Author's Note: CRITICAL ANNOUNCEMENT!
I just wanted to let you all know that this story will be on hiatus for a few months. Life's finally getting on track and I'm more than excited that it is. To do that I will have to have extended job training that'll last for a while and I won't have access to a computer. So just be patient, all you guys have to do is wait. It's not like I won't be here, it's that I can't.
See you all soon!
Chapter 56: The War Path
May 6th 2011 1030 Hours
CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia
Today was day four of all this debrief crap when dad and Bookman should have sent everything they had to bury Hekmatyar's operations permanently. She would've already found out by now that I was still alive but as far as where I'm at, that's still up in the air. Other sitting in a conference room for about ten hours each day just giving out to dad what I knew, I wasn't what you would call a prisoner. That didn't mean that Bookman wouldn't take precautions by putting two goons in my dad's house as extra guards. Justifiable and I didn't really have any room to argue except telling them I knew what was at stake and I knew which side to pick. But every moment that we did not take the initiative to act was more time that she had to prepare and defend herself. She wasn't gonna give up 'Jormungand' that easily.
But I'm not stupid enough to just rush back to the other side of the planet without rest and reorganization. Been a while since I slept in the old house, even though it wasn't my old bed. After I vanished, dad obviously had to clear out my old apartment in Fayetteville. He sold or gave to charity a lot of my stuff, but most of it were things I wouldn't miss. Anything of real sentimental value was still at the old house. Not that I placed a value on money right now since after I tried to do a secure login to my Swiss accounts on a borrowed laptop, my codes were blocked. She'd do her best to hinder me any way she could and the only way I could reactivate it now was if I went to Switzerland personally.
"Ahh. Damn it."
"Something wrong?"
"Nothing that'll affect me. I'm just flat broke now. Hekmatyar had to have suspended my accounts."
"Forget about trying to pay me back for anything you've gotten from me in the last few days. Having you being alive is enough." He said as I rolled my eyes. "I'm still in a spin about how diverse this woman's organization is."
Dad and I were going over the last of what the both of us were putting together to put a halt on Hekmatyar's activities. Still not getting used to a collared shirt but at least I didn't have to wear a frigging tie like some office drone. It would have also been insulting to put on the uniform again and I implored dad not to bother. He wouldn't anyway since he's been ragging on me looking like some wrestler or a rock star. Not that it mattered much when some of the staff at Langley noticed me coming into their headquarters regularly for the last few days that I did NOT fit in around here. I could see why because I then started to realize that spy agencies had two types, intelligence and espionage. Since I'm a combat soldier at heart, ain't no damn way I'd ever see eye to eye with these people.
Espionage is self-explanatory; they're the guys that go out and do the dirty deeds, the real spy work. To get what they needed or wanted without the opposition knowing they were even there. Or kill them in the most unfair way possible. Despite Bookman having problems trying to see his feet, he had a lot of experience in the art of manipulation to get what he wanted. Intelligence though; the most they have to worry about is trying not to spill their fucking latte on some classified paper. If they'd get a paper cut they'd freak. Dietrich is a decent girl, but she doesn't belong with the Central Intelligence Agency.
"She and her brother are the combined number two for all of HCLI. They got ports stacked with their products ready to be delivered across three different continents and a hell of a lot of connections in different militaries all over the world. Their father may be the man who owns the whole company but I got a bad feeling that he doesn't know that the floor is about to fall out from under his feet. And his daughter is the one that made the boards loose."
Dad and I were eyeballing the same article from the DOD about them making an upgrade to the US Military's logistics and support network. The one that was a giant Trojan Horse. And they had no idea what it really was.
"The Global Grid. How could he not know his daughter was planning something like this? God, the amount of money that she was pouring into this thing. If it was money from the company he'd had to have noticed something."
While simple, if you wanted to keep a secret then you don't tell anyone.
…
Fuck…Amada. Only thing missing from her is a cackling laugh and a lot of bubbling chemicals.
While frustrating, it got tolerable as I kept giving out all I had on people I truly wanted to forget. Amada had to be the second worst out of all of Hekmatyar's group. She was the one who build that damn computer.
"That's just it, it wasn't. Hekmatyar funded this herself and since profiting from war seems to be a very lucrative business nowadays, I'm not surprised she got what she needed in such a short time. Most of her holdings from what I was reading on was in stocks and bonds that belonged to her. So since it's her money she could do whatever the hell she wanted to do with it." I sighed. "The old man actually did find out about her little spending habit but not about what it was really for. She even fooled him that Marchen was still a damn toy factory. The reaction she gave to him was…not pleasant."
I wish I didn't get that batch of info from that douchebag in shining aluminum foil who thought he could just stop Hekmatyar by slapping cuffs on her. If Scarecrow found out I had come into US custody he'd crowbar himself into this situation and be about as useful as inflamed prostate. And that would be after his head exploded that I had done more to stop Hekmatyar in a few days than he did within the span of a year.
"Well that ain't no surprise. A child that grows up without a real childhood and just molded into being something to make a business work doesn't really make for a stable mind. You said you talked to him face to face?"
The door to the conference room opened just as dad finished the sentence. There was only two people in the building I had personally spilled the beans on everything.
"Floyd Hekmatyar? Owner of Hekmatyar and Chevalier Logistics Incorporated talked to you?" He said surprised. "That's something you didn't mention yet. I'd like to hear it."
Partly because I don't fully trust you, you fat pussy. You knew what that girl was doing and you didn't even warn anyone.
I kept my mouth shut and thoughts to myself. I needed his help just as much as dad's. That didn't mean I didn't silently let him know once or twice about him making sure he should do his fucking homework.
"Well you know what I'd like to hear? That we're done with sitting on our asses and do something about Hekmatyar. Haven't you found her yet?"
"If I unsealed her file now then she'd know exactly what we're doing. Plus the Director would bring in agents asking questions. Remember it was your idea that we'd play this as low tech as possible so finding her is going to take time."
Which was what we were running out of and it was only half true about her official file. We were just working with paper. But even if we found her now that wasn't the priority. I just had an idea, it was so obvious.
"I don't think at this point she really matters though."
Dad looked at me surprised. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about going straight for the heart and rippin it out. We target the Marchen facility back in South Africa and bring that whole building down on that computer. Without it, she's got nothing but the air between her and me."
Dad then gave me the look he normally did when I said something stupid.
"Really? What about her personal guards that you said were that good? Not to mention the private army HCLI has? Along with contracts to PMC's that aren't made of rejects that were pressured out of service?"
PMC's were just mercenaries only worded differently and there were hundreds of them around the world. But the best of them were usually not put on Forbes or Business Insider for a decent job for guys that got out of any military branch. It was because they were the ones that actually went out to fight rather than be just bodyguards or watch a building.
I did a quick glance at some classified forms for details of three PMC's that HCLI had contracts with. Each one was full of heavy hitters. First was Shadow Hammer; a Dutch based group comprised of SF operators from a lot of NATO states. They were the guys that were guarding the facility I visited only once. I should have put a little more focus on some of Hekmatyar's business transactions but this was the price of me not paying attention until it was too late. Next was Light Hawk; more of a support based group based in Central Asia who, from what I read, built Hekmatyar's rocket pad in the Solomon Islands. The rockets and fuel she got were made from a bunch of legit builders so they didn't have anything to do with her. The satellites for the Grid though were engineered and built from HCLI's assembly plants in Germany. Not that they mattered either since the entire network was already in orbit. Lastly though was a group called Clandestine. These guys worked directly for old man Floyd. Obviously based in Switzerland; they were the ones that kept HCLI protected before PMC's even became a thing. Most notably, Lehmbrick and Chiquita were part of it so I knew they picked the best.
I knew that my obligation to take this woman down wasn't gonna come without barriers. But I knew how to get around them.
"We're not gonna go up against them. Not yet anyway. But if I keep the pressure on her by taking away her sole deterrent then she won't be able to defend herself."
"Well what makes you think that she won't just build another one?" The spy said and his assumption very much correct.
"Not if I take away her means to build it. Our trip across Asia was mostly to places where she could get material and people to put this thing together. I don't wanna keep repeating this but to beat her I gotta take away her ability to fight back."
"No Damien, we are." Dad said as he pointed at Bookman and himself. "You've done more than enough by exposing Koko Hekmatyar's entire operation to us. So just hang back and relax, we'll handle this from here on out."
I didn't believe what I just heard dad say. I didn't walk through hell and back just for the fun of it.
"Dad, I had a hand in making Hekmatyar's doomsday device. There's no way in hell I'm sitting this one out!"
"You wanted my help boy. This is me helping you. You've been running for three years, now's a time to stop and rest. We'll get to work on putting you together a new life and soon."
"I'll stop, whenever she's dead." I shot back.
Probably wasn't my best response.
"You know…I kept quiet during these little discussions about Koko and whenever I mention her name it looks to me like you're in physical pain. I know this is personal between you two but you're taking it a bit far. Not to mention you keep saying to just go out and kill her over and over again. You sound as obsessed as you claim she is, not to mention a little sadistic."
Normally when he got very still and didn't move his lips very much when he talked, that was dad doing his damnedest to prevent blowing a gasket. I may have told him everything I'd done in the last few years, but he could never know how I felt.
"I fucked up, that's one thing. But her…" I said gripping my fists on the table. "She made my catastrophe of a life even worse. Everything we did was nothing but a lie."
Dad had a small folder with him each time we did this for the last two days. Didn't know what was in it though but I thought he had something I could really work with.
I was wrong.
He looked at me plainly. Opened the folder and pushed a photo towards me. I forgot there was other shit on my hard drive that I saved. It was when I was in Greece, the scar on my chest still fresh. I asked the waiter to take our picture, Hekmatyar jumped on my back flashing a peace sign while winking her eye at the last moment while I looked at her taken by surprise.
My heart sank knowing that there were moments I did feel happy with her when I thought she was steering me to a better path.
"It's not the only one I saw that shows that these people were your friends. Along with a certain lady you mentioned with a missing eye. You don't want to believe any of that so your turning your common sense into anger." He leaned to me across the table. "You let them get to you and you'll lose before you take your first step and fighting back."
I felt like a fool. Anything else I'd say right now would make me look an even bigger fool.
"General." Bookman said. "Why don't you and I talk for a few minutes. I think your son is right. The more time we sit here, the more time Koko has to dig in."
Dad got up to leave with him. They'd be back.
When they do, they'll see a mess of papers and photos on the floor as I swept them off the conference table mad as fuck.
1100 Hours
General Andrushko followed Bookman to his office. While rather lavish befitting of CIA section chief with the wood walls, comfy chairs, and a window overlooking the trees surrounding the building it was rather plainly decorated. Only pictures besides his family on his desk was the American flag, an old one from his Annapolis days of his graduating class and a second one with who he said was his predecessor in the European Branch.
As both men sat down, the General was visually worried about his son. He saw that there really was more going on when he was with Koko's crew. When he went through his photo albums on his hard drive, he looked happy and had been to a lot of beautiful places. Even more so when he was with that Finnish woman he mentioned a few times called Sophia Velmer. A woman who shocked him as larger than life, and in other places as well, but he barely even acknowledged her. He just wanted to stop Koko Hekmatyar.
"Was he truly that hurt when you first talked to him?" Bookman started off. Andrushko surprised by the sudden compassion.
"I know my son better than anyone. He feels like he has nothing to lose and that scares me." He said not looking at him sitting behind his desk.
"You know my biggest fear was that Hekmatyar was going to turn into a monster and I didn't want that to happen. But she jumped past that stage before I even realized it."
"She was intent on doing all of this no matter what you would have done. She played you like a fucking instrument and cut me out of a fight causing me to lose a whole SEAL team." He then turned to him with a raised eyebrow. "Did you really think you had her under control?"
George Black had spent thirty years of his life as a spy, so he knew how to control his temper. But the constant insults from a General Officer in the United States Army who should have known better was starting to wear on his patience. He worked in the black ops field for half of his own career and was a soldier almost as long as he was a spy. So Andrushko should know about the calculated guesses that went into operating behind enemy lines. Bookman took a chance and it didn't play out how he wanted so now he had to come up with a completely different plan. It was obvious by now that his son's return from the dead was causing him to behave irrationally, but he wouldn't say anything until it absolutely called for it.
"You told me that none of that matters now. If Hekmatyar has become a significant threat then we have every right to eliminate that threat so that she doesn't pose that to anyone else. Like I said, your son is right. The longer we wait, the more of a chance she has at carrying out her plan. And then all hell is going to break loose and there won't be anyone to stop it. We've been lucky so far to stay under the radar due to what happened earlier this week. I know that no one wants a great tragedy just after something so significant to the American people."
The General didn't find out about Bin Laden's death till the following morning when his son arrived at Reagan. That's what Olsen was trying to get a hold of him for. He was lucky he didn't find out anything else.
"I'm surprised former Public Enemy Number One lasted as long as he did." He blew air from his cheeks. "It's so pathetic if you think about it. He's dead and someone worse just takes his place."
"His core organization was destroyed years ago and he's was hemorrhaging followers, it was only a matter of time."
"Well, getting back to the topic at hand." The General said as he looked as his government phone for messages. "It seems somewhat premature to dispatch a search and destroy group back to South Africa. I can't pull another unit up to go for another mission just like that, Olsen will start asking questions. You got any SAD units you can put together?"
He sighed. "I did. But I'm gonna have to make a request from another department."
"Out on another mission?"
A look of regret formed on Bookman's face. Despite her cruel nature, she was a well dedicated patriot.
"No, they're all dead. I just recently finished putting a new team together."
The General turned to the Chief with another raised eyebrow. Starting to wonder if Bookman had run his use or if Damien just used him to give the General what he needed to know and use to his advantage. Because he wasn't scoring any positive points even for just extra help. But then a thought just came to his mind.
"Wait a minute. There was an incident in Hungary a few months ago. That was your team?"
Black started to feel uneasy, he told Andrushko that he had no reason to lie to him. But he was treading on dangerous ground now. Since he technically gave Hex the ability to do as she liked. At the time, his son was a threat but Koko was vital to 'Undershaft'. He didn't feel guilty about selling out Hex when she decided to go rouge and put a hindrance on his plans at the time. But now in hindsight, he gave Koko the time she needed to put the world in the palm of her hand.
Still though, if the General found out that someone Bookman's department put a hit out on his son he'd have through him out of his office window. After he had torn his head off.
"Somewhat. Their team leader went rouge and decided to perform an unauthorized hit. Civilian's got caught in the crossfire and I had to send in another agent with some local support to suppress them. He did it, but it cost him his life as well."
The Green Beret then looked forward as if he had merely found a solution to a problem. Black hoped that would be the end of that discussion. But Damien had closed a few chapters for his father's life.
"So he did kill Schaeffer. I really can't believe she held that grudge against me for thirteen years. Shit, sounds like some twisted and petty high school drama if you think about it. Glad to know my boy let her know to grow up."
Bookman knew that General Andrushko had a bit of a reputation for being cold, even before Damien had ran from Anvil into Pakistan. Not that he had any room to argue for his line of work. But he doubted he would condone his son executing a woman and leaving her to burn. So if he didn't know that, then all was well.
"How about a joint effort?" The spy said sensing the distractions were getting in the way. "I'll provide some technical support to purge her system, then your men can destroy it. We can then use her own system against her with a little help from DARPA. After we get it of course."
"That's not as easy as it sounds. It's not like were taking apart a car's engine and putting it back together."
"But your son's plan of taking away her ability to fight back is. You should trust his instincts, that and his luck has what's kept him alive for so long."
General Andrushko couldn't deny the fact that his son had been on never ending event of life or death situations for three years straight. By himself he had obtained more field experience than a seasoned Green Beret and an infinite amount more than a regular solider. Any normal man would have broken under the pressure a long time ago. He got so much stronger, clever, versatile, and farther then he could dream. But he didn't get better, he gradually became worse with the amount of bodies that were piling up at his feet.
"At least he realized where there was a limit to what he could do."
Bookman knew what he was implying. He wasn't lying to Koko when he said he would have like to see her 'New World' but not if there wasn't anyone there. Espionage was a dirty business in itself, but systematic slaughter wasn't something Chief Black would go along with. His own family had a stake in this too whether they realized it or not.
"He didn't know. And he couldn't have predicted that Koko would want what he claims she wants."
"Peace. No matter how many innocent people have to die for it."
And the boy's right about another thing. It won't end with a few keystrokes and a mouse click.
"Well…I know a General like's to give inspirational speeches. Anything you want to say before I make my final decision?"
"I ain't in front of a formation doing that time wasting crap anymore. I'm helping my son with or without you. So how soon can your SAD team be ready?" He said wanting to get on with it.
"All I need is a time, place, and what to look for."
The General then pulled out his phone, he left his son his other one.
"Damien. We're going ahead with it. We'll need a layout-"
"First you're going to have to send them in via airborne jump. I have no idea of the building's interior layout though, she didn't let anyone but her and Amada go in. But the roof of that building is one giant blind spot."
"Well that was quick. How do you know that for sure?"
It surprised him at first but then the father subconsciously cursed his son for not heeding his advice to rest his body and mind.
"I spent a twelve hour plane ride in a box. I had plenty of time to think. More than enough to know that Professor Amada made a big gaping hole in her security buy putting her own personal bath on the roof. You think she'd put any kind of observational security up there where she'd walk around bare assed?"
The conversation continued as the General stood up to go back to planning with his son face to face. Bookman had to get ahold of a portion of his new team as well. He had to make this little rouge operation as legit as possible so as not to raise any more flags than necessary. He still held the rule of need to know.
"Fletcher, it's Bookman. It's time for your teams first assignment. Go and talk to Charlie Mercer in the tech department and meet me in my office in five. Be advised this operation is a little bit on the fly but we've come across something that can be very beneficial to not on the CIA but our national defense as a whole."
Bookman realized that Koko Hekmatyar had deliberately blown out the bottom of her own ship and she expected that anyone still on board would drown in the old world unless they were worthy enough to take her life boat to her new world. He thought that the game was over when she set him up in North Africa, but he got his own lifeline at the last moment. It was a piece that Koko didn't have a lot of counters for.
It was Damien.
May 10th 2011 0100 Hours
30,000 Feet Above Kirkwood, South Africa
After getting a ride over to South Africa from the Navy on a C2 from the USS Harry S. Truman, Captain Samuel Beaumont along with five other Green Beret's and three CIA liaisons were beginning their preparations for a HALO jump. Beaumont's men had been itching for another mission since Mexico, Troy Fletcher though was all professional in acquiring the classified project an arms dealer was illegally working on. He and his two technical support weren't as heavily outfitted as the SF Operators. The amount of C4 that they were carrying was enough to level a building three times over. Which was exactly what they were going to do once their CIA partners got what they needed. They stayed silent and just waited to go.
"Hey Fletcher are you sure what they gave us is enough to store all the data on? Doesn't seem like much."
He turned to his colleague who was opposite his other member sitting at the end of the row. He had to raise his voice from the noise.
"It's not just data were getting Hank it's just how this things made and what it needs."
The one in between the two had his eyes closed.
"Do you two have to shout with me in the middle? I'm trying to get a nap in."
Fletcher gave him a deadpanned stare. "You're not in the Marines anymore Bill. Wake your ass up and stay that way!"
Each member of the mission had been briefed on the importance of obtaining the complete technical layout of the arms dealers project and that they would recognize it when they saw it. However they were working with limited intelligence on the building interior and security. But they had a few extra devices that could help work around those issues, courtesy of the CIA. Electronic scramblers to interfere with other devices not synced to their own and specialized breaching tools that could melt through secure locks without needing to blow a door open with sheer explosive force.
They were coming up on their drop zone as the jumpmaster gave the signal to prepare for the drop. When they jumped they would have to do it in iterations because their landing zone was very small and they had to land exactly on the roof or the whole facility would be on the alert. The overhead light in the cabin began to blink, signaling depressurization.
Beaumont activated his radio through his mask as her turned on his IR strobe.
"Abyss this is Shadow 5-3. We are four minutes from the drop, is the Predator on standby?"
He didn't know that his command and control was coming from the CIA headquarters in Langley and not the Pentagon.
"Affirmative 5-3. Except for perimeter lights, building is mostly dark. Thermal imaging does show roving security. Consider them disposable."
"Copy that. Will reestablish contact once on the ground."
The minutes passed and the rear door to the cargo bay opened. Each jumper stood up and got in line. The light turned green and Beaumont was the first one out. Followed in three second iterations by the Shadows and the SAD members.
The green illumination of their night vision allowed them to spot the Marchen facility easily. It was awfully far from town with only one road leading to it and had nothing for miles in all directions. Some of the team thought this arms dealers 'secret lair' was rather mundane. But that's the point of a façade.
They were low enough to deploy their chutes. One by one they followed each other down to the roof of Marchen's Factory. Surprised to know that a portion of what little intel they had was solid. The head researcher did enjoy her baths.
May 9th 2011 2010 Hours
Langley, Virginia
So this is where all the magic happens behind the scenes.
…
Meh. Not that impressive, kind of expected this the way our "wise" government likes to spend money.
I did wish that they would at least have better lighting in here except for the extra-large monitor that was on the screen from the UAV along with the micro cams on the Green Beret's. Pretty decent joint effort that Dad and Bookman were putting on with their staff members hustling about while I was kinda taking up space until it was called for it. I'm more of a hands on kind of guy anyway. The regular staff just kept looking at me wondering why I was there but at least I could bring food in here. Chinese takeout wasn't too bad but I had kinda spoiled myself on Asian cuisine during my trip around the Pacific. So it wasn't really the real thing.
A beep then sounded, signaling that they were about to head in. At least all of them landed on the roof. Dad took his position next to Bookman, a stark contrast formed between the two on how they performed their duties. The feeds from the Green Beret's mini cams came up before their team lead did.
"Abyss this is Shadow 5-3. Moving in now, no signs of hostiles."
Dad and Bookman just nodded at one another. "Eyes open. Be careful of your targets. You're in completely confidential territory now so it's up to you guys to find the device. Don't worry though, it won't be something you can just put in your pocket."
"Copy that. We'll keep an eye out for heavy doors."
The live feed on the monitor showed the classic moves of trained operators. The hand gestures, the body movements, the way they held their suppressed rifles, each one in a search for Hekmatyar's giant snake. This was the part that always got a little tense for me, the waiting for something to happen. For me when it happens, it happens quick and very badly. I just hope the same thing doesn't happen to these guys. They haven't met this woman, so they really don't know what she's capable of.
But something seemed awfully passive about this. They were moving through quickly but they should have encountered at least one guard by now.
"Yo." I said to get dad's attention. "Can you bring up the thermal scan from the Predator again?"
Dad just nodded and looked to one of the support staff. The stream of heat signaled the team moving through the building but some of the individual sources were less than before. Granted the FLIR couldn't see through insulated walls, solid concrete or underground. But there wasn't any alert yet, so that was a plus.
"You catch something?" Dad asked.
"Nah. Just expected more that's all." I then noticed the heat line breaking apart. "Hey why are they splitting up?"
"Calm down, that's just Shadows six four, five and six heading towards the buildings foundation."
I then sighed uneasy. "Not a good idea. They don't need to rush this."
"The rest of them have to place explosives on the key structural points, they aren't rushing anything."
Dad then looked like he just realized something and went next to one of the support staff.
"I need you to do a quick systems check. Camera feed, radio encryption, how much longer the drone will be up there, everything."
"Now sir? That's going to take a few minutes." He said confused.
"Well just use the quick scan option. Do it."
Still confused he looked to his actual superior. He didn't take his eyes off the big screen.
"Do as he says."
I knew what dad was trying to do. He told me about the SOCOM breach, it was Hekmatyar's little test run that got Night Nine wiped out. Or I should say I wiped them out and she just took away all their support. He had every right to be nervous. Shit like that doesn't just happen on a whim and it was very difficult to explain to him how intimately I knew about that. But 'Jormungand' had to have a human element behind it, so all we could do now was stay quiet and maintain our cover for as long as we could.
"Abyss this is Shadow 5-3. I think we found it."
All eyes, including mine focused on 5-3's camera. It looked like a simple door but the fancy looking scanner and keypad next to it gave me hope that was it. Bookman then gave the go ahead.
"All call signs, be prepared for imminent contact. We don't know what will happen once the server room is breached."
Alright. Let's see this pile of junk you claim will stop war, Hekmatyar.
0127 Hours
Marchen Research and Development
Beaumont then let the SAD operatives perform their duties while he and his men kept an eye out for hostiles. One plugged a device into the door pad to hack it open while another stood by with a portable plasma cutter in case they had to be a little more direct. After a few beeps, the device registered green and the door unlocked. The SAD technicians figured that this new technology wasn't all it was hyped up to be if that supposed computer couldn't protect a simple door lock.
Beaumont took the lead and the two Green Beret's still with him followed him through to open and clear the next room. But ended quicker than it began. The room they entered was hexagonal in shape surrounded with a few desks with a glass divider in the center that should have housed the computer. Behind the glass walls on the ceiling were several large fans, most likely venting turbines to prevent the computer from overheating.
But all there was, was empty space, wires strung about, the fans were off and emptied out server boards.
"Hey sir? Are we missing something?" One of the Captain's men asked confused.
"Hey 5-3. Is the room clear or not?" Fletcher said still sitting outside the room.
"A little too clear." He then changed frequencies as the SAD techs followed in looking at pretty much nothing. "Abyss? Are you seeing this? I thought you said this thing was finished."
"It was. Shadow 6-4, have you come across any heavily secured area's en route to your objective?"
"Negative Abyss. I was just about to call you. We got a big problem."
In their search to locate the buildings foundation, the other half of the team of Green Berets found that there were two sublevels for the Marchen facility. One was merely storage to house material for production of computer products and the other that housed several large backup generators spaced out around the buildings supporting pillars. But they weren't the only thing in the second sublevel.
"What's wrong 6-4?" Abyss asked.
"There's already a hell of a lot of C4 packed into the bottom of the building. Somebody besides us wants to blow this place sky high."
There was a delay in the response from Abyss. He more than likely was looking at the rather professionally placed explosives through one of the Green Beret's miniature cameras. As well as worrying that his men were walking around in a giant bomb.
"Is it live?" He said begging that the answer wasn't yes.
6-4 looked to his teammates, neither one of them wanted to get any closer to it. Including him, so he just shined his rifle mounted flashlight on it.
"Not from where I can see it. And I shouldn't even touch it."
"Ok. Regroup with 5-3. All call signs, the package is not on site. We're aborting mission. I say again we are aborting mission."
"Roger that. Let's go."
The Green Beret's then went to link up with the rest of their team covering each other's retreat. But little did they know that they weren't alone in the building. They were being stalked by a predator with too much pent up anger and preferred to kill up close.
2036 Hours
CIA Headquarters
I knew that we took too much time in planning this little counter attack. We missed our window of opportunity and 'Jormungand' was gone. When it was moved wasn't what concerned me nor the fail safe that the Green Beret's had found, that would be expected from her. It was why that building was still being guarded. Whatever the reason, it wouldn't be a good idea to hang around there any longer. Dad made the right call to pull back. We'll have to try somewhere else and hope Hekmatyar didn't close up another shop.
"You'll have to commandeer some transportation and get to Port Elizabeth for extraction. Drone feed indicates that they're still on normal alert so use that to your advantage."
Dad nodded for me to come to him. "Roger that Abyss."
"Care to explain?" He asked.
"I told you we took too long and now we're back to square one."
"Do you believe that she has other facilities that could reconstruct 'Jormungand' back to operational capabilities in a short time?" Bookman interjected sensing an argument.
He had a point so I took a moment to think. HCLI has a lot of real estate but it's mostly port based and she sure as hell wouldn't let the home office know about this. We were constantly on the move and she really didn't have any other kinds of property that I knew about. I didn't want to admit this but Floyd Hekmatyar might have been right, his daughter did put all of her eggs in one basket.
"Could she? Yes. Right now? No. She was awfully dedicated to this place and can't think of anywhere she could take that thing. I mean all she really needs is a building but she'd need to totally overhaul it so that it can run that computer."
Dad then formed a frustrated look on his face. "Damnit. Which means she could be-"
"GRAAAAHHH!"
The scream of a man in tremendous pain caused the radio to screech as dad and Bookman cupped their ears. I then darted my eyes to the monitors. The minicam of one of the Green Beret's was looking at the floor. Next was the sound of suppressed gunfire hitting random objects and two of the camera's darting around looking for a target. Someone had found them and caught them in an ambush.
"All call sign's. Status!" Dad said while remaining calm and firm. Random fire was in the background.
"There!"
"I can't hit him!"
"Damn it! Keep moving!"
"This is 5-3! What's going on?!"
The shooting stopped for a minute and the two still standing kept moving. Two of the other Shadows split off from the server room and double timed it to their teammates in trouble.
"Goddamnit! Somebody tell me what the fuck's going on!?" He screamed.
"6-5 is down! We're under att-AAAUGH!" Shadow 6-4 tried to report but didn't get the chance to finish.
He was moving along a bunch of boxes with 6-6 trying to get back to the exit when a blur passed by his camera and he spun to the floor. The faded light allowed me to see blood slowly pool from the camera. The last man standing then pushed forward firing at the figure that got his two squad members.
While the rest of the room was focusing on the screens, I went down to a lady member of the group and told her to bring up the last few frames of footage for Shadow 6-4 before he got nailed. She brought it up on her own desktop screen and played it frame by frame. I started to shake as I got a proper look at the image.
I then realized that this was the worst case scenario. That unnaturally fast blur had long black hair, one eye, and was using knives in way I had seen many times over.
"GAH! Son of a bitch!"
It looked like the last one from the split off group was down as the camera lost its feed. It must have been smashed but there were sounds of struggling over the radio. He was still alive.
"Is he with you?"
I froze in horror to the familiar voice of a killer.
"Guh! What!?"
"Is he here? Yes or no?"
"Fuck you! You crazy bitch! I don't- GAH!"
There was only silence after that sharp scream and I knew how he met his end. She must have thought I was with them. Hekmatyar knew I would come back, but they didn't give a damn about them. They were looking for me. I then turned to dad and Bookman.
"You gotta get them out of that building. Like now!" I implored with urgency
"Fletcher you copy? Your group is in imminent danger. Get out of there! Now!" Bookman said without hesitating.
This must have been what it was like on the other side when Night Nine was slowly being pulled apart. Dad was more than likely going through déjà vu. And once again, I had unwittingly sent men to their deaths.
0141 Hours
Dressed in black, her body covered in sweat, her blades with the residue of blood, Valmet made it back to the lobby of the Marchen facility and walked right out the front door with a purpose. It was the first and last time she saw the inside of the building that Koko had made so secret. There wasn't much to see, but she did know that this would cost Koko a lot of money. That price was insignificant compared to what the both of them lost.
She actually would have stayed to finish all of them off but she thought tactfully at this point. Her persuasion to change that was waiting by several SUV's. With Marchen's former security guards keeping watch along with Tojo and Wiley standing behind one of the trucks.
"Are you sure he wasn't with them?" She asked with him sitting in the rear seat with his laptop up.
"They had some decent scramblers with them but they weren't good enough to block out the cameras. Facial recognition software didn't match any of them." He then turned to the demo expert. "Your call man."
He then sighed sadly. "It is a shame if you think about it. All that hard work she put into this place and now she can't use it. What a pity."
He then took out a wireless remote control, which was connected to the C4 he placed inside the building two days earlier. He hit the switch looking at the building with regret, only for the building though.
Muffled explosions were heard from outside as the remaining lights inside the building flickered out as the electricity was cut off from the collapsing floors. The sound of a thousand glass windows shattering followed as concrete and steel caved in making the building collapse in on itself. Along with the remaining Green Beret's and CIA agents being crushed under several thousand tons of rubble.
With the deed done, Shadow Hammer and one half of Koko's team entered their SUV's and drove out of the gate before the buildings dust could get near them.
"Quite a show. It would have been more enjoyable if you let us join in on the fun. A lot more than watching an office building for seven months doing fuck all."
The Scottish accent of the man driving was Spencer Rhodes, one of Shadow Hammer's senior executives and the head of security for Marchen. While having the appearance of never seeing a barber or shave in several years his full beard and curled red hair was properly groomed. A trait he kept from being one of the first groups to infiltrate Afghanistan in 2001 as a member of the British Special Air Service. A veteran of multiple hot spots around the world from Darfur to Bosnia, Chile to Columbia, and Lebanon to Somalia, his overenthusiasm in killing people caused him to be booted out of the British Army. So he sought to build his own PMC with the help of some other SF troops from around Europe, Shadow Hammer.
At first when Koko approached him, he wasn't too thrilled about just being a glorified security guard. But the hefty sum he was received made him change his mind quick. Now he was just a little too excited to see that he could get back to his regular job. Killing people and get paid for it.
Valmet didn't react but Tojo and Wiley just looked at each other annoyed with Rhodes trying to talk tough. Koko had this situation covered but they did need him and his men if the situation for brute force arrived. It was something Damien used rather often but he did try subtle routes too.
"You earned your keep." Valmet said getting out her phone. "Just make sure you're prepared to do the hard part when you're ready."
He smiled with a one note chuckle. "As you wish."
Valmet didn't think that Damien would return as quickly as he did but she was only half wrong. It was now obvious where he could have gone and who he would've told about what was happening. There was no way a separate group would have came near the building or enter the way they did. The United States was now on the hunt for them as well.
The caller on the other end answered. The moans of being awoken from a slumber preceded talking. She spent a little too much time trying to negotiate a decent price for the APC's she sold yesterday evening.
"Koko? You were right. The factory was raided but he wasn't here. Judging from their colors, equipment, and total lack of identification, I'd guess US Special Forces. We got all of them though and pacified the site."
"Ugh. Minami is not going to like the fact that I had to blow up her hot spring. Did they think it was still there?"
"Tojo was able to listen in to some of their comm lines, they did."
"I took a big gamble on that one. Glad to know that they were still watching me."
There were frequent iterations of vehicles coming and going from Marchen in the last several days but they never went to the building. Koko had installed a separate hallway leading from the first sublevel of the building leading to the vehicle garage where 'Jormungand' would be taken to safety without anyone knowing it was slowly being removed. Another backup plan in case of an emergency.
"This isn't over by a long shot. The United States is now actively looking for all of us. You'll have to get 'it' up and running soon or we'll get overwhelmed."
"Minami, Dr. Baburin, and their staff are already at the location we discussed, they're safe. And 'Jormungand' is not even in the country anymore. Now enough about that. YOU need to get back to me now."
"We're already heading to the airport. We'll be gone by sunrise and back to our regular duties."
"That's not what I meant Valmet. I asked you to truly think about this before you made a final decision and I've already scheduled an appointment and made sure nobody talks. It doesn't seem like it when you're out in the field at severe risk to yourself. I gave you plenty of time and if this is what you truly want, then I will help you without hesitation. But only if you're 100% sure. So is it?"
Valmet thought she would never love anyone else again. In her mind she was left with Damien's curse to suffer. But Koko was right there for her. Ready to take upon a burden of pain for her so that she could continue to live the life she wanted. Valmet admired that strength, even more so for what she was about to endure.
But even after all of what she went though, she hoped that she could carry on with just one innocent part of what she and Damien had together. He told her he never believed in fate, sometimes things just happen. But she didn't expect him to betray her. Now the only thing she would have, were bitter sweet memories.
"He will not hurt us ever again. And if he thinks that winning means he'll have to die to destroy us then he's just a desperate loser. He wants that pathetic cycle of war to keep on going. I won't let that happen, not while I'm so close. If you want to stop him without restraint then you need to answer me. I won't be angry if you say no."
She gently put her hand on her stomach before she answered.
"Yes."
2057 Hours
CIA Headquarters
Quiet chatter of addressing the aftermath only filled the room after that. Before that was hearing the screams of men getting caught in a collapsing building. And seeing the image of it happening from the UAV of a building crumbling in on itself. Hekmatyar had outwitted me and humiliated US Intelligence and SOCOM a second time. Even after I had gave them everything I had in pointing out the weak spots in her armor. My first counter attack in this private war I had started with her didn't go so well. Bookman didn't look my way but dad was looking at me for some answers, which I already told him that we took too long. Now I needed to figure out what the hell I was gonna do next. One failure after another on this level was gonna start attracting unwanted attention from the more by the books agencies. I can't wing this but I also can't go strictly by the numbers.
As I sat in the corner trying to figure out what my next move was, dad's phone rang.
"Hello?" His face then straightened. "Who is this and how did you get this number?"
Oh God, no.
She and her damn magic. I stood up immediately and went to him.
"Yeah he's here. And it looks like he knows it's you." He said with my hand out. His top secret number wasn't something he shared.
I took it and didn't answer. But she knew I was listening.
"You must have been real desperate if you ran to your father like a bullied child. Did you think that if you just turned yourself in that it would allow you to take me down? That all of this would end? Wake up Damien."
I growled. "If you think I'm just gonna roll over and let you throw the whole world into the fire because of your self-righteous shit then you never knew me at all."
"Hmm…well you're right about that last part. It turns out I never knew that you could be so weak. I honestly thought you were different, special, that you knew the world for what it truly was. But you still can't see the filth that engulfs it. All your doing is helping to prolong the inevitable. A bunch of numbers that will have no merit in the long run. You think what I'm doing is wrong. You think just like every other hypocrite who wants to be courageous and just while killing their neighbors. And you're trying to be some kind of hero?"
"Did I ever say I was a fucking hero!? I don't got time for your shit! What do you want Hekmatyar!?"
She paused, I then realized my shouting got the attention of everyone in the room.
"Mind your fucking business!" Dad said to get everyone back to their tasks and giving me some breathing room.
"Hekmatyar?" She said confused. "Whatever happened to Koko?"
"Shut it." I snapped back. "You forfeited every scrap of trust and friendship I had with all of you when you decided innocent people should die because you think reality sucks. If I'm a hypocrite, then you're just another stereotypical tyrant. Saving the world? You're doing this for yourself."
I recognized the frustrated sigh on the other end. "You will never learn. If you keep this decrepit status quo going on then you will never find peace. I offered you a way out and you spat on it like it was dirt. You can't stop 'Jormungand' from happening Damien, much less even win. So I'm giving you one more chance, just let it all happen and I will never be part of your life again. What you're doing is pointless. You'll only end up dead."
This was going to be unlike anything I had faced in my life. The risks on this couldn't be higher. And if I died, I would have died knowing that I couldn't save at least one person from Hekmatyar's wrath. For some reason I briefly drifted into a memory of when I was reading one of the philosophy books in dad's library. A section included the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius who said; "Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back."
Which is exactly what I did when I realized the obvious. She can put on that iron mask, but that's all it really was.
"You're afraid of me, aren't you?"
…
"…Why would you think that?"
"You had to get your precious computer to safety. You knew that Marchen would be the first place I would go. You set all of that up, just to get me. But now you know I'm still coming for you. Because I'm the only one left that you can't intimidate into submission. And if needed, I'll fight you all on my own."
"No matter how many people you'll have to kill in order to get to me?"
"All that matters is shattering your 'dream' into a million pieces."
…
"It sounds like you're more than weak Damien. You're also a colossal idiot."
"Better than believing my own bullshit."
"Very well. I'll see the 'new world' on my own then. It won't have monsters like you."
"Well get ready for one last war. Cause either way I won't stop until I'm dead."
"Fine then. Let the carnage begin."
After I hung up, I saw that Dad didn't take his eyes off of me. He probably thought I was crazy, but we'd talk about that later. He and I were thinking the same tactical thing though, but he wanted to hear it.
"Well son, what's the word?"
"We're gonna need a new plan."
With that, began the world's smallest war. The opponents; two bitter, angry, children. The end result; either leaving the world alone or drowning it in blood.