Kayla’s headset buzzed. A rapid-fire exchange of orders established the team’s new plan of action. Both the Raiders and ODTs would assault down the right hand side of the main corridor, flowing

  through the rooms and side passages like lightning. On the left hand side, the Rangers, still led by Naima and Shiva, would continue at their slower, more methodical pace. The changing threat gradient should theoretically

  keep the retreating defenders confused and off balance. A few snipers watched the main corridor itself, in case any guards made the fatal error of trying to cross the wide, unprotected kill-zone.

  Naima took off immediately, with Kayla and her squad in close pursuit. They soon exited the cramped passageways of the server rooms, and arrived at the edge of an open space filled with makeshift chairs

  and tables. Plants and small trees sat in large bowls that dotted the space.

  The Rangers took positions overwatching the area, while Naima tapped her headset. “It’s some kind of a canteen area,” she explained. “There are light sources everywhere.”

  Kayla grabbed her shoulder. “Those lights behind us are going out. It’s all motion sensitive.”

  “Yeah, no sweat, we are going dark,” Naima replied, and motioned for her to wait.

  Kayla glanced at the plants again. “Or maybe—”

  A flight of drones shot past them down the main corridor. One peeled off across the canteen, then disappeared into the passageways ahead. A moment later, they heard a bang and the lights went out.

  Most of the lights went out.

  Naima cursed and levelled her weapon at a bright panel in the ceiling. The bullet shattered glass, but warm rays of daylight still illuminated the dangerously open area.

  “It’s like the mirrors at the Rackeye site,” Kayla explained. “They’re built into shafts cut through the mountain.”

  “Shit, I forgot about that,” Naima said.

  “Suggestion,” Ray said. “Switch to mixed mode on your headset and move using smoke.”

  Naima nodded. “Agreed.” She tapped her headset. “Anyone carrying smoke, get up front, now.”

  There was a short pause. “You mean break up our squads?” a nervous Ranger answered.

  “Yes,” Naima said impatiently. “Now.”

  “Um… give us a minute—”

  “Tiger has already pushed ahead and are reporting contact. Make it happen, fast,” the operator snapped.

  Kayla tapped her headset, and the canteen dimmed into a black haze, then blossomed with a frustrating light bloom. The women around her were a clear white, their body heat acting as an internal light source.

  The darker walls and doorways, difficult to see with infrared alone, should have been filled in by the low light sensor, but that was being washed out by the skylight.

  A clatter broke the quiet, followed by a sharp hiss. Smoke filled the canteen, easing the light bloom and making the picture less confusing. The team moved quickly across the space and flowed into the passageways

  beyond. Naima and Shiva were ahead, clearing corners and rooms so fast that Kayla struggled to keep up. Following close behind, she was supposed to be covering the angles they turned away from, but she started making mistakes.

  “Stay behind me,” Shiva snapped when Kayla was a half second late following her into another side office.

  “Aren’t we supposed to be moving slower?” Kayla tried, conscious that the other Rangers were also struggling with the pace.

  “We are.”

  They moved deeper into the warren of corridors and cubicles, sweeping through dark rooms and open spaces but meeting no resistance. An occasional soft tap broke the eery silence—gunshots from the

  more aggressive Tiger team, reminding all of them that the enemy were hiding somewhere in the maze.

  Kayla reached the double doors of a possible conference room, but the hallway opposite had too many unsecured openings. She was told to hold the door while others flowed past her; standing back at an angle

  with her weapon trained on it, to make sure nobody ran out to attack them. There she waited until a shoulder squeeze indicated she should go in.

  A brief moment of terror followed, drowned out by a gale of aggression as she threw the slide door back, then rushed inside to confront whoever might be waiting. Seeing nothing but a big table and chairs,

  she kept moving along the wall to the far end of the room while shifting her aim to the other entrance. Behind her, whoever was following her had hopefully swept the reverse corner, making sure she wouldn’t get shot

  in the back.

  When she glanced around, she saw unexpected faces—nobody from her squad. They all knew each other, but the constant splitting and swapping of Rangers had shuffled the good order of their fire teams.

  Now, more than ever, they were completely dependent on each other. That realization only fueled her motivation.

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  Outside the conference room, a wide open space of cubicles waited for them. On the far side of it, a glass wall separated the office from a cavern that seemed to rise several stories high. Trees, plants

  and light sources were dotted about what looked like a garden. A large block jutted out into the cubicles, bisecting the glass and accessed by an imposing looking pair of doors.

  "Some kind of executive office," Naima observed, beside Kayla. "Probably looks out onto the garden behind. Perfect spot to cover movement across."

  "Perfect spot for an ambush, then," Kayla observed.

  Naima smiled. "Yeah, I like it. Let's go."

  "What—walk straight into their trap?"

  "Best opportunity we've had yet to find them and kill them. Or do you see another way around?"

  "Nope," Kayla said, and clenched her jaw.

  She stayed behind the operator as she stacked up on the door, and watched a small line of Rangers join them. The rest of the group stayed behind cover, watching the area beyond the glass for the ambushers.

  It had been so quiet since the first brief firefight, and everybody knew that wasn't going to last much longer.

  This time, Shiva fixed a breaching charge to the door, then stepped back out of the way. Kayla held her breath, waiting for the explosion. The door blew inward, and a frag grenade followed it. After the

  blast, the assaulters darted forward. Inside, they found an empty room dominated by a wide desk, which seemed to guard another large double door, while more corridors branched off into the block.

  They hadn't taken more than a few steps when the doors and the walls on either side of them exploded into a cluster of bullet holes. Rangers dropped immediately, but Naima, snatching her trigger, tried

  to move behind the desk for cover. Kayla caught sight of some kind of device fixed just under the flat-top, and didn't hesitate. She lunged forward, grabbed the operator by the waist, and shoved her sideways. They both

  stumbled into one of the passageways to escape the hail of bullets and wooden splinters, and an explosion tossed them against the wall.

  Kayla felt the punch of overpressure to the back of her head and went numb as she collapsed on top of Naima. As her senses returned, she felt hot needles in her back and arms. Smoke filled the air, and

  the hammering of gunfire rose like a storm more intense than anything she had ever experienced.

  Naima cursed at her and tried to shove her off. Out of the corner of her eye, Kayla saw movement in the shadows around them. A side office was just ahead of them, and someone was waiting at the opening.

  She tried to jump up, but her weapon had gotten tangled with Naima's, who's struggling was only making things worse. Kayla reached for her knife and cut the strap. Then something struck her hard in the shoulder, making

  her arm slow and heavy.

  She didn't hear any gunshots, but noise seemed to have faded out of relevance. Her muscles uncoiling like springs jumping out of their housings. Freed from her weapon's strap, she slammed herself

  against the corridor's far wall, breaking the line of sight with the side office. Then she dashed towards it and found the wide eyes of her would-be executioner. He reacted a fraction of a second too late, and she was

  able to knock his barrel away as she smashed into him. Light burst between them as they fell back against a wall.

  Knife still in her hand, Kayla stabbed hard, again and again. Blood drenched her arm; her own, his, or both. The struggling limbs beneath her slowed and weakened. Kayla didn't dare stop the swinging

  of her arm until something seized it from behind and pulled backward. She swung around to find the fierce and insistent eyes of Naima.

  The woman's lips moved, but nothing seemed to come out. Kayla nodded anyway. She was hauled to her feet, and the weighty metal of her carbine was shoved into her chest. Her fingers wrapped around the

  reassuring handguard, and her senses began to return.

  "HOW'S YOUR SHOULDER?" Naima screamed in her ear.

  "It's fine," Kayla said, but the woman gave her a puzzled look.

  As reality swam back into focus, Kayla realized why. The noise had risen to a level beyond her ability to process. Even her earplugs were useless, and her body vibrated with the timbre of battle. A machinegun

  was still raking the reception they had just escaped, but more than one was pouring fire into the area outside the block. She felt the regular bangs of grenades, and the nearby thumps of their impacts through her chest, and

  was able to discern the unceasing stream of return fire from the Rangers outside.

  "IT'S FINE," Kayla screamed back, and gave a thumbs up.

  "SMOKES?"

  Kayla felt around her chest rig, and found a familiar cylinder, so she held up a finger. Naima tapped her head, indicating that she wanted to be followed. She turned back into the corridor, and followed

  it to the end, where Kayla found herself stepping over two bodies, each shot cleanly through the head. Teamwork truly was a wonderful thing.

  They entered another office, and crossed to a door that led into the main executive suite—obviously where the machine gun was set up, likely with several men to support it. Naima readied herself at

  the threshold, then tapped an earpiece.

  The high-speed thunderstorm changed subtly, and Kayla realized a group of Valkyrie weapons were shooting nearby. Naima balled a fist at her and pointed to the door, so Kayla stood to the opposite side of

  the frame and reached for her smoke grenade. Naima kicked the door in, and the grenade bounced in off the wall. They waited for a few seconds, then Kayla followed the operator inside, her arms tensed around her weapon, ready

  for targets.

  She didn't have to wait long. While Naima went left, Kayla crossed behind her and found two men tensed against the opposite wall. Two bullets struck each of them in the chest, and she pivoted back towards

  Naima. The smoking barrel of a light machine gun stared back at her, it's former owner slumped over it. Another man cowered away from the violence, hands over his head. Naima shoved him down. Training kicking in, Kayla

  stepped around, keeping her weapon aimed at him while Naima whipped out a pair of plasticuffs, restrained his arms, then searched him.

  "VIPER, VIPER" someone screamed from behind, and Kayla glanced back to see Shiva, followed by a few others.

  The doorway to the reception area looked like the gaping mouth of a horrific beast. Rangers who had been forced to lie prone beneath the withering fire pushed themselves upright. They shook off dust and

  debris, turned pink where it had mixed with the blood of several gunshot wounds. One body didn't react, even as a medic ran over to her. Kayla had no idea who was who. White eyes peered out from dirt-caked faces, looking

  for guidance. Outside their small gathering, the war raged on.