The Ace of Spades Campaign - Raid on Sterling part 14

Prelude to the Big Battle
Five minutes to prepare for battle did not seem long at all but it was more than enough time for the defenders of the Sterling Agricultural Colony. In the past, Erik Finn and his bandits had always approached the colony from the north, so this was where the defenders anticipated this new raid would come from. They were right. Lookouts had reported that the raiders were approaching from the north in five armoured trucks.

The defenders were stretched out in a long line at the northern end of the village, hiding behind barricades or the rooftops of the two buildings there.

On the defenders' right flank to the north-east were Celeste, the android assassin, and four colonists behind a makeshift barricade. Up on the roof of the apartment building that had been assigned to the crew of The Ace of Spades were Jeanette Grey, the gunnery officer and five more colonists, including Yuri Katona, who had proved efficient enough with a laser rifle that he was issued one of the group's five laser sniper rifles. The blonde-haired colonist stood next to Jeanette.

On the floor directly below them were the three best friends of Kyran, Kimberley and Gwendoline. They had been given strict instructions from Celeste and Julia to stay indoors and keep under cover at all costs. Even though Kimberley was the captain of The Ace of Spades she was more than willing to accept the advice of her two combat veterans.

Holding the centre ground were research scientist Lynda Pelligrosso, cat burglar Rebecca Ellington, Mearc Sterling, son of the colony's founder, Alfred Sterling, his good friend, Sheas Danelish and eight colonists. Mearc and Sheas had also been issued with laser sniper rifles. The other colonists were armed with standard laser pistols and laser rifles. All of the colonists wore Kevlar Vests. The crew of The Ace of Spades were armed with a variety of weapons, although phaser pistols were the most common firearm, and they wore various items of light armour.

On the left flank of the colony in a two-storey building used as a barn were four colonists on the ground floor roof. On the roof of the upper floor were bounty hunter Julia Frostorm along with colonists Royce Tavahi and Blayne Culver, both of whom were armed with laser sniper rifles after proving to Julia just how good at marksmanship they were.

That just left the two scouts from The Ace of Spades, Danica and Katja Sondquist. They were hunkered down in a small grove of trees just north of the barn on the left flank. Their mission was to stay hidden until the raiders passed them by and then hit them in the rear using hit and run tactics.

No sooner had the defenders taken up their defensive positions when Erik Finn and his mercenaries arrived in five armoured trucks. All of the trucks were six-wheeled with over-sized tyres designed for off-road driving. They had elevated cabs for increased visibility and could seat four, usually a driver, navigator and two observers. The three leading trucks were passenger carrying vehicles with seating for eight people in the rear. Bringing up the rear were two variant trucks. One had a flatbed behind the cab, which mounted a 40mm cannon, operated by two gunners. The second variant was the command truck from where Erik Finn could direct operations.

Truck One was commanded by Sergeant Mitch Zegers, seated behind the driver and navigator in the front cab. His orders were to take out the defenders on the right flank. The driver parked behind a hedge just in front of the barricade where Celeste was. All of the mercenaries were armed with 9mm Harrison and Krupp HK18 military assault rifles and combat knives. The officers also carried laser pistols. They all wore mesh-lined armoured body suits.

The artillery truck spun round so that the 40mm cannon was facing the colony. It stayed well back whilst the three passenger trucks advanced. This was the first time that Erik had brought this truck into play. After the slaughter of his men guarding the hostages he was in a foul mood and was determined to show the colonists just who was in charge. The 40mm cannon was to cause indiscriminate damage to the colony, targetting people and buildings. This was the time to bring out the big guns, Finn reckoned, and to make the colonists pay dearly for wiping out ten good men.

Finn himself was seated in the back of the command truck, which was parked alongside the artillery truck. With him was a young communications technician called Timo Olmstead, who right now would rather have been anywhere else but here. He had never seen combat before and given Finn's dark mood he was scared stiff of making a mistake.

Truck two headed straight for the central barricade. In command of this squad of mercenaries was Lieutenant Pierre Lascelles, a veteran of many a fight and Finn's right hand man. He was looking forward to the fight, especially as Finn had given him free rein to quell the colonists however he saw fit. It was about time the colonists suffered serious casualties, he thought cruelly.

Truck three screeched to a halt alongside a hedge in front of the barn. Leading this squad was Corporal Demer Millius. He wasn't as experienced as Lieutenant Lascelles or Sergeant Zegers, but he was determined to show that he had what it takes in a fight. He wouldn't shirk from his duty in killing as many defenders as he could.
In a few seconds time all hell would break loose. The odds had to favour the attackers. There were forty battle-hardened mercenaries against twenty-five colonists who had never fought before, plus ten crew members of The Ace of Spades, whose combat experience was mixed from killer elite to pacifist. The weapons and armour of the defenders were only marginally better than those of the mercenaries but the colonists were much less skilled in combat. The mercenaries also had a 40mm cannon, which could prove decisive. However, the greatest assets the defenders had were Celeste, Julia, Danica and Katja - the most experienced killers on the battlefield. Plus, Kimberley, Jeanette and Rebecca were all crack-shots with good combat experience. Would that be enough to counter the threat posed by the mercenary force?
(Note that the colonists' laser rifles could do 2d6+3 Heat damage and had a range increment of 20. The raiders' HK18 assault rifles could do 2d6+2 Ballistic damage and also had a range increment of 20. The laser sniper rifles did 3d6 Heat damage and had a range increment of 40. The 40mm cannon could do 5d6 Heat damage and had a range increment of 30 with a minimum range of 10. The Kevlar Vests worn by the colonists had SOAK:5 but was ineffective against Piercing damage. The raiders' Mesh Lined Armour had SOAK:4 but was ineffective against Blunt damage.)

Spartans 01

This is a space filler post whilst I finish preparing the climactic battle of the Raid on Sterling scenario for my The Ace of Spades Campaign. That will appear in my next post. For now, though, I'm going to show some of my figures that I have for another one of the alien races found in the N.E.W. sci-fi RPG rulebook - the Spartans. The Spartans are a warrior-like race who bear a very close resemblance to the Klingons from the Star Trek franchise. No one actually makes figures of Spartans but a number of companies make Klingon figures or Klingon lookalikes. These six figures that I'm reviewing her were all produced by Space Vixens from Mars as part of their Rim Aliens range of 28mm scale figures.

I start with three male Spartans and from left to right they are Kraroc Drozirg, Yadaka Vrach and Vimtox Klor. These are all Spartan soldiers with Yadaka Vrach in the centre being the highest ranking of them.

Kraroc is armed with a Disruptor rifle, Yadaka with a Blaster Pistol and Vimtox with a Bat'leth, which is classed as a two-handed sword.

Moving on to the females, we have from left to right, L'ohath Dukark, Sorsov Ichurk and D'lisha Khirmdath. Again, these are all soldiers. Female Spartans are every bit as aggressive as the males.

They are armed identically as the males with Disruptor Rifle, Blaster Pistol and Bat'leth respectively.
As soon as I saw this range of figures I knew that they'd make perfect Spartans. Space Vixens from Mars make quite a range of not-Star Trek figures and so I was pleased to find them. The figures cost a very reasonable £2.50 each or you can buy all six for £13.50, giving you a saving of £1.50, which is what I did. (see here - http://spacevixensfrommars.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_17&products_id=208 )

The Ace of Spades Campaign - Raid on Sterling part 13

Safe Return
Within two minutes of Julia ending her radio call to Kimberley, she heard the sound of the space shuttle, The Jack of Spades, approaching. Kimberley landed right next to the main gates of the supposedly abandoned mining camp that the bandits were using as a forward base. Kimberley's four crew members, Celeste, Danica, Julia and Katja, who had rescued the six hostages captured by the bandits, ushered the colonists on board. As soon as everyone was settled in, Kimberley took off.
The flight from the mining camp to the Sterling Agricultural Colony was a very short one as they were only fifteen miles away from the colony. Kimberley radioed ahead to inform the colony that they were returning and that all six hostages were safe. The news was met with much jubilation.
It was late at night when they touched down at the colony's landing strip. News of the successful rescue mission had spread throughout the colony and a large crowd had gathered next to the landing strip to welcome them all home. The first two people to greet them were the colony's leader, Alfred Sterling and his son, Mearc. Alfred's wife, Radula and daughter, Danielle, were two of the hostages taken.

They hugged, kissed and cried tears of joy. Alfred warmly smiled at Kimberley and said, "Thank you so much. You have done my family a great service. I am forever in your debt."
Radula, Mearc and Danielle added their thanks and appreciation.
"All part of the service," Kimberley replied modestly, "I'm glad it all worked out so well. It's been a long day and if it's okay with you my crew and I would like to get some rest."
"But of course," Alfred acknowledged, "By all means, go and rest. We'll meet up tomorrow morning and have a chat then. Once again, thank you for everything."
"Good night, sir. We will speak tomorrow morning," Kimberley said as she stifled a yawn. "Come on, crew. It's time for bed."

The crew were cheered and congratulated by the colonists as they made their way to the two-storey apartment that had been assigned to them at the northern end of the village. Once inside, Kimberley assembled all nine of her colleagues in the dining room, where they congregated around the large table. Kimberley's feigned pretence of tiredness was replaced with a steely determination and alertness.
"Okay, I want a full account of what happened in that mining camp," she said with authority. "I want to know everything that happened. Tell me what you found out."

Celeste, Danica and Katja gave their accounts of the rescue mission. They were brief, concise and tallied with one another. But it was Julia who had the most to say.
"It all went exactly as the others have said and after I took out the sentry in the watch tower I raided the officer's quarters," she began. "I killed the corporal with my first shot. The sergeant returned fire with a laser pistol, which just grazed my arm. I shot him in the stomach with my Fireflash rifle and that effectively ended the fight. We then had a little chat and he was quite forthcoming. Erik Finn is their leader and they're all mercenaries working for him. His main base is 150 miles north-west of here. It is well hidden in caves in the side of a mountain, making it safe from all but a frontal assault. His force consists of 50 men. We took out ten at the mining camp."
"Did he tell you who had hired Finn?" Kimberley asked.
"I asked him but he didn't know. He suspects it's some large cartel but he was not privy to such information."
"Hmm, Finn will not happy about losing one fifth of his force," Kimberley said, thinking out loud.
"Should we launch a raid on his base or wait for him to come to us?" she asked.
"Hitting his base won't be easy," Julia replied. "He has numbers on his side and his men are far more experienced in combat than our colonists. He also has good defensive measures against an aerial assault. Missile launchers and flak guns. Taking the shuttle in would be risky."
"So we wait?"
"That would be my recommendation, Kimberley" Julia answered. "Anyone else got an opinion?"

The general consensus was to wait and not risk an assault on Finn's main base.
"So, in the meantime, we have to train the colonists how to defend themselves," Kimberley reminded them.
"Good luck with that," Rebecca said sounding downbeat. "From what I've seen they seem down-trodden and unwilling to fight... although there are a few exceptions. Mearc, Royce and Sheas, in particular, are looking for vengeance against the raiders."
"Perhaps the rescue of the hostages will bring more of them on our side," Katja mused.
"It might give them renewed hope," Danica added.
"I suspect it will," Kimberley agreed. "Julia, as our best combat teacher, I'm afraid you'll be the one doing the most teaching, but we'll all help as much as we can. Katja, Danica and Jeanette, I want you to assist Julia in her weapon training."
"We can help build up the colony's defences," Kyran spoke, typically thinking like an engineer. "Stick up a few barricades in strategic places, border up windows, that kind of thing."
"I like your thinking," Kimberley beamed at her close friend. "I'm placing you in charge of the colony's defences, Kyran."
By the time the meeting came to a close, the crew had a good idea of what they'd be doing in the next few days. It was a few hours after midnight when they wrapped up the meeting and went to bed.

Teacher, teacher

Next day, Kyran began the task of fortifying the colony. Simple barricades in the street and the reinforcement of buildings was an easy task, requiring very little skill. The colonists set about their assigned tasks with great enthusiasm. The whole mood of the colony had visibly lifted. James Akira and his few followers remained out of sight for the most part but of the colonists who were undecided on what course of action was for the best interest of the colony, all had decided to side with Alfred's pro-defence group.

Julia's task of teaching the colonists how to use the laser pistols and laser rifles brought in was much harder and took a lot longer. There were 25 colonists who were willing to learn how to shoot and fight. Of these, Mearc Sterling, Royce Tavahi, Sheas Danelish and two other males, Blayne Culver and Yuri Katona were the most skilled. Royce, in particular stood out for his marksmanship expertise. Julia figured it was as if he had a point to prove, which he had. When Julia had first met Royce, it had not gone well for him, as he pointed a gun at the bounty hunter. She disarmed him in the blink of an eye and almost broke his arm. Now, he wanted to prove that he was a valued member of the defence force and that he could be relied upon in a fight.

Day after day, the 25 colonists were pushed hard by Julia, along with help from Danica, Katja and Jeanette. They worked eight hours per day, four in the morning and four in the afternoon. After five days of basic training, Julia began to teach Mearc, Royce, Sheas, Blayne and Yuri in the use of the laser sniper rifles they had bought. They only had five laser sniper rifles, and these five were the obvious candidates to use them.
They all knew that Finn would return and he would not be happy at losing ten of his men. The only problem was, no-one knew when he would come. Each day that the raiders stayed away was a bonus for the defenders. The days stretched into week. Still there was no sign of Finn or his men.
It was on the eighth day since the rescue of the hostages that a lookout on the perimeter of the colony alerted them to bandits approaching from the north-west. The defenders of the colony had about five minutes to prepare for the arrival of the bandits. What happened next would decide the fate of the Sterling Agricultural Colony.

The Ace of Spades Campaign - Raid on Sterling part 12

Celeste stealthily stepped into the first of the two bedrooms in the barracks building. Two bandit raiders were sound asleep on their beds. She shot the first one in the side of the head with her disruptor pistol. One shot was all it took to kill him.

Luckily, the sound of the beam weapon firing did not awaken the other bandit. He also died from a single head shot.

The merciless assassin android turned and exited the bedroom as she made her way to the second bedroom.

The two occupants were only just awake but sleep still clouded their brains. Something had woken them, but what? Was that the sound of gunfire? Surely not.
Celeste struck quickly and once again shot a raider in the head from point blank range. He died without knowing what had hit him.

The fourth raider in the barracks came fully awake with a start. He immediately saw Celeste turning away from the corpse of his colleague to face him.
"You murderous, drokking bitch!" he swore as he grabbed a knife from beneath his pillow. He lunged at Celeste with the blade, but she was wise to his move and she easily dodged to one side, forcing him to miss.

She reacted by punching him in the side of the head twice in rapid succession. Electricity from her fist surged through his head. He screamed in agony and fell to the floor, where he spasmed jerkily for  a few seconds before dying.
"Mission accomplished," Celeste said with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, on the ground floor roof of the barracks building that the hostages were being held in, Katja Sondquist took aim with her Galactic Concepts KRH16 Starbird Disruptor Rifle at the back of the bandit standing guard just a few yards away from her. The deadly heat beam punched straight through his upper body and out of his chest, killing him instantly.

 "Nice and easy," she whispered as she moved in to check that he really was dead.

On the roof of the building's upper storey, the other guard was totally unaware that Danica had sneaked up behind him. The young Venetian scout had trained with the Venetian Navy as a Battle Psyche. Whilst there, she had developed her natural telepathy powers to focus on brute force mental attacks. She utilised her Psi-Blast psionic attack with devastating effect against her unwary opponent. It was not something she used very often but under the circumstances, she thought this was the most prudent and efficient way of killing the bandit. She was right!

His brain suffered terminal overload and immediately ceased to function. He died without making a sound until his body hit the floor. By then, the only two people who heard him fall were Danica and Katja.

Julia Frostorm's favourite weapon was her Transfarer R43 Fireflash Microwave Sniper Rifle. She had added an advanced scope to it, which helped to increase its effective range by 100%. In addition, the weapon was ID Matched to her DNA and anyone else who tried to fire it would receive an electrical shock. The weapon was illegal on most planets, although Julia did have a legal permit to use it in her line of duty as an authorised bounty hunter. She had been tasked to deal with three of the bandit raiders.

The first one, the guard on top of the watch tower, was the easiest of the three to kill. A single shot from her Microwave Rifle hit him in the centre of his back, dealing horrendous internal damage as it melted his heart, before exiting through his chest. One shot, one kill - that was how she liked it.

Katja had discovered that the door to the upper room was locked, but a quick search of the dead guard produced the pass key. By the time she had unlocked the door, Danica had joined her.

Inside, the six hostages were wide awake and all appeared to be physically unharmed. They stood in a semi-circle with fearful expressions, uncertain of what was about to happen.
"Don't be alarmed," Katja reassured them, "we're here to rescue you."
"Oh, thank God," Radula Sterling, the wife of Alfred said with evident relief.
The others agreed and expressed their thanks and gratitude.

Julia dashed across the open ground to the officers' quarters. The lights were on inside and she was sure the two men inside would have heard the sound of gunfire. They'd most likely be armed and ready for her but she was confident of taking them out swiftly.

The front door was not locked. As soon as she opened it she fired her Fireflash Microwave Sniper Rifle at the corporal who was pointing an HK18 assault rifle at her. He never got the chance to pull the trigger as her beam hit him in the neck doing lethal damage.

The sergeant was only armed with a laser pistol. His first shot at Julia went high and wide. His second shot grazed her right upper arm. She barely noticed that she'd been hit.
(He scored 7 points of damage to her from a roll of 1d6+3, but her mesh armour soaked 6 points so she only took 1 point of damage. It was an inconsequential hit!)

Julia's counter-attack was far more devastating. She shot him in the stomach and sent him sprawling on his back. He was in agony and he desperately fought back the urge to vomit. His eyes filled with tears and he clutched at the cauterised hole in his gut with his free hand.
"Damn you!" he snarled through gritted teeth.

Julia walked over to him and snatched his laser pistol off him. She threw it into a corner of the room.
"You and I are going to have a chat," she said in a voice dripping with menace. "You're going to tell me all about your little operation, your numbers, your leader, your base, your offensive and defensive capabilities. I want to know everything about you and your organisation."
"You can just go to hell," he spat back at her defiantly. "I'll tell you nothing."

Julia laid her rifle down on the floor as she squatted down beside the sergeant. His face was beaded in sweat and his breathing sounded ragged.
"We'll see about that," she said as she unsheathed her combat knife. She twisted it around in her hand, admiring just how sharp the blade was. She cruelly smiled at him as she jabbed him in the left eye.
By the time she had finished torturing him he had told her everything she wanted to know. She ended his misery by slitting his throat from ear to ear.

A short time later, the four rescuers and six hostages were congregating in an open area by the mine entrance. Julia contacted Kimberley via her communicator.
"Mission successful," she announced. "All of the hostages are safe and secure. No injuries sustained. We're good to go."
"That's fantastic," Kimberley squealed with delight. "I'll come and pick you up straight away. Oh, and what about the raiders?"
"They're all dead," Julia said matter-of-factly. "Nothing to worry about there."
"Cool. See you soon. Kimberley out."

The Ace of Spades Campaign - Raid on Sterling part 11

Hostage Rescue Mission
Kimberley and her team had discovered an old abandoned mining camp situated 15 miles west of the Sterling Agriculture Colony. It was here that they believed the bandits were holding the six hostages taken from the colony a day ago. Under the cover of darkness, Celeste, Julia, Danica and Katja closed in on the camp and confirmed that it was being used by the bandits. This was ascertained by the weapons the men were carrying - 9mm Harrison and Krupp HK18 military assault rifles. These were the kind of weapons mercenaries would use, not miners.

The abandoned mining camp as viewed from the hills to the west.

The camp was surrounded on three sides by a ten foot tall chain-link fence. To the west, it was bordered by high, steep hills, which is where the mine entrance was located. To the east and the south were four two-storey buildings, two on each side, which were all barracks. The long building in the centre of the camp was the mess hall and kitchen. To the west of it were a small radio shed and the officer's quarters. A watch tower was situated in the north-west corner of the camp.
From sensor readings, the four women knew that there were sixteen people in the camp, which they presumed were the six hostages and ten guards. Celeste scouted all around the perimeter fence utilising her chameleon circuitry to remain hidden from view, whilst her three colleagues hunkered down in a dip in the ground by the south-east corner of the camp. There was one gate leading into the camp, which was sited just in front of the watch tower. The gate was closed and padlocked.

When she returned, she informed them that she had seen four men outside. One was on guard in the watch tower.

Two more were situated on the upper floors of a building in the south-west corner of the camp. That was most likely where the hostages were being held, Celeste surmised.

Finally, there was one sentry on roving patrol who circled around the camp at a leisurely pace. None of them seemed particularly alert. No doubt, they did not expect any trouble.

They waited until the sentry moved out of sight before cutting the wire fence and moving inside. They took cover behind a pile of crates, to await the return of the lone sentry.

After a few minutes, he sauntered back and walked right past them without noticing any of them. Danica, Julia and Katja were dressed in high quality black mesh armour jumpsuits, which made it extremely difficult to spot them at night. Plus, he just wasn't very perceptive.
(The mesh armour jumpsuits provided them with SOAK:6 against all damage except Blunt damage. Celeste's natural armour provided her with SOAK:10 against all damage.)
He got the biggest shock of his life when Celeste clamped her left hand around his mouth and pressed the barrel of her disruptor pistol to the side of his head. He had never heard her move, a fact that alarmed him greatly.
"Carefully kneel down and lower your rifle to the ground," she whispered softly to him. "Make a sound and I'll blow your head off."

He did as he was told and Celeste shoved him onto his back as the other three women joined her. The sentry was in his late teens and absolutely scared witless as the women surrounded him, all pointing guns at him. Danica was armed with a phaser pistol and a longsword and Katja carried a Galactic Concepts KRH16 Starbird Disruptor Rifle. A holstered phaser pistol and laser-sword hung on her belt. Julia scared him the most. She was armed with a large Transfarer R43 Fireflash Microwave Sniper Rifle with scope-sight. In a holster and sheath on her belt were a disruptor pistol and a long knife.
"Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me," he murmured repeatedly until Julia knelt down beside him and positioned the barrel of her sniper rifle under his chin.
"I'm going to ask you a few questions," she said in a quiet and calm voice. "Answer them truthfully and I promise I won't kill you."
He nodded his head vigorously.
"Good. First of all, where are you holding the hostages?"
"In the buh... building down there, on the cuh... corner from here," he stammered.
"Are they all well?"
"Yes, nuh... no-one's harmed them. I swear."
"I know there are two men guarding them and you have another in the watch tower. Where are the rest of your men?"
"The suh... sarge and corporal are in the office."
"Is that the building directly opposite where the hostages are? The one with the lights on?"
"Yuh, yuh... yes, it is."
"Good. And the other four?"
"They're all in the buh... barracks. It... it's just here. This buh... building next to me."
"Good boy," Julia smiled at him but there was no warmth in her eyes. She stood up and said, "I promised I wouldn't kill you but I never said anything about Celeste."
Julia quickly glanced at the android and winked, "Celeste?"
The teenager's eyes bulged and he opened his mouth wide to scream in protest. But his scream became a gurgled cry of pain as Celeste speedily squatted down and punched him hard in the mouth with such force that she broke his two front teeth. As if that wasn't bad enough she activated her electrical discharge enhancement to her fist. Her second punch completely shattered his nose and fried his brain. The smell of burning flesh hung heavily in the air.

Celeste looked up at Julia with hooded eyes and a grim expression. The bounty hunter just shrugged and gave her a brief nod of approval.
Katja and Danica turned away, unconcerned by the death. They'd seen worse and they were well aware that Celeste and Julia were natural born killers. They remembered what Kimberley had told them before they set off on this mission. "Your main priority is the safe return of the six hostages. What you do to the bandits is entirely up to you. If they resist or get in your way, kill them."
"What if they surrender?" Katja had asked.
"I leave that up to your discretion," was Kimberley's ambiguous response.
"We'll go get the hostages," Katja declared. "Julia, take out the watch tower guard and the two NCOs. Celeste, deal with those four in the barracks."
Celeste and Julia nodded in response and they set off.

Moving at a brisk walk, Julia, Danica and Katja moved to the south-western corner building where the hostages were being held. Fortunately for them, the two guards above them were not watching the back of the building.

Julia took up position at the rear corner of the building. She raised her Fireflash Microwave Sniper Rifle to her shoulder and took careful aim at the guard in the watch tower.

Katja and Danica silently climbed the metal ladders to the roof of the ground floor. Danica raised her eyes, indicating she'd go up to the next level. Katja nodded and smiled at her lover before turning towards the corner of the upper room. She clearly heard the yawning of the guard just a few yards away from her.
"Tired, huh? Don't worry, mate," she thought. "I'll soon put you to sleep for good."

Celeste quickly ran along the side of the barracks. The night was deathly quiet and she made no noise as she soon reached the corner. A quick glance round confirmed there was no one outside who could see her.

She stealthily approached the front door and was pleased to find it unlocked. It slid open at the press of a button. Inside, the room was in darkness, apart from a few small areas illuminated by the moonlight coming through the two front windows and the open doorway behind her. It would not have mattered if the room was in total darkness. Celeste had infrared vision, which gave her superior vision in the dark. She activated her communicator.
"I'm in place," she whispered to Julia, Danica and Katja. "Go, go, go!"