Damage Control

by Eric Alan Williams

  Commander Dolenigan spoke loudly. “Hammond Smith, Xairin Thunder, you both will be going with Sentinel team 203. You will find their bunk underground. Gather your things, and report to your new station. Look at your armbands you received when you got here, it will automatically adjust and provide a personal GPS to your designated areas.”

  “Understood!” Xairin said while Hammond nodded.

  Xairin and Hammond walked side by side, Hammond not saying a word. Xairin felt it best to say something to break the ice. “I’m Xairin.” He stopped and extended his hand. Hammond had a soft grip.

  “Hammond.”

  “So, looks like we're going to be on the same team, what made you decide to become a sentinel?”

  Hammond kept looking forward. “I would rather not talk about it.”

  Xairin found that reply odd. He guessed the man wasn’t a talker, that or just didn’t like people asking him questions. All Xairin wanted to do was get to know someone that he would be fighting alongside with. He knew that his nestmate Griffin was being assigned to 203, Xairin had already known that, and was told to keep it to himself. Ethan didn’t want it getting out that strings had been pulled.

  The two kept walking. Hammond keeping quiet while Xairin seemed more and more intrigued. He wanted to know more about his team. Xairin was nervous, excited, and a bit scared. Deep down, he just wanted some kind of reassurances, that and getting to know other people surely would help take the edge off the possibility of dying on the job.

  It took longer than Xairin expected to make it to the underground tunnels beneath the island’s camps. It was like a stone labyrinth, a labyrinth without the fighting that is. It was old, hand carved in centuries past. Most of it was being refurbished and updated. The torches had been replaced with flickering light bulbs, giving the old-world charm, but in reality, everything was powered by either wind or solar here. Most of the island was powered by wind turbines.

  After twenty minutes of exploring. Hammond and Xairin found a large room two hundred feet underground. It had a common area, and a meeting table running the length of the room made of stone with several adjoining rooms branched off of it. Xairin immediately counted the chambers that branched off, each one hidden by a silky tan curtain. Twenty-six...

  It didn't take long for Xairin to count the rooms, and the people already in the chamber, twenty-three were present.

  He noticed Griffin right off. He was surprised to Alex was here too. He had been reassigned. Xairin noticed the red-eyed vampire Parker Roark was here also. “Guess he left the GA military? He thought... Xairin didn’t care for him much the way he acted in quarantine, but at least he was a soldier that he knew was capable.

  Counting himself, Xairin counted 12 men and 11 women in this ragtag team. Each seemed to have their personal contributions. The one he was most curious about, was the leader of this team, Helena Dolenigan.

  Xairin already knew which team he was going to be in thanks to strings that Ethan had pulled. Knowing Griffin was in team 203, he did some reading on Helena while he was training over the past week when time allowed for it. He knew that she was from House Dracul and was once a former bride of Dracula himself. The woman was resourceful, deadly, and given her age, he knew she had to be powerful.

  Helena was a headstrong and vibrant woman. She stood out among his teammates. Not just because of her perfect blond curls, or her red uniform with four crescent moons on her shoulders, but her powerful aura permeated strength, leadership, and the potency of her being. Based on Xairin’s reading in the Society files, he knew that Helena was converted by Vlad Tepes in 1543, one of three women, three sisters that Vlad had taken a liking too, Helena was the middle child. In contrast to the other two sisters, Helena apparently at some point grew tired of Vlad eyeing other women. It listed her as an early emerging alpha due to resisting her maker. That led Xairin to realize she managed to break the mental bonds an Alpha hold over their underlings, which allowed her to evolve into an Alpha on her own. This left Xairin feeling a bit more assured. He knew he had a strong leader, leading this team.

  Helena noticed Xairin and Hammond standing on the steps. They didn't look lost, or at least Xairin didn't. Hammond just looked uncomfortable, while Xairin had hints of being anxious. She waved her hand, motioning them over to her. Xairin went first.

  She eyed them. “Xairin, and Hammond?”

  Both men nodded.

  “Welcome to the team. Let’s get the introductions underway, we have a lot to go over.” She cleared her throat. “Attention 203! Line up!”

  It didn’t take long for that to happen. Helena put her hands in front of Hammond and Xairin, keeping them up front. Xairin figured it was for introductions.”

  “Everyone, we finally have our new vampire, and our Thylan werewolf we’ve been waiting for.” They all sniffed, quickly realizing who Hammond was. His scent was distinctly different from other werewolf tribes. His breed had a stronger musky smell. “Hammond here is going to assist us with our first team mission…”

  Xairin interrupted. “Wait, we have a mission already?”

  Xairin wasn’t expecting that so soon. His heart skipped a few beats. All this work to get onto a team so that more advanced training would be in order, it never occurred to him that he would have a mission so soon.

  Helena held her head high as she prepared the rest of her speech. “Mr. Thunder, Mr. Smith, welcome to Damage Control.” Xairin and Hammond looked at each other. She then turned her attention to the rest of the room, making sure to return contact with the two new recruits. “All of the Sentinel Teams, with designations, 180-229, are officially part of Project Damage Control. To put it bluntly, Mr. Thunder and Mr. Smith, If something causes damage to Society reputation, we are sent in… We will control it, by any means necessary. First and foremost, we will be using our new Thylan here to help track down the beast responsible for making more like himself. After that, we will be joining a joint effort with another matter altogether…”

  She looked at the rest of the team. “Mr. Thunder here had the highest takedown count the academy has seen thus far. I would think we can expect a lot from this one.” She then looked at Hammond. “You were plucked early, for that I apologize, but we need a Thylan Mr. Smith for our first op.”

  She looked at the others gathered. “Any questions thus far?”

  Alex was the first to raise his hand. Xairin noticed him, Alex noticed Xairin, then acknowledged the hot blond beauty leading the team.

  “Commander Dolenigan, what is the second OP? I was only aware of one mission.”

  “Assistant Commander Fifer, good question.” She looked around. “This is hush intel 203, I expect this to stay within these walls, understood?” She looked at Xairin and Hammond. “You two, join the line, will you?”

  She waited till everyone nodded and Xairin and Hammond were lined up with the rest. Xairin crossed his arms, looking more curious than usual. He expected things to go quickly, but a mission already. Not to mention a second one. That was a bit more than he thought he had signed on for being a newbie.

  “As many of you know, an Adjudicator was appointed recently to handle Society and Human relations, as well as oversee certain Society functions…. What you don’t know is that The Immortium Conclave has made their first move.” A few murmurs started, she waited until that settled. Xairin’s heart began to pound. He knew being in the Sentinel program could be dangerous, but wasn’t expecting combat like this so quickly, nor was he expecting what was coming next.

  “Lord Dracul and Queen Lilith have been abducted by the Conclave…”

  Gasps resounded within the walls. Xairin’s eyes almost bulged.

  “Without an heir to the Immortium throne for the Society of Night, the Council, elected to appoint an Adjudicator. This appointment was not fully accepted by all council members. As many of you know, this is a slippery slope. Given that Lilith had no heirs, some of the council were less than pleased when the majority opted to save their queen and appoint an Ad
judicator instead of appointing a new Monarchy. I would wager, that resistance to the Adjudicator's appointment, is imminent. So, this is time sensitive 203. We will be joining teams 180-210 in an assault, on what is guessed to be the holding location of Lord Dracul and Queen Lilith.”

  Griffin rolled his eyes as he looked at Xairin. Xairin noticed it.

  Commander Dolenigan looked at Griffin. “Mr. Giovanni, since you and Mr. Thunder are nestmates, I will assume you will take him under your wing and make sure he knows his place in our two operations.” She looked at Alex. “Mr. Fifer, you will be taking Mr. Smith. Brief them as best you can, we leave in four hours to go and play dog catcher. And I repeat, dog catching is the keyword. They want the thylacine that escaped Bastion City’s zoo captured alive per human requests, no butts, no huffs. Got it?”

  She looked around. “Gear up. Dismissed.”

  Griffin made a V-line for Xairin and pulled him off to the side, far away from the others. Xairin’s face was drained of color.

  “Are you okay?”

  Xairin shook his head. “I just got assigned, and now I'm going into battle, not just one fight, but two, and oh, by the way, the second battle is against the Conclave? And they have my…” Griffin put his hands over Xairin’s mouth. He eyed Xairin, the look on his face gave clear intent to him keeping his mouth shut on that facet of truth.

  “Look, you stay with me got it? Just like Ethan wanted, and just like Commander Dolenigan said. You stay with me, under my wings. Understood?”

  Helena was facing the others but had her sonar locked on Griffin and Xairin. She noticed the gag order. “My sister must be onto something.” She thought.

  The room divided into groups, most of which were concerned with their specific partnerships and tasks. Helena moved silently behind a curtain and focused her ears solely on Griffin and Xairin. She wasn’t about to attempt pulling if she didn’t have to like her sister requested. If she could hear it for herself, that would be good enough for her.

  Xairin stood there listening to Griffin and huffed. “Fine... What exactly is our part in this?”

  Griffin sighed. “Only the front line, intel gathering, things like that.”

  Xairin smirked. “Great…”

  Griffin looked at his nestmate with rolling eyes. “Hey, you wanted to join up, Ethan tried to find you an out but guess what, that’s not happening...”

  Xairin was on edge with that remark, even if Ethan could pull it off, that would have required a Queen’s pardon, which meant some serious explaining on Xairin’s behalf. Plus, with the news of the Queen of the Night being captured, it didn’t bode well. “Griffin, like that would even matter at all now. I mean, he would have to go to Lilith for that, right? And besides, I did this, I wanted to join up.”

  “Oh…” The Brazilian vampire said as he stood there rubbing his chin. “I suppose you’re right on that.”

  Griffin got it together. “Okay, let's talk about your part in this, okay?”

  Xairin nodded.

  “No matter what, I go in first, and if the shit kicks it up a notch, you fall back, understood? You’re far too valuable to be lost, that and Ethan would have my heart in his claws in a second if I failed him, so either way, I go in first, got it?”

  Xairin felt like he had a handle on things given the pull he received back at the mansion from the other nestmates, and with the week in training, he was feeling confident enough to nodded. “Sure, I have your back.”

  “I mean it Xairin. I want you using your biosonar at all times so that you remain aware of our surroundings. I will be relying on you to keep me alive as I go first. Consider it a lesson in using your powers. Keep your echolocation running, while I focus on other elements as we go into any situation first, got it?”

  Xairin nodded. “Sure, but what about fighting?”

  Griffin frowned. “If I can’t handle it, then yeah, you will have no choice, but until you get the go-ahead from me, you stay on biosonar detail.”

  “So where is this first operation anyhow?”

  Griffin pulled Xairin into another room filled with gear. He started packing his backpack with several small handguns, he liked his options. Helena continued to stay close by, leaning against a wall with her head tilted to the side, homing in on any conversations the two might have.

  Griffin looked at Xairin as he started loading the ammo, then pressed a key on his own armband which displayed a holographic record of the current orders. “Looks like a forest several miles outside of Bastion City. Agent Fifer and that new wolf breed will be with you and me, you let me, and Fifer take point while the new guy uses his senses to see if he can locate the creature that bit him.”

  Griffin picked up a small marble looking device and walked over to Xairin. He grabbed Xairin’s arm gently and brought it to eye level. Griffin took the onyx-colored device and pressed a button on the side of Xairin’s armband. He inserted it in a compartment that opened up and exchanged it out with the previous one present. “This is some new tech. It is a power source and an enhanced projector capable of producing Holographic armor that can solidify. It has a messy red texture, but it can stop most energy blasts. Silver bullets and biological matter can get through it. They are still working out that part.”

  :” How does it work?” Xairin asked.

  Griffin frowned. “I was expecting something simple and less tacky, like pressing a button. Just say armor, on. It will detect your vibrations and activate.”

  Xairin decided to test it out. “Armor, on!”

  It looked like pixels flowing from his armband, red pixels that covered his chest. It added an extra layer of protection. Xairin turned to look in a mirror in the gear room. The armor had a few spikes and outlined his body decently. The surrounding of the neck had a red glow. “What’s up with the neckline?”

  Griffin walked over as he inserted the holoprojector into his own band. “Armor On! Activate helmet!” The red ring around the neck grew, covering Griffin’s face. He reminded Xairin of a superhero in the way it formed to the face. “Helmet Off!” It vanished just as quickly.

  Xairin looked at Griffin. “That’s pretty nifty!” He then tilted his head. “Alex is on our team? You know, he was the guy that was doing the protection detail when I was still living in my apartment.” Xairin felt some relief in that at least. Knowing that Alex was on the front line also and working with him and Griffin comforted him. He figured a badass Beta werewolf and a badass Beta vampire taking point would give him a buffer if it got bad while in the woods, but he had to admit to himself he was unsure how it would go when fighting other Immortium afterward. Sure, he did well in the labyrinth, but this was different.

  “Alex is an asset. Just say close and stay behind me.”

  He considered what Griffin had said. He knew it was best for now until he was actually used to more combat operations. He relented. “Okay, I'm your sonar guy. I promise, no heroics, and when you give me the signal, that’s when I will act.”

  Inside Xairin’s body, his blood was racing through his veins and arteries. It was as if his body was preparing itself for battle. His tissues were becoming denser as they anticipated what was about to happen. He even felt his claws hardening. He looked at his nails. They hadn’t elongated yet but could feel the strength in them bolstering quickly. It was an odd sensation, to say the least. He felt as if he could punch a hole in a tank at that moment. “Is this Immortium adrenals acting up again?” He wondered.

  Helena considered everything she had heard thus far. She reflected heavily on Griffin saying how important Xairin was, and the fact that Ethan wanted Griffin to keep him safe and out of combat if possible. If Xairin really was the great-grandson of Dracula and Lilith, Helena needed to be one hundred percent sure now. She wasn’t going to pull from Griffin, he was experienced and would know it. She decided to pull from Xairin but sneakily, to say the least. She reached out with her mind, lightly and attempted to speak to his blood, allowing her own cells to link with his. She simply willed the q
uestion, “Are we of the same blood?” Her eyes widened when his blood answered back. “We are…”

  Xairin felt lightheaded for a second and grasped the table. Griffin looked at him funny. “You okay?”

  Xairin nodded. “Yeah, just felt dizzy for a second. Guess it’s the adrenaline pumping.”

  Helena kept her focus as she leaned against the stone wall, her cheek pressing against the cold rock. “Show me?’ She willed her cells to ask.

  Xairin and Helena both had a brief vision of overlooking a battlefield. Hundreds of men in chainmail armor, leather armor, and various colors were impaled upon pikes sticking up from the ground. Helena gasped, Xairin looked down at the table. Xairin saw what his great grandfather had been famous for. He felt an overwhelming sense of achievement in that moment and the reasoning for it. Vlad wanted to send a message to the Turks, a bold statement of fear. He wanted his enemies to fear the fate that awaited them should they challenge him or invade his homeland. It was the only thing he knew that could protect his people, sometimes people feared monsters, not men, and the message his grandfather sent was just that. Xairin gasped. As for Helena, she turned her cheek away from the rocky wall and looked forward. Ethan wasn’t the only one that wanted to keep Xairin safe now.