WARRIOR's WRATH

Author's Note: I don't own Dominion.

CHAPTER 4

Consul David Wheele, downed a shot of bourbon while watching Samson the lion pace around his cage. Events were happening that were not within his control, and as Chief Administrator of Vega most things in Vega were in his control. First Alex Lannen leaves the city , Michael has also not been seen for more than 12 hours. Then last night , Arika's guard was found with her throat slashed by the west gate with Arika herself missing. He really hoped Queen Evelyn doesn't kill her for that would put quite a damper on their plans, he thought coldly. With his resources and her influence in Helena, they could both get what they want, him, her air force and for her the uranium. She had assured him that if Evelyn could not be persuaded there were other ways. If it comes to it he had hinted on the possibility of helping her finance a coup.

He will get his air force , it was just a question of when. With that he could have absolute control over Vega and he will have no more use for the Archangel . If Evelyn were to kill Arika well... His mind calculating the various possibilities as he downed another shot.

Wheele. To see the expression of disbelief and the fit of rage on that smug bastard's face when he learned Arika was gone was definitely worth the effort. Noma wore a self satisfied smirk on her face as she walked to her barracks. She knew she was Queen Evelyn's greatest asset in Vega she felt sorry for ending the life of a fellow spy, but it was a small price to pay in maintaining her cover

Alex kept his eyes closed. He learned opening them was a bad idea, he thought that he could watch the scenery while Michael flew. Very bad idea . Because of the speed the air stung and because of the speed and movement opening his eyes made him especially queasy . He didn't think barfing would go over too well with the Archangel . Michael and his sister Uriel were flying over the Mojave Dessert towards Vega . He knew Michael wasn't going to let him go , but he just wanted it to be over. As soon as the thought cross his head he felt Michael slowed down to a descent ,he gingerly opened his eyes. They were inside the gates , he thought as he breathed the biggest sigh of relief .

As soon as Michael and Uriel touched down they were surrounded by soldiers . As soon as Alex hit the ground he doubled over and began loosing stomach contents.

Somebody handed Michael a comm-link, "Secure channel sir," the soldier said.

"Tower, this is Michael authorization code 012479. Sitrep."

Sir we have 4 bogeys in our radar north by northeast they have not responded to our communication. Configuration is ATF, a voice came through the earpiece.

"Tower we will engage bogeys."

WE sir?

"I have another Archangel with be advised she is a friendly again please be advised she is a friendly. "

SHE sir?

"Michael out."

Uriel gave a small snort upon hearing the term. Michael ignored her . Michael turned to Alex" I apologize for this ..." He started.

Alex still still bent over,"I know I know you had to fly fast, now don't worry just go!" waving him away.

" Uriel please don't be rash," he turned to her speaking mind to mind. "Oh stop it I said I promised I won't hurt them so there. Enough already , let's go " she took off in a straight vertical flight like a rocket leaving nothing but dust in her wake.

The soldiers just stood there mouths open finally Alex broke their trance," Ummm...you might wanna reign that in Romeos... that's Michael's sister," he said as he took some water from his duffel.

" Come on guys we have to move it , we do have an emergency if you remember " he said as he ran towards the military base to get supplies.

As soon as the alarm was raised the entire Vega Senate were shepherded into the bunker. Central command was turned over there.

After getting some gear ,Alex was able to obtain a headset so he can talk to Central Command. Since his primary duty was guard for for House Wheele, he checked in . "Fortress, this is A. Lannen , Archangel corps authorization code 2271 of House Wheele please confirm the Wheeles . "

" This is Fortress, confirming House Wheele secure in bunker".The voice informed. "Fortress please confirm House Riesen . General Risen is confirmed .A patrol is out for Lady Riesen heading towards her last known location , the marketplace ".

"Shit , Claire is out there. Thank you Fortress . Lannen out". He ran out as fast as he could.

He was noticed by one of his officers. " Lannen, if it wasn't for the shit going out there now, I'll throw you into lockout for desertion. Lucky for you we need every available soldier. You're going to the bunker for guard duty, head down there now !" the officer practically yelled at his face.

"Sir, yes ,sir " he answered at attention. As soon as the officer was out of sight, he walked towards the jeeps.

" Alex, Alex wait ! Oh, man where were you ? I was so worried," Ethan asked as he caught up to him .

"Thanks but it's a long story for later but I gotta go , sorry," Alex answered as he climbed onto the jeep.

"Wait, I know that look! You're going somewhere else aren't you? Man, you're supposed to be at the bunker! You just came back from breaking a rule NOW you're breaking another one! " he exclaimed.

" Ethan they have enough people in the bunker , I have to go out there, sorry !" He yelled as he drove away leaving Ethan just shaking his head.

Consul Wheele was standing in Vega's bunker, arms across his chest glaring at the screen which showed 4 fighter jets entering Vega airspace.

"I cannot believe this bitch ! "He thought , furious. With all the back dealing he had been doing , he never once thought Queen Evelyn would resort to a show of force.

Queen Evelyn was in the middle of Helena's control room listening to the pilot chatter. Her well placed bugs in Vega confirmed what she suspected , that Arika if given a chance will make a play for power. Delivering her sister's dead body to her was a warning , a warning she didn't heed.

Still she didn't want to kill her ...yet. For now she opted to bring her consort back to Vega. For the longest time now Evelyn wanted Vega' s nuclear power, ALL of it . For now the fuel contracts were sufficient to keep Helena. If she had Vega, there will be no more bargaining and negotiating especially with that weasel , Wheele. She knew he sought Helena's air force for his own selfish ambitions. The back dealing he attempted with Arika further convinced her that the decision for the surgical air strike was the best strategy.

Her thoughts Archangels. These males acting as deities galled her. Gabriel and his war,. the resulting eight balls. Michael, all superior and so noble for protecting humanity, supporting that unjust caste system. It was unfortunate that they haven't killed each other yet.

She turned her attention to the present . It seems that there are two Archangels now protecting Vega. Most weapons were ineffective on them . The situation called for a little creativity.

They can't come to close to Vega , they are not equipped with adequate air defenses for these kind of situations. Michael communicated to Uriel.

" ROGER that Commander" she thought sarcastically.

She continued her vertical climb while Michael flew head on . He looked up and saw that Uriel was taking advantage of cloud cover, this was easy for her she could maneuver in near zero visibility if she had to, now climbed as high as she could go.

Looking at their instruments , the pilots conferred with each other: Whiplash one here ,second bogey has disappeared off radar, will pursue from last known position. This is Whiplash 2 everyone stick with the plan deploy countermeasures only to neutralize bogeys. Whiplash 3 proceed to target.

Michael saw two silver spherical objects zoom out towards him from one of the jets. Both were about 2 feet across. He briefly wondered what they were ,but he wasn't going to stick around to find out. He swerved out of the way, both lost speed as it fell to the ground, with his powerful wings he looped around and landed on top of the cockpit, he dug his blade and ripped the canopy open. The pilot could not even blink ,the Archangel with his majestic, midnight wings shimmering in the sun was basically on top of her with one hand holding onto the side for balance .

He smirked. What the hell!?! thought the pilot. Michael quickly reached in between her legs to pull the handle of her ejector seat as he flipped back out of the way.

"This is Whiplash 4 ! Punching out! Punching out !" The ejected pilot opened her chute, as her jet lost control and hit the ground with an explosion.

One of the jet fighters approached Vega and opened fire and took out the cannon at the South gate. Facing North to where the bigger buildings it fired a bomb. Alex felt the ground shake and almost lost control of the jeep , he looked up in horror as he saw a giant billowing cloud at the impact site. Desperately he felt he couldn't drive fast enough.

He heard a siren sound as Vega fired its surface to air ordinances , the jet had maneuvered to avoid it , but the ordinances hit its target . It began veering eastward to the dessert.

Uriel knew it was just a matter of time till one of the jets would find her. She had out maneuvered them. Uriel weaved thru the air in blistering speed the jet still hot on her trail. She was sick and tired of being chased by these machines . This body was too limiting, she thought angrily. She arced and flipped herself back now she was behind the plane.

" Damn it how the hell did she get on my six! Deploying countermeasures now!"the pilot yelled. Uriel saw two spheres launch from the weapons bay . They made a beeline for her.

"The nerve of these humans ! Enough playing nice!" In a burst of anger she threw her weapon ,it whirled and opened into a double edged empyrean sword, it spun with such speed it was almost invisible. It cleaved thru the jet wing like butter. The jet started its downward spiral. Her sword boomeranged back to her and as she caught it ,she swung at one of the spheres cutting it in half . She wasn't fast enough to avoid the second sphere , as she twisted to avoid it , the sphere manage to catch the edge of her wing.

As he sped thru the air avoiding the other jet, he heard her scream in pain. Michael's heart chilled ,he dreaded the thought of what could do that to her. He launched himself towards her direction. She was falling. Falling fast. The sphere on her wing seem to pulse. Each pulsation sent waves of intense pain. Her entire body shook.

Her wing was smoking. It's burning her! He caught her by the waist. " Get it off me ! Ugh!"she cried . She held onto him.

With deft precision he sliced it across in two, with it's broken electronics it fell off her. Michael was aghast at what the weapon did. Her feathers were smoking, the sphere had burned off her feathers down to the supporting bone structure. She squeezed her eyes in pain as she moved her wings.

The pilot had released another sphere. Seeing that the Archangel was distracted with the female, she took her chance. It whizzed out of the weapons bay . This was twice the size of the others. The pilot's lips curved in a smile as the sphere successfully attached itself on Michael's back.

"Control, countermeasures are good , countermeasures are good".

"Whiplash 2 back to base now , back to base now!". Losing another jet was not on Queen Evelyn's agenda for today. She decided to cut her losses. But all was not lost for the encounter proved very instructive.

He grunted in pain at the impact . Two pieces opened on the side of the sphere, a mesh came from both sides it rapidly expanded to a net that covered both his wings . At first Uriel couldn't fathom why her brother suddenly released her as he writhe in pain. She was horrified to see a net like material coming from the sphere on his back enveloping his wings and across his body,pining his arms helplessly to his side in seconds. As he struggled to free himself waves of electricity rippled thru the net frying his wings and his flesh.

"They're killing him , Father! They're killing him!"she wailed . She tried to rip off the sphere from his back but it was hard. She was trying to break their uncontrolled descent , while holding onto to Michael who was writhing and moaning in pain.

Her arms were getting burnt from holding onto him. She had no choice but to hang onto the collar of his coat. But she blunted the pain even though each time she moved her wings she felt she could just scream, she had to stop their fall!

Queen Evelyn savored the feeling of satisfaction welling up in her as she studied the readings from the instruments . The countermeasure that targeted the Archangel carried a voltage 100 times that of an electric chair and it seemed to have done its job. This gamble proved to be a golden opportunity to test them out. Modifications were in order for all of them, of course. What you learn from each battle will win you the war, she reflected.

Aww , don't tell me , you're into this whole dying thing too. She looked up ,and saw Gabriel flying alongside them smirking ..

She glared at him,"Oh don't give me that look . I didn't get invited to your homecoming party, so I invited myself." She cursed in Enochian."You better do something,brother ,NOW". She grunted in pain.

Gabriel grabbed the sphere and began crushing it in his hand with relish ignoring the electric shock , he didn't stop even with blood dripping from the cuts in his hand . Finally the nets released.

Grasping the sphere in his hand " Clever little toy , maybe I should have one of these" he remarked as he threw it .

Uriel managed to slow down their descent ,they hit the ground in front of Vega's gate . She dropped to the ground cradling Michael her wings covering him protectively, her hand gently touching his face while she murmured soothingly in Enochian.

Gabriel landed next to her. His hand rested on her shoulder " Sister" he said softly . Michael's eyes were closed. He was breathing hard ragged breaths.

Suddenly the gates opened . A squadron of soldiers came out , weapons out aiming it on them . There was an audible gasp when they realized who was lying there hurt and who was hovering right in front of them with his massive, midnight blue wings fully spread out feathers glinting in the sun like a thousand knives, a bloody hand grasped the hilt of his great sword. It took everything the humans had in self control not to turn and run at that moment.

The soldiers parted and out came Riesen. He moved towards the kneeling figure of Uriel , deliberately avoiding Gabriel's pointed look. " Archangel, I'm General Riesen, Lord of the City, let us take care of him and you are also welcome to come into the city," Riesen said in a gentle but commanding voice.

The soldiers couldn't believe the sight in front of them. Michael lay unmoving large ragged segments of his wings were burnt off. Red welts the pattern of the mesh covered the exposed areas of his body. Michael's sister' s wings were spread out around her still smoking there was a gaping area where something had literally eaten through it. They also saw angry red welts on her arms .

The look that Uriel gave the General was so intense and foreboding he stepped back . She spoke in a low voice ,cold and menacing," This is all your fault, if it wasn't for my brother I would end you all now."she said not even acknowledging his greeting.

She stood up still holding Michael in her arms. " Brother, are they truly worth it?" , tears flowing from her dark green eyes , her soft gaze resting on Michael's battered and bloodied form. She slowly rose up her great , black wings though damaged still moved powerfully in the air.

" Put him down," Riesen ordered at her. Weapons were armed and pointing at them.

Uriel didn't even stop. Gabriel who had been quiet all this time was suddenly in front of Riesen .

Riesen's heart almost stopped as Gabriel said " You might do well to remember only one of us actually gives two shits about your kind . I can rip your head off before you can even blink, General!",he said in an even tone brooking no argument.

Gabriel..Gabriel.. please ,brother,don't .Michael's thoughts reached out to him, pleading, begging. Gabriel didn't move. Right here, right now ,he thought he could end this human. Their leader.

Several thoughts ran through his mind. After giving the General another intense glare he just slowly ascended into the air. Everyone seemed to just stop breathing at that moment, there was a collective sigh of relief as soon as he was just a dot in the sky.

Standing there General Riesen had the most uncomfortable realization. Seventeen years had passed since that Battle in Hoover Dam where he led the army to defeat Gabriel's hordes. Seventeen years , he is now an old , sick , tired man while Gabriel remain unchanged , he was suddenly struck with sickening feeling in his gut.

The Archangels made their way north.

In a location undetectable by humans and angels. Furiad observed everything play out. Queen Evelyn has thrown her opening gambit incurring the ire of angels and humans alike . The human's cunning and spirit amazed him even in his very long years. He knew deep down more than ever she will need his protection.

A/N: So next time we will see what happens with Alex. Sorry for the Michael " hurt scene" again.

For the fighter jet scene I apologize for any errors , a little bit out of my comfort zone. I borrowed from a movie, its fanfiction baby!

A big THANK YOU to Padria95 for the guidance and wonderful encouragement YOU ARE AWESOME! Any mistakes are mine not Padria's.

Thanks for all the Follows and Favorites . I would love a word or two from you guys in Reviews.

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