chapter 7

The lights flickered on. Lukas was quietly sat on the chair, savoring the chilly wind brought by the main hall's air conditioning unit. Nurse was beside him, bandaging the laceration on his right arm.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" She asked with concern in her tone.

Sergeant Alice Abantay stood a few meters from them, visibly jealous.

"I have fought with the Lieutenant before, of course he will!" She yelled rather loudly. "That's more of an insult on his part!"

"Sarge, it's fine." Lukas said with a raise of his hand. He noticed that her forehead was bandaged by medics.

"No, LT! She made you sound like a wimp!" Alice yelled.

"I said it's fine, sarge! Dammit." He glanced at her forehead for the second time. "How's that?"

"The medics advised that I take a day off before I join any combat operation." She grinned. "But what the hell do they know?"

"I need my XO to be sharp so that she could watch my ass on the field. Maybe the advice of the medics wasn't a bad one."

"What?" Alice replied. Lukas' expression turned grim as he stood.

"I'll be right back." He left the main hall and encountered Francis with a tourniquet over his left arm.

"How's the bone?"

"No fracture, just a sprain." Francis replied. "Damn fucker had me good."

"Well, it happens to the best of us." He nodded at the door to the interrogation room. "Follow me."

Francis noticed the fire in his eyes. He knew that Lukas was pissed really bad. He entered the observatory room. The cultist eyed their movement The cultist followed them with his gaze behind the polarized observatory window. Francis noticed that the four pupils of the cultist was yellow while the rest of the details were black. The cultist's eyes were widened, the bastard was mocking them.

From underneath a desk, he pulled out a toolbox that served two purposes. One for repairing the equipment in this room, two for fact finding. He walked out of the room and entered the interrogation room.

Lukas placed the toolbox on the table while Francis shut the door close. The disgruntled soldier pulled a hammer from the plastic box and approached the cultist, whose gaze were still fixated on them.

Without ceremony, Lukas hit his forehead with an upward strike. He flipped the hammer with the claw facing the cultist and struck his right eye which tore through bones, flesh, and eyeball bits. The cultist let out a cry.

Lukas scooped a handful of nails from within and was about to jam it down his throat when the cultist pleaded.

"Please, I'll answer whatever you ask of me! Please!"

"Then speak up!" Lukas yelled.

"Alright!" The cultist avoided his gaze from then on. "What do you want to know?"

"What the fuck are you doing with those girls from your compound?!"

"Blood rituals." The cultist answered.

"Do you have any idea how wide you narrowed it down?!" He raised his hammer.

"NO! No!" The cultist cried. "Sacrifices! Ceremonies! It was for the Demons you have fought earlier!"

"What do you mean?" Lukas asked.

"They just recently arrived here." The cultist replied. "We are long time worshippers. We just recently heard the voice of our master three days ago." Blood dripped from his damaged eye socket. "We are already doing this long before. We are just feeding his 'angels' with the blood of the virgins. They like it especially if it came from a minor! Our master urged us to strengthen his army but my capture here was unplanned so I called them here!"

"Master? Does it have something to do with the massacre in Davao and the increased paranormal activity?"

"I-I don't know..." the cultist replied, prompting Lukas to raise his hammer once again. "I don't know! I really don't know! But I can answer that it might be connected with the Davao massacre since we heard his voice three days ago."

"This master, what can you tell us about him?"

"He is a god." The cultist replied. "He really is. Behind him stood legions that you wouldn't dare imagine. He came with them and they are hellbent in taking over the archipelago with no regards to human life."

"Sounds like the usual bastards we kill." Lukas said. "What else?"

"He is powerful. Whatever he wanted he simply takes. I will warn you that he has a lot of followers. He and his brothers. He wasn't alone in this." He stared at Lukas. "And you? Your numbers are too low to even hope to stop him."

"I guess we'll just have to try." Lukas said. "What do you know about his plans? Why is he taking over?"

"I don't know." The cultist replied. "I really don't know! I'm just a pawn in their game!"

Lukas raised his hammer.

"But I can take you to someone who knew!"

"Who?!"

"Roberto Omar, a Mambabarang! He is a devout follower of our master! He was holed up somewhere in Zamboanga!"

"Do you even know the name of your master?" Lukas asked.

"No, I don't. I really don't."

"Okay." Lukas placed the hammer back to the toolbox and faced Francis. "I think he's good for incineration."

"I'll call the others now." Francis said as he walked outside.

"Wait, what incineration?! What are you talking about!" The cultist yelled.

A pair of 666IB soldiers came in and one of them brought a sack cloth. They covered the cultist's head with it and dragged him out of the interrogation room. His voice was muffled by the distance. Lukas glanced at Francis.

"I guess we should report this to the Major."

"Yeah." Francis said.

#

"We got a lead." Lukas said as soon as they are within earshot of the Major. "A name and a location."

"So, our boy finally spoke?" Major Tomas asked.

"Yes, sir. But there was nothing else to gain from him other than those two so we scheduled him for incineration."

The officer stood from a kneeling position and glanced down at the wounded trooper lying on the cot prepared earlier by the on-site nurses and medics. The main hall was still crowded with 666IB soldiers and medical personnel but most of them were starting to leave the area back to their assigned posts.

"Time to make whoever did this pay." Major Tomas said. "What else did he told you?"

"Something about a deity and his brothers. I've got a bad feeling about it, actually." Francis added.

"Can you give me the name and the location?"

"Roberto Omar, a Mambabarang from Zamboanga." Lukas answered.

"Finding him would be easy. We got eyes and ears in that city." The Major stared on the floor as he paced towards the space between Lukas and Francis. "I've requested additional personnel from the other Outpost Detachments, as well as the Observatory Posts but I have doubts that the OPs would comply given their very small sizes. Command hasn't raised recruits to give us yet."

"So, we're preparing for an assault?" Lukas inquired.

"Yes," Major Tomas replied. "We are going to end this, or die trying." He started to walk away. "We are the last line of humanity's defense, but we are also responsible for its safety. The Marines wouldn't be able to handle this alone. Our large number was enough to bleed the monster dry until the last man of this unit dies so that they could deliver the killing blow on our behalf." He let out a defeated sigh. "You've five hours of rest until briefing." He then left.

Lukas watched him go. His gaze wandered to the wounded soldiers being taken care of by the medics. His mind was a roller coaster of emotions. He was angry, while at the same time, excited of how this scenario would end. He wondered what will happen to the world if they lose, or if they win, are their battles truly over?

The questions could not be answered at the moment. All wars that he participated in were all chaotic in nature and they never ended, whoever the belligerents are, be they man or the unknown. For the dead, it truly is over. But for the living? The soldiers who fought in it would just be replaced as soon as their usefulness were expended and the cycle repeats.

He told himself that the conflict would be over, but not in his time surely. It will end, one way or another--a thought that comforts him.