Operation: Phoenix
Blood in the Streets
by Arsenal the Lone Warrior

(thanks to J-Rock for suggesting the title)



Cleveland, OH

        Arsenal, Gremlin, and Ghostling, a member of Arsenal's Covert Ops 
Team, stood back-to-back, surrounded by Lizards.  The Lizards were too 
numerous to count, and all were armed with plasma rifles.
        "Orders, Commander?" Ghostling asked.
        Arsenal stared one of the Lizards straight in the eye as he 
replied.
        "Kill them all."
        The three Jihaddi ferociously attacked the Lizards. Arsenal drew 
the Ebony Blade, and charged headlong into the Lizard horde.  Ghostling 
used her unique stealth-suit to phase through them, causing quite a few 
Lizards to shoot themselves.  Gremlin simply tessered back and forth, 
shooting Lizards at random with his X-Rifle.
        "Split up," Arsenal radioed the others.
        "Right," Ghostling radioed back.  "We can do more damage that 
way."
        Arsenal slashed through a pair of Lizards and remote-activated 
his Excalibur.  The bike never made it.
        A second later, Arsenal had popped another microcapsule, and was 
riding another Excalibur down the streets of Cleveland, a Lizard 
transport in pursuit.

        "Those personal transports of the Warrior's have a unique energy 
signature," the lead X'Hirjq told her troops.  "Use that to track him."
        "By your command."

        Arsenal glanced in his rear-view mirror, and saw the Lizards' 
transport closing in. He mechamorphosed the cybercycle to the Armor 
configuration. Without even realizing it, his cybercycle's internal CD 
changer had selected Guns 'N' Roses: _G'N'R Lies_.  With "Reckless Life" 
blasting in his ears, he spun around and fired a Sponge-Seeker Missile 
at the transport.
        "Next victim?" he muttered, as the transport exploded.
        
        A few minutes later, a squad of Lizards, most dressed in various 
types of combat armor, left in a transport, headed towards Arsenal.
        Unnoticed by all, there was one other passenger on the transport. 
Invisible and hidden from all sensors, Ghostling hung on for her life 
underneath.

        Arsenal ran through the lobby of the First National Bank of 
Cleveland.  Luckily for him, the mayor had had enough brains to order the 
city evacuated.  That meant no innocent bystanders, and no hostage 
situations.  A better battlefield Arsenal could not wish for.
        Popping several microcapsules, Arsenal worked fast, laying down a 
little surprise for the Lizards.  Then he ducked out the back door as he 
heard a squad of Lizards enter through the front.

        "Spread out," the lead X'Hirjq told her troops.  "Our quarry came 
this way.  I can smell it."
        "Sub-Commander," one of the lower-ranking X'Hirjq called out.  "I 
found something."

        Arsenal watched as the main branch of the First National Bank of 
Cleveland erupted, then collapsed, the plasma bombs he'd set in the lobby 
destroying the building, and the Lizards with it.
        Arsenal chuckled to himself.  Oldest trick in the book, revamped 
for an urban environment.  It was one of the many tactics he'd used as 
part of a 23rd Century Jihad Underground cell.
        Popping another couple microcapsules, he started on the next 
surprise.

        "Commander," one of the X'Hirjq told her, "Unit 3 has been 
destroyed.  And now we're picking up multiple readings of the target.  
And they've split up, to different parts of this population center."
        "Multiple?!" This surprised the Commander.  "That simply cannot 
be!  There is no way for technology to exist on this backwater mudball 
that could fool our sensors."
        "With all due respect, Commander, but it has."
        "Send out teams to intercept each reading."

        From all over the city, each explosion indicated that another one 
of Arsenal's Wild Weasels had done it's job.
        Mechamorphsing the cybrecycle back to cycle mode, Arsenal 
dismounted.  Then he noticed the transport landing in the adjascent 
parking lot.
        "Oh, shit."
        <You said it, Lone Warrior,> the lead X'Hirjq thought to him.
        A quick count indicated ten X'Hirjq, seven of them wearing 
various types of battle armor.
        "Ten against one," he commented.  "My kind of odds."
        Arsenal leapt back onto his cycbercycle, and mechamorphosed into 
it's Armor mode, extending his Ion Blades.
        "Come and get me, Lizard-breaths!" he taunted.
        A lower-ranking X'Hirjq in what appeared to be light armor 
attacked him.  One Ion Blade swipe decapitated her.
        "That's one.  Who's next?"
        <She was an idiot anyway,> a X'Hirjq thought to him.  <How she 
earned the right to wear a light armor is beyond us.>
        Two armored X'Hirjq approached him, cutting blades whizzing.  
Arsenal automatically fired a pair of mini-misiles at them.  The missiles 
blasted through the faceplates of the armor, and exploded.
        "Care if I join the party, Commander?" Ghostling commented, 
regaining opacity and phasing out of the only Devourer-class X'Hirjq armor.  
The armor exploded from the inside.
        "Plasma bomb?" he asked her.
        "Right in the Lizard's mouth," she replied with a devilish grin.
        <Why do you fight?> an approaching Lizard though to him.  <You 
could make it easy on both of us if you just surrender.>
        "A Marine never surrenders."
        <A pity.  You are almost good enough to be a X'Hirjq.>
        "Wrong.  I'm better."
        Arsenal hit his thrusters, and landed on top of the Assault 
armors.  From there, he fired a salvo of missiles at the other remaining 
armored X'Hirjq.  The three heavy armors were heavily damaged, and the 
two other Assault armors were relatively unscathed.
        "Ghostling," he radioed.  "Take care of the heavies.  I'll take 
the Assault armors."
        Arsenal power-kicked the Assault armor in the faceplate.  Then, 
mechamorphosing back to cycle mode, he popped the cycle's fusion canister 
out of it's casing.  Then he set the canister to overload.
        "Eat blazing electric death, Lizard!" he yelled, tossing the 
canister through the hole in the faceplate.
        The fusion explosion was contained by the armor, but the EMP 
shorted out all electrical equipment, including Ghostling's stealth suit.
        <A very unexpected move, Warrior,> the lead X'Hirjq thought to 
him.  <Impressive.>
        "Wait'll you see this," he commented, popping open a microcapsule, 
and pulling out a nasty-looking energy weapon.
        "Arsenal!  Will that even work?"
        "The microcapsules are shielded from EMPs," he muttered, taking 
aim at one of the now-immobile Assault armors.
        "This is a little something I've been tinkering with for over a 
year now," he explained.  "Powered by and firing B'Harne's worst magicks, 
amplified a hundredfold.  I call it the Dark Weapon."
        Arsenal took aim at the nearest of the armors, and disintegrated 
it with a beam of black energy, sheathed in florescent purple.  The other 
armors followed suit.
        Arsenal pointed it at the remaining X'Hirjqi.  "You wish to be 
next?"
        <I propose a solution to our dilemma.  It is obvious you will not 
stop fighting until all of us are dead.  And we won't stop until you are 
dead.
        <Therefore I propose a "trial by fire", as you Terrans are so fond 
of calling it.  A personal combat between myself and yourself.  I win, 
you die.  You win, we will call off our hunt for you.>
        "I won't be a target on B'Harne's shitlist anymore?" he asked 
warily.
        <As a sworn enemy of our ally B'Harne, you will definately still 
be a target.  But you will no longer be singled out for termination.>
        "And how do I know you'll keep your word?"
        The X'Hirjq opened a communicator, and spoke into it.

        On board the X'Hirjq Mothership, a lower-ranking X'Hirjq turned 
to her superior.
        "A deal has been made with the Lone Warrior.  He has been taken 
off the Death List."
        "A deal?" B'Harne growled, standing over the X'Hirjq menacingly.
        "Y-yes, sir.  It seems that a trial by combat has been selected. 
The Lone Warrior will either die, or, in the event he wins, will no 
longer be singled out for termination."
        B'Harne laughed.  "So he thinks a deal like that will keep him 
alive.  Confirm it.  I need the amusement."
        "Y-y-yes, Lord B'Harne."

        <My superiors tell me Lord B'Harne has personally accepted the 
deal.>
        Arsenal dropped the Dark Weapon.  "So let's do it."
        Arsenal drew a gun from a holster, and fired a pellet at the 
X'Hirjq's mouth.  She swallowed it.
        <What was that?>
        "Just wait."  He swallowed a microcapsule himself.
        Both Arsenal and the X'Hirjq grew to an immense size, their heads 
rising above the Cleveland skyline.
        Arsenal punched the X'Hirjq commander in the jaw, sending her 
flying back into one of Cleveland's few skyscrapers.
        "Come on, Lizard, don't tell me you're not used to size 
changing?" he taunted her.
        <It ... isn't something ... we do ... normally,> she admitted.

        "Are you seeing this?" an Air Force F-15 pilot from Wright-
Patterson AFB asked his wingman.
        "I'm seeing it.  I just don't believe it.  Must be one of those 
'Jihaddi' we were briefed about."
        "Should we help out?"
        "No.  Out targets are the dropships.  Besides, that 'Jihaddi' 
appears to be winning."

        Indeed, Arsenal *was* winning.  His natural advantage of having 
fought at such a massive size before enabled him to psychologically 
adjust better than his reptilian adversary.
        She swiped at him with her tail.  He grabbed it, and pulled.  The 
X'Hirjq fell face first on her lieutenants, cushing them flat.
        Arsenal felt the now-familiar tingle of the extra mass starting 
to leave him.  He knew the Lizard was only seconds ahead of him.  Without 
hesitation, he reached out, and wrapped his hands around the X'Hirjq's 
neck, snapping it.
        Arsenal handed the corpse to the remaining X'Hirjq.  He then 
picked up his weapons and walked through a teleportal back to Base One.

        So ends the hunt, but not the war.