Accession: Catu Boo 5

Liverpool

The

flight is taken on a private jet that Spencer assumes belongs to the

Black List

. He had initially wondered how they were going to transport their weapons. Julie had given no explanation and it wasn't until the plane came into view that Spencer would know.

The flight is short and after a night of rest, Spencer and Julie leave their hotel early to grab a bite to eat. According to Julie and her information an attack is scheduled to take place midmorning at

Wolff Industries.

They sit at a street-side deli, one of many along the strip of road. This one in particular overlooks the massive building that is

Wolff Industries

.

"Fill me in some about what

Wolf Industries

is," Spencer says looking at the comings and goings of people into and out of the building.

"I'm quite surprised at our lack of knowledge of your target." She sounds readily shocked and at the same time almost disgusted.

"What can I say," Spencer says with a shrug. "These guys only popped up on our radar recently."

Julie snickers. Spencer ignores it and waits for her. "This is the birthplace, essentially, of

True Group

. Ronin Wolff to the public, Typheryian to us, was a NATO Secretaries General until his sudden retirement. The details are sketchy as to the reason for the sudden retirement, but whatever they are they are irrelevant. What happened after is. Within a month

Wolff Industries

sprung up with full NATO backing."

"No doubt because of some kind of connections," Spencer offers.

"No doubt," Julie agrees smiling. "But he got funding and began designing a new weapon. And he got a lot of funding too. With the excess of money it went into developing the

True Energy

conglomerate and the rest as you would say is history."

"I'm guessing this well-funded weapon is finished."

"Apparently," Julie confirms. "The

New World Regime

has an interest in it which means we need to stop them."

"What does it do or what exactly is it?"

"I wasn't told," she says. "That means I'm not privy to that information or it's just unknown."

"Strange someone in your position wouldn't receive that information," Spencer says accusingly.

Julie is taken aback for a tiny moment but quickly recovers. It doesn't escape Spencer's attention, however.

"Then it can only mean we don't know."

"Well," Spencer says as he stretched and then leaned back into his chair. "I'm willing to bet it is made specifically for humans in mind."

"Plausible." Julie taps her finger on the table as she sits thinking. "But it would need to be something that attacked rapidly or activated at some point. Otherwise, their entire plan would fall apart too quickly and we'd catch on."

"My thought too. A good little ruse they have going on."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about what has transpired," Spencer says trying to invoke some thought. "

True Group

has been plagued by a terrorist group. We receive information their new weapon is being shipped out and an attempt is going to be made to steal it."

"You don't think the

Ternion

and the

New World Regime

are working together?" Julie asks skeptically.

"Not together," he answers. "More like, they are one in the same."

"Then we'll find out starting with the thieves," Julie says staring out at the

Wolff Industries

building.

Two black SUVs pull up abruptly in front of the building. Every door opens and eight heavily armed men jump out. One from each vehicle heads to the back and opens the door. From each vehicle they pull out two

Hell Hounds

connected to chains.

Spencer and Julie are on their feet in an instant. Julie throws her duffel bag onto the table and is about to ruffle through it when Spencer touches the top of her hand. "Wait until we cross the street. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves yet."

She knows Spencer is right and she is eager to see what the weapon is. Spencer on the other hand really doesn't want MI6 on them again if they aren't already. Since they remained unmolested since arriving in Liverpool he took it as a sign the agency lost their trail.

"Let's go," she says collecting the bag.

The street is controlled chaos. Traffic is at its worst at the moment which is probably why the terrorists decided to perform the theft at this time. Both agents wait helplessly while the terrorists rush into the building.

Julie grows impatient quickly. As soon as the smallest break in traffic opens up she darts into the street. Spencer is on her heels an instant later. Julie manages to pass just ahead of passing cars and receives a blowing horn in the process.

Spencer isn't as lucky. He dodges and jumps, each time barely getting clear of the cars. He is almost hit head on at one point. At another a side view mirror clips his arm.

The sudden and unexpected impact sends a sharp pain from his triceps up into his shoulder. He spins to the ground. He recovers less than a second later and as he begins to rise he sees a car coming straight at him. The driver slams on the brakes and skids to a stop, just inches in front of Spencer's face.

"What the fuck are you doing you bloke?" the driver yells out the window at him.

Spencer gets up using the front end of the car, waves and smiles at the man before dashing the rest of the way to the sidewalk. By the time he reaches the stairs to the building Julie is already at the top headed for the door. She already has her guns and sword strapped to her body and shows no concern as to whether Spencer is with her or not.

He curses under his breath and draws his gun. The action causes the dull ache in his arm to flare but he ignores it. He has taken beatings harder than this and it would take a bit more to keep him from going on. He begins taking the stairs two at a time.

To his surprise, Julie is waiting outside the door. "Took you long enough," she says. Her face is solemn and Spencer isn't sure if the statement is sarcasm or if she is just focused.

"Traffic," he answers quickly.

Julie nods absently, keeping her attention toward the inside of the building. "There are two posted inside. Security guards are dead. The rest must have already taken the elevator."

"I'll take the left," he says.

Julie removes more of the putty she had used the day before and pastes it on the door. "Ready?"

Spencer nods and Julie counts down. "Three...two...mark."

The door explodes inward sending tiny glass fragments in all directions. Julie is first through the door followed closely by Spencer. The two guards are a little slow in response to the highly unexpected attack.

Spencer and Julie feel a shiver go down their spine when they enter and they know right away what they are dealing with. The terrorists are beginning to bring their weapons to bear when the first shot from Julie's gun is fired. The bullet strikes the demon dead center of his head and he falls backward into the wall then to the ground.

The other is a little faster than his partner and manages to send a few rounds at them. Spencer has to move just as he takes a shot and as a result his bullet goes wide and impacts the demon terrorist in the shoulder rather than the head.

The demon spins slightly from the impact. Julie takes the distraction as an opportune moment. She withdraws

Kogarasu Maru

and runs. She leaps onto the side of a column a few feet in front of the demon, leaping over the two dead bodies of the guards. Julie rebounds off the column and comes down just as the demon turns to face her.

Kogarasu Maru

cuts into the demon's head and she slices him completely in half. Both halves fall to the ground in a splatter.

Spencer catches up with Julie as she is making her way to the elevators. Her face and clothing is splattered with black blood but she seems to not take notice of it.

"Thanks," he says once he paces beside her.

"A pleasure," she says with a subtle tone. She seems to have enjoyed killing the demon. In fact with every encounter they have Spencer has noticed she seems to take a lot of pleasure in killing, whether it were demon or human.

"So where do you think?" Julie asks when they reach the elevator. She begins overlooking the floor directory as if studying it.

"Ten to one it's not above ground," Spencer comments.

"You're probably right." Julie pushes the call button and within seconds the light disappears and the doors part.

Both agents are half expecting someone to be in the elevator but it is empty. They step into it. Julie looks at the panel and pushes the button that says B4. "Well, I guess we start at the bottom and work our way up."

The elevator drops fast. When the doors finally open they reveal the group of terrorists busy at their task. The six terrorists turn to glare at the intruding agents. One of them is holding a silver case. Spencer and Julie raise their guns and yell, "Freeze!"

"Kill them," the only female of the group says.

The two handlers of the

Hell Hounds

retreat from the remaining four and unclip the chains. The hounds tear away from their handlers with a deep, low growl.

"I've got the dogs you get the other two," Julie says as she takes off running toward the attackers.

Spencer doesn't worry about arguing, he learned once Julie is set to kill something there is no interrupting. He cuts to the left on a path that will take him around the hounds and to the two waiting terrorists.

Julie meets the first charging hound head on, leaping into the air into a flip at the last moment and unleashing a full clip worth of bullets between both guns into its head. The hound hits the ground and slides giving out a low grunt as its life leaves its body.

Julie lands in a crouch and unleashes the remainder of her clips into the mouth of the next hound as it lunges the last remaining feet at her. The momentum of the beast sends its lifeless body over Julie as she leans back. She jumps up and has

Kogarasu Maru

in her hands by the time her feet touch the ground. She barely has time to take on the next one. Julie brings the blade up horizontally and places her free palm behind it. The

Hell Hound

takes care of the rest.

As the hound's jaw connects with the blade Julie sidesteps and pushes the sword out to decapitate the beast from the jaw up. Its body drops into a slide followed closely behind by the rest of its head.

She spins and drops her sword down and feeling more than anticipating comes around full circle and sends

Kogarasu Maru

home down the final hound's throat. The force of the impact pulls the sword from her grasp and it goes flying past.

The hound comes to a stop and lays limp for a few moments before attempting to get to its feet. Julie calmly walks up to the beast, replacing a clip as she goes. She steps up to the hound and places her foot on its neck and shoots four rounds into the back of its skull then pulls her sword free.

She licks her lips and smiles.

Meanwhile, Spencer races to the side of the two terrorists emptying his clip on them. He can't tell if he has hit either one of them as they scramble for cover. Soon he finds himself in the open and once his gun clicks dry. Both terrorists are up over the counters they are hiding behind and unleash their fury on Spencer.

The bullets scatter across the open space sending Spencer diving behind a column. Concrete blows out the side of the column. A piece nicks Spencer in the cheek and a trickle of blood forms. He hardly takes notice as he slides a new clip in. Once the gun fire takes a brake and he hears the sound of magazines hit the ground he reappears from behind the column.

Both the terrorists are no longer in view, but Spencer already knows where they are. He starts at them in a run and just before he reaches the counter the terrorists come up. Both demons are surprised to see him and Spencer takes that second's distraction and jumps at the closest.

Spencer's shoulder impacts in the other's abdomen. As his momentum carries both back and to the floor, Spencer reaches back and fires. The first four bullets hit the demon in the chest. As he falls back into the counter the remaining three hit his shoulder or miss completely.

The demon Spencer tackled lands hard and loses grip of his gun but recovers enough to kick him up and over. Spencer lands in a similar fashion and his gun falls away from his hand. His training keeps him in control and he manages to pull his boot knife just before the demon lands on top on him.

Spencer reaches up with it in an attempt to bring it across the demon's throat but his wrist is caught just before it hits its mark. He fights against the demon having to grip the knife with his other hand to reinforce his other against the demon's single hand. Slowly, the knife is being turned toward Spencer.

Sweat starts to bead on his head. His muscles are starting to ache. And the advantage is shifting out of his favor. The demon's breath is hot against his face and his smile is disheartening.

That all changes suddenly as a shadow falls over them. The barrel of a gun is pressed against the demon's head. He can feel the cool metal as it presses hard against his temple. A low growl comes from deep in his throat. Then Spencer hears a familiar voice.

"I do believe we said

freeze

," Julie says calmly. Then she pulls the trigger. The side of the terrorist's head explodes sending blood and brain matter in all directions. The demon's body drops onto Spencer then slowly dissipates into nothing.

Julie holds out her hand and Spencer gratefully accepts it. "Thanks."

She nods. "Can't have you dying on me," she says smiling. "Come on we still got four more to catch up with."

——

The

elevator power was cut and the two agents were forced to use the stairs. They reach the lobby just in time to catch the four terrorists running out the blown out doorway. Julie manages to fire a couple rounds but miss hitting any of them.

"Damn," she breathes.

By the time they reach the doorway the terrorists are piling into the front SUV and speeding away. Sirens are filtering through the streets only minutes away.

"Strange the police are only responding now," Julie comments as she heads toward the empty SUV.

"They probably tripped the alarm as they were leaving," Spencer guesses.

"Probably. How about you drive?"

"Fine by me."

Julie hops into the passenger seat and starts tapping the outside of the door with her hand impatiently. Spencer jumps on the hood and slides across to the other side then jumps in himself. The SUV cranks right up and Spencer punches the pedal to the floor.

The trail is easy to follow because of all the cars swerved off to the side of the road and a small number of wrecks. In no time the other SUV is in view then within firing range.

Julie sticks her arm out the window and begins firing at the other vehicle. Her bullets blast out the back window and the tail lights before the demon terrorists inside return fire. Spencer has to swerve to avoid some of the shots as they pepper the windshield. The sudden movement forces Julie to miss her mark.

"Keep it straight will you!" she snaps.

Spencer glares at her. "How about you give it a fucking try?"

Julie returns the glare with equal malice. "Get along side them."

Spencer does so after a few minutes of excessive aggressive driving and three cars wrecks later. Julie has already crawled out the window and unto the roof and is ready by the time Spencer pulls alongside the SUV.

At seeing Spencer so close, the driver and the only female of the group, yanks the wheel to the left and slams into Spencer's vehicle. The sudden jolt almost sends Julie to her knees but she somehow manages to keep her balance before jumping onto the opposite vehicle.

Spencer pulls away from the fray clipping a passing car as he tries to avoid hitting it. The impact tears the headlight from both vehicles. Spencer fights against the wheel and manages to keep the SUV in line and on the road.

Julie struggles to stay on the swerving SUV. When the driver finally balances the ride out Julie stands and drives

Kogarasu Maru

into the roof. The sword pierces the metal with ease driving through the skull of the SUV's passenger.

Immediately the back windows roll down. Movement out of the right passenger window catches her eye and she yanks free her sword and turns to see one of the terrorists hanging half out the window and bringing an

H&K MP5

around. Before the terrorist can fully bring the weapon to bear Julie has

Kogarasu Maru

buried deep into his chest.

The gun falls away. Julie pulls the sword free then swings it back around taking the demon terrorist's head off at the shoulders. The remainder of his body falls free of the SUV and tumbles onto the street. Cars behind them swerve to avoid the body. Not all are successful and the body is run over several times before it eventually fades away.

Julie slides in through the window and jams her sword up through the jaw and into the brain of the other terrorist just as he slips back into the vehicle. The driver looks back over her shoulder and scowls at Julie.

"You're next bitch," Julie says.

The scowl turns into a smile. "I think not."

Errios reaches over, down to the passenger floorboard and grabs a silver case, the same one taken from

Wolff Industries.

Then the driver side door flies open and she leaps from the SUV, turning the wheel hard as she does so.

The demon hits the ground and rolls onto her feet. She looks around to watch the SUV flip from the sudden jerk of the wheel. Errios averts her eyes after the first couple of rolls to see the other SUV that Spencer is in screech into a U-turn. Errios tightens her grip on the case and turns the opposite way and runs toward St. John's Shopping Centre, Liverpool's largest covered shopping centre.

Spencer brings the SUV to a screeching halt next to the one Julie was in. It is in a near heap of wreckage and parts. He leaps from the vehicle and runs to the nearest window. "Julie!" he yells as he drops to a slide.

"I'm fine, I fine," she says from inside the vehicle. "Just testing out the new ride."

"Well the ride's not over," he says offering his hand. She takes it and with his help she exits the SUV.

As soon as Julie clears the vehicle she tugs Spencer's arm. "Where the hell did she get off to?"

He stares at her. Her face has a couple cuts and the skin on her arms is scraped in a couple places but she otherwise looks fine. "The shopping centre," he says looking off in the direction of it.

"Well what the hell are we waiting for?"

Without waiting for an answer she takes off running. Spencer is right behind her. They go through the entrance and scan over the calm crowd. Errios stops dead in her tracks upon

feeling

the two agents enter and turns to look back toward the entrance.

She grins and raises her SMG into the air and starts to fire. Screams erupt from the crowd and suddenly the calm of the shopping centre turns into chaos.

"She's there!" Julie yells pointing to the demon. Errios is heading upward in an elevator. "I'll chase her, you cut her off."

Julie heads for the stairs while Spencer goes back out the doors. She takes the stairs two at a time firing at the elevator. Her bullets strike the glass and harmlessly past the demon. Errios dodges and ducks and throws out curses at the woman. Then she raises her own weapon and blasts the glass into pieces sending it raining below. The bullets rip down at Julie forcing her to slow her pace and pursue more cautiously.

Errios jumps from the elevator three feet before reaching the top floor. She bounds for the stairs then looks down over the edge. Julie is almost to the top so Errios lifts the SMG over the edge and fires blindly at Julie.