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

by Douglas Howell

  Nobody said anything when Green Team return. They let them figure out what happened to them. They were just too tired to do much talking. Nakada had Brewster and Anderson bury Sanders’ body. When Sanchez woke up Nakada told her what they found. Sanchez then had Nakada take over and she then went back to sleep.

  “Ma’am, there is an EOD troop deployment helicopter up there, but none of us could pilot it.” Nakada informed Sanchez after she woke up.

  “Why didn’t you tell me that before I went back to sleep?”

  “I’m sorry ma’am. It slip my mind. Ma’am, can anybody in your team pilot that helicopter?” Nakada asked Sanchez.

  “Yes, I can.”

  Sanchez then left on the motorcycle and headed to the helicopter. She placed the motorcycle in the helicopter and then left. Both Blue and Green Team started to talk about something, about the meaning of a three word phrase that the Dragon Clone used.

  “Sir, you wouldn’t by any chance know what Hammer of Doom means, do you? We heard that… that thing mentioned it.” Kaminski asked Nakada.

  “How did he use it in a sentence?” Nakada asked. The fear in him started to rise.

  “He mentioned that he was a messenger from the Hammer of Doom, sir.”

  Everyone could see the terror in Nakada’s face when he heard that. For those who thought they knew what it meant both terror and panic swept their hearts away.

  “What is the Hammer of Doom!?” Anderson asked.

  “Hammer as in the Hammer King Lenkov and Doom as in Cyber Doom Omori.” Martinez responded.

  “No fucking way! You mean they’re here!?” Brewster asked.

  “I guess.” Coté responded.

  “What the fuck you mean, you guess!?” Venito asked.

  “I mean that thing indirectly implied that they are here.” Coté responded.

  “There’s no way we can take them on! Remember Valkyrie!? Lenkov wasn’t a Fleet Captain then!” Choy said.

  “Holy shit man! We’re all going to die here!” Kim said. He was getting hysterical.

  “You don’t know that.” Nakada said. He was trying to stop them from panicking.

  “You weren’t here sir! So you don’t know what we went through just trying to kill that damn ugly fucking thing!” Nguyen said.

  “Let’s just wait for Sanchez to return! She’ll know what to do!” Nakada said.

  “Yeah right sir! The only reason why we killed that damn thing was out of dumb luck! It started to make some type of noise, Martinez punched it in the throat and then it’s head exploded!” Coté said.

  “Well then, let just wait until Sanchez get back.” Nakada said.

  “What good is she going to do us sir!?” Hoffneisten said.

  “I don’t know! But let’s just wait for her anyway!”

  “Have anybody ever defeated either Lenkov and/or Omori?” Caparzo asked.

  “No.” Martinez responded.

  “Oh god man! We don’t stand a chance! How are we expected to survive!?” Van Hoven said.

  “You know that before we lost our Intel on this region, somebody was here.” Nakada said.

  “Yeah, and they all got killed!” Nguyen responded.

  “Man we came here for nothing!” Coté responded.

  “Look, someone had to survive in order for us to get that Intel.” Nakada said.

  “Maybe that’s part the Hammer of Doom’s plan sir!” Anderson said.

  “What for? Look, let’s just wait for Sanchez to get here and see what she had to say. And that’s an order!” Nakada said. He’s starting to act like an officer.

  “But sir…” Coté responded.

  “And I said that its an order!” Nakada yelled.

  As time went on, each member of both Blue and Green Team had time to think about their situation. The very fact that they lost someone. The fact that there is a Commando on Galactic Prime. The fact that they’re trapped on that world until they can destroy all five of those anti-air guns. They thought about it all and had no idea of what to do. They hoped that either Vaistll and/or one the other officers will know what to do. When Sanchez got back she was in no mood for their pettiness.

  “Ma’am, we need to talk.” Martinez said to Sanchez.

  “What about?”

  “Ma’am, Joseph Lenkov and Sayaka Omori is here.” Martinez mentioned.

  “What? Where?”

  “Ma’am?” Martinez said.

  “Where did they land at?” Sanchez asked him.

  “I don’t know ma’am.”

  “Then why are you bothering me with this?”

  “You heard what that thing said ma’am.” Martinez said.

  “Refresh my memory.”

  “He mentioned that he was a messenger from the Hammer of Doom. You know Hammer as in…”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I already know that. But what’s your point?”

  “Ma’am. Ah… they’re here.” Martinez said. He was starting to get confused by her forgetfulness.

  “I heard you once. Where are they?” Sanchez asked him.

  “We don’t know.”

  “So you guys have no idea if both of them is here on vacation or, rather or not that thing was just messing with our heads, is that it?”

  “Ma’am, I um…”

  “Is that it?” Sanchez said in a demanding tone of voice.

  “We don’t know ma’am?”

  “That’s right. You don’t know. None of you do. All of you need to get your act together and that’s an order. Blue Team… get on board. Green Team… get down to the terminal and wait for either me, or Task Force ZH-3C to return. Use that bike only for emergencies.” Sanchez ordered them.

  Sanchez was being what Hayes and Nakada isn’t – an officer. She didn’t let their fears get the better of them nor her own. She knows that in all likelihood both Lenkov and Omori is out there somewhere, but she won’t show any fear. Fear is a contagion that must be controlled. She is not interested in being their friend, as in the case with both Hayes and Nakada, she is trying to be a good officer despite her faults. She forced them to internalize their fears so that it can be controlled through successes. Which is what a good officer is suppose to do.

  When Sanchez left she headed westward to see where those tracks lead to. She did not like what she saw – a medium size city. From the looks of it, the city looked big enough for one quarter of a million people. The city was at a natural harbor. Seeing enough, Sanchez headed back to the rest of Task Force ZH-3C to let them know what happened and what they found.

  (3)

  When the Dragon Clone placed the explosive on the Captain’s chair on Galactic Prime and left, Mad Dawg tried his best to get up and leave. Because of his wounds it was not easy. When he got to door to the bridge he heard the explosive started to beep faster indicating that it was fixing to go off. He then turned to look at it and waited for his maker. But there was no explosion.

  “I told you I was going to let you live Captain. And why is that?” The recorded Dragon Clone’s voice said. It came from the explosive. Mad Dawg then collapse and fainted.

  Mad Dawg later woke up in sickbay with his hand reattached. He seemed quiet. Not like himself. But nobody said anything. They all felt the same way. Until Mad Dawg and/or Braddick was well enough to return back to duty, Chester had to assume command.

  “So when can you guys get the lights back up and running?” Chester asked the rest of the engineering staff in Engineering.

  “Sir, it’s not as simple as you might think.” Robinson said.

  “I didn’t think that it would be, but when can you turn the lights back on?”

  “Sir, we don’t have what we need to fix the lights. If we went back to Roscadia then…” Johnson was saying.

  “We are not going back to Roscadia.” Chester said with his voice slightly raised.

  “Sir, if we stay it would be suicidal.” Bartley said.

  “And how do you know rather or not the Hammer of Doom will let us leave this system.”


  “I don’t sir.”

  “That’s right, you don’t. So what do you need to fix the lights?” Chester asked them.

  “But sir, we don’t have what we need.” Johnson said.

  “I heard you the first time. What do you need to fix the lights?”

  “Both the wiring and the cables were damaged and…” Robinson was saying.

  “Can you bypass them?” Chester asked.

  “No sir.” Robinson said.

  “Can you get the wiring and cables from another part of the ship?”

  “Sir, the lights need special wiring and cables.” Bartley said.

  “Answer my question!” Chester said. He was starting to get upset with them.

  “Yes sir we can get them from another part of the ship.” Robinson said.

  “From where?”

  “Only the barracks sir.” Robinson said.

  “I want each of you to get on it right now. I’ll go inform the captain.”

  “But sir…” Johnson was saying.

  “I said to ‘get on it’!” Chester yelled at them.

  “Yes sir.”

  The engineers left, and with great reservations, did as they were told. All of them knew that it was very dangerous to mess around with electricity in the dark. But they also understood Chester’s line of argument. After what the crew had just been through they need some type of victory, even if it just to turn the lights back on.

  The engineers were able to extract all the wires and cables that was needed. But it left the barracks pitch black. The Marines did, and did not care that the barracks would be so dark. They just wanted the lights back on in the rest of the ship. But as it would turn out, only the critical areas of the ship would get the lights back on.

  “Sir, how are you doing?” Chester asked Mad Dawg.

  “What do you think? We almost got eliminated by one single Commando.” Mad Dawg responded. Chester could hear depression in his voice.

  “They made a mistake sir.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “We know how they infiltrated the ship. When we get back home High Command would make all the necessary changes to prevent it from occurring again.”

  “They’re nothing more than bureaucrats appointed by spineless politicians. They’re going to look at the money considerations first. Besides, we’re dealing with the Hammer of Doom. They’ll adapt, make changes, make it harder to defeat them the next time around. It’s pointless to resist them.”

  “That doesn’t sound like you sir. Your crew needs you.”

  “The crew needs a miracle. And that’s something that I can’t provide them with.”

  “Sir, I just wanted you to know that I had the engineers rip out the wiring and cables in the barracks in order to repair the lights. And I just wanted to know what you thought about it.”

  “I don’t care. It’s fine with me.”

  “You know captain, the crew still believes in you. Even those who rebelled against you still have faith in you. Please captain, for the good of the crew, don’t act the way in which you are. The crew needs you now more than ever. Please don’t let us down.” Chester said.

  Mad Dawg didn’t said anything so Chester left. He was so disappointed in the Captain that he came to idolize. As soon as the engineers fix the lights on the bridge, Chester decided to talk with Vaistll in hopes that she will know what to do. But as he would learn from her, there is not much that she can do. She told him that he needs Mad Dawg, not her.

  (4)

  Lenkov and Omori just got through with the debriefing of the Dragon Clone. The Dragon Clone told them everything, including how he didn’t kill Sulloway and the other chief of engineering. He also told them that he let those five Marines live outside the bridge. Neither Lenkov nor Omori cared. Nor did they care when he told them that he didn’t kill everyone on the bridge, including Mad Dawg. The total number of Marines that he killed: 78, total number wounded: 14.

  “Just as we thought. The bureaucracy will not upgrade the defenses of a typical Marine and/or Space Core ship.” Lenkov said to Omori after the Dragon Clone left. Both of them where in the Command Room on Starbase VXN-2212/O.

  “So why did High Command consider it so important to use a Dragon Clone in the manner in which we had to? Is it that they wanted to see if my hacking techniques could cripple a ship to permit a unit to infiltrate a ship? Don’t they realize that if my hacking techniques are overused, both the Marines and Space Core will adapt to them?” Omori asked.

  “Did they ever wanted to master your hacking techniques?”

  “No. They said that they only wanted me to use it for them on special occasions.”

  “Did they say what type of occasions?”

  “Nope. They said that they will let me know.”

  “Perhaps High Command want to use the Dragon Clones to infiltrate a special type of a starbase and/or spaceship.”

  “Like what type?”

  “Science, an embassy or maybe even Presidential.”

  “I thought all those types of places was protected by a Space Core battle cruiser.”

  “Then I have no idea.”

  “You must have one.”

  “No I don’t. Look, you have to go back to the 17th century before you get an era were military ships are infiltrated, err, boarded by anyone.”

  “Could it be that they wanted to test a Dragon Clone on a group of Marines?” Omori said. She really had no idea so she took a shot in dark.

  “Why would they do something so absurd as that when they know the Dragon Clones will be tested in battle later?”

  “Well, let’s look at it this way: a ship is like a building. It would be a very simplistic way to test the very possibility, no matter how remote, of using Dragon Clones to infiltrate a special type of a building. We should look at from this point of view: a ship is there. And the EOD does have the reputation of testing certain new weapons on either Project 21, the Marines and/or Space Core.”

  “That does sound plausible.”

  “But could there be another explanation?”

  “No. I don’t think that there could be. But what would make a place so important for the Council of the Elders and/or High Command to go through all of this trouble?”

  “Maybe the place in question is Infernus.” Omori said. It caused Lenkov to think long and hard about that and he didn’t have an answer.

  Infernus is what astronomers call a second Earth (a planet that resembles the Earth). Infernus did not have any intelligent life upon it when it was first discovered. The Council of the Elders then quickly move to hush up its discovery. They then used non-intelligent androids to build a huge manufacturing plant. The plant made everything that is needed to conceal the planet, namely nanoprobes. They also wanted to conceal other terrestrial planets, and several moons orbiting a couple of the gas giants in the system. But the place concealed a very dark secret.

  It was Omori who uncovered that dark secret. She uncovered it before both her and Lenkov was sent to Valkyrie. The EOD High Command wanted to test her hacking abilities, so they had her hack their computers. When she did, she got so deep that she found Infernus. High Command then informed the Council of the Elders who was so shocked that words cannot describe their reactions. They then told Omori that she can have anything that she wants if, and only if both she and Lenkov keeps that place a secret. (She lied to them saying that she told him.) The only thing that she said that she wanted was for both her and Lenkov to stay together. The Council, without hesitation, signed a decree permitting it. But there was an oddity in that that both Lenkov and Omori would quickly learn.

  It is strictly forbidden (absolutely for outsiders) for two people (especially those who are in love) to serve together under any circumstances. The EOD always considered it a form of a control mechanism. But the Council of the Elders made an exception for two outsiders – a first. Why? What’s so important about a second Earth called Infernus? Now, when astronomers look at the planet they no longer see a secon
d Earth they see a volcanic world. Why would the Council do such a thing when they never did anything like that before? Why use non-intelligent androids to eliminate anyone who goes there, either by an accident or by design? Those were questions that neither Lenkov and Omori ever could get an answer to. They never asked because they knew that no one would tell them.

  The dark secret that Omori uncovered is where those non-intelligent androids got those nanoprobes from. They first of all created a group of nanoprobes to strip mine a planet. The planet was reduced to nanoprobes that could make Infernus look like a volcanic world, as well as a group of nanoprobes that could conceal the other terrestrial planets and moons. Because those nanoprobes have a shelve life they need to be replenish or they will become useless. Omori calculated that those stealth nanoprobes in the 27th to 28th century will completely disappear if they are not replenished. But the Council has no desire to replenish them. Why? It’s obvious that they are building something, but what? Lenkov and Omori never learned what was being built.

  But what became what both Lenkov and Omori call a, “rusted nail in our sides,” is the fact that the planet that got stripped mined was inhabited by roughly 7.5 billion people. That a previously unknown ET civilization was wiped out of existence. Their knowledge, who they are and more is gone. Lenkov and Omori always wanted to know if something of those people were left behind but the Council of the Elders will not tell them.

  Both Lenkov and Omori are not murderers, but they work for those who are. The incidence at that planet had always deeply troubled both of them. They had to keep it deep down inside of themselves. It’s not like they had a choice in the matter. And now that they are thinking about it again may cause that rusted nail to turn. It is not strong enough to cause them to betray the EOD, but it would be one the reasons if they did.