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

by Douglas Howell

  “You’re going to have to give me a moment to check up on that.” Captain Iverson responded. It took five minutes before Vaughan got his response – Sayaka attempted to hack his fleet.

  “This is Captain Vaughan… you can tell Sayaka that I know all of her dirty little tricks. And when I’m done with that dirty little whore she will feel my big hard dick in her soft little ass.” Vaughan was saying. Sayaka then used the TIA starbase between both ships that constitute The Hammer of Doom to block all communication with Captain Vaughan to his fleet.

  “This is Fleet Captain Lenkov to the ZXC fleet… you will report in or I will issue your termination orders! Captain Easton report!”

  “Here sir!” Captain Easton reported in.

  “Captain Irwin report!”

  “Here sir!” Captain Irwin reported in.

  “Captain DeVore report!”

  “Here sir!” Captain DeVore reported in.

  “Be advise that by Captain Vaughan using an alias instead of his real name he has lost all command over you!” Lenkov informed them.

  “Sir that will be problematic since he is commanding the infiltration ship.” Captain Irwin responded. That pissed off Lenkov.

  “Understood. I’m putting your fleet under the command of Captain Maxwell.”

  “Understood sir.”

  “Captain Maxwell report!”

  “Yes Fleet Captain!”

  “You are urgently needed to command the ZXC fleet in orbit above Golden Hyperion. The name of Captain Levine was nothing more than a ruse. We are dealing with Lincoln “Mark 13” Vaughan. He is in command of the infiltration ship. We need the Dragon Clones to infiltrate and neutralize the enemy. What is their status?”

  “They are currently doing air support sir.”

  “Take them off. We need them to infiltrate the infiltration ship.”

  “Yes sir.” Maxwell responded. He knew that it was a death sentence for the ground forces but he, like the Dragon Clones themselves, knew that they had no other choice. They had to do it.

  (22)

  “What the hell is going on up there?” The reporter asked Grumett who just arrived at the hospital. She was in no mood to deal with these vultures.

  “And what do you have to say about the reports that both Lenkov and Omori are dead?” Another one asked her. Although on film it look like Grumett was in pain, it was more like the pain of listening in on these reporters opining about what is going on.

  “How many more people must die before help comes to our rescue?” Another reporter asked.

  “Is this world still under EOD control?” The reporter asked.

  “What!? No! No it isn’t!” Grumett shouted back. She knew that neither Lenkov nor Maxwell would care about that statement. Besides it serves their purpose. But that one single comment created a media firestorm which would affect the whole world. It forced everyone to finally accept the fact that maybe, just maybe, the EOD was no longer in control of that world.

  (23)

  “You know…” It was Captain Iverson. He really upset both Lenkov and Omori by coming over to The Hammer of Doom. “…the media is under the suspicion that both of you are dead.”

  “That’s okay. It only adds to our mystique.” Sayaka responded.

  “So why did you come here?” Lenkov asked him. Iverson was still in the hangar.

  “Because of Vaughan.” Iverson responded.

  “Come again?” Lenkov responded.

  “I knew that he could hack any communications that I sent to you. And I wanted to come over to talk to both of you in private.” Iverson mentioned.

  “Other than needlessly risking your life, what did you wanted to talk about?” Sayaka asked him.

  “Any Intel that you may have on Captain Vaughan that may assist my crew and I in our efforts in assisting you in defeating him.”

  “I’m thirteen years younger than Joseph who is eight years older than Vaughan. Who is fat, gross, perverted, moronic, and thus… It’s not surprising that he would become obsess with me. He’s a loser. What more can I say?” Sayaka responded.

  “I understand now how to deal with him. How are the two of you holding out?”

  “We’re made of sterner stuff. So don’t worry about it.” Sayaka responded.

  “Anything else Captain?” Lenkov asked him.

  “No sir.” And with that Iverson left knowing that he must engage Captain Vaughan with extreme prejudice. Both Lenkov and Omori was quite touched by Iverson’s actions.

  (24)

  “Sir I um…” The second-in-command was informing Captain Vaughan. Vaughan was obviously masturbating to a picture of Sayaka and his second-in-command was disgusted by it, but learned not to show any reaction.

  “What do you want?” Vaughan turned around and stood up. Both his pants and his underwear was down to his ankles and his second-in-command could see his genetically enhanced penis which was increased to 24 inches in length, 12 inches in girth, and was alien in origin (It could split down the center and he could control both – one to grasp and to hold and...) His quarters smelt like semen.

  “Our infiltration units are ready to retake back our fleet.”

  “You’re single aren’t you Lisa?” Vaughan asked her.

  “Sir?” Lisa responded.

  “Answer me.”

  “No sir.”

  “You want to suck my cock?”

  “Sir?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Ah… no sir I’m happily engage to my husband. And he’s the type that don’t want a whore but a wife.” It was lie in the context that they were engaged but the second-in-command knew where that conversion was going. And there was no way that she would ever tell Captain Vaughan that nobody would ever want him. He was just that gross.

  “I thought that you like big cocks.” Vaughan mentioned to her.

  “Sir we are about to be infiltrated by Dragon Clones and we need to…” The second-in-command was trying to inform her Captain. Captain Vaughan came near with an erection that only further disgusted his second-in-command.

  “Sleep with me.” Vaughan mentioned to his second-in-command.

  “Sir?” The second-in-command responded. Her long nightmare was about to begin as she had no other choice but to do the unthinkable.

  (25)

  Coté finally track down the whereabouts of Captain Dawson and her team was about to pay a price for it. When it was all said and done she was the lone survivor. Although one of Lenkov’s personnel did wounded the monster that is, or was Captain Dawson, he still managed to get away.

  “Are you alright?” Ellis asked her.

  “Sir I decided to hang around here for a bit.” Coté mentioned. She was hanging upside down from a tree. She was having difficulties in cutting herself down.

  “As soon as you decide otherwise, try to catch up with us.” Ellis responded.

  Eight minutes later Dawson counter-attack and damn near killed Ellis. If it wasn’t for the fact that Coté finally cut herself down and caught up to them, Ellis probably would have been killed. Ellis team gave chase and was wiped out. And so it went well until nightfall. By early morning only the surviving members of Task Force ZH-3C was left. Did Dawson planned that? They didn’t know. But they were about to get help from an unlikely source.

  (26)

  Captain Vaughan finally got his rude awaking from the infiltration unit that he sent to The Hammer of Doom. He should have known better than to have sent them. What is the purpose of his type of ship? To infiltration ships? No. Starbases? No dice there either. It is to infiltrate ground facilities. So how could he be that stupid? Sayaka once stated, with Vaughan in mind, that, although possession is 9/10th of the law, obsession is 9/10th of stupidity. Besides, Vaughan spent the last seventy-eight years of his life (when she was 24) being obsessed with her. So just how old is both Lenkov and Omori?

  Lenkov was 45 years old when he met Sayaka who was 32. It took another year before both of them arrived on Valkyrie. The war took ten years
to complete. Seven years later they found Andromeda and it took another eighteen years before they could decode the alien language. The technology however, is still being decoded. Because in a matter of speaking The Hammer of Doom is the size of a city (or a small town if you like) it took twenty-three years to build the ship. Once completed it took another five years of testing (and correcting any flaws) and training the crew before the ship was considered ready for combat. That was six years ago. Lenkov is 115 and Omori is thus 102 years old.

  Sayaka was a virgin until she met Joseph but as for Vaughan he just recently lost his virginity after he raped his second-in-command. If it wasn’t for the fact that his entire crew was “wired,” meaning that they had cybernetic implants, his crew would have mutiny a long time ago. To make matters worse for them he also had an “enforcement arm” which is one way that the EOD controls the crew of certain type of ships. The enforcement arm is a cybernetic arm that allows the Captain to control both ship and crew. Most Captains don’t need it but because of Vaughan’s connection to High Command, and given his personality, he had no other choice but to get one. He’s also the sole reason why Lenkov never got promoted. Those who were allied with Lenkov made certain that Vaughan himself is never promoted. Vaughan, and including his crew, will indeed pay a heavy price.

  “Where’s Commander Ivey?” The Warrant Officer asked the officer on duty after he returned back from his “trip” to The Hammer of Doom.

  “The captain raped her. She um… currently in sickbay for her injuries.” The officer responded.

  “Tell the captain that we overlooked something and we need to go back and take a strong look at a weakness in The Hammer of Doom’s defensives. Here is the Intel that we collected.” It was a lie that the officer on duty could see through but didn’t care. The desire for mutiny is growing and with it the madness of Captain Vaughan will know no cruelty. The events that is fixing to unfold will push him to a level that not even Captain Dawson will go. Many more lives will be lost before Captain Vaughan is finally neutralized. A bitter sweet victory for everyone that is more bitter than sweet. Fate will indeed become far more crueler than ever.

  (27)

  “Dying time is here! For in the end we all must die!” The mystery voice shouted out in the darkness to where the monster that is Captain Dawson is at.

  “We are monster killers and we come for you!” The second mystery voice shouted at Dawson.

  “We are what you seek! Come out and play with us!” The third mystery voice shouted.

  “Why don’t you come and fight me!?” Dawson whose voice sounded like a monster shouted back.

  “All in do good time!” The fourth voice shouted back.

  “Don’t you wish to know who we are!?” The fifth voice shouted out.

  “You are nothing more, nothing less, than my victims!” Dawson shouted back. It only caused them to laugh in unison in a guffaw manner. Dawson was standing outside the abandoned house at that point. He could tell that this new threat was constantly moving.

  “We come in compliment of Lenkov, Omori and…” The mystery voice was saying. And all of them said in unison, “…DEATH!” They then laughed in a guffaw manner in unison.

  “Fight me you cowards!” The beast that is Dawson screamed out.

  “As you wish!” The mystery voice yelled back. Dawson then saw who they were and he couldn’t believe his eyes. They were Hau’rino nationals and the look in their eyes showed that they were both psychotic and insane. They were evil and it showed. Eight males and eight females.

  It didn’t take long for the monster that was Captain Dawson to realize that he was dealing with a bunch of androids. Worse still each one of them was obviously a serial killer or something similar. The fight lasted more than several hours and Dawson could no longer take the abuse. Dawson was close to death by the time they were finished with him. But instead of killing him they had a different fate for him. And it will destroy him.

  “You can’t stop us for we ARE the hive.” The female Hau’rino national mentioned to Dawson.

  “We are those who volunteer to use the strength of the hive against it.” The first one mentioned.

  “Strength beyond strength!” The fifth one said.

  “You shall be our sacrificial lamb.” The female Hau’rino national mentioned to Dawson.

  “Fuck you and your kingdom!” Dawson yelled back. It only caused them to laugh in a guffaw way.

  They held him in place as they prepared him for what comes next. Each one downloaded their memory of the war against the hive into him. They were able to do that given the fact that they “upgraded” his symbiote to be like that of the hive that they were once a part of. They choose to forget in an effort to save their own souls but as for Dawson he will never forget.

  Dawson wanted the hive because it was the only way to “preserve” himself and now he finally got that chance. Each iteration that he would have gone through with his “old” symbiote would have caused him to lose up to 75-80% of his memory. And now because of this upgrade it’s more like 5-10% loss. The memory of those sixteen Hau’rino nationals is indeed the most worst thing that he will ever experience in his entire life. As strange as it may be, it kind of saved his own soul.

  “Objective accomplished. Return back to our ship.” The lead Hau’rino ordered the rest. Each one of them then returned back to The Hammer of Doom with no memory of that war. Their entire life was restored back to them at the expense of Captain Dawson.

  (28)

  Captain Vaughan was pushed over the edge with both his crew and with Sayaka. When his infiltration unit finally returned back they brought with them a little “gift” from Sayaka. This gift broke Vaughan control over his crew and now they are totally rebellious. Commander Ivey herself was seriously on the warpath and wanted his blood. Everyone knew that Vaughan had an ace up his sleeve and that was his control over the ship and he was not afraid to use it. He was still in shock by what he learned about The Hammer of Doom. He knew that it would be suicide to attack it nor did he’d ever wanted to. He had something else in mind, it’s what Sayaka would have called 1/10th of obsession – insanity, and he was about to prove her point.

  “Come and get me you fucking cunt whore!” Captain Vaughan shouted over the ship intercom. He then used his enforcement arm to relocate his ship. His target: the starbase that is getting everyone’s attention. At that point in time even Captain Dawson would admit that Vaughan is insane.

  “Commander Ivey was is your status?” Captain Iverson asked her.

  “Currently attempting infiltration of the bridge.” Ivey responded.

  “If you wanted more of my dick, why didn’t you ask?” Vaughan asked Ivey. It was apparent that Vaughan killed the entire bridge crew.

  “Was it good for you like it was for me?” Ivey asked Vaughan after she’s shot him with a shotgun. Of course she shot him in his pride & joy. Unfortunately for her and her team the sentry guns that he had installed shot each one of them.

  Vaughan was the last man standing in that firefight. He made have lost his penis but it absorbed some of the blast from the shotgun allowing him to have some control over his left leg. If he was able to get medical attention he most likely would have survive the wound. But knowing that will never happen and combined with knowing that he lost his pride & joy, he decided to commit suicide. But instead of just simply blowing his own brains out he decided to program the ship to head straight into that dark void at that starbase and then to have the ship self-destruct inside of it.

  “He’s going to do what?” Captain Iverson asked his bridge officer.

  “It’s true sir.” The officer responded.

  “Dark splatter him!” Iverson shouted at the same time he stood up.

  Dark splatter was a hyper rare order that stated that the destruction of a ship is more important than the lives of the targeted ship. Every second was precious and those seconds were already wasted in turning their ships around in order to give chase. But unfortunately Vaugh
an made it and when his ship self-destruct inside the dark void it destabilized it. Vaughan, like any other crew who survived, never would have lived long enough to have made into the void since the radiation would have killed them. Vaughan himself was critically wounded when a torpedo stuck near the bridge. The massive explosion, (55 megatons) destroyed the shield generators in that sector, punched a large hole in the ship’s hull, and destroyed part of the bridge. Vaughan took shrapnel to the right side of his jaw, his enforcement arm was destroyed below the elbow, his left arm took significant damage, and because of his size, his belly was ripped apart. What stop him from being sucked out into space is the fact that all spaceships have a emergency foam sealant that will pug the hole. Nevertheless he laid there on his back staring at the ceiling. Twenty seconds later he started to feel the effects of the radiation and died in less than a minute. And what of his crew? Only 10% was able to survive.

  (29)

  The monster that is Captain Dawson was finally surrounded. He was gunned down and took shrapnel from hand grenades. He was then blown apart when Ramirez place C4 explosives near him. The team feeling that the nightmare is over left and headed to the Factory. Unbeknownst to them is that Dawson was not seriously wounded when they found him, he was just struggling with his new memories. The team did had the thought to search his body for the genetic samples only to find that they were broken and it was assumed that shrapnel did it. It truth Dawson injected the samples into his symbiote long before they ever found him. To make matters worse, and unbeknownst to both Lenkov and Omori, one of the strengths of Medusa Pandora comes from that movie John Carpenter’s The Thing. But with her it was more like the monster from the video game Dead Space 2. Shoot a limb off and the monster will re-grow it. The monster that Dawson had become is a bit more like the movie version. The difference: the symbiote will re-grow itself and then it needs a new host. And it didn’t take long before both will occur. And the host? First it was a dog and then it was a boy looking for his pet.