Heavy fire was exchanged, almost solely full auto on the side of the OPFOR while being largely done in more tempered bursts by Squad Ajax. Hypatia had done well, the SVD eliminating several of the enemy in rapid succession. The Dragunov was a strange weapon in modern terms, not quite a DMR and not quite a sniper, but in this situation it was perfect leading to quick kills from quite afar. While the cannon fodder at the front of the local warriors were still disoriented with relation to the sniper, the men at the back with proper gear acted decisively; leaving the car he was hiding in the man in athletic gear now had an AR and plate carrier of his own, and together with one of his high-end goons the two returned fire at the sniper with the first shots landing mere millimeters from her. They were adjusting their aim, and ready to shoot again moments later. 

The squad by the Nimrs would most certainly be aware of the reduction in the volume of fire towards them as a result of Hypatia's work from the main grouping of the foe, but the Lada was approaching at a very high speed and the two FALs would be a very grave threat to the mercenaries. However, Gorgon sent out a very opportune grenade — it landed a fair distance from the moving car, but while naught of the concussive impact reached it there was also nothing to stop or slow down the shrapnel (beyond a thing sheet of glass) that turned the two men at the front into bloody messes. The two survivors in the rear passenger seats were forced to leave, and they were struck by a hail of SKS and RPD fire that insured all the warriors of the Lada were out of action. Now the mercenaries outnumbered the thugs, but they still had one gambit. One man was still in a good position to operate the DShK, even if fearful of the crossfire that the Ares employees had set up. Thus he squatted low, and after taking a quick peak to orient himself unleashed the high calibre weapon on the Nimrs. While he was blind-firing, the rate of fire and fearsome 12.7x108mm bullets were nevertheless a threat. The two men at the front of the flatbed were also still active, and the one with the SMG now felt confident in taking aimed shots in single-fire rather than small bursts in hopes of suppressing the mercs. The driver meanwhile hit the gas as hard as he could, the vehicles needing a moment to accelerate but soon moving towards the Nimrs very fast. 

Moments later the new gunner of the HMG felt confident to stand up and taking careful fire; in theory only one of the mercs would have to draw his fire, and then the rest of the squad could take him on very quickly. But nobody wanted to take that risk, and so Bakker reckoned they'd need to give them another grenade. The issue was however that the driver would most certainly have seen the explosion that got the Lada, and at even the slightest hint of a grenade would likely take evasive maneuvers. An idea struck the Dutchman, even if it felt silly as he got to executing it. He started crawling under the Nimr with his rifle, hoping he could shoot from the security of the vehicle without much fear of fire returned this way. Admittedly he could really only hit the tires and perhaps the lights from this angle, but in this desert night that just might do. As the slow crawl started, the Marine cursed himself for not having taken off his vest and helmet, the useless bits of armour making his movement very slow and troublesome.