CHAPTER 58 – APPROACH
DATE POINT: JUNE 10th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, OUTER ASTEROID BELT,
ABOARD SHADOWHAWK “GS-2”
LIEUTENANT PAUL KARST
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Looks like everyone's about as ready as they’re gonna get... Paul thought as he looked at his team in their full gear. Gardner seemed to notice him staring and she gave him a cheerful thumbs-up.
She seems like she’s handling the burden of that secret pretty well. What’s your read, Creepy?
She hides her nervousness well… as does most of the rest of your team… we can sense little internal conflict or guilt within her... It seems your secret remains safe... For now…
Perfect, it seems our little chat had the desired effect then. Anubis is going to find out soon enough anyway, but at least it will be on our terms this way. Guess I'd better go check on those two chuckleheads up front. Paul thought as he approached the secure door to access the cockpit.
“Sup flyboys! What’s our status?” Paul asked.
“Oh hey, LT, good timing. We’re approaching the projected detection range of their passive sensors. We should decelerate now while we have the chance.” Julian, their Weapons Systems Officer stated.
“Roger that, I’ll bleed some velocity and adjust our approach vector, then I’ll kill the TK drive. The maneuvering thrusters should be enough to get us the rest of the way through the asteroid cluster.” David, their pilot, replied as he began manipulating controls on the console before him.
“All hands, brace for a short deceleration.” David said over comms.
Paul grabbed one of the straps hanging from the ceiling and bent his legs to ride through the abrupt changes in gee forces. David curved them in a tight arc around a particularly large asteroid and shut down the TK field. Paul instinctively reared back slightly as their cockpit viewscreen showed how uncomfortably close to the slowly tumbling space rock they had passed.
“Jeez, Rockstar, what the hell, man!? You trying to kill us?! Do we need to switch or something?” Julian cried out.
“Cool it, Wizard, I was in perfect control the whole time. You know you’re in good hands cuz I’ve got that real magic touch.” David replied dismissively with a chuckle behind his words.
“Funny, cuz that’s exactly what your sister said about me on our last night before deployment. You’re good and all, but there’s only one magic man in this cockpit.” Julian fired back without missing a beat.
“Oh, is that how it is? Next time I’m perfectly threading the needle between asteroids while evading enemy fire I want you to remember that comment. You’re a decent pilot, but there’s a reason you’re playing Wizzo and I’m here doing all the work actually flying us around.” David replied in a cocky tone.
“Oh, like you could navigate, run the EM countermeasures, target enemies with ordnance, and kill incoming missiles with the poly-spectral laser arrays all at the same time? All you gotta do is play with your stick and not crash. Bro please, you couldn’t handle this seat.” Julian fired back.
“Really? You don’t think I could do your job? I got just as good scores in my practical exams as you did. But who was the one who dominated in their flight scores again? I think we both know that answer.” David replied smugly.
"Yeah we do; Firefly got perfect marks, if I remember correctly. You’re good, but not as good as Yulia. Hell, I still remember the look on your face when you found out she’d beat you. Let me tell you, it was absolutely glorious.” Julian responded with a victorious tone.
“Hey! I was happy for her! Nobody got a better score than she did. I did beat her in the dogfight simulators more often than not though. Frankly I’m surprised they placed me here instead of flying a bomber.” David replied.
“Enough, you two! I swear its like a constant dick measuring contest up here, every time. Do I need to separate you into different Shadowhawks?” Paul interjected in mild exasperation.
“No sir. That won’t be necessary. We’re good bros, and this is our thing. We may rag on each other here and there, but it’s all in good fun.” Julian replied as his back stiffened in his chair and he returned his gaze to the console in front of him.
“Yeah, I know I give him shit sometimes, but Wizard really is the best at his job. The man is a multitasking monster. If you want your team to make it safely there and back again, then you want us as your flight crew… Sir.” David reaffirmed.
“Alright then, but keep those stunts to a minimum, Rockstar. This ship is irreplaceable, so keep your distance from the asteroids from now on, please. Trust me when I say that the Captain would not be so forgiving if he were to find out the kinds of risks you seem to deem acceptable.” Paul said as he clamped both hands down on the young pilot’s shoulders, hard.
“Sir, yes sir. I’ll… keep that in mind.” Was all that Rockstar managed to squeak out in reply.
“Good, glad we have ourselves an understanding then. How long until we reach our drop window?” Paul asked as he turned to Julian.
“Ten minutes, sir, once we break through this asteroid cluster the target vessel’s dry dock should become visible again. From there we’ll launch you towards the exterior airlock we identified, as planned.” Wizard replied calmly as he studied his instruments.
“What’s the status on our mission parameters?” Paul asked.
“The facility shows all the signs that they’re still sleeping with no signs of any changes to its thermal profile. Our own stealth systems are operating perfectly. Mission is a go from our side, all parameters are still met.”
“Good, then we maintain the element of surprise. Stick within the asteroid cluster for as long as you can, it will help mask our approach.” Paul replied.
“Will do… Hmmm… Might have some trouble up there. That gap is closing quicker than the asteroid drift charts projected. I should be able to make it, but it will be tight.” David said as he pointed to a group of asteroids up ahead.
“Are you sure? We just talked about taking risks like that.” Paul asked with his arms folded across his chest.
“If you want me to keep us hidden for longer, we gotta take the chance. Otherwise, I’ve gotta break free of this cluster over… here and we have two more minutes exposed to any passive sensors they might have left active.”
“Shit, I trust the stealth systems and all, but we’d better not take that risk unless it becomes necessary. Are you positive you can do this?” Paul asked.
“Yes, I can do it. I have like a sixth sense for the outer dimensions of this bird. I know her as well as I know my own body at this point.” Rockstar said with confidence.
“Alright, proceed then. If you get close and it’s even remotely looks like it’s not going to work, don’t force it.” Paul replied.
“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna scratch your paint.” He replied.
“Better not. I’m going to get the team ready to launch." Paul said before he turned and sealed the cockpit door closed behind him.
“Alright, people, five minutes to drop! Estefani?! Get that bag re-packed, what are you doing? Come on, now, hurry up! Does anyone still need a seal check?” Paul called out as he walked past and began to inspect his team one by one.
“Sorry, nervous habit. I just had to be sure I didn’t forget anything.” Estefani replied sheepishly as she began to stuff her infiltration tools back into the bag.
“Seals are good, the gear is stowed, we’re ready. I double checked them all while you were talking to the flight crew.” Hamilton replied.
“Thank you, Staff Sergeant. How about you two? Have you shown Anubis how the launch rails work?” Paul asked as he patted the closest launch handle in the ceiling above.
Anubis simply stared at Paul through the eyes of his jackal helmet and replied with a grunt as he patted the weapons clipped to his reinforced belt. Gardner turned to Paul and spoke for him.
“I already showed him how the launch rails work. We’re ready.” She said with confidence.
“Threading the needle now, brace for maneuvering. Popping the hatch in sixty seconds. Is everyone ready?” Rockstar’s voice crackled through the ceiling speakers.
All around him, his team reached up to grab one of the launch handles above, or one of the myriad handholds spread around the crew compartment.
“We’re ready.” Paul replied as the ship began to pitch and shudder along in response to the firing of their maneuvering thrusters.
After a long minute, the movement of the ship calmed tremendously. Moments later, they were jerked to the port side as the ship flipped itself around and the air was sucked from the room.
VACUUM DETECTED; SWITCHING TO RESERVE ATMOSPHERE.
TIMER SET; TWO HOURS REMAINING
Everyone’s helmets turned as their attention was drawn to the rear hatch as it opened to reveal their rapidly growing target.
Any sign from our astral friend?
Not since we left the Fist of the Argonauts… They located us and returned back to Earth… We are alone for now… We sense no life within the structure ahead either… perhaps they truly hail from a different faction …
So, it seems. Sounds like the Earth based hypothesis was right after all. Stay alert just in case, but we’re probably not going to see the consequences until we make landfall. Can’t…freaking... wait.
“Thirty seconds to launch window, got you aligned and ready.”
“First wave, get ready! Second wave, get in position! Remember, we’re on radio silence from here on out.” Paul said over comms before he waited out the rest of the countdown and hit the button to launch the first wave.
Ariana, Estefani, Hamilton, and Jenkins were sent flying into the void towards the outer crust of the titanic asteroid that served as a dry dock for the enemy dreadnought. Moments later, the launch rail handles returned to their starting places for the rest of the team to grab hold of. With a deep breath, Paul grabbed the rearmost handle, hit the launch control, and they were flung together into the black.
Paul watched the Shadowhawk shoot off and away as the asteroid before them loomed ever larger. He fired his thrusters to decelerate and to rotate himself feet-down towards their target. One after another, the rest of the team joined the first wave around the target airlock. Paul looked over at Gardner and nodded. She gave a thumbs-up in response and began to manipulate the console beside the airlock.
Here comes the dangerous part… Let’s hope they’re right that her accessing the systems won’t raise any alarms… Paul thought with clenched teeth. Remember, Creepy, let me know immediately if there are any signs of the enemy awakening inside.
We did not forget…. We will remain alert… As should you… There are more dangers within that we cannot sense… technology and traps can kill as easily as an enemy bullet or blade…
I know. At least team two should be close to completing their mission already. If we screw up here, at least the bomb should already be set. Paul thought with a sigh as Gardner finished waiving the first group through the airlock.
I guess its our turn, now. He thought as a confident eagerness welled up from within. Paul spared one last look in the general direction of where Lance’s team was working through their mission.
Stay safe out there. Paul thought before he boosted himself over and joined the rest of his team in the airlock.
So far so good here... let’s just hope things stay that way...
SHORTLY BEFOREHAND…
DATE POINT: JUNE 10th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, OUTER ASTEROID BELT,
UNKNOWN FACILITY, CODENAME: FIREPIT
LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER LANCE BLACKFORD
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There goes another one… Gonna have to check with Henry later to see how many of these we even have left... Lance thought as he finished applying the last of the epoxy in the tube to the flattest section of the airlock door frame he could find.
Lance motioned to Victor, who immediately began to fold and stick the other edge of the air shield down. Without even having to ask, O’Brien joined in on his side, which helped tremendously to speed up the process.
Damn nice to have him back. Even if it’s a tad crowded under here this time around.
Ultimately he couldn’t complain. If the shit hit the fan, he’d need every soldier he could get.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
It didn’t take long with the three of them working to seal and secure down the last sections. Lance counted down the drying time as he inspected the folded back edge of the seal with a critical eye.
Probably only gonna get one more use out of this one, even if we cut it free right at the Epoxy line again... Lance mused.
Reusing air shields hadn’t been a concern back when they’d had a whole earthbound supply chain supporting the fleet. Their circumstances had forced a lot of changes in doctrine and thinking, Things they had taken for granted before were turning into major concerns or even outright headaches now.
Problems for another day, today has its fair share. He thought as he shook himself out of it. Time’s up anyway.
Lance patted Lucas on the shoulder, who nodded and proceeded to cut into the outer airlock door. A hiss of air soon became a torrent, and the Mylar overhead stretched taught as the pressure equalized.
ATMOSPHERE DETECTED; ANALYZING….
EARTH STANDARD MIX; STERILE; NO PATHOGENS OR TOXINS DETECTED
SWITCHING TO FILTERED EXTERNAL RESPIRATION; REFILLING RESERVE TANK
“Looks like they’re using the same general airlock designs as the last facility. Not very imaginative on their part if you ask me.” Lucas said as he finished his cut on the outer door.
“Why not? They're simple, reasonably secure, and easy to produce. The real question is, why are you complaining when we know how to foil it?” Vic chided as he gave the center of the door a solid push to dislodge it inwards.
Lucas was first through the breach moments later before he claimed a spot and got to work cutting.
“Still better be careful. They may not have expected serious attempts at infiltration, but I doubt they’d leave a facility this important completely undefended.” O’Brien stated with his arms folded as he waited for Lucas to finish cutting through the inner door.
“According to Anubis, after Set attacked the Duat, Horus arrived too late to stop it, but with enough strength to force Set to fell back. They squabbled and skirmished for a while after that, but the conflict settled into a stalemate. Eventually, resource limitations forced their crews into stasis. We should have the place to ourselves so long as we can maintain stealth.” Lance replied.
“Exactly, the whole reason we disabled those forward observation posts was to exploit that precise gap in their tactical thinking. The arrogant bastards only expected a full frontal assault like Horus kicking down the door in an honor-fueled rage. They never could have predicted either our arrival, or our focus on stealth tech.” Lucas said as he finished his cut on the inner door.
“Hey, I’m with you there, my favorite way to fight the giants is cloaked in the element of surprise. So, believe me, I’m all in for that sound, logical reasoning, but I’m still gonna watch for trouble. Something about this place still feels alive. Like the air has been recently disturbed. I don’t like it.” O’Brien said as he unslung his rifle.
“I wouldn’t expect any less, Gunny. Be ready though, cuz the moment we kick the door in, you’re on point.” Lance said.
Lucas shoved the second cut door section out into the hallway beyond. He winced moments later as a loud clang reverberated out into the facility.
“Oh, I’m on point today? Well, shit, now that Lucas just announced our arrival to anyone in earshot, it would be my pleasure, Sir.” O’Brien said before he charged through the opening and swept the corridor in a blur of aggression.
“Clear! Nothing new on thermals. No visual change to background systems, or any obvious reaction to my presence, either.” He called out a moment later.
“The place does seem to be asleep, yes, but like you said, we should remain vigilant as we move through to our first objective.” Lance replied as he calmly followed the rest of the team through the breach with his rifle held at low ready.
“Right, we still need to locate the hangar bay so Ghost and HT one can link up with us. We’re gonna need their support if the situation goes to shit.” O’Brien replied.
“The hangar bay is about half a klick spinward. I suspect the first full size corridor to split off to the right should lead us right to it. Once we locate that, you and I will do some light scouting ahead while Victor leads the rest of the team to access and open the hangar doors.” Lance said.
“Aye, sir. We’ll keep any wanderers off their backs.” O’Brien said grimly as they entered the cavernous halls. “So, what do you think all those marks are around the walls and ceiling?”
“They look like leftover spiral gauge marks from whatever process they used to bore out this hallway. We saw them in the last facility too, like they didn’t care to take the extra effort required to smooth the walls down.” Lucas replied.
“Well, we can definitely see the signs of their technological regression; they’re cutting corners and using low tech solutions everywhere they can. They really must be struggling to repair or reproduce their more modern tech all the way out here.” Victor added in.
“We’ve heard that, but to be honest, I thought it was just a line. You know, something to get us to drop our guard. Honestly, if it is true, I'll never have been so happy to be wrong in my life.” Janessa said with a chuckle.
“Either way, we should assume that the importance of this facility means they’d have repurposed some of what they had left. I want everyone to keep an eye out for electrical lines, cameras, EM anomalies, and other signs of traps, even low tech ones.” Lance said firmly.
This is all progressing a bit too easy. He thought as they trekked down the huge main hallway. Finally, after rounding a curve, Lance spied what they had been after; a thick, iron blast door embedded into the rocky wall on the right side.
“That’s gotta be it! This probably run parallel back to the exterior. Bet you that’s the one that will lead us to the hangar bay.” Janessa said as she gestured towards the door.
“How much you want to put on it?” Lucas chimed in before he quickly added in, “Never mind, I take that back; I... think you’re probably right. Anyone want to take the bet that this isn’t the door?"
He quickly looked around the room then shrugged.
“Nobody? Alright. Fine, I see how it is... Let’s see... how might we crack you open? ” Lucas said as he began to examine the door.
“Looks like an electrified lock… door looks like it might be too thick to cut, too. It’s too early to risk setting off an alarm, so hacking it is out of the question…. Thermite time?” Lucas thought out loud as he continued his inspection.
“Agreed, we’ll save the torch fuel for any smaller internal doors. Definitely Thermite time.” Lance said as he dug into his pack for the applicator they needed. “Got it, here you go, remember to apply it high enough up the door to let a Patriot suit pass comfortably through.”
“Yeah, we got this, boss.” Victor said confidently.
Lucas took the pouch then lifted his magnet boots off the deck onto the heavy iron door itself and began to carefully apply a continuous bead of Thermite while whistling a merry tune.
Satisfied, Lance turned towards his other Guardian.
“O’Brien, why don’t you go ahead and get that drone in the air.” He ordered.
“It would be my pleasure, Sir.” O’Brien said.
O’Brien pulled the drone’s hard case out of his pack with a grunt and then popped the clamps on the lid. Moments later, he had the Quad-copter drone up in the air. Together, they watched the screen closely as it buzzed its way down the long corridor. The drone passed by two, much smaller locked doors on the way through the hallway. O’Brien looked up at him as if to ask about them. Anticipating his question, Lance spoke first.
“We can find out what’s behind those doors once we’ve planted the nuke. Keep mapping the open hallways for now.” O’Brien nodded and pushed the control stick forwards again.
“Get clear!” Lucas shouted from off to their side.
A bright flash drowned out their vision for a moment as the Thermite burned its way through the door. Victor leaned into the cut section of door with a grunt and shoved, forcing it down to the ground with a small bounce before it floated away down the hall.
“Looks like we’re through. Follow along closely now, children, wouldn’t want anyone to get lost.” Victor said as he led his splinter team under the still-molten arch of the cut doorway.
As soon as his eyes and visor readjusted themselves, his attention returned to the screen. The drone progressed into a massive, open room with three tiers of crenelated ramparts cut from the rock of the back wall. The effect was like a strange combination of a ziggurat with medieval castle walls, interspersed with several planters with withered plants on the ground level near the back. The oppressive darkness effectively swallowed the drone’s floodlight, slowing down their ability to fully process the scene. Either way, the place had clearly been left without tending for some time. As the light shifted across the back wall, a glint of reflected light caught his attention.
“Hang on, go back to where you just were.” Lance said.
“Sure thing, Sir. What were you looking fo… oh. Dammit.” O’Brien said.
Six barrels arranged in a circle gleamed from out between a pair of iron-reinforced crenelations. As the drone moved closer, a belt-fed, top loading receiver was revealed as well with a large box of linked ammo already loaded into the upper receiver beside it.
“That’s a goddamn alien Gatling gun….” Lance said. “How many more of them are there?”
“I think I saw some other similar reinforced cover emplacements. Give me a moment to check.” O’Brien said as he flew the drone back and forth through the room.
“Six. There are six machine gun nests I can see built into that back wall at different elevations. All those other crenelations create cover for dozens of other possible shooting nests scattered between them. What’s worse is they're all aimed at that one entrance without a single scrap of cover. That’s one hell of a killing field.” O’Brien said with a hint of fear in his voice.
“Thank God we’ve caught them sleeping then. I don’t see any evidence of cameras, sensors, hell, anything in the EM report that would give us away....” Lance muttered as he inspected the reporting screen while he chewed on the new revelations.
“I can’t see anything either, Sir. The coast looks clear for us to move up. We’d have needed to soon anyway, the drone signal is steadily weakening with all this rock in between us.” O’Brien replied.
“Yeah, set it down on passive sentry mode near the entrance to get a wide angle view. Zoom in on that corridor back there. I bet that’s where Rah is being held.” Lance pointed to the corridor at the back of the room illuminated by the drone’s flashlight.
“Sounds good, we can pick up the drone on our way and send it on ahead once we’re safely past that gauntlet.” O’Brien replied with a nod.
Lance repacked his bag, stopped for a moment to look at the tac nuke embedded at the bottom, and then slung his pack over his shoulder.
“It’s time, let’s get moving. We’ve got an important mission to complete.” Lance said.
O’Brien nodded, slung his pack, and shouldered his rifle as he began to move towards their objective. Lance looked over his shoulder one last time before he racked the charging handle on his rifle to chamber a round. He followed along closely behind with his thumb resting on the selector and his head full of dark thoughts.
They moved forward carefully and quickly, making every effort to remain highly alert for any signs of life or of changes to their environment. It didn’t take long for them to reach the entrance to the large room they had seen before. The hairs stood on the back of Lance’s neck as he entered the killing field and took in the sight before him. O’Brien let out a small whistle off to his side before he knelt down to retrieve the drone.
“Christ, that camera really didn’t do this one any justice. Even as tall as I am now, Its… humbling standing before true giant-built architecture.” O’Brien said with a awed tone.
“Yeah, I know what you mean, Gunny. Standing before something like this? I feel like a fucking ant.” Lance admitted.
“Let’s get the hell out of here. This place gives me the creeps. I keep expecting a damn ambush.” O’Brien replied.
Together they hoofed to the carved archway at the back of the room under the gun emplacements. They paused for a moment to look at the symbols carved into the gilded capstone before they continued on into the pitch-black hallway.
“May the Eye of Rah take vengeance upon those who walk these halls with evil in their hearts… What a load of crap. It’s almost like they believe their own delusions and propaganda.” O’Brien said.
“Gods and aliens, and here we are apparently made in their image. It’s hard to believe any of this shit is real, even with the evidence before our own eyes. All I know is that I’m gonna have some serious questions when I finally meet God.” Lance replied.
“You believe in all that shit?” O’Brien asked as he set the drone controller down on his lap.
“By ‘all that shit’, you mean the Bible? Yeah, I do. I’m not gonna win any awards for world’s best Christian, but I do believe. I will admit some of this stuff gets to me sometimes, especially with all these revelations lately.” Lance admitted.
“Can’t really blame you, especially since the named god of the bible is probably one of them. Yah’Weh started out as a storm and lightning god in the pastoralist tribes of the ancient Arabian peninsula. I read a book once that said he was originally based on a derivation of the Canaanite pantheon, likely a competitor to Ba’al from further up north.”
“I don’t know about all that, man. Christian theology named all these earlier pantheons as demons and liars, fallen angels trying to corrupt the truth of God’s plan for mankind.” Lance said as he watched the drone’s camera feed as it flew out of sight around the corner ahead.
“Yeah, I know the story, the whole thing is hopelessly entangled with propaganda and misinformation. My dad was a pastor, an abusive asshole too, but that’s neither here nor there. I did a lot of reading once I moved out and began to deprogram myself. Tried a few religions out before I realized I don’t believe in any of it.” O'Brien replied.
“I had a similar phase, but I’ve had a few experiences since then that have made me think twice. I’ve survived enough impossible scenarios and had an improbable prayer or two answered along the way, but thing that really makes me believe was an encounter with the holy spirit. Let me tell you, feeling like every part of your body is alight with this tingling sensation of peace and love is pretty damn powerful.” Lance said.
“I’m not one to argue with a feeling, just… think. The Nephaeli’im sounds a hell of a lot like the Nephilim from the Old Testament. I get the no atheists in foxholes bit, even the prayers and experiences, but doesn’t that fact bother you?”
“No, it could easily be a coincidence. Plus, if God were one of them, then why in the hell are they so dead set against each other? Why claim to be the only one true God? Why give us a whole book that allows us to untangle their lies? Maybe we weren’t ready to know the whole truth. If a non-physical God were trying to wrestle control of the Earth from aliens posing as gods, I can see how there would be so much propaganda and misinformation being slung about, as you put it.” Lance replied with folded arms.
“That’s fair enough, but then why does the god of the bible allow for slavery? Why would he order mass genocide? Why does he seem to flip between jealous and vengeful in the old testament to a pure manifestation of love and truth in the new? Why are there so many older versions of bible legends in previous mythologies? Why is his history of the Earth and his description of our cosmology so laughably, provably false? Why does he claim to be named both El and Yahweh in different parts of the book, when both are older gods with their own legends and attestations?” O’Brien asked with increasing fervor. “I’m telling you, if he even exists, he’s one of them.”
“He met the people where they were culturally, and gradually worked to level them up culturally and spiritually over time. Slavery was a cultural norm back in the day, and these genocides were really just them killing both surviving giants and societies influenced by them that were corrupt and full of evil. If the Hebrews had left them alive, it would simply lead to their infiltration as a society and to their moral corruption. Just look at all the warnings against marrying outside of their culture, and what happened to Solomon in his later years...” Lance said with his mind racing to remember the justifications and arguments he had heard before.
“Still doesn’t make it right. Plus, those same words were used by the third Reich to justify killing the Jews. Hitler called them corrupt and full of evil too, didn’t make that true or right either. Why choose one special people group to reveal yourself to on one tiny piece of global real estate? How can you trust the words of a god that outright lied about the age of the Earth and how it was created? Have you even seen the illustrated recreations of the biblical cosmological model? Without the old testament, the new isn’t worth the paper its printed on. Christianity is a castle built on a foundation of sand, which is ironic, because Jesus warned against that very thing.” O’Brien said with a smug tone.
“That was a parable and it was about a very different topic. Much of the bible is exactly that, parable meant to teach a deeper meaning using the common themes and understandings of the time. Maybe it wasn’t important to reveal the secrets of science to a mostly illiterate world. If he started making claims that were too strange and unrecognizable it may have easily backfired and failed to spread. It may have started in one place, but the faith is worldwide now, doesn’t that count for something? I don’t have all the answers any more than you do. Frankly, we have the best chance of anyone in history to get clarity on this topic. This is pointless anyway, bickering here isn’t going to prove anything. I know what I believe, and what I have experienced, I also know what areas I still have doubts in. A huge part of this equation requires faith, and there are plenty of counter arguments that can be made to all of what you said.” Lance replied.
“Faith without evidence is a tool for charlatans and authoritarians to delude the trusting and foolish. Not… that I’m calling you… that. Sir.” O’Brien said.
“Sure, you’re not.” Lance said with a chuckle. “Look, maybe, just maybe, you could do with a bit of faith yourself. The truth is that none of us knows the truth, none of us ever really can, at least on this topic.” Lance replied as he gave the Gunnery Sergeant a pat on the shoulder.
“I think I’ll stick with logic and empirical truth, its not perfect, but it helps cut through the bullshit... Hmm… what have we got here?” O’Brien replied as his attention returned fully to the screen in front of them.
Their drone hovered at an intersection which split off in two directions.
“The drone is past the security choke point and by my estimate would be about halfway into the facility… One probably leads to Rah while the other probably leads to the reactor I’ll bet. Switch over to infrared, would you?”
“Sure, gimme a moment…” O’Brien said as he worked. “The left is colder than the right. I think you’re right about the corridor split. That thermal profile looks a lot like the wormhole power generator from the Duat.”
“Send the drone down the right path on auto mapping mode. We’ll investigate the left side ourselves.” Lance replied confidently.
“Hoo-Rah." O’Brien sent the commands before he stowed the case and rose to his feet. "Let’s get on with it then.”
Lance gripped the strap of the pack that held the nuke and followed behind.
"Let's go kill ourselves a false god." Lance said with a predatory smile.