SWAT members loaded their weapons,
placed more weapons into bags, or secured body armor. Marine and Army
snipers checked their gear. Other soldiers got their heavy ordinance
ready; heavy caliber machine guns and rocket launchers. Some glanced
at each other apprehensively. Others gave a reassuring nod that it
was going to be alright. Some just focused on their gear, checking
and rechecking, loading and cleaning. Perhaps if they focused on the
equipment they wouldn't think about where they were going.
Special Agent Marion Sawyer and Colonel
Abram Holsted watched from the Command Room via video monitors.
“They're afraid,” Colonel Holsted
noted.
“They should be. We're about to take
on a living god,” Agent Sawyer replied.
“Then let's get moving,” Colonel
Holsted urged. Sawyer simply nodded.
Agent Sawyer walked into the room with
Colonel Holsted. The gathered soldiers, police and SWAT members all
stood at attention.
“At ease,” Holsted called out.
They relaxed as much as they could.
Every body in the room was rigid.
“Maximus has barricaded himself in
the Capital Building. This is where we will move in and take him
out,” Sawyer said, addressing everyone in the room.
“You all have your orders. You have
all drilled specifically for this purpose. I don't need to tell you
that it doesn't get any more important than this,” Holsted added.
Various heads nodded.
“We have the equipment and the
tactical support. We will make this assault, we will sanction
Maximus, we will end this today,” Sawyer said.
One soldier raised his hand.
“Yes?” Sawyer asked.
“Where's Agent O'Connel?” the
soldier asked.
“He's on his way. We will be leaving
immediately upon his arrival,” Sawyer said.
There were many glances exchanged.
“We're dead if he doesn't show up,”
one soldier murmured to a compatriot. One man close by nodded,
another tried to ignore it.
Gabe O'Connel entered a few moments
later in loose fitting faded jeans, a blue and black faded flannel
shirt and sneakers with the laces undone. He was sipping from a
coffee cup when he entered.
“Everyone ready?” he asked as he
walked into the room. The gathered troops seemed to ease visibly at
his arrival. He smiled as he looked around at those assembled.
“That's a lot of hardware,” Gabe
noted.
“We need to be ready for anything in
there,” Sawyer countered.
“There's no preparing for
everything,” Gabe replied.
“Do we need more manpower?” Holsted
asked.
“Eh, if this isn't enough more dead
soldiers won't really make much of a difference,” Gabe answered off
handedly.
Sawyer grabbed Gabe by the arm,
dragging him from the room.
“Excuse us,” she said over her
shoulder.
“Hey, you're going to spill the
coffee!” Gabe protested as they exited the room. Holsted watched
them leave. Every set of eyes in the room watched them leave. Tension
filled the room again.
“What the hell was that?” Sawyer
hissed.
“What was what?” Gabe asked.
“More dead soldiers won't make a
difference? What the hell is wrong with you?” Sawyer pressed.
“Look, this is a suicide mission.
Everyone should know that going in,” Gabe replied.
“Everyone here knows the risks, but
making flippant remarks about the sacrifices being made here are
unacceptable,” Sawyer all but growled.
“Sure thing teach. You should cluster
them in waves. Close, mid range, and long range,” Gabe said.
“Will that give us a tactical
advantage?” Sawyer asked.
“Definitely. If Maximus gets mad and
vaporizes those closest, then you still have two waves of grunts to
attack with,” he said, drinking from his coffee cup again.
Sawyer smacked the cup from his hands.
It spilled on the floor and skidded.
“What is your problem?” Gabe asked,
annoyed.
“Your lack of respect is a start,”
Sawyer shot out.
“I'm helping you kill my best friend,
how about a little gratitude?” Gabe responded.
“Your 'best friend' is a mass
murderer,” Sawyer replied.
“And how many deaths were on the
hands of each person he killed?” Gabe asked. Sawyer paused for a
long moment. Her eyes widened as her mouth opened, then she closed
her mouth and just stared at him.
“You're a sympathizer?” she said,
breathless.
“Some what. I mean he is my child
hood friend. But I'm still here to help you kill him. I'm not going
to go back on that. He's caused a lot of damage and hurt a lot of
people, some that didn't deserve to get hurt. That's your flawed
system, it shouldn't be ours,” Gabe answered. The coffee cup
floated back to his hand. The coffee followed, swirling and spinning
in the air like a galactic constellation before coming to a rest in
his cup. He took a drink.
“You think you're so superior...”
she muttered.
“And all the people that you've
incarcerated; you always treat them with dignity and respect, as you
would a peer. Yes? Better yet, you were absolutely positive that they
were the guilty party,” Gabe said quite conversationally.
“The evidence pointed to them. That's
my job,” Sawyer replied.
“Quite. Nothing sociopathic about
that reasoning. Come, let's go rouse your cannon fodder that their
lives have purpose,” Gabe said, heading toward the door.
“You're really sick, you know that?”
Sawyer spat.
“You incarcerate people like animals
for years over circumstantial evidence and I'm sick? Come on, let's
not bullshit,” Gabe said, walking closer to her. He stared into her
eyes, looking right into her. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable,
and afraid.
“How do you-”
“No mind tricks here. I've read up on
you. I wanted to know who I was allying myself with. I read up on the
people Maximus attacked as well. They were all bad people. They had
positions, titles, held government office or some position of power,
but they were terrible human beings that hurt and killed people in
their ascent to power. So just cut the pretense to righteousness. You
want him dead because he scares all of you. I want life to get back
to normal. That is the beginning and end of our common cause,” Gabe
said, crumpling the coffee cup and tossing it in the trash.
“Why are you even helping us at all?”
Sawyer asked.
“Because you can't do this on your
own,” he said over his shoulder.
Five minutes later the soldiers were
dismounting in the blasted out war zone that had once been central
D.C., the capital of the United States. The soldiers had all seen
Maximus' war zones on television. He had waged a campaign of terror
across the world. Moscow, Hong Kong, Pyongyang, Mexico City and other
capitals considered corrupt by the Red Messiah had fallen. Their
leaders dead, their military in shambles. Opiate lords in Asia, gone.
Warlords in Africa, gone. Militant religious groups in the Middle
East, gone. Eradicated by Maximus. He had slain thousands. He was
feared by millions.
With the fury of a god Maximus rained
down fire and lightning from the skies. Lava bubbled up from the
ground. Weapons, tanks, planes, and buildings all crumbled or fell
apart at his gesture. Time and again different governments would
stage counter attacks and assassination attempts. Dozens of attempts
all met with the same swift fate. Maximus was untouchable.
Yet their had been groups that had
rallied to his cause. Those that had taken to the streets with signs
and face paint in favor of Maximus' swift and deadly overthrow of
regimes. The Reds had gathered in the streets, in town halls and in
social communities. They had been targeted early by police and
military. Maximus had been swift to dissuade this course of action as
well. Soldiers and police found themselves trapped in barred cells at
Maximus' discretion. The landscape of the world had changed.
Maximus had met with world leaders,
many of whom he respected. The meeting Maximus had most looked
forward to was that with the Dalai Lama. It had been in private, no
press was allowed. Whatever had transpired in their discussion had
left Maximus displeased. He had not been seen publicly since. The
Dalai Lama refused to comment. Gabe could have guessed however.
Violence was never the Dalai Lama's way, and he could not have
approved of Maximus' agenda. Gabe imagined that the 'Lama' had some
advice for Maximus he had not been expecting, and he'd been brooding
on it ever since.
As the soldiers moved into position,
Gabe saw the 'Reds' gathered around the capital building. They were a
ragtag lot, some former soldiers, some college students, some just
regular disenfranchised people that had taken to Maximus' concept of
government overthrow. They had no idea what was coming their way.
Gabe had insisted that they not be targeted or harmed. This was about
taking down Maximus.
Gabe walked forward with a small group
of soldiers with him.
“We ask that you disperse at the
request of the United States Army,” one of the soldiers called
through a megaphone.
“There's no such thing anymore!”
one of the Reds called back.
“And we recognize no such authority”
another one called out.
The soldier's grip on his rifle
tightened. Gabe held up his hand.
“Save it for Maximus,” he said.
Gabe walked ahead of the soldiers.
“I've come to speak with Maximus!”
he called out.
“And who are you?” one of the Reds
called back.
“An old friend. Gabe. He'll remember
me,” Gabe said with a quiet confidence that made the Reds notice.
They looked at him for several moments consideringly. One nodded
toward another and the second Red ran inside.
Moments later he returned but said
nothing.
Within moments after that, the sky
darkened and lightning crisscrossed the sky. Rocks and debris raised
off the ground as though the behavior of gravity had shifted
suddenly. The soldiers stepped back hesitantly.
“Give them a show they'll understand,
smart...” Gabe said quietly to himself.
Maximus could have reconfigured
elements at a molecular level out of thin air to preclude his
entrance, but regular people would not have comprehended what they
saw. Acts of nature that resembled the wrath of ancient gods, that
people understood.
A flash of lightning zigzagged out of
the sky into the ground with a thunderous roar and a shaking of the
earth. A smoldering crater was left in its wake. In that crater stood
Maximus; his face painted red and clad in the billowing brown robes
of a monk. He even dressed the part of the Red Messiah now., Gabe
noted. The soldiers immediately leveled their guns. Maximus laughed a
booming laugh that echoed off the broken down buildings of downtown
D.C.
“They still only trust in the power
of their toys,” Maximus said to Gabe, but loud enough so those
nearby could hear as well.
“People trust in what makes them feel
secure,” Gabe replied off handedly. Maximus smiled and strode
toward Gabe, his arms extended.
“Brother!”
The two embraced; old friends reunited.
One of the soldiers took this as his opportunity. He fired at
Maximus. The bullet disintegrated in mid air. A moment later
lightning struck from the sky, leaving only a charred husk as the
remnants of the errant soldier. The others took aim. Gabe threw up
his hands.
“Stop you idiots! Do you all want to
die just like he did?” Gabe shouted.
“They never learn do they? Just like
all the dictators and warmongers who thought they would supplant me
through force. But alas, force is all they understand,” Maximus
lamented.
“Why do you bring such violent
friends to my door?” Maximus asked in a chiding tone.
“They are hoping that you'll stand
down and leave D.C.” Gabe replied.
“Oh do they?” Maximus said, turning
to face the soldiers within view. His smile froze their blood. They
lowered their weapons.
“Smart. Some dogs can learn,” he
quipped.
Maximus raised a hand and an energy
field appeared, covering he and Gabe like a dome. They would not be
interrupted again.
“So what brings you to my
neighborhood?” Maximus asked.
“I needed to talk to you. About
this,” Gabe replied, gesturing around.
“Oh this? What the old governments
would have called 'acceptable losses,' had they not been the ones
losing,” Maximus replied with a smile.
“It's gotten a little out of control,
don't you think?” Gabe asked, sipping at a new cup of coffee.
Maximus eyed the coffee.
“Where did that come from?” Maximus
asked.
“I made it,” Gabe replied.
“You conjured it?” Maximus pressed.
“Sort of,” Gabe answered.
“Through my force field? Nothing
should have been able to get through,” Maximus said.
“When you can't go through something,
you learn to go around it,” Gabe said, taking a sip.
“It's a Costa Rican blend. My
favorite. Would you like a cup?” Gabe continued. Maximus shook his
head. He understood what Gabe was doing. It was a subtle way of
showing that Gabe could maneuver around his defenses.
“You've not been idle,” he noted.
“Well, I haven't just been drinking
coffee if that's what you're asking,” Gabe quipped.
“And yet you've been decidedly silent
amidst all the recent upheaval,” Maximus noted.
“Didn't really seem like you needed
my help,” Gabe stated.
“With this rabble? Of course not,”
Maximus spat.
“Still, you've had no opinion on the
matter?” Maximus continued.
“I've been busy studying, traveling.
Putting my arts to other uses. For the most part I haven't seen
anything different between what you've done and what other government
powers did before you. It's just another form of-”
“There has been nothing else like
what I have done!” Maximus shouted, cutting Gabe off. Gabe looked
up from his coffee, nodded, and took another sip.
“There have been unique theatrics,
sure, but you're still a tyrant,” Gabe responded dryly.
Stones and debris floated from the
ground as the sky roiled overhead. Gabe sighed, and with a wave of
his hand the stones fell to the ground as sand.
“I've abolished corrupt
governments...” Maximus insisted.
“Ruling through fear is still
ruling,” Gabe added.
“I've given the people choice,”
Maximus retorted.
“Leaving them alone would be allowing
them choice. Assuming some other power doesn't take control, which is
likely,” Gabe mused.
Maximus' fists clenched. The very air
seemed to vibrate.
“So you are here to stop me,”
Maximus conjectured.
“All good things must come to an
end,” Gabe declared.
In the coming seconds atoms dispersed
and collided in thousands of ways. New isotopes and elements formed
and vanished in flashes of light and fissures of energy that shook
the air itself. Most could not comprehend what they saw. Gabe and
Maximus flickered in and out of reality as reality was bent, unmade
and remade all around them.
Maximus' energy field constricted
around them. Gabe threw his coffee cup in the air. Droplets flattened
against the dome and spread outward, hissing and coiling. Tiny holes
emerged in the energy field. Then the barrage began.
Dozens of guns fired at once. Many
bullets disintegrated in mid air. Soldiers were turned to vapor and
dust in the blink of an eye. Others vanished into a red mist of blood
that carpeted the ground with the movement of the churning air. But
some made it through. Gabe had distracted Maximus and assaulted his
defenses on levels that no one else living could comprehend. In those
precious moments as the very fabric of reality coiled around them;
two sorcerers that had become living gods met their destiny.
Bullets tore through Maximus' flesh and
Gabe waved his hand, sending a fissure of molten white gas through
his old friend's brain before he could undo the damage. Maximus the
mighty fell to the ground dead.
Gabe stood staring down at his fallen
friend. He wondered what life would be like now and how this world
would rebuild itself. Would it fall into old habits or would it press
on anew? Would old governments resume power or would new ones emerge?
Then a bullet tore through Gabe's
chest.
“Son of a-” Gabe murmured as he
fell to the ground. Moments later Agent Sawyer was standing over him.
“The book,” Sawyer said.
“Hmm?” Gabe answered, coughing up
blood.
“Where is the book?” Sawyer
insisted.
“You'll have to be more specific,”
Gabe replied.
“The text that gave you and Maximus
your powers. We know it was some book that contained the knowledge,”
Sawyer pressed.
“You just shot me. You think I'd
entrust it to you?” Gabe chuckled.
“It needs to be contained,” she
continued, as though that were some sort of answer.
“It's gone,” Gabe answered.
“You destroyed it?” Sawyer asked,
hopeful.
“Passed out the pages. Before I
contacted you,” Gabe uttered, wincing.
“What?!” Sawyer exclaimed.
“Some one,” Gabe coughed. “Had to
keep you honest.”
This he said with a smile. And with
that, Gabriel O'Connel, all powerful sorcerer and coffee aficionado
gave up the ghost.
“You son of a bitch...” Sawyer
muttered softly. A soldier ran up to her.
“We need to get him up,” the
soldier yelled to Sawyer. He clearly couldn't see that Gabe was
already dead.
“Why?” Sawyer shot back, annoyed.
“There's been a report of two
teenagers hurling lightning and fire,” the soldier replied stiffly.
Nearby Sawyer could hear other phones
ring, comm devices crackle and walkies beep. Each one radioing in
some other catastrophe. She turned to see the Reds had already
dispersed. She found herself wondering if Maximus had taught any of
them his powers already. She imagined she would be finding out very
soon.
