Operation Phoenix: A landing in Nebraska by CyberPyro (cybrpyro@iac.net) The flight control panel of the escape pod shone brightly from the explosion of the _Hercules_ as CyberPyro braced for the coming shock wave. He looked to his side, double checking that his unconscious 1st Officer, Tactics Officer, and Communications Officer were still safely buckled into their seats. He turned and sat fully upright in the pilot's seat when the sensors warned of the coming shock wave. The pod rocked violently, tossing its occupants around in the chairs, as the shock waves passed them. The instruments screeched in an electronic cacophony as the pod lost attitude adjustment and began tumbling downwards towards Earth. "Bloody schneck," I exclaimed, fighting to restabilize our descent. After a few alarming moments, the pod resumed a new course, the atmosphere beginning to heat the hull. "Great, starboard stabilizers are out. Plotting new descent path..." I said, talking myself through this. After a few moments, the optimal landing point was found. "Sheesh ... Nebraska. Better than landing in the ocean." The pod vibrated as our descent began, the heat shield glowing. The instruments registered our increasing velocity and hull temperature as I glanced out the small window to see flames roiling over the surface of our craft. The friction of the atmosphere was doing its best to roast us alive. "Wish I could try this without the pod sometime," I chuckled, knowing the heat wouldn't bother me, but the friction was a whole different matter. I shut the instruments off with a satisfying click as they began to scream from the electronic chaos generated by the atmosphere's friction. The chronometer began clicking off the seconds until the parachutes would be released. The pod vibrated violently as our speed increased, our heat shield pushed to the limits of its design. The clock read :12 until the 'chutes were to be released. My gloved hand wrapped around the release switch, anxious to stop this insane plummeting towards the Earth. :05 :04 :03 :02 :01 The switch snapped down with a loud cracking noise. A dull fluttering told me the huge parachutes had been successfully opened. I braced. Our momentum slammed everyone down into our chairs, bringing all three of my officers back into consciousness. The fire ceased roiling over our hull, leaving a pleasant bright, white glow which quickly faded to a light yellow. "What the heck is going on?!?" asked Commander Wilkes, my first officer. "The _Hercules_ is destroyed. We're currently descending towards Earth. We'll land inside of the United States, Nebraska." I said. "Destroyed?" asked Takahashi, my Tactics Officer. "Did you say Nebraska?" asked Wilkes. "Yes." "Unfortunate," said Evelyn Brown, my Comm. Officer. "I was born in Nebraska. I haven't been back in years," said Wilkes. "Alright, heads up. Dirt side in 30 seconds," I informed my crew. "It'll be dusk when we land, dark shortly thereafter." .... "There's a building of some kind 1.7 miles to the south-west," said Wilkes after consulting his scanner. I wrapped my dark blue captain's cloak around my body, concealing the bright blue uniform, as the others gathered up emergency rations and their weapons. "Well, let's go there," I said, positioning my knives, sword, and X-Rifle[tm] under my cloak. The group started off through the corn field we'd landed in. At a distance of 500 feet, the pod's self-destruct mechanisms consumed it in a ball of fire that roared skywards. .... 'The Real World Bar & Grill' read the sign at the head of the parking lot. It was full, complimented by 3 police cars. Apparently it was a Friday, or some other festive event for people to have packed into the bar like this. The noise, smoke, and extreme smells of the interior assaulted by enhanced senses as I opened the door. Wilkes caught the door behind me as I stepped through and looked for a phone. I ignored rude comments from drunken people about my clothes as I located the pay phone. Busy. I looked around the room looking for the bar, where another phone should be located. Some sort of band played (bad) music while several scantily clad women danced on stage to the jeers and shouts of the crowd. I found the most direct path to the bar and starting walking. My officers followed me to the bar where I asked to use their phone for an emergency call. We ignored a drunken member of the crowd who kept trying address us as 'hippies,' 'freaks,' and 'queers.' The sheriff ignored the man when he became irate by our non-response and drew a knife. The bartender handed me the phone, and I started dialing the TRES Corps HQ. The bartender, rather unnecessarily, since I could hear his footsteps and smell him, attempted to warn me of the coming attack. The man's coarse hand locked on my shoulder as he tried to spin me around. The phone went dead as it clattered onto the bar. The band stopped playing as he thrust the knife at my lower abdomen. My left hand shot out, locked around his wrist, and turned outwards with all the strength my cybernetic enhancements gave me. The man screamed in pain as his radius snapped loudly and ripped through the skin. His screams stopped as my right upper cut slammed into his chin. His jaws snapped closed, severing the tip of his tongue, as several of his teeth lost their hold on his gums and broke loose. The man fell backwards, landing on a table which broke under his weight, as a stream of his blood and teeth splattered him and the surrounding floor. The sheriff, now concerned about the law, stood up and drew his pistol. The crowd, sensing a fight, began breaking up into groups of combatants and non-combatants. "The line's been cut," I said to me fellow Jihaddi. "FREEZE! You're under arrest!" said the Sheriff as he pointed his gun at me. His partner stood beside him, his shotgun at the ready. "You have the right to ... *gaukkkkk*" The picture window beside the sheriff exploded inwards. Five thin, metal projectiles pierced him in the thigh, upper chest, shoulder, arm, and forearm. The blood dripping from his wounds as he groaned in surprise became a torrent as metal threads shot out from the barbs beneath his skin. His howl of agony stopped mid breath as the lines attached to the barbs became taught, pulling his 280 LB frame quickly out of the window. "Uh-oh, we got company," I said as the power in the bar died. The sheriff's partner turned to look out the shattered window as a wet ripping noise announced the death of his superior officer. The people in the bar panicked and started running for the door in the dark. "Back way," as I said, motioning to the doors labeled "EMPLOYEES ONLY" The deputy raised his rifle to fire at whatever was in the parking lot. He fell to his knees in a fountain of gore as a plasma bolt tore through three fourths of his neck, killing him instantly. "Let's ..." started Wilkes. Twin explosions cuts him off as large chunks of the ceiling fell down onto the people below. Two X'hirjq dropped through the large holes in the ceiling and opened fire with their plasma rifles as they landed. The rifles were aimed at the Jihaddi, but several bodies stood between them and their targets. The X'hirjq showed no concern as they opened fire, mowing down the crowd to get at the Jihaddi. After recovering from a moment's surprise, we drew our weapons. The crowd, recognizing a serious fire fight, hit the floor so as to avoid getting hit. My XRifle fired several bursts of plasma and launched a grenade towards the X'hirjq farthest away from our group. It staggered backwards, large holes burned in its armor. The grenade punched through its exposed flesh and detonated. As a cloud of blue-green phosphorescent fluid splattered about the room, 1st Officer Wilkes shoved me violently to one side. As I crashed to the floor, Wilkes jerked violently backwards from multiple plasma blasts to the chest, his blood splashing on his comrades as he hit the floor. Takahashi and Brown fired their XRifles at the other X'hirjq. It lost its balance from the onslaught on plasma and fell to the side. The cheap wall that met its fall didn't hold up to 350 lbs of alien. The corpse hit the ground, its vital fluids spreading over the dingy white tiles of the men's restroom. I slid over to where my fallen officer lay. He'd lost large quantities of blood, second and third degree burns all over his chest and arms. Wilkes was going to die, and nothing could stop it. "You're ... ok ..." he said through bloodied lips. "Yes. Wilkes ... I..." I started as my 1st Officer died. My finger tips gently closed Wilkes' eyes. "I'm not that badly hurt by plasma," I finished bitterly, wishing I'd been able to say what I'd intended to say rather than these words now. The thick wooden doors of the bar exploded inwards. A small, round, metal object flew through the shattered picture window. I winced in pain as the sonic grenade exploded, knocking all but me unconscious. A tall form strode through the entrance of the building. Before it could react, four grenades from my XRifle smashed into its chest. What remained of its body landed on the hood of a Bronco parked in front of the door. Another alien dropped through the ceiling, its head and shoulders disintegrating from multiple plasma bursts of my XRifle. It's burnt corpse collapsed onto the ground, crushing a table in the process. A rush of air to my right was all the warning I had before an attack landed. (Why hadn't I smelled them coming, sensed them, or heard them?) A powerful, reptilian claw locked around my forearm and turned sharply outwards. The my cry of pain drown out the clatter of my XRifle on the floor as the 8 foot tall X'hirjq used its grip for leverage to turn me around to face it. The flat of its six fingered hand slammed into my face, sending me sprawling across the bar floor. I quickly stood up and cast my cloak aside as my sword slid from its scabbard. The X'hirjq's hands blurred as it threw a projectile. My left hand blurred, knocked the projectile aside, and began bleeding profusely. I looked down, surprised, to see blood sprouting in several hundred tiny spots all over the back of my hand. The projectile on the floor glittered from the light of the parking lot, thousands of micro-filaments sticking out along the axis of the blade. If that thing had hit me ... Before I could finish the thought, the X'hirjq drew its serrated blade and charged. A room full of unconscious people is not the proper place for a sword fight, so I fell back, tossing tables and such in its path as I made for an exit. Before I could reach the main exit, another X'hirjq came in through the doors with its sword drawn. Hopping through the picture window frame, avoiding its jagged remains, I landed on the small sidewalk immediately outside of the bar. I ran off into the parking lot, determined to fight them where no one else could get hurt. The alien that originally attacked me jumped through the window frame as well, the shards of glass harmlessly breaking against its black armor. The other went farther inside, where I was powerless to affect it. My pursuer threw another projectile at where my chest used to be, the weapon embedding in the driver's door of a full-sized truck. One of my hardened steel knives streaked through the air and struck the alien dead center in its chest. The blade sparked brightly against the target's armor, broke, and fell to the ground as the tip remained wedged in the armor. The alien jumped slightly in surprise and then made a grinding noise somewhere in its head. I'd guess it was laughter. "This is a problem," I observed, since all of my weapons were of hardened steel. The chance I could break through its armor looked nill. My eyes studied the armor, looking for a weakness, as it advanced to fight blade to blade. My sword rose up to block its descending arc aimed at my head. The swords rang loudly, a chip falling from my blade, as my two unconscious officers in the bar gave up their final screams in this world. Infuriated that two helpless people had been killed, I kicked outwards and upwards, catching X'hirjq's knee-equivalent with the full force of my blow. A satisfying crunching noise accompanied the alien as it fell to one knee-equivalent, the contest of blades momentarily forgotten. My sword dropped into a lower, lethal position. I stepped forwards, adding my own momentum to the force of the blow. The blade split the armor where the alien's head met its neck-equivalent and pierced through it flesh. The tip of my sword pushed out of the top of the alien's head, a blue-green phosphorescent stream following it. In its dying agony, the alien reached up and grabbed by right arm. I grunted in pain as its claw dug into my flesh, blood already flowing freely from around its six nails. My arm pulled free a second later, but the damage was done; I could feel the paralysis poison spreading rapidly throughout my body as the world started to feel funny from blood loss. My cybernetic mechanisms worked frantically looking for an antidote as I worked on stopping the bleeding. I couldn't feel my arm and shoulder by the time I'd torn up with shirt and bandaged the wound. This was not good; there was at least one of these things left. .... The X'hirjq stood in darkness of the bar with a Lyran sorcerer watching the wounded Jihaddi stagger across the parking lot towards the nearest corn field. The Lyran, a sick and twisted soul, cackled evilly at the thought of achieving one of Lord B'harnii's assassination goals so early. "We'll have his life within minutes," gloated the Lyran. [He is more dangerous than you give him credit for, mammal] thought the X'hirjq, its thought directly fed to his ally's brain. "Perhaps, but we are still strong enough to kill him." [Wounded prey is the most dangerous to hunt. We need to be more careful...] "Surely, you're not afraid of one silly, little human, are you?" [(mild anger) He is not 'human' as you understand it. Have you not seen that?] "I'd suspected so, what is he?" [That is privileged information.] "Surely, you can share this with me, your ally?" the Lyran asked, turning to look at the his 8'9" reptilian ally. [Do you mean to kill me to get it?] asked the X'hirjq, shifting into a combat stance. "No..no..no! Not at all .... I was just ... just curious," stuttered the Lyran, fear nearly keeping him from speaking. The thought of fighting a giant reptile he could only affect with his strongest magic/psionic attacks, who might be able to wield magic and/or psionic itself, and could kill him with a quick claw swipe made the Lyran's lavender blood run cold. [Good.] thought the X'hirjq as it shifted into a non-combative stance. "Alright, then, let get after him." .... CyberPyro ran as fast as his legs could carry him into the corn field. He ignored the occasional ear of corn and dry leaves that slapped against him as he ran. Time. Time was the most important thing; his body needed time to neutralize the poison. 'They're coming,' he thought as he ran onwards. His senses told him a highly magical being, probably a Lyran, and something ... dark ... lethal ... like a half remembered ephemeral dream ... were coming after him. As he ran, it became clear he couldn't outrun the darker presence pursuing him in his present form. Stopping in a small opening where the corn hadn't grown well for the year, CyberPyro tore off the remnants of his shirt, unlaced his boot, and kicked them off as his body began to change. .... [I knew he would.] "What?" asked the Lyran as his ally stopped running. [He's not in human form anymore. We'll not be able to catch him until after he's healed some, and then it will be only when he wants to fight us.] "You mean we have to wait?!" [Yes. This is going to be a good hunt. (pleased emotion)] "You're happy about this?!?" asked the incredulous Lyran. [Of course! I live to hunt. The prize is now life itself.] "Ours or his?" asked a somewhat nervous Lyran. [Yes.] .... An extremely large wolf-like creature ran down the row of corn, one of its forelegs tucked underneath its body. CyberPyro, known as Janos in this form, made excellent usage of the increase in speed this body gave him. His speed more than doubled, and his pursuers gave up their chase. .... "I'll kill it," said the young man as he took aim on the wolf running through the corn with his rifle. An older man grabbed the barrel of his rifle and pointed to towards the sky as the younger man made a shocked noise. "What the hell is your problem?!?" he asked indignantly. "Wolves are never that big. That's a werewolf; you'd get one shot off before it would kill you and me both," said the older man as he looked directly into the other man's eyes. "You're crazy, old man. They don't exist; that was just a big wolf." .... Janos detoured away from the men with rifles besides the truck. Only silver would do serious damage to him in his werewolf form, but he didn't need anything more to heal from before he went back to fight his enemies. After several more minutes of all-out running, Janos stopped beside a natural stream that flowed through the fields. It was here he chose to rest, heal, and let his body try to filter out the poison that was still contained in his arm and shoulder thanks to tight bandages. .... "Are you crazy?!?" asked the Lyran as his X'hirjq companion stripped off his body armor and disintegrated it. [Our prey will be returning for us without armor or weapons. It is only fair that I face him, after you do, in a similar status.] "I fight him first?" [The honor of getting the first chance to kill will be yours.] "... This'll be easy. My powers will crush him!" [Overconfidence is the precursor of death.] "You're over-estimating our enemy." [I am not in error.] "I *will* crush him!" .... CyberPyro shifted into human form as he went back to the only place he could -- the bar. His werewolf form had advantages to it, but manipulating magic and defending against it wasn't one of them. The feeling he would fight the Lyran was strong. .... I walked out into the parking lot from the corn field, my feet wrapped in mud. I'd lost all of my uniform except for the ragged top half of my pants. Clothes would be needed if I made it out of this alive. No one was visible as I stepped onto the dirty black top. "Nice to see your wounds closed so quickly, too bad I'm going to reopen them," said the Lyran as he levitated out from behind a truck, his body crackling with energy. I threw myself to one side, rolling away from where I'd been as I headed towards the ground. The side of a minivan exploded in a shower of metal fragments as the Lyran's attack missed. My enemy began his next spell as I struggled to recall my own, seldom used in battle, repertoire of magic. It became clear, very quickly, that I needed to use magic in battle more often since I couldn't remember any offensive spells by the time my opponent's next one was ready. The spell I'd been starting died on my lips as I dove over the hood of an Impala to avoid my opponent's attack. The front passenger's side of the car buckled under the force of the attack, the burnable components catching fire as glass rained down on me. "THAT'S *IT* !" bellowed the Lyran, furious that it had failed twice in its attacks. Realizing my advantage, I stood up from behind the burning car and danced across the parking lot in plain view, sticking my tongue out at it while making obscene gestures. My tactic worked. The sorcerer lost his temper in a major way and began summoning the strongest magic he could use. I dove behind another vehicle while the parking lot filled with the unearthly crackling and flashings of magic. As his spell neared completion, I called my own, stepped out into clear view, flipped the Lyran the bird with a sarcastic face, and waited. The Lyran roared with rage and fired the remains of his magic at me. My hands flashed out and stopped in the air as though holding a large, invisible ball. The stream of destructive magic passed between my hands and curved before it hit my body. I had to struggle for a split second not to loose my balance as its spell rolled into a giant ball of energy between my two hands. With a visible effort, I began turning the ball over and compressing it. The color changed from a disgusting lavender to fiery blue and grew exponential brighter as it shrunk and sucked up more of my magical energy. The Lyran began an inarticulate scream of horror as my hands opened outwards and released the spell back at him. I dove for cover as the ball streaked towards him. I hoped, in that last split second, that the vehicles I'd hidden behind would be enough of a shield. A huge explosion, that someone 2 miles away heard, rocked the parking lot. All cars within 50 feet of the molten asphalt where the Lyran used to be were thrown up in the air as they caught on fire. Every piece of glass in parking lot and the bar shattered from the shock wave as the explosion lived its short life time. I lay on the ground, recovering from the shock wave, as the cars that were thrown up in the air came back down in an unholy din of screeching metal. Fortunately, none landed in my immediate area. The burning of several trucks provided an eerie light in the lot, intermixed with smoke. [Over confidence is what killed your enemy] came a chilling thought into my mind. I didn't need look to know where it was coming from, or to whom it belonged. "I couldn't be lucky enough that you would have died," I said as the X'hirjq warrior clambered out of the shattered bar. What surprised me when I finally saw the 8'9", 420 lb lizard is that it was not in battle armor, nor did it have weapons. [It would be dishonorable for me to kill you when you have no weapons. Therefore, I will kill you with my claws and teeth. We are even, natural state versus nature state.] "Uh -- yeah. Whatever, I think you got the lion's share of natural weapons, bud," I sarcastically observed as I maneuvered away from this alien, trying to get time to think. [Running will not save you. Your cybernetics give more strength and speed than any human. We are well matched.] With that, the X'hirjq surprised me by leaping several times its own body length over the cars between us and landing on top of me. Its knee struck me in the lower chest/upper abdomen as its weight bore me down. I did what I could to absorb its momentum and thus reduce what damage was going to happen. I slammed hard onto the asphalt, and the X'hirjq knee-equivalent dealt its blow to my lower chest as it landed on top of me. My chest exploded in pain as the force of its attack drove into my body, my consciousness threatening to leave. Through the gray dots swirling in my vision, I could see its six clawed hand preparing to come down to crush my skull. Its 2.5 inch claws gouged into the pavement where my head used to be as I jerked sharply to one side. The pain in my chest flared again from such a sudden move -- not good. The alien was slightly off balance and I took advantage of this. My fist shot upwards with all the strength a could use, and impacted on the side of its chest. The alien let out a breath that I took to mean it was in pain, so I struck the exact same spot again. My fist struck again, this time coming back with blue-green phosphorouscent blood mixed with my red. Its blood stung as it seeped into the places where the flesh had split apart on my hand. With a shove and a boost from my leg, the alien flipped off of me. We both got to our feet, breathing through the pain. I backed up slightly. The X'hirjq rushed at me, but spun around right before it got within striking distance. I jumped up, avoiding it lethal tail, and landed on the trunk of a car. Its claw hissed through the air where my throat should have been. The X'hirjq warrior had a split second to realize its attack failed before the heel of my foot struck it squarely on the snout from a round-house kick. I ignored the pain in my foot from the wound that had been torn open from the alien's hard scales. As I landed, I saw the alien's head snap to the side as a stream of luminescent blood flew out of its mouth. [We are more evenly matched than you believed, human] thought the X'hirjq as its staggered backwards. I jumped down from the vehicle and decided the advantage was mine and charged. The X'hirjq, not as hurt as it appeared, knocked my charge aside with a sharp blow from its fist to the side of my head. I bounced off the cold metal side of a truck, surprised, just in time to see the blows coming at me. My hands wrapped around my enemy's wrist, stopping her blows. It applied leverage, trying to force me to the ground, as its tail swung in a wide arc. The X'hirjq's powerful reptilian tail wrapped around my lower right leg, the sharp plates that stuck out along its spine sinking into my flesh. My leg gave out and the X'hirjq tore its tail away in a rapid motion, its tail plate ripping deep tracks across my calf muscle. I started to scream in pain, but a viscious kick to my sternum knocked the breath out of me as I flew backwards and skidded to a halt on the pavement. I rolled over, not appreciating the road rash on my chest, stomach, and forearms. My right leg was near useless until it healed, but I doubted I'd have the time for that. The X'hirjq leapt through the air, intent on having its foot land on my skull and crush it. I rolled sharply onto my side, willing my body to work. My hands seized the alien's ankle as it landed, pulling sharply backwards before its other foot could land. My enemy fell flat as on its snout as momentum carried it forwards. Ignoring the pain, I drove my left knee into the joint of its leg, pinning it to the asphalt. My fingers grabbed the flesh immediately underneath the alien's outstretched tendon and dug in. The X'hirjq howled in pain as I pulled sharply upwards, the tendons on my arm standing out. I heard the satisfying rip of flesh parting from bone as part of the damage was done. My back exploded in pain as the alien's spiked tail slammed hard into me. I could feel the blood running down my back and I kept pulling. The X'hirjq's tail slammed into my shoulder opening deep, diamond shaped wounds with its spikes. The pain enraged me, and I pulled harder. With a satisfying wet, tearing noise I ripped the alien's tendon away from its bone, completely ruining its leg. The third blow of its tail landed rather weakly as the X'hirjq nearly lost consciousness from the pain. I crawled away from the howling lizard, blood running from my body in multiple places. Light headedness. This means I've lost alot of blood, I thought to myself. The alien thrashed wildly about, holding its ankle as blue-green phosphourescent blood poured out around its claws, and howled in agony. I drug myself away from it, leaving a trail of red blood on the asphalt that slowly intermingled with its luminescent fluid. [] I tried desperately to filter the alien's pain as it tried to communicate with me. "Screw you, too," I said rather bitterly. [Human. You have won. My kin will hunt you down, we are sworn to do so.] thought the X'hirjq as it removed a crystalline device from its belt "What?!?" [We have sworn a death oath against you and several of your friends. You will all die.] It placed the crystalline device on its neck. [Thank you, for the hunt.] it thought. The device flashed and its body turned to dust which scattered in the slight breeze. I sat in the devastated parking lot, cars smoldering around me, as blood continued to flow from my body. I crawled back towards the bar, looking for anything that could be used to help me out. .... After using the remnants of my cloak (cast off in the bar) to bind my wounds, I staggered out back, behind the bar. My assumption was right ... the employees parked here; their cars were mostly undamaged. Everyone is the bar was dead, so I doubted anyone would mind my acquisition of a vehicle. I found a Honda CRX open, with the keys in the glove compartment, and got in. As the engine started, my ears picked up sirens in the distance. About 2 miles away. "The schnecking thing's a standard!" I yelled, seeing that driving was going to be a serious difficulty with a damaged leg. The car started without a problem. "I've got to launch S.H.I.V.A.," I said as the CRX rolled out onto the road, the speedometer inching upwards steadily. I sped northwards and westwards, topping the car out at 125 m.p.h. CyberPyro Copyright, Pyrokinetic Productions, Inc. (1996)