Forever Hunters
Devil May Cry/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I will leave the Chapter # from now on cause they are confusing SWEAR WORDS YEAH. I have read your comments and you were right. They sound too robotic last chap. Keep the criticism up! Its the only way I can improve my skills. And the thing with Dante not showing off his insane devil skills(ie flying back to get his weapons): I want it to make a bit realistic, there are too many people camera men daylight = easy to spot. Remember one more thing, now its against humans, not monsters.
The Siege, Part 2
"Why does this shit always has to happen to me...."
Dante continued to crawl forward. He has been in the air ventilation system for almost half an hour searching for a good place to get out of the ducts. He could, during his little adventure in the ducts, get some info about the terrorists. Seems like a bunch of crazy fanatics, but they are well armed and trained. All of them could have military or enforcement past. Their leader is only mentioned as King. What they want is still a mystery though, but it should be a big thing when they got about 150 hostages. But then these thoughts became unimportant as Dante finally reached a safe exit.
"Finally, the end of my rat life."
He took a look around to make sure that nobody was guarding the place. Then he slowly removed the cover and slipped out, finding himself again in some basement floor of the mall. And again lost.
"Great, just ended my rat life and now I got this."
While walking around the basement floor, Dante noticed that there were no sentries guarding the floor. Either they missed it or they were too lazy to spend manpower guarding a basement. Well who would? But however, apart from no sentries Dante noticed something else. That there was a melody playing, just behind the door he was standing. He slowly opened the door to see a small dirty office. An old record player hummed a slow jazz tune. Dante entered and looked around. Tables were full of donut boxes, empty coffee cups and building maps. Maps? Might come in handy. Dante was about to pick up a map when a big hand touched his shoulder. He immediatly turned around and smashed the unknown person on the wall with his arm on his throat, ready to sqeeze his trachea.
"oohhh, mmannn kkeeeeep iiit cooool yo...."
The fat man feared for his life. Dante showed no emotion. He did not even need to ask anything. It came right out of the fat mans mouth. He pointed at his ID sticking on his shirt.
"Yo., see look look... I'm Marvin...Marvin..the janitor... I.uh.ummm I you know housekeeping and stuff..."
The man was too fat and too scared to become a serious threat for anyone. Dante released his grip on him.
"Thanks man..uh.. sir... I thought you want to kill me."
Dante was surprised that the man did not know about the mall-takeover.
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The police chief got his hands full with phone calls and radio calls from almost everywhere. SWAT units from L.A. have just arrived and were setting up their mobile CP (command post). The SWAT commander approached the chief. They shook hands.
"Lieutenant Tennant, SWAT commander, any news from the terrorists inside?"
"Chief Yale, so far we got that message from the hostage takers half-an-hour ago."
The chief pressed the play button on a cassette deck.
"Hello Ladies and Gentlemen. This is the party man inside the Sunnydale mall. Well, I don't wanna repeat the same message like countless other dead or imprisoned party members but I do it. All we want from you that you do nothing, and I MEAN NOTHING, apart from what we tell you. 1: I want a chinook helicopter in 10 hours and safe escord to the LAX airport. 2. A fully tanked 747 cargo coversion aircraft 3. 100 million US Dollars, we'll tell the payment method. Any attempt to anything will be met by severe penalties. And... by the way I can get very nervous when something happens... Cheers."
Lieutenant Tennant was not surprised by the demands.
"Big things for big mouths. Have negotiators tried to establish contact?"
Chief Yale rubbed his head while he took a sip off his coffee. 20 years San Francisco duty and now this. He was getting too old for this.
"No. Don't think we've anyone cool enough who would talk this much."
"Alright... I'm gonna call up the FBI for a talker. Our guys're busy with another crisis in LA. And I don't think SF nor San Diego are going to arrive on time. Meanwhile run a voice ID on that guy through the database. Use Interpol if you have to."
Both nodded their heads and went back to their posts. An officer approached the chief.
"Chief, you gotta calm the crowds. They are almost ready to storm the CP."
Buffy suddenly busted into the CP downing four officers on her way in. The crowd stormed the building and surrounded the chief followed by the media. SWAT officers reacted and built a line to hold off the crowd. Buffy could not move, with the SWAT line in front of her and the crowd pressing her from the back.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please calm down!!! We are doing all we can so you can get your loved ones back."
"Chief, what about my sister Dawn Summers!!! Where is she??"
Her again... If she was in it there was always trouble to come. The chief did know about Buffy's involvement in several "mystery" cases, like the Bazooka in the mall, the bank robbery, high school graduation... her name was listed almost in every case file Sunnydale's.
"Ms Summers, we have to much on our table to deal with one single missing person, so please let us do our job and leave NOW!!!"
Meanwhile in the back Lieutenant Tennant was talking with his other SWAT members.
"OK now, let do our job. York! We need to turn up the heat. Were do we go?"
York, the engineer of the team. He had done that routine all throughout his SWAT life, but this time he felt very nervous. He swapped through the maps and building layouts, anxiously awaiting his answer. He was relieved when he found it though again worried of one perticular thing.
"Lieutenant, thats one hell of a building. Its wired internally with an emergency power supply, so that it will go off when normal power is cut and the controls for the heater are also inside. 1st floor basement, sector W12. Should be engineering."
"Anyway to do anything outside?"
"Negative, the only way to gain control of power and temperature of the building is to go inside and secure that area."
"Great..."
Tennant quenched his fist out of anger. York though had something to add...
"But wait... there are relay stations... This one seems kinda build a bit further away from the building. So it looks isolated. Its not far from here under the parking lot. If we get lucky and find a control station there I could try to hack into the system and gain control from there..."
Tennant liked the idea.
"OK then do so... Take a small security team with ya if anything happens..."
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Dante and Marvin were mowing through the maps like crazy. Dante did not have much time. The police outside would definetly try to do what they always do in a hostage situation. Power down Heat up. He had seen the location of engineering on the map but it predictable that the terrorist have that place guarded. Now they were searching for an alternate possibility.
"Easy man, don't mess up my table..."
"Oh yeah, send me the bill... There's gotta be some other way to do this..."
Thinking fast was kind of a problem especially when they were under time pressure. Marvin suddenly noticed something on the map.
"Hey... there is something... OH YEA..."
Dante held his mouth shut with his hand.
"Do you want to get us fuckin killed? They could have heard us!"
"Man keep cool... This is third floor basement. A floor where the door to is almost hidden in a labyrinth. Besides the walls are too thick for any sound to go through."
"OK brainiac. What ya got."
"OK look maybe your friends from the police are going to access the controls at this relay station over here. With a bit of skills you can almost do anything with this building."
Dante did not look surprised of what the janitor knew about computer hacking. That guy seemed like a computer freak anyway. Though he disagreed with the position of the panel.
"Well good but that would be too close to do anything without getting yourself killed. Were're other things like this?"
"Hmm lets see...... uh... yeah here under the parking lot. Its just first basement. It was going to be removed but that should still tick."
"Hmm, great. Nice place for an ambush..."
Dante took off his sweater and took the map.
"Got any protection?"
"What, like a condom?"
Marvin was laughing hysterically. Dante slapped him so he could shut up and concentrate on the matters at hand.
"What the hell ya think I am talking about. Guns of course, boomsticks, pieces, silver hands..."
"What do I look like, some kind of black market pimp?"
"...Damn... OK just sit down here and keep quiet... I'll be back..."
"I think I am in somekinda movie.....cool!"
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"Buff, whats up?"
"Dawn's nowhere... Busted through police, got thrown out telling me that they have no time for this baby crap."
Xander put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"Yeah.. cop's your best friend... Look I'm sure she is fine..."
"Xander, we don't know that yet!"
While Xander continued to calm Buffy down, Willow appeared out of the crowd with some news.
"Hey guys, Dawn's OK..."
Buffy was relieved.
"...but she is in that building."
Buffy was about to shake Willow's brains out when she realized that she would be doing that to a loyal friend. Though she would take all the risks necessary to get Dawn out of there. Including forgetting to ask about the other person trapped inside who was supposed to take her out.
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Behind the CP, Sergeant Witt assembled a four-man team of SWAT assaulters around him, including York.
"OK, men you got lucky for being chosen to escord wizard York to a control panel inside the target area."
One man raised his hand. Witt noticed him though he knew that some bad joke would come up. He nodded his head anyways to let him talk.
"Sarge, why us? The action is in that house not with that wiz freak."
"Officer, as I remind you we ARE actually going in and that wiz freak has saved your sorry ass countless times, so I think you owe him something."
"Alright ,alright you got me."
York welcomed the answer. Officer Biggs had a small disagreement with him only once, though it seemed that he would never forget that. How many times should be prove himself to be an OK guy, although everyone knew about his addictive love for... texan country music... Sarge Witt continued.
"OK, Wiz York is going to fill you in!"
York stood up and hung the map up.
"OK, this is simple and easy but listen up anyways. We are going to this point here by going through this external entry point here. There should be a computer which I can manipulate to become our main environmental control panel of the mall, simple like a TV remote. All we have to do is secure the area and let me do my work."
"How long..."
"What?"
Officer Wedge repeated his question again in a louder voice.
"How long will it take you..."
York knocked his two fingers against his skull. It helped him concentrate.
"It depends on the system. I will count on 15 to 30 minutes."
Sergeant Witt took the word again.
"OK, men its like what Wiz said, a simple cover-his-butt mission, nothing else. Resistance should be very minimal, if any. Any questions?"
The team held it silence. There was nothing more to add.
"OK, gents, grab your gear and move out."
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Dante arrived at the air vents intersection. He took out his map to see where to go next.
"Righty... Main Ventilation Shaft... Main Ventilation Shaft... Ah there it is."
He tucked the map back in his pocket and ripped the cover out, but before he got in he noticed a small crowbar in the corner.
"Better than nothin..."
He picked it up and stuck it in his pants on his back.
"Man, what is this... All I wanted is to pick that teen up, tell her I am sorry and go home... but no... I gotta crawl in this damn shaft... damn forgot that I've still got a thing with that slayer going on..."
He continued to talk to himself while crawling in the vent.
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"CP, this is control team, the panel is just around the next corner, so far no resistance."
"Roger that, control team, update me when you are at the site."
Sarge Witt took his left hand back to the grip of his MP5 and continued to advance slowly forward. Behind him his team were following with York in the middle tightly holding the grip of his 1911 .45. Biggs knew that he was nervous. He elbowed Wedge slightly.
"Bet ya 10 bucks that he will shoot himself first when we see tangos."
Wedge smiled but he kept his eyes straight ahead. The Sarge gave the command to stop, while he himself leaned around the corner to scout out the area. It was a large room with a low ceiling. Big machines, ordered in twos a row indicate the pumping relay station. As he saw noone around he continued down the hallway, his team following closely. They arrived at the designated area and the rest of the team went around to secure.
"Clear!"
Witt breathed in and radioed CP.
"CP, this is control team, area secured!"
"Roger that control team, call me when York got everything set up."
York began to unpack his necessary tools. He was about to touch the keyboard as a figure appeared wearing a cleaning company's suit. Biggs noticed him first. He aimed his MP5 at him immediatly.
"Police! Knee down and get your hands up above your head!"
The man jumped in surprise.
"Yo easy officer easy..."
The man got his hands up but he did not kneed down. Biggs got angry and leveled his voice up and his use of words.
"Yo, your deaf? Get down goddammit!"
Biggs moved near the man and got his handcuffs ready. The others noticed him too but only Wedge had his sub-machine gun on him since he wasn't a real threat. Because the real threat was in the dark and moved stealthly around them to get ready.
"Hey, officer look behind you!"
Biggs was confused but he did not have time to answer as the man pulled a gun on him.
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Dante heard the shot. He also heard the answers to the shot. He had to hurry.
"Shit, I hate it when I'm right!"
He took his crowbar into his hand, cause soon it would see some action, and crawled faster.
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The shooting continued as the five cleaners joined the gunfight. Biggs was already lying dead on the floor, his blood covered the ground around his head. Wedge was the next one to go down as his gun jammed. Witt pulled York behind a machine for cover, York loosing his gun during that time, while the other two team members were on the other side of the room.
"Control team what is going on?"
"CP, meeting crazy resistance, Biggs and Wedge are already down!"
Witt leaned around the corner and fired a burst of 9mm bullets. It hit one of the cleaners in the head, who went down immediatly without any signs of pain. Witt leaned back to reload.
"Damn, those guys are packed with everything, even armor...Raven, Johnson, cover fire, we are advancing through the middle!"
"Roger that, sir!"
Witt gave his sidearm to York.
"I hope you know how to use this!"
"HaHa..."
While Raven and Johnson provide cover fire, Witt and York moved up the middle and crouched down for cover while continuing to shoot around the corners. Raven and Johnson continued to give covering fire but soon got hit as the AK bullets ripped through the small spaces of the machine killing Johnson. Raven saw Johnson go down but his distraction was fatal too as a bullet hit his left leg. He fell down and screamed out of pain.
"RAVEN!!"
Witt saw Raven and ran to him as he got hit by a bullet himself. Both men cluched their wounds screaming the pain out of them. York meanwhile fired his weapon mindlessly into some space in the hopes of hitting something. No use though. The terrorist meanwhile saw the two wounded men. Laughing at their "Special Weapons and Tactics" (SWAT abbreviation) the terrorist pulled the trigger and let the bullets rip through their bodies. York was the only one left alive. His gun was empty and he feared for his life. His arm was bleeding when a bullet flew through his skin leaving an open wound. He cluched his hands on the only weapon left, the screwdriver. But his time was already counted as a cleaner held a gun on his head. York closed his eyes, preparing for his death. Suddenly though an air vent cover fell on the cleaner's head, followed by Dante, who punched the crowbar through his body. The bloody end of the crowbar just missed the eyes of York. Dante kicked the body away and looked at the frightend York.
"STAY DOWN!!!"
He took the cleaner's Glock and continued his battle with the rest. The other three saw him already and were firing at him like crazy. Dante turned around the corner and dodged the incoming bullets while returning fire. He continued to roll on the ground firing at the last man as the first two hit the floor hard, their bodies pumped with lead. As he got behind some cover, he sat up and waited. His gun was empty so he could forget taking the cleaner out from a safe distance.
"Shit..."
Dante heard the gun cocking. Great, a jammed gun! He speeded up and threw himself on him like a football defender. Dante gripped his arms around his neck while the cleaner continued to wresle for his freedom.
"How many?"
The cleaner refused to answer. Dante tightend his grip.
"HOW MANY??"
The cleaner smiled though. Another cleaner, who barely survived Dante's bullets aimed at Dante and fired. Dante though did not get shot. The bullet ripped through the upper back neck of the cleaner immediatly killing him (medulla oblungata). Dante released the grip and rolled to the side grabbing the jammed AK, while unjamming it in the process. Before the cleaner could fire his second shot, Dante shouldered, aimed and killed him with a single bullet. The man fell back, hitting the floor hard. That ended the fight. As the fog lifted a bit, Dante let out a sigh and stood up. He walked to the injured York.
"You OK?"
He looked at the wound. York bandaged it while Dante had been fighting. The bandage was deep red though it kept the blood in its place.
"Yeah... Thanks man... but the panel... I need to get there."
Dante was about to help him up as he threw himself on him. A small but powerful SEMTEX charge blew up, taking the panel and the engineering gear with it. As the fog went down, Dante lifted himself up from him and sat down. They both watched the fire that burned the remaining pieces of the destroyed gear.
"Dammit, a standard routine let the police sacrifice four good men."
He looked at the dead bodies of the SWAT members.
"It was a waste of time... So whats next?"
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"King!"
The leader turned around to face one of his second in command, Queen-2. He kept himself quiet, knowing that bad news were going to come. The soldier continued with his report.
"Queen-3 reported SWAT on one of the panel stations. You were right about the SWAT plan, but we suffered some losses."
King knew that this would have come. But he did not expect the loss.
"Yeah, but the casulties were not according to plan! Let Queen-3 shut down the hallway with a small team, I'm gonna talk with our friends outside with this incident."
"Roger that, King!"
King went to their recently set up communication table, which they build in a phone and electric shop. Three terrorists were observing everything there was to observe: uncoded radio frequencies, the mall-cams, TV... King took the small radio off the desk and began talking. Dawn, who was confined on the opposite side, could listen to his speech.
"Attention, police, SWAT and all the other dumbasses. You have disturbed the party here. And as you know after nature's law, actions have reactions!"
There was an answer coming out of the radio.
"Why, you know that this was going to happen."
King knew this type of answer. Only negotiators would begin like this. He ignored the negotiator first and let him talk.
"Hey, we did make that mistake... yes... but let us talk. I know you can hear me..."
King let him talk for five minutes without answering. In the meantime, he asked his comrades to tell him the number of hostages. 162. King nodded and told Queen-2 to pick five of them. Then he took the radio again and interrupted the speech.
"Nice speech, but rules are rules and you broke them. Now face the consequences!"
Five hostages were brought to windows on the first floor, all of them handcuffed with a rope. All five of them were male, two of them wild teenagers with punk haircuts, who were crying in hopes of that it would end soon. The other three were normal looking adults, but they kept quiet, cause they knew what would come. Behind them, an equal number of terrorists were standing behind them, readying their guns, while a sixth one lifted the covers to reveal the hostages to the crowd outside. The crowd cried out, some people could even identify the five men. The cameras were all pointed on them. Everything was set up.
"Now, for the love of god, I pray that this will never happen again!"
King gave the sign. The terrorists aimed and fired. Everyone outside went silent for a second, then the first outcries were heard. Nobody missed the cold execution of the five men. King took the radio again.
"I hope this should be a lesson. You have 8 hours left..."
The terrorists pulled the covers back again and removed the bodies from the windows.
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"Oh my god..."
The three were shocked as was everyone around them. Willow was about to cry, so Xander pulled her into his embrace. Buffy clenched her fists. She then turned around and hammered on the car behind her, creating a small bump on the frame. Though she was relieved that Dawn was not one of the executed, she could not bear the thought that innocent people had just been killed and that anyone could be next, even Dawn! She needed to take action soon before anything else could happen.
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There was silence in every corner in the CP. Four brave men just died for nothing. In addition to that five more hostages lost their lives for this act. The chief slammed his fist on the table.
"Shit..."
SWAT Commander Tennant rubbed his eyes to sweep the tears away. Witt was one of his best friends since the academy. Special Agent Roberts finally put down the microphone. He hadn't been able to part from it after for a while after the execution. He stood up and walked to Tennant on the other side of the room.
"I'm sorry..."
Tennant did not face him. The truth though was that he felt the urge to smack him for his big mouth. It wasn't him though who would start this.
"Yeah, feel it! My granma could have let out something better than that shit of yours!"
Roberts jumped on Yale and the two began a serious fight if Tennant did not went in to interrupt. All what they needed now was a war among themselves. This would just do more harm to the situation than good. After the two split, Tennant announced something.
"The government called during the failed Control mission. They asked if we needed support. I said we will be fine but now we could..."
"...really use our help."
Everyone faced the origin of the voice. A man in civil clothing stood there facing the rest of the CP members. Yale was about to kick him out until he showed his ID. Yale backed off and let the man pass.
"Colonel Hicks, US Army 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. We got the message!"
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"I can't believe that you left everything back there!"
York was trying to get his radio to work. It broke when he fell on it accidently. Both of them crawled back through the air vents after the fight leaving all the equipment back there. The enemy could notice missing stuff that would lead to the conclusion that some members of the team had survived. They were back in Marvin's office. Dante walked in circles, concentrating on a plan to rescue the hostages. And for that, he needed help from outside.
"Got that working yet?"
"Hold on... umm yes... now! CP, this is York, do you read me? CP, come in!"
The radio transmission was still unclear but at least understandable. It was Tennant's voice.
"God, York you OK?"
"Yeah, got a little help from someone inside here..."
Dante snatched the radio from him.
"You morons! Didn't you know that you are going against one of the biggest badasses here?!?"
"Who is this..."
Dante did not want to reveal his name. Nobody knew if someone would be listening on another line. But when he was about to answer, another voice came out of the radio.
"K.Lo 1-3, this is Hicks, Report!"
Dante could not believe his ears. It was his old designation.
"K.Lo 1-3, Report!"
Dante took up the radio again.
"Lieutenant, is that really you?"
"Its Colonel for you now, so report!"
"Five tangos down, so are four friendlies. One survivor, me and a janitor in a safe hideout. No weapons, ammo or anything. Whats going on out there?"
Hicks didn't know if he should really answer. But they got a right to know. It would come out sooner or later anyways.
"Five hostages... executed..."
Dante tightend his right hand, about to crush the radio in his hand. York put his hand on his face while Marvin was saying "Oh god" over and over again. It was bad news for all of them. The situation has made the wrong turn.
"K.Lo 1-3, anything more from the terrorists or the hostages?"
"They are good... um... well equipped, AK-47, 9mm sidearms, and grenades. Use body armor, play in teams, well organized. Must have military background. Hostages approx. 150 and more. Location unknown"
"Alright K.Lo 1-3, your mission is to gather intelligence as much as possible, hostage location, how many tangos, organization... everything. I'll contact you again when the team arrives. You got that!"
"Loud and clear, K.Lo 1-3 out."
Dante threw the radio back to York.
"Gentlemen, its time to play spy games!"
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"Buffy, its nuts to go in there and beat everyone up alone!"
Buffy did not listen to Xander. She walked through the crowd trying to get to CP. Willow and Xander were following her trying to hold her off.
"Buff, let the police handle this job."
Buffy turned around.
"And what? To see some more innocent people killed?"
"This is suicide!"
"Well, I am not going to stand here further to watch innocent people getting slaughered. I WILL go in!"
Willow and Xander stopped Buffy with their combined grip on her arms.
"Buffy, The enemy is human now, not some demon, ghost, vampire or anything! And besides how are you going to get in there, without being spotted AND causing more deaths of innocents!"
Buffy did not know what to answer. But what her friends were thinking was not wrong. If she would go in alone, she would have no chance with 20 or 30 trigger-happy men. And she would risk the lives of the hostages again. She was about to agree to Xander and Willow to return to the car, when two military trucks approached the site, stopping in front of the CP entrance. A lot of men exited the truck, carrying heavy bags of equipment with them. Buffy came up with an idea.
"Xander, do you remember the G.I. role you played on Halloween?"
The Medulla Oblungata top part of the spinal cord where the "breathing center", PCO2 and other life-supporting control centers are located. Even a needle is enough to kill a person if i.e. the breathing center is hit correctly.
Devil May Cry/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
I will leave the Chapter # from now on cause they are confusing SWEAR WORDS YEAH. I have read your comments and you were right. They sound too robotic last chap. Keep the criticism up! Its the only way I can improve my skills. And the thing with Dante not showing off his insane devil skills(ie flying back to get his weapons): I want it to make a bit realistic, there are too many people camera men daylight = easy to spot. Remember one more thing, now its against humans, not monsters.
The Siege, Part 2
"Why does this shit always has to happen to me...."
Dante continued to crawl forward. He has been in the air ventilation system for almost half an hour searching for a good place to get out of the ducts. He could, during his little adventure in the ducts, get some info about the terrorists. Seems like a bunch of crazy fanatics, but they are well armed and trained. All of them could have military or enforcement past. Their leader is only mentioned as King. What they want is still a mystery though, but it should be a big thing when they got about 150 hostages. But then these thoughts became unimportant as Dante finally reached a safe exit.
"Finally, the end of my rat life."
He took a look around to make sure that nobody was guarding the place. Then he slowly removed the cover and slipped out, finding himself again in some basement floor of the mall. And again lost.
"Great, just ended my rat life and now I got this."
While walking around the basement floor, Dante noticed that there were no sentries guarding the floor. Either they missed it or they were too lazy to spend manpower guarding a basement. Well who would? But however, apart from no sentries Dante noticed something else. That there was a melody playing, just behind the door he was standing. He slowly opened the door to see a small dirty office. An old record player hummed a slow jazz tune. Dante entered and looked around. Tables were full of donut boxes, empty coffee cups and building maps. Maps? Might come in handy. Dante was about to pick up a map when a big hand touched his shoulder. He immediatly turned around and smashed the unknown person on the wall with his arm on his throat, ready to sqeeze his trachea.
"oohhh, mmannn kkeeeeep iiit cooool yo...."
The fat man feared for his life. Dante showed no emotion. He did not even need to ask anything. It came right out of the fat mans mouth. He pointed at his ID sticking on his shirt.
"Yo., see look look... I'm Marvin...Marvin..the janitor... I.uh.ummm I you know housekeeping and stuff..."
The man was too fat and too scared to become a serious threat for anyone. Dante released his grip on him.
"Thanks man..uh.. sir... I thought you want to kill me."
Dante was surprised that the man did not know about the mall-takeover.
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The police chief got his hands full with phone calls and radio calls from almost everywhere. SWAT units from L.A. have just arrived and were setting up their mobile CP (command post). The SWAT commander approached the chief. They shook hands.
"Lieutenant Tennant, SWAT commander, any news from the terrorists inside?"
"Chief Yale, so far we got that message from the hostage takers half-an-hour ago."
The chief pressed the play button on a cassette deck.
"Hello Ladies and Gentlemen. This is the party man inside the Sunnydale mall. Well, I don't wanna repeat the same message like countless other dead or imprisoned party members but I do it. All we want from you that you do nothing, and I MEAN NOTHING, apart from what we tell you. 1: I want a chinook helicopter in 10 hours and safe escord to the LAX airport. 2. A fully tanked 747 cargo coversion aircraft 3. 100 million US Dollars, we'll tell the payment method. Any attempt to anything will be met by severe penalties. And... by the way I can get very nervous when something happens... Cheers."
Lieutenant Tennant was not surprised by the demands.
"Big things for big mouths. Have negotiators tried to establish contact?"
Chief Yale rubbed his head while he took a sip off his coffee. 20 years San Francisco duty and now this. He was getting too old for this.
"No. Don't think we've anyone cool enough who would talk this much."
"Alright... I'm gonna call up the FBI for a talker. Our guys're busy with another crisis in LA. And I don't think SF nor San Diego are going to arrive on time. Meanwhile run a voice ID on that guy through the database. Use Interpol if you have to."
Both nodded their heads and went back to their posts. An officer approached the chief.
"Chief, you gotta calm the crowds. They are almost ready to storm the CP."
Buffy suddenly busted into the CP downing four officers on her way in. The crowd stormed the building and surrounded the chief followed by the media. SWAT officers reacted and built a line to hold off the crowd. Buffy could not move, with the SWAT line in front of her and the crowd pressing her from the back.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please calm down!!! We are doing all we can so you can get your loved ones back."
"Chief, what about my sister Dawn Summers!!! Where is she??"
Her again... If she was in it there was always trouble to come. The chief did know about Buffy's involvement in several "mystery" cases, like the Bazooka in the mall, the bank robbery, high school graduation... her name was listed almost in every case file Sunnydale's.
"Ms Summers, we have to much on our table to deal with one single missing person, so please let us do our job and leave NOW!!!"
Meanwhile in the back Lieutenant Tennant was talking with his other SWAT members.
"OK now, let do our job. York! We need to turn up the heat. Were do we go?"
York, the engineer of the team. He had done that routine all throughout his SWAT life, but this time he felt very nervous. He swapped through the maps and building layouts, anxiously awaiting his answer. He was relieved when he found it though again worried of one perticular thing.
"Lieutenant, thats one hell of a building. Its wired internally with an emergency power supply, so that it will go off when normal power is cut and the controls for the heater are also inside. 1st floor basement, sector W12. Should be engineering."
"Anyway to do anything outside?"
"Negative, the only way to gain control of power and temperature of the building is to go inside and secure that area."
"Great..."
Tennant quenched his fist out of anger. York though had something to add...
"But wait... there are relay stations... This one seems kinda build a bit further away from the building. So it looks isolated. Its not far from here under the parking lot. If we get lucky and find a control station there I could try to hack into the system and gain control from there..."
Tennant liked the idea.
"OK then do so... Take a small security team with ya if anything happens..."
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Dante and Marvin were mowing through the maps like crazy. Dante did not have much time. The police outside would definetly try to do what they always do in a hostage situation. Power down Heat up. He had seen the location of engineering on the map but it predictable that the terrorist have that place guarded. Now they were searching for an alternate possibility.
"Easy man, don't mess up my table..."
"Oh yeah, send me the bill... There's gotta be some other way to do this..."
Thinking fast was kind of a problem especially when they were under time pressure. Marvin suddenly noticed something on the map.
"Hey... there is something... OH YEA..."
Dante held his mouth shut with his hand.
"Do you want to get us fuckin killed? They could have heard us!"
"Man keep cool... This is third floor basement. A floor where the door to is almost hidden in a labyrinth. Besides the walls are too thick for any sound to go through."
"OK brainiac. What ya got."
"OK look maybe your friends from the police are going to access the controls at this relay station over here. With a bit of skills you can almost do anything with this building."
Dante did not look surprised of what the janitor knew about computer hacking. That guy seemed like a computer freak anyway. Though he disagreed with the position of the panel.
"Well good but that would be too close to do anything without getting yourself killed. Were're other things like this?"
"Hmm lets see...... uh... yeah here under the parking lot. Its just first basement. It was going to be removed but that should still tick."
"Hmm, great. Nice place for an ambush..."
Dante took off his sweater and took the map.
"Got any protection?"
"What, like a condom?"
Marvin was laughing hysterically. Dante slapped him so he could shut up and concentrate on the matters at hand.
"What the hell ya think I am talking about. Guns of course, boomsticks, pieces, silver hands..."
"What do I look like, some kind of black market pimp?"
"...Damn... OK just sit down here and keep quiet... I'll be back..."
"I think I am in somekinda movie.....cool!"
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"Buff, whats up?"
"Dawn's nowhere... Busted through police, got thrown out telling me that they have no time for this baby crap."
Xander put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"Yeah.. cop's your best friend... Look I'm sure she is fine..."
"Xander, we don't know that yet!"
While Xander continued to calm Buffy down, Willow appeared out of the crowd with some news.
"Hey guys, Dawn's OK..."
Buffy was relieved.
"...but she is in that building."
Buffy was about to shake Willow's brains out when she realized that she would be doing that to a loyal friend. Though she would take all the risks necessary to get Dawn out of there. Including forgetting to ask about the other person trapped inside who was supposed to take her out.
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Behind the CP, Sergeant Witt assembled a four-man team of SWAT assaulters around him, including York.
"OK, men you got lucky for being chosen to escord wizard York to a control panel inside the target area."
One man raised his hand. Witt noticed him though he knew that some bad joke would come up. He nodded his head anyways to let him talk.
"Sarge, why us? The action is in that house not with that wiz freak."
"Officer, as I remind you we ARE actually going in and that wiz freak has saved your sorry ass countless times, so I think you owe him something."
"Alright ,alright you got me."
York welcomed the answer. Officer Biggs had a small disagreement with him only once, though it seemed that he would never forget that. How many times should be prove himself to be an OK guy, although everyone knew about his addictive love for... texan country music... Sarge Witt continued.
"OK, Wiz York is going to fill you in!"
York stood up and hung the map up.
"OK, this is simple and easy but listen up anyways. We are going to this point here by going through this external entry point here. There should be a computer which I can manipulate to become our main environmental control panel of the mall, simple like a TV remote. All we have to do is secure the area and let me do my work."
"How long..."
"What?"
Officer Wedge repeated his question again in a louder voice.
"How long will it take you..."
York knocked his two fingers against his skull. It helped him concentrate.
"It depends on the system. I will count on 15 to 30 minutes."
Sergeant Witt took the word again.
"OK, men its like what Wiz said, a simple cover-his-butt mission, nothing else. Resistance should be very minimal, if any. Any questions?"
The team held it silence. There was nothing more to add.
"OK, gents, grab your gear and move out."
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Dante arrived at the air vents intersection. He took out his map to see where to go next.
"Righty... Main Ventilation Shaft... Main Ventilation Shaft... Ah there it is."
He tucked the map back in his pocket and ripped the cover out, but before he got in he noticed a small crowbar in the corner.
"Better than nothin..."
He picked it up and stuck it in his pants on his back.
"Man, what is this... All I wanted is to pick that teen up, tell her I am sorry and go home... but no... I gotta crawl in this damn shaft... damn forgot that I've still got a thing with that slayer going on..."
He continued to talk to himself while crawling in the vent.
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"CP, this is control team, the panel is just around the next corner, so far no resistance."
"Roger that, control team, update me when you are at the site."
Sarge Witt took his left hand back to the grip of his MP5 and continued to advance slowly forward. Behind him his team were following with York in the middle tightly holding the grip of his 1911 .45. Biggs knew that he was nervous. He elbowed Wedge slightly.
"Bet ya 10 bucks that he will shoot himself first when we see tangos."
Wedge smiled but he kept his eyes straight ahead. The Sarge gave the command to stop, while he himself leaned around the corner to scout out the area. It was a large room with a low ceiling. Big machines, ordered in twos a row indicate the pumping relay station. As he saw noone around he continued down the hallway, his team following closely. They arrived at the designated area and the rest of the team went around to secure.
"Clear!"
Witt breathed in and radioed CP.
"CP, this is control team, area secured!"
"Roger that control team, call me when York got everything set up."
York began to unpack his necessary tools. He was about to touch the keyboard as a figure appeared wearing a cleaning company's suit. Biggs noticed him first. He aimed his MP5 at him immediatly.
"Police! Knee down and get your hands up above your head!"
The man jumped in surprise.
"Yo easy officer easy..."
The man got his hands up but he did not kneed down. Biggs got angry and leveled his voice up and his use of words.
"Yo, your deaf? Get down goddammit!"
Biggs moved near the man and got his handcuffs ready. The others noticed him too but only Wedge had his sub-machine gun on him since he wasn't a real threat. Because the real threat was in the dark and moved stealthly around them to get ready.
"Hey, officer look behind you!"
Biggs was confused but he did not have time to answer as the man pulled a gun on him.
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Dante heard the shot. He also heard the answers to the shot. He had to hurry.
"Shit, I hate it when I'm right!"
He took his crowbar into his hand, cause soon it would see some action, and crawled faster.
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The shooting continued as the five cleaners joined the gunfight. Biggs was already lying dead on the floor, his blood covered the ground around his head. Wedge was the next one to go down as his gun jammed. Witt pulled York behind a machine for cover, York loosing his gun during that time, while the other two team members were on the other side of the room.
"Control team what is going on?"
"CP, meeting crazy resistance, Biggs and Wedge are already down!"
Witt leaned around the corner and fired a burst of 9mm bullets. It hit one of the cleaners in the head, who went down immediatly without any signs of pain. Witt leaned back to reload.
"Damn, those guys are packed with everything, even armor...Raven, Johnson, cover fire, we are advancing through the middle!"
"Roger that, sir!"
Witt gave his sidearm to York.
"I hope you know how to use this!"
"HaHa..."
While Raven and Johnson provide cover fire, Witt and York moved up the middle and crouched down for cover while continuing to shoot around the corners. Raven and Johnson continued to give covering fire but soon got hit as the AK bullets ripped through the small spaces of the machine killing Johnson. Raven saw Johnson go down but his distraction was fatal too as a bullet hit his left leg. He fell down and screamed out of pain.
"RAVEN!!"
Witt saw Raven and ran to him as he got hit by a bullet himself. Both men cluched their wounds screaming the pain out of them. York meanwhile fired his weapon mindlessly into some space in the hopes of hitting something. No use though. The terrorist meanwhile saw the two wounded men. Laughing at their "Special Weapons and Tactics" (SWAT abbreviation) the terrorist pulled the trigger and let the bullets rip through their bodies. York was the only one left alive. His gun was empty and he feared for his life. His arm was bleeding when a bullet flew through his skin leaving an open wound. He cluched his hands on the only weapon left, the screwdriver. But his time was already counted as a cleaner held a gun on his head. York closed his eyes, preparing for his death. Suddenly though an air vent cover fell on the cleaner's head, followed by Dante, who punched the crowbar through his body. The bloody end of the crowbar just missed the eyes of York. Dante kicked the body away and looked at the frightend York.
"STAY DOWN!!!"
He took the cleaner's Glock and continued his battle with the rest. The other three saw him already and were firing at him like crazy. Dante turned around the corner and dodged the incoming bullets while returning fire. He continued to roll on the ground firing at the last man as the first two hit the floor hard, their bodies pumped with lead. As he got behind some cover, he sat up and waited. His gun was empty so he could forget taking the cleaner out from a safe distance.
"Shit..."
Dante heard the gun cocking. Great, a jammed gun! He speeded up and threw himself on him like a football defender. Dante gripped his arms around his neck while the cleaner continued to wresle for his freedom.
"How many?"
The cleaner refused to answer. Dante tightend his grip.
"HOW MANY??"
The cleaner smiled though. Another cleaner, who barely survived Dante's bullets aimed at Dante and fired. Dante though did not get shot. The bullet ripped through the upper back neck of the cleaner immediatly killing him (medulla oblungata). Dante released the grip and rolled to the side grabbing the jammed AK, while unjamming it in the process. Before the cleaner could fire his second shot, Dante shouldered, aimed and killed him with a single bullet. The man fell back, hitting the floor hard. That ended the fight. As the fog lifted a bit, Dante let out a sigh and stood up. He walked to the injured York.
"You OK?"
He looked at the wound. York bandaged it while Dante had been fighting. The bandage was deep red though it kept the blood in its place.
"Yeah... Thanks man... but the panel... I need to get there."
Dante was about to help him up as he threw himself on him. A small but powerful SEMTEX charge blew up, taking the panel and the engineering gear with it. As the fog went down, Dante lifted himself up from him and sat down. They both watched the fire that burned the remaining pieces of the destroyed gear.
"Dammit, a standard routine let the police sacrifice four good men."
He looked at the dead bodies of the SWAT members.
"It was a waste of time... So whats next?"
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"King!"
The leader turned around to face one of his second in command, Queen-2. He kept himself quiet, knowing that bad news were going to come. The soldier continued with his report.
"Queen-3 reported SWAT on one of the panel stations. You were right about the SWAT plan, but we suffered some losses."
King knew that this would have come. But he did not expect the loss.
"Yeah, but the casulties were not according to plan! Let Queen-3 shut down the hallway with a small team, I'm gonna talk with our friends outside with this incident."
"Roger that, King!"
King went to their recently set up communication table, which they build in a phone and electric shop. Three terrorists were observing everything there was to observe: uncoded radio frequencies, the mall-cams, TV... King took the small radio off the desk and began talking. Dawn, who was confined on the opposite side, could listen to his speech.
"Attention, police, SWAT and all the other dumbasses. You have disturbed the party here. And as you know after nature's law, actions have reactions!"
There was an answer coming out of the radio.
"Why, you know that this was going to happen."
King knew this type of answer. Only negotiators would begin like this. He ignored the negotiator first and let him talk.
"Hey, we did make that mistake... yes... but let us talk. I know you can hear me..."
King let him talk for five minutes without answering. In the meantime, he asked his comrades to tell him the number of hostages. 162. King nodded and told Queen-2 to pick five of them. Then he took the radio again and interrupted the speech.
"Nice speech, but rules are rules and you broke them. Now face the consequences!"
Five hostages were brought to windows on the first floor, all of them handcuffed with a rope. All five of them were male, two of them wild teenagers with punk haircuts, who were crying in hopes of that it would end soon. The other three were normal looking adults, but they kept quiet, cause they knew what would come. Behind them, an equal number of terrorists were standing behind them, readying their guns, while a sixth one lifted the covers to reveal the hostages to the crowd outside. The crowd cried out, some people could even identify the five men. The cameras were all pointed on them. Everything was set up.
"Now, for the love of god, I pray that this will never happen again!"
King gave the sign. The terrorists aimed and fired. Everyone outside went silent for a second, then the first outcries were heard. Nobody missed the cold execution of the five men. King took the radio again.
"I hope this should be a lesson. You have 8 hours left..."
The terrorists pulled the covers back again and removed the bodies from the windows.
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"Oh my god..."
The three were shocked as was everyone around them. Willow was about to cry, so Xander pulled her into his embrace. Buffy clenched her fists. She then turned around and hammered on the car behind her, creating a small bump on the frame. Though she was relieved that Dawn was not one of the executed, she could not bear the thought that innocent people had just been killed and that anyone could be next, even Dawn! She needed to take action soon before anything else could happen.
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There was silence in every corner in the CP. Four brave men just died for nothing. In addition to that five more hostages lost their lives for this act. The chief slammed his fist on the table.
"Shit..."
SWAT Commander Tennant rubbed his eyes to sweep the tears away. Witt was one of his best friends since the academy. Special Agent Roberts finally put down the microphone. He hadn't been able to part from it after for a while after the execution. He stood up and walked to Tennant on the other side of the room.
"I'm sorry..."
Tennant did not face him. The truth though was that he felt the urge to smack him for his big mouth. It wasn't him though who would start this.
"Yeah, feel it! My granma could have let out something better than that shit of yours!"
Roberts jumped on Yale and the two began a serious fight if Tennant did not went in to interrupt. All what they needed now was a war among themselves. This would just do more harm to the situation than good. After the two split, Tennant announced something.
"The government called during the failed Control mission. They asked if we needed support. I said we will be fine but now we could..."
"...really use our help."
Everyone faced the origin of the voice. A man in civil clothing stood there facing the rest of the CP members. Yale was about to kick him out until he showed his ID. Yale backed off and let the man pass.
"Colonel Hicks, US Army 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. We got the message!"
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"I can't believe that you left everything back there!"
York was trying to get his radio to work. It broke when he fell on it accidently. Both of them crawled back through the air vents after the fight leaving all the equipment back there. The enemy could notice missing stuff that would lead to the conclusion that some members of the team had survived. They were back in Marvin's office. Dante walked in circles, concentrating on a plan to rescue the hostages. And for that, he needed help from outside.
"Got that working yet?"
"Hold on... umm yes... now! CP, this is York, do you read me? CP, come in!"
The radio transmission was still unclear but at least understandable. It was Tennant's voice.
"God, York you OK?"
"Yeah, got a little help from someone inside here..."
Dante snatched the radio from him.
"You morons! Didn't you know that you are going against one of the biggest badasses here?!?"
"Who is this..."
Dante did not want to reveal his name. Nobody knew if someone would be listening on another line. But when he was about to answer, another voice came out of the radio.
"K.Lo 1-3, this is Hicks, Report!"
Dante could not believe his ears. It was his old designation.
"K.Lo 1-3, Report!"
Dante took up the radio again.
"Lieutenant, is that really you?"
"Its Colonel for you now, so report!"
"Five tangos down, so are four friendlies. One survivor, me and a janitor in a safe hideout. No weapons, ammo or anything. Whats going on out there?"
Hicks didn't know if he should really answer. But they got a right to know. It would come out sooner or later anyways.
"Five hostages... executed..."
Dante tightend his right hand, about to crush the radio in his hand. York put his hand on his face while Marvin was saying "Oh god" over and over again. It was bad news for all of them. The situation has made the wrong turn.
"K.Lo 1-3, anything more from the terrorists or the hostages?"
"They are good... um... well equipped, AK-47, 9mm sidearms, and grenades. Use body armor, play in teams, well organized. Must have military background. Hostages approx. 150 and more. Location unknown"
"Alright K.Lo 1-3, your mission is to gather intelligence as much as possible, hostage location, how many tangos, organization... everything. I'll contact you again when the team arrives. You got that!"
"Loud and clear, K.Lo 1-3 out."
Dante threw the radio back to York.
"Gentlemen, its time to play spy games!"
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"Buffy, its nuts to go in there and beat everyone up alone!"
Buffy did not listen to Xander. She walked through the crowd trying to get to CP. Willow and Xander were following her trying to hold her off.
"Buff, let the police handle this job."
Buffy turned around.
"And what? To see some more innocent people killed?"
"This is suicide!"
"Well, I am not going to stand here further to watch innocent people getting slaughered. I WILL go in!"
Willow and Xander stopped Buffy with their combined grip on her arms.
"Buffy, The enemy is human now, not some demon, ghost, vampire or anything! And besides how are you going to get in there, without being spotted AND causing more deaths of innocents!"
Buffy did not know what to answer. But what her friends were thinking was not wrong. If she would go in alone, she would have no chance with 20 or 30 trigger-happy men. And she would risk the lives of the hostages again. She was about to agree to Xander and Willow to return to the car, when two military trucks approached the site, stopping in front of the CP entrance. A lot of men exited the truck, carrying heavy bags of equipment with them. Buffy came up with an idea.
"Xander, do you remember the G.I. role you played on Halloween?"
The Medulla Oblungata top part of the spinal cord where the "breathing center", PCO2 and other life-supporting control centers are located. Even a needle is enough to kill a person if i.e. the breathing center is hit correctly.