The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell (113 page)

  Perhaps the best news of them all was the fact that the ensuing battle destroyed the cloning vats. No more Demon Cy-Xs (or Yalvfry qrvlb for that matter) from that point forward.  Unfortunately, there was still enough of both groups that one group alone could equal an army. One too many cloning vats. In a matter of speaking the whole area was one gigantic factory. It was designed to create an army. But at a steady pace. Not too much within a short period of time. What good is an army without equipment, vehicles, air power and the like. Only the Demon Cy-Xs can ever, if truly be able to say, that they are the exception to the rule. And for the people of Aruka, they are about to learn that the hard way.

(14)

  Shortly before Claire Daniel landed at the Arukan airport the situation between the Demon Cy-Xs and their new enemy was resolved. Within several minutes after she’d met up with (and “debated” why she came) with Leon. Captain Maxwell received the message from The Hammer of Doom concerning the movements of the Demon Cy-Xs. Maxwell then forwarded it to Julius Howell III who then relayed it to Leon. It was at this point that he’d received other news from the local militia that suggested that the Demon Cy-Xs are traveling through the swamps (he did and didn’t believed it since Demon Cy-Xs are bad swimmers, the best that they could do is dog paddle), if true, then their target is the Arukan docks. (He actually feared that they may try something like that but he’d got overruled – guess who overruled him.) Unfortunately what he’d knew about that is that the docks are lost.

  Needless to say that the mayor was none too trilled about not only Claire showing up (and breaking the law) but also the ideal of losing the docks. For without those docks the city is financially ruined. And so are her prospects of being re-elected if those docks are lost. The mayor had back herself into a corner politically and the only way out for her is to take on, in any way that she’d can, Claire. But she will soon enough learn that is no easy task. The mayor chances at re-election was ruined at the very moment that she’d opened her mouth and dare to take on someone far more capable than she is. But first, she has to strike Claire’s nerves.

  “Ma’am… I hate to inform of this… but the mayor wants you arrested.” The police commissioner informed Claire.

  “What?!” Claire almost yelled back.

  “She’d said that you broke the law by coming here.” The police commissioner responded.

  “Not as a private citizen!”

  “I know that ma’am.”

  “So what are you going to do?”

  “Nothing ma’am. I just wanna to inform you. That’s all.” The police commissioner responded and then left without saying a word. She too was burned by the mayor. One too many times. So much so that she’d developed an ulcer.

  If the mayor is good at one thing, she is good at making friends out of political hacks and enemies out of everyone else. To the voters she is a darling. She has this certain “mystique” about her. After all, who could the voters trust more? The one who submitted to the authorities or the one who stood up to them? Of course there is a reason why she “stands up against the authorities and will not back down.” Just ask the police commissioner. But the mayor has too many connections to be taken on so lightly. How else could she have gotten the job? But she’s not so important that her position is considered sacrosanct. Which is one reason why her re-election is so important to her. Her backers are backing out of their support for her.

(15)

  “Boy… how many times have told you to quit your yapping.” The father scolded his teenage son.

  “But dad I swear that I saw a demon!”

  “Do you even know what one looks like, boy?”

  “Yeah! Big, black, ugly and stupid pa!”

  “Kind of like you. In the stupid part.”

  “I ain’t the mayor pa!”

  “Boy… you ‘bout as quiet as a screaming whore in church confessing her sins!”

  Several minutes passed by of intense silence as the local militias in their boats, did all their best at doing what the mayor would not allow Leon to do. It was cold and dark as the local fishermen begin the dreadful search of the swamps and defense of their way of life. In some cases whole families came out to give it their all in that defense. Only to realize that the greatest terror of them all was the silence that gnaws at the soul until it becomes too raw. But these are not the type of people who would back down and surrender their way of life to monsters without a fight.

  “Shit me up a storm if I don’t have more of that sweet nectar.” One of the fishermen mentioned to his comrade after he’d too saw a Demon Cy-X.

(16)

  Claire Daniel called a press conference long before the mayor did. What went on within the swamps was already resolved by this time. The docks were on the verge of being lost. At the exact time that Claire was giving her speech the Demon Cy-Xs were on the verge of entering the docks. The fate of the city and the people now rests upon Claire and her speech. Yes the mayor was watching it, but from the comfort of her home far from danger. What the mayor wanted, she did not get. Instead of hearing Claire give the mayor what she wanted to hear, Claire gave the mayor an earful.

  “I come here today, not as a criminal as the mayor would have you to believe, but as a private citizen who is within her legal rights. Do any of you seriously believe that I, with a family, who’s record is there for all to see, a record that shows that I serve with honor and distinction, would risk everything as the mayor would have you to believe? Please, I beg of you, as a mother and as a wife, one who serve her community with distinction, I beg of you to open your hearts and eyes and trust me. Me and my husband would die for you, for this community. If you don’t believe me then answer me this: where is my husband and where is the mayor? How far away is the mayor’s home, and how far away is both mine and my husband? Yes I know that the mayor may use the argument that she is busy coordinating the appropriate authorities for the continual defense of the community. But answer me this, why is that all of those individuals, including my husband, chooses to be here and not in their luxury mansion? Oh, I forgot… I meant to say the same type of homes that you live in and not some luxury mansion. Rather they choose to leave those home and come to where the mayor cannot. Or dare I say, too afraid to. If my husband is to die then I choose to die with him. I know that may sound selfish of me when I, like you, have children. Children that we both love with all of our hearts and soul as I can imagine you do as well. But I know that many of you will lose your children. Some of you your whole family. I weep for you if that’s the case. I cannot imagine, nor shall I, the grief that you must feel. For those of you who chooses to fight, and if necessary to die with your family, then you can imagine why I am here and my children is not. For ultimately that is what it all comes down to, the sacrifice that each and every community must chose to make. I know that by being here… I… that I may die here. But at least I die with honor. So… what say you? What say the mayor? Let me tell you if, god forbids if, we shall fail… then who will be safe upon this world. But nobody. Nobody.”

  It didn’t take that long for the people to learn the fate of those who stood their ground in the swamps. That, combined with Claire’s speech, turned the public against the mayor. It was the media, however, who turned on the mayor first. They had people in the docks. They had to witness the horror of the loss of their own people. They saw the horror of the live footage and had to edit it for viewer ship. Seeing the loss of their friends right before their eyes. The mayor however did have a speech prepared, but it was Claire’s speech that delayed it. Seeing what the media was reporting on her, forced the mayor to  abandoned her speech in favor of an off-the-collar speech. She, after all, had no other choice. But her speech, all in an effort to salvage her career, backfired on her. It made her look like she was out of touch with the people.

(17)

  “All loose ends have been eliminated. What are my orders?” The assassin informed his boss.

  “Me and my comrades are going into retirement. You will be well rewarded.”

  “Understood sir.”

  A secret cabal have always existed within the EOD Council and they always perceived themselves to be the fulcrum in that body. This is primarily due to the “war” that always existed between the Founder and his wife. Both were willing to use the resources of the EOD (including lives) in this so-called war. At times to the detriment of the security of the EOD. Mostly it was just a waste of resources and lives. But it was this fulcrum that struck some type of balance, never allowing either side to gain the upper hand. Neither the Founder nor his wife really cared that this fulcrum existed. They just wanted it to stay an absolute secret. But within the last fifteen years this rivalry has reached the boiling point. It told those within that fulcrum they all need to fold and go into retirement. But first they needed to get rid of all of their loose ends. Unlike the Founder and his wife, they were thinking about the “good” of the EOD. (As well as their own hides. Besides, it might tip the enemy off to who they are.)

  What this fulcrum decided to do was to send all loose ends to Golden Hyperion so that they could be eliminated without arousing suspicion. With William M. Shackley they knew that he was having an affair and that his wife was becoming emotionally unhinged by it. She could be persuaded to lead him (and unbeknownst to her), and herself, to their deaths. Another loose end that needs to be mentioned is, of course, the mayor of Aruka.

  With her career in ruins, and the threat of the city fixing to be overrun by Demon Cy-Xs, the mayor boarded a helicopter. Her destination was near the pier. When she arrived she was told that the boat had no other choice but to dock further away - much deeper into the docks. With Demon Cy-Xs here and there she had no other choice but to run hither and thither. As for the helicopter? A malfunction made certain that it will not be able to lift off. It was only a matter of time before it happens. That she will be overrun and eaten by Demon Cy-Xs.

(18)

  “Just call me Officer Jack.” The police officer told the militias and those civilians with him. It was all that anybody ever knew of him. But it was he who would ultimately save all of their lives. Nobody else who was at the docks would be as successful as he was. Yes there would be people who managed to escape, but since the docks were at a tip of a peninsula it made escape difficult. It was Officer Jack who, instead of using force against an unarmed assailant, he use the method of: track, observe, avoid, and collect valuable Intel. Those who did not do that (or think that bullets could stop them) learn the hard way a wounded beast can be as equally as dangerous as one who isn’t wounded and is starving. Because Officer Jack collected Intel upon them (including video) it allowed others to ascertain the situation that must have occurred at the cloning vats. It told them that it needed further investigation. As luck would have it The Hammer of Doom sensors were fully operational and what it detected was the new enemy. Everyone who analyze the data knew that Captain Dawson must be to blame. But nobody knew how he could be responsible for the creation of this new monster. This is the reason why 1
st
Lieutenant Illes was sent there in the first place.

(19)

  The artillery barrage of the Arukan docks finally came to an end only because they ran out of shells. The docks were destroyed including any ships that were docked. Some of the high rises were reduced to rubble in an effort to hit anything that was too near the docks. The only thing that the defenders of Aruka knew is that the Demon Cy-Xs were “at the docks.” The person at the other end of the radio call never mentioned precisely where the Demon Cy-Xs were. For the peninsula that the docks were on, it was hit randomly (the mayor’s lifeless body survived that bombardment) in an effort to make certain that maybe, just maybe, a few of the Demon Cy-Xs were hit (only a few were). A battle line outside of the peninsula was formed. Buildings, APCs, tanks, barricades, snipers, police, PDF and the militias, was the only line of defense for the city. Leon, Claire and Officer Jack was in the center within the command post. They all knew one thing – it’s not that easy to take down one single Demon Cy-X even if they are unarmed. But they also knew that this, hopefully, will be the last of them.

  The first attack from the Demon Cy-Xs came on the defenders left flank. After twenty minutes they finally overrun the defenders position. The Demon Cy-Xs then attempted to swoop around to attack the defenders right flank. Although it failed to achieve much, it did weakened the defenders right flank, the only good news is that all the Demon Cy-Xs who made the attack (along with most who were still in the city) were wiped out. The next wave, although a small one, was just nothing more then the Demon Cy-Xs probing the defenders position. (By the end of it all those who were still in the city were finally wiped out.) The next wave hit the center flank very hard. A long and very bitter battle ensued in which the center finally collapsed. Unfortunately, Officer Jack died in the attack. He was in a APC that was overrun. While the Demon Cy-Xs were around it (with some trying to get in), instead of driving off, he decided to blow it up killing himself and seriously injuring those Demon Cy-Xs that were near. Those that were left was gunned down by the retreating defenders. One group of militias then did a counter-attack and drove off the rest of the Demon Cy-Xs. The final wave came up through the center, killed all the militias who counter-attacked the previous wave, split up, with one group taking on targets of opportunity, and the rest trying to take out the command post. At one point a very large (possibly a mutated one [the locals called it a “king”]) Demon Cy-X, seriously wounded, let out a earth shattering howl and then all the Demon Cy-Xs throughout the city converged at the command post. It was finally over when the Demon Cy-Xs took over roughly 75% of the high rise building.