Previous Story: 60. The Purge Script - Part 1

The Red Dragons had gathered at the secret base beneath Chen Office Supplies. Lady Rose made a last adjustment to her hair in the restroom mirror, then entered the storeroom they used for meetings. With two men on guard duty – one underground, one on the street – she knew the location was secure. All her key personnel were present and already seated: Little Jenny, Rhino, Gudu, Fei and H3x. Lady Rose sat in her own chair, which was covered in best Italian black leather.

‘Good evening. As some of you know, three days ago Fei and H3x penetrated the area around the Auto Technology Solutions building, headquarters of our … local competitors. They seem like a bunch of misfits but they’re clearly capable, well-armed and well-connected. I want to know what they know. Under the cover of a raid, we’re going to plant a wireless tap – to monitor their future activities. Thanks to the surveillance devices planted by Fei and H3x around the building’s exterior, we are now in a position to strike. Gudu has developed a plan of attack.’

At a nod from Rose, Gudu stood and faced the others alongside her. Rose felt that she had the potential to be more than a thuggish enforcer and was confident about giving her responsibility. Even so, the Indonesian warrior looked and sounded slightly nervous.

‘Thanks to Fei and H3x, we have some idea about their defenses, which are run via a wireless security system. H3x can hack that at any time and disable locks, alarms and other systems. Rhino and I will lead a frontal assault with four men.  Their main network of computers is isolated from the wireless so we’ll need a physical access point – this is where Fei comes in. She will enter the rear covertly and install a wireless tap on one of their main data cables. Our aim is to move quickly – perhaps seize something valuable to convince them it was just a raid – and ensure the tap is planted before we leave.’

Lady Rose gave an approving nod. ‘The key is the tap but don’t be afraid to use lethal force. If anyone gets in your way, take them out.’

------

The following night, Gudu found herself hurrying through San Lazaro’s darkened streets, an unfamiliar weapon in her hand. Though still armed with her klewang and curved knife, she also carried an assault rifle like Rhino and the other four men. The main team were also equipped with body armor they had liberated from an abandoned police truck. The five men lined up behind her as she halted in the shadowy alley opposite the ATS building. Gudu reached for her radio.

‘Assault in position.’

‘Infil in position,’ answered Fei.

‘Base, please confirm that security systems are disabled.’

‘Confirmed,’ said H3x.

‘We’re going in.’ Gudu clicked the rifle safety off and stepped out of the alley.

------

‘Here they come,’ said Lucky, looking down at the street as the enemy gunmen approached the front entrance. Not for the first time, he was glad to be with such a capable group. Just ten minutes earlier, Artemis had announced that a silent alarm had been triggered. Someone had hacked the wireless security system. It was an advanced piece of malware that would be hard to eradicate but at least they had some warning. The sonic traps, auto-tasers and alert sirens had all been disabled but Seeker had swiftly rigged up a nice low-tech surprise for anyone that came through the front door. She had just returned to the second floor and now set herself up at a window to Lucky’s left. Gadget was to his right.

‘Ready here,’ replied Artemis over the intranet coms channel. She was downstairs with Thug, Sergiy and Ranger, tasked with defending the front door.

Lucky wasn’t concerned about the rear entrance to ATS. More of the Survivalists were stationed there and the door was fitted with a state-of-the-art manual lock unaffected by the hack.

‘They’re all across the street,’ he added. ‘This is it.’

------

Gudu threw the frag grenade herself. It bounced once, then nestled in the doorway before exploding. When the smoke cleared, she saw that most of the door had been blown away.

‘With me!’ Once at the doorway, she and Rhino paused for a moment. With no sign of resistance, Gudu stepped over the bottom of the shattered door. She was readying a stun grenade when her left boot caught on something. Moments later, a net fell from the roof and she found herself entangled. Stumbling over, she lurched into the wall and dropped her rifle.

‘Watch it!’ spat Rhino as he tripped over her and hit the floor.  

Suddenly Gudu could see flashlight beams ahead. Fortunately, Rhino had recovered himself. Once back on his feet, he sprayed bullets along the corridor, shattering one of the lights. Hearing cries from behind her, Gudu pulled the net off and turned to see one of the men fall to the ground. When she saw a blue spark and air distortion as another gunman was hit, she knew someone was using kinetic pulse arrows. All in all, this frontal assault was not going well. Instead of picking up her rifle, she tapped her coms implant.

‘Fei, you in?’

‘I’m in. The door was a piece of cake. Just keep them busy for a minute. That’s all I need.’

Gudu recovered her gun and stood beside Rhino. There was no sense going further in if Fei could be done that quickly. Rhino was reloading so Gudu raised her rifle. Aiming at the shadowy figures lurking behind the flashlights, she pulled the trigger.  

------

Lucky put down his bow and called Artemis. ‘How you doing down there?’

‘The trap slowed them down but they’ve got a lot of firepower.’

‘We’ve taken out three of the four outside. Shall we come down and reinforce?’

‘Don’t worry, Sergiy’s working on something.’

------

With her magazine empty, Gudu left Rhino to it. He seemed to be doing a very good job of keeping the defenders pinned down at the other end of the corridor. She retreated a couple of steps and looked out at the street. All four of the men were now down.

‘Idiots.’ She called Fei again. ‘Please tell me you’re on your way out.’

‘I am. Morons will never even know I was there.’

‘Glad to hear it.’

Gudu tapped Rhino on the shoulder. ‘Time to leave.’

Unsurprisingly, the big man insisted on emptying his magazine before withdrawing alongside her. When he saw their compatriots, Rhino shook his head in disbelief.

‘Leave them,’ said Gudu dismissively, already on her way.  

They had taken only a few steps when she heard something land behind them. Then came a loud blast that unleashed shards of glass and a wave of flame. Gudu and Rhino dove for cover behind a nearby car.

Once the heat faded, they both sprang to their feet. Having calmly registered that his beloved jacket was on fire, Rhino swiftly put it out with one gloved hand. 

‘Molotov cocktail,’ said Gudu, glad to find she had sustained no serious damage. ‘Basic but effective. Let’s get out of here.’

They took off at a run.

------

Lucky turned from the window and let out a sigh of relief. ‘Nice going, guys. They won’t be trying that again in a hurry. But somebody get Ranger to put that fire out. We don’t want it spreading.’

------

Gudu and Rhino met up with Fei at a nearby corner then continued on towards their base.

‘Four men down,’ said Gudu. ‘I hope it was worth it.’

‘Oh, it was worth it,’ said Fei. ‘The tap is working – we’re already transferring data. Anything they know, we know.’

Next Story: 62. Whiskey in a Bottle