Operation Pacifica: A Race Through Dark Places
by Admiral J-Rock, TRES Corps




"There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to
  change. It is: to use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of
  wounds, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum of time."  --
  General George S. Patton, Jr.



PACIFICA ISLAND, THREE MILES FROM SPONGIN CITY OUTSKIRTS
DAY ELEVEN OF OPERATION PACIFICA


# Public Enemy "By The Time I Get To Arizona" _Apocalypse 91_


 "Glad I finally got out of this jungle," J-Rock said, pushing aside
  some foliage as he guided his Badlander (already in robot mode) eastward.
  He had been able to use a cut path that looked like a tornado had blown
  through it for this journey. J-Rock was not complaining, for anything was a
  damn sight better than poke-through-the-jungle with a beam saber for an
  impromptu machete and Spongins taking potshots over three miles.


 He picked a clear spot in the steppes he had just entered and moved
  a lever into the down position. Almost immediately, the legs turned 180
  degrees while the torso remained facing forward. Limbs folded away as the
  front abdominal plating changed into the front end of a automobile-type
  vehicle. Within seconds, J-R sat in the driver's seat of a six-wheeled
  Hummer wannabee.


 Putting the transmission into drive, he set out across the steppes
  for about three seconds before realizing that Public Enemy made for sorry
  travelling music. He stabbed the fast-forward button on the floptical drive,
  cutting off "By The Time I Get To Arizona" in favor of a new song...



# Rancid "I Wanna Riot" _"Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" soundtrack_


 "That sounds about right," J-R intoned before stepping on the gas,
  causing the rear tires to throw "rooster tails" of dirt into the air. The
  Badlander responded quite nicely to the sudden burst of acceleration,
  hurtling across the steppes. J-R levelled the speed off at 70 mph, wanting
  to save the engine for a real emergency.


 "Hang in there, Owsen," he muttered. "I'm coming for ya!"


...


TEN MINUTES LATER...


 As J-R sped eastward, the amount of vegetation decreased until he
  was driving through a barren, rocky desert. He punched the air conditioning
  on high, by now singing along with Cab Calloway (or mangling the song,
  depending on your point of view) on "Minnie the Moocher".


 In fact, this drive was going so well, he could almost convince
  himself that this was just like his twice-yearly pilgrimage to Bryan/College
  Station.


 Almost...


 Meanwhile, Rohm'El, Lyran mage of the Fourth Circle, was pressing a
  creature grown to resemble binoculars to his face, scanning the horizon for
  any Jihaddi coming his way. The creature's enhanced vision soon picked out a
  dust cloud in the distance, which soon resolved into a obnoxiously huge
  jeep. Those Jihaddi would not pass. He would see to that.


 "The enemy approaches!" he shouted to the small army of HellWyrm
  Bots and thanatins behind him. "Assume positions and be ready!"


 A threat siren echoed in J-R's ears as missiles flew toward his
  Badlander from behind some dunes. Swerving wildly, he happened to evade the
  missiles, only to find a small army of thanatins crest the dune just ahead.
  "Very well," J-R snarled, "you beasties are about to find out why you
  shouldn't play in traffic."


# Kinuko Oomori "Victory"  _Bubblegum Crisis Complete Vocal Collection, vol. 1_


 But before J-R could mash the accelerator to the floor and send
  thanatins scattering like so many bowling pins, a BLANKEE from a B'habi
  B'Hopp Bot enveloped the jeep, slowing it considerably. "Enough screwing
  around!" J-R shouted, moving the lever on the dash upward.


 The Badlander's geometry shifted, soon becoming a robot that was
  down on all fours as a B'Hii J'Haa Bot broke cover, opting for a Death From
  Above attack. The Badlander stared at its leaping B'Harnate counterpart
  before plasma pulses flew from gunports on either side of the head. The
  energy bolts perforated the Bot in several places before it disintegrated in
  midair.


 Withdrawing a beam saber and a nasty-looking studded mace from
  various compartments, the Badlander shucked the BLANKEE off as a Hell Wyrm
  Bot emerged from behind a rock outcropping. J-R just pointed the mace at the
  Bot as if he was challenging it. This served to draw the pilot's attention
  away from the missile that flew from the arm holding the mace. By the time
  the Wyrm-Minion figured out that a missile had been launched at his Bot, it
  was far too late. The PIST missile impacted the Bot right square in the
  chest, hitting the power coupling and creating a massive power surge that
  vaporized the Bot as its reactor went supercritical.


 The sounds of clanging echoed into the crew compartment as J-R
  looked down to find thanatins beginning to swarm his Badlander. Plasma
  pulses decimated the charging hordes as he beat the few that were swarming
  into a fine pulp using the mace.


 A screech echoed across the battlefield, sounding like hundreds of
  nails being scraped against a chalkboard. J-R closed his eyes and gritted
  his teeth, trying to block out the godawful noise. As the noise faded,
  another resounding clang shook the Badlander, followed by another siren
  which announced damage to the internal structure. Whirling to face his new
  adversary, J-Rock saw a B'Hii J'Haa Bot bring its sword back for a second
  swing.


 "Not today!" he shouted as the beam saber sliced the b'harnium
  blade in half as they met. Then J-R brought the mace down on the Bot's head
  before the Wyrm-Minion pilot could do anything but foul himself.


 A staccato burst of cannon fire quested toward the Badlander,
  barely missing it as J-R leapt aside. "Have a nice tall glass of shut the
  f**k up," J-R growled as he sent his own plasma pulses at the B'Habi B'Hopp
  Bot.  Plasma boiled away two of the belly-mounted cannons. Additional pulses
  burned through the armor before hitting the ammo magazines, giving the belly
  a reason to be bloated. The resulting explosion expanded the torso outwards,
  almost like a late-'40's cartoon cat's after swallowing dynamite. Then a
  raging inferno burst forth from the holes in the torso and the cockpit glass
  as the B'Harnate mecha was blown apart.


 J-Rock would have said something catchy at that point, had
  lightning bolts not lit up the Badlander like a Christmas tree.
  "YEEARRRGGGHH!!!" he yelled as the electricity crawled around the cockpit.
  He thought he could smell his own hair burning as the mecha spasmed, spun
  around, and fell on its back.


 "How stupid of a Jihaddi to bring a machine to a battle of spells,"
  a voice called out.


 'Shoulda known there'd be Lyrans around,' he thought as he feebly
  clawed at the buckle on his four-point harness. A figure in lavender robes
  calmly strode up a dune overlooking the supine Roadstriker to admire his
  handiwork. "A pity, really," he called out. "You never even stood a chance
  against me."


 J-R put his hands to the emergency windshield latch, twisted, and
  pushed out, opening the windshield as if it was another window. A fireball
  arced toward the Badlander's chest, forcing J-R back into the crew
  compartment as the flame exploded in midair. "There is no escape," the Lyran
  said very matter-of-factly. "You cannot hide from me forever, you know."


 Electricity of an entirely different sort began to play over J-R's
  body. "Maybe you're right," he said as he rolled out of the Badlander in
  mid-transformation...


# White Zombie "I'm Your Boogieman" _"The Crow: City of Angels" soundtrack_


 Rohm'El's eyes widened behind his mask. He had expected a
  Dobermensch to be driving that mechanical contraption. Granted, the pilot
  had to possess no small amount of skill in order to make short work of
  Rohm'El's forces.


 Except that no known Dobermensch mechapilot had skin that turned
  grey with accompanying visual effects. As the pilot stood up and yelled a
  blood-curdling "NNNNYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!" to the
  heavens, Rohm'El swallowed hard and redoubled his concentration. Maenads are
  quite dangerous game, after all.


 Slider turned to regard the Lyran for a brief second, unquenchable
  hatred burning in his bloodshot eyes. "I 'ope yer inshurunce is paid up,
  panzee!" he shouted before jumping over a small fire that was consuming a
  dead thanatin.


 Rohm'El had to act quickly or else he would surely die. He had the
  perfect spell in mind, and immediately cast it. A geyser of water erupted
  from the ground where the Maenad was standing. The intense pressure from the
  water jet would slice him in half, winning Rohm'El the battle with little to
  no risk to himself.


 Unfortunately for him, Slider jumped again the second he landed,
  reaching altitudes that would make Michael Jordan envious. He threw in a
  half-twist at the apex of his jump, and landed behind the Lyran, facing the
  mage's backside. The feral reared back and brought a Claw'd hand down the
  length of the mage with all the strength he could bring to bear.   For the
  second or so that Rohm'El had left to live, he could relate to a hard-boiled
  egg in an egg slicer.


 Slider kicked a half of Rohm'El's head down the slope of the dune
  he was standing on. "Yeah! Dat's wot ya get!" he shouted to the corpse
  before creatively rearranging it, namely putting the other half of the head
  between the butt cheeks, and putting the left leg where the right arm was
  (and vice versa).


 "I 'ope fer yer sake ya didn't break it permenuntlee," Slider spat
  at the half-a-head at the foot of the slope as he climbed back into his
  Badlander. After poking around in the fusebox resetting breakers, he crossed
  his fingers and pressed the start button...


 The Badlander's engine started right away, the sound of the reactor
  bringing a smile to Slider's face. He brought the Badlander up on all fours
  before pulling the transformation lever down. After the Badlander performed
  self-origami, Slider looked around and said, "I gotta get goin'. Fingz sure
  got dead around 'ere."


 He mashed the accelerator and continued eastward on a date with
  destiny.




To be continued in "The Long Night"...