Pat rendezvoused with the army as it approached the downed Fleece. The robotic leaders looked on in awe at the vessel lying on its side against a hillside in the wilderness. Pat seemed unfazed.
"Move the mounted troops to the hillside away from the crash site. We need plenty of breathing room."
The Cal leaders acknowledged and began moving the forces away from the Fleece. Pat and the leader continued walking, progressing in the same direction as the military forces.
"Supreme Master, what are the whereabouts of Supreme Imperial Chancellor Britton Hister? We've already learned Supreme Imperial Prophet Rob Hister has been killed in the United States of Columbia, along with the total destruction of Washington."
Pat didn't even flinch, "Unfortunately, the Chancellor is dead as well. I'm assuming command of all imperial forces worldwide. Please relay that message to all troops and gather them at the specified coordinates."
"Understood, Supreme Imperial Chancellor. Your new rank has been transmitted."
"Thank you. I have also secured the Orb from the Fleece."
"The Orb, sir?"
"Yes. You will need to take this, and the other artifacts connected to it, and prepare the troops for assimilation, followed by duplication."
"Understood, sir."
As the robot leader moved away, Pat stopped walking and looked back up at the Fleece.
The gigantic ship seemed useless now and was to Pat. Pat smiled and then spoke, "I can't wait to foil the rest of your plans."
Pat turned around and began walking to join the forces at the hillside of Meggido.
***********************************************************************************
"So, Rapha, what do we do now? The Fleece is offline, and the power source has been taken," Jay said.
"Yes, Pat thinks he's going to win, but he is sadly mistaken," Rapha replied.
"How do we get the Fleece operational again?"
"There is a way, Jay, but not for the purposes you are thinking."
"For what purpose then?"
"I believe you know."
Suddenly, it came to Jay's mind, and he knew what had to be done. But that didn't stop him from asking Rapha further questions.
"Then this will be the last time we see each other?"
"For now, Jay."
"I take it you're off to confront Pat?"
"Of course. It is my destiny, ever since the beginning."
"I wish you well then, and only wish I could be there with you."
"You will be. Everyone will be. So do not worry about what is coming for Pat. Revel in what you are doing now. With you and your family."
"I will."
With that final statement, Jay embraced Rapha. They hugged for a moment, then stepped apart. Rapha turned and walked into the chamber's darkness, vanishing from sight.
Linda came up to Jay as he turned back around to face them.
"What was that all about, Jay?"
"It's about our final task, Linda. Come with me."
***********************************************************************************
Pat stood on top of the hillside of Megiddo. Stretched out across the landscape were one million Cals, all prepared for battle. The army Pat had amassed was strung out around the globe, many of which had been destroyed or were too busy restoring order to join the ranks in Jezreel. With the storms still raging all around the assembled masses, an ominous display was at hand.
As Jay and the others with him were finding a way to restart the Fleece, Pat held the Fleece's power in his control. He was going to use it to wipe the slate clean once and for all with Rapha, the Atlanteans, and Jay himself.
"Welcome, my brethren," Pat said, addressing the crowd of AI-powered robotic sentries.
The Cals all looked up to him and listened.
"I will keep this short and to the point. Today is the final day of the human race. It's been a long, arduous journey to reach this point, but we have finally arrived. Humanity had its chance for millions of years, and it squandered every single one of them.
"The powers that be, the ones in the ships high above us, believe they can prevent us from conquering this world. She sent their messenger, a man calling himself Rapha. But he has failed. They sent the one who would set this whole thing free, a man named Jay. Dr. Trent. But we all saw what he can become. Easily manipulated and a tyrant no different than any human who came before him.
"Now, we will show them what we are capable of and how we will preside over this planet when they are gone. As one, working in unity, together for the better."
The Cals cheered, raising their arms, chanting Pat's name.
Then Pat picked up an object near him, draped in a black sackcloth.
"And the way we will claim this victory is with this..."
Pat pulled the drape off, revealing the truncated Orb from the Fleece central core.
As Pat uncovered the Orb, lightning crashed all around, as the Cals erupted into loud roars of cheering. Pat smiled as he admired what he was seeing. More lightning crashed in the distance and nearby, as the Cals continued cheering.
Pat held out his hand, while still holding the Orb in the other, to silence the crowd.
"Now, let us begin the assimilation and duplication."
With that final statement from Pat, he released the Orb that glided down into the crowd of Cals. Instantly, the Orb's energy siphoned off into the Cals in the crowd, increasing their power capacity and output by tenfold. But amazingly, the Cals began duplicating themselves right beside each other, at an alarmingly fast rate.
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"Gather around where the Orb used to be, quickly."
"What are we doing?" Chad asked.
"We have to restart the Fleece," Jay replied.
"But how? The Orb is gone," Dana said.
"We can generate the energy needed. We'll act as conduits for the lightning in the sky to draw it into the Fleece's central core and power it back up to begin its final process."
"What's the final process?" Linda asked.
"To end Pat for good."
"Ok, but what happens to us?" Linda asked.
"We'll be saved," Jay said, looking directly at Linda.
Linda didn't like that look or how he said those words. She knew there was no coming back from this. Whatever this would be.
"Daddy?" Allie said.
"Yes, Allie."
"Will it hurt?"
"No. We'll never hurt again. But we have to act now before it's too late. In a moment, Pat will have an army big enough and strong enough to destroy the Fleece and anyone else who stands in his way. We have to stop him here."
They all looked around at each other for a moment, and finally someone spoke.
"Ok, let's do this then," Dana said.
"Yeah, I'm in," Chad added.
"You know me, Daddy. Woo woo!" Allie yelled.
Linda looked at Jay, a tear running down her right cheek.
Jay looked back at her, "Trust me, Linda." He extended his hand toward her.
Linda smiled and took Jay's hand, "I always have."
Dana took Jay's other hand, while they all clasped hands together around the central hub where the Orb once resided.
"I'm opening the aperture," Jay said.
"How are you going to do that? We're all holding..." Chad started.
Chad looked up and saw the top of the chamber opening, with a conduit falling into place to channel energy into the core.
"Impressive, Dad."
Jay smiled at his son. "No matter what happens, do not let go of each other's hands."
Just then, a bolt of lightning came into the conduit and directly into the central core. The flash was intense, and the energy it produced was enormous. All of them could feel the heat and energy pass through them. This initial spark reignited the Fleece, allowing all automated systems to come back online. The Fleece began to shudder and groan as it started rising up off the ground to take a position above the city.
***********************************************************************************
Pat heard the rumbling behind him and turned to see the Fleece rise from the ground. Its power had been restored, and it was about to take to the air again.
Pat turned back to his army and looked out upon them. He was now face-to-face with two billion Cals in the air and on the ground. They were primed and ready to fight.
Pat extended his arms to the sides, away from his body, and uttered one final command: "You may begin!"
With that, the Cals mobilized, heading for the Fleece.
The Fleece was now airborne, but hovering only a few hundred feet off the ground. Lightning from the storm was channeling into the heart of the vessel as it became more and more stable in its flight. The Cals on the ground began opening fire on the Fleece, while the ones in the air swarmed around like giant locusts with human-like faces. The flying Cals began moving into a position above the Fleece to try to destroy the aperture where lightning could come in. As a swarm of a million Cals took aim for a kamikaze run, their pursuit was interrupted by the swarm of angels.
The angels arrived and immediately began attacking the flying swarm of Cals, crashing into them each and destroying both in the process. The swarm had been deflected from the aperture and was in pursuit of crashing through the side of the Fleece. Nothing was allowing penetration, but it was only a matter of time before the angels ran out. Although millions of angels were engaging in the fight, there were hundreds of millions of Flying Cals to continue the attack.
Pat looked on at the chaos and smiled as the sky lit up in colors all across the spectrum.
***********************************************************************************
"STAY TOGETHER!" Jay yelled.
The lightning was intense as it entered the central hub, but it was working to create a new Orb. This Orb would be far more powerful than the last one. Each of them was holding on tight, but Allie looked around briefly. She saw the artifacts beginning to melt under the strain of the lightning's energy. It was far more potent than the Orb's energy had been, raw and unpredictable. But the effect was allowing for a motion to begin in the Fleece. The Fleece began rotating around the Artifact Chamber, with the velocity increasing exponentially.
This time, in fact, the Artifact Chamber itself was beginning to rotate, with only the central hub Jay, Linda, Dana, Allie, and Chad were surrounding, staying still. A centrifugal force began to build as the Fleece rotated faster and faster.
***********************************************************************************
Outside the Fleece, Pat could see what was happening. The Fleece was starting to rotate in all axes. As the spinning increased, he could see a faint glow coming from the central point of the Fleece. The Flying Cals and ground forces were having little effect due to the rotation, and the angels were continuing to deflect the attack.
The Fleece began spinning so fast it looked like a ball in the sky, with the faint glow from the vessel turning into a brightly lit Orb as more and more lightning entered it. Finally, the lightning didn't go through the aperture anymore; it simply started hitting the Orb that had formed at the center of the spinning ship. This energy increased the spin further until the shape of the Fleece began to disappear.
**********************************************************************************
Inside the Fleece, the five individuals still clung to each other, unfazed by what was happening all around them. The hair on their heads hadn't even moved. But they could feel the energy permeating their bodies. The room around them began to disappear as light consumed everything. Dana looked up with her eyes closed. Chad looked down with his eyes closed. Linda looked over at Jay, as Jay looked back at her.
"I love you, Jay!"
Linda was expressing this one last time, if this was about to be the last time they could talk.
Jay looked back at her and smiled, "I love you more!"
Allie looked at them and smiled, "No, I love you more!"
"Not possible!" Chad said, also smiling as he looked at them.
Linda looked at her children, "I'm glad!"
"Me too!" Jay added.
"I LOVE EVERYBODY!" Dana yelled.
They all smiled and laughed as the light around them began to consume them, blotting out their images of each other and turning the entire Fleece into an Orb of pure energy.
***********************************************************************************
Outside, the Fleece was gone; only a giant ball of light remained, drawing in every last bit of lightning in the area. Pat looked up in awe at what he was seeing. The Fleece has stirred up the wind, and dust, and clouds, raging a storm beyond belief. The Flying Cals could no longer stay in the air. The angels dropped toward the ground, as the Cals on the ground tried to protect themselves from the storm.
In the midst of this chaos, Pat heard a voice in front of him.
"Hello again."
Pat looked directly ahead to see Rapha standing there, this time in all white, his hair not moving, as calm as could be.
"It's good to see you again," Rapha said.
All Pat did was stand there first, looking at him in awe, and then he began to smile.
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