A Compelling Deterrence

Hawk sat silently outside the makeshift hospital room. Charon and his gang had been attacked by some of Mammon's boys, and he had ended up bedridden. Charon had contacted him and gave him a time that Hawk could show up without anyone from the Red Diamonds would see him, which was more than fine for Hawk; he had no reason for them to know he was alive. It was probably for the best that they didn't. The man who was on watch was someone Hawk had seen before through the scope of his rifle back some time ago when his gang was fighting Cerberus, but never had the pleasure of meeting in person. The guard had ducked inside and started telling Charon that Hawk was here. He hoped it wouldn't take long; Mocca City held too many memories for him. He brought his sniper rifle and some ammo just to get this job done with sooner rather than later.

The guard motioned for Hawk to enter the room, though followed him inside and continued to have his own weapon. While the Red Diamonds were hurt more by Hawk's past decisions, that didn't mean that Charon's men were quick to trust him either. Besides, the boss was injured. If anyone was going to try and kill him, now would be the time.

Charon's bed was tilted up to the point where he was almost in a sitting position. His good eye glanced over in time to see Hawk enter the room, giving a nod and motioning with his hand. Charon didn't even need to speak for the guard to leave them together. Charon was injured, but he could still fight if need be. "Take a seat Hawk, I believe that we have a few things to discuss"

Hawk nodded and sat down. He placed the sniper rifle on his lap and glanced over to Charon. "Then let's get to this discussing." He whispered; he always whispered. People sometimes found it creepy. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help you finish this war, but I want your guarantee that none of the Red Diamonds are aware I'm working with you. If you give me that promise, I'll put holes in whoever you need."

"I certainly haven't told anyone, and my men are fully aware that I'm not in a good mood as of late. No one's going to cross me on principle" Charon explained as he kept his good eye locked with Hawk. "Simon is the man that we need to stop. Drawing him out is my number one priority. We can't win a normal war against him, stopping him will make his men lay down their arms against us. They'll stop once we're done with him"

Hawk nodded. "Makes sense. If you can get me a location on him, I can set up, monitor his movements and get a schedule going so I can clean him up by this time next week. Or if you have a plan to drive him into the open; I heard that you have a bit of a plan with Jia to use his wife as bait if I'm not mistaken."
Hawk wasn't sure how he felt about Jia; sure, the man got him out of prison more times than he cared to mention, but dealings with Jia were almost always followed with warnings from his "delightful" older brother.

"We're working on finding a schedule for him as we speak. The man isn't that stupid though, he does well to try and stay out of the common eye like I do" Charon admitted as he pushed himself up a bit further. He was still weak from the battle and the post recovery. However, he also knew that he was ready to fight again the moment he had his full strength again. For now though, it was time to plan. "For now though, I'll have you respond to locations as I need. My men are good, but few are better than you with your weapon of choice. As promised though, I'll keep you away from anyone that might speak about your involvement. The last thing we need is extra tension"

Hawk nodded. "I appreciate that last bit." He whispered. "By 'respond to locations', I assume you're referring to Hissori's covering fire?" Hawk's tone was his typical soft and flat voice, but he couldn't help feeling a twinge of excitement; it had been a long time since he had dealt with another enemy sniper, and even longer before he'd been against someone of value. While he doubted all the stories about Hissori were true, stories had to start somewhere. At the very least, it wouldn't be a boring afternoon. At the very worst, it would be a worthy end to his own story.

"I do" Charon admitted. "The man is good, he might have as much experience with you with a sniper rifle. But even he can't see what's coming. I just need you to respond the next time that he starts laying fire to my streets. Even if he only kills or injures a few men, it's less I'll have to stand against Mammon when we make our play" Charon acknowledged. "He needs to be taken off the board before he cripples us"

Hawk nodded grimly. "I can do that. At the very least, I can provide cover for the rest of the street to evacuate. No sniper is stupid enough to keep trying to pop runners while an enemy sniper is lining them up. I'll get him off the board within three days after he shows up again." He stood up and slung his rifle over his shoulder. "I'll have my phone near me at all times, and I'm always rested enough to get in position. The second something goes sideways, you call me. Anything else you need?"

"No, just be ready. Hissori could strike at any moment. I need to keep resting here, but once I'm at full strength and gather our men, we will end this battle once and for all" Charon said quietly.

It was a few days later, Hawk got multiple texts, all with the same message. Hissori has several of my men pinned down at our warehouse in the distillery district. They don't know where the shots are coming from, get down there and help them escape.

Hawk wasted no time when he got the texts; he drove from his house in South Emerald to the outskirts of Typhon's turf in Mocca City. It was about midday by the time he arrived in the distillery district on foot, and he scouted out the street from the safety of an alleyway. The sun was high in the sky, but odds were based on the time he received the texts, it was at a significant angle from the east when Hissori had started his attack, meaning Hissori was set up there to decrease the chances of any light glinting off of his scope to give his targets an idea of his position. Hawk ducked into a building a block west from the most likely building Hissori was in, only a block's worth of street between the building Hawk was in and his guess at Hissori's position; if this was going to be a long-term sniper duel, being in the west would give him the advantage of the sun at his back after a few hours.
About halfway between the buildings was the warehouse Charon's men had been pinned in; Hawk wasn't able to get into contact with them, and could only hope they'd be smart enough to stay put until an opportune moment.
Hawk set up on the second topmost floor, and began looking through his scope at the building across the way. Minutes passed and he saw no movement, no sign of life. He pulled back from his scope, assessing it as a whole. He had incredible eyesight, even without a scope, and he felt confident in his ability to see movement, even if he couldn't make out an exact shape. Sure enough, something moved on the third floor from the top in the building. He scoped in on it and checked it out; he saw a man scratching the side of his face. He couldn't get a clean shot due to the angle and boards on the windows, but he fired nonetheless, splintering the board directly next to the figure's gun barrel. Even if it wasn't a kill shot, it was a good way to start up a sniper's conversation.
Hello, there. I can see you. Hawk imagined himself saying to this rival sniper. How are you today?

Hissori ducked down as soon as the bullet fired in to the window. He stayed put as he pulled his gun with him, breathing out for a moment as he made sure to not lose his cool. That had been a close shot. Hissori had been reloading and keeping those Typhon idiots pinned for hours. Based on where that bullet came from, there's no way that one of them fired it or snuck out of the building. Hissori turned his head to the window, glancing from where the bullet shot through to where it landed in the room. From that information, he could at least have a rough guess on the angle. Scooting across the floor, Hissori made his way to the door and quickly moved up another level.

He couldn't take the time to set up with a tripod like he had before, Hissori would have to free fire to make sure he learned of this sniper's location and got him to move. He waited just one more second before quickly moving in front of the window, firing down at Hawk's general position. They weren't well aimed shots, Hissori was firing at multiple windows quickly, trying to force Hawk to move. Once he confirmed Hawk's position, the real battle will begin.

I'll find you, wherever you are.

Hawk saw movement in the room as soon as he fired his greeting. Peering through his scope, he saw that Hissori's setup was no longer in that position; no surprise there, was the smartest move. A few shots began coming out from the next level up, hitting multiple windows, the last one hitting the back of the wall in the same room he was in, but through a different window. Hissori was trying to scare him out of hiding, trying to find his position.
It would be rude to keep him waiting.
The multiple shots allowed Hawk to see the muzzle flashes from one of the windows a level up from Hissori's previous position, so he fired into the new window; it missed since Hissori was reloading, but it would announce his location to his quarry, as well as the fact Hawk had Hissori's position lined up.
I'm here, friend. Check.

Hissori just finished reloading his weapon when Hawk fired his return shots through the window. They could keep doing htis for hours, and it was going to turn in to a match of who had the most ammo. Hissori came decently prepared, but he had used a few rounds on some of Charon's men and to make sure they stayed locked up in their building. Hissori was going to have to make his shots count more if he was really going to be victorious. For the moment, he was alone against all of Charon's men.

That said, he was hired by professionals for a reason. Hissori always had a backup plan. After all, what kind of gunman only came equipped with a sniper rifle?

Moving over to his array of armaments, Hissori picked himself up a lovely grenade launcher. Moving back over to the window, he quickly lifted it up before firing the explosive straight to Hawk's level. Hissori had to make his shots count, this one would make quite the bang.

Hawk squinted through his scope at his quarry; he couldn't get a good shot on them, but he saw they were fiddling with something. When Hissori popped his head out again, he fired a grenade launcher at him. Hawk was caught off guard, and leaped to the back of the room. The window he was at exploded, showering him with glass and concrete dust. Hawk shook his head and quickly made his way to the second window in the room and took careful aim. Anyone who wanted to scare a sniper out with a grenade launcher would fire more than once; sure enough, a second muzzle flash came from Hissori's window, and Hawk fired, hitting the grenade about halfway between the two building, blowing it up midair.
Well, that was rude. Care to test me again? I'm quite good at this. Queen takes Bishop, and, once again, check.