Deadly fight

Just as the flare came into view, One of the newly arrived hovercrafts shot off a missile. Maxiell's command had been expected, and the pilots were trained soldiers. They had already locked onto the place where the flare was shot from. Even if they did not manage to hit the team, they could disorient them a little. 

From the other craft, a missile was also launched. Only, this mission was headed towards the enemy hovercraft. Since they were done tracking the craft, it too would be exterminated. 

"Run!" When Joel saw the two missiles, he leapt from the tree he'd been surveilling from. He didn't even bother explaining what he'd seen. Seeing this, everyone also scattered, each running off in a different direction.

After barely three seconds of flight time, a loud explosion followed by a massive mushroom cloud was formed in the forest, illuminating the canopies that had not seem light since the forest was formed. 

Haiser, Joel, Cate and the others were all thrown by the force of impact, causing them to go tumbling in the direction they were running from. Each person was spotting different bruises from the energy burst. 

From the air, the pilots saw a crater had been formed. The trees surrounding the crater had also not been spared, each broken off and falling away from the blast. 

As for the other missile, the Iresal craft deployed flairs at the last minute, successfully defending themselves. Unfortunately for the pilot, that was the last set of flairs available to him. He had used up quite a lot in the previous fight, and now, he only had that last burst. Should he be locked on again, he had to either maneuver his craft accordingly or watch it get destroyed.

However, just as he was stabilizing his craft, the warning signals on his dashboard started going off once more. The enemy hovercraft was locked on him again, and a missile had been fired. Given the short distance between the two crafts, and factoring in the missile's flight speed, there was just not enough time to evade or dodge the missile. 

Bracing himself, the pilot grabbed the eject lever. Moments before the missile hit, a man and chair were seen shooting from the hovercraft, followed by a loud explosion as the missile found its mark. 

Looking from his monitor, Maxiell was happy. After destabilizing the hovercraft, the enemy team would not have an easy ride. He could whittle them down from the air. He didn't have to give the order. The hovercraft pilots had already switched on thermal-goggles, scanning for any humans still alive.

Just as the Iresal hovercraft was crashing, a crack was heard from the ground. The next moment, the rear hovercraft, the one responsible for shooting down the Iresal craft, started wobbling. 

At first, Maxiell did not understand what was happening. Quickly, he had his subordinates get in touch with the hovercraft pilot, but there was no reply. Looking at the windscreen of the hovercraft, there was a gaping hole. Putting two and two together, he did not need to see the craft go down to know that the pilot was already down. 

"Pull out! Watch for snipers!" He suddenly shouted at the other hovercraft. However, his warning came too late. A crack was heard once more, and then, a gaping hole appeared on the craft's windscreen. This was just moments before the craft jerked as the pilot made evasive maneuvers.

Perhaps Maxiell deserved some good fortune, or maybe the warning was not too late. The pilot was bleeding from his left cheek, but it was nothing more than a fresh wound. Had he not responded so fast, the bullet would have blown up his cranium. 

In addition to evasion, the pilot had also caught sight of a muzzle flash. He now knew were the enemy sniper was. A sinister smile flashed across the pilot's face. You've had your shot, now its my turn.

Circling the air like the seasoned pilot he was, the Laventine corporation's hovercraft made a beautiful arch as it oriented its firing turrets towards its target. Pulling the trigger, the pilot fired off multiple heavy assault rounds onto the sniper's position from his high powered machine gun. 

Joel, who had been concealed behind a fallen tree, sort to make himself tinier as he endured the onslaught of heavy bullets. Such bullets could even tear apart a mech suit, or a full armored tank, let alone soft tissue. All he could do was try and make himself as small and inconspicuous as possible, but that was no small feat. 

Suddenly, an explosion occurred. From the ground, one could tell that the machine gun's turret on the hovercraft had been hit. Felix could not believe how wonderful the smart bullet had worked.

After locking onto the hovercraft, Felix knew that he needed a soft target. Unfortunately, he couldn't see the shooter, and even if he did, he couldn't shoot the man with his smart bullets. The only alternative, one that was emitting heat, was the machine gun turret. 

After making his shot, Felix watched as the turret blew up. The smart bullet had incendiary tips that would ignite and explode upon contact. Whether the bullets found the turret itself, or shot at one of the high-velocity rounds coming from its muzzle, the results were the same. The gun was out of commission, no longer a threat. 

The pilot took some time, but he too realized that the machine gun was not firing off despite his urging. Thinking quickly, he immediately switched from guns back to missile. He had three missiles left on him, which was why he hadn't wanted to waste them. 

Locking on the sniper's location, he intended to be done with this annoying guy before he could continue search for the others.

Tiiiip!

Just as his dashboard was giving him the positive feedback responsive, the pilot felt a sharp pain coming from his shoulder. Somehow, someone had managed to snipe where he was, but coming from the side. 

The next moment, a flash emerged from where he had locked on. Without even time to think, the pilot instantly died as a huge bullet lodged itself onto his left eye, blowing up a significant part of the left side of his head. 

With no one left to control it, the hovercraft started gliding slowly, until it crashed on the ground.