The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell

by Douglas Howell

  “How could Ydxx’od’omaa control her after he re-capture her?”

  “The scientists under his control made a specialize suit that stop the symbiote in her from creating a new cell. The suit also had an injector attached to it so they could inject her with a tranquillizer. After they sedated her they then kept her in a cryo chamber. When General Ydxx’od’omaa closed that door of that cryo chamber, to him, it felt like it was the lid to her coffin. You know... she was right about one thing in what she said to him before he closed the door.”

  “And what that be?”

  “She said, ‘In a kiss before dying my love I shall always remember you. Your pain and torment.... and your anguish over me that prevents you from letting go. One day you shall die... without me. You may be dead on the inside right now... but one day... a long time coming... you will learn that there are some things in life that are far more worse... than death. You would spend the rest of eternally in the afterlife cursing your name... for not killing me. A kiss before dying my love?’

  With that he kiss her and then closed the lid. He then dropped to his knees and cried as he though she died on him. He was a broken man after that.”

  “How do you know all of that if you were not there? Did he tell you?”

  “Video surveillance.”

  “So what happen after that?”

  “Despite the fact that the hive did all that it could to get rid of, or assimilate Ynuo’stole, it was when they found out what he was working upon that changed the dynamic of the war. Throughout the war Ynuo’stole worked upon creating a time machine. For a long time the hive did not know, or realize that. The irony of the hive situation was this: General Ydxx’od’omaa is apparently losing the war, but if Ynuo’stole completes his work, the hive would then lose the war. They had to find a way to level the playing field. And it came in the form of the Bureau of Time Enforcement.

  The Bureau of Time Enforcement was created by an Executive Order, and through the pressure of the Kase’hyn’nkk Congress. The Executive Order also decree that Ynuo’stole must share any technology and data on time travel with the Bureau. The Bureau of Time Enforcement, and its Officers, was based in large part upon Ynuo’stole’s work on how to repair the time line.

  What the Tylkuoply hive realized, and the Kase’hyn’nkk government did not; politics will always make a government, especially in a free society, weak and corrupt. But mostly politics will turn any government into an incompetent one. If the Tylkuoply hive could put enough political pressure upon the Kase’hyn’nkk government to sue for peace, then the hive could indirectly influence the Bureau of Time Enforcement. If that were to happen then it would be either illegal, or very difficult, for General Ydxx’od’omaa to change the past. Although the Tylkuoply hive gained twelve new cells and lost eight, their tactic work.

  In an effort to achieve peace and to prevent further lost in lives, the Kase’hyn’nkk government signed an armistice with the hive. The hive continued its war with the rest of the Apollinarian race. General Ydxx’od’omaa understood that the armistice meant a death nail for the Apollinarian race. What value does one armistice have with the hive when it should be a global one? Why should the government sign an armistice with something that wants to assimilate all? Despite the armistice, it gave Ynuo’stole the chance to finish the time machine. He just needed to test it. And to find a volunteer.”

  “So who volunteer for it? And where did they go?”

  “General Ydxx’od’omaa volunteer for it. He went back to our Second World War.”

  “Why him? And why go back to that time period?”

  “First of all, I’m going to give the three of you a geography lesson. Then I’m going to give each one of you a history lesson. I feel that would be important because it would help to explain things a whole lot better, than just simply answering both of the questions.

  There are three continents that Vaistll knows about, and then there are four more: Waldaxx (wall-docs), North Kase’aes, South Kase’aes and Penx’til’tota (pen-icks till too-ta). The continents of North and South Kase’aes lies far to the west of Iraxxan. The Kase’hyn’nkk civilization lies in the southern part of North Kase’aes, and the northern part of South Kase’aes. The continent of Penx’til’tota lies in the mid-part of the ocean to the west of South Kase’aes, and a few hundred miles north of the South Pole. The continent of Waldaxx lies on the eastern side of Xiy’o’tlo. There is a mountain chain that separates the two continents. Waldaxx is one-third the size of Iraxxan. On the southeastern side of Waldaxx is a civilization called Hau’rino (ha-oo ri-no). The Hau’rino civilization is on a large island about one-25th to one-30th the size of Waldaxx. They are the prime reason why General Ydxx’od’omaa went back into time.

  Although the Apollinarians are some type of a master race, that did not apply to those Apollinarians who lived on islands. All over our home world of Wol’ga’con, any Apollinarian group of people who settled upon on a island never practiced slavery. There wasn’t any evidence to suggest that they took any Half-Wits slaves to those island when it was first settled. Although the Hau’rino civilization was no different, they were familiar with the concept of slavery. They were familiar with it because of the Khin’kyn’ko (chin kin ko) civilization.

  The Khin’kyn’ko civilization was upon the mainland and back in our birth time period they were a major civilization like that of Iomiyya. They practiced both the enslavement of Apollinarians and of Half-Wits. The Khin’kyn’ko civilization tried many times throughout their long history to invade, and enslave, the ancient people of Hau’rino but each time they failed. Because of the attempted invasions, and the attempted enslavement, the Hau’rino culture develop into a fierce warrior culture that saw slavery as dishonorable. But despite all of that, the Hau’rino people was still heavily influence by the Khin’kyn’ko civilization.

  A few centuries before General Ydxx’od’omaa’s day, the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk open up a trade route with the Hau’rino Empire. In that time period the Khin’kyn’ko civilization no longer existed. The Khin’kyn’ko civilization was overrun by barbarians little more than a thousand years before, and was broken into several civilizations. That was the prime reason why the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk wanted to open up a trade route with the Hau’rino Empire. To introduce them to the virtues of trade that is to say. Because the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk did not practice slavery, and they had a strong dislike for it, the people of Hau’rino took a strong likening to them.

  Ninety-one years after the Hau’rino Empire open up their borders to trade, a major civil war broke out in the Pyxx’nu’tos (picks new toes) civilization which lies on the Waldaxx mainland. The Pyxx’nu’tos people were rebelling against their king because he was a wicked, corrupt and greedy ruler. The rebels were divided into two main groups. One group wanted a republic, while the other group wanted to free the country from slavery. Both wanted freedom from tyranny. But the country was tearing itself apart with each sides guilty of mass murder. Eventually a strong man rose up from the ashes and united the country under his rule.

  Like so many other rulers in his days, he was haunted by the ghost of the Khin’kyn’ko civilization. To revive the lost civilization through conquest. And that also meant keeping slavery alive. In his days the Half-Wits were extinct. Two hundred and eighty-seven years after Vaistll left our birth time period, the Half-Wits became extinct on Iraxxan. Mostly through overexploitation. They became extinct globally 1338 years later for, not only the same reason, but also because of an age of discovery. One hundred and thirty-three years later you have the Hau’rino civilization being open up to trade.

  The Pyxx’nu’tos Emperor tried to conquer the former lands of the lost civilization. That action, along with keeping slavery alive, infuriated the people of Hau’rino. They wanted to intervene before they are invaded. But they needed the help from their long time ally the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk. But that was not to be since the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk, who was 312 years old
at the time, was acquiring new lands and they wanted to buy land in northern South Kase’aes. Which was owned by Pyxx’nu’tos. Needless to say they got their land. Mainly because the Emperor needed the money and he was afraid of saying no. But that action left the people of Hau’rino feeling betrayed by their stanch ally.

  As luck would have it, the Hau’rino Empire did not have to go to war with the Pyxx’nu’tos Empire. The Pyxx’nu’tos Empire had four major military blunders: two on land and two on the sea. Those four blunders allowed the rebels, who wanted to free the country from slavery, to restart their war. That in return gave the enemies of Pyxx’nu’tos the opportunity they were hoping for. In the end, the Emperor was disposed and hanged. The country lay in ruins and would never become a major player on the world scene ever again.

  One hundred and twelve years after the start of that war, a new war was started. That war was fought against the CAS: the Confederacy of Allied States. The CAS were several states on the Iraxxan and Waldaxx continents. They went to war to preserve their way of life - slavery. But this time around the Hau’rino Empire and the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk fought along side one another. With the Hau’rino Empire they had a strong navy and a weak army. With Kase’hyn’nkk it was the other way around. Air power at the time was in its infancy.

  Although the war should have united the two allies tragically it tore them apart. The Hau’rino Empire was right in assuming that the CAS members on the Waldaxx continent are weak, while those on the Iraxxan continent are strong. The Hau’rino Empire wanted to go after the weak ones first, then the go after the strong ones. But the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk wanted to do it vice versa.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Why did the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk wanted to go after the strong ones first? Why didn’t they do as the Hau’rino Empire suggest?”

  “Because the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk had strong cultural ties to Iraxxan. The people of Iraxxan settled the continents of North and South Kase’aes. Other than being an ally or culturally, there is very little in common between the Hau’rino Empire and the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk.

  Because of the actions of the government of Kase’hyn’nkk, the war lasted seven years. The Hau’rino navy became the work horse. Trying to defend the homeland, and acting as an escort for the transport vessels, that was sending Kase’hyn’nkk troops to Iraxxan. Although the CAS members were defeated on Iraxxan, there was armistice sign with the ones on Waldaxx.”

  “Why was there an armistice sign with them?”

  ‘Because the government of Kase’hyn’nkk had enough of war. They said that the CAS members on Waldaxx ‘no longer posed a treat to the region.’ That was an outright lie. And they knew it. They also said, ‘prolonging the war will just prolong the suffering of the people on all sides.’ That may have been true, but as the people of Kase’hyn’nkk and Hau’rino knew, slaves suffers in both peace and in war. So shouldn’t they count too? Without the help of the Republic Kase’hyn’nkk, the Hau’rino Empire had no other choice but to sign the armistice.

  Seventy-two years at the end of that war, the war between the Hau’rino Empire and the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk, began. The grandfathers of both Ydxx’od’omaa and Ynuo’stole served in that war. I’m not going to mention the causes of the war since there are just too many of them. Most of the causes of the war were something trivial. Others were not: the government of Kase’hyn’nkk, against the wishes of Hau’rino, place a military base in one of the allies of Hau’rino. The Hau’rino government protested that move because they wanted their allies on Waldaxx to have a strong military in case if war broke out again. They reasoned that if all of their allies had a strong military, instead of a dependant one, that would deter any nefarious plans of the Waldaxx CAS. Multiple nations who are allies, with a strong military, are far more of a formidable force than multiple nations who are dependant on one nation for security. What if something were to happen in Kase’hyn’nkk, and they could no longer defend their Waldaxx allies? All it would take is a financial depression for all hell to break lose. And that’s exactly what happened.

  The allies had an economic boom at the end of the war. But within fifteen years everybody who was involved in the war suffered an economic depression. The depression for Hau’rino and their allies on Waldaxx was not as severe as Kase’hyn’nkk and their allies. Eventually the nations on Waldaxx did recover from the depression. But for the CAS on Iraxxan the economic depression hit them so hard that internal unrest caused them to dissolve the Iraxxan CAS. In one case, one of the former members of the Iraxxan CAS endured a violent revolution. In another case, one of the members had a major civil war that lasted, on-and-off, for 22 years.

  At the beginning of the First World War, the Hau’rino government predicted that the CAS would in all likelihood; dissolve themselves if they lost the war. They also predicted that there would be an economic boom follow by a downturn in the economy. They predicted that if the economy of the Iraxxan CAS is hit hard enough they would dissolve themselves. As you can tell, their prediction did, and did not come true. And they blamed the Kase’hyn’nkk government for that.

  The Hau’rino Empire had a double agent, code name Double Shock that was spying on the Waldaxx CAS. Whether it was infiltration, sabotage, hand-to-hand combat, explosives, weapons, evading the enemy, nobody could beat Double Shock. He was born one year before the economic depression. He became a double agent fresh out of college, rose rapidly through the ranks, and was sent to spy on the Waldaxx CAS when he was thirty-five. Charming, clever, highly intelligent, talented, he was a natural in everything that he was an expert in.

  His first victory against the Waldaxx CAS is that he uncovered a cabal to drive a wedge between Hau’rino and its allies. He later uncover that the Waldaxx CAS was involved in secret talks with the Republic of Kase’hyn’nkk to dissolve the Waldaxx CAS. Double Shock, along with the Hau’rino government, suspected something fishy was going on. The Kase’hyn’nkk government celebrated the new peace on Waldaxx and dismiss the concerns of the Hau’rino government. The former Waldaxx CAS members convinced the Hau’rino allies to form a new coalition of allied states. The government of Kase’hyn’nkk supported the idea. The Hau’rino government smelled a rat. But the whole episode put the Hau’rino government in a very difficult situation. Should they continue spying on the former members of the Waldaxx CAS? What if they have to spy upon their allies? What if they get caught? They had to make a decision and they had to make one fast, before this new coalition is formed. So they turned to Double Shock.

  The new coalition was called Sovereign Allies of Waldaxx. And the Hau’rino government had no other choice but to spy upon each member of SAW- including their allies. After being stationed in Waldaxx for thirteen years, the Hau’rino government decided to send Double Shock to Iraxxan to see if the former members of the Waldaxx CAS were trying to expand SAW to Iraxxan. There was some evidence to suggest that was true, but not enough to go by. After being there for two years, Double Shock was recalled on temporary basis due to the death of the Hau’rino Emperor who died of natural causes. The Emperor’s son, Zeno’y’lk (zay-no e look) took over the reign. Double Shock was recalled so that he could attend the Emperor’s funeral. It was at the request of Zeno’y’lk.

  Zeno’y’lk, who was 108 when he became Emperor, was highly intelligent and brilliant. At the end of the First World War he made the Army as equally as strong, if not superior to Kase’hyn’nkk’s Army. He also saw huge potential in air power and work tirelessly to convince the Navy to build aircraft carriers. He wanted to make his father proud of him, and he was.

  Zeno’y’lk realized that, either the government of Kase’hyn’nkk was being politically motivated to the point of being, as he put it, ‘divinely ignorant,’ or they wanted war with Hau’rino. He knew that it was neither. But he said that if the Kase’hyn’nkk government maintains their current course of action; then it probably would become the latter.

  Zeno’y’lk hatched a plan that w
ould change the course of history forever. His plan also created a last ditch chance for peace. The plan involved creating an Iraxxan version of SAW that would become the Iraxxan Union. When the Kase’hyn’nkk government learn the details on the Iraxxan Union, they were vehemently opposed to its creation. They said that the Iraxxan Union would take away the sovereignty of its members, cause the former Iraxxan CAS members to attempt to convince the former members of the Waldaxx CAS, and thus SAW, to join it. What’s more, as they also claimed, it would lead to some form of a global government.

  Zeno’y’lk called the Kase’hyn’nkks arguments nothing more than fear mongering, and he was right. Not one single argument of the government of Kase’hyn’nkk was based in fact. The Iraxxan Union could never expand beyond the Iraxxan continent. The Iraxxan Union would help to bring peace and stability to the continent, which is one reason why there was a CAS in the first place on the Iraxxan continent. The Iraxxan Union could end trade wars that come and go. And bring the much needed prosperity to the continent that should be able to end the economic depression for them.

  After the Iraxxan Union was formed, the relationship between the Hau’rino and Kase’hyn’nkk governments went downhill. There was some debate in the Hau’rino intelligence community as to whether they should send La’jyn’eu Ikkry’o (la jin e-u e-cree-o), i.e., Double Shock to Kase’hyn’nkk to spy upon them. They debated that because there was an insurrection group who was apposed to the formation of the Iraxxan Union. Double Shock not only helped the local authorities in crushing the group, but he also learned that they were acting alone. With the insurrectionist group finished off he was recalled back to Hau’rino in preparation of their next move.