Operation: Phoenix, Battle for the TRES Corps HQ, Part 7

        by CyberPyro (cybrpyro@iac.net)

        CyberPyro stood at the center of the carnage wroth by Samhain's
Shadow Warriors and trying to fight off an emotion his friend would not
approve of: guilt.  The last living remnants of his friend had dropped from
the sky and crushed the wyrm bots to save him, but the nagging demon guilt
still remained.
        Samhain, through his warriors, had been able to save CP's life, but
he was unable to return the favor.  Why did he have to be in Scotland when
his friend died?  Why didn't he know enough to go to W.E.D.J.E.E. HQ instead
of look for his dead Mistress and her wife?
        Thinking such a thought, CP caught himself in double bind thinking.
If he'd gone to Iowa, perhaps Samhain would still be alive, perhaps not.
They might both be dead.  If he'd gone to Iowa, he'd blame himself for not
knowing what had happened to Tasha and Morgenna.  Either way, he found a way
to blame himself.
        "F*ck this noise," he said, crumpling up the card the lead warrior
had handed him.  It served to only drive his guilt onwards; best to leave it
in the snow and sort it out after the invasion was over, by whatever means.

...

        The weary TRES forces fell back to the outskirts of the town, running
low and ammo and will to fight.  The sponge minions had almost all been
slain, but the Jello Beasts and Wyrm bots had proven much tougher customers.
How they'd fight the X'hirjq, fresh for battle and completely non-exerted,
was a grim possibility none of the Jihaddi wanted to contemplate.
        The Wyrm bots, flanked by Jello Beasts and the remains of the spongin
forces, surged forwards again, intent on shattering the TRES lines.  The
warriors, already exhausted from a full day's conflict, dug deep into their
internal reserves of Will to drive the enemy back.  To fire their rifles one
more time, to take aim, to dodge attacks.
        A single, powerfully clear note resounded across the battlefield.  It
blew again, stirring Jihaddi and b'harnate creature alike from the grizzly gloom of combat.  The tone came again, louder and closer this time.
        Black flags, red swords crossed behind the snarling image of a
Doberman Pincher fluttered over the closest rise in the battlefield.  The
note blew again, stirring the TRES Corps warriors from their exhaustion.
More flags appeared on the opposite ridge, and then more on another.  Soon
the battlefield was ringed in flags, new soldiers charging over the hills.
        "JIHAD!  GLORY!  GRIMACE!!" screamed the Dobermensch in unison,
ripping into the unprotected flanks of the b'harnate forces.  With inspired,
renewed energy the TRES Corps warriors slammed into the advancing enemy
lines, breaking their formation.
        As the sun of this bloody day fell to the horizon, TRES and
Dobermensch forces, Brothers and Sisters in Arms, crushed the remaining
b'harnate forces on the field.

...

        [So much for your oaths] thought  X'huurrj'qx.
        "Shut up!!" snarled the Lyran.
        [Why should I?] asked  X'huurrj'qx, [Every trap you've sprung has
been broken, every snare undone.  Every attempt at conquering the weakling
Jihaddi a miserable failure.  Everything a failure.  Perhaps it is you who
are weak?]
        "I'll enjoy making a coat from your scales," snarled the Lyran,
hellish magic flying from his backhanded motion.  The assault struck the
light grey robed X'hirjq and flowed over her body before falling off in 
droplets like mercury poured from a beaker in a laboratory experiment.
        [So you wish to see who is the stronger] intoned  X'huurrj'qx as the
droplets of magic burned smoldering holes into the bunker floor.  She drew
her serrated sword, shed her clothing,  and left the bench where she sat in a
unified blur, [So be it.]
        Wheri'El disappeared in a flash of light, the X'hirjq's sword hissing
through empty air.  A portal opened beside the X'hirjq and a flaming demon
reached out for her.  The demon shrieked in agony, it forearm removed in a
blindingly fast blur from the X'hirjq's blade.  Its cries stopped a split
second later, its gigantic head rolling across the floor.
        The senior Lyran mage and his assistants, at equidistant points from
the X'hirjq, completed their furious chants, and launched three spells in
unison.  The powerful energies struck the X'hirjq and dissipated without
doing any damage.
        Ha'lern'Ol let out a blood curdling scream as X'huurrj'qx impaled him
on her blade like a marshmallow on a stick.  Before he could finish his
scream, the sword ripped out of his chest, and left a gaping hole.  His
stomach exploded outwards, bile and acid splashing across the floor as the
serrated sword made a second hole.
        Gharn'll and Wheri'El reeled in horror as X'huurrj'qx's claw seized
Ha'lern'Ol's neck and pulled it sharply back into her wide open jaws.  Bones
snapped like angel hair and blood flew across the room as  X'huurrj'qx shook
the Lyran from side to side, chewing its head from its body.
        The two Lyrans panicked,  as they saw the X'hirjq tear Ha'lern'Ol's
soul from his body and consume it along with the flesh from his body.  They
chanted hurriedly, attempting an escape spell.  A light grey energy, the
exact feel of  X'huurrj'qx's being blocked entrance into every dimension.
They were trapped.
        [You don't think I'd allow you to run like cowardly Y'qeee'xv'i do
you?] sneered  X'huurrj'qx as her tongue removed chunks of Gharn'll flesh
from her outer teeth and licked his lavender blood from her lips.
        Drawing on their soul magic, the Lyrans sought a spell they could
concoct to destroy this reptilian nightmare.  Hunting needles hissed through
the air and stabbed deep into Gharn'll torso, one piercing a breast, before
their thousands of needle erupted in her flesh.
        Wheri'El, having lost his partner in soul magic, faltered and lost
his focus.  Gharn'll snapped forwards, a wet gurgling her only protest, as
the X'hirjq pulled her closer, using the thousands of needles buried in her
flesh as leverage.
        The grips of the hunting needles looped over a ceiling beam, the
wires pulling taught.  Gharn'll swung from the ceiling, the thousands of
needles in her torso the only thing holding her seven feet from the floor, as
she convulsed violently, the skill of articulation lost to agony.
        [It's just us now, sallow creature] snarled X'huurrj'qx.  She
advanced, her black scales glistening in dim lighting of the X'hirjq command
base.
        "Please," begged Wheri'El, using it as a means to think of what to
do, holding his hands up for additional emphasis, "don't kill me!  I'd only
challenged you in anger ... please!! ... I didn't really mean it!"
        The top half of his thin fingered right hand disappeared in a swipe
of the X'hirjq's knife.  The Lyran cried out in pain, holding his pulsing
stump as he bent double.  His side exploded in agony, the X'hirjq's spiked
tail slamming him clear across the room.
        "NO!  ... PLEASE!!!" begged Wheri'El, his ability to cast spells
completely eclipsed by the pain.  "I BEG YOU....NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"  The
X'hirjq descended on him, pulling him close is a lethal embrace, her claws
sinking deeply into his spinal column and jaws clamping down on the side of
his chest.
        X'huurrj'qx shook the Lyran back and forth like a rag doll,  hunks of
flesh plopping around the command chamber as her claws ripped away pounds at
a time.  Lavender blood washed down her black scaled body in rivers and
pooled around her feet, the prey creature showing an amazing ability to
twitch and otherwise display residual, instinctive defensive mechanisms.
        X'huurrj'qx dropped the bloody, tattered mass that used to be
Wheri'El and stalked back over to where Gharn'll hung from the ceiling, still
convulsing from time to time.  The other X'hirjq in the command center
remained in their submissive position, where they had been throughout the
combat, their bowed snouts still allowing their eyes to watch the battle.
        Wheri'El and his assistants made a fine meal for the hungry X'hirjq
command staff once X'huurrj'qx had finished her last kill.
        [Now we plan the Hunt of our enemies] thought X'huurrj'qx after
everyone had her fill.  [Tomorrow we crush these Jihaddi and their command
center.]

                                                        CP

Copyright, Pyrokinetic Productions, Inc. (1996)