Week 40
Day 1
The collapsed section of the Monolith created a ‘U’ shaped crop off the Monolith with the length at about eight miles and across at about seven to six miles. The mass of land that was supposedly from the cropped off Monolith now laid at the side of the our crops but its mass amount is one twentieth of the actual mass being ‘cropped’ off. It was hollow inside; a majestic city sits in there.
How it held up the ceiling of solid soil remains unexplained.
But a city exist beneath its ceiling. A grand city which is circular in layout; to be exact, three circles. The middle circle is a large dome estimated to be about a half mile across and the height of eight thousand feet across with a small round bastion tower on the top. Around the dome are twelve large round towers,which stands to a height of a eight thousand feet each with a base of two hundred feet across. After the towers is a wide moat of over five hundred feet across with a depth of a hundred feet. I saw what appears to be large culverts on the moat wall.
Then the second ring which comes into view with its stone structure of three hundred feet high and a hundred across. The second ring is covered by fifteen towers with a height of five thousand feet and across of two hundred feet. It also has culvert built into its side. Beyond that second ring of structure is another moat of the similar dimensions.
The outer ring is another round structure of one hundred feet high and across of a hundred feet with thirty three towers of two thousand feet high and across of fifty feet. Again the culverts appeared beneath the structures.
Outside of the last circle are twelve large rectangle structure which stands independently apart in equal distance surrounding the outer circle. There was one long waterway which extend from the larger moat to the edge of the Monolith. It opens up to a mouth of five hundred feet across. Each circle is connected to the other by bridges and there are four large wide units in each direction.
‘Oh my God, I think we found Atlantis.’ That was Doctor Leong as he stands with me on the edge of the collapsed section.
Suddenly without any warning or tremors, the inner moat starts to filled with water from the ground. The water rises and when its reaches certain depth, the culverts flows it out to the next moat. It repeats itself until the last moat and from there it drained down the waterway towards the edge of the Monolith and splashed over like a waterfall. It falls over two thousand feet into the jungle. As the pressure of the water mounts onto the jungle below, a river was formed and the water flows out into three large rivers forms and its keep on expanding out and finally into the existing rivers. It not a new river network but an old one which just erupted into life again.
‘Its Atlantis as the prophecies described. The waterways and the towers. They inner one stands for the twelve Olympians’ Gods. The second row should be fifteen..... yes, its fifteen stands for the Protogenoi; the first born of the Creators. And the last should be the Titans; all thirty three of them. Its true then.’ I wanted to smack Doctor Leong as he seems to be frothing at the mouth by then. But I threw him a challenge.
‘This is not Earth, Doctor. This is light years from Earth. Unless you tell me the Gods can fly like us.’
‘You must believe me.....’ But I was walking away. A loony like him need to be locked up.
But I was wrong and proven many times that in the next weeks. But now I need to know how the darned Monolith collapsed and who is responsible.
Special Report from Doctor Boris Ivanov.
Day 7 Week 39
1713hr
I am responsible for the collapse and indirectly caused the death of so many people. I apologized, but let me explain myself. The crates which Doctor Tanaki mentioned are not crates but system consoles. We just got to learned to activate it. There was a few words I remembered from my Greek’s class. These were one of them.
‘Ενεργοποίηση’ or in English; it means ‘activate’. It was on the crate side and I leaned down to check for the next wordings. Accidentally, as I was balancing myself I activated the crate by placing the palm of my hand against it. The crate starts to hummed and the crate opened up with portions of it coming out f the crate and then spread out to the side before another central piece came up. It formed a dark table top and without any notice, it began to light up with the hidden panel display beneath the table top. It shows diagrams of the dome and the surrounding city. When I touched a certain part of the panels, the screen in front of me will light up and showed me the actual location of the place.
I spent a few hours on the panel by myself. Then I found the information I wanted. It was the Command Centre of the City. I took a clip of the diagram and ran out of the room. Sargeant Kabe saw me running and he followed me. He keep on asking me but I ignored his questions. Finally he just followed me.
I ran to the area where the diagram showed me. I placed my palm on the wall and it slides back to reveal a small compartment. We walked in and I see before me the panels on the right and left side of the doorway. Its filled with symbols and writings of ancient Greeks. I placed my finger on the symbol I wanted and the door closed. The compartment is like a travellator or a train which moved us in speed. Within minutes I was at the Command Centre. Its a massive semi circular room with three rows of console facing a big screen. At the side of the main screen are six smaller screens on each side. On the circular walls are more consoles and smaller screen. Three seated compartment are in the back of the three rows just before our entrants door. The seated compartment has a console on the left and right hand side of it. I think they are the Commander’s seats; all three. In ancient Greek Gods’ myth, the three most powerful and influential Gods were Zeus for his might and power, Hades for he commands the other world and Athena for her wisdom. Athena complements and soothes the mighty God, Zeus. Poseidon would be there but he is not in good term with Zeus. That is why Zeus probably let him guards the city like the water in the moat. He protects them from invaders.
My mistake was to sit on the chair which was in the center. It must had triggered something or I touched something then. The place came alive with the panels lighted up and the screen showed New Pangaea and then zoomed down to here; the Monolith. It then showed me the tremors and the collapsed of the soil and stones. It did not fall down but swept aside like dust. And then the city appeared. First hazy and then cleared to show the towers and the dome.
I did not know I will activate the city. I am so sorry.
I stored Doctor Bormann’s report and brief the rest of Operation Core to keep silent. Now I am wondering what to do next.
But my worries of the city was the least of it; the neighbors needed my attention. The three HELI-PODs landed at BASE. Six pilots came out from it with their hands in the air.
Statement from Federation Soldier; Lieutenant Denam Milarn
Day 2 Week 40
1112hr
Two days ago, we were told of a sight of a column of chimps nearby. The General gave orders for us to follow. We did and it was a goose chase for over an hour or so, and then we came into a thick jungle and the dozers were clearing the place. Some of the vehicles were getting bogged down on the soft ground,.We had to use the transporter to pull some out or vice versa. It was then the whole thing went wrong. The dozers went down into a deep ditch and got stuck. The more it tried to extricate itself, it sunk in more. Then the attack came from the sides; all those undergrowth and trees are an excellent camouflage for the chimps.
The came in with vines and they strung it onto the cannons. Then they pulled it taut and to the sideways. The armored plates on our vehicles are durable and tough but not the cannons. They just break or bent at the muzzle. I saw the chimps climbed on the tanks and pushed muds and stones down the barrel. They literally put everything in. We dare not fire as they could caused the cannons to misfired or worse explode. We could not fire our mini cannons as they are defective by now. We could not get out as the chimps are out there. We also could not move as the tracks were bogged down.
Then the chimps came with more surprises. They placed logs next to us and raised the vehicles up. They winched us up by using vines, and turned them over. The HELI had by then took off the transporters but we cannot shoot as we could shoot the men down there. We hovered and then decided to leave. We did not recharge then, and some of us could not make it. They did land but once they got out, the chimps came out and attacked them.
We are the last three to make it.
Task Force Federations are toasted. The chimps reminded me of the way the pre-historic man used to hunt the bigger preys; leading them into pits or tar. The chimps are either evolving or they are smarter than we thought.
‘The creatures are all coming to the Monolith to view or worshiped I am not sure, but they are congregating there. I can see the herds of Parasaurolophus; duck billed dinosaurs and even the rarely seen Stegosaurus is seen at the foot hill. There are a couple of Brontosaurus or later known as Apatosaurus seen roaming at the far edge. The T-Rexs’ are there too but they are really hunting any known preys. Something about the city is calling them there.
And I want to find out what.
Day 2
The Shuttle dropped me at the Dome and I walked in. The whole operation is under the command of Major Shaw assisted by Doctor Tanaki.
‘The fable of Atlantis as known to many is still a mystery. The Isle of Atlantis was revealed in Plato's "Timaeus" and the "Critias" on Solon, a great Greek legislator and poet who came back from Egypt with the story of this great city. It was a story told to Solon by the priests of the great battles between Athens and Atlantis. The rulers of Atlantis were powerful then with the alliance of the islands, and they had waged ware against many from the mainland including Athens. Athens in return formed a coalition from all over Greece to halt it. When the coalition failed, Athenians fought on alone to defeat the Atlantean rulers. In the end Athens won the war. Soon after the victory, the Atlantis suffered catastrophic earthquakes and floods until it disappeared beneath the sea. But not many knows the origin of Atlantis. It was the days when the Gods walks the Earth, and they were given parts of the world to rule. Poseidon was the one who was given an island by the sea, and he ruled it with his mortal. He fathered first royal family of Atlantis. The numbers in the royal family was ten boys; all solid lads. The first born, Atlas was made King. His brothers ruled with him as princes. But not the land his father has given to their mother. The royal family went on for generations. They prospered and lived peacefully as all was on the island; the food and the earth. But they do bring in from other places by the sea passage. The kingdom prosper as each new king adds to the splendor. But there were laws set by the forefather, Poseidon. There are rituals to follow and sacrifices to be made to appease the Gods. As long as they followed and adhered to it, all will be fine on Atlantis; protected by Poseidon. But man is poor servant of consistency; they forget the past and bestow upon themselves the whims of their own. Soon the Gods took offence and the retribution was to come. But it was never told what would happened or can be done to avert it. So from a tale that became a myth as there was no more records of the place. Unproven findings brought with it skeptics and frauds that belies the truth if the city ever exist. Until what today remains a myth told by many and never could be proven by the few.’ Doctor Tanaki is a good tale narrator. My coffee has been touched since then.
‘In the Japanese findings, Atlantis could be linked to the findings at the lost continent known as ‘Mu’ but this has never been proven. As you may not be aware of the Yonaguni Monument which was said to be a section of the ruins from the lost continent of Mu. Could that lost continent which used to cover a large part of the Earth be also part of Atlantis? As said earlier, I humbly declined to comment further as there was no proof of both but the ruins in the ocean bed are still being studied for more clarification. I am saying that we find here could maybe solve the puzzle that baffles the people for generations.’
‘But our investigation into the system is still very superficial but we have made headways into the main design of this place. Its over four miles across and its a perfect design in circumference. But we think the city is more than a place of dwelling; it could be a construct of a major ship as we find here are more than what we see here. There are sections below the ground into the sub-terran level.’
‘How does the water flow out? Is there a gigantic well below us?’
‘We don’t know. We are still exploring. I can assure you the whole continent of scientists on New Pangaea are here. We are doing our best.’ I took the Doctor’s hand to assure him of my understanding and support. I have moved all the survivals of Monolith to the City and more are coming from Main Village. The Shuttle is doing so many flights that we may have to stopped it soon. The HELI-PODs are assisting in the evacuation.
But Ishido and Micheal is still missing.
‘I think we can built the bridge down to the jungle.’ That was Philip Dupine, our resident engineer. ‘Its not that high now.’
Day 3
EDS Titan arrived that morning and the Captain himself flew down on the Shuttle. He was awed by the sight of the city and asked me to give him a grand tour in return for some extra supplies due for the others; ‘how will you say ‘inventory displaced’ in greek’s?’ He left us a ‘super fast computer’ which was supposed to go to the Military Research Outpost. The scientists went awed by the speed of its computation and was fighting for time allocation to use it on the available terminals.
But I had no replacement of personnels or colonists. Our numbers stayed the same. But it went down by two more, as Admiral Stokes told me of the suicide death of Peter Manheimm and Melody Susan Manheimm. According to Doctor Bashir, both of them was undergoing therapy for depression since Peter Bone’s death. More to it, Peter Manheimm is a devout follower of the faith in which abortion is not allowed. It conflicts with his daughter’s wishes and they are on uneasy terms. My regret was having spend time with them on the issue and rushed out to see this place named Atlantis. Now it brought in three deaths; of one is an unborn child.
Major Shaw’s personnel took casualties of eight personnels and four scientists. That leaves her with two personnels and eight scientist in the original team. The scientists are almost back to full force with the addition from BASE, but the personnels stay alone up here. They been reinforced with five more from the other outposts.
Works also started on the bridge to go down to the jungle. They are going to do a number of bridges once connected will look like a step down bridge. It will have five platforms in between the descending slopes. It will be wide enough for two ATV’s to travel on. It will be build using the T-Shape Interger Cantilevered Technique with the the support beams aided by the steel pipe drilled into the side of the mountain. This is subject to soil testing and of course some testing for the depth in case we hit any subterranean water dam. In remembrance of the missing duo, they named the respective platform stops as Micheal’s Bend, and Matsu Plate. Never to be left out is the Dupine Stop. That leaves two more unnamed platform. Probably Scott Ends or Pangaea Corner.
But that is my least concern now. The chimps are on the move as reported by the HELI-PODs patrol. One week or so and they numbered big figures this time. Someone must had riled them up bad.
These are my orders. All villages are to be closed forty eight hours prior to them arriving, and colonists are to be moved to the City. The Inmates wanted to join us in BASE instead of the City. Every one of the them will rigged to explode with high explosives including the mines and factory. All Outpost to lockdown and all personnels to evacuate to BASE. Base Three will move to the river and prepare for water evacuation with the MSV. All backups and essential items to be relocated to the City. Tip’s Nest is shutting down and the comms will be move to Monolith. Except for BASE and Big Mouth, all other outpost are to be cleared of personnels. All ATV will be on the plateau, so will the cannons and catapults.
HELI-PODs and Shuttles will be retained at Monolith but the Bubble goes to BASE. I will need it scout the area.
Meanwhile we sit tight and try to see what can Atlantis do for us besides sitting elegantly.
Day 4
‘You never tell me about the city?’ I looked at the disappointed ex-General. She is upset that I did not disclose to her about the city earlier. I did not bother to reply to her as I have works to do. Like reading the latest update on Doctor Tanaki’s report.
She went emotional on me and I left the unit to read my report. I bumped into Major Feeley; ‘its okay, Sir. Its called hormones. I should know.’ And she walked away.
Special Report from Doctor Boris Ivanov.
Day 3 Week 40
1713hr
We made some minor headway into understanding the system in this city. The scientists are working round the clock and we are working fine.
We now know the source of the water. Its actually pumped out of the ground beneath us. We could be sitting on a deep pool or probably a major sinkhole. The water beneath us could be from underground source or rain. We are still studying it for more sources.
But we made some insight into the city system as said earlier. We can now see more sections of the cities and we have a better navigation map now. We are also able to access the upper levels and are now checking them. Preliminary checks tells us we were in the Technical Section and that was good as we can work from there. We have discovered their horticultured farms and its a beauty although overgrown. We can share you an apple soon.
Doctor Ferdinand Manseel; our expert on automation is studying the train system used by me earlier. He thinks he can work out the schematics soon.
As per your request for weapons or anything we can do to fight the chimps, I am afraid the answer is still negative.
I am pleased they are doing well, but I was then plagued with more issues of the faith.
‘Abbot Francisco, I am sure if God has proclaimed this city as his, he would also advised me of it in my dreams. But the fact he did not, I stand to question your ownership of this city as you see the Devil himself told me that I am to claim it for his minions.’ I guess that ended the issue of who owns the City, but I did get some ‘bubonic sized’ curses from the claimed Abbot. The abbot and his followers soon left me alone but I got Major Shaw to keep an eye on them.
‘I never seen that coming. He was just another colonist the other day, and now he is an Abbot. Surely God works is ever mysterious here.’ I like the sarcasm of Major Shaw although she wears her faith around her neck faithfully. But that did not stop the Abbot from preforming his ritualistic ceremonies on the grounds of the city. I wonder if Zeus will throw down a thunderbolt on him.
But it did rain that day, after some weeks of clear skies. As said before, when it rains on New Pangaea, its pours like a woman scorned; its cold and darned depressing. Vickie has moved in with Major Feeley and I am all alone counting the raindrops.
But this time we had no visitors on the plateau as they found refuges in the vacant units including Outpost Six. But we hail the return of our bikers; Corporal Pedro and Nixon. They stayed back to see the outcome of the battle.
Special Report from Corporal Pedro.
Day 4 Week 40
1813hr
We saw the trap but the task force kept on going into the valley. When the dozers went down, the chimps came out by the thousands. Initially there was firing and they died in great numbers, but soon they had the upper hand. They crowded the vehicle and destroyed the cannons. It was no barbaric act but a coordinated one. The chimps later took out long vines and attached it to the vehicles to topple them over. I seen them do it with the turtles on those vid-views. If someone opens the cover or hatches, then its over. The chimps will pry open the cover and then mayhem starts.
They move and attack when the opportunity arises, and then its a patience game. They wait and they attacked when the timing calls it. Then they set the vehicles to burned and they left.
We followed them for the day and they were joined by a column of chimps. They numbered about a thousand and then they were joined by more columns. I think we are looking at about five thousand of them; some are riders and many catapults.
They are marching for here. We cannot win this war.
Day 5
‘Pedro, I would like to talk to you.’ Pedro was standing by himself at the base and he is looking to the Monolith. I stood there next to him and he did not looked at me. I know Pedro for years and not many things scared him.
‘Remember the shootout on me; can we talk about it.’ But Pedro did not speak a word. ‘Can we talk about it, please.’
‘No, I did not shoot you. If that what you are poking at. Pebbles also did not shoot you.’ He did not even looked at me when he said that.
‘Who was it?’
‘She is behind you now.’ I looked back and saw Victoria Seeker. It was then Pedro walked away to his bike and rode off. I looked at her and she just stood there with a slightly bulging belly. Her eyes turned teary and she said; ‘I was asked to do it.’
‘It was in a coded message from Earth and I shot you but I purposely missed you. Pedro traced the projectile to me and he confronted me. I had to tell him; he is good at that. But I made him promise not to tell you. Darned it, Scott. I love you too much to kill you. Please forgive me.’ Her statement makes me remember Mathew Burns words. I wanted to turn and walk but the other side of me held out my arms to her. When I held her, I was not sure if I am holding potential Mrs Victoria Seeker Bent or General Victoria Seeker.
That evening I read the latest update.
Special Report from Doctor Boris Ivanov.
Day 4 Week 40
1721hr
We making progress and more things are probably working as we think they should. We found more sections but they are yet to be explored, so don;t expect miracles. But we did find one miracle; we found what may be the life support system. The air we breathing are now more manageable and its not stale like the one we had in the last few days.
And we found the switch to shut off the tap on the water from the subterranean. Its a simple turn off switch but we mistaken it for the decor on the wall. We also believe that water below is actually a source of power generation for the city. As its rises up, it forces the some sort of turbine mechanism in the waterway which actually powers up the city. We also noted that not all the waters are flowing out but some are being rechanneled back to the channels like a loop. This is what we noticed as the water flowing out is much more slower and less. Based on our calculations, the water may not be the only source of energy to the city, there could be other means but we do not know where. But its sufficient for our use, as the city seems to be able to shutdown the sections which we are not using or exploring. Its intelligent to detect our presence and accommodate the numbers. That was what triggered our investigation onto the source of power. Maybe if we use more of this place, the other secondary power generator may come to start.
The ‘super computer; as you named it, helped us a lot. Its computing processing speed is greater and we are getting fast feedbacks, plus there are some new programs that allows us to do better assessment. We are thinking of linking it to the City system and synchoreses the programs or at least allowed us to translate the program into something which we can read. I am pressured down being the only Ancient Greek’s expert, although they have these electronic translated for their uses. Trust me, the translator does lead to wrong meanings at times. Doctor Frost is in his bunk for a mild case of electrocution when he mis-read the signs. Doctor Tanaki is attending to him.
But no; we did not find anything that can be used in the coming war. This could be a peaceful city after all.
In the ancient periods, the horn is a toll in the summoning of help or reinforcement. And now I got a horn from the apes. Could it be the same? Doctor Leong came back to me with the analysis showed no recognition of the chemical properties of the horn; believed to be from a Unicorn, another creature of the myth. So assuming I can call on the ranks of the ape, but how I tell them to ‘sic it, King Kong’; my remembrance of a famous giant ape. Or maybe I will gnaw my teeth and swing my arms they might be able to impersonate or mimic me. But that is also far fetched as my thoughts of the apes will fight the chimps. Another point of my disbelief, is that the two are linked to a common source; possible one ancestry that evolved.
Day 6
This is one bad morning; I spilled my coffee, cut myself while shaving and the HELI-PODs tell me bad news. A column of nearly nearly two thousand chimps coming my way. That was only one of the three columns. They comprised of many riders on lizards, and catapults. Their estimated time of arrival is about twenty four hours. What a way to spend the weekend in my New Pangaea calendar. If I am hoping for a squadron of HELI-PODs like the last battle, I am to be disappointed as Vickie said they are not coming the reinforcement. More to it, the force field which protects BASE is malfunctioning. Those were not the worse parts. This is the one I should had seen coming.
‘I am leaving with my people. We will leave for a safer place. We still have to colonize this darned place. I will take care of our child. Love you. Vickie.’ I hate cold coffee anyway. And when its filled with sugary elements; poor substitute for a good additive to the coffee. This is the second time she done it. She left early this morning when her HELI-PODs came to picked her up near BASE. She was in communication with them all this time.
‘Commander, the personnels are waiting for you.’ I did called for a conference with all of them here on this side of Pangaea as this could be the last stand for us here. We are outnumbered and we have limited resources to fight them. Even we had superior weapons, we were given the spank more times than we can handle. Everyone looks sad but they will stand together. I had the inventories issued to the max on everyone and the excess supplies were sent to the Monolith in the Shuttle. We do not have any prayers to say to everybody but one recited one which we all shared. ‘For every ailment under the sun, There is a remedy, or there is none; If there be one, try to find it; If there be none, never mind it.’ It was an old Mother Goose rhyme.
So be it. I wished I had not donated the crates of wine then. I sure needed a drink now.
Special Report from Doctor Boris Ivanov.
Day 5 Week 40
1721hr
I am sure by now you asking and my answer is maybe, but we will touch on other matters first.
If you recalled the last report I did on the power source, I was not exactly wrong. I was totally wrong in my assumptions. The water is not the powering any turbine; its cooling the source that power the turbine. In the twentieth century, we had those big controversial nuclear power plant which is actually a thermal power station in which the heat source is from one or more of the nuclear reactors. The heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity. Nuclear energy as we know comes from Nuclear fission; it’s the process where the nucleus of a 'heavy', fissionable atom is split. Enormous amounts of energy are released in this process in the form of heat is transferred to steam turbines to generate electricity. Nuclear isotopes Uranium 235 (U235), Plutonium 239 and Uranium 238 are of this type. Only U235 occurs naturally. The other isotopes are created in the fission process.
And we found such a source which is the true power builder here. Previous findings of Atlantis believed that the city was powered by some unique sources. They were believed to had discover their power source from quartz crystal, but we found something more than that. The three common known states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. There is a fourth as we know; its liquid crystal; the atoms or molecules do not have any set positional or orientational order. The Greek’s name one of these as Nematic liquid crystal from the Greek word for ``thread''. Liquid crystal are placed in random order with no distinct relationship to each other. We found several of these in the consoles’ and these are small vials of it. We initially they were a decor and then we examined further to note that they sits on brackets ports which actually powers the console. We did a search on the city navigation display and we found several of these in bigger containment and they are actually power houses with the water as the coolant like in a nuclear fusion plant. These are initial findings as we could be wrong again. Pardon our ignorance or fumbling of findings as we are still learning.
However we think we found what may possibility be a weapon of mass power in destruction. Its claimed to be the Poseidon’s Trident; a weapon once wield by Poseidon. Its the symbol of his power which he used to shatter rocks, to call forth or subdue storms, and to shake the earth as the saying goes. He was a nasty one. He was to be Zeus’s equal but he gave up the position to the other. His trident was said to be made by the Telekhines of the Titans, just as they gave Zeus his lightning bolts.
But we have a problem retrieving it. Its in the water and its deep down embedded in the rocks. The Archaeozoologist forbids us to salvage it.
I was on the comms with Major Shaw irregardless of the hour then. We are at war and rest is not a luxury; its forbidden to rest during war by my command.
‘Major, I don’t care what time it is and whether you are in the shower. Get me the trident. Talk to Doctor Boris....... and frag his popularity ranking.’
That night the dream did not come as I was pacing the bunk all night.
Day 7
‘Commander, they are not moving.’ I am standing on top of the Plateau watching the morning sunrise as its unveil the mass of chimps on the land of mine.
‘Once a great battle strategists and conqueror said A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights.’
‘Belles paroles, le commandant. That was a great man ; Napoleon Bonarparte. I salute you for your statement.’ I looked to see Philip Dupine standing before me. ‘Don’t be surprised. I was a military man myself before I retired early to be an engineer of structures. Today, I am back here to stand with you like the captain with his ship. I stand before you to see my Philip Platform before they take us down. That is assuming they take us down. I am not a bad marksman ; just a little rusty with the trigger finger but it will nimble soon to pull the trigger soon. So tell me, Commander. Why did you quote Napoleon ? He was an enemy of the British Empire if I can recalled my history.’
‘I am part Native American and Irish. My paddy’s paddies disliked the British, so they taught me more of the battles lost by the British then. May I ask if the French Garrison only you or there are more ?’
‘Mon Dieu, Commandant, Its never the number that counts. Its the esprit de corps. As said by one ; Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’
‘Who said that?’
‘Sir Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister Wartime. You should read your British history too.’ Philip took his pace away from me to scout for a good spot to fight from.
The chimps trashed out Main Village and Outpost Six down to the stone foundations. They tore down the structures and wall using the vines or the logs as a battering ram. What they cannot tear down, they used the catapults on it. They pull at the gates and tossed them off their hinges. Then they moved onto the other Outpost, and the Main Village; doing the same. They are doing it as if they want the place to be back to its pristine condition. The factory was the last along with the mines, but they ventured in; only they shut off the entrance. Now about four thousand chimps with lizards are on my doorstep. They just stopped at the bottom of the plateau; waiting and watching us.
For some reason, I raised the horn and blow it hard, but not a whimper came out of it. I tried several times and I gave up on it. I went back into BASE and told them to prepare for battle. It was 1114hr and lunch has yet to be served. The force field was turned off as we want to fight them this time.
The sea of red and black can be seen as the chimps made their way here. In the fore are the riders followed by the marching chimps dressed in the red tunic and holding those long spears. The catapults followed behind with the wagons carry the loads of boulders. At the center of the matching man is a large pallenquin carried by a group of chimps. That is probably the leader and he is carried here to witnessed the destruction of the invaders. They took their camp on the previous Main Village, while a smaller column went up to engage us. The smaller column of about a hundred of them on their lizards and moving in rapid movements up the plateau. They a re armed with the long spears like the marching chimps. They are the first casualties as they triggered off the laid traps of explosives rigged by the Cheng’s. The series of explosion tore into the hundred riders and their lizards with the shrapnels of iron pieces. The injured lizards loses their riders and goes on a berserk frenzy. They fight among themselves and other riders. As they fought, they also trigger off more traps. Hidden pits are revealed as some of the lizards fell into it.
But they cleared the first line of defense for the plateau. Now the second wave was coming in; chimps on foot and they are walking carefully over the dead carcasses. The advancing wave of chimps kill the wounded and maimed ones on the deadly field. I called on the twenty odd catapults to released their loads on the advancing chimps. The pots of explosives exploded with the phosphorus contents and a trail of blazing fires was soon to be seen, as the chimps retreat to avoid the flames. Some of the chimps threw their spears but the distance was too great for them to reach us. The twin mounted cannons picked up the ones who was across the fire and nearer to us. The ATVs moved out to get closer and fired their cannons at the chimps in the fire. It may be a mercy killing or just plain murder; does not matter much now.
Then it stopped the attacks. It was then 1314hr.
Two hours later the catapults came forth and spew their loads on BASE. The twin mounted cannons took that threat with its automated firing but some boulders still managed to get through and slammed not BASE causing minor damages. That barrage went on for an hour and then it stopped. But by then, we can see like about a thousand chimps on the plateau; all around us and sneering at us. They are not attacking but keeping their distance as if holding a siege and we are trapped.
When the sun set, the chimps slowly retreated leaving only a hundred here on the plateau. The rest seems to fade into the jungle below and we can hear them but not seen that night.
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