Operation Phoenix:  The Hunt For Samhain


Part 9


 
	The X'hirijq sniper sat in the tree, tracking his prey with the 
concentric circles of his sights locked smartly on Samhain's head.  He 
marvelled at his luck, that he would be fool enough to come back here to 
try and retrieve his gear.  He should know that it would be a trap... but 
none of those thoughts occurred to him fully; he was concentrating 
completely on his target, fearing that soon he'd sense the track and run 
for better cover.  He took a single deep breath, held it, continued his 
track, and sqeeeeeeeeeeezed the trigger so slowly that it seemed to take a 
millenium for it to reach the firing point.  And when it did, the noise of 
the plasma rifle was deafening...



	Samhain heard the unmistakable sound of an energy weapon and 
whirled just in time to see a burst of flames high in a tree behind him and 
off to his right.  The ball of flames enveloped the top of the tree in a 
blaze of crimson and orange, and faded away as a large object fell from the 
tree, burning on its way to the ground where it landed with a dull thud.  
It sat there and smoldered and burned as Samhain ran up to investigate... 
and to get out of the wide open area he found himself in.

	He arrived as the last fires burned themselves out, only to find 
exactly what he'd expected.  It was a X'hirijq all right, though his right 
arm was completely gone and his left hand was ripped to shreds.  Samhain 
shuddered to think how lucky he'd just gotten--he should, by all rights, be 
lying on the ground, roasted and dead--except for a weapon malfunction 
which had spared his life.

	He quickly ran the perimeter of the clearing, searching for other 
snipers, though they'd have almost certainly shot at the same time if they 
were there.  There were none.  Knowing he now had _very_ little time 
remaining before the bulk of the other X'hirijq troops arrived, he ran up 
to his bag and checked it as quickly as possible for traps and 
disturbances.  There was a small motion-detection charge underneath it, but 
other than that it was undisturbed.  The nearly invisible threads he placed 
over all the pockets were unmoved, the ground around the bag undisturbed, 
and the pebbles placed specifically as to indicate if the bag had moved had 
not been moved in the least.

	Samhain gingerly disarmed the motion-detection fuse on the 
explosive, then opened his bag to retrieve what few things were in it.  
Few, though incredibly precious.  He took them out, then refilled it with 
rocks and logs from the clearing and reset the motion charge.  He ran back 
to the woods to hide and prepare himself, trailing out behind him a 
monofilament line whose other end was tied to the bag.

	As soon as he arrived  in the woods, he stripped off the 
tattered and wet clothing he was currently wearing and put on his 
superweave (tm) armor, then his WEDJEE/DE combat uniform over the top, then 
the extra hardened sections of the armor.  Lastly, he donned his new combat 
helmet, to date unproven in battle.

	"Well, everything has its time and place, and if I ever needed it, 
I need it now," he thought to himself as he put it on.  "Hmm, wonder if 
anyone's listening on the alternate Jihad channels... may as well try and 
see..."

	With that thought on his mind, Samhain activated the 
mini-transmitter in the helmet, sending an ultra-scattered micro pulse of 
wide-band radiation skyward.  If anyone was listening, they'd soon know 
where he was and that he was under attack.  IF.  A mighty powerful word 
when the world was being invaded.

	But his time for free thought was up... the first trooper was 
approaching his backpack to inspect its status...



	The scout crept up to the backpack slowly and carefully.  He looked 
it over carefully, checked the charge, looked back at his commander, who 
was waiting at the treeline, the looked back down at the charge again.  
This time he noticed the thin line running from it to the woods, and 
traced its path with his large reptilian eyes, which grew much wider when 
he saw Samhain grinning at him and waving.  Suddenly, the line went taut, 
and the charge blew up in his face.



	The Commander saw Samhain at the same time the scout did, and 
his mouth suddenly went from a broad grin into a very narrow line.

	Then there was the explosion, and he bellowed with rage.  All along 
the treeline, his troops responded to his bellow, and came forward to 
attack.



	Samhain flipped down the visor on his helmet and stepped out of the 
treeline into the clearing.

	"C'mon!  Come get me!  Try it ya reptilian bastards!  I dare ya to 
try it!"

	And with that, he twisted his wrists to the special point when the 
combat claws extended, and clicked his toes so as to activate those in the 
toes of the boots.

	And so he stood, waiting for the onslaught to begin...

To be continued?  COUNT ON IT!


"The Hunt for Samhain"
Copyright 1995, David R. Hibbs
All Rights Reserved.