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Post by johnreiter902 on Jun 21, 2017 23:20:22 GMT
“I believe I see where you’re coming from Madame St. Jean. But I still cannot agree with you on the use of red in this scene.” N’bila St. Jean sighed through her nose and tried to control her temper. Generally speaking, she loved her new identity as a professional artist. Too often her activities as Wonder Woman consisted of hunting down the forces of evil and destroying them in combat. Such actions resonated with her nature, because of her upbringing on Mars Island. But Nubia had long ago forsaken the teaching of Mars and chosen to follow the path of Aphrodite, who taught that conflicts arise from misunderstanding, and battle is mutually destructive to the winner and the looser. True, the Amazons were a warrior people as well, trained to fight to defend the weak and helpless. But her primary mission to man’s world was not to fight evil, but to teach peace and understanding, as she had done on a visit to the Wesleyan School a few years back. She had made many more such visits, both to schools and other public venues, in and amongst her patrols over New Orleans, her responsibilities to the Justice League, and her duties as Queen of Mars. Painting, which her father Mars considered possibly the most pointless profession in human history, gave her a way to shed her warrior garb and express her soul in a purely peaceful medium. It was like a cool bath on a hot day. If only, she thought, the world was free of critics! “Red, traditionally associated with conflict and pain,” the supercilious man continued while pushing his glasses up his nose, “hardly has any place in a natural setting like a forest, a scene of tranquility and growth. I think you may be confused about the emotions you want to present here.” Ignorant, self-absorbed MAN! She thought. As if I don’t know my own mind. What she said aloud was. “I think, Mr. Devline, that you are missing the multifaceted aspect of nature itself. Animals must fight to survive. The ‘peace and tranquility’ of the wild is bought everyday by the deaths of dozens of animals, all so that dozens more can sleep with a full belly, knowing their cubs and eggs are safe.” You’ve probably never been out of a city in your life. Devline looked like he was warming up for another attack (which might have cost him his life, the way Nubia was feeling), when she saw a certain charming looking Creole gentleman beckoning her from across the crowded gallery. With a smile, Nubia quickly excused herself and walked gracefully over to join her husband. The smile became a bit forced when her amazon-trained ears picked up the Devline’s muttered comment “. . . thinks she’s an artist. Just because her husband gave her a break.” Crack! “Dear, your wine glass.” Jean St. Jean, also known as J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, smiled and cocked an eyebrow. Nubia glanced down at her hand, now wet where the champagne was trickling out through the cracks she had just left in the glass. Oh Gods, she flushed with embarrassment. Jean kindly handed his wife a napkin, while disposing of the broken glass. “I could sense your distress, so I came to rescue you.” “From a fate worse than death.” She agreed facetiously. “I wish there was some way we could keep those obnoxious boors away from my shows.” J’onn, whose Martian hearing had also picked up the remark, suggested, “Maybe it would help your reputation if I kept our work and private lives separate for a while.” Nubia’s response to this was to kiss her beloved mate firmly on the lips. “Don’t even think about it. How could I possibly get through these events without you?” Suddenly, she felt a gentle buzzing from her tiara which, like the rest of her costume, she kept invisible by Amazonian science while dressed in her ordinary clothes. The frequency of the buzz told her something about the message already. The rhythm was not the one produced by her Justice League signal device. Instead, it was indicative of a call from a mental radio. Only two people could contact her that way, Etta Candy (who still had the radio given her by Diana) and Nubia’s mother Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Nubia was willing to bet heavily on the later. “Trouble?” asked J’onn, sensing his wife’s distraction in her body language without having to resort to telepathy. “Seems like it.” Nubia conceded with a sigh. “I’m afraid you’ll have to cover for me.” “Would you like backup?” J’onn knew perfectly well his wife could handle herself, but they both preferred to work their missions together, simply to be in each other’s company. “Not this time I’m afraid. It looks like trouble on Paradise Island, and you know men aren’t allowed. Besides, someone has to stay and keep these cavemen from burning my masterpieces.” “No problem.” J’onn offered a last kiss for the road, then rejoined the guests at the art exhibition. Nubia, meanwhile, slipped out of the building and found a quiet place to take out her magic lasso. Passing through the loop in the proper way transformed her fashionable dress and shoes into the costume of Wonder Woman. Minutes later, Nubia walked out from between two marble pillars on the beach of Science Island. Her mother’s message had been fairly brief, requesting that she come to Paradise Island because the Amazons had detected an emergency which must be attended to by Wonder Woman.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:00:36 GMT
Time being of the essence, she had decided to use the Aisle of Time which connected her apartment to the land of the Amazons, rather than flying there in her invisible jet. Hippolyta was waiting on the beach, and greeted her daughter with an embrace. “Hola Nubia,” she said “I am glad you could come so promptly.” “Hola Mother,” Nubia returned with equal warmth. “I came as soon as I got your message. What is the emergency? Are the Amazons in some danger?” “Not. . . exactly,” Hippolyta started up the beach toward the Amazonian Hall of Science. “Come, I think it will be easier to show you than to explain.” As they walked, Hippolyta began to tell the tale. “As you know, because the Amazon space program is so much more advanced than any in Man’s World, we take it as a responsibility to monitor for possible threats from space and, if appropriate, dispatch out fleet of Swan Ships to deal with such threats.” *
* (Editor’s note: see Wonder Woman#121 and others)
“Has such an invasion been detected?” Nubia interrupted. Hippolyta smiled. “Always too impatient my daughter! No, we have not recently detected any assaults on Earth, not since the Great Invasion.” “Then why do you say the Amazons are in danger?” Hippolyta stopped just outside a room adjacent to the main Amazon space laboratory and faced Wonder Woman. “The Amazons are threatened my daughter, but not the Amazons of Earth.” Hippolyta threw open the large twin doors and led Nubia into a room ringed with large screens and computer panels, most screens featured alien life forms, talking animatedly with Amazon operators. One screen was blank. “For years, we Amazons have maintained peaceful contact with many alien species encountered during our space exploration.” She indulged in a quirky smile. “Although the gods have forbidden use to visit or communicate with man’s world, they have little concern about what we do in space, provided we do not actively travel to another planet.” “Yesterday we received this call for distress; from a planet we have not had contact with in the past.” The Amazon Queen walked over to the blank screen and activated it. For a moment, Nubia was struck dumb. The person on the screen looked so much like Hippolyta that, instinctively, the Amazon champion glanced to her left to see if her mother was still there. Further examination revealed this judgment was hasty, however. The hair of the woman on the screen was a deeper shade of red-gold then Hippolyta sun-kissed blond. She was also dressed differently, in Amazon-style armor instead of Hippolyta’s white robes of state. There were enough other subtle differences that they would not be confused. What had struck Nubia so forcefully was the woman’s expression and demeanor. She radiated the command and pride which her mother wore (to some extent) at all times, and most often when holding court or leading her warriors in battle. The figure on the screen was speaking “. . . The threat of our men to our very way of life has become intolerable! All the resources of proud and noble warrior sisters of our planet Femnaz are unable to end their menace. At the command of the gods, I beseech you, warrior sisters of Earth, to send some aid to us. I entreat you, in the name of the gods and in the name of honor, to send whatever help you can.” Hippolyta switched off the screen again. “That was not a live transmission, the message has been repeating for hours.” “It seems these otherworldly-Amazons are having the same problems we are here.” Nubia said. “Yes,” Hippolyta clenched her teeth. “It has always been the way, since the beginning of time women have been forced to adopt the tools of war to defend ourselves from the endless lust of men for power and domination. It seems no corner of the universe is free from their aggression.” “I assume you want me to answer their request for aid?” “Yes my daughter, you are the champion of the Amazons, only you can undertake such a mission. The power of Wonder Woman was given to you to spread the teachings of the Amazons to all who may benefit from them. It should be more than enough to free these women, just as I once used the power of Aphrodite’s girdle to free the Amazons from Hercules.” Nubia cocked her head in thought. “How far away is this planet? I may have to make arrangements in my secret identity if I am to journey for months in space.” “There’s no need for that.” Hippolyta said, leading the way back towards the beach. “The Amazon Space-Transformer that makes the Aisle of Time can easily be re-programmed to transport you the Femnaz as easily as to Mars. Your journey will take only hours.” Nubia half-consciously flexed her muscles as they returned to the beach, where Paula and Alpha were making final adjustments to the Aisle. One disadvantage of arriving this way was that she would have no opportunity to gauge the situation before she walked into it. She would have to be ready for anything.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:01:16 GMT
Nubia materialized from the Aisle of Time, and at first thought she was in some utopian future, instead of an alien world. She stood in a vast forum, paved in cement and marble, centered around a fountain the size of an Olympic pool. The centerpiece of the fountain was a golden statue which looked uncannily like the statues she had seen in the Temple of Artemis on Paradise Island. Around the forum, she could see a highly advanced metropolis, sprawling out as far as the eye could see. Despite the obvious advances in technology, the architectural style clearly resembled the Amazon’s own neo-classical style. Directly in front of her was a building that dwarfed all the others in majesty. It was clearly a palace, like her mothers, but ten times larger. Nubia had little opportunity to examine the architecture, however. Within seconds of her arrival, a shimmer in the air indicated that the square had been sealed off by some barely-visible barrier. Armored female troops came pouring out of a number of small doors around the palace, while a bright orange energy barrier dropped over the main entrance. “Halt intruder! Stand and be recognized!” The woman calling out leveled her spear (which, Nubia saw, had a tip made of glowing energy instead of metal) and stepped forward to face Wonder Woman, while the other women fanned out in a circle. Nubia raised her empty hand slowly. “Peace sister,” she said to the one who was obviously the commander. “I mean you no harm.” Truly, their situation must be dire to have such strong defenses. Before either of them could say more, a hologram eight feet tall appeared in the air overlooking the group. It was the same woman who had sent the request to earth. “Stand down my warriors! Can you not see this intruder is a woman? This is no doubt the answer to our call for aid. Escort her into the throne room at once!” With that the hologram and the force fields all vanished. The warriors shouldered their spears. “Come,” said the commander, “Queen Azura will see you.” Wonder Woman followed her escort up several flights of stairs, though ornate doors that looked like bronze, and down long marble and tile corridors until they entered the throne room. It was apparently the highest point of the palace. The circle of columns that began on either side of the door Nubia had entered from afforded an almost unbroken view of the city. All the columns rose to a high domed roof and the air between them shimmered slightly suggesting still more force fields. In the center, on a throne covered with several control panels, atop a pyramid-shaped dais, was Queen Azura. “Greetings, champion of Earth!” The Queen of Femnaz rose and saluted Nubia with raised arms. “Welcome to Femnaz! Our long-range viewing devices have shown us relatively little about your world, but we know that your people are much like ours.” “My queen, I would speak!” The captain of the guard stood forward, and cast a disparaging glance at Nubia. “Speak Superbia, you are recognized.” “My queen, you know that the weapons of the men are powerful. All the forces of my warriors have never been able to set foot in their city. I had thought,” She looked at Nuba again, “that the Queen of Earth would send an army of warriors. To send only one is an insult! What good can one warrior do?” Nubia held herself in with difficulty. This was apparently not her day for getting respect, in or out of costume. “Queen Hippolyta is sensitive to your problems,” she said, “But it is the will of the gods that no Amazon, except the champion of all our warriors, be permitted to leave our shores. I am that champion.” Queen Azura smiled benevolently at the hero from earth and made a soothing gesture. “You must excuse Superbia, Nubia of Earth. I’m afraid she has not spent as much time studying you world as I have. Perhaps,” she cocked her head, “you would be willing to demonstrate your skills with a little sparing match?” Nubia bowed slightly from the waist. “If this is what is required, I will demonstrate my skills with honor.” She took her golden lasso from her hip and turned to face her opponent. Superbia charged in with a flurry of high slashing blows from her energy sword, not letting up for a second. She obviously hoped to win the fight quickly. Nubia had no intention of letting her control the pace, however. With almost casual ease, she blocked each blow with her bracelets, taking slow steps backward as she moved the fight across the room. As Superbia’s frustration grew, so did the complexity of her attacks. Nubia soon found herself having to jump and dodge to keep the sword from scoring a contact. Still, her tactic was paying off. The frantic speed of her attack had left Azura’s captain fighting exhaustion as well as Wonder Woman. Nubia was barely winded. Suddenly she acted. Up until now, Superbia had paid little attention to Nubia’s lasso, probably regarding the length of cord as an ineffectual weapon. Nubia had fostered this belief by not deploying it until now. When the sword descended for another strike, Nubia suddenly stretched the lasso taught in front of her, blocking the blade. Then, with a twist of her wrist, she released the lasso with her left hand and allowed the free end to curl around the blade to the hilt. The lightning-like energy of which the blade was made did not damage the invulnerable divine weapon. Yanking hard, Nubia torn the spear from Superbia’s hand and, leaping into the air, kicked her in the chest and head in two rapid movements, sending her sprawling to the floor. The sound of clapping broke her concentration. The queen was standing and regarding Nubia with a smile and calculating eyes while she applauded. “Bravo Amazon! I’m sure we are all impressed. It has been many years since Superbia has been beaten.” She touched a control on the throne and a platform emerged and carried her to the ground like an elevator “Come now,” She walked Nubia out of the hall with a hand on her shoulder. “Join me for dinner, and then as friends we will discuss the crisis for which I summoned you to Femnaz.”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:01:45 GMT
The dining hall was as grand as the rest of the palace. Nubia found herself seated at a table on an elevated stage, with the queen and her closest advisors. It disturbed her a little bit that she was seated with her back to the room, but Queen Azura insisted that Nubia should face her during the meal. The dining hall behind sounded unusually raucous. Granted, even Amazons got into wild party moods now and again, especially after victory. Nonetheless, she kept catching snatches of conversation which seemed vaguely disturbing. . . robots serving again tonight. . . . . . pity, you know how much I enjoy. . . . . .queen’s order, because of the alien. . . . . . nothing quite like having a man. . . “Have some more wine Nubia!” Azura spoke up just as Wonder Woman was beginning to tune in on one of the conversation. “It is well past time I told you of our plight here.” “For centuries, our planet has been a world of order, and civilization. Here on Femnaz, the women rule and the men are content to serve. Or perhaps I should say, they were content.” “Recently, our men have become more and more rebellious, more critical of how we women run our society. They have overthrown my rule in what was once one of our richest provinces and set up their own chaotic government. They are even spreading dissent among the other men.” She leaned in for greater emphasis. “Worst of all, they even denounce our worship of the great moon goddess Triana, and try to disrupt our sacred ceremonies.” This litany certainly sounded outrageous to Nubia. “The Amazons of Earth have always believed that women, who are more loving than men, are the wisest rulers. Of course, I’ve known good men and evil women,” J’onn and the Cheetah came immediately to mind, “so perhaps it’s not best to generalize. Nonetheless, it seems form what you’ve said and what I’ve seen so far that your people have achieved what I was sent into man’s world to achieve, a global state of Amazon ideals. In a way, it reminds me of a story my sister Diana told our mother, about a planet called Venus in another dimension where the women ruled benevolently over the men. The women had wings, and the men did not. So when the men tried to rebel, the women would simply fly into the air until they calmed down.” Azura chuckled and shook her head. “Were that our problems were so simple to solve. We have tried for years to recapture the island province of Adoria, but the wizardry of their superweapons has held us back.” She clapped Nubia on the shoulder. “Tonight, Wonder Woman, you will rest in chambers I have provided.” “And tomorrow, at dawn, a hovership will bring you to the edge of our conquered territory. May Triana, goddess of the moon, grant you victory!”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:02:47 GMT
The hovership proved to be a kind of troop transport, obviously intended for many more warriors. It was long, boxy, and grey, with stubby wings on each side mounted with anti-gravity generators. As Nubia stood in the main disembarkation bay, she looked out over the ocean they were skimming. The main doors had been left open, since she would have to leave the ship in the air. “There is nowhere to land.” Azura had explained before they departed at dawn. “The entire province consists of an archipelago, and it is completely encased in a forcefield.” Nubia appreciated both the serene view and the cool air blasting across her face. It gave her a chance to collect her thoughts. Since her arrival on this planet, she had been whisked along rapidly by her hosts, never getting a chance to study the world in detail. More and more she was feeling uneasy. These women, despite a superficial resemblance to the Amazons, seemed much more violent, and wild than her adopted sisters. In fact, the camaraderie she had seen so far, particularly at the banquet, reminded her more closely of the warriors of Mars Island. Now that’s an unpleasant thought! She tried to dismiss it with a shake of her head, but the unfavorable comparison remained. As soon as I settle this dispute with their men, I’ll be happy to leave. “There is our destination.” Superbia walked up beside her and pointed ahead. They were approaching a larger landmass surrounded by several smaller islands. It was enveloped in a semi-transparent forcefield. “Our most powerful weapons have failed to penetrate the shield, even after years of steady bombardment it shows no weakening.” She sneered smugly at Nubia. “My queen says to wish you luck.” She leaned in close. “But I hope you die, humiliated!” With those words, she shoved Wonder Woman into space. Nubia had expected something like this, and was braced a ready. She immediately activated her Sandal of Hermes with a thought and flew toward the barrier, even as the troop ship moved off to a safe distance. As she drew to within a few feet, a loud voice suddenly filled the air around her. FEMALE INTRUDER, YOU ARE UNABLE TO PENETRATE THE SHIELD IF YOU ARE WILLING TO SUBMIT YOURSELF TO OUR LAWS YOU MAY ENTER IN PEACE. IF NOT, LEAVE NOW, FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY. “I am truly fed up with people talking down to me!” Nubia charged foreword and began to pummel the barrier with all her strength. After half-a-dozen blows, she was forced to give up the attack, or risk damaging her hands. Like her sister, Nubia was more durable than a normal human, but not indestructible like Superman. Her hands felt like one more blow would start breaking bones, hers. Trying a different tactic, she swooped upward into a backwards loop, and then barreled into the barrier like a cannon ball. All this achieved was to send her ricocheting into the ocean, with her head ringing. “I’m acting like a fool,” she said aloud, floating on the surface of the sea while her head settled down. She had often floated like this on the shores of Mars Island. It was a refuge from the constant fighting. “Mother has always told me to use my head in a fight, to think my way around a problem instead of just bludgeoning through it.” If brute force could get through this barrier, the superweapons of these space amazons would have brought them victory long ago. “I have to use the wisdom of Athena, not the strength of Hercules to solve this problem.” So, for a while, she just drifted and studied the situation. Suddenly, in her contemplation, two facts jumped out at her. She could see the barrier faintly, arching up into the sky. She could also see low-hanging clouds. The startling thing was, the clouds passed seamlessly through the barrier, unbroken, even as she watch. Further, the waves did not lap against the barrier, but continued through it as if it wasn’t there. Could it be that it lets in water and air? Wonder Woman thought. Or could it be even simpler. . . Swimming to the barrier, she reached out and touched it, delicately. Her hand passed through, almost without resistance. It’s based on kinetic energy! She realized. It uses the opposing force to create a repelling effect. The less force you use, the easier it is to get through, like a Chinese finger puzzle. Once through, she took to the air again and flew inland. Only the speed of Hermes protected her from the next attack. From a mountain in the center of the island, what looked like pink lightning bolt were being fired at her. Nubia had no idea what the lightning would do to her if it hit, but she was taking not taking any chances. She blocked each bolt with her bracelets as she pressed on, sending them rocketing wildly in to the woodlands below. Concerned about the trees, she spared a glance below. The purple bolts impacted the tress and dissipated harmlessly. Probably some kind of stun weapon, she thought. Harmless unless you have a nervous system. The weapon proved more dangerous to its creators then to her, since it clearly revealed their location. The bolts were being fired from a cave near the summit of the mountain. As she drew closer, it was clear to Wonder Woman that the cave had been artificially enlarged into a bunker of some kind. Nubia touched down on a ledge near the cave and strode boldly forward. There was no need for caution at this point, and it was possible she might cow them into surrendering without having to hurt them. The effect was ruined, however, when she walked face first into another forcefield. Well, that was embarrassing. She rubbed her nose to relive the pain, even as a male voice manifested from the air around her. “Female intruder! I urge you to retreat. You cannot penetrate this shield as you did the island shield. We will not permit you to destroy our central weapon’s command. You and your sisters will not force us to submit to your irrational rule!” Thanks for telling me this is your central command, she thought. With luck, all the weapons could be shut down from here. Out loud she said, “Here me, men of Femnaz! I am Nubia, princess of Paradise Island, called Wonder Woman, champion of the Amazons. I do not believe in barriers that cannot be overcome. Watch, and I will show you how irrational I am!” Nubia unslung her lasso from her hip and began to twirl the loop in front of her, faster and faster. Using the indestructible lasso to set up vibrational waves was a trick both she and her sister had practiced in the past. It was only a bit more difficult than using the lasso to glide on air currents. She continued to vibrate the lasso back and forth, until the force field began to shimmer and distort. The force field grew brighter and brighter, as it tried to stabilize itself. Finally, the matrix collapsed completely, and left a gaping hole in the shield for Wonder Woman to dart through. The room inside was filled with smoke. Nubia used her magic lasso to create a suction that drew the smoke out of the room, so she could see. The room was a cave that had been repurposed as a bunker, with walls of monitors, consoles, and machines. It appeared that collapsing the shield had caused some kind of massive feedback. One entire wall of consoles had exploded. The room as filled with about a dozen men. Some were working the control desperately; some were trying to put out the fire. A small number, wearing somewhat improvised armor, were baring Nubia’s way. They looked scared and unsure, but resolute. “We wish only peace intruder! But know that we will not surrender to slavery and your war-mongering madness without a fight!” Slavery? War-mongering?! A lot of bad feelings she had been having were starting to crystallize in Nubia’s mind. Instead of fighting, she holstered her lasso. “I’m getting a very bad feeling that I’ve been duped. Men, I was told you were hostile rebels, and I was petitioned by Queen Azura to restore peace.” The man she spoke to snorted. “Queen Azura knows nothing of peace! For years, she and her followers have lived only for the savagery of war, and the pleasure of domination over the weak. It is true, we are rebels. It is because we refused to obey her commands to abandon peaceful scientific research, because we would not submit to being treated like chattels, and because we decried their worship of Triana of the Moon.” That last part at least sounded familiar. “Why did you oppose their worship?” “We too honor Triana, but in the old ways.” Another man clarified. “You must understand, men have always been the gentler sex on our world, all of which was once known as Adoria,* or land of peace in our language. By nature, we are more empathetic, more feeling then women, who tended to be dominant and aggressive, inclined to lead by strength.”
* (Editor’s note: Action Comics #266)
“Our people prospered according to the teachings of Triana, the goddess of the moon, who in ancient times taught us that both men and women had strengths and weaknesses which complemented each other. She was a hunter goddess, who came from the stars. According to legend, she came with our most distant ancestors from another world. She appears infrequently, and was rarely seen for the last three centuries” “Then, about 12 years ago, Triana began appearing again. But she was different. She spoke only in cunning and misleading words, distorting our teachings, telling our women lies. She told them that their greater strength made them superior, that that was the way of all the planets in the universe. These words were pleasing to them women, and they began enslaving us, and taking away our rights. They renamed the planet Femnaz, which means power. The false Triana even told them to abandon her temples and honor her instead by shooting nuclear missiles at the moon! Naturally we told Queen Azura that this was madness.” That certainly sounded like someone she knew. The time table synced up nicely. Nubia remembered that the Duke of Deception had vanished from Olympus in 1977. “Is this “’false Triana”’ still around?” “No, she stopped appearing eight years ago. The damage was done by then.” Wonder Woman remembered that the Duke had returned to Earth in 1981 to attack her predecessor again, in hopes of regaining the favor of Mars.* “I had the situation all wrong here,” she admitted, chagrined. “This world is reversed from my world. You people are like the Amazons of Earth, and this archipelago is really your version of Paradise Island.”
* (Editor’s note: The Duke of Deception disappeared after Wonder Woman#169, and was not seen again until Wonder Woman #217)
“Your Majesty!” One of the men called out from the smoking consuls. “I fear we cannot stabilize the forcefield. It will fail under the bombardment in a matter of hours.” “Bombardment?” Nubia looked outside and saw that the shield around the island was being lit up by barrages of light that exploded like fireworks. “By the Sword of Hades! Azura was only using my as a stalking horse, to bring down your defenses.” “And she has succeeded.” The King of Adoria said with melancholy finality. “We must prepare to defend ourselves to the last breath.” “No!” planted her feat and turned to face the attacking ships. “I’ve allowed my prejudices, born of long habits, to lead me into several mistakes. But by Hera, I’ll fix those mistakes before I’m gone.” She turned slightly to address the King of the Adorians. “your majesty, the Amazons of my world use a different device to protect their island. I can give you the blueprints. I want your people to see if they can implement it, using your shield system.” “Meanwhile, I’m going to create a little distraction…”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:03:48 GMT
“Fire again, all batteries!” Queen Azura roared into her communication consul. She couldn’t conceive how this Wonder Woman was able to breach the field when all their weapons had failed, but it was weakening now! “Once the pathetic males are again in chains, we will teach them why we are the masters of Femnaz.” She leaned back into her thrown and smiled at the thought of her husband restored to her clutches. Mmm, the fun she would have. . . I must remember to launch a particularly large missile in honor of Triana this evening. “My queen, the Earth-woman approaches.” The forward tactical screen indicated a small, humanoid woman moving rapidly through the air toward them. Azura smiled cruelly. “She has served her purpose, have Superbia’s battlegroup target her.”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:04:34 GMT
Nubia poured on all the Speed of Hermes her sandals could provide. She’d made terrible mistakes, but she was not going to allow these women to destroy this haven of peace. She’d stop them, or die trying. They are no better than the warriors of Mars. She watched the ships fire balls of blazing plasma at the forceshield. It was clearly on the brink of failure. Quick as lighting, she darted into the path of the plasma-balls and deflected them with her indestructible Amazonium bracelets. One. . . two. . . three. . . four. . . ten. . .a dozen. . . the attack seemed unending. But not one barrage hit the shores of Adoria. Nubia was little more that a red, blue and gold streak, her speed as much as her bracelets protecting her from harm. The wild spray of blazing energy had disrupted the formation of Azura’s forces, as Nubia had hoped. Whenever possible, she deliberately deflected the plasma balls toward concentrations of ships, preventing the women from regrouping. Her aim was to get the Queen frustrated, to make her lose focus. One battle group was doing a better job of keeping together than the rest, slowly but surely, they were encircling Nubia’s position. She was having a harder and harder time keeping ahead of their gunners, deflecting or dodging the shots aimed at her. The plan is working perfectly. She thought. The attackers were concentrating all their efforts on her. Now all I have to do is survive. On board the lead craft, Superbia braced herself against the command chair as the ship executed another hairpin turn and a barrel roll. “Curse that flittering gnat! Why can’t she stand still and die like a woman?” “Commander, we have a target lock on her now.” Intoned the gunner chief. “Excellent!” She grinned like a feral tiger about to spring. “At this range we can’t possibly miss.” Just as the ships fired, Nubia sprang up into the air and executed a perfect quadruple somersault. She landed with the poise of a dancer on the back of Superbia’s own ship. The Femnazian commanders barely had time to register that they were now in each other’s gunsights before they opened fire and crippled or destroyed they own ships. While the remaining Femnazian battlegroups fell back, Nubia took a breather to consult the King on her metal radio. Everything was arranged. The “package” had arrived. She finalized the last details of the plan, then flew ahead until she was hovering directly in front of Queen Azura’s flagship. “Azura, Queen of Femnaz,” she called. “I denounce you as a craven coward! You claim to lead a race of mighty warriors, but you are too weak to face me in single combat. Without you massive armies, you cannot enslave these harmless lovers of peace, or even defeat one true warrior. I challenge you to a battle of strength against strength. May the better warrior decide the fate of this battle!”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:05:06 GMT
Azura’s clenched fists cracked the enameled surface of her ornate throne arms. The sound of her grinding teeth could be detected audibly by the sweating navigators. “Ready my personal battlepod!” she commanded, rising from her throne and striding toward the lift. “My queen, I must advise against this.” Dominitia, the captain of her flagship, moved to intercept her. “It would be foolish to throw away your tactical advantage. . .” Azura lashed out with the hilt of her sword, sending her captain reeling into the wall. “And have all my women call me a coward behind my back?! How long before they would say it to my face? Ready my pod you lackwit! When I have slain the champion of the men, I will put her head on a pike and use it as my banner when I march upon the island.”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:05:39 GMT
When Nubia saw the small craft launch from flagship, she had to smile. The plan was working. Her mother would be very proud of her, and for that matter, even her father might be. He wasn’t adverse to strategy; he just didn’t usually have the patience for it. The queen’s attack craft was built for speed and killing. The main body was a silvery bullet, with some kind of one-way glass covering the cockpit. Two wings swept forward from the sites, till the tips were less than a foot apart from each other. Each wing was tipped with an energy weapon, and a half-a-dozen more weapons surrounded the craft’s body, all pointing forward. No retreat, only advance. The only thrusters appeared to be in the rear, so she assumed the ship used some kind of anti-gravity to fly. That will make her both fast, and maneuverable. She thought. Making a wide arch, Azura roared down on the Amazon Princess, forward guns blazing. Nubia tried to deflect the incoming bolts with her bracelets, but the rate of fire was incredibly high, and the intensity grew by the second as the ship closed the distance between them Nubia suffered several glancing shots, on the shoulder, the arm, and on her thigh. Each shot burned, like she had been slashed with a hot serrated knife. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she kept her eyes fixed on the attacking vessel. At the last possible second, when the barrage was too intense for the Flash himself to had stayed alive, Nubia used the Sandals to launched self into a quadruple somersault over Azura’s ship, unfurling her lasso as she went. She attempted to snag one of the wings with the loop as the ship passed under her. The sudden jerk spun her around and almost ripped her shoulder out of its socket. Anyone without superstrength would have been torn in half. She just barely managed to keep her grip on the lasso. Although the loop slipped on the tip of the wing it snagged, the ship was also sent into a crazy spin. Azura soon righted it, however, and resumed her assault on her foe. Nubia decided to lower the ceiling of the fight, diving steeply for the ocean surface. Azura kept close behind her, still firing, though less accurately at a moving target. As it skimmed the surface, it raised waves of spry behind it. Nubia noticed an outcropping of jagged rocks ahead, and decided to make things a little harder for the queen. Flying into the outcropping, she wove a zig-zag course in and among them, figuring the fighter would have a harder time finding a wide-enough passage. But Azura didn’t bother with evasive maneuvers. She continued to follow as closely behind Wonder Woman as she could, and ignored the rocks that shattered harmlessly against her hull, or under her energy fire. This is no good! Wonder Woman thought. She quickly changed tactics again, swerving toward the beach and diving into the dense forests of the island. Azura followed hotly, firing all barrels, blasting and plowing through trees while Nubia wove around and tried to use them for cover. The plan won’t work unless I can knock out some of her guns. Seizing her chance, Nubia leaped onto the branch of a large oak tree she had just flown under. Azura’s visibility was bad in the chaos of the forest, so she barreled on ahead without noticing her prey was no longer in front of her. Nubia dropped down from the branch onto the top of the attack craft, seizing the barrels of the two top guns for balance. With a mighty effort, she twisted the barrels up and out, until the guns were useless. Alarms went off inside the craft. Cursing, Azura, executed a barrel roll while flying upwards, shaking the Amazon loose. However, Nubia managed to land on her feet, in the artificial clearing left in the wake of the fight. Snarling, Azura brought her craft around and into a steep strafing dive. This time the Amazon would die! Hera, give me strength. Wonder Woman uncoiled her lasso again. Athena, guide my aim. She hurled the loop of her lasso into the air, snagging both of the front wing tips of the attack craft. Azura tried to climb, to throw her opponent into the air, but Nubia held her ground and, just as the craft passed overhead, she yanked down hard. Azura tumbled crazily out of control, crashing to the earth amidst piles of rock and trees. She staggered out of the wreck that had been her ship, bruised and battered. Her eyes, however, showed no hint of defeat. They shone with hatred and wrath that had almost crossed the edge into madness. Drawling her sword, she charged at Nubia, roaring her battle cry. “Die! Die! In the name of blood-soaked Triana DIE!!!” Calm, cool, and in total control, Wonder Woman casually parried each savage strike with her bracelets. “I’ve met Triana, or Artemis as she is known on Earth, and you know nothing of her teachings. You have been deceived by the Duke of Deception, Prince of Liars, and servant of the war god Mars.” “LIES!” wielding her sword in two hands, Azura tried to slice Nubia in half. The Amazing Amazon leaped the blow easily, scoring a kick to the back of the Queen’s head while she staggered foreword, thrown off-balance by her own strike. Azura tried to roll to her feet, but Nubia kicked her sword out of her hand, while simultaneously drawling her own sword. She held the tip against Azura’s throat, preventing her from rising. Azura glared defiantly. “So, now that you have proved your dominance, you will slay me and take my power.” Nubia shook her head sadly. “That is the way of Mars. I now follow the way of Aphrodite.” She activated a communicator, hidden in her earrings. “King Silvanar? We’re on our way to the command center. You know what to do.”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:06:11 GMT
Dominitia had lost sight of the fight as soon as it entered the forest. Anxiously, she waited for her Queen’s victory announcement. Azura is invincible, she told herself. She CAN’T lose. She would have liked to move the ships closer, but wouldn’t dare give such an order without the Queen’s permission. She almost jumped when the video-communicator activated, displaying and image of the queen’s head, against a rustic background. “Dominitia!” The queen’s voice rang out, as she stared straight into the screen. “I have vanquished the earthly warrior, and I have discovered the headquarters of the male resistors.” “That is wonderful news my queen. Shall I bring the fleet in when you drop the shield?” “Yes, and I will carry a portable audio link with me, so you will be able to strike without delay.” The visual disappeared, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing, and the wisp of cloth passing through brush. Then the sounds of a struggle! Shouting! Gunfire! For a moment Dominitia’s heart seemed to freeze. Then she heard her queen triumphantly declare “Surrender Silvanar! Your rebellion is finished.” “Yes Azura,” his voice reeked of frustrated despair. “We are finished, and so are you. We will never return to slavery. We would rather die here and now.” Then, with a thunderous roar, and a blinding flash of light, the entire archipelago vanished, leaving only a swirling whirlpool. “NOOOOO!” Dominitia howled in grief and rage as she pounded the control panel. Why, why, WHY had she not insisted on sending in more troops to support the Queen? After a few minutes, she managed to master her grief. Turning to her shell-shocked crew, with tears in her eyes, she spoke out strong. “The war is over. We will ever remember Queen Azura as a hero, who died in the name of Triana.” She activated inter-ship communications. “All ships, return to the capital, there are no more enemies here to fight.”
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:06:40 GMT
Silvanaar watched the ships depart on the screen. “Well,” he said with a relived sigh, “I’ll freely admit, I never thought it would work.” Nubia stood to one side, with her magic lasso looped around the fuming former queen. She had recited her speech perfectly, as Nubia had commanded her. Sometimes it bothered Wonder Woman to use her lasso to control people so completely, but this was not one of those times. “I wasn’t sure myself.” She admitted. “But it turned out to be surprisingly easy to convert your forcefield into a cloaking device, such as Hippolyta uses to hide Paradise Island on Earth. Your scientists really impressed me by using that illusion-projector to dress up the disappearance with bright light, loud sound, and the image on a whirlpool.” “Concealment will serve us better then passive resistance, as you recommended Wonder Woman.” The king placed his hand on her shoulder. “We owe you an eternal debt of gratitude.” “What about Azura?” “Do not worry about her.” He smiled sadly at his bitter wife. “We have a place, called Metamorphosis Island, where we shall try to reform her from the evil teachings of the Duke of Deception. In time, perhaps, our people can live together again, though I think it will be many centuries, if ever.”*
* (Editor’s note: not until Adventure Comics #326)
After Nubia bid her farewells, she activated her Space-Time Transformer locator to tell Paula she was ready to come home. I’ll have quite a story to tell them. She thought. Of a world where, though the genders are reversed, the age old struggle between cruelty and kindness continues. Her mind returned to the conversation at the art gallery, almost a day ago now. It was true, what I said then, good and evil, life and death, war and peace, and in all of us, mixed in equal measure, no matter how we look.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 26, 2017 23:09:24 GMT
It is finished! I need to put all the thoughts back into italics, but I think this is ready to be moved to the completed folder. I don't know how to move it, and I'm not sure I can. But it is complete.
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Post by lawrenceliberty on Aug 28, 2017 16:28:19 GMT
Good job. I remember Azura from LSH. She didn't age much by that time did she? Plan was perfectly in character too. Nicely done.
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Post by johnreiter902 on Aug 28, 2017 20:01:02 GMT
I figured this was probably an ancestor to that Azura, since there was no indication in either the Legion or Superman stories that the Amazons of Femnaz/Adoria were immortal.
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Post by DocQuantum on Aug 28, 2017 20:29:49 GMT
I'm excited to see this one come to a conclusion. You developed a really good, tightly plotted story that drew on some continuity and played against the typical golden age Wonder Woman story featuring women as victims of cruel men. Obviously, that wasn't the case here.
Since I'm at work, I just had my phone read the story to me, so I'm looking forward to doing a closer reading myself at home later. It was an enjoyable story to listen to, anyway.
I think I'll keep this one here for a little while, at least a week, before moving it to the Completed Stories section.
As a side note, I wish someone would write a Times Past story featuring Nubia in the years when she was living on Mars Isle after she'd been reunited with Diana but before Diana's death during the Crisis. How did she interact with the inhabitants there, both men and women? Was she seen as their champion, their own superhero, or was she on the fringes of society? And did she ever fall in love with anyone? There's still so much unknown about Nubia's past.
The only appearance I can recall that takes place between her first appearance in the early 1970s and her becoming Wonder Woman in our version of Earth-1 after the Crisis is an issue of Super Friends, which puts her in a never-before-seen, nondescript costume and makes her out to be an African hero. Of course, the Super Friends series is not in continuity, but we've adopted some stories into our continuity anyway, because E. Nelson Bridwell was a good writer.
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