Los Angeles

July 13

"I got pizza for everyone," Zach called out when he entered the room. There were five people inside preoccupied with their own computer screens and holograms.

"Thanks Zach, I'll grab some in a bit," his wife Magenta replied without looking away from her work.

Zach plopped down on a couch in front of a large screen that casted different news feeds from across the country. He ate his pizza as he watched for a few minutes. Magenta soon joined him and grabbed a slice.

"Let's go out today, I think we need a break from this place," Magenta commented and Zach placed an arm around her.

"Sounds like a good idea, maybe we can finally visit Universal Studios? Just for the afternoon," Zach suggested. He had wanted to go there since they arrived in California, but they never had enough free time to do so, for obvious reasons.

Mandy, who sat at the computer station near them, called out, "You two can spend the rest of the day there if you want, we'll manage here. You've been cooped up here for way too long, you're due for a break."

"Thanks Mandy," Magenta turned to her. "I don't know though, it feels weird to not do work when everyone is in constant danger."

"I don't think we'll be too busy today," Zach shrugged. "Everyone else is still gathering intel."

He was referring to their other teammates, who were all on their own reconnaissance missions.

"Alright, we'll leave in a bit," Magenta stood up and started to close her active computer screens.

Their other co-workers reassured them that they need not worry while they were out. Zach took hold of Magenta's hand and practically skipped out of their headquarters. Magenta grinned at his enthusiasm and followed him to their car. It was a half hour ride to Universal Studios and for the rest of the afternoon, the couple finally had some fun. It was a refreshing break from their usual environment and for once they didn't have to worry about being wanted vigilantes.

"What!" Zach exclaimed a few hours later when he answered a call from Mandy. He walked alongside Magenta inside a haunted house in the theme park. "OK, I'll tell her, we'll be there soon."

Zach quietly pulled Magenta to the side to let the people behind them pass. When it was clear, he said, "We have to go, code red. So much for our day off," he finished with a slight pout.

Magenta nodded and the two made their way out of the haunted house swiftly. There was no time to drive back so the two decided to leave the car and took a portable teleporter instead. Within minutes, the two rushed towards a hidden entrance to their headquarters.

When they reached the main floor, they found chaos as everyone packed up materials for immediate evacuation. When Mandy called Zach, it was to inform the couple that she had intercepted a Task Force transmission about a raid in Los Angeles. Upon further study, she found that the order was to send out troops to their exact location within the hour. With their cloaking device however, it meant that they could have a few more hours of protection. However, it all depended on how good the Task Force was at overriding defence systems.

Most of the resistance members packed up their equipment and teleported off to their new site. Zach, Magenta, and Mandy stayed behind to ensure everyone was able to evacuate safely. Soon however, their security monitors alerted them of activity at the building's entrance.

"They're here," Magenta scanned the security video feeds. "Gill and Andrea are still at Sector 2, the troopers will be there in a few minutes."

The headquarters had three main sectors, and they were in Sector 1. The troopers had already accessed Sector 3, and there was little time left before they overtake the whole headquarters.

"I'll get them out," Mandy announced while she quick changed to her dark and light blue costume and ran out.

Seconds later, Magenta and Zach saw her in the video feeds as she helped load up weapons with the other two supers in Sector 2. Gill and Andrea carried the two large boxes and were about to step on the teleporter platforms when shots were fired at them. Troopers flooded the floor and Mandy quickly sent out ice shards to disarm the first line of enemies. She ushered the supers to teleport quickly and when they disappeared, Mandy rushed back towards the security doors to Sector 1 after she doused the troopers and subsequently froze them.

"They'll be breaking down that door soon," Mandy looked at Zach and Magenta, who both typed command codes on the main computers.

"We just need to fully erase our data and shut down the network system, so their hackers won't get anything from us," Zach replied hurriedly. "A few more minutes to complete."

The armoured doors opened with a large blast that sent broken metal everywhere. The three supers took a defensive stance quickly. Zach and Magenta whipped out stun rays and started to fire at troopers. Mandy created water creatures that attacked with the force of small tsunamis. One of Mandy's water creatures was a large python who snaked its way around one of the troopers and reeled him towards her. Zach and Magenta were both in physical combat with a number of troopers and Mandy continued to blast water onto oncoming troopers then swiftly froze them on the spot.

The computers behind the heroes soon shut down and Magenta quickly yelled out, "It's done! Let's go!"

Zach and Magenta quickly vanished after pressing a button on their teleporters. Mandy soon followed, but only after she pulled the knocked out trooper beside her and teleported out of the place with him.

"He's waking," Zach called out to his teammates. They had the captured trooper inside a small interrogation room.

Magenta and Mandy entered the room after Zach and sat down in front of the trooper across a metal table.

The trooper slowly raised his head and blinked rapidly to adjust to the lights. He looked at the three superheroes in front of him and tried to struggle free from his handcuffs, to no avail.

"Relax Agent Donner," Magenta started while she held up a hand. They had taken all of his personal items, including his identification and electronic devices. "No one will hurt you here, we just want to ask you some questions."

Donner laughed dryly and sneered at his interrogators, "You really think I would tell you vigilantes anything? I'm a Task Force Captain and a CIA agent."

Zach gave him a cold stare, "Yes, we are well aware of your credentials, which is why we're keeping you here instead of a special prison far away," he referred to the new prison the IAS created in the Sub Saharan desert for captured Task Force agents.

"You'll have to kill me first before you get answers," Donner spat out at them with hatred in his eyes.

Mandy stood up and looked at him calmly, "That won't be necessary. We have other ways of coaxing the truth out of people."

Mandy opened the door and in came a beautiful superhero with long black hair, a golden tiara, a red tube top covered by a gold armoured breast plate, blue leggings, red boots, and a golden lasso around her waist.

Donner's eyes widened slightly when he realized who was in front of him.

"I assume you know our guest?" Mandy asked.

Donner was quiet but he glared at his new interrogator, who walked up to him calmly.

Wonder Woman stopped beside him and gave him a hard stare, "Shall we begin?"

The relocation site for the rebel headquarters was a small Justice League outpost near San Diego. Wonder Woman had been inside to help the newcomers and she had offered her services when told that they needed to question a trooper.

The trooper only struggled as Wonder Woman expertly tied her golden lasso of truth around him. She looked at the three supers across the table and nodded her head.

Magenta started the questions, "How did your team find our location?"

Donner struggled against the lasso for a moment before his eyes focused, and he said in a clear voice, "One of our hackers traced a network signal that was being bounced back on over a hundred different IP addresses, he managed to follow the signal's original trace to a small movie filming lot. When we checked it out, we found out that no one has filmed anything on it for months, no records. But when we scanned the area with our infrared satellites, we saw lots of movements inside. Our hackers noticed the cloaking devices and we knew we hit the jackpot."

Magenta narrowed her eyes and took note of his answer, she was already planning a more advanced defensive strategy in her head. Zach, meanwhile, held Donner's communicator in his hands.

"There are several coded messages in this communicator," Zach slid the communicator towards him and Wonder Woman placed it in his hands. "I want you to tell me how to decode them."

Donner did as he was told, and Zach plugged in a small bug in the device so that their team could analyse it outside in the computer labs.

Mandy had her arms crossed and she continued to stare at the man coldly, "What were you planning to do with the supers you were to capture back there?"

"Bring them back to the Arizona Task Force outpost as prisoners of war."

Mandy sat up straighter. She remembered that as the outpost her teammates Veronica and Tom had discovered the day before.

"What's so special about this outpost?" she pressed on.

Donner shrugged, "That's just where one of the bigger prisons and training centres are, I've only been there once to bring in vigilantes."

Magenta glanced sideways at her teammates and continued, "You're a Task Force captain so you must know where you're leading your troops next."

"After the raid, we are expected to be in Washington state to meet with the local Task Force team."

"What are you supposed to do in Washington state?"

"We are to combine teams and protect the Nuclear Power Plant on the outskirts of Olympia city."

Zach widened his eyes, "Why the power plant?"

"We were told that we needed to protect the power grid once the President declares Marshall Law tomorrow."

The four supers in the room looked at each other and silently confirmed that they were done with the interrogation. Wonder Woman unwound the lasso from the trooper and escorted him back to a prison cell.

"Thanks for that Diana," Mandy said when they met her in the transportation room afterwards.

"It was the least I could do, I'm sorry I have to leave like this, but I must go to the east and see what I can do to help with the shield," Wonder Woman replied before she pushed some buttons on the teleporter. "I'm sure you will run this place well and if the shield does appear, you will still have a direct link to the Watchtower, not to mention all of the weapons at your disposal."

Magenta, Mandy, and Zach said their goodbyes and watched Wonder Woman vanish in a flash of blue light. Magenta quickly got on one of the computers and checked over the findings from the trooper's communicator.

"Here it is, the Nuclear Plant briefings," she started while Zach and Mandy looked over her shoulder.

"Something is up with all of this power grid monopolies by the federal government," Zach muttered.

"Too right," Magenta agreed and pulled up more files on the computer. "It's time to dig deeper."

Zach plopped down in front of another computer and got to work. Meanwhile, Mandy headed to the operations floor to check news from around the globe. In particular, she wanted to check up on her two best friends in Washington DC. The White House state dinner finished a few hours ago and Mandy wanted to see what the media coverage had to offer. It was nighttime there now and she was able to watch the local Washington DC evening news.

The two indeed made the news. Mandy first watched Doctor Warren Peace answer a few questions from news reporters in his crisp tuxedo. Next was Mia, who looked polished and professional in a beautiful red dress, and with a calm face as she issued a statement on behalf of her company. A stranger looking at the two might not see anything unusual in their expressions, but as one of their closest friends, Mandy knew instantly that Warren and Mia had something good to share with the team.

TBC