Certain groups within the once-unanimous collective insisted that if humanity was allowed to prosper, innovation would come as well. Every experience I have had with this species, from the stagnation of the Roman Empire to the world-cleansing fire of the Black Plague, showed me that was not the case.
Do I have regrets about the chaos and deaths caused by our nurturing? Does a farmer regret the devastation he inflicts on the land when he tills it? Does a builder regret carving a city out of the flesh of a mountain? It is easy to think that the Holy Ones want nothing but to wage endless war. That is far from the truth. What we do is for the greater good.
Zoras
Enzo raised his fist and signaled for a stop. They were two levels below the metro and moving deeper underground. By Zoras’s calculations, they were near the final turn of the entry tunnel below Vinnick’s base of operations in Moscow. It would be a brazen act, one the Russian would not expect, especially so soon after the recent turn of events. However, Enzo had no choice but to strike quickly.
You will trip the perimeter alarms in that final stretch. Belay until the last moment. Once the attack commences, there is no turning back. You know the price of failure.
“Yes, my Guardian. I have lived with that knowledge since I was first blessed with you. Have I not lived up to your expectations?”
When the risks you embrace are this high, only one punishment exists.
“Then I am fortunate not to fail. The risks I take have always paved the way to victory.”
We shall see if that continues. It will catch up with you one day.
“Luck does swing both ways. What I accomplish has nothing to do with luck.”
The last turn led to a steep hundred-meter upward incline. This was as far as they were going to get before making their move. He signaled for a stop and looked back at the nine men and women walking behind him single-file in the darkness of the Moscow sewer. These were the finest operatives he had; his Hatchery siblings and the highest of the non-blessed operatives who hoped to prove themselves today for the honor of being blessed with a Holy One. This group would serve as the Trojan Horse into Vinnick’s Troy. If they failed, the odds against them would be high. However, while Vinnick’s Epsilons were good, they were not at the level of those trained in the Hatchery.
Enzo looked over at Azumi, Matthew, and Akelatis. He wished he could have brought more of his brothers, but they were needed elsewhere. Jacob was still hunting for the rogue scientist, and Palos – not a true Hatchery product, but still reliable – was watching over their new convert Natalya and her Spetsnaz.
Converting her had been surprisingly simple. Slipping in a shade container with a newborn Quasing while she was in the sitting room had done the trick. After she recovered from the initial sickness and realized what she had become, her loyalty to her government immediately wavered. With the politics of this region, all vessels were pariahs, and without the support of the Genjix, it was practically a death sentence in Russia.
Her loyalty was further strengthened when she became overwhelmed by the non-sentient newborn’s mewing, rendering her incapacitated until given the suppression medication. Once she found out that the Genjix were the only ones who could continue to provide her with the medication to stop the sounds in her head, the deal was sealed, and she embraced her new blessing willingly. Even now, Natalya was assisting Paolo in converting the rest of the Spetsnaz with more of the shade team.
Enzo believed that loyalty and faith were better tools than blackmail, but he was low on options, and patience, for that matter. The first of the four catalyst facilities in North America was nearly completed. He should be there overseeing those projects instead of playing political games here. This was a tremendous waste of time. However, Quasiform could not occur unless all the catalyst facilities worked in sync, and since five of the facilities were in Vinnick’s domain, he would have to be dealt with before Enzo could proceed.
Remember the Council directives on your rules of engagement.
Those damn rules. Would Vinnick’s people obey them? They hadn’t back at the church. He had little faith that they would in this situation. There always seemed to be another set of Council rules when it pertained to Enzo.
That is always the case. The envious always band together against the strong.
What they did was irrelevant. Enzo was a true believer and followed the Holy Ones; that was all that mattered. He turned to his people. “Kill all who stand against you. No incendiaries. Your life is forfeit if a Holy One perishes.”
The group nodded and prepared for the attack, stripping their packs and loading their rifles. Enzo gave his people a few minutes to collect themselves. He took his most prized possession, the Honjo Masamune sword, and strapped it to his waist. The famous samurai sword, long thought lost after World War II, had been in Sean Diamont’s care for years. Jacob had offered it to him as a pledge of his servitude when he first begged to be blessed with Chiyva.
When it was time, he intoned, “Praise to the Holy Ones.”
“Praise to the Holy Ones,” they echoed.
Enzo slung his rifle onto his back and walked up the steep set of stairs at the side of the sewage tunnel leading up to the basement of the Genjix Moscow headquarters. He heard the whirl of a detection device attached to the ceiling focus on him and the clicks of the thermal imager registering his heat signature. No doubt they were Penetra scanned as well, all procedural and nothing out-of-the-ordinary for a Genjix base.
Vinnick’s forces should register them as friendly. This network of tunnels had been used by the Genjix for hundreds of years in this city. They wouldn’t know that they were under attack until the first shots were fired. By then, it would be too late.
They reached the main entrance, a large metal door with a display embedded in stone. Enzo gestured to Lagunov, a non-blessed logistics operative with aspirations of bearing a Holy One. Buying him from Vinnick had been a simple affair. A promise of a Holy One, albeit of low standing, was all that he needed. The man just wanted to ensure a place in the loyalty havens once Quasiform began.
Such easily bought loyalty means it can be easily sold again.
“And will reflect on his new standing.”
Lagunov punched a code into a small terminal, and the door hissed open. Enzo kept his face down as his group entered a long corridor with a window to a security room on the left side. He should be the only one these common soldiers could recognize. No vessel or Epsilon would work security, after all.
The guard at the other end spoke to Lagunov over the speaker, and he placed a set of forged documents into a tray, much as if they were running a transaction through a bank drive-through. The conversation continued for a few seconds and rose in volume as the guard was unable to corroborate the forged documents.
Enzo, keeping his back to the window, leaned into Lagunov. “I thought you had this end secured.”
“Apologies, Father,” he stammered. “I will work through this shortly.”
There were metal doors at both ends of the corridor. If Vinnick’s security forces caught on right now, Enzo’s people would be trapped. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Lagunov struggled to convince the security guard to just open the door. That damn Vinnick ran an operation with so much red tape. Eventually, Enzo ran out of patience.
Enzo turned and faced the guard. “Do you know who I am?” The man nodded, the blood draining from his face. “Good, brother,” he smiled. “We have pressing matters. Open the door.”
The guard fumbled with the intercom. “I’ll clear this upstairs immediately, Father.”
“You will do no such thing,” Enzo remarked. “Open the door if you value your life. The Holy One demands it. The survival of the Genjix depends on this, and you will be rewarded for making the right decision.” The security guard hesitated before pushing a series of buttons. The inner door of the corridor clicked and slid open.
“Take him out now,” Enzo murmured to Matthew as he passed. He had no use for such gullible fools.
The fireworks began right as he walked through the door. His well-trained team spread out and moved efficiently through the lower level tunnel foyer. Matthew went to the security room door and shot the foolish guard. He looked back at Enzo and nodded. “We have the floor, Father.”
“Lock it down. Bring in the main group,” Enzo barked, hoisting a rifle and taking position watching one of the four doors leading out of the room. A few seconds later, the outer door to the sewers swung open, and a small army of his loyal units flooded the building. They separated into kill teams, each led by one of his Hatchery siblings, and spread out through the complex. Akelatis led two units toward the garage, while Matthew took three units to secure the front entrance. That left Enzo to take care of Vinnick somewhere in the upper levels of the building. He signaled for Azumi and her units to fall in line.
You should retreat to safety and allow your siblings to take it from here.
“You know me better than that, Zoras. I lead by example. That is why my people are so loyal.”
The source of your fanatical support will also be the source of your downfall. Either way, make sure the objective is reached.
Zoras had long abandoned trying to dissuade Enzo from some of his more foolhardy habits, such as insisting on leading attacks. He had come to recognize that Enzo was a different sort of vessel. He wasn’t like Devin, who parceled out orders behind the safety of a desk. He was a lion who needed to hunt in order to stay sharp. It was the one vice his Holy One allowed, and for that, Enzo was grateful.
Azumi’s group exited the basement room and made its way out to the main hallways, shooting indiscriminately. This was the heart of the billionaire’s operation in Moscow. All the personnel here were his through and through. Enzo had given them one chance when he first arrived to show their loyalty to the true Genjix. That time had passed. Divine justice was at hand.
Footsteps to the right. Six sets.
Azumi was already on it, moving along the right side of the hallway while Enzo took the left. The security forces coming through were caught in crossfire and mowed down. A few seconds later, alarms rang through the facility, but Enzo was already leading his team to the second floor. He gestured for his rear operative to hold this stairwell as he began to clear the hallway. All through the building, he heard the rumbles of battle increase, shattering windows, cracking wood, and blowing chunks of concrete apart.
These old buildings were complicated mazes, filled with side entrances and doors. The enemy could be anywhere. A guard opened fire from a hidden spot in one of the rooms. Enzo ducked to the side just in time and cut him down. Two more appeared from an opposite doorway.
You are too much in the open.
“Secure this,” he told Azumi, then stepped into the room. The security guard, using an overturned desk as a makeshift barricade, pulled out a pistol. Enzo, staring at the angle of the gun barrel, twisted and ducked the first two shots, and then walked casually toward the guard. The guard fired twice more, and each time Enzo, watching the trigger finger, dodged the bullet, even though he was only a few meters away.
“You might get one more shot off.” He took another step closer. “Decide now.”
The soldier, hands trembling, lowered his gun and fell to one knee. “Apologies, Father. Please guide me.”
Enzo took the pistol out of his hand. “Prove your dedication.”
The soldier nodded and, arms raised, ran out to the hallway right into the middle of the firefight between his people and the security forces. “Lay down your weapons,” he screamed. “You are committing sacrilege against the Holy Ones. Come out and show your faith.”
There was a slight lull in the fighting as both sides watched the spectacle. A few of the soldiers stood up out of their cover. One even laid his rifle down. Enzo strolled out of the room and stopped behind the still screaming soldier . Without warning, Enzo drew a pistol and shot four of the security soldiers in quick succession. The rest returned fire, killing the poor fool still waving his hands in the air.
Enzo used his body as a shield and pushed forward until he moved past their firing line. He threw the body aside, drew his Hanjo Masamune and began to butcher these unworthy traitors. He took out three more of Vinnick’s guards before the rest of them had a chance to react.
As the soldiers turned to engage him, Azumi and the rest of his men finished them off. Without saying a word, they continued clearing room after room, killing soldiers and civilians indiscriminately. There were no rules of engagements when it came to betrayal.
Once they finished the second floor, they continued up to the next level. They met their first group of black-suited Epsilons at the top of the stairs. Enzo could always tell the Epsilons by their uniforms, which were essentially always black three-piece suits. They accompanied Vinnick wherever he went, and he was proud of how impeccably dressed his elite guards always were.
It was a contingent of five that ambushed Enzo at the top of the stairs. One of his unblessed died on the spot from a bullet to the throat. Azumi took a ricocheting bullet to the leg and dropped to one knee. Enzo tried to scramble to the other side of the hallway across the stairs, but their suppressive fire kept him pinned down. He leaned over the edge of the corner and almost took a bullet to the eye for his efforts.
He signaled to Azumi. “Can you move?” She nodded. Of course she could. He looked over at the remaining unblessed. They had done well so far. However, as regular humans, they were here exclusively to serve his purpose. “Prove your worth.”
Without hesitation, one of them dove into the hallway, sliding toward the opposite wall head-first. Enzo saw at least two bullets strike her leg and chest. The other unblessed followed suit, charging forward. He made it three steps before falling to a barrage. This gave Enzo and Azumi just the opening they needed.
The two of them were able to lay enough suppressive fire to force the Epsilons back and charged the enemy’s fortified position. One of the five Epsilons fell to a point blank shot to the chest, another from the Emei piercer attached to Azumi’s wrist. Then it turned to melee, as Enzo and Azumi fought the three remaining Epsilons hand-to-hand, with the suited men wielding their trademark bayoneted pistols.
A slash to Enzo’s chest right above his armor drew blood. He ducked the second slash and moved into the Epsilon’s guard. He kicked the inside of the Epsilon’s knee just enough to throw him off-balance, and then he threw an upward punch that sent the man’s nose up into his skull. He was dead before he hit the ground. Enzo spun around and drew Hanjo Masamune, cutting the second Epsilon clean through from navel to neck.
Enzo turned and saw Azumi struggling with the last Epsilon. He was a massive man easily twice her size. He had both his hands around her throat and was squeezing. Her face was red, and veins bulged from her forehead. She was slashing at his sides with the sharp point of her piercer, but most of her blows were ineffectual against his armor. The left side of his face was bleeding from several large gashes.
Enzo wondered if he should help her, but Azumi usually hated being interfered with. He leaned against the wall and coughed, lazily waving at the Epsilon when he glanced Enzo’s way. That earned him a glare from his sister. That slight hesitation proved costly for the Epsilon. She took advantage of his momentary lapse of focus, swung her legs up and wrapped them around one of his arms. She twisted downward and flung him face first into the ground. Azumi finished him off with a piercer to his throat.
Enzo offered a hand and pulled her up from the ground. “Well done.”
“Your assistance was unnecessary, brother,” she said.
“None was given.”
He handed her a rifle and they continued up the stairs, taking out three more Epsilons along the way. However, other than that, resistance on the upper levels was surprisingly light.
Vinnick would not have so few of his Epsilons guarding him. He must not be here.
Enzo cursed. Was he too late? Had he delayed too long? Well, no matter. As long as he showed the Russian government who controlled the Genjix and who they should be dealing with, that was all that mattered. Sometimes, a show of strength was the best form of diplomacy, even if it was technically against his own people. Especially if it was against his own people. The Russians could only imagine how he would treat them if he treated other Genjix who crossed him in this way.
He put his ear to the comm. “Report status.”
“Front gates secured,” Matthew said.
“Epsilon group at rear exit. We have them pinned down,” Akelatis added.
Enzo leaned into his comm. “The Epsilons are useless to me. Leave no survivors.”
He looked at Azumi, who nodded and left the room. The operation here was almost completed. All they needed to do now was round up Vinnick’s surviving intermediaries to the Federal Assembly and show these bought politicians how little their bribes were actually worth.