by Kip Hartzell
“Hephaestus, get this shuttle up and running, we’re going for the other,” Poseidon confidently said.
“Understood,” he said as he used a horn to peel off a panel.
The smaller group moved down the ridge as stealthily as possible. Still no sign of building sized bipeds as they got closer to the shuttle, and the disruptive pool of lava. Poseidon stood guard, watching the others move around the shuttle.
“Poseidon, we have a problem,” Demeter said, “The agoam crystals have been removed.”
“What?” He blurted, picking up his three-pronged spear, and went to see for himself.
“Curious,” she said, “they’ve been mechanically removed, not ripped out.”
“Um, can it still function with our conventional power source?”
“Affirmative.”
“Let’s get it back home, we can figure out what happened later.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Sir! We have another problem,” Dionysus said from the lava side of the craft.
When Poseidon arrived, the lava was whirl pooling dramatically, it splashed, and then spewed upward, followed by the most hideous beast he could’ve imagined. A very large humanoid rose slowly out of the Sulphur pit. Its upper body was Atlantean, with a head full of black hair, and eyes the color of the lava pit. Male in nature, it howled through a large mouth with saber-like teeth. It swung its arms to reveal another row of arms that resemble a dragon’s necks, they all had dragon heads at the end. Poseidon thought to himself, these creatures are worse than Aztek-Alon’s abominations. It slithered out of the pit on the lower half of a snake’s body covered in thousands of small wings. The small wings made a loud humming noise to the point of madness.
“Demeter, how much longer?”
“Ten minutes.”
“You have five,” he yelled.
She smiled, and said quietly, “I knew you’d say that.” While continuing to reroute the power source.
“Firing line, on me,” Poseidon bellowed, stepping away from the shuttle to face the beast.
The group lined up shoulder to shoulder and began firing spacial electrical charges at once. The monster recoiled, and then tried to advance, fire blew out of the dragon heads. It advanced on the shielded Atlanteans, but the incoming fire drove it back. It sank back into the lava, the Atlanteans stopped and listened. Dionysus used a modified handheld and took readings. An eruption of lava jetted into the air, along with the monster. It launched itself toward them. Poseidon raised the trident type weapon and held the charge. The three barbed tips began to glow white hot. The creature screamed down on them with a maniac type fury. He released the charge. The blast rocked the area, and blew a huge hole in the creature’s chest, knocking it back onto the lava beach. It flopped around, shooting particle beams out of its eyes. It squirmed and twitched, and then lay still. The group approached slowly and watched as the melted flesh began healing itself.
“We need to leave! Everyone, into the shuttles,” Poseidon ordered, backing away.
“Why?” Dionysus asked.
“Because we can’t physically kill this thing in our universe, now move.”
Demeter was powering up the shuttle, while everyone filed in. The creature flopped about and got up, it charged the shuttle as it blasted away.
Rhe-A and Cronus were smaller than the four originals, and moved about close together. Zeusticus circled them, they made no attempt to strike out at him. He felt them reaching out, mentally. They had regained some of their former humanity. He might be able to use this information.
“Zeusticus, the shuttles are airborne,” Hades said, in his ear.
“Understood, everyone, fall back to the staging area. We are just wasting energy, here.”
The attack was halted, injured and dead were collected, and all moved toward the open area on the other side of the mountain. The airborne units assisted the ground units out of the area.
The assembly point was near the base of the mountain. Athene-A approached Zeusticus, Hades, and Poseidon. She took off her helmet and threw it to the ground. “What’s it takes to kill these things,” she asked rhetorically. “What did we sacrifice for?”
Hades stepped forward, his usual methodically short black combed hair, was disheveled. “We gained a great amount of information. It is going to take time to evaluate.”
“Meanwhile, we lose more people, ground and sea,” Athene-A said, pacing back and forth trying to calm herself.
“We need more information,” Poseidon interjected, “I fought first hand a creature that would not die. We must know more before we lose more.”
“I believe if we attack, using everything we have on one isolated target, I’m sure-” Athene-A stopped, feeling the presence, just as the others did. She turned back toward the mountain base to see hundreds of Cousins slowly moving toward her. The Atlantean soldiers surprisingly gave way to a small group, bravely, but cautiously, moving toward the group of Gods that looked in charge.
One obviously scared human knelt in front of Athene-A, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeusticus. He wore an animal skin tunic and leather sandals. His dark matted hair hung down as he looked at the ground. “Gods of our Fathers,” he said, the translator worked without a stutter. “We have lost many kin to the Titan Demons. We wish to help combat them.”
“Go home little ones, we’ll defeat the...Titans,” Athene-A said, completely in control of herself, as gently as she could. She looked at Zeusticus. “What? Titan is easier to explain than Destroyer. It’s as good a name as any.”
Zeusticus stepped up close to the trembling man, and knelt. “Maybe there is something you can help us with. We would like you to watch them and tell us what you think they are doing.”
“But you are Gods, can’t you watch, we want to fight.”
Zeusticus boomed with laughter. “You see things differently. I would like to see things as simply as you, but, if you want to help, this is how.”
The man looked back at his small group. “Yes, we will watch. What do we call you, God of lightning and thunder?”
Zeusticus smiled, catching Athene-A’s attention on how his ego was growing. “Zeusticus.”
The man tried times to pronounce it, but made unintelligible sounds.
“Zeus, will be fine. Now, I will send people you can give your reports to. Go tell the others.”
“Yes, almighty Zeus.” He backed away and chatted with the others, before running back to the larger crowd.
“Do you think that wise, brother,” Poseidon said.
Getting up, Zeus said, “I’m hoping it will keep them out of harm’s way. Alright, assemble the task force for our return to Chrysalis, so we can evaluate what happened today.”
The troops started heading back to Chrysalis on preplanned routes, while Zeusticus stood by and watched the Cousins wave their hands in a vigorous animated way, while talking to each other. Soon, the whole band took off in all directions.
They sat around the battle table shuffling data chips and organizing their information. Zeusticus brought the group to order. “Pandemos-Aphrodite could you bring an organized brilliance to our situation?”
She stood up confidently. “I call this Council meeting to order. From the preliminary results, we did significant damage to the ‘Titans’, as our Cousins refer to them. We just couldn’t put out enough energy to completely destroy them. Our readings indicate that every cell, maybe even down to the atom, has a regenerative property. We would literally have to destroy, or isolate every cell from every one of them. The possibility of actually killing, or destroying them, near impossible.”
“Hades, what kind of technology are they using? Can we duplicate it, or reverse engineer?” Zeusticus asked.
“From the continuous readings, I detected very little technology. They wear very little for personal protection, no weapon systems, other than their physical size and unstoppable regeneration. The only thing I could pick up, was the spacial anomaly origins, which is deep inside the lava pit. It may cont
ain the Destroyer tech that controls the rift. The missing agoam crystals were detected inside the Titans that were outside the spacial dome. There is a correlation between agoam crystals and negation of our space and time. I believe it’s the crystals that allow them to exist permanently in our universe. Remove the crystals and hypothetically speaking, return them back to their previous state.”
“Some good news,” Zeusticus mumbled. “Let’s work on that strategy, it may also kill them.”
“May I remind you, almighty Zeus,” Apollo sarcastically said, using the Cousin’s name for him, “some of these Titans are our friends and family.”
He scowled. “Of course, we are going to try to save them, but if we can’t, then sacrifices will have to be made.”
“That’s not acceptable,” Athene-A blurted out.
“I know you felt it, too, Zeusticus,” Hermes’s gravelly voice penetrated the Council chambers, “Cronus and Rhe-A, they were trying to reach out to us.”
“We’ll do everything we can to recover our people. Now, we have information to stop them, one is to remove the crystals, and find a way to close the rift. Athene-A, let me know what you come up with, dismissed.”
She didn’t say anything, and walked away.
“Apollo,” Zeusticus said, stopping him in his tracks, “How many casualties?”
“Six dead, fifty-three wounded.”
“How many Atlanteans?”
Apollo gave him a strange look. “They were all Atlanteans.” He turned his back and left. He caught up with Athene-A a short distance from the chamber. “How long are we going to let this go?” Apollo quietly asked her.
“Until there’s a no-confidence vote, and that won’t happen as long as we’re at war. Come, let’s find a solution, other than annihilation.”
Several weeks passed, the preparation for another attack was in its final stages. Athene-A was explaining to Zeusticus about the location of the agoam crystals. “They are embedded in the base of the skull. It won’t be easy to get to them. Hades, has more on the rift. It’s becoming something of an obsession.”
“I find it very interesting,” he began calmly, “I am certain the rift, or tear, is between two universes, maybe more. I hypothesize that agoam crystals are powering the technology to hold it open. If I can get a closer look, I may be able to shut it down.”
“Why can’t we just use well placed detonators?” Zeusticus said, trying to speed the conversation with his brother along.
“Brother, why are you always so eager to blow something up? If you do, it could trigger a chain reaction, destroying both universes.”
“Oh...very well. Let’s see if we can get you close.”
“We have several new reports coming in, the satellites provide very little information. It seems our little friends are more resourceful than we give them credit. They report the Titans are carving out chunks of mountain and clearing a foundation,” Artemis informed.
“Are they building a sanctuary?”
“More like a fortress.”
“Where?” Zeusticus asked, moving to the battle table.
“Coordinates put it somewhere around...here.” She pointed it out. “Mount Orthys.”
“Orthys?”
“Cousins named it. They are much more creative at that than we are. We would’ve just given it a number.” Apollo smiled.
“We must attack soon, or we will lose all advantages.”
“Agreed,” Poseidon chimed in.
Athene-A stood stoically and listened to the plan. She had already made up her mind to try diplomacy, even if it wasn’t sanctioned. She slipped out, unnoticed, donned on her armor, enlisted the help of a Pegasus, and made her way toward the Titans.
The brown and white paint splashed, colored Pegasus, lightly touched down near the tribe of Cousins. The ragged, dirty faced, group, approached and kneeled.
“Rise, little ones,” the Giant said, gently as if talking to children.
“Goddess Athena, we have done as you requested. May we attack now?”
“No, I require more peaceful efforts. I need you to locate this Titan-” She raised her hand palm up, and a 3-D image of Rhe-A appeared. The group kneeled again. “I want you to contact Rhe-A and tell her to meet me here as soon as possible. Now go.”
They rose, bowed, and then ran.
Athene-A sat on a rock and watched as the yellow sun rose over a semi-barren, mountainous landscape. Jay could feel her longing for a peaceful time, one that included John. She sensed Rhe-A long before she felt the impact tremors. She took a deep breath to gather her mental defenses, put her winged helmet on, and stood up. She was stowing her weapon on her back, when the Cousins came running at their full speed. Rhe-A topped the ridge.
“We convinced the Titan,” Lot said, out of breath, “to come...that it wasn’t a trap. When do we attack, Goddess?”
“You did well, my little ones, but this Titan is special. Her name is Rhe-A, and she is by all accounts, my sister.”
“She was once an Olympian Goddess?”
“Yes, she is not to be harmed. I am going to try to bring peace to all our peoples.” For their help, she noticed all of them had some kind of unhealed wound, or unset broken bone partially healed. She reached into her belt, brought out a handheld, and ran it over them. Pulled out a spray and ran it over the wounds, which began to heal quickly. “There, thank you. Now, go over there and stay out of the way.”
They looked astonished as they rubbed the missing wounds, while they walked away.
Rhe-A stopped on Athene-A’s side of the rocky ridge in a badly sewn bundle of fur, sparsely covering her. She was thirty feet tall, dirty and haunted. Athene-A was ready for betrayal, until she saw the intelligence in her eyes. Rhe-A knelt near her. Athene-A levitated herself up to eye level, and hovered.
“Rhe-A? Do you know me?”
“Of course, Athene-A, you are one of my oldest friends.”
Athene-A was a little surprised at her frankness, but she shouldn’t have been. “How are you?”
“I am miserable, I miss my friends, my home. The things they’ve made me do...”
“Come back with me.”
“I can’t. The pull is too much. I only have a short time before I can no longer block them.”
“Our last results yielded a lot of information.”
“Do not let them control this world. Do whatever you have to do. Those first four, Gai-A, Uranus, Nyx-A, and Erebus, are more Destroyer than Atlantean. They are lost. Since the insertion of agoam crystals, Cronus, Hyperion, Thei-A, Themis, Maemosyne, and I, have regained most of our consciousness. Although, we can’t break free of their influence. They are using Cousins to help them build a stronghold, where the special children are to be raised.”
“How can we defeat them?”
“I don’t know. You must hurry, Typhon and Echidna are building an army of monsters.” Rhe-A stopped, her eyes focused on something far away. “I must go. I will help if I can. Do what you have to do, kill us if you must. May the Great Creator have mercy on us.”
It pained Jay to see Rhe-A this way, and explained some of why she was the way she is. He could feel the pain in Athene-A’s heart.
The Titan stood up in a trance and marched back in the direction she had come. Athene-A floated back to the ground. She told the Cousins to continue with their observation instructions, and left.
“You had no authorization to approach the enemy.” Zeusticus ranted, as Her-A stood nearby.
“I found out more in a few minutes, then you did in a battle,” Athene-A defiantly spoke back.
“You may have compromised our security.”
“Athene-A,” Her-A said, trying to defuse the situation. “My husband is just bringing to light the serious breach of security you have imposed.”
“I revealed nothing that wasn’t already known.”
Zeusticus calmed down with the intervention. “What did you find out?”
“Rhe-A, Cronus, and the others, are now conscious of who
they are. They just can’t break the bond the original Titans have on them. Rhe-A has offered to help and will solicit the help of the others. Our little Cousins have discovered the exact location of a massive fortress being built on Mt. Orthys, it is located-here.” She pointed at the battle table.
“We were not supposed to put them in harm’s way, we are supposed to protect them,” Zeusticus said with passion, drawing a noticeable wry look from Her-A.
“The ones that can resist the Titan call are quite capable of observing, and staying out of the way. The spacial rift interferes with our instruments making their help incalculable.”
Zeusticus looked down, then away. “I believe we need a forward observation base, until then, see that they keep their distance from the Titans.”
“You can’t be serious,” Her-A interjected.
Athene-A butted in. “They are strong and smart, we can trust them. They have just as much at stake as we do. They are being enslaved to build the fortress, much like Aztek-Alon did, not to mention a food source. It’s only our God-like reputation that keeps them from attacking, anyway.”
“Very well, but keep me posted.”
“You can’t be serious, Husband, this goes against all our protocols,” Her-A angrily but her hands on the table and stared at him.
Zeusticus stared back for a few seconds, and then turned to Athene, and threateningly said. “Athene-A, I mean it, keep me informed, or I will petition the Council to have you placed back into the TSD.”
She gave him a curt nod, gave Her-A victory glance and left.
“How goes the project?” Athene-A asked, as she stepped into the planning room. She squeezed between Ourani-A-Aphrodite and Hephaestus. The two had been working on the plans for the outpost near Mt. Orthys.
“Very well,” Hephaestus said, as Aphrodite looked away.
