“So you’re going to the R&D facility at Munich to test it out. I don’t see why you need me though,” she said.
“Ra channels it directly and your shield channels it via some kind of imbuing. If I’m right and it’s laser energy, then we need to know if what comes from your shield equates to what he creates with a spell and if both of those equate to laser energy. If it does, our conventional energy weapons may work against it. There could be differences in your shield and his magic but if either one matches a conventional laser we might have a chance,” Xavier said.
“That’s brilliant,” said Abraham.
“The only problem I foresee is power. Based on what I saw at the castle during the bombardment, your shields generate a few megawatts at most for a short blast. If Ra couldn’t generate enough energy to stop it and you said the entire group of knights couldn’t do it, then I’m not sure we have the power to do it either. I don’t know how many megawatts, probably gigawatts, it would take and I doubt there’s anything in even GloCom’s arsenal that could do that,” said Xavier.
Chelsea and Abraham looked at each other.
“Let’s get your testing done and see if you’re right. If you are, we’ll see what we can do about getting a big laser,” said Chelsea.
“Do you know something I don’t?” asked Xavier.
Chelsea looked at Abraham and he shook his head yes.
“Okay, listen. What you’re about to be told is classified and if this information is not disseminated discreetly, Sebastian could be tried for treason for violations of national security. I was told in confidence. It’s on a need to know basis and you need to know. If you’re correct, Xavier, then we do have a laser that can generate gigawatts of energy from what I’ve been told. Serendipity base on the moon is a laser embankment with a planetary defense system and has the strength of a grid laser,” said Chelsea.
“It’s a what?” said Xavier.
“Planetary defense laser,” said Abraham. “Back when we started colonizing the moon, there were some concerns we might get attacked by aliens or a big meteor would get past the grid so we built a laser. A big one. It was designed to be able to knock an extinction level meteor out of the sky. There’s actually more than one but most are on the dark side. The one at Serendipity was a last resort just in case. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were also built planet facing in case the old government that built it wanted to suppress a rebellion. They weren’t as nice as the Unified one that’s in charge now. It’s only because the Admiral in charge during the Unification war defected to our side and refused to fire that it wasn’t used on civilian targets. I knew the man. We were lucky he was in charge of the moon base and not someone loyal to the Seditionists.”
“As I understand it, that war was many years ago. You are not a Master. How is it you were alive during that war?” asked Ra.
“Lifespans can push two hundred now,” said Xavier.
“When most children are born, they're given a genetic treatment that alters the aging process. It's just another trick of science,” Abraham told him.
“How old are you?” asked Ra.
“I'm old enough to have fought in the Unification war and spent decades as a Warden field agent but still young enough to enjoy the finer things in life like good liquor and promiscuous women,” he said as he took a drink from his flask.
“And those are two of the finer things. When this battle is won, we must drink and celebrate,” Ra told him.
“And celebrate we will. Once we beat this Tormentor, we'll be heroes and you know how much the ladies like heroes. Let's drink to being old enough to know the secret to enjoy life and young enough to actually do it,” Abraham told him and passed Ra the flask.
“A worthy toast! To wine, women and song as the Romans would say,” said Ra as he took a drink.
While they were on route, they were notified the ALF had released a statement claiming credit for the bombing that destroyed the Tormentor’s cage. They again referenced bringing more dread to the Wardens.
“They’re not being subtle,” said Abraham.
The shuttle landed and the staff at the Warden R&D facility ushered them to the weapons testing area. The local Coordinator, a grumpy old man named John offered full assistance.
“I spent a year here before moving to fieldwork. I know my way around,” Xavier told him.
“It’s still my facility and you’re not assigned here so my Facilitator will be your escort while you’re at this location,” he told them.
As they got off the elevator, a woman in her mid-30s with long black hair met them.
“Facilitator Samantha, this is Director Abraham, Facilitator Chelsea, Sir Xavier, and Master Ra. Give them full access and full cooperation. Don’t bother me unless it’s critical. I’m going to take a nap,” he said then got on the elevator.
“Well he’s a ray of sunshine,” said Facilitator Chelsea.
“He’s a dick. He should have retired years ago but I think he sticks around just because he has nothing else to do,” said Facilitator Samantha.
“I heard that,” he said as the elevator departed.
“I know you did now fuck off,” Facilitator Samantha said.
“Xavier, good to see you again. So they tell me you need to do some weapons testing. Energy or ballistic?” Facilitator Samantha asked.
“Likewise, Sammy, I mean Lady Samantha. It's been too long but unfortunately, we don't have time to catch up. Time is against us right now,” Sir Xavier replied.
“Energy testing. Sir Xavier here is the point man on this so we’ll follow his lead,” said Director Abraham.
“Yes, sir. I’ve already had full clearance granted. It’s good to meet you, Director. After you were moved to European division, we haven’t had the time for a facility tour. Would you like to take one today?” asked Facilitator Samantha.
“Cut that sir shit out and leave the protocol for bureaucrats. A lot of lives are on the line and we don’t have time to play around with formality. Everyone pretend we don't have volumes of protocol shoved up our ass during training and make this as fast as possible. Those lives are more important than rank and formality,” Abraham told her.
“I like you. You’re all right for an old fuck,” said Samantha.
“Isn’t he though,” said Chelsea laughing at Abraham’s reaction.
“Old fuck, my ass. I’m still able to hold my own with any one of you,” he said as they walked through the facility.
They reached the testing area and Xavier started turning on the equipment. “Okay, Chelsea. I need you to stand here and aim your shield’s beam at that panel. Hit it as hard as you can muster and sustain it as long as you can,” Xavier told her.
She focused her energy into the shield and the beam of Divine Light fired and she held it for about a minute before it drained her and she went down to one knee. Samantha helped her up as Xavier checked the readings.
“Was that real magic? I’ve never seen it before,” said Samantha.
“It was,” said Chelsea.
“They say you were Guinevere in a past life and you’re marrying Arthur again. That’s so romantic,” Samantha told her.
“That seems to be the truth but it doesn’t matter. The past is gone and all that matters is what we do here and now. Who someone was isn’t important. All that matters is who they are now,” Chelsea replied.
“What about Lancelot? All the old stories say you had an affair with him,” Samantha said.
“He was just another knight,” said Chelsea.
“Really? All the stories are false?” Samantha said.
“Yes. I hate to ruin the tabloid affair but there was never anything between me and anyone other than Arthur. By the time I met Lancelot I was already pregnant with Arthur’s child and Lancelot was killed a few months later in the battle with the Tormentor,” Chelsea said. “The stories you've heard are just fanciful tales.”
Abraham interrupted the conversation of the two women. “Sorry ladies but you’re
going to need to stop dripping over love affairs a moment because Xavier has the reports back.”
“You’re a dirty old bastard. You’re all right in my book,” said Samantha.
“It’s not your book you want me in but that has to wait. We have a job to do,” Abraham said.
“Just over four megawatts. That’s an amazing amount of energy considering there is no discernible power source. Ra, can you do the same thing please?” he asked.
Ra stood on the spot and channeled his energy into a similar beam but much more intense. He managed to stay that way for about three minutes before he exhausted.
“Almost ten megawatts for three minutes. That’s unbelievable. Does Nefertiti have that much power?” asked Xavier.
“She does. She is a powerful Master,” said Ra.
“The good news is both of the energy outputs are basically just lasers. So we can assume about twelve knights generating around four and two masters generating around ten that’s just under seventy megawatts and you said it slowed but didn’t hurt it,” said Xavier.
“How do you produce that much power? Megawatt lasers take enormous power supplies. You would need a reactor to power one,” Samantha said.
“It's hard to explain. It just...sort of...flows out. I don't know where the energy comes from. Magic isn't really something you can explain.” Chelsea said.
“As to the Tormentor, it seemed to react and turn away from us but we can’t be sure if it even hurt it and if it did then it’s ability to heal is very high,” said Ra.
“I’ll get the High Lord on the phone and have her reach out to the president. We’re going to need Serendipity. Let's go. I'll call them on the way,” Abraham said.
#
An hour later, High Lord Alicia, Director Abraham, Coordinator Sebastian, Facilitator Chelsea and several other officials including a general with GloCom and his command staff were in the president’s interim office at London.
“Madame President I don’t think this is a good idea,” said General Morrison.
“We don’t have a choice. You’ve seen what this thing can do. It’s shredded everything it’s come into contact with. Your strongest artillery and terrestrial laser weapons have had little or no effect. Plasma weapons didn't even phase it. If we don’t do this, not only are a lot of people likely to die but it won’t stop there. What’s next? The GloCom base at Quebec? A major city? We don't even have full communications back and can't warn a lot of the people that might be in its path. This thing has shown to be affected by lasers and we don’t have anything that can do more than irritate it down here. Sitting on the moon is a laser installation strong enough that it might do it. What else do you propose general? Keep evacuating ahead of it and run forever? Nuke it and deal with the radioactive fallout when we don’t even know if a nuke can hurt it. We need to do this,” said Coordinator Sebastian.
“How do you even have the gall to speak? You should be in a military prison. This information is classified and apparently you’ve gone spreading it around like it’s common knowledge,” said Major General Elam.
“That’s enough, Major General,” said General Morrison. “I’m the ranking officer here and I’ve already dealt with the issue. Situations arose that made it necessary and the safety of our citizens is more important than a secret. Now the bigger question is when and where do we strike?” said General Morrison.
“General Morrison, sir, once again I would like to note that this is a violation of protocol and policy would dictate no military weaponry can be used against non-military targets and civilians being involved in the planning of said operation is a breach of protocol and security,” said Major General Elam.
“You’re right, Major General. Madame President, we need the full Senate to declare war. Can you give me an emergency declaration pending Senate review designating the creature tentatively known as the Tormentor as an enemy of the State and active aggressor against said state and authorizing the use of the Serendipity assault platform?” asked General Morrison.
“Granted,” said the president.
“Now shut the hell up, Major General,” said General Morrison.
“So like I was saying. When and where do we strike?” asked General Morrison. “We sure as hell can't fire into the middle of New York City and Montreal will be too late. We have a lot of green along the way. Somewhere there looks like our best bet.”
“Here,” said Sebastian pointing at a small lake outside Syracuse.
“This area is all national park and like most parks, it is closed right now while funds and resources are diverted to reconstruction. It’s open land that’s lightly forested. It’s a long way from the nearest city and there will be no people there. We’ll have the local authorities help us do a sweep of the area to make sure there are no civs in the area,” he told the group.
“What if it doesn’t go that way?” asked the General.
“Then we drive it. It isn’t seriously hurt by our terrestrial weapons, but it reacts to them and adjusts its bearing. We can use that to steer it as long as we don’t make it go so far off course that it would go through us instead of around us. I’m not sure how intelligent it is but something is navigating it and it’s not interested in small things. It has a target and is focused on it,” Sebastian said.
“How much of the forest are we looking at being lost?” asked the President.
“At most, a radius of a few hundred yards or a couple of miles depending on how long we have to fire and if it keeps moving when we attack with possible impact craters depending on how long of a burst is needed. We’ll start small and only increase as necessary. There might also be a track line as we home in on it. It doesn’t appear on radar or any other tracking method, so we’ll have to use sight points and manually target it. We’ll do our best to keep collateral damage to a minimum. You’ll also need to have fire suppression on hand. That thing will burn hot and the area is forested. Have every local fire department you can on location but keep a very wide distance,” said the General.
“Okay approved. Coordinator Anna, devote all the resources you can to sweeping the park. I’ll have Syracuse locals start as well. Make it happen, people,” she said.
The General went to a display screen and placed a call to the Serendipity installation on the moon.
“This is General Morrison. I need Admiral Keffler. Now. This is a priority one emergency,” he said.
A moment later an older man in a bathrobe with shampoo still on his head got on the display.
“What do you want Bob? I was in the middle of something,” said the Admiral.
“That’s obvious, Mark. We need Serendipity’s laser. This is not a joke,” said General Morrison. “Have you been following the reports of the Tormenter?”
“I have. Everyone in GloCom has their panties in a bunch over it,” the Admiral told him.
“It’s a hail Mary but we really are out of options short of a nuke. We know lasers affect it but we don’t have anything strong enough Earth side to hurt it. We hope your little flashlight will do it. We'll build you a targeting grid,” the General told him.
“Bob, you know I’m going to need more authorization to fire at Earth. Your word is good but not good enough for me to fire that thing at a terrestrial target,” said Admiral Keffler.
The President merged into view on the display. “I authorize the use of the Serendipity platform,” she said. “I’ll get you an official authorization in a moment,” she said.
“Madame President, with all due respect you can’t authorize the use of this without Senate approval,” said Admiral Keffler.
“I can and I am. Two points Admiral. First, we’re under Martial Law giving me emergency powers. The next vote on that declaration isn’t for a few months so until then I can authorize temporary military actions in emergency situations. There is no way to get a Senate vote in the amount of time we have because the Senate is scattered from the evacuations and half are out of communication in temporary shelters. That meets eme
rgency criteria. Second, my only limitations are on the use of mass destruction ordinance and only when it’s not been used against us first. The laser is neither nuclear, biological or chemical so your laser is a gray area. While it does massive damage, it’s not specifically mentioned in the provisions and if it were, this thing we’re fighting meets the criteria of a weapon of mass destruction allowing for retaliation. It’s damage to NYC has toppled buildings and cost thousands of lives already from a single weapon. That’s mass destruction by any definition,” she said.
Admiral Keffler stared at the screen. “I’ll authorize the warm up. It’s an old machine that’s never been tested against an Earth-based target so I can’t promise you how it will respond. It will be as ready as we can make it. I want that authorization in writing with your seal on it. If this goes to shit I’m not taking the heat for it,” said Admiral Keffler. “Anything else Madame President or General Morrison?” asked the Admiral.
“That’s all and thank you Admiral Keffler,” said the President.
“I’ll get engineers building you a sighting and coordinate grid. This is a pinpoint shot so have your best people on the trigger,” General Morrison said.
“Then if you’ll excuse me I have shampoo in my eyes and a flashlight that needs its batteries charged,” Admiral Keffler said as the comm went dead.
#
The dew glistened on the grass and birds were starting to sing as the morning sun shone down on the target zone. The light was dimmer than normal from the debris thrown up by the eruptions but still beautiful. The team of military engineers had been busy for hours, working through the night setting up tracking beacons that would allow them to create a grid for tracking and aiming of the Serenity platform due to visual sighting being impossible at the distance Serendipity would need to fire. The team worked diligently and efficiently and completed the final beacon assembly ahead of schedule.
The grid they built was huge and to save time they placed the beacons initially at maximum range from each other to get a grid in place and started adding more as time allowed. They worked until the last second to give Serendipity its best chance for target acquisition. Firing a laser the two hundred and forty thousand miles between the two celestial bodies, both of which were in constant motion and then through a three hundred miles thick atmosphere which created light deflection was a challenge by itself. Fortunately, the supercomputers that ran tracking and atmospheric data gathering were satellite-based and not damaged during the Cataclysm. They needed to hit a moving target that doesn’t show up on any tracking devices and was invisible to the shooter. It would be a near-impossible shot. The grid would make that shot possible by giving them electronically trackable points.
The Seal of Solomon Page 41