Episode Seven
Paris Conflict
Tyler had gone through the transporter so many times, at this point, he no longer felt nauseous on emerging on the other side of his destinations. But Paris was definitely a sight to see; even in the grip of the post-apocalypse, it still looked beautiful. The city could be seen as far as the eye could see, practically untouched by the warheads that scorched the rest of the world. Unusual, Tyler thought. But on really looking hard at the buildings in the distance, he noticed, even at the altitude he was at, that the city showed signs of massive reconstruction. Must have cost a fuckton of resources to pull off a reconstruction project the size of Paris.
And speaking of altitude, Sebastian was the first to speak after transport was complete. "Uh, guys... pretty sure it's not the best time to bring this up, but... did I mention I'm afraid of heights?"
"No, why-" Anna responded before cutting herself off on realizing just how high they were. "Um... honey... why are we in the air?"
"We're in the Eiffel Tower," Tyler commented. "Dad sure knows how to pick 'em... Easy, Seb - just don't look down."
"Too late," Sebastian remarked with a nervous gulp. Tyler looked over and saw Sebastian staring down toward the ground over the railing.
"They always look down," Anna grumbled. She forcibly jerked Sebastian's head up, and dragged him to a waiting elevator.
"That's convenient," Grimaldi commented.
"Like I said - Dad knows how to pick 'em. Ellen, any idea where the next pad is?" Tyler asked the team AI.
"After going through the transporters a few times, I've gleaned they have a unique energy signature; I am scanning for one now... I have a very faint reading, due northeast of here," Ellen responded. Tyler paused, then ran back up to the railing and looked at the aforementioned direction. In the distance of that direction sat a gathering of buildings, practically untouched compared to the rest of the city. Anna walked up beside him and peered that way.
"The Champs-Elesees," Tyler muttered.
"Know the place?" Anna asked.
"Been there a few times, in my time on the run from MJ12," Tyler affirmed. "Nice food. Better wine. Maybe we should pick up a case or two to take home?"
"Looks like we have a river between us and there," Anna pointed out.
"I can see that," Tyler replied. "And ten to one, there's only one bridge that isn't destroyed..." Tyler looked on the bridges in the distance - only one hadn't been destroyed. And that bridge was west of the tower - the opposite direction to where their destination was. He pointed at it, and spoke, "There's our ticket across."
"Raiders are gonna have it locked down," Anna said.
"Not much choice - unless you'd rather swim," Tyler replied half-jestingly. Anna stared at Tyler, her mouth slightly ajar.
Finally, she declared with a single adamant nod of her head, "Hell no," and returned with Tyler to the elevator. They rode the elevator all the way to the base of the tower, where Sebastian could breathe a sigh of relief when his feet touched the ground. They were not, however, alone. A team of humans with odd steel-gray uniforms and bucket helmets were approaching the elevator, and stood silent and evidently bewildered at the two humans and two dragons standing before them. There was a good, five-second pause. These humans looked more like professional soldiers than raiders - low-level, perhaps, but much more professional than Raiders typically looked, even the raiders that Tyler knew resided in Paris. They all were armed with weapons Tyler briefly found vaguely familiar. Laser weapons, perhaps.
"Shit," Tyler, Anna, Sebastian and Grimaldi all finally said in unison. The instant the hostiles went for their weapons, Tyler, Anna, Sebastian and Grimaldi raised theirs and fired - the combined four automatic rifles firing full auto slaughtered the soldiers before they could bring their weapons to bear. Immediately after, an alarm sounded in the distance - but it was a sound Tyler did not remember ever hearing before. It had the air of an alert siren, but the sound was closer to that of a massive beast in the underwater distance than any alarm Tyler had ever heard - and yet, somehow, he found it maddeningly familiar, like he'd come across this sound before, but he couldn't remember where. But now wasn't the time to ponder this - the alarm had been tripped, and he knew what would follow: Reinforcements. Lots of them. The raiders were predictable, that way.
"Looks like we tripped the alarm," Sebastian remarked over the siren.
"No shit - which way, fearless leader?" Grimaldi growled.
"We make for the bridge - if we're lucky, we can get across before they lock it down!" Tyler responded.
"And if we're unlucky?" Anna called over the siren.
"Then we fight our way through - let's go!" Tyler shouted. He and the others headed due west, toward the bridge Tyler saw in the distance. Amazingly, the Raiders did nothing to impede their progress. No roving patrols, no ambushes, no enemy presence at all, it seemed. Completely contrary to what Tyler was expecting. Just where the hell were they? Yet another mystery to add to his growing supply. Once they were clear of the Eiffel Tower, the group slowed to a cautious jog, keeping weapons raised and ready to fire.
"Tyler, you mind explaining who the hell those guys were? They sure as hell didn't look like typical raiders," Anna queried.
"Yeah, they looked like professional military," Sebastian agreed.
"I have no idea who the hell those guys were - but the uniforms... and that alert siren..." Tyler trailed off.
"Familiar?" Anna asked.
"Just like the MJ12 outpost on the moon," Tyler affirmed, "But from different sources. Those guys were familiar in a different way - if I didn't know better, I'd swear I came across uniforms like that before. But I can't remember where."
"Grimaldi, is there anything you might have heard about what's going on in Paris?" Sebastian asked.
"Not a clue - your guess is as good as mine," Grimaldi responded.
"We need intel," Tyler decided. "I just hope there's something along our path that can provide it."
"Computers would be good," Anna suggested.
"I was thinking that, too," Tyler said. "But finding one that works in an environment that is populated by dumbass raiders is difficult."
"And how about one that's in an environment of professional military hardasses?" Sebastian remarked.
"Finding one that works would be relatively easy - finding one we can get to... that's another matter," Tyler stated, "If these bastards are half as professional as they seem, they'll have their computer terminals guarded."
"How heavily?" Anna asked.
"Depends on what's on it, where it is, if it has an uplink to a central computer core," Tyler grumbled. He growled quietly as they came to the corner of a building. Peering around, Tyler gave the hand motion to take cover. To the right, the bridge was in sight. Curiously, it was unguarded. Strange - Tyler would have figured for certain it would be completely locked down. Just where the hell was the enemy opposition? It was almost as if they had their attention focused elsewhere - and Tyler had to wonder just what the hell was so important that they would ignore clear intruders in their midst. Directly across the street was a building that had cables coming out of it, leading to a dish on the roof. Tyler bet there was a computer terminal in there, and he might be able to figure out what was going on here from there.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Anna asked from beside Tyler.
"I am if you're thinking that building there might have some connection to these assholes in the grey suits and what they're doing here," Tyler affirmed. He peered left, then right. Still no activity. "We'd better jump on this, and fast - let's go, safeties off." He then dashed across the street, followed by Anna, Sebastian and Grimaldi. They stacked up by the door, where Tyler pulled out a cylindrical grenade, peering inside. Just as he expected, a fire team of soldiers in the grey uniforms were inside, one of them at a computer terminal. Motion sensors painted another fire team on the floor above. Tyler looked to his colleagues, and held up four fingers, pointing inside, then held up four fingers again, and pointed to the floor above. They all nodded, and Tyler pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it inside. There was a clatter as the device landed in the enemy's midst, and one of them shouted, "Fuck! GRENA-" He was cut off when the grenade detonated in a bright flash and a loud BANG! Tyler was first inside, and immediately drilled the dazed bastard at the terminal, who was standing up unsteady on his feet. Anna got the next kill, nailing the soldier near the stairwell to the right, while Sebastian fired a sustained burst into the two bastards to the left that were standing close together. Perhaps the soldiers were inexperienced, or perhaps they were too eager, but all four soldiers upstairs immediately came down to investigate - and were subsequently slaughtered.
"For professional military, these bastards are pretty green," Sebastian commented. He frowned, noticing a faded circular logo on one of the soldiers' sleeves. "Hey, Tyler - look at this. What do you make of it?" Tyler came over and examined the logo with a frown. It seemed familiar, alright - but it was so worn and faded, he couldn't quite ascertain who it belonged to.
"Can't say - logo's too faded to tell. But from the wear, I imagine these bastards had been here for some time," Tyler remarked. "Odd they're so green, though - must be fresh recruits... but from where?"
"Is it possible that these were once Cypher's people?" Anna asked.
Tyler paused to consider this. "Possibly," he admitted, "It's no secret that Cypher was a Tyrant - a lot of his underlings resented him. Whoever these bastards are, they clearly offered Cypher's people a better deal than what Cypher, himself, was offering."
"But who the hell are they?" Sebastian queried.
Tyler went to the computer terminal, and accessed it. Fortunately, it hadn't been damaged in the firefight. He accessed the logs - which weren't much - and found a name - Destroyer Bellicose, 9th Attack Battalion. "Destroyer Bellicose...?" Tyler muttered. Why did that name sound familiar?
"9th Attack Battalion - so these guys definitely are military - and the name 'Destroyer Bellicose' suggests they're operating from a ship," Anna proclaimed. Tyler blinked. Bucket helmets, grey uniforms, laser weapons, ship named after a negative emotion...
Could it be...? Tyler thought. He then thought of the bridge. There was no one guarding it. If these guys were military, they had some other way of locking down that bridge. Something he couldn't see. On a hunch, he accessed the computer and located a setting regarding the bridge ahead, and immediately saw the problem.
Mines. A fucking ton of them. "No wonder they didn't have any personnel guarding the bridge - they have both ends mined," Tyler finally spoke aloud.
"Mines?" Grimaldi responded. "How can you hide mines like that on concrete without using something that shouldn't be there?"
Tyler shook his head while he queried in the computer about those mines, saying, "Whoever these bastards are, they're not from here. Much like a lot of other shit we've come across."
"No offense, hon, but your home planet seems to have devolved into a damned open season - everyone in the universe is trying to get everything they can off this world before it becomes uninhabitable," Anna commented.
"No shit," Tyler growled. "Wonder what else we're gonna come across on the way to dad?" He accessed a control setting for the minefield and grinned. "Perfect..."
"Can you shut the minefield down?" Anna inquired.
"These bastards had a setting that would turn off the minefield so their forces can cross the bridge - but we'll need to hurry. They'll have reinforcements down here soon," Tyler replied. He toggled the setting, then lead everyone outside to see the air distort over the ground at the entrance to the bridge, and a field of mines appeared in a flash of electrical blue light. Tyler, Anna, Sebastian and Grimaldi all dashed for the bridge, not caring about the mines, and made a mad dash across the bridge. Just shy of the minefield on the other side of the river, a closer alarm sounded, and the mines ahead started to glow blue. "They're turning the minefield back on! MOVE!" Tyler shouted. Everyone ran at a dead sprint, and managed to clear the edge of the minefield before it apparently cloaked. They stopped to catch their breath at a guard post nearby.
"That was close..." Anna panted.
"We've still a ways to go," Tyler said.
"Where are we headed?" Sebastian queried.
"The Champs-Elesees," Tyler answered. "If Ellen's data is right, the next pad is in there."
"What are the chances these military hardasses have it locked down?" Grimaldi inquired.
"Chances are good, assuming they know it's there," Tyler responded. "If they don't, then all we need to do is locate it and use it before these guys drill us."
"Great," Anna said after catching her breath. "Let's go." She readied her AKMS and looked toward their destination. Tyler reloaded his BR77A2 and took point after Grimaldi and Sebastian reloaded their weapons. They moved cautiously through the city, keeping alert for any more soldiers. It did seem odd, encountering these troops in Paris when they were expecting Raiders. And the GSG9 troops in Germany seemed to know nothing about them - contradicting the thought that they'd been in Paris for some time. Curious. The team ducked into a damaged building to dodge a sentry team. While they waited, Anna cast a glance behind her, and her blood froze. "Baby... look," she requested, bumping Tyler. Tyler looked to her, and on noticing she was looking behind them, cast his gaze at what she was looking at. What he saw was horrifying, but not new.
A squad of raiders lay strewn about the area behind them. They rushed to take cover in the building so fast, they must have overlooked that, though Tyler couldn't imagine how. But when one of them moved, lifting his head up to look at them, Tyler immediately raised his weapon - only to have it caught mid-rise by Anna. "He might be able to tell us what happened here," she suggested.
"She's right," the raider said weakly. "Besides... it would be... a waste of ammo to... shoot me. I'm... nearly dead, anyway." Tyler and Anna approached the dying raider while Sebastian and Grimaldi kept watch.
"What happened here?" Anna asked softly.
"They invaded... last night," the raider replied. "Never seen a military like theirs. Lasers... black and white armor... never believed the... rumors."
"What rumors?" Anna inquired.
"They're... searching for something. Don't... don't know... what. Infiltrated us... months ago. Cypher... never saw... it coming. Our... own boys and girls... sided with them," the raider continued. "Swept us aside... overnight. Don't... think any..." the raider paused to turn his head and cough blood. "... don't think anyone... else made it."
"Who are they?" Tyler queried.
"Called themselves... the Empire... don't... know whose, though," the raider said weakly.
"The Empire... now it makes sense," Tyler growled. "Grey uniforms, laser weapons, cloaking mines, and alleged black and white armor... these bastards are Imperial Army. But why are they here...?" Tyler looked to the raider. "Where did they come from?"
"Ship... they have a... ship. Landed... a few kilometers... east of Paris," the raider replied. "Landed it there... last night. Just before the invasion. Came from... the south. From Spain."
"A ship landed east of Paris... damn, that's not good," Tyler said. "Given the computer logs mentioned a destroyer, it may be a Venator-class Star Destroyer. Largest vessel in the Empire's arsenal that's still capable of atmospheric operations."
"We'd better get a move on, then," Anna suggested. Tyler hesitated, then called up a bottle of Vodka and gave it to the raider.
"Ah, thanks... death is no... fun... sober..." the raider said. Tyler opened the bottle for him, and helped him take a long drag from the bottle. He rested the bottle in his hand in his lap.
"Rest in peace, pal," Tyler said softly.
"Rest... in peace... that's... rich," the raider chuckled weakly. Moments later, his head drooped, and the life left him.
"Empire in Paris... San'Shyuum in Giza... what the hell are we gonna encounter next?" Tyler groaned.
"Well, in good news, the coast is clear," Sebastian reported.
"Then let's go - I don't want to get captured by the Empire," Tyler stated, readying his rifle. After ensuring the coast really was clear, Tyler lead the team back toward the goal. They continued dodging the sentries, opting for stealth over firepower, and eventually came to the Champs-Eleseés. "Talk to me Ellen - where's the pad?"
"Signal's strong here - it's coming from that Bistro across the way," Ellen answered. Tyler looked across the street and saw it.
"How amusing, dad. You put the entrance to Paris in the Eiffel Tower, and the exit in a Bistro."
"Maybe your dad wanted you to bring him some Wine on your way though," Anna jested with a grin. Tyler looked to Anna quizzically.
"Bite me," he growled.
"Not sure my teeth would penetrate your armor, honey," Anna shot back.
"Really, you two - mission now, banter later," Sebastian said. Tyler looked to see if any troops were in the vicinity. There were - but they had their backs turned. The Bistro was guarded by several armed sentries wearing all black armor.
"Death Troopers," Tyler whispered. "Imperial Elite Special Forces. They may have found-" Tyler was cut off by an explosion nearby, followed by gunfire of both laser and automatic ballistic. The Death Troopers peeled off from the Bistro to partake in the evident battle. Multiple soldiers moved for the battle zone, leaving the path to the Bistro clear. "Now's our chance - let's go!" Tyler whispered. They all dashed across the street and entered the Bistro. Nearby, there was a case of French Wine. Tyler and Anna looked to each other, shrugged, and Tyler stored the wine in his emitters, and the team then continued into the back of the Bistro, and there they found the transporter pad stuffed in the meat locker. As Anna, Grimaldi and Sebastian got on to it, Tyler examined the coordinates. "Oh. Neat," he commented. He looked to his comrades. "This one's sending us to London."
"Have you noticed that every one of these transporters has sent us to every place you mentioned right before we came here to your home world?" Sebastian asked with an amused smile.
"Amusing, isn't it?" Tyler chuckled. He hit the execute button, and hopped onto the pad. In seconds, they were whisked away to London...