Operation Phoenix: Turning Point Battle, Part 5
        
        by CyberPyro (cybrpyro@iac.net)

        J-Rock cried out as the flames descended, their pressures imploding
Hubert and setting ablaze buildings, cars, telephone poles, kiosks, and
everything else that could burn.  But... his cries echoed back to him as the
fire storm raged past, leaving a hemisphere of completely undisturbed space
behind.
        A half-melted USA Today newspaper machine landed on top of this
space, split open, and slid off to embed itself part way into the bubbling
asphalt.  In the aftershock of explosion, debris rained down from the sky,
counter-balanced by thick coils of smoke rising into the night.
        "Wow..." said Cerberus as he looked at the twisted wreckage created
by CyberPyro's spell.  The streets, initially lit only from the mauve light
of the Purple Cloud, due to all the lights being destroyed by the firestorm,
were now acquiring a flickering luminescence from all the burning materials.
        "What happened to the other three bots?" asked Morgenna, looking
around after she mentally released her protection spell.  Three of the four
Jihaddi jumped as huge explosions outside of Des Moines' city limits lit the
night sky, their noise thundering over the city.
        "That's those four bots from earlier, finally landing" said Cerberus
with an impish grin.  "It takes awhile to fall from 10,000 feet..."
        "Hehe... seriously, there's nothing left of those other three," said
J-Rock.  "What happened?"
        "Perhaps someone else nailed them?" asked Owsen, stepping out from
his a protective space.
        "OWSEN!" shouted the other four Jihaddi, rushing over to greet him.
        "Happy to see all of you again, I am," said Windigo, stepping out of
the dimensional pocket after Owsen.  What followed could best be described as
a group hug, everyone exchanging enthusiastic greetings, despite the mental
stress of resisting the Purple Cloud.
        After a semi-confusing 6-way conversation, it was decided Owsen and
CyberPyro would try to use their magic to find J. FoxGlov, who, at last
report, was trapped in the X'hirjq controlled city of Atlanta.  Windigo and
Morgenna split off together to find Most Holy, who they sensed approaching
the city.  J-Rock and Cerberus teamed up to find transportation, now that
Hubert was a smoldering pile of aluminum and steel.

...

        "AAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!"
        *THUD*
        J. FoxGlov landed in a pile on the floor as the dimensional gate
closed behind him, his tails twitching indignantly as he struggled to sit up.
Obviously, J's body didn't agree with being pulled across thousands of miles
of 'real space' and a couple of dimensions.
        J's three tails all waved in unison, beckoning CP closer.  Owsen
chuckled in the background as CP went to see what J wanted.

...

        J, Owsen, and CP sloshed into the street after their initial meeting,
heading for the rendezvous point with the other Jihaddi.
        "What's _that_?" asked J as he pointed towards a Spam delivery truck
lurching down the abandoned city streets as cases flew out behind it and
smashed on the pavement.
        "No idea," said Owsen and CP in unison.
        "Hey guys!" yelled J-Rock as the truck rumbled within ear shot, "We
got transportation again!"
        "Where's Windigo and Morgenna?" queried Owsen, "They're already late
as is..."
        "I don't like this.  We're going to look for them," declared CP,
climbing into the back of Spam truck.  He, like Owsen and J when they were in
the back, started hoisting out cases to make room for themselves as Cerberus
slammed the gas and shot off in the direction he thought they would be.

...

        Cerberus, with guidance from Owsen, finally found Windigo sitting on
a large rock in the suburbs, as though waiting for them to show up.
Scattered around her in the snow of someone's front lawn were the shredded
corpses of at least 12 sponge minions, but it was hard to tell since she
didn't leave whole pieces of spongy to count.
        "Worried, I am"
        "Why?" asked Owsen.
        "Chased Most Holy off into the mall, Morgenna did"
        "OK, why?"
        "Ran away, frightened, he did.  Knowing not why, I am."  CyberPyro
and J exchanged worried glances and jumped back into the delivery truck.  In
a handful of seconds, the vehicle was in gear again, all Jihaddi inside and
tossing out more cases of Spam for personal room, as Cerberus drove towards
the local mall.

...

        Morgenna looked down from her vantage point at the top of the mall's
highest room.  A Spam truck was approaching at rapid velocities and Most Holy,
below her, may not have noticed it yet.
        Most Holy looked up from reading is _Ecclesial History of Medieval
Church_ to see Morgenna land lightly in front of him.  He closed the book and
put it in one of his pants' voluminous pockets.
        "Yeah?"
        "We have company."
        "Friendlies?"
        "Not sure.  I think so though."
        "OK," Most Holy said, picking up his 10 gauge shotgun, "let's go meet
them."

...

        The two groups of Jihaddi met in the middle of the nearly empty
parking lot, exchanging greetings, status reports, and stories of the
invasion while planning out the next stage of their operation.  They had to
make it to the 801 Grand Building, and soon.
        A X'hirjq fighter approached silently from the North at subsonic
velocity.  Its pilot, homing in CyberPyro's unique biological signs, had
found his targets.  The targeting computer beeped sharply as it confirmed
the audience: here were 8 of the twelve marked for death by b'harnii.

                                                                CP

Copyright, Prokinetic Productions, Inc. (1996)