Copyright Disclaimers: Xena and Gabrielle are the property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. The story is purely for entertainment purposes. The author does not benefit fanatically in any way from this story.
Violence Warning/Disclaimer: This story depicts scenes of violence and/or their aftermath. Readers who are disturbed by or sensitive to this type of depiction may wish to read something other than this story.
Sexual Violence Warning/Disclaimer: This story depicts scenes of sexual violence and/or their aftermath. Some readers may be disturbed by this type of depiction and anyone who is sensitive to this particular issue may wish to read something other than this story.
Love/Sex Warning/Disclaimer: There are blatant discussions, references and description of sexual relations between consenting adults. You must be over the age of 18 and it must not be a crime to read material of this nature at your present location. Some of the scenes depicted are explicit. If this bothers you, you should find other reading material.
Summary: It is the year 2036, the United States has built a maximum-security prison where you go in and can never get out. It is built in the middle of the desert where it is a four-day walk in any direction and is monitored by motion sensors and satellite imaginary.
It is called The William Jefferson Clinton Memorial Federal Prison (inside joke). The prisoners call it the Seven Circles of Hell. It is a lifer prison with no guards and no rules. The prisoners make their own rules. A tall, dark, blue-eyed female warrior who calls herself the Conqueror has ruled it for six years.
A young, green-eyed, golden-haired blond reporter is sent to Hell for a crime she didn't commit. A powerful and ruthless corporate raider must silence the young woman who learned too many secrets. Upon entering Hell, the young woman is given a vital mission that will lead her to the Conqueror.
Part 14
Chapter 11: The Final Solution
The Warden didn't appear to be worried. She looked into Gay's eyes and said, "They used projectile weapons. Why?"
Gay answered, "To avoid alerting the security monitors. Dana, it was someone else. Her team would have had energy weapons like these."
Dana pulled the knife from the Warden's throat and asked with her patience totally gone, "Who the fuck are you?"
An Amazon came in to report that the rec room was secure. Dana order, "Lock them all up in the detention rooms for now. We got some sorting to do."
After the Amazon left, the Warden said, "You can call me, Arty."
Gay responded, "Kind of an odd name for a woman?"
"It's a nickname. We won't go into my real name yet. You aren't ready for it. Now, can we talk about why I brought you here."
Dana said with irritation, "No one brought us her. We took the place by force."
"Did you? How much resistance was there? I practically put out a welcome mat."
Dana and Gay looked at each other and nodded. They had to admit she was right. They knew it had been too easy. So Gay conceded the obvious and asked, "Okay, why did you bring us here."
"To stop my Brother, of course."
Dana got the next question, "Who's your brother?"
"He's the founder and CEO of Stratiotis o Masonos. You know that's ancient Greek for Warrior Mason. My brother's humor is sometimes... warped."
Gay responded, "We came here to stop him. We know what he's doing."
"I'm afraid you don't have the entire picture, but I will explain it to you. My brother has a view of how the world should be and has endeavored through the years to implement that vision. My family has thwarted each of his efforts.
He has now gotten himself with a very powerful ally. That ally is actually using my brother, but my brother is vain and thinks he's using the other guy. My father has sent me to block my brother once again.
My brother major flaw in his character and a load of minor ones. But is major flaw is he thinks with his other head. He has a thing for one person in particular. That person is Dana. He set you up so he could manipulate you into his service. Eventually he hoped you would bless him with children.
Gay, had he known who you really are he would have killed you and set you up. He made a mistake as usual he underestimated your soul. He didn't recognize you. He still doesn't. His attempt on Allison proved that. He wants to eliminate any love interest from Dana's life. He sees Gay as a means to an end romance. He thinks Dana is using you Gay. He thinks Allison is your soulmate."
Dana said, "They both are. If Allison dies I will kill him."
"I know you will try. He is not easy to kill. But you don't have to kill to hurt him. Just thwarting his plans will devastate him."
Gay said, "It wouldn't be enough. He couldn't suffer long enough to pay for Allison."
"Oh, yeah, he could. But we need to get back on the subject. Why my brother is so interest in you."
Dana injected, "We figured that out already. He wants to build a couple of generals for his army."
"Well, you got a lot of it, but not all. I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you he wants a war machine capable of taking over the entire planet. He has been trying to mold Dana into that machine. He figures Dana to eliminate Gay when she is no longer useful."
Gay keyed her radio and order 200 Amazons with pulse rifles to the palace to guard Allison. Then she ordered the guards to be stripped of weapons and scattered throughout the levels as workers.
"That was a very bright move Gay. Those guards will find mates and settle down. Eventually, they will forget their present circumstances. Now, let me tell you my plan for undoing my brother."
Doc sat silently watching Allison breath. Her breathing was steady and rhythmic. Doc was encouraged. He had removed two bullets from the young woman. The one in her shoulder that incapacitated her and the one in her right thigh about which she didn't tell anyone. It had a brave, but foolish act. The leg wound would cause the young woman to have a permanent limp, because it hadn't been quickly and had festered. Rallying her troops had cost her much.
Ayla was right this young woman had proved herself worthy of her mates. She was kind, gentle and strong when strength was needed. Allison was the balance between the two strong women. Without that balance, Doc didn't think Dana and Gay could remain sane and whole. Doc knew in his heart that should this gentle soul die, Dana and Gay would make the world bleed in payment for her death.
In front of the door of the quarters that housed the wounded Consort sat Ayla with a pulse rifle across her lap. Ayla had witnessed a true leader in action and anyone who wanted to hurt her further would have to kill the Amazon warrior to get to her. Allison had won an admirer this day.
Allison would be embarrassed to know the stories being told about her among the Amazons. By morning Allison would be as much as of a legend as Gay or Dana among the Armies of the Seven Circles.
Arty began to outline her plan, "You will replace the guards with your people. We continue to function like a prison. However, we will build up our defenses. So we can fight off a major attack."
Dana interrupted, "Then we enlist the aid of the surrounding towns from which to build our base of operation. We, then, expose the illegal operations of Stratiotis o Masonos and wait for the other shoe to drop."
Gay injected, "They will send military armed forces to retake this prison. We will have to fight the military."
Dana replied, "They'll lose."
Gay replied, "Only in the short term. Eventually we will run out of manpower. They will not. No, we must have one more component to this operation. We have to use Honey's money to buy some political muscle."
Dana asked, "What do we do with? The best it could do is buy us some time."
Gay replied, "Maybe not. I haven't got it all worked out, yet. But I think we might be able to keep this place whole. Not as a prison, but as a thriving city."
Arty said, "That's my plan all right."
Gay said to Arty, "WE must go see Allison. Can you set up the new guard schedules without us for a couple of days?"
"Of course," she answered.
After they had left, Arty said to the walls, "I chose well, Father. They will not fail. But, Father, what do I do about the one called Lucifer."
Dana sat in front of the doorway with a pulse rifle in her lap outside of Allison's door. She was talking to Ayla. She was trying to ascertain what happened. Dana looked hard in Ayla's soul and listen to her version of what happen.
Ayla started out saying, "Your Majesty, we were supposed to be entertaining the new administrator from the First Circle. When, the gate guards were taken out. All we heard were the shots. I pulled Allison to the floor and dragged her to the living quarters. One of my guards came to report that we were under heavy attack from men dressed in military uniforms and armed with guns.
I immediately tried to get your Consort to leave the palace through the secret passages. I wanted to get her to a location with more troops. She refused to go. She said her place was here protecting the palace. I threatened to not her out and carry her to safety. She took up a defensive stance against. Your Majesty, I was worried about your reaction if used force."
Dana injected, "Publicly I would have reprimanded you, probably 10 lashes. Privately I would rewarded you and been forever in you debt. But you were correct, if she is rule, you could not have shamed in such a manner."
Ayla continue, "Your Majesty, then, she ordered me to have the remaining troops pull back into the living quarters. I refused to leave her alone. She gave a hard look and threatened to have me crucified if I didn't instantly do as I was ordered. Your Majesty, she is your Consort, so I went and found a runner gave her the orders and went back to your Consort.
When I got back she was holding a rifle and a handgun and two the invading troops were at her feet. She tossed me the rifle and an ammo belt. This is where she had to have been shot in the thigh. She didn't say a word."
Dana interrupted, "How do you figure this is were she was shot for the first time?"
Ayla continued, "Because I was with her the rest of the battle, Your Majesty. I am sure I would have saw her get wounded. Then I would have immediately had her treated. But she didn't say anything about a wound, so I didn't know.
While we waited for the other troops, we dispatched 6 more soldiers and gathered their weapons and ammunition. As our people came, we distributed the captured arms and ammunition. Allison sent our people out in strike groups of three with orders to kill and run. She held back 10 of best Amazon bowman."
Dana asked, "Why did she do that?"
Ayla said, "She used them as a trap, Your Majesty. She sent them into the rafters. Then, she had another Hammer and me pretend to be dragging her to safety. Must have been thirty troops that attacked us. The bowmen opened up and we opened up with pistols. Your Majesty, we killed them all. We lost 3 bowmen and Hammer.
Doc and Wash found us and were carrying Tuck. Wash yelled, 'Got about a dozen hot on our heels.'
We scattered and waited for about 10 seconds only there more like two dozen. We were well situated so it was a massacre, except that's where Allison got hit in the shoulder, Your Majesty. Soon, after the relief forces show and the bad guys were slaughtered."
Dana shook her head in understanding and said, "A good report, you actions were correct."
Dana noticed the tired appearance of Ayla, "When was the last time you slept?"
"Before the attack, Your Majesty."
"You haven't sleep in nearly 38 hours. Have you let Jenny know you're alive? You know she has probably heard about the attack by now. She's probably also heard about the casualty list. I bet she is climbing the walls with worry."
Ayla sprang to her feet and hit her forehead with the palm of her hand, "Damn, how could I have been so stupid. I have to go."
Dana was struggling to keep from breaking up with laughter. Dana knew how Ayla felt, she wasn't so good at this relationship time herself. What the Conqueror didn't know and Gay had recognized a long time ago is that Ayla and Dana were identical personalities. Dana said, "Ayla calm down. Call her on the radio. She has the Circle radio and you can use the one in Throne Room."
Ayla bolted from the living area towards the throne room. Dana burst into laughter. She was astonished the stoic soldier, the perfect killer was racing to reassure her young lover. Dana didn't know what to do, Ayla didn't even think to ask for permission to go. A year ago, Ayla would really be in trouble, but now Dana knew exactly how she felt. She shifted her rifle as she thought of Gay and Allison
Gay sat next to Allison's bed holding her hand. She and Dana had taken a transport down with two hundred troops. They were securing the palace. Tears ran down Gay's cheeks as she held her young lover's hand. She knew Dana was handling this in her own way. Gods couldn't pass Dana right now. Gay knew that Dana was protecting her lovers the best way she knew how. She understood that Dana wasn't capable of expressing her love with words; she had to do it action.
Gay could hear a faint conversation coming from the other side of the door. She figured Dana was questioning Ayla. Gay thought, 'I hope they remember Jenny and Aule. They're probably terrified that Ayla is dead. Dana and Ayla are two peas in a pod.'
Gay looked down and found herself looking into a pool of blue-green eyes. Gay smiled and said, "Hi, Sweetness, decided to join us?"
"Did you take the facility? I thought with the attack that you had failed and that..."
"Shhh, quiet down, Sweetness, we succeeded. We will explain everything later. Rest, while I get Dana is very worried about you. You worried us greatly," Gay said as rose to get Dana.
Dana was still pondering Ayla, when the door to the bedroom opened and a smiling Gay said, "She's awake and talking."
Dana bolted up and was though the door like a natural force. She charged the bed and looked down at the small damaged dove. The hard cold Conqueror gently took the pale hand and looked into her young lover's eyes and asked, "How do you feel?"
"I hurt a little. I more weak than anything."
"You lost a lot of blood. Could you eat some broth?"
"That would be nice. Could I have some tea, also?"
"Sure. Gay call a servant we need some broth and some tea."
Gay said, "And dinner for us. We haven't eaten all day."
Dana feed her young lover her broth with a tenderness that none of her people would believe. She cooed and sang a lovely little love song. Gay watched the site with tears in her eyes. She wished everyone in Hell could see the Conqueror like this, but knew that would never happen. Dana was too protective of her image to let that happen.
Gay brought a cup of tea over and sat next to Dana. She exchanged the tea with the broth. Dana started helping Allison drink her tea. Allison said, "I've had enough. I'd like to sleep now. I'll sleep better knowing you're here."
Allison went to sleep. Gay and Dana sat watching her sleep for several minutes. Gay stroked her hand. Dana stroked her hair. Then, Gay took Dana's hand and led her to the dinner table.
Dana and Gay talked about the future while they ate. Dana spoke first, "This political thing, we need someone managing it. You know there's only one choice."
Gay responded, "We won't be able to protect her out there. She'll be on her own."
Dana asked, "Do we having any native Amazon warriors, we could send with her?"
Gay answered, "A few, but none like Ayla or Karen. Allison is probably better than most of them."
Dana injected, "Yeah, there is some safety in numbers."
Gay speculated, "She's not going to like leaving us."
Dana sighed and said, "I don't want her to go, either. But we have to have someone in Washington and Allison is native, so she has no criminal record."
Gay said, "You have to tell her. I can't. I'll give her power of attorney over Honey's money, but I can't tell her. I'll hold your hand, but you have to tell her."
Dana whined, "Why do I have to be the heavy?'
Allison spoke up and said, "Because she's afraid to hurt me. And she knows that you will do the right thing no matter what. So what is it you need me to do, Gay?"
Gay took a deep breath and plunged into their reasoning, "We are going to be very isolated fairly soon. We're going to needs some powerful friends. We figure the best place to get them is in Washington. We need someone to go to Washington and fight for us politically.
You are the logical choice. We trust you. You are capable. And since you were born here, you have no criminal record. So you can go to Washington without fear of arrest."
Dana said, "We know you don't want to leave us. And to tell you the truth, we don't want you to go. We won't be able to protect you out there, but there is nothing else to do."
Allison asked, "Are you just trying to get me out of the way, so I won't get hurt."
Gay sighed and answered, "Allison, you will be more exposed out there. We are not going to be sleeping very well while you are gone."
Dana injected, "Allison believe me, my first choice to leave you in that bed and station four guards in every corridor in this palace with me sitting outside that door with a pulse rifle. But we rule her and we know that something big is going down and we have responsibility to do something about it."
Allison questioned the decision by stating, "I don't know anything about politics."
Gay laughed, "Sweetness, you were raised by the best politician available. You are a born politician. Just follow your instincts and do what come naturally. We have faith in you. You have proven yourself to be very capable."
Dana frowned and said, "You will leave one month from today. We will need time to set up a few things. Be careful. And know that we love you."
Arty sat in her chair looking out of her window. She was watching the installation of the new weapon systems. She sent a silent prayer to the Fates that they had enough time to get ready for the battles to come. She wasn't an oracle, but she could feel the winds of war coming towards them.
They were placing a lot of faith in a seventeen-year-old girl. 'I hope I was right about her. I hope she is missing piece from the Eternal Soul. The Fates were playing funny games with the Soul this time. I wonder how much my brother knows. I wish I had someway of knowing what he was up to. Maybe Dite will help. I'll have to talk to my sister.
In the offices of Stratiotis o Masonos, a dark man paced the large window that overlooked Los Angeles. He had just received the report from the retrieval team for the strike team in Hell. It wasn't good. No one made the rendezvous. He had no idea if they had succeeded in killing that little nuisance. 'Every time I get close to getting her back that bitch interferes,' he thought.
The intercom said, "There is a Lucifer Diablo to see you sir."
The dark man knew that his new partner would not like his failure. He knew he could turn her if given the right motivation. 'But to do that her kind hearted bitch has to be removed,' he thought, 'Now, I have deal with this SOB. How do I play him?'
This is the end of Book One of The Armageddon Series. I have the outline for the final two books written already. Actually the plan was always three Books. This book turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated. I had planned on about 100 pages. It turned into more like 150 pages. Book Two will be entitled The Final Solution. Book Three will be entitled The Plains of Death.
Preview of Book Two:
Ares and Lucifer ally to cause the Second American Civil War. Artemis, Dana and Gay fight to keep the American Southwest from being taken by the California Alliance. Allison fights the political battles against the clever Bal.
Allison also has some doubts injected into her relation with Gay and Dana, as Lucifer tries to seduce the inexperienced young woman, while Aphrodite takes the young woman's fate into her hands.
An open apology:
I got some negative feedback about the graphic nature of the scene in Chapter 10 of when Gay made her mistake with her handling of Allison. I wish to say the scene was necessary in the development of the character of Gay and Allison. In case you haven't gotten it the classic Gabrielle character is split into two characters. Gay represents Gab's militant side and Allison represents her nurturing side.
I was attempting to drive home two points. Point one: People with power over other people have to be careful of how they use that power. Good intentions does not necessary produce good results. Point two: People in power will make mistakes. The good leaders will owe up to a mistake and then make amends as best as he/she could.
I know that rape is a serious problem in this country and that scene in no way is intended to condone or justify rape. If somehow, I wrote the scene in that manner, I apologize. I actually rewrote that scene before I got any complaints because I thought it was too harsh. I actually softened that scene from the first submission.
Again if anyone took offense to that scene I apologize. I do not write in unnecessary characters or have gratuitous sex scenes. Every scene has a purpose to the entire story.