Chapter 25
It won't always be in your favor
"May I?" I asked.
"I'd be insulted you didn't," Jake said as he stepped back.
I pulled a grenade from my belt, pulled the pin and tossed it into the factory. Then I threw in a second one.
"Let's go," I said.
We all started to head back to the dock just as the factory went up in flames behind us when the grenades went off.
"Wait a second," I said, "what about the U-boats?"
"The Templars called them back and made the mistake of ordering the crew to come out and engage us in the battle," said Jake, "we're in the clear."
They got desperate. Heh, idiots.
"What were our losses?" I asked as I looked down at the piece of The Tracer in my hip pouch.
"The Templars put up a really big fight," said Corrie, "we lost a little over a hundred men from a hunter."
"What?" I asked.
"There were three hunters here?" asked Eli.
"Apparently," Jake said with a light chuckle, "otherwise I wouldn't have had to start beating asses."
I let out a light chuckle as well.
"Well, despite the losses, we earned a well fought victory," I said, "and what's more… These blockheads won't be needing this vessel anymore."
Jake looked up at the supply ship as we returned.
"Wait a second… You want us to assume command of this ship?" he asked, "why?"
"Think about it, with a little refitting, we could turn this supply ship into a destroyer," I said as we climbed aboard.
"A destroyer?" asked Oberon.
"Yeah, something fast, something that'll allow us to move under the radar," I said, "I'm not looking for us to have a cruiser or anything."
"…She does have a point," said Oberon.
"…Let's just see what the mentor has to say," said Jake.
Once we were all back on the ship, we had begun the long trek back to Africa, but first we stopped at Poland so we could drop the piece of The Tracer off at the compound. Jasper had never looked so surprised in his life, and mind you this was after we told him how we destroyed the super weapons that were in development.
"I understand that you went to destroy that new ship and tank and here you are bringing me another piece of The Tracer," he said.
"Pretty lucky right?" I asked.
"Perhaps," said Jasper.
Jake raised an eyebrow.
"Is something wrong, mentor?" he asked.
"Listen to me, you all have saved the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of Allied soldiers… But you do understand that your actions will not go unnoticed," said Jasper, "when the Field Marshal hears about what you have done, he'll strike back."
Jake, Oberon, Corrie, Eli and me all looked at each other.
"I'll take it by your glances that your business in Africa is… Not quite finished," said Jasper.
"Well… Uh… Not uh…" I started to say.
"It is, but at the same time it isn't," said Jake, "once we send out a few scouting parties to make sure that Bruno Eberhart isn't trying to construct more super weapons, we can return home."
"Very good," said Jasper, "do not take too long though, lest you run into more hunters."
"Understood mentor," said Corrie.
The five of us started to file out.
"Ariela… Wait a moment," said Jasper.
I stopped and looked back at the others.
"You guys head to the Mess Hall," I said, "I'll catch up."
"Have fun," said Jake.
The others left. I walked back over to Jasper.
"Is something wrong, mentor?" I asked.
"…How many have you killed?" asked Jasper.
"Wait, what?" I asked.
"Don't play stupid, how many Hunters have you killed?" asked Jasper.
I swallowed.
"Mentor, I can explain, I haven't been hunting them, I only ran into them and that's it," I said putting my hands up.
"…I hope so," said Jasper, "because we have a serious problem."
"What kind of problem?" I asked.
Jasper leaned back in his chair with his hands clasped together.
"As you know, the brotherhood has sent in small teams of our finest to fight alongside the Allied Forces in this war as well as take out any Templars within the ranks of the Axis Powers," said Jasper, "if you remember, I had sent you, Jake, and a few others to Russia to intercept Templar agents who had been assigned to assassinate the military leaders of Russia so that was the country would fall a lot more quickly."
I didn't like where this was going.
"I need you to take on such an assignment again," said Jasper.
Jasper slid a file over to me. I picked it up and opened it.
"With Damian working with the Templars now and training some of their members into efficient Hunters, he's been sending his students to key factories, bases and resources depots," said Jasper.
I glanced up at Jasper, then I glanced back down at the file and gasped. I really didn't like where this was going.
"Unfortunately, due to his training as one of us, it means that his Hunters can make it seem like we were the ones who did the killings," said Jasper.
"They're going to kill…" I said.
"Dwight D. Eisenhower and Winston Churchill," said Jasper.
This sent a nasty shiver down my spine.
"If Damian's hunters kill those men, this will be a massive stab at morale," said Ariela, "and what's more, they'll pin us as the culprits and call for our execution."
"And the Africa Campaign will turn over in the Axis and Templar's favor," said Jasper, "Ariela, I need you and the others to intercept those hunters before these men arrive to Africa. Is that understood?"
"Yes mentor," I said.
"Excellent," said Jasper, "go and get some food, then get some needed rest. You leave for Africa in seven days."
I gave a nod and turned to leave when I stopped.
"Why seven days?" I asked.
"I just gathered some new intel from our brothers in Italy," said Jasper, "I may have you looking into this little matter sometime in the near future."
"Of course, mentor," I said.
I turned and left his quarters, then I headed to the Mess Hall, I grabbed my meal and went over to the table where the others were waiting.
"Hey, there she is," said Jake.
"What'd our mentor need to talk to you about?" asked Corrie.
"He said that he may have a mission for me some time in the near future," I said as I sat down, "he adds that we'll be leaving for Africa in seven days."
Everyone dropped their utensils and looked at me like I was crazy.
"Seven days?" asked Jake, "why?"
I told Jake, Oberon, Eli and Corrie everything that Jasper told me. About the planned assassination on Eisenhower and Churchill, how Damian plan to pin their killings on us. Everything.
"This. Is. Bad," said Jake, "it's just like our mentor said, if they succeed it'll destroy the morale of the Allied forces and they'll call for our heads."
"Did he say how many we could expect to intercept?" asked Oberon.
I shook my head.
"Oh good," said Corrie, "I just loooove surprises."
After we ate, we all made our way back to our rooms to rest up for the seven days we would be on base… Or at least it would've been a full seven days had I not got a surprise visit from someone on the fifth day.
"Excuse me, are you Ariela?" asked a voice.
I shoved Eli to the ground while I was in the middle of sparring with him, to see who it was that asked me the question. I gasped. It was one of those pilots that I met a few days ago! One of Terrell's squad mates!
"I am," I said, "you're one of Terrell's friends, right?"
"I am," he said, "name's Jaxon Carter."
Jaxon and I shook hands.
"So, to what do I owe this unexpected visit Jaxon?" I asked with a friendly smile.
"…I need your help," he said, "Terrell's been captured."
My smile ran away from my face instantly.
"Tell me everything," I said.
Jaxon told me everything that happened word-for-word. He told me how they've been combing all of Africa for anymore bases belonging to the Saw-Scaled Armor Division, how they were making their way back to base but got intercepted by a Templar pilot, who winded up shooting down Terrell.
"…It wouldn't have been so bad, except Terrell is a high-flying, sharpshooting Amadeus," said Jaxon, "he hasn't been shot down once."
My hands formed into fists.
"It was likely a Hunter," said Ariela, "Templar pilots are good, but not that good."
"Ari, this is going to complicate things," said Eli, "we need to leave for Africa two days from now to intercept Damian's hunters and kill them before they're able to assassinate Eisenhower and Churchill."
I pondered for a moment.
"…Then we'll have to split up," I said.
"Huh!?" exclaimed Jaxon and Eli.
"Eli, you and I can go with Jaxon and find Terrell," I said, "Jake and the others can intercept the Hunters."
"Are you sure?" asked Jaxon, "I'd hate to keep you from your mission."
"It's fine Jaxon," I said as I put a hand on his shoulder, "Eli and I can be able to handle a Hunter pilot."
I looked over at my cousin.
"Just be sure to stick close to me, okay?" I asked.
Eli smiled at me and nodded.
"Wait… You mean he can fly?" asked Jaxon.
"I taught him a few tricks," I said, "he's not at my caliber, but he's far from a pushover."
Jaxon looked at Eli. Eli gave him a shy smile.
"Well alright then, little man," Jaxon said as he pat Eli on the head, "I look forward to seeing what you can do."
After our little meeting, Eli and I rested up and we began our early trip back to Africa with Jaxon… Of course, I informed the others about the situation and informed our mentor as well as soon as we woke up. While Jake and the others were a little… Upset about my idea of having us split up, Master Jasper was more chilled and content with Eli, Jaxon and I mounting the rescue.
Which brings us here…
"Terrell went down around here," said Jaxon, "make sure you guys keep your eyes peeled and ears open."
"Got it," I said.
"Copy," said Eli.
All was quiet, except for the sound of the melodious drone of our engines as we kept an eye out for the fucker that shot down Terrell. Jaxon in his P-40 Warhawk, Eli and I in our custom 109s.
"Uh… Ari," said Eli.
"Hmm?" I asked.
"I have something that I need to talk to you about," he said, "something I've been meaning to address for a while now."
"What's up?" I asked.
"Uh… Well… The thing is…" said Eli.
"Yes?" I asked.
"The thing is Ariela…" he started to say, "we're under attack!"
"Co (What)?" I asked.
As if to answer my own question, the three of us heard the sound of a fighter engine… Along with the haunting sound of gunfire.
"SCATTER!" I screamed.
We broke off as a fighter flew right between us.
"Jaxon?" I asked.
"I see 'em," he said, "it's the same fighter."
"Alright that's our man," said Ariela, "Eli stick close to me, let's shoot this bastard down."
"Copy," he said.
I gripped my stick firmly and did a split S dive as I began to pursue the enemy pilot.
"Alright, you damn hunter, let's see you fly," I said with a smile.
"Don't let this guy get behind you," said Jaxon.
The hunter dove down to the ground below and quickly leveled out, Eli and I did the same.
"Got you!" I barked.
I squeezed the trigger and sprayed a hail of gunfire at bastard. The hunter veered to the left, slipping outside of my line of fire.
"Oh-no, you don't!" I barked as I veered to the left as well.
The pilot turned to the right and flew right up, appearing to almost go in a spiral as he tried to keep himself out of my range. But I wasn't about to let him escape. Eli and I began to follow him trail.
"Guys break off!" barked Jaxon.
I looked and saw Jaxon was coming right for us. Eli and I broke off our pursuit as Jaxon came in and fired on the hunter, forcing him to veer off, with, Jaxon hot on his tail.
"Jaxon bring him around to us," I said.
"Try not to blow him to hell," said Jaxon, "we need him alive if we want to know where Terrell is."
"Aw, what!?" I whined.
"You heard me, shoot down, don't blow up," said Jaxon.
"Fine… Just shoot down," I said with a huff.
Eli and I came around to the right side of the hunter and Jaxon.
"Jaxon, Eli and I are coming around to your three 'o' clock, get ready to break off," I said.
"Copy," he said as he stayed on the hunter.
Eli and I drew in close.
"Break off, Jaxon!" I barked.
I saw Jaxon's P-40 reel back and break off from the hunter's Me 109. I squeezed the trigger and my guns rumbled to life as I fired on the hunter. The hunter turned upright and soared away, trying to gain some distance.
"Eli, he's running!" I yelled.
"Don't worry, I got him," he said.
I watched as Eli gave chase. Though I stuck close behind him, I wanted Eli to get his first real aerial kill. I watched as Eli kept his distance, not too close, but not too far as he worked to line up the shot, then he fired a quick burst of rounds from his machine guns before going all out.
"Get him Eli," I whispered.
I watched as the Hunter tried to move to the right, but I wasn't about to have it.
"Oh no, you don't!" I barked as I turned in the same direction and fired.
The hunter dove downward.
"He's trying to run again!" I barked.
"The hell he is!" barked Jaxon.
Jaxon came flying in on the hunter's twelve 'o' clock, spraying him with a hail of gunfire and shooting his ass down.
"Dusted," said Jaxon.
"Keep an eye out to where he landed," I said.
With the hunter down, the three of us headed down to the surface after he hit the ground. Jaxon, Eli and I all climbed out of our fighters and we slowly made our way to the downed Me 109.
"Guns out, fingers on the trigger," I said.
We approached the Me 109, but to our shock… The cockpit was empty.
"The fuck!? Where'd he go!?" demanded Jaxon.
I heard Eli let out a yelp. Jaxon and I whirled around and saw that my cousin was put in a headlock by the pilot.
"Eli!" I screamed, whipping out my off-hand Colt and taking aim.
I saw Jaxon pull out his sidearm and take aim at the pilot too.
"Let him go asshole," I hissed.
"I'll do you one better," the pilot said as he pulled out his own sidearm and put the barrel to Eli's head, "drop your weapons, or I'll spill his brains all over the dirty."
I looked at Jaxon, then I looked at Eli and gave him a slight… Very, very, very subtle nod before putting my hands up and tossing my Colt; but before my weapon could even hit the ground, I took aim with my hidden gun and fired without wasting a second, shooting the pilot's weapon and causing him to drop it when he felt the shockwave of the impact. Eli used the window that I gave him and broke free from the hunter's grip, then he kicked him in the left shin and drove his knee into his gut, causing him to double over.
"GRAB HIM!" I barked.
Jaxon and I tackled the pilot. The two of us managed to pin the fucker down and restrain him before he could even try to fight back. Jaxon and I pushed him to his knees, and I put my gun, that I threw, to his head.
"A dark-skinned man, a half-bred Romanian and a half-bred Jew? You three look like the start of a bad joke," joked the pilot.
I struck him on the head with my Colt.
"Do we look, like we're in the mood for your bullshit?" I asked firmly, "you'd better tell us where our friend is."
"Heh, or what?" he asked, "you going to kill me?"
I looked up for a moment.
"Say Jaxon… Where did you saw Terrell was shot down again?" I asked.
"Here, in Algeria," he said.
"Interesting," I said as I looked around, "and from my standpoint, I don't see any cities nearby either. Be a real shame if someone were to… Oh, I don't know, shoot out your kneecaps and leave you for the buzzards?"
"…You're bluffing," said the pilot.
"You want to bet?" I asked as I pulled back the hammer, "where's Terrell?"
The pilot swallowed.
"…Southwest of here, Damian Chapelle has a stronghold that's northeast of Reggane and northwest of Tindouf," said the pilot.
I felt my heart drop down into the pit of my stomach.
"Damian…? He took Terrell?" I asked.
"Aye, took him so that way he could get any information that's locked away in that head of his," said the pilot, "more specifically, gain any information on your whereabouts."
"If Damian wants to get a lock on your whereabouts, then you really must've rattled his cage," said Jaxon.
"Cram it, Jaxon," I said, rolling my eyes, before turning back to the hunter, "what kind of resistance should we expect?"
"…Templar soldiers guard the stronghold inside of the walls," said the hunter, "the outside is guarded by the Field Marshal's personal armor division."
I sighed.
"It really is a stronghold, security is going to be really tight," said Eli.
"Oh, I'm sure," chuckled the hunter, "you assassin dogs might as well forget about planning any sort of rescue, you'd need an army to get your friend out."
"We'll take our chances," I said.
I shot the hunter in the head.
"Alright, let's go Eli," I said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you're not serious about taking on an entire stronghold with just the two of you, are you?" asked Jaxon, "I mean, what if this guy has more hunters inside of his command center? You'll be outnumbered and outmatched."
"Perhaps, perhaps not," I said as Eli and I started to head back to our planes.
"Hey… Hey, Liora! Look, maybe we should hold off on getting Terrell out of there. This is starting to turn into a giant mistake," said Jaxon.
"Every minute we wait, is another minute that Damian could be trying to weed information out of Terrell," I said, "if you want to help, then radio the rest of your squadmates and have them to come and rendezvous with us."
Jaxon grabbed my wrist, stopping me.
"Ariela, this is crazy… My squad leader is being held captive by a Templar Hunter inside of a Templar stronghold, that's got to have well over a hundred soldiers in there," he said firmly, "look, I want to get Terrell more than anything, but what you are about to do is suicide."
My face softened.
"…Jax… Look… I don't care that this might be suicide or not… I don't even care that a lot of Damian's hunters are stationed there… I just want to get your friend out of there," I said, "…look, my sister… My big sister and I got separated at the start of this damn war. I was taken in by the Brotherhood and I found out that she was captured and taken to one of the Nazi camps. When I went to go rescue her, I saw things that no one had ever seen… Things that haunt me damn near every single night."
I formed my right hand into a tight fist.
"I don't want to let Terrell suffer… As my people had to suffer," I said through gritted teeth.
Jaxon's face softened as well.
"…Now I know why people started calling you Silverblade… You really are a symbol of God," said Jaxon, "to your people… And an angel of death to these bastards."
Jaxon exhaled.
"…Alright… If you two are going… Then I'm coming too," he said.
Eli and I looked at each other, then we looked at Jaxon. I smiled.
"Let's do this," I said, extending a hand.
Jaxon smiled and we shook hands. After the discussion was settled, the three of us saddled up and headed to Damian's stronghold; along the way, Jaxon radioed to his buddies about the rescue mission that was commencing and for them to hurry to our location as soon as they could.
"Do you think that they'll make it to us in time?" asked Eli.
"My squad mates? Ha! Kid, the boys of Tuskegee are one of the fastest flyers in the American air force… Well… I mean some of them Yankees might say otherwise," Jaxon said with a hint of disgust in his voice.
"I'm guessing that you don't get the same treatment from us," I said.
"Nah," said Jaxon, "despite your method of 'ensuring peace', you Assassins ain't all that bad."
That made me smile. The three of us flew for what felt like hours, until Eli said something that broke the long silence between us.
"There it is!" he chirped.
I looked out into the distance and saw something way out in front of us.
"That must be the stronghold," I said, "alright you guys, you ready?"
"You mean ready to dance?" asked Jaxon.
"No… I mean… Yeah… How did you know I was going to say that?" I asked.
"Because we're about to have company," said Jaxon.
I looked out at the stronghold for a second, but I couldn't see anything in particular. It wasn't until I activated my Eagle Vision though, that I saw who or what was coming our way: It was fighters. A lot of fighters.
"Right… Probably should've flown low," I said, "alright."
I rolled my shoulders.
"Drop your socks and grab your crotch, it's time to make some noise," I said as I surged ahead.
"Wait, what?" asked Jaxon.
"That's just my cousins way of saying 'Follow me'," chuckled Eli.
I got a good look at the fighters that were approaching just before we were within firing range.
"Heads up, we got Me 109s," I said, "try not to stray too far… Watch your backs."
"Roger," said Jaxon.
"Got it," said Eli.
As soon as we were near their firing range, I yelled out for the three of us to dive downward just as the enemy fighters opened fire.
"Let's take this over the stronghold! Come on!" I barked.
"Right behind you!" exclaimed Jaxon.
The boys followed me. You all are probably wondering why I decided to take it over the stronghold… If the stronghold has any AA guns, it'll be difficult for Eli, Jaxon and I to soften up the opposition. If we take the fight over the stronghold, the AA guns likely won't fire and the fighters will have to watch their aim, which will give us the advantage.
"We're right over the stronghold," said Jaxon.
"Okay, now we can dance," I said with a devilish grin.
I kicked my fighter into high gear and immediately turned my attention to the nearest fighter.
"There's at least fifty enemies in this swarm," said Jaxon, "everyone watch your backs, and don't let these fuckers jump on your ass."
"Let them try," I said.
I managed to get a 109 in my sights and pulled the trigger, unleashing a storm of gunfire. My opponent tried to evade the storm, though he managed to catch a break after one of his comrades tried to fire on me.
"Uh-oh," I said, moving out of the way.
I looked up and saw Jaxon was chasing the other fighter.
"Sorry, Ariela!" he called out.
I went back to chasing my opponent, but I was interrupted after two 109s came gunning for me.
"Shit!" I thought as I went low, "this just might start getting tough."
I started swerving, trying to get out of their line of fire, but it was no use, especially when I had to contend with other enemy fighters. If these chumps were giving me this much of a hassle, then there was only one thing for me to do.
"I've got to thin out the herd," I thought as I turned upside down and flew down to the ground below, "this better work!"
I managed to level out and looked over my shoulder to see the fighters were still on my ass. At the same time, the AA guns started to fire.
"Here we go!" I thought as I moved through the barrage and flew over the tanks that were stationed outside of the stronghold.
I heard an explosion and looked back. One of the fighters were taken out. I pulled back on the throttle and the other 109 flew right past me.
"GOTCHA!" I barked.
I punched it and fired on the 109, my machineguns spewed a storm of rounds at the 109 in front of me.
"And have a little bit of this, too!" I barked as I fired my Corsairs.
The 109 went up in a cataclysmic explosion before falling to the ground in a heap of smoldering wood and metal. I turned around and started to make my way back to the battle, during my trip back, I stayed low enough for me to fire on the tanks as I got in close before flying up into the air and joining the dogfight again. I fired a quick burst of gunfire at the closest fighter and then shot him down with my Corsairs, same with the second fighter and third fighter.
"I'm going to go for the air strip, cover me," said Jaxon.
"I've got it," said Eli.
I saw Eli flying close behind Jaxon; but I also saw a few 109s flying close behind the boys as well.
"Uh-uh!" I barked as I turned around and gave chase, firing on the 109s and causing them to scatter.
Jaxon launched his attack, raining fire down on the air strip before going back up and firing on another 109 that was closing in on me.
"Thanks Jaxon," I said.
I started chasing down the next 109.
"So many fighters getting shot down… Got to be mindful when their numbers drop to the point where the guns will be able to have a clear shot on us," I thought.
Suddenly, I jerked my plane to the right as I saw a line of AA rounds fly right past me.
"Oh, come on!" I barked.
I tried to move out of the way of another burst of AA gunfire; but I was forced to move again as another 109 fired on me. This was getting out of hand.
"Fall back! We need to fall back!" I barked.
I tired to turn and make a run for it, hoping that Jaxon and Eli would notice and follow me out, but alas, my hopes fell on deaf ears as another burst of gunfire came my way and my right wing was shot off.
"FUCK!" I screamed.
I gripped my stick as hard as I could and tried to steady my plane, I was going down fast.
"Ariela!" screamed Jaxon.
I saw my plane heading right for the ground. I was coming in too hot. I felt my heart start racing and I began to panic. Without even thinking, I shielded my face to protect it from the impact. The last thing I remembered before hitting the ground, was hearing Eli screaming my name.
Author's note: Did you guys miss her?