When the rifle’s sights were centered again, Leah pulled the trigger through once more. This time the demon’s head imploded. The creature dropped to its knees, then fell forward across the body of the young agent.
Leah took a deep breath and cleansed her mind. She couldn’t control all of the events taking place on the playing board. Too many moves were beyond her. In the overall scheme of things, she—like the young agent—was just a small cog.
“Blue Team and Red Team,” Commander Hargrove called over the comm, “signal readiness.”
The loose translation of that, Leah said, is to signal to let everyone know you’re alive. “Blue Scout ready,” she whispered just loud enough for the subvocal mic in her mask to pick up.
As she watched, the battlezone shifted. Several of the blue and red lights on the map open to her view winked out. She guessed that their casualties had run close to a quarter of their number so far.
“Courier remains viable,” Commander Hargrove announced. “We are still a go on this op.”
“Affirmative,” Leah answered, knowing that the commander’s comm team would still expect a response. “Blue Scout is a go.” She continued firing as she found targets.
“Prepare for delivery,” Hargrove ordered.
“Affirmative.” Leah locked on another target and fired again. A Darkspawn demon dropped in its tracks.
“Blue Scout,” a man’s voice called. “This is Firefox Courier.”
“Ping Firefox Courier,” Leah said. Immediately a four-man group lit up on her computer-generated field of vision.
Firefox Courier was second in the line of explosives experts. There were four groups in all. Each group carried satchel charges designed to take out the demonic weapons plant.
“What can I do for you, Firefox Courier?” Leah asked.
“We’re pinned down by sniper fire. You’re the closest countersniper we have.”
Leah shifted her attention to the buildings around the O2. She tracked enemy fire back to five snipers. The blazing light from the demons’ weapons made finding them easy.
“Firefox Courier, Blue Scout confirms five snipers,” Leah said.
“Five sounds about right.”
“Are you intact?” Leah focused on the closest sniper in one of the nearby buildings.
“We’ve got wounded,” the Firefox Courier officer replied, “but we’re still up and about.”
“I’ll see if I can make some room for you.”
“Awfully generous of you.”
Leah focused on the Darkspawn sniper, got the creature’s timing as it leaned forward again to fire, then squeezed the trigger. She aimed for center mass and saw the demon spin sideways. Before it could recover, she shot it in the head. The demon went still and slumped to the floor.
The second and third Darkspawn snipers went down just as quickly, and without knowing they were being fired on till it was too late. When Leah locked on to the fourth sniper’s position, she discovered the demon had cut and run. Ignoring him for the moment, she moved on to the fifth sniper’s position.
This time as she locked on, she saw the demon sniper had also locked on to her. The Darkspawn sniper’s head was squarely behind the heavy rifle it held. Knowing she was at most a heartbeat away from death, Leah locked on to the demon’s sniper scope and squeezed the trigger just as something whizzed within inches of her head.
The Darkspawn’s sniper scope went to pieces, and its head snapped backward. The demon slumped without a sound. Electrical energy slammed into the corner of the rooftop only a couple of feet from Leah’s position. She ducked back, tracked the shot mentally, and knew that the sniper she’d passed on earlier was back in the game.
After three rolls, Leah spread her elbows and came to a stop in the prone position. The Poseidon speared before her, and she moved the rifle into line with the Darkspawn.
On the ground, Firefox Courier was already on the move. The men and women of the unit stayed low as they raced for the O2. All of them wore heavier armor over the blacksuits and carried satchel charges filled with arcane-charged plastic explosives.
Leah found the final sniper as the Darkspawn swung back into position around a window frame. She aimed for center mass, not trying to do anything more than hit the target, and squeezed the trigger.
The first charge knocked the Darkspawn backward, sending its weapon flying as it flailed its arms and tried to stay upright. The second charge turned its chest into a pulped mess of shattered bones and ripped organs.
“Good shooting, Blue Scout.”
“Thank you.” Leah looked for additional targets around the explosives team. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the shadow coasting across the rooftop toward her. She rolled again and heard the Blood Angel’s shriek as it tried for her. Then the demon’s heavy claws thudded against the rooftop and left gouges.
Get up! Leah shoved herself to her feet. Enemy fire from the ground tracked her. One of the Darkspawn fired a rocket launcher, and the warhead smashed against the side of the building in a roiling mass of orange and black flames.
Heat washed over Leah as the concussive wave drove her from her feet. She fell into a controlled roll and got to her feet again. When she glanced over her shoulder, she spotted the Blood Angel streaking for her again.
The Blood Angel had a feminine form and human intelligence. Leathery wings stretched to ride the wind. Crimson runes gleamed on the demon’s dark skin. This time the Blood Angel threw its hands forward and unleashed spectral bolts that missed Leah by inches and tore holes in the building’s roof.
Leah leaped over one of the holes that suddenly opened up in front of her. She landed on the shuddering rooftop and barely managed to keep her balance. Fear spiced the adrenaline already racing through her system. Blood Angels were some of the fiercest demons that had poured through the Hellgate. Having no choice, she dropped the heavy sniper rifle and ran toward the building’s edge. With the Blood Angel after her, no place atop the building was safe.
When she
