Chapter 36: Rescue Mission
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Author: Arya
The island.
An UH-1 Iroquois was swiftly moving through the sky towards the location of Sophie. Inside Lucifer was seated and seemed to be tense.
The copter soon reached the open airspace of the location and landed. Lucifer landed and moved hurriedly inside the secret base.
As he reached inside, he was stunned to find no one.
“It seems my intuition was right.” He mumbled and soon connected with the base’s security system, opening a temporary line to the main base.
“Aria, play the last received communication log from Sophie?” He asked.
“Replying to sir, the last communication request was just as she entered the base. Shall I play the message?” Reported Aria.
“Go ahead.” Lucifer spoke.
[Sophie here, reporting current status. Successfully entered the base. There seems to be no damage to the detection system, but the communication module seems to be broken by the beasts. The victim seems to be severely injured and thus is resting. I have used my energy reserves and am entering deep sleep for recuperating. Over.]
“Sir, it is done.” Aria reported.
“Damn it! Connect to the captain, urgently!” Lucifer spoke in a hurried and urgent voice.
Very soon Percy was connected to the call and Lucifer spoke.
“Captain, there seems to be a problem!”
“The base is empty and there seems to be no sign of Sophie and the victim.”
Soon a voice was heard.
“Have you checked the security systems and base’s log? Did you confuse it with another location? She could also have moved out.” Percy replied
“No Captain, the security systems were down due to the beasts and the logs mention the entry but not the exit. Whereas it was stated before that the entry and exit from the base must be clearly logged. The worst has happened!” Lucifer spoke.
“Noted, come back. We have been delaying it for too long. Since, they choose to target us then only they can be blamed.” Percy spoke with an emotionless tone.
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The Holy Church HQ.
Deep Underground inside a full white room was a bed and Sophie was sleeping in it. She still had her handcuffed.
There were security officers keeping a watch on her all the time. It had been more than 12 hours since she was imprisoned and sedated.
Inside one of the surveillance rooms, Light entered.
“How is the situation?” He asked.
“Sir, there seems to be no change in the situation.” The officer saluted and replied.
“Keep me updated once she wakes up.” Light commanded.
“Yes sir.” The officer saluted as Light left.
As the conversation was moving an important decision was being taken by the Council.
The Council had decided with the interrogation of the prisoner to be performed as soon as possible. The Council suspected the island to be a secret base used to perform evil deeds. Soon they would begin.
As the HQ of Holy Church the highest grade city of Vatican was divided into different districts in a circular manner. The city was made of three parts. The outer, middle and inner district. The outer district was a place where the residents of the city who were accepted as refugees or migrants lived. It consisted of residents only. The middle city was the home of the families and other members of the Holy Church. There were also some production facilities in this part responsible for the daily needs of the citizens.
During the time of Apocalypse, the term Self-Dependent had another meaning which could be associated with survival. Every surviving city in the world had to become self-dependent, as there was no such thing as ample supplies. The cities were in constant need of many different types of supplies. Thus the importance of cities was decided by the supplies they could procure and produce.
The most inner part of the city of Vatican was the base of the Holy Church. It also consisted of the city’s defense mechanism and main production facilities for research, weapons and other important fields.
In the defense command center of the base, various officers wearing Church’s uniform with different badges depicting their roles were moving too and fro. They were the personnel responsible for the city’s defense system. The city was surrounded by walls dividing the districts as well as protecting them. There was also a defensive barrier protecting the city which would be erected in the time of crises or a disaster.
An officer was seated and watching the data obtained from the recent survey by the recon troop, when all of a sudden.
-BEEP-
-BEEP-
[Warning. Warning.]
[Unidentified Aircraft entering the defensive zone.]
[Requesting immediate action.]
An alert sounded in the command center, informing every officer.
Very soon within minutes of the alert, the command center was crowded with officers. Everyone busied themselves with their own work and station.
“ALL HAIL THE HOLY CHURCH”
A voice was heard as the commanding person entered the command center.
“At ease everyone. Report the situation.” The commander ordered.
“Sir, an unidentified aircraft was detected by our defense systems. ETA 10 mins. We have tried every possible way of communication but no response.” An officer replied.
“How long until we find a trace?” The commander asked.
“According to the trace, the aircraft seems to be a V22 Osprey but certainly modified as the speed of approach is particularly high for the model. Also there is no record of any organization using this particular aircraft for attack.” Replied the officer.
“Activate our secondary defense systems. Try contacting the aircraft. If it still retains the same speed and trajectory, destroy it. Do not let the aircraft enter the primary airspace of the city.” The commander replied.
“Sir.” The officer saluted and went ahead with the instructions.
Outside the city there was no change. Everything seemed normal. The soldiers were patrolling and the people were moving here and there for business purposes. But a little distance from the city a V22 Osprey was moving speedily.
Inside were Percy and his team. As soon as Percy was informed of the kidnap, he called for a meeting. The team decided to rescue Sophie as soon as possible but the main issue was her location. Fortunately Percy had ejected a tracker in every one of them as they underwent the evolution process. Percy with the help of his satellite network and Aria’s intrinsic skills were able to track a general location. Even they didn’t know the reality.
Inside the aircraft. Percy was giving instruction to the team as Kevin was driving the Osprey.
“According to the intel from Aria. The city is a highly advanced city with many defensive systems and personnel to guard them. Our task is simple. Once we reach the location we track Sophie’s exact location then bring her back. Remember to be discreet till we find Sophie and she is our hand. The team responsible for Sophie’s extraction will consist of Diane, James and Lucifer. Meanwhile me, Kevin and Jason will distract their attention. For safety’s sake we will not be landing. Get it!” Percy instructed.
After a few minutes the city was soon into their view.
“Lucifer, pinpoint the exact location of Sophie.” Percy spoke.
Lucifer entered a few commands on the computer screen and soon a location was revealed.
“Found her. She has been kept in the centermost area of the city. I will link your HUD with the location.”
Soon everyone was able to see her location.
“This is only the general direction as a compass. We must use our own eyes to pinpoint her exact location on the terrain.” Lucifer spoke heavily.
“Alright since the location has been decided we will proceed further. The extraction squad will be moving on their own as we fend off the defensive systems of the city, understand?” Percy spoke.
Everyone nodded.
The aircraft didn’t stop moving but the extraction squad consisting of Lucifer, Diane and James jumped off with their gear from the aircraft.
Meanwhile inside the command center.
[Warning]
[Warning]
“Activate the secondary defense systems. Target the aircraft in the front. Fire at will.” The commander roared calmly.
“Roger that sir.” An officer reported.
[Secondary weapon system activated.]
[Target locked.]
[Charging at 10%]
[20%…30%…40%…50%…]
As the secondary systems went online. The strategic locations in the outer district all released a series of warnings and weapons in the shape of cannons emerged out from them. All targeting a specific location.
The residents were not frightened by this. For them it seemed like daily warfare. After all being a top force of the post apocalyptic world wars were common.
[80%…90%…100%]
[Firing energy blast.]
-ZUUM-
A blue colored beam of light from the weapons soon tore apart the horizon as it moved at breakneck speed towards the Osprey.
Inside the Osprey the systems soon detected the target but it was too late.
-BOOM-
A huge blast ensued right after the beam hit the Osprey.
In the command center, the commander ordered.
“Ensure the destruction of the target and get a squad ready for scouting. They dare to attack the sanctity of the Holy Church. They must pay a price.” An overwhelming amount of bloodlust was being emitted by the commander which frightened everyone in the room.
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