Ch. 29

A.N.:

Hey everyone!

Thank you for all the feedback! I really wasn't expecting it, so thank you.

As I said in the last chapter, I am trying to write shorter chapters so the story is easier to read.

Sorry it took so long to update. I have been having a really, really weird week.

Anyway, I am working on something for school as well so there will probably be errors when I first post this. I will read it and update corrections within a few hours.

In this chapter, we see how far Becket and Alma are willing to go in order to protect their home in Sparta. As Becket comments in this chapter, this is not about good vs. evil. This is about survival. They are helping the world to help themselves basically.

Read and review if you want. Thank you to everyone reading my stories!

As we followed Captain Lee down the side alley, I asked, "What is the sitrep on the President?"

He replied, "We moved him to a safehouse when the city first came under attack. We should have just evacuated him, but he refused to leave until the evacuation was complete. He is currently in a secret bunker complex hidden in the basement of the tenement designated King of Clubs."

I asked, "Guards?"

Captain Lee replied, "He is under the protection of a team from Hong Kong Special Ops Company. They reported that the complex has been discovered and that they have locked it down. They have gone dark since then so we must assume the worst."

I replied, "Understood."

The ground suddenly shook violently and we had to scramble to find cover as building debris rained down on us. After a few tense moments, the shaking stopped. We regrouped and continued down the alley.

As we moved, Captain Lee asked, "Tell me Sergeant, they say that you and your armored friend cannot be killed. Is it true?" Beside me, Alpha 1 laughed with his repeated grunts.

I replied, "We are flesh and blood if that is what you are asking."

A loud clap of thunder rocked the air so severely that windowpanes shattered and my ears began to ring. Captain Lee flinched for a moment before regaining his composure.

Behind me, I heard Sergeant Passalaqua comment, "Shit! There goes a few years of my life." As we approached the end of the alley, fiery embers began to rain down from the now blood red sky. The entire area was now bathed in an eerie red glow. The whole scene reminded me of how Sparta looked.

Foxtrot 813 said, "Ah…home sweet home."

I ordered, "Can the chatter and focus."

My com link activated as the image of Ghost Rider's TV operator informed me, "Sir, eyes on a dozen mobile enemy contacts in the intersection to your left near building designated Hotel 7." I motioned for everyone to halt.

As we took cover, I replied, "Copy Ghost Rider. Do you have a firing solution?"

The Replica replied, "Affirmative. Weapon systems locked and standing by. Awaiting authorization."

I said, "Ghost Rider, you are hereby authorized to engage all hostile contacts with lethal force."

He replied, "Copy. Engaging contacts in 3…2…1…mark. Shot out." Seconds later, the telltale screaming of the 105mm howitzer round as it tore through the air filled the area. Less than a second later, the entire area shook as the round slammed into the ground and exploded on contact.

A cloud of dust filled the already fiery and smoky air for a moment. Ghost Rider reported, "All contacts confirmed as K.I.A. Moving out of effective targeting zone. Will advise when we come back around."

I replied, "Outstanding Ghost Rider. Copy that." My com link deactivated. I signaled the "all clear" and Captain Lee took point as we entered the street. The smoky street was surrounded on all sides by commercial buildings and vehicles, both civilian and military, dotted its asphalt surface. We went to the far side and turned to our left. We reached the intersection and found that there was now a large hole in the asphalt surface.

Captain Lee turned to his right and paused. When I approached him, he raised his left hand up and pointed at the large tenement building at the end of the street. It was about twenty stories tall and had an orange neon sign mounted on its roof that was written in Cantonese. Through the smoke, I could see dozens of Hell soldiers surrounding the building. I said, "Go time." I turned to face my team and asked, "Who's up on body count?"

Alpha 1 replied, "That would be…Point Man, sir."

Alarmed, I asked, "Since when?"

He explained, "He killed twenty hellwolves in Russia. So, that makes the score: Point Man-two thousand three hundred and thirty confirmed kills, you-two thousand three hundred and twenty confirmed kills, me-one thousand nine hundred and fifty confirmed kills, Holiday-two hundred and ten confirmed kills, Foxtrot 813-nine hundred and seventy kills, and Sergeant Passalaqua-sixty confirmed kills."

Captain Lee said with a disgusted voice, "Qīn'ài de shàngdì! (Dear God!) I mean…dear God! That's disgusting! You guys sound proud of that!"

I assured him, "Calm down, some of those weren't human beings and the majority of them were ATC mercenaries."

He frowned before he replied, "That still doesn't make it…forget it." Confused by his reaction, I gave Alpha 1 a questioning look but my friend shrugged in response to indicate that he was just as confused as well. I shook my head and then refocused on the task at hand. We were one hundred yards from the building. The street itself was just wide enough to accommodate two full-sized eighteen-wheeler rigs placed side by side. The multistory buildings on either side were built wall to wall except for fifty yards downrange where there was a side alley on either side of the street. Five yards downrange, a parked, unarmored, mid-sized sedan had been parked in the middle of the road in such a way that the front was slightly turned to the left. Thirty yards downrange, a black or dark blue armored truck that was similar to the ones that the older variant of Replicas had used as transports was blocking the road.

From the armored truck to the building, the street was completely exposed save for the side alleys fifty yards downrange. I noted that there were no other obstacles that would block an approaching vehicle. I asked Captain Lee, "How many entrances does that building have?"

He informed me, "Just two: the main entrance in the front and the service entrance in the back."

I nodded quickly before I asked, "Do you know how wide the main entrance is?" He looked at me for a moment before he frowned slightly.

Then, he replied, "No…why?"

I smirked before I answered, "I've got an idea."

I turned to face Alpha 1 and asked, "How protected would you say that truck is?" Already having a good idea about what I was planning, he looked at the truck for a moment.

Then, he looked back at me and said, "As long as they don't have any armor piercing rounds or anti-vehicle weapons…ninety-five percent chance of success, sir."

I replied, "Play you for driver's seat." He nodded and we both slung our weapons onto our backs.

Captain Lee asked, "What the Hell are you two doing?" When we did not reply, he looked at the rest of my team, but they simply shrugged in response.

We stood before each other and leaned in slightly. After extending our right hand that had been balled into a fist, we raised and then lowered our fists four times. As we lowered our fists for the fourth time, we formed shapes with our gloved digits. He displayed the universal shape for "scissors" while I displayed the universal shape for "paper". Lowering my fist, I commented, "Damn! Alright, I got shotgun." I turned to look at the bewildered men and said, "Mount up in the back of the armored truck. When I tell you, come out guns blazing."

Though they clearly were not at all eager to follow my lead on blind faith, they followed Alpha 1 and I as we snuck towards the parked armored truck. When we reached the cargo doors, I heard Holiday rub his hands together as he said with an excited tone, "Looks like someone's gonna have to get these doors open." I sighed before I willed the doors to open with my mind. As the doors swung open, revealing an empty interior, Holiday said with a disappointed tone, "Oh…" I looked back to see him placing a cutting torch back into his equipment pack.

Captain Lee asked with a bewildered tone, "What…how…the doors…but…what just happened?"

Amused, I chuckled briefly before I said, "Magic."

He looked at me with a slightly frightened expression for a moment before he asked, "I thought that whole thing about psychics was just a…they're real? Like for real, no bullshit, real?"

I smiled before I pointed up to my face and said, "You think my eyes are like this because I inherited them from my parents? Yes, psychics are real. Most psychics aren't even aware that they are, and even fewer know how to harness their power. These creatures…hellspawn led by an extremely powerful psychic named Akira."

Taking the revelation better than I had expected, he asked, "How powerful?"

Lowering my hands, I replied, "There are only two that are just as strong in all the planes of existence: Alma Wade and our daughter Amara Wade."

He was silent for a moment as he looked at me with a distant expression. Finally, he admitted, "I don't know how I am supposed to feel about what you just told me." Alma materialized next to him in her clothed "normal" adult form and placed her left hand on his right shoulder. Unnerved by her sudden appearance, he looked at her with an expression that resembled that of a frightened child.

She smiled reassuringly before she said, "If it makes you feel any better, you are taking this rather well."

He studied her for a moment. I became alarmed when I saw the look enter his eyes. The same look that Fox had had in his eyes when he pinned me to the wall. Though I remain clueless, even now, as to why my mind, of all minds, is unnaturally resistant to psychic influences, I know what to look for. All living beings have their breaking point. No will, with the singular exception of Alma, is immune to degradation. Her mind had cracked but her will had remained intact.

I motioned for everyone to get in the back of the truck before I began to scold the raven-haired succubus, "Alma stop that!" She gave me a confused look.

To which, I replied, "Don't play innocent. You need to stop influencing people like this." She continued to give me a confused look until she looked back down at the Chinese soldier.

He muttered with a distant voice, "You're…so…beautiful…"

She smiled before she said, "Aw, thank you."

"Alma!" I growled after I groaned. She pouted for a moment before she changed into her hag form. Instantly, the spell had been broken and he recoiled back away from her. She changed back into her healthy adult form and looked back at me.

"Are you happy now?" she asked. I smirked before I grabbed her and quickly spanked her once.

Just as I let her go, I remarked, "Bad girl." She moaned in pleasure before she turned around and winked at me.

I went around to the passenger side door and unlocked it with my mind. I unlocked the driver side door from the inside for Alpha 1 and he climbed into the cab. As he hotwired the ignition, I looked up at the hellspawn in front of the building. They seemed to have become suspicious of the noise that we had made because I saw one of them motion at a pair of them. They nodded and started to move towards us. I looked over at my friend and said, "They are coming."

"Almost got it." he replied. I looked back through the bulletproof viewing port and saw that the pair had closed to within fifty yards of us. By that point, I believed that they knew that we were there.

Seconds later, the truck rumbled to life and the radio started playing Soviet Union style pride music with a chorus of singers singing in militaristic tones accompanied by the beating of drums. It reminded me of my earliest days in the armed forces. The old Soviet Union had collapsed in the late Twentieth Century but shortly after the beginning of the Twenty-First Century, the Kremlin had begun to stir once more. Before the eyes of the world, the new leader of the Russian Federation slowly began to rebuild the struggling country. At first, no one wanted to believe that the days of the Cold War were returning. By the time that the free world had rallied, it was too late to stop what had been put into motion.

Even China had hesitated at first, though eventually they joined the expanding New Soviet Union. In the process, the once independent international city of Hong Kong had been absorbed into the Chinese territory. Just as a third world war seemed inevitable, a miracle happened. The planet, in climatic turmoil since the late Twentieth Century, entered a decade of unpredictable weather patterns that had all but paralyzed the entire human race. Massive food and energy shortages had reduced even the mighty armies of the USSR and NATO to nothing but dilapidated, powerless hulks of steel and starving, barely clothed boney bodies with blank stares for eyes.

Only the Special Ops groups of the world were able to hold civilization together. Those were my earliest days of being a Delta Force Operator. Eventually, things returned to normal, but there was feeling that everyone had but no one dared to say aloud. We all felt that, in a way, we had lost so much of ourselves that we would never again be able to have faith in anything. Life had become a sick joke; pointless and miserable, but at the same time, macabrely hilarious and full of dark pleasure.

I shook my head to focus on the present. Alpha 1 turned off the radio before he drove the truck forward. Then, he brought the armored behemoth to a stop and threw it into reverse. Having turned the truck around, he drove towards the building in reverse with the unloading doors pointed towards the front entrance. The sound of bullets ricocheting off the hull of the truck filled the cab as Akira's soldiers unloaded on us with their assault rifles. Moments later, Alpha 1 rammed the back of the truck through the front entrance of the building. He brought it to a halt just as there was enough room for us to exit the cab inside the building. The truck itself would serve to block the entrance while we located the president and then evacuated via helicopter. Through my com link, I yelled, "Go! Go! Go!" I kicked open the passenger side door with my rifle at the ready.

The rest of my team had exited the rear of the truck when I had made my way towards them. Alpha 1 joined me and we all followed Captain Lee as he led us towards the entrance to the bunker complex. The lobby of the building was lined with various independent shops and the distinct smell of cooking meats filled the air. As we followed the Chinese soldier, I informed Morales and Stokes, "Manny, Stokes, Dark Signal has infiltrated King of Clubs. We are in the process of locating the target. Will advise."

They replied, "Copy that Becket."

We turned a corner and suddenly, shots rang out. Instinctually, I dove behind the cover of an overturned table as I yelled, "Take cover!" Alpha 1 joined me and when the firing finally ceased, I looked over the top of the table to see six hellsoldiers slowly advancing down the hallway towards us twenty yards away. I saw Captain Lee crawl behind cover with a bleeding wound in his torso. "Hang in there captain! We are coming." I informed him as reassuringly as I could. Activating my reflexes, I took aim at the six soldiers and began to unleash a barrage of lead.

My efforts dropped one after unloading nearly my entire clip into its gas mask encased head. Just as I had hoped, the remaining soldiers grouped together. Deactivating my reflexes, I retrieved a frag grenade with my left hand. I glanced at Alpha 1, who had retrieved his missile launcher, and he nodded in response. I cooked the grenade for a second before throwing it in an arc at the hellsoldiers. Alpha 1 aimed his missile launcher as he tracked the grenade for a second. Then, he fired a round. The warhead rocketed through the air towards the grenade. Just as the grenade reached the center of their formation, Alpha 1's rocket connected with the fragmentation device. In a large explosion with the added punch of metal shrapnel, the hellsoldiers were torn to pieces.

As I stood, I commended my best friend, "Outstanding shot."

He replied, "Thank you, sir." I motioned that it was clear before I ran to the side of Captain Lee. A quick examination informed me that he was beyond mortal aid. The hemorrhaging of his bullet wound was simply too great for even the medkits to fix. As he looked up at me with glazed eyes, he grabbed ahold of my vest.

He pulled himself up enough to inform me in a whisper, "Back of Chicken Stop…keypad…hidden…oven…554312…last room…" He choked up blood and fell back onto the floor. Seconds later, he gave off a death rattle.

Standing, I remarked, "What a waste."

"Sir, over here." Alpha 1 called out. I looked over to see him standing by a directory mounted on the side of a nearby wall. After I had walked over, he pointed at the spot where the shop Chicken Stop was located. I nodded and turned back to face my team. I said, "Point Man, Holiday, and Sergeant Passalagua, secure the helipad. Foxtrot 813, come with us." They replied, "Yes, sir." As the rest of the team moved to secure the helipad, Foxtrot 813 and Alpha 1 gathered around me.

Using our psychic link to keep the others from hearing me, I asked the two men, "Alright, so we are clear about the real reason for locating the president, right?" They nodded in response.

Foxtrot 813 asked, "Is deceit really necessary, sir?"

Alpha 1 informed him, "What they don't know won't hurt them. This is for the best."

I nodded while I said through our bond, "Exactly."

Foxtrot 813 scratched the back of his helmet with his gloved left hand before he asked, "If the team protecting him is still alive?"

I sighed before I answered, "No loose ends."

"Understood, sir." Foxtrot 813 replied.

As we made our way to the shop, Stokes contacted me. She said, "Evacuation nearing completion Becket."

I replied, "Copy Stokes. How many?"

She answered, "Not as many as I had hoped. If…we had gotten here sooner…"

I cut her off as I said, "We can only do what we can Keira, okay?"

She replied, "Yeah…I'm alright. Please, get back here in one piece."

I said reassuringly, "I will." By then, we had reached the small, bar-like restaurant. With our weapons at the ready, we proceeded to the back of the kitchen. There, we found an oven that seemed out of place. After a quick inspection, I located a keypad inside the chamber mounted to the underside of the top. I entered the code given to me by Captain Lee. Seconds later, the entire kitchen began to descend. As I stood, I commented, "Wow…it is always a hidden elevator or some shit." Alma materialized between us in her child form that seemed darker than usual. I smiled at her and she gave me a wispy smile in response.

As the elevator descended, Alma asked me, "Michael, are you comfortable with this? I will do it, if you do not want to do it."

I reassured her, "I will do it. I told you that I would burn the world for you. I meant it then and I mean it now."

Foxtrot 813 questioned, "Just for clarification, we are the good guys right?"

I replied, "Foxtrot 813, you surprise me."

He asked, "How so sir?"

I smirked before I replied, "You still think that this is about right or wrong. Good or evil. It is not. This is about survival."

He was silent for a moment before he said, "Understood, sir."

I asked Alpha 1, "Tell me, my friend. What does that calculator in your head tell you about this?"

He replied, "History is written by the victor, sir. The end justifies the means. This will be forgotten."

The elevator finally arrived at the complex. We were greeted by the business ends of the QBZ-95 Assault Rifles of the Hong Kong Special Ops Company soldiers. There were five of them. They were dressed like counterparts of western Special Ops Operatives. Upon seeing who we were, they lowered their weapons and one of them approached me with his left hand extend out towards me. I shook his hand despite the guilt that my conscious was causing me. He motioned for me to follow and I nodded in response. Keeping up the act, we followed the soldiers. They led us to the end of the brightly lit corridor that reminded me of those found in the hidden facilities in Sparta. We came to a room and the soldier whose hand I had shaken motioned at it to indicate to me that the president was located inside of it.

He opened the door for me and as I entered it, I quickly turned back to glance at Alpha 1 and Foxtrot 813. The unspoken command was understood and they nodded in response. I turned back to face forward as I proceeded through the door. Inside the tiny room, I saw an older man dressed in a business suit sitting behind a desk, which took up most of the room.

He studied me for a moment before he addressed me, "I assume that you are Sergeant Becket, leader of the Spartans…yes?"

I replied, "I am Sergeant Becket, but I am not the leader of the Spartans."

He frowned slightly before he asked, "Then who…" A soft giggle filled the room as Alma appeared at my side in her child form.

She looked at the leader of China and said, "Hi."

He scoffed before he demanded, "What is this?! A child!? Go play with your dolls little girl, the grown-ups are talking. As I was saying Sergeant, who is your leader?" Her playful mannerisms vanished as her eyes began to glow dangerously. Before the politician, she morphed into her emaciated hag form before returning to her child form.

I sighed before I asked aloud to no one in particular, "Why do they always think that it is a good idea to insult Alma Wade?" I then looked back down at the raven-haired goddess of rage and destruction. Her shiny hair moved slightly as if it was in a slight breeze as a shimmering miasma of energy shrouded her form like a cloak. I asked her, "I suppose that you want to…"

She confirmed my suspicions by replying, "Leave him with me, my love."

I nodded before I said, "Have fun…" I turned and began to leave the room. As I did, I spoke into my com link, "Stokes, bad news. He was dead when we got to him…"

Behind me, the leader asked with a stunned tone, "Wh-what? Wait!" I turned back briefly to see Alma approaching him.

I turned back to face forward as Stokes asked, "Dead? Damn! What about his bodyguards?" I exited the room to find the five men lined up against a wall with their necks slit open.

As they lay in a pool of their own blood with their hands tied behind their backs, I replied, "Dead as well. There were no survivors."

She said, "Copy that, Becket."

I informed Morales, "Manny, I need a ride bro."

He replied, "You got it man. I am in bound. ETA: five minutes."

I said, "Copy."

Alpha 1 asked me, "Do you think the new generation will be able to learn from their forefather's mistakes?"

I replied, "I don't know. I just know that we cannot win against Akira as long as the population is divided by politics. That is why we are doing this. The time for living as a house divided is over."

Foxtrot 813 asked, "Who is going to lead them?"

Alma materialized between us as she replied, "We will."

"Is that so dear mother?" We all turned to look back at the elevator to see Akira smirking at us.