The Great Gate

by J R Dahl

  All the rest of the shuttles did the same as the engines created a deafening roar and powerful winds. One by one they worked their way out of the hangar and onto the launch pad on the side of the mountain base.

  On the Nemaron command deck, Maginon regained his composure as he stood to listen as the slave camps reported in.

  “Planet Warff reporting, we’re on schedule and ready for execution, sir.”

  Then Devakin’s voice came over the speaker. “Sir, planet Crule is ready for execution.”

  Maginon stepped to the computer in order to speak with Devakin. “Everything must go perfectly. You know the consequences of failure.”

  “Not to worry, sir. We’ve been looking forward to this. We’re ready, and we have some additional help in case any problems should come up.” As Devakin said this he looked out across the hundreds of slaves hanging above boiling pits of lava. Then what he was speaking of came into sight. Three demons flew across the room on their massive, bat-like wings as they patrolled the camp.

  Maginon sat back down in the command chair and took a deep breath while trying not to draw attention to himself. “It’s time. Launch all carriers on my mark. Now!”

  Seconds later all eleven Nemaron carriers gradually accelerated and then all simultaneously fired secondary engines, sending them into light speed. Instantly they disappeared from the Ruen star system.

  Chapter 4

  At the great gate thousands of angels had gathered and filled the valley. Off in the distance the cloud of demons continued to draw near while three Leviathan soldier transports flew over the mountain range and headed toward the great gate.

  “Let’s give them a proper welcome,” shouted Tekel to his angels gathered in the valley. As he said this he closed his eyes and began a low hum. The rest of the angels did the same. He then raised his hands with his palms facing the approaching enemy force. Moments later the branches of the trees behind them began to sway and the leaves turned upside down. A wind began to build, reaching intense force and speeds.

  Everything in the valley swirled as Tekel and his angels stood with their hands raised and their voices joined in a deep low hum that had also grown in intensity with the wind. Then Tekel thrust his hands forward as if shoving something toward the enemy. With this the winds swept across the valley and collided with the demons and the storm clouds behind them. The massive force of wind sent them out of control. Most fell to the ground after colliding with each other. Some were slammed into the sides of the Leviathan transports, which spun out of control and fell out of the sky.

  Inside the cockpits of the transports the pilots struggled to regain control. Finally they gave up and shouted to the men, “Evacuate!”

  The soldiers jumped out of the open sides of the ship. Some of them survived the fall, but some did not. Seconds later the ships crashed to the ground in massive balls of flame. Alongside this the demons tried to collect themselves as the winds pinned them to the rocky terrain below.

  Farther off in the distance Satan hovered above the mountain range as he rode is mutilated horse. He watched with no remorse as his forces were thrown to the ground. As the winds reached him he was forced to land. As the incredible force of the winds blew over him he hid himself under the protection of a large bolder. He clutched the stone to keep from being blown away.

  In the sky above, the gusts of wind from the angels clashed with the storm clouds that Satan and his demons had created. Their black clouds soon dissipated and turned to thin wisps of grey mist. The lightning and thunder seemed to fight to remain as the last bit of thunder rolled across the valley. The two storms seemed to destroy each other as the winds died down and calm passed over the valley.

  Satan jumped to the top of the boulder that he had been hiding under. He looked down to the valley below to find his three transports burning, many of his Leviathan soldiers lying dead and his demons struggling back to their feet. “I guess we’ll march in,” said Satan. He raised his right hand and gave out a deep, beast-like roar. Then, in the next valley behind him, an army of hundreds of thousands of Leviathan soldiers began to march forward. Over their heads flew another force of hundreds of demons. Satan smiled while he mounted his horse again as he watched his army on the march.

  On planet Helion the six rescue shuttles blasted off from the launching rails and into the night sky. A fighter accompanied each one of them as they all flew toward the southern hemisphere of the planet. The Helion shuttles and fighters paired up and flew off in separate directions.

  From the pilot’s seat of his ship, Lonan called out to the rest of the Helion spacecraft. “Everyone get to your slave camps as quickly as possible and stay clear of any Nemaron ships. You can’t fight them off and complete your missions at the same time. So move quickly and stay low.”

  “Roger that,” each of the pilots radioed back.

  Sevran switched on a com link that connected him directly to Lonan.

  “Hey, be careful. Your wife will miss having you to boss around if you don’t come back from this mission,” said Sevran.

  Lonan thought for a minute with an inquisitive look on his face. Then he grinned as he said, “You know, you’re right. She would miss that. What does that say about us?”

  “You’re married.”

  “Take it easy, bachelorette.”

  “You take it easy. I’m just stating the facts.”

  “Yeah, well, you’ll get there one day. Then you’ll see what you’ve been missing,” answered Lonan.

  “Anyway, seriously. Be careful. You’ll all I got—moron.”

  “Sad, right?” said Lonan with a smile.

  “Tell me about it.”

  After seeing Cloin and Armon lose Ahren, they had a new appreciation for each other.

  “These missions are crucial,” said Lonan, his tone now far more serious. “If we fail, Helion is in trouble.”

  “Yeah. But we’re on it. If you need me just call and I’ll come bail you out,” said Sevran with a grin.

  “Ok. We need to cut the chatter. I’ll see you back at base,” answered Lonan.

  “You got it, Sevran out.”

  In the valley in front of the great gate, the hundreds of thousands of Leviathan soldiers had reached the river that separated the valley. On the far side the angels and their horses covered the entire hill that led up to the large, wooden doors. They stood ready for battle without the slightest hint of fear.

  As Satan’s soldiers neared the river they formed ranks and stood at attention, awaiting their orders. The demons flew in and landed behind them. Some continued to fly as far as the river. They flew back and forth on their grotesque, batlike wings while they taunted and jeered the angels. Then Satan landed on a small hill in the center of his side of the valley. From there he could see all his soldiers and demons surrounding him on all sides. Abaddon and Abadile both flew in on the backs of their horrific horses and landed beside Satan. He turned to them and said, “Get those pigs into position.”

  “Yes, my lord,” replied Abaddon. Then the two of them flew up and across the battlefield.

  As they flew they roared out orders, which caused the commanders of the Leviathan to shout out more orders to their men. As this happened, the army of Leviathan spread out across the valley and widened their formations.

  Satan flew up into the air and toward the great gate. As he did, Tekel flew up also, and they met in midair above the river.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Tekel as he hovered on his horse. “Shouldn’t you be hiding in your cave?”

  “This is the great gate, isn’t it?” asked Satan.

  Tekel said nothing.

  “Get out of my way. I’m taking this army through the portal. The throne of all creation will be mine. Move your army aside and I’ll let you rule over the star systems. I will destroy Him and take over all worlds.” Satan paused and enjoyed his own words for a moment then continued. “It would be wise of you to be on my good side.”

  “That sounds like the offe
r you gave the angels who were once under your command, and now they serve you like dogs.” As Tekel said this he looked aside at Abaddon and Abadile. He thought back to the time before the war in heaven. With his mind’s eye he remembered how noble, powerful, and perfect they once were. He was saddened to be reminded of what they had now become.

  Tekel raised his voice. “Don’t waste your words! You know we can’t be corrupted. We’ll stand in your way until the end of time when God himself will open all doors to the created world and unleash the rest of his army.”

  Satan squirmed in his saddle, his eyes burning with both hatred and fear.

  “You know what will become of you then, don’t you? They’re not as patient as we are,” said Tekel with a slight grin.

  The army of angels that he was speaking of was primarily made up of Seraphim. They were larger and more powerful than most other angels. They also had four wings rather than two. All the angels had surrendered their free will to God so that they could not be corrupted by Satan, but they maintained their personalities. They were still independent beings. The Seraphim, however, were more aggressive and far less patient with humans and their willingness to cooperate with Satan.

  God hated to do it, but He sometimes sent a pair of Seraphim to take care of particularly dangerous groups or situations. The Seraphim cared for humanity and even loved it just as God and the rest of the angels did. It was based on that love that they were more willing to destroy those who threatened the rest of creation. They were most protective of the weak or helpless. Their rage burned the most intensely for those who would harm or take advantage of children.

  Satan’s stomach turned as he thought of facing the Seraphim. He knew that they were waiting on the other side of the great gate, but he tried not to think of them. He and his demons had grown to be extremely powerful, but he still had some doubt about how and if they could defeat them.

  The thought of failure roused Satan’s rage, and he rose up in his saddle. “With the power that I now possess we will crush them also.” His voice echoed as a multitude. Satan tried to regain his composure as he looked across the field of waiting warrior angels. “I hope you have more soldiers coming. Mine would at least like a challenge. Or is this all you have left? Have we killed the rest? Pity.” Satan quickly turned and flew back to the mound in the center of his army.

  Tekel stayed and hovered there for a while to look out across the massive army of Leviathan men. There were nearly five times as many men as the number of angels that he had assembled. He then turned and flew back down to his army below. He landed on the hill where two of his angels awaited him.

  “He doesn’t seem to know about the human counter attack. We must hold him here long enough for them to free the slaves,” said Tekel.

  “And keep him out of the great gate,” added Balim.

  “Yes. I think…” Tekel paused and looked out across Satan’s army of men and demons. “This will be a long night.”

  Balim and Genon grunted in agreement.

  Meanwhile, Sevran and his team decelerated out of light speed as they neared the planet Warff. It was still within the boundaries of galaxy 55x9 but on the opposite side of the center of the galaxy and far from the planet Helion. It was a barren planet on the surface, but the core was rich in precious minerals and elements that could be extracted from their raw materials. Nemaron had taken the planet captive and stripped it of nearly everything of value. Now the only thing that remained was a labyrinth of mines and a slave compound, which they were now ready to use to execute their captives.

  Sevran’s pilot landed two kilometers away from the compound while Sevran prepared his motorcycle and weapons. Through the clear night sky they could see the compound standing in the middle of an expansive flat land that extended for hundreds of miles. On the horizon they could make out only the slightest black rim of mountain ranges. The camp was very secluded. In a nearby hangar there sat only three Leviathan transport shuttles.

  Inside the cargo bay Sevran finished his preparations as the shuttle touched down. The rest of his soldiers were also nearly ready to roll out; they mounted their motorcycles and strapped on their helmets. Sevran glanced around the cargo bay, checking on everyone’s status, and saw the lone Seberian of the team.

  The Seberian was still sitting on the far end of the cargo bay with his head down. Just then he slowly raised his head and opened his eyes. When he did, a white-hot light radiated from them and filled the end of the cargo bay. The light was so intense that Sevran winced a little when the Seberian turned and looked directly at him.

  “Is everyone ready?” asked Sevran, to which all his soldiers answered in the affirmative. He asked everyone, but he was mainly wondering about the Seberian, who smiled and nodded.

  “Praying?” asked Sevran.

  “Yes,” answered the Seberian; his eyes faded to the point that Sevran could look at him without pain.

  “You ready?” asked Sevran.

  “Very ready,” answered the Seberian with another grin.

  “Good.” Sevran turned to address everyone. “We’re the first team out. Let’s show the rest of them how it’s done.”

  The cargo bay door opened and the ramp extended out and down to the soft, sandy surface below. The soldiers fired up their engines and began to roll out. There were twenty of them in all including the Seberian, who had just thrown his leg over his motorcycle and strapped on his helmet. Very quickly and quietly they all rode off toward the compound.

  Back at the great gate Satan landed on his command mound in the center of his army and gave out more orders. “Send in the pawns first. We’ll let them tire the enemy for us.”

  “Yes, my lord,” replied Abaddon. He turned and roared out orders in their grotesque demon tongue. This sent the first ranks of Leviathan soldiers on the march toward the river. These were all men filled with the supernatural evil power that Satan had placed in them. They were as strong as ten human men, and there was a force of hundreds of thousands of them just waiting for their time to fight.

  The Leviathan soldiers advanced without question. They were not under some sort of a spell, nor were they possessed. They moved and acted of their own free will, but their minds were poisoned. Their eyes were darkened, clouded and filled with hate and greed. As they marched forward, they drew swords. They waded across the river that was only knee deep. Then, once on the other side, they began to run as they attacked the front lines of the angels.

  As the Leviathan soldiers attacked, they divided into groups of five and converged on the angels five against one. The men were filled with so much of Satan’s unholy power that they moved at speeds far faster than the human eye.

  The angels drew their blades wreathed in lightning and battled the men in a blaze of sword play.

  The Leviathan men surrounded them and attacked from all sides. The angels did the best that they could to not kill the men but to only beat them until they were knocked unconscious or bruised so badly that they were forced to pull out of the fight in order to recover.

  Waves and waves of the Leviathan men passed over the river and crashed against the wall of angelic guardians.

  Chapter 5

  Meanwhile, back on the planet Warff, Sevran and his force entered the back side of the compound. They crept into the building and found their way to the main chamber.

  Hundreds of slaves hung from their feet in the racks. Below them were wide open pits filled with a boiling black liquid. The smell of the building nearly made the men vomit.

  One of the Helienders immediately launched four small sensors that hovered in place for moment then disappeared. They had turned on a cloaking hologram that hid them from the human eye. They then flew off in all directions and spread out around the compound to get readings.

  “Have you located the control room?” asked Sevran, turning to the soldier who had just launched the drones.

  The devices had just started to send back readings, which were then translated to digital 3-D holograms displaye
d on the top of his weapon. That hologram showed the entire building.

  “Yeah, follow me. It’s this way,” answered the soldier.

  Just then two Leviathan soldiers walked around the corner.

  Sevran immediately fired two electric rounds and knocked the men out. They fell to the floor and shook from the electricity pulsating through them. Two Helienders stayed back to cover their exit while the rest of the team continued around the perimeter of the main chamber until they came to an elevated room that looked out over the slave racks.

  Without a sound Sevran and his comrade climbed the stairs and entered the control room. Inside they found all the computer systems that were operating the entire compound and two Nemaron soldiers managing the computers.

  One of the Helienders took out the two soldiers without them even knowing that they were there. Sevran and three of his soldiers then took over the room while the rest of the team stayed out of sight down in the main chamber. One of them immediately went to work and hacked into their system by connecting his own small computer. He then was quickly able to shut down the system. As he did, large platforms extended out from the floor and covered the oil pits below.

  Then the racks began to lower.

  “Ok, look out everybody. That’s going to draw some attention,” whispered Sevran into his com device. He exited the control room and walked down the stairs.

  As the racks lowered the slaves began to come out of the tranced state. The rescue team ran to the captives and helped them as they struggled to free their feet from the rack system. Men, women, and children were all enslaved in this compound and had been only moments away from execution.

  Just then fifteen Leviathan ran into the room and opened fire. Two Helienders where hit and killed instantly as rounds flew through their chests. The rest of the rescue team opened fire and took out the first eight Leviathan soldiers. The electric rounds traveled so fast and they were not able to dodge them. The other soldiers quickly noticed the advance in the new rounds and found a way to move even more quickly. Now that they could anticipate the speed of the rounds, they could dodge some of them.