“Viper two-one, Raven three; I am observing a new group of snipers taking position on the flat-top warehouse to your south-west. Their uniforms look different—they might be army.”

Kayla sighed, then scooted across the rooftop to take a look through her scope. Though she had a less powerful optic, she was still able to identify the blurs of color that had not been there before.

“Slayer-four has new contacts to the south-west,” said a voice from her waist. “Probable sniper element, now dialed in.”

Sal had shared one of his team’s radios with her to help them co-ordinate their defense. One of the Marine snipers had just confirmed he had sighted the new target and had calculated a shot. Kayla was comforted by the closer link with the obviously capable professionals, though the Rangers had sniggered at their more creative call-signs.

The afternoon was wearing away to evening, and the embattled rooftop defenders had spent the last hour knocking police drones out of the sky. Leod had unlocked VennZech’s prototype microwave system—a handheld device with decent range that wreaked havoc on the machine’s electronics. After a spirited dance around the sky, a few drones went down, and the rest kept their distance. The small victory provided a much-needed boost for everyone’s spirits.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be only bad news waiting for them.

“Do we know if the army and police are coordinating with each other?” Kayla asked her distant watchers. After a close discussion, Smyrna had decided that Raven would become Viper’s sole point of contact to reduce the possibility of a catastrophic miscommunication.

“Intelligence suggests that there is some friction between them,” Raven said. “We have been instructed to treat them as separate entities for the time being.”

“That’s awesome,” Kayla said sarcastically.

She glanced up at the cranes high above the skyline, and spared a moment of sympathy for the two women watching the entire crisis scene.

“It’s getting cold,” she observed. “You two okay up there?”

“We have a bottle of whiskey to share,” Gucci’s voice said. “Plus, Elmira’s kind of hot, so she’s warming me up.”

“I appreciate the compliment, but it might be the drink talking,” Raven replied.

Gucci cackled. “Don’t worry though, I can still shoot straight, and I have the new boys bang to rights.”

“I sure am glad to have you both up there,” Kayla admitted,

“Hey, it’s nice digs,” Gucci said. “We’ve got space to stretch out, and a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree interactive surround sound entertainment system. Remind me to invite everyone round for a housewarming party after this is over.”

“Sounds great,” Raven said, “but put that on hold for a moment because we have a vehicle convoy approaching from the starport. Looks like light-armored transports.”

Kayla’s stomach churned. What more surprises were in store for them?

“Viper, get ready for trouble,” Raven continued, her tone becoming more serious. “They are hauling ass, and blowing straight through the police checkpoints. These guys might be off on a whole page of their own. Looks like they’ll approach you from the main entrance.”

Kayla passed the warning on both radio channels, before moving to the front of the building for a better view.

“If we have to shoot, do not target the police units,” she told the tense defenders. They are not acting together.”

“What about this guy pointing a high-caliber rifle at me?” Thandi replied in a voice that was more strained than usual.

“You’re hidden. Do you think he can really see you?”

“How should I know?” her friend snapped. “If he’s got a fancy infra-red scope, then yeah, probably.”

Some of the men made the same complaint, and Kayla wrestled with the implications. The army couldn’t be so stupid as to try an assault without the cops, could they? And even if they did, wouldn’t the police snipers want to shoot anyway? It wouldn’t take much gunfire for all hell to break loose.

“Viper, Raven, our drones have the convoy vehicles targeted with smokeless missiles. There will be no way for anyone to see where they came from, understand?”

Kayla almost lost her patience. What the hell difference would that make to guys with itchy trigger fingers? But she paused herself and took a breath before keying her mic.

“Copy that, Raven,” she said coolly, then switched to the other radio. “Leod, get me Whist again. Might be a good time to demand an update.”

The roar of engines grew louder, and bulky gray forms soon became visible behind the line of police vehicles. Men and women dashed out of their way as they barreled forward, clipping a squad car and flinging it aside like it was a trashcan.

“Oh shit, this is it,” Tian yelled in Kayla’s ear. “They’re going to assault the building.”

“Hold your fire,” Kayla said. “They are not in control of this, we are.” Fingers tripped over themselves as she fumbled for the other talk switch. “Leod?”

“No-one’s answering,” he replied. “I’ll keep trying.”

The armored vehicles rumbled straight up to the building lobby, but stopped just short of smashing through the entrance. Men piled out, their weapons darting around as they raced towards the doors.

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“They’re stacking up Kayla,” Tian yelled. “We need to hit them now.”

“Do not shoot,” Kayla yelled. “Fingers off triggers—no shooting.”

An officer with a megaphone strolled in front of the entrance. “You are surrounded by men of the first guards” he blared. “Surrender now, or we will kill all of you.”

“Kayla, my opposite is talking on the radio. I don’t like this,” Thandi sent, and her voice quivered in the static.

“Surrender!” the officer repeated. “There is no escape. You will be destroyed.”

Kalya felt time stand still. Desperate, pleading voices echoed across both channels while the soldiers outside screamed threats. The second any of them entered the building, the defensive plan would be made irrelevant as a nasty, close quarters fight developed. Then, Valkyrie’s unseen advantage would be useless.

Almost instinctively, she looked up to try and catch sight of her salvation. Menacing clouds rolled above the city, forming a horrifying skull that grinned down upon her. The wind quickly picked up, tearing the shape to pieces. Kayla became aware of a nagging question in her mind. It was an irritating and stupid distraction, but one she couldn’t swat away—why hadn’t the vehicles crashed straight through the lobby?

“Viper, Gucci,” her earpiece buzzed. “Be aware that the army snipers on the warehouse roof are not on their guns. I repeat, not on their guns.”

“Wha—” Kayla tried to say, but her dry throat choked the words. She swallowed. “What are they doing?”

“Still setting up. They don’t look hurried.”

Kayla switched channels and keyed the handheld. “It’s a bluff,” she said to the whole building, and tried to make herself believe it. “They won’t attack. They’re still playing the same game.”

“Christ, are you sure?” Tian yelled.

“Yep,” Kayla lied. “Intel just confirmed.”

A horrible void opened beneath her as the verbal threats continued from the pavement below. What if this Helvetic army unit was just as incompetent as the rest of the League? What if the snipers’ only job had been to draw their attention away? Nothing was lost yet. She could still call Raven for the missiles. They could still—

“Holy shit,” Jess’ voice screeched in Kayla’s ear. “That’s Effy. What is she doing?”

“What? Who?” Kayla demanded frantically.

“One of the agents outside is er… I was in boot camp with her—I know her. I can see her in my scope with all of the other cops. What is she—is she undercover or something?”

“What’s she doing, what’s she doing?” Kayla said.

“She’s running around yelling at people,” Jess said. “She’s found some army officer, and she… oh wow, she just slapped him in the face.”

Outside, the megaphone abruptly cut off and the assault leader dashed back into his vehicle. For several minutes the entire building fell silent. Even the soldiers outside seemed to have calmed down as they traded looks and shrugs.

“Kayla,” Leod’s voice said. “Agent Whist is on the line and wants to speak to you.”

She didn’t remember her sprint down the stairs, or the doors she crashed through. But the next moment a headset was going over her ears and the voice she thought she hated was speaking to her.

“Hello, Taylor,” Whist said in an impossibly calm voice. “Please listen carefully. I have just received word from a senior VennZech representative who is very anxious for her daughter. Apparently, you are holding her prisoner, and it would be a wonderful show of goodwill if you could release her.

“Wha—? Huh?” Kayla stammered.

“You know her as Bunny, her mother says. She asked me to tell you that the poor girl is her little cherry blossom, and shouldn’t be made to worry.”

The walls began to close in as Kayla’s mind raced. There was no way those words could be a coincidence. He was talking about Rose, and the only way he could know that was if…

“Get those soldiers away from this building,” she snapped. “And pull your own snipers back too.”

“And you will send out Bunny?” Whist asked patiently.

“Uh…” Kayla struggled to understand what she was supposed to do. “Okay, yeah.”

“But let’s take it slowly. Give me an hour to restore the original perimeter. We don’t want to upset this dangerous situation, do we?”

“Okay.”

“Not to worry, I’ll call you back,” he said, then hung up.

Kayla sank to the floor and stared at nothing as her hands started to shake. After a moment, she reached up to her squad radio control.

“Thandi?” she eventually managed to say.

“What?” an impatient voice snapped back.

“I think someone answered your prayers.”

“I mean, it’s about damned time,” Thandi said angrily. “His phone’s been ringing non-stop for the last half hour.”

Kayla couldn’t stop herself from giggling. “You swore,” she said. “You’re going to hell.” Then she laughed and laughed until tears rolled down her face.

A lengthy conversation soon followed with Raven-three, who passed along Zhang’s outline of her meeting with Whist, and a possible resolution. Kayla, in turn, talked through iterations of a plan with her squad, and they pointed out flaws and solutions, until everybody was happy. That left them with only one problem; the Marines had to be convinced.

Following a quick perimeter check to make sure the League’s army was withdrawing in good order, Kayla asked Ray to join her downstairs. The computer room that Leod had set up in had become the defender’s de facto command center, and Sal had agreed to meet them there.

“Hey, how’s Tian?” Kayla asked as they descended the central staircase. “She looked like she had some grazing around her eye.”

“Yeah,” Ray said as she ran a hand through hair. “I didn’t like how excitable she was getting, so I ripped the machinegun out of her hands. It was a bit of a tussle, and she got whacked in the eye.”

“It was a hairy situation,” Kayla said. “Did she settle down okay?”

“More or less. We might argue about it later. She’s very default aggressive.”

“That’s how they want Rangers. Doesn’t always translate to weird situations, though.”

Ray shrugged. “It is what it is. What matters is that we got through that insanity.”

“Almost,” Kayla said. “Not yet.”

They entered the command center to find both Gaz and Sal waiting patiently in the corner. Leod was doing something on the computer, obviously trying to avoid talking to them.

“Alright,” Kayla said, as she grabbed a chair and sat down opposite the two veterans. “Let’s do this thing. Leod, what’s up?”

The engineer glanced at her. “I’m okay. Just trying to process all the trauma this day has brought me. Gaz explained his deal and… I dunno. I’ll get over it with therapy, I guess.”

“Okay.” Kayla nodded and turned to the somber-looking Gaz. “Well, murderer, what do you have to say for yourself?”

He sat hunched over with his arms crossed and eyes downcast. When he spoke, his voice lacked his usual confidence, and Kayla almost didn’t recognize it.

“I apologize for my reckless actions,” he said quietly. “I put you all in danger for selfish reasons, because I lost control of my emotions. I made our search for Milani about myself and my sister, and that was a mistake. Even worse, I deliberately hid my intentions from my teammates, to lead them—and you—to think I could be trusted.”

“I appreciate you taking ownership.” Kayla said, keeping her tone cool. “Are you still armed?”

Gaz briefly met her gaze. “No, I surrendered my weapons. I’ll just be a bystander from here on out.”

“Okay.” Kayla rubbed the sweat and grime from her face, though she didn’t feel any cleaner. “Now it’s my turn to apologize. The actions of my people have brought about this situation today. Not only have you all put your lives at risk to help us, but you have done it knowing that we are deliberately keeping secrets and plans from you. As a way of making amends and starting from a clean slate, I have been authorized to share certain things with you.”

“Wait, me too?” Leod asked.

Kayla nodded. “Yes, Mr. Grazden, you too. It turns out that one of your underground buddies is a friend of ours as well, and has recommended you for a job offer in the coming weeks. You’ll probably want to agree, because when VennZech figures out your level of cooperation, they will make your life a living hell.”

“Oh,” Leod said neutrally. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“Turn it down,” Ray said. “Go teach IT or something. Trust me, this world sucks.”