Chapter 7 – The Shakedown
"Let's go!" Jason hissed. He wasn't happy that he had to fly on such little sleep, but given the reason he was awake, he knew that he'd get over it pretty soon. Piper was worse for wear that morning, and on the rare occasion, had decided to go without bothering to do any makeup but they were on a stealth mission after all so she shouldn't have to put anything on.
Annabeth, as per, was glaring daggers into the back of Perseus' skull, not sparing Artemis any kindness either. Thalia, as per, was grating Artemis about how she could stoop so low as to be caught red handed with Perseus, her cousin of all people to which the leader of the hunters quite neatly parried with how she knew Thalia was rubbernecking men that came into the offices. The Hunter was abruptly silenced after Artemis' argument destroying point.
A few hours later and they were in the air, it was nearly a sixteen hour flight from Texas to Dubai though, so they still had plenty of time to finalize their plans. Just like with the Kronos job there was an extra presence that they had to pinpoint as soon as possible. Tartarus, a man of renown according to Nico, someone who dubbed the title of assassin but worked for filthy blood money. He was the kind of man that would take on any mission regardless of its parameters like a dark version of Perseus.
"Yo Perce, what's the plan?" Valdez asked him as he stood up and took his dog tags off of the rack near the cockpit. They had stayed there from the very last mission that they'd all done. Of course, Perseus' had gone with him as he was the only one who remained in the mercenary business, but apart from that, they had all been there. The idea was that the dog tags of the fallen warriors would remain on the rack forever. Of course, when the seven had split up, they had put them there as a sign that they never expected to be returning to this walk of life.
Nico noticed Perseus' gaze that rested heavily on the dog tags. "Jang-a-lang, jang-a-lang." Nico whispered next to his cousin. Nico could tell that his older cousin was bothered by this mission, its dangers were untold but that had never been a worry for Perseus. Nico got the sneaking suspicion that Perseus didn't expect to make it out of this mission alive. Thalia walked over and rested her hand on Perseus' shoulder and Jason came over mere seconds after, reassuring Perseus that they all had his back.
It was HIS mission but it was also his life on the line and none of them were prepared to let him walk into Hell, at least not alone. The Grace's were going to be by his side through thick and thin and whether anyone else could sense his presence, Nico was always watching like a dark guardian angel. Perseus Jackson was the soldier of misfortune after all but there was no way that he was about to let any of the team go down like teams of his harrowing past.
"Don't worry, we'll get through this." Jason smiled but it was a sad smile, his grip on Perseus' shoulder tightened and was more reassuring than his words. The pilot returned to the cockpit to oversee their transition through the air once more. From the side of the plane, Artemis gave Perseus a solemn nod, she knew what he was thinking and she'd be damned if after everything they'd been through that she was going to lose him now.
"That's the deadliest family in the cosmos." Frank pointed out. Piper and Hazel couldn't help but laugh.
"One cousin is an assassin so deadly that nobody knows of him. One cousin is an ex-Navy SEAL and Top Gun pilot. Another cousin is a commander for an accomplished mercenary company and the final cousin is the most legendary mercenary ever." Hazel chuckled lightly. The awkward atmosphere inside the plane seemed to disappear, but Perseus knew only too well how easily something could go south.
With one final glance over to the dog tags he muttered the most important sentence ever heard amongst combat veterans, "Jang-a-lang, jang-a-lang." The dog tags that were left on the rail seemed to mirror his response as they all clanged together, a reminder of the souls that had been lost in the past. Now that Leo had retrieved his tags, everyone from the seven were wearing theirs and the only ones left were those that belonged to people that had sacrificed their lives for the sake of the mission. It weighed heavily on his heart and his emotions were as plain as day.
Artemis had never even though him capable of having such emotions but it was clear that when it came down to his brothers in arms, Perseus wasn't the cold hearted lone wolf but instead a caring man who was determined to ensure the safety of anyone under his command, even if it meant giving up his own life.
How many times had that man thrown away everything and put himself in situations where he was literally on death's door? He was the solider of misfortune because of the numerous times he'd been the sole survivor when things had gone south but nothing had yet been able to completely kill the man off. Death wasn't ready to face Perseus Jackson.
Line Break.
"Cruising over Dubai at ten thousand feet." Jason's voice came on over the intercom. Everyone saw this as their signal to gear up. Perseus had gone with the basics. Black combat trousers and boots accompanied by a waist belt that held numerous different pouches. And to top it off he had a completely black tactical vest, but to put that on he'd taken off everything else. Every pair of female eyes were on him aside from Thalia who was too busy looking down at the ground passing by them.
"OK, the idea is to parachute down the western side of Gaea's compound. Once we're inside the tower, the team that will go in from the underground will be given the green-light to infiltrate the water filtration facility at the far end of the highway that runs parallel to the compound itself. You can quickly cover ground once in the cleaning pipes and soon you'll be underneath the compound." Perseus started to explain. The team had been split into two, five with Perseus, four with Hazel and Jason was to land the plane at the airfield and get to his destination that overlooked the entire city. Once there he would be able to give sniper support during the mission should they need it. His role was more to ensure that both teams evacuated at the same time and if things went south for this mission he was going be on hand with an escape chopper in minutes.
"Anyone not clear on what they need to do?" Perseus asked them quickly, looking around. Nobody spoke up. With that, Perseus was happy and decided to wait for the green-light for the first group to get ready to parachute out. Perseus was leading the first group directly which consisted of himself, Artemis, Thalia, Nico and Annabeth. Three mercenaries, an assassin and a tech genius. They were taking the direct path, thus needing the extra fire support. Nico would be able to easily traverse any and all obstacles in their path, and Annabeth would easily overcome anything technical, their team was watertight with mobility and their skill with overcoming defense systems.
The second team was a tightly woven unit comprised of Frank and Leo as the main fighters, Leo could operate a small knowledge of tech but if anything too advanced came up, he'd have to compromise with what he had, which was often way too many explosives. Hazel was their real tech expert but it was mainly for gaining entry underground and such. Piper was almost excessively accurate and if she could also fly a plane, then she would have been the sniper support instead of Jason, but that wasn't the case, therefore she would be ground-side, working the secondary fire team. Jason was technically part of team two, but just in a different location, he was also in charge of making sure their joint rendezvous to the airfield was smooth.
Almost as soon as everyone was settled into their gear the first green-light buzzed loudly and Perseus took charge, "Good luck everyone, make sure you're all on point for this mission because if any of you die then I'm coming straight to Hell to drag your sorry asses out." He announced before pulling a balaclava down over his face and jumping out of the airplane, diving through the air at ridiculous speeds towards the tallest of three towers that sat amid a huge valley like area of low story buildings littered about the place. It was almost like a small village of sorts with three huge thrones jutting out of the front. Luckily despite how much money this company had, they were still in a civilian area and could not be permitted any automated air or ground defenses, not that it would have mattered with Leo infiltrating the compound from underground.
Team two would emerge inside one of the buildings on the southern side of the complex, while team one stormed the far right tower at the northern side of the complex. If they done it correctly, then nobody would ever know they were here and they would be off without any more people trying to find them. "Go time." Perseus muttered to himself as he shot through the sir like a bullet towards the tower he KNEW held his target, Gaea.
It only took a few minutes before all of team one had landed on the roof of the tower without having their stealth broken. There had been a number of sentries posted there but they had all been taken out with minimal precise shots, half of which had come from Nico, the other half straight from Perseus. Once they were all on the roof, they hooked themselves up to the side of the building and waiting for team two to get in position. "You guys all there yet?" He asked over the radio that sat comfortably on his shoulder, it was plugged directly into the earpiece that coiled around his head. It was the only way he wasn't losing it after a parachute entry.
There was a few minutes of silence before a response came back, "Team two in position, waiting for your go." Hazel answered him quietly, it seemed that she wasn't immensely happy with her current location but he couldn't blame her. She was an expert underground but that didn't change the fact that he'd made her task rather morbid by having her march half a mile through a sewer to get to her checkpoint.
"Enjoy the sewers Valdez." Percy commented over the radio. There was a shuffle in the background before Leo responded. Perseus could already tell just by the fact that Leo was replying at all that the manic mechanic was harboring a huge grin.
"I'd take the sewers over being with my ex and my current girlfriend any day Jackson." Leo responded with a chuckle before the radio cut off. Even while traversing the side of a skyscraper, Perseus could literally feel the burning hatred emanating from Annabeth's cold grey eyes. "Prick." Perseus muttered over the radio before cutting it entirely. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Annabeth was almost seething with hatred towards him and by extension, Artemis. From the other side, he could see Artemis smiling quite happily, that was what she loved hearing. Ignoring the sensation of eyes boring into him, Perseus finally managed to get into position on the windows of the correct floor. Annabeth lined up on one side and Artemis and Thalia were on his other side. Nico was... Somewhere? They were a thousand feet up at least and Nico was still hidden.
"Nico!" Perseus whispered harshly, desperately looking around to find him. All Perseus seemed to be able to see was Nico's line casually swaying in the wind. He hadn't fallen, there was no way, so where the Hades had he gone?
"What?" He heard his cousin's annoyed voice literally right above him. That was when he noticed Grim's small outline, sticking to the shadows reflected outwards by the windows. There was little light as it was but it always seemed like the darkness naturally shrouded around Nico.
"Stop hiding!" Perseus responded quickly in a hushed hiss. This was NOT the time to be doing that unseen thing, it could wait until they were at least inside the tower.
"I wasn't?" Nico told him in confusion. He genuinely wasn't attempting to be stealthy at all, not just yet. But he was so adept to being sneaky that he was able to beat the impeccable senses of these combat veterans without even trying. Perseus felt sorry for all of his contracted targets, they would never really have a chance against the Angel of Death.
"Fine, whatever. This is our entry point. Everyone create your window." Perseus whispered softly. They all immediately got out a number of tools then silently went about creating large circles to be cut straight from the windows. Each plasma cutter had about thirty seconds of decent charge so the windows were a rush job in total, but Nico held a spare in case anyone had run out before their windows were formed. Silently the group all moved into the building. One by one they all rendezvoused in the central room where Perseus and Nico had gained entry.
"Team two what's your status?" Perseus asked them now that team one was in position and ready to start their assault.
"Awaiting your signal team one." Hazel's voice responded calmly. That meant they were directly beneath them by about a thousand feet and waiting to storm into the small village of houses that had been built directly on Gaea and Tartarus' skyscraper compound. The property was theirs completely, they could do what they liked, but Perseus couldn't help but feel it would have been easier to just build another tower to house staff. It wasn't like they were lacking in funds at all.
"You have the green light team two. We're about to start our assault. Give it ten minutes and all staff will be converging on our location. We're on the hundred and fifty second floor. When you get in, eliminate ground-side resistance and seal off the tower. Work your way up floor by floor. We'll see you soon, good hunting team two." Perseus told them before cutting off the radio.
"So what's our plan?" Nico asked him curiously.
"Basically hold off until they get here, having worked their way up the tower. Annabeth, once the fighting starts and we've established a safe place to operate, you need to cut off power to the entire building. We'll switch to our night vision and split into two teams. Nico, Thalia and Annabeth, you guys take one stairwell and eliminate any tangos that try to get in. Myself and Artemis will take the other stairwell and do the same. Remember to always check your targets. It won't take long for team two to work through one hundred and fifty floors. Remember, they have the vitals scanner. I'll keep the radio channels open so that we can actively relay information." Perseus told them all confidently. There was a reason that both he and Jason were natural leaders.
"Team two, one final thing. We're going to be holed up waiting for you to join us, and most likely shooting at anything coming through the doors to the stairwells. Give us a warning when you're on floor one fifty. Over." Perseus spoke into his radio once more. He received an acknowledgment before leaving the channel open for anymore communications.
"Let's do this then." He began as he cocked his gun and stood up, this was the part of the job that he enjoyed
"Loud and proud?" Nico asked him. Receiving a grin from the considerably taller cousin.
"All guns blazing." Perseus confirmed as he ran towards the door that led to the hallways and burst off a few rounds, effectively getting the attention of every guard in the building. The other four members of team one sprawled out around him, covering the hallway intersection expertly. Their tactics allowed them to cover every aspect of this floor while Annabeth worked on the main power line. Cutting it electronically in less than a minute.
"If you want to announce anything to the tower, you've got one chance now before I eliminate every communications output aside from our own radios." Annabeth told Perseus as she tapped him on the shoulder, offering him the small microphone that she'd managed to patch into their systems, she knew he was one to add a bit of dramatic flair onto things at the best of times.
"Hmm, not bad." He muttered before taking hold of the microphone. Just what did she mean by announce to the tower? He was about to find out either way. "This is Perseus Jackson." He spoke loud and true, his voice echoing over the entire tower. It probably had far more effect as they'd cut almost all power only seconds before. "Gaea, I'm coming for you." He handed the microphone back to Annabeth who unplugged the entire thing before switching off every source of power in the building. There was no doubt an emergency generator that would soon bring the upper floors back online with power so they had to move fast in order to make the most out of the discord they'd caused.
"Switch to night vision." Perseus ordered and within seconds they did so. A brief moment of silence before they heard the gunfire of team two, well over a hundred floors below them.
"Status?" Perseus asked without bothering to look back. He didn't dare take his eyes off of the hallway that he was working through. The earpiece he had in was attuned just to team one, while the radio on his shoulder was set for team two.
"Golden. Floor is clear, moving to stairwells." Annabeth confirmed, the angry tone in her voice was significantly lesser, there was no way that she could be both angry at Perseus and focused on the mission, and she refused to die because she couldn't let go of a grudge, so for the time being, he was off the hook. Perseus nodded casually and made a swift hand motion for Artemis to follow him. A few seconds later and they were both at the southern stairwell.
"Status?" Perseus asked once more.
"In position." Thalia told him. Then the tangos started to file up and down the stairs. Gaea and Tartarus were really sending everything they had to take them down. Everything was going fine until a booming voice echoed throughout the stairwell that Perseus and Artemis were guarding.
"Oh yes, feel free to come into my home and start shooting my guards, after all it's what you did to my son!" The hateful voice of Tartarus echoed throughout the building.
"It was just business, nothing personal. Tartarus I assume? Wait, did you say he was your son?" Perseus responded. Everything was quiet this end of the tower and he had no idea why.
"He wasn't of my loins but I raised the boy and taught him everything he knew. He was my son through a matter of pride and principle, and you killed him, so I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart, Jackson." Tartarus spat back. "Turn on the backup generators!" Tartarus' booming voice held such dark authority. A moment later the light had burnt through the highly sensitive goggles that they were all wearing.
"Ahh! Retinas! Seared like tuna steaks!" Perseus screamed in angst as he quickly ripped the ultra sensitive eyewear away from his face. He cursed something in a language that nobody recognized as he rubbed his eyes vigorously.
A voice burst through the radios that worried Perseus to no end, "Perseus we need assistance, Leo dived in front of a shot that would have hit Frank. He's losing blood fast, get down here Perseus!" Piper demanded.
"Oh go ahead, take the elevator, the power's back on after all." Tartarus grinned. Now that Perseus had finally seen him, he could tell that this was going to be a tough fight.
"Shit. Annabeth, you and Nico take the elevator down to team two, assist them in any way possible. Artemis, go and reinforce the second stairwell with Thalia." Perseus grunted through gritted teeth.
"What about you?" Artemis responded quickly. The worry in her face was evident, she had her gun constantly trained on Tartarus and she could have ended it all straight away but HIS word was final and he had a very prideful sense of principality. He HAD been the one to kill Kronos so in fighting against his father, he would at least allow the man to choose how they fought among themselves to the death, it was only fair.
"Unless I'm mistaken, it looks like Tartarus wants to do things the old fashioned way." Perseus grinned, taking off his utility belt that held all of his various pockets of ammunition, pulling out Kronos' blade from the back of his pocket he squared up to the intimidating frame of the cold blooded killer in front of him. To Artemis it was like looking at two sides of the same coin. Tartarus was an impeccable representation of everything dark inside Perseus' soul.
"You'd be correct Perseus. One shall stand-" Tartarus began, pulling out his own knife. It was the exact same jagged shape as Kronos' except this one was blood red tinted with what looked like sulfuric brimstone.
"-and one shall fall." They both quickly converged on each other, teeth bared and blades in hand. It was sure to be one Hades of a fight but no one else was going to be capable of taking Tartarus down, this was something that Perseus HAD to do in order to keep the mission going. He wasn't sure whether or not he'd be surviving this but he knew that soon enough, one of them would be lying in a pool of their own blood, or worse.
A/N: Review?