The view from the hind is a marvelous one, Carmelita and I are looking over our gear to make sure everything checks out, I load a 100 round drum into the akm and charge it which catches her attention. It's the only drum magazine I have but it's meant to where I don't have to touch the standard magazines right away, so I'll have an edge at least initially.




I load the 40mm grenade launcher "What do we have for Intel?"




The vixen looks to me "The swamp is pretty dense the closer we get, but there is a clearing that marks Ruby's hideout." holstering her shock pistol.




Bently's voice comes through "Spectral analysis shows that Mz Ruby is building up a force of some kind, we aren't sure to what extend however. Her efforts last time was to invade Mexico and take it over but we are not sure if she still has that objective, just in case I have marked the locations on your locators where her manufacturing process was taking place, I have also forwarded all relevant intel on the previous operation we did here years ago. Keep in mind though that some of it may be out of date."




I give myself a nod "Copy that, listen up if she is deploying zombies in great numbers run and avoid contact and aim for the head, maybe some of that movie magic will counter hers."




The swamp soon goes from solid ground to a mix of mud and water and before we know it we hit practically just straight up water, I give the pilot the order to circle around and I begin to look through the binocucom, sure enough there are locations pinned but the tree tops are blocking my view, but I do see something unnerving, a giant structure that looks like a giant alligator skull. I confirm the structure with Bently and he points out that's her lair headquarters. Despite the areas isolation it does look like someone was doing some construction as there are some finished bridges and sighs of electricity being put into place with half-built lots, Penelope informs me that several contractors were trying to put a community out here to help increase the economy... everyone who was working here has been reported missing as the outside world lost contact with them, I can hear Murray hooking up the m60 as the mouse tells me this. I begin to look at the trees, they are so thick I can't tell if there is any form of anti-air or even if anything is actually around.




I put down the device as I think of how to proceed, given we are dealing with basically a necromancer, there can be anything here waiting for us "Pilot, take us in with caution, we are just going to probe."




The hind begins to move towards the skull as the pilot gives the confirmation, we make it about three miles in and the eye sockets of the formation begin to glow a ghostly green, I quickly tell the pilot to back away by about half a mile, just as he turns the chopper around the green eyes fire two large green fire balls at us, thankfully they miss but now we are in quite a kerfuffle.




The turtle comes through my comm "Voodoo anti-air... now that is scary. After it fired I detected several smaller spikes mostly to the sides and rear of that structure."




"Dang it! That means we can't approach it by the air.", I look to Carmelita "We're going in!" as I put on a gas mask.




The hind makes it to a planned drop zone and we repel down, I give the order for the hind to fall back to the forward base we had set up earlier... if we need a way out I want to make sure the hind has the fuel it needs to do just that. We begin our advance as the mud gives way, the look on the vixens face showing I made the right call wearing a gas mask, heck even with the filter system I can still smell some of the bog. I take point as I scan what's in front of me with akm as Carmelita keeps an eye on the sides and rear.




"Bently, do you have our beacons?" feeling an unease in the air.




"Affirmative, looks like you are nearing a structure of some kind based on the contractor blueprints. It's labeled as the 'Conference Center', if were lucky we can get some answers there."




I nod to myself "Affirmative, proceeding there now."




The vixen keeps her pistol trained "This place gives me the creeps, who would live all the way out here?"




I smirk "My money is on Jason Voorhees."




Carmelita rolls her eyes but I see an amused grin on her face for a moment.




I gotta be honest I feel like we are being watched, but by what I have no idea... probably best I don't know, all I know is that as soon as I aim my weapon around I hear some movement from the trees themselves. I really just want to open fire and fill everything with holes, I can feel my heart starting to race... what am I in? Resident Evil 4? We push through the marsh and we come to this building that resembles a medium house with a sign reading "Community Center" with the front doors broken down and the windows are broken, a few vans and a few pick ups are out front with all their doors open. Other then some tools and generators there is nothing in the vehicles, so we move on to the building as I switch to my shotgun, I look to Carmelita as I give her the hand signal to be silent, she gives a nod and we head inside. We don't find the place ruined with broken furniture and appliances with some shell casings here and there with some bodies, all of them riddled with bullet holes, we head upstairs and it's the same situation up here as we go from room to room to make sure it's clear.




We make it to the last room, just before we reach the door I hear similar sound, I look to Carmelita and I do the hand signal for a shotgun and we back off a bit as I switch back to my akm, I nod to Carmelita, those eyes of hers go straight to that door.




"We are officers of Interpol! Disarm and show those hands!" aiming her shock pistol at the door.




The door opens a little, an ithica 37 and a few pistols are tossed out, the door opens all the way and five people come out with their hands raised, they see me and they practically jump.




I lower my weapon "Take it easy, we are here to get the person behind this and to get you guys out of here."




A monkey approaches us "Thank goodness, we were down to only a handful of bullets left, there was no way we could make it through another wave of those things. We barricade ourselves in there to hold out until help came."




A dog yelps "We are leaving right?"




I think and I open comms with Bently "We've got a group of survivors here, any chance you guys can come pick them up?"




"Affirmative we are on our way."




I look back to the group "Alright, you guys sit tight and hold out here. Our second team is riding in a blue van with hod rod flames, let them know you are friendly and they'll keep you safe until this is over."




The monkey nods "Thank you officer, but there are a few things you need to know about the area."




...........




Murray is driving through the swap, hitting some marsh before finding the road, he gives a sigh of relief as the vehicle leaves the mud behind.




Penelope is typing on her keyboard "It looks like the they were just getting around to creating the sewer and power layout before this happened, permits were filed just a few months ago... I hate to say it, but it's a good thing that this happened when it did."




The turtle gives a nod "Maybe, but it would have been better if no one got caught in the crossfire.", he looks to her "Did you remember to choose a weapon in case you need it?"




The mouse loosely holds up a sub compact glock 43 "Yeah, heck Adam got it for me... along with about ten loaded magazines for it.", she looks to the turtle "Plus the m60 will really help us out too." putting the pistol away.




Bently goes back to monitoring the spectrometer "Here's hoping we don't need to use them."




Murray looks around "Yeah, if we get bogged down and surrounded we're toast."




The van cruises along for about an hour before getting to the Community Center, running into no issues along the way but the movement on the motion detectors and Murray seeing some of the plant life move here and there has his nerves on edge to where he asks for Penelope to get on the machine gun, she's a little surprised but gets the top open and the machine gun ready, taking position on the improvised platform. Upon arrival the group inside the building makes their presence known and makes it to the van. Bently inquires where Adam and Carmelita went and is told that they were heading towards the core of the swamp, The mouse sees from the trees a few zombies advancing, she quickly swings the machine gun around and opens fire as she aims down the sight. The group quickly gets into the van, Bently seals the door and Murray drives the van back the way they came from, more of the twisted monsters coming from the trees.




Bently opens comms with the two officers "We've rescued the group and falling back! Ruby has got a small force over here, I advise that you move with caution."




...................




I reply back "Copy that Bently, We're moving through a maintenance tunnel system, I doubt Ruby knows these tunnels exist but we aren't taking any chances. Fall back to the secondary line and hold your position, also see if there is a way to counter the magic anti-air, let me know if you need me to requisition artillery."




The tunnels thankfully show no signs they have been used yet outside of some well placed tools so far. But that quickly gets dashed as we come to a hallway covered in what looks like spider webs, I toss a frag grenade and a few seconds later it explodes, this screeching sounds and this large black spider comes at us, I open fire with the akm which just wipes out the arachnid, the soviet rounds blasting off some of the legs and breaching the central body. The large creature falls and goes limp, I look to Carmelita as I can feel my arachnophobia kicking in, the vixen gives a nod and we begin to walk side-by-side. Thankfully there aren't that many down here and killing them has been easy, we even found some egg sags and obliterate them with a well-placed grenade. We eventually make it out of the tunnels through a door that's kept open by webs, an unfinished power transformer is just nearby with a flipped over van next to it. I toss an incendiary into the vehicle, it explodes and an arachnid scream comes from the vehicle as it burns... seriously we should just nuke the site from orbit!




I hear something coming from the trees so I raise my hand and we stop, I hear this loud buzzing sound, it doesn't resemble a chainsaw or a even motor, I raise the akm and spray the trees from truck to branch in a wide pattern, I keep firing until the drum runs out, the barrel smokes as I pull out my pistol, three large masses fall out of the trees, they are large red-wine colored mosquitos... are you freaking kidding me?!




I remove the drum and put it in my back pack, I load a new mag and charge it "Ruby has a real fun house out here does she?"




Carmelita nods "Yeah, even after Sly took her down and we got her out of here we didn't fully investigate the area. Mutated creatures, zombies... we figured after she was dealt with and locked up with the bodies buried that we wouldn't have a problem with this."




I stand up "The plan was for the hind to destroy the processing structures, so we don't have the gear to carry that out and we don't have the intel to bring in an artillery barrage even if we had the capability.", I give a heavy sigh "We need to knock out an area of the enemy anti-air somehow."




The vixen looks to me "If you were running this whole magic thing, how would you set up the anti-air?"




I think for a moment "Well, given that it's magic and thus doesn't rely on munitions or anything conventional, that means where the energy is coming from can be anywhere, my bet is that it is placed either in Ruby's lair or the processing plant for her forces because I imagine something is powering the system."




Carmelita smirks "Assuming it follows that logic?"




"Only one way to find out.", I look at the environment and I see something amiss "Uhh... we are surrounded by stone walls covered in charms."




The vixen steps forward "This is an area we didn't investigate because we couldn't get the gate open and Interpol didn't want to send a chopper in with an investigative team."




A closer look of the trees show they are on small patches of land which the large insects landed on and the rest of the area is swamp water, I decide to take my gas mask off and press on to try to find a way to the other side. Given that the maintenance way is the only way to here and not the gate it's going to make things a little harder but we find a cable car system but the car itself is only half put together, not seeing any other option I get it going and we board the tram, I look over and I see the bodies of the bugs have disappeared. I quickly double check my akm and make sure the grenade is still in there, Carmelita checks her shock pistol as she gives me a nod.




I see the water move "Contact over here!"




The vixen aims her weapon "I just saw it over here! What are we looking at?!"




"Fire a charged shot, I think it's best we knock it out before it becomes an issue." as I brace myself.




Carmelita fires this massive electrical ball of energy, it hits the water and it zaps through the liquid, a second later this giant snake comes out of the water with this green fluid coming out of it's mouth. I fire the launcher and I miss as it quickly dives back into the water, it's tail hits the bottom of the car and I almost fall off.




The vixen looks my way "Are you alright?"




I catch my breath "Yeah, this thing isn't going to make it easy for us.", I reload the launcher, the snake comes back and almost hits the front of the care "Blasted thing has some range to it!"




The snake slips below the waves and we make it about half-way before it comes up, we both open up in full auto fire, the bullets tear into it with a couple of my rounds smashing open it's left eye as it's scale hold up somewhat to the hail of gunfire while it gets shocked by the vixens weapon. It gives a roar and it goes back into the water, coloring the water in crimson.




"How do we kill this thing?!" as the vixen braces herself.




"We're taking a page out of the Gears book, throw an explosive in it's mouth and let the powder do the rest.", I load a fresh mag "Try to shock the water faster and harder, I want that thing to really come at us."




Carmelita fires volley after volley at the water as I take aim, the snake comes roaring from the water, I fire the akm to get it to flinch and fire the grenade, the 40mm explosive hits the back of hit's through and blows it clean out, the creature crashes into a tree and slowly sinks into the water.




Carmelita gives a sigh of relief "We made it past that ordeal."




The trams reaches it's destination, we go over a hill and we see a necromancer created nightmare, the land has this green glow and these rats are walking around with staffs and in their left hand is levitating ball of green energy, what's worse though is that some zombies are also going about the place.




"Yeah...", I glance to her "And how do we deal with this one?"




..........................




The cooper van has reached it's new position, thankfully they have long since lost their pursuers, Penelope is still on the machine gun as Murray keeps looking at the road.




Carmelita's voice comes through "Bently, do you hear me?"




The turtle nods to himself "I read you, what's the situation?"




"We've made it to the compound, we see the cauldron up ahead but this place is crawling with guards and there is no cover, we are going to have to bring some artillery in to deal with this."




Bently types some keys "Unfortunately the ground is too wet even for armored vehicles, they won't get far."




Adam chimes in "It's risky, but we really don't have a choice, we need a few ac-130 gunships to deal with this. Bently, can you use our beacons to relay fire co-ordinates to them?"




Bently looks over his data "I can do that no problem, I just need a secured channel."




..............................




I use my allotment to get some ac-130's for the operation and create a channel for Bently to use, it soon gets dark as Carmelita and I get situated. I take what left of the ammunition in my current magazine and two others to reload the ammo drum and I also remove the suppressor. The plan is that after the gunship unleash their guns we move in to the central structure and get to Ruby and hopefully some answers.




The hour comes and the ac-130's open fire with 105mm howitzers, 75mm cannons and 25mm rotary cannons, the area is just getting hammered and before we know it the area becomes engulfed in flames. We run towards the cauldron, the akm joining the sounds of it's larger cousins and the magazine runs out, with no remaining rounds I ditch the assault rifle and pull up my shotgun, I fire both barrels and take down three zombies in once grouping. I quickly reload as Carmelita and I get in the center of the cauldron, she fires her sidearm at soup around us and we launch towards the skull structure. We land through the teeth onto a platform, the floor is wood and looks to have been recently put in, we follow the floor to this large chamber and it has hanging torches and all kinds of voodoo trinkets and charms.




Mz Ruby is in the center of the chamber "I see that you prefer to dance to heavy metal, a pity I have to crush you for this."




We keep our weapons trained on her "Mz Ruby, we are officers of Interpol and you are under arrest!" keeping my shotgun trained on her.




Ruby launches some magic from her hands and we dodge, I fire both barrels as Carmelita fires her shock pistol but Mz Ruby disappears in a cloud of smoke before appearing again.




"You two have no idea what I can do! While the world exiled me I honed my abilities, the both of you are treated like heroes, shining examples of the accepted. The both of you are two soft when compared to me."




I reload my shotgun "So this is how make it better? Fighting us and bringing havoc to those around you?"




"Like you have never caused some chaos in one form or another?! By the time I am done with the both of you, you'll be just as damned!"




I take her words in, I can hear pain in that voice of hers, I look to Carmelita and give the gesture to stand down, she raises an eyebrow as I remove my belt and unload my shotgun, I get out of cover and drop my gear.




Ruby snarls "What is this?" readying another spell.




"I just want to talk, maybe if I lend an ear it'll help you out." trying to diffuse the situation.




The alligator raises an eyebrow as I toss my body armor as well, she lowers her hand and waves me over. The two of us begin to talk and she tells me where she's coming from, I'm nervous to say the least but I think she's just hurt and it turned into rage, something I think a lot of us can understand. I still have to uphold the law and what she's done we have to hold her accountable to, but maybe we can find a middle ground. She finishes telling me her history and it's a lot even for me to take in, though I think I might be able to help her a little.




"I can kind of understand, there are those who are afraid of me." earning a surprised gaze from her "Human's aren't native here and I was afraid of being in this world, over time I have been adapting to it and it has been adapting to me. In different ways we all actually bare this fear, it is not unique as we all have that phobia of not fitting in. When I joined Interpol, it was not just for my protection, I wanted to show the world that there was no reason to be afraid, that I wore their badge... and even with all my training I am still trying to get stronger. Even back where I am from, I was simply ignored a good chunk of the time with a different reason behind it and same goes for when I was bullied from time to time, it ranged from miscommunication to my lack of a skillset to even my autism... I always did my best to show I can pull through and I didn't always succeed, if anything most of the time I lost. But when I was pushed too far and did fight back, I didn't do it out of spite, I showed them that I also I have teeth, that I do have a will to fight... I was just taught how to apply it and when." I extend my right hand out to her "I know it won't erase what has taken place or clear what has happened to you, but maybe it all starts with an open hand and I am willing to to try to be a friend to you."




Ruby blinks at me, she looks to my hand and she grips it "I'll cancel the spells and you can take me into custody, no doubt you want to know where that machine Paradox has been building is."




"I do, I fear he may lead an attack on my Earth or anywhere on this world. It's based on the warp system used in the craft that brought me here."




The alligator nods "I don't know all the details, all I know is where Mugshot went with the machine, it is likely where you will also find your machine. New York City."




I thank Ruby for the information and we book her, I decide to put in a side notion of my report that I recommend that her life sentence gets reduced to a parole with psychological assistance and emotional therapy... it's the best I can do but it's a start, the courts aren't perfect but maybe it'll work.




Carmelita comes over to me "You do know that it's quite a long shot. Right?" with a raised eyebrow.




"I know.", I look to the vixen "I won't hold my breath either... but a little kindness can go a long way."




With the operation now complete and we have a rough location, I think we are one step closer to ending this, in the end this tech can't be used... it must end with the craft either captured or destroyed.




To be continued...