SUED FOR PEACE (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 11) (25 page)

Like he and his men were prey, and those that stalked them had them right where they wanted them.
 

Caught in their trap.

He pressed his lips together. Whoever was out there would find out they had attacked the wrong base this night. He and his men were the best, and they were fighting on their own turf.

He punched the button that sent the signal to those he had placed outside. They would be allowed to fire at will, now.

He couldn’t see anything externally to guide them anymore.

—

All fifty-four pods were coming down in the night, separated from one another by random distances, some as many as five to fifteen miles and different altitudes in case China had anything that might locate them. They chose to come in slower than normal so that they had time to check out the scene around the base.

Which was a good plan.

>>Bethany Anne, we have minor heat signatures located in three groupings around the base.<<

“Show me ADAM.” On the window in front of her, an outline of the base and topographical map glowed in a phosphorescent blue color. Three groupings of circles in red, orange and yellow were placed on the map.
 

“ADAM, slow to a stop for all Pods, keep us fragmented at this time. Send in drones for reconnaissance.”

Bethany Anne waited and played with the screens to see more down on the ground. The images filling in as the drones, super small pucks with sensing devices on them, flew around the base.

>>We have over sixty-five locations for data acquisition, three groups of combatants, and of course the airfield, destroyed.<<

“Take out their data acquisition ability. If it is video, then do it in one-second increments, I want them to know we are dropping it on purpose. Let me know when this is complete.”

>>It will be complete in thirty-two seconds.<<

“I’ll wait.” She told him feigning patience, wondering if he would get the joke. ADAM didn’t respond. She couldn’t figure out, without asking, if he got the joke and ignored it, or assumed it was a statement of fact.

>>Task complete.<<

“Ok, these twenty-four are a pain. Send the small pucks and obliterate their locations. Do they have additional entrances?”

>>There are ventilation shafts, but they seem to be gated to stop entry.<<

“Send a few pucks in to see if anything can be figured out.”

>>I’m sorry, but there are screens inside the ventilation shafts that inhibit the Pucks progress without busting through.<<

“I suppose I shouldn’t be too annoyed.” She mused. “ADAM, keep some air support going, and watch for new enemy action.”

>>I understand the new orders. Three external forces are neutralized.”

She reached over to the glass and hit the button for her microphone to all of the Pods. “Ok, listen up. You have had a little extra time as we took out external forces waiting to make our landing extremely unfriendly. We will be landing in sixty seconds. Stay away from the entrances until we have pucked the shit out of them and made sure no unfriendlies are behind them to provide an unwelcome arrival.”

Bethany Anne, Gabrielle, John, Eric, Darryl, Scott and Akio stepped out of their Pods. Every other Guardian stayed in for the moment. The seven of them walked up to the huge metal doors closing over the entrance to the base.

Bethany Anne looked up, “Big fucking front door.” She turned around to speak to the guys while pointing to it, “Are they compensating?”

“No, well, maybe,” Akio admitted, “However, remember this is probably the entrance the airplanes use.”

She turned back to the door and walked to the middle, “Oh, hadn’t considered there was a big-ass hanger behind door number one.” She looked around, then shrugged, “Oh well, no piece of chalk.”

“Please, allow me,” Gabrielle said as she walked over, “You want what?”

Bethany Anne pointed, “Big ass ‘X’ to mark the spot.”

Gabrielle nodded and grew long claws on her hand, she was looking up when Eric offered, “Need a lift?” She smiled and nodded to him as he walked over, reached down and grabbed her right above her knees. Straightening up, he lifted her high enough to start the X.

Eric was looking right at Bethany Anne’s face when he stood up to see her smirking at him. He realized he could feel Gabrielle’s ass touching his cheek. He returned her stare blushing furiously and just closed his eyes until Gabrielle told him he could let her down. When Eric turned back around, he saw every one of the guys was trying not to crack a smile at him.

Fortunately, Gabrielle didn’t seem to notice.

TOM, transmit my speech to all of the Pods here.

Bethany Anne turned towards her Pod, “Ok, everyone. X marks the spot. ADAM, let’s knock on the door with a few Pucks and then we will follow with a Black Eagle when the door opens enough.”

—

General Xue kept a calm demeanor on the outside. They had felt the bombardment through the rock above, and he figured that the enemy had located his three external forces, probably taking them out from above.

It is what he would do.

Now, they had to get through his main entrance door. They had two other exits to the base, both hidden well. Those, however, would have to wait before he used them. He doubted they would attack without some sort of air cover.

The teams had the video cameras aimed at the hangar door. The waiting was the worst. He had a few men in machine gun nests as deep as he could put them. There was one small prop plane that held twelve in the hangar at the moment, but it was unarmed.

His base wasn’t supposed to support air operations, so there was only room for six inside the front hanger.

He wasn’t watching the screen when the first resounding bang happened. It caused him to jerk in his chair, flinching from the noise. He noticed one of the men off to his right grab his headphones to yank them off before moving to switch his sound level.

“Zoom in on the door,” Xue commanded. “They have something pretty power…” A second attack slammed home on his door, causing the previously noticeable dent to get a little bigger, “…full.” He sat back in his chair, “Zoom back out.”

Xue couldn’t figure out it this was the most powerful item they had, or they were just testing. God, he hoped they started with the biggest…

—

“ADAM, stop fucking around. I don’t have all night here.” Bethany Anne groused.

>>I’m using the one pound Pucks and increasing their power by one each time I send them in. At this short of distance, they don’t attain full speed. It allows me to better understand the real world dynamics of…<<

I’ll give you real world dynamics, ADAM, move those fuckers to Eleven
. She told him.

Oh, here we go
TOM added, yelling in their mind speech,
ROCK AND ROLL!

The next Puck slammed the door, caving the two inwards and pulling the right door off of its top track. The puck continued to slam into the back wall of rock, blasting a hole in the rock wall with a five-foot diameter showering those below and in front with deadly force.

Gabrielle’s Black Eagle darted ahead through the opening in the door. While Bethany Anne wanted to be the first in, she got overruled for protective purposes. It didn’t help her disposition to have to wait. “Gabrielle, is it safe?” Bethany Anne inquired.

“One sec, oh patient one,” came her reply, “There are a few combatants still able to function in here.”

“Well, what the fuck are you doing, signing autographs?” Bethany Anne griped.

“No, Adam is using the new tiny-Pucks to take them out. By the way, I know that the machine gun fire doesn’t make it through the shield, but that doesn’t mean the massive fritzing light show with all of the rounds hitting me on the screen doesn’t cause concern,” she added. The noise from inside the hangar was coming through the communications.

ADAM, give me visual.

A small rectangle popped up on Bethany Anne’s screen, and she watched as the men fired for a second, then something would smash through their bodies. Occasionally, not killing them right off so that they would try a second time to get a bead on Gabrielle.

“Your aiming sucks, ADAM.” The team could hear Gabrielle bitching in the background. Seconds later, the machine and personal weapons fire finally stopped. “ADAM, bring in the surveillance drones and find the video and audio equipment.”

It was another fifteen seconds before everyone heard Gabrielle again, “Ok, everyone come on in, the water is fine. Be careful, there are a few messes in here.” There was a pause, “Oh, God, especially in the north corner.”

—

General Xue’s eyes were wide open. “We’ve lost all video?” he asked although he could see that the monitors they had connected to the video camera’s in the hangar were only showing black. The third attack on his doors had surprised all of them. The massive destruction was not expected to be able to happen, and then the fighter design of TQB came floating in through the new opening and had released small balls.

While his men died, the fighter sat in the middle of his hangar, taking machine gun fire and shrugging it off like the bullets were raindrops on a spring day in Yunnan. His original expectation of forcing them to take massive casualties by the time they entered the base proper, was not going to come true.

—

Jennifer popped the harness on her belt while her partner hit the button to open their Pod. She had moved to the Ad Aeternitatem just two weeks before against her wishes. While she hadn’t met Stephen too many times, separated as they were on the two ships, it did happen occasionally. She tried her damnedest to keep her feelings for the man to a minimum, and her actions professional.

Until she was alone and allowed the faintest wish that Stephen might think a young changeling female would be any interest at all. But, she stomped on the hope after giving it five minutes. A thousand-year-old vampire with who knew how many women in his past wasn’t going to find her to be special.
So, buck the fuck up and let’s kill some assholes so I can get my angst out,
she thought.

Then the fear hit.

Oh, fuck me! She had forgotten about the fear the Queen’s Bitches could generate.
 

One by one, the four men of the Apocalypse surrounded the Queen Bitch with Gabrielle in the lead and Akio behind went walking into one of the hallways.

The fear receded, thank God!

Jennifer looked around and saw Peter and Todd waiting. She jumped out of the Pod and turned to pull her gear out from behind the seats. All Wechselbalg had been provided the option of fighting as humans, or wolves. Fully a third were already stripping. Here, the Queen had one command and that had been to make sure none escaped.

She had been appointed to the outside forces team. At least ten of the Werewolves would go out with another ten of them and a commander. Jennifer jogged to where Peter was and joined her group. They waited until he spoke.

“Team Alpha, you will be with me in the lead, and we hit the base from the inside. I will lead and sniff out trouble with Tim and Joseph in wolf form. We will have Todd and Manuel follow me then we will break off as we find new routes.”

Peter looked over the group, “I’ve asked for an additional resource for Beta team, he has agreed, and his Pod will be here momentarily. Joel will lead Beta Team for the Guardians.”

Additional Resource? Jennifer thought and noticed the change in air pressure. She turned to see a Pod slide through the opening and come to a stop thirty meters from them. The door opening and he stepped out, dressed in black military fatigues as if he wore them daily.
 

Peter stepped over to him and shook his hand, “Stephen, I appreciate you having Barnabas take over.”
 

Stephen smiled, “Not a problem, who am I taking my cue from?” Jennifer was surprised that Stephen was allowing himself to be directed at all, much less by a young Wechselbalg.

Peter waved Joel to come over. They knew each other, so introductions weren’t a problem as they chatted a moment. Joel turned to his group, “Let’s move out.” The ten wolves started heading towards the front, and those in Jennifer’s team did as well. She watched as the ten wolves went out in rows. That wasn’t something you saw every day, she considered as her team went out into the night.

—

The fear was faint, yet steadily grew stronger. Xi had his rifle pointed towards the direction someone would come if they were arriving from the hanger. He looked over to see his partner sweating and looking behind them. Xi wasn’t sure if it was to make sure no one was coming up behind them, or he was considering leaving.

Xi sure hoped he didn’t bolt, because if he did, Xi was supposed to shoot him and how could he blame the man? He was thinking of doing the same thing himself. He turned back to the front and started praying to his ancestors.

—

Gabrielle hated the grating feel of fear coming from behind her. It was a constant annoyance to have to fight against, even for her. However, the team felt it was a great way to make sure anyone attacking them was fighting at a disadvantage, and it worked.

She had killed twenty-seven so far with her sword or with a single shot to the head of her enemies. Most of them were begging for release. Four had opened fire, but their aim had been off. A damned good thing they didn’t have automated weapons in this base or shit might be a little tougher.
 

Organic opponents for the win!

She smiled, she could feel Bethany Anne’s annoyance at being surrounded by her team, and there was a bet to see how long she stayed a good little Queen and allowed them to guard her.

She had already lost. Gabrielle had figured it would happen before they left the hangar.

Right now, John was in the lead, but his time was about up, as well. Darryl had the next five minutes, then Eric, Scott and finally Akio had the last. Akio felt that as a leader, she would understand the necessity of staying protected.

John snorted at that comment and patted Akio on the shoulder, “You will learn Grasshopper, you will learn,” he had told the newest addition to their group.