The Damascus Chronicles (25 page)

Serena then came into the living room where he was and kneeled down to hug him. “I’m sorry about all of this. I just wanted to be with you; it’s my fault,” she was filled with remorse.

“No, I chose this life. I have to accept it,” said Michael. “Serena, I can’t afford to lose another person. We have to find Sally and protect her.”

“We will. Something will turn up,” said Serena. “Maybe,” said Michael, with a small seed of faith in his heart.

“Are you all right?” asked Serena.

“Fine for now, let’s just go,” said Michael.

Before they could leave the phone rang and Michael picked up the receiver. “Mike it’s me, Danny. Good news. I managed to beat the hell out of a suspect who witnessed the kidnapping. The guy told me that Scarfo took off in his car with the girl, heading to the Tyrell manor,” said Danny.

“I know that old place. It’s been condemned for years,” said Michael.

“Meet me at Rocko’s. He’ll boost us the gear we’ll need,” said Danny.

“Thanks,” said Michael as he hung up the phone. “Danny?” asked Serena.

“Yes, let’s go.” The two took off on a spare motorcycle from Michael’s garage and raced to meet Danny at Rocko’s shop.

Across the city at the mansion, Franco sat in darkness and deep thought, trying to think of a way to eliminate Michael and his friends. Out of the blue, the phone rang. “Hello, who is this?” said Franco in frustration.

“Someone who wants to help you take care of your problem,” said a voice.

“Who is this?”

“Just call me Desbode. I know someone who will be able to rid you of the pest you have. Call this number, 555-6739, tell them that Desbode sent you. They will give you what you need.”

“What do you want out of this pal?” asked Franco.

“Don’t ask now; you will know later.”

On the other side of town, Michael and Serena arrived at Rocko’s garage. The large door opened as Michael and Serena rode inside. Rocko pushed the control switch on a computer board, lowering Serena and Michael down on a lift into a vast underground compound smelling of gasoline and oil; the place was filled with an astounding collection of wires, piping, machine generators, flow lights, and tools of every robotic type. It had been abandoned before Michael found it for Rocko, an illegal weapons smuggling plant. “What the hell did you do this time Mike? It’s a war zone out there, all this crap on TV. What’s going on buddy?”

“Believe me, Rock, you don’t want to know. Anyway, I had a little accident with the hover bike. It blew up on the highway.”

”Just great, that’s swell, Mike. It took me eight months alone to design all the specs on that bike; it’ll take me another three just to build another. Don’t you ever take care of the toys I give you?” said a disappointed Rocko.

“What can I say, it comes with the job,” said Michael.

Rocko noticed Serena giving him a friendly smile. Rocko, was a goofy, techie, geek of a guy; wild and reckless, he was filled with charm and a love for inventing. He was 31 and a close friend of Michael’s from their days in the service. Rocko was dressed in his usual rocker t shirts and jeans. He had greasy brown hair and brown eyes and he was a short guy, but always pleasant to be around. “Forget it, it’s on your tab,” said Rocko.

“You know I’m good for it,” said Michael.

“Yeah I know. Say buddy, who’s this sexy lady with you?” smirked Rocko.

“Serena, hotshot. I’m his girl,” said Serena. Rocko saw she had a gun on her side.

“Let me guess. She’s your new partner, too.” “Yeah,” said Michael.

“Anyway, what do you need from me this time? I got a bunch of new tech goodies I have been working on lately.”

“We have an emergency Rock. My niece, Sally, you remember her don’t you?”

“Yeah sure I do, what’s wrong?”

“She’s been kidnapped by Franco Scarfo. The guy blew up my club and nearly killed us the other night.”

“Got any word from the street where Scarfo has taken her?” asked Rocko.

“We know they’re holding her up at the old Tyrell mansion,” said Serena.

“That old place was shut down because it was near a steel plant that was filled with asbestos,” said Rocko.

“What are we going to need?” asked Serena. “A better question to ask is how many guys you think are in there,” said Rocko.

“Probably about a hundred at most I think. Frank Scarfo has access to military weapons now,” said Michael.

“Come with me into the weapons shop. I’ll show you the new stuff,” said Rocko.

Danny arrived at the shop; Michael saw him on the camera screen and buzzed him inside, and he came down the lift to meet them.

“Now that we’re all here kiddies, we can get cracking. Pay attention,” said Rocko as he held up a large strange looking rifle. “What we got here is a Covolt 72 tear gas rifle, combined with an automatic shot gun barrel, easy reload that fires seven shots for the shotgun, single reload for the tear gas grenades.”

Rocko threw it to Serena, who admired the weapon. “Oh I’m going to have a lot of fun with this,” she said.

”Next up we have the newest in laser sight firepower, an MG30 assault rifle, fires 30 armor piercing bullets, and we got here in this slot a section for exploding tip bullets. On the upper slot is a tip to put on a suppressor, good for close range kills,” said Rocko, tossing the gun to Michael. “Exquisite!” Michael loaded the gun and fired at a junk heap, seeing it tear apart.

“Very nice Rock,” complimented Danny.

“If you like that one, Danny, I have a special designed just for you. Since you’re best with pistols, I’ve created the Cobra 76 based, which is based on the M9. What we have here is a combined automatic pistol and laser sight. It has an eagle eye scope, and fires both poison bullets and M9 bullets with a smooth cocking action.” Rocko loaded the gun and handed it to Danny.

“What about jamming?” Danny asked.

“If you don’t press the clip in too hard, it shouldn’t jam,” said Rocko.

“You going to come?” asked Michael.

“Sorry. I was born a lover, not a fighter,” Rocko shrugged. Michael gave him a disappointed look. “I’m just kidding dude, of course I’m coming with you guys. But I’m going in with this baby, the AKG 62, a mini rocket launcher. I call this the Angel Rocket,” said Rocko laughing like a fool.

“Holy Shit!” said Michael.

“It gets better. Come with me into the vehicle shop. The place is going to be heavily guarded, and I got just thing we’re going to need to bust in there.”

They all walked into a large room. Rocko flipped on the light, which illuminated a massive object covered by a sheet. Rocko threw off the sheet to uncover an awesome monster vehicle; a powerful tank on wheels.

“What the hell have you been up to? It looks like a damn tank and halftrak combined!” Michael exclaimed.

“You told me you always wanted to be prepared, so I developed the ultimate ground vehicle; behold, the Cerberus 599 XT, an urban assault vehicle, well built with titanium alloy construction, pressure sensitive bullet proof tread tires, dual chain machine guns, mini canons, and also a nice turbo boost drive train that gives this bad girl one hell of a punch,” said Rocko.

“Is she fast?” asked Danny.

“Oh yeah, she’s fast, and not only that but we have a stealth cloaking radar system inside on the dashboard,” said Rocko.

“Let’s load up and head out,” said Michael. “It’s time to fire it up. Let’s go kill some baddies,” said Rocko, talking goofy for fun.

“You play too many video games,” sighed Michael smiling.

The quartet rumbled out on high speed through the desolated, battered part of the city, racing out into the long abandoned underground train line, until they emerged from the tunnel onto a dirt road that led to the old mansion. The giant house was a decadent ruin from another time. It had once been the prestigious home of many actors and famous performers during the early days of Las Vegas. Now it was a decaying tomb, rotting in memories of the past.

Searchlights combed the manor, now a make-shift compound patrolled by men in body armor and guns. Guards patrolled the area constantly. Inside the home, the closed doors of the study hid torn drapes, cobwebs, and a broken set of furniture that looked so old that it would crumble into dust if touched. Sally was tied up in ropes and Phillips was keeping a close watch on her as he lit up a cigarette sitting, backward on an old wooden chair. “When my uncle gets here you’re going to be sorry!” sassed Sally vehemently.

“Shut up you little brat!” screamed Phillips, paranoid as he slapped her across the face; he was still terrified of his last encounter with Michael. Sally didn’t flinch; she had learned to be tough from her uncle. “He’s coming and he’s going to make you all pay!” said Sally.

“Shut up!” yelled Phillips as stood quickly, knocking over the chair he was sitting on. He strode to the old large window that was covered with dust and cracks and peered out to look for the possible horror that was coming to destroy him and his men.

Franco Scarfo opened the doors of the study signaling to Phillips a need speak with him in private. Phillips left his captive alone and went to speak with his boss in the other room.

“Why do you look so worried?” Franco asked.

“You know damn well why I’m worried,” said Phillips.

“No worries, you pussy. I’ve found a solution. Someone needs us and they sent us a gift,” said Franco.

“What?”

“Not what; who.” Franco snapped his fingers. A dark figure came out of the shadows and into the moonlit room, covered in purple and black silk. “What the hell is that!” said Phillips in terror. The figure was dressed in ancient clothing, like a ninja, but his left arm was covered with an armor gauntlet that looked as if it were made of skulls. He wore black boots, a razor sharp claw blade on his right hand, and a katana sword around his back. His eyes were pure red and his face was pale and covered in small battle scars. This man looked like a devil from hell.

“Jubel, make us proud,” said Franco, placing in the ninja’s palm a pouch that contained diamonds. “Your payment in advance; these diamonds are worth one million dollars,” said Franco.

Jubel opened the pouch and looked at the contents. “It will be a pleasure, sir. When will the prey arrive?”

“Soon, I hope. When they come, send these assholes on a one-way trip to hell,” Franco ordered.

“It shall be done,” said Jubel as he bowed and disappeared back into the shadows.

“Who is this guy; who sent him?” asked Phillips.

“We found some new people. They said they needed us, so I took up their offer,” said Franco.

“You’re sure this guy can be trusted?” asked Phillips.

“Oh yes, he can be trusted,” Franco replied.

The hunters were about to become the hunted.

The Cerberus approached the manor at hurricane speed and Rocko put the clutch in high gear to ram the building. “Everyone ready?” he yelled to his comrades.

“Ready!” the others responded. Danny managed the top chain guns from a small spot on the roof, Serena armed the tracking station, and Michael took command of the mini canons.

Two of the guards on the rooftop were looking out into the distance, speaking softly. One of them held out a lighter for his cigarette to be lit; they spoke in Russian. Like a cracked whip came the thundering pitch of the beast stampeding its way towards destruction.

“Get down here now!” screamed one of the guards, signaling his men to rush to the roof with their AK-47s ready to open fire. Searchlights spotted the encroachers just as Rocko’s Cerberus assault vehicle hammered its way out of the tunnel. Danny opened chain gunfire to blast through the barricaded area. “Come on babies, go boom!” said Danny impetuously.

Scarfo’s men fired back but their guns were useless; their bullets bounced off the impermeable armor of the Cerberus. Michael opened fire with the mini canons, disabling the security systems of the place and cutting off most of the power to the fortress.

Helicopters swung above the Cerberus and men fired bazooka missiles in the Cerberus’ path, blasting a pit causing the vehicle to lose its traction and fall in headfirst. The militia cornered the fallen attackers’ vehicle. There was a silence like death itself. Prepared for anything, one of the men standing over the heap opened the hatch.

A hand armed with a gun came out of nowhere, sending a bullet through the guard’s skull. With pieces of skull and brain flying as the guard fell down dead, Serena opened the side slotted window of the Cerberus, firing away with an Uzi, killing the guards on the left while Danny pummeled the others on the right with his auto shot gun. Bodies were blown to pieces and human parts littered the ground.

The chopper circled the wreckage to form a second attack. Danny aimed his scope to target the pilot, firing a bullet that shattered the cockpit window and caused the pilot to lose control of the copter and spin to the ground. The chopper crashed and exploded on impact. Hopping out of the disabled Cerberus, Michael and company blew open the large wooden entrance doors of the old manor using a C4. They were wearing gas masks. Danny signaled the team as he saw guards approaching from the main stairway. As the guards fired, the quartet dodged the bullets, ducking and finding cover behind old furniture. “Get down, now!” yelled Danny.