Number Two Chapter 4: Specter, a kim possible fanfic

"Rodegan may be a small fish, and it is, but there is something else behind this operation. Besides the chance encounters and what Agent Will Du and Operative Williams recovered from the enemy base under Warsaw, this was a chance for a victory against Gemini. If Global Justice is to step up into the world in accordance with the GDIA, Global Justice needs to show it can handle matters. This small victory is another credit to the organization. Some battles are won by perspective rather than substance, unfortunately."

- Doctor Director, commenting on the Global Justice effort in Rodegan when its lack of tactical value was commented on by GJ Brigadier General Gary "Pinpoint" Townes

Chapter 4: Specter

9:00 AM Local Time

June 10th, 2007

Rodegan Castle

Will stood straight with his hands held behind his back as Wally and his father hugged tightly. "Wally!" the soon to be ex King said with tearful joy. "It is good to see you safe and sound."

"Daddy," Wally said back, "It's so good to be back to civilization. My hosts were oh so rude!" Will could not help but note that Wallace's eyes conveying a meaningful look towards him apologetically. He glanced to Atton, who was standing next to him and had both of his weapons on a new harness, though his shoulder guard was not replaced yet.

"Your Highness," Atton said as he stepped forward, "I have to return to my previous mission soon."

"Of course," Wallace said as he released the embrace from Wally and took on the professional visage of a monarch in business, "Thank you for your efforts, Lieutenant Williams. It... it means a lot to me that you did what you did for my son."

Atton nodded firmly, "Global Justice is always happy to stand against Gemini's little Worldwide Evil Empire. Regardless, I would advise Rodegan exercise extreme caution for a while until they are sure that whoever aided WEE's efforts don't attempt a comeback."

"I understand, Lieutenant." Wallace turned to Will, "How long will Global Justice's soldiers be remaining?"

"We intend to head out by sunset," Will explained, "We need to debrief via video conference with Doctor Director first, but otherwise it is likely we will leave. I presume the elections went on while we were gone?"

"No, actually." Wallace said, "Adam Campan asked that they not begin until Wally was returned, to be fair to both parties."

Atton glanced at Will and sighed with a shrug as Will answered: "Very well. It is likely that we will remain during the elections then, but I cannot guarantee such until I have debriefed with Doctor Director over the matter."

"Of course, please contact her so we can have arrangements made."

XXX

WEE Headquarters

Somewhere under the Atlantic Ocean

Gemini nodded as he discussed with the burly mercenary whose face looked like it had been flatten by a brick during childhood. "Welcome aboard, David 'Hellrasier' Findley. I think you'll find this contract to your liking, the pay is quite good."

"Yeah, yeah," the mercenary answered with a roll of his shoulders, his battle-scarred Kevlar armor of black color gleaming in the red light, "Just make sure we get paid once we've finished, alright?"

Gemini scowled at him as he petted Pepe, "Remember your place, Findley."

The mercenary simple shrugged, "Right, I'll see the other meat bags you've hired at the rendezvous then. Sir." He put a disrespectful bite into the acknowledgement and walked off.

Gemini brought up the tactical map of the soon to be battlefield. There were two areas he would have to focus, the palace itself where all military functions were housed, and the small town that made up the rest of Rodegan. The town was relatively simple, but housed almost all the population not involved with military affairs. The palace was the main military complex, including a small motor pool that included a recently acquired M60 Patton bought from Austria, delivered the night before. This concerned Gemini as while the Findley's Fraggers carried explosives able to handle a tank, the arrival of one could be a problem. He had several mercenary ninjas as well who he would send after the Global Justice agents to keep them clear. This just left the forty mercenaries and ten agents he had hired to handle the fifty man strong forces of Rodegan. He smiled, Baring the arrival of Kim Possible or intervention by any nearby countries, it will be easy to take Rodegan over. Still, first goal should be to wipe out the town's structures as to leave visible damage. While that is going on, I can send a team into the palace... yes, two of the mercenaries are supers. I will prepare a separate briefing for them and a small team that'll have the ninjas.

He began finalizing a briefing for the mercenaries going into the fray, to make it clear he would not accept failure.

"This is Gemini," he stated as he began recording, "You are all aware of what you will be up against: a militia like force of soldiers referring to themselves as archaic 'musketeers' and a few agents from the enemy. Your objective is straightforward: You will take out all military forces and destroy everything in your path. Scorched Earth. This attack is to cow Rodegan into abandoning its foolish plans and making them remember a certain iron rule. Do. Not. Fail me!"

Rodegan Castle

Will Du saluted as Doctor Director appeared on the screen. "Doctor Director."

She nodded, "Agent Du, Lieutenant Williams. Wally has been returned to his home, but we have not had a formal debriefing other than your brief report. What was discovered under Warsaw?"

"We're not sure, ma'am. They seem to be some analog to WEE, but use primitive weapons mixed with advanced shielding of some sorts." Atton said, "It seems that some of their elites are able to take our energy weapons, but their mainline seem to have far weaker shielding that a single shotgun blast is able to overwhelm. We left some documents recovered with Sunspot's men."

Will chimed in, "Given this single engagement, we cannot proper gauge their abilities. However, it is clear they have access to advanced stealth operatives and those who have capable shielding are capable of causing considerable damage before being taken down. They seem to favor hand-to-hand and melee combat. Again, this is only one engagement, but the texts Operative Williams recovered may yield something."

Doctor Director nodded slowly. "Write a formal report on this, both of you. If we happen to run into them again, we can use it as an opportunity to learn more than what we've already gained. What have they identified themselves as?"

Atton answered: "According to the second of their stealth operatives we defeated, she identified themselves as a 'Conclave' before committing suicide."

"And Wally's statements on his capture?"

Will inhaled, "He only speaks of the conditions they held him within, not anything that his captors said to him. We won't learn anything from him, ma'am."

Doctor Director sighed, "A shame. Regardless, both of you have done well. Lieutenant Williams, make ready to head back to your prior mission."

"Yes ma'am," Atton said. Doctor Director then turned to Will;

"Agent Du, I believe you were informed but in the event you were not: Agent Blake's funeral was yesterday while you were in transit. I understand you wanted to be there."

Will closed his eyes, "Yes ma'am, but I understand that I could not be present."

"Once you have returned stateside I'll give you leave, Agent Du. Agent Astrid was also transferred stateside for treatment and recovery. Her condition is stable, but she has been hooked up to a lot of life support."

Will nodded in relief, "Understood, ma'am. Do you have any other orders?"

"Only that you remain until the elections have finished, Agent Du. From what Wallace told me, the return of Wally means they will begin in the afternoon. I am considering sending Kim Possible down there, just in case. She's on the horn and we can have her down there quickly."

Will sighed internally. He knew he would never lose whatever reputation he had gained after being outpaced by Kim, but he knew the truth now. He may not of been able to become a one-man army like Kim was able to, but he could hold the line and his training would carry him through.

"Doctor Director, I understand that Will failed in the previous incident, but you said yourself that the blame fell on Agent Astrid's foul up and there was no negligence on his part." Atton said suddenly, "I think that Will Du will be able to finish the operation without support, though I would ask him if he agrees with this assessment." At that point, he glanced to Will.

He inhaled a moment, collecting himself before answering. "That is correct, Operative. I believe that we can complete the mission with the agents we still have present. Given that they were all we could spare in the first place, I would advise we not pull other agents from where they are needed in order to support this or bringing Possible here when she may be needed elsewhere. Wallace has mobilized a good portion of Rodegan's standing army to ensure security. Further, Corporal Thomson's hovercraft is repaired enough to provide us with air support."

Doctor Director nodded with a faint smile on her lips, "Excellent, Agent Du. Good to have our number one agent back in action. I will leave you two to your orders. Doctor Director out."

The transmission cut and Will closed his eyes, thinking again about the previous few days events. It showed him several things. No, he was not the best Global Justice had. On the other hand, when it came to its stalwart mainline, its agents, he was the best of them. Even if he never got the same level of credit as more visible 'heroes', he was still equal to them in heroics if not stature. Atton clasped him on the shoulder, "Good luck, Agent Du."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Williams."

Three Hours Later

12:23 PM Local Time

Will frowned as he heard a loud thud. Then a second. Running to the window and pulling his new GJA-13 rifle from its harness, he swore as he saw fire and smoke coming from the town. He immediately hit the radio, "This is Agent Du to all GJ and Rodegan forces; what is going on?"

"This is Captain Alenko, we have enemy forces moving in on the town. Confirmed mercenary forces lead by WEE agents. Musketeers, fire at will!" The sound of automatic fire followed as Will swore, sprinting down towards the motor pool as he shouted orders for the agents within the castle to rendezvous there as he heard tactical updates saying all enemy forces were moving into the town.

As he came out to the courtyard motor pool, he saw Atton with his GJA-19 in hand, "Agent Du, I intend to use my sniper rifle for some support to cover you." The new M60 Patton with Rodegan's battle standard freshly painted on rolled out behind him.

"Understood. What are King Wallace's orders?" Will asked.

"He's holding a group of men behind to protect the castle itself, but the rest of the soldiers are heading out to protect the civilians. We have a positive ID of Findley's Fraggers merc group as part of the attack."

So we can expect plenty of grenades, Will thought as he pulled the Global Jjustice database file out of his memory. "Target the grenadiers if you can. They will be the ones with grenade launchers and will do the most damage," he said as the other GJ agents came out. Glancing to an unused pair of jeeps he nodded to his agents, "Alright men, get onto those jeeps, we will ride them down to the town and help out those people."

They jumped into the jeeps and Atton ended up in the one Will was in. They drove out, everyone preparing weapons and checking charge levels. As they went down, Will dialed an uplink to Global Justice's strategic coordination, "This is Agent Du to Global Justice Command. Come in."

"Agent Du, this is Agent Talleyrand. What is your report?"

"Rodegan is under attack by WEE forces and hired mercenaries. This is a full out engagement, repeat: Full out engagement. Can satellite imaging be provided?"

"Copy that, Agent Du. Stand by... confirmed. Spy satellites indicate it is just a mercenary force."

Perfect, Will sarcastically thought, "Understood."

"Mercenaries eh? Those guys are of variable quality." Atton chimed in.

"They can still be dangerous, though, so watch it." Will retorted.

They drove past the M60 as they closed to the town, and Atton leapt out as he spotted a good sniper position. Talleyrand updated orders that Will would have done anyways. "Understood, Agent Talleyrand. Keep us informed of any enemy reinforcements. We are moving into the town now, over!" He ended the connection and turned to the other GJ agents, "Alright men, we need to get in there any help those Rodegan soldiers out. Our priority is to stop WEE forces from advancing, but if you have a chance to help the civilians escape, take it."

He received a chorus of affirmatives as they reached the edge of the town and skidded the jeeps to a halt. Leaping out of the jeep, Will hurried to a stone fence as he spotted a mercenary moving up. Taking cover with Henderson next to him, the two rose and fired three shots each towards the mercenary. The first four missed, but the second two hit the mercenary and caused him to drop his AK-47 and collapse. "Go, go, GO!" Will shouted as they moved up towards the town center.

Will took cover next to Private Vargas Mitchell as he came up by a small restaurant. The WEE mercenaries had already blasted grenades and other explosives to the side of town farthest from the palace. The mercenaries held the bridge that lead to the town. Two mercenaries of the Findley's Fraggers moved towards the fountain and took cover behind it, though one of them caught a sniper round to the chest as Will caught sight of Captain Alenko hurling a grenade into the cover used by a WEE agent with a shock staff. A Global Justice agent took a hit and Henderson shouted "Medic!"

Will's radio beeped and he crouched back into cover to answer, "Agent Du here; in combat!"

"This is Talleyrand. Agent Du, all GJ forces are now cleared for lethal force if required. Repeat, you are now authorized to use lethal force."

Will did not switch his GJA before he opened fire, the blue energy bolts shooting at a WEE agent who took another shot with his shock staff, catching a Rodegan soldier in the head as he tried to rise and open fire. The WEE agent took the rounds to her stomach and collapsed as Will ducked back into cover and glanced at his ammunition count. Four shots left, he thought as he spotted another mercenary attempting to close the distance with a grenade launcher, cover fire from his fellow mercenaries making targeting him difficult. "Henderson, Syers," he said into his headset, "Head around the left flank and cause some damage. Corporal Thomson, air support is needed now."

"Copy that, Agent Du. Fueled up and on the way."

Will returned his attention to the incoming mercenaries. Those grenade launcher equipped soldiers would be a serious problem. He was about to rise and shoot one who had exposed himself as the mercenaries laying down covering fire with M-16's ducked to reload, but a sniper shot from Atton nailed him right between the eyes. Will quickly ducked down as several bullets shot over his head, another Rodegan soldier collapsing as their medics began to reach full stretch.

Atton reloaded his sniper rifle after he slotted another mercenary, having blown a hole clean into her arm with the high power of the GJA-19's lethal energy rounds. Odd that they take the same charge for non-lethal, he mused. He zoomed out of the scope to get an idea of the battle. Rodegan's M60 was almost in the fight, but he noticed something: Will had organized the GJ agents to squad tactics and were pushing towards the town square's fountain. The Rodegan soldiers were also doing a good job, but had taken several casualties and both sides were still equal in numbers.

He spotted a group of four mercenaries heading to the right flank and trained his scope's crosshairs onto the first mercenary carrying a grenade launcher. He took the shot as he lined the shot to center mass and caught the mercenary, taking him down and knocking him into his comrade. Quickly pumping the bolt action, he lined up the next mercenary as they scattered, getting the second one before the other two had figured out where the fire was coming from and took cover.

Will sprinted across the road as the Rodegan soldiers laid down cover fire. The fight had reached a stalemate in the town square. He dived into cover next to the Rodegan captain, who was reloading his rifle. "Good to see you, Agent Du. Where's the air support?"

Will did quick calculations to identify the ETA. "On the way, a minute or two." Will said as he pulled the pin from a flash bang and hurled it towards the mercenaries, "Flash grenade!"

Ducking back into cover, Will heard the shouts of the mercenaries as they were peppered from above. "Nice timing," Alenko commented as the hovercraft was above and firing. "Squad Three, move up the right flank!"

Five Rodegan soldiers on the right flank broke off to go to the back of the buildings. Sniper rounds continued to whiz down from Atton's vantage point as the M60 rolled in and opened fire, blasting a WEE henchmen into dust with a direct hit, the explosion briefly blinding Will as a human hand landed next to him. Gross, he briefly thought before he rose out of cover and opened fire, taking down another mercenary who was trying to advance under cover fire.

"This is Talleyrand. I have detected a small squad breaking off for the palace."

Will nodded as he glanced to Alenko, "Captain, there's a group going for the Palace."

Alenko nodded, "The hovercraft able to deal with them?"

Will asked and received a negative as they had managed to breach the sally port. "Negative... they've breached the flank sally port!"

"Shit!" Alenko swore, "We're way out of position, the civilians are going to be in the castle! Will, my men will handle the mess here! Get your ass over to the palace!"

Will nodded and pulled out, "Lieutenant Williams, I'm coming towards the palace. It has been breached."

"Copy that Agent Du! I'll get onto the road now. Bring another agent or two."

Will nodded as he spotted Agent Jones and ordered her to join him as they hurried back, Will hopping into the driver's seat of one of the jeeps they rode down. Driving away from the gunfight, several bullets ricocheted off the ground behind them as they left, loud thuds of the M60's main gun telling Will that the tide was turning.

David "Hellraiser" Findley sighed as he saw the tank, "You're fucking kidding me..." he said as he revved his personalized energy assault cannon 'borrowed' from a mad scientist who had not paid up and switched out the normal yield for a more high powered explosive type of blast. "Fraggers, frag that tank!"

"Got it boss!" shouted one of the grenadiers as the two moved closer, firing their grenade launchers at it from behind cover. The first few grenades bounced off the armor and did not damage it, but one of Findley's cannon shots landed on the tank's main cannon and blasted it, leaving the tank a heavy hunk of useless metal as its machine gun was missing. Suckers, he thought as he fired another shot towards a pair of Rodegan soldiers, the two diving out of cover as the energy blast blew it apart, only to be shot up by the other Fraggers carrying M-16's.

He took stock of the situation; the M60 was rolling out of the way with its weapons useless, but it had provided enough distraction for the Rodegan soldiers to gain ground. The last of the WEE agents were down, making it a fight between his men and the puny Rodegan military. Too close a battle, he decided. If Gemini doesn't cough up I'm going to be taking it by force and then some...

Then he spotted a GJ hovercraft heading towards them. "Alright, that's enough," he decided aloud, knowing that if Gemini did not brief them on either the hovercraft or the tank than this was going to be more than it was worth, and his energy cannon was not rated for anti-aircraft duties. Besides, he knew where WEE was making payments. "Fraggers, we're pulling out!" he called in the Fragger's main method of transportation as they pulled out of the firefight. He made a mental note never to work for Gemini again.

Rodegan Castle

Will Du parked the jeep and leapt out with the other two agents as they dashed in. "Alright, where'd Wally and Campan go?" he asked as Jones switched her GJA-13 to stun mode.

"They mentioned something about a study," Atton said as they sprinted down the halls weapons ready, Atton's GJA-15 in shotgun mode and set to stun. "Talleyrand, get us a map!"

"Copy that, uploading now."

Will nodded as Atton's wrist display showed a map, "Lead on, sir!"

They followed Atton down the maze of halls as they moved deeper down into the castle, passing the dungeons briefly before coming up on a sealed door. Will frowned: it was not sealed in the sense that it was locked by a Rodegan soldier, but sealed by some unusual gel of purple color. "Lieutenant?"

"No problem," Atton said as he pulled a sonic mine out and planted it on the door. Moving back, the mine went off and the door grumbled, though the gel remained. "Gotta love Wade Load's handiwork," the Specter said with a smile as they moved up through the next set of halls.

As they closed in on the study, Will heard something and whirled around just in time to see a WEE ninja take Agent Jones down with a pressure point strike that caused her to collapse and hurling her into a wall. Atton whirled around and fired, his shotgun still set to stun mode as he blasted the ninja into the opposite wall. "Damn it," Atton commented as Will checked Jones; she was out cold but alive. "We better hurry."

Nodding, the two continued on and found the study. It was sealed tight, several WEE agents standing outside and waiting to charge in with two heavyset men clad in personalized and scavenged modern armor with several metal plates affixed over certain locations carrying shock staves more akin to Drakken's than Gemini's. Will was about to arm a flash bang grenade when the door suddenly dematerialized. Anti-Matter charge! Will realized in horror as he recalled the assortment of villainous explosives Jack Hench somehow legally sold. He stepped out of cover and opened fire as the two heavies charged in followed by the WEE agents. The heavies somehow took the incoming bullets, Will feeling horror clutching him as he realized they were invulnerability supers of some sorts. He opened fire into the WEE agents, catching them unawares as a shotgun blast from Atton knocked one out cleanly as they moved in. Once in melee range thanks to Will's suppressive fire, he bonked another agent in the gut with the stock of his GJA-15 before uppercutting with it, knocking the agent to the ground with a broken jaw. Will moved up as a shock staff blast missed him by centimeters as he kept firing, hitting the agent who was responsible and bringing him down. The two hurried into the study.

Wally, Wallace, and Adam Campan were pinned down by the two WEE heavies, the few Rodegan soldiers around them all battered and unconscious. Wally was whimpering while Wallace and Adam were standing defiant. "Drop the shock staves and turn around slowly!" Atton shouted as he aimed his GJA-15 at them, Will doing the same with his GJA-13, "Only chance," he added.

The two heavies snorted as Will felt someone hit him in the back. Dropping his GJA because he was knocked forward, he whirled around to see that three ninjas were attacking. Atton was struggling with two while Will fought one carrying a butterfly knife. Grabbing the knife hand, Will struggled with the ninja, unable to hit his stun watch with his horrid angle.

Two large men suddenly charged into the room, the sound of metal hitting metal audible as the entire fight stopped, everybody looking at what just happened.

Two armored knights were now in the room, one carrying a sword with a red draconic symbol inscribed onto it while the other, smaller one was carrying a heavy mace. Their armor was visibly plate mail up until the groin and torso, at which point a red tunic worn over covered the rest of the armor. Both of them had their helmet visors up, and their shoulder guards were simple semicircles mounted on their shoulders. One of the supers looked at him in shock as he held his shock staff, "You're kidding me, right? I thought you guys wanted to kill weak-link here!"

The two knights began to size up their opponents, two duels of one on one about to occur as the two knights said simultaneously, "Rodegan shall not fall while it's knights draw breath!"

"Oh shut it," said the other super, "We're bringing everyone to Gemini, contract and all that."

The two knights then began to recite something, trading off as the duels were about to begin, the two GJ agents and three ninjas still looking at the entire change stunned, a tear coming from Wallace's eyes as he recognized it.

"To protect the weak from the tyranny of the strong..."

"... Rise, Knights of Rodegan! Rise, guardians of its people!"

"Arise, Knights, the innocent call for your aid!"

"Arise! Arise to stand until the last breath is drawn forth!"

"Rise, and stand against the forces of darkness!"

Then together with resolute steel they delivered the last line together: "With honor as our shield, valor as our armor, courage as our blades, chivalry as our map: We shall never surrender so long as there is hope!"

There was a moment of silence as everyone realized what just happened, Wally even ceased his whimpering.

"Alright, now this is officially fucked up," Atton said with stunned disbelief, "James Bond meets Ninjas meets Marvel meets fricken' King Arthur... What's next in this chop suey, Cthulhu?"

Everyone stared at him for a moment before remembering that they were supposed to be fighting. Will kicked the ninja that was holding him down while Atton hurled one of the ninjas fighting him into the wall. The knights began to duel their opponents, using their blade and mace with brilliant skill as they dueled the heavies, gaining the upper hand quickly.

Rolling up over the ninja, Will grabbed the butterfly knife in mid air and hurled it into the wall to remove it from the fight. The ninja leapt back at him, tackling him to the floor again. This time, however, it was hand-to-hand as Will blocked the punches, feeling the bruises that were already forming on his forearms as he protected himself. Bringing a leg around, he kicked the ninja and knocked him forward. Will whirled around on the ground and brought himself to a standing position, shooting the ninja with his stun watch and knocking him out. He glanced up as he saw Atton boxing with the other ninja before getting the upper hand and hurling him into the other ninja with a judo throw. The two Global Justice agents turned to the knights.

The smaller knight's mace suddenly glowed as he brought it up, smashing against the super's metal breastplate and knocking him back, a brief explosion of color flashing from the impact of the charged mace. The sword wielding knight on the other hand got his sword under his opponents shock staff and disarmed him before clobbering the super with a strong hit to the head.

The dust settled, everyone realizing what just happened. Will's radio beeped; "This is Talleyrand: All enemy forces have retreated."

1:27 PM Local Time

Thirty Minutes Later

"As to be clear on the circumstances of this event," Will said as he heard the Knights of Rodegan's story again, "You wanted to kill Wallace the Third three years ago, but now you saved his life?"

"The monarchy ends with Wallace the Third," answered the smaller one with a nod, "That is correct."

"But you tried to kill him. You know this is really hard to believe right now." Atton added, eying them quizzically. Everyone's weapons were holstered to some degree as they stood in the throne room.

The larger knight, Reggie, answered. "Prophecy has a strange way of being twisted, it seems. The monarchy indeed ends, as Wallace the Third has chosen to move it away. We do not expect amnesty, but consider this our way of burying the sword."

Wallace frowned as he sat on the throne, "I understand the grudge that you bear the royal lineage, our first King was indeed a tyrant and deserved every punishment your ancestors intended for him. I fear, however, that to bury these crimes will be difficult indeed, though I too wish to see this conflict buried in the dustbin of history where it belongs. Our defenses are weak now, we cannot afford to be too bold in forgiving our enemies."

Atton stepped up, "Your Highness; I understand that you are to be in command of Rodegan's military forces as a general once the elections are over. It is, as I comprehend, your way of easing yourself into retirement while still proving guidance to your nation."

Wallace nodded slowly, "That is correct. What are you saying, Lieutenant?"

"I'm suggesting that you offer the knights a chance to return to Rodegan and help protect it while you rebuild. Their skill and equipment is enough that they would classify as supers within Global Justice. We can provide a way for them to be accountable, they can assist in protecting Rodegan as it forge's its new course, and you can bury the conflict."

The two knights looked at each other for a moment as Wallace pondered the thought. "Well, gentlemen, would commissions in the Rodegan military be acceptable? I cannot offer high rank, in fact, you would have to earn such yourself and the trust of the other soldiers, but I can offer you the chance if you wish."

Reggie stepped forward to answer; "I must apologize, King Wallace, but we cannot accept this offer. While you were always loathe to rule with your fist, our grudge against the monarchy is too great for us to lose it in a heartbeat. While we shall do our utmost to aid Rodegan in its hours of need, we cannot remain here or serve under its banner."

The soon-to-be-ex King nodded slowly, "Very well. I will ask you to leave our borders shortly for the sake of security, then. Please try to arrange any return visits to family or friends through official channels in the future, and I do hope that one day this grudge can be left in the ancient age it belonged to."

The two knights bowed, "May such a day come quickly," the smaller one said, and they took their leave.

Ten Minutes Later

Rodegan Castle Landing Zone

Will looked towards Atton as he walked to the hovercraft he'd come in, "Agent Du. A word before we leave." Atton said.

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to remember what happened here. I don't know why, but I have a funny feeling those knights had more than an odd form of debt paying in mind when they helped. I feel it was a genuine interest in helping, but I feel like something more was behind them being here. It's just a hunch, but there are just too many holes."

Will nodded, "I will be sure to log that in my report. Where are you off to, if I'm permissible to learn such, sir?"

Atton smiled, "Hunting down stolen alien technology taken from the disabled walkers. You wouldn't believe the firestorm that topic is in politics these days. Some super named Brimstone made off with some in Pompeii, probably going to wind up setting off Mount Vesuvius again."

Will could not help but curl his lips in amusement at the seeming absurdity, "I understand sir."

"Agent Du... Will. You reminded me of something, you know that? Just as you seem to have gotten your old fire back, you reminded me something. Sure, big time heroes in the old school sense tend to make and die for great things so that everyone else can live better. Thing is though, you reminded me that it's the little guy, the soldiers like you who step up to face down the odds that keep things that way. You may not be the same scale of hero, Will Du, but you and all your comrades in arms are just as much of a hero as any Specter or any super. Without brave folks like you, anything we make would crumble to dust while we're off doing the next big thing. And we forget it all too often." Atton smiled and offered a hand to shake, "Until next time?"

"Next time. Sir." Will said as the two shook hands and the two parted ways. Will inhaled as he watched the hovercraft fly towards the Alps down to Italy, mulling over again what Atton said. He's right. I may not be the best, but it's those who are willing to stand despite not being the big time heroes that makes someone Global Justice's number one.

2500 Common Era

The Archive

Ejected from the memories, Dorothy Lipski put a hand on her head, shaking it as she blinked and understood the memories she had just relived. The Archivist smiled, "I believe you've learned a shred of what you wanted to know."

"Yeah. It's been a while since my Advanced Placement Earth History classes; what happened after?"

"Somehow, Wally carried the votes to win, a likely side effect of the unfortunate rumors that passed after his disappearance and suspicions of democracy from it. Will Du and his team were transferred back to Middleton to debrief before the elections finished, so they did not get to see it actually happen. Global Justice never built a firebase there, which left them in trouble a few months down the line with Global Justice occupied elsewhere."

She nodded, "Rodegan never grew up again, did it?"

"No, it did not. But it remained there, small and unnoticed, but there all the same. The little guy who could." He replaced the tomes on the pedestal, "Now, I believe that if you're ready, we can return to your main question, the original reason you came to this archive."

She nodded, "In a few minutes, I need lunch."

End Story

* And so my entry to AmericanGecko's contest ends. When I wrote this, I wanted to focus on the little players in the KP 'verse yet still tie it into Deconstructive Legacy. Chapter Three was the primary tie-in with its primary opponents for our two Global Justice blue shirts.

* As for the Knights of Rodegan's odd switch of sides, I say only this: While they certainly learned looser interpretation of prophecies, the suckers still followed it too close.

* I think if I had to chose a theme for this one-shot, it'd be "heroes come in all sizes", size referring to scale. You got biggies like Superman, then you got the everyday 'red shirt' who the audience could care less about but is just as much of a hero as the main cast in general because they're taking on the same risks with less plot protection (not that they know...) and often less talent. Will Du seems, to me, to represent the latter within the KP 'verse as he's the only real GJ soldier we get to know. All the rest are batted aside like red (blue?) shirts.

* As for the mercenaries Gemini hired... well, the Findley's Fraggers appearance here was actually because I wanted to drop a sneak peak of guys I hoped to have get their butts handed to them by our favorite red-head cheerleader :P They escaped without incident and, pardon the reference, got to da chopper quick enough to evade Thomson's hovercraft.

List of Notable Changes between original and this version:

* Minor changes to fit into the new events of my planned rewrite of Deconstructive Legacy and overall changes to my planned plot. DL is still being worked on, but will not likely be posted until I have fixed up everything that I have written out so far so it can be done in one go.

* One of the main changes is Power Busters Division (PBD) was not alluded to as a source of support for Global Justice and mentions of the GDIA (an act which made Global Justice's responsibilities more Global Defense Initiative in nature).

* Atton Williams now sports a GJA-09 'Falcon' Energy Pistol on his belt, though it is not used in the story or mentioned after Chapter 1.

* Grammar fixes and syntax changing, primarily removing contractions from narration.

* Other than this, no major changes.