Clarity

I am ready.

I spoke with Raids briefly last night at Firefly's, letting her know I was ready when she was. Whether our plan played out as intended or not, I would do my part. The 599 was sighted and I'd ranged three favored nests that would each give me the shot. Which one I took would depend on conditions at the time and I wouldn't make that decision until the last possible moment.

Usually, a sniper would pick on preferred location and nest there. Under normal circumstances I would have done just that. But these weren't normal circumstances. This was my home. Over the last few years here I'd learned all the best vantages, all the nests, their sight lines, limitations, advantages. Some of the spots were known to others, of course. I'd trained a couple of the Militia sharp shooters myself and given them some favored locations.

But I'd kept a few to myself as well.

That knowledge also gave us an advantage if anyone tried to play sniper games with us. There really was nothing better than local knowledge in such a situation. Should it ever come to it, our counter-battery fire would be quick and lethal. Should it ever come to it.

For now though, I had but one target in mind. With the 599 and its specialized ammunition we'd be able to take Ravish down for good.

Now, if the new Intern would only stay out of harm's way.

I hadn't actually intended to take on an Intern in the Mayor's office. There really wasn't much Mayoring going on, and Genni, as Vice Mayor, was actually doing most of the work. I was the Executive decision maker but I wasn't involved much in administering the colony. Worse, perhaps, It seemed likely the Alliance would make some declaration that our semi-formal local government wasn't really officially sanctioned and then find a way to impose "oversight" on our "underprivileged" colony.

But Lanie had come in, fresh off the boat, asking for work, and I'd been a bit too distracted to say "No." So now Genni and I had an Intern. She was young, bright, cheerful, and, sadly, likely to get shot the first time something dropped in the pot. Thing was, she'd be a good person to put between us and Lionheart. Fresh and cheerful, she didn't have the background on the Alliance's interactions with the colony the rest of us did.

Might work out. Might not. Could at least hope she didn't end her span before we found something more permanent for her to do around here.

Right now, I had more pressing matters on my mind than keeping an Intern out of my hair.

Through a snipers eyes

With infinite clarity

I see your span end