1 comments/ 5910 views/ 0 favorites Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 00 By: JoeBarnosky Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 01 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 01 "What's the plan of entry?" Spencer asks. "A HALO jump two klicks from shore. From there you will cross land into the base. The entry underneath has been sealed off since Sam's last attempt. Once inside you may encounter Russian soldiers. Since we have a Demon Lord expect Lesser and Greater Creatures as well. You will also have the assistance of Reeds and Roberts. As always Major Graves has more orders for you once you are underway and I need not to remind you to watch each other. You don't exist and no one will come to your rescue should you become captured." Pierson nods to Graves who stands up. "Alright, on your feet, we leave at 1230 hours." Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 02 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 02 Spencer and Sam follow Nash's lead throughout the small complex of buildings and alleys bypassing many of the soldiers. Only on a couple occasions do they have to resort to using their weapons. Luckily everything they carried that fired bullets is suppressed, otherwise the party would have started ahead of schedule. The compound is heavily guarded but as they progress deeper into it and closer to their intended target, it begins to thin out. "I guess they don't expect anyone to make it this far in," Sam remarks as the trio walks up to a large steel door with a single security key pad. "It does seem a little more unguarded than I expected," Spencer replies. "That's because we are meant to be here," Nash states as he punches in a code on the security device. "How?" Spencer asks in awe. "We have good intelligence." "So do we, but our Intel says there isn't anyone on the inside that will be a traitor against these guys." "That's because we turn a blind eye on the smaller fish when it comes down to catching the much larger ones," Nash says with a smile. "Now come on, the halls won't be cleared for long." Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 03 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 04 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 05 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 05 Gripping tight to Kotetsu, she runs straight for the fallen demon. His sword lies just feet from him almost within arm's reach, but with the disorientation of the demon, Sam knows she has the upper hand. "Taste my steel, you bastard!" she yells as she draws in close raising the sword in an upward strike. The demon has just a brief moment to see her and realize his life has just ended. Sam lands behind the demon. He remains on his knees with the look of shock still spread across his face. Then suddenly and without warning, his body falls apart in two halves. It is over and Sam doesn't even feel exhausted from the fight. She feels better than she has in a very long time and the extra reserve of strength remains. She begins to have her thoughts on it when the present comes rushing back to her. Spencer! Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 06 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 07 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 08 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 09 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 10 Sam and Spencer reached Washington D.C. in the early hours of the morning. Having to wait for visiting hours to visit Doug Wiltkins the two decided on some much needed sleep. After a few hours of rest they traveled to D.C. General and are taken to Wiltkins' room. His wife Crystal Wiltkins is there by his side and when the two enter she gets up and greets them. "Hello Spence, Sam," she says giving both agents a hug. "He came out of his coma a couple days ago. You can go ahead and wake him. I'll leave you alone, I need some coffee anyway." She gives them a smile and leaves the room. The two agents walk quietly over to Wiltkins' bed. He already has his eyes open and starts talking before they reach him. "So you two finally found the time to come visit me," he says jokingly. "Well you know saving Spence's ass is no small task," Sam says smiling at Spencer. He responds with a grin and then all three give a heartfelt laugh. "How are you doing?" Spencer asks changing the subject to something more serious. "I could be better," he says grimly. "I couldn't stop her." "It's not your fault," Sam intercedes placing her hand on his. "We'll get her, I promise." "What can you tell us about Roger?" Spencer cuts in bringing the conversation back around. "What would you like to know," Wiltkins says. His eyes and face become serious. He seems to forget his sorrow and pain and reverts to his soldier mode. "Anything and everything," Spencer blurts. "I thought, we thought," he corrects looking over at Sam, "we knew everything about him." Wiltkins gives a snort. "At one time I thought the same thing until he told me the truth. "Please sit down; there is a lot you don't know." They grab two chairs and pull them up to the bed. "I was told the truth when I was in the Special Forces with him. I learned he was a Magi, a descendant of the legendary Atlanteans. Imagine my surprise and disbelief of his story. Being his friend though I listened to what he had to say and I'll admit some of it I believed but most I did not. It wasn't until many years later after we joined the FBI did things happen and I fully believed him them. He had knowledge of things no one else did. He had connections to people and organizations, many of which weren't supposed to exist. "Everything Roger did was for a purpose, from the formation of CATU to your paring together as partners. Roger knew of your abilities, Second Sight. He also knew of you being a Marid. I'm sure there were times he'd have liked to talk to you about these things, but he always believed in people learning about themselves and the world on their own accord. What better way to accept something to learn of it on your own than to have it thrown at you. "The entire situation with Senator Rustlin was orchestrated by Roger with the exception of his assassination. It was to put CATU in a position to be where it is now. With Roger's connections and assets CATU could do almost anything and what better way to fight terrorists and demons. Unfortunately, he was unable to predict or prevent Natalya's vengeance. He had wards in place which should have prevented any demon including a Demon Lord from entering. Somehow though, she was able to get past the wards." "What's her connection to Roger?" Sam interrupts. "I don't know the details," he answers, "but Roger was sent over by the FBI to the CIA to act as a liaison and help investigate a mole in their DEP division. He returned successful but he didn't seem happy. Like he didn't quite accomplish a task he set out to do. That was a trait he carried. When Roger set out to do something, he did it until it was complete, nothing half-assed." "Wait a minute you said DEP. Does that have anything to do with DEP Six?" Spencer questions hold up his hands and waving them side to side. "From my understanding DEP was shut down after Roger's help in the case. DEP Six was created by a government program called Section 8. Not much is known about it and not even Roger knew much. His only contact with the organization was --" "Major Duncan Graves," Sam finishes. "Yes, that's him," Wiltkins states. "I guess you know him as well." "More than we'd like," Spencer says with sarcasm. "If I know Roger then Grines has been given control of CATU and he knows everything Roger did." "What do you mean?" Sam asks. "Roger was never one to not be prepared. He knew in the circumstance of his death someone would need to have everything passed on to them. So Roger had everything prepared from documents to videos. So if you need to know something I don't then Grines is the one to ask." A knock raps at the door just before Wiltkins' wife walks in. "Sorry to interrupt you guys but I need to get Doug ready to leave and ready for the funeral." "Speaking of which we need to get ready too," Sam says looking at Spencer. "Yeah," Spencer says with a nod. "Hey it's good to see you are doing well. It won't be long before you return to work." "Then you'll have to wait. I'm not coming back," Wiltkins says curtly. "What!" Sam says before Spencer can respond. "That's right. I've seen a lot and been through just as much. I'm also too old for the field and I refuse to sit at a desk," he explains. "I was ready to retire a couple of years ago but Roger convinced me otherwise." "Now that he's gone you're going to just give up," Sam says angrily. As soon as the words leave her mouth she regrets saying them. "I'm sorry that was wrong of me." "No I understand and you shouldn't hide your feelings. I worked with you and Roger through many missions. You've just lost Roger and you're losing me, but I'll still be around if you need something." Sam reaches down and gives him a hug and whispers a thank you in his ear. When they pull apart they give each other a smile. "See you at the funeral," Wilkins says. Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 11 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 12 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 12 They pass through the waterfall into an open cavern. Crates and equipment is strewn around the room. In the back corner sit the hydro generators with the equipment running out toward the waterfall. "Impressive set up," Sam remarks. "Seems odd there aren't any guards down here." "Yeah it does," Spencer agrees. "Maybe they think no one knows about it since it's hidden behind the water." "Possibly," Sam says unsurely. "Still, it's too much of a coincidence and I—" "Don't believe in coincidences," Spencer finishes. Sam casts a look at him then laughs. "Come on," she says motioning him toward a door to the far back of the cavern bathed in a single light over the doorway. Spencer checks his HK416 Assault Rifle. Both agents carry the assault rifle and a pair of night vision goggles, should the need to use them arose. Sam has her knew sword, Kotetsu. "Coming dear," he says with a mocking tone. They stand on either side of the door. Without any special equipment such as flexible cameras they have to approach doors with uncertainty of what lie beyond each door. The door is windowless making it even more difficult to determine if it is safe to proceed or not. Spencer reaches up and unscrews the light bulb instantly bathing the cavern in complete darkness. Dropping their night vision goggles down over their eyes, he gives Sam a nod. She reaches for the door knob and twists it slowly. She glances up at Spencer and even though he can't fully see her expression behind the goggles he knows what she is thinking. Even odder the door isn't locked. She slowly pushes the door open. Spencer steps back with his rifle trained on the door. When the door has opened completely it reveals a small area with a staircase. Like the cavern it is left in complete darkness. Feeling there isn't a threat, Spencer motions to Sam and she steps through the doorway, gun pointed upward as she looks up studying the staircase. It zigzags as it goes up through the corridor. Sam can't see where the stairs end or if there are any doors along the way. "It's clear," she breaths. Spencer steps through and looks up. He lets out a short whistle. "At least we'll get our exercise in today. Shall we?" "You lead Romeo," Sam says smiling and pointing with her rifle at the stairs. Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 13 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 14-15 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 16 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 17 Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 17 "Yeah." Matthews drapes Nash's arm over her shoulder assisting him. Thanks to the sniper rifle's silencer it doesn't alert anyone so the two make it to the door without incident. Matthews pushes the button for the door release and both soldiers stands with their weapons ready. The doors part without any soldiers rushing in. Matthews and Nash look at each other and both shrug then head through the doors. They walk blindly through the blizzard that has seemed to stir up while they were inside the complex. Their only guide is the steady tracking signal from Bridges armor. After an hour of trekking through the snow and blizzard a large cave looms over them. Switching over to night vision the two enter. The wind is instantly cut off and with only the howling of it slowly fading as they go deeper; the only sound comes from the crunching of the boots. As they proceed deeper, the sound of wind completely fades and darkness encloses them. Ahead they see a small fire and a form lying behind the flames. From the distance it is too grainy to get a clear picture but they assume it is a body. "Hold it right there," a voice says from behind them. They freeze, hands on their triggers and ready to make their move. "Commander? Matthews?" The two relax and slowly turn to see Bridges standing with his weapon lowered. "How did you find us?" "The tracking locater from your armor," Matthews says. "We've got that?" he asks, hinting at surprise. "Well yeah," Matthews shrugs. "If you would have read the manual, you'd have known." "I knew there was a reason they gave me one," he says with a faint smile. "Are either of you hurt?" he asks now switching into corpsman mode. "Nash was knocked unconscious for a few minutes. I took a pretty good knock myself but I think it's only bruising." Malevolence: CATU Book 4 Ch. 18-20 What is the status?" Typheryian asks turning in his chair to face Oriatis. Magnus takes a seat in one of the two chairs in front of the desk before answering. "The cargo ship has already left and is on its way to the crater. However, our facility there has taken substantial damage and will take several months to get repairs made." "No matter. The Ancients have been waiting for a long time, what's another few months," Typheryian says smiling. "What of the woman?" "Samantha?" Oriatis asks. Typheryian nods confirming his question. "It seems Rythern let the other human pass as he deemed it necessary to fight her himself." "And you let him?" Typheryian asks fuming. He stands and slams his fists onto the desk. "You know how egotistical he is. He could have ruined it all for us." Oriatis remains silent not daring to anger the other demon anymore. Of the Ternion, Typheryian is the strongest and if his plans come to fruition he'd become an Ancient. Oriatis wanted to stay on the stronger demon's good side as long as he could. "I can understand that little shit not succeeding in killing the human, but how were you defeated?" he finally asks after his anger subsides and he sits back down. "The humans do prove to be more resourceful than we expect them to be," Oriatis explains. "He used some sort of grenade that not only exploited our weakness but managed to destroy the equipment." "Yes they have been getting more and more resourceful throughout the centuries haven't they? When we finish with the portal, it won't be a problem any longer. Soon, my dear Oriatis, we'll have everything we have spent millennia working toward. We will erase the mistakes of Anubis and Ra and their foolishness. Have we heard anything about Natalya?" he asked almost as an afterthought. "Nothing as of yet, but I suspect she'll turn up." "With the winning side no doubt. Watch her Oriatis. She may be weak compared to us but she is conniving and slithery and we need not drop our guard with her."