Ominae: "This chapter's my personal fav. Should bring the reader to some intense action. Anyway, my latest story, Tangling with Shadowlaw has 11 reviews currently. I want to thank my readers for providing their kind and supportive input. I need more reviews for my 7th chapter. Chapter 8 is on its way, folks."
ShadowHawk: "Right. This story's about to come to an end soon, so stay tight."
Chapter 4: Lambs to the Slaughter
Unknown Place - 4:00 A.M.
Kahless, who made a swift recovery on his injuries sustained in his first loss ever, made a complete Tech-Scan on his body and he discovered a homing device embedded on his leg. His vision was green as he looked at the homing device that was on his leg.
With such swift movement, he snatched it out of his leg and grimaces in pain as some bright green blood spurts out as the device is removed and placed in his palm.
As he discovered that the homing device is still active, his eyes narrowed behind his masked face as he forms a plan inside his mind.
A plan that would ultimately lure the Center agents into their next battle.
Briefing Room, the Center, unknown location, somewhere in Canada - 7:00 A.M.
M.O.M. had Billy summon the four Center field agents back to the Center to debrief members of the Center's elite Special Reaction Squad (S.R.S.).
Normally, the elite team is normally deployed when they are active against criminals, terrorist or occult groups that use the paranormal in order to advance their gains or to cordon an area before Center clean-up squad arrive.
This would be the first time that the S.R.S. would be sent off to fight against an intergalactic alien hunter.
Martin Mystery, Diana Lombard and Java the caveman are now seated near the briefing room door. Mark Sy, one of the Center's elite military-trained field agents, was now decked in a Armored Machine Suit, acopy of ARCAM's Armored Muscle Suit copied by the Trident Organization. He had captured the suit when he was with the Strikers, or known as the Spriggans.
He was also wearing a black Omega Elite Vest Cross Draw/Pistol Mag on his chest with the Ruger P95 PR15 pistol holstered on his vest, as well as 3 Ruger P95 PR15 pistol magazines. He also had 3 20-round Para Ordnance P14-45 magazines on the other 3 pistol magazine pockets. Hooked on his black BlackHawk Universal BDU Belt was a sheath for his Fairbarn and Sykes Commando Knife, outfitted with a Omihalcon blade.
M.O.M. had personally chosen him to debrief the men, even though they were still under the command of Major James Fletcher, a Canadian national and a former member of Canada's Joint Task Force-Two (JTF-2).
Now all of the present S.R.S. men, chosen from various police and military special units from around the world, were now in plain black BDUs as they listened to stern agent's briefing.
"Listen up! Now M.O.M. is certain that we're facing against a Predator." He then pointed to the picture of a Predator on the white board. "This creature is known to use stealth to its advantages, so better be on your toes. AS of now, Center R&D has not been able to develop an anti-stealth device, meaning that we'll have to depend on our senses in order to catch this beast." He then flipped over some papers until he stopped at a certain page. "Center intelligence has reported in that the Predator is detected in the outskirts of Mexico City thanks to agent Mystery here."
Mark pointed him out to the S.R.S. operators, and Martin waved back at them. After that, Major Fletcher reminded them to get their back to the debriefing.
"We have clearance from the Mexican government and the Mexican Army has agreed to assist us in cordoning the area off when we land. So any questions?"
When no one bothered to raise their hands, Major Fletcher walked to the front of the room and began to debrief them as well.
"You'll be leaving for Mexico by 1100 hours. So if anyone wants to relieve himself, better do it now. Is that clear?"
"SIR YES SIR!" all the S.R.S. men shouted in unison.
"Good luck men and godspeed!" Major Fletcher gave the men a salute before wishing Mark and other agents good luck in their mission.
"So this is it? We get to capture the Predator at long last?" said Martin with glee.
"I don't know, the Predator's pretty smart as this. So better be on your guard." advised Mark, arms gesturing at him for emphasis.
"Well, we better pack up for the raid." added Diana.
"Right." Java then led the three Center agents out after most of the S.R.S. men had filed out of the room.
Somewhere in the outskirts of Mexico City - 9:00 A.M.
He lies watching and waiting...
Waiting for the right time.
With his equipment and gear at the ready, Kahless is determined to make his revenge against the Center agents. But most especially at Mark Sy and Martin Mystery, who are now on his number one death list as the number one prey to snatch before leaving Earth.
Now under the disguise of his stealth unit, his Shoulder Plasma Caster at the ready and his Glaive at his hand since he lost the Combistick in his first battle with the Mystery Gang. The Glaive is similar to the Combistick, but instead of knocking down foes, it cuts them. It can be an amputation, evisceration or decapitation, but the purpose of the Glaive is to cut enemies into smaller bite-sized pieces. He now waits for the right time before springing into action.
Over Mexican Airspace on a Center Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter - 11:00 A.M.
Mark, Martin, Diana and Java were now inside a Center Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk chopper. Mark was now decked on his New Zealander Army DPM BDU. He was also wearing a black balaclava so as to cover his face with a Philippine Scout Ranger beret on his head. Slinged on his back was a Black Dragon Ninja Sword sheath with the sword of its namesake on it and modified to have a Omihalcon blade since it was the strongest known metal that can penetrate any known metal (A/n: Read/Watch Spriggan to understand more about the Omihalcon metal). Cradling in his arms was a Valkyrie Arms De Lisle 2000 Carbine with its stock folden on and loaded with a Para Ordnance 20-round magazine.
"How long 'til we get there?" asked Martin, who was getting impatient with the flight.
"Just wait, Martin. It's not like we're on a supersonic chopper." Reprimanded Diana at Martin.
"Geez, just wait!" shouted Mark at Martin. Soon, everyone was quiet.
"You really are impatient, Martin Mystery." Mark soon glared at Martin through his black balaclava. "Relax, we should be there in no time."
Somewhere in the outskirts of Mexico City - 11:20 A.M.
Kahless, still under the cover of his stealth unit, came to look overhead and observed a Center Boeing MV-22B Osprey VTOL aircraft on.
Still looking at the aircraft, he used his scanner switching from Thermal-Scan to Tech-Scan and zoomed his vision. There, he observed masked Center S.R.S. operators leaping from the aircraft, completely armed with Heckler and Koch G36 assault rifle chambered in 5.56 x 45 NATO caliber and Vektor Z88 pistols chambered in 9 x 19 Parabellum caliber, before activating their white parachutes on their backpacks.
Kahless now grinned under his mask and he slowly prepared his arsenal of weapons before leaping to the ground under the cover of stealth.
This time, he vowed that the four agents would not escape him.
This time or he'll make sure that he'll never head back to see his fellow Yautja warriors...alive!
On the ground - 11:25 A.M.
Martin, Diana, Java and Mark were now on the ground after disembarking from their chopper. Groups of S.R.S. operatives were ringing the area under a large scale military-like operation. One of the S.R.S. operators had approached Martin and Mark, with his hands on his Heckler and Koch G36 assault rifle.
"Sir!" the agent addressed Mark. "We've ringed the area and we're about to begin the search." He pointed to the barren area behind him with his thumb pointing at it.
"All right!" Mark then unslinged his Valkyrie Arms De Lisle 2000 Carbine from his shoulder. "Let's start!"
Together with the rest of the S.R.S. troopers, Martin had activated his X-Staff and turned it into a quarterstaff while Java was close to Diana. Mark cocked his De Lisle 2000 Carbine to chamber a single .45 ACP round into the weapon's barrel before leveling it near his chest with the weapon pointed down to the ground.
Throughout the search, it was all silent. Every stone they see, every abandoned shack or hut that they can search or see, they turn up nothing. As the combined efforts of the S.R.S. and the field agents continue to comb the area, they were about to wrap up the entire search operation and head back to base when suddenly…
Out of nowhere, a scream was heard in the Mexican air.
"What the hell was that?" shouted one of the S.R.S. operators?
"Sir!" An S.R.S. came running towards him and the four Center field agents. "Someone just attacked Cooper a while ago!"
"Do you know what it is?"
"I don't know sir! It was invisible and it URGGGHHHHH!" These were the last words that the S.R.S. operator spoke before a laser beam from an unknown source entered his chest. With that, the S.R.S. went down on his knees before he collapsed to the ground, still clutching his Heckler and Koch G36 assault rifle at hand.
"That ruins the day." quipped Mark, who held his De Lisle 2000 Carbine near his shoulder.
"Dammit!" One of the S.R.S. operators grabbed onto his radio extender and warned on his comrades to stay sharp.
"All S.R.S. operatives on the ground, the target is on the ground. I repeat, the target is on the ground." He unslinged his weapon and rushed out towards the sound of assault rifles being fired against a strange creature.
"Let's go guys!" yelled Mark, leading the three Center field agents behind the rushing S.R.S. operators. What baffled Martin and the rest of the arriving crew was that most of the S.R.S. teams were firing at something and their bullets were being stopped in the air.
The mysterious creature deactivated his stealth unit. In his hands was an extended Glaive. On his shoulder was a repaired Shoulder Plasma Caster. His weapons were still hidden; he would not need them until later, that is.
"Damn! We were set up!" yelled Mark, firing his De Lisle 2000 Carbine at Kahless, who had deflected some of the shots with his Glaive.
Java dashed toward Kahless and tried to do a tackle, but Kahless punched him in the gut and gave him an uppercut, bowling him to a platoon of S.R.S. operators.
Eyeing a group of S.R.S. operators aiming their Heckler and Koch G36 rifles, Kahless swiftly drew out his Net Gun and fired it, sending a net that would entangle all of them at once.
Diana, in panic, hid behind one of the rocks in the hope that Kahless will not find her. But unknown to her, Kahless has already detected her presence and he has plans for her after he takes care of the "trouble" around him.
"Watch out!" shouted Martin, who twirled his quarterstaff above his head similar to a Jackie Chan movie while Mark leaped out of the way from Kahless' laser beam from his Shoulder Plasma Caster.
"Fire!" barked one of the S.R.S. operators. With their G36 rifles at the ready, the S.R.S. teams opened fire at Kahless, who nimbly dodged every bulllet coming towards him.
He swiftly grabbed his shuriken, activated it and threw it like a discus towards them, decapitating most of them by half while others had their heads lobbed off their necks with red blood splurting out.
Kahless then jumped down behind a startled S.R.S. operative and with his Wrist Blades at the ready, stabbed him from behind. Using him as a shield, he activated his Shoulder Plasma Caster and fired at the approaching S.R.S. platoons, killing scores of the elite team.
When Kahless turned his head around, he noticed an S.R.S. operative preparing to swing his G36's rifle butt at his mask. He was not prepared for the fatal blow that he received when Kahless used his blade shaped weapon in the style of a police T-baton called Maul and smashed his chest, breaking every bone in his ribs, fatally killing him.
"That's enough!" yelled Martin as he leaped at Kahless with his quarterstaff aimed at his head. Kahless grabbed one end of his quarterstaff and hurled him towards Java, who was prepared to do another tackle at the enigmatic hunter.
Mark kept firing his De Lisle 2000 Carbine at the moving creature, who landed in front of him after doing a flip. With a swinging backfist, he knocked his weapon from his hands. In response, Mark did a Hachiji Daichi stance and prepared to face the intergalactic hunter.
"You'll never get me!" shouted Mark as he waited for Kahless to approach him.
Kahless copied his voice and emitted the same thing in a low tone, "You'll never get me!"
"Die! Rising Punch!" yelled Mark as he propelled himself into the air, landing his clenched hand on his Omihalcon glove onto his chin. Kahless did a recovery when he performed a landing flip on the ground.
"Nice! Try this then! Multiple Image Attack!"
Several images of Mark began to assault Kahless after surrounding him by punching, kicking and doing most of his special moves before they move into Kahless' center by punching him in his chest.
Kahless staggered a few feet before redirecting his attention to the Filipino Center agent. Watching the events were most of the surviving S.R.S. operators, who have managed to pick up the corpses of their fellow S.R.S. comrades, killed by the vile creature. Java and Martin were also watching after they got up from the ground. Diana still maintained her position hidden behind one of the giant rocks, nervous about the battle between hunter and potential prey.
"Hayagake! Kubikari!"
Mark dashed towards Kahless and stopped for a second before he leaped into the air and landed a kick onto Kahless' mask.
Kahless took out his Glavie again and ran towards Mark, who responded by activating his U-Watch, extending it to a quarterstaff and detached them into dual ballistic arnis sticks after landing on his two feet.
With the sticks at his side, he did the Dual Power Wave move, emitting a sonic-boom like projectile after swinging them horizontally, hitting Kahless at his chest even if he blocked it with his two arms.
"RRRRRAAARRRRRYIARRR!" Kahless roared in the air with his arms raised up, shouting a war cry in anger. Martin joined up with Mark and swinged his quarterstaff at Kahless, interrupting his war cry session.
The hunter groaned in pain while Martin used his quarterstaff to prop himself up like an athlete. With his body airborne and the stick moving with him, he landed his kicks onto Kahless' mask and chest.
In anger, Kahless activated his stealth unit, leaving most of his spectators in confusion.
"What the?" asked Martin, looking around in confusion.
"Where'd he go?" inquired Mark as he took his De Lisle 2000 Carbine onto his hands. "And where's Diana?"
Suddently, a loud female voice shouted into the air, which alerted both the field agents and the S.R.S. operators in the vicinity.
"DIANA!" shouted Java. Together with Mark and Martin, they ran towards the source of the voice until they stopped in the middle of nowhere.
"Dammit!" shouted Martin, who violently kicked a pebble in front of him. "She's gone!"
"SIR!"
A lone S.R.S. operator, who had his Heckler and Koch G36 rifle on his hands, ran towards the trio, as if they were a fire.
"Some of the guys have found Agent Lombard entering the cave 10 kilometers from our position."
"Good work, soldier!" commended Mark, while slinging his Valkyrie Arms De Lisle 2000 Carbine on his shoulders. "Let's get the beast."
Leaving the operator to muster reinforcements for them, the three agents trekked towards some rocky hills. It was their main destination that would lead them to Kahless and his prisoner.
Unknown Cave - 11:45 A.M.
"Hmmm. Where am I?"
Diana soon snapped out of her unconsciousness and saw that she was bounded on the walls. Everything around her was dark. She couldn't see her captors, which really began to scare her nerves out.
From the darkness, Kahless appears from nowhere with a piece of strange fruit on his clenched hand. He makes a guttural clicking sound from deep in his throat. The effect is not unlike that of a child firing an imaginary gun.
Raising it to her mouth, he emitted a voice that said, "Want…some…fruit?"
Diana nodded at his question and Kahless released her from her bounds before presenting the strange fruit to her. She took it from him and began to puncture it with her white teeth in hunger. The fruit the she was munching on was called The Fruit of Eden. The fruit was grown on a tree on his homeworld and its appearance was similar that of a pear.
Kahless began to remove his mask after disconnecting the cables from the mask, all the way to his backpack.
Diana could not do anything but shiver at the sight of a large oval shaped bowl head extending upwards and back, the top is flat almost with bony edges that is speckled with small black birth marks of various shapes with small and soft spikes growing along the edges.
His yellow beady eyes are usually covered by a shadow from the slight protruding of his big forehead. Trailing from the back and sides of his head are thick and black wire like hair, the hair is braided into dread locks by multiple metal ringlets on each lock. There are two sets of tusks covering the mouth - the first set is the largest, a large and bony flesh-covered mandible tipped with a single white tusk pointed in a vertical position under the second pair.
The second are pointed in a horizontal position covering the tips of the tusks from the first pair. The inside of the mouth is soft with a pinkish red color that is lined with even more teeth.
His back arched and mandibles flared as he lets out a leonine roar with one thing in mind: Rage.
And another chance for him to engage Martin, Java and Mark into their last battle.
Chapter 4 END