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

by Douglas Howell

  If the EOD ever learned of the existence of Andromeda they will eliminate both Joseph and Sayaka and take over Andromeda. The pirates know that and both Joseph and Sayaka knows that. The pirates won’t say anything to the EOD. Their world is too lucrative to lose to the EOD. And that is one reason why Joseph and Sayaka leave them alone and vice versa.

  A Kick In The Gut

  (1)

  Chester was standing on the bridge with his heart buried deep within his stomach. Sweating with fear and dread at what he was seeing. It’s one of those type of things that could turn a person’s hair white. The shock and horror at what he was seeing caused him to have a bowel movement.. Trembling with fear he know that their mission was over long before it began. He was not the only one on the bridge who felt that way. He was looking at a Heavy Battle Cruiser.

  A Light Battle Cruiser has between 7-7 ½ thousand personnel on board. A Medium Battle Cruiser has between 8-8 ½ thousand and a Heavy Battle Cruiser has between 9-9 ½ thousand personnel on board. Even if there was no damage, no one got killed, and there was a third ship like that of Galactic Prime, there would be a slight possibility that a fight with a Heavy Battle Cruiser would break even. Not even Mad Dawg is crazy enough to take on a Heavy Battle Cruiser.

  Chester and everyone on the bridge saw the Heavy Battle Cruiser moved close enough to the starbase. But it did not, nor could it, dock with the starbase. They then saw the rings on the starbase detach and move closer to the ship. When the rings were close enough, it’s guns detach and connected to the ship. One of the guns connected to the nose, one of them connected to the tail, one connected on the bottom, two connected on the ship’s left side and two connected on the wings of the ship. The rings, with one gun still on it, folded into smaller rings, but did not connect to the ship. The shields then detach and connect to the ship. Two of them connected on the left side and two on the right side of the ship. The rings than moved to the saucer part of the starbase. The left third and right third part of the saucer then detach, moved lower, connect to one another and then connect to the stem of the starbase. It connected below the mid third of the saucer. The rings than connected to the mid third of the saucer. The starbase than moved to the mid and top part of the ship. The starbase than moved into a “hole” in the starship allowing it to connect to it. Only a small part of the stem could be seen at the top and bottom of the ship. At that moment, both ship and starbase was one in the same. It told the bridge of Galactic Prime that they were looking at a killer of fleets.

  “Sir… we’re being hailed.” A Private said in a very nervous manner.

  Chester didn’t say anything. He just stood there wide eyed and scared. The Private, with his hand trembling with fear, pushed the button to open the channel.

  “This is EOD Heavy Battle Cruiser… The Hammer of Doom. To whom am I speaking to?” Omori asked in a polite tone of voice.

  Sayaka was in the Command Room of what once was Starbase VXN-2212/O. She was wearing a black and white dress with matching hat. Sayaka looked so beautiful, alluring, captivating, like she could take a man’s breath and his heart away. The effect was complete on a man like Chester who is single and has no girlfriend.

  Mad Dawg, including those who knows Sayaka’s tricks, would call Chester a fool. She dress down in a effort to tune down her beauty when it’s business as usual. But when she needs to negotiate, she puts on a beautiful dress to show just how beautiful she really is. It distracts weak men like Chester, but not married men who loves or is devoted to their wives. But when someone thinks that they can outsmart her by having Sayaka negotiate with a woman, Sayaka tries to push that woman’s buttons to bring out the bitch within her. When Sayaka pushes a woman’s buttons, she does it in a classy manner. Even if she loses the negotiations with a woman, she will still win with class. Mad Dawg knows that the best way to handle Sayaka’s charm offensive is to let a married man (like him), who loves or is devoted to his wife (like him), to negotiate with her. All they have to do is to show her respect.

  “Sir, she asked you a question.” The Private said after a few moments passed.

  “Um… um… Chester. William J.” He forgot to give his rank, not his first name.

  “Please to meet you Bill.” Omori said after she smiled. She smiled because she knew she got him. “I don’t mean to seem rude… but I’m going to have to ask something of you. You won’t think that I’m rude when I ask my question, will you?”

  “No, I won’t think that you’re rude. What is your question?”

  “Arigatou. Please forgive me when I say this… but in the best interest of you and your crew I must ask you to surrender. And if you do… I give you my word as a lady that no harm will befall upon you or your crew.”

  “Alright.” Chester said. When he saw that ship he knew that it was over. He then said, “Our intercom is no longer functioning ma’am. We have to use the helmet-com system.”

  “That’s alright. Just hurry up and surrender and get it over with.”

  Chester then sounded the alarm that announced to the crew that they are surrendering. Everyone was not surprised, but in a sad way, they are somewhat relieved.

  “The channel is open ma’am.” Chester said to Sayaka.

  “This is Sayaka Omori of the Heavy Battle Cruiser, The Hammer of Doom. You are hereby instructed to leave the ship and head to cargo bay 15 on our ship. Failure to comply will result in the immediate destruction of your ship. You have thirty minutes to comply. Over and out.” Omori said over Galactic Prime’s intercom system.

  While the crew of Galactic Prime was getting ready to send their wounded on over to the Hammer of Doom, Lenkov gave a speech to his crew. The speech was important because it told the crew of both his and Sayaka’s suspicions. The crew trust both of them very deeply and will follow them to the end of the universe and back. Their loyalty to Lenkov and Omori is greater than their loyalty to the EOD. It has everything to do with both of their popularity and how they treat the crew.

  Without Task Force ZH-3C knowing it, the entire crew of Galactic Prime just surrender to the enemy. It’s not like they had a choice. The crew was demoralized, everyone wants to leave the sector and go back to Roscadia, and none of them realized that if they did they would have been killed. Probably by Captain Parker being pissed off that he was reduced in rank.

  Everyone was overwhelmed when they saw The Hammer of Doom. Like all EOD ships it was sleek, stylish, beautiful and deadly. This one single ship was the personification of both Joseph and Sayaka, not the EOD. It was built on their home world Andromeda. The EOD did not know that they created it. And if they did? Joseph and Sayaka have no idea. But why should the EOD even care? Doesn’t loyalty matter more than popularity?

  The EOD never deceive itself into believing that valuable information can come from low-ranking enemy personnel. What about the torture of enemy officers? It all depends upon the circumstances and the senior CO. 65% of EOD officers will torture captured enemy officers, but not Joseph and Sayaka. They don’t believe in torture nor do they support it.

  “What did you two wanted to see me about?” Mad Dawg asked both Lenkov and Omori. Mad Dawg was taken to their quarters.

  Mad Dawg was in no physical condition to get into a fight. Even still he has one armed guard by his side. However, one look in his eyes said that wasn’t necessary. Mad Dawg was too depressed to care. He was grateful to still be alive and all he wanted was to go home and be with his wife. He wanted to retire from the service.

  “This is not an interrogation it is an inquiry.” Lenkov informed Mad Dawg.

  “Do not insult our hospitality by lying to us. All we want is information. The information that we want has nothing to do with either your mission, or Task Force ZH-3C mission. We have sources, our eyes and ears, and the information that they gave us has some holes in it. We know that you have some information that can fill up those holes. If you lie to us… than you and your crew will spend the rest of your lives in a EOD prison. The choice is yours.” Omori
said.

  “I will cooperate with you fully. What do both of you want to know?” Mad Dawg asked. Joseph and Sayaka could hear the depression in his voice.

  “It has been brought to our attention that a EOD Ultra Class vessel arrived at Roscadia. Our sources indicated that the ship was captured by a small military unit without firing a shot. Someone stole the ship after it was place under your protection. They also murdered the mayor, Commodore Parker and Admiral Lowenthal. We want to know who captured the ship and how did they do it? Who murdered the said mentioned people and how is it that they were able to steal the ship from you?” Lenkov asked Mad Dawg.

  Mad Dawg was smart enough to know that they know more than what they were letting on. He also know that they are trying to trap him when he lie to them. Mad Dawg know what it means to be sent to a EOD prison. He once rescue Space Core personnel from a EOD prison. Because of his depression he told them everything. He told them about Vaistll’s family, the hive and what it did to the Wol’ga’con home world, General Ydxx’od’omaa, he told them how that Ultra Class vessel arrived at Roscadia, the approximate time period that it came from, and what Vaistll’s family saw on that planet.

  “Wait a minute. Are you saying that planet was destroyed by some massive energy weapon?” Lenkov asked Mad Dawg.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Did that planet have any moons?” Omori asked Mad Dawg.

  “No. One of Captain Adnrwal’s brothers said that there was none.” Mad Dawg responded.

  “I guess that it’s not Infernus then.” Lenkov said to Omori.

  “What do you mean Infernus?” Mad Dawg asked.

  “It’s a place that the Council of the Elders considers so damn important that they will go to any length to hide it. Do not underestimate their desire to keep it a secret.” Omori said to Mad Dawg in a serious tone of voice.

  “You’re not lying to us, are you?” Lenkov asked.

  “No sir I am not.”

  “Well how do we know that we can trust you?” Omori asked.

  “I don’t know. I just want to go home.”

  “What about your mission?” Lenkov asked.

  “My mission was over when you killed my baby girl.”

  “What baby girl?” Lenkov asked. Mad Dawg didn’t say anything.

  “You’re depressed aren’t you?” Omori asked Mad Dawg.

  “What do you care?”

  “Look Mad Dawg… we know that you are telling us the truth. And just like you helped us to fill up that intelligence hole of ours, we’re going to give you some valuable information concerning a certain Commodore Parker.

  Mrs. Hoffman, Parker’s secretary, is one of our insiders. Oh, Sayaka gave her clean-up and clear-out orders. So she’s long gone by now. But this is what we learn from a recruiter: without Mrs. Hoffman knowing about it, Commodore Parker wanted to betray Project 21 and join the EOD. Having next to no value to us, Parker wanted to do something that would give him value. When he learned of the hive he naively thought that it could give him value. Knowing that the hive existed in the form of a person, he thought that if he let that person out than…” Lenkov was saying.

  “No way! No fucking way! That can’t be right! No, no, no, no, we saw his shuttle craft explode in front of our faces. His bio-signature was on that shuttle craft. There’s no way it could have been him! You two are mistaken!” Mad Dawg said. It’s not that he didn’t believe them, it’s just that he couldn’t believe that Parker could be so stupid.

  “Then how do you explain this?” Omori said as she handed Mad Dawg a PDA. It had the recruiter’s report on Parker, including a video statements from Parker on it.

  Mad Dawg couldn’t believe it. Not that Parker betrayed Project 21, it happens on both sides, but that Parker could unleash the hive upon the galaxy. How could Parker be so stupid? What the hell was he thinking? What, he did that because he wanted… value? Mad Dawg was so stunned by Parker’s blind stupidity that he was lost for words.

  “Then who was that on the shuttle craft?” Mad Dawg eventually asked.

  “We don’t know. We were hoping that you might have insights into who it might be.” Omori said.

  “No I don’t. But if I ever run across Parker, I’m going to kill that motherfucker.”

  “I wouldn’t worry to much about that. Parker has been demoted to captain, given command of a ship, and is headed back to Roscadia to assist in collecting intelligence. He’s orders are: after he has help to collect the intelligence, he has to hunt it down and kill the hive. So there’s the chance that he might become infected with it.” Lenkov said.

  “What do you mean, ‘hunt it down’? Isn’t Mrs. Ydxx’od’omaa on Roscadia?”

  “A Mafioso saw her with Parker the day after his supposed death. Parker was taken to a EOD facility for processing new recruits. Mrs. Ydxx’od’omaa stayed behind.” Lenkov said.

  “Why did she stayed behind?”

  “The Mafioso who took Parker away said that she implied that she was a prostitute. The Mafioso also said that she said that she had to go. But she didn’t say where.” Omori said.

  “Did anyone in Ms. Adnrwal’s family mentioned anything about the other symbiote?” Lenkov asked.

  “What other symbiote!? I told both of you that her brother said that it couldn’t live outside the host. There was only one symbiote on board that ship.” Mad Dawg said.

  “There are two things that you should know about. A hard drive was found at Parker’s house. The hard drive had a see-through container inside of it. There was some type of unknown liquid inside the container. Whatever was inside the container, cybernetics was used to connect a biological organism to the hard drive. The hard drive was needed to connect the organism to an external computer. The other thing that you need to know is that we had another insider at Roscadia.” Omori was saying.

  “Jesus! How many insiders did you guys have there?” Mad Dawg asked. Neither Joseph nor Sayaka committed on that. They only smiled.

  “Our other insider was a Mafioso by the name of Caleb J. “Little John” Minitello. Little John’s father was the mafia boss for the Vegas star system. Little John’s uncle, a mafia boss, was once the mayor of Roscadia. Little John’s blood was found at Parker’s house. According to the police report, Little John was either stabbed repeatedly or was cut open. A crooked cop later saw Little John driving Parker’s car with Parker and someone else in it. The height of that other person had to be Mrs. Ydxx’od’omaa. That was the last that anybody saw Little John.” Lenkov said.

  “Let me put it to you this way: Little John never would have travel without some form of protection. Little John knew that there was another insider there, but did not know who. It was Parker who came up with the idea on how to join the EOD. But he had to go to the mafia with it in the belief that they would know how to join us. That would explain why Little John would go there. Knowing that Parker wanted to join the EOD, and knowing that there was another insider at Roscadia he naturally would have let his guard down. But he would still have brought a gun with him. It wouldn’t take much for someone like Mrs. Ydxx’od’omaa to overpower him.” Omori said.

  Mad Dawg was slowly coming around to accepting what they were telling him was the truth. Why would they lie to him? If they were lying then what were they hoping to gain? If Mrs. Ydxx’od’omaa had all of those skills in her, including those skills from Special Forces, and if there was another type of a symbiote at Roscadia, it would explain a lot.

  “Let’s suppose that Little John did have a symbiote in him. Wouldn’t it explain a lot? Parker and Mrs. Ydxx’od’omaa may have been in cohorts with one another, but why would Little John join them? His family runs a criminal network. But if he did join them then it would explain a lot. Little John’s blood at Parker’s house, Little John’s behavior and why he would choose to disappear after the fact. Let me ask you this, seriously, who in the EOD, Project 21, or any other agency, is as good as that person who stole that Ultra Class vessel?” Lenkov said. The thought of the hi
ve being that good had a chilling effect upon Mad Dawg.

  “Oh my god!” Mad Dawg said.

  It all started to make perfect sense to Mad Dawg. How else could it be explained? If there was a second symbiote, and Little John had it in him, then it would explain how and who stole that ship. Who else could it have been? Nobody could be that good. Plus the person used unknown tactics.

  What Mad Dawg was especially afraid of is the thought that the hive has EOD technology that comes from the future. No one could stop it. It would consume the whole galaxy. The effect that it had upon him was profound. Mad Dawg no longer cared about doing his duty, or his ship, he had something far more important to care about – his wife.

  “Is there anything else that you wanted to tell us about that ship?” Omori asked.

  “I thought that both of you knew what it did to my ship and the fact that it’s here in this star system.” Mad Dawg responded.

  “Then the question becomes why is it here? And why did it provide you’re ship with assistance when you asked for it? Just how many of your people were on that ship?” Lenkov asked.

  “There was not that many of my people on that ship. There was a seven man unit, two doctors, some scientists and engineers. Both doctors were not suppose to be there but someone hacked over computer to have them go there. Whoever did it, was as good if not better, than you Sayaka.” Mad Dawg said.

  “You wouldn’t by any chance have their techniques on a hard drive, would you?” Omori asked.

  “Yes I do. In order to overcome what you did to our computers, I had to reinstall the computer core OS. In a effort to help others to overcome your techniques, including Little John, or whoever it was, who hacked our computers at Roscadia, I had the entire computer core OS and software copied to a backup computer core hard drive.” Mad Dawg said.

  “You can return back to your temporary quarters. We’re going to contact either Captain Parker and/or his recruiter in order to find out what precisely happen to Little John.” Lenkov said.