From: alexbell@iastate.edu (Alex Bell.) Subject: Operation Phoenix: Dragon-Battle. Date: 1996/06/03 Message-ID: organization: Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa newsgroups: alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--* Operation-Phoenix Dragon - Battle (a continuation) *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--* (Location: The battlefield outside of Shi Shi Ski Town) *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--* Hearing Ares' signal, the remaining soldiers moved out, steathily creeping past the small battle taking place at the edge of the forest. Several Dobermensch glanced towards their leader, Trooper Aphrodite, as they passed - but none stopped, knowing she was sacrificing herself to give them a chance at reaching the TRES HQ. Once out of sight, Brackard called a halt, to give the men some advice before joining up with the larger battle. "Well, people - this is it. Remember, implement your Chant Plugs(tm) at all times - they'll be the only thing protecting you from the War Chant. Without them, there is a good chance of spongification. From what we know - this is a scorched-Earth battle - burn if you need to retreat, we're not leaving anything behind for those bastards. We'll meet up again in the Ellipsoid - try to stay in contact with each other, but if that isn't possible join up with the other Jihaddi." He glanced around at the attentive young faces, wondering how many would survive until tomorrow. Shaking off his sudden meloncholy, he continued. "As you saw, Aph gave her life to get us this far. Let's not waste it." He looked around again and suddenly grinned - giving his face a look of ruthless hunger that he was known for. "Let's rock and roll some spongin' heads!" The group, as one, silently raised their fists towards the sky before charging the rear flank of the enemy. These trained warriors easily slaughtered their way through the surprised minions, but soon it became more difficult. They congratulated themselves on the ease with which they killed, and became foolishly confident - rushing in to fight before assessing their opponents. The newly arrived Dobermensch plowed into the midst of the battle - fighting with Jello Beast, 'bot, or spongie as they appeared. Without structure to their "attack", these proud, B'harnii-hating soldiers began to fall. Without their leader, they simply hacked away fighting to survive, working as separate individuals instead of a team. They saw their comrades get injured, and became more desperate. This in turn caused more of them to make foolish mistakes... and more of them fell to the ground injured or dead. Suddenly, they heard a loud, familiar voice issuing orders, calling them together. "DOBERMENSCH!!! Fight as One! Companies A & D cover the left flank - B & C the right! Let's kick some B'harnii-lovin' A$$!!" A grim smile on her face, Aph quickly got her troops back into shape - brushing aside their inquiries. Soon the unit was fighting together again, as they slowly forced a path through the battle field towards the Ellipsoid - where the Trooper had been told to meet CP and the others. *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--* (Location: Shi Shi Ski town, twenty minutes and about 200 yards later) After twenty minutes of plowing their way through heavily clad bodies, Aphrodite and her troops had finally reached the Shi Shi Ski town. Forcing her way into an open area, she scoped out the town and decided to have her troops bed down here for the night. Glancing up at the sky, she estimated that there was about an hour of daylight left. Aph gathered the remaining FO's together, as her troops finished off the spongies that had followed them. Talking softly, she outlined her plan. "We'll split up into smaller groups. Brackard you're in charge of the redivisioning... just split them evenly. Do this as quietly and efficiently as possible. Then take your group and find a place in town to hole up for the night - keep as quiet as you can, the X'hirjq are excellent night fighters, don't give them a reason to find you. We'll meet with single reps tomorrow at sunrise, at the Town plaza." She finished and they turned to go. "Oh, and guys? good work today, keep it up." The field officers returned to the main body of troops, briefly noticing that the problem of the remaining sponge minions had been handled. The officers swiftly divided up the soldiers into smaller groups and quietly took off for separate parts of the small town. Watching the soldiers disappear into the gathering darkness, Aph sighed, and smiling grimly, signalled her small group of Love Guardians to follow her East. Minutes later, they reached the Eastern-most boundary of the town - the local mega-mall. This virtual labrynith of stores, walkways, and plazas was the ideal place to hole up for the night, even if they *were* found - it would take a small army of the lizards to track them all down once inside. The Trooper sent scouts to check out the perimeter of the modern, commercial structure, while smiling to herself - remembering another time and another mall... years in her past. She shook her head, snapping herself back to the present mess. During that short time, the scouts began to return - having found nothing out of place. Aphrodite signalled her troops to follow her inside, warning them to keep an eye out for anything unusual. The troops quietly filed through the plate glass outer doors - emblazened of course with the Mall's name and logo - and entered a place out of their wildest dreams... a suburbian nightmare. Pine wreaths hung from the fifty-foot high ceilings, ornamened with the many different types of skiing paraphenelia. The hallways were designed to look like the average ski lodge - wooden walls and ceilings.... Unfortunately, the effect was destroyed by the above-mentioned wreaths, not to mention the florescent lights and softly playing mall-music. Aphrodite and her troops headed for the mall's center, having decided that it would be the best-found "base camp" for the night. As they walked passed the deserted storefronts, many of the Guardians began to imagine eyes watching them - and became jittery. The empty mall suddenly had taken on an evil aura, and the Dobermensch inside were unusually nervous. The group finally reached the center of the mall, a Food Court area obviously designed for the more affluent customers. From the plush carpeting to the padded chairs and glass-domed ceiling, the mall's designers had gone all out - sparing nothing in the design of this, the mall's hub. The soldiers just shook their heads, and began to set up camp for the night. Aph had just sent out several men to secure the immediate area, when she noticed movement in the corner of her eye. She whipped her head around - just in time to see the dead body of one the scouts come flying across the room. It was obvious what had caused his death - the four foot long spike sticking out of his chest. Trooper Aphrodite also knew that they were in serious trouble, it looked like they had walked right into a trap. She groaned to herself, and glanced around - quickly assessing the situation... finding no escape. Just at that moment, the X'hirjq attacked. The Love Guardians, obviously surprised, fought their best and even managed to wound a couple of the alien creatures. Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough - and the Dobermensch began falling in droves. The one thing they did manage to accomplish was keeping the creatures away from their commander. Trooper Aphrodite simply turned her face up toward the glass ceiling, allowing the moon light to filter over her body. She relaxed, embracing the night - and released control of her body to Zaphyre... The human form slowly began to shift, and minutes later a large cobalt dragon filled the Mall's hub. Zaphyre roared, and scooped up the remaining Dobermensch. Flames erupted from her throat, igniting the pine wreaths and giving the remaining troops a small chance for escape. Zaph roared again, flying upwards, exploding through the glass dome - sending glitering crystalline shards soaring through the air. The dragon, now free, spun around sending even more flames skittering across the roof of the Mall. Soon, the entire building was covered in flames - trapping the attacking X'hirjq, while creating a suitable funeral pyre to the Dobermensch killed inside. Zaph grinned to herself, seeing justice done, and landed gently near the mall, allowing the dozen survivors to dismount. They slid to the ground, clearly shaken. In her deep voice, Zaph spoke obviously proud of her night's achievements. "You all did well in there, I am going to fly on to the Ellipsoid - any who wish to join me, may. One, however, must remain to tell the others what befell us inside - and to give Brackard my/Aph's orders. He is to remain here, there are others in the town - search them out and join with them. If possible he may join us, but I do not wish to see all our soldiers dead. Now decide, who comes and who stays." Three of the Guardians decided to join Zaph in her flight. The others chose to stay behind to pass her words on. Zaph smiled, reminded them to be careful, and leapt into the night sky, quickly blending into the darkness...