Fireflight

Chapter Four

The five mercenaries lay on a rocky bluff over the desert overlooking a small encampment. A small fire illuminated the dark figures of ten armed demons sitting beside a desert camo armored car. Up on the bluff some fifty feet away in the pitch black night the five members of I.M.P peered down at their quarry. They had spent the day's evening and night searching across the desert until they had come across the camp in the early hours of the morning. Soon the sun would be up, and already a hint of light gray rimmed the rolling desert hills. 

"Alright Brenden, show us what you're made of." Blitzo whispered in his ear. 

The imp nodded and flipped his gun's scope to the side. At such a close range he could rely on his gun's range finders. Then he lined up his shot and took a steadying deep breath. His hands worked like lightening, firing, pulling the bolt action back and then firing again. He released all five bullets in his rifle's clip in five seconds, a feat that would take any other marksmen three times as long. Each bullet found its mark, downing its target in one shot. 

"Holy shit!" Blitzo gasped in awe. Around him his employees looked at the new recruit with shocked awe as well. 

"Dispersing!" Brenden grunted as he shoved a fresh clip into his gun. 

His companions looked down the bluff to see the remaining five bandits duck for cover. 

"Look's like we'll have to flush them out." Loona muttered. 

"Moxxie and Millie go right, Loona come with me to the left. Brenden stay up here and give us cover!" Blitzo ordered, concocting a plan an the run.

"Got'cha covered boss!" Millie said pulling Moxxie up with her. 

The couple slipped down the left side of the bluff, taking advantage of the many rocks for cover. Blitzo nodded to his daughter and the two of them followed suite, heading the other way.

The four of them advanced slowly on the camp, keeping an eye out for their targets. As they came closer, gunshots rang through the night, and bullets streaked towards them as they hunched behind jagged desert rocks. Brenden lay on the hill, looking for a good shot. The remaining five bandits were in good cover and he was having trouble lining up a hit. 

Brenden saw a pinpoint of light flash directly towards him and instinctively pressed himself flat against the ground. Less than a second later he heard the sound of a bullet hiss viscously just above his head. Glancing up he saw one of the highwaymen run for the armored car and the turret on the top. He quickly fired a shot, taking rough aim and sending a bullet punching through the fiend's leg. 

Down below Blitzo had also seen the movement and had fired a shot. His target fell from Brenden's sniper and he missed, the bullet bouncing off the side of the armored car. Up on the hill, his sniper ducked again as two more shots were sent his way. The imp was about to take another shot as he saw the bandit get back up when the steady rattling of a machine gun sent him rolling behind the cover of the boulder he and Loona were sitting behind. Bullets ricocheted off of the hard surface of the rock, leaving a steady stream of pockmarks running up the side of it. 

"Shit! I think they've just put someone on that gun!" he swore. 

"Got any plans Blitzo?" Loona asked. 

"No, I-" the sound of heavy machinegun fire drowned out his words, and the two slunk further down behind the cover of the rock. 

Over on the other side Millie and Moxxie had gone unnoticed. They were now just ten feet away from the car with two of the brigands in easy sight when the double barreled machinegun mounted to the top of the vehicle began to pour fire. 

"Moxxie, do you have anything to take that thing out?" Millie asked her husband. 

"Yeah let me check." he answered, reaching for his belt. Feeling around his hand landed on a grenade. 

"Jackpot!" He grinned at his wife, handing her the explosive. "You take it, you've got the better arm." 

Millie nodded and ripped the pin from the top. Then she hurled it. Upon seeing it come down in the gun's turret she ducked, her husband following suite. A few seconds later it exploded, shredding the armored car and blowing it in half. In the following confusion Moxxie rose to a crouch and fired off two shots at the two bandits ahead of them, shooting them down. From the other side of the camp Blitzo and Loona jumped up from cover, quickly gunning down the remaining three men. 

Cautiously the two groups convened around the campfire, on the lookout for any survivors keen on taking a shot on the unwary mercenaries. After taking a quick look around Blitzo looked to the hill and called Brenden down. 

"Coast is clear, come on down!" 

Brenden pushed himself up to his knees with a grunt. "Understood!" He called back, getting back onto his feet. 

After a brief wait, the sniper joined the rest of his crew who stood near the burnt and shredded remains of the armored car. At his boss's request, Moxxie had opened up the back to reveal several crates. They had been pried open to show their contents; stacks of cash packed into neat wads. 

"Oh this is good, let's take a little!" Blitzo grinned as he reached for the money. 

"Don't," Moxxie warned him, grabbing his arm. "They might've taken stock of what was stolen, and I'd rather not piss them off." 

"I have to agree with him on this." Loona seconded. 

"Aw you guys are no fun!" their boss whined. 

                                                                                                 [] 

The band of mercenaries met up with their contact later that morning as the sun was rising above the dry and dusty plains. They had dumped the crates of money in the back of his truck and were now awaiting their pay. 

"I have to say you did an excellent job!" the fiend congratulated them. "Better than I expected. You guys really are worth every cent." 

"Yeah, yeah, just give us our money so we can be out of here. We've got places to be." Blitzo dismissed. 

"Here ya go." The bandit said, handing him a leather briefcase. "Fifty thousand dollars, well earned." 

"Thank you very much." Blitzo replied, handing the suitcase off to Loona. "Check this for me will you?" 

The snapping turtle demon chuckled. "Don't trust me?" he asked with a lopsided grin. 

"Business practice." the imp answered. 

"We're good." Loona confirmed a minute later, shutting the case with a click. 

"Right then, everyone back in the van! We're going to our next job." their boss said enthusiastically. Then turning back to their informant he extended his hand. "Pleasure doing business with you." he said taking the highwayman's hand. 

With that he climbed back into the van and pulled back out onto the road and towards their next destination.