Obviously the four of them tried to gain control of the machine gun, but did you notice another subtle tactic they employed? They eliminated all the officers first so as to knock out the men’s command and control system, leaving them leaderless. If all four could have got to the machine gun they might have done even better, say one man on the gun with two men covering both entrances, with one man as a floater to cover the roof and help out the other two as and when needed. As it was, only two managed to make it to the machine gun. Then, after those two were lost, the other two took over for a while until they in turn were lost. Mind you, they made the tin pot army pay a very heavy price for its victory. It was certainly one of the best action films I have ever seen.
Anyway, the Drone command bunker entrance itself reminded me of an Egyptian pyramid but with the top portion missing. The irony was not lost on me – this place could end up being my tomb. I thought to myself, we were already deep within the nest of vipers and now we were about to enter the pit of hell. We entered the building unchallenged by the two Drone guards who stood on either side of the entrance door. Down, down, ever deeper we descended, into the pit of Hell with seemingly no end, to take on evil in a battle that would decide all, and if we prevailed, as I so hoped, peace would be restored, not just for some but for all.
Then after a short time there was a welcome voice. It was the first time Kronos had spoken since we left Adema’s residence.
“John, this is it. Get through here and we’re in.”
After a few more seconds we entered the reception area. To the right was the reception desk, manned by one guy with the same verification pass equipment that the first check point had used. Two Drone guards flanked him. To our left there were two more Drone guards, one either side of the inner security door which was, of course, still firmly locked. Behind the main reception desk, four Kayton officers were seated at a table and, would you believe it, they were all playing cards. One of them was even complaining about his hangover from the night before. Behind them, further back to the left, was the entrance to a guard house which presumably housed an indeterminate number of Drone guards. As we came to a halt at the reception desk I was standing to the left of Adema and Kronos was on his right.
“Good morning,” Adema said. “I’m on a maintenance detail, checking the connections to the power couplings in the main control centre.”
“Good morning,” the receptionist replied. “I will just check your pass and then book you in.”
At that very moment, the Kayton officer who had his back to us, stood up and made his way over to the reception desk. He was not suffering from the effects of alcohol from the night before, in fact he looked as sharp as a razor. Oh, he looked a nasty piece of work… the sort of person you would not want to meet in a dark alley late one night.
“What’s going on?” he demanded.
“I’m on a maintenance detail,” Adema repeated, “checking the connections to the power couplings in the main control centre.”
“I don’t know anything about a maintenance detail scheduled for today,” the officer said. “Nobody has informed me.”
As he grabbed the security pass to examine it closer, the receptionist interceded. “The pass has cleared. I was just about to book them in.”
Then one of the other Kayton officers, who was sitting at the table playing cards, shouted, “Come on, hurry up. I’ve got a good hand here!”
“All right, keep your hair on. I will just see them through the main security door.”
He handed the security pass back to the receptionist who then said to Adema, “Oh, these military types! They are all the same, aren’t they? I will just book you in and then you can be on your way.”
“I know,” Adema replied, tutting in agreement with the receptionist.
As for me, the tension was so great I thought I was going to snap in half. I didn’t realise I was starting to sweat until one drop, emanating from my right temple, started to roll down my face.
The Kayton officer was staring directly at me and his expression suddenly turned to one of shock and horror as he spotted the bead of sweat running down my cheek. He went for the hand gun in his waist holster, shouting as he did so, “Intruders!” He took aim and fired one shot in my direction.
Adema, who was closest to me and also fully aware of what was happening, shouted, “No!” throwing himself in front of me and wrapping his arms tightly around me as he did so. It all seemed surreal to me, playing itself out in slow motion, or so it appeared from my perspective.
I looked Adema in the face as he was silhouetted against the white flash of light illuminating him as the laser shot struck him in the back like a bolt of lightning from behind. Death for him must have been instantaneous.
I tell you what, I thought, killing Adema was the biggest and last mistake that Kayton officer ever made. Even before Adema and I hit the floor, Kronos had unslung his rifle and taken aim, shooting the Kayton officer right between the eyes. He hit the deck like a sack of potatoes. Events for me then began to move at normal speed again.
Now I thought Freema was quick with a gun, but I can assure you Kronos was even quicker. In rapid succession, he downed the four Drone guards in the reception area before they could make a counter move. Next it was the turn of the three Kayton officers sitting at the table. They didn’t even have time to stand up. The receptionist was taken out, but not before he had set off the alarm which must have been located just underneath the counter.
A row of vertical multi-coloured lights on the wall flashed as the alarm began to sound with ever-increasing volume. It was deafening. The Drones in the guard house then began pouring out as Kronos put them all to the sword just as quickly as they appeared until their numbers were entirely depleted. Next, he switched to his right to take out the two Drone guards that had been guarding the main entry door when we entered the building. He then shot the alarm display on the wall and all then momentarily fell silent.
As for me, I sat on the floor, cradling Adema in my arms. I was traumatised and frozen in utter shock, staring aimlessly ahead of me into empty space. I just said softly to myself, “Oh my God, what have I done?”
Kronos then headed towards the reception room entry security doors. If he could close them and jam them shut before the Drone guards arrived he could buy some precious time to figure out his next move. As he did so, he could see hordes of Drones pouring down the corridor. He just carried on moving, saying to himself, “Oh, ye mother of Heaven,” as he opened fire, at the same time moving towards the security doors.
They fell in their droves. He was helped by the fact that the Drones behind were starting to trip up and fall over the ones that had already been downed. Just as he reached the doors a stray shot hit Kronos in the upper leg. I heard him yell in agony. But he controlled his pain as he pressed the button for the doors to slam shut and then fired a shot at the lock mechanism to jam it so that it could not be manually reopened. Immediately, as there was no time to lose even though he was in terrible pain, he slung his rifle back over his shoulder and then dragged himself over to the work trolley. From the false bottom, he recovered the decoder, which he then proceeded to place on the key pad, located on the wall. He then activated it. Hopefully, in less than three minutes, it would decode and unlock the inner security door to give us access to the Command Bunker proper. You could hear it ticking over as it patiently did its job.
Kronos then made his way back to the trolley where he recovered our two guardianship belts and the rucksack which contained the explosives and detonator. He fastened his own guardianship belt around his waist and then, carrying my belt and the rucksack, he made his way over to me. He looked down at me in a pitiful manner.
“Come on, John, there is nothing you can do for Adema now.”
I looked up at him. “He took the bullet that was meant for me. He laid down his life so that I could live.”
“Yes, he did it because you’re a Guardian and because he knew you had a very important
job to do. So don’t let his sacrifice be in vain; let’s finish the job we have started. We can still pull it off, but you have got to move right now. Come on, here is your belt and rucksack. Now get yourself kitted up.”
Outside the main bunker structure, hordes of Drones were gathered with their Kayton officers in attendance. Drakos then arrived with his son as well as his two Lieutenants and Wesker in tow.
“What the hell is going on?” Drakos asked.
The officer told him that the two Guardians had broken the Transdamping barrier. “With the help of a traitor,” he added, “they have penetrated as far as the reception area of the Drone command bunker—”
“But the Transdamping barrier cannot be broken,” Wesker interrupted. “It can’t be.”
“Well they have done,” the officer insisted.
“I would like to meet the man who pulled it off,” Wesker replied.
Drakos then said, “Is that inner security door still firmly locked?”
“Yes,” the officer confirmed.
“Good. Then we have got them.”
At that moment a member of the Supreme Kayton Council arrived on his anti-gravity disc and everyone bowed their heads. As he acknowledged their respect with a gesture of his right hand, they raised them again as he spoke.
“The full Council has discussed the situation