The first mercenary to hit their position took Varo's pistol shot through the chest from thirteen feet away.
It punched through the left side of the man's chest and buried itself inside him, dumping the full force of the shot into flesh and bone. The mercenary's legs failed immediately. He crashed through the dead leaves and undergrowth with the heavy noise of a body hitting ground too tangled to absorb the impact cleanly.
Varo already had his second pistol out. He found the next target before the first man stopped moving.
His squad fired along the position, each soldier engaging whatever threat reached him first. The front of the charge broke apart almost as soon as it entered the trees. The mercenaries behind them still hadn't understood the kill zone they'd run into.
Three men dropped in the first few seconds. Two others hesitated and looked for another way through, only to realize the flanks were covered too.
