Chuck vs The Wayward Legionnaire
Chapter 15: Calling all Avenging Angels, Angels, kick ass Angels…
Calling all avenging angels
Vengeance you know it tastes so good
Vengeance is cold as ice
When it has you in its sights.
When it has you in its sights….
Calling all avenging angels
Angels
Kick-ass angels
You could give a call to Scotland Yard
Or send for help from the FBI
But they won't stop a bomb going off.
With only seconds on the clock
Calling all avenging angels
Angels
Kick-ass angels
Space. Avenging Angels.
22nd January. 2010. Southern French Command Centre. 17.30CET.
Duvall to his credit didn't blink an eyelid at what he just heard from the men facing him across a screen, they were the men in the arena and the success of the counterattack on this Fulcrum base was going to hinge on whatever they did next. "Gentlemen, we need details..."
"Sir…" The General looked at him directly again, "Yes Caporal…?" Sean gulped he could see through the screen the assembled military leaders and their political bosses; this was big time!
"…The other group have shared some ideas…"
Duvall sniffed, "We are in command here…" Sean nodded, "Oui General, but they've had time to analyse the data Robie got out earlier, and they have a proposal for consideration…" Sean shook his head, this was all they needed, the bigwigs asserting their authority…
As if reading his mind, Duvall spoke again, "Caporal, you need authorisation first, now what is this proposal…?"
Tied into the feed from the field Delon grimaced, Murphy was an excellent NCO, but he was prone to bristle if rubbed the wrong way, however Sean surprised him…
"Oui General, sorry, I'll let Robie explain."
The face of John Robie filled the screen, "General, the bioweapon has been mostly discharged, but with the assistance of my friends we can…" he paused, this was not an easy thing to propose, especially as the combined European states would have to agree to this, he pressed on.
"…hack the pumping stations…"
There was an uproar from the command centre central screen as it showed divided images of shouting and gesticulating politicians and military figures from the other states as they expressed their concern.
"Shut the FUCK UP!", shouted a clearly annoyed Sean Murphy.
Unexpectedly, they did, "Now if Robie can finish, because I haven't heard any big ideas from you lot!" he growled.
Delon's eyes rolled skyward, he prepared to intervene, but the voice of another beat him to it, "If you don't mind. Duvall, I'd like to hear what MY men are proposing…" Heads turned in the Command Centre, Delon let out a sigh of relief, General Bouquin had arrived. Sabut almost had tears of joy in his eyes as he saluted his Commander in Chief.
"Mon General!" said Sean in more respectful tones.
In the Contessa's chambers there was an almost subconscious gathering to attention given by the watching men to the image of their C.O. on the screen, Sean nudged Robie.
"….ah right, well we can adjust the pumps of the substations where the bioweapon is currently suspended, using a Stuxnet virus we can reroute it at speed back here, we have a plan to damage the storage facilities in the mountain so it will be displaced into the open areas, all we need then is a means of detonation, we've nothing here General, we've been locked out of the onsite armoury, we need something like an incendiary to blow the gas. If we can manage that, the bioweapon should be destroyed, Sir".
"How sure are you that you can get the bioweapon back Robie?" asked Bouquin, "and more importantly, why?"
Sean answered, "Longer that stuff is in the pipes, Sir, there's a chance our Fulcrum friends or their allies could launch an attack. They know it's out there, General."
Bouquin understood, turning to Duvall, the two men considered their options. The news of this foreign spy organisation had hit them hard; nobody could believe they had infiltrated Europe like this. There was going to be a reckoning later.
The two seasoned soldiers had studied the specs of the bioweapon, the safety of the country and perhaps even mainland Europe rested on the decisions they would now make, the Interior minister joined them.
"Gentlemen, please tell me we have a plan." His voice was steady, but his eyes betrayed his tension, taking a quick glance around the room and mounted screens, the two generals noted similar expressions from their European political and military counterparts.
Duvall spoke, "it's going to have to be a fast strike, hard enough to penetrate a target of unknown strength and completely destroy all trace of the weapon…." Bouquin nodded, "we will have to use a bunker buster and a FAE…."
On the other side of the screen listening to the two men. Robbie felt a weird sensation, it had started to seem like a flash but with the General's words an explosion of information went off in his head, he gasped a little, this was like nothing he'd experienced before, the information load was immense, yet there was no pain, his eyes fluttered a bit but not like before and as he tried to keep up with the information download, he found he could tangent off into other associated areas…what the hell was going on?
He felt a hand on his shoulder, he snapped out of it to see a concerned Sean Murphy looking at him. He raised an eyebrow, Robie nodded.
"General, we need the Armement Air-Sol Modulaire HAMMERs that are currently trialling with the modified Rafale twin jets you have at Montbonnot Air Base in Grenoble…"
Both men's heads snapped towards the screen; Duvall was the first to recover from his surprise, "Mon Dieu, Legionnaire, how do you know about that?"
Small truth in a big lie, thought Robie, "General, we can discuss that later, right now my friends are beginning the routing of the weapon back to the mountain, we can expect some resistance when the enemy forces catch on, I humbly suggest you plan the attack two hours from now."
Reims, the minister had already grabbed a phone and was calling the base in question.
Bouquin looked at his men, the battered face of Robie and the grim visages of the others. This was a baptism of fire for his new unit if ever there was one. "Two hours Robie…?"
The younger man nodded, "We calculate most of the payload will be back on site, we can try and make a nuisance of ourselves prior to escaping…"
Duvall returned from talking to the Minister. "We have no idea of the mountain structure; we need some way to know where to deliver the missiles."
Robie smiled, "No problem, sir, you have an E-3 Sentry overhead, they can guide the missiles in with a laser..." The General harrumphed impatiently, "…where to Robie, where to…?"
Robie pressed a button on the console, a low rumbling could be heard as the hidden motors reopened the balcony area, hitting the outside lights, he turned back to the monitor, "They should have no problem drawing a bead on us now General."
Indeed, the communications of the command base lit up as the excited voices from the Reconnaissance aircraft reported the light source on the mountain, a video feed quickly followed.
"Good work Robie!" said a proud Bouquin.
Sean rejoined the conversation, "Sir, we'll need you to coordinate that air attack with the outside troops and armour, there's a medium size enemy force out there." The General nodded, "Some enemy transports are being prepped as we speak, we surmise that you will soon be facing a counterforce as soon as they realise what you're up to."
Murphy blanched. "We better get on with it, we need to secure the pumping stations and prepare a surprise for our "guests."
They looked at each other, the General eyed his men one by one. "We're coming to get you." The men straightened, as one they answered "OUI, MON GENERAL!" He saluted," Two hours, gentlemen".
They saluted and Robie cut the transmission.
Sabut grabbed Chen, "Let's go, we're not needed here!" The General nodded at Sabut as he watched them leave.
…..
Robie quickly accessed the link to the Ghosts, the screen popped up, the shadowy figures stopped moving, through the electronic distortion, Robie and Sean still recognised Oisin's voice.
"We've started the virus download, they should see the pumps ramping up to about 150% of their normal capacity, we might blow out a few safeties…" he let that hang there.
"That's ok, Taranis, appreciate the help, is Baldur and Kryst sure of the volatility of the mix?"
"Yep Phobos, that mixture is going to be highly unstable, the more natural gas that bonds to it, is going to exponentially increase the explosive power, I hope to hell you guys have an escape plan…"
They could hear the worry in the other man's voice, Robie looked at the rest of the men, he nodded, "Keep us informed of what's going, I have a feeling when the time comes, we're going to need all the warning we can get. We're signing off, we need to prepare."
"Bon chance lads" Oisin signed off too and sat back in his chair, Roisin's worried eyes searched for assurance in her father's face, he took her hands. "They're soldiers, Legionnaires hun, they're trained. We have to trust the Gods now." Shaken and upset, the young woman shook her head in disbelief, inwardly she prayed for the safety of the two men and their friends.
While they'd been talking to the higher ups, Erik had disappeared into the adjoining labs, Brun had also gone walkabout, Sean decided it was time to organise the taking of the Tank control room where the remaining Fulcrum soldiers and scientists were working, they followed him into the lab, Erik sitting at a bench carefully loading some yellow crystals into conical flasks and test tubes filled with cotton wool.
He took great care, Robie looked at the empty bottles of Bleach and Iodine and felt his head start to whirl again, a chemical formula and it's uses flashed into his mind, he closed his eyes and focussed on what the Intersect was showing him, "Jesus Erik, that's Nitrogen Triiodide!"
"What now?" asked Sean.
"An explosive, did you lot forget I have a degree in Chemical Engineering?" Erik paused from drying of his latest batch of crystals with an alcohol using some filter paper.
"A highly unstable explosive!" added Robie, watching his movements with wide eyes, across the room the rest of men stopped what they were doing and threw cautious looks in the direction of the bench. Sean groaned.
Erik looked at them, "well you did say we were short on explosives…" There was silence, he sighed and pressed on, "…so I made us some 'grenades'…" he pointed to the test tubes, "…and some smaller ones, just in case…"
Sean and Robie looked at each other incredulously, "…in case of what? Armageddon?"
Erik huffed, "…no appreciation…. sometimes I wonder why I bother…."
There was giggling from the other men, Sean glared at them, madmen, he was working with madmen, mad scientists and guys with a computer in their brain… what was the world coming to?
There was a noise from outside, he turned and saw Antoine dragging a hose across the floor to the stairs. He was also carrying two pails of what looked like soapy water.
"Brun, what the fuck are you doing?"
The Frenchman gave an evil grin, "You'll see…." He sniggered to himself and carried on.
Sean put his hand to his face, he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see a sympathetic Robie peering at him. There was a ping from another side of the lab and Erik smiled, "…looks like my other surprise is just about ready…"
It was too much for the Caporal, drawing a large gulp of air into his lungs, he opened his mouth and screamed, "Legionnaires Garde A Vous!"
The men dropped everything and quickly formed to attention, Brun and Erik darted into position….
"At ease…right, this is what we're gonna do…" He outlined a plan. "…any suggestions?"
10 minutes later…
Karl Hurwitz chief engineer sighed as he read the output readout, finally, they were nearly empty, he thought about the long vacation he would take now his part was nearly concluded, some movement outside the control booth caught his eye, ah good, he thought, the relief had arrived. He watched as a detachment of 6 men slowly walked towards them.
He rubbed a tired hand across his face which is why he missed the first three of the men drop to their knees and all six swung their MP5s around and quickly dispatched the security men accompanying his staff, one of his staff made an abortive attempt to grab a fallen weapon and paid dearly for it, their head snapping back as a double tap spread their skull and brain matter across the cavern floor.
Two of the intruders ran swiftly forward, one had a shock of black hair and cold green eyes, a Slavic looking man with equally cold brown eyes also eyeballed him and his remaining people as if daring them to try something. The other four men quickly grabbed the guns and ammunition from the fallen bodies.
The two entered the booth, the guns in their hands never wavered, they approached the control console, outside the other men started setting valves in the return position and then smashing them.
He stood to complain but a fist into his face shot him back onto the floor, he stayed in a supine position, these men, he decided were dangerous.
There was a glare from the puncher over the sights of a pointed pistol, his green eyes flashed to the other man who had sat down in Hurwitz's chair, he studied the panel in front of him, "Tak…Tak…. ok" He began hitting buttons.
Hurwitz moved so he could get a look, he gasped in shock, they were reversing the flow!
"What the hell are you playing at!" he demanded. The pistol holder looked back at him. "We're the good guys, now on your feet and shut up!"
Just then the intercom on the console lit up, Goudier's voice erupted from the speaker. "Hurwitz? What the hell are you doing? We're reading a negative pressure of the pump flow down here…"
Sean and Maksym looked at one another, Maksym shrugged and hit the intercom. "Uh, everything's under control. Situation normal…"
"What happened? Where's Hurwitz?", the voice demanded.
Maksym with a pained expression replied," Uh, we had a slight pump malfunction, Hurwitz is dealing with it, but uh…. everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you, how are you?"
Sean's eyes bugged as he listened.
"I'm sending some men up."
Maksym groaned under his breath, "Uh, negative, negative, we had a …ah... reactor, I mean Tank leak here now, Give us a few minut…."
"Are you quoting Star Wars to me?" came incredulously from the speaker.
….
Down in the security office Goudier and Stahler looked at each other. What the fuck was going on...?
"Who is this?", Goudier demanded.
Another voice entered the conversation. "We're the men that are going to shut this shitshow of yours down."
Goudier's face reddened, nobody spoke to him like that and lived.
"We'll see about that; I'll give you one opportunity to surrender before my men get there or I can promise you a worse fate than your friends already suffered!"
That apparently was the wrong thing to say, the voice replied in artic tones, "Don't send anything you can't afford to lose…"
There was a burst of gunfire that had the two men ripping their headsets off from the sudden feedback.
"Insolent bastard!" snarled Stahler, seething with rage.
Goudier took a second to steady himself, "Take Alpha group and bring me their heads, especially that one, I'm gonna skull fuck him to death personally!"
"And the Contessa…?"
Goudier smiled, "She's no longer required." Stahler smiled too and made for the door, contacting his men on the way…
…..
Back in the control booth Sean and Maksym backed away from the sparking console, their rounds had irreversibly damaged it.
Sean had a feeling the bad guys were as good as their word, he quickly gathered the remaining technicians, and they hurried back to the main structure of the mountain base, once inside they put the survivors in the pantry area of the canteen, locking them in a large walk-in freezer, Vanderlaan and Brun were pottering around a microwave, he didn't ask…
They headed back up to the Contessa's apartment, donning their facemasks as they went.
Robie was online with the Ghosts again, "…. nearly 70%of what was out there will be back with you within the next 15 minutes Phobos, maybe another 15-20% a half hour after that…." Robie groaned at that, "ok Baldur, did you get those video clips?" On the other side Sven Ohlsen gulped, he'd mistakenly opened one, "I did."
Robie looked at the men, "make sure they're forwarded to Interpol." he thanked Sven and signed off.
Turning in his seat he faced Sean, "Not so good I take it?" He asked. Robie shook his head. "We can't wait any longer. We've 'guests' on the way…" He pointed to a monitor showing 3 heavily armoured vehicles heading their way from the plant below.
Grim-faced, the NCO turned to his men, "Well lads, it's a do or die situation. We need to hold the fort for a bit until we get the bioweapon inside the facility, or all this is for naught." They eyed him back. They were nervous, there was only eight of them against a superior force that was probably better trained.
Sean eyed them up. "You're ready. I couldn't ask for a better bunch of lads to do this with, this isn't just for France, Europe. This is about showing them, who we are…. we're LEGIONNAIRES! And it's damn sure about settling the score for Dario Sastre and Damian Barczar!"
The men's faces tightened in anger, whatever hold fear had placed on them vanished.
Looking at them all, he felt no small measure of pride, he had meant his words. Robie met his eyes and gave him a tight smile of encouragement. Just then a monitor beeped, it was the command centre.
Robie turned to answer, it was Bouquin, "Caporal, the planes are in the air. How's things going?"
Sean and Robie looked at each other. "We've about 70- 85% of the weapon due back to the facility in the next 25-30 minutes. We've prepared as best we can, but we need you to hold the attack run off until we can clear the mountain."
The General looked at somebody in the room as a question was asked. Nodding, he looked back at the men. "How will we know when you're out?"
It was Robie who answered, "I've managed to hook everything up to this laptop General, as soon as we exit, I'll signal." He waved a laptop in the air.
"Gentlemen, we've had the analysis back on that bioweapon, we can't allow any of that to escape, even small amounts are catastrophic…" He looked at them, "We are blowing the pipework and using the second FAE to 'cauterise' the remains, anything else left in the Nord pipeline we can contain ourselves for disposal, German and Italian NBC units are en route to assist."
He looked offscreen again. "Your guests are about to arrive, Bon Chance Gentlemen!" He signed off.
From below in the main chamber the men heard a rumble, Robie checked a monitor, it was the main doors! Three heavily armoured vehicles swept in and headed for the parking area.
Sean looked at the men, "Time to earn our keep boys…."
They quickly moved into position, they had the high ground, advantage to them…
…
Stahler had the lead, he looked at the other two vehicles as they sped into the central chamber, they quickly executed a protective manoeuvre covering each other as they stopped, but not before he saw the bodies of his guards on the ground by the pumping station. He growled in anger.
Quickly they exited, there was no hostile fire, he figured as much, the smaller defensive force would be quickly overwhelmed in the open, looked like their leader, the Mouth, had some brains after all. It didn't matter, he had the numbers, and they knew they hadn't accessed the armoury.
He directed a team to check the Pumping station control room, from what he could already see there had been plenty of damage done to the pumping system and tank mechanisms.
One of his men, Ritter ran to him, "Well?".
"They fucked it up good Sir. It's locked into a return cycle, with the instruments gone there's no way to see what's full or empty…" He looked at Stahler.
"Form up and head towards the main structure." He ordered. His men snapped to it, fanning out and using all available cover they arrived at the opening to the ground level. His headset popped. It was Goudier.
"We're seeing an increase in forces, Gustav, I reckon they're going to attack en masse. What's the position like on your end?"
Stahler checked around carefully before replying, "They've hit the pumping station as we thought. They killed the guard detail. Expecting more of the same inside, no contact from that bitch or her hellhound yet, maybe we got lucky there…. "
He was wrong…
…
Earlier… Contessa's chamber.
Groggily she awoke, there was a weight pressing against, it was smothering, she forced her eyes open and met the glazed stare of Janos. His mask was gone, just like his mind, her proximity dosing him completely, she was furious, he had failed her….
She snarled beneath her gag and using her strong legs kicked him away, there was a sudden sharp pain against her right hand, she pushed herself around and looked down…her stiletto gleamed in the light, she smiled, pivoting around she set to work, it cost a bit of blood and skin but she was motivated, she wanted revenge against the bastard that beat her!
Her hands shot free, the rest of her bonds were but a moments work after that, she sat up and faced her servant, it was done in a heartbeat, the blade arced out slicing his throat, she hissed in pleasure and annoyance…it was not the one she wanted but she needed replenishment.
She looked around the room, her console was a mess, the balcony was open, but she heard voices from her laboratory, she snuck to the opening listening.
She stole a peek, a tall blond one was working, two others with machine guns were watching, they all wore masks! She sat back against the wall. Too many…. she needed to get out. Quickly she ran to the bed, activating the switch to the hidden door, she stepped through, in her haste though she didn't close it properly! She knew if she called the lift, it would be seen, she looked up at the ventilation unit and smiled….
….
Stahler arranged his men into three groups, two would attack the separate stairs, the third would mop up and provide support as necessary. They advanced to the first floor, oddly there a fire hose draped on the steps on one of them, he sniffed the air cautiously, no smoke….
He motioned his men forward….
…
On the floors above, Antoine Brun gave careful watch on his surprises… he grinned, the urban landscapes of Paris had thrown up many surprises in his days as a cop, the youths in the flat complexes had come up with many ingenious ways to thwart the police on raids, he had learned well and the dirty tricks part of the Commando course had enhanced this, he hoped the bad guys would appreciate his efforts….
He watched as the first few stepped around his hose, he quickly reached up and turned on the water supply, the pressure quickly jumped and in seconds over 300lbs of water pressure ran through the hose, the nozzle at the end weighed about 6-7 lbs itself, now like a massive snake it bucked and weaved through the confines of the stairwell. There were screams of pain as it made contact with a leg here and a torso there breaking bones, there was a grunt as one man took a glancing blow across the skull, he dropped silently.
Curses broke out and a HK rattled, the bullets stitched holes in the pipe, and it dropped leaking to the ground, still, it had accomplished its task.
…
Stahler could hardly believe his eyes. Three men down already! He motioned the other team forward, they threw some flashbangs and raced up the opposite stairs across from them. Bad move….
…..
Robie watching through the CCTV system signalled Maksym who pulled a rope triggering Brun's other surprise, two full buckets of extremely soapy water topped into the other stairwell just in time to meet the racing boots of the other team, the effect was comical. One man flipped in the air landing with a groan on the back of his head, another spun out over the stairway railings dropping five floors to the generator room floor beneath the main facility, his screams as he pinwheeled through the air desperately trying to grab a handhold, ended in a sickening crunch.
5-0 and Stahler hadn't even made it off the ground floor!
…
With a furious look on his face, Gustav Stahler raced to the next floor past the leaking hosepipe, nothing! The defenders hadn't shown their faces yet, he approached the security office carefully, producing his keycard he waved it and as the door opened, he and another two men sprayed the room before entering, it was a wasted effort. There were only the bodies of the men he had left guarding the facility.
He made his way to the main console, he entered the code to unlock the surveillance system and sat down, the screens stayed blank. Puzzled he tried again, this time each screen opened to show him sitting at the console… he snarled in understanding and anger….
….
On the floor above, Robie smiled, he'd thought of that already, he watched as the big man swiftly pulled his pistol and shot the console to pieces, the picture cut out.
Well, it had been nice while it lasted, they were all blind now.
…
Stahler checked the console, dead, he went to a panel in one of the room walls, opening it he got another nasty surprise, the self-destruct mechanism had been dismantled! He couldn't believe his eyes, these morons were supposed to be recruits, yet he had been out thought at every step of the way.
He was going to bathe in their blood, just like that other lunatic, the Contessa, only he was going to shoot the lot of them in painful places first!
He stood and left the room, it was junk now, they approached the next stairwells. This time he had the men prepare some HE grenades, no more messing about! He wanted to hear them scream for a change!
He used hand gestures to co-ordinate the assault. The grenades flew….
…..
On the floor above the men had prepared for the assault as best they could, the canteen tables and chairs had been stacked as barricades at opposite ends of the long corridor. Sean had the men set in two teams of four, they needed to end this quickly, they had limited ammo, the attackers had come loaded for bear, but they still had a few surprises left up their sleeves….
The grenades were still a shock though. The men dived for cover. The first few tables and chairs splintered and flew through the air, the shrapnel coated several of the men, Vadym and Krzysztof groaned in pain, there was a cry from Antoine too. A large piece of wood protruded from his right thigh. Robie grabbed a washcloth from the canteen and wrapped it around the wound.
There was a rush of movement from the stairwell and a brace of machinegun fire thudded into the makeshift defences.
Vanderlaan had enough, two could play at that game, reaching for one of his jars he threw it at the first group of bad guys he could see.
The explosion rocked the floor, there was the sound of rocks falling as the blast completely demolished the stairwell! Dust, smoke and stone fragments filled the air blinding everybody.
The enemy at the opposite stairwell paused in mid-attack! What the fuck did they have up there? Howitzers? The pause allowed Stanislav and Maksym to pepper them with close quarter fire and another four men fell to the ground, the rest retreated, but not before Stanislav took a round in his shoulder. Maksym pulled him to safety.
A coughing, stone dust covered Sean and Erik appeared out of the gloom from the ruined stairwell end of the corridor. Turning to the other man, Sean screamed, "Jesus Fucking Christ Vanderlaan! You're only supposed to blow the bloodey enemy up!"
A sheepish Erik, shaking his own head to clear the blast effects, gave his own thoughts, "I may have miscalculated things…slightly…"
The other men with wide eyes gingerly placed their own makeshift grenades on the floor and backed off slowly.
Erik rolled his eyes, "It's not that bad…" He quickly gathered them up and unscrewing their tops quickly emptied out roughly half the contents. "There you go…good as new!" Nobody met his eyes.
Sean knew they were in trouble now. He gathered the men, they retreated to the next floor. He needed to occupy the enemy somehow, they had managed to leave themselves with only one exit to the cavern floor.
"Robie! Sitrep on those goddamn jets!". Robie opened the laptop, quickly he established a connection…
….
Outside the mountain things had heated up fast, once Robie had shown the storage and waste tanks in the plant yard and surrounding buildings posed minimal threat the armoured division laid down some heavy fire, Goudier had marshalled his forces as best he could, but they were now facing superior forces with better equipment.
Delon stood with the Major in charge of the armour, and they plotted out their plan of attack, more air support had joined them, and attack copters rained down missiles on the approach to the factory, the mines were quickly denotated and though the road was rendered undrivable by conventional means they posed no problems for the tanks.
The main problem as the officers saw it was to keep the enemy occupied and contained until the jets arrived, and as if on cue, the roaring of the twinjets filled the air, and they looked over head to see the two fighters swoop down the valley before looping over the mountain.
Inside the cockpits Captains Pillet and Castaing, eyed up their target, shooting up to a higher altitude they quickly spotted the E-3 and assumed a formation on either side.
Pillet contacted General Duvall, "General Duvall, Angels two onsite, targets locked, awaiting instructions…"
The plan was simple, first priority was the mountain base, with the majority of the Bioweapon inside that needed immediate attention, if the first attack was successful the remaining device was to be used on the exposed pipework on the North face of the mountain, a team of regulars had worked their way into position and had a laser painting the site.
The NBC units of the Germans and Italians had arrived and were supplementing the CBRN, the French army's NBC unit, the 2nd Dragoons. They had already placed charges on the couplings on the pipework, but they needed the cauterizing effect of the FAE to ensure the total destruction of the release of any of the remaining gas.
The main concern now was the weather, the mountains were known for treacherous conditions and a heavy storm was expected. The last thing anybody wanted was the dispersal of the weapon.
…
Back in the cavern, on the security office floor the Fulcrum forces dragged the bodies of Gustav and two more of his men from the ruined rubble of the 2nd floor stairwell, Sander Horstmann, formerly GSG9, regrouped the men. The mission stood.
Dispose of the enemy. He took his time though, there was only one way up or down now, but the gloves were coming off. Every advance was preceded with grenades and heavy machinegun fire.
They moved cautiously up the stairs again…. nothing…. he noted blood on the floor in a couple of places, he grinned wolfishly, looks they had gotten their licks in too…
They advanced to the barracks dormitory, they cleared it, nothing… onwards to the canteen area, throwing open the doors they launched a few flashbangs in, there was some noise near the pantry area, two men quickly approached the area and abruptly stopped!
Looking down they found the one of the last of Erik's and Brun's surprises, a super strong adhesive that stuck them to the floor like flies on flypaper!
Cursing aloud, they started to untie their laces before a sound drew their attention to the second surprise, a microwave stuffed with bubbling plastic Coke bottles!
With a ping, an explosion sent the door flying, impaling itself in one of the unfortunates, the other merely whimpered in shock as the scalding hot contents of the bottles drenched him, the pain overwhelming his ability to scream.
Ather that, the rest checked the pantry area, carefully, and the freezer door was opened, and the engineers freed of their bonds. They were told to stay out of the way in none too friendly tones.
Sander swore, that was it, he'd had enough, leading his men, they raced up the stairwell to the laboratories, a hail of gunfire met them and another man fell, but the defenders were low on ammo and the attackers launched a vicious fusillade that hit Vadym in the torso and Robie in the upper right arm as they fought a desperate rearguard action up the last flight of stairs to the Contessa's apartment.
…..
Sean surveyed his men, it was getting bad, they were down to a few clips of HK ammo and 5-6 clips for the Glocks they'd purloined earlier. He wasn't eager to start using Erik's 'grenades' again, that had nearly ended in disaster the first time!
He'd found a First Aid kit though and the men watched in surprise as he ran from man to man, expertly patching up the various wounds, luckily nobody had taken any major hits, even Vadym had been blessed with a through and through. They had to grit their teeth though, no painkillers.
The battle on the Laboratory floor had been intense though, he led the men back to the Contessa's apartment. He could see no way out, he'd have to order Robie to call in the airstrike anyway, he snorted to himself, damn poor way to end their first major sortie, but that was as the French said, C'est la guerre….
It was Erik that noticed it first.
"Hey! That crazy bitch is gone!" They all stood and looked at the bed, the sightless eyes of the Albino looked back at them, made all the more eerie by the blissed-out smile on his face and the second 'smile' that was his slit throat.
The men looked cautiously about the room, Antoine ran to the private laboratory and peered in, "nothing here boss", from the outside balcony Stanislav Zaporozhets reported nothing either.
Robie looked dumbfounded, "She hardly scaled the mountain, did she…?" Walking closer to the bed he noticed some bloody footprints, weird… they were heading ….
"SEAN!"
Murphy barrelled over, Robie pointed, there was a hairline crack of light in the wall at the head of the bed. Robie walked quickly over, he looked at the small shelf that contained a bedside lamp, there was 3 switches….
He looked at the lamp at the far side of the bed. Reaching out he toggled a switch, the far lamp went out, he hit another, the lamp in front of him went out, he turned it back on and hit the last, there was a soft click and the crack widened.
Robie pushed it and the hidden door opened!
"ERIK! Grenades!" Sean grabbed Vanderlaan and raced to the apartment door, Maksym and Krzysztof Bigos danced out of the way from their covering positions as the two men raced into the corridor…
…..
On the floor below, Sander had positioned the remains of his forces at both stairwells leading to the Fourth floor, nervously his men prepared for the final assault, they never got the chance…
There was the sound of glass shattering at the top of the fourth-floor stairwells and suddenly they vanished in two blindingly loud explosions, when the dust settled both stairwells had been badly damaged.
Sander got to his feet and walked over. He looked at his men, no casualties. He peered upwards. They hadn't been as thorough as they had thought, the defenders, the staircase in front of him would take some clearing, but they'd get there and when they did….
…
Back upstairs the men crowded into the hidden room and closed the door behind them. They looked about, the other bed and the hanging girdle raised the hairs on the back of Robie's neck and he shivered at the memories of the previous hours.
The others opened cabinets, bedding fell out, another found the door to the incinerator, it was a grim-faced Sean Murphy that pulled back the curtain to the mortician's den, he quickly recognised the instruments on the wall. He seethed at the thoughts of Damian and Dario in here…
It was Robie who found the hidden elevator doors. It was tiny. This was going to take two trips.
Sean ordered the Ukrainians on, "Hold the fort until we get down, ok?" Maksym nodded "Yes boss!" They descended.
Robie counted the seconds of the elevators journey down. Brun stood with Erik, who remained with his ear pressed to the hidden door. Keeping watch in case they had visitors.
The elevator doors opened again, and the men raced in, Robie hit the button for the main cavern floor….
The doors opened, they peered out, they spotted the others hidden behind a lightly armoured SUV, Erik tried the driver's door, locked, he cursed in his native tongue, from behind him came the jingle of keys, Stanislav waved them in the air and pointed to a keyboard. He flung them to Erik's waiting hands!
Robie looked and saw the open doors to the three transports the Fulcrum teams had arrived in, he wandered over and peered inside, they might be something they could use he thought…
Instead, he got a surprise, lying on the floor was a missile launcher and not just any launcher, a very familiar one, he smiled, he hadn't seen one of these since the Lon Kirk mission, well he could certainly do something about this…. He got to work.
He finished that and went to the next transport, same again, he repeated his work, same at the third transport, he had just finished and turned to rejoin the others when a searing pain erupted in his shoulder, and he felt a hand spin him around and he looked into the red rimmed wild eyes of the Contessa!
He groaned at the pain as she snarled in rage plunging the stiletto into his upper abdomen and began cutting. Desperately he grabbed her wrist, her other hand clawed for his eyes, and he moaned as with the strength of a madwoman she continued the trek of the blade through his flesh in a reverse C cut.
He gasped, he knew if she succeeded his guts would splatter on the cavern floor and she would possibly pierce his abdominal artery. He groaned as he fought to push the blade back and stop the cut going deeper but it was a losing battle, his hands were bathed in his blood, and he could feel his grip slipping…
The Contessa grinned like a lunatic and increased her pressure, he was weakening… the rifle stock that smashed violently against the side of her face literally came out of nowhere, sending her flying over the bonnet of the transport!
Maksym had gone to check on Robie when he stumbled on the desperate battle of his comrade. He didn't dare fire, Robie was too close, so it was with no small sense of satisfaction that he improvised and administered some punishment to boot!
Robie collapsed.
"Caporal!" Shouted the Ukrainian as he tore off part of his shirt and pressed it into the other man's stomach.
"Holy Shit!" Exclaimed the man in question when he arrived, "what the fuck happened?"
"That maniac was here!"
Maksym jumped to his feet and signalling to Vadym to circle the transport, both men moved quickly into position. From opposite ends of the vehicle they sprang, both of them firing as they did…nothing!
They looked around, it was Vadym that noticed the open ventilation covering, he dropped to his knees and fired a few rounds into the opening, but the Contessa had already disappeared.
Sean examined the wounds; he slapped a bandage on the shoulder, the stomach was worse though, Stanislav threw another First Aid kit he'd found at Sean's side. Sean quickly bandaged up Robie's torso, some of the cut was deep, but it looked like that lunatic hadn't managed to hit anything vital and missed the lower abdomen completely.
Erik started the SUV and pulled it over closer to the men, they grabbed Robie and placed him in the back between Maksym and Vadym, Stanislav and Brun with Krzysztof in the centre seats, Sean jumped in the front riding shotgun.
"Robie, send the signal!"
In the back the other man popped the laptop and hit the send.
The SUV lurched forward to the windows shattering under a barrage of bullets as the Fulcrum forces alerted to the gunfire in the cavern area arrived. Too late. The SUV disappeared down the access tunnel it's taillights mocking them as they fled.
Sander cursed; he couldn't believe it when they'd heard the shots. They never knew about the private elevator from the Contessa's apartment, they'd raced down the stairs just in time to see those bastards pull away, they'd fired on the run but only damaged some windows.
"Get to the transports!" He shouted to his men. They sprinted across the floor, dividing themselves up into three groups, jumping in, he turned and recoiled in shock as the face of the Contessa popped up on the far side of the passenger door. He fumbled for his filter mask, hastily donning it.
She threw open the door and climbed in beside him. They regarded each other, she had a bloody face and when she spoke, he saw her front teeth were broken. "I'm assuming command!"
Sander hadn't heard Goudier's orders to Stahler, she was the Site Director. He turned to Horst, his driver. "After them!"
….
Back at the Command centre as soon as they received Robie's green light, Duvall and Bouquin quickly ordered the strike force to pull back beyond the lee of a small hill where they'd stopped initially to prepare the attack.
The signal was quickly sent to the two jets overhead and Pillet and Castaing dropped out of formation beside the E-3 and began their run.
The lasers had been locked into their fire controls and they quickly acknowledged weapons free and Pillet dropped towards his target, the first HAMMER shot from beneath his jet towards the opening to the Contessa's apartment, entering through the balcony window like a thief in the night, it pierced the chamber floor like gossamer web and continued on to the cavern floor, the detonation was immediate, the blast wave shot through the cavern rupturing the massive tanks which quickly ignited one after the other.
Outside from the safety of the crest of the small hill Delon and the Major watched in fascination as the side of the mountain seemed to bulge under the huge forces at play beneath its surface, but that was just a prelude to the arrival of the FAE on the heels of the bunker buster.
It followed the path of the first missile and its incendiary warhead obliterated the cavern contents upon impact, the gas infused Bioweapon expanded exponentially, the first explosion had smeared the survivors like jam across the cavern walls, Karl Hurwitz and his remaining staff seeking a way out never stood a chance. Their remains were now blowtorched off the walls as a gigantic firewall consumed everything in its path.
The pressures were enormous, the mountain, millenniums upon millenniums old had been pocked by the cumulative effects of erosion, seams of ice that had been water filled cracks now expanded beyond the ability of nature to contain…
To those outside it probably resembled Pompeii on the day Vesuvius decided to blow its top. The whole Eastern top of the mountain blew out in a wave of heat and debris.
On the Northern side of the mountain the NBC troops blew the pipe couplings and Castaing fired his HAMMER, it impacted, and in a half a kilometre radius around the exposed pipes releasing their contents it was if the Sun kissed the Earth. There was a sonic boom as the displaced air rushed to fill the vacuum left by the blast. The troops quickly moved in to deal with anything left.
Ice and snow that had melted was falling in torrents of water from the sides of the blast, greedily collected by the runoff culvert system that normally dealt with the usual seasonal ice melt.
Both pilots watched as the mountain erupted in fury beneath them, they quickly banked to avoid flying debris and headed back to base, mission accomplished!
….
Moments Earlier…...
Erik raced the SUV down the narrow winding road, rounding a corner the mountain disappeared momentarily from view, they never saw the three other transports exit, but Sander and the Contessa saw them!
He knew their route, he quickly directed his men down to an area that he knew would overlook their passage, one of his men manned a 12.7mm and drew a bead on the corner…
As the SUV came into view on the next turn he threw round after round at it.
…
The windshield disappeared in a hail of bullets as Erik desperately dragged the SUV across the road, aiming for a large boulder, he shot behind it but not before he groaned as he took a ricochet through his left bicep.
He slammed to a halt, "Everyone out and take cover behind the SUV!" screamed Sean. They hit the ground hard, there was groans from the injured men.
The rounds kept pummelling the boulder and the SUV. Suddenly they stopped, Maksym stole a look around the boulder, a few rounds made him pull his head back sharply! He groaned at what he saw though.
"What?" asked an anxious Sean. They could do fuck all, all they had left by way of retaliation was obscene gestures and bad language!
"They're preparing missile launchers!" he reported. There was a burst of laughter from Robie and a comment in English that only Erik and Sean heard but didn't understand.
"No Crown Vic this time Casey!" …They looked at him as if he had two heads.
…
Back on the crest Sander prepared his men, the Contessa in a rare moment of clarity approved, she'd watch that bastard and his friends burn!
The Fulcrum team shouldered the launchers, took aim, and then fired with deadly precision.
The missiles shot across the valley floor, Sander's grin split his face and then dropped in horror as they arced up into the air and reversed course. He didn't even have time to wonder…
The missiles slammed into the three carriers spewing hot death everywhere…
…
For the watching men it was a brief reprieve as the whole mountain shook and then erupted! They dived back into the SUV, this time Sean grabbed the wheel, the men slammed the doors shut and he shot off down the road again.
The roof of the SUV rattled as the smaller stones and rocks arrived first bouncing off the reinforced metal. Sean kept one eye on the road and one on the rearview as he watched the events unfold behind him.
He nearly spun out when he noticed a lone figure stand up near the remains of the Fulcrum transports, it was the damn Contessa! He watched in shock as she jumped up and down in rage, gesticulating wildly with that damn blade in her hand. What the hell did it take to kill that bitch?
Suddenly he noticed something she didn't….
…
The Contessa had moved fast when the missiles reversed course, she had dropped into a shallow ditch as they hit, the concussive force and blast wave rolled over her, her shoulder burned but otherwise she was fine.
She leapt to her feet and watched in impotent rage as the SUV below took off, it was a last blow to her already shattered psyche, she lost it. Screaming, and jumping in rage, she swore a dire fate to the escaping men, then it got strangely dark…
She spun just in time to see a massive boulder hurtling towards her…
SPLAT!
…..
Back at the chemical plant Jorg Goudier had wondered about his lost contact with Stahler. Radio calls had gone unanswered, then his hands were full directing the defence of the plant and the mountain base.
He waited and hoped Stahler had set the self-destruct, they were going to lose, but if he at least accomplished his mission….
That was just before the mountain blew. The massive explosion and rumbling of falling rocks filled the air and he threw the door to the plant security office open just in time to see his doom approaching!
Millions of tonnes of unstoppable rock obliterated the plant, crushing everything flat and wiping it virtually off the face of the earth.
….
Back in the SUV Sean burst out laughing and to the astonishment of the others began to sing, "Ding Dong, the witch is dead, the wicked witch is dead…!"
Just then the roof of the SUV over Krzysztof's head buckled as a rock the size of a small dog crumbled it on impact, there was a shout from the badly shaken man as he wiped shattered glass off his face.
Another boulder the size of a car landed and caromed off the front of the SUV straining Sean's ability keep the vehicle on the road, it was a rain of death and steadily increasing!
They rounded a corner and he nearly stood on the brakes as a massive boulder dropped out of the sky into the surface in front of him! No way forward, time to try something else!
"Fuck this!" He pulled the wheel swiftly to the left and they slammed through a crash barrier dropping down a steep gradient, the impact knocked the air from the lungs of the unprepared men.
He zigzagged across open parkland as debris pounded the ground all around them, another boulder hit the roof above him and Erik destroying the last of the windshield, but not before he saw what he'd been looking for!
"I hope you boys brought your swimming trunks!"
They shot out into space and then dropped like a stone into a culvert, the icy water splashed in the ruined windows, but the SUV bobbed its way down stream in a fast-moving current.
They spun as they rounded a corner and Erik groaned, "Can't we catch even one break?"
There was a twenty-foot wall of water pursing them down the narrow channel and catching up!
The SUV completed its revolution and shot down the final straight.
"Look out Caporal!" Screamed Brun.
A massive steel safety grate loomed up out of the spray, designed to stop fallen trees getting in and blocking the massive drain, it had accomplished its task too well and Sean and Erik dived to one side as a stuck tree trunk speared the open windshield and impaled the SUV bringing it to a sudden halt.
"Time to the get the hell out of here!" snapped Erik, he clambered out onto the bonnet, standing up he saw an access stair to a walkway for maintenance workers. Quickly he motioned to the others to pass him Robie and he swung him in a fireman's carry across his broad shoulders.
The rest quickly joined him, and they climbed the stairs to the catwalk, they ran to the far side of the barrier just the wave hit. The force of the water nearly knocked them off their feet and they found the level quickly rose, Sean pressed ahead and then stopped in despair.
The avalanche of rock had mostly blocked the far end too, there was only a small gap to release the buildup of water all around them, but the flooding was quickly filling the enclosed space! Too quickly!
The current forced them on as he looked about but it was Brun that pointed to a faint glow of emergency lights shining on the walls, "This way Boss!", splashing through the icy water they followed him until they came to an alcove with a ladder.
Sean looked up; he could see a glimmer of light above. "Maksym, you go first, Vadym, Stanislav you take Robie…. shut the fuck up Robie! Then Antoine, Krzysztof, Erik and me, got it? Start climbing!"
The water rose beneath them…
…
Back at the lee, Delon watched the near total destruction of the chemical plant, there was a sound of a racing engine behind him, and he turned to see Philip Chen and Felix Sabut driving a Technamm towards him, Felix jumped out and ran towards him.
"Did they get out?"
Delon looked surprised, the signal had been sent, but he had had no contact from the men. "I don't know..."
He motioned to Chen, he pulled the Masstech T4 closer, "Get on the radio and see if the E-3 spotted anything." Philip complied.
There was a nervous wait as the reply came, "We observed a SUV leaving the mountain just before bombardment, however it was being pursued by three heavily armoured transports, they headed to the road to the East of the plant."
"Come on Alain!" Said Sabut jumping into the T4.
The junior officer climbed in, and Chen gunned the engine, they shot off towards the last reported position.
Delon pulled out his map, "take the next right Chen, assuming they took the culvert road we should see them over here" He pointed out a spot to Sabut who nodded.
They quickly climbed, looking back they could see the armoured and ground forces approach the ruins of the Cassini plant, the few survivors left limped from the devastation, throwing their arms up in surrender.
They rounded a corner, the East side of the mountain valley looked like the surface of the moon. From where they sat, it looked like Pac man had taken a bite out the mountain summit, as they watched a large section of the mountain top finally proved too much for the narrow band of granite trying to support it and it fell back into the ruins of the hidden base sparking off a fresh wave of smaller explosions and an avalanche of rocks. The rumble could be heard across the valley, drowning out the tanks and helicopters that advanced towards the plant remains.
Around another corner Delon called a halt, he got out and examined the scene, there was still smoke rising off the area where the missiles had struck the enemy forces, he could even make out some of the shattered transports, he quickly caught on to what had transpired and he saw the smaller road below him, he followed it with his eyes.
He saw the massive boulders blocking the road but no SUV.
Then he noticed the damaged crash barrier, "Chen, Binoculars!" He grabbed them and saw what he was looking for, tracks leading to the side of the culvert!
"Mon Dieu Felix! They've gone in the water!" The other man traced the path of the culvert, he saw the barrier, the road they were on ran over the top of it!
"Come on! Maybe they got through the far side."
They jumped back in the T4 and drove quickly to the vantage point, they both jumped out again, Felix ran to the far side, he quickly spotted the blocked exit.
Delon saw the impaled SUV, just then the valley went quiet. The last of rock had stopped falling and the mountain shielded the noise of the moving military equipment. He strained his ears, he caught something! It sounded like…. men shouting!
He looked back at the T4, its back wheel was resting on a raised manhole cover, he saw fingers appear!
"Chen! Move the fucking car!"
To Philip's credit he instantly understood and gunned the big T4 out of the way, spinning to a halt, he was out of the truck and running to the cover just as Delon and Sabut arrived, they heard the desperate shouts of the men trapped beneath them, Chen raced to the back of the Technamm, he returned with a pry bar and some tyre irons.
The three men wrestled like Hercules with the Nemean Lion with the cover, they strained and finally it loosened, and they quickly lifted it off, the men beneath quickly climbed out, Delon and the rest could hardly believe the state of them, blood crusted their clothing, bandages were everywhere, they looked like they'd been through a meat grinder!
When Robie appeared and they saw his wounds, Sabut raced to the T4 and jumped on the radio demanding an immediate medevac, as Brun with his bottom half soaking wet cleared the opening, water rushed out of the hole, it was freezing!
Bigos appeared next, spluttering and shivering he threw himself to the side, there was a long pause and then the blond head of Vanderlaan appeared, he looked like death warmed up! His teeth clattered in his mouth, but he grabbed Delon, he kept trying to say something, finally he managed " Sss-Sean's st.. still…"
He didn't even finish before Chen raced by, dropping his belt as he did and dived headfirst into the dark water. "CHEN!"
He was gone….
…..
Chen almost died when he dove beneath the water, its coldness quickly numbed him. He looked around him, it was pitch dark, the only light source coming from the opening above... he dove deeper…
…..
In the darkness below Sean Murphy had long since lost his grip on the ladder, he floated gently, his mind already receding from the bitter cold, he thought of her… and joining her …finally!
He was happy, he had missed her so much… he opened his mouth…
…
Chen had nearly given up; he had come to the last of his reserves. He had noticed some faint lights towards the bottom of the shaft, suddenly they disappeared, he knew they were emergency lights, they didn't go out, therefore… the cold was making it hard for him to connect the dots… something blocked them! Sean!
He kicked down reaching… then he hit off an arm! He grabbed it, pulling it up, the rest of the man followed, he grabbed his collar and with the last of his strength kicked for the surface.
Delon and Erik stood helplessly at the top of the opening, Sabut joined them again, the seconds dragged by, suddenly in a gasp of air Chen's head broke the surface, his strength failed him, but the big Dutchman plunged his arm into the water and grabbed Sean Murphy lifting him out with ease despite his wound, Sabut and Delon grabbed Chen and pulled him free of the icy embrace of the water.
Quickly Sabut and Delon rolled Murphy unto his back and began CPR, Maksym appeared with blankets and Chen stripped naked wrapping himself quickly in the warm fibres. Feeling gradually returned, Erik threw him a smile and tossed his hair, "Where were you when we needed you?" He ribbed his pal.
There was coughing and a retching behind him, he turned to see Sean Murphy empty his lungs and draw a painful breath, Sabut quickly stripped him out of his wet clothes and wrapped him in the other blanket.
The two officers sat back on the road surface and looked at the men. Vanderlaan started grinning.
"What the hell are you grinning about?"
"Mon Lieutenant, I need a vacation!"
The men started laughing, Sean got up and walked over to Robie, a helicopter appeared and landed nearby, medics raced over and started tending to the men. Sean directed them to take Robie and Vadym in first, "Him, gunshot wound upper torso, him, knife wound to abdomen, knife wound left shoulder, gunshot wound right arm…." The medics noted the work already done, they nodded approvingly. Stretchers were brought and the two men carried to the copter.
A military ambulance arrived, and more medics tended to the others, Sean got a jumpsuit off the copter and quickly dressed, a mouthful of medicinal Cognac and he almost felt human again.
He watched as the copter headed off down the valley, then he called to Chen to bring the T4, Delon walked over. "Where are you going, Sean?"
The other man looked him in the eye, "to make sure the bitch that killed our friends is dead Sir."
Delon and Sabut looked at each other, "Lead on Corporal" said Sabut. Sean directed Chen to the wreckage site of the three carriers.
Sabut noted the crushed and burned bodies of the Fulcrum men, but Murphy passed them by, he made for a large boulder, walking around it, he stopped, he pointed, from under the side the other men could see a woman's arm it looked oddly out of place jutting from under the rock like that.
"What happened Sean, who was she?" asked Sabut.
An ARV pulled up, other soldiers dismounted and joined them, there was murmurings as they took in the scene, Sean gave a hollow laugh. "She was death Sir, pure evil… she wanted us all, but Robie…he dropped a mountain on her, he…he dropped a mountain on her…." He laughed again, but it was mirthless, soon he stopped, and tears ran down his face, Delon put a hand on his shoulder. The watching men understood…
Chen looked away, there was a glitter in a ditch, he walked over, there was a long thin blade resting at the bottom, it had a snake's head handle with a gaping fang filled mouth, ruby red eyes watched him, and he shivered as he carefully picked it up. There was a story here, he knew. But for now, the adventure was over.