A/N: As always, thanks to my three reviewers doglover500, Dextra2, and leathman.


Chapter Seven: Revolution

"We've found no trace of them, Grand Ruler," T'kiyo, the captain of the guard, reported apologetically. "Of course," he added hastily as Blackfire turned to glare at him, "we are not giving up yet. My troops are still scouring the land as we speak."

"Find them, Captain," Blackfire ordered. "I don't care what you have to do – I want the rebel base crushed. I want the resistance utterly annihilated, so they can never threaten Tamaran again."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," T'kiyo acquiesced, backing out of the room.


Starfire sat hugging her knees to her chest, looking the perfect picture of utter despondency with her hunched shoulders and her back to the curved energy wall. When Blackfire came to visit and saw her that way, she smirked triumphantly and taunted Starfire about how her spirit had finally been broken.

"That's a good look for you, little sister," she cackled as she left.

Behind her, Starfire's green eyes narrowed. If Blackfire thought she had succeeded in breaking her, she was sadly mistaken.

Starfire knew Nightwing and the Titans had to be conferring to figure out how to help her escape; Nightwing had promised her he would return to free her, and she knew he would do everything in his power to keep that promise. Nightwing had never let her down before – nor any of the other Titans.

But Starfire refused to be the helpless damsel in distress. It was clear to her now that Blackfire would not keep any of her promises, so Kory had nothing to gain by yielding to her demands.

So it was that when the guard who supplied her food came to bring her lunch – complacent because he'd never had trouble with this prisoner before – Starfire very quietly memorized the subtle beeps of the code he keyed in.


"There's nothing here, Captain," a Tamaranean soldier reported as he came back from searching through an empty barn.

The captain, Ildimas, winced. His unit was searching through a village in the country where rebels had been found before, but so far, their patrol had failed to find any trace of the resistance. With such a lack of results in public buildings, he was now forced to order his people to start searching houses. For the villagers' sake, he hoped to X'hal that none of them were hiding rebels – if they were, he would have no choice but to arrest them and bring them before Blackfire for punishment.

Ildimas, like most of the Tamaranean military, was not loyal to Blackfire out of love or respect. When she had forced her takeover, Blackfire had had the Gordanians torture and kill the family members of many in the Tamaranean army – and she had made it clear after she became Grand Ruler that the same fate awaited the loved ones of those who refused to serve her or disobeyed her orders in any way. Despite this, several soldiers had defied her in the beginning, only to find that Blackfire had already put into place a network of spies who could be counted on to report any rebellion to the Grand Ruler. These spies reported their resistance, and the rebel soldiers found that all their families were systematically executed for their insubordinance. Blackfire had allowed them to wallow in their horrified guilt for a few days before she had the soldiers themselves slain.

Learning from that example, none of the Tamaraneans in the military dared to cross Blackfire anymore. Her spies could be anywhere, and just the knowledge that they were around was enough to ensure obedience from the military, no matter how grudging or reluctant.

Ildimas sighed, knowing what he had to do in order to ensure the survival of his wife and two young children.

"Search the houses," he ordered.

"And if any are found harboring rebels?" the soldier questioned, fearing the inevitable answer.

Ildimas was solemn. "Then you know what to do."


"You're sure about this?" Ryand'r asked for what must have been the tenth time as he and Nightwing crouched beside each other behind the thick bushes surrounding the Tamaranean royal palace. With them were twenty Tamaranean rebels; the other Titans were positioned at strategic intervals around the perimeter, each with a group of twenty rebels. Tiri'an's own party of twenty was in position at the Gordanian outpost several leagues to the west. All were waiting for the exact moment to attack – for this to work, both sides had to act at the same time.

"You are not as familiar with the dungeon as I am – if not I, then at least one of the other Tamaraneans should go with you," Ryand'r continued.

"I'm sure," Nightwing replied. "I've been to Kory's cell before, and I know how to get there from the dungeon entrance. Plus, whatever guards Blackfire has there won't be able to anticipate us, the way they might one of their fellow Tamaraneans. We're too unknown to them – that'll give us the edge we need. And you're the one with intimate knowledge of the palace layout – the others will need you to help them sneak in and trap Blackfire in the throne room."

"You're very confident that we'll be able to succeed," Ryand'r noted. "Where, might I ask, does your conviction come from?"

Nightwing just smiled enigmatically.

"Okay, it's a minute to six," Cyborg's voice echoed through the comm. link to all the Titans. Cyborg had been designated as the person to give the teams at the palace the cue to attack because his and Donna's group had been stationed near the main entrance of the palace, and because his biomechanical time-keeping device was extremely accurate no matter what planet he was on. "Get ready – we only have three minutes to take out the perimeter patrol."

"Copy that, Cyborg," Beast Boy's voice responded.

"Ditto," Raven agreed.

"Got it,"Nightwing put in. "One minute," he informed Ryand'r and the other Tamaraneans with him.

The plan was that on the stroke of six, when the perimeter patrol changed shifts, the rebel teams would strike, quickly and quietly subduing the entire patrol guard. At the exact same time, Tiri'an's team would attack the Gordanian outpost. The new perimeter patrol shift was expected to report to their commander after three minutes to say they were in position, so the rebels had to defeat them all before then in order to assume the guards' identities to 'report' – as well as to avoid detection by the guards on the upper levels. After that, Nightwing, Cyborg, and Donna would meet at the outdoor entrance to the dungeon they had created the day before. While they went on to rescue Starfire, the others, led by Raven, Beast Boy, Ryand'r, and Nanil'an, would infiltrate the palace through a secret side entrance Ryand'r knew about and try to trap Blackfire and her guards in the throne room.

"I hope this works," Ryand'r muttered under his breath.

"Five seconds," Cyborg's voice intruded again, and Nightwing held up five fingers, attracting the attention of everyone in his group as he began the silent countdown. "Four…three…two…one…GO!"

Cyborg didn't shout the word, because this was supposed to be a stealth mission – but he got the point across nevertheless. As silently as a snake on the hunt, the rebels trickled out of their hiding places.

According to the four spies Ryand'r had sent back to the citadel last night, each ground perimeter patrol consisted of forty-two guards – far fewer than the numbers the rebels had at their disposal. The risk wasn't in the numbers – it was in avoiding detection while they took them out. Fortunately, the first phase of the plan went smoothly enough – the rebels, with their superior numbers, darted in and subdued the guards efficiently. They'd completely vanquished the entire ground patrol with twenty seconds to spare. Everyone stayed carefully hidden as a dark-haired Tamaranean rebel 'reported in' to the commander with a communicator he'd lifted from one of the unconscious guards.

However, once they received acknowledgment from the commander, the rebels burst into action again. Making sure to stay out of sight, Nightwing, Cyborg, and Donna slipped off to the hole that led to the dungeon while the others organized themselves in preparation for sneaking into the palace.

There were no guards at the hole; they had been relieved of duty along with their comrades. Unfortunately, the amount of debris cluttering the entrance left only a small crawlspace for them to go through.

"We should've brought Raven," Cyborg grumbled as he crept in after Nightwing and Donna. Being the biggest of the three with his bulky mechanical parts, this was no mean feat. "She could teleport us through this mess."

"Raven can only teleport if she knows what's on the other side," Nightwing reminded him as Donna used her Amazon strength to pull Cyborg through the tiny opening.

Cyborg's eyes widened as he saw what lay ahead. "Aw, crap. You have got to be kidding me."

"Nope," Donna said, moving ahead with Nightwing. "Come on – the faster we do this, the faster we can all go home."

What followed was an hour and a half of agonizingly slow movement through the demolished dungeon. Nearly a third of the tunnels that made up the dungeon had caved in, leaving only tiny spaces and debris-choked openings for them to squeeze through. The longest stretch without obstacles measured only eight feet; in some places, the only way to get past was to physically lift chunks of stone, metal, and wood. Fortunately, Cyborg and Donna were well equipped to carry this out, and Nightwing used his remarkable arsenal of gadgets to get them through whatever they couldn't lift.

Finally, they made it past the last of the collapsed tunnels. From there, they quickly retraced the route Nightwing and Cyborg had taken yesterday; within a few minutes, they had reached Starfire's cell. The trapped princess noticed them at once; she sat up straight, delighted surprise in her eyes.

"Dick! I never imagined you would make it back here so fast!"

Nightwing quirked a gentle smile at her. "Well, you know me," he said as Cyborg plugged into the keypad while Donna kept watch. "I always like to keep my promises."

"This is not good," Cyborg groaned as the binary system data of the keypad streamed onto his computer.

"What is it?" Donna inquired.

"They've completely changed the coding system." Cyborg's frown deepened. "This one's more complicated than the last – I'm gonna have to start from scratch."

"Perhaps not," Starfire spoke up. "Earlier, I memorized the sounds of the beeps each number of the key code makes. I would recognize them again if you pressed the right button."

"All right, that's something," Cyborg ceded, his gaze still locked on his wrist computer. "I just hope this isn't one of those keypads that lock down if you press the wrong number."

"I've dealt with those before," Nightwing said, coming over. "You have to deactivate the locking mechanism before figuring out the code by trial and error."

"I take it you know how to do that?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes." Nightwing retrieved an omnitool from his utility belt. "Get your wires out, Vic – I'll handle this. You check in with Raven and Gar – see what the situation is up top."


The aboveground infiltration team was, in fact, not doing very well at all. They had successfully snuck in without getting caught, but locking Blackfire and her personal guard in the throne room was a different matter altogether. They had managed to barricade throne room and were doing fairly well in keeping the continuous stream of guards out; but unfortunately, due to an unplanned skirmish, nearly half their force, including Beast Boy and Nanil'an, had been trapped inside as well. And the hour of constant fighting was taking its toll – several rebels had perished already, while others were injured. So when Cyborg called to find out what has happening, Raven was, understandably, in a very bad mood.

"Not good," she snapped in reply to Cyborg's "How are you guys doing?", while spinning to avoid a blow from a Tamaranean soldier. "Blackfire's trapped in the throne room, but so are Beast Boy and half our people. Those of us still outside have our hands full keeping the guards away – and judging from the sounds coming from the throne room, there's a war going on in there."

"Have you heard from Gar?"

"Not since he told us to lock the door – with him still inside."


"Damn it!" Cyborg cursed.

"Trouble?" Donna queried.

"That's an understatement," Cyborg replied. "Did you get all that?" he asked Nightwing.

"I did." Nightwing's voice was grave. A soft click sounded from the keypad, and he looked down at it. "Okay, the lockdown's disabled. Kory, how many beeps did you hear for the key code?"

"Five."

"All right. I'm going to press the buttons one by one – stop me when I get to the first sound you heard."

He pressed four buttons before Starfire said, "That's it."

Nightwing nodded, noting the last button he'd touched. "Got it. Second one…"


Beast Boy hissed sharply as a laser from a guard grazed his side. He knew he'd been doing the right thing when he told Raven and Ryand'r to close the doors even though there were thirty-something rebels still inside – but that didn't mean he was going to go down without a fight. Oh, no – for the last forty minutes, Beast Boy, Nanil'an, and every other rebel trapped in the throne room had fought tooth and nail against Blackfire's guards. Blackfire herself was standing in front of her throne, shrieking orders at her people and flinging starbolts everywhere – she had already blasted seven rebels to bits.

As Beast Boy twisted away from his current attacker, the sharp throb from his side sent waves of pain through his body, causing him to fall. He was gratefully surprised to feel a pair of arms catching him before he hit the floor.

"Are you all right?" Nanil'an demanded.

"Yeah, thanks." Beast Boy cringed as he brushed his hand against his wound and felt the sticky wetness there. Then his eyes widened in absolute horror as a dark green starbolt flew by and struck Nanil'an full force. "No!"

"Oh, don't worry." Blackfire sneered at him from her throne. "You're next."


Once Nightwing had identified all five of the buttons by matching them to the beeps Starfire had heard, it was a simple matter to key in the correct code and pick the lock on Starfire's chains. The Tamaranean princess smiled gratefully as she rubbed her wrists.

"Thank you," she said.

"Anytime," Nightwing responded. "Come on, let's –"

"Dick! Vic!" Raven's panicked voice cut him off. "Gar's down!"

"WHAT?!" Cyborg bellowed.

"Let's go!" Nightwing cried.


A/N: Dun dun dun! Stay tuned for tomorrow's chapter!