When they were within five minutes of the starbase (and the temperature rising given how close it was to Omicron Ultra.) Iverson had a change of heart concerning his views on Maxwell. Maxwell was in the guest lounge getting drunk. His reason was simple: he was reading the report on what was going on at the lab complex and wishing that he was there.
“Captain Maxwell?” Iverson said to him. Maxwell was so drunk he look like he was about to fall over even though he was sitting down.
“They’re killin’ my boys. And I’m not there. You know… it was different when those mother fucking goddamn demons where killing those Marines! You know what they did? Those damn demons? They wiped out those Marines!”
“I know. I read the report.”
“No, no, no, no. You never had those Marines on your ship. They were my responsibility while they were on MY ship! It could have been my boys and girls being wiped out. Goddamn Dawson. I hope he burns in hell!”
“So why didn’t you return back to your ship?”
“Because we needed you. And I didn’t trust you.”
“I think that you had enough.”
“Don’t tell me when I had enough!”
Captain Iverson had Maxwell taken to sickbay so that he could recover from his hangover that he was going to have. Xavier then retuned back to the bridge so that he could do a lot of thinking. Looking at the CGI of Omicron Ultra and the starbase in question, Iverson knew that whatever the intentions of the EOD with this starbase had to be too important. He knew that he would be considered a hero if he betray Lenkov and Maxwell. But seeing that this starbase was drawing energy from Omicron Ultra (and hoping that a solar flare from that star don’t knock out his own ship) to power something that the sensors could not detect, cause him to do even more thinking. Perhaps he will join the side of Lenkov and Maxwell. He just needed more Intel. Unfortunately Maxwell don’t have enough diplomatic skills in persuading Iverson to switch sides.
(29)
“Ma’am, I got a blood trail.” Martinez informed Vaistll. He was looking for Ramirez. He also had a few of Lenkov’s personnel with him.
“Understood.”
Several minutes passed by with Martinez tracking Ramirez. Martinez could tell that Ramirez was tracking something that was moving fast. Whatever Ramirez was tracking also appeared to be badly wounded. It didn’t take long for them to find out what it was. And for Vaistll, her nightmare started to get far more worse than ever. For not only was Martinez tracking Ramirez but so was most of her team (minus Nakada and Coté). Each traveling in a different direction, and each of them was accompanied with a few of Lenkov’s personnel. (Ellis and Wexler was traveling together. Jaguar 42R, who was just promoted to Chief Warrant Officer – Second Class, was traveling alone with Viper 33X.) It was the only way that Ramirez could be found quickly. Vaistll knew that she was taking a huge risk by sending her entire team out, but she just couldn’t afford to lose Ramirez. Besides, it was her team that was far better at tracking down one of their own than Lenkov’s personnel.
“What the fuck was that?” Ellis said out load when he saw the new EOD monster.
“I got him!” One Lenkov’s personnel shouted as he rushed the monster’s position. When he got close enough, he threw a hand grenade. Then, two more of Lenkov’s personnel rushed up and tried to flank the monster. Ellis, then Wexler, then made their move up through the center flank.
“Mother fucker got away!” Ellis then shouted.
“All units head towards Ellis position!” Taylor informed everyone.
“That asshole is toying with us!” Ellis then shouted out after the monster circled back around and moved behind them. Just then Jaguar 42R came up in an attack helicopter and sprayed the ground where one Lenkov’s personnel painted the site with a laser (Viper 33X was his copilot).
“Did we get him!? Did we get him?” One of Lenkov’s personnel said out loud before a wooden dart came out of nowhere and struck him.
“Are you alright?” Wexler asked him.
“Yeah, he just threw a dart at me!”
Jaguar 42R then came around and sprayed the ground again. While they were moving up a rope came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around one of Lenkov’s personnel then dragged him off into the forest. When they found him he was hanging from a tree. He then pulled out a knife to cut himself down. They then saw some bushes moving and it was painted with a laser and Jaguar 42R sprayed it one more time.
“Hey guys! I’m gonna have to return to base to reload.” Jaguar 42R informed them.
“Alright, hurry back.” Ellis responded.
“Hey guys, come and check this out.” One of Lenkov’s personnel shouted out. When they got to him they saw a rope lying on the ground near the bush that moved. Nobody said anything for they knew what that monster was doing. Tricking them into wasting ammo.
Five minutes later Taylor and his group ran across the monster. This time nobody said anything nor did they shoot at nothing. They waited until they could actually see it before they shot at it. (That was easier said than done given the fact that they are in a forest.) Each of them knew that it is trying to lure them into the forest so that it can use pointless booby traps. Since the booby traps were made of wood and/or rope it did no damage to anybody.
“Oh my God! Taylor’s down!” One of Lenkov’s personnel cried out. Everybody, including Vaistll, got the message KIA? – Error code: 875R_66 in their visor (Vaistll saw it on a computer monitor.) It didn’t take long for them to find out his situation. But as Senior Crewman Cummings came running over to Taylor, Martinez came jumping over a fallen tree scanning the area. He then noticed something and using his rifle scope, he started to take aim. When he fired his rifle everyone nearby heard the monster cried out. Martinez kept on scanning the area either to get off another shot, or to protect them.
“Commander Taylor needs evac! His computer system is busted.” Crewman First Class Vermeij said as he was using a medic-scanner on Taylor.
“Understood. What are his injuries?” Vaistll asked.
“One moment please. Sir, what are your injuries? And what happened?”
“Tree branch. Came out from nowhere. Oh God my back.” Taylor said through the pain.
“Ma’am, he’s pretty banged up. Nothing too serious. His suit absorbed most of the impact.” Vermeij informed Vaistll at the same time he gave Taylor some pain medication.
“Understood.” Vaistll responded. She then added, “Thank God,” under her breath.
“I got nothing!” Martinez said out loud.
“Martinez, if you can, try and track him.” Taylor ordered him.
“Yes sir.”
Three minutes later Ellis and company, flanking Martinez’s position, finally caught up to him. Eight minutes later they got an unexpected message – “Radio Error code: 0024_1X2.” It was coming from Ramirez computer system. The message indicated that someone (or possibly a malfunction) is trying to tap into the radio transmitter to send a message while there is a system wide malfunction. Whoever is doing it, if it is indeed a person, must be have the technical know-how to be able to do that. Ramirez does have that training, but only with the EOD version. Could it really be him? Everybody thought and hoped. But if it is him, then he is a long way from where they are. And it will take some time for them to catch up to the source of that signal. And the location of that signal? It was the very small town that 1st Lieutenant Rymer and Inferno of Terror 154T was at not too long ago.
(30)
“Go down there and inform Captain Maxwell that we finally arrived at the starbase.” Iverson ordered one of his junior officers. Iverson was sweating because it was 90 degrees. When the officer got to the sickbay he’d noticed that Maxwell was drinking water and throwing up. A little later Maxwell came to the bridge and sat down beside Iverson.
“Well?” Iverson said to Maxwell after he didn’t say anything.
“Like I said, only robots can get near. We did used a couple of probes, but to no avail.”
�
�Is there anything else that you are leaving out about that base?”
“We were interrupted. We had to go kill a fleet.”
“Ensign.” Iverson said to her.
“Yes sir.” She responded.
“Launch the shuttle.”
“Yes sir.”
It took some time before the shuttle returned with those robots. Both the shuttle and the robots had to be decontaminated - which also took awhile. Iverson also wasted no time in moving his ship back to cooler areas of space. But given the length of time that it was taking to review the data from those robots Maxwell knew that something had to be wrong. And he was right. For it was trust and Iverson was looking for someone to trust, and Maxwell wasn’t it.
(31)
He was a sight for sore eyes when everyone saw him coming out of the building. Like his best friend Taylor, he had the same injuries under the same circumstances. Vaistll nearly broke down and cried when she heard the good news – Ramirez is alive and well. But the first thing that he’d said was what they did not want to hear. Their nightmare got worse and broader. It turned their stomach inside out, and then some. They almost wished that they were dealing with those Demon Cy-Xs again. At least that would have been easier upon them, but not what he had to say. It wiped the smile off of everybody faces. He then gave them an impossible task.
“We’re dealing with the ghost of Captain Dawson. His essence is inside these monsters. We have no other choice but to destroy the factory that is producing these… monsters. God help us one and all.” Ramirez informed everyone.
(32)
Captain Iverson was sitting in conference with his senior staff (minus Maxwell) discussing the Intel that was collected. Nobody knew what to make of it. Nobody thought about contacting Maxwell for they knew that even he wouldn’t know what to make of the data. Even the EOD would have a hard time in understanding the data. As they studied the data more it started to become obvious that they are dealing with an ET security device that the EOD could not, or would not, see. For the heart of the data suggested that the EOD is dealing with the possibility of either a wormhole that could cut down the time that it takes to travel the galaxy by days instead of months, or the possibility of traveling into a alternate reality. It could also be a little of both.
But the security mechanism had the unfortunate side effect of driving people insane. The humans who were the best brains that the EOD could find, integrated themselves into the computer mainframe all in an effort to reverse engineer the design plans of those ET’s. But in so doing they lost their minds and they used the starbase defenses to kill each other. But their knowledge and skills (not their memory) remained within the computer mainframe. Within their madness they figured out a way to strike a blow against the EOD. (Perhaps it was due to the fact that they lost their minds and they wanted revenge. Or it could be some other reason.) Whatever their reason they embedded within it a security code that was difficult to break. The only way to crack the code was to use intelligent robots, not the mindless robots that are currently being used. And the only person that could achieve that is none other than Sayaka. But why would she want to do that when Iverson is not on both her and Lenkov side?
For Iverson he realized that Maxwell’s fears was correct – the starbase was also a weapon. But what type, he had no idea. Whatever this weapon was, it was directed at the EOD. Iverson now realized that he was caught in a conundrum with no way out. If he does nothing then there is the possibility that this weapon may activate at some point in the future. However, the only way that he could do something is through that of Lenkov and Omori and that meant to betray the EOD. Now it was Iverson’s turn to get drunk as he thought about what to do.
The Factory
(1)
Long before Maxwell arrived on Iverson’s ship, he had to deal with what just occurred to Entwistle. He, along with Vaistll and Taylor, was viewing the security footage that shows what happened to the unit. After they saw the new monster kill the crew it went into the secure area and put in an access code from the computer terminal. They then saw that a previously unknown access panel drop down near a wall. When they saw the monster get up and went over to the panel, on another monitor they saw Entwistle came in and discover the fate of his assigned unit. As the monster put in the access code a hidden door open up near the access panel. The noise attracted Entwistle’s who came in and shot at the monster. The monster then came out, rushed at Entwistle’s position, was hit a few times and the monster then overpower Entwistle. It then went back into the hidden room, stayed in there for a short time, left and put in an access code which closed the door, he then return back to the computer console and put in another access code and closed the hidden panel. It then left very quickly.
After ten minutes of reviewing the video (in order to figure out the access codes) Maxwell learned that his ride is ready. Because most of the dropships were being used to ferry the crew down to the surface, Maxwell had to wait for a civilian helicopter to ferry him to an airport that could ferry him to Iverson’s ship. Needless to say he had a long wait before he will get to Iverson’s ship. He had to go to the local airport to catch a plane, then he had to go to the only place in all of Golden Hyperion to catch a shuttle that could take him to Iverson’s ship. He would be gone for quite some time. And within that time period a lot of things occurred on the ground that would have powerful consequences to the crew of The Hammer of Doom.
(2)
“Ma’am, we finally figured out the access codes that that monster put in.” Coté informed Vaistll.
“Alright, let’s go and take a look at what was in the room.” Vaistll responded. Vaistll, Taylor and Coté left to have a look at what was in that room. When they got there they learned who that monster really was. It was also at that time that they realized that Ramirez is walking into a trap.
“Yalvfry Qrvlb.” Vaistll said in anger.
“What does that mean?” Taylor asked Vaistll.
“It means soulless beast.” She responded.
The secret room had a bio-scanner to unlock a hidden passage in that small town where 1st Lieutenant Rymer was at. Still on the monitor was the name of Captain Dawson. Only he, and only he, could have put in those access codes and used that bio-scanner. But there was no way for them to know what is in the secret passage, why was it so far away, or to where it led to. It’s no wonder why the rest of Task Force ZH-3C wanted to go to save Ramirez. And with Vaistll blessing they all left. Vaistll wanted both Nakada and Coté to stay behind primarily because she didn’t want to be left alone with so many of Lenkov’s personnel.
(3)
“Just what the hell are we dealing with here?” Nakada asked Coté.
“Our death’s if this shit keeps up.” Coté responded.
“So what the hell are we supposed to do then? Stay here until there is nobody left? So why don’t we go out there and kick some ass and get the fuck outta here?”
“In order to take on a army you need one. And…” Coté was saying.
“What!? We already got one so why not use them!?” Nakada interrupted her.
“So why don’t you ask them?”
“I’m not good at talking to them guys.” He said under his breath as if though they were being listen in on by Lenkov’s personnel.
“Why not? It’s apparent that you always have strong opinions about them.”
“Look, I never told anybody this but, both me and Sayaka grew up on the same world. On that world was a separatist movement who was causing all sorts of trouble. Now I never met Sayaka on that world and I don’t think that she ever knew that I was there (actually she did but didn’t care), and I also know that she must have saw what I saw (which is true of her), but it also shows why we went our separate ways.” Nakada informed her.
“If you don’t mind me asking, but what did you see?”
“Mainly terrorist attacks on civilian soft targets. There was a rumor that the EOD was behind the creation of those separatists movements, but that’
s all they were – rumors. But it affected my views of the EOD… especially after I lost my mother after one of those attacks.”
“That’s okay Takashi. You don’t have to continue. I understand.”
But he couldn’t let it go. He had to find out why they won’t attack the enemy. And when he found out the reason it changed his views upon them. Their reason – the EOD always had one simple tactic that always worked – the bigger the base, the greater the pain in taking it. And never assume that the base that you want to attack don’t have some nasty surprise around the corner. The more important the base, the more nastier the surprise. Nakada then had to ask the question about his home world. He could tell that they were telling the truth when one of them said, “Who won? For that’s who was behind it.” He then realized that the EOD was innocent and maybe, just maybe, his own government was behind it. Or, it really was nothing more nothing less, than a separatist group. Which is what Sayaka knew when she was still there. After all, she’s not stupid. Without a new form of government that can handle the change of space colonization, the greater the distance from the home country, the more likely the odds that the colony will try to separate. Nakada was just too patriotic to have seen it that way.
(4)
“Do you think that we should contact Lenkov?” Vaistll asked Maxwell who was still en-route to the airport. She was referring to the new monster that Captain Dawson became.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because he would defer it back to us. Both him and Sayaka is incapacitated. Their thought processes are effected given their situation. It’s up to us now.”
The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell Page 93
