William saw that Agatha was there and said "Can you wait outside please Agatha?" She nodded with some relief. The last time she'd been in a meeting between the two she'd pointed out that Griffin was being unfair to William. All it had done was make the situation worse. Griffin had admitted she was right and apologized to her later but as far as she knew he'd never apologized to William. William probably accepted that as part of having Griffin under his command by now.
"I have a mission for you, Griffin. You are to go with full backup to Sydney, Australia. Look into a number of robberies from church sanctuaries. Mostly from under their altars in fact. The items were hidden there to prevent their use or acquisition by any of the Unknown. We need you and your team to identify the type of Unknown stealing them and report back. This is a video of them." He turned the computer screen. It showed a group of younger looking people, four men and one woman. From the neck down they looked human, normal even. Their heads were those of animals. "This is recon only Griffin. Until you report back and get further instructions you are not to approach them."
Griffin's face reddened with rage and his teeth ground. Recon only was a waste of his time and skills. "You incompetent little backstabbing son of Satan, William. Why are you sending us on a basic recon mission in Australia, of all places? We're due for a month of paired missions, and she needs more training on the ugly end of the stick before learning that bullshit! It's been six months since we've heard of anything going wrong down there and there's never been more than a problem reported a month!" Griffin could be heard all through the administration. "Hell, I know of at least two current Paladins you skipped the recon training for altogether! These days the Laypeople do most of it, you slimey political twat-waffle!"
Agatha, sitting just outside the office, heard it all and winced. William hated being called, overtly or otherwise, a politician. She imagined 'lawyer' was the only thing he might find worse. No other insults even seemed to bother him. She felt no surprise when she saw most of the staff in the office decided now would be a great time to take a break and go somewhere - anywhere - else. She didn't object to his language, just who he chose to use it on this time. Although she had to admit she didn't see his problem with William. She needed to learn the basics of recon if she wanted to pull her weight. The two he mentioned were seen as forced on the Order. One by the Catholics and one by the Russian Orthodox. Bah, Politics, she thought. Why couldn't they all see the bigger picture, anyway? Wherever she ended up in the order, she wanted to fully earn it.
William simply sat and looked at him, ignoring the insults and profanity. He knew far more about the problems they faced than Griffin did. He also dealt with the man often. This was his expected response. Griffin knew his value to the organization was that he had not only learnt just about every method to kill something, but he also researched every innovation in tracking and ambushing someone that had been developed in the last two centuries. And he kept up to date on new methods. All of them had some utility for hunting any of the unnatural.
Agatha was only the second apprentice Griffin chose to teach and William felt he was being overprotective of her. While her marksmanship wasn't up to that of the current Paladins, in a stand-up fight, armed or unarmed, with anything else her skill equaled or bettered any of them. It pissed off several of the junior Paladins that she got to train with the legend constantly, but not many of them objected openly after word reached Griffin and he invited them to train with him. While they were trained hard, NO-ONE trained harder than Griffin and Agatha.
"What are you worried about? REALLY worried about, not this play acting. We both know she's the equal of any of the junior Paladins. Chances are that when you are satisfied with her training the Council will want to jump her straight into the ranks of the Senior Paladins." This was something big. Griffin hadn't even been alive last time the 'Animal Heads' had come around, so no-one had any knowledge of how tough they were. Stroking his ego like this was always risky, but he needed Griffin to take this job.
"Yes I know neither you nor her are asking, expecting or probably even wanting that, but we haven't encountered something like this in centuries - heck even you haven't encountered them." At that Griffin's head looked up sharply, and William swore internally. He should have opened with that. Mind you Griffin had a habit of going off at him anyways. Griffin had never wanted to be Master of the Order, but he had limited respect for whomever held that position. What he didn't know was he'd never get it anyway. He wasn't the right person for it.
"So we aren't simply talking about some punks in masks or some new type of werebeast then? What do you know that you haven't told me, William?" William caught himself thinking 'A hell of a lot, really'. Then he internally shook himself. Not the time to dwell on that. He focused on what he needed to tell Griffin.
"We think they are an old type of demon that has returned to the world. We have reports of similar creatures from before 1200, but you know we don't have all the order's records from before the Crusades. The pogroms committed against the Crusader Orders enveloped us as well - that's when we declared complete denominational neutrality. You should remember that from your history studies" Actually, he hoped Grif didn't 'remember' this part of history. The Order never needed to make that declaration. They'd always been neutral. He was bullshitting hard here. There were some things, he thought, that Griffin would never accept. It should be safe though, if the history portrayed politics Griffin was just not interested.
"Then my answer is an even firmer no! I will not take an apprentice or backup to research and track complete unknowns! That's just nuts. Send me and Joakim, alone, if that's what this is about." William leaned back, looking at Griffin and reassessing his plans. He took out a folder from his top drawer and threw it in front of Griffin. "I'll add Joakim to your team, but you will take a full backup team for yourself and Agatha as well. And another two or three if Joakim wants them. If true demons are returning we need to respond and we need them crushed. You're the best chance of us nipping this in the bud. You'll be taking the special rounds."
Griffin took up the folder before answering. To someone who didn't know him well he seemed to just be flicking through it. William did though and felt a spurt of jealousy at how fast he could read. Considering how much better at so many things Griffin was than him, this was oddly about the only thing he was jealous of. He waited for Griffin to finish and said "So are you going to accept my orders or are am I going to have to send you to serve with the brothers as penance for 3 months while Agatha, Joakim and someone else tries to deal with this?" He was surprised to see a mild panic flash across Griffin's face. But he now realized he had him.
"I'll go, but on the condition we have permission to engage when we track them. If they are true demons, we need them gone. Desecrating three Altars is bad enough. Whatever else they might have planned could be worse."
William seemed to think this over, rolling the thought in his head. "That seems to be fair enough in this case. But you have to stop demanding complete autonomy on your missions. For you, it's often appropriate I'll grant, but some of the junior Paladins are starting to expect it and without co-ordination we become just another group of independent hunters. If that happens it all falls apart."
Griffin paused. He'd never considered that, and he should have. Sure most of the current Paladins had been in the military. But most of them had left due to a personal ethic that forced them to either refuse to follow a particular order or chose to modify their orders. They felt they deserved a certain latitude. He took a deep breath and said something William never thought he'd hear. "I'm sorry if my actions may have caused you grief William. I truly am. I have to be myself, but I'll try to moderate my behavior in the future." There was a silence for a minute as both of them realized they truly did respect each other, as people. It was a slight surprise to Griffin, but a far bigger one to William. He might need to reconsider a lot of things. That was for later, for now he had to get Griffin moving. Griffin beat him to it.
"Time to go pack, come on." Was all Griffin said to her. They walked to their quarters and packed their clothes, then headed to the armory for the equipment they might need.
William turned his chair and looked out the office window. He decided whatever happened on this operation, if Griffin came back, things would never be the same. He decided, for the first time in decades, to keep his thoughts on Griffin out of his reports to those above him. He also had a couple of Paladins to send on recon missions they really weren't suited for. He may as well make good use of the disruption taking Joakim and Griffin out of the rotation would produce...
Chapter 4
January 25th 2014, The Order's HQ, Armory
Joakim had beaten Griffin to the armory. He picked out the weapons he'd need as well as a lot of other specialized equipment, like bugs, thermal cameras, remote cameras, motion sensors - basically enough electronics to run a small country's surveillance - all just in case they needed it. If someone in the Order had been asked who was the best for recon it would depend. If they'd be in the wilds, they would definitely say Griffin.
In a city, though, Joakim was just plain better at getting people to talk to him. Even about things they might not have intended. If interrogation, Griffin bettered him. He radiated the willingness to do whatever, inflict as much pain as could be needed to get the information. But that was a two-edged sword when it came to just talking to people. Joakim had a knack for putting people at ease. And they broke even on their flair with tech. So, all things considered, they would say Joakim would be preferred in the city.
Partly the truth, but part of it would be in hopes of annoying Griffin. It never worked. Joakim took pride in the fact that he was better than Griffin at something, but this whole situation had him on edge. Them being paired to perform a recon had never happened before. If they went on recon it was usually as single person only. Now effectively three Paladins with a team of at least eight in support, more if Joakim wanted. He wasn't happy with the lack of briefing. However, he always prepared, packed and ready to go in case there was a situation that needed his skill set.
He was only an average fighter for a Paladin. So that usually meant recon or special takedowns of Unknown. It was just as well, not much could survive a .50 caliber BMG sniper round. When on the firing range with it lay members commented that it was overkill for killing humans. He smiled at them and said "I don't kill humans with it."
But they had to be careful about using those methods too often. A straight disappearance like Griffin had accomplished earlier that month was far less likely to attract attention. People went missing or took off all the time, the news faded quickly and the investigations petered out. And no-one really noticed when a pack of Weres disappeared. Even in their human forms they unnerved most people. However no-one mistook a sniper round as anything other than a deliberate killing.
'How serious could the situation be?' Thought Joakim. 'Maybe William wants to make sure that Agatha gets as much training on recon as quickly as possible? Most of the recon is done by laypeople these days. It could be that they've decided we need a third Paladin available just in case the shit hits the fan everywhere at once? Yeah, that's probably it.' He reassured himself, until he saw Griffin go straight for the guns, pull down a Saiga-12, with a folding stock and a carbine barrel. 'Houston, we have a problem.' He could count the number of times that Griffin took a gun with him in the last twenty years on his hands - and have fingers left over. The pair of .50 caliber revolvers he took down next didn't exactly make him happy either.
"So the shit must really be hitting the fan." He opened with as he walked over to the big paladin. "Large nest of vampires we need to locate and end? Unchecked pack of Weres in their bush down under?" He asked hopefully, knowing anything else would be worse. Griffin shook his head and went to the ammunition cabinet and taking out almost all the holy water rounds. Not just for his guns but also for the backup he and Agatha used. Even a box of the incredibly expensive .50 calibre BMG sniper rifle rounds. "Grif, you're starting to scare me right now. What are we going after?"
"One sec. Just let me get these ready to be packed." He continued to go through as Agatha took down the .44 Magnum revolvers and the pump-action shotgun she preferred. She then started breaking down their guns and cleaning them, making sure they were all in prime condition, and that their bayonet fixtures were clear and clean. Wire brushes rasped, parts clinked lightly against each other and the oil can hissed as she sprayed it to make sure all the parts would move smoothly.
"Come over here, Sneaky, I'll tell you what's going on while we go through what you might need." Griffin said after waving two of his backup in to load and pack the ammunition. Backup's weapons would be available from one of the monasteries that supported the Orders actions with or without knowledge of the specifics. None of the special rounds would be, however. They, and the Paladin's weapons, would be transported under Papal diplomatic seal. Australia was down on guns, but the Order had found a way around that. They'd arrange to have a devout Catholic on when they went through checks, but the Government knew what it meant when they came in on Papal States diplomatic passports.
Paladins were there to help and almost all governments looked the other way when they arrived. China was a bit harder, there they just snuck through the border. There were a few other nations like that, but not many. they usually stayed away from civil war regions unless it was big. But for Australia, one of the quietest regions, this amount of weaponry was unheard of.
"Basically, we have some suspected true demons ransacking minor churches, sanctuaries and altars. We haven't faced any like them for two centuries or more, so we don't know what they'll be able to do. That's why I'm taking Azim with us as team lead. We need every possible edge. And while I personally don't like him, he's the best team leader we have. His lack of personal faith should be more than made up for by you, me and Agatha."
Joakim forced a grin at this. He found it ironic that Griffin disliked Azim. Azim actually quite liked Griffin, but refused to put his faith in the abstract or unprovable. That was what rubbed Griffin the wrong way. Azim was almost unique in the order, even amongst the laypeople. He had joined purely to fight the good fight, without any strong faith in God. If he'd had that faith he could easily have been a Paladin.
Aside from that little difference he could've been Griffin's clone in how he went about training himself, and the other backups, if he'd had the authority. He didn't, so he just dragged most of the others up by setting such a high level of personal training that he dragged the rest up by example. Azim had faith in Griffin and the other Paladins to lead him and get the job done. He knew it was a necessary job. After all, the dangers of the job were core to how he ended up joining the Order.
Before he signed on, Azim had been in the military. After the rest of his troop had been wiped out by a nest of vampires he had survived it badly wounded. No support was sent by the army, even after his urgent request, and he was left for dead. In fact they even listed him as KIA. After that he had lost his faith in government and religion. Griffin, however, had faith in God to protect them and help him get the job done. It was probably why Joakim liked both Griffin and Azim well.
Both had great abilities and knew it, but rather than rest on their laurels they both trained all the harder to improve. There was almost a humbleness in both men, for whatever reason. He was glad that Griffin had chosen Azim to go on the mission with them both. It also worried him because it was yet another indication of how dangerous this mission might become.
Joakim was shocked when Griffin handed him his personal gladius. Everyone knew of Joakim's distaste for the re-purposed pagan weapons, but this was the first tim
e Griffin had ever given anyone his sword. Joakim took it with no small reverence over the trust it showed Griffin was giving him on this mission.
"For you. If we have time I'll give you a refresher. But you always kept up in sword training, unlike some of the others, and you need a good blade."
He then went over to a locked chest. Joakim had seen what was in it before. He had a key to it as well, but would never use one of them. The sensations from just touching one of the weapons inside disturbed him. The chest contained a collection of blades that were reputed to have been blessed by other gods and then had been reconsecrated for use by the Order.
Griffin wasn't leaving anything to chance. He took out a leaf- bladed sword with its sheath and an axe with its baldric and cover and put them in his personal luggage. He then pulled out a Spartan Xiphos, a Greek Hoplite's sword, and took it and its sheath over to Agatha, having noticed that she'd finished checking their guns. It felt like the right one for her.
She took the sword with reverence and drew it. The blade made no sound, but the strong smell of blade oil pemeated the room, as she drew it from the sheath. Like all the weapons kept in the locked armory chests it was perfectly maintained. Agatha backed up and checked the surrounding space was clear, she made a few practice swings with it.
After checking that everyone had moved away, she went through several sword drill katas. This gave her a familiarity with the roughness of the leather and wire grip and the balance of the blade. It sang through the air and simply swinging it gave her a slight thrill she had never felt before. Finally she went back to the table and sheathed the sword, packing it safely with the rest of her personal items. Two of the team pulled out gun cases and packed the weapons that Griffin, Joakim and Agatha had laid out.
Paladin (Betrayed by Faith Book 1) Page 3
