by Leo Ndelle
“At Ground Zero!” she replied.
Mikum heard a loud explosion in the background.
“General! Based on the readings… our intel was correct,” the soldier added.
“Their weapon is real,” Mikum said almost to himself.
He rose to his feet as his soldiers continued their standoff. They were down to four now.
“General! Your orders, sir!” the soldier said in desperation.
“Inform the queen and prep the bomb,” Mikum said as he flexed his legs.
“General…” the soldiers voice was heavy with sadness.
“Now, Bural!” Mikum commanded.
“Sir, yes sir!” Captain Bural affirmed. “Bural out!”
“On my tail, soldiers!” Mikum commanded.
The four scarabs affirmed the order and followed Mikum away from the scene. Two minutes later, they were in an underground bunker.
“General on deck!” yelled a captain.
Every scarab went at attention.
“At ease!” Mikum said. “Is everything ready?”
“Yes, general,” the captain replied and beckoned a young soldier over.
The soldier strutted towards Mikum and saluted.
“What’s your mission, soldier?” Mikum asked as he returned the salute.
“To personally deliver package to Ground Zero, sir!”
Mikum nodded slowly.
“What is your name, soldier?” Mikum asked.
“Cuzol, sir!” he replied.
“How old are you, Cuzol?” Mikum asked.
“102, sir,” Cuzol replied.
“So damn young!” Mikum muttered and turned towards the captain.
“Strap me!” Mikum said.
“But, general-” the captain wanted to protest.
“That’s an order!” Mikum said and offered his carapace.
Mikum knew his men were confused and sad at the same time for what he was about to do. But there was no way he was going to let a child do the work of an adult Scarab. Besides, he felt responsible for the security of the realm. If the annakis wanted to wipe the scarabs out, then the annakis were in for the surprise of their lives. Mikum felt hands strapping the device on his carapace. This was his sacred duty. The secret weapon of the annakis was going to bring about the demise of Scarabia unless Scarabia used a device they had sworn never to use again, given the fact that Scarabia was almost destroyed the last time the device was used several Scarabia millennia ago. However, when the device was recreated, only the etheric explosive aspect of the bomb was kept because the weapon the annakis had created had powers of the etheric kind, according to their intel.
“Get the queen on the line,” Mikum said.
A few seconds later, there was a buzz over the telecast.
“My queen,” Mikum said and bowed at the hologram of the scarab queen.
“General,” the queen returned his bow. “Why am I not surprised?”
“It had to be me, my queen,” Mikum replied stoically.
“You have trained the best scarabs Scarabia has to offer,” the queen spoke with a slight reprimand. “Any of them would gladly take your place.”
“Respectfully, my queen, I did not call to argue with you.”
“Of course,” the queen was even more stoic than Mikum was. “You only called to bid your wife farewell.”
There was a moment of silence that was so thick with emotion one could make a bed out of it.
“If I don’t make it, I’ll see you on the other side, my love,” Mikum said.
“You and I will have words later,” the queen hissed.
“Show them what you’re made of, my queen!” Mikum ordered. “Let them know never to mess with us ever again!”
“Aye, aye, general!” the queen affirmed and saluted.
General Mikum returned her salute.
“Goodbye, my love,” he said and his voice almost broke.
“I love you!” the queen replied and ended the telecast quickly before she let out a wail of pain and anger, pain for the loss she was about to suffer and anger at the annakis for the pain they had just caused her.
Mikum turned around and faced his soldiers. The sadness in their eyes betrayed the strength in their gaits.
“Whatever happens,” Mikum said, “you make sure every single one of those ugly creatures pay and pay dearly. Is that understood?”
There was a thunderous chorus of ‘Sir, yes sir!”.
“General on deck!” the captain yelled and every soldier saluted Mikum.
Mikum returned their salute.
“You’ve been promoted to general, Bural,” Mikum said to the captain.
“Thank you, sir!” Bural said and saluted. “I will not fail Scarabia!”
“I know,” Mikum said. “It has been an honor fighting alongside you all.”
Mikum then hurriedly left the underground base. That was the only goodbye his soldiers were going to get from him. He flew towards Ground Zero as the war between scarabs and annakis raged below. It seemed as if the annakis had significantly increased their numbers since he went into the underground base. He wanted to join the fight so badly but he had an even bigger mission to see through. Ground Zero was ten miles away. He could get there in twenty-four seconds at top speed. He looked down and noticed hundreds of annakis suddenly abandoning the fight and giving chase.
“I need cover!” Mikum commanded.
“I want as many soldiers as possible to form a shield around General Mikum!” Bural commanded.
Immediately, the scarab soldiers accelerated towards Mikum and formed a shield around him. They fended off as many of the annakis as they could until they were near Ground Zero.
“Break formation!” Mikum commanded as he prepared for a dive.
His soldiers did as commanded, with many of them wishing him farewell and telling him how honored they were to have served with him. Mikum heard them all and saw the ground heave up and down slowly. That thing is massive! He thought as he accelerated towards the heaving earth. Let’s see if you can handle-
The device exploded several hundreds of yards before it reached Ground Zero. At first, no one understood what had happened. But when the etheric blast traced a curve around the area of impact, the bomb’s early explosion made sense.
“How did we miss the shield?!” General Bural demanded.
“I… I don’t know, sir!” stammered a young soldier. “It’s not showing on our scanners.”
Bural screamed in rage and crashed a leg into an empty table, splitting it in twain. The secret weapon of the annakis was still very much alive. General Mikum had died for nothing.
“General,” another soldier called out and pointed at the monitor.
Bural approached the monitor and stared blankly at it for a few seconds.
“I want every scarab on Ground Zero!” Bural commanded. “I want that thing killed by any means necessary!”
A hand punched through the earth and another followed before the head of the largest annaki the scarabs had ever seen emerged from the ground. When the thing was completely out of the ground, it was five times the size of a regular annaki and completely covered in scales of diamond. Scarabia watched in horror at the sheer immensity of the creature and when the creature roared for fifteen seconds straight, there was pure, unsullied fear in the hearts of the scarabs.
“Give it everything we’ve got,” Bural commanded.
Scarabia did just that. However, when the smoked cleared and the dust settled, the creature was untouched. Every attack bounced off the shield of protection it had summoned around itself. There was only one thing left to do.
“Get the queen,” he said.
Moments later, the queen glided towards the creature and hovered close to its shield. Then, she too summoned a shield around herself. She was the only scarab who could do that. She infused her shield with supercharged chi and began slowly digging into the creature’s shield until she went through it. She stood her ground in defiance as the creature growl
ed in anger and took a giant step towards her. She was no larger than any other scarab. The queen closed her eyes and her body became transfigured into a living, black diamond. Scarabia was surprised by her new look and the giant annaki paused for a moment.
“I know how you were made,” she gritted her mandibles. “The Scientist stole a piece of my unique essence and fashioned you into a weapon. But you shall fall right where you stand, you foul beast!”
With those words, the queen balled herself and summoned six seven-foot long diamond spikes around her body, which she shot at the creature. The spikes pierced through the creature’s body, causing it excruciating pain. It dropped to a knee as it reached for two of the spikes with his hands and pulled them out. Liquid diamond flowed from the exposed wounds as the creature howled in pain. Still, it did not relent as it pulled out the other five spikes one at a time, healing itself in the process. The queen knew she had to change her strategy.
However, the giant annaki charged towards her and tried to stomp her, but she rolled away from its attack. She shot several spikes at the creature again. Only one hit the creature as it either evaded or deflected the spikes. It was learning and adapting really quickly. The fight between giant annaki and queen scarab raged of for several minutes until the giant annaki suddenly ceased fighting..
NOW! the giant annaki heard The Scribe say.
The chest area of the creature started glowing until the area opened to reveal a glowing heart made of red diamond pulsating with increasing luminescence with each heartbeat. The Realm of Scarabia rocked and quaked with the violence of thousands of mega earthquakes set off at the same time. The war stopped as every creature in Scarabia either pointlessly ran for shelter or tried not to get swallowed in the gaping chasms of the ruptured ground. The chaos unfolding on the realm was cataclysmically beyond any in Scarabia’s history, but that was nothing compared to what was about to unfold in the rest of Creation, literally.
Behold, the last of my catalysts! The Scribe proclaimed from his state of near-omnipotence. Behold the last standing conduit for the vibration of chaos!
The Scribe could feel the victory! Yes, finally, he had found a simulation that outdid that of his unknown enemy. The Scribe closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat as he waited for the final phase of the simulation to be complete.
The scarab queen felt the change in the core of the realm, for she was also the guardian of the realm. Innately, she knew the cataclysmic chaos unfolding around her was merely a foreshadow of darker tidings to come, tidings which they most likely would not be around to witness if she did not stop this annaki super weapon. She gazed up at the giant annaki in front of her and saw its heart still pulsating in steady, increasing luminescence. There was only one thing left to do. The queen balled herself and levitated. The creature still did not attack her. It was preoccupied with being a catalyst for the vibration of chaos.
“You’re destroying my home, my realm,” the queen spoke with a very calm surrender as she continued to levitate in the air. “You’re destroying my dimension and much more. I know because I can feel it.”
She was now level with the creatures heart. She zoomed in on the core of the creature’s heart and saw nothing but light so bright and beautiful, it was hypnotic.
“But you don’t fool me,” she said to herself as she summoned the remainder of Scarabia’s almost depleted etheric energy.
The queen became as bright as the brightness in the creature’s heart and she burned with the last etheric energy of the realm.
“See you soon, my love,” she whispered to herself and accelerated towards the creature’s heart.
The queen charged at five times her fastest speed, fueled by Scarabia’s etheric energy as well as a sense of duty to her people as their queen and to Scarabia as its guardian. She was an etheric weapon of mass destruction and her target was the giant, annaki weapon of cosmic destruction created by The Scientist. She neared her target and managed a smile, knowing that she was finally close to victory, the victory that her mate and true love failed to bring, through no fault of his. The queen felt smothered by the vibration of chaos that was pulsating from the heart of the giant annaki, the last catalyst of The Scribe. She fought against the resistance from that vibration and gave one final charge.
“Finally,” the queen exclaimed as she was less than an inch away from certain victory. “I come to you, my love!”
The Scribe opened his eyes, grinned and said two words.
Too late!
Creation came to a pause, including the queen scarab freezing a micro-inch away from the heart of the giant annaki. The Scribe watched as the vibration of chaos became an etheric black hole in the Core of Creation. This etheric black hole began pulling everything made of ether into its expanding event horizon, and because the most fundamental element of Creation is ether, this etheric black hole which was the manifestation of the vibration of chaos began undoing Creation by tearing Creation apart ether-by-ether. The Scribe’s grin broadened as he watched the most beautiful simulation of the unfolding of his purpose. He was about to close the book and seal the manuscript when suddenly, everything began changing again.
The etheric black hole became reversed and Creation began rebuilding itself ether by ether once more. No! No! No! The Scribe thought as he fought his every instinct to scream while in his state of near-omnipotence and near-omnipresence. He found a way again! The Scribe was preparing to exit his current state and return to his normal state of being. He had some raging to do and some cosmic clusters to destroy in the process; but he paused when he noticed many tiny specks of light coalescing in front of him into a message.
AS LONG AS I AM AROUND YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED, it read.
The Scribe froze, taken aback by the sheer audacity of this entity. It was a first for this entity to establish some form of direct communication with him. The Scribe summoned a message of his own in like manner.
WHO ARE YOU? The Scribe asked.
YOU WILL KNOW SOON ENOUGH, was the reply.
ARE YOU NOT AFRAID I CAN TRACK YOU THROUGH YOUR MESSAGES? The Scribe prompted.
FEAR IS YOUR PREROGATIVE AND IF YOU COULD TRACK ME, YOU WOULD HAVE DONE SO ALREADY, was the reply.
The Scribe seethed at the truth of this entity’s words.
WHEN I FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE, YOU WILL WISH YOU WERE NEVER CREATED, promised The Scribe.
He waited, but there was no reply.
ARE YOU THERE? The Scribe asked.
Again, there was no answer.
COWARD! SHOW YOURSELF! The Scribe demanded.
Still, there was no reply.
The Scribe cursed and returned to his normal state. He sat in silence for a while in an uninhabited part of Creation. He pondered on his exchange with his unknown enemy and as he pondered, he started chuckling. The chuckling morphed into laughter, laughter into hysteria and hysteria gave birth to rage like The Scribe had never felt before. He let out a scream that wiped out six cosmic clusters containing over six billion, billion, billion realms before teleporting to the portion of Creation he had dubbed The Soulless Ones.
Yeshua watched The Scribe from his own state of near-omnipotence and near-omnipresence. He chuckled as he, too, returned to his normal state of being. This time, he returned as a new, upgraded form of General Mikum and this new General Mikum knew exactly what to do to prevent the annakis from ever being spawned. From there, he would return to The Soulless Ones and make a few changes as Lunok.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CONTAINING CHAOS
FATHER ANTONIO RUSHED to the control room to confirm what he had just been told over the phone. The priest was not lying. A chaos of crimes and violence ravaged humanity and the world’s superpowers were gearing for World War III. Fr. Antonio reached for his phone and dialed his boss’ number. It rang twice but on the third ring, he caught a movement from the corner of his left eye. A priest was going for Fr. Antonio’s jugular with a dagger in his right hand. Fr. Antonio reacted at once. He shifted his weight sl
ightly to his left as his right hand came upwards in a quick slash. His attacker’s snarl vanished from their face as the assailant missed his target by a hair’s breadth. Fr. Antonio’s heart was heavy as he ended his assailant quickly. It was unfortunate, but what he saw in the priest’s eyes indicated that the priest was already gone even before he, Fr. Antonio was forced to end him.
Two other priests in the control room lunged at Fr. Antonio but these were quickly and non-fatally stopped by four other priests in the control room who had not received the mark of The Beast. Fr. Antonio crouched over the subdued, angry priests and gazed into their eyes. He saw the same darkness in the eyes of the priest he had just killed. He raised a pair of questioning eyes towards his subordinates who held down those priests and they shook their heads. They, too, did not understand what was happening.
“Secure them separately!” he ordered his subordinates. “You two!” he pointed at two other priests. “Monitor the cameras and keep the channel open.”
The priests affirmed and executed their orders. The attacking priests were taken away, screaming, writhing and cursing all the way like rabid, possessed creatures. Fr. Antonio remembered he had just called his boss moments ago. He searched for his phone, found it on the floor and was surprised the call was still ongoing. He raised the phone to his left ear.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Sir,” he spoke surprisingly calmly. “Something came up and we had to address it immediately.”
“I understand,” Shi’mon said.
“Oh, you do, sir,” Fr. Antonio said with defiant sarcasm. “How perceptive of you. I should not have called then.”
“Watch your tone, Antonio!” Shi’mon reprimanded him.
Fr. Antonio took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was still furious, but at what? At whom? Or was it a combination of many things.
“I apologize, sir,” Fr. Antonio said. “Thought I’d let you know that our planet has been plunged into chaos and there’s a threat of World War III following the massive shift in planetary consciousness. Also, we just came under attack.”
“From whom?” Shi’mon asked.