[ IP ] A new kind of enemy .

>'' Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Magic'' 
 
 Clarke's Third Law 
 
 
 -- -- 
 
 `` End of Days,'' the papers said. `` Alien invasion,'' the conspiracy theorists said. `` The Lord's wrath is upon us,'' the preachers said. `` الله هو جيد'' our interpreter said ( endlessly ). Everyone and their mother's cat seemed to have some sort of idea of what happened in Iraq during Fallujah Part 3, but what linked all the crackpot theories together was that nobody spouting them was there. 
 
 * [ Laughter ] * 
 
 You wan na know what we called it, when Lucy started crawlin' out of the godforsaken - no pun intended - desert? We called it a target rich environment. 
 
 * [ Cpl. Hannes takes a printout of a [ news broadcast ] ( http: //i.imgur.com/pCcoKNy.jpg ) and jabs his finger at the headline ] * 
 
 Those big buggers? They went down so fast we never even came up with a nickname for'em. Sure, when the ragheads * [ Inaudible murmuring ] * er, sorry, the *local insurgent forces* went up against'em with AKs and RPGs they could n't do much; probably because half of'em were shitting their pants and screamin' Admiral Ackbar. 7.62 does n't do squat against a creature with a hide thicker than your arm is long. The guys at Checkpoint Epsilon figured that out within ten minutes and did the smart thing - `` When the going gets tough, the tough call for close air support.'' 
 
 * [ Cpl. Hannes mimes the diving motion of an A-10 Warthog ] * 
 
 BRRRRRRRRRRT, monster is now chunky salsa, all that's left is dealing with the Imps, and those little buggers were only dangerous if you let'em close enough to get those damn spears in ya, but they did n't have their older cousin's resistance to hot lead. Hell, I think I offed one with a.22 target pistol when we caught one and tied it up on the range. 
 
 Got ta say, the Chaplain was a little pissed at that. Something about not taking the damnation of mankind seriously or something. 
 
 * [ Do you not believe that it was a demon invasion? ] * 
 
 Oh, no, do n't get me wrong, it was demons. No doubt about it - what all the preachers thumped their bibles about before Judgment Day, they were spot on. Hordes of the damned spilled out of the abyss, hell, they even matched the whole `` Tigris and Euphrates'' thing from Revelation, if I remember it right. 
 
 * [ So what happened? How did we win? ] * 
 
 Simple. * [ He pulls a bullet casing from his pocket and twirls it in his fingers ] * Our magic was better. 
 
 * [ What do you mean by that? ] * 
 
 When was the Bible written? 2,000 years ago, maybe 1,500 depending on whether you listen to the believers or the atheists. What was the pinnacle of technological power back in 500 AD? Metallurgy. `` My iron sword is better than your iron sword.'' Maybe `` My catapult can throw a rock harder than your catapult.'' To them, a little red bastard that can shoot bolts of electricity from a spear or a bad godzilla knockoff that can breathe fire would seem like some unstoppable power from beyond the comprehension of mortals, right? 
 
 What's the standard for weapons tech today? `` My missile can blow a reinforced bunker to bits from 50 miles away, yours can only do 40 miles,'' or `` My jet can supercruise at mach 2, yours can only cruise at mach 1.5.'' And that's not even counting our civilian stuff. The burning of the Library of Alexandria was a catastrophe of ancient academia. I'm pretty sure I destroyed more information this morning when I dropped my phone in the pisser. Oh, but that does n't matter, because the sum of human knowledge is accessible 24/7 from any point on Earth's surface, thanks to modern telecoms and the internet. Or... 
 
 * [ Cpl. Hannes lifts his leg onto the table and pulls back his pants leg, revealing a cybernetic prosthetic ] * 
 
 My leg got blown off by an IED in'13. Couple that with the spinal damage and I was never supposed to walk again. By the look on your face, though, I bet you could n't even tell I'd been scratched over my deployments. If I recall correctly, letting the lame walk used to be a *miracle. * 
 
 * [ His foot wiggles back and forth ] * 
 
 They came at us with some creepy-lookin' monsters with big teeth and strong arms, cursing us in the name of Beelzebub and Lucifer. We came right back at'em with howitzers, precision ordnance, and we cursed'em in the name of Colt, Boeing, and General Dynamics. 
 
 To the writers of old, demons were scary fucks - if they'd come back a few thousand years ago, hell, maybe even a few centuries ago, we'd have been pretty badly boned. Today? * [ He points at a picture of Marines mimicking the [ Doom ] ( http: //scorpsportal.com/cms/files/posted_images/2/doomboxart.jpg ) cover and laughs ] *. 
 
 God is n't dead. He just lost the arms race. 
 
 -- -- -- -- - 
 
 `` Sufficiently Advanced: An Anthology of the One-Day Judgment'' 
 
 1. Corporal James Hannes - `` [ Target Rich Environment ] ( http: //www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/25alp4/ip_a_new_kind_of_enemy/chfm37e )'' 
 2. Terrance Black - `` [ The Chicago Riverstomp ] ( http: //www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/25d0ob/wp_while_walking_home_a_van_pulls_up_beside_you/chg4z14? context=3 )''
