CH33
Joanne was sitting in what amounted to their office. Mostly it was just laptop computers connected to Sarah. Serena didn't want a paper trail for anything. If there was a piece of paper it was scanned and downloaded into Sarah then run through the crosscut shredder, effectively turning it into confetti. Don came running into the room. "Serena and the others are back," he told her.
"It's about time." She picked up the tablet and ran for the garage. Serena and three others had gone into Sedona to get groceries. Their refrigerator and freezers were running a little low. She stopped at the doorway 'til she spotted Serena unloading bag after bag into a cart out of one of the two Land Rovers that they had. They also had three quads and an ultra-light along with a number of bicycles and one dirt bike.
Joanne stepped up to the back of the Land Rover. "We got a call from Carol and an update from Michael," Joanne told her. Serena dropped a bag into the cart that was now full and being pushed away. "What did Carol say?" Serena figured it would be bad news. "She overheard that Eric was informed that the raid on the Rodgers residence was a complete failure," Joanne remarked.
"Well, thanks to Hayley we already knew that. We also know Hayley and her clan are following them. If they're right Rodgers is doing something stupid." Serena couldn't believe that he would go to his father who was just as likely to take him and lock him up than anything else, like help him. "Carol overheard that just before Eric dumped her." Joanne delivered the bad news.
"GOD DAMN IT! …MEN! I sometimes wonder what I ever saw in them." Serena questioned her sexual history then stepped over to hug Joanne who hugged her back. Joanne was happy to soak up any of Serena's anguish about her past. Serena, after a moment, pulled back and kissed Joanne's forehead. "Please tell me there's good news," Serena pleaded. That was when she could swear Joanne started dancing a little. "Michael sent in his final report. The site in question that he and his clan have found is just what he thought it was when he made his initial report." Joanne was bubbling over with happiness. "YES!"Serena shot her hand up into the air. "Please tell me all of this is already downloaded into Sarah," Serena asked her. "Like you had to ask?" Joanne smirked.
Seconds later they were both sitting in front of the TV with four others of the house after Serena walked in and commandeered it. "Let's see it Sarah," Serena asked. Since Serena didn't say what she wanted to see, Sarah was forced to hypothesize on what Serena meant, though she projected an 86% probability that she would be right.
Michael popped up on the screen. "Final report for your action," he stated. "We have sat on window sills for months now and are convinced that this site, see attachment for map location, is the holding site for several mountain lion members." Serena paused the playback. "Go find everyone else, and make it fast," she ordered. In seconds there were the entire 10 members of the house staring at the TV as Serena hit Play.
"We have accounted for all of the missing mountain lion clan plus an additional 12 members that we can't identify," Michael informed them. "Twelve more?" Joanne was confused. They were only missing two. "While it wasn't easy we have managed to plant a number of cameras and microphones at every window of the facility. Every minute of surveillance has been attached to this report," Michael advised and Serena paused it again. "Sarah confirm, please," she called out. "Confirmed, I have already begun playback at an increased speed," Sarah responded.
Serena resumed play on the report. "None of us have any medical training however even to us it appears that they have found a way to convert humans into mountain lions who are capable of shifting." Serena paused it again and Joanne slapped a hand over her mouth while the others were talking to each other in low whispers. "Why the hell would they do that? I thought they wanted all shifters dead, not make more of them!" she was very perplexed and restarted the report.
"We have noted that the site also has an incinerator and based on samples taken from the discharge of the stack and analyzed, they appear to be mountain lion in nature." Michael stated and Serena paused it yet again. "They have found a way to convert humans into mountain lions making them shifters, I assume, and they're killing them? That makes no sense." Serena didn't understand and hit Play again.
"There is a room deep inside the building that we couldn't reach. However one of us has seen several mountain lions being wheeled towards this room only to have it come back out and wheeled directly to the incinerator. A study of what we have recorded will hopefully provide an explanation of what is happening. We strongly suggest that a raid of this facility be planned. Be advised that there is security in place and is part of the attached videos. Take note that this is obviously a Paladin operation and they will likely have access to the fighter aircraft that are stationed at Luke Air Force Base. The 944th Fighter Wing which is made up of F-16s is stationed there. Transport for evacuation is advised." His video report ended.
There was a lot of talking going on behind Serena. "Okay, okay, settle down. Sarah, analysis of the videos sent?" Serena asked her, hoping that she was done viewing everything they sent.
"The site itself is located several miles outside of Phoenix, Arizona," Sarah began. "No fricking way! That places it right in our own backyard." Serena didn't understand how they missed that place all these years. "There appears to be a contingent of 48 guards that work in 3 teams of 16 that are broken up into 3 shifts night and day," Sarah continued. "At any one time there are a minimum of three guards on the roof. They clearly have access to Stinger missiles, rockets such as RPGs or the American equivalent. In addition one of them is a sniper using a Barrett 82A1 that fires a .50 caliber round with a capable range of 2 miles. All of them carry automatic rifles, hand guns, and are wearing combat vests. Containers holding gas masks and chemical suits are evident," Sarah told them. "It appears that the location has a total of 356 personnel who work in two shifts. Only between the hours of 3:00 and 5:00 am do they not have any working personnel in the building," she added.
"And what are they doing exactly?" Serena just knew she wasn't going to like this. "Analysis of the videos suggest that they are converting humans into mountain lions so that they can create an agent that is airborne which is capable of killing only mountain lion shifters. The conversion process is less dangerous than actually capturing shifters. They then subject these mutants to the gas to determine if the gas is acting correctly," Sarah explained.
"So they can convert humans into shifters, in this case mountain lions?" Serena questioned. "For a short period according to the videos. The process appears to be unstable resulting in the death of the subject." Sarah began displaying one such failure.
It was a male in his early 20s maybe. "Hey that's Jarod," one of them spoke up. "Negative, video imagery suggests that they are using a modified cloning technique to create their test subjects," Sarah corrected the thought. "I thought you said they were converting humans into mountain lions?" Joanne countered. "There is a lot of video to process, I was in error," Sarah stated.
They watched the naked male turn himself into a mountain lion several times over what looked like a long period of time. Finally he was in his mountain lion form when black lesions started to form on his body. "According to data on the video taken of their computer screens, those lesions are not the black death," Sarah informed them all. Still more black lesions formed all over the body as the first ones started to discharge some kind of white pus. As the later lesions started this discharge, the first ones began bursting. There was no sound as part of the recording, for which everyone was eternally thankful, since it was obvious from his face and open mouth he was in great pain. He eventually ended up on the floor lying in a puddle of pus from the burst lesions, obviously dead. The video ended and was replaced with a map of the building's location.
"That was disgusting. And they call us monsters! MY GOD!" one of them behind Serena exclaimed. "Please my love, this has got to stop!" Joanne pleaded with Serena.
"Someone take the Air Force Base. I want to know how long it takes to get a pair of F-16s off the ground and out to this site. Someone else take the perimeter outside of the security fence. I want to know every building in the area, even if it's just an outhouse. Someone else figure out how long it takes to take one of those Stingers out of a case, set it up, and fire it. Someone else, I want to know everything about the materials that building is constructed of. Concrete block, tilt up panels or simple wood frame. Someone get Sarah to show you the videos of the guards, what they do, and where they go. Do they have dirt bikes, quads, or do they all walk? Do they walk the perimeter ever?" Serena ordered.
"So we're going to hit this place?" Joanne asked her. "We are going to get our two mountain lions back and bring them home where they belong. Then we're going to blow that place to hell and gone then burn what's left of it to the ground. So yes, my love, we are, as you say, going to hit it," Serena stated matter of factually. Joanne hugged her as her heart learned to love Serena just that much more.
"Who ever thought an unassuming clan of shifter pigeons could be so very good at being spies?" Serena chuckled into Joanne's hair as they hugged each other. The group had to admit when Michael had first come to them with his idea, most of them thought he was nuts. Everyone but Serena, and now they were on the verge of getting 2 of their own back.
Serena let go of Joanne and started to get up. "Where are you going?" Joanne questioned. "Shopping. We don't have nearly enough Semtex to blow that place to the moon. Plus I need to check on our stock of .50 cal ammunition for the Bat Chopper as you people call her." Serena couldn't believe the name of her V-22 that they had come up with. She was just glad they hadn't given it a number like the Thunderbirds did and if anyone ever said, "Thunderbirds are Go," or even worse, "Yes, Milady," she was going to shoot them.
She also needed to make a few phone calls. Ten people, nine of them mountain lions, weren't going to be nearly enough either.
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Serena had just landed after going shopping and was opening the ramp when Joanne jumped in cat form and quickly changed. "We have a problem," Joanne stated. "What sort of problem?" She had just acquired all the Semtex they would ever likely need for that building along with several thousand rounds of .50 cal for the machine guns that were mounted to this thing.
"Michael just sent an update about our target building," Joanne told her. They really should have given it some cool code name instead of calling it target building. Still they had almost 3 weeks to finish planning and launch their assault. "Our target building is going to have visitors in two days. Michael thinks it might be one or more members of the Paladin Council," Joanne explained in a rush.
"The bastard couldn't wait at least 2 weeks?" Serena was exasperated at the news. "Two days is definitely a problem." Still she couldn't pass up a chance to take out one or more members of the council. "Go get the others, we need to start planning instead of preparing. Meet me in the living room," Serena instructed her and left the ramp down since it all needed to be unloaded.
"There's more." Joanne did not look happy. "He or they are coming with their own security force," she told her. Serena sighed heavily. "Any more bad news?" Might as well get it all over with. Serena thought. "Just one. Eric hasn't as yet selected his new… bed partner." Joanne couldn't think of a better word to use.
"Do we have anyone in his favorite escort service?" Serena asked. "Just two. Mandy is a brunette and Michele is a redhead. Both were added the same day he dumped Carol," Joanne told her. "So they're new and he hasn't seen them before. Maybe he'll pick one of them. Hopefully not both of them at the same time. Have we sent Carol our 'thank you for your services gift?'" Serena asked. "Yes, she's been booked for a 5 day, 4 night stay on Waikiki Beach at the Royal Hawaiian in Honolulu followed by a 7 day, 6 night cruise around the Hawaiian Islands in a one bedroom suite, along with a Visa card with $500 thousand on it for a whole new wardrobe to take with her on the trip, or buy it when she gets there," Joanne stated, wishing she was going.
"Good, maybe she'll get lucky and meet her life mate in Hawaii. Stranger things have happened. …Oh, one more thing. I had planned to spring this on you after we do this, but since it has been moved up several days," Serena paused for affect, "I booked us our own cruise. Seven days and six nights sailing the Caribbean in a one bedroom suite. St. Thomas, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, and somewhere else I think. Sun, sand, and surf with you in a bikini all week long, since that's all I'm allowing you to pack." Serena kissed her quickly and walked to the living room, leaving Joanne a puddle of goo on the floor.
Serena had all the major players of this little operation assembled in her house. "Thanks to some unexpected visitors we have moved our time table up several days. As a result we have a few holes that we're just going to have to deal with. One is we don't know what the building is made of. It doesn't look like wood studs for the exterior walls however the interior ones might be. We also have no information on the F-16s stationed at Luke Air Force Base which Joanne and I will have to deal with if they show is the unknown size of the security detail will be coming with our guests."
"It looks like two of the five Paladin council members will be making a visit and this is something that we can't pass up. Losing these two won't cripple them, but it will at least hurt. Jonathon, I want you with the Barrett out here on this little knoll. The entire area is rather flat and this is about the highest place there is save for the building itself. The closest mountain is too far away. I want you to take out the two guards at the main entrance just as the first bus busts through. You're going to have the dirt bike and a backpack filled with supplies. Wipe down the Barrett and leave it. Take the dirt bike and go anywhere you like. Camp out under the stars if you want. Just do not head for town." Serena got a nod. "And do not leave until the last bus has cleared the fence."
"There will be two buses that will transport everyone up to the building." Serena pulled up a picture. "Church buses?" someone questioned. "Who would suspect a group of churchgoers who are not heavily armed to be attacking them? One bus stops here and the other one will stop here." Serena pointed to positions on the map. "Exit the bus out the front and back and do everything as quickly as is feasible. We want the guards dead as fast as possible. Each of you will have a backpack that will have four separate charges of Semtex inside. Spread out, lock the employees inside if you can, plant each device, and set the timer. Each will be preset so all you have to do is turn it on."
"Thanks to Michael we have a good idea of where our two missing lions are being held. Keith, you and your team will locate and extract them to the bus. The first bus will signal and that's when Joanne and I will move from where we will be waiting on this side of the little mountain here. We will pull the Osprey…" Serena was interrupted, "Bat Chopper." She sighed. "We will come around the mountain and hit the guards on the roof just as the first bus hits the front gate."
"We'll swing around quickly and you 9 will exit onto the roof. We will then swing back around and clear the front entrance of any opposition allowing the buses to park. Get in find our people, plant the explosives, and get out. The buses will go further out into the desert to this spot here where you will find another two buses waiting for you." Serena pulled up a photo of the new bus. "Now that's a bus," someone commented.
"You are now two tour buses filled with sightseers headed for Tucson. From there you will split up a little. Some will fly to Phoenix on a commercial puddle jumper, some will rent a car and drive to Phoenix, and some will stay on the bus then go to a hotel and ride on the bus(es) for Phoenix the next day. From Phoenix you make your way home." Serena laid out the plan.
"What about the F-16s?" Serena was asked. "We have someone already near the base watching for any flights. If any flights do leave Joanne and I will be alerted. The 'Bat Chopper,'" Serena gave in to the name and everyone smiled. "will be armed with the twin .50 cals, two Hellfire rockets, two heat seekers, and two radar missiles. The .50 cals and the Hellfires are for the guards on the roof and anything out front. The rest are for when or if the F-16s show up."
"Fortunately the F-16s will likely be armed for air combat, not someone low and slow like me. They even attempt to come down to my level and Joanne and I will pounce on them like any good mountain lion should." That got a few laughs. "If we do this right and have a little luck, the most we'll have is a few wounds to lick. Paladin, however, will be out a pair of council members, one top secret research facility, and the scientists and others that work in that nightmare of a building."
"I don't need to remind everyone not to leave anyone behind. That building is going to be dust when those explosives blow that will settle into one big hole in the ground. We want our two back, not to lose any more. Take a nap, we mount up and get moving in a few hours. Except for you, Jonathon, you need to leave now since you have the farthest to go. The pickup with your bike and backpack already loaded is out front waiting for you. You need to take out those two guards and anyone else that unexpectedly shows up at the front gate. You're also the back-up to the explosives in case any of the timers on the devices fail," Serena informed him. He knew he had a big job ahead of him, though he was kind of looking forward to a night out in the desert. Maybe even do a little hunting for his dinner instead of cook it.
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Jonathon was ready and already lying down in the dirt just at the top of his little knoll. Serena wasn't kidding when she said it was small. He saw three cars all parked at the front doors. He was betting one of them was armored making the other two cars security. There were also two heavily armed guards just inside the glass doors. He turned his attention to the two guards at the front gate. Those two looked like stupid rent-a-cops. All they had were small side arms.
He saw the two buses rolling down the road. As they got closer one of the rent-a-cops moved to his door while the other sat there. Just as the bus started to turn he put a round right through rent-a-cop's chest. He heard the spent casing eject and lined up on the other rent-a-cop who had just got up and put a round through his chest, too.
Jonathon switched back to the two just inside the doors and quickly put a round into each of them.
"It's time," Serena told Joanne and tilted the rotors level to turn them into a plane versus the helicopter they had been while waiting on the other side of their little mountain. Several minutes later Joanne was looking at her screens while Serena piloted. "We're behind schedule a little. The first bus is headed for the building already. The three guards are already lined up along the front parapet wall," Joanne told her using her video zoom camera mounted on the front.
"Maybe that's a good thing, they're not looking our way," Serena commented and added more power. She wanted to be there now! "I think they've heard us," Joanne informed her as she watched one of the men move to a case. "He's going for a Stinger most likely," Joanne warned her. Serena added altitude and then pointed down on him. "Hellfire!" Serena called out, which had Joanne lining up on the guy and the case, released the safety, then pressed the toggle forward. "Missile away," Joanne called, as both of them watched the smoke trail of the missile as it hit the roof blowing a hole in it, launching 3 dead bodies off it.
Serena was coming in hot straight for the roof; she tilted the rotors and started to spin them. "Open the back," Serena told Joanne who flipped a switch to get the back ramp to start opening. Serena was using the thrust in a new direction and the tilt of the rotors to slow way down over what was left of the roof. Joanne turned her body to look in the cargo bay and watched 9 mountain lions leap out the back. "They're clear," Joanne advised her.
Serena spun the "Bat Chopper" and leaned forward to go out into the front parking area and spun again to face the building. Starting with the right corner Serena pressed the button on her stick and opened up with her twin .50 cals. She simply spun in place to rake the front first floor using her twin GAU-19/B .50 cal Gatling guns. The rate of fire was selectable at the time of firing, 1,000 or 2,000 rounds per minute. Serena wasn't afraid of needing the rounds later so she selected 2,000.
Still by the time she had reached the far corner, she had expended those 2,000 rounds leaving her with another 2,000 on board. Jonathon had the front so she swung around to the back where she watched and listened. Before she did she watched the 2 church buses (school buses) park where directed and disgorged 23 angry mountain lions out the front door and the emergency door out the back of each bus. Each mountain lion was carrying a bag in their teeth. The windows on the ground floor were already gone so it looked like a swarm entering through them, end to end.
Jonathon was trying to watch the entire front of the building for targets when he saw three men come out what was left of the front door. The one in the middle was wearing a suit, while the two on either side had weapons and armored vests, so he put a round through the man in the middle followed by putting around into the chest of the man on his right. The other man was running to re-enter the building when Jonathon put a round in his back. "That better have been one of the council members," he said, smiling grimly.
Serena was sitting just a few feet off the ground watching one end as well as the entire back side of their 3 story building and not seeing much. That was when Joanne held her headset closer to her head. "Michael says some of his clan have just monitored a heavily modified twin turboprop leaving an outlying small airfield," Joanne informed her.
"Mercenary with his own modified plane. Sometimes I wonder if my head is actually screwed on right. Of course they wouldn't send F-16s. Why involve the military if they don't have to? Keep everything nice, quiet, and secret." Serena shook her head and started adding power to gain altitude and then banked hard. "Where are we going?" Joanne questioned.
"He's faster than us and he's probably armed with a Gatling gun and missiles. If we have been identified, and I'm betting we have been, he knows he's faster and that we most likely can't turn quickly enough to use our guns on him, so if I was him I'd make high speed runs on us until he kills us or runs out of ammunition. The building is big enough for us to hide behind so that's where I would look for us. So we're going to hide behind our little mountain again," Serena explained because she had other plans.
It only took a few minutes but now they were sitting on the other side of the mountain from the building again, only this time they were up high and sitting a lot closer to it. Serena had them actually facing it. Now this Osprey (aka Bat Chopper) actually had two radar systems. It had a really big nose where one of the radar dishes was located along with the two GAU-19/Bs. In addition it had a retractable mini dish on top just like the one the Longbow Apache helicopter had at the top of the rotor mast. It was capable of extending to just under the turning of the blades while acting as a helicopter. This was the system that Joanne had deployed and was presently watching intently. "Here he comes," she announced. "Moving fast and not even 50 feet off the ground."
Okay, a skilled mercenary Serena thought. "Almost…almost." Joanne was watching her screen and had her fingers ready with the safeties already off. "NOW!" she yelled and Serena added power and popped up over the top of her mountain. Joanna fired off a heat seeker followed seconds later by a Sparrow radar guided missile.
Serena twisted so they could watch. What they saw was a twin turboprop fire off several flares, followed by another set, then followed by third set all as he made a hard banking left turn. "Definitely modified," Serena commented as they watched the heat seeker fall for the flares and blow up in the middle of nowhere while their Sparrow radar guided missile flew straight and narrow and hit nothing.
"That does it, no more of this American made shit. Next time we're buying Russian." If Serena knew how to curse in Russian she would have. "And I bet you think you're pretty sneaky too don't you?" Serena remarked and simply hopped over to the other side of her mountain, hiding yet again.
"He's going around really wide," Joanne told her. "He's not going to repeat the same mistake; we're down to one missile each and 2,000 rounds," Selena said. "He's not, he's going out way wide. It'll put him on the other side of the building," Joanne told her not understanding why he would do that.
"He takes out those buses up front and we're trapped here," Serena said bleakly and banked hard, then altered her props. Serena was now going as fast as she could with the props at a 45 degree pitch as she went down the outside of the building barely above the ground.
Joanne had faith but they were really close to the ground. "So is he," Serena pointed out as though she could read her mind. "Get ready to fire our last heat seeker," Serena ordered her. Joanne didn't get it but she put him on her screens and when she had tone... "Wait my love, just wait," Serena told her. "MISSILE WARNING!" Joanne screamed. They had just seconds.
"Fire and hang onto your ass," Serena told her. Joanne fired the heat seeker that still had tone. Serena added 100% power and it felt like they launched straight up. She spun just a little, pitched up just a little, and started firing flares as she climbed. She also started firing the GAU-19B out into open space to their left and up a little.
His heat seeker tried to take out some of their flares and hit the building instead then exploded. Against a plane a heat seeker can do some real damage. Against a building made up of 12" structural concrete block walls, not so much. Yes, the building was damaged, but not that much.
Their heat seeker also followed his flares and exploded in space far behind him. However as Joanne watched he banked hard. Because he was too low to the ground he had to go up to prevent his wing tip from hitting the ground, causing him to what he did do was turn to his right and up, and flew right through the hundreds of rounds that Selena was pumping out. The rounds nearly cut his plane in half as he quickly crashed into the desert.
"Well, I'll be… How did you know which way he would turn?" Joanne asked her. "Partly luck and partly that the mountain was to his left. It would force him to turn even tighter to avoid it and it would place him on the wrong side of the building to take out our buses," Serena replied.
No matter how you cut it, he was dead and they were alive. Serena went back to the back of the building and didn't leave until she saw the buses pull out. She flew up to the roof where Joanne dropped the ramp and in bounded 9 mountain lions. Serena started flying to the opposite side of the mountain to wait out the explosion. "We have a problem." One of the lions came forward. "Henry and Amy are injured, badly," they were both informed.
"It's over an hour to get home," Serena told him, only to see him shake his head. They weren't going to last that long. That had her thinking. "Most hospital helicopter pads can't handle our weight. And even if it could and there wasn't already a helicopter sitting on it, we would draw the interest of the local authorities, let alone what they would do to Henry and Amy." Serena started cursing. She needed something else, somewhere outside of the middle of Phoenix. Then she took off and flew as fast as she could while circling around Phoenix to get to a certain section of town. In this case it was the outskirts of Paradise Valley.
"I know someone, get them ready. Ten minutes," she told them then landed hard and fast just outside of a large estate home that was surrounded by a low wall. She had just barely missed landing in a pool in their backyard and killed all power as Joanne opened the ramp.
"Hi Lee, Francine. I need a favor," Serena asked as four humans, two for each person, carried a naked human bleeding badly down the ramp.