Ch. 25

Ross could sense Slade's angry grimace beneath his mask. It was enough to cause him to flinch, if just for a moment. He braced himself for bad news. "What's the problem?"

"Are you unable to control your own men? Your west flank has gone missing."

"What!" That was Alex's position. He pulled out his transceiver. "Beta squad report in, over." No response. He repeated request once, then Ross and several of his guard shot off in the direction of Alex's squad. Or where Alex's squad was supposed to be. Their night vision goggles spied that the nearby foliage had been stamped to the ground in paths leading toward the enemy encampment. There was a single body on the ground. A mercenary with his throat cleanly cut, face first on the ground.

Slade and Ross both kneeled by the body as their guard stood watch nervously, pointing their weapons in every direction. Slade finally spoke.

"A single kill, designed to provoke a reckless assault. And they picked the Russian. Perhaps a lucky guess, but excellent strategy, given his hot headedness and eagerness to fight..."

Ross stared daggers at Slade, but only picked up his transceiver and barked orders.

"Alex! Return to your position! That's an order! Return –"

He was cut off by gunfire. Short bursts from within the forest.

"Let's go!" Ross quickly organized his guard and motioned to Slade to fall in behind. "C'mon, we have to pull that &**# out of the fire."

"No."

Ross paused. "We're paid…"

"To kill cats. Not be killed. You're following your partner straight into an ambush. Exactly what they want."

Ross' gaze could have cut concrete. The fact that he knew Slade was right only increased his rage. But he didn't have time to debate, and ambush or not, he wasn't leaving his men behind. He pulled out his transceiver again as his group of six followed Alex's path.

"Alpha, Bravo, groups come in. Perimeter is compromised, Alex attacked on his own. We're closing the circle early."

The gun fire didn't last long. The silence was damning and caused him to pick up the pace. His goggles lit up the forest, yet he saw nothing. They should be close now. He turned to motion to his men…but quickly realized something was wrong. They were now only four of them.

"Where's Simmons? Grey?" He accepted their silence for only a second before motioning to them to crouch for cover and search the trees.

"They're picking us off! Stay close!" Two shots rang out and a man on each side of him fell forward, a bullet in his brain. Instinctively, he dove to the ground while his two remaining men fired wildly into the trees. "Get down!" He shouted, and they quickly obeyed. He scanned the tall jungle furiously, his breath quickening. A small image briefly appeared before them, several feet away, paused for the briefest of moments then darted back through the brush.

"There!" He shouted as they all fired in the figure's direction. But his comrades fire was cut off abruptly as they both fell to the ground, a bullet in the back of each of their heads.

A distraction, the one they'd spotted had deliberately drawn their fire. He'd been outsmarted by Tygrus again. And now he was as good as dead.

This was it then, the beast had outdid them all, time to simply charge and try to take one of them down by sheer luck before the end. He gripped his rifle…and then another voice came to him, quietly, softly. Give up. Live to see another day .

Would they even understand the concept? He tossed his rifle to the ground and stood tall, raising his hands high. "Don't shoot! I surrender!" Two male cats, one tan, like a cougar, another grey with some strands of white, emerged from the trees on either side of him, landing on their feet, each holding a rifle in their inhuman hands, and aimed at his head. Our own weapons, he thought, no doubt taken off the bodies of dead mercenaries. The tan one called out in a surprisingly articulate voice. "Don't move! " He gave a quick glance to the elder cat, who nodded, as if to confirm his thoughts. "Remove the belt, with your handgun and flash bangs. Take your left hand and slowly toss it next to your rifle." Ross obeyed without much hesitation, giving only a frustrated grimace as he tossed aside his remaining gear. The cougar's head gestured slightly to the brush, indicating where the distracting cat had darted to. "April, get his weapons." An orange furred jaguar woman carefully moved forward, on all fours, deftly snatching his rifle from the tall grass in front of him and hoisting it over her naked shoulder, then strapping the belt around her narrow waist, pulling it tight to make sure it was secure. The cougar looked back at Ross for a second, and then pointed toward camp. "Walk that way, don't look back."

Hands still raised, he began moving toward where he knew the feline base to be. This was going to be a firefight he thought. Soon his other men would close the circle as ordered and although they may be taken off guard by the cats carrying weapons, he assumed that their numbers advantage should win out in the end. He didn't expect to get through the cross fire alive easily though.

He'd been walking ten seconds before he realized the cats weren't walking him back to the camp. They'd disappeared as soon as his back had been to them. His mouth went dry when as his mind came to the inevitable conclusion. They weren't back at camp, they'd wiped out Alex's unit and were headed through the lines. West…toward the castle?

Most of his men were still encircled around the camp in the siege, with others spread out throughout the island picking off other escapees. Only a skeleton crew and scientists were left at the castle. He had no idea how fast they could move, but he knew his group could never catch them before they reached their headquarters. Would they really try it?

Yes, he realized. They couldn't survive this war of attrition forever. So they were making an attempt to end it all at once. They were going to cut off the head of the dragon.