The Salvation War: Pantheocide. Part Eighty One Up

[ANTIcarrot]

Question about the US Constitution...
Is there an order of precidence for the constitution's various articles and amendments? "In case of conflict, this part overrides that part?" I imagine that somewhere in American legislature there is a prohibition on American citizens and residents giving aid and comfort to the enemy... but I know that there is also a rather famous amendment prohobiting the US government from telling people they can't practice their religion. Has the First Amendment been repealed? If not then I have to ask,
Why exactly was Miss Branch arrested again?

If this answer is, "Because it was convenient for those in power," then we seem to have a running theme.
*Drafting the jerk who was rude to kitten. (Likely entitled to a 2B exception.) How dare he be capitalist in America!
*Drafting Mike 'Gavin' Sparky. (Likely a 4-F exception.) How dare he (on this one occasion; possibly) be quite correct! A turreted M113 was probably more than good enough for the Curb Stomp war.
*Arresting Miss Branch. (Constitionally questionable.) How dare she practice her 1st Amendment rights!
*Implied torture/beatings of two of these characters, and probably others.

I understand military necessity, but many of these decisions seem to have been made in civilian settings, by people in nice comfy chairs, where battlefield split second decisions and severely restricted supplies aren't really an issue. I find it hard to sympathise with a faction that presumably claims to believe in US ideals but ignores them to readily for their own convenience. It seems almost self delusional. Possibly why I hope that Michael gets everything he plans for. He's easily done even worse things, but at least he seems to understand that they are worse things, and appears to show genuine remorse. This is not something I pick up from many of the human characters.

Then again, since this is supposed to be a reversal of Armageddon, as Stuart has repeatedly insisted, then some of this might be intentional. Either to make Michael more appealing (by contrast) or to manufacture future problems for Lords of War.

[xthetenth]

If this answer is, "Because it was convenient for those in power," then we seem to have a running theme.
*Drafting the jerk who was rude to kitten. (Likely entitled to a 2B exception.) How dare he be capitalist in America!
*Drafting Mike 'Gavin' Sparky. (Likely a 4-F exception.) How dare he (on this one occasion; possibly) be quite correct! A turreted M113 was probably more than good enough for the Curb Stomp war.
*Arresting Miss Branch. (Constitionally questionable.) How dare she practice her 1st Amendment rights!
*Implied torture/beatings of two of these characters, and probably others.

Drafting Private Chestnut was because they could since there was a draft on and what war industry was he a part of? That exemption is there to keep war industries able to supply needed materiel by not taking key workers. He was unreliable and asking for enough goods that they could get a pretty decent amount of equipment to the soldiers for the price he was asking for. It's less that he got drafted and more that all the other nephelim didn't get drafted because they were perfectly happy doing their vital job as civilians for a non-extortionary pay scale (just as a thought exercise, sum up chestnut's requested expenses, they add up to a lot of hardware's worth fast). So they decided to not not draft him. Plus, the 2B argument doesn't hold much water because he was equally if not considerably more capable of benefiting the war effort in the army. That exemption is for the military's benefit, not for the potential draftee's.

Drafting Sparks was again because there's a goddamn draft on. If he's not insane, which he apparently wasn't, he gets drafted, that simple. Only in Chestnut's case was drafting a punishment, and that's because he was an extraordinary prick trying to extort the government. In Sparks' case, the argument is whether he should be discharged, not whether he should have been drafted, and those latrines in Alaska needed digging and he wouldn't be able to lower morale with his ranting there. Simple.

Arresting Miss Branch. Maybe because it's incredibly likely that she had engaged in treason even under the constitutional definition? (Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.) And you seriously haven't heard of arresting people on suspicion of criminal offenses? And I have a sneaking suspicion that the "just following my religion" defense wouldn't hold up, seeing as she was asked by a (soon to be) enemy combatant to commit treason. I see no reason that her ability to claim first amendment protection isn't the same as Adam Yahiye Gadahn's for example. See Employment Division vs. Smith, the gist is that states have the power to accommodate otherwise illegal acts done in the name of religious beliefs, they aren't required to, and this almost assuredly extends to the federal government.

And the torture was of Miss Branch by inmates (the kind of thing that happens in prisons because the guards can't supervise everybody all the time) and the hazing of Private Chestnut was a series of what were engineered to seem to be accidents, and in all honesty, I don't particularly fault the supervisors for not going to excessive lengths to determine whether anything was happening. It wasn't an institutional decision at all, though, especially by anybody in comfy armchairs.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Question about the US Constitution...
Is there an order of precidence for the constitution's various articles and amendments? "In case of conflict, this part overrides that part?" I imagine that somewhere in American legislature there is a prohibition on American citizens and residents giving aid and comfort to the enemy... but I know that there is also a rather famous amendment prohobiting the US government from telling people they can't practice their religion. Has the First Amendment been repealed? If not then I have to ask,
Why exactly was Miss Branch arrested again?

In cases of precedence, any part of the consitution is invalid only if it is expressly ammended at a later date. She was arrested because she gave intelligence to a hostile foreign power which we were at war with, resulting in a number of casualties both civilian and military. That is TREASON.

If this answer is, "Because it was convenient for those in power," then we seem to have a running theme.
*Drafting the jerk who was rude to kitten. (Likely entitled to a 2B exception.) How dare he be capitalist in America!

I'm pretty sure we drafted that guy because he was one of FIVE people we'd found that could open a portal, and he was trying to hold the american military effort hostage in exchange for a lot of money during a time of national crisis. It would be like Superman taking bids on rescuing people from a burning world trade center. Selective service means the US government is legally empowered to decide how best a citizen can contribute to the war effort AND COMPEL THEM TO DO SO.

*Drafting Mike 'Gavin' Sparky. (Likely a 4-F exception.) How dare he (on this one occasion; possibly) be quite correct! A turreted M113 was probably more than good enough for the Curb Stomp war.

Sparky has a long and colorful internet history, and that bit will probably get taken out in the dead-tree version.

*Arresting Miss Branch. (Constitionally questionable.) How dare she practice her 1st Amendment rights!
*Implied torture/beatings of two of these characters, and probably others.

Again, she was arrested for treason, not Christianity. And I believe the mental torture illusion was ruled illegal and her confession thrown out.

I understand military necessity, but many of these decisions seem to have been made in civilian settings, by people in nice comfy chairs, where battlefield split second decisions and severely restricted supplies aren't really an issue. I find it hard to sympathise with a faction that presumably claims to believe in US ideals but ignores them to readily for their own convenience. It seems almost self delusional. Possibly why I hope that Michael gets everything he plans for. He's easily done even worse things, but at least he seems to understand that they are worse things, and appears to show genuine remorse. This is not something I pick up from many of the human characters.

So far humans havn't scratched the surfae of atrocities we're capable of. What do you have? The forcible conscription of two pains in the ass, and the arrest and coercive interrogation of a woman who committed treason against her country. What's more, the woman's torture was found illegal and she was accorded protections under the law.

Given that we are in a fight for our survival AS A SPECIES against an enemy that uses category 5 hurricanes for artillery, I think we're showing remarkable restraint. If she'd been caught in China, she would have been rapidly acquainted with a car battery to find out what she knows.

Then again, since this is supposed to be a reversal of Armageddon, as Stuart has repeatedly insisted, then some of this might be intentional. Either to make Michael more appealing (by contrast) or to manufacture future problems for Lords of War.

Don't make Michael a saint. He's utilized torture, rape, sexual procurement, manipulation through drug addiction, and even murder for his schemes. What's more, he's had people who HE KNOWS ARE INNOCENT tortured, beaten, imprisoned, and killed just so he can make things LOOK right for his scheme to work.

Who is better? A master-criminal who committs atrocities and shows remorse? Or a police officer who shoots a hostage in the leg so they can't be used as a shield?

[westrim]

Who is better? A master-criminal who commits atrocities and shows remorse? Or a police officer who shoots a hostage in the leg so they can't be used as a shield?

Not sure that's a fair analogy. Michael is undoubtedly a better person then the power structure he's working to overthrow, if only because he does recognize that what he does is wrong, and when he believes it possible tries not to do it. And he's already saved far more from torture (Hell) than were in Belial's camp. He's an antihero, but still a hero.

[JN1]

and our special forces DO hold the current long distance sniping record. give the Canucks a lil screen time.

Not any more, I'm afraid. Corporal Rob Furlong, of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, record has been beaten by Corporal of Horse Craig Harrison of the Houshold Cavalry Regiment who scored two kills at 8,120ft, or 1.54 miles, which is apparently 3,000ft beyond the most effective range of his rifle.
Quite an impressive bit of shooting by both men. Furlong's kill was scored with a 12.7mm McMillan TAC-50 rifle, while Harrison's were with an L115A3 rifle which fires a smaller 8.59mm round.
Link.

[xthetenth]

Given that we are in a fight for our survival AS A SPECIES against an enemy that uses category 5 hurricanes for artillery, I think we're showing remarkable restraint. If she'd been caught in China, she would have been rapidly acquainted with a car battery to find out what she knows.

If she'd been in China they may very well have killed her just to prove to her that she would to break her. It's not like they don't get her back in a few hours. Plus, the hell body will be better able to handle any tortures they may come up with.

Who is better? A master-criminal who commits atrocities and shows remorse? Or a police officer who shoots a hostage in the leg so they can't be used as a shield?

Not sure that's a fair analogy. Michael is undoubtedly a better person then the power structure he's working to overthrow, if only because he does recognize that what he does is wrong, and when he believes it possible tries not to do it. And he's already saved far more from torture (Hell) than were in Belial's camp. He's an antihero, but still a hero.

The same applies to humanity, I don't think we've done anything that really comes close to shooting a hostage in the leg. What's the worst we've done? Drafting somebody for a nastier duty because of the ones who have the very rare talent he has, he is by far the least reliable and therefore his loss would be the least problematic and because drafting him is the only financially responsible way to get his rather important talent? Assigning somebody to a backwater to let the less annoying soldiers fight without distraction? The only truly bad thing we've done is to ask a succubus to help us unravel what amounts to a terrorist cell only far more dangerous, and the threats used by luga were her decision not ours (and yes, there would be other uses for a succubus' talents than threats, and considering the FBI agents couldn't hear or see the threats, they wouldn't have oversight on that).

[Bayonet]

Question about the US Constitution...
Is there an order of precidence for the constitution's various articles and amendments? "In case of conflict, this part overrides that part?" I imagine that somewhere in American legislature there is a prohibition on American citizens and residents giving aid and comfort to the enemy... but I know that there is also a rather famous amendment prohobiting the US government from telling people they can't practice their religion. Has the First Amendment been repealed? If not then I have to ask,
Why exactly was Miss Branch arrested again?

No right is absolute, even those defined in the Constitution. There's the oft touted saying that you can't shout "Theatre" in a crowded fire station. Likewise, you would not be allowed to practice your religion of cannibalism. If there is a dispute, the Supreme Court must sort it out.

Catherine Branch would have had the right to appeal her conviction all the way to the Supremes. Under the national mood in effect at the time, I wouldn't give her much chance of prevailing. I bet there's even case law related to treason vs religious freedom.

[CaptainChewbacca]

No right is absolute, even those defined in the Constitution. There's the oft touted saying that you can't shout "Theatre" in a crowded fire station. Likewise, you would not be allowed to practice your religion of cannibalism. If there is a dispute, the Supreme Court must sort it out.

Actually, I think shouting 'Theater' in a crowded fire-station is ok, but shouting 'FIRE!' in a crowded theater will get you into a lot of trouble.

[Nematocyst]

It is funny until the stampeding crowd tramples you.

Random thought: whatever Jesus is, I hope he isn't as big as he appears to be in Chick tracts.

[xthetenth]

It is funny until the stampeding crowd tramples you.

Random thought: whatever Jesus is, I hope he isn't as big as he appears to be in Chick tracts.

There's only one. The bigger he is, the easier a target he is. Much more worrying would be a setup where he's only about twice the size of a person and still has the power to go with his status. Sure, being bigger would imply he's tougher but he's still constrained by flight and the limits of organic materials. If he gets too big, there's going to be a lot of space devoted to his air sacs, and that'll just make them a huge target, making it easier to ground him.

[Nematocyst]

Sure, larger object means larger target, but it may also mean larger requirement of dakka.
And if he is as large as he appears in Chick tracts, we better tell the Russians to make more Tsar Bombas.

[Edward Yee]

If it's reassuring re: Jesus and "large"... just think of Chesty Puller, and paraphase: "He's big... that simplifies our problems / now we can't miss."

[xthetenth]

Sure, larger object means larger target, but it may also mean larger requirement of dakka.
And if he is as large as he appears in Chick tracts, we better tell the Russians to make more Tsar Bombas.

About what scale are we talking about anyway? If I recall correctly, he'd be in the 1-2 hundred feet tall range, and to be honest, that would ruin his maneuverability. And having ruined maneuverability is not a good thing with (multiple?) YAL-1's flying around and all sorts of heavy missiles pointed your way. And if he's flying slowly enough that ATGMs can hit him... that would be rather bad for his general survivability. If not, there's always more dakka upside the head.

[westrim]

I'm not usually a fan of the take thats, but a mention of Chick having been one of those who listened to The Message and being found in a hellpit raving against Yahweh would be kind of amusing.

[Nematocyst]

About what scale are we talking about anyway? If I recall correctly, he'd be in the 1-2 hundred feet tall range

He looks bigger than that.

[Erra]

Question about the US Constitution...
Is there an order of precidence for the constitution's various articles and amendments? "In case of conflict, this part overrides that part?" I imagine that somewhere in American legislature there is a prohibition on American citizens and residents giving aid and comfort to the enemy... but I know that there is also a rather famous amendment prohobiting the US government from telling people they can't practice their religion. Has the First Amendment been repealed? If not then I have to ask,
Why exactly was Miss Branch arrested again?

If this answer is, "Because it was convenient for those in power," then we seem to have a running theme.
*Drafting the jerk who was rude to kitten. (Likely entitled to a 2B exception.) How dare he be capitalist in America!
*Drafting Mike 'Gavin' Sparky. (Likely a 4-F exception.) How dare he (on this one occasion; possibly) be quite correct! A turreted M113 was probably more than good enough for the Curb Stomp war.
*Arresting Miss Branch. (Constitionally questionable.) How dare she practice her 1st Amendment rights!
*Implied torture/beatings of two of these characters, and probably others.

I understand military necessity, but many of these decisions seem to have been made in civilian settings, by people in nice comfy chairs, where battlefield split second decisions and severely restricted supplies aren't really an issue. I find it hard to sympathise with a faction that presumably claims to believe in US ideals but ignores them to readily for their own convenience. It seems almost self delusional. Possibly why I hope that Michael gets everything he plans for. He's easily done even worse things, but at least he seems to understand that they are worse things, and appears to show genuine remorse. This is not something I pick up from many of the human characters.

Then again, since this is supposed to be a reversal of Armageddon, as Stuart has repeatedly insisted, then some of this might be intentional. Either to make Michael more appealing (by contrast) or to manufacture future problems for Lords of War.

Is this post supposed to be anything but flamebait?

[xthetenth]

About what scale are we talking about anyway? If I recall correctly, he'd be in the 1-2 hundred feet tall range

He looks bigger than that.

Ahh, well that's where his proportions start looking way off, because that dude needs bones of structural steel to be mobile at all, and him being that much larger than the beasts seems a bit implausible, given their layouts, the four-legged beasts would be able to move considerably better than a two-legged being of that size, let alone one in a human form factor. I'd give that Jesus very poor odds of getting out of his chair, and I just remembered that he is in Michael's greenhouse from time to time, so that limits his maximum size considerably, since the greenhouse has to be concealable and have more than 2% of its floor space devoted to plants if the guy's going to get baked from it. Given that marble seems to be the building material of choice and that they insist on weighing it down with precious metals and gems (precious is about to be much more relative a term), that sets a pretty low size limit on the greenhouse's height, so uber-mega-jesus is pretty much out. Plus, he wouldn't be very practical at that kind of size anyway.

[Stuart]

Base Heavengate-Alpha, Heaven

"Hokay, so we do a Thunder Run Sir. Anywhere in particular or do we get to choose?"

"Not quite a Thunder Run this time Colonel. You will push in the direction of the concentration camp established ten miles from your present position. A medical unit is following you, your orders are, and your primary responsibility is, to get them to that camp alive and unharmed. You will then force an entry to that camp, secure it and maintain security while the medics work on the inmates. After they have finished, you will cover their extraction."

"Very good Sir."

"And Colonel. Last time an American division liberated a concentration camp, they lined the guards up and shot them. That was then, this is now, don’t use that as a precedent. We want the guards alive and most especially we want the daemon running that camp alive. Belial has a lot to answer for."

"We'll do our best Sir. I won’t make promises I can't keep though. If those guards fight, we'll have to take them down."

"That's one thing. Having them all mysteriously 'shot while trying to escape' or 'resisting arrest' would be something different."

"Understood Sir." Colonel Keisha Stevenson shut down the communications terminal and stepped outside the tent. Communications wouldn't be a tent for very long, the pre-fabricated building that would be the permanent communications section in Heaven was already being erected. The concrete base was already drying and the walls were ranged out beside it, ready to be hoisted into place. The same scene could be spotted all over the base area. Buildings were going up fast as Base Heavengate Alpha-One was turned into a full divisional encampment. Just one of many that were being set up fast as the Ospreys could transport portal teams to suitable areas. First Army Group was pouring into Heaven literally as fast as vehicles could be driven through the portals. Overhead, the V-22s were already flying out to new locations north and west of the Eternal City so that bridgeheads could be established for the Second and Third Army Groups. This onslaught was a far different scene from the early days in Hell when Stevenson had been convinced the brass were making up the plans as they went along.

"Thoughtful Boss?"

"Yeah Biker. We got the orders to move out. Take that concentration camp west of here and watch over the medics as they do their thing." Stevenson looked around. "Kind of miss the old days in Hell."

"Like the day we got a disabled driver sticker, put it on the tank and parked it in the Colonel's space?"

"Just like that. Although we should have asked him to remove his Humvee first. I don’t know, look at this place. Pretty rolling green hills, nice little forests, air so clean it tastes like wine. Well, it does until we start the tanks up. It's too pretty, it lacks character. Hell had character."

"Mostly bad."

"Yeah, but at least it had some. This place looks like its somebody tried too hard to make the perfect world. It's the Stepford Wives version of an environment. Hokay, we're going to blow it up anyway, it's time to roll. Biker, get the troops together and we'll try and liven this place up a bit.

Farming Community, Five Miles West of Base Heavengate-Alpha-One, Heaven

Nobody had removed the body of their angel. He was still sprawled out on the ground on the outskirts of the village where the soldiers had shot him down. Haropamiel-Lan-Mihmakeal had seen the column of vehicles approaching and stepped out into the road in front of them, holding up his hand, palm facing the newcomers. The Ishim had held his ground, even when the newcomers had driven right up to him and fired their guns at his feet. Then, three of their vehicles had opened fire on him and Haropamiel had fallen. Now, half the village was wailing in grief at the death of their lord while the rest were stunned by the sight of an Angel being casually killed.

"Hokay, we hold here until the medical convoy joins us, then we push the rest of the way." The commander of the newcomers was speaking to another officer.

Benedict almost fainted with terror at the thought of what he was about to do but his duties left him no choice. In point of fact, he had no official duties, Haropamiel had been the only authority in the hamlet but Benedict had been his right hand in dealing with the humans and the habit still held good. Anyway, with Haropamiel laying dead in the dirt, surrounded by a pool of his peerless white blood, somebody had to take charge. He squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and addressed the officer of soldiers. "Sir, it is time for us to make our daily reverences to the Lord of All."

The officer turned around and, to his shock, Benedict saw that the officer was a woman. Not only that but a Nubian. "And you are?" Her voice was cold and not very sympathetic. The accent was one that Benedict had never heard before. Nor, come to think of it had he seen clothes like the ones she was wearing. Tunic and trousers all covered in an eye-deceiving pattern of red and gray squares, a thick and heavy-looking jacket colored the same way. There was much equipment carried by this officer, more than that carried by the Roman officers Benedict had seen during his life on Earth. Most frightening of all though were the things that covered her eyes. They were mirrors, ones that reflected the image of Benedict standing before her yet concealed her own expression completely. Combined with the impassive expression, Benedict had no idea of how or what she was feeling. One thing Benedict did understand, this human wasn't dead. Heaven was being invaded, the war machines parked in his village and those flying overhead proved that. Heaven had seen nothing like them before.

"My name is Benedict. Since you have killed our Angel, I am in charge here."

"Hokay, then stop that damned wailing."

"I am sorry Sir, but our angel is dead. Without his protection and guidance, what shall we do?"

"Try standing on your own feet."

Benedict almost wept with despair. He had hoped for sympathy, or at least that his need to carry on with the duties of reverence for The Almighty Lord would win some favor. But there was none to be found here. He looked closely at the officer and saw the signs of authority that had marked the Roman officers he had known long ago. "May we perform our rituals?"

"Sure, this is your village, such as it is. You can do what you wish." The voice changed slightly and some warmth crept into it. "You'd better get used to that. It's called being free. The days when Angels ruled this place are ending pretty damned soon. And you don’t have to do that reverencing stuff any more. Unless you really want to of course. Can't see what you would want to give thanks for though."

Benedict took offense at that and at the casual invocation of damnation. "We have much to be thankful for. We live in comfortable homes that are ours to keep. No soldiers come to burn them down in the night. We have our fields to tend and our crops to grow and they do not get trampled down or stolen. We have clothes to wear, all we need to eat and much more besides. We live our days in peace. Truly, is this not the Paradise we were promised?"

Benedict waited to be struck down in the way that any who spoke to an officer of soldiers would have been struck down. Instead, she burst out laughing and started shaking her head.

Spearhead Battalion, Third Armored Division, Heaven

"Hokey, so this one has got guts. Some anyway." Stephenson looked around at the cluster of hovels that surrounded her unit. She guessed that some hillbillies living in the back end of nowhere probably had worse living conditions but she couldn’t be sure of that. What she did know was that in any American town, these shanty homes would be condemned as a health and safety hazard. Nobody, but nobody, she knew had to live in conditions like this.

"He's probably right Colonel. I'd guess this place does stack up pretty well against the conditions people had to live in two thousand years ago. Ever heard of the Lekker Lewe?" Stephenson shook her head. "Read about it in a book about the Zulu wars. The old Boer settlers had a lifestyle they called the Lekker Lewe, the sweet life. For them, the sweet life meant doing the minimum of work needed to provide them with a minimally comfortable lifestyle. Put a lot of emphasis on living in balance with the land. Bit like environmentalists I guess although most of the enviro's I know would go apeshit at the idea their ideas were upheld by a bunch of South African Boers. It was the sort of ideal the Boers clung to even when times changed and they lived a lot better than they ever could hen living the Lekker Lewe. I guess the same applies here; in comparison with living on the brink of starvation and always in danger of being looted or killed or both, this place doesn’t seem so bad. It's just that we are seeing it through different eyes. It's not just our weaponry that's changed, its our expectations of what constitutes a Heaven."

"Ain't that the truth Biker. Looks like our medic friends are about to catch up with us. Yo, Benedict. Any more angels around this way?"

"No Sir. Our Haropamiel was all."

"Watch it Colonel, I doubt if these people have been outside their fields in millennia. They've got no idea what's out there."

"Sure. Tell everybody to mount up. And to take things real careful."

Belial's Camp, Heaven.

"Most Blessed Lord, the human army is approaching. Already their war machines are near our walls." Ohiel-Lan-Epidan wasn't quite sure how to address Belial. A Grand Duke in Hell was, or had been, the equivalent of a Chayot Ha Kodesh but to give one of the Fallen the same titles seemed wrong on too many levels. Yet Belial was doubtless in charge here and was favored by The Almighty Father Of All. Had not He Who Is Above All himself placed this Grand Duke in charge of this place of punishment? And had not Belial chosen him, a lowly Cherubim as one of the guards here. Ohiel-Lan-Epidan had taken to his work very quickly, with the authority granted to him he had been able to take down the arrogant Seraphim and Hashmallim who had once lorded their superiority over the lower ranks of Angels. Now they whimpered in the mud while he, Ohiel, a mere Ishim, had his foot on their necks.

"They are called tanks." Belial spoke without too much concern. He had already decided that, while carrying out this task, that it was not worthy of him. It was all very well to torment a few hundred angels but he was used to better things than this. Once he held sway over tens of thousands of daemons and billions of human souls. He had been a favorite of Satan himself. All of which he had lost due to the betrayal of that bitch Euryale. Her words "kill him" still echoed through his mind. He needed vengeance upon her; he needed her to die a hideously lingering and agonizing death for what she had done.

Coming to Heaven had been a mistake. With a flash of intuitive insight, Belial realized that he had been so demoralized by Euryale's betrayal, so crushed by the contemptuous ease with which the humans had overwhelmed everybody before them, that he had fled the battle before it was truly lost. He could have done so much more, all he had needed was the spirit, the internal resources to do it. Certainly the humans had destroyed the center of power Satan had built around Dis but the daemons had only ever occupied a small portion of the vast land mass of Hell. There were vast lands outside the daemonic domain where the humans were unlikely to go. There must be tens of thousands of daemons who would not accept the cowardly surrender of Abigor and who wished to continue the fight. All they needed was leadership, the sort of leadership that only a Grand Duke could provide.

By running for Heaven, he had so nearly missed his chance. He had taken himself out of the competition for leadership of the resistance to human rule of Hell, the resistance that he knew had to be building somewhere in the hinterland of Hell. This also was Euryale's fault, if she hadn't betrayed him so brutally, so finally, he would never have fled to this pale, insipid Heaven. Instead, he would have been the leader of the daemonic resistance and, once the humans had been driven out, the ruler of a new kingdom. For a moment he allowed himself to slip into a daydream, one in which he devised new and ever more excruciating torments to be inflicted on Euryale as soon as the opportunity arose.

"My Lord?" Ohiel-Lan-Epidan spoke carefully. More than one Angel had been transferred from guard on the outside to prisoner on the inside for offending Belial. "Your orders?"

Belial snapped himself out of his reverie, one in which Euryale had been begging him for her death. "All Angels will form up on the walls and fight off the humans. Go now and spread the word."

He watched the angel head off to the walls, carrying the word that would start the fight against the humans. Then, he turned away and started the mental disciplines necessary to open a portal to Earth.

Spearhead Battalion, Third Armored Division, Heaven

"York crews, get ready to deal with any Airborne angel attacks." The six M1314A1 anti-harpy guns were spread out in a long line to cover her tanks and MICVs. "Alpha and Bravo companies, concentrate fire on the gatehouse in front. Five rounds rapid, Alpha Company advance to the gully after three. Use up the sabot ammunition, keep the HEAD and beehive rounds for when we have to deal with the Angels. Charlie and Delta companies, use your chain guns to hose down the top of the wall. Bravo will advance with me as soon as Alpha is in position. On my mark .. . . . Fire."

Thirty 120mm sabot rounds streaked across the gap separating the tanks from the walls of Belial's concentration camp. The crystal-clear picture of the gatehouse vanished under roiling clouds of dust as the rods slammed into the stone, powdering it and sending fragments spinning into the sky. Looking at the scene, Stevenson realized that it had a distinct resemblance to the dust-laden atmosphere of Hell. So, we've brought Hell to Heaven. Angels, meet depleted uranium. And the more you fight, the worse it is going to get Her tank lurched again as her gunner slammed out a second. She could see the dust cloud covering the gate roil as the sabot bolts tore through it. The third salvo ripped out, then the fourteen tanks of Alpha Company accelerated out of their positions and started to move to a deep gully that would provide them with hull-down positions for further shots at the already-battered gatehouse. Her own tank lurched twice more as two additional shots were squeezed off, then her two command tanks led Bravo company in a leap-frogging movement to their next designated fire positions.

Half way through the move, she was checking on Alpha Company to make sure they were sustaining fire on the gate and wall around it. Back in the old days, she wouldn't have had to do that but the massive expansion of the Army had meant quality had dropped. A lot. Still, the company were firing slowly and deliberately at the gatehouse structure. One of the towers was already down, the other looking decidedly battered from the sabot rounds that were splitting the marble apart. As she watched, a great sheet of shining white stone detached from the face of the tower and crashed to the ground. Then, there was a sound that reminded her of a bell chiming and her tank lurched.

"What the hell was that?" Her loader's voice came over the intra-vehicle comms system.

Stevenson thought for a split second. "Trumpet blast. Our insulation took most of it and the active noise cancellation system a lot more so what we heard was what leaked through." Enough to make a 70-ton tank rock she thought. Angels were a lot more dangerous than daemons.

She switched over to the battalion command frequency. "Charlie and Delta, we're taking trumpet blasts here. Maintain fire on the wall. York, any angels trying to fly yet?"

York Battery's commander was probably listening on the radio, waiting for the chance to blow something up. "No sign of any flight activity ma'am. All trying to stay under cover I guess."

"Hokay, use the radar for surveillance and pick off any that do appear. In the meantime, switch your gun to electro-optical and hose down that wall."

I guess his finger must have been on the fire button all the time. The brilliant red streaks from the 57mm tracer rounds were slashing at the wall-top before she had time to formulate the thought. By the time her attention had returned to the gatehouse, her tanks had opened fire and the different angles of impact had brought the second tower down. "Shift fire to the gate itself. One round HEAD."

With the protecting bulk of the towers down and the gate supports severely compromised, the single barrage of HEAD rounds were enough to leave gates themselves a mass of burning splinters. "Bravo Company, follow me. Alpha, pick up behind. Everybody else , keep hammering the wall top either side of the gates."

The temptation to open the tank up and watch what was happening through the open commander's cupola was great but Stevenson crushed it down hard. The lesson of Hell was quite clear, humans were more or less safe inside their armored vehicles. It was when they left the protection of rolled homogenous armor that things went wrong. Her tank started to rise as it crossed the burning rubble of the gate, then its nose dipped and Setevson saw what lay inside the compound. For a brief moment sheer blind fury grabbed hold of her and she wanted to swing her coaxial machine gun across the camp guards who were already throwing down their swords. She managed to master the impulse, just, by the barest of margins. For a second the lights inside the tank flickered and the computers blipped, then there was a rattle that she recognized as machinegun fire hitting her tank.

"What happened?" Her voice was terse and strained.

"One of the guards, took a swing at your tank with what looks like an electrically charged sword. Bravo-three, four, five and six took him down with coax."

"Roger that. Thank's for the service guys. Tanks, spread out, keep the rest of the guards covered. For pity's sake be careful how you maneuver, we don’t want to crush the poor bastards in the mud." She took another look at the center of the compound where the prisoners held there were staring at the human tanks that had just blasted their way into their own private Hell. "Charlie and Delta, move on up. York, follow them. Which one of you has that TV crew on board?"

"That's us Colonel. Charlie-Seven."

"Hokay, get up here fast. The world has got to see this."

[Stuart]

Why exactly was Miss Branch arrested again?

Espionage, high treason, giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Drafting the jerk who was rude to kitten. (Likely entitled to a 2B exception.) How dare he be capitalist in America!

The draft was already established. He was going to get drafted anyway. Most everybody else was smart enough to volunteer which meant they got the good deals. He was dumb enough to try and be a smartass. He got the bad deal. It's called evolution in action

Drafting Mike 'Gavin' Sparky. (Likely a 4-F exception.) How dare he (on this one occasion; possibly) be quite correct! A turreted M113 was probably more than good enough for the Curb Stomp war.

Putting a pain in the ass where he can't do any damage.

Arresting Miss Branch. (Constitionally questionable.) How dare she practice her 1st Amendment rights!

First amendment rights do not include espionage and treason.

Implied torture/beatings of two of these characters, and probably others

Prison general population is not a nice place for those whom other prisoners dislike. Nothing much can be done about that except permanent solitary for the victim. That's what happened. As for the official abuse, that got flayed bya judge who took immediately remedial action.

[Guardsman Bass]

Excellent! It's good to get a taste of the invasion of Heaven, and the return of our favorite "Daughter-of-Ham/Nubian" Stevenson.

I wonder why Belial is headed to Earth. Is he planning on jumping from there to Hell, to see if he can actually do his little Resistance thing he was daydreaming about?

Poor Belial (well, not really, since he's a monstrous person). He thinks he's so clever, but Michael-Lan makes him look like less than an amateur.

EDIT: Although to be fair to Belial, he started from a much weaker position than Michael-lan, with much less information about human capabilities. Michael-Lan may not have known exactly how human weapons or firepower worked, but he at least knew enough to know that a straight-up fight would lead to the Angelic Host being massacred.

[Darth Wong]

Nooooo! Belial can't get away again!

Let's hope he mistakenly portals to a place where they have a detection grid in place.

[Ilya Muromets]

Well, a new chapter just happens to pop up just when I've decided to put something up for this thread. A promising start to the full-scale heaven invasion. I can't help but think that the order to keep as many of the guards alive as possible might yet throw a wrench into Mikey careful plans in some way.

Anyway, as for what I was about to put up. It's just a simple (i.e., incredibly lazy and sloppy PhotoShop of tanks in Hell derived from this news pic.

[Stuart]

Ilya, that is really, seriously good. That would make an excellent cover shot.

[Darth Wong]

I wonder if anyone can draw an angel in such a manner that it would suit the description. They seem to have a magical effect on the perception of humans, so that we see beauty which transcends anything we could draw.

[Simon_Jester]

Hmm. Maybe using the same kind of image manipulation techniques they use on fashion models in advertisement to make them look artificially attractive? I'm not clear on exactly what they do, but I know they do it.