The Ace of Spades Campaign - Raid on Sterling part 12

Celeste stealthily stepped into the first of the two bedrooms in the barracks building. Two bandit raiders were sound asleep on their beds. She shot the first one in the side of the head with her disruptor pistol. One shot was all it took to kill him.

Luckily, the sound of the beam weapon firing did not awaken the other bandit. He also died from a single head shot.

The merciless assassin android turned and exited the bedroom as she made her way to the second bedroom.

The two occupants were only just awake but sleep still clouded their brains. Something had woken them, but what? Was that the sound of gunfire? Surely not.
Celeste struck quickly and once again shot a raider in the head from point blank range. He died without knowing what had hit him.

The fourth raider in the barracks came fully awake with a start. He immediately saw Celeste turning away from the corpse of his colleague to face him.
"You murderous, drokking bitch!" he swore as he grabbed a knife from beneath his pillow. He lunged at Celeste with the blade, but she was wise to his move and she easily dodged to one side, forcing him to miss.

She reacted by punching him in the side of the head twice in rapid succession. Electricity from her fist surged through his head. He screamed in agony and fell to the floor, where he spasmed jerkily for  a few seconds before dying.
"Mission accomplished," Celeste said with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, on the ground floor roof of the barracks building that the hostages were being held in, Katja Sondquist took aim with her Galactic Concepts KRH16 Starbird Disruptor Rifle at the back of the bandit standing guard just a few yards away from her. The deadly heat beam punched straight through his upper body and out of his chest, killing him instantly.

 "Nice and easy," she whispered as she moved in to check that he really was dead.

On the roof of the building's upper storey, the other guard was totally unaware that Danica had sneaked up behind him. The young Venetian scout had trained with the Venetian Navy as a Battle Psyche. Whilst there, she had developed her natural telepathy powers to focus on brute force mental attacks. She utilised her Psi-Blast psionic attack with devastating effect against her unwary opponent. It was not something she used very often but under the circumstances, she thought this was the most prudent and efficient way of killing the bandit. She was right!

His brain suffered terminal overload and immediately ceased to function. He died without making a sound until his body hit the floor. By then, the only two people who heard him fall were Danica and Katja.

Julia Frostorm's favourite weapon was her Transfarer R43 Fireflash Microwave Sniper Rifle. She had added an advanced scope to it, which helped to increase its effective range by 100%. In addition, the weapon was ID Matched to her DNA and anyone else who tried to fire it would receive an electrical shock. The weapon was illegal on most planets, although Julia did have a legal permit to use it in her line of duty as an authorised bounty hunter. She had been tasked to deal with three of the bandit raiders.

The first one, the guard on top of the watch tower, was the easiest of the three to kill. A single shot from her Microwave Rifle hit him in the centre of his back, dealing horrendous internal damage as it melted his heart, before exiting through his chest. One shot, one kill - that was how she liked it.

Katja had discovered that the door to the upper room was locked, but a quick search of the dead guard produced the pass key. By the time she had unlocked the door, Danica had joined her.

Inside, the six hostages were wide awake and all appeared to be physically unharmed. They stood in a semi-circle with fearful expressions, uncertain of what was about to happen.
"Don't be alarmed," Katja reassured them, "we're here to rescue you."
"Oh, thank God," Radula Sterling, the wife of Alfred said with evident relief.
The others agreed and expressed their thanks and gratitude.

Julia dashed across the open ground to the officers' quarters. The lights were on inside and she was sure the two men inside would have heard the sound of gunfire. They'd most likely be armed and ready for her but she was confident of taking them out swiftly.

The front door was not locked. As soon as she opened it she fired her Fireflash Microwave Sniper Rifle at the corporal who was pointing an HK18 assault rifle at her. He never got the chance to pull the trigger as her beam hit him in the neck doing lethal damage.

The sergeant was only armed with a laser pistol. His first shot at Julia went high and wide. His second shot grazed her right upper arm. She barely noticed that she'd been hit.
(He scored 7 points of damage to her from a roll of 1d6+3, but her mesh armour soaked 6 points so she only took 1 point of damage. It was an inconsequential hit!)

Julia's counter-attack was far more devastating. She shot him in the stomach and sent him sprawling on his back. He was in agony and he desperately fought back the urge to vomit. His eyes filled with tears and he clutched at the cauterised hole in his gut with his free hand.
"Damn you!" he snarled through gritted teeth.

Julia walked over to him and snatched his laser pistol off him. She threw it into a corner of the room.
"You and I are going to have a chat," she said in a voice dripping with menace. "You're going to tell me all about your little operation, your numbers, your leader, your base, your offensive and defensive capabilities. I want to know everything about you and your organisation."
"You can just go to hell," he spat back at her defiantly. "I'll tell you nothing."

Julia laid her rifle down on the floor as she squatted down beside the sergeant. His face was beaded in sweat and his breathing sounded ragged.
"We'll see about that," she said as she unsheathed her combat knife. She twisted it around in her hand, admiring just how sharp the blade was. She cruelly smiled at him as she jabbed him in the left eye.
By the time she had finished torturing him he had told her everything she wanted to know. She ended his misery by slitting his throat from ear to ear.

A short time later, the four rescuers and six hostages were congregating in an open area by the mine entrance. Julia contacted Kimberley via her communicator.
"Mission successful," she announced. "All of the hostages are safe and secure. No injuries sustained. We're good to go."
"That's fantastic," Kimberley squealed with delight. "I'll come and pick you up straight away. Oh, and what about the raiders?"
"They're all dead," Julia said matter-of-factly. "Nothing to worry about there."
"Cool. See you soon. Kimberley out."