The Continental Hotel. The Sommelier.
Cole hung up the phone and turned to Hunter, a tight, apologetic smile on his face.
"My apologies, Hunter. Something has come up that requires my immediate attention. I can't walk you through the armory personally."
"Follow me. I'll introduce you to Peter, and he'll sort you out."
"Understood."
Hunter followed Cole into the Sommelier's shop.
Inside, the walls were lined with enough firepower to invade a small country.
To the untrained eye, it was just a lot of black metal. But to Hunter, it was a candy store.
His eyes were immediately drawn to a heavy machine gun resting on a display stand.
The M249 SAW.
5.56mm caliber. Belt-fed. The "Squad Automatic Weapon."
It wasn't the biggest gun in the world, but it was reliable, terrifying, and spewed lead like a firehose. Hunter had wanted one for ages.
With his stats four times that of a normal human, the 17-pound weight (plus a 200-round drum) was negligible. He could wield it like a pistol.
If I get ambushed, Hunter imagined, I won't need cover. I'll just hold the trigger down and erase everything in front of me.
"Peter," Cole called out.
A man with Middle Eastern features and oil-stained hands looked up from a workbench. He was meticulously stripping a Glock 19.
"This is Hunter," Cole said. "New member. Let him pick three weapons. House account."
"I have to go." Cole gave Hunter a nod and hurried out of the shop.
Peter stared at Hunter for a long moment, his expression unreadable.
"You heard him," Peter grunted. "Pick three. Let me know when you're done."
He went back to his Glock.
Hunter didn't mind the cold shoulder. He wandered the aisles for ten minutes, examining the merchandise.
Finally, he made his choices.
"I'm ready," Hunter announced.
Peter looked up. "Show me."
Hunter pointed.
First choice: M4A1 Carbine.
Peter didn't blink. It was the standard. Reliable, modular, ubiquitous. A safe choice for a rookie.
Second choice: McMillan TAC-50 Sniper Rifle.
Peter raised an eyebrow.
This was a beast. nearly 1.5 meters long, almost 12kg empty. It was an anti-materiel rifle capable of kills at over 2,000 meters. The record-holder for longest confirmed sniper kill.
Ambitious, Peter thought. Or arrogant.
In the entire LA branch, only one assassin used this rifle effectively. Most found it too heavy and too specialized for urban combat.
Third choice: M249 SAW.
Peter frowned.
"You sure about that?" Peter asked, his tone skeptical. "That's a lot of weight to lug around."
He judged assassins by their loadouts. A pro picked tools that fit their style. This kid was picking heavy ordinance like he was playing a video game.
"I'm sure," Hunter said, ignoring the judgment.
He knew what he was doing. The M4 was for work. The TAC-50 was for range. The M249 was for when things went very wrong.
"Fine," Peter huffed. "Write down your address. We'll deliver it. Can't have you walking out the front door with a machine gun."
Hunter scribbled down the farm's address.
Just as he turned to leave, rapid footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Cole rushed back in, looking flustered.
"Hunter!" Cole called out, breathless. "I saw your file. You have experience with long-range engagements, correct?"
Hunter paused. "I've killed a few people with a rifle, yes."
"What's your max effective range?" Cole asked urgently.
Hunter hesitated. With his old Remington M700, he'd only taken shots at 400 meters. But in practice...
"Combat kills? 400 meters," Hunter said. "But on the range, I can group shots at 1,000 meters with a standard Remington."
Cole's eyes lit up. Even Peter looked up from his bench, surprised. To hit 1,000 meters with a standard M700 required exceptional skill.
"Good," Cole said. "Because we have a situation."
"A client hired us to eliminate a target. The assassin we sent failed. Badly. The target's bodyguards killed our man."
"Worse," Cole continued, "the target now knows who hired us. Our intel says he's heading to the airport to leave LA and go after our client personally."
"We need him stopped before he reaches the terminal."
"I can set up a firing position for you. But the window is tight."
Cole looked Hunter in the eye.
"If you take this job and succeed, I will authorize double Contribution Points and double Coins. Interested?"
Hunter didn't hesitate.
"I'm in."
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