by S Mays
“We’ve got a hostage situation. Judging from the size and sound, I’d guess a twenty-year-old female,” Abigail said.
“C1 and C2, take the front door. Look out for any booby traps. C3, head to the back door. C4, on the roof. C5, with me,” Jake ordered.
Moments later, each soldier was in position. The two at the front door placed the palms of their hands against the walls. Jake did the same on the left side of the house, while C5 did the same on the opposing side. Abigail scaled the chimney until she was on the roof. Even with the ninety-pound suit weighing her down, she was nearly silent. She placed her palms on the roof. The gloves of the suits began humming at a very low frequency, penetrating the walls with sound waves. A blurry image of the interior of the house formed on the HUD readouts, along with the positions of the occupants of the decrepit dwelling. Each soldier moved to a proper attack position adjacent to the occupants of the house.
“Prepare for entry,” Jake said, activating a countdown which popped up on each agent’s visor. At zero, they burst into the house, either by crashing through windows, kicking in doors, or blowing open a wall with explosives.
The cult members were taken by surprise and were unable to mount a proper defense. One surrendered, but most of the others attempted to fire on the intruders. The few shots they managed to fire bounced harmlessly off the AUG armor. The squad agents cut them down quickly. The one in Jake’s vicinity was holding a young woman hostage.
“Who-who the hell are you people? Some kind of aliens or something?” the young man shouted. His eyes were frantic, as if he was searching for a way out of the room. He pressed a revolver to the side of his hostage. Jake deduced he was probably high on something. Looking around the room, he noticed methamphetamine paraphernalia. Jake opened his visor, hoping that seeing a human face would calm the man.
“Don’t be afraid. We are law enforcement agents. Let the girl go and surrender,” Jake said, attempting to calm the man.
“You ain’t like no damn cops I’ve ever seen. You the Men in Black or somethin’? You come to take me to the moon?” the man said, laughing hysterically.
“If you want to go to the moon, we can take you there,” Jake said, still attempting to calm the man.
“N-no, I don’t want to go to the moon! Why would I want to go there? Don’t be s-stupid, man,” the man said, twitching. He jammed the gun harder into the woman’s side. “D-drop your fancy gun, man. W-what kind of damn gun is that, anyway? I never seen no gun like that. What did you do to my friends? Yo! Brendon! Tommy! Yo! Answer me!” the man yelled out into the hallway. There was no answer. “W-where are my f-friends? What was them gunshot noises?” he said, becoming more agitated.
“Jake, I’m in position,” Abigail announced through his helmet. His visor automatically lowered from his glove’s command.
“Hey. Hey! W-w-what are you doing, man? What are you doing? I’ll cap her, I swear it!” the crazed man said.
“Nothing. I’m just getting ready to leave. I’m going back to the moon. You’d like it,” Jake said. A targeting reticle appeared on his HUD and moved to the man’s head. Immediately after it locked on, two shots erupted from the ceiling, driving through the man’s skull.
“Nice shooting,” Jake said into his helmet mike. The young woman looked at the man as he fell to the floor, but she also backed away from Jake.
“Relax, miss. You are safe now. What’s your name?” Jake said.
“M-my name? I’m…Brandy,” she said, almost on the verge of tears. Again, she looked at the dead body at her feet. Jake moved to her side and ushered her out of the room.
“C2, take her outside and get her medical treatment. We are going to sweep the building,” Jake ordered one of the soldiers in the hallway. The man nodded and raised his visor to comfort the shivering young woman.
“It’s going to be okay now. Come with me. I’ll take you home,” C2 said, leading her out of the house.
Jake met Abigail as she descended the rickety staircase. “Seems like a bit of a risk. What if he had pulled the trigger from a stray nervous reflex as he died?”
“That’s why I targeted his spinal column as well as his motor center. Having an extensive medical background does come in handy from time to time. He was completely paralyzed from the neck down from the first shot.”
She bent down to inspect the body.
“The suit’s linked targeting system was off by two millimeters,” she noted.
“That’s probably from the wireless networking delay. It should improve in future iterations. Was there anything upstairs?”
“There was one suspect upstairs. She refused to go quietly. For such a ragtag bunch, they have a lot of weapons,” Abigail reported. “There are pentagrams and demonic writings all over the floors and walls, written in blood. The place smells like a slaughterhouse.”
“What do you think they were doing here?”
“I’d say they were trying to summon something. Something big. But I don’t see any evidence of a completed ritual.”
A thump erupted below their feet. “Sir, we’ve got a reading on the portable SA. Something’s in the basement,” one of the soldiers announced.
The basement door was located in the kitchen. There was no external basement door on the outside of the house, which created a bottleneck for entry. The bulky armor forced them to go down one at a time. The old steps felt as if they couldn’t support the weight of multiple people.
As they descended the steps, the stench of decay and death overwhelmed their senses. Jake sealed his helmet to avoid gagging. A nightmarish scene unfolded in front of him. Human remains were chained to the walls. Some were mere torsos, while body parts littered the floors. Blood stained the walls, as if an insane painter had been at work. Every inch of the room was covered in blood scrawls and ancient diagrams. In a dark corner, two glowing red eyes regarded the four soldiers with contempt.
“Thou are not like these others. Thou appear to be warriors. Dost thou wish to battle, foolish armored men? I shall peel thou from thine armor as easily as a shellfish,” the deep voice said, reverberating through the room. The beast then stood, growing to over eight feet in height. It remained hunched over to avoid the basement ceiling. Activating his armor’s shoulder light, Jake gasped.
A gaunt, terribly distorted ram’s skull adorned with thick black horns sat upon a massive body of striated muscle. The entity’s slick red skin gleamed in the light. Jake couldn’t tell if the creature’s skin was naturally red or if it was coated in blood. The ground quivered as the creature marched forward on two hoofed feet. A pair of folded wings sat on its back, too large to be unfurled in such close quarters. Its barbed tail flailed behind it, cracking like a whip. It gouged the wall where it struck. The cult had summoned a minor devil to Earth.
“Open fire!” he ordered the soldiers who had accompanied him down the steps. Their assault rifles unleashed at once, striking the devil with a hail of lead, silver, depleted uranium, hardened wood, and other mixed ammunition types. Most were deflected, but a few penetrated the beast’s skin. As an Otherworlder, its hide was extremely tough — almost on par with their own body armor. The creature seemed surprised by the weaponry and the damage it had suffered. Most likely, it had no experience with modern technology.
“Thou dare?” it shrieked, dashing forward with its horns lowered. The soldiers scrambled out of the devil’s path, but one was too slow. The devil pinned the soldier against the wall, but his armor held. The creature lunged harder. Jake heard the man’s breastplate crack. Once more the devil pushed, and this time its horn penetrated the armor, piercing the man’s flesh and bone easily. Blood erupted from his mouth, covering his helmet visor from the inside. He slumped to the floor, clutching his chest. Meanwhile, the other soldiers continued their barrage. Jake attempted to analyze the thing’s weak points and structure. How could it sustain so much damage and remain upright? That was when he noticed Abigail was attacking from behind the creature, isolated from the group.
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br /> “Abigail! Get out of here! Get up the steps!” he screamed.
The devil turned to regard Abigail. “I sense…love between these two. I see their bonded tether. It sickens me.” It moved to block Abigail from escape, then used its tail to smash the steps to bits. A sword erupted from its shoulder. It whirled on the soldier behind it, opening its black skull mouth. A flicker of light appeared just before an inferno of hellfire engulfed the soldier. Shrieking, he fell back, falling to the ground, rolling in an attempt to douse the flames. The armor’s fire suppression system kicked in, spraying a foam retardant on the flames, but it could only affect normal fire. The hellfire burned unhindered until only a smoking, melted husk of carbonized armor and bone remained.
“Command, we need backup immediately. We have an Otherworlder planar incursion at our location. A minor devil — I estimate it to be a level five on the Warren scale,” Jake yelled into his helmet mike while reloading his rifle. Darkness fell around him as the creature stepped in front of him, blocking the light from upstairs. The flame reappeared in its mouth.
“No!” Abigail shouted, diving onto the creature’s back. She stabbed its neck with two reinforced Knightium alloy hypodermic needles full of a silver iodine solution suspended in holy water. The devil spun about, throwing her across the room. She impacted the wall with a sickening crunch. The artery in its neck throbbed and bulged as the creature’s eyes opened wide with pain.
“What hath thou done, harlot?” it shrieked, turning to follow Abigail across the room. She staggered upright, unsheathing her sword from her back. The demon raised its clawed fist to strike, but stopped short. Jake held its tail, straining with all of his might to hold the gargantuan creature. Even though he was infused with chi, it was many times stronger than he was. Abigail sliced at it with her sword, opening a series of wounds on its arm. The devil flicked its tail, sending Jake to the ground. It turned to face him. “Thou wouldst dare challenge me? Dost thou know the power I possess?” the devil taunted. Despite its bravado, Jake noticed it had slowed greatly. The bullet and stab wounds and injections would most likely finish it soon. It was tough, but not indestructible. They just had to survive the next few minutes. The third soldier was out of ammunition, but he was holding a large dagger in one hand and a grenade in the other.
“Witness my power!” the devil said. With a loud crack, the demon’s tail lashed out toward the last standing soldier. Abigail flew across the room and shoved him away, but moved too slowly to dodge it. The barbed tip struck Abigail directly in her chest armor, lodging firmly in the hole it had created. “I seek to banish love wherever it is found,” the devil explained. “Thy hopelessness and sorrow feed my power, just as thy blood, bone, and muscle feed my body.” A bright glow flashed from the devil’s tail. The light illuminated Abigail’s face inside of her compromised armor.
The monster smiled. “Warrior, if thou volunteer to serve me, I will spare thy mate. Willingly bind thy soul to mine and be my warrior. Be my anchor on this plane. This is my offer.”
Jake looked from the devil to Abigail. She struggled to pull the tip from inside her armor, but it was like a steel cable moored in concrete. Shaking her head, she signaled that she would not be able to free herself. He walked toward the devil until he was mere feet from its gruesome face.
“Unholy creature, we serve the Lord above. You may strike us down, but you merely send us to His waiting embrace. We will never bow before your kind. When you return to the festering void which spawned you, let the others know what awaits them here,” Jake spat.
Abigail smiled, easing her grip. “Take care of Jessica. Carry on the will of the Order. Be strong,” she said, tears streaming down her face.
The aberration howled in despair. The love between the two humans caused it spiritual pain. Hissing, the devil focused its infernal energy into its tail until the house shook from the rising energy. Jake could feel the spiritual and physical pressure weighing down on him. He attempted to move forward, but it was as if he were carrying a car on his back.
“I love you,” Abigail said, raising her arms to the sky and closing her eyes.
The armor bulged as the devil released its pent-up energy into it. Time froze as Jake watched the woman he loved cease to exist on the mortal plane. Fire, shrapnel, and flesh rained down and bounced from the walls and ceiling. The devil began to laugh, but its laughter turned into a coughing fit. “What hath thou done to —” it began before Jake slammed into it. Despite the size and weight difference, the devil stumbled backward. Jake struck his armored fists against the massive beast, expending the last of his chi. He ceased his physical assault, bringing his rifle up.
Jake unloaded his rifle’s entire clip into the creature’s face, chipping off bits of bone with each bullet. One shell lodged in its eye, causing its red glow to cease. He ducked the creature’s flailing attacks, driving his sword into its belly. It screamed in pain, turning away. Jake started to press his attack but didn’t see the tail whipping in his direction, which sent him reeling. His visor had cracked. The digital readout flickered, becoming garbled. He scrambled to turn it off and clear his vision. He rolled to the side just as the area he had been in was engulfed in hellfire.
“I’ve grown stronger with thy fear and hate. The loss of thy mate fuels me anew,” the devil boasted. It turned toward the soldier trapped against the wall, whipping its tail at the ceiling above him. Debris rained down on the man as part of the kitchen floor collapsed on him. The grenade rolled free from his hand before he was buried.
“Now, for thou,” it said, turning back to Jake.
“Sir, I have a shot. Should I take it?” the last standing soldier announced. Jake looked up to see the soldier standing in what was left of the kitchen.
“Fire!” he ordered, dashing forward.
The gunfire rained down on the devil, causing it to raise its arm in defense. It turned to face the soldier but brought its tail around to intercept Jake at the same time. He dove under it and grabbed the grenade. Rolling to his feet, he jabbed a dagger into the beast’s back and used it to pull himself up. The beast reached around and ripped Jake free. He held the struggling man in front of him with one hand.
“Wouldst thou like to join thy mate now? There is no heaven or God. Suffer the heat of hell’s fire!” it said, opening its mouth while crushing Jake with its immense grip.
“Is your fire hotter than thermite?” Jake snarled, then shoved his arm and the grenade down the monster’s throat. It immediately dropped him and grasped at its neck, gagging. A bright glow illuminated it from the inside, from its neck to its chest. Smoke and blazing white-hot thermite erupted from its flesh, which melted and steamed. Lashing out, it tore chunks from the walls and ceiling before it collapsed in a reeking, smoldering pile.
Jake immediately fell to his knees, surveying the room. There was nothing left. Abigail was gone. He ripped the helmet from his head and threw it against the wall, tears stinging his eyes. He leapt upon the devil’s carcass and smashed it with his fists. Again and again he struck, venting his rage and frustration against the dead flesh. In the end, he collapsed, falling to the floor in a sobbing heap.
A sound close by caught his attention. A moan escaped from the rubble that contained the buried soldier. Jake dashed to the man’s aid, calling for help from the soldier above. Grieving would have to wait.
He remembered returning to the Farm that night, still in shock. Jessica had been five at the time. She ran to greet him and hugged him fiercely. She looked behind him, expecting to see her mother walk through the doorway. Pushing her away from his stained armor, he noticed her nightgown was already smeared with blood. “I have something to tell you about your mother.” He never forgot the look on his child’s face that night.
***
A horn sounded in the harbor, bringing him back to the present. The organization was no place for a child, and no child should lose her mother as Jessica had. Sometimes, he wondered what his life could have been if he’d never joined th
e Order. He liked to imagine he could have been a farmer. Perhaps Abigail would have been a veterinarian. He then thought of the horrors they had seen and conquered. If not for people like them, the world would have fallen to darkness long ago. Some were blessed with ignorance, but others had to endure the yoke of knowledge and suffering. He thought about the test Jessica was about to face. Would he be the one who was told Jessica was not coming home?
“Aye, here we are,” Captain Zanger said, nodding ahead of the ship. They were coming into port.
After securing the area, they began to unload the shipping containers. As the massive crane loaded the last container onto the bed of the tractor-trailer, Jake ordered the all clear. They’d drive the shipment from the docks to a local airfield for the final leg of the journey. He’d requested that it be flown directly to the airfield near the Farm but had been denied by management. They had cited budget overruns. From an organization with a supposedly unlimited budget, he heard the words “not in the budget” far too often. If they had known how close he was to finalizing the God Particle project, they would have flown his shipments in with a squadron of fighters. Until it was finished and had been tested in the field, it was better to keep it secret. He wanted it to be perfect before revealing it to the organization proper. It was his life’s work.
“Report in,” Jake said into his headset. He was wearing a bulky sweatshirt and loose-fitting pants over his pliable body armor. Normally, he’d be wearing an AUG suit for a mission like this, but he didn’t want to attract attention.
Each agent reported, “All clear.”
“Let’s get rolling, then. I want R1 and R2 hidden on the trailer and R4 up front with me. The others, follow in the pursuit vehicle. Stay alert. There’s no doubt we will be attacked tonight. The only question is when and where.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The flight from the Farm to Rome took six hours. There were advantages to avoiding airport security check-in and flying at almost double the speed of commercial airliners. She’d been to Europe only once before, when she was six.
