Lords of Kobol - Prelude: Of Gods and Titans

by Edward T. Yeatts III

too. "What's going on?"

  Zeus, wearing a fine dark gray suit, stepped between the two units.

  Cronus inhaled sharply. "What are you doing here?"

  Campe leapt off the couch and smiled. "Want me to get him?"

  Zeus glanced to the white-colored robot on his left. "Gyes?" Then the green-colored one on this right. "Cottus?"

  Cronus took a step backward. "How the frak …"

  Zeus pointed at Campe. "Kill her."

  Before the machine could maneuver, she ran across the room and jumped atop the green Cylon. She was prying its head aside when the white one sliced her with two of its knife arms. A third blade from Cottus drove up and through her torso. With a wet thud, she was tossed aside.

  Cronus balled his fists and took a step toward the door. He ground his teeth and felt dizzy with rage.

  "Zeus," Iapetus said, "I'm placing you under arrest."

  The Psilon raised a single eyebrow. "I find that unlikely." He looked around the room and took another step inside. The door closed behind him.

  "I have my giants," Cronus said. "They'll be coming for you."

  "No, they won't." Zeus pointed at Campe and said, "Hers is not the first blood they've spilled today."

  Hyperion was furious. He stood up and pushed his chair away. "Frakking enough!" He turned toward Cronus and then the others. "We can take him!"

  Theia stood and cracked her knuckles. "We can."

  Mnemosyne looked worriedly toward Zeus and then she glanced at Themis. She had her hands folded in front of her face and she was watching the proceedings through her spectacles. Rhea leaned back in her chair and breathed rapidly through her nose.

  Zeus held up a finger and looked at his wristband. "Pause that, please."

  The Titans were confused and looked at each other. Zeus smiled and then clasped his hands behind his back. Hyperion grunted and began to stalk toward the intruder when something shook the room. A loud boom seemed to emanate from everywhere, followed by muffled alarms.

  Cronus looked around and his mind raced. Then his heart sank. "What have you done?"

  "I've made you mortal."

  Hyperion paused and looked at Iapetus. "What does he mean?"

  The war consul's head hung low and he said, "That was our resurrection bay."

  Several Titans gasped and Tethys stood. "How dare you!"

  "How dare you!" Zeus erupted. "You have hunted my people for a century!" Whatever composure the Psilon had was now gone. "You killed our parents! You killed our brothers and sisters … when we were children! That was not sufficient for you," he turned to Cronus. "We have been on the run ever since. You killed more of us, you abducted us, and you have the temerity to ask why?"

  Hyperion twitched and Oceanus put his hand on his shoulder. "We understand, Zeus. But you need to understand, too. You have been making our lives difficult for years."

  "Yes. 'Difficult.' We made it harder for you to keep your populations in line."

  Tethys leaned across a table, frowning, and pleaded, "Zeus, you weren't there at BBM in the beginning. It was horrible. We had to …"

  Zeus waved his hand. "I know. I've heard all about it from him, here, in this room." He pointed at Cronus. "You had me feeling almost sorry for you. Then you all put bounties on our heads, making us dodge greedy human hunting parties. You sent the Cylons after us. You gave them information about us in exchange for these things," he motioned toward the super Cylons, "right?" Zeus shook his head. "No, fickle Tethys. You can't sway me with your wide eyes."

  She grimaced and then pounded the tabletop. "You're a frakking bastard! Cruel!"

  "There she is." Zeus mockingly applauded. "Please, 'Butcher of Ghattaffan,' tell me about cruelty."

  "Enough!" Cronus' bark reverberated in the stone-walled chamber and he took a step toward Zeus. "You have no sway over us."

  "That's right," Theia said.

  Zeus smiled. "Really?" He tapped his wristband and said, "Ares." It beeped. A moment later, his son's voice came from the device.

  "Yes?"

  Without taking his eyes off the Titans, Zeus asked, "Status?"

  "I'm home. It's done."

  "Good work." He tapped the band again and put his arms behind him.

  Phoebe exhaled loudly and mumbled. "I knew it."

  "Oh no." Oceanus moved away from the others and pressed himself against the wall. "Oh no!"

  Cronus' eyes were becoming fuzzy and he staggered back. Softly, he asked, "How?"

  "You never had children," Zeus began, "so I wouldn't expect you to understand, but most parents are pleased when their offspring excel where they did not."

  Hyperion began to shake his head. He pounded his fists against his sides and then yelled, "No!" He ran across the room.

  Zeus simply said, "Kill him." The two super Cylons complied.

  When Hyperion's bloody body was thrown against the wall, there was much wailing from the Titans. Phoebe fell to her knees, crying. Oceanus pounded on the walls as though that would get him out. Theia held her face in her hands and Tethys began pacing rapidly in a small area behind her chair. Coeus simply stared ahead, blankly.

  Iapetus nodded and walked around the corner of a table. "Very good. You have outwitted us at every turn and this is … the final blow. Congratulations."

  Zeus bowed his head slightly. "Thank you."

  "You have crippled us, utterly." He motioned toward Hyperion's corpse and said, "You have killed one of us, permanently."

  "Two. Crius was in Tiber," Zeus interrupted.

  "I ask that you do something that we have not excelled at, as you might put it. Mercy." Zeus grinned. Iapetus spread his arms wide. "We are certainly at yours."

  "You are, but do you think I should trust the words of 'Caesar's Worm?'" Iapetus bit the inside of his cheek. "Perhaps I should ask the people of Ordoga and Tyria what they think."

  "That was long ago," he answered.

  "And we're still here," Zeus said. "You know, when I talked to the Caesar a few years ago, he said he wouldn't be terribly upset if we won against you." Some of the Titans exchanged glances. "Oh, he appreciated all that you did for him, personally, and Tiberia, but he was sick of dealing with everything else about you."

  "Zeus," Iapetus began.

  He interrupted by clapping his hands. "Everyone against the wall." None of the Titans complied. "Now!" A few began to stumble toward the polished stone. Oceanus was already there. He turned, bracing his back against it and sobbing loudly. Zeus looked toward Themis and Mnemosyne who were standing still. "Move!"

  They exchanged a look and then Mnemosyne felt sick to her stomach. She found that putting one foot in front of the other was nearly impossible. Rhea came to her side and guided her to a spot along the wall in a corner. Once she was there, Mnemosyne leaned into it and stared at the ceiling while tears fell over her cheeks.

  "Please!"

  "Don't do this!"

  "Zeus!"

  "Frak you, Zeus," Thethys said. "Straight to Tartarus."

  Zeus nodded and then puffed out his chest. "For crimes against humanity, for excessive cruelty, …"

  "No!"

  "For the murders of our parents, our siblings, our friends, …"

  "Stop!

  "For the deaths of over twenty-six million people put in your care," Zeus paused and took in a slow, deep breath, "I sentence you to die."

  Two of the Titans fell to their knees, screaming. Oceanus slammed his head against the wall, wailing. Iapetus was rigid, facing outward like a good soldier. Coeus nodded once and then smiled. Cronus stood still and glared at Zeus, but the Psilon didn't see him.

  He turned to the super Cylons and said, "Cottus, Gyes. As we discussed. Open fire."

  Each unit raised four limbs with automatic weapons embedded therein. Almost instantaneously, they took aim, fired, and then found the next target. It happened so quickly that six Titans fell by sixty-fo
ur bullets in what sounded like a single burst.

  Cronus opened his eyes and saw that the machines were standing down. He exhaled loudly and gasped for air. Sweat fell from his hairline and he slowly, apprehensively, looked to his right at his fallen comrades. They were primarily in a bleeding lump. There was no movement save for the slight ripples in a puddle of blood caused by the diminishing spurts of Theia's neck wound. After staring for several seconds, Cronus looked up and realized that Themis, Rhea, and Mnemosyne were still standing.

  "What …" He furrowed his brow in confusion and glanced among the three of them before turning toward Zeus, who was now slowly walking toward him.

  "Oh, they helped me." Tremors wracked Cronus' head and his eyes widened. "You didn't know?"

  He looked at the trio again and said, "No."

  Zeus reached into his coat and removed a handgun. "For one last time," he aimed it squarely at Cronus' forehead, "you disappoint me." With as much disgust as he could muster, Zeus added, "'Father.'" Then he pulled the trigger.

  Mnemosyne gasped and slumped down the wall. Themis took her arm and tried to stand her up. "Please," she mumbled.

  "What?" Themis asked.

  "No, no, no." Zeus ran to her side and put his arms around her. "It was part of the act. I'm so sorry. I thought you knew."

  She slowly rose and looked at Rhea and then Themis. "I didn't." She sniffled and wiped her eyes. She almost looked down at the carnage but she turned away.

  Zeus looked at the super Cylons and said, "Phase three. Go." The door opened and both the white and green units ran into the corridor. After the door closed again, the muffled sounds of machine gun fire were easily heard.

  Zeus and the three remaining Titans waited a moment and then moved into