The Devil Inside Ch. 21

[Shinobi]

Notes: well here's the next chapter...and we finally get to see the source of Sousuke's and Crispin's conflict.

Enjoy!

and stuff


The Devil Inside
Chapter 21

?Geez, how much longer is he gonna take?? Crispin looked at his watch for the twelfth time. Occasionally the mechanic could hear murmured voices from within the ravine. He was impatient for Sousuke to return from his scouting mission.

After several minutes Crispin swore silently. Alone with nothing to occupy his mind Crispin was getting edgy. Sitting quietly, he feared he would go crazy. As he shifted, Crispin?s hand brushed the canvas satchel at his side. He paused and smiled. The satchel contained the Symtex he ?borrowed? from the old apothecary.

As he stroked the explosives. Crispin eyes focused on the black on black silhouette of the Audi. ?Yeah, this has some possibilities.? With a grin the Lance Corporal crawled under the vehicle with the explosive satchel in hand.

**

He stared at the bolt blankly. In his hand was a three-quarters closed head wrench, but for the life of him he had no idea what to do. The man sat in the red light and starred at the bolt hoping it would provide the answer.

?Daniels!? A sharp voice called from behind. ?What the hell are you doing??

Crispin?s head snapped up and saw his CO, Ensign Novella, striding angrily toward him. Crispin starred at the wrench in his hand. Now he remembered. He was supposed to overhaul the drive train on the M9 he had been staring at.

Novella stormed up to the mechanic. ?Get your head out of your ass Daniels! We?re on combat alert. You can?t keep staring off into space all the time!? Novella was a wiry Hispanic man with a neatly trimmed mustache. And the tips of that mustache trembled in anger as the Ensign dressed Crispin down. ?What's the problem? This is the eighth time this week!?

Crispin starred at the Hispanic man. By now everyone in the hanger was watching the scene unfold. Crispin made no move nor spoke any word. He knew it was best to let the Ensign blow off some steam and then everything would go back to normal.

?Speak up! I told you what would happen didn?t I?? Novella finally snapped.

?Yes sir you did.? Crispin finally answered. It had been three months since he had returned from leave. Three months since Allie was? buried. A part of him knew he had screwed up, but the lance corporal found he didn?t care anymore.

Novella stared Crispin in the eyes a very long time. Finally he spoke, ?Look Daniels, you?re a damn good mechanic. The best I?ve ever seen. And I?ve stood up for you. I even let a few incidents slide under the table.?

When he got no response Novella shook his head in disgust. ? Fine. That?s the way you want it. Consider yourself on report corporal.? The Ensign sharply turned away and stormed toward his office.

Crispin?s fist clenched tightly until his knuckles turned white. ?That son of a bitch!? He seethed in silent rage. What did Novella know? What did anybody know? Crispin laughed. They thought they were so important! That they actually mattered!

They didn?t.

Nothing mattered. Nothing was important. Everything was a lie! EVERYTHING! The world could burn in hell!

Without thinking Crispin strode over to the emergency fire station panel. He smashed the glass case with the wrench he carried and yanked out the fire ax within. Klaxons blared as the fire alarm was tripped by the action.

He didn?t care.

He strolled over to the M9 he was working on and swung the ax with all his might at the exposed drive train. Metal groaned and twisted. Sparks flew everywhere and oil splattered as lines and hoses were cut

?What are you doing?? Novella ran up screaming. He tried to knock Crispin away from the Arm Slave, but the corporal spun around with the ax leading the way. He caught the Ensign off guard and the top of the ax head slammed into Novella?s chest. The blow knocked the wind out of Novella (and cracked a few ribs). The Hispanic man stumbled and fell to his knees.

With an inhuman bellow that was heard over the roar of the klaxons, Crispin raised the ax above his head in a powerful two handed grip. Crispin swung down at the back of Novella?s head with all his might. Fortunately for the Ensign, his aim was off and the ax buried into the back of Novella?s shoulder.

With a grunt Crispin wrenched the ax free. Novella tried to crawl away. Crispin casually followed and when he swung this time the ax did connect with the back of Novella?s head. It made a nice meaty thunk and Novella fell still. The deck was slick in blood.

Suddenly two other mechanics tried to tackle Crispin to the ground. All they succeeded in doing was knocking the corporal away from Novella?s prone form.

Howling like an enraged beast. Crispin shook off the first mechanic and smashed the flat of the ax head into the temple of the second one. Both went down in a heap and Crispin began to swing and kick at them. He knocked the first one unconscious and cracked the clavicle of the second by the time three more men rushed him.

Seeing what had happened to their comrades these three tried to surround the enraged mechanic. Crispin screamed and cursed and swung his ax but landed no solid blows.

Finally one of them slipped behind Crispin and put him in a hold with both arms placed under his armpits and their hands pressed against the back of his neck. Crispin cursed and thrashed but was unable to break the hold.

The other two rushed forward and Crispin lashed out with his foot and sank it into the stomach of one of his attackers. The other hesitated and Crispin used the opportunity to push back with his feet and slam the opponent holding on to him into the foot of the Arm Slave they stood next to. The grappler grunted in pain but managed to maintain the hold. Crispin repeated the process but was unable to dislodge his holder.

Finally three more men came running up. They approached from the sides and grabbed both of Crispin?s legs. Crispin twisted and shook violently as they lifted him up.

?Hold him!?

?Shit!?

?I?m trying!?

Crispin ignored the voices and tried to shake himself loose. He was unsuccessful and the four men threw Crispin onto the ground face first. Somehow the original grappler maintained his hold the entire time.

Crispin continued to thrash and scream, but eventually his arms were pulled behind his back and a pair of cuffs were slapped on his wrists. Once he felt the metal of the cuffs Crispin collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. He felt numb all over and no longer cared what happened.

Three men pinned him down, including the persistent grappler. When they were sure of his docility Crispin was pulled to his feet. Before he was hauled off by the MPs Crispin locked stares with the man who had been instrumental in his subdual.

Sousuke Sagara.

**

?Daniels.?

?Gah!? Crispin jerked awake and smacked his head on the oil pan of the Audi he was under. He rubbed his head in pain.

?What are you doing?? Sousuke asked quietly.

?Rigging the car you moron!? Crispin hissed. He pulled himself out from underneath the Audi. Sousuke was crouched by his feet. ?What?d you find??

Sousuke opened his mouth to ask something but thought better of it. Instead he reported what he found. ?There?s five men and Chidori. All armed. They seem to be resting near the mouth of some cave. It sounds as if they hiked half the night to get here.? Finally his curiosity got the better of him and Sousuke asked, ?What are you rigging the car for??

?Well, I figure we'd need a distraction.? Crispin sighed and pondered what Sousuke told him. ?Five you say? And they?re resting? How long??

?I?m not sure.? Sousuke confessed. ?But from what I overheard it sounds like they'll be moving out soon.? Sousuke paused and delivered the worst news. ?Daniels, they have night sight equipment.?

?Shit.? Crispin ran a hand thru his hair in frustration. ?That?s not good. Not good at all.? With night sight, the two Mithril soldiers could not even count on the cover of darkness. NVGs literally turned night into day and would be a decisive advantage for the kidnappers. It seemed their plan to steal Kaname back from her kidnappers in the caverns was a bust.

?It?s a problem alright.? Sousuke agreed. ?We have to find a way to get Chidori away from them before they enter the caverns. We?ll never sneak up on them otherwise.? Sousuke paused as the AS engineer?s earlier words registered. ?What?s this about a distraction??

?Ah, this baby here.? Crispin patted the rusted side panel of the Audi. ?I thought I?d rig her to blow, and we could use the confusion to nab Kaname.? He dropped his hand with a sigh. ?But that was assuming only two maybe three guys.? Crispin resisted the urge to scream in frustration. It would reveal their position.

Sousuke starred at the shadowed bulk of the Audi. He felt the beginning?s of a plan emerge. It was a desperate long shot, but what choice did they have? ?None if we want to save her.? He thought fiercely. Sousuke was surprised at the passion he felt.

?No, that just might work.? Sousuke said.

?What might work?? Crispin looked at Sousuke like he had lost his mind.

?How big can you make the explosion from this thing?? Sousuke ignored the mechanic?s skepticism.

?Sagara, I got eight pounds of Symtex.? Crispin explained slowly. ?How big do you want it??

?I have an idea.? Sousuke cautioned. ?But it?ll be risky.?

?Hell, who wants to live forever?? Crispin scoffed at the sergeant?s caution. ?So what do you have in mind??

**


Crispin eased himself behind a cluster of boulders, each the size of his upper torso. He was on the edge of the ravine and parallel to the kidnappers resting within. In fact the Mithril agent was so close he could make out snatches of their whispered conversations.

?-going to spend-??

?-three nights drinking.?

?How much-?

He couldn?t make out everything, but the voices he heard sounded American. That did not really bother Crispin. He could kill an American as easily as anyone else. In fact he found a perverse glee in the idea.

Crispin settled himself behind the rocks and peered around the edge. All he saw was darkness. Unsurprising, considering it was three in the morning on a moonless night. He couldn?t see his own hand in front of his face. However, all that was about to change.

?I can?t believe he came up with something so stupid!? Crispin thought to himself.

It had taken Crispin almost half an hour to move three hundred feet from the ravines mouth to the point he was at now. He was perched on the edge of the ravine less than a hundred feet from the kidnappers (and Kaname) below. The ravine was only about four feet deep and almost sixty feet wide. It was more of a dried out creek bed than a ravine, but Crispin wasn?t concerned about nomenclature.

The plan was simple (and stupid). Crispin was to lay in wait while Sousuke crept up to the kidnapper?s impromptu camp. When Sousuke remotely detonated the Symtex strapped to the Audi?s gas tank, Crispin was to provide covering fire with his M-16 while Sousuke grabbed Kaname.

The idea was that with their NVGs on the kidnappers would be momentarily blinded by the massive explosion of the Audi. (which they had pushed to the mouth of the ravine) In the shock and confusion Crispin would drop as many kidnappers as he could and Sousuke would steal Kaname away before they had a chance to recover. Simple enough.

Crispin still thought it was a stupid plan?.

?Do you have a better idea?? Sousuke asked.

?No.? Crispin reluctantly agreed. ?Come on Sagara. This is a long shot and you know it. What about Kaname? What if they have friends in those caves?? They had already miscalculated the number of kidnappers after all.

?I know that. But you said it yourself. They need Chidori and won?t risk harming her, for now.? Sousuke argued. ?But if they get into those caves there?s no way we can sneak up on them. This is our best chance. We have to take it!? Sousuke was amazed at the impassioned plea of his whispered voice. And to Daniels of all people.

Crispin was amazed too. ?What?s up Sagara?? he asked with narrow eyes. ?Your counting an awful lot on luck in this plan. Isn?t that a little reckless? What about being professional?? He recalled the Sergeant?s subdual of him on the de Danaan. ?Don?t tell me you trust me.?

?You?re right Daniels. I don?t trust you.? Sousuke said. ? I-I just? I?ll do whatever it takes to save Chidori.? Sousuke starred at Crispin. ?Even trusting you.?

?Okay.? Crispin conceded the point. Something was going on with the Mithril sergeant in regards to Kaname, but Crispin had neither the time nor the inclination to puzzle it out. ?Whatever it takes.?

?Whatever it takes.? Sousuke nodded. Unbidden he held his hand out to Crispin who clasped it with his own. A squeeze sealed the vow and both men disappeared into the night.

**

?Whatever it takes.? Crispin whispered as he carefully eased his weapon on top of the boulders before him. He aimed the muzzle in the direction of the murmuring voices and checked his watch. (It had iridescent hands.) It read 3:14 a.m. According to the plan, Sousuke would detonate the car in one minute.

Crispin wiped his sweaty palms on his shirt and gripped the M-16 firmly in both hands. As he counted down the seconds one thought rolled thru his mind.

?Allie. Forgive me.?

**

?Alright.? Gwen stood up and stretched. According to his watch it was 3:14 a.m. Twenty-eight minutes had passed since they arrived in the ravine. ?We should be moving out.? Fitz groaned, but the other two Marines simply nodded and began to gather their gear.

Gauron stood up as well but starred at the mouth of the ravine.

Kaname was huddled in a miserable ball six feet away from the blood-thirsty mercenary and Gwen. She tried to stay as still as possible in hope they would stop knocking her around. She was at the back of the group. Furthest away from the ravine entrance. There was a huge boulder, bigger than she was, right to the side of her and she rested with her side against it. It felt nice and cool in the humid night air.

?You okay?? Gwen asked the unmoving Gauron. The others grew silent too and watched as the mercenary slowly moved forward.

?Did you hear something?? Gauron asked as he peered into the dark thru his night vision goggles.

?No.? Gwen answered. He looked to the others who shook their head negative. The mercenary clicked the safety off his submachine gun and moved to put his own NVGs back on.

BOOM!

The ground shook and a thunderous roar made the entire group to jump in surprise. A huge fireball erupted nearly five hundred feet away at the ravine entrance. The Marines cried out in pain as the sudden flare of light temporally blinded them. Gwen had not donned his NVGs but the explosion still caused spots to dance before his eyes. The explosion was bright enough to illuminate the entire ravine for fifteen seconds. An eternity in life or death combat.

Suddenly Gwen was knocked to the ground. Crack! It felt like a baseball bat came down on his shoulder. Just like that he was on his back. The mercenary knew immediately he had been shot. ?Mithril!? The thought flashed thru his mind like lightning. This had to be the Mithril agent?s doing!

?I?m hit!? Gwen called out to his companions. The explosion had masked the sound of gunfire and he tried to warn them before it was too late. Gwen flinched when he heard the staccato burst of automatic fire from just behind.

Chaos erupted all around

?Take cover!? Fitz yelled over the din.

?Man down!? O?Campo bellowed. ?We got a man down!?

Gwen pulled himself behind a large rock and looked for Gauron and the girl. The mercenary starred in shock at what he found.

They were both gone.

**

Sousuke froze behind a man-sized boulder thirty feet away from the kidnappers. Even though he could not see he knew one of the kidnappers was looking in his direction. Sousuke mentally went over the route he had planned from the topographic maps Daniels had pulled up on his laptop.

?Did you hear something.? Sousuke heard a cruel voice ask.

He felt a chill at the sound. That voice! He knew that voice! ?That?s impossible!? Sousuke told himself. That man was dead. With a lump in his throat Sousuke reached up to the device clipped to his collar. It was the remote detonator Daniels had wired to the explosive packed Audi. He pressed his thumb over the igniter key and held it down. In three seconds the device blinked red indicating it was now armed. When he released the key the explosive would detonate two seconds later.

?No.? A second voice said.

Sousuke crouched down and slowly crawled forward. All the while keeping his thumb jammed down on the detonator. He had to get closer before he set off the explosive. And he had to hurry. The Mithril sergeant heard the distinct click of a safety being released. Sousuke took a shaky breath and released the detonator key.

He eased around the corner of the rock he was crouched behind with the MP-5 aimed toward the kidnappers. Sousuke was in his element. He had conducted countless ambushes at night in the mountainous terrain of Pandjshir Ravine at the side of the Afghan mujahideen.

He glided silently like a shadow toward the armed men. He was less than twenty feet away when he heard the creak of a boot. He estimated the figure to be ten feet away on the other side of the rock his right shoulder brushed against.

BOOM!

The ground rumbled and night turned briefly to day. Sousuke faced away from the explosion so his eyes were spared from the sudden burst of light. He surged forward and his eyes immediately swept over four armed men cursing and tearing NVGs off their faces.

As he moved Sousuke caught a glimpse of blue hair huddled behind a another rock fifteen away. One of the kidnappers stood between Sousuke and the girl, but the figured was knocked violently to the ground by a well placed shot for Daniels. The mechanic was doing his job.

Sousuke broke into a sprint and leapt over the rock Kaname was crouched behind. As he landed the blue-haired girl gave a startled shout. Another of the kidnappers, a large black man with a submachine gun, spun at the sound with his weapon raised. Sousuke fired a ten round burst at the man with one hand and grabbed Kaname with the other. The girl yelped and the black man flopped onto his back as the bullets stitched diagonally across his chest. The result was chaos.

?I?m hit!? The one Daniels shot cried out.

?Take cover!?

?Man down! We got a man down!?

Without breaking stride, Sousuke yanked Kaname to her feet and sprinted toward the cave entrance thirty feet ahead. The crack of gunfire exploded thru the ravine. Sousuke heard the distinct snap-snap-snap of a M-16 firing in bursts. Daniels was drawing enemy attention toward himself.

Sousuke lead Kaname by the arm thru the scattered boulders in a zigzagging pattern toward the cave. The girl fought and struggled in his grip, but he did not have the time to explain the situation to her.

Sousuke dragged Kaname into the mouth of the cave and was completely swallowed by the darkness. While Daniels kept the kidnappers pinned down, Sousuke hoped to lead Kaname thru the winding tunnels and caverns and back out to a safe point they identified half a mile away. Yet, a thought troubled the sergeant as he left the cracking sound of gunfire behind.

Where was the fifth kidnapper? Where was Gauron?


End Chapter 21




The Devil Inside-Glossary of Terms


MCMJ -Mithril Code of Military Justice. Basically the legal code and rules of conduct all Mithril personal are subject to.

CO - Commanding Officer (This is actually used by the US military)

MCF- Mithril Correctional Facility. Most ships and bases have their own brigs or jails, but those are only designed to keep a prisoner for a short period of time. The MCF serves as Mithril?s more permanent jail. It?s used to hold those who are awaiting their hearing or trail, and for those who?ve been sentenced for longer than a month, to a maximum sentence of a year or two.

MDC- Mithril Detention Center - basically prison. This is where Mithril throw's their hard-cases and long terms sentences. It's a great place where you get to spend twelve hours a day making little rocks out of big rocks. Sounds fun doesn't it?
Basically, think of it as Mithril's equivalent to Ft. Lebonworth.

Old Man - just an affectionate way the soldiers of Mithril have of referring to Kalinin. Of course, they'd never address him like that!

LP/OP ?Listing Post and Observation Post.

FARP ?Fuel And Rearming Point. It?s a forward staging area combat-vehicles (such as an Arm-Slave) can use without having to leave the combat zone.

Mikes ?short-hand for minutes.

ETA ?Estimated Time of Arrival

Hawkeye ?Refers to a US radar plane. The Hawkeye usually flies ahead of a US naval task force (among other things) and gathers useful information about the area and reports it back.

AS- Arm Slave. Ya know, those big freaking robots Sousuke and the others pilot.

SRT- Special Response Team. Sousuke, Melissa, and Kurz are member of Mithril?s SRTs. The way I look at it, the Special Response Teams are Mithril?s equivalent of Special Forces. They do many of the same tasks as special forces: Recon. Infiltration. Sabotage. Lightning raids, Hostage rescue, and assorted other tasks.

MOTC ? Mithril?s Officer Training Course. Most military organizations have additional requirements for their officers besides just time in service and demonstrated ability. Most officers under go specific and grueling training and are usually required to have a four year college degree of some kind.

M9- Called the ?Gernsback? it?s the AS used by Mithril. Considered the next generation of AS.

M6- the AS used by the US Military.

RK-92- Soviet era Arm Slave. To quote Sousuke. ?Move you Soviet-made piece of Junk!?

Ninety-six- refers to the ASG 96-B manufactured by Bofors. It?s a 57 mm smooth-bore rifle and part of the M9?s standard armament. It?s the rifle Kurz used in episode five during his duel with Gauron.

NCOIC- Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge. It refers to the highest ranking enlisted person within a unit. In the case of Crispin?s orders it refers to Melissa.

DI ?Drill Instructor. Another way of referring to a Drill Sergeant.

SitRep- Situation Report. Basically a quick run down of what your situation in a field (or combat) environment.

WA2000- very high-quality German sniper rifle. Considered by some to be one of the best in the world. It?s only down side is its weight. (16 lbs) and cost. It?s highly customizable and sleek in design. It seemed appropriate for Kurz to use. Though I think the one he?s actually shown using is a PGS-1(another German rifle). I?m not certain.

Tac-Net- Tactical Network. A radio network set up and used by members of the same unit during tactical (i.e. combat) situations.

HE- High Explosive.

Fifty Cal ? short hand for fifty caliber. Which is the size of a heavy machine gun. A machine gun this large must be mounted on a tripod or vehicle in order to fire it. A fifty caliber round is about six inches long and can tear a man in half, and it can also destroy trucks, light armored vehicles and buildings.

NVGs -- Night Vision Goggles

EOD ? Explosive Ordinance Disposal

FTX ?Field Training Exercise.

Gunny- Short for Gunnery Sergeant. It?s an advanced NCO rank in the United States Marine Corps

Shiwa Statue ?those Lion statues you?ll see in front of temples and important buildings. There supposed to be guardian spirits and they are very prominent in Okinawa.

Klicks- short hand for kilometers

[pilot03]

Damn this was cool!! Yes!! This is what I've been waiting for! You got to finish this up quick!! Great work as usual.

[necowaffer]

Wow! What a cliff hanger! Now you must post the next chapter soon.

The shit is seriously hitting the fan.

[darkbane]

yo, not bad, not bad. i wonder if souske will explain the situation to kaname in the next chapter... that's one of my favorite moments in the whole 1st season. then again, gauron is on his ass right now so it might get complicated first.

good work, now post the rest

[Shinobi]

i wonder if souske will explain the situation to kaname in the next chapter... that's one of my favorite moments in the whole 1st season. then again, gauron is on his ass right now so it might get complicated first.

yeah...that's one of my favorite moments of the show too! We'll just have to see how things play out.!

Yes, I'm an evil bastard!


And Thanks to everyone else.

and stuff!

[darkbane]

*** nukes the evil bastard's backyard ***

hehe i wasn't asking for a spoiler anyhow.... can't wait to see how things play out tho

[AngelOfDeath]

I promise I'll finish reading this by sunday! But of course I needs me some sweet sweet sleep tonight.

::slowly catching up again::

Very riveting.... I heart your fic! Good action, good drama, good times.