Lone Wolf: The Duel

It was morning. The sun rose steadily, igniting the open lands with its light. Birds flew across the sky as they greeted the morning. Just as it sounded peaceful, it all ended when a convoy of four speeding trucks roared across the open en route to a city. An armored soldier, with the rank of captain etched into the shoulder pads, sitting in the passenger seat of one of the trucks was typing on a small keyboard while looking at the transparent screen on the windshield as they approached their destination.Upon zooming in on the city, the radio crackled to life.

"Be advised, Bravo Team, Lone Wolf is already at the location of the objective awaiting for your arrival. He will provide you cover as you complete your mission."

"10-4, Wolf Den. Over," replied the solder. As he clicked the radio off, he shut off the screen.

"Lock and load, gentlemen," he said to the others sitting in the back.When they came into the city, they maneuvered their wary through the deserted streets until they came to a full stop before a building. The armored soldiers climbed out of the trucks and set up positions. The captain looked about until he saw a small bright light flickering on and off repeatedly from the top of a nearby building. He placed his fingers on a flat dial attached to the side of his helmet and turned it slightly forward and zoomed in on the light.There, standing on the side of the rooftop, was Lone Wolf. He gave the sniper an acknowledging wave before zooming out. "Alright, men, let's move out." he said as he cocked his assault rifle. Lone Wolf watched through his scope as the soldiers advanced into the building. When they breached the entrance and poured in, he began to look at the windows of the surrounding buildings. He heard small gunshots coming from inside the building as the soldiers encountered brief resistance. He spotted movement in one of the buildings and upon zooming in, he saw a man with a rocket launcher approaching an open window. The man took aim at the transports but he dropped before he could fire the rocket as Lone Wolf pulled the trigger. As he slid the bolt back into place, Lone Wolf saw another appear in front of the open window, carrying the slightly bloody rocket launcher that his comrade carried. He pulled the trigger again and the man dropped out of sight.His radio sparked. "Lone Wolf, we need support! Where are you?"

He looked at the building while he switched the scope view to infrared. He spotted the armored soldiers ducked behind cover as they were being shot at by a lone hostile who fired a shielded mini-gun turret at them. He moved from his position to a new spot so he could get a better shot.When he did, Lone Wolf took no hesitation as he aimed at the gunner and fired. The gunner jerked his head to the side before he collapsed.

"Great shot, Lone Wolf," said the captain. Watching through the scope, the soldiers advanced into the room, moved around a desk, and dragged out a man.

"Lone Wolf, we got the target. Cover us as we extract him." He watched as they moved back towards the entrance with the target. Suddenly, a bullet ricochet out of nowhere and nearly struck Lone Wolf, causing him to move. He switched off his infrared and looked about through his scope, trying to locate the shooter. As he spotted a reflecting light, he immediately dropped to his prone position just seconds before he heard another ricochet. He crawled to another position, hoping to kill this sniper before they could get another bead on him.Just as he rose up, a bullet whizzed by him, hissing as it passed. He tried to get another aim but he had to move as another ricochet was heard. As he kept moving, he began to realize that the shooter was deliberately missing him and was trying to move him somewhere else. He then began to hear gunshots outside.

"Lone Wolf, we've been ambushed. Could really use the support," the captain spoke through the message.Lone Wolf moved to the edge and he saw that the soldiers were under fire by a large number of hostiles. Ignoring the bullets hissing by, he took careful aim at the hostiles and fired. With each shot, he dropped a hostile. As he provided cover, the armored soldiers climbed into their vehicles, with their target in hand, and drove out of there. "Thanks for the cover, Lone Wolf," the captain said.Right when he turned to leave, a bullet scraped against Lone Wolf's armor. The shooter was far from finished. Not wanting to stay up there much longer, Lone Wolf darted towards the edge and jumped. Seconds after jumping, he pressed a button on his chest and a small parachute came out. As he descended towards another building, the one with the shooter, he heard small gunfire and bullets whizzed by. The remaining hostiles caught him in sight and opened fire. Lone Wolf felt the speed of his descent begin to increase rather quickly and he realized that a couple of bullets punctured the parachute. Seeing that he was close to the windows, he pressed the button again and detached himself from the parachute. He crashed through the windows, feet first, and rolled in. Removing his handgun, Lone Wolf began moving through the hallways. He only managed to take a turn around the corner before having to dive to the floor as the walls began to explode with bullets tearing their way through. When the shooting stopped, Lone Wolf clambered onto his feet and ran. He caught a glimpse of his shooter. The shooter wore a black and red bandanna, hiding his face, and a black vest with magazines and a couple of grenades. At the center of his vest was a pig wearing a gas mask. A mercenary he thought to himself. The mercenary reloaded before he began pursuing the sniper. Lone Wolf was awaiting around the corner when the mercenary came about and he fired four shots, causing the mercenary to jump back for cover. Shots were exchanged until Lone Wolf crawled away. The mercenary moved forth. When he came around another corner, he saw there was no one around. He advanced forward, checking each room along the way, as he hunted Lone Wolf down. For some time, he couldn't find the elusive sniper and he punched a wall in frustration. He continued his search, knowing that Lone Wolf could not have escaped. He stopped all so sudden when he heard the familiar sound of a cocked rifle. The mercenary realized he made a grave mistake. He closed his eyes just seconds before a single shot was fired. Shimmering into existence was Lone Wolf himself. He used a camouflage device after grabbing the mercenary's sniper rifle. He walked over to the mercenary's corpse and began to search through it. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and he unfolded it. He found that it was a bounty letter.Upon reading it, Lone Wolf recognized his patch symbol. The bounty price on his head was 80,000 in different currencies and he was wanted dead or alive. He folded the paper and placed it in his pocket before leaving. He knows now that other mercenaries will be hunting him down while he's on future missions. He found an exit to a back alley when he reached ground floor, keeping himself clear from the sight of hostiles who were gathering their dead and debris from the earlier action, and he took it. He left the city without firing another shot.