Operation: Pacifica, Nexus
by DeadLock the Feral (NYAR!), (aka CyberPyro, deadlock@one.net)


 "You!  Sponge minions!" yelled a fat, balding man in a charcoal
  gray business suit as he strode into the room.  Cindy looked up, wondering
  why this pointy-haired man was trying to distract her and her friends from
  their game.


 "Yes?"


 "All five of you need to go down to the medical level and assist
  Doctor Xh'an'ul with his experiments."


 "Don't we have to be nurses to play doctor?" asked Cindy.


 "Don't worry, all of you can do it.  Now go."

...


 The five sponge minions marched downwards through the Lyran
  fortress' labyrinth of levels.  Cindy lead the way with Jeffrey and Tommy
  walking side by side behind her.  Teddy and Melissa walked side by side
  behind the other three minions.


 "But WHY do we have to help the Lyrans!?  They scare me!" whined
  Jeffrey.  Teddy's foot hooked forward, caught Jeffrey's ankle mid-step, and
  caused him to tumble forwards.  Jeffrey landed face-first on the smooth
  marble floors with a dull slapping noise.  He began to cry almost
  immediately.


 "HE TRIPPED ME!!" screamed the spongy as blood poured from his
  crushed nose.  He pointed at Teddy, tears forming in his eyes.


 "Did you do that mean thing?!" demanded Cindy, almost breathless at
  the idea.


 "No!" yelled Teddy, doing his best to look shocked and hurt at the
  accusation.  He raised his b'habbi b'hopp doll to his face so he was peering
  over its tuft of green hair.  'Teddy' put on his most innocent expression as
  he used the plush doll to obscure his smile.  Spongies were marginally
  tolerable in small numbers, but when any of them started whining, it was
  intolerable.


 "Jeffrey, why did you lie to me?" asked Cindy.  She looked hurt.


 "I didn't lie!  That meanie tripped me!" Jeffrey whined.


 "Let's all sing a song!" suggested Melissa.  The minions began
  their song about 'seasons of the year' as Jeffrey whined to himself.  Tommy
  made a special effort to hug Jeffrey, then he too, began to sing.



...


[place: Lyran medical level 27, Lyran fortress]


 Xh'an'ul shuffled down the rough hewn stone corridor towards the
  lab he had been assigned.  Why did he have to work on this project?  These
  things were best left to the 6th or 7th Circles, especially when the
  subject's will was so strong.


 The Lyran's crimson robe snagged on a sharp protrusion in the
  tunnel and tore.  He snarled in anger, yanking his robe free without caring
  if the hole became wider.


 Xh'an'ul stopped at the door to his laboratory in a huff.  He
  straightened his robes and willed the door to move.  It obediently slid open
  to reveal the usual array of tables, shelves of flasks, and a beautiful
  young woman with flowing red hair and pale white skin sitting on his main
  examination table.


 "What are you doing here?"


 "I've come to watch your work, Xh'an'ul," responded the young
  woman.


 "I don't need a vampire's help to finish my work," sneered the
  Lyran.  Ariana laughed, swung her legs down from the desk, and walked over
  towards the sorcerer.  She knew from her spies that this Lyran secretly
  desired her, though it was considered an abomination in his race, and threw
  a little sway into her hips as she walked.


 "Who said I was going to help you?"  The vampiress barred her fangs
  as she approached.  "It will be more entertaining to watch you fail."


 "You will be disappointed, leech."  A knock echoed from the
  laboratory door, interrupting the argument.  "I'll prepare my work space.
  You tend to the crowd .. as you always do."


 Ariana bit back a retort and walked to the portal.  She curled her
  lip slightly as the five spongin entered.  She detested spongin.  They were
  weak, their blood unsatisfying, and far too easy to manipulate.


 "Get in here.  You've been expected!" yelled the vampiress as she
  pointed to where the spongin should stand.  The spongin filed past, eyes
  down in fear.


 "Cindy, Jeffrey, Tommy," ordered Xh'an'ul, "go down that corridor
  and bring me the experiment behind the bright red door."  The three spongin
  trampled off, eager to obey the Lyran, fearful of not acting quick enough.


 "You two, come with me."



...



[time: about 20 minutes later]


 Teddy hurried down the stone passage from elsewhere in the
  fortress.  He'd been sent on a last-minute errand by Xh'an'ul for some spell
  components and other implements.  He knocked on the lab door and was
  instantly admitted.


 The Lyran sorcerer promptly snatched his spell components from
  Teddy's hands and stalked over to his examination table.  He waved Cindy and
  Tommy away from the table as Ariana pulled Jeffrey roughly backwards since
  he hadn't moved on command.


 'Teddy' sucked in air as though he had been stabbed.  He stared
  wide-eyed at the form strapped on the examination table.  The man's body had
  once been lean, well-toned from hours of hard work on his parents' farm and
  later refined by months of rigorous athletic competition.  He had fleshed
  out into a large, strong man known for his vigor.


 Teddy tried to fight off shock as his eyes surveyed the man.  His
  torso, once made of smooth skin stretched across well-trained muscles, was
  now emaciated and crisscrossed with bizarre shaped scars.  His skin sunk
  between his ribs, moving slightly as he took a shallow breath, or twisted
  into some grotesque pattern of scar tissue.


 His arms and legs had fared worse than this torso.  The once rich
  muscles had vanished, only to be replaced by wrinkled skin dotted with
  tracks from repeated needle punctures, intricate patterns of scarification,
  and the infrequent tube which either extracted some bodily fluid or infused
  him with luminescent lavender chemicals.  Had it not been for the eyes, an
  icy blue that betrayed a sharp and active mind, none would have been able to
  identify him.


 "Chris," whispered Teddy, barely louder than his own heart beat
  which strained in his chest.  Lieutenant Butler's face, once graced with a
  beautiful smile and sparkling eyes, was now sullen, emaciated, wrinkled and
  yellowed.  His eyes spoke of unseeing madness, the kind that comes to men
  after weeks of unrelenting torture, of inhuman medical experiments, and
  continuous brain-washing.  His brain simply refused to see anymore in hopes
  this would go away.


 A single hot tear burned down Teddy's face as he took all this in.
  The memories of Chris shrank away from the horror secured on the table.  He
  let out a cry and was kicked violently in the side, sending him rolling
  across the floor.


 "Damn sponge minions!" yelled Xh'an'ul as he turned back to his
  work.  Ariana shot Teddy a nasty look and uncovered the trays of
  instruments.  Butler began to cry out, recognizing his torturers, and
  struggled against his bonds.


 "Shut up!" yelled the Lyran as Teddy's sobs came to his ears, "or
  be fed to a Saethrian!"  The other four sponge minions in the chamber
  squealed, betraying their terror of the Lyrans' pet killers.


 Xh'an'ul removed a set of goggles from the uncovered tray nearest
  him.  "Hold him," ordered the doctor.  The four minions grabbed each of
  Chris' limbs and pressed them down onto the table, further immobilizing him.
  Ariana stroked Chris' forehead as he began to panic, offering false comfort,
  as he recognized the prelude to torture.


 "Bring me a scalpel!  It's the one with the bright blue handle."
  ordered Xh'an'ul as he cruelly inserted a needle-like projection into Chris'
  arm.  The human whimpered, fighting to remain silent, as a nagenta colored
  fluid began pumping into his arm.  Another needle was shoved into his chest,
  extracting a steady flow of blood.


 The sponge in question just stood still, staring at the doctor.  It
  didn't move, save for tears rolling down its face and wetting its uniform.


 "Bah!" exclaimed Ariana, "we got another sponge who can't handle
  these things!  Honestly, I thought the guys at the Video Control Center
  screened these things."  A pointed sigh as the other minions held down the
  thrashing human.  "Well, fine, I'll get it."


 The vampiress retrieved the scalpel and handed it to the doctor who
  bent down to get a proper view of his subject's eyes.  The spongies
  struggled to hold Butler's limbs.  Chris began to thrash and scream wildly
  as the surgical tool's point descended towards his bright blue eye. He shook
  his head, only to have it gripped in the cold claws of the undead.


 A noise like someone hacking up a lung echoed throughout the
  laboratory, causing the Lyran doctor to break his concentration.  "Someone
  shut that spongy up!" he barked.


 Ariana jerked suddenly, releasing her grip on the human's head, as
  she fell to the floor clawing at the long-nosed scissors embedded in her
  throat.  Blood splashed across the Lyran's shoulder and soaked into his
  surgical outfit as Tommy toppled over, the largest part of a scalpel
  protruding from the back of his neck.


 Xh'an'ul attempted to raise his arms, hoping to ward off the blow
  that came a split second after he registered an attacker next to him.
  Teddy's fist struck him harshly in the jaw, snapping the right side neatly
  in two and releasing a dozen teeth from their moorings.  A second crushing
  uppercut collided with his solar plexus so hard that skin split open.  He
  flew towards the wall, bounced off, and landed solidly on his back.


 Cindy, Melissa, and Jeffrey retreated in terror as Teddy's body
  grew.  The skin ripped open, and fell as ash from the emerging form.  Big
  Ass Claws[tm] materialized on DeadLock's hands as the Holy Warp Spasm seized
  his being.


 "NYAR!" thundered from the walls as the Maenad blurred towards the
  three spongies who promptly wet their pants.


 DeadLock was upon them.  Cindy died instantly, the front of her
  skull ripped away by a whistling claw swipe.  Her body twisted violently as
  it absorbed the shock, the remnants of her skull splattering among the
  flasks of a shelf across the lab.


 Jeffrey fumbled for his pistol, then squealed as the Maenad grabbed
  his upper arm.  The minion's scream of agony proved a perfect counterpoint
  as his limb ripped from its socket.  His life ended as five talons pierced
  his chin, stabbed up into his brain and yanked forward, destroying his
  skull.


 A panicked shot rang out, blowing a large hole in Chris' examining
  table.  Melissa's head snapped around, the skin on her face split open, as
  Jeffrey's arm was used as a primitive club.  She fell to the floor stunned.


 The spongie attempted to run for the only exit, scrambling across
  the floor.  She took three more steps before the screaming Maenad was in
  striking distance.


 A fierce, open-palmed blow to the back of her head sent her
  reeling.  The spongy let out a horrified scream as the Maenad kicked her
  over, placed the back of his hands together, and stabbed quickly downwards
  with his Claws[tm].


 The Owsenite2 talons easily pierced the minion's soft flesh and
  sternum.  Vomited blood rolled down the side of the dying creature's face
  and shot across on the floor.  The metal talons dug in, turning bone to
  powder.


 DeadLock screamed in rage as he dug his Claws[tm] farther into the
  spongy's chest.  Claws[tm] pierced the b'harnate creature's heart in three
  places, causing it to thrash and gurgle as the Maenad worked his Claws[tm]
  into a newly-formed cavity.


 Xh'an'ul spat out a tooth and a mouthful of blood.  He looked
  around, the world gone hazy in a shroud of pain.  The Jihaddi had shattered
  his jaw, making the creation of syllables to summon magic impossible.  He
  was useless without magic.  He was a dead Lyran.


 His eyes opened wide in horror as he saw a furious Maenad dig his
  Claws into a minion, lifting her off the floor.  The spraying blood and
  twitches only served to enrage the snarling Jihaddi more.  His entire body
  flexed as his claws made a wet slurping noise before hooking into the
  ribcage.


 DeadLock's howl of rage terrified the Lyran as he pulled with all
  his strength.  The minion's torso began to open with wet ripping noises.
  Bone and cartilage parted from muscles and skin to allow half its torso to
  part with the rest of the body.  Warm organs splattered onto the floor.
  Purplish-pink intestines impacted on the hard cement floor and ruptured,
  releasing half digested food and feces.


 Xh'an'ul rolled onto his side and vomited the contents of his
  stomach onto the floor.  DeadLock tossed the dismembered corpse aside with a
  pair of dull thuds.  He stalked towards the Lyran, snarling.


 Ariana pounced on DeadLock's back, screeching as she fully extended
  her fangs.  Her nails dug into his chest and she as she bent down to bite.
  The Feral responded by stabbing over his shoulder and behind his back with
  his Claws[tm].


 The vampiress hissed in pain as her enemy grabbed her by the throat
  and threw her to the ground.  Marble chips erupted from the floor as the
  Claws[tm] ripped through where she should have been.  She twisted over in
  her flight path, righted herself, and hovered five feet above the floor near
  the back of the lab as she decided the next attack.


 "Last mistake, ever make, will you," snarled DeadLock, fire and
  light roiling across his body.  His Claws[tm] thrust forward, focusing the
  attack.  Ariana hissed inhumanely, the noise of a vampire caught in the sun
  without a place to go.  Light and fiery tendrils torn into her undead flesh,
  destroying faster than she could understand the damage.  Her cries ended as
  the tendrils claimed her throat and jaw.  Seconds later, the tendrils
  disappeared amid raining ash.


 DeadLock turned his raging stare onto the sprawled Lyran.


 'No!  No .. No .. NO!!' thought the Lyran, 'PLEASE!  Don't kill me
  with the claws!  I'll never make it to L'yhhr'ul'a!' the Maenad first
  removed one claw, tossed it aside, and then the other.  His hands and arms
  flexed, cords standing out as his muscles moved.


 "End your life with my own hands, I will."  DeadLock grabbed the
  Xh'an'ul's shattered face, rolled the skin into his grip, and pulled the
  Lyran to his feet.  His free fist smashed into the alien's nose, crushing
  it.


 Xh'an'ul toppled to the floor, moaning loudly.  Butler cried out,
  his alarm at the events compelling him to vocalize something, despite his
  months of training to be silent during the experiments.


 "Chris..." DeadLock looked at his friend strapped on the table,
  treated like something less than a human being, and the sadness returned.
  He bit back tears and turned to the Lyran.  A quick grab, swing of his arm,
  and Xh'an'ul's skull smeared across the smoothly polished floor.


 The Maenad eyed his bloodied, gore covered body.  His flesh
  disintegrated into living fire, consumed the gore, and reformed.  He
  gingerly approached his friend.


 'They're torturing me about CP again!  NO!' thought Butler in a
  terrified moment before he tried to take refuge.  The Lyrans had come to
  him, tortured him, warped his body, drugged him, performed surgery, altered
  him, and ran elaborate schemes of implanted-memory on him.  Somehow he'd
  found a place to hide in his mind.  A solace where the storm of agony and
  whispers of the Lyrans couldn't reach him.


 He'd felt the protection of his hiding place shrinking day by day.
  The Lyrans knew he resisted, but they didn't know how.  Every way of torture
  seemed to whittle away at his resourcefulness, his ability to hold some
  shred of himself from his tormentors.


 "Chris..." called the voice again, this time a warm hand touching
  his face, gently caressing it.  His solace began to melt as his tormentors
  did the one thing he counted on them never to do: to touch him without
  causing harm.  He began to sob openly, no longer caring if they would punish
  him.  In fact, he hoped they would.  Perhaps he could hide again, resist
  some more.


 The flow of Lyran poison into his body stopped.  He gasped in
  surprise, not in pain, but in the odd numb feeling that comes to you when
  something which has been attached to you is removed.  He felt emptiness
  where the needles were and then soft guaze patches placed over the holes.


 "YOU WON'T BREAK ME!!" he screamed, thrashing at his bonds.  This
  new method was going to do just that.  He had to get them back to the old
  routine.  The place he was safe.  The way he knew to resist.  He was tired,
  and couldn't fight with his mind anymore.  Instinct ruled him.


 "No one is ever going to harm you this way again," spoke the soft,
  deep voice.  Chris' eyes watered, he couldn't take this.


 "KILL ME!  STOP THIS!  PLEASE!  KI..." to his complete surprise,
  the bonds on his upper torso were released one at a time.  Then the waist
  strap came loose.  The leg shackles followed shortly thereafter.  His arms
  were freed last.


 'Could this be?!' he thought to himself, 'Is this the end of hell?'
  He was lifted into a sitting position and then enveloped into the strong
  arms of his friend.  A gentle, caring embrace.


 'Chris,' spoke DL into his mind, 'I..."


 "NOOOO!!!" screamed Butler.  They *were* trying to break him!  He
  fought as best he could, kicking, punching, screaming, biting, anything to
  ward off this hell.  The form holding him recoiled at his assault, releasing
  him.


 'YOU ARE BEING ADDRESSED BY A SUPERIOR OFFICER, LIEUTENANT!!'
  boomed into his mind.  Strong hands gripped his frail shoulders, shaking him
  gently.  He stopped fighting.  'AT EASE!!'  The voice touched his solace,
  its intent and caring becoming clear to him.  This was Real.


 "I.." started Chris before he began to sob uncontrollably.
  Everything that had been bottled up him: the pain, the rage, the
  desperation, the agony, the despair, and the joy at human touch after these
  long months of nothing but torture and hurt came out of him a torrent of
  emotion that he couldn't control.


 DeadLock pulled him tight to his chest and sat down on the floor,
  cradling Chris in his arms.  His friend screamed, everything surfacing at
  once, the noise shaking his wasted frame as too much tried to escape at
  once.  He coughed, struggled for breath, and felt the Lyran's poison begin
  to take hold of him.  Chris choked, the poison trying to kill now that it
  sensed he was free.


 "You'll be all right," spoke DL through tears of his own.  "You're
  going to be all right."  He began a process he'd not done in centuries.
  DL's soul gradually moved from its resonance with fire, dancing to the
  ancient, long forgotten songs coming from his throat.   His spirit began to
  wander, carrying his friend's soul with him as he looked for those he
  needed.


 The duo's souls crossed the Pacific Ocean with a thought.  DL began
  to sing the ancient hymns he'd learned and rarely vocalized.  He walked
  through pristine rain forests of the Amazon river, calling to the life
  spirits.  He walked to North America and sang the songs of his friends,
  calling them to his aid.  They began to come to his side, leaving their
  burial mounds and unmarked graves, the centuries claiming no hold on them.
  First one voice, that of a wizened old woman joined his, followed by
  choruses as the spirits understood their task.


 The healing began as DL's spirit stood in a crowd of many, circles
  upon circles singing for the young man and working their arts.



...




 Chris' eyes flickered open and focused on the smiling face of his
  friend.  He could see!  He couldn't remember what had happened, but he knew
  the poison was gone.  Though weak, he felt stronger than before he'd been
  captured.


 DL's hands, sparkling with bluish-green light, passed over Chris'
  shoulders.  As the light dissipated, the scars from countless Lyran tortures
  vanished, leaving clear, unmarked skin behind.  Black, writhing energies
  flowed up DL's arms, across his shoulders, and funneled down a necklace
  where they collected in a piece of onyx.


 Chris sighed at the pleasure of the scars, poison, and pain leaving
  his body.  Soon his face, neck, arms, chest, and back were free of the marks
  the Lyrans had made on him.  A few moments later, he sighed contentedly.
  His body was free of months of pain.


 "What is that stone you're wearing?" he asked, the world coming
  into focus.


 "It's a receptacle of all the pain that doesn't belong to you.  I'm
  going to give it back to its rightful owner."


 "Who?"  Chris attempted to move from his friend's embrace, but
  found his body to still be too weak.  DL held him closer, keeping him from
  falling.


 "You won't be around when it happens, so don't worry about it."


 "I want to know."


 "You'll find out after the fact," replied DL as he cradled his
  friend who returned the embrace warmly.  "We need to get you some wearable
  clothes."


 "Gee, I rather likely the idea of walking out of this place in
  nothing at all," laughed Chris.


 "Heh, well, we're not leaving yet.  You do need clothes though."


 "What do you MEAN we're not leaving yet?"


 "I mean Charn'El is still in control of this island.  b'harnii and
  its cousins are destroyed, for the mean time, and the banana pajamas are
  dead.  Permanently."


 "Can't we just leave?"


 "No.  It's not that simple.  Charn'El has to be faced before we can
  leave."


 "Where are we, by the way?" asked Chris.  He'd not known his exact
  whereabouts in months.


 "Charn'El's fortress, lower levels."


 "You've got to be kidding me."


 "Do I ever joke about stuff like this?" asked DL as he leaned his
  friend against the wall.  A few moments later he tossed some maintenance
  crew uniforms at Chris.


 "No, I don't suppose you do."


- DLtF(NYAR!)
Copyright, Pyrokinetic Productions, Inc. (1997)