07 - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

<< Metal Up Your Ass

Protected By The Damned

For Whom The Bell Tolls >>

It's time to ask the right team for the solution. The Demons have turned the tables on the Damned, and it takes a little while to catch up. It's quiet, too quiet. Pandora reveals a little bit more about herself, who she is, and what she can do. And Damian has to make some hard choices. There is someone new coming to the team, and he is just this side of ... different. The war with the enemy is burning - and it's time the General calls for special backup. Because now even he spells backup 'K.A.T.I.E.'

INTRODUCTON

Since Moloch has sided with T'Chezz in their newest ventures in taking over Humanity, Demon possession and destruction has increased by over 30%. The private companies (Korbin's Killer, Amy's Assassins, etc) can no longer handle it by themselves, and the US Government has never had a chance doinf it alone, anyway! There is an agreement that the forces should work together, and Korbin's team, with Joshua and the new weapons, would probably head the efforts. General Brushwood is vital to these efforts, as is Korbin's Team. The group supported by Hell call themselves The Enlightened, and are humans enhanced by demonic possession. There is more background activity in this volume than fighting. The Enlightened are active only two or three times, a few exorcisms, and only the one major battle at the end, where Moloch is defeated and vows revenge. Resources are developed for bigger battles in the future.

General Brushwood and Merc Teams Meet

Chapter 01

General Brushwood has scheduled a video conference with the lead Merc teams around the country, along with the government teams, to advise everyone that there were new tactics being used by the demons – militarized demons, combat-trained and determined to take the team down, and that there has to be more cooperation between the government and the mercs, or there won’t be anyone left. They had weapons and what looked to be a command structure. Amy (Amy’s Assassins) spoke for the mercs. They came from the outskirts of town, in stolen vehicles, and disappeared into the woods. “These are real survivalists. They have probably been off the grid for years somewhere right here in the United States. We neither know where they are currently, nor where they have been for the last decade. We are looking for new intel, and when we find it we will share it all with you. We would appreciate it if you would do the same. ”

Brushwood called Korbin, please meet in three hours at Nellis. Korbin, Katie, and Calvin.Korbin desperately needs a new IT man, with Derek dead

Investigating Resources

Chapter 02

As well as looking for a new AI man, Korbin is looking for a way to expedite more rounds of the special metals, and the special metals weapons that will be needed for the increased forces. Korbin doesn’t like letting others know about the special metal. Father Damian reaches out to a fellow priest, Father Avery, to learn if he has heard anything new from the Church sources. Nothing new. Katie and the other two meet with the Colonel, the General, and two black ops men.

An Exorcism, More Meetings

Chapter 03

Damian gets a call from the Ghost Hunters, about a potential possession going on in North Las Vegas. He and Eric will go and help. Perfect house, perfect neighborhood. “Well, we have a teenage girl—parents called us earlier—who has been acting very strange since she got back from another girl’s pajama party Saturday night.” Temperature dropped ten degrees as they approached her room. Lying on the bed was a young woman of around fifteen, curled into a ball. She was drooling, her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was frizzy and wild. She said, “Quomodo audes huc venisti fucking adici debent. Et deprecari in oculis tuis caput et ex illis manducare prandium,” the girl intoned in a deep and malevolent voice.

The three meet with the Government people, Korbin and Calvin giving up their weapons at the Security gate, but Katie refusing to do so. Katie showed her hand changing to a claw, and said that they were all armed, at all times, so what difference did it make? The General agreed, and said that they could all keep them.

More Meetings

Chapter 04

They meet with the two extra men, Charles Butler comes to us from a major ammunition manufacturer, and Travis Novack is from the advanced metallurgical arena. The General expresses the idea that what Joshua knows cannot be lost, and that his men would work with Korbin and Katie and protect it. “What I am offering is to provide my expertise to customize these machines right on the floor of your factory. I can come there, figure out the specs, and make them work efficiently with whatever special metal you have in mind. But also I’m in charge of creating and building new R&D labs that need to use new metals—strong metals. The company I work for is loaning me to you to see if I can help figure out how the metal can be used in ways other than just for weapons.

Damian approached the girl’s bed. The demon had been summoned by the new mirror game. Damian began the exorcism. Lots of Latin, screaming, holy water and bible quotes, and the demon departed.

Colonel Jehovivich

Chapter 05

The Colonel takes the General aside, and voices her concerns over Katie’s killing abilities, and the trust the General is putting in her. “And if she was our enemy, why would she be trying to help us kill her and her team? “She wouldn’t, and she isn’t,” the general finished. “So not only will these two men put in machines, they will help you build a rapid manufacturing facility at your base,” the general explained. “Everything you will need to enable Joshua to mass-produce metals and bullets, which will free up some of his time to work on other weapons of your choosing.” Katie asks Korbin if Stephanie Lee will stand for all of this government development, or should they get a second piece of land to work on? We can’t afford to send protection to another place. I’ll negotiate with Stephanie for the land to belong to Korbin’s Killers, LLC. That way we’ll own all of it and it will stay safe no matter what.” They’ll be there in a few days.

Damian calls Stephanie Lee, tells her, “we figured out there is a board game out there called Mirror Mirror that may be where that demon came from. It’s a kid’s game she played on Saturday with her friends, and she came home with the nasty demon I just sent back to hell while he yelled profanities at me.” Damian asks her to call Korbin, and tell him and the General what he had just learned. And to be sure his and Eric’s picture was not on the tapes that were made.

Korbin tell the General, who directs the Colonel to get on a plane to the company that makes the game, and to get its production stopped, and the games collected.

Teamwork

Chapter 06

Korbin admits that working with the government has thrown him off balance. Working with the government has thrown me off. I have been here a long time, at least for a demon hunter, so I know what the government has done to us. Acting like it never happened and moving forward with this alliance is difficult for me. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.” She tells him, “We need to stick together as a team here, Korbin, so that if the worst happens we still have each other. Otherwise we are all as good as dead. Most of the time it’s not the skill that wins battles, it’s teamwork—and ours is top-notch because we are friends.” Katie and Pandora need some donuts, so they borrow a car and get some.

The General warns the two metallurgists, “if your bosses suggest you need to do some spying, tell them to stop that shit right there. If you find that they don’t want to stop, get me involved. If you don’t and your lives are snuffed out in some horrible fashion, expect nothing more than an unmarked grave out in the desert.”

Moloch and T’Chezz plan their next attack, a smaller town, maybe a thousand, with a stronger Level four or five Demon to lead.

The Quarterstaff

Chapter 07

Joshua gives Katie her new Quarterstaff. (See Weapons Quarterstaff). After which she and Pandora go for a donut feast. Stephanie Lee gets a call,demons at a small ranch close by. Pandora recommends that they bring Damian along. Korbin to fly the copter, Damian and Katie, with her new staff. Calvin tired, keeping up spirits, taking in new demon information, keeping things running. Has a good laugh with Stephanie Lee about Korbin – has never had a girlfriend in all of the time Calvin has known him. Korbin apologized with donuts – not roses. Just his way!

The Enlightened, Jehovivich Again

Chapter 08

The Enlightened, humans infected by demons, are learning to fight, use tactics, train, so that they might fight and win for Moloch. (See Groups)

The General investigate Colonel Jehovivich, for bias and narrow-mindedness. Talks to Major Gregory, Internal Intelligence. Jehovivich pushed her views, overstepped her boundaries, and questioned the general’s judgment on a regular basis. Their line of duty forced them to be on the top of their games and make tough decisions. He was sure he couldn’t trust her to do that. He didn’t want to replace the Colonel, but if it was that or dealing with uncertainty—especially in a combat situation—he had no choice but to get rid of her.

Charles Butler, the ammunition specialist, reports a full black-out to his company, and doesn’t know how long he’ll be gone. Doesn’t know why his boss is being so supportive. It seemed out of his character, and frankly a bit suspicious.

Exorcism, and Pandora

Chapter 09

Katie and Pandora have a long discussion about sex, sexual names for things, etc., on way to newest event, at the small ranch. Katie was determined to walk out of this incursion with no team fatalities, no matter what it took. Damian took the back, Korbin the front, Katie to go inside. Saw a twelve-tear-old Thomas, in the barn. Not possessed. Scared. Tells him to hide and not to come out until SHE comes for him. Benjamin and Isadora possessed, Mom and Dad still OK. Damian controlled Benjamin’s demon, forced him back into hell. Damian unsuccessful with Isadora, so Pandora takes over. Korbin takes everyone out of the house except Katie, Damian, and Isadora. Pandora takes over Katie’s body, including her vocal cords. Pandora says something to the demon, In Demon language, and without warning, the girl started to scream again. She held her ears and fell to her knees. The sound was almost deafening, and it didn’t resemble any scream Katie had heard before. The demon pulled itself from the girl’s chest and dissipated into thin air. Its face bore an expression of complete horror, as though panicked by the words Pandora had spoken.The demon went back to hell, too frightened to even try to explain through his human. He was absolutely terrified of Pandora, which seemed to be a common trend from demon to demon. No one had heard Pandora like that, and Damian was afraid.

Mirror, Mirror, the Enlightened

Chapter 10

Colonel Jehovivich goes to Gibbon’s Games, to investigate Mirror, Mirror. Finds it is true, bases on centuries old incantations, and that the CEO and VP of the company are infected. “Get the fuck out of here. You and your general can forget about the bigger game. It isn’t going anywhere, and the game is key to our world’s revival. I can tell you right now, though—if that is what you are bringing to the party I have already accomplished my goal, sweet cheeks.” She shot him, three times, killing him, and he turned to dust. It was at this moment that the colonel realized how much joy she felt. She had the power to get rid of the demon. She was there alone; no need to answer to the general or anyone else. It was on her to make the choices, and in this scenario? She reported in to the General, who called Chairperson of the Coalition for Neutralization of Alien and Humanity Integration, and told that person of the game and its implications. “We’ve confirmed that the company here in the States had an embedded demon making it happen.” . “We are working on this now. We are tracking an increase of thirty percent in demon incursions in the last thirty-six hours. . I’m afraid we don’t have containment on this anymore.”The second phone call went to SOCOM, the Special Operations Command group which assigned the general’s black ops their missions. His task was pretty specific. The general spoke with SOCOM, giving them all the details and the main distributor and creator addresses, and tried to tie up as many loose ends as possible. How they had missed the production of the game he didn’t understand. The demons had been vicious for a very long time, sure, but smart? They had never mastered smart before. Now, though, he was starting to question their evolutionary traits. They were getting smarter and bigger, and they were certainly much better trained.The war had just escalated.

Moloch visited the Enlightened, and told them of their next mission, a small weapons depot in Washington state. Apparently it was an incredibly important task to widen the war’s front. One could feel the waves of power erupting from them. It wasn’t about the human contact, it was about the demon one, and this was one strong group of people, perhaps strong enough to overpower the prepared.

Joshua and the Processes, Military Matters

Chapter 11

Katie visits Joshua, making a new weapon.“Are you okay working with the metallurgist? I know this stuff is pretty hush-hush; family secret and all that. They aren’t in charge of anything. They are just here to build us a shop—something more efficient that will help you get some rest from time to time and increase production.” I am pretty excited to learn more about the metallurgy. If I know how to handle a metal I can practically do anything with it.” “Now, all that said, you can’t give away too much information. There are things that even I don’t know. It should be your general rule of thumb that if I don’t know something, they shouldn’t either. At the same time, we desperately need to make this all work. There aren’t enough mercenaries to tackle the influx of demons as it is, and these weapons are one answer to that shortage. “Using these bullets made with your metal is like having another person on the team; we can take down twice as many demons. It allows the normal humans to play in this game as well.” Joshua and his family secrets needed to stay hidden, even with the new guys coming. Somehow they had to make certain of that.Because for the demons, he was a prime target.

The Special Operation, Small Tac Team, was in the government training facility working with one of the new instructors. They worked on hand-to-hand combat as well as they possibly could. They were training to take on the new demons. There had been many changes in the recent weeks, so these men didn’t put anything by the new breed of demon. Sure, they didn’t have the power of a Damned, being “innocents,” but they had pushed their bodies to the limit and kept on going.

Trenton came in with the enlightened, killed them all, and stated loading out the weapons they had come for. Korbin hears about the event, tells Calvin. We know they are on the loose, so now comes the job of finding those fuckers.”

Katie and Pandora

Chapter 12

Katie goes out on her own, to scatter Derek’s ashes, and to practice using her new quarterstaff. She can’t practice with it with the team, because the special metal would hurt them, so she want to practice by herself. Pandora will coach her on the moves, so that they become automatic. That’s good, Pandora told her, but you are still fighting it. You need to relax and make the staff an extension of your body. You need to—and I know this sounds corny—become one with the weapon. At the end of the practice, Katie and Pandora have a talk. Pandora said she’s been thinking about getting a divorce. Yeah, I’ve been married for a long time, she admitted. It’s not love, really. It was a marriage of convenience more than anything. He’s a complete asswipe, and it’s not like he doesn’t have at least a dozen or more concubines. It just so happens that I am the biggest bitch of all. She’s also been thinking about her future with Katie, so Katie asked her. So let me ask you this…what could you do with me if I trusted you completely? Katie asked. Why don’t we find out?

Two weeks later, Eric hears on the radio that a do-nut shop is having a donut-eating championship, with the prize being free donuts for a year. He tells Katie about it, and she and Pandora decide to compete.

Production is going well on the bullets – they can make them any size they want, and in quantity. Joshua says they remind him of his Dad, and he’s working with them happily.

Joshua, the General

Chapter 13

Joshua still upset with working with Charles and Travis. Change always upset him. The men hadn’t realized the girls had a different background, and were distracted by it. Joshua told them, “Just like Katie, these women are tough as nails. They are pretty on the outside—and pretty on the inside—but all of that is wrapped up in a steel cage. These days they’d rather kick your ass than deal with your shit, so disrespect is completely off the table.” He waffled for a moment. “If you want to keep your nuts, that

At breakfast ,Eric announced, “We have decided to go after the prize in a donut-eating contest the radio station is putting on,” The team decides to go along to cheer them on.

The General decides to talk to Jehovivich about her attitude towards Korbin’s Killers, and demon hunters in general, telling her that her personal feeling are getting in the way, and that he can’t trust her around their allies, the Demon Hunters. Don’t know if she wouldn’t shoot one of them in the back. Had a prior terrible experience, before she was in the military, with her best friend, Candice Johnson. But no demon, just crazy.

Brock, the Do-Nut Contest

Chapter 15

Third Annual Donut-Eating Contest for Charity!”, sponsored by Pinkbox Donuts, to benefit Las Vegas Rescue Mission. Both Katie and Eric doing it without internal help. Pushed their plates away very shortly, as they watched the professionals. After the contest, they went to Torn Asunder, the bar, and finished up a good evening. Katie had a feeling in her gut that it would be one of the last fun times for a while. They come home to the Soaps, and Katie’s popcorn, four bowls! Katie lingered in the main area for a moment, unable to escape that nagging feeling in her stomach. I have it too, Pandora shared. So it’s not gas. What is it? Katie asked. Not sure, but whatever is coming may just be bigger than we think.

Brock and the girls are partying it up. He knew how to read people, and that helped him maneuver his way through not only women but life as well. He was the lead singer of the band, and his charm and charisma impressed most people he came into contact with. One of the notices Mirror, Mirror, and they want to play it. As the girls closed in on him, he turned his head and briefly stared at the box on the floor. He winced slightly as a flash of heat blew through his head, but he figured it was the whiskey and ignored it. It was just a stupid game, right? He turned his attention back to the women and drowned himself in pleasure for the rest of the night.

Travis Novak

Chapter 16

Travis, a spy for his company, was just sending off some information when Korbin walked .in. He closed his notes and walked away from the area. (Travis didn’t believe in magic, so didn’t know what part he was missing. Stephanie Lee finds that someone had been sending info from base, tells Korbin, who tells Katie, who tell the General, who will be there in four hours. General comes, goes to building to address Travis, with his boss on listen only mode. The General fires his gun, making his boss think he was dead. The general had fired the bullet into the wall as Korbin knocked Travis out. The team welcomed him. He was a dead person, so they could now shoot him, or whatever. Could mind-wipe him, or let him live with them, although not damned. Travis apologizes to Joshua, and hopes he can work his way out of it somehow.

Miscellaneous, and Timothy

Chapter 17

Korbin has a meeting with the team, review what’s been happening, Amy’s Team weakness, and that San Francisco is sending a redshirt, an IT guy who was, and I quote, ‘playing the damned game,’” to help them with their AI problem. “It means he has a really low-level inexperienced non-aggressive demon,” Korbin explained. “But I was told that the guy is whip-smart at hacking and stuff.” We also have some feedback from our consultant James Caplan. The intel suggests that attacks in this country are lessening in number, but the severity of the attacks has increased exponentially.”“I have a question.” Katie looked around. “Has anyone ever taken the fight into the demon realm?” Does Pandora know?” Damian asked. Hold one second, please.” Katie looked down at the table. Katie consults with Pandora. Apparently it would be much more complicated than I anticipated.” The team meeting went on for another couple of hours, discussing everything from training to off-time activities. Korbin didn’t lay down any restrictions, but he wanted everyone to know that they needed to be careful. If they were being hunted they couldn’t take unnecessary chances.

Korbin wants Katie and Calvin to meet the new IT guy, Timothy Califore. Just be gentle with our new guy. He is…uh….special and his demon has really messed with his head.” He’s gay. He didn’t like people, nor did he want to be pushed into some mercenary situation. When he met Calvin and Katie, his demon receded, and said he wouldn’t talk to him until he had gotten away from those freaks, and Timothy was on his own. Pandora says his demon is a bitch, “She says once you get used to him you can pretty much make him your bitch.”

Timothy, the Production Line

Chapter 18

Korbin reads him the rules. you can’t connect with anyone who knew you before. Those are the rules when we become Damned. You are pretty much dead to everyone in the world except for us. It sucks, I know, but that’s how it is. “These people don’t know me. Hello, I’m a hacker! We don’t have friends. You know that whole public image of hackers sitting in their mom’s basement with three computers, a dozen bags of Doritos, and three cases of Mountain Dew? We’re usually hacking something on one screen and kicking ass in Halo on the other? Yeah, that’s pretty much spot-on for me.”. “I am the walking version of everyone’s expectation.”“I thought you said you knew these people? ““I know their handles. That’s what we hackers use,” he replied. “They have never met me, nor do they know my real name. It’s all very black-ops, and luckily I’m a good hacker so there is nothing out there that can trace me back to my real name.” Calvin will go to Vegas to get people to install the servers, etc. Joshua and Travis talking metallurgy, Katie lost.

Stephanie Lee asks Charles what he would need in the way of people to run the factory at a good production level. “I’ll probably need seven people minimum to run the machines and quality-check the rounds as they come off the manufacturing floor, and that’s just looking at a normal five-day work week. If you count the extra two days, I’ll need a couple more. Of course, I won’t be here forever, so I don’t really want to include myself in that number.”

Production Line Continued

Chapter 19

Katie called the General for help – 9 – 5 jobs, living in the city. make sure the general vets every single one of them,” Korbin agreed. “We need to have someone at the gate checking IDs and demon status.” The General had the solution. “I will call Nellis right after we hang up and have seven of their most trustworthy armaments specialists briefed and sent over to you first thing tomorrow. I can assure you that these men will be completely and totally discreet. They will comprehend the importance of secrecy, and if they don’t I will handle it like I did Travis.Korbin was reviewing the newest intel. Incursions were down in numbers, but the ones that were coming in were crazy-difficult. The demons were getting smarter. Whoever was sending them their way knew they needed to up their game. If they had upped their ante, the team had to as well. That meant more training, longer hours, and new tactics, and though the teams were already being pushed, they were going to have to work even harder.

The General calls, wants Katie and Damian to go to Wyoming. Don’t know details. Pandora quiets Katie, says she’s her inner Valium.

Moloch LOATHES T’Chezz now. Too arrogant, taking all of the credit. But Moloch intends to get rid of him, one way to the other.

Timothy, Beginning of Event

Chapter 20

Timothy gets on the computers once they are up and running, sets up a Butler program (data analysis and retrieval), and has lots of stuff coming in almost right away. Calvin calls Korbin to see it. Korbin gives Timothy flash drive, asks him to identify the people on it. Top-secret. Calvin to watch him, until they think they can trust him.

Katie and Damian met by “ Colonel Ambrose, the team leader for the Black Squad,” he continued. “We are a special division of the 173rd Infantry. We are highly classified and considered black ops. We will be working with you today on this incursion.”

First Moves

Chapter 21

Trenton and the Enlightened have attacked a group, taken hostages, and are waiting for Mooch t come, to feast and fight. This is another day of reckoning for these humans. We will let them know just how far they have fallen.” It is our day and we WILL NOT FAIL.”

Ambrose addresses the troops who will help Katie and Damian. When we are with them we treat them as our own. From what the general has described, these two will be invaluable to us.” “Will Katie and Damian be fighting with us?”

“We will,” Katie answered, “We are on your team now, and will do everything we can to keep as many safe as possible. We were called in by the general to help reduce casualties on our side and increase them on theirs. That is what he expects of us. “We will enter the facility first and assess, taking down as many as we can to make your entrance smoother. Once we determine their strength we will let you know exactly where we need you to set up.” . There was a massive inter-dimensional surge in the general area of the mountains, which confirms the presence of a higher demon. Told them about the special bullets. Moloch comes to the Enlightened, kills and drinks, ecstasy, then goes back to Hell, to wait for the victory.

Second Moves

Chapter 22

Katie and Damian fly around the hotel, an abandoned one high in the mountains. Will go down first, essay the situation. Katie and Damian will enter first, men to make circle around hotel so none can escape. They go in. Pandora warns Katie of the two stalking them, and Katie kills them. Pandora has used their comm equipment to tell Trenton of his losses, and he is enraged!

Pandora Appears

Chapter 23

To fight the Enlightened, Pandora takes over Katie’s body. Damián watches the transition, and is both terrorized and fascinated in the transition. (See Characters - Pandora). He talks to Pandora, who explains what is going on, that she and Katie have changed places, and that it’s a matter of trust. So they go hunting.

The Battle

Chapter 24

Pandora tells Damian what is going on inside – hostages tied up. He is to untie them and take them to outside troops while she kills the demon-infested. She walked through the hotel, killing here an Pd there, using the quarterstaff, as Damian worked on the hostages. After killing all but three, Pandora watched Moloch rescue those left. Moloch vowed revenge. Back at the Base, Korbin and the team listen to the fight (Timothy managed to hack into the comm system), hear Pandora and know it’s not Katie Calvin suspects, but doesn’t say anything. Then a huge energy spike takes out all communications, and leaves everyone wondering.

Katie/Pandora, and Brock

Chapter 25

Damian thanks Pandora, and watches as she changes back to Katie. Her body floated into the air and basked in the bright light, and then carefully and slowly descended. Damian tells her what had happened (Katie remembered nothing), how well Pandora fought, and Pandora called him Bestie, letting Katie know that they had done well together. Damian didn’t understand how Katie had let her do that - had let a DEMON take over her body. Katie said that Pandora was one of the few that she COULD trust, and after all, Aren’t we all a little bit demon?”

Brock woke up the next morning, ready to go back on the road, passing comments with his cohorts in bed and in the bus, putting on his dark glasses so they wouldn’t see the tinge of red in his eyes.