Operation Phoenix:  Vengeance


Part 2 of 5


 
	High above the earth, the X'hirjq ship Stalker dispatched its 
wing of heavy-assault fighters and raiding troops.  The had but one 
objective: to destroy Samhain's pride and joy, his own creation... they 
were after WEDJEE.



	Samhain flew low over the ground to avoid detection from whatever 
unfriendlies might have been around.  With a full scale invasion going on, 
you really never know where they'll be, after all.  He selected his Van 
Halen "Balance" CD from the 100 disc changer and was greeted by the 
familiar lead chords of "Seventh Seal."  Ironic and fitting, he thought as 
he flew the short distance to WEDJEE HQ.  The Seventh Seal, in 
revelation, or course, was the beginning of the end of the world.  Well, 
if this invasion succeded, it could very well be exactly that...

	Before the song finished, he was approaching the headquarters 
facility, sending the identification and validation signals, and flying 
down into the underground flight bunker...



	"He's landing in a hardened bunker," called in the pilot of the 
lead fighter to the rest of the assault force, flying at near-orbital 
altitude and at almost five times the speed of sound.  "We aren't going 
to give them a chance to prepare for us.  Follow my lead in, weapons are 
free.  But remember our orders--we are not to attack the one known as 
Samhain.  You all know how to tell which one he is."

	The lead fighter dropped its port wing and pushed its nose down 
towards the Earth's surface, accelerating to mach 7, the maximum speed that 
it could safely do a full 180 degree turn and pull out maneuver,  as it 
dove downwards.  The rest of the flight wing followed suit, diving down 
towards the area marked by the lead fighter, which was scanning both 
above and below ground for artificial constructions, and marking target 
points for each of the following light fighters to hit.



	Samhain was barking orders before he was all the way out of the 
V-1.  "Full auto-defense perimeter!  Minimum tolerance!  All weapons are 
FREE!  Repeat, all weapons are free!  Seal blast doors, run emergency 
encryption and defense routines on all systems!  Sound red alert!"

	Immediately, the headquarters which was already bustling with the 
activity of producing the weapons suddenly being ordered en masse from 
all operatives and JAOs, swung into a triple time cadence as weapons and 
defense systems went active, red alert claxons sounded, red flashers went 
off, and blast doors started closing.  The headquarters suddenly changed 
its own layout with the closing doors, turning from an orderly, well 
laid out and logically organized sequence of rooms and corridors into a 
labarynth more confusing than the inside of the Kremlin.  Anti-aircraft 
cannon sprouted from the ground outside the headquarters where once there 
had been a soft green matte of bluegrass.  Roving vodkabot security 
drones turned into flame-throwing killing machines.  Code keypads with 
numerous failsafes and booby traps sprouted from walls next to doors that 
were once open and free to pass through in even the lowest security areas.

	Samhain hurried to the flight-op station just off the hanger 
area, and watched as the HQ came online.  He started downloading some 
designs from his own personal computer for saving in the V-1 and then 
wiped his own computer clean.  He only hoped it would all be in time...



	The lead fighter came in fast, just in time to see the first of 
the ground-to-air weapons systems came out of nowhere.  His dual laser
cannons blazed, cutting them down before they had a chance to fire at 
him, but there were just too many coming up for him to take them all.  
This wasn't as easy a target as it had only seconds ago seemed.  He 
pulled up and right in a hard, almost 50-g maneuver as his wingman came in, 
his own cannons firing and fired a concussion torpedo near the left side 
of the hanger doors.  His attention focused on the aft-launched torpedo that 
was intended to be used to collapse the hanger bay opening, his shots at 
the next string of defensive weapons went wide.  Their countering shots, on 
the other hand, hit their marks as if he had a homing beacon onboard.
Three particle streams converged on his belly as he attempted the same 
pull-put maneuver the leader had done, and he exploded in a blaze of 
scattering particles and flame.  His torpedo hit its target, and the left 
side of the hanger opening collapsed.



	Samhain heard the damage alert claxons going off, and knew his 
fears had not been in vain.  He watched helpless as 3 of his men were 
buried under a mountain of metal and dirt as one side of the hanger doors 
collapsed under a heavy hit.  It was NOT a feeling he enjoyed.  He patted 
the controller on the back and said, encouragingly, "Do what you can.  
Leave when you must.  I trust you to do your best," and was greeted in 
return with only a quiet "yes sir" as he set about his work.

	He hurried out of the room as the first of the fighters started 
heading for the emergency launch doors on the sides of the hanger.  There 
was a good man in that control center.... Latham, his name was, He 
grabbed a spare uniform as he went out the door from the supply racks, 
and ran the rest of the way to the V-1.

	He tossed the magnetic cartridge on the passenger seat, and 
reached under the seat for his trusty HK-MP5 submachine gun and the 
custom-loads he'd designed himself.  5 clips.  Not enough for this, but 
it was all he had for now.

	"Elektra, get out of here, try to distract their fire.  Monitor me 
with 
the biosensors in this uniform, and pick me up if I call you."  He 
grabbed the spare remote console from the slot under the passenger side 
seat, and finished his instruction bluntly.  "AND NO ARGUING."

	"I wouldn't argue getting out of here for a second.  I don't feel 
like getting buried alive..." commented Elektra as she fired up her 
engines and took off out the opening left where the hanger doors had 
been, which collapsed to an opening just barely larger than the V-1 
itself as a second concussion bomb hit the other side of it...



	"Watch those defenses!" growled the lead X'hirjq.  "Collapse the 
doors, then leave the other attack points for the next pass, but take 
down those defense cannons!

	The third fighter zoomed in, dropped its concussion bomb, and 
pulled straight up and out.  His wingman blazed straight towards the 
cannons firing at his leading comrades, and took down 4 of them with his 
laser cannons and forward torpedo launchers before a spam-o missile hit him 
from behind and he went up in a blaze of glory.

	Within minutes and a few more passes, the defensive cannons would 
be silent, and the assault would begin in earnest....



To be continued...


"Vengeance" and "Vengeance, Part 2"
Copyright 1995
David R. Hibbs