Patriots & Tyrants (Rebels & Lies Trilogy Book 2) (29 page)

Kaspar’s nose started
to ache again as the assault vehicle pulled out from the power plant towards
the Capitol. As he rubbed on it, he noticed Clarke across from him rubbing his
sweat covered hands together in swift motions. Seated next to Clarke was one of
the volunteers from another squad. He already had his mask on and he seemed
nervous as well. The rebel kept moving his right leg up and down while he
gripped the Kriss in hands. The back of the vehicle was filled with such
volunteers. The feeling of going to battle with complete strangers didn’t make
him feel any better about this mission. He missed the others, especially Krys,
who had all passed on.

He refocused his
attention on Clarke. The perspiration from his forehead ran down his face. The
wizard took off his glasses and wiped at the sweat with a white handkerchief.
On top of the nervous breakdown, Kaspar could tell that the old man was about
to hyperventilate.

“You need a paper
bag?” Kaspar wondered out loud, hoping to lighten the man’s spirits.

“Go to hell.” Clarke
replied.

“Look, I’m no expert
in this combat stuff, but you’ve got to relax. You’ll do nobody any good in
there if you have a complete meltdown.”

“This was a horrible
idea. I shouldn’t be here.”

Kaspar could feel the
others nervous tension, but since they were strangers, they didn’t say
anything. It didn’t really matter to them, anyway, as Harvey made it clear that
Clarke would be Kaspar’s sole responsibility. If things got hairy in there, the
others would continue on the mission, abandoning the two if need be. Kaspar
knew that if they were all comrades that that type of action would not be
considered. But, since this would be their first battle together, the other
rebels obviously didn’t trust Clarke to get the job done. Kaspar couldn’t blame
them. He was having his own nervous breakdown on the inside thinking about
being attached to a man who never swatted a fly. The key for Kaspar, though,
was that he
kept
in on the inside.

“You want us to pull
over and let you out? So you can walk back to the base in shame?”

“The thought crossed
my mind.” Clarke said.

Kaspar shook his head
in disgust. “No, you know that you need this. You’ve been waiting for your
chance, now you’ve got it.”

“I know, but…”

“No buts, Mr. Wizard.
You know if you put your head down and walk your ass back home that you’ll
regret it forever. Put your big boy pants on. You’ll have me in there watching
your back.” Kaspar gave the old man a wink.

“I guess so…”

“Good luck to you,” a rebel
with a thick Jersey accent said.

Kaspar turned to him.
“Mind your business.”

“I’m about to go into
battle with you. It is my business.”

Kaspar was about to
stand and then realized that it wasn’t worth it. He could feel something
pulling him back, but he couldn’t tell what it was. The feeling was strong
enough to stop him in his tracks. He leaned back and heard the order through
his ear piece for everyone to put their masks on.

They had begun their
approach to the Capitol.

***

Sullivan gripped the Balaclava
in his hands and pulled it over his face. He peered through the tinted lenses
as the others did the same. There was a feeling of sheer disbelief that this
was actually happening. The vehicle jolted to a stop. Everything was silent for
a moment. X reached over and tapped him on the shoulder before he put his own
mask on. Sullivan reached to his side, gripped the ZX-17, and then swung it
over to his midsection. The eerie silence remained and everything seemed
surreal. The former Agent, who swore to destroy the resistance, was now
fighting for them. Once he stepped out of that vehicle, there would be no going
back. Just when he thought the moment of silence would last forever, the back
doors of the assault vehicle were swung open.

A deafening blare from
the sirens of the building mixed itself with the bursts of gunfire.

Sullivan was the last
out of the vehicle. The others in front of him took out the Agents who tried to
converge on the vehicle. Once he was out, he could see one firing away at one
of his squad mates. He shouldered his weapon and fired a three round burst,
dropping his enemy. It wasn’t so bad which was a thought that struck him as
odd. The sound outside was deafening and he could hear cries from men being
wounded all around him. In front, to his right, lay a piece of the old White
House, and he made a run for it, making sure to keep his head low. Once he made
it there, he rested his back against it and wondered what would come next.

Pieces of the
structure which he hid behind started to fly in the air from enemy rounds.
Sullivan moved up, fired at another Agent, and took him out. All around the
Capitol were the rebel vehicles. Those that were stationed at them fired at the
enemies outside of the circle. Sullivan was stuck on the inside. Another rebel
moved to his location and, for a moment, the former Agent had to keep himself
from shooting at him. He still wasn’t used to them being his allies.

“You okay, Puerco?” X
asked.

“Doing just fine,”
Sullivan replied, lowering his weapon.

“We thought you were
going to shoot us.” Statue said as he moved towards cover.

“What do we do now?”
Sullivan asked.

“We’ve got to move in
on that building, take out as many as we can, not get dead. Didn’t you pay
attention at the briefing?” X demanded just before he moved up from cover and
took down an Agent.

“Of course I did,”
Sullivan shouted above the gunfire. “It’s just a little bit different when we
are actually here.”

“What is?”

“The plan!”

“How’s it going on
your end?” Sanders demanded through Harvey’s earpiece, the sound of gunfire in
the background.

“We’re almost there.”
Harvey replied from the driver’s seat.

“Get a move on it!”

“On the way.”

Harvey wished that he
could turn off the damn earpiece but he knew that he couldn’t. It was, after
all, Sanders’s plan for Harvey’s team to hold back and allow the distraction to
run its course. With a shake of his head, he continued to drive. Off to the
right, he could see the target building and the rapid flashes from automatic
weapons. The look of the ensuing battle actually brought a smile to his face.
He had grown tired of assaulting random USR complexes. This is what it was
about: assembling a force to rain down justice on their enemies.

His attention was
returned to the road in front. The distraction seemed to be working well enough
as there was no one on the road to block their path. He pressed down on the gas
and the vehicle picked up speed. Once he took a hard right, the first sign of
the enemy came into view. The masked rebel on top took aim with the .50. He
fired at the two USR squad cars as the Agents panic fired back.

The bullets from the
automatic shredded the cars. The Agents outside of them quickly moved out of
the way before they were crushed to nothing. With a loud smash, the vehicle took
the squad cars out and continued in its pursuit of the Capitol. The circle
created by the rebels left a large enough gap in it for Harvey to drive
through. When he did, he could see some of his comrades cheering him on. He
kept his focus on the building in front, however, and kept on driving. Upon
approach, he swung the steering wheel to the left, and then pulled the armored
vehicle to the back of the building. He killed the engine and then reached for
the intercom system above his head.

“Mission go!” he cried
with enthusiasm.

Kaspar heard the call
and swung the Kriss to his chest. The others did the same, all except for
Clarke, who just sat back and struggled to get his mask on over his long, nappy
hair. Kaspar moved over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

“This is what you’ve
been waiting for.” Kaspar said.

“Maybe I was in a
little over my head.” Clarke replied.

“Just stick with me.”

The doors swung open
and the rebels in the back were the first ones out. As Kaspar moved forward
behind Clarke, he could feel him dragging his feet. With a shove, he forced the
computer nerd forward without much protest from the target.

“You’ve got to move!”
Kaspar shouted.

By the time they made
it out of the vehicle, what few USR Agents were guarding the backdoor were
taken out in quick succession. Harvey moved to the door and ordered the largest
of the rebels to it. The rebel took hold of his shotgun and fired. The slug
tore through the handle and Harvey kicked it the rest of the way open. He held
his Kriss forward and did a quick sweep before signaling the others to move in.

The hallway which led
to the back door was dimly lit, with the lights fading in and out. As they
moved forward down the hall the sounds of the battle going on outside grew
fainter. Two Agents moved in from an adjacent hallway. Harvey and the large
rebel aimed and fired their weapons, taking the two enemies out. A third Agent
reared his head and it was blown off with a three round burst from Harvey’s
gun.

Once they reached the
end of the hallway there was a stairwell to their left. Harvey huddled everyone
together in front of the stairs. Kaspar and his friend were the last to join
the huddle. Kaspar noticed that the masked man with the shaking leg now had
shaking hands. All the others were calm and collected along with Harvey. Next
to him, Kaspar swore he could hear Clarke beside him hyperventilating.

“Here’s the game
plan…” Harvey started to say before Agents moved down the stairs.

“Tangos!” one of the
rebels shouted.

Everyone, with the exception
of Clarke, aimed their weapons at the incoming enemies and fired away. The
Agents managed to get a few shots in before they were taken down. The rounds
from their shots tore holes through the concrete walls, but missed their
intended targets.

“Just move up to the
fifth floor!” Harvey shouted.

There was a young man,
not much more than a boy, screaming with his mask off as he clutched at
Sullivan’s feet. The former Agent tried to ignore it, but the louder the boy’s
screams, the more it scorched at his soul. The boy’s armor was shredded and
blood filled his mouth. Sullivan bent down to try and help him before a strong
grip formed on his left shoulder.

“We can’t do anything
for him, Puerco!” X cried. “Let’s move!”

Sullivan shook his
head, yelled he was sorry, and moved on behind X. He kept his head down as the
rounds from the enemy’s assault rifles flew above him. He joined up with X,
Statue, Dopey, Pinkie, and Sugar who were all bent down behind a piece of
rubble. They all checked up on each other’s status. Pinkie had a bullet graze
his arm, Sugar’s migraines were kicking in, and X’s wounded leg was still
holding up with little pain. Other than that, they were all fine, for now.

“What now?” Sullivan
wondered.

“We stay alive,” X
replied, “and we kill as many of those bastards as we can.”

With that said they
each moved up, found enemy targets, and fired away.

***

Sanders looked away
from his binoculars and back down to the radar system on his computer. He was
holed up in his assault vehicle behind the driver’s seat. There was a feeling
of guilt that he wasn’t out in the field of battle, but he knew that his place,
for this mission at least, was here. Someone needed to observe the enemy’s
movements to keep the others informed. He could tell from looking at his radar
that the men out there would be overwhelmed soon if Harvey’s ass didn’t pick up
the pace.

“Eagle one,” Harvey
said into his mouth piece, “what’s your status? Over.”

“Eagle one reporting,”
the leftover said with a heavy sound of gunfire in the background. “We’re
getting over run here, sir. Over.”

“Just keep fighting,
over.” Sanders replied. He swore under his breath while he waited for a
response.

“What’s Eagle Five’s
status? Over.”

“You let me worry
about that, over.”

“Over and out.”

***

Harvey used the small
mirror to get a peek inside the fifth floor computer room. Agents were spread
all over the place inside. It was obvious, from the moment the resistance’s
presence was felt, that this room was a priority for them to defend. Harvey
wouldn’t have been shocked if someone told him that every available Agent in
the building was sent in to defend this room. Harvey’s fear was not that they
were outnumbered. He trusted his men to take care of that. What scared him was
how Clarke would react.

Inside the computer
lab sat a large computer with a 40” HD monitor with eight hard drives plugged
into it. There were also desks around in three rows of five. The desks had
computers of their own. The Agents inside, dressed in all black with black helmets,
were armed with M4 Carbines and huddled together, waiting for the inevitable
breach into the room. The LED lights illuminated the room from above and
reflected off of their goggles.

After he put away the
mirror, he looked over to his left to see all the men under his command leaned
up against the wall. He reached into his flak jacket for a flash bang and then
held up all five fingers. He dropped them one at a time and, when he reached
the final finger, he pulled the pin and threw the grenade into the room. A few
seconds later a bright flash filled the room as well as the deafening sound
from the flash bang.

The Agents inside
immediately started to backpedal and aimed their assault rifles towards the
opening. There were scattered shots as they moved back which hit the walls all
around the room. A couple of Agents stumbled into the desks behind them as they
moved back and they fired their guns into the floor as they hit.

“MOVE IN!” Harvey
cried.

The rebels moved into
the room and took advantage of their brief moment of surprise. Harvey was in
first and took out an Agent who hit one of the desks. He then moved his gun to
the right and took another one out who scrambled for cover. The others moved in
behind him and took positions around the room. Kaspar was in the room next to
last and he had to almost drag Clarke into the room. As the hearing in his ears
started to come back he could hear Clarke’s protests.

“Get in there!” Kaspar
cried, ignoring them.

Kaspar pushed Clarke
in front of him with his left hand. His right hand gripped the handle of the
Kriss with the index finger on the trigger. As they moved forward into the
opening, Kaspar raised the submachine gun, found a target, and held his finger
down on the trigger. The gun fired on full auto and took out Kaspar’s target.

The depleted caps on
the rounds arched into the air and a few landed on the back of Clarke’s neck.
He winced in pain as Kaspar continued to guide him towards one of the desks for
cover. He took another Agent out in the process. When they approached the desk,
Kaspar gave the Wizard a hard shove to the back, which forced the leftover to
go flying towards the cover spot. Kaspar, with his head still ducked low, sat
down beside him.

“You okay?” Kaspar
cried over the gunfire in the room.

“I…I’m fine. Just
cover my…” Clarke started to say.

An Agent moved towards
their position. He was over the side of the desk with his gun drawn at Clarke.
Out of pure instinct, Kaspar aimed and fired. The rounds tore through the Agent
as he fell to the ground. Had Clarke’s eyes not been covered Kaspar would have
been able to see the wide eyed look on his face.

“Just stay down!”
Kaspar ordered before he rose up to continue the fight.

On the other side of
the room, Harvey had just taken out another Agent and bent down behind cover to
reload. The silent rebel who was so nervous before became a war machine in the
heat of battle. He emptied the last of his mag into an Agent, his fourth kill,
and moved back down beside his leader.

Kaspar took aim at an
Agent in front of him and fired. He had just enough time to see one of his
comrades go down and then another. Kaspar aimed towards the direction of the
second rebel’s killer and fired off several rounds on full auto. He then aimed
left to take out another. A flurry of enemy rounds came flying in his direction
from three Agents, so he moved back down to cover. He reloaded his Kriss and
checked on the status of his friend. Clarke gave him a thumbs up.

The Agents’s numbers
were starting to dwindle. Harvey popped up and took another one out. He managed
to get a quick count on how many were left. There were four, maybe five if one
was hiding somewhere. As he went down he heard the sound of automatic gunfire
and the cries of a comrade. The man fell to the ground and Harvey wondered if
it was another volunteer. If so, the silent man next to him was the last of
them. What the hell did those leftovers give him? Even Clarke lasted longer
than the supposed hardened soldiers. Harvey felt guilt for thinking that way,
but he couldn’t help it. The mission now seemed to be going very bad.

Kaspar moved to the
side of the desk. He placed his Kriss along the side of it and fired. The
rounds chewed into the desk directly in front of him, causing the Agent using
the desk for cover to expose himself. Before a flurry of rounds came Kaspar’s
way he saw the Agents start to aim their weapons at the large computer hard
drives. A moment of panic swept over him.

“They’re going for the
computers!” Kaspar cried.

“You can’t let
them…take them out!” Clarke added.

Harvey turned to his
new partner. With a nod of his head the man seemed to understand what he was
saying. They both moved up from behind the desk and fired away at the Agents.
The Agents turned their attention to them and fired their way. Harvey kept his
head low and moved forward as he took out one of the Agents in front of him.
The rebel beside took another one out. Kaspar provided cover fire from his
position at the front of the room.

A few stray rounds hit
the computers but they remained intact. With his new silent partner beside him,
Harvey scanned the room for targets. Kaspar kept his gun firing on full auto
keeping the last three Agents in their hiding spots. Kaspar’s gun went dry and
he moved back behind the desk to reload.

“You ready for this?”
Harvey asked.

“You bet.” a familiar,
albeit deeper, voice replied.

Harvey didn’t take the
time to process the voice he heard. Instead, he focused his full attention to
the hiding spot where the last Agents were. As predicted, they moved up from
their cover spots when the gunfire ceased. When they did, the two rebels
started to fire away at them. They instantly moved in different directions.

“Left!” Harvey cried.

His partner turned his
attention to the left while Harvey took out the Agent to his right. The last
Agent started to back pedal and fired his gun towards the computers. Harvey and
his partner quickly took him out.

“Clear!” Harvey
yelled.