Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

Revelations of Destiny	By : Kellendros Category: Kim Possible > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 63461 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
February 22, Tuesday

Kim was getting out of the Rhino when she noticed there were a pair of guards stationed at the side entrance of the CI complex that she’d been using for almost two weeks now—mainly because it was the closest one to Corscan’s quarters, but also because it let her avoid the two guard stations she’d have to pass to get there any other way. It wasn’t that the guards actually knew what her relationship with Corscan consisted of—at least, she hoped they didn’t—but Kim had still felt distinctly uncomfortable passing them every day, imagining that there was a… knowing, quality to their looks as they watched her go by.

Shutting the door to the Hummer-like vehicle, Kim examined the guards while the Rhino pulled away from her. Aside from the fact that they weren’t normally stationed here, they were also what Kim had come to refer to in her head as “level three” security. Most guards at CI headquarters wore dark grey uniforms with black accessories, and were armed with a single Colt .45 automatic in a shoulder holster along with a variety of non-lethal close combat weapons. They were what Kim considered normal security. “Level two” security wore two-piece bodysuits and segmented vests like Damien did, though in grey and black instead of all black, and carried MP5/10 submachine guns in addition to their other gear. Those guards only appeared in sensitive areas like the huge hoverbike testing facility next to the complex. Kim had only seen “level three” security a handful of times; they had segmented shoulder pads, forearm bracers, and shin guards in addition to their vests, along with form-fitting helmets and high-powered FN P90 submachine guns, just like the ones on Stargate SG-1.

As Kim headed up the walkway, she wondered why the heavy security forces were stationed here. Corscan hadn’t mentioned any big projects she was starting, nor had Kim overheard anything to that effect since she’d been coming here. An uneasy thought crossed her mind; what if there had been some kind of trouble? Kim didn’t think any of the super villains she knew would be interested in the technology that was being developed here, except possibly Jack Hench (though he wasn’t exactly a super villain per se), but that still left countless other criminal types who certainly would be. Worrying now, Kim increased her pace and quickly closed the distance between her and the guards. She was quite surprised when they adjusted the position of their guns and the one on the left said; “That’s far enough ma’am.”

“Ahhh, excuse me?” Kim said as she came to a stop. “I’ve been using this door for weeks now. I’ve got a security pass and everything, see?” Kim held up the security pass she’d gotten on Monday; it was supposed to be good for the rest of the week.

“Be that as it may ma’am, we have orders to secure this door and allow no one through unless they have Black Level security clearance. No exceptions.” The guard responded in a brusque but not altogether impolite manner.

“Can you tell me what’s going on then?” Kim asked.

“Sorry ma’am, I’m not at liberty to say.” The guard responded.

“Well, can you at least call in and tell someone Kim Possible is here? I’d rather not have to hike all the way around to the next door if I don’t have to.”

“All right ma’am.” The guard answered, giving a signal to the other guard, who brought his weapon up to the ready and covered Kim with it.

Normally having a high-powered submachine gun trained on her would have made Kim a little nervous—or angry—but in the last few weeks she’d gotten used to how professional the guards here were. They never seemed to get sloppy or let things slide out of monotony, and they always did things the right way. With one guard distracted by calling in, it only made sense for the other to take a more aggressive stance to make up for it, just in case Kim was trying to create an advantage before attacking them.

After a few minutes speaking sub-vocally over his communications headset, with several minutes pause between start to finish, the guard said; “All right ma’am, someone is coming to sort this out. If you’ll just be patient they should arrive shortly.”

“All right, thank you very much.” Kim answered, settling into a relaxed stance as she began her wait. A little less than five minutes later the door opened behind the guards and revealed the well dressed but professional form of Corscan’s personal assistant Hui.

“Hello Kim. Please come inside while we talk.” Hui said, waving Kim forward.

Kim nodded and went through the door past the guards, asking, “What’s going on Hui?” as she did.

“I am most apologetic that you were inconvenienced by this Kim,” Hui said contritely. “I truly hate to say it, but… quite honestly we had… forgotten all about you.”

“Has something bad happened Hui? Did someone break in or something?” Kim asked, her concern growing.

“Oh, no, nothing like that, but… yes, a matter has arisen that is most dire, and Ms. Mataii has been quite involved in dealing with it personally. The matter has reached a critical point and Ms. Mataii barely had time to consult with me for a moment over your presence. It is not known how long this matter will continue to involve her, so if you wish, I can arrange for your return home now Kim. Otherwise, you may have a considerable wait ahead of you, but Ms. Mataii has given her consent for you to do so should you wish to. I must firmly stress the need for you to remain quiet and unobtrusive should you choose to remain here Kim; this matter is most delicate, and Ms. Mataii cannot afford a single moment’s distraction.”

“Ummm, ok, but… why would you think I’d get in the way? I can just wait in Corscan’s quarters like I usually do while she’s busy.” Kim said.

“Oh, yes, I am sorry Kim, I had forgotten that you are still a newcomer to this facility. Because of how quickly this situation developed, Ms. Mataii was unable to respond personally to the event, so she was forced to set up a virtual command center in her quarters, linked by holo-projectors directly to the on-site operation center.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I’m good at keeping quiet and out of the way when I need to be—unlike some people…” Kim muttered the last part under her breath.

“Very well Kim, if you would follow me.” Hui said before turning and heading up the corridor towards Corscan’s quarters.

As Kim followed, she saw that this part of the complex was crawling with more of the heavily armed security forces now. Well, ok, crawling might be exaggerating a little, Kim thought to herself, but there were two-man teams stationed at every turn and junction point, plus two more on the outside and inside of the door to Corscan’s quarters. Kim thought she saw men stationed on the corners of the roof that edged the geodesic dome too, but she wasn’t sure because when she entered the huge main room of Corscan’s quarters, her attention was almost immediately drawn to the setup that now occupied the center mat.

A series of ten eight-foot tall posts marked off a rectangular area twenty feet wide and thirty feet long. The silvery posts were about four inches thick, had collapsible tripod stands built into their bases to support them, and were tipped with a foot-long, narrow, bulbous oval of milky yet scintillating rainbow crystal. Two more crystals broke up the length of the poles evenly at the one and four foot marks, and a thin inch-wide strip of milky crystal ran up the inside length of the poles, connecting all of the crystals to one another.

Inside the marked-off area was a very slightly semi-transparent image of a dozen people dressed in black and grey uniforms who were sitting at various computers and communication centers. The “far wall” of the holographic room had a huge view screen in its center, displaying a topographical map of a slightly hilly area in sharp yellow-green lines, with several darker green dots highlighting specific areas and tagged with text boxes of information. Several view screens flanked the main screen, smaller only by comparison, across which various data streams, radar and thermal imaging maps, and video images were being displayed.

Outside the marked-off area, two blocky portable power generators hummed softly, one to either side of the virtual room, from which several black, segmented cables snaked across the floor to each of the poles. On the near side, just back from the center area between the two inner poles, a pair of heavy, four-foot tall wooden podiums had been placed within easy reaching distance of one another. A pair of laptop computers had been set up on the podiums, displaying yet more information that appeared of the same type as that in the holographic command center.

It was between these two podiums that Corscan was standing when Kim entered the room. She was dressed in a plain, jet-black uniform similar to what the people in the virtual command center were wearing, with a slightly loose long-sleeved shirt and loose combat fatigue style pants tucked into tightly laced combat boots, though her outfit lacked the beret, shoulder holster, and badges the others wore. She also had a slim but elaborate communications headset on, which sported a thin two-inch square yellow-green LCD eyepiece just in front of her left eye. Currently she was looking back and forth between the two laptops, working each of them in turn with one hand on either keyboard, while every now and then glancing up at the main display screens in the holographic command center.

Needless to say, what appeared to be an elaborate military operation was hardly what Kim had expected to walk into, and she almost blurted out several questions before she managed to catch herself and stop just in time. Still, those questions kept bouncing around in her head like ping pong balls until Hui crossed in front of where she had come to a stop while taking in everything that was going on. Kim shook her head when the Asian woman blocked her view for the moment it took to pass in front of her, breaking the spell of surprised confusion she’d been under.

Kim’s attention was diverted for a while as she watched Hui move around the center of the room to Corscan’s office, where she sat down behind Corscan’s big wooden desk and put on a headset similar to the one Corscan wore. Then she went to work using the elaborate computer setup Corscan had, presumably contributing to whatever was going on given the headset she was wearing.

Kim shook her head again and wandered over to a nearby workout machine that she knew had a comfortable seat, setting her backpack down next to it and taking off her jacket and boots before sitting down and leaning back to watch what was going on, trying to figure it all out.

Corscan wore a stone-faced, focused look unlike any Kim had seen on her before, her mostly-grey hazel eyes cold and sharp in her face and her voice strong and measured whenever she spoke to various people over her headset or through the holographic interface. Over then next half-hour or so she alternated between using her laptops and walking into the holographic command center in order to check something at a specific terminal or issue commands. It was obvious by the way the people in the projection reacted to her moving through it that there was a holo-projector on the other end of the transmission as well, projecting an image of her into the real command center every time she entered the virtual one projected here.

As Kim listened intently to the parts of the operation she could hear and carefully watched the big view screen displays she could make out from where she sat, she gradually pieced together a general idea of what was going on. The map displayed the terrain around a large, well-armed rebel facility somewhere in Africa, into which a group of operatives under radio silence were presently trying to penetrate without being discovered until they reached the “target area,” whereupon they were going to attempt to recover “the package.”

Once Kim figured out what was going on, more or less, she couldn’t help but be swept up in the tension of the operation, listening to the constant reports of the locations of the operatives in relation to the patrolling and stationary rebel guards, relayed from the thermal imaging feeds, and knowing there was nothing that could be done but trust in the operatives’ ability and hope they weren’t discovered every time a moving patrol came close or they had to get past a guard station. Kim felt this was a lot more nerve-wracking than actually doing it was, and she gained a whole new appreciation for Wade knowing the boy genius had been doing this sort of thing for her on a regular basis for years now.

After what seemed like an eternity, the command center got confirmation that the squad had rendezvoused at the target area and would be going “green light” in sixty seconds. With that confirmation, Corscan strode into the virtual command center and took up a position in back, where she could easily see everything in the room. Behind her, Kim sat on the edge of her seat, chewing her lip slightly as she waited with baited breath. Faster than she’d expected, the images of the squad slipped out of sight one by one, thermal imaging no longer able to track them as they entered the underground section of the facility that would allow them to get to “the package.”

A few minutes later there was a soft hiss and Kim couldn’t help but gasp slightly as she heard Damien’s voice coming in over the encrypted radio frequency.

“Frost to Command. We’ve penetrated the target area without incident. Activating sonic generator now. Over.”

“This is Command,” a woman in the virtual command center responded, “receiving and processing sonic telemetry now. Over.”

“Tygress to Frost,” Corscan said, “What’s it like down there? Anything we didn’t expect? Over.”

“Well, the tunnel’s a little wider and a little lower than we expected, and it’s pretty well lit, but all in all it’s about what we thought it would be Tygress. Over.” Damien responded.

Corscan nodded and waited in silence for several minutes until the woman that had first spoken looked up from her console and said; “Sonic telemetry processed, displaying current known parameters now.”

The main view screen went black for a moment before a very detailed map comprised of blue lines quickly assembled itself, displaying a half-dozen or so tunnels running in long lines with several sharp turns and connections interspaced throughout them. The map also displayed several barred gates and four closed doors, but for some reason there was no information displayed on the areas past each of the doors.

“All right, what now? Over.” Damien asked.

“The left door is under the barracks, and the right has a stairwell leading up to ground level. It has to be one of the other two Frost. Over.” Corscan answered.

“Understood. Over.” Damien answered before issuing deployment orders to the other four operatives in his squad. Kim watched as Damien and the others began leapfrogging up the sides of the tunnel in rotating groups of two, making sure there was always at least one person covering the front and rear at any time.

A few minutes later the squad reached one of the barred gates and were trying to circumvent it when the door to the barracks opened and a small area of the map around it went hazy. Out of that haze came the rough image of a single figure with what looked like an AK-47 slung across his back and some kind of pistol at his hip.

“Frost, we have hostile movement from the barracks entry! Repeat, hostile movement from the barracks entry! Over.” Corscan said sharply.

“Understood. Over.” Damien sub-vocalized before he and his team went silent, waiting to see what was going to happen.

As the figure walked down the tunnel at a moderate pace, the image resolved until it could be clearly identified as one of the rebel soldiers. The fuzzy area of the map cleared up as well, and expanded to show several rooms and corridors in the basement of the barracks, along with three more rebel soldiers in those rooms. Eventually, the wandering rebel stopped at the first gate he came to and inspected it before moving on, obviously headed to the next gate Damien and his team were at.

“Hostile is checking the gates. Repeat, hostile is checking the gates. Over.” Corscan informed Damien.

After a few silent hand-gestures from him, Damien and his team quickly fell back to a four-way junction and hid to either side of the main tunnel. Everyone waited tensely as the rebel soldier came up and inspected the gate Damien’s team had been working on. After a few moments he moved on in his patrol and everyone breathed a figurative—or in Kim’s case, literal—sigh of relief.

“Hostile is moving on. Over.” Corscan told Damien softly. It took another ten minutes for the rebel soldier to walk through the tunnel complex and check the other five gates before returning to the barracks’ basement. Once he did, Corscan told Damien; “Have your team hold position there Frost; I want to see if that was a regular patrol or not. Send one forward to finish the gate recon and then have them fall back. Over.”

“Affirmative. Over.” Damien replied.

It took five minutes for the squad member to finish assessing the gate and return to the rest of the team, reporting that the cylinder lock couldn’t be picked and that they’d have to cut through the tempered steel chain holding the gate shut. After that it was just over twenty-five long, agonizing minutes later that the barracks door opened again and another rebel soldier made the rounds checking every gate. Once he was returning up the tunnel leading to the barracks’ basement Corscan spoke to Damien again.

“All right, it seems to be a regular sweep. I want you to wait until the end of the next pass, then breach the gate and proceed. Take out the next sweeper in the second junction point here.” A red dot appeared on the map in one of the connecting tunnels. “You’ll have at least fifty-four minutes from the point you breach until you hit the red zone. Until then set up the claymores and secure your back trail for easy exit. Over.”

“More than enough time to get the job done Tygress. Over.”

Another half-hour dragged by, the only activity coming in the first ten minutes as Damien’s team spread out into the tunnels like a well-oiled machine, placing claymore mines and securing their exit route before regrouping at the previous junction. As everyone waited, Kim was all but chewing her nails and her stomach was tied in knots. The tension was bad enough, but the anticipation of what was to come… somehow Kim doubted that with the team placing claymore mines they were going to be doing anything as benign as knocking out the next patrolling soldier when they “took him out.”

God, this is really happening. Kim thought. They’re going to kill that guard… and who knows how many other rebel soldiers on their way out with whatever they’re there to get. Ugh… this isn’t anything like it is in the movies, it’s too… too real.

Kim knew that things like this happened all the time. SWAT teams took down hostage takers and raided drug lord enclaves; Special Forces units took out terrorist cells and enemy installations; soldiers fought other soldiers in wars all around the world. Even ignoring all the paranoid conspiracy theories that were out there, Kim was still sure government organizations like the CIA did stuff like this too. Hell, if she had to, she would even be willing to bet that from time to time Global Justice quietly carried out these kinds of operations. But none of that made it any easier to deal with.

And it didn’t explain why it was happening here either. Kim knew Corscan had what amounted to a private army, and that she dealt with a lot of high security organizations in the course of developing advanced vehicle technology for them, but using those forces like this made no sense to her. On top of that, why would Corscan be running the operation herself? And she was running the op; in the two hours that had passed so far that fact had become readily apparent to Kim. Corscan wasn’t micromanaging anything, but everything flowed through her to some degree or other before being put into play, and she was deftly controlling and adjusting those flows continuously to manage the overall operation.

Kim had countless questions she wanted to ask, and she barely knew where to begin, but she couldn’t yet; she didn’t dare interrupt the operation just to satisfy her curiosity and confusion. The frustration from that was adding to everything else she was feeling, and right now she desperately wanted to be able to do something, anything, in order to vent those feelings instead of sitting around stewing in her own juices, but she couldn’t, and because of that, for the first time in a long time Kim felt helpless about something confronting her. It was not a nice feeling to revisit.

“Sweeper incoming. Over.” Corscan’s voice pulled Kim back to the present situation, and she looked up as the next stage of the operation began.

“Understood. Over.” Damien sub-vocalized before going silent.

The team waited until the patrolling rebel had made his rounds and entered the last tunnel leading back to the barracks before they moved forwards to the gate. As soon as the rebel soldier disappeared behind the door to the barracks the team went to work, cutting through the chain holding the gate shut and then moving past it while a single member fell back and took up position at the last junction in order to cover their exit route.

Heading up the corridor, one member broke left and moved into position to cover the tunnel where the next patrolling rebel would be taken out, two more split up to head to each of the two unknown doors in the center part of the tunnel complex, and Damien went right to cover the unknown door with the stairwell leading up to it. The two team members heading to the central doors approached them carefully, examining the tunnels and heavy doors intently before coming up to them. Then they quickly broke out small devices from their kits and set them up at the base of each door.

“This is Fox,” a woman’s voice came in. “Fiber optic one in place. Over.”

“Acknowledged Fox, receiving telemetry now. Over.” A man in the command center responded.

A minute later the second camera was up and running too, and after a few more moments two of the smaller view screens switched to the images coming in from the camera units. The view from the right-hand door was dark until they switched to active ultraviolet, whereupon a murky image of what appeared to be a storage room appeared. It was the left-hand door that all but immediately captured everyone’s attention though, because the fiber optic camera revealed a well-lit room that had many people moving around in it, and that view was quickly switched up to the main view screen.

After a few minutes slowly manipulating the fiber optic lens, a rebel soldier was revealed in each near corner of the room, along with one older looking man dressed in a lab coat, but little else could be seen thanks to solid counters laden with laboratory equipment blocking the view of the rest of the room.

“All right, Fox, reposition your fiber optics package to the top of the door so we can see everything in that room. Samson, pull your optics package and then I want you and Frost to set your wedges at your respective doors, then fall back to Fox’s position and begin setting up for quick breach. Over.” Corscan instructed the team.

A series of three slightly out of synch acknowledgements came through and then the team carried out Corscan’s orders, Fox moving the camera setup to the top of the door and deploying a thinner fiber optic cable into the room beyond, while Samson and Damien ratcheted several expanding wedges between their doors and the jambs surrounding them, effectively sealing them shut before they returned to Fox’s position. Once there, they began setting up an interlinked series of small explosive charges on the door so it could be quickly blown completely off the jamb if necessary.

By the time they were finished, three fiber optic cameras had slowly worked their way through the narrow crack between the top of the door and the jamb, protruding into the laboratory beyond the door. Their separate fish-eye views were being rendered into a single composite view of the entire room, and that view revealed a dozen people in lab coats scattered around the large, ‘L’ shaped room, working alone or in small groups, along with a half-dozen rebel soldiers who were obviously guarding them, given the way they were holding their AK-47s.

“Running facial recognition patterns now.” One of the men in the command center said, while another reported; “There; that’s Dr. Pataki on the left-hand side of the room.”

The face of an Indian woman in a lab coat was briefly outlined in a capture-box graphic before her image transferred to one of the smaller screens, analysis algorithm graphics playing across it while another screen was devoted solely to tracking her movements through the room. Every other person in a lab coat had their facial images captured too, a third screen displaying the search patterns running as they tried to identify everyone.

“Identity confirmed; that is definitely Dr. Pataki.” A woman in the command center quickly reported.

“All right, Package confirmed Frost. Start planning your breach. Over.” Corscan told Damien.

“Understood. Over.” Damien replied. Five minutes later he said; “Ok Tygress, we’re good to go any time now. Over.”

“Understood Frost. Stand by for further orders. Over.” Corscan answered, patiently waiting on something.

A few minutes later a man in the command center said; “Facial recognition patterns have finished running on all unknowns. We have confirmed the identities of Dr. Gregori Vachtich and Dr. Wu Long, as well as that of Dr. Peter Sadinski. The other eight are unknown factors at present.”

Corscan nodded and told Damien the identities of the three men, red tags briefly highlighting their images on the video feed as she did.

“Sadinski was apparently kidnapped over a year ago now; try and recover him too if possible. Vachtich and Long are on a dozen different hit lists; take them out when you breach. The rest are unknowns so I want the collateral damage minimized as much as possible. Over.”

“Understood. Revising breach plan. Over.” Damien answered.

“Sweeper incoming!” one of the men in the command center said as another rebel soldier entered the tunnels from the barracks.

“All right Frost, it’s rock and roll time.” Corscan said. “As soon as Serendipity takes out the sweeper and sets her claymores you’ll breach. From that point evac will be incoming and the clock will be running down. Over.”

“Understood Tygress, we’re good to go. Over.” Damien replied.

Kim shot to her feet as everything started going down, no longer able to sit still as the operation began in earnest. The anxious redhead slowly shifted her weight back and forth from foot to foot while her hands flexed in and out, repeatedly curling into fists and relaxing again. Her urge to do something was stronger than it had ever been before, and there was nothing she could do but stand and watch the images on the screens as events unfolded.

First Serendipity swung out from around the junction corner she was hiding behind and crouched, putting a short burst from her silenced MP5/10 into the chest of the approaching rebel guard from only five feet away. As he staggered back and then dropped to his knees she was already moving past him, trotting up the tunnel and quickly heading to the one leading back to the barracks. Just before coming into that one she slowed and carefully stalked ten feet up it before placing her claymore mines. After that she stalked back out and as soon as she was clear, double-timed it back to the junction point just down from the door Damien and the two other team members were at, taking up a covering position.

As soon as Serendipity was in position, Damien’s team blew the door into the room and rushed up the tunnel, entering the room in the wake of confusion the blast had caused. Damien and Fox rushed forward, targeting the guards scattered throughout the room and putting concise bursts from their silenced MP5/10s into them while they returned fire erratically, the hail of high-velocity slugs chewing through lab equipment and not much else. As his teammates moved forwards into the lab, Samson took out the two guards they’d left behind in the near corners while the men were still reeling from the concussion of the blast. As soon as he had taken care of them, Samson rushed over to Dr. Pataki, telling her to remain calm and that they were there to rescue her before asking if she understood.

Once Damien and Fox had taken down the other guards, Damien targeted the fleeing Vachtich and Long while Fox ran after Sadinski. Damien put a half-dozen rounds into Vachtich’s back, but his line of fire on Long was blocked by several other fleeing people, and the doctor was able to get out of the room before Damien got a chance to take him down. While Damien was trying his best to take down Long, Fox managed to convince Sadinski to stop running and listen to her. As Damien rushed over to the door and fired several bursts up the stairs beyond it, she was able to further convince Sadinski that if he came with them they would take him to safety.

Fox and Samson led their respective charges to the gaping doorway at the back of the room, then Fox took both doctors down the tunnel to where Serendipity was waiting while Samson covered Damien’s careful retreat back across the lab. Once Damien reached Samson, both men lobbed concussion grenades over by the door to the stairwell and retreated back into the tunnel, barely feeling the shockwave from the grenades a second or two later. Then they made their way back to the junction where everyone was gathered, pausing only to slap a claymore mine on either side of the tunnel about halfway down it’s length.

By then Fox had gotten the spare protective vest they had brought for Dr. Pataki on her, and instructed both the doctors to keep close and do exactly what they said to do and everything would be all right. As soon as Damien and Samson arrived the group quickly headed down the tunnel towards the last member of the team and the exit. As they went, the muted sound of several alarms going off radiated through the tunnels.

As soon as they reached their last teammate, Ivory, the group paused while Damien, Samson, and Ivory switched their ordinance from the MP5/10 submachine guns they were using to the high-tech, compact, heavy assault rifles they had slung across their backs. Then the three men took the lead while Fox and Serendipity each took a doctor in hand and followed about fifteen feet back, watching the rear as they went.

“This is Tygress to evac, over.” Corscan said as she switched frequencies.

“This is evac; we read you loud and clear Tygress. Over.” A man responded, a heavy Texan twang in his voice.

“What’s your ETA now? Over.”

“We’re getting a headwind, but we’ll be at the evac point in under five minutes worst case scenario Tygress.”

“Understood, Tygress out. Over.”

Corscan switched frequencies again and said; “Tygress to Archangels; report. Over.”

“Archangel One, in position. Over.” A man answered, his heavy German accent making his softly spoken words sound harsh despite the fact.

“Archangel Two, in position. Over.” A woman answered.

“Archangel Three, in position and ready to rock. Over.” A woman with a melodic Jamaican accent responded last.

“Archangels One and Two, begin targeting the guard towers, then switch to pinning down the motor pool. Archangel Three; overwatch the extraction team and take out anything giving them trouble. Over.” Corscan ordered, switching frequencies back to Damien’s squad once the three had responded in the affirmative.

“Tygress to Frost; evac incoming, will reach the extraction point in five minutes tops. Archangels have begun clearing the way. Over.”

“Understood Tygress, we’ll be there and waiting. Over.” Damien responded.

Damien and his two teammates approached the stairwell they had entered the tunnel complex from, carefully ascending the cement steps to the heavy metal door at the top. There they pushed the doors open and took a quick look out into the night. After a moment Damien and Ivory rushed out in crouching runs, leaving Samson to cover them from the doorway. Once Damien and Ivory took up positions Fox and Serendipity brought their charges up the stairs and out into the night.

Just as they were exiting the tunnel complex, there was a muffled explosion as several rebel soldiers rushed down the tunnel connecting the complex to the barracks and set off the claymores Serendipity has placed there.

With the entire team and their charges finally out of the tunnels, the main view screen switched from the computer-generated image of the underground tunnel complex to the original detailed overhead thermal imaging view of the entire facility. The new view revealed the team positioned between two minor outbuildings, while rebel soldiers poured out into the night from the barracks to the upper right-hand side of the complex and the various guard stations scattered throughout it. At the same time, the mobile patrols stood frozen, uncertain what the alert was for and where they should respond.

The rebel soldiers were a mass of confusion, milling about with little or no direction, and Damien and his team wasted no time taking advantage of the opportunity, sweeping out of the alley and quickly cutting down a dozen nearby rebels with their silenced assault rifles. As the team began moving towards an open area in the facility, the rebels slowly began organizing, only to break down into further chaos as sniper fire from the Archangels started taking down any rebels near or heading towards the motor pool.

Despite the confusion, it was only a few minutes later that the team found itself fighting off groups of rebel soldiers firing at them from multiple locations while they did their best to take cover behind a truck and several crates near the open area they were next to.

“Tygress to Frost; inbound evac ETA eighty seconds now. Over.” Corscan said.

“Understood Tygress. If it weren’t for the tourists this’d be a walk in the park so far, but even so, no real worries yet. Over.” Damien responded.

Corscan grinned even as she switched frequencies. “Tygress to Archangels One and Two; inbound evac ETA in sixty seconds, prepare to switch to cover fire. Over.”

“Archangel One, understood. Over.” The German answered a moment before the female sniper also affirmed “Archangel Two, understood. Over.”

“Tygress to Frost; lay smoke and get the tourists ready to run, the angels are watching out for you. Inbound evac ETA forty seconds. Over.”

“Understood. Over.” Damien answered before lobbing a pair of red smoke grenades out into the center of the open area.

“All Archangels begin suppression fire now. Over.” Corscan ordered as she switched frequencies again. The snipers responded in the affirmative and suddenly rebel soldiers were dropping left and right in all the various groups firing on Damien and his team.

A few moments later the night lit up suddenly as the evac arrived and opened up on the motor pool with the twin miniguns mounted in the gunpod on it’s snout, the brilliant white lines of tracer rounds clearly showing where the streams of withering fire were being directed. Then the fat, compact aircraft swiveled around smoothly and landed with the rear of the tilt-wing aircraft facing Damien’s team.

The back of the Osprey-like vehicle quickly lowered as a broad boarding ramp, and as soon as it was down Damien, Samson, and Ivory ran out into the open area and took up positions laying down covering fire while Fox and Serendipity led the two doctors across the open area as fast as they could go.

Once Fox, Serendipity, and the two doctors made it inside the evac, Damien, Ivory, and Samson fell back to the waiting aircraft in rotating shifts, still laying down cover fire as they went. Damien was the last one into the evac, and as soon as he was on board the rear hatch began closing, the bulky aircraft lifting off in a spray of fat sparks as a hail of AK-47 fire slammed into the rear and sides of the plane.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the virtual command center as several men and women began talking loudly in urgent tones, but Corscan was already speaking calmly if equally urgently on her comm. unit.

“Archangels; targets in grid sections C-4 and C-5; four hostiles with shoulder launched SAMs. Take them out now! Over.”

A trio of voices acknowledged Corscan’s order and the snipers began targeting the four men who were setting up Stinger missiles as fast as they could manage, the expert marksmen calling their targets so no shot would be wasted. Three of the rebel soldiers were dropped before they finished, but the fourth managed to launch his missile before he went down.

Kim’s heart jumped into her throat as she watched the lance of fire streak towards the climbing evac plane, and she gasped even as twin lines of fire from the aircraft’s miniguns sawed back and forth in the direction of the missile, putting a cloud of high-velocity rounds between the evac and the fast-approaching explosive.

Thankfully one of those many rounds impacted the Stinger missile and blew it to smithereens only a hundred feet away from the evac, which had just begun leaving the area displayed on the main view screen, still flying backwards as it fled the rebel facility.

Kim gave a sigh of relief as the evac left the area, and the main view screen switched to a much larger computer generated map of the surrounding countryside, tracking the aircraft as well as showing the positions of the three snipers who were scattered around the facility between half and three-quarters of a mile away.

“Tygress to Frost; what’s your status? Over.” Corscan asked a few moments after the view changed to the bigger map.

“All team members present and accounted for Tygress,” Damien answered. “The Package is secure and well, but Dr. Sadinski took two rounds to his side. He seems to be in stable condition though. Over.” Damien answered.

“Good work Frost. Extend my congratulations to your team and I’ll see you when you get back. Over.” Corscan said warmly.

“Thanks Tygress; will do. Frost over and out.” Damien answered.

Corscan grinned at Damien’s grateful tone and then addressed the virtual command center.

“All right people, you’ve all put in a good day’s work here and you can congratulate yourselves later, but right now I want the Archangels brought in safely and everyone accounted for; once we have everyone back you can all go out and celebrate—and that’s an order.”

Corscan accepted the various acknowledgements and accolades from the personnel in the command center and then walked out of the virtual setup. A few moments later she took off her elaborate headset and put it down on the left-hand laptop podium before taking a few steps out to the side and waving to Hui. The Asian woman nodded, and a short while later the holographic display flickered and vanished. As it did, Corscan sighed and closed her eyes for a few moments, standing still and silent before she turned and came to a stop as she saw Kim standing there watching her.

“Hey darlin’. Sorry you had to wait so long, but as you saw, just a liiiittle bit busy there.” Corscan said with a grin.

Even with her relief over the operation’s apparent success, Kim was still wound up tight from all the nervous tension that had built up in her over the last few hours, and still considerably confused as well, but she couldn’t help the slight smile that crept across her features over the way Corscan’s expression had brightened when she saw Kim standing there waiting for her. Despite that happy little feeling, it didn’t distract her from wanting an explanation for everything she had witnessed.

“Corscan, can you… I mean… what exactly was all that?” At Corscan’s raised eyebrow and amused little smirk Kim continued; “I mean, I know what it was, obviously, but why were you doing something like that? And why were you doing it? For that matter how could you do it?”

“Iiii have an army, I use my army.” Corscan grinned as she headed past Kim towards the bedroom. “Come on, let’s get changed; you’re already runnin’ late because of this, no need to make it any longer”

Kim hesitated for a moment, then picked up her backpack and followed Corscan into the bedroom. After closing the door behind them, Kim turned to find Corscan sitting at the end of the bed, beginning to unlace one of her high combat boots.

“So, what do you want to know Kim?” Corscan asked without looking up.

“Well for starters, what was that all about anyway?”

“Three months ago a well organized, well supplied rebel faction kidnapped doctor Malati Pataki from an African biomedical research facility that I indirectly control. This rebel faction has been acquirin’ researchers for over a year now either by kidnappin’ legitimate doctors an’ scientists an’ forcin’ them to work for them, or, by hirin’ less respectable individuals usin’ the profits from slave labor based diamond minin’ operations. This rebel faction is usin’ those researchers to attempt to create a new bio-weapon that will only affect the tribes they see as their enemies; ethnic cleansin’ in the form of a deadly plague.”

Corscan finished unlacing her boot and pulled it off, dropping it on the floor before raising her other leg, starting in on unlacing the remaining boot while she continued her story.

“Now, aside from the fact that someone should be puttin’ these fuckers out ‘a business anyway, there’s no way in hell I’m gonna let someone who works for me even indirectly remain in the hands ‘a scum like that without doin’ somethin’ about it, an’ since no one else was willin’ to take any kind of direct action against them, I did it myself. Like I said Kim; I have an army, an’ I use it when I need to.”

“All right, that makes sense.” Kim still felt uncomfortable about having watched so many people being killed; no matter how remote the images had been, it still felt way too real for her—probably because it had been—but now that she knew the entire story and those deaths were put in proper perspective for her, she wasn’t nearly as disturbed by them as she had been.

Kim shook her head slightly as Corscan dropped her second boot and began peeling off her heavy cotton socks, coming back to the present once more. Moving over to the dresser, Kim set down her backpack and began taking off her clothes.

“It still doesn’t explain why you were in charge of everything though.” Kim’s voice was slightly muffled as she pulled off her shirt. “I mean, don’t get me wrong; you obviously knew what you were doing out there, but I thought you were a businesswoman, not some military type. Though that would explain the hair I suppose…”

Corscan snorted softly and grinned back at Kim before standing up and starting to unbutton her shirt.

“I’m a woman of many talents darlin’, remember? The people that raised me made sure I had a… broad, education. Besides, you’d be amazed at what can be applied to big business. You haven’t looked at any of the books in my office yet, have you Kim?”

“Ummm, not really, no.” Kim responded as she slipped out of her pants and began putting on her practice clothes.

“Well, after I’m finished wringin’ you out tonight an’ you’ve recovered, you might wanna give ‘em a look-see; you might be interested in what you find.” Corscan grinned as she slipped out of her black shirt and started unbuckling her belt.

“Hey! I’ve gotten a lot better in the last week!” Kim groused as she hopped around with one leg in her shorts.

“Yeah, you’re only complainin’ half as much as you were the first week.” Corscan grinned as she dropped her pants and stepped out of them, heading for her cavernous walk-in closet.

“I do not complain!” Kim shouted indignantly as she pulled on her sports top. “I just… think out loud a lot…” Kim smirked.

“Yeah, about how annoyed you are!” Corscan’s voice floated out from the doorway to her closet.

Kim just shook her head and smiled as she put her sneakers on, standing balanced on one foot while raising her other leg to put one on and lace it up before doing the other, the way Corscan had told her she should do it from now on. It wasn’t like Kim really needed any more practice on her balance, but every little bit helped, and although she hated to admit it, despite how good a shape she was in the training Corscan was putting her through made her ache in ways she hadn’t dreamed of, leaving her trembling and sweating buckets at the end of every session. Wrung out was a fairly accurate description unfortunately, and Kim was dearly looking forward to the day she could make it through a session without feeling like she was going to collapse after it was over.

As Corscan came out of the closet a minute later, Kim saw she was wearing her usual two-piece, heavy cotton workout suit and nothing else, as expected. Looking at Kim and finding her ready, Corscan smiled and said; “C’mon, let’s get to work; you’re already three hours off schedule now.”

“Can we get some supper first?” Kim asked, in a tone just shy of pleading. “I’m starving…”

“No! No fillin’ up before a workout; you know that.” Corscan admonished. “You can have an extra power bar to start, an’ on your halftime break, but no more than that ‘til you’re done, ok?”

“Awww…” Kim pouted in her classic big-eyed style, but all it accomplished was getting a raised eyebrow and wry smile from Corscan. Kim had learned quite quickly that surprisingly, the big woman seemed immune to her puppy dog pout, but she still used it out of reflex despite that knowledge.

“All right, all right, the sooner we get this over with the sooner I can eat, right?” Kim griped, waiting for Corscan’s nod before heading out into the main room.

As soon as she opened the door, Kim was glad she didn’t have any problems working out in front of strangers while wearing skimpy outfits thanks to her years of cheerleading, because the guards were still at the doors, along with a half-dozen technicians who were taking down the holographic projectors and packing them up along with the power generators.

The sight also reminded her of what she sat through just a little while ago, and thoughts about what she had seen hung in the back of her mind for the next three hours while she was put through her paces by Corscan, not quite distracting her, but definitely hovering over her and coloring what she was doing with their presence.

After recovering from her arduous workout session and taking a nice hot shower before changing into something less wet and stinky, Kim decided to wander into Corscan’s office and pursue her suggestion to look at the books lining the shelves of the numerous, very solidly constructed wooden bookcases occupying every inch of space along the three walls of the room while she waited for dinner to be served.

What Kim found in addition to the various books on business and finance that she expected to find were countless books on tactics, social theory, and, oddly enough, Eastern spirituality, including The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Book of the Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, the entire collected works of Friedrich Nietzsche and Niccolò Machiavelli, dozens of books on Zen and deep meditation, several treatise on Bushido, memoirs and tactical dissertations by both Patton and Rommel, a section of books by various chess Grandmasters, and over a dozen shelves of books on politics dating from ancient Rome up to modern day America. Kim also found half a bookcase full of books on sex, such as The Kama Sutra, The Joy of Sex, numerous books by Dr. Ruth and Sue Johanson, and countless lesbian specific titles that had Kim quickly turning away with a furious blush.

“Supper’s ready!” Corscan’s shout came rolling out into the main room and Kim immediately left off reading book titles to head for the dining room, as she was ravenously hungry by this point. Despite coming here regularly for the last two weeks now, Kim couldn’t help but snicker as she sat down at the well-laden table; between the two of them Kim and Corscan ate as much or more than her entire family did at suppertime. Kim laughed again as she was struck by the sudden thought of how much money her parents must be saving now that they weren’t feeding her on weekdays.

After an initial hunger-driven six-minute period of shoveling food into herself in a considerably similar fashion to the way Ron and Rufus ate, Kim finally filled up enough to slow down and start eating at her more usual steady but continuous pace. It also allowed her the luxury of being able to talk instead of grunting a word in edgewise here and there between chewing.

“So Corscan, just how much do you know about tactics and running things like what I saw here today anyway?” Kim asked before taking another bite of the thick, perfectly seasoned steak she was presently in the process of finishing off.

“Mmmm?” Corscan swallowed and took a drink of Merlot before answering. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a tactical genius or anythin’ darlin’, but over the years I’ve managed to slog through enough theory an’ put it into practice that I’d guess I’m about as good as you can get without actually bein’ one.” Corscan grinned. “But if a true genius tactician had the same education an’ experience I do, they’d probably run circles around me. Mind you, I’ve got a much higher opinion of myself when it comes to leadership issues; Hitler an’ Kennedy had nothin’ on me.” Corscan’s grin twisted into a full smirk as she finished.

“Wow… there’s a pair of names you don’t hear used in conjunction like that too often.” Kim said in a tone that was equal parts amusement, surprise, and disbelief.

“Hmmm? Oh, yeah. Well, despite bein’ a complete nutjob, Hitler really knew what he was doin’ when it came to inspirin’ an’ leadin’ people. The man had near perfect control of pitch an’ intonation when he spoke, an’ an almost instinctual ability to read his audience an’ respond to them in a manner best suited to bringin’ out the emotional reactions he wanted from them. You should watch the old historical footage of him at the rallies if you want to learn a thing or two.”

“Ummm, ok, if you say so.” Kim answered, still dubious.

“Why do you ask anyway Kim? Are you interested in learnin’ tactics or leadership techniques?”

“What? Who, me?” Kim asked, surprised.

“No, the other Kim sittin’ next to you.” Corscan smirked. “Yes you, who the hell else am I talkin’ to?”

“Sorry,” Kim blushed slightly, “it’s just that you surprised me there…”

“Why would it surprise you Kim? You’re a bright young girl with a good head on her shoulders—well, most ‘a the time anyway.” Corscan smirked again. “An’ you’re already a leader, so why wouldn’t you learn that kind of stuff if it’s somethin’ you’re interested in?”

“Hunh? Since when am I a leader?” Kim asked, confused and still blushing, this time from the compliments.

“You lead your cheerleadin’ squad, don’t you? The committees an’ organizations you chair at school? An’ a course, you lead your friend Ron when you’re out savin’ the world, right?”

“No, I don’t lead the squad anymore.” Kim looked down at her dinner and picked at it with her fork, still annoyed over what had happened even though it had been over a year now. “Bonnie took back the captaincy halfway through first semester last year.” Kim looked up again. “And it’s not like I’m really doing much of anything in school, it’s just organizing stuff and making sure everyone is working right; it’s not like that’s really leading anyone. And Ron… Ron just comes with me to help out. I might tell him what to do, but it’s not like I’m leading him either.”

Corscan gave a soft huff of amusement and said; “It’s just degrees of scale Kim, just degrees of scale. The things you’re doin’ now are just small-scale versions of what I did today; the exact same talents an’ techniques are used whether you’re tryin’ to convince people to stay late an’ redo the entire layout of a bake sale because somethin’s wrong with it or you’re tryin’ to get your squad to charge into enemy fire before you’re flanked; the only difference is how hard it is to implement what you’re usin’.”

“You really think I could learn how to be a good leader Corscan?” Kim asked with just a little uncertainty.

“You’re already on your way darlin’,” Corscan smiled. “The only question is how long it’ll take you to get there.”

“And… you can teach me how to be one?”

“I can teach you a lot of things besides just how to pound someone into the dirt or make them come like a racehorse Kim, if you’re interested in learnin’…” Corscan smiled as she took another bite of her pasta.

Kim blushed again over the comment on making people come and quickly took a drink of her milk in the hopes of concealing it. After a few more moments, she set her glass down and looked back to Corscan.

“Then, I’d like to learn if you think I can Corscan.” Kim said seriously, realizing that this was something that might change her entire life in ways she had yet to fully understand, but also recognizing that despite her initial hesitation over Corscan’s assessment of her abilities, this was also something she very much wanted to see if she could do.

“All right then, we’ll start after supper.” Corscan said, taking another drink of her Merlot.

“What? Now?” Kim asked.

“No time like the present darlin’. Do you play chess?”

“Ummm… not reeeealy, no. I mean, Ron’s in chess club, so I kinda know how to play, but I wouldn’t say I really play, no.” Kim answered.

“Well, that’ll be a good way to assess how you think when it comes to tactics, so we’ll play strip chess once we’re done eatin’.”

“Ok, I ca— wait’a’minute; strip chess?”

“Lose a game, lose some clothes darlin’.” Corscan grinned, taking another big bite of her pasta, and Kim found herself reaching for her milk again even as she felt a wicked little thrill of excitement course through her.
- 18
- 19
- 20
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Revelations of Destiny