The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell

by Douglas Howell

  (1)

  17 October, 2288, 16:57 hours, Starship DTS, Galactic Prime has finally made it to the outer region of the Omicron Ultra star system. Even though they are not yet there, Task Force ZH-3C mission on Golden Hyperion has officially started. Several hours earlier they detected the remains of a Marine gunboat and EOD Robotic Fighter Drones. Approximate total number of Marines killed: 54. It was a rude awaking for the crew of Galactic Prime.

  “Tell Captain Adnrwal that we are here.” Mad Dawg told one of his Marines.

  “Yes sir.”

  As they were traveling at slow speeds through the star system, they detected more dead EOD Fighter Drones and a Marine gunship. Then it repeated itself again. It repeated six times. Eventually they came across the remains of a dead EOD Robotic Starbase. The starbase was design for those Robotic Fighter Drones. They also found what was left of a Marine Fast Attack Ship. Total number of crew: 350. In all, approximately 650 to 700 Marines died trying to destroy that Robotic Starbase.

  “Now you know why… our training is so important.” Vaistll mentioned on the bridge. Nobody said anything.

  “We need to collect intelligence on what we are dealing with.” Mad Dawg said.

  “You assemble the team… and I’ll ask Ramirez to lead the way.” Vaistll responded.

  “Yeah… okay.”

  Ramirez and a small group of Marines left by shuttlecraft. They were wearing their spacesuit.(minus the pilot). All of them knew that what they were about to do is highly dangerous, but they had to do it. They needed what little intelligence that they could collect.

  The pilot slow down when they got within five minutes of the Marine ship. But those minutes felt like an eternity to them. Off and on they would hear something small hit the shuttlecraft. Sometimes it was a small piece of metal, other times it was something soft and frozen. Nobody said anything. A couple of them look at the direction of where they heard the object hit the shuttlecraft. They knew that they were in no danger. And they knew what had hit the shuttlecraft. But they had to look. At one point the pilot cried out, “Holy shit!” When everybody looked out of the pilot window they saw a corpse hit the window. Once again, nobody said anything.

  When the pilot got close enough to the ship, she could neither dock, nor land on the ship. Instead she orbit near the closest, non-damaged airlock, to the bridge. She then activated a plasma door, since they were going to do an EVA. Ramirez and the Marines then left. Ramirez started to think about what it must have been like when Vaistll’s brothers did the same thing, when they headed to the EOD ship of when they first got to this galaxy. Ramirez, like those Marines, has the training. Vaistll’s brothers did not. Nor did they know their way around.

  When they got inside Ramirez check to see if the EOD left them any surprises – they didn’t. When they got to the bridge the engineers hooked up a power cell to the computers and then extracted the Captain’s log. With that, they headed back to Galactic Prime.

  After 40 minutes of analyzing the Captain’s log, Ramirez and Second Lieutenant Murphy (Chief of Security of Galactic Prime) finally got the intelligence that they were looking for. They then informed Vaistll and Mad Dawg that they were done. Vaistll and Mad Dawg then called their senior officers to the conference room for a debriefing on the intelligence.

  “First of all…” Ramirez was saying. “…the EOD is protecting this star system as if though it was their Central Command & Control Headquarters.”

  “Do you know what is located here?” Vaistll asked.

  “No.” Ramirez responded.

  “The captain of the Fast Attack Ship was on a need-to-know orders.” Second Lieutenant Murphy added.

  “Are there anymore of those Robotic Starbases in this star system?” Mad Dawg asked.

  “Yes. There are seven in a cartwheel fashion surrounding this star system.” Ramirez responded.

  “They are destroyed… aren’t they?” Mad Dawg asked.

  “Yes.” Second Lieutenant Murphy responded.

  “So how are they controlled by the EOD on Golden Hyperion?” Taylor asked.

  “They’re not. They’re controlled by one of the moons on the farthest planet in this system.” Ramirez responded.

  “Then how are they controlled when the planet is at the most distance from one of the starbases?” Mad Dawg asked.

  “The captain didn’t provide any insights on that. But she did implied that we might learn that on the Robotic Control moon.” Second Lieutenant Murphy responded.

  “What is the name of the moon?” Taylor asked.

  “OU-dash-seven-P-forward slash-five.” Ramirez responded.

  OU is the acronym of the star system. 7P refers to the seventh planet and the five refers to the fifth moon in the planetary system.

  “What type of defenses does the moon have?” Vaistll asked.

  “Unknown. The captain did mentioned that a Space Core Fleet was headed there to deal with any threat.” Second Lieutenant Murphy responded.

  “What is the fate of the fleet?” Taylor asked.

  “Unknown.” Ramirez responded.

  “Alright. I guess we’re gonna have to go there and check it out.” Mad Dawg said.

  They then left the conference room, went to the bridge, and then headed over to the planetary system. Everybody was on edge. Nobody said anything. They were too focused upon doing their job and not letting the EOD get one on them to talk about anything.

  When they got there, they saw something that came straight from a war movie. A Destroyer that was destroyed. A Star Fighter Carrier that was scuttled. The remains of ninety Star Fighters and hundreds of Robotic Fighter Drones. Every moon in the system was part of a EOD Robotic Fighter Drone base. The sixth-to-eighth moons had massive plasma gun turrets on them. Which explains the destruction of the Destroyer. There was another ship (broken into three parts) that was so heavily damaged that they couldn’t tell what type of ship it was. It probably was another Destroyer. The approximately number of loss of life: ten-to-twelve thousand. Combine with the approximate number who died destroying the Robotic Starbases: eighteen-to-twenty thousand.

  The fourth moon in the planetary system has a very large EOD Robotic Fighter Drone base on it. The third moon has a Robotic Repair Station on it. The second moon has a robotic R&D Laboratory on it. The first moon has a power/fueling station on it. The entire planetary system is self-sustaining. From the looks of it, it only needed a small human presence. No more than one hundred. The only way to take the planetary system is by brute force. Anything less would be suicidal.

  The first moon mined helium 3 from the gas giant. The moon acted like a anchor and the station acted like a giant pumping station. There was a huge hose that ran from the station to the atmosphere of the gas giant. In effect, the pumping station worked by creating a low pressure to force the gas up the hose. The same thing is created when a person sucks on a straw to force a liquid up it. Whether the EOD sold the helium 3 as rocket fuel or not, they have centuries of fuel. This is not the type of a star system that needs fuel. It can export it for hundreds of years, if not thousands. The seventh planet in the Omicron Ultra star system has turned the entire star system into the 23rd century version of Saudi Arabia and OPEC combined and multiplied by a factor of ten thousand. It is ridiculous beyond comprehension to think that a fuel embargo could starve the whole star system of fuel.

  Ramirez and a much larger group of Marines left and headed to the Robotic Control Center of the fifth moon. Because of the size of the installation, and the fact that it was design for temporary human occupation, it would take up to three days for them to search the place and acquire the intelligence that they needed. After they got there, as expected, there was no resistance. Supplies was then shipped to them for the three day search. They also had to set up a wired connection to the drop zone because that was the only way they could communicate back with Galactic Prime.

  (2)

  “See sir… there it goes again.” The Private informed the officer on duty.<
br />
  The Private was in the Sensor Relay Room and he’s been noticing that every so once in a while the sensors would detect an EOD ship in the Omicron Ultra star system. But before the sensors could get a lock on the ship, both the lock and the ship disappear.

  “Did you check the anti-virus and firewalls?”

  “Yes sir. Everything is fine according to them.”

  “Has the anti-virus and firewall been corrupted and/or compromised?”

  “No sir. They appear to be working just fine.”

  “Did you check to see if anyone intentionally deleted the data?”

  “Yes sir. There is absolutely no chance that it is either someone from within, or outside, this ship who is responsible for it. It is strictly software related.”

  “Okay. I’m gonna to have to speak to Lieutenant Murphy about this. Keep on monitoring it for any more changes. Report back to me if it causes any changes to our system.”

  “Yes sir.”

  That ship that they were referring to is their missing EOD ship. But as to why would Double Shock go there to that particular star system is anybody guess. On the day that Double Shock killed the mayor, he Ghost Hacked Galactic Prime to hide the EOD ship from their sensors, but only 24 hours after their sensors are destroyed. He then Ghost Hack New Horizon and sent a copy of the intelligence report on Golden Hyperion to the EOD ship. He then erased the logs on New Horizon that showed that he did that. No one suspected a thing.

  “You mean to tell me that we have a fuckin’ spy on this ship?” Mad Dawg asked Second Lieutenant Murphy.

  “No sir. I’m saying that…”

  “Then how do you explain what happened?”

  “I can’t sir. It’s probably some new type of a virus and hacking technique.”

  “Are you saying that the EOD finally outsmarted our software engineers?”

  “Sir… it is probable that they did.”

  “Bullshit! Have they ever outsmarted our software engineers?”

  “Sir… like I said…”

  “Have they!?” Mad Dawg demanded.

  “No sir.”

  “That’s right… they haven’t. And therefore there is only one explanation: we have a sleeper agent on board this ship.”

  “Sir… I don’t think they would do a thing like that.”

  “Oh so you don’t do you? Bullshit you bullshitter! I’ll shit all over you, ya shithead! You know that everybody’s experience with the EOD is to expect the unexpected!”

  “Sir…”

  “How do you know that we don’t have a sleeper on board?”

  “I don’t sir. But I…”

  “That’s right you…”

  “Sir I seriously don’t think…”

  “You don’t think what? Look at what it took to take that goddamn Robotic Fighter base!”

  “Sir…”

  “I said you look at goddamn it!”

  “Sir… I was in the shuttlecraft. I seen it up close.”

  “Then you should know what the EOD is willing to do to defend this star system.”

  “Sir…”

  “Now you listen to me…”

  “Sir may I speak freely.”

  “No! Look at what they did to us at Roscadia. Now… can you safely say that they wouldn’t put a sleeper on board?”

  “Sir I think that it would be extremely difficult for…”

  “I said you answer the fuckin’ question Lieutenant!”

  “No I cannot sir.”

  “You cannot what?”

  “I cannot safely said that they put a sleeper agent on board sir.”

  “That’s right you can’t. Now I want you to arrest each member of Task Force ZH-3C who is a former member of the EOD, then interrogate them.”

  “Sir I cannot do that.”

  “Can’t… or won’t?”

  “Both sir.”

  “You listen to me you little shithead… you better stand down… RIGHT NOW! And that’s an order!” Mad Dawg yelled out.

  “Sir… I will not comply with your orders until you provide me with proof of their guilt.”

  “Their guilt!? They’re fuckin’ former members of the EOD!”

  “Sir… that’s not good enough proof to me.”

  “Are you going to stand down or not?”

  “No sir.”

  “Sergeant!”

  “Yes sir.” The Sergeant responded.

  “Place the Lieutenant under arrest. Then, I want you to round up each member of Task Force ZH-3C who is a former member of the EOD and place them under arrest.”

  “Yes sir.” The Sergeant responded.

  Not one person under Mad Dawg’s chain of command is a former member of the EOD. His paranoia was reflected upon the fact that the EOD really did a number on him when he defended that laboratory so long ago. When he was confronted with what Double Shock did back on Roscadia, combined with the loss of life under his protection, it all pushed him over the edge into his paranoia. And he is going to pay a high price for it.

  “What in the fuck are you doing arresting my people!?” Vaistll yelled. She was seriously pissed off at Mad Dawg for what he did.

  “I’m getting to the heart of their loyalty.” Mad Dawg responded.

  “Bullshit you paranoid fuck!”

  Mad Dawg didn’t say anything. He only look at her that said that he is right and she is wrong.

  “I demand that you release my people immediately!”

  “On whose orders?”

  “I don’t need any orders! You falsely imprisoned them!”

  “Do you have any proof that they are innocent?”

  “Yes. You have NO proof of their guilt!”

  “Yes… I… do.”

  “What is your proof?”

  “That which is improbable… is plausible.”

  “What!? What the hell is that supposed to mean!?”

  “It means: it’s like being struck by lightning twice in one day. It may be improbable… but it is still plausible that it could happen.”

  “I see.”

  Vaistll left after she realized that she is getting nowhere with him. But she had a plan to either reach him, or put him in his place. But first she needs to send a secret message to Ramirez.

  (3)

  Ramirez just got Vaistll’s message. She used terms that only he would understand. She was right in suspecting that someone on Galactic Prime was listening in on her conversion. Ramirez wasn’t shock when he got the message, just a little surprised that Mad Dawg would become that paranoid. Ramirez knew actually what he needed to do. But first he had to deal with those Marines that he was with.

  “Hey guys… I need you to use the intercom and tell me where you are. I need to test something.” Ramirez was speaking to the Marines through the transmitter on his helmet.

  After they finished doing as they were told, Ramirez used the computer console and lock the doors to the rooms that they were in. He then sent them a simple straightforward message.

  “Nothing personal guys. It’s just that Mad Dawg has finally lived up to his name: he became mad with paranoia.”

  Some of the Marines started to say something, but Ramirez deactivated the transmitter in his helmet. By having them in the rooms that they were in made it impossible for them to either escape or inform Mad Dawg of their situation.

  Ramirez then went to the where the shuttlecraft is and headed to the Robotic Control moon. When he got there he went to the control room for the plasma gun turrets and then reprogrammed them to lock on Galactic Prime. He then got a call from Mad Dawg.

  “Ramirez… I should have known… that you are the EOD sleeper agent.”

  “Mad Dawg… I should have known that you would live up to your name – mad.”

  “I demand that you release my men and surrender.”

  “Well… ol’ Mad Dawg Burton who’s now a hurtin’… you’re not in a position to make demands.”

  “You won’t fire upon this ship. Not when your team is here.”

&n
bsp; “What’s keeping your ship alive is the fact that neither me, nor any other member of Task Force ZH-3C is an EOD sleeper agent. If I am a sleeper agent as you say I am then I will destroy you. But if I’m not, and you were to harm any of my teammates… then I will open fire.”

  “You forget who you are dealing with boy.”

  “No… I know who I am dealing with – a madman. You forget where you are: in an EOD star system. I can easily inform them that you are here.”

  “You know that they will kill you if you do.”

  “Maybe so… but if you harm any of my teammates… I will make certain that you will not leave here alive. So I’m urging you to back down and release my teammates before this gets out of hand.”

  “Time to teach this little bitch why they call me Mad Dawg.” With that, Mad Dawg discontinued his call to Ramirez.

  While Ramirez was talking to Mad Dawg he was using the long range sensors to track down the EOD ship that Vaistll told him about. Second Lieutenant Murphy told her about the mysterious EOD ship in the star system and she’d told Ramirez. When Ramirez learned what type of ship it is, he got the shock of his life. He couldn’t believe that an EOD infiltrator would come here. Either something far bigger than what any of them could imagine is going on, on Golden Hyperion, or that EOD infiltrator is not who he seems to be.

  Ramirez then took a chance and sent an emergency email to the EOD ship asking for assistance. The return email said, ‘Understood.” Ramirez then watched on the sensors as the EOD ship came close and then stopped. But what he couldn’t see was that Double Shock left the ship and then sabotaged the gun ports. When Double Shock got back to the bridge, he temporary deactivated his Cobra virus allowing Galactic Prime to “see” the EOD ship.

  Mad Dawg had to watch as his lost EOD ship reappeared, then his gun ports are destroyed, and then the EOD ship vanished. It just played on Mad Dawg’s paranoia. When the last remaining gun ports were destroyed the plasma doors in the brig deactivated. With the gun ports destroyed, Galactic Prime is now defenseless in the Omicron Ultra star system.

  “This is Second Lieutenant Murphy to all security personnel. Captain Mad Dawg Burton has illegally incarcerated me and some of the members of Task Force ZH-3C. Do not follow any of his orders. He is to be placed under arrest as of this very moment.” Murphy told his security unit over the emergency computer console.