Disclaimer: Roswell, and its characters do not belong to me. Melinda Metz, Jason Katims and 20th Century Fox have that particular pleasure. I'm simply borrowing them until the Season 2 DVD's get released.

Chapter Fifty – Two – Operation Invincible

"Say, this is pretty good," said Zan, reaching for another piece of garlic bread. "So anyhow, I was thinking. This is a really big planet, right? And we're focusing all our efforts here in this one place. Is this the only city that Kivar took over?"

"Hey!" said Maria, sharply. "I said none of that during dinner!"

"Be reasonable, Maria. How can we not talk about it? It's the reason we're here," said Michael.

"I know, I know. I just wanted to be normal for a while," Maria said.

"Trust me, Maria," said Kyle. "You are not now, nor have you ever been what anybody could call normal."

"True," said Maria, proudly. "Fine, carry on your soldier conversations," she continued. "Just don't expect me to participate."

The others smiled at the thought of Maria staying out of any conversation for very long. Zan repeated his earlier comments, and they all looked to Che'koth for an answer.

"You know," he said with a sigh. "A lot of the questions you ask can be found in your memories, if only you would access them."

"But they're so painful," said Isabel. "Che'koth, I saw how I died. It was terrible. I don't want any of the others to have to see anything like that."

"Maybe they need to. Maybe you all need to," said Che'koth, his voice firmer than any of them had ever heard before. "You have to face what you fear, or it will control you. Is that what you want, any of you? But to answer your question, Zan, Kivar rules the whole planet, as did the royal family before they were overthrown."

"Shit," said Max, banging the table forcefully. "We've only been focusing our energies here. We probably should have split up and gone to all the major cities around the planet."

"No!" said Liz. "Max, you're wrong. We need to be here. All of us need to be here. This is where Kivar is. He is the direct threat to us, and our families back home. Remember them. They're why we came. It isn't about saving Antar, at least it wasn't when we came here. It was about protecting our families from the threat of the Aberjani. Remember Fred? He died just because he was our friend. What do you think those bastards will do to our families if they ever get near them? And what about Jose? He's dead too."

Max turned to Liz and put his arm around her, trying to comfort her, but she shook him off.

"Liz, stop it," said Max, grabbing her by the arm. "I know why we're here, and I'll never, in a million years, forget about Fred, or Jose. But I think you're forgetting that to effectively take the danger off of our families, we don't have any choice but to destroy Kivar. Liz, come on, it's not like I'm saying we're going to stay here and rule for a thousand years or whatever. I just want to stop that bastard from ever hurting anybody I care about again."

"If I may interrupt," said Che'koth. "I took the liberty of notifying our forces in all the major cities and strategic outposts of our plans. Everything that has been happening here has happened out there, including the posters with the handprints and the songs. We're a little
behind on modifying the trideka, but slowly but surely, that's getting out there as well."

"I should have thought of doing that," said Max. "I don't know where my head was."

"Max, don't be so hard on yourself," said Che'koth. "You, all of you, have done remarkably well. Your plans have been well thought out, and well executed. You've been incredibly successful to date, and I don't see any reason why you shouldn't continue to carry on exactly the way you have."

"No, there's no excuse," said Max, bowing his head. "It's no wonder Kivar managed to overthrow my throne before. Obviously, I'm not capable of managing it."

"Stop it, now!" roared Che'koth. "You were an excellent king, and your only fault was that you wanted so much to make your world even better than it was. Do you honestly think your father would have allowed you to take the throne if he didn't think you were worthy?"

"What do you mean, allow him to take the throne?" asked a puzzled Isabel. "Wouldn't he have to die for Max, I mean Zan to take the throne?"

"Not at all," said Che'koth. "Your father was ready to step down, which is a perfectly acceptable practice. It allowed Zan to take the throne, but the King remained as consul for him."

"Well, where is he?" demanded Isabel. "What happened to him, and to our mother? Were they killed in the uprising?"

"Nobody knows," Che'koth lied. "The King disappeared one day, shortly before the uprising took place. His body was never found."

"And our mother?" Max asked softly, reaching across the table to hold Isabel's hand.

"She is in hiding," explained Che'koth. "Nobody knows where she is. She worked closely with the science team that spearheaded the cloning program that helped to create you, but once the ship was sent to Earth, she dropped from site."

"Do – do you know where she is?" Zan asked. At Zan's question, Max turned to look at him, and was shocked to see the glimmer of unshed tears in Zan's eyes.

"No, but even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," said Che'koth. "Kivar has a bounty on her head. She was a very beautiful woman. She looks much like Isabel normally does. For a long time, after the bounty was announced, every beautiful blond woman was suspect."

"So they could both be alive or dead, and we'll never know?" asked Max.

"You never know what the future will hold?" Che'koth said cryptically.

Something in his voice aroused Liz's suspicion, and she turned her head quickly to look at Che'koth, and was shocked by the love she saw in his eyes while he looked at Max.

"Well, not to sound like that evil mind warping hell beast we called Tess, but what do we do now, Max?" asked Isabel, trying to change the subject.

"I have an idea," said Liz, suddenly. "But I'll need Che'koth to help me. Max, remember when we go to school this fall. All the fraternities and sororities that were pledging had huge sheets hanging from their houses with signs painted on them?"

"Yeah, I'm with you, I think," said Max. "Go on."

"Why can't we make something like that, but on a bigger scale?"

"Bigger?" asked Michael, "How much bigger?"

"Big enough to hang from the palace roof," said Liz with a grin. "Che'koth, that's where you and your people would come in, but I want to be there when it goes up."

"It will be very dangerous," Che'koth said to Liz, hoping to dissuade her. It wasn't that he didn't think Liz was up to that type of mission, but something in her eyes made him very wary.

"Don't worry," she said. "I can take care of myself."

"Liz," Max interjected. "There's just one thing. Something like that will really cause an uproar. I'm kind of thinking maybe we should save it for when we're ready to cause an all out war."

"Yeah, you might be right," she agreed, and watched, as Che'koth seemed to visibly sag with relief. "But I still have a few things I need to discuss with Che'koth, and I think tonight would be a good time to do it. So I'll tell you what, Maria, don't you have some other inflammatory song snippet to share? I'll work with Che'koth's group tonight to get them printed and posted."

"Yeah, I was thinking," said Maria. "Iz, what did you burn into the throne room floor, again?"

"And with the power of conviction, there is no sacrifice. It's a do or die situation, we will be invincible," said Isabel.

"Perfect. That's what we need to get out to the people next. And Alex, can you make me one more communicator?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, but why? You weren't happy with the twenty or so that I already made?"

"Jerk. Of course I'm happy. I'm ecstatic, even, but I want to give on to Che'koth, so his people can make copies to send out to all the other rebel groups."

"What did I tell you," said Che'koth, leaning closer to Max. "Michael better watch out, or she'll be taking his place as second in command. Of course, if she's not interested in the job, I think your wife could fill the position as well."

The group strategized for a while longer, drawing up a tentative schedule and battle plans. Max passed copies to everyone and stood before the group, a true leader at last.

"Any questions?" he asked. When nobody responded he continued. "I want all of you to go over this again and again. Draw up every possible scenario you can. We need to think of every possible thing that can happen, or go wrong. Tomorrow, we'll meet back here, and go over everything together. Then I want to make up a time line and set everything into motion. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Max smiled.

"Okay then, Che'koth, I want this sent out to everyone in your organization. In our organization. Operation Invincible began today! Antar will be free again!"