I did as she said and his hand flexed open. I continued my conversation with the general as she took an inside-out rubble glove and carefully put it on his hand, slotting each of the fingers, and then rolling the rest of it down over everything.
"Yes, it has already wiped out several cities and killed thousands. You're the only people with the weapon we know of, so here we are."
"You lie! We've had no reports of any of the monsters appearing anywhere! And if they had, all you would have to do is tell us and we would destroy if for you!"
"We are not from this world, General," Suzona said and taking out a hair dryer she started heating up the glove.
"What kind of kooks are you?" He said looking back and forth between us. "Not of this world?"
"Where do you think the gojira came from?" I asked him. "It's not natural to this world, and your regular weapons had little to no effect."
"It came from someplace deep inside the earth. Some sort of ancient mutant creature!"
I shook my head and watched as Suzona set down the dryer and started to carefully peel off the glove. I applied pressure to the point she'd shown, making sure he didn't move his hand and ruin her work, causing him to grunt.
"No, they're from another plane, another reality if you will. Think of it as the underworld if you want. Sometimes gates open, or become unblocked, and things come through them."
"Preposterous!"
Suzona got the glove all the way off then; once again it was inside out. It looked like a coating of skin was attached to it now however. She carefully set it in a small container she'd made and closed the lid.
"Done," She said.
"Off with you then," I told her, "oh, that box by the door is for you."
Suzona nodded and left the room as I secured the general's arm to the chair and stuck a gag in his mouth.
"Believe what you want, when we take the device there will undoubtedly be evidence that we are what we say we are. Understand that we will try to do as little damage and kill as few people as possible, but our world is being destroyed and we will do whatever we must do, to save it."
I got up and left the room, going back out to where Evean was holding down the fort.
"How long until Suzona gets there?" I asked.
"About five minutes, she took your car and left us the keys to the base commander's car."
I nodded, and made a few rounds of the place as Evean fielded a phone call.
Six minutes later, the call we were waiting for came in. We had forged orders for all of us, it wasn't all that hard to do, but we knew that Suzona's orders would be verified when she got there.
"Base operations," Evean said picking up the phone.
"Yes, Sergeant Susoke's orders are correct, she is a new transfer and this is her first day reporting for duty." Evean said replying to some question.
"No, that won't be necessary; she is not cleared into the sub-vault, just the outside areas. Yes, I can confirm that."
She listened another minute.
"We have a new technician I'll be sending over shortly, would you like me to send confirmation orders for both of them with her?"
"Okay, fine, I'll update the logs and find out why you were not notified."
Evean hung up the phone. "It's good, let's go."
We left the building, sealing the doors behind us. We weren't sure how long we had until someone realized there was a problem there, but it should be more than enough to get to the bunker.
I drove over to where we had told Loomis to wait, then I got out of the car, and Evean drove on as I opened the driver's door.
"Slide over, I'll drive," I told him.
"I can drive it," He said giving me a look.
"It has to be backed up to the loading dock, you know that. You just learned this morning how to drive; do you really think you can do it well enough not to rouse any suspicions?" I said looking at him.
I had my right hand in my pocket, if he said no, or gave me a moment of grief I was going to just shoot him in the head and be done with him. Sure it would make things tougher, but we no longer had time for any games.
Loomis sighed and slid over, so I climbed up into the driver's seat, put it in gear and drove. When I got to the gate for the bunker the guard looked at me surprised.
"Tam? Why the hell are you driving?"
"They gave me a buck private from the motor pool," I grumbled as I handed over the orders we forged. "I'm too short to trust my fat ass to kid who hasn't started shaving yet."
The guard just laughed, glanced at the orders, then handed them back to me and waved us through.
"What did you say to that guard?" Loomis asked, looking annoyed after we had pulled away.
"I told him I was too close to retirement to trust a new recruit to drive the truck. Master Sergeants are supposed to complain about everything. So he laughed at the expected complaint and just waved us through."
"And you know this because?"
"Family," I said. "It's universal. Ask the senior people in your own army when you get home."
Loomis nodded, but didn't look any more pleasant.
I regretted not shooting him already.
The bunker complex was fairly simple, a fenced in area with a road the led to the front of six bunkers spaced a hundred feet apart. Each of the bunkers looked like a large single bay garage that had dirt and earth piled over it. There were concrete walls coming out at an angle from the doors, and there was a large loading dock in front of the door. There was also a short stairway up to a guard station, which Evean was currently checking into.
I turned the truck and slowly backed up to the dock. There was a small parking lot with a dozen cars in it across from the six bunkers. Those were for the guards and the people working inside. The first bunker and the third bunker housed the Okishijen Desootoria devices. We'd learned, from what Isengruer had gotten out of the real Tam's mind, that only two devices were assembled and ready to go at any time.
Other weapons, and the parts to make more, were stored in the other bunkers. None of the bunkers were connected to the other, and each was fifty feet below ground. What we were backing up to, was only the entrance to an elevator.
"Go around to the back of the truck, unload everything, and remember, the big box is supposed to be heavy, wait until I send someone over to help you with it," I told Loomis, and then opening the door I slid out of the truck.
The guard looked up and saw me, stopped whatever he was saying to Evean, waved her through and then waved me forward.
I walked up and handed him the orders. Tam didn't know this guard, so I wasn't worried about him figuring out I wasn't Tam.
"ID please, Sergeant."
I handed it over and he compared it to the orders quickly.
"What do they need this stuff for?" He asked me.
I shrugged, "Beats me. They just asked for a recoilless rifle. Probably some idiot thinks they can use it to launch one of their devices."
The guard shook his head, "Sounds crazy."
"Well just to be safe, I rendered it all inert back at the armory. They may be smart, but I'm not sure I trust them with things that go boom."
"Sure thing, Sergeant."
"Hey, do you have a cart or someone who can help carry that thing? It's heavy and I don't want to break my private. They keep telling me that they have a limited supply of those things."
The guard laughed. "There's a cart inside the doorway, Sergeant. Good luck."
"Thanks," I nodded and went through the regular door next to the larger garage sized door, and sure enough, there was a cart there. I hit the switch to roll up the door and pushed the cart out to the back of the truck once it was clear.
We loaded the cart and I pushed it through the door and onto the large lift, and hit the button to lower the door.
Once it was down I set the bolts on both of the doors, and jammed them in place, to slow anyone from outside coming in.
"This is easy," Loomis muttered.
I press
ed the button on the lift to lower it to the bottom.
"Not for much longer," I said.
When we got to the bottom, we were in small area just big enough for the lift, with a staircase to the side. There was a large six-foot square door in front of us, with a thick piece of armored glass next to it. There was a sergeant sitting behind the glass, looking more interested in Suzona, who was sitting next to him, than in me and Loomis.
I walked up tapped on the glass getting his attention and put my orders into the metal tray he then rolled out to us, looking a little embarrassed. He pulled back in, much like a bank tellers and pulled the orders out and looked them over.
"I haven't been told anything about this," He said leaning over to speak into a microphone which rebroadcast his words to us.
I shrugged, "I just got told to do this, this morning."
"I don't think I can let you in, without confirmation from the base commander," he said and started to reach for the phone, which was when Suzona slugged him, knocking him out cold. She reached over and turned something on the panel before him and ran out of the room, moving at obviously accelerated speeds.
The door was halfway open, when it stopped and started to close.
"Inside!" I said and grabbing the recoilless ammo I tossed that through the door, and then I grabbed the container with the rifle and dragged it off the cart and through the doorway.
Loomis was smart enough to grab the other bag. Once inside I dropped the container and took the bag from Loomis and quickly ripped it open and pulled out the two carbines. I handed him one, took the other, and grabbed one of the bandoliers of magazines and ran inside.
Suzona and Evean had subdued several people, but there was a red light flashing by the doorways now.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Someone triggered the alarm," Evean said. "From here on, it will be a fight to get inside."
"How did that happen?" Loomis asked.
"They had a video monitor watching the front guard," Suzona said. "The saw me knock him out, and then overrode the door controls."
"At least we didn't have to take out that window," I said nodding back towards the guard's station and handing my carbine to Evean.
"How many more people are inside?" I asked going back to the recoilless rifle container and opening it up.
"Six," Suzona said.
"Loomis, you're with me," Evean said taking the carbine and the ammunition from me. "Suzona, Will, bind these people, then follow us."
We both nodded and they jogged off.
It only took us a minute to tie everyone up, then I kicked off my shoes and shifted into my champion form, pretty much destroying my uniform and picked up the recoilless rifle while Suzona shifted and got the ammunition.
I looked at a couple of the bound people who had regained consciousness and that were now staring at me rather wide-eyed. Suzona didn't really look different enough to attract attention with me there.
"I'm not from around here," I smiled at them, and then we left to follow Evean.
We caught up with them rather quickly, we were at the next guard station, Evean and Loomis were tying up two more guards. I could see both Evean and Loomis had been wounded, as there was now blood on their clothing, but neither was still wounded of course, having healed themselves already.
"Four more to go," Suzona said.
"And one more barricade," I said and hefted up the recoilless again.
Evean led the way into the next section, which was a long six-foot wide corridor, with a guard station and a sealed door at the end of it. This was really the last section.
"I suggest you surrender," Evean called down the corridor.
The response from the guards was simply gunfire.
"You're up, Will," She said ducking back around the doorway at this end.
I nodded and set the gun down on its stand, "Hand me a round, Suzona."
Suzona passed one forward and I loaded the chamber. "Stand back, open your mouths, cover your ears," I warned. Then I picked the rifle up, moved into the doorway, I took aim at the heavy metal reinforced door at the far end of the corridor. Aiming about a third of the way down from the top of the door to the left of the its centerline, I fired a round down the corridor at it.
They had started firing at me as soon as I stood out into the open of course, and I got hit twice, but the explosion when the round hit the door stunned them, if it hadn't knocked them unconscious.
I stood back in cover.
"Round please," I said setting the gun down and opening the chamber. Suzona handed me another one, and I put it in the breech and sealed the chamber. Picking it back up I moved into the doorway again. There were a couple more shots fired, but nothing even came close this time. I aimed about a third up from the bottom this time, again to the left of the centerline and pulled the trigger and hit the door again.
Nobody was moving now down at the other end of the hallway.
I just set the gun down where it was and reopened the breech.
"Round," I said and taking what Suzona handed me, I loaded, picked it up, and aiming dead center of the door I fired a third shot.
This time the door blew open, the first two shots having taken out two of the three crossbars holding the door in place.
I cast a cure on myself, more to fix my ringing ears than because of the two bullet wounds.
"Loomis, bring up the rear," Evean ordered and moved forward. I noticed she had the pistol in her hands now, and was letting the rifle hang on her back.
I picked up the recoilless rifle and carried it in my left hand; I had the pistol out in my right. When we got to the blown in doorway I looked at the two guards to either side. I couldn't tell if they were dead or unconscious.
"Save your heals until we have the device," Evean warned loudly. "We may need them for ourselves first."
I nodded and sighed; I set the rifle down just inside the destroyed doorway, and then followed Evean carefully around the wall that was just past the doorway.
Down another short hallway and then we came into the last room, where the weapon was stored. There were two people passed out on the floor, with blood coming from their ears and noses. I suspect the shock wave from the armor piercing rounds had probably messed them up.
"Tie them up, Will." Evean said, and then raised her voice, "Suzona! You're on!"
I moved them out of the way, and secured their arms and legs, and then watched as Suzona stopped at the final wall. There was a palm scanner on the wall, which was the first lock we had to get past.
She took out the glove she had made and carefully set it down. She first sprayed something all over her hand, and then put a drop of glue on each fingertip of the glove; next she attached those to each of her own. Once that was done, she carefully worked the glove over her hand with Evean's help. After a minute of waiting, Evean took a razorblade and carefully cut the glove into pieces, peeling each of them off slowly.
Then Suzona put her hand on the scanner.
I watched as a line slowly moved down her hand, on the other side of the panel. When it got to the bottom, a large metal panel in the wall popped open, exposing a large keyboard and a screen. This was the hard part, no one on base knew the command to unlock the door, normally it would be called in from their central command.
Once Suzona started trying to hack it, if the alarms weren't already going off all over the base, they would start.
"Will, check the guard's station," Evean told me as Suzona started typing. "Loomis, go check the first door!"
I went to the guard's station; unfortunately the monitor there was cracked and no longer functioning from the shots from my breaking down the door.
"Wait here," Evean said to me as she went by, following Loomis. At this point the plan was clear: We hold off any attackers until Suzona got the last lock hacked. She was sure it wouldn't take her more than twenty minutes.
After that, I'd open a portal to Fel, as that was now the closest we could get to the monster w
ith Jane no longer here and everyone would go through.
I felt the ground shake under me for a moment, almost a minute later it shook again. I had no idea what it was, and figured it probably wasn't a very good sign. We really had no idea how they would try to retake the bunker, as Tam had no idea what the response would be. Five more times the ground shook, each of them about a minute apart, then it was quiet for about three. Then I felt a very faint rumbling and a loud grinding noise.
I turned to look through the doorway at Suzona; she was still typing away furiously and swearing in a foreign language. I went and got the ammo for the recoilless, I had three rounds left. I loaded one, and left the other two sitting by the rifle. Then I ran down the hallway and looked into the next section. I didn't see anything, but after a minute I started to hear sporadic gunfire.
When it started to draw closer I ran back and picked up the recoilless and looked back at Suzona, "Time's running out!" I called.
"I'm almost there!" She said.
I took aim down the hallway and waited. The gunfire was getting closer, and I was pretty sure I could hear Evean yelling to fallback. A minute later Loomis came running around the corner, and ran past me as Evean came around it next and followed. Just as she went by me, I pulled the trigger on the recoilless and sent a round down to the other end of the hallway, which punched through the wall there and went off with a nice explosion.
I dropped to my knees, and quickly reloaded and fired again.
"I got it!" I heard Suzona yell.
"Get up here and help me hold them off," Evean yelled, then turned to me, "Hand me that, and go get a portal open, Will."
I gave her the gun and standing up I ran around the wall and passing Suzona as she went to help Evean as I ran down the short hallway to the back room, where Loomis had the Okishijen Desootoria in one hand, and a handgun that I hadn't given him in the other.
"See you in a few weeks, bastard!" Loomis laughed and I kicked into high gear as he pulled the trigger.
Dodging to the side as he fired, I felt the bullet rip into the side of my face, tearing into my cheek and ripping it off as it deflected off my teeth as they shattered from the impact.
I started to reach for my pistol, but realized that if I missed and hit the device, then all of this would have been for nothing, so grabbing my walking stick instead, I pressed the indent on the side as threw it at him as hard as I could.
Portals of Infinity: Kaiju Page 22