A/N: First, let me appologize for taking so long to update. I originally planned to post the battle in its entireity. However with so many characters involved and so much happening that has proven to be very difficult. So I've decided to break it down a little.
Now, without further ado...
A floodlight, mounted to the top of a metal fence post, illuminated the long, black limousine as it pulled up to a chain-linked fence which had a guard armed with an Uzi standing on either side of the drive. As a third, rather large well-built classically dressed guard stepped out of the security shack and approached, both, the driver's and left passenger's tinted windows slid down. The guard studied the Latino driver who was dressed as a typical chauffer then moved to the backdoor to see two more Latinos, one a forty-ish looking man with a well-manicured goatee and jet-black hair pulled into a ponytail wearing an expensive white tailored suit projecting an aura of importance. The man beside him was several years younger and less formally dressed. The guard simply reached for the walkie-talkie on his belt. "Mr. Sandosa plus two just arrived.
"Very good." Victoria's pleased voice came back loud enough for all to hear. "Send them through please."
The well-dressed man nodded his approval before facing front and rolling up the window.
The guard stepped back to the chauffer. "Through the gate and to the left is a maintenance bay. That's where they're waiting for you." The Driver nodded his understanding and the guard moved back to the gate's control just inside the shack door. Then he stood in the door while the gate slowly rolled open creating the combined sounds of an electric whine and ratting metal. Once the gate was open, the limo went through and the gate began to close. "They're on their way." He informed his boss on the other end of his radio.
A very polite "Thank you Timothy." Came back over the speaker.
Turning back to the shack, the guard set the device on the counter just inside the door when he heard two soft moans followed by thumps. Stepping back and turning to the gate, he saw the other two guards lying in unconscious heaps. Realizing something was wrong; he quickly reached for the radio to warn his boss. Without warning, a pair of black-clad arms suddenly wrapped around the guard's head and neck pulling him backwards off his feet. Instinctively, the guard clawed at the hands desperately trying to free himself then drove his right and then left elbows back hoping to strike his attacker's ribs but being pulled down low he wasn't in a good position and couldn't muster enough force to be effective. However, he continued to struggle uselessly, exhausting what little oxygen he had in his lungs until unconsciousness claimed him.
The attacker, a dark-skinned man with a very boyish face clad in all black Kevlar body armor, adjusted his grip under the limp guard's arms and dragged him into the shack and laid him on the floor as two more soldiers dragged of the other guards. "Targets enroute. Main gate secure." He reported through his hands-free mic.
"O.K. That should be the last of'em. All teams report." Jack issued from his hiding place, the left inside corner of the wash bay, and waited for the replies.
"Team two ready."
"Team three ready."
"Team four ready." Came the curt professional acknowledgements.
"Good. Since there are two exits to cover we're going to need some help. Team two; I want you to cover the south exit. We can worry about finding the weapons after the targets are neutralized. We'll wait until they're all in one place then move in on my command." Jack ordered then turned to Willow who was similarly crouched at his right. "You ready?"
The Wicca took a deep breath. "Ohhh Yeah."
Slowly continuing across a paved lot, the limo passed several rows and columns Semi trailers of varying sizes neatly parked in front of a long warehouse to their right and then a wash bay large enough to fit one of the large trailers on the left. Ahead, there was another, two-story aluminum building, with three large garage doors. At the left end of the building, the same man that had earlier reported Victoria's capture at the nightclub stood beside a white Rolls Royce parked by a standard sized door being guarded by a graplar.
The chauffer parked the vehicle next to the Rolls Royce and got out to open the passenger's left door. The waiting man approached the two men who climbed out and offered his hand. "Hello Mr. Sandosa. My name is Brandon. Mr. Zorichov and Ms. Macmillan are waiting inside." He finished as the sharp dressed Columbian shook his hand.
Inside was a long hallway leading to another exit at the far end. A series of long, rectangular windows ran along the upper half of the right wall allowing the visitors to view truck, hitched to a short twenty-eight foot trailer sitting underneath a semi-transparent, blue tinted force field inside a maintenance area. At the opposite end of the hall was another exit. Just short of the other exit was a side door to the right being guarded by a graplar. Opposite him was an open stairwell leading to an above floor. Another door halfway down to the left was guarded by yet another graplar. Just short of this door was a large sliding glass window, which allowed for direct communication to anyone, sitting at the currently unoccupied desk built on the other side. Through this window, a large office space could be seen with several desks generously spaced to avoid workers from getting in each other's way. Zorichov was sitting at the rear desk with Douglass behind him to his right. Behind them was a large window, with the blinds closed. Victoria stood to the left next to a table apparently meant to serve as a snack bar since it contained a microwave, coffee maker, and a stack of Styrofoam cups
Brandon led the group down the hall and through the left door. Zorichov stood to greet the men as they entered Victoria smiled and politely nodded her welcome to the newcomers.
"Mr. Sandosa I presume." Zorichov offered his hand. "It's good to finally meet in person.
"Diego please." The man insisted. "We're soon to become friends after all." He accepted the hand. "And this is Manuel," he indicated his companion. "He will be driving the truck. And my personal driver, Ricardo." He introduced his chauffer.
"In that case, call me Stefan. You've already met Brandon. And this is Douglass." He waved to the man at his side. "Please sit." He motioned to the chair opposite the desk.
"May I offer you and your associates a cup of coffee?" Victoria politely offered indicating the fresh pot.
From a prone position, Jack looked through the night scope of a sniper rifle at the demon guarding the outside door and with controlled determination, set the crosshairs directly over the creature's heart. "Target acquired."
"Two. Acquired." Came the response from a second sniper looking at another demon protecting an identical door on the opposite side of the building.
"Take him out." Jack ordered and immediately fired a single silenced 7.62 mm bullet of his own, killing his target. The second guard also went down in similar fashion.
Team two, consisting of eight people, five men and three women including Kennedy, all dressed in black body armor, came out of their hiding place and began a quick but cautious approach between a group of rigs waiting to be serviced moving toward the targeted building. The slayer held on tightly to Scarlet while her teammates carried their own personal choice of automatic weapon.
Near the North end of the warehouse, Team three emerged from various positions behind a row of yard trucks used to tow trailers around the compound and began a cautious search for any hidden threats.
Diego calmly sipped his coffee then set it down on the desk in front of him opposite Stefan. "Before we proceed with the transaction, I believe we were promised a demonstration?" Diego reminded the warlock.
"Of course. I believe Victoria has arranged quite a show for us."
"Yes I have." The woman acknowledged. "Right this way gentlemen." She led the way out of the office.
Entering the hall, the group moved toward the second guarded door when two cylindrical objects suddenly punched through either exits and began spraying yellow smoke causing everyone to cough and some to double over.
"Que'" cough "pasa!?" Diego choked out a bit angrily trying not to succumb to the fumes assaulting his lungs.
"Tear gas!" cough Victoria answered holding one hand over her mouth and nose while tears filled her eyes in reaction to the burning sensation.
"We're" cough "being" cough "attacked!" Douglass proclaimed.
With gas masks on, each team set off a small explosive device blowing the locks off the doors and rushed in with the intention of subduing the occupants before they had a chance to fight back. With determination, the warlock forced himself to stand up straight and shoved both hands away from the sides of his body toward each end of the hall. An invisible force suddenly swept through the hall blowing both teams back outside tearing both doors off their hinges, scattering them, and the people, haphazardly across the ground in the process.
"Dissipate!" The warlock commanded and the smoke immediately obeyed, clearing into nothing.
"Take cover!" The leader of Team two immediately ordered sending his people scattering while Team one quickly took defensive positions in a loose semi circle in front of their open doorway.
Zorichov reached out with his senses. "It's her."
"Who?" Brandon asked beginning to breathe again.
"Miss Rosenberg. And many others."
"Damn!" Douglass swore earning a reprimanding look from his boss. "Sorry Sir."
"We should go!" Victoria recommended and started to move toward the door.
"Nonsense. It would be impolite not to greet our guests." The warlock's words stopped the woman.
"This is no time for a confrontation." Victoria insisted.
"But Sir. ---." Brandon began to argue a bit worried for his boss.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." The warlock promised. "I'll meet up with the rest of you later." With that he confidently started toward the door less opening he knew the witch was behind.
Victoria raised her walkie-talkie. "Damien."
"Yes ma'm?" came the reply.
"Your services are required."
"Yes ma'm."
"Come on! This way!" Victoria urged the remaining men and led them to the maintenance area where the truck was parked.
The backdoors of several parked trailers swung open allowing more than a dozen armed mercenaries hiding inside to spill out and hurriedly begin to make their way toward the maintenance bay in order to rescue their employers. Almost immediately, they encountered Team 3 who spotted them and quickly moved to intercept. A firefight erupted causing both groups to scatter taking cover among the trailers.
Stefan stepped outside to find himself facing four gas-masked individuals, the unarmed one stood just short of where the blown out door landed with the other three kneeling in a rough semi-circle around her with weapons raised; The P-90s held by the men on either side indicated them to be Jack and Daniel, leaving Teal'c, who carried his preferred SPAS-12 pump shotgun, to the far right. The one in the center removed the mask to reveal the pretty face the warlock recognized from her picture.
"I don't suppose you'd just give up and come along quietly." Jack quipped his voice distorted by the gas mask.
"You know I don't think you need that mask anymore." The witch suggested to the Colonel. "Besides you sound kind' a Darth Vadery."
The man to her left cocked his head in the witch's direction shooting her an annoyed expression that the mask in question could not hide.
Victoria quickly scooped up a slightly futuristic looking automatic rifle as she walked by a folding card table set up just outside the shielded truck and whirled around. The three Columbians had already drawn their own weapons; Diego's was a sigsaur pistol while his companions each carried Mac-10's. Douglass had a Ruger automatic while Brandon preferred a Beretta "Would one of you gentlemen care to get the door please?" Victoria asked the men.
From behind a row of stacked tires, Kennedy removed her gas mask, tossing it aside with a huff, and cautiously craned her neck to peek over the top at the sound of the first garage door open halfway to see the woman who lured her into that alley appear. The slayer quickly ducked back down before she could be seen as the other woman began to sweep a rifle in an arc across the lot spewing tiny red balls of mystical energy which shredded through the rigs' engine compartments, concrete guide pillars, and every other piece of cover the soldiers could find forcing them down to the ground to avoid being hit. The gun created a series of short whistles instead of the loud pops one would expect.
Moments later a second garage door opened and the two more men wielding MAC-10's opened fire while Diego added his pistol to the mix from the opposite side of the first door.
Seeing that the tide of battle had turned against them, Kennedy realized she had to do something. Leaning back against the tires, she began to sweep the area with her eyes, desperately searching for a way to help her team. There! That's what she needed. At the end of the building next to a set of truck scales sat a lonely tow truck. Now if she could just get there without being shot. "Hang tight guys I got an idea!" The slayer radioed then jumped up and took off running at full speed toward her intended destination. Douglass and Brandon both saw her and opened fire, however she was moving too fast to get an accurate bead and only got two shots a piece before losing sight of her rounding the corner.
"Forget about her!" Victoria shouted at the men. "I've prepared something special for her." She added ominously
Team two remained hunkered down as low as they could get while a seemingly constant stream of bylantine blasts shredded through every bit of cover in turn like it wasn't even there. And while the mystical bullets could only be aimed at one target at a time, ordinary bullets from the other guns were enough to prevent any of the other soldiers from raising their heads to return fire.
One such female soldier lay hidden, hugging the ground under one of the parked tractors, her training the only thing keeping her from panicking, as several magic bullets that she thought resembled tracer fire cut through the engine block above her. She didn't notice as they continued on to puncture the external fuel tank behind her. Luckily, Willow's explanation of Bylantine's nature was true and the energy's lack of heat didn't ignite the diesel; instead only allowing the flammable liquid to escape it's container creating an increasingly large puddle on the ground that flowed toward the girl's legs.
As Kennedy neared the truck, a thought hit her; 'Oh how she hoped that the keys were in it'. Holding her crossbow in her right hand she reached for the door handle with her left when the feeling of sudden movement at her right caused her to whirl away just in time to avoid being sliced by a Kama that smashed through the driver's window instead.
A green skinned demon with a red jewel in his forehead wearing a suit of oriental armor withdrew his weapon from the shattered window and held a second identical blade in his other hand.
"So which one of the mutant ninja turtles are you supposed to be?
The demon roared in anger at the insult and Kennedy, expecting an attack, quickly raised Scarlet to fire but her new opponent lashed out with a left crescent kick knocking the weapon from her grip before slashing out at her throat with his right blade. The small girl leaned back avoiding the weapon that passed through the air where her throat had just been. Then, to avoid a second left-handed cut at her legs doubled backwards kicking the demon under the chin as she completed the handspring. Reaching behind her back, she drew a nine-inch combat knife from under her body armor just as her new opponent regained his balance.
"The infamous Willow Rosenberg. I must say; it is quite an honor to meet someone of you're stature." Zorichov began, ignoring the sounds of gunfire erupting around the lot.
An unmasked Jack looked like he wanted to say something then thought better of it, choosing to listen instead.
Stefan continued. "Ever since I found that it was you here with that slayer, I've been anxious to meet you. However you've come at a rather inopportune time. Maybe we can make an appointment for later."
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid this can't wait." Willow replied with phony politeness.
Just then desperate shouting could be heard over the radios "Team two receiving heavy fire! We're pinned down! Need help NOW!"
"Go!" Willow told the men without hesitation. "This is between us anyway."
The Colonel looked at each magician as if sizing up a pair of fighters. "This is Team One. Hang on we're coming!" then nodded for the other two men to follow as he ran past the elder and braced himself against the doorframe before peeking in and quickly entering the building.
The two Magicians were left alone; facing off like gunfighters in a Wild West showdown.
A/N2: Well I hope that was worth the wait and don't worry there's still much more to come.