Operation: Pacifica, A Gathering of Hosts
by Prince Sheridan Iscarius, aka Shardik the Feral (NYAR!)

The flight from the Redemptor to TRES HQ went smoothly enough, thought Sheridan 
as the gunship came in for final approach.  The landing itself was uneventful, 
and the men on board the gunship readied themselves to disembark.


"Greetings, Commander Scaley-Butt," was the first thing Sheridan
  heard as he walked down the boarding ramp of the Thunderhawk.  "Oh shit,
  it's 'Pyro," thought Sheridan with a chuckle as he stepped onto the hangar
  floor and braced himself for the inevitable tackle.  Sheridan looked at his
  old friend and saw two things out of the ordinary: the concern on his face,
  and the Grand Admiral's epaulets.  The former he had seen in the past, the
  latter, however...


"'Pyro, where is Owsen?"

The new Grand Admiral shook his head.  "I'll explain what I can in the 
briefing.  Can you wait until then?"


"I guess I shall have to."

Sheridan looked about him and saw the rest of the people assembled, Samhain, 
Sabine, Matt Korth, Greier, and others... and his beloved Windigo, whom he 
immediately embraced.


"Mmmmmm, I love you too," cooed the beautiful atshen.  The pair
  enjoyed the moment, having seen little of each other after the invasion,
  Sheridan aboard the Redemptor preparing for the Chosen, Windigo rebuilding
  the Maenads and helping Samhain with the Doberman Empire.


The briefing went by quickly, Sheridan growling a bit too loudly at the mention 
of Lyrans on Pacifica and having to be hushed and voicing his opinion that a 
few Lyrans and some sponge minions would pose no real problem for 
battle-hardened troops, for which he was again hushed.

After the briefing, Sheridan took Windigo, CyberPyro, Samhain, Korth and Sabine 
aside for a moment, giving each of  them a hefty duffle bag he had brought with 
him from the gunship.  "Just in case something happens, I thought that we 
should have our full gear handy.  Then again, these are just a few spongions 
and their Lyran shepherds...  we should just be able to slide in, grab any 
hostages, and slide out before we're even noticed."  Sheridan smiled broadly, 
knowing that this small group, the first of the Chosen, were some of the 
Jihad's finest.  Nothing could go wrong.

That's when he noticed he going to be riding with Samhain...



TBC

(c)1996, Xaotica Publishing