OIC (31)
MegaZone23
"You've been---Thunderstruck!"
--AC/DC
As the Triple-S squads and Gryphon were going about
their business, two familiar figures approached the central
building from above.
Kei and Yuri paradropped from the Lovely Angel using
thrust packs. They gingerly touched down on the roof and
scanned the floor below with thermographic equipment.
"Kei, looks like we've got a cluster of terrorists in
the office, with several more scattered about the halls and
outlying rooms. There are two groups of hostages, by the
signatures I'd say the one in the office area was mostly
officials and the one in the hall is students."
"Ok. I say go in through the roof into the office, wipe
out the leaders first. Then we can fan out from there. We
can get the Triple-S to work in from the outside. And I
finally get to use this." Kei pulled an Illudium PEW 36
limpet mine out of her equipment bag. "What'd'ya think?"
"And we wonder why people say we're destructive," Yuri
mumbled, then louder. "Sounds ok to me. Let me call the
other groups. As long as they're on schedule they should
have completed the preliminaries by now." Yuri began calling
the other strike teams to coordinate the final thrust.
When she was finished Kei spoke up. "So, everyone ready
to go?"
"Well, all of the Triple-S is ready, but I couldn't
raise Ben on the radio."
A worried look took up residence on Kei's face. "Well,
try again."
"I've already tried several times, either he can't hear
us or he's not answering," or can't answer she finished the
thought.
"Well, um, his radio probably got fritzed or something,
right?" Kei attempted to reassure herself.
"Yeah, that's it. Ben can take care of himself. Well,
ready to do the deed?"
"I'm always ready, where should I plant this little
gem?" Kei asked, patting the mine.
"Right over here," Yuri pointed out the location
directly above the terrorists' command. "The other groups
will began their sweeps when they hear the blast. There's a
gap since I couldn't get to Ben. We'll have to make it to
the other hostages fast. Ready?"
"Ready," Kei answered, activating the mine's timer. The
pair took shelter behind a rooftop airconditioner, pulling on
rebreathers as they did.
"So, how long is the timer?" Yuri asked.
"Oh, I set it for thirty--" BOOM! "--seconds," Kei
answered with a grin. She was already up and running as she
finished her reply.
"Hey, wait for me!" Yuri called after her.
Kei pitched a couple of concussion and flash grenades
through the jagged hole the mine had torn in the roof and the
two of them simultaneously leapt through, using their thrust
packs to break their fall. They descended into utter chaos.
Several of the terrorists had been killed by the blast or the
falling roofing while the remainder were reeling from the
combination of the initial surprise, the swirling smoke and
dust, and the effects of Kei's grenades.
The pair quickly began dispatching the remaining
terrorists with a single professional shot each from their
electromags. It was over quickly.
"Clear!" Kei called from her side of the room.
Zark! "Clear!" came Yuri's reply.
They ran to the door to the outer office. "You toss in
a flash and I'll follow it into the room, ok?" Kei suggested.
"Fine by me, you know they're probably waiting for us
out there."
"I'm counting on it," Kei replied with a grin.
Yuri applied a boot to the door, hard, and tossed a
flash grenade through as it swung open. Before the door had
even completed its arc Kei had kicked in her thrust pack and
was racing through the top of the opening.
As the door opened the three terrorists on the other
side, alerted by the rather loud mine explosion, poured laser
fire through the opening. They were professional and they
new any foe would be coming through low, so that's where
they concentrated their fire. Which is the reason all of it
passed harmlessly below Kei. The trio had just enough time
to realize their mistake before the flash grenade blinded
them and they lost track of Kei. She immediately took
advantage of this, drilling two of them as Yuri shot the
third.
"See, the pros are easy to take out because they're so
predictable. It's the damn amateurs that you have to worry
about. They're crazy."
"Whatever you say Kei, but we've got to get to those
kids, now. Let's move," Yuri prompted as she ran into the
hallway, "Follow me."
The pair avoided most of the terrorists on the way, the
Triple-S could do a room to room sweep later, they just
wanted to get to the children as quickly as possible. Of
course they were happy to plug anyone who wanted to slow them
down.
At the sound of the mine blast the three Triple-S squads
began sweeping the central building, from the outside in.
The plan was simple, they would either wipe all the
terrorists out and meet each other in the center. Or they
would herd the terrorists ahead of them, and wipe them out in
the center. Either way the wiping out of the terrorists was
the same. Of course the original plan called for Ben to hold
up one side of the net, but since he wasn't around it just
meant more work for the Triple-S.
When he heard the mine go off Ben had been slowly
working his way towards the offices. The sound of the blast
startled him at first, but then he realized that it must be
the pair making another of their patented dramatic entrances.
He smiled, readied his electromag, and charged toward the
offices.
Kei and Yuri move swiftly through the halls. In just a
few minutes they are close enough to the children to prepare
their strike.
"They should be just around this corner," Yuri says.
"Ok. We go in hot. We can't use any grenades because
of the children. So we go in and try to plug them all before
they can react. Ready?"
"Ready."
"Let's do it."