Amber couldn't believe they were actually about to do this. Infiltrating the organisation was one thing. Going up against the very troops they were supposed to be helping restore order was something entirely different.

The cold rational part of her brain understood the logic. The operation would prove their worth and put their trustworthiness beyond contest in one night's work, moving them a huge step closer to their goal.

The other part was terrified, because even though they'd passed the word to Merlynn out of the void of the Haze, the soldiers on the ground hadn't been told. They couldn't have been told. Even the slightest hint that their quarry knew what was happening could scupper the credibility that the Blink teams had worked so hard to establish.

That meant the colonial guards of the convoy would be shooting for real, and they'd be shooting to kill.

She almost admired Merlynn's backbone in allowing them to go ahead with the operation. Had she been in the woman's shoes Amber doubted she'd have done the same – knowingly walking a unit of her soldiers into an ambush that she could have prevented. But the cold, calculating side of the Beltock Dragoons' commander had won out over any misgivings, so they were going in.

The bulky slug-thrower felt alien in her hands, a brutish weapon that lacked any of the finesse and precision of the Blink-issue carbines. She turned it over, examining the badly aligned sight with a critical eye, trying to get used to the heft before she was called upon to actually use it. Around her the others did the same, arming themselves with a motley selection of black-market firearms, ranging from colonial assault rifles to ad-hoc, home-made nail guns. The whole thing was quite surreal.

Obviously the Blink operatives had been ordered to minimise any direct fire on colonial troops. The entire operation was a PR catastrophe waiting to happen if word somehow got out that the government forces on the planet had started shooting at each other. But Amber was under no illusions. They would be in a firefight and there was no way out of that. Like everyone else, she had her volt-gun concealed beneath her coat in case she did need to shoot someone, but it didn't make her feel much better.

She currently sat nestled in a craggy cupola of rock, looking down over a barren vista of a lava-carved valley, repurposed by the human population into a transit artery. A snaking, sliver of uniform grey cut through the valley floor, empty for now. Far, far in the distance she could see the lurid glow of a series of gently bubbling volcanos, a constant reminder of the brutality of the environment they found themselves in. She took in the hellish vista through the panes of her blast goggles, face wrapped by a thick breath-scarf that sifted some of the worse elements of Ravine's air out of her inhalations.

"Okay everybody," Darien declared from further back in the rocks, dragging her thoughts away from the spiral. "It's almost go time. Circle up."

She squared her jaw and turned to face him, shuffling over and joining the other operatives in a loose ring around him. Hammerhead's group only covered a small portion of the attack area. Six other teams – some Blink operatives and others comprised of Gazi's troops – had been staggered throughout the crags. They would strike simultaneously, hitting the military convoy from all sides in an effort to overwhelm any guarding force with a minimum of casualties. Darien's story of hijacking a convoy might have been a lie to gain Parker's confidence, but that didn't mean the veteran squad leader didn't know how to do it.

"Our target is due in thirty," he told them. If he had any misgivings about what they were about to do, he wasn't letting them show. "You all know the plan. Just stick to it. Let Gazi's thugs to the heavy lifting. We get in, we get what Parker wants, and get out again." Darien's gaze lingered on them for a moment. "And remember, do not Blink. Anyone sees us Blinking around out there it'll give away everything."

They all nodded, mute an obedient. A thousand objections surged in Amber's mind but she quashed them. They were here and this was happening. Whatever her misgivings about the things Darien had said or done in the past, she was glad he was in charge now – in command in the field like he'd never been gone. He'd get them through this in one piece. She still trusted him enough to believe that.

As Darien comm checked with the other Blink units and Gazi's guards, the squad dispersed again. Amber settled into her cupola again thoughts drifting reluctantly back to what they were about to do. It wasn't just a case of attacking the convoy; it was what they would be giving over in the process. Parker wanted the prize within. Far beyond anything the Blink operatives had traded, this convoy was hauling a rocket-cradle – a platform studded with a dozen separate launchers carrying a battery of dwarf missiles. 

Minutes crawled inexorably by and Amber found herself hoping that maybe the convoy would be taking a different route. Maybe they wouldn't have to have a shooting match with their allies.

No such luck.

From the head of the valley Vass Juntaar's voice sliced over the comm with a sharpness that made her grip tighten reflexively on the slug-thrower.

"All units," he told them. "Target in sight approaching south door."

At first she couldn't see it, but eventually she managed to pick out the snaking column of blocky, dark-plated vehicles trundling their way towards the narrow defile in Ravine's mountain ranges. They blended into the landscape, not announcing their presence with any kind of searchlights. In this barren waste they would probably have slipped by unnoticed if someone hadn't known exactly where to look.

An uncomfortable feeling settled in the base of her stomach as she watched them creeping further and further into the jaws of the trap. It wouldn't be long before they snapped shut. She exhaled, settling her nerves, forcing her mind into a level of calm. No turning back now. She spotted the rocket cradle near the back of the column – a cigar-shaped truck rumbling along on a pair of toothed caterpillar tracks.

"Target in position," Gazi snapped in her sharp accent. "All teams prepare to converge on my mark. Five... four... three... two... one..."

Ahead of the convoy both sides of the valley exploded.

Thunder split the air as the demolition charges detonated. An avalanche of shattered volcanic rock stampeded down the slopes from either side, hunks of stone the size of cars crashing their way into the convoy's path in a sea of rubble. Dust plumed from the impact and Amber could see the convoy slewing to a halt, and lights began flaring in the gloom. Several seconds later a second batch of charges tore open the cliffs behind the convoy, creating another barricade to cut them off and seal them into the target area.

"GO!" Darien snarled that single word through the comms and in that moment the war for Ravine descended on their little piece of it.

"Cover incoming," Vass's voice sounded again.

Before the echo had died, two lines of smoke rounds thumped across both flanks of the convoy, smothering the defenders in a thick film of smog in a matter of moments. Even as it happened Amber was off and moving, leaping and bounding like a gazelle down the rocky slopes, making a direct line for the tubular mass of the rocket-cradle. She still balked at the thought of handing over such weapons to the rebels, but Darien had been clear. They wouldn't be staying in Parker's hands for long.

She was aware of figures on either side of her; Hekket sprinting to her left and Niamh to her right. There was no more comm traffic from the attackers now; her earpiece fuzzed with gentle static as the pincer movement slid shut with ghostlike ease. As they drew closer she could hear the coughing growl of the convoy engines and the roaring of orders from the dragoons guarding them. They plunged into the smoke unheeding.

A shudder of unease rippled through her as the crackle of gunfire erupted all around them. Dulled flashes lit up the smoke like flashes of lightning in a cloud. Hammerhead were moving in from one side, while Taggs and his operatives completed an identical manoeuvre from the opposite side. The other two squads present – Tundra and Panther – remained in their covering positions in the crags, keeping up a hail of smoke rounds to prevent the defenders from ascertaining just who and what they were up against. Amber found herself wishing she was up there with them.

But she wasn't. And when a colonial soldier emerged from the smoke with his rifle raised, she had no choice but to react.

In a split second she dropped her aim and fired, the heavy, unfamiliar recoil of the slug gun ramming back against her shoulder. The shot hit the soldier in his thigh plate. Although the armour withstood the impact, the force still smashed his leg out from under him and sent him crashing to the ground with a howl of pain. With adrenaline pumping through her veins, Amber took her weapon one-handed and ripped the volt-gun loose from its holster. A swift blast from the gun made sure the man would stay down.

Trembling violently, Amber holstered it again and continued on, the hulk of the rocket-cradle now looking maybe twenty feet in front of her. Niamh's figure materialised out of the gloom to her right, beckoning her to close up. She complied wordlessly, keeping her head on a swivel as she watched for more soldiers. It looked like Gazi's troops were doing a good job tying up the bulk of the guards, however, and she could hear more and more concentrated gunfire coming from the head of the column.

They were joined by Darien and Idas scuttled into sight just ahead of them, approaching the driver-side door of the vehicle. Up close, the rocket-cradle looked several meters over them, the low grumble of its idling engine barely audible. The door itself was a couple of feet of the ground with a hanging ladder.

"C'mon – they'll deal with the guards," Niamh hissed, tapping her on the arm and motioning towards the rear of the vehicle. Following the other girl, Amber hugged the slug-thrower close. A piercing gunshot rang out from the opposite side of the cradle before the crackling hiss of more than one volt-gun.

When they reached the rear door they found Hekket and Uther waiting, along with half of Vandal Squad. Taggs was clutching his stomach and for a horrible moment she thought he'd taken a shot to his gut, but he saw her looking and smirked.

"Armour rode it," he chuckled. "Just winded."

"We've got the cabin," Darien said over the comm a moment later. "Overriding the locks now."

Amber found herself holding her breath, eyes flickering from side to side, expecting a brigade of guards to descend on them at any moment. She exhaled with relief as the heavy rear door clunked as its lock disengaged.

"Cover," Niamh snapped to the other operatives, who quickly dispersed out of the line of sight of the doorway. Amber tugged her volt-gun out again – out of sight of Gazi's soldiers she wasn't about to use live ammunition on any guards who might have been within. Niamh gripped the handle and nodded to Taggs. "Ready?"

On the opposite side of the door Taggs nodded, showing the small sphere of the stun grenade clutched in his right hand. With a growl of effort Niamh wrenched the door open and in the same motion Taggs expertly curved the grenade inside, bouncing it off of the interior wall to send it right into the centre of the compartment. There was a high pitched crack and flare of light and smoke from within.

Then they piled in. Amber dove in first, bottling down her nerves as she rolled low through the entrance, coming to one knee with the volt-gun free. Three figures staggered unsteadily in front of her. She fired – one dropped. Then she hurled herself to the side behind one of the heavy metal crates in the rear compartment as a haphazard spray of bullets flew back in response.

She'd done her job. The remaining guards, disoriented and focused on her, were easy prey as Niamh and Taggs surged through after her. Two more blasts from their volt-guns and the guards in the rear section were subdued.

"Darien, guards are down," Niamh said crisply. "Ready to extract."

"Uther, Amber, crack those crates," Darien replied. "Everybody grab a battery and bug out. Taggs, get the EMP charges primed."

He spoke so firmly and calmly that Amber found that she didn't even hesitate. In the thick of the action with Darien guiding them the operatives had settled into a strange kind of comfort, moving decisively under his confident direction. Amber moved from crate to crate, using a code-shunt to disengage the keypad locks that each one carried. She and Uther moved down both opposite sides of the compartment, and as they disengaged the locks, the others followed right behind them, heaving the crates open to reveal the precious cargo within.

The dwarf missile batteries were circular with a twelve inch diameter. She recalled the brief they'd been given on exactly what they were stealing – the batteries were, in essence, personal battlefield ordnance. Each of the rigs housed fifteen small warheads and a simple targeting plotter. What made them so dangerous was the sheer yield of the little bombs. Each could flatten a house. Sending a whole volley of them could level a city block.

There were dozens of them in the compartment, far too many for the operatives to take them all with them. This eventuality had been foreseen by Parker, however, who'd furnished them a Blinder – an EMP bomb. The plan was simple. Steal as many as they could and leave the EMP behind to detonate and wipe out the targeting software of the remainder, rendering them useless until they could be transported back to a military tech to be reprogrammed.

On they moved, opening crate after crate and Amber was beginning to feel her jangling nerves fade. They were almost done. Disengaging the last lock on the crate at the head of the compartment, she looked back and saw the other operatives heaving the batteries loose and passing them down the line in a chain. She blew out her cheeks in a sigh of relief.

Then something moved out of the corner of her eye.

She started to turn as the figure unfolded form the shadows. A guard lying in wait – one they'd missed. He was young. A look of fury twisted his features into an ugly grimace. In one hand he had a pistol aimed, finger tightening around the trigger.

With the heartbeat she had left, she threw herself to one side as the gun fired.

Amber screamed as the bullet caught her in the upper arm, knifing through a sliver of space between the amour plates. Pain erupted through her and she dropped her slug-gun, instantly clamping her hand over the wound. She kept enough of her senses to throw herself down to the ground as another shot rang out.

Then Uther was moving, throwing himself into the guard and the pair went down, battling for control of the pistol. Amber shuffled backwards, teeth gritted and tears welling up in her eyes, watching as Niamh flew past her along with one of Vandal's operatives. The pair hurled themselves onto the guard and between the three of them they managed to disarm him before Niamh clubbed him around the head with heavy stock of the rail-rifle she carried. He slumped in a heap against the floor plates.

"Amber!" It was Hekket, dropping to one knee by her side. "Let me see it!"

With a sharp hiss of pain, she removed her hand, trying to ignore just how much blood had spilled out over her skin. He examined the wound for a second before clamping a wad of bandages over it.

"You'll be okay, you'll be okay," he told her, keeping his voice subdued. "Keep pressure on that."

Reluctantly she did as she was bidden, pressing the material against her wound, unable to contain a strangled growl from the pressure. Hekket went to work, his quick fingers flashing with expert swiftness and barely a minute later her right arm was lashed into a makeshift sling. He reached into his belt and pulled out a pair of Blink-issue combat painkillers.

"Get those down you," he said. "I'll give it a proper dressing when we're clear."

"Are you alright?" Niamh asked, as she swallowed the pills.

Amber winced. "Yeah... yeah I'm good." She felt anything but, but she trusted Hekket. It was a flesh wound to the arm – it wouldn't kill her. "But let's not hang around."

"Darien, let's move this along," Niamh snapped into the comm. "We've got wounded." Then she pointed at Taggs. "Get that Blinder rigged, now!"

Taggs nodded, beckoning one of his technicians forward. "We're on it."

Hekket helped her up and Amber walked unsteadily back out the rear entrance of the rocket-cradle, feet crunching on the stone as she landed. Darien and Idas had made their way around now, and the squad leader took in her injury in a moment. He glanced at Hekket.

"I need to get a proper dressing from the wound once we're out of here," he said. "But she'll be fine."

"Good." Darien gave her a reassuring smile. "Hang tight."

She forced herself to return the smile, right now simply wanting to be anywhere else. The edges of the control she exerted on her own nerves were beginning to fray. She wanted to be out of this world where they stabbed at shadows and feinted at friends. She wanted something simple. She wanted things to be black and white again.

A moment later Taggs emerged from the vehicle, giving them a thumbs up. "EMP is cooking," he told them, casting a nervous glance back into the vehicle. "Three minute delay so let's beat it!"

Darien nodded and tapped his comm. "Gazi, dwarf batteries secured. The Blinder is primed to wipe the targeters – we are good to go."

"Copy that," the woman replied. "All teams, back off. Fall back to the rendezvous."

"You heard her." He rounded on them, shotgun hanging from one hand and dwarf battery cradled in the other. "Go, go, go!"

A fresh volley of smoke rounds came raining from the crags around them to cover their escape, burying the soldiers and operatives in an almost impenetrable mist, but Amber still kept her bearings, knowing exactly which direction they needed to run.

"You okay?" Hekket asked.

"Well my legs are still working," she replied, voice tight. The painkillers were starting to kick in, taking the edge off the wound. "Let's just get out of here."

"Right behind you."

He never strayed more than a couple of feet from her as they joined the others in racing up the valley slope towards the outcropping that had served as their staging area. Her boots dug into the uneven ground as she propelled herself upward, stumbling and tripping and trying to use her free hand to keep her balance. When they reached the outcropping Hekket moved up alongside her, wrapping an arm around her waist and giving her an extra shunt up and over the edge.

The pair stumbled into the clearing, and together they both turned back, looking for their companions.

Niamh came next, Idas close behind as they hurtled over the rocks. Idas stopped and turned, placing his battery on the ground and reaching back over the edge. A moment later he pulled Uther into view, both hands clasped around the older operative's right wrist.

Last to come spilling into the outcrop was Darien. His coat was smouldering in places and he bore a ragged, bloody scrape up the left side of his face, but he was otherwise unharmed. The bulk of a dwarf missile battery was wrapped protectively beneath his coat. He skidded to a halt, doubling over for a moment as tried to get his breath back. After a moment he straightened up, looking at them, gaze flickering left and right as he made sure they were all accounted for.

"Good work everyone," he gasped. "Now let's get the hell out of here!"