The Amazon Storm

Background: The newly organized Imperial Amazon Empire, after eons of noninterference, have decided to attack certain countries within Man's World. Word of abuse of women, enslavement, and submission of the women of Africa reached the ears of Hypolita, Queen of the Amazons, and her demigoddess daughter, Diana. The Amazon Empire had enlisted the help of many Western countries like America, Great Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, and even Russia, secretly forming alliances.

The ruthless Amazons have torn their way through the heart of Africa, freeing slaves, and taking vengeance on the women's captors. African pirates have taken to the seas, attacking any ships bearing the flag of a western country. The shadow government, run by the dangerous and elusive M-12 or Majestic Twelve, has taken advantage of the Amazon incursion to wreak havoc within America, the western allied countries, and some forward thinking middle-eastern countries.

M-12 thrives on chaos and makes its living by involving its members in nefarious schemes, purposely orchestrated to destabilize political systems, while creating fabulous wealth for their bloodthirsty colleagues. As a predecessor to Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom, M-12 is so bold that they weren't even afraid of Superman or Supergirl, judging them to be hapless goody two shoes.

Vice President Hannah Anders quietly exited the oval office, the very heart of the American government. She had just met with the current president, William Ocampo, now up for reelection, over his concerns about the ever growing conflict instigated by the well-funded and highly disciplined Amazon Royal Army, as they wound their way through central and northern Africa.

Cairo, Egypt had just surrendered to the mighty Amazons, vowing to either stay out of any further conflicts, or send supplies, weapons, and troops to defend the countries under the Amazon assault. The newly elected prime minister of Egypt had instead offered substantial humanitarian aid to the war torn countries. Mariah had just sent Vice President Anders a skype report, as she literally stood beside the Great Sphinx of Giza, leaning on its large right stone paw.

"Egypt has initiated peace talks with the Amazon Empire, Madam Vice President." Mariah reported. "They are asking the Western Allies to broker the deal." Hannah Anders gazed into the Skype terminal. "That is good news, Queen Mariah. We'll send an envoy immediately. How were the casualties?" The VP worriedly inquired. "Not too bad, Madam Vice President. The deaths were light on both sides. Fortunately, common sense prevailed in this instance. With the full might of the Amazon Army backed by the Western Allies, we were able to move forward. The diplomats can mitigate the damages."

Mariah's assault plan was simple and time honored. She combined the Amazon shock and awe ground assault with the drone strikes and allied air cover which effectively divided the country diagonally, and subdivided it by separating the Egyptian Army from its Central Command. It was then merely a matter of outlasting the enemy, and taking strategic cities until they reached Cairo.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian government had bowed to international pressure, and ordered the peace talks. They would now benefit greatly from a new alliance forged with the governments of the west.

As the Amazons took city after city, country after country throughout central and northern Africa, a new country arose. The captured lands provided a brand new country, they called New Amazonia. The feisty Amazon warriors would still keep possession of their mystical island called Themyscira, but now they had a foothold within Man's World, right in the heart of Africa no less.

In short, Mariah's forward thinking assault had in one swoop brought the ancient Amazon Empire into the twenty-first century. They would institute their traditional hierarchy, and New Amazonia would have a queen, subservient to Hypolita, and a prime minister to act as a liaison with Man's World. The Amazons would formalize their borders, solidify their army, and promote diplomats in the next month. Of course, nothing ever goes that smoothly. The youngest Amazons lacked discipline.

Scene: 3 AM at the Whitehouse, the nerve center of the United States government. The phone rings.

"Sorry to bother you, Madam Vice President." Began a polite yet stern voice. Hannah slowly opened her eyes as she registered the dreaded three AM call. "Go ahead Joe." Hannah said as she yawned and placed her SMART phone on secure and encrypt. General Joseph Connolly was the senior military officer on duty, and responsible for notifying the President or the Vice President.

"Hannah, we have a situation." General Connolly quickly dropped any formalities once the line was secured. "Don't we always?" She asked rhetorically. Hannah stretched leisurely on her plush Whitehouse bed. Note to self, she thought sourly, one martini limit on a school night. She chastised herself. "What's going down, Joe?" She inquired.

"Four of our Air Force pilots just went rogue." General Connolly dropped the verbal bomb. "Really?" Hannah was now wide awake. "I'm not complaining, Joe, but couldn't this be handled by the Air Force brass?" Connolly snorted. "No, Ma'am. The terrorist group known as Al Karim had kidnapped three hundred young girls, and women from a city in northern Africa. The terrorists plan on exchanging the girls for military and political prisoners in Bak Nor. Some of the hostage girls were young, newly converted Amazons. Our fighter pilots weren't willing to wait for official instructions."

Hannah snapped to attention. "The rogue pilots, do we know who they are?" She grabbed a pen and pad of paper that she kept near her bed. "Yes ma'am. Commander Danielle Ashton, Lt. Kyla O'Brien, Lt. Emma Jacobs, and Captain Teri Mulcahey, and Hannah, they are headed straight for the restricted airspace over Bak Nor." General Connolly confirmed.

VP Anders wasn't familiar with the first three women, but she knew Capt. Mulcahey. Teri was a Top Gun pilot. She had just been promoted to Stealth Fighter and Stealth Bomber operations. Hannah sighed. "What did they take, Joe?" She wasn't happy with the way that the girls handled the issue at all.

"Capt. Mulcahey took one of our B-17 stealth bombers. The other three took two F-16s and an F-35 fighter. They also took three fully armed drones that they had rigged a slave circuit to." Hannah gulped. Teri, the group leader, was also under the command of the Amazon Queen, Mariah Pocius. "They'll use the drones to attack the Al Karim terrorist stronghold, and attempt to rescue the hostage girls. Hannah, the brass wants us to fire on them." Joe said gravely. "Absolutely not!" VP Anders snapped.

"Joe, get me the Central Africa High Command." Hannah ordered. "Sure, no problem, but what's our play here, Hannah?" the General asked unofficially. "We're going to give them some help." Hannah smirked as she began tossing off her pajamas, and changing into an official Air Force uniform. "Joe? Are you still there?" She asked playfully. Joe was obviously surprised by her answer.

"Yes'm, but I can't say that I agree with your directive. This is a major breach of protocol to say the least. Respectfully, this conduct is worthy of a Court Marshall." Connolly pointed out. "That objection is noted, General. I will take full responsibility. Carry out my following orders. Here is your authorization code: Operation Blue Freedom, seven three five, whiskey, tango, foxtrot, iceman, Anders."

"Yes Ma'am!" Joe said excitedly. "Under this code, I am also authorizing the deployment of U S Navy frigate, Thomas Jefferson, destroyer Samuel Adams, and aircraft carrier Franklin Roosevelt." Hannah ordered as she finished dressing. "Confirmed." Joe said as he shook his head. "Hey Joe, when our birds come back in, send the girls straight to me. Discuss this aspect with no one." VP Anders added sternly.

"Yes Ma'am." Joe seemed satisfied with that, though to Hannah, he seemed to be in shock. Meanwhile, high above the southernmost delta of the Nile River, seven aircraft whistled past the sleepy agricultural neighborhood called Munjabbi. "Running silent starting now." Capt. Mulcahey announced into her headset communications unit. "Taking the Raven down to 2600 feet." She edged the wedge shaped stealth fighter downward. "Em and Kyla you're on flank." Capt. Teri ordered.

"Load flaming arrows three and four, now five and six." She directed. "Got it, Captain." Emma Jacobs confirmed. "Roger that!" Kyla O'Brien affirmed. "Dani California, you're on back up, watch my tail. Make sure that the drones are all slaved to my console." The experienced fighter pilot commanded. "Copy that, Captain." Danielle Ashton confirmed. "At my mark, separate drones BC47 and BC49 and slave them to Emma and Kyla respectively. I'll keep BC48 in tow." There was a slight crackle on their consoles.

"Completed, Captain." Dani informed them. "Unidentified Stealth pilot, you are approaching restricted airspace." A strong male voice boomed over the girls' com systems. "Let them eat static for a few seconds." Capt. Teri spoke to her rogue crew. "USP, you are now in violation of about a dozen treaties. Return to base for disciplinary action." The male voice continued. "Don't make me blow you all out of the skies." The com system crackled again as Capt. Mulcahey let the base commander stew in silence.

"This is Major General Jordan Hirsch of Central African Command. You are hereby ordered to return to base." The voice sounded more serious. Capt. Teri and the crew veered out into the sky above the Red Sea. Now they were flying over international waters. "Hey Jordy, how's it hangin'?" Capt. Teri taunted the middle-aged African American commander, as she allowed two way communications to resume.

"Mulcahey!" Jordan snapped. "Why am I not surprised? What the hell are you doing with my birds?" Teri snickered as she responded. "I'm just taking the girls out for a joyride, Jordy. My gals and I are just being pains in everyone's asses." Teri sent a silent command to the other pilots to deploy the separation of the drones and follow the B-17 lead. "That you are, Mulcahey." The base commander agreed. "You and your girls are in violation of treaty, restricted airspace, and in possession of stolen weapons."

"Ah come on, Jordy. I just got through washing my Raven. I was just taking her out to dry off. Stolen is such a harsh word. It's more like we borrowed the jets for a while. We can always pay for the gas." Teri continued to tease and simultaneously stall for time until they could complete their unauthorized mission. Teri set up her first two foxfire missiles for launch. "Damn it, Jordy, I must've missed my exit turnoff." She quipped as she set the missiles to 'ready'.

Emma, Kyla, and Dani followed suit, readying their own missiles. They had a total of eight shots plus the drones' six to use in the attack. Teri judged that it would be enough. "Mulcahey, if you and the girls turn back now, I promise to authorize a nice Court Marshall in a warm climate like Miami." Jordan said sternly. "I appreciate the gesture, Jordy, but we're kind of busy right now." Teri countered.

"Busy doing what?" Jordan snapped. "We're here kicking serious terrorist ass!" Teri replied adding: "We have actionable intelligence that the Bak Nor terrorist have an encampment not too far from Mogadishu. This is where they're holding the hostages." Teri defended.

"On whose authority are you proceeding into restricted airspace?" Jordan grilled. "The big boss's!" Teri answered vaguely. "Whose boss?" Jordan pressed. "The biggest boss. Your boss." Teri argued. "Check your updated daily orders, Jordy." Major-General Hirsch did just that. Sure enough, the authorization codes had come directly from Vice President Anders. "Orders confirmed." Jordy finally admitted.

Teri led the strike team into the protected airspace over Djbouti. The three fighter jets trailed the B-17, and the drones followed just below them. "Okay Mulcahey, we're instructed to send you four more birds to mop up, and we also have Naval Support heading into the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden. You'll have the Thomas Jefferson and the Sam Adams to back you." Jordan Explained.

"That's fine, Jordy, but by the time your boys get here, the fireworks will be over." The SF Captain joked. "What's the mission, Teri?" Jordan asked grudgingly. "It's fairly simple, Jordy. We annihilate the Al Karim encampment, rescue the hostages, eliminate the Al Karim munitions storage, and just for yuks, we'll flatten their vehicles, barracks and outhouses. Let's see those bastards wage a war on foot or on camelback. In short, when we're done there'll be a big crater where the encampment was."