Sorry for the very long delay. My life is rather busy and hectic at the moment, as I am in an overdrive to lose weight get fit.
This naturally leaves very little time for me to spend on anything other than working out at the gym or sleeping off the exhaustion.
Also, I am looking for a Beta Reader if anyone is interested in it... I feel like I need it now that my writing is getting slower, I feel the need to give you more refined version.
As for the Path to Godhood, there will be little bit of my complex schemes in the next chapter before Arthur returns to the 40K universe to do a bit of proper conquering.
Chapter 28
"Overmind Alpha, this is Witchdoctor. Alpha Teams One and Two are all ready. Beta One, Two, Three and Four are in positions as well. Please confirm. Over." Major Jake Adams spoke into his radio installed within his Mark III Nano-fiber Armored Suit, or M3 NAS armors.
He flexed his fingers around the handle of his G36 filled with M995 Armor-Piercing rounds that now hung heavily from his shoulders. He could not actually feel the strap on his shoulder as the lightweight but strong metal frame supported the weight of the gun. He knew it should be heavy but he could not feel it properly. It slightly unnerved him that he could not really feel the entirety of his gun's weight. Normally, he would even count the weight of bullets but that was not delegated to the computer chip of his hi-tech suit.
-Witchdoctor, this is Overmind Alpha.- The rough voice of the Colonel Hayes answered. -We copy your status. We have surviving Gamma Teams converging on your location along with armored support. We are giving you enough firepower to obliterate a small army. You will need it. Over.-
Jake paused.
"Surviving Gamma Teams, Overmind Alpha? What do you mean?"
There was a sigh for an answer.
-We have sent all eight teams into sixteen five-men teams to track down and destroy enemy's transmitters. There were firefights. Although we have encountered no Charlie-Sierra-Mikes, there were well-armed militias of Chaos Lord's persuasion. Even with support from local SWAT and National Guard forces, we have suffered casualties.-
The Alpha-Psionic team leader bit his lips.
"How many?" He asked with eyes closed in thought. "How many friends did I lose today, colonel?"
There was a pause. They all knew that such personal feelings should not be involved, but the Colonel knew how all of the psionic soldiers regarded each other with bonds stronger than most. Being sensitive to psionics around them, they were drawn to each other and often became fast friends. It was using this that Dr Tinswood could identify the possible threats to the program itself. The 'loners' in such group of tightly-packed psionics would mean that either that psionic is a psychopath or his psionic potential had been corrupted, often by religion for some reason.
-We've lost… nine Gamma Team members, Jake. Nine good, honest, loyal men… and there weren't any Chaos Space Marines. We fought crazed rednecks and domestic terrorists. The casualties for the SWAT and National Guards reaches nearly fifty.-
"How does this happen? This is US of A, colonel. Our soldiers and police officers are neither so untrained nor so underequipped to be killed by some country-side gun-toting survivalists! What happened, colonel?"
-They were well armed, Jake. From what I can see, they were all armed with weapons of military grade. I am looking at visual evidence of AK-74, M4 Carbine, FN P90, Benelli M4 and SPAS-12. They were also armed with an array of melee weapons, Jake. I am looking at the photos of enemy dead, and they are carrying machetes, jungle knives, Japanese Katanas and sharpened fire axes.-
"Fuck!" Jake swore from behind clenched jaw. "And you think my team will face similar opponents? Is that why you had us wait, sir?"
-Yes, Witchdoctor. We cannot allow any more of our Psionic Troops fall because of this lack of foresight. We are sending in heavy guns, son. Draw them out, and blast them apart. Over.-
The colonel reverted back to military stance, and Jake sighed into the two-way radio.
"Understood, Overmind. Witchdoctor out."
Grabbing his own rifle and patting down his body once more for his side arms and spare magazines, Jake turned around to look at the leaders of Alpha and Beta teams getting ready behind an armored FBI van. He walked toward them, taking a small glimpse of the CDC Headquarter now surrounded by the military and the police. All around the structure were soldiers and police all ready to pour their firepower into the structure. They were watching what was happening inside too, though they were warned to watch it only through internet rather than actual TV. The atrocity and acts of inhuman cruelty viewed via the screen was enough to enrage the warriors of USA to a true battle stance.
"Listen up. Our orders have changed. We are no longer infiltrating. The command no longer sees the hostage situation to be viable for rescue." Jake explained, and other nodded.
They were watching the horrors within the building as well, and they were angry, but as soldiers they understood it would be impossible to rescue the hostages. After all, who can rescue already dead and mutilated hostages? Unlike bank robbers or some such mortal criminals or even the purposeful terrorists, these monsters of the Chaos Lord's ilk were without any hesitation or qualms about torturing or killing the hostages at whim. The people caught were not hostages to them. Hostages imply that they had trading value of some kind. These people were sacrifice. They were sacrificial fodder for the depraved gods of these depraved beasts.
"Damn it. So, gents, how are we set up?" Jake asked as team leaders of his Psionic Teams were joined by two Majors from the US army and an FBI agent.
The FBI guy spoke up first.
"We got every car park in this campus filled with cops. We have six teams of snipes, both FBI and US Army, now stationed at the car park structures to the south and north." The agent answered, pointing his finger at the crude map he found of the CDC HQ. "We have three teams here at Clifton School and six teams inside this central structure. We have a tight cordon around this place. They are trapped inside that curved building, and that's it. We cut water and power, but somehow they are still broadcasting."
"Thank you agent Simmons." Jake nodded and then turned to the Army Majors in full body armors. "Major Roland, your men?"
Slightly older soldier stepped up.
"We have six M107s and supports spread out across car parks. We have six infantry platoons across the entire facility, but they are simply the blockades. We have five Marine squads ready to move in on your command." Rolands explained. "We have refitted teams with heavy weapons as recommended, including three additional SMAW per platoon, and eight fire teams in good firing arcs with M40E4 machine guns and Mk47 Striker grenade launchers."
Jake nodded.
"Good. We want to flush them out into that little park there, and pour in enough firepower to wipe out a small army, hopefully that will damage him enough for my team to tackle him directly."
Rolands eyed Jake.
"Major Adams, could we know more about this 'El Sokauron' guy? We could be more helpful if we knew more about this crazy maniac in armor." The Army Major asked but Jake shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Major. It is classified far beyond our pay grades. Let's just say that this fucker is far tougher than anything we can imagine."
This was an operation hastily set up and everyone was ill-prepared against attacks of such magnitude and intensity. They had expected a strike from El Sokauron, but not like this. Jake shook his head in frustration before turning to the other Major.
"Major Williamson, how about your end? What heavy support do we get?" Jake asked, and he of all people knew that they needed armored support to make dent in El Sokauron.
Williamson, a relatively young officer with short moustache barely within the regulation, held up a small military-issue notepad.
"We currently have seven Humvees stationed around the car parks, and more are coming."
"What are they armed with?" Rolands asked, his interest lying in the protection of his men through the valiant efforts of Williamson's vehicles.
"One is with M134, two with M240, two with M19 and two with BGM-71 TOW. That's all we have for another hour. We have two more Humvees and two Strykers as well as one M1128, as you have requested, Major Adams." Williamson answered, cringing that the total mess that this mission was.
Jake understood that frown.
"Yeah, I know. This has gone shit-storm, but I assure you gentlemen, it will get worse before it gets better. What about the tanks I've asked? What's their ETA?"
"Well, if you want to do this now, we will need to do it without the Abrams or the Bradleys. I've got two M3 Bradleys and three M1A2 Abrams arriving in approximately four hours." Williamson answered, making Jake close his eyes and wince.
"I would really have liked to have some armor-piercing sabot against that fucker." Jake muttered before turning to Rolands again. "Major, what about choppers?"
"We have the Airforce sending us some more support, but right now we have four Apaches refitted with Anti-Armor as you have requested. Their ETA is in forty minutes and counting." Rolands answered as he checked his watch again to confirm.
Jake bit his lips as his mind attempted to calculate his chances against El Sokauron with what he had.
"I've got to speak to the command, if you would all excuse me a moment."
They nodded and Jake turned away and spoke into the communications unit.
"Overmind Alpha, this is Witchdoctor. Over."
Colonel Hayes answered back.
-This is Overmind Alpha, Witchdoctor. We read you, over.-
"I've just got sit rep, and I won't have tanks for another four hours. The earliest time frame for an assault would be in…" Jake turned to Rolands who signaled '31' with his fingers. "Thirty minutes when the Apaches arrive. I don't think we want to rush into this no matter how the situation devolved on TV. If we rush this, we are going to lose a lot of men. Over."
There was a momentary silence.
-I agree, Major, but I have the President and the Joint Chiefs breathing down my neck. I am diverting additional armored support to your position. It's not much, but it will have to do. I am not overly concerned with the militants and terrorists with the firepower you can bring into the situation, so if you think it is viable, I want you to make a strike hard and fast. Over.-
Jake turned to take a peek at the building.
"Sir, it's not the rednecks that I'm worried about sir. You've seen what 'He' can do. Even if we take out his troops, it will take a lot of firepower to take him down. Over."
-I understand. You have more contact with our enemy than anyone else alive, so the operation is in your hands. Just make sure he dies. The President has given you the green light for any and all measures to be taken to bring him down. If you cannot kill him, wound him enough to buy us time. I have the Airforce sending A10s and one AC-130H. Do you have laser-painters, Witchdoctor? Over.-
Jake nodded and looked at the leader of Alpha Two leader who nodded and displayed '7' with his fingers.
"Yes, colonel. We have a few on hand. We will use them to our advantage. Over."
-Good. Keep me updated every ten minutes. Over.-
"Acknowledged. Over."
He turned to the other leaders.
"Right, we are going to have to take out the targets when the Apaches arrive. I know this is not an ideal operation, far from it. It lacks proper coordination, and we all know it's a plan ill-prepared, but we have no other choice. You have all seen the broadcasts. You have all felt the difference when watching it on TV and when watching it on the internet. Our enemy is dangerous, in more ways than one. He is a warrior of impossible prowess. I have seen him single handedly take out a light tank and rip it apart with his bare hands. We have seen how persuasive he can be. He has powers that should not be possible. That makes him a threat unlike any other. He is more dangerous than a nuclear bomb, and he is a clear and present danger to the United States of America, and to the world, and perhaps, to the whole of mankind. We must take him out."
Others nodded.
Lord El Sokauron sat upon his throne of iron-gilded bones and skull. The blackened iron made quite an impressive throne though the horrendous visage of the throne's victims would have driven a mortal mad in the terror it exuded by its mere existence. He sat there watching as the horrific acts of cruelty, violence and malevolent display of racism and sexism were openly broadcasted across the entirety of USA and to the world. He felt his sorcery spread out across the transmission towers cut down one by one, as a spider would feel a prey caught in its webs. Yet, that was all part of a plan. It was to show a vulnerability to the mortals. They would find him formidable but still killable. They would find a small hope in the fact that his plans could be disrupted.
"How pitiful of them to underestimate me and my plans." He mused. "It would be far too late when I truly reveal myself to them, and even before that, I shall devastate this world in ways that even nightmares would shun in fear."
He felt his immense psychic might rolling out across the whole of the building and beyond. He felt the life signs of soldiers, FBI agents and Jake Adam's ilk.
"At last, you have come. I have been waiting for you Detective Adams. You may not know it, but you will play such a crucial role in my ascension to godhood. Next thousand generations will curse your name as the world falls into my hands thanks to your actions. Here you stand now in opposition of me, but little do you know that you are but a pawn in the Great Game." He chuckled as he gently skirted around the low-level psychic fields around the members of the Joint Task Force 999.
El Sokauron was a skilled sorcerer, and he now knew far more secrets than a dozen Chaos Sorcerers as he ascended into daemonhood further. The illusive whispers of knowledge were his to grab and absorb. He now understood more about Chaos and the nature of Warp than most Chaos Sorcerers, perhaps rivaling those such as Ahriman or Magnus the Daemon Primarch. The daemonic powers he commanded within him grew also, and he could easily best half dozen Bloodthirsters without a pause, and he could duel a Lord of Change and crush the little bird into oblivion. He was now immune to Nurgle's touch, and the jolly Great Unclean Ones would be seared from existence at his whim. Even the terrifying yet seductive Keeper of Secrets would scream out in agony at his hands.
Yet, his schemes had evolved along with his power. During his budding years as a Chaos Lord, he was obsessed with destruction. Destruction was good, but soon he found wanton and senseless destruction of life and objects to be tedious at best. He needed something that would truly gain him powers to even consider rising to a higher level of his ascension.
"Come now, Detective. How long will it be before you do something? I await your move with great anticipation." He chuckled as his clawed and gloved finger ran across his thigh armor, making a shrill scratching sound. "What firepower and manpower will you bring to this fight? How many shall die here? Will you ever truly realize my motives? These are troubled times, Detective Adams, and you stand at the heart of it all."
Suddenly, he stopped his monologue as he felt a sharp pang of psychic pulse sending shivers down his spine. He reached down to his belt and grabbed the three Spirit Stones of Eldar Warlocks he had taken from a defeated Chaos Lord intertwined into an intricate jewelry. El Sokauron smiled as one of the stone, which used to be glowing gently, was now a mass of swirling lights too harsh to mortal eyes.
"At last, the preparation for the first stage of this war… is ready." He chuckled as he fondled the Spirit Stones. "And to think I have to resort to this of all the games I could have chosen. Well, it would be interesting to see how well these Americans will fight their forefathers…"
He rose up from his iron throne, his power armor making screeching sound as its pieces scraped against the charred iron.
"Today, I will give you a taste of what's to come, Detective Adams."
El Sokauron waved his hand and a dozen Warp portals opened up and from them came the survivors among those stationed at the television broadcast centers across America. Some were wounded and others were near death. As they sprawled in front of him, he used his 'cheat'. He felt energy drain from his core, and though it wasn't much, it was enough to mend the pathetic human flesh and bones within the rednecks, racists and thugs.
"Rise, my warriors. You task is far from over! To war! To victory! Kill them!"
The Chaos Lord roared and the eyes of these humans glowed in dark indigo, and as if subjected to strong drugs, they rose up like zombies and growled.
"I give you weapons." The Chaos Lord whispered, and another portal poured out weapons.
Seized from drug lords, stolen from military bases, bought from the black market and siphoned from weapons manufacturers, there were so many weapons. The warriors reached for the guns. Barrett REC7, FN P90, Heckler & Koch HK416 were but the first to be picked up. The larger and more aggressive among them took the weapons first, and those of weaker physique took up submachine guns such as Daewoo K7, H&K UMP, H&K MP5. Then a rush of proto-Cultists came up to each of them and fitted them with body armor, lifted off an army base, and though given only the helmet and the chest piece, it was more protection for them than ever before. Finally taking up pistols as side arms and taking additional magazines, the crazed warriors prepared for the battle.
He knew that they would all die, and he did not care. Their lives were not that important at all. These mortals were simply fodder, a sacrifice to him. Already, their souls have been picked clean, drained of all qualities that made them so valuable. All that now left in each of these thugs were vestiges of what used to be them, and their cores replaced by tiny daemons who would soon hatch from the remainder of the souls. The physical body would mean very little in the end.
"My lord? Harrison came up to El Sokauron.
The Chaos Lord turned to the extreme racist.
"What is it, worm? I do not have patience to hear your babbling. Report what you have come to say, and return yourself to your post." The massive Chaos Lord growled, and the human cowered.
"We are seeing enemy troop movements, my lord. They have Humvees and other vehicles."
That got El Sokauron's attention.
"Ah, yes.. The battle comes to me! I have waited too long since my last. I shall sunder their will, I shall rend their flesh and I shall see them despair."
He turned to his men.
"Everyone here shall follow my lead. I want heavy weapons on first, second and third floor looking outwards. I have RPGs and heavy machine guns to spare. I want half of those weapons on the east windows looking out into the courtyard, and I want other half to the west windows. They shall surely send troops in that direction too."
"What of the north and the south, sir?" One of the mercenaries asked.
"If you see enemy vehicle coming from north, I want you to blow the charges. I shall crumble their buildings upon their heads. As for the south, the pond is too big. Their heavy armored vehicles will not risk moving through the path beside it. Besides, we have already mined the pond and the path."
"How shall we deal with the snipers? I am sure the surrounding buildings are littered with them. Though we have an advantage of heights, enemy snipers are not something we can ignore." Another mercenary said.
"How dare you! You dare presume to question him?" One of the Cultists roared and then he was quickly joined by other thugs and hooligans.
"Silence!" The Chaos Lord growled, and the place suddenly became as quiet as the night.
"We have snipers of our own. Use them. I have already placed RPG teams on the roof, and use their weapons to blow up those hiding in their covers."
"Yes, sir."
Command given, the Chaos Lord turned to the window where he could see the enemy marshalling their strength.
For a moment, he had considered if he should fight a tactically brilliant battle where he would strike down the enemy where they are most vulnerable and dispense terrific damage against their strengths to sap their will to fight. He could do so easily, for his mind was filled with tactical and strategic competence of a Chaos Lord and a Chaos Sorcerer as well as the secrets that the Warp has whispered to him.
As a Chaos Lord, he could see the flaws in enemy's plan and execution. Of course, he would have had no qualms about the hostages, so he would have taken a different route in taking down those within the building, but even taking the American's side, he would have taken advantage of surrounding buildings. While keeping the terrorists distracted by a barrage of explosives fired from building to the east and the museum to the south west, he would have sent teams up the other end of this massive building, again taking advantage of the low number of terrorists on each floor. It would take time and there was the risk of hurting the hostages, it would have evened the field to a degree. Of course, even he would not come up with a way to defeat a fully armored Chaos Lord without any comparable technology.
Yet, his plans were far more intricate than they appeared. Even this battle was but a ruse and a stepping stone for the next stage of his subtle plans. Wanton destruction was not his style. That was why he had appeared on the television so obviously and brazenly. He was already known through the LA bank robbery and bombing in Southern California. It was too late to hide himself now, and he wanted to use that to his advantage. After all, he was not Khorne, who would have taken up his axe and slaughter his way across this world, nor was he Nurgle who would poison the water and fill the air with virus. He was more like Slaanesh and Tzeentch, although he was not quite like them either. He still had Khorne-like thirst for violence and truly enjoyed the despair and fear of diseased victims. Here, he would carry out his deception. It was all to drive in the fear and despair deeper into the protectors of this world. Once stripped of their heroes and armies, the mankind would shiver against the cold hard gale that was his darkness.
He would battle these humans here. He would sally forth from the structure with majority of his pathetic mortal soldiers beside him. They would die horrible deaths, and eventually, the Americans would be forced to resort to bombing. That was the whole point.
"Come! To battle and to death! Let them despair at our coming!"
Jake breathed in deep. He pressed the buttons on his high-tech armor and he could feel the armor's power source creeping up the wire and reach the two tiny crystals placed upon his temples, and he could feel that snug pressure in his mind as the crystals began to vibrate and fill with psionic energy. The suit's power source was something also made from peeking through the neighboring dimensions, and it would give him and his Alpha Teams almost an hour of maximum power, and another two hours of normal power output. It would be enough for an intense battle like the one he can almost taste right at this moment.
He checked his gun. His G36-Psi was a gun modified by the eggheads to be connected to his suit and to the psionic crystalline wiring. Using the psionic sight where the crystal shoots out laser-like beam that links to Jake's psionic support crystals, he could aim with deadly accuracy. He checked the magazines too. His eyes grazed through the familiar shapes of 5.56 NATO rounds with black tip indicating that they were in fact M995 Armor Piercing rounds, and he hoped that it would work against El Sokauron when he confronts him again. His team and others of Joint Task Force 999 were all armed with armor piercing rounds or at least something more powerful than an average bullet. Still, there was much doubt as to the chance of piercing that Power Armor, and although Jake did not fully trust the reading materials on Warhammer 40K's fluff on Power Armor and such, he had to admit that El Sokauron did have a powerful armor.
"Yet, even the Space Marines are still mortal. They still die, and we can kill them. I can kill him." Jake whispered to himself as the Humvees and Strykers rolled up behind him.
"Sir?"
Jake turned to his second-in-command, Malcolm 'Sabertooth' Johns. He was a Lieutenant and has been for a long time. His altercation with his previous commander got him demoted and court-martialed, but he was able to avoid going to prison because of his 'gifts'. He was a good soldier. He was kind of really tough grizzled good soldier type that you see in the movies. Every minute and second of his life was dedicated to the US Army where he had pledged his life, and he was very good at what he did. In the three tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, he achieved impressive kill score, although as a SpecOps operative, his work was never known outside few individuals. Jake was glad to have him by his side.
Jake turned to his squad. He saw the other Lieutenant, Lt Ben 'Cancun' Santorini, and he saw the rest of his Alpha Team. His team had active psionic powers, amplified by the psionically affected crystals in their gears. He tapped into the communications to speak to both his team and other teams of JTF 999.
"Alpha Teams, Beta Teams, this is Witchdoctor. Listen carefully. I know it seems heartless and waste of lives, but I can risk neither Alpha Teams nor Beta Teams in a skirmish against a ragtag group of domestic terrorists and biker gangs armed with good guns. Our job is simple. We kill El Sokauron. He is the one and only target we must get our eyes on. We will have the army and the FBI taking point, eliminating the extraneous enemy forces while we focus on our primary target." He paused, and he could feel the gaze of not only his team but the unseen eyes of Alpha Two on the other side of the building.
"Do not get hit. Do not get wounded. Do not die. If you have attention to spare, then you may shoot at the bad guys, but keep your focus. Do not lose the sight of your target. If you see El Sokauron, shoot him with everything you've got and then some more. We've trained for this, and we got weapons to use against him. We cannot fail. He must die."
Even as Jake wrapped up his speech, he saw the six Humvees and two Strykers readying themselves from behind the school buildings, taking care not to be spotted by the RPG shooters on the roof. Remaining three Humvees were preparing to move into the courtyard from the east. Yet, Jake was waiting for a signal.
-Witchdoctor, this is Overmind Actual. We have Predator Drones inbound. ETA in sixty seconds, over.-
"Copy that, Overmind, over."
Everyone waited and as the seconds ticked over, they held their breaths.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three distinct explosions rocked the roof of the CDC HQ and the impact and the sound of them shattered the uneasy silence. The Strykers and Humvees moved in quickly, their engines roaring in great glee as if they were wild beasts finally freed from the chains that had shackled them. From other buildings, the US Army fired 40mm grenades using MGLs and launchers attached to their rifles.
Even as the US Army and the FBI's strike teams moved in cover of their paltry few vehicles, the 'terrorists' fired their own weapons. Few Russian RPGs and more than a couple MGLs fired upon the Americans alongside the machine guns fired from the second and third floor windows. Gunfire raged, and both sides quickly began to see casualties. An FBI agent fell first on the American side followed by two US Army soldiers, but the terrorists suffered five as the powerful anti-materiel rounds of M134 miniguns mounted on the Humvee and one of the Strykers quickly pierced through the walls of the building and turned them into bits of flesh and blood.
The battle was fierce and as the bullets filled the air, the doors of the ground floor opened wide and armed men came rushing out east and west. In the courtyard, nearly thirty men faced off against three Humvees and three squads of US Army soldiers. To the west, rest of the terrorists, numbering nearly fifty came charging out from hiding and fired their weapons against US military.
Jake and his team moved forward, moving between the concrete roadblocks intentionally set during early stages of this siege to work as temporary covers. As the first Stryker took position at the CDC parkway next to the museum and turned its gun upon the terrorists, an RPG was fired from the third floor as well as a Stinger missile from the second floor. The RPG exploded right in front of the Stryker One, but the M2 Browning on that vehicle did not stop. It fired another three bursts before the Stinger missile struck its side. An explosion rocked the vehicle, and crippled it. However, it was avenged by Humvee Four with its M134 minigun raking across the second floor and a sniper making a headshot against the terrorist who fired the RPG.
Jake's team split up as they moved closer to the main building. He took over behind large silver SUV along with the burly Sergeant Heath 'Arnie' Miles, whose thick arms allowed him to carry the heavy weapon. He carried M134 minigun made handheld and portable, just like in the movies. While normally a laughable idea, it worked for Arnie because his psionic powers manifested in increased strength and endurance. Although he was large and muscled man of African American persuasion, he was no bodybuilder nor was he a weightlifter. Still, he manages to lift well over 300kg and hold it for almost fifty minutes. It was an unexplainable feat without his power of psionics.
Just across the parking lot, Jake saw Sabertooth with SCAR, Harper 'Ninja' Lee with a pair of H&K UMP and Robert 'Blade' Nishmura with his AA-12. Ninja and Psycho didn't really get along when they are alone together, which is understandable since Lee is Korean and Nishmura is Japanese. The fact that Lee got the title 'Ninja' didn't really sit well with them either, but when they were on the field, they were superb combo. Though they were clearly smaller than others in physique, they made up the difference in agility, reflex and their psionic powers. Ninja had the ability to partially bend light around his body, making him less visible, although not utterly invisible. Blade moved fast, and to be called 'fast' among the psionics is not an easy fit. While not like the Superman or the Flash, he could move at incredible speed. If he was allowed to run in the Olympics, Usain Bolt would never have gotten the gold medal. During the internal tests, he ran 100m in flat 9 seconds, and he kept running at speed for another 58 seconds without being too winded. Together, Ninja and Blade truly redefined 'hit-and-run'. Jake was hoping to use that to their advantage here.
The windows of the SUV exploded and shattered as stray bullets ran amok, and Jake ducked just in time as a bullet punched through the car's door right next to his head.
"Alright… I think we are about to have our target." Jake whispered into his radio. "Aladdin, Bulldog, start it up when I give the word."
-Understood, Witchdoctor.-
Jake closed his eyes for a moment, and he felt the world. He felt every slivers of air, every droplets of moisture and every movement of everything. Then he saw it in his mind's eye. He saw his hated enemy marching out proudly from that building with his gun raised and his sword swinging. He felt the presence of the Chaos Lord, and he knew that it would only be seconds before he would meet that foul creature.
"Three... two... one... NOW!"
The glass shattered outward in an explosion of psychic might. Lord El Sokauron, the Chaos Lord of Terror and Despair, the nascent god within, stepped out from the shadows of the structure. Clad in Relic Power Armor of Chaos decorated in the most heinous and disgusting effigies of foulness, the Chaos Lord in dark indigo raised his accursed Storm Bolter in his left hand and a burning Power Sword wreathed in flames of despair. It was that moment Jake had been waiting for.
From everywhere there was a cover, Psionic Troopers of Alpha Team and Beta Team shot out with their guns blazing. Shells and bullets were all perfectly coordinated against the Chaos Lord. Before he could swing his blade or fire his gun, he was peppered in bright sparks of American bullets shattering against the Power Armor.
The Chaos Lord fumbled, and took a step back, his heavy foot cracking up the pavement. 40mm grenades exploded around him, casting fires and destruction upon and around him in a glorious display of American firepower. Heavy machine guns, miniguns and TOW missiles were all diverted to fire upon that only target. The Cultists and thugs were left alone for that moment, though most of them were wounded or killed. Upon the field strewn about with the bodies of Americans and terrorists, everything was poured upon the Chaos Lord.
The Chaos Lord took another step back, and the armor began to crack as the Dark Halo, stretched over his entire body strained against the impossible firepower. Miniguns firing Semi-armor-piercing high-explosive incendiary (SAPHEI) rounds were most effective, their continuous and concentrated hail of bullets shattered the hard shell of the Chaos Lord's armor, and TOW missiles sheathed the creature in deathful explosions. Yet, the Americans did not relent. They fired and fired until they ran out of ammunition.
"Reload!"
Someone screamed, and a hurried bustle of men reloading their guns were heard. Terrorists were all dead or wounded now, and most of the Americans, both the Army and FBI, were still active.
The smoke cleared as a gust of wind swept past them.
From behind the smoke appeared the Chaos Lord, bowed and humbled. Craters around his form indicated the horrific damage wrought by the Americans, and even in panic and in situation with very little intel, they still managed to wound the Chaos Lord.
Jake breathed out deeply as he surveyed the Chaos Lord, and he knew that El Sokauron would not so easily beaten like this. The Chaos Lord rose up again, his armor shattered and cracked all over with tiny pieces and fragments falling from his mighty body. His sword was broken and sundered, and his gun ruined. Yet, the Chaos Lord was laughing, and he was laughing hard.
"You pitiful mortals, you think to kill me with such pathetic weapons? You think I am disarmed? You think I am wounded? You think I am powerless? Think again, mortals! I shall break your souls!" The Chaos Lord roared.
Then even as the guns and missiles installed on the vehicles were reloaded, the Chaos Lord's weapons glowed and disappeared, and the glow transferred to his hands and reformed into different weapons. A Meltagun appeared in his left hand while a Force Axe with long handle appeared in his right. The Meltagun looked like a daemonic dog with its mouth opened wide while the Force Axe was clearly daemonic in nature from its pulsating heartbeat and tiny tentacles crawling over it.
"Damn it... He can rearm himself." Jake growled as he sprinted to a Humvee and took cover behind it.
"Everyone, get back, we will let the vehicles take care of this." Jake spoke into his mic, but some Army guys were a little too drunk with the violence of the moment.
"Die you sonofabitch!" An Army corporal sprinted toward El Sokauron with his M16 firing.
The Chaos Lord simply pointed his Daemonic Force Axe at the man, and the soldier was instantly flayed alive. Jake could hear some people gagging behind their covers even as the miniguns and TOW missiles fired again. Humvees and their machine guns fired upon the Chaos Lord, but this time, he did not stand still.
"Damn it! Fire! Alpha Team, Beta Team, we are going into Plan D! MOVE!" Jake roared into the mic as he lifted his G36 with his left hand and brought out a long combat knife with his right hand.
With surprising speed and agility, El Sokauron evaded the TOW missile by twisting his body and letting the missile miss him by mere inches before firing his Meltagun at the offending Humvee.
VZZZUM!
The Humvee stopped with a large glowing hole driven right through the vehicle. The crew were incinerated within and the bullets of their sidearms exploded in a small display even as the glowing metal of the vehicle slowly cooled down.
The remainig Stryker quickly growled its engine to a speed and charged at the Chaos Lord with its minigun letting loose a stream of SAPHEI rounds that would have torn a light vehicle into shreds. Yet, a Chaos Marine with his power could not be so easily hurt. Taking the bullets with his right shoulder pauldron, El Sokauron charged at the Stryker, reaching it within a couple of seconds and slamming into the vehicle with all his bodyweight. Clad in such armor as he was, the impact of that shoulder charge rattled the vehicle and the gun went silent right before the Daemonic Force Axe sliced through horizontally where the driver would have been. Blood exploded out from that cut.
Yet, there were others still. From two Humvees with their M2 Browning and M240 machine gun. They charged in, and El Sokauron squeezed off another shot of Meltagun at the M2 Browning, killing the gunner and the driver, whose head was vaporized by the future weapon. It was then that the Psionic Squads reached the Chaos Lord.
"Die, you fucker!"
A tall soldier clad in M3 NAS armor leapt at El Sokauron's back with his combat knife and AA12 shotgun with a drum magazine firing tiny pallets of explosive shrapnel. El Sokauron lazily turned around and swung his axe at the soldier, but it cut through nothing but empty air. Little did the Chaos Lord know that the attacker was Sergeant Andrew 'Ghostman' Hatras, a member of Alpha Two and master of realistic illusion and temporary invisibility. Instead of being cut down by the axe, Ghostman reappeared right in front of El Sokauron and drove his combat knife into the crack in the armor. Dark blood of inhuman color spurted out momentarily, and enraged by the attack and the damage dealt to him, the Chaos Lord roared at Ghostman.
"NO!" Jake scream from afar as rest of Alpha and Beta teams approached the enemy.
Ghostman's face exploded as the sonic shockwave of the Sorcerer Lord's roar shattered his bones and sent it far and wide. Even as Ghostman's dead body slow slid down, the Chaos Lord turned his rage against Jake's men.
"You little psykers think to best me in such trickery? I will show you power!"
The ground around him were suddenly covered in dark indigo flame, and within that circle of fire, the dead and wounded bodies of terrorists began to twitch and tremble. Like zombies in movies, the fallen bodies rose up once more their broken flesh now covered in dark goo that seemed to control them as a puppeteer would a puppet. Their slow but precise movements seemed to be rather souless but the soldiers of America did not hesitate to fire upon these zombie creatures as they raised their guns. Jake and his teams did not relent upon the Chaos Lord as hoped. Instead, they were more controlled and precise about their attacks.
Jake fired his G36 into El Sokauron's face and when the Chaos Lord sought to fire the Melta Gun at the Major, he had ducked with such graceful movements as to utterly evade the searing heat that would have charred him if he had dodged the beam by mere inches. The beam shot past Jake's left shoulder by more than a foot and half, but the soldier still felt his NAS armor's surface sizzling under the heat. Yet, he was not about to give up.
"Alpha Two, fire!"
Two groups of five men rose from their crouching position and laid down heavy fire upon the Chaos Lord. Two M249 light machine guns, a H&K MG4 were brought to bear and they spewed out special bullets. Though seemingly same as M995 armor piercing rounds, these were specially developed for the Psionic Troopers, and each carried a tiny RDX-based explosive core encased in Thallium compound designed to deal incredible toxicity to the target. These were rare and dangerous munitions, but it was designed against biological targets of extreme danger to USA and the world, which the Chaos Lord clearly was.
Aided by two Milkor MGL that fired 40mm M433 HEDP grenades, the Alpha Two team dubbed 'Scarface' fired upon the Chaos Lord. They were quickly followed by Beta One and Beta Two, who fired upon him with similar weapons.
The explosions raked across his mighty, unholy armor. Charred and broken, pieces of adamantium and plasteel and ceramite crumbling and falling and scattering around the ground. The Chaos Lord seemed to stumble for the first time. Truly stumble, stumble as his knees gave out, with specially developed 50mm BMG rounds snipered into his thigh and calf and shin, relentlessly bombarding his flesh with tips of tungsten and cores of iron. Unwilling to give up against these primitive humans, the Chaos Lord sought once again to raise himself above the squall of bullets and hailstorms of gunfire. He turned and sped through the foyer of the building behind him, shattering what fallen glass he had once strewn across the marvel floor. His heavy footsteps cracked the stones, pavements unable to withstand his mighty weight or withstand the terrible impact upon the world.
Jake followed him. His G36 once again reloaded with that specially designed anti-armor rounds ready to pepper the Chaos Lord into submission. Behind him, the rest of the surviving Alpha and Beta teams rushed past the corpses and the still-mutated rednecks and merceneries, as the rest of the US forces sought to contain this horrific manifestation with whatever means in their possession. One Beta team remained behind, their aim impeccable against these indigo monstrosities.
They knew, however, it was the head that must be cut off. No snake can remain alive without its head. That was Jake's purpose and the purpose of his men. Following behind closely, they fired upon the Chaos Lord. SABOT rounds raked across the floor, exploded over him. Yet, he still moved on, moving right through the building itself to the other side. As he walked out the other side, he heard the grumbling sounds of armored vehicles. To the north, a pair of M1A2 Abrams tanks moved in. El Sokauron, however, had readied himself for such eventualities. The northern part of that curved structure within the CDC HQ compound cracked apart, explosions of terrible accuracy slicing off the building as a knife to a bread. It fell too fast as if held together by a stronger will than a mortal kind that grabbed and pulled it down and slamming it upon the tanks.
One tank survived though. The first Abrams tank had survived, though showered with pebbles from the collapsed building right behind it. It had survived and it was about to go into battle. The Chaos Lord's plans were not done. Yes, the Abrams tank was powerful. Its thick hull and heavy cannon was a threat, and it was dangerous, and more so because it was not alone. From the south, right next to the elongated pond, the passage was littered with anti-armor mines now treaded by the M3 Bradleys, powerful and broad and tough fighting vehicles perhaps analogues of Rhinos or Razorbacks in the 40K-universe. They were tough, resilient and strong, but they had chosen a wrong path to enter the field. Into the fray they enter, only to be met with kind of explosions that they did not expect in this area. They were not mere IEDs. They were not hastily assembled C4s nor box of dynamites. They were proper anti-armor mines.
The first Bradley went down in quick plumes of fire and smoke, and second and third vehicles paused. The third one attempted to traverse the pond. Yet, even that was expected. Though the Bradley expected shallow water, it was mistaken. Within the water, the Chaos Lord had placed a dark and terrible creature. Perhaps like a Kraken of myths but made of daemonic flesh, it lifted up the Bradley and sheared off the vehicle's tough armor with its twenty-five indigo tentacles. Exactly twenty-five tentacles, for it was the fifth multiplication of five, the unholy number of the new Chaos God-to-be. The crew was captured and squeezed to their deaths. Although the single use was enough to drain what powers that maintained its presence in the Materium, and it slowly dissipated in horrific screams of bemoaning souls that rang across the clear Warp, slowly coloring it with its darkness.
Despite stopping the enemy armors from arriving, the Chaos Lord was in no less trouble. A single shell from the lone Abrams was enough to knock him a couple of meters to the side with smoke rising from his broken armor bits. El Sokauron growled as he picked himself up only to face the wrath of Americans and their endless storm of bullets. Then the guns clicked empty, leaving the view of a super human lying broken within a crater. The Alpha and Beta teams fanned out, taking every caution, while Jake reloaded his magazine.
Major Jake Adams was excited to finally see his nemesis finally cowed and broken. Perhaps the Chaos Lord should have worn that 'Terminator Armor', Jake thought, but then he shook such thoughts away. After all, it was better to have a stupid foe make stupid mistake than simply being lucky.
-Witchdoctor, this is Overmind Actual. Do you read?-
"Overmind Actual, I copy."
-We have three A10s coming your way. Mark your target.-
Jake smiled.
"Understood. Witchdoctor out."
The Chaos Lord was obviously not going to down so easily. He was already trying to stand back up despite his broken armor, and Jake could see his armor slowly knitting themselves back. The shards of his ceramite armor that fell disappeared as indigo smokes and new piece grew on the broken part of the armor. The Melta Gun turned into smoke and was reforming into something else, perhaps a pistol.
"Listen up, we are now in scatter formation. We got Warthogs coming. Laser target the Charlie Lima and move away from him." Jake spoke quietly to his men.
El Sokauron seemed to heal himself, and finally setting his broken left leg, he stood back up and roared.
"YOU CANNOT KILL ME!"
"Don't bet on it, fucker."
Missiles slammed into the Chaos Lord, and in a terrible quake and after shock, a section of the curved building's southern end collapsed in similar fashion to the one that happened to the norther wing. Jake chuckled as he realized that such collapsing building was a trap for his men and the Humvees that approached from the courtyard, and now instigated by the A10 Warthog's attacks, the trap now backfired upon its maker. The half broken building slowly cracked apart, some of the explosives still unexploded.
The Chaos Lord looked up at Jake and the psionic soldier could see the pale face and glowing indigo right eye staring at him from behind the dust.
"You have defeated me, Major Adams, and I congratulate you on this unexpected victory. However, do not get so comfortable. It is far from over. What you see here is nothing but a temporary setback that the cruelties of fate has dealt me this round." The Chaos Lord spoke without the normal low-toned flang in his voice. "I shall return, for my plans for this world is far from over. I may be defeated, but I shall return more powerful, more real, more corporeal and more dangerous than now. You have not seen the last of me..."
BOOM!
The building collapsed upon the Chaos Lord.
At the same time as the Chaos Lord was crushed by the falling building, a large yacht floating around the islands of Hawaii gleamed in silvery white as its occupants, an athletic handsome young man, three gorgeous young women and two butler-like personnel, enjoyed the sun. The women were sunbathing naked on the deck, while the young man was attened by his butlers. Sipping his champagne, the young man seemed to be enjoying the naked women.
Suddenly, he paused his movements as if jolted by electricity. It was but a moment before he resumed his drinking. This time, however, he was smiling.
"Well, that sure fooled them." Arthur chuckled.
END OF CHAPTER 28
