Audrey looked around the war room. A large screen against the north wall displayed a map of Kasnia. Sitting at rectangular table in the center of the room were General Urbov, Commander Lebedev, Illiana Stilenko, and Di.

Off to the side, Di was engaged in an lively conversation with General Urbov.

"I can't believe the stroke of luck you had seeing the flash off the scope. And he had a phone on him?" General Urbov was slightly shocked at what he had been told.

"He did. But I only saw the flash because of the special contacts your country developed. It is an impressive piece of technology."

Urbov nodded. "Our country's scientists are an amazing think tank, with regards to much more than weapon technology. Where is the sniper now? Have we questioned him?"

Illiana leaned over and interjected. "He was spoken to sir."

Urbov chuckled, "Tell me what I won't read in the official report Illiana."

Illiana smirked, "Sir, I have no idea what you are alluding to."

"Liar. Give an old man a good story."

Illiana looked at Di and winked. "Go ahead Di. Tell the General what he wants to know."

Di looked at the distinguished man. "Are you sure?"

"Of course! Tell you what, I will tell you what I would have done and we can see if there are similarities. Seeing as he was nothing more than a terrorist, I would have treated him as such. The Geneva Conventions do not apply in that situation, so I probably would have broken his fingers, followed by his hands."

Di was shocked to hear the statement from the man, but answered, "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I did not break his hands."

"Ahh," Urbov smiled, "his fingers though...and I would have probably would have dislodged his knee caps."

Di shook her head. "No, once again, I did not do that."

Urbov looked the Amazon over thoroughly. "Hmmm...legs?"

"No sir." Illiana smiled.

"Well, this isn't a very good story then."

Di chuckled, "When it was all over, he had a crushed shoulder, several cracked teeth, and a fractured skull."

"And the story gets better once more. Anything else?"

Illiana became serious. "Summery judgment was passed sir."

"Single bullet?"

"Yes sir."

Urbov leaned over, "Good girl Illiana." He turned back to Di. "You are quite formidable Wonder Woman."

Di hesitated to correct the man, but offered, "I am not the Wonder Woman of this world. That would be Princess Diana of the Amazons that is here in your capital."

"But you are similar?"

"To a degree. Same powers, but our personalities are different."

"Well then, I am glad you were with Illiana. If I may?" Urbov reached out and lightly touched the wristlets adorning the Amazon. "An eight-pointed star? That is the symbol of Aphrodite is it not?"

Di was impressed. "It is. May I ask how you knew that?"

"A good General will know his enemies, but will also take the time to know his allies as well. I must admit I am a bit confused. Almost everything that I have read says that Hera is the patron Goddess of the Amazons. Yet you wear the emblem of Aphrodite."

"She named me as her champion. But you are correct, Hera is the patron to the Amazon Nation."

As Urbov was about to ask another question, the Amazon leadership entered the war room, followed closely by Helena and Dinah.

General Urbov, and Commander Lebedev immediately stood at attention. Urbov struggled a little to get up, leaning on his cane for support, but was sure to address the group with proper respect. He looked over each of the women and immediately noticed the owls that adorned Alindra's wrists.

Audrey stood and made the necessary introductions. "General Urbov, Commander Lebedev, these are our esteemed allies and leaders of the Amazons. We have Princess Diana, Princess Shayera, and General Alindra, as well as representatives of the Justice League, Huntress and Black Canary."

Urbov limped slightly to the women. "An honor ladies. Your sisters were nothing short of fierce in the retaking of the capital."

Alindra stepped forward. "General Urbov, it is an honor to meet you. I have read some of your journals on tactics. They are most impressive. And your men were critical in the defense of the city. They held well."

Urbov beamed with pride. "There is an empty seat next to mine General Alindra. Please, sit."

The group settled in, and Audrey took her place at the head of the table. "The group here representing the Kasnian armed forces is small, but was done with purpose. We have not invited other generals because the men here are those I implicitly know and trust to carry out any strategy we develop. Allow me to catch you all up to speed. The sniper was caught, and revealed that he was hired by Senator Levinivich. When confronted, the Senator confessed to be behind the plot to assassinate me. He also revealed that the meta-human, who we now know goes by the name of Commander Helios, was his ally. There is a third party involved, but was unnamed. He was only referred to as 'master'. We have no information on him other than he was the one who introduced the Senator to Helios, and helped to fund the NKFR."

Commander Lebedev offered, "It is possible that this 'master' you refer to is a Ruritanian. Those jackals to the east are suspected of aiding the NKFR at the beginning of the group's emergence."

Audrey nodded, "That possibility has been considered Commander. I asked you all here though to develop a new strategy. So far we have only responded to disturbances. I want to hear that it is possible to crush the NKFR and quickly."

Urbov spoke up, "Your Majesty, before we discuss strategy, I would like to hear what the League representatives have to say. Knowing whether or not they will be getting involved will help us to decide what our next steps will be."

Helena cleared her throat and stood. "As of right now, the League is not sanctioning action. They have only been recently given our reports of the findings at Fastad, Diana's eyewitness statement, the Senator's statement about the meta-human, and something else we recently found." Helena walked over to the large map. She reached into her belt, and drew out a baton. She jerked the weapon in front of her, extending it to its' full capacity. She pointed and began speaking, "Here is the city of Govarostok. Based on the damage found at Fastad, Canary and I decided to look for a training ground for the meta-human. We assumed, correctly, that he would not be able to build a large structure that would be easily found, so we headed east towards the mountains. We followed some men from a tavern here." She pointed to the town of Chirpan. "We determined that they were at the very least sympathizers of the NKFR."

"How?" Audrey asked.

Helena looked over at Dinah for support. The blonde picked up on the queue and spoke, "Your majesty, when we entered the tavern, there were five men tattooed with a black sunburst. The insignia tipped us off as they are what the NKFR troopers wear on their chests based on eyewitness reports."

"You questioned these men?" Urbov asked.

"Not exactly sir." Helena answered.

Diana spoke up, "You didn't beat the information out of them did you?"

Helena's eyes twinkled, "We're learning restraint...really."

Urbov chuckled, and waved his arm for Helena to continue.

"We waited for them to leave the tavern and we followed them to a camp that was approximately 10 miles northeast of the town. While we did not find the main camp, or Commander Helios, we did find some interesting things."

Dinah stood, and produced a folder full of pictures. "We took these. The camp holds about 400 men. And we found scorch marks just outside of it, similar to the ones we saw at Fastad. We believe that this is only a supplementary camp, as nothing we saw leads us to believe there is any form of higher leadership there."

The pictures were passed around the room, each one scrutinized for detail. Urbov scanned each one, and passed them onto Alindra. The camp that Dinah and Helena stumbled onto was not ragtag as expected, but was not overly impressive either.

"As you can see, there are a few small structures in the western part of the camp. That is where their weapon stores are located. There is a generator inside one of them that provides electricity and one of them contains a cache of the suits that they utilize."

Lebedev leaned forward, "We would only need to send an airstrike to destroy it and their weapons. We could reduce their numbers that way. The only problem is that we would need to get an exact location. Any low flying plane would be seen."

Helena stammered slightly, "Y-You could strike it without the need of a visual."

Lebedev was astonished. "How?"

Helena turned to Dinah. "I'm sorry. I will take full responsibility for this. Dinah had no part in this."

Dinah looked at her girlfriend with a shocked look on her face. "What? What did you do?"

Helena swallowed hard and turned to Diana. "I need to speak to your mother. I need to be able to challenge the Amazon trials. If I can be an Amazon, then the League will not be able to say anything about what I did."

Dinah whispered, "You tagged the camp with transmitters didn't you?"

Helena nodded. "I did. I saw the destruction at Fastad, and know what the people have suffered there. So I waited for Dinah to split off from me to take pictures and I tagged a couple of spots within the camp."

Audrey looked at Diana. The Amazon sat back in shock. "I will speak to my mother immediately, but you have to know what this could cost you."

"I do. And I am prepared to deal with the consequences."

"Audrey, you cannot use this immediately. I know what it means to you, but I need just a small amount of time."

Audrey was confused, 'What am I missing?"

Diana answered, "Helena is here as a representative of the League. By tagging the enemy camp she has overstepped her bounds. Without the League agreeing to get involved, Helena will get booted or worse if her actions are found out. If I can speak to my mother, and get her to agree to let Helena challenge the trials, then she will have acted on the Amazons' behalf as long as she is successful with her challenge. The League will not pass punishment onto her then, as she will be considered to be in the same boat as Shayera and I. But, Helena, the trials are not short. I don't know how to get you through them fast. I'm sorry."

Shayera spoke up, "Wait, Athena and Aphrodite could name her as an Amazon."

"No." Alindra shook her head. "Athena and Aphrodite can only name champions within the tribe. Hera would have to bless Helena, and she has not been involved in this."

Audrey addressed Diana, "Explain to me why you and Shayera are different in the League's eyes."

Diana answered, "Because technically we are Amazons first. We are considered to be citizens of Themiscyra, a nation belonging to the European Union. The League allows its' heroes to defend their homeland, and to answer to the governing countries' rulers. We were allowed leave because my mother commanded it. The League will not interfere in that aspect."

Helena's face was strained. "Dinah, I am sorry. I should have told you, but I know what it means to you to be a part of the League. I was booted once before, and am prepared to be released again."

"You are not just facing ejection from the League are you?" Audrey asked Helena.

"No. I am risking more."

Di marveled at what Helena had done. "Helena, I will protect you. I won't let the League imprison you."

Audrey snapped her head towards her protector. "Imprisonment?"

"Yes. That is what she is facing if the League ever found out what she did."

"No!" Audrey exclaimed. "I won't have you face off against the League. I-"

"Ladies," General Urbov started, "there is an easier way around this. What country do you claim citizenship in Helena?"

"The United States."

"Well, then, you are lucky. The United States allows its' people to claim dual citizenship. So there's your answer."

Audrey caught on immediately, "As Queen of Kasnia, I hereby grant you citizenship in our country. I recognize that you became a citizen the moment you stepped foot within our borders. I thank you for your service to our people. There will be paperwork later, but I can make it official now."

Dinah stood, "Queen Audrey, I would like the same. Helena and I are sort of a package deal. I don't want to go back without her."

"Done. Welcome."

Urbov chuckled as Helena took her seat next to Dinah and the blonde swatted the brunette. He leaned over to Alindra. "General, you made mention that you had read my journals on tactics?"

"I have."

"You wear owls on your wrists. You are Athena's champion?"

"I am."

"I assume she would choose you because you are wise. You have read other pieces on strategy?"

"Yes. Queen Hippolyta allowed myself and another General named Artemis to collect volumes on warfare from man's world. We read them extensively, and have managed to incorporate the ingenuity into the training of our sisters."

"Are you familiar with Polybius?" Urbov reached out for the pad of paper in front of him and scribbled something for the blonde to read. Alindra looked down at the paper, and her head shot up to the map on the wall. She looked back at the older man seated next to her, a wide grin encompassing her face.

"You agree General Alindra?"

"I do. It is perfect."

"What is?" Audrey asked.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Urbov asked Alindra.

"Please, sir, I am honored to be sitting next to you. I would love to hear this plan from you."

Urbov smiled at the blonde. He stood with the aide of his cane. "How familiar is everyone with the Second Punic War?"

He was met with blank faces, with the exception of Alindra, Diana, and Di. All three leaned forward in anticipation of what the General was about to propose. He reached down and showed the paper to the room. There was one word scribbled on the paper. Cannae.

The General limped to the map and began speaking. "Thanks to our new citizens, we have the exact location of one of the enemies' camps. We also know that the flight capability of the suits used by the NKFR have an approximate range of 150 miles."

Lifting his cane he traced an arc around Govarostok. "For the NKFR to strike this city, they would have to be within a reasonable distance. We know that they came from the mountains, which narrows the possibilities of where the main camp might be. During the Second Punic War, the Romans were handed a stunning defeat by Hannibal. The Battle of Cannae has gone down in history as one of the most impressive and one-sided military victories of all time. I am proposing that we do the same."

"Envelopment." Alindra beamed.

"No General Alindra. A double envelopment." Urbov smiled. "The plan will be to draw out the NKFR. We give them an obvious target to strike. The target will be stronger than it looks, and once the enemy is committed, we will hit them from the flanks and rear."

"What target?" Audrey asked.

"Govarostok. I want to send a small amount of Amazons, approximately 300, along with a full division of our own to occupy the city. This size force will be perceived as strong enough to defend the city, but not capable of coming out to attack the NKFR. Commander Helios showed his arrogance at attacking Fastad, and again at the assault on the capital. I want to play to his ego. He will see the force at Govarostok, and will believe he has been given an opportunity to gain a much needed victory. To defeat not only a smaller Amazon force, but an elite division of the Kasnian armed forces will be too tempting of an opportunity for him. Given the defeat at the capital, his numbers are thinning and the morale of his men cannot be high right now. In the meantime, very quietly, we will station joint forces at Veles to the north of the arc, and in Dimitrovo to the south. Once Commander Helios commits his force, and it will have to be all of it, he will come out towards Govarostok. The northern and southern forces can split and come around the backside, while the remaining numbers will attack from the flanks. Timing will be essential, but if we are patient, and strike at the right time, we can bring the hammer down from all sides. And if it turns out that Ruritania has any thoughts of joining the NKFR by coming across the border, the rear forces will give them pause. Hannibal beat the Romans with inferior numbers with this tactic, decimating an entire army. We have numbers on our side. And not only numbers, but we have Amazons that show no mercy. We also have our own armed forces anxious to bring down destruction on the NKFR. If we are successful, then we will have crushed the NKFR quickly and decisively as Queen Audrey has requested. And," he turned his attention to his Amazon counterpart, "General Alindra, you and I will have commanded forces that successfully pulled off the double envelopment. This old man would love to be able to claim that in my memoirs."

"Agreed General. I would love to report this type of victory to my Queen."

"And to Athena."

Alindra blushed, "Yes, her as well."

"At this point, we need to decide who will lead the respective armies and where. I would like to be in Govarostok. It will sell what we are trying to do more effectively. The Queen would show her resolve to defend the city by sending General Leonid normally since he is the head of the armed forces. But in his absence, I should be the one to go. I would also ask that Princess Diana and Princess Di go with me. If in the event Commander Helios advances farther than anticipated, the city will be able to hold with them there. Plus I have a sneaking suspicion that their presence will be more likely to draw out Commander Helios."

"This is a rope-a-dope." Helena smiled.

"It is. You are familiar with General Patton?"

"Muhammed Ali."

Urbov laughed. "Of course. Same principle. Since Commander Lebedev is a pitbull, I would suggest sending him north, and having him command the forces that will split off and come from the rear. This will mean that he will need to be promoted though Queen Audrey."

The petite blonde agreed. "Done. Your change in title will be made known immediately General Lebedev."

The middle aged man beamed with pride. He addressed Urbov, "Pitbull? I have not heard that name in a while."

"It was well deserved. I remember what you did at Knezha. Don't let the fact he argued for peace recently fool you all. Hidden in that facade is a relentless warrior. General Alindra, if it pleases you, go north with him. I would hate to face either of you really."

Alindra nodded in assent. She leaned over to Lebedev. "General Pitbull?"

"I will tell you on our trip north."

Urbov smiled and continued, "That leaves you Princess Shayera. I would ask that you travel south. We will have your forces meet up with General Apanasenko. I think from what I know of your temperament, you two will be fast friends. Besides, he is a bit of a fan of yours. His strong suit is military intelligence and how to effectively put it into play in active combat. That should complement your Thanagarian background well."

Shayera looked at Diana. She didn't want them to be separated, but she knew the Amazons to the south would rally to her. "I will go with him."

"How quickly can all this be managed?" Audrey asked.

"We will need every bit of existing Kasnian armor, and air assets to be mobilized. We will also need to give time to the northern and southern forces to get into place. We should be able to occupy Govarostok within a few days if we push hard. Five days at most my Queen. Remember, do not let your forces jump too soon. Timing is essential."

Audrey addressed the group, "Are we in agreement with this strategy?"

Helena raised her hand, "I have a question. Since Dinah and I are now citizens, where will we go?"

"Nowhere." Di stated. "With Diana and I in Govarostok, Alindra in Veles, and Shayera in Dimitrovo, we cannot afford to leave the Queen unprotected. I know you probably want to do more, but her safety is paramount. I am asking as a favor that you stay with her."

Helena answered, "You offered to fight the League for me. I am happy to do this small favor for you. And she is keeping me out of some serious hot water with the League, it is the least I can do."

Dinah agreed, "Same for me. We will stay here."

Urbov spoke up once more, "If I may ask one more question, what is the status of Senator Levinich, given that he is a known traitor?"

Illiana answered, "He is dead sir. He shot himself while being detained."

"He had a weapon? Was he not searched when brought inside the palace?"

"He was."

"Then how did he end up shooting himself?"

"General Urbov," Audrey stated, "I gave him an opportunity to decide his fate."

The General looked at his Queen and nodded appreciatively. "I understand. Come General Lebedev, we have preparations to make."

The two men exited the room along with Illiana to see to the necessary arrangements. Shayera noticed that Alindra was staring at the photos of the enemy camp once more. She moved to sit next to her friend. "What are you looking for?"

"Something."

"That's vague."

"Sorry Shayera. I am not sure. There are some things that are still bothering me."

"What?"

"I can't say exactly. This whole 'master' thing has me bothered. We can crush the NKFR, but we have no idea who is behind all of this. Even if we are victorious, we still have this loose end."

"True, but if it is another politician, Audrey's people will root him out."

"Perhaps."

"Talk to me. Talk it out."

"Well, we already discussed that Athena and Aphrodite named champions and gifted us both. And, we were given better weaponry by Athena as well. We at least acknowledge that there may be something more at work here. But I don't know what. Then there was the capture of the Senator. It makes no sense that he would go back to his office. Why didn't he just flee the country?"

"That is troubling. What was found in his office?"

"Nothing. I did not search his computer, but Illiana would have. The only thing I caught him with was a duffle bag and a gun."

"Anything of interest in the duffle bag?"

"That is strange too. There was a book and some odd looking bookends."

"Odd how?"

"Horns of some sort. They aren't anything that means anything to me."

"What about the book?"

"Just a book. No writing, nothing to note."

"Not to ask the obvious, but why not see if Athena will tell you? If there is something more, she would know."

"I can't. She has already put herself in a bad position. Zeus does not allow the other Gods to directly interfere. She has done much for us, but little to show up on his radar."

"I am confused. She technically has interfered."

"It is a fine line, Shayera. It is why she does not come down here and fight herself. To do so would be blatant, and in direct conflict of their rules. I can't put her in that position. She has done what she can."

"You'll figure it out, whatever it is."

"I'm trying."

A/N: This chapter was ready to go immediately after the last one was posted. I have not worked too much father ahead though, and am heading into a very long week at work, so I am not sure when the next one will be ready to go. But it is all outlined, and I will work on it as much as is humanly possible. So, what did you think of Helena's actions? And how Audrey helped her around them? And then there is the General's plan. A good one for sure, but there is still the unknow factor that Alindra referred to. Who is this "master" and what will be his next step? I can't wait to hear (or rather read) your thoughts on the whole thing. I really cannot begin to express what the reviews so far have meant and continue to mean to me. Sincerest thanks to you all...