Issue 20: "Shifting Loyalties, Part One"

Queen Zenobia Markov sat uneasily on her throne.

Her unfaithful King was only getting older and more senile as time went on, and only Gregor was here now to keep an eye on the kingdom. Brion had gone off to play superhero, and as for that foolish Tara, that girl who was not even her child at all....

Her thoughts were interrupted.

Shots echoed through the castle, resonating in the throne room. There were cries of pain, and the clash of battle. She stood up uncertainly. “What is going on?!?” she demanded.

Her husband rose with arthritic slowness. “That thought occurred to me also, my dear. It seems we are under attack.”

“I haven’t been your ‘dear’ for twenty years,” she snapped. He only looked at her blankly, and she sighed, realizing the old fool probably didn’t even remember his infidelity, despite that little brat Tara being born from it.

Such thoughts were cut off as the throne room double doors slammed open, Prince Gregor frantically backing through them, gun in hand, firing at enemies she could not yet see.

The Queen froze, and the King stared. No Markovian Royal had wielded a gun in a generation; they relied on powers granted by experimentation for that, when they defended themselves at all. And Gregor had never visited Doctor Jace...

He took a bullet in the shoulder, and stumbled back, spraying bullets in return.

Then they came, men in gray and silver uniforms, shooting with long sleek weapons that were almost rifles.

“Mother, father, flee! Get to the sanctuary--” Gregor began, but that was as far as he got.

One of the soldiers turned and open fire on Queen Zenobia, and for her, everything went black.

Later…


Terra sat on the Squad plane, staring at nothing.

She was going home.

Unrest in Petrovnik itself. Unknown technology. Both the Squad and agents of Checkmate called in to deal with it.

Brion would be there too, but at the moment that was the only dim thread of comfort she could find.

The idea of returning to the nation-state of her birth was...less than appealing. If being a member of the Suicide Squad was getting worse and worse as time went on--and it was--then returning to Markovia, in any capacity, only added insult to injury.

One of the many things she had wanted when she acquired her powers, put on her costume and began her life of crime was to never return to Markovia again.

But she had no choice.

She had long since earned her parole during her tenure on the Squad; theoretically, she could leave at any time.

But she had to have someplace to go, first. And at the moment she had none. Wandering out alone back into the villain scene was not an option. She might run into Geomancer again, or simply be recaptured. And she had no doubt that if that happened she would not get another chance. Certainly Markovia itself was the last place she would have chosen.

Sighing, she put her earpiece in. She scowled in annoyance and disgust as she recognized the song; "Coming Home" by Alter Bridge. She ripped out the ear piece and threw it to the floor.

"You okay, Terra?" Vixen asked her.

"Oh yah, I'm just peachy," Terra sneered, and lit up a cigarette.

Unexpectedly, Vixen smiled. “I know this is difficult for you,” she said.

Terra shrugged and inhaled. “What choice have I got?” she asked, spewing smoke out at Mari like a questioning haze.

“There’s always a choice,” Mari said simply.

Terra stared at her, thoughtfully.

Roy Harper was on his way to Titans Tower, but his heart was heavy.

He wanted to visit his old friends, but he was going in with ulterior motives. Checkmate had sent him.

He had a message for Cyborg...and he knew that Victor would not be happy. Not happy, at all.

He sighed.

The Tower defenses still recognized him, of course. He stepped through, nodding to Wonder Girl and Starfire, but no bad pickup lines from him. Not this time.

“Hey Roy,” Nightwing greeted him. “Good to see you.”

Roy shook his hand. “And you.”

“Hey Speedy.” Beast Boy was hanging upside down from a computer monitor as a monkey. “How goes the government cloak and dagger business?”

“Badly, actually. I need to talk to Vic. Well, to all of you, but Vic first and foremost. It concerns...his father.”

Everybody went still and silent.

“...I’ll go get him,” Gar said, and slipped away.

Starfire came up behind Nightwing. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“That’s one way to put it,” Roy agreed.

The Squad stared at the machine. The soldier. The....thing.

“Where on earth did you find that, Gregor?” Geo-Force asked.

“We had actually been looking into purchasing up to date weapons for some time, even before this,” Gregor said. “When father was killed, I used the treasury to buy something worthwhile.” He turned and looked at Terra. “Sister, I trust you will be at the funeral?”

Terra shrugged. “If you’re sure you want me there.”

The other Squad members couldn’t help but notice that relations between Terra and Gregor were much more frigid than with Geo-Force.

“I still can’t get over you being part of this family,” Vixen murmured.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Terra whispered back.

“Why exactly has our prodigal sister brought her group with her?” Gregor asked, turning to the Squad.

“The US Government is, understandably, concerned about the stability of your country,” Manhunter said. “And we told that the technology you were using is....outre. They want more information.”

Gregor scowled. “We are not an American satellite.”

“Of course not,” said Manhunter, holding up his hands. “But this technology....you can understand our concern.”

Geo-Force had his own liaisons with other costumed types, but for the moment he was keeping them very quiet. Certainly he didn’t want to share the information with Gregor; it would only complicate matters.

Gregor smiled thinly. “You can understand my concern in protecting my homeland.”

“That is the other question,” Vixen put in. “Who are these assassins?”

“We had enough of that in Africa,” Electrocutioner muttered.

Gregor scowled again. “That I would also like to know. I get the distinct impression they want to capture this fine soldier since I bought him. Clearly they are technological advocates; they are always dead in their suits when we try to capture them alive, and they have no identification. But so long as I have my friend here....” he gestured once more to the thing behind him, “I am confident Markovia shall defeat them,” he finished proudly.

The object of their discussion stood at over two feet tall, gunmetal gray body with black veins all over it. Its eyes blazed red. They were not certain whether it was a living being or a machine.

“It has physical combat abilities, as you no doubt guessed,” Gregor said proudly. To Manhunter he sounded for all the world like a used car salesman. “But also ranged attacks in the form of lasers. It cannot exactly fly, but it can jump quite high, and while it cannot achieve super sped it is certainly faster than any normal person.” He drew a deep breath, radiating satisfaction. “It has been quite effective in defeating these insurgents.”

The Parademon was glaring into the creature’s eyes. Knockout restrained him with a gentle hand and a harsh word in their dark language. It subsided, but its crimson eyes were clearly focused on the creature.

“Gregor,” Terra said dryly, “I think you finally flipped your lid.”

“Thank you for your opinion, bastard,” Gregor sneered.

Terra’s eyes flashed, then she shrugged. “You wanna insult me, you’re gonna have to do better than stating the dry facts.”

Geo-Force stepped between them. “Enough of this. Brother, surely you can talk to me about this at least?”

Gregor looked away. “Doctor Jace put me in contact with a man who was willing to sell,” he muttered.

Manhunter looked up. “What man?”

“An old American scientist. A black man of some knowledge, training, and bitterness...a man after my own heart...”

They didn’t get much more out of Doctor Jace and her American friend. Nor did they expect to.

They left a few minutes later. They could hear Gregor and Geo-Force shouting at each other, echoing up and down the halls.

Terra smirked. “They’ll be at it for hours. Especially with the stakes so high.”

“You don’t sound terribly bothered,” Killer Frost said.

Terra shrugged. “I care about Geo-Force. I’ve no desire to see this land go to hell, and Gregor seems half inclined to let that happen so long as he wins. Beyond that...this was never my home.”

“Yes, I think we can all take that as read,” Manhunter sighed. “No offense.”

Terra shrugged again. “Sooner we get this cleared up and get out, the better.”

“On that we are all agreed. There’s nothing we can do about Doctor Jace and her ‘friend’ for the moment. Besides, Waller left me with the impression that was Checkmate’s job.”

The entire group groaned. “I did wonder when they were gonna show,” Terra said.

“We won’t know until they make themselves known. In the meantime we have to face these invaders, find out where they’re coming from, and take them out. I’ll need your skills in that line, Catman.”

The hunter nodded, made a face. “We’ll have to wheedle Gregor into letting us look at the bodies. For all I know Jace might have them.”

“Have any of you considered the possibility,” Frost said, trailing a finger along the wall, “That Checkmate might be behind the insurgency?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Electrocutioner grunted.

The group fell silent as they considered that unpleasant possibility. Manhunter and Vixen exchanged an uneasy look.

“If so, we’ll find out the hard way,” Manhunter finally said. “And in the process, expose them. They want to give us the opportunity to beat on some of their proxies...”

“Or on the spooks themselves,” Electrocutioner nodded slowly.

“So much the better,” Frost finished.

They had barely gotten up the next morning when the alert came. A group of costumed metahumans had appeared in the southern province of Zheldov.

“Brother,” said Geo-Force, “Let the Squad and I handle this. Keep your pet destroyer in its pen, for now.”

Gregor stared long and hard at him, crown glittering on his head. Finally, he said, “I’ll give you an hour’s head start. If you’ve not won by then, I’ll unleash my defender.”