The swirling mist from within the cloudbank made it difficult to see. Pilar P'thal wiped the condensation from the goggles she wore as she noted the positions of the soldiers that made up the sensor net. The scanning device she held displayed the net slowly collapsing itself toward the center of the cloud bank, however each soldier reported that no contact was ever made with the proposed target.
No one could have stayed within the net undetected. All avenues of escape were covered, all except one, to a higher altitude, close to the fringes of space. But that would be suicide, there's no way she could survive up there, she thought. The thanagarian lifted herself up above the veil of clouds with just a slight beating of her wings and looked into the void of sparkling stars up above. Yet somehow, Shayera Hol had eluded them... again.
With the rank of lieutenant and a member of the Thanagarian Special Forces unit known as the Black Talon, P'thal specialized in the retrieval of wanted fugitives. She knew that Hol was resourceful, but she had no idea that she was an escape artist as well.
She had met Shayera back when they were in the police academy together on Thanagar, and hadn't seen her in five years. They were friends... some would say they were close friends. P'thal remembered when Shayera accepted the mission to infiltrate Earth... to learn about their defenses ...their weaknesses. How could Shayera have gotten herself into this position? she thought. Why would she go native and put the interests of the humans above her own people? Now, Thanagar only knows Hol as a traitor, and P'thal's mission is to bring the traitor to justice. Thanagarian justice.
What further puzzled P'thal was that the commanding officer didn't care if Shayera was brought in dead or alive... Which didn't make sense to her, because Shayera would be required to stand trial in front of the High Council to determine if she should be put to death. But the lieutenant commander had hinted that he wanted her dead. Why?
"Lieutenant. Report?!" a voice flared over her communicator which shook P'thal from her thoughts.
"Yes, sir. Sensor sweep is completed, and there is no sign of the target." P'thal reported, as she prepared herself for his reaction.
"Impossible!! She was trapped... how?" the voice snapped.
"I'm unable to answer that sir, we checked every centimeter of this cloudbank. There's no sign of her."
The communicator went silent.
"Your orders, sir?" P'thal asked, after several minutes of the abrupt silence.
"Sir...?"
"Lieutenant, return to base..." the voice ordered.
"Yes, sir..."
P'thal flew towards her fellow Black Talon and whistled sharply, "Let's pack it up..." she ordered. "We're to return to base..."
Lantern peered up at the projected display showing the positions of all of the thanagarian soldiers searching through the mass of clouds. He watched as they slowly made their way inward, actually covering every square inch of the clouds as they made their sensor sweep. He realized that he pulled Shayera out before they had a chance to create their net, otherwise things would have been a bit more interesting.
Shayera had fallen asleep within five minutes after they'd returned to the initial coordinates from where they'd first entered space. John knew she was exhausted, and she probably didn't eat anything as well. He mentally erected a small cushioned bed within the energy bubble, and placed her on it so that she could be more comfortable.
She stirred fitfully in her sleep, her body still restless. Her nightmare had returned, the League member's faces were filled with distrust. Even Lantern's face became contorted.
"I love you...but, I don't know if I can ever trust you..."
"WITHOUT TRUST HOW CAN THERE BE LOVE?!!" his contorted face screamed.
Hro Talek's face jumped into her dream... "ShAyErA..." he was smiling grotesquely, "yOu Don'T rEAlly bELieVe tHat thIs WeAk-mInDed fOoL is EvER gOinG to TruST yOu... SuReLY YoU cAn't bE thAt nAivE..."
Talek's face kept getting closer, laughing. "I DiD, aNd lOok WhAt it gOt mE!!"
"YoU DoN't kNoW aNyThinG aBoUt LoVE...!!"
She saw the look on John's face, the same look he had when Talek had kissed her in front of him.
"HOW CAN I EVER TRUST YOU AGAIN?!!" John's voice screamed again.
"YoU aRe GoiNg tO rIp tHe FoOl'S hEarT oUt aGaiN!!" Talek's image chimed in with delight.
"CAN'T TRUST YOU! CAN'T TRUST YOU! CAN'T TRUST YOU!" echoed throughout her mind.
"I'm sorry..." she said, to no one in particular. "I SAID THAT I'M S-SORRY!! I-I THOUGHT I WAS DOING THE RIGHT THING ... I DIDN'T KNOW!!!" her voice shrilled.
"YOU CAN TRUST ME!! YOU CAN TRUST ME!!" she said over and over.
John looked over at her when he heard her whimper, heard her sobbing in her sleep. He studied her face, noticed the perspiration that trickled on her brow, how she frowned as her face moved slightly from side to side, and her fists clenched.
"static... report...static..." the communicator suddenly sprang to life.
John turned, listening intently.
"static... sweep is completed... static... no sign of target..." one voice reported.
"static...how?" the other voice questioned.
"Unable to answer...static... checked every ...static..."
After several minutes of silence. "...static... return to base..."
Lantern saw the projected images gather at the center quadrant of the display and dispersed in a southern direction. He mentally thought of one word as he descended the energy bubble towards the Earth's atmosphere. Stealth.
The energy bubble began to shimmer, the green glow of the light rays around it began to invert, and the bubble, its occupants had seem to just disappear.
From within the energy bubble, Lantern propelled it to keep pace with the hawkmen.
"What's goin' on?" Shayera asked groggily, as she sat up wiping the sleep from her eyes.
"They're on the move..." John reported quietly.
"You ok? Looked like you were having a nightmare..." he commented as glanced at her briefly.
"I'm ok", she replied, trying not to think about the images that were still fresh in her mind. "What are we going to do when we know where their base is located?"
"Don't know yet. I would suggest that we find out what we're up against first."
"Agreed..."
The hawkmen flew south until they reached the mountainous area which looked to be near the northern region of Nevada. They landed in a small clearing within a valley shrouded with trees and surrounded by the mountains. From what John could tell, there was no populace near their location.
The momentum of the energy bubble slowed, hovering over the clearing as Lantern pointed his ring in the direction of the Hawkmen. The display within the bubble showed the group of thanagarian soldiers walking toward a cave entrance located at the base of the mountain.
Shayera looked astonished, as she recognized a face on the display.
"I know her..." she whispered.
Pilar... they sent Pilar after me...? she thought. Did she go renegade? Shayera then recognized the insignia she wore on her chest plate. The Black Talon... The Talon answered only to the High Council and to no one else. Which meant that she would have to face the Tribunal if she was captured. Then why did they want her dead before she would stand trial for her betrayal?
She had heard the orders herself... Dissidents...no. They were there to retrieve a fugitive.
"John... these soldiers are Black Talon..."
"So..."
"That means that they are Special Forces... on a fugitive retrieval mission. That also means that they're here to take me back to stand trial. They're not here to kill me."
"What about what you heard when you were in the clouds... d-didn't you say that they wanted you dead?" John asked.
"I know... but I've worked with the Talon before... that's their job."
"What do you want to do?"
"Let's take a closer look..."
Lantern landed the bubble about a quarter of a mile out from the hawkmen's position. After using the ring to show the whereabouts of the soldiers, he decided it would be better to scout the area on foot before taking any kind of action.
"Their camp is north from here..." Lantern pointed out. "Keep your eyes open...this smells like a trap..."
"Why do you say that?" Shayera questioned.
"There's a chance that they may have found those two soldiers I came across at the cabin."
"Oh yeah..."
Hawkgirl held the energy club in her right hand more securely, grateful that she no longer had to rely on the wooden spear for protection. She felt uneasiness beginning to build in her for having John involved in all of this. This whole thing was clearly her fault, and if anything was to happen to him she would never forgive herself.
They worked their way up to the edge of the clearing. Lantern looked over the area. Nothing moved. Total silence. No sounds from the night what so ever.
"You hear that?"
"No, what...?" Shayera looked around cautiously.
"That's just it... no sound, almost as if we walked into a dome..."
Lantern never finished the thought. The weapons fire came so abruptly that his power ring barely fired up a shield in time. He was right... it was trap! They were waiting for them.
"Cloaked...?" he wondered.
The soldiers were all around, firing laser blasts at them from every angle. Hawkgirl then lifted herself up into the middle of the clearing, electrifying her energy club, and back-flipped into a diving arc towards a group of thanagarian soldiers.
"uuUUUHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!" she roared as used the club to beat back the energy blasts and sent back a massive blow when she used the club to hit the ground that made the small group of soldiers lose their balance.
In she went with the ferocity of a bird of prey. She struck decisively and quick. Energy club intercepting laser blasts, sending them back to their point of origin. Hawkgirl jumped into the air and drove her foot into the face of one soldier and tossed another into a group that were trying to rush her from her left. She then struck another soldier with a swift kick to his sternum, and drove her fist into another soldier's face changing the shape of his helmet.
Green Lantern had provided cover to Hawkgirl as she made her attack, only to be rushed upon by five soldiers coming from all directions. They pummeled him with their blows only to hit the shield he had erected. All of sudden the shield seemed to gather itself inward with energy and released itself in an massive outward motion sending the winged men flying in every direction. Lantern sent out laser blasts of his own, slicing as many energy weapons he could find.
He studied their attack pattern and saw that they were trying to get in between Hawkgirl and himself. He started to head towards the group when he saw the grenade hit the ground close to his position. The explosion caught him as he took to the sky, the impact sent him into the surrounding trees near the clearing. Lantern dodged the first tree, however he wasn't so lucky with the second. He hit the tree with such a force that his body left an imprint upon its bark.
Hawkgirl saw the explosion, Lantern's body thrown into the trees.
"John!!" the memory of the Joker's explosion jumped into her mind.
All she saw was red. She didn't hate her people, but they just stepped over the line when they decided to hurt the one she loved. No one did that...EVER!! She didn't care about nothing else, she was going to make sure that he was alright. She tossed the Talon soldiers around as if they were nothing. The face she wore wasn't one that she normally had shown, her face was no longer one of a delicate flower. The soldiers had no idea that one woman could have such skills in combat, the ferocious sneer on her face sent chills through them as she used those skills to get closer to the man she loved.
The blow had come from behind. Shayera tried to block the attack, but she was too late. She screamed in defiance as it caught her on the back of her head and sent her into the blackness of unconsciousness. Before she blacked out, she turned around to see her friend, Pilar P'thal, holding an energy mace in her right hand.
"Hello...Shayera. It's been a long time..."
The ring's aura had cushioned the blow he took from the blast and from his crashing into the tree. Lantern was angry now. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone, he was there to make sure that Shayera would have backup. He even held back, but the gloves were off now. Then he heard her scream. He got up onto his feet about to make a charge into the clearing.
"Human... if you do not come out from the trees... I will have her throat slit..." a voice said.
Lantern stopped in his tracks. He peered around the tree, saw a soldier holding the unconscious Hawkgirl's head up by her hair, a knife in hand held under her neck.
"The choice is yours, Green Lantern," the voice threatened. "Come out now and give me your power ring..."
Shayera started to stir, her head was in pain.
"We're waiting... John Stewart. My patience is starting to wear thin."
"NO! John... Don't worry about me... save yourself!!" Shayera yelled trying to stay awake.
"Nothing would please me more than to see you die... Lieutenant Hol," the voice said maliciously.
The man that possessed the voice came from within the darkness of the cave, and walked out into plain view.
Shayera looked up and saw who wanted her dead. She laughed to herself at the irony.
"Kragger..."