"Down! Down!" James shouts as the sniper's bullet barely misses Sam and I. The life support capsule is promptly dumped into the snow and our entire team scrambles down a short slope, seeking cover.

"I'll never say you're paranoid ever again, Adam." Sam pants as she huddles against the ground.

I peek over the edge of the slope and see several men in winter camo and baclavas charging out of the snow storm. Six in total, with half of the group drawing machetes and doubling down on rushing at us. The other three begin spraying our location liberally with their assault rifles, forcing me to drop back into cover.

"Three Warriors and three Gunslingers." Carol mutters, "Odds are not on our side."

"We've four people, five if we count your fox." James says, "I think we can do this."

There's a break in the incoming gunfire and Carol immediately snaps up and takes a shot with her rifle. One of the warriors staggers, a bloody stain spreading across his chest. But the Warrior simply regains his balance and keeps barreling along. Carol ducks back down, working the bolt of her rifle with an audible click of her tongue.

"Class skills really suck, don't they?" I comment, drawing Love and the casting focus, "And you're forgetting the sniper. He's still out there in the snowstorm."

"We've no choice. The only way we're retrieving the package is through dealing with this ambush." James says grimly as he draws his sword.

"You going to play tank?" I frown, "Six enemies is plenty to handle."

"That's why you and Carol are going to support me." James smiles with confidence I don't feel, "Wish me luck out there."

"Hey, what about me?" Sam grumbles, annoyed at having been forgotten.

"You just stay low." Carol readies her rifle to fire again, "No offence Sam, but you don't have any combat appropriate class skills."

"Let's do this!" James roars and rises from the impromptu trench, grabbing his crotch and making a rude gesture at the opposing Warriors.

A palpable wave of obnoxiousness rises from our comrade and even though we're not the target, the Provoke skill nearly makes me want to slap James just for the sake of it. Provoke works its magic on our enemies though, and the Warriors begin making a beeline straight for James, howling for blood. James eagerly rushes into the melee and weapons clash in a whirlwind of sparks. The Gunslingers, unable to attack James without causing a friendly fire incident, instead return to raking our trench with lead.

"He's buying us time." Carol nods at me, "Time for us to get to work."

Carol rises to stand making herself a target for the Gunslingers. Our enemies oblige, focus firing on her. But before any of the bullets can hit, Carol throws herself airborne in a graceful flip, neatly dodging the attack and delivering a shot of her own with the bolt action rifle. Dodge Shot. Its so much more impressive when an actual professional does it. And doesn't crash into a sofa.

Taking advantage of the moment of safety, I lob a casting of Soul Fire at one of the Gunslingers, causing him to turn about in alarm. The lance of sorcerous fire engulfs the Gunslinger, causing him to slap his clothes in panic, trying to put the flames out. In the background, Carol's target breaks into an evasive flip of his own, but he times the move poorly, getting himself winged in the side and losing his poise in the bargain.

There's a spray of crimson on the snow as Carol's target falls clumsily on his back. Carol lands on her feet like a cat but before she can deliver the finishing blow, Sam's revolver thunders and turns the unfortunate's torso into mush. The fresh corpse slumps into the snow, a bloody stain spreading underneath it.

"Good show." I nod to Sam.

Seriously though, we are putting on a good show. With a swing of his sword, James rips open the stomach of one of the enemy Warriors, sending the man dropping to the ground with his guts spilling everywhere. So that makes it two down with one injured on the enemy side. And none of us have taken a scratch so far. James thanks to his odd movement technique and the rest of us due to the impromptu trench. We really just might carry the day.

"Down!" Carol shouts and pulls Sam back into the trench. The distinctive crack of that sniper rifle rings out again and I can see a shallow cut forming over Sam's cheek.

"That was close." I mutter, cowering in my spot.

"Sam's just grazed." Carol grits out, "But it looks like the other side's got some friends."

A fresh group of white clad men emerges from the blinding snow. Four of them this time. One is yet another machete wielding Warrior. He shouldn't be a problem, thanks to James thinning the herd again by running one of his opponents through. Another two run forward, each carrying a casting focus in his hand. Sorcerers. But the last man in the group is the star of the proverbial show.

"Go! Go!" the sniper shouts, his voice muffled by the full face helmet he wears. A set of fancy integrated optics have been installed into the helmet, explaining how the sniper had been able to aim past the snowstorm. Though his accuracy must have suffered nevertheless, forcing our man to close the distance and make his appearance. As the sniper clenches his fist, giving directions to the remainder of his men, a rat crouches on the peak of the helmet, hissing viciously.

"They've got a ranger as well." Carol furrows her brows in consternation, "This is a well organized operation."

"As if the ambush itself wasn't a sign." I resist rolling my eyes at Carol's mastery of the obvious. We've got bigger problems to deal with.

The fresh Warrior breaks away from the reinforcing group and instead of heading to support his beleaguered colleague against James, he makes a dash toward our location.

"If he's happy to serve himself up on a platter ..." Carol snorts and takes aim with her own rifle.

"No, don't look at him!" I yell in alarm, realizing something is off. That Warrior knows we're prepared to deal with rushers. And that means its pretty obvious what he plans to do.

I shield my eyes just in time as a wave of sheer aggravation washes over the trench. Sam has the good sense to take my advise, but Carol takes the full force of the Warrior's provoke, eyes going bloodshot at the waggling middle finger. Her stance drops and she just lets rip with the rifle from the hip. The Warrior simply executes a roll, easily dodging the wild shot and starts closing the distance with our trench.

Buddy lunges forward, intercepting the Warrior and both of them grapple. By now, the remaining Gunslingers have steadied themselves and open up on Carol again, as she's still too frazzled to get back into cover. Carol might not be terribly smart, but her skills pass muster. She quickly executes another flawless leaping dodge, sending herself looping overhead.

"Now!" the sniper snaps and the pair of Sorcerers begin whirling their casting foci like morning stars, deadly power building up.

A pair of Soul Fire bolts rend the sky asunder and slam into Carol while she's still in midjump. There's a cry of pain from our comrade and she falls back to earth like a blazing meteor. The Gunslingers advance again, their weapons vomiting death. Hitting the snow, Carol desperately rolls about to avoid being torn apart by lead, but fresh wounds bloom all over her body. She whimpers weakly, folded into a fetal position.

"Cover me!" Sam orders with surprising force.

"What the hell?" I curse, "Sit your ass down!"

I nevertheless take aim with Love, drawing a bead on one of the Sorcerers and opening fire. With his magic on cooldown, the Sorcerer is little better than a target on the range. Part of his head is blasted off and multiple strikes to the chest sends the man flying off his feet. The Gunslingers turn and begin sending shots my way, but I'm already back ducking and covering. Sam scuttles forward into the open, snatching Carol by the armpits.

"Nothing vital has been hit!" Sam shouts to me as she begins dragging Carol back to relative safety.

The sniper takes a knee, bringing his weapon to bear. A red glint flashes in the barrel as his class skill activates. I want to warn Sam, but my voice can't form words fast enough.

The sniper's gun roars and a crimson bullet of death is sent flying unerringly right at Sam. His body twists unnaturally before getting cruelly dashed to the ground. My breath hisses as I go back to cowering. Just like that, we've gone from winning this fight to being totally screwed. But then my attention is drawn to the fact that the snow I'm standing on seems to be shifting about unnaturally. I immediately cast Fortress, hoping for the best as the spell locks me into place.

A massive earth spike shoots out of the snow, catapulting me into the air through kinetic force alone. As I sail over the battlefield, I see the enemy Sorcerer stare at me in disbelief as he finishes casting his attack spell. Thank goodness for Fortress. Otherwise that Sorcerer would have skewered me for sure.

"Just hang on everyone!" James yells as he clashes furiously with his last opponent.

"A bit late for that." I sigh, my body plummeting back to earth.

"Way, way too late."