At the sight of the fire bird, alarms went off around the base as the soldiers thought that they were under attack. Anti-aircraft missiles were aimed and the kaiju and ready to fire when people started yelling that a man was also walking out of the storm cloud.
General Parsons was partially blind and disoriented, but he was well aware of what the appearance of the Phoenix would set off on the base. He had asked his secretary to contact the base and warn them of his unorthodox method of travel and of the monster that he was bringing with. From what he was able to see going on around him, it appeared that he and the Phoenix had arrived prior to the message.
Parsons stumbled out of the dissipating storm cloud. Once the cloud had completely vanished, he started yelling out orders, “Do not attack the monster. The creature is the Phoenix and for now, it is helping us out! Where is the commanding officer for this base? I need to see him immediately!”
A short man came running out from the crowd. He stopped short of Parsons and saluted before introducing himself. “General Dan Cabollo, reporting for duty, sir. The jets and helicopters are ready to attack.”
Parsons returned the salute. “Very good, General. My apologies for my unorthodox method of travel and the disruption it caused on your base.” Parsons pointed to the Phoenix flying overhead. “Our jets are going to fly with the Phoenix in the first wave of the attack. You and I will follow in the helicopters as the second attack wave. Our objective is to keep Atlas in the desert and away from any populated area!” He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Cabollo. “I will need one transport helicopter to fly to this location and rendezvous with Diana Cain. She will tell the pilot what he needs to do when he gets there.”
Cabollo took a quick look at the Phoenix. “Sir, permission to speak freely?”
Parsons nodded. “Granted.”
“Sir, we were expecting Chimera to be here to help us. Can we trust the Phoenix in this mission?”
Parsons shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. Chimera is engaged with other monsters as we speak. So, for now, the Phoenix is going to have to be enough to help us hold the line until the third wave arrives.”
“Sir, if I may be so bold, what is the third wave we are expecting?”
Parsons smiled. “Son, even I don’t know exactly what to expect. If there is one thing I have learned over the past two years, it’s to trust Diana Cain when it comes to myths and legends.”
The Hoskins Clay and Limestone Quarry was roughly thirty miles outside of Waco, Texas. The place was alive with action as the manager of the quarry, Ian Reece, had recently received a phone call from a Ms. Diana Cain at the Department of Defense. Ms. Cain had put a massive request for rock and clay to be gathered into a specific position as quickly as possible. Reece explained to Ms. Cain that with a giant walking across Texas, most of his men were either home with their families or trying to evacuate and that very few of them had come into work. When Ms. Cain offered to pay three times what the materials she was requesting were worth and to pay each man quadruple his hourly rate, Reece started making calls. Within an hour, the entire quarry was filled with workers operating cranes, bulldozers, and even shovels to try and fill the strange request made by Ms. Cain.
Reece was standing on an observation platform, overseeing the progress on the odd but high-paying request when a massive storm cloud suddenly appeared on the far side of the quarry. The cloud was hovering just above ground level and bolts of lightning were coming out of it. Reece was staring at the storm cloud when he saw what looked like an attractive middle-aged woman walking out of it. She had her hands placed over her eyes and she appeared slightly disoriented as she moved away from the quickly dissipating cloud.
The woman took a few steps forward and started calling for Reece. When he heard the strange woman calling for him, Reece ran down from the observation platform to meet her. By the time Reece had reached the woman, several of the workers from the quarry were escorting her to him. The woman thanked the workers for their help and said that she was now able to see and could walk on her own. Reece ran up to the woman. “I am Reece. Are you okay? Where did that thing come from? How did it bring you here?”
Diana waved her hand in the air, brushing off the questions. “My name is Diana Cain. I am the woman from the DoD that contacted you. Let’s just say that the storm cloud is a classified method of transportation for the military.” She looked over at the colossal mounds of clay and stone that the workers had gathered in the middle of the quarry. “Looks like it’s coming together well. How much longer until it’s finished?”
Reece shrugged. “My best guess is about a half an hour. The design is simple enough and constructing it here in the quarry is saving us a lot of time, but the sheer size of it is what is going to take some time.” He looked at Diana. “Are you sure you need it to be eleven hundred feet long, two hundred feet across, and one hundred and fifty feet deep? I mean, that’s a hell of a lot of stone and clay.”
Diana nodded. “Let’s just say that I hope it’s enough.” A military helicopter soared over the quarry and they both looked at it. Diana smiled. “That helicopter is for me. I need to go and talk to the pilot. Let me know as soon as the project is finished to my specifications.”
Reece nodded. “Will do, ma’am.” Diana thanked him and then she ran off to the spot where the helicopter was landing.
Parsons climbed into one of the attack helicopters as it took to the air. The hardened general has seen all manner of enemy and horror during his time in the military which stretched from the first Gulf War to now. During the war with the gods, Parsons had seen many strange and gigantic creatures. He had even seen footage of Atlas from his attack on Dallas, but nothing could have prepared him for the experience of seeing Atlas in person.
The helicopter had no sooner risen off the ground than the outline of Atlas could be seen on the horizon of the desert. Parsons shook his head and he whispered, “My God.”
Cabollo turned to Parsons. “What was that, sir?”
Parsons did his best to recover his composure. “Nothing. Are the jets in the air yet?”
“Any second now, sir. They are just waiting for the helicopters to clear their take-off path and then they will be in the air.”
Parsons nodded then he switched the channel on his radio. “Diana, come in. What’s the status of Project G?”
Diana’s voice came back over the radio. “The quarry workers will be done with their task in another fifteen minutes. My part should only take a minute or two. Given the distance between us, and assuming that everything goes as it should, Project G should be to your position within half an hour.”
Parsons looked through his window to see the Phoenix taking position in front of his helicopter. The flaming bird flapped its wings twice and then streaked toward the incomprehensible form of Atlas. As the Phoenix approached Atlas, six fighter jets took a V-formation behind the monster. Parsons took a deep breath and then he radioed back to Diana. “The Phoenix seems to be carrying out the commands I suggested to Zeus. It appears to not only be going after Atlas, but it is also falling into formation with our jets.” Parsons dropped his voice slightly so that Cabollo wouldn’t hear him. “Diana, I am looking at Atlas. I can tell you right now that the Phoenix, the jets, and the helicopters won’t be enough. We need Project G up and running as soon as possible.”
The Phoenix flew straight toward the humongous Atlas. When the titan saw the flaming bird approaching him, he stopped walking and snarled at the creature. As large as she was, the Phoenix was barely a quarter of the size of the mountainous Atlas. The titan reached out his long arms towards the Phoenix, but the bird stopped short of Atlas’ reach. She hovered in the air and then she began flapping her wings in rapid succession. The Phoenix’s wings soon became a blur of motion and as their speed increased, the blue fire that was circling them began to expand. The flames grew until they completely covered the monster’s wings. Then in a bright burst of fire, the flames shot out from the Phoe
nix’s wings and enveloped the entire top part of Atlas’ body.
The flames that were enveloping Atlas were so bright that Parsons had to look away from them. He heard Cabollo say, “It’s like looking at the Sun!”
Parsons ignored Cabollo, switched his radio to the channel the jets and helicopters were using, and shouted, “All jets, fire at will on Atlas!”
The already blinding light of the Phoenix’s attack was made even brighter as missiles and machine gun fire struck Atlas as well. Cabollo shook his head as he continued to stare at the unmoving form of Atlas’ feet and legs. He tapped Parsons on the shoulder and said, “How is he still standing? Between the monster and our jets, that was enough firepower to destroy the top of a mountain!”
Parsons shook his head. “Atlas is beyond our understanding. According to the legend, he was once tasked with holding up the very sky itself. His strength, stamina, and durability may be without limit.” The two generals watched through the windshield of their helicopter as the Phoenix slowed down the flapping of her wings and stopped the barrage of flames on the titan. Two jets were flying toward the cloud of smoke that covered the top half of Atlas’ body when the titan’s hand reached out from the cloud and swatted the jets, causing them to explode.
The titan stepped out of the pillar of smoke that was clinging to him. He then fixed his huge eyes on the Phoenix and the remaining jet fighters. The titan opened his mouth and Parsons thought that Atlas was going to roar or scream at his attackers. Instead, Parsons heard a much more terrifying sound. He heard the sound of Atlas laughing.
Cabollo’s voice was shrill and high pitched as he placed his hand on Parsons’ shoulder. “He is laughing at us! That didn’t even scratch him! What are we going to do?”
Parsons ignored the lower-ranking general and kept his eyes on Atlas. He watched as the Phoenix flew a circle around the titan’s head and then dove straight for his eyes. The Phoenix flew in a frenzy in front of Atlas’ face, pecking and scratching at his eyes and mouth with a relentless fury. This time, Parsons heard Atlas scream in a mix of pain and anger as he reached up for the Phoenix only to have the bird avoid his grip and continue her attack.
Parsons yelled into his radio, “All remaining jets, target Atlas’ knees and feet while the Phoenix is engaged with him!”
The remaining jets flew toward Atlas and fired at the giant’s knees and legs. The bullets and missiles exploded against the giant’s lower half, but they yielded the same ineffectual result as the attack on his torso. The jets flew past Atlas and then they circled around to attack again.
As the jets flew past the titan, he reached out and grabbed the tenacious Phoenix in both hands. Atlas crushed the bird’s fiery wings then he slammed the disabled Phoenix to the ground. The fire bird looked up at Atlas and screeched defiantly at the titan. The Phoenix then propped herself up on her broken wings, opened her beak, and spit out a fireball that exploded against the titan’s hip.
Atlas glared down at the Phoenix then lifted his huge foot in the air and brought it down on the monster, crushing her into the sand. Parsons and Cabollo watched as a plume of flames from beneath Atlas’ foot signaled the end of the Phoenix. Atlas lifted his foot off the dead Phoenix to reveal nothing but a pile of ash where the corpse of the mighty fire bird should have been.
Atlas had just lifted his foot off the dead Phoenix when the fighter jets renewed their attack on him. The pilots were still following Parsons’ last order and trying to attack the giant’s legs. The jets were flying at Atlas and spending the last of their ammunition when Atlas kicked out with his long leg and destroyed all of the remaining jets with a single blow.
Inside of his helicopter, Cabollo shook his head and looked over at Parsons. “Sir, the jets and monster are down without so much as injuring Atlas. All that we have left are our helicopters. What do we do now?”
Parsons kept his gazed fixed on Atlas. “We use our helicopters to draw Atlas as far away from populated areas as we can. We try to buy Diana more time and we hope for a miracle.” The moment that Parsons had finished speaking, a plume of fire arose from the ashes of the fallen Phoenix. The bird that mere moments ago had been slain was now reborn from her own ashes. The Phoenix took to the sky and flew in front of Atlas. Once more, the fire bird began rapidly flapping her wings until a continuous wave of blue fire shot out from them and struck Atlas. Parsons grabbed his receiver. “All helicopter pilots, follow the formation of my helicopter! We are going to fire on the giant and attempt to draw him farther out into the desert!” Parsons watched as the Phoenix cut off her flame blast and again flew at Atlas. This time, the bird’s beak struck Atlas directly in the right eye. A river of blood flew out of the titan’s damaged eye while the Phoenix flew away from him. Atlas placed his hand over his injured eye as blood continued to flow between his fingers. Parsons looked over at Cabollo. “Can’t ask for more of a miracle than that. Now, all we need is Diana to come through.”
Diana was sitting and repeating phrases in Hebrew from scans of ancient manuscripts when Reece called out to her that the project she had ordered was finally complete. She nodded and said to Reece, “Your men have five minutes to clear the area. Tell them to get as far away from this project as possible. Just leave your machines where they are. If any of your machinery is damaged as a result of what happens, the US army will reimburse you twice what they were worth.”
Reece shrugged and then gave the order for all his workers to clear the area.
As soon as Reece gave Diana the thumbs up that the area was clear, she ran over to the helicopter pilot who was assigned to her. She climbed into the helicopter and yelled to the pilot, “Take me to the smaller mound at the northernmost part of the land mass!” As the pilot was in the air, Diana removed a piece of paper from her pocket and she quickly wrote the name Atlas on it.
The pilot brought the helicopter down on top of the mound and then he turned around to look at Diana. He held out a cylinder to her that was roughly the size of a cigar. “Ma’am, here is the charge with the remote detonator that you asked me to prepare for you.”
Diana slowly reached out and took the charge. “So this thing won’t explode until you push the button on the detonator, right?”
The pilot nodded. “Yes, ma’am. That’s correct.”
She nodded. “Okay. I am going to perform the ceremony. If it works, we need to be off this thing ASAP. So, keep the motor running and be ready to go.”
The pilot nodded in reply and then Diana jumped out of the helicopter and onto the mound of clay covered stone. Diana was extremely knowledgeable in all forms of mythology. In addition to the myths of the Norse and Greek gods, she was also well versed in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim legends as well. The Greek and Norse gods had proven to be real. Today, Diana hoped that one of the legends of the world’s major religions was as real as Odin, Zeus, or in this case, Atlas. She began walking around the huge mound and saying letters from the Jewish alphabet. She had practiced each word every day since she had come up with this idea over a year ago.
Diana thought of her favorite movie, Army of Darkness, and how Ash had raised an army of the dead but not taking the time to learn a series of words correctly. Diana was confident that she had said all of the words correctly but now came the hard part. It had taken Diana several months to convince an extremely knowledgeable rabbi to tell her the secret name of God. Normally, no rabbi would have given this name to anyone let alone someone who was not of the Jewish faith. In this instance though, the rabbi understood that if the gods who had attacked mankind ever came back, the most powerful creature in his religion could be a valuable weapon for the human race.
Diana closed her eyes and she focused on making sure that she pronounced every syllable of the name correctly. She then took a rubber band out of her pocket and used it to attach the piece of paper with Atlas’ name on it to the charge in her hand. She then knelt down, scooped out a wad of clay in the shape of a mouth, placed the charge with the name on it in the mouth, and
then brushed the clay back in the hole she had dug.
The moment that the last bit of clay was back in place, the ground beneath her feet began to rumble. Diana stood up, bolted back to the helicopter, and jumped into it. She shouted, “Go! Go! Get us clear of this thing!”
The pilot pulled the helicopter off the mound it was resting on and then flew it clear of the quarry. Diana then asked the pilot to turn the helicopter around and to hold his position. Once the pilot did as she ordered, Diana climbed into the seat next to him and she watched through the windshield as the mound that she was standing on and the larger mounds connected to it continued to shake.
The small mound that Diana was on only a moment ago pulled itself off the ground and lifted into the air. This was followed by other parts of the construct which revealed themselves to be arms pulling off the ground and reaching into the air as well. With a few more movements, that entire construct had pulled itself off the ground to reveal a humanoid being of immense proportions. The creature stood up and it looked in the direction of Atlas. The stone giant then began walking toward the titan that had been identified as its prey. Diana pumped her fist and said to the pilot, “We did it! We have successfully made a golem! I wasn’t it sure it would work at all, let only for something as big as we needed to fight Atlas, but it worked!”
The pilot nodded. “Yes, but is that big boy going to be enough to defeat Atlas?”
Diana shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out.” She grabbed her radio and called to Parsons. “General Parsons, this is Diana Cain. Project G was a success! The golem, codenamed Grimm, is up and heading toward Atlas. His dimensions place him at one hundred feet taller than Atlas! ETA to you is ten minutes, but you should see him coming over the horizon before that!”
Atomic Rex_The Conquest of Chimera Page 9