No place, Sonja decided miserably, had any right to be this cold.

Sonja sat in the backseat of a speeding jeep, wrapped up in so many furs and blankets that her normally lithe silhouette was unrecognizable. She peeked through slitted windows at the grey overcast sky and sighed. Light snow continued to sprinkle down, renewing the layers of white on the endless expanse of pine that clothed the landscape and blurred vision beyond a fraction of a mile. The weather had been this way since her and her driver had arrived on Blue Moon, and she was convinced that it would stay this way forever.

An empty wasteland

Hungry for human spirit

And never sated

She reflected how low she'd been brought - composing poetry about her horrid existence. Briefly Sonja found herself fantasizing that Black Hole had succeeded in destroying it. Very briefly.

During the first hours of the drive, Sonja had attempted to go over her unread reports. Attempting to read while her jeep cruised over slick, neglected roads had not been one of her better ideas. She was still fighting off the occasional pang of nausea, but at least the smell had worn away some.

Attempting to catch up on her oft-neglected sleep also proved futile.

So it was a welcome break to the monotony when her jeep started slowing. She struggled out of the bulk of her insulation (still leaving on enough scarves and padded jackets to confuse her with an Eskimo), she squeezed into the front passenger side seat. There seemed to be a road block of some sort up ahead - the speckled blue camouflage of Blue Moon was visible on several military vehicles, and there was someone approaching them on foot.

"Wait here," Sonja informed her driver once the jeep had come to a complete stop. She shoved open the door, and an assaulting wind made her rethink it. Bearing the biting cold, she stepped out into several inches of mulchy snow. Distracted by the realization that she had not packed waterproof boots, she didn't notice the arrival of the Blue Moon Officer. She jumped when she addressed in a small, shaky voice.

"A...apologies for the inconvenience ma'am, but this road is closed until... um... well, for awhile."

After regaining the momentary loss of composure, she realized that she recognized the voice. "Colin?"

"Oh!" he exclaimed, recognizing her once she pulled down her hood - which she then promptly replaced. "I didn't recognize you, Commander Sonja! Well, I guess I should have, Yellow Comet recon and all..." Sonja was not particularly tall, but Colin still managed to stand at least a foot shorter than her. She noticed that the Blue Comet CO still had a habit of lowering his eyes, even in the presence of equals.

"It's no problem, Colin. Few are aware of my presence in Blue Moon - and you haven't seen me dressed up like a seal before." He still seemed a bit nervous, even after her attempt to calm his nerves. She tried a different angle. "Is your sister here?"

"Sasha?" He asked, suddenly quite alert. Being reminded of his sister seemed to both light him up and heighten his nervousness. It was a relationship that Sonja could certainly relate to. "She's actually back in Omega Land, leading the repair efforts in Blue Moon's territories. It's probably better that I didn't stay - I'd probably just mess stuff up."

"I'm sure Commander Olaf just needed your expertise in your homeland, Colin," Sonja comforted. "So what's this road block about?"

"Oh!" he exclaimed again. Sonja suspected that he forgot things fairly often. "I'm not supposed to tell people what's going on, but I can probably tell an Allied Nations CO. Actually you can see for yourself."

He pointed over the forest in one direction. At first, Sonja could only see the regular gray snowy haze she had come to despise about the country. After some intensive squinting, and a momentary thinning of the clouds, however, she caught sight of a blurred, but unmistakable dome form.

A Black Cannon.


"... and it started firing on pedestrian traffic in the area only yesterday. We've had to block all traffic between here and here." The Blue Moon officer pointed out the stretch on the map for Sonja, indicating what was over a one hundred mile stretch. "It's caused quite a backup on the west side," another officer spoke up. "We're trying to redirect but there simply aren't many paved roads in this region."

Sonja took a sip of hot tea (the encampment only seemed to have water and vodka, luckily she'd brought her own) as she studied the maps. The tents of the improvised camp were not much warmer than the outside air, but they broke the wind and kept snow off of them, for which the Yellow Comet CO was grateful. Colin sat nearby, his hands fiddling idly. She contemplated trying to get him more involved, but finding out more about this cannon was of greater import.

"Here," she pointed to a cliff on the map with a good view of the cannon. "If you position a rocket unit here, you can reach the Black Cannon. The woods should block the Cannon's sight of it until it gets into position, after which it will be out of the the Cannon's limited firing arc."

The first officer shook his head. "If it were that simple we wouldn't have called for so much backup. These woods are filled up with rogue Black Hole units. That's who fixed up the Black Cannon to begin with. We certainly wouldn't have left a functional Black Cannon overlooking such an important road."

"But you would let a routed arm of the Black Hole army regroup around and repair one?" Her retort had come out a bit sharper than she intended, but it was such an outrageous example of poor organization and intelligence gathering. That they would let the army get such a strategically important spot was bad enough, but they had also given them ample time to fortify it. "How many of these residual bands of Black Hole units exist in Blue Moon?"

"Quite a few, I'm afraid." The door flap at the head of the command tent opened as a tall, willowy figure stepped in. A chilling wind blew through the tent, scattering around unsecured papers and knocking open the folds of the newcomer's long trench coat, revealing an old fashioned revolver tucked into a belt holster. "Blue Moon has alotta rural or jes' plain undeveloped regions. Plus, them soldiers are more slippery than snot on'a glass doorknob."

"Commander Grit!" Colin half-shouted, jumping up from his seat to greet his superior with a stiff salute.

"Now, what have I told you about that salutin', shorty?" the senior Blue Moon CO responded with a curt smile as he shoved his wide-brimmed hat onto the boy's head. He studied Sonja for a moment before saying, "Yer that Yellow Comet Lass, if I don't got my eyes screwed in backwards. The one with more'n two cents to rub together." He punctuates the last statement by tapping his temple with his index finger.

"Sonja," she said with a small bow. She then added with an acidic tone, "And you are the legendary Commander Grit, peerless marksman but notorious sloth. It saddens me that my countrymen do not live up to your stringent expectations."

He raised his hands in front of his face as if to ward off a barrage of needles. "Whoa, lower the quills there, Porcupine. 'Twas intended as a harmless jest."

Sonja harrumphed. Maybe she wouldn't take so much offense if there wasn't a ring of truth to it. Deciding that a return to the topic at hand was in order, she snapped, "So what is your plan of attack here?"

Grit, having decided that refuting Sonja's earlier claim was too much effort, collapsed into a nearby chair. Eyes closed, he waved dismissively in her general direction. "Plans are best made by the fully rested."

"Good," she stated, her chin rising proudly. "Then you won't mind me taking control of your troops for the attack." Grit's right eye popped open as Sonja shoved a hastily scrawled list in his face. "I need these units deployed and ready in two days."

"Two days?" Grit grunted, looking over the list. "We'd be lucky to get this haul in a week."

Colin, reading the paper over Grit's shoulder, started counting things out on his fingers and nodding intently. "Yes... yes! I can handle this!" Snatching the paper from Grit's hand, he rushed to the tent flap and looked back in, a new purpose glistening in his young eyes. "Just leave it to me!" Then he disappeared with another dramatic wind.

The unexpected action left everyone in the tent speechless and dazzled. "Well..." Sonja shattered the silence a full minute later. "While we wait, I need reconnaissance done in these points..." She went on to mark a seemingly endless number of vital points on the maps spread across the table.

One of the lieutenants in the room edged closer to Grit and whispered, "Sir, you're letting her take control of the operation?"

Grit sighed and mumbled back, "Junior, when you get to be my age, you wizen to things best left alone. Officers, lest they put you to work, snapping turtles, cuz they'll take your finger right off, and women, who'll take off worse." He leaned a bit closer to officer and lowered his voice and gestured to Sonja. "And that one there is what you get if you put em all in a room and set 'em on fire."