Good thing the warehouse doors were a strong corrugated metal. Not exactly bulletproof, but at least they weren't shooting armor piercing rounds. From a covered upper turret, which was really nothing more than a lift with a platform, facing a cut-out in the wall, Marcus was stationed. There was one on each side, and Mike was stationed at the other. Alexa and Astro had taken cover behind some large metal crates, positioned away from the large doors, which were currently being shot at. Mike only had two pair of night-vision goggles, so had to give them to the best marksmen. Mike didn't have a sniper rifle in his small arsenal, but he did have two sub-machine guns, and they were putting them to good use.
All jokes aside, Marcus was not in a laughing mood. The large "W" on the sides of the vehicle did nothing but give him the green light to kill them. All employees, especially the militant ones, were fair game for killing. In his mind, they had captured or killed Jasmine, so they should be dead. Before all this, Marcus had never seriously considered killing anyone. He thought about it in passing when it came to his mother and father, but had never truly considered or planned it out. It frightened him that it had come easily to him. He felt little remorse over the act. He also felt an extreme surge in aggression since being administered their little serum. It couldn't all be attributed to that though. Seriously, if he thought about it, didn't he walk around in a perpetual state of anger anyway? All the pent-up frustration, anger, hurt, helplessness, all rolled into the mind and heart of a sixteen-year-old boy. A boy who only wanted to go to school, maybe be a UFC fighter, and who wanted his sister back. So, since all those things resided within him, Marcus decided to use it to his advantage. These people would hurt like he was hurting. Their families would feel loss, like he felt loss, and like those families of the people they kidnapped and killed and used felt loss. They thought maybe they would use him too. Create a weapon. He supposed they had done it at least a little bit. He could see better, he was more muscular, he was taller, he was stronger, and he was secretly proud that certain other "parts" were much larger also.
Marcus stopped sort of mindlessly spraying the armored trucks. There was ample ammunition, but it wasn't endless. No need to waste bullets. He breathed out slowly, got a firmer grip on the gun, and took more careful aim. First, the drivers. Marcus took out both. The gunmen were next. The Humvees had small gun turrets mounted on the back in a small tailgate. Just enough room for a single person to perch behind it, and spray. Mike couldn't get the best aim on them, but with his superior eyesight and steady hand, Marcus took it easy. He took another deep breath and let it out, then he squeezed the trigger again. The gun erupted in a short burst of rounds, and the man at the gun turret fell over the back of the vehicle into the gravel below. One more to go. Marcus trained the gun upon him. Now, the gunman was aiming a little higher to where he thought Marcus' shots were coming from. No time to take it slow. Marcus was not behind any real cover whenever he was taking a shot, and a good spray would get him anyway. He took the shot quickly, cutting the man down before he could get a good bead on their position. It was suddenly rather quiet, as the staccato of the big guns were quieted.
"Astro, Lex, go! Go!" Mike called. The window was small. Marcus kept a spray around the gun turrets to prevent anyone else from taking up that position. Hurriedly, the two rushed from behind cover over to the large sliding doors.
"They're coming out! Keep the woman alive!" they heard one of the men yell.
Astro was the better shot of the two, so Lex pulled the door enough to create a crack big enough to shoot through.
"Come get some bitcheeeeess!" Astro yelled and opened fire. The spray wasn't as wild as his laughing would have led one to believe. In fact, he was pretty accurate, but then again you couldn't help but be accurate at such close range. One down, then another. Lex opened fire, as an all-out shootout ensued. She noticed Astro was bleeding on his arm, apparently having been shot, but there was nothing to be done about it at this point.
Mike decided that it was time to end this. He paused shooting to survey his small arsenal. He had ten grenades, and four canisters of tear gas. The men were armored, but they had come light, and not at all prepared for a full assault. He thought about the grenades, but then thought about the Humvees. They could use a vehicle like that, especially considering the state of the city. They had been relegated to making quick runs for short distances, and had quickly learned to steer clear of anything that even remotely resembled police or military personnel. So, tear gas it was. He had just enough gas masks for the four of them. Taking the canister and popping the pin like a regular grenade, Mike tossed it out of his little murder-hole.
"Fall back! Fucking tear gas!" One of them men yelled, as he stopped shooting in order to cover his eyes and mouth.
"Let's go!" Mike yelled as he gathered his ammunition and placed it into his duffel bag, and hopped down from the perch.
They all gathered around and put on the gas masks.
"Kill all of them. We take one truck and destroy the other," Mike ordered, as they all moved out into the gas fog. The men had stopped shooting, but were staggering around blindly, trying desperately not to succumb to the gas.
The small group had donned their gas masks, and headed out together. They were each holding on to the person in front of them. Lex had replaced her gun with her spear and thrust it into the chest of the first man she'd found stumbling in the fog. Mike had gotten out his pistol, and delivered a headshot to the next man. Marcus opted for bear hands, and one of the last men stumbled towards him, weapon drawn and aimed at him. A few clicks let Marcus know the gun was empty. In a flash of sudden rage, Marcus grabbed the man and snapped his neck. He fell in a crumpled heap. Meanwhile, Mike tossed a grenade into one truck and they all hopped into the other.
"Go, go, go!" Astro urged to Mike who had jumped into the driver's seat. They peeled off in a hurry, only getting halfway down the service road leading to the warehouse rear entrance before they heard the muted sound of a Humvee exploding behind them.
"Where're we headed now Mike?" Alexa asked as he accelerated through the streets.
"We have to see what's actually happening. The FEMA camps were setup in Queens, and the Bronx. We're closer to Queens, so that's where we're headed," he answered.
"Okay, but why?" She queried, afraid of the answer. He shrugged and glanced over to her. Her face was pinched with worry. He was about to answer before they had to slow down. There was no traffic, but the streets were littered with large pieces of debris.
"It's like a war zone," Astro commented as they all looked on in astonishment. The closer they got to the encampments in Queens, the more destruction they saw. Buildings were on fire, stores were looted and destroyed as the rioting had run its course. There were a few people straggling along, randomly picking through the trash for whatever they could find. The small group had been lucky so far. The warehouse had been well-stocked with MREs, water, canned goods, and weapons.
"Tell me about it," Mike finally replied. "I was in L.A during the Rodney King riot in the 90s. It looked just like this. Afghanistan doesn't look much different, I can tell you that," Mike said. Marcus just shook his head.
"This isn't all riot damage," Alexa commented. She pointed at the blackened exterior of a large apartment building.
"I see it. Why the hell would they be shooting at a residential building like that?" He asked quietly, as he peered through the passenger side window to get a better look. The building seemed completely abandoned. It was pitch black inside, and half destroyed. The few people straggling along the street, gave the building a wide berth, going so far as to cross the street, all while casting fearful glances back at it.
Alexa looked at Mike with wide eyes, then looked back at the building as they slowly passed it.
"Mike? You think, you think those damn demons were way out here?" She asked, again fearful of his response.
"I can't think of any other reason, Lex. This was a fire-fight. They were trying to kill something here. Keep your eyes peeled everybody," he called out to everyone, and tried to find a clearer route towards the encampment.
[][][][][]
Bishop scowled at what he saw. His hands were still in his pockets, as he peered upwards towards to ceiling of the empty one-story office building they had setup as a command center.
"Cut them down, now," he commanded, as he turned around to see his lieutenant. The man was clearly shaken, but doing an admirable job of holding it together. It was clear he'd never seen anything quite like the sight of three of his best men, hung upside down and skinned like deer.
"Sir, we have reason to believe that who-whatever did this, is still at large. I haven't allowed the rest of my men to see this, but I have put them on notice. One more thing, sir. We've found the main hive, but we don't have the manpower to overtake it. Any special instructions?" The lieutenant asked.
"Watch your collective asses. Oh, and welcome our insectoid guests," Bishop said, clapping the man on his shoulder before moving off.
"Sir? Welcome them how?" the man asked, not liking the blank stare he was receiving.
"How else lieutenant? Introduce them to the wide world above," Bishop said, spreading his arms wide to emphasize his point, and smiling grimly. "Give the hunter something to hunt," he added, and left the man to contemplate the repercussions of that.
[][][][][]
Kujhade's hunt had led him here rather than underground. They'd found his calling card, and were now alerted. Good. He trilled quietly to himself, as he perched on the roof, looking through the skylight. He watched the humans go back and forth, rushing about in a state of not-quite-panic. By his count, there were no less than thirty armed humans here. He'd overheard the order given, but could not completely decipher it. He gave his gauntlet a few taps and sent the sound clip to Jasmine. He then scanned the building again, his blood running hot with the prospect of the challenge. Assaulting a human stronghold was one thing he hadn't done before. He usually relied on more stealthy methods, only going for more direct attacks as the hunt reached its climactic end. He had been watching their patterns for a short while. There were a lot of humans here, but killing the first three had been easy. They had not been expecting him at all, and he'd killed them, skinned them, and collected their spines before they could set off an alarm. However, now that he'd announced himself, he needed to be careful. The space was confined and did not lend itself to stealth maneuvering or camouflage. Once he entered it and began to kill these humans, he would have little room to flank or protect himself. He could withstand a lot of gunfire before he fell, but why take unnecessary injury? After all, there were still kiande amedha to hunt, and if he'd heard right, they were going to unleash them among the human population.
He watched and listened as the man spoke into a device, and began to gather a few men to himself. Kujhade's instincts told him to follow this man, as he would lead him straight to the hard meats, and there Kujhade could kill them all in one fell swoop. The men took off in a large armed and armored transport, and Kujhade followed close behind. If a human in top physical condition could reach a speed of at least 25-30m.p.h at a dead sprint, then a yautja in top condition, could sustain speeds anywhere between 45-50m.p.h. Lucky for Kujhade, the vehicle couldn't travel that fast. It picked its way east of encampment, then turned in a more southerly direction. Kujhade kept them in his sights, keeping good pace over the rooftop terrain. The humans built their dwellings closely, and so it was easy to leap from one structure to the next.
Before long, they reached a tall building which seemed devoid of any human or other life. Kujhade perched on the edge of a rooftop just across the street from this building, and watched. He scanned the area, and found exactly what the men were looking for. The building itself was infested with kiande amedha. The signs of their nest were all over the interior. He watched as the men cautiously exited the vehicle, weapons at the ready. They wouldn't make it. Kiande amedha were most active at night where they could scarcely be seen or detected until it was too late. As he scanned, Kujhade could see them pouring up from the depths of the structure, to enter the street level. In complete silence, they flanked the doomed men. They were of large number, and as Kujhade watched the drones prepare for the assault, the magnitude of this infestation dawned on him. He was sure that this was not the only nest. It didn't have a queen inside it, or else the attack would have been even swifter than this. Quickly, he scanned his immediate surroundings, not wanting to be ambushed himself. There was nothing. Apparently, he had not been detected but his cover was about to be blown momentarily.
The ten-man-team split up into two groups of five. They each went to either side of the building, unaware that they were being watched, and about to be attacked. They would provide a good distraction for the hard meats. Kujhade plotted his course. As with the brief trek here, the rooftops were close and there was ample space to maneuver however he needed. The sudden report of gunfire erupted below as the hard meats began their attack. There were so many. Kujhade engaged both plasma cannons, one rigged to each shoulder. The blue pulse blistered the pavement below, obliterating an entire flank of hard meats. The cries of those still alive, rent the air. One in particular was a little larger than the others, although not a queen. Kujhade had seen plenty of these. They operated like field generals in the absence of a queen, and they were a little more self-aware than the average drone. Most of the men were torn apart, but two were hanging on and fighting valiantly. Kujhade growled to himself. Perhaps they would prove worthy prey if they survived this attack. He decided not to kill them in the process, and focus his gunfire only on the hard meats.
The leading drone raised its sloping black head, and seemed to sniff the air around it. It inclined towards where Kujhade's shots were coming from, and gave three short cries. A contingent of them, at least thirty all turned their heads in his direction. He was instantly on the move, intending to keep off the ground for as long as possible. He leaped to another rooftop, shooting again so that it was coming from a different direction. Another few bleats sounded off below, and he saw another group head off in the direction of the encampment. He had no time to warn Jasmine. He dismissed it. She was blooded, she had hunted them victoriously, she would survive it. His biggest concern were all the hard meats coming at him. They weren't fooled by his tactic, and they had begun to climb the edifice of the building to get to him. He would need to get rid of as many as possible before he had to resort to close quarter combat. From the perch above, he shot at them, clearing a few only to have them immediately replaced. The dead ones fell to the ground in black, burned heaps, but that was hardly a deterrent.
Furiously shrieking, the thinned group made it to the rooftop. Kujhade looked around. The platform was crowded with structures to hide behind, or get trapped behind depending on how savvy or stupid you were. He still needed to find a way to bottleneck them, but wasn't sure he'd find that here. Backing up towards the edge of the roof he was standing on, Kujhade continued to fire upon the group. They were falling each time one of his guns discharged, so now there were perhaps a good twenty left standing. From his belt, Kujhade grabbed two handfuls of small grenade type devices and threw them into the crowd. They were no bigger than marbles, but they exploded on contact. One or two did no damage, but in handfuls they could offer a pretty good bang. The amount he'd thrown was enough to produce a concussive blast strong enough to knock half of them back down to the ground. It also gave him time to produce his smart disc. He launched it, letting it cut through a few like a hot knife through butter. Their collective acidic blood burned through the roof, making the bodies fall through, but also compromising the structural integrity of it. Kujhade leaped to a higher platform and took aim again, with the smart disc, burning his fingertips a little in the process. The disc cut a few more down, and then became embedded within the bricks clear across the other side. The wrist blades made their appearance, extending from a gauntlet on each arm. He roared loudly as they leaped their way to his small 10x10 plateau. He was surrounded as they clambered over one another to get to him. He needed to clear them quickly, so he went to work. Kujhade caught a tail swing aimed at his head, and cut the tip in one swipe. It went crazy, knocking down the one next it in a flurry of shrieks, claws, and blood splatter. He used the tail end to stab another through the head, one jumped on his back, sending its inner jaws towards his throat and just missing the mark, as Kujhade grabbed it, throwing it down. He stomped it on the throat with the full weight of his booted foot, crushing it. Another jumped him from the front, knocking Kujhade on his back. It tore and scratched at his facemask, unable to penetrate it. The others killed the one on top of him, with multiple tail stabs. The result was its blood dripping onto Kujhade who was caught underneath. Feeling the sting and burn, Kujhade used the dead hard meat he was holding as a shield-turned-battering ram. He jumped to his feet before they could pile on, and took a running leap off the platform to the damaged roof below. There was a gaping hole where the previous hard meat bodies had burned through. As he fell through the six-story structure, Kujhade twisted his body midair, knowing that they had all leaped after him. His twin guns charged, and let off a few deadly rounds. The remaining bodies fell all around him in charred chunks. He turned again, and reached for anything he could find as purchase to stop his fall before he hit the bottom. He found it in the form of an exposed water pipe. Kujhade grabbed hold, breaking his fall just barely, as the pipe groaned under his weight. He managed to climb up on what was left of the floor.
Outside, he could hear the humans still putting up a fight, or at least one of them was. Kujhade gained his footing and went to one of the windows, preparing to climb out of it. Below, his scan only detected the last human survivor, who was using some of his dead companions as a shield, and trying to make it back to the vehicle they'd arrived in. He doubted this human would survive much longer in such a dire situation. Kujhade turned his attention away. It was of no concern to him whether the man lived or died. The more pressing matter, was the location of the leading drone. There were many still left, but no sign of the de facto leader. Kujhade's hackles raised. Hard meats were known to be one of the best ambush predators of all the species they liked to hunt. He needed to get to stable ground and do so quickly. He climbed out of the window and scaled the building, reaching the rooftop again. He then leaped across an alleyway to the fire escape of a nearby apartment building and scaled down. He opened fire immediately, clearing wide swaths of hard meats before they had a chance to attack or disperse. The humans had done a fair amount of damage before being killed, especially the last man. Kujhade got out his whip, and began to finish clearing out hard meats. They were vicious as usual, but had decent organization which told Kujhade that the leader was still around.
He withstood combined attacks, as they attempted to encircle him. He gave one swing with his whip, managing to cut down all the aliens in front up him, cutting them into pieces. This was why the T'yverion whip was his favorite. It was more flexible than the combi-stick, and was excellent for clearing a group. He set both cannons to turret mode as well, taking care of the ones behind him. He had nearly cleared them all, but he couldn't be sure. Now, there were stragglers only, which he was obliged to kill, but found himself suddenly lifted off his feet, and flying through the air. He landed hard on his side, turning quickly to see what the hell had happened. There was the leader, shrieking viciously, long black tail lashing dangerously behind it. It had rammed into him from behind like a tank. It seemed to have also forced the remaining hard meats to back off. Kujhade grunted. So, it wanted to fight one-on-one? Fine. Kujhade got to his feet quickly, but refused to divest himself of a single weapon. These things were barely sentient on their own, let alone have some sense of honor one way or another. He did however, turn off his double cannons on favor of the whip which was still in his hand. He crouched, spread his arms and roared. The hard meat, screeched and came barreling towards him. Kujhade stood his ground, lashing the whip and growling. He tried to use it to trip the hard meat, but it leaped to the side. It tried to counter by stabbing at Kujhade's face with the end of its tail, but Kujhade batted it away. Not wasting any time posturing, Kujhade went right back in with another attack. This time aiming at its chest area. It feinted to the side, entwining its tail with Kujhade's whip. It attempted to pull the hunter towards itself, but he was prepared for that. Kujhade wrapped the whip around his arm a few times, accepting the bite of its blades digging into his skin. With all his strength, Kujhade gave several hard yanks. It screeched, as it tore the asphalt in the attempt to find purchase with its claws. The whip dug into Kujhade's arm as he pulled relentlessly. He charged one cannon. Finally, it stopped fighting being pulled back, and turned to attack. It jumped, inner jaws extended for the final blow. With reflexes honed over cycles upon cycles of hunting, Kujhade grabbed the inner mouth. It scratched and squirmed, cutting Kujhade on his stomach, causing his blood to run down his front. Growling loudly, Kujhade aimed his charged cannon down its throat, releasing a full blast, exploding and cauterizing it from the inside. With a disgusted gesture, Kujhade flung the little piece of inner jaw still in his hand. He then turned his cannon upon the few hard meats left alive, roaring in triumph as the last one fell.
He took a quick glance at his injuries, then grunted in dismissal. Nothing that wouldn't heal on its own. He took a small drone of his own and sent it inside the building all the hard meats had come from. While he awaited its return, he made his way to the last remaining human. He was breathing, but that wouldn't last long. Just on a cursory scan, his wounds were too severe to survive, not to mention parts of his legs and arms were burned down to the bone from the acidic blood. Kujhade knelt down next to the man. After a quick survey, it seemed the man had taken more than a few with him. An honorable death regardless of any other circumstance. Kujhade's only regret was not having the pleasure of hunting and killing this man himself. The small drone reported an empty nest. No queen and no eggs. This was simply a nest made due to sheer numbers. Either way, he would need to destroy the place to keep it from being used again by them.
"Who… who are…you?" The man struggled to say with his last breath. Kujhade looked down at the dying man. He allowed the mask to decipher the words. He understood the simple inquiry. Humans in general did not deserve to know the names of the hunters who killed them. Even so, it did not seem right to deny the fallen warrior some response.
"Cetanu," he answered and ended the man's misery with a snap of his neck. He then stood and looked back towards the direction of the human camp. A group had headed in that direction, and he needed to get back there. So, with a couple of leaps and a short scale up a brick wall, Kujhade made it back to the rooftops and sprinted towards his prey, and his mate.
A/N: Thought you weren't going to get an update didn't you? Well, I hope you liked it. Up next is our girl Jasmine. Or shall I go back to Mar'cte and Nanku? Maybe both for the next chapter. These final battles might extend over more chapters than I originally anticipated. That's not a bad thing necessarily. Just means I'll be taking my time to write the fight scenes in even more detail. These are just the first few skirmishes, so there's a lot coming even if there aren't a lot of chapters to go. Thanks for all you guy's support. I really appreciate it.