“Thank you, Captain. I’m gonna start by taking out more guys than you today,” Xavier said with a cocky grin.
“Challenge accepted, rookie.”
They grabbed each other’s forearms and shook on it, and then stepped into position. Moments later they were launched. The squirrel suits engaged immediately. Cecilia and Xavier landed in the water as the suit sunk to the bottom and self-destructed, sending a red wave through the depths. The rest of the team disconnected their suits as they rolled into position. The suits flew back and blasted into dust, destroying all evidence of their existence.
Xavier and Cecilia swam a few hundred feet to the sewer entrance. All six warriors had their weapons at the ready.
“Move in,” Stanley ordered.
Xavier and Cecilia ran through the sewer until it divided into two paths. Cecilia signed to Xavier to take the northern path and she took the northwestern path. They both ran into a ladder at the end of the tunnel. Xavier’s ladder took him up to the southern wall. Cecilia was unable to open the cover.
“The latch to manhole cover is locked. I cannot pick it from this side. One of the guards must have the key.”
“X, there are two guards on the other side of that wall, and one to the west guarding the manhole. One of them should have the key,” Raquel instructed Xavier.
Xavier looked up at the twenty-foot wall. He searched the area for another way in without any success. He looked up again and made a mental note of the thick barbed wire that was two feet above the top of the wall. The back wall was adjacent to the wall in front of Xavier and formed a perfect right angle. Xavier had a crazy idea, and closing his eyes, he focused on his next challenge. He took a couple of deep breaths and stepped back a few steps. He ran and jumped against the wall and pushed off of it to the other wall. He bounced between the two walls barely making it to the top. Half of his foot rested on the wall with his toes just under the barbed wire. He jumped over the barbed wire from his tip toes and slid down the corner without making a sound. Raquel’s jaw dropped as she watched on satellite.
Two guards were ten feet in front of him. He held his breath. Xavier crept up the alley to get closer to the two guards, who didn’t hear a thing. Xavier jumped up, grabbing the closest guard to him by the back of the neck. He flipped, smashing the guard on his head. Before the second guard could react, Xavier was flying through the air with an elbow strike. Three more quick attacks knocked the guard out cold. Xavier exhaled. He couldn’t believe he just pulled that off.
Xavier slunk along the west wall. The third guard was around the corner, standing over the manhole. In a flash, Xavier had the guard in a chokehold until he passed out. Xavier drug him into the shadows near the other two guards. He searched all of them for the key and found it. He unlocked the manhole cover and Cecilia joined him.
“Corner hall is secure,” Cecilia announced.
Just west of their position, Kira and Violet were running up the south bridge. They maneuvered and jumped around the broken parts of the bridge. Once they were within eye shot of the three guards, they jumped over the ledge and silently shimmied to the guardhouse. Kira drew the attention of the nearest guard. As the guard came over to investigate the noise, Violet struck him with an elbow that knocked him out. As he was falling, Kira pulled him over the edge into the water, grabbing his key card. The other two guards heard the splash and made their way over to them. The two leapt over the edge, surprising the two remaining guards. Violet took out one of them with a quick combination. Kira incapacitated the third guard by violently striking each of his pressure points systematically and finished her combination by smashing his head into the concrete.
“South gatehouse is secure,” Violet announced as her and Kira waited for Laurence to capture the guard tower.
On the north side, Stanley and Laurence crossed the bridge, making their way through the debris. Laurence had a small prototype for a disruptor watch that was capable of blocking all radio communication within a five foot radius. Laurence edged along the eastern wall of the bridge so he could activate it. Stanley stood up once Laurence was close enough and waved at the four guards in the gatehouse in order to distract them. They attempted to call in, but their radios weren’t working. Two of the four guards approached Stanley and he smiled at them.
“Is this where the stadium is? I heard it is simply magnificent.”
As the guards began to cuss at him, he knocked both of them out with two powerful punches. The other two rushed out and Laurence kicked one away, then he weakened him with a combination. In a quick spin, Laurence locked him in a headlock and snapped his neck. As the other guard charged at Laurence, he unsheathed his sword and stabbed him then sliced his neck, cleaning the blade and returning it to its sheath in a swift move. Stanley fired him a disappointed look, believing he went a bit overboard. Laurence shrugged indignantly and took off through the gatehouse to head to the east tower.
“All clear up here. Moving on to Phase Two. And let’s minimize the fatalities, if we can,” Stanley commanded, looking at Laurence.
All five of them held their positions as Laurence dove between shadows, remaining out of sight. Upon arrival at the guard tower, Laurence approached the lone guard at the bottom of the stairwell. He snuck up behind him and unleashed a series of pressure point strikes followed by an elbow combination that knocked the guard out. He snuck up the staircase undetected.
There were two more guards in the tower. Laurence pounced on one of them, rolled over him, and launched him into the other guard using the momentum. One of the guards popped right up and attacked Laurence. He dodged and reversed the attacks, and he dispatched the guard using a Muay Thai combination. The second guard got up and swung several well-placed strikes, but Laurence blocked them. He got inside the guard’s defense and put him in a headlock. With a quick, move he snapped the assailant’s neck. The other guard rose, and Laurence grabbed his arm and slammed him into the ground. Still holding the guard’s arm, Laurence drove his knee into his throat, killing him instantly. Laurence brushed himself off and went to the roof of the tower. Once he readied his bow, he called in.
“Eagle is in the coop. Initiate Phase Three.”
Kira and Violet took off towards their assignments. Kira remained hidden just outside of the cafeteria and waited for the appropriate phase. As Violet arrived at the communications room, Raquel called her to warn her.
“There are four guards in that building.”
Violet readied her sword and grabbed a small dagger from the back of her belt; she always kept five on her. Using the badge Kira gave her, she unlocked the door. She cracked it so she could look around the corner and hear where the guards were. She threw her dagger against the back wall, and two of the guards made their way to the sound of the dagger. As they shuffled toward the back wall, Violet crept into the room, closing the door without making a sound.
She sensed a guard near her and charged, executing an acrobatic Judo move that caused the guard to pass out in seconds. The three remaining guards rushed her. She unsheathed her sword as she rolled into position. With five precision sword strikes, the guards were incapacitated. While the guards were writhing in pain, Violet launched a series of three powerful kicks knocking out all of them. She ran to the main control panel and disabled all satellite and outside communication. Everyone using the island servers would no longer be able to call for backup.
Cecilia ran to the statue generator as Violet ran to the communications room. The generator powered all the lights and the entire backup system for the island. Cecilia engaged one of the guards, reversing his every move and knocking him out swiftly. Another guard joined the fight. She performed a spectacular flip kick that sent one guard barreling into another, but one of them got up and attacked her. She dodged and drew her weapon, performing two lethal slashes. The final guard attacked her again, and she weaved around his momentum and jumped onto his shoulders. A series of powerful elbow strikes onto the top of his head knocked him out. She sheathed her blade
and ran to the generator controls, shutting everything down.
All of the lights went out, giving Kira and Stanley their signal. She entered into the cafeteria as Stanley entered the barracks. There were two guards in the cafeteria; one was sleeping and the other had headphones in. Kira snuck up on the sleeping guard and cut his throat. The second guard was awoken by the ruckus, but before he could react, Kira leapt on him like a spider on a fly. Within seconds he was eliminated.
In the barracks there were four guards waiting to clock in. Stanley rushed them like a hungry lion. With a strong right hook, one guard was knocked out, and a jaw shattering uppercut took out a second. A powerful roundhouse dropped the third. The final guard attacked, and Stanley reversed his attack into a thunderous body slam through a locker, knocking him out.
“The cavalry has been silenced… in six attacks. Six knockouts, X. Clear the way.”
Xavier smirked as he bolted up the central path. Xavier saw two guards standing next to each other in front of him and sped up. By the time one of them looked up, Xavier was already flying through the air. An incredible dropkick sent the guard flying into a storage unit, and upon landing, he rolled into a low kick that tripped the other guard. As the guard was falling, Xavier jumped up, catching the back of his neck, and drove his face into the ground. Another guard attacked Xavier while he was on the ground and Xavier dodged. He swung again. Xavier reversed the attack into a speedy combination.
He climbed onto a storage unit and began to sneak across it. He jumped from one to another and found another guard. He dropped onto his leg, breaking it instantly, and popped into a flying knee, driving it into the guard’s temple. He crept along the side of another storage unit, and as a guard moved in front of Xavier, he barreled towards him. As he drew closer to the guard, he jumped to run along the side of a storage unit and pushed off of it, knocking him out with a flying roundhouse kick.
“That’s eight to six, Crommie,” Xavier said with a grin.
“Two more around the corner,” Raquel called to Xavier.
He waited for the guards to approach. Before they knew it, a barrage of quick punches rained down on them. Xavier’s speed and agility was truly remarkable. As he neared the office entrance, another guard ascended, unable to sense Xavier. A sneak attack rendered the guard unconscious.
“Make that eleven to six. Central boulevard is clear,” Xavier announced.
Laurence remained on watch while the other four made their way to the office entrance. As Violet and Kira passed the cafeteria, a lone guard emerged behind them. Before he could attack, an arrow penetrated his back into his chest, killing him instantly. They all arrived at the office entrance, and Stanley began to give further instructions.
“Good work, team. We do not know what awaits us on the other side of this wall. Stick to the plan and we’ll free David.”
“I count twelve, but one of those has to be David. Cece, check your armband to read their heart rates. The lowest one has to be David,” Raquel said.
“Eyes up, team. Let’s move in,” Stanley grunted.
Chapter 27
December 14th 2062 9:42 p.m. Tiber Island, Rome
Raquel uploaded the GPS readings into the wrist bands of the suits. Cecilia read the biological information that was uploaded to hers and gave further instructions.
“I see only two heat signatures in the southwestern most room. One of them is very weak and has several contusions all over their body. That must be David. I am not going to be able to fully treat him out here. This is the injection you were told about on the way out here. Whoever gets to David first must inject him with this. It should take no more than ten seconds to take effect. Once it does, David will be fully functional for about twenty minutes. Once the effects wear off, he will need to sleep for several hours.”
Captain Stanley gave further instructions. “Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. You heard her. We are on the clock. We have very little time to get in, grab David, and get out. Cecilia, stay here and guard the door. The rest of us are going to make our way to the southwestern most room. We should be heading to the roof in less than eight minutes. Let’s make this happen.”
Xavier’s thoughts went to David. He must be pretty injured. Of all the people in the world, why would this happen to him? He felt his blood begin to boil. He closed his eyes to calm himself and refocus. A beep in the door signaled that Raquel had successfully hacked into the system and opened the door. It was time to move in.
There was an eerie silence in the building. There were rooms on both sides of them, and Stanley directed Kira to the northern room and Violet to the southern room. All of them had their hands on their weapons, stepping slowly and softly as they scoured the area. Kira and Violet snuck into the rooms they were ordered to as Xavier and Stanley continued forward. Xavier and Stanley stepped through a door into a wider corridor. Stanley could hear the rustling of assailants in the two rooms they passed. He waved Xavier forward, and Xavier moved as quietly as he could.
On Xavier’s right was a stairwell that led up to the roof. He turned left and saw David strapped to a metal bed. “I see the package.”
Without waiting for a response, he ran through an office into the room David was in. Santiago was waiting for them and pressed a button that shut all passageways. The team was cut off from one another.
“I am locked out of the system!” Raquel cried out.
The minute Kira turned the corner into the northern room, she was ambushed by two large guards. She flew across the room but popped back up. The two guards attacked together. Their skills exceeded the other guards they had encountered. As Kira dodged their attacks, the alarm went off and the door closed. The two guards paused, and Kira drew her weapon and smiled. One of the guards also drew a blade and attacked, but she parried into a flying kick into the unarmed guard. The armed guard attacked as Kira was falling, and she deflected the strike and bounced into a kick. She landed and stabbed the unarmed guard just as the armed guard attacked. Kira ripped her blade out into another parry and followed it up with a combination. The armed guard lost his balance. Kira capitalized on the opening and slashed the guard down. She cleaned her blade before sheathing it. She searched for an exit but couldn’t find one while the building was on lockdown.
On the opposing side, Violet stepped into the middle of three guards. They took a moment to look her up and down with disgusting smiles on their faces. Violet drew her sword and as they attacked, she jumped up into a kick. She knocked one guard back as she stabbed the one opposite him. As she was falling the third guard struck at her. She rolled out of the way into the third guard’s legs, causing him to stumble forward. She rebounded and he recovered. He rushed at her and picked her up, and she used his momentum and tossed him by the door.
The alarm rung and the massive steel door closed in on the third guard’s leg, shattering all the bones in it. He let out a painful shriek. The guard she kicked jumped at her once he recovered. Her reflexes turned her blade in such a way that the guard jumped into the blade and impaled himself. The third guard was still wailing, so Violet did a merciful slash.
Violet cleaned her blade and returned it to its sheath. She saw that Kira was locked in as she squeezed through the door opening she had, thanks to the guard’s body. As Violet stepped through she heard Raquel announce that she was locked out. To the west, Violet could see that she and Kira were separated from Stanley, who was locked in the main corridor with five guards.
They all converged on him. With a strong uppercut, one guard was knocked back. Another guard tried to grapple him from behind, but he was able to duck and roll out of the way so he could see all of them. The guard nearest to him attacked and Stanley reversed. Another attack came at him, but he blocked it. Stanley kicked one guard as another guard attacked him from the side. He turned and the guard ended up punching his sword. He whirled around and grabbed a guard, flinging him to the ground. In a smooth motion he drew his sword, and with a giant swing, he sliced into a guard and removed h
im from the fight. A mighty combination took out another two guards. With only one guard remaining, Stanley dropped his sword to block an oncoming attack. With two more moves, he weaved around the final guard’s defense. Grabbing his head, he ripped it down into a powerful knee strike. He picked up his sword, wiped it, and sheathed it. All he could do was wait for the door to open.
The door slammed behind Xavier. He turned around to see that there was no escape. Xavier carefully scanned the room and began to slowly step deeper into the room. David was strapped to a metal bed with his head hanging low. Xavier gasped and rushed to him. He checked his pulse to make sure he was still breathing. He looked around him and saw the three monitors with streaming images of David’s siblings and their lifeless bodies. Xavier grit his teeth and clenched his fists. His blood began to boil. Xavier wondered what kind of monster would do such a thing. A calm and intimidating Spanish accent called Xavier’s attention just past the monitors.
“Bienvenidos.”
Xavier whipped around with his hand on his blade.
Dawn of a New Era Page 20
