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

by Douglas Howell

  “So what are we supposed to do then? Throw our shoes at them?” Sanders asked.

  “Did you find any weapons and ammo?” Liebowitz asked Sanders.

  “No sir. There’s nothing over there except for the remains of a battle that was fought long ago. Let’s just get back to base. I just want to call it a day.” Sanders said.

  “Alright. Let’s go then.” Liebowitz said. And with that they all left.

  (8)

  Task Force ZH-3C (minus White Team) was quite stunned and surprised when they saw Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty showed up in that cargo ship. Ellis was standing at the bow smiling really big. Wexler was piloting the ship and Moriarty was assisting him. When they got to the pier, Kaminski along with Van Hoven and Anderson, assisted in securing the ship to the pier.

  “Can we deliver or what? Hey y’ll… whose the man? Come on now… whose the man?” Ellis said with a big smile.

  “You guys are. Hey… where did you guys find that ship?” Coté asked.

  “What this ol’ thing? Ah we found it abandoned.” Ellis then looked at Ramirez and said. “Hey sir… why don’t you come on board and take a look at this beautiful ship. And she is beautiful might I add. She can get us across this waterway without trouble. No headaches, no bull… just love. So how ‘bout coming on board sir?”

  Ellis was trying to get Ramirez to come on board so that he could tell him in private that both Lenkov and Omori is on that starbase. He didn’t want to say anything out loud because he knew how it would effect everyone. Ellis is the type that when he finds something too important to mention in front of the team he would try to get either Vaistll, Taylor or Ramirez to come with him so that he can tell them in private. Ramirez knew him well enough to know all that.

  “So what was that orange stuff?” Ramirez asked.

  “Noting sir. It helped to kill something called Dragonfly – a virus. We’re all safe from it.” Ellis said.

  “Good work. Each of you. But I want the three of you to stay on board while I go and talk with the Captain and see what she wants to do next.” Ramirez said.

  “Roger.” Ellis said.

  Ramirez went back to the crossroad to talk with Vaistll. She was there with Chief Warrant Officer Chu and Warrant Officer Brewster as they try to figure out a way to have the Quad-Walkers move through the city without damaging anything. They were also trying to figure out a way to move all of their equipment across the waterway.

  “Ma’am I need to talk to you in private.” Ramirez said to Vaistll. They then went to find a place where they could talk in private.

  “Ma’am… Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty just got back. And as luck would have it they found a cargo ship that can help us across the waterway. They said that the orange powder was nothing.” Ramirez informed her.

  “So what was the orange powder?” She asked.

  “Something that kills what Ellis called a Dragonfly virus.”

  “Did they said what the Dragonfly virus is.”

  “No ma’am.”

  “What about the Quad-Walkers? Can we get them across the waterway?”

  “Not from the looks of the cargo ship. But it does look like it can load our equipment.”

  “Damn.”

  “Ellis didn’t mentioned if there was anything on the other side of the waterway that could move our equipment. But I think that they might have found something too important to mention in front of the team.” Ramirez said.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “It was the way in which he was behaving.”

  “Alright. Let’s go and see what he has. Chu! Brewster! Get over here!”

  “You wanted to see us ma’am?” Chu asked.

  “Yes. Get back to the boat house. We’re abandoning the Quad-Walkers. Ellis found a cargo ship that we can use. I need the two of you to assist in loading our equipment.” She ordered them.

  “Roger.” Both Chu and Brewster said together.

  They then left and headed back to the boat house. Vaistll and Ramirez went on board the cargo ship and talk to Ellis. Ellis told them everything that happened, including how Omori behaved. Vaistll then ordered them not to tell the others including Taylor. Either she or Ramirez will tell Taylor. Vaistll and Ramirez then left to talk with Taylor who was in a office in the boat house.

  “We can’t wait for White Team to get back. We should begin to move our equipment right now.” Taylor said.

  Vaistll, Taylor and Ramirez hated moving so slowly, but they had no other choice. The lack of Intel prevented them from moving more quickly. Each of them knows that the longer that it takes the more problems will arise. What’s more they have a limited supply of food and water. If move any faster than it would mean certain death.

  “What about Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty?” Ramirez asked.

  “Let them get some rest and send in a group from Green Team.” Taylor responded.

  “No. Ask Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty if they want to go back and if they do tell them to get some rest.” Vaistll said.

  “Why not just send in someone else?” Ramirez asked.

  “The three of them work well together and I don’t want to send someone else in and have something go wrong.” Vaistll responded.

  “Something might happen with Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty.” Ramirez mentioned.

  “Maybe so but I don’t’ want to jinx it.” She said.

  “You don’t really believe in that mystic mumbo jumbo do you? About October 17 being some type of a curse.” Taylor asked.

  “Yes and no.” She said slightly under her breath.

  “What!?” Taylor said shocked that she would believe in something so absurd.

  “No in the sense that I really don’t believe in it. Yes in the sense that there are too many coincidences that suggest that it is true.” She said.

  “What kind of answer is that?” Taylor asked in a confused manner.

  “Yes, October 17th is the day that curses and bad luck is born… but it also includes Murphy’s Law. Our mission officially started on that day and so far we’ve been having the type of trouble associated with Murphy’s Law.” She said knowing that it is not good enough for Taylor.

  “It’s all just a coincidence! Nothing more. Don’t read into things that are not there.” Taylor said.

  “Look… choosing who to go is a trivial manner. So there’s no harm in asking them if they want to go.” Vaistll said. She was hoping that would put a end to it, but it didn’t.

  “If we were to choose someone to go now, instead of letting Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty rest, then we can get that out of the way at the same time we could load our equipment.” Taylor said.

  “Maybe so. But my mind is already made up. Ask Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty if they would like to go. If they don’t then it will be fine with me and we can do it your way. Agreed?” Vaistll said hoping that Taylor would drop it.

  “Yeah. Sure. Alright.” Taylor said.

  Vaistll took a breath let it out and said. “Then let’s get it over with now.”

  Vaistll didn’t feel like arguing over anything else with Taylor. So she decided to end the conservation before he say anything else. The three of them got up and went outside. They then climbed aboard the cargo ship to talk with Ellis.

  “Hey Ellis.” Ramirez said to him.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Do you guys want to go back over there and do some more exploring?” Ramirez asked.

  “Sure… after we eat.”

  “I guess I have to do the driving then.” Moriarty said in a disappointed manner.

  “What are you talking about? You like being our chauffeur.” Ellis said with a smile.

  “Sir… I’m tired from all of that driving and I would like to get some rest.” Moriarty said.

  “Sure… I don’t mind.” Ellis said with a smile.

  “I want the three of you get some rest.” Taylor ordered them.

  “Sir I’m good to go.” Wexler said.

  “Maybe so but I still want you to get so
me rest.” Taylor said.

  “Yes sir.” Wexler said.

  Four hours after Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty eat and got their rest, White Team returned with Sanders. Everyone was glad to see that he was still alive. Sanders told them what had happened and what he had found. Although what he had seen and experience yielded no valuable intelligence, it still provided a sense of composure to them. It gave them the names of the Marines and/or Special Forces who died over there. Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty decided to leave soon after White Team returned.

  While Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty was resting, Blue Team was loading the equipment onto the cargo ship. Ramirez sent Trivelli, Blumenthal and Bernstein up to the harbor to get a car and bring it down to the pier on that side of the waterway.

  Half of Task Force ZH-3C knew something about that community. All the roads are nothing more than a dead end street. That the only way to leave town is by monorail. The reason why the town was designed like that is to control an outbreak. They also knew that there is a security station over there with weapons and ammo. But typical EOD procedures dictate, that at the start of an outbreak all the weapons and ammo are to be removed. Once again, it is a control mechanism.

  Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty went over there to search for the monorail. And in a way, against all hope, to see if there is still some weapons and ammo at that security station. But they knew that was highly unlikely. The EOD is not that sloppy nor careless.

  While Ellis, Wexler and Moriarty were searching in that large town, Task Force ZH-3C was moving their base camp again. But this time around, although they have to abandon the Quad-Walkers, they got the privilege of trucks that can move everything around far faster.

  It appears to them that everything is moving at the right speed. But without their weapons and ammo, and without their ability to communicate with Galactic Prime, it is moving too quickly. For a few of them, including Hayes, they’re starting to feel as if though they are rushing to their deaths. They want to slow down the pace and wait for Galactic Prime to fix their communication. They prefer one team to go out to destroy those anti-air guns, then those drop-ships can land without incidence. What they want in their mind’s eye, they will get. Even if it means the unthinkable - another mutiny. And if they get it, then the whole team will be slaughtered.

  (9)

  Mad Dawg was on his way to the communication room and he was upset with the slowness of the engineers work. He knew that there was a powerful explosion that occurred near where Task Force ZH-3C is, but did not know what caused it. He knew that some form of a communication was sent from the starbase to a underground laboratory but he did not know what type of communication. He gave his word to Vaistll that if she needs him to call and yet he can’t do that. He doesn’t even know if she needs his help or not.

  “What do you got Murphy?” Mad Dawg asked Second Lieutenant Murphy.

  “Sir we’ve tried everything to defeat Omori’s multi-virus.” Murphy said. He was tired, exhausted and seriously stressed out from dealing with Omori’s multi-virus.

  “Why is it so hard to defeat multiple computer viruses?”

  “Because they were created by Cyber Doom Omori.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  “Because they communicate with each other and they’re all different.”

  “I kind of figured that they would be different. And why don’t you try to break the communicational link between them?”

  “We’ve tried that sir. Let me put it to you simply, everything that we thought up, she figured out a way to counter it.”

  “Okay then. I’m going to ask you a simple question and I want only a yes or no answer. Because of the nature of the situation I’m going to have to order you to answer the question in the way in which I told you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes sir. What is your question?”

  “If you say no to my question then understand that I will be forced to take a very dangerous course of action that may jeopardize this ship and crew. Do you understand?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “And if you say no then I will have to ask you more than one question. The same rule apply to each question. Do you understand?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Here is my question. Can you fix our communications?”

  Murphy thought long and hard about it. He finally spoke. “No sir.”

  “Can you do anything that can allow us to communicate with Task Force ZH-3C for any length of time?” Mad Dawg asked.

  “No sir. Our entire communications is knocked out. Try to understand sir, that some of the best think tanks couldn’t defeat Omori’s Grip of Doom.”

  “Then… I have no other choice but to order an emergency shut down of the computer core and the reinstallation of the computer core software.”

  “Sir I most strongly protest.” Murphy said deeply shocked by what he just heard.

  “Noted. But it still has to be done.”

  “Sir if we do that…”

  “I’m well aware of the consequences Lieutenant! And like I said… it has to be done.”

  “But sir… if we try to fix our communications Omori might just shut them down all over again.”

  “Do you know that for a fact? Do you know her personally? Can you say that she will or won’t?”

  “No sir. But…”

  “If Omori is that damn good, and I’m not saying that she’s not, than why didn’t she shut down our computer core? You know that she can.”

  “I don’t know sir. Maybe she wants to shut down only our communications.”

  “Why? If they’re trying to protect this star system, or what is on Golden Hyperion, than why not do away with us?”

  “I don’t know sir.”

  “That’s right. You have no idea of what their intentions are. And the only people who can find that out is on the ground and they need our help. And what you want to do is to abandon them out of fear and intimidation.”

  “But sir…”

  “But nothing! Now you listen to me and you listen to me well. Instead of us running chicken shit…”

  “I’m not suggesting we run sir.”

  “Well we can’t stay here forever you dumbass! You know… sooner or later we’re going to have to leave this system. Don’t you know?”

  “I know that sir.”

  “I don’t think that you do! Now you shut up and you listen to me. Got it Lieutenant.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Without their ability to communicate with one another that jeopardize their mission. If they attempt to use their helmet com system than the EOD will be able to listen in on them. Thereby we fail in our mission. And if we fail than we die.”

  “I know all of that sir.”

  “And I said you to shut up. If we get our com system back up and running than we can provide them with a safe and secure com system.”

  “If we reinstall the OS of the computer core than we can only provide Task Force ZH-3C with an old obsolete encryption sir! And if it is easy for…”

  “Well, we sure don’t have our com system up and running now! Now do we!?”

  “No sir.”

  “Read my lips Lieutenant… they-need-to-communicate-with-each-other!”

  “I know that sir.”

  “And if they can’t communicate with each other than they will die and than we will never be able to leave this system!”

  “Sir…” Murphy was too lost for words. In effect he was losing the argument.

  “If they can do their job than they can find out what Lenkov and Omori is up to. Including whether or not we can leave this damn star system. And if not, than what can we do to leave it.”

  “But sir…” At this point it is so obvious that Murphy is losing the argument. Mad Dawg didn’t even have to interrupt him.

  “Let me put it to you simply.” Mad Dawg continued. “We need them in order to survive and they need us in order to survive. By abandoned them out of fear we lose our chance at survival.”

 
Murphy could longer say anything because even he himself realized that he just lost the argument. Everyone else in the room realized that before he did. At that moment in time, the chance of a mutiny became next to null. A mutiny, like before, would be justifiable but this time around everyone knows that Mad Dawg is right. They also realized that if Murphy was still in command, then beyond a shadow of a doubt they, along with Task Force ZH-3C, would perish.

  “So what will it be Murphy? My way or your way?”

  “Your way sir.” Murphy said under his breath.

  “What!?” Mad Dawg said. Mad Dawg could hear him, he just wanted everyone in the room to hear him loud and clear.

  “Your way sir!” Murphy said much louder.

  “Mmm-hmm you damn straight. This is what I want you and your security team to do. Have the non-essential personnel move to the barracks sense it’s the deepest part of the ship. Make certain that they are in their spacesuits with a medikit nearby. And I want you to return back here. Got it?”

  “Yes sir.”

  Murphy then left and did as he was told. To him it felt like he was going into battle. He knew that it had to be done but he was too afraid to die. Murphy’s problem was that he was never in battle before so he is not use to that feeling. That fear effects his judgment but not his sense of duty.

  “I’m sorry girl.” Mad Dawg said to his ship as he pushed a button to begin the emergency shut down procedures. He already put in his access codes for it. To Mad Dawg it was as if he was putting to sleep a beloved pet.

  When the computer core was shut down it turned off everything except the emergency power. The shut down process also locked all doors throughout the ship. The only way any of the doors could be opened is manually. (Mad Dawg also had the computer close all blast doors before he began the shut down procedures.)

  The computer engineers had to follow a set guideline for the reinstallation of the software for the computer core. All the software that they needed was on a 200 GB external hard drive. The computer core OS was the first to be reinstalled. After that, going by priority, the rest of the critical software was reinstalled. It was when the Plasma Shields & Damage Analyzer was reinstalled that they learned what type of damage the ship sustained.