AN: A reader has pointed out lasers didn't exist till a decade later, as before this is the sort of thing I needed pointing out, just like the AK-47 mistake earlier. From now on I'll have DEWs be called 'ray guns' or 'heat rays' from War of the Worlds.

After Ilya had calmed down they'd all eaten their meal, and Ivanovich had returned and announced that they'd sleep then, and make a raid during the night. He was to attack and take prisoners, bringing them back to the main camp. By Igor's watch it was a few minutes past midnight, but the sky was moonless, and he remembered that he had not set his watch to Elysium's time yet, so he could be hours out in his estimation.

They drove slowly up through the hills, following the flanking path Ilya had discovered. The mood was tense, and the men obsessively checked their weapons. Igor restrained himself, knowing he had serviced his pistol the day before, but he still tapped his fingers on his seat.

They came to a halt after half an hour's travel, and the men dismounted.

"Popov! Krutoy! Get a perimeter set up!" barked Ivanovich, "Everyone else, get what you need and follow me!" and he marched up the hill. Igor, checking the latch on his pistol, fell into the column. Behind him, the roar of engines as they turned the vehicles around for a quicker escape.

Ivanovich had left about half the force, along with their heavier weapons, back by the trucks, while they pushed the armoured car toward the crest of a ridge so as not to alarm the beasts with engine noise, stopping at the bottom. The ground was smooth, but Igor would rather take some exercise than inform Vulcan's army of their approach through the engine noise. The ridge too, was not the steepest face Igor had ever climbed, and a dozen Soviets were soon crawling along at the top.

A whispered command halted them, and Igor lay still till he was told otherwise, becoming increasingly aware of a sharp stone digging into his ribs. The soldier beside him was listing to another, and leant over to Igor, "Comrade," he said, "the Captain has passed the word for you."

Igor nodded and made to move forward, but the soldier stopped him, "No," he hissed, "Go back behind, the beasts will see you go over the ridge!"

And so Igor awkwardly shuffled backwards on his hands and knees till he'd come a few metres down the hill. Half crouching, he picked his way between the equipment they'd brought, till another soldier indicated the turn. Igor fell on his belly again and crawled to the summit.

"Igor." he heard Ilya say, "Watch the cables and come over here."

Igor felt ahead of him, seeing a dark shape of a pack, and feeling straps and a set of wires come from it toward Ilya. He edged forward again, moving the pack, which was surprisingly heavy, as he went.

"Doctor," a whisper came from the left, Ivanovich, Igor realised, "take the rifle."

"It's loaded." Whispered Ilya as he passed it over. Igor felt the wooden stock, and managed to manoeuvre it to be able to see through the scope.

"Hold it still, hang on." Ilya said, and scrabbled about again. There was a click and Igor was suddenly able to see the whole valley, though in faded colours, and indistinctly as the distance increased.

He looked around, the closest beasts were no more than a hundred metres away, as well as one of the larger mounts, as Ilya had reported, sleeping on their feet. The beastmen themselves were dressed crudely, some with clubs or spears. Some of the larger ones had ornamentation, mostly of chains of bones. Their faces were dark, and their heads seemed ridged. Igor could see neither noses or ears

He turned the rifle and scope left, mindful to keep his finger away from the trigger, surveying the camp. The creatures were not densely packed, with definite groupings, the nature of which Igor could only speculate on. Igor had started to look deeper in the formation, when he spotted something.

"Ivanovich!" he whispered franticly, "The Minotaur is looking at us!"

"What? Give it here!"

Igor passed the rifle over hurriedly.

The Captain squinted through the scope. "I don't see him, where is he?"

"Between the two closest of the mounts, coming up from the small ridge.

"I don't see- wait, I have him."

Ivanovich was silent, no doubt considering what to do next. "Sergeant," he said, "can you kill him at four hundred metres?"

Ilya shuffled closer, "I can hit him at four hundred, but if he's more resilient I can't be sure I'll kill him."

"Take a look."

Igor passed the rifle over to Ilya.

"Doctor," Ivanovich addressed him, "can the beasts see in the dark?"

"Maybe." Igor replied, "But isn't the night vision scope just a lamp, emitting a light we can't see? The Minotaur's head looked like a mask, from what I saw of it, maybe he just has advanced technology in his mask to see in that spectrum of light."

The man, alien, whatever it was, had been wearing what looked like ornamental armour, and carrying his magic staff. He wished he'd bothered to look at the creature's hands, which might have given him more information about what was under the armour. The head however had, as Ilya had said before, been enclosed fully in a tall mask, shaped like a bull's head. But the quality of the scope was such that Igor couldn't make out any more.

Ivanovich grumbled something under his breath. He paused again. "Alright we're going in. SG-2, get ready!" he whispered louder. He passed the rifle back to Ilya, who shouldered it again, presumably toward the Minotaur.

"Well he's still coming toward us sir." Said Ilya as the soldiers readied themselves.

"Sergeant," ordered Ivanovich, "we are going in, you will cover us and provide information to Dudin." Igor saw him turn the other way, "Dudin, give us ninety seconds, then begin the illumination. After that fire at will. Do not hit us! Remember your spacing!"

"He's getting closer sir. Three hundred metres." Said Ilya.

Ivanovich hissed an expletive, "Go! Sergeant, kill him, thirty seconds then engage! Put him down!"

SG-2 started crawling down the hill, Igor hearing a clank as one of their rifles hit a rock. There was a tense few seconds where they waited to see whether the movement had been heard, but Igor looked to Ilya instead, who was making the final checks to his rifle.

"Any advice?" murmured Ilya, adjusting his scope.

"About what? You're the marksman!" Igor whispered back, still trying to see something other than different shades of black through his binoculars.

"And you're the expert on what I'm shooting at."

Igor frowned, trying to think of something profound for the occasion, then grinned, "'The only real power comes out of a long rifle.'" He quoted.

There was a grunt of amusement from Ilya, and a click of a bolt.

A crack split the night air.