Django

DJANGO by BILLA1

Disclaimer: The Characters Batman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Superman, Adam Strange & Flash their respective secret identities are all owned by DC Comics. This story is intended for my own pleasure and is not for profit. It has been posted to this site for others to read. Places and characters not own by DC Comics are my own creation. This story is based on characters from The Justice League Unlimited Animated Series. Thanks to Merlin Missy for her beta on this story. For Ida.

Django

Rating: (PG-13)

Synopsis: Shayera and Adam Strange travel to the planet Rann to battle a common foe.

(Thanagar - four months after the failed Earth invasion)

The sergeant walked down the long corridor and stopped in front of the last door. He showed his credentials to the armed guard who opened the door for him and allowed him to pass. He had been in this office twice before and each visit was just about as unnerving as being on the front lines. He walked up to a dark-colored oval desk which was in front of a large green door. Behind the desk sat a young corporal who had watched the sergeant enter.

"Is he in?" the sergeant asked, pointing toward the green door.

"Yeah. He's in." He pressed a button on the desk and then looked up at the sergeant. "He's in teleconference with the elders."

"Oh, I see," the sergeant said, slowly now trying to decide whether to stay or go. "Okay. The tribunal is finished and I'm supposed to let him know the results."

"Well?"

The sergeant smirked at the corporal and leaned over the desk. "There were no surprises. The traitor was convicted in absentia and a death warrant was signed. The warrant was delivered to the Enforcement Branch this morning for immediate execution." The sergeant grinned, "Hmm. Pun intended."

The corporal frowned. "You make a pun like that in front of the commander and you might find your name on a warrant."

The sergeant instantly returned the frown. "Yeah, I know." He looked around the room quickly then leaned forward until he was inches from the corporal and whispered, "You know between you and me, he could have stopped this from happening... the death sentence I mean. But no, he did nothing. Didn't testify for or against her. Just gave them his report and turned it over to the tribunal."

The corporal looked at the large green door behind him and then at the sergeant. "Well I know they've been looking for her. But no one has seen her since the fleet left that planet. What was it called?" He paused, stood up and extended his wings as if stretching them. Then he refolded them and adjusted the red helmet on his head.

He continued. "Perth? Earth? That's it, Earth. And I know they've been searching. Can't seem to find her but they'll get her. She'll slip up and they'll get her. They always find the ones they're looking for. Sooner or later, they'll find her."

(Now - Six months after the death of Solomon Grundy at the hands of Shayera Hol)

(Caspana, Chile)

The air was thin and cool. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Then Adam Strange knelt down and rubbed his hand in the reddish volcanic soil. He noted that the color of the soil matched the color of his spandex costume. He picked up a handful of the soil and slowly let it run out of his closed fist as a gentle breeze blew the gritty dust into the air. He stood up, rubbed his hands together, then turned and looked at the winged woman dressed in white and black standing next to him. He noticed she had a look of amusement on her face. He showed her the palm of his hand. "It's the driest desert in the world."

The woman, Shayera Hol, looked at the outstretched hand in front of her. Then she shifted her weight to her left leg as she folded her arms across her chest. Raising an eyebrow she asked, "And that's important, how?"

Adam wiped his hand on his leg and laughed heartily. "Shayera. Look at me. I'm an archeologist." Her expression didn't change. She doesn't get it. He stopped laughing and shrugged his shoulders. "D'uh. Stuff deteriorates really slowly in this desert." He rolled his eyes and said with some frustration in his voice as he waved his arms, "Old stuff? Dead stuff? Well-preserved dead stuff? Hello? That's how I make my living." He shook his head and sighed, "Anyway, I'll have to come back here and dig one day."

She bent down, scraped the soil with her fingertips and rubbed her fingers together. "It is beautiful here Adam." As she stood up again she asked, "How much longer before the zeta-beam?" She's being kind but she still doesn't get it.

Adam looked at his watch and then looked skyward, "By my calculations another five minutes." He bent down, picked up the jet pack at his feet and strapped it on. Always feels heavier here than on Rann. He took his ray gun out of its holster and checked it. Satisfied that his weapon passed his examination, he put it back in its holster. Then flexing his shoulders with the jet pack on, he grunted and announced, "Ready."

She was silent for a moment. A small smile creased her lips as she said, "Adam. Thanks."

He grinned back. "You're welcome. But thanks for what?"

She looked down for a moment and fingered her mace nervously. She took a deep breath and then looked him in the eyes. "You were one of the first people I worked with when I came back to the League and you trusted me...didn't mind working with me...and...that meant a lot to me then." She paused and then softly added, "And it means a lot to me now. Thanks."

Thank you. He nodded his head, looked at his watch again then looked up. "Get ready. Here we go."

As the zeta-beam hit them both he could hear her gasp. He'd forgotten how cold the light could feel when it struck one not used to it. Well, if I had my way she would be my partner all the time. That certainly would get her used to the light.

The yellow light dissipated quickly and the two heroes found themselves standing on a bluff overlooking the city of Ranagar. The sky was clear and bright. Shayera shivered. Even through the trip lasted only a few seconds, the light left her feeling like she had hugged an iceberg. She was still cold. But she immediately noticed how much warmer Rann seemed than Earth and how thicker the air seemed to be. After a few more minutes the coldness left her. After all, any planet with three suns is probably going to be warm all the time.

It was then that Shayera noticed the dark-haired woman dressed in blue running toward them with her arms outstretched. It was Alanna. She's the real reason Adam comes here.

Alanna rushed to Adam's side and hugged him. Shayera turned away somewhat embarrassed as Alanna wrapped her arms around Adam's neck and kissed the Earth archeologist - hard. I miss that. She shook her head and inhaled deeply.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here," Alanna said breathlessly, unconcerned about embarrassment.

Adam stepped back from her embrace but didn't completely release her. "I'm glad to be here." He nodded at Shayera standing next to them and said, "You remember Shayera, don't you?"

Alanna smiled weakly at her. "Indeed I do. Hi, Shayera." Alanna didn't wait for Shayera to acknowledge her greeting before she stepped out of Adam's embrace and said, "Adam, this is bad. We've been invaded!"

Adam frowned. "Invaded? By who? The Griks?"

"It's not the Griks. We don't know who. But they have a big ship. And the ship has many laser cannons. It's destroyed a lot of property and lives."

Shayera furrowed her brow and removed her mace from her hip. Her tone was flat as she said, "Laser cannons? Where is the ship now?" Don't let it be...don't let it be.

Alanna pointed toward the hills behind her. "The ship set down on the other side of the hills late this morning. It attacked the city of Ranagar and then moved to where it's sitting now. Now it's just sitting there as the army attacks it. Meanwhile, most of the people in the city fled in panic after the attack."

Shayera pursed her lips together. "It attacked and then moved and now is allowing you to attack it? Adam, we've got to go NOW! Take me to the ship."

Adam looked confused. "Shayera?"

Shayera leaped in the air and hovered in front of the pair. "I need to see that ship. Adam, trust me. It's important."

Adam looked at Alanna. "Take us to the ship."

Alanna turned on her jet pack and headed toward the hills with Shayera and Adam following. Shayera had no problem keeping up with Adam or Alanna but she also knew they weren't traveling at full speed, probably because of her. As they flew over the last hill, Shayera looked down in the clearing and saw the Rann army firing an assortment of aerial and ground based weapons at the large greenish-blue and red spaceship. The fired projectiles seemed to do little damage to the stationary ship.

Her jaw dropped as she recognized the ship through the smoke of the battle effects.

"Cha'nas!" she exclaimed as she immediately dived down to the ground. "Get down," she called out to Adam and Alanna. "Now!!" she screamed when they continued to hover above her confused by her sudden actions.

As the couple landed, Shayera reached up and grabbed each one by the wrist and pulled them down to the ground, hard. "Get down and stay down." When Adam and Alanna were lying flat on the ground, she spread her wings over top of them.

"Shayera, what is it?" Adam asked as he took out his ray gun and pointed it at the ship in front of him.

Shayera looked at Adam's ray gun and rolled her eyes. She energized her mace as she pointed at the ship in the clearing below.

"It's not a laser canon. It's a plasma canon. That's a Gordanian class four cruiser. It's smaller than the class seven that was brought to Earth. Each ship holds a crew of about one hundred and five. It's a scout ship. And if they saw me, the whole planet is in real danger."

Adam stared at her blankly and she could see he wasn't sure what to make of what she'd just said.

"'Scout' as in first wave of an attack," he asked. "Or as in an advance party?"

Holding her mace in her right hand, she made a fist with her left hand and brought it to her lips. "It's a probe...a suicide ship. It's how they test defenses. If they encounter little resistance they'll land a full-blown armada later. If the resistance is overwhelming then they may decide to bypass the planet. If they saw me they will definitely come here."

Alanna asked, "What's so special about you?"

Adam answered before Shayera could. "Shayera's people and those people have been at war for generations." He turned to Shayera. "Right?"

Shayera nodded and then added solemnly, "If they saw me, they'll think there are other Thanagarians here and that puts you at risk. Adam, you must destroy that ship and its crew. Even if they didn't see me you can't let them leave this planet."

She was silent for a moment and then glared at the stunned Adam. "Do you understand what I'm saying? There can be no survivors. No prisoners. If even one of them escapes and returns to their home world, you've doomed Rann. Like an ant on Earth, if the scout gets back to the nest, the colony will invade. You must stop the scout from getting back. That's the only chance you have of convincing them to bypass the planet."

Adam looked at Alanna, who nodded in understanding. "What do we do?"

Shayera raised her head to look down at the ship and the Rann army's unsuccessful attacks on the invader. "Unless you have a class one laser bomb or a type 'J' pulse weapon, you probably aren't going to do much damage to the outside of that ship. You have to...we'll have to destroy it from inside."

She sighed. "You'll have to convince your armies to stop firing at it. It's only measuring...cataloging the effectiveness of your weapons." She made a fist and pounded her other hand with it. "You want them out of the ship. That's the only way you're going to win...the only way you can win."

"I'll tell the military commander to stop firing," Adam said as he started to stand up.

Shayera grabbed his arm and pulled him back toward her. "Adam, tell him the Gordanian ship will open fire again to draw Rann return fire. Tell him no matter what, don't fire back. He can expect the ship to lift off within two minutes after firing its last round. When it lands again, its troops will come out within ten minutes - that's when you attack them."

She let go of his arm. He started to leave and then stopped and turned back to her. "Wait a minute. Won't they be expecting us to attack them when they land?"

Shayera shook her head. "No, because they don't know that you know what they're going to do. I know because my people have been fighting them for generations."

Adam fired up his jet pack. "Got it. I'll be back," he said as he took off to find the Rann army field commander.

Adam made his way to the field commander. It was General Stabb who had worked with Adam in fighting other menaces.

The general looked up and nodded a greeting when he saw Adam. "Good to see you, Adam. Nothing we shoot at this thing makes a dent in it."

Adam looked the man in the eyes. "I know sir. That's why I'm here. I want you to stop shooting."

It was clear to Adam that the general didn't like what he heard. They've got weapons and they want to use them.

"Have you gone mad, man?" the general snarled, pointing his finger in Adam's face. "That thing destroyed property. It killed people and you're saying do nothing."

Ignoring the finger, Adam turned his back to the general and pointed in the direction of the alien ship. "That's right, General. That ship is testing your defensive capabilities and right now you're showing it all that you've got. The friend who was with me when the giant robots went on a rampage knows the tactics of this invader and I trust her to guide us." Adam turned around to face the general again.

The general was silent as he glared at Adam. Finally, he hissed, "Okay, Adam what do we do?"

From her hillside position, Shayera noted that the Rann army had stopped shooting. Good. Adam made them see the light.

Suddenly the Gordanian ship let loose a massive barrage with its plasma cannons. The fire was directed at the hillside where the Rann army had set up its artillery. Shayera marveled at the discipline of the Rann forces when they did not return fire.

Adam rejoined Shayera and Alanna on the hillside just as the Gordanian cruiser lifted off.

"They got the word."

The Gordanian cruiser circled the clearing and landed in the exact same spot. Uh oh. That's different. Wait. Now it's facing in the other direction. Shayera, Adam and Alanna remained in position on the hillside, keeping low, hoping not to be spotted by the Gordanians.

But they were spotted.

"Look out!" Shayera screamed as a blast of plasma fire struck their hillside.

"Scatter!" Adam shouted.

As the three took to the air, the landing bay doors of the Gordanian ship opened. However, the Rann army was ready. As soon as the Gordanian soldiers started disembarking, the Rann army fired two laser guided missiles into the opened landing bay doors.

Secondary explosions were heard coming from inside the ship. The few Gordanian soldiers that made it out of the landing bay were slaughtered immediately by the Rann army. The army fired two more missiles inside the ship through the landing doors. The force of the explosions lifted the ship off the ground. Ten minutes after firing the last missile, a reconnaissance party of Rann soldiers entered the wreckage to look for survivors. After that, there will be no survivors.

As Shayera and Adam regrouped near the smoldering hulk of the ship, Shayera was very upset with herself.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked.

"No," she frowned, shrugging her shoulders. "They saw us...they saw me." She shook her head and looked down at the ground. "Adam, I may have put this planet in great danger." She paused and added softly, "I'm sorry."

Adam bent at the waist and looked up into her face. "Sorry for what?" he grinned. "Sorry for telling the Ranns how to defeat this invader? Sorry for saving this planet? You've nothing to be sorry for! If the Gordanians come back, Rann will be ready."

She raised her head and Adam stood up straight. "Adam," she said softly. "I can't come back here anymore. If they transmitted that a Thanagarian was here, Rann can expect visits from Gordanian agents. And they'll be better prepared next time."

Before he could respond, Alanna joined them. "Adam, you and Shayera saved us. I'm sure the army can handle it from here."

Adam turned to Shayera. "See? Rann will be fine. You did good work. Now no more talk about not coming back."

Shayera smiled as Alanna added, "Yes, you better come back." She added with a laugh, "He needs you." Alanna then wrapped her arms around Adam's neck and said softly as she kissed him, "Now, my love, we have time for us."

At that moment, the zeta-beam pulled Adam and Shayera back to Earth.

(Now - On Thanagar)

The lieutenant stood in front of Talak's massive wooden desk at the position of attention, her eyes locked and focused straight ahead.

He looked up at the young lieutenant. I don't recall seeing her before. They're getting younger and younger each day. I guess we are losing this war. "Report, Lieutenant."

Without looking down at Talak, she offered him a piece of paper. "Commander, we've intercepted a Gordanian radio transmission from the fourth planet in the Alpha Centauri star system. The transmission requested a decision from the Gordanian Homeworld whether to take or bypass the planet."

Talak quickly looked at the paper in his hand. "At ease, Lieutenant. Did we intercept their answer?"

The young officer relaxed slightly as she answered the large man staring back at her intently. "Yes, Commander. They will bypass the planet."

"Good," Talak said as he initialed the paper in his hand and gave it back to the lieutenant. "Keep me informed. Anything else?"

"Sir, one other thing," she added hesitantly. "Sir, the message also reported the natives were helped by an unmasked female Thanagarian."

Talak stood up, leaned over his desk and glared at the young officer. "Unmasked? Are you sure about that, Lieutenant?"

The lieutenant snapped back to attention. "Yes sir, we're sure about the message. We authenticated both question and response. And I checked: we don't have any agents or operatives on that world, sir."

Talak was silent. She is pretty. He tilted his head to the side as he spoke softly, "What's your name, Lieutenant?"

"Ayres, sir. Natra Ayres."

"Good work, Lieutenant Ayres," he said as he sat down. "Make sure the enforcement branch gets this information." Then he stared at her coldly. "But you are to tell them not to act on this message relative to the traitor. Is that understood?"

The lieutenant looked down with a puzzled look on her face and then looked straight ahead. "Sir, begging your pardon but I don't understand...sir."

Talak stood up again. Hmmm, she's pretty sharp, too. His voice was firm and direct. "Lieutenant, it is one of the oldest tricks in the book. If you suspect your code has been broken, you transmit bad information to get the enemy to show its hand."

Talak walked around his desk and stood next the young officer, still at the position of attention. He noticed she was trembling. He stood close to her and whispered in her ear as she looked straight ahead. "Suppose one of our squads suddenly shows up on that planet looking for an unmasked Thanagarian. The moment they show up, it verifies to the Gordanian agents that we broke their code. We lose whatever tactical advantage we have the moment they know that. The traitor has already cost us much; we cannot allow her to cost us more. No, Lieutenant Ayres, we will take no action regarding this no matter how much we want to. Is that clear? No action!"

He moved back around his desk and sat in his chair. He looked at the papers on his desk and without looking up at the lieutenant said flatly, "You're dismissed."

"Yes sir," the lieutenant answered as she did an about-face and left the office closing the door behind her.

When he heard the door click shut, he unlocked his lower desk drawer. Inside the drawer, he gazed at a female officer's golden helmet - the helmet that had once belonged to his promised one.

"Shayera," he slowly whispered as he closed drawer again and locked it. "They'll find you soon enough and you'll pay." But not today.

The zeta-beam radiation faded away as it returned Adam Strange and Shayera back to Caspana, Chile. Shayera shivered but wasn't sure whether it was from the zeta-beam or the night air.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked her.

"Just cold...but it's a different cold than the zeta-beam," she replied. "I can't stop shivering."

"I'll call for the teleport back to the Watchtower," he said. Then he added, "You know, if you were human I'd say someone probably stepped on your grave."

She frowned weakly at Adam as he contacted the Watchtower. Maybe someone did.

END