Britainia

by TVfan

Macbeth, Arthur and the London Clan return home following the Second Unseelie War (seen the Gargoyles title) and find that the future might simply be their biggest challenge. (Transferred from the Gargoyles Fan Website where my pen-name is SN and where I've forgotten my password)

43. Once and Future King: Renewing Trouble

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 real persons belong to themselves, and no offense is intended. All original characters are the property of SN/TVfan.

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 "Once and Future King: Revenge Thwarted."

Once and Future King: Renewing Trouble, Part 1

By SN/TVfan

London Underground…

Night and day in the tunnels underneath London were things that couldn't be tracked naturally. No natural sunlight made it through, and thus any light in these tunnels had to be artificial in nature, either by electricity or in what was serving as the headquarters for the "resistance" cell in London, magic. Much of this only allowed for the resistance members that were using the London underground as a major base of operations to see what they were doing, though Illuminati patrols often kept them on the move and limited what actual acts of resistance they could do. In pure theory Macbeth would have favored a more direct confrontation, but he also knew that what the resistance had was limited. They could periodically ambush patrols and take their gear, but that wasn't going to be enough to outright win a major battle, not without something that would truly tip the scales.

Members of the London Clan could help, and had been of help at times, as despite operating in a city were gargoyles were known to live, the Illuminati largely failed to look for attacks from above on a consistent basis and that helped aid in some of the more hit and run raids at night. However, there weren't enough of them to dominate the skies over London and the gargoyles could only be active at night. The mutates didn't have that problem and had a few extra abilities that the gargoyles didn't have, but they also didn't have the numbers to overpower the forces the Illuminati had patrolling London at the moment. The only real trump card they had was Una's magic, but that was more limited than what Merlin could pull off, if his powers were restored, and a lot of it was also reliant on potions and herbs, and access to that really only worked under normal trade conditions which the Illuminati invasion had interfered with. This in turn left Macbeth having to rely on small and hit and run style actions.

"I wish there was a way we could figure out on what Arthur is up to," Catherine Silver said slow as she sat in one area that the London mutates had set up as a safe house for the resistance and the London Clan that wasn't off journeying with Arthur, "we're pretty much in the dark here."

"You can still make it to your apartment can't you?" a Bulldog mutate commented, "I mean… we've all noticed that while the Illuminati wants to run a tight ship, they've been surprisingly lax at times, particularly with identifying every opponent."

"Not easily and not on a regular basis," Catherine answered, "Particularly when they get some big supply shipment in."

"Though those are becoming fewer and farther between," Macbeth commented as he listened in. Much of the present topic was more over things to do that might support Arthur or weaken the Illuminati's hold on the parts of the UK that they held. After all they knew that the Illuminati had invaded with a sizeable force of what would amount to "private" mercenaries, likely taken from various military units that the Illuminati indirectly controlled. It was a force that no one was really ready for, particularly when parts of the British army sided with the Illuminati at the outset. It was also something that in the larger picture they couldn't do much to stop with regard to their resistance activities. They had tried one major uprising in London, but failed to win and Macbeth had to be rescued after it.

"That makes no sense…" the Bulldog mutate commented, "If you think they're on to you and you've had to duck and cover to get anywhere…"

"Most of the time when I've gone anywhere, it's when things are naturally busy," Catherine Silver answered, "it's let me stick inside the crowds, as not everyone in London fled or joined our resistance… and the Illuminati has tried to provide assurances that life in London would go on as normal."

"A shame much of that hasn't worked out so well," a different mutate approached from a different area of the room, "The Illuminati seems to have ransacked Luna's shop and we've found no indication that any shipments from outside the UK has come in. A few local things come in at night, but we've had to be careful about collecting them."

"Can you tell who the people observing you might be, if there are any?" Macbeth asked.

"None… but it wouldn't surprise me if they have some electronic camera somewhere in the area," the second mutate replied, "and Leo and Una insisted we don't stay long enough to attract attention."

Macbeth nodded as he processed the information that was being reported to him. In theory he and Catherine Silver shared the leadership of the resistance cell in London, Macbeth for his knowledge of tactics and warfare and Catherine more for her knowledge of the modern city. That brought a great deal of added pressure, but also presented some form of opportunity. As some of the information presented what could well be signs of weakness. The Illuminati had wanted to present themselves as a powerful force, and yet it appeared they weren't getting a routine delivering of supplies that would be needed to supply the force that had invaded Britain and despite the technological advances they had they were having some difficulty in keeping up with the movements of the resistance.

"Which is good," Macbeth said slowly, "for right now things look like we could pull off something big against them… draw troops away from the front and so on. As in raiding their patrols at night has allowed us to recover some supplies, and they seem to be bringing in less to this area… that could mean something."

"But we don't have the weapons for another big uprising," Catherine warned.

"Not to mention that while the Illuminati may not bringing in as much, it's probably more than what we have," the Bulldog mutate added, and was surprised to see Macbeth nod.

"I agree," Macbeth nodded, tapping his fingers along the surface of a make-shift table, "things look surprisingly well… but we don't have full information on things. They could be over-confident and moving resources away, they could be actually running out of men and material and thus we're actually wearing them down, or they could be doing these things on purpose to try and trigger a large fight."

"Which brings us back to the starting point," Catherine stood up clinching her fists, "We can't really get outside information, as while I hear the internet is still working… it's also heavily monitored and blocked. We can't get the BBC on the teley, so we don't even know their take on what is going on in the big picture. And in this, we don't even know where Arthur is or what's going on with him… or with anyone else."

"They'd still have programming on, correct?" Macbeth wondered, "Making things "normal" and so on?"

"Yes," Catherine nodded, "but from what I've been able to see… it's either old reruns or something that is deliberately skewed to favor the Illuminati. Things like fighting continues in northern England and southern Scotland but with little real detail and nothing that would report either reverses against Arthur or that they've captured Arthur."

"That'd have to mean they'd have to be getting information in that is honest," Macbeth commented, "and are likely using the BBC offices to do it."

"Are you saying we go in there?" Catherine blinked with surprise.

"Those offices are among the better guarded ones in London, aside from the buildings the Illuminati maintain their headquarters in," the Bulldog mutate commented.

"Of course… if they're going to control information coming in and try to keep things going at the same time, they HAVE to work there," Macbeth answered, "but if they are running low on forces… or wanting us to think they are… perhaps we can lure them away."

This drew some attention from the others. Catherine leaned forward in her seat, trying to hang on to anything and everything that Macbeth might say.

"The point is now work on a way to get them looking away from places like the BBC offices," Macbeth spoke, "not an all-out battle, but enough to draw in more attention away… and potentially even escalate it."

"Make them think their trap is working, if it is a trap?" the Bulldog mutate asked, to which Macbeth nodded.

"It'd be enough to draw forces away, and the distraction force would then get away before the full engagement would begin," Macbeth spoke, "that would then give us the ability to get into the BBC offices and recover any outside news reports that the Illuminati is likely receiving but not transmitting there."

Illuminati Headquarters

The paper map was covered with a series of marks that indicated some sort of action or interference and for the officers running London at the moment, these marks were of some concern. Most were of small time criminal activity and the like, which came as a surprise to many of the Illuminati officers who had half expected the criminal element to either shut down while the war was going on or at least be discreet about their activity to avoid attention. However, there were points at various spots on the map that seemed to indicate resistance activity in the London area, and these areas where what had the officers on duty the most focused at the moment. For the war was not going as planned when the Illuminati launched it and that was creating bigger problems.

It was no secret to the officers in the room that when the Illuminati felt that the actions of Arthur Pendragon had reached a point where the Mage's prophecies were in danger of being foiled and required more direct action, that Britain would fall quickly and the threat posed by Arthur would be ended. From there, the pre-war British government could be resumed and the Illuminati occupation ended with barely a shot fired or life interrupted. But the British government did largely resist and while the initial blows hit the British military hard, it didn't destroy it, which lead to extensive fighting in the northern most parts of the UK. This then made when Arthur, Macbeth, and the London Clan also began fighting back and impeding the Illuminati's advances, it had led to Arthur taking one group out of London, and they were now moving about various parts of southern England and Macbeth leading the remainder in London, which had also managed to at least irritate the Illuminati.

These actions then created the frustration in dealing with the larger war, as men like Arthur and Macbeth seemed to also create further troubles for the Illuminati. The government seemed to inspire support for them or fought for them, which had prompted General Crawly to accept a plan to try and decapitate the British government's fight against the Illuminati, which for the moment, those in London didn't know the results of, yet. They were meanwhile still focused on the actions in and around London, and there was plenty still worry about there.

"Do you think that Macbeth could be drawing any of these petty criminals into his ranks?" one of the officers looked over the various markings on the map where a red square indicated some petty criminal activity and a red circle indicated what was suspected of being actual resistance activity.

"He might take advantage of it, as technically the criminals are OUR problem to solve," the other officer commented, "as he was a reasonably successful medieval king and by our records under varying and obviously forged identities served in various military forces and academic institutions."

"Likely in connection with his hunt for Demona over the years," the first officer commented, "but… wouldn't that mean he'd use them. I mean do more than just take advantage of it?"

"Given the files on him… no," the second officer said slowly, "he might take advantage of it… but he's been the sort of law and order type that he wouldn't deliberately seek out criminal to use them. As they would expect something from him in all things… and that likely would have included his hunts for Demona."

"But with regard to the hunts for Demona… wasn't that searching for his own death, if the Mage's tales of his otherworldly tie to her are true?" a third officer commented as she tapped a pen against the counter that they had the map of London on, "I mean, crooks may expect something, but if Macbeth was looking to die… they could then take anything they wanted from Macbeth's estates, lands, or anything that he would have otherwise left behind."

"Perhaps," the second officer commented, "but Demona presents a different challenge from another human. If Macbeth had been hunting another human, setting up that sort of duel would be relatively easy. But Demona is a gargoyle. That would have taken considerably MORE effort in most places until New York got the revelation that gargoyles were real and that would have created more trouble."

That got the other two to nod and look things over. Until relatively recently, a lot of Macbeth's actions and intents were related to a hunt for Demona that according to the Mage was tied to Macbeth through sorcery. Demona had wanted it for her war against humanity and Macbeth accepted it for help in gaining justice for his people, and once Macbeth realized he couldn't die until he killed Demona or was killed by her, he couldn't stay with the one he'd loved or with his people. That in turn lead to the oddest quest for suicide that the world had, even if the world didn't know it. And while most crooks might help someone like Macbeth set up such a duel, they probably wouldn't buy that the duel was set up with a blue skinned "demon" as the opponent. This would be especially true after man stopped believing in magic and superstition. Though, more recently, Macbeth's hunt for vengeance had seemed to have either dulled or stopped.

"That'll mean we have a lot of trouble in organizing things… given the wide range of these criminal actions," the first eventually sighed heavily, "not to mention that we'll need find ways to catch Macbeth's rebels or at least pin them into a battle they cannot win."

"I'd think General Crawly's trap with regard to our supply runs would be the best shot at that," the third officer spoke, "though limit it to one or two drops, so that our forces can be better placed to ambush them when they come out into the open. And if they come with gargoyles or mutates, we'd get a better indication on where in the underground they're operating out of."

There were a few silent nods at that. For while the Illuminati had to try and govern what they occupied at the start of the present conflict in Britain, they also wanted to allow the British away to retain as much of a "normal life" as possible. Part of this had been the hope that people would simply turn Macbeth in, but that had yet to happen, and there were still other complications. For this also meant that they couldn't enforce lockdowns or sweep the entire underground to get all the members of the resistance in London in one fell swoop. Too much of that would interfere too much with the image the Illuminati wanted. It continued to allow Macbeth and his allies too much freedom to move around.

"We may need to make that bigger," the second said slowly, "divert more from even our headquarters here or the BBC offices and other areas so as to catch whatever raid Macbeth launches."

"Wouldn't that leave us and those areas vulnerable?" the third asked.

"Yes, but Macbeth will likely expect those areas to be the most heavily guarded," the second answered, "and they can't have the men or supplies to try another large scale uprising as they did earlier."

Underground, After Dusk

"I do not like this plan," Una said slowly, "there are too many risks and divides us up. It is bad enough that Griff and Arthur and those that are more powerful with magic than I are not here… but splitting into smaller teams is only going to result in people getting hurt and killed. We've generally been lucky not to have taken massed losses as it is."

"And if this were limited to a small scale conflict and just to London, I'd agree," Macbeth answered, "but it isn't. The Illuminati attacked the entire country, got support from within the British military in large parts of it, and thus put a large portion of the country under occupation before they could even be stalled. Regardless of the circumstances… we aren't in a position to do nothing or limit them to random hit and run operations on small patrols."

"And what of this trap you think the Illuminati has for us now?" Leo wondered, "If you think there is a trap… there is bound to be one."

"Indeed there probably is, but we're also in a position where we can't NOT trip it," Macbeth answered, "if we do nothing… they get the time they need to either A) defeat the rest of the British forces in the north, B) win direct support from the people of London, C) defeat Arthur and remove the man they invaded Britain for, D) trap us in the underground where the gargoyles and mutates will lose the main advantage they have… mobility, or E) some combination of the prior options. None of which are good."

"And at the same time we need more information to know what actual affect we've actually had here in London with what we've done so far," Catherine commented, "the distraction with the Illuminati's supplies are only to draw forces away. You don't even need to make a hard stand. That'd give Macbeth and his team just enough clearance to get into the BBC offices and get what regular news broadcasts that might give us some indication on what is going on with the wider war."

Una and Leo traded glances. To an extent they agreed with the reasoning that Macbeth and Catherine's reasoning. The Illuminati hadn't really presented any justification for taking over Britain and targeting Arthur specifically beyond some claim that Arthur was against them. That made them a foe worth fighting, and the size of the invasion made it that some risks would have to be taken, but remembering the invasion scare in 1940 and all that had gone into fighting Nazi Germany, along with the possible fact that the real winner of THAT war had been the Soviet Union, there was also the added caution that some risks might be too much. Even if Arthur and Merlin were in London with the others, it was doubtful they could secure the city for long. The failed uprising had shown that earlier. The Illuminati had the power to handle them, and it might be better until they could be more certain as to how well they had London locked down.

"We don't disagree that something should be done," Leo pointed out.

"But we think this may be a bit much," Una commented, "my magic isn't as powerful as Merlin's… and I'm more dependent on getting access to ingredients that have special properties. Many of which have been cut off. Not to mention that it's likely the Illuminati have our shop monitored."

"Not to mention that if you think the Illuminati is laying a trap," Leo picked up, "saying we have to trigger it doesn't necessarily work. Traps are designed to catch and mangle opponents. The only true way that they fail is when the target DOESN'T stumble into them."

"But this isn't like hunting animals with a trap," Chloe commented, "this was something that the Illuminati is trying to force on us. Not triggering it may only buy time for them to catch us… particularly during the day."

"There is a point to that…" Leo admitted, "But it would also be why we should be cautious trying to do these sorts of things, particularly if what the Illuminati has set seems to be such an obvious trap."

"That's where the key is to move quicker than the counter," Macbeth said unmoved, "the strike would have only a minimum of human forces with some mutate assistance. The point would be to strike the convoy, but not stop to take the supplies. And to then move away to be prepared for the trapping forces. As they're likely expecting us to spend our time trying to take their supplies and thus catching us distracted. From there this ambush force would then move to retreat away once the counter force arrives."

"Even that may risk losses, or someone hitting one of the group with a tracer," Una pointed out.

"We have no other option," Macbeth answered, "particularly as we need something that will trigger the trap and allowing Chloe and I to get into the BBC offices and thus gain access to the actual reports that could help us out."

"Wouldn't the reports on Arthur be at their headquarters?" Una asked, "Not at the news service."

"Direct reports, maybe," Macbeth nodded, "but we may still get some reporting and speculation on events outside of London and wouldn't have as much security as their main headquarters. Which would then lower the number foes that Chloe and I would need to deal with."

On the East Docks

A pair of eyes looked to the ships that lined the docks as they stood there. These docks were normally busy with all sorts of international trade that came in and out of London. Even with Britain's power and influence lower than what it had been a century before, the city still remained a major trade port and this kept the docks rather busy. However, at present traffic in and out seemed to be rather limited, and much of it coming from the whole Illuminati invasion. However, to those eyes the invasion presented its own opportunities that would be needed, particularly given the activity from all sorts of groups that had tended to frown on the criminal element.

"You're sure they haven't had any daytime activity?" the man asked to his partner, who was presently further back in an alley as they looked to the docks.

The lack of normal shipping traffic made it easy to identify supply ships coming in with supplies for the Illuminati forces. The ships weren't huge, but they were large enough to have enough cargo to supply a decent sized military force and lacked many of the trappings and trinkets that would have been present on cruise liners or company identification for civilian businesses. Thus these ships had to be serving the Illuminati, the only question that they had was more on when they would have unloaded the supplies earlier in the day and these ships were simply under orders to only sail during the day.

"None that I or any of the others have seen," his partner answered, "which means we have the option of getting something… something that would make things easier when it comes to dealing with the gargoyles and the like."

The lead man nodded. To a degree dealing with the British government wasn't too hard as their officers largely weren't armed and that gave them an equal chance of getting away from many of their activities. The gargoyles arrived or grew active at night, often aiding the man that Illuminati were now after, and while the various gangs might be able to avoid the police at times, the gargoyles were faster and stronger and often many of them ended up unconscious and left for the police. It had been hoped that with the fight against the Illuminati and their invasion that the gargoyles would be more with rebellion against the Illuminati, and at times they did seem to be. But the gargoyles remained crime fighters as well, and this at times seemed to make them allies with the Illuminati who didn't like criminals and was far more willing to use greater force than the London police ever did.

But the Illuminati did present a problem for gargoyles as well, as they were reported to be with the resistance and often battled them as well. This in turn brought arms and resources into London that wasn't normally available and their battles with the resistance seemed to also leave some of those supply runs less heavily guarded than what would be otherwise expected. The gangs didn't know how much the Illuminati had in the way of forces and supplies, but they could note that at times and places they did seem to grow weaker and all were willing to take the opportunity that came from it.

"That'll have to mean they're doing it at night," the lead man smiled, "which means they'll be distracted by the rebels more than anything else… chasing them through other parts of London while we've laid low enough that for the moment… we can get in."

"Perhaps… though I'd also wonder why they're waiting till now to even do anything," the partner commented, "their main lights and cranes are only just getting started."

"Probably worried about some other action from the rebels," the lead man commented, "there's been all sorts of talk of them being active in the day too."

"Not as much during the night in the London area," the partner replied, "though… there could be a wide variety of reasons as to why they're doing things this way. After all the rebels don't really control any part of London. So it isn't like they need to do things at night or in the day to avoid trouble. The thing I don't like is that we don't know what their reason for this is."

"Don't disagree," the lead man replied, "but best to not look a gift horse in the mouth."

The partner slowly nodded as they looked back out toward the docks. The main viewing lights were coming on and this was normally used when things were working late or with large cargoes. Given the size of the ship, neither man figured it was a large load and the lack of reported activity meant that it wasn't the result of a long war day. Yet the lights were coming on now, illuminating the loading areas of the ship and the areas around the dock area where the ship was docked and tied down. It allowed them to note that there were a few men on guard duty, but not many, even as a series of trucks began to drive up and park in line underneath a large crane that was bolted to the ground and hung over the ship. It gave an indication that they were getting ready to unload the ship.

"The guards seem to be looking down the river," the partner commented as he pointed to one of the uniformed soldiers on the bow of the ship, "away from where we are and where the rest of the guys are."

"Maybe the Illuminati is running out of credible soldiers," the lead man commented, "or at least we can hope they are."

The partner nodded, "thankfully the roads are such that they'll still have to come this way to go to a base or to the north. They can't double back."

"And our guys will jump and hijack the first truck," the lead man nodded, "the rest can go wherever. We'll manage one truck."

0-0-0

Meanwhile, Catherine Silver was also observing things with the Bulldog mutate and a few others as the docks seemed to come to life. They had emerged from the underground in a different area and quickly moved to another set of rooftops to observe the proceedings as the lights around the docks came on and as the Illuminati began moving things to begin unloading their cargo. They had a small number of normal human resistance members with a limited amount of ammunition, but it was expected that this wouldn't be a major fight. The plan was to fire what few bazooka-like weapons into the trucks once they were all loaded and letting the mutates then swoop in to capitalize on the chaos and allow Catherine and the human members to move from the rooftop to the ground and into the allies without attracting too much attention.

"It doesn't look like the ship they're using is all that big," the Bulldog mutate said softly to Catherine, "not big enough to support an army."

"I'm not sure it'd even support the garrison the Illuminati has in London," one of the other men there whispered as he loaded the bazooka, "like what you said Mr. Macbeth thinks… that this part is a trap."

"And likely thinking we're here to steal the weapons for the fight," Catherine nodded, "which is why the mutates will be the ones to actually go in. They have more speed and the ability to avoid getting hit. We can then make the strike and attract attention and then get away without trouble. Or at least without major trouble."

The others nodded, though this also attracted one of the other mutates that was there who then asked to Catherine, "will you want us to come on the boat from a different direction. We're far enough away that they might not see us take off, but it wouldn't be impossible."

"No… that may screw up the timing and we wouldn't to have you caught in the explosion," Catherine answered, "we just need to wait until they've loaded all three trucks. If this is like anything else the Illuminati has done… particularly since our first uprising, they'll move together to stay protected. That way the trucks won't be ambushed."

They then turned to observe as the trucks were loaded. One of the other mutates there beside the Bulldog mutate looked out to see a group of men standing in guard positions ahead of the truck, largely in the shadows. They weren't necessarily looking skyward, but they were looking rather alert and that was enough to raise questions on ambushes. Their raids were largely limited to jumping patrols from time to time and getting a few small groups, and these patrols were often walking on foot. This group looked to be bigger and better prepared than the patrols they'd ambushed.

"I think I can point to a group of guards that could be trouble," the Bulldog mutate said slowly and pointed, "they're in the shadow of that warehouse beyond where the trucks are parked."

Catherine then looked out in that direction and following the Bulldog mutate's finger with her eyes. She could make out some outlines of figures in the shadows of the building, but they were both far enough away from them and in shadows that she couldn't only make out the outlines. The lights that were on were mostly around the ship that was being unloaded and the warehouse that the Bulldog mutate was further away.

"Could they hit us or hit you?" Catherine asked.

"Not easily," the Bulldog mutate commented, "And that assumes they know where we are now. I'd think they're waiting to see where we show up from just as much as we're waiting for the ships to finish unloading."

"Then we stick with the plan," Catherine then said, "just be ready to support a quick retreat and some double backing once we're ready to start the raid."

The present mutates nodded.

Outside the BBC Headquarters

Meanwhile, Macbeth settled into a position on the roof of a building opposite the headquarters for the BBC. There wasn't too much activity there, though there were a few lights on that they could see. The one thing they could see was that there were a few police cars outside the building and even had some larger trucks actually circling the block, which was something that Macbeth took careful note of.

"There doesn't seem to be too many people here," Una commented slowly as she spoke from behind Macbeth as she, Chloe, and Leo looked out at the building watched out over all things that related to the areas around the news company's offices.

"I would imagine that most present security are either inside or underground," Macbeth commented, "was that we can't see them and have a pre thought plan on how to deal with them. Thus why we'll be waiting for the action to begin on the docks. The Illuminati will think that a strike of the size that we're launching would be a major effort and would move to counter it. That would then lower their defenses here."

"How many would they move out or away?" Chloe wondered as she crouched down and had her wings cloaked over her shoulders, "they'd have to know that we are weaker than we were when the first uprising in London was launched."

"That is an unknown," Macbeth answered with narrowed eyes, "but one we have no choice but to risk… hopefully enough to win on."

Chloe slowly nodded, though Una and Leo remained uneasy. To a degree, while getting information on what Arthur and Merlin might be up to would be helpful, neither London gargoyle felt that a plan of the size Macbeth was relying on was worth the risks involved. Either the team sent to launch the raid would find themselves in a far larger fight than they would have otherwise anticipated and thus would take losses or Macbeth would run into either stronger defenses inside the BBC offices and would run out of time before getting anything important. There was even the potential that the entire situation could be a trap and thus both potential downfalls could be possible, and Una was especially uneasy over the fact that Macbeth also thought that what was going on at the docks would relate to a trap on the Illuminati's part.

But for now, all the four of them could do was wait and see what happened. Macbeth primarily looked to the parked cars and traffic that went around the building, much of which was likely standard security and the outer defense of the building. They likely wouldn't leave, but they would also represent some indication what defenses would be lowered when the distraction effort began elsewhere. The test was more in how many left and how much of that they could observe.

"I would still say there are too many risks in this," Leo commented softly as they watched, "particularly when we don't know how many are in there and how many they will remove when the raid at the docks begins."

"Noted," Macbeth whispered back but retaining a tone of frustration that left no room for debate, "but as said before… if we're to win, we MUST take risks. And at the same time, while this building may be guarded, it will be lighter than a general uprising and we may be able to clear what we need to WITHOUT the distraction. And I can go in without risk of death while you provide another distraction out here if you are truly that concerned about getting caught inside."

Leo didn't answer but stood by silently as they continued to watch the activities on the street below them. Much of this was to try and note any pattern in the patrols that the Illuminati ran. In trying to keep things 'unchanged,' there generally wasn't any real curfew, which had been part of what enabled their initial uprising had been able to get started in the first place, and it had continued. This meant that not every car on the street or person walking by was an Illuminati member or supporter. Some were likely just ordinary people who had been caught in London during the Illuminati invasion and couldn't get and didn't have the ability to fight either. The only thing they could do for the moment was wait.

Things stayed fairly quiet as they watched some of the activity that was also coming from some sense of expectation of what was to come. The plan depended on the "skirmish" at the docks to draw as many security men for the Illuminati away from other important places. They couldn't move the sound of the distraction reached them, and likely after some sign of them moving forces out. Though after a few moments, a loud explosion was soon heard from where they were. It wasn't that loud or deafening, given the distance that Macbeth's team was from the docks, but the immortal king's hearing was good enough to hear a decent sized "thump" and it came from the direction of the docks.

"That would have to be it…" Macbeth stated calmly and stepped back more into the shadows. He could still see to the ground level around the BBC building, but he wouldn't likely get any detail on who came out, though that wasn't the point of the mission. They had only to wait and see if there was any departures, not identify who departed and didn't want to give the Illuminati anything that might get them nervous about sending some security men to the docks.

"How long would we have to wait?" Chloe asked quietly.

"Not too long," Macbeth answered, "though the bigger worry would be on where the response is from and that. Illuminati forces near the docks will react quicker than those around here."

"Assuming that the Illuminati have a decent number of guards here already," Leo said softly, "though… determining that would likely take a few moments…"

Macbeth gave a nod and said nothing and kept his eyes focused. There were some faint hints of sirens in the distance and the seemed to be moving further away from where they were and that could be a response to the planned fight, but there wasn't much more that could be known by that. He simply continued to watch and keep an eye out to see if anyone came out of the BBC building. They could only watch and remained quiet. Not all the responses were joined by sirens. In fact there was another explosion that seemed to come from the same general area as the first, though this one was larger.

"A second explosion…" Una said slowly and turning her head back toward where the docks were, and now seeing smoke rising from that area, "that wasn't in the plan…"

"Not unless something forced them into two shots on the supply trucks," Macbeth answered without turning to look to the smoke.

"But what would do that?" Una wondered, "and what would make the second bigger than the first? This one would be closer to the whole ship exploding… and the raid team didn't have the firepower for that."

Macbeth managed a small nod but made no other nod. That was something that wasn't planned and was a surprised, but it was also something where he could understand how battles would often have surprises pop up from time to time. He couldn't predict what was going on, but neither could he truly try to figure that out as that would then spoil the main part of their mission. Their only hope was that the larger distraction elsewhere might make things easier for them trying to get the information from the BBC offices.

"Nothing we can do now," Macbeth said after a moment.

By this time, some action finally happened that gave him some reason for optimism. First a pair of trucks actually zoomed by the BBC building at high speed. Macbeth couldn't fully see what type they were but they clearly weren't civilian or police trucks. Not long after, the doors to the BBC offices opened and about ten men in combat gear exited the building and moved at a quick pace around to a side and moved into a parking lot. None looked up, but Macbeth stayed far enough back so as not to give them reason to look up. It wasn't long before the sound of a pair of engines started up. This had to mean that the Illuminati were responding.

"Be ready," Macbeth spoke in warning to the others.

The Illuminati troops turned on a set of black vans and pulled out. They weren't the news vans and would have been more in line with a secret service motorcade, but they still represented the departure of local security forces. Their lights added to the area for a few moments, but they came out of the parking lot and soon turned onto the road to head away from the BBC office building and likely to where they could turn to head to the docks. It was only after the second van turned onto the road that Macbeth took a step forward, though he motioned with one hand for Chloe, Leo, and Una to stay back. If they noticed him, he could take a gun shot and survive, as he doubted Demona would be serving the Illuminati, but the others couldn't. They went about a block and then turned again. Once the last van had vanished out of view behind one of the buildings, Macbeth looked to those that were with him.

"Okay, now we go…" Macbeth spoke, "and to the roof of the BBC building."

Chloe nodded and came forward, getting a grip under Macbeth's harms and then leaping from the ledge and opening her wings.

To Be Continued…