God is in the Rain

by Bruce Burk

  As they expected, thousands of drones came flying into the area while firing lasers at the people. One Valkyrie threw a missile straight up into the air. The missile traveled through the clouds, locked onto the drone, and destroyed it in a big explosion. The Valkyries continued destroying the drones. Large elephants carried boxes of missiles on top of them. The Valkyries would land on it, grab another missile and fly back into the air. “Sir! Our drones are falling fast! The eagles! They are too small. Our scanners don’t pick them up!” said an OS commander. “Idiot! Kill these stupid birds!” the commander said.

  The drones turned from firing on the people and focused their power on the Valkyries. The eagles broke formation and took on their robotic counterparts. The drones shot laser blasts towards the eagles wings but they were too fast. They dove quickly and threw missiles behind them, destroying the drones. More survey drones were taken out at the top. The Valkyries soared through the air, covering the top of the capital. OSS officers dispersed, some running for cover. Two Valkyries hunted them down. It seemed like they knew to track down only those with eyes of red.

  Seeing that they could not rely on their drones anymore, the OSS dispatched their tanks, speeders and fighter jets. Thousands of fighter jets came up from the ocean shore. “Send a naval blockade from Europe and Africa to cut off their reinforcements!” Aiden said. The OSS tried to lower several new submarines into the water. However, they were quickly sucked down into Davy Jones locker by the fish. They quickly realized the ocean was no longer a friendly place for their troops.

  John finally came to the front of the crowd and withdrew his matter sword at the capital. Gavin did the same in Boston. He looked behind him and saw Tom and many of his old friends from being in the military. “We have your back, General.” Gavin, with his matter sword hoisted high into the air, he commanded, “Charge!”

  Back at the capital, Sophia and John stood side by side with matter swords drawn. The proceeded to take out OSS officers left and right. John sent their blaster fire right back at them and so did she. She clearly had gotten pretty good at fighting back at the base. Liam jumped into a tank and began firing at the OSS tanks. They fired artillery at them. However, the Valkyries threw flares into the air and took out the missiles fired upon him. He blew up one tank and then another.

  Gavin took out hundreds of dark marines and OSS officers. The Knights were quickly gaining the upper hand. “Sir, we have incoming fighter planes from Europe and the West. We need you airborne,” a rebel said to Gavin. Suddenly, a replica of the Thunderbird landed in front of Gavin. “Dr. Verne, I love you,” he said, getting on the ship. Several fighter jets entered the Boston Bay. The Valkyries took half of them out and turned back to get more missiles. A group of jets pressed forward onto Gavin’s tail. “I think I got something,” one of Clark’s hacker friends said. Suddenly, before they could fire on Gavin, the hackers took control of the OS fighter jets in the bay. Clark shifted his holo-screen, able to control the planes manually. He turned them around and fired missiles back at the remaining ships.

  At the capital, the OSS continued to fall back. At Charleston, Dr. Verne unleashed many old species of animals that he had brought back from extinction. He unleashed cave lions, Caspian Tigers, and Raptors. They assaulted the OSS fortresses and troops, tearing them to shreds.

  At Yorktown, Kaslov and his men made quick work of the OSS for they had the numbers. They used old Russian tricks to outsmart their enemies. John pressed onward with the people to his back. The man assaulted the remaining OSS that remained. The citizens seemed to have a lot of built of anger for the oppression that they had been under and they used it to their advantage. The Valkyries took out the remaining tanks in the area. The fight came to the steps of the capital building. The OSS fled inside. John Shepard marched up the steps in front of millions of his people. He slashed open the locks with his matter sword. “The people have spoken. Your rule has ended,” John said.

  “Sir, they have pushed our remaining troops into the capital! What are we to do?” a dark marine asked Aiden. Aiden looked down at all the people marching towards his office. “Poor sheep. They have been so mislead. We will fight the terrorists to our last breath! Let them die fighting!” Aiden commanded. Then, Aiden escaped the Capital through a secret underground passage way and vanished.

  The people broke down the doors of their capital crushing the OSS officers that had been holding it closed. John gave the order and the people ran into their Capital to claim what was rightfully theirs. A group of dark marines rushed towards John. He clashed matter swords with their leader. One of them got to Aiden’s back, but Sophia ran him through. Sophia and John stood back-to-back cutting through the dark marines. John ran through the last of them. In Charleston, Yorktown, and Boston, the rebels had pushed the OSS inland and took control of the regional OS command centers. The people finished executing their oppressive foes. The doors to the old House of Representatives flung open. John and Sophia led the people inside. The people stabbed the OSS officers and dark marines who had used the old chairs of their representatives as tools of oppression against them.

  “The country is yours once again!” John said. The people rejoiced in applause. “John quickly! Aiden is upstairs!” Sophia said. The two rushed upstairs. They burst through the doors, but he was gone. The office was empty. Inside, they found the plans for a strange satellite base.

  Later, the people had begun a parliamentary meeting. “We nominate Sophia as the interim speaker of the people,” someone said. Others clapped their hands in agreement. The rebel forces continued pushing the OS inland. Finally, after a long and drawn out battle, the rebels had taken control of all thirteen of the original American Colonies. John tied a flag onto the rope of the flagpole of the Capital. The people ripped their statutes and paintings of Eidolon, Aiden, and the ruling party from the walls. John raised the flag of his old country and watched it blow in the wind. The Valkyries landed sat on top of the capital as the guardians of the airspace. Clark, Gavin, Kaslov, and Dr. Verne met back up with the others in the capital. Aiden fled to old Europe to plan his next move. They kept pushing towards the Old Mississippi River. After several days, the rebels had taken control of the entirety of Old America.

  There were parades in the streets. Sophia wrote letters carried by pigeons to their newly established regional command centers. “Everyone is instructed not to use electronic devices that require connection to the Universal Database. We still believe that is under the control of Aiden and the One State,” Sophia said.

  The Knights gathered in the capital. John’s mind wondered. He knew it that it wasn’t over. Sophia came into the room. “John what do we do next?” John looked through the pages of the Book of Secrets. But there was no instruction. And yet, he could sense deep down what was going to occur. It was almost as if Aiden and John shared some sort of connection. He was sure the One State would return. “The oceans are ours. The airspace over America is ours, but the rest of the world is still under One State control. “They Still have control of the Universal Database,” Clark said. “Continue operation of scanning the shores for people who have defected and bring them back to America,” John said.

  John’s thoughts wondered back to his grandfather. In his training, he had always warned about the greatest danger the leader of the Order of Shadows: prolonged involvement in leadership of the transition of the empires. It was something that was never to be taken lightly and avoided at all costs. As a result, John called a meeting. John, Clark, Gavin sat in the shadows with one candle lit. “I fear we must give up our continued involvement in the operation of America,” John said. Gavin firmly objected, “No! The rest of the world is still under control of a tyrant and must be set free!”

  “It is dangerous for us to use our power of controlling an entire country as a tool to take over the rest of the world. At some point, it becomes war between the nation-states and we must relinquish our involvement. We do have our place,” John replied. “Perhaps we have to make a
n exception?” Clark said. “As long as Aiden lives, the balance is still under threat. And not just for America, but the whole world,” he added. “We don’t have the military force to take over the whole world,” Johns said. Suddenly, Sophia burst into the room. “John! We’re under attack!” she said. A voice deep down inside of John said to him, “Protect the country.” “We walk a dangerous line between power and prudence. We should take great care,” John said.

  “Get all the women and children inside. Arm the men. Today, the Order of Shadows and America are one until this is over.”

  CHAPTER 31 - CRUSADE

  Aiden killed the dark marines that had escaped from America. Their heads rolled on his floor. In the Old German command center, he paced looking at his European commanders. “Maybe I was foolish to take over the minds of you pitiful slaves! Clearly you are worthless!” Aiden said shooting more OSS officers. Aiden toyed with his arrowhead in his hand. “No matter. Soon my worries will be gone,” he said. “Sir, the space station is complete and prepared for your arrival,” an officer said. “Good,” Aiden said stepping into his robe and putting on a space mask. “Commander Schorner! You are in charge! I want every single soldier, every plane, every speeder, every woman, every child, every sword and everything to attack the terrorists! Bring America to its knees! The slaves will worship me once again.” “It will be done my lord!” he said. Aiden got on his ship and flew into his space station. The doors of the space station closed as he laughed, toying with the arrowhead in his hand.

  Millions of fighter jets, transports, and drones proceeded across the Atlantic and the Pacific. The One State had learned not to enter the waters, so they carried their armies in the air. Commander Schorner led them out in front. The rebel forces stood with their guns drawn on the shores of America. The women refused to stay home. Their hearts burned with freedom so much, nothing would stop them from fighting for their country alongside the men. The three Knights stood with their matter swords drawn on the steps of the Capital. Bob stood on the shores with the blaster rifle. He was the bravest among them. The Valkyries flew through the air along the coast waiting for their enemies. John seemed to be able to direct them through soul speak. He could even see through their eyes. His connection with the oneness of nature was unbreakable. Gavin—who once fought for only his country, only for the Constitution—stood bravely, fighting for the principles that his country stood for. Clark instructed his hackers to look for weaknesses in the Universal Database.

  “Sir, the Universal Database has new protections. We haven’t been able to hack it for a few hours. We’ve tried everything. It looks like it’s just going to be normal war. No hacking. Only swords, guns and bloodshed,” said Clark. Clark and many other troops along the coasts took out their EMP guns waiting for the ships. The dark clouds covering the sky seemed to be getting worse. Each day the sun showed less and less. The people missed sunlight. All they could see was random rays shining brightly through the clouds. Darkness is bad for the soul. The fleet approached quickly from the East and from the West. “I see them, the rebel commander said from Old California. “One State ahead,” said Bob. He felt so cool saying that. “I have your back Soul of Light,” Fysi said, riding in on a horse. “Get inside!” John ordered. “I have your back too,” said Aiyana who was also on horseback.

  John realized there was little he could do to tell the people not to fight. They longed to stand up for what was right. All of them were ready to die: not for a country, not for a religion, not for a race, not for an ideology, but for the natural law. For the Earth. For nature. For freedom.

  The drones arrived first that day, clashing with the Valkyries in the sky. Yet, the drones had overwhelming numbers. The Valkyries disbursed taking out many of them, but large groups of fighter jets and troop transports broke through their formations. Many eagles died, falling from the sky and into the water. Their ocean dwelling friends stood helpless to come to their defense. “They’ve breached the first line of defense, prepare for ground assault,” Gavin said. Thousands of dark marine and OSS officers parachuted, and dropped down from transports. The beach became a war zone. They came in overwhelming numbers.

  John and Sophia saw the troops coming from the steps of the Capital. Tanks were dropped on the shores of the old colonies, artillery, EMP guns, anti-air, speeders, and land drones. More of the eagles fell dead onto the shores. The skies continued to grow even darker. The black chess pieces moved forward through the white piece’s defense.

  Liam greeted some of the OS tanks. The tanks fired several large missiles at him but he was quick enough to shoot them down in midair and led the tanks away from the people. Bob shot at the OSS troops from up on a hill. “Clark, what’s the situation here, can we get into any of these tanks!” John asked Clark. “I’m doing what I can! They built large walls to prevent us from getting in. The database entry points are weak because no one’s logged in,” Clark replied while searching the Universal Database.

  The people fought with bravery and courage. Many men were carrying old weaponry handed down from their ancestors, because only free man have the right to own a weapon. Tanks took out massive amounts of people. Gavin was picked up and got into the Thunderbird to handle the incoming fighters. Tom joined him in the air. “Alright Tom, let’s take on these bastards. Just like old times,” Gavin said.

  The dark marines came to the steps of the capital. The OSS had killed countless Americans by that point. The people stood around John, ready to die for him. The people rose their blades and blasters into the air. He could see all the different kinds of religious symbols on their hands. They charged the incoming forces. Several specialized dark marines headed for John and Sophia. John leaped through the air clashing swords with the dark marines. He kicked the leader, blasting him the face with his lasers.

  Meanwhile, Gavin tried to draw the fighters away from the crowd. He soul spoke to the remaining Valkyries to back him up. Several hundred of them formed around Gavin and Tom. “Engage!” Gavin yelled. He blasted the incoming fighters then went straight up into the air. Fighter jets followed and the Valkyries threw missiles into them and blew them up quickly. “Let me introduce the OSS to my little friends here,” Dr. Verne said, releasing raptors into the field. Somehow, they knew to only attack those with red eyes like they were answering to someone. The raptors tore the OSS limb by limb, but they were quickly outnumbered as well. They OSS brought even more troops and transports. The people retreated inland, unable to sustain their defensive positions.

  Gavin was able to force many of the fighters into stalling and the Valkyries quickly took them out. Bob retreated back to the capital along with many of the rebels shooting form the hill. Kaslov and his men fought bravely, hiding behind trees and rocks, then leaping out and taking out their red-eyed foes. John blasted more of the dark marines, He shot two of them in the back as they headed for Sophia. He grabbed her hand and put her inside. He gave orders to the rebels around him, “Protect Sophia at all costs.” Yet, Sophia yelled, “John! Don’t leave me!” “I’ll be back. I promise, John said before he kissed her and shut the doors of the capital building. The rebels who had retreated form the beach joined him, standing by his side. Suddenly, an overwhelming amount of ground animals came to the aid of the rebels. Bears tore OSS officers limbs out. Some lions helped as well. They pushed the OSS away from the Capital.

  Meanwhile, Gavin continued to draw the fighters away from the capital. The drones came, killing more of the Valkyries. “You bastards!” he yelled. “I’ve got a red-eye on my tail now,” Gavin said. “Stay close Tom! Don’t bank to quickly!” The OSS pilot locked onto Tom and fired several laser blasts towards him, blowing him from the sky. “God damn you sons of bitches!” Gavin became blood drunk. He tore through hundreds of the OSS fighters. His ship seemed to increase in speed and Valkyries wouldn’t let anything touch him like a force field. Suddenly, he dragged an armada of fighter jets close to the water, grazing the surface of the water. The locked onto to Gavin’s ship. Sudde
nly a great white leaped out of the water and took a bight out of the fighter, dragging him down into the sea. More sea creatures jumped at the steal flying ships and dragged them into the sea. Once there, it was not long before they were sinking towards Davy Jones.

  “Sir, we are advancing on the Capital now,” Commander Schorner reported to Aiden. Suddenly, John became very conscious and the world began to slow down. It was like he went into autopilot. He danced through the blasts of the dark marines that attacked him almost effortlessly. Suddenly, an earthquake started there, despite the rarity of such an occurrence. The OSS tanks drove straight into the ground. Lightning strikes took out many of the drones. It was like nature itself had joined in on the battle. But it was still not enough. John summersaulted through two dark marines extending his arms and blasting them in the backs. He leaped back up and commanded the Valkyries to take out a large group of dark marines in front of him. The people continued to fall back into the buildings around the Capital and the OSS continued to advance. “They are just to strong! John, what are we to do?” Gavin said. Boston fell to the OSS. Charleston fell to the OSS. The rebels retreated towards Yorktown and the Capital. The rebels took Sophia into the highest room and locked the doors.

  Back in Europe and the other areas of the world, the people also revolted. They stormed the streets in Egypt by the millions, they filled the streets of Beijing, rioted in Moscow, and protested in London. But the people had already done the largest amount of damage to themselves by letting their government become so powerful that it was almost impossible for them to resist. They had allowed themselves to sit back through a slow process while the government progressively grew in power behind closed doors in the name of fighting terrorism. If only they had followed the natural limits set forth by the natural law, they would have never been in this predicament to begin with.