October 7, 2001
"Sir?"
"Yes?" asks Mr. Duval, sitting behind his mahogany desk.
"Our sources confirm that the invasion of Afghanistan has begun."
"Excellent," the Illuminatus replies.
He looks at the screen of the Apple Macintosh PowerBook G4.
Ooooooooo
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit bombers, flying high above in the stratosphere, rapidly approach their target.
"We have target locked on," says the lead Air Force pilot. "Fire."
The bomber jets release their deadly payloads of JDAM-equipped Mk 82 bombs. The inertial guidance systems, along with the GPS systems, guide the bombs towards a small communications relay.
The bombs detonate, the shock waves collapsing the walls of the building, dirt spouting up like geysers. A bloodied survivor staggers out of the communications relay, looking up to see moving lights amid a fixed background of stars.
Ooooooooo
The jet's parachute ramp is open. Goliath can feel the wind blowing against him.
"Let's go," he says.
He and his clan jump out of the airplane, using their wings to slow their descent.
"Wow," says Lexington.
"I can see the outlines of the buildings," says Coldstone.
"Our landing zone is a few hundred feet away from the compound," says Brooklyn.
For the first few minutes, the ground seems to be standing still. There is nothing except the ground below as the backdrop and the rush of air.
And then the ground rushes up fast. The gargoyles, used to gliding through the air as humans are walking on the ground, use their wings to control their airspeed and rate of descent. They all land as they had learned over a thousand years ago.
Goliath looks around. The landscape is deserted and isolated.
He notes a set of tire tracks on the ground, using his experience in tracking honed over a thousand years ago.
He signals for the other gargoyles to follow him on foot across the rocky landscape.
"There it is," says Coldfire.
The gargoyles look at a cluster of buildings. Humans in loose-fitting clothing mill about; some of them are clearly seen to be armed.
Goliath looks through night-vision binoculars, allowing him to see the humans with great detail.
He then sees a long-bearded human wearing a turban.
"Bin Laden," he growls.
Lexington loads a Heckler and Koch PSG-1 sniper rifle with 7.62×51 NATO ammunition. He looks through the a Hensoldt 6×42 scope.
"I see him, Goliath," he says.
"Your shot will be our signal to attack," replies Goliath.
Lexington looks at Osama bin Laden through the scope of the sniper rifle. He takes a series of deep breaths to calm himself.
"I have a shot," he says.
"Take it," replies Goliath.
Lexington pulls the trigger. The hammer strikes the percussion cap of the cartridge, setting off the gunpowder and propelling the bullet on a high velocity course towards its target.
The bullet strikes flesh, tumbling through tissue before exiting at a greatly reduced velocity.
At that moment, Osama bin Laden looks at the body of the fallen jihadist.
Hundreds of yards away, Goliath can see that Bin Laden is still standing.
"We're going in!" he yells even as Lexington squeezes out a few more shots, trying to take down as many terrorists as he can.
The gargoyles all land at the terrorist base. They immediately take cover behind barrels and vehicles.
"Clear the field," says Goliath.
Coldstone and Coldfire stand apart and then fire their General Electric miniguns that are attached to their arms. Their fields of fire overlap, creating a necroscape. An Al Qaeda terrorist fires rifle rounds at them; the metallic construction of the gargoyle cyborgs repel the bullets as if they are raindrops.
"Bin Laden!" yells Brooklyn. "He went in there."
The gargoyles rush up to the main building of the Al Qaeda base, sticking close to the wall to avoid the line of fire from any gunners above.
The terrorists inside would expect attackers to go in through the ground entrances, or try to land from above via parachute.
The gargoyles climb up the building, using their bony (or steel alloy) talons to scale the wall.
"There's probably someone on the rooftop," says Goliath.
Angela grabs an M67 fragmentation grenade and hurls it to the roof. A few seconds later, she hears the explosion as the grenade scatters steel fragments which can rip through flesh.
She and the others climb to the roof; two dead people lie on their backs.
"That must be the door to the stairway," says Broadway, looking at a small door on the rooftop.
"We'll make our own entrance," says Coldstone. He punches his hand through the concrete roof. He then jumps down into the room below, kicking one of the sand Nazi terrorists aside and then snapping the neck of another. The other gargoyles soon jump down.
They continue to fight through the building, through gunfire and grenade explosions.
"Let's push through," says Brooklyn, even as he takes shot at a jihadist.
Coldstone smashes another hole in a plaster wall. Goliath looks at the room at the other side. He sees a man with a turban and a long beard.
"Bin Laden!" he yells. "This is the end for you!"
He aims the barrel of the M-16 and opens fire.
Goliath and Brooklyn approach the body.
Brooklyn gets a look of surprise on his face; he just pulled off the beard. He shows Goliath the beard, especially the rubber bands attached to it.
"A decoy," growls Goliath. "Bin Laden must have slipped away.
"There might be something useful in this building," says Brooklyn. "We'd better go."
A few minutes later, the activity in the building dies down…literally.
"I found this," says Lexington, holding a laptop. "They must have left this behind. Maybe I can decrypt this."
Goliath walks out the front door. In the courtyard in front of the building, he can see soldiers. Some of them instinctively aim their weapons at the gargoyle.
"I am an ally!" he yells.
One of the soldiers makes a hand gesture, and the others stand down.
A UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter approaches and lands, the rotos making a thumping sound.
The door opens, and Hudson steps out.
"Laddie!" he yells.
"We've won a victory here, Hudson," says Goliath. "The fight is far from over."
Bronx jumps off the helicopter and runs to greet the other gargoyles.
"You did well," says General Crump, stepping off from the Blackhawk. "I don't regret having you as allies. What of Bin Laden?"
"He got away."
"That Hitler in a headscarf will be on the run for the rest of his life; the coward he is."
"Come," says Goliath. "Let us return to base."
ooooooooo
Somewhere else in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden greets his followers.
It would seem that he will have to stay mobile.
Oooooooooo
October 8, 2001
The sun is less than a minute from rising.
"We did well," says Goliath, facing his clan. "We have shown Al Qaeda that we can get them where they live. From now on, there will be no place where Osama bin Laden or his followers will have sanctuary."
And then they turn to stone.