The Battle Begins
Chapter 3
Monitor duty was not among her favorite things to do.
Jennifer Walters, AKA The She-Hulk AKA Green Lantern, cupped her hands around a steaming cup of coffee as she huddled on a couch in one of the Fortress’ communal living areas. At the moment, she was trying to enjoy a movie. For the time being, until the public airwaves were re-established, they had to make do with recorded movies shipped in from one of the other Probabilities. The one playing now was not one that Kara cared much for. Made in the Probability that She, Rogue, and Logan called home, this movie dealt with a fictional super-hero. The star, some one by the name of Helen Slater, did a good job in portraying a young girl called Supergirl, but the script was real weak. Kara had seen the movie and quickly took a disliking to it.
Jenny smiled at the memory. Before they had come to Otherverse, she had found a way to arrange a meeting between Kara and the actress. And now, back in that reality, the actress was busy filming a second Supergirl movie. This one with a better script and dealing with much more realistic topics.
With a sigh, Jenny uncurled herself from the couch and switched the movie off. She made her way to her room. Her Room! She stood in the doorway, fighting an urge to move down the hallway to the room she and Lar, until recently, had shared.
Moving into her own room had been her idea, not Lar’s. She moved in and sat on the edge of the bed. If felt strange in here, after weeks of sharing a bed with Lar. For one thing, the lighting was difficult to get used to. In the rooms they had shared, there had been a slight reddish tinge to the lighting. Lar had insisted they install the lamp, which simulated the effects of a red sun on both Kryptonians and Daxamites.
Jenny shied away from that and her mind jumped to the twins. Perhaps she should mention something to Kara. She might want to have a talk to the twins. While they might be used to being around normals, it was doubtful they had any sexual experience. Kara would have to warn them that, with their powers, they could easily seriously harm someone in the throes of passion. All it would take would be certain muscles clinching and the damage would be done.
Of course, Lar’s reasoning for the red sunlight was a bit different. As She-Hulk, not to mention Green Lantern, she did not have to worry as much about being hurt, though it could happen. What they had to worried about was her becoming pregnant.
And right now, Jenny was worried about that in a big way. More so than before, now that she and Lar were experiencing these troubles.
She stepped in front of a mirror and looked herself over, shaking her head at the changes that had come over her since she had gained the power of the Green Lantern.
At first, she had used that energy to mask her giant size. Now she had learned to use that energy to actually modify her Gamma radiated body. She was still green, that couldn’t be helped. But no longer did she tower over the others. She had regained her pre She-Hulk height; though she could, at an instants notice, and with little thought, cause her body to expand to the recognizable She-Hulk dimensions.
But that was now simply for looks. Thanks to the Lantern energy, it was no longer necessary for her to have such a massive build to wield the tremendous strength that was at her command. She could remain at this normal size and still call on the strength of She-Hulk, if she wished.
She pulled herself up straight, liking what she saw. Then worry lines appeared as she placed a hand tenderly on her stomach. She really needed to get to Reed. She wasn’t certain, but she had missed her last period, not that she was all that regular to begin with.
“Oh Lar, I can’t be pregnant.” She whispered. She tried hard to ignore that nasty little voice in her head that seemed to take perverse pleasure out of pointing out reality. The little voice that said ‘Like hell you can’t. You two were going at it like rabbits since Oa, what else would you expect?” and it was right.
After being contacted by this Probabilities Guardians, she and Lar had took off, their mission to take the newly created Great battery to Oa where the Guardians could look after it and start creating a new Green Lantern Corps.
The trip had been quick, thanks to her Lantern Energy, the ring she had gotten from Hal Jordon, which had implanted the directions to the planet in her brain, and Lar’s ability to reach speeds she alone could never have attained.
They had dropped the Battery off, spending a couple of days with the little blue Guardians, and then made their leisurely way back to Earth. It was on that trip back that Lar had proposed.
Standing before the mirror, Jenny hugged herself, smiling as she recalled the rush of feelings that had filled her when he had popped the question. She had quickly agreed, though she had suggested they wait a bit...and now she was glad they had. If they had gotten married, they would probably son be looking forward to a divorce. She had She had hardly hesitated before accepting and had then watched, amazed as he grabbed the next asteroid they passed and fashioned rings for them. Now those rings would never be used. Or least, not in the near future.
Jenny sighed. It was really no one’s fault. Who could have foresaw the eventual identity problems Lar would have? Probably anyone but her, she answered herself, bitterly. What else would you expect when you tried to merge two sets of memories in one body?
In an attempt to save at least one of them, Lar had been merged with an older version of himself…one with memories spanning well over a thousand years. And one with memories of another love that conflicted with the love felt by a younger Lar.
So it was for his sake as much as her own that Jenny had decided to cool the relationship. But now…what if she were pregnant? Should she tell him? Should she place that kind of burden on a person with enough mental stress already?
An incessant beeping that began sounding through the fortress interrupted Jenny’s musings. She forced the worry of whether or not she was pregnant to the back of her mind as she raced for the nearest terminal.
She entered in her pass code and waited the scant second it took for the terminal to connect to the main system situated well below the Fortress.
A distress beacon! In Northern California, just south of the Washington/California border. It was a beacon Kara had furnished to Sherrie Penison before she had set out to discover what Lex Luthor was up to in the State of Washington.
She strapped a remote communication device on her wrist and within seconds she was shooting into the sky, a green tail of energy trailing behind her.
“How do I get myself into these messes?” Over the years since the collapse of anything remotely resembling civilization, Sherri Penison had learned to get along. From a police chief in Kansas City, she had become an expert at survival in this new, cruel world. She was tired of it. And who wouldn’t be, at her age? She was pushing fifty though she didn’t look it. In fact, she looked more like a girl barely into her twenties. It was not something that could be attributed to the Artifact. Though the Artifact was known to have extreme effects on a large portion of the male population, less known were the effects it had on a small portion of the female population. In many cases, it was nothing extraordinary. No great powers or abilities.
In Sherrie’s case, it had been the gift of youthfulness.
Despite her current situation, she had to smile. At least one good thing had come from growing younger; she was now about the same physical age as Buddy Raines…and he had shown an interest in her!
The smile vanished as a bullet whizzed by, tearing through the thick foliage surrounding her. Where the hell was Kara? She had activated the beacon some time ago! In actuality, it had only been a matter of minutes, yet she had some idea how fast that woman could move and was genuinely surprised when she did not appear when the beacon was activated. If she took much longer she would have to deal with the situation herself…
A slight cough from her left caused her to turn her head ever so slightly. The pursuers, she knew, could not actually see her or her team, they were simply firing into the foliage, attempting to flush their prey.
The cough had come from the team leader, Capt. Diane. She made a few gestures, as if to say that she should start crawling away. She made it clear that she wanted Sherri on her way so she and the other Rebels could turn and make a fight of it. She shook her head and waited as a disgusted Diane slowly crawled towards her, making as little movement in the foliage as possible.
“Look, Damnit.’ The Captain began as soon as she was near enough that she could whisper. “Some one has to get this information to the General and your friends. We can hole up here, make some noise and keep their attention while you make it out of here.”
“Diane, I can’t leave you here.” Sherrie protested. “Besides, we should have help any moment now.” The words had barely left her mouth when she, and every member of the Rebel Scout team was enveloped in a bright green glow.
The gunfire from the pursuers was harder now, though its aim had shifted. Now, it seemed, every weapon was trained higher in the sky. Risking a glance, Sherrie was surprised to see Jenny floating in the air her arms held out and to the side as she surveyed the situation. As Sherrie watched, the green figure seemed to grow, becoming the giant, imposing She-Hulk she had first met.
“Okay boys!” The giantess’ voice boomed out, augmented, no doubt, by the Lantern Energy she now wielded to protect Sherrie and the Rebels. “Put your toys up and go home!”
If nothing else, the amount of fire directed towards Jenny redoubled. And then the unthinkable happened. Some one among the attackers pulled out a weapon the likes of which Sherrie had never seen. There was a bright yellow flash and a white beam flashed out to briefly touch the green giantess.
Sherrie had expected to see the beam bounce harmlessly off the green energy field that always surrounded Jenny. Instead, the beam slammed into the shield and sent jenny tumbling to the ground, the protective bubbles around the rebels vanishing instantly.
“Oh My God!” Without thinking, Sherri was on her feet, heading in the direction Jenny had fallen. She found the She-Hulk rising from the ground, her hand rubbing her rump, an embarrassed look on her face. “Jenny, are you okay?”
“Except for my pride.” Jenny replied with a sarcastic lilt to her voice. “There is still a lot I have to learn about this Green Lantern stuff.”
‘I don’t understand.” Sherrie moved up next to the green woman, her m-16a9 at the ready, her eyes searching.
“I didn’t anchor myself.” Jenn responded, self disgust in her tone. “I didn’t consider that, while the shield kept things from getting at me, it is not going to stop me from getting bounced around. Wait here!”
Jenny didn’t bother with the Lantern energy this time, other than to shield herself. Instead, she strode through the foliage and headed down the throat of the pursuers.
Soon, Sherrie and the Rebels were listening, with a bit of amusement, it must be admitted, to the sounds of startled men being tossed around like matchsticks.
When she reappeared, wiping her hands, as if to remove dust, she had a smug look on her face.
“Why didn’t you just use that Green energy stuff to lock up their weapons?” Sherrie asked, though she had a feeling she knew the answer. She wasn’t wrong.
“That was a hell of a lot more satisfying!” The She-Hulk responded with a savage smile. “Every now and then it helps to take the edge off.” She got a gleam in her eye as she continued. “Almost as good as sex!”
Sherrie started to comment that perhaps she should tell Lar that…then she recalled that the two were have a bit of difficulty and bit her tongue.
“Okay, so tell me what’s up.” Jenn demanded. Her demeanor grew serious as she regarded the Rebel Scouts.
“A lot.” Diane spoke up, like the other Rebels, she hadn’t slung her weapon, but kept it ready for any more problems. “And none of it good.” She squatted down and spread out a map of the United States. “We’re here.” She proclaimed, pointing to an area near the northern California border. She then moved her finger further north. “A large force of Soldiers, presumably belonging to Lex Luthor, is here, about four hours behind us.” She looked up to see if Jenny understood this. At Jenn’s nod, the Rebel captain continued.
“Okay. We were sent up here to watch this force, to find out what this Lex guy is up to. Only it seems the General sent us out to late.” She said. “This force, easily two brigades in strength, is only a fourth of the entire force.”
“A Fourth?” Jenny didn’t bother trying to hide her astonishment. “If that’s a fourth, where the hell are the rest?”
“Some where in this area.” The captain’s finger swept downward and to the east, coming to a rest just north of El Paso, Texas. “We weren’t able to get the exact location. But we did get the impression that they are heading south-east…though we could not find out why or what their mission is..”
“How did you get any of this information?” Jenny was stunned.
“One of my people is a whiz with communications.” Diane responded, proudly. “He was able to tap into their comm. System. We were able to get quite a bit of info before some one on their side wised up and put a snoop in the system.” She shook her head. “We don’t believe they knew we were there, they were just taking precautions. In any case, the snoop detected our tap and the rest is, as they say, history. We’ve been running a fighting withdrawal since.”
Jenn looked at the young Rebel captain with frank admiration. She then turned back to the map, her face troubled.
“This is not good.” She said. “We have…ways…of gathering our own information.” She was not sure how much Kara wanted known about the Kandorians. “Our sources told us about this group up here, and the numbers they gave us were similar to what you just suggested. But they have not said a thing about a larger force moving on Texas.” As the others watched, the green giantess rapidly shrank until she was seemingly an average sized woman again. She placed a now slender finger on the map and silently traced south and east from El Paso. When her finger stopped, she let out a string of expletives that caused more than a few rebels to raise eyebrows and even caused some of the men to pale and cross their legs.
“I know what their mission is.” She finally stated, her cussing temporarily over. She punched an area on the map with her finger. “Your General is here, and that is where they are going! And that is where Kara and the others are, as well.” She started to cuss again, stopping only when she seemed to sway. She would have fallen over had not Sherri been there to hold her up.
“Jenn?” Sherrie’s eyes were full of concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah.” Jenn wiped a hand over her brow and was astonished to feel how cold and clammy she felt to her own hand. She stood and looked around a bit, as if to gather her strength. “What is this place?” She tried to change the subject. “I’ve been to Northern California on my world, and I’ve seen nothing like this.”
“From what we have been able to gather from the few locals is pretty sketchy.” Diane answered, watching the green woman closely. “In the old days, they said there was lead mine near here, but since the Artifact came, the area has grown up like you would not believe.”
“A lead mine.” Jenn repeated softly. Something about that struck a chord in her memory. Some vague recollection that she could not see clearly. She shook her head and gathered her strength. “Well, we have to get this information to your General and to Kara.” She struggled to get the words out.
“You fly it to them.” Dianne ordered. “I would rather not take the chance on broadcasting it with communications.” She jerked her thumb at Sherrie. “And take her with you, if you can.”
“I can do better than that.” Jenn forced a smile, the feeling of nauseas that had come over her was fading slowly. “Get everyone together, we’re going for a ride.”
“Jenn, are you up to this?” Sherrie demanded, clearly unnerved at this sign of weakness in one she thought above weakness.
“Sure.” The smile was less forced as the feeling of sickness passed. “Come on, let’s get going!” A green globe surrounded each of the Sherrie and the Rebel Scouts. Jenny then sprang into the air, the green bubbles following behind as she headed towards Texas!
Lex Luthor was not a happy man.
At the moment, he was sitting in what had once been a lush office. Now the office was all but bare as workers moved out everything but the absolute essentials. Lex had long ago learned a lesson from one of nature’s most gentle creatures. A rabbit, he had learned, survived because it always…always…had more than one bolthole. If one hole was plugged, the rabbit would instinctively bolt for the second, or third.
For a long time, Pelican Island had been one of Lex’s boltholes. One he had never needed until that damned Kara got on his tail. That woman was just as much a pain as that Supergirl from the other Probability. Correction. Kara was worse. That other Supergirl was home where she belonged. Kara was still here, a constant pain in his ass.
And if Kara and her cronies were not enough, there was that blasted Lara Night, the annoyance Sharon Holmes, and the headache called the Rebels.
Lex rubbed his temples, as if to ease the throbbing of a true headache. Ever since that Kara showed up, things had being going sour. First the confrontation with the other Supergirl, then the appearance of Dr. Doom, then Lara, and then…
Lex slammed a hand on the desk, cutting off his own train of thought.
Lex grated his teeth. He had learned what he needed to know in order to construct a Probability Portal. He had used that knowledge to build such a device through which he had traveled to another world, the world, in fact, the other Supergirl called home, to obtain certain…items. Most of those items were now stashed in places around the country, Lex was too smart to leave all his eggs in one basket.
One item, the Book of Rai, he had already used. He looked at his hands, as if searching for some physical clue as to his new status. Of course, there was no outward change. But he could feel it. He KNEW that he was now one of those rare breed called immortals.
Correction, his analytical mind told him. The term was VIRTUALLY immortal. He would never die a natural death. His physical age would never advance beyond its present point. His body would heal from the most horrendous injuries. But he could still, with a lot of work, be killed. Though only a handful of people in this world could accomplish that task. Chief among them being Lara, Kara and her kind, and that damned Green Lantern. He did not believe the Amberite, Ian, had that ability…yet!
Yet immortality meant nothing if he could not achieve his goals. And right now, that seemed to be in doubt.
The latest news was disappointing. A small force of Rebels, it seemed, had escaped from his troops in Washington with information he would rather the so-called Rebels not have.
He had gone to great effort to make a big show of gathering forces in Washington. He had wanted the Rebels and those blasted snoopy Kandorians to believe his main force was congregated in one area. Using devices he had constructed himself, he had been able to move most of the force out without detection. Yet now the rebels knew that a large portion of his force was already within feasible striking distance.
Of course, from what he was able to gather from the reports sent to him, the rebels were still unaware of the smaller force bearing down on Metropolis. With the withdrawal of Rebel forces from the city, he had decided to move back in. There were still many secrets in and under that city they had never discovered. One such secret would be an ace in his corner. Buried deep beneath the Lex Corp tower, there were labs that had never been abandoned, that were virtually self-sufficient, that had never been discovered by the occupying Rebels.
Not that he would have been unduly upset if all but one had been discovered. That one, however, was of the utmost importance and he had sweated about it, heaving a great sigh of relief upon learning of the Rebel withdrawal. In that one, deep lab, under strict quarantine, lay the gleaming, metallic robotic skull Lex hoped would be instrumental in the destruction of those meddlesome heroes!
“Sir, The commander of the forces in Texas reports contact with the Rebels. They are just south of those strange woods.”
The aides voice, even over the inter com system, sounded enthusiastic.
“Excellent.” Lex stood. “Have him engage at once. But first, have him double check to insure that the troops have been issued that new ammunition we developed. It is certain that the renegade metas will be with the Rebels.”
“At once, Mr. Luthor. Heil Hitler!” The aide signed off and Lex finally smiled. Perhaps the item in Metropolis would not be needed after all. He reached into a breast pocket of his khaki shirt and withdrew a single rifle round. Unlike ammunition normally issued to troops, these rounds were made with one think in mind….Killing Kryptonians! The Bright brass casing of the round was no different than any other. It was the dull, green projectile that was new. Green Kryptonite!
Lex dropped the round back into his pocket and headed for the door of his office, chuckling as he went. He paused to look back at the portrait of Adolf Hitler he had hung behind his desk. What a stroke of genius! His chuckling grew into full laughter. Genius hell. It was as simple as could be. Old Adolf may have been a batty old bird, but he had had something going for him. And now he, Lex Luthor, was using it to get his own way. For the time being, he would pay the lip service needed to keep his followers in line, but soon…soon…there would be no more ‘Heil Hitler” It would be Heil Luthor. Still laughing, Lex tossed a sloppy salute at the portrait, middle finger extended in an age-old gesture. “Screw you.” He whispered to the picture. “I’m better than you ever were, you two bit fraud. You were just a crazy man. And I…I am going to be a God!”
He let the door shut behind him as he made his way to the control center.
“They are about 10 miles ahead of us!”
The young, dark haired man looked up from his computer screen as the door of the Winnabago opened to admit a husky red headed, freckled young man of roughly the same age…about twenty or so.
“And they’ve stopped.” The red head went on. “They pulled into to El Paso and started setting up camp.” His face grew bitter. “Of course, that was after they rounded up all the old men and women and carted them off.”
The dark haired young man nodded, as if unconcerned.
“Trading them to the Night People, most likely.” He said it as if he were talking about nothing more emotional than the weather. The red head gritted his teeth but said nothing. He knew his friend well enough by now to know that he did not wear his emotions openly very often. It was, he knew, a protective mechanism. Suppressing the emotions allowed him to act with a clear head, without being swallowed by emotions that would drown and incapacitate a lesser man. “And the young women and children?”
“For the most part, the babies went with the old folk. The younger kids were put to work as slaves. Most of them. Some of them are…” He trailed off, unable to finish. The dark haired man only nodded. They had seen it a dozen times since they had started following this contingent of soldiers. The young children would be slaves until they moved out, at which time they would be delivered to the Night People, the cannibalistic breed of humans that now infested many of the shells of the larger cities. The Rebels called them Creepies and the name was apt. Not even the Kindred would feed upon the Creepies. Instead, they would simply wipe them out when they could. But for now, the Creepies out numbered the Kindred and so they flourished while the Blood drinkers, the Vampires, the Kindred, hid.
These soldiers they followed had empted over a dozen communities on their march, yet not all at once. Though all their hapless victims would end up under the carving knives of the Creepies, the young would first serve as slaves and the slightly older would serve as…sex toys.
“At least there are ten less that will take part in that damned rape fest.” The red head growled deep in his throat. The other man finally showed some emotion….alarm!
“What did you do?” He demanded, though he had a sinking feeling he knew. His companion, though intelligent, was wont to act before he thought. In their team, he was the brains while the red head was the brawn.
“I took out some sentries.” The Red head confirmed the other’s fears, he held up a hand to forestall the gale he knew was coming. “I made sure I took out those on the other side. They will think what ever it was is in front of them, not behind.”
“Did it not occur to you that this is where we had decided it would be time for us to stop trailing and try to get ahead of them so we can get to that forest before they do?” The dark haired one spoke through clenched lips. The look on the other’s face told him the answer. “I thought not, you damned Fianna Ragabash!” he sighed and rubbed his temples for a moment. “Okay, we’ll have to move now. We’ll swing wide to the south and try to come up that way. Hopefully we won’t be detected.” He started shutting his equipment down and getting everything ready for travel. “You drive!” he ordered. “I’ll try to screen us so we are not seen. I’ll also see what I can do to smooth the road ahead of us so we can make some speed!”
The red head nodded and made his way to the cab of the Winnabago.
“Interesting.” Ian stood in his tower, looking out towards the west. He had felt, a disturbance was the best way he could have described it. It was a familiar feeling, one he would get whenever another Amberite were approaching.
It was not a natural feeling, but one he had constructed for himself. An early warning system, if you will.
The interesting part, to Ian at least, was not that the warning system had been triggered, but that it had been triggered here, in this world. Not once, but twice. He was still trying to pin point that first disturbance but the closest he could get was an abbey to the north.
This one, however, was approaching from the southwest. Skirting around what he knew to be a large force of Lex Luthor’s soldiers in El Paso.
“Interesting.”
“Jenn! What are you doing here?”
“I received a distress call!” Jenn explained to the frowning Kara.. She sighed inwardly as Lar pointedly turned his back to her. Overall, the tempature in the command tent seemed to drop several degrees. She continued giving her report to Kara and Buddy. “Your Capt. Dianne is giving her information to your intelligence people now, General.” She said. “She asked me to bring Sherrie straight to you so that you could hear about it first hand.” Buddy nodded, accepted Sherrie’s report, and then turned to consult the large area map that had been set up in his Command Post.
“That will put the forest to our north, the Amazons to our south, and Luthor’s crud to our west.” He mused. He was still considering the numbers arrayed against him and his Rebels when the tent flap opened again to admit Carrie and Karen.
“Jeesh, don’t you super types knock?” Rita grouched. If Kara had not been in the tent, she probably would have sent the teens running after blistering their ears. Like most soldiers, Rita’s command of…colorful phrases…was intensely more…advanced…than that of a mere civilian. As it was the twins merely looked at her and then moved to stand by Kara and Rogue, both trying to assure themselves that, despite the stitches in her cheek, Kara was all right.
Lar, for his part, was still shuddering after hearing about Jenn’s rescue of Sherrie and the Rebel scouts.
“Lead mines!’ he shivered involuntarily and Kara smiled.
“Oh come off it Lar.” She teased. “You know you are immune to lead now. Thanks to that serum Reed gave you.”
“Right.” Lar glared at her. “I spent most of my life with the fear of lead poisoning all Daxamites have…and you tell me to get over it. Let’s see how you react after Reed gives you a serum making you immune to Green K and then you go stand in a field of the stuff.” Now it was Kara’s turn to shiver…a shiver shared by Rogue and the twins.
“I see your point.” Kara acknowledged. No one noticed the sudden look of worry on Jenn’s face or the protective way her hand moved to cover her stomach.
“We can’t fight them both.” Buddy’s sudden announcement brought everyone’s attention back to him. “Not even with your help.” He continued. “Even you can’t be every where at once. Too many rebels would be killed.”
“So what are we going to do?” Kara demanded, all business once again.
“You…” Buddy stressed by pointing, “are going to stay right here. I am going to go see if I can turn an enemy into an ally.”
“What?” Everyone looked at Buddy as if he had suddenly gone insane.
“I am going to go talk to this Amazon Queen myself.” He announced.
“Not alone, you’re not.” Rita asserted.
“I had no intention of going alone, little one.” Buddy smiled at his bodyguard. He looked around at the group and smiled. “I’m taking you, Betsy, Sherrie, Karen and Carrie!”
“Now hold on there!” Rogue jumped up, quieting when Kara placed a hand on her arm.
“You have something up your sleeve, so spill it.” She told the Rebel General.
“It’s going to take a few days to set up,, but here it is…”As he outlined his plan, Kara had to admit that it just might work!
“Why do we sit here? Why don’t we attack and be done with it?”
“Are you that anxious to die, Young One?”
Donna Troy’s mouth dropped at the openly derisive tone from one of the commanders. They had gathered in the Smithville courthouse which had been commandeered for the Queen’s use . The Commander was none other than the Councilor that had spoken against this war in the beginning.
“Are you such a coward that you cannot do as your Queen commands?” She shot back after gathering her wits.
Had she been younger, the Commander would have taken umbrage at the remark and called this foolish little girl out for single combat to teach her a lesson. It was not that she was no longer capable. But hundreds of years of life brings nothing else if not a degree of self control.
Instead, she stood and walked to the entrance, pulling it open.
“There you are.” She said, through clinched teeth. “Take your weapons and charge the enemy. We shall remain here and await your mighty victory.” Trembling with anger, Donna stood and started forward.
“Stop this foolishness. Stop it now, I say.” Queen Hippolyta slapped her open palm against the table top around which she and her commanders were seated. She did not, now, seem as full of fire as she had been before they had left their island paradise. “Donna, you will sit down and you will no longer question the judgment nor the courage of those that have spent more time in true battle than you have years of life!”
Astonished, Donna turned and looked at the mother of the one that had adopted her. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but the Queen gave her no opportunity.
“Commander, if you would, explain to us, in terms Donna would understand, why we do not attack, why we sit here…waiting for the gods know what.”
“Certainly my Queen.” The Commander let the door shut and resumed her place. “To be blunt, we sit here in order to save lives…the lives of our warriors.” She shook her head. “To attack now would be nothing short of suicide, my Queen.” She spread her hands. “We have spent our long lives on our island, shutting out the outer world for the most part, for many long years. During that time, the arts of war have changed.” She crossed to a board upon which a map had been drawn. “We are spread along here and the enemy is here.” She drew two lines. “In our day, that would have been all we worried about. Where the enemy was and what his tactics would be. Yet we would be practicing the same type of war. Our warriors meeting theirs in open combat.”
“And this is different now in what way?” The Queen demanded.
“The rules have changed.” The Commander shrugged. “I can see the logic of why the rules changed as weapons evolved. It was no longer cost effective, in the terms of lives, to meet openly. Now they crouch behind cover and hurl death at one another from a distance.”
“We have devices that can perform the same function.” The Queen reminded the Commander.
“Yes, we do.” The Commander nodded. “But how many of our warriors have trained in their use. To our way of thinking, such ways of warfare are cowardly.”
“And this enemy? These Rebels? How do they think?” the Queen turned to the only man present in the room. He had been the leader of this small community when the Amazons stormed in.
Fearing an immediate attack, the Amazons had moved forward, occupying the small city as soon as Kara and Rogue had departed. What they had discovered in the small, struggling community had caused many to rethink their positions.
They had not found helpless women being dominated by evil men. Instead, they had found men, women, and children working together to bring their small part of the world back into some semblance of order.
There had been none killed when the amazons arrived, just a few injuries sustained mainly by males seeking to protect their loved ones.
Now they had occupied the city for a full three days and life was getting back to normal. People continued to clean, to work the small fields on the outskirts of the city, to struggle to raise enough food to feed themselves. Already the smaller children were back in school.
Seeing the struggle of the city inhabitants, many of the amazons had even pitched in to help.
“The Rebels don’t glorify war.” The man stated bluntly. “But they are professionals. They don’t screw around with it. They go in, kill the enemy, and get on with life.”
“Then why have they not attacked?” Donna demanded once again. The man looked at her and shrugged.
“I can think of two reasons.” He said. He held up one finger. ‘One, because you are in the city. That means they can’t shell you with out killing the civilians. Two, because they have been watching you and don’t believe you are evil.”
“Evil?” Queen Hippolyta looked astonished. “how could any one ever think we would be evil?”
“Exactly how many good intended people do you know that declare war for no reason on civilians?” the man demanded. His tone caused many of the councilors-turned-commanders to hold their breaths, waiting for their Queen to explode as he went on. “Face it, you haven’t shown that you are exactly friendly.” He stopped and shook his head. “No, my guess is that the Rebs will make at least one more attempt to talk with you. Then, if you don’t listen, you can expect them to start taking you out a few at a time. Attacking in the night, cutting a few throats, and then fading away.”
“That….That’s monstrous!” One of the Commanders gasped. “that is no honorable way to wage war!”
“Get this through your heads.” The man’s voice was strong as he stood. ‘You ladies aren’t playing with some one that accepts your out dated notion of what is and what is not war. In fact, you will not find many people that feel as you do. You have declared war on the Rebels. If they can not end the war peacefully and quickly, then they will end it in what ever way they can!”
“That is what we have been able to learn.” The commander nodded. “They do not believe that there is honor in war. The believe that war is an evil that must be endured.” The commander spread her hands. “It is their thought that war is not something that should be glorified, but rather something that must be avoided when possible and brought to swift conclusion when it is not avoidable.” She paused. “My Queen, consider this. We sit here and yet we are not safe. We have learned that these Rebels have weapons that could reach us here. Those weapons point at us now. Only their restraint has stopped them from unleashing these weapons upon us.” She would have continued had not a member of the Queen’s guard not entered the tent in a rush, bending to whisper in her Queen’s ear. The Queen looked started and then pulled her self together as she stood.
“Well now.” She said, smoothing her gown. “it seems we are to have company, my commanders. Please remain seated while I greet our guest.”
“I still don’t understand why we have to carry these things.” Carrie was scowling at the M-16 in her hands as the jeep she was riding in bounced over the road. Karen, for her part, had slung the weapon she had been issued over her shoulder and forgotten about it as she took in the scenery.
“You are supposed to be Rebel soldiers.” Rita explained….one more time. “You would draw attention to yourself if you were not armed.”
“It’s not like you’re going to do any harm with it.” Betsy chimed in from her position behind the steering wheel. “There was absolutely no way we were going to give either of you live ammunition when neither of you seems to know the first thing about fire arms.”
‘Oh right, like we would have need of them.” Carrie retorted.
“Consider it a prop in a play in which you are an actor.” Buddy put in, trying to hide a smile.
“So we are supposed to act like Rebels. So what do we do? Act like her?” Carrie pointed at Rita.
“You better say no to that, Boss.” Betsy laughed. “These girls start acting like Rita and Kara will tear you apart for corrupting her kids!
“Hey! I resent that!” Rita turned red as her companions broke into laughter. The laughter died quickly when Betsy started slowing the jeep down.
“Okay, Boss.” She said as the jeep rolled to a stop. “Our scouts say there is an Amazon sentry post just ahead.”
“Are the other teams in place?” At Betsy’s nod he tapped her on the shoulder, he slung his weapon, motioning for the others to do the same. “Well then, Ladies. Let’s go meet the Queen!”