Viking noticed the incoming barrage and started running in a direction that he thought and hoped was safe from the trajectory and blast radii of the rapidly descending artillery. At the last opportunity before impact, he dived forward into an evasive roll. He was almost recovered from the maneuver, which should end in a crouched position, but the shell which he had so narrowly evaded detonated behind him, sending forth a shock wave which interrupted the end of the maneuver, causing him to be pushed forward, resulting in the operative to be forced face down on the ground.
There he lied, near the tree line, for a few moments before he could make a recovery. Viking didn't move until the explosions had ceased. When his hearing started returning, he could hear the sounds of melee combat behind him over the sharp ring in his ears. The temporary deafness wore off slowly, getting progressively better with each massing second.
Looking around with his eyes, Viking couldn't detect any signs of immediate danger, other than whomever the combatants were behind him, it being safe to assume the one of them was Fox. And so, Viking made an effort to get to his feet again, using his arms, knees and feet. He was able to stiffly right himself, wincing mildly as he ignored the numerous small bruises, scrapes and cuts he had acquired. His injuries were, however, minor and he would more than be able to continue.
Viking brushed himself as he turned around. When he looked up he found that his assumption had been correct. Gray Fox was engaged in combat with an adversary unknown to Viking. But there was no reason not to believe the maniacal fighter was affiliated with Ares. Not wanting to interrupt, Viking stood there watching the two powerful warriors clash. Like most things, Viking understood the concept of why he shouldn't interfere. He typically understood most peoples' views of concepts and ideas. Whether or not he agreed with them was entirely different. In this case, if hew didn't know Fox would disapprove of Viking's aid, he would have charged, in guns blazing, in a heart beat. That was the practical and arguably the most intelligent thing to do. But Viking respected Fox, as well as trusted in his abilities. Fox was more than capable of handling himself.
There was a sliding and chinking of metal, coupled with the scuffling of feed and clothing that came from behind. Viking instinctively dropped down and turned, pulling out one of his pistols. He had been correct and instantly began to fire upon the enemy force that had attempted to ambush his position. Viking managed to inflict critical wounds in many of the soldiers. A few were temporarily disabled, and a couple shots had been lethal.
Viking dove to the side to evade the hail of fire of those that remained. They all wielded automatic rifles, of which they held down the trigger and pointed in his general direction. A sign of poor marksmanship. These could not have been the highest level of troops Ares had to offer. Hell, not even mid level. No, these men were probably the lowest ranked soldiers, and were, as one would guess, easy to dispatch. This is something that Viking did with minimal effort. He did so by drawing his second pistol, the first was low on rounds. With a gun in each hand, he unloaded the remainder of his first clip and many shots from his fresh one into the chests and heads of the Ares scouting squad.
Once he'd finished firing and the uninvited guests lie strewn about the ground, Viktor rose up to his full height and surveyed the scene before him, noting the clashing of the two behind him that was still taking place. He walked forward to inspect the downed squadron. He gave each corpse a swift, steel-toed, nudge to the closest sensitive area to ensure that each man was indeed no longer living. The few that groaned or moved were quickly silenced by a bullet to the skull.
After Viking was certain they were all dead, he rummaged through the contents of their uniforms and what not for anything of use. He mostly just stocked up on ammunition. Viking then forsook the bodies and began walking out to the field of fresh craters, causally replacing the empty clips in his pistols with a fresh pair. Stopping at the tree line, he looked out to the field of battle at his comrade who was expertly holding his own against the unknown foe, whom was equally masterful in the ways of combat.
Viking once again felt the urge to assist, though he quickly suppressed his pragmatism and thought of a different plan with which to assist his brother in arms. Holstering his pistols, Viking climbed the tree he was standing next to. There he sat, perched, remaining vigilant of the surrounding area. He reached up and over his back, moving past his shotgun, to retrieve his rifle from one his two back carrying cases.
"You take care of him," Viking said softly to Fox, aware of the fact that Fox would not hear him, "and I'll make sure no one interrupts you."
