"Ashes of Eden" P 2

For millions of years, blood has already shed in the Name of Heaven. Demons, Fallen Angels, Monsters, Nephilim, Pagan Gods, Renegade and Heretic Humans fell before the warriors of Heaven. Before the First Mobilization of the Protectorates, there were the Saints. Before the Martyrdom of the Saints, there were the Judges. Before the Birth of the Judges, there were the Heavenly Hosts. And before the Heavenly Hosts, there was the Archangel Michael, the first Malakhim created by the Lord to be the Guardian and Protector of his creations and the Hourglass Multiverse.

The Angelic Choir of Powers and Dominions were patterned after this great Angel in dedication to their faith and duty but not all Malakhim were perfect. The Fall of Eden was a testimony to this. The very thing that God created was also the reason for its destruction.

Tadiel still remembered it like it was yesterday. Koluel, Farthas, Kradiel, and even Barathiel too. They remembered that battle that had decided Humanity's fate at the mercy of the rebellious Angels that became Fallen, Gods and Demons. And they also remembered Eden, its glorious beauty and the plans of God for Humans with Eden. They were determined to rebuild Eden by gathering its Ashes and reconstructing it back to what the Seraphs called, "New Jerusalem", ushering the Judgement Day.

Sprinting across the desert, they saw streaks of plasma and ballistic bullets moving past to and fro. Sounds of roaring angelic voices and mortal men echoed back and forth as the latter tried its best to hold out against the angel-warriors.

"Brothers, we have arrived!" Koluel yelled as they opened fire at the direction of their enemies.

Simultaneously, the mortals fell with scorching skins and exposed burnt organs. The fight ended abruptly; the duo met heavy resistance from the city beyond them. And Tadiel expected to encounter many more.

"What did you see, brother?" Tadiel asked.

Lokuel raised his bracer before his face and pressed an icon on the screen mounted to it. His visor glowed green; bio-morphine was administered to his systems to regulate adrenaline and blood flow. "We have a problem. A cult dedicated to the Archdemon Azazel has sprouted in this city. In fact, there was a statue erected for him there."

"Then we destroy it," Tadiel said. "Maintaining stealth was already a failure. Frontal assault may be ill-advised, but do we have a choice?"

"None, sir. Any minute now, the entirety of Dead Silence Legionnaires will be upon this city to reinforce Azazel's cultists." Matharias interjected.

"Then we prepare for battle," Tadiel ordered as he pointed into the city gates.

They marched to the wooden palisade that obstructed the entrance. Armed men in dirty rags moved back and forth, taking up positions in watchtowers, bunkers, forts, and battlements. Barathiel gripped his weapon tight and whispered a prayer.

"Sancte Maria, Mater Dei, te rogamus, audi nos, ora pro nobis."

Koluel tossed a high ordnance magnetic explosive at the palisade. It exploded with a force similar to an eruption of a volcano, toppling the nearby watchtowers and leveling bunkers unfortunate to be near enough. Bodies flew in the air and fell on the ground like ragdolls. Covert Fireteam Hydranius entered the city compounds, rifles aimed at every direction, firing and cutting down enemy mortals.

Barathiel terminated a moving target before jumping to the next one. His finger squeezed the trigger; three plasma bursts were issued from the muzzle of his rifle and towards the direction of his target. The mortal flipped before hitting the ground. A bullet pinged behind him; Barathiel turned and opened fire at his assailant, plasma burning deep between the mortal's eyebrows. Detaching a magnetic grenade from his bandolier, he tossed it at a group of congregating mortals and watched it detonates. Flesh, bone spurs and organs were scattered in every direction as if a bomb had dropped and hit home.

"Forward! Do not stop until we find that statue!" Tadiel ordered.

More men flooded the streets, some were taking cover inside buildings, some were hiding behind wooden carts and enclosed one-man vehicles. Barathiel raised his Blast Rifle and peeked through the crosshairs. He spotted a mortal peeking through a window inside a rectangular house. He fired; plasma passed through and terminated the enemy. Two more dared to engage them. One of them were equipped with rocket launchers. Grinning, Barathiel fired at the warhead attached to the end of the weapon. It detonated, blowing the duo in a spectacular display of explosion.

Tadiel, Koluel, and Lokuel opened fire, Blast Rifles set on highest setting. They squeezed the trigger, blowing fist-sized holes on mortal bodies. Covert Fireteam Hydranius cut through enemy mortal ranks until the statue of Azazel was visible in the horizon.

Raised on a huge dais, the six horned Demons stared down on them like they were tiny ants. Its right hand was pointed proudly at the heavens and its other hand was pointed below. Each hand ended in sharp claws. Azazel's depiction in this statue bears six bare breasts with piercings. The statue sat on a cross sitting position. Its head wore a flaming crown; its six red marble eyes gave them an illusion that the Demon's gaze was following them. The appearance of its face was hound-like, grinned, revealing sharp canines.

Enemy cultists were crowding around the statue; half of the populace even conducted a ritual before the statue. This angered the Powers and the Dominion even more. Barathiel attached a scope above the railings of his Blast Rifle to take down mortals on the top of the statue.

"Brothers! The eyes were glowing!" Farthas pointed. The eyes were directed at Koluel.

When a streak of light bursts forth from the eyes, Farthas shoved Koluel to the ground and ended up getting hit. The Power bounced across the dust-covered earth, motionless. Just in time, the night began to settle.

"Brothers, initiate Attack Division Protocol 23-9!" Tadiel ordered.

They scattered, Barathiel moved to the right, taking down fledgling mortals until his power cell ran dry. He detached the cell, tossed it at a mortal, attached a new one, then opened fire at his stunned enemy. He rolled across the ground, whirling at the direction of the enemy he spotted and blasting him down. His sixth sense detected a mortal approaching, attempting to engage him in melee combat. He swung his hand backward, his armblade extended to view. He impaled the mortal in the chest, raised him, then kicked his body to the ground.

He continued moving until he was finally near the statue. Pillars of dust flew in the air in rapid successions as the statue continually tracked the Angels and fired, only to miss afterward.

"Brothers, High Explosive Ordnance, Grade A!" Tadiel ordered over the radio.

Kneeling a knee to the ground, Barathiel detached the underside launcher accessory from his utility belt and attached it below the barrel. He grabbed a Plutonium Dynamite from a compartment of his armor and loaded it inside the underside launcher.

"Tracking down weak spots," Barathiel spoke. A mortal leaped at him, distracting him. Barathiel grabbed the mortal by the neck and slammed him to the ground. His armored boot descended upon the mortal's chest, obliterating it. His left hand flew to the grip of his Ray Pistol. He picked it up in a blur and aimed to the side, firing at an enemy attempting to sneak up on him.

He picked up where he left off, aimed and saw a weak spot in the statue. He fired the trigger of the underside launcher; the ordnance shot from its round muzzle with a muffled plop! He heard the same sounds from his radio.

"Move away, brothers!" Tadiel ordered again.

Barathiel was already on the move even before Tadiel issued the order. Death beams from the statue's marble eyes followed him. Its second shot will certainly won't miss.

As soon as he heard the whining of its ocular weaponry, Barathiel jumped to the side, crushing a mortal beneath him. He braced for impact but....none. He heard, however, a large explosion that saw the destruction of the statue.

The fighting has stopped, the men threw their arms down, knowing that they will not win against the Powers and the Dominion of Heaven. They fell to their knees, before the Angels.

"Terminate them. The wages of sins are death." Tadiel ordered before looking away. He glanced at the lifeless body of Farthas to the side.

The city lit up in dazzling light, accompanied by the sound of screaming as if a group of people was raving themselves to death. When the glow stopped, the surviving citizenry of the city was all dead.

And Tadiel found what they were looking for.

Approaching the collapsed head of Azazel's statue, he noticed that there was a seventh eye located on the forehead. It was small enough for him to miss and its color was that of an aquamarine. Inside was a jar containing golden ashes, twinkling bright. Tadiel cocks back and crushed the eye, letting the indestructible jar to fall from the ground. The Dominion bent and retrieved it from the ground.

"Fireteam Hydranius, we have what we're looking for. Let's move to the High Grounds for exfiltration."

"I'm afraid that was quite impossible," Kradiel said as he pointed at the direction of green glowing lights with loud party sound.

Tadiel remained stoic. "Did our brothers defeated them?"

"I don't think so," Barathiel replied. "But their numbers were visibly lessened."

"A defeat is still a defeat. One detachment of Legion was already a heavy blow against us." Tadiel said. "But let them come, we shall show them the might of our Lord."