Operation: Home Front, Awakening

      by Trooper Cecrops, Doberman Empire.

      Cecrops closed his eyes, and waited to die.

      He heard the distinguishable sound of the beating of wings as the
 creature closed in on his helpless body. It would all be over in a matter
 of seconds. He had too much confidence in his limited abilities, and that
 arrogance would cost him his life.
      His thoughts were not of his friends or of his past life as he
 imagined his last thoughts would be. Instead, he was wondering about the
 origin of this beast. He had never seen anything nearly like it. A light
 purple colour, with tinges of light green here and there. Its general form
 was of a slender wormlike body with four flexible armlike appendages and
 two large batlike wings. He had not been able to get a better look at it
 than that before he was attacked.
      Such a creature could not have come from this earth. Cecrops was
 nowhere near an expert on the situation, so he could not make any
 assumptions on its origins . The beast had colours approaching those of the
 Hell Wyrm, although its colours were lighter than B'harnii's.
      Approaching... The unknown creature was approaching swiftly, and would
 have him any second. He could hear the beating of its wings loudly, as it
 came closer...
      Now that he thought about it... It should have had him by now. And the
 sound of the beast's wings beating was more frequent than before, but it
 did not seem closer. Was it declining to finish him? Dare he open his eyes?
 The sound of its wings slowed, and soon ceased after a few seconds. What
 was it doing? Curious, he opened his eyes, and saw his arm held out in a
 semi-defensive position, obscuring his view. He started to move it, but a
 sudden instinct told him to keep his arm stationary. Instead, he drew up
 his body, and looked out over his arm.

      What he saw before him came as much a surprise to him as it must have
 been a surprise to the creature. Its stinger-tailtip was caught in what
 appeared to be a magical shield, suspended a few feet from his arm. The
 creature had wrapped its arms around the edges of the shield, and had drawn
 its wings in, balancing on the mystical barrier. It had reached its head
 over the top edge of the shield, and was taking a few lacklustre snaps at
 his arm, but it was not long enough to reach Cecrops, and it knew this.
      It noticed Cecrops was staring at it, and it drew its head back and
 glowered at him. Cecrops, for the first time, was able to get a good view
 of this beast, and he was taking mental notes of every aspect of it, so if
 he was ever in a battle with a similar creature he would know beforehand as
 much about it as possible. Its arms ended in claws that looked as if they
 could operate as hands, and their flexibility would make them dangerous.
      Its wings looked to be strong enough to keep it in the air even with a
 few bullet holes in them. Its tubular body looked tough enough to take a
 couple hits. He saw that one of the bullets from his early machine-gun
 blast had actually grazed it, without much effect. Its stinger, while in
 this situation its Achilles' Heel, would in any other situation be its
 strongest weapon. Its tail was as maneuverable as its arms, and it had put
 a large hole in his backpack, which was lying on the ground a short
 distance away. And its head...
      The head of this creature was the most unearthly part of it. Its
 mouth, which was full of nasty-looking teeth, was in the shape of a cross,
 as opposed to the slit that most Earth creatures have. The mouth seperated
 its head into four 'parts', each having one red organ that appeared to be
 an eye.

      Cecrops roused himself out of his scientific reverie, and brought
 himself to the realization that, if not for this shield, he would not be in
 a position to analyze anything right now. He did not know how long the
 shield would last. Cecrops now remembered that he had a second pistol
 inside his raincoat, which he drew and aimed at the creature, after
 flipping the safety off. It was its turn to face death now, and it would
 not be miraculously saved. Cecrops fired at each head portion, not knowing
 where the beast's brain was, and then fired a shot at the center of its
 head as it slumped backwards and lost its grip on the shield.

      Cecrops looked at the beast, now lying motionless on the ground, with
 its tail still stuck in the shield. The shield... What was it? Did he do
 that? By himself? Cecrops wondered... His left arm was still brought up in
 a defensive position. He tried moving it, but it felt paralyzed somehow. He
 started to believe that he had created this shield by himself, some sort of
 instinct must have awakened magical powers he did not know he had in order
 to keep him alive. If he did create it, he could dispel it. He began
 concentrating now, not on moving his arm, but on disabling the shield. In a
 short time, the shield began to shimmer, and vanished. As it disappeared,
 the creature's tail flopped down to the ground with a light thump.
      Cecrops pondered his newfound magical ability. This was his Shield
 now, he could use it for his defense when needed. He wondered how powerful
 it was, if it could defend against bullets perhaps? If it was strong
 enough, he would be using it quite often. But how could he be sure it would
 appear when he needed it?
      Cecrops started concentrating again, this time on making the Shield
 reappear. After a short time, he was able to make it reappear. He then made
 it disappear, and brought it back again.
      After several minutes of practicing with his newfound power, Cecrops
 realised that he was hearing police sirens. The sirens were quite close, he
 was surprised he had not heard them before. Within seconds, a police car
 had driven up into the park's parking lot. An officer stepped out, and
 Cecrops walked around the building to meet him.
      "Hey!" Cecrops shouted from around the building to the policeman, who
 was walking into the community center building. "Over this way, take a look
 at this."

      The policeman, surprised, stepped back from the building entrance and
 walked around to where Cecrops was standing. By his reasoning, this person
 did not seem unfriendly, and if the guy wanted him hurt, he would have just
 wasted a perfect opportunity. He was still cautious, his training teaching
 him not to be so trustworthy of everyone who seemed so friendly to the
 police. Most who acted friendly weren't.
      The policeman looked at this young man, who was pointing at a spot on
 the ground. He followed the man's direction, and saw something on the
 ground.
      "What the hell..." started the policeman as he made out the shape of
 something that was unfamiliar to the planet.
      "Looks like something like this..." started Cecrops, pausing for
 thought. "...we oughta keep quiet."
      The policeman looked at the unearthly body on the ground. "Is this one
 of those X-files sort of things?" Cecrops gave no response. The officer
 continued talking. "Hmm... I don't know who you are, but I have to agree
 with you on keeping this under wraps and all, I sure wouldn't want it to
 get out that there are things like this in town. What is that thing,
 anyway?"
      Cecrops glanced at the creature, then turned his head back to the
 policeman. "Fucked if I know."
      The policeman was a bit taken aback at this lack of respect, but there
 were more important things here to worry about manners. "Is.. Is that thing
 dangerous?"
      Cecrops glanced at it again. "Not now. When it was alive... I wouldn't
 want to have to face one of those things again."
      The policeman asked, "So, you killed this thing? I came here on a
 call, said shots fired, civilians down. There should be a S.W.A.T. team
 arriving any minute, I got here first only because I was closer when the
 call came through.
      Cecrops remained silent for a moment, then said, "Yes, there are
 people down, but they are not civilians. Can you get me out of here before
 the others arrive? I want to remain as anonymous as possible."
      The policeman was torn between his duty to bring this guy to the
 station for questioning, or to help the guy out. Cecrops continued talking.
 "I dropped some things, could you help me pick them up? My backpack is over
 there.." The policeman followed his gaze and gawked at the mangled
 backpack, "And I dropped a couple guns... Over there somewhere." The
 officer looked toward the 'there' and saw a machine gun, which he moved to
 retrieve, while putting on a pair of gloves. Cecrops picked up his
 backpack, and dropped off into thought.
      The policeman interrupted his thinking. "I am going to need to
 confiscate your weapons...For evidence." Cecrops looked up, and saw the
 officer was holding the machine gun, and the fallen pistol. "Yeah, I guess
 you have to do that." At least he still had the second pistol inside his
 coat, along with the ammunition clips. Cecrops walked over to the fallen
 monster. "You going to confiscate this too?" He pointed downward.
      "Yeah, I had better take that thing back to the station, see if anyone
 there can make something of it.
      "Good, because I wouldn't know what to do with it. Give me a hand."

      Within a minute, the creature was loaded in the back seat of the
 police car, and Cecrops was in the passenger seat. The policeman began to
 drive out of the parking lot when Cecrops said, "Wait!"
      "What is it?"
      "Drive forward, into the mall, then go left to the McDonalds."
      "Okay." The police car turned into the plaza. When it arrived at the
 McDonald's, Cecrops stepped out, and walked to a pair of human bodies that
 were lying on the ground. The policeman stepped out of the car, seeing the
 bodies gave him serious doubts about helping this man now.
      The policeman saw the man kneel down near one of the bodies, and pick
 a small red object off of the ground. The officer rushed over and
 confronted him. "What's going on here?"
      Cecrops held up the object to the policeman. "I dropped my knife." He
 then realised what the policeman was concerned about. He turned over the
 body of one of the Minions, and said, "Look at his face."
      The policeman looked at the face of the body. He saw that the face was
 contorted into an unhuman idiotic grin. "What.. What is he? What did that
 to him?"
      Cecrops did not speak, not knowing how much about the situation he was
 permitted to reveal to any non-Jihaddi. He had probably broken some rule by
 showing off the weird creature in the park, but it was best to be careful
 about these things. He did not want to unwittingly tick off any higher-ups
 in the Jihad. The thought of spongification brought another thought to his
 mind.
      In the community center, the Sponge Minions had apparently tried to
 spongify him by using some sort of gas in combination with the Hell Wyrm's
 Chant. He spoke to the policeman as they walked back toward the car. "In
 the community center... Don't go right in there. There is some sort of
 gas... Air out the place before you do anything. And I don't want you
 personally going anywhere near the place, just to be careful."
      The policeman was a bit taken back by this relevation, he had been
 about to enter the community center when this man had called out to him. He
 got on the radio, and reported, "We have a possible hazardous chemical
 situation at the community center in Lucchesi Park, we need a team to clean
 the place up. Over." The acknoledgement came over the radio as the car
 drove off.

      Cecrops unlocked the door to his house, and stepped inside. As he
 walked into his room to drop off his backpack, or what was left of it, he
 heard his father call out, "You're late."
      Cecrops replied, "Yeah, I ran into a little trouble on the way home."
      He heard his father stand and walk towards him, asking, "You get
 yourself into another fight?"
      Cecrops smirked, this was a bit more than 'another fight'. Truth be
 told, he hadn't been in a fight since junior high. And as nasty as the
 bullies had been in junior high, they had never came at him with machine
 guns, or weird looking monsters. And there was that one guy who shot what
 seemed like some sort of magical effect at him, hitting a car instead. This
 was definately more than just another fight. And Cecrops knew that the
 fight was only beginning.
      Cecrops walked out of his room, and met his father face to face.
 "Yeah... I'm okay. I need to use the computer." Cecrops walked off towards
 the office room.
      Cecrops's father was relieved that his son seemed all right
 physically. He follwed his son into the office. "Were you able to get those
 bus passes?"
      Cecrops sighed. "No, I forgot. I will have to get them sometime
 later." He turned on the computer, and began waiting as the machine began
 its lengthy startup process. Odd, that the startup process would last so
 long. It seemed the the faster computers got, the longer it took until they
 started up. He remembered his TRaSh-80. You just turned it on, and it was
 ON.
      After several moments of silence, Cecrops's father noticed that his
 son considered the matter over with. He knew that continuing the discussion
 would only anger him, so he left. Cecrops heard the chimes of W'hindoze 95
 finally starting up, after about 15 seconds more it was finally finished
 loading. Cecrops started up Netscape, and went into his Email account. He
 needed to find a local DE base, and what better way than to ask another
 Dobermensch? He began pondering how to phrase such a request, when he
 noticed a new message in his mailbox. And it wasn't $pam.

      From: the desk of Fleet Commander Aurelius Invid Manticore Samhain
      To: Trooper Cecrops

      Trooper Cecrops,

      You are ordered to report to the Doberman Empire training base in the
 vicinity of San Rafael, Marin County, for the days beginning Friday, 19th
 December, to Thursday, 24th December, for the purpose of your Trooper
 training. On Friday, 19th December, a man will arrive to escort you to the
 training base. Be ready to leave by noon.

      Cecrops carefully read the message. He quickly decided that he was
 going to show up for training a few weeks sooner than expected. He needed
 to report the days events to someone, and he needed training if he was to
 survive very long in battle. Since there were no directions to the base in
 the message, Cecrops began to compose a reply, but then he heard the
 doorbell ring.
      "I'll get it!" Cecrops yelled out to his father, who had already gone
 to bed. Cecrops opened the front door. A tall man stood outside wearing
 what appeared to be a monk's cloak.
      The man steadied himself with a wooden staff as he stood straight and
 pulled back his cowl. He had black hair and a short black beard tinged with
 grey. Cecrops could see wisdom and kindness in his eyes. He looked Cecrops
 in the eyes, and not so much asked as declared:

      "Trooper Cecrops."

      Cecrops was a bit taken aback at the situation. "Um, yeah, I'm
 Cecrops. Who are you?"
      The fellow stepped inside the house. "My name is unimportant. What is
 important is that you are in need of assistance. I am a Brother of Grimace.
 I have come to help you on your journey, and to answer any questions you
 might have."
      "My... journey?" Cecrops wondered.
      "You are beginning what will become a long and arduous journey. It
 will take great strength and spirit if you are to complete your journey. I
 will offer whatever help you need in order to get started."
      Cecrops was perplexed by these philosophical remarks. "So, this is
 sorta like that car commercial, 'Life is a journey, enjoy the ride.'" The
 Brother winced and shook his head. Cecrops did not notice, and continued
 talking. "Oh, one thing, aren't you here a bit early? According to an e-
 mail I got today, you're not due for another couple weeks."
      "We can answer all these questions later. Come with me, I will take us
 to a place where we can talk, and then I will bring you to a base of the
 Doberman Empire."
      "Thanks. If I'm not coming back for a while, can I get some things
 packed?"
      "Of course, I will wait."
      "Thanks. Come on inside, no use getting wet."
      The Brother of Grimace stepped inside and sat down on the couch as
 Cecrops went into his room and began packing his duffle bag. The bag was
 small, only enough to hold a change of clothes and a few other things.
 Within a couple of minutes Cecrops walked out. "Okay, let's go." They
 walked outside, and Cecrops locked the door behind them. Cecrops followed
 the Brother out to the sidewalk. "No car?" Cecrops asked confusedly. "Where
 we headed?"
      The Brother smiled. "Where else?"
      "Of course," Cecrops realized. "But won't there be police everywhere,
 with what happened today and all?"
      "There is another in this city," reasoned the Brother. "Do you not
 know of it?"
      Cecrops remembered. "Oh yeah, that's right." The two walked west
 towards the freeway, and another McDonald's.

      To Be Continued...