Amber had never been part of an operation with this kind of mobilisation, and seeing it made her stomach knot with fear. Every other mission she'd been a part of had demanded the small, precise units of Blink – games of cat and mouse, small scale incursions and battles of wits. This was a different order of magnitude.

The staging area for the dragoons was a few miles south of the cracker, and she could see its vast dome protruding out of the crags in the distance, the spine of the gun itself reaching up out of the shell like a spear. In the machine-flattened clearing below her she watched as a full battle company of Merlynn's troops girded up for war.

Wyvern gunships growled on their landing pads, fuelled and loaded, while ground crews scuttled around them performing final pre-flight checks. Heavy tracked troop carriers manoeuvred into serried ranks, some ready to deploy, others still loading their cargoes of heavily armed dragoons. Then there were tanks and self-propelled guns – sleek dark metal machines gliding along on massively powerful gravity treadmills that rendered all but the most hazardous terrain meaningless. Their guns protruded from beetle-like armoured shells, primed to unleash destruction on the rebel stronghold.

It was a force that wanted to be unleashed. She could feel it. The loss of the Roshven had struck the government forces like a punch in the heart and they wanted revenge. A lot of people on the ground weren't thinking about the casualties that would surely come in a full frontal assault.

She tried to push that thought to the back of her mind. If the Blink operatives did their jobs properly they could minimise that risk. Tightening the straps of her combat vest to wrap in snugly around her body, she cast an eye down the sight of her carbine before circling up with the other members of Hammerhead Squad. The other Blink teams were scattered across the raised plateau, each with their own objectives.

The plan, as far as she could figure it, was a halfway-house compromise between what Vass and Darien had clashed over. Surprisingly enough, it also seemed better than both. Tundra Squad, supported by Panther, were tasked with a lightning, diversionary raid on the main entrance of the facility, that would open the door for the others to Blink in and sweep the interior, taking out the secondary power-plants for the cracker's outer defence guns.

With those main defences wiped out the army units would then come seeping in with overwhelming force. If everything went to plan there wouldn't be a chance for the rebels to truly resist. Casualties would be kept as low as they could be under the circumstances.

"Everybody ready to go," Darien said flatly, his carbine hanging from its strap across his chest. He rested his wrests across the barrel and the stock, turning from the mobilising colonial troops to face the squad.

Nods and murmurs of confirmation came from the others, their faces hard with resolve but somehow uneasy. The incident with Vass still left a sour taste in the air, like pall hanging over the mission. This needed to go well, if nothing else to ensure they could put the whole sorry affair behind them.

"Stay sharp, stay safe," he told them. "We hit our targets and get out fast. Let the dragoons do the heavy lifting."

"About time," Idas muttered. Niamh smirked – even Hekket stifled a snigger at the remark. Amber managed a smile, but her mind was in the wrong gear for humour right now. Her focus was simply on remaining calm and doing what she had to do, burying all the apprehension deep into the recesses of her mind.

Minutes ticked by as the dragoons continued their deployment, a fast armoured spearhead being assembled at the front of the staging area, ready to strike the breach the Blink operatives would create like a hammer. Eventually word passed through the comms, through all the military branches and through to the Blink teams. Everything was ready.

The first real engagement of Ravine's civil war was about to begin.

"Vass, this is Darien, you have a go," Darien said firmly.

"Copy that," Vass replied. "Initiating Blink now." Amber counted perhaps three seconds of fizzing static in the earpiece, before Vass's voice sounded again. "We're in, GO!" he roared over the comm, the clatter of gunfire punctuating his words.

"Rigel, Vandal – move out!" Darien barked instantly.

Amber swallowed a breath, circled up with the team and made her Blink happen. When she materialised on the other side, it hit her quite abruptly how-at-ease she'd become with the whole process. Once, a long time ago, the whole concept had been shocking to her and now she transported herself threw biological rips in space-time without a second thought.

With practised ease she unfolded out of her tightly tucked crouch, carbine locking against her shoulder as she rose to scan the passage. Around her five other figures performed identical motions in a textbook deployment, but their point had been chosen well. Alarms blared in the halls and she heard muffled voices and footsteps, all receding, answering the attack at the front gate.

"Hammerhead to all teams, we are in. Rigel, Vandal, sound off."

"In position," Vanna replied crisply.

"Us too," came Taggs response a moment later.

"Then move it!" Darien hissed, making a chopping motion towards the door with one hand. Idas and Niamh surged forward to either side of the exit, both peeking out briefly.

"It's clear," Niamh confirmed, sliding out into the passage with Idas behind. The rest followed through with Uther bringing up the rear as they made a beeline for their target section of the upper ring of defences.

Hammerhead Squad avoided conflict as best they could, moving silent and quick like shadows through the echoey hallways, twisting through passages to avoid frantically assembling patrols. Only when they reached the upper level where the generator for their gun batteries was housed did they meet any true resistance, clashing with the small handful of guards that remained at their stations while their comrades converged on the open entrance.

Amber ducked back behind a corner as bullets crackled down towards them, pinging off the metal of the walls and ricocheting chaotically within the confines of the cannon emplacement. She bit back a curse and swayed out, snapping off a lance that clipped the shooter in the shoulder. The man stumbled backward with a yowl of pain only for a shot from Idas's jackhammer to punch through his chest plate. The guard crumpled in a gurgling heap and Amber forced herself not to look at him.

Focus.

Niamh and Darien raced down the passage ahead of them, their flame-haired second officer expertly tossing a stun grenade to bounce around the next bend and detonate out of their eyeline. They followed through, carbines snapping as they went.

"C'mon," Hekket grated, clapping her on the shoulder as he darted past, following the rest of the squad. Amber pivoted to watch their six, scuttling backwards with her knees tucked tight together to give herself a stable firing platform as she moved. With no sign of pursuit she eventually twisted around at the next bend and joined her squadmates as they battled their way to the generator room.

More stun grenades cracked piercingly in the tight hallways and the operatives followed them, finding dazed men and women staggering and rubbing their aching eyes and ears. Volt guns crackled from the front-runners in the group, taking the incapacitated guards down completely. A wild, half-blind shotgun blast sent the Blink team ducking and diving for cover, before from his prone position on the floor Uther shot a heavy lance through the offender's eye-socket.

"Sound off!" Darien barked through the smoke.

Amber joined the others in confirming she was alright before scrambling back to her feet and twisting to cover the their rear.

"Clear behind!" she shouted through the smoke.

"On me."

With Darien's clipped command they were moving again. She winced as her gaze swept over the dead guard who'd been shot through the eye, his face frozen in a rictus of shock. The sheer speed of their advance stopped her from dwelling on the image, however, as Hammerhead Squad scurried onwards

Hastily snapped reports from the other squadrons filtered through Darien's comm-link as they moved. Vanna's Rigel Squad had already blow one generator and were moving to their next target, while Taggs and Vandel squad were digging through heavy resistance in their sector. Vass's communications from the gates were awash with gunfire as Tundra dug in alongside Panther Squad to fight off a panicked wave of guards from the traitor regiment as they tried to retake the position.

That meant the three squads inside the base were racing against time.

A small skirmish failed to stop Hammerhead from reaching their objective, sweeping aside a trio of shocked and terrified guards with ease. Then they were in the generator room. A thrumming cylinder in an armoured housing dominated the centre of the substation, power lines snaking away into walls and under floor plating.

"Cover the door," Darien snapped, motioning to Amber and Hekket. The pair twisted and obeyed flanking the door and looking back out into the corridor as Idas slapped two explosive charges on the generator.

A few seconds later came the call. "Clear!"

One by one the other operatives piled out between them and Amber gratefully joined the back of the queue as they set off towards the next objective. Two turns later Idas triggered the remove detonator and the plates beneath her feet reverberated with the explosive blast. The lights around them flickered wildly and an alarm blared.

"First target down," Darien reported to the other squads. "Moving on."

"You guys better pick up the pace!" Vass barked back between cracks of carbine fire. "Heavy resistance at the gate."

"Copy that." Darien glanced back at the and made a chopping motion forward. "Double time it, people."

Amber's muscles coiled with unease as they began moving at a swift jog, running the risk of colliding with more guard patrols face first. The well-drilled operatives jinked and twisted through the narrow corridors, moving in twos to cover without stopping. Her training and experience took over, and all the memories of those previous operations helped steel her nerves to the task at hand.

"Contact!" she yelled as she rounded a bend with her carbine aimed, reacting quicker than the guard waiting at the far end of the passage as fired.

The lance hit the woman in the shoulder and she toppled backwards with a screech, finger tightening instinctively around the trigger of the automatic rifle she carried. Amber dropped flat as a wayward spray of bullets went up and sideways, tearing into another guard at point blank range. He went down screaming before a stun grenade from Niamh arced lazily through the passage and detonated, silencing both.

The operatives battled on, reaching the second of their three targets barely two minutes after the first. It was clear the strike from both the front and from within had thrown the defenders into disarray and they hadn't yet grasped just what the Blink force were attempting. Scattered groups of rebel soldiers zig-zagged through the halls, trying to intercept the smoke like attackers in their midst to no avail.

And all the while the Beltock Dragoons were advancing up the valley, ready to smash through the front door of the installation.

More alarms blared, booted feet thundered on metal floor plating and gunfire echoed within the confines of the cannon's structure. Only when Hammerhead reached their third and final generator did they truly meet some kind of organised resistance, with over a dozen guards dug in around the generator room with makeshift barricades of sandbags and furniture facing the different corridor approaches.

Bullets and lances rattled viciously back and forth for a few seconds before the Blink operatives were forced to hunker down at the far end of the approach. Niamh crouched on one knee at the junction, snapping off shots between curses.

"Should have brought more than just stun grenades," she spat in annoyance. "How're we going to dislodge this lot?"

At that moment another frantic radio message from Vass erupted over the comm. "Darien – update? They are pouring in on the gate. We need to pull out!"

"At our last target now, Vass – hold your positions!" Darien shot back, his features pinching in frustration as he looked at the barricade. "Rigel, Vandel, status?"

"All target's cleared," Vanna replied instantly. "Returning to POI."

"Moving on final generator now," Taggs' voice came through a moment later. "Light resistance – ETA two minutes."

"It's going to take longer than two minutes to dig through these bastards, Darien." Niamh looked back at him. "We could send support to Vass."

"More people to the grinder," Hekket countered. "Sounds like a shooting gallery down there. We've hit most of the generators, that should be enough. Call it off."

"If even a handful of these guns are active to strafe the valley the Dragoons are going to take a lot of casualties." Darien bit his lip and shook his head. "We just need to-,"

"Give me the charges!" Amber interrupted, having listened with growing anxiety to the exchange. She unclipped her carbine and handed it to Hekket before thrusting out an expectant hand. "Keep their attention forward and I'll blink behind them right to the generator."

Darien looked at her dubiously. "You sure?"

"We don't have time to fight through all that," she replied. "I can do it. Just give me the charges."

He held her stare for a moment then nodded and motioned to Idas. "Do it."
"Alright, one charge at the base and one on the central junction load," the other boy told her as he handed over a pair of the squat, flat squares. "Just fix them in place and hop out again and I'll blow them on your clear."

"Copy that." Amber took a deep breath; chanced a final glance down the passage. The generator room beyond the guards didn't have anyone inside that they could see – the defenders clearly didn't want to risk a firefight in the room itself that could destroy the generator as easily as any explosive. She knew the distance from the schematics – for her even a precise blink at this distance was child's play. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and made it happen, not waiting to second guess herself.

She materialised a few inches above the ground and the clamour of gunfire completely drowned out the sound of her landing. Amber froze for the briefest instant as she scanned the chamber. Same as before; a humming cylinder squatting accusingly in the middle of the room, oblivious to the fate about to befall it.

Priming the charges she didn't waste another millisecond, clamping them in place at the locations Idas had specified. She knew she would have been visible from the door way for a matter of seconds as she performed the task, but he cacophony of gunfire from beyond told her that the rest of the squad had garnered the defenders' undivided attention.

Amber thumbed the activation switches on the charges and stepped back, speaking into the comm in a low voice. "Charges in position, blinking back now." Another deep breath; another surge of emptiness and she re-emerged into reality once more behind her companions, their dark silhouettes coalescing before her eyes.

Darien glanced over his shoulder, spotted her and thumped Idas on the shoulder.

"Clear!" the big operative shouted and the next instant the room behind the rebel soldiers blew apart. A backwash of flame and shrapnel spilled from the door, lashing at the closest defenders, and in the panicked chaos that followed, Hammerhead Squad retreated from sight back down the corridor.

"Hammerhead to all units – final target down, returning to POI," he snapped over the comm. "Vandal, status?"

"One second, boss." A crackle of static lingered briefly before the channel was filled by a distorted but unmistakable explosion. Then a chuckle. "Pretty fireworks, Ori. Final target down and confirmed. Vandal is bugging out."

"Copy that." Darien nodded in satisfaction. "Hammerhead to Tundra, all generators down. You are clear to withdraw."

Amber joined the others as they began to circle up, preparing to leave and the let the Dragoons do the rest of the heavy lifting. Reattaching her carbine to her combat vest she exchanged a flash of a smile with Hekket and took up her position.

Then she realised there had been no response. Her brow furrowed and she looked to Darien.

He stood there, one hand to his earpiece with his eyes wide in an expression of worry. He repeated the same command but again nothing came back over the comm from Tundra Squad.

"Vass, come in." He stopped in his tracks listening for a moment, but no response came over the comm. His eyes widened and a sick feeling of realisation twisted Amber's gut. "Vass!"

"Panther to Hammerhead," Bandle's voice suddenly exploded over the comms along with a thunder of gunfire and a chilling chorus of screams. His voice was taut with pain. "Order ... acknowledged. Gate teams withdrawing on my lead. We need emergency medical personnel on standby – multiple casualties."