The Response Part II; or, Never mess with a Lady and her Taco-Business
Outside of an Amigo Tacos, a truck pulled up with several armed men inside. Two of the men got out, machine guns in hand. However, before they started firing, a bullet took out one of them.
"What the-" was all the other could say before he also was shot by an unseen sniper. The two remaining men attempted to drive off to escape, but an Amigo Tacos delivery car came screaming out of the right and smashed into them, knocking them off the road and into a building. The two men got out of the truck, one of them bleeding badly, only to be confronted by several men and women wearing Amigo Tacos uniforms armed with guns of various kinds.
At another location, two men attempted to leave a bomb inside an Amigo Tacos trash can. One of the workers emerged with a knife and stabbed it into one of the suspects hands. When the other attempted to flee, another worker came from behind and decked him in the face.
Still at another location, a man attempted to sneak up on a fry-cook. The fry-cook, who was making fries at the moment, lifted up the deep fryer and splashed her assailant with grease. While he was incapacitated from the pain, she proceeded to give him several quick punches to the face, one to the nose, several to the throat, and then head-butted him, knocking him out.
Back at the first scene, one of the workers called up Jodie.
"Ma'am, we have apprehended several assailants. We are bringing them in for questioning now."
"Good. Hopefully, we can get some leads from them. Any news relating to the girls?"
"Actually, yes, Ma'am. A call from a man who identified himself as an acquaintance of yours. Said that the girls were in a small town near the border of Guatemala and Mexico, and that he was heading there now to try and find them."
"Good. By the way… what was his name?"
"He identified himself as a 'Ricardo', Ma'am."
"Hah… that son of a gun. Not that I'm surprised, considering that one of the girls is his adoptive daughter."
"Really?"
"Yes. Hopefully he can get them and bring them to a safe place before we start lighting up every enemy facility this side of the Prime Meridian. How many sites have we located so far?"
"About three, Ma'am, one in Mexico, one in Costa Rica, and another in El Salvador. We believe there are about two others."
"Okay. Which one seems to be a major site?"
"Of the three sites we know of, Ma'am, the one in Costa Rica seems the largest. About 150 men stationed there. They seem to also have a tank located there."
"Alright. Take out the smaller sites first. After we've cleaned those up, join forces to take out the one in Costa Rica. Operation starts in 0300 hours."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Jodie put down the phone and made ready to spear-head one of the attacks herself.
"Steve." She called to her assistant. "I'm leaving now. Should be back in about two or three days. If anyone calls, tell them I'm on a business trip to Costa Rica."
"Um, alright, Ms. Hayward, but… why are you leaving so suddenly?"
"Gang violence against several of our installations. Going to try and sort things out."
"Oh! Um… be careful, okay?"
"I will. Take care, Steve." And with that, she left the office.
Steve sank slightly into his seat, sighed, and smiled.
"What a mysterious woman…"
At a small compound in El Salvador, gunfire rang through the night. Within several minutes, it was over; the forces sent by Jodie completely overwhelmed the troops stationed at the compound. One of them went over to a wall with maps covered with markings, pointing out all bases in Latin America.
"Contact Ms. Hayward. We've discovered something she may want to check out."
Meanwhile, in a train yard, a limp figure picked himself off the ground. It was the man who had spoken to Ricardo several days prior, seemingly unharmed by being smashed into a train and carried twenty miles to the train yard.
Snapping his neck into place, he looked around his surroundings.
"My, my, it seems... that my train has brought me to exactly where I had to be.
He took several steps towards an empty warehouse, marked on the outside with the Mayan glyph for Jaguar.
"Hello… is anybody home?"
Several clicks sounded in the darkness, and a brawny man with a shaved head came forward.
"Juan Luis. You have balls showing yourself here after what you did to El Balám."
He was seized by two men of the group.
"Oh, my fellows, there is no need for violence. You should rejoice in the part that you played in the Great Awakening of Humanity. There is n-"
"Shut up!" said the brawny man, punching Juan Luis in the face.
"I'm giving you one last chance to tell us where the Jade Jaguar is now. If you don't answer, I'm going to cut your toes, then your fingers, then your tongue and your ears and your nose, until you tell me where the fuck it is!"
"Oh, my dear fellow, I see now why I did what I did. Though what you aim for is for the most part the same, you are just too brutal and thuggish to set the necessary motions in place."
He was punched several times again.
"Juan Luis, where is it?!"
Juan Luis looked at him and smiled, and raised one hand, pointing toward the back of the warehouse.
An old, short, wrinkly man with long beard and hair came out of the shadows, holding the Jade Jaguar.
"H-how the hell did you get in-"
The old man raised the statuette, and there was a tremendous light. When it dimmed, all that remained of the men were small lizards.
"Fra Gregorio! Good timing, as always!"
"Juan Luis. You are rash."
"I only desired to provide a distraction. Have you located the cave, Fra Gregorio?"
"Yes. Follow me."
They walked out of the warehouse, for several miles, and then entered jungle. After two hours of moving through it, they came upon a small hill with a curious, single block of stone near the base of it.
"Help me move it, Juan Luis."
Together, with much effort, they moved it, showing a small shaft going down an indeterminable distance. Fra Gregorio produced a rope, a hammer, and a stake. He staked one end of the rope into the ground, and then through the other part down.
They climbed down, and after about 200 feet they reached the bottom. Fra Gregorio then produced a flashlight.
"This way."
They went, and as they walked they passed by murals by the Classical Maya, images nobody has seen for over a thousand years. At last, they came to a door, with an indentation roughly the shape of the statuette.
"Insert it, and turn ten times left, ten times right, and then push in."
After doing so, there came a loud thud, and ancient gears moved the door aside.
Juan Luis turned to Gregorio, smiled, and bowed with his left arm outstretched.
"You first, Fra Gregorio!"
Within twelve hours of the beginning of the operation, all sites, including the several new ones discovered by the force in El Salvador, had been taken over except for one: the main fortress in Costa Rica, "Grey Rock".
The forces sent by Jodie, however, were confused by the already-defeated state of several areas. These were, of course, areas that had been attacked first by the Witch forces.
Jodie stood in one of them, a small compound in Honduras.
"Who did this… who else knows of Gyrfalcon?"
"Ma'am!" It was Agent 42.
"Yes, what is it?"
"We've just got reports of a multiple-homicide in a town near Grey Rock!"
"And? Were any of the victims our men and women?"
"Uh, no, Ma'am. However, I think you should see these photographs."
She handed three photos to Jodie.
"My God."
Sliced limbs, torsos, and heads were strewn everywhere, seemingly perfectly cut with a razor.
"Ma'am, I know that it is farfetched to say this, but I feel like… I've seen this before."
"Yeah…"
Who would… who would resurrect him… if it was the "him" she was thinking about?
It can't be.
"Thanks for the intel, but I think that no further action is required. Just focus on gathering everyone together for the final push on Grey Rock. Any news from Ricardo?"
"No, Ma'am, but we'll-"
Just then, another soldier came running over.
"Ma'am! We've gotten confirmation from Ricardo! He's met up with the girls!"
"That's great! Is he on the line?"
"Yes, yes, he is! Just this way!"
Jodie followed him to a tent, where a radio was placed. She picked up a headset and put it on.
"Jodie speaking."
"Ms. Hayward, I've found the girls. They're safe, if in need of a shower."
She heard Nadie go "Hey!" in the background.
"I'm so glad. Where did you find them?"
"On the road about 25 miles west of where I thought they were. They were attacked by a couple bounty hunters, but were able to apprehend them and steal their car."
"Sounds like the Nadie and Ellis I know. Any other information?"
"Nadie says that it's a long story. She'll tell you about it when you meet up with-"
Just then, there came the sound of gunfire.
"Lirio, duck down!"
"Ricardo? Ricardo? Ricardo?!"
Jodie strained to hear the line that had been dropped.
"Hey, put me-!... No, stop!... St-… Ellis!... Nadi-… Nad-…-e! Nad-!..."
Throughout, she heard the sound of a helicopter.
"Gods… everyone, set course for Grey Rock now! Agent 42, set up a team of six to investigate what just happened! Trace that phone call! Now!"
She did not know exactly what had happened on the other end of the line, but she knew one thing for certain: the situation had just become much more complicated then it was before.