"Operation: Phoenix, Part 2"

        by CyberPyro (cybrpyro@iac.net)

        [Author's Note: Another of my names/titles in the Jihad is Captain
        Janos of the Blood Jihad Space Fleet, so deal.]

        Captain Janos sat in his quarters looking out at the red star
Betelgeuse from his chair while he casually sipped a Jolt Cola and read Emily
Dickinson's poety.  Schubert played quitely in the background while he
savored the simplicity of her poems; this was his quiet time when no one
bothered him and nothing needed his attention.  A rare moment indeed.
        The _Hercules_, his ship, and its two escorts: the _Venus_ and _Mars_
were assigned on a routine patrol mission throughout this five planet system.
They had collected all the requisite data and were now headed out of the
system towards a jump point back to earth.  Janos always liked these times
as they enabled him to relax for a few hours.
        Janos sat up, sensing something across the dimensional fabric.  Some
other members of the Jihad came from a different dimension; he was the only
one who naturally resided in no dimension, but travelled between them as
easily as humans walk across a street.
        With a small sigh, he kept reading, waiting for the ensign to knock
at his door since his intercomm was disabled.  A few minutes later a knock
came at his door.
        "Enter," he said, softly closing the book and leaning back in the
chair.
        "Sir?" asked the ensign.  Janos sniffed the air slightly and caught
the natural scent of the crewman; he'd learned to identify his crew by their
subtle, natural scents as well as sight.
        "Yes, Ensign Riggs?  What is it?"
        "Sir," started the ensign a little surprised his Captain identified
him by voice.  "We've detected a major energy disturbance of some kind
between the fourth and fifth planets. ...  It's not far from our flight
path."
        "Very well.  Yellow alert, set a course to bring us near to it.
I'll be on the bridge momentarily."
        "Yes, sir," said the ensign as the doors slid closed.

....

        Captain Janos walked onto the brigde in his bright blue and silver
uniform that signified his rank.  The crew stood at attention until he sat
down.
        "At ease, report," he said.
        "Sir, we have detected some kind of vortex that opened in space
between the paths of the forth and fifth planets.  Our long range scans have
been inconclusive as of yet.  We ..." said his second in command, Commander
Wilks.
        "It's an interdimensional hole, we may be in for some trouble,"
interrupted Janos.  "Comm, send off a message to Admiral Davis informing him
of our situation, as well as Praetor J. FoxGlov.  Main view screen on,
please."
        The view screen flared to life and showed a light purple dot off in
the distance between the electronically superimposed flight paths of the
planets.  The tactics officer pressed a few controls and the screen magnified
several times and centered the vortex.  It became clear that it was growing
at a rapid rate.
        "Shields up.  Hail the _Venus_ and the _Mars_, tell them to assume
defensive positions around us." ordered Captain Janos.  The two escort ships
moved into position of the port and starboard sides of the _Hercules_.
        "Hold here at 30,000 kilometers.  All scans concentrate on the
vortex.  Let's see what kind of readings we can get.  Helm, keep a careful
watch on the perimeter of that thing; I want to stay 30,000 kilometers away
from it at all times."
        "Readings coming in now...Sir!  Lyran battlecruisers are emerging
from the vortex along with unknown ship designs!" said the science officer.
        "Red alert, arm all weapons systems.  Comm, signal the _Mars_ and
_Venus_," ordered Janos as the klaxons began to flash and beep throughout the
ship.
        "All 4 plasma cannons are online.  Laser banks report ready.  Torpedo
tubes cleared and loaded," said the tactics officer in her clipped tone.  The
_Hercules_ slid its .1 m x .5 m x .05 mile triangular frame backwards as the
vortex expanded more.
        "_Venus_ and _Mars_ report ready for battle," chimed in the comm
officer as the two ships, roughly half the size of the _Hercules_ matched its
movements.  Suddenly, the center of the vortex grow in size by a factor of
100.
        Through it came the X'hirjq main warship: 7 miles wide, 56 miles
long, and 3 to 5 miles thick at places.  Floating beside in were multiple
black and mauve colored warships, but they all held their fire.
        "Retreat.  Nav, hard to port, get us out of this system.  Comm..."
started Janos.
              The deck of the _Hercules_ tossed about
as three heavy ion blasts from a X'hirjq cruiser slammed into its shields.
The crew, who in certain other sci fi space battles would have been tossed
about the bridge, remained where they were thanks to their seat belts.  The
ships that fired the shots was about 100 times the _Hercules_' size:
.5 x 2.5 x .2 miles in dimension.
        "Shields holding at 23%," said the tactics officer.  "Shields are
recharging."
        "All craft: concentrate fire on that battlecruiser," ordered Janos.
The large plasma cannons, laser banks, and torpedo tubes off all three craft
blazed as they launched a deadly volley at the one ship.  "Get us out of
here, helm.  Maximum speed to the jump point!"
        The front of the X'hirjq battlecruiser lit up as the volley struck
its shields.  The Jihaddi watched, from their rear view screens, as its
shields absorbed the blows, turning a rainbow of colors as they restabilized
themselves.
        "Fire all torpedoes," ordered Captain Janos as the three Jihad ships
flew away, the distance between them and their attacker growing.  The
battlecruiser accelerated as the torpedoes smashed into its shields.  They
held as they returned fire.
          
        "Shields are failing!" shouted the tactics officer as the ship tossed
about on its course from the heavy ion blasts.
        "_Mars_, _Venus_ draw that thing's fire off of us," ordered Janos.
"Fire all weapons.  Dump reserve power into the shields to recharge them."
        "Shield back at 18%" said the tactics officer.  "Launching
torpedoes."
        "Nav, how long until we get to the jump point?" asked the Captain.
        "Fifteen minutes, sir," said a hopeless nav officer.
            The first ion blast tore down the _Hercules_'
shields and the next slammed into the ship's armor, melting off tons of metal
that streamed into the void in ribbon-like threads.
        "Shields have failed!  Casualty reports coming in from all over the
ship!" said the tactics officer as the X'hirjq rapidly closed the distance
between it and the three Jihad ships.
        A large shuttle craft detached itself from the battle cruiser and
headed towards the _Hercules_.  One the Herc's large plasma cannons swung
around and vaporized the shuttle.  The battle cruiser's response was a volley
of torpedoes that slammed into the gun and destroyed it.
        The heavy ion guns of the X'hirjq ship tore down the shields of the
_Mars_ and the _Venus_ and blasted their hulls.  One could see atmosphere
streaming from the _Mars_, a tell-tale sign of heavy damage.  The ships kept
up their run for the jump point, lasers blazing between the four ships as ion
and plasma cannons would be unwise at this range.
        "Sir!!  The alien vessel is sending over boarding shuttles!"
exclaimed the tactics officer.
        "All hands: " said Janos as he punched the ship-wide intercomm,
"prepare to repel boarders with lethal force.  All crew people are to equip
themselves with XRifles[tm] and Sponge Guns[tm] immediately.  That is all."
        "Science officer, I want an analysis of the enemy ship's shield
structure ASAP.  Get to work."
        "Wilkes, you have the bridge.  I'll be down in engineering," said
Janos as he unbuckled himself from the Captain's chair, grabbed his sword,
and headed towards the corridor.
        "SIR?!?!" asked a shocked Commander Wilkes.
        "You heard me.  It's your job to keep us from getting over-run.  I
need to set something up for us in engineering."
        "Understood," replied Wilkes.
        "Nav?  How long until the jump point at our current speed?" asked
Janos.
        "Twelve minutes, sir," replied a frightened officer.
        "Computer: Set auto-destruct sequence, fifteen minute delay.  Code:
alpha 83501 omega 005461 tau 7y53bn9" ordered Janos.  "Your code, Wilkes."
        "Computer: Set auto-destruct sequence, fifteen minute delay.  Code:
gamma by6zw001 rho 7q3021 theta 3141n9k." ordered Wilkes.
        "Set destruct set for fifteen minutes," chimed the computer.
        "Computer: Monitor my life signs.  In the event that I become
incapacitated, my authorization to end the self-destruct sequence in hereby
transferred to tactics officer Evelyn Brown." ordered Janos.
        "Acknowledged," chimed the computer as it merrily continued its
countdown.  The door to the bridge snapped closed behind the captain as
Wilkes turned to make a comment.

....

        Captain Janos ran through the corridors heading for engineering as
the ships groaned and shook under the continued laser assault of the X'hirjq
battlecruiser.  His first officer's voice informed the crew that a boarding
party was now onboard in the upper decks, near where one of the main guns had
been destroyed.
        "Sir!" said the chief engineer as he and his fellow techies snapped
to attention.
        "We need to make several modifications to the ship in very short
order, gentleman," said their Captain as someone handed him a plasma rifle.
        "Sir, you want to supervise this?" questioned the chief engineer,
clearly worried that a command-type wanted to play with his baby.
        "I also work for W.E.D.J.E.E., and have designed multiple engines
before, now let's get to work."
        "Yessir!"
        "Here's what we need..."

...

        "Sir, the intruders have breached our first ring of security.  Twelve
crew are dead," informed the first officer.  "The _Venus_ and _Mars_ likewise
have intruders; the battle cruiser has stopped firing."
        "Seal and weld the bulk heads in all sections around the enemy held
area but one.  Have our people get out through that one," ordered Janos as he
went back to work.

....

        "Now, chief engineer, when I give the command, you know what to do?"
asked his captain.
        "Yes, sir.  I still think it's a bad idea, but under the
circumstances, I can't see a better option."
        "Good."
        "Sir! The intruders have been contained, but another contingent has
broken in on another part of the ship!" interupted his first officer on the
com.
        "Contain them, first officer.  Has science officer Takahashi finished
her analysis of the enemies shields yet?" queried Janos.
        "Yes, sir.  She has.."
        "I'll be there immediately."
....

        "Excellent!" exclaimed Captain Janos after seeing the readouts on
the enemy shield structure.  "Tactics, quadruple load the torpedo tubes on
all ships and prepare to fire all remaining weapons at the coordinate I
specify."
        "Yes, sir," said the officer as she ordered the tubes quad loaded.
        "Engineering, on my mark, execute all of my instructions exactly as
laid out.  Comm, tell both of our escorts to vent 70% of their drive plasma
immediately after firing their weapons.  They need to get clear of the enemy
ship."
        "_Venus_ and _Mars_ are ready, sir," said Comm, "but they may be
overrun soon from intruders."
        "Fire," ordered Janos.  Dozens of torpedoes streaked from all three
Jihaddi ship accompanied by multiple plasma and laser blasts.  All of the
destructive force converged on the same, small, weak area of the ship's
shielding.  In a bright, multi-colored flash of lights, the enemy ship's
defenses lost coherency as their computer fought to regain control.
        "Signal our escorts.  Now engineering!" yelled Janos.  The _Hercules_
rocked and swayed from huge explosions where two of its three fusion engines
used to be.  The modified engine cores flew directly towards the enemy ship
and passed through its shields.
        The _Venus_ and _Mars_ shot out from under the alien battleship's
shadow as a huge stream of plasma erupted from their engines.  The _Hercules_
shot away a moment later, plowing through the plasma field left behind by its
escorts.
        The two modified engine cores connected with the hull of the alien
ship.  From a distance, the crews of the ships saw two artifical suns bloom
under the enemy ship.  The blooms spread, consuming everything in their path.
As the blooms expanded beyond the farthest end of the ship, its engine core
blew.
        A third, brighter, sun erupted in their view screens as the
battleship exploded into millions of tons of molten metal, charred biological
matter, atmosphere, and related debris.
        "Sir!  Reports from all decks, the invaders committed suicide rather
than face capture.  We're safe!" reported the comm officer.  Everyone, except
for Captain Janos, cheered loudly at the defeat of their enemies.
        "Computer, disable self-destruct."
        "Does the first officer agree?" asked the computer.
        "Yes!" shouted Wilkes.
        "Self-destruct aborted," informed the machine.
        "Gentlemen," said Janos, turning to face his officers, "we've made
our point.  Let's go home.  Comm officer, send our latest scan of the enemy
fleet to headquarters as well as every JAO head and senior officer."
        "Would you like to attach a message?" asked the comm officer.
        "Yes: Retreat to Earth and prepare for a massive invasion."

....

        The three ships reached their jump point, the enemy fleet still
assembling behind them as more ships emerged from the vortex, and blurred
into hyperspace.  They re-emerged into TrueSpace approximately four hours'
journey from Earth orbit.
        "All hands: effect as many repairs as possible in the time given to
us.  That is all," said Janos as he got up from his chair, "you have the
bridge, Wilkes."  The captain went back to his quarters to collect his
thoughts and process what had just happened before any messages were received
from the Jihad.

....

        Curiously, nothing arrived from Earth when Janos returned to the
bridge to check on progress.  This did not sit at all well with him.
        "Nav, how long until we arrive in orbit?"
        "Eight minutes, sir," responded the officer.
        "Red alert.  All hands to battle stations, arm and load all weapons,"
ordered the captain after three minutes had passed.
        "Thirty seconds until we are in orbital range," informed the nav
officer after a short time had passed.
        "Sir!  There are several carrier class vessels in orbit around
Earth!" said the science officer.  "I don't think they have detected us yet,
as their shields are still down."
        "Excellent, Nav, change course so that we will pop above their
horizon without being seen from space," order Janos.

....

        The Lyran Commander stood on his bridge, pleased that it had been so
easy for his two vessels and the X'hirjq troop carrier to slip undetected
into orbit around earth.  They had intercepted the incoming messages from
Captain Janos and promptly placed them in the circular file.  While they
waited to intercept the messages Master B'harnii had said would be coming,
they had unloaded almost all of their troops onto the surface below.
        "I pity the poor Jihaddi below when they have to deal with close to
100,000 of B'harnii finest troops," chuckled the Lyran captain.  His eyes
opened wide as he saw three Jihad space vessels pop suddenly above the
horizon, guns blazing.
        "Defense officer!" the captain bellowed.  "Raise the shields!"
        "Noooooooooo!" he screamed after seeing the his officer decided to
take his coffee break without someone to relieve him.

....

        "Fire," commanded Captain Janos.  Torpedoes, plasma bolts, and laser
rays flew from all of the damaged Jihad ships towards the three carriers in
orbit.  A full salvo of torpedoes from the _Hercules_ punched through the
first Lyran carrier's hull near the engine core.
        The huge lavender craft exploded in a shower of burning debris as the
one next to it was pummled by numerous plasma bolts and lasers which melted
large holes in its hull.  Swarms of torpedoes from the _Venus_ and _Mars_
punched through its vulnerable hull and exploded, causing massive internal
damage.
        The engine core for the second Lyran vessel partially exploded,
disintegrating its middle section.  The carrier tore in half, pulled down by
gravity, the vessel's atmosphere forming a cloud around it.
        The shields of the X'hirjq, hastily raised after a moment of
surprise, absorbed the brunt of the three ship's assaults.  It rolled
backwards, signaling to its escort vessels.
        "Captain!  We're detecting enemy vessel around the North Pole .. "
said the science officer.
        "... where the moth balled TRES Corps space fleet is!" exclaimed
Janos.  "Nav, set course to intercept those ships.  Comm, hail those ships,
get them to leave those mothballs alone!"
        A ball of light erupted on the side of an idle, powered-down ship.
The blast tore through its hull and came out the other side.  The black ships
circling the moth balled fleet fired, dozens of torpedoes streaking towards
the idle fleet.
        Bright clouds of burning metal flowered thoughout the mothballed
ships.  A small transport exploded from a heavy ion cannon blast.  The front
of a battleship disintegrated from plasma blasts as it crashed into another
vessel, gravity dragging them down as their orbits decayed.

....

        "Lock all weapons on the lead destroyer," commanded Janos as it
became clear that the mothballed fleet was doomed.  The four black ships
fired, ion blasts converging on the _Mars_.  The escort's shields buckled
from the first three blasts.  The remaining ion blast punched through the
_Mars_' hull and shattered its engine core.
        A bright, spreading cloud of molten matter was all that remained of
the _Mars_ as the two remaining ships fired on the destroyer.  The shields of
the lead destroyer collapsed, several shots exploding on its hull.
        The destroyers launched a thick barrage of torpedoes and plasma bolts
while their ion cannons recharged.  The majority of the attack landed on the
_Venus_, its shields, armor, and hull giving out from the superior fire power
of the destroyers.  The wounded ship spiralled downwards, escape pods
shooting off of it as the atmosphere ignited its hull.
        The _Hercules_ fired all of its weapons into the unshielded
destroyer.  It erupted into a satisfying explosion of matter.  Three ion
blasts slammed into the Herc's shields, dragging them down to near nothing.
        "Sir, we're not going to last at this," observed the first officer.
        "Duh, tell me something I don't know," said a sarcastic Janos.  "All
hands: begin evacuation procedures.  Tactics, fire.  Comm, rebroadcast all
priority messages since we encountered the vortex."  The ship's guns blazed
again, draining the majority of a destroyer's shielding.
        "Our shields are collapsing," said the Tactics officers as the three
ships plastered the Jihad vessel with torpedoes, plasma bursts, and laser
fire.  The ship rocked to one side as a torpedo punched through the hull and
exploded underneath one of the main guns.  _Hercules_ lurched suddenly
downwards, one its main propulsion systems failing, as gravity grabbed hold.
        Two of the ion blasts streaked through the space where the Herc used
to be, but the third gunner on the enemy ship waited for a split second and
took a better aim.  An ion bolt slammed into the center of the _Hercules_'
triangular design.  The ship erupted in flame as a large part of its
atmospohere blew out into space.
        "ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP!" commanded Janos.  Their hull had been
breached, main power system failed, attitude control was gone.  The
_Hercules_ spun slowly downwards into the Earth's atmosphere.  Several of her
bridge crew were dead from the shock wave that had swept through the ship,
still others lost consciousness from the sudden decrease in air pressure.
        Janos picked up two of his crew who were still alive and carried them
to the escape pod and dropped them in.  He went back, picked up the last
living crewwoman, and climbed into the pod.  The door sealed and his ears
popped as the cabin repressurized.
        A rough explosion jarred the four people and the pod flew away from
the doomed craft.  A shock wave rocked the pod as the _Hercules_ was atomized
by the remaining destroyers.
        "Let me see if I can guide this thing to somewhere near Jihad
territory," said Janos as he checked the descent path.....

                                                        CyberPyro
==============================================================================
OK,

        here's where everything opens up to the Jihad.  There are
approximately 100,000 Wyrm Minions, X'hirjq Warriors, Jello Sponges, and bots
on the planet.  Divvy them up however you want, and fight what battles you
feel are appropriate.

- Blood Jihad Space Fleet, NEBULA, and other space-based forces: There are 4
        X'hirjq ships still is orbit waiting for the main fleet to arrive.
        Don't forget about the main warship (the really, really, really big
        one) which leads the assault force.

- Shardik: You were talking about some kind of invasion of Louisville where
        you live before; that idea would fit in wonderfully if you want to
        use it.

- TRES Corps: I'd like to do a JAO-wide Op with us all fighting together.  If
        you're in TRES and interested write to me, and I'll fill you in on
        what I'm thinking.

        All in all, I got the ball rolling.  We're now in the middle of a
massive invasion started by the Hell Wyrm in response to our success in Op:
WW.  Everything is left open-ended for you guys to write in; I don't have any
structure to this story besides the beginning, my collection of strange ideas,
and what I know the turning battle will be.
        So, have fun with it.  I'll be posting a letter to the Jihad on the
NG and mailing it to each of you individually explaining in more detail what
I'm doing.  If you have any questions, contact me.

                                        CyberPyro
                                        jdmarburger@miavx1.muohio.edu
                                        (like NetNews doesn't display this)

Copyright, Pyrokinetic Productions, Inc. (1996)