Ch. 16
“Members of the Resistance! Please gather in the dining hall,” Anna’s voice announced over the sound system.
The 41 members of the Resistance dropped whatever they were doing a filed into the dining hall, sitting in their respective seats. The hall was done up in lavish decorations and along the four walls was an endless buffet made of the last of their food reserves. Like every other table they gathered at, the dining hall table was round, designed after the table King Arthur used to hold his meetings. No one sat at the head of the table, for there was no end, this made everyone equal to one another and kept conflicts at a minimum. At the center of the table where the HoloScreens usually were stood the Original Six members of the Resistance, waiting for them to settle down.
At long last the hall quieted and the Original Six began their speech.
“Well… we did it… we’re finally ready for the final battle,” Kay began, “When I began recruiting you guys, I admit that I had doubts. But now… the only doubt I have is how much is gonna be left over from tonight.”
Once the chuckles subsided, Sidney took over.
“I know I speak for the rest of us Originals when I say that we can’t thank you enough for springing us from Romanis’ jail,” he said, “It’s bitter sweet that we have to leave this place, and never being able to return… but at least it’ll be for a good cause.”
“**** it all and let’s eat!” Mairuzu called from across the table.
Many people rolled their eyes but once the word was given, they all leapt from their chairs and bombarded the table. And in a matter of minutes, everyone was chatting away and shoving MG’s food down their gullets. With a flick of the wrist and a snap of the fingers, Sol produced the dessert which consisted of three fountains of melted chocolate and rows of cakes and other little treats. Once everything was eaten and the place cleaned spotless, they dragged their bloated stomachs off to sleep off the last hardy meal they’d probably have in a long while.
* * *
“Now then son… are we feeling a bit better?” Satan asked of his son.
“Yes, Father,” Romanis’ multi-tonal voice replied from within the flames.
Romanis was sitting calmly inside a Coffin of Fire, this reverted him back to his original form, the daemon Mammon. Inside the Coffin he was able to bend a stretch his form and unfurl the red, leathery wings that protruded from his back and licked the sides of the walls. His seven heads stretched to the ceiling of the room with the horns and crowns scoring marks in the plaster and gouging holes here and there. When Romanis opened his blood red eyes, he saw everything as it should be. A world filled with violence, pain and suffering.
“Good,” the growl came, “Open your mind and look for them.”
“I see them. They are in the Antarctic,” he replied, “In an old prison.”
“Good, good, now crush them!” Satan shouted, revealing his true voice from within the child’s body.
“They have too many defenses,” he growled with distaste.
“Find a way in!” Satan ordered.
“I can’t!” he protested, “There is no way in. the Original Resistance members are too strong!”
“Impossible! You’re just too weak,” the child’s body contorted into something inhuman.
“No I’m not! They’re too strong for me!” he complained.
Then an explosion rocked the foundation of the building sending dust and debris throughout the halls. The Coffin of Fire shattered and Mammon disappeared to be replaced by the crumpled form of Romanis. When he stood, his eyes were coal black and filled with their own fire from the depths of Hell.
“I know where they are,” he announced as he strode across the room to the door, “Assemble the troops! I want every soldier in their vehicle in two hours!”
Satan stayed behind with a look of pure disgust on his face at the weakness his own son just displayed. Then with a huff, he replaced the sweet and innocent look of the girl he was impersonating back on his face and followed Romanis.
‘Something drastic must be done,’ the Lord of Hell thought to himself, ‘I must summon another daemon. Perhaps the Whore? Yes… she could be his wife…. And we could be a happy family on top of the world.’
“You summoned me my Lord?” a growl said from the shadows.
“Right yourself, woman,” he ordered, “You are to pose as the wife of my son. I am the daughter. And remember, we are a happy family living our lives in royalty.”
“Yes, my Lord,” the voice said.
In a matter of minutes, the Whore of Babylon stood before Satan in the form of a woman with long, ink black hair and yellow-green eyes. A few more seconds later and the memory of her existence was planted into everyone’s mind.
“Come now, darling,” the Whore smiled, “Let us join your father in the battle room.”
“Yes, mother,” the child’s voice said from behind the malicious smile she wore.
* * *
In a matter of hours, the trucks, Transport Pods and Aerial Vehicles were jam packed with everything the members of the Resistance could carry and then some. Because they weren’t returning to the underground, Antarctic prison they had called home for so long, they needed to erase any and all traces of their stay there.
“Kay, we’ve got some problems,” Grey placed a hand on the window of the Semi the Crosby family was traveling in.
“What is it?” she asked looking up from the monitor of her GPS.
“Our cover’s been blown,” he said, a slight panicked look was apparent in his eyes as well as the eyes of many other members.
“That’s kinda good isn’t it? We want them to know where we’ve been staying and all that jazz to throw them off the trail?” she inquired in a confused tone.
“Not on this scale, no. They’re on their way as we speak, and by the looks of things, they brought the entire Romanis Army with them,” he said.
Kyrie let a heavy sigh escape her lips, “Okay, get back to your Pod. You’re team is out first, tell them to go now.”
With a frantic nod of the head, Grey jogged off to the lead Transport Pod and gave the word to the other pilots that they were to leave immediately. Meanwhile, Kay hopped down from her seat and ran to the lead Aerial Vehicle.
“Mike, we need to move faster than we thought,” she said, “Grey says they’re coming with bigger and better guns than we thought. So as soon as the Pods take off, y’ns guys take top the skies. Don’t engage with Romanis unless absolutely necessary.”
“Got it,” the diminutive Welsh nodded, “Oi! Listen up! As soon as the Pea Pods take off, we go! Only shoot at Romanis’ people if necessary and no sooner!”
“See you, Mike,” she smiled at him and ran back to her truck.
“Anna and Faye are ready to go,” Sidney jumped into the drivers seat and took the wheel just as the pods rolled out through the now opened doors.
“Is Jack secure?” she asked as she put on her seat belt.
“As safe as the reincarnation of Jesus Christ could ever be,” he replied with a grim look in his warm, brown eyes.
“Hey, Sid,” she took his hand as he reached for the ignition, “It’ll be alright, we’ll get through this.”
“I know…,” he said, he looked like he wanted to say more but the screaming of the A.V.’s cut him off.
With a mighty roar, the three Semis started up and were out the front gate just as an insistent beeping from the onboard computer alerted everyone to the close proximity of Romanis. The A.V.s had long since disappeared into the cloud cover but up ahead the Pods were still somewhat visible in the bright light reflecting off the snow and ice. Above them flew Stealth Vehicles and on the ground far off in the distance was a troop of tanks and modified HumVs.
“Do they really think they can sneak up on us with those S.V.s?” Anastasia’s voice asked over the radio.
“Who knows, I’ve always said the Russians were crazy,” Kay replied with a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.
Just as the leading tank began firing on the Pods they disappeared under the ice having activated the Heat Drills and dropped the twenty feet through the ice in a single burst of heat to evade capture. Now that the only visible targets were the gigantic Semi trucks about four miles ahead, the attack turned into a game of chicken between the Semis and the HumV that lead Romanis’ ground attack.
“On the count of three we activate the shields and blast through,” Sidney said into the radio.
“Roger,” Brian replied.
“Gotcha,” Angus said.
The two groups came closer and closer to each other, threatening contact within minutes.
“One….”
The two Semis carrying the Youngs and the Johnsons sped up to become neck in neck with the Crosby Semi….
“Two….”
The ground troops formed a straight line so they could surround the Semis once the impact took place….
“THREE!!!”
All at once a shining lavender nexus enveloped the Semis. Some of the HumVs and tanks tried to swerve out of the way but it was too late. Above them, the S.V.s broke formation to avoid the debris. The impact was tremendous, it jarred the very teeth in every Vampires mouth to the point of pain. If any of the Vampires in the Semis had heartbeats, they would have skipped two full beats before jumping back into action at a hummingbirds pace. This being the sensation felt by the Vampires, the humans in the three HumVs and three tanks were literally liquefied. The remaining ground troops sped off into the distance towards the former headquarters of the Resistance.
“That was just the appetizer, boys… please enjoy the main course,” Anna said in a very 21st century Hollywood style before pressing the Detonator.
Behind them, the former underground jail exploded with a force big enough to send the remaining ground troops sailing through the air end over end. Finally, with whoops and cheers of success, the Resistance sped off into the bright Antarctic sun to continue their mission.