Don't own Chuck
Beckman held her men back out the fray at Chuck's request. He made a good point with the Russian kill team in town and with Peter's men that would meant a lot of lead would be flying back and forth. So, it would be tactically more prudent held her team in reserve. If she did send her team in that would mean just more guns and lead to a greater possibility of shooting something that ought not be shoot for any reason.
"I don't like this waiting," said Beckman as she paced back and forth in her office wearing a rut in her carpet. "I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to this."
"You agreed to it because as Agent Carmichael pointed out while the Russians and Petrovich's men battle it out it would be easier for a few people to get in and take the command center instead of a full squad."
"I know why I agreed to it. I just don't like that I agreed to it. Make sure our men have that town in lockdown. No one gets out and anyone trying to I want taken into custody. We can separate the wheat from the chaff later."
"Yes Ma'am, those were the instructions you gave to our people. But if you like I can call them and remind them?"
"No, don't. If you do they'll think I'm micro-managing them and that I don't trust them. Our people are trained professionals. They know what they're doing and me calling them won't help anything. Besides it's too early."
"Yes Ma'am, then we're back to waiting. I can get you a cup of coffee if you like," said the Major as he took her empty cup from her desk.
"What time is it? I think you should order us a couple of pizzas this isn't going to be over anytime soon," said Beckman. The Major got up and started go then door but before the Major could get out it opened and Roan walked in.
"Did I hear pizzas? You're in luck I come bearing gifts. Well you could order pizza but I brought a little Beluga caviar and some blinis from the Russia house restaurant along with enough Stroganoff for everyone and a Crème Brûlée that will make you slap your mamma."
"Well, I'm not going to slap anyone except maybe you before the night is done and the importation of Beluga caviar is illegal in this country so I doubt if that came from the Russia house."
"True but I won't tell if you don't," said Roan as he started laying the General's desk like a table pulling things out of a picnic basket he'd brought with him. "Oh, and let's not forget my Italian friend Pinot…Grigio. You ask why Grigio and not Gris. Basically, they're the same wine with a little difference in taste and bouquet. The French cousin, Gris would go well with white meat like chicken or veal and maybe with some hard cheeses. But my Italian pal goes best with what's on the menu tonight."
"Thank you Roan but the consumption of alcohol will have to wait until the mission in Nevada is over and our people have neutralized the threat there."
"There's nothing like a good Martini to take the edge off I always say and you look like you could use something right now. Come on the Major won't rat us out. One bourbon and branch water can't hurt and right now you're so spun up it won't take much and you're going to snap."
"At the person who's trying to get me to drink on duty. They have names for people like you. Call our agent in charge outside of town and see if we can get some sort of update," said Beckman as she picked up one of the Crème Brûlée. "I'll eat backwards and if anyone has a problem with that you know where you can go."
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The elevator door opened to an empty hallway. Chuck looked at Sarah who shrugged her shoulders. Considering the activity that was going on above they'd half expected to find chaos down here but that didn't seem to be the case. Sarah took point as Chuck grabbed the guy then tranq'd and threw him over his shoulder.
"There," said Chuck as he pointed to a door marked 'supply'. "Let's put our guy in their storeroom. That's what it's made for to store things… and people." Sarah shook her head as she picked the lock.
"Okay, here you go," she said as she opened the door. But as she finished they heard footsteps coming from around a corner. "Quick inside," she said then she closed the door and they both listened from the other side.
"Where's Peter or Olga," said one of the men. "I'd like to know what's going on above before we find ourselves trapped down here."
"I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you. If Peter hears you... well you don't want to piss him off. You know how he reacts."
"Sasha, I know but I don't want to be stuck down here for duration. You know what's below us and you don't think he won't blow it if push comes to shove."
"Akim, that's just talk and if I were you I wouldn't pay any attention to it. He still needs our command center to control the satellites."
"Are you absolutely sure he does? He could activate then code the satellites so they only respond to his commands then he can disappear. All he'd need from there is a way to communicate with the satellites that he could do from any TV broadcasting station or cell phone tower. The important thing is he has to code the satellites so only he has the command codes."
"Your mouth is going to get you into trouble one of these day. Come on we need to hurry up and get back inside. I don't want Peter to find us outside of the control room or he'll go off."
"Instead of going back inside we should be getting out of here while we can. Those people up above aren't here to sell us health insurance. Don't you see this is our chance to make a break for it. I bet that's where Olaf went. You saw the way he ran out here."
"He can do whatever he wants. But remember down here we're safe. Up above there are men walking around with 47s and it's hunting season for people like you and me. The last time I checked we weren't faster than a speeding bullet."
"Funny superman, but I get it. Nor are we bullet proof. Okay let's go back inside and monitor the situation but if you get me killed I'll be pissed at you." After that they heard the men walk off.
"Okay, I think they're gone now," said Sarah. "I guess we know that guy's name is Olaf and tensions are running high."
"We also found out that Peter isn't down here yet which gives me another idea. We might not have to take on everyone in the control room. Imma told me Peter has an office located on the other side of the control room. We'll start there."
"I get it you're hoping to find a remote access," said Sarah as she peeked outside to make sure the coast was clear. "But do you think you can control his satellites from there?"
"Knowing Peter, he'd always want to have a finger on the button. We can start from his office if we don't find what we need we just have to go across the hall."
"Sounds good to me."
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Stefan made his way through the town ducking from shadow to shadow. There was an acrid smell of burning rubber in in the air and a glow in the distance. There was also the sound of automatic gunfire nearby so he knew he had to take extra caution.
"Come on Stefan the last thing you need is to get caught up in a gun battle or get pinned down," he said to himself. Already he knew that Igor wouldn't be too happy with him if he ever found out he'd let Chuck go for the prize while he went to retrieve Imma.
"Crap," he said as he rounded a building and ran into two of the town's security hunting for intruders. Judging from their faces they were astonished as he was to see them. He fired from the hip dropping one but strangely the other dropped over with a gaping hole through his chest. Stefan turned to the water tower and waved.
"Well technically the Colonel could chalk that up as another dead commie," said Stefan as he hurried along.
[Meanwhile in Greta's]
Peter and Imma were having tea when two of his security guards ran into the café and set up near the door. Peter was about to ask what was going on when a flash grenade came through the window and exploded. Imma shielded her eyes as she turned the table up in front of them. Two men from the kill squad busted in firing on the two guards then at them.
"Stay down," yelled Imma over the noise of gunfire. "Crap, they've got body armor," she said as they fired back at her. She took aim from the bottom corner of the table and shot their feet. Both men dropped in pain then she charged them finishing them off with head shots.
"Come on we need to get out of here," said Imma but turning around she found Peter had a 47 pointed at his head. Imma pointed her weapon at the man.
"Drop your weapon or I'll paint this place with his brains," said the Team Leader. "I mean it. Drop your weapon now."
"You drop yours," said Imma. "If you hurt him this whole place goes up in a mushroom cloud with us in it. Is that what you want?"
"My orders are to burn this place to the ground Colonel and yes I know who you are. I was told you wouldn't be a problem. Clearly, I was given bad intel."
"Clearly," said Imma. "Now drop your weapon. How long do you think you can hold out like this? Give it up your mission is over."
"I don't think so I just have to hold out until my guys regroup with me here. The other squad will be here soon."
"You aren't talking about the people you had in the truck, are you?" laughed Peter. "Didn't you hear that explosion that was Olga taking care of your men. They were precooked before they were sent to hell."
"I was warned about this Olga too that's why I sent her a little present. Don't worry you can join her in a few minutes in hell."
"K chertu," said Peter. "You lie," he said Peter got angry he batted away the weapon then punched the man sending him flying.
"Look out," yelled Imma but it was too late the man drew his sidearm and fired at Peter. Imma returned fire as she grabbed Peter dragging him to cover as the man continued to fire.
"We need to get into the kitchen," said Peter as bullets whizzed past them. "I'm not looking for a quick snack. There's a secret passage out of here."
"You're in no condition to move," said Imma but just then two more of the kill squad arrived. They couldn't stay any longer.
"Get them," yelled the Team Leader as Imma fired at them in retreat heading for the kitchen. Just when it looked desperate Stefan broke in behind them taking out the two men then he and the Team Leader got into a firefight as Imma got Peter into the kitchen.
"Help me to the freezer," said Peter as she walked him over. He put his hand on a scanner then a green light came on and did a retinal scan. "Open the freezer now." When she did she found an elevator inside.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go. We need to get out of here," said Peter as Imma looked back at Stefan through the kitchen doors. "Come on."
"Right," said Imma as she helped him inside. He reached over and pressed a button then the doors closed and they started descending.
"I need to contact Olga right away," said Peter as he started lining things up in his head. "If they've hurt her I'm going to make them pay. I swear I'll drop all the satellites on their head."
"Stop talking and save your strength," said Imma thinking about how they'd run out on Stefan. "I need to see to your wound first then we can go from there."
[Meanwhile back in the café]
Stefan was running low on ammunition but there was a 47 on the floor not too far from him. If he could distract this guy long enough he could get the weapon and be back in the game. He took a deep breath fired until he was out then grabbed the Kalashnikov but when he tried to fire it jammed.
"Looks like you've got a problem," said the Team Leader as he got up from behind a turned-up table. "Your luck's run out and I'm going to enjoy this."
"Oh, stop boring me to death with your words just get it over with. You know you're never going to get away. We'll track you down… all of you including your General.
"Now who's spewing out garbage. I can't decide if I want to make this quick or take my time with you. But you're keeping me from finishing what I came here to do so I guess I don't have time. Nothing personal anything less just wouldn't be professional." He said as he walked up close to Stefan. "Get down on your knees."
"You know what you can kiss," said Stefan. The Team Leader started to smirk as he raised his weapon but just then the rest of the glass in the café window exploded and the man was hurled across the room.
"I hate smirkers."
[Up on the water tower]
"This is like shooting fish in a barrel," said Casey as he chalked up another kill. "This is like Christmas in July," said John. There was a loud metallic ping next to him along with the sound of a ricochet. John looked around and saw the muzzle blast from another water tower. This time whoever was doing the shooting was aiming at Mary.
"Looks like you could use a little more time at the range," said John as he looked through his scope switching to IR. The water in the tower by now had time to chill so he could see a red image next to the blue one.
"Nice thing when shooting a .50 cal you only have to hit the target to score a bull's eye," said John as he squeezed the round off.
"And the judges give him a straight ten," said John as he watched the man drop from the water tower to the ground below. "I ought to pay for as much fun as I'm having."
But as he was patting himself on the back there was an explosion and one of the nearby water towers came crashing down. John had been concentrated on long distances he hadn't been looking what was going on under foot. A round went whizzing past him and he looked over at Mary who shot at him to get his attention. She pointed down at the base of his tower. When he looked, he saw two men doing something to one of the legs.
"Whatever you guys are doing it can't be good," he said. He shouldered his Barrett then pulled out a H&K MP5A3 flipped the selector to fully automatic. Grabbing the railing on the ladder he kicked off. He slid all the way down to the base dropping on one who was beneath the ladder.
"Thanks," said John as he made short work of the other one with a short burst in chest then head. But he didn't have time to compliment himself. He saw the display on a bomb strapped to the leg f the tower. It that gave him ten seconds to get clear.
"Crap," he said as he ran as fast as he could. There was a loud explosion behind him that took him off his feet. He looked back to see the tower come down.
"Double crap," he said as he got to his feet and scurried heading for the nearest high ground as a wave of water started rushing his way. There were some other explosions as tower after tower started coming down. Mary ran to join him as her tower came down.
"What the heck is going on? We've taken most to the death squad out," said Casey as he watched the current of water undermining buildings eventually washing them away.
"This was their plan all along to flush Peter out of his hole and to take out his satellite control. They realized they didn't have the men to fight their way down so they decided to flood it. We need to get Chuck and Sarah out. But how?"
"I've got an idea but we're going to have to make it to the café," said Casey as they found a place to forge across the stream on floating debris that had formed a make-shift bridge.
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Chuck was behind Peter's desk working on his computer. The Cyrillic keyboard was a little bit of a challenge but nothing that a quick flash couldn't take care of. After that with a little help from the Castle mainframe he was in Peter's system. He began working on his plan coding as fast as he could.
"I don't want to tell you to hurry up but you need to hurry up," said Sarah as she glanced out of the door. Water started seeping in from the ceiling as droplets started falling like rain. "I don't know what's going on but it can't be good."
"I'm almost done here. Why don't you go take friend out of the storeroom and prop the doors open to the elevator?"
"I'm not going to leave you," said Sarah as she looked back outside. "Okay but I'm coming right back. Be careful and hurry up."
"You don't have to tell me twice," said Chuck. He was busy putting the final touches on his plan when he heard the door open. "I just finished."
"Finish doing what," said Peter. Chuck looked up to see Peter and Imma standing there. "Who are you and how did you get in here? Imma shoot him."
"You might want to put a hold on that. I've got control of your satellites now," said Chuck in Russian. "You might not recognize the face but surely you remember the voice."
"Juri… you're… no he was old and… a disguise. Out of my way," said Peter as he went over to the console. "Imma, keep an eye on him."
"Yes, Imma keep an eye on me," said Chuck. He walked over to her by the door. Suddenly they heard a commotion across the hall. "That would be all your people abandoning this place."
"What have you done? All the satellites are active and moving around the earth. At that rate of speed you've got them traveling they'll use up all their rocket fuel. You've condemned us all."
"No, I saved us. Come on we need to get out of here. The rate of water that's seeping in will cause the ceilings to collapse soon."
"This is my father's legacy and you've ruined it. I'll teach you and the rest a lesson they won't forget. I'll blow the reactor and send a mushroom cloud east," said Peter as he started typing. But the computer wouldn't accept his password.
"I don't understand," said Peter then he looked at Chuck. "You changed my password, didn't you? I want it right now or I'll have you killed."
"Look around you dude. If we don't go soon we'll all be dead. I put your reactor in safe mode so you can't detonate it. You don't need to know how I just did. Imma, if you're coming with me we need to go now."
"We need to go now if we're going to go. The lab rats are abandoning the ship," said Sarah as she walked in and in that moment of distraction Peter pulled a Makarov from his desk.
"You're with him," said Peter as Imma pointed her weapon at him. "I trusted you… I brought you here and now you do this?"
"Put down the weapon and let's all go," said Imma. "Please Peter don't make me do this. You're my brother and I don't want to do this."
"You of all people should know we don't always get what we want," he said as he raised his weapon. Imma's eyes watered up as she looked down his barrel but there was a loud gunshot from the door.
"If you people want to take a bath you can stay here. If you don't then I suggest you follow us out," said Casey as he and Mary led them back out an auxiliary tunnel that came out in Greta's café. Stefan was at the other end to greet them as they walked out. There was a loud noise like timbers breaking and parts of the town was swallowed up by the ground.
"You're going to have to explain to me again what you did with those satellites in words I can understand so I can explain it to Igor. I already know he's going to be pissed," said Stefan as he looked over at Imma.
"She's going to need time," said Sarah as she whispered to Stefan.
"When isn't Igor," said Chuck. "I'll have a case of good scotch sent to him. That should smooth things over but it was easy actually."
[A few minutes later they were in a Lada they'd commandeered heading home]
"General, let me try again," said Chuck as he briefed Beckman. "The idea is simple. The satellites are like a ball on the end of the rope. They've fired their thrusters getting them to circle the earth and as they circle their thrusters will fire again causing the satellites to gain momentum then when they reach terminal velocity they'll utilize the earth's gravity… like a sort of slingshot. Then when they come around they'll fire once more breaking free from the earth and if my calculations are correct the sun will capture them pulling them towards it. Barring they don't get hit by a meteorite or comet they'll go up in a blaze."
"I guess that will give NASA something to study."
"I suppose you and I need to have out sit down, don't we? It's been long overdue," said Mary. "I just want to say good bye to the girls and Ellie first."
"I'm afraid that sit down is on hold indefinitely. I know you just finished this mission but I need to tell you… well there's no good way to break this news."
"General just spit it out," said Chuck. He felt Sarah reach over and grab his hand. It felt cold and clammy. They were both thinking about the girls.
"Please General, just tell us what's happened," said Sarah.
Continued in Chuck vs the Return of the Evil Troll
