PROMPT: Armageddon happens and the forces of Heaven and Hell come to Earth for the final battle... only to have vastly underestimated the technological advancements of mankind.
“All right, Corporal, walk me through it, from the beginning.” The big man spun a chair around and sat in it backwards, facing a younger man doing his best to sit at attention.
The younger man was obviously exhausted, and streaked with grime from head to foot. He was still in battle dress, although he’d divested himself of his armor and helmet; his rifle leaned against his chair.
“Sir, as I told Sergeant Gurney, we were patrolling south of the Kibbutz, just near the, the hill...”
“The archaeological site.”
“Yes sir. We were in three vehicles, myself, Privates Stanley and Kurtz, and Specialist Chin in the lead, Corporal...”
“Spare me the roster, Corporal, just get on with the...” The big man waved his hand.
“Yes sir. We’d just made the turn at Highway 66, and were passing the reservoirs, when there was this... sound, like... I don’t know, sir, it wasn’t like anything I ever heard except maybe in a video game, like... thunder, kind of, but everywhere, all at once, you know? And there was this voice, like a loudspeaker but... but not coming from anywhere, sir, just, all around?”
“We all heard it, Corporal.”
“Really, sir? Everyone?”
“I’m told that it might have been heard by everyone in the entire world.”
The young man blinked, his brow furrowing. “But... but, sir...”
The big man waved impatiently. “You’ll be able to read the news sites in a bit. For now, just tell me what happened.”
“Well, sir, we came out from between the two reservoirs, and that voice started talking in, in some kind of Haji...”
“Hebrew.” A woman sitting off to one side, out of the Corporal’s line of sight, spoke for the first time. “We’re told it was an extremely archaic version of Hebrew...”
The big man glared her into silence, then turned back to the young man in the chair.
“And then what?”
“Well, sir, then the... the open ground past the reservoir was just full.”
“Full. Full of...?”
“Men, sir. Thousands of them. In some kind of armor, and carrying spears...”
“When you say the plain was ‘just full’, you mean...”
“I mean, one second it was just open ground, and the next second it was full of people, sir, lined up like on parade.”
“Was there a flash of light? A... a sound? A...” The big man looked at the woman, as though appealing for help, and then back at the Corporal.
“No, sir, just... that voice, and then... all those men, standing in rows.”
“Carrying spears.”
“Yes sir.”
“Were they... did you recognize the... the uniforms, the symbols or anything?”
“No sir, they were... it looked like, I don’t know, gold...”
“Gold armor?”
“I... yes sir.”
The woman spoke up again. “Gold, or bronze?”
The big man didn’t glare at her, just looked at the Corporal.
“It... it could have been bronze, I guess.”
“Okay, son, what happened next?”
“Well, they charged us, sir.”
“Charged you.”
“Yes, sir. All at once, they all yelled something, and started running toward the MRAPs...”
“Yelled something. I guess you didn’t hear what it was?”
“It wasn’t in English, sir. I’m not sure it was a word, just a... a holler, sir.”
“A holler.”
“Yes sir. They hollered and then ran toward the MRAPs. When they got close, the first bunch of them threw their spears...”
“Threw them.”
“Yes sir.”
“You let them get close enough to throw spears at you?”
“Sir, they started out close enough to throw spears at us, they just appeared, you know? Just... there. So they threw the spears... it was a lot of spears, sir. Hundreds of them. They sort of... all bounced off the armor, but a lot of them stuck in, like in the, the slots between the hood and the fenders? And it seemed like... well, from inside, it sort of seemed like they were sticking in the vehicle, like they were penetrating the armor...”
“And killed Private Phang.”
“Yes, sir. Private Phang was in the turret on the second vehicle, one of the spears penetrated between the guard plates and...”
“At this time, you were in communication with Magedo Base, and with the other elements in the patrol.”
“I... yes sir. I was requesting instructions, when they charged, and then...”
“And then they were on you, yes.”
“I ordered the trailing vehicles to reverse, intending to proceed back up the road and get back inside the perimeter. However, the flanking elements of the... the opposing force had already got around us, and were blocking the road. I... it seemed to me that trying to run down that many men wasn’t going to work, sir, so I ordered a halt, requested re-enforcements, and attempted to establish a perimeter around the vehicles train.”
“How did you attempt to establish this perimeter, Corporal?”
“I... I ordered gunners into the turrets, and I used the loudspeakers to instruct the... the opposing force not to approach or throw any more spears. Then we fired warning bursts...”
“At this point, you were already overrun, weren’t you?”
“Sir, they hadn’t approached closer than about ten yards. Those behind us had initially given way, before establishing a, a line across the road, and the reverse movement had created space in front of us, so I wanted to keep the space open while we had it, before the vehicles were swarmed.”
“This line across the road,” said the woman. “This was... several men deep, the first ranks holding shields, the second and third ranks wielding spears between the gaps in the shield walls?”
“Ah... ma’am, almost, the, the shields were short enough that... the first rank, the shields were overlapping, sort of, and the spears went over the tops of them.”
“Over the tops.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Carry on, son.” The big man exchanged a look with the woman.
“Sir, at this point the opposing force failed to respect the perimeter we were attempting to establish...”
“They rushed you.”
“Yes sir. So I gave the order to open fire.”
“And all three vehicles opened fire.”
“Yes sir. All three gunners opened up, swiveling to cover all points, and re-established the perimeter...”
“How long were you firing on the spearmen?”
“The... Sir, it didn’t take long before the... the bodies of the opposing force... created a barrier around the vehicles...” The corporal was choking up. “Sir, I never imagined that they’d just... keep coming, like that. They just kept... scrambling up over the bodies, and... and then we shot them...”
The big man pursed his lips.
“I don’t know how long, exactly, sir, it seemed like forever, but... Private Simon, who had replaced Phang on the turret in the second vehicle, was reporting low on ammo, and then the, the Apaches showed up...”
“These were the standby support helicopters...”
“Yes, sir, and they started firing into the, the opposing force, and... and, sir, they all looked up at the Apaches, and it was like they all decided they couldn’t do anything about them and just turned around and... and kept coming at us, sir.
“And then, just like that, it was all over. We... we killed all of them, sir, every last one. The last guy just climbed over the bodies between him and us and came right at, at Simon, sir, and Simon just, plugged him, and then... it was just over, sir, everybody outside the vehicles was dead.”
“Then what, Corporal?”
“Then... sir, I was on the radio, because I couldn’t figure out how to get out from behind... the bodies were piled higher than the MRAPs, sir, on all sides, and I couldn’t work out how we were going to be able to get out, and... and, sir, the... the bodies were all around, and the blood, the blood was pooling around the tires, sir, it was... it was up to the hubcaps, sir.
“And then... and then, the voice spoke again, the... all around us, it said something... something else... and then...”
The corporal took a deep breath before continuing.
“And then they all just vanished, all those bodies, just... gone.”
“Gone.”
“Yes, sir, just... gone. The blood... there was still blood spatter everywhere, sir, but... when the bodies vanished, the blood pool that had been inside, around the... the tires, it... splashed out, just... sploosh...”
The big man pursed his lips again, looking at the young man analytically. The blood was clearly something he was going to be talking to a therapist about.
“And then you drove back to base.”
“Yes sir.”
The big man sighed, ran his hand over his head. “All right, Corporal, we’ll probably have more questions for you later, but for now, you’re dismissed.”
“Thank you, sir.” The young man stood and executed a quick salute; the big man returned it. The woman stayed seated.
“Sir...” The young corporal stayed at attention.
“Yes, Corporal?”
“Sir, is it true that... that, ah, that town, Tel Megido, the, the archaeological... is it true that that’s Armageddon, sir?”
The big man looked over at the woman.
She shrugged. “Ar Magiddo, the Hill of Gathering... yes, this is the spot mentioned in Revelations.”
The Corporal licked his lips, looked back and forth between the big man and the woman. “Sir, ma’am... if, ah, if this is Armageddon... what side are we on?”
The big man and the woman exchanged looks again.
“It’s not clear yet,” said the woman. “We’re trying to figure it out.”
“All right, Corporal, walk me through it, from the beginning.” The big man spun a chair around and sat in it backwards, facing a younger man doing his best to sit at attention.
The younger man was obviously exhausted, and streaked with grime from head to foot. He was still in battle dress, although he’d divested himself of his armor and helmet; his rifle leaned against his chair.
“Sir, as I told Sergeant Gurney, we were patrolling south of the Kibbutz, just near the, the hill...”
“The archaeological site.”
“Yes sir. We were in three vehicles, myself, Privates Stanley and Kurtz, and Specialist Chin in the lead, Corporal...”
“Spare me the roster, Corporal, just get on with the...” The big man waved his hand.
“Yes sir. We’d just made the turn at Highway 66, and were passing the reservoirs, when there was this... sound, like... I don’t know, sir, it wasn’t like anything I ever heard except maybe in a video game, like... thunder, kind of, but everywhere, all at once, you know? And there was this voice, like a loudspeaker but... but not coming from anywhere, sir, just, all around?”
“We all heard it, Corporal.”
“Really, sir? Everyone?”
“I’m told that it might have been heard by everyone in the entire world.”
The young man blinked, his brow furrowing. “But... but, sir...”
The big man waved impatiently. “You’ll be able to read the news sites in a bit. For now, just tell me what happened.”
“Well, sir, we came out from between the two reservoirs, and that voice started talking in, in some kind of Haji...”
“Hebrew.” A woman sitting off to one side, out of the Corporal’s line of sight, spoke for the first time. “We’re told it was an extremely archaic version of Hebrew...”
The big man glared her into silence, then turned back to the young man in the chair.
“And then what?”
“Well, sir, then the... the open ground past the reservoir was just full.”
“Full. Full of...?”
“Men, sir. Thousands of them. In some kind of armor, and carrying spears...”
“When you say the plain was ‘just full’, you mean...”
“I mean, one second it was just open ground, and the next second it was full of people, sir, lined up like on parade.”
“Was there a flash of light? A... a sound? A...” The big man looked at the woman, as though appealing for help, and then back at the Corporal.
“No, sir, just... that voice, and then... all those men, standing in rows.”
“Carrying spears.”
“Yes sir.”
“Were they... did you recognize the... the uniforms, the symbols or anything?”
“No sir, they were... it looked like, I don’t know, gold...”
“Gold armor?”
“I... yes sir.”
The woman spoke up again. “Gold, or bronze?”
The big man didn’t glare at her, just looked at the Corporal.
“It... it could have been bronze, I guess.”
“Okay, son, what happened next?”
“Well, they charged us, sir.”
“Charged you.”
“Yes, sir. All at once, they all yelled something, and started running toward the MRAPs...”
“Yelled something. I guess you didn’t hear what it was?”
“It wasn’t in English, sir. I’m not sure it was a word, just a... a holler, sir.”
“A holler.”
“Yes sir. They hollered and then ran toward the MRAPs. When they got close, the first bunch of them threw their spears...”
“Threw them.”
“Yes sir.”
“You let them get close enough to throw spears at you?”
“Sir, they started out close enough to throw spears at us, they just appeared, you know? Just... there. So they threw the spears... it was a lot of spears, sir. Hundreds of them. They sort of... all bounced off the armor, but a lot of them stuck in, like in the, the slots between the hood and the fenders? And it seemed like... well, from inside, it sort of seemed like they were sticking in the vehicle, like they were penetrating the armor...”
“And killed Private Phang.”
“Yes, sir. Private Phang was in the turret on the second vehicle, one of the spears penetrated between the guard plates and...”
“At this time, you were in communication with Magedo Base, and with the other elements in the patrol.”
“I... yes sir. I was requesting instructions, when they charged, and then...”
“And then they were on you, yes.”
“I ordered the trailing vehicles to reverse, intending to proceed back up the road and get back inside the perimeter. However, the flanking elements of the... the opposing force had already got around us, and were blocking the road. I... it seemed to me that trying to run down that many men wasn’t going to work, sir, so I ordered a halt, requested re-enforcements, and attempted to establish a perimeter around the vehicles train.”
“How did you attempt to establish this perimeter, Corporal?”
“I... I ordered gunners into the turrets, and I used the loudspeakers to instruct the... the opposing force not to approach or throw any more spears. Then we fired warning bursts...”
“At this point, you were already overrun, weren’t you?”
“Sir, they hadn’t approached closer than about ten yards. Those behind us had initially given way, before establishing a, a line across the road, and the reverse movement had created space in front of us, so I wanted to keep the space open while we had it, before the vehicles were swarmed.”
“This line across the road,” said the woman. “This was... several men deep, the first ranks holding shields, the second and third ranks wielding spears between the gaps in the shield walls?”
“Ah... ma’am, almost, the, the shields were short enough that... the first rank, the shields were overlapping, sort of, and the spears went over the tops of them.”
“Over the tops.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Carry on, son.” The big man exchanged a look with the woman.
“Sir, at this point the opposing force failed to respect the perimeter we were attempting to establish...”
“They rushed you.”
“Yes sir. So I gave the order to open fire.”
“And all three vehicles opened fire.”
“Yes sir. All three gunners opened up, swiveling to cover all points, and re-established the perimeter...”
“How long were you firing on the spearmen?”
“The... Sir, it didn’t take long before the... the bodies of the opposing force... created a barrier around the vehicles...” The corporal was choking up. “Sir, I never imagined that they’d just... keep coming, like that. They just kept... scrambling up over the bodies, and... and then we shot them...”
The big man pursed his lips.
“I don’t know how long, exactly, sir, it seemed like forever, but... Private Simon, who had replaced Phang on the turret in the second vehicle, was reporting low on ammo, and then the, the Apaches showed up...”
“These were the standby support helicopters...”
“Yes, sir, and they started firing into the, the opposing force, and... and, sir, they all looked up at the Apaches, and it was like they all decided they couldn’t do anything about them and just turned around and... and kept coming at us, sir.
“And then, just like that, it was all over. We... we killed all of them, sir, every last one. The last guy just climbed over the bodies between him and us and came right at, at Simon, sir, and Simon just, plugged him, and then... it was just over, sir, everybody outside the vehicles was dead.”
“Then what, Corporal?”
“Then... sir, I was on the radio, because I couldn’t figure out how to get out from behind... the bodies were piled higher than the MRAPs, sir, on all sides, and I couldn’t work out how we were going to be able to get out, and... and, sir, the... the bodies were all around, and the blood, the blood was pooling around the tires, sir, it was... it was up to the hubcaps, sir.
“And then... and then, the voice spoke again, the... all around us, it said something... something else... and then...”
The corporal took a deep breath before continuing.
“And then they all just vanished, all those bodies, just... gone.”
“Gone.”
“Yes, sir, just... gone. The blood... there was still blood spatter everywhere, sir, but... when the bodies vanished, the blood pool that had been inside, around the... the tires, it... splashed out, just... sploosh...”
The big man pursed his lips again, looking at the young man analytically. The blood was clearly something he was going to be talking to a therapist about.
“And then you drove back to base.”
“Yes sir.”
The big man sighed, ran his hand over his head. “All right, Corporal, we’ll probably have more questions for you later, but for now, you’re dismissed.”
“Thank you, sir.” The young man stood and executed a quick salute; the big man returned it. The woman stayed seated.
“Sir...” The young corporal stayed at attention.
“Yes, Corporal?”
“Sir, is it true that... that, ah, that town, Tel Megido, the, the archaeological... is it true that that’s Armageddon, sir?”
The big man looked over at the woman.
She shrugged. “Ar Magiddo, the Hill of Gathering... yes, this is the spot mentioned in Revelations.”
The Corporal licked his lips, looked back and forth between the big man and the woman. “Sir, ma’am... if, ah, if this is Armageddon... what side are we on?”
The big man and the woman exchanged looks again.
“It’s not clear yet,” said the woman. “We’re trying to figure it out.”
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