Chapter 1: The Past, Betrayal

Sanders barely even registered Pyrrha's footsteps as she made her way to the hills in the distance. Even the biting cold wind and foreboding clouds overhead could not pull him away from his thoughts. So much had happened in so short a time that, now that he had time to think about it, Sanders was a bit overwhelmed. Just decided where to start was hard enough, much less coming to terms with all of it.

The rhythmic thump into his back decided where to start for him. Jimmy had repaired the machine gun Sanders had stolen from Lutice’s robot. Sanders would have been happy about that if… if its first target hadn’t been Flonne… Flonne...by God what had they done to her? The sweet, innocent fairy looked more like a teenager rather than the young girl he remembered. And her size...she had been nearly as big as Pyrrha! But all that was nothing compared to that look she wore as she blasted the platform with her wind. That steely gaze had been horrifying close to Aviel’s and nothing like the way the old Flonne would have looked. The old Flonne...dammit he should have got her out too. Now...now there was no telling what Aviel and the Society had done to her…

That would have been enough for Sanders, but the world had other plans. Flonne wasn’t the only monstergirl to have changed, Pyrrha had as well. The catgirl wasn't mimicking anymore, if she ever even had been. Now, she was talking in full and complete sentences. Not only that, but she had figured out to use the window to escape and head for the hills all by herself. Some part of Sanders had known she was getting smarter everyday, but it had been slow and, mostly, steady. This sudden increase, though, was like night and day. She had still been meowing when he had sent her to save Samantha, but had come back talking. What the hell was happening to her and would she, like Flonne, start to remember her old self?

Fuck her old self...As if all that wasn't enough, Samantha was more than sure Pyrrha was, in  actuality, Jessica, her mentor and sorta-sister. Sanders had no reason to doubt Samantha, but the implications cast a horrid shadow over the already darkened Society. If Pyrrha was a mutated human...did that mean EVERY catgirl and fairy was too? That Flonne's visions were, indeed, old memories the Society had tried to hide from her? That beneath that bestial or innocent mind was a person screaming to get out? Dammit, was there no end to the horrors the Society had committed?

Then again, was that really all that horrid compared to what they had already done? Manchent’s message… just thinking about it made Sanders' blood boil. Hundreds of millions dead… countless more slaughtered under their boots, all while they pretend to be the saviors of the planet... Damn them all to hell. Nothing, NOTHING could justify this...this...abomination! Just imagining all those people in the cities who were unaware of who was really “protecting” them...

"Owww. Sanders, you're hurting my ear," Pyrrha said as Sanders felt her ear twitch. Sanders snapped out of his thoughts and shook them away. He looked over and found his hand clamped down on Pyrrha’s ears. Crap, he had been so caught up in his anger he hadn’t realized his hand had tightened onto poor Pyrrha.

"Oh, sorry Pyrrha," Sanders said as he loosened his grip. Pyrrha let out a relieved sigh as his death grip was released. Feeling bad for hurting her, Sanders ran his hand along her ear to try and soothe the lingering pain away. Pyrrha's sigh turned into a soft purr and her ear dropped down a bit in relaxation. At least some things about Pyrrha hadn't changed... like his trust in her. He just wished the same could be said about the others...

Glanced back in the direction of the platform, Sanders found his mind wandering back to Gabby's story…

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Gabby let out a bored yawn as she keep walking down the lonely road. It had been about an hour since she had left Isabella and started her trek to her new "job." Ugh, just thinking about sitting around watching over a damn farm made her want to turn around and try to catch up with the Captain. But she knew there was no chance in hell she would manage that without a vehicle. Much as she hated to admit it, she didn't really have much of a choice but to head to the farm.

Then again, she could have just turned off the road and gone wherever the fuck she wanted. Stride her way through the tiny forest on either side of the road and see what sort of trouble she could get into. Maybe become a giant warrior of justice working outside the Society’s laws. Go around smashing bandits or wild animals, or anything else that threatened innocent people. Be a hell of a lot more fun than what she was going to be doing soon. But that would mean leaving Cap, Alice, and the pipsqueaks with no way to reach her. Sadly, her giantess hero fantasy would have to stay a fantasy. For now...

Another yawn slipped out of Gabby as her boredom returned. She didn't mind the walking, but the lack of ANYTHING to do was driving her crazy. A Resistance ambush would have been a welcome sight as this point, if for nothing else than to break up the monotony. The only thing to do was look at the bored road, look at the boring, miniature forests to either side of said road, or waste time thinking about what to do. And Gabby REALLY hated thinking about what to do.

As if summoned by her thoughts, an odd sound drifted into Gabby's ears. Her military instincts kicked in and Gabby crouched down before freezing in place. What was that noise? It was too indistinct to tell, but it was coming from somewhere ahead of her. Gabby couldn't help but get a slight smile as she, slowly, made her way forward. Finally something to fend off her boredom. Oh she hoped it was some Resistance. Or maybe some people trying to fend off a bandit attack. Or...fuck who cares? It was something to do!

The road keep going for a few more yards before turning to round a large hill. The noise was a bit clearer now and Gabby could tell it was coming from the other side of the hill. She stopped moving as she tried to figure out what it was. It almost sounded like...voices. Yes, it was definitely voices. Though... if they were Resistance voices she sure as hell wouldn't be able to hear them from this far away, hell she would have trouble hearing them if they were right beside her! They had to be from non-shrunken people, maybe some Rangers that had met up mid-mission.

Gabby let out a soft sigh as she realized she wasn't going to be getting any action after all. Most likely, the Rangers were just chatting it up before they headed back or going over their patrols. Talking to them might be interesting for awhile, but once they left it would be back to boredom. Dammit…With nothing else to do, Gabby started walking down the road again and was about halfway around the hill when the voices became clear enough to understand.

"-ela said, she isn't here so we should just go!" one voice said, a voice Gabby didn't recognize. Gabby did know a lot of the Rangers, thanks to Cap and Alice, but not all of them. Must be one of the ones she didn’t know.

"You want to explain to the Matriarch why YOU came back empty-handed, be my guest. I'm not going back to her till we have a confirmed kill to bring," a second voice said, this one also new to Gabby.

Gabby stopped moving forward and frowned at the mention of a Matriarch. What would a Matriarch be sending Rangers out this far to kill? The only things out here were wild animals and Resistance members. And there was her answer, Resistance members. Bit odd they would know the sex of the Resistance fighter, but it was the only explanation that made sense. Must be a high up member for them to send two Rangers to put her down.

A slight smile spread on Gabby's face as she realized she had just found a good way to dispel her boredom. A little tussle with some Resistance would make for a good distraction and would be a good farewell hooray to her freedom. Of course, she knew how Rangers acted and was sure they would be tight-lipped and less than pleased she was there, them and their need to be “sneaky”. Which was why she wasn’t going to let them know she was here.

With her mind made up, Gabby turned toward the large hill and started toward it. She got down on all fours and, slowly, made her way up the hill, trying to make as little noise as possible. As she started up it to get a better position to join the fight, the Rangers keep on talking.

"Ugh...fine. Still don't know why we have to do this. Shouldn't Lutice and her bunch be doing this kind of crap?" the first one said in an annoyed voice. Gabby stopped in surprise at the mention of Lutice. She wasn't a Ranger...then again the Swords were the ones who usually took care of Resistance problems. Course, none of them would doing much of anything save healing after the beating she, Cap, and Alice gave them, hehehe. Dismissing her surprise, Gabby keep crawling up the hill, glad their talking was keeping them from hearing her knees and hands crush the tiny trees in her path.

"They would if they hadn't got their asses kicked by Isabella and the rest. Angela doesn't trust them with handling Gabby after that," a third voice said. Gabby stopped mid-movement at the mention of her name. Wait… WHAT?!

"Yeah, they'll be lucky if they get let off the base ever again for getting beatdown so bad. Going to drive them nuts when they find out it was us who took Gabby down," the second voice responded before letting out a slight chuckle. To say Gabby was beyond stunned would have been a huge understatement. Take her down? They were out here to get HER?! And had been ordered to do it by a Matriarch?! What the hell?!

Gabby grabbed her head as she steadied herself from the shock. What the fuck was going on?! Why the hell would Angela, as she couldn't imagine Cathrine being behind this, want her dead? Did their beat down of Lutice and the rest bug her that much? Wait...why was she wasting time worrying about why it was happening when the people who knew were just over this hill? All she had to do was beat the shit out of those idiots and get them to explain it! Oh that was much simpler, and more enjoyable, than racking her brain trying to figure it out.

Shaking her confusion and worry away, Gabby looked up to the top of the hill. She was about three-fourths of the way to the top and had a lot of noisy forest to get through. Alice and Isabella would have been able to sneak to the top of the hill, but Gabby was less sure of herself. The fuckers talking had masked her approach so far, but they had quieted down now. Trying to sneak the rest of the way was going to be next to impossible...which meant it was time for Gabby's specialty. It was shock and awe time, bitches!

Throwing subtly to the wind, Gabby leap to her feet and charged up the hill. She scrambled up it as fast as she could manage as she got herself ready for the fight. Her feet turned the dead trees below her into tinder as they smashed down and each step seemed to get louder than the last. Gabby didn’t care, though, being quiet was no longer part of the game plan.

"What is that?" someone said from the other side of the hill as Gabby neared the crest. Knowing that the fuckers would make her the moment she got over the hill, Gabby clenched her hands into fists and let out a battlecry. She ran over the lip of the hill and slowed her run long enough to get a look around. Below her was the worn road with a vehicle parked off to the side. Three Society members, all dressed in Sword combat gear, were standing in the road and had just started to turn to face her. Gabby smirked at having caught them off-guard despite the noise and cracked her knuckles.

“Surprise motherfuckers!” Gabby yelled as she charged down the hill toward the Swords. It was time to teach to bash some Swords!

"Oh SHIT!" one of them yelled as she turned to run to the vehicle. One of the others looked about to grab the one running away, but was stopped by the third one.

"Let her go, it's still two to one, we can take her!" the third, and obviously new, one said. The second one, seemed unsure about that, but still nodded and turned to help fight. Sure of her backup, the third one let out a yell and started to counter-charge Gabby. Gabby only smiled in joy as her opponent came rushing toward her. Oh this was going to make up for all those boring hours!

The Sword raised her fist to go for a charging blow while Gabby keep her arms to her side. They closed within a few feet before Gabby bent down and leap up. The rookie had been so busy concentrating on landing that first blow that she never had gotten herself ready to dodge. That mistake left her wide open for the flying kick Gabby drilled right into the newbies' chest. A sickening crunch came from the Sword and Gabby could tell she had broken at least one of her ribs with that kick. Teach her to remember legs out range arms.

Landing back on the ground, Gabby sprang back to her feet with practice ease. The rookie Sword was on the ground writhing in pain as she gasped for air to scream. She was out of the fight and would be no trouble hauling back at all, now. That left two still to beat down.

The second Sword had slowed her advance after seeing how easily Gabby had took out the other. Suddenly, it was one vs one and Gabby could tell this Sword knew Gabby's reputation. Gabby let a nasty smile, slowly, spread across her face as she advanced toward her. The Sword began to back up as Gabby quickened her pace.

"What's wrong? You were supposed to take me out, right? Well, here is your chance. Or are you Sword fuckers too chicken-shit to fight on even ground? Don't want to fight when it is against someone your own size?" Gabby mocked as she speed up her pursuit of the Sword. The Sword slowed her retreat and a flash of anger crossed her face. That's right, get pissed and come at me you stupid bitch! Just like she hoped, the Sword raised her fists and began to move forward to fight Gabby.

Gabby didn't raise her own arms. Instead, she just keep marching right to the Sword. The Sword waited till Gabby was in striking range before lashing out with her fist. Gabby dodged the first jab with ease before firing back with a gut punch. The Sword gasped as the blow sent her reeling back, but managed keep her arms up in defense. This one, apparently, wasn’t complete inept. Gabby slowed her march forward for a second before moving straight toward the bitch again. This time the Sword tried a fake out with a quick jab going into a kick. But fake out's only work if they catch the opponent off-guard and Gabby saw right through it. She ignored the jab and snatched the Swords leg out of the air. The rookie had just enough time to look surprised before Gabby pulled her closer and smashed her fist right into her face. The Sword crumpled onto the ground, out like a light and blood oozing from her nose. Two down, one to go.

Turning away from the two fallen Swords, Gabby looked at the vehicle and saw the last Sword digging through the trunk. She smirked as she starting toward the car, looking forward to beating the answers she wanted out of the Sword. The last Sword members gave a relieved cry as she pulled something out of the trunk. Gabby had just enough time to wonder what she had found before the Sword turned to face her. And in her hand was, OH SHIT A GUN!

"SHIT!" Gabby said as she tried to dive away, but too late as the gun leveled on her and fired. Gabby gritted her teeth in anticipation of the explosion of pain, but the feel of metal tearing through flesh never came. Instead, a green beam of light shot out of the gun and hit Gabby. Oddly, there was no pain as the energy beam struck her, but it did seem to coat her in its glow. Gabby looked at her hands and the green glow that surrounded them. Odd...why did she get a feeling of deja vu? Suddenly, Gabby gasped as she felt like her body was being crushed...no bound...no...fuck what the hell was happening?! And why did it feel kinda familiar…?

Gabby swore as she looked up at the Sword and...was she taller? Wait...this green glow, this feeling, and the taller Sword... FUCK SHE WAS SHRINKING! Gabby eyes shot wide in horror as she realized why this felt familiar, it was the same as the day of the shrink disaster! Only it was just happening to her! Gabby looked around in panic as her pants slipped off her waist and her jacket threatened to engulf her. And just out of sight, thanks to her clothes, the Sword was starting to laugh like mad. Oh fuck fuck fuck fuckFUCK!!!

Gabby tried to turn to run, but tripped over her own pants. She hit the ground and found herself buried in her own clothing. Shit, she was going to be buried alive by her own clothes! She had to get out, but she was shrinking so fast and her clo- wait, her jacket sleeves! They were armored and would keep their shape even without her arms in them! She had to get to them!

Pushing the enlarging fabric away, Gabby tried to crawl her way toward where she thought her sleeves were. Her pants had, already, been left completely behind and she seemed to only be shrinking faster now. Outside, footsteps began to turn into earthquakes as she shrank smaller and smaller. Pushing the fabric aside became more and more difficult as the green glow began to brighten and her compression got worse. Dammit, she had to hurry had to get out had to...

"DIE!" a booming voice yelled out before what sounded like an explosion went off behind Gabby. The world exploded with sound before going silent as a massive earthquake sent Gabby flying. Gabby cried out in panic as her form shrank down even further and found herself lost in a sea of tumbling, rolling, and crushing fabric.

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Alice drummed her finger on the wheel as she drove toward Savannah. Normally, she would have enjoyed the peace and solitude the drive brought, but something was keeping her from blessed aloneness. Something that constantly nagged at her mind. Part of the bad feeling was simple to identify. Leaving Gabriella and Isabella made her worry about them, Gabriella more so. Her worry bothered her and keep her feeling… off. But that wasn't all that was bothering her, and the other part was harder to pin down.

The highway around Alice was still just as bare of working vehicles as it had been hours before. She still hadn't seen any other Society vehicles despite being about two hours into her trip. Supply convoys and patrols should have been going up and down this highway, and yet Alice had not seen even a sign of either. Something was wrong, her instincts were screaming it at her, yet she couldn't tell what.

Looking at the radio, Alice debated whether to call in this oddness. She started to reach for it, but stopped as her bad feeling got worse. Her eyes narrowed as she cast aside the idea of calling for help. Alice had learned long ago to trust the instincts her father had drilled into her, and right now it was telling her using the radio was a bad idea. It seemed she was on her own... though, truth be told, she preferred it that way. Whatever was giving her this feeling would not catch her unprepared.

Up ahead, Alice came to an area where she would have to leave the highway. A large bridge had collapsed sometime after the Disaster and the Society had never bothered to clear it. Instead, the route went off the highway and into a small, abandoned, town before returning to the highway further down the line. It was, normally, a nice distraction and change of pace from the monotonous highway, but Alice's worry only seemed to grow as she pulled off the highway. Had something happened in the town? It would make for a good location for a Resistance ambush...

Alice slowed her car as she turned off the highway and headed up the ramp. She stopped at the top of the turn off and looked around, but didn't see anything that shouldn't be there. Drumming her fingers again, Alice got the car moving toward the town, but made sure to take it slow. Her instincts were going crazy now and Alice was not going to rush into danger..

Pulling up to the abandoned town, Alice brought the jeep to a stop before scanning the area. The old, pockmarked, streets were the same as the had been, the buildings didn't show any signs of fighting, just rot, and the cars looked just as old and rus- wait. Alice's eyes snapped toward a car that had been blocking a turn off onto a side road. And had was the keyword as it wasn't any longer. She, probably, would have missed that if whoever had moved it hadn't let it scrape along the ground, leaving a trail of flaked off rust, paint, and debris. There was no way the Resistance moved that car...but then who did?

The answer was easy enough to figure out. There were only a few people who would go to the trouble of laying a trap for her and only one who would be stupid enough to do it, Lutice. Alice sighed to herself as she debated on just turning around and finding another way to Savannah. She didn't really want to deal with Lutice and her Sword friends right now, but if she was mad enough to do this, she was mad enough to chase Alice all the way to Savannah. Best just to nip this in the bud now rather than have to deal with it later.

Alice grabbed a backpack she had brought with her and took out a few tools. She made a quick and rather ramshackle lock to keep the wheel straight before using the backpack to press the pedal down just enough to keep the jeep rolling. With it moving forward toward the obvious trap, Alice climbed into the back of the jeep. She grabbed a few supplies, before setting the rest up in her seat to make it look like someone was still driving. With everything set, she opened the trunk up just enough to slip out, before closing it as quietly as she could. She followed the rolling jeep long enough for it to reach the road leading to the side street before racing to it. Ducking into cover, she looked back and listened for any cries of alarm and relaxed at the lack of any.

Staying down in a half crouch, Alice made her way to the side street that ran parallel to the one her jeep was on. She stopped at the edge of the building between the main and side street and peeked around to get a look. The side street was empty, save for old, abandoned cars, but Alice could still see signs of some of them having been moved. Her ambushers had gone further down this street to reach their position, it seemed.

Slinking forward without making a sound, Alice moved from wreck to wreck as she made her way down the street. She went down two blocks like this, making sure to stay ahead of her jeep distraction, before the signs of moved cars ended. Alice was still about thirty yards from the spot where the moved cars ended and saw an alleyway heading back toward the main street. A large, two story, house sat next to the alley and looked in decent enough shape. A door leading in was on the backside of it, out of sight of whoever was in the alley. Assuming they were in the alley...

While Alice despised assuming anything, she decided to head into the building anyway. If nothing else, it would provide a good vantage point and some cover if the worst should come to pass. Silently making her way to the door, she thanked the God of Fortune that it was unlocked and made her way inside. The house was rather decrepit and the fine layer of dust caking everything looked undisturbed. Good, that meant her ambushers weren't inside. Alice made her way through the house, making sure to keep completely silent, till she found the stairs heading up. She made her way up, making sure to stay on all fours to keep the old, slowly rotting, wood from creaking. Once on the second floor, she headed to the room beside the alley and hoped that there was a window looking down on it.

Entering the room she was looking for, Alice smiled as she saw a window pointing toward the alleyway and another looking out on the street. Perfect, she could watch her jeep and her ambushers. She creep over to the window and knelt down beside it. Now in position, Alice reached into her pocket and took out a small mirror she had stashed away. She raised it up above the window sill and shifted it till she got a good angle to look into the alleyway..

Down in the alley were four fellow Society members, all with the Sword badge on their arm. The Swords were making sure to keep out of sight, but were, obviously, ready to leap out any second. Alice frowned in anger and annoyance at her theory being proven right. Damn Lutice... she didn't have the patience for this kind of thing. She was about to leap down and ambush the ambushers, but stopped when something caught her eye.

Alice's eyes narrowed as she saw that the Sword closest to the street was holding something. It looked like a gun, but was unlike any she had ever seen before. Society members keeping guns on them wasn't unheard of, but they tended to be rather ramshackle since getting the proper parts wasn't easy. This gun, though, looked nearly pristine and looked more like some kind of ray gun than a typical gun. Where the hell had Lutice gotten her hands on something like that? Alice's worrying feeling came back with avengence and she cast aside her idea to ambush the Swords. She needed to see what that gun could do before she went rushing into a fight with it.

Shifting around to the window looking out onto the street, Alice spotted her jeep slowly making its way toward them. It was still a good fifty or so yards away which helped to hide the fact that she wasn't in it. However, even with its tinted windows, if it got too close the Swords were sure to realize she wasn't driving it. Should that happen, Alice would need a plan. Thankfully, this town would give her plenty of places to hide and ambush the Swords. Perhaps she would get really lucky and they would be stupid enough to split up.

Her plans for how to deal with the Swords were put on hold, however, as she heard the Swords whisper between themselves. Alice was about to shift back to watch them, but stopped when she saw the Sword with the gun spin around the corner and into the street. She raised the gun at the jeep and a beam of green light shot out of it. Alice's eyes went wide in shock at the sight before they turned to look at her jeep. Only...there was no jeep to find.

The street where her jeep had been only a second before was completely empty. There was no burn marks, no explosion, nothing to mark that there had ever been a jeep. It had, literally, vanished into thin air. What the hell kind of weapon was that?! How had Lutice gotten something like that?!

The Sword gave a soft chuckle before advancing toward the area Alice's jeep had been in. The others began to talk among themselves, but Alice ignored them as she watched the Sword with the raygun. She stopped near to where Alice's jeep should have been and looked around at the ground. After a second, she seemed to see what she was after and stomped her foot down onto...something, though what Alice couldn't tell. With that done, the Sword turned back toward the house, forcing Alice to duck down out of sight.

"That takes care of Alice. Looks like Angela was overly worried about her," the Sword with the ray gun said. Angela? Angela was involved in this?... Of course she was. Lutice didn't have the the pull or intelligence to do something like this. Matriarch Angela, however, did. But why? Why would she want Alice dead? Did Alice and the rest beating Lutice and her friends bother her that badly? Possible... but Angela didn't seem to be the type to go this far over such a minor thing.

"Seriously. That was easier than dealing with the Resistance. More boring, too. Let's get back and get a real assignment," another Sword said, shaking Alice from her thoughts. A general chorus of agreement came from the rest as they started toward their vehicle. A real assignment...which meant this had been assigned to them. That all but confirmed Angela was involved. But that still didn't answer why.

Alice, once again, debated on trying to surprise the group. They were sure to know more about this, but the risk... She cursed inwardly as she realized the risk was too great. Four to one odds were already dangerous, but adding in that raygun just made in near suicidal. For now, all she could do was keep hidden and let them, and Angela, believe she was dead. That way, she could act without constant fear of being hunted and figure out what was going on.

The Swords vehicle rumbled to life and Alice stayed hidden as it rolled away. She waited for its engine to die away and then counted out a full five minutes before she got up. With them gone, she could go and see just what that ray had done.

Alice headed out into the street, after making sure it was clear, and moved to the spot where the Sword had gone too. At first glance, the area looked like any other spot on the street, but a closer look revealed something a bit odd. Alice knelt down to the ground to get a closer look and her eyes shot wide as she realized what she was looking at. It was her jeep...or rather what was left of it. Only... only it was tiny...shrunken human tiny...  that gun had been a Shrink ray!

Standing back up, Alice rubbed her chin as she scrambled to think of what to do. Angela had a shrink ray...fuck if she turned that on the rest of the Shields... She had to warn them ab- Her hand froze above her wrist unit as she realized she didn't dare use it. If she did, Angela would know she survived and it would be her word against a Matriarchs. With no proof to back her word up, Alice would be lucky to be sent to the brig. And no matter what fate she was, officially, given, Alice knew what would really be waiting for her. She glanced back down at her crushed jeep and swore to herself.

With her wrist unit being more a liability than advantage, Alice took it off and made sure to smash it apart. She was on her own now, but she still had to find some way to warn the rest of the Shields. If Angela had planned any other such traps, Alice wasn't sure how many other Shields would realize wha-... Oh no GABRIELLA! Panic flooded into Alice as she remembered that Gabriella had been sent on a similar trip. Dammit, that overconfident fool wouldn't even think twice about rushing into a fight with the Swords! And if they had a shrink ray too... Alice had to get to her before the Swords did.

However, Alice had no transportation. With her jeep shrunken and crushed, all she had were her legs to get her there, and they were far too slow. Thankfully, Alice had made extensive maps of all the areas around Atlanta and had marked where  Ranger supply caches were. Hopefully, one was nearby and it would still have its emergency jeep in storage. If not... Alice might have to risk revealing herself to be alive so she could steal a ride.

Taking out the map she had of this area, Alice easily found where she was and that there was a cache nearby. It wasn't too far, just a couple of miles to the west and over a few hills.. She checked the route and made mental notes of the landmarks to watch for before putting the map back away. With the first landmark ready to be checked off in her mind, Alice took off at a quick jog toward the cache. And as she jogged, she gave a silent prayer that, for once, Gabriella would value discretion over valor. Yet knew perfectly well she would have been better served wishing for an airplane.

Chapter 2: The Past, Shifting Perspective

Gabby groaned to herself as she regained consciousness. She tried to sit up, but her head was spinning like mad. And her ears, damn it was like someone had plunged knives into them! Fuck, what the hell had hit her? And why was it so quiet save for that damn ringing?

Glancing around, Gabby found herself in some kind of cave... though it wasn't like any cave she had ever been in before. In fact, the walls almost looked like fabric, only way bigger than it should be. Weird, wha- Gabby's thoughts stopped as a sudden blast of cold air caused her to shiver. Damn that was cold! She needed to- Holy fuck she was naked! What the hell had happened to her clothes?!

Wait...wait...yes, she was starting to remember now that the spinning was slowing. Right she had been heading toward the farm...found some Swords... beat them up sav- oh shit... oh shit shit shit SHIT!!!! That beam had been...and she had...which meant this… this wasn’t a cave, it was her damn SLEEVE! Oh SHIT!

As the full weight of her situation started to sink in, the ringing in Gabby's ears began to fade. As it did, others sounds began to drift back into focus including the booming, and horridly familiar, voice . Oh double shit...

"HAHAH! Talking so big and so superior, but now all you are is a fucking ANT!" the Sword that had shrank her yelled out. Another massive explosion and earthquake rocked Gabby's world as the Sword smashed her foot down. Gabby swore as she grabbed onto the fabric beneath her to steady herself. Even with the handholds, it was all she could do not to be thrown around like a ragdoll. Sweet Jesus, all the Sword was doing was stomping her foot down, but it was like being in an artillery barrage!  She had to get out of here!

"Why don't you come out of there and start talking big again! Or are YOU too chicken shit!" the Sword taunted again. Gabby tried to get up, but she had barely gotten her feet under her when another massive earthquake rocked the world. Cursing in fury, Gabby was thrown back to the ground and her ears sent back to ringing. Dammit, she couldn't even get up TO run like this! Fuck it, if she had to crawl to get out of here then crawl she would! Gabby started to scramble on all fours toward the exit of the sleeve as she hoped the next stomp wasn’t aimed at her.

"Now learn your place you stupid Shield, bitch! Underneath our boots!" the Sword yelled out and Gabby stopped as she grabbed hold of the sleeve. Fuck, not the sleeve, not the sleeve, not the sleeve!

"Hannah, stop... playing with her and....help me," another rumbling, though more distant voice said through pained gasps. That had to be the Sword Gabby had broken the ribs of since the other one was unconscious. The stomp Gabby had been preparing for didn’t come as the world seemed to hold its breath.

"Oh stop being such a baby, Linda. I’m almost done torturing her so just wait,” Hannah’s booming voice echoed from above. Dammit, that bitch was just toying with her! Screw the risk of falling down, Gabby needed to get out of here! Springing to her feet, Gabby took off at a full sprint toward the exit of the sleeve.

"Leave her...dammit. Going to be...freezing...and she has....no clothes or...supplies,"  Linda gasped out. Gabby's sprint slowed a bit as she realized Linda had a very good point. Even if she got out of this sleeve, Gabby was butt naked, had no supplies or tools at all, and the cold was only getting worse the closer she got to the exit. If she was stuck out here once it turned night with no supplies… fuck.

"...Oh fine. I guess leaving her to, slowly, freeze to death is good enough," Hannah said as her booming footsteps began to move away from Gabby's massive clothing. Gabby let out a relieved sigh as she slowed to a stop a few feet from the exit of her sleeve. She had been spared, for now, but if she didn't think of something fast her execution would have only been delayed. As if to push the point home, a bitingly cold wind blasted its way into the sleeve and Gabby started to shiver as she wrapped her arms around her. Fuck, this was bad. It was already getting dangerously cold and it wasn’t even late afternoon.

Looking out of the sleeve, Gabby saw the Sword that shrank her, Hannah, help Linda up off the ground. As Hannah and Linda stood up, Hannah’s head turned back toward where Gabby was. Swearing, Gabby ducked back inside before the Sword’s HUD visor picked her up. Dammit,with that bitch watching her clothing she was going to have a hell of a time getting out. At least until she passed by Gabby's clothing...

Gabby waited till the two Swords had passed her by, before peeking out again. Hannah had Linda slung over her shoulder and was helping her to the car. With Hannah focused on keeping Linda moving, Gabby had her best chance of getting out of her clothing. But that presented another problem, where did she go?

The, originally, small road was now a massive wasteland of nothing save old, slowly breaking apart gravel and asphalt. There was no cover to speak of or any place to hide save her clothing. Worse, the wind, with nothing to break it, was blasting across the ground with bone-chilling force. The area was nothing but a death trap and the only break from it was the distant forest with fuck knows what inside it. Still...the forest was the only real chance she had of escaping so...

Taking a deep breath and wrapping her arms around her as tight as she could, Gabby took off at full speed for the forest. Her running, however, only made the biting cold wind worse and Gabby was having to fight not to shiver herself into taking a fall. Dammit, she could swear she could feel her hands and feet getting frostbite already. Despite the pain and the cold sapping her strength, Gabby pushed on and keep running for the "safety" of the forest.

Gabby thought she was, maybe, a fourth there when the rumbling footsteps stopped. She glanced over and saw Hannah opening the door to the car to load her hurt comrade in. Fuck, she wasn't even close to being at the forest and Hannah was, already, loading Linda inside. Any second now she would turn around and Gabby would be royally fucked unless she thought of something! Come on, Gabby, what what Isabella or Alice do?!

Hannah grumbled a few things before getting Linda into the car. Linda groaned in pain, but was inside and ready to go. Hannah closed the door and started to turn as Gabby's mind was, still, drawing a blank. Dammit, she wasn't good with those whole thinking thing, she just hit things and left the rest to others! Fucking motion tracking vis- MOTION TRACKING!

Suddenly hit with inspiration, Gabby stopped dead in her tracks and flopped to the ground. The rough gravel smacking into her bare skin caused her to wince a bit, but Gabby pushed aside the pain as she stared up at Hannah. The Sword turned fully around and her eyes scanned over the area. Gabby held her breath as they moved to look in her direction and, for a second, she was sure they were looking dead at her. But then the second passed and Hannah's eyes moved on. Holy shit...it had worked...the visor couldn't pick her up since she was still. However, keeping still might be a problem as the wind started to blast into her again.

Gabby tightened her arms as she fought her bodies natural response to the cold. If she started to shiver, it might give enough movement for the visor to pick up. She had to stay still till Hannah moved past her. Dammit, what was that bitch waiting for, an invitation?! MOVE ALREADY!!

Hannah started forward again, finally, and her booming footsteps become louder with each step along with the shaking ground. Gabby watched Hannah as her massive form moved toward her. Fuck...she hadn’t realized just how fucking huge Hannah was now that Gabby was shrunk. It was like a fucking skyscraper was moving toward her! Worry started to creep in as Hannah got closer and closer, but it faded as the Sword shifted to move toward Gabby's clothes. Gabby waited a second before, slowly, rolling over to see what Hannah was doing. She got turned around just in time to see Hannah smash her foot down on Gabby's old clothing again, this time the very sleeve Gabby had been in. Fuck, if she had stayed that would have been her...

Hannah let out a slight chuckle before heading toward the knocked out Sword. Gabby would have loved to see who was chuckling if Gabby was her old size... but she wasn't. Despite how much better, stronger, and tougher Gabby was then Hannah, it didn't matter for shit with the size difference between them. At this size, all Gabby could do was run and hide... FUCK she HATED this! If only she had dodged that beam...

With Hannah now facing away from her, Gabby started back to running for the forest. She let her body go back to shivering like mad as she pushed her screaming legs to their limit. Her lungs burned and screamed as she sucked in freezing air and her hands were starting to lose their feeling, but still she keep going. Stopping was not an option and neither was dying. Like hell she was going to die like this and to these fucking Swords! Can't even fight her in a fair fight... DAMMIT, she was going to make them pay if- no WHEN she got her size back!

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Gabby stumbled her way off the road and into the forest. She collapsed to her knees and gasped for air as she tried to catch her breath. Crawling her way to a nearby dead tree, Gabby slumped down and took cover behind it. She plunged her hands into her armpits to try and warm them as her body shivered uncontrollably. It was all she could do to not bite her tongue off with her teeth chattering like this.

Behind her, Gabby could hear Hannah carrying the unconscious Sword to the car. Thinking on it more, Gabby probably should have headed for it all things considered. Getting in would have been tough, but at least she would have had warmth and she could have, easily, stayed hidden. And, once she got back to base, could have found Isabella or some other Shield to help her. Yeah...that would have been a much better plan... But that plan was no longer viable as Gabby heard the car door open again. Even if Gabby still had the energy to get to the car, she would never make it in time. All she could do was sit here and listen to it start up. Fuck…

Depression and hopeless began to creep into Gabby along with the cold. What the fuck was she supposed to do now? Her one ride back to civilization was rumbling its way down the road, lost to her. She had no clothes, no tools, no nothing, and could guess frostbite was starting to set in on more that one of her extremities. Best of all, though, the sun was already starting to set meaning it was only going to get colder. She was screwed...that Sword bitch had been right, she was fu-...

No… No NO! Like HELL she was going to let Linda be right! She was NOT going to die like this, dammit! She was a MARINE! She was a fucking SHIELD! She was FUCKING GABRIELLA PEARSON, the toughest bitch in the Atlanta Society! If she was going down it would be swinging, even if it was swinging on mother nature her fucking self!

Summoning up a second wind of energy, Gabby forced herself up and thought back to her training days. OK, first off she needed to get warm and for that she needed a fire. Thankfully, it hadn't rained or snowed in awhile so most of the wood around here was dry. Even better, the dead trees made it easy to break off limbs for the wood she needed. A few minutes of work saw her with a good pile of fire wood. Good, now she needed that fire.

Gabby had learned how to start fire without matches back in her Marine days, but hadn't used the skill in a number of years. To say she was rusty would have been an understatement and her numb hands only made it harder. After breaking and ruining more sticks than she cared to count, Gabby, finally, got one to start smoking. She blew on it a few times before the welcome orange glow of fire appeared on it. Oh sweet God of Fire, thank you! Gabby put the tiny flame into the fire pit she had made and let out a relieved sigh as the tiny flame roared into a full blown fire.

It took a bit of effort not to huge the warming flames as its welcome warmth began to spread out. Gabby got as close to it as she dared and let the oh so good warmth unfreeze her. Sadly, however, the fire could only do so much and with no clothes to keep her warmth in, it left her just as quickly as it came. Well if one fire wasn't enough, maybe two would do it!

Gabby started to stand up to try and get some more wood when a soft rustle sound came from behind her. Gabby froze half standing as her body tensed into readiness. Her hand, slowly, drifted down to a piece of wood that was sticking out of the fire and grabbed hold of it. A club wouldn't deter too many animals, but a flaming one would make most think twice. Gabby took a deep breath before whirling around, stick raised to strike.

Her movement stopped dead, however, as she came face to barrel with a rifle. Ah shit...

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It had taken about thirty minutes for Alice to arrive at the Ranger cache. The trip had been uneventful and given her plenty of time to think. Sadly, even with all that time, she couldn't narrow down her multiple theories as to why Angela would want her dead. Revenge for Lutice and a full-on takeover seemed just as likely as the other, and there was always the chance of some other reason she hadn’t thought of. It was vexing, to say the least, but that issue would have to wait till after Gabriella was safe.

The cache itself was hidden inside an old, weather-beaten garage. The house that it had been connected to had collapsed either from age or weather, but the garage had managed to survive. Alice took a few moments to check around it for hidden traps and the means to open it. Caches were, always, well protected by traps and, occasionally, trained catgirls. The supplies and equipment in them were just as, if not more, valuable to the Resistance, after all. This one was no different, but all the traps set near this one were for normal-sized people. Good, she didn't want to have to waste time disarming them.

With the traps posing no threat to her, Alice focused on finding a way inside. The steel garage door didn't have a handle or anything else to grab hold of, making any attempt to force it open doomed to fail. After some more careful searching, Alice found an old garage opener hidden on top of a window seal and behind some kudzu that had, obviously, been placed there on purpose. Alice pushed the button on the remote and the garage’s old engine rumbled to life. The garage's steel door groaned and hissed as it slid open, revealed the welcome sight of a jeep along with a number of supply crates stacked beside it. Excellent, this cache still had its vehicle.

Alice headed inside and decided to focus on the jeep first. She gave it a quick inspection and found it in good working order with plenty of gas and oil. Even better, the back of the vehicle was already loaded with some basic supplies: food, water, camping supplies, etc... Alice needed to remember to thank whoever had last restocked this cache...assuming she ever got the chance.

Shaking off that dark thought, Alice turned to the supply crates. Most of them were full of more of the basics the jeep was already stocked with, food and such. However, one of the rear most crates had spare Ranger equipment inside including wrist units, radios, and shield generators. Alice was still reluctant to make use of a wrist unit, but the radios and shield generators could be useful. She loaded a few of each into the jeep along with some more food and water, but made sure to leave plenty incase another Ranger needed this cache. Whatever was going on hadn’t changed her loyalty to her own.

With the jeep ready for her trip, Alice moved it outside before sealing the cache, again. She re hide the remote to the door and made sure the traps were all still in working order. Once she was satisfied the cache was fully protected and sealed,  Alice climbed into the jeep and took out her map.

While Alice did need to hurry if she wanted to reach Gabriella in time, she needed to avoid any major traffic areas as well. Even in the jeep, there was a risk of someone seeing and recognizing her, and that risk increased right along with the traffic. Thankfully, Alice had made a point of marking backroads that were still passable since many of her patrols were out in such areas. It was highly unlikely that she would see anyone, save for fellow Wilderness Rangers, on those roads. As Alice figured out her route, she made sure to use those roads as much as possible. She couldn't avoid the risky roads completely, but she could minimize the risk as much as possible. With the her route made, Alice was ready to get moving.

Setting the map down in the passenger seat, Alice shifted the jeep into gear and started on her way. As tempting as it was to speed toward Gabriella's destination, she made sure to keep a steady pace. Racing ahead would only draw more attention to her and put her in risk of wrecking. Getting injured, or worse, but her own impatience would not help Gabriella at all. Still...it took a conscious effort to keep from doing just that. If she was ambushed by a group with a shrink gun as well...

Alice cursed inside her head as she tried to get her mind of that horrid possibility. Glancing down at the radio, Alice switched it on and tuned it to the Society's general frequency, hoping to use it to distract herself. The frequency was not encoded, like others, since all it did was report weather, play music and, occasionally spread the latest gossip. While the Resistance could listen in, there really wasn't anything of value to hear so no one had bothered to encode it. Today, however, the frequency gave none of that. Instead, all that came out of the radio was garbled static, buzzing, and general noise. Alice frowned at the radio as she recognized the sounds of an encrypted signal. Why would the general frequency be encrypted? Alice felt her bad feeling beginning to return...

Slowing the jeep so she could focus on the radio more, Alice turned the decoder on and set it to the Ranger decoding set. After a few seconds of working, the decoder activated and the buzzing static shifted into words.

"-ase is under attack by Resistance forces! All Sword personnel are to report back to base, immediately! Repeat, Atlanta base is under attack by Resistance forces! All Sword personnel are to report back to base, immediately! Repeat-" the radio blared as the automated message continued.

Alice's eyes shot wide at the message and had to fight not to swerve in shock. A Resistance group had attacked the base?! That was...insane AND suicidal! No group had the numbers or the firepower to win such a fight! In fact...wait... Alice's surprise began to die down as she started to think more on this.

Unlike many of her comrades, Alice knew the Resistance was not a unified force. In fact, she had gone a step further and made an effort to be familiar with the different groups. She had done some...frowned upon actions to do that, but she had deemed them worth it. Knowing your enemy and all that. Despite that, though, she couldn’t seem to figure out which group would be behind this attack.

The Phoenixes were far, FAR too smart and careful for something like this. Not to mention they were still licking their wounds from their failed attempt to capture Manchent. The Snakes might be foolish enough, but they didn't have the skills to sneak all the way to the base without being spotted...not without help, anyway. Perhaps the two had joined together? Possible, but not very likely. Her... contacts had said the two groups were, practically, at war with one another the last time she had meet them.

There were the Wolves out to the North east. They were brutal and crazy enough to try... but they were in a turf war with the Wraiths, and a bloody one at that. Crazy they may be, but they were not suicidal, and neither were the Wraiths. Most of the groups to the South were either being pushed back by Sword teams or in hiding from said teams, making them unlikely culprits... Rome might have the firepower, but they were content to sit behind their rivers and dare the Society to come to them. And the Marauders… well they were more interested in robbing normal sized people than fighting the Society. That only left the Elves and Alice knew with absolute certainty it wasn’t them. She supposed her contacts might have left out a few groups or just not known about some, but a group large enough to attack the base would be well known and her contacts had always been forthcoming. So why did she not know about this group...and why had they attacked at such a...convenient time?

Alice's bad feeling had returned and her worry began to be split between Gabriella and Isabella. Was the attack a fake? A way to lure people back to the base so Angela could get rid of them like she tried with Alice? No, that would have been unnecessary. Every Society member would have returned to the base, eventually, anyway. There was no reason to lure them back and in such a way that they would be ready for a fight. But the timing of this attack and the lack of a good culprit… Was it all a cover? A way to explain why experience people like her and Gabriella had gone missing? Dammit, something was going on behind the scenes, but Alice couldn't seem to figure out what. Perhaps if she went back to the base...

No...no Gabriella was still out there and, potentially, in grave danger. Whatever was going on would have to wait till she made sure Gabriella was safe. And, if what was going on was as big as she feared, Alice would need Gabriella's help to stop whatever was going on. She just hoped Isabella keep herself safe through this "attack", whatever it was. Isabella could take care of herself, but if Aviel, Sanders, or Flonne got caught in the crossfire... Alice decided caution was no longer an option and got the jeep speeding its way through the backroads.

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Two hours later saw Alice nearing her destination. The automated message of the attack had stopped and been replaced with an all clear signal. A few orders for patrols to pull back and hunt down stragglers had come through about an hour ago, but since then the radio had been, mostly, quiet. Ironically, the attack may have aided Alice as she hadn't seen anyone along the way. Most likely, any Sword or Ranger patrols out this far had pulled back when they had heard about the attack and, now, were hunting down retreating Resistance. While that did mean she didn't have to worry about discovery, it also meant she had nothing better to do but worry about everything else.

Was Isabella alright? Had she been injured in the attack? Had there even been an attack? Had Angela made her move? Was that shrink gun just one of many? All those question and more plagued Alice's mind as she drove on, taunting her with her inability to answer any of them. Still, though, she remained focused on her task. Gabriella came first, answers would come after.

Alice slowed the jeep a bit as she started to round a large hill. Her foot shifted toward the gas pedal as she came around th- Swearing out loud, Alice slammed on the brakes as an object appeared in the middle of the road just ahead. The jeep screeched to a halt before it could hit the object and Alice was thrown against her seatbelt from the sudden stop. Alice let out a sigh of relief as she loosened her grip on the wheel. That had been far too close...though, now that she got a good look at the object, she didn't think it would have damaged the jeep. In fact...it looked like...clothing? Why- oh no...

A sudden surge of fear and worry hit Alice as her mind processed the implications. Alice nearly jumped out of the jeep, but stopped before her feet hit the ground. If those were Gabriella's clothes and she had been shrunk, Alice could, accidentally, kill her simply by not watching where she was going. She needed to take this slow and methodical.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Alice leaned out of the car to look for any sign of Gabriella. She didn't see anything save for the road below her, so she stepped out of the vehicle and knelt down to the ground. Looking around herself to make sure she was clear, Alice got down on all fours and began to, slowly, make her way to the clothing.

"Gabriella? Gabriella, are you here?" she asked, making sure not to yell. Even just her voice could hurt Gabriella if she wasn't careful and Alice was not going to let that happen. She made sure every move was checked and double checked as she made her way forward. Despite all her caution and methodical looking, she saw no sign of Gabriella.

Alice reached the clothing a minute later having still found nothing. Now that she could see the clothing up close, she was positive they were Gabriella's. The armoured jacket was a dead give away and the Shield patch was the final straw. Part of Alice was terrified of looking in them, afraid she would see a bloody smear inside...a smear that had been a good and valued friend. But she had to look, had to know if she had been too late. Alice took a deep breath and, carefully, picked up the clothing.

While the clothing did have some blood on it, it was all on the outside and was in too small of blotches to be from a tiny person. Most likely, it was from whoever Gabriella had fought before she had been shrunken. With no blood at all on the inside, and no crushed and broken body laying around the clothing, Alice felt a wave of relief wash over her. Gabriella was still alive...but where had she gone?

Alice put the clothing back down as she looked around the area. There wasn't much of anything around her save the shrunken forests on either side of the road. She must have gone into them, but which one? Alice could spend hours looking through one only for Gabriella to be in the other. And with the sun starting to set Alice's light was only going to get weaker as times passed, not to mention the temp- Ahhh, the temperature of course!

Standing back up, Alice turned on her HUD patch and switched it to infrared. It was highly unlikely the patch would be able to pick out Gabriella from the trees and other animals scattered about the area, but Alice wasn't looking for her. She was looking for the fire Gabriella had, undoubtedly, made. With it being this cold, Gabriella's first objective would have been to get a fire going and the patch COULD detect the rising heat off it. Alice scanned the area and, soon enough, found an area where warm air was rising up out of the trees. Getting back down into a crawl, Alice started toward the area, hoping that she had found Gabriella.

Alice made sure to be just as careful as before as she headed for the fire. She called out to Gabriella a few times, but didn't, or wasn't able to, hear a response. Her patch still hadn't picked her up either despite being only a few feet away. Alice shifted forward that last little bit and looked down at where the fire should be. Instead, all she found was an old, slowly burning out, fire pit. Damn...she wasn't here, but Alice was on the right track.

Moving her finger to hover over the fire, Alice was fairly sure the fire had been made recently. A little over an hour...maybe more if she had to guess. Shrunken as she was, Gabriella couldn't have gone too far, doubly so with her lack of any supplies. Alice started to look around the campsite to try and track her down. While tracking shrunken people wasn't easy, thanks to the size difference, Gabriella's usual style of just plowing through everything should have made for an easy task. Only...it didn't.

Despite looking for a good five minutes, Alice couldn't seem to pick up Gabriella's trail. She thought she had found it a few moments before, but that trail had led right back to the road and Alice had, quickly, realized it was the trail Gabriella had blazed getting to the camp. But once that trail reached the campsite, all sign of Gabriella stopped completely. It was like she had just vanished... Had the Society come back for her? No, she would have seen their footprints and the same for a catgirl. So what...or, perhaps, whom; had happened to Gabriella?

Alice's worry began to mount as time slipped away. She wasn't finding anything around the campsite, but maybe there was something in the camp itself. Alice shifted back to it and lowered herself down to get a good look around it. There didn't seem to be anything here either, save the burned out fir- wait... Shifting her head down, slightly, Alice was just able to see some kind of mark carved into a tree. The shadows and the odd angle she was looking at it from made it impossible to tell what it was, though.

Getting back up, Alice reached down and, carefully, pulled the tree up out of the ground. Despite her care, the top of the tree crumbled under her gigantic fingers, but she still managed to pull it out of the ground. She brought it up to her face and turned it until she could see the mark. The mark looked to be a face with pointed ears and a slight scowl that had been carved into the bark. It was a sign Alice was more than a bit familiar with. Now she knew why she hadn't been able to find Gabriella. Because the Elves had found her first.

Report on Resistance Groups in Atlanta area:

Section 7: Elves

Despite our best efforts at trying to acquire more information on the “Elves” Resistance group, I must report that we have learned very little. The group is far more elusive and secretive than any other Resistance group and has almost no contact with other groups. Typical channels of information have proven unusable or, simply, unhelpful What little we have been able to learn has all been from secondary sources: people who have meet people who meet them, or traders who claim to have traded with them. Because of this, I am forced to state that any information here may be inaccurate.

The only bit of information we can state as accurate is their territory. The Elves control a large area far to the north northeast of Atlanta. Most of the area is rural farmlands and rugged mountains which makes any attempt to find them in the area near impossible. Exact numbers of how many people they have vary wildly, but we estimate somewhere between one to three thousand. This would make them, easily, the largest Resistance group in our area. However, we do not feel this warrants them being placed on the higher danger levels.

The reason for this is their survival strategy. While little information could be gleaned from Resistance sources, one point that was always made was their unwillingness to fight Society forces. All of our sources agreed that they attempt to avoid our patrols and have never been known to combat them. This information is supported by our own studies which show no known Elven attacks.

Taking this into consideration, we have given the Elves a danger level of low. While their numbers are worrying, their avoidance of our forces suggests they have little in the way of combat strength. More than likely, they would attempt to flee rather than face a full on assault, making them a minor threat at best. My own suggestion is to leave them and focus on more immediate threats.

Addendum: Don’t believe a word of that crap on their threat level. That group isn’t running scared, they're just biding time, waiting for the perfect chance. Need proof? If they are so weak, why hasn’t the Marauders or Wolves or any other Resistance group wiped them out? These are no-

EDIT TERMINATED BY ADMINISTRATOR

STUDY LEADER DOBBS’ REQUEST TO DELETE ADDENDUM PENDING.

Chapter 3: Dealing with Resistance

Relieve and worry ran through Alice as she dropped the signed tree. Alice had dealt with the Elves more than once and knew they were unlikely to kill Gabriella, doubly so if they had seen her be shrunk. On the other hand, though, she also knew the Elves would want a... costly trade for her return.  Alice sighed to herself as the many possible objects they could want ran through her mind, each more dangerous to obtain than the last. Despite the danger, however, Alice had no choice. She would not abandon Gabriella.

Her determination returned, Alice looked up and faced her next obstacle, finding where the Elves had went. Tracking them was out of the question as they were far too skilled to leave a trail and Gabriella too... ham-fisted to leave a breadcrumb trail they wouldn't discover. That left Alice with only one real way of finding them, figuring out their most likely route and hope they were in a talkative mood.

Taking out her map, Alice began to study the area she was in. South would have just lead back to Society patrolled areas and the Snakes territory, a highly unlikely choice. West lead into Marauder territory which ruled it out. East, however, would head into the Appalachian mountains, a known hiding spot for the Elves. It was a possible destination, but one Alice had misgivings with. This winter had been far harsher and colder than the last few and the mountains were covered in snow thanks to that. Trying to reach them with a fresh batch of snow rolling in would be a dangerous gambit, one she had a hard time seeing a small band of Elven scouts making. Doubly so when the Northern destination was more tempting. The only danger that way was the farm Gabriella had been assigned to and that was an easily avoided threat. Alice had her direction.

Still, knowing they headed north didn't mean she would find them. She had estimated the fire had been left unattended for an hour, so they had a bit of a head start on her. And, while she could catch up with relative ease, the Elves were masters of hiding. If they didn't want to be found, they wouldn't be. All Alice could really do was hope they were willing to deal when she got their attention. Thankfully, getting their attention, assuming she had guess their destination correctly, would be easy enough.

Making sure to watch her steps just in case, Alice started off to the North. She keep moving for a few minutes as she tried to estimate about how far the Elves could have gone in an hour. After about fifteen minutes of walking, Alice decided she had gone far enough to warrant an attempt. Stopping in place, Alice began to stomp her foot down in a morse-coded pattern. Her message was simple and to the point:

"ELVES-WILLING-TO-TRADE-SAFE-RETURN-SOCIETY-MEMBER."

She repeated the message three times before stopping and waiting. Nothing and no one came to answer her message, however. Alice was far from dissuaded, however, as she doubted that her first attempt would be successful. And even if her third, fourth, and even tenth meet the same reaction, Alice wouldn't give up till she got an answer. She moved forward a few yards, making sure to watch her feet, before sending the message again. She continued this routine of three messages, waiting, then moving as the sun slowly sank.

Alice wasn't sure exactly how long she keep at her routine, but it had been long enough for night to set in. The monotonous task made time blur together and she stopped counting her attempts after they had reached ten. She was just about to start sending another morse message through the ground when her shield, suddenly, flashed to life. Her HUD patch blurted out an alarm as it warned her of a high-speed impact on her shield along with an arrow indicated from what direction. She followed the arrow around to her right side and began to scan the area. For a second, she saw nothing, but some slight movement brought her eyes to a small clearing. Alice zoomed in on the movement and saw her "attacker". In the clearing was a tiny man waving his still smoking gun in the air.

The man was dressed in furs that covered him head to toe. All of the fur had been dyed to blend in with the surroundings and bits of twigs and other underbrush had been sewn or stuffed into it. Even his gun's metal had been dulled down to make it next to impossible to see. If he hadn't been waving toward her, Alice wasn't sure she would have spotted him despite standing in the open. There was no doubt this was an Elf as only one of them could manage something like that. Alice let out of relieved sigh at having, finally, made contact with them.

Alice moved toward the Elf slowly and carefully until she was only a few feet away. She then, again slowly, knelt down toward him and leaned forward to better see and hear him, making sure not to loom over him. Alice knew from experience that intimidation would only hinder her efforts with the Elves. Respect, on the other hand, would catch the Elf off-guard and make them far more amiable toward a trade. Alice gave a slight nod and zoomed in on the Elves hooded face before speaking.

"Thank you for answering my message. What do you want for the Society member's safe return?" Alice asked, getting straight to the point and making sure to keep her voice down. Through the hood, Alice saw a slight smirk appear on the Elf's face. He reached up and pulled his hood back to reveal his greasy, unkempt black hair. He looked up and Alice relaxed a good deal as she recognized the man.

"Straight to business as usual, Alice?" Holland, an Elven scout leader asked. Alice had made a number of deals with Holland and the two had gotten to know each thanks to that. They were not friends by any stretch of the word, but they had mutual respect for each other. That said, Alice knew he would not make this trade any less painful for her, despite that respect.

"Fine, business it is, then," Holland said before his smile vanished to be replaced with a cold gaze. Pleasantries were over and, now, it was time for them to negotiate.

"We have a mission we need assistance with. Help us complete it and we will return the Society soldier to you," Holland said, his voice and face giving no clues as to what type of mission this was. Alice frowned inwardly at this unexpected development.

In her other dealings with Holland, he had asked for supplies, equipment, or tech for his information or aid. While such deals were highly illegal by Society law, Alice knew the Elves had no ill intent toward the people of Atlanta. They just wanted to be left alone and only fought when a Resistance group or the Society forced them too. Knowing that was why she made such deals. Helping a group that wasn't an enemy to learn information about a group that was was a good deal in her book. But this...this wasn't just things, this was direct aid. And aid that would, undoubtedly, be against a fellow Society member. Why else would they need her aid?

A few hours ago Alice's answer would have come quickly, but after what had happened to herself and Gabriella...

"What is the mission?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby growled to herself as the group lead her on. She couldn't believe she hadn't heard these Resistance shitheads sneaking up on her till it was too late. And thanks to that fuck up, they were leading her to fuck-knows-where and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. At least she had some clothes now, even if they were too small… Dammit was everyone in the Resistance a pipsqueak?

After being captured, the Resistance had given her some spare clothing they had along with a bit of food and water. Welcome though it was, Gabby knew they weren’t giving it to her out of goodwill. Considering the wary ways they were looking at her, she could guess they had seen her be shrunk. They weren't keeping her alive out of generosity, but so they could question her later.

Escape had and was on her mind, but it looked less and less likely with every second . The Resistance shitheads weren’t stupid when it came to keeping her guarded. One of them made sure to stay behind her, his gun leveled and just out of kicking range. Two others were always flanking her and both stayed just out of her reach. The rest were scattered about and would drift in and out of sight thanks to the trees and lengthening shadows, obviously scouting ahead or keeping watch. Even if Gabby could grab one of her guards, the other two would pump her full of lead before she even got a good grip on the first. And that was just the guards, add in the others that were coming and going... Dammit, did she HAVE to get captured by the one Resistance group that was semi competent?

With no way out of this mess, Gabby had no choice but to keep going. Gabby did her best to try and keep up with how long they had been walking, but it had been a long time since she had to deal with trees blocking her sight to the sun. She thought it had been about thirty minutes when one of the scouts came back and called a halt. Her guards moved her to a large tree and made her sit down next to it, still never getting in reach of her the fucking smart assholes. Gabby plopped down with her back to the tree as the full Resistance squad came out of the forest. Her guards stayed near her, though, and made sure one of them was always keeping an eye on her. Dammit...

The squad started to discuss something, but keep their voices low enough to prevent Gabby from hearing. She caught a few words here and there, but they were so few and far between that she couldn't even guess what they were talking about. However, she did pick up on who was the leader here. The leader was a man with a large hood on and a slightly better quality rifle. He was, also, the same asshole who had snuck up on her. Occasionally, he would glance over in her direction, but the hood made it impossible to see his face. Gabby would have loved to get a grip on him and bury her fist into that stupid hood.

After a few minutes talking, the leader made a twirling motion with his hand and her guards ordered her up. Gabby grumbled in annoyance as the squad moved out again and cursed when her guards picked the same set-up as last time. Dammit, these Resistance fuckers weren't making any mistakes... Her chances of escape were, quickly, falling to zero.

The squad moved through the thick forest, drawing closer to whatever doom awaited Gabby. Interrogation seemed the most likely, doubly so if these Resistance had seen her be shrunk. Honestly, she wouldn't have had too much of a problem telling them about that damn shrink ray...if she knew anything about it. Of course, they were unlikely to like that answer, but beating, threatening, or anything else wouldn't get them information she didn't have. Well, at least when they tried that shit they would have to get clo-

Gabby's thoughts were cast aside as the entire squad froze in place. She was about to turn around to see what was up, but never got the chance as her three guards tackled her. The ground, suddenly, raced up to meet Gabby's face as the guards pinned her to it. Gabby started to try and push herself up, but stopped when she felt the barrel of a rifle press against the back of her head. The fuck were these assholes doing?! She was about to scream in anger, but stopped mid breath as she felt, and heard, what had made them react. *booooom*

Despite having only been shrunk for a little over an hour, Gabby knew that noise right away. Hell, she didn't think anyone could not recognize it after experiencing it. Footsteps...big footsteps...

Gabby's spirit soared as she realized help was coming. Finally, she could get some help and escape these damn Resistance assholes. It would take some doing to get the Shield's attention, but once she did she was sure they would help! Assuming...it was a Shield...fuck, but what if it wasn't? What if that was one of those damn Swords come back to finish the job? Gabby's morale shot up and come crashing right back down as she realized those footsteps were just as likely to be her doom as salvation. Still, it was a risk she was willing to take if they got closer.

The squad remained silent as the small quakes and distant booming continued. Gabby listened to them, hoping to hear them getting louder, but they seemed to be staying mostly the same. And...they didn't sound like the rhythmic pattern of footsteps. In fact, the were more... sporactic? No...patterned? Yes... yes there was a pattern to them and it seemed somehow familiar- wait...wait, was that...morse code?!

Shifting her head to put her ear to the ground, Gabby listened to the booming pattern. Dot dot, dash, dot dot, dash, dash- fuck it WAS morse code! What kind of dumbass Society member used morse code?! Was it a Ranger trying to get her scouts attention or something? Be a real stupid way to considering it would attract the attention of damn near ever Resistance around for scale miles. Too bad she had forgotten how to read morse or she might be able to know for sure.

Gabby shifted her ear out of the dirt and noticed the leader of the squad crouched down in the dirt. He moved his rifle butt through the dirt and looked to be spelling out something. Crap, looks like he DID know morse code and was translating it. Gabby might have tried to push herself up enough to see the message, but the rifle barrel was still firmly planted on her head. All she could do was watch as he spelled out the message and, with the help of two others, make sense of it.

The three of them looked to agree on the message just as the booming stopped. The leader called over everyone, save her guards who, finally, let her up. The leader erased the message with his shoe before Gabby could see it and then turned to his assembled squad, fucking smartass... The group talked in low voices for a few minutes, a number of them glancing toward Gabby through out. Gabby sneered at them each time, but none of them even so much as blinked at her. After a few minutes of talking, the leader and about half the squad headed off into the forest. One of her guards moved off and looked to take up a watch position, leaving her with only two. Gabby had to fight not to smile.

With the squad now split in half, there were only her two guards and four other people stopping her from escaping. Best of all, she could see where all of them were now that they weren't moving. This was the best, and probably only, chance she was going to get to escape. However, she still needed to wait a bit and let the rest of the group get further away. Escaping only to bring the rest of the squad right back wouldn't help in the least. Besides, waiting for the sun to set would make her harder to track as well.

Waiting for the sun to make its agonizingly slow descent nearly drove Gabby to scream, however. Patience had never been a strong suit of hers and the damn waiting was, almost, more than she could bare. But, she keep herself under control and used the time to try and figure out a plan. While her capturers might have been reduced in number, they were still not taking any chances with her. Her two guards made sure to, always, have one of them watching her and keep back far enough to give them both time to fire. Gabby thought about pretending to be sick or something, but she reconsidered when she realized how damn cliche that was. Besides, these guys seemed way too on the ball to fall for something like that. There had to be some other way... Dammit where was Isabella and her plans when Gabby needed her?

Gabby was about to at least try the sick idea when the booming stomps started up again. The guard who hadn't been watching her looked off to the side and the other started to turn as wel- oh fuck yes!

Seeing her chance, Gabby sprang forward toward the closer of the two guards. The man whipped back around far faster than Gabby had guessed, but still not fast enough. She grabbed the barrel of his gun and shoved it to the side, forcing it off target. Gabby thought the guard would fire it, but he moved his finger away from the trigger when he saw it was no longer pointed at her.

"Colton!" the guard yelled as he tried to push the gun back on target. Gabby grunted as she resisted his attempts and risked a glance to her side. The other guard turned to see the scuffle and started to raise his own rifle. Thinking fast, Gabby let out a yell of excursion as she yanked the gun as hard as she could to the side. The guard swore and stumbled forward a few steps as Gabby shifted along with him, putting the guard between her and Colton.

"Fuck, regroup!" Colton yelled out as he lowered his gun and moved forward to help the other guard. Gabby was confident she could take them both, but not before their friends arrived. Their ARMED friends... Already she could see some of them turning to move back out of the corner of her eyes. Gabby gave the rifle one final pull, smiling as the guard resisted, before letting it go. The guard, having put all his strength into keeping her from getting the rifle, stumbled backward a few steps. Gabby gave him no time to recover as she planted a hard kick right into his chest and sent him tumbling back into Colton. The two Resistance fuckers fell onto the ground in a heap of flailing limbs and curses.

Gabby didn't waste a second of the time she had bought herself and took off a full sprint away from the camp. The entire camp erupted into yells as they realized she was making a break for it and Gabby didn't dare to look back. Suddenly, a branch just off to her right exploded before the loud bang of a rifle came from behind her. Gabby swore as she started to zig zag through the trees, hoping it would throw off her pursuers aim. Another bullet zipped past her a second later, barely missing her head. Gabby had to fight her natural, and trained, instinct to get down as she keep pushing herself forward. Stopping for cover would only give them time to catch up. Another bullet buried itself into a nearby tree a moment later, but after that the forest went silent save for her footsteps and breathing.

Risking a glance back, Gabby couldn't see any sign of people still chasing her. That would have been more relieving if Gabby could see more than a few feet. With the sun having set, everything more than a few feet from her was nothing but inky blackness. Still, if they were in hot pursuit they would have been firing at her and she would have been able to hear their running steps. Neither was happening, though.

Gabby slowed her sprint down to a jog as she attempted to catch her breath. The numbingly cold air caused her lungs to burn with each inhalation and it was a struggle to keep up her pace. But keep it she did as she knew that the Resistance fuckers couldn't have given up that easily. And her moving might be the best deterrent she had against this damn cold.

Keeping time had been hard during the day, but now that it was night it was damn impossible. Gabby guessed it had been twenty, maybe thirty, minutes since she had escaped and had yet to see any sign of her capturers. She had slowed to a fast walk now and was having to keep her arms wrapped around herself to keep some semblance of warmth. The furs helped, for sure, but it was still dangerously cold out here. And it was only going to get colder...

Gabby realized she needed to find some shelter or someplace to hunker down for the night. Stuck in this visibility cutting forest was going to make that task damn near impossible, though. Looking through the trees, Gabby managed to spot an area where the horizon was higher than usual. That had to be a hill or something along those lines. She could get a better view from up on one and then figure out where to go.

Her guess at it being a hill was spot on and Gabby made her way up the, thankfully, gently sloped hill. A few minutes of climbing found her at the top of the hill with the blackened land laid out before her. Seeing the place from this height felt much more natural for Gabby, even if it was far, FAR lower than she had been. Dammit, she couldn't be thinking about that shit now, she needed to find some shelter!

Looking around the area, Gabby groaned to herself in frustration. It was so damn dark that she couldn't make out much of anything, much less a shelter. All she could really see was the outline of the land around her. Cursing her shitty luck, Gabby was about to just head back down when something caught her eye. Odd... one of the hills in the distance seemed...more defined. And there was a glow behind it almost like... like artificial lights!

"Finally, civilization!" Gabby said to herself as a sudden surge of new energy hit her. That white glow had to be from some kind of Society outpost or vehicle as the Resistance would never have made such an obvious "come kill us" sign. And where there was Society people there might be a Shield she could get the attention of. Even if not, she could sneak herself a ride back to the base and find Isabella or someone else. Either way, she couldn't afford not to go considering her situation.

Making a mental note of the direction, Gabby headed down the hill and back into the near pitch-black forest. Finding her way through and keeping herself going in the right direction proved more difficult than she had thought, however. The trees and terrain made a direct path impossible and Gabby worried that she wasn't heading in the proper direction each time she had to take a detour. Thankfully, the slight glow of the distant lights began to, slowly, cut through the darkness and helped keep her on track.

After walking for another hour, Gabby made her way up the hill that had been silhouetted by the lights. She reached the top and scrambled to the opposite side to see what had been making the light. Beyond the hill was a huge, sprawling base that looked almost like a miniature shrunken town. Prefabricated buildings were scattered about the area along with Society-made farm vehicles. In the middle of the shrunken town was a massive field that was growing some kind of crop, despite the cold. Rows upon rows of the tended fields sprawled on and on, only stopping at the wall of a far, FAR more massive building. At the edge of the base was a full-sized home that looked to have been fully repaired. The lights were on inside and it was, obviously, occupied. Gabby was confused as to what she had found till she remembered her original reason for being up her. Of course...this had to be the farm she had been sent to!

Gabby smiled as she, finally, saw an end to this mess in sight. Once she got to the farm, she could expl...oh shit. Sudden realization hit Gabby as she thought about trying to explain this to anyone. She could just see the guards' faces as they listened to her crazy story and wondered how long it would be till they just slammed the door in her face, assuming they even came to the door. Glancing down, Gabby remembered that she was wearing Resistance clothing and groaned in annoyance. Fuck, the guards were more likely to sound the alarm on seeing her rather than let her talk. Worst of all, she was fairly sure the Society member here was a Sword. Gabby swore in her head as her hopes were dashed apart just as they had begun to rise.

 Despite all that, though, Gabby knew she didn't have a choice save TO go down there. Those Resistance shitheads were still out there somewhere along with fuck-knows what else. And the biting cold was getting worse and worse as the beginnings of snow began to drift down. She needed shelter, now, and the only shelter around was inside the farm. Well, if she couldn't get in the proper way, she would just have to do it the IMproper way. Gabby cracked her knuckles as she headed down toward the farm.

Chapter 4: Unsubtle Infiltration

Gabby's breath misted in front of her as she made her way through the forest. The temperature had plummeted like a rock since she had started her trek to the farm. Even with the furs the Resistance had “given” her, it was all Gabby could do to keep feeling in her hands and feet. Thankfully, the snow was holding off on burying her and was just giving the area a layer of white icing. Still, it was only a matter of time till it opened up fully, knowing her recent luck.

After what seemed like an eternity trudging through the snowy forest, the farm's fence came into view. Gabby made sure to keep low as she moved a bit closer, wary of being spotted. However, as she started to get a good look at its defenses, she saw that might not be an issue. There were a number of watchtowers with spotlights and lookouts on them spread across the area, but most were facing inward, rather than outward. And while the large fence was tall enough to discourage people from just running in, it was nothing a determined attacker couldn't blast right through. It was almost like the defenses were more to keep people IN rather than out. Gabby hoped whoever had designed this shit had gotten canned, cause they deserved it. It was a wonder the Resistance hadn’t trashed this place already. That said,  it was going to make sneaking in a lot easier.

Putting her annoyance at the sorry state of the defenses aside, Gabby started to move around the perimeter and look for a way in. Scaling the fence was out thanks to its barbed-wire top, not to mention the risk of being seen. She couldn't go through it either since she didn't have anything to cut through the metal.. That left only one real choice, disguising herself and sneaking in. She thought that was going to be a tall order till she spotted a few guards patrolling outside the fence....alone...and outside of each other's field of vision... Fucking hell, were these guys TRYING to get ambushed?! Suddenly, Gabby felt a lot less bad for having to knock some sense into one of them, cause hell they all needed it.

Gabby waited at the edge of the woods (which ALSO were allowed to grow way too close to the fence, dammit were these "guards" just for show?) for one of the guards to move toward her. After a minute or two of waiting, a man came into sight and started to move past her. The guard looked to be rather young and had an somewhat scrawny build. Gabby frowned a bit as she wondered if her larger frame would fit in those clothing. Maybe she should wait for someone else...

As he passed her, all while not even pretending to be watchful; however, she saw that no one was even looking in his direction. Figuring she might not get a more perfect chance, Gabby decided to risk the tight fit. She rushed the failure-of-a-guard as quietly as she could manage. Despite making some noise from moving through the brush, she easily got up to the boy’s back without him noticing. Gabby wrapped her arm around his neck and squeezed his throat to make sure he didn’t cry out for help. The boy started to trash a bit in panic at suddenly being unable to breath, but Gabby was more than a match for him in strength. Cursing a bit at his futile fidgeting, Gabby used her free hand to hit the back of his neck like she had been taught in basic. The boy grunting in pain before falling limp in Gabby’s arms. She smiled as her knockout blow had worked perfectly.

Gabby dragged the knocked out boy back into the woods and out of sight. She checked his pulse just in case and was glad to feel it still going. He was going to be out for a long while and have one hell of a headache when he did wake up, but he should be grateful that he was going to wake up at all. His lax in attention made him a target and if she been the Resistance he would have a slit throat, rather than a bruised neck. Disciplining him, though, would come later. For now, she needed to strip him.

Someone else might have been shy about doing that, but Gabby couldn't have cared less. She had stripped a few men in her time, most more than willing, so he had nothing she hadn’t seen or touched before. Once she had gotten his uniform off, she took off her furs and replaced them with his clothing. Sadly, her fear about him being small proved somewhat true. Her above average build made his clothing a bit... snug, though she still managed to get them on. Part of her had wished they had just been flat-out too small rather than this. Then she could have justified trying to find someone bigger. However, they did fit, just uncomfortably so, and no amount of shifting or pulling helped make them fit. Damn pipsqueak boy... At least she had a disguise, though.

While his clothing left a lot to be desired, his gear was more than welcome. He had a stun baton complete with a built in taser which was very, very welcome. Gabby was starting to feel naked without a weapon of some kind. The guard also had a flashlight, a flare gun, and even a small wrist unit. Sadly, the wrist unit was a low grade one that didn't connect to the full Society network, just the local one. She could have contacted Isabella directly with a proper one like Rangers got, but that would have been too easy... Still, it would get her into the farm and, hopefully, access to a radio or something like it. And she did have a weapon, which was the important thing. When it doubt, beat the shit out of someone.

Gabby dragged her new friend further back into the forest to make sure he wasn't found before wrapping the furs she had been wearing around him. The boy might be a terrible guard, but she didn't want to leave him to freeze to death. She even found a small little cubbyhole in a tree to put him so that the wind wouldn’t get to him. Satisfied that he would at least last the night, Gabby headed for the fence.

As Gabby moved out of the forest, she made sure to walk as confident and purposeful as she could manage. Gabby had "snuck" into the mess hall once or twice back in basic using this same strategy. Sometimes, just looking like you belonged was enough for a lax guard to let you slip by. And ho boy were these guys lax... The few patrolling guards she passed either ignored her or just nodded a greeting. Not one even looked curious as to who she was or why they hadn't seen her before. In fact, the only real attention she drew was from a few of the male guards she passed and that was only so they could ogle her figure. Normally, she would have liked their slack jaws, but these dumbasses were on guard duty! The Resistance could be sneaking up on them while they were busy drooling over her ass. When she got this being shrunk thing settled, she was going to beat these idiots into shape or just plain beat them. Probably both.

The entrance into the farm was flanked by two watchtowers with a few guards on each. Just like outside, though, the guards on them seemed more interested in staring off into space than keeping watch. The entrance lead into a corridor made of fencing that ended in a large, automatic, steel door. A small scanner was set up beside it and an automated voice asked for her wrist unit. Gabby placed the unit next to the scanner and after a second a small ding came from the scanner.

"Identity verified," the voice said as the door gave a low hiss. As it slid to the side to let Gabby enter, she couldn't help but smile. If she wasn't so glad to be back in Society territory, she would have been furious at how easy it had been to sneak in. And she was the unsubtle type too!

Shaking off her thoughts, Gabby headed into the farm and looked over the place. The area closest to the fence was lined with pre-fabricated buildings that didn’t have any identifying marks or signs. Gabby guessed they were defensive buildings used as a fall back position, though they were looking rather worn and misused. Further in was a road that ran around the outer part of the farm that looked in need of some maintenance. Another square of buildings all just as bare as the first ones came after that, though they looked better maintained. Finally, in the middle was the farmland itself. Even from this distance, Gabby could see farming vehicles scattered about the area. A large net had been set up above the farmland and had a good bit of snow on it. Obviously, something was being grown , but Gabby couldn't tell what. To Gabby’s annoyance, none of the buildings nearby had anything that would mark it as the HQ or radio station. Maybe one of the civilians could point her to it.

It wasn't quite daybreak yet, but the horizon was beginning to brighten with its approach and a few civilians were already up and about doing various things. Oddly, most of them looked just as scrawny as the guard outside and none of them looked too happy to be awake. Course, Gabby wouldn't be too happy having to wake up at this hour either. Gabby moved toward a man who looked on his way to the field to ask him where the HQ was. No sooner had he noticed her moving toward him, though, did he suddenly dart forward and scurry into the farmlands. Gabby blinked a few times in confusion, but shrugged and tried again with a nearby woman. However, the woman quickly rushed into a nearby house before she could even get a word out. What the hell was going on?

Gabby tried twice more and, after getting pretty much the same reaction, gave up on asking a civilian anything. Damn these people were skittish. Course Gabby was, well herself, so maybe she was just too intimidating for her own good. Deciding to try a guard instead, Gabby walked through the area hoping to find one. As Gabby moved through the area she couldn't help but notice the civilians were coming out of the buildings near the fence. Odd... were they repairing them or something? No...many of them headed right to the field after coming out... Surely they couldn't be the living quarters. They would be the first buildings hit in an attack and many of them looked on the verge of falling apart. Yet civilians keep coming out of them...

Before Gabby could worry on this more, she noticed a guard exit one of the building on the inside ring. Unlike the guard from outside, though, this guy looked like a real guard and had some definition to him. He wasn't huge, but he sure as hell wasn't scrawny either. He started to head toward the outside buildings and Gabby moved to meet him. He noticed her moving toward him and gave her a once over before stopping to let her catch up. Ahh, the advantages of being damn sexy.

"Hello, there. Haven't seen you around," the guard said in the worst attempt at a seductive voice Gabby had ever heard. Gabby had to fight herself not to laugh in his face, though it did make keeping a smile up rather easy.

"I... was just transferred a few days ago. Name's Emily," Gabby lied. Though the lie was unnecessary as the guard was way too busy undressing her with his eyes to have heard a damn thing she said. Gabby sighed inwardly as her humor started to run low.

"Huh? Oh Emily, yeah... You can call me Big John. How about you and I head back to the barracks an-" Gabby stopped him there as her humor hit empty. She wiped out the stun baton she had taken and jammed it right into John's crotch. Her thumb hovered just above the on switch while her free hand lifted John's head up and away from her chest.

"Finish that sentence and Tiny John is going to turn into a lightning rod. Understand?" Gabby asked as she gave John hard glare. John stared at her in stupefied silence before, finally, nodding.

"Good," Gabby said as she put the baton back in its holster. John let out a relieved sigh before shooting an angry look at Gabby. Gabby purposely tightened her grip on her baton as she returned the look ten fold. John, quickly, glanced away and seemed to deflate completely. Good, now she could get some information from her new bitch.

"Now that you are using your little head rather than your tiny one, where can I find a radio in this place?" Gabby asked, making sure to use her commanding voice. John's fists clenched at the insult, but he still answered like a good boy.

"They didn't tell you when you came in? Only the Commander can send messages, and only if he gets permission from the big bitch herself. She's the only one with a radio that reaches outside the area," John said as he nodded toward the massive house that made up one whole side of the fence. His annoyed look, though, did a 180 as his mind seemed to catch up with what he said.

"Oh shit, please, please, don't tell anyone I called her, that...please," John, quickly, begged in a near complete panic. Gabby had to fight not to look surprised with how quickly his attitude had changed. Even after owning him so completely, he had still be partly defiant. But not a hint of it showed as he begged Gabby for her silence. Fuck he was scared out of his wits!

"I...I won't tell, just beat it before I change my mind," Gabby said. John nodded a thanks before taking off at nearly a full on run. Jesus...he wasn't just scared, he was terrified! What the hell was the Society member assigned here doing? Bah, she could worry about that later, right not she needed to focus.

If John was telling the truth, and Gabby doubted he had the balls to lie, the only radio was inside the full-sized house...where a full-sized Society member lived... A full-sized Society member who, apparently, filled her soldiers with dread... Ho boy, this was going to be fun... Still, it could be just be the woman valued her soldiers thinking she was the meanest, toughest, motherfucker in the Society. Or that John was a fucking manlet.

Whatever the case, Gabby didn't have much choice but to head toward the massive building. The only way she was going to get in touch with Command and report what had happened was in there. Maybe Gabby would get lucky and the Member inside was a Shield. If she was, Gabby could easily prove who she was and get the help she needed. But if she was a Sword... Considering they were the ones who had shrunk her and left her to die in the first place, there was no way in hell Gabby was trusting any of them. If it came to that, she would just have to hope the radio was somewhere easy to reach and out of sight. Worse came to worse, she would just wait till nightfall to try to use it.

With her "plan" made, Gabby headed for the house of the Society member in charge. She did her best to avoid any other guards while the few civilians avoided her. None of the guards paid her enough attention to notice they didn't recognize her and she made her way to the wall of the house without incident.

A shrunken-sized steel door had been built into the wall and it had a scanner just like the one at the entrance. Gabby put her wrist unit up to the scanner like before, but this time the scanner beeped to itself.

"Entry denied," the automated voice said drawing a curse from Gabby. Figures...she supposed she should have guessed they wouldn't let just anyone go wandering into the boss' house. The Commander John talked about could, probably, get in. Course, finding him/her would be a pain in the ass, not to mention getting their wrist unit. Gabby groaned as she glanced down to rub her temple. As she did, she saw her stun baton hooked to her belt. Aww fuck it, worth a try.

Gabby glanced around the area to make sure no one was watching her. With the coast looking clear, Gabby took out her baton and switched it on. She then jammed the humming baton into the scanner. The machine sputtered and sparked as the baton's electric charge began to fry its systems. The automated voice spoke up for a second to spout off random words before going completely silent. Smoke began to drift out of the scanner as Gabby pulled the baton back. Gabby didn't need to be a mechanic to know it was completely ruined. And the door was still closed. Great...

"Fucking hell," Gabby said as she shoved her baton back into its holster. Fuck...all she had managed to do was make it impossible to get in through this door. Now she had to find some ot-

A sudden click from the door drew Gabby's attention back to it. It was still closed, but Gabby knew she had heard some kind of click come from it. Wait...could it have...? Deciding to take a chance, Gabby gave the door a push. To her relief, it began to swing inward and Gabby smiled as she entered into the home. She didn't celebrate her entry, though, as she whirled around and closed the door as fast as possible. Hopefully, no one saw that.

Gabby turned away from the door and looked around the area. She looked to be in the living area of the house which connected directly to the kitchen. Gigantic furniture was set up in their usual places: tables, chairs, sofas, end tables, etc... On the opposite side of the home were two doors that lead off to seperate rooms, though both were closed. A monumental bar was set up between the kitchen and living area which made seeing into the kitchen proper impossible. Four massive pillars were near to Gabby an- wait a minute...

Gabby looked up and couldn't help but gawk as she realized that she was underneath a small, compared to the rest of the furniture, end table. Compared to her, however, it might as well have been an office building. Seeing just how huge it was nearly gave her vertigo and she had to pull her head away from it. Fuck, a damn end table was THAT big compared to her?!

Shaking off her shock, Gabby focused back on her goal. She needed to find the radio or find out if the woman in charge was a Shield. But doing either one meant moving out into the open...where she would be an easy target. It was a risk she had to take, though. Staying here would just risk discovery and get her nowhere. Deciding the dinner table directly ahead of her would make for a good first stop, Gabby sprinting out from under her cover and into the open carpet.

To Gabby's relief, the carpet was the cheap kind used in most office buildings. Her feet only sank a few scale inches into the fluff and it didn't really slow her. Of course, that didn't make the dinner table any less far than it was... Dammit, the thing was like two or three steps away from where she started, at least to normal-sized people, but to her it was yards and yards away! Ugh, she was getting really sick of this being small shit.

Gabby slowed her sprint down to a light jog as she, finally, reached a chair next to the table. She moved up to one of the legs of the chair and took a second to rest. Fucking hell, the table had looked a lot closer than it had been. At least she hadn't been spotted...so far.

Having caught her breath, Gabby moved further under the table. The table itself was just your average wood dinner table as were the chairs. Underneath it was the usual stuff that one would expect to find under a table: dust, occasional garbage, and crumbs...that were almost as big as Gabby. Dammit it all, being small sucked.  Gabby ignored all the junk and headed for the opposite side of the table to find her next stop.

Beyond the table, however, was nothing but wide areas of open ground. Straight ahead lead to nothing save the far wall while the ot-

"Hahahah!" someone, suddenly, laughed. Gabby whipped out her baton and whirled around, but saw nothing. What the hell? Someone ha-

"Hahahahah!" the laugh came again, and Gabby realized why she hadn't seen anyone. The laugh was coming from the kitchen area...and only someone full-sized would have a laugh that carried that far. Well... she had found the woman in charge.

Putting her baton away, Gabby moved toward the side of the table closest to the kitchen. The laughing continued in random spurts as she neared the right edge of the table. The massive bar and its stools loomed high overhead and blocked Gabby’s view of the kitchen. Was the woman past that bar? No, if she was that close Gabby would have been able to feel her moving around and the laugh wouldn't be as muffled. She had to be past the kitchen area and in some other room.

Gabby frowned to herself as she debated what to do. She needed to find out if that woman was a Sword or Shield, but that was a long sprint to the bar. And there was no telling what was past it... She could try to focus on finding the radio, but she had no idea where to even start to look for it... Ahh, screw it, she would rather risk discovery than wander around here aimlessly.

Once again, Gabby sprinted out from her cover and made a beeline for the bar. Even with her great stamina, though, she started to run out of steam as she reached the halfway point. Her sprint turned into something more like a gasping run as she reached the welcome sight of the stools' legs. Gabby didn't even bother to try and keep her feet as she collapsed to the ground. Fucking...hell...she wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. And that had only been a few steps to a normal-sized person!

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed from out past the kitchen. Gabby leap to her feet and dived toward the bar for cover. Odd rhythmic booms and quakes started to shake Gabby as something really, really big moved closer to Gabby. Footsteps...big footsteps.

Having caught a second wind of adrenaline, Gabby moved to the edge of the bar and peeked around the corner. Past the bar was a typical kitchen with the usual assortment of utilities: fridge, microwave, oven, etc... In front of the oven was the massive woman in charge of this farm. Her brown hair was in an unwashed mass of bed-head and she was wearing a simple nightgown. Something looked to be in her hand, though Gabby couldn’t tell what. Past the kitchen was a door leading off to what looked to be a bedroom. That must have been the loud bang...but what had made her to storm out like that?

"So you want some food, huh? Complain about your tummies rather than do your jobs?" the woman said with an angry tone. Her free hand switched one of the eyes on the stove on and she let out a soft chuckle as it sparked to life.

"Well then, let me make some food for you, then. How about a nice chargrilled mom?!" the woman yelled before her free hand moved to her other one and pulled something from it. Gabby had to squint to see what the woman had grabbed...and her blood ran cold when she did.

Jesus Christ, it was a woman! She had a woman pitched between her thumb and index finger and was... oh God no! She was lowering her toward the eye! Even from this distance, Gabby could hear screams of terror coming from the woman as she was lowered to her death. She had to do something! Gabby snatched out her baton and, not even thinking of the sheer scale of the opponent she was about to challenge, charged forward.

Gabby had taken two steps before her charge was stopped dead in its tracks by a pair of arms that wrapped around her neck. She stumbled a bit from the sudden attack and gasped as her air was cut off. Gabby was far from beat, however, as she lunged backwards and smashed her head into her attacker. A man cursed as her head hit home and the arms loosened just enough for Gabby to break free. She whirled around and swiped her activated baton at her attacker. Despite her speed, however, her opponent leap back just in time to avoid being struck by it. Gabby would have tried again with a back swing, but she found herself dumbstruck by who was attacking her.

Standing in front of her wasn't one of the guards of the farm, but the leader of the Resistance squad that had attacked her. Just like before, his face was hidden behind a large cowl while the rest of him was, mostly, protected by bits of fur and such. He raised his hands toward her and shook his head.

"I don't want to fight. I just want to talk," the man said in a calm tone. Gabby, though, wasn't having any of it. She didn't know what the fucker was here, but she could deal with that af-

A gut-wrenching scream, suddenly, echoed down from behind Gabby. She whirled around and watched in horror as the Society member pulled the woman away from the stove. She was still being consumed by flames and her body was writhing in agony. Another pained and horrified scream joined the woman's, only this one sounded like someone far younger. Char-grilled mom....no...she couldn't have...

"What, you don't want her? What a shame... and she went and died for you and everything. Such an ungrateful child," the wo- no, monster said as she let the flaming woman plummet to her death on the ground far below. Gabby couldn't believe what she had just saw and her blood began to turn to molten magma with her fury. Her vision turned blood red as she glared up at the demon in human skin. She started to move toward the giant fucking devil when she felt the Resistance shit-head grab her shoulder.

"Stop! You ca-" was all he got out before Gabby slammed her elbow into his chest. He staggered back as Gabby whirled on him.

"You fucking bastard! I could have saved her if you hadn't stopped me!" Gabby yelled as she grabbed the baton with both hands and brought it crashed down toward him. The man, though, leap back away from her double-handed blow and reached behind him. Gabby didn't give a damn what he had grabbed and charged forward after him. However, her charge came to a grinding halt  when she saw him pull out a rifle. Gabby swore and started to dive out of the way, but stopped when she noticed the gun wasn't pointed at her. What the hell was he- The laughing from behind her answered her question.

"You think you can beat that giantess by yourself with only a little zap stick, then attack me again. I'll shoot her and we can see how well that works out. Or you can calm down and let me explain your friend's and my plan before you get yourself killed," the man said. Gabby raised her eyebrow at the word friend and her vision slowly turned back to normal.

"Friend? The hell are you talking about?" Gabby asked as her blood lowered to a slow simmer. Suddenly, a loud beep echoed from above them and the monster's laugh died away. She turned toward the bar and both Gabby and the Resistance asshole dived for cover. Part of Gabby kicked herself for hiding from that...that....THING. But, now that she had calmed down, Gabby knew she was no match for that giant monster. Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!

The demon's footsteps boomed closer before stopping on the other side of the bar.

"This better be important, Commander," the fucker said in an annoyed tone. Looks like she was talking into radio. Oh shit, a radio! She had found it, but...how the hell was she going to get up there?

"Ma'am, there is an injured Ranger who just arrived on site. She says she was ambushed by the Resistance and needs aid. Your orders?" a male voice answered back. It was definitely a radio up there and, even better, there was a Ranger here! Gabby didn't know all the Rangers, but she stood a much better chance getting help from them, doubly so if she could prove what that fucking monster had just did.

"Ugh...tell her to come to the door and I'll patch her up," the fucker said before stomping off back to the room. Gabby was about to move out to the dinner table, but the Resistance bastard pulled her back.

"Dammit, would you stop getting in my way!" she yelled at him. The man glared at her through his hood.

"I would if you would stop trying to get yourself killed. She isn't going to be gone long enough to reach the table," he said with all the certainty of a sage. Gabby just glared at him and was about to go anyway till she heard the monster's footsteps coming back. They both flattened themselves against the bar as her massive form walked past them and toward the front of the house. Once she was past, the Resistance guy rushed out of cover and headed for the table. Gabby grumbled a bit to herself, but followed him.

By the time they had reached the table, the monster had opened the door and lead the Ranger inside. Gabby had been so focused on running that she really hadn't paid much attention to their talking. However, as she slowed to a gasping stop beside the Resistance guy, who was also gasping for air, she recognized something about the Ranger's voice. Wait...that couldn't be... Gabby moved forward and peeked out of the table to see the most welcome sight she had seen in days.

Alice.

Chapter 5: Planned Execution





"What is the mission?" Alice asked as softly as she could. Holland's stone-like face gave the barest hint of a smile before he answered her question.

"We need you to help us rescue a large number of people being held hostage at a Society Farm and kill the giantess in charge of it," Holland said without a hint of emotion. Alice's eyes narrowed in anger at what he had just asked. Had he, honestly, expected her to agree to that? She had been willing to kill to save Gabriella, but the Farms had innocent, shrunken people working on them. She would have no part in bringing a full scale battle to them even if it meant dooming Gabriella. She opened her mouth to refuse, but didn't get the chance to speak as Holland interrupted her.

"Before you refuse, you may want to see the farm for yourself. Once you do, you will understand why this...woman needs to die and the people there saved," Holland quickly added, this time a twitch of... anger? sadness? flashed across his face.

Alice, slowly, closed her mouth as she stared at the tiny Elf. See the farm herself... Alice's instincts began to tingle again as she thought back to what had happened to her and Gabriella. If the Swords were willing to attempt to murder their own...what were they willing to do to people outside the Society? And those Farms were so far away from Atlanta and its rules... Suspicion was beginning to nest in Alice's mind and her answer shifted as it arrived.

"Understood. I will not accept this mission, for now. However, I will go to see this Farm for myself. If your implications prove true, I will help," Alice paused as she raised herself up a bit and gave Holland a hard glare, "If not, I WILL come for my friend." Holland barely even twitched at Alice's threat, despite the massive size difference between them. Either he was very brave or very sure of the threat being nothing more than that. Alice hoped it was the later, for both their sakes.

"Fair enough," Holland answered as he seemed to relax a bit, despite the threat that Alice had just given.
"It would be best if you waited till morning to arrive at the Farm, that will give me and my people time to get there. Once you arrive, I will come to show you the real face of that... "farm"," Holland said in a disgusted tone. Alice's worry of this being a trick faded a bit more at those words while her fear of what awaited increased. If this farm was as bad as Holland was making it out to be, then what did it say of the others? And of the Society as a whole? Alice had always had doubts, lingering fears that she shared only with Isabella, but they had remained that way...until now.

"Understood. See you at farm," Alice said, as she pushed her thoughts away. Holland nodded before turning to head back into the woods. Within a few seconds, he had vanished completely leaving Alice alone with her worries. And her fear.

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A few hours had passed since Holland had left Alice. The sun was just starting to rise over the horizon and a few snow birds were beginning to flutter about like flies. Alice ignored all of it, however, as she continued with her work and her thoughts.

Alice had pondered Holland's mission and the... implications his words had brought through the night. She knew very little about how the farm's operated but did know that they were expected to be self-sufficient enough to not need constant resupply. Which also meant that there wasn't constant oversight of the Society member in charge. And with no one to rein in a full-sized members whims, what was to stop her from turning into an iron-fisted tyrant? It was all too easy to see it happening...and yet Alice could not think of a single time it had. Or rather, that it had been REPORTED to happen.

There were innocent enough explanations for that: PR disaster, drop-off in people willing to move, morale hit, etc... but after Alice's own "allies" had tried to murder her and Gabriella, Alice wasn't quite so willing to accept those explanations. In fact, it could play into her theory of the Swords having a hidden agenda. If the Swords were willing to murder her and Gabriella, why would they care how their members at the farms treat the people there? People with no way to report what was happening... But why? That was the one question Alice still couldn't answer to her satisfaction. Alice had decided, then and there, that she needed a disguise when entering this farm. A disguise she was busy working on.

Her hand plunged into the ground and lifted a clump of dirt, trees, and other things away from the ground. She smeared the pile of debris onto her legs and pants just like she had a number of times before. With this last smear, her pants were looking rather nasty and dirty just like the rest of her. Her shirt, face, and even hair had been covered with the gunk and parts of her clothing had been torn off. She had even made a small fire to get some soot to rub on and burn herself with. Alice didn't have a mirror to look at herself, but was still rather confident she looked as if she had been in a fight with the Resistance, wounds and all. Which was exactly what she wanted to look like.

A Ranger who had stumbled into a Resistance ambush and needed aid wasn't too uncommon. The woman at the farm might be a bit confused why she was out this far, but Alice could easily lie and say she had gotten lost. It wasn't perfect, but it would get her inside with few questions. And then she could try to get some answers to her many questions.

With her disguise complete and morning having arrived, Alice stood and turned toward the farm. She stopped, however, as she realized a flaw with her disguise. She took off her shield generator and frowned at the dead give away she had almost left on herself. Rather than leave it, however, she moved over to a nearby rock and smashed it a few times against the stone. With the generator now utterly ruined, Alice put it back on and headed on her way.

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It took Alice about thirty minutes to reach the farm. She keep her walk even for most of the trek, but forced a limp when the full-sized house came into view. With her armed wrapped around her side and her face faking strain and pain, Alice moved toward the fence circling the small farm.

As the farm came into clearer view, Alice had to fight not to lose her fake expression to a suspicious glare. The defenses, if they could be called that, of the farm were beyond unacceptable. Not only were the watchtowers pointed toward the inside, the fence had only a bit of barbed wire at the top to dissuade attackers. And the forest had been allowed to grow frighteningly close to the fence giving nearly no killing field for the defenders. These defenses wouldn't even give a small Resistance force pause. In fact, it was more like...more like they were meant to keep people IN. Why wou-

"Ma'am, this is Commander Stones of Farm 21. Are you in need of assistance?" a tiny, though still far louder than normal, voice said. Alice snapped out of her thoughts as she glanced down toward one of the watchtowers by the main entrance. A man dressed in the Society's officer uniform was standing on it with a megaphone in his hand. Alice made sure no one was around her before slumping to her knees in front of the tower. She would have to deal with him before going back to her thoughts.

"Yes. I am Wilderness Ranger Courtney. I was on patrol when I was ambushed by a large Resistance Force. They managed to take out my generator and my vehicle and I was forced to flee. I..." Alice paused to fake a wince of pain before continuing, "I need medical aid." Losing her usual brief and to the point way of talking wasn't easy, but Alice knew she needed to. Anyone who knew her would recognize her short and rigid way of talking instantly. And she couldn’t afford to be made, not when she was supposed to be dead.

The Commander nodded to her before turning and giving a nearby soldier some orders. He then turned back to Alice as the soldier rushed down the tower.

"Understood, ma'am. Give me a moment to contact the Captain," he said before turning away again. Alice nodded and made sure not to reveal her eyes drifting toward the soldier that had left. What had the Commander told him to do? It wasn't to contact this Captain, as he was talking into his own wrist unit to her, most likely. So what had been so important that he needed to send a soldier off to do it before helping an injured comrade?

Alice managed to follow the soldier as he ran into the farm proper. His head keep turning from side to side as if looking for something while he yelled some phrase, though Alice couldn't tell what. Was he spreading a message out to the farm? Maybe letting people know there would be another giantess around, but why do that? Surely her footsteps would have given that away long before now. What was he doing? And why were there no civilians walking the streets or working the fields? Alice's suspicions were only growing the more she saw of this place. Was this what Holl-

"Ma'am, the Captain has agreed to allow you inside. Head to the front door and she will let you in," the Commander said, pulling Alice out of her thoughts again. She looked down at him and nodded in thanks before, slowly, standing up. Her thoughts would have to wait till later.

Faking a slow and a pain-filled walk, Alice headed toward the front entrance of the house. She waited at it for a few seconds before it opened to reveal the Captain of this farm. The woman had some unwashed clothing on that she, probably, had just thrown on and looked somewhat annoyed by Alice's arrival. However, once she got a look at Alice, her annoyance disappeared and was replaced by surprise and a bit of worry.

"Damn, they really did do a number on you. Here, come in and lay down on the couch. I'll patch you up, Ranger...?" the woman asked as she helped Alice in.

"Ranger Courtney, and thanks. Owww...!" Alice replied as she faked more pain and let herself be lead inside. The woman helped her over to the couch and layed her down before opening the medkit she had on the coffee table. Alice let her start to tend to her wounds and did her best to look in pain. Sadly, her self-inflicted wounds had stopped hurting beyond slight irritation at this point.

"I'm Matilda by the way. What happened out there? Thought Rangers were supposed to have tinies scout for them to prevent this stuff," Matilda said as she started to clean some of the dirt, grime, and blood off Alice. Alice had to fight not to frown at her use of tinies. Bad enough calling civilians that, but actually Society personal?

"On-That's only Rural and Urban Rangers. I'm Wilderness and we do not use scouts. I thought I was tracking a small group of Resistance, but it was a trap. They took out my shield in the first volley and a lucky shot hit the generator soon after. Even managed to take the tires.. out of my jeep," Alice explained, fighting not to slip back into her usual manner of talking. She, also, made sure to grimace and hiss as the woman cleaned her up.

"Fucking tinies. Can't fight us head on so they sneak around like the bugs they are," Matilda growled out in anger as she started to dress some of Alice's self-inflicted wounds. There was that word again, though Alice wasn't surprised at its use this time. Most people called the Resistance bugs, nats, traitors, little fuckers, etc... They were the "enemy" after all even if most just wanted to be left alone. Even Gabriella wasn't above calling them such names.

Gabriella... Alice had to fight not to sigh or frown as she thought of her friend. She dearily hoped the Elves were keeping an eye on her as she wasn't likely to take capture lightly. And she would, undoubtedly, try some ill-conceived escape attempt. Still, if anyone could keep her prisoner it would be the- OH FUCK SHE WAS UNDER THE COFFEE TABLE!

It took every bit of Alice's self-restraint not to react beyond widening her eyes as she noticed Gabriella hiding behind the leg of the coffee table. Alice might never have noticed her if she hadn't be lying down and she was beyond grateful that Matilda was still sitting up. Gabriella looked about to try and move toward Alice, but Holland, thankfully, appeared beside her and pulled her back into cover. How the hell had Gabriella managed to get in here?! What the fuck was Holland doing?! No, no, this wasn't the time for that. She had to get Matilda out of here before she DID notice them.

"Matilda, you should go check on the farm. I can dress the rest of my wounds," Alice said, trying her best to keep her voice calm. Dammit if she leaned down...

"What, why?" Matilda asked in a confused voice as she stopped dressing Alice. Why indeed... Damn Gabriella and her unnatural ability to be in the worst place at the worst time! If she had just stayed with the Elv- of course!

"I...I think I might have been followed. And as big as this group was I'm not sure your farm can stop them alone," Alice said trying to force an embarrassed look. Matilda, though, didn't look swayed and just raised an eyebrow at her. Dammit... now what? Before Alice could think of another plan, though, Matilda got a knowing smile.

"Ohhhh, I see. Look, if you got an injury in an embarassing spot you could have just asked for me to leave. Alright, I'll leave the medkit here and 'patrol'," Matilda paused to quote with her fingers, "for a few minutes. Ok?" Alice was silenced with confusion for a second, but quickly snapped out of it to nod.

"Y-Yes, thanks," Alice said doing her best to fake an embarrassed smile. Matilda sat the medkit on the coffee table and got up from the coach. She headed to the door, but paused as she opened it.

"Oh and don’t worry about the Resistance following you. Even if they did, there is no way they will do anything to us, not as long as my soldiers are here to help,” Matilda said before she headed out and closed the door. Alice was a bit confused with why Matilda was so sure those bad defences and handful of soldiers would stop a Resistance attack, but pushed it away as she focused on more important things. She stayed on the couch and  pretended to be using the medkit for a few seconds, worried Matilda might come back for something. Once she started to hear Matilda giving some orders to people in the farm, though, she put the kit back on the table and rolled down to the floor. Her hand shot out to where Gabriella and Holland had been hiding and she snatched them both up as quickly, and gently, as she could. She opened her hand long enough to see she had them both before retreating to one of the rooms.

The first one lead into an unused bedroom and Alice ignored it. The second, however, lead to what she was after. She quickly rushed into the bathroom and locked the door before settling herself onto the toilet's lid. Only once she was sure she and her comrades were safe did she open her hand.

"HELL are you doing here?!" Alice demanded in a yelling whisper of the tiny Gabriella, though her eyes darted from Gabriella to Holland. Alice wasn't sure who she was more angry with, Gabriella for coming here or Holland for letting her. Gabriella seemed a bit awe struck at the sight of Alice, but snapped out of it surprisingly quickly.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? Trying to get some fucking help, what else?! Or did you want me staying a prisoner of your new "friends"?" Gabriella shot back giving Holland a nasty look and almost spitting the word friend out. Holland didn't even look at Gabriella as he sighed to himself.

"She escaped when me and a few of my men came to meet you. I didn't realize that till after our meeting and didn't catch up with her until she was well into the farm. This was the best I could do," Holland said, completely ignoring Gabriella much to her fury. Gabriella looked about to move toward Holland, but Alice blocked her path with her thumb.

"Stop, better things to do than fight ourselves," Alice said, glad to be able to talk normal again. Gabriella seemed more than a bit stunned that a thumb was like a barricade of flesh compared to her, but still turned an annoyed look to Alice. However, it vanished as Matilda's voice rang out from outside and changed into one a anger.

"Fuck, I almost forgot. Alice, we have to kill that fucking...MONSTER out there before she kills anyone else!" Gabriella yelled as her face twisted into a look of pure rage. This time it was Alice's turn to look surprised as her anger at Gabriella and Holland was smacked to a halt.

"What?" Alice said in shock as Gabriella glared up at her. Holland deflated a bit and turned a bit away as Gabriella answered.

"That....demon burned a shrunken woman alive with the fucking eye of the stove! And she forced the woman's child to fucking watch!" Gabriella yelled out as her face twisted with even more rage. Alice's eyes shot wide in horror at Gabriella's words. Dear Lord... Alice had gotten a bad feeling about this place, but she didn't expect anything like this. Her eyes moved over to Holland and the Elf sighed and nodded in confirmation. But it wasn't his confirmation that sent a wave of fear and fury through Alice, it was the way he looked so unsurprised. Almost like he had seen this before...because he had. Alice's free hand clenched into a fist as her rage began to boil over.

Murdering civilians...with their children watching… What kind of animal would do-

"STOP! Don't do anything rash or you will get more people killed!" Holland, suddenly yelled as he got a worried look. Alice glanced down at him and saw the fear and worry he had. She wanted to ignore him. To run outside and snap Matilda's neck before she even knew what was happening...but Holland wouldn’t tell her NOT to do that without a good reason. It wasn't easy, but Alice took a deep breath and forced her fury back down. Gabriella, however, made no such attempt.

"Like hell we are not going to do anything! That bit-" she started to say, but Alice cut her off. Letting her get anymore worked up was just going to make it harder to stop her.

"He said not to be rash. Hear him out," Alice said, raising her voice a bit to make sure she drowned out Gabriella. Gabriella shot a glare of fury up at Alice, but turned away after a second with an annoyed sigh.

"Fine...Guess I don't really have a choice but to do it your way since I'm stuck as a pipsqueak, for now," Gabriella said as she looked down at Alice's hand. A pang of sympathy and anger flashed through Alice at those words. Gabriella had always enjoyed being large and in charge. Now, she was small and near helpless thanks to the Swords. Whoever did it was going to pay and wish they were dead when Alice was through with them, but that would have to wait. Alice nodded to Holland to get him to continue.

"Trust me, I want that fucking bitch dead as much, if not more, than you, but there is a problem. Her “guards”, though they are more like hostage takers. In fact, most of them are violent criminals sent here to work as guards rather than serving out their sentences in a prison. The few that are not are people from the farm itself pressed into service with the threat of a loved one being killed. The boy you knocked out to get in here was one such person," Holland said as he glanced over to Gabriella. Gabriella blushed a bit and looked worried at that news, but Holland pressed on.

"Don’t worry too much. He is fine and some of my people are treating him. Anyway, because these people are already criminals with violent pasts, they have no problems killing people AND have standing orders to do so. If we or you attack the farm or Matilda, those guards out there will start slaughtering everyone they can get their hands on," Holland finished as he glanced between Alice and Gabriella. Alice wished she could say this shocked her, but somehow it didn't. In fact, it explained the "defenses" of the farm perfectly and why Matilda was so sure the farm was safe. She wouldn't be surprised if the guards, purposely, spread that news knowing full well the Elves or any other Resistance group would find out. That kind of threat would give most groups pause...though not all.

Gabriella's fury returned full force and her fist smashed down onto Alice's palm. The fury vanished instantly, however, as she remembered where she was and gave Alice a silent sorry. Alice nodded that it was fine. She didn't have the heart to tell Gabriella she had barely even felt that punch... A punch that, had it been its usual size, would have knocked Alice out. Another wave of sympathy washed over Alice, but there was no time for that.

"Plan?" Alice asked, turning back to Holland and trying to ignore just how weak her friend now was. Gabriella turned toward him as he took a deep breath and glanced downward as if sad about something.

"Our original plan was to remove the guards and get the people out before Matilda noticed. That fell apart, however, when we realized how badly treated these people are. Many are barely able to move and some are so sick or malnourished that moving them would be a death sentence. I was considering rescuing who I could rather than all of them, but," Holland paused as his face changed to a smile before looking up at Alice. It took Alice barely a second to finish his thought.

"Two pronged assault," Alice said with a smirk of her own. Holland nodded as Gabriella looked confused before realization hit her as well.

"Ohhh, you kill that shit-stain of a Society member while we wreck the guards and free the people," Gabriella said as a big smile spread on her face. Both Holland and Alice's smiles, however, vanished at her use of we. Alice was tempted to say something, but she had learned long ago that trying to tell Gabriella not to take part in a fight was like trying to tell the sun not to rise. Holland, however, hadn't learned that lesson yet.

"I think it might be better for you to sit this fight out. Me and my Elves can handle the guards without your...heavy handed aid," Holland said in a diplomatic tone. It didn't help in the least, though, as Gabriella whirled on him. She leapt to her feet and moved to stare down at the slightly shorter Elf.

"Like hell I am sitting on the sidelines for this! There is no way I am NOT going to beat the hell out of those fuckers for treating those people like cattle OR having a hand in seeing that murdering bitch dead! And my "heavy-handed aid" STILL got me in here undetected," Gabriella said as she poked her finger into Holland's chest. Holland's hand tightened a bit in anger and Alice quickly spoke up to stop the inevitable blow. Nice to see being shrunk hadn't changed Gabriella in the least...

"Stop. Holland, let her help, she will not take no. Gabriella, you must follow his orders. Fair enough?" Alice said with her voice just a bit louder than before. Both of them winced a bit at the volume, but the pain diffused the situation as Alice hoped. Holland glanced between Alice and Gabriella before letting out a resigned sigh.

"Fine, as long as she follows my orders to the letter," he said turning back to Gabriella. Gabriella crossed her arms and looked more than a bit annoyed with the terms. Alice gave her a slight nudge with her thumb and Gabriella grumbled to herself.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll follow the Resistance guy's orders. But only till we save these people," Gabriella said as she gave Holland a slight glare. Holland frowned at the last part, but just accepted Gabriella's added condition, thankfully. He turned away from Gabriella and back to Alice.

"We will need to coordinate our attack times. Matilda can't realize we are removing her guards till they are all dead and we can't have her guards learn you have attacked her. I think it will be best if we strike first and you only attack after we have dealt with the guards or when you have no choice," Holland suggested, trying to bring the conversation back to their plan. Alice nodded in agreement, but quickly realized a problem.

"How?" she asked and Holland drew in a breath at the question. The look on his face said more than any words. He hadn't figured that part out. There were not many signals he could give that wouldn't tip off Matilda, as well. In fact...Alice was not having much luck thinking of a way herself.

"I've got a way," Gabriella, suddenly, spoke up with a devious smile. Holland turned back toward her with a disbelieving frown, but Gabriella just smiled back at him. She then lifted her arm to show the small wrist-unit she was wearing.

"I can use this to send a message to every unit connected to the local net, including Cuntilda. All I have to do is make sure the message is something that will get her attention and Alice gets her signal," Gabriella said in a rare moment of sheer brilliance. Alice let an equally rare chuckle escape her lips as Holland stared in stunned silence at Gabriella.

"Good enough, Holland?" Alice asked, not able to keep a playful smile off her face. Holland turned back and to her and shook his head at her face before letting out a rescinded, yet happy, sigh.

"Good enough."

Elven Intelligence Report:
Subject: Society Farms


After studying numerous reports, eyewitness accounts, and liberated people's testimonies, Intelligence Division has come to a number of conclusions on Society Farms. Official, the farms are supposed to produce food for the many Full-sized Society women that operate in Atlanta. Both volunteers and criminals are sent to these farms to help staff them, with the criminals doing the hardest work to pay their debt to society. Some of the farms, mostly the ones close to Atlanta, do operate this way. However, many more operate very differently.

In truth, most of the criminals are given positions as guards or even command responsibilities while the "volunteers" are given the back-breaking tasks needed to grow the food. Many of these volunteers are nothing of the sort and are, instead, either vocal critics of the Society or simply unlucky people. The farms are run like prison work camps and the workers are feed just enough to keep them working while their criminal guards are allowed to do anything short of kill them. All such farms are run by members of the Sword faction of the Society and ever report paints them as cruel tyrants ruling with absolute power. We are still unsure if this means that Shield faction members are unaware of this, but we are investigating.

Still worse, however, is that many of these farms have standing orders to slaughter the people should they be attacked. The disastrous attack on the farm north of Alpharetta, called Farm 34 by the Society, proved that many guards of these farms are willing to obey such orders. In light of this revelation, we suggestion all  liberation attempts on farms be suspended till a better strategy of extraction can be planned.

Chapter 6: Retribution and War

Gabby couldn't help but pound her fist into her open palm in anticipation as the plan was agreed on. She had already been ready and willing to stomp some faces after seeing Cuntilda murder that mother. Now that she had heard that the rest of the people were just as bad off, though, she was beyond pounding and to straight up killing. Those "guards" were going to be begging to be sent to hell when she got her hands on them.  And if she found up who at the base let this happen...

"Good, hold on," Alice said in her still very unsettling booming voice. Gabby had just enough time to look up and wonder what she meant before Alice's hand started to close. Gabby swore as Alice's massive hand shoved her and the Resistance fu-... Holland together again. Holland, however, looked to have known what Alice meant and had already flattened himself onto Alice's hand. Gabby, however, didn't feel like being forced to lie next to him.

"You are just going to get hurt trying to stand," Holland said as Alice's hand closed completely. Gabby ignored him as she braced herself against Alice's gigantic fingers... and tried not to think about the fact she was bracing against Alice's gigantic fingers. Dammit if she got her hands on the bitch who shrank her...

Gabby's thoughts of revenge were sent flying away, however, as she felt them start to move. The first step sent a huge tremor up through Alice's hand and Gabby had to fight not to faceplant into her palm. Dammit, it had been years since she had been carried around like this and she had long lost her "giantess legs". Maybe she should ha-

Another tremor caused Gabby's foot to slip and sent her flopping down right onto her butt. A slight chuckle from the bastard got a wave of anger and embarrassment to wash through Gabby. She tried to stand up, but the shaking had increased in tempo and forced her back down. With nothing else to do, she wrapped her hands around Alice's ring finger as best she could and held on. She needed to remind Alice to work on the whole holding people thing.

For what seemed like an eternity, the shaking and jarring rocked Gabby as Alice plodded her way to...wherever she was going. Gabby lost count of how many times she was smacked into Alice's finger and she tried to tune out the chuckles that came from each hit.

Finally, the shaking stopped as Alice reached her destination. Gabby was about to let out a breath of relief, but didn’t get the chance. Suddenly, Gabby's stomach rocketing into her head as Alice’s hand plummeting toward the ground.  

"Dammit, ALICE!!!" Gabby yelled as Alice's hand plunged down far too fast. Gabby tightened her hold on Alice's fingers and had to strain to keep herself on the "ground" However, Holland didn't have anything to grab hold of and began to lift off into the air, a look of terror filling his face. Gabby started to reach for him to try and pull him down, but she had barely gotten her hand out when their plummet came to an abrupt end. Holland got part of a curse out before he plowed right into Alice's palm. Gabby, however, managed to keep herself from smacking into their suddenly stopped ground.

Gabby had to take a moment to recover from their sudden descent and the jarring stop. She glanced behind her and saw Holland roll over onto his back with a groan. He looked to be alright and Gabby was grateful for that, though she would never admit it.

"Serves you right for laughing at me," Gabby said as she released her death grip on Alice's finger. Holland responded with a finger.

As the two of them started to recover, Alice’s massive hand opened again. Alice glanced down at them and raised an eyebrow in confusion at their state.

"You need to work...on your handling of people, Alice," Gabby said as she pushed herself up onto her feet. She was still feeling a bit off after her terrifying plunge and it took some effort to stay upright.

"Yes, yes she does," Holland agreed as he forced himself up as well. Alice's eyebrow lowered and the barest hint of embarrassment flashed across her face.

"Sorry, slower next time," Alice promised before glancing up at something. Gabby, finally, got around to seeing where they were before following Alice’s gaze. Currently, Alice was kneeling in front of the door leading out of the house. She was looking at the door and seemed ready to spring back and away in case Cuntilda showed up again. Gabby prayed she didn't as the thought of being carried around by Alice, again, sent a wave of dread through her. Alice's lack of experience with tinies was really showing...

Gabby, quickly, got off Alice's hand and back on the carpet. Holland followed after her and looked just as happy to be back on solid ground as Gabby. Alice made sure they were both off before inching back away from them. She gave them one last nod before standing back up to her dizzyingly massive height and turning away from them.

It took every bit of Gabby's willpower not to swear as she stared upward at Alice's titanic form. Seeing her face blown up to massive proportions and riding her hand didn't do justice to just how massive Alice was now. Or rather...how small Gabby was. It was...shocking to say the least. Gabby had always been the biggest, toughest, and strongest woman around for most of her life and was used to looking down at people, doubly so the much shorter Alice. But now....

"Hey, stop gawking. We need to get moving," Holland said as he smacked Gabby's shoulder. Gabby shook herself out of her awe-filled stare and tried to fight back a wave of embarrassment.

"I-I wasn't gawking! I was just...surprised and...surprised," Gabby said, failing to think of a good excuse. Holland just rolled his eyes before heading for the front door and Gabby groaned inwardly as she followed. However, she turned back as a massive quake shook their world and saw Alice walking back to the couch. Fuck...just her walking was making earthquakes... And Cuntilda was even bigger than Alice...

For the first time in her life, Gabby felt a sudden wave of helplessness hit her. How the fuck was she supposed to do a damn thing to a living skyscraper?  If that guy hadn't stopped her back in the kitchen... The kitchen, and that woman... Dammit, no! Gabby wasn't going to let the fact Cuntilda was really, really....REALLY big stop her from making that human-skin-wearing-devil pay! If that meant she had to climb all the way to the top of that monster, dive into her ear, and punch her brain out from the inside, then she sure as hell would! But, for now, that was Alice's job. Her job was to help get those people in the farm out of here alive.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Gabby followed Holland to the massive door. He knelt down and looked through the gap between the door and the floor for a few seconds before swearing and motioning for Gabby to move back. Gabby started to move back just as another set of tremors began to shake her world. Oh fuck, Cuntilda!

Gabby rushed to the wall beside the door along with Holland and they both threw themselves as flat against the wall as they could. They had just enough time to draw in a breath before the door swung open and came racing toward them. They both, instinctively, ducked as the massive slab of wood came rushing toward them an- The door came to a sudden stop before bouncing back a bit. Gabby stared at in in confusion before looking to the side and seeing a doorstop built into the wall. Oh for fuck's sake... Ugh she hated this shrunk shit.

"You finish with the embarrassing wounds?" the devil-woman said as she closed the door. Gabby and Holland both froze as their cover was sent flying away from them. Fuck, they were out in the open with no place to hide and no place to run. If the monster looked in their direction...

"Yes, but I need some help with few others," Alice, quickly, said. Their doom turned in horrifying slow motion and her eyes moved... to face Alice and not to look down.

"Alright," Cuntilida said as she turned away from them and headed over to the couch. Holy shit she had missed them...Fuck that had been way too close. Both Gabby and Holland let out a sigh of relief as their lives were spared. Holland, however, didn't waste much time as he rushed back to the door and dived down to crawl under the door. Gabby moved to follow and groaned at the small space she was going to have to fit through. Even when she was shrunken to bug-size, she was still too damn big...

Despite the tight fit, Gabby managed to pull herself under the door and out into the sunlight. The sun was now a good bit above the horizon and Gabby had to blink a few times as her eyes adjusted to the outside light. Holland, however, didn't seem fazed in the least and rushed forward to the edge of the small entrance porch. Gabby groaned a bit as she followed after him. He could at least have waited for her to recover from that tight squeeze.

Reaching the edge of the porch, Gabby swore as she looked down at the nearly twenty foot drop straight to the ground. Even worse, the trees and grass here had been cut back and there was nothing but hard ground to break their fall. Looks like they were going to have to use the stairs...the stairs that were right next to the fence of the Farm. The PATROLLED fence...

Gabby was about to ask what they were supposed to do now, but stopped when she glanced over to Holland. The Resistance leader had reached to his side and taken out a "rope" that looked to be made out of some kind of white cord-thing. At one end of the cord was a partly rusted bit of scrap metal that had been beaten into the shape of a hook while the other end was left empty. Holland placed the hook at the lip of the porch before stomping on it a few times to drive it deep into the wood. And with that, he had made them a rope leading down to the ground.

"Come on, my people are waiting for me," Holland said as he started down the rope. Gabby frowned as she looked at the rusted piece of metal that was going to have to support her. She gave it another good stomp, just in case, before heading down herself. Thankfully, the rope held and both of them made it to the ground without injury. There was no time for a break, though, as Holland took off at full sprint toward the woods with Gabby followed after him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That's the current plan we have," Holland said as he finished explaining the plan to the small group around him. The group looked to be something like non-coms back in the military, sergeants and that sort, and all of them nodded in understanding The rest of the Resistance soldiers were scattered about the area either keeping watch or checking their equipment. Gabby had been allowed to stay within earshot, but it was rather obvious she was an unwanted addition. Personally, she didn't really give a damn what the Resistance shit-heads thought. She was only working with them so that monster parading as a Society member could be put down. Once that was done, this "alliance" was over.

The clearing they were at was a few ya- well yards in their scale anyway, from the farm. It was pathetic they could stay this close and still be unnoticed, doubly so in mid-morning, but none of the sentries had said a word in warning. Of course, now that Gabby knew about the looming threat of the guards killing everyone, the rather shitty defenses made a lot more sense. Why bother with them when the enemy CAN'T attack you? Gabby was going to enjoy teaching them why, the fucking bastards.

"What do we do if Alice losses?" a female non-com with long, blonde haired asked. Gabby was shaken out of her thoughts and frowned at the suggestion that Alice might lose to that bitch. Obviously, this Resistance member didn't know Alice well.

"She won't. Alice trained with me almost everyday and I'm ex-Marine. She knows just as much as me when it comes to hand-to-hand fighting. Cuntilda won't stand a chance against her," Gabby said, still keeping a bit of distance from the group. A few couldn't help but smirk at her new name for that monster, but they vanished as Holland shot them a glare.

"Despite that, we still need to be ready just in case," Holland said, without even looking at Gabby. Gabby grumbled a bit under her breath, but didn't bother trying to argue. He was in "charge" here and that whole, have it and not need it crap.

"As for what we do, we get who we can out of the farm. Those we can't..." Holland fell silent and Gabby glanced back to see him looking between his non-coms. Some unsaid message was sent between them and they all got grim, dark looks, but nodded all the same. Gabby was, fairly, sure what that message was. She didn't like it, but after seeing what that devil did to that mother and hearing what the guards had been ordered to do...  And considering those guards were violent offenders... it probably would be a mercy...

"If there are no other concerns, let's move on to planning the attack," Holland said, trying to move away from the unpleasant task they mi- No, they wouldn't have to do that. Gabby said it herself, Alice WOULD win and all that sad bullshit was just a waste of time.

Holland waited for a second or two, but no one spoke up or looked to have any concerns. Satisfied that no one had anything else, Holland knelt down to the ground. He used a stick he had pulled off a tree and began to draw something into the dirt. Gabby moved a bit closer to see and watched Holland finish up a rough map of the farm. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.

"First and foremost are the guards patrolling the outside of the fence and the ones on the guard towers," Holland said as he made a few x's around the fence and on the towers.

"The one's outside won't be a problem. Most of them are people the real guards have forced to work. Take out the real guards and they'll help us more than hinder us," one of the non-coms, a shorter man with shaggy brown hair, said. Holland and a few of the others nodded in agreement.

"With them out of the way, we could get into arrow range of the people in the watchtower. Hell, we might be able to climb a few of them without being noticed and use that high ground to take out the guards patrolling the inside," another non-com suggested. Again, most everyone nodded, but Holland and the blonde woman didn't. Instead, they both stared at the map for some reason. Everything seemed reasonable to Gabby, so she didn't see what they were getting hung up on.

"Those are both good suggestions, but there is one big problem with them," Holland paused as he glanced toward the blonde woman, "You see it too, right Amber?" The blonde woman, Amber, didn't answer right away, but did nod after a second or two.

"It could all work, but if anyone in the guard HQ sees us at any point they can trigger the alarm long before we could stop them. The other buildings won't be a problem, but the HQ has their alarm in it, so... That's not too much a problem while dealing with the people outside and the towers, but once we try to push in it becomes almost damning," Amber finished with a frustrated sigh. Holland nodded as the rest of the group deflated a bit as they realized she was right. Gabby frowned as well as she saw the issue now, as well. All it would take was someone coming outside at the wrong time for them to be busted. And if any of the guards were still alive at that point... Even worse, though, was the fact no one looked to have a good idea on how to get around that problem, not even Holland.

"Shame we can't just take care of it first," one of the non-coms said as the group fell silent in thought. It was, but there was no way the group could snea- wait... Gabby nearly smacked her own forehead as they obvious answer hit her.

"You guys can't, but I can. I walked right in once before and I can sure as hell do it again," Gabby said as the group turned to her. Holland didn't look particularly happy with her speaking up, but his annoyance fell away as he started to rub his chin in thought. He turned back to the map for a second before looking back at her.

"It could work, but how are you going to keep all the guards in there distracted?" Holland asked as his non-coms glanced between them. Gabby gave him a confident and seductive smile as she leaned down a bit to give the group a good look at her chest.

"Oh, I can be VERY distracting when I want to be, doubly so to undisciplined boys," Gabby replied in the most seductive voice she could manage. Even going so far as to give her lips a quick lick. To Holland's credit, he took the show rather well and Gabby only barely caught him getting a quick glance at her cleavage. The other male non-coms varied between awe and surprise while the females just rolled their eyes. After a second of the boys recovering, one of them spoke up.

"Well, short of sending her in naked or setting off a bomb, I don't think we will find a better distraction for that undisciplined lot," the man said as he tried to salvage some dignity. Holland nodded in agreement, though he didn't look very happy about it.

"Agreed...Unless someone else has a suggestion," Holland said in a tone that seemed to almost beg for another solution. Sadly for him, no one spoke up and he gave a rescinded sigh.

"Alright. Gabby, you will go in first and... distract, the guards in the HQ. While you do that, we'll handle the ones outside. Once we are finished mopping up, we will take out the ones inside together. Everyone understand the plan?" Holland asked as he summed up the plan. Everyone nodded as Holland glanced between them including Gabby.

"Good. Since you need to be in position first, Gabby, you should get back into the farm ASAP. We'll wait till you are in the HQ before attacking," Holland said as he used his hand to erase the map he had made. Gabby nodded and checked her wrist unit again. It was still working and was showing her as the boy she had knocked out. Good, she would be back in the belly of the beast in a few minutes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once again, Gabby slipped into the farm without a single incident or anyone challenging her. This time, though, she was thoroughly grateful for the crappy security here. In fact, it almost seemed security had decreased now that the sun was up. She briefly wondered if all the farms were like this, but shook the thought away as she tried to focus.

Now that it was starting to near noon, a good deal more civ- prisoners were outside. Most of them were working in the fields but a few were doing minor repairs to buildings or moving around various supplies. All of them keep a wide berth of her and the other guards. Knowing what the guards were REALLY guarding made that reaction far more understandable. As was their sunken eyes and general ragged looks. Fuck, how had she missed all of this the first time she came through? Gabby wanted to hit herself for being so blind, but she would have to hold off on it.

Gabby made a beeline for the HQ and had to fight not to growl in anger as it came into view. Unlike the disrepaired hovels the prisoners were coming out of, this building was meticulously maintained and didn't look to have even a single bit of dust on it. In fact, a few people were washing it at that very moment rather than repairing the other houses. A large siren was sitting on its roof along with a radar dish. Even more annoying, though, was that the place was built almost like a fortress. The damn thing could have been a great base defense if it wasn't in the middle of the damn farm, too far to help defend any of the outlying houses. Of course, they weren't the concern when this place was designed...

Forcing down her rage, Gabby moved to the door of the HQ. Two guards were standing "watch" in front of it, but seemed more interested in a card game they had going than anything else. Gabby pulled her, still too small, shirt down to reveal a bit more cleavage and fought a sexy smile onto her face. She strutted from side to side to emphasize her curves as she headed inside. Both guards forgot their card game almost immediately and, just like Gabby hoped, followed her inside.

The HQ was rather spartan and bare even by military standards. A few tables were scattered about the area with various papers and maps set on them. File cabinets and crates lined most of the walls, save the parts with arrowslits. A few weapons of various make were stored beside each one: spears, crossbows, etc... In the middle of the room was a large table with an equally large map. Despite being in the center of the room, it didn't look like it had been used in a long time. Up above all this was a few steel walkways. A communication console, the only bit of tech in the place, was set up there and a guard was doing something with it. Most of the rest of the people inside, however, looked to just be milling about or pretending to be working. No wonder the "guards" here sucked at their job, they had no real leadership considering the state of this HQ.

Gabby pushed those thoughts away as the people inside began to notice her. She was glad that she was, already, doing her job, but the guy at the console was the real target. As long as he was there, all it would take was a shout of alarm for this whole thing to be blown. It looked like Gabby was going to have to kick things up a notch.

"Heeeey boys," Gabby said as she tried to slure a speech a bit, "Guess who got into the liquor? Haha...hhhhhaaaaa." Gabby put on her best drunk face as she shakily moved further into the room. A few of the guards began to rib each other while others cast some glanced upward for some reason. The guy at the console, though, still didn't budge. Ugh, she needed to hurry this up! Screw it, time to go full force.

Without a second thought, Gabby grabbed her "borrowed" shirt and yanked it right off her body. As she did, however, a sudden thought hit her that nearly caused her to stop. She didn't have a bra....but it was too late by then and saving these people was worth flashing these fuckers.

The reaction at her de-shirting was almost immediate. Every eye widened in the room and a number of whistles and cheers started up. Gabby smiled back at the idiots and didn't have to force it as the guy at the console looked to see what was going on. Spotting Gabby down below him, he wasted no time in abandoning his post and heading down for a better look. Perfect.

"Oh...oh no! I forgot I...I lost my bra...Opps," Gabby said as she giggled a bit and made bad attempts to cover herself. The reaction from the men around was general yells of her to stop trying to hide and that it was fine. Gabby smiled back at them before pointing to a nearby table. Yells of get on and do it greeted her pointing and Gabby obeyed with a bit of faked effort, still trying to sell the drunk thing.

Once up on the table, Gabby started to do her best sexy poses. She bent down and shook her hips, slide and grinded along the table, slowly caressed her breasts as she faked moans, and even got a few flexes of her powerful muscles in for good measure. Some part of herself really hated having to do this for these murdering fucks, but that part of her was drowned out by the screams of the burning woman. If this was necessary for Cuntilda to die along with all these bastards who would help her, she would do it as many and for as long as it took.

Within barely a minute, the entire HQ was gathered around her and cheering for Gabby. Despite herself, Gabby couldn't help but partly enjoy the attention. She was just starting to get kinda into it when a voice bellowed out from above them.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" a deep and commanding voice yelled out from the second floor. The cheering and yelling slowly stopped as people began to turn to the source of the yell. An older man was standing up on one of the walkways glaring down at Gabby and the rest. His black hair had a bit of grey starting to appear and he wore typical officer clothing. Crap, it looked like she had found the Commander of this place...

Gabby didn't stop, however, and a few guards keep their focus on her. That stopped, however, as the Commander's boots came thundering down the stairs. All the guards came to attention as the Commander reached ground level, though some begrudgingly. Gabby, though, decided to keep on going. If nothing else she could undermine his authority.

The commander moved to the table Gabby was standing on and Gabby turned to face him, still keeping her dance going. The man glared at her as he put his hands behind his back.

"Get down, now," he ordered in a tone that gave no hint if he was angry. Gabby debated on disobeying, but decided to obey as she guessed-timated his height. She jumped back to the ground and smiled down at the commander, just like she thought she would. The man only came up to her chin and she had to fight not to point that out. The man's glare only increased in intensity as she smirked down at him. But even with her bare breasts only a few inches away, his eyes never wavered in the least.

"What do you think you are doing, Private...?" the commander asked in a surprisingly calm voice. Despite the fact he was fuming with rage, his voice didn't even give a hint of it. That...didn't bode well for the undermining thing. If he could keep cool with this, Gabby wasn't sure what she could do to upset him that WOULDN'T blow her cover.

"Having a good time, sir!" Gabby responded with a droopy smile. The man keep his eyes locked on her for a second before he spoke up again.

"Is that right? Odd that you seem to want me to think you are drunk, yet don't have even a hint of alcohol on your breath," the man paused as a wave of worry began to spread through Gabby, "And that you didn't tell me your name." Fuck, fuck, this wasn't good. Gabby needed a name and fast! Ummmmmmmm...... Oh!

"Mati-" wait, FUCK, "lan! Matilan!" Gabby blurted out trying to cover for her mistake. The man, however, didn't look at all to have bought it and even some of the guards nearby were eyeing Gabby now. Shit, this wasn't good. She needed to think of something....

"Fuck it, this is more fun," Gabby said in a resigned tone. The Commander had enough time to raise an eyebrow in confusion before Gabby reared back and smashed her fist right into his face. The blow sent his limp, unconscious body flying back and into two guards who were standing behind them. They tumbled down to the ground in surprise as their leader's body tangled up with them. A wave of shock and surprise went through the group as Gabby got ready to finish this job her way.

Taking advantage of the shock her sudden attack caused, Gabby whipped out the stun stick she had "borrowed" and slammed it into the stomach of the closest guard. The man gasped in pain as the stick smashed into him and he doubled over in pain. Gabby didn't activate the stun device, however. Instead, she grabbed the guard by the neck and half-dragged, half-threw him behind her. Three more guards were sent tumbling as he plowed into them and Gabby used the brief clearing of her rear to charge forward into another group of guards.

Sadly, these guards had recovered from the shock of her sudden attack and the group started to pull out their own sticks. Gabby only smiled at them as the closest took a swing at her. She, easily, parried the blow before smashing her free hand right into the man's neck. The guard dropped his baton as his hands rushed to his throat and he began to gasp for air. While he was busy trying to breath, Gabby grabbed his shoulder and pulled him toward her to block his friend's blow. She let go of him just as the other guard's baton connected and the choking man entire body tightened as his nerves were overloaded. Gabby kicked the frying guard forward, wincing a bit as she got a bit of the shock, and sent him crashing into his comrade who had fried him. The guard had enough time to swear before his baton was pushed down onto him by the other and they both began to fry. Two down, shit ton more to go.

A sudden yell got Gabby to glance to her left and she swore as a guard brought a brutal overhand blow down at her. Gabby raised her own baton and grunted in effort and pain as the blow smashed into it. The guard keep pressed down as Gabby held it back, but to her right another guard started to rush in to attack her from behind. Swearing beneath her breath, Gabby risked taking one of her hands off the baton to try and save herself. The guard to her front redoubled his efforts when he saw Gabby release one of her hands and Gabby had to strain to keep his baton from connecting. However, his sudden surge came to an abrupt end as Gabby's free hand clamped as tight as it could onto his crotch. The man's mouth opened into a silent scream as Gabby shoved his baton away and grabbed his shoulder as well. With a mighty grunt of effort, Gabby lifted the guard over her head and threw him at the guard coming behind her. The guard had just enough time to look surprised before the other smashed into him and sent them both crashing to the ground in a heap.

Gabby gasped for her breath as she glanced around. The guards she had knocked down during the first few seconds of the fight were getting up and those who had been near the outside were moving in towards her, though they all looked weary of being the first. Gabby couldn't help but smile as she got ready for the second round, but movement above her drew her eyes upward. A guard was running up the stairs to the walkway an- FUCK THE ALARM!

Not even thinking of the consequences, Gabby pulled her baton back and activated it before throwing it up at the guard. The baton flew towards him and, thankfully, smashed right into his side, baton side first. The guard jerked to a stop before tumbled back down the stairs and into a broken heap at the bottom. Gabby was about to fist pump in triumph when a sudden flash of pain in her back sent her reeling and causing all her muscles to tense up.

Gabby stumbled forward and barely caught herself before hitting the ground. She tried to push herself back to her feet, but the lingering effects of the stun baton made moving anything near impossible. A man gave a deep laugh behind her as the other guards started to move in.

"Stupid bitch, did you really think you could take all of us?"

"Hey, let's have some fun with her before we kill her, ehh?" the gua- no scum, said as they started to close in. Gabby swore as she tried to push herself back up. Come on, she was tougher than this and she was not about to lose to these low-live bastards. She had to get up or the people here, and that poor mother... Gabby 's fists tightened as she drew strength from her anger and growled as she willed the weakness away. With a roar of effort, she got back to her feet and brought her fists up, ready to fight.

Her sudden surge back to standing got the scum to back up a bit, but they had her completely surrounded and badly outnumbered. Worse, her muscles were still feeling sluggish thanks to the electric blow. If she still had her own baton, she might have been able to take them, but with just her bare hands... Well, if nothing else, this was going to be interesting.

Suddenly, one of the bastards jerked to the side and flopped to the ground, dead before he even landed. Gabby and the fuckers around her turned to the dead man and saw what looked to be an arrow shaft jutting out from his head. Before any of them could react further, two more were killed by arrows as well. Gabby risked a quick glance toward the door and saw two of the Resistance people coming through the door, their bows already drawn back to fire again. Gabby might have been annoyed Holland had sent sent help to her almost immediately, if she wasn't so damn glad to see it.

Filled with a second wind, Gabby rushed the three bastards between her and the Resistance fighters. They all turned from their new attackers and readied themselves for her assault. Of course, they could never be prepared enough, doubly so now that Gabby didn't need to worry about her rear.

The first fucker sent a horizontal blow for her head, but Gabby saw it coming. She dived, leg first, to the ground and slid under his blow and into his right foot. The fucker was sent lurching forward toward Gabby as he lost his balance and she used her other leg to toss him behind her sending him crashing into one of the tables. His two friends swore as they reared back to kick Gabby, but she grabbed their other legs before they could finish. Gabby gave a grunt of effort as she yanked their legs toward her and both yelled in surprise as they were sent sprawling to the ground. Not wasting a second of her advantage, Gabby rolled to the one on her right and used the momentum to slam her fist right into his crotch. She then rolled the other way and delivered the same blow as the other guy tried to scrambled back to his feet. Both began to writhe on the ground in agony as Gabby leap back to her feet and snatched up their batons. She spun them around in her hands till their faced downward before stabbing the two guards to make sure they stayed down.

No sooner had she finished off those two did another five fuckers charge her from behind. One of them jerked to the side and stumbled to the ground as an arrow hit him square in the head, but the other four ignored him. Instead, they charged Gabby, trying to overwhelm her with numbers and get at the archers. Gabby, however, only smirked at their attempt as she spun her batons back to their usual positions.

"Get the others, I got this," Gabby said to the two archers as she counter-charged the four scumbags. All four got ready to attack as Gabby rushed to meet them. She, easily, batted away the first two blows and managed to avoid the third, but the fourth was just too many. Gabby keep it from hitting her square on, but the baton still glanced off her right arm and a surge of electricity and pain ran through it. Gabby grunted and gritted her teeth as she fought through the pain to smash her left baton right into the face of one of her attackers. He went sprawling to the ground in a spray of blood as his nose was smashed inward.  

The other three, however, continued their assault and Gabby was forced to give ground to avoid their blows. She grunted in effort as she tried to move her right arm, but the glancing blow had been enough to make in near unresponsive. With no other choice, Gabby swung her whole body to the side and her arm was sent flying out like a whip. One of the scum tried to parry the blow, but it had too much force behind it and sent him reeling back. Taking advantage of only having two attackers for the moment, Gabby forced an opening and drove her baton into the midsection of another fucker. The bastard doubled over in pain and Gabby whipped her right arm up and back down straight onto his head, knocking him completely out.

The other two started to waver in their attacks and Gabby found them easier and easier to avoid. And with that ease came the ease of counter-attacks. She parried one of their blows, driving the fuckers baton up, before slamming her other baton into his side. He crumpled to the ground with a gasp of pain. The last one started to back away from Gabby and looked about to run, but never got the chance as she tossed one of her batons and hit him square in the chest. He twitched like crazy as he fell to the ground. Gabby looked around for any other fuckers still up, but saw nothing save the injured and dead littering the floor.

"Clear, start mopping up," a female voice said from behind Gabby. Gabby looked back and, now that she had a chance to get a good look, saw one of the Resistance members was the same woman at the meeting, Amber if she remembered right. The guy with her nodded and moved toward one of the wounded guards near him. He took out an jury-rigged dagger made out of a sharpened piece of metal and slit the guards throat before he could even beg for mercy. Gabby flinched a bit at the cold-blooded killing, but the image of the starving people outside and the mother inside drove any sympathy away. These fuckers deserved a lot worse than a quick, clean death. But, Gabby wasn't about to stoop to their level by torturing them, no matter how much she wanted to.

"Thanks for the help, not sure I could have taken them all alone," Gabby said as she moved over toward Amber, who was putting the wounded down with her own, slightly nicer looking, dagger.

"My pleasure. Been wanting to get at these butchers," she emphasized the word by slitting the throat of another guard, "since we found this farm." Amber tossed the dead man to the floor before pausing to wipe her dagger off.

"Have to admit, I thought you would have been a lot worse off than you were by the time we got here. Didn't think the Society taught their people how to fight hand-to-hand," Amber said as she moved to the next wounded scum. The guy started to beg for mercy, but Amber had none to give.

"They don't, but I didn't become the meanest, toughest bitch in the Marines by doing the bare minimum. Some of us in the Society still recognize the need to take on people our own size," Gabby replied as she moved to one of the fuckers she had knocked out. She snapped his neck with one quick motion before standing back up.

"And considering what some of my...comrades," Gabby practically spit out the word in disgust, "have been doing. It's a good thing we did." Gabby thought back to Alice and wished for the thousandth time she was still her normal size. She had no doubt Alice could take Cuntilda, but Gabby wanted so badly to get her own hands on that bitch.

"Some isn't quite the word I would use," Amber replied as she paused in her killing. Gabby turned toward her and was going to ask what she meant, but a sudden shout from outside stopped her. The shout was joined by more yells of alarm and the sounds of battle followed close behind. The real battle for this farm had begun.

"Looks like they, finally, noticed us. Gabby, Jim, go help the others protect the prisoners, I'll handle the clean up," Amber ordered as she sheathed her dagger and started toward the stairs. Jim, the man who had come with her, nodded before taking out his bow and moving to the door. Gabby, however, wasn't so sure of leaving her here.

"You sure you can handle all of them? They might be all wounded, bu-" Gabby started, but stopped as Amber gave her a rather familiar look. A look Isabella had given her a number of times when she had given orders like this...

"They need you outside a lot more than I need you here. Besides, I'm just going to sabotage the alarm so I won't be far behind you. Now, go before we lose anymore people!" Amber ordered as she started to sprint up the stairs. Gabby sighed a bit, but knew Amber was right. She would be a lot more help outside where she could take down the rest of the scumfuckers than in here watching Amber's back. Gabby grabbed up two more batons before sprinting out of the building with Jim in tow.

Gabby moved outside and into a scene of utter chaos. Guards were rushing about to get into cover while arrows came whistling down toward them, striking some of them down here and there. Holland's fighters looked to have taken all save one of the watchtowers and his people were using them to rain fire down on the guards inside while a swirling melee took place in the last tower. A few of the guards had crossbows and were trying to return fire, but their shots were rushed and poorly aimed. The other guards had various weapons and rushed from cover to cover, trying to close with the towers. Most of the prisoners that were outside were cowering in fear while the rest were trying to get inside to cover. Thankfully, it looked like the guards hadn't quite got around to trying to massacre them, yet, and were more worried with trying to push back the Resistance. A task they, unfortunately, might do considering how many of them were starting to pour out of the other inner buildings. Fuck, there were a lot more of them than Gabby had thought and they were making progress to the towers.

For now, she and Jim were being ignored along with the prisoners, but that would change quickly if they started to attack. Gabby was sure she could take out one of their fortified locations, but after that... well even she had limits and once the rest of the guards noticed her she would be overwhelmed. If she had some other people down here in the fight she could do a lot more, but all of Holland's people were busy in the towers. And the only people out here save guards were th- the prisoners...

"Hey, do you know where their armoury is?" she asked Jim as she keep low behind some knocked over crates. Jim nodded and pointed toward a building a few yards away. There were a good amount of guards between them and the building, but not nearly enough to stop her.

"Alright, let's go get some reinforcements," Gabby said to the confused Jim before rushing out of cover. She charged the closest guard and started to stab, bash, and kill her way to it.

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Holland had to fight not to swear as a bolt whizzed past his head and bounced off the wall behind him. Everything had been going according the plan just a moment before, but a lucky guard had managed to spot Devin's group just before they had reached the top of the tower. The bastard had managed to get a yell of warning out before Devin could silence him and now the entire farm knew they were here. Devin and his people were fighting a losing battle for the tower, now, while the rest of his people were trying to keep the guards from entering the other towers. A task they were, quickly, failing at...

Holland spun back out of his cover as he took aim with his bow. A guard was rushing toward the ladder leading up the tower, but Holland's arrow stopped him dead in his tracks as it punched through his head. Sadly, two more took his place and Holland was forced back into cover as three others fired their crossbows at him. The guard's aim was beyond pathetic compared to his own soldiers, but they were starting to make up for it with sheer weight of fire. He hadn't lost anyone yet, but it was only going to be a matter of time if this keep up.

"Keep targeting the guards rushing the tower! If they get up here we're as good as dead!" Holland ordered, yelling to be heard over the noise of the battle. While it was near ear shattering out here, he doubted anyone inside the full-sized building could hear any of it. And even if Matilda did hear, he was sure Alice could keep her distracted for a few minutes. Of course, if the alarm went off as well... Thankfully, that part of the plan seemed to have worked and the HQ was still silent. Holland couldn't see if anyone had come out of it since its back was facing him, but if Gabby and Amber had failed the alarm would have gone off by now. It was a small silverlining to the mess he and his people were in, though.

Suddenly, Hans jerked backwards as he came out of cover and swore as he fell to the ground. Holland's heart near stopped till he saw the bolt had only struck his arm. He was hurt, but not mortally so and Cheyenne rushed to his side to start first-aid. Dammit, he was just going to get more of his people injured or killed if he didn't think of someway to turn this around. They had explosives, but that would alert Matilda faster than the alarm would. But, it was looking like the only way to...wait.

Holland glanced out of cover as a new set of yelling started up. The guards who had been hanging back to fire at them turned to their rear and started to scramble to reload or fire at something coming at them from behind. Fucking hell, surely Amber was smart enough to know charging them was sui-... Gabby.

A bit of anger started to rise in Holland, but it vanished as he saw, not a lone, idiot woman charge the guards, but a lone, idiot woman leading a group of armed prisoners charge the guards.

Chapter 7: Freedom Against Oppression. Hope Against Despair

Alice had to fight not to let out a sigh of relieve as Holland and Gabby slipped under the door. Both had been mere inches away from certain death and only Alice’s quick thinking had saved them. Rather than butchering, and Alice was certain it WOULD have been butchery, the two of them, Matilda headed over to Alice to help dress the last of her wounds.

Knowing now what Matilda was capable of, and the horrors she had already done, Alice had to fight herself to allow the monster to touch her. But she had to as doing anything else would draw suspicion. It was her job to keep Matilda distracted and making her suspect Alice's motives would only hamper that mission. She had to play her part or else hundreds of people would pay the price.

"Was there any sign of the Resistance?" Alice asked, hoping conversation would distract her from rage and disgust. Matilda shook her head as she continued her dressing.

"No, none of our scouts reported anything unusual. You need to stop worrying about them. Those pathetic nats won't dare attack this place," Matilda answered in a confident tone.

"And even if they did got the guts to try," Matilda paused as she let a toothy, hellish grin spread on her face, "they would wish to God they didn't when I got to them." It took every bit of Alice's willpower to force a reassured smile onto her face. In reality, Alice wanted to scowl and ask if she would burn them alive like she had that mother. Killing enemy combatants was one thing, but slow torture for no reason other than sick enjoyment? And to CIVILIANS?! When the signal came it was going to be hard for Alice not to return Matilda's favor. She, certainly, didn't deserve a quick death after what Gabby had seen. But Alice was not going to stoop to her level...not now, not ever.

"You are probably right..." Alice forced herself to say. Alice used a faked wince to take a deep breath and try to calm down. She needed to remember the mission and not let her anger foil the plan. Matilda would pay, just not now.

The two sat in silence for the next few minutes as Matilda finished applying first-aid. She was far from an expert at the craft, but all Society members were required to know the basics so she was passable. With all Alice's self-inflicted wounds patched up, Matilda began to put the supplies back into the kit.

"All done. You should probably report that you are here, now that we are done. Command might be able to send a Sword squad to hunt down those pests that ambushed you," Matilda suggested as she got up to put the kit away. Alice swore inwardly as her mind raced for a way out of this mess. She, obviously, couldn't give a report to Command as they would know there was not a Wilderness Ranger named Courtney. And using her real name was beyond out of the question. Yet, refusing to send a report would be highly suspicious and Alice couldn't think of a good excuse not to send one.

Alice was still scrambling to think of what to do when Matilda came back. She looked down at Alice expectantly and Alice swore as she started to look toward her wr- A wave of relief washed over Alice as she remember she had not dared keep a wrist unit.

"Yes I...," Alice paused and tried to look confused and surprised, "Dammit. I must have lost my wrist unit during the fight." Alice looked as frustrated and angry as she could, an easy task since she was angry and frustrated at not being able to kill Matilda immediately. That had bought her a few seconds, at most, as Matilda would have her own unit.  She needed to think faster!

"Not a problem, I'll go get mine," Matilda said, confirming Alice's fears. Matilda headed off to the back of the house and Alice sent her mind scrambling for a way out of this.  She could fake sending a report, but Matilda might notice when she returned the unit. Maybe she could send it to Isabella and hope Matilda didn't look at who she had sent a message to... but what if Isabella answered? Or was in the same kind of trouble they had found themselves in? Damn, there didn't seem to be any way out of this. Was she going to have to abandon the plan and attack now?

Alice was jarred out of her thoughts as Matilda reappeared with her wrist unit. She handed it to Alice and Alice nodded in thanks. Dammit... now what was she going to do? Pity the thing wasn't br- Alice had to fight not to smile as she, finally, realized a way out of this. She started to turn on the unit, but stopped as she rubbed her throat.

"Could you get me some water, please?" she asked Matilda.

"Huh? Oh, yeah sure," Matilda said before heading back to the kitchen. Alice waited just long enough for Matilda to turn her back before spinning the unit around. She cursed as she found the battery container screwed shut. With Plan A busted, she moved to Plan B. She turned the unit on and swore as she heard Matilda taking out a glass. While the unit had a good deal of idiot proofing, Alice had learned, from Gabby mostly, that it was not perfect. Alice activated its task manager and willed it to come up faster as water started to pour into a glass. Alice scrolled down till she found what she wanted. Just as the water stopped, Alice selected the operating system and ended its process. By the time Matilda had arrived back at the couch with her water, the unit looked to have gone completely dead.

"Som- I think something is wrong with your wrist unit," Alice said, barely catching herself. Matilda frowned and they traded water for unit. Alice tried to not be obvious in her starring at Matilda as she fiddled with the unit. Alice held her breath as she sipped at the water, hoping beyond hope Matilda would not figure out what had happened. After what seemed like agonizing long minutes, Matilda swore and tossed the unit away in disgust. Alice let out an inward sigh of relieve as she finished off the water.

"Damn thing. I swear those fucking things were built to break," Matilda said as she glared after the wrist unit. Alice just nodded in agreement as she set the glass down on the coffee table. Hopefully, that would be the last problem she had to solve for this mission.

"Well, it is good thing I got a back-up radio installed. It's not mobile, though, so you'll have to come to the back to use it," Matilda said in a less annoyed tone. Alice, on the other hand, had to fight not to spew enough curses to make Gabby blush. She should have known there would be a back up. The Society was not dumb enough to give an outlying farm only one way to communicate.

"That's fine," was all Alice could force herself to say as she was sent scrabbling, again, for a way to get out of this mess. She couldn't sabotage the radio as she was sure Matilda would find that a bit TOO convenient. Worse, Matilda moved up to her and started to help her to the back. This was bad...

"Thanks, but I think I can manage," Alice said, hoping to dissuade Matilda. Matilda, however, just wagged a finger at her.

"Don't start trying to act tough with me. Come on, we need to make that report...unless," Matilda's smile faded a bit as her eyes hardened.

"Unless there is some reason you don't want to send a report," Matilda added in a flat tone as she stared directly at Alice. Alice was tempted to return the glare, but forced a confused look onto her face.

"What? Why would I not want to send it?" Alice asked in her best confused tone. Matilda's glare, however, didn't slacken at all.

"Perhaps because your wounds are very odd. Some do look like rocket wounds, but not one was a rifle wound. Never heard of a Resistance force not bringing along a few rifles," Matilda's eyes narrowed as she continued, "And then you want some time alone, but call me over the moment I come in, almost like you didn't want me to see something you had done. AND you didn’t do a bit of wound dressing while I was gone. Oh and most of all, my wrist unit worked just fine when I used it in the other room, but it broke the moment I lefe it alone with you." Matilda's glare had turned as cold a steel and her hand that had been supported Alice started to move up to her neck.

"So, let me rephrase the question. Who the fuck are you working for? Cathrine finally grow a spine? Or did the higher ups finally dain to look down on us backwaters? Well?!" Matilda asked as her hand moved to grip Alice's throat while the other stayed away and ready to deflect a blow. Alice couldn't help but feel some relief at how off the mark Matilda was. While it still did not bode well for herself, it did mean she had Matilda's full attention. Hopefully she could keep it while the others got the people out.

Alice was about to answer Matilda, but never got the chance as a loud alarm began to sound. Both Matilda and Alice turned toward the farm and a wave of dread washed over Alice. No...

"Of all the fucking times... SHIT!" Matilda said before tossing Alice aside and heading toward the window looking out over the farm. Alice stumbled a bit from the throw, but managed to keep her feet. She swore as she wheeled around to face Matilda. She was already looking out the window and her face twisted into a look of rage.

"Those little nothings! How DARE they attack my farm?!" Matilda said in what sounded like barely contained rage. Alice didn't need to hear the rage, though, to know the slaughter that would take place if Matilda left the house. Snatching up a bar stool, Alice rushed Matilda.

"We can settle wh-" was all Matilda got out before Alice smashed the stool right into the back of her neck. Matilda crashed to the floor in a heap as bits of wood from the, now broken, stool flew about the room. Alice looked down at the unconscious form of Matilda and had to fight the urge to finish her right then and there. There would be time for that later, though.

If the farm had managed to raise the alarm, then Holland, Gabby, and the rest must not being doing to well. She needed to get outside and help or, at the bare minimum, show that a giantess was on their side. It might get the guards to sur-

Alice's thoughts came to a crashing halt along with one of her legs. The floor rocketed upward toward Alice's face and she, barely, managed to stop herself from face planting. Whirling back, Alice's eyes widened as Matilda glared back up at her, her hand clamped onto her right ankle. Despite the mighty blow Alice had given her, she didn’t look hurt in the least. Instead, her face was just a twisted mass of pure rage.

"You....traitorous....BITCH!" she bellowed before rushing Alice.

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"Come on! Are you going to let them get away with all the horrors they subjected you to?! Are you going to let the people who came to save you die?! Are you going to be a coraled animal or a human who fights for their freedom?!" Gabby yelled back at the prisoners who had formed behind her. Despite their weak, half-starved bodies, they still managed a bellow of rage as they charged the back ranks for the guards. A few of those guards managed to get shots off with their crossbows and screams of pain came from those hit, but they were few whereas the still yelling and charging prisoners were many.

Gabby joined her own voice into the yell as she charged into the closest guard to her. The guard fumbled frantically to reload, but never got the chance as Gabby brought the warhammer she had taken down onto his head. The hammer crushed his head like it was an oversized grape and the man was dead before his body even started to fall. She rushed past his dead body and delivered a crushing body blow to the guard beside him. The guard fell to the ground in agony and Gabby started to move to finish him. She never got the chance, though as a prisoner leapt onto him and began to stab him mercilessly. Gabby left the prisoner to his rage as she moved on.

The next few minutes were a swirling, bloody, mass of chaos. Gabby's warhammer smashed, crushed, and battered guards in an almost continuous dance of death and screams. She tried to keep count of how many she killed, but lost count at twenty-three.  Despite their malnourished bodies and lack of training, the prisoners more than held their own against the guards. Rage, hope, and taking the guards completely off-guard more than made up for their disadvantages. As did the rain of death the Elves on the watchtowers unleashed, now free of having to avoid return fire. Caught between the anvil of the Elven held towers and the hammer of the enraged prisoners, the guards never had a chance.

"Please n-" was all the guard got out before Gabby shut him up with a blow to the head. Having seen the state of the prisoners, and how willing they were to fight DESPITE that state, Gabby had no mercy to give to any of these monsters. She wiped the fucker's blood off her face before turning back to the battle. However, as she looked around for another enemy, she realized the sounds of fighting had died down. A few fights were still going on here and there, but they were small pockets rather than masses of slaughter. And most of those pockets were one or two guards trying to hold off ten or twenty prisoners. A few arrows were still flying down from the towers, but they had slowed to an irregular pace as the Resistance fighters picked out any guards who came out into the open. Gabby glanced down and saw the ground around her littered with dead bodies. Most were, thankfully, wearing guard uniforms, but there were a good number of prisoners as well. She hated that she had to bring them into the fight, but looking at the results, she knew it had been the right call. The battle was won and the guards were dead, dying, or cowering somewhere hoping to be missed. They wouldn't be slaughtering any prisoners today.

Gabby let out a relieved and tired breath as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. Now that her adrenaline started to thin, tiredness began to takeover and Gabby had to fight not to flop to the ground. Her right arm groaned from having swung the hammer so much and her legs were starting to feel like jelly from all the fighting. This medieval-like fighting really took it out of a person, even one as conditioned as her. In fact, some of the "dead" prisoners were, actually, ones who had been so tired after the fight they had just collapsed onto the ground. Gabby, though, didn't have that luxury. She still needed to help get this people out of her so Alice could finish the job.

As Gabby took a minute to catch her second win, Holland and a few other Resistance fighters moved down for their tower and headed toward her. Gabby pushed her tiredness away as Holland moved within earshot of her.

"-ond squad to search the north building. I want third squad to bring up the food and water so we can give them something to eat and drink as they move out of here. If there isn't even, scavenge it from the farm, the Society won't be needing it," Holland ordered to one of the fighters he was walking with. The man nodded before rushing off to deliver the orders he had been given. With that done, Holland turned to Gabby. Gabby thought he would be pissed at her getting the prisoners involved, but the Resistance leader looked to have the hint of a smile on his face.

"That could have gone better..." Holland paused as he glanced down at a dead prisoner near him and Gabby waited for the anger, "but considering how bad it almost DID go, I suppose we should be grateful it went as well as it did." Gabby raised an eyebrow at Holland, wondering if he was trying to lull her into a false sense of security before tearing into her. If he was, he was doing a good job of hiding it as he turned back to her.

"We wouldn't have won this if you hadn't got the prisoners to help. While I hate we had to get some of them killed... I suppose it was inevitable that we would lose a few. Good work," Holland said with a sad, but respectful tone. He extended his hand to Gabby and Gabby had to fight not to look shocked by it. She accepted the handshake and nodded in thanks.

"Thanks. Yeah I didn't want to bring them in, either, but...well I couldn't take all those guards on by myself," Gabby admitted, feeling a bit less...edgy around the Resistance leader. He might still be a Resistance fuck, but at least he could admit when someone did good work, even if it was someone he didn't like. And he wasn't lying about hating to lose people. Gabby could think of more than a few other "leaders" who couldn't claim those merits.

Holland noded in understanding before glancing around. His eyes narrowed and he turned back to Gabby with a concerned look.

"Where is Amber?" he asked as a few of the others with him started to look around as well.

"Huh? Oh, she stayed back in the HQ. Said she was going to rig the ala-" Gabby started to say, but never finished. Suddenly, a blaring noise erupted from the top of the HQ building Gabby had been pointing to and she instinctively grabbed her ears as the noise pierced through them. Holland and the others did the same before a look of horror took over Holland's face. What the hell wa- Oh God...THE ALARM!!!

Gabby whirled and swore at the same time. She KNEW she shouldn't have left Amber alone! There must have been some guards still alive in the HQ! She had to get back and- She was brought to a halt as a firm hand grabbed her shoulder. She turned to see Holland looking at her.

"I'll handle this! Go help the others get the prisoners out of here!" Holland yelled, barely getting his voice over the blaring alarm. Gabby started to argue, but Holland silenced her with a stern glare.

"You are still exhausted from the battle, I'm not! Besides the prisoners are the priority! Get them out of here!" Holland yelled before sprinting toward the HQ, bow drawn. Gabby swore as she saw what happened with Amber playing out again. She was tempted to go, but a quick glance at the prisoners and their terrified, despair-filled faces made up her mind.

"COME ON! DON'T STAND THERE, WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! GET THE HELL UP BEFORE I DRAG YOU UP!" Gabby started to yell as she moved from group to group getting the prisoners to run for it and helping the Resistance evacuate the buildings.

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Holland sprinted toward the HQ, its alarm still blaring, as fear and worry filled his mind. Had Amber misjudged how many guards were still alive? Had one of them been smart enough to only pretend to be be dead or wounded? Or...or had she accidently set off the alarm in her attempt to sabotage it? Holland dearily hoped it was the last one. That he would enter the HQ and find Amber swearing up a storm as she tried to shut off the alarm. But what he hoped and what he expected were very different.

Holland paused at the door going into the HQ. He made sure his bow was ready to fire before spinning into the building. He swung his bow around, looking for any guards trying to rush him or attacking Amber. All he found, though, was the ground littered with the dead or the injured. Gabby and Amber had taken a bloody tally and Holland was surprised they had managed to keep them from setting off the alarm. That surprise was pushed aside, though, as he focused on finding Amber.

Movement from above drew his eye upwards. A walkway was suspended above the room and a large computer of some kind was set up on it. And in front of that computer... Holland's heart dropped into his stomach as he saw a female figure trying to crawl away from a large man. The man had a brutal-looking axe in his hand and he raised it up to strike. Holland didn't need to see the golden hair of the woman to know it was Amber.

"AMBER!" Holland yelled as he fired at the man preparing to kill her. The arrow flew toward the man, but the odd angle and the railing of the walkway made the shot a hail mary at best. The man ducked down and the arrow missed him by a few inches. Holland cursed and tried to pull another arrow out. He had just got one out of his quiver and drawn when the man brought the axe crashing down. Amber's form jerked from the blow before flopping down, unmoving.

"NO!!!" Holland yelled in fury as he fired again. Aided by his rage, the arrow slammed into the man's side and a grunt of pain echoed down from the walkway. Holland started to pull another arrow out, but the man took off to the other side of the walkway, disappearing from sight. Cursing in fury, Holland cocked his arrow before charging toward the stairs leading up. He had to fight to keep himself from running up them in rage and tried to remember the man had the advantage in close combat. He needed to take this slow and careful if he wanted to avenge Amber rather than join her.

Taking a deep breath, Holland began to slowly ascend the stairs. The damn alarm made hearing anything next to impossible and Holland didn't see the man anywhere. He pulled the arrow back a bit to make sure he could fire it at a moment's notice as he ascended the rest of the way.

Reaching the top of the walkway, Holland saw that it lead forward before stopping at a door, a door that was only partly closed. He couldn't see the man anywhere and the walkway had nowhere for him to hide. Which left only one place he could be... Taking a breath to steady himself, Holland began to move forward toward the door. He risked a quick glance at Amber's body and his eyes narrowed. Odd...

Pushing his distracting thoughts away, Holland continued forward toward the door. The alarm was still blaring all too loudly and Holland was finding it distracting. He was still far enough from the door to give himself time to reload if the man tried to rush him, so he decided to shut it up. Raising his bow, Holland fired an arrow into the computer off to the side of the walkway. The machine sputtered and sparked as the arrow slammed into it and the alarm began to warble and distort before, slowly, whining to a halt. With the alarm silenced, Holland was left in a gnawing quiet with nothing but his own breathing to break it. He rearmed his bow and began forward again.

"You should surrender now. I can give you a quick, painless death like I did the woman if you do. Once Matilda comes, however..." the man yelled out from the other side of the door. Holland slowed to a stop as he frowned.

"I think it is you who should be surrendering, considering the state of our forces," Holland replied as he started to move as quietly forward as he could. He hoped this talking would distract the man inside. If he could get the drop on him...

A short chuckle came from the other side of the door before the man spoke up again.

"We both know those... ‘guards’ out there were just for show. Defeating them means nothing now that Matilda knows you are here," the man said with a bit of anger in his voice at using the term guard.

"I'm not offering you a chance to surrender to save myself. I'm offering it to save you. From her," the man continued, his tone changing to almost like a plea. Holland was a bit surprised as the sincerity in the man’s voice. He truly did want Holland to give up so he could spare him. But Holland had come too far to give up now. And he knew something the man didn’t, that Alice was there to beat Matilda.

"A generous offer, but why would you be generous to the people who murdered your comrades?" Holland asked, rather sure of the answer he would get. But the answer wasn't what was important, keeping the man talking and not hearing his approach was.

"Comrades?" the man almost spit the word out like a diseased tooth, "Those...butchers were no more my comrades or soldiers than you are. They were nothing but a bunch of murderers, rapist, gangbangers, and other low-lives that I was supposed to keep in order. If anything, I'm grateful for you having killed them. I've wanted to for a long time." The tone of hate and disgust in the man's voice was genuine. He really HAD wanted to kill the others, and his comment of having to keep them in order... Holland's frown increased as he realized who this man was. Stones... the leader of the guards. He glanced back at Amber and let out an inward sigh.

"Then why fight us? Why sabotage our attempt to save this people? If you had helped us, we could have escaped without Matilda ever finding out," Holland asked, making sure to turn his head to make it sound like he was further away. He was closing in on the door. Just a few more seconds... There was a long pause of silence, however, that forced Holland to halt.

"Because I have no choice. None us do. Not really. I've seen what happens to those that try to fight the Society. Seen the depths of their cruelty and malice. The hope you cling to, the hope that you can win against them, it's nothing but a fool's hope," Stones, finally, answered, his voice barely above a whisper. The pain and despair in his voice...

"This war was lost long, long ago. The only thing we can, truly, do now, is either accept our defeat, or die fighting a lost cause," Stones finished with even more despair and lose than before. Holland had to fight to keep himself from feeling sympathy for the man, but he couldn't let that distract him. Not when he was so close.

"You are wrong. There IS still hope and we CAN beat them. It won't be easy and hundreds, maybe even thousands, will have to die, but isn't freedom from their rule worth that?" Holland shot back as he moved to within a few feet of the door. A sad, reluctant laugh came from the other side of the door.

"Tell me, then. How do you plan to defeat hundreds of thousands of giantesses? Because that is what you are facing. Matilda is enough to wipe you, this farm, and all of my men from the face of the Earth by herself. How can you fight thousands of her?" Stones asked with the same depressed and defeated tone. Holland felt some of that defeatism hit him as well as the sheer scale of their enemy hit him, but he pushed it away as he, finally, arrived at the door. Stones may have given up, but Holland was sure as hell not!

Holland let his foot answer as he kicked in the door. He stormed into the room, bow drawn, and scanned for Stones. He caught the barest hint of movement to his right and ducked instinctively. It saved his life as Stones axe, barely, missed the top of Holland's head. He brought his bow around to fire, but Stones jinked to his right and the arrow only skidded off his padded clothing. Stones reversed his grip on his axe and brought it back into a backhand blow forcing Holland to leap back out of the room.

Moving back to get some distance, Holland went to grab an arrow, but Stones stormed after him. Swearing as he realized he couldn't rely on his bow anymore, Holland tossed it forward at Stones. Stones, easily, batted the bow away and off the walkway, but the deflection delayed him enough for Holland to pull out his knife. Stones narrowed his eyes as he got into a fighting stance. Holland wished he had a better close-combat weapon, but couldn't risk trying to find one among the dead with Stones still so close.

Stones attacked first with a testing swing at Holland's side. Holland deflected the blow enough to dodge out of its way, but was forced to give ground to do it. This was bad... Stones had a reach advantage with that axe along with sheer brute force. All Holland had was a quicker weapon. Which wouldn't mean anything if you couldn't get into range with it.

Hoping to take the initiative, Holland moved forward to attack. Stones, however, brought his axe back up and backed away a few steps. Holland tried to follow, but a quick swing of the axe forced him to back up. He was going to try again, but Stones followed up the attack with a backswing, stopping Holland's attack before it even began. Dammit, he couldn't even flank Stones on this damn walkway!

Stones took to the attack and moved forward. He sent a diagonal blow toward Holland and Holland deflected it away, but once again had to give ground. Holland tried to move forward to attack, but Stones dodged his quick jab before lashing out with his open hand. Holland swore as he dodged the fist and was forced back, again, as the axe came back into play.

Dodging the next attack, Holland dived low to try and get under Stones' guard. It was risky, but he didn't see any other way to get a blow in. The Commander, though, saw it coming and backed up. Holland's dagger stabbed at Stones' leg, but the padded pants deflected it away. Holland tried to back up, but his risky attack stopped him from getting away completely. Stones rushed forward and shoulder-charged Holland to the ground. Holland swore as he tried to roll away, but was stopped as Stones' foot planted itself onto his leg.

Holland swore under his breath as he realized he was caught. He tried to raise his dagger, but Stones batted it away with his axe, sending it tumbling off the walkway. Stones stared down at Holland, grimacing a bit at the arrow wound Holland had given him earlier. Shit, Stones had been injured and he had still beaten Holland with ease. If he could be brought to their side...

"You don't have to do this, Stones. I can tell you don't want to. You DO have a choice, you CAN fight back. And isn't hope, even a fool's one, better than no hope at all?" Holland asked, trying to get through to the old, defeated commander. Stones eyes lowered and he glanced away as a pained expression filled his face. He looked to be having an internal struggle for a moment before looking back at Holland.

"I am sorry, truly I am. But I can't...I can't watch my friends, my hopes, my dreams crushed again. I...I just can't," Stones answered, tears starting to form in his eyes. He raised the axe up as he got ready to put Holland down. Holland sighed to himself as he realized Stones had, himself, been crushed. Not physically, but mentally. He didn't know what had happened, but whatever it was, it had crushed the old warrior utterly. Considering that, there was only one thing left to do.

Holland waited for Stones the raise the axe fully, before releasing the catch on the pistol hidden in his sleeve. He snapped it out of its hidden holster before bring it up and firing a round square into Stones' head.

"I am sorry, too," Holland said as Stones blinked a few times in confusion. His hands let go of his axe as he stumbled backwards. He leaned against the railing for a second before the barest hint of a smile came over his face. His eyes lost their focus and clouded over before he slumped down, dead.

Holland, slowly, got back to his feet and walked over to the old warrior. He knelt down beside the dead man and sighed to himself.

"May you find peace and hope in your next life," Holland said as he closed Stones eyes and laid him down. There had once been a great man inside that body...a great man he wished he had meet. But that man had died long before now and only its shell was still alive. He hoped it would find its way back to the rest of him.

As Holland stood back up, he heard a low groan from behind him. He turned and moved over to Amber. He bent down to help her lean up as her eyes flickered open She winced in pain as her hand grabbed the rising knot on her head.

"Oww… Wha...Where am I? Holland?" she said as she looked around in confusion. Stones blow had been a nasty one, but a nasty one from the side of his axe. Amber would have a hell of a headache for a good long while, but she would recover. It seemed Stones had been planning to knock her out before he killed her... Pity Holland couldn't have shown the same mercy.

"Easy, Amber. You took a nasty blow to the head so you need to stay still. I'll go ge-" was as far as Holland got before a massive crash of wood and glass erupted from outside. Holland spun around to look at the window and started to stand when all hell broke loose. An earthquake of biblical size shook the ground and sent the building rocking in chaos. Holland cursed as he wrapped his arms around the railing and was thrown about like a ragdoll. Amber, who had thankfully stayed down, was nearly thrown off the walkway, but managed to keep herself on it. Thankfully, the shaking stopped as quickly as it started, but the noise of something smashing its way through buildings and earth continued.

As soon as Holland got his feet back, he rushed down the stairs and to a window. He looked out and his eyes widened in horror and fear. The full-sized house's window had been smashed out and shards of its glass were scattered everywhere. A massive form had plowed through the farm, destroying a large chunk of its farmland and completely flattening a number of buildings. Bits of blood and body parts were scattered among the debris and torn up earth that the form had plowed through. Holland knew a few of those flattened buildings had been prisoner housing...housing his people might have been in...

Holland followed the destruction to its end and his horror only grew. At the end of the gigantic trench dug into the farm was the form of a woman who looked battered and bloody. She groaned as she strained to lift her head and all of Holland's fears came crashing down. Alice looked around herself and a look of despair came over her at the sight of the destruction she had caused. Holland turned back to the window and saw Matilda staring out of it, her face covered with a look of pure hate.

Chapter 8: Victory’s Sacrifice

Alice swore as Matilda pulled her closer. She tried to stop herself, but couldn’t get a grip on anything fast enough and Matilda soon squatted over Alice. Matilda crashed down on top of Alice's chest while her hands shot out toward her throat. Alice, despite the jarring blow, managed to grab Matilda's wrists before her hands reached her neck. Matilda's look of anger only grew as she pushed down harder, trying to force her way through. Alice put all of her strength into stopping her, but still Matilda’s hands began to inch closer and closer. She was strong... almost Gabriella level strong. If this keep up...

Realizing she couldn't win this test of strength, Alice switched tactics. She used her grip on Matilda to slid a bit further down and move Matilda closer to her head. Alice worried Matilda would notice, but she either didn't or was too focused on her neck to care. Whatever the reason, it was a blunder Alice would punish.

Alice jerked her legs up and used her high flexibility to bend them all the way to Matilda's head. Matilda had enough time to look surprised before Alice linked her feet together in front of HER neck and pulled back. The heels of Alice's boots dug into Matilda's neck and she began to gasp and strain as they constricted her windpipe. Matilda tried to shift herself to dislodge Alice's feet, but Alice made sure to keep her heels pressed in. The contest of strength began to swing into Alice's favor as Matilda started to run low on air. Alice was just about to risk letting go to try and pin Matilda when the Sword, suddenly, broke away.

Matilda lunged backwards away from Alice and sucked in a huge breath of air. Alice, now free of the threat to her own neck, used the time to roll out from under Matilda and leap back to her feet. She moved to strike Matilda while she recovered, but stopped as Matilda staggered up to her own feet. Alice couldn't help but be surprised at how quickly she had recovered from that. She pushed the surprise away, however, as she lowered herself into a combat stance. Matilda growled in fury as she did the same.

For a second, Alice thought the stance was just the usual rookie attempt at a stance. However, as she studied it further, she realized it was the exact opposite. In fact...it reminded Alice a good deal of Gabriella's own stance, though there were some differences. Matilda must have picked up on her surprise as she let out a low chuckle.

"Surprised? Let me educate you on the fact that some Swords still know how to kill hand to HAND!" she yelled the last word as she rushed Alice. Her first swing was a wild blow that Alice, easily dodg- Suddenly, Matilda's other hand rushed in and Alice, barely, managed to shift around to avoid the real punch. A feint... she did know what she was doing. Alice lashed out with her own quick punch and Matilda was forced back to avoid it. But the Sword didn't let up the attack and came right back in. She sent a quick one-two punch at Alice and Alice was forced back as she dodged the punches. She countered with a kidney shot to Matilda’s side and felt the satisfying feel of fist on flesh. That should have slowed her down... but it didn’t. In fact, Matilda acted like she hadn't even felt Alice’s attack as she sent another mighty punch right at her head. Taken off-guard by the lack of reaction to her attack, Alice was only able to deflect the punch to her shoulder rather than avoid it.

The powerful blow sent Alice reeling backwards and pain surged through her right arm. She didn't need to look to know she would have a nasty bruise where the fist had hit. Worse, her whole right arm felt numb and trying to move it sent fresh waves of pain up in response. Dammit, how had she taken that hit so well?! Not even Gabriella could have shrugged off a body blow like that! And yet Matilda had... This was bad...

Matilda gave Alice a vicious grin as she started toward her. Alice backed up to buy herself some time to recover and think of a new approach. Trying to fight Matilda head-on was proving inadvisable… She needed a new tactic. Alice glanced back and, quickly, leap up to avoid running into the coffee table. She keep her face a mask of worry as a plan, suddenly, came to her mind.. Just as she hoped, Matilda charged forward and lashed out at the table with her leg, trying to send Alice tumbling to the floor. Alice, however, leap up just as the table was sent flying away and spun around to deliver a devastating round-house kick to Matilda's head. Matilda was driven right into the couch by the kick and stumbled to her knees in front of it. Alice landed back on the ground, stumbling a bit from the spin, and let out a relieved sigh. The relief lasted less than a second.

To Alice's horror, Matilda pushed herself back up to her feet and turned back to Alice, her face a slab of hate and fury. This...this was impossible! No human could have taken that kind of blow and not had SOME kind of reaction! She should have a concussion at the very least! And yet...and yet Matilda didn't even look fazed, save for the slowly rising knot on the side of her head.

"You....fucking....That fucking HURT!" Matilda yelled as she charged forward again. Alice cursed as she dodged to the side, barely avoiding Matilda's charging form. She whirled around and rushed Alice again. Deciding to try one last time to end this, Alice waited till Matilda was right on top of her to spin away and slam her leg into her midsection, clothesline style. Matilda gasped from the blow and Alice thought she had, finally, found a weakness. She was wrong. Matilda snatched up Alice's leg almost as soon as she hit and Alice found herself unable to pull away. Matilda's look of hate and fury melted away to reveal a look of triumph. Shit, she had been planning this!

Matilda yanked Alice towards her and raised her fist. Alice tried to block it, but her hurt arm was too slow and her other was too far. Alice could only watch in horror as Matilda’s fist smashed into her face.

For a brief second, everything went dark and Alice was lost in darkness. Her mind reeled and tumbled in confusion before sudden, demanding pain dragged her back to the light. Alice had to fight not to scream in pain as the entire right part of her head seemed to be nothing but agony. She opened her eyes, one of which screamed in protest in the attempt, and found herself looking at the ceiling. Her mind reeled with what had happened, but the sudden appearance of a face brought everything back.

Matilda glared down at Alice before raising her foot. Alice tried to roll away, but wasn't quick enough as the shoe slammed down on her chest. Alice gasped in pain as the air was driven out of her and fresh ache joined the agony that was her face. Still, she didn't cry out. She wouldn't give her that enjoyment.

"All this...for those... THINGS!" Matilda said as she looked out the window, her face going back to the look of hate and disgust. She shook her head as she bent down to pull Alice to her feet.

"A spy for the Shields or the higher ups I could respect, but a damn traitor siding with those mants out there! They are NOTHING! Nothing but fodder and tools to be used and discarded! There is nothing worth saving out there!" Matilda yelled into Alice's face. Alice tried to fight back, but the pain and the lose of air had made it near impossible to move. Dammit, no... she couldn't lose! If she did then Gabriella, Holland, and the others...

"And speaking of using them...why don't you use them to break your fall!" Matilda said before hurling Alice straight toward the window.

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Holland had to fight not to collapse in despair as he looked at Alice's beaten form. She had lost... Alice had lost to Matilda and now... Alice seemed to realize the same thing Holland did as she stopped mid attempt to stand. Instead, she shook her head and laid back down as if resigned to her fate. Some part of Holland wanted to curse her for giving up, but the smarter part of him knew she had no choice.

"What...what is she doing? Why won't she get up?!" Amber, suddenly, said from beside Holland. Holland might have jumped at her unexpected arrival, but his despair held too much of his mind. He wasn't sure when she had managed to get down to the ground level, but she still looked far from recovered as she stumbled a bit closer. Anger began to form on her face, but Holland moved to ease it.

"Because she can't. Not without killing even more people..." Holland said as he turned back to Alice's massive form. As if to punctuate his words, people began to rise out of the debris near Alice while others rushed to help. Amber noticed them as well and her anger was snuffed out as quickly as it had ignited.

In one move, Matilda had trapped Alice in the very farm she had been trying to protect. No matter how careful Alice was, she wouldn't be able to avoid killing someone if she moved. And if she rose and tried to fight... They would be lucky if there even WAS a farm after such a battle, much less survivors. Their only counter to Matilda had been beaten...they had lost...

A rumbling snarl echoed over the farm as Matilda moved to the broken window. She leap through it and the entire area was rocked by the force of her landing, nearly knocking over the still recovering Amber. She glared down at Alice's still form in disgust before glancing down to her feet.

"Are you serious? Are you FUCKING," Matilda raised and smashed her foot onto the ground, killing God-knew how many people.

"SERIOUSLY," Matilda's other foot followed the first, utterly annihilating one of the buildings Alice's body had missed in its crash through the farm. Holland felt his stomach knot as he wondered who had been in that building...how many they would never find buried under all that rumble...

"going to LAY THERE?!" Matilda bellowed out so loud that both Amber and Holland winced in pain. And they had been in a building... Holland looked over to Alice and saw she was wearing a mask of no emotion. She simply stared back at Matilda as the bruise on her face slowly spread. Matilda glared hardened as she began to move closer to Alice, not even watching what or who she stepped on.

"You weak bitch! You care so much about these mites that you would rather just lay there, helplessly, than accidently kill some of them?!" Matilda demanded as she closed in on Alice. One of her feet plowed through another building without even slowing down as she moved forward. Fuck, she hadn't even done it intentionally, it just happened to have been in the way... Holland could see people trying to flee from her path, but the Sword moved far faster than they could ever hope to. Some still managed to escape, but so many others... Dammit, he had to do something! But...but what?

Even if he, somehow, rallied everyone and made a break for it, Matilda would over take them with ease. Of course, he and the rest of the Elves could slip away into the trees and escape, but the prisoners... They were already weak from hunger and their horrid treatment. Add in their inexperience in avoiding notice and you had a recipe for disaster. He might manage to slip a handful out, but the rest... Was he really going to have to make that call after they had come so close?

"Fine, you fucking traitor. HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" Matilda, suddenly yelled as she stopped next to Alice. Her foot drew back and rocketed into the side of Alice's chest, smashing through another building along the way. Holland had no doubt THAT impact had been on purpose as bits of debris and...other things, splattered onto Alice's midsection. Alice nearly cried out from the hit, but managed to bite back the scream as her eyes clamped shut in concentration. Her muscles tensed as they fought to curl her into a ball, but Alice held them back and stayed still.

Holland swore out loud as rage bubbled up. That kick had to have bruised, if not broken, a rib and STILL Alice refused to move. Dammit, he couldn't just stand here and watch this! He had to do something, anything!

Turning away from the horror, Holland stormed his way out of the HQ and into the chaos of the open streets. Prisoners were running in every direction, some trying to pull friends out of the few remaining buildings while others made for the exit. A few of his fellow Elves were trying to get some semblance of order, but it was a futile attempt as another boom from Matilda's footsteps sent fresh panic through everyone. Even a few of the guards had thrown away their weapons and were joining the ranks of those fleeing in terror. Holland's determination started to dim as he realized that he would never get these people under control. They were broken, utterly, and nothing would get them unbroken.

"Holland, wai- Oh God..." Amber said as she exited the building into the mess as well. She looked around in horror before turning back to him.

"What...what do we do now?" she asked in worried tone Holland had never heard from the veteran soldier. Holland felt his spirit fall again as he wondered the same thing. He despised himself for thinking of it, and yet he knew he had no choice. They had to run... he had to rally his people, get the best looking prisoners he could, and flee before Matilda finished with Alice. It was their only option.

"We have to fall back..." Holland heard his voice say.

"We have to get out of here before Matilda turns her attention to the rest of us or...or we are all dead," Holland finished, feeling nearly sick for having to say it. Dammit...DAMMIT! Amber looked at him in shock, but it faded as she seemed to come to the same conclusion of their chances. She looked downcast and sick, but nodded just the same.

"Understood. I'll...I'll try to rally who I can find. What should I tell them if they want to try and kill Matilda?" Amber asked as she looked back up at Holland. Holland almost chuckled at the thought. They had only three firearms, including his pistol, in their entire wing and not one rocket. Their bows would only piss Matilda off and their firearms wouldn't do much better. Besides, trying to fight her would just kill even more people. No, unless they could kill her instantly, there was-... kill her instantly...Nothing THEY had could, but....

Holland didn't answer as he felt a fresh wave of hope hit him. Instead, he moved forward, pushing his way through the crowd to get a better look at Alice and Matilda. Amber asked after him a few times, but he ignored her as he grabbed the last bit of hope he had like a drowning man onto a piece of timber.

He moved around the building blocking his view and saw that Matilda was now sitting on Alice's chest. He ignored her booming taunts and words as he looked around the devastated area. People were fleeing as fast as they could from the two giantesses, some only able to crawl, as Matilda snatched up a few of them every so often. Debris from the buildings that been destroyed littered the area along with... along with shards of glass. Most were rather small, even compared to him, but a few were still together enough to form near building size panels of glass. Holland's hand seemed to start to slip from the timber as he saw all the pieces were well away from Alice. Was his gamble going to fail before it even began?

And then he saw it. A large piece of glass, shaped almost like a spear point, buried in the ground only a couple of scale yards from Alice's left hand. The piece had to be twenty and some scale feet high, but that made it just the right size. Holland let a huge grin spread over his face as hope, finally, came back with a vengeance.

Holland whirled around and found Amber following him. She blinked a few times at his sudden change in look, but Holland had no time to explain. They had to move as fast as they could. Every second was beyond valuable now.

"Amber, go get as many of our strongest people and the fittest prisoners you can find and have them head to that shard, the one close to Alice's hand. Get them to push it toward Alice as fast as they can and make sure Alice knows what you are doing," Holland said a bit too quickly. Amber looked confused for a moment, but it passed as she seemed to realize the plan. Her own mood brightened as a small smile appeared on her face.

"Yes, sir!" Amber said and started to move away, but stopped and turned around a second later.

"Wait...what are you going to do?" Amber asked with a look that suggested she already had an idea. Holland gave her a wary smile before he answered.

"Buy you and the others time, of course."

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Alice could only watch in mute horror as Matilda snatched up yet another person. It was the third one she had grabbed.... and the other two bloodstains on her hand foretold his doom. It took almost all of Alice's willpower to keep her face an emotionless mask as Matilda brought the man close enough for Alice to see.

"This? This little... thing is what you are siding with? Look at it, LOOK!" Matilda said, thrusting the man closer as Alice fought to keep her fury down. The man looked beyond terrified and Alice didn’t need to hear him to know he was begging for his life.

"This isn't a person. It isn't worth fighting for, it isn't worth protecting, hell it's barely worth FEEDING! All it's good for is being used and then," Matilda paused as her thumb began to press down on the man. He started to scream and beg for help, but Alice knew Matilda was ready for her to retaliate. All she would do is give Matilda what she wanted by acting. But watching as the man sunk lower and lower, and the crunching became lou-

Suddenly, with a sickening crack and pop, the man vanished under Matilda's thumb while blood squirted out like grape juice from a crushed grape. Alice couldn't help but flinch at the noise, but got herself back under control almost immediately. Matilda gave a fake look of surprise as she looked at the tiny splotch of blood and flesh on her thumb. Damn her...

"Oops, pushed too hard. These things always break so easily. Oh well, there are plenty more," Matilda said as she rubbed the ruin that had been a person right onto Alice's face. Alice had to fight to keep her fist from clenching as Matilda looked around before lunging out to grab another prisoner. This one was a woman and she was already screaming in terror as Matilda turned back to Alice.

"Now, where were we..." Matilda said in obvious faked confusion, even tapping her chin as if in thought. After a second she raised her finger and nodded.

"Oh yes, I was telling you how dumb you were for helping these little disposable wipes. Oh and you have something there," Matilda said as a sick grin spread on her face. Alice was confused as to what Matilda was talking about, and stayed still as her hand with the woman moved toward her face. Alice held her breath as Matilda shoved the woman onto Alice and began to use her like...like a wipe. Oh God, she was using her to wipe up the man she had smeared on her. The woman's screams of terror only grew as she was used like a living tissue paper, occasionally going silent or dimmer as blood and other...things got into her mouth.

Alice's fury reached new heights as her hand dug into the dirt. She knew what Matilda was doing, knew she was trying to get Alice to fight back. The monster didn't want a quick end to this, she wanted another fight with people slaughtered in the hundreds by their blows. And a fight that would, undoubtedly, end just as badly as the first for Alice. But knowing that and not rising to the bait were two different things. Doubly so as the poor woman was pulled back into Alice's sight.

The female prisoner was covered head to toe in blood and bits of flesh. She had stopped screaming and just stared forward, shivering and crying in shock. Alice could feel her mask starting to crack as rage like she had never felt before flooded into her. Matilda's murders had been bad enough, but this...this was just pure evil.

"Eww, look how nasty it is now. Guess we need another one," Matilda said as her thumb began to descend on the woman. The woman, however, didn't even move as she just stared forward, her eyes glossed over. She was in so much shock that not even her survival instinct could snap her out, and Matilda was just going to crush her like it was nothing! Part of Alice yelled at her to stop, to think about what she was doing, but that voice was drowned out by her rage.

Alice's mask was cast aside as she shot her right arm up toward Matilda's head. She didn't care if Matilda was ready for it, if she wanted a fight, or if it had no effect like all her other blows. All she cared about was that she knew she had done all she could to stop this...butchery!

Matilda's face got a triumphant smile as her hand moved to block the blow. Alice swore as Matilda caught the blow an- wait...why did her knuckle feel wet? It was almost as if a raindrop had hit it, but it was buried in Mati-... A wave of horror and guilt smashed into Alice as she realized Matilda had used the hand holding the woman to block her blow. No.....oh God no...

"HeheHAHAHAHA!" Matilda let out an ecstatic laugh as she let Alice's hand drop back to the ground. She leaned down so that her face was only a few inches over Alice's and gave her a twisted look of success.

"How does it feel? Killing them is so easy, isn't it? All you did was try to save it and, pop, it dies. And you want to help them. Hehehe, you can't even help them without kil- OWW!!!"  Matilda, suddenly, screamed out in pain startling Alice out of her shock. Matilda's demented look was replaced instantly with a look of hate as she whirled to her left. Alice followed her and saw a number of Elves firing arrows up at her from the rubble around them. The arrows were sinking into Matilda’s calf, but they were too small to do anything but cause pain. Matilda let out a deep growl as glared at them.

"You fucking things DARE to attack ME?! Do you think those bobby pins are going to stop me?! All you are doing is PISSING ME OFF!!" Matilda bellowed as she raised her arm to crush the Elves. Alice, now fully out of her shock, lunged forward to stop her from bringing the fist down. She had no idea what the Elves were trying to accomplish, but she wasn't going to let them die without trying to save them. And, unlike last time, Matilda wasn't ready with a hostage to stop her.

Alice grunted in effort as she tried to keep Matilda's fist from hitting the ground. It took nearly everything she had left, though, thanks to Matilda’s strength. Matilda's rage-filled eyes left the Elves and turned back to Alice as Alice got her other hand around her neck. Whatever kind of punishment-absorbing monster Matilda was, she still had to breath. If Alice could keep her held long enough for her air to run out, then maybe she could stop this nightmare. But even as Alice thought of that plan, she realized it was hopeless. Matilda let out a low growl as her other hand, despite being pinned between them, started to push Alice back. Even worse, her raised arm was breaking free and Alice was barely slowing it. Matilda was just too strong.

With a roar of effort, Matilda shoved Alice back to the ground. Alice grunted as she hit and tried to move, but Matilda was still on top of her. Before she could react, Matilda brought her raised fist down right onto her head. And everything went black once again.

Alice groaned as the world began to float back into focus. She had no idea how long she had been out, but she doubted it had been more than a minute considering the immense pain in her head. She opened her eyes and horror washed over her. Matilda was swearing and cursing as she brought her left fist down again and again and again and again on the area to her left. The few Elves still alive were fleeing as fast as they could, but not fast enough as Matilda's fist rained down like artillery shells. Bits of crushed bodies and blood were flying everywhere and Matilda didn't even seem to notice how battered her own hand was becoming. Did she just not feel pain?

Before Alice could try to stop Matilda again, a voice spoke up in her right ear.

"Alice, to your left! Make sure Matilda doesn't notice!" the unfamiliar voice yelled, though was still barely audible despite that. Alice knew it had been a shrunken person and she made sure Matilda was looking away before glancing to her left. She didn't see anything save the farm for a second, but then her eye caught the slight movement of something. She risked a better look as Matilda turned further away.

A few feet from Alice's left arm was a large, pointed piece of broken glass. And behind it was about ten or so men pushing it forward toward Alice. It was slow going thanks to how big the shard was, but it was inching forward and more men seemed to be joining. Suddenly, Alice understood what the suicidal attack on her right had been about. A distraction for what might be their last hope. Matilda had taken everything Alice could throw at her, but having a shard of glass driven right through her windpipe...

Making sure Matilda was still looking away, Alice tried to stretch her arm out further. The shard, however, was still well out of her reach. Dammit, she had to get it as quickly as possible or even more people were going to die! She willed the men to push harder as it moved closer and clos-

"Let that teach you not to mess with a human," Matilda said as the pounding stopped. Alice cursed as she faced forward again, stopping her attempts to reach the shard. Matilda turned back and glared down at Alice, a slight look of suspicion crossing it. Alice had never been good at lying, but she was great at hiding her emotions so she hid behind her expressionless mask, hoping Matilda would go back to her torture. The two stared at each other for a moment before Matilda started to turn to her right. No, if she saw the shard...!

Alice started to lunge again to try and buy some time, but stopped as Matilda's eyes shot wide open in surprise and pain.

"AHHHH! WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!" Matilda yelled in fury before spinning back around to her left. Alice couldn't see who had distracted her again, but whoever it was might have just saved them all. Alice waited a heartbeat before going back to reaching for the glass.

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Gabby had barely survived Alice's sudden crash through the farm. Had she not stopped to check on an unconscious prisoner, she would have rushed right into a building along with two Resistance people she had been with. A building which Alice's massive form had utterly annihilated. Instead, she had simply been blown away by the impact, hurt but alive.

Pushing the pain aside, Gabby had helped people flee from Matilda as she plowed her way through the farm. She had saved twenty or more people...but hundreds of others hadn't been so lucky. But Gabby did her best to forget the death toll and focus on the people she could save. It had been easy when there had been people to save. But now...now with no one she could reach in immediate danger, she had nothing to distract herself with.

Gabby's fists tightened on her hammer as she watched Matilda kill another person, trying to goad Alice into fighting. The monster damn well knew she had won AND that Alice couldn't fight back, but was trying to anyway. For her part, Alice was resisting Cuntilda's attempts and was keeping from adding to the bloody tally, but even Alice had limits... Dammit, how had that monster beaten Alice? And how could Alice have let this happen?! Gabby knew the last one wasn't fair...but she couldn't help asking it.

"Ma'am...what...what do we do now?" a young male prisoner asked as he stood beside her. Gabby glanced back at him and to the large group of prisoners that had formed around her. It was a good question... She knew what SHE wanted to do, but these people were fucked without her help and she couldn't just abandon them. That left only one real choice.

Before Gabby could answer the boy, a sudden ear-splitting yell of pain came from Matilda. Gabby cringed in agony, but whirled to face Matilda anyway. To her utter shock, a number of the Resistance people were firing their arrows up at Cuntilda. They were not doing any real damage, but it was enough to get the monster's attention. Attention that was going to see them all dead. What the fuck were they thinking?!

Cuntilda went to crush them, but Alice stopped her mid swing...for a second. With horrifying speed and strength, Matilda shrugged off Alice and gave her blow that left her reeling. God...Gabby wasn't sure even she could have broken that hold so quick. Even more terrifying, however, was her counter-attack on the Resistance. Her fist rained down as fast as Matilda could swing it and with the force of an airstrike. Blood and body parts were sent flying and Gabby was sure some of the blood was Matilda's. Yet she didn't even seem to notice as she smashed the area apart.

Without a single thought to the danger, Gabby took off for the killing ground. She didn't know what the Resistance was trying to do, but they needed help and Gabby was going to give it to them. The intense shaking from the continued pounding made the going tough, but Gabby fought through it as she neared the decimated ground.

It took Gabby less than a minute to arrive at the Resistance position... but it had been a minute too long. Every Resistance pe- no, soldier was dead, injured, or cowering in shell shock. The utterly flattened remains of thirty plus people were scattered around the area and blood had caked everything. Gabby had been in war zones before, but this...Gabby had to fight not to lose her lunch at the sight. They had never stood a chance...

"Ga...Gabby..." a weak, familiar voice called out. Gabby pushed her revulsion down as she turned to the source of the voice. A sudden wave of lightheadedness hit her as she saw the broken remains of Holland lying on the ground a few feet away. His entire lower half had been crushed and only the top fourth of his body was still there...even his hands had been caught under the lethal blow.

"Dear God..." was all Gabby could get out as she moved to what remained of Holland. His mouth moved a few times as if trying to speak, but nothing came out save gasps. Gabby knelt down beside him and raked her brain on what to do. She had to save him but...but how?! Suddenly, Holland sucked in a large gasp of air and leaned up toward her.

"Distr...distrac...." Holland whizzed out before his words were replaced by blood. Gabby shook her head and tried to force him to lay down, but it was too late. Holland gave one last gasp before his eyes glazed over forever. He was gone.

"Dammit," was all Gabby could think to say as she laid Holland down. She closed his eyes before looking back up to the giant monster that had killed him. Her eyes rove the scene, but didn't seem to spot Gabby in amongst all the carnage. Gabby, though, had to fight not to spring to her feet and challenge her in rage. Resistance or not, Holland deserved better than this!

"Let that teach you not to mess with a human," the monster said, sending Gabby's blood to beyond boiling Human? HUMAN?! She dared to call herself human after this...and that mother... There were no words and Gabby was past them anyway. Sh- no IT was dead. It was dead, dead, dead, DEAD!!! Damn the size difference, damn the sense, and damn it! She was going to kill it no matter what!!

Gabby, having just enough sense to know her hammer was useless, tossed her weapon away before snatching up a nearby sword. With a mighty yell of rage and fury, she charged Matilda's kneeling lower leg without a single thought on the fact she was charging a leg bigger than most warehouses. She was past caring about the size of the enemy or the fact she was making a suicidal attack. All she cared about was getting revenge for all the people it had murdered.

As Gabby made it past the halfway point, her yell began to dim. Her breath was starting to run out and she focused what she had on keeping herself moving. To her surprise, however, the yell was taken up by other voices. Gabby looked back and saw a small pocket of prisoners and surviving Resistance soldiers run out to follow her in her mad charge. She started to yell for them to go back, but stopped as she looked into their eyes. They had an almost mirrored look of rage and desperation. They were past caring if they lived and nothing she said or did would stop them following her. So she did the only thing she could do. She rejoined their yell.

The monster never turned back to them as they neared its leg. If it heard them, it ignored them, but it was more likely it hadn't. It was just as well as it would notice them now! Gabby raised her sword and drew it back as far as she could. Then, with a yell of fury, she plunged the sword right into the monster's lower leg and smiled as blood started to pour out of the wound. Other people followed her example and stabbed, cut, fired, or bashed their weapons into the enormous leg causing more blood to pour onto the ground.

"AHHHH! WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!" the monster bellowed out with enough force to shake the ground. Gabby fought the pain in her ears away as she pulled her sword free and started to hack at the giant wall of flesh. Some part of her knew she was doing no real damage to the monster. A fall from the full-sized porch could do more damage than she was doing, but Gabby didn't care. All that mattered was she was hurting the damn thing, that it was feeling pain.  

"You fucking cockroaches! DIE!" the monster yelled again and Gabby stopped her mad hacking as she saw the leg twitch...but its hands didn't. Why wasn't it reach- oh shit!

"She's moving the leg to crush us! Get on it!" Gabby yelled out as the massive leg began to grind toward them. Gabby grunted in effort as she leapt up onto it and buried her sword into the flesh. To her relief, it had just enough resistance to hold her up and she dug her feet into the somewhat yielding flesh as best she could. The quicker soldiers and prisoners followed her example and leap up to join her, using spears, swords, and even axes as handholds. But not everyone was quick and not everyone had a sword, etc...

The slower people had just enough time to look worried before the leg knocked them to the ground. Some tried to crawl away, but their legs were quickly pinned by the mass of crushing flesh. They screamed in terror and pain as the monster's leg flattened them like a steamroller. Gabby had to look away as the unlucky souls began to bloat up from the pressure their crushed bodies began to experience. A sickening pop followed soon after that made Gabby shiver in horror and revulsion.

Gabby turned back as the pops stopped and saw that some of the people had managed to run before being caught, but the monster's leg was picking up speed. They couldn't hope to outrun the wall and all of them were armed with hammers, bows, or other weapons incapable of holding them up. Gabby swore as she realized they were dead...unless.

"Hey, grab on! Hurry, take my hand!" Gabby yelled out to the group. She risked letting herself slid down a bit further before extending her hand toward the group. Some of the others on the leg began to do the same as it started to catch up with the fleeing group.

For a few seconds, none of the fleeing group seemed to want to risk it. Gabby swore and was about to yell at them some more, but stopped as the same young male prisoner from before suddenly stopped. He turned and waited a second before leaping toward Gabby. Gabby strained herself forward and held her breath as their hands moved toward one another. She felt his flesh slap hers and clamped down as hard as she could as their hands locked together. The boy's momentum slammed him into the flesh wall and he began to slid down toward the crushing doom. Gabby swore and lifted him upwards as his legs scrambled to try and get a foothold. Pain and strain began to ravage Gabby's arms, but still she held on. Finally, the boy's foot managed to catch onto a small imperfection in the monster's skin and the strain of holding him eased. Gabby let out her held breath as she loosened her grip a bit. They were safe...for now.

However, not everyone had been so lucky. A few of the others had managed to pull some of the fleeing group up as well, but more than a few had empty hands. Some had just not been strong enough to keep the other person up. Others had had no takers for their help. And two had paid the ultimate price for trying to save others when their own weapons had slipped out or broken, sending them both tumbling to be crushed into paste. The rest of the fleeing group fared no better and had been flattened like everyone else. Gabby swore as the thirty or so band who had charged with her now numbered seven...including herself.

Gabby looked at the few survivors and wondered what the hell to do now. The monster's leg had, finally, come to a stop so they could keep attacking, but... Gabby could almost hear that sickening pop again and she had to fight not to shi-

"LOOK OUT!" the boy she was holding onto said. Gabby snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see the monster's hand racing toward them. Shit, it was too close! Gabby didn't have time to dodge, but felt herself yanked forward anyway. She glanced down and saw the boy pushing himself off the monster's leg and pulling her with him. Gabby swore as she let go of her sword and let herself fall. She and the boy plummeted to the ground, maybe just quick enough to avoid the slap. But the others...

"MATILDA!" Alice's voice bellowed out and the slap stopped inches from hitting flesh as a strange gurgle sound followed the yell. Gabby's eyes went wide before she slammed into the poor boy.

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Alice knew this was her last chance. She had no idea who had distracted Matilda again, but whoever it was was going to pay in blood for this chance. She couldn't allow it to be in vain. She WOULDN'T allow all it to be in vain.

Turning to the shard, Alice stretched her arm toward it as hard as she could. The people pushing it seemed to realize this was their last chance as well and she saw them through their entire bodies into moving it. Blood began to appear on its side as they cut themselves on its sharp edge, but still they pushed. And with each push it moved closer, inch by bloody inch.

Alice heard Matilda yell something, but didn't bother to turn. She HAD to get the shard even if it meant weathering another beating. She shifted her body a bit to move closer and her fingers grasped out as far as they could. Just...a...bit....more....

Finally, Alice cringed as her finger slid off the edge of the shard. The pain, however, only brought relief as she reached for the glass again. The small group of people gave one last mighty heave as Alice reached out...

and grasped the tip of the glass.

Alice let a small smile out as she pulled the shard closer and snatched it up. She ignored the pain as it cut into her hand and turned back to Matilda. She was raising her hand to slap at something on her leg, but Alice wasn't about to let her finish that move.

"MATILDA!" Alice yelled as loud as she could before swinging the shard forward straight for her throat. Matilda turned with an annoyed look on her face, but it was soon replaced with shock and surprise as the glass shard buried itself into her neck. Matilda opened her mouth and blood gushed out and onto Alice. Alice, though, only narrowed her eyes as she recognized the signs of a cut windpipe. No matter how inhumanly tough Matilda was, she still had to breath and she couldn't do that with her windpipe flooding with blood.

Matilda shocked look gave way to one of rage as her hands started to move toward Alice. Alice, however, simply twisted the shard and Matilda's hands stopped to move to her throat instinctively. She gurgled and gasped a few times as Alice leaned up toward her face. Letting her die like this would have been easy, but Alice wasn't going to make this easy. She pointed to her left and Matilda's eyes followed her finger to the small group of people standing where the shard had been.

"Go to hell knowing those "things" are what sent you there. They moved this shard,” Alice paused as she let her mask fall away to reveal a glare of disgust.

“Now, burn and suffer with all the other demons," Alice said before slamming her hand into the glass, driving it even further into Matilda. Matilda eyes went wide in pain and shock as she began to gurgle and gasp like mad. Her hands clawed at her neck as if trying to dig out the glass while her face began to turn blue. She let out a few more gurgles and looked to try and get up, but Alice wrapped her arms around her to stop her. Matilda struggled to escape, but her insane strength drained away along with her color. She gave one last pull before slumping down onto Alice, her strength gone. Alice simply watched as Matilda's eyes filled with panic and fear. One last gurgle escaped her lips before her terrified eyes lost all focus. Matilda was dead.

Message sent to Matilda Pledger from Atlanta Command:

Your request for more supplies is denied. You have exceeded your personal allotment for this and next month and are hereby cut off from further doses. We remind you that the dosage amount is NOT a recommendation but a STANDING ORDER. If proof of your overuse is found you will be punished as per guidelines 2-45B.

Command

PS: Don’t send this kind of request again, Matilda. I will not risk my plans just to shield you from the upper levels. Make do with what you have or steal more, I don’t care, just do not go through the official channels again.

Chapter 9: More Questions than Answers

Alice let out another wince as she, finally, finished wrapping her chest. The many blows Matilda had driven into her side had bruised more than one of her ribs and moving was going to be... bothersome for the foresable future. Thankfully, none of them were broken and the rest of the injuries she had taken were minor. The same could not be said for the people in the farm, however...

It had taken Amber and Gabby nearly half a hour to clear the area around Alice of people. Once free to move without endangering people, Alice had helped search for survivors, but had to stop when all the big rubble was moved away. What was left was too small for her to really help with or required too much finesse for her massive body. With nothing else left to do, she had hauled Matilda's dead body back into the house and dumped her into one of the rooms before heading back to the first-aid kit... and her regrets.

Alice tried to sigh, but a fresh stab of pain stopped her. So many dead because of her failure... including Holland himself. Some part of her knew she was being unfair to herself, that no one could have known how inhumanly resilient Matilda would be. But its voice was near silent compared to her screaming guilt. Alice had to fight herself not to sigh again.

Despite her creeping despair, Alice refused to just sit and wallow in despair. Gabby, Amber, and so many others were still out in the farm, struggling to find even just one more survivor. She couldn't help with that effort, not at her size, but there were other tasks she could do that they couldn't. There was still a source of information just waiting to be tapped.

Doing her best to ignore the protest from her chest, Alice stood up and turned away from the smashed window. She moved around the couch and spotted her target off in a corner. Matilda's wrist unit sat where it had landed after the Sword had tossed it away. Alice moved to it and squatted down to pick it up. She moved back to the couch and lowered herself down before turning her attention to the device, wincing a bit as she moved.

The wrist unit had been built rather sturdy and was still working despite the violent toss. A quick restart fixed her "sabotage" and Alice waited for the device to power back up.  The device turned back on, this time with its explorer working, and Alice smirked at its lack of a password lock. Alice had had a hunch Matilda was too arrogant to think she would ever need one, doubly so when only resized people could work the device. Her arrogance was going to give Alice access to everything the dead Sword had and, hopefully, some answers to her many questions.

Alice flipped through the device's functions and stopped when she found its message log. She brought the log up and began to look through it. Most of the messages were the standard fare of reports, supply requests, and conversations with friends, but a rather recent one caught Alice's eye. It mentioned a Resistance attack in the title and Alice wondered if it was an unofficial report sent to Matilda. As she looked closer, however, a wave of shock and surprise slammed into Alice. It had been sent on December 5th... the day BEFORE the attack.

With her world beginning to reel, Alice opened the message to read it.

All Sword Personnel

Tomorrow, a Resistance force will be attacking our base. Due to standard operation procedures, you will be called to report back immediately. You may disregard that order as enough combat forces have be moved on site to deal with the attack.

Also, all Resistance operatives are to be instructed to go to ground till instructed otherwise. This attack will force us to push against the Resistance much harder than before and we need to avoid unnecessary deaths in our pool of operatives.

Command

Alice could hardly believe her eyes. It had been staged...The Swords had staged an attack on the base! But...how?! How had they gotten a force of Resistance to do that? And why? What could they, possibly, gain from faking an attack? If it was the opening gambit to a coup the “Command” would have called everyone back, but she had told them to stay put. And that last part... Resistance operatives... what did tha-

Slight dread washed over Alice as the implications clicked together. Resistance operatives...as in people who worked inside the Resistance. Of course… how else would they have gotten a Resistance force to attack the base? But if they Swords had spies in the Resistance groups then… Alice’s dread increased as she looked out the window.  The people outside..!

Wait...no, no, Alice needed to think before she rushed to action. Running out to spread the message of a spy would simply cause paranoia and distrust. No, she needed to think this through, first. Try to find out who the spy was… or if there even was a spy.

If there was a spy among them, they would have been a fool not to act during their fight with Matilda. A simple warning about the shard or revealing their attack before it even started would have doomed them. Yet neither had happened... And this was an Elven squad. If there was one thing the Elves were experts at it was intelligence gathering and Alice was sure that meant they were equally as good at COUNTER-intelligence. Her dread faded away as she realized the chance of a spy being here was more than remote. It was something to keep in mind, but not to act on.

With that worry put to rest, Alice focused back on the message. Specifically, the implications that the Swords were not bringing their full might to bear on the Resistance groups. Alice frowned as she wonder why they would hold back. Was it to make sure they stayed in power? No Resistance would mean they would no longer be needed... But it would, also, free up their full might if they wanted to force a coup. And just because Atlanta was secure didn't mean other cities were not. Sadly, with this limited information, all she could do was guess as to the reasons. Perhaps there were older messages that would provide more insight.

Alice started to thumb her way back through the messages Matilda had sent and received. She made sure to check all the messages sent by Command, both the obviously official one and the not quite so, and began to piece together a horrible puzzle. It was now more than obvious that someone high up in the Sword's command was working toward some ultimate goal. However, this "Command" was careful never to mention her name or fully explain her objective. Alice could think of a few possible suspects, Angela herself chief among them, but the goal was harder to pin down, doubly so if it was Angela. If it was a takeover of the Atlanta-based Society then Angela had already had plenty of chances to do just that and one could argue she had already succeeded. Doubly so with Command mentioning Shield agents under her control. So what WAS she after?

Sadly, none of the messages provided any answers to that question. It did confirm that Matilda had been heavily involved in this conspiracy, but if she had had any critical information it was now gone forever. Alice tapped the device as she thought back to their fight and tried to remember anything useful. Just before Alice had attacked her, Matilda had thought Alice was a spy. She had mentioned both the Society’s highest powers and Cathrine as her potential benefactors, which implied they were both against whatever Command was after. That narrowed down some of the possibilities, bu-

Alice's thoughts were interrupted as the device suddenly gave a low beep. She glanced down at the screen and saw that a new message had been received. She glanced at the sender and saw Atlanta Society. That name was only used when official reports were sent out to all Society personal. Why-  Ahh, of course... the Resistance attack. This had to be the official after action report. Alice opened the report and began to read.

Most of it was rather uninteresting padding that Alice ignored. She skipped the propaganda and praise and moved to the details. Much of it was padded as well, but she gleaned a few details out of it. The attack had been unsuccessful, but had taken the base off-guard. Or at least the Shield defenders off guard… A few giantesses had been killed in the fighting along with Society personal, but the Swords had reacted quickly enough to keep them minimal. Knowing an attack is coming tends to do that…

Moving down the report, Alice came to the casualties list. She started to run down the list, but stopped dead at the C's. A name jumped out at Alice and a sudden pit of despair and worry appeared in her stomach..

Cutter, Sanders: Ranger Patrol 5 KIA

Alice ignored the pain as she let out a sad sigh. She hadn't known Sanders that well, but his loss was still a blow. Isabella was goi- Oh God... A sudden wave of fear smashed into Alice like a train. The attempt on her and Gabriella's life, she had almost forgotten about it because of this fight. The attack would have been the perfect cover and, now, she knew it had been planned by the Swords. No... no no no!

The device couldn't scroll fast enough as Alice moved it down to the R's. She brought it to a stop as the R's appeared and she moved down till....

Reim, Isabella: Ranger Patrol 5 KIA

Alice had to fight not to let the device fall to the floor. She ignored her protesting ribs as she leaned down and buried her face in her free hand. No... Isabella was gone. Her best friend was...was dead. She had chosen to go after Gabriella rather than her...and now she was lost. If she had only warned her or gone there first, or-

A sudden beep pulled Alice away from her despair. She glanced back at the device and saw another new message. It didn't matter, with Isa- Her thoughts stopped as she notice the sender, Command. The leader of this conspiracy and...and the one behind the attempted murder of her and Gabriella...and the actual murder of Isabella. Alice despair turned to hate as she opened the message.

All Swords

A catgirl has escaped the Atlanta base and is transporting a shrunken target with Alpha-level classified Intel. The target and the catgirl are to be killed on sight, no exceptions. No torture, playing, or slow deaths are to be employed, only lethal force. We cannot allow this target to reach the Resistance with the information it has.

The catgirl was last spotted heading East out of the Atlanta base. All catgirls not accompanied by a trainer in this area are to be killed on sight. Sightings are to be transmitted to Command ASAP.

Command

Alice's hate had turned to confusion as she read through the message. A tiny on a catgirl? And with Alpha-level information? It would have been a good joke if the message didn't make it so obviously not. Who would have been crazy enough to steal that kind of information then try to ride out on a ca- A sudden shaft of hope seemed to shine down as Alice realized exactly who was crazy enough to do just that. Isabella.

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Gabby gave one last grunt of effort as she, finally, got the large piece of rubble to shift. She looked down and swore at the remains of another person she had been too late to save. Sadly, that was becoming the norm now and Gabby wasn't surprised. They had been at this for hours and the chances of someone surviving being buried alive this long were nearing nil. The only silver lining was the look of surprise locked on the poor man's face. Gabby doubted he had even realized what was happening before he was killed…

Leaving the body, Gabby headed back down the giant pile to take a short rest. She passed the boy who had pulled her off Matilda, Roan, as she walked down and waved for him to follow. He had been working right alongside her without rest and she knew he would have keep working if she didn't stop him. Kid had heart, but his scrawny body was reaching its limit and he wouldn't help anyone if he keeled over.

"Come on, let's take a rest. I don't think there is anyone left in this pile... Alive, anyway," Gabby said to Roan. He nodded and tossed a bit of rubble he had picked up away before falling in behind her, the barest hint of relief passing through his features. Gabby found a bit of stable rubble near the bottom to sit down on and took out her newly acquired canteen for a drink. Roan did the same, but almost collapsed when he sat down. Poor boy had run himself ragged...

"Look, Roan, you really should go take a rest. I'm tired from all this work and I haven't spent months in a prison camp slowly losing strength," Gabby said with an understanding smile. Roan looked up at Gabby and put on a defiant face.

"I'm fine. Just...just need a break," the boy said trying to hide just how tired he was. He didn't do a very good job of it, though. Gabby shook her head and got a more stern look.

"You are not fine, you're nearly dead on your feet. Go take a rest, you have done more than enough," Gabby said, hoping to try and persuade the young man to rest. The boy just shook his head, though.

"No... no I can keep going. I can be strong too," the boy said as he pushed himself back to his feet. He wobbled a bit before he got his legs fully under him and started off back up the pile. Gabby groaned inwardly as she stood up to give chase. Kid was going to pass out before he even reached the top.

"Roan, stop. Working yourself to utter exhaustion isn't going to help you get strong," Gabby said as gently as she could. She caught up to the boy and brought him to a stop with a soft, but firm, grip on his shoulder. He shook his head and looked to debate something before turning to face her.

"Then how am I supposed to get strong?! How am I supposed to make it up to these people for-" he came to a sudden halt as the beginnings of tears started to appear. He jerked away and buried his face into his hand. Gabby let him turn away as she tried to hide her surprise. Make it up to them? Was he blaming himself for this massacre?

"Roan... Hey, don't cry. Look, I know it hurts that we couldn't save everyone, bu-" Gabby started but was stopped as Roan turned back.

"That's not it! I'm not stupid, I KNOW we couldn't have saved everyone! But we- no I should have been able to save more! I was feed better, had a weapon, was allowed to hear their plans, I should have..." Roan stopped again as he shook his head and wiped more tears away. Gabby was, now, completely lost. Better feed and had a weapon? What the hell was he talking about?

Her confusion must have been evident on her face as Roan sighed when he looked up at her.

"The guards made me a guard, Gabby. They threatened to beat my dad if I didn't help them keep watch. Freed more of them up for... other things," Roan explained before wiping some snot away. Gabby mouthed an oh as she made the connections. Holland had mentioned some of the guards were just prisoners pressed into service. Roan had been one of those and the guilt of not helping before now was eating away at him. Gabby understood why he would feel guilty over it, but also knew it was wrong.

"I know it seems like you should have done something, but anything you would or could have done wouldn't have changed how this turned out. You couldn't have stopped all the guards by yourself," Gabby explained in a soft tone. Roan, though, just shook his head more.

"But I could have stopped some! I could have stopped them from beating Judith to death or made sure Henry got the food he needed or... or saved my dad from..." Roan trailed off as he looked back at the pile of rubble they were on. Gabby's heart felt like it had dropped down a trap door as she looked at the pile too. His dad had... Gabby turned back to Roan as he started to cry again. She had no idea what to say to the poor kid so she just pulled him closer and into a hug. The boy accepted the hug and buried his head into Gabby's chest. She let him stay like that as she tried to think of what to say or do.

"Those...those people are gone, Roan. And nothing you or anyone else does will change that," Gabby started as she patted his head, "but...but we can honor their memory by making sure we don't make the same mistakes. I might not have known your dad, but I know he would want you to move on and grow despite his death." Roan sniffed a few times and looked to get himself somewhat under control as he looked up to Gabby.

"You said you wanted to get strong, right? Well, I'll show you how to get strong. Least I can do since you would have saved my life if Alice had been a bit slower," Gabby said with a smile. Roan seemed a bit confused at first, but the look faded to be replaced with a hopeful one.

"R...really?"

"Really. From now on, you're my student and I'm going to beat everything I know about being the baddest, toughest, Marine into you until you can out wrestle a bear," Gabby said letting her smile turn into a smirk. Roan couldn't help but get his own smile as he hugged Gabby even tighter. She chuckled to herself as she ruffled his hair a bit. But hug time was over and now it was training time. Gabby pulled Roan off her and got a dead serious look.

"And training starts right now. Wipe those tears up and get to attention," Gabby demanded. Roan was taken off-guard by the sudden shift, but did as he was told once he snapped out of it. He wiped his eyes clear and came to a sort of attention. Ehh, they would work on that later.

"First lesson. You can't train or learn if you are exhausted. Muscles grow stronger not from working, but from rest AFTER working. You have done the working part, now it's time for the rest part. Get your butt back to the tempHQ, get some food, and then get some sleep. Understood?" Gabby said in her best imitation of a drill sergeant. Roan looked a bit annoyed by those orders and might have been thinking of voicing said annoyance. If he had, he reconsidered when Gabby's stern look turned to a glare. Instead, he gave a sloppy salute and took off for the HQ. Well...at least he learned quick.

Gabby made sure Roan entered the HQ tent before turning back to the pile. She was about to start up it when a large noise drew her attention to the unshrunken house. Alice's massive form stepped out  and started toward what was left of the farm's fencing. This rubble was going to have to wait as Alice wouldn't have come back out unless something important had happened. Gabby leap down from the pile and jogged her way to where Alice had knelt down beside the fence. She arrived just about the same time as Amber, the new Resistance leader. Gabby gave her a short nod, which she returned, before she looked up at Alice.

"Need to talk, privite," Alice said before she put her hand down in front of them. Gabby raised an eyebrow at this odd development, but trusted Alice to know what did and didn't need to be said in earshot of others. Gabby climbed up onto the massive hand and turned back to see Amber looked a bit suspicious.

"Oh come on. If we wanted to kill you we could do it right here and no one could stop us...well stop Alice anyway," Gabby admitted with some annoyance in her voice. She was still a bit miffed that Alice was now the strongest one and Gabby wasn't going to get over that till she was back to her old height. A few of the other Resistance people glared at Gabby for her comment, but Amber just sighed.

"True enough," she said in a resigned voice before climbing up herself. Alice partly closed her hand  before, slowly, rising back to her full height. Gabby gave a small thanks that Alice had remember her and Holland's less than fun ride from before and had made proper adjustments. Sadly, her footsteps were still just as jarring and both Gabby and Amber had to brace themselves well to keep from being tossed around.

Alice carried them back into the house and headed for the couch. She, again slowly, sat down on the couch before placing them on the coffee table in front of it. Gabby let out a relieved sigh as she felt solid, unmoving ground under her again and took a second to recollect herself. Having shaken off the ride, Gabby looked up and saw Alice fiddling with a wrist unit. Amber looked up as well and a worried frown appeared on her face.

"Why are you using that?" Amber asked in a tone that hinted of fear. Gabby glanced back at Alice as she wondered the same. Calling in some Shields to look at the mess might not be a bad idea, but she doubted they could talk them out of attacking the Resistance. And, considering what these Resistance soldiers had done to save the prisoners, they deserved better than that. But Alice had to be aware of that so what WAS she doing with it?

"Information gathering. Swords use different codes, different channels, to talk. Matilda's unit has codes and channels. Found...disturbing information. Sensitive, disturbing information," Alice said before moving the unit close enough for them to read. Amber and Gabby glanced at each other before starting to read through the messages.

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Gabby's blood was boiling...no, it was BEYOND boiling! It had taken a bit of explaining for Gabby to catch on to everything Alice had discovered, but once she got the hang of it her rage was past being controlled.

"That...that FUCKER! She's using us...using the whole Atlanta Society!! And when we didn't dance her tune she fucking tried to murder us! AND set up a Resistance attack just to cover it up!! We've got to tell the Shields, warn them the whole damn Swords ar-" Alice cut off her rant mid sentence.

"We can't. Command said she has Shield agents. Tell any Shield and risk tipping off. Too risky," Alice said in a calming tone. Gabby didn't feel any calmer, though. In fact, she was almost even  more angry knowing there were Shields we were going along with this...this butchery of everything they were supposed to stand for! The Society was supposed to help Mankind recover from the Shrink Disaster, not herd it into pens like cattle! If they couldn't warn the Shields then they had to do SOMETHING!

"So what do we do?! We can't just sit here and do nothing with this!" Gabby demanded as she started to pace a bit in anger.

"Unfortunately, I think that is exactly what we have to do," Amber said, finally speaking up. Gabby whirled to shoot a glare at Amber, but the Resistance woman continued despite it.

"We can't reveal that we know this to anyone in the Society or this, "Command", might start using a new way to communicate that we don't have access to. And the same applies to any other Resistance groups thanks to their spies. I doubt we have any in the Elves, but the others... the others are not so secure..." Amber trailed off as if remembering something. Gabby wanted to refute her point... but she knew Amber was right. Dammit, they find this treasure trove of evidence and couldn't do a damn thing with it...

"There is something," Alice said as she moved the unit back up to her. She pushed a few buttons before turning it back to them. Gabby read through it and quickly realized it was a report given of the attack. Most of it was boring official crap, but it soon scrolled down to the casualty list. And a name jumped right out at Gabby... Isabella… Oh, God...

"Wait, there is more," Alice, quickly said as Gabby felt her legs start to give out. Gabby fought to keep standing as Alice pushed a button to change to message to a new one, one from Command. Gabby read through the message and blinked a few times at its insanity. A tiny on a catgirl?! What the fuck kind of jo-... wait... Alpha level knowledge...using a damn catgirl while shrunk... BEING shrunk... It couldn’t… but who else COULD it be?

"That crazy fucking bitch…” Gabby mouthed before a loud laugh burst out from her along with a wave of joy and relief.

“HAHAHA! Sneaking out from under their noses on a damn catgirl, fucking hell Isabella, " Gabby laughed, feeling better than she had in days. Alice even got the closest thing to a smile she ever got as the two celebrated their friend's survival. Amber, though, was totally lost and looked between them in confusion.

"Oh... sorry. We have trustworthy friend that was back at the base. Apparently, these fuckers managed to shrink her too, but not before she got some serious intel. An-"

"And she managed to sneak out on a catgirl... One hell of a friend," Amber finished looked a bit awestruck.

"You don't know the half of it. Well, what are we waiting for! Alice, we have to go find her! With her help we are sure to find someway to fuck this ‘Command’." Gabby said punching her fists together in excitement. Alice, though, seemed to get a bit less happy as Gabby brought up leaving. Gabby was confused why till she glanced over at Amber. Oh...right...

"Oh...well may-"

"No, no you need to go and find this friend of yours. If she has information that important, than we need to reach her ASAP. We can make do without you," Amber said in a confident tone, though her face looked far less sure. Gabby bite her lower lip at that and turned away. She needed to save Isabella...but Amber and the prisoners really did need all the help they could get. And there was Roan...

"Maybe...maybe you should go find Isabella alone, Alice," Gabby said, feeling torn even as she said it. Alice raised an eyebrow at her as Amber looked at her in surprise.

"I'm not going to be much use in covering ground and I sure as hell am no good at tracking. But helping haul food and stuff to keep some ill-feed prisoners alive, that I can do,” Gabby said as she turned a smile to Amber. Amber looked about to argue, but Alice’s louder voice cut her off.

“Very well. Will bring Isabella back,” Alice said as she lowered her hand again.

“You better or I’ll kick your ass all the way back to Atlanta, shrunken or not,” Gabby said as the two old friends shared a smirk.

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Alice frowned as she studied her map once again. A full week had passed since she had left Gabriella and the others. She had spent much of that time attempting to track Isabella's movements and avoid Society patrols. Matilda's wrist unit proved invaluable in the later, but near useless in the former. As was her own skills in hunting and tracking... Despite Alice's best efforts, she seemed no closer to finding Isabella than she had been the moment she had left the farm.

After leaving the base area, Isabella and her catgirl seemed to vanish completely and none of the many Society patrols had found a hint of either. Alice was fairly sure that was thanks to Isabella heading down into the old sewers and drainage channels, but knowing that and actually tracking her THROUGH said channels were very different things. Alice didn't have any information on their layout and Isabella could have come out in hundreds of places. However, Alice did have one advantage that the rest of the Society didn't have. She had a good idea of Isabella's destination.

Whatever Isabella had found, it had likely involved something in Lindale. She had made multiple trips there and had only taken an interest in it after the Manchent incident. And if anyone knew something that this "Command" didn't want getting out, it would have been Gregor Manchent.

That knowledge had lead her here, to the old ruins of Marietta. Marietta had been a large suburb to the north-west of Atlanta. It was, or rather had been, almost city unto itself and even had its own air force base. Now it was just empty ruins that had yet to be recolonized. Feral catgirls, packs of wild dogs, and worse were said to lurk in its ruined buildings. About the only people who came here were scavengers or desperate refugees, both Society and Resistance. Which made it the perfect place for Isabella to slip out of the city.

However, tracking Isabella in these decaying ruins would be like trying to track a fly through a shopping mall. Nonetheless, Alice would not give up. Isabella was out there somewhere and Alice would not stop till she had rescued her friend. Even if she had to search every square inch of this suburb.

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Another long day of marching and biting cold had, finally, come to an end. The refugees, exhausted from yet another hard march, were all resting while the Elves set to work securing and setting up the camp. Of course, they were just as tired from the march as the prisoners, but someone had to secure the area. Amber hated having to push them so hard, but there was no telling when the Society would discover what had happened at the farm. They needed to put as much distance between themselves and the farm before that happened. The other Elves understood that as well, but it didn't make it any easier ordering them to work themselves to near exhaustion... nor did the ordering feel any less strange.

Even after two weeks, Amber still didn't fully feel like the leader. She still caught herself thinking of asking Holland for orders or Devin for his thoughts. But both of them were gone, now, along with so many others. They had entered the farm with thirty people...and left with fourteen. Well...fourteen plus the eighty refugees who had survived. Ninety- four people... all putting their trust in her to lead them to safety. She was used to having lives depend on her decisions, it came with being a team leader, but not the entire group. One bad call could get ALL of them killed... and Amber couldn't help but question every one of her calls.

"Yo, Amber," a voice said, jarring Amber out of her thoughts. Amber turned to see Gabby, with Roan in tow, heading toward her. Despite the march and the huge pack of food she was carrying, Gabby didn't look tired in the least as she walked up with a smile. Roan, on the other hand, looked worn ragged and fighting not to collapse under his heavy pack. The poor boy was being put through a grueling gauntlet by Gabby, yet was perfectly happy to take it all. Amber felt bad for him, but there was no sense in trying to stop him when he WANTED to suffer.

"The pri-" Gabby winced as she caught herself, "refugees, have got their rations. Want me to get started on setting up the camp?" The prisoners hadn't liked being called such after they had been freed, doubly so since all of them felt they had been unjustly imprisoned, so refugees had become their new catch-all term. Most everyone had gotten used to the new term, but a few still slipped up from time to time.

Gabby had been a Godsend since this march had started. Having enough food for the march had never been a problem, the farm had plenty, but transporting enough had. Even after waiting an extra day to feed the refugee's properly, most were still in no condition to haul large loads of cargo and the remaining Elves could only haul so much. So Gabby had volunteered to make up the difference till more of the refugees recovered. Despite carrying more weight than any three people combined, she had managed to keep up with the march and help set up the camp every night. Even better, she and Roan had taken it upon themselves to make sure everyone got their rations at each stop, relieving Amber of another task she had to do. Amber was grateful for all that help, but she was starting to worry Gabby was pushing herself too hard. Even she had limits.

"Why don't you rest for a few hours? We can handle the camp, for now, and I know a few of the refugees have mentioned wanting to help. They can make up the difference," Amber said, going back to the matter at hand. Gabby's smile faded a bit at the suggestion and Amber felt a bit of worry drift through. She had learned in these last two weeks that the only thing Gabby had more of than toughness was stubbornness. However, she had also learned of a small chink in that armor.

Amber gave a short nod toward Roan and made sure her concern showed through. Gabby glanced back at the young man and turned back with a less sure look. For his part, Roan seemed too tired to be angry at being used to get Gabby to rest, or he was smart enough to know it was the only way TO get her to rest. Either way, he didn't say anything and just tried to catch his breath.

"Alright, I suppose I need to rest every so often too. Come on, Roan, let's take five," Gabby said as she patted Roan's shoulder and regained her smile. The boy nodded and they both put down their packs before sitting down to rest. Amber nodded to them both before heading out to the perimeter of the camp. Her nerves started to return as she moved out to give orders, but she fought them down as she glanced back at Gabby. If she could haul so much food and still have enough energy to help set up the camp, the least Amber could do was trust herself enough to lead properly. The other Elves hadn’t made her the new leader without good reason...right?

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Night had settled over the camp and Gabby let out a long yawn. Amber had picked a nice spot for them to set up tonight, underneath an old, slowly rotting, back porch. Even better, she had let everyone make a fire to keep warm and to cook some game the Elves had managed to bring in. Seemed a bit odd she would let them have so many fires after not letting them have so much as a spark, but Gabby wasn't about to complain.

Gabby stifled another yawn as she glanced over to where Roan was. He was supposed to be keeping a lookout for any threats that might be heading their way, but most of his energy was being used to try not to fall asleep. Gabby might have been annoyed by that if she wasn't feeling exactly the same.

These last few weeks had been hell and, while Gabby would never admit it, she was nearing the end of her rope. It was a good thing most of the refugees were up to carrying some weight now, cause she doubted she could have gone another day carrying all that stuff. In fact, all she wanted to do was pass out and stay out for a few days. But that just wasn't possible. Someone had to keep watch at night and the refugees just didn't have to training or experience to do that, no matter their condition. And with only fourteen Resistance soldiers left, Gabby had to pick up some of the slack.

But knowing all that and still managing to stay awake were two different things. Sleep was not going to back down easily and Gabby could feel its call getting harder and harder to ignore. She needed to get her mind off how tired she was, but there wasn't much else to think about. Thankfully, her old Marine sergeants had drilled in a good way to deal with that problem when you were stuck on watch duty with someone else.

"Hey, Roan, how did you wind up at that prison?" Gabby asked, getting Roan to jerk a bit as he snapped back to sorta awake.

"Huh? I'm up I'm.... what?" Roan said as his mind stumbled around. He glanced toward her and blinked a few times to try and dispel his tiredness. He didn't succeed, but he was awake enough to understand her when she repeated the question. Roan glanced away after hearing the question and his shoulders slumped a bit. Uh oh, she might have picked a bad topic...

"If you don't wan-" Gabby started to say, but Roan shook his head to stop her.

"No...no it's fine. I wanted to ask you something about it, anyway," Roan said before turning to look out into the darkness.

"It was... well, honestly, I'm not sure how long ago. Months at least, but probably more like a year. My dad and I had gone out to do some hunting before winter had set in fully. We were tracking a bunch of deer and had gone pretty far out chasing them. That's when were heard some people talking... giant people," Roan said before glancing toward Gabby. Gabby frowned, not liking where this story seemed to be heading.

"I don't remember what they were talking about, but I do remember they were talking to someone we couldn't hear. We started to try and leave, but before we could a huge fairy swooped down on us. It snatched us up and took us to two giantesses that were nearby," Roan continued. He started to keep going, but Gabby interrupted him before he could.

"Did they have a sword or a shield on their uniforms?" Gabby asked, already having a good idea of the answer. Roan closed his mouth and took a moment to think.

"I never got a good look at either of them, the fairy keep rocking us around, but I think one had a sword and the other had a shield on their shoulder badges," Roan said before nodding in sureness.

"Yeah, that's right cause I remember my dad being weirded out about that." His dad wasn't the only one as Gabby found her assumption dumped on its head. A Sword AND a Shield?! What the hell... Roan must not have noticed Gabby's confusion as he keep right on with his story.

"Though, that was more because of what they did... One of the giantesses accused us of being spies and my dad tried to tell them we were just hunters. They didn't believe us and the other said we had heard too much. They told whoever was on the ground to leave and go silent for awhile before telling the fairy to store us away. It...well..." Roan looked away and got a disguisted and horrified expression. Gabby knew how fairies usually "stored" shrunk people and she could guess it wasn't exactly a fond memory for anyone.

"Next thing we knew, we were in that hell hole. The guards refused to even listen to us plead innocence. They just demanded we work or beat us till we did. They wouldn't even let dad send a message to mom or anything... they just beat him worse when he asked...but he never stopped asking..." Roan trailed off before he closed his eyes to try and hold back some tears. Gabby turned away from him as her fist clenched together in fury. A damn SHIELD had been part of throwing the poor boy into that...that...sweat shop! It was bad enough the Swords were ignoring everything they were supposed to stand for, but Shields TOO?!

Gabby's boiling blood suddenly cooled as Roan let out a sniff. Gabby looked back at the boy and saw him bury his head in his hands to hide his tears. Shit, Gabby could be mad later. Right now, Roan needed her more than her rage. She stood up and moved over to him before pulling him into a hug. He accepted it without hesitation and let himself be comforted.

"It's alright, Roan. Just let it out, nothing wrong with crying," Gabby soothed as she patted his head. The young man took a few rattling breaths before looking up at Gabby again, his eyes swollen.

"Gabby...why? Why did they do this to us? We didn't do anything, so why?!" Roan demanded as his hands tightened their grip. Gabby sighed as she wiped some tears off his face.

"Because there are peo- no, monsters, out there that don't care. They don't care who or what gets in their way, they'll kill them or ruin them all the same. And they will keep doing it till someone stops them," Gabby said as she pulled Roan back to her. He let himself be drawn back into her arms, but didn't look at all satisfied or happy with that answer.

"But don't be afraid of them. Because me, Alice, and Isabella will make sure they all pay for this. We'll send every Goddamn one of them straight back to hell and we won't stop till no one ever has to go what you went through again," Gabby said with iron in her voice. She had to fight to keep for tightening her hug on Roan, but she managed to keep herself calm.

Roan was silent for a few seconds and then took in a deep breath. He looked up at Gabby and, despite his still swollen eyes, gave her a look of complete determination.

"I want to help. I want to make them pay, too!" he said with the same iron resolve. Gabby smiled down at him and patted his shoulder.

"You will, I'll make sure of it."

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Two weeks and five days... That was how long they had been on this march for. It had seemed longer than that, much longer, but it had been worth it. All ninety-four of Amber's people were still alive and there had been no sign of the Society tracking them. And best of all, the outermost Elven supply base was in sight. Within a few minutes they would all be safe, secure, and able to fully rest. Everyone was all smiles and good humor as they walked the last few kilometers to salvation. Amber had done it, she had made sure Holland and all the other's sacrifices were not in vain.

"Zack, Kensey, come with me. Let's go explain what is going on to the Supply Master. Rest of you stay here till we get back," Amber ordered as she brought the march to a halt. There was a bit of grumbling at stopping, but there was no getting around it. If they just marched right in with the refugees, the Elves of the base were more likely to shoot than ask questions. But she knew the Master of this base and he would let them in once she explained what was going on.

Zack and Kensey fell in behind Amber as they made their way to the base. Like all supply bases, this base was hidden away and disguised to avoid detection. A bit further to the north was the old remains of someone's bootleg moonshine distillery. It would have made of a great base, but also stuck out like a sore thumb. Any Ranger with half a brain would check it thoroughly. Which was why it WASN'T where the base was. Instead, the base was hidden away further south, up where a pipe used to run fresh water into the distiller. Of course that pipe was long gone as its metal had been used to build the underground supply base, meaning there was nothing to point out that area as anything but more untamed wilderness. More than a few Society patrols had found the old moonshine maker. Not one had ever come close to finding the base.

Amber turned her eyes away from the old ruin and back to the hidden entrance. She started to reach out to move the leaves and other debris, but stopped when she noticed movement to her side. She turned, ready to greet whoever it was, but was stunned into silence as she came face to barrel with a gun. Zack and Kensey looked equally shocked as more Elves, all with guns or bows drawn, appeared from around them.

"What ar-" was as far as Amber got before the hidden door shifted open. Amber turned back and felt her heart fall into her stomach.

"By order of Harris Clim, leader of the Elves, you are all under arrest," said Alberto Roscoe, Commander of the Elves equivalent of Military Police.

Trader rumors on Elves:

Let me give you some advice if you try to trade with the Elves. First, don't go into their territory. You get on their land and they'll show up in the dead of night, strip you of everything than can as a "tax" then boot you out with nothing but the clothes on your back and, maybe, a weapon. No, you let them to come to you. If you got something they want, they'll find you, trust me. Second, don't ask question. They won't answer them, anyway, and all you will do is piss them off. And you REALLY don't want them mad at you.

But the most important thing, is never, EVER tell anyone that you meet with them, what you sold them, or where they went. The Elves love their privacy and if you put that at risk, nothing is going to save you. They will find out that you talked about them and the moment that happens, you're dead. Doesn't matter who it was or how careful you think you were, they'll know. Fuck I bet they're listening to me tell you this shit right now.

-Transcript made by Operative Geo. Requested permission to silence trader was approved.

Chapter 10: Descending Shadow

Alberto and a number of his men walked behind Amber as they made their way back to the refugees. Amber barely even registered them, though, as her mind was still reeling from her arrest. Arrested?! How could she be arrested?! It was no secret that Elder Clim was against any hostile actions against the Society, but arresting her AND all of the others? This had to be some kind of mistake...

Amber had to put aside her thoughts and bewilderment as the temporary camp came into view. The Elves on watch duty looked happy at first, but their joy turned to surprise and confusion when they noticed Alberto. Alberto motioned to them and his soldiers rushed them, weapons out. Amber wanted to stop them, but she knew exactly how Alberto would deal with any resistance. Thankfully, so did her soldiers and they surrendered their weapons without incident, though all of them looked furious. Dammit, what was going on?

With the picket soldiers unable to warn the camp, Alberto's men surrounded it before he forced her to march right in. The refugees all began to gather as Amber approached, but their hopeful faced dimmed as they noticed the grim faced soldiers behind her. Gabby and Roan, in particular, seemed to tense up and Amber prayed Gabby wouldn't start something. Alberto brought them to a stop near the middle of the camp before he spoke.

"By order of Eldar Harris Clim, leader of the Elves, everyone here is under arrest. Surrender peacefully and you will not be harmed. Resist and we will take you in by force, alive or dead," Alberto said without a hint of emotion. Alberto wasn't making a threat, simply stating exactly what would happen. A wave of shock, despair, and anger rippled through the refugees and Amber feared they might try to fight back. Alberto must have noticed this too and gave a loud whistle. The men who had surrounded the camp came out from their hiding places, purposely making noise so the refugees would notice them. Every one of them were armed with guns or bows and they all raised them to fire. The anger died down quickly now that the people found themselves surrounded by armed soldiers. Amber hated every part of this... but at least the refugees wouldn't try to fight a lost cause.

The relief was short lived, however, as Gabby stomped out of the crowd and began to stare down Alberto. Oh no...

"You sack of shit. These people have been trapped in a fucking work camp for months, some YEARS, and you come here to ARREST them?!" Gabby yelled before taking out the gun she had gotten from one of the dead Elves. Amber's fear skyrocketed as the soldiers all turned their weapon on her and Amber did her best to signal her to stop. Gabby, however, didn't even look at her as she glared in fury at Alberto. Alberto returned the glare full force.

"A sad tale, but that doesn't change my order. Now, throw down that weapon," Alberto said as his gun moved up to point at Gabby. Gabby made no moves to carry out that order and a tense moment passed through the area. Suddenly, Roan appeared at Gabby's side and whispered something into her ear. Gabby's eyes left Alberto for a second to glance at Roan, but returned soon after. Her face twisted into further anger, but she tossed the gun down in despite it. Amber let out her held breath as she thanked God for Roan. She didn't know what he had said and, honestly, she didn't care. Atleast he had stopped her...

Alberto lowered his own weapon before circling his finger above his head. His men moved into the camp and began to round everyone up. No one, not even Gabby, resisted and within two minutes they were all on they way to the supply base... as prisoners.

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It still didn't feel real... No matter how long Amber stared at the bars of her cell she still felt like she was in a nightmare. That any second she would wake and find they were still outside the supply base, a few steps away from sanctuary. But this was no nightmare...just a cruel reality that did not care for its own injustices.

Of all the injustices today, the ones done to the refugees weighed the worst on Amber. They had fought, marched, and died to escape one prison... only to be tossed into another by their would-be saviours. She prayed they were being treated with some empathy... Hopefully Gabby and Roan had been left with them, unlike Amber. She had been put in her own cell and left to stew in its isolation. And to wonder how this had happened.

What could Harris have been thinking? Why would he imprison them? Yes they had attacked a farm, but they had WON. Not only that, they had brought back equipment, supplies, and more recruits. But most of all...most of all that victory had cost Holland Clim's life... Was that what this was about, Holland's death?

Amber's thoughts were pushed back as her eyes caught some movement. She looked up from the corner she had sat in and put on a nasty scowl. It vanished instantly, however, as she saw the Base Master, Wade, walking toward her cell. Amber got to her a feet and moved to the bars to meet him.

"Wade! Good, I was worried Alberto had arrested you too," Amber said with relief. She hadn't seen him or any of his people since she entered the base and was starting to wonder what Alberto and Elder Clim had done to them. It seemed her worst fears had been unfounded.

"He has no arrested me yet, and that is a large yet. Elder Clim has been furious since arriving and has not been above taking out said anger on others," Wade said with a hint of worry in his voice. Amber's eyes widened at the news. Elder Clim was HERE?! This...this was far worse than she had thought. Wade noticed her shock and continued.

"I am afraid it gets worse. He and Alberto arrived a few days ago and took command of everything. He had most of my men disarmed and the rest put on patrols. I think he was planning on putting Holland in his place, but... that was before we found out Holland was...gone," Wade turned away and shook his head in sadness. Amber, though, was too busy taking in this news. Holland and his father had been... testy with each other since the Bears and Holland's older brother fell, but for the Elder to come all the way out here... This wasn't boding well for her trial.

"So I get to take Holland's place then," Amber said, more as a statement then a question. Wade sighed before nodding.

"I'm sorry, Amber. If I could I would free you b-" Amber stopped Wade as she noticed some of Alberto's men entering the area. Wade mouthed sorry again before turning to face the MPs.

"Base master," one of them said as they all gave short salutes. Wade returned them.

"Excuse us, the prisoner is to be brought to the trial," the same one said before moving to open the cell door. Wade nodded and, reluctantly, moved to let them pass. He looked to want to stop them, but knew better than to try. Wade was a good fighter, but even he couldn't take four MPs plus the reinforcements that were sure to arrive. Besides...this was her trial. And...and if it was for failing to keep Holland alive...she deserved it.

Amber didn't resist as the MPs lead her out of her cell. She gave Wade a small smile before continuing forward to the meeting hall where Harris Clim awaited. It was all Amber could do to keep a calm look on her face.

The walk to the trial wasn't long, yet it felt like an eternity for Amber. Her mind raced with worry for the others and herself. Elder Clim was not known for leniency, but maybe she could get him to lay the blame on just her. Holland had sacrificed himself to save the refugees and the other Elves... the least she could do was follow his example. Amber took a deep breath and composed herself as best she could as she entered the main meeting hall.

Normally, the large, round meeting hall was used as a briefing room or a communication hub. Tables would have been set up around the area covered in reports and messages. Someone would be reading off or putting up the latest news while others would have been reading through the reports, trying to figure out their next move.

The Elves didn't have much of a central command. All it really did was compile all the information the various Elf squads and operatives found and keep the supply bases stocked. Instead, the Elves relied on individual commanders to make their own judgement calls. This did make any coordinated efforts a choir to organize, but also meant that no one squad knew everything. Even if a Squad leader was captured, their information would be limited to their operating area thus lessening the damage. And it meant a traitor could only do so much damage.

All of that was gone, though. The tables had been moved to make an impromptu seat of court while the walls were lined with chairs and benches filled by other Elves. More MPs were stationed around the area and at least three guarded every route out of the room. Alberto stood waiting next to a small raised podium. And sitting at the judge's seat was Elder Clim... Holland's father. The old man's face was a low scowl and his eyes glared in anger at Amber. Amber had to fight not to shiver as she was moved to the podium. She stopped next to Alberto who gave her the briefest of looks before turning to Harris.

"The accused, Amber Perlman, Elder," Alberto said. Clim glared at Amber for a second more before nodding to the commander. Alberto moved away a few steps, but stayed close enough to spring toward Amber if she tried anything. Even if escape had crossed Amber's mind, it would be futile with this security.

"Amber Perlman," Clim said with a bit of anger already evident in his voice, "you stand accused of betraying the Elves. How do you plea?" Amber winced at the words. Betraying...Part of her thought that was too far... and yet Holland was dead. Perhaps.. perhaps that was the right word for it.

"Elder I..." Amber started, but stopped as she looked down. What could she possibly say to Harris that would make it OK that his last son was dead? But she had to say something.

"I'm so sorry I let Holland die. Please...the failure is mine and mine alone. The others, don't punish them for my mistake," Amber managed to say, keeping her head down as she fought back tears. There was a bit of murmurs from the area, but they quieted down soon enough.

"It seems we have a misunderstanding on the exact nature of your betrayal, and those who serve under you," Clim said with a slight hint of annoyance. Amber looked back up at the Elder and felt a wave of fear run through her. Her AND those who served her? What was he-?

"You stand trial for betrayal because you violated MY standing orders of not engaging the Society. You stand trial because you were STUPID enough to drag nearly a hundred people through the wilderness to our doorstep. You stand trial because you had the GALL to bring outsiders to one of our supply bases. But most of all, you stand trial because you put EVERY Elf in danger by attacking the Society!" Clim nearly yelled out, accenting some of his words with jabs of his finger. The murmurs picked up again as Amber stood there, dumbfounded. This...this was about the attack on the farm?! But...that...how...

"But...but we won! We destroyed the farm and killed the giantess running it!" Amber said, her mind still in somewhat shock from what she was hearing. He was going to punish them...for WINNING?!

"And what good did that do? There are many more farms scattered through the wilderness and thousands of giantesses to take her place. All you accomplished was drawing attention to us! And that is treason of the highest order!" Clim shot back, his scowl only growing. Amber felt like she had been struck. That was what this was all about? THIS?! It was… it was like he didn’t even give a damn about Holland!

"What good did it do? There are eighty good things sitting in a cell in this base! We saved those people from a life of slavery an-" Amber started to say, but Clim slammed his fist on the table to silence her.

"And brought them here, risking our safety for theirs! Raising our need for food just to make your own damn conscious feel better! They are not good things, they are further burdens and threats!" Clim yelled his anger evident on his face. Amber stared at the Elder for a second, in complete shock at what she had just heard. But even more so, to hear some of the people in the audience agree. Amber's fists tightened as fury boiled up inside her.

"If being a decent human being is a crime, then we might as well let the Society find us as we are no better than them! Your son and many of my friends gave their fucking LIVES to set those people free and you call them WORTHLESS! Why don't you go back to the farm and take a giant piss on their graves while you're at it?! We struck a blow to the Society and rather than rejoice in that you want to worry about your own fucking SAFETY?!" Amber yelled, not caring in the least that she was cussing out the leader of the Elves. Eld- no Harris, glared at her in such fury that Amber would have sworn he was going to bust a blood vessel. He slowly stood up and glared down at her.

"My son was a fool. He failed to learn from his brother and paid for it with his life. And whatever pointless act he decided to throw his life away on has no merit on what is best for the Elves. But it seems his poisonous taint does... Alberto, execute Amber, her soldiers, and all of the people who came with her. They can serve as a reminder of the cost of risking our security," Harris said with a tone as cold as the weather outside. Amber's eye shot wide as fear smashed into her. Gasps came out from the gathered Elves and even Alberto seemed taken aback by the order.

"El-Elder ar-" Alberto started to say, but stopped as Harris whirled on him.

"That was an order," Harris nearly growled out. Alberto opened his mouth again, but closed it when Harris' glare narrowed at him. He nodded in understanding and moved toward the still shocked Amber. Oh God... he was going to kill them all! Gabby, Roan, Zack, Kensey, Juliet, the refugees...Everything Holland and the others had died to achieve, tossed away! No... no, she couldn't let this happen she ha-

Before Amber could react, Alberto was on her. He forced her down onto the podium and took out a knife from his pocket. Amber tried to escape his grasp, but Alberto was just too strong. NO NO! She had to do something!

"Is this what we have become?! Is this what we have turned into?! Have we become so terrified of the Bears repeating that we would rather kill ourselves than even THINK of fighting back?! How many of you owe Holland your lives? Are you OK with shitting on his last act? Are you fine with ninety-nine people dying just because they had the gall to fight to survive?! Are you all that much of cowards?!" Amber yelled out, unable to do anything but curse. The knife moved closer and still there was no sign of anyone moving. Damn them...damn them all! She was going to make them pay for this some-

Suddenly, a shot rang out in the hall, causing the knife to move away and everyone to spin in its direction. Amber had to fight to shift her head toward the sound. Near the edge of the benches set around the area was Wade, his gun drawn and pointing up. It lowered to point at Alberto.

"Not all of us, Amber. This... disgrace has gone far enough. Release her, Alberto, even you can see this is wrong," Wade said with a diamond hard glare. MPs around Wade began to grab their weapons, but they never got them out as other Elves from the crowd rushed them with weapons they had hidden on themselves. Suddenly, the MPs found themselves outnumbered five to one by the Elves who had been in the crowd. Not all of them had weapons, but most of them did look ready to fight. Alberto was silent and Amber caught him shift as he looked toward Harris.

"You fools... you stupid TRAITORS! Have you not learned that fighting the Society is pointless?! You will throw your lives away for NOTHING! You will bring the Society down upon yourselves and die just as pointlessly as the Bears! Betrayed by the very people you think you are protecting!" Harris spit out in fury. Amber couldn't see Harris from where she was, but she did see Wade turn a glare toward him.

"Maybe, but they are our lives. If you wish to hide in a hole somewhere, praying the Society passes you by, fine. But you are not dragging all of us down into that hole OR sacrificing innocent and brave people just to help make it," Wade said before he cocked his gun.

"Now [i]put down that knife.[/i]"

There was a short pause before Amber felt Alberto release her. The sound of metal hitting the floor followed and Amber stood back up to see Alberto, hands raised and empty. The other MPs followed their leader's example and dropped their own weapons which were quickly snatched up by the rebel Elves nearby. Amber turned to look at Harris and saw the old man seething with fury.

"Your damn, naive will to fight will see us all doomed. Nothing of the Elves will remain once you bring the wrath of the Society down on us. And it will be all your fault. Your friends, family, EVERYONE dead, because you had to fight," Harris growled out. The room was silent for a moment as Harris' gaze sweep over the room. Amber could see some of the rebels starting to waver and, realizing Wade was not going to speak up, spoke up herself.

"Maybe. But if it does end that way, I can tell Holland that I tried to make his sacrifice mean something. At least I can say I tried to fight what I knew was wrong. At least I FOUGHT rather than hid and waited for the inevitable. I’ve seen first hand the horrors and sheer… inhuman cruelty the Society brings. They won’t stop till we are all dead or their slaves. So if we are dead either way, then better to die fighting," Amber said, returned her own glare at Harris. Harris' anger only grew, but he stayed silent as the wavering rebels strengthened their resolve. His last gambit had failed and he knew it.

"Take them to the cells. Let them take the refugees' place, I'm sure they have made it nice and homy for them," Wade ordered, getting a slight smirk. A number of the rebel Elves began to round up the MPs, Alberto and Harris. They lead them away as Wade put away his gun and walked over to Amber.

"I'm so sorry for making you go through that. I wanted to act sooner but not everyo-" he started but Amber waved him off.

"It's fine. You stopped this madness before it got too far and that is enough," Amber said with a smile. Wade let out a soft sigh before shaking his head with a smile.

"That's enough... Not like you almost had your neck sliced open," he said with a soft chuckle. Amber let out her own short laugh as she realized just how close to death she had really come. Thank God Wade had been here... However, when Amber looked back up at Wade, his face had gotten a far more serious look.

"You do know this is going to be trouble. Taking the Elder prisoner is the definition of traitor. And even if we explain exactly what happened there are some who are going to side with him. We might have just started a civil war..." Wade said as he rubbed his chin in worry. Amber's joy fell away instantly at the thought of an Elven civil war. The casualties caused by that, not to mention the very real possibility of them being found by the Society while they were busy killing each other, filled her with more dread than she had ever had before. Had...had she brought Harris' prediction to reality?

"NO, we can't let that happen! If we start killing each other then all of this will be pointless!" Amber said, panic and fear laced through her voice. Wade nodded in agreement and keep rubbing his chin. Amber wanted to tell him to think faster, but knew she would just slow him down. Wade was one of the smartest people in the Elves and it was only because he refused promotion that he was still a Base Master. If anyone could think of a way to stop this war, it was him. And it looked like he had as he stopped rubbing his chin and smiled.

"We need to go see Harris."

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Alice had failed... She had had three weeks to find Isabella. Three weeks to track her down and bring her to safety...and still Alice had failed. Alice cursed to herself as she looked down at the tracks she had, finally, picked up on. There was no mistaking it as the catgirl's Isabella was riding, its careful attempts to not leave tracks were a dead give away, or where it was heading... Phoenix territory, the only Resistance groups near Atlanta that Alice could not risk crossing.

If Alice still had support she might have tested their wraith, but with no rescue teams or replacement equipment to be had... Alice's fists clenched as she realized she could not follow. The Phoenixes would ambush her before long and getting injured would doom any chance of her helping Isabella and Gabby. Not to mention that kind of fight would draw the Society’s attention faster than anything else. No, it was too risky and Isabella would have been furious if she had risked it. Knowing that, though, didn't make it any easier giving up on her.

If only the Society hadn't picked up their patrols so much. She had caught Isabella's trail more than once, but each time she started to close in she was forced back to avoid a patrol or make a false trail to lead the patrols away from Isabella. It was a poor excuse, though. She had been trained practically from birth to be a hunter... and still she had failed. Damn it...

Pushing her self-loathing away, Alice tried to focus on what to do now. She couldn't follow Isabella into Phoenix territory which meant Isabella would have to deal with them alone. The Phoenixes were dangerous, very dangerous, but they were not stupid. Maybe... maybe Isabella could talk them into helping her. Having a catgirl at her command would certainly help in that regard, though that assumed the Phoenixes didn't attack them both before she could talk. Damn, there were too many unknowns... Alice needed to know what was happening bu.... but she couldn't get in... That didn't mean someone else couldn't...

Alice folded up her map and started her trek back to her jeep. She needed to hurry as every second might count. Alice couldn't get to Isabella, but maybe the Elves could.

Despite her attempts to hurry, it still took Alice a full day to make her way back to Elven territory. The Society wasn't just stepping up their patrols but looked to be going on the offensive as well. The reports Alice was getting through the wrist unit were painting a bleak picture for the Resistance groups caught in their path... And the Phoenixes were not long from being on that list... Even worse, Command seemed to have gone radio silent and Alice was starting to suspect that was not because she hadn't sent out new orders. More than likely, Matilda's death had been discovered and Command had cut her wrist unit out of the loop. While that loss of information was a blow, Command wouldn't know who had taken the unit or where Alice was, she had made sure to remove its GPS systems. Knowing an unknown agent was running around might make Command paranoid and paranoia lead to mistakes. It was a small silver lining… though...

It took yet another full day for Alice to find an Elven patrol. Oddly, the patrol knew who Alice was and seemed to have been waiting for her. They sent her deeper into Elven territory and told her to wait at a specific location, an abandoned moonshining operation. It didn't take Alice long to find the slowly rusting still, it stuck out very noticeably, and she had barely gotten within a foot of it when a voice yelled up at her.

"Alice! Over here!" Gabriella yelled out from Alice's side. Alice turned and had to search a bit before spotting Gabriella and a rather fit boy standing at the top of a small rise. Alice made sure no one else was around before bending down to be closer to their level. Gabriella had a jury-rigged bullhorn in her hand and gave Alice a big smile.

"Good to see you back. Wish you had brought Isabella with you, though," Gabriella said, her smile dimming a bit. Alice felt her shoulders sag a bit as well and she gave an inward sigh. Dammit...she should have reached her. Alice glanced back in time to see the young man giving Gabriella a hard look.

"Nice, just dump some more salt on that," the young man said and Gabriella turned to him in confusion. The confusion turned into realization as Gabriella spun back.

"Shit, no I didn't me-... Fuck, I just meant I wish Isabella was safe too. I know you did your best out there Alice and, considering what we have been hearing, it's a miracle you and Isabella didn't get caught," Gabriella said with a bit of blush showing. Alice waved the apology away, she was more than used to Gabriella's blunt manner, but narrowed her eyes at the last part.

"What you heard?" Alice asked, wondering what information the Elves had gathered during this time.

"Nothing good. Shadow operatives have been bringing in tons of reports about Society attacks on other groups. Not that surprising considering that Command bitch had the base attacked. Word is, everyone in Atlanta, Society or not, is chomping at the bit for payback. Hell the last report we just got was of some group the... uhh.." Gabriella trailed off as she looked to the young man.

"The Snakes lost their HQ and were in full retreat. Our operatives barely managed to make it out before the Society wiped the place out. And their not the only ones, both the Wraiths and Wolves are getting hit hard and almost every large group south of Atlanta is either gone or in full retreat," the young man picked up.

The Snakes already routed? The Society really was going all out. They were not as powerful or as dangerous as the Phoenixes, but they were no pushovers. To be routed that quick while the Society was pushing out in all directions...  This was not boding well.

"Amber?" Alice asked, thinking she might have some ideas.

"She’s inside, but is a bit busy. Running a new Resistance group isn't easy," Gabriella said, causing Alice's eyes to widen. Running a Resistance group?!

"Oh...right, you hadn't heard... well..."

Gabriella and her apprentice, Roan... more Roan to be honest, explained what had happened. To avoid a war between the different factions of Elves, Amber and Harris had agreed to split the Elves. Those that wanted to fight would join the newly made Shadows, lead by Amber, and take the fight to the Society. Those that either didn't want or couldn't fight would stay with the Elves and Harris would remain their leader. At the moment, the Shadows were gathering supplies, equipment, and people before heading out. Part of the agreement was the Shadows had to leave Elven land and never return, but Wade had managed to buy them a month to stock up before they had to leave. As it stood, about 35% of the Elven forces had joined the Shadows and a large part of the spy network had joined as well. More were still joining as word spread, but it was looking like less than half the Elven numbers were going to join, not as much as Wade or Amber had hoped. Still, their numbers were enough to rival most Resistance groups and they didn't have non-combatants to worry about, unlike most other groups.

"Interesting... understand why Amber is busy. Will wai-" Alice started to say, but stopped as slight movement caught her eye. She looked a bit further up the hill as what had looked like just some fallen brush shifted to move aside. Gabriella and Roan both turned to look as Amber, along with some Elv- rather Shadow soldiers in tow, moved toward them. Her clothing was a good bit nicer than it had been before and she looked far more confident than when Alice had last seen her. The sergeant thrust into command had been replaced by a sure-footed leader. Or at least a good actor.

Roan gave a crisp salute to Amber while Gabriella simply nodded to her. Amber returned a salute to both of them, apparently not bothered that Gabriella hadn't saluted before looked up to Alice. Alice nodded to her and Amber returned the nod before getting a smile.

"It is good to see you back safely, Alice. I feared you might have been caught in the chaos that has been spreading out of Atlanta," Amber said, trying to hide the obvious joy she wanted to show.

"Avoided it, but lost Isabella. Headed into Phoenix territory, unable to follow her," Alice responded, having to fight not to cast her eyes downward at having to say how she had failed.

"Understandable. The Phoenixes are one of the more dangerous groups. But, I have good news in that regard," Amber said, unable now to hide her smile as she looked between Alice and Gabriella. Both Gabriella and Alice raised their eyebrows in interest.

"Our spies have reported the catmonster Isabella was using has turned south. More importantly, it has fallen in with a Phoenix battle group."

Alice couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

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January, 22, 2024

Gabby had to wonder just how odd this situation had to look from the outside. Amber had called a meeting of the top members of the Shadows and had invited Gabby and Alice as well. Of course, there was no way Alice was fitting into any meeting rooms so said meeting had to take place outside. And since forcing Alice to have to kneel the entire time would be a bit harsh, Amber had picked the top of the abandoned moonshine still to be their meeting location. So here they were, four people standing on top of a rusty piece of junk while a giantess stared at them. It was worrying how unsurprising this whole situation was to Gabby… Fuck, what was her life coming to?

"Let's get started. Wade," Amber said, motioning for Wade to begin the briefing. Wade had become the Shadows second in command and was, also, the closest thing to a quartermaster they had. Despite having to do two jobs at once, the man seemed to always be on top of any problems or new information that came in. How he managed it Gabby would never know. Wade nodded before turning to face them all.

"We have received some new information on Isabella. The Phoenix battlegroup she was with engaged a Ranger patrol that was nearing the border of their territory. According to our spies in the area, the Phoenixes, with the help of the catmonster, wiped the Ranger patrol out. Giantess included," Wade said, keeping his voice level despite what he had just said.  Malcolm, a refugee turned commander, gave a short whistle before shaking his head.

Gabby wasn't exactly knowledgeable on the odds of Resistance forces vs Society ones, but she did know that Ranger patrols did NOT get wiped out. Take losses, sure, but taken out completely... no that just didn't happen. Of course, the Resistance didn't usual have catgirls of their own or have someone as familiar with Ranger tactics as Isabella was. It sucked that a Ranger patrol had to die, but Gabby knew Isabella would have made it quick for them. If Alice was surprised, she keep it hidden away, as usual.

"How many did they lose doing that?" Malcolm asked, turning a raised eyebrow to Wade. Wade gave him a slight smirk before answering.

"One," was all Wade said, but it was enough to have Malcolm lose control of his jaw. Even Gabby had to fight not to drop her jaw. Jesus fuck, only ONE?! Gabby wished Isabella was here so she could high five the shit out of her for that. Malcolm composed himself a bit before speaking up again.

"Sweet Jesus, only one casualty... That catmonster is way more effective than I thought it would be," Malcolm said before shaking his head.

"Mistake underestimating Isabella," Alice said, whispering so as not to blow their eardrums out and pointing her mouth away to avoid actually blowing them. Malcolm seemed a bit less sure on that, but Gabby nodded in agreement. The catgirl helped to be sure, but that had Isabella written all over it. If Wade had an opinion on it, he keep it hidden..

"Either way, this news makes it even more important we get in contact with Isabella. The information she has and the massive increase in our combat effectiveness makes her recruitment paramount," Amber said, getting the meeting back on track. Everyone nodded in agreement and Amber continued.

"Which brings us to the main point of this meeting. Figuring out how to do that. Wade," Amber nodded to Wade again.

"The simplest method would be to contact the Phoenixes directly. While they are a bit... dangerous, they are not above trading secrets, doubly so when said secrets work against the Society. However, we do not know how secure the Phoenixes are when it comes to spies. We might, inadvertently, hand all that we have learned right to the Society by contacting them," Wade reported, not showing a hint of whether he liked or disliked the plan. Gabby didn't hide her feelings as she frowned at that idea. She might have come to trust the Shadows, but she was still leery of other Resistance groups.

"Dangerous...too dangerous," Alice whispered out, shaking her head a bit to add emphasis. Malcolm nodded his agreement.

"Agreed. Besides, there is no guarantee the Phoenixes would even honor a bargain made with them. Next plan?" Amber said motioning for Wade to continue.

"Very well. I doubt this one will be acceptable, but for the sake of addressing all possibilities... We could take Isabella by force an-" was as far as Wade got before Amber cut him off with an angry chop of her hand.

"Absolutely not. Whether we won or not, we will waste hundreds of lives fighting people we should be fighting with. The only people who would win that battle is the Society," Amber said, giving Wade a bit of a glare. Alice added her own nod, but Gabby wasn't so sure. They did know there was Resistance spies around and who was to say the leader of these Phoenixes wasn't one. After all, Command managed to get a full group to attack the base and that required people at the top. Malcolm didn't look so convinced either, but both knew this wasn't up for debate. Wade shrugged before continuing.

"As I said, I just mentioned it to put all options on the table. The only other way I see us getting to Isabella is managed to get a spy to meet her. Doing such, however, will not be easy. The fact she spends so much time with the catgirl forces our spies to stay well away from her and it's doubtful the Phoenixes will be welcoming to such an attempt. It will take time and luck for this plan to work, but it is the safest," Wade finished, again showing no sign of his own thoughts. The group was silent as they considered the choices. Gabby wished there were more, but she doubted she would think of any viable ideas that Wade hadn't thought of. She was still partily to the idea of attacking, but she knew it was a lost cause.

"Well unless we want to risk everything on the Phoenixes, it seems like our only choice," Malcolm said, making it clear which he would rather do. Amber frowned as she thought for a second before turning back to Wade.

"What is your opinion?" she asked. The Second in Command seemed to sigh for a second before he started to rub his chin.

"Hoping we get lucky is not a recipe for success. However, considering our other options, it might be our only choice. As you said, attacking the Phoenixes would only help the Society and I am doubtful we could win even with Alice. No offense, it's just that the Phoenixes are some of the best giantess fighters in Georgia," Wade said, looking a bit apologetic as he glanced toward Alice.

"Same fear, no offense," Alice said making Wade look less worried.

"Good. As for contacting them, I am less worried of our information leaking as what Darius, their leader, will want. He is far too smart not to realize just how game changing Isabella and her catmonster are and he will be very protective of them. He might purposely try to stop us from contacting her so as to keep her with his forces and the things he might ask for as "trade" for contacting her will be... costly. He will bleed us drive if he can or attempt to absorb us into the Phoenixes," Wade said, a bit of worry crossing his face for the first time. This Darius sounded like a real prick and Gabby was only moving closer to the fighting idea as she listened.

"Which leaves us with hoping for the best. It is not ideal, but considering the alternatives, I think it is the only real choice. Of course, if we knew where Isabella was going to be, we would have a much easier time of creating that luck," Wade finished with a sigh. Both Amber and Malcolm looked far from happy, but it was pretty obvious what they were going to pick. Gabby was going to say something about such good choices, but never got the chance as Alice spoke up.

"Know where she might go," Alice said, her face looking a bit brighter. The group turned to Alice and she continued.

"Isabella interested in Lindale. Headed Northwest out of base when escaped, toward Lindale. Possibly headed there when found by Phoenixes. Might head there again. Worth searching," Alice said in her usual crisp manner. Shit Gabby had completely forgotten about that.

"Oh yeah. Isabella was heading there when I gave her my jeep just before I got shrunk. She didn't tell me what was there, but it had to be important with the way she was dead set on going," Gabby added in. Dammit, how had she forgotten that? Wade went back to rubbing his chin as Amber looked down in thought.

"Interesting... do you think that Alpha-level information is there?" Amber asked Alice. Alice only shrugged in response and Gabby had to give the same. Isabella had gone out of her way to not say what was there. Typical Isabella, trying to protect everyone and just pissing everyone off instead.

"It is worth looking into, but that is a long trip. And there is no guarantee Isabella well head that way. Then there is how big Lindale is and there is no way of knowing if anything is there. I am not sure it is worth the trip," Wade said looking over to Amber. Amber frowned and turned to Alice.

"Go alone if needed. Not long for me," Alice said with a look that made it clear it was a statement, not a request.

"You are sure as hell not going alone. I'm coming too," Gabby said as she moved to stand closer to Alice. A slight frown began to form on Alice, but Gabby waved it off.

"Don't even try with me. I have been dying of boredom here and I'm not letting you have all the fun. Besides, there is better chance we will find whatever it is if we go look together," Gabby said getting a face that just dared Alice to argue. Alice gave a soft sigh before turning away, having gotten the unspoken message.

"That is a good point... Malcolm, how many of our people can we send with Alice?" Amber said getting everyone to look at her in surprise. Malcolm recovered the quickest and got a smirk.

"I think we can spare forty or so soldiers. They'll need a commander and I happen to be rather bored myself," Malcolm said as he glanced toward Gabby. They shared a smile before both Wade and Alice seemed to groan.

"Then I think we have a plan, though I want you to do another mission as well. We have to leave this area soon and need a new place to set up. Before you search Lindale, I want you to set up a secure area near Rome. That should make for a nice new location to set up in," Amber ordered as she glanced at Wade. Wade's annoyed look vanished as he rubbed his chin for a second. He then nodded in approval of this new plan. Alice, though, still looked very unhappy, but now was all alone in her disapproval.

“Hey cheer up, Alice. Now you will have some friends to help pass the time on the road,” Gabby said, giving Alice a sly grin. Alice groaned.

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[same day as Phoenixes leaving Hope on Pyrrha, update when I get to it]

Roan was still feeling a bit woozy as the backpack-turned transport finally settled on the ground. Thankfully he had managed not to lose his breakfast, unlike a few others and didn't have to hear Gabby mock him for it. Despite the rough trip of swaying and heaving, Gabby hadn't so much as burped. Hell, she had been laughing through most of it. Damn she was so awesome.

"Come on, Roan. Let's get you on solid ground before you waste that breakfast," Gabby said as she put her arm around him to help him to the exit. Roan let her guide him as he fought back his motion sickness. This... was going to take some getting used to. Hopefully Gabby would have a chat with Alice on her lack of concern for the people on her back.

While Alice’s jeep would have been far faster, and probably less sickening, it had been deemed too noticeable. Instead, Alice would hike her way to Lindale carrying the Shadows in her newly remodelled backpack. The backpack was pretty old and musty, but Alice had fixed it up with some spare fabric and other supplies. She had lined it with soft pads so anyone getting tossed around would be safe and put all the dangerous equipment in separate pockets. It was a good transport considering how quickly it had been built, but left a lot to be desired when it came to comfort. At least this hidden Elf, now Shadow, relay station had gotten them an early break.

Gabby found a bare tree to set Roan next to and left him to recover. Roan stayed there for a few minutes, letting the swaying slowly fade from his mind. Once the ground stop feeling like it was rolling under him, Roan got up and decided to go find Gabby. He didn't have to look long as Alice was kneeling down nearby, talking to someone. Roan hadn't known Alice for long, but that was long enough to know she didn't talk to just anyone. If she was bothering to speak, it was probably to Gabby.

Running past Alice's massive boots, Roan headed up the small ridge and found Gabby and Malcolm talking to Alice. He had heard Alice's words long before now, but her chopped up and short manner of talk made it impossible to tell what was being talked about. As he got closer, though, he started to get the jest of what was going on.

"-his way then we need to wait for them!" Gabby said, looking both exciting and angry. Uh oh... Roan moved a bit closer to get a better look but made sure to stay out of sight. Time to put some of his stealth training from the Shadows to the test.

"Too dangerous. Will attack," Alice responded making Gabby look more angry. She looked about to say something, but Malcolm spoke up before she could.

"I hate to agree with Alice on this, but she is right, Gabby. The Phoenixes are going to take one look at her and either run or shot. They sure as hell are not going to listen," Malcolm said getting Gabby's wraith turned toward him. He raised his hands to try and calm her as she moved toward him.

"So we are just supposed to let them go? Not tell Isabella what we have learned? FUCK THAT! Besides, Isabella will recognize Alice," Gabby said, stopping only a few steps from Malcolm. Roan started to worry that he might have to reveal himself. He was sure to get in trouble, but it was better than letting Gabby's anger get the best of her.

"Not in control. Not leader. Too dangerous," Alice said with a bit more force. Gabby whirled back onto her titanic friend and the two began a very lop-sided stare off. Despite the size-difference, Gabby didn't back down an inch and Roan felt pride well up inside. That was HIS mentor, staring down a fucking giantess like it was nothing.

"Fucking cowards. FINE, if you are so damn worried then I will stay and wait for her myself," Gabby said as she broke of the stare. Roan felt a pang of fear stab into him at those words. Stay behind? No, she couldn't stay, couldn't leave him!

"Are you insane? We can't leave you out here alone, this is untamed territory! Not to mention if the Phoenixes veer off course you will be completely screwed. Hell they might just shot you even if you DO run into them," Malcolm yelled in anger. Gabby turned her glare toward him, but Malcolm stood his ground this time.

"Is right. Far too dangerous. You ARE coming," Alice said, her voice booming out at the last part. Gabby turned back to her massive friend and the two began to stare each other down again. However, it was Alice who broke off the stare as her hand moved down and planted itself in front of Gabby, crushing a number of trees as it came down. Alice's eyes narrowed as the implications were made obvious. Alice would make Gabby come even if it meant having to carry her. And at her size, it was anything but an idle threat.

Gabby seemed to get Alice's meaning as well and her fists began to shake in fury. Roan had only seen Gabby this angry back during the battle at the farm and would have been worried for anyone else on the receiving end of that fury. But even with all her rage, Roan doubted Gabby could do anything to hurt or stop Alice.

"Fucking CUNT!" Gabby yelled before turning away and storming toward Roan. Roan swore as he ducked back into cover, afraid that Gabby's fury might turn toward him. However, his attempt to hide was made pointless as Alice's hand moved up and blocked Gabby's path, and his view of the scene.

Roan couldn't help but marvel at how huge Alice's hand was. Even more strange, though, was how thin and smooth the hand was. Normally, it was hard to remember that Alice was just a woman and not some kind of giant monster towering over them like a Goddess. But seeing how...normal her hand looked was a reassuring reminder of that. If she was just a woman, a BIG woman but still a woman, than so where the other Society giantesses.

Shaking off his thoughts, Roan adjusted himself again and tried to listen in. Sadly, Alice's hand was blocking most of the sound as well and he could only hear bits and pieces. Gabby was yelling something, but he couldn't make out what.

"Throw life away. Isabella furious," Alice responded her look unchanged. Dammit, Roan wanted to hear what was going on. Deciding the risk of discovery was worth hearing, he started to shift around Alice's hand. He managed to stay out of sight as he made his way around the huge hand, just in time to catch the last bit of a sentence.

"-eed you here," Malcolm said, his hand on Gabby's shoulder. Gabby gave him a glare, but the barely contained fury from before looked to have cooled into a low simmer. She turned back and looked up at Alice again. Gabby let out a sigh as her shoulders drooped. Roan felt a bit torn at that look, sad so see his mentor brought low but so glad she wasn't leaving. And then Gabby fell to her knees.

Everyone's eyes shot wide as Gabby collapsed onto all fours. Wha-what?!

"Alice, please, please let me do this. I am supposed to be the rock, the muscle, the...the powerhouse of us and yet… and yet all I did was become a liability. If I wasn’t so stupid you could have gotten Isabella first and not worried about me, you could have saved her! I’m not supposed…” Gabby trailed off as her head lowered even further.

“Please...let me do this. Let me make up for failing you and Isabella..." Gabby, practically, begged. Roan could hardly believe that he was seeing Gabby begging for anything. How... how could she have done that? But, in truth, Roan knew exactly how. It was how he could keep fighting through all the pain she had put him through, all the tests and trials and misery. Because she cared about Isabella more than she did about herself. Just like he cared about making amends for his weakness at the farm more than something as trivial as pain. Roan smiled as he felt his admiration for Gabby grow even more.

Alice's look of surprise faded and changed into anger. She still didn't say anything, however, and just looked away. Her eyes closed and silence hung in the air.

"Go," Alice finally said, her eyes still closed. Even with her usual ability to hide her emotions, Roan could see the anger simmering there, yet it seemed it wasn't enough to stop Gabby after that plea. Gabby didn't waste a second as she got back to her feet and started to run off. She had gotten a few steps when Alice spoke up again.

"Gabriella, dying would be a far greater failure," Alice said as she turned to look at Gabby's back. Roan was a bit surprised to hear a full sentence come from Alice, but Gabby simply smiled.

"Don't worry, you won't be rid of this pain in the ass idiot that easily," Gabby said as she gave Alice a quick smirk, her eyes a bit red. Alice shook her head, but the faintest hint of smile appeared on her face. Gabby took off running again as Malcolm and Alice turned back to one another.

Roan thought of stopping Gabby, of saying goodbye or...or asking her not to go. But he knew that he couldn't do either, because he would end up doing both. He owed her too much to force her to make that choice. Besides, she had done enough for him, made him stronger and prepared him to make his own path. He couldn't stay in her shadow forever and someone else needed her more now. No, it was time for him to grow up and become his own man. And if- no when, she came back, he would be a man worth being proud of.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The large force of Shields and Swords all snapped to attention as the small passenger jet came to a halt. The ground crew waited till the roar of the engines had died down before moving the ramp to the door. The jet's door opened inward and a fully armed and armored soldier stepped out. Three more followed after her and each fanned out around the ramp, their guns drawn and ready. Nervous whispers filtered out of the assembled Society members as they marvelled at the advanced weapons and armor these soldiers were using. Railguns and heavy flak were far from standard issue...

The whispers instantly died, however, when a fifth figure appeared in the doorway. The woman stepped into the sun and her golden hair shone all the brighter from it. She made her way down the ramp and the soldiers fell in beside her as she moved toward the assembled women. Matriarch Angela and Cathrine gave crisp salutes as the woman stopped in front of them. Both were tense in their bearings.

"My Queen, allow me to welcome you to Atlanta," Cathrine said, her voice carrying over to the crowd behind her. No one in the crowd dared to say anything after having their fears confirmed. In fact, most of them were too busy trying to hide their own fear and apprehension. There were only four Queens in all the Society and they were second only to the Director and Vice-Director in authority. Not only that, but each had earned the rank not just through intelligence but combat prowess as well. To say they were the four of the most dangerous people alive would not be an understatement. And one had arrived in Atlanta.

The Shadow spy wasted no time in fleeing as fast as he could from the area. He had to report this as soon as possible.