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

by Douglas Howell

  “Asshole to the end.” Sanchez responded and then she’d died. Caparzo laughed and died himself.

  “Holy shit! Lieutenant Sanchez and Caparzo is down!” Coté responded when she saw both of them die. Coté, Nakada and Martinez was in a gun turret on top of the hill. It was the only one on top of the hill as well as the only one with a sniper tower.

  “What’s their status?” Nakada asked her. He was too busy shooting to notice what had happened.

  “Dead. Both of them are dead sir. We’re all that’s left of Blue Team.” Coté responded.

  During the assault Martinez snipe at the Demon Cy-Xs. When they started to come up the hill he tried to snipe as many as he could. When Martinez could no longer see the Demon Cy-Xs he went back to sniping at any Demon Cy-Xs that he could see until he ran out of ammo for his sniper rifle. Not once did Martinez lose his cool while he was sniping at them. Not even when shots came very close to him. His coolness under fire is most likely what saved their lives. The three of them stayed there until the day activities were over.

  White Team was in the best most fortified position of any team, even though they did not have any gun turrets to protect them. They had no reaction nor any comments when they saw Hoffneisten drive by in the APC. They kind of figured what they were going to do. Before Hoffneisten got near to the Dominator, Hayes had to radio to them that it was not safe for them to return back the way in which they went. Most of the army of demons attempted to come up that pathway. They first tried to come up with a robotic tank, but one of the Dragon Clone defenders destroyed it. After that three of those tanks started to open fire repeatedly until they too were destroyed. At the same time that those robotic tanks were firing at the defenders the army of demons came in full force. It didn’t took them long to break through the first line of defenses.

  “Here they come!” Mendoza yelled out to everyone.

  “Let ‘em have it!” Hayes hollered back. With that everyone started to open fire.

  The army of demons came in a never ending wave of shear terror. No matter how many were killed it never seemed like it was enough to stop them. No army could endure the losses that they were without quitting. And yet they kept on coming. It was unsettling to see that many. Each one so huge, each one armed and each one determined to kill.

  The army of demons then came at them with APCs, a couple of tanks, and ground forces. The tanks along with some of those ground forces tried to kill the defenders with anti-vehicle weapons. They also did it to allow the main assault forces to get to monorail station. If the army of demons could hold their ground where the monorail station is, they would have a major foothold in their assault to retake the lab complex. Once they acquire the ground it is only a matter of time before the parking garage falls, and once that happens, there will be no stopping them.

  The gunner of the first APC that made it in got off a shot before he was killed. The shot almost killed Weng, it hit a glass window to his right and sprayed him with broken glass. Weng was okay, but before he could react he was shot right above his right knee. As he came up he was shot in the throat but at an angle that only grazed him. He then threw a grenade with his left hand and before he could retract his hand he was shot in the wrist. As he turned to look at his left wrist (and crying out in pain) he was shot through his right temple and died immediately. His lifeless body then fell over the railing.

  Over the next few minutes the Demon Cy-Xs attempted to gain a tactical foothold near a blind spot in the weakened defenses. Eventually they were able to gain that foothold at great loss on their part. They didn’t care about their losses. Why should they? But the toll of the repeated assaults started to have an immediate effect upon the defenders. They could easily hold their ground against the infantry, but not the vehicles. It was just a matter of time. And then it happened.

  A group of Demon Cy-Xs risked their lives so that one of them who was wearing a suicide vest, could get near the monorail station. The defenders tried in vane to stop him as he headed to the lower level of the monorail station. The explosion ripped open a large hole in the monorail station rendering it useless as a means of defense, but it also brought the railing down.

  “Go on! Get out here! I’ll provide you with cover fire!” Hayes ordered Bryce and Lucarelli who was standing on the railing when it collapsed. Hayes was trapped in the monorail station and had no way to get down safely.

  Seeing the opportunity that presented itself the Demon Cy-Xs immediately rushed the defenders and headed towards the monorail station. Hayes was able to hold them off for quite some time. He had to scream several times at Bryce and Lucarelli to leave him. Both of them took up a defensive position behind a wrecked APC trying to give Hayes enough time to escape. They finally left him when they saw a APC coming, but by then it was too late. Both of them turned to run and before a Dragon Clone was able to destroy the APC, Lucarelli was shot dead. Bryce himself was shot in the back and trying to crawl to the defenders position. Not wanting anybody to try to rescue him and get killed themselves, Bryce kept quiet.

  “Get back! I think… that I can make it!” Bryce yelled at a couple of Dragon Clones who was coming to his rescue. They made it to his position, took up a defensive position and was able to carry him away when the Demon Cy-Xs started to go after Hayes. But it didn’t matter. A large group of Demon Cy-Xs when they saw the three of them, rushed their position and killed them. That group was then killed by the defenders. Bryce may be dead, but it stopped that group of Demon Cy-Xs from either going after Hayes or taking up a strong defensive position.

  “We need to rescue the lieutenant. He’s all alone over there.” Behlmer mentioned to everyone when there was lull in the fighting.

  “If we do then we’re dead. I mean… you saw what happen to Bryce and Lucarelli.” Cole responded.

  “If it wasn’t for him we would be dead anyway.” Robinson mentioned.

  “Rather you go or not, we’re going.” A Dragon Clone mentioned to them.

  “What?! Why?!” Cole asked him.

  “The wrecked APCs offer us the chance to take up a new defensive position. There’s no way that they can get anymore vehicles in. You can stay, but we’re going.” The Dragon Clone responded. The four Dragon Clones who were the only ones with the anti-vehicular weapons, two Dragon Clones who had an Electro auto-rifle, Cole, Behlmer, Mendoza and Robinson then left to take up a defensive position at the wrecked APCs.

  While Cole and Mendoza was trying to find a way to get Hayes down, the Demon Cy-Xs attack with the last remaining vehicles that they had. After those vehicles were destroyed the Dragon Clones with the anti-vehicular weapons used those weapons against the Demon Cy-Xs until they ran out of ammo. Because some of the Demon Cy-Xs would run at the defenders shooting, while others stood and shoot, it didn’t take long before the defenders started to lose ground.

  “Behlmer and Robinson are dead! Get him down… NOW!” One of the Dragon Clone yelled at Cole and Mendoza. Only the two Dragon Clones with the Electros were left when Hayes was down. From the moment that they got there, to the moment that they got Hayes down, no more than three minutes passed, but it felt like an eternity to them.

  “Fall back to secondary positions!” Hayes yelled at everyone. It was clear to him that they are going to lose that area and they had no other choice but to fall back to where the wounded Dragon Clones are. He also noticed that a large force of the army of demons broke off and headed for the beach. He knew that they didn’t stand a chance, but they were large enough to come within a ace in wiping them out of existence.

  The secondary defenses were nothing more than row after row of vehicles line up perpendicular to that of the two buildings. The bumper of each vehicles were touching the buildings in order to make room for any vehicles and/or ground forces that may need to go up the road. Only the most serious of the wounded Dragon Clones were in the buildings and providing sniper fire. The rest of the wounded along with thirteen other Dragon Clones were kept behind those vehicles.

&
nbsp; While Hayes, Cole and Mendoza was running to the secondary position, the two Dragon Clones that they were with had to turn around and deal with a group of Demon Cy-Xs. Two more Dragon Clones came to provide assistance to them. All four was killed in a matter of moments. When Cole was just several feet from one of the line of defenses he too was shot and killed. During that time period, the five Dragon Clones who was still left in the parking garage made a suicidal run at the Demon Cy-Xs. Although all five were killed, it gave Hayes and Mendoza the chance to make it to the defenses. But before Hayes could give the order to both Cole and Mendoza to man the APC up the road, Cole was killed. Both Hayes and Mendoza then ran up the road to the APC just as that line of defense had fallen. When the two of them were several yards up the road, both was shot several times. When Hayes turned to look at Mendoza he noticed that Mendoza was dead. As Hayes got up he was shot, he then dropped to his knees, and was shot again.

  “Charge!” One of the Dragon Clones yelled out. Five Dragon Clones and three wounded ones, then charged the Demon Cy-Xs. They knew what Hayes was trying to do and they were trying to assist him. What’s more they could almost smell victory. Just a little longer and…

  When Hayes, who was limping because of his wounds, was halfway up the road he heard the Dragon Clones being overrun. He then quickly hurried with every bit of his strength and was shot when he was only a few feet from the APC. He then rolled over on his back and noticed that he was left. All thirty of the Dragon Clones was killed and Hayes was seriously wounded. He then rolled back over and quickly tried to get inside the APC before it’s too late. Luckily for him the door was opened. But before he was able to climb inside, he was shot in his left side. He then rolled over and killed the Demon Cy-Xs that was near. He then climbed in the APC, manned the plasma cannon, and killed the last of the remaining Demon Cy-Xs. But there was one last thing that he had to do.

  “Ma’am… this is Hayes. I’ve managed… to stop… the army of demons. Everybody over here… is dead. Including me.” And with that, Hayes breathe his last.

  Although it was difficult for them to do it, and nobody thought that they would have done it, the large group of Demon Cy-Xs that decided to head to the beach managed to get over the rough terrain. When they got on the beach they encountered Red Team, Ramirez and the rest of the Dragon Clones. Trivelli and two Dragon Clones was hit by shrapnel from a grenade. They were then quickly killed when the Demon Cy-Xs rushed in. Ellis, Moriarty, Viper 33X, and three Dragon Clones were left on that part of the beach.

  Ellis was surrounded and at any moment he could get killed. Moriarty stood there shooting and being shot at until he was shot in the stomach. He then dropped to his knees and was killed. Two of the three Dragon Clones was in hand-to-hand combat before they too were killed. The third Dragon Clone was in the same predicament as Moriarty and he too was quickly killed. Viper 33X was caught between the wall of a gun turret and a kill zone. It was only a matter of time before both he, and Ellis, is killed. But what saved them is when five Dragon Clones came out of a nearby gun turret to provide assistance. As for Ellis, it was Ramirez and Jaguar 42R who saved him. Both of them was at the entrance that led to the underground sector of the lab complex, and thus, much further away. Although Viper 33X and the five other Dragon Clones attempted to move to a much better firing position, two of them was killed and the other three was overrun before they got there. Viper 33X saved the beach because he was now in a position that could not be overrun. Before Wexler, Guerrero, Liebowitz and the last five Dragon Clones got into the action, the last wave of Demon Cy-Xs came over the terrain. Liebowitz was killed when three Demon Cy-Xs rushed his position. Guerrero was killed when he, and three Dragon Clones, rushed the position of some Demon Cy-Xs. Two of the Dragon Clones was killed when they saved the life of both Ramirez and Ellis who was fixing to be overrun. And then it was over. The only people left alive on the beach were: Ramirez, Ellis, Jaguar 42R, Viper 33X and Wexler. Shortly afterwards, they heard Hayes deliver his final message.

  (7)

  “This is Lenkov, go ahead.” Lenkov said to Vaistll who just called him to inform him that it was all over. The video feed was poor, but the audio was clear.

  “The army of demons… have been crushed.” Vaistll mentioned.

  “How many of your people survived?”

  “Taylor, Ramirez, Nakada, Ellis, Martinez, Wexler and Coté. As for the Dragon Clones only Jaguar 42R and Viper 33X is left.” She said under her breath.

  “Understood. I have a mission for you and them. A mission that would destroy the… army of demons once and for all. I need bait. Something that will lure Dawson and his army of demons out so that they can be eliminated. You, and your new team, will eliminate them. Me, Sayaka and Captain Maxwell will act as the bait. We’re coming down.” Lenkov said. It caught Vaistll off guard when he mentioned that. After what she and the Dragon Clones went through, he’s coming down? Is he crazy or what? Or maybe it’s something else.

  “Sir, are sure that’s wise?” Vaistll asked him.

  “He’s insane. He wants revenge. You are nothing to him. I am everything to him. The most succulent fruit of victory that he could ever taste. He’ll come with wasteful tactics. Giving you the chance to end this nightmare once and for all.” Lenkov mentioned.

  Soulless Beast

  (1)

  It was late in the evening when the reporters arrived at the lab complex at Lenkov’s request. He did that because in all likelihood Captain Dawson would be watching and anything that Lenkov or Omori did or say would, or should, have some type of effect upon Dawson. Lenkov’s plan to get Dawson to go after both him and Omori worked, but maybe a little too well. What irked Dawson the most was the “believable lies” that Omori mentioned about him. At that moment in time Dawson was awake for at least thirty-six hours and now… And now there was no way he go to sleep even if he wanted to. He had too much on his mind. The possibility of getting rid of both Lenkov and Omori, the fact that he finally realized just how smart they are and how severely he underestimated them. And of course what should his next course of action be. How could he sleep?

  At six o’clock in the morning Dawson got another rude awakening. Lenkov had a psychological report on Dawson released to the press and it mentioned that “in all likelihood Captain Dawson has lost his mind and is no longer fit for military service.” Of course Dawson knew that anything else within the report is nothing more than propaganda and the press would back Lenkov and Omori up when it is sent to the Council. That would, in return, spell the death of Dawson. (It was also standard procedure to inform all EOD military bases in the sector. In the case of Golden Hyperion it meant several star systems.) It was now obvious to Dawson that he is on the verge of losing everything. Of course, Dawson started to think that he knew what Lenkov and Omori was truly up to.

  Dawson stood there looking up at the monitor for several moments with an evil look upon his face. He then went down to the control room for the cloning facility and began to reprogram the Demon Cy-Xs. After the program took he disable all security protocols and then ramp up the production of Demon Cy-Xs. Now the army of Demons would come more often as oppose to once a week. But the downside is the fact that they are more of a mindless unstoppable killing machine with no way to control them. If the Council knew what he just done they would order his immediate termination. Dawson however, no longer cared. All he wanted was revenge and death.

  Three hour and thirty-seven minutes after Dawson destroyed the control panel, he’d realized that he made a horrible mistake. From the sounds that was coming from the cloning facility he could tell that the Demon Cy-Xs were beyond control. Knowing that he was trapped he started to look for anyplace that he could retreat to. There was only one. A secret area that was storing something. Something that even he didn’t know what it was. All information on what it could be was missing. (Rymer took the data, then erased it.) He had no other choice but to go. To go to a place with only one way in or out. And that pathway, will of course, be p
erilous.

  Dawson had to run to an elevator first and along the way he saw three Demon Cy-Xs coming for him. From their behavior he could tell that they will destroy any, and all, humans that they see. He kill them but it attracted more of them to his location. When he was fifty-four feet from the elevator he noticed that it was down and he didn’t have enough time to call it back up. He stood there for several moments killing all that came. And then… And then he’d realized that he was surrounded and that had no escape accept for the elevator shaft. He then ran to the elevator shaft to grab the safety harness and to reload his gun. But it was too late. The Demon Cy-Xs were almost on top of him while he was trying to put on the safety harness. So he had no other choice but to jump down the shaft. Luckily for him the shaft was more than a thousand feet. But it was also very wide since it was used to bring up equipment from the storage area below. And because of it’s width, the Demon Cy-Xs jumped down after him.

  Dawson holding the safety harness in his left hand and with the first strap around his left leg, fell over backwards over the railing that surround the elevator shaft. (He did that so that it would be easier to put the harness on while he’s falling.) He then let go of his rifle (and thanking God for Newton) so that he could continue putting the harness on. Three seconds after he put the strap around his right leg (he did not have time to tighten it like he was able to do with his left leg) he noticed that the Demon Cy-Xs were jumping down the elevator shaft. He then reloaded his gun, let go of it again, and began to put the safety harness around his left arm. He then noticed that one of the Demon Cy-Xs were taking others and throwing them at him. He grabbed the rifle with his left hand and started to shoot them at the same time he tighten the strap around his left shoulder. Using his right arm he then grabs the strap for his right arm, put his arm through it, and got it over his shoulder. While switching hands with the rifle, he used his left hand to tighten the strap on his right shoulder, he then grabbed the grappling gun attached to the harness with his left hand. Running out of time, and ammo, he fired the grappling gun at the wall of the shaft and then let go of it. When he came to a stop he looked down and noticed that he had less than twenty feet left. Out of ammo, he took his knife on his left shoulder and cut the cord on the safety harness off.