Meanwhile, across the country...
Wednesday, February 15th, 2017
Cockburn Hall, Northumberland
02:37
Lily awoke with a start.
What had awoken her? She looked around the room, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Her trained mind, though, told her that something was very wrong and that she should be on the highest alert. Lily was instantly awake, her ears straining to hear something out of the ordinary. But all she could hear was the persistent drumming of the heavy rain on her bedroom window. Swiftly, Lily slipped off the bed, her right hand vanishing under her pillow and retrieving the two items which lay there. Cautiously, she stepped over to her bedroom door and pulled it open . . . she paused to listen for footfalls, but she heard nothing. Another step and she stood on the landing, just outside her bedroom door.
The landing was dark with little moonlight filtering through the giant glass dome eighteen feet above her head. As Lily stood there, a pistol held in her right hand beside her thigh, and a knife in her left, she was worried. There was something not right about something, but she could not for the life of her figure out what that something was. Then she jumped as a loud clap of thunder echoed all around and then, a second later, there was a brief, but very bright, flash of lightning and Lily froze . . . there was someone on the roof of Cockburn Hall. Every sense told her to run and Lily did so. Not knowing how much time she had, she ran back into her bedroom where she seized jeans, a T-shirt, and a jumper, and after pulling them on, a pair of socks followed along with her boots. She seized a waterproof jacket off the back of the door which had gloves and a woollen hat in the pockets, and then her bug-out pack from beneath the bed.
Lily banged loudly on Hillary's door as she ran past, along the landing, before banging on Lara's door. Without waiting for a response from either, Lily ran for the two children. She started with Mackenzie, pulling the sleepy girl upright and yanking back the duvet.
"Get dressed, NOW!" Lily hissed, shoving jeans, socks, knickers, a shirt, a jumper, and a pair of boots at the tired girl.
"I don't want..."
Mackenzie never got to finish her sentence as Lily slapped the girl once around the face. Mackenzie was suddenly wide awake, and her eyes focused on the pistol which Lily was holding.
"Oh, no...," the girl wailed as she pulled on her clothing.
Lily moved onto young Isaac who, like most young children his age, was not happy at being disturbed from his sleep. While Lily was wrestling with Isaac, Mackenzie appeared to take over. The girl was fully dressed, and she looked very worried. Then the bedroom door from the landing opened, and Lily instantly went down on one knee, putting herself between the door and the kids, pistol raised.
"Fuck . . . Lara!" Lily exclaimed.
"What's going on?"
"Trouble – no idea what, but we need to get the hell outta here," Lily responded. "Go, get dressed. You'll want that nifty shoulder holster set Hillary bought you – MOVE!"
"Trouble?" Hillary asked as he emerged from the shadows, a combat shotgun held in his hands.
"I saw someone on the roof when the lightning flashed."
Hillary looked down at his feet.
"These slippers will never do – I'd better go get dressed. Plan?"
"Staying alive," Lily replied darkly.
"As good a plan as any," Hillary agreed before he vanished.
..._...
Minutes later, the group of five moved along the landing towards the staircase.
There was a massive crack of thunder followed by a flash of lightning, just a moment later. Isaac screamed and the five-year-old boy hugged his sister tightly. His sister was just as scared, and she was shaking like a leaf. Hillary had his eyes raised, scanning the glass roof above. Lara, fully dressed and wearing the twin shoulder holsters which held her pistols, pushed the kids forward as Lily kept watch, behind, ahead, above, below, and to the sides. Her eyes were everywhere, and the muzzle of her pistol followed her eyes as they darted around the landing. Then, just as another resounding clap of thunder echoed around the building, the glass roof exploded, and black forms descended from above.
Amidst the screams of the terrified Isaac and Mackenzie, Lily opened fire, putting two bullets into the chest of the closet invader. Her pistol fire was punctuated by the deep booming report of the combat shotgun and the sharper crack of Lara's pistols. The main stairs were a kill zone, prompting Lily to push Lara towards the back stairs.
"Get them out of the building!" Lily ordered Lara.
Lara nodded and she grabbed both kids, pushing them down the stairs while Hillary followed behind guarding their backs.
..._...
Lily raced along the landing, her eyes staring into the darkness.
Rain pelted down from the shattered glass roof and the thunder boomed, then the lightning cracked, and Lily turned to see a black apparition dangling from above. The apparition received a bullet to the head and hung limply from the black rope to which its harness was attached. A dozen bullets struck the walls beside Lily who ducked and rolled, coming up, her pistol seeking out her next target. Another black apparition died before Lily came face to face with another who was just climbing over the banister. Lily jumped up and she swiftly severed the man's rope with her knife. The man fell down into the grand reception hall with a crash. More automatic gunfire erupted in Lily's direction and she bolted for cover.
As she rounded an arch, she came face to face with yet another black apparition. The attacker was too close for Lily to bring her pistol to bear, so she stuffed the weapon into her waistband before swapping her knife into her right hand. The attacker was clad from head to toe in black combat gear while his eyes were concealed behind a set of night vision goggles. Without hesitation, Lily kicked out, her right boot taking the goggles off the man's face while her left arm smacked away the muzzle of the Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machinegun held by the attacker. The man responded in kind, dropping his weapon to hang by its straps and punching in Lily's direction. The man had no idea that Lily was in full out Predator mode and she was eager to kill. Two men had already died, and another was badly hurt. Lily was keen to add to her tally and it took the girl less than a minute to put her man down before she straddled the man's body and then drove the blade of her knife into his throat.
Quickly removing her blade, and leaving the man to bleed out, Lily leapt over the banister and landed softly on the stairs below.
..._...
Above Lily, the sound of doors being kicked in could be heard from all around the landing.
Her mobile rang – it was Lara.
"Where are you?" Lara demanded.
"Just saying hello to the visitors," Lily replied as she ran towards the swimming pool. "Are you all okay?"
"Yes – we're out the back and Hillary is finding us a ride."
"Stay safe – I'm getting my own transport and will be along soon."
"Great . . . oh, fuck!"
"What!?" Lily demanded, only to be met by silence.
Lily shoved the mobile back into its pocket and she kicked open the door which led through the pool utility room into the garage. After a quick scan of the space, Lily was happy that she was alone. She swept up her motorcycle helmet and pulled it on. Instantly, the heads-up-display came online and connected with her mobile and the motorcycle. Lily jumped astride her motorcycle and she started the engine. The fuel tank was full, and all systems were online. Lily turned off her automatic headlights, relying on the night-vision system built into the machine. Lily's final task was to pull her P90 from her pack, along with a full magazine. The P90 clipped onto the front harness of her pack where it hung ready for use.
After a last check around, Lily triggered the garage door opener and seconds later she accelerated out into the night.
Outside Cockburn Hall
03:13
As they had thundered down the backstairs, Lara had kept a wary eye open for movement below.
Thankfully, they had discovered nobody, so, at the bottom of the stairs she had paused to holster a pistol and to drag out her mobile phone – it was the special one given to her by Mindy. Once logged on, she had selected a 'pizza' app. That had produced a dummy pizza restaurant screen which Lara had swiped to the left to reveal a single red button which pulsed. She had plunged her right thumb on the pulsing red button and then held it there for five seconds before the button had turned orange with a green border. That, Lara had been informed, meant that her panic alert had been received by Fusion. However, she was very unsure what assistance they could provide before it was too late. They had then pushed on, outside.
Mackenzie was soaked, almost to the skin, and she was shivering with the cold. Huddled into her, Isaac was just as soaked, and she could feel her brother shivering with both the cold and with fear. Mackenzie was also very frightened – both for her and her brother. They were hiding in the shadows of the garden to the west. The darkness simply added to the fear both youngsters felt. The noise of the thunder, the cracks of the lightning, and the rumble of gunfire combined to put the fear of God into the two youngsters as they considered their possibly limited future. Lara was standing over them, a pair of monster pistols in her hands while Hillary had run around the house to where the Range Rover was parked. Then, after a brief call to Lily, Lara had caught sight of two men approaching their location.
Lara had quickly shoved her mobile back into her pocket before drawing and raising her two pistols.
Brathay How, Cumbria
03:14
Cassie was awoken by an incessant beeping.
It was her mobile and when she answered it, she heard a computerised coded challenge: "Oculus Two Seven – acknowledge!"
The challenge decoded in Cassie's mind, instantly bringing her awake – someone, somewhere, was in mortal danger, and that person had a Vengeance panic alert device.
"Go for Oculus Four Alpha," Cassie responded and there was a sharp beep in her ear. After twenty seconds, during which time Andrew sat up in the bed, tired and confused, Eric came on.
"It's Lily."
"Oh, shit!"
"Get Keira – you should be able to provide assistance with your Gazelles."
"I'll get to it – file a flight plan and get us all the intel you can," Cassie directed as she dropped the call and ran around bedrooms, waking certain people.
Back in Scotland, Eric began making phone calls, the first of which went to an Army Air Corps corporal and his team who were rudely awoken from their slumber at a Barrow-in-Furness hotel.
Outside Cockburn Hall
03:26
Things were not going too well.
The rain pounded down as the thunder roared and the lightning cracked. Hillary had been able to get to the Range Rover and Lara had quite literally thrown the two kids aboard before jumping in herself. Bullets had struck the lightly armoured vehicle almost as soon as they had sped out of the driveway only to find their way blocked by four men, two of whom were armed with grenade launchers. Hillary was about to brake to a halt when the four men fell to a stream of bullets which came out of the darkness. Lara breathed an audible sigh of relief when she recognised Lily astride her motorcycle, a P90 in her hands. Lily waved them forward as she scanned all around for any further targets, but everything appeared to be clear. As the Range Rover headed down the access road at speed, Lily accelerated past to take point – she was not happy . . . it had been far too easy to make their escape.
"Styx, this is Q, over."
"Q, Styx – we need help here."
"Copy that," Q responded. "We have scrambled Vengeance assets and local Trojan units have been notified – Trojan units are eight minutes out with Vengeance air support, ninety minutes out. Hang in there. Q out."
Lily grimaced – it would not be easy, but she could do it. She simply had to hold out for ten minutes, then, if the police failed, a further seventy. Lily took a deep breath as she formulated a defensive plan – it would be messy and risky . . . but what was the alternative? Her mind worked through everything which had happened, and she began to compile scenarios in her trained mind. Why had they been allowed to escape so easily? For no good reason, that was damned certain. Then it hit her.
"Lara! Get off the damn road; take a hard left into the field, NOW!"
Lily slewed to a stop and she looked back to see the large 4x4 brake hard before it crashed through some bushes and a small wire fence, entering a grassy field to the north of the access road. Ahead, tracers began to rip out in the direction of the Range Rover, but the rapid alteration of course had thrown off the carefully laid ambush at the T-junction ahead and the aim was off. Unluckily, a local police car, a Peugeot 308 with a blue flashing light appeared from the south, only to be instantly shredded with machinegun fire. It was obvious that the stakes were high if the attackers were willing to gun down innocent police officers without warning. Lily made for the police car, slewing her motorcycle onto the grass and cutting the corner at the junction, her P90 spitting fire. Two men fell as she raced past while the rest were distracted from the fleeing Range Rover but instead, all the gunfire pursued Lily as she dodged from side to side.
Lily slowed beside the police car. They were beyond help of any kind. The two unarmed police officers were dead, the bullets having shredded their chest cavities. Lily accelerated off, making a U-turn, and running the gauntlet of the aborted ambush.
"Q – two police officers down!"
"Copy that."
..._...
Lily raced along the road, easily catching up with the Range Rover.
There was immense relief as Lara caught sight of Lily. Lara had been very worried, and she knew that they could not survive without Lily. As they raced along the A1068, Lily caught sight of something in her heads-up-display, and she groaned. There was a T-junction coming up to the left and a set of temporary traffic lights had been erected, which was not out of the ordinary, but what was out of the ordinary were the men working in the driving rain.
"Ambush!" Lily yelled over the communications.
As Lily took point, her P90 raised, she was appalled to see blue flashing lights coming down the road joining from the left. She had seen what had happened to the last police car to arrive at the scene, only this one was a police Volvo – a Trojan unit. On the positive side, the enemy was now split – who would they go for? Then came more blue flashing lights as yet another police vehicle bore down from the north. Lily had to control the ambush – it was their only chance.
"When I say go – fucking GO!" Lily ordered as she accelerated ahead, her P90 erupting as she engaged the enemy. "Whatever fucking happens, don't fucking stop!"
The ambush was tripped, and Lily saw the flashes of gunfire ahead. However, the police saw the very same and the Volvos slid to a rapid halt and the four officers – two per car – jumped out armed with G36K assault rifles. They began to engage the gunmen from behind and from the side while Lily attacked from head on. The police must have been informed of who was good and who was bad as the armed police ensured that they avoided Lily and the Range Rover. In the glow of the red traffic light, Lily skidded to a halt, dropping her motorcycle onto the grass verge to the left of the road. Lily then dropped to one knee, firing off controlled bursts from her P90, very conscious of her dwindling ammunition supply. Lily had no idea how many men she faced, but the backup from the police was very welcome. The 'workman' supposedly working on road repairs had made one mistake, those hi-vis jackets made a beautiful target! Whomsoever was attacking them, they were well organised with backup and backup for their backup. Lily was very impressed, from a purely Predator point of view, of course. Then, as the gunmen fell, Lily took a chance.
"Hillary, GO!"
The Range Rover accelerated forward from eight yards back and raced through the ambush, drawing fire form the gunmen. Lara had the kids flat on the floor, but bullets still struck the lightly armoured glazing which crazed over on the right-hand-side of the luxury 4x4. Lily sighed with relief as the Range Rover blew through the ambush and kept moving. Every second she kept the gunmen pinned down, the further away the Range Rover would get – or so she thought. As the Range Rover flew down the road, Lily was aghast to see two large Jeep Cherokees flying past in pursuit. The bastards must have gathered their forces from Cockburn Hall and chased after them. Lily remounted her motorcycle and sped after the three vehicles, just as the last gunman fell to a police bullet.
Lily noticed that there was a police officer lying flat on the ground and another injured on the northern-most vehicle, but she had no idea about the other vehicle, although she soon saw blue lights following in her wake.
Walney Island Airport
04:05
They had taken the Sentinel for several reasons, one of which was that it was fast.
The armoured vehicle was also equipped with a siren as well as blue lights, both of which helped them avoid interruption as they blazed a trail south through the Lake District and then the town of Barrow-in-Furness. As the vehicle slewed to a halt beside the hanger, Keira was relieved to see the two Gazelle helicopters out in the open and being pre-flighted by the Army personnel. Keira and Trevor were both in their flight suits as they were passed their flight helmets by Kate and Charlotte. While the two pilots ran for the Gazelles to begin the start-up sequence, Kate and Charlotte each unloaded a heavy canvas bag from the Sentinel and lugged the bag to their own helicopter.
Minutes later, both helicopters rose into the air and turned northeast.
North of Cockburn Hall
04:10
About a mile up the road, Hillary battled with a Jeep which had jostled with him for position on the narrow road.
Unfortunately, the Jeep managed to get onto his left side, and it inched ahead before cutting right to block the road. Hillary knew that he could not stop, so he took a chance, cranking the wheel to the right and sending the multi-tonne vehicle smashing through a wooden gate.
"That'll leave a scratch," Hillary moaned. "Hope we have enough T-Cut."
Hillary found himself on a narrow concrete farm road with a hedge to his left and a combined berm and ditch to his right. The road ran up the side of a large field, but Hillary could not see the end, despite the ultra-bright Xenon headlights of the Range Rover. In his rear-view mirror Hillary saw his pursuers sort themselves out and follow him. He also grinned as he saw another headlight joining the chase and accelerating past the enemy vehicles, though he was surprised to see a police car at the end of the convoy.
The pursuing Jeeps kept trying to accelerate past the Range Rover, but a shallow berm and a ditch kept them at bay – for a very short while – until they reached the end of the field and the farm road turned abruptly left. At that point, the two Jeeps were able to accelerate forward which they did, one coming up on either side of the Range Rover. Lily also accelerated, the police car coming up behind. Hillary jinked left and right, attempting to force the Jeeps to spin off in the appallingly wet conditions. Lara had wound down her window and she was firing out of the left side, her bullets striking the car beside her which did not appear to be armoured in any way. The side windows of the opposing vehicle shattered as the bullets struck and the left-hand Jeep swiftly veered away.
As they raced in a northerly direction, Hillary took a chance and he cranked the vehicle hard to the right, and the two large 4x4s collided with a wrenching of metal which could be heard even over the driving rain and the thunder. The Jeep fell off to the right, allowing Hillary's Range Rover to surge forward and dive down a short embankment, the advanced off-road system automatically adjusting the four-wheel-drive system to ensure that the mammoth luxury vehicle kept on moving, despite the mud, the rain, the slippery surface, and the road tyres. The vehicle forged ahead, the two Jeeps slithering along behind under fire from Lily who peppered both 4x4s with bullets from her P90. The police Volvo managed to execute a PIT manoeuvre, despite the technique almost never being used on UK roads, on the Jeep which Lara had attacked, causing the vehicle to spin off and get bogged down in the mud.
However, the police car also came unstuck as it had no four-wheel-drive and was not designed for off-road use. The driver abandoned his car, seizing his G36K and a few spare magazines before advancing on the stuck Jeep. The police officer approached slowly, his weapon raised to his shoulder, watching for any movement. As the lightning flashed, the man saw somebody pushing open the right rear door – he also saw what could only be an assault rifle, and he swiftly triggered off a single round which dropped the man into the mud, the report of his rifle lost in a simultaneous burst of thunder. The next man out of the vehicle never noticed that his colleague had been expertly slotted by the police marksman, and he blundered straight into the officer's sights, his body shaking as three bullets shredded his chest cavity.
While Lily's Triumph Tiger 800 XRx was not designed to go off-road to the extent she was, the superb tyres made a big difference as she pursued the Range Rover and the Jeep through standing water and mud. A hundred yards ahead, the Range Rover was fording a concrete drainage ditch, the water about two feet deep. The powerful vehicle pushed through the water with ease before climbing out and continuing up the thirty-five-degree slope to the main road above. However, the Range Rover did not quite make it as the grassy slope, slick with water, caused the massive vehicle to begin to slip and despite the furious attempts of Hillary and the four-wheel-drive system, the large vehicle slipped backwards, the front slithering round, then catastrophe.
The tall vehicle slithered around, then the top-weight of the vehicle caused the giant 4x4 to come unstuck and the two wheels on the right-hand-side lifted off the mud completely and as Lily watched in horror, the vehicle began to roll over, crashing down onto its left side.
Newcastle Airport
04:40
The two helicopters emerged out of the rain at speed, rapidly descending and bleeding speed before the skids of both helicopters kissed the concrete and the pilots rapidly shutdown their engines.
Even as the rotors spun down and the whine of the turbines subsided, fuel hoses were being dragged towards the helicopters. Once the blades had all but stopped, the rotor brakes were applied, and the crews jumped out to supervise the refuelling and the rapid conversion for battle. The doors, two per side, were removed and dumped in a pile a safe distance away for future recovery. In their place, a single FN Maximi 7.62-millimetre machinegun was slung on each helicopter, each weapon was then fitted with a one-hundred-round pouch while additional pouches were made ready. Intrepid and Goshawk were to be the gunners for their respective aircraft, and they pulled on harnesses so that they could stand on the skid and lean out to fire their weapons. There was very little comment from the civilian refuelling team who saw two Army helicopters and four crew, all of whom wore flight suits and flight helmets – nothing out of the ordinary, despite the early morning refuelling and the mounted machineguns.
Once the refuelling and arming was completed, both Gazelle helicopters re-started their engines and launched, turning north-north-east for the final twelve-minute flight.
North of Cockburn Hall
04:40
The Range Rover had slid to the bottom of the slope on its left-hand side with the roof facing the enemy.
Lara had banged her head as the 4x4 had rolled over and she was sure she was bleeding. She could hear screaming and as she pulled off her seatbelt, falling onto the side window, she turned to find Mackenzie and Isaac both screaming with sheer terror. Hillary was standing on the centre console and he pushed open the heavy door above him. With immense strength, the man hauled out Mackenzie, pushing the frightened girl onto the muddy slope behind the bulk of the three-tonne vehicle.
Mackenzie was shaking with real fear – she had long ago lost the contents of her bladder and as she lay in the mud, she shivered. Then she screamed as something landed beside her – it was Isaac, and the boy was shaking with fear, just as she was. He cuddled into his big sister, hoping for the bad men to go away and leave them alone. They were swiftly joined by Lara as the gunfire began again, bullets pounding into the Range Rover's roof and bonnet. Hillary fired off a succession of rounds from his combat shotgun before dropping down to the ground.
"It's a little bit damp, children, so try to stay out of the rain, if you can," Hillary commented as he reloaded his shotgun.
Mackenzie looked around as she tried to figure out somewhere dry before giving up and pulling her brother closer to the hot exhaust pipes which were hissing as drops of rain pelted them. Isaac had his hands over his ears, desperate to block out the sounds of gunfire which echoed all around him. The constant ting, ting, ting of bullets striking the Range Rover's body were getting too much for Mackenzie and she was approaching breaking point where her fear took over.
Lily had discarded her motorcycle as well as her helmet, the very moment the Range Rover had tumbled. She pushed through the mud, her P90 spitting death. She was soon joined by the police officer who had cleared the Jeep and was keen to assist the lone girl from the motorcycle. He had been advised that the Security Service was onsite and that he should do all he could do to assist. Lily span around to find the police officer just feet away from her. She turned her weapon away from the police officer and back towards the enemy.
"Richard Davis," the police officer said loudly enough to be heard.
"Styx."
"You're Box?"
"I am," Lily replied, acknowledging the colloquial name for MI5 due to their wartime address of PO Box 500 which was often abbreviated from 'Box 500' to just 'Box'. "There are two children and two adults behind that Range Rover – I hope."
"We'll get them – help is on the way," the officer responded.
Lily was about to say something when her earpiece jumped to life.
"Styx, this is Ghost Flight of two, three minutes out, over."
Ghost Flight: Ghost Zero One
"Holy shit!" Scorpion heard over the radio.
"Styx, mark your position for attack," Scorpion advised.
"Marking with GREEN flare," Styx replied.
Scorpion stared ahead, lifting her NVGs for a moment as she saw a flare ahead of her; it was green, she confirmed as she dropped the NVGs back into place.
"Standby, Styx! Break! Ghost Flight, standby to attack. Gunners, lock and load!"
Aboard both helicopters, the two gunners racked back the charging handles on their Maximis and prepared for action, their own NVGs in place on their flight helmets.
"Gunners; mark your targets and watch for friendlies around the green flare. Ghost Flight, darken ship . . . attacking!"
Scorpion and Raptor doused their exterior lighting and they dove towards the ground.
North of Cockburn Hall
04:53
Lily was relieved as she sank down behind the Range Rover.
The green flare was hissing and spitting in the mud, just two feet away as Davis the police officer fired off half a dozen rounds towards the remaining Jeep and the men arrayed around it.
"I'd get down if I were you," Lily suggested loudly as the sound of rotor blades and turbines grew louder and louder.
As Lily and Davis watched, the men around the Jeep turned to look upwards . . . just as green tracer fire came down around them from two different directions. Not far above, Intrepid was leaning out the port side of Ghost Zero One, her boots standing firmly on the port skid as she aimed her Maximi at the enemy below. The girl was careful to ensure that her bullets went nowhere near the green flare. Thirty yards to port, Goshawk was doing very much the same as she stood on the starboard skid of Ghost Zero Two. Both fired short but concentrated bursts as the two helicopters flew over the scene, breaking left and right as they came around for a second pass.
On the ground, the attackers dove for cover behind their Jeep and into the mud as dozens of bullets struck the ground all around them.
..._...
There was a brief lull as the two helicopters circled around, allowing the remaining attackers to gather themselves for a final surge forward.
None of them had expected air support of any kind. Maybe a police helicopter but they had not expected the police to fly in the appalling weather conditions. The helicopters appeared to be military which would explain why they were flying as military pilots would typically fly in almost any weather conditions. The man in charge, a large black American called Frank Scott, was determined to capture his quarry and fulfil his mission. He had lost many men, not that he cared for any of them – they were all hired guns and, therefore, disposable. Scott could see the Range Rover, lying on its side, just thirty feet away, but that was thirty feet of muddy ground covered by people with guns who apparently knew how to use them. The assault on Cockburn Hall had been textbook, but somehow the bloody girl had escaped their grasp – there was a lot of money riding on seizing the girl, not to mention all the money which had gone into setting up the attack. On the plus side, there was to be a lot less money paid out . . . the dead did not need a pay-check.
He had three men remaining, and as one, they moved before the helicopters could return. Time had run out and he had to make his escape, preferably with Lara Cockburn, but if not, she would have to die. Scott and his men put down some heavy gunfire as they ran forward, taking advantage of a bright flash of lightning but not before the sound of rotor blades cut through the rain and more bullets came down, cutting one man almost in half. Another man went down, his chest ripped apart by gunfire coming from behind the rolled Range Rover. That left just the two men. Scott and the remaining gunman ran towards the back end of the Range Rover, only for him to come face-to-face with his quarry. The girl held a large pistol in her hands, firing off a bullet, straight into the face of the remaining gunman. Scott moved swiftly as the bitch fired off more bullets in his direction, missing each time. Then came the deafening blasts of shotgun shells – five or six to his mind – exploding before he slipped on the muddy slope and dropped his pistol.
As Scott grabbed hold of the pistol and brought it around towards Lara Cockburn, he found himself looking up into the gaping muzzle of a Mossberg 590A1 Tactical combat shotgun. The man behind the weapon looked livid and he spoke with a Brit accent.
"Don't you dare . . . I know what you're thinkin', 'Did he fire six shots, or only five?' Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kind of lost track myself. Seeing as this is a shotgun and your head is just six inches away, I would blow your head clean off. You need to ask yourself just one question, 'Do I feel lucky?'. . . well, do you, shithead?"
Scott continued to bring his weapon around, guessing at six, but then his life exploded as his head came apart.
"Must have been five," Hillary commented dryly.
..._...
While Ghost Zero Two orbited the area, Ghost Zero One settled into the mud twenty yards from the wrecked Range Rover.
Constable Richard Davis of Northumbria Police radioed in a brief report advising that the situation was kind of under control but that at least three of his colleagues were badly hurt or worse. As he watched, he saw the pilot of the Gazelle walk over, the rotor blades still spinning on the helicopter while a door gunner kept watch. The ex-British Army soldier recognised the Maximi machinegun being toted by the shorter-than-expected gunner. He also clocked the name tag on the flight suit of the pilot: SCORPION. One of the wounded men on the ground moved, raising his weapon . . . without a by your leave, Scorpion pulled a pistol and the pilot coldly shot the man in the head. Still wearing her flight helmet, the Vengeance vigilante studied the scene for a moment before she strode past the police officer and began to talk to the girl who the police officer had been fighting alongside. Moments later, a young woman pulled two young children out from behind the rolled Range Rover and she guided them over to the helicopter where the three climbed aboard with the help of the door gunner who had unshipped the Maximi and was now armed with an L22A2 carbine. Then the girl, the P90 dangling from its strap, approached Davis and she held out her right hand.
"Thank you, Davis – we'll be in touch."
"You are?" Davis asked.
"I'm Styx," the girl grinned as she went to join a man armed with a combat shotgun.
With that, Scorpion returned to her helicopter, where the gunner had climbed into the co-pilot's seat, which soon took off into the waning rain, heading in a southerly direction with the second helicopter forming up on it as an armed escort. The girl went to retrieve her motorcycle and she rode off back towards Cockburn Hall with the man as a passenger.
Minutes later, police cars and ambulances began to swamp the area and Constable Davis soon put his brush with Vengeance to the back of his mind.
Forty minutes later
06:00
Ambleside, Cumbria
The British Army Air Corps Gazelle AH.1 helicopter settled onto the grass at Borrans Park.
It was still dark with just the first vestiges of dawn beginning to tint the distant horizon beyond the hills and mountains of the Lake District. Awaiting the arrival of the helicopter and its precious cargo was a single Land Rover Defender County 110. Standing beside the vehicle were Lynn and Cassie. Charlotte escorted Mackenzie and Isaac out from under the deadly rotor blades before returning for Lara who appeared to be in a somewhat dazed state. Lara and the children were helped into the Land Rover which departed rapidly and raced along the empty roads back to Brathay How which was less than two miles away. The helicopter lifted off once Charlotte was back aboard and it was soon joined by the second Gazelle moments after lift-off, and both helicopters headed south towards Walney Island Airport.
The two helicopters, and their very tired crews, landed a little over ten minutes later.