All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.
Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Igniting Resistance".
Reunited
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
Rochester, England
"Their defenses are getting tighter," Reginald spoke as he returned to the group, "more men and more coordinated defenses. We'd have to go quite a way to get around it."
"We're getting closer to London," Arthur answer, "the capital… going all the way back to the Romans. The main base in England is likely to be there, and they likely expect me to attack them there."
"Wouldn't you?" the driver asked nervously from the spot where he was seated.
"If we were to sneak in and assassinate their leader," Reginald commented, "that would be doable… but with as small a group as we have, we can not hope to capture and HOLD London for long. No offense to your fairy friend here, but if these guys secretly rule the world and know about all these weird things, I'd tend to think they have prepared defenses for magic."
"We prefer fey to fairy, but I understand your point," Coyote nodded, "though 'protection' can mean many things when magic is concerned, and even magic has its loopholes… and I am a bit of a trickster."
"You're entirely a trickster," Beth commented.
"Point taken," Coyote nodded.
"Is there an army base near Rochester?" Merlin asked the private that had joined them.
"I think there was an old base that was used during World War Two as a base… but I'm not sure," Reginald answered, "If not, they've likely commandeered places like the police stations… anything that would supply them with a vehicle, and likely an onboard radio as well."
"Can you guess as to how many are there?" Beth asked.
"A few companies," Reginald answered, "but that's only judging by what I could see ringing Rochester. There is no telling how many more are inside the city. And since our intention is to get to London to meet up with your friends, fighting the Illuminati in Rochester isn't a wise move."
"But who's to say they're not already hunting us?" the driver wondered nervously from where he was, "I mean you defeated one of their teams when they first attacked and have been moving on foot toward London where you say their base is."
"Yes, but once in London we can vanish much easier," Arthur answered, "It's a big city and tracking every individual is very difficult, especially at night."
"That is if we can make it that far," the driver said, "the soldier boy here has already said we'd have to go way OUT of our way to get around these guys. You don't suppose they got someone that will notice the hatchlings with us? Or find us during the day?"
"They likely do," Merlin tried to comfort him, "whether or not they are successful at this, or will actually do anything, is another matter. The key is getting to London. Once there we can make it to a more secure area and plan what we are to do next."
"I still do not think we can get there on foot," the driver commented.
"So we steal some else's vehicle?" Rachael asked, "come on now. That'd only make us as bad as the Illuminati."
"Not necessarily," Reginald spoke, making all eyes turn to him.
The British Army private then sighed and began to explain.
"The Illuminati are running this like a war," Reginald explained, "or like an insurrection, which will commonly operate exactly like a war, but in that case, the 'enemy' within the 'country' rather then outside it. It is common in these cases for soldiers on either side, when supplies are low or non-existent, or intelligence on equipment is non-existent, to appropriate the equipment of the other side."
"So it's alright to steal from them because its war?" Rachel asked.
"That would be the army's point of view," Reginald spoke.
"But most of these people are likely only misguided British citizens," Beth commented, "not some foreign invader."
"You'd likely be stealing from your own people if you did that," Coyote added, "might not be the smartest thing to do."
"It may be the only thing we can do," Reginald spoke, "they're ringing this area with powerful fixed fortifications… which we can not easily defeat… mostly because of our lack of men and material. We'd have to go around them anyway, whether or not we use a vehicle."
There was a silence for a few moments.
"And if things run right, maybe our fairy friend here can make them all sleep," Reginald commented, "they're likely expecting an all out assault… not something that subtle."
"If they expect my use of magic, they'll likely be protected against ANYTHING I might be able to do in that regard," Coyote warned, deciding not to correct the man on how his race preferred to be addressed, "I might be able to raise something to distract them, but if they're smart any direct on them will be 'deflected' by some protection spell."
"I thought you said that us mere 'mortals' are no threat to you?" the driver wondered.
"Generally, no, humans and gargoyles AREN'T a threat to the Fey," Coyote answered, "but that doesn't make us invincible, and to be honest, many fey have let the perception of their own magics to forget that. They acted in arrogance against mortals and commonly paid the price for it. And we have our own vulnerabilities that are not weaknesses of mortals or even halflings."
"Halflings?" the driver asked.
"A person of mixed human or gargoyle AND fey heritage," Merlin explained.
"Usually human," Coyote spoke, "gargoyles traditionally do not breed with anyone BUT other gargoyles. Not really out of hatred or prejudice, but in many cases man only tolerated their presence, so opportunities for interspecies romance were extremely limited… not that those cases didn't happen from time to time. Goliath and Elisa Maza weren't the first human and gargoyle to fall in love with one another."
"That has nothing to do with the present situation," Reginald spoke, "you say we need to get back to London. And the Illuminati have INVADED Britain. If getting to London is important, we must do so quickly. The longer we wait, the more time they have to put us in a position where it will not matter WHAT we do."
"Can we get a vehicle?" Arthur asked after a moment.
Reginald turned to Coyote, and said, "with the right help we can."
"Couldn't we go around?" Beth wondered from where she was, "stealing something doesn't sit right with me."
"It doesn't sit well with me, either," Arthur nodded in agreement, "it lacks chivalry… but I would suppose we do not have much choice."
"And we'll likely have to go around Rochester anyway, but it will be easier if we can get some truck or van rather then walking," Reginald spoke.
"That is assuming that they don't call in an air strike on us," the driver commented, "trucks aren't protected against missiles."
"Neither really are tanks, though," Merlin commented, "armor doesn't make anything impervious, and our mission isn't to fight for the moment, it's to get back to London."
"So, what is your idea for getting a vehicle?" Coyote asked Reginald directly, "other then needing my help directly.
London
"We ought to send a rescue party," Griff spoke, "Get them back here as soon as possible."
"And where might they be?" Leo asked, "I want to see Arthur and the others back just as much as you do… but it's an awful lot of ground to cover… even from the air. And we don't have the numbers to both try to protect London from the Illuminati and go looking throughout southeastern England for Arthur."
Griff growled at that.
"We couldn't even protect London," he grumbled, sounding depressed at that.
"I'm afraid that was inevitable," Macbeth said as he entered the room, "it's too big an organization… and technically they were already in London before the 'invasion'. They had us well outnumbered."
"Surely we can do something though, can't we?" Lancelot asked from where he was, "stop them… or at least slow them down…"
"We'd need to find out where they're permanently basing their made headquarters at first," Macbeth commented, "and then gather some intelligence somehow on what they plan to do…"
"And still that wouldn't without risks," Una warned, "we need to wait for Arthur and Merlin to return with the others. If you confront the Illuminati now, they may decide it is not worth it to leave us alone as they have… and Arthur and Merlin will need all of us when they arrive. If they return to find us dead… or too weak to fight, all of it would be for nothing."
"I still do not like this," Griff spoke, "it feels like we're on the bloody sidelines while the home team is shorthanded against the strongest football (soccer for all Americans) club in the country."
"I do not like it either, but neither do we have a choice," Macbeth spoke, "for the moment, we can only hope that the army holds out where it is for the moment."
"No one likes these situations," Octavia spoke with Julia nodding beside her.
Elsewhere in London
Two meanwhile settled into what was the main suite of a major hotel chain in London. Things were largely going well for the Illuminati. Most of the British Isles were officially theirs, and the sections that the British army was holding out in, were being pushed back. It was Arthur and reports about behind the lines attacks that concerned him now. Arthur and Macbeth would both surely cause problems, and technically already had by capturing Six, and he had finally received reports from Northern Ireland. Apparently, the legendary 'Hound' of Ulster had reawakened and had sided against the Illuminati. All of this screamed of Pendragon's scheme to destroy the Illuminati, and Two knew he needed to catch the 'Once and Future King' one way or another, and soon.
"Things are progressing well, sir," a general loyal to the Illuminati reported, "those opposed to the Council in Wales are beginning to crack and should be forced to surrender soon… those pushed into Scotland are holding out… but it is only a matter of time before they are forced to withdraw from their current lines."
"The British army is not my concern," Two answered, "they were beaten from the moment the attack began… mostly as the Council has insured that Britain's neighbors all consider this 'war' to be an internal affair… which means no French, Belgian, Dutch, Irish, Danish, or Norwegian troops coming to the aide of the Royal Army. Our concern is Pendragon and his allies."
"We haven't received any reports on him since he defeated one small force during the initial invasion," the general answered, "can we be certain he hasn't been killed… or gone into hiding."
"It could be possible that someone has killed him… but then why hasn't that been reported, to us or a local police station?" Two spoke, "and Pendragon is no coward. He will fight to bring about his supposed glory on Earth… not knowing that his time has LONG passed. It is the Illuminati that will save the world, not Pendragon."
"I have defenses being established ringing every town and city ringing every city and village between here and where Pendragon appeared in Britain," the general spoke firmly, "he won't get here without running into trouble."
"Maintain some helicopter patrols in case goes by foot around the cities," Two advised, "he may decide to go around our strong points."
The general nodded.
Rochester
Coyote, in the form of a Welsh Corgi, moved quietly through the streets of the occupied city. He was looking for any vehicle that might be able to carry the group and allow them to make better time in getting to London. As he did so, he also paid close attention the activity of the people on the streets that he passed.
Nearly all of them were Illuminati men in red and black commando gear, sporting the organization's insignia somewhere on their uniform. He quietly noted that most of the citizens of the city were likely staying indoors and out of the way of the Illuminati, or had fled when the invasion began. It left the city with a rather empty feeling, but it also gave Coyote some guess at what was there.
Mostly enemies on the street. Those not part of the Illuminati's war were off the streets, which meant that so long as high explosives weren't used on the city, dealing with the Illuminati men in Rochester would be easier then originally anticipated. But then, most mortal countermeasures to the Fey were commonly some form of a protection spell laced with Iron. Coyote knew he wouldn't be able to know if such actions had been taken until he did something more direct with his magic. For the moment though, he decided to maintain his disguise as a small dog that was fairly popular in the UK.
Trying to find a suitable vehicle was not easy. There were a few military vehicles in the city, but all of them were guarded by Illuminati men and Coyote didn't want to have to fight them before he absolutely had to. That left him looking for a civilian vehicle that could carry them all… and then hope that the keys were left in it. He didn't like it as it would mean stealing from innocent bystanders, but Reginald did have a point about the Illuminati attack being something like a war. They couldn't just tie their hands and let the Illuminati do whatever it took to kill Arthur or Merlin.
He mostly hoped that he could find a suitable vehicle that they could use and then come up with a suitable course of action to either get the others to the vehicle or get the vehicle to them. As he passed an old market building, he finally got some sense of good luck. It was an old supply truck, currently not in use because of the Illuminati occupation. While the keys weren't in the ignition, they were in the vehicle, and Coyote could sense it. It wouldn't last long if the Illuminati fired on it, particularly with the military vehicles they had gathered… but then, most modern military armored vehicles weren't even using steel for their armor anymore because of its weight. They were using different transition metals in a layered approach. As Coyote thought this over, this did give him some ideas on how to get through the Illuminati defenses.
Once he mapped out the route to get to the truck in his head, Coyote turned and began to run back to where Arthur and the others were waiting for him, while doing his best to look for all the world like just another stray dog running loose. It was rather difficult, give the Corgi's small size and short legs, but Coyote was successful in this, and he found the others patiently waiting for him.
"Did you find anything?" Reginald was the first to ask, as much of the current operation was his idea.
"And old supply truck, it should hold us all," Coyote answered.
"What about a military vehicle?" Reginald asked, "something with better defensive capabilities?"
"The Illuminati is guarding them too well," Coyote responded, "I think I can sneak us into Rochester to get to the truck… but taking one of their vehicles would require a direct fight, which I would think would only give us more trouble."
"You can get us in?" Merlin asked.
"I think so," Coyote nodded, "and I might be able to even deal with their vehicles if they move to pursue us once we are in."
"So who owns this truck?" Rachael asked after a few moments.
"It's privately owned, but like Reginald said earlier, I don't think we have much of a choice," Coyote sighed, "Unless you want to draw all of the available Illuminati troops in this part of Britain to Rochester."
"You're certain this is the only way?" Beth asked, "Couldn't we go to the river and sail to London?"
"It'd take time without an engine," Merlin commented.
"Not to mention that we'd be a more conspicuous target that way with no defense," Reginald added, "for the moment while on land, if we're attacked from the air, we can at least abandon the vehicle and take cover. We wouldn't able to do that in a boat."
Beth only sighed and wondered how Elisa managed to deal with matters such as these. Now, she was sure the Manhattan clan wasn't in the middle of a war zone, but the intense strategic discussions were something that she knew the New York gargoyles engaged in. Mostly to deal with various threats and criminals.
"So how do you plan to get in?" Arthur asked after Beth and Rachael sighed heavily.
Meanwhile in one of the machine gun nests that had been hastily set up as part of the defensive ring around Rochester, two soldiers looked out toward the grounds to the east of the city.
"Still nothing," the first man grumbled, "I think the Council has over-hyped Pendragon's abilities. If he had some fey with him, he would have attacked by now."
"Or maybe the legends over-hyped his bravery," the other said.
As he said that a thick fog seemed to roll in from the north, off waters that would form the river Thames closer to London. It came in quickly which the first man identified as magically influenced.
"They're starting something now!" the fast man said and manned his gun looking for any sign of movement in the fog.
He blinked when he saw a faint light in the fog directly in front of them. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it gave away the position of something.
"They must not have thought this through before they began it," the second man commented, "they raise a fog to try and sneak through and are then foiled by the very fog they call in."
"Not that I'm complaining," the first man muttered and opened up with his machine gun on the spot where the light was, and as the other machine gun nests opened on the same spot.
They fired for a few minutes at that spot until the light vanished.
"I think I got 'em," the first smiled.
Their joy didn't last long as the wooden door to their 'bunker' was knocked in from the outside. They turned to see a brown furred female werewolf in a jumpsuit that fit her tightly. Her eyes gave off a slight yellowish glow as what little light was in the area was reflected off of them. Rachael wasted no time and grabbed each man by the head and slammed their heads together, being careful not to leave any claw marks on them, and thus spread her lycanthropy. Once they were out cold, she clapped her hands and moved out of the bunker.
On her way out she saw Reginald leave the machine gun nest/bunker to her left with Arthur and the others standing inside an improvised system of trenches. Reginald was cleaning a field knife he was carrying.
"You didn't kill him did you?" Rachael asked.
"This is war," Reginald gave a pained sigh, "I do not like this anymore then you. But these people have made their choice and are prepared to kill us. They fired every gun they had at the flare Coyote strategically sent to appear in front of their guns… there are times, Ms. Winters when we must do things that are not something that we like."
"We'd best keep moving," Coyote spoke, once again disguised as a Corgi, to hopefully give them some surprise, "they have other troops throughout the city."
The group slowly nodded, and Rachael lead the way, with her keen 'night' vision, enhanced sense of smell, and sharp hearing allowing them to know where they were going through the fog. Coyote ran beside her to give them directions to the truck he had found. Arthur and Merlin followed them, with Arthur looking toward their flanks in case anyone tried to jump them. Then came Beth and the gargoyle hatchlings, who were all nervous considering that Rachael was in wolf form for the moment. The driver tried to keep up with Beth, and Reginald brought up the rear to provide some protection.
The trek to the grocery was relatively quiet as they didn't run into anyone on the way. This gave Rachael some relief as she didn't like the idea of having to kill fellow countrymen and or women to save the country from the Illuminati. But her, for the moment, triangular ears did pick up the sound of vehicular engines and boots in the distance. It wouldn't be long before they run into more trouble.
"They're hunting us," Rachael whispered.
"Of course they are," Coyote responded as he returned to human form in a flash of light, "we sneaked through their lines, killed at least one Illuminati soldier, and are preparing to head on toward London. They need to find us before we get out of Rochester… or they'll likely fail to stop us from getting to London, which I think is their objective."
"I wonder why though," Beth wondered as they all began climbing into the back of the truck, with the driver getting behind the wheel, "didn't the 'cure' you found for whatever that Illuminati guy did to Merlin require you to go to Stonehenge in order to reverse what he did?"
"It does," Merlin nodded.
"So why invade the entire country?" Beth wondered, "why not focus on Stonehenge itself. It seems a little overboard to me."
"They may know we've been traveling by Avalon's magic," Arthur commented, "and since its magic can not be predicted in any way… as we can not tell where we were needed beforehand… they likely took this step to make sure they had men ready for us wherever we might have landed."
"Still seems overboard to me," Beth commented as she helped the last hatchling into the back of the truck.
"Fanatics do that," Reginald spoke from the cab where he was seated beside the driver, "and it's usually why they have to be stopped."
"Hopefully we can do that before too much more damage is done," Arthur sighed heavily.
The driver took them out onto the road and they began to drive toward London. Coyote stood in the bed of the truck holding on to a rail to try to look ahead and behind the truck, using his magic to see through the fog and helping the driver as well. As the driver rounded a corner, he saw a British armored car, an Alvis Saladin rumbling down the road at high speed, as if to try and cut them off.
"Incoming!" Reginald shouted.
"I see it," Coyote answered and chanted something quietly, in case the Illuminati had put some sort of enhanced audio sensor in the vehicle.
A massive stone 'speed bump' then raised immediately between two of the Saladin's wheels and went up to he point where the wheel's couldn't go over it. The sound of metal grinding against stone echoed through the fog as the armored car was now stranded where it was.
"Turn onto a different street," Coyote yelled too the driver as he noticed the vehicle's main gun tracking them.
The driver turned down a side street just as the Saladin's main gun fired, narrowly missing them and hitting the road in front of where they had been. Merlin and Beth raised their arms to shelter themselves from the shattered road material that resulted from the impact of the shell. The driver, meanwhile, threw up out the window as he went a block and turned onto a different street.
"Tel me when I wake up from this nightmare," the driver said after a few moments.
"Just stay ready," Reginald told the driver, "Coyote reported that they have at least one more Saladin here and they likely have more on the way."
The Mansion
Gawain, Guinevere, and Lancelot were the first group to return from what had been the London clan's attempt to locate where the Illuminati had moved their operation to. The warehouse area around London was largely abandoned other then what was obvious work to setup a supply line for the pro-Illuminati forces, but nothing had been there to give any indication of where the Illuminati had moved their headquarters to.
"Any luck?" Macbeth asked.
"None," Lancelot grumbled, "they got guys around, but none that look important."
Guinevere nodded, "I think they were all dockyard workers who agree with these Illuminati people."
"Wonderful," Macbeth grumbled.
"Did they manage to contact you?" Lancelot asked.
"No," Macbeth sighed heavily, "they have not."
The three new arrivals from Avalon sighed at his response.
"Did they attack here?" Gawain asked after a few moments.
"No," Macbeth answered, "which puzzles me. They know we have one of their council members as our prisoner. They likely suspect that we have some of their various allies here as prisoners as well. Given that they've come out into the open here, one would think that they'd come directly here and try to get rid of the foes that already knew of their existence… especially considering that Arthur and his group are still alive, they will try to come here."
"Best not to see unexpected generosity as a bad thing," came Octavia's voice as she, Julia, and Griff came in to land near them on the roof the mansion.
Macbeth looked up to see the two Roman and one English gargoyle land.
"Did you find anything?" Macbeth asked once they had landed.
"Nothing definite, but there seemed to be a lot of in and out activity around one of the main hotels here in London," Griff reported, "and given that most non-Illuminati people fled the city during the invasion, I would guess that that is a center of their activity."
"But you're not sure?" Macbeth answered.
"Getting closer to find out would have risked being spotted an attacked," Julia commented, "I was under the assumption that this was only a scouting mission."
Macbeth nodded, "we'll keep an eye on the building then. If it is their headquarters, we'll see a lot of activity… though you will need binoculars to check if anyone inside is using the phone for something."
The others then nodded in agreement.
Elsewhere In London
Two quietly picked up his cell-phone in the hotel room that was the new Illuminati headquarters in Britain. The report came from an agent from one of the cities around southern England.
"This Agent Rule," the agent reported, "we've had Pendragon activity around Rochester."
"Where is he?" Two demanded, "Do you have him?"
"No," Agent Rule answered, "there were problems… the fey with them brought in a thick fog that has completely grounded our helicopters and slowed down our ground forces, and then pulled some trick with a flare to get through our outer defenses. From there they stole a truck and moved toward London. The fog moves with them."
"Are you pursuing them?" Two questioned.
"They've managed to stall or vehicles when they tried to pursue," Agent Rule answered, "and until this fog clears our helicopters are useless."
"HOW COULD THEY HAVE GOTTEN THROUGH YOU! YOU SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" Two yelled as it appeared that the men in Rochester had barely done anything to prevent Pendragon from moving toward London.
"From what you told us, we expected Pendragon to launch some form of all out attack against us," Agent Rule defended, "Sneaking around was not in Pendragon's personality profile, and Merlin did not engage in any form of combat."
"The information on the fey with them detailed his persona as a trickster of the American desert southwest," Two reminded him, "sneaking around is very much in a trickster's back of tricks."
"He would let a trickster plan his battles?" Agent Rule asked.
"He would accept a trickster's advice provided that it helps him achieve his ultimate goal of reversing what was done to Merlin," Two answered, "Which means he must not get to Stonehenge."
"Then why not defend Stonehenge only?" Agent Rule questioned, "this entire invasion has brought us into the open in the UK, and will likely make others suspicious. By defending one small area we could have hidden it better."
"Possibly, but Arthur wouldn't need everyone to reverse what's been done to Merlin… in fact Merlin could do it on his own," Two answered, "Arthur and his allies would engage in a battle of deception and allow Merlin to find a way to sneak into Stonehenge from a different direction. We must catch them before they have a chance to launch such a plan. They're headed for London, likely to converse with Macbeth. I expect your unit begin pursuing Pendragon vigorously. Am I understood?"
"Yes sir," Agent Rule responded.
On the Road
"Can we lower the fog?" the driver asked as they drove along, "it'd make it a lot easier for me to see."
"It would also help the Illuminati see, and they would send helicopters," Coyote answered, "the heavy fog will keep them grounded."
"Technology is such that fog isn't that much of a hindrance when it comes to firing their weapons," Reginald commented, "we still give off body heat… and the truck's engine will give off engine heat which can attract missiles."
"Yes, but without a tracking signal, they would still need to see where they are aiming their weapons," Coyote answered, "If they're not careful, they could easily fire a round in the wrong direction and the weapon would pick up on the wrong target. That and the fog will make taking off and landing more dangerous."
The driver only sighed as they continued driving along the way. They passed Gravesend and Dartford without problems, but as they came closer to London, that is where they hit problems. The truck drove into a deep trench that was wide enough that the front half of the vehicle fell into it. The crash through everyone about. The driver and Reginald didn't have that much trouble as they were buckled in. The rest slid down the bed of the truck hard.
No one was seriously harmed, but Coyote was forced to give the gargoyle hatchlings human form to prevent their stone forms from shattering when they hit the back of the cab of the truck. They all began screaming in terror and pain.
"What have you done to us!" one of them, a female screamed at Coyote.
"Saved you lives, as we've fallen into a bit of trouble," Coyote answered.
"We're human!" a male protested.
"Would you rather be dead and in several pieces?" Coyote asked back.
"No," the first female admitted.
"We do not have time for this," Merlin spoke as he managed to get up and help Beth up as well, "we need to get into the city before they can track us down."
"Anyone coming?" Arthur asked to Rachael, who was still in wolf form.
"I hear footsteps coming from the north and from the south," Rachael answered, "they know we're here."
"Great," Arthur sighed and turned to Coyote, "how far away are they?"
"About a hundred yards away and approaching tentatively," Coyote spoke, "they can't see well through the fog."
"We need to get into the city before they arrive," Merlin spoke, "we can not afford a battle here."
Arthur readied Excalibur and the electric blaster Macbeth had given him for the journey.
"We'll take the hatchlings and try to make our way into the city," Arthur spoke, "Rachael and Reginald, can you cover us?"
Both female werewolf and male soldier nodded.
"What about me?" the driver asked.
"You'll be with Merlin, Beth, and I," Arthur answered, "escorting the transformed hatchlings… Coyote, I leave you free to help whomever you feel needs it… or to stay out of things in accordance with Oberon's Law."
"I've probably already broken that several times dealing with the Illuminati," Coyote shrugged, "and I'm sure Titania will overlook it when Beth and I tell her how important your situation was."
They were all quick to move. The driver scrambled up the side of the trench that the truck had crashed into to follow Arthur, Merlin, Beth, and the transformed hatchlings as they moved toward the city. Rachael and Reginald moved to take positions to cover whatever attack the pro-Illuminati troops would make against them. Coyote, meanwhile, stood on the roof of the cab, waiting to see needed help the most.
Reginald sat in a semi crouched position to the west of the trench that the truck had crashed into, and stayed just far enough away from the truck that he felt he was in no danger of being caught in an explosion if the truck's gas tank was hit in the firefight he was sure was coming. After a few moments of waiting, he saw ten men come down the trench with their rifles at the ready and dressed in red and black commando gear.
"Surrender, NOW!" the lead Illuminati commando shouted when he managed to make out Reginald's outline through the fog.
"Go to hell!" Reginald challenged back and opened fire on the attacking Illuminati commandos.
The first three Illuminati commandos were killed outright by Reginald's shots with a fourth receiving a wound to the shoulder, forcing the group to scramble back slightly.
"You're outnumbered and we aren't the only troops coming after you!" one of the remaining six unharmed Illuminati men yelled at him.
"Then I'll die a free man!" Reginald yelled back and fired again, this time missing as the fog obscured his line of sight a bit.
All six men fired in Reginald's general direction, pinning him down while the wounded man, staying low in the trench to avoid receiving anymore wounds at the hands of the soldier on Arthur's side, readied a grenade and lobbed it up toward Reginald. The British soldier saw the grenade and was only just able to dive away to avoid being caught by the blast, but in doing so, found himself laying face down in the trench with the Illuminati commandos standing over him.
"Surrender!" highest ranking commando out of the remaining six ordered as they leveled their weapons at Reginald.
None of them got much of a chance to do that as a green glow surrounded their weapons and they were all taken from them.
"Now, now," Coyote joked as he hopped down, knowing that the thick fog had kept them from knowing he was there, "didn't your mothers tell you it was rude to point?"
"Not half as rude as this," one Illuminati commando smiled and pulled a small iron bell out from a pouch on his uniform and began shaking it heavily.
The sound of ringing iron made Coyote scream with pain, and his hold on the Illuminati commandos' weapons was broken. The weapons all simply dropped to the ground in a circle around the commandos. The southwestern fey's move, however, bought Reginald the time to fire again. Killing the closest three Illuminati commandos and forcing the other three to retreat back into the fog, forgetting their weapons entirely and their wounded comrade, who was staggering back up the trench and away from the battle.
"You okay?" Reginald asked.
"No," Coyote said weakly, "that bell was made of iron… one of my race's few weaknesses."
"I thought you said your kind had nothing to fear from us mortals?" Reginald questioned as he reloaded his weapon and began collecting the ones the commandos left behind.
"Generally we don't," Coyote spoke in gasps, "but that doesn't make us invincible… iron… the use of it, either as a weapon to fight with, armor to protect from our magics, or as a bell to use the vibration of the metal are all dangerous to my race, and even the strongest of us can fall to it. But few ever really have. Mostly because we try to avoid the metal at all costs, and because many of us have tried to coexist with people. It's actually been a few scattered groups of… well… evil fey that have found themselves killed by iron weapons or bells when they attacked man and man learned of our weakness."
"So you're not out to conquer us when this is over?" Reginald asked as he helped Coyote up.
"No, and neither does the Seelie Court," Coyote explained.
"Good to know," Reginald sighed, "Good to know."
Rachael, meanwhile, kept her body as low as possible. Her golden eyes could make figures out through the fog better then Reginald's could… but with them armed with guns and outnumbering her, they didn't need to truly see her clearly… and she didn't know if they had rounds made of silver or not. And she really didn't want to test that.
After a few moments her eyes picked up the outline of a group of men moving down the trench toward the crashed truck. They couldn't see her yet, as she was using her lycanthropic abilities to see through the thick fog, and they were surprisingly not using some technological device to try and aide their eyesight.
Rachael didn't stop to ponder why, and once they came within range, she lunged forward and swung one closed fist in a downward arch, catching three of the commandos and knocking about half of them to the ground as her larger size and momentum couldn't be stopped by three men.
"Surrender!" Rachael growled, checking to make sure she hadn't accidentally clawed any of the commandos, taking one of the guns that the first five had lost and breaking it easily in half.
She hadn't clawed anyone but the remaining five stood their ground.
"Filthy lycan," the first growled and fired two shots.
Rachael managed to dodge the first shot, but the second caught her in her left shoulder and went clean through her. It wasn't a fatal wound, but Rachael felt the most intense burning sensation as the round went through her body… and the area still burned a little even after the bullet had continued on.
"Silver burns, doesn't it, lycan?" the soldier taunted as he approached, ready to finish Rachael off while she was recovering.
Rachael only spat back, getting the feeling that this was the end for her. The Illuminati commando, however, never got a chance to fire on her as a series of shots came down and hit him and two others in the chest. The remaining two standing commandos looked up to see Reginald standing by the truck with his own rifle aimed at them, while other two commandos that Rachael had initially knocked down began to scramble away.
The two then fired at where Reginald was, but he ducked behind the truck again as the shots either hit the wooden railings of the truck or passed harmlessly off into the night. Rachael capitalized on the distraction and lunged forward and grabbed both commandos by the face and slammed them down, knocking them out. Once she made sure they were out cold, and not infected with lycanthropy, she turned to where Reginald was.
"You okay?" he asked.
"About as well as I can be," Rachael answered, "they didn't hit a vital organ, so I'll heal… in time."
"Good," Reginald responded, "did you kill them?"
"No," Rachael answered, "I still don't see the reason to. They're confused… misinformed… not some foreign enemy…"
"And one of them was about to kill you," Reginald countered, "they may not be thinking correctly, but it's clear that they're willing to take that step."
"I'm still no killer," Rachael answered, "Never have been. Never will be."
"Never is a long time," Reginald warned with a sigh, "and there may come a time when you have to do something you do not like."
"I know," Rachael responded.
"Let's get back to Arthur and the others before these guys regroup," Coyote spoke weakly as they climbed up on the other side of the trench.
Arthur's group didn't seem to run into anyone initially as no one seemed to be coming to meet them head on. They then ducked into an alley to provide them with some cover to protect themselves from any possible attack and to let the rest of the group either catch up or catch their breath.
"You okay?" Arthur asked the driver.
"This is more running then I do in a year," the driver spoke in gasps.
"It'd actually be good for you if it weren't the fact that you're running for your life and expecting to be attacked at any moment," Beth commented.
"I would have thought we would have actually run into someone by now," Arthur commented, "they moved on the truck from two sides… why not have another force watching to make sure that we do go up the middle of their line."
"Maybe the overall invasion is spreading them thinner then they'd like," Merlin spoke, "remember that the Illuminati, in theory, controls the entire globe… they can't afford to send all they have against one spot for fear of another rebellion brewing elsewhere… especially when you consider what's currently going on in China."
"At least the Illuminati is losing there," the driver gasped.
"Maybe, but sometimes it is better to have the evil you know rather then the evil you don't know," Merlin told him, "we don't know anything about Khan… and for all we know, he could be worse then the Illuminati."
Arthur meanwhile listened to the sounds of battle going on back where the truck was. It sounded fierce and he hoped that everything would be okay with the others. He didn't get much of a chance to think back on that when three men came out through the fog and aimed their weapons at him. They were all dressed in red and black commando gear.
"Surrender, Pendragon," the first commando demanded.
"Not while there are free people that need defending as he swung Excalibur in an upward slash, slicing through the rifle the first of the three commandos' rifles while firing the electric blaster at the second man, knocking him into the third man.
The first tried to fire, but with his weapon sliced in half, it jammed without firing a round, and with his comrades recovering from the shock from the electric blaster, was forced into close combat with Arthur. He dodged a kick, but ended up taking the follow-up blow squarely on the forehead. He wasn't killed, but the blow did leave the outline of Excalibur's hilt there. The blow knocked him to the ground and he was quickly knocked out with a blast from the electric blaster.
"So now the once and future king uses modern weapons!" the second commando snarled as he leaped up and tackled Arthur, sending both the blaster and Excalibur flying.
"Not everyone clings to the past," Arthur answered, as he took the commando's momentum and used it against him, sending him flying into the alley wall and knocking him out.
The third man was about to fire when he was hit by a blast of electricity that send him tumbling back and knocking him out. Arthur then looked over to see Merlin holding the electric blaster at the ready.
"Thanks, old friend," Arthur spoke.
"It is not a problem," Merlin told him.
Two more men appeared at the other end of the alley with their weapons aimed at Beth, the driver, and the transformed hatchlings. Beth nervously looked at the commandos and clutched the stone in her pocket. Coyote said it contained Avalon's magic… or something like that, and that she had channeled its energies once already. She didn't really want to use it, but unless Rachael, Coyote, or Reginald showed up within the next few seconds, she might have to.
"Hands in the air woman!" the first of the two commandos growled, "DO IT NOW!"
Beth nervously backed away, clutching the stone in her hand, with it glowing faintly. The commando didn't notice it glowing in her pocket.
"I said hands in the air!" the commando yelled at her.
Beth glanced back to see Arthur and Merlin dealing with the others and knew that if she surrendered, they would turn and shoot them in the back. Elisa and her father had taught her basic self-defense, though that didn't seem to fit with the situation she was in, but she also knew she couldn't let Arthur be killed.
"Fine," Beth said as firmly as she could manage and pulled the stone out and pointed it at the commandos attempting to attack them and shouted, "SLEEP!"
The shot of green light erupted from the rock and enveloped the commandos. When it faded, both Beth and the driver were looking down on two sleeping commandos.
"You're a witch?" the driver asked.
"No," Beth answered, "I just happen to have a stone that posses a lot of natural magic… which for some reason lets me channel it."
"You saved us," a female 'hatchling' spoke in awe.
Beth nodded and placed the stone back in her pocket, "my family has a special affinity for gargoyles. I would never let you come to harm."
"Thank you," said a male 'hatchling', "can you turn us back?"
"It was Coyote's spell that transformed you," Beth spoke, "and I'm not skilled enough in magic to do anything that deliberate. You'll have to wait until we get back to wherever Arthur and Merlin live hear in London before he can do that."
The transformed hatchlings slowly nodded as Rachael, Coyote, and Reginald approached. Rachael had a shoulder wound, which was healing quickly, but was still noticeable. Coyote looked a little weak, but was otherwise okay. Reginald didn't look like he was hurt in any way.
"Are you alright?" Arthur asked as they approached.
"As good as we can be," Reginald answered, "though we need to get off the main streets and do as little as possible to attract attention. We may have broken through their initial attack forces, that doesn't mean they have others looking for us elsewhere."
"I'd better shift back then," Rachael sighed, "seven foot wolf women aren't something one sees everyday."
The Mansion, Later
It was hours later when they made it back to the mansion. They hadn't run into any further trouble, but they were slowed by spotting various armed trucks and other military vehicles dive along at intersections ahead of them. But things seemed to be quiet once they made it to the street the mansion was on and they rushed to get to the entrance.
Arthur, though, jumped when he opened the door to find Macbeth with his electric blasters ready.
"Arthur!" Macbeth gasped after a few moments and lowered his weapons, "you made it…"
"Yes," Arthur nodded, "with a little help from friends."
Macbeth looked to see the additional people with Arthur. Una had reported of the extras that had ended up joining them during their journey to find what Merlin needed to cure himself of the loss of his powers. He recognized Elisa's younger sister and Coyote, but Reginald, the driver, and a group of human children were all new. And the human children made him curious. He had been told they had found gargoyle hatchlings. These children were human.
"Where are the hatchlings that were with you?" Macbeth asked, "Una told me you had freed several hatchlings along the way."
"The children ARE the hatchlings," Coyote spoke, "we had a little run in with Illuminati commandos on the outskirts of London, and couldn't carry several stone statues and fight them off at the same time."
"I see," Macbeth nodded, and then growled heavily, "I suppose that is to be expected. They're everywhere on this island."
"How bad is it?" Arthur asked.
"Bad enough," Macbeth answered, "the army's been driven into Wales and Scotland and the most northern parts of Northern Ireland and the news, controlled by the Illuminati, will not reveal how long they are likely to hold out."
Arthur sighed.
"We need to find a way to draw the Illuminati's attention away from the battlefronts and more towards us directly," Macbeth spoke, "because our only hope is going to be that the British soldiers not loyal to the Illuminati win the present fight."
"We might have done a bit of that already," Reginald stepped forward, "I'm a soldier of the British army and have had the honor of standing beside a legend. May I ask who you are?"
"I've called myself many names, mostly because some things we don't have time for," Macbeth answered, "You may call me, Macbeth."
"It's a long story," Merlin spoke before Reginald could ask, "I'm sure you'll hear it when we have time… as for distracting the Illuminati, now that we have the means of curing what they did to me at Stonehenge, I would assume that that distraction is easy. We simply need to leave for Stonehenge and make sure that they know we are headed there… they'll then move forces accordingly to try and prevent me from regaining my powers."
"And you're certain this will work?" Macbeth asked.
"It might be our only chance," Merlin said nervously.
To Be Continued…