The Great Gate

by J R Dahl

  The Leviathan soldiers then ran at a lightning speed as they attacked and killed four more of the Helion soldiers.

  Suddenly the Seberian ran into the very center of the area that the seven remaining Leviathan soldiers were covering. As he did he pulled his blade and in a whirlwind of motion cut their rifles in half. Now with nothing to shoot they pulled their blades and engaged in sword battle. The Seberian could move so fast that his speed was equal to that of the Leviathan men. They could see each other’s movements, but from the opposite side of the chamber the rest of the rescue team could see nothing but a dark blur of motion with the occasional spark from the clash of blades. He took on all seven of them at the same time. His focus and determination was perfect. They were powerful and fast, but also sloppy.

  The rest of the rescue team wanted to help their team member, but they could barely see who was who, so they opened fire on the outer edges of the group. They managed to hit three Leviathan, which helped their Seberian friend tremendously.

  As the men continued to fight, the effects of the drugs wore off on the slaves and they began to become aware of their surroundings again.

  “What’s going on?” asked one of the women.

  “Don’t worry, you’re safe. We’re here to rescue you,” said Sevran as he helped her to her feet. “Come on, we need to get you out of here before reinforcements show up.”

  “Did you here that? We’re free!” cried the woman to the man beside her.

  The freed slaves all began to pass along the word that they had been recused as the Helienders helped them out of the racks.

  Just then, a soldier of Helion ran over and reported to Sevran. “Other than these last few soldiers the chamber is secure and charges are set, but the shuttle sends word that men are on the way.”

  While he spoke the Seberian continued to hold the last three Leviathan soldiers at bay. As he fought he could see in the background that the red mist was dissipating. As the slaves were freed they no longer emitted the pain and suffering. The collection chamber’s red light began to fade. Soon it was down to nearly nothing.

  As this happened, the speed and strength of the Leviathan soldiers also faded. The loss in speed gave the Helienders a chance to pick off at least two more of them. This then allowed the Seberian to knock out the final soldier in just minutes.

  The speed and intensity of the fight had taken a lot out of him. He took a minute and hunched over with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He then looked over at Sevran who was helping a slave off the rack and gave him a tired thumbs up sign.

  Sevran smiled back and then shouted out to the captives. “Ok, listen everyone. We’re here to save you. Everybody stay close, stay quiet, and follow us to the shuttle.”

  As he said this the slaves followed them out of the building into the waiting shuttle. They stumbled as the effects of the drugs were still leaving their bodies.

  Sevran and the Seberian were the last to leave the building, causally stepping around the bodies of the fallen Leviathan soldiers. They were not dead, but the electricity still pulsated through their bodies.

  Before they left the main room, the Seberian looked up and saw that the collection chamber was dark and had shut down completely. Beside him he saw one of the explosive charges that the other soldiers had set. He picked it up and attached it to an arrow that he pulled from the quiver on his back. He then took his bow and fired the arrow into the ceiling directly beside the collection chamber. Then he ran from the building and into the shuttle as the last of the slaves were walking up the ramp.

  Meanwhile, at the great gate the Leviathan soldiers were still attacking the angels. None of the angels had died, but they were all growing weary. They continued to fight as the piles of soldiers around their feet grew.

  Then, suddenly, all of the Leviathan soldiers slowed simultaneously. They all felt a loss of power.

  “No! Those fools.” cried Satan, and his eyes burned with fury. “Something is wrong with the camps.”

  Back at the slave camp on planet Warff, Sevran and his crew had just started to take off in the main shuttle while their fighter escort was already in the air and preparing to exit the atmosphere.

  “Ok, blow it,” commanded Sevran from the pilot seat of his shuttle.

  The co-pilot hit some buttons on the control panel. This triggered the detonation count down on the charges that they had left all throughout the slave compound. Just as they reached a distance of one kilometer, the charges exploded. As they did they destroyed all the computer systems and the hanging racks.

  The collection chamber was also completely destroyed as the charge beside it exploded. A small blast came from each door and window of the compound, and black smoke surrounded the building.

  “I guess they won’t be using that camp again,” said Sevran, smiling as he flew the ship out of the planet’s atmosphere.

  At the great gate the Leviathan soldiers continued their attempt to overpower the angels. From above on the mountain side the angels fired their catapults. Each of them launched a massive bundle that rolled through the air like a cannon ball. Just before they hit the ground they unfolded and spread out into heavy metal nets. These landed on large numbers of Leviathan soldiers. Then the angels pointed their blades at the nets and sent lightning bolts and electricity flowing through them, which knocked out all the Leviathan at the same time.

  Then several angels flew down and picked up the nets full of unconscious soldiers. Each net carried seventy-five to eighty men. They flew them off the battlefield and laid them far to the side.

  “Get those fools out of our way,” commanded Tekel. “They’ve no idea how lucky they are that we’re this patient with them.”

  “Stupid, weak humans,” cried Satan. “First battalion, attack!”

  With this, a third of the demons flew up into the sky and over the human soldiers. While in midair the flames of their blades grew in intensity. They fired balls of fire from the tips of their swords.

  The angels pulled out their shields to protect themselves. Many of the balls of fire missed the angels and hit the Leviathan soldiers. This burned them to the bone in seconds and killed many of them. The demons then landed in the clearing below and engaged the angels in sword battle. The demons seemed to have a slight speed and strength advantage. The human soldiers also continued to attack the angels who had to now defend against both attackers.

  At the home base on Helion the last rays of light disappeared from the dim, starlit sky as men, women, and children ran into one of the hangar doors. Cloin and other soldiers stood outside the door and directed them where to go.

  “This way—come on—quickly,” said Cloin as she pointed into the hangar.

  Just at that moment Averine arrived in a Jeep. She stepped out and said to Cloin, “This should be everyone. These are the last of the outlanders.” She could see that Cloin’s attention was stolen as she gazed up into the sky. Averine turned to see eleven Nemaron carriers surrounded by hundreds of fighters entering Helion’s distant outer atmosphere.

  “Well, we’re right on time. They’re here,” said Cloin.

  Averine tried not to show the fear that seized her. The size of the approaching army sent a chill up her spine. “Get them into the bunkers now!” she shouted to the soldiers.

  “That’s everyone,” she said into the com device on her wrist as she turned and entered the base. “Shut all doors and secure all hangars.”

  Coin gazed up at the ships as her eyes began to glow and intensify to a burning, white-hot light.

  Chapter 6

  The second Heliender team had landed on the planet Larm in galaxy 55x8. It was a very warm planet that was full of life and heavy vegetation. The team of seven Helienders and one Seberian crept their way through thick ground cover as they used their night vision equipment to navigate through the deep-black night of the jungle.

  Finally they reached a clearing and found the Nemaron compound nestled at the bottom of an enormous mountai
n range. The mountains up above were covered in trees that reached heights of nearly ninety meters.

  A rushing river moved down the side of the mountain and formed a thirty meter tall waterfall that sent mist into the air throughout the entire clearing. The compound was a large, three-story metal building that was covered in moss and rust from the massive amounts of moisture in the air.

  The team crouched on the edge of the jungle hiding in the cover of the thick vegetation. Unnoticed by the team, a three-meter-long snake slowly crept down from a branch above and very carefully coiled itself about the upper body of one the Helion soldiers. He didn’t see anything until it had completely wrapped around his body twice and its head was nearing his waist.

  When he finally felt it he jumped backward and frantically struggled to pull it off his body. Because they were tactical, he didn’t scream out and tried to stay quiet to prevent giving away their position to any Nemaron or Leviathan soldiers that could be nearby on patrol.

  When the other soldiers saw what was happening, they pulled back away from the snake and took aim with their rifles. They knew they couldn’t fire, but the natural response was to point their weapons at a threat.

  The Heliender struggled to free himself and to find the head as he knew that there must be fangs somewhere around his body. The snake began to tighten its grip as the other soldiers found and grabbed hold of the tail of the creature. It was a large and powerful reptile. Its body was nearly one third of a meter in circumference in its largest part. The other soldiers worked to pin it down in order to gain control of it, but it was very strong and it took three men to pin its tail to the ground.

  The solider frantically flipped over and over, trying to maintain his breath while fighting against the power of the creature until he finally found its head. This was a strange species that none of them had ever seen before.

  As the serpent pinned the soldier to the ground, it slowly raised its hideous head and prepared to take a deadly strike. It had four large yellow eyes above its enormous mouth that stretched all the way across its head, which was nearly twice the size of that of the soldier. The animal slowly pulled its head back and opened its mouth to reveal eight very long fangs, four on the top and four on the bottom. The top ones started to secrete venom that dripped down onto the soldier’s chest, when suddenly a blade flew through the serpent’s neck.

  It stood perfectly still for a moment, and then its head slowly rolled off its body, which started to twitch and slowly fell to the ground.

  The dead body loosened its grip, and the soldier worked frantically to free himself. Once free he looked up to see the Seberian kneeling beside him with his sword still extended out over the body of the enormous snake.

  “Thanks,” said the soldier, attempting to regain his breath.

  The Seberian nodded and smiled. He put his blade back in its sheath on his back and then offered the solider his hand. The Heliender took his hand and was lifted from the ground.

  “Ready?” asked the Seberian.

  “Yeah.”

  The rest of the soldiers threw the snake body to the side and pulled their attention back to the compound that sat on the other side of the fifteen-meter wide river moving swiftly in front of them.

  The Seberian turned to the rest of the soldiers. “If this planet has these kinds of snakes in its jungles, I hate to see what is in that water.”

  “Agreed,” said the Helion unit commander. “Set up the rope bridge.”

  Instantly three Helienders went to work on the bridge. The first pulled a modified crossbow from his pack. He loaded it with a thick, shafted arrow and shot it across the river and through small tree on the other side. As the arrow penetrated the tree the point protruded from the far side. When it did the tip expanded and folded out metal brackets that prevented it from pulling back through the hole in the tree. The tail of the arrow was attached to a spool of cable on the end to the crossbow.

  The other two soldiers took the cable and attached it to a tree behind them, being very careful to not rouse any more snakes or other creatures. Once it was tightly secured, the first soldier attached a small device to the cable. It had six wheels and an electric motor. He locked it onto the cable and then attached a strap from his harness to it. Now that he was attached, he leaned back and put all his weight onto it. The cable was so tight that it easily kept him two meters off the ground. Once horizontal he triggered the motor, and it carried him across the river in seconds. After he reached the other side, he better secured the arrow and cable.

  Within minutes the rest of the team did the same, and all reached the compound side of the river. There wasn’t much vegetation cover, so they all stayed very low as they made their way to the nearest wall of the building. On the backside of the compound they found one lone door that didn’t have any security or sensors attached.

  As they passed through the door they found themselves in the corner of the main chamber. Thousands of people hung on a wooden rack system suspended above large metal vats of boiling water. The chamber was filled with smoke from the fires that raged underneath the vats that were suspended one meter above the floor.

  As the Seberian surveyed the room he could see the red mist that was being emitted from the slave’s bodies. It blended with the smoke from the fires as it poured from their bodies.

  On the wall there was a clock that read four minutes fifty seconds and was counting down. The unit commander saw it and whispered, “Let’s move, we don’t have much time.”

  As they made their way across the room toward the command center on the far side, two Leviathan soldiers walked in while on patrol. The Helienders shot them with the electric rounds, and the Leviathan hit the floor unconscious.

  Just then four more entered and found them on the floor.

  “Intruders!” they yelled.

  Seconds later the alarm system in the base sounded.

  The Seberian stepped up and took out one of the Leviathan soldiers with another electric round. He then charged the other three and engaged them in hand-to-hand combat. His eyes blazed with intense white light as he defeated the first of the three. He and the other two remaining Leviathan engaged in ultra-fast combat that could barely be seen by the Helienders.

  Three more Leviathan soldiers poured into the room. They immediately fired on the Heliender team making their way to the command center. Two of the men were shot and killed instantly while the rest tried to take cover.

  “You two, come with me!” yelled the Helion commander. They jumped out from behind cover and ran toward the command center while returning fire on the Leviathan. The rest of the team stayed in their positions and provided cover fire.

  The three reached the command center and kicked down the door to find two Nemaron soldiers running the execution racks. They immediately were knocked out with the electric rounds. As they lay on the floor twitching the commander reached for the control panel to shut down the execution. The countdown on the computer matched the one on the wall, which was now down to two minutes thirty seconds.

  Just before he could reach the control panel another Leviathan soldier jumped through the glass enclosure and knocked him to the ground. The two Helienders opened fire, but the Leviathan had become aware of the new weapon they were using. He dodged all the rounds as he flipped backward. He grabbed a scrap piece of metal lying on the floor and used it as a shield to deflect the rest of the rounds. This allowed him to creep closely enough to grab the two Helienders. He ripped their weapons from their hands and picked them up off the floor by their throats, one in each hand.

  Down below in the chamber the Seberian had just finished defeating the three Leviathan soldiers. As he stood and tried to catch his breath he looked up into the control room to see the men getting choked. He took careful aim with his rifle and fired three rounds at the enemy soldier.

  Without even seeing the rounds coming the Leviathan soldier jumped backward to avoid all three. It was as if he could sense them coming. This caused him to lose hi
s grip on the two men, who fell to the ground clutching their throats as they tried to breathe again.

  Meanwhile, outside of the camp, an angel flew through a portal that opened for a split moment in the night sky. He rocketed toward the compound, but just before he reached the building a demon materialized to the side of the angel. The demon flew in and attacked in midair; tackling the angel to the ground.

  As they both jumped to their feet, they drew swords and immediately went into battle. Their blades rang out as the lightning of the angels sword blended with the red-orange fire of the demons. The battle went on for too long until the angel was able to strike such a massive blow that the demon was sent sailing backward, writhing in pain. As the demon lay on the ground, cursing with black blood squirting from his arm, the angle was able to quickly escape and continued on his way toward the compound.

  “Where are you going?” The demon laughed as the wound on his arm healed and stopped bleeding. He then jumped into the air and took to flight.

  The angel was only fifty meters away from entering the compound when another demon appeared, stepping through another portal. He pulled his blade from the sheath on his hip, and it ignited with red flame. The demon pointed the sword tip at the angel and sent numerous balls on fire flying through the hot night air. The angel saw them coming just in time to raise his shield and block them. Fire and ash fell everywhere. Some of it hit the angel’s legs and burned deep into his skin. He cried out in pain as the demon flew down into his path and hovered between him and the compound.

  The other demon then flew in behind him and the two began to circle. The angel collected himself, trying to ignore the pain. As he prepared himself for the two on one battle he thought, “I don’t have time for this. I must get inside.”