Throwing on my full combat gear and grabbing a loaded shotgun from the bag in the closet I run out to see what's actually happening. The halls are full of black uniformed government goons and I can hear Karl laughing in his 'everyone is going to die today' fake happy tone.
Oh fuzzballs.
Driving shoulder first through the uniformed goons, I run over to where I hear Karl's voice.
"What's going on man? Where's everyone else?"
"The rest of the team hasn't returned yet. I came back because I heard the base was under attack. Turns out it's these idiots blaming the Corps for the disaster that brought the portals."
This can't be good. They're obviously from the federal government.
"Karl, buddy, relax. They couldn't kill us even if they tried."
The government forces do not look at all impressed at this sentiment.
Just then, floor clear signals start sounding through the radios on the nearby table and in my pocket. "Maybe we should go with them to represent the base and get this sorted out? We are Task Force members after all, the go between for the humans and supernatural."
"Good thinking. Alright gentlemen. Lead us to the chopper, we'll head to DC for the hearings and sort this all out with politics." The invaders grumble a bit, clearly unhappy with him coming not as a prisoner.
"He's strong enough to break steel handcuffs, and if he wanted you dead you'd all be dead." I point out, causing even more unrest.
But after a satellite phone call relayed through their retreating teammates topside, they agree. They're a bit against taking us both, me being supposedly uninvolved in the senate hearings, but I push my status as a Task Force member to speak as a defense expert and they relent.
I radio Narishma in command and she agrees to our plan, sending security teams to escort us out, as our mostly deserted floor is the last to be cleared.
As we're heading to the plane I tell her to make sure Lala doesn't get lonely as I'm not sure how long we'll be gone. The message turns out to be unnecessary though, as both of them meet us at the garage exit on our way out. Narishma whispers something to Karl that I can't hear, even with my Lycan ears, and I make Lala promise to be good for Narishma until we get back, insisting we'll hurry back as fast as we can.
The ride is a tense one. We briefly stop at a military air base somewhere in Indiana for refuel, but we're all kept in the Blackhawk at gunpoint. These guys have a serious stick up their backside.
Finally after almost 8 grueling hours with these commando wannabe idiots we're a little under 150 miles from DC and the city comes into sight on the horizon. Karl has been muttering something unintelligible to himself for the last 2 hours, ignoring the annoyance and demands to shut up from the agents. I can feel his magic building, the sensation causing me to squirm in my seat.
What is he planning? I hope him and Narishma didn't cook up some last minute hair brained scheme that'll get us both killed.
There's a tweak of magic and I hear his muffled voice directly in my ear.
"Can you extend your power beyond your body?"
I shake my head no, as that's not something I can do, I'm not a mage.
"Ok then, lash out with your Alpha aura as strong as you can and distract everyone. Now if you would."
I can sense that whatever he's up to is coming to its close, the energy peaking and starting to feel out of control. I let my annoyance at this entire long, tense, uncomfortable flight out and let out a snarl, forcing submission with the dominant Aura of an angry Lycan.
Every head in the helicopter bows, and I can see hands shaking in fear at what I might do next.
Wimps.
At just that moment as everyone is distracted, Karl whispers a single word "sleep" and they all collapse.
"Thanks for that, it only works if they're in a vulnerable mental state."
"That's nice and all Karl, but you realize the pilot is out cold and we're in the process of crashing, right?"
"No worries young Miss Katrina. I have planned in advance for this."
He stands up and grabs the pilot by his helmet, twisting sharply to break his neck. In for a penny, in for a pound I guess. Following his lead, I snap the copilot's neck and unlock his harness as Karl drags the pilot from his seat.
Quickly, he slides the side door open and starts hurling Federal Agents from the moving helicopter. I motion that I'll take over, and point at the controls.
"You do that, I'll do the housekeeping."
The mana in the air isn't receding, so whatever Karl is doing isn't over. He's obviously distracted by it, so I join him up front once we're alone and hold the stick steady, returning us to a smooth forward motion.
The radio is squawking something about returning to an altitude, but I have no idea how to do that. Looking around at the labels gives me only the most vague of ideas how this thing is intended to operate.
A purple glow is beginning to form over the city on the horizon, looking like a dystopian second sun in the sky.
Over the course of the next few minutes, it gets brighter and larger as the mana in the helicopter starts to return to more normal feeling levels.
Karl digs out 2 fist sized mana stones from his pockets and holds one in each hand palm up. Extending the index finger on each hand he begins drawing a circle in the air in front of him, forming a complex floating magical rune.
"Katrina, under Lycan law, what is the punishment for declaring war on a King?" he asks, making very little sense.
I give him a confused look and hesitate to answer, but he continues his drawing, obviously content to wait on my thoughts for a moment.
"To declare war on the Lycan King is to declare war on the Lycan race. The only option for punishment under Lycan law is the utter annihilation of the involved packs and the culling of their Alpha's families to the third generation." I state with absolute certainty.
Being from the Blood Claw pack, headed by Alpha Petros, a member of the Lycan royal family, Royal law was drilled into the head of every pack member from a very young age.
"Good, then you'll understand where we're coming from with this. The supernatural council has made its decision. In declaring war on its magic using citizens, The Federal Government has declared war on the supernatural community."
Oh Moon Goddess, no. He can't mean what I think he means.
My eyes turn to the bright light in front of us, turning from deep purple to bright white as the mana stones in Karl's hands disintegrate to ash, their stored energy used in a flash and the world turns to white.