All According to Plan?
Bea watched the trucks leave, head tilted to the side and mouth hanging open in wonder.
“Dora,” she asked, “did I just see Yasmine driving one of the trucks?”
“Yup,” said the sister warrior, keeping her face neutral as she eyed Beatrice. “She learned.”
“Well,” replied Bea, shaking her head, “that makes me feel a little better about staying behind now.”
She took in the grim faces of the women around her as the garage door slammed shut a few minutes later. “This is what we’ve trained for. Let’s use the crates to build up some defenses. We have to protect the vans so we can get out of here, but the divinium is the first priority. I don’t know what the FBC wants with it but we’re not going to let them take it. Swiss Guard response time should be fairly quick but we can’t put out a call until the trucks are safely away, otherwise we risk the Vatican and the local authorities going after them.”
“Get moving,” said Dora. “Find good spots to hide and ambush from. Let’s also block off some of these entrances. Funnel them to those two sets of double doors on the far side of the building. Someone get eyes on them!”
The two box trucks sped out onto the streets of Rome, a black sedan following each one. “We’re headed to a parking garage about eight kilometers south of us.”
“Got it Cam,” replied Ava through the earpiece. “Let me know when we’re supposed to split with the other truck. I want them to know where I’ll be going.”
“Ava you’re supposed to stay hidden until after we split up. That’s kind of the point of the diversion.”
“I know but that was before when there were a lot more of us defending both trucks. I’m not leaving the four of them alone without help. They’ll still draw some of the FBC away.”
“Speaking of FBC,” said Yasmine from the driver’s seat, “I think we’ve got company. The white van on my left.”
“There’s another back here,” came a voice through the earpiece.
“I see two more,” said another.
“Well,” said Ava, “let’s fuck ‘em up.”
The sister warriors were silent as the grave as the FBC members picked their way around boxes and crates through the maze of the warehouse and back towards the garage door. Bea could see that they were methodically making their way through the center of the building, just as they had hoped.
“Get me behind the van on their left,” said Ava as she stood up in the back of the sedan and phased through the roof. She climbed out onto the top of the car and carefully slid down to the trunk.
Let’s not get run over now.
The sedan sped up behind the van as she pulled the Halo out from behind her back; her blood dripping from the glowing ring onto the hood of the car.
With a nod of her head, she signaled the first shot to be fired into the crowd. The ambush was launched and the battle had begun.
Gunshots rang out from the white van trailing on their left. Yasmine did what she could to duck while still trying to drive. Camila tried to shoot back but could not get an angle from the other side of the cab. Suddenly, the front of the van exploded in golden light. Yasmine looked though her mirror to see it receding in the distance, split cleanly in half.
The FBC were confused as salvos of gunfire rang out from first one direction and then another. The OCS operatives had convinced them they were surrounded and the first wave of FBC attackers retreated. The nuns in more exposed positions took advantage of the chaos to pull back.
“Watch out!” screamed Camila as Yasmine was forced to evade some pedestrians trying to cross the road. “We have to get out of these neighborhoods!”
The sisters had forced them back yet again, but ammunition was running short. Suddenly a side door burst open. FBC surged in and flanked the sister warriors, cutting off three nuns from the group.
She weaved in and out of traffic, her heart racing. Cars flew past and horns were blaring. Look out! Two cars screeched to a halt at the intersection as she sped through it. She took her next turn a little too fast, the truck tilting dangerously. The trailing sedan was keeping up, the other truck and its escort had long since split away. White vans were following, bullets flying from the shooters leaning out the windows.
Bea and Dora both launched themselves at the new assailants in a deadly counter attack while the three sisters who had been stranded fought their way back.
The paired vehicles had split off. A couple white vans followed the other truck but Ava was pleased to see that most of them had stayed. They continued speeding through the streets of Rome.
“Hey there are three behind us,” the Warrior Nun said to the driver. “Let’s see if we can take them out now before more of their friends show up.” The driver had started to slow down when the sister in the passenger seat stopped her.
“Ava, we have a problem,” she said, staring straight ahead at the truck. Ava leaned forward to look out the windshield. A winged woman had landed on the top of the box.
The room shook, shots were firing and people were screaming. Bodies were pressing in on all sides. Keep moving. Beatrice took down another assailant, her ammunition long since spent. Keep moving. Another body flew into her, reaching and grabbing for her throat. Two swift strikes and a slice with her knife and it would never grab anything again.
Ava bounded off the front of the sedan and levitated herself to grab hold of the side of the truck, swinging herself to the roof and drawing the Cruciform Sword as she faced the demon woman. The wind whipped through her hair as she had to work to maintain her balance. She glared at the former sister warrior as her emotions tore through her faster than the gale that engulfed them.
The multiple attempts to kill her since they had first met she could forgive, if only because she had helped Bea save her life when they had last met. But joining with the FBC after Adriel was defeated, this was one betrayal too many. Lilith was too dangerous and needed to be put down.
“Hello Ava,” the other woman shouted over the sound of the wind. Ava had no response. She was past the time for quips and barbs. She briefly heard Bea’s admonition in the back of her mind.
…Don’t let her distract you from the mission. It’s what she wants.
She shut it down. Unfortunately for Lilith, it’s what she wanted too. Ava sneered at the former sister warrior for a moment and then she struck.
Dora aggressively approached three opponents. Walking steadily towards them she pulled out her pistol and quickly shot one in the leg and a second in the chest. The third charged her, trying to close the distance before she could bring her weapon to bear.
“On our right, Yasmine!” Camila shouted. “Can you move to the left so I can get a clean shot?”
“Just a second.” The truck slowly drifted away from the white van. Its side door slide open as two FBC took aim at Camila and the tires. Shots rang out from her assault rifle as she took out the tires of the van, causing it to fall behind as it began to skid before plowing into a wall.
“Two circling on your left!” Bea shouted at one of the nuns. She did not get the chance to see if her warning helped as another FBC swung a steel pipe at her head. Ducking and spinning, she kicked his legs out from under him. Transforming her spin into a roll, she ended up with her back on his chest and dropped a hard elbow onto the bridge of his nose before smoothly rising to continue the fight.
She stabbed at Lilith’s chest with the Cruciform Sword. Lilith side-stepped the attack and grabbed her forearm as she overextended. The taller woman pulled her off her feet and spun her back around tossing her off the side of the truck.
One of her sisters was down—about to be swarmed by FBC. She charged in, swinging a splintered piece of wood from a broken crate she picked up off the ground.
Ava pulled out the Halo with her off hand during the spin and quickly stuck it in the air as she dove forward alongside the truck. She quickly flipped herself up over the Halo and landed with both feet on Lilith’s chest, sending her flying. She saw an FBC van that had gotten ahead of them.
“The Guard is almost here, Sister. Less than five minutes out,” reported one of the younger nuns—Sarah. Dora nodded at her.
“Go gather everyone here,” ordered Beatrice, “while there’s a lull in the fighting.” She shared a grim look with Dora.
“Alright everyone, get in the vans and go to ground before the Swiss Guard gets here. Make sure you ditch your gear for civilian clothes as soon as possible and get to the rendezvous. I’ll hold the FBC here until the Guard arrives. Dora, will you help me out?”
“Sure thing.”
“This is suicide,” stated one of the nuns.
“Ava will never forgive us if we let you both do this,” said another. “Let us at least stay with you.”
“No,” replied Bea. “This is too chaotic to not accidently result in a fight with the Vatican. We’ll be gone before they get here. Now go!” She sighed in relief as she watched the eight nuns pile into the two vans, leaving the garage doors open behind them as they sped out into the city.
Beatrice and Dora looked at each other and then over at the crowd of FBC slowly and cautiously making its way through the aisles of crates towards the two sister warriors. “In this life or the next.”
“In this life or the next.”
“You take the right side,” Beatrice said to Dora.
Dora nodded, rolled her neck and took two steps to the right, pulling out two steel fighting sticks that were strapped to her back. Checking on her spacing, she looked over at the other sister warrior.
Beatrice was lowering a chain mail veil over her face.
“You’ll have to ram them!” yelled Camila. “We can’t let them stop us!” Yasmine’s response caught in her throat. They watched Ava glide off the front of the truck and phase through the roof of the white FBC van in front of them. The van lurched to one side and then another before it finally steered itself off the road. The two speechless nuns watched as Ava flew out of the front as it crashed and swung skyward on the Halo.
They engaged again on the roof of the truck. Ava fighting much more aggressively than Lilith had ever seen before. She pressed her attack into the demon woman, forcing her back to the edge of the truck.
She spun her bladed staff around her as she cut through body after body. They tried to close in but could not get through the tornado of razor sharp edges and blunt force that surrounded her.
Lilith was forced to teleport, only to be met with Ava’s foot in her gut as she reappeared behind her. She was able to grab the Warrior Nun’s leg and force her towards the edge in turn. Ava twisted in the air bringing a kick with her other leg to the older woman’s face.
The white van crashed into their side again, trying to force the larger truck off the road while shots rang out from the window. Yasmine could see their trail car in the mirror, a nun leaning out the passenger window with an assault rifle, trying desperately to shoot out the tires of the offending vehicle.
Bea moved through them like a whirlwind. Hopelessly outnumbered, she knew it was a matter of time before one of the combatants got through her defenses, but she was determined to take as many with her as she could.
Lilith dodged at the last second as she disengaged. Ava saw her extend her clawed fingers and was forced to go on the defensive, dodging and blocking the slashes at her face.
In a desperate attempt, a man dove at her feet, trying to sweep them out from under. Anticipating the impact, Bea threw herself into the air as she rolled forward, using the momentum of his push to complete her flip. Her throwing knife was in the back of his neck before she landed and continued her assault on the FBC without looking back.
A clawed hand swiped from her left, blocked with her forearm. Pain shot through her as the demon fingers lacerated almost to the bone.
The blade on her staff was fouled and she was forced to abandon her weapon. She connected on a spin kick to someone’s head before she was grabbed from behind and her arms were pinned to her body.
Her bleeding hand grabbed the other woman’s left and pulled her close and off balance. Ava jumped through the pull and punched Lilith hard in the jaw.
Dora swung her first stick into the man’s knee, the shaft vibrating in her hand as the joint shattered. Her other hand brought its stick across his face. In one fluid motion she continued her spin through the impact and into the head of her next attacker.
Loud ringing twangs sounded through the cab as bullets ricocheted off the metal. One shot passed through the window, striking Yasmine’s arm. She screamed in pain as she almost lost control of the truck.
“Yasmine!” shouted Camila, pulled away from her own fight happening out her window.
As they separated Ava pulled the Halo out and it flared to life in her hands. Lilith hesitated and her eyes went wide, true fear showing on her face for the first time since Ava had seen her impaled by a Tarask. She took off through the sky and Ava followed.
She pushed off the ground to force a kick on an attacker in front of her, pushing off their chest to land another kick on another’s face. Bea flailed her body in all directions in a desperate attempt to break the hold, but her assailant only squeezed tighter.
Lilith soared through the air, picking up speed to get away from the Halo Bearer and the golden ring she wielded, but Ava stayed with her. She twisted in the air, attempting to evade the Warrior Nun. But Lilith was a bird of prey, not designed to flee. A falcon being chased by the world’s deadliest sparrow.
Crack. She was free as the man behind her crumpled to the ground. Dora had swung her remaining fighting stick full force down on his head. She pulled Bea to her feet. “I think we might be in trouble,” she said as the remaining FBC members closed in slowly. Bea pulled up her veil. The bodies around them warned off the remaining attackers and made them cautious, but the sister warriors knew they wouldn’t give up. She pulled out her last two throwing knives.
Ava allowed her quarry to slip away. A little further—now! She turned and dove back towards her charges trying desperately to reach them as they tried to stay ahead of the FBC. A body slamming into her back drove the air from her lungs.
“I’m okay,” she said, breathing hard. The worry and fear left her as the pain in her arm flooded her body only to be replaced by a cold fury she had never before experienced. “Enough of this,” she whispered. Yasmine pulled the truck as hard as she could to the right, slamming the van on Camila’s side into the guard rail. Camila grunted at the impact as the cabin lurched.
She swung the Halo at the other woman as they fell, missing her wing by inches. Lilith fled as the chase began again.
“See you in hell, you bastards!” Yasmine practically steered the truck into the left guard rail forcing the FBC van into and through the rail and off the highway. Righting the truck, she turned to look at Camila, an excited smile on her face.
Camila could only stare back at her, eyes wide, with her mouth gaping. Yasmine’s smile faltered. “And—may God have mercy on their souls,” she said awkwardly as she crossed herself.
Ava hung suspended from the Halo, Cruciform Sword in hand, eyeing Lilith who was bobbing up and down with every flap of her wings.
“I’m impressed, Ava,” said the former sister warrior. “I’m not sure anyone else would have thought to actually remove the Halo to use it. And you move so well,” her voice took on a sarcastic lilt, “you look like a little flying monkey.”
“I guess that makes you my queen then, Your Wickedness.”
“Seriously?” asked Lilith, sounding exasperated. “You know Beatrice made the same joke? Do you two share material?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "I’m disappointed.”
“What do you want, Lilith?”
Lilith shrugged. “To keep you distracted up here while the FBC steals your divinium. I thought that was pretty clear, but you always were a slow learner.”
“Maybe,” agreed Ava, slowly stowing away her sword. “But I remember some things. Like how much you love a good Tarask.” She removed the Halo’s cover, closed her eyes and the Halo flashed. The huge monster appeared above them. Lilith looked up at it in horror before teleporting away.
That may have been a bit drastic.
Ava allowed herself to fall, the divinium monster right behind her, confused as it roared in fury. The ground was coming up fast. At the last second she levitated herself with the Halo above her like a saw blade and flared it to life.
Yasmine pulled the truck into the parking garage awkwardly, while Camila leaned across her, attempting to wrap a bandage around her upper arm. “Camila, I’m going to crash—please.”
“Sorry,” replied Camila. “Make your way to a middle level and we’ll find a spot that’s out of the way. Keep away from the outside of the garage.”
Yasmine parked the truck and allowed Camila to finish her ministrations before they exited the cab. Their trailing sedan pulled up and the other two nuns exited the car.
“Let’s check on the cargo and then we can find a good spot to set up a watch.” The back of the truck had been damaged during the pursuit but with a little effort they were able to pry open the door. Disappointment flooded Camila before the doors were completely free. “It’s empty,” she said to the others.
“What?” asked Yasmine, desperately looking into the cargo area. “We didn’t have it? Where could it be?”
“I don’t know,” replied Camila, shaking her head. “Nothing we can do about it now. Let’s get to the rendezvous.”
“Ava! Oh thank God!” Camila wrapped her arms around the Warrior Nun as she arrived at the safe house. She looked exhausted but no worse for wear, the Halo had done its job. “What happened?” asked Camila.
“Lilith.” Ava’s face darkened and her voice took on an edge when she mentioned the demon warrior’s name. “We were fighting in mid-air. She was keeping me there so I may have summoned a Tarask to get rid of her.” Eyes around the room widened in horror. “I injured it as we fell and its body crashed into the highway before it portaled back.” She rubbed her hand along the back of her neck. “I phased out of there and made my way here.” She put down her sword. “Did everyone make it back?”
Camila looked down at the floor. Ava noticed that no one in the room was willing to meet her eyes. “Cam?”
“Sisters Eileen and Rosemary are missing,” she said sniffling. “And…” her voice trailed off.
“And?” asked Ava, her blood ran cold as she awaited the answer she already knew.
“And Dora—and Bea.”