Operation Phoenix: Turning Point Battle, Part 8 by CyberPyro (cybrpyro@iac.net) Windigo howled, the noise piercing everyone's ears, as her attacker pulled her closer to its spike-encrusted form, large bat-like wings obscuring most of her body. Samhain, J-Rock, and CyberPyro drew their swords and ran/jumped down the flight of stairs, intent on attack. Windigo needed to be saved from a certain death. "No closer," growled a gravely voice as Windigo's howls continued. Samhain pulled up sharply, a look of bewilderment on his face. CyberPyro, avoiding a crash into Samhain, skidded down 4 stairs before gaining purchase on the steps. "Sheridan?" asked an uncertain J-Rock. "Shardik?!" exclaimed Samhain. "Mr. Scaly Butt?" asked CP with a wry smile. "Screw you too, CP," growled the Daemon Feral, though his grin kept it from having the effect it normally would. "Shardik!!" exclaimed the other Jihaddi bounding down the stairs to embrace him. They stopped short, a razor-edged wing raised to chest level in their paths. "Oh no you don't," said Shardik as Windigo purred into his ear. "You guys have been hugging each other through this whole story and being far too touchy-feely and, frankly, I've had enough of that." "Oh, OK, Fine," said J. FoxGlov as he shuffled his feet, his tails twitching is dissatisfaction. "Just don't get any Windigo slobber in your ear," bit back an ever sarcastic CP. "Why you..." snarled Shardik as he released Windigo and chased a half-taunt-dancing, half-running CP up the stairs through a quickly parted crowd of Jihaddi. Ten seconds later, all noise stopped. Fifteen seconds passed. "Well, are we going to the top or are you guys going to stand there looking silly all day?" yelled Shardik down the stairwell as he released CP from his embrace. ... "*NO*!!" snarled the Hell Wyrm, his anger mounting at an exponential rate. [And what are you unhappy about?] queried The Empress as she sat serenely on her bench in the X'hirq'a'al's huge jaws. "SAMHAIN LIVES!!" screamed an enraged Wyrm. "SHARDIK LIVES!!" [Obviously.] "_*HOW*_?!?!" demanded the Hell Wyrm. [For which?] "SHARDIK," snarled the Wyrm, his patience eroding before his anger. [His sovereign chose to send him back. Have you not been paying attention?] "*SAMHAIN*?!!?" bellowed The Great Satan of BackStage Fondling. The X'hirjq Empress' calm and quietude, as well as her knowledge of events that completely eluded his perception, amid his raging anger only served to enrage him further. She seemed not to care that his -- *THEIR* -- major victories in this invasion had been undone. Silence held the Throne Room as the Empress closed her eyes as though meditating. B'harnii felt himself totally ignored by her, his ally's thoughts directed elsewhere. "_*HOW*_?!?!?" demanded It of The One Tooth, as he stomped his feet on the matte black floor, trying to get his ally's attention. [I recreated his body from that of his killer, X'ehmahr, so that his honor would be restored. It was *I* who made it possible for him to return from the grave so quickly.] The Hell Wyrm spluttered, completely thunder-struck as his anger collapsed under its own monumental weight. A trickle of spittle fell from his jaws, the news still trying to sink in. "You willingly brought a mortal enemy of ours back from the grave," stated the Magenta Monstrosity, understanding and killing rage returning in tandem. His vision narrowed, the Empress the only target in a world of red. [Assault on the Empress...] [...will result in...] [..death.] spoke three brightly robed X'hirjq whom had conversed with Charcharadon outside of the ruined W.E.D.J.E.E. HQ. He-Who-Is-Too-Vile-Behold snapped out of his rage and looked around. A veritable army of crimson, azure, canary yellow, and slate gray robed X'hirjq all met his eyes in unison. Their eyes all spoke the same thought: We are ready to kill. "Heh," said a shocked Wyrm, all the blood in his blubbery body draining into his feet and tail as hundreds of razor-sharp, serrated swords glinted viciously in the dull light. He waddled backwards a few steps, panic and shock working their ways into the plush demon's brain. Why had he been so STUPID as to assume the X'hirjq were completely on his side? They had had an agenda of their own, he could see now, and that followed his interests so long as they matched his. [You are correct.] confirmed the Empress. "Why? Why did you do it?" stammered the Hell Wyrm. No one had ever been able to pluck his thought out of his head like that before: No one! [You will find out in good time, should the setting be appropriate.] "But they're going to get to the top!" bellowed the Wyrm. [They very well may if you do not act.] finished the Empress, walking down the spine of the X'hirq'a'al to the Throne Room floor. She ignored further queries from the Wyrm as she left the chamber to attend to other duties. ... B'harnii's hideous face glowed in the LCD of his laptop. The X'hirjq had provided a free T5 connection to the 801 Grand Building for him to lay his trap. The 801 had a huge host of computers open to telnet and ftp sessions. He only had to find the right machine... ... "kill -9" "rm -r -f /home/barney/*" screamed the UNIX machine at the Purple Pussbag. Giving up on this one, he tried another... "Abort, Retry, Fail?" asked a persistently annoying machine. "General Protection Fault" complained another, crashing for no reason. "Yeah. Right. Go away, lard butt. Get real," stated an OS/2 machine before it sent ASCII bombs back at him, killfiling him in another process. How rude! The Wyrm fondly ruffled the pages of the script he'd acquired. If properly positioned, he could take out three of the ten Jihaddi before they got to the top and doom their chances of success. Finally, a machine accepted his connection and didn't kick him out! The required materials were rapidly transferred, installed, and ready to roll. He looked around, found the right button, and clicked "Start." ... The Jihaddi stopped on the 19th floor, listening. Something was making noise that shouldn't be. Music? A quiet discussion took place. "Enemies?" asked Shardik. "Let's get to the top," asserted Owsen. "Wanting them dead, I am," said Windigo. "We can't have spongin or wyrms attacking us from behind," said CP. "Right," agreed Most Holy. "They're dead," said J-Rock, pulling out his hand-held ER PPC. "I'll go with MoHo and J-Rock. You get to the top Windigo," said CP. Windigo held CP's gaze for a brief moment, nodded agreement for an unspoken contract, and headed for the stairs. "All right you three, make it back in triple time," ordered J. FoxGlov. "No prob, boss man," said CP as his two companions filed through the stairwell door and headed towards the noise. CP Copyright, Pyrokinetic Productions, Inc. (1996)