Chapter 18.
THE STRIKE
Later the same night a strange convoy was heading towards Long Island on The New York Interstate. Leading the convoy was a large 18-wheeler. Inside sat Bruce Sato and Matt Trakker.
"What's our E.T.A to the Hotel?" Matt asked.
"E.T.A is 08:37, PM." Bishop replied seated in Juggernaut.
" Once we reach the hotel, we'll split into two teams. Brad, Paul, Jacques and Gloria will be with me. The rest of you form a perimeter and try to make sure that no VENOM vehicle is able to leave the area."
"Do you think that VENOM will come over to keep us company?" Calhoun asked.
"I would be very surprised if they don't." Matt answered. "'Mayhem' is expecting a rescue attempt, but he still thinks that he got the ace in his sleeve with the hostages at gun-point. That arrogance is what we're going to use to our advantage."
"I must confess that I'm worried about all this." Brad revealed. "I mean in all our encounters so far we have just gone out by the skin of our teeth. Are we really going to be up to this?"
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." Bruce comforted him.
A few minutes later they had stopped outside of the darkened hotel. Everyone wore his or her newly designed battle helmet – or mask, as they had dubbed them. There had been some problems to get through the safety perimeters since the Military Police didn't want to let them through. But once Matt has identified them as special agents from World Unification Alliance and the officer had confirmed with Hugh Heyman, they had been let through.
To their surprise they had learned that Colonel Wolf had dismissed one third of his crew, lessening the opposition considerably.
"It's more or less an invitation from the Colonel's part." Matt said. "He arrogantly assumes that we will play his game."
He gathered the others around.
"The operation will start at the exact time of 08:52 when Claire arrives in Thunderhawk." Matt said, as he repeated the plans for the team. "When the battle out here commences, the five of us will get inside of the hotel."
"So how do we get inside without Wolf's people noticing us?" Paul asked.
"There is emergency stairs on the backside of the hotel in case of a fire, We'll climb up that way."
Soon a low, rolling thunder heralded the approach of Thunderhawk. Matt had designated Claire to his craft instead of Phalanx because he figured that Colonel Wolf would be on the lookout for Thunderhawk. He believed that if the Colonel noticed that the fighter was missing from the battle, he would understand that Matt were elsewhere.
Seated inside a mobile Tactical Operations Centre, one of Wolf's men discovered the incoming fighter.
"I have a bogey coming in from South-west." He reported.
'Mayhem' hurried outside and looked to the sky.
"That must be Trakker and his forces!" He believed. "Why isn't he going for the silent approach like expected?"
"Perhaps you underestimated him?" Curt Harker suggested.
"Underestimated Trakker? Highly unlikely." Spat Wolf. "But if he believes that his forces can match my army, he's in for a disappointment. Man your battle stations!"
With Thunderhawk leading the attack, the Special Missions Force joined the battle.
Inside of the fighter's cockpit Claire Peters boosted the targeting computer with signals directly from satellite readings. The image on the HUD refined itself and the background buildings appeared in a light shade of green and the likely targets were translated into red circles that begun to flash when she had a clear shot at them.
The radar dish on top of a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck zeroed in and several anti-aircraft guns was fired in her direction, painting the sky with exploding light.
As anti-aircraft missiles shot past the fighter, Claire jinked to the left. She punched the right rudder pedal, vectoring thrust to kick the tail of Thunderhawk into a bit of skid to port. Doing that took her out of line with the guns, while allowing her to keep the nose on the intended target. She armed all four heat-seeking missiles.
"This is Thunderhawk." She reported. "I have achieved target lock-on and am initiating firing sequence."
"I read you, Claire." Alex Sector, who had joined them to assist, said from the Tactical Command Centre in Juggernaut. "proceed with the attack!"
"Missiles launched!"
On the hotel front yard, the Syndicate troopers was warned about the rockets approaching. They punched up the missile suppression system and launched radar-directed Gatling fire. But they only managed to take out one of the missiles. Two guns were hit, and the third missile knocked out the radar dish on the HEMTT.
Seated inside of Rhino, Bruce Sato choose his first targets. A quick assessment of the battle zone had told him which were the most powerful of the ground-based vehicles and he would feel much safer if he could injure them. He lowered the smokestacks, which were in fact cannons, slid back the sleeper compartment so he could use the missile launcher, and extended the battering ram. He got a weapons lock on the gun tower of a tank destroyer and launched a missile. He grinned when he noted that hydraulic fluid begun leaking from the vehicle - with all pressure lost in the hydraulic system, it could no longer rotate the turret system. Quickly Bruce re-calibrated the targeting system and sent of another rocket at the other tank.
The Special Missions Force were not alone in its attack run. UN Officers from the squad that had guarded the perimeter joined them as well. Three groups of two men begun to set up mortars, while the rest took positions behind any cover they could find and trained their rifles at the enemy. They took cover behind every tree, bush and car that could shield them as they began an uneven firing. There was nothing wrong with their marksmanship, however, three Syndicate troopers fell in rapid order.
Syndicate troopers responded in kind, some of them used anti-tank rifles, while the rest carried their standard Grenade launchers. Their firing was more quick than accurate, but it served some purpose, the attackers had to put their heads down and take cover positions.
Using a built-in rangefinder in his new mask Spectrum, Matt Trakker scanned the area. He marked out the location of the sentries.
"I can only see the sentries on the roof and at the goods reception, but where are the rest?" He wondered. "Alex, can you pick them up?"
In Juggernauts tactical operations center, Alex checked the screens in front of him and fed the computer with the latest satellite images. His reply came through the headset in the mask.
"Got them. It seems that both the patrolling sentries as well as the flankers have converged on the front of the hotel."
"Wolf's intentions are obvious even to the blind." Matt snorted. "He's leaving the goods reception with less security, hoping that we will take the bait."
He turned towards his companions.
"Hand signals and mouth-to-ear whispers from here on." He instructed. "Five meters spread. If you notice something, point it out to the nearest man who in return will pass the signal down the line."
Like shadows the five agents darted across the field, careful to keep out of the moonlight that would rob them of their invisibility. They reached the emergency stairs and just as silently begun scaling them.
There was full activity around the hotel. Soldiers ran around to security positions. Shouts and barking orders were heard from all directions, and above that, the sound of loud explosions, whistling missiles, hacking machine guns and the low rumbling of engines.
As he reached the roof, Matt carefully eased his face over the edge of the roof to take in the situation. He was careful not to be spotted.
He sat back down on the stair and whispered into the ear of Jacques who was closest to him.
"There are two guards watching the roof entrance. They are watching the battle, but it is a rather long distance to cover in the open. If we get spotted to early, they'll be able to sound the alarm."
Jacques forwarded the message to Paul, who in turn forwarded the message to Gloria and then Brad.
The acrid smell of tobacco assaulted their nostrils. All of them stopped abruptly, eyes scanning their surrounding for the tell-tale cherry glow which would reveal the sentry's position. Paul spotted the man first, tapping Matt on the shoulder and pointing up and to the right.
Matt signaled to the others to keep a low profile, then waited for the sentry to pass their location. As he did, Matt with nearly imperceptible movement roused up and pulled the sentry to him, simultaneously covering his mouth with his hand, jerked him backwards and smashed his fist into the man's throat.
"I can take the others out," Gloria offered with a whisper. "But I need someone to distract them long enough for me to get close."
"I'll handle it." Brad offered. "It will make a perfect time to test out this thing."
The mask, which was named Eclipse, was blue in color with two horizontal ridges that bulged downwards. A red visor slit with infra-red sensory readouts covered his eyes. It also had a breathing apparatus that protected him from choking on the mist that now poured out from a nozzle mounted on the right side on the forehead. The mist grew bigger and in only a few moments it had formed a thick black cloud that effectively cut off the moon, covering the roof in darkness.
The guards had no reason to suspect that anything was wrong. As far as they knew a cloud had temporarily covered the moon, and that was nothing out of the ordinary. Gloria took both of them out without any sound being made.
"Good work." Matt said. "Now, let's go inside."
The roof entrance was locked with a card reader by the door. Matt stepped to the side and allowed Paul to deal with it. He slipped out a magnetic card, attached to a code breaking microprocessor. He inserted the card into the reader which scanned the code and fed it to the door mechanism. With a click the lock was opened and they could sneak inside.
The corridor they stepped into was dressed in warm colors with a blue wall-to-wall carpet. Comfortable couches and flower arrangements contributed to give the corridors a cozy atmosphere. It was vacated.
Matt spoke into the microphone, addressing Alex.
"We´re in. Keep an eye open and tell us if something unexpected happens out there. I don't want to have any VENOM backup sneaking up on our back."
"Copy that." Came the reply.
"We'll stick to the stairs." Matt instructed the others. "The elevator would take us down faster but would leave us more exposed."
He opened the glass door to the stairway and quickly, but silently descended the steps. The others followed with quick steps.
Slowly they worked their way down into the building. Fortunately, the security was very loose since 'Mayhem' stubbornly expected the Special Missions Force to come in through the goods reception and not from the roof, and if anyone did try, he believed that the guards on the roof would have sounded the alarm.
Matt didn't take any risks though. Spectrum came with abilities such as pattern recognition, thermo graphic, image magnification, movement sensors and infrared, all transferred to a heads-up display. He used both the heat detector and the movement sensors to spot any enemy before they in turn could see them. Every enemy agent they encountered was unceremoniously silenced.
"Where's the staff?" Paul asked after a while, when he realized that the only people they had encountered were members of VENOM.
"Hostages as well." Matt told him. "Information we've taken part of say that most of them are being held in the kitchen."
They reached a new floor. Matt made a new check with the movement sensors in his visor. It told him that the coast was clear. Carefully, he eased his head out of the stairway and took a look into the corridor beyond. The caution was wasted; this level was deserted just as his instruments had told him. But he wanted to be certain.
"All clear." He murmured, stepping out into the corridor followed by the four others.
The battle on the front of the hotel was intense. Curt Harker observed everything from the balcony on the suite through his binoculars. He could hear the sound of screams and hoarse shouts not far off, and continuous low murmuring of radio chatter, grid coordinates, casualties, and unit placements. The Special Missions Force, assisted by officers from the UN forces that had guarded the perimeter, and the Syndicate soldiers were in an intense firefight. Several Syndicate troopers advanced, firing rapidly. A helicopter moved in as well, and soldiers were cut down as they ran, exposed by bright searchlights playing over the ground. Fiery explosions lighted the ranks of advancing military forces.
Several FAVs advanced towards the Special Missions Force, together with Armored Personnel Carriers, soldiers running by their side, taking and giving fire. One shot from a tank destroyer hit a UN Armored Personnel Carrier who erupted in flames, the driver and the gunner tossed out while the vehicle tumbled. But more soldiers appeared in its wake, moving from cover to cover as they advanced forward, thinning out the defenses of the Syndicate.
The Melville business and entertainment district were once more turned into a warzone, and panic was everywhere. People had left their homes. Some of them to settle their curiosity, others fearing that the buildings would collapse over them courtesy of missiles going astray. Now people were fleeing everywhere. Some by car, mostly on foot, desperate to find higher ground by any means they could.
The MPs tried to evacuate the surroundings, but many people had gone to the Distribution center just on the other Broadhallow Road, where they hoped to get up on the roof to see at least some of the battle, like if it was some sort of sports entertainment.
Two attack-helicopters lined up Ranger for the kill. Morten Øygard spun around in Rattler and aimed the huge platforms on the back of his car. He had one of the enemy fighters bracketed in the HUD's crosshairs now. He fired once, shooting a hole through its hull, and made a disgusted face as it disintegrated in a brief burst of crimson light. The second chopper was moving in closely toward Ranger. But another rocket from Rattler's ramps decommissioned it before it attained striking distance.
"It was a dumb decision to weaken the defenses." Curt scolded Wolf. "You gravely underestimated the Special Missions Force. They could be on top of us any minute now!"
"It's all part of the plan." 'Mayhem' dismissed. "If they manage to penetrate our defenses the hostages will be killed. And the world will hold the Special Missions Force and the World Unification Alliance responsible."
Matt Trakker and his small band had reached the luxury suites. Further down the hall sat three guards outside a door.
"If I know 'Mayhem' right, this will be the place where he locates his stab." Matt said, using Spectrum to read the heat signatures inside of the room. His hunch was confirmed.
"We need to take out those guards as well!" Brad pointed out.
"Gloria and I will handle that." Jacques assured.
One of the guards was standing so close to the corner that all the Canadian had to do was to grab him over the mouth to silence him and drag him around the corner where he quickly knocked him out. Of the two others one of them had fallen asleep. The one that was still awake casually looked around the corridor and put a cigarette to his mouth. Suddenly he heard something to his side. Turning to investigate, the fist of Gloria smashed into his throat.
At the same moment, Jacques rose up behind the other man, grabbed him by the hair and pulled him down.
The three others joined them, and they now stood directly outside the door to the luxury suite. Matt again used the heat detector to determine where everyone was located in the room. He projected a three-dimensional image so the others could see it as well.
"Four men." Matt noted. "By the looks of it, three of them are Wolf and his men. The last one appears to be chuckled."
"The governor?" Paul asked.
"Possibly." Matt agreed.
He turned to the others with a serious look.
"Once we move in we have to move fast, or everything will go haywire!" he warned. "Are all of you ready?"
The agents took their positions. They had a pre-agreed battleplan, and each of them knew their part of it.
They signaled their readiness.
"Ok, let's move!"
Matt kicked in the door. Gloria and Brad rushed Curt Harker and Cliff Dagger, while Matt, Paul and Jacques went for Wolf who was sitting next to the governor who had his hands tied on his back. A gun lay on the table next to the Colonel, who watched them in surprise.
"Don't make any sudden moves, Colonel." Matt said with a steel hard voice. "You are under arrest for treason and for terrorist activity against this country!"
"Is that you under that thing, Trakker? How did you get in here?" Wolf asked in surprise. "Where are my guards?"
"They're sleeping on their jobs." Matt told. "Now call it off!"
Both Harker and Dagger gave their leader a reproaching look that clearly said: "Told you so!"
Even Wolf had to admit that he had underestimated his opposition.
"You're obviously more skillful than I ever gave you credit for, Trakker." Wolf confessed. "However, that was a dumb move. Now the governor will pay for your disobedience with his life!"
His hand reached for the gun on the table.
Paul quickly pushed his way past Matt.
"Sonic, Infrasound on!"
High pitched sound waves, too high for the human ear to hear was broadcasted from the transmitter. Colonel Wolf could not hear them, but they certainly affected him. The infrasound affected his balance system causing him to feel dizzy and sick. Paul did not dare to use it for more than a few moments, since continuing bombardment could cause permanent damage to the victim's brain.
The VENOM leader blinked, trying to clear his eyes.
"Whatever it was you tried with that thing, it didn't work!" he said, breathing hard. He lifted his gun again.
Jacques immediately stepped forward and sprinkled the air around 'Mayhem' with a superheated fog screen from his bug-eyed insect like mask. The colonel recoiled, expecting another bombardment like the first one, but was relieved to find that there were no such things. In fact, he felt nothing. He still felt the effects of the infrasound though and everything in front of him appeared a bit blurry, but he could still make out the Governor.
"Your new weapons are obviously useless!" He mocked as he pulled the trigger.
The shot appeared to go straight through the victim without causing any harm. The bullet buried itself into the wall. In the next moment, Matts fist shot out and knocked 'Mayhem' down to the floor.
"What's going on?" Wolf gasped. He knew he had hit but still the Governor was unharmed.
The distortions cleared as the fog screen collapsed and to his surprise, he noticed that the Governor had not been seated where he believed he had.
"What happened?" The Governor wondered. "How could he possibly miss me? He was only standing two meters away from me!"
"The fog screen bent the light so it appeared that you were sitting a half of meter to the side." Jacques explained. "It's the same effect you get in shallow water if you try to reach for something on the bottom. The water bends the light and things aren't exactly where you believe they are."
The Governor looked confused.
"I understand." He lied.
"You better give up, now!" Matt ordered 'Mayhem', who reluctantly raised his hands as Matt pointed his gun at him.
"Help Brad and Gloria." He instructed Jacques and Paul. "I'll handcuff Wolf."
"Oh, I don't think so." A voice said from behind.
Turning around, the saw Vanessa Warfield standing in the door with a gun pointed at them.
"Vanessa?" Gloria questioned in disbelief.
"Back up against the wall." She ordered, then turned to Harker and Dagger. "Help the colonel on his feet. And get the Governor!"
Matt could not say that he was surprised to see that Vanessa was part of this since she had been working under Colonel Wolf for some time. He would have hoped that she should have better standards though.
"I'm really sad to see you involved in this." Matt told her as he backed up with the others. "You had a promising future as a racer. What exactly did he offer you?"
"Well, with a degree in math's and another in Information technology, what else was there to do?" she replied mockingly. "There's no real money either in the air force or in racing. You should have known this is if you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth."
"You can't help being greedy I suppose," Matt sighed. "but you can help being in league with someone who's trying to bring down the government."
"Do you really think that I care about politics?" Vanessa asked. "It's all the same no matter who's being elected. The best thing anyone can do is care for themselves."
In the meantime, Curt Harker and Cliff Dagger had helped 'Mayhem' on his feet and with the Governor in tow they went out into the hallway. Vanessa followed after them, her gun still pointing the agents. She also had the presence of mind to shut and jam the door after her with a chair.
"We've got to break the door." Matt said to Jacques. "Put your back into it!"
The two men put their shoulders to the door, and with their combined weight they only needed two solid pushes before the door gave way. They rushed out into the corridor and threw quick glances around them, trying to determine where the fugitives had gone.
"The elevators!" Brad pointed out. And indeed, the three VENOM members, and their hostage was anxiously waiting for the elevator to reach their floor.
Drawing their weapons, the four men and woman ran towards it.
"Keep them occupied until the elevator reaches this floor!" the colonel ordered.
Harker and Dagger determinedly positioned themselves between their leader and the approaching agents of the Special Missions Force. They opened fire, forcing their opposition to press themselves flat against the wall or taking cover behind doorposts. They didn't dare to return fire for the risk of hitting the Governor, something 'Mayhem' had counted on.
"Drive out the intruders," 'Mayhem' commanded, as Vanessa pushed the Governor into the elevator. "Run them out and finish them off!
The elevator closed behind them. Matt eased his head out from his shelter to try and see what floor it stopped on. A bullet from Dagger forced him to flatten himself to the wall again.
"We don't have time for this!" He grunted. "Brad and I will keep those two busy. The rest of you take the stairs down to the Executive Meeting room and secure the hostages!"
Matt and Brad intensified their firing, forcing Dagger and Harker to duck into the open elevator behind them, and simultaneously enabling the three others to vault for the stairway.
"Lost them!" Brad sighed, referring to Harker and Dagger. "When the other elevator gets here they will already have got away!"
"I managed to see that they were going for the garage." Matt said. "They probably have their vehicles stored there."
"Yeah, so what?" Brad asked angrily. "Unless we grow wings we can't get down there fast enough to stop them!"
"Harker and Dagger doesn't interest me for the moment." Matt informed, as he pressed the switch that would call the elevator to their floor. "My primary concern is that there are two agents less outside of the Executive Meeting Room, and with some luck we can catch the guards downstairs in a crossfire before they can harm the hostages."
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside.
Outside the battle was still raging with full fury. A 4x4 tank swung around, aiming its turret mounted 9 mm gun menacingly at Buddie Hawks in Firecracker, but Buddie kept a cool head, launching several rockets into the tanks hull from launchers that rose from the flatbed behind the cab.
Nearby the guns on a MLRS as well as Thunderhawk set up a network of fire, criss-crossing the sky with brilliant bursts. Rocks exploded, and trees were turned into roman candles. The MLRS managed to score a decisive hit on Thunderhawk.
"I'm hit and losing hydraulic fluid!" Claire reported. "I'm heading for Homebase for repairs while I still got control surfaces!
In Juggernaut's Tactical Operations Center, Alex Sector had what he jokingly referred to as the best seat in the house, as he watched the battle on the double rows of tactical screens in front of him, relaying the view from each agent's com-set. On the screen name-labelled "Trakker", he had witnessed the escape of Colonel Wolf. Alex knew that Matt was expecting the agents on the outside to act in order to prevent him from leaving the building with his hostage.
"Bishop!" He said into the microphone next to him. "Colonel Wolf managed to lose our guys, and he brought the Governor with him as company. He's probably heading for the garage."
"Understood." Bishop replied. "Inform Dusty and Morten to disengage and head him off."
The two agents responded immediately and peeled off to get to the garage. Sly Rax drove up in his motorcycle to block their way, smiling sadistically as he opened fire with his machineguns that was mounted in the sidecar.
"We can't waste time with this guy." Morten said. "If he manages to stall us enough, the colonel will get away."
"I'll take care of him." Dusty promised. "A dose of the electric ouch will do the trick!"
A gun rose from its position in the back of Gator and released a ball of electricity that hit the motorcycle and ran its surge through it. The current not only short-circuited everything electronic in the motorcycle, but it also passed through Sly Rax and induced involuntary muscle contractions that prevented him from breaking free. Once it had discharged, Rax slumped over the handlebar unconscious.
Coming down the ramp into the garage, Morten and Dusty arrived just as Colonel Wolf exited the elevator with the governor. No longer carrying a gun, 'Mayhem' had to settle with dragging the governor in front of him as a shield. Knowing that the firepower in their vehicles was so great that it would risk injuring the hostage, both men left the cars, opting to utilize the weaponry of their masks instead.
Noting their hesitation Wolf opened the door to his car to force the Governor inside. That was the moment when Dusty decided to act, as he believed that he would be shielded by the effects.
"Backlash, fire!"
The mask created a sonic boom of deafening magnitude that was directed in the form of a cone of pressurized air molecules. It hit Colonel Wolf in the chest, knocking him down on the ground, possibly with a few broken ribs.
"Let's get the Governor to safety." Morten suggested as they pulled him out of the car.
It was a good thing that they did, because as they begun to lead him away the doors to the elevators slid open and Curt Harker and Cliff Dagger exited. They immediately understood the situation and opened fire on the two agents who took cover behind a pillar.
Using the distraction provided by his men, 'Mayhem' staggered up to his feet and got into the driver seat. The engine started at the first attempt and he speeded out of the garage, passing between the two opposing sides.
Harker and Dagger ceased the opportunity to break off and ran towards their own cars.
Morten stepped forward in a last attempt to stop them from getting away.
"Dazzler, on!" he said, activating his mask which emitted a chaotic cascade of sparkling lights and colors. He hoped that he would blind Harker and Dagger with its brilliance, but their windshields managed to spare them from the worst effect. With loud screeches from the tires, the two cars drove up the ramp to the outside.
"We have the governor, but the Colonel and two of his men managed to get away!" Morten briefed through the com-net.
Alex Sector was quick to respond and he signalled Hondo and Calhoun to intercept them. They had missed Colonel Wolf, but perhaps they could stop his men.
The two VENOM-vehicles came racing up the ramp at full speed, past the front entrance, and out onto a small road that went on the backside of the hotel past the tennis courts and pool, heading for the Carlin Ct.
"It's a good thing that we are standing on a gravelled road," Calhoun said as they saw the two vehicles approaching. "We can use this to our advantage. Cover your ears, Hondo! Vortex on!"
He stepped out of his vehicle and two turbines located on each side of his mask powered up and during an incredible noise it blew up a storm of tissue, leaves and small stones from the ground in a terrible blizzard.
Curt Harker crouched down behind the wheel, shielding himself from injury. Several stones hit the canopy of Daggers SUV, fracturing the windshield.
"We must take out those guys or we will be captured!" Harker screamed into the radio. He didn't know if Dagger responded, because every sound drowned in the noise from the vortex.
Curt activated the weapon systems on his Jaguar and machine guns protruded from the flanks of the car and began to fire. Simultaneously Dagger unleashed his cannon fire. Raven and Ranger was forced to back off, and the two VENOM agents used this opportunity to drive away.