The Hidden Army

The Hidden Army by Darque Queen7

Chapter Three: Onward Muggle Soldiers

"Another Dark Revel....how appropriate," Aliannas said aloud as the charmed Humvee armoured transport flew through the air to the location their informant said the Death Eaters would be. Or more specifically, the Death Eaters she wanted. It would be only Nott and Avery. Macnair, Malfoy and Snape...well, they'd all have to wait their turns. And this time...she'd be the one with the power.

She looked behind her seat to her two silent companions. They were her guardians, her teachers; they helped her cope with many of the changes she had undertaken. She still wondered what on God's Blue Ball of a planet convinced them to stay. The Tuuk-Tsarith. This was not their world...theirs was a dimension away. Their people left Earth after ten years of exile here; to the land of legend. The land where Merlin took all the magical creatures and people...of course, now she realized that was all a bunch of crap. But still, it made for a good fairy tale. That was two years ago....

It was short trip then - the rift between the two worlds had been newly created. But as the magic began returning to their world, its' ancient barriers began erecting themselves again...the only way for them to get back would be by way of a sort of dimensional Portkey.

The Tuuk -Tsarith were different from their charges on their home world. They were a combination of Auror and Dementor. Unlike the others of their world, they did not require someone to give them power to create magic. It was borne of their hands. They appreciated power...in all of its forms - magical or mechanical.

Her father made first contact with them. He had noticed that both she and Mark had 'anger management issues' after each augmentation session. After Aliannas had taken out a lode bearing pillar on the 15^th floor of a high-rise building they were leasing at the time in a fit of pique - he figured she needed help. A few of their kind remained in an enclave in the western deserts of North America. Their methods of mediation were unrivaled in the world - and they passed their knowledge on to Aliannas and Mark. And to this point the gambit had worked. It helped the both of them keep control; keep their sanity.

These two had remained exceedingly loyal to her. They were assigned to her when she, Mark and her father visited them right after Kazakhstan. There was Laina; a woman whose regal features and piercing blue eyes always captivated her. And Beiroff; a man whose strength and reserve was matched only by his kindness to her and her father. She could not guess their ages - the ancient barriers created a sort of time bubble on their world. For every one year that passed there, ten would pass here.

Laina nodded slowly, the cowl of black robes sliding further down. Beiroff did the same. "We are ready, General," she felt them whisper into her mind. The feel of the sing-song humming of their minds touching her own was like a favored lover's caress. She sighed softly as her driver looked at her questioningly.

"I need them alive. If they escape from me, remember one thing. I will not tolerate you being injured - but I want them breathing so I can yank the breath out of their lungs," she said aloud venomously. She felt both their hands on her left shoulder.

"As you command, General," they whispered in reply.

She nodded and turned in her seat as her thoughts ran back to her meeting to present the proposal to her commanders.....

24 hours earlier.....

Her father's words from the night before came to Aliannas as she saw her commanders return after their brief period alone to debate the proposal she presented to them. She smiled as they took their seats. She looked to her wrist watch and then to all assembled.

"Ladies and Gentlemen; I believe that this is a record. Ten minutes and you've already made your decision?"

Colonel Albert Robertson stood and bowed to her before he cleared his throat. Robertson was from an old Muggle line of soldiers of fortune. The Robertson family was well known for their fighting and firing prowess - he was always fond of telling her how his great-great grandfather worked at the old Smith & Wesson plant testing prototype weapons. He was the one gifted with magic within his family; the first one in over two centuries. He was at school when his family was destroyed by a Death Eater Dark Revel. His one regret was that his father never got to fire a shot. He was the first to be struck by an Avada Kedavra to get him out of the way.

She looked at the other faces of her commanders - there was Major Willa Holmes; victim of another Dark Revel. She managed to kill one Death Eater the old-fashioned way: a knife through his throat. But not before his group had killed her husband of 10 years and their only son. That was seven years ago. The Hidden Army found her before the authorities and took her away. She had no other family - and for her it was too painful to go back and try to explain what happened to her husband's parents...so she stayed with them. And had proven herself time and time again.

Another was Captain Mark Ford. He was a total Muggle from America. They found him in Kazakhstan - badly wounded, but holding a rifle to the General daring her to try and kill him. Her father had helped him immensely. If not, he would have been a quadriplegic after his little foray into the mercenary business. He was eternally grateful - and made sure she and her father knew it each and every day. She looked at the others - everyone had stories. That was what bound them all together. They couldn't trust the outside world...they could only and always trust each other.

"General," Robertson began. "After careful consideration - you know that we know this is why you put together this Army. This is the reason why we exist. You are the reason why many of us are here in one piece rather than in mental wards or sick wards. You have cared for us for many years. Now it time for us to show you how much you mean to us. We have voted unanimously to accept the proposal that was set before us, General. We will take on The Dark Lord Voldemort - and after him - we'll take on the Ministry of Magic, if needs must."

This was the reason why she created the Hidden Army...One of the reasons, anyway. She picked up a trinket that she had acquired from her latest assassin...his wand. After running her left hand over it, she had ascertained that the wand belonged to a Hit Wizard. What she wanted to know was whether he was still employed by the Ministry at the time of his 'interaction' with her - or was this just a fluke? Because if he was working for Fudge; things were going to get extremely interesting within the next couple of days...very interesting indeed.

She knew the Death Eaters had the place riddled with spies. Even with her wards protecting her bill to the Minister, eventually someone would find out. The only thing she could hope for was that her army would already have the upper hand before this happened. She needed to move quickly - and now was truly that time.

"Thank you for your support," she said with softness in her voice, looking over all those assembled. "Thank you - all of you." She then looked to her watch. "Commanders, we have 24 hours to our first exercise. Assemble initial strike teams. All other will stand down but begin preparations until open war is declared. We are going in Guerilla style; light and fast."

20 hours earlier:

Professor Kenneth Marcus Darque looked at his latest creation with pride. The Internal Extractor he had created specifically for his daughter was operating flawlessly. The new adaptation in her unit had been put to the test - and it had performed with flying colors. She was suffering from no ill effects. The unit...the concept...it was simply pure genius. Not only would the machine now draw power from a wizard - it could be used to return fire on them instantaneously.

Stage Two Extractors - that was what he was calling them now. The old ones - the Stage Ones, were still good to weaken the enemy. And the Collectors - batteries that basically kept the energy drained from the Magicals - could be used as concussion grenades. He needed to make the batteries more portable....and plentiful. That was one thing about those gifted with magic...they seemed to have a lot of power in them. The Extractors, though...they could bleed them dry.....

He remembered the look of absolute glee his daughter gave him when the weapon was first tested in Kazakhstan four years before. He himself took extreme pleasure in blowing the brains out of a few of the ones his daughter deemed 'Pure Bloods'. They didn't look any different. They kept calling them 'Filthy Muggles'. He remembered telling one of the wizards that that was not the way to make new friends. They looked quite comical in fact; dazedly waving their wands at them, with only sparks coming out and fizzing at them.

"Idiots," he remarked aloud. It was during that exercise that they found Mark Ford.

Mark Ford, he sighed suddenly; deeply satisfied. After his daughter, that man was his greatest creation. Rebuilding the man's entire neuron pathways was quite a challenge - and the augmentations that he had allowed himself to be subjected to...what an achievement! And Captain Ford was eternally grateful...Darque was pleased. He would never hold it against the man...he simply liked Mark Ford for he was...and for who he reminded him of. He had a lot of Marcus' mannerisms. Marcus...his son. His firstborn...murdered by those butchers.

A sudden wave of murderous rage threatened to sweep him under. He would be there on the hunt tonight. He would look into the eyes of two of his family's murderers, his living daughter's rapists - and he would take sweet and satisfying revenge in knowing he would be responsible for their agonizing deaths this evening. "An eye for an eye," he said aloud through gritted teeth. He then ran a hand through his graying hair, trying to steady himself as he looked to his wristwatch. Aliannas said she would be here as soon as she had gotten word. She'd been gone for hours! Where the hell was she?

"I'm here, Father," came her soft voice from the entrance to his labs. Professor Darque looked to his beautiful daughter. She was what was left of his family; and he thanked God every day for leaving her behind. For giving her the strength when his failed them both. For allowing him the intelligence to give her a fruitful life when her own body began breaking down.

"So," he said, eyeing her with a calculating look. "I take it they went for it."

"Unanimous," she answered, grinning. He walked up to her and gathered her in his arms. He was happy for her; it was what she wanted. It was what they both had dreamed of for 20 years. "I've already sent Dumbledore our acceptance letter - and I have his reply," she continued, showing him several scrolls of parchment. "He has given me the names and likenesses of Hogwarts' Golden Trio." She opened the scrolls and laid out the papers and pictures on the nearest worktable. She then turned on a draftsman lamp that was hanging off the edge. "We have to watch over this one," she said, handing her father a picture of a pretty young teenager with riotous brown curly hair, a cute button nose and a beautiful smile. "Her name is Hermione Granger. She is best friends with Harry Potter - and is Muggleborn. The boy," she handed her father a picture of a teenage boy with red hair and red freckles covering almost all of him. "His name is Ronald Weasley. Very old Pure Blood family - but they're on the good side. And last but not least," she threw Harry Potter's picture in. Jet black hair was all askew; fighting for dominance on his head while his green eyes shone with seriousness and sadness behind his glasses. "Dumbledore asks that we watch over all of them. The remainder of the funds due was transferred to my account an hour ago. I made sure everyone got paid before this job started. Assault teams are assembling for maneuvers even as we speak. First exercise is tonight. Are you coming?"

Darque simply nodded. "Going light?" he asked.

"As light as we can with eight Extractor teams. What about the modifications to the Stage Twos?" she asked.

He smiled. "Done. And - I need you to get Mark over here. I have improvements to implement to your internal Stage Two and I want to upgrade Mark to what you will have. By the time I am done - this evening you two will be sporting Prototype Stage Threes." Aliannas whistled appreciatively. "Whoa - leave you alone for seven days and you'd reorder the Universe, wouldn't you?"

He smiled. "Laina and Beiroff?" She gave her father with a knowing glance.

"They never leave my side during an exercise, Father. Their Teacher would have their heads, otherwise," she answered simply. She knew her father did not trust the Tuuk - Tsarith totally. He truly trusted no one when it came to the safety of his only child. But, to their defense, they were his inspiration for the Extractor. She turned to her father again. "Besides, I think tonight we will need their calming influences. We both will."

Darque hated when his daughter could see right through him. He smirked and chuckled ruefully. "I want to be with you when you drain them. I want to see the life force sucked out of their hideous skins." Aliannas smiled broadly at her normally quiet and reserved father's outburst.

"Your wish is my command, Father."

Now....

The informant said the Death Eaters would be gathered in a wooded area not far from Leeds. Leeds....Masters was from Leeds. His ex-wife and two children still resided there. She made a mental note to discreetly see how they were doing. She made sure that his family never wanted for anything - that was just the way of things. Her men always appreciated that. She knew how to take care of things - but right now she needed everyone fired up.

Looking into the side rearview mirror, she saw 4 other Humvees following silently through the air with 2 heavily armoured personnel transport vehicles bringing up the rear. In those were eight teams of 'Cleaners'. People who were trained to exclusively used the Extractors. They were three men teams. One wore the external Extractor - one was at constant point, in case things went south fast, and the last loaded and discharged the Collectors. Aliannas smiled. Man, this is going to be good, she thought.

They were flying in tight formation - and after checking coordinates again, she estimated they were 5 to 6 minutes from their destination. She turned on her headset comm-link and set it so everyone could hear.

"Ladies and gentlemen. My brothers and sisters; comrades in arms. This is what I have trained you for. This is IT; the beginning of the Pure Bloods' - the Death Eaters end. And I believe that a little mood music should help us along our way," she said as she slid a CD into the vehicle's dashboard. She then flicked a switch and activated all onboard speakers. "I give you - Marilyn Manson." Deep thrumming music filled the vehicles as they began their descent.

Everything has been said before

Nothing left to say anymore

When it's all the same

You can ask for it by name

"Two minutes, ladies and gentlemen. Everyone lock and load. I repeat, lock and load. Extractor Teams - go online. That means you as well, Captain Ford."

Babble, babble, bitch, bitch,

Rebel, rebel, party, party,

Sex sex sex

And don't forget the violence.

"The two principle marks for this evening are mine. My hunt alone. If they attempt escape, Laina and Beiroff will bring them back. If you find them first, alert me - but do not attempt capture. They are the foulest creatures that lay claim to the label of humanity. No unnecessary injuries this evening. We start out with Extractor Teams on point. Ground assault troops - have your body armour shields on full power. Don't worry about burning through Collectors too fast - I believe we will have more than enough power this evening. There may be civilians present. Gas them and knock them out - unless their injuries are too advanced. We need them breathing if we're going to save them. If any of the secondary marks give you problems, send them to the Maker. I want the entire exercise over within 15 minutes. Have fun."

Babble, babble, bitch, bitch,

Rebel, rebel, party, party,

Sex sex sex

And don't forget the violence.

And everybody sing along

Are you motherfuckers ready?

For the New Shit? This is the New Shit

Stand up and bitch about never coming

Do we need it? NO!

Do we want it? YEAH!

Stand up and bitch!

She smiled when she heard her people singing along with the chorus.

"Prepare for final descent. T-Minus 30 seconds, everyone. Good hunting."

"Good hunting!" they all answered enthusiastically.

"We're finally getting what we want, General," her father's voice came over the comm-link. She looked out the window as the Humvee made fast and heavy contact with the ground before the wheels churned in the dirt and continued on track.

No, Father, she thought. I won't be happy until I see them all as inhuman and twisted as me.

15 minutes after engagement...

Aliannas wanted to laugh because it had been so easy. The eight Extractor teams were a bit of overkill - but she didn't want to take chances. She preferred to bring guns to a knife fight every time. The Death Eaters didn't have a hope in hell. Every spell they threw at them was absorbed by the Extractors - and with the Collectors getting lobbed back at them - the looks of shock in their eyes was truly nothing short of priceless. Her father had commented that the whole lot of them looked like regrets from 'The Phantom of the Opera'. That got a few chuckles from her commanders.

And with the improvements her father had implemented to both herself and Mark, they could both work in tandem rather efficiently. Not that they didn't have their own rhythm before - but now instead of hand signals and whistles in the dark - infra-red sights and computer memory and speed functions were a simple thought away. And their hands and feet could now withstand weight and pressures of at least 8000 kpcm. She smiled to herself with absolute pride in him. Laina and Beiroff never needed to enter the fight - they simply stood silently beside or behind Aliannas as the skirmishes continued.

Twenty Death Eaters were captured. It was decided that only one should live...to tell the tale, of course. Dumbledore's scrolls had also included pictures and names of suspected and known Death Eaters, as per Aliannas' request. This information she merged with her own file. As she began scrolling through her onboard memory file - she identified all those captured. She smiled at the looks of absolute terror as she identified each one before she took off their white half-masks.

What bothered her was their number. Why was there so many? And if such a great number was required, why wasn't a more prominent Death Eater among them - like Macnair, Malfoy or even Snape? Wait - the female - Bellatrix LeStrange. She was a lieutenant to Voldemort himself. Why was she here? What - or who were the targets? Leeds - who lived in Leeds? Harry lived in Surrey - the Weasley boy lived in a place called Catchery St.Pole. Who...oh NO!!!!

She suddenly turned around - infrared fully on. Mark caught on to her erratic movements. "What's up, Chief?" he asked. She held her left hand flat out across her chest. Search, the signal said. Search for victims.

"Clean Up Teams - look for collaterals. Look for Muggles. This was a Dark Revel. Where are the victims?"

Bellatrix LeStrange bloodied and on her knees with her arms bound and wand broken; began laughing aloud. Aliannas turned sharply to her. Pointing to her she motioned to Beiroff. "She knows something. Find out what it is...and let me see it." Beiroff nodded and then silently glided to the prisoner's prone form. Her laughter suddenly caught in her throat as she looked up at him. "You are no Dementor," she said acidly. "I know them. But I don't know you. So...what are you?"

Beiroff's cool crystal blue eyes looked into deep into her own...and she suddenly realized she was having trouble breathing. She tried to look away - and found she couldn't. Nor could she still breathe. She was gasping, clawing at her throat, her face turning a horrible puce. Aliannas, now flanked by her father and Captain Ford, looked on with no emotion on her features.

Beiroff smiled softly as he acquired the information the General had requested as the prisoner lay gasping her last breaths.

"What am I?" he asked, his voice was both soft and deep. "I am your death, Death Eater." He turned to Aliannas. "She is here. I can feel her. But her parents - I can not."

Running footfalls took Aliannas' attention away from Beiroff and towards the sound coming at them. "General," Major Willa Holmes said. "We found the collaterals. They...they're not doing so well." Aliannas simply nodded, then turned to Beiroff and Laina. The two - Nott and Avery - do not harm them. Tie them to the pit poles set up over there. Pick one of the others to keep alive. As for the others - send them to the Maker.

They both nodded and began their move on the prisoners. She then turned to her father. "I may have to leave," she began. "I think I know why we are here -." She was cut off by a shout.

Six of her people were running towards them with three prone figures in their arms. They laid them down on the ground while their med-techs did what they could for them. There were two adults - a man and woman - and a young teenage girl with brown curly hair. Professor Darque fell to his knees suddenly with a cry. General Aliannas Darque dropped to her knees, the fight suddenly out of her. A trembling hand went to the girl's battered.

"Hermione Granger," she whispered. "My dear child - what have they done to you?"