That evening
Thursday
The Atlantic Storm
Location: 2.2nm east of Buck Island
Position: 18.4309° N 64.5173° W
1,485nm logged
Time: 19:00
Down below it was a show of organised chaos as everybody was changing into their combat gear.
Danny sensibly stayed on the bridge with Ryan, well out of the way. I was wearing the MTP pants, shirt and boots. Around my waist I had a webbing belt that carried my communications equipment, plus it supported a holster on my right hip for a Glock 23, which was strapped to my thigh. Arrayed around the belt were spare magazines and a nine-inch combat knife. Once I was changed, I went around the yacht checking on everybody else.
First stop was the bow.
..._...
Chaos, was a very accurate word to describe what I found!
The only one with pants on was Tommy. Megan and Stephanie were still in their underwear and seemed to be struggling with their assault vests.
"You guys getting dressed anytime soon?" I asked.
"Sorry, we were sorting out all these straps..." Stephanie said.
"Curtis, eyes off Megan's ass!" I warned.
"I don't mind..." Megan began.
"Get some clothes on – we have a mission..." I grumbled.
I decided to leave them to it!
Time: 21:20
"You look ready to kick ass!"
"Funny, Neptune!"
"Sorry, Kick-Ass – just trying to lighten the mood... Wow..."
Shadow appeared on the bridge, blushing beneath her mask, an MTP baseball cap on her head backwards.
"Very nice, daughter of mine!"
"Thanks, Dad!" Shadow replied, giving me and her Dad a twirl.
She wore the same kit as me, except that she bore an FN Five-seveN in a holster on her right hip and she held her bō-staff in her left hand with her P90 suspended from the front of her assault vest and a pair of spare fifty-round magazines on her left hip.
..._...
Jackal appeared next and he carried much the same equipment as Shadow, apart from the bō-staff. On the back of his vest he carried his Ninja-To and on his chest he bore three Fairburn-Sykes fighting knives. He smiled appreciatively at his girlfriend and slapped her on her behind which received a giggle in response! Neptune rolled his eyes and went back to his own preparations as Wildcat, Psyche and Splinter appeared, closely followed by Trojan and Medic.
Neptune grinned as his wife showed off her own armour and the SIG Sauer P226 in a holster on her belt. Medic in turn checked out her husband's body armour and his own SIG pistol. Hal took her place on the bridge, setting up a pair of laptops on the table at the couch. Hal was also wearing body armour; I was taking no risks. Around her slim waist was a belt with a Glock 17 pistol in a holster.
Kick-Ass and I checked over each and every member before Chloe and Josh did the same for the two of us. We were finally ready.
Even Danny wore body armour – as I said, I was taking no risks.
Some hours earlier
Buck Island
I was brought ashore.
There was no way to know where I was, except that I had been able to see plenty of land. I had been dragged off the yacht – a much bigger yacht than the Atlantic Storm and thrown into the back of an open topped SUV. I think I might have annoyed the two men and the woman – they seemed to enjoy throwing me around and I could feel bruises all over my body.
We drove up a stone track that led towards a hill that had a building on it. The SUV pulled up outside the building, which turned out to be several buildings, and I was physically handed to another man – what was I? A suitcase! He did not look happy as I smiled at him and he slapped me around the face, which stung. I did my best not to cry, but just glared at the man, wishing that he would drop dead – I had already figured out that if I was going to survive, I would have to toughen up. The man began to issue orders and I was thrown at the woman who dragged me down some steps and towards a swimming pool.
The woman was gripping my swimming costume tightly and she used it to drag me over to a building to one side of the pool.
"Hey – the swimsuit is new!" I called out.
"You think I give a shit!"
The woman pushed me hard through an open door and I fell into a metal something and then to the concrete floor. I felt something trickling down my face and when I reached up to it, my hand came away red. Then the door was slammed shut and I heard a bolt slammed into place.
I jumped up and banged on the door, yelling to be let out, but all I heard was the woman's feet walking away. I gave up and sank to the floor – I had never felt so alone. I had no idea where I was and nobody else did, either. My family were hundreds of miles away and now I knew that I would never see them again, ever...
I started to cry again.
That night
Thursday
Location: Two miles to the southeast of Buck Island
Time: 23:20
The attack had begun.
Through the darkness the island waited, swathed in deceptively protective darkness. Beside a dock at the north end of the island lay an enormous yacht, much bigger than the Atlantic Storm – it would be secondary target. Our reconnaissance had shown that coming ashore near to the residence, at the southern tip of the island, would be very dangerous and probably very deadly for us all, thanks to towering cliffs and the roaming, well-armed, guard force.
Instead, we could come ashore at the north-eastern tip of the island. From there we would move almost the full length of the 43-acre island – almost 850-metres – taking out any armed men as we went. Most of the island was dense tropical greenery and it would take a couple of hours to make a stealthy approach to the residence which was perched on the top of a small hill.
..._...
The two, 4.7-metre Zodiac Commando Assault Boats were launched from the stern and everybody climbed aboard. After a final check of persons and equipment, the two coxswains: Kick-Ass and Jackal, gently backed away from the Atlantic Storm before turning for the distant shore.
As I crouched next to my partner, I felt feelings of hope course through me – we had to succeed; I needed my daughter back. However, as I looked back at my yacht, I had a funny feeling that I was not gonna see her again...
I quickly lost sight of the 120-foot yacht, blacked out as it was and covered in copious amounts of camouflage netting.
Time since abduction: 01:04:11
Time to deadline: 01:23:54
The next morning – early!
Friday
New Year's Day, 2016
Time: 00:01
The north-eastern beach of Buck Island
The attack had begun and we were ashore.
The two assault boats were pulled high up the beach and into the trees, well away from the surf, and anchored. Kick-Ass and Jackal moved forwards and spread out, raising their Minimi machine guns to their shoulders and scanning the area through the NVGs on their helmets.
Shadow and I moved forwards between the boys and raised our suppressed PDWs. We both bore NVGs on our helmets too. The beach was clear, just as we had expected. Splinter and Trojan hid amongst the palm trees with their suppressed P90s at the ready.
Wildcat, with Psyche beside her, ran up the beach and they both took off to the south, towards the main building on the south cliff of the island some seven-hundred metres away.
"Fusion ashore!" I called.
"Hal copies Fusion ashore – see you in a few hours – bring back our girl!"
I checked my watch, it was just after midnight.
'Happy New Year,' I thought to myself.
Time since abduction: 01:04:51
Time to deadline: 01:23:14
Time: 00:12
It was Psyche who got in the first kill of the night.
"Wildcat; I have a contact, twenty yards ahead, in the trees. Looks like a guard, smoking."
"Go for the kill, Psyche – and keep it quiet!" I reminded her.
In my NVGs, I saw the slim frame of Psyche move forwards silently, her boots making almost no noise on the soft sand and tropical grass. I watched in anticipation as she closed on the unsuspecting guard and then I saw her leap into the air, coming down on the man and driving a nine-inch blade through his neck while her other hand clamped over his mouth. The guard fell to the ground and I saw Psyche remove her knife and stab the man again, this time through the heart.
"One down!" Was the curt response which sounded so cold when delivered in a monotone British accent – 'oh, I've just killed a fly, oops'.
That girl was cold when she had to be – I supposed it was her training from before we found her – still gave me the creeps though! I caught up with my friend, who was nonchalantly wiping off her blade on the guard's clothing before replacing it in the scabbard on her belt.
We moved off as soon as we had dragged the guard into deeper foliage.
..._...
Behind us, the main assault force followed our cleared path. We took our time – rushing made noise and noise could get Rogue killed.
The next two kills were mine – I drove the claws of my left hand into another unsuspecting guard's throat, ripping it open and I pushed his face into the sand until he quit moving. His pal appeared, busily zipping up his pants – his weapon, an AK-74 assault rifle, was leaning against a tree. As he reached for it, he saw his fellow guard lying prone on the trail. He lived for only a few more seconds as I drove the right set of claws into his left side, destroying his left kidney and chopping up his intestines. The other set of claws were driven directly into the man's heart, cutting it into three pieces.
The massive internal bleeding and severe shock killed him very quickly.
Time: 01:15
"I'll say this for him: he had a lot of guts!"
"Fuck me!" I groaned at the incredibly bad joke. "We really need to talk!"
Psyche had just ripped open a man's stomach with her knife before following through by stabbing her blade through his heart.
"Quit your bitching, Wildcat – we have work to do and it's two all, I believe..."
With that, Psyche vanished into the undergrowth and I rapidly followed on behind. Was that crazy bitch keeping score?
..._...
We skirted around the buildings at the base of the first hill.
That would be for the main assault force to handle. It was tough going – the night was humid and the undergrowth was thick. Our boots kept us upright on the slippery bits and we moved in complete silence, searching for our next prey.
Two-hundred yards' behind
We were the main assault force – all four of us!
The man who lived on the island had to have a private guard force and we found them, fast asleep and spread across three chalet type huts down by the sea on the north-west side of the island. There were three men on guard duty – extra emphasis on 'were'!
Hit Girl and I ran forwards, directly at the men. They never saw us coming in the darkness as Hit Girl drove her knife into the throat of the first man, then she gently lowered him to the ground.
"Does it hurt...?" Hit Girl growled as she drove the blade deep into the man's heart. "Good, very good..."
I concentrated on my own targets – the two men were eight feet apart. I whirled around, one blade of my bō-staff severing the head of the first man as I finished my movement by driving the opposite blade directly into the other guard's heart – he was dead before he hit the soft white sand beneath him.
Kick-Ass took the first chalet and Jackal the second – Hit Girl took the third while I stood watch.
The men never knew what killed them.
I pulled a suppressed Walther P22 pistol from my webbing and promptly fired off six rounds – plink, plink, plink, plink, plink, plink. The pistol had been selected precisely for the reduced sound emitted by the weapon. Outside the hut, nobody would have heard a thing...
I checked that the hut had six corpses before turning for the door.
All three seemed to reappear at the same time.
I had not heard a thing, but all three changed out the magazine on their Walther P22 pistols before stowing them in their webbing. Kick-Ass held up six fingers, Hit Girl – five, Jackal six. Seventeen kills – just like that.
We moved off into the jungle.
Up ahead
I was determined not to fuck up.
Not like the last time, when I ended up dangling from a tall building, over a thousand feet above Chicago! I had a single mission – to rescue my little sister. I could not fuck up – not even once... I was in my element – I dug deep into my programming and focussed on nothing but the mission. I was Psyche, I was a killer, I was unbeaten...
I was also annoyed to find no more men to kill!
Time: 02:25
"This is Psyche; we're at the residence... approaching from below the pool..."
"Copy that!" Hal replied.
"Take care!" Hit Girl added.
We were approaching up a steep grassy slope with trees and undergrowth, well away from any pathways.
We had hiked almost a kilometre during out detour around buildings and pathways. Above us was the swimming pool. To the left were the pool house and behind it, a pair of chalets. To the right was the main residence. So far, nobody knew we were on the island – however, several men were dead and they would be missed sooner rather than later...
I took a moment to look out to see – there was something out there; I could feel it. Was it good, or were we in deeper shit than we already were? When you looked at it from a certain point of view, Fusion had just invaded a foreign country. The British Virgin Islands, were a British overseas territory and the British had fought wars over less...
We separated and I went to the left – towards the pool house, while Wildcat continued around to visit the chalets. I took a brief look behind me with my NVGs and smiled as I made out Shadow, Hit Girl, Jackal and Kick-Ass approaching up the slope in the near distance.
..._...
The pool house was dark and the door was closed.
I turned the handle and carefully pulled the door open – the hinges were obviously well oiled. I scanned the area with the NVGs, enabling the active infra-red. I could see a blanket and some other items – a plate with a partially eaten sandwich and a can of Coke.
Rogue!
I quickly searched the pool house and sadly, I found nothing else.
"Fusion – just found where they were holding somebody – no joy, though."
"Copy that!" Hal replied.
I left the pool house and immediately ran into another guard – I pulled out my knife, but he deflected it.
Time: 02:50
As I watched the residence from a hundred yards away, I saw Psyche appear and immediately get into a fight with a guard.
The girl could move when she needed to and ever since landing on the beach, she had been an ice cold killer. As a vigilante, she had to control her temper and limit the killing, but here on the island, I had let her off the leash, so to speak and she was working out beautifully. I also knew that she was very, very pissed off about somebody seizing her little sister and she wanted revenge, just as much as I did.
The man she was fighting, was good, but Psyche was smaller and more agile; she dodged his knife thrusts with jumps and dives, rolling along the ground at one stage. I did not dare say anything over the comms, in case I distracted her. Then the nine-year-old girl drove her knife into the man's chest and I saw blood erupt out of the man's still beating heart. The blood splashed over Psyche as she lowered the man to the ground and then stood up.
She turned to face us and the young Brit threw us a casual salute, before heading up the stairs away from the pool. I just chuckled to myself and I saw Shadow shaking her head, but smirking all the same.
All hell seemed to break loose!
I was hauled out of the bed and dragged down a corridor. I could hear gunfire and I was scared – it was dark and there was shouting and flashes and... I was pushed into a room and the door was slammed shut and locked.
I cowered in the corner and just shook with fear. It had been so close, that man – he had tried to remove my swimsuit. Only minutes before, he had pulled me out of the pool house and taken me to his room. I had no idea what he had in mind, but he obviously wanted me naked for whatever it was...
Then the gunfire had started and interrupted things.
I heard the gunshots and we all bolted up the hill, ignoring all further attempts at stealth.
Over to the left, in the second chalet, I had seen the flash of gunshots, then Wildcat had emerged and I could see blood dripping from her claws. She headed towards the main residence, following in her partner's wake.
Jackal and Kick-Ass ran up and over to the left to get into position to cut off reinforcements that might come up the stone track. I followed Shadow over the perfectly manicured lawn, dropping a guard with a throwing knife. We dropped down onto a bricked drive where there was a parked SUV.
As I passed by, I attached a remote charge to the underneath and then continued on towards the residence.
Dammit!
I had not been quick enough and that bastard had got two shots off – both had missed, but the damage had been done. However, the bastard had paid, with my claws in his heart... I dived out of the chalet and saw Psyche pushing her way into the residence.
By the time I caught up with her, she was raging. The young girl had pinned a guard against the wall, the muzzle of her MP7 buried deep in his throat.
"Where is she?" Psyche bellowed as she drove her right knee upwards into the man's stomach.
"I – don't – know..." The man gasped.
"There must be a hundred reasons why I shouldn't blow you away. Right now, I can't think of one..."
With that, Psyche literally blew the poor bastards head apart with a three-round burst. The girl was gone before the body had hit the ground.
As Shadow and I ran down the steps towards the front door of the residence, we came under heavy fire.
I dived to the left and Shadow to the right, we both engaged with our heavier weapons. The fire was accurate too as bullets pinged off the stonework that we were hiding behind. Then I heard some bad news.
"Contact! Contact! Contact!"
It was Kick-Ass and then I heard the FN Minimis commence chattering away and I knew that reinforcements were trying to come in from behind us. I returned fire, dropping a man – we had to move and we had to move soon, Rogue's life was at stake.
Dammit, we were so close!
The Residence
Time: 03:05
"Who the bloody hell is attacking us?"
"We have no idea boss – we seem to have lost several men already, but we have extra men coming up from the barracks on the mainland and they will cut off the attackers' escape route. A group of men are cutting off the residence, as per standing orders."
"Are they soldiers?"
"We have no idea; nobody has actually seen them yet."
"Are they here for the girl?"
"No way – no way they could have found out where we took her. The girl's parents are just rich fuckers – no way they could have had an operation mounted this quickly. It's probably just a competitor, boss."
"Whoever they are – kill them and if possible bring one to me – I want answers!"
Shadow and I were able to break out as we laid down some heavy fire.
The main door was closed to us, but that was soon remedied as I slapped a block of C4 onto the locking mechanism in the centre. I yanked out the activation tag and dived behind the nearest wall...
There was a crashing explosion and part of the door sailed over our heads. We both surged forwards, finding two dead men – at least it might have been two; it was difficult to tell... My Glock 23 barked out orders of death as we moved forwards. I felt a bullet strike my body armour – damn it hurt! I swapped my Glock to my left hand and raised my G36C in my right – pouring death in two directions as I dived for cover behind a couch.
Shadow crashed down beside me as she swapped out the magazine in her FN Five-seveN pistol.
Atlantic Storm
Time: 03:18
Things did not seem to be going well.
I monitored all the voice traffic as the team fought. Beside me was Danny – or rather 'Ravage' as he should be called.
"We need to get closer, just in case..." Neptune announced as he spun the wheel and advanced the throttles.
There was a whopping sound from the radar system as a large contact was detected eighteen miles out and closing at six knots.
"We have company!"
Buck Island
We had joined up with Wildcat and Psyche in the kitchen.
Psyche had just put a bullet into a man's face after pistol whipping him with her SIG. She was smiling – the girl was enjoying the killing, just as I did...
"He says she's in there!" She growled over the comms pointing at a large wooden door.
I felt my heart beating harder – we were close.
"Kick-Ass – we have a location, northern-most building, ground level..."
"Copy!"
I placed another charge – this one smaller than before.
Again, I pulled the tab and crouched down.
..._...
The door burst open and I rolled in, shooting at anything that was over five feet tall.
I saw my daughter, right there, across the room behind the men. She was still wearing her one-piece swimsuit and sneakers, nothing else; she looked very scared as she huddled into the corner. I felt anger surge through me as I found myself desperately wanting to get close to my daughter so that I could hug her and get her out of that dangerous place.
"I have eyes on Rogue!"
There was an explosion from across the room as a window shattered and Kick-Ass made his entry, almost ripping the head off a man as he twisted the head in anger. Several men ran out of another door and as the other members of Fusion appeared, we took control of the room.
Shadow kept a lookout at one door, Wildcat the other.
..._...
"Well hello there!" I said as I saw the boss cowering on the floor – he matched his photo perfectly.
He did not seem too happy to see me...
First though, I had to see to my daughter. She was still in the corner of her room. Her eyes were tight shut and her arms were over her head and ears trying to block out the noise. I could see the streaks of tears on her dirty face as I approached. There was no recognition from her, she seemed too stunned to notice me as I knelt down beside her.
I gingerly reached out and touched her shoulder.
I felt the gloved hands take hold of me and I heard a voice.
"This is Hit Girl; I have Rogue – repeat, I have Rogue!"
I looked up into a face that was masked. I could not see who it was, but for some reason I felt safe, I had no idea why. All around me I could hear shouts and the sounds of battle being fought. It reminded me of the war films that Danny loved to watch with Dave. I never liked them, but the place sounded just the same. Around me I could see death; people were dying as they tried to stop me from being rescued.
The gunfire began to fade and I was pulled around to face my rescuer.
"Are you okay?" The voice growled, but it felt familiar somehow.
I knew that I was safe, but I needed more...
I spoke through my sobs...
"I want my Mommy..."
"She's here, little one, she's here," I said as soothingly as I could and I hugged my daughter tightly.
Anne-Marie looked up at me, desperate for the love that she so desperately needed from the one person that was so badly needed at that moment.
"Where?"
The little girl looked around anxiously and a little confused.
"Right here..."
I just stared, uncomprehending, as Hit Girl reached up and began to pull off her helmet and mask.
Was I about to find out who Hit Girl really was? Then I saw blonde hair appearing and... Oh my... Mom?
"Mom!"
I hugged Mindy so tightly. My Mom... She was Hit Girl and she had come for me; I was safe, I was complete. I looked up as an enormous shape cast its shadow over the both of us. I recognised the green and yellow markings, it had to be Kick-Ass and I took a hopeful chance.
"Hi... Dad...?"
"Hi, sport – ready to go home?"
"Yes, please!"
Time: 03:30