"War does not consist of a single, instantaneous blow."
		-- "The Fires of Gehenna," the scenario booklet included in 
		      Games Workshop's minitaures game _Epic Titan Legions_

Operation: Phoenix, Scorched Earth

        by J-Rock, jjr5020@rigel.tamu.edu

# Iron Maiden "The Trooper" _Piece of Mind_

	Don let a plasma missile fly from his forearm launcher and briefly
wondered why he had ever chosen to follow J-Rock into the Blizzard of '96. As
the missile blew out the cockpit of a B'Harne Bot, he pushed that thought
aside. Because, he told himself, if we lose here, then the Lizards would have
carte blanche to do what they wished with humanity. Don could already think up
a hundred different fates for mankind if the TRES HQ fell, none of them
pleasant. He was many things, but most certainly not one to take the prospect 
of alien domination lying down.
	Off in his peripheral vision, a platoon of TRES infantry was faring
quite poorly against some advancing Bots. The Dark Hymn booming nonstop from
the B'Harne models' external speakers did not help matters any as a B'Habi
B'Hop Bot threw what appeared to be its "blankie" at them. The "blankie" was
actually a giant net, and a B'Hee J Bot hacked the poor infantry to pieces as
they struggled in vain to get free. Don did the only thing he could do: fire
the last of his plasma missiles at the two B'Harnate quasi-Mechs. Two impacted
the B'Hee J Bot in the chest, blowing off its right arm before it disappeared
in a nuclear fireball. The last one hit the B'Habi Bop Bot in its left hip,
ripping the adjoining leg off and sending it to the ground, where the snow
began to cover it up. A burst of particle beam fire from the integrated
PBC/rocket launchers on Don's Battler shredded the head area, killing the
Wyrm-Minions inside.
	J-Rock's voice came through on the tacnet: "All Texas and Kappa 
forces, gimme a damage report!" Don responded with, "I'm all right." A chorus
of similar responses followed his, although Bane had expressed some concern
that his Necromower may become mired in the snowdrifts. "Commodore Marburger
is looking to withdraw from the area," J said, "and I'm beginning to agree with
him. Just remember that only this skirmish is over, not the battle. For what
it's worth, you people kicked ass out here."

****************************************************************************

	In an suprising parallel development, Kazumi was entertaining the same 
idea of withdrawal. Both the Pirahnas had fallen to intense enemy fire (not to
mention judicious use of Blankies from Hell on the part of the B'Habi B'Hop
Bots ("Threebies")). And, on top of all that, the surviving Mechs in the Star
had ran out of ammo. So, when she heard J-Rock's order to withdraw, she 
breathed a small sigh of relief. To continue fighting here would only help the
enemy.
	Kazumi punched up a long-range scan of the surrounding territory.
"There's a SCABTF Armored McDonald's about 4 klicks northwest of here," she
said. "Head over there, best speed. That should give the techs time to rearm 
and repair the Mechs."
	"Wilco, Oneesama," Noriko said as she minced a Threebie into oblivion 
with her pulse lasers. The Threebie had managed to throw its "blankie" one 
last time, however. Entangled, her Stormcrow went down in a heap, just as a 
B'Hee J Bot ("Little B'Hee") was bearing down on it. Kazumi snapped off a shot 
just as the Little B'Hee jumped, missing it by a good five meters. "Shimatta!" 
she barked, seemingly unable to stop the B'Harnate light Mech from pulping her 
friend and teammate. As the Little B'Hee brought its sword down, a beam saber
came from out of nowhere and blocked the sword. Kazumi took another look at her
external camera to see Mongoose's Tetsujin standing above Noriko's immobilized
Stormcrow, one beam saber blocking the Little B'Hee while the other was held
back in a ready position. Time stood still for a second or two. Finally,
Mongoose snickersnacked the Little B'Hee's head off with the other beam saber, 
yelling "Hippie haiku, brother trucker!"  The Little B'Hee's body collapsed as
Mongoose powered down the blocking saber and started pulling the "blankie" off
of the downed TAMUBGD Mech.
	"Thanks," Noriko said as she stood her Stormcrow up. "I thought I was a
goner for a second."
	"Just buy me dinner at the Armored Mickey D's and we'll call it even,"
Mongoose replied.
	Riko chuckled and said, "You're the one with the 'All-You-Can-Eat Free'
card, remember?  C'mon, let's go." Without another word, the three Mechs turned
and ran through the forest.

****************************************************************************

	J-Rock looked back upon the battlefield from the main street of Clear
Springs. Everywhere he looked, the fires and explosions of the TRES Corps
fortifications being blown lit up the night sky. Before the order to withdraw
came, small thermite satchel charges were set near the barricades as booby 
traps. Now the Spongers were discovering them, much to their dismay. The
butcher's bill on both sides was staggering, to say the least. Of the
forty-five thousand armored troopers that were fielded, the Corps was lucky
to scrape together _twenty_ thousand. Even though the TRES forces gave better 
than they got, it was against mere cannon fodder. And there were still over 
60,000 Lizards to account for yet. Turning to where CyberPyro had popped open 
the helmet on his Wrath of Arioch powered armor, he said, "So, what's the plan 
now?"
	CyberPyro replied, "I had Mysterium's artillery forces shell our old
positions. That should slow the Lizards down some. As for the town, we moved
all the civilians out to another town about 50 miles north of here when we
first got word of the invasion."
	"And if the Lizards overrun the city?"
	CyberPyro's eyes took on a cold expression as he spoke. "Then we leave
them nothing that they could use."
	"You're running a scorched-earth campaign, aren't you?"
	"I am."
	"You realize this means that the Corps may have to indemnify the
civilians for their losses?"
	"I do."
	J-Rock sighed. "Then I sure hope the civvies paid their insurance
premiums religiously, cause they're gonna need them." Any further comment was
interrupted by a three-tone bleep from CP's comm module. He closed his helmet
as he took the message. When CP popped his helmet again, he said, "That was
Galand. He's coming in from New Mexico with the MACC Trucks. My read is he
wants to harass the enemy's rear, but he'll need help getting through."
	"That can be arranged," J-Rock said, on-lining his own comm module.
"Captain T'larn, what's your twenty?"
	"We've lost one scout tank, and two more of ours are heavily damaged,"
the B'Horn tanker replied. "Other than that, we're still servicable."
	"Good. Take your company and meet with about twenty black semi-trucks,
coming in from the southeast."
	"You mean the MACC Trucks?"
	"Affirmative. You're to see to it that they get through all right.
Warrior Galand will advise further on contact."
	"Understood, sir. T'larn out." J turned to CP and said, "There ya go.
Instant escorts. Now, my advice for the town defense is simple. Pull all the
infantry except for the heavy BattleArmor. We'll defend the city with that and
the Cyclones."
	"I hate to break the news to you, but we only have about 7,500 heavies
left. I can part with 2,500 of those, and 2,500 marines in Assault Armor."
	J-Rock sighed. "Looks like it'll have to do." Just then, the ground
around the two blossomed into six explosions. Moving the Garland's
transformation lever up at the same time that CP sealed his helmet, J began
looking around for the ambushers. His search revealed about ten Lizards in
varying grades of power armor. As a Light-Armored Lizard disappeared in a hail
of 55mm slugs, J-Rock said, "Better order all who's going back, back right 
now!"
	"Did that twenty seconds ago," CyberPyro replied as he cut down a
medium Lizard suit with his WoA's shoulder-mounted railgun.
	"Anyone from Alpha Squad, report!" J said, scragging another Medium
while running the Bahamode Garland behind a corner.
	"Commander Lionheart here," Kylun's voice responded. "What do you
need?"
	"Kylun," J-Rock began, "take two to three members of your squad and
keep the retreat from becoming a rout. Don't stop until you reach the HQ."
	"Roger, Admiral. Kylun clear."
	CyberPyro began falling back as J-Rock issued another command: "Kappa
Squad: Remember, hit and run! Now ANNIHILATE!!!!!!"

# Metallica "Master of Puppets" _Master of Puppets_

	A squad of TRES marines, trying to clear the way for the beleaguered
TRES commanders, opened up with their railguns and, by sheer luck, nailed an
Assault-armored Lizard. Their offensive was short-lived, as pieces of armor
began to fly off the assault suits, leaving the calling cards of cloaked
Devourer-class Lizard armor behind. Firing in all directions, the marines 
managed to blow away numerous street-front stores. They did not, however, hit
the Devourer, which had already sliced up three marines. As the Lizard suit
clawed another marine apart, a horrific explosion shook the Devourer and its
wearer. Apparently, the marine had taken the time to arm his Assault Armor's
suicide bomb, and it had paid dividends by knocking out the Devourer's cloak.
	J-Rock had seen the Devourer lose its cloak in a display of crawling
electric energy and shot a forearm-mounted missile at it. The Devourer gave a
decent impression of "Oops, I died" as the missile's blast reduced the armor to
its component atoms. J then radioed CyberPyro with "All right, let's blow this
hot dog stand!"
	CP responded with, "I did that already. You're the only one still in
that section of town. I'm gonna head over to the mall and see if I can't draw
their fire."
	"You do that," J-Rock said, cutting the connection as his radar
detected six unarmored Lizards moving in on him. "Come on in, bee-otches," 
he said, punching on the ambient light amplifier. "Ol' Bahamode is waiting." As
the squad showed themselves, J fired a full-auto spray into the Lizards,
killing at least three before the autorifle stopped firing. "Wonderful," J
said. "Don't tell me there's a mage in this group." He double-checked the
Garland's HUD and saw the message printed on the screen...

                     HEAVY AUTORIFLE AMMUNITION EXPENDED

	"Shit!" J-Rock growled, throwing down the 55m rifle as the Lizards
started to break cover. Stomping on the dropped rifle, the Garland withdrew a
pistol-like weapon and plinked a Lizard that was aiming her plasma rifle. J put
a few more rounds into the bit o' rubble that the Lizards were using for cover 
before transforming the Garland into cycle mode and speeding away.

****************************************************************************

	As the battle raged on, a man in lavender robes, flanked by a retinue
of four others like him (except that their robes were less ornate), watched the
battle with some interest. "Our offensive is bogging down, Master," said one 
of the four apprentices. "Shall we lend our assistance?"
	"No," the Lyran mage replied. "The X'hirjq may be sputtering, but
they'll break through in time. Besides, we have bigger fish to fry." He
extended a bony finger at a particular VR-038 Cyclone. "The First Circle wants
that female for study. Capturing her is our mission." He paused for a while,
laughing madly. "Come! It is time I showed you how to take down a physical
adept."

# White Zombie "Soul-Crusher" _La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1_

	P-Chan was in the process of pulping a Jello Beast's retinue with her
umbrella and the Cyclone's enhanced strength. She had just thrown the umbrella
into the hordes, carving a hole big enough for her to aim the rocket launcher
at the Beast itself. As the Jello Beast filled the launcher's sights, she said,
"How about a light?" She then fired a napalm missile at the Beast, who tried to
dodge out of the way, but to no avail. The napalm covered the Beast and cooked
it to death as the Jello Sponges went catatonic with the loss of their
controller. She was so engrossed with this task that she didn't notice the
Lyrans until they had fired a net-gun at her. The net missed as she leapt into
a nice back-flip, coming down facing the Lyrans. P said, "So, you five fools
think you can beat lil' ol' me?"
	The leader responded with, "That matters very little to me, young lady.
The First Circle on Lyra wants you, and I shall give them just that."
	"I'm flattered -- NOT!" P said as she fired a frag missile at the
quintet, watching with horror as their shields absorbed the blast. "Holee..
DIE!!" she shouted, withdrawing her umbrella and leaping into the crowd. One of
the apprentices took her charge head-on, confident that his shields would save
him. His folly turned out to short-lived, as P-Chan's umbrella blade pierced
the shield, and the apprentice's heart without so much as token resistance. The
mage, on the other hand, sent a volley of fireballs and lightning bolts at the
Cyclone, slamming P-Chan through a nearby wall.
	As P struggled to get up, the net came forth again, this time
entangling her and the Cyclone. The mage's weird laughter rolled forth a second
later, followed by, "Foolish wench. In time, you, too, will learn to love the
lash."
	P replied with, "Get stuffed. I--" before the mage silenced her with a
stun spell. As the Lyrans were beginning to cart her out, a burst of laser fire
cut down two apprentices. Dropping their bundle, they turned to find Mad Max's
Obliviator standing there, laser minigun barrels rotating with a low whirr. 
"Put her down, or be destroyed!" he said to the two Lyrans.
	"Well, if it's all the same to you," the mage replied, "I choose to be
destroyed."
	Max didn't say anything more as he opened up with the miniguns, putting
laser bolt after laser bolt into the mage, only to have it stopped by his
shield. At length, the Lyran said, "Your pitiful attempts at rescue bore me.
DIE!" as he returned all of Max's laser fire in the form of one huge energy
blast. The blast struck the Obliviator, leaving a smoking hole in the chest
armor and sending it flying back several feet. The mage allowed himself a long,
evil laugh after this. "Burn in hell!"

****************************************************************************

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE 187TH FTL CAVALRY HQ TENT IN ATLANTA...

	Major K'ghan took the incoming 2-way HPG comm with some interest. Why
would the Homeworld call at this ungodly time?, he thought as Foreign Minister
C'han's face resolved itself on the screen. "Greetings, Madam Foreign 
Minister," he said. "To what do I owe the honor of this call?"
	The B'Hornate minister replied in an even voice, "There is the matter
of the X'hirjq to discuss. I understand that your unit is fighting them
alongside our Terran allies, correct?"
	"That is correct, Minister."
	"I feared as much." A bad sign, K'ghan thought. "The Homeworld was 
contacted by the X'hirjq, who demanded that our aid to the Terrans cease while
they are fighting."
	"I do not understand! Why would we stop aiding our allies?"
	"They threatened our race with extinction if we continue as we are now.
I don't like being bullied any more than you do, but seeing as how you're the
only ranking B'Horn that's faced the X'hirjq that we know of, I want to hear 
your recommendations."
	K'ghan looked introspective for a moment. Part of the Major wanted to 
continue fighting, to show the Lizards that one can't push anybody around with 
no regard for who's being pushed. But K'ghan was also a realist whose first 
duty was to his race. And he would say what he had to say, even though it 
tasted like droppings in his mouth. "I say we do what they ask," he said at
length. "Their technology is far beyond what the Terrans have, and there's no
way of knowing if they are limiting their own tech to make it 'a fair fight' in
their eyes."
	"So, for all we know, their technology may eclipse even our own."
	"Exactly."
	"I'll forward your remarks to the Assembly. In the meantime, your units
are not to open fire on the X'hirjq. Nor are you to tell our allies our reasons
for withdrawing. Is that clear?"
	"Crystal." 

****************************************************************************

# Butt Trumpet "I Left My Gun in San Francisco" _Primitive Enema_

	Meanwhile, Tim and Don had fallen back towards the mall, making
preparations to hold onto it as long as they could. The Lizards had made rapid
advances through the city, and it was only a matter of time before they overran
it. Just then, Don had caught sight of somebody approaching. Breaking cover, he
said, "Halt! Who goes there?"
	"Commander Yearnshaw, Beta Squad," the voice responded.
	"Ok, come over here," Don said. Jry did, and Tim inwardly noted that
the progress of the war had written itself across Jry's face. He had no
battlearmor (having lost it in the first wave of the battle), and was carrying
just an XRifle and some web gear. In addition, his face showed the look of
someone who hadn't gotten enough sleep. Tim held up a MGD from the cooler that
he had found and said, "Want one?"
	As Jry took the proferred bottle, Don said, "Don't tell me you're
trying to invoke the Beer Yaga again."
	Tim answered, "You gotta have Beer Yaga," as he took a sip from his own
Genuine Draft. Just then, a fusillade of plasma fire poured into the little
restaurant that the three were holed up in. Jry asked, "What is this Beer
Yaga?" as he opened up with his XRifle at the advancing Lizards.
	Don blasted a Lizard as he replied, "Tim somehow gets better luck if he
has a few beers in him."
	Tim took another pull on his beer as he fired a few shots of his own at
the horde. Unfortunately, some of the return fire hit the beer bottle he was
drinking out of, leaving only the neck in Tim's hand. "YOU SHOT MY BEER!" Tim
bellowed as he fired three shots at a wall of Lizards. The weird thing about it
was that each shot hit a Lizard right between the eyes, killing her instantly.
	"Now _that_," Tim said to Jry, "is Beer Yaga." Don added, "Time to
leave," as more Lizards began to show up on the Cyclones' radar. Plasma fire
chased the three out of the restaurant, setting fire to the bar and assorted
trappings. As the three fell back firing, smoke began to pour out of the window
that they dived out of in their escape. Five more Lizards showed up from
behind, only to have their lasers scratch the paint on the Cycs and getting
energy beams to the chest for their trouble. Satisfied that they had run out of
enemy for the moment, the three ran to where some marines were fighting. The
smoke from the restaurant followed them past a "NO SMOKING" sign in the mall 
concourse as they went on their way.

****************************************************************************

# Judas Priest "Hell Bent for Leather"

	J-Rock rounded the corner only to find Mad Max down on the ground,
trying to pull his Cyc's manual ejection lever. Looking further beyond, he saw
two Lyrans in the process of trying to carry a Cyclone away, and it was
P-Chan's! Goosing his throttle while opening up with the Garland's fairing
lasers, he shouted, "You ain't touching her anymore, you pieces of SHIT!!" The
eldest among them reflected the lasers back at the Bahamode, and only J's skill
at evasion kept the Garland from being hit. Enough fooling around, J thought as
he moved the transformation lever up. As the Garland shifted to Mecha mode, he
thought he could hear the mage sigh and say, "So many mechabikes in this town,
and so few brains."
	J opened up with the 25mm "autopistol", but they still bounced off of
the Lyrans' shields as the mage began to hurl lightning through the air,
narrowly missing the Bahamode on several occasions as J hopped out of the way,
still looking for a clean shot...

	The remaining apprentice was supposed to be keeping the "experimental
subject" stunned for transport to the Lyran ships, but the new threat to his
master was capturing his attention. He gathered his power for a eldritch blast,
looking to aid his master in taking out this mechabike. Just as he was about to
cast it, he heard a feminine voice say, "Hey, mugger.." The apprentice turned
around just in time to see a long, thin blade enter his throat...

	P-Chan worked her snap-blade out of the dead Lyran's throat while she
used the other one to cut her way out of the net. She had thought she was
doomed for sure when she got hit by that stun spell, and her continued 
presence in Clear Springs had to be due to a Kappa or someone else in TRES
Corps. She looked up just in time to see a plasma ball knock the Garland off
its feet and onto the ground. Somehow, she thought, I'm not at all suprised
that he came to save me. P was part of the "new" TAMUBGD, and J tried to help
"his people" whenever possible. Now I'd better return the favor. She redoubled 
her efforts to saw her way out of the net, hoping that she wasn't too late...

	This was sucking, J thought as the Garland hit the ground none too
gently. Trying to spring back up, he noticed with some dismay that the plasma
ball had removed both the Garland's legs at the knees. The Lyran cackled, "I
hope that all is well between you and your God. You will be meeting him very
soon!" Fireballs and energy blasts shook the Garland, gouging great chunks of
armor from the mini-mech. J fired the autopistol at the mage, yelling "Go back
to Hell, you Lyran asshole!"
	As the shells bounced off the shield to destroy several buildings, the
Lyran answered, "Bold language for one who is about to die, Terran whelp!" As
the Lyran gathered more power, J decided to play his last hole card. He brought
his Bahamode's arms to his chest, in a position suggesting prayer. "Trying to
patch things up with your God this late in life?" the Lyran mage taunted. "A
noble, but futile gesture."
	J simply said, "You'd be amazed at what the power of prayer can
accomplish." Just then, the covers snapped open to reveal the last two of J's
forearm missiles. As the missiles left the launcher, the Lyran allowed himself
a cruel grin as he began to raise his shield...
	However, before he could raise it, he felt a crushing blow to his
tailbone which knocked him forward several feet. Moreover, the blow disrupted
his concentration, lowering the shield just as the missiles came within range.
The last thing the Lyran mage heard in this life was P-Chan saying "You should
never turn your back on a lady!"

# Live "White, Discussion" _Throwing Copper_

	The Garland's head assembly shot away, revealing J-Rock pulling the
emergency eject. "Well, this is a switch," P said. "Normally, it's me who ends
up saving you."
	"You still did, P," J answered. "If you didn't kick the Lyran when you
did, it would've been me becoming roadkill, and not him."
	P dropped to her knees to turn her Cyclone into a motorcycle as J
crawled out of his downed Garland. "Yeah," she said. "But if you hadn't stopped
them when you did, I'd be some lab experiment somewhere in Lyran space. So, you
saved me. My God, what am I saying.. I'm getting sappy already."
	"You say that like it's a bad thing," J said as Bane pulled up in his
Necromower.
	P lightly smacked the side of J's helmeted head. "It is and you know
it. I should just let you _walk_ to TRES HQ right now."
	"Mea culpa, P-Chan." A pause. "We'd best get going. There's no telling 
if the Lizards have overrun the city already." Meanwhile, Bane was helping Mad 
Max's slightly wounded self into the Necromower for the ride out.
	"Yes, we'd better. Hop on." J invoked the auto-destruct timer on the
Garland before hopping on P-Chan's Cyclone and hanging on as the two vehicles
roared off into the Colorado night.

****************************************************************************

	J-Rock took one last look back at Clear Springs itself. Everywhere, 
the entire town was engulfed in flames. About the only thing he wasn't sorry 
to see go up in flames was the tacky macro-mall. Jry, Don, and Tim had just now
arrived at the dirt road leading to the HQ where J-Rock was watching the Death
of A Ski Town play itself out. "You sure we're doing the right thing, Admiral?"
Jry had asked.
	J sighed and said, "I'm not too sure sometimes. Yes, the property
damage might have seemed unavoidable at times, and other times it appeared as
though we were no better than the monsters we fought. But now, we're on our own
HQ grounds. We have to hold them here, or the Lizards will roll over Earth
without us hardly firing a shot. Which reminds me, I gotta see how the Mechs
are doing. Zumi, what's your status?"
	"We're just now finishing up refitting, and should be ready to roll out
within a few minutes."
	"Good. Head back to the Birdcage as planned. Wile E. Coyote should
already be after us by the time you arrive."
	"Roge that, Admiral. By the way, good luck."
	"Thanks, Zumi, I'll probably need it. J-Rock out." As the assembled
Kappas and TAMU troops drove up the dirt road to HQ, J thought he could see a
faint glimmer of dawn poking up through the eastern clouds. Please, he mentally
sent to each of his relevant gods. Let us hold them here...

To be continued...



All material copyrighted by the original author.