GODLINGS : ASCENSION (African Lore Book 1)

CHAPTER 1

AFRICA,
NIGERIA,
WESTERN HEMISPHERE,
LAGOS CITY,
0900HRS.
LOCATION CLASSIFIED.

Colonel Ayo got down from his government issued jet, a latest addition into the Nigerian military air force . Sleek with curved edges, nuclear powered, turbine engines with state of the art (Nigerian made) phased glass lasers, top grid zero-gap armour, honey comb shield and divergent matter missiles, the NG-class- 1 Cygnet, was really a beast of prey. He drew his coat closer to his body as the Harmattan wind blew slightly against him from the top of the secret government facility he just landed on, he crushed his cigarette butt with the sole of his polished black shoes as the military personnel escorts he had, dropped to the ground, eyes scanning around for threats. The wireless holographic Bluetooth receiver on his left ear chimed, indicating an hail from a source,

"Colonel Ayo here" he said in the deep baritone voice of his,

The holographic display came online to show a man clad in military attire, a three star badge on his left shoulder, Ayo saluted,

"I trust you just landed on base ORISA?" the man asked,

"yes sir, the bird just touched down, approximately five minutes after departing the DSS headquarters Abuja" he responded,

"go straight to the mission point Colonel, the base awaits your feedback, HQ out" the man said as the holographic feed got cut off,

"orisirisi" Colonel Ayo thought in distaste,

Clearly it showed the high command were not sure of giving him this mission, why else would they put a DSS operative on him?. He motioned for the soldiers to fall in line,

"now-"

The building exploded...

knocked sideways by the concussive wave that blew the side of the building, Ayo saw double figures of the soldiers, his ears ringing like a siren, or was it a siren he heard?. He managed to stand up, gunshots from the FN-P90 assault rifles the soldiers were issued. He got up in time to see a sleek shape dance around the soldiers who poured out from inside the building and his guards to the landing strip. Too fast for the mortal eyes to see, it began decimating the troops, cutting down their numbers as blood spurted out in great geysers and the screams of the dying poured out. It kept on holding a briefcase, a transparent briefcase whose contents he saw in a flash as it dawned on him in terror. Tapping his Bluetooth receiver and calling the nearest army base in ikeja,

"this is Colonel
Ayo of the 51st battalion, override code six-nine-five-alpha-eight, you are ordered to send in a payload on this very location, time two minutes till oblivion!" he barked,

"better dead than allow that out" he thought grimly,

That was the reason he was here, recently the Nigerian army began looking for better, state of the art weapons. Trying to contend with world power like Russia, China, USA and the likes, it stumbled across a new sort of weapon, one that would give them the forefront on the race for supremacy, even though it was very dangerous. That's why the piece of weaponry couldn't leave the base as the side effects alone had caused countless deaths around the testing area, though as to how outside forces knew of it, he had no idea, all he knew was that that weapon could not and we not leave this base. He drew out his side arm and fired at the blur that know decimated the soldiers to a few Left and in a minute only him was left on the blood bathed floor, held by the throat. He glanced down at the creature that choked him, black body, red sore eyes and sharp bared canines, it growled which oddly resembled laughter,

"long has the warrior been forgotten, now it ceases to be so" it said,

As life began to drain out of his body, he could hear the growl of the fighter jets coming in the distance, the....demon apparently heard too as he whispered something into Ayos' ears that made him tremble. In a flash the Demon was gone, leaving a crawling Colonel on the floor, eyes glancing upwards as he saw the missile dropped unto the building and then a blinding bright light.

LATER THAT DAY,
DSS HQ,
ABUJA,
1400HRS.....

The room filled up with military personnels, all talking anxiously about the attack, the rectangular table that was filled to the brim with top players of the army, Navy, air force and even the JTF. The man in the dark green camo uniform with his five star badge on both his shoulder, and behind him as he watched the destruction of the building,

"field marshal Nnamdi sir" the general to his side whispered, nervousness evident in his voice, marshal Nnamdi turned to him, eyes calculating in those silent moment,

"what is it general Ahmed?" he asked,

Ahmed gulped, stood straighter, his eyes glancing at the bickering military officers,

"perhaps Sir, it is time to step in?" he whispered,

He nodded and turned to the group, clearing his throat as the room became silent, everybody pausing to look at him. He hid a grin, known for his reputation as one of the most influential person in the military and ex covert agent. Sitting down on his chair,

"ladies and gentlemen, we are faced with a dire predicament, as of 0900hrs this morning, a Colonel of the Nigerian army was sent in to special base orisa, his mission to oversee the material for the new weapon we were building,

"and what pray tell field marshal Nnamdi, weapon was that?" admiral Deji of the Nigerian navy asked, frowning in that manner of disgust, the rest echoing after him,

Marshal Nnamdi met his glare with those cold calculating eyes of his, making the admiral squirm in his seat uncomfortably,

"all I'm allowed to say is that this weapon is of mass destruction, capable of annihilating a whole city in the blink of an eye" he said as people whistled,

"oluwa o!" a man shouted in fear,
Marshal Nnamdi ignored them, typical of the potbellied officers who hadn't been on the front lines to behave like that. The camera zoomed in on the assailant that tore the soldiers to shreds, the group gasping as they watched it all,

"how do you expect us to face that....thing?" Air force Marshall tomiwa asked,

"leave that to me, the DSS is setting up an arm, all details will be forwarded later to you all, I called this meeting to tell you that this event should be tight lipped, an excuse made to the public and it dying down, at least until we get the culprit" he said,

"the air force can handle the story" Marshall tomiwa said to him,

He nodded as the meeting closed, each of them filing away till he was the last in the room. Turning to the camera as he rewinded and paused when the blur held the presumed late Colonel, thanks to the integrity of the camera, it withstood the concussive wave of the bomb, frowning at the dark skinned creature, his face scrunched up. He tapped the phone on his table,

"sir?" his secretary answered,

"contact the DSS, tell them they are a go on project H.A.G.I" he said,

"right away sir" she answered as it beeped,

Turning back to the camera, he pondered,

"just what in hells name are you?"

GLOSSARY

ORISA- a deity or god in yoruba mythology, except here, it's the name of a base,

ORISIRISI- meaning nonsense in yoruba language, meant as a scorn.

OLUWA O!- an exclamation, meaning the same as oh my God!

DSS(s) - Department of State Secret Service...