PART VII: Strikeforce
Thursday, June 22nd, 2017
CALICO QUEST
08:00 GMT+2 (06:00 GMT June 22nd)
After a 580 nautical mile transit at fifteen knots, taking in the Ionian Sea and passing to the northwest of Crete, the CALICO QUEST had threaded her way through the many islands in the southern Aegean Sea before she hove to after thirty-nine hours off the north-eastern coast of the Greek island of Mikonos.
The temperature was in the high twenties with a ten-knot breeze coming from the north, joined with fifty-four percent humidity. The dual redundant dynamic positioning system had placed the vessel exactly forty-four yards to the east of and some 123-feet above their target as deemed by the three separate GPS systems which ensured that the vessel would not move so much as a yard from her programmed position. Strategically placed ISO containers hid the 7.2-metre square moonpool and the activity around said moonpool from any prying eyes. Ostensibly, the vessel was onsite to survey the waters one nautical mile off Cape Evros, the most north-westerly point of Mikonos. Full authorisation had been provided by the Greek government for them to be onsite, but there was every belief that the Greek government may have been infiltrated by the Axis of Evil, so they would have to work fast before their presence was known and the vessel attacked. Due to the sensitivity of the operation, Mindy had called in various favours form the British and American governments. Even so, it was to be an extremely dangerous mission for the CALICO QUEST, and even more so for the dive team which consisted of Rylee, Simon, Tanya, Cameron, and Adrien. The two men were fully qualified sports divers and while they had never fought underwater – or trained to do so – they had spent time with the Predators to learn how to fight beneath the surface. Currently ashore at the main airport on Mikonos, NIGHTSHADE, along with Keira, Kate, and David were carrying out some additional maintenance on the helicopter but they were on call if needed.
That just left Jasper and Alya who were busy in the space which they had taken over as an operations room with the assistance of young Harper. Spread out over various tables were plans for what was believed to exist beneath the surface of the Aegean Sea.
08:30 GMT+2 (06:30 GMT June 22nd)
CALICO QUEST
Moonpool
The five divers had donned their equipment and were standing on the steel mesh platform which in turn was suspended above the azure blue waters of the Aegean Sea.
Each wore a full-body wetsuit coloured dark grey and duck egg blue to allow them to blend into the sea and they carried a custom Dräger RBD 5000 modular carrying system fitted with a custom Dräger FGT 5000 diving rebreather which would give them about fifty minutes dive time in a self-contained unit. The heavy unit was carried on the back and would weigh extraordinarily little once they were in the water. All wore wetsuit hoods, facemasks, and flippers; however, Adrien and Cameron would have full-face dive masks to allow for underwater communications. Attached to their RBD 5000 each carried a suppressed Glock 19 in a watertight pouch along with some spare magazines. Each was also equipped with a carbon fibre custom speargun with five reloads each, as well as the standard dive knife. Cameron would also be lugging an underwater communications unit which, it was hoped, would assist them in communicating with the surface once they were inside the AoE facility. As for the facility, they had a rough idea of layout, but they had no idea if there was anybody within the facility or not. The facility itself was not large, about a hundred and fifty feet in length and fifty feet wide on two levels, the lower level of which was embedded into the seabed with just twenty feet of the facility showing above the seabed.
Strangely, the facility's existence was unknown by anyone on Mikonos, and how the facility had mysteriously appeared, and when, was unknown.
08:40 GMT+2 (06:40 GMT June 22nd)
Cameron, Adrien, Rylee, Simon & Tanya
The three youngsters stepped off the platform and plunged into the moonpool.
They were swiftly followed by the two adults. All five allowed themselves to sink twenty-eight feet to where they emerged from the moonpool below the ship's keel. They then tipped over and dove downwards for the seabed some ninety-five feet beneath them. All five took the opportunity to gaze at the amazing array of underwater life spread out beneath them. They could see an incredible distance but the AoE facility itself was impossible to see and was obviously well camouflaged. The facility sat at the absolute limit of amateur diving which helped to explain why it had not been found, despite only being a nautical mile offshore. Adrien and Cameron had both dived in tropical waters before, but it was a first for the three youngsters and they were amazed by the colours and the many fish which darted all around them as they swam downwards. The blues and the greens were amazing, not to mention the rocks covered in greenery and abundant sea life. The thick covering of growth extended to the AoE facility and liberally covered the steel structure.
The plan was for Cameron and Adrien to check out the larger area surrounding the AoE facility to around a hundred yards out, checking for anything which might prove useful while the youngsters were to check out the facility itself and search for a way inside.
08:43 GMT+2 (06:43 GMT June 22nd)
Dive-time: 3 minutes | Depth: 120-feet
Rylee, Simon & Tanya
Rylee and her friends swum along the seabed, taking in the glorious colours and the abundantly varied wildlife arrayed all around them.
All three were enjoying the warmth of the water and the freedom of hanging almost weightless in such beautiful surroundings. However, they had a mission ahead of them and they each ensured that their spearguns were ready as they closed the AoE facility. The structure was not like anything they had seen before. What was above the seabed was a skeletal structure of steel pipework which was there for structural rigidity and appeared to be more suitable for much deeper seas then where the structure currently sat. Within the steel pipework were large vertical cylindrical structures which contained the living and working areas within the underwater facility. With all the growth which had gathered around the steel structure, the facility was all but invisible, and would probably have been ignored if nobody actually knew that it was even there. They swum around the perimeter, just three feet above the seabed and about a dozen feet from the critter-encrusted steel pipework.
As they swum parallel to the long eastern side of the facility, Tanya glanced behind and she noticed two dark shapes emerge from within the steel pipework structure. She reached out and slapped Simon who instantly did the same to Rylee and the pair turned to face the two divers approaching them. For all of two seconds, Tanya wondered if the meeting would be cordial, but then two barbed spears were fired in their direction, dispelling any idea of cordiality. Noxa scowled as she dodged the incoming shaft, instantly firing off one of her own. Two further shafts followed hers as the second incoming shaft narrowly missed Simon. Tanya's shaft struck the right thigh of one of the men, digging in deeply, but the man kept on coming, despite the barbed shaft embedded in his thigh. That told the three vigilantes that they were facing mercenaries. All three swiftly reloaded their spearguns knowing that they would only have the time to get off a single shot before the two men were upon them. Rylee and Simon triggered off their shafts which flew straight, Rylee's striking the wounded man in the shoulder, stopping him dead. Simon's shaft sped past the second man, striking a thresher shark beyond which had become collateral damage, the wounded fish thrashing about in its death throes even as it sank to the seabed.
Tanya's shaft also struck the wounded diver, putting the bastard out of his misery. The dead diver was surrounded by a red haze of blood which mixed with that of the thresher shark and was identifiable miles away. Not that that was needed as another shark appeared from the far side of the facility, drawn by the sweet scent of blood and the thrashing of the dying shark. To the hammerhead, the scent of blood was irresistible, much like it was for Hit Girl. The trashing in the water had also drawn attention from the shark's well-developed senses. The shark was some fifteen feet in length and evil-looking. While not as mean-looking as a Great White, nonetheless, it gave Simon, Rylee, and Tanya chills. Simon pointed behind the incoming diver who, out of curiosity, peered over his shoulder. The man began to swim faster, even as the Hammerhead went on the attack and raced toward the man and the three youngsters, the massive tail moving from side to side, accelerating the streamlined killing machine through the water.
The shark was a problem for all four of them, so for a moment, they all turned their spearguns on the shark, but Simon had other ideas as he remembered a pouch on his RBD 5000 and pulled out a small package, ripping it open and squeezing what amounted to a sponge into the water, producing a cloud of black fluid in the water. The hammerhead shark suddenly shied away from the attack, keeping far away from the black milky cloud which was expanding into the surrounding water. The shark repellent appeared to be working and the hungry shark dove downwards and seized hold of the thresher shark, ripping the dead fish apart in a frenzy before then swimming off and vanishing from sight. Rylee, being a bookworm, knew that hammerhead sharks rarely attacked humans, and even then the attacks were almost never fatal, but in their case the excess blood in the water had not helped but encourage one of nature's most perfect (due respect given to Hit Girl) killing machines.
The moment, the carnivorous fish had gone, the mystery diver turned, and he attacked Tanya, bringing his dive knife around at speed.
..._...
Rylee had expected the move and she blocked the man with her speargun, punching him in the facemask.
The man was also wearing a rebreather which Simon slashed at with his own dive knife, missing, but putting the diver on the defensive. Rylee kicked her fins and drove in at the diver, her speargun discarded and her dive knife held up in her right hand. The diver brought his own dive knife out, and he floated upright in the water ready for the incoming attack from the much smaller combat diver. The man turned as he caught movement to his left as Simon moved in for an attack, diverting attention from Tanya who came in from the right, only the diver they were attacking was obviously well-versed in underwater combat as he surprised Tanya with a kick in the girl's direction, catching her in the chest. Simon attacked with Rylee, both slashing for the diver's rebreather hoses. Despite the diver's bigger size, he had quantity and quality against him. All three youngsters avoided the opposing blade knowing that losing their breathing apparatus would be a mission ender. Then the diver met his match as he was blindsided by the arrival of Adrien who dove in from above, ripping the man's bite mouthpiece from his mouth and then rolling the man over and over. The diver fought well, mainly to regain his air-supply before he and Adrien rolled and twisted in the water above the AoE facility. Cameron indicated for the three youngsters to make their entry into the facility while he remained to assist Adrien.
Simon took custody of the communications relay device and the three friends swam down and into the steel pipework structure. A tall cylinder, about twenty feet in height above the seabed and about twenty wide became visible along with several others. The cylinders all extended down into the seabed and were clustered in threes. Simon swam past the first group of three cylinders and he quickly found what they were looking for. There was a large opening in the steelwork of one cylinder and artificial light filtered down from within the cylinder. With hand signals, Rylee motioned for Simon to go first followed by Tanya while she would follow at the rear. Simon swam through the opening and he looked up to see light shimmering just a few feet above him. He rose upwards about four feet before his head emerged from the water into air. He looked around to find that he was in a wet area which surrounded the four-foot diameter moonpool. Tanya's head appeared beside him and he nodded to show it was okay to proceed. Together, they both climbed up a steel ladder at the side of the moonpool and looked around further. Racks around the walls contained air cylinders and rebreathers as well as the other usual diving accoutrements. A large hydraulically controlled hatch hung above the moonpool which could be used to seal off the moonpool as required. On one wall, there was a large steel watertight hatch which presumably led into the facility.
Simon spat out his mouthpiece and took a breath of dry air which stank of bleach and he nodded to Tanya and Rylee who had just stuck their heads out of the water. The first task was the communications array. Attached to the bulkhead was a radio antenna of the sort used in seagoing vessels to rebroadcast transmissions past steel bulkheads. Simon opened up the communications package he had brought with him and he produced two similar-looking items. One was about six inches to a side, and it was secured to the side wall just to the side of the moonpool with a magnetic underside. A thick black cable was then dropped into the moonpool and Simon passed another plastic box with a magnetic base to Rylee who dived down, and she attached the unit to the outside of the steel pipework. Rylee resurfaced in the moonpool and raised her right thumb.
"Quebec One, this is Zeta One, how copy, over?" Simon radioed via a neck mike, and his message moved at the speed of light until it reached the external box where it then moved at the speed of sound through the water and up to the CALICO QUEST.
"Zeta One, Quebec One, you are five by five, over?" Alya responded over his earpiece.
"We are aboard with one down and one being dealt with," Simon responded. "Zeta One out."
Rylee climbed out of the water to join Simon and Tanya, then they each shed their rebreather, wetsuit hood, facemask, and flippers.
08:52 GMT+2 (06:52 GMT June 22nd)
AoE Facility
Rylee, Simon & Tanya
Each drew their pistols as Simon spun the well-oiled wheel fitted to the centre of the watertight hatch.
As he pulled open the hatch, the chunk of steel moved quietly on plenty of grease. They were met by the pungent smell of bleach much stronger than that smelt in the moonpool room. It was as if the facility was undergoing a major clean. The trio found themselves looking down a corridor about three feet wide which curved away from them after just a few feet. They each stepped over the high one-foot coaming of the hatch and Tanya pulled the hatch closed behind them, spinning the locking wheel. The corridor was steel and curved around to a second steel watertight hatch identical to the first. Simon span the locking wheel and then he pushed open the hatch. The two girls leapt through, their pistols raised as they checked out the square area where they found themselves with a hatch to the left and right and a passageway heading off ahead of them.
They opted to follow the passageway ahead which was about forty feet in length and led into the depths of the facility. They reached another steel watertight hatch which they passed through and they found themselves in a steel space with a rectangular hatch set into the floor atop a one-foot coaming – the hatch was open and latched to a steel support. Strangely, they had not come across a single person since they had entered the facility and that filled all three with foreboding and trepidation as they checked out two further hatches. The hatch to the left led into a galley area which could seat twenty with a commercial-grade kitchen. Closer examination showed that only six of the twenty seats in the galley area appeared to have been recently used.
"I don't think that this facility is being used much," Tanya pointed out.
"Yeah," Simon responded uneasily.
"Let's track down the remaining four people, shall we?" Rylee suggested darkly. "This galley is making me hungry."
Simon chuckled as they moved out of the galley and went to check out the next hatch.
..._...
They found accommodation.
Several small cabins, each sleeping two to four were arranged in three cylindrical pressure containers along with some bathrooms. Again, there was evidence of just six bunks in use confirming that the facility was no longer fully manned.
"They're decommissioning the facility," Simon said. "Let's get down below to where the laboratories are and see if there is anything left for us to find."
Together the trio moved over to the hatchway which led below. Carefully, pistol first, Rylee peered over the coaming from height. Below they could make out another deck with light grey vinyl flooring and white steel walls – identical to what they had seen on the current deck. The sounds of industrial air-conditioning could be heard more loudly below than where they were. The place was properly lit as well. A narrow aluminium ladder with handrails set at an angle of sixty-degrees led below. As far as they could tell, the ladder was in an alcove with the way out to the left into a corridor. Slowly, Tanya went first, crouching low so as to get a good view of what may be awaiting them. She saw nothing as she reached the base of the aluminium ladder and took up a position to scan the corridor which extended in both directions. At first, she saw nothing, but then something moved to her right.
"We have movement," Tanya said quietly as she was joined by Simon and Rylee.
Simon and Rylee covered Tanya; their pistols levelled in the same direction as Tanya's. Together, they moved slowly but deliberately. Had they been spotted? They had no idea, so they moved purposefully, their suppressed pistols raised before them, the muzzles following their eyes as they scanned the four-foot width of the corridor. Ahead of them, they could see three watertight steel hatches to the left and the same number to the right. The far end of the corridor was a dead end. However, of the six watertight hatches, one was open, the second last on the right. The hatch opened inward, away from the corridor. Light spilled out into the corridor and then a leg appeared as somebody stepped out of the hatch backwards. It was a man wearing black combat fatigues and he was carrying a black plastic storage box of the sort used to protect delicate and important electrical equipment. The man started when he saw the three wetsuit-clad pint-sized divers, but while he wore a pistol holster, both of his hands were occupied. Instead, he looked back through the hatch for a moment before he dropped to the floor of the corridor.
"Down!" Simon ordered and they all dropped prone as a second man armed with a pistol jumped out and emptied the seventeen-round magazine down the corridor.
The bullets from the Glock 17 pistol clanged off the walls, ricocheting in all directions. Simon yelled out as a ricochet caught his left leg, but the Kevlar layer of his wetsuit prevented penetration, however, it hurt like the buggery! As the ringing sound from the bullet discharges echoed around the steel bulkheads, all three rose up as one to one knee and they each put two rounds into the standing man who was feverishly attempting to reload his own Glock. The man on the floor
had drawn his own weapon and he snapped off two bullets which struck Rylee in the chest, dropping the girl onto her back, but the man had barely sneered at his 'success' when Rylee came back up and she did not look happy!
"You fucking cunt!" she yelled out as she slotted the smug bastard with a single bullet in the forehead.
Normally, they might have made use of explosive devices, such as flashbangs and other grenades, but the potential proximity of nuclear devices, not to mention that they were underwater, had made them file away that idea. Needless to say, the bullets had made one hell of a noise datum which was heard some twenty-thousand yards away through the crystal-clear waters of the Aegean Sea where a confirmed nuclear device increased power to the attached steam turbines and the pump-jet propulsor at the stern increased revolutions, thrusting eight-thousand tons of steel through the shallow waters, surging ahead from hovering to some twenty knots.
At the same time, another confirmed nuclear device also increased power to a set of attached steam turbines, and nine-thousand tonnes of titanium hull surged ahead in response to the rapidly spinning single shaft and twin contrarotating propellers.
07:58 GMT+1 (06:58 GMT June 22nd)
Northwood Headquarters
Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
HMS WARRIOR
Office of Commander Operations (COMOPS)
Rear-Admiral Mark Lane Royal Navy was COMOPS.
His job was multi-hatted, but his two major commands were as Commander Task Force 311 and Commander Task Force 345. The former governed the operation of the Royal Navy's attack submarines while the secondary governed the operation of the United Kingdom's nuclear deterrent. That morning, the flag officer was not happy. He had come in at six that morning having been belatedly informed of an operation getting underway at seven that morning in the Aegean Sea. In fact, he had received a cryptic order some days previously to move a certain unit with certain equipment and with certain manpower to a certain location for a certain date. At first the Rear-Admiral had thought that their Lordships had finally thrown a propeller blade as he could see no immediate need for such classified equipment to be milling about in such shallow waters. Then had come a private briefing later the night before via the Prime Minister and the First Sea Lord. It was, in his mind, a disaster waiting to happen with a worst-case scenario of World War III breaking out by lunchtime! He had already spent forty minutes on the phone with Rear-Admiral Submarines up in Faslane, Scotland discussing the pending events. Over his third coffee that morning, an officer knocked once and then stepped into his office.
"Trouble, Admiral!"
Rear-Admiral Lane looked up at his second-in-command, Captain Robert Wicker.
"Don't shoot the messenger, sir, but the Russkies are on the move. We have a Sierra II SSN putting its foot down in the eastern Cyclades east of Naxos. Artful is moving south from east of Andros."
Rear-Admiral Lane stepped out of his office and strode over to a large glass-topped plotting table which showed a map of the Mediterranean Sea.
"Zoom in to the Aegean," Rear-Admiral Lane ordered the Petty Officer controlling the plotting table.
The display flickered for a moment as the image changed to a satellite image of the sea to the southeast of Greece.
"Show me friendly units."
Several icons appeared with designators. Of principal interest was the blue circle with a dot in the centre labelled Q1 and a short distance to the north a blue lower semi-circle with a dot at the centre point labelled S121. The Q1 symbol hovered immediately next to the lower half of a yellow square with a dot at the square's centre labelled AoE. What was worrying the Rear-Admiral was the single red 'V' with a dot labelled B534.
"Quebec One is Calico Quest, Admiral, and they have divers down in the AoE facility," the captain explained, his hand hovering over the Q1/AoE symbols before he then pointed at the S121 symbol. "Artful with Chalfont reported sounds of gunfire at the facility and they are moving to support. I suggest we have Artful close and deploy the SDV to guard the AoE facility while Artful moves to intercept," the captain's hand moved to the red icon, "the Nizhniy Novgorod currently racing up from the south."
"What else is in the area?" COMOPS asked.
"USS Ross, a destroyer, currently here, left Souda Bay, Crete, last night and is steaming north to provide surface support and she is carrying a pair of MH-60R helicopters which she is deploying on ASW right now. There is also the Greek frigate Hydra which carries a Greek variant of the same helicopter. They are being alerted in a roundabout manner to assist the Ross."
"Order Artful to drop off the SDV as you suggest and then she can intercept the Sierra II and I hope avoid an exchange of torpedoes," COMOPS ordered.
"Rules of Engagement, sir?"
"Let's hope that the Russian captain does not want to experience what evading a full battery of six Spearfish torpedoes feels like, but let Artful have discretion, protecting Quebec One and the AoE facility without endangering his own command and preferably without initiating World War III, if at all possible – those Trident missiles are expensive and the warheads even more so!"
Captain Wicker grimaced as he made for the signals office.
09:12 GMT+2 (07:12 GMT June 22nd)
CALICO QUEST
Jasper and Alya
The encrypted satellite phone beside Jasper shrilled.
The handheld device was about as secure as communications got and was perfectly suitable for their needs. Jasper picked up the phone and pressed the green button.
"Speak!"
"Authenticate Romeo Niner."
"I respond Yankee Lima."
"Acknowledged. This is COMOPS Two. You have a red sub inbound your location from the south. We have a blue sub inbound from the north which will drop off eight visitors with their own transport before deterring red sub. Yank and Greek skimmers also moving to disrupt red sub operations. Suggest you notify team above and below for trouble. Acknowledge message receipt."
"I acknowledge receipt of message. Thank you," Jasper responded.
"We will update you again by 07:30 Zulu. COMOPS Two out."
The phone went dead, and Jasper placed it down on the table.
"Problem?" Alya asked.
"Where do I start?" Jasper responded. "There is a Russian submarine in the area, and he is headed right here."
"Not good."
"We have tactical support from a British submarine, a Yank warship, and a Greek warship. Also, it sounds like the Special Boat Service will be moving in below to provide some local security."
"Helpful," Alya considered.
"You notify the dive team while I go speak with Captain Hunt," Jasper directed.
Alya grimaced as she pressed the transmit button and spoke into her headset.
09:16 GMT+2 (07:16 GMT June 22nd)
AoE Facility
Rylee, Simon & Tanya
Simon and Tanya had run forward with Rylee close behind.
After confirming that both men were indeed dead, they had stepped through the open watertight hatch into what looked remarkably like a physics laboratory. All three had been instructed on the type of equipment that they may find, and they were not to be disappointed, but they were perturbed somewhat. There were several CAD/CAM machines which could create intricate designs with the precision required for the manufacture of nuclear weaponry. Indeed, as Simon and Rylee continued with the search while Tanya kept a lookout out in the corridor, they were identifying some sobering items, many of which carried the universal nuclear radiation symbol. It was becoming increasingly obvious that no work had been carried out in the facility for some time. There was, however, plenty of evidence pointing to the shipment of whatever they had been machining to Africa, confirming the hypothesis that the place was a factory for the core components of the nuclear weapons the Axis of Evil were believed to be manufacturing for some uncertain purpose.
"Zeta One, Quebec One, over."
Simon recognised Alya's voice.
"Zeta One copies, go ahead."
"Things seem to be happening outside," Alya told them. "The Russians seem keen to get their hands on that facility. A Russian submarine is heading in our direction now. We have support from a British submarine and warships from America and Greece. You will be receiving visitors from the British sub in maybe thirty minutes. You guys outside, be on the lookout, I will send the code challenge to your computers for the visitors."
"Thanks for the good news!" Simon grimaced. "We're just mopping up in here, but there is some nasty evidence of nuclear weaponry in here."
"Copy that and stay safe. Quebec One out."
"Fun and games!" Rylee grinned. "Let's go find the remaining pair of bastards."
Simon grinned back as he followed his girl.
..._...
The two youngsters returned to the corridor and they met up with Tanya.
Together, they checked out the other five watertight hatches to find identical laboratories containing similar equipment. Their brief search of the six laboratories had discovered numerous data storage devices and several notebooks, all of which had been securely packaged in watertight zip-lock bags before being placed in a pack carried by Simon. Ominously, they had not seen any more of the enemy. It was certain that no one aboard the underwater facility could have missed the sounds of gunfire – they were probably holed up somewhere, they surmised. So, once they had finished with the six laboratories, they ventured down the opposite end of the lower level, past the aluminium ladder which led upwards. At the end of the corridor there was a single steel watertight hatch and it was partially open. Cautiously, they approached the hatch, expecting a trap of some sort.
They were not to be disappointed, it seemed. They pulled open the hatch and peered into a dimly lit space which appeared to be another laboratory, yet larger than the previous six laboratories. Most of the lighting was turned off with just a few emergency lights struggling to illuminate very much of anything. Using hand signals, Simon directed the girls to his left and right as they entered the large space. All three kept low, listening and watching for anything which might let them know where the enemy were. There were numerous workbenches which made for many potential places for someone to hide in ambush, but they had to clear the space, so they pressed on with their search. Simon did his utmost to keep the two girls in sight at all times but that was well nigh impossible, so he simply concentrated on what was before him. He crept down a length of workbench which screened him to the left. Every now and then, he would catch sight of Tanya to his right through gaps in the furniture. Then he stopped. He could hear something – was that breathing? Then there was a sound and Simon saw movement in the shadows as a large man reached out for him.
Simon ducked back and kicked out, but the man was fast, and he grabbed hold of Simon by his left leg and threw the boy into a workbench. The pain which shot through the boy's body was intense, but he shrugged it off as he scrambled back to his feet just in time to dodge an incoming strike. Simon avoided the large fist and kicked out, catching the man in the abdomen. Ominously, the man barely flinched at what Simon considered to be a strong kick. Simon drew his dive knife and he made a swift strike at the man, hoping to get in a debilitating injury to even the odds somewhat, but no, the man was not going to cooperate. Simon found himself punched in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards and he crashed through several lab stools before he landed at the feet of Tanya.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Get the fuck back to your own cunt!"
"Sorry," Simon grinned as he was yanked back through the stools to face his 'cunt'.
Tanya sighed as Simon was dragged away – she had her own task which was not helped by that boy butting in – and she continued searching her end of the laboratory. There! Tanya sank down to the ground and she peered under a workbench – she could see feet, just feet away. Thanks to the din being created by Simon – the boy had no idea how to fight silently – Tanya did not have to worry about making minor sounds as she moved to ambush whomsoever was just ahead of her. She crept along the floor; her combat knife held in her right hand. The idea was to try and capture at least one of the bastards alive so that that individual could be interrogated. Tanya could smell the sweat and she was certain that she could smell the fear. Either way, the girl boldly crept to just a foot from the individual – it was a woman; not that that was going to help her any as Tanya sunk her blade into the bitch's right side.
Several yards away at the opposite end of the laboratory, Rylee was getting annoyed. Simon's antics were distracting and then suddenly there was a massive scream and yell of pain from wherever Tanya was – on the positive side, it meant that she had nobody to fight. That pleasant thought lasted all of eight seconds before Rylee cursed her incompetence as she found herself kicked across the laboratory, crashing into something which may have been expensive but was now smashed. Bits of the device clattered to the floor as Rylee fell off the workbench to the floor, scrabbling for her combat knife. Then two hands yanked her bodily off the ground and threw her down said workbench, smashing into laboratory equipment of all sorts. Glass flew as Rylee rolled to a stop, thanking her lucky stars that her wetsuit absorbed some of the battering and was armoured. Rylee still had no idea who or what she was fighting – actually, she was fighting nobody as it seemed to be a very one-sided beat down – as she was grabbed by strong hands and thrown across to the next workbench. Rylee yelled out in pain as she struck a water tap sticking up from a sink; her impact had badly bent the tap and it had sodding hurt! Rylee scrambled to avoid the inbound whatever, falling to the steel lino-covered deck and doing her utmost to unsheathe her combat knife so she could retaliate against her unknown attacker. Then she found herself banging up against someone and she turned sharply, her blade held up, ready to stab down.
"Simon!" Rylee breathed as she almost stabbed the unfortunate boy.
"Hi, Ry!" Simon called out as he leapt away back to his own fight.
Rylee muttered something vulgar as she turned back to her own foe and she focused on the shape of what she considered to be a young woman. The young woman came at Rylee with a vengeance, leaping atop the workbench like an animal possessed. In several smooth motions, the young woman seized hold of a Bunsen burner which sat atop the workbench, yanked the Bunsen off the rubber hose, dropped the metal device to the floor, then twisted open the gas tap to which the rubber hose was attached.
In what felt like slow motion, Rylee was moving the moment she saw the rubber hose being removed from the Bunsen burner but her ears caught the sound of metal rasping against flint and then the whoomph as the flow of gas was ignited.