An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series) (8 page)

“Uh… I don’t really know… let’s go take a shower.” I say and withdraw from the ‘bank’.

We head upstairs and take another shower to wash the sweat off of us. Cheza and I are
drying off when I hear my phone ring. I rush downstairs and grab my suit to answer my phone.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Hey bro, do you have the time to stop by? Alice is hungry and it seems she’s a picky eater.” Jason requests.

“Sure;
Cheza and I will be there in a few.” I reply.

“Thank
s, CT!” Jason says and hangs up.

I head back upstairs and inform Cheza of our side trip while pulling on my suit.
Cheza quickly pulls on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before grabbing my hand. I touch my Haglaz rune and port us to the kitchen of Jason and Reyna’s house.

“Thanks for coming, Cole. Alice just woke up from her nap and she’s really cranky.” Reyna informs us.

“No problem; anything for my niece!” I reply with a smile and head upstairs to Alice’s room. I knock softly before entering the room.

“Uncle Cole?” Alice
timidly asks, but with a ravenous look in her eyes.

“Hey sweetie; are you hungry?” I inquire.

Alice launches herself across the room and latches onto my neck; I guess her azeman strength is only guided by instinct at this stage because this girl normally can’t climb onto a couch by herself, let alone launch herself ten feet through the air. I can’t believe things got this bad when she’s only gone without feeding for a day. I let her drink 0.75 liters to make up for yesterday before cutting her off.

Alice’s instincts tell her to keep feeding and when she realizes she’s not getting any more blood, she reels back and bites into
the opposite side of my neck. I let another 0.05 liters trickle out in an effort to wean her off. Alice bites into my neck again and I repeat the trickle of blood. I don’t let any out on the next bite and Alice starts frantically biting at my neck, tearing it apart.

“Sweetie…” I sadly
say as I hug Alice close to me. Alice seems to snap out of it and starts crying.

“I’m sorry, Uncle Cole! I’m so sorry!” Alice wails.

“No, I’m the one that’s sorry, sweetie; you wouldn’t be in this state if I had just dropped by yesterday.” I softly reply and tenderly pet the back of her head.

“But your neck!” Alice exclaims through her tears.

“Don’t worry; I’m fine. See?” I say as I feel the skin of my neck knitting itself back together.

“CANDLES AND BARRY WHITE!?” I hear Cheza shout from downstairs; that is really not good.
I listen as Cheza storms upstairs and I prepare for the worst. Alice sniffles as she stops crying.

“Cole… would you care to explain what occurred here a few nights ago?” Cheza asks through gritted teeth.

“Alice drank too much of my blood and vomited into the toilet without knowing that Jason had put saran wrap over it so the blood bounced back and soaked us, causing us to need a bath. Alice said we needed ‘bath time candles’ and ‘bath time music,’ so she got those while I prepared the bath, thinking that it was best if Jason and Reyna fixed that misconception. I shuffled my song list and it happened to land on Barry White as Alice got hungry and bit into my neck again. Then Reyna and Jason came in, Reyna thinking the worst while Jason understood immediately.” I quickly explain while glossing over the details so I don’t get stabbed.

“
Chezarei, nothing was going on between them; you really should’ve let me finish. While the situation looked really bad, the explanation was perfectly reasonable.” Reyna explains from the doorway and my phone starts ringing.

“Hey Cole, we need you and Rei back here ASAP.” Natasha tells me.

“We’re on our way.” I respond and hang up.

“Let’s go.” I tell
Cheza and set Alice down.

“We’ll see you guys later!” I announce as I grab Cheza’s hand and touch my Haglaz rune.

Chapter 8
: Tanks… Why did it have to be tanks?
4

We arrive in the
reception area, startling the director’s werewolf receptionist. Before she has the chance to use the intercom, Natasha opens the door and ushers us into the office.

“When I requested assistance from The Agency, I never expected that Feros and the Night Ice Queen
would show up. We just received word that the vampires are coming in with about ten, Japanese model Type 10 tanks. The buildings are resistant to explosive bombardment, but they won’t hold up forever.” Director Gracie says.

“The vampires don’t see the obvious problem with bringing slow ass tanks into a battle that involves
beings with supernatural speed?” I ask.

“From what we’ve seen on the satellite images, each tank has roughly fifty vampires accompanying it, so getting in close to destroy the tanks will be a challenge since we are lacking in long range weaponry with enough firepower to destroy a tank.” Director Gracie explains.

“That shouldn’t be a problem; I have a plan. When’s the ETA on the tanks?” I inquire.

“T
wenty minutes; they’re rolling down the main road as we speak. I already have all of the witches and wizards working on fortifications for the buildings and the fence.” Director Gracie answers.

“Alright, Cheza and I will go get ready.
Just let us know when they arrive and keep the troops inside for this one; we don’t need to accidentally get shot while we’re running around out there.” I reply.

“I’ll keep you updated.” Natasha says as I grab Cheza’s hand and port us to the room. Cheza strips off her jeans and t-shirt before slipping into her suit.
I unzip the left sleeve of my suit and toss it on the bed.

“So the plan is for you to hose them down while I use the water to freeze them?” Cheza asks.

“Pretty much. The top armor and treads of any tank are the most vulnerable so aim for those. I’ll also be hosing down the barrel of the tank, so make sure to freeze that as well. There will also most likely be a mounted .50 caliber turret on the top which we should definitely avoid; our suits don’t provide all that much protection against .50 caliber bullets.” I inform her.

“Got it.” Cheza replies.

“They’re almost within range. You two should get out there.” Natasha thinks.

“Well, it’s show time.” I
tell Cheza and we make our way down to the grounds of the compound.

By the time we pass through the front gate, the tanks have already started fanning out into firing positions. There are large groups of vampires with bronze auras around each tank, along with three more
that are faintly visible inside of the tanks.

Cheza and I
engage our helmets and sprint forward while we still have the element of surprise. Once I’m within range, I hold my blackened left arm in front of me and blast the leftmost tank with water, as well as the surrounding vampires. The water on the tank and nearby vampires flash freeze as Cheza passes by, roughly fifteen feet behind me. The tanks’ turrets open fire on me and Cheza while the vampires finally notice us as I’m spraying down another tank.

“Don’t worry about the smaller arms fire and focus on dodging the .50 cals!” I think to Cheza as the vampires start shooting at us with rifles of various models.

“Easier said than done!” Cheza responds while freezing another tank.

I focus on hosing down the third tank while trying to ignore the bullets that keep hitting my suit, which isn’t too difficult seeing as I can barely feel them. Cheza freezes the third tank while I hose down the fourth, quickly followed by the fifth
. Cheza manages to freeze them both while I’m hosing down three more as I feel her fatigue.

“Are you alright?” I think.

“Yeah, I’m fine; just keep going.” Cheza replies while freezing the sixth tank and I hose down the ninth.

I suddenly feel a pain in my right
thigh as Cheza yelps and her leg collapses from underneath her. I feel a pain in my lower back as Cheza gets hit two more times with .50 caliber bullets and a dozen times with smaller rounds. After quickly changing directions, I launch myself on top of Cheza, but I’m not quick enough to block the bullet that pierces the collar of her suit and sinks into the back of her neck.

Rage fills me as Cheza stops breathing due to her wound while my back gets
continuously punctured by .50 caliber rounds. Cheza loses consciousness from a combination of fatigue and lack of oxygen as the firing lets up from all infantry and the other tanks with the exception of the one directly in front of us. I take a peek over my shoulder and see an infantry vampire rushing forward with something on his back… Oh fuck!

The flames of the flamethrower engulf me for a brief second before being extinguished by the bubble of water around me; even napalm needs oxygen to remain alight. I notice
that the water is swirling around Cheza’s head as the water is set on fire. While in the bubble of fire, I realize that now is a good time to port out of here. I arrive on the floor of Director Gracie’s office with Cheza beneath me. I pull the bullet out of Cheza’s neck, two out of her lower back, and the one from her right thigh as she begins healing herself. The continued gunfire coming from outside tells me that I’ve been able to keep up the bubble, creating the illusion that Cheza and I are still there.

“Cole! What happened!?
” Natasha frantically asks.

“They hurt Cheza… they’re going to pay.” I
maliciously say as I form my Mu-cutter.

(Relax
, Master; you don’t want to channel the Void at this stage)

“If I need it to kill those bastards, I will channel the Void with no qualms.”

(Utilize the powers of the fallen gods, and the Void will not be necessary)

“I can’t see how lightning will help in this situation, or water beyond the whole flamethrower business.”

(Those are not the only fallen gods you have at your disposal. You have yet to use any powers from the first fallen god that you ‘collected.’ Might I suggest using the powers of a War God?)

“What good can that do?”

(Enhanced speed and strength)

“Do it.” I reply as my Mu-cutter connects and I think about the stretch of road behind the tanks
before porting there without touching my triskele.

I flash forward and
hack the vampires surrounding the seventh tank to pieces at a speed that has been previously unknown to me; the majority of them are dead before they even realize they’re being attacked. After six quick slices to cut a hole through the side of the tank, I dispatch the remaining two vampires that were lucky enough to not be in the path of my Mu-cutter while I was cutting open the tank. I set my sights on tank number eight while the infantry around it set their sights on me and open fire. Thankfully, it seems that I’m at an angle that the tank turrets can’t reach.

As I notice the flamethrower wielding vampire in this group, I recall the explosion of the predator drone this morning when I luckily hit its fuel tank; isn’t the backpack part of a
flamethrower all fuel tank? I pull my .460 S&W from behind my back and fire at the vampire’s heart after the purple lightning bolt surfaces on the back of my left hand. The bullet pierces the vampire’s chest and travels through the fuel tank. The resulting explosion from the lightning igniting the fuel is rather terrific and gives me the distraction needed to race forward and slice the infantry to pieces. I cut a hole in the eighth tank before dicing the three vampires inside the tank; only two to go.

I launch myself over the seven foot height of the ruined tank, moving onto the ninth. The area around me gets lit up by .50 caliber gunfire as I notice that the tenth tank has rolled forward and turned towards my position
. I do a retreating backflip over the tank and use it as cover. Since the turret can only fire on the front of the ruined tank because of the angle, I run around the backside of it, only to be met by all of the remaining infantrymen behind three flamethrowers that set me aflame. Water surrounds me as napalm mixes with the surface and turns into a swirling inferno around me. I get a crazy idea when I notice that I can barely make out the bronze auras of the infantry in front of me.

I stumble forward
to make it appear as if they are actually harming me as the flamethrowers continue their efforts and increase the inferno. I feel the heat radiating off of it as I continue until the flamethrowers run out of fuel; I imagine that my ball of fire is quite huge by now so I sprint into the middle of the infantry as they open fire. While I’m getting berated by bullets, I throw both of my arms down and the water bubble pops, sending the swirling napalm flying in all directions around me. The vampires are covered in the flames that were previously surrounding me. Glorious screams of agony erupt around me as the vampires burn. Several vampires hit the ground and try rolling around to extinguish the flames, but to no avail. That’s the thing that sucks the most about napalm: it sticks.

With the whole ‘AH I’M ON FIRE!’ thing, the vampires are a little too preoccupied to offer any resistance as I hack my way through them. I laugh as the tenth tank tries to retreat at its top speed of 40mph while I destroy the ninth tank in the same fashion as the other two. I quickly catch up to the
final tank and cut a hole in the side, slicing through the right treads. The remaining tread goes flying along with a few wheels before the right side drops, the weight stopping the tank’s movement. The vampires inside regard me with wide-eyed terror as I stick my torso into the new opening of the tank.

“Alright, so here’s the deal. The first person who tells me where I can find the head of the Australian campaign, doesn’t die.” I explain.

“The captured azeman embassy!” one vampire shouts immediately. I decapitate the other two vampires in the tank and turn to my informant.

“Thank you; you may leave.” I reply and port back to Director Gracie’s office.

“Get me a picture of the azeman embassy in Adelaide. Now!” I demand.

“Cole? What’s going on?” Natasha asks as Director Gracie types on his computer.

“I’m going to end all of this by eliminating the vampire leading the Australian campaign.” I reply.

“
How do you know they’re at the azeman embassy?” Natasha questions.

“
A vampire told me in exchange for not killing him.” I respond.

“Shouldn’t you do something about the couple dozen bullets sticking out of your back?” Natasha sarcastically asks.

“I can take care of those later.” I say.

“Cole, I’m pretty sure they’re bleeding…” Natasha says with concern.

“I said leave it! It’s simply the price I’m paying for not getting to her in time… I should have gotten us out of there the moment I felt her getting tired… I knew that she was slowing down, but I just kept going…” I softly reply as I walk over and observe Cheza’s prone form. The rise and fall of her chest indicates her breathing has restarted, so at least there’s that.

“Here,” Director Gracie says while handing me a printed
photograph of the embassy.

“Thanks. I’ll have this Australian vampire situation wrapped up momentarily.” I say and touch my triskele.

I port to the courtyard of the embassy in Adelaide with a large marble fountain to my left, prepared for a fight. While I’m prepared for a fight, it seems entirely unnecessary as there isn’t a single enemy in the entire courtyard or anywhere in sight. That’s weird, isn’t it? It seems entirely possible that I might’ve already killed all of the vampire forces, but it seems like common sense to keep a few people back to guard the base and the commander.

I slice through the double doors at the entrance with my Mu-cutter and I’m surprised by what I see: there’s blood, pretty much everywhere.
There are dozens of bodies that are all in pieces on the floor. The lack of damage to the surrounding areas and the non-tattered chunks of body indicate a lack of explosions; something of a bladed nature was responsible for this.

“Please! Just give me more time and I know I can do this!” I hear a woman’s voice beg from the second floor and I look for the stairs.

“It’s too late. You have failed us too many times.” A modulated female voice replies as I find the stairs at the back of the building and race up the steps.

“We’re pulling the plug on the Australian operation
, and your services…” the modulated female voice adds as I sprint down the hall.

“Are no longer required.” Sydney
finishes as I reach the room just in time to see her decapitate the vampire commander before slicing her severed head into six pieces with red twin swords that don’t appear to be made of metal.

“
Why, hello Cole! What a totally unexpected surprise!” Sydney exclaims as the blood rains down around her; I’m pretty sure she was being sarcastic.

“So Loki really is behind all of this.” I
comment.

“This is just the first in a series of events we have planned for you. In fact, anot
her one should be starting soon. I wonder if you’ll have this wrapped up before it starts… I guess we’ll just have to see. Until next time!” Sydney replies and waves as she disappears.