Daybreak promised to be peaceful, but with the morning light, the distance looked eerie. Nothing you could define at first, but then a cloud of dust appeared on the horizon. First came the Nephilim and minions ripping up the earth as they careened forward in off-roaders and armored vehicles. Fueled by drink, methamphetamine and bravado, they raced towards the man-made valley Ethan had chosen for a battle site, which later became known as Death’s Door. Behind them, were more Nephilim and minions on foot, marching in what can only be described as a mob formation.
There was no formation. Just a drunken, angry gang surging forward. The drugs kept their energy and courage up. Rage moved them forward. The least threatening to Ethan, the Nephilim and minions alone numbered over one hundred thousand.
Behind the Nephilim and minions, came the Demons. They too lacked formation. Some flew overhead, but most were on the ground. Now fully matured into animal form, their lizard brains were so primal, the slightest provocation caused them to lash out at each. They had become unthinking killers. With noses in the air, their eyes and tongues darted from side to side, always searching for prey. The slightest smell of blood, even their own, set them off. Caused by the gnawing and gnashing of their jagged crooked fangs, a venomous drool of saliva and blood dripped from their lips. This smell alone often triggered their instinct to kill. It was not uncommon for them to turn on one of their own, tearing it apart and swallowing chunks of its flesh and bones with lizard-like gulps.
There was no control over the minions, Nephilim and Demons. They were the chaos evil brings. The Dark Angels were in the rear. Their numbers had increased significantly. All the Angels who had fallen to earth were there. Their bodies were an expression of their lost souls. Huge bipedal lizards favoring the lizard mind, their appearance from a distance mirrored a large human, although their arms were longer. This allowed them to move quickly over land and provided additional wingspan when they spread out their bat-like wings and took flight. They had lost the ability to leap. They were larger and thicker than a man, and a knobby lizard leather protected their entire body with a coat of armor.
Besides impressive fighting bodies, what made the Dark Angels formidable, was they were aware. They could reason and plan, just like a human. As was their nature, their reason was motivated by vicious cunning, which served well in battle.
The Dark Angels were also aware of what fate awaited them if they lost the battle. They had already fallen from great heights. Heavenly realms were lost to them, but the memory was not. To be condemned to the confines of earth with their lizard bodies and instincts was punishment in itself, but they knew there was more to lose. An eternity where every moment would make them wish they could explode into nothingness awaited them if they lost.
They had everything to lose. As the years progressed on earth, their thinking turned to viscous cunning. They would use anything to defeat the enemy, including brute force, trickery, and deception. As with the Demons, and Ethan and Michael for that matter, they could not be killed in the traditional sense, but they were material beings here on earth. Anything material can be broken down to the particle and as the Demons found out when they fought the Sheriff Bobs, that can be a death in itself.
If they lost, what the Dark Angels faced was something different than death. It was something that hadn’t ever happened yet. It had only been rumored in higher circles, but the Dark Angels had heard the rumors. In the end, when all had been settled, this world and all worlds would be ruled by one. Those outside the One would be placed in a singular wave state, separate from all others and alone for eternity. They would be amongst their own, but unable to connect. This was hell.
Ethan was concerned about just how killed he could get in this quest. He was subject to quest rules. If you die in a quest, he was told you die in the New World. He was becoming less sure what that meant. Transcended humans don’t die. He knew that. Would he lose his physical body and physical connection with Leita? Something would change. A significant interruption would alter his reality. Like everyone else in this battle, he had a lot to lose too.
That lay heavy on his mind. You might wonder how someone enlightened and all knowing might end up so confused. The problem is, when you become Enlightened, you’re not as Enlightened as you might think, particularly on the space/time continuum. The reason for maintaining the continuum is to experience more. That’s what keeps us from being bored as we travel through eternity.
There’s always a duality. When you pass into the Enlightened Realm, you enter with the same dumbass thoughts and opinions you have here in what becomes a discarded World. That’s your uniqueness. Your perspective. Long story short; you’re Enlightened and you’re not. Ethan brought this degree of Enlightenment to the material World. The material World can hold great influence over you, he was losing his New World surety. He wasn’t as confident about his abilities now as he had been when he first arrived.
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He was able to leap and apply the laws of entanglement, but that was mostly physics really; once learned, easily replicated. They did it all the time in the New World. It was like riding a bike. He hadn’t been shot for some time, and he was no longer sure how easily a bullet would pass through him. He was feeling more physically grounded than he had at the beginning. If he stubbed his toe, he noticed.
Beyond this, Ethan wasn’t really sure what his capabilities were. What about standing up to the Dragon? He didn’t know. He guessed he’d find out if that day came.
The thing about war is, you get lost in it, especially when you apply Retrocausality Time to it. You leap into the future and have a look at how the current trajectory turned out, come back and start off with a number of initiatives you know will take you to victory, and then in the middle of it all, you get lost in the details and unexpected . You have to trust your initial judgment will see you through to the end.
Ethan had to trust in his plan. A big part of it included AI. He knew it would be the World’s and his Salvation the moment Tara showed up as Alicia again. It was impossible for her not to increase the potential of this world, and as Alicia, she would do it through AI. She was here to bring Transcendence. The Transcendence of an entire world, or one person was indistinguishable to her. Both needed it.
Everyone knew, this world was not at a place of Enlightenment. Not now. It had passed a number of tipping points, which would make it next to impossible for the people of earth to return to the place of potential. Tara would build AI to take people back to the potential of Enlightenment. Ethan knew that. He had put all his money on that one thing.
First, you could feel them, even before you could make out the faces. Along with all the dust, the earth shook from such a large body in motion. Out of the oncoming storm appeared hundreds of thousands of armed fighters. Ethan, Michael, Tasha and the Warriors watched from the abandoned mine, on a peak built up from the displaced earth. When the gang got close enough to identify individual members, the end was still not in sight. In fact the breadth of the gang was no longer recognizable either.
It was not Ethan who greeted the gang. It was the Sheriff Bobs. The Sheriff Bobs who had asked for three weeks to prepare and given a little over one. They were the ones to draw the line in the sand. 10,000 of them lined up between Ethan and the gang. Even though the number of Sheriff Bobs was nothing in comparison, the gang came to a standstill when it reached them.
If the minions and Nephilim had been greeted by humans or even Ethan and his crew, a war would have broken out immediately. The robots confused them and they were not at all sure how to proceed. Still, the calm before the storm is momentary, and the slightest provocation, even the stupid grin on the Sheriff Bob’s would be enough to set one and then all of them.
It was the stupid look on the Sheriff Bob's faces that set things off. A crazed minion took it personal, and unable to contain himself, broke through the line and attacked one of the Sheriff Bobs.
That’s what started the war. With one, the rest of the minions and Nephilim attacked like they were a single unit. The Sheriff Bobs engaged, and even though their numbers were dwarfed, every single one of the 150,000 minions and Nephilim were dead within five minutes. Not a single shot had been fired. It was all close combat. Synchronized close combat.
As the Sheriff Bobs thinned out the minions and Nephilim, they came into view of the Demons, the gang’s second line of defense. Most of them took flight and began to swarm. The others mistook the Sheriff Bob’s as simple prey and attacked. Having taken flight, the Demons exposed the Sheriff Bobs to the Dark Angels bringing up the rear. Enraged at their offspring, the Nephilim, having been killed by the Sheriff Bobs, they leapt into the battle.
The Dark Angels were faster, smarter and better built for any form of combat. In addition to their physicality, they were evil incarnate and there’s a lot of power embodied in evil. The Sheriff Bobs were not nearly as effective against them. Many of Sheriff Bobs were left completely disabled due to the extreme force from a blow received from a Dark Angel.
When the Sheriff Bob’s were becoming more manageable in size, Wrath appeared. He was almost dismissive towards the Sheriff Bobs as he flung one after the other aside, tearing them apart in the process. He was out front, looking for a real challenge.
There he was. Wrath the Dark Angel. Michael looked at Ethan to take his cue. Ethan didn’t appear inclined to do anything. This fueled the hunger in Michael’s soul. A response was needed now. The sight of Wrath enraged him. The arrogance of the beast. Standing out in the open, exposing himself to any challenger. Did he not know who was waiting for him?
Michael could not turn from such a blatant challenge. With another sideways glance at Ethan, and then not able to take it anymore, he struck the heel of his axe to a boulder, sending sparks into the sky. Even Wrath took notice of this, and before he knew it, Michael was standing in front of him, accepting the challenge.
Ethan looked at Tasha.
She shrugged, like maybe she was thinking about doing the same thing.