Devil May Cry/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Siege, Part 3
CP was a mess. Broken mugs and half empty coke cans were lying on the floor thanks to Chief Yale, who swept the OPS table clean after the failed operation. He took a nap besides the whiskey bottle, unable to handle to current situation. Meanwhile Colonel Hicks rallied the recently arrived strike team to the planning table.
"Alright Gentlemen, hustle up! Let's get this thing started!"
The "Delta-boys" gathered around and took seats on the provided steel chairs. Hicks glued a copy of buildings infrastructure on the wall and took the recently cleaned wooden blackboard from OPS, scribbling down the facts of the situation. He began to brief the soldiers on the current situation, while still writing down the facts on the blackboard.
"OK, Gentlemen, we have got a hostage situation in the Sunnydale mall, already escalated into a more serious issue. Five hostages are dead along with five men of a SWAT team, their engineer though still alive and in that building..."
Some members of the team were shaking their heads; others discussed the stupidity of the SWAT. Meanwhile another soldier entered the scene. Hicks was a bit surprised as he spotted the soldier.
"Are we now sending the funny platoon into this type of mission or what?"
The soldier was a bit confused. Another soldier though answered Hicks' question.
"Sir, she came with us as a technician. Says that she must be good. Does not talk to much though and actually is quite hot without her balaclava on!"
Buffy was relieved. She did not had much time to finish putting on all the stuff she stole from the actual female soldier, whom she knocked unconscious. She was also damn lucky that the clothes fit her size! While trying to figure out what the funny platoon was, she remembered what to do in front of a higher-ranking officer.
"Sir, Sergeant First Class uhm... Simmons, reporting for duty, sir!"
Hicks saluted back.
"OK Sarge Simmons, remember to be on time and button up your BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) correctly!"
Buffy nervously buttoned up the remaining buttons correctly and moved on to an empty seat, while Colonel Hicks continued with the briefing.
"The SWAT engineer York, along with a janitor and a man you will be surprised to meet, are located here."
Hicks marked the location with a red cross.
"That will be our C2, since the enemy does not seem to know about this location. The three men are gathering intel and equipment to set it up right now."
The men listened to Hicks carefully and noted down almost everything he said, while Buffy copied her notes from the man in front. Hicks continued to talk about the facts, number of hostages, the tangos and so on. Buffy felt like back at school, still copying down the facts from the front. After some time though Hicks changed the subject.
"OK, now insertion method. As of right now we do not know enough of the enemy so we'll set up the strike plan at C2. How we get there is through the sewers down here, since the original route the doomed SWAT team took is too dangerous. When we get there we will plan the rest in there. All of the men including me must go. I have arranged with the SWAT that they will use their snipers to cover us when we assault the building. No worries, they will be well equipped, high-caliber rifles with night and heat-seeking scopes. As for us, we will go with..."
Buffy was almost tired of writing stuff down, but now comes the part she could not miss out.
"Primary: M4 SOPMOD, FMJ, silencer, no grenade launcher Secondary: USP Tactical, FMJ, silencer General gear, Flashbangs, HE grenades, Door charges, selectable NV (Night Vision) and heat-seeking goggles"
Buffy did not understand a thing except for the weapons from her training with Dante.
"As for our technician, you will be carrying technician gear and another bag of general gear and weapons for another man inside."
Buffy felt the urge to seriously beat him up right now for getting the most stuff, but as Xander said, orders are orders.
"Any questions?"
One man raised his hand.
"Who is our mysterious person inside?"
Hicks chuckled.
"You will know soon... Anything else"
The room was silent.
"Alright gentlemen you've got 15 minutes to gear up and study the facts. Let's go!"
The men stood up and walked to their supplier. One man, Steve Jackson, tapped on Buffy's shoulder.
"Hey hottie, after this you mind going to Joe's and have a toast for the funny platoon's first soldier in a hostage mission?"
Buffy faced him.
"Yeah, but how about we toast on the first female soldier who'll beat the shit out of you..."
And she walked away, following the other Delta members.
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"Should this be enough?"
Dante showed the booty to York he got from the electronics shop upstairs on the ground floor. One box full of flat screen monitors.
"Are you sure you were not spotted?"
Dante slapped him lightly.
"Be cool bro! If they would have found me they would already be dead!"
"Hah, you're funny guy!"
York took out the monitors and connected them to his laptop and Marvin's computer. Couple of beeps later, York filled the screens with the video cams of the whole building. Dante and Marvin were pleasantly surprised by York's skill with computers.
"Be sure that you leave no traces..."
"Hey, "crowbar-killer" I might be bad at playing hide & seek but the net is my realm!"
Dante shook his head.
"Yeah, yeah... whatever. But anyway, I'm gonna go confirm the location and number of tangos."
He snatched the goggles from York's gear.
"You two get everything set up and wait for the cavalry. I'll be back soon..."
Dante was about to leave when York called him again.
"Hey, "crowbar-killer", be careful and don't go around massacring everyone."
Dante smiled.
"Hey, and you forgot your radio..."
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Sanchez's M4 pointed around the dark, smelly Sunnydale sewers. Behind him in groups of four were the other Deltas, keeping their sights for any other possible hostilities behind point man Sanchez. The commanding officer Colonel Hicks was the front man of the first group keeping both eyes on the map and on the dark sewers. Buffy was in the last group third ma... woman carrying the big bag on her shoulders. She almost tripped over and fell into the sewer soup if somebody did not catch her from behind.
"Looks like you owe me one..."
It was Jackson who had caught her from behind. Buffy shook herself free from him and gripped the handle of her assault rifle much stronger to let go some steam quietly. Jackson smiled and shook his head.
"Funny platoon..."
Suddenly everyone stopped moving. Sanchez has given the signal to stop and shut up. Buffy almost tripped a second time, but she was able to hold and crouch down quietly. Sanchez gave a signal to Chan. Chan nodded and went back to Buffy.
"Hey watch it buddy..."
"Shhhh..."
Chan was searching for a torch in Buffy's bag.
"Can't you carry your own stuff?"
"Shut up. You've got the bag, don't ya...?"
He went back to Sanchez and cut through the small fence separating the building's air vent system with the sewers. Once he finished he gave the OK sign to move on to Hicks. Hicks then rallied the men and signaled something to them. Then Buffy heard clicks from all of the men. Jackson tapped on her shoulder again.
"That means secure weapons and follow me. And give me that bag. You will need the strength to climb..."
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"So.. another man here, here.... and here..."
York was adding the positions of the terrorist on the digital map he set up.
"Got them...," he whispered through the radio.
"Alright, I will head back now. Think we got all of them."
York put down the radio back on the table. He turned to Marvin, who was still trying to gain access to the environmental control panel.
"Dante is coming back now. Are you on yet?"
Marvin slammed on the keyboard.
"Damn, Those engineering bastards forgot to update the entire OS when the new hardware came in."
York pushed Marvin aside.
"Let me."
He began to do his hacking magic.
"Maybe its just that your place is so hidden that the engineers missed it."
Marvin scratched his head.
"Oh, well yeah...."
"No worries, I will have it in a matter of minutes."
While both of them were concentrated on the computer screen, they did not notice the scary looking men approaching behind them. It was too late to react anyways when the muzzle of an assault rifle touched Marvin's and York's shoulder. Both of them jumped up in fear.
"Hands up slowly," a deep voice ordered them. They obeyed. Their hands slowly raised into the air.
"Turn around," the same voice said again. They did, and saw a bunch of men, clothed in black-ops uniforms, equipped with high tech gear and weapons. One of them, the deep voice one, talked again.
"Jason York and the Janitor?"
"Yes..."
Another one was checking the identity on his PDA. He nodded as the picture and the real one matched. The deep voice one was taking a breath and then lowered his M4. Removing his multifunction goggles he revealed his face to York and Marvin.
"Colonel Michael Hicks, US Army 1st SOFD Delta."
All three shook hands. Marvin knocked on York's shoulder.
"Who are they again?"
"Delta Force..."
"Ahhhh."
"You should get out more..."
Hicks looked around in the new C2, while the other Delta members spreaded out in the room. Buffy unloaded her backpack on a corner and sat down. Even with Slayer powers, carrying the double amount of gear was not that easy.
"Nice thing what you've done here."
Hicks looked at the map with dots on a monitor.
"I guess that's the tactical map?"
York sat down on the small office chair and slid to his computer.
"Yes sir, almost everything is set up. Just need some more minutes to access the environmental controls here."
Hicks placed his helmet on the table.
"Excellent, I'll start planning our strike now. Where's Eve?"
"Who..."
Hicks was interrupted before he could explain more. One of the men signaled by knocks to shut up. Hicks slowly took his M4 and crawled to Jackson. He pointed out to Hicks that somebody was coming. Hicks nodded. The footsteps were audible now, and were slowly getting louder with each step. As the figure appeared around the corner, everyone was pointing the weapons at him. The unknown man jumped in surprise.
"Wow, wow, wow be careful who you point that thing at!"
Everyone was confused. How could he knew if they were allies or enemies? Hicks switched on his flashlight. The light blinded the unknown person revealing a white haired well built-man. Everyone lowered their weapons.
"Nice to see you again, Lieutenant Eve!"
Buffy could not get her mouth shut. She continued to stare at the same man who busted into her life, messed everything up and much worse lived in her house. And why the hell was his last name...
"Eve! Goddamn..."
Jackson hugged the surprised man.
"Careful, your squishing me!"
"Ha, that's the same ol' Dante Eve!"
"Yeah, that's me. Hey Sanchez, hows Jackie doing?"
"More trouble since we got married, kids ya know!"
They hugged again. While Dante reunited with his comrades and greeted the rest of the team, Buffy still could not get her mouth shut. Dante ... Eve? After a few reunification with the few men he knew Dante stood before his greatest task he had now: The commander of this mission. He raised his right hand and greeted him like a true army Delta. His voice though changed from happy to serious.
"Nice to meet you again, sir. I see you're still doing the dirty work."
Colonel Hicks greeted him back.
"Yes, Eve. It's been a long time."
Both went silent for a while, both facial expressions unchanged since their hello. Buffy leaned to Chan and whispered into his ear.
"What's up with those two?"
Chan tried to say it in a more lower tone.
"An ugly story. Happened in the Mog (Mogadishu, Somalia, anyone remember Black Hawk Down?). Don't know the details either but in the end Eve hit the Colonel and punched the General in charge teeth out. Then he left us without a word. Glad though he's alive and well."
"Yeah."
Buffy raised an eyebrow while continuing to watch Hick's and Dante's face off. Finally, Hicks took the word and pointed at Buffy.
"Simmons got your stuff. You better take that and get ready..."
Then Hicks turned around and walked to the map table to prepare for the assault. Dante still kept his serious expression even after Hicks left him. While Buffy continued looking at them, Jackson was calling her.
"Hey Tech-girl, here."
Buffy turned around and caught a small bag with technician tools.
"You better get to work with that SWAT survivor before Hicks sees ya slacking off."
Buffy gave him the finger. Jackson only smiled though and began to refill his vest with the proper equipment for the mission. He then stood up and approached Buffy again.
"I wouldn't worry about those two. They had their days even though they were not the good ones. Eve was always the lone wolf and cowboy, something that the Colonel didn't appreciate that much. They fought as much as there are rice on a rice field."
Jackson was about to leave for the map table when Buffy held him back.
"Hey, what happened with those two anyways."
Only Jackson eyes were focused at Buffy while his whole body pointed in the opposite direction.
"You should better ask the Colonel or Eve about that."
Then he left joining a few others at the table. Buffy though didn't care much. More interestingly to her was Dante's past. Even after intense research done by Willow, they could only find his home address in New York, his name and his profession. Nothing more... So he did join the army and became a Delta boy. Good, one more info about he would never have said. Did he join on his free will, because of his dad or something else... As Buffy grumbled through the mysteries in her mind, she did not notice that Dante was right behind her. She snapped back to full conciousness when she bumped into him.
"Quite a mind burner isn't it, Dante Eve, nice to meet you."
He held out his hand and waited for a handshake. Buffy, still petrified by his sudden appearance slowly reached her hand and grapped his open one.
"I see you're first funny platoon soldier on a hostage mission."
"Ahm, Yes sir, can't wait to see action!"
Buffy faked her voice. Dante would have sure kicked her ass if he knew that it was her.
"Man you should do something with that cold. Want some action? York's waiting for ya."
"Yes, sir!"
Buffy walked to York, relieved that Dante did not discover her true identity.
"By the way, nice perfume..."
Buffy did not reply to that comment. Instead she just nodded and continued her trip to York to receive her assignment.
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"Alright, this is the plan."
All Delta soldiers gathered around Hicks for the mission briefing including C2 crew Marvin and York and the outsiders Buffy and Dante. Dante has changed his clothes into the assault BDU that were in the bag Buffy carried. He now wore a black BDU, covered with a fully loaded kevlar vest. He looked far different than before. More mature... professional... ARGH. Buffy knocked on her head lightly. Sure he was an ass but she could hardly resist watching Dante change his clothes, even though she had seen him nude before. Well, as far as she remembered though. But now was not the time to concentrate on these things. Buffy set her sights back on Hicks. Dante was still adding the LAM (Laser Aiming Module) on his USP Tactical, while Hicks continued with the briefing.
"We will split into a total of five teams making that three per team for the mall 1st and 2nd floors and four guys on the basement floor team. Since we are a bit short on manpower our little technician would have to go too."
Everyone turned to look at Simmons aka Buffy.
"What? You men forgotten what a woman looks like now or what?"
Hicks continued.
"Probably, But anyways, everyone will work their way up to checkpoint alpha."
Hicks pointed on four points on the monitor map.
"The basement team's spots are located here."
Hicks pointed at four other locations on a different map. Burt had to comment on that.
"You are not serious of these INDIVIDUAL alphas, are you?"
"Oh, yes I am! I don't suppose you have become rusty over the years."
Burt shook his head while Hicks returned to the original mission plan.
"When everyone is ready, C2 is going to switch off power. The basement team will then go and bang & clear out the floor. There are no hostages on the basement so you won't have to worry about using HE if necessary. The mall team will first wait for the SWAT snipers to clear out as many as they can with their first shots. SWAT will then signal us the go sign and that's were we enter and finish the job, same style, bang & clear... Any questions?"
As usual nobody had. Everybody was waiting to go.
"Alright now lets split you..."
Everyone was assigned to a team. Buffy got the first floor with Jackson and Dante, with greetings from Colonel Hicks.
"Great... I gotta go with the best team, a dick and a dork..."
"Simmons! Come here for a sec, will ya!"
Dante called her from the other side of the room. Buffy did not want to go. She was afraid that Dante might discover her true identity.
"What you want me for?"
Dante rolled his eyes.
"Hey, we are on the same team so we need to discuss our strategy."
Buffy agreed though she was still careful not to expose herself. She slowly went over to Dante until they came face-to-face. She kept her head low.
"Look at me."
A command which Buffy actively ignored. Dante was quite annoyed.
"Or not. Well anyways, I already switched your position with Reed."
Reed? He was on the basement team. How the hell could he do that. Buffy raised her head and looked directly into the Dante's eyes.
"What the hell did you do that for!"
"Because this is no fun ride for you upstairs, Slayer!"
Wait, did he just say slayer? How could he know? Buffy tried to act innocently.
"What are you talking about?"
"Stop acting, Slayer. I know who's behind that mask."
Dante used a lower tone so that the other members could not hear their conversation.
"This is not the time for theme park rides! This is serious!"
Buffy figured out that she could not act innocent anymore. Dante discovered her identity really fast by just looking at her. Or was it something else?
"How did you know?"
"Well your eyes for one. Two: your height. And you are the only one with perfume. And the same one you use everyday..."
Dante slid a magazine into his USP and loaded the first bullet in it.
"Anyways you can't go in there. Let pros handle the job."
"Pros?!?"
Buffy grabbed his collar with one hand and pulled him closer to her.
"You know what happened when the "pros" got in here. Five hostages dead! I don't want to see that my sister is going to be one of them when you "pros" do the job."
Dante shook her off.
"Well then do you know how to raid and secure a room in type B formation?"
Buffy went silent. Why would she need this kind of tactics. Killing and saving people would be enough. Dante shook his head. Instead of keeping staring at her, he took the bag that Buffy carried through the sewers and searched for other accessories. He was surprised when he felt something unusual on his fingertips. Interested in the object, he grabbed it and pulled it out of the bag. His hand held a weird looking scope, divided into two parts. He smiled.
"Finally, we get to see one of these red dot sights. But as I remember these Delta techs, they would probably have them second-handed from the SEALs."
Happily like a little child, he screwed the new gadget on his already loaded M4. While staring through his new sights he noticed that Buffy did not say one word about his decision. He lowered his weapon and faced Buffy again, this time with a lower and sencere tone.
"Look, these are humans. They know, they play, they think, they act. Demon slaying is much different from this. Barking in and mindlessly slaying those terrorist one by one will just get you more white sacks for hostages, and I am sure you don't want your sister to be in one of them."
Buffy looked down on the floor. She did not want to listen anymore. Who would? She had just been cut off from saving Dawn and the rest of the people inside the mall. Dante put his hands on her shoulder.
"I am going to save her, OK. I'll give you my word."
Buffy looked up to Dante again.
"Your word is not enough for Dawn's life..."
"Well, then that's what you have to live with..."
"Hey, you two..."
Jackson was calling them.
"Stop flirting with my girl, time to go!"
Dante nodded and walked past Buffy. During midway he stopped and looked back. Buffy was still standing there clutching her fist. He was about to call her, but then picked her M4, checked the mag, then put it back in and loaded it. She then walked past by Dante, shoulder-knocking him on her way.
"Let's go, Eve."
Dante smiled.
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"How long do we have to wait?!?"
One of the guard terrorists slowly lost his patience. They were waiting for almost seven hours now. King disappeared into a shop with the lights shut. The Queens had no idea anyway what the hell King was doing. They would wait forever for money. They all could smell something burning though and mixed with candles. Dawn smelled it too. She was in between several hostages in a small dirty corner of a clothing store. Her friends were nearby, some of them still sobbing. What a bunch of whinies! Though it was no wonder that Dawn could keep herself calm. She had seen some worse things than this before. Even so, she was afraid of her life. One of the terrorists entered the store. Excited as he was, he presented some good news.
"Yo, our ride has arrived!"
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"OK, blue team out! Waiting for go code."
Jackson nodded and began to radio with the rest of the Delta members. Dante, the leader of the team looked down at his M4, checking it to see if the weapon was alright. It was the only time killer that was left.
"How long does it take? We don't have time forever with that little bait!"
Reed was starting to get nervous.
"Cool down boy. And screw in your silencer."
Reed made wide eyes as he did see his unsilenced M4. Good that he did not shoot anyone downstairs before. The teams encountered at least five men before they got to their first checkpoint. As far so good, no one detected their presence yet. Hicks voice came through Jackson's radio.
"To all teams, get ready."
Dante rested the stock of his M4 on his shoulder and put on his multifunction goggles, switching them to night vision. It was almost time...
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"What's going on?"
King appeared from the darkened store. One of the terrorists came up to him.
"Our ride has arrived. Seems like they are working faster than expected."
King raised his eyebrow. He did not expect that the authorities worked that fast. Actually, he did not expect that they would respond like that at all! He faced the terrorist again.
"We are leaving this place as planned, Queen-1."
"But King, we can go now. Money's out there, our ride to freedom is out there, what more do you want?"
King looked deeper into his eyes. He was becoming a more scarier person, like one of those exorcists.
"I'm not going to repeat myself. We are leaving as planned!"
The terrorists stood there stoned at first. After a few minutes, he recovered and answered him in agreement. King smiled, but the smile faded when he went to their little radio station. He took the radio.
"Calling all teams, report in!"
A bunch of Rogers came through the radio. But King did notice one team on one part of the basement floor which did not answer. He tried again, but no one answered. One of the terrorists, working on the other radio station, took up his gun and began to leave until King stopped him.
"Don't use the hostages, I still need them. Prepare for unwanted guests, quietly."
The terrorist nodded and made a few calls.
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"OK, men everyone except for the basement team is in position."
York and Marvin were sitting on the monitors, watching the progress of Delta Force. They were both wired on headphones, which kept them on contact with all teams. One voice came through their headphones. It was Hicks.
"Who else is not on Alpha yet?"
York turned to look at the basement monitor.
"Hmm, this one is Turner, but he just arrived at his checkpoint... Yes he is reporting in and ready. The other one hmm... Its Simmons, she's still a bit far away from her point."
"Typical..."
It was Dante's voice now. Jackson interrupted.
"Hey, seriously how good do you know her?"
"Better than you think..."
Sanchez's voice interrupted.
"Guys, I got activity here. People movin', a lot..."
Chan's voice now sounded over the radio
"Roger, I got some too."
Dante slowly looked at the PDA camera, which went through small hole he drilled besides the door.
"Me, too. Guys, I think they know, we're here."
Hicks voice came through.
"Don't strike yet, wait."
Dante pulled back from the door.
"He is coming here. I think he's going to open the door. We need to go now!"
"Eve, hold, we go when everyone is ready..."
Dante was deliberately screaming through the radio.
"Get the bangs ready. Fuck it, Colonel. We must go now!"
First shots have been heard. Dante now screamed with full voice through the radio.
"Colonel, Go Alpha, NOW!"
"Alright, alright, ALL TEAMS ALPHA, GO GO GO!"
York was shouting at Marvin.
"Marvin, hit it!"
Marvin was confused.
"Where is it."
"Damn, I just told you a moment ago!!!"
"I forgot!"
Hicks was screaming too now.
"YORK, LIGHTS!"
"SHIT!"
York punched down the power shutdown button.
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The windows broke as the first sniper shots flew through, ripping the hearts of six terrorists. Grenades exploded at four different spots leaving a white bang. It blinded everyone effectively, including the hostages, who were screaming their brains out. Black clothed men appeared firing, single or burst shots, killing the terrorists one by one. The terrorists blinded by the flashbang, returned fire to an enemy they could not see. The bullets they released flew all over the place, hitting other terrorists as well as some hostages, luckily only injuring them lightly. The first floor teams had trouble with the cover. Enemy fire were coming from almost all sides of the mall. Including upstairs. Reed fell down on the floor screaming. A bullet went through his foot. Dante and Jackson went back and pulled him behind a desk. Some other men from the first floor had some trouble advancing through. Dante switched on his radio while he continued to fire. His M4 suddenly cocked. It was out of ammo.
"FUCK, LOADING... RED-1, THIS IS BLUE-1. COLONEL I NEED SUPPORT DOWN HERE! REED IS HIT!"
Chan's voice echoed through the radio.
"RED-1, THIS IS GOLD-1. GOT INJURED TOO, NEED SOME SUPPORT NOW!"
Hicks voice was hardly audible through the radio.
"I AM BUSY TOO, SOLDIER! I TRY TO GET TO YOU WHEN I FINISH UP HERE"
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Buffy just went through the door to the basement floor, as the alpha go code was ordered. Why crawl through the narrow air vent shaft when running down, shooting all the terrors was much easier? Men... They complicate too much. She just had dropped her third tango, when her M4 went dry. Another man appeared firing his AK-47 at Buffy. She dodged the bullets by rolling behind a corner wall. Switching her weapons to her handgun, she returned fire at the terrorist, who was now hiding behind a bunch of wooden crates. No one got a real hit. Buffy continued to fire, when the slide of her USP locked. She was out of bullets.
"Shit, what now..."
Her idea came out when she looked down on her vest. The terrorist heard the cocking. He slowly rose from his position.
"Maybe you should just give up."
But then something fell besides him. It was some kind of small cylindrical shaped thing with a small red strip around it.
"SHIT!!!"
The terrorist jumped to the side and put his arms around his head. But nothing came. No explosion, no sound no shrapnels, anything. When he looked up to see what was wrong, he saw a black-clothed special op standing in front of him.
"Men, you are all the same..."
Then Buffy knocked him out with the stock of her M4. She picked up the HE grenade and put it back into her pocket. It wasn't even live yet. Actually, she forgot how to activate it. Buffy grabbed her radio.
"C2, this is black-4 fourth tango down and alive."
"Alright black-4, basement floor clear!"
Burt appeared around the corner and came up to Buffy.
"Hey Simmons, nice one. Thought I might see how you are, but looks like you got them!"
"Thanks."
The radio then interrupted their conversation.
"FUCK, LOADING... BLUE-1, COLONEL I NEED SUPPORT DOWN HERE! REED IS HIT!....GOLD-1, GOT INJURED TOO, NEED SOME SUPPORT NOW!....I AM BUSY TOO, SOLDIER! I TRY TO GET TO YOU WHEN I FINISH UP HERE!"
Buffy turned to Burt and the rest of the basement team, who just arrived. Burt nodded.
"Alright, James cuff him and take him to C2. The rest of us lock and load again cause we are going upstairs. Simmons, care to join us?"
"Nothing more than that!"
Before they moved out, Buffy tapped on Burt's shoulder.
"Got some extra ammo?"
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"SHIT, ANYONE STILL WAITING FOR SUPPORT, WE NEED TO CLEAR THEM OUT NOW!"
Four minutes passed by when Dante made his first request for help. Though it was just four minutes, in a hard heated battle, four minutes could be an eternity. Dante and Jackson left Reed back in the fast food store. Right now they were firing from a broken down arcade. Everyone had no more flashbangs, so bang & clear was not an option anymore. Dante's M4 went out of bullets again.
"LOADING!"
Jackson did not hear him. He was too busy with his own corner. While Dante was reloading, one of the terrorists was charging at him with his AK-47 up. Dante was about to switch to his USP, when bullets flew by dropping the terrorist. Dante turned around to identify the shooter.
"NEED HELP, GOT HELP!"
It was Buffy. A sight that Dante would never expect to be happy to see. It actually should be the the smell because he would never identify the shooter with all that gear on her head of it wasn't for that smell.
"I'D NEVER SAY THAT BUT ITS GOOD TO SEE YOU!"
Dante looked down her vest in search of something.
"THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK RIGHT NOW!"
He pulled a flashbang which was located right at her left breast. Then he faced Buffy again.
"WHEN IT GOES, TAKE YOUR TEAM AND CLEAR OUT LEFT, JACKSON AND I GO RIGHT!"
Buffy nodded and got ready with her team. Dante pulled the pin and threw the flashbang to the bunkered terrorists. The white cloud went up and Buffy moved out with her team, firing at the terrorists on the other side. Dante and Jackson went right as planned taking out the terrorist at the bunker. Then they continued to go right to the clothing store, taking out the tangos on their way. Dante meanwhile had switched to his USP since he had no more ammo for his silenced M4. Hicks meanwhile got to the last resistance of the terrorist on the second floor. Three last terrorists were hiding behind a counter, mindlessly firing at the door where the Delta's were hiding.
"DAMN, THOSE BASTARDS"
"COLONEL, I GOT THREE ARMED INDIVIDUALS, NO HOSTAGES!"
Goodman used his infrared option to see inside the store. Hicks nodded and pulled an HE grenade.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"
He waited three seconds and then threw the grenade inside. An explosion went off, shredded clothes were flying through the door along with dust and blood.
"CLEAR OUT!"
Hicks' team went in and secured the room. They found three bodies behind the counter. One of them was still catching for breath till he died cause of blood loss. It was also the last thing he heard. Hicks was relieved.
"Red-1, all clear. All teams report in!"
"Red-1, this is Green, all clear!"
"Red-1, Black here, all clear!"
"Red-1, Gold clear!"
"Blue-1, one left!"
Hicks almost ignored the last report. The voice was hardly audible.
"Black and Gold, this is Red-1. Send one Man to approach Blue's position silently. I'll see you there!"
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"HELP, HELP ME!!!"
"SHUT UP!"
King was holding Dawn by his arm with a knife on her throat. Dante and Jackson were ten meters away aiming their weapons at him. The red dots were visible on King's head, shaking nervously around. Jackson kept on concentrating on aiming at King's head though he could not get himself to take a look around the room. It was full of candles and signs of the devil, goat heads, a weird wall painting in front of them and a symbol on the floor representing an upside-down pentagram. It was scary, even for Jackson. How sick could someone be? Dante though kept calm and a steady aim at King's head.
"Its over man. Let her go!"
"NO, THIS WILL NEVER BE OVER. EVEN THOUGH I GOT HER I CAN STILL FINISH MY TASK."
Dawn recognized the voice.
"Dante..."
"AH SO THATS HOW IT IS... BUT EVEN WITH YOU, YOU CANNOT STOP THEM. THIS IS THE WAY IT MUST BE DONE!"
Jackson was starting to get nervous.
"Eve, what the hell is he talking about!"
Dante did not answer. He kept his eyes and gun at the target. Three more red dots appeared on King's head. Hicks, Chan and Buffy appeared aiming their M4's at him. Buffy immediately recognized the hostage. She would want to shoot him right now, but then she would be risking Dawn's life. How can she knock that guy out! And what is this gothic like place? The other two men were astonished by the room. Dante continued to communicate.
"This is not the way how he would have it!"
"THIS IS THE ONLY WAY!"
Buffy was about to pull the trigger when the screamed that. King looked around him, watching the rest of the team.
"LOOK AT YOU. WE WILL ALL BE DOOMED BECAUSE OF YOU. LET ME FINISH IT. LET ME SAVE US FROM ARMAGEDDON!"
Dante had enough. It was time to act.
"DAWN!!!"
Dawn looked up, her tears still blinding her sight. Something is going to happen, she knew that.
"I love you..."
King was surprised. He lowered his knife a bit.
"HOW COULD SOMEONE LIKE YOU...URGHH!"
A bullet ripped through the head of King knocking him backwards.
"DAWN, GET DOWN"
Dawn hit the floor, screaming while Dante and the rest of the team moved in and continued to pump in lead into that bastard. Dante continued to shoot though when Hicks ordered to seize fire. King's lifeless body was loaded with lead by Dante's USP until all of his twelve bullets were inside King's guts. Dante then turned around and walked back to Dawn. She was still crying. Dante kneeled down and lifted her head up. She didn't know what to say. She wanted to say a thousand things to him but Dante just put his finger to her mouth.
"Its OK... Its over..."
Then Dawn embraced Dante crying her heart out.
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It was almost midnight, when the heroes along with the hostages came out of the mall. Some of the relatives ran into the hostage crowd to find and reunite with their beloved after this horrible event. The police did not stop them. They were all tired anyway. Dante was carrying Dawn out. He told Buffy to take another route out of the mall and meet them at their house while he was delivering Dawn to Willow, Xander, Anya and Spike outside. He left Dawn nearby an ambulance wagon and put his finger on mouth. Dawn nodded. She knew what she had to do. While Dante and the Delta members disappeared from the scene, Dawn heard voices calling her name. It was Willow. Dawn ran to her and embraced her like she had never before. It was good to get to be close to someone you know. She did the same with Xander, Anya and Spike, who was almost ready to go in alone Buffy-style, with a pack full of swords and knives. Though Dawn wondered though were Buffy was. Willow smiled and led her to the van. She opened the door and told her to get in. Dawn did and was almost startled by the black figure inside. She was relieved though when the figure identify herself.
"Dawn, don't scream its me..."
"Buffy..."
Dawn threw herself at her, holding her as hard as she could. It was almost that she never wanted to let go anymore. After a while she released her though, cause something hard was in between.
"Buffy, what is this?"
"Oh, you know I kicked terrorist ass G.I. Joe style. Don't tell anyone though..."
"You were there..."
"What do you mean. Of course I was in there. Do you think I would let them kidnap you?"
Buffy was almost ready to burst out her tears. Dawn touched her face.
"My guardian angel..."
Buffy put a hand on Dawn's hand, which was still stoking her face.
"No, much better... your sister..."
They both hugged again and tears were flowing off both of them. The other four were watching them, even Spike would almost come to tears if not Anya reminded him that they were demons and that they should keep composure even in that heartbreaking happy-end movie moment. Then they all got into the car and drove back home, leaving the scene which was once a horror moment in Sunnydale's history.
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The door to the Summer's house opened and Dante stepped in, half drunk. The living room was dark as usual. Right now he needed some sleep, but first he need to check something. He went upstairs and noticed that the "DANTE NO ENTER" sign on Dawn's door has been ripped off. He walked to Dawn's room and opened the door. Her room was dark, but he could still see two figures sleeping peacefully under a double blanket. Dante smiled. He was about to leave when he heard a small voice.
"She asked about you. Where did you went off?"
Dante turned around and saw the slayer in her night clothes standing in front of him. Dante let out a sigh and looked at Dawn again.
"Needed to get some memories back and get York & Marvin drunk."
Buffy leaned on the door. Dante continued with his story at the bar. It was obvious that he got some hard stuff as well. Buffy could smell the alcohol, the heat coming from him and the sweat from his skin.
"Was the first time Hicks didn't start a fight. Other guys tell me that would be the world record. Hope that'll not last. I kinda miss our fights.
"Dante..."
"Hmmm..."
"I thank you... that you saved her..."
"Yeah... You know, it wasn't bad after all to have you back there."
"Hmmm."
They both went silent for a while, Dante keeping his eyes on the sleeping Dawn and Buffy keeping her eyes in the floor. Buffy then changed the subject.
"Well, did you find out who set it all up? And that last guy, you knew him, didn't you?"
Dante did not say anything. Buffy knew he did not want to talk about it tonight. It might be that he was once a comrade of Dante's
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..."
"He once fought on our side. Hell, I even gave this guy a drink."
Buffy looked up to him and caught a small necklace from Dante.
"This is the sign of the Order of the Vatican Knights. I'm sure he acted on his own. No one of them would pull off such a thing like massacre."
Buffy still analyzed the sign with her fingers.
"I'll see, if we can dig something up."
"Yeah, but first tomorrow. You need some sleep, you look like hell..."
"Don't tell me..."
"Yeah, well I'm crashin'. Night..."
"Goodnight..."
And then Buffy closed Dawn's door.
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A man dressed in pitch black robes with a small white collar entered a new section through the wide halls of an ancient building. He was carrying a bunch of documents with him. He seemed in a hurry cause he was practically running through the corridors, without greeting his other co-workers. At the end of the corridor he opened another door leading him to a new room. An older looking man dressed in violet-white striped robe was sitting at the table, scribbling his signature on some documents. The pitch-black dressed man threw the documents on his table.
"I'm sorry for my behaviour but we found the renegade..."
The man on the table took the documents and read the reports along with the pictures that came with it. When he was finished, he took his glasses off and looked down his desk, which was full of pens and papers.
"So it was true..."
"I await your orders, your eminence."
He looked at the man, who gave him the documents.
"Inform the others about this around the world. Such cruelty as this must not happen again, ever. I will go inform our holiness about this incident."
"Yes, your eminence."
As the man left the room, the elder looked outside the window. There were birds on the trees singing the song of life. Untouched, Untamed, Peaceful... The elder breathed out heavily.
"So, it begins..."
Some time after the pitched black dressed man exited the ancient building and called a taxi.
"To the International Airport, please!"
"You got it!"
The last words he would hear in this country as the taxi left the Vatican City.