Return to base

"Mom."

Alley's soft, incredulous repeat of her word was the only sound in the entire area as everyone focused on Jian. The armored woman stood beside the snake woman, her staff held ready. Alley slowly shook her head and her hood retracted a little.

"Jian, can you get me out of here? We need to talk." Alley said very quietly as two of the beings around the odd pair started to glow.

"I can, but only if they do not try to stop us. And… We do." Jian did not take her eyes off the woman with the crown. "You will let us leave." Not a question. A statement of fact. A promise of mayhem.

"I can't do that. Not until I have your word not to interfere." Elizabeth said sadly. "I know you and Alley will want to do what you think is right, but… I also know that both of you will do what you feel is needed. I can't let you kill Lizbeth, Jian."

"I don't know what Alley is going to do. I certainly didn't expect this any more than I expected you to take Mina and Maya hostage." Jian smirked but it held little humor as everyone else stared at Elizabeth. "Taking hostages was always bad idea around her. Taking children or people who look like children hostage? Worse." She slowly shook her head, but her gaze and staff did not waver. "One thing I do know? If you try to hold Alley or alter her, she will act and you will not like what happens even before I get carte blanche to act."

That was calm, clear and concise. Also pure threat. Alley focused herself and her powers and slowly, every so slowly, expanded her hood again. When she readied her toxin spit, she focused on making sure it was the most virulent she could make. It sizzled in her mouth. Far more potent than usual.

"No!" Elizabeth held up empty hands in a warding gesture. "Alley! We are not enemies!"

"Could have fooled me." Jian said as everyone shifted back. For all the good that would do against Alley's toxins. Most nerve gasses would be less toxic that such supremely enhanced Viper venom. "You. Will. Let. Us. Go. Now."

"We don't want to fight you, Jian." Elizabeth begged. "You or Alley! We want to save Lizbeth!"

"Fuck you!" Jian snapped, her staff glowing brighter. "They all told me you couldn't be trusted, but I had no choice if I wanted to help Alley. So, I trusted, but not fully. You violated what trust I gave you when you tried to make off with Maya. Let us go, or this is going to get very bad, very fast. Choose, Empress!" Alley all but staggered at that. Elizabeth was an Empress? "Now!"

"I..." Elizabeth seemed to wilt. "I am sorry." She said in very small voice. "I wouldn't have hurt them. You know I wouldn't have hurt them. Not after-"

"Shut up!" Jian's cold, hard scream of rage was pure Jane Kelly. "Even Alley cannot hold that for long. Make your choice, Empress. Live or die. I don't care anymore!" Something in her voice spoke of raw loss, pain, rage and fear that was so familiar that Alley extended a hand and laid it on Jian's left arm. Jian didn't move, didn't seem to blink. The Viper couldn't speak with the toxin in her mouth without releasing it, but Alley sent what comfort she could. Jian choked a sob. "You are still so much better than me, Matron!"

It is all right, Jian. Alley sent to the other. You do not stand alone. The gaze she turned on Elizabeth had the crowned woman actually take a step back. There was really only one thing to do. She spit at Elizabeth's feet and more than one person screamed, but it sizzled and then turned into a puddle of acidic ooze as Alley's power worked on it. Her mouth hurt, she ignored it. "She is trying to save her sister, Jian."

"Matron, no!" Jian begged as Alley slowly pushed her arm, and the weapon she held, down.

"Jane never taught you about when not to fight, did she?" Alley inquired sadly as she moved to coil around Jian who did not move. Not to restrain, to comfort.

"She tried, but I am not a good student when it comes to such. She didn't have time to pound it properly into my head." Jian said sadly. "Matron, please… Don't trust them!" She begged.

"No one said anything about trust." Alley promised. "That acid is going to react in about a minute or so with the oxygen in this room." Everyone stilled as Alley continued and Jian smiled wide. "Said reaction will turn everything organic in this room into ash. A raging firestorm. That may or may not kill someone as powerful as Elizabeth has proven to be, but it won't tickle. It will kill me if they do not let me go." She smiled as only a Viper could at Elizabeth's sudden blank face. "Feel free to try and neutralize it. You won't like what happens." The world seemed to blink, but nothing changed. Or, nothing but Elizabeth's suddenly strained face.

"You wanted the ability to speak." Elizabeth said softly. "I… I see. How many ways have you trapped that substance?" She asked, incredulous.

"Wouldn't you love to know?" Alley asked. "You now have about thirty seconds." The world blinked again but nothing changed until Alley saw a trickle of blood fall from Elizabeth's nose.

"Go." Elizabeth slumped, defeated. "I… The only way to stop you is to kill you and I refuse to do that. You are one of the few lights left in that world, Matron Alley. I am not your enemy. I hope to talk, someday. To explain. To prove it to you."

"Maybe someday." Alley replied as a green glow built around Jian and her. "But not today."

"Brace yourself, Matron." Jian said very quietly. "Where we are going… You are no danger at all, but it will be a shock."

Just like that, Jian stood in a hangar. Such a facility was always fairly easy to recognize even without the two aircraft that were housed within it. Both were painted a dark shade of blue. The tiny one man helicopter was dwarfed by the three engine jet with the gun turret on top. But Alley knew them both. Knew them well. She recognized the symbol on both of the aircraft and saw it everywhere once she looked. Walls, floor, ceiling, everywhere. It was a red snake and not just any snake!

"Um… Jian…?" Alley asked as she uncoiled and Jian returned her staff to her back. "Where are we?"

"Mega-Primus. Home." Jian said with a sigh. "Not how I wanted to come back, but..." She shrugged. "Better than I hoped." She smiled at Alley. "Welcome home, Matron."

Alley stared at her and then froze as a huge door swiveled open. Outside was a skyline, all of it dominated by skyscrapers that each had the same symbol on them! It was what was drawn up outside the hangar that had her stilling. At least a battalion of armed troops stood in formation, most of them in the same uniform. All of those wore blue. Blue uniforms, blue combat helmets, darker blue harnesses with combat gear! The only color differences were the black knee pads, black masks that covered their lower faces and the same red insignia on each soldier's chest and shoulders.

As Alley stared, she saw other, clearly more specialized troops also standing at attention. Some wore heavy armor, other had tech gear of various kinds, and a small group wore flightsuits. All with the same insignia. Behind them were all kinds of vehicles also with the same insignia. Jian raised her left hand to the sky and clenched a fist. As one, every assembled soldier also threw a fist to the sky, thankfully, the left fist and shouted with Jian.

"COBRA!"

Again, in unison every one of them, including Jian, brought their fists down to slap against their right breasts, saluting Alley who stared at them, wide eyed. A large scar faced man with an eyepatch over his left eye stepped forward, his sole eye on Alley, but he turned to salute Jian. His armor was different. He sported the same insignia, but his right arm was clearly prosthetic. His helmet too, had a point that came down slightly between his eyes. He saluted Jian.

"Welcome back, Commander." The man was from Australia, that was clear to Alley, but nothing else was. "Things did not go as planned?"

"No." Jian frowned at Alley before turning to the man. "What is the situation, Major?"

"Calm, for now." The Major clearly did not think that would last. "No dimensional rifts have formed since you left. The enemy has probed for weaknesses, but there have not been any incursions."

"Or very subtle ones." Jian mused and the Major nodded. "Anything from the Cult of Sirius?"

"No, ma'am." The Major replied. "And yes, Ma'am, that bothers me too. I have several recon teams investigating with backup ready."

"I won't tell you your job, Major." Jian reassured him. "We have larger concerns as you can see." She looked at Alley who looked at the sky. She could see a dome over the skyline and outside that? Dark clouds that looked wrong. "Matron?" She asked, her tone turning kind.

"When?" Alley asked very quietly. Jian and the Major looked at one another and then Jian reached out to take Alley's limp arm. "When is this?"

"2187, Matron." Jian said quietly as she guided Alley towards another door. "Come, we need to get you checked out. Then we can talk."

Alley took a long look back at the now dispersing formation with very recognizable vehicles and then let Jian pull her into the building. The large blue building with the huge red snake on it marked 'Cobra Headquarters'.

An hour later.

"What did I do?"

Physically, Alley was incredibly comfortable, far more so than she had been in recent memory. The warm pad that had been provided had a protrusion that was just the right size for her to coil up on. That was not a coincidence. Everything here had been set up for her comfort. From the low impact lighting to the muted medical machinery, to the floors that were heated! All for her comfort.

Mentally? Psychologically? She was reeling. Not even the wonderful tasting restorative drink she had been given helped. She had scanned it with her ability and been pleasantly surprised. No drugs, no dangerous levels of energy boosters, no nothing but natural flavors. Her favorites. Surprise, surprise. The burns on her mouth from her toxin had been minor and she had been healing them, but the black haired doctor was both quick and efficient, aiding her ability in a way that few could comprehend. The woman had clearly done it before.

"You saved everyone. You were not here until almost too late. X-Com lost." What was apparently an appointed medical person who had introduced herself as 'Anna' said gently as she checked her readouts. Her black leather attire screamed 'dominatrix' even with her glasses but her manner was kind and gentle. "You did what you had to, my dear. No more, no less." She smiled. "All healed."

"What did I do?" Alley all but begged Jian who had not left her side. The doctor patted her hand, rose and left the room.

"As the doctor said, you saved everyone, Matron. X-Com was defeated." Jian sighed deeply. "Just like when the Elders came before you were born, many years after you took the title of 'Matron', X-Com tried to stop an inter dimensional invasion and failed as well. It wasn't anything they had faced before and had no way of defending against it. You figured out what was happening and why. Then you acted, making a new armed force. We use the name 'XCom' to honor our predecessors, but that is not our organization. We fought beside the few survivors and won." Alley stared at her and Jian shook her head. "I wasn't there for the beginning, but someone here was. They are waiting to talk to you, but I wanted to be sure you had a chance to relax for a moment first. I know this is a shock, but we will take care of you." She laid a hand on Alley's flank and her kindness came through loud and clear. "Mom. You made me. Created me and so many others. You gave us a choice and what could we do but follow your bravery and kindness?'

"Is... Is this my fate?" Alley demanded weakly. "Eternal war?"

"No." Jian said sadly. "This is..."

"Stop coddling her, she won't appreciate it." A familiar voice sounded and Mina stepped into the room, but.. That wasn't the Mina Alley knew! The very old woman was bent, but unbowed as she looked at Alley, her eyes glistening. She wore a blue uniform with the X-Com badge instead of the red snake. "Oh my god! Miss Alley… It is you."

"Mina." Alley said weakly as the old, old woman stepped to her side and bent down to look in her eyes. "Mina. How?"

"You saved me. This body is mostly artificial, Matron." Mina said quietly. "My brain is all that is really left of the original me. You saved me, you saved all of us."

"If the war is still going on, I didn't save anyone." Alley said weakly, her cup falling from a limp hand, but Jian caught it before it could spill. Jain set it aside, but did not move otherwise.

"You are wrong." Mina said as she sat beside Alley and her arms swept around to pull the Viper into a hug. "The Lady could not trust. X-Com could not trust. Without trust, no one could communicate when a new enemy appeared. X-Com fought as they always have. We failed." Mina bowed her head but when she raised it, she was smiling. "Then you took matters into your own coils. You did what we could not. You saved us all."

"I don't understand!" Alley all but wailed.

"I know." Mina sighed. "But there are limits to what we can say without irreparably harming the timeline. You will do what you think is right. In your own, unique way." Now, her smile was impish.

"Cobra was the enemy of the GI Joe team in a TV cartoon series from the 1980s as well as a couple of bad movies. The whole idea of it was to sell toys!" Alley said weakly. Jian and Mina both nodded. "I... Mark loved the TV show. It was soldiers and war, but not that violent for all that. And it was always thinking and bravery that won the day, not guns."

"You told me who Mark's TV hero was." Mina said softly. Alley jerked and Mina nodded. "You never told anyone else. I doubt anyone outside your nest guessed why Mark enjoyed the show so much."

"What was the character's real name?" Alley demanded tightly. She had never said that to anyone that she knew of. Even the nest had never really focused on that. Each of them had pursued their own passions, at least, until the Elders had demanded they serve in a different, more pro-active way.

"Angus Macgyver." Mina replied instantly and Alley felt every ounce of breath leave her body. "Your partner Mark loved the character portrayed by Richard Dean Anderson because the character had a heart and used his brain. He had no problem with violence when it was called for..." She paused as Alley gave a tiny sob.

"...but Macgyver hated guns." Alley bowed her head and both Jian and Mina hugged her. "He had cause."

"And violence was never the only solution." Mina said gently as she held Alley. "Admittedly, that was a TV show, not real life, but still..."

"So was GI Joe!" Alley protested. "And… Cobra?" She demanded. "I made Cobra?"

"Hey, the motif works. You needed a military organization to coordinate the people you made to fight and it worked." Mina was grinning wide at Alley's discomfiture. "At least under your direction, they have never been 'a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world'." She quoted. "And now? They wouldn't dare with Jian and her kin as Crimson Guard."

Alley looked at Jian who looked away. "I am gone by now, aren't I?"

"I… I shouldn't say." Jian said softly. Mina looked thunderous, but Jian shook her head. "You know what the Lady said, Mina. We cannot do but so much. We can aid. We can ward. That visitor was going to kill Alley, so I could help."

"You changed something, didn't you?" Mina said slowly.

"Not really. The visitor did some things that threatened to upset a bunch of stuff." Jian said very slowly. "And that is all I can say about that. We need to get her back before the changes get too pervasive. Matron..." She smiled little forlornly as Alley patted her arm and nodded.

"I shouldn't remember this, should I?" The Viper asked. "Knowledge of the future is no gift."

"No, it is not." Mina hugged Alley tight enough to hurt for a moment. "All I can say is 'Be yourself'. Don't be what you think anyone else wants you to be. Be yourself. Believe in yourself and know that no matter where you go or what you do, you will never be alone again. We are watching and we are warding. You are the Matron." She smirked. "Otherwise known as Cobra Commander."

"I hate you." Alley was smiling as she was falling and then she jerked awake. She had fallen asleep beside Mina's bed! A dream flitted through her head of an old TV show, but it faded as she looked at the slumbering waif. Then she looked at the wall where the tube with Mina's sister had been and scowled. Her memory was fuzzy, but she remembered the girl being taken. But by who? It wasn't clear. Jian stepped forward, her face blank. "We need to get Maya back. Now."

"Agreed, Matron." Jian said calmly.

"Jane and the nest are still infiltrating the base where the data is stored." Alley said very softly. "X-Com is spread thin trying to keep a lid on things. They will not be able to for much longer. I placed a tracker in that pilot's mind. We should know when he comes back."

"Matron..." Jian started, only to pause as Alley shook her head.

"I cannot go in guns blazing." Alley reassured the other. "But I know some people who can." The Viper shook her head. "The question is: 'What will it cost me?'." At that, Jian went totally still.

"Matron, no." Jian protested. "You cannot trust them!"

"No one said anything about trust." Alley retorted. "But they can do it. They can get Maya back."

"Matron..." Jian groaned as Alley rose and started for the door. "I… I cannot let you do this! I cannot..." She broke off as Alley spit something at her feet. Jian gasped and collapsed, instantly unconscious. Alley caught her and carried her towards the bed.

"Where I go, you cannot follow." Alley said very softly as she laid Jian on the bed.

Alley, what are you doing? Her passenger asked, wary. Then Easer screamed as Alley pulled a scale from her neck and laid it on Mina's hand. The scale that hid Easer's tiny alien form.

Something rash. Alley replied. There was no reply and wouldn't be without physical contact. She cast out with her mind to touch a familiar one. The Sectoid was shocked at her touch. X-Com is busy. The Lady's people are busy. It is time Advent did good for a change.

Are you insane? The Sectoid demanded. You know the Speaker wants you! Do you know why?

Not really. Alley replied as she slithered out of the room carefully. It was 0210 and the base was dark. There were shadows aplenty. The guards were professional, but relied on their tech and the psi powers of their wards to guard the whole place. Oops. A flash of gold was not really a surprise. Hold tight to my mind if you would?

Matron? Came from the other even as pain slammed into Alley and golden energy grabbed her and wafted her away. Alley! The Sectoid screamed as an evil chuckle slammed consciousness from Alley. Lizbeth.

For her part, Alley was smiling internally even as darkness claimed her.

Manipulate me, will you? Bring it on, ya bitch!