Cate understood that they were headed for a very difficult battle with the humans and whatever else they had with them. Just the few people they had sent over to the outpost had killed so many supernaturals and almost taken over the place. These humans were not just people going about their lives; they were soldiers from the greatest military of the modern age. This was the information Cate had managed to gather. For the humans, the military of the United States of America was currently the most powerful thing in the world. The base they were about to attack belonged to this powerful force.
When Cate learned about the military, she decided to know everything about modern militaries and how far they had come from shooting each other with arrows. Cate was impressed by the new tactics and weaponry, but none of this was powerful enough to threaten a supernatural being. In fact, even the weakest supernatural could easily make a fool of these armies, even if they would end up killed if the military decided not to care about civilian deaths and other things like that.
Cate was sure that none of these weapons could kill her. She was even sure that, as she was now, even the nuclear weapons that were touted as the peak of human destruction would not manage to end her life. She was not like the vampires with their weaknesses or the wolves with their fluctuating power. Cate was something new to the world, and, as far as she currently understood herself, she had no weaknesses to speak of.
Still, the military base they were about to attack belonged to the humans, but not normal humans at all. These people have managed to find a way to tap into the magics of the world without being supernaturals. They achieved this without having the blood of the Old Ones in their veins. This should have been impossible, but these humans had managed to achieve it. They also have a fair amount of information about the supernatural world. They had managed to locate the outpost and attack effectively. The only thing they did not count on was the rage of a werewolf.
Cate understood the dangers of marching into enemy territory without first gathering all pertinent information, but she had orders from the Council. She had to deal with the human threat as fast as possible. This was the only way to make sure that she would not become the laughingstock of the supernatural world. Cate believed that the Council had yet to fully accept that these humans were powerful.
Cate gathered her people and left for the military base along with Tala and John, the only remaining member of Tala's team. Cate was impressed by John's power and even had thoughts of pulling him into joining her team. Tala was treated by Mary using all sorts of powerful magic, and she had regained most of her strength. They were all prepared for anything that could happen.
The military base was a few kilometers from the city. Cate and her people used a car—another human invention—to get there. As they got closer to the base, the place became more isolated, with barely any houses in the vicinity. Tall trees and hills surrounded the place. Cate learned that this military base was not supposed to be in this country, but the Americans had somehow gotten this base built in this place. They did so secretly and had been working out of this place for decades since then.
The area around the base was restricted to the public, and the moment the vehicle being used by Cate and her group reached within one kilometer of the base, they had already been noticed by the many cameras. Surprisingly, nothing was done to stop their approach.
"Should we stop or something?" Albrecht asked with some confusion in his voice. They were passing through one military checkpoint after another. The soldiers did not ask any questions, and the road was clear for them to drive to the base without any trouble.
"Why should we stop?"
Albrecht had expected this answer from Cate. He increased the speed, and soon, they were at the large black gates. They got out of the car, and that was when all hell broke loose.
Ten platforms came out of the thick walls that surrounded the base. On each of these platforms stood a soldier with a big-ass gun. The moment the Mage Born saw these weapons, he recognized them immediately. Unlike Cate, who was still not up to date with modern instruments of death, the Mage Born had grown up in a military family, and in his youth, he had been obsessed with all kinds of weapons.
"It's the M2 Browning. 50 Caliber," the Mage Born cried out as he quickly put up a barrier with his magic. Cate did not fully understand what the Mage Born meant by all this, but she trusted him more than enough for her to quickly erect a barrier over everyone in an instant.
"Put up more barriers," Cate ordered.
Cate's barrier was purple in color, and it covered everyone. On top of this, everyone else put up personal barriers of their own. The only people who could not put up barriers were Albrecht and John. The former was a vampire, and the latter a werewolf. They stood as far from each other as they could. Even being members of the same organization was not enough to get these two to work together in peace.
"It's the Ma Deuce," the Mage Born said. These were the last words heard before the guns began firing.
"Thump, thump, thump, thump." The sound was deafening, and it made the heart wither with despair. All ten guns were fired at once, all aimed at Cate and her people. Six thousand rounds were fired in a minute that felt like an hour. The sound blanketed the world, and the earth was torn asunder. Each round had the power to go through brick walls, sandbags, trees, and most things around the group.
The car behind them exploded after a few seconds. When the dust settled, the group stood on what seemed to be an island in a sea of destruction. Nothing around them was spared. Cate could imagine what one of these rounds could do to human flesh. The thought left her thinking about how the humans had reached this kind of power so quickly.
"Kill them all," Cate said.
Albrecht nodded. The image of Albrecht that Cate and everyone else saw nodding was an afterimage. Albrecht had already reached the top of the wall, beginning his slaughter. He ripped out the throat of the first soldier and took off the head of the next. He kicked the third to death and tore the fourth into pieces. The fifth looked down to find that her heart was missing, and the rest were dismembered and died before they felt the pain of coming apart.
Albrecht stood on top of the wall, appearing like a god unto himself. John growled at this, and as though signaled by bad luck, Albrecht was blasted to pieces in the next instant. As Albrecht rained down, John burst into laughter, and the Mage Born's eyes twitched. Cate looked at the Mage Born for an explanation.
"That is another of the more powerful weapons of the age. It is called the Centurion." As the Mage Born explained, the ground once again found itself at the mercy of the humans. The barrier Cate had put up was shattered, and she had to hurriedly put up another. This weapon fired rounds so large they could be called cannons.
This went on for a few seconds, but that was enough time for Cate to understand that this so-called science that humans seemed to worship was coming very close to the power of magic. Her barrier had shattered several times, and Cate had recreated it in so little time it appeared as though the barrier was never shattered. Only Jordan noticed the barriers breaking and being reformed before the rounds could reach them.
Over the years they had worked together, Cate had proved her great talent for magic on many occasions, but Jordan was always shaken whenever she saw Cate doing things that could be said to be impossible for most magicians.
The team was attacked with one weapon after another. As this was going on, Albrecht reforged his body from the pieces of flesh and blood that had been splattered all over the place. He was naked, but he did not care. He was pissed that the humans had managed to blow him up. This had not happened in hundreds of years. To him, this was a shameful matter. With shame in his heart, he let rage take over his mind as he began attacking the base with everything he had.
He jumped back onto the thick walls and pointed towards a soldier who was a few feet away. This young woman was firing rockets at Cate and the rest of the team. Albrecht controlled the blood in the young woman's body. She did not get the chance to scream before she exploded like a bag of water.
Albrecht was only beginning. When Cate saw that Albrecht was back, she nodded at John. The werewolf was more than willing to show that he was superior to the vampire. He moved over the land on four limbs like some sort of beast from hell. He did not fully transform into his true form. His fingers were replaced by claws, and his ears became elongated. His body mass increased, becoming more muscular. He clawed at the thick walls as he climbed up. He did all this while dodging bullets. When he reached the top of the wall, he bit into the closest neck to him, tearing off the young man's head.
"Jordan," Cate said.
Jordan nodded. She left the large barrier and began running towards the base. The bullets and explosions thrown at her were all melted and exploded before they ever reached her. The temperature she was radiating melted the earth wherever she passed. She did not stop when she reached the wall; she just walked through as though the wall were made of water. She left a large hole behind, having melted everything in her path.
The military was powerful, and they had great power with them, but these were supernatural beings, each with a diverse array of powers that could not be explained by science. Cate had yet to see the level of technology that was used by those who had attacked the outpost, and so she remained cautious.
The Mage Born and Tala both remained next to Cate, and they moved into the base. This place was a secret military base, so it did not have too many people, and it was not that large. The few tens of soldiers that were meant to protect the perimeter were wiped out. Someone used a tank to fire at John. The man did not flinch as he grabbed the projectile and threw it back at the tank. The explosion signalled the defeat of the soldiers.
There was no one left in this place.
"Search everything and everywhere. They must be here somewhere," Cate barked out.
The team was comprehensive in their search, but they found nothing. It was as if the base had been abandoned. Cate did not believe this. Her eyes glowed with a purple light. She saw through walls, including metallic surfaces. When she was done searching the surface, she looked at the earth, and that was when she understood what was going on. The real military base had been built underground. It was a massive structure hundreds of feet below the earth.
"Dig them out. Preferably alive, but dead is also okay," she said.
Cate chanted a spell and created six large spears made from sunfire. She threw them at the ground, creating powerful explosions. The spears penetrated deep into the earth. They moved as though nothing could stop them. With this, Cate created entrances for each person in her group.
"Good luck," Cate said. Everyone chose a hole and jumped into the unknown.