Dark Angel, part nine

Continued from: [link]


Claire made her way stealthfully through the Fourth Reich's labyrinthine passageways and stairwells. She had activated her light-bending cloaking field before entering it's perimeter and had thus far managed to penetrate it down to the sub-basements and laboratories on site undetected. Witnessing several scientists being escorted calmly to the elevators was the only sign she had that she had indeed been discovered. Ilsa was evacuating all the regular staff and personnel. Claire crept across the hallways, expecting to run into Ilsa's heavy assault teams at any moment. If she knew she had been compromised the response would be swift and Claire mentally prepared herself for a pitched battle with everything Ilsa could throw down at her...including Genocide. The nimble cyborg bounded down a flight of steps and rounded the corner that lead to the elevator down to the Reichsführer's personal chambers. That was where Clemence was taken and hadn't moved in quite a while. Claire swallowed hard. She of all people knew what Ilsa was capable of, especially given a few hours head start. She shook all the horrible visuals out of her head and could only hope that poor sweet girl was still alive, that Ilsa wanted to keep her that way to use and exploit. If not...if she had run out of patience or use for her...

Grendel peered around the corner to the lift doors and arched an eyebrow. Ilsa's personal SS bodyguard, tall Nordic looking women with bulging muscles, milky skin and resplendent in black SS uniforms, were not standing guard. She wanted Claire to come down to meet her. The French resistance fighter clenched her fists into tight balls. Clemence's chances of still being alive were evaporating quickly if Ilsa wanted her to find her. Maybe she had found the tracking device? Claire hadn't considered that a possibility until now. She had put it on the girl's heel under her sock and shoe and counted on Ilsa being desperate enough to get information from her, not considering the girl a threat. She would have bypassed her usual security procedures. Either way it was obviously a trap. No point in continuing the charade since she knew she was being monitored. Grendel dropped her camouflaging technology and walked up to the elevator, opening the doors and stepping inside. She depressed the down button and felt the machine rumble to life, taking her deep into the bowels of the undercity. With a hiss-pop she extended her diamond-coated wrist blades and assumed a defensive stance, ready for anything.

The elevator stopped and the doors flew open to both sides revealing the darkened hallways that were the lair of Ilsa Hauppman. Again no bodyguard to be seen. Claire began to cautiously make her way up the hall, ready for whatever that psychotic Nazi had up her sleeve. There was no sound except a faint beep that could be heard behind several of the door as she pasted them. A proximity alarm no doubt. She was only a few feet away from the entrance to Ilsa's interrogation chambers, modeled in the likeness of the ones she had at Sajmište labor camp so many years ago. Claire had to hold in her disgust as she passed a giant painting of Hitler himself that spanned the gap between the double sets of doors that led to this woman's bedchambers on the left. A blur from the right and Grendel's eyes opened wide a split second before she was kicked in the face hard, the impact slamming her across the hallway and rolling along the ground. She came up quickly, tumbling back to her feet just as Jörmungandr's cloaking technology shifted off and she shimmered into sight, smirking.

"Just like you Grendel, only vastly superior."

Claire snarled and charged the other cyborg. She thrust out at her with her bladed right hand only to have the Aryan woman side-step and smash her in the face with her elbow, Grendel grunted from the impact, but rolling with the shot and swung around at her with her left foot. She planted it into the tall woman's midsection and used it as a spring board to propel herself up a few feet. Her arm reared back again as she came down on her to deliver a death-blow. Helena pivoted around and used her right leg to kick the smaller woman through the side door, splintering the fine aged oak into fragments. Grendel slid across the ground and came up firing, blasting away at her opponent through the opening with the machine guns that emerged from the tops of her forearms. Armor-piercing bullets poured through the shattered doorway, causing Helena to throw herself against the stone wall adjacent.

"Panic fire Grendel? It won't do you any good." Helena mused at her over the chatter of the high-velocity weapons. "I'm going to mount your head on my wall as a trophy."

Claire opened her right palm to launch her single-shot missile, continuing to fire round after round with her left forearm. Jörmungandr listened for the almost completely inaudible click of the explosive begin chambered and quickly darted into the room. She seemed to dance around the automatic fire, like they were being fired at her in slow motion or "bullet-time". Helena dodged and weaved her way over to Grendel in a few heartbeats and landed a tremendous uppercut on the bald woman. The impact threw her up and backwards, causing her missile to streak out and explode into the ceiling of the chamber, throwing several chunks of rubble and debris down in the corner. This place was practically a bunker in everything but name so it didn't collapse the ceiling down on top of the combatants. Claire hit the ground with a sickening crunch, Helena wasting no time to follow her down. The blonde cyborg ripped the still firing machine gun free with a cascade of sparks and flung it behind her. She then took hold of Grendel's arm and pinned her to the floor, using her own body weight to sit on her.

"I shall rip you apart a piece at a time if I have to Fraulein!" Jörmungandr hissed, "you are nothing but an obsolete model...a mistake...while I am perfection!"

Jörmungandr extended a much larger blade from her right arm, one that extended a few feet and was wickedly curved. She smirked down at Claire and opened her mouth in mock surprise. Her slitted eyes began to glow again and Claire watched in horror as her canines also began to lengthen, dripping with a pale venom. The nausea hit Claire like a bucket of cold water. Helena was using that damned weapon again on her. She shifted her weight and attempted to throw the horrible woman off of her, but Helena fought back and already Claire could tell she was a great deal stronger. Grendel let out a bellow and tried again, this time managing to break free of Jörmungandr, tossing her to the side. The exertion caused her to rupture one of the hydraulic servers in her shoulder, severely limiting it's mobility and strength. It could be repaired, but not here and certainly not now. Claire bounded to her feet just as Helena did, coming up in a cat-like crouch. The smaller cyborg leapt back out the doorway into the hall and activated her chameleon technology field again, ripping open the nearest doorway. It was a small room that appeared to house the control panels for the electricity, plumbing and air conditioning for Ilsa's private den. Something Helena had said earlier gave her an idea.

Helena stepped quickly out after her and stepped over the steel door Grendel had tossed aside. Jörmungandr chuckled upon not being able to see her enemy and switched over to thermographic vision with her cybernetic eyes. Grendel was crouched down against the far wall under some pipes and valves.

"Nice try, but I can do everything you can do and..." Helena began.

"That's what I'm counting on bitch." Claire snarled, activating her energy dampening pulse.

The white blast of energy wouldn't affect Jörmungandr's systems, but if she had switched to thermographic it would leave her temporarily blinded. Helena let out a gasp of surprise that was music to Claire ears as she rushed up and tackled the stunned woman to the floor. The feeling of nausea swept over her insides again as Jörmungandr had re-activated her vertigo effect almost on impulse. Grendel had had enough of it. She grabbed hold of the other cyborg's head and plunged her thumbs into her eyes sockets, grinding her millions of dollars worth of optics into fragments. Helena let out a sharp cry of incredible pain as her world went black, hot blood and lubricating fluids running down her alabaster cheeks. She lashed out, impaling Claire with her blade through the abdomen. A large spatter of blood and fluids splashed down on top of her and Grendel let out a furious yell, more of anger it seemed to the blinded cyborg than one of pain. Helena kept stabbing and stabbing as the smaller woman grabbed hold of her jaw and snapped it in half. She then began to slam her fist over and over into Jörmungandr's face until she stopped stabbing and twitching.

Claire stood up after a few moments, clutching her badly damaged side. She was in an incredible amount of pain and had suffered terrible injuries. The important thing was she had won. Jörmungandr thrashed slowly on the floor in front of her making gurgling, mewling sounds. Her tongue flopped out of her damaged mouth, her jaw practically ripped from her body. She reached up a few desperate times and cut the air feebly in front of her with her blade. By all accounts she should drive her heel into the cyborg's face and crush her foul brains all over this chamber floor. She stared down at the pathetic villain for a few long, hard moments before deciding against it. Ilsa had tried to strip her of all her humanity. To make her like Jörmungandr was. She wouldn't drop herself to that level and let Ilsa win. She would be like Olga was and be merciful.

After a few moments Helena went unconscious as key systems failed and shut down all over her crippled body. Claire reached down with a painful grunt and grabbed her arm, dragging her behind her. It was a present she intended on giving to Ilsa when she saw her.

She only hoped that this distraction hadn't doomed poor Clemence.


To be continued...

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Artwork and inspiration once again provided by the amazing . Thank you for this one, I was really stunned at how brutal it came out! You out-performed yourself sir.

Clemence and Grendel created by as well small contributions from myself.

Ilsa Hauppman (Genocide), Helena Koch (Jörmungandr) as well as the story are all my property and creations.

This takes place in the setting.