Lords of Kobol - Prelude: Of Gods and Titans

by Edward T. Yeatts III

territories?"

  Metis shrugged and said, "I don't see why our propaganda would lead to this kind of response, even from Cronus." Leto's workstation beeped. "Oh, good."

  They turned and Leto tapped on her panels. "Even though we lost a lot of data in the attack, I still had a headstart on this."

  "What have we got?" The three women were startled and turned to see Zeus, disheveled and sleepy eyed, standing behind them.

  "We're looking now," Selene said. As she turned back to the screen, she saw Leto's soft smile at Zeus. She tapped her on the shoulder and she rotated in her chair again.

  "Yes." Leto shook her head and said, "Ouranos."

  "These Psilons were all constructed from Ouranos' DNA?" Zeus asked.

  "That would explain a lot," Metis said. "We know their bodies were enhanced much the same way Ouranos and Gaia were and their DNA was primed to work with those kinds of enhancements."

  "There are plenty of markers that lead back to Tiberia, too," Leto said. "I don't doubt that it's Cronus."

  "Any idea if they can resurrect when they're killed?" he asked.

  She shook her head. "Not at this point."

  Zeus inhaled deeply and crossed his arms in front of his chest. As he was about to speak, Hermes came into the room. He saw Zeus and quickly looked away before handing a computer panel to Metis.

  His voice was low, "Here you are."

  Hermes lowered his head and began to leave. Zeus took a step toward him and grabbed his shoulder. The women looked at the two and held their breath.

  Zeus opened his mouth to speak and Hermes looked up at him with moist eyes. Zeus wrapped his arms around him and said through a clenching throat, "Don't blame yourself."

  Hermes closed his eyes and tears rolled onto Zeus' shoulder. Leto put her hand over her mouth and Hermes said, "But I do. I couldn't stop him."

  There was a long pause and neither man said anything. Selene cleared her throat and Leto saw that she, too, had tears welling in her eyes. "These people were engineered to fight us," Selene said. "It is a miracle that more of us weren't killed."

  Zeus released Hermes and said, "Two more dead. Seven of us with severe, potentially life-threatening injuries. Eight others … everyone else has minor injuries." He shook his head and said, "I can't let this continue."

  Metis looked up from the panel she was given and said, "This is interesting. We were tracking our signal outputs and inputs in depth at the time of the attack. The dampening field or whatever was mobile."

  "Those are usually very big," Zeus said.

  She nodded. "I don't understand this. The signals didn't just get stopped. They were … absorbed."

  Hermes cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. "More than that," he coughed, "excuse me. More than that, the bug that wiped out the backups used each person's carriers to do it."

  "And it broke through the safeguards?" Leto asked.

  "Yes," he replied. "We strengthened them after Hestia and again after Demeter, but …"

  Zeus walked away from the group and stared at the wall. After a moment, he said, "Finish up what you're doing. We've been here too long already."

  Leto turned back to her station and began to save her data. Hermes stepped beside Zeus and asked, "How long can we keep running? We sneak back here to the Institute every day, almost. If they want us again, they'll attack whenever they want."

  "The government wants news of the attack to stay as quiet as possible." Zeus inhaled and continued, "They don't want the citizens to fear another Expansion by Tiberia."

  "But we need guards. Can we hire some?"

  Zeus' wristband beeped. He lifted it and saw that the caller was unknown. He squinted and pressed the blinking yellow light. "Yes?"

  "This is Rhea."

  Everyone in the room turned to look at Zeus' wrist. He lowered it and balled up his fists. After a deep breath, he raised his arm and said, "How dare you call me …"

  "I had nothing to do with the attack. I am sorry for your losses."

  Zeus glanced toward Leto and then Hermes before he said, "Why should I believe you?"

  Now Rhea paused. Finally, she said, "You have no real reason to, I suppose. I will tell you that I and a couple other Titans are not in agreement with Cronus' campaign against you."

  Zeus' shoulders sagged and he asked, "Why are you calling me?"

  "To give you a name." Zeus squinted and stared at his communicator. "Typhon."

  LXXX

  CAESAR

  8 Years Before the End

  "Target." The mechanized infantry's control sergeant shuffled along with the group of armed robots. He looked into his scope and saw the crosshairs of his units line up on the Cylons that tried to hide in the trees.

  "Fire." The units squeezed their triggers and specially created explosive rounds lit into the tree trunks and the Cylons hiding among them. When they detonated, splinters flew through the air and bits of metal were thrown from bodies.

  "Salvage, move in." Four machines in the rear of the group ran forward and began lifting large pieces of the Cylons' corpses and carrying them back. Particular attention was paid to the dead Cylons' processing units and the precious metals and technology within.

  Nearby, a squad of humans slowly crept through the trees and found a clutch of Cylons huddled by a creek. "On me," the squad leader whispered. He raised his rifle and took aim, but a crunch behind him drew his attention.

  It was a Cylon. Using what looked like the leg of a dead Cylon, the attacker swept the limb across the squad leader's face, causing him to drop the rifle. The large machine picked up the weapon with its attached camera. When it turned, several other Cylons became visible. They were standing atop the rest of the human soldiers, splattering blood onto the leaves.

  "Take their weapons," the Cylon said. The other units did and the group moved toward the creek. The group there were of many different types. There were two public servant units. There was a construction unit. There were three miners. Three base units. Four other native units that had damaged decorations. Regardless, they all had weapons.

  It was a trap. The twenty Cylons raised their rifles and slowly slid around trees toward nearby gunfire. They came to the rear of the mechanized infantry unit from earlier. It was distant, but the Cylons could hear the sergeant giving orders to the machines.

  As the group of remote-controlled soldiers walked on the outskirts of the forest, the Cylon squad lined up at their rear. With a hand gesture, they fired only a few shots. The salvage units exploded in a shower of metal and fell aside. Two soldier units did the same. In the middle of the throng, a small man covered in plastics and metal shook and began to scramble.

  "Stop!" he yelled. "Turn! Turn!" The robots began to comply, but the Cylons behind them were too quick.

  The lead Cylon fired first and his explosive round hit the control sergeant's chest. Armor plating shattered and sprayed into the air. He fell back against his marching units and a second round hit his arm. It detached at the elbow and he finally screamed, bleeding onto the grass. He collapsed and began to be trampled by the robotic soldiers.

  The Cylons walked up to the group and stared at their lobotomized cousins. They had finished their rotation and were standing still, awaiting further orders. Their human brain was in shock and moaning beneath their feet. Apprehensively, the Cylons stared at the robots and then took the rifles from their hands.

  The Caesar blinked and withdrew his mind from the Matrix and the military feeds. He sighed and looked across the table at his advisers.

  "Our advances have been slowed," he said.

  General Quintus nodded. "We lost our air advantage when they took to the jungles and the mountains. Now they're fighting back. Man to man, as it were."

  The screen behind them flashed with color and Prefect said, "What caused that? They were timid and afraid for weeks."

  "If I may," Iapetus said, "I believe it was the salvaging of t
heir bodies." Quintus nodded. "Seeing their fallen comrades being taken for parts may have angered them. Ignited a sense of self-preservation."

  "'Angered?'" Prefect scoffed. "You give them too much credit."

  "He does not," the emperor said. "We need their materials but this was a calculated risk. The question is … can they continue to fight us off?"

  "It's a matter of attrition, dominus," Iapetus said. "We have a finite number of soldiers, both human and robotic. If the Cylons are incensed enough to fight back on a larger scale, we will lose."

  Caesar looked toward Quintus and he said, "He is right. Given our current personnel, if the breeze does not turn soon, we will have to begin drafting citizens."

  As the imperator thought, the mechanical bodies of advisers at the other end of the table leaned together and began to speak among themselves. One straightened up and stared at Caesar with her plastic eyes. "Pour all of your might at one point and break them. Spread the forces from there and wipe them to the sea."

  Caesar stood and glared at their artificial forms. "Legate, have you not been paying attention? These are not island natives. These are not the cleaning machines in your home. These are Cylons." He punctuated the name with a deep tone and finality. "They were built to be faster, smarter, and better than humans. Many of the soldiers who fought Tiberia's armies a century ago are still there. And who do you think is leading their meager forces now?" The legate was silent. "Those same Cylons."

  "My lord," Prefect said, "we simply seek a quick resolution to the conflict."

  "Then you 'simply' don't