CHAPTER ONE
Diana
We materialized into a war zone.
I have fought many wars over many centuries. Most defending my homeland, Themyscira. There is a certain purity to the martial clash of horses and steel and will that I will always revere. As an ambassador, my job is to ensure peace. But I could hardly call myself an Amazon if there weren't some small part of me that relished combat.
And yet, it was hard to find anything noble or pure in the battlefields of Man's World. We were perfectly on target-beamed onto the helipad of the American embassy in Bialya (I had to remind myself to congratulate Mr. Terrific on the flawless teleportation-a fine stand-in for J'onn he'd become.). Green Lantern and I were mission leaders. His combat experience and my near-fluency in Arabic were key for this particular situation. The fact that we could both survive direct hits from mortars didn't hurt either.
We were at the embassy because of intelligence picked up by the CIA suggesting a targeted strike. The Bialyan authorities were holding the leader of a militia group called Al-Jama'a. The militia wanted him back. Not in and of itself anything that the League would get involved in. Or could get involved in, under international law.
Except for the second-in-command of Al-Jama'a, the enforcer who was currently trying to break into the embassy compound. His nom de guerre was Al-Tanin and was, according to reports, a class-1 metahuman.
Seeing his handiwork up close, it was easy to understand why we'd been called in.
From inside Green Lantern's transparent force shield, we could see that in addition to grenades and small arms fire, the occasional crackling orange sphere of energy would surge over the compound walls and explode. Parts of the embassy were already ablaze.
"Holy moly," Atom Smasher breathed.
"There is foul magic afoot," snarled Shining Knight. "Tis no ordinary flame that burns here."
He was right. The fireballs that were currently destroying the embassy compound didn't look like any kind of normal fire I'd ever seen. The flames didn't just crackle-they writhed, like living things.
"Trial by fire for the newbies," John muttered. "Literally."
"I'll take Atom Smasher and Ice," I said. "We'll help repel the attackers."
John nodded. "I'll take the rest. We'll get the embassy personnel up to the roof where they can be beamed to the Watchtower."
It would be easier said than done. The power to the embassy had already been cut, and we had minutes at best if we wanted to avoid spectacular casualties.
Just another day in the Justice League.
I flew out of Lantern's energy shield and was immediately rocked by a mortar shell that exploded high on my sternum. I have some of the toughest skin in the galaxy but a direct unblocked hit still stung. Whoever was arming these rebels had given them the good stuff.
I got my bracelets up in time to block another hit. Much better. "Ice!" I yelled into my commlink. "You have one job. I want a frozen wall reinforcing the compound's. Everything you've got into it!"
"On it!" I could hear the excitement in Ice's voice. Not often she was given carte blanche to let loose with her powers on a mission. A flash of blue on the red-brown battlefield, she let loose with twin streams of cryonic energy. Solid, glacier-like walls began to cleave the battlefield in two. Chips of ice marked where bullets and grenades now cratered into her makeshift shield. So far so good.
"Atom Smasher," I barked, "you and I are engaging the militia directly. They have armored vehicles and mortars."
"Consider 'em scrap metal."
"I'll be helping as needed, but my focus will be on Al-Tanin. If you see him, steer clear. Not even that new armor of yours is equipped to deal with chaos magic."
"I don't even know what that is."
"Count yourself lucky then." I batted a rocket-propelled grenade away from my face and felt the concussive blast of its explosion a second later. These attacks were getting annoying.
I swooped down behind enemy lines going for the first armored vehicle I could see. It had a machine gun turret that was spitting out lethal .50 caliber rounds. I chopped the barrel, the edge of my hand warping it with a shriek of metallic protest. Then I kicked the gunner right out of his nest, holding back just enough so that he'd wind up with a concussion rather than a hole in his chest.
More small arms fire peppered my back. For me, it was like a light massage.
And I didn't even have to deal with them. Atom Smasher had arrived just outside the walls and at his full gargantuan size, he was barreling through the pockets of militia with devastating effectiveness.
Leaving me to focus on my prey.
Al-Tanin was behind the front lines of the assault, perched in a flatbed pickup truck. American model too (as were most of the Al-Jama'a weaponry and equipment). He was flanked by machine gunners in escort trucks, which had been modified to hold anti-aircraft turrets. A nervous jolt rippled through me as I saw the gunners rotate their guns to track me.
I'd experienced the wrath of direct fire from 'flak' artillery during the League's trip back in time to World War Two. Not my idea of a fun time-the shells packed enough punch to ring even my bell. The artillery was obsolete against modern aircraft-much more effective to use man-portable guided missiles. Unless you were fighting airborne metahumans.
Which left me to grapple with the uncomfortable proposition that somehow, Al-Jama'a had been expecting us.
No time to dwell on it. The first bursts of flak were incoming so I immediately executed a twirling barrel roll in midair, turning my flight path into an unpredictable zigzag of spatial noise. The gunners were just trying to keep me from my true quarry, Al-Tanin, who was busy lobbing those magic fireballs of his at the embassy compound. If I could take him out-
BLAM!
An explosion of pain rocked me as three of the A-A rounds managed to stitch across my torso, briefly making me see stars and sending me in an awkward tailspin. It wasn't enough to kill or seriously wound me, but I was in no hurry to let more hits come through.
I swooped down, narrowly dodging another stream of artillery. I just had to get close enough.
"Diana, my ice wall is not gonna hold up!" Fire gritted over the comms. "This fire is vaporizing ambient moisture faster than I can make it! What do I do?"
"We still need more time for evacuation," John informed me over the same channel.
"Ice, figure it out," I clipped. No time to focus on speaking. This maneuver was going to require all of my concentration.
I unclasped my lasso, letting its lariat trail in the ferocious tailwinds as I got close enough to the first A-A turret to snake its barrel into the loop. Right before crashing into the ground I leveled out, yanking the swiveling turret with unbelievable centrifugal force. The devastating gunfire scythed horizontally across the Al-Jama'a side of the battlefield before swinging to face Al -Tanin.
Who flew. Straight up into the sky. Not the worst outcome, as that only left the A-A turret on the other side exposed to a volley of friendly fire that quickly reduced it to smoldering steel. A throw of my own plus superhuman strength was enough to send the first truck tumbling across the terrain like a discarded toy.
I looked up. Managed to get my bracelets in front of my face just in time to protect it from a full-on blast of Al-Tanin's fire. I felt the infernal heat attacking my armor, my hair, my skin. I could taste the ozonic tang of chaos magic in the back of my throat. If I were a mortal, the flame would have reduced me to a charred husk.
It hurt just enough to piss me off. When the smoke cleared, I could see Al-Tanin hovering above me, shock written on his face. It was likely the first time anyone had ever survived a direct hit from his flames.
"Surrender!" I commanded in Arabic, rising to his elevation above the fray. "Your forces are being defeated as we speak."
"I will not leave as long as that embassy stands," he snapped back. In London-accented English, no less. Up close, he was a lot younger than I'd suspected. Early twenties at most. But not healthy. His skin had a grayish pallor that revealed angry purplish veins around his eyes and mouth and hands. His eyes were glowing embers, the skin around them blistered and cracked. It was like a flame was literally consuming him from the inside out.
So instead of threatening to break every bone in his body, I said, "We can help you."
"Liar!" He launched another fireball which managed to singe a few of my hairs before I batted it away.
"That was a free shot," I growled. "But people are dying. You don't have the luxury of time. Surrender, or else."
His face was contorted with pain. Easy to mistake for anger, but it was pain alright. I floated closer, trying to get a better look at what was going on with him.
"I wish-" he started to say.
Then with a FZZZAT! As if on command, the magical fire inside him sparked bright enough to illuminate him from the inside out. His mouth opened in a horrifying scream.
I could do nothing but watch as a human being spontaneously combusted two-hundred and fifty feet above the ground. Consumed by the very flames he'd wielded. It was an awful death.
And I'd been wrong. The flames didn't reduce mortals to a charred husk. No, that flame burned Al-Tanin away until there were scarcely more than a few errant embers in the wind.
"Diana here," I reported, keying my comm line. "Al-Tanin is. . ." I had breath to quell the tremor in my voice. "Al-Tanin is down."
"KIA?" John inquired.
Killed in action? Without a doubt.
"KIA," I said.
*********************
As missions go, it was one of the easier ones. A blurb on the primetime cable news segments, and maybe a few write-ups on the second or third page of the Daily Planet and Gotham Herald. Most of our missions, contrary to the public perception, are like this. Most metahumans aren't exactly Darkseid-caliber threats.
John and I stayed behind to make sure all of the staff could be evacuated safely. With Al-Tanin gone, the fires disappeared and the attacking Al-Jama'a forces withered away. Three embassy personnel had died, but since they were Bialyans and not Americans, no major international scrutiny would result.
Seven hours later, John and I had finished debriefing a two-star general, a press pool, and five different CIA liaisons. The consensus was that there was no explanation for why the attack had happened. No intel suggesting Al-Jama'a was interested in attacking the embassy, which had very little strategic importance anyway.
According to all reports, it was as if the attack had materialized out of thin air.
Mr. Terrific looked back and forth between us. "First thing: I'll make a file about the uh, magic fire stuff. Al-Tanin didn't come up with mystical mojo like that on his own, which means there's either a new sorcerer on the block or..."
"One of our old foes is misbehaving," John finished. He turned to me. "You still have connections in the magical underworld, right Diana?"
"I wouldn't call it that exactly, and honestly Zatanna or Dr. Fate would know better than me."
Terrific sighed, pushing away from the conference table. "Guess I have some calls to make. Any last thoughts on the rookies?"
"Exemplary across the board," John reported.
"Diana?"
"I agree for the most part. Atom Smasher took orders perfectly and his instincts on the ground were superb, allowing me to focus on the target. I think he's ready for mission leader status. On a probationary basis of course."
Terrific nodded casually, but I knew he was committing every word of the conversation to his eidetic memory. "And Ice?" he asked, equally nonchalant.
"It was a good experience for her, but she's still a bit green. Needs more practice rationing her powers and making tactical decisions in the field."
"Alright," Terrific said, his voice indicating the debriefing had come to an end. "Good work you two. State Department is over the moon, and we definitely have favors to call in, which is never a bad thing. Y'all get some rest, okay?"
After Terrific had left, John turned to me, a slight grin on his face as he rose. "Some rest, huh?"
"No rest for the wicked."
"You're going to that UN gala?" he asked as we made our way to the teleporter platform.
"Seems like the kind of thing an ambassador should do. What about you?"
"Honestly there's a hundred things I'd rather do. Guess it depends who's going." He paused. "Only original League members invited, right?"
I couldn't resist a smirk. The tangled romantic drama between Green Lantern, Vixen, and Hawkgirl was the most open secret on the Watchtower.
"What's the look for?"
"No look," I protested. "But by the way, I have it on good authority that Shayera is going to be in attendance."
He chuckled, taking the teasing in stride. "By the way, my relationship with Mari is going just fine."
"Good. She's a great catch," I agreed, punching in the coordinates for planetfall.
"And Shayera and I are good friends."
"Of course."
"Just like you and Bruce, I'm sure," he said, this time with a smirk of his own. Before I could respond, he was gone- beamed 24,000 miles down to the Earth's surface.
It was just as well. I had no good answer to that.