Part 10: Hell to Pay
Ch. 25
Sierra
I had another dream while I was out. As it went on it became more vivid. It was the woman warrior from the last dream before we went on this damn mission. But this time, I was alone with her, inside the cavern under the castle. She walked with me around the compound as though guiding me on a tour. There was no sound and I dared not disturb the silence. But then she walked me into the big dome in the middle. The grand entrance was open and the guards that were present were frozen in time. We reached the middle of the place where there was a big circular table that looked unusually modern. It had various rusting consoles built into it and had what appeared to be a holographic projector in the middle aimed upward. It looked more like a state of the art briefing room than an ancient structure. But the strangest thing came when the warrior turned around. A white lynx clad in armor of silver and gold. She stood there, scanning me from head to toe with a curious gaze. She looked me in the eyes with a semi-concerned look and finally spoke.
"You have no idea what's going on, do you?" I still dared not speak, but her voice was smooth as silk with a norwegian accent. It comforted me, "you can talk to you know."
"Ok, well who are you?" I was hesitant to pry too much. I didn't know what she was capable of. "And what's going on?"
"Fair enough, let's start with the basics. My name is Eir. I was a part of a special group of individuals from long ago," she gestured around at the room. "This place is where we started and ended. And now you and your friend have ended up here as well. You were both captured and you are both still asleep in separate rooms. I am here now because you triggered something inside you that I had as well. I believe they're calling it the Valkyrie gene around here."
"Valkyrie gene? Is that why we've been losing control?" This 'Eir was bringing up more questions than she was answering. Valkyries were just a legend, but this person was telling me that not only were they real, but also I was related to them. This was a bit much.
An individual who called himself Sir Raleigh kidnapped 39 individuals including Eir and altered their genetic code. They moved on and had children, each of them also had the gene. And now so did I. Eir then explained that Carmelita and I were both direct descendents of her. In fact, we were the last living carriers of the Valkyrie gene.
"Ok, this is a bit much to digest."
"I can't blame you," she said, "when the original Valkyries found out, we tried to burn this place to the ground," I wasn't sure if she was being serious or if this was her trying to be funny and relatable.
"Right, why exactly do they call this place Odin's Throne Room though?"
"Because when we caught the bastard frog who told us his name was Odin, we set him on fire and hung him from the ceiling," she casually gestured to the ceiling where there was scaffolding leading up to a ledge, where there hung a decaying rope. I realized then that she wasn't really exaggerating anything.
"We don't have long now," she started to fade away like in the past dream," I've told Carmelita everything I've told you. You need to get out of here, but there's something wrong with both of you."
"What? What's wrong with us?" The room started to go dark and dust was starting to fly around, but not like before. Now it felt a sandstorm, blinding me. Eir said something in reply but I couldn't hear as everything went black. But then I started to come to. I was laying down on a bed in a small room with an IV draining blood from my arm into a container below me. I promptly pulled out the IV and smashed the container beneath my boot, covering the floor in blood. The ground shook as I stood up, not sure if it was an earthquake or if it was just me. I admittedly felt a bit weak and disoriented, but I was awake nonetheless. Then, for one reason or another, the lights started flashing.
Sly
I was surprised when Bentley put up only minor resistance to Johns plan. It was crude and involved minimal stealth tactics, but still seemingly foolproof. Both Archangel and Ghostrider took off in less than an hour and shortly thereafter, we were nearing the Castle. John and I stood fully armored in the bay of Archangel as the door opened. He offered me one of his cigars again like at the beginning of every mission, and this time I took it. Something felt familiar about it. It was like the scent of the smoldering end lifted a memory to the surface of my mind just out of reach of recognition. He reluctantly let me use the Knight armor of a former Warfighter, Steven Algof. It wasn't at all what I was used to, but it fit. In fact it felt less like a suit and more like a much bulkier second skin, replacing my body with one of hardened steel yet maintaining flawless motor control. John also gave me a custom belt fed .458 SOCOM rifle designed specifically for use with the armor while he himself carried only his sword. Of all things, he didn't let me use a similar sword. It was 4 feet long and damn near unliftable without the armor. But the creepiest thing about it was whenever he held it by the handle it glowed at the edges and energy spirals up his arm. And there's this odd looking glyph that appears on the blade. He would never explain to me what it meant.
Penelope sped ahead of us in Ghostrider and began circling the castle. Moments later, we too began circling the castle. We could see the AC-130 deploying its gun battery opposite from us over the castle and as we passed over the outer walls, I dropped off the back of the bay door and started accelerating towards the ground. I've done plenty of free falls before, base jumps and I've even reached terminal velocity after jumping off towers. But I had a parachute then. John explained to me before hand that because the armor weighs so much, parachutes wouldn't work, so it was up to me to use he added strength it provided to stick a landing or else become a pancake on the cobblestone streets.
As I fell through the noon sky I felt myself go faster and faster. The warm sun on the back of my neck competed against the cold wind rushing at my face. I felt the armor pull me toward the earth faster than I've ever gone. I passed my normal falling speed and it soon felt more like I was being propelled by an invisible jet engine on my back. The earth coming faster and faster until I saw just the right moment to make my move. I braced myself and brought my legs under me, slamming into a rooftop and sliding to the ground. My momentum continued to push me along the cobblestone street and I continued until I collided with a cargo truck, rocking it back and leaving a large dent in its side. I fell to one knee, panting from the sharp adrenaline rush. It was far from my most graceful landing but I made it. I was just starting to gather my bearings when I looked up to see the distant figure of John making his own approach. But shortly thereafter, there was a red flash of light just before he slammed into the main tower of the castle. The great stone walls gave away and started to crumble as though it was made of packed sand. A magnificent show of power, but we weren't all that was being brought to the fight.
Murray
I saw the castle start to fall from the treeline just beyond the outer wall. I signalled to Bentley and we began our approach across the snowy field. We had with us a full combat setup, Bentley toting the XM25 grenade launcher and myself with an M240 machine gun. And for a getaway, we took 3 Sentinels with us, the third being operated through remote control by Penelope in the AC-130. We built up speed toward the south wall, but there wasn't a doorway.
"Ok Penelope," Bentley prompted over the radio, "you know what to do."
"Rodger that Bentley," she sounded ecstatic to be in charge of Ghostriders weapons battery, "engaging all weapons."
Moments later, a single shell from the AC-130's Howitzer cannon turned the wall in front of us into nothing more than a cloud of dust. We drove through the debris without feeling anything more than a sharp bump. Shortly thereafter we emerged and deployed the Sentinels combat systems. Climbing out of the cars just on the other side of the wall, I could see that the cars had risen an extra half foot off the ground, but more importantly, two M2 Browning 50 caliber machine guns rose up from their hood and two 4 foot long missile tubes coming up from just behind the drivers cab.
Together, the Sentinels drove off in a linear formation down the street to clear the rest of the surface of the compound and Bentley and I moved quickly through the ruined cobblestone streets. Ghostrider continued to bombard the castle surface with its lighter cannons, as not to destroy the subterranean level. Bentley and I moved to the horse stable where John and Sly said they'd meet up with us so we'd attack the lower facility together. We had roughly half an hour before both gunships unleashed with their bigger guns to destroy the base and everything underneath it. So far, everything was going according to plan.
Sly
Both teams made it to the rendezvous point without many problems. Without further ado, Bentley hacked the elevator through its power supply and soon, we were descending on the metal platform. Lowering down from the chaos from above, we were met by a legion of guards armed to the teeth with machine guns behind concrete barricades in front of the elevator. Luckily we were expecting such a defence and had planned a formation to deal with it accordingly. Bentley and Murray got behind John and I, and Murray handed John his M240. Together, we laid down a steady stream of suppressive fire while we, being in bulletproof armor, were were mostly safe and acted as bullet shields. When the gunfire finally stopped, there was nothing left but bodies and broken chunks of concrete lying around. John handed Murray back his M240 and together we pushed on through the rubble. All the while, we could feel the ground start to shake and angry chirping sounds coming from the tunnel ahead of us. We knew what was coming.
After coming out of the tunnel, I was surprised to be met with no guards and for a second, it was empty. But an instant later, guards and vampires alike came out in streams from all directions. They rounded the corners and swooped out from the buildings like a flood. But we had no intention of running. We all had a personal stake in this. For Bentley and Murray, the Fangs had taken two good friends. For me and John, they took a fiancé. John was completely unhinged and although I didn't let it show, I felt similarly. I secretly wished that I could just jump in and tear them apart with my bear hands. But lucky for me I wasn't stupid. John on the other hand wasted no time in drawing his sword. While we stood at a ready firing stance at the mouth of the tunnel, he walked out seemingly unafraid of the horde that lie before him. I could see him just clenching the fist of his free hand while the other held the sword out, letting the blade drag gently on the concrete floor. The horde of vampires and guards swarmed into a single mass and moved to meet him before he reached the buildings closer to the dome which was in sight above the crowds but the energy snaking up the sword only grew more intense. At some point John broke into a steady jog, building up into a full sprint. The rest of us broke formation and started to follow his lead in an aggressive assault with our guns at the ready. When John was mere yards away from the horde, he spun around and cut effortlessly through 20 or 30 vampires. When he spun, I caught a glimpse of his expression. It wasn't the John Puller I knew, this was someone entirely different. His expression showed only anger and disgust and radiated with aggression. But the oddest part of all, his eyes weren't their normal shade of blue. Instead, they were a deep red. John asked if I had ever seen a demon before. I don't think he was referring to the Fangs.
Together we pushed through the horde with brutal efficiency. John at the front took the biggest bulk of them while the rest of us took care of anyone on the roofs that may threaten to bear down on us. It was chaos with John tearing through enemies and lunging around from target to target like a madman, Murray shooting anything that got too close to him, Bentley and I in the middle, Bentley shooting various shells into the crowds from normal explosives to incendiary rounds to temporarily stem the flow from certain directions, and me, using the massive 458 SOCOM rifle to blow holes in the guards on the roofs. It was a brutal method, but it worked. We pushed on through the subterranean town and eventually reached the expanse of land between the buildings and the dome. We fought our way through until we could see the entrance, only to find it closed by a giant steel door.
We were really depending on that, and now that the dome was inaccessible, we were stranded. But on the upside, the crowd felt like it was starting to thin out. Could we really be capable of killing 10,000,000 vampires and guards? I guess so. At some point, John cooled down enough to let Murray take care of the rest. The only remaining vampires were sprinting down the street from which we came. A short burst and a moment later, it was all over. The ceiling still shook from the gunships bombardment and dust fell but when it all was done, we were all that stood above the bodies that now densely littered the streets. John put his sword away and turned to me, clearly out of breath.
"Come on, we need to find a way to get that door open," he said before turning back to jog over to the door to inspect it. But before he could, it slowly started to door creaked downward into the ground. And there stood in the doorway both Carmelita and Sierra in front of numerous bodies behind them inside. They walked out from the dome and I rushed forward to meet Carmelita with the others close behind. I was beyond happy to see her still alive but something was off. It became very apparent when I tried to embrace her, she grabbed me by the throat and punched me in the face as hard as she could. My body was protected by the armor, but the only major flaw was there was no helmet to go with it. She spun and kicked me while I was down and I was sent stumbling backwards a few yards. I quickly stumbled to my feet and she kept advancing with little to no facial expression.
"Carmelita stop. what's going on?"
She didn't respond and tried to punch me again. I dodged the blow and shoved her from behind just enough to knock her off her feet. I looked back to see John struggling as well. He and Sierra were in a wrestling match with John trying and failing to subdue her while Sierra thrashed and fought everything he tried to do. I turned back around to see Murray trying to talk to her and calm her down. This failed horribly as Carmelita grabbed him, and threw him over her shoulder. He landed and tried to roll in pain but Carmelita pinned him to the ground and started punching him as hard as she could. I just stood there in shock as John gave up and spun and threw Sierra and dashed over to save Murray. He grabbed Carmelitas wrist as she was winding up for another punch, pulled it back and as she turned to face him, he punched her in the face. She lied there on the floor, hopefully just unconscious. Behind us there was a subtle whirring noise and the cocking sound of a gun. I turned around to see Sierra with her arm gun deployed aiming right at us. I acted on instinct and dove over Carmelita to protect her and John Dove sideways between Sierra and Murray. I covered her the best I could and I heard a single bullet impact metal and a quick burst of a submachine gun before John's heavy fame hit the floor. There were no words as I heard John scramble to his feet. I checked Carmelitas pulse and was relieved to see that she was still alive. I looked back just in time to see John slide down to his knees at Sierras side who was now lying on the floor. Did he just…
Just then Carmelita groaned and her eyes fluttered open, "Sly?"
"Carmelita don't move," she stayed still on the ground and looked up at me as I stood up.
"What happened?"
"I don't know," I joined Bentley as he tended to Murray who was still lying motionless on the concrete.
"Wait, I think we were hypnotized," she began, "I remember that feeling from when I was with the Contessa…"
"Sly," Bentley interrupted after checking for a pulse, "Murray's dead," he pointed to the side of his chest where blood was now profusely spilling out. "He was shot in the heart."
"What?" I heard Carmelita scramble over to see for herself. "No, Sly did I do this? I'm so sorry."
"No Carmelita, it wasn't you," I looked up to see Sierra now choking on blood. "It wasn't either of you."
I have to admit, I was angry. Sierra killed Murray. But at the same time, she didn't. She didn't have control of herself. It wasn't her fault. But I knew who was responsible. And those bastards were going to pay. The ceiling started to give way but I refused to leave Murray behind. I never leave a friend behind, but John didn't listen to me when I called for him to follow.
We barely made it out alive. We ran off the elevator just as the ground started ti give away. The Sentinels drove up through the dust and debris that now littered the streets and we climbed in. I put Murray in his own car, Bentley drove another, and Carmelita rode in mine. We narrowly dodged the ground collapsing all the way and sinking into the earth. The castle, the Dome, it was all gone. Tomorrow it'll be little more than a headline in the morning news. In the end, we gained nothing. We got none of the intel we had hoped for. But we lost so much.