Chapter 7: The Power of a Neph'arim
6th September 2017, Nellis Range Complex, Nevada
Secret, non-governmental Research-Facility
Two circular metallic objects stood in the middle of a bright enlightened, vast room. The walls, ceiling and floor were made of concrete. Its interior filled with technological equipment. At least twenty heavy armed soldiers were standing at the ready, facing the large subspace portals.
Mr. Wilcock and Colonel Sanders, who had just arrived a few minutes ago, waited for the extraction team finally to show up.
"Incoming subspace signal!" it chimed from the speakers. Immediately all soldiers readied their guns and aimed at the portals, in which the air began to shimmer, before an intense bright spot grew into circle of intense, unearthly light for a fracture of a second and the black van appeared, stopping in the middle of the hall.
All doors of the vehicle opened and the extraction team disembarked. Additionally, an already on standby standing medical team that was led by a small, blonde, young woman took care of Max, who was laying on a gurney.
As soon as Sanders spotted Stransky, he darted towards him, took the blond man by his collar and held his Colt 1911 in his face.
"You fucking son of a bitch, I ordered you to avoid unnecessary casualties and to only use the Taser bullets. I'm gonna make sure that you'll suffer for this!"
"Try it…Colonel!" Stransky spit into his face, letting a crazy snickering follow.
Unimpressed by this behavior, Mr. Wilcock walked over to the medical team, speaking to the woman with the blond, into a bun bounded hair.
"How is she, Dr. Marsh?"
"She's alive…barely," Dr. Marsh answered, checking the brunette girl on the gurney. "What the…?! What asshole shot three of these bullets into her chest?" she yelled, gazing furiously at the man of the extraction team.
Grabbing Stransky, the Colonel threw him right in front of the doctor's feet. "This piece of shit here!"
"You could've killed her!" she yelled into his face, but only received a "So?", which was answered with a punch into the blond man's face. Now rubbing her right hand, Dr. Marsh turned towards her team again. "We need to get her to the medical section, stat!"
The medics rolled Max out of the room in a fast pace, leaving the other men behind.
"How's this possible?" Stransky asked as he got up with a groan, his lower lip bleeding, "I shot her three times in the chest. This would've killed everyone."
"Mr. Stransky," Wilcock said as he turned towards him, "Your reputation preceded you. Do you really think I would've let one single life round close to you, when there's so much at stake?"
"And why didn't you tell me?" the Colonel intervened, obviously pretty angry about this withheld information.
"As a military man, you would've been against taking only experimental bullets to a deadly operation. Therefore I decided to keep you unaware of that fact."
Now even more furious, the Colonel stepped closer to the old man, hissing his words at him with gritted teeth, "From the start this whole operation has been nothing more than FUBAR. I lost six good men and we only achieved a dead woman and an unconscious girl. That's…"
"None of you business anymore," interrupted him Wilcock calmly with a raised hand, "Colonel, as far as I remember, you were about to clean out your quarters. You'll leave in thirty minutes, so I guess you should hurry."
Even more enraged, Colonel Sanders turned around and left, leaving Mr. Wilcock and a snickering Viktor Stransky behind.
"Mr. Stransky," he now addressed the blonde man, "I don't know why you're laughing. You disobeyed direct orders and your job is everything else then done. So, if you want to get paid, I suggest that you head into the command center and try to find our target!"
Hearing that he was about to not get his money, Stransky mumbled some curses and left, too.
Another gateway opened and men packed with equipment appeared. The operation in Arcadia Bay was over. Now Wilcock had to find a new opportunity to seize the girl with the blue hair. Maybe he could use the other girl as bait? Maybe…
Base exterior
Scorched earth. Wasteland. A desert was merciless. Every living being that dared to enter it and wasn't prepared or would get lost, was doomed to die. So, it was only logical to build a top-secret facility right in the middle of such a deadly place. Additionally, since the Nellis Range Complex was a military test site for experimental weapons, it was also off limits for any civilian traffic, by land and air.
Downside: standing guard in such a place was boring and draining as hell. Hot climate, the same uneventful landscape and the fact that nobody ever entered this base through the front door increased the psychological pressure for the guarding soldiers even more. Not even the high payment they received could entirely wipe out this fact.
Captain Hastings, a former high decorated Veteran of the U.S. military was sitting in one of the guard towers which were flanking the front gate, reading some reports on his high-end tablet. Like the other soldiers, he was dressed in desert-camouflaged uniform. Lucky for him, the interior of the tower had an air-conditioning system, so that the guards could cool down from time to time.
'Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Why do we write these fucking reports anyway if there's nothing to write about?'
"Captain, Sir!" called a soldier who was scanning the terrain with a binocular.
"What is it, soldier? Found a damsel in distress?" Hastings scoffed, almost a bit relieved to have some entertainment.
"Uh…that's not far from the truth, Sir." answered the black-skinned soldier.
Sighing annoyingly, the Captain got up, walked over to the soldier and ripped the binocular out of his hand. "Let's hope that you're not pullin' my leg here, Private!"
As he scanned the landscape with the optical devise at first, Hastings spied nothing more than the same tediousness, until he saw a shimmering blue spot. "What the…?!" he murmured, immediately calling another soldier, "Sergeant Evers, take your spotter, get on that AMR of yours and confirm my sighting!"
"Sir, yes, Sir!" answered a young soldier, jumping up right away and took position on his 50 cal. rifle, his spotter at his side. The steel plate, which covered the loophole, was removed to give the team a full sight.
"Quadrant eight, Evers!"
The sniper-team took aim at the said coordinates, communicating with each other the way they were trained.
"Confirmation, Sir! One unidentified person, heading our way. Distance…one point two miles."
"Damn tourists!" the Captain cursed with gritted teeth, knowing that they were allowed to shoot every unauthorized person on sight without a warning, "Get me Command on the radio, stat!"
Medical section
Her body hurt as well as her head. To move or even opening her eyes seemed like an impossible task, letting Max groan as she tried it. So, instead of trying the unthinkable, she focused on recalling how she came into this situation.
She remembered her date with Chloe and how great it had ended. Oh, it had been the best sex she had in years. Chloe, obviously a bit less experienced than she and Victoria, had knocked Max's ex-girlfriend off the throne easily. Max also remembered that they wanted to go another round, but…then there had been this strange sound and she wanted to look what it was and then…there were these strange masked men at the bottom of the stairs, and then…? Did she simply dream it? Did she just fall down the stairs? This would at least explain the pain she was in.
"Ugh, Ch-Chloe?" she groaned, once more trying to move, this time with more success.
"Hush, Maxine. Take it easy!"
Hearing an unknown, yet sweet voice unexpectedly, Max's eyes snapped open and she sat up straight in merely a second, ignoring all the pain and nausea. Her gaze fell onto a blonde woman, who smiled at the young girl warmly and touched her chest softly, pressing her back on the bed. Max didn't know how and why, but somehow this touch calmed and soothed her right away, making her pain to vanish in a second.
"Wh-who are you? Where am I?"
"I'm Dr. Kate Marsh, and you're at a secret research facility of a non-official conglomerate, called Organization. Silly name, I know."
If she wouldn't be so afraid and laying half-naked in the middle of an artificial-lightened room with concrete walls and no window, Max would've laughed at Dr. Marsh, asking her about a hidden cam and if Chloe was involved in that prank. But somehow she felt that the blonde was telling the truth.
"How did I get here? And…where's Chloe?"
"Maxine…"
"Just Max, never Maxine!"
"Alright…Max, I'll explain everything in time, but right now I need you to get dressed and ready to go!" Kate hurried, helped Max up and led her to a pile of prepared clothes.
Command center
"Still nothing, Sir!" said a man in front of a big screen, the west coast of the U.S. shown on it.
"Are the sensor working properly again?" asked Wilcock in return, his hands clenching. For hours they were now looking for any sign of the blue-haired girl, but came out with nothing.
"Yes, Sir! We don't know what caused the anomaly, but it wasn't a hardware problem."
"It was her," he concluded with gritted teeth, "She's way more powerful than we thought."
"Sir," another soldier now called, "I've got Captain Hastings on the radio."
"Put him on speakers!" Wilcock ordered, already having a bad feeling, "Captain, report!"
"Sir," it chimed from the speakers, "We've got an unidentified person, approaching the base. Looks like a lost tourist."
"You know the orders, Captain." Wilcock stated nonchalantly, already focused on his former problem again.
"Yes, Sir!"
Base exterior
"Shit!" Hastings muttered under his breath. He knew what he had to do now. The orders were clear and left no space for interpretation. Internally he cited one last prayer for this poor soul that was searching salvation and was about to receive an ugly end. "Sergeant Evers!"
"Sir?"
"Ready your gun and take aim!"
"Sir, I…" stammered the sniper, but was interrupted in his words right away.
"Sergeant," Hastings gaze now almost pierced the young soldier, "This was an order!"
"Yes, Sir!"
The sniper-team got ready. Data, like distance, elevation and wind speed were exchanged, until a "Target in sight, awaiting orders!" chimed.
The radio still in his hand, Captain Hasting gazed at the far away silhouette for some time, squeezing the com device tightly, before he yelled a loud "Fire!"
With a deafening bang the rifle spit out its deadly projectile, letting it fly towards the target.
Now glancing through the binocular once more, Hastings waited for the poor bastard to hit the ground, but to his own surprise he walked on. Shooting a rifle at such distances and under such extreme conditions took a lot of experience. Hitting a target right on the spot was even harder. Therefore, the Captain remained calm, not blaming the young Sergeant.
"You missed, boy. Again! Fire when ready!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Once more, the gun released its deadly load, dust which had covered the tower and was blown up by the released gases almost took the Captain's sight. But as it had settled, his eyes widened.
"Sergeant, you missed again!"
"I-I don't understand, Sir! I…"
"Shut it!" he yelled, now speaking into his radio, "Sergeant Troy, your turn! Fire when ready!"
A few minutes later, another shot chimed from the other guard tower nearby and, once more, without any effect.
"AGAIN!" Hasting now yelled into the radio, answered by another shot, which also had no result.
Now entirely enraged, Captain Hastings pushed the call-button on the radio, ready to release a barrage of curses. He hadn't even said a word as, with a hissing sound, Sergeant Evers' and his spotter's head, plus their rifle and monocular exploded into a mixture of blood, brain, skull, bits and pieces, painting everything around them red.
Pure panic broke out inside the tower. Everyone yelled to hit the ground, and everybody did. According to the com-traffic, the same was probably going on in the other tower, too.
"Command, command! This is Hastings, we're under attack! I repeat, we're under attack!"
Nellis Range Complex, outside the facility
An ozone layer protected her pale skin from the burning sun. An air cushion under bare feet protected them from the hot sand. The air inside her protective bubble was constantly cooled down.
Slowly, Juno'ka approached the enemy's facility, knowing that they would spot her pretty soon, but she didn't care. The time of hiding was over. She could've easily landed in the middle of the base, taking them by surprise, but this would've been just too quick. No. She wanted them to see her; wanted them to witness her power; wanted them to sink in despair and fear while their inevitable death was approaching with small steps.
Suddenly, she felt a disturbance in the air. Juno'ka compressed the air molecules around her, making it like gel, and stopped the incoming projectile.
"How predictable!" she spoke to herself, moving on while three more bullets got caught in her field. "Time to send them a message of their approaching death!"
She bobbed her head slightly to one side and scanned the area with her senses. The trajectory of the bullets was still a visible trail in the air and four bright reflections, each pair very close to each other, told her that she was constantly watched by four persons and at least two of them had the capability to shoot at her. Nonetheless, she would make every bullet count, because in the end, none of them would survive her wreath anyway.
The pointy projectiles turned around, aiming now at their sources. Juno'ka's eyes and hair glowed even brighter than before and the bullets were sent on their way. A few minutes later, the sound of alarm sirens chimed from the facility, followed by a barrage of numerous loud shots. Though she knew that there was a countless number of deadly projectiles of different sizes on their way to finish her off, Juno simply grinned, awaiting them eagerly.
"So, it begins!"
Medical section
Max closed the zipper of her new grey hoodie that came with grey, tight sweatpants, which she was wearing now.
"Are you ready?" asked Dr. Marsh, who had turned away for the time, Max had been changing into her new clothes.
"Yeah…kinda…" answered Max, comping with her finger through her brown hair to loosen it up a bit, "So…uhm…where are we going?"
"Listen Max, we…" began Kate to explain, but stopped right away as the alarm started to howl and the ground was slightly shaken by numerous tiny explosions.
"Attention! The base is under attack! Every non-fighting personal stays at their post until further notice! I repeat…" it chimed from the base's PA.
"Wh-what's going on?" asked Max almost panicky and it was again Kate's touch that calmed her down immediately.
The blonde looked deep and sternly into her eyes, letting the young girl know how serious the situation was. "Max, we need to go, now!"
They hadn't even reached the door as a vast explosion on the surface shook the ground so hard, that both women lost their balance and hit the floor with a shriek.
Command center
"Sir, we've got a signal!" called the man at the screen towards Mr. Wilcock, who immediately walked over to him.
"Where's she?" he said, but didn't receive an answer right away, "Soldier!" As the old man gazed over the soldier's shoulder, he froze, his words failing him out of surprise.
"She's here…" whispered the soldier, both he and Wilcock gazing stunned at the screen, which showed their base and a bright blue dot just under a mile away. Eventually, only Captain Hastings' voice over the PA let them snap out of it.
"Command, command! This is Hastings, we're under attack! I repeat, we're under attack! I got four men down. Probably multiple hidden enemies, aiming at our position."
"Set the base on high-alert!" Wilcock commanded loudly, before he reached for the radio, "Hastings, it's just the girl! I want you to shoot everything at her that we have. I repeat, everything! Machine guns, mortars, artillery shells, rockets! I want you to blast her into oblivion!"
"Yes, Sir!"
The bases alert began to chime along with small detonations of the artillery, followed by a repeating speech through the facility's PA.
"Attention! The base is under attack! Every non-fighting personal stays at their post until further notice! I repeat…"
"I want visual on the screen what's going on out there!" was Wilcock's next order and a big screen on the wall came to life, but it didn't show what he wanted to see. The enemy was still alive, and what she was about to do left everyone in the entire command center tremble in fear, and lose their hope. That fact was a moment later underlined by a vast explosion.
Base exterior
"Hastings, it's just the girl! I want you to shoot everything at her that we have. I repeat, everything! Machine guns, mortars, artillery shells, rockets! I want you to blast her into oblivion!"
"Yes, Sir!" answered Hastings through the radio and stood up, trying to ignore the bloody mess close to him. The bases alert began to howl, telling him that they were under high-alert and everyone was ordered to take position. He changed the channel on his radio, so that every CO could hear him. "Attention! This is Captain Hastings; I want concentrated fire on the target. Fire at will!"
Immediately, every heavy ordinance began to fire. The air was filled with metal and sulfuric smoke from the propellant, while the bulletproof glass of the tower vibrated from the pressure waves.
Captain Hastings gazed through the binocular once more, awaiting the target to vanish into a column of dirt, smoke and shrapnel, but nothing like this happened. The Captain almost dropped his optical device as he saw that every projectile had been stopped and hovered over the enemy.
Then, the deadly load started to swirl around. In the meanwhile, every gun had stopped firing, their COs and soldiers probably witnessing this spectacle, too. All those grenades and bullets were now forming a big sphere, and as it flew towards the base, all Hastings could do was to take down the binocular and wait for the impact, his lips leaving one last screamed order.
"GET DOOOOOWN!"
A moment later, his world was filled with deafening noise, dust, pain, screams of other soldiers and, eventually, darkness.
Command center
Panic and fear filled the entire room. As Arlen Wilcock finally managed to get up he saw that desperation had taken everyone into a tight grip. People were screaming, praying or trying to leave, but because of the alarm, the vast blast door of the command center had been sealed shut. Only by disabling the security protocol it was possible to open it again. Right now, his most important task was to regain control over the situation.
He grabbed the mic for the PA and yelled into it.
"ATTANTION!"
Immediately the panicky screaming died as every pair of eyes gazed at him, ready to receive new orders.
"Everyone, get back to your post. We're under attack and have trained this scenario more than once."
"B-but this?!" a young soldier spoke, his voice dripping with fear, "This is only one…thing, and it just threw everything we shot at it back at us. We need to evacuate, we…"
The soldier wasn't even able to finish his sentence as a shot chimed through the room and penetrated his skull, leading once more to panic.
"SILENCE!" yelled Wilcock again, putting back his gun into the holster under his jacket, "Everybody back to their station, now! I want a full evaluation of the damage and the situation at the surface. I want every available soldier in combat. She mustn't reach the command center!"
"Sir," now another soldier reported, "The entire security system at the surface is dead. The gate's down and twenty percent of the base's external structure is completely destroyed."
"Get me a satellite image and find out where she is. Engage Operation Exodus and start to transfer the entire data to the main server."
"Yes, Sir!"
"Is there any word from Captain Hastings?"
"No, Sir! I tried to reach him several times, but…"
"We need to assume that he's dead. Radio the guards in the medical wing and tell them to secure the Caulfield girl, maybe we can use her as leverage."
"Yes, Sir!"
"And get me Stransky on the radio! He can make himself useful for once!"
"Attention all personal! Operation Exodus engaged. All non-fighting personal proceed to the transfer-room for evacuation! I repeat…"
Base exterior
Every inch of his body hurt. The taste of blood was filling his mouth. Breathing was hard, because his nose was entirely blocked by concrete dust.
Slowly, Captain Hastings fought his way back to full consciousness. At first he tried to remember what had happened and therefore to assess the situation. He recalled the explosion. How his body had been thrown through the air. And then he'd felt only pain and pressure. He was probably buried under a pile of debris. Still, he needed to get up and fight. And in order to do that, the Captain had to orientate first.
As he cautiously opened his eyes, feeling all dizzy and disoriented, Hastings realized that he was still out in the open, the blue sky right above him, but he couldn't move. So, it's even possible that his body took a heavy hit and he was even paralyzed.
He suddenly remembered Afghanistan. The heavy fights. The one time an RPG had hit the wall beside him and it had collapsed. He had been buried there, too. At least it had felt similar.
Suddenly, there was a strong pull and some strange noises. So, his hearing was probably fucked by the explosion, too. He was lifted up. A good sign! Some of his men were still alive and helped, so the fight wasn't over, yet. There was still the possibility to win this! Or was there?
His hope was utterly destroyed as he was forced to glance into a pair of deep blue glowing eyes. Hastings reckoned that the girl in front of him wasn't older than twenty years, tops. She was only dressed in a loose, blue shirt and some purple panties. All-in-all, a cute girl. If it weren't for her glowing eyes, the glowing hair, the emotionless expression and her capability to throw tons of life ammunition back at them.
Hastings figured that it had been probably her, who had pulled him out of the debris with her powers. The same powers that brought him in this situation in the first place and this meant that he was at the girl's mercy. He wanted to say something, but failed. Not that it would've mattered anyway, because the young woman just let him drop like a bag of potatoes.
To his horror, he landed right beside a beheaded corpse. Poor bastard must've lost his head during the explosion. But what surprised him was the fact that this dead man had been in the rank of a Captain, and Hastings had been the only Captain who had duty at the surface during that time. Slowly, he put the pieces together and the name tag on the body validated that this was in fact his own body.
Now that shock and certainty were finally settling in, his vision blurred and the everlasting darkness put its cold arms around him.
Medical wing
"Wh-what the freakin' hell was that?!" Max asked with a groan as Dr. Marsh helped her up.
"Attention all personal! Operation Exodus engaged. All non-fighting personal proceed to the transfer-room for evacuation! I repeat…"
"That's our sign to get out of here!" responded the blonde, but as she was about to reach for the door's handle it got opened and one soldier entered while another one stayed outside to guard the door. Assuming that they were here to lead them to the transfer room, Kate grabbed Max's hand and wanted to walk past the first soldier, but was stopped as he blocked the exit. "What's that suppose to mean? We need to evacuate! She's a civilian and…"
"Sorry ma'am, the girl needs to stay! Orders from high above!" the heavy armed man simply answered, "But you're free to go!"
Clenching her jaw, Kate let go of the young girl's hand and gave the soldier a stern glare. "Very well," she calmly said, and reached under her white coat. Not expecting any further resistance or problems, the uniformed man just stepped a bit aside to let the doctor leave. He, however, was so off-guard that he didn't realize how Dr. Marsh brought forth a strange looking pistol and shot the soldier right in the head, who just crumbled to the ground with a steaming, glowing hole in his skull. The second soldier hadn't even turned around as the same fate awaited him.
Completely startled by this act of violence, Max shrieked and stumbled a few steps back. "Why the fuck did you do that?!" she yelled at the doctor, who just gazed at her emotionlessly.
"If we stay, you're dead. As I already said, I'll explain everything to you later. Now come, we don't have much time!" Kate urges, once more reaching the brunette girl her hand, which she only took reluctantly.
Base interior
"Stransky! Stransky, come in!" chimed the yelling voice of Wilcock from Viktor Stransky's radio. The mercenary took one last sip of his coke to flush down the remnants of his meal, burped in satisfaction and now slowly reached for the call-button.
"Stransky here!" he nonchalantly answered, almost grinning that everything seemed to go to hell.
"Stransky, this blue-haired bitch is attacking our base! You want to kill someone? Now's you chance. Go to the armory and get yourself what you need, and then finish this cunt off! You have free hand how you're doing it!"
Now grinning even more that Wilcock was depending on him, the blonde man couldn't suppress an amused chuckle as he gave his answer.
"What's it worth to you? I mean, it is very dangerous and your men are about to fuck up and…"
"I double your payment!"
"And the brunette! I want to have her, too!" he pushed, knowing that Wilcock was at a loss. Just imagine how he would play with this brown-haired cunt; how he would have his way with her before he would slowly finish her off, sent shivers of excitement over his spine. Eventually, Wilcock couldn't afford to say no.
For some moments there was silence before Wilcock finally answered.
"You're a sick piece of shit! But done! You can have her, once you did your job."
"Excellent!" Stransky cheered and joyfully jumped up, "I call you as soon as I've finished my job, then."
He turned off his radio, not waiting for a response and walked towards the armory, whistling a joyful song. For him, the job was as good as done, because how hard can it be to kill a little girl?
Base exterior
"There she is!" yelled a soldier and started to fire his gun. A moment later, the very same bullets that were meant to kill her, pulverized his head instead.
Another man shot with a rocket launcher. The projectile stopped and Juno'ka altered the chemical composition of the explosive, making it more powerful. She sent it towards a tank that was waiting behind the next corner and let it explode in a vast fireball.
Multiple other enemies fired at her while they yelled orders, curses or even simply screamed out of pain. They all died by their own bullets or were ripped apart by Juno'ka. One soldier, who was mounting the 50-cal machinegun of a Humvee, fired his entire belt of 250 rounds at the young girl. She simply turned the bullets into razor-sharp shards and threw them back. Both, the vehicle and the soldier were shredded into pieces.
She was unstoppable. It seemed like nothing could prevent her from reaching the source of the data streams she could literally see in the air. But then, there was a loud shot and she felt immediately that something was different about this incoming bullet.
Base interior, Armory
It was like a neat little shopping tour through his favorite convenience store with the ground shaking explosions on the surface as the calming background music.
Still whistling a happy song, Stransky walked down the rows filled with a lot of guns. M4, G36, SCAR, M16, G3, M249 SAW, everything a gun-freak's heart with the need for firepower desired. He even passed grenade- and rocket launchers, but those weren't the weapons he searched for. No. Stransky, since his first deployment in the field involved into covert ops and close combat, preferred smaller arms with a tad of an exotic punch against body armor, like an MP7 or a P90.
He chose an MP7 with Penetrator-rounds and was thinking to add some explosive to his cart as he stopped at an ammo shelve with the inscription anti-shield bullets (experimental) and gazed with a grin at the strange looking .50 BMG rounds. He really wanted to make sure that this blue-haired bitch would bite the dust and word was that she could stop bullets. But this ammunition was usually fired by heavy AMRs and M2 machine guns, none of them practical for close range. So, Stransky was about to let his plan slip as, suddenly, his sight caught another bunch of guns near by. Bulky and heavy WTS pistols for .50 BMG rounds, ready for use.
With another joyfully tone on his lips, he grabbed one of the heavy guns and started to get used to the weight and the bulkiness. It wasn't very comfortable and the recoil would probably be far stronger than of a .50 Desert Eagle, but as long as it would do the job, Stransky didn't care.
He loaded and shouldered the guns, packed some ammo into the pouches of his new combat vest and left the armory.
"Thanks, boy!" he said to the armory's guard, who's sitting lifeless in his chair with a bullet hole in his forehead. Stransky simply hadn't had the time to argue with the guard or to let him ask for Wilcock's approval. Everything was about to go to hell anyway, so why bother about another dead man?
On his way to the surface, Stransky spied the Caulfield girl and another woman, who seemed to be a doctor from her attire, running right in front of him before they headed into a different deserted hallway and for a moment he considered to follow them, but first things first. Wilcock promised him the girl anyway and even if she'd try to escape, she wouldn't come that far. That's why he kept on focusing on killing his target and would later get his well-deserved payment later.
By the time he'd reached the elevator, another big explosion shook the entire ground, telling the mercenary that the fight on the surface was still heavy. And as the doors of the lift slide open, the intensive stench and sound of the ongoing battle swooped against him and filled him with even more joy.
Stransky stepped out of the elevator and headed outside. What he saw let his heart skip a beat. The entire area was covered with debris and metal parts, buildings were merely ruins and corpses and body parts were scattered all over the place. He had always wished to participate in at least one big battle of one of the two World Wars, where huge armies had clashed against each other with thousands of dead and a devastated field full of rotting corpses. His great-grandfather and grandfather had been lucky to witness such greatness, but not him. Modern wars had always been about high-tech weapons and small combats. Guerilla warfare and long-distance skirmishes. Nothing big. But this here, this was a true fight against a powerful, merciless and trained enemy, not just some kids who can't even hold their guns steady.
He moved swiftly between the debris and ruined buildings, always on the hunt for his prey. Eventually, Stransky simply needed to follow the gunshots and soon, he'd found her.
She was just about to finish off another bunch of soldiers and therefore gave Stransky the chance to witness her perfection of killing. It was beautiful, and if this would've been a dream, he would've married and fucked this powerful cunt right away. But sadly, this was reality and he had a job to do.
With professionally movements he took the .50 BMG pistol from his shoulder and took aim at her head. Being sure that the anti-shield bullet would do its job, he squeezed the trigger with delight and already imagined what he would do with his payment.
Base exterior, service-elevator entrance
The doors glided open and revealed a picture of horror to the two women. The destruction, the stench, the dead. Everything almost let Max lose her conscious. The young girl gagged and had to muster all of her composure to not throw up right away, whereas Dr. Marsh just gazed at the entire scenery stoically.
"We need to move!" she said, once more taking Max's hand and led her further on. Gunshots could be heard in the distance, but they faded eventually. Between the ruins Max could see a bright, blueish glow and she wanted nothing more than to stop and take a closer look. But Kate's grip and pull was way too strong for her to resist.
They finally reached a mainly intact building. After letting go of Max, Kate opened one of the metallic gates and revealed a Humvee. Then another single shot chimed, which made both look in its direction for a moment, Max already having the feeling that something was wrong here.
"Quick, get inside!" Kate hurried and the brunette girl, now happy that she hadn't to run anymore and was still able to leave this messed up situation behind, embarked the vehicle. Dr. Marsh quickly started the engine – Max didn't even dare to ask why the blonde had the keys for that bulky thing – and punched the gas. After they'd maneuvered through the debris, Max and Kate eventually approached a small gate in a fence, but the doctor didn't stop. She simply rammed it open and both now drove deep into the desert.
Base exterior
The bullet stopped merely an inch in front of her face. A close call, but not because it came out of surprise. No. This bullet was special. It emitted a field of neutrons around itself, making it able to fly a lot faster and to penetrate small, portable shields. Juno'ka recognized this technology, because she had been one of the heads who'd developed it in the first place.
"Neph'arim technology…interesting!" she said as she inspected the projectile closely, scanning its crude, imperfect construction. She knew that her opponent probably had more of them at his disposal, and was proven right as another projectile approached. This time she was prepared and stopped it sooner.
She scanned the area with her senses and realized that the shots had been fired from two different positions, yet they were close enough to be originated from one person. Her enemy was smarter this time. Changed position after a shot, but it wouldn't give him any further advantage.
Once more, using her senses, she found chemical traces of the man's pheromones and followed the trail they're leaving with her sight. But something seemed familiar. By breaking down the chemical composition of the pheromones, Juno'ka realized that this man had been at Max's house when she'd been shot…No, worse! This man was her murderer!
Deep burning anger let the girl's hair and eyes glow even brighter. She pressed the two floating bullets in front of her into two sharp discs and sent them on their way.
"Shit!" hissed Stransky, his eyes wide open in surprise as he realized that the bullet hadn't reached its target.
Knowing that his position might've been discovered, he moved to another one. Maybe this very first bullet didn't function correctly – they were still experimental after all – therefore he would give it another try, before thinking about another solution for the problem.
Once more, he took aim, breathed calmly in and out, and squeezed the trigger gently. With another loud bang the projectile was on its way and once again, it got stopped.
"Fucking cunt!" he cursed now and threw the heavy gun plus its ammunition away, losing some dead weight. Then Stransky drew his MP7 and closed in on the girl, trying to get her from behind. Quickly he had reached the perfect position for sneak attack.
'This fucking bitch doesn't even know where I am.' he thought with an internal chuckle, took her in sight and was about to release an entire magazine of 4.5 millimeter bullets into her back as he suddenly heard a metallic whirring sound passing him. At first, giving it not much attention, Stransky soon realized that he had no control over his hands anymore. But before he could ask himself why, his arms dropped to the ground. They had been cut-off clean and the wounds were now sealed by two metallic discs as they literally melted together with his flesh, making the blonde man scream in agony as he was lifted off the ground.
"So, you're the one who shot her," chimed a distorted voice right in front of him. Still breathing heavily and his shaking body flooded by adrenaline, Stransky gazed into a pair of blue burning eyes.
"F-fuck you, cunt! I'm gonna rip your glowing eyes out and…"
Once more he screamed out loud as his tongue got ripped out and landed right beside his arms, making him shut up.
"You don't deserve a quick death," said the girl emotionlessly, leaning closer in, "You need to see it coming long before it embraces you. You need to know that it's inevitable. You need to scream out your lungs and release all your feces before your shame of behaving like a low animal will be ended by a gruesome death! Say," Now she leaned even more in, her voice nothing more than whiff, "What do you think how long it will take you to ascend up to 15,000 feet and then fall back until you hit the ground again?"
Silence. He wasn't able to answer anyway and the only thing he felt right now was fear and deep burning desperation upon his inevitable end.
"You better start counting!"
As he was foretold, Stransky screamed out his lungs as he was lifted higher and higher, the girl soon only a tiny bright, blue spot.
Command center
"Reports!" shouted Wilcock, gazing around the room, "I want to know what's going on up there!"
"Sir," a soldier answered him, "We lost contact to all units and we can't find the target anymore!"
"And what about Stransky and the Caulfield girl?" the old man asked further, but only received more shaking heads. "Alright," he then said calmly with a sigh, "how's Operation Exodus coming?"
"Sir, all non-fighting personal has been evacuated and 72.5 percent of the data as been transferred!"
"Very good!" Wilcock spoke with at least some relief, "Looks like we have to sit this one out until reinforcements arrive. Just make sure that…"
"Sir!" another soldier interrupted, "Data stream has been cut and the sensors are going haywire!"
"What the…" Wilcock started, but the cracking of the base's PA let him go silent and the all too familiar distorted voice sent a cold shiver down his spine.
"I know you're in there! I can smell your fear. I can feel your desperation upon your inevitable death. Prepare to witness the true power of a Neph'arim!"
Once more, pure panic filled the room. Orders were screamed, prayers were whispered, and tears were flowing. Most of the soldiers inside the room drew their sidearm and took cover, preparing for combat. Only Wilcock's yelled "SILENCE!" broke the chaos and led to some order. At least enough to say some words.
"This blast door was built to withstand a direct hit of a thirty kiloton nuke. Maybe she has cut us off, but she won't be able to come in here. So, everybody back to their station and try to fix the damned data-…"
His voice suddenly failed as the big metallic door began to creak and slowly started to glow red. Everybody in the command center watched with eyes wide open how the glow changed it's color, from red to orange to yellow and, eventually, to blinding white.
"Th-this can't be!" the old man murmured, gazing at a display which showed that the door's core temperature was by over 30,000 Kelvin. "Get away from that door!" Wilcock yelled, but for the two guards and three other men close-by came this warning too late. Their flesh literally melted away in seconds, accompanied by their short agonizing screams for help. Eventually, the door melted away too, which left a big hole in it. Wilcock knew that they all should be dead by now, like the five other men, but somehow the heat seemed to only be effective right at the blast door.
Those who were still able to react, started to shoot into the newly formed now blue glowing and steaming entrance, but got cut down by their own bullets right away. Others died, because slim, pointy needles of molten metal pierced all of their vital organs at once. In the end, only Arlen Wilcock remained, stumbling backwards as Juno'ka emerged through the steaming entrance, a very small, blinding, blue shining object hovering right beside her. It followed every one if her steps like a pet.
She came closer, scanning every bit of the command center and as she'd reached the frightened old man, Juno'ka simply stood there gazing at him deeply. Despite all the power she'd already demonstrated, she looked pale while sweat ran down her face, indicating that all this must've been very exhausting for her. Yet, she didn't show any weakness. Minutes passed in silence, until the girl just turned away and wandered around the room, the blue light source and Wilcock's gaze still following her.
"Over six months ago I gave you a promise. I told you that I'd hunt you down if you don't leave Chloe alone or hurt innocent people. You didn't listen, now here I am." She stopped in front of a monitor and touched the display. "Interesting," Juno'ka then continued, "All this knowledge. You tried to transfer it to an external device you'd call a server, but I couldn't let you do it. I reckoned that you try to reverse-engineering Neph'arim and other extraterrestrial technology. Technology which is far beyond humanity's capabilities. So, where did you get it from?"
"We…" Wilcock began to answer, coughing once to steady is fear-drenched voice, "We're just a small R 'n' D branch. We only receive the technology or construction plans, seldom we need to get it on our own, and then…"
As Juno'ka raises her hand he went silent again, "So, you don't know where it comes from." and got a shaking head as an answer. "Humans," Juno'ka scoffed, "You always think that you're the greatest creation in this universe. Your race is so young, yet so arrogant. People like you make me want to eradicate your entire race from existence, yet…people like Chloe and Max showed me how passionate and emotional you can be." A soft smile appeared on her lips and all the bitterness vanished from her tone. "It reminded me of my bond-mate. The deep feelings I once had for her and…and for…" Her voice broke for a moment before her fist hit the console in front of her, turning it into a pile of junk. "YOU TOOK IT FROM US!" she yelled, her eyes burning with anger as she gazed at Wilcock and lifted him up, closing in slowly, "You destroyed a wonderful bond between Chloe and Max! You killed another innocent girl without any reason, and now you'll pay for that!"
"B-but she's alive!" said the old man, his voice trembling out of fear.
Immediately Juno'ka stopped, her eyes wide opened out of surprise. "What?!"
"The girl. We didn't kill her. We just stunned her with some new developed ammunition. That's all!"
"Where is she?"
"I-I don't know. We lost contact to the soldiers who were guarding her. But if you didn't kill them…"
"…then she escaped!" completed Juno'ka his sentence, closing her eyes a moment later. Then, a warm smile appeared on her face and a joyful tone in her voice. "Yes…she escaped! I can feel her and…she's far away enough already."
"You see, she's alive. Now you don't have to do this anymore. You can go to her now and I promise that…"
"Are you begging for your life?" Juno'ka scoffed with amusement before going stern again, "You're so pathetic! I already told you that your death is inevitable, so be grateful that I give you the possibility to prolong your demise and face it with at least a bit dignity!"
Now the small blueish ball floated closer an Wilcock instinctively knew that would be the cause of his demise.
"Do you know what this?" she asked, giving it a short glimpse. Lacking any answer, the old man simply shook his head. "It's what you would call a blue giant. Of course in a much smaller scale."
"B-but that's impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible as long as all required parameters are given. I only had to accumulate enough matter to start a fusion-reaction and keep it inside a vacuumed magnetic field, and as long as this sun stays inside the induced shield around it, no radiation will harm us whatsoever." she said nonchalantly, before shifting her gaze entirely to the small, blue star, "It's quite useful to be able to build such an artificial sun, especially for research purposes or for melting through a blast door. However…" she now glanced sternly at the old man once more, "It's very exhausting to keep it at a constant equilibrium. Do you know what happens, if only one parameter is altered?"
As an educated man and scientist, Arlen Wilcock knew the answer, and he didn't like it at all. "Y-you're crazy! You can't do this! If a blue giant collapses, it'll…"
"Probably form a singularity or at least an accumulation of neutron-emitting matter, yes. But at this scale, radiation, gravity and the surrounding atmosphere it will be destabilized in merely milliseconds before it would be able to accumulate any more matter for its survival. So," Juno'ka straightened herself, her expression now once again emotionless, "Any last words?"
"Wait! Don't do this! I-I can tell you everything! The location of our headquarter. Our other facilities. The names of…"
Arlen Wilcock wasn't even able to finish his sentence as the 40,000 Kelvin hot plasma dissolved his body into its basic components. Juno'ka had simply closed her eyes and rode the pressure wave, being engulfed by the inferno. Entirely relieved that it was over now, she smiled and followed the bond which was binding her and Max together. Now she knew what had driven her to Arcadia Bay and she would do anything to find out why she was bonded to the brunette girl.
Nellis Range Complex, Nevada
Three miles away from the research facility
The Humvee drove with high-speed along a small dusty road further away from the compound. Max had to hold on very tightly as the army vehicle hit some rocks and bumps on its way. The young girl didn't know where she and Dr. Marsh were heading to, but at the moment she didn't care as long as it was as far away from her captors as possible.
More than a few times she glimpsed at the blonde woman beside her. A woman who had killed two men in cold blood, but also had helped her. Maybe now was the time to ask what the hell was going on.
"Uhm…Dr. Marsh?" Max asked a bit shyly, not knowing if she was even allowed to talk.
"Just call me Kate, okay!" was the plain answer, telling the young brunette that she was allowed to keep on speaking.
"Wh-what the hell's going on here? Wh-who were those men and why did you kill them? Are you even a doctor?"
"Combat-medic," Kate simply pointed out, her gaze still fixed on the road, "I'm actually a combat-medic for the Galactic Alliance, a confederation of multiple planets and races throughout our entire galaxy. I had infiltrated this facility as a doctor to find out what they're up to and, if necessary, to sabotage their work."
At first, Max was just too dumbfounded to answer, until she eventually snapped out of it and yelled at Kate with an angry frown. "Waitwaitwait! Whoa, time-out! Combat-medic? Galactic Alliance? Other races and planets? Are you fucking cereal?! Hey, if don't wanna tell me what the fucking hell went on back there, fine! But don't bullshit me with this fucked up sci-fi crap, just because I'm a geek!"
"Listen Max," Kate answered calmly, obviously unimpressed by the girl's outbreak, "I don't care if you believe me or not. Fact is, if I hadn't gotten us out of there, we…"
A sudden flash, followed by a deafening explosion and an earthquake interrupted Kate's speech and as she looked into the rearview mirror she saw a giant fireball rising into the blue desert sky.
"HOLD ON!" she yelled, and steered the vehicle behind a rock that was a bit smaller than the truck, hoping that it would be enough to protect them. The heat inside the vehicle rose very fast, turning it into a sauna, and not a second later a vast pressure wave hit the Humvee, almost knocking it over. The only thing Max could do in this chaos was to hold on to a grip beside her and scream her fear out.
This eerie moment lasted for just a few seconds, but it felt like hours. Eventually, the vehicle came to a rest. Kate and Max, both breathing heavily, gazed at each other for a few seconds, before the woman started the engine again and cautiously steered the vehicle back onto the road. Completely engulfed by dust, stirred up by the shock wave, they drove slowly until the sight increased again.
Max just wanted to ask another bunch of questions as Kate suddenly hit the breaks hard. Following the doctor's gaze, Max couldn't believe her eyes. Right on the road in front of them stood Chloe, her hair and eyes glowing with an intense blue.
"Chloe?!" she gasped in unbelief and then realized the shuffling close to her. Kate hissed a curse, which Max couldn't understand, drew her pistol and shot right through the truck's bulletproof windshield in a fast pace, realizing pretty soon that every one of her plasma projectiles had already stopped before reaching their target.
"NO!" Max yelled at Kate, trying to grab the gun as, with a loud creak of metal, the passenger's door was ripped out of its hinges and the young girl was pulled outside, shrieking as she tried to struggle against the invisible forces that held her tightly. She came to a halt right beside her girlfriend and was put down again, cautiously.
Immediately, Kate jumped out of the truck, took cover behind the door and aimed at the blue-haired girl. "Let her go!" she yelled, ready to shoot, although she knew that the gun wouldn't do her opponent any harm.
But Chloe stayed silent. She only bobbed her head to one side a bit and out of nowhere, Kate felt a strong grip enveloping her weapon. Although she tried to fight it, this invisible force turned the gun towards her face. The blonde groaned as she mustered all her strength, but to no avail. In horror she had witness how the end of the barrel now pointed at her face and she got forced to pull the trigger.
Max's gaze shifted between Chloe and Kate several times and right away she realized that her girlfriend was about to kill the woman, who had saved her.
"Chloe, stop!" she screamed, fearing the moment it would be too late, "Chloe, she saved me!"
"She's one of them, Max!" Chloe replied with distorted voice, "She needs to die, like the others! They need to be eradicated or else…"
"No!" Max interrupted with a loud scream, grabbing Chloe by her shoulders and turned her around, watching her watery eyes directly into her glowing ones. "Chloe, stop this, please! This is not you! My Chloe was caring and kind-hearted. She never would've hurt someone." Then, she embraced her girlfriend tightly, crying all the stress she had to endure into her shoulder, "I want my Chloe back! Please, give me my beloved Chloe back!"
For some moments, Juno'ka just stood there, entirely stunned upon the embrace. Had she gone too far? Had this entire hunt for vengeance been nothing more than a bloodbath to fulfill her – as Chloe called it – god-complex? Maybe Chloe had been right. Maybe her point of view was really nothing more than immoral and should've died with her people a long time ago. Juno'ka wanted to return the hug and let Chloe take control over her body again and therefore to give her the joy to awake in the arms of her loved one, until a sharp, hot sting in the neck let her scream out loud in agony and, eventually, lose consciousness.
"CHLOE!" Max called out as she saw her girlfriend in pain, before trying to catch her as Chloe was about to hit the ground, but she only managed to slow down the fall and lay her down. The glowing faded and soon, Max gazed at the beautiful face of her beloved Chloe, brushing a loose blue strand out of her sweaty face while inspecting a strange device that was attached to her neck. "What have you done to her?" she asked with a shivering voice and a sniff.
"Step away from her, Max!" Kate plainly replied, holding a handheld device in her one hand, while she still held the gun in her other one, aiming at Chloe's head.
"What have you done to her?" now Max repeated her question, yelling it at the blonde as she lost her composure and jumped up, but was stopped as the pistol was suddenly pointed towards her.
"She's not who you think she is. This girl's a Neph'arim. A killer on the loose and I'll take her into custody. Now step back or I'll have to use force!"
Giving the blonde the most angry glare she could muster, Max answered her with a "Fuck you!" before kneeling down beside her girlfriend again.
The air began to shimmer around them and three subspace-portals opened up at the same time. Out of them, multiple armed soldiers, dressed in heavy, futuristic black combat armor emerged, immediately taking position to secure the area. But as a woman with golden-blonde hair, wearing a lighter version of said combat armor with a sidearm on her hip and a sheathed sword on her back, plus an Asian girl, wearing casual black clothes, a jacket and a sidearm, entered the real-space, Max's jaw dropped.
"B-Brooke?! Rachel?!" she gasped, her brain almost unable to process what she was seeing.
Entirely ignoring the young brunette, Kate Marsh and Rachel exchanged some words in a for Max unknown language. Then, Rachel spoke to some of her soldiers, who immediately grabbed Chloe and dragged her to one of the portals.
"No!" Max yelled, but was held back by another soldier, whose deep, electronic voice chimed from his closed helmet. Gazing at the girl deeply with her golden glistening eyes, Rachel answered him, and Max was also dragged towards one of the portals, wiggling with all strength she could bring up, but to no avail. As soon as she entered the subspace portal, Max felt as someone had thrown her into cold water. Everything that had been in order before turned into chaos, until her mind couldn't take it anymore and she eventually drifted into darkness.