The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell (131 page)

  “I said that maybe we need to commandeer all the drugs within the city limits since we are dealing with Ravers, sir.” The Petty Officer – Second Class informed Captain Maxwell.

  “So what would be the strong justifiable reason in making such a move?” Maxwell asked.

  “Ravers do drugs, so the infected may be looking for more.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a good enough reason.”

  “People who do drugs have always been considered society throw-aways. Some of the Ravers would know where to get the drugs and that would give them access to the city drug dealers and that in return would give them further access to the city undesirables. And with that, the infection spreads under our noses.” The Petty Officer mentioned. The statement caused Maxwell to smile.

  Captain Maxwell then called a press conference and informed the press about the infection. (Lenkov and Omori would have been deeply displeased by that.) He also warned all drug dealers that if they turned themselves in (never would happen as Lenkov and Omori would have known) then they would be given amnesty from prosecution. And of course, as should have been expected from one who drinks like a fish, all alcohol within the city limits must be turned over to his forces. (Most vendors got rid of it as quickly as possible which caused a huge spike in, not only their profits, but also alcohol related crimes, death, injuries, and et cetera.) His forces (who was allowed to go) went berserk within the city for as they saw it, free booze. They just needed to give a little (like three cases of his favorite liquor) to their captain. Maxwell’s forces became nothing more, nothing less, than a rampaging mob and it only got worse when they got drunk. As someone within the press put it, “The infection, as nightmarish as it is, has finally come to this peaceful city. Thousands have become infected. The destruction appear like something straight out of a war movie. But this is no movie. For this is just the infection of an army driven mad through that of a alcohol drunken stupor.”

  Captain Iverson realized something what Lenkov once told him (through that of an encoded message) it read as such, “Be well aware that a potential tsunami is looming on the horizon. This tsunami has the potential to undo all that have thus been done so far. For this tsunami goes by the name of Maxwell. Fear not, for it is not what you may fear. For Captain Maxwell is a Pisces and as such he drinks like a fish. You can no more give him alcohol than you can take it away from him. He may be a friend but I, like you, are the same when it comes to our alcohol consumption. ‘Do not let it get in the way of our mission,’ is our creed. Please do not blame Maxwell for his drunkenness for it’s just a negative trait of being a Pisces. He both does, and doesn’t, understand that. He really is a good man, but I fear that he will do something horrendously stupid. Neither me, nor Sayaka, could tell you what that may be. All we can say is that chances are it would be over alcohol. His birthday is February 21
st
and when we first met him, and had the chance to celebrate his birthday, Sayaka and I gave him a present that we thought that he would love. He liked it, but not as much as the present from his wife – a case of hard liquor. It was at that moment that we decided to never give him a present again. Can you blame us? He is still a damn fine officer rather he is drunk or not. My advice to you is this: be patient and don’t put him in too much stress if he does something stupid because of alcohol or lack thereof. He will acknowledge his mistake and correct it. We wish you the best of luck in dealing with him.” That was the last message that Iverson received from Lenkov before The Hammer of Doom disappeared. Iverson decided to send the message to the media with orders not to mention Maxwell’s “mistake” until after he tries to correct it. And if he doesn’t? Then go ahead and publish it.

  The media was no fool (especially the EOD media) they could read the writing on the wall. Two captains, one with a ship and the other with a ground force of 9,000, and worse still an infection that turns people into monsters. One captain did something that scream for media coverage, and the other telling them not yet but soon. Despite what Maxwell told them was the justification behind his actions, the media ran with that which allowed the rampaging mob of drunken personnel to continue their orgy of violence. Iverson did sent a message to Maxwell asking him to explain why he’s not controlling his people, but Iverson didn’t get a response. Xavier then decided to look up other negative traits of being a Pisces and found one that stood out: self-destructive behavior. Something had to be done and Xavier knew what it will be - the infection.

  When the infected Ravers came out of the tunnel they came out with a “friend.” This so-call friend appeared to be a mutated individual who could give orders to the rest. It was at this point in time that everyone finally understood the Medusa Pandora infection. That Medusa Pandora needs a laboratory (that was established when she never attempted to spread the infection and why Captain Dawson seem to be obsessed with retaking the lab complex) and with that laboratory she creates her “Generals” who in return control the infected people. Xavier had the media informed everyone of that and why every single laboratory on that world must be destroyed for the good of the people. It is the sole reason why the infection never spread to the whole world. It could have been stopped right there if Maxwell didn’t care so much about alcohol.

  The infected Ravers ran into the city spreading the infection through their bodily fluids. They also had both small arms and rifles. Maxwell’s personnel was caught off guard and with the weapons that they had the infection spread even further. Each and every single infected person becomes yet another enemy that must be taken down. As a reporter put it, “This is far worse than a zombie apocalypse. At least with them… they don’t have brains. But just like with zombies, these infected people feels no pain. And just like with zombies, their only desire is to spread the contagion. But this is a contagion with a purpose. A purpose to serve it’s evil master.” Although Maxwell realized his mistake at this point in time, he also realized there is very little that he can do to fix it. Iverson knew that his only course of action is to use his ship’s torpedoes, but he may have to overuse them.

  “Sir, what are we going to do about those planetary defense guns?” The bridge officer asked Iverson when Xavier bought up the only way to contain the infection.

  “Lake Russell it.” Iverson responded.

  “Sir?” The bridge officer asked being confused by what he’d meant. Iverson didn’t respond so the bridge officer had to figure it out for herself.

  Everyone had to admit that it was beautifully simple and deceptively ingenious but outrageously and unnecessarily destructive. But it worked like a charm. The legacy of Ensign Karl Russell still lives on despite who he truly was. But as unfortunate as it is, it took too long to get the job done. Too much radiation is being put into the atmosphere but everyone knew that it was far significantly less than what was ever put into Earth’s atmosphere. Even when taking into account the size difference between the two worlds. By the time when those guns was taken out it was no longer necessary to use the tactics. But it was never pointless to have used the tactic for it allowed Iverson to send a torpedo down each of the tunnels to implode them.

  “Sir, the mayor of Silverton wants to know why aren’t you doing more to protect his city from the Medusa contagion.” The Senior Crewman asked Captain Maxwell.

  “Tell the mayor that in order to control this particular type of contagion I would have to use napalm and that is something, that at current, we do not have in our arsenal. This world does have it, but it’s literally diametrically opposite to where we are. Iverson cannot use his ship to fletch the weapon because he is needed in case the infection tries to spread beyond the city limits. Tell him that I, and Iverson, is well aware of how far away a torpedo can be used. He must understand that I have already sent out an urgent message requesting, no demanding, that  all the napalm upon this world is sent to us immediately. I do regret the lost of life. I am so terribly sorry for my poor judgment. I make no excuses for my addiction. You must understand that in order to save your city, and most importantly lives, you must wait. If I send anymore of my people in, with the vehicles that I have, being that they are not fully adequate for the job, more lives will be lost. Worst still, this world may be permanently lost. Iverson will be forced to use his entire stock of torpedoes in an attempt to contain the contagion. If that occurs than there will be a nuclear winter upon this world. My people, who is causing all this trouble for your city, has one or two choices. Either they do their damn job and defend your city, or they can become part of the infected. They should know that I, Iverson, even Lenkov himself, would agreed to that. We are not the Marines, the Navy, the Air Force, the Army, or the godforsaken Space Core. We are the EOD and we live by the mantra of ‘We drink in order to forget that we ever served in it.’ We drink hard because we fight hard. We live hard and die hard. Like the ancient Roman army… we are very aggressive on the battlefield. We take shit from no one. They will either stand, or they will fall in the defense of your city.” Maxwell informed the Senior Crewman. Maxwell was drunk but as luck (for the Senior Crewman) would have it, all interactions between military personnel, rather friend or foe, is of course recorded. The military personnel under Lenkov uses one of Sayaka’s invention what she calls a GI or Generic Intelligence. It is based primarily upon all of her theories about intelligence and all of the research that her and her team has conducted on biological genus of intelligence. It’s one out of many reason why companies with deep pockets felt threaten by her. Sayaka’s GI works with a person’s neural lace to create improved performance between a human and their cybernetic implants. The EOD saw it as a new revolution in cybernetic implant technology. And they are right.

  “Holy shit! That motherfucker startled me!” The Crewman First Class mentioned after he blew the head off of one the infected Ravers with his shotgun.

  “It’s a damn good thing that our nano suits cover us from head to toe.” Another Crewman First Class added after he’d gunned down three more.

  “I can’t believe this fucking shit! Stay the fuck down!” A Senior Crewwoman shouted at the three fallen Ravers who started to get back up. She then ran over with her flamethrower to finish them off. “Burn in hell bitches!” She then said to them.

  “Crewwoman! Hold up!” The Petty Officer – Second Class ordered her.

  “Yes ma’am.”

  The Petty Officer then came over to the three fallen infected Ravers and started to watch them. She then shot any one of them who stood up in the knees in an effort to cause them to fall again. She then put the muzzle of her gun to the cheek of one of them and pulled the trigger twice. She then stood up and watch the Raver who she just shot.

  “Shit! Samantha, finish them off!” Petty Officer ordered the Senior Crewwoman.

  “What’s going on ma’am?” One of the Crewman asked her.

  “I need to talk to Captain Maxwell immediately.” The Petty Officer mentioned over the intercom, to the appointed communications officer.

  “Sir I think that you need to see this video.” The Petty Officer then sent the video from her helmet-com system to Maxwell.

  “What am I looking at?” Maxwell asked her.

  “Sir I think these infected Ravers have some sort of rejuvenation property. As you can see after I shot this one twice in the face, it appears that the wounds started to heal.”

  “Thank you for the heads up. If you can hold out just a little longer we will be able to start napalming the area.” Maxwell mentioned.

  “What’s the ETA on that sir?”

  “As fast as the flight crew can make it here. I’m sorry to say but at their fastest speed it may take as long as two to three days for them to get to your location.”

  “Understood sir. Over and out.”

  “Hey, I’m still good to go. Just give me some more alcohol and I don’t mind torching these fuckers all day long.” Samantha mentioned with a sick smile that showed that she enjoys killing the infected Ravers. Her friends found her behavior amazing since Samantha was the flight coordinator for one of the cargo decks.

  “Yeah, well… we still need to take up a strong defensive position and watch our ammo.” The Petty Officer informed them. It was just her way of controlling Samantha’s blood lust. And so it went, unit after unit, hour after hour.

  “Is that the best you got you fuckers!” The Chief Petty Officer yelled at the top of his lungs at the infected Ravers. He was in another part of town moving with his unit to secure a choke point in an effort to prevent the infection from spreading to the core of the city.

  “You stupid motherfuckers! What the hell are you doing here!?” The Warrant Officer yelled out the police officer.

  “Look this is our city and…” The police officer was responding. It was at that moment that they were overrun by infected Ravers and what appeared to be other civilians.

  “Torch me goddamn it!” The Warrant Officer ordered the Crewman with the flamethrower. The Warrant Officer was fighting off three or four infected individuals who was also trying to rip open his nano suit. But to no avail. The Crewman came over and torched his commanding officer along with the infected. After thirty seconds the Warrant Officer stood up and raised up his right hand to order the Crewman to stop only that he’d got tackled by the police officers who became infected.  The Crewman then had to torch his commanding officer yet again.