Path: geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!cs.utexas.edu!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net !Sprint!newsfeed.internetmci.com!205.231.236.10!newspeer.monmouth.com!newsxfer.i td.umich.edu!newsrelay.iastate.edu!news.iastate.edu!alexbell From: alexbell@iastate.edu (Alex Hibbs) Newsgroups: alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die Subject: Operation Home Front: Answers (REPOST) Date: 3 Apr 1998 09:51:15 GMT Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA Lines: 139 Message-ID: <6g2bej$qmv$1@news.iastate.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: isua1.iastate.edu X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.1 (NOV) Xref: geraldo.cc.utexas.edu alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die:70083 Operation Home Front: Answers Author: Trooper Cecrops of the Doberman Empire Cecrops followed the Brother of Grimace into the McDonalds. They silently waited in line for a while, and then the Brother ordered hamburgers and Sticky Shakes[tm] for both of them. Cecrops took a sip of his Shake[tm], having never tasted one before. It was very sweet, with an intense cornsyrupy flavour. Someting like this should keep him on edge all night. Little wonder it was a favourite of the Jihad in battle situations. As they took their food to a table and sat down, Cecrops was the first to speak. "Say, why did you come so early?" The Brother put down his 'burger. "I came because of what I sensed of your battles." Cecrops now remembered hearing that Brothers of Grimace had psychic powers. The Brother continued: "I could sense your success. I could sense your devotion to The Cause[tm]. And I could sense that you had been using magical powers." Cecrops raised an eyebrow. "So... You.. sense these things." The Brother nodded in the affirmative. "Well... My powers.. What did you sense of them?" The Brother of Grimace folded his arms and leaned over to Cecrops. He reached over and touched his hand to Cecrops' forehead. Cecrops almost shouted out an objection, but a sudden thought told him not to. "You have very vast powers," the Brother said in a low voice. "You could use them to do many wonderous things if you use them right. If you don't..." The Brother dropped off. "If I don't.... Then what?" Cecrops asked. "Your powers.. must not be used for evil. You must take care that you do not get captured or spongified. Your powers can be turned against you; amplifed; used to do harm instead of good. There are those that could turn you into a tool and use you to their whim. "So, what are my powers? What exactly can I do?" Cecrops wondered. The Brother sighed, "Such things you will have to learn on your own. As I said before, you have vast powers, and they have only begun to surface. You must make sure that you are able to maintain control over your powers. I can help you in that respect. Is there anything else you wish to talk about?" Later in the meal, Cecrops asked about something that weighed heavily in his mind. "During my battle.. I fought a creature. A strange creature, I have never seen anything like it before." Cecrops described the creature. The Brother of Grimace listened intently to the description. He interrupted Cecrops midway through. "It sounds like you had a run-in with a Saethrian!" "A say-what?" Cecrops asked. "A Saethrian. Beings that were once independant, their entire race has been conquered and subjugated by the Lyrans. I sensed an indication of the remnants of Lyran involvement, but I had assumed I was sensing Lyran enhancements given to a Minion." "Yeah!" Cecrops affirmed. "One of those guys shot a lightning bolt at me or something!" "Hmm." The Brother thought. "An enhanced Minion and a Saethrian. Not bad. In a short while, the Jihad will have wiped out all traces of Lyrans on the planet." He smiled, then sat upright and asked Cecrops, "What colour did you say the Saethrian was again?" "Oh." Cecrops tried to remember. "Purple. A light purplish colour." "Light you say." "Yes, it was light purple. And pale green here and there." "Pale colouring. Well, I hate to cheapen your accomplishments, but that beast was either very sickly or very young. How large did you say it was?" "I don't think I said." "Well, do you remember?" The Brother asked. Cecrops tried to remember. "I would guess.. A little over 3 or 4 feet long. From tail to tip." "Ahh.. If you are telling the truth of this story, which I doubt you would have any intention to fabricate, then the Saethrian you fought was a very young specimen. Most likely under six months. A real baby. "A.. You mean.." Cecrops was dumbfounded. He had nearly been killed by this thing. "That was a *baby* Saethrian?!?? "Oh yes." The Brother continued unabashedly, in great contrast to Cecrops who was quite nervous. "The Minion was gifted with magical powers, so he must have been a valued slave of the Lyrans. If he had served them well enough it is a possibility that they might give him a baby Saethrian for a pet. If they had given him a grown up, it would have torn him... Oh!" The Brother halted when he heard the beeping of his JihadLink going off. Cecrops heard a beeping noise, and saw the Brother reach into his robes. "Drug deal!" he laughed. He soon came to notice, however, that this was no laughing matter. Cecrops heard the Brother mutter, "Why are they calling me on this? I am surprised I even carry it around anymore. Haven't used it in ages. Hmm..." The Brother dropped off into silent thought as he read the message on the Linker. "This is not good. Cecrops!" "Yeah?" "Finish your meal quickly, we are leaving as soon as possible." "No problem." Cecrops finished the rest of his hamburger in four bites, and sucked down the last of his StickyShake[tm]. "What's up?" "Come on!" shouted the Brother. Cecrops grabbed his duffle and obligingly followed the Brother of Grimace out of the building and towards a deserted trainyard. "Here!" The Brother raised his hands, which began to glow. Soon, a bright portal of light opened up in front of the two. "Jump in!" "What? What is that?" Cecrops asked. "It is a teleportation tunnel which I have created! It leads right to a local Empire base. Go!" Cecrops faltered. "I.. I don't like the looks of this." Something about the portal was giving him a bad feeling. "Isn't there an easy way?" "This is the easy way!" The Brother declared. Creating a visible portal was the recommended procedure for introducing a person to teleportation. Instead of being surprised with a direct teleportation spell, the person will see the entryway and themselves make the choice to accept teleportation as a means of travel. Much easier on the mindset. However, Cecrops did not seem to have such a will. The Brother of Grimace sighed. This would have to be done the 'hard' way. Cecrops breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the portal close at the Brother's command. His sigh turned into a shout of terror as he felt himself being torn from his location on the Earth. "Come on! Come on! Stop fighting!" Anyone passing by would have doubted the sanity of the solitary robed figure, bent over in concentration. They would have seen his body quiver as he struggled, against what they would not know. Had they approached him, they would have seen his eyes were bright with magical energy. Cecrops struggled against the spell as he travelled through nether-space. He felt as though he was being crushed, and the sensation was extremely uncomfortable. He could not see, hear, or feel anything other than this sensation, and he did not like it. The Brother of Grimace struggled to maintain Cecrops in the teleport spell. If the spell failed he did not know where the Trooper would end up. "Fool! Stop fighting it! You're only making it harder on yourself!" Cecrops did not hear. The struggle continued for several hours. The Brother of Grimace suddenly fell to the ground. He slowly stood on one knee, his whole body shaking. He turned around and banged his fist on the ground, screaming oaths that a man of the cloth should not be heard saying. To be continued... ------ Copyright, 1997 Cecrops.