Canticum Tenebris (Wrath of the Old Gods Book 2)

by John Triptych

  “Colonel,” one of the radio operators crouching behind them said. “The battery at Paderborn is now in position.”

  Colonel Wegener nodded. Paderborn Lippstadt Airport was less than two miles away to the west of their location. “Looks like we’re now in position,” he said to his American counterpart in unaccented English.

  “This is your show, Colonel,” Colonel McGrath said softly. “My men are just here to lend some support.”

  Colonel Wegener smiled at him before using his binoculars to scan the castle and the surrounding area. “It seems quite deserted. There is apparently no one in the town and possibly in the castle either. Your grateful support may be all for nothing.”

  “It’s no problem. Better to be over armed than under armed is my motto. How sure are you that this might be the place where that UFO airship came from? If it was based here, we surely would have seen it by now. You can’t hide that big of a ship out here without someone noticing.”

  “Our intel reports say that this castle has the same symbol that coincides with the insignia on the side of that airship. And there was supposedly some sort of a magician’s cult that was associated with the purchase of the place for a private company. I think it all fits somehow.”

  “Magician cult, huh? No shit,” Colonel McGrath said. “Well, if they’re in there and they are able to communicate with that UFO, then it might just bring ‘em over here.”

  Colonel Wegener nodded as he kept looking through his binoculars. “Yes, that is what I’m expecting. That’s why we brought your unit along.”

  “We’re good to go. Ready when you are.”

  Colonel Wegener put down his binoculars and turned to his radio operator. “Tell the advance teams to move in,” he said tersely in German.

  The moment they received the go-signal, several teams of German special forces commandos immediately started sprinting towards the castle. Two teams moved quickly from a nearby copse of trees in the south and soon went past the southern garden. A third team came out from behind an abandoned restaurant and ran along the road, up towards the stone bridge that led to the main entrance of the citadel. But as soon as the lead trooper made it to within twenty feet of the castle walls, he was instantly stopped by some unseen force as his momentum threw him back to the ground. Less than a second later, half a dozen commandos had bounced off an invisible wall as they started looking around in confusion. One trooper tried pounding the force field with his battering ram but it seemed to just bounce off the air. Their commanders quickly got on the radio as the teams ran back towards cover.

  “Colonel,” the radio operator said. “Advance teams report an invisible shield is somehow surrounding the castle. They cannot push through.”

  Colonel Wegener cursed. “Tell the Leopards to advance. Warn them about the invisible shield.”

  “Jeesus H. Christ,” Colonel McGrath muttered. “Did they know we would be coming?”

  “They are not fools. I have no doubt they expected us. If infantry can’t get through a shield, let’s see if our Panzers can.”

  In less than a minute, two Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks rumbled along the street. The tanks drove into the southern lawn and parked themselves less than three hundred feet from where the supposed invisible field was. There was a droning noise as their turrets rotated and they leveled their main guns at the southern facade of the castle.

  “I would suggest they not try a straight shot,” Colonel McGrath said as he looked through his own binoculars. “Just in case the shell ricochets or something.”

  Colonel Wegener had one hand on the radio receiver while the other was holding up his field glasses. “Leopard team, try an angled shot first. Just shoot one. Use a sabot round.”

  One of the Leopard tanks turned its main gun slightly to the west and fired. The shell that erupted from the 120 mm smoothbore gun was essentially a finned metal dart that traveled at a speed of 5,700 feet per second. As soon as it was fired, the sabot immediately separated from its cone-like casing as it flew headlong towards the castle wall. A split second later, the dart instantly crumpled as if an unseen hand stopped it in midair. The pieces of the sabot round flew off towards the western tree line surrounding the castle, while a slight shimmering could be seen in the air where it had initially been stopped.

  Colonel McGrath was astonished as he kept peering through his binoculars. “What in the hell! Did you see that? Holy shit, that’s just unbelievable!”

  “Yes,” Colonel Wegener said tersely before switching to German again. “Leopard team, try using a HEAT round this time. One shot.”

  The same Leopard tank fired a second shot at the same angle. The HEAT round that was fired this time was a different sort of warhead. As soon as the impact sensor on the shell tip hit anything solid, the force of impact would drive a shaped charge backwards into the device and would detonate it instantly. Theoretically, the resulting explosion would propel enough energy from the point of contact and into whatever was behind it. The succeeding shot impacted the exact same spot in the air as the force of the blast seemed to cascade in all directions. The shockwave made the two tanks shudder while the reverse torrent of energy made cracks on the castle wall facing it.

  Colonel McGrath nearly jumped in the air as he saw what had happened. “Hell yeah! Now we’re getting somewhere! It didn’t penetrate that damned force field, but the shockwave is damaging the castle, at least.”

  “Leopard team,” Colonel Wegener said on the radio. “How many HEAT rounds do you have, over?”

  “We have about a dozen HEAT rounds each, sir,” the Leopard team commander said over the radio.

  “Okay, fire about six rounds each. Use angled shots and move back a bit so there’s less of a force wave hitting your vehicles,” Colonel Wegener said.

  Right after he said those words, a gigantic shadow suddenly loomed over them. As everyone in the forest looked up to the sky, they saw that a gigantic, metal hulled airship had seemingly materialized out of thin air and was hovering right above them.

  Colonel McGrath’s eyes were wide open as he stared at the monstrous craft floating overhead. “What in the hell?”

  “Alarm! Everybody, take cover!” Colonel Wegener screamed.

  Kurt Orlok frowned as his hands gripped the railings on the side of the bridge. He was watching the enemy soldiers below using the gigantic crystal ball that was mounted at the front of the chamber. Even though he had been living in the ship for over a month now, he still wasn’t quite sure how it all worked. Was this infernal craft a mechanical creation by the Dokkalfar, or was it powered entirely by magic? His best guess was that it was a combination of both. His bridge crew was now a combination of humans and dark elves. The Dokkalfar couldn’t stand the light that shone from the crystals in the ceiling, so they all wore darkened goggles to prevent blindness as they scurried about.

  Helmut Krause stood beside his master as he pointed to the northern edge of the image in the mirror. “Grand Magus, there’s a pair of tanks just south of the castle.”

  “Yes, yes, I can see them,” Orlok said as he pointed to another Temple crew member. “Helmsman, bring us about so that we can bear our guns against those two tanks.”

  “At once, Grand Magus,” the helmsman said as he started turning a large, golden ship’s wheel while standing in front of it.

  Within a few seconds, the aerial battleship moved just above the castle. They were now in range. Their test run over Berlin had proved that the closer the lightning guns could bear on a target, the more powerful the damage to it would be. They also needed to get closer since the targets this time were smaller.

  “We are at optimum firing position now, Grand Magus,” Helmut said.

  “Fire,” Orlok said.

  Colonel Wegener watched helplessly as the two Leopard tanks were instantly incinerated by several bolts of lightning that erupted from the airship. They had all moved back deeper into the forest but they still had a line of sight to the castle. For the first time, he had finally se
en the UFO with his naked eyes. He grimaced at the power of it.

  “Time for our contingency plan,” Colonel McGrath said as he pulled aside his American radio operator. “Tell the battery team to open fire as soon as they get a lock on that thing.”

  “Yes, Colonel,” the operator said as he started to key in his receiver.

  A few miles to the west, the Patriot battery unit stationed in Paderborn Lippstadt Airport immediately went on full alert as its crew began to track the unidentified airship. The MIM-104 Patriots were equipped with an AN/MPQ-53/65 Radar set that served as a passive electronically scanned array system. With multiple guidance subsystems, the Patriot’s powerful radar suite was able to track the airship in less than a minute. Once the radar systems had calculated the target’s speed, heading, and locked into its massive cross-section, the first Patriot anti-aircraft missile was launched. Since the target was so huge and he had received direct orders to use everything he had, the Tactical Control Officer ordered his entire battery to open fire. In less than a minute, twenty-four Patriot missiles were in the air.

  The first missiles impacted into the starboard side of the airship. The entire vessel shuddered as the Patriots detonated their proximity warheads just a few feet from the ship’s main hull. The multiple explosions from the 200-pound warheads dented and cracked the thick metallic hull in several places.

  Orlok turned to another crew member that was manning a console with gauges and levers to his right. “Damage control.”

  “We have about six batteries on our starboard side inoperative,” the crewman said. “I think two of the guns have misaligned lenses because the explosions jarred them out of focus, but they can easily be repaired. The other four would need to be repaired at the dry dock because they took direct hits. Our fuselage is still intact. Though we may take severe damage if they try this again at the same spot.”

  Orlok looked over to the ship’s helmsman. “Huber, use our port side and face the airport. Then hit those fools with everything we can.”

  “At once, Grand Magus,” the ship’s helmsman said as he turned the ship’s wheel once more.

  The Patriot battery in the airport was still in the process of reloading its missiles when the lightning bolts hit them. The sheets of electrified plasma instantly incinerated the mobile launchers and the towed radar array. The cargo trucks that carried additional missiles instantly detonated, causing the entire side of the airport that faced them to collapse. Countless soldiers exploded from the inside out in a fraction of a second as the electrical bolts of death spared no one. Within a matter of minutes, the entire Patriot missile battalion had ceased to exist.

  Colonel McGrath pounded the grass with his fists. “Goddamn them!”

  “Howitzer team,” Colonel Wegener said as he spoke into the radio. “Can you initiate direct fire against the target?”

  “Yes, sir,” came the reply. “Engaging now.”

  From the northern edge of the forest, a pair of Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery vehicles lumbered into position. They were essentially large howitzer artillery pieces mounted on a tank chassis. Although designed for ground to ground fire, they were able to traverse their cannons high up into the air as their commanders used a basic line of sight optic to aim at the huge floating airship above them. In less than ten seconds, each gun fired three 155 mm shells at their target.

  Since the aerial battleship had turned its port side to face the airport, the massive howitzer shells coming from the other side instantly impacted the already damaged starboard side of the vessel. A number of dark elves and humans were instantly killed as the artillery shells smashed open several sections of the starboard hull. A large groan seemed to emanate from the damage hull as pieces of loose metal began to grind in on itself.

  Orlok cursed. “Where did that attack come from?”

  “From the eastern edge of the forest over there,” Helmut said as he pointed to the right side of the scrying mirror looming above them.

  “Helmsman, turn our port side to that forest and begin a full bombardment. I wanted nothing but ash and dead trees in that entire area!”

  “At once, Grand Magus.”

  The airship turned once more as another set of artillery shells impacted its port side. The lightning batteries instantly returned fire at the mobile artillery pieces below. After a few minutes, what was left of the forest had been engulfed with smoke from the multiple fires that raged down below.

  “Helmsman,” Orlok said. “Activate the engine power and let us return to our sanctuary in the Otherworld. The moment we finish repairs, I shall come back and finish Germany once and for all.”

  26. Double Down

  Kansas

  Pastor Erik Burnley immediately stood up as soon as the private elevator opened its doors. The self-styled President of Christian Kansas walked around his office table and stood in front of the three men. One of them he already knew as Lloyd Mallory, former United States Governor of the state and now his vice president. The two men from the south were strangers to him, but he hoped that by the end of the meeting that they would be good friends by then.

  After his handshake, Mallory gestured at the shorter man with his open palm. “This here is Clay Sheldon, he is the newly elected Grand Wizard of the new, Southern Klan of America.”

  Pastor Erik smiled as he shook the man’s hand. “Welcome to the Republic of Kansas, Mr. Sheldon. First time in our great state?”

  Sheldon smiled back. His teeth were crooked and had major gaps in between them. “First time I’ve ever been away from the south, Mr. President. I must congratulate you in the founding of your new country. It’s been an impressive achievement.”

  Mallory pointed to the second, taller man wearing a cowboy hat. “This here is Lemuel Winger. He represents the Klans of the Midwest.”

  Pastor Erik shook the second man’s hand as well. “A hearty welcome to you, Mr. Winger. Gentlemen, why don’t we sit over by my couch there, I think it will be more comfortable rather than those stuffy office chairs by my desk.”

  Both men laughed as Pastor Erik led the way. Within minutes, all four men were sitting happily on the leather couches and chairs in the center of the vast office. Lloyd Mallory quickly poured a glass of bourbon for everyone before taking out his cigar and lighting it.

  Sheldon raised his tumbler as he smiled at the pastor. “To the great new country of Christian Kansas. May she last a thousand years.”

  Mallory chuckled as he drank to the toast. “Let’s hope Jesus comes back sooner rather than later, we’re being deluged by non-stop problems now.”

  Pastor Erik waived a finger at his vice president. “Now, now, Lloyd. The pressing problems of running a brand new country are minuscule when compared to our security,” he said before turning his attention at the other two men. “Now gentlemen, I hear that the Klans are uniting, is that true?”

  Sheldon nodded energetically. “That is indeed true, Mr. President. I’m proud to be part of a new organization and we are officially calling ourselves the Southern Imperial White Knights of the Klu Klux Klan. Since these ancient gods came storming back to the world, the various different Klan organizations began to meet and recruit new members. As you well know, the reason why there have been so many independent organizations in modern times is because the Federal Government of the United States was able to infiltrate our ranks with impunity. The only way we could have survived during those years was to stay small and secretive. But now that the Feds have been dealt numerous blows, we feel that it was time that the different groups unite and bring back the Klan into prominence. So far, we have been very successful. Our membership has increased to over thirty thousand active members and we can now openly display our allegiance to the one true race, and the one true god. And I must say, we owe quite a lot of our success to you.”

  Pastor Erik beamed. “Why I’m flattered, but surely you can’t really give me any credit for the rebirth of the Klan, could you? You ought to pat yourselves on the back for doin
g all the hard work.”

  “You were and remain a great influence to us, Mr. President,” Sheldon said. “You have become a de-facto independent state in the heart of what was once the United States, and you have your own army to protect it. You proved to us that such things are possible. That’s why we’re here. We want to negotiate an alliance with you.”

  “Before we go on, I must say this, gentlemen,” Pastor Erik said. “My allegiance is to the teachings of Our Lord. The Rock of God Church is the One True Church and our actions have proven it. We are a holy sanctuary against the forces of Satan. I cannot, with good faith, enter into an alliance of any kind with people who are not part of the word of God.”

  Sheldon put his palms up. “Mr. President, we are fully prepared to be part of your great church. The inner circle of leaders has given me full authority to say this. We all want to join your flock. We know that it is the one true path to salvation in these terrible times.”

  Pastor Erik raised his eyebrows in both surprise and satisfaction. “Are you fully prepared to accept the church’s teachings as well as to proclaim me as the personal prophet of our Lord Jesus Christ?”

  “We’ll be more than happy to do that,” Winger said. “Like Clay here, I too was chosen to represent the various Klans of the Midwest for this meeting, and I can tell you that we are also fully prepared to be under your church. There’s a lot of survivalist enclaves that my people can recruit from and spread the word of your church.”

  Mallory grinned as he adjusted his white leather hat. “I told you this would be a productive meeting, Pastor.”

  Pastor Erik nodded in assent as he kept looking at his two guests. “Both your offers are very generous and enticing so far. What kind of an alliance do you propose?”

  Sheldon drank the last of the whiskey in his glass and set it down on the coffee table before continuing. “Well, for starters I can tell you that my organization has set up a new Klan Bureau of Investigation. In the last few months, we’ve had many Fed agents from the FBI and other agencies who have secretly joined up with us and pledged their allegiance. This means that we now have a network of spies that can function as an early warning system in case of specific threats against your country. The Klan can function as an ally in that regards.”