Lords of Kobol - Prelude: Of Gods and Titans

by Edward T. Yeatts III

was never the same, of course. Cronus, you know. Iapetus, Hyperion, Tethys, Theia … they can be just as cruel."

  She lay against the headboard and looked down at the other side of the bed. "I've lived a longer life than any human. I'm happy with most of it." Mnemosyne smiled a little. "I don't need to be immortal. If I don't wake up in a new body when this one wears out, that's fine." She sighed and continued, "I know what they've done. I know what they want from this war. It's not good. Not good for anyone." She licked her lips and then slid down toward the other pillow. "They need to be stopped. I've known that."

  Zeus smirked and said, "So I didn't need to work so hard?"

  Mnemosyne put her hand on his bare chest. "I'm glad you did. If you had just asked, I would have helped." She smiled, "But that's no fun."

  XCVI

  TITANS

  2 Years Before the End

  "I don't understand why I'm here," Crius said. He moved through the dimly lit corridor behind the huge man.

  Typhon turned and said, "I asked for someone and you're who Cronus gave me." He shook his head and spoke loudly so his voice could echo in the sparse space. "If we find them, I will need you. And that." He pointed over his shoulder.

  As they walked, Crius looked to his left and studied the burly frame of the metallic blue super Cylon that accompanied Typhon. It was exceedingly tall with an almost-cylindrical torso. Six arms were folded up along its circumference and its stocky legs caused it to lurch forward in an ungainly fashion. Crius knew better than to underestimate it. He had seen two of them in battle before. The destruction was incredible.

  Typhon approached the main hatch and then stepped aside. Crius stopped and looked at the giant. "What?"

  Typhon rolled his eyes. "Only Titans can access the download chamber."

  "Oh," Crius said. "I thought you had access."

  "I do not." Typhon watched Crius put his hand on the black circle. "An Olympian was spotted in Tiber and Cronus wants me to hunt them down, but he won't give me access to the resources I need."

  "Hmph," Crius said. "That's Cronus for you." The panel flashed and the large doors slid open.

  The hexagonal white room was expansive and twelve large canisters sat in the center, fanning out from a post which was illuminated with multicolored status lights. The brightness of the white gave the room a near-clinical feel and both Typhon and Crius stepped lightly inside. The super Cylon stayed in the corridor.

  "Why do we think the Olympian would come here?" Crius asked.

  "I'm not certain. But that's the intel Cronus received."

  The Titan shook his head. "There's no telling if it's good or not."

  "Oh, the intel is good," Ares said.

  He stepped out from a wall control panel while aiming his rifle at the pair. Typhon smiled and was about to call his machine inside when he saw Arcas appear from behind another panel on the other side of the room.

  "Greetings," Arcas said.

  Typhon nodded. "Very good. A trap." Typhon looked into the hallway and waved. The super Cylon entered and saw the weapons. Immediately, its six arms deployed. On each side, there was one arm with an automatic weapon, one with a blade and another with a brutal metallic claw. Typhon tilted his head and said, "I need only give the word."

  Ares smiled and said, "Me too." He looked toward the machine and said, "Briareus."

  The super Cylon lowered its arms and snapped to attention.

  Typhon's shoulders sagged and Crius' mouth fell open. He looked from the robot to Typhon and back again. "What just happened?"

  Arcas smirked and said, "We took over your pet."

  Ares moved toward the machine and said, "Kill Typhon."

  The giant barely had time to widen his eyes. Two of the super Cylon's arms raised and fired into the man. Blood sprayed across the white room and splattered the glass of the canisters in the center.

  Streaks of red ran down Crius' face and he stumbled backward. He backed himself against a control panel and he stared at Ares fearfully. "What are you going to do?"

  "Wait a moment," Ares said.

  Arcas stepped up and asked, "Does that thing have a flamethrower?"

  Ares nodded and said, "Burn Typhon's body."

  The blue machine retracted one of its blades and produced a nozzle. It aimed at the floor and blasted fire onto the bleeding corpse. His clothes distentegrated immediately and his skin blistered. Sizzling managed to be audible above the roar of the flames and the once-huge frame of a man contracted in a horrific fashion.

  The super Cylon finished and replaced its nozzle. Arcas stepped as close to the still-burning body as he dared and fired three bullets into its head.

  "Why the frak did you do that?" Crius yelled.

  "I don't want him capturing our transfer signals," Arcas said.

  Ares shrugged. "We don't think he can anymore, but we have to be sure."

  Arcas removed a device from his waist and nodded. "Yeah, we're good."

  Ares pointed a muscular arm toward Crius. "Don't move."

  The Titan's graying body was thin and wiry compared to the son of Zeus. He looked toward the casks containing the backup copies of his comrades. He saw a Rhea, Oceanus, Themis, and Phoebe from where he stood. When he awakened here before, he usually emerged on the other side of the room. Crius looked over there, but he couldn't see into those pods.

  Ares unzipped a large bag and the two Psilons began to remove gray bricks from it. They quickly criss-crossed the room, placing the devices in each of the six corners, at each control panel and then in the center around the Titans' spare bodies. As Arcas ran to the hatch and closed it, Ares pulled a small box from the bag and flipped a switch. A single green light illuminated.

  Crius swallowed hard. He knew what was happening. He had to hope that they didn't know about their secondary facility in Cales. When they blow up this room, I'll just awaken there, he thought.

  Ares looked down at his wristband. "Two minutes."

  Arcas sighed and stared at Crius. "I used to know you. Versions of you, of course." Crius didn't respond. "They were pretty much the same. Nice. Very nice and smart." Arcas chuckled and continued, "Dark sense of humor though. I loved being around him because I never knew what he was going to say."

  Crius shuffled his feet and looked around the room. They were both holding rifles. Ares' bag was on the floor near the hatch. There was nothing around to fight with. The Cylon. He looked at the blue machine and said, "Briareus!"

  It didn't respond.

  Ares grinned and said, "We knew more than just its activation code. They've been reprogrammed, too." He looked at his wristband and said, "One minute."

  Crius' seemed to crumple against the controls. He slumped and looked at the scorched floor and the pools of Typhon's blood.

  "You were praetor of Arkaim for a time, right?" Arcas asked.

  Absentmindedly, Crius nodded.

  "During the Great Desert March?"

  Crius blinked and slowly raised his head. "You wouldn't understand. You weren't there."

  "Oh," Arcas said. "So being there, I'd understand why you forced a hundred thousand civilians to walk three hundred kilometers in the searing heat?"

  "Enough," Ares said. He looked at Crius and took a few steps toward him. With a thick finger beneath his chin, the Olympian raised the Titan's face toward his. "If you have any sort of faith, now is the time. You will not be resurrecting again."

  Crius brow furrowed and he said, "But …"

  "Cales," Arcas interrupted. "We're already there."

  The Titan inhaled sharply and pure, unadulterated fear rippled through him. He felt light headed. Adrenaline poured into his body and he tensed. He was ready to run … but where?

  Ares straightened and glanced at Arcas. They nodded at each other and then the larger Psilon looked down at Crius. "The time of the Titans has ended."

  Then he pressed the button.

 
Cronus smiled and surveyed the room. He was happy to have all of the Titans together again here in their home away from home in Cales. Well, except for Crius, who was hunting down Ares in Tiber. It made him long for the old days when they huddled together in the basement looking at computer screens, trying to solve this problem or that so they could download again.

  "I don't mind working for the Caesar, I don't," Iapetus said. "It keeps me busy."

  Tethys sipped her wine and said, "There are other ways to keep busy.

  Phoebe nudged Mnemosyne's crossed leg. "You're painfully quiet."

  She grinned and said, "My life just sounds so boring compared to everyone else's. You're praetors and advisers. I just read and play music all day."

  Coeus slowly turned his face but his eyes never focused on them. His lips parted slowly and he said, very softly, "That sounds nice."

  Mnemosyne stared at his vacant expression before Coeus turned away again. Then she felt a pang of guilt.

  Cronus saw. He watched Coeus' eyes glaze over as he reentered his own world. Cronus looked down at his drink and remembered a conversation with the Caesar decades ago. Coeus was being brutal … too brutal even for Cronus' purposes. It didn't take much cajoling for the emperor to take away the disturbed Titan's praetorship.

  "What's the matter?" Campe asked as she stroked Cronus' face.

  He smiled again and said, "Nothing, love. I'm just thinking." She kissed his cheek and then placed her face on his shoulder.

  The door slid open and two of Cronus' super Cylons walked in. Their weapon limbs were deployed.

  Cronus looked at them with raised eyebrows and stood. The other Titans stopped what they were doing,