Chapter 16: It Begins

The ride by armoured car was over nearly as soon as it began. In fact, Paulie had only just begun to come to terms with his situation when Mack pressed a hand to his helmeted head as if trying to hear the tips of his own fingers.

He must have been listening to internal comms as he turned towards them shortly after and spoke, “Alright. We are the last team in position, and right on time. So the assault will be getting underway after a few additional instructions. As you are with me you won’t have to open any sealed instructions yourselves, but please do listen and heed my instructions.”

Paulie listened like the others, leaning forwards at several points as the man laid it all out on the table. The plan was somewhat spontaneous, but might have been just crazy enough to work. It all hedged on the pure element of surprise. Something they had almost guaranteed to have lost out on, had they not decided to initiate the raid early. He recalled Mack mentioning something about traitors in their ranks.

Mack continued speaking even as Paulie reminisced to himself. “So Ooounoo has more than tripled her personal security. Expect heavy resistance, she knows we are coming. Just not when.”

One of the others spoke, their strange chirping language filled with concern. “How could they possibly know we are coming, I didn’t even know we were coming till this morning when I was told to mount up.”

Mack shook his head. “We have an internal issue, it is being looked into as we speak by another team.” He paused and his large grey eyes found Paulie again. The long quills that ran down the back of his neck seemed to move of their own volition once again as he spoke, “This team is considered priority-one. As such our unit designation is alpha force.”

“Alpha force, sounds like a good gig.” Chuckled another of the officers in the cramped space, one of the strange looking upright-dog aliens. He wasn’t sure what they were called as he had not had much occasion to interact with them, but their comment seemed to garner a few additional sounds of alien mirth.

Mack smiled briefly, “Yeah, commendations all around if we pull this off..”

Jakiikii cut him off suddenly, making all eyes turn to her. “When.. when we.. pull..” She trailed off, her body hunkering as she seemed to press herself into Paulie from his other side.

He just patted her shoulder and nodded as Mack scowled and nodded. “When. We will be meeting up with bravo force, led by Sergeant Aril. We are going to wait for the main tactical wings to clear the ground floor before moving in on the main objective.”

Paulie frowned. He had this image in his head of them kicking in doors, lasers and bullets flying all around. It seemed like Mack had a much more surgical approach in mind.

He felt Jakiikii lean into him again and grip his hand, and he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze as Mack continued to explain the basics of their attack plan. After about another minute and a half he stopped and then tapped the side of his helmet.

“Alpha leader to all teams. We are go to initiate in forty seconds. Please confirm status.” A chorus of affirmatives and blues came across as faint barks from the man’s internal speaker as he nodded and then held up a hand. “Get set, last checks. Now is the time to find a busted strap or corroded powercore. Not inside with sixty assholes shooting at us.” Another set of low chuckling hisses, barks and other alien sounds greeted the comment as Paulie felt the armoured car lurch under his feet.

They were moving.

The back of the armoured transport jostled them as the thing blasted across the short space between them and their objective. He heard the crash of something heavy rebounding off the side of the vehicle next to his head and multiple smaller pinging impacts that sounded like a spray of rocks hitting glass to him. Another moment later the vehicle slewed to a stop and he thought he could hear gunfire, the sounds of fighting grew much louder as the rear door was unsealed.

The unknown dog-like alien was the first to jump out, their heavier tactical gear reminding Paulie of SWAT officers or something akin to it. The alien lifted a bulky looking weapon that Paulie was unfamiliar with and then nodded his head.

“All clear, move out. Stay close to armour.” The alien barked.

Mack slapped Paulie’s knee from across the confined space and moved out quickly. The rest of the officers followed suit, Paulie himself exiting the back of the car somewhat gracefully. Much less gracefully than Jakiikii though, she still managed to move like she was gliding on silk even when laden with weapons and gear.

Their small group hunkered behind the armoured car which had deployed some manner of stabilising legs. Even as he watched the side of the vehicle, twin plates moved down on hydraulic tracks to cover the tires and undercarriage as well as shielding their legs from potential crossfire. They slammed into the cracked roadway with twin thuds, the impacts causing the APC to shudder.

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The noise picked up even as he stood in the cover of the armoured transport. He clutched his hand onto his armour and waited silently by Jakiikii’s side. He had to admit to himself, he was terribly nervous.

He felt a slight itch in the back of his mind, the dumb worm was squirming again it seemed. Almost like it had when he had fought the bultesian cultists. He shoved the feeling down harshly as he slapped again at the mental cage that contained the growing monster. He thought about the cultists again, why had they been there that day. It seemed almost too much of a coincidence that members of such a reclusive sect might be placed precisely in the position to assassinate him. Surely they were not in league with Ooounoo?

As he thought it he heard the officer next to him speak softly, “Come on, what’s taking them so long?” Clearly Paulie was not the only one feeling the strain of the upcoming conflict.

He leaned in towards Jakiikii, the slightly shorter alien woman’s head turning up and towards him as he asked her, “So.. we are sticking with Mack the whole time?”

She nodded. “We are here to cover and assist. Seeing as neither of us are technically officers, well.. it would not look good on the complex if we were allowed to run around like wingless *chirp*.” Whatever she said didn’t translate, and before he could ask for clarification Mack nodded to himself and then motioned for everyone’s attention.

The miriam detective pointed at Officer Visk and the as-yet unnamed dog-like alien and made a fist. “Visk, Geltor.. both of you are taking the points. Left and right. Pincer the front entrance. Bravo force says it’s clear but it pays to be cautious.” He split them up into two groups quickly and then waved forwards. “Okay, Alpha force. Move out, double time!”

Paulie soon found himself flowing right behind Jakiikii and Mack as they followed the officer named Geltor around the armoured car towards the large building in the near distance.

He looked around, eyes wide as he got his first real look at their target. It was a huge building, the tops of its multi-story structure reaching like some lost monolith towards the teal skies far above. Towers and strange alien architecture that looked far too organic for his personal taste met his astonished gaze. From his position he was able to make out details across the face, smoking holes, shattered windows and slagged embrasures that were clearly hidden from the outside but looked to have been opened upon the beginning of the assault.

There were more of the armoured transports in front of the structure, one of them was smouldering from a large dent on its frontal armour. But the armour had held and one of the drivers was sitting on the ground receiving medical attention from a grey suited paramedic.

Paulie swallowed heavily as he saw more than one dark stain on the ground near to the front of the building. Clearly the fight had been quick but not bloodless. Mack directed them towards a guarded entrance. The door had been blown to shattered splinters, three heavily armed tactical squad officers sat in front of it and checked Mack’s credentials as he approached.

They were waved through and into a small area that looked to have been turned into a makeshift fallback position complete with deployed cover and makeshift firing positions covering the various exit points that led farther into the building.

Mack looked around a bit and then spotted what he was looking for. Entering the fallback point was a small group of officers led by a particularly grizzled looking alien woman with sweptback horns and bright pink skin. It was Sergeant Aril.

She spotted them about the same time that Mack did. She raised a hand to signal her troops to halt and walked to them quickly. In her more tactical gear Paulie could see that her right arm seemed to be a cybernetic replacement, the burnished alloy and composite construction looked purely functional. As if no thought had been spared towards making the limb aesthetically pleasing.

“Good to finally see you, what were you waiting till we caught Ooounoo for you as well?” She asked, her bright red eyes flashing with humour as Mack’s face cracked into a smile.

He replied, “No, I just didn’t think you needed any help. Getting a little slow, Ari?”

She reached out and punched Mack’s shoulder gently with her real arm, “Not too slow for you I hope.”

Paulie smirked a little as the two spoke a little more quietly. From his position he couldn’t quite make it out What they were saying, but they both seemed to lean their heads closer together as the discussion picked up a little heat.

Finally after another few seconds Mack threw up his hands and took a step back. “I was hoping we would not have that issue.”

The tall nerivith woman stepped closer and gestured towards her team. “We have to split them up, Lue. It’s the only way to cover all the ground. Ooounoo already had a head start, there is every chance that she has already initiated her emergency escape plan by now. We may have only minutes to get to her!”

Jakiikii gave Paulie a look, “I am not leaving you.” She whispered. He gave her suited shoulder a quick squeeze and then Mack was speaking to them again.

The miriam turned to them and pointed to them in turn as he spoke, “Okay, change of plans. We are splitting into four equal teams, Sergeant Aril will be taking point with Officer Visk and Officer Geltor. I will head the last detachment. Orders have been sent to your PCs.” He whirled and then walked to Paulie and Jakiikii. “You two will be coming with me and Officer Sasfren. We are going to be doing a level two counter sweep up the right side, ending in the capture of Ooounoo, luck willing. Failure is not an option.”

Paulie felt the hard knot in his core loosen a little as the man spoke, while the translated barks and whistles were sapped of their emotion he could still feel the conviction and pure unadulterated passion for justice in the alien’s words. His large grey eyes widened and his mouth was opened wide as he shouted their final directions.

“Squads, move out. Hunt down the criminal Ooounoo with extreme zeal. And if necessary, you are to use lethal force to prevent her from escaping judgement.” Mack slashed a hand towards the distant hall he had chosen for their target.

Jakiikii jabbed him with an arm, “Arm yourself, we are heading right into the den of the great Kaael. And you don’t want to be the first one to find out why that is a bad idea unarmed.”

Paulie nodded. He had not done this as she had, and he was happy for her attentive nature. He reached under his greatcoat and pulled out Nemesis, the large revolver was heavy in his hands. But the weight was comforting, like the feeling of a weighted blanket or a loved one’s firm embrace. It was a weight that bespoke the weapons power, and he felt the keen urge to use it.

He pushed the sudden bloodthirst down and shook his head slightly. He settled the weight of the giant revolver more firmly in his hands as he nodded to Jakiikii and moved after Mack and Officer Sasfren.

They walked across the temporary base and into the dimly lit hall, the world closing off around him as the distant sounds of fighting fell away. Replaced by the sound of muffled breath, hurried footsteps and the clank of equipment. It was dark and close, and for a moment in time he felt that new familiar panic start to rise in his chest.

But then a hand pressed firmly on his shoulder from behind, and a husky feminine voice whispered to him from the gloom.

“I have your back Paulie, please.. be careful.”