Swamp Rats

Disclaimer: I own only this story and my original characters. The Watchers belong to Marcoasalazarm.

The Auctioneer Case
A Coreline Story
Part 4: Swamp Rats

SWAT Captain Logan Grey regarded the private jet that landed at the airfield of the massive compound in the back country of Florida with a frown. The Auctioneer was in place and New York was a success, except that SIU agents were likely under fire from mercenaries hired to take them out.

Logan turned to his second-in-command Seras Victoria, “Let’s go, time to start Operation Swamp Rat.” The woman nodded before the two power-armoured SWAT officers vanished back into the swamp.

The SWAT forces were set up alongside a Dynames Gundam and five RX-79G Mass Production Gundams in a swamp clearing several minutes away from the compound near the Suwannee River, the large machines hidden under camouflage netting as mechanics and their pilots went over checklists for the mission.

When Logan and Seras reappeared from the underbrush, activity paused before Logan nodded to confirm their unspoken question. The action resulted in the mecha jockeys switching from basic maintenance to getting their machines operational while the idling SWAT operatives began rushing to get on their ORC II power-armour and arm their plasma rifles.

The process took less that three minutes before the squads were fully equipped and ready to go as Logan brought up a map of the compound on their HUDS.

“Squad Able will be led by me; our job is to deny anti-air assets for the impending Jericho-N strike while Squad Baker under Seras goes to destroy the docked ships currently waiting for cargo, squad Charlie under Hellion will mark target for snipers and the 79G’s 120 mike-mike guns before supporting Squad Baker.”

He checked his chronometer in the silence, “Firefly should be cutting power to the compound in thirty.  I want us to move in position before the go-code is given in ten. Let’s move out.”

This time there was a quiet chorus of acknowledgement as the SWAT squads headed off into the swamps to their positions.

Far overhead, a radar plane with LAPD markings started the countdown to the operation that would deal with the Auctioneer once and for all as it monitored radio chatter across the compound.

For the crew of Oracle Five, this was going to be a show to remember.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In New Jersey, another memorable moment though for not so pleasant reasons was playing out as Deunan Knute-Worth fired off shots with her AK and her Desert Eagle against their pursuers while Anko was throwing kunai linked to explosive tags, the explosions shaking the area as the pair ran for a parking lot that was the designated evac point in case of emergencies.

The two SIU agents had no idea who their pursuers were and right now they didn’t care as Anko pulled out her D-5’s and began laying down a withering hail of hypersonic fire as the gauss pistols distinct *crack-snap* of rapid fire mixing with the staccato cracking of assault weapons and the whine of lasers.

“Command, ETA on that evac!”

“Pelican dropship Banehammer is incoming with Judge Flight 1. SIU Team One in enroute to provide reinforcements in the meantime, link up with them at the next warehouse junction.”

“Roger that Command! Anko, Team One will meet us at the next junction!” the kunoichi nodded as her guns continued firing before Deunan ducked as a missile streaked over her head and slammed into a stack of shipping containers, “Shit! Split up!”

Meanwhile, a pair of vans screeched to a halt as Anko reached the junction and met up with Team One. Harry took one look at the smoke behind the kunoichi and snarled and waved his hand to his team, who nodded and immediately began moving to find Deunan with Anko in tow.

Deunan breathed hard as she pressed up against a shipping container and checked her ammo. One of those bastards was tossing up AT field in support of his buddy, that meant she would need the Pariah Ammo if she wanted to get out of this mess and she checked the side-pack holding the powerful gel-bullets and nodded as she pulled out her father’s .45 Gover and loaded a gel clip into the gun and chambered a round. Now she was ready for them.

“Deunan! We’ve found a new place for the Pelican to evac us! Putting it on your Comm-link now!”  Deunan checked the watch-like device and noted the location of the new evac point before she heard a click and turned face to muzzle with an assault rifle.

Deunan grimaced as she considered her options.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Captain Logan Grey, the go-code is Cottonmouth. I repeat the go-code is Cottonmouth.”

“Roger that Command, Operation Swamp Rat is a go.” Logan transmitted the go-code and like ghosts the SWAT snipers readied their 20mm ‘Hammer’ Heavy Sniper Rifles with shredder ammo and took aim.

The subsonic shredder ammo loaded in the guns was essentially a canister round that would fly open and spray a wide area with razor-sharp fletchettes. The snipers took aim at the guard towers and fired, the guns making soft thuds that were not heard because of the distance but the results were visible enough as the guards in the towers vanished in sprays of red.

Seconds after that, the lights in the base went out and the sound of machinery halted entirely. Shadows began leaving the underbrush and as they reached the fence, high-powered laser cutters were put to work.

Within seconds the chain-link fence had a set of brand new holes as the SWAT Squads moved into the compound, Able to the mobile AA units set up around the base, Baker to the docks where the ships destined for Europe, Asia and other places were currently moored and waiting to be sunk.

And Charlie began moving towards the large hangers, intent on marking them as the first targets for the planned 120mm machinegun assault from the Gundams.

Logan glanced around, suit optics picking up the heat signatures of the guards as he flicked the safety off his plasma rifle and set it to stealth mode.

The guard near the AA battery was too busy trying to light a cigarette to notice the shadows approaching from behind when he turned as another guard called to him, “Hey Ralph!”

‘Ralph’ couldn’t even say a word as with a quiet hiss, his chest exploded in green flame. The other guard’s mouth dropped open in shock before a knife slammed into his skull and he dropped, his last sight that of a group of shadows beginning to disperse.

Seras regarded the moored ships with a sour expression as Baker Squad silently knifed the guards, dragging the bodies behind crates and barrels. Sighing, she began directing her men and women to begin planting the charges under the waterline of the cargo ships.

Meanwhile, Charlie Squad’s leader did not liking what he and his squad had just found. The seven-foot tall Chimeran Ravager growled several foul words behind his vocoder mask as he regarded the mecha inside the hangers.

“Fucking hell, how did this bastard manage to get his hands on all these Metal Gears?”

In front of the giant alien were Metal Gears in the interconnected hangers, TX-55’s, several D’s and no less than three REX’s were inside the facility. And all of them looked loaded for war.

Hellion didn’t waste any time as he hefted his Hellfire Cannon, “Get the markers planted on these things now! If they get activated, we are in big trouble.”

As his squad rushed to get the markers planted, Hellion knew that things were going to get very loud and confusing very soon and he didn’t want to be anywhere near these hangers when the Gundams opened fire.

Inside a luxurious living room as all this was going on separate from the compound’s electricity grid thanks to an independent generator, Thomas Crowley leaned back in the leather couch as the news showed footage of the destruction of his New York broadcast facility and the warehouse on the docks at New Jersey as well.

His operation was crumbling like a sandcastle at high tide and yet he was unconcerned as he patted the suitcase that contained the data for the Pariah Ammo. His LMD had failed to broadcast but he was secure in Florida in this private compound and he would soon be meeting with several interested buyers in a private villa in Venezuela for the information on Pariah Ammo.

“Looks like I still have time to retire and escape those lunatics in LA. They may have destroyed the core of my operation in New York, but I can vanish into South America once I meet the buyers.”

Suddenly there was a series of explosions, and the alarms began to sound out as one of the many mercenaries he had hired to guard this compound rushed in, “We have a problem, unknown hostiles just took out our air defence systems!”

Eye wide at the news, Crowley dashed to the window that overlooked the docks and watched in horror as explosions tore holes through the cargo ships, some of them carrying volatile cargo that detonated in massive secondary detonations.

And as men rushed out to the ships, shadows revealed themselves and opened fire with energy weapons, plasma he realized, before he spotted the four letters on the shoulder-pad of one shadow illuminated by the flames that chilled his heart.

Stenciled in block letters was the acronym L.A.P.D for everyone to see.

Crowley turned to the merc, “Get the plane ready, I’m leaving now. Get the heavy equipment out and waste those bastards!”

As the man ran out shouting orders, Crowley decided to check on the data disk that had the info that was the cause for this entire mess. His expression of hope however, turned to shock as he saw the blinking light on the disk and tossed the briefcase away before diving out the door as the disk exploded, shattering the windows of the private living area of the compound and drawing the attention of Seras and Baker Squad.

“Baker lead to Able lead, I have confirmation of the detonation of the bait. I repeat, confirmed detonation of the bait. Request permission to move in and secure the primary.”

“Permission granted, keep the channel open and stay frosty. Remember, our orders are to terminate upon confirmation.”

Seras said nothing as she motioned to her team and they began moving, blasting holes in the opposition with their high-powered plasma rifles as bullets bounced and skidded off their power-armour.

Inside the building, Crowley groaned as he picked himself up and checked for injuries. He wasn’t too badly hurt, just some cuts from flying wood and a nasty gash on his forehead but he was otherwise fine to escape.

The mercenary near him however, was a bloody mess that better resembled a pile of hamburger meat than a human being as Crowley yanked the OICW the merc had been holding out of shredded hands, ignoring the wet pops and tearing noises the fingers made as they fell apart and checked the weapon, first the 5.56mm assault rifle portion then the 20mm grenade launcher.

Chambering a round with shaking hands and grabbing some ammo from the corpse, Crowley knew that his only chance for survival was to get to Europe, China, somewhere he could vanish into the crowd. And that meant getting to the airfield which was likely under attack.

A door was blasted in and Crowley saw the distinct power-armour of LAPD SWAT stride inside. He decided not to say some sort of famous last line and fired the grenade launcher while making a run for it as the SWAT officers opened fire with their plasma rifles.

Crowley felt the blinding heat as a bolt of plasma smashed into and through a wall, and fired one-handed back at them, not bothering to aim. His goal wasn’t to kill anyone, let the mercenaries handle that job, but to escape.

Seras scowled behind her helmet as her squad pursued the running Crowley, taking snap shots at the man as they ran after him as he dodged and weaved using any available cover he could find, causing many of the shots to miss or smash into rubble as the SWAT attack intensified.

“This is Able Lead to all units! Gundam fire mission has begun, I repeat the Gundams are about to open fire!” Seras swore as Crowley dove out a window and landed outside, this building was one of the targets marked by Charlie squad and now they were in the firing line.

“Fall back! He’s not worth getting pasted by the Gundams!” As the squad began making their exit, mainly by smashing through the walls with the strength-enhancement systems, the first of many 120mm shells began to land in the hangers, multi-stage shells fired from the massive machineguns of the Gundams firing explosive penetrators and sub-munitions into the hangers, ripping apart people and punching irreparable holes into the mechs and various aircraft and ground vehicles.

Several mercenaries managed to get a modified Abrams out of the hanger to engage the threat, only for the vehicle to be peppered with holes from the plasma rifles of two SWAT operatives, immolating the mercs inside.

“This is just sad you know, it’s like a fucking bug hunt.”

The woman’s comrade chuckled, “Don’t let anyone who’re gone up against Zerg or Arachnids hear you say that, I hear bug hunting is serious business over in Hawaii.”

Her partner growled in anger, “Christ, I remember when Hawaii was just a beautiful tourist trap. Damn 23 Hours, damn Fictions.” She then continued in a quieter voice, “Damn us for our imaginations.”

A nod from the other, “Too true, so come on, we have work to do before we can pull out.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Deunan regarded the person holding the rifle with a cool stare as he returned the stare with equal coolness.

He was handsome in a rugged way though the signs of cyberization were there to see, such as the glassy appearance of his eyes and the way he was holding an assault rifle one-handed.

“Drop the irons.” His voice wasn’t too bad, though Deunan thought she heard an artificial quality to it, evidence of a voice system. Hmm, he looked impatient, better work fast.

“You’re making a mistake you know omae.” Deunan carefully set the safeties of the pistols one-handed before she let the guns drop from her hands. And then she activated her implants.

Time slowed to a crawl. As the guns began to fall Deunan spun and crouched, leg lashing out to kick the gun upward as her assailant pulled the trigger, causing the rifle to fire into the air before Deunan yanked her knife out and brought it up to slice through the bastard’s body.

He dodged backwards and Deunan took that opportunity to grab the Deagle and empty a magazine of ramjet rounds into the bastard, before grimacing as he took the shots and got back up. Not even a top-class pain editor could have deleted that much pain. Was the bastard a cyber-zombie?

Deunan didn’t get the chance to think more on it as the ‘borg rushed her, tackling her and slamming her against another shipping container, knocking the air out of her lungs and dropping the Deagle but the knife remained in the woman’s hand and it lashed up to stab into the man’s right forearm.

There was some resistance, likely sub-dermal armour but Deunan simply wrenched the knife from side to side, the mono-filament edge managing to sever the tendons to the elbow and the forearm dropped to the ground and the man barely flinched.

The lack of limb allowed Deunan to wriggle free and slam her knee into the man’s face, staggering him only from the force of impact. A booted foot came up and smashed into the face again and again until Deunan was able to back away and grab her guns.

The slight pause cost her as a fist smashed into her face and sent her flying into another container, making a dent and causing Deunan to cough up blood, medical implants already working to fix the internal damage.

A foot came in an upward sweep to smash into Deunan’s gut, eliciting a pained grunt before her opponent grabbed her by the throat and lifted her to eye-level.

“Mind telling me what my mistake was?” Deunan smiled and spat blood into his face.

“You turned your back.” Eyes widened at the new voice before with a pair of crack-snap sounds, the man’s legs were blown away at the knees as Deunan managed to wrench the hand free and nail the arm to the container with her knife.

“Took you long enough to get here.” Deunan smiled slightly as she staggered over to her Deagle and Gover and painfully holstered them before fishing out a med-gel canister and injected it, the gel liquefying in her blood to head to the most damaged areas as Anko regarded the struggling cyborg.

“You think he’s a Terminator?” Deunan shook her head at the question.

“More like a cyber-zombie, parts of him are still flesh.” Anko smirked as she holstered her D-5.

“Heh, a walking target dummy then. Come on, Team One is busy setting up defences for the new evac point.”

Deunan nodded and followed the kunoichi into the shadows.

There was silence before a different shadow appeared from a different direction and stopped in shock at seeing the badly mangled cyborg.

“Shit, Hackett! What the hell happened to you?”

“The Shirow girl did. Had combat implants in her, but I managed to get the upper hand. Until her friend the Leaf-nin blew my legs off.”

“Jutsu?”

“No, a fucking gauss pistol. Didn’t even feel the ammo when it hit, just my legs vanishing. Where are the others?”

“Got split up a little thanks to Shadow Clones, but Jack and Grey have the rest of these guys pinned down at a loading area. Vowels is getting the others over there now.”

“Fine. Now get this thing out of me.”

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Harry Smith winced as gun and energy fire raked their makeshift defences as Johnson and Castle returned fire alongside his own retaliation. Raven was busy monitoring Anko and Deunan’s return and guiding them away from their attackers, staying low to avoid getting tagged by the fire being exchanged.

“I see Deunan and Anko approaching!” Harry nodded.

“Covering fire! Keep their heads down!”

Gunfire raked Jack and Grey’s position and the Deathlander tossed up an AT field to gain some breathing room as two women, the original targets, ran for the defensive line and got behind the impromptu barriers consisting of cars, trucks and several concrete dividers.

As the gunfire tapered off, Jack glanced over to Grey, who nodded and the pair began to move to better positions when they heard the sound of engines overhead.

From their position, Deunan looked up to see a Pelican dropship and three VF-11’s fly overhead before a voice came over their Comm-links, “This is Banehammer with Judge Flight 1, we see you on the ground. Standby for evac.”

Meanwhile, another radio message was being sent as Jack tapped his radio to hear Vowels, “Transponder signal is for LAPD, no-one else has that kind of signal.”

Grey came on then, “We're going to lose them. Anyone got an idea how to keep them on the ground?”

Jack had one and focused. Immediately, a number of amber hexagonal energy-fields came into existence, forcing the Pelican to pull away from the group.

Deunan snarled as she looked around for the source of the AT field-based barrier blocking the dropship and then spotted him, a Red-Eye in full view of her. Deunan didn’t say a word but instead yanked out her Gover and Desert Eagle and fired the Gover.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thomas Crowley ducked as the plasma fire blasted holes in the side of a truck as he ran for his plane, hoping that the money he had spent on that armour would be able to hold off the assault long enough to get in the air.

Logan Grey snarled as he saw Crowley manage to avoid getting hit by the snipers as he and his squad added their own withering fire to the mix as Crowley dumped the empty OICW and made a desperate dash for the plane as the few mercenaries that had survived lent covering fire with the few heavy weapons they had recovered.

So far, two operatives were wounded but managed to get to the safety of the Extraction Zone where medics were patching them up. No casualties but the enemy couldn’t say the same after the barrage of 120mm fire from the Gundams and it was still continuing, laying waste to massive portions of the compound as building burned, illuminating a scene that looked like somewhere in Hell.

Crowley all but dove inside the plane as the remaining mercs dashed inside and closed the doors, the engines of the aircraft already warmed up as it began to accelerate and move towards the runway.

Logan snarled, “Shit! Should have ordered that runway to be cratered. All units, focus your fire on the plane, don’t let that bastard get in the air!”

There was no verbal acknowledgement but the shifting of fire towards the plane showed that they heard and obeyed as the plane began picking up speed, afterburners kicking in as more and more plasma fire was aimed at the plane, one of the Gundams lending its head vulcans and 120mm machinegun to the mix, the shells missing by bare inches.

Soon, the plane was in the air and rapidly gaining altitude as Logan snarled again before keying his communications, “Longshot One, do you have visual on the primary?”

“Longshot One here, I have a visual. Request permission to take the shot.”

“Longshot One, fire at will.”

“Roger that, firing.”

Several kilometres away, a Dynames Gundam took careful aim with its beam sniper rifle, the female pilot patiently waiting as the Gundam’s systems calculated the firing angle before the crosshair turned green.

The swamp trees shook as a green bolt of energy lanced out from a camouflaged lump and streaked across the sky at the speed of light towards the fleeing aircraft.

Inside Crowley was leaning back in his seat with a relieved smile as the pilot reported that they were now on course for a hidden compound in Europe and considering the situation couldn’t help but say with confidence, “Heh, home free.” He didn’t even have time to blink as the energy bolt hit the plane and it exploded into a fireball.

The SWAT operatives cheered at the sight of the fireball as Logan opened a channel to the hidden sniper Gundam, “Damn fine shot Longshot One!”

There was a hiss-click to show acknowledgement as Logan switched to a public channel, “All units pull out to EZ. Doombringer One, you are clear for Jericho-N strike once we’re out of the area.”

“Doombringer One here, standing by for final confirmation.”

Logan killed the line as he started moving towards the Extraction Zone along with the rest of the operatives, leaving a burning, corpse-strewn set of ruins behind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Time seemed to slow down for Jack Lauren as the Shirow girl aimed in his direction and fired. Before he could voice his disbelief at the seemingly foolhardy action, he heard Vowels shout, “What the hell?”

Then it happened, the AT Field he threw up in front of the girl warped and then shattered like glass as the bullet zipped the scant few meters to his position and struck him high in the chest, punching through his armour.

Then he felt something like a small ‘pop’ before something sticky and faintly warm touched his body and Jack felt a slight bout of dizziness come over him.

Suddenly the barrier began to flicker and a sound like static filled the air as the amber-tinted fields simply faded away before the shocked eyes of the Watchers.

The dropship came in as the VF-11’s began strafing positions as Jack tried to use his power again but nothing happened, not even a flicker. The shock of the moment simply made him stand there in disbelief even as he felt a strange numbness fill his body.

Team One, Deunan and Anko rushed on board the Pelican before Banehammer took off, but then Deunan turned towards the pilot, “Hover over that Fiction and the ‘borg.”

“You sure ma’am?” There was a moment of silence from Deunan before the pilot nodded, “Yes ma’am, switching to hover.”

As the rear door of the Pelican’s bay moved to give Deunan a view of the seemingly shell-shocked Fiction, Deunan fished out a Pariah Toxin antidote and dropped the armoured injector from her position, the injector clattering to the ground.

Looking up, Jack Lauren saw the woman making an injecting motion into her neck and picked up the injector and twisted off the caps at both ends to reveal the plunger and needle.

He glanced up and saw the woman repeat the motion before turning away, the Pelican quickly vanishing into the night as Jack injected himself and immediately the numbness faded and he wondered about what he had just experienced.

“Vowels, what happened?” Jack turned to see Grey standing near him before Vowels came back on.

“A P-gene burst when the girl fired, and again when Jack was hit. It wasn't the girl, but the bullet that set off the sensor.”

Grey nodded, “Then we're looking at the possibility of a bullet based on the Pariah Gene?”

“After what just happened, I doubt that is some failed prototype ammo that they’re using. LAPD has a P-gene bullet in usage, no doubt about it.”

Grey shook his head as he scanned the injector and noted a small amount left in the device, “Well, we have an antidote in our possession now. Let’s get back to base and let Washu take a look at it, I have a feeling we may need the info.”

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*This is CNN Breaking News.*

Good evening, chaos across the country as in the space of four days, mysterious bombings hit the cities of New York and Chicago followed by an unknown nuclear attack on a remote region of Florida swampland.

After the mysterious bombing of a dockside warehouse in Chicago by two women, New York followed three days later with a New Jersey warehouse being destroyed in a similar but more violent bombing which ruptured a nearby chemical storehouse, sending toxic materials into the air for several miles.

Witnesses report a running gun battle between two unknown parties minutes after the New York bombing before an unmarked dropship and three fighters extracted one of the two parties.

Hold on, I've just received a report that a remote area of the state of Florida near the Suwannee River has been hit by a nuclear weapon. No casualties have yet been reported but a massive area of swampland has been annihilated and several surrounding towns have had to be evacuated due to expected fallout.

Currently the goverment has yet to give a statement on these tragic events while no terrorist group has yet come forward to take credit for the attacks.

We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Inside her office, the Chief of Special Police Services regarded the folder in front of her before closing it and then stamped it before turning away.

Case File 23-AD-456-SA: The Auctioneer

Case Closed