From: will.keith@mail.utexas.edu (William J. Keith) Subject: Op. Phoenix: Battle's Day (Will Keith and Matt Korth) Date: 1996/04/08 Message-ID: organization: University of Texas - Austin newsgroups: alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die,alt.christnet.dinosaur.barney,alt.exploding.barney,alt.satannet.barney,alt.sex.bestiality.barney,alt.tv.barney,alt.tv.the-jihad The fire surrounded him, and the bright light of power rose up from the deeps. Red lightnings fell, and blue responded... As awareness came to the sleeping warrior, the battle of wizards resolved to the sensation of the morning light waking me by the simple means of a direct assault on the retina. I sat up and stretched, having rested briefly but deeply, secure in the knowledge that the battlesuit nearby would have alerted me of any movement in the area. Time to get moving. ³Ensign William J. Keith, Kappa Squad.² ³Voice recognized.² Useless though it was, I felt the same flash of irritation that I always felt, that the simple aura-recognition software much of Jihad field security was based on could not penetrate the psychic block Iıd had since I was a boy; then, just as quickly, set it aside with the discipline of long yearsı practice. There was a mission in hand. I approached the door to the small store in which Iıd spent the night - a locksmithıs, so I could repair the lock Iıd damaged to get in - and scanned the street outside. Empty, of course. With the civilian population long since fled, or worse, dead or spongified, there was no reason for anything but the occasional roving Xıhirjq or sponge patrol to be on these streets, and those but rarely. I stepped outside. While an aerial search would have my target pinpointed almost immediately, I too would be tracked by every radar unit in the area, or whatever the Lizards used. Cycle, then, and trust to the far-off artillery exchange to dull the sound of the motor in this hideously quiet town. I headed toward the small cluster of buildings that denoted the business district. ³Computer, scan for EM broadcasting equipment in sensory range. Ignore TRES-recognized equipment and identified Xıhirjq stations. List by broadcasting power.² Presumably the largest sets would be television stations, with enough power to break through the jamming field my personal communicator couldnıt touch. The possibility that no one was scanning those channels was out of the question, of course - Com routinely checked all of them. Hopefully, the presence of a data stream on a broadcast station would be sufficiently weird that it would get some attention. ³Listing.² Well, look at that. The largest set of broadcasters in the area was a set just to the south of the town, looking like Satanıs own boom box - the jamming broadcasters for this area, surrounded with sufficient defenses to hold off anything HQ could muster up unless it could break the siege. Naturally, sitting within a few kilometers of HQ, a long-range bombardment from space was out of the question; for the amount of power the thing was putting out, it didnıt register well beyond visual range. Next on the list were several spots in town, at varying altitudes; I swung south to the closest large set, which identified itself as Channel 8 as I came near. Last on the list were several mobile units, meandering through the town with no perceptible hurry; with a sinking feeling, I identified them as WyrmBots, with that particularly nasty adaptation of continuous radio and audio broadcasting of the War Chant. Unfortunately, there was no way the Œsuit would fit through that small building, and certainly I wouldnıt be able to handle console controls in armor; with extreme reluctance, I set the control systems to Guard and set the unit just within the foyer. A sidearm, laser glaive, emergency desponge kit, and padlink completed the equipment I carried into the abandoned station. ³Sorry, fellas...² A wry grin lightened my face as I disarmed, broke, and otherwise defeated the security setup around the heart of the broadcast center, the control panels which activated and directed the broadcasts. No locksmithıs tools here; theyıd just have to stay broken. Upon entering the console bank, I cringed internally at the results of a quick assessment of the room - no free-standing furniture, one exit, no windows, minimal lighting; this would be a rat trap if I was caught here. ³So I just donıt get caught here.² Perfect logic. ³OK, boys, whereıd you put the ON switch?. . . Ah, thereıs twelve. Cute. Well, we want. . . main power - ³ a low hum began in the building - ³internal control - ³ arrays of lights flickered to incomprehensible life around the room - ³and broadcasting array.² ³You know, Iım glad electrical engineers tend to the retentive. If this stuff wasnıt labeled I donıt know what the employees here would do. External feed; say, you got any input ports compatible with cutting-edge quantum-based Jihad technology? No? How do you get anything done? Well, no harm, just accept from satellite. Did I mention that the satellite antenna is sitting in your control room? Did I mention that the satellite is actually a handheld padlink pretending to be a satellite? Are you aware Iım talking to a set of switches?² Iıve gotta get out more, I thought. But if I did, I wouldnıt be sufficiently geek to hotwire a multimillion-dollar TV station. I grinned, turned to check that the station was broadcasting ID - and froze. Perfect. Rather unnecessarily, my padlink started beeping to inform me of the detected hostile actions currently being taken against the main unit, in this case coming from the squad of Xıhirjq attempting to gain entrance to the station. ³Stupid, stupid, stupid. . . you could have left the thing ten feet further in and been just as well protected; but no, you leave a big sign out front saying ŒJihaddi inside!ı² Two choices then; leave the unit, get the sneck out of the station, and try to do the same somewhere else, or get the data, start broadcasting and hope to gods the Œsuit slows them down enough for its controller to get out. . . which is more likely to be successful? ³Target the one in dark red. . .and download, you schmuck, download!² Every blow the VR-141 took hit like they were attacking me; the planned com net and optical virus seemed to take ages to download into the stationıs computers. I transmitted command to the suit to move into a side hall and lock up, noting grimly that several weeksı repair worth of damage had been done to the unit, and that the red Xıhirjq would probably be up and about in several days at most. Fingers flew over the broadcast commands, setting the array into a loop and locking out changes. I grabbed my weapons and practically flew out the door - to come face to face with two Lizards, who had quite obviously been following the trail of broken locks straight to me. Paralysis. It was one thing to know intellectually that a lone human warrior had little chance against a single Xıhirjq, except maybe the Ferals and associates; it was another thing to be a not particularly fight-talented researcher face to face with two Lizards whose commander had just been, at least temporarily, killed. On the other hand, I really shouldnıt have had time to complete that thought. Was that a look of confusion on the thingıs face? ³Not that Iıd know,² I thought, but no time to give thanks now. I dropped to half-kneel, drew my sidearm, and fired. _Nothing_ should be able to move that fast. Something like a cross between a scythe and an axe was moving into position before the trigger was pulled and caught the blast. No doubt as to its expression now; the look of a predator is universal. I turned and ran the other way. A roar followed me down the hall: ³*Mindmute subsapient!*² Well, that accounted for the confusion; it had tried to gloat telepathically, and hit the block. ³Whaddayaknow; the darn thing is useful after all.² I had turned a second corner when the timbre of the thingıs voice hit me - unless the vocal chord setup was entirely different(not an unreasonable possibility), the thing was a female. Hard on the heels of this thought came the realization that the door toward which Iıd been running was part of some scenery. The sides of the studio rose up before me. I turned, to realize that the Lizards were between me and any other exit. I dropped my blade into guard position, corner at my back. Standoff; but for how long? (Viewpoint change) Matt Korth After the Crash --------------- Apparently I was luckier in landing than in combat piloting--I crash-landed, totaling the plane without injuring myself. I had no intention of waiting around to see if the X'hirjq pilots would be followed by X'hirjq ground forces, so I quickly got out of my harness, set the self-destruct on a five minute delay, and ran like Hell. I estimated that I'd set myself down within five miles of the ski town, so I headed there. ***** Five minutes later, running in the direction of what I *thought* was the ski town, I saw the fireball rising behind me. It was kind of obvious, actually, being the only significant source of light within several miles. Fortunately, I'd thought to grab my weaponry before the plane went up. I checked the power settings on my plasma rifle, then slowed to a considerably more sedate pace. There was no point, after all, in running into enemy forces just because I was intent on getting to town as fast as possible. Moments later, I reached what I'd been heading for, a hill that poked out of the surrounding forest. I needed to get my bearings, after being shaken up by a crash-landing. Again--lucky. I'd been heading almost directly toward the ski town. So I continued. Most forests have a wide variety of sound. Birds, squirrels, and the like, along with the occasional breaking branch, make a certain amount of noise... so I noticed when the sounds ceased. I started looking around; the sense of deja vu was fairly strong (I'd been that paranoid less than a half-hour before, just before I got shot down). Five minutes later, I began to catch glimpses of figures in garish "purple" and "green" uniforms shadowing me. A smirk crossed my face. That was stupid of them, letting themselves be seen like that. This wasn't the time or place to deal with them, though. Not *yet*, anyway. I pressed on toward the ski town. Hopefully, I'd be able to find a place to set up an ambush for my... friends along the way. If not, I'd just have to frag them the hard way. Twenty minutes later, I entered the outskirts of the town. The sounds of battle echoed from the far end of town; I made a mental note to avoid that area, at least until I got rid of the Sponge Minions trailing me. Speaking of which... I powered up my plasma rifle and ducked around the corner of a building. Moments later, the street was filled with the bodies (and stench) of about twenty dead spongies. Phew... I decided that my chances of reaching HQ were slim, since patrols of SMs were this far out already. That meant that my priority would be to establish communications with the HQ, so that I could coordinate my squads' efforts... if they arrived. I began looking around for transmitting towers (having forgotten to bring along one of my own :)), and spied the tower of what appeared to be a television station a couple of blocks over. ***** The glass doors fronting the reception area of the station had been shattered from the outside. I entered cautiously, expecting trouble. As a result, I wasn't entirely surprised when I found bodies. X'hirjq bodies, specifically. A quick inspection showed them to have multiple severe lacerations and plasma burns... seemed to be from a standard TRES-issue rifle, actually. ³Son of a...² One of the Xıhirjq was in dark red. Whoever the Jihaddi was, he was in some serious trouble when it came back. I didn't linger, but continued down the hall toward the studios. Down the hall, toward the studios and the sounds of combat, that is. I ducked into one of the video control rooms and activated the monitors for the room labeled "Studio 3". Aha! They had taken cover just inside the doorway. Their prey was at the other end of the room. He'd apparently managed to maneuver them into a standoff. He couldn't leave without being killed, but they couldn't get to him without risking the same. The situation was about to change. I took a long look at the monitors, memorizing the layout of the room, noting entrances and exits, and the lizards' deployment. Hopefully, they wouldn't change *that* until it was too late... The lizards had left the doors they'd entered the studio through open. *Too bad for them*, I thought. Unfortunately for me, X'hirjq hearing was considerably more acute than I'd thought--they were ready for me. I nearly got my head blown off when I stuck it through the doors. Three-way standoff: they couldn't move back toward the doors or toward the other officer, *I* couldn't go through the doors, and the other officer couldn't go anywhere either. Unfortunately for the X'hirjq, however, they'd forgotten to strip their fallen of some *interesting* weapons. *Hmm... these look like plasma grenades*, I thought. *Let's find out!* I pulled the pins, tossed one "grenade" either direction through the door, and ran like Hell. The explosions that knocked me off my feet moments later convinced me that yes, indeed, those things *were* grenades. Or *had been* grenades... whatever. I waited for the dust to settle, and hoped that I hadn't taken out *too* much of the building. Five minutes later, I went back down the corridor. I'd managed to take out most of the wall, and some of the floor and ceiling. There was a fair amount of bluish-green liquid splattered over the near part of the room. This entrance to the studio was obviously too dangerous to use. I went around the corner to one of the others. When I entered, I saw the officer I'd seen earlier standing up behind the desk he'd used for cover. (Together) Keith stood up behind the desk he had dived under when the new Jihaddi had plunked a couple of grenade-like devices at the Xıhirjq before him. ³Thanks... uh, sir. I think those guys had called for reinforcements to end the standoff; weıd better get out of here.² ³Sounds like a good idea to me.² They left via the back door, heading north up the silent streets. ³By the way, Lieutenant - havenıt you seen the info thatıs been handed out about the Lizards?² ³Yes, sir; why?² ³You killed one wearing dark red. Itıs going to come back, and keep on coming back, until youıre toast.² Keith chuckled. ³It would if it knew who I was. They were fighting my battlesuit on remote operation. Itıs pretty much fragged, so Iıll just leave it here in lockdown until I can get it to a repair station.² ³Lucky for you. All right. We need to find another station to work from. I came here to establish communications with HQ and I still need to do that. I assume thatıs why you came here?² ³Yep. As a matter of fact, I was able to enter the necessary data and set it to broadcasting. Itıs already going. Headquarters knows Iım here, or at least in the area. Unfortunately, that means so does the Lizard army.² ³So weıll have to go somewhere else. Contacting HQ and gathering my squad is still priority. They should be somewhere on the northeast side of town, if not actually in it. Once weıve found a good number of them, weıll be able to return to the town and hold off an attack long enough for you to send another message.² ³Begging your pardon, sir, but thatıs your priority. I still have orders from my previous assignment, and I mean to fill them.² Korth stopped dead in the middle of the road. ³Alone? You wouldnıt last five minutes. Look, whatever your previous assignment was, itıs over. All we can do now is get to headquarters and help defend it.² ³What we were doing was more important than adding two fighters to the defense personnel. The station is right now transmitting to HQ a plan for a com net constructed from standard energy weapons and optical sensors on equipment. With luck, theyıll be able to reestablish communications independently of JihadNet within a few days.² ³Fine. Then your part is over.² ³Not yet. Thereıs still the matter of the security breach to deal with. To the north of this town is a crashed equipment plane. Inside there is the information that had been tracked down by the team we had working on it, and it should still be intact in the systemıs black box. We need that data so that we can get our real communications system back online. If you want to speak with Headquarters, I can modify this blaster to get a message there and pick up an optical array from the plane. Once thatıs ready, you can talk as you please, even set up a plan to get in. But whether or not youıre going with me, Iım going there.² Korth took a look at the Jihaddi before him. Research geek. Nearly just got himself killed facing off two Lizards. Armed and armored with nothing but a blade and a sidearm; and he was talking about heading out to a downed equipment plane, probably swarming with Xıhirjq wondering what was there, to get the data he needed. ³Donıt be an idiot. Youıd never survive alone.² He grinned. ³Thatıs why weıre coming with you. Delay this long enough for me to pick up whatıs left of my squad. Weıll help you get the info.² "Yes, sir!" Approaching the outskirts of town, the two scanned the area for life signs - friend, foe, or otherwise. Sponge patrol passing wide to the south, no sign of their attention; no JihadLinkers sending so much as an answerback to triangulate on; no human presences. After several hours spent in motion around the northern perimeter, Korth spoke up. "It doesn't look like they're going to show up. Contingency plans for a rendezvous in case of separation included at least knowing where someone was to start out with. Without any method of communication, the only two points in this area they'd logically head to would be the town or HQ. If they're in the town, it's not likely we'll find them. If they're heading to HQ, either they'll make it in or we'll meet them outside." "Which leaves us with one place to go. You saw the plane?" "Back about two miles. If your data survived that, the computer boys designed one heckuva black box." "It's there." Two hours later, a small rise sheltered from view offered a vantage point for two soldiers. Before them lay a plane crash, incongruously scattered about with satellite dishes, computer equipment, and broadcast devices. Throughout the wreckage, nearly a dozen X'hirjq overturned screens, combed through piles, and generally examined everything twice. Korth put down his binoculars. "You know Keith, for something that might be useful and might be junk, those Lizards are sure searching hard." "You mean they know what they're looking for? They shouldn't; we're just one more plane they shot down." "I mean they probably do. This is good news and bad news. The good news is, your boys probably found the leak. The bad news is, they got found too, by whoever was monitoring the entry point." "And now they're looking for the same thing we are. Great. One more piece of deduction: if we couldn't do anything about it, they wouldn't be looking so hard. And an observation: they don't know what it looks like." "How do you know that?" "Because it's sitting right there." Keith pointed to a silver cylinder sitting atop a pile of engine parts. "Perfect. All we need is a way for one of us to get close enough to grab the cylinder and out without being pursued." "And that means one of us has to be a distraction. All right." ³Itıll be me, I think. Not only am I more heavily armed, but Iım probably faster. Besides, playing hide-and-seek in rolling terrain is something Iıve had a bit more practice at.² ³Sound arguments. Iıll move just after you begin. A couple of things I noticed: first, your plasma rifle has a narrow-focus setting. If you can make the shot, I think that setting will be enough to shatter the casing on one of their grenades. It wonıt be as heavy an explosion as if the plasma were ignited, but it should be pretty serious.² Korth switched the setting to narrow. ³And second?² ³Turn the power back up. I had it to minimum back there when I was testing it for usage as a transmitter. You might feel a slight stutter as it fires, but it shouldnıt be anything serious. We donıt have time to reset the trigger.² ³Two acts of Hamlet, high power. We always did say philosophy was more deadly than might.² He got up to move. ³Iıll be off to the northwest side. Once I get their attention, Iıll fade off into those hills. Iım sure theyıll leave a few behind.² Keith drew his sidearm. ³I can handle those.² Korth nodded. ³Be ready.² Korth scanned the crash site from the cover of low foliage. The fuselage debris blocked about half of the Xıhirjq from sight; he wanted as many as possible on his side when he attacked. As they searched the wreckage, the number close by varied. Four. . . six. . . five. . . and then seven on this side. It was time. ³Eat hot Shakespeare, Lizards!² He leapt from concealment, standing arrogantly visible against the line of the ridge. Three quick bursts took an arm off one Xıhirjq and ignited the fuel in which another was standing. He turned and got under the ridge just as five bolts of light superheated the air where heıd been standing. He took off for another ridge, trying to get as much space as possible between this place and him before his pursuers topped the rise. Around one corner, and down a convenient gully. He heard them behind him, both physically and in his mind, trying to push in, to see where he believed he was. He concentrated furiously on thoughts of the Xıhirjq forces being decimated by the combined might of TRES, sparking them to yet greater rage. He sighted down his rifle to the entrance and waited. As one entered, he adjusted slightly for height and fired. Keith had been right; the plasma grenade on its bandolier exploded, sending a shockwave through the small rift. Korth dashed out just as the loose dirt of the walls collapsed onto the unmoving form. As he rounded another corner, he saw the search team prudently removing their grenades; instead of wasting them, they tossed them in random directions. One was head straight for him. . . No time. Dash out, grab, and throw back before ignition; the device had barely begun its return arc when the shockwave from the explosion flattened the hilltop, a fringe catching Matt and rolling him partway down the slope. How many left? Keith saw Matt begin his attack; he had managed to incapacitate two and draw away five more, leaving four at the plane. By their actions, they wanted to be part of the hunt; but whoever had been running this had told them to guard the site. Two took up sentry positions; another continued the search, while the fourth was apparently attempting to put out the fire with some device. How to lessen this number. . . Ah. The two sentries were patrolling; neither one was currently looking this way, but that would change shortly. The searcher was intent on that purpose; time to give chance a helping hand. Keith aimed his weapon at the fuel line that had so generously provided the fireıs current fuel, and fired. A second Xıhirjq died in flame. All three were now on the alert. Will felt a pressure on his mind as they performed a search. Donıt think so, fellas; one advantage of being trapped in my own skull. He moved back, deeper into the ridges surrounding the site, and off to the left, nearly ninety degrees. If heıd seen right... Yes, it was there. A shiny piece of wing, laying on the ground. Will set it up against the tree, sighting carefully along his return path and the reflection, and returned to his previous spot. Clear line from here to scrap, clear line from scrap to site; now just wait until a Lizard crosses the view. Eventually, one moved by; Will fired at the metal, partially melting it and partially reflecting the blast onto the patroller. Not killed, but badly burned, it raised the alarm. One further Xıhirjq started pursuit into the hills from whence the blast had supposedly originated. ³And then there was one. . .² but still a risk. ³I hate risks.² Yeah, real fine soldier you are. Letıs go. Keith readied himself. Expose head to get view, quick shots to establish reaction pattern. . . try to kill without having same done in return. All in the training. What, no battle cry? ³Eat hot Shakespeare², ³lean thusa orm², something? He muttered, ³Itıs showtime, Synergy,² and attacked. Blur. Eventually he realized that no one was returning fire after his sallies. Somewhere in there, he must have won. Cautiously, he poked a rock around the corner; when it drew no fire, he dropped it and followed suit with his head. Stillness. A small flame burned near his earlier shot; a still form lay draped over a mound of wreckage. The silver cylinder was standing where it had been earlier. He holstered his weapon and went to pick it up. As he did so, he became aware that all was not death around him. Before him lay the final living member of this team, staring at him. Burned arms were unable to grasp its weapon, laying within easy reach. He needed no telepathy to read what it felt. It had lost, and now it would die. Will drew his blaster. ³If youıre trying to speak telepathically, I canıt hear you.² Contempt added to the emotions on its strange face. ³*You kill with no honor. From hiding, and with misdirection, and now one who cannot return your fire.*² Its voice was raspy, with burns and nature and hate. ³I cannot defeat you in straightforward combat, but I seek to live.² ³*Perhaps you are not meant to, creature.*² ³Hatred on the door of death. There is little point in this discussion.² Will raised the gun. ³*Wait.*² He lowered it slightly. ³*It galls me to ask anything of you, but I believe that you will do it.*² ³What?² ³*To die, like this. . . in battle, but unable to strike back. . . it holds no honor either. If. . .my own hand. . . *² It paused. ³*All you must do is hand me that weapon, and point it at my head. I will not use it against you; I have no ability even to fire it without your help. *² Bitterness colored its words on this last statement. ³If this is a trick. . .² ³*No trick.*² Will held the blaster at its head, and moved the weapon to its hand. The contours made for an obvious fit; he set the weapon pointing toward the Lizard. ³*Now. . . hit my arm. Reflex will cause me to grasp.*² Will stood, and gave the arm a hard push. The weapon activated, and he turned his head from the brightness. When he could see again, it was clear that the Xıhirjq was no more. He put the cylinder in his pack and set off to find Matt. Just then, Korth was not all that far to the north and west, panting heavily. ³Boy - this is just - so much - more fun when - Iım It.² Two more of the Lizards had been accounted for, the last one giving him a bad gash on the left arm. If he couldnıt get help soon heıd lose it; of course, if he couldnıt get help soon, heıd probably be dead. Two more still remained, and he was growing tired. Hallucinations were probably a bad sign, because they certainly werenıt shooting at each other. . . No, they werenıt. There was someone else there, setting up a crossfire. Straining against the lead in his limbs, Matt hauled himself around and took out a Lizard with a clean shot to the back. His unseen aid hit the other as it turned toward this new source of fire. As it fell, Matt did so as well, from sheer exhaustion. ³Youıre a hard man to find, Matt; you know that?² ³Keith, you geek you. Whereıve you been?² ³Cultural exchange program with a Lizard. I helped it commit suicide.² ³Yeah, Iıll bet.² He coughed tiredly. Keith was giving him a strange look. ³Donıt suppose youıve got a pint of plasma for a transfusion, do you?² ³Sorry, only plasma around here is in that rifle. Best I can do now is sew you up and get some water into you.² He handed Matt a canteen from a Lizard on the field. ³Drink, itıs not poison. I checked. Theyıre flesh and blood, too.² Matt became aware of a great thirst; he drank deeply as. . . ³Ow! This is supposed to be first aid, not more stabbing!² ³Shush. My needlepointıs nothing compared to my motherıs, but itıs what youıve got.² With much good-natured cursing, the wound was finally stitched and bandaged. It was growing late; as they were well out of sight of anything, camp was struck right there. Emergency rations and Lizard water, augmented by a small stream nearby, was dinner. Will pulled out the cylinder and began accessing it with the small pad, kept in a large pocket. Matt moved over to see the data scrolling by. ³Did they find what they were looking for?² ³I think so. . . yeah, here it is. It originated from. . . oh, Grimace.² ³What? Actually, where?² Will looked up, breached to the core by this betrayal. ³Itıs from inside Headquarters.² ³Top priority, then. We get inside; we find it -² ³- we shut it down.²