Audrey paced in her study. Troop movements had already begun, and she was nervously waiting to see if Commander Helios was going to take the bait. And she had another concern on her mind…the God of War. What little she knew about him was enough to make her anxious. She was grateful that they were no longer in the dark about his involvement, but knowing was not settling her mind any. Helena looked up from the floor where she was entertaining Dane. The toddler was slowly wearing himself out, and was rubbing his eyes, fighting sleep to continue playing with his new friends.

Helena leaned over to Dinah and whispered, "One of us should talk to her. Try and calm her down."

The blonde nodded in assent. "You do it. I will stay here with him."

Helena stood, and walked over to the desk where Audrey was walking back and forth behind.

"Your Majesty, you should really try and relax. The League reinforcements should be here any moment."

Audrey ran her hands through her hair. "I can't relax. I am worried about everything. If the combined forces can pull this plan off, then we will have dealt with the NKFR. However, I apparently have bigger problems on my hands. And, I am…" She stopped the thought and stared at Helena.

"You are worried about more than yourself?"

"Yes."

"She'll be fine. I may not know her, but I know Diana. Amazons are a hardy bunch. She'll kick ass and be back in no time."

Audrey offered a weak smile. "I don't want this new development to distract her. She needs to focus on the task at hand."

"Send her a quick message then. But be careful not to reveal anything. That should put her mind at ease."

"Thanks Helena. I will." Audrey sat down at her desk and began scribbling a quick note. When she was finished, she folded the paper over and picked up the phone near her. After requesting Illiana Stilenko's presence, the Queen moved over to the floor with her son. Minutes had barely passed by when the intelligence officer joined the group. Audrey handed her the piece of paper with instructions to get a message to Di.

General Urbov, Diana, and Di were making sure that everything was moving according to plan. They had organized every piece of anti-aircraft and missile artillery that could be scrounged in a short amount of time. Every RPG, heavy machine gun, and piece of strong fire power had been given to both the local militia and the regular Kasnian army.

Urbov, "the Old Bear", as he had been recently nicknamed, turned his attention to the two formidable Amazons. "Make sure that our people are deeply dug into the rubble in the city. This will give the Commander the idea that we look unprepared. They must be able to sell this effectively. We must appear that we are open to being assaulted. More importantly, when he takes the bait, we cannot openly strike back full force. We must suck him in and make him commit. This means that we have to absorb the first blow. He must think that he has an advantage. The trick here is to not actually be losing though. It's a hard sell, but it must be done."

Diana nodded, "We understand, as do the Amazons. They understand that there will be losses at first. We are prepared to bleed."

Urbov sighed, "Those on the front line will. The Amazon archers and our snipers will need to slowly pick off the packs on the flying troopers. We need to get them grounded. Once we do, they will be that much easier to engage, and we can eliminate their ability to flee quickly when the left and right lines tighten the noose. While it will be difficult at first, we should be able to pin Commander Helios' foot to the ground, and…"

Di growled, "Stick my boot up his ass."

Urbov chuckled slightly, "What an uncomfortable notion, but yes." The general limped away to see to other preparations, leaving the twins standing together.

Di said nothing at first, but Diana knew what was on her mind. "Audrey is protected. Concentrate on what we need to do here."

"How protected is she really? She only has Helena and Dinah. I feel torn. I should be here with our sisters, but I can't help but wanting to go to her side."

"Helena and Dinah are smart. I am sure that they have something in place. Besides, I do not think that he would focus on her with a war going on over here."

"Perhaps, but still…"

Diana reached out and squeezed her sister's shoulder. "I need you to have a clear head. You are on the front line. If you leave, I will go out there, but someone needs to feed fire power behind the lines. No one can do that better than me. Are you with me?"

"I…"

Before the thought was finished, a Kasnian soldier ran up to the pair, handing a piece of paper to Diana. She accepted it and he waited for her to dismiss him. She opened it, carefully reading, and a grin spread across her face. She folded it back over and handed it to Di. "Clearly this was meant for you."

Di took the offering and read, "Dearest, I wanted you to know that I was thinking of you. Our two newest citizens have invited over some friends for me to become acquainted with. Although company is not what I really want right now, I am being assured that they are super. In fact, they will be here in a flash, so I must be prepared to greet them. When you are finished I will be here waiting. I will leave a lantern on for you. With deepest affections-A."

Di smiled, and crumpled the note. Diana arched her eyebrow with a grin spreading across her face. "Did you catch it all?"

"I did. She is as safe as possible. I am with you."

Superman, Flash, and Green Lantern entered the Queen's study dressed in plain clothes. Audrey rose to greet them, as Helena and Dinah did the same. Illiana followed closely behind.

The Queen extended her hand and Clark accepted it happily. "Forgive our clothes. We didn't want to be conspicuous in case we were seen. I assure you that we have our costumes with us all ready to go."

"Thank you, "Audrey started, "I appreciate your presence more than I can say. Welcome to Kasnia."

Flash grinned, but the Green Lantern looked around completely disinterested. Audrey noticed the man's ambivalence but said nothing. He was here, and she supposed that counted for something. Flash sped over to Helena and Dinah, who was holding Dane in her arms, and hugged both women.

Helena leaned into Flash's ear and whispered, "What's his malfunction?"

Flash chuckled quietly, "He begrudgingly came, or so he says. He has been a real shit lately." Noticing the small child, he quickly regretted the foul word. "We weren't going to bring him, but he wanted to see what was going on for himself. Despite his prevalence to being an…" Flash began spelling, "A-S-S-H-O-L-E, he will protect the Queen if she is threatened. Of course I am not sure his reasons are entirely altruistic. It may be a combination of wanting to help Shayera, or simply looking to dig into Diana."

"Well, he better be careful. There are two of them here now. I am not thinking one of them will show any type of restraint if he opens his big mouth."

"Two?"

Dinah nodded, "The former Justice Lord is here as well. We've been calling her Di to escape confusion."

Flash's face lit up, "She's here? I haven't seen her in a while."

"She is, and she and the Queen have become close. Lantern better watch his tone in her presence."

Flash rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Don't tell him that there are two. Please!"

Dinah and Helena smiled. "Well," Helena began, "I think it will probably slip my mind."

Dinah agreed, "Evil conspirators, both of you. But I'm in."

Clark, with his super hearing, rolled his eyes. But he wasn't going to say anything either. If the Green Lantern behaved himself, he would have no cause to worry. But deep down, he knew his companion. The man probably wouldn't, and would have to live with the consequences, whatever they were. He made a mental note to stick nearby though, just in case.

Audrey motioned for the group to sit, and began speaking once everyone was settled. "Illiana, please, let our new allies in on what is happening."

The blonde shifted and complied with the request. "There are three forces in place to hopefully trap the meta-human and the NKFR. Currently the city of Govarostok is being occupied by joint forces of Kasnians and Amazons. That is where Princess Diana is. That is also where…"

Helena interjected, "General Urbov is as well. He is acting head of the Kasnian armed forces."

Illiana was slightly surprised at the name Helena had spoken. She had been about to say that Di was there as well, but she picked up on the verbal cue and continued. "Correct. To the north in Veles are General Alindra and General Lebedev. They are waiting for the NKFR to show and attack the Govarostok. Once the enemy is committed, they will slam down on his side and split to cover part of the rear. To the south in Dimitrovo, Princess Shayera and General Apanasenko are waiting for the northern forces to attack. Timing is essential, but once they determine the time, they will barrage the left and rear as well."

Clark pondered the situation for a moment, and then asked, "How are you doing this without tipping your hand? Surely such large forces will capture the attention of the enemy?"

Illiana grinned with pride. "Ah, well, that is a great question. The main issue was secrecy. We had to figure out to fool the NKFR. So, we have carefully controlled the dissemination of the information. We allowed the press to report the 'relief' force that went to Govarostok. It has been made public that Diana and General Urbov are part of the group. We are hoping given the smaller size of their presence will be enough to cause the NKFR to jump at an opportunity to try and gain what looks to be a certain victory. The other groups' movements have been explained differently. When Queen Audrey took control of the country I was ordered to dismantle any remnants of the spy network her father had put in place. At the risk of sounding egotistical, I did my job well. Any information of what is going on will be suspect at best. And the leak merely suggests that the two other forces were moved to prevent any relief of the insurrectionists. The Amazons in the north and south have been effectively hidden. They rode in the back of military trucks to keep them from view. Only we know the true numbers that they have. The left and right wings left late at night to avoid crowding the roads, and they were given Kasnian technology to assist in hiding them. Every Amazon was given an IR blanket. While they are experimental, tests so far have led to the conclusion that they are effective."

"IR blankets?" Flash asked.

"They mask heat signatures. So if the NKFR has the ability of tracking this, they won't be able to see them. There is still a small force of Amazons here in the capital, but they constantly move around giving the appearance of numbers being here instead. We have also armed the air element of our own forces. It has been spread out over a few days as to not arouse suspicion. I assure you though, they can quickly mobilize, so once this starts, they will be able to seal off any escape that the double envelopment didn't. They will not be engaging until the power troopers of the NKFR are fully committed. And some will split off and destroy at least one of the enemy's camps we managed to find."

Superman asked, "How was it found?"

Helena swallowed the lump in her throat, but Audrey answered for her. "It was reported by a concerned citizen. That's all."

Finally the Green Lantern spoke up, "Sounds like you have this all worked out." His tone was nothing short of sarcastic, but inwardly he was impressed.

Audrey's eyes narrowed, "We do. Is there a problem Lantern?"

"Other than the fact that Shayera is out there putting her life on the line because you used to sleep with Diana?"

Flash mumbled, "Geez. Here we go. That took all of 5 minutes."

Illiana stood and put herself in between the Queen and the superhero, her eyes beginning to bore holes into his head, "You will not speak to the Queen in that manner again." Dane squirmed instantly in Dinah's arms. He clamored to stand next to his mother. He didn't understand what was being said, but he did not like how his mother had been spoken to either.

Audrey placed her hand on Illiana's shoulder and moved the intelligence officer back, and nudged her son to rejoin Dinah. Her tone was eerily calm, "How incredibly crass of you Lantern. Tell me, would you be so bold to make that statement if either of them were here now?"

Flash mumbled once more, "He did once. Got a visit from the tooth fairy as a result."

Helena and Dinah also stood moving to stand next to the Queen who was not finished. Dinah handed Dane over to Illiana. Audrey gritted, "Perhaps if you weren't inadequate in some ways, you could have held onto Shayera. But as you alluded to, I can see why Shayera would choose Diana instead. I think that they are marvelous together. Shayera always seems to have a…satisfiedsmile on her face."

Flash laughed out loud, earning a steely glare from Lantern. The speedy man shrugged, "What? Shayera does seem happier these days."

Clark could see his companion coming close to exploding, and he interjected. "Lantern, a word?" When the other man made no attempt to move, Clark deepened his voice, "Now."

Gritting his teeth, Lantern stood and followed Superman off to a corner. The normally politically correct Clark railed under his breath. "You wanted to come. Fine, but don't do that again. Queen Audrey is a head of state, and deserves to be treated with respect. Whatever school yard crap you have going on with Diana isn't why we are here. The League voted, and we are here to protect Audrey. So control your temper, and do your job."

Lantern was somewhat insulted. "I always do."

Clark softened slightly, "I know. Just don't antagonize the situation again. Otherwise you can leave. Are we clear?"

Lantern grunted and walked away to another corner of the room and leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms, and stewed in silence.

Helena whispered to the Queen, "Sorry about that. He has made it perfectly clear how he feels about Diana on several occasions. He still hasn't gotten over Shayera choosing her over him. Not that it went down that way, really, he chose someone else. But it's like a toy that you don't want to share. He is playing with something else, but goes all green when someone else tries to touch what he foolishly believes is his. He won't act up again. Superman will see to that. Speaking of which…" Helena walked over to where Clark was standing.

"Supes, I need a favor."

Superman looked at the smaller woman. Her face was serious. "What is it Helena?"

"Once this is over, I need you to take a quick trip with me. There is a little boy near Fastad that idolizes you. When Helios attacked the dam, his house was destroyed, and everything in it. His family managed to escape. But when I met him, he was wearing a shirt with your emblem on it. Despite everything, he was happy to meet League members, and he was clear on who his favorite superhero is. It honestly looks like he never takes off the shirt. Would you go with me to meet him?"

"Of course. I would be happy to go."

"Good. And I will need you to bring a gift. I gave him something to hang onto until I could trade for it. You need to make sure I get my boomerang back."

Superman laughed. "What? Helena, you are strange sometimes."

Helena laughed with him. "Just bring a gift. And, thanks. Leave the other idiot behind though?"

"Helena…" Superman lightly chided.

"Whatever. He is." And she spun on her heel and rejoined Dinah and Audrey.

Commander Helios sat in silent contemplation. The news was reporting that a small force of Amazons and Kasnians were occupying Govarostok. All reports indicated that the group was hunkering down in various destroyed buildings, and the Commander couldn't help but smile. "How intriguing this is."

The morale of his men was low, given the defeat at the capital, but this situation was beginning more and more to look like an incredible opportunity. Given the numbers in the city, the Commander calculated that he would be able to outnumber his opponent. And surely they were not expecting him to attack so quickly on the heels of the last skirmish. And the interfering Amazon was with them. He needed to teach her a lesson as well. She had managed to save the Queen, but only barely. Not only could he destroy her, but he could put fear of his savagery into the Queen's mind at the same time. That would be a crushing blow to both the Kasnians and Amazons. And he desperately needed that advantage.

The only thing that concerned the Commander slightly was he had not been able to contact the Senator. But he pushed it aside as he figured the coward had fled after the sniper had failed. It figured that the Senator would try something like that. It didn't matter. He didn't need him. Standing, he issued an order to his second in command. "Mobilize every available man we have. Check the packs and get ready to move on Govarostok. We are going to bring everything we have at our disposal to bear on those interfering women. And we will also crush the spirits of the Kasnian army as well. Soon, we will bring an end to this trifling alliance."

Ares grinned. The Amazons and Kasnians had planned well. Little did they know they were playing right into his hands. Whether or not Commander Helios was successful or not did not matter. He looked over the forces the Ruritanians had assembled. They were waiting for their orders. Ares chuckled. He was going to watch them sweep from the north and destroy the line at Veles. The Amazons and Kasnians would have no idea what hit them from behind. Blood was going to be spilled and the God of War was giddy at the prospect.

Athena and Aphrodite stood together at the foot of Olympus.

Aphrodite sighed, "You see what he is doing…"

"I do."

"Alindra will be overrun by the Ruritanians. She will have no idea that they are coming."

"No."

"No? Are you planning on doing something? You know we can't. Ares has not become physically involved."

"I know."

"So what can we do then?"

"Out plan him."

"Well, strategy is your suit. I got nothing."

"He believes that he will have the element of surprise. His arrogance has blinded him to our presence though. You and I are going to make a trip and offer advice to an ally. And we will need to probably need to assist them in getting here in time. I will not have Ares be victorious. He should have stayed at home. We will do as he has done, and slink behind the scenes too. Ready?"

Aphrodite grinned and the two disappeared into thin air.

A/N: So...the Amazons are in place with no idea that Ares is lurking...what did you think of the interraction between Lantern and Audrey? How about the fact that Helios is about to take the bait? Or that Ares is just chomping at the bit to overrun the north line...or that Athena and Aphrodite are still around? Any ideas who the ally is that Athena refers to? I can't wait to see what you all think. Lay it on me!