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.