A/N: I know, I know, Too much time between updates. I'm Sorry. Shame on me. I'm a bad boy, but I hope this chapter is enough to make you forgive me. I also think I should respond one of the reviews so…
Dragonforce: Some of your observations will be addressed in the future However, Mortars Choppers, Bombers??? A bit overkill. Especially since you would want to keep a low profile. The last thing you want is for the media to realize that something's going on. Also the S.G.C. has been known to use zats on Earth-based operations but I don't recall ever seeing Goa'uld grenades used on earth. Even if they were you would have to open the doors first to deploy them. Human designed stun grenades could be fired through the doors but in such a confined space even stun grenades could prove lethal and they would prefer to take prisoners if at all possible that leaves tear gas as the most viable option. I hope that explains some things.
CHAPTER 24: Is That What You Were Hoping ForAs muzzle flashes from sporadic gunfire reflected off the smooth surface of metal walled trailers creating a darkly beautiful dance of light and shadow, one of the mercenaries silently crept along the top of a trailer and cautiously peeked over the edge and smiled down at an oblivious soldier who was so focused on another threat in front of him that he didn't notice the mercenary draw a bead and was hit in the back with a three round burst that knocked him flat forward. A second soldier saw what happened. "No! Jimmy!!" He shouted and angrily fired back with a single shot. The mercenary's body spun from the impact before pitching over the edge; falling the thirteen and a half feet to the solid ground below with a sick thud. The soldier ran to his downed buddy and dragged him back behind the cover of the trailer's dual tires before flipping him face-up. "Jimmy! Jimmy! Talk to me man!"
"Jeeez man." He groaned in effort. "I'm shot not deaf."
"You're alright!" Jimmy's buddy was ecstatic with relief. "You're alright!"
"Kevlar man. Gotta love it!"
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Zorichov made the first move, swiftly raising his right hand in an underhanded throw; he released a stream of dark energy toward Willow who released her own bolt of white energy. The two energies collided in the middle of the space separating the two sorcerers canceling each other out.
"My turn." She chimed and raised her own right hand straight out emitting a short beam of green energy that attempted to wrap around the warlock who waved his own hand and dissolved the energy.
"Interesting choice. I expected something much more violent from someone of your reputation." He sounded a little disappointed.
"Oh, I'm just getting warmed up." She smiled deceptively.
The evil magician raised a hand and lashed out with an electric bolt. Willow held up her right hand catching the blast and immediately threw it back at the warlock who didn't expect such a countermove and was knocked to the ground. Rolling to his side, Zorichov motioned to the door lying on the ground and waved toward his opponent. The door flew from the ground and slammed hard into the witch knocking her to the concrete ground.
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The green-skinned demon aimed for the slayer's neck with his right blade, which she blocked with a left crescent kick to his forearm. The demon retaliated with a mirrored move from the left hand and Kennedy blocked that with her knife and delivered a hard, snapping right round kick to the taller fighter's left knee, which buckled. The demon swung his right blade at the girl's legs. She avoided the weapon by jumping straight up, simultaneously delivering a front kick to her opponent's face. The demon fell backwards but caught himself with both hands and used them to brace himself as he brought his own right foot up into Kennedy's chest knocking her back a few steps.
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The shielded truck on the opposite side of the hall windows impeded Jack, Daniel and Teal'c's direct line of sight into the maintenance area preventing them from seeing their objectives. Ducking under the windows just in case, the trio quickly but quietly moved along the wall until they reached the same entrance their targets had utilized earlier. With a few hand signals, Jack had Daniel move to stand in the corner on the left side of the door while Teal'c took a steady stance in front while Jack crouched ready to spring up when the moment came.
"Alright Team Two." Jack radioed. "We're in the hall. I don't want to have to duck any friendly fire."
"Copy that! Just get them off of us! We can't take much more of this!" begged the response.
"The Colonel nodded and Teal'c kicked in the door leveling his gun at the surprised occupants. Immediately, one of the remaining graplars, hiding in the corner to the jaffa's left, grabbed Teal'c's weapon and tried to yank it away but the jaffa held on while he was pushed back through the door. The second demon followed just as Daniel tried to intervene, batting the gun from the human's hands and swung him into Jack.
"They're inside the building!" Brandon shouted a startled warning that caused the others to turn and take notice. They saw the two demons force all three men into the hallway.
"Don't worry." Victoria advised. "My boys will handle them." She added confidently and turned her attention back to her previous targets. "GET DOWN!"
Numerous automatic weapons fired a hail of bullets into the bay, punching through the thin metal walls as Team two took advantage of Team one's distraction and raised their heads. Those inside were forced to duck as they scrambled for more effective cover. Victoria screamed in pain as a piece of shrapnel cut into her left forearm Many of the bullets ricocheted off the protective dome encasing the truck, while others destroyed toolboxes, oilcans, and other various pieces of mechanical equipment.
Douglass never knew what hit him when one of the ricocheting rounds passed through his head and his body collapsed, lifeless eyes staring at nothing in particular.
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Jack fell backwards onto the stairs with Daniel landing on top of him. Sandwiched between the stairs pressing painfully into his back, and his friend on top of him, the older man reached around the younger with his P-90 to fire at the demon only to have the weapon kicked from his hand. Daniel rolled off the Colonel reaching for the gun but was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and lifted into the air by one strong meaty hand.
Jack shot forward putting his weight behind a right punch to the demon's midsection hoping to hurt him enough to drop his friend but the monster's abs were as hard as brick and Jack drew his hand back wincing as pain all the way up his arm to the shoulder. Keeping a firm grip on Daniel the graplar chuckled at the other man's attempt to shake the pain out of the appendage before slamming an open palm into the Colonel's chest sending him back into the stairs for a second time.
Teal'c and the first demon continued to struggle dancing in a circle engaged in a tug-a-war over his shotgun until the graplar brought his right knee up smashing the jaffa's left fingers. Pain caused him to instinctively let go of the barrel but quickly used the empty hand to punch the demon in the face even as the other knee smashed the right fingers. The gun dropped to the floor with a clatter as both fighters let go, then it was inadvertently kicked into the corner where Daniel had previously hidden.
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Willow physically shoved the door off herself, a slight gash now visible above her right eyebrow, as Zorichov neared. With a swift motion the witch reached out with a right hand, made a fist and yanked back hard. The warlock's feet pulled out from under him and he fell on his back with a bone-jarring impact. "Oomph!"
Still smarting from the door's impact, the witch rose to her feet. "O.K. Now THAT hurt!" She told her opponent who painfully used his arms to push up to a sitting position. That's when she noticed the glossy black eyes. "So that's what that looks like." She muttered to herself.
Stefan opened his mouth wide and blew a fine red mist that surrounded the witch acting like a smoke screen. Willow was quickly becoming disoriented and confused; an effect of the smoke she assumed. She had to force herself to focus in order to cause a stiff breeze to blow across the compound carrying the mystical smoke with it. When the air cleared Zorichov was gone. Willow whipped her head to search for the missing warlock when she was suddenly struck in the back by a ball of blue energy and soundlessly crumpled to the ground.
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Steel met steel as the demon quickly used the back edge of his left Kama to block a horizontal cut from the slayer's knife aimed at his left shoulder while simultaneously planting a left thrust kick in her chest knocking her down. Kennedy wasted no time in rolling away and jumping back to her feet knife in hand. In frustration the demon charged, taking two running steps before jumping into a flying front kick only to miss as Kennedy side-stepped to the right. The demon swung a left backhand blade at her face. She caught his elbow with her own left hand and spun on her right foot until she was side by side, driving the point of her knife under his arm and into the chest cavity causing the demon to howl in pain as green blood oozed out around the blade. Yanking the knife free, she let the body drop at her feet.
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Arms locked together, Teal'c and his opponent continued to push and shove each other down the hall. The demon pulled hard to his left forcing the jaffa's upper body to collide with, and smash one of the large windows. With considerable effort, Teal'c forced them back away from the destroyed window but the move allowed the demon use the momentum to lift up and toss the alien through the sliding window. Teal'c grunted as he slid across the office floor.
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Daniel reached around trying to pry the hands around his neck loose. When that didn't work, he rammed a left elbow to the monster's face. When that failed he twisted, striking out with a right kick at the demon's gut. This only served to anger his captor who violently shook the man before forcefully tossing him into the wall next to the stairs where he bounced off and collapsed to the floor with a painful grunt.
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Teal'c's opponent punched through an emergency case to the left of the now shattered window and removed the fire ax inside, then crawled over the desk into the office. Down on hands and one knee, Teal'c looked up, a bloody gash above his right ear and determination set in his features, to see his enemy's feet hit the floor and start a purposeful approach. Hoisting himself up, the jaffa faced the demon who clumsily brought the ax in a vertical down swing which Teal'c side-stepped and delivered a powerful right punch to the demon's face. The monster staggered but retaliated by jabbing the end of the handle into the jaffa's gut then following up with an upswing that Teal'c barely jumped back in time to avoid. As the demon prepared to swing again, Teal'c grabbed a computer monitor off a desk and smashed it over his foe's head causing a shower of sparks. Enraged, the demon growled and came with a horizontal swing. Teal'c ducked once, and then twice as another swing backtracked the first. However the demon anticipated this and brought his left knee up connecting under the jaffa's chin. Teal'c fell backwards across the snack table behind him but quickly rolled to his left to avoid the down swung ax aimed at his chest, embedding itself in the top of the table instead. Teal'c reached for the half-filled coffee pot still sitting in the maker with his right hand and smashed it into the demon's face. Howling from the pain of the hot liquid and multiple glass cuts, the demon staggered back with his hands over his injured face. Teal'c worked to pry the ax loose. Just as he succeeded, the demon recovered enough to charge. The jaffa turned and swung the ax like a major league hitter. The ax sank deep into its target's chest. The graplar stumbled back and looked down at his chest in disbelief before collapsing at the jaffa's feet.
The fight over, Teal'c leaned back against the table and allowed himself a moment to catch his breath.
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"AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!" Manuel screamed in agony as a round tore into his gut.
"We have to get out of here!" Brandon panicly declared.
"I must agree!" Diego added.
Victoria frantically looked around and decided that the opposite garage doors were their only avenue of escape since there wasn't any gunfire coming from that side of the building and the cars were there too. "This way!"
"Wait! Por favor!" Manuel painfully begged. "Do not leave me!"
Ricardo locked eyes with his boss silently asking what he should do. Diego solemnly nodded.
Manuel's eyes grew wide as his co-worker raised his gun and held one blood-covered hand out in a futile effort to stop the man from shooting him. "No! Por Favor No mue--!" The weapon's report cut him off.
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Jack recovered enough to attempt a dash for his gun but was caught around the throat and lifted into the air by a demonic left hand. Daniel shook the cobwebs out of his head and saw Jack choking as he struggled to pry himself free. Glancing around, Daniel spotted Teal'c's shotgun and scrabbled for it. Rolling onto his back, gun in hand, he shouted. "HEY!!"
The demon turned his head, looking over his shoulder, seeing his other opponent with the gun pointed in his direction. Releasing his hold on Jack, who fell to the floor gasping for air, the demon moved to attack Daniel who simply pulled the trigger. The blast struck the demon's chest and neck area with enough force to knock him backwards falling on top of Jack.
Daniel slowly rose to his feet his battered body painfully screaming its protest, to see his teammate pinned underneath the dead weight.
"Ah, could use some help here." Jack informed.
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Kennedy huffed, swallowing air as she looked down at the unmoving form of her opponent. Relieved that the fight was now over, she turned to walk toward her crossbow when the demon suddenly kicked out with his left leg sweeping the slayers feet out from under her.
Kennedy landed face down but instantly rolled onto her back even as the not so dead demon finished rising to his feet, weapon in hand. Sneering, he approached the small, prone woman and with his right foot, stomped on her chest holding her down. Confident of his impending victory; the demon began to slowly raise both his weapons for the final blow. Quickly, Kennedy latched onto her adversary's ankle with both hands to hold it in place while simultaneously raising her legs, bracing her left shin behind her opponent's knee and setting the right heel in his hip joint and pulled down; throwing the demon to the ground.
Scrambling, she jumped onto the demon, straddling its waist. The slayer wrapped her left hand around his throat and began punching him in the face with her right once, twice --. On the third swing the demon reached up with his left hand and caught the slayer's fist. Before she could react, he slammed his right fist into her left ear then tossed the woman off to his left. Kennedy rolled twice before stopping herself in time to see that her opponent had rolled the other way onto his right side and was reaching for something, presumably a weapon.
Quickly, she rolled back toward her opponent pushing him in the back until he was on his stomach and swung her left leg over him so that she straddled his back. The demon wrapped his fingers around the kama's handle and swung back toward the slayer, sinking the point into her left thigh.
"AAARRGH!!!" Kennedy reared back instinctively reaching to her leg taking hold of the weapon's handle just below the blade and pulled it free with gritted teeth. Then, in retaliation punched the demon in the side of his face before taking hold of his helmet and slamming his face into the concrete ground. "WHY," SMACK! "DON'T." SMACK! "YOU." SMACK! "DIE." With the last SMACK! The gemstone in the creature's forehead smashed emitting a red light. Kennedy jumped off in surprise and the demon rolled over on his back clutching at his forehead. "AAAARRRHHHHH!!!"
The emanating light lit the slayer's face as she shut her eyes and turned away from the bright flash of the self-destructing demon. When she opened them again he was gone. "Well hell, why didn't someone tell me he had a kill switch." She stood up clapping a hand over her injured leg and limped over to retrieve her fallen crossbow.
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Willow moaned as she rolled over away from the direction the hit had come from to fuzzily see the warlock casually approach. Still a bit disoriented, she tried to focus, concentrate on clearing her head. Zorichov stopped and squatted down next to her. "You know, I am quite disappointed. I was hoping for more of a challenge from the witch that nearly incinerated the world and then later called forth a Slayer army." He tisked. "Oh well might as well just get this over with." Red and Gold energy crackled between his fingers as he reached a right hand for Willow's face.
Willow's hands quickly caught the warlock's forearm, preventing him from touching her. A surge of power shot up both arms raising the temperature of what the witch touched.
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Zorichov screamed as first his sleeve, then his flesh was burned filling the air with a pungent smell. Instinctively he jumped back pulling out of the grasp so hard that he fell backwards.
Having recovered from her disorientation, Willow rose to her feet and looked down at the warlock who held his severely burned arm close to his chest. She could see fragments of charred skin and meat dangling loose from the appendage. "Is that what you were hoping for?"
The sound of the garage door on the farthest end of the maintenance bay opening distracted the witch giving the injured man an opportunity to awkwardly back crawl away from her. "They're slipping out the other side headed for the cars." She radioed to the soldiers. "If you come around the West end you can cut them off before they get away."
She never understood the response as the limo's engine roared to life and its tires spun leaving heavy tread marks as it backed away and turned sharply to face the exit; it's headlights lighting up the magical battle between it and escape.
"Run her down!" Victoria venomously ordered from the front passenger seat. Ricardo shifted into drive and slammed on the gas.
The Wicca faced the oncoming car. "Turn!" she commanded. To Ricardo's surprise the steering wheel in his hands jerked hard to the left causing the car to swerve around the human obstacle accordingly. He was able to regain control only after he missed his target. Deciding it was better to get away, he aimed the car for the exit while Willow's gaze followed the fleeing car continue its escape over her shoulder.
Just then, Team Two came around the building and opened fire trying to stop the getaway car.
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Team One burst from the same door they had earlier entered just in time to see the sparks that flew as the bullets bounced off the apparently armored vehicle.
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Willow turned her attention back to Zorichov who was just now getting to his feet. Without hesitation he unleashed a stream of fire from his good hand.
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From the corner of the bay, Kennedy watched the woman she loved become engulfed. "NOOOOO!"
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Daniel, Jack, Teal'c, and the other soldiers whirled at the sound of the slayer's scream and watched the horrific sight of flames swallowing their new friend.
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The young soldiers stationed at the main gate stood in the center of the driveway with their rifles raised and fired through the chain-linked fence at the speeding limo barreling toward them and once again the bullets bounced of the windshield and hood. Realizing they weren't going to stop the vehicle, the soldiers jumped out of the way managing to escape being hit as it crashed through the flimsy material that made up the gate and continued on its way to the main road.
Victoria turned back around in her seat with a big smile. "Take a left once we get to the street and head to the ---. LOOK OUT!!!" Ricardo turned his head looking out his window to see an eighteen-wheeler speeding right for them.
Inside the rig's cab, Andrew reached up and blew the air horn before gripping the wheel with both hands. Bracing for impact he turned his head with eyes shut tight and let out a high-pitched "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
The big truck ploughed into the left front fender with a loud metallic crash causing the limo to violently spin ninety degrees to the right, stopping when the back fender collided with the right side of the rig that crash was accompanied by the sound of the rig's air brakes.