That night...
Saturday, May 27th, 2017
London Eastend
20:00 GMT+1 (19:00 GMT May 27th)
NIGHTSHADE: Romeo November Team with Bravo Team
The incredibly complex mission was underway.
Scorpion was in command of the fourteen-tonne beast known as NIGHTSHADE. Beside her, Goshawk was assisting with the myriad of systems aboard the triple-engine beast of a helicopter. Their crew chief was Chief who would ensure all went well for the night in the rear cabin. The normally luxurious interior had been stripped out and the floor was covered in a special plastic membrane combat floor which sealed anything important from the likes of bodily fluids and other potentially corrosive substances. Along the portside were four canvas passenger seats, three of which were occupied by Noxa, Custos, and Necis. The port access door, just after the cockpit was fitted with a swivel mount for a single Maximi machinegun – currently swung inside the helicopter with the door closed. Chief was strapped into his own seat at a forward-facing console mounted on the starboard side aft of the cockpit from where he could monitor the FLIR turret mounted on the starboard weapons mount of the helicopter.
In the cockpit, Goshawk was having the time of her life. She just loved the monster helicopter. The cockpit was amazing with seven large full-colour computer screens, five of which were arranged horizontally in a line across the cockpit with two touchscreens on the centre console, angled so that they could be easily operated. The outer two screens displayed digital flight instruments, one set for each pilot, while the next screens in displayed a moving map navigational chart showing their exact location. That screen could also be changed to display images from the FLIR or images from the nose-mounted radar, including weather. The centre screen displayed engine and fuel information. Above the central screen, a pair of backup artificial horizons were fitted, one for each pilot. Currently, Goshawk was looking at a navigational chart of eastern London while monitoring their course and fuel.
As well as monitoring the instruments inside the aircraft, Goshawk kept a wary eye on the sky outside the aircraft through the panoramic cockpit windows.
On the ground...
London Eastend
20:00 GMT+1 (19:00 GMT May 27th)
Alpha Team
It was a first for Doctrina, but at least she was only to be at minimal risk.
She brought the Range Rover Sentinel to a halt just twenty yards from the main gate of Belmarsh Prison. Seated behind her was Alpha Team: Polaris, Pyrrha, and Aegea. Their job was to cause maximum disruption on the ground and provide a reason for helicopters to be clattering around the area. The three girls piled out and they began to walk down the street as the Range Rover pulled away. All the way along the side of the road, the prison covered a large area. It was a two-minute walk to the access road, and it was almost dark as the three girls walked purposefully onto the prison grounds, turning left into the visitor's car park. They made directly for a dark green BWM 3-Series which Jasper had deposited earlier on that day.
Pyrrha went first while Aegea and Polaris kept watch. The girl used her artificial right hand to effortlessly smash the passenger-side front side window. Then came a small IED which was heavy on incendiary but light on shrapnel. Pyrrha tossed the device onto the driver's seat and she stepped away, before quickly joining her friends.
"Now, that is fitting," Pyrrha commented as she laid eyes on a yellow sign with black text mounted on a security booth:
The crown accepts no liability
at law, in respect of loss of
or damage to any vehicle
its contents or accessories.
Pyrrha grinned as she pulled back the sleeve of her jacket to reveal a small five-inch screen built into the left wrist of her FCCS2. She pressed a button on the screen, then another. They casually strolled over towards the entrance leading to the law courts where a uniformed security guard watched them approach. Polaris grinned as she heard a dull thud from the car park. She turned to look, and she saw the flash of orange, yellow, and red which indicated that the car was burning steadily.
"What are you girls doing here?" the security guard called out.
Aegea stepped forward.
"You do know that there's a car on fire in the car park?" she said. "Just thought you should know."
"What?" the guard responded as he looked over at the car park. I don't see anything..."
There was a louder thud as something exploded, followed by the tinkle of breaking glass, and the flames became very visible.
"Oh, hell!" the security guard exclaimed as he ran towards a small security booth just inside an eight-foot-tall fence which surrounded the prison site.
That was only an exterior fence. The prison proper was surrounded by a twenty-foot concrete wall with a hemispherical climb-proof top. Beyond that was a no-man's-land then another fence, a twenty-foot-tall wire mesh fence equipped with tremblers. Inside that was a tarmacked walkway with a million cameras covering every inch with zero blind spots. Within that layer individual open areas were enclosed with steel and mesh fences except for the secure unit which was surrounded by its own concrete wall and steel/mesh fence with mesh covers over the open areas. Well, that was not to be their target – taking on Category A prisoners was not a good idea if you wanted to live a long and productive life.
All hell began to break loose as the fire brigade arrived along with the police and an ambulance or two. By then, the three girls were hidden in some trees just outside the main entrance for prisoners. Once all attention was on the fire – including security cameras, Synthesis went to work. With a rumble, the outside steel shutter rose up exactly four feet and the three girls ducked under before the shutter came down behind them.
"Alpha Team, this is Synthesis, you are clear to proceed."
The three girls nonchalantly moved onwards, passing through the secure area where prison vans were inspected before they were passed through into the prison proper. Nobody challenged them which was probably due to the cameras being occupied and no vans expected to be arriving or leaving – Synthesis had acquired the van schedule for the evening. As for the security guards viewing the CCTV, it appeared that Synthesis had a sense of humour: each screen in the monitoring room was showing an episode of Family Guy, causing intense consternation within the prison. For their next trick, the trio approached a parked prison van which was awaiting the following morning trip out.
Whilst the rear of the prison vehicles was protected, mainly to prevent internal escape, however, the front cab was less so. Pyrrha went about her perfected pyromaniac impression as she punched out the side window with her right hand before lobbing in another pyrotechnic device, one a little larger than that used on the BMW in the car park.
"You're suspiciously good at that," Polaris commented dryly.
"I like fire!" Pyrrha responded as she detonated the device the moment that they were well clear.
"So, it seems...," Polaris grimaced before she spoke into her radio. "Romeo November, clear!"
"Copy, all clear, Alpha Team," Scorpion responded. "We'll be back for you, Polaris; stay safe!"
With an enormous roar, Polaris looked up to see NIGHTSHADE passing overhead the prison at speed before taking on a steep nose up angle as the fourteen-tonne helicopter slowed before coming into a hover over the facility next door.
Meanwhile...
Guardian Avenue
North Stifford, Essex
20:30 GMT+1 (19:30 GMT May 27th)
TWILIGHT: Romeo Tango Team with Echo Alpha & Echo Bravo Teams
Raptor was perfectly at home in TWILIGHT with Overrun strapped into the co-pilot's seat.
Behind them, they had Echo Alpha and Echo Bravo Teams: Drift and Crimson, Arbiter and Stripe. Both teams were ready to rapid rope down from the helicopter in a shock and awe attack on a property in the small village which they were rapidly approaching. TWILIGHT approached the village from the northeast where there was little more than fields and a golf course allowing their approach to go mainly unnoticed for the most part. They approached into the wind from the north, the black helicopter flaring as it passed over Elvin Close, the down blast from the main rotor rocking cars and setting off alarms below. Curious faces looked up from the garden of the house behind as the black helicopter settled into a hover above the target property, a large white two story detached house.
Two pairs of four-inch hemp ropes were thrown out of the helicopter, one pair per side and the four vigilantes braced themselves for the assault. Below them, Yankee Alpha and Yankee Bravo Teams were deploying for their assault from the ground.
"Go! Go! Go!" came the radio call and the quiet evening in the village of North Stifford quite literally exploded.
Echo Alpha Team
Crimson and Drift dived out of the starboard door of TWILIGHT; descenders attached to the carabiner built into their combat suits dropping them at speed before automatically slowing them down, so they touched down atop the tiled roof with a soft landing.
Both ditched the ropes, and each ran the length of the pitched roof, making for the opposite ends of the house, their rubber-soled boots easily gripping the rough tiles. Both then dug a climbing axe into the roof structure and clipped on a smaller rope to the axe and their carabiner, throwing the free end over the roof edge. Dropping down outside the first-floor windows of bedroom three at the east end of the property at the front and bedroom one at the west end, both attached explosive charges to the windows and then moved to the side as just two seconds later the windows were blasted apart and both vigilantes swung in through the windows, MPX-K submachine guns raised and ready, their combat suit masks protecting them from the sound of the explosions so close by.
At the rear of the property, the same events were unfolding.
Echo Bravo Team
Following the same procedure as Echo Alpha Team, the windows for bedrooms four and five at the rear of the property exploded inwards allowing Arbiter and Stripe to swing inside and disconnect their ropes, leaving them free to search the first floor.
They cleared the immediate bedroom and the attached ensuite bathroom. The verbal reports began to come in thick and fast.
"Bed one, clear!"
"Bed three, clear!"
"Bed four, clear!"
"Bed five, clear!"
As all four vigilantes moved out of their assigned bedrooms, they met up and Arbiter moved to clear bedroom two. As she kicked in the wooden door, there was the chatter of machinegun fire and Arbiter flattened herself against the wall as bullets shattered the plasterboard walls. Then she ran forward, her MPX-K spitting fire as she cutdown a man armed with an H&K MP5 submachine gun.
"Bed two, one down, clear!" Arbiter reported as she coldly put a bullet into her x-ray's head.
"First floor is clear!" Crimson reported.
The teams gathered on the landing at the top of the stairs awaiting the report from below for the ground floor being cleared.
Outside...
Yankee Alpha & Yankee Bravo Teams
Sleuth and Doc were driving the Range Rover Sentinels for the ground teams.
With Sleuth there was Yankee Alpha Team: Viridian, Rigour, and Forager. With Doc there was Yankee Bravo Team: Belle, Ajax, and Harrier.
Each vehicle raced in from opposite directions on Guardian Avenue before both turned off the road and smashed down the three-foot white picket fence which surrounded the front of the property. Just as their colleagues were racing along the rooftop above, the six vigilantes split up on leaving the vehicles with Rigour and Forager racing down the path to the left of the property making for the rear. On the opposite side of the property, Ajax and Harrier were doing the same thing, leaving Viridian and Belle to assault the front door.
Rigour kicked in the side gate; her MPX-K raised to her shoulder. She found the outside doors to the conservatory at the back of the property locked, but Forager simply slapped a pre-prepared explosive board to the glass and stood back. The double-glazing shattered at the press of a button and the two vigilantes burst inside.
At the opposite end of the property, a man was just opening the back door to check out the loud noise above. Ajax clobbered the man before he even saw the advancing vigilantes. He went down hard, unconscious as his head struck concrete. Ajax rapidly secured his hands with flexi-cuffs and left him on the ground as she and Harrier moved into the kitchen. They could hear the thunder of explosions and gunfire above them as they cleared the kitchen. They met Rigour coming from the conservatory as she and Forager made for the lounge at the front of the house. That left Ajax and Harrier to make for the dining room, checking out a small storeroom as they went.
At the front of the house, in the hall, two men had moved to find out what was going on in the front garden, just as the heavy front door flew backwards, flattening one of the men, while the other just stood aghast at what was coming towards him.
The man raised his weapon, an H&K MP5, and he triggered off a burst at the vigilante clad in yellow-trimmed body armour.
The warehouse...
London Eastend
20:30 GMT+1 (19:30 GMT May 27th)
Bravo Team
As they approached their target, the team moved towards the aft ramp of the helicopter which had been partially lowered by Chief.
Chief was secured by a harness to ensure that he did not fall out of the helicopter as the machine rapidly decelerated from eighty knots to zero and entered into a hover exactly over the required spot which was a section of rooftop belonging to a large warehouse building. At a signal from Chief, as the ramp lowered completely, Noxa, Custos, and Necis ran out the back of the helicopter into the night, jumping the last two feet onto the warehouse roof. The moment they were clear of the helicopter, they crouched low to protect themselves from the massive downward blast generated by the sixty-one-foot-wide, five-bladed main rotor as the helicopter moved off into the looming darkness. The insertion had taken just seconds and the helicopter had been stationary for a mere six seconds.
The facility consisted of two giant warehouses. They were the size of aircraft hangers and contained a highly-automated storage system for anything which their clients wished to store – mainly paper-based items in cardboard archive boxes. Somewhere, within those two buildings, on racks which towered sixty feet into the air, there was a single box, of thousands, which held a much-desired folder. Every box in the massive facility bore a barcode. Synthesis was working furiously to identify that barcode which would allow them to retrieve said file once they knew its exact location within the tens of thousands of identical boxes. To make things harder, no one was to find out they had been there.
A tall order, indeed.
Back in Essex, on the ground...
Guardian Avenue
20:34 GMT+1 (19:34 GMT May 27th)
Yankee & Echo Teams
Belle turned and she took the bullets on her heavy back armour before she swiftly dropped the man with a three-round burst in the chest.
A third man had chosen to race up the stairs, only to come face to face with four vigilantes – his body was all but riddled with bullets by the time it hit the stairs and rolled back down to the hall below.
Again, the reports came in, thick and fast:
"Conservatory, clear!"
"Lounge, clear!"
"Kitchen, clear!"
"Hall, clear!"
"Dining, clear!"
"Ground floor is clear!" Belle reported.
The upper floor teams rapidly descended to join their colleagues. Crimson and Ajax went to retrieve the only man to have survived the assault. The man was dragged to his feet before a hood was pulled over his head and he was marched unceremoniously out to a Sentinel and shoved aboard. The rest of the teams swiftly went through the property looking for anything which could be called evidence. Mobile phones and laptops were shoved into Faraday pouches and paperwork was stuffed into canvas bags. All was then loaded into the back of one of the Sentinels for later inspection.
TWILIGHT dropped down onto the grassy area across the road from the house and Overrun retrieved and disconnected the ropes, stowing them in the aft cargo compartment. Once the two Echo Teams were aboard, Raptor lifted off and turned to the west, following the River Thames back towards London.
The two Sentinels loaded up the ground teams and they raced off down Guardian Avenue before going off-road across rough grassland before the pair reached the B186 and then casually made for the next junction which would take them onto the A13 dual carriageway and thence back to London.
The police appeared on the scene just forty seconds after the Sentinels had vanished.
Back in the warehouse...
London Eastend
20:36 GMT+1 (19:36 GMT May 27th)
Bravo Team
As they broke in through an air vent, Synthesis inhibited the alarm systems.
The three vigilantes found themselves crouching on an access walkway, looking down at the concrete floor of the warehouse, some sixty feet below. Spread out below them, rack, upon rack, upon rack, ran for over 120-yards in one direction and 90-yards in the other.
"Bloody hell!" Custos exclaimed as he laid eyes on the futility of their task.
"There are a lot of boxes in here," Necis agreed.
"Let's get down to the ground, but keep out of sight," Noxa directed.
Bravo Team then began to work their way down from the walkway via a network of ladders, stairs, and walkways to the ground. It was not a difficult trip, but they had to be on the lookout for security guards and they had to ensure that they did not trip any alarms.
As they began their descent, Synthesis was busily hunting for the box which contained the folder.
..._...
Nine minutes later, they reached the concrete at the base of a ginormous rack loaded with hundreds of cardboard boxes.
Every rack had a number and every shelf had a number. Every box sat on a numbered pallet. Robotic forklift trucks were used to retrieve a pallet of boxes relying on the barcodes which identified the rack and the shelf to ensure that they had located the correct location before checking the barcode for the pallet. The pallet would then be taken to a distribution station where the box in question would be identified by a human armed with a barcode scanner. In their case, they could not make use of the automated system, therefore, they would have to find the box using legwork alone. Finally, after another six minutes, Synthesis were back.
"Bravo Team, Synthesis."
"Go ahead, Synthesis."
"You need to find Rack Forty-Two, Shelf Zero-Nine, Pallet Forty-Three, Box Zero-Eight."
"Copy Rack Forty-Two, Shelf Zero-Nine, Pallet Forty-Three, Box Zero-Eight. Thanks!"
"We will monitor and watch your backs, Bravo Team."
"Okay, where are we?" Custos asked.
Necis pointed at the nearest rack.
"Number eight!" Noxa exclaimed as she turned to stare into the distance where Rack Forty-Two would be.
"Scared of a little jog, Noxa?" Necis teased.
"No!" came the indignant response.
Necis laughed, knowing full well that her best friend loved to jog.
..._...
What should have been a gentle seventy-yard jog turned into something akin to a steeplechase.
After ten yards, they were forced to dodge an automated forklift truck by diving under a rack to avoid getting squished. Custos had landed atop Noxa which had generated a few crude comments from Necis which had annoyed Noxa enough that she had pushed Custos atop Necis who had giggled for a moment before turning serious.
"Moody," Necis commented as they ran down the racks.
"Security guard! Duck in right!" came a radio warning from Synthesis.
All three ducked into a small space with a desk and a chair, hiding under said desk. A security guard appeared. He ambled past the small space, casually glanced inside and then moved on.
"All clear!"
"Come on," Noxa growled. "Let's find this goddamn file."
A minute later, they reached the correct rack and they looked up to where Shelf Zero-Nine was located. It was a good three storeys above them, and they would have to free climb to get to that shelf. First, they counted the pallets meaning that they should arrive at the right location once they reached the correct shelf. For Noxa it was a dream come true, climbing for operational reasons rather than just racing for her ego. It was a difficult climb as there was no rope to support them should they fall, and extremely limited places to hide should the robotic forklift or a security guard appear.
Custos grinned beneath his mask as he looked up at Noxa scrambling up the rack like she was an insect. He knew she loved to climb and, to be honest, he enjoyed the view from below. He also enjoyed the climb which exercised his arm and leg muscles.
"Stop staring at her bottom," Necis commented.
"What's wrong with staring at Noxa's bottom?"
"Nothing, I suppose."
"Will you two get on with climbing and look at something else other than my bottom!" Noxa growled.
"We'll try," Necis chuckled.
Noxa ignored the pair and continued to climb, muttering to herself. There were times that she was convinced Tanya was bi-sexual and had a fixation on her.
What a strange world they lived in, she thought as she continued to climb.
..._...
Finally, after dozens of agonising feet, Noxa pulled herself onto Shelf Zero-Nine. She was swiftly joined by Necis and Custos.
"Okay, Pallet Forty-Three," Custos commented as he took note of the label on a wooden pallet a foot away from them.
On the pallet were a dozen boxes, all identical apart from a number. They searched for the one with an '8' on the front.
"Finally!" Noxa breathed as she pulled the box towards her and sagged onto her bottom. "Okay."
Carefully, Noxa examined the box, checking for anti-tamper mechanisms. It would obviously be able to survive being moved by the forklift, so vibration should be fine, she considered. Once she was happy that there was nothing obvious, she carefully pulled her knife and cut through the seal which ran around the lid.
"Ready?" she asked as she prepared to lift the lid.
Her friends nodded, somewhat apprehensively as Noxa took a grip on the lid and she slowly lifted it up while Necis aimed a small torch into the gap to see if there were any...
"Stop!" she commanded. "I think I see a trip wire."
Noxa froze as Necis pulled a set of small wire cutters from a small toolkit she carried on her utility belt. Very carefully, she reached in and cut the fine wire which was secured to the lid and something else within the box. After another check with the torch, Necis nodded and Noxa lifted the lid off the box and she set it to one side. Inside the box was a flashbang grenade taped to the side of the box. If the lid had been simply lifted off, the grenade would have detonated and apart from blinding, deafening, and choking the person opening the box, the grenade would probably have incinerated the contents of the box.
Inside the box, there was a simple brown cardboard folder – the front of which had a three-inch red border around the front cover. Inside that border two words were repeated top and bottom: Особой важности. That translated in Noxa's mind to 'Of Particular Importance'; the Russian equivalent of 'Top Secret'. Another phrase was entered just below the top: Особая папка. That translated to 'Special Folder'. The title of the folder was: Управление специальных операций which translated as simply 'Special Operations Office'. None of the trio had ever heard of it. However, they all recognised the emblem in the centre of the title page which was of the Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации: The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, or FSB for short.
"Jackpot!" Noxa grinned as she found the folder chock full of paper which in turn was full of exciting looking intel. "Time to leave!"
After replacing the box exactly as they had found it, they stowed the file securely in Necis' backpack before they climbed up another sixteen feet to where a walkway led to the roof.
"Romeo November, Bravo Team; ready for extraction."
"Good to hear it," came Goshawk's voice. "Turning inbound – ninety seconds."
Sixty seconds later, the trio were crouched on the rooftop with the thunderous roar of three gas turbines and the five rotor blades coming towards them. NIGHTSHADE flared and then the sixty-four-foot helicopter spun in the air to expose the lowered ramp for the three vigilantes to board the helicopter. Chief counted them aboard and pointed them to their seats where they each strapped themselves in.
"All are aboard!" Chief told the cockpit.
Scorpion left the hover and directed the helicopter in a wide loop.
21:06 GMT+1 (20:06 GMT May 27th)
Alpha Team
"What do you mean, the door won't open?" Polaris demanded.
"The button isn't fucking working!" Aegea growled.
Their little distraction operation appeared to be coming unstuck, however, it seemed to have kept the heat off Bravo Team which had been the whole idea – even better if the Russians had no inkling that their special file had just been looted. However, while other parts of the night's operation appeared to have gone well, the three girls were trapped within a facility where preventing people form breaking out was the whole idea behind the construction of said facility.
"Er, guys," Synthesis chipped in. "It looks like the lockdown initiated by the fires has locked out the doors."
"Fucking great!" Polaris growled.
The trio were hiding in a dark corner of the facility where they had gone after trying several doors which should have opened but would not.
"At least the security works," Pyrrha quipped unnecessarily.
"I repeat my last: fucking great!" Polaris responded.
"Okay, I think we got it – we've triggered a fire alarm in the entrance," Synthesis advised. "Go, now!"
They did as they were told, bolting for where roller shutters were opening.
"Oy, you!" came a yell.
"Shit!" Polaris muttered. "MOVE!"
The three ran as fast as they could – not an easy task for Aegea, but she managed it. Their rendezvous point was the prison car park. They heard the beating of the rotor blades before they saw the monster dropping out of the sky onto the tarmac. They ran for the aft ramp of the helicopter, scrambling up the slope. Polaris and Pyrrha gave Aegea a hand up the slope before they all collapsed into seats on the starboard side of the helicopter. The ramp closed and the helicopter lifted off, the three engines running at full power as NIGHTSHADE turned west and thundered out over the River Thames, the roar of her engines soon drowned out by a landing jet at the nearby City Airport.
Four prison security guards were left staring up into the sky wondering what the bloody hell had just happened.
South of Barking & Dagenham
21:20 GMT+1 (20:20 GMT May 27th)
Yankee, Echo & Romeo November Teams
NIGHTSHADE settled onto the ground forty yards away from the three Sentinel vehicles.
The aircraft was showing no lights, and the flight crew were using NVG systems to guide them. They hand landed on waste ground close to the River Thames but a long way away from anyone who could be watching them. Scorpion kept the rotors turning as she climbed out of her seat, leaving Goshawk in the cockpit. Scorpion made directly for Polaris and she gave the vigilante a brief hug before hugging Aegea. Sleuth appeared as he ran up the ramp. He faced Noxa.
"You have the file?"
"Of course," the girl responded as she handed over the packet.
"Finally!" Sleuth exclaimed as he recognised what he had in his hands for what it was. "It has been too damn long. Right, you guys, get yourselves out to the Sentinels. Ajax is bringing the prisoner aboard."
Noxa, Custos, Necis, Polaris, Pyrrha, and Aegea nodded as they unstrapped and left their seats, walking towards the rear ramp, glad it was all over . . . or so they thought.
..._...
They were in the clear – or so they thought.
The focussed mood had begun to wane, and the adrenalin rush was beginning to subside. Belle was lazily gazing out of the window of the Sentinel when she saw movement in the darkness. It took a moment for the movement to register in her mind – there was not supposed to be anybody for quite a distance. The girl pushed open the door beside her and she stepped out.
"What is it?" Rigour asked as she slid over from the centre back seat.
"Someone is out there...," Belle said as she reached for her NVGs and turned them on.
The moment the NVGs touched her eyes, she was able to clearly see what...
"Contact! Contact! Contact!" she yelled as she brought up her MPX-K sub-machine gun.
Sleuth and Scorpion both heard the warning and they glanced outside in time to see the flashes of gunfire coming from beyond the Sentinels where a small ridge separated them from the road beyond.
..._...
A dozen men came pouring over the small ridge, moving towards the Sentinels and the helicopter.
Scorpion was running back towards the cockpit even as Goshawk was increasing power to the three engines in readiness for a speedy lift off. Scorpion dived into her seat, strapping herself in.
"Take us up!" she ordered Goshawk.
Goshawk increased the pitch on the rotor blades and she added power to lift the fourteen-tonne helicopter off the ground, where it was vulnerable to gunfire, and into the air where she could manoeuvre and, most importantly, provide air support to those remaining on the ground.
Polaris and Noxa directed their respective teams to provide covering fire for NIGHTSHADE as the helicopter took off with Sleuth, the file, and the prisoner aboard. The helicopter was at its most vulnerable as it took off and regained the relative safety of the night sky. One thought was going through the minds of Polaris and Noxa, but it was Custos who voiced it.
"Where the fuck did they come from?" he demanded.
"Damned if I know," Noxa responded.
"Who are they?" Necis threw in as she fired off short bursts from her sub-machine gun.
"Nobody knew we were here," Aegea commented as she made for the closest Sentinel. "At least that was what I thought."
"You may have a point there, Aegea," Ajax offered darkly.
Then there was an explosion as somebody threw a grenade in their direction. Everybody ducked and the three Sentinel vehicles rapidly moved to cover those still outside. Noxa hauled open the passenger door of the closest Sentinel to find herself looking up into the petrified eyes of her mother. Custos and Necis scrambled into the back with Aegea while Polaris and Pyrrha piled into another Sentinel. Once all were safely inside an armoured vehicle, they moved to make their escape, firing on the attackers from within the armoured vehicles. Several of the attackers fell to the hail of bullets but others bugged out back to their own vehicles.
As the three Sentinels bounced over the rough ground, racing for the road, they were intercepted by four BMW X5 4x4s.
21:35 GMT+1 (20:35 GMT May 27th)
SENTINEL ZERO ONE: Doc, Viridian, Rigour, and Forager.
In the front Sentinel, Doc was very aware of a BMW X5 closing in from her right.
Rigour was shooting at it from the backseat, just behind her, but with little success as the vehicles bounded over the rough terrain. Then the tyres squealed as they finally tasted tarmac and the Range Rover was able to accelerate on the much smoother road. They were just feet ahead of the BMW as Doc stomped her foot down and the three-litre diesel engine roared. They were rapidly approaching a residential area which raised the risk of collateral damage. Doc eased off the accelerator, swerving to prevent the BMW from overtaking.
Rigour did her best, along with Forager to fire on the pursuing BMW without compromising their colleagues in the two Sentinels behind.
SENTINEL ZERO TWO: Doctrina, Noxa, Custos, Necis, Aegea.
Doctrina was in her first ever (Vengeance) dangerous situation and she felt totally out of her comfort zone.
Even with her own daughter beside her, she was very worried as she fought to avoid a pair of BMW X5 4x4s which appeared to have latched onto her. However, she had been through blue light (highspeed) driver training and she was classed as an advanced driver, so the highspeed driving was not a problem and it, kind of, helped to ease her nerves as she was hounded by the pursuing BMWs. At least until one of them collided with her, but the heavier Range Rover easily shrugged off the attack from the smaller vehicle. However, Doctrina was forced to break heavily as the Sentinel in front had braked hard to avoid a car which had emerged from a side street.
"I've had enough!" Doctrina declared as she chose to drop into a more familiar world, and she hit the '999' button on the emergency systems panel fitted to the lower dashboard of the Sentinel. Blue strobes and a siren lit off and Sentinel Zero Two accelerated ahead, taking to the offside pavement to overtake the BMW X5 which was harassing Sentinel Zero One.
"Go, Mum!" Noxa declared as she grinned beneath her mask, surprised by her mother's reaction to the danger.
Sentinel Zero One dropped in behind Zero Two, the three BMW X5 4x4s sill in pursuit.
SENTINEL ZERO THREE: Ajax, Belle, Harrier, Polaris, and Pyrrha.
Ajax was driving the biggest vehicle she had ever been in and she was miles outside her comfort zone.
The BMW X5 which was harassing her did not help as she tried to concentrate on keeping the monster Range Rover on the road. Belle sat beside her and she did her best to assist by pointing out obstacles in the road.
"That was a bollard," Belle commented as the vehicle squashed a plastic bollard. "I think you're supposed to avoid them."
"I know!" Ajax growled as she swerved around another bollard, attempting to keep the other two Sentinels in sight.
"T-junction, take a right!" Belle announced as Ajax stomped on the brakes causing the BMW X5 behind to slam into the back of the Range Rover.
Ajax turned the wheel and the large 4x4 slewed onto the next street.
"I think the BMW driver is a little pissed," Polaris pointed out as she looked out the rear window.
They raced up Renwick Road, catching up with a BMW X5 which was attempting to overtake Sentinel Zero One.
21:42 GMT+1 (20:42 GMT May 27th)
SENTINEL ZERO TWO: Doctrina, Noxa, Custos, Necis, Aegea.
Doctrina concentrated on manoeuvring her vehicle through any traffic just as if she were driving her rapid response vehicle to a vehicle accident.
She tried to put the fact that there were four vehicles full of men who were intent on killing them – for what reason, she had no idea – out of her mind. At the end of Renwick Road, she slowed but passed straight through a red traffic light, turning left onto the A31, her screaming siren preventing an accident as other road users coming down the A31 slowed to allow the haphazard convoy of seven vehicles to exit the junction. Despite the relatively late hour, the traffic was not heavy, but neither was it light. The blue strobe lights and wailing siren assisted their way through the traffic and prevented them coming to a dead stop which might have put them in danger from the machinegun-toting men in the BMWs.
Noxa was amazed by her mother's skills on the road. She was fully aware that her mother was a blue light driver but seeing her in action was awesome in her mind. There was no hesitation as Doctrina negotiated the traffic, keeping moving until they reached an open stretch of road where they were able to put their foot down. Noxa noticed that the Sentinels behind were also making use of their blue strobe lights and sirens to carve their way through the traffic all while avoiding the interference of the marauding BMWs. The slightly more powerful Range Rovers were able to put a short gap between themselves and the pursuers meaning that they were together, for the moment.
They thundered down the A13 with NIGHTSHADE providing support from overhead.
21:48 GMT+1 (20:48 GMT May 27th)
NIGHTSHADE: Romeo November Team
(plus Sleuth and a prisoner)
Scorpion was annoyed.
She had weapons aboard which could put an end to the chase underway beneath them but there would be too much collateral damage from the other vehicles on the road. Goshawk was looking ahead watching for any potential problems.
"Oh, shit!" Goshawk exclaimed. "We've got an accident on the A13 just before the . . . er," Goshawk checked the map on the display before her, "the A117 junction."
"Notify the ground team," Scorpion directed. "We'll loiter and see what we can do. Chief? Deploy weapons, just in case."
"Underway!" Chief responded as he opened the upper half of the port access door, folding it upwards and inwards.
Chief unshipped the Maximi on its mount and he swung it out the access door and ensured that it was loaded and ready for action.
21:53 GMT+1 (20:53 GMT May 27th)
SENTINEL ZERO TWO
Doctrina could see a sea of red brake lights up ahead which did not bode well.
She slowed as she approached the rear of the tail back. Goshawk had advised them of what was happening ahead, so they had been ready to slow down. Doctrina knew from experience that blue lights or not, cutting through solid traffic was nigh impossible and it would probably cause many extra deaths should they get caught up in the traffic.
"Noxa, we make a stand before any civilians are caught up in this," Doctrina commanded.
Noxa nodded her approval.
"We make a stand," Noxa radioed. "Sentinel One and Three, we need to stop and attack the pursuers."
There was radioed agreement and all three Range Rovers slowed to a stop, blocking the entire westbound carriageway of the A13. Less than sixty yards back, the four BMWs slewed to a halt a dozen yards from the Sentinels. NIGHTSHADE moved in, hovering with her portside, and the Maximi, towards the enemy. Everyone had left the vehicles, although Doctrina and Doc were keeping low profiles due to their lack of all-over body armour, but both wore masks. Therefore, a dozen vigilantes faced off against the sixteen men, all wearing body armour who stepped out of the four BMW X5 4x4s.
Battle was joined.