Yesterday they were Stateside, enjoying time together as a team. Today they were in France, having been teleported to Paris by Brigitte Moreau, leader of the top French metahuman team deployed by the EAMSG. TheChasseurswere the team they partnered with the most when running joint missions with the EAMSG, and tonight’s mission was one Alexei could definitely get behind.
He’d had a chance to eliminate Jansen in London back in February, but the mission parameters at the time hadn’t called for Jansen’s death.
Should’ve just killed him,Alexei thought to himself as he followed the bright blue line on the HUD map. It led him to the small yacht anchored to the shore behind the château Jansen was currently hiding in like the coward he was.
The dot that represented his position on the HUD map finally overlapped with the outline of a yacht. Alexei spun onto his back in the water, kicking against the current as he raised one arm and swam higher until his hand came in contact with the yacht’s hull. Magnetizing the tips of his gloves to the hull to anchor himself, he carefully bent his knees to brace his feet against the metal. Alexei used his other hand to unclip the inert bomb from his tactical vest and attach it to the yacht. He armed it by touch, barely able to see the soft red glow through the murky darkness as it came online.
Kyle was in charge of the detonator instead of Madison for this part of the mission. Once the two of them dealt with the security patrolling the shoreline, Kyle would find a perch in a nearby tree to cover Alexei’s six as he advanced on the château from the rear.
The rest of Alpha Team and several members of theChasseurshad the château surrounded and the road leading to it under guard. Their approach—by ground rather than by air since the location was smack in the middle of a town—had been easy enough, but no one expected it to stay easy.
“Charges set,” Kyle reported over comms.
His voice sounded slightly muffled through the masks they wore. Flexible oxygen tubes attached to the front of their tactical vests were hooked to the air filtration masks that connected to their hard helmets and tactical goggles to form a hard seal. Their water-resistant weapons were secured on their bodies in such a way that they didn’t get in the way while they swam.
“Secure your area, Reaper,” Jamie ordered.
“Copy that, Apollo,” Kyle said.
Alexei reached behind his back with his free hand and got hold of his AKR-75 assault rifle. Bringing it around, he held it close to his body as he demagnetized his glove from the hull, losing his anchor. Kicking against the current, he swam for the surface.
Alexei’s head broke through the muddy waters of the Seine in the shadow of the yacht’s stern, water dripping down his tactical goggles as his infrared vision automatically switched over to night vision. Kyle broke the surface near the yacht’s bow. The crescent moon gliding across the night sky was hidden behind thick clouds, the lingering storm line providing the perfect cover.
Alexei listened for sounds of movement above. He could hear the faint murmur of voices on the yacht itself, but didn’t see anyone on the shoreline. He turned to look at Kyle, reading the hand signals his brother rapidly signed with ease.
They’d been partners together in the field for over a decade. Their Strike Force training was the reason Jamie had assigned them to attack and hold the rear. In unison, Alexei and Kyle scaled the side of the yacht, their magnetized gloves making it easier than if they’d had to do it barehanded. Alexei let his gun hang from his body away from the hull, making sure to keep it from making any noise.
The yacht was large enough and heavy enough that the extra weight on one side didn’t move it at all, and their presence went unnoticed. Alexei slipped soundlessly over the railing, bringing up his weapon and staying out of the light coming from the cabin where the command controls were.
Alexei sighted down his weapon as he edged around to the other side. Two men stood at the opposite railing, rifles in hand but not on guard like they should be. They were taking a smoke break, chatting in quiet French while facing the château and not the water.
If this had been a training exercise back when he was with Strike Force, and Alexei was in their position falling down on the job, he would’ve been excoriated by his CO. In Alexei’s experience, the men and women who played at being soldiers were the ones who didn’t know what the fuck they were doing.
They also made easy targets.
Alexei and Kyle got within arm’s length of the men before they even registered the threat. By then, it was too late. Alexei got his target in a chokehold, letting go of his rifle to swiftly and cleanly break the man’s neck before he had a chance to shout a warning.
Kyle took out his target in the same manner and they both carefully dragged the bodies away from the railing to the middle of the boat where there was less chance they would be seen. From there, it took less than a minute for them to clear the rest of the yacht. It seemed only two guards had been assigned watch duty in the rear of the property. Alexei hand-signaled Kyle to move out.
Alexei eyed the stone river wall that acted as a barrier in this section of the Seine. It looked nicer than the earthen mounds sometimes used, and the rich were all about appearances. The distance between the yacht and the wall was short enough that jumping from one to the other was easy.
Alexei’s feet hit solid ground and he sank into a crouch, scanning the immediate area. Kyle joined him seconds later. They spared a moment to disconnect the oxygen tubes from their air filtration masks and dropped them in the river before advancing forward. Shrubbery lined the river wall except for the clear area they passed though, kept that way for anyone who arrived or left by boat.
“Moving into position,” Kyle reported, voice barely louder than a whisper.
“In position,” Katie replied.
“In position,” Brigitte said.
The other members of Alpha Team and theChasseurssounded off on their readiness to proceed. Kyle signaled to Alexei that he was leaving and disappeared into the foliage to Alexei’s left. Alexei continued forward, skirting close to the tree line on the right.
Lights were on in the château, and Alexei could pick out guards patrolling along the outside perimeter. The area between his location and the building was an open lawn bracketed by trees and bushes. A stone pathway curved around the lawn to merge into a single walkway that led down to the river. Alexei counted four guards holding position on that pathway outside the circle of illumination from floating lights above the walkway.
Alexei and Kyle’s job was to secure the rear of the house. Trevor had erected a telekinetic shield around the property outside their set perimeter. Donovan and two otherChasseursfighters were in position along Trevor’s shield to take out any enemy fighters who tried to escape. Katie’s main task during this operation was to shield their minds from any empathic interference Jansen might throw their way. Shielding the minds of twelve metahumans was easier for her than gaining complete control over a person.
That being said, Katie’s job was the toughest. They would be relying on her to ultimately take Jansen down by undercutting his empathy. She’d been given wide latitude in the use of her power, but breaking through someone’s mental shields took effort, and Jansen wasn’t going down easy.
That was proven by the gunfire that ripped through the air across the lawn in a wide spray, missing where Alexei and Kyle had been standing barely two minutes ago.
