All characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyrighted to Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I've taken the idea for the Unseelie Court from the TGS. Characters and concepts from Star Trek are property of Paramount and created by Gene Roddenberry. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of SN.
Note: I'm disregarding the events of the "Goliath Chronicles", with the exception of "The Journey" because I do not wish to use the rest of the "Goliath Chronicles" as canon to my story. Also, I am altering large sections of the Star Trek storyline, especially concerning events like WWIII and the Eugenics Wars, which without the Cold War as a backdrop probably wouldn't happen the way Roddenberry wrote them, if at all. This story takes place immediately after "Invasion".
Igniting Resistance
By SN/TVfan
Email: Sam_Nary
Chatham, England
"This is all so unbelievable," a young British private, named Reginald, spoke to the men beside him, "a secret society that covertly rules the world directly attacking Britain because you represent a threat to their plans."
"It is what it is," Arthur sighed, "neither you nor I can do anything about that. The only thing that can be done is figure out what to do now."
Reginald nodded and then looked out toward the city in front of them. It was smaller then London, but still housed the small British Army base that Reginald had left from earlier when the Illuminati announced their plan to occupy the island. They had hoped to check the base to deliver the Illuminati agents they had captured in fight so that Arthur could continue on his way to London, without having to kill anyone. But, for fear of Arthur or Merlin being recognized they decided to stay back and send in those who wouldn't be recognized by any Illuminati agents in the town.
"I would think what to do would be obvious," Reginald answered, "free Britain."
"Yes, but the actual means of doing so will be difficult," Arthur answered, "unless the bulk of the army was made up of men like yourself, the Illuminati have likely gained control over most of the island and have been firmly entrenched…"
"And that will mean that we must move carefully," Reginald nodded, "and strike at their leadership. Every person in Britain can not be an Illuminati member, and certainly the entire organization can not approve of this."
Arthur could only nod as a flash of light appeared before them as Beth, Rachel, and Coyote stepped out of it. None of them looked very optimistic about the overall situation.
"How did it go?" Reginald asked
"If you're asking if we got the information we need," Coyote began, "that went quite well… the problem will actually be in relation to the information that we uncovered."
"I take it that the Illuminati control the town," Arthur spoke slowly.
The three of them nodded in response and began to head on foot down the small hill. Merlin was with the young gargoyle hatchlings that they had rescued from the Illuminati facility and the driver of the truck that had originally been their intended transportation to London were at the bottom of the hill. Rachel approached Arthur directly and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"They control enough that we'd be in danger if we tried to move into the town," Rachel said with a sigh.
Arthur only sighed in response as they began to walk down the hill toward where Merlin was waiting. They all slowly made their way back to Merlin who was guarding the hatchlings they had earlier rescued. The young gargoyles were currently in stone form, and would have to wait until dusk before they could move.
"So how did the scouting mission go?" Merlin asked as they approached.
"The Illuminati control it," Coyote sighed, "red flags with a pyramid with an inside it were flying above every government building, and the army base. I saw something that looked like people being rounded up on the army base, but I couldn't tell for sure if that was the populace, or other members of the army that didn't follow the Illuminati."
Both Merlin and Arthur sighed heavily.
"I don't think they rounded up populace," Rachel commented, "I caught several scents of various people of various ages around the town… but I am fairly certain that they've taken control of the town."
"Is there anyway we could contact someone inside Chatham?" Merlin asked, "Get some help? Because these hatchlings will need some food when they wake up, and Una took the supplies that we had back to London… thinking that we would have been their by now."
"Well…" Beth commented, and turned to the truck driver who was quietly listening, but looking rather lost and confused by everything, "if you mean can we call London? I don't know. I tried calling Elisa, to test to see if they were listening in… and well… I couldn't even get dial tone. I don't know if that was because they knew I was there or that there's something going on in New York… I just don't know."
Beth then paused for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing.
"But I would say, that if our driver doesn't wish to tag along, I'm pretty sure it's safe enough that he could sneak into the town and avoid detection," Beth finished, "but the rest of us would likely attract too much attention."
That resulted in some heavy sighs from all the people there. The driver looked a little bit relieved, but even he was a bit unsure about going about on his own. His truck was destroyed and some strange secret society had taken over the country, and the only people who could stop them were, a medieval king considered to be more myth then fact, his wizard teacher, a werewolf, a clan of gargoyles, a member of a race of magical beings and his human girlfriend.
"As good as that might be, they might come after me for driving you," the driver answered, "I think I might stick around until you are more certain that they can't hunt me down for helping you."
"We're sorry for forcing all of this on you," Arthur commented to him, "I'm it has made things tougher for you."
"It hasn't, but with my truck destroyed, it isn't like I can do much anyway," the driver answered, "I think until I can understand a bit more, running around a war one on my own will only give me more problems."
"You're more then welcome to travel with us," Merlin spoke, "although the way things are going, we will have to travel on foot. I've heard a lot of traffic on the road that does not sound like normal trafific."
The only response received was a very heavy sigh.
Warehouse, London
Meanwhile, things were not much quieter in London. The London clan had attacked the warehouse that the Illuminati had been using and destroyed their main antenna as well as carrying off Six. This left Two to oversee the repair of the warehouse so that rain, sleet, or snow couldn't fall in. Thankfully for Two, though, the London clan appeared to be the only serious resistance the Illuminati faced in the London area. There were some scattered army units, many of them were so off guard by members of their own units turning out to be Illuminati members that they had ended up cleansing their own ranks and retreating when the regular Illuminati forces approached.
This largely gave Two control of all the facilities that the British government had had, and all of them were still in tact. This was a great boon for the Illuminati, as it had also made the attack by the London clan unsuccessful in the sense of slowing down the invasion. The fact that they had captured Six, however, was still a problem, and Two hopped that he gave them trouble while he conversed with the Council over what to do next.
"You control the island?" One asked through a teleconference screen that had its signal being relayed through the mainland before going to the main Council chambers.
"Largely," Two answered, "those in the British military that oppose our direct occupation have largely fled to portions of Wales or Scotland… and unfortunately, I've had little contact from Northern Ireland, but what did come through was largely encouraging."
"What are their exact lines of defense against us?" Three questioned, "that you know of."
"The troops in Wales are centered around Mt. Snowdon, and are expected to fall within the next few hours at the earliest," Two answered, "the reports from Scotland, however, are not as encouraging. They hold the city of Glasgow and line running down the River Clyde connected with a line running along the River Tweed. They might be able to hold out for a day or two before we can force them back again… and depending on who is commanding them will determine how far they fall back, or if they will surrender."
"Can you give us any guesses as to why little has come out of Northern Ireland?" Five wondered.
Two shook his head, "and for the moment, I would be inclined to let Northern Ireland go for the moment. Perhaps we could use this to allow the Republic of Ireland to reunite their people under one flag. Our most pressing concerns are much closer to London."
"The London Clan?" One asked.
"And Pendragon," Two nodded, "a patrol ran into Pendragon near Chatham last night. They defeated the British army unit there, but Pendragon's supporters managed to drive off our helicopters and capture our commandos."
That resulted in a rather heavy sigh from the entire group.
"And that is not the worst of it," Two spoke slowly.
"What happened?" One questioned.
"Macbeth lead the London clan on a raid of our headquarters," Two answered, "they destroyed our primary communications tower, but with London within our grasp, that is unimportant. The problem is that they knocked Six unconscious and captured him."
"My lord…" Three gasped in surprise, "surely that's impossible…"
"I assure you, Three, that it is not," Two answered, "which is why I'm contacting you. We need to know what to do next in regards to this issue."
"You want to rescue Six?" One asked.
"Yes, my lord," Two answered, "Freeing him will be of great importance to maintaining the Council."
"We can easily replace him," One dismissed it, "and besides, Macbeth is not the reason for the invasion. If we are to free him and deal with Macbeth and the London clan… we will do so after Pendragon is dead."
"Of course," Two nodded, "we do have other patrols moving throughout southern Britain. I'll have them begin hunting Pendragon immediately."
"Good," One answered and terminated the connection.
Two sighed heavily and stepped away from the screen. As he did so, a lone workman approached, looking rather nervous.
"Do you want us to put up the rest of your equipment, my lord?" the workman asked in a nervous voice.
"No," Two answered, "we'll be moving our operations to the Parliament building soon. All we are to do here is to insure that it can function as a warehouse… Let Macbeth think he's won a victory."
"Of course, sir," the workman nodded.
Macbeth's Mansion
Six awoke slowly to find himself in a room that might as well have been a prison cell. It was large enough to house a bed, a desk and chair, and a clock mounted on the wall, but there wasn't much else in the way of room. What frustrated him the most was that someone had changed his clothes. He as wearing a pair of business pants and a short sleeved button down shirt and all the talismans he used to perform spell had been removed. That left him powerless.
"Where am I?" Six wondered aloud as he began to walk about the room he was in.
"Pendragon's prison facility," came a growling voice through an air vent near him.
"Lucius?" Six wondered again as he recognized the voice from tapes that had made it to the Illuminati Council.
From what Six remembered, Lucius was some fool that worshiped Ancient Rome and hated Arthur Pendragon, but was too weak to be an effective soldier for the Illuminati's purposes.
"You know me, but I do not know you…" Lucius growled back.
"I am Six, Councilmember of the Illuminati," Six answered, "Do you know of a way out?"
"No… all these rooms are either sealed by magic or electricity," Lucius answered, "and they feed us through the slits in the door… and not all that bad though…"
"I am not interested in the quality of the food they provide," Six answered, "I am interested in escaping."
"And I'm telling you I don't know," Lucius answered, "and besides, even if I did… it'd be difficult. Pendragon's friends keep at least one gargoyle on guard duty every night…"
"They can be beaten," Six spoke, "they are not invincible."
"I'd still need to get outside the room they have me in, which I haven't been able to do," Lucius answered.
Six could only sigh.
Elsewhere in the mansion, Macbeth nervously paced near the door to the room that the clan slept in. The Illuminati invasion had cancelled all the classes at the college that he had been given a position at, and the administration even phoned to inform him that most of them were fleeing north. Macbeth had to decline going with them. He had some responsibility to the London clan, and he was certain that Arthur would need an update when his group did arrive in London.
What troubled him at present, though, were the events of the night before. They had captured Six and taken out the Illuminati's communications tower, which Macbeth considered a success, but he still expected them to counter attack. The Illuminati would see him as a direct threat and would attack, which would risk destroying the London clan if he did nothing to stop them. The immortal Scottish king wasn't that concerned about himself, as he doubted that the Illuminati would try to get Demona to kill him for them. So far though, there had been no attack by the Illuminati. He hoped that if they did attack, it would wait until after sunset.
Northern Ireland
Rory Dugan looked out the window of his father's home as more military vehicles went by. It was something that unnerved him having all this activity around. It had shut down of the jobs he had taken to maintain the roads in the town and county, mainly as the other workers either joined these Illuminati or the British troops that were fighting them. A good part of him saw these Illuminati troops as a threat, and had a good mind to try and do something about it, but at the same time, he worried about his father. Cuchulainn was a powerful warrior, but he couldn't be everywhere, and these Illuminati seemed to be everywhere.
"These Illuminati people are nothing but trouble," Rory heard his father grumble as the older man approached, "they've shut everything down."
Rory turned to face him as his father continued to grumble.
"And all because the British are supporting this 'Khan' character," his father finished.
"I doubt they really know of this guy," Rory commented, "let alone support him."
"That makes it worse," his father grumbled.
Rory could only nod at that. He did agree with that assessment, his concern was what would the Illuminati do to his father when they figured who was causing them trouble.
"You've told me about being this reincarnated hero…" his father began.
"Cuchulainn," Rory answered, remembering explaining what had gone on when Elisa, Angela, Goliath, and Bronx had visited them to deal with the Banshee, and the resulting explanation that he had to give his father afterward.
"Yes," his father nodded, remembering the old stories about the mythical Irish hero. Learning that those stories had some truth to them, and that his own son was the reincarnated form of the hero from those stories was shocking to say the least, and it took him awhile to believe it, but in time as Rory accepted and took more responsibility for himself, he began to accept it. "Couldn't you use his powers to fight off these Illuminati?"
"I could…" Rory sighed, "and I've thought about it… considering that it's wrong and that it's an invasion… but I'm not all that experienced in taking Cuchulainn's form, and I'm afraid they'd come after you. These Illuminati people are everywhere."
"What would they want with an old man?" his father asked.
"No, that they'd kill you or something to keep 'Cuchulainn' away," Rory answered, "some sort of hostage thing."
His father gave a slow sigh, "I thank you for thinking of me, but there are times when things must be done, regardless of the consequences."
Rory didn't answer.
"Their invasion has put nearly everyone out of work, including you," his father continued, "is that some 'golden age of enlightenment' that they advertised?"
"No," Rory sighed, and then looked out the window, "although I'm not sure how I can do this. This isn't Cuchulainn's time or style of fighting… and to be honest, I'm no soldier… I don't think I can do it alone."
"I'm sure we can find those who would be more then willing to help," his father answered, "they may not be able to really fight, but they can distract them to give Cuchulainn a chance."
Chatham, England
The young hatchlings that they had rescued earlier awoke as all gargoyles did when the sun set. It startled the driver and Reginald a bit, but both of them did find their was some sense of 'cuteness' in the young gargoyles. To the hatchlings, who expected to be in London by now, the situation was even more troublesome, as they began to bombard Merlin and Beth with nervous questions while eyeing both Reginald and the driver.
"It's alright," Beth spoke in as soothing a voice as she could muster, "everything will be alright. They are here to help."
"No Una," the little Scottish hatchling told her.
"Yes, Una has gone ahead of us to London," Beth answered, "we need to go by land to meet her there. We will all keep you safe."
The other hatchlings nervously looked at Reginald, Coyote, the driver, and Rachel.
"We are your friends," Rachel spoke, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
"Is there something wrong?" Reginald asked.
"They likely smell my lycanthropy and are nervous in my presence," Rachel answered slowly, "and I think for hatchlings as young as them, I think it's more instinctual rather then misconceptions made by movie makers and folklore story-tellers."
"And we are too new for them," the driver commented, "with them expecting to be in London by now."
"You are among friends," Beth spoke again to the hatchlings, "we will all help protect you until we can get to London."
They seemed to relax a little bit.
"We'd best eat first, though," Arthur commented, "We still have a long walk ahead of us, and the Illuminati probably will not stop their hunting."
"I'm afraid I do not have much in the way of rations," Reginald spoke, "Our commanders were caught to quickly by the Illuminati's attack to have many things ready… and to a certain extent, I don't think they expected the results that have occurred…"
"Or they were Illuminati members themselves," Merlin sighed, "Either way, it is no difference. I'm sure Coyote procure something for us to eat for tonight…"
All eyes then turned to the southwestern fey.
"I'll see what I can do," Coyote answered and was gone.
He reappeared with several loaves of bread and a couple canisters of spam. He set them down carefully.
"You may have to cook the spam, but it should do for now," Coyote commented slowly, "I'm sorry that it isn't much, but it's the best I could do."
"The best?" Beth asked.
"Without being run out of Chatham by an irate grocery owner attracting the attention of the Illuminati," Coyote answered.
"It's alright," Beth commented, "I'm sure we can set up a small fire to cook the spam somewhere. Hopefully no one notices the smoke."
London
"They didn't attack during the day?" Griff asked as Macbeth finished his report on how the day had gone, "I would have thought they would have at least tried to rescue their friend while we slept."
"They didn't," Macbeth answered, "It would appear that our prisoner is not as important to the Illuminati as I had thought. Why else would they let him remain our prisoner."
"Possibly that they do not see us as a threat and are deliberately ignoring us," Octavia commented, "which could prove harmful to them if they ignore us for long."
"That might be it, given their obsession with Arthur and Merlin," Griff commented, "but where else can we hit them? We don't have the numbers for an all out fight, and we've already taken out their communications tower…"
"That unfortunately was only negligible damage to them," Macbeth grumbled, "the rest of their organization has driven the British army all the way to Scotland and some patches of Northern Ireland. They've moved most of their broadcast operations to the BBC broadcasting areas."
That produced a rather heavy sigh from all the gargoyles present. None of them wanted to hear that their enemy was winning, and winning relatively easily.
"We've got to do something," Lancelot urged with Gawain and Guinevere nodding beside him.
"The question is what," Una spoke up, "from what you told me when you returned was that you succeeded in part because you surprised the Illuminati at their warehouse. They will likely expect our interference in their campaign against Arthur now. And since their Council members all know sorcery and are powerful in it…"
"We could face bigger problems," Macbeth sighed, "and possible defeat. This means we will have to be careful with anything we do."
"And what are we to do?" Chloe asked slowly.
"For now, mostly research and preparation," Macbeth answered, "We'll need to keep our fights few and far between and on a small scale until the regular army is able to recover and begin to push the Illuminati out."
On the Road to London
No one had caught their cooking fire and the group began moving down the road to London, trying their best to stay out of sight in order to protect the hatchlings with them. They seemed to cling to the middle of the group between Beth and Arthur while Coyote and Merlin were closer to the rear and Rachel, Reginald, and the driver were closer to the front. Coyote quietly walked up to Beth as they went.
"How are doing, with all of this?" Coyote asked quietly.
"Fine, I guess," Beth sighed, "although I think I'm beginning to reach the end of my rope on all of this… I mean finding out my family has had magical potential for years… and being stuck in the middle of a war against some organization that already rules the world… it's all a little much."
"It's all a little much," Coyote nodded, "but, just because the ability is there, doesn't mean that it's a path you have to take."
Beth slowly nodded, "I know… but it's still all weird. I mean, how did you know I had the potential?"
Coyote sighed heavily as they walked.
"As you know, I've watched over your family for since your father and your grandfather before him participated in the dances that were created to honor… well, me," Coyote answered, "but I've followed nearly every clan that has participated in those Kachina dances."
"Don't let it all go to your head, now," Beth quipped, knowing that many of the fey were treated as deities or their equivalent in many cultures.
Coyote only shook his head and sighed at the joke.
"Anyway, many centuries ago, long before Europeans found the 'New World', there was a shaman in your ancestral tribe who participated in the dances and did much to aide your people," Coyote began to explain.
"So I'm not the first mortal you've had a crush on?" Beth asked.
"Well… no, but that's a different story," Coyote answered, "and besides, this shaman was male and married. He did make contact with me directly, and it was largely only an exchange of information, not much more."
Beth slowly nodded.
"But over time, I'd like to think I became good friends with him," Coyote continued, "and this is where things begin to circle back to you, and clan Maza."
"Don't tell me, you think I'm descended from this old friend of yours?" Beth asked.
Coyote slowly nodded, "you don't necessarily look like him, but there is a lot about you and your family that reminds me of him. It is entirely possible that you are a descendent, which would explain how you were able to cast the spell at the Illuminati base."
"Maybe," Beth commented, "Although, many time unrelated people have similar personalities."
"And if that's the case, I don't know where your magical talent comes from," Coyote answered, "and even still, it's not like you have to use it."
Beth nodded as they kept walking.
Northern Ireland
Rory was quite surprised by the number of people that his father had gathered for what would essentially be a distraction mission. As he crouched in an ally with the Gae Bolga firmly in his grasp, he waited for his decoy force to drive by the village's small police station, which the Illuminati had commandeered as their headquarters. It was their choice of headquarters that surprised Rory at the people who had joined the distraction party. Several of them were local policemen, who had informed them that the Illuminati were using the station.
He then peered out around the ally to see if the truck carrying the group that would distract the Illuminati men for a moment was coming. Their plan to take the police station was a relatively simple one. His father and the others would drive past the station and through a brick through the window. The Illuminati would respond by sending out the soldiers they had assigned to the area, which was where Rory, in Cuchulainn's form would come in.
He would take care off the Illuminati soldiers before they could do anything and then head inside. Once all the Illuminati men were out cold, they could search the station for anything that might indicate what they were doing in Northern Ireland and what their strengths were. What they did after that was yet to be decided.
The truck wasn't their yet, and Rory sighed heavily. He leaned back into the ally and hoped that however was in the station hadn't noticed him watching them. After a few moments he heard the sound of an engine and glanced out again. The truck had finally arrived and was coming up the street. Rory gripped the Gae Bolga tightly and waited for the truck to pass the station. The barbed spear glowed brightly as he did so, and allowed him to take Cuchulainn's form as the truck approached the area.
When the light of transformation faded, Cuchulainn watched as a supply truck drove by with several men in the bed of the truck drove by. Each of them was armed with a brick or rock, and as they went by, they threw their improvised weapons at the windows of the police station. Cuchulainn watched as the projectiles easily shattered the glass and the truck began to drive away.
As predicted, a few Illuminati troops came running out to either investigate the 'attack' or return fire. They weren't heavily armed, and were all watching the truck. When one pulled out a handgun, Cuchulainn moved. Using his spear as a long staff, he rushed forward and pinned all of the Illuminati men against the exterior walls of the building. He knocked two of them out before the third and final one could respond and react to the attack.
"Who are you?" the man demanded as Cuchulainn held him against the wall.
"The defender of the land you are invading," Cuchulainn answered and knocked out the last man.
He let the man go as he truck returned.
"Did you find out anything?" his father asked from the drivers seat.
"No," Cuchulainn answered, and turned to walk into the station, "if we are to find out anything, it'll be inside the station. Not with the men sent to guard it."
Cuchulainn then slowly entered the station, the Gae Bolga ready, should anyone come rushing at him. There was no one in the outer offices, but he could see that there was a light on in one of the back offices, behind a row of cells.
"You can free their prisoners, if they have any?" Cuchulainn asked to the policemen that were part of the small raiding party.
One of the policemen nodded, "I doubt they could have changed the locks."
Cuchulainn nodded again and began walking toward the office door that looked like there was someone in it. As he got closer, a lone man approached the door and looked out of it.
"Alright now, what is causing all this…" the man spoke up until he saw Cuchulainn.
Cuchulainn only responded by throwing the Gae Bolga at the man, and smiled when the spear caught a lose area of clothing and ended up pinning the man to the wall, preventing him from fleeing. And so far, it didn't look like he really wanted to fight the 'hound of Ulster' either.
"Now, surrender!" Cuchulainn commanded of the man.
The man began to wrestle with something under his jacket to pull out a handgun. He had only just pulled it out when the mythical Irish hero moved forward and knocked the weapon out of his hand and lifted Illuminati man into the air.
"Surrender," Cuchulainn commanded again.
The man surrendered quickly, sensing he couldn't do Cuchulainn any harm with his fists. The Hound of Ulster then took him and threw him into the now emptied cells. The man fell unconscious when he hit one of the walls. With that done, Cuchulainn was wrapped in a short flash of light and returned to the more common form of Rory. His father and a couple of non-Illuminati policemen then returned with the Illuminati troops that Cuchulainn had knocked out when they had arrived.
"You won't be holding the 'hero' form?" his father asked.
"The fighting part of this mission is over," Rory answered weakly, "Cuchulainn's form is difficult to maintain. It's easier to simply be me to figure out any information we need as 'Rory' then as the 'hound'."
"It's still amazing to me that some kid is the reincarnation of a hero were all told of as kids," one of the policemen commented.
"Not as shocking as it was to me, I assure you," Rory answered and began walking into the office area.
Rory found much of the desk covered with papers pertaining the Illuminati invasion in the region. There also appeared to be at least one map that seemed to have an outline of the regional 'front'.
"Man, this whole thing is big," Rory commented in shock.
"What is it?" his father asked as he entered.
"The invasion they've launched is simultaneously occurring all over the UK," Rory answered, "and coming from different directions. Those that went straight into Scotland came out of Norway. Those that went into England and Wales came from France, Belgium, and Holland, and those that came into Northern Ireland came from the Republic of Ireland."
"What does that mean?" his father asked.
"Likely that these Illuminati people control all of those countries already in some form," the town's police chief spoke as he entered the room, having just been freed from his own cells.
"I guess that's right," Rory nodded.
"What about the forces here?" Rory's father questioned.
"We're only a stopping point for supplies going to the front Illuminati men here in Northern Ireland," Rory answered, "according their map, we're away from the front line, but their supply routes run through here on the way to the front line."
"Where is the front line?" the police chief asked.
"It's largely a rather weak line running from Strabane north to Londonderry and then to Bellycastle," Rory answered, "we just happen to be along the main supply line to those fronts… although, none of the guys we've captured here are well enough armed to be able for us to withstand any sort of counter attack if they know who is resisting them."
"They'll likely retake control over this area then," the police chief muttered.
"More then likely," Rory answered, "although, I would think that if we can disappear before they know anything certain, that might be a good thing. If they tighten their grip here looking for people they can't find… they'll likely cause more people to resist them locally and weaken their lines at the 'front'."
"And if they don't, we can interfere with their supply lines at will," the chief finished.
"So long as we don't use their base here as our base," Rory nodded, "This is a start, not much of one, but a start nonetheless."
"So long as we are free, that is all that matters," his father answered, "and that these wrongdoers are driven away."
To Be Continued…
