Operation: Pacifica, No One Knows
by J. FoxGlov (foxglov@ksu.edu)




 A wasteland is like this. Gray earth, like ash, stretching for
  miles.  If the scene calls for more, uprooted trees, jagged rocks and
  smashed pieces of random material will jut out of the landscape, and might
  give the eye something to look at for a brief moment before it realizes the
  whole scene is the same.


 Everything was in place here in the wastelands of Pacifica, the
  island whose nature seemed anything but natural. North through the city, a
  dense jungle, and searing desert, this was the last distance to cross before
  reaching the castle. Because of that, the air was thick with a dark ethereal
  haze that could only be described as other-worldly. That and the scattering
  of decay mingled to hang like a stench; like smelling misery itself.


 And J had his back flat against it.


 "What are you saying..." He leaned forward and stood, brushing dust
  off from a few places, out of habit. "We knew you were here. We had to come.
  Sorry we caught you on the way out... c'mon, let's go."


 "It's not that simple, J." The dragon Kyremius Hamsterrific
  Nebuchadnezzar also stood at his full ten foot height like a great azurite
  statue on a vast ashen platform.


 J's confusion quickly gave way to a flash of rage. Three Lyrans
  quickly advanced, wearing magenta robes. These weren't novitiates; these
  three were of a higher circle. One wore a robe of a slightly brighter shade,
  marking him as the highest adept of the three.


 Their hands reached forward, a look of ready concentration on their
  faces as they slowed their pace to stand on one side behind Hamster.  J's
  ears flattened back, lips curling to a snarl, in an instant just as ready.


 "Stop." Hamster turned in a fluid motion, arms reaching between
  both parties. He looked into all four faces until the expressions changed,
  reverting to dissonant confusion.


 "Mind explaining to me what the hell's going on, Captain?"


 "You are not to interfere with our business, dragon. Stand aside."
  Both reactions, the head Lyran's and J's, came almost simultaneously.
  Hamster showed no change in resolve, first speaking to J. "I'll explain."
  Then, to the Lyrans. "Off with you. Charn'El himself granted me leave over
  this land, and I'm in no mood to argue."


 The Lyrans chuffed hotly. "If the Lord of Lyra hears word that you
  protected a Maenad from our wrath, it'll be your head, not ours."


 Hamster cooly stepped aside, turning his flank away from the mages.
  He drew his arm back in front of him, staring at it briefly yet piously.
  Before J's startled eyes, Hamster's forearm transmuted to a straight, deadly
  sharp blade.


 An instant later, the dragon whipped his arm in a swift yet subtle
  arc back in the direction of the Lyrans, then dropped it to his side. The
  faces of the three froze in expressions of surprise and fear. Then their
  heads separated from their shoulders, falling in neat order beside each
  other.


 Hamster returned his arm to normal, and faced J again, the latter
  still a touch confused. "For a moment there, I thought you weren't on my
  side anymore."


 "No, J." Hamster sighed again, bending a little to look J in the
  eye. "I'm not on your side. I'm not on their side." He glanced over his
  shoulder. "Those three were just annoying me."


 J made a face. "What are you telling me?"


 Another deep dragon sigh. "You still don't understand, and I don't
  blame you. I was never good at explaining myself to anyone else, let alone
  someone who wasn't a dragon."


 J crossed his arms, dwarfed by the huge mass of blue and amber.
  "Then why don't you try now. I need to know."


 High in the mountains north of the wastelands, in a tower of a
  castle shielded by a large surrounding fortress, a black-robed figure walked
  silently to a window to survey the lands. From this vantage point, one could
  see for miles to the south and west.


 Hamster shuddered just a bit. "We're being watched, J. This can't
  take very long."


 "Who's saying it needs to be long? Come on, let's just go. Surely
  you can reach the ships from here."


 "I can't go with you, J. It would be ..." Hamster looked to the
  side, pensive a moment. "... awkward."


 "More awkward than staying here? You're not making any sense..."


 "I have no wish to stay here. I only managed to convince Charn'El
  that I did, so he let me wander out here. You'd be coming for me, I knew
  that."


 J tilted his head sideways. "But you said it was..."


 Hamster showed the faintest edge of a smile, and laid a hand on J's
  shoulder. "A mistake. In the strictest sense, it was a mistake. I knew you
  too well, Admiral. You made sure we were friends regardless of how distant I
  must have seemed. I knew you'd make the mistake of trying to find me."


 A smile was forced upon J as well. It couldn't be helped,
  regardless of what he heard the dragon say. "So what does this mean? Now
  we've come this far, and you won't go back with us?"


 Hamster drew his arm back, and gave a short nod. "No, I'm afraid
  not.  You have to go on without me."


 "Why?" J was stern in his reply. "I can't imagine why, after all
  you've accomplished, that you would just walk away."


 "It's... no disrespect to you. At least there's none meant. This
  fight, the Jihad, just isn't in my heart. I just wish you could
  understand..."


 A pause. "What will happen to you?"


 "I don't know..." Hamster sucked in a breath through his nostrils.
  "I've always felt my purpose was to observe humans. I'd thought I could do
  that in service to the Jihad, but I've found that I can't. I'll find some
  other way to watch the world happen."


 Hamster reached out, pulling J's arms apart and taking his hands.
  "You have to do whatever you feel is right. If the Jihad feels right to you,
  you have to give it whatever you can. Don't quit just because I did."


 J listened, amazed. "I... I guess the best advice... I could give
  you would be the same."


 Hamster chuckled slightly, a deep "Hm." as he let J go. He turned
  to the east, breaking into a run.


 J watched, shielding his eyes from the sun, shouting after. "Will I
  see you again?"


 Hamster spread his wings, planted one foot, then soared into the
  air.  "Who knows..."


 Within the castle, an exasperated Charn'El leaned out of the
  window, just in time to see the dragon escape. Cursing, he retreated to the
  awe of his followers, who made haste to see that preparations were still
  being made. Let the Jihaddi come. The force of Lyra will strike fear in
  their hearts.


 Much farther south, a convoy of Doberman troops encountered a lone
  gold-scaled Aurak carrying a sick human through the desert. Personnel
  shuffled about in transport vehicles, and the two were sent back with a
  doctor in tow. Chris Andrews directed the driver not to take the road
  closest to the western wall.


 Back in the wastelands, J watched the blue dot vanish into the
  afternoon sky. He turned to the mountains, straining upwards to see the
  castle within the fortress walls.


 _Give it whatever you can, and don't quit._ J thought to himself.
  _Why didn't I think of that?_



-tbc