Range, 253.4 meters. Inclination, 19.5 meters. Wind, 3 nautical kilometers per hour, North north east. Trajectory, Alpha Sigma 6.3.
With deft precision the hunter runs down his list of checks. Sure his target would expire 2.3 milliseconds after the trigger clicked over. Mental impulses cross with those physical. A thought transpires into action. A finger applies pressure to a trigger. Mechanisms tick and pure energy lances from the muzzle of the rifle. Coherent light collides with the head of another Senator of a decaying galactic power. Brain matter sizzles and burns...
Alone, an hour would pass before the body was detected. By which time Pike would be long gone, the rifle disposed of and no loose ends leading back to himself.
Out the rear window to a waiting escape ladder. Down the ladder to a waiting speederbike. From there it was a quick skim over the refuse pits of Waki, where the rifle would be lost to time. Then a quick ride through back alley routes to the depot where he kept a small cache of supplies, nothing incriminating and nothing that lead back to Pike. Here, he'd deposit the speeder bike, change clothes and appearance... Then a quick Thermite burn to cover any traces. A short walk from his depot to a waiting taxi and on to a shuttle off planet.
Another perfect kill. Perfect and clean.
~Thought, pressure, click, flash, kill, leave, safety.
Then, some hours later, sitting in the cockpit of his personal ship Beff would think over the kill. Like he had done countless times before the act, he'd check and double check himself. He'd rethink his exit, his preparations...For seemingly endless hours he would recount the kill only to draw the same conclusions he always did. Another Perfect Murder.
Though it was hardly murder. It was work. Work he did better then any single soul in the galaxy. You could rationalize it however you liked. He wouldn't. He just counted the credits and moved on.
Moved on. The next shot. Almost the same as the last, contracts like this had been in the majority of late. Almost as if someone were trying to systematically rid the galaxy of a cancer.
Though, this sort of thing never bothered Pike. Indeed, he would never let such simple things as "good" and "evil" fog his vision. It was simple. Plain and simple.
Just follow the death and credits.
