Chapter 25 – One Shot at Glory
Under cover of the fast darkening evening, the Agent stealth helicopter flew toward the island.
There was just a slight problem. The fuel cache they had landed to, had been picked clean. Completely empty, except for the graffiti on the wall:
REX
It was clear that the AI was accelerating its operations, trying to make life as uncomfortable for the Agents and Sebastian as possible. The Grieg explosion was certainly part of the same plan.
So, no extra Agent coats. Just the three they still had remaining. At least they had rested until it was beginning to get dark.
Three with agent coats against an army of at least twenty. It would not be pretty.
Ian seriously wondered an even worse scenario: what if the island would be empty too once they arrived?
"We have just enough fuel to get on the island," Hammerfist noted.
"That's not a problem, if we succeed in finding REX, and gaining the evidence of the network breach, then MSA will certainly lift us out of here," Sebastian replied.
"Just to make sure … do we now have permission to kill?" Erik asked.
"This is an Any Means Necessary operation to recover evidence. Yes. The only problem being, I currently don't have authority to speak on behalf of the MSA. But as soon as we have proof that the evidence REX planted last night is fake and I am innocent, I will retroactively regain that authority and the actions will be construed to have taken place during a legitimate MSA operation."
Ian made note of this. It sounded similar to Jo's and Erik's predicament. Of course, it still hinged on finding the right evidence. So they would get everything they could. Thankfully they had Eve to assist.
...
"We see them on approach now," the lookout's voice crackled in Janos' earpiece.
Very well. They would handle this.
REX had informed him that the current avatar – like the previous – had not exactly taken a proactive role. So if necessary, he would be confined in his office, or even terminated in the worst case.
Indeed, they would handle this.
Janos knew Gunther had been inside the control console room. That was exactly his right as the avatar, though he had likely been looking for an easy way to shut the whole REX down. He had not been successful. Janos wouldn't know it either, and as long as the money was as good as it had been, he certainly wouldn't even consider trying.
...
They saw the pyramid now. It was certainly proclaiming power. Bright lights against the total blackness of the ground: it was hard to focus on anything very quick.
The ground team had been decided: Hammerfist, Ian and Jo would take the functioning coats as the most experienced Agents. Sebastian and Kim had bulletproof vests and could arm themselves to the teeth if they wanted, but they couldn't take as much punishment, so they would be wise to hang back until the opposition would be thinned out, or even eliminated completely. Finally Eve would be directing any needed hacking operations from a safe spot, likely inside the helicopter, while Erik watched over her. As long as he didn't have to move much, the wound should not be a problem.
Hammerfist banked the helicopter sharply away as a ground-to-air missile was launched from one of the guard towers. The streak of flame was clearly visible against the night sky, and in a manner easy to anticipate.
Next to him, in the co-pilot's seat, Erik took control of the helicopter's chain gun and attempted to blow the missile out of the sky.
Easier said than done. The stream of fire streaked past it, not quite hitting. For a moment Hammerfist thought they were playing a deadly game of cat and mouse near the sea level. He weaved, until the missile finally was too late to turn, and plunged to the waves.
But there could be many more.
"We need to eliminate those fuckers in the towers!" Erik growled.
Hammerfist didn't exactly disagree, and turned the helicopter back toward the island.
They flew past a tower and Erik cut an extended burst through the top, shattering the searchlight and cutting the guard down. One less to worry about. They circled to the far side of the island, and Erik repeated the same for the second tower.
Just then, the pyramid-shaped building's roof began to glow brighter.
"Is it powering up some weapon?" Jo shouted from the back.
"Possibly. Hang tight!" Hammerfist shouted, and put the helicopter into a fast descent just as a ray of intense white light shot from the pyramid.
For a second he thought vaporization was imminent: though the stealth chopper was agile, it couldn't outrun a laser.
...
The helicopter rocked, and Ian was thrown to the floor. He smelled thick smoke coming from the front. It was clear the beam of light had scored a hit. But had anyone of them been hit?
"Hammerfist! Erik!" he shouted.
No immediate response. Ian coughed from the smoke, and sensed the helicopter turn into a bank toward the left. And downward. Impact was a possibility. They had to get the flying machine in control again.
Ian climbed over the seats to see Hammerfist's left hand pinned to the cockpit wall by a large fragment of steel, no doubt melted and loosened by the beam. Hammerfist's face was a grin of agony, but also determination.
"I'm not dying. But you need to climb over me to use the collective lever. Or you can pull that out!"
In the co-pilot's seat, Erik appeared unharmed, though if smoke inhalation was not healthy to someone in full health, it certainly wasn't healthy for a gunshot victim. During the pause at the dump, Kim had changed his bandages, and for some reason Ian had thought, that if Eve was there to see it with a functioning laptop, she would have tweeted another #JustHackerThing.
But now, everyone was again concentrated on pure war. In short, they had to get the helicopter safely down, the sooner, the better.
Ian inched past him to the lever. Now they'd fly the machine together. Just then, another missile launched from a rear tower.
"Erik! Now you have to take it out!" Ian shouted.
Erik concentrated; Ian got only one quick look but it was like he was working himself into an altered state where he was one with the seeking missile, anticipating its moves. Erik depressed the trigger, and the chain gun spit fiery death.
For two long seconds Ian saw the missile still just coming closer, as the gunfire still went right past it.
"Pull up!" Hammerfist shouted. But Ian didn't want to throw off Erik's aim. Also, shouldn't they be going down, if they wanted to land as soon as possible?
One more second, and the missile exploded in a fireball.
Working together, Hammerfist and Ian turned the helicopter on a landing run. It was time to bring this bird down, before they all inhaled enough smoke to lose their combat readiness.
But as a soon as they'd touch down, the twenty men Hermann had promised would be coming for them.