Rival of Atlantis

XIII

THE TEAM OF FIVE ASSASINS ascended on the steps of stairs and proceeded on gangways all made of conjugated metal bars, plates and grills. Having a brief time to study the blueprints of the main building, the leader made a photographic memory in his mind on where to find the dining area. The flowing music did their job easier.

They made their steps in careful and tactful manner so as not to make sounds that may give them away. It has been time-consuming but there is no room for errors or failures in this clean up mission. It is their redemption for a smooth job that turned out to be a failure in the end. What have been set up as an accidental collapse of the tunnel coinciding with the fire in the building housing the generators should have done their job if not of the rescuers saving their target.

After they gained control of the guard house and spotted their target, the four men that went in the mines, including the leader, planted timed bombs in the tunnel. The computed bombs that are only meant to make the ceiling collapse and rupture a hidden artery of water could never be heard by anyone out of the tunnel. They spent precious time in planning the murder that should look like a tunnel accident. Everything is well planned from parachuting down in grey canopies to the trek in the forest and the timing of bombs.

The plan included days of studying maps same with the prints about the underground water system that was miraculously on course an underground water artery that was lined with rocks. Only the sipping water through the smaller cracks along the wall is making the flood in the tunnel. The underground stream running almost beside a few points of the tunnel is not a huge body of water but still have the capabilities of flooding the labyrinth with all the unfortunate lives in it. That was their plan, to drown the unwary victims on what should appear as a tunnel collapsing which resulted to diversion of water flow in an underground stream. No one expected of an immediate rescue done by the researchers from SAR. They knew that Costa Rica cannot fast-assemble a rescue team and miners will be long dead before they retrieve their cold bodies.

Setting the building which houses the generators is also a diversion. With two incidents at hand, the mining staff will be sent in confusion on whether to clear the debris on where the tunnel caved in or fight the fire. It was more than a good diversion that also provided them enough time to exit the compound.

Back in the depths of the Costa Rican forest, they are taking a rest and were waiting for extraction. A black chopper with no identifying marks will pick them up to an agreed location in the middle of the night. In their rest below the canopy of leaves, a call went through their radios. A radio operator is relaying a call from an informant saying the mining facility assistant project head is hailing for help. The news included contacting the US Forces doing some sort of military exercise offshore. They waited the entire night until the thumps of an unseen helicopter came from up above early next morning. A radio call came hours later that two lady divers had miraculously rescued all ten survivors using some sort of a water vehicle in a single dive. The news included something about a dinner party wherein all mining facility personnel will attend to with the inclusion of the rescuers and the soldiers from the US Navy. The information also included an order to eliminate all living souls in the facility by the use of deadly force and that would be easier now that there is a dinner party.

As he gathered his men, he can only imagine the fury boiling inside the mind of the man he only called Dad. This time, with the authorized use of deadly force, they must not fail. He then herded his team when the darkness finally came and all together they crept inside the gush cut at the fence, killed the guards and the navy troopers then later went their way to the targeted location.

They ascended the metal stairs in silence and almost tiptoed on the gangways, the leader acting as the point man. As they neared towards the twin doors where jazz music is flowing out, he held a fist up in the air, signaling a halt. There is some kind of commotion going inside and a woman has her voice at the border of a scream to someone. He panned his head backwards and made hand gestures appointing the man with the Austeyr to take the lead and cover the entrance in preparation for the rest of the team to pour in and deliver a hail of deadly bullets.

As the man with Austeyr sidestepped at the doorway, an index finger ready on the trigger, the leader watched intently and is ready to signal the others to bolt in the doorway. But when the designated point and cover man stepped completely at the doorway, something black came flying. The unknown object, later to be recognized as a knife, came buried right at the man's throat. They watched helplessly as he fell on his knees then face first on the doorway, his upper body fell at the floor of the dining area and is now surrounded by a pool of his own blood. At that, they learned that the people inside meant to give them resistance. What seemed to be an easy elimination of the mining staff is becoming harder each try.

With the alertness of a SWAT team, two men ducked at the forward position while the remaining two remained standing, all their guns ready to bring havoc to anyone who will come out in the open. A man came striding to the body of their dead comrade. They fired on him and he was impaled by bullets in sprays of blood and flying chunks of meat.

They remained in that position too long, wary for anyone that will go out. They heard series of breaking glasses and plates together with scattering dining utensils. They can only imagine panic invading every soul in the room. A woman shouted to someone but that was the last thing they heard before the lights spilling out from the room was cut. The occupants have just thrown the room in darkness in preparation for defense.

The leader knew it will be a hard job but he means to finish it. He brainstormed for seconds like a unit leader making decisions in the middle of crossfire. He made hand gestures about the lights spilling from the high ceiling of the working area and a little bit of more gestures. Two men, the ducking ones, broke from the position and took different ways in the maze of gangways and stairs. This time, there is no caution of being silent.

As the two men moved away from them, the leader and his companion trained their guns at the lights above the ceiling. With each press of the trigger, lights are being doused in electric sparks and flying shards of glasses. The two men reached a room of their choice and hit the switch. Soon, room after room and lights after the other, the fourth level of the main building is being thrown into complete darkness. The leader just opted for a fight in the dark wherein they might have the upper hand.

                                                                                          -ROA-

GILLIAN ORDERED TO KILL THE light switches inside the room. After that move, all souls are in the cover of the long tables again. She is playing a chess game against the unknown number of assailants.

As the room went into pitch black darkness, she almost smiled to herself. She has no definite plans in fact and opted to ride along the game until the favor changes to their side. If this is a chess game, she is pushing all her best pieces into position.

Now it's your move, she thought as he looked over the edge of the table.

"Can you shoot?" She heard Thomas whisper in the dark. She can still make outlines of figures around with the help of light spilling through the windows from the exterior of the room.

"Try me," Summer answered proudly.

In the dark, Thomas handed Summer his sidearm, a SIG Sauer 9mm with a 12-round capacity of magazine. He also handed her extra two mags. Now, there are two gunmen on the side of the underdogs.

Gillian was surprised to hear something like breaking glasses after soft tsub sounds. There are also receding footsteps made against the metal ways.  At first, she thought her eyes are playing some trick on her. It seems that the exterior of the dining room is becoming darker each passing second. When the lights at the ceiling were doused, that is when she knew that the assailants are throwing the place in darkness.

"Try hailing for help," Gillian whispered to Ron.

"From whom?" Ron asked half-considering the idea.

"From the police, the army, everybody. Try intergalactic force from Star Trek or Star Wars if you can. Just get help here. The faster, the better."

Gillian peeped over the edge of the table, trying to make outlines in the dark. Her eyes are playing tricks like shadows are moving in the doorway. Then there were rushed footsteps against the metal ways again. Whoever had just left had just come back again near the doorway.

Night vision, Gillian thought. He motioned to Thomas and Summer who are aiming guns at the doorway but unable to see anything. "Cover of darkness. They will come in any moment now with the help of night vision devices."

"So we are sitting ducks in the dark against some predators," Summer uttered.

"Get this," he handed Summer the flashlight tucked at the back of her waist. "Get down and cover yourselves. When you hear a sound, switch it on before firing."

Gillian left them and crawled like Spider-man towards the doorway. She leaned on the wall just beside the doorway, took a deep breath and lied on her belly on the floor, one of her ears a millimeter away from the concrete. Her dominant hand retrieved the last of the diving knives and gripped it upside down. Now all that is left is to wait.

She did not wait long enough before she heard soft steps made at the doorway. The tactical shoes are being stepped in careful pace in the room. Gillian listened and waited. The nearest step is still about two paces away.

If she can only see in the darkness, she might have seen four figures walked in a tight line; their silenced rifles aimed forward and are ready to fire. Night vision goggles are before their eyes and are seeing the surroundings in green hue as it from some alien world. The assailants are unable to see anyone, all souls behind the fortresses of tables. Gillian who was flat on her belly on the floor is also left unseen. The night vision goggles are made for seeing things in a distance through it and not below if they will not look down, which they did not.

Gillian held her breath as she rose as if an animal in four legs. She just heard a step almost stepping on her head. It a risk that may cost life but with choices of being killed or fight while being killed, she preferred the later.

In a lightning move, she rose and blindly slashed the knife on a wide arc, hoping that her estimation on where the meaty thighs would be was accurate. It was a maneuver blessed by luck. The knife did not dig on a thigh but at the groin of the lead man, the one carrying the G36C.

In an instant, the man freed his hands from his rifle and involuntary clutched his groin where a sudden pain has just erupted. His weapon clattered on the floor as a cry of agony involuntarily left his lips when the mysterious source of pain invaded his senses. As he took hold on a protrusion that was not there before, Gillian was back flat on the ground.

The sound made by the lead man gave them away. In an instant, light was flicked from the top edge of a table thrown on its sides. The assailants were still adjusting their aim at the source of light when gunfire from Thomas's M4A1 and Summer's SIG poured deadly rounds. The man clutching his groin was the first in the line of fire. In an instant, his life escaped his body as he was impaled by six 5.56 NATO rounds at the chest and two 9mm ammunition at the neck. He fell down on his side and went silent in an instant as a pool of blood surrounded him.

The next man in line did not escape the hail of bullets too. He was the most hit among the victims and his body acted as a shield of flesh and bones to unwillingly save the lives of the last two men behind. He received all the remaining bullets with the exception of five rifle rounds and a single 9mm hitting the walls. When the gunfire erupted, the leader who was last in the line grabbed the man before him by the collar. He was already tugging the third man out of the line of fire and back in the safety of the walls in instant. They are lucky enough not to be scathed by a single bullet. The only mark of the enemy fire on them was the spray of blood that bathed half of their bodies.

Just as Summer and Thomas was ducking down behind the cover of the table, Gillian sprang to her feet and used the light from the torchlight to locate the firearm that clattered on the floor moments ago. In all just two seconds, he was on her feet and had her eyes locked on the G36C. She was already rolling to pick up the weapon when Summer flicked the flashlight off. At the same time Thomas and Summer was back behind the safety of the table, Gillian was already at the other side of the doorway.

She groped for the safety switch and being familiar with the model of the rifle, she knew where to locate it. Satisfied that the rifle is ready to fire, she cradled it the way she had her service firearms some years ago. She aimed it at the doorway and was looking through the scope that was switched on for night vision mode.

"That's minus three of you," Gillian crisply announced as she aimed at the doorway.