will. Here’s their position.” Trent used his finger to draw the plan in the orange tinted dirt. “I want you, Gabriel, to approach on my left, about ten meters away from me. Simms, I want you to do the same on my right. CAL will keep an open link between us so we can coordinate. We’ll call our shots and fire at the same time. If all goes well, they won’t know anything happened until they’re dead. You got it.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Let’s move.”
    The three assassins stalked their prey carefully. They crawled flat on the ground where their suits made them look like slow moving piles of dirt and rocks. Not a sound was made. The helmet and suit even dampened the sound of their breathing and pounding hearts.
    The journey to the enemy position felt like it took an eternity, but there was no room for error. If any of the enemy got a message out, they all would certainly die, and their mission would fail.
    Trent reached his point first. It took Simms and Gabriel another five minutes to find a clean line-of-sight on the targets. Trent spoke to them softly with the aid of CAL.
    “I have confirmed three hostiles. Switch to single shot. I want as much of their bodies left over for autopsies as we can manage. Gabriel, you have the ugly one sitting down. I want a head shot on him. I’ll take the ugly one by the tree and will take him out with a head shot. Simms, the other ugly one is yours. Take him out with a round to the chest. You two read me?”
    “Yes.”
    “Roger that.”
    Trent slowly raised his MRG. CAL placed a crosshairs on the visor, which moved with the barrel to show exactly where the shot would land. He maneuvered the crosshairs directly on the unsuspecting soldier.
    “Do you have your targets?”
    “He’s dead, he just doesn’t know it,” Gabriel answered.
    “Cold as ice.”
    “On three. One, two, three...”
    Instantly, the back of Trent’s target’s head exploded into a mist of blue blood and bone tuned into powder. The other two suffered similar fates.
    CAL announced, All hostiles eliminated. Area clear.
    ***
    “Major, nice work. You have the first confirmed enemy kills of the war. Congratulations,” Jones said. Trent stood over his kill with his MRG resting on a shoulder.
    “You’re right. I’d like some patrols around the perimeter. We’re going to be here for a little bit. I don’t want any surprises.”
    “Already taken care of, sir.”
    Gabriel walked up to Trent’s side. All three stared down at the blue spattered dead Bearcat.
    Gabriel commented, “Hey, sir. Why did you want Lieutenant Simms to kill his with a chest shot?”
    “I wanted to see what his brains looked like.” He turned to Jones. “Captain, get the medics up here to start autopsies on these stiffs. CAL can walk them through the details. Be sure they upload the data into the sub-space transmitter. The Fleet at Alpha Gate will probably wet their pants when they see this information.”
    Gabriel still looked intently at the headless soldier, who lived up to its unimaginative name. Thick fur covered every square centimeter of the body. Even without a head, the creature was over two and three-quarter meters tall. Their hands consisted of four massive fingers with retractable claws. The head on the one Simms had killed reminded him of a lion without a mane.