The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (95 page)

‘Thanks,’ Malcolm said. ‘It was hard work, but we all
enjoyed taking back what was rightfully ours. The Temple has virtually been
restored to its original condition.’

‘Did you encounter any Imperial Soldiers when you took
back the city?’

‘Only a few,’ Malcolm said. ‘The rest have all been
summoned to Base Camp One.’

‘That’s good,’ Timothy said. ‘If all the monsters have been
called to BC-1, it would make our next target just as easy as the one that we
just took.’

‘Which one is that?’

‘Base Camp Twenty Nine.’

‘A medical camp?’

‘A critical medical camp,’ Timothy confirmed.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

The three hooded figures approached
Victor. ‘We have gathered the kings,’ one of them hissed.

‘Excellent,’ Victor said. ‘Did anyone oppose?’

‘Only two, my Lord.’

‘And they are?’

‘No longer with us, my Lord.’

‘Excellent,’ Victor grinned. ‘Well done.’

‘Thank you, Lord.’

The hooded figures bowed and floated backward before
disappearing. Victor turned to the four demonic Imperial generals.

‘You too, have done a marvellous job,’ he commended
them. ‘Now gather one hundred thousand of your troops. I have a special
assignment for you.’

The four grunted and left the room, their swords
clanging against the metal door as their oversized bodies tried to squeeze
through the small frame of the exit.

‘Now,’ Victor said as he turned to the Base Camp
Commanders. ‘Let me explain how we will counter the attacks of the Guerrilla
terrorists.’

- - -*  *  *- -
-

Trevor was dying. He could feel his
body shutting down. It would only be another week, maybe two, before he would
collapse; never to awaken again. All the prisoners were marched to a large hall,
and Trevor flinched each time someone shuffled past and bumped into him. His
body was battered and bruised, and even breathing was a terrible burden. He
wanted to give up just then and there, but the N-Force officer shouting at the
prisoners didn’t give him much chance.

‘Sit yourselves down on the floor,’ the N-Force officer
yelled through the speakers.

Everyone sat down on the cold tiles in the hall, and
for the briefest moment, Trevor felt like he was back in school again.

‘Betrayers of the Empire,’ the officer spoke through
the microphone from the stage. ‘Christian terrorist scum,’ he spat as he
surveyed the cold, battered, and dying men, women, and children sitting on the
floor. ‘It is with great pleasure that we announce that Sovereign Emperor, Lord
Yoshe, has demanded the immediate execution off
all
concentration camp
prisoners.’ He smiled at the people’s shocked reactions. ‘It appears that our
Lord needs our services in Israel, and we cannot take you with.’

‘
No!
’ one of the women shouted and started
weeping.

‘Due to the boundless kindness of our Lord,’ the
officer said, ‘he has promised the immediate exemption of anyone willing to
repent and receive his forgiveness.

‘Anyone here willing to join the Empire Army will be
released and sent to Base Camp One, where they will be tended to, fed, and
trained.’

There was an overwhelming silence from the prisoners as
their minds tried to digest what had just been offered to them.

‘There will be unlimited food, shelter, water, and
medical supplies for anyone who joins the Empire’s cause. Those who do not will
be tied up and burned alive.’

It’s a lie!
Trevor’s mind shouted as he
considered the offer for a fraction of a second.
Do not listen to them!

‘Those willing to join the Empire, and receive
forgiveness and salvation should get up now and line up against the wall on my
right-hand side. Those of you who wish to remain unfaithful and bitter will be
lined up on the left.’

The prisoners stood up and buzzed amongst themselves.
Each one of them struggled with the conflict that raged within. Trevor wondered
if it would be so bad to just join the Empire and get it over with. God knew
what pain and suffering he was going through, and would surely understand the
situation and forgive him. He started limping toward the gathering crowd of the
prisoners that had decided to join the Empire.

NO!
His mind screamed and he stopped. He turned around and saw seven people
standing at the opposite wall.
So tired,
he thought as he looked at
them.
I’m so terribly tired. Just want to get this over with
. For the
briefest moment he could swear that Norman and Andrew were standing amongst
them. He wanted to be with them. He wanted to be in the company of someone who
cared. Painfully, Trevor turned and walked toward the opposite wall. When he
reached it, neither Norman nor Andrew was there but, for some strange reason,
he felt relieved and at ease.

Trevor looked at those standing at the opposite wall.
There were hundreds; most of them covering their faces in shame. Some just
stood there expressionlessly as they reflected back on the unnecessary torture
sessions that they had endured.

The N-Force officer looked at the eight standing
against the wall. ‘You selfish fools,’ he sneered. ‘At the first rays of the
morning sun, you will all be burned to death. Slowly but surely you will beg
for our Lord’s forgiveness between your screams as you die.’ He then looked at
those gathered at the other wall. ‘I should kill you all for their betrayal,’
he barked as he pointed at Trevor’s group. ‘But our Lord has better plans for
you.’ He motioned to the other N-Force officers. ‘Get these people to the
offices so that they can renounce the terrorist leader and receive their
Shields.’

Once the hall had been cleared of the people willing to
receive their Shields, the officer looked at Trevor’s group. ‘You have until
sun up to make up your minds,’ he said. ‘After that, there will be
no
more chances. He then summoned more officers. ‘Torture these people,’ he
ordered. ‘Use the scorpions to encourage them to repent of their sins.’

With that he clicked his heels together, spun around,
and marched out of the hall.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘Are we ready to move?’ Timothy
asked as he surveyed the Base Camp through his night vision binoculars.

‘We are ready, Alpha.’

‘Good. Trigger explosions one and four, then wait
thirty seconds and trigger the remaining two.’

‘Roger that.’

The man next to Timothy inched away and relayed the
instructions to his next-in-command. A minute later, a huge fireball lit up the
night skies. Twenty seconds later another explosion rocked the compound.

‘Trumpets!’ Timothy yelled and waved his machine gun
through the air. ‘
Charge!
’

Trumpets blared as eighty men ran down the hill toward
the burning Base Camp. Two more explosions sent debris flying in all
directions. When they reached the base camp, Timothy sensed that something was
amiss. There were no soldiers. There were no bodies strewn across the compound.
There was just an empty, burning camp. Timothy looked at the surrounding hills
and his stomach contracted.

‘
It’s a trap,
’ he yelled and everyone stopped.
‘Fall back! It’s a trap!’

The men started retreating, but a loud roar from the
east made them stop dead. A sound like that of rushing water came down on them
and, in an instant; hundreds of Imperial Soldiers emerged from the nearby
shadows.

Timothy’s men opened fire on the creatures, but the
ammunition merely slowed them down. Here and there one dropped, but hundreds
replaced the fallen one instantly. It was only a matter of seconds before they
were within arm’s reach of Timothy and his men.

The Imperial Soldiers growled as they flailed their
swords through the air and cut down most of the guerrilla fighters with single
strokes. The men screamed as they were stabbed and slashed, and for the first
time since he began the attacks, did Timothy experience fear.

One of the Soldiers slashed down one of Timothy’s
younger soldiers nearby, and in response, Timothy opened fire. The brutish
beast turned its head and charged toward Timothy, swirling its sword through
the air as it ran. It closed the gap between them in mere seconds and swung its
heavy sword at Timothy’s head. Timothy blocked the blow with his machine gun,
but the force of the impact sent him flying back, his rifle flinging through
the air.

The Imperial Soldier lifted its sword high above its
head and let out a loud roar.

Please, Jesus,
Timothy prayed.
I really need a
miracle right about now
.

The Soldier was about to swing its sword down on
Timothy with all its might, but a siren in the distance stopped it. It looked
up, sniffed, and then let out another roar. It then sheathed its sword and
punched Timothy in the face with a huge fist.

Timothy only felt a tremendous pain in his jaw before
everything went black.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

When Timothy came to, he had to
wait a few seconds for his eyes to adjust and focus. His jaw ached and he
noticed that he and two of his men were tied up behind one another. The three
of them had been the only survivors of the slaughter that had taken place. They
were surrounded by Imperial Soldiers, all eagerly waiting for the command to
finish them off. They grunted and shoved and Timothy noticed that their jagged
teeth were rotten and mostly missing. He wondered from which pits of Hell
Victor had conjured these beasts.

One Soldier snarled and drew its sword. It made
stabbing motions at Timothy and was about to cut him when a loud roar made it
stop. The Soldiers parted and a beast almost twice as large and ferocious as
the others walked through the opening. It looked at the Soldier that had drawn
its sword and then took the weapon. With one swift motion the Soldier’s head
parted from its shoulders and landed on the ground with a
thud
a short
distance from where Timothy and his two companions were sitting.

The General then walked to one of Timothy’s men and
leaned in close to the man’s face. It snorted its foul breath heavily into his
face, and then pulled its lip back into a snarl, revealing razor sharp teeth.

‘Who is your leader?’ the brute asked Timothy’s
companion in a barely audible growl. The man just remained quiet. The Demonic
General unsheathed a dagger and stabbed it into the man’s shoulder. The man
cried out and Timothy flinched as the General twisted the dagger inside the
man’s shoulder.

‘I ask again,’ the General snarled. ‘Who is your
leader?’

Once again the man remained silent, and once again he
screamed as another dagger penetrated his other shoulder. Timothy couldn’t take
it anymore.

‘I am!’ he shouted out. ‘Leave that man alone!’

The General stood up and walked around until he stood
before Timothy. He then knelt down and also brought his face right in front of
Timothy’s. ‘Are you the leader of the terrorist faction?’ the beast growled.

‘The Earthly leader, yes,’ Timothy confirmed.

The General sniffed at Timothy for a few seconds. It
then held up a dagger between their two faces. ‘Are you willing to swear on
your companion’s lives that you are telling the truth?’

‘Yes,’ Timothy said. ‘You have me, now let my men go.’

The General and two Soldiers pulled the men to their
feet and severed their bonds. ‘Come with me,’ it growled and pulled Timothy by
the arm.

‘You promised to let them go,’ Timothy said as he was
shoved to an office building.

The General roared and Timothy could only look on
helplessly as the Imperial Soldiers closed in on his two friends.

At the office the General beckoned an Imperial Soldier.
‘Get me Commander Archer,’ the General said. ‘Quickly!’

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘Is this the man?’ Ryan asked as he
studied Timothy’s face.

‘It is,’ the General answered with a grunt and a growl.

‘Well done,’ Ryan said. ‘I will take this terrorist and
escort him to Base Camp One myself where Sovereign Emperor Yoshe will deal with
him.’

‘Maybe we should keep him here until Lord Yoshe himself
arrives.’

‘Not a good idea,’ Ryan said. ‘This man may have
crucial information on the whereabouts and strategies of the enemy. I need to
get him to Lord Yoshe right away. Every minute wasted could lead to our
downfall.’

‘Very well,’ the General grunted and stepped aside.

Ryan walked up to Timothy and cuffed him. ‘Lord Yoshe
will be very pleased,’ he said and escorted Timothy to his Jeep.