Titans Resistance #5

"It's going well?" Wintergreen asked.

"The 'heroes' are tearing it up," Ravager agreed. "But the Markovians are fighting back. It's only a matter of time before one of 'em is hit."

"Your command?"

"Close half the distance while maintaining fire. And ready a motorboat."

"A motorboat?"

"Yeah. I'm going in."

"Rose," Wintergreen said as cautiously as he could, "Your place is here."

"I'm just doing my part, Wintergreen. Trust me."

Wintergreen sighed, then turned and gave the order.

Four guards were up and firing on the parapets. Green Lantern grabbed them with his ring energy and threw them into the ocean.

A cannon turned to fire on him. His ring blocked the cannonball; but before he could crush it, one of Terra's rocks came in to smash it.

She smiled thinly at him. He scowled back. Then he got an idea. "Hey princess, I know you don't want to bring the whole thing down, but make you could blow out a wall, or something?"

"Supergirl and Robin are still in there," she pointed out, as Lantern blocked more small arms fire.

"Yeah and the pirates are risking their lives right now. So blow a wall out."

Terra raised an eyebrow. She did not say, are you testing me? His steady gaze told her that he was.

She sighed and turned her attention to the fortress. "Perhaps a corner could use some damage," she said thoughtfully.

"Sure," he agreed.

She twitched her fingers and a corner of the wall sagged inwards like it had been hit with an invisible hammer. She flicked her wrist and a chunk of wall ripped itself free and fell into the sea, exposing the inside.

A Markovian solider peered out, gaped at them, and hefted a rocket launcher onto his shoulder.

"All yours," Terra said graciously.

Green Lantern made a fist with his ring and smashed the soldier back into the fortess.

"Satisfied?"

"Yeah. After you."

She gave him a look and floated inside, as another cannonball from the pirates plowed into the foundations.

Indeed, Ravager had used a personal grappling gun, not unlike Robin's, to climb the wall. Now she stood on the outer wall, swords drawn. "Hello, boys!" she screamed.

Two Markovians came for her and she cut them down instantly. Another tried to shoot her; she dodged, and threw her left-hand blade like a javelin. It impaled the soldier. He gasped and began to fall off the sea side. Scowling, Ravager yanked her blade free before he could take it with him to a watery grave.

An officer charged to meet her, sword slashing. She parried once, twice, three times; then her right-hand blade slipped past his guard. He died painfully.

"This is the life," she grinned.

The grin faded as a Markovian cannon rotated to face her. Just as it fired, Supergirl swooped between it and Ravager, taking the hit. Supergirl survived easily, but was knocked back into Ravager, and they went down in a heap.

"Thanks," Ravager muttered into black fabric.

"You're welcome," Supergirl responded without the slightest hint of embarrassment. The Kryptonian got up and flew at the cannon, smashing it to pieces. Ravager collected her wits and her blades, and jumped down into the shattered inner courtyard of the fortress, where Robin was already fighting Markovian soldiers.

Her landing jolted her knees; but she was no ordinary human. She'd inherited her father's fast healing and lightning-quick reflexes. She whirled and slashed through Markovians, Robin wielding his quarterstaff on her left. From her right a rock came plowing in; Terra knocking her countrymen down like bowling pins. Ravager risked a look back as she kicked a soldier in the face; Terra's eyes were grim, her face set. Nodding with satisfaction at what she saw, Ravager returned her attention to the foe, ducking a bullet just in time.

Supergirl snatched a soldier's weapon away and broke it, casually. The soldier stared, bug-eyed, and ran. She let him go. She found killing....distasteful, but sometimes necessary. She was not so cold as to think of the humans as animals....but as yet, she didn't rate their lives as high as her own kind, either.

A flash of green shot past her as Lantern slammed into the foundations. One whole wall fell out. The base had more holes than wall now.

Supergirl turned and watched Robin suplex a soldier (not that she knew the term as such) into the ground. Ravager was wreaking havoc with her blades. Terra had trapped a soldier up to his waist in stone.

Supergirl could understand the languages of this world fairly easily, so she had no difficulty listening when the soldier asked Terra in their own language, "Why, princess?"

Terra shook her head and answered in the same tounge, "You'd never understand, let alone believe." She turned away.

All was quiet after that.

"Is it over?" Lantern asked.

"It would seem to be," Supergirl responded.

"Of course not," Terra said. "This is only the beginning. Mother will be furious after this."

"The question is," Robin said, "What will be her next move?"

"Almost certainly, to begin the invasion of America. She will begin gathering her troops for that purpose."

"As you knew all along," Lantern accused.

Terra shrugged. "Suspected, yes. But so did you, hmm?"

Green Lantern hung his head. "I just don't like all this death."

Ravager laughed. "Death is reality, ring slinger. You better get used to it."

Lantern glared at her. "I assume that you'll be leaving us high and dry, now that you've got what you wanted."

"Half right. The fleet will continue to prowl the seas. But I will go with you to see this finished." Wintergreen won't like that, Ravager thought. But needs must.

"We need all the help we can get, Green Lantern," Terra said. "Listen to me, all of you. I know none of you trust me yet, even after what I've just done. I don't really expect you to. But each of you, in your own way, values freedom, yes? Robin, Lantern, both of you value freedom in it's political sense. Supergirl, the freedom to indulge your curiosity. Ravager, the freedom to sail the seas and take what you wish. Well be sure, all those freedoms will be gone if we don't fight my mother and her armies to the last breath."

Supergirl nodded thoughtfully.

"The last breath," Robin echoed sadly. "Hopefully it won't come to that."

"What about you?" Ravager asked. "What does freedom mean to you?"

Terra lifted her chin up, eyes bright. "Freedom from my family and their expectations of me. Freedom from the iron fist of Markovian rule around the world. Freedom for the world, that they might move forward once more."

There was a pause.

"Okay," Ravager admitted. "I'm impressed."

Even Green Lantern nodded.

"You say the invasion will come next," Robin said. "But where will she gather the troops?"

"That is the question," Terra said. "It won't be someplace obvious or easy. I rather suspect mother will gather her forces in Markovia itself.

"In the lion's den," Green Lantern said, still wary of a trap.

"Yes," Terra agreed, staring at him. "You don't have to come if you don't wish to. That, too, is freedom."

"Oh, I'll come. Somebody has to keep an eye on you."

Terra nodded. "So be it."

Robin cleared his throat. "We don't know that's what your mother will do."

"No," Terra agreed. "But Lantern is the perfect one to find out."

Green Lantern raised an eyebrow....then he came to understand her meaning. He nodded. "Okay princess, yeah. I'll give you that one. But I don't think I should go flying up just yet."

"I don't understand?" Supergirl frowned.

"Me either," Ravager shook her head.

"I do," Robin said. "But at the moment, I think we need to get back to the fleet."

Night fell.

The fleet had slipped away, to the north and west. Not southwards, where the Markovians would expect them to go, or so Ravager said. She was busy having a heated argument with Wintergreen about her plans to go with the team. None of the others could see her, but the muffled shouts of the pirate queen and her first officer could heard even through the deck.

The other four were out on that deck. Robin, Green Lantern and Terra were all sitting down. Supergirl stood with her back to them, staring up at the stars. Looking for her home star up there, Robin suspected, though she hadn't said so.

"We make a good team," Green Lantern admitted grudgingly. "Your basic plan is sound, princess."

"I'm not a princess anymore. Glad to be rid of it," Terra said softly.

"Oh, I don't know. If you're for real, and I'm starting to think you are, then you've more right to that title than any of your family has had in generations."

Both Terra and Robin looked at Lantern in surprise. Apparently there was a significant brain hiding under his temper.

Terra's face softened. "Thank you," she said simply.

"Was it always like this?" Supergirl asked without turning around, "Or was it more peaceful before Terra's people began their path to conquest?"

"Never so bad as this," Terra answered. "Times of war and peace alternated. But never so bad as this."

"Not to hurt our own cause here, but I think the only difference is the technology involved," said Lantern.

"History is a cycle," Robin said simply.

"My own people's wars are in the distant past, though the occasional violent criminal needs to be exiled to the Phantom Zone," Supergirl said. "But as a whole our race has stagnated."

"Is that the reason you came?" Robin asked.

"In part," Supergirl said. She still did not turn around, but a smile was in her voice. "As I said, curiosity motivates me. Also, a disaster in our home system was narrowly averted, and one of the Houses had a contingency plan to send their leading child here. I presume they would've done so because of our physiological changes under your star."

Terra said, "And is our cause worthy of your curiosity?"

"Oh yes," Supergirl agreed. "I will need to see quite a bit more of this."

The other three looked at each other. They were all wary of Supergirl now, even Terra, but in a different way than before. Now they were worried she would stop helping them as soon as their cause was no longer 'interesting' to her.

Still, they were starting to feel like a team. To truly bond. Each of them felt that, even Supergirl, in her own alien way.

Ravager came back up on the deck. "It's settled. I'm coming with you." She smiled wryly. "I've never heard Wintergreen shout so much."

"He's loyal to you," Robin said. It was not a question.

Ravager nodded. "He was my father's first mate, and continues to watch over me like some doting uncle."

"So why are you helping us, now that the outpost is destroyed?" Green Lantern asked.

"Destroying the strength of the Markovian military will be good for business."

Silence fell amongst them then, as they considered it. For all their powers and training, they were going to face the full strength of the Markovian military machine. All of them save Supergirl had some idea of the strength of that body, Terra most of all, of course. And none of them, not even Supergirl, took it lightly.

"It's still too early for me to scan," Lantern said.

Ravager nodded. "First thing tomorrow, I'd say."

They retreated below decks.

The sun had barely risen the next day, when Green Lantern shot up off the deck of the ship and into the sky.

The sky faded from bright blue, to dark blue, to purple, to black. He was not in true space, but so high up that nothing could breathe. Only his ring protected him.

Before he could begin his task, he became aware of Supergirl's ship, still floating where she had left it, cockpit open. He had no idea what was keeping it aloft, but sooner or later it would fall into orbit and burn up. If they were lucky, that was. If they weren't, it would impact somewhere, possibly killing people.

So he used his ring to shove it away. With only a little strain he sent it out beyond the orbit of the Moon. The ring was a powerful weapon, but it had limitations besides the color yellow, his own strength of will not least. This, he knew too well.

With that chore addressed, he began his scan. It was possible, of course, for him to simply use his ring to look at Europe, and study every minute detail. But that would be headache-inducing, mind-numbingly dull, and a waste of time.

So he simply gave the ring instructions and let it scan.

Twenty minutes later it told him what he needed to know.

Satisfied but not pleased, he sunk back down through the atmosphere to Ravager's flagship. Touching down, he found Ravager and Robin waiting for him.

"Terra called it," he said in a resigned tone. "Massive military buildup in Markovia itself. Spare forces from all over the continent being pulled in. Tanks are moving, especially."

Ravager nodded. "Makes sense. More fuel efficient than planes, and more devastating than infantry. Though I'm sure there will be some troops there too."

Lantern nodded back. "The Markovian Home Guard, no doubt."

"Hold on," said Robin. "What about ships?"

"They will be waiting at the docks in Latvia, or perhaps in Italy, to let the tanks and infantry board," Terra said, coming up to the group. "But that process will not begin until the forces are assembled. And we all know why mother is choosing to assemble in the heart of the Empire."

"She's waiting for us," said Robin.

"So how do we hit em without the trap closing on us?" Lantern asked.

Terra smiled. "By coming at them in a way they would not expect....now, we won't have access to Ravager's fleet for this, and besides ships cannot move across land."

Ravager snorted laughter.

"Nor can I tunnel underground all the way without exhausting myself, and mother might anticipate that move. But she can't possibly anticipate all of you....and Green Lantern and Supergirl have powers she can't possibly prepare for."

"What about her powers?" Lantern asked. "Same as yours?"

Terra nodded. "But she has more experience in their use."

"Oh, this is going to be so fun," said Ravager drily.

Robin smiled, but there was no humor in it. "Let's hope it's even less fun for the Empress."