Chapter Twenty Three

"Two teams in Airbase."

Wraith raised her head from the loot bin she was picking over and craned her neck to see the man on the roof of the tower-like building, flat against the glass panels as he peered down his scope.

"Can you see who?"

While it wasn't imperative that she keep track of every Elite in the Games, knowing one was near could sway Wraith's plans and was often useful information.

"Not clearly."

Wraith was considering climbing herself to see if there was anything she could glean, particularly when she was probably more familiar with the gait and gestures of the other Elites, when Darwyn's voice crackled over the comm-line too.

"There's a third outside Bunker. Dunno if they're watching another team or what, they're sitting in the open. Like right outside the doors."

Wraith paused and glanced up, eying the tunnel mere feet from her position.

"Whole team?"

"Mmm, can't see the others. Loner by the looks of it. I actually have a pretty good shot on-"

"Don't take it."

"What? Alright, he's-"

"You sure he's on his own?" she queried, shifting her gun into her hands.

"Yeah."

"What's he doing?"

She crept over the uneven tarry ground towards the yellow pipe. There was a pause. Before Darwyn's voice came again, confusion beginning to taint with suspicion.

"Just sitting there. Right in the corner, all he's done is check his rifle over."

"Moved position at all?"

"Nope."

"Doors open?"

"Nope."

"Keep your eyes towards Pit." she decided, ducking into the tunnel.

"Roger."

Wraith rounded the mouth of the pipe and swept her gaze across the empty sands, but the land was empty. The bins by the oasis and the Respawn beacon were still locked tight, something they'd agreed to leave in case it came in handy for cornering an enemy squad later. She was looking off towards the giant Bunker doors when the Voice came to her.

You're in their sights.

She slammed back against the tunnel wall.

"Someone's got eyes on me here," she relayed, peering out the tunnel and gauging the angle. If she was safe as she was, it was definitely between Bunker and Pit.

"The teams at Airbase are fighting." Barker updated them.

"We're about to have a fight of our own." she answered, slinking back into the Runoff compound and considering scaling the wall.

Six teams were still in play, so that left two unaccounted for, if one was headed for them and two were duking it out in Airbase. Between the seemingly moronic loner hiding in the open outside Bunker and the fact that they had the final Arena beacon, Wraith had a good guess of who was on their way.

She ran under the structure on a whim, wheeling around the Northmost building to peer at the Ring, between them and slums. There, at the very edge, it was. How she'd missed the telltale sound she didn't know, and her heart started racing with adrenaline. She checked the safety was off her rifle and raised it, backing from the round open ground floor behind the nearest door.

"There's a zipline-"

A sniper shot cut her off and she whirled, catching sight of the MRVN unit swinging around in an impressive display from one of the open rooftops and soaring over the fence.

Darwyn.

"Shit! Pathfinder!"

The sniper cracked again, and then again, and Barker gave a bleak chuckle.

"One down."

Darwyn breathed a thanks, and Wraith could only surmise that their light specialist had somehow interfered with the robot's attempt to sneak up on the beacon Darwyn was lying right above.

"Did he get the beacon off?" Wraith called, racing back to the pipe.

"Don't know!"

There, by the oasis, the shining blue robot was sprawled, gathering himself into a small space as she reached the pipe mouth, his knockdown shield sparkling up around him. Purple, hardly worth the wasted ammo. Wraith drew back her arm and lobbed a grenade.

Get back!

Bullets bit into the plastic around her as she retreated.

"Darwyn?"

"Pit mouth." Barker answered before he could, "We have to be quick, the-"

The shot rang across the sand to them, as her squadmate toppled from his perch.

"Shit!" Darwyn yelped.

Wraith glanced back, unwilling to take her eye from the yellow tunnel in case Mirage thought it was a good idea to rush them while they were caught off guard.

"Airbase?"

"So it would seem."

Great.

Ping. Five squads. Good to know.

Wraith backed up to the nearest door, slamming it closed behind her and taking the hipline inside, racing for a window.

"Barker?" she hissed, finding Pathfinder right where he'd been, still no sign of his shadow.

"I'm alright. Recharging shields now."

Wraith checked her watch.

"Wait out the Ring?" she queried, "Move out?"

The direction the burning wall of the ring moved would either grace them or damn them, for there was a lot of open ground inside it still. A door opened and closed as Barker got himself inside. Neither answered her, and she debated herself.

"Darwyn, you still got eyes on Pit? What's going on?"

"Nothing." he answered, voice tight, "Pathfinder moved out of sight behind that loot bin, but I haven't seen… Wait…"

"What?" she barked.

"What the fuck?"

She waited, a tremor running down her spine at the sudden shift in his tone.

"He's back up!" Barker yelled, just as the sound of his grappling hook confirmed it.

"What-"

Wraith cursed at Darwyn's cry.

"Mirage." she barked. "His fucking cloak."

"Awh shit, I-"

"The pipe!"

Wraith dropped back down into the water, swinging herself back onto the ground floor in a single move. She elbowed open the door and shot for the first figure she saw, hearing the woman's yell as she dove behind the orange lid of the bin. Wraith tossed a grenade and pulled shut her door to reload.

"Legend behind the pipe bin." she notified her squad, "Her shields are low, but-"

Behind you.

In the same heartbeat a door opened and Wraith spun, her rifle growling as she shot without taking aim. He disappeared back out the door, but his laugh was a giveaway and Wraith's blood chilled.

"We got another team!" she yelled, grabbing for the zipline, "Octane behind my building!"

She heard the pop and crackle of Barker's smallest flash bangs, and then suddenly everything was chaos. Doors were knocked open as she raced across the walkway between buildings, nearly punching Darwyn when he dropped from a hole in the roof to land just beside her.

"Team here." Barker called, "Bloodhound."

"Fuck." Wraith spat, leading Darwyn down the stairs to meet with him, the tracker had dropped with an all-Elite team, "Bangalore and Lifeline could be-"

Watch out!

Wraith threw out her arm on the bottom step, crashing into Darwyn's shoulder as he ran past her, almost taking her down with him. Sparks flew around the stairwell as Wraith scrambled backwards and she was phasing between he worlds before the archer hollered in pain. She raised her gun to return the fire that peppered the stairs as her squadmate turned to chase her up them. Her shields pinged and flickered.

Fuck. She dropped a grenade on the stairs and dragged Darwyn to his feet. They raced back along the way they'd come.

"Out." she said to him as she took hold of the rope with one hand and slid down.

Her toes hit the ground and she raced for the first door, spinning on her heel and racing through the gunfire towards the wall. The archer was hot on her heels.

"Is Airbase clear?" she hollered as she tucked herself against the rock and popped a shield cell, her own eyes unable to see any figures down the way.

"Seems to be." Barker answered.

Darwyn covered her while she filled her shields, and they stared across the compound at the people who seemed not to see them, three enemy teams battling in the small outside space. Barker was perched on the rooftop again, filling his own shields. He looked up as Wraith's gaze found him, and he grimaced.

"I'm gonna drop a hole." she said as she reloaded her gun, looking between them, "It's gonna be right at the ground in front of you." she nodded to Barker, turned to their third, "You ready?"

Darwyn nodded, notching an arrow in his bow and taking aim at the open space. Wraith steeled herself and ran. When she hit the wall she tore open the air and turned heel, retracing her steps halfway and swerving for the wall, swinging herself up and scaling the fence, wasting no time in dropping to the sand and taking off towards the Airbase.

The pain grew too much and she dropped out, continuing to run while holding open the Void. One tug. Two. She collapsed it.

And took a shot right in the back.