The Time Before Time: Arm Megiddon

By Kent Kunefke

Michael and the angel army return to Earth to put an end to Satans ruination of Gods creations. They reunite with the Legends of Old, meet new friends, and face new enemies leading up to the ultimate battle with Satan and his demons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514429815

Kent Kunefke

Growing up in a small Baptist church, I was given a strong foundation in God. I believe I have a unique relationship with God and that he created me to be very curious of the world around me. I am interested in everything from dinosaurs to galaxies. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how my personal beliefs fit together with science. I question everything, and for me, it is easy to see God’s hand in creation. He has brought us to where we are now, and it was no accident.

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Copyright © 2015 by Kent Kunefke.

Credits to:

Homer’s The Iliad

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015919595

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-5144-2983-9

   Softcover   978-1-5144-2982-2

   eBook   978-1-5144-2981-5

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 01/13/2016

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CONTENTS

Finish the Job

The Tournament

Old Friends

On To Ithaca

The Far East

A New Philosophy

Bring My Baby Home

Attack on Powe’

The Centaurs

The Daughters of Thor

The World Stopped Turning

Reorganization

Megabeasts

Raid on Nod

Reconnaissance

The Hard Winter

War on the Water

Sinbad’s Bad Sin

Megiddon

A Spy Among Them

Baiting Baal

Satan’s Nightmares

Marion’s Mayhem

Armed Megiddon

The Fire Brigade

Cease Fire

End This

Home Again

The Championship

Glossary

This book is

dedicated to my mother.

I love you and miss you. I will see you soon.

Scattered throughout this story you will find the works of my mother, Donna Kay Kunefke. I hope you enjoy them.

My Son

I have a grimy angel.

I love him very much.

When I hold him close to me,

Old Mother Earth I touch.

Because my grimy angel

Brings along with him,

Enough of Mother Earth

To grow a garden in.

Donna Kay Kunefke

Finish the Job

Heaven is now even more beautiful than before the attack by Mercury and Legion. The nebula that hides Heaven and the star of Aeros add to the light of God. The sphere atop the new Tree of Life and the Altar of Fire also serve to add to the light God for all things came from God. All light, all creatures, and all elements are products of the light of God.

God’s own light has faded ever so slightly because she is greatly saddened by the things that are happening on Earth. Man is becoming more evil and few know or teach their children about God’s love for them.

God calls Gabriel and Michael before her. Gabriel knew why. It is time to finish the job. God told them. There Is One Thing That Must Be Taken Care Of Before You Return To Earth. She began. My Children Can No Longer Be Saddened By The Loss Of Their Loved Ones To Evil Ways. Give Me Your Thoughts. I Want To Separate Sadness From Heaven Just As I Did Pain. God commanded.

The two Archangels looked around Heaven and saw the sorrow of Judas and those that visited the Altar of Fire. Michael suggested removing the Altar of Fire so it could no longer be a reminder of the angels killed and placed there. Gabriel suggested that God should wave her staff across Heaven and simply remove the memories of the angel’s and human’s souls. But God wanted the souls of Heaven to remember the good times spent with loved ones. Simply removing the souls’ memories entirely would not do. However, Gabriel’s and Michael’s ideas confirmed God’s own thoughts of just how to eliminate sadness in Heaven. Come With Me. She told them and led them down Alpha Street to the Pearly Gates. Go Beyond The Gates To Beacon. She ordered them. Gabriel and Michael obeyed God’s command.

God turned and fired a beam of pure white energy down the streets of gold, through her cathedral and on to the Altar of Fire. The altar exploded into a huge ball of light and then collapsed into a black hole. God waved her hand and the black hole sailed through the streets of Heaven and disappeared down the goal of the Great Game and out into the nebula. God then touched her staff to the Pearly Gates. The gates began to sing with the sound of a chorus of a thousand angels.

God called for Gabriel and Michael to re-enter Heaven. As soon as they passed through the Pearly Gates, God read their minds and neither of them had any sad thoughts. They still possessed fond memories of those that had perished but did not realize their loved ones were gone. God called for Judas. She had him repeat the exit and re-entry through the gates. Just as Gabriel and Michael experienced, Judas now had no sad memories. He remembered being in the service of God but not the terrible task he once performed. His thoughts were only of choirs and children and the Great Game. God was further saddened to see that Judas had very few good memories. His heart and mind was now almost like the day she created him.

God commanded all of Heaven to repeat the exercise. Soon, just as she desired, hers became the only sadness left in Heaven. Peace and Joy reigned throughout all the souls inside the Pearly Gates.

God allowed the Archangels to build new mansions and God built Enoch and Haley a mansion right behind her cathedral. Where the Altar of Fire had been, God created a wonderful fountain that flowed with the purest water in all creation. The water glowed with all the colors found in the light of God, pink, yellow, green, blue, and purple. From the five points of the star shaped basin, sprang streams of each color that arched into the center and combined to form a column of pure white. Some said it went the other way. The column split into the five colored steams. Some said it was both. Whichever way it was perceived it was beautiful and pleased God and all of Heaven. Not long after God created it, the fountain became known as the Fountain of Love. The angels and the souls of Man gathered there and it became a place to meet and fellowship and stay close to the presence of God. God blessed the fountain and it soon became one of the holiest places in creation. One could drink the holy water and be renewed in their everlasting life and love of God.

The water in the Fountain of Love was flavored to the liking of the individual drinking it. It could taste like their favorite fruit or the fruit that they desired at the time. It could also taste like any beverage they could imagine, tea, coffee, milk, cocoa, beer, or wine. Or it could simply taste like pure water. The fountain became a central gathering place for all of Heaven to fellowship and be near the presence of God.

Unfortunately it was time to create new sad memories. Lucifer had to be dealt with. He was corrupting Man and claiming their souls. Satan would drag the evil souls to Hell where they would forever be hidden from the love of God. Satan placed one of his greatest personal guards, Hades, in the Pit to chain the condemned souls there with the very same chains that had once bound him.

God revealed to Michael the memories he needed for battling Satan. It is time. She said. Do Not Harm Lucifer But Eliminate All Who Serve Him Be They Angel Or Man. She ordered. Gabriel, Breandel, Judas, And Keneticus Will Remain In Heaven With Me. Lucas Will Go With You To Learn The Way Back And Then Resume His Service To Me." God told Michael.

May I use the sea creatures, my Lord? Michael prayed.

Yes, Poseidon Is Waiting. God confirmed.

Michael summoned the archangels to his cathedral. Instead of Michael, God was there with Enoch when they arrived. Enoch led them to the banquet hall and they automatically took their usual places around the table expecting another of Michael’s wonderful feasts. Enoch asked them to join hands, bow their heads, and close their eyes. Once the circle was complete and every eye closed and all heads bowed, God touched Gabriel’s head and the archangels fell into a deep sleep. God revealed to them all the memories they would need to battle Lucifer. There was no sadness, only knowledge.

When the archangels awoke, God was gone and Michael stood before them in full battle armor. On the table before them was Jupiter’s wonderful map. They did not need to ask why they were there. Michael had already begun making a general plan. He had determined he would need to retrain the angels in Heaven. Then they would need to train on Earth and re-acclimate to Earth’s gravity. During this time he would gather the Legends of Old together and incorporate them into his armies. He would also contact Poseidon to amass his navy. The navy would play a key role in the success of his plan. Using the sea creatures was originally Lucifer’s idea but it was a good one.

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The Tournament

Now it was time to tell the rest of the army what had to be done. The armies were assembled in the stadium. God passed the beam of energy over them and they fell into a deep sleep just as the archangels had. When they awoke they too possessed the memories they needed to fight Satan.

Michael’s armies were regaining their skills well. Soon he re-instated the Great Game as a training tool. The archangels were not allowed to be players but each had their own team and could participate as a referee, judge, or timekeepers if their team was not playing. This made for much more diverse match ups and eliminated the repetitiveness that had resulted eons ago. No real weapons were used, only wooden practice swords and staffs.

The option to substitute players was added to defend or attack as needed throughout the progression of the particular game. Once a player was struck in a vital area, their armor would light up with their team’s chosen color. The player must exit the field but could be substituted for after one hundred microns. It could be done but to make a substitution of a player that was not eliminated was rarely done.

The games now had a time limit of seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven microns. If no team had scored a goal ending the game, points would be awarded. Ties were possible. Teams that assembled their object but had not scored would be given three points. Teams that had both pieces of their object but it was not assembled would get two points. If they had only one of their pieces, they received one point. Of course, no points were accumulated if the team had not collected either part of their object. But the whole purpose of the game is to score. A score is worth five points. The goal in the center of the field had been modified to seal off instantly once an object fell through.

Michael designed a tournament in which each of the twelve teams played every combination of the opposing eleven teams. It was complicated and very hard to follow. For instance, Michael’s team would play Breandel’s and Gabriel’s teams. Then possibly Gabriel’s and Cupid’s while Breandel’s team went on to face Raphael and Kaseticus’ teams and so and so on. At the end of the tournament when all the teams of the archangels had met all the combinations of the other teams, the points would be tallied and God would crown the team with the most points as champions.

Nick is the designer for all the teams’ objects. He fashions them in a manner that once assembled properly the two pieces lock together and seal. Only the archangel for which it was designed can unlock the pieces and separate them with a kiss. This eliminated the possibility of someone slipping a counterfeit piece into the game which Damian had tried once eons ago.

The games went on for years. They were a very good distraction from the drudgery of regular battle practice. There were two games every day after battle practice six days a week. Games were not played on the seventh day when everyone would rest by God’s decree.

Some teams practiced for the Great Game after their daily battle practices if they were not playing. This was an added advantage that Michael had not anticipated. The tournament was down to two final games. Michael, Gabriel, and Lucas’ teams would play then Helena, Kaseticus, and Marcus’ teams would play in the last match up. Michael and Gabriel were already mathematically eliminated for the championship but both teams had had a good tournament with several scores each.

The points were close between Helena, Marcus, Kaseticus, and Lucas. Helena’s and Marcus’ teams were just two points behind Lucas’ which was in the lead. Kaseticus’ team was just one point behind Lucas. A score today by Lucas’ players would guarantee him the championship. A three point game would push him into a possible tie with Helena or Marcus if one of them scored a goal in the last game. It would give Kaseticus the chance to grab the championship with a score. Two points by Lucas’ team would open the way for any one of the teams in the final game to win with a goal. The possible calculations were dizzying.

Kenetics were now permitted to play in the games. They are a real battle element to deal with. Satan’s demons included Kenetics such as Isis in Rah. Satan had spliced a piece of a Kenetic into almost all of his demons even if it was the smallest of parts such as just one finger. Isis had once been known as Kisis which was a play on words the Kenetics thought was cute because you could get kisses from Kises.

It was game time for Michael, Gabriel, and Lucas’ teams. The stands were filled to capacity with angels and souls. Haley and Enoch had reserved seats right behind God. Several games over the years had not drawn large crowds either because they were teams that had already been mathematically eliminated or were expected to be very one sided. Some of Heaven’s beings did not care much for the Great Game but this game was different. Almost no one could help but get caught up in the excitement.

Judas was the referee for this game, a role he enjoyed very much. The referee hovered in the center of the field above the goal. A judge chosen by each team followed the action watching for fouls and elimination lights on the players’ armor. The referees and judges wore black and white striped robes like the zebra Michael had grown so fond of on Earth. The timekeeper for this game would be Breandel. She had an uncanny talent for being able to count off the microns exactly. She would also track time for the substitution of new players after one had been eliminated. Two back up timekeepers were ready in the event that multiple substitutions happened during the first one hundred micron countdown. This would push the limits of Breandel’s amazing ability. Breandel would strike a triangle that lit up when a player left the game. A substitute was not allowed to on the field until the timekeeper had completed their countdown. God herself would strike a gong that lit up too to start and end the game. God enjoyed her role in the games because she liked hitting the gong and even liked the sound of the name. Gong! she would say and laugh and laugh just as she did when she said Banana.

For his last game, Michael chose his favorite animal, his new lion. For angels, he chose little Kayleighel and a crowd favorite, Misty. His substitutes would be Kadona, Arlena, and God’s little white horse. Lucas chose a cheetah, Karleticus, and Mathew as starters and Logan, which was very fast, Pegasus as his animal, and Nick as his Kenetic for substitutes. Gabriel had been saving a tactic she thought of earlier on in the tournament. She chose a zebra for her animal. Though not the strongest or fastest of creatures, she thought it just might blend in with the robes of the referee and judges and provide a slight advantage. For angels, Gabriel selected John and Kolton. As a substitute she had Dawson, which is another very strong Kenetic, the unicorn as her animal, and Alysia as her other angel.

Just as she expected, Gabriel’s zebra drew a call of Foul! from Lucas as soon as he spotted it. Somehow over the years, no one had ever used a zebra as their animal in the games. Even before the starting horn sounded the crowd began chanting Judgement! Judgement! Judgement! Judas and the three judges met in the center of the field. It was somewhat obvious how the conversation was going. Axis made a gesture to his robe, Orion shook her head, and Peter waved his hands in the air as if to say he was having no part of making this call. Finally, seventy microns later, Judas raised his shepherd’s hook to announce the decision. With a bit of a grin and a glance in Gabriel’s direction, He made his ruling, The zebra plays! There were cheers and jeers all over the stadium. Some thought it was cunning while others thought it was cheating. Either way it was not in the rules, so it was legal so far.

Nick is the designer for all the teams’ objects. He fashions them in a manner that once assembled properly the two pieces lock together and seal. Only the archangel for which it was designed can unlock the pieces and separate them with a kiss. This eliminated the possibility of someone slipping a counterfeit piece into the game which Damian had tried once eons ago.

The archangels gathered at the center of the field around the goal. They each presented their object to Judas and then held them high for the fans to see. Gabriel kissed her ring, it separated and she gave the diamond to Michael and the horn to Lucas. Michael kissed his cross and gave Gabriel the sword and Lucas the shield. Lucas kissed his five point star and it split down the middle in two equal halves. He handed one half each of his opponents. The three archangels then took the pieces to their team and decided who would defend which piece.

The players took their positions on the three sides of the stadium. The zebra had the sword from Michael’s team strapped to his side in a sheath. The cheetah did not carry an object piece. The lion had half of the five point star of Lucas’ team in his mouth and John had the other half.

Kayleighel carried Gabriel’s diamond in her left hand and a wooden sword in her right hand. The diamond hindered her kinetics some but she had learned to adjust to it during the tournament. Karleticus had Gabriel’s horn on his sword wrist which was the other piece of the diamond ring. This kept his other hand free and he hoped it would also help him protect the horn. Kolton carried no object piece and would function solely in attack mode trying to collect Gabriel’s diamond and horn.

Mathew carried Michael’s shield which was much too big for him but he would be able to use the shield as his own as had been determined in a rules conflict very early in the tournament. In the other hand Mathew carried a wooden staff. God struck the gong. Bong! God laughed out loud, the gong lit up, and the game was on.

The lion and cheetah both made for the zebra from the start. The lion thought he could take down the zebra with one swat from his huge paw. The cheetah was planning to use her signature acrobatic flip, slap, and grab move to pull the sword from the sheath.

Misty went fully on offense and headed straight at John. She assessed his grip of the half star in the same hand as his sword as a flaw in his tactics. She was right. Taking an opponent’s object other than your own was not done much because it had proven to be somewhat a waste of time. But this tactic had been approved as well. It typically made the game more two dimensional instead of the three way ordeal and seemed to take some of the chaos out of the game. To possess both halves of an opponent’s object almost guaranteed a two against one battle. It did free up the other two players on your team to attack the holder of your team’s piece on the third team. Most commonly this tactic was used once a team already had half of their object and was having difficulty getting the other. For Misty to go after the half star at the opening horn was a new twist on a rarely used tactic.

John fended off the first three blows from Misty with his shield, then his sword, and then the shield again. Misty then flipped up over his right shoulder and while upside down brought her shield up under his arm and stripped him of his sword and the half star. A move she learned from Helena and Xena which she had saved for just this sort of opportunity. Your shield isn’t just for defense. She yelled to him as she plummeted toward the field after the half star. Misty caught the half star and held it gripped it in her hand behind her shield with the strap.

The cheetah reached the zebra first. She swatted at the zebra’s back legs trying to knock him off balance. The zebra kicked back at the cheetah but actually slammed its hoof into the lion jaw purely by accident because the lion had tried to cut the cheetah out of the way. The blow from the zebra sent the half star in the lion’s mouth flying. The cheetah spun around and scooped up the half star and headed for Mathew.

Mathew saw the cheetah with the half star and broke off his pursuit of Kayleighel which is faster than him anyway. He swooped down and took the half star and tucked it under his shield just as Misty had done. Mathew then reversed his course and shot straight up into a conflict that had ensued between Karleticus and John. Mathew crashed into John with his shield and pushed him up and away from Karleticus and at the same time handed off the half star to Karleticus. Now Karleticus, which was faster than Mathew, could go after Kayleighel.

Karleticus was a much better match for Kayleighel. Kenetic on Kenetic, the two quickly disarmed each other of their weapons. Kayleighel knew Karleticus had the horn but not the half star. She jerked at his shield but Karleticus pulled away easily and snatched the diamond from her hand. Out of nowhere Misty slammed into both of them. Misty slashed her wooden sword into Karleticus’ helmet and then spun around and thrust it into Kayleighel’s body armor. Both of their armors lit up.

Breandel struck the triangle, it lit up, and Kayleighel and Karleticus were out of the game. The problem was that along with Karleticus, Lucas’ half star and Gabriel’s horn and diamond were out of the game too for at least for one hundred microns. Misty was now in pursuit of Mathew. She wanted Michael’s shield. It was one of the hardest objects in all of the game to get and probably a major reason Michael’s team had not done better in the tournament. Getting the shield had become Misty’s obsession over the years and she was one of a very few that could. Mathew had chosen the staff because it was hard to defend against and provided him with a little separation from any attacker. Mathew was among the best in Heaven with a staff. He could spin it, jab it, slash it, spear it, and club with it. His speed in the air was Mathew’s biggest problem. He was strong but slow. Misty could literally fly circles around him.

Misty was closing in on Mathew as he was approaching the animals. The zebra still had Michael’s sword despite a coordinated tag team assault from the lion and cheetah and Mathew had his shield. This is perfect. Misty thought. Both of her object pieces were going to be in the same place at the same time if she could time her attack just right.

Meanwhile, John and Kolton had taken up a position near the sideline of Lucas’ team. They wanted the horn that Karleticus had had on his wrist. No one in the stadium knew that Karleticus had the diamond too except Kayleighel and she was not allowed to tell anyone according to the rules.

John was a Leather angel that had been judged to be good by God after the War on Earth. Kolton was a catcher in the juggling acts and never once dropped Kayleighel. Kayleighel always said that his big strong hands were like landing on pillows because he was so gentle. Kolton was big, almost as big as Michael. He made little Kayleighel look like a child when they stood next to each other. Seeing John and Kolton poised for attack, Lucas’ team decided they would go for speed instead of another Kenetic. Logan would substitute for Karleticus. This was unconventional and unexpected. Everyone thought Nick would come in. Logan slid the horn onto his wrist and took unsheathed his sword. He concealed the diamond in his hand behind her shield.

Kayleighel did not have and object. She would be replaced by Kadona. Kadona was the Kenetic that came into the juggling act when Kolton and Kaseticus were nearing the grand finale. Kayleighel and Kadona would begin the finale by juggling the six clubs between them. Kolton and Kaseticus would then toss Kayleighel and Kadona passed each other which would continue the exchange as they flew through the air. So Kadona seemed like the natural replacement for little Kayleighel. Kadona was left undefended and planned on joining Misty to try to get Michael’s sword and shield.

5-4-3-2-1 Breandel counted off. PING went the triangle again as it illuminated. Logan and Kadona were in the game. Logan charged straight at Kolton which took him by surprise because he was twice Logan’s size. At the last possible micron, Logan hit the field and slid under Kolton. Kolton slapped his sword at his arm and knocked the half star free. It went tumbling across the field but Kolton ignored it. He wanted the horn. John didn’t see the half star fall. Logan stomped on Kolton’s foot, used it to spring into the air and away from John, and jabbed his sword into Kolton body armor and lit it up. Kolton was out of the game. PING went the triangle. John took off after Logan.

The cheetah saw her opening. The lion had the zebra on the run. The zebra could outlast the lion with speed and stamina but the lion was stronger. The cheetah wanted to make her move just as the lion and zebra began to tire. The lion made one last feeble attempt of toppling the zebra by swatting its hind leg causing him to stumble. Now!, the cheetah said to herself. She leaped into the air and onto the zebra’s back. She grabbed the sword then slashed across the neck of the zebra making his armor light up. The zebra was out of the game.

Breandel struck the triangle again. PING it rang out across the stadium. The lion summoned all his power and pounced on the cheetah ripping the sword away from her with his powerful but now sore jaws.

PING the triangle went again as Breandel rang Dawson in as Kolton’s replacement. Dawson took off after Logan. He knew if he could catch Logan and get his big hands on him that he could take the horn away once he had shaken the sword loose with his kinetics. He had to catch Logan first. John realized Dawson was a better match for Logan and went in search of the diamond.

Mathew pulled up since the zebra had been eliminated. He turned to head for the half star that Logan lost. The sudden change in direction caused Misty to slam into him. Misty dropped her sword and grabbed onto Michael’s shield with her free hand. Mathew took a swing at her with his staff and she blocked the blow with her shield. She was in too close. Mathew flipped over backwards and jammed the staff behind Misty’s shield in one smooth motion. He then reversed his rotation and completed