"This doesn't bode well, does it?" Lisa remarked.

"Definitely not," A responded.

"So, what's our next move?" Lisa inquired.

"We need to secure the rooftop. Expect SWAT teams rappelling down from helicopters," A said, throwing the empty bullet box from his machine gun and snapping a fresh one into place.

"Got it. I'll take out the sniper," Lisa replied, slinging her MDR rifle onto her back and switching it out for her M700 Remington.

"Smart choice."

"Are we good to go?" A asked, positioning himself by the door.

"Locked and loaded," Lisa confirmed, inspecting the chamber of her rifle to make sure it was properly loaded.

Aligning herself beside the door, Lisa got into position. A lobbed a grenade her way, which she skillfully caught. She yanked the pin out, her fingers gripping the grenade tightly as she readied herself for what came next.

"On my count. Three, two, one—now," A said, cautiously easing the door open.

With a swift motion, Lisa hurled the grenade onto the rooftop. She silently counted to herself, "One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, one thousand four."

The grenade's detonation reverberated across the rooftop, sending shards of shrapnel flying in every direction. A cloud of dust and debris billowed into the air, momentarily obscuring the view. For a brief instant, there was silence, a pause in the frenetic pace of action that had marked their mission. Bursting through the door, Lisa and A held their weapons at the ready, their senses heightened. The grenade had served its purpose—disorienting any would-be assailants—but they remained vigilant, knowing that other threats could still be lurking.

"Sniper! Get down!" Lisa urgently pushed A behind an HVAC unit for cover.

Peering cautiously over the unit, Lisa's eyes scanned the dimming light for the telltale glint of a sniper's scope. Spotting it, she quickly adjusted the distance on her M700 Remington. Taking a deep breath to steady her aim, she exhaled slowly as her finger tightened on the trigger. The rifle's shot rang out, reverberating across the rooftop, and in the next instant, the sniper was neutralized.

"Sniper's down," Lisa said, quickly reloading her weapon.

"Nice shot. We need to establish a landing zone for our extraction, let's move," A commanded, rising from his makeshift cover.

Navigating through a labyrinth of HVAC units and satellite dishes, they kept their eyes peeled for additional threats. Out of nowhere, a barrage of automatic gunfire erupted from the far corner of the rooftop, forcing them to take cover behind a sturdy concrete parapet.

"Two hostiles behind that generator," Lisa noted.

"I've got it," A said, gripping his machine gun firmly. He waited for a momentary lull in the gunfire before leaning out and unleashing a torrent of bullets. The machine gun roared, drowning out every other sound. When the gun fell silent, so did the area behind the generator.

"Clear. Let's advance," A signaled, reloading his machine gun. Both moved cautiously but swiftly toward the generator.

"Watch out!" Lisa suddenly shouted, alerting them to a new danger.

A police helicopter swooped overhead, its rotors slicing through the air. A SWAT officer, seated in the open doorway, was clutching an M249 machine gun. Recognizing the imminent threat, Lisa dove for cover behind the generator, quickly shouldering her rifle and taking aim at the airborne target. She zeroed in on the gunner and pulled the trigger.

The bullet found its mark, striking the officer in the torso. To her frustration, he barely flinched; his heavy body armor had absorbed the impact. He immediately retaliated, unleashing a hail of bullets onto the rooftop.

Lisa muttered a curse, swiftly working the bolt on her rifle to chamber another round. She aimed for a headshot this time, but before she could get a clean shot, the helicopter veered toward her, filling the air with another barrage of machine-gun fire.

"A, could use some suppressing fire here!" Lisa yelled, switching back to her assault rifle.

Unleashing a volley of bullets at the helicopter, Lisa quickly realized that her rounds were having little effect; they were ricocheting off what must have been armored plating. She emptied her magazine, hoping against hope that she might hit a vulnerable spot, but to no avail. Swapping in a new magazine, she realized it was her last one.

"Damn it, last magazine," Lisa muttered, as bullets continued to rain down from above.

A was nowhere in sight. Had he been hit? She quickly dismissed the thought; his armor was almost impervious to the 5.56mm rounds the gunner was using, with perhaps the exception of his helmet, and even that was a long shot. Deciding that further action was futile, Lisa chose to bide her time, waiting for the helicopter's gunner to deplete his ammo. She noted that the helicopter was circling the building, creating a blind spot that she could potentially use to reposition and find A.

Observing that the helicopter gunner had also ceased fire, Lisa surmised he was conserving ammunition just as she was. Knowing she had to act fast, she was startled to hear sounds of a struggle coming from behind the generator. Peeking around the corner, rifle at the ready, she was puzzled to see A's machine gun lying on the ground.

As she dashed toward the weapon, the sound of metal clashing against an HVAC unit caught her ear. Turning in that direction, she saw A in a hand-to-hand combat with a SWAT officer, who was armed with a baton and wearing night vision goggles.

"What the hell?" Lisa muttered, leveling her rifle at the officer.

In a swift motion, the officer hurled his baton toward her. It hit Lisa square in the forehead, disorienting her. Taking advantage of her momentary vulnerability, the officer charged and executed a dropkick that sent her sprawling to the ground. Still dazed, Lisa could barely defend herself as the officer stomped on her face, retrieved his baton, and kicked her down again. Each blow seemed to rattle her senses more, making it increasingly difficult for Lisa to mount any form of resistance. Her MDR was knocked away during the scuffle, leaving her even more vulnerable.

As the officer's baton arched downward for another strike, a thunderous sound echoed through the air—A had lunged at the SWAT officer, taking him off balance and sending both men sprawling onto the ground in a tangle of limbs. Lisa shook her head to clear the mental fog, wincing as she felt the wetness of blood trickling down her forehead.

With a powerful headbutt, the officer managed to disorient A momentarily, then executed a swift flip to regain his standing position. A shook off the impact and steadied himself just as the officer lunged at him, baton aimed for a decisive blow. But before it could make contact, a bullet zipped through the air, missing the officer but startling him enough to throw off his aim.

It was Lisa, who had fired the shot in an attempt to give A the opening he needed. Still grappling with her own disorientation from the earlier kicks and the baton strike, her aim was off, but it had achieved its immediate goal—buying A a crucial moment to act.

Capitalizing on the momentary distraction, A swiftly aimed a kick at the officer's chest, causing him to stagger back. Regaining his composure almost immediately, the officer shifted his focus to Lisa, landing a roundhouse kick that smashed her head against the HVAC unit. Lisa shook her head, fighting through the disorientation to stay conscious. Before she could fully recover, the officer forcefully slammed her head into the HVAC unit with his hand. She felt blood flowing from her mouth as her jaw slammed against the edge of the HVAC unit.

Just then, A lunged at the officer from behind, taking him down in a tackle. They hit the ground in a tangle, each landing punches and kicks in a desperate struggle for control. For a moment, A managed to pin the officer's arms to the ground. Undeterred, the officer used his leg strength to unseat A, flipping him over and breaking free.

Just as the tension reached a boiling point, Lisa steadied her aim and unleashed a hail of bullets from her MDR at the officer. By the time half her magazine was empty, the man crumpled to the ground, incapacitated. Lisa attempted to speak, but the pain in her jaw stopped her; it felt like something was broken due to the brutal head-smashing.

A limped over to Lisa, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side. "L, are you okay?"

Unable to speak because of the pain, Lisa gave him a thumbs-up while gesturing to her jaw to indicate she couldn't talk.

"My left arm's broken. Can you grab the machine gun?" A asked.

Nodding, Lisa picked up the PKP from the ground. Just then, the police helicopter reappeared, its gunner opening fire as it passed over them. But this time, Lisa couldn’t help but to give out a grin behind that balaclava-covered face. She aimed the PKP at the helicopter and unleashed a barrage of 7.62x54R rounds. The helicopter wobbled, lost control, and crashed into an adjacent building.

"Finally, that's over," A muttered.

Just when they thought they could catch their breath, the sound of whirling blades filled the air again. Another helicopter, a UH-60 Blackhawk this time, approached them. It was bristling with weaponry. Lisa aimed the PKP at the new threat, but A gently lowered the gun.

"That's our ride, L," he said, a sense of relief washing over both of them as they prepared to board.