Chapter Nine
"Keep moving people, Selina said as she, Higgins, Marie, and Gates continued their sprint through the hallway.
"Cat Zero-One, this is Athena, come in."
"Go."
"Sandra just gave the greenlight to the strike fighters and they are inbound to the facility."
"How many?"
"Twenty-four F-16s and twenty-four F-35s. Each plane is packing a pair of two-thousand pound JDAMs."
"She could've waited a few seconds to give us a head start."
"Me telling you and the group to get the hell out of there was the head start," Ashley replied.
"Is there a ride inbound for the survivors?"
"The same chopper that brought you in is on its way back to pick them up. How close are you to Reddington's team?"
"We're currently in hallway thirty-three, progressing towards hallway thirty-two."
"You might want to speed it up some more, Athena out."
"How much time do we have now?" Marie asked. Selina checked her smartwatch before giving an answer.
"Thirteen minutes."
"Thirteen is an unlucky number you know," Gates commented.
"Well it's the time we got, so let's make the most of it and move faster. Getting bombed by the Air Force is not on my to do list."
"Ditto, Agent Kyle," Gates replied.
They bolted through six more hallways without incident. But Gates heard something clattering on the floor behind them when they reached hallway twenty-six.
"Contact six O'clock," he shouted then spun around a saw a dozen hedi-crabs closing in and fired on them with the F-2000. Letting off nine rounds followed by a grenade from the underbarrel launcher that took out three and made the rest stumble into each other since they were traveling so close together.
"Nice to know I still got it."
"What are you talking about?" Selina asked.
"I was a Gunnery Sergeant in the Marines before I became a corporate rent-a-cop."
"Good thing I picked you to handle my little friend there."
"Yeah, but I wished I had the gun you were holding. It looks awesome."
"If we're lucky not to get eaten or blown to bits, my boss may have a proposition for you."
Sounds-." Gates heard the hissing of the creatures again, meaning they were back in pursuit. Gates spun around a let off another nine round burst before turning back to group. Selina spun around fired off two rounds from her railgun, taking out some and wounding the rest. But they weren't wounded enough to quit the chase. "They're still coming," Gates said after putting another grenade into the launcher.
"Your turn to take the next shot then."
"Roger." Gates spun around and fired off the grenade. This time he dropped the remaining creatures.
"We're clear for now, they're down," Gates said as he reloaded. You happen to have anymore forty mils on you, Agent Kyle?"
"Sorry, all I got left now in terms of grenades is some nine-bangers."
"How much time do we have left now, Agent Kyle?" Marie asked.
"Seven minutes."
"And we're only in hallway twenty-four."
"At least we're halfway there, so hold off the whining," Higgins replied.
Suddenly multiple roars and hisses were heard and Selina activated her radio.
"Major Reddington, this is Selina. I am inbound with the survivors, but I'm afraid we'll be coming in with a pack of buggers on our tails."
"I had a feeling you would be, and that's why I took the liberty of prepping a lovely surprise for them."
"Goody goody, can't wait to see it. Well we just cleared hallway twenty-three, now in hallway twenty-two."
Copy."
A minute later, they were finally in hallway twenty-one.
"So where are your friends?"
"Should be right at the end of hall, Marie."
Eighteen seconds later, they reached Reddington and his team.
"Glad to see you made it, Agent Kyle."
"It's gonna take more than some alien bugs to kill me, Major."
"Speaking of alien bugs, here they come," Gates said then fired off his last grenade and followed up with some suppressing fire. Reddington's teammates joined him with their railguns and M-249s.
"So that was your surprise?" Selina asked.
"No, that is just to stall them. But this is." Reddington pulled out a detonator from one of his vest pockets and squeezed the trigger. Setting off the demolition charges he had planted on half of the ceiling sending it crashing down on the creatures.
But there was no time to admire Reddington's handy work, the team and the survivors were back to hauling ass towards the exit. Selina didn't bother to look at her watch. The cat voice in her head told her to focus on one thing. Running.
The signs marking the hallways seemed to flash by her at supersonic speed and before she knew it, they were running back up the entrance ramp where the convoy and a Pave Hawk helicopter were waiting.
"Gates, Marie, Higgins, that chopper is your ride," Selina said.
"Thanks for the rescue, guys. Gates replied before he ran ahead with Marie and Higgins.
"Sir, permission to evac on the chopper with the survivors so Selina can have my seat?"
"Permission granted, Brolin," Reddington replied.
"I hope it's shotgun."
"It is, and you'll be riding with me."
"Cool."
"The rest of Reddington's unit got back in their JLTVs as Reddington, Selina and the guys he entered the facility with hopped into the lead one.
"Ready in the back?" Reddington asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Sixty seconds till the fireworks," Selina announced.
"Mad Dog One-One, this is Echo Six-Six, we are wheels up and clearing the area."
"Have a nice a flight," Reddington replied as he hit the gas."
"Cat Zero-One to Ice Queen and Athena, The rescue chopper is airborne and we're heading for the exit."
"Copy that, see you back at the base," Sandra said.
"Roger, Cat Zero-One out."
The convoy crashed through the gate and continued east.
"What a rush. And that trick you pulled on the bugs was awesome."
"Thanks Agent kyle, now we're gonna stop here and watch the fireworks.
"I hope I never see any of of those things in Gotham."
"If the strike package does its job right and I'm sure it will, the rest of America won't have worry about them either," Reddington replied.
Arrow flight
One-thousand feet
"Arrow Leader to control, we are coming up on the target. Thirty seconds to weapons release," Lieutenant Colonel Carl Ridley said.
"Copy, Arrow Leader. Friendlies have just cleared the killzone, have fun," Sandra replied over the radio.
"Solid copy."
Upon reaching the release point, two GBU-31 (V)3s fell from each F-16. The first bombs to make impact punched through several ventalitation shafts spread out across the area and continued down into the subterranean facility where they detonated. A few more bombs went through the shafts while the rest punched through buildings and pavement.
The explosions were so powerful, Reddington, Selina, and the rest of the team felt them from where they were standing. Selina hopped up on the hood of a JLTV so she wouldn't have to worry about getting knocked off her feet. The guys around her were standing firm with no worries at all.
As the F-16s made their pass, the F-35s closed in on the facility with their parallel weapon bays open, revealing their GBU-31 (V)3s and AIM-120 AMRAAMs.
"Raven Leader to Raven Flight, pickle, pickle." The explosions from the bombs dropped by the F-16s were still raging when the ones dropped by the Lightning-lls rained down on the place. By now, it was a giant smoldering crater.
Selina began to wonder if there would be anything left to conduct a battle damage assessment on when the strike was over.
The interior was transformed into the living hell. The egg clusters in the nesting ground were obliterated and there was nowhere for the creatures to run as the flames engulfed them. Four more bombs fell into the hangar and struck the space ship which was laying on its side, the explosion caused by its reactor going up was five times more powerful than all of the bombs used so far.
But as powerful as it was, it wasn't enough to keep Sandra from letting second wave add it's ordnance to the mix.
Luke AFB ops center.
"General, third wave is standing by. Should I send them in?" Calvin asked.
"What do you think little sis?" Ashley thought it over as she looked at the UAV footage on the screen.
"I'd say that colossal bang was more than enough to sweep up anything the first wave might've missed. You're good to send in the sweeper teams but I think the second wave was overkill."
"I agree with everything except the overkill part. Colonel call them off."
"Yes, ma'am. Strike Package Echo-Sierra abort, abort."
"Roger, control. Roadrunners, breaking off." Had Sandra given the third wave the go, the target would've been hit by twenty-four more F-16s and F-35s.
"Mad Dog Team, continue your egress. Fox and Romeo Teams will take it from here. Cat Zero-One did you enjoy the show?"
"Hell yeah, but It would've been better if I had some popcorn." Selina's comment drew some laughs from everyone in the room.
As the convoy got back on the move, six Pave Hawks headed towards the smoldering ruins.
