When he brought his Merge back up he saw his people fire in unison. Both missed, but they got close enough that Raymond got a proximity warning in the form of the hiss of a bullet playing over his earpiece.

He immediately pulled back, going down awkwardly in the water and coming up spitting mud. Smith had linked to the Delta team’s comm and he heard Raymond’s warning a moment later. “I’m under attack from the east. Can’t see anyone but I nearly took another hit. Who the hell are these guys?”

The red dot coming down from above started traversing east toward Duane and Stacy as Grayson continued to close from the southwest. Things were about to get interesting.

Smith finally managed to spot the Ranger, his outline appearing and disappearing as the prototype software tried to deal with the wind starting to whip up the slope. The sun broke out of the clouds for a moment, glimmering off the raindrops but improving visibility slightly. It turned out to be just enough for the soldier above. A shot sounded and a moment later Duane’s combat effectiveness number spun to zero.

“I…I’m hit…I can’t see!” he said, sounding panicked. “I can’t see!”

“Calm down,” Smith said. “You’re going to be black for ten seconds, then your unit’s just going to shut down. Stay put until I tell you otherwise.”

Stacy fired at the man coming down on her position, but she didn’t take time to aim properly. Smith couldn’t spot her target but could see that the red dot had stopped and that Stacy’s retreat was slow even for her. He assumed that she’d gotten close enough to force the Delta soldier to take cover and was dragging Duane along with her.

“He’s dead, Stacy. Get the hell out—”

Another gunshot sounded and her health counter spun to zero. With the advantage of the Merges and their early success, it was easy to forget one critical thing: The men they were up against were off-the-charts good.

He turned toward Grayson as he continued his cautious approach. Lieutenant Raymond was on his back in the water, looking directly in the Ranger’s direction but unable to see him calmly raising his dripping rifle. The shot registered center of mass and a few expletives escaped the dead sniper as Grayson rushed the shallow impression and dove in.

Knowing that they were still invisible to the Delta man above, Smith ran over and slipped into the water with the two men.

“Looks like just me left, huh, Colonel?” Grayson’s Merge would have taken Stacy’s and Duane’s icons off the battlefield overview.

“You know how it goes. Things can fall apart in a hurry.”

Grayson nodded, propping his rifle on a wet rock at the edge of the indention they were submerged in. “Let’s see if we can bring it back to even odds.”

Lieutenant Raymond sat silent, futilely searching the rain for what Grayson was aiming at.

The Ranger squeezed off a round and Smith watched the approaching soldier’s effectiveness spin to zero.