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

by Douglas Howell

  They had a new mission and it won’t take long to complete it. All they had to do was transmit one single and very simple message, that Medusa Pandora was killed by the forces loyal to the Founder. It was of course a coded communiqué to both Joseph and Sayaka’s contacts informing them of the ruse that would drive a very deep wedge between the forces loyal to the Founder and those who are loyal to his wife. It was based upon the context that was so often was the case within the context of the history of the EOD: over-reaction to what was truly not necessary to over-react to.

  (16)

  “I can’t believe it’s you.” Captain Maxwell said to the new mayor of Silverton.

  “Of course it’s me you cracker ass.” John Stephen Sulzberger the mayor Silverton responded. He was a member of a hard core black ultra-nationalist movement that wanted to set up a independent black run state called Black Rock. And he, like they, set their sights on Golden Hyperion with Silverton as their future capital. At least sixty percent of everybody who lived on Golden Hyperion was either White or Asian. Of the reminder, twenty-five percent was Hispanic, eight percent was mixed and at least three percent was non-human and the rest was black. And thus the black race made up no more than four percent of the population. Sulzberger was an unapologetic racist.

  The two of them spent the next three hours arguing over almost everything. And every so often it was Sulzberger who would use racist slurs. Maxwell never would have because of his upbringing. He was born into a upper middle class home with one brother-in-law who was black who gave his family three children, a black sister-in-law who gave the family one child, Maxwell himself had an Asian wife with four children, he had two brother-in-laws who were Hispanic both combined gave the family six more children, and one of his brothers just recently got married to an Hispanic woman. His entire family is anything other than racist. None of that mattered to Sulzberger. Nevertheless Maxwell felt horrible because his drinking (he wanted to quit before he arrived in the Golden Hyperion system), combined with what Sulzberger was saying.

  Maxwell got very drunk off of cheap hard liquor to such the extent that within a couple of days he was throwing up so much (and so hard) that he got a sore throat that hurts when he swallowed. At that point he finally made the decision to quit drinking once and for all. He first of all slept most of the day away, then spent the next day awaking up, drinking milk, and then going back to bed and then repeat. The next day after that he got more of that cheap hard liquor, he ordered all the supplies of hard liquor on Golden Hyperion to be destroyed, and spent the rest of the bottle symbolically (and praying) letting go. Something profound changed within him and now he wanted to go home and spend the rest of his life with his wife and children. But as for Sulzberger, he spent the time trying to take command and he’d caused the Medusa contagion to slip through quarantine. If it wasn’t for him the contagion would have been stopped right there.

  (17)

  The only alcohol (hard liquor that is) left upon Golden Hyperion is whatever people have on hand. It is as if the world is undergoing a massive spiritual transformation of unknown origins. A world that is already showing signs of healing itself from the evil that was done to it. Although it is not out of the woods quite yet, for those who are strong within their faith is finding both joy and happiness while the rest is still suffering. Yes there were riots that broke out all over the world from the lost of alcohol, but most people remained calmed.

  It should not be surprising that Maxwell made the move. After all it was his wife who tried to get him to quit. Iverson tried to get him to quit when he got as drunk as he did that made him so sick. Sayaka did in fact drink more than Joseph, but it was far less than Maxwell. And Iverson felt too indifferent to drinking. Joseph, unlike Xavier, loved the feeling of being sober too much. As strange as it may be things use to be the reverse for both Joseph and Sayaka. Sayaka changed Joseph without her even trying to and Valkyrie changed her. Or rather computers did.

  Religiously both Captain Dawson and Sulzberger were both pious Christians. It was hard to pinpoint Captain Maxwell’s beliefs. Either he was a pagan, a agnostic, or a Buddhist. He never mentioned it and nobody ever asked. Iverson could only be described as a spiritual agnostic. Most people who live under the EOD auspices are. Most of the rest seemed to come from some other religion other than one of the Semitic religions. Joseph is a agnostic pagan and Sayaka may be part pagan (because of Joseph) and part Buddhist or she was part Shinto before she met Joseph.

  Although the EOD never cared what religion you practiced under it (both the Founder and his wife is a pious Christian), let alone rather you are an Atheist, for some reason or another it could never attract anyone from one of the Semitic religions or Atheists for that matter. There were those rare exceptions, like Captain Dawson and Sulzberger, but in those cases it was mostly pious Christians who turned to it. Jews, Muslims and Atheists always had a non-existence presence within the EOD and nobody could successfully explain why that was.

  There were people within the EOD (like Joseph and Sayaka’s contacts) who wanted both the Founder and his wife dead or removed because they saw it as the beginning of a new spiritual awakening for the human race. The EOD always gave the greatest opportunity, the greatest strength, the greatest sense of purpose, the greatest voice to those non-Semitic Theists. Conservative religious people who were tired of living in a strongly Christian nation, like that of America, were the only option is to vote for either the Liberals (Democrats) or for the pious Christians (Republicans) neither of whom really cared about these people’s values. It is therefore not all that surprising that these people would turned to the EOD after they hear what the EOD stood for. It may have been propaganda, but it worked. And now these people finally got their wish: salvation, even from the EOD.

  (18)

  Sulzberger, his staff, and his Black Rock gang was running scared for their lives. Aikman, the local regional governor was simply furious with them and he wanted them arrested. Because Sulzberger had the nerve to try and take command of a serious contagion outbreak, and the reports keep coming in that it broke through the quarantine, all due to his meddling. Aikman (who was black himself) decided to exercise his right, no his duty, to have Sulzberger and company arrested.

  Although Sulzberger and company would eventually make it to another planet, the damage that they caused was actually quite light given the circumstances. The reason why the contagion didn’t spread that far was because of the quick thinking on the part of Maxwell’s forces. Even when Sulzberger had the audacity to ordered them all out of his city, Maxwell’s forces only withdrew to defensives positions where they thought the contagion would most likely spread to, if it should come back that is. Which it attempted to. Nevertheless, the contagion was destroyed.

  (19)

  Task Force ZH-3C was so deep into the factory that there was no longer any way for the outside to contact them. They themselves had to stay close because they were getting too much interference from all the equipment and large metal structures. Nevertheless the facility was still so big that they could be at least one football length away and still contact each other. (There were times in which they couldn’t do that.) Most of time, however, they spent getting lost and trying to find their way around. But that wasn’t near as problematic as dealing with the facilities defensives and looking for ammunition. Only food and water was the most easiest to locate because they knew where the local cafeteria was and thus there was a storage area for the food/water/beverage for that cafeteria. But the quickest route, which was not the most safest, would take them ninety minutes to get there if, and only if, no machines gave whoever went any trouble. The safest route was not only the longest but it was the one in which they would most likely get lost.

  “So… Viper... what do you think about getting drunk for the first time?” Ramirez asked him out of curiosity. Viper 33X just finished recovering from a major hangover.

  “I didn’t care too much for it. I actually hated the feeling of being drunk.”
Viper 33X responded. It didn’t convince anyone since they always heard that and low and behold, the person who mentioned that would turn around and get drunk. Viper 33X left and returned back with a very expensive bottle of Vodka and then mentioned for all those who doubted him to take a look. When they realized what he was fixing to do, some like Coté, urged him to stop. No matter, he still threw the bottle and it shattered in the distance. Nobody doubted him after that especially knowing full well that it is hard to find liquor in that huge place.

  “Hey guys, I could really use your help. For some unknown tactical reason these damn machines are getting suicidal.” Martinez mentioned. He was doing recon. After five minutes he added, “What’s the hold up!? I do need your help like now! Get here ASAP or I’m finished!”

  The reason why nobody responded because they were lost. It took almost another five minutes before they finally got to his position. And they quickly learned that he wasn’t kidding when he mentioned that they are getting suicidal. They gave up a strong fortified position to rush at the team only to lose all of their spider-bots. The heavier machines called Goliaths stood upon platforms that could not fully support their combined weight. As hard as it was for the team to do it, they were able to take out those Goliaths simply by destroying the platform. It was made all the more easier to do given their combined weight. And then came the dragons, large flying machines that shoot hot plasma at it’s enemies in an effort to incinerate them. (It actually didn’t incinerate them because their suit would not burn that easy. Instead it was more like turning their suits into a pressure cooker.)

  “What is this shit!? Some stupid retard boss fight within some shitty video game!?” Coté mentioned. Nobody said anything because they knew that in a matter of speaking, she is right. It had that feel to it. The dragons are used primarily indoors because they are completely vulnerable outside. But they have no value if (like in the current situation) they are in a confined environment.

  “They most definitely don’t want us to go in that direction. Which means we must, I do mean must, go in that direction.” Ramirez informed everyone. It now became obvious that the machines so-called “suicidal attack” was just nothing more than a ruse to trick them into doing their dirty work which was to block the team’s efforts to go to where the machines did not want them to go.

  “Jesus effing Christ. Would you look at the size of this place?” Ellis mentioned when he was the first to see the area that the machines did not want the team to go to. From the “roof” to the “floor” look to be at least a thousand feet or more. The whole area had large machines, some as large as a few hundred feet or more.

  “I’m deeply concerned now more than ever about the function of this place.” Ramirez mention after he too took a look at the place.

  “And why is that?” Taylor asked him.

  “Sir, this place is just too big to imply as to what we see on the surface. It’s hiding something that is very serious and is very dangerous.” Ramirez responded.

  “Any ideas?” Vaistll asked him.

  “Yeah, your worst nightmare. And I don’t say that lightly.” Ramirez responded.

  “Why do you say that?’ Taylor asked fearing the worst.

  “Sir, as you know I was once in their Special Forces. And we would called this place a death trap and from what I gather from the way that those machines are behaving they are trying to protect a ultrahigh valuable asset. What that could be, I have no idea, other than to say that it would be something that in all likelihood was never encountered before.” Ramirez responded.

  “There is no way that this part of the facility can be covered affectively without either flying around or by splitting up. Both are so impractical as to be suicidal on our part if were to attempt either one or attempt to do both.” Jaguar 42R mentioned.

  “What’s more it appears to be so large that we would have to go back to the cafeteria and take all of the supplies there. It would take several days just to explore this area. We need a quicker way or we will not get out of here alive.” Viper 33X added.

  “So does anybody have any ideas on how to do as Viper suggested?” Vaistll asked everyone.

  “Yeah, one single spider-bot is big enough to carry one of us and we could use them to move along the walls. All we need to do is to capture enough of them, reprogram them, and we would be all set to go.” Ellis responded.

  “And how do you suppose we do that sir? You see what it takes to take one down. But capturing one intact? I don’t know it seems a little suicidal to me.” Coté mentioned. Ramirez was fixing to nix Ellis’ plan when Jaguar 42R spoke and then it changed his mind.

  “You know I noticed that enough of those dragons survived complete destruction to where we could easily repair at least two of them with the spare parts from the other ones. Then me and Viper could interface with them and be able to control them. We could then provide cover fire while the rest of you capture the ones that you need.” Jaguar 42R mentioned.

  “Sounds like a winner to me ma’am.” Ramirez said to Vaistll.

  “Alright do it.” Vaistll responded.

  Jaguar 42R plan worked like a charm. Both Jaguar and Viper put the emphasis on dragon within what they are – Dragon Clone. It did took a while for the team to get used to laying on their stomachs while riding some machine while that machine could run along the walls and ceilings. In the meantime while they learned their new skills both Jaguar 42R and Viper 33X kept the other dragons at bay. Both were heavily outnumbered. And dealing with more Goliaths and spider-bots didn’t help much either. But somehow it felt more natural for both of them to be flying around as opposed to being on the ground. The other dragons were no match for both of them. It was as if though both of them are the real thing and they are dealing with stupid machines that didn’t know how to fly but could only rely on some stupid algorithm to keep them in the air. At one point Vaistll thought that Jaguar 42R was either hit or killed because it looked like he felled out of the sky. She stood there (she, Ramirez, Martinez and Ellis was providing cover fire for the rest of team as they learn their new skills) feeling her heart sink into her stomach and was almost on the verge of tears. She then saw him use the rear legs of the dragon to grab a Goliath, he then pulled up throwing the Goliath into the air behind him just as a enemy dragon hit the Goliath killing both of them. For sixteen hours the battle kept on going until the machines back off to reform their tactics.

  “Where are both of them?” Vaistll said out loud.

  “I’m certain that they are okay ma’am.” Ellis mentioned to her.

  “Yeah well, it’s not like them to go off like that without informing us of their intentions.” Vaistll responded.

  “Hey what’s wrong with the captain? Normally she wouldn’t behave like this.” Coté asked.

  “Read the following file. Through your neural interlace.” Ellis informed her.

  “Hey I’m getting disoriented here.” Nakada mentioned.

  “You’re not the only one.” Taylor added.

  “Remember your basic training about piloting a dropship as it spins? Try that. It works for me.” Ellis informed them.

  “Okay, I think I got the hang of it now.” Taylor mentioned after a minute.

  “Same here. Thanks.” Nakada mentioned a minute later.

  “Yeah don’t mentioned it.” Ellis responded.

  “Hey everybody! What’s up with this funky Heads-Up-Display! It’s telling me that I’m right side up, but it feels like I’m on the ceiling!” Coté asked.

  “Fire a couple of rounds and I’ll come to you.” Ellis mentioned to her.

  “Yes sir.” Coté responded.

  “I’m here.” Ellis mentioned to Coté as he patted her. Coté then handed him her spare interface cord. He then ran a self-diagnostic on her spider-bot.

  “One moment Elizabeth. Listen up everyone. Elizabeth’s spider-bot HUD has a glitch. It’s inverted. I’m going to have to find a safe location and format her spider-bot drive. Then download mine into hers.
” Ellis informed everyone.

  “No wonder it was easy to capture.” Wexler mentioned.

  “Okay we’re good to go.” Ellis mentioned after seven minutes.

  “Thanks sir.” Coté told him as he left.

  Coté then had the biggest break for the whole team. Perhaps it was a twist of fate that it should be her spider-bot to have that glitch, combined with the type of glitch that it was, including her desire to learn from her father. Her love for her father, combined with just recently not knowing his fate caused her to become more susceptible to his military influence. “Tragedy should neither be embraced nor feared just accepted for that is the only way to endure the pain of service. And wherever it leads you, just understand that it will always ends in honor. Be brave, be strong, and you will always carry on. If you should die then try to find solitude that your death had meaning. But just as you must try to not die for nothing, you must also try not to serve for no reason. Find the higher meaning within the moment, serve that meaning, and you will do just fine.” As her father would say.

  “Oh my god! Hey guys! I just found a map for this whole area!” Coté mentioned. It got everybody excited until they realized where she was.

  “What they hell did I tell you about wondering off!?” Ellis almost yelled at her.

  “But sir, this map is informing me as to where the major communications hub is for this entire area.” Coté responded out of excitement.

  “Elizabeth. Download the map to me. I want to take a look at it.” Ramirez informed her.