Alejandra and Natalia begin to question the Empress and they begin to make plans for the future when Elsa goes too far

“Who is talking on the tv daddy?” the little girl asked her father who looked taken aback by what he was seeing. This was the common occurrence in most of the households of Aragon lately.

People of Aragon gathered around their televisions and their radios as they heard the voice of Empress Elsa.

Alejandra’s sister gave a long speech directed at the leadership of Aragon describing their most recent and very expensive scientific program, the final results, its amazing capabilities, and its sheer cost. Then near the end, she threatened Aragon.

Elsa said to the leadership and people of Aragon, “We want to spare the people of Aragon from utter destruction that this ultimatum threatens. Your leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has only been experienced a few times in war.”

Princess Alejandra was proud of her sister Elsa and rarely ever questioned her own decision to step aside and allow Elsa to claim the crown of Castile. There was never really a need. The brutality they used during the rebellion was a little extreme in her opinion. But it was a brutal war with extreme atrocities committed by both sides.

While Alejandra would often arrest the highest nobles that rebelled and displayed the most brutality during the war, or husbands who were very abusive and things like that, Alejandra had targeted the most cruel men. Her sister Elsa would target their entire family from the youngest children to the eldest, and even the distant cousins and nieces. No one would be spared by Elsa except the victims of abuse which were usually women.

Those were actions Alejandra questioned but her hands were filthy during that war too, so she really had no moral high ground to talk about brutality. So she kept her opinions to herself and served her sister. Now Elsa was doing the same thing in Aragon and Alejandra questioned wiping out entire families. The camps Alejandra had built were filling up. But it was the same thing they did in Leon, Galicia, Granada and Toledo during the Civil War.

She had never seriously considered turning on her sister until now. She had just listened to one of the most chilling and horrible speeches her sister had ever delivered. The leadership of Aragon was issued a chilling ultimatum. Parts of the ultimatum was word per word from the decularation the ally's issued at Potsdam . and the result was to fortify the capital and conscript people to defend them. The Aragon Capital was defended by over forty thousand troops, but it would be nothing to overcome and destroy.

Castile ruled the air uncontested. Aragon's soldiers could be bombed from the air. But Elsa had another idea, and aircraft dropped thousands of little leaflets on the city warning civilians to leave the city. And then her sister gave her chilling address to the leadership and people of Aragon.

The time had come to make some difficult decisions. Alejandra had called for a private meeting with the most experienced general of the army. General Francisca Franco was sitting at a table across from Princess Alejandra. Alejandra said, “I have spoken personally with Colonel Natalia Hastings. She has agreed to assist us. She agrees that this has become a problem we have to solve and she is on board with this. Natalia will do her part. So now, we need to find out if you will help us.”

The General looked into Alejandra’s eyes for a few brief seconds and said, “I was appointed as the chief of staff of the entire army by the Empress. I am loyal to her. She is your older sister and you went through great effort to have her crowned as our Empress. So forgive me Princess if I don't entirely trust you here. If you want me to trust you and support you, you will have to do better than this. I have seen you have many traitors to your sister arrested and tortured for treason.”

“Have you all heard her most recent speech directed at Aragon's leadership,” asked the Princess.

The general nodded. She said, “Yes, I have.”

“I also saw it and it was chilling,” said the princess. “I am greatly troubled by this course of action and I hope that you are also troubled. We will need to take some sort of action if this is carried out, General Franco,” Alejandra told them.

The General said sternly, “I will remain loyal to our Empress, and your sister. Whatever she does. I am a loyal servant to our leader and will never turn on her. The people of Aragon deserve her wrath, Your Highness. You have met and helped the victims. One of those victims is your closest friend who suffered horribly under Aragon’s laws. Didn’t she almost murder an entire family and you were okay with it?”

The princess smiled and nodded. “Yes, I personally vouched for her acceptance to the Shadow Corps. I questioned her at first, but I saw how she has excelled and prospered and most of my questions are mute now. I totally supported her actions against the Vargos Family after what they did to her. My hands are very dirty from the war. My past is gushing with the blood of the victims and not all of them were monsters. We wiped out entire families. I rarely questioned the morality of what I was doing for my sister. Until now.”

Alejandra said to the General, “You heard her address this morning and you know what it means General. If she carries this out, we must take action to preserve our country. This will turn the entire world against us and make Aragon look like our helpless victim. We will require your support, General.”

The General glared at her hard and smirked. “I am a loyal servant, your highness. I condone our Empresses actions.”

Alejandra said, “How can you condone this, this will make us villains to the entire world and destroy years of effort to make us look civilized and reasonable to the world. There will be a very harsh reaction if this is done, General. You have to know this.”

The general looked into the Princess’s eyes and said confidently, “I served with you for a long time. I served with you during the war, taking your orders as you lead us through that conflict at sixteen. I have seen what you have done to people who speak against your sister. I saw you do this to many people in the past. You baited them, acting like you had a serious problem with her, or encouraging people to speak out against her, only to use it against them later. Then you subject them to a brutal interrogation and torture. You rooted out people plotting against your sister that way and executed many.”

The general said, “So forgive me for seriously doubting your sincerity now. Thinking you are trying to bait me like you did so many others.”

Of course, Alejandra thought. Few would dare speak out against the Empress in the presence of her sister. They all thought this may be some sort of trick to them to speak against the Empress. She had done this during the war to later have them arrested and tortured as traitors. General Franco personally saw her do it numerous times.

“This is one time I am for real,” Alejandra said to the General. “I do not blame you for mistrusting me here. I understand your feelings. So you are afraid to speak out against Elsa in my presence. So I will. Just listen to me, General. This is extremely troubling. If my sister carries this out, then I will have to act. I have gone to great lengths to build a good diplomatic relationship with the United States and ensure peace. It has been difficult, but I have largely succeeded. I have ended the hostility and threats between our nations. I am proud of our success. The United States has opened up. We have good relations and they now trust and support us. They turned on Aragon. I am very happy and proud of this. And now Elsa’s brutality could destroy years of work and plunge us back into a cold war of hostility, threats and distrust. Years of hard work will be destroyed. And we will be seen as the monsters and Aragon as a helpless victim of our brutality. Aragon will have the sympathy of the world.”

“You are the Empress' sister and you can say what you want,” The general pointed out. “And even if I tried to report you, it's likely the Empress won’t believe me over you. But if I do trust you and this becomes a trick, or you fail, she will believe you and we will suffer. So don’t expect me to fall for it, Alejandra. After everything Aragon has done to so many innocent people like Natalia, Martin, Vivian, and so many others. Don’t expect us to feel anything for them no matter what happens. They deserve it.”

“I am not talking about deserving,” Alejandra said sternly, “I am talking about our standing in the world. Our relations with the United States which will be destroyed and may risk a war with them.”

“The United States would never risk a war with us after our test. Especially for the people of Aragon. They would never go to war against us for Aragon. Alejandra, what are you talking about? We proved we can strike anywhere in the world.” The General said.

“The threat of war with the US exists. I admit it’s not likely. But this action will restart the hostility and destroy years of work. And this will dramatically increase the chances of war with the United States in the future.”

“I am still not trusting you and I remain loyal to the Empress.,” said the General. “But feel free to tell me what you believe should be done. What do you and Natalia have planned.”

“Natalia and I have nothing planned yet. She just said she supports me. I have made plans that will require her participation. She may be surprised by that. But I trust she will understand. However, there isn’t too much we can do if the Empress is serious. And we have to assume she is serious,” pointed out Alejandra. “She has the undying loyalty of the nobles and a portion of the Army. And it would be a risk to try anything until she carries this out, if she does. But if she does carry out this attack. We will have to make a hard choice. It will destroy our standing in the world and increase hostility with the major powers like the Unites States. And I have the loyalty of the army. I put her on the throne and I can take her off.”

“You would be starting a civil war,” Said the General.

“I doubt it,” Alejandra stated. “As her sister, I would take the throne and then we would have to make some hard choices. The hostility would still exist. But then, it may be time to institute some serious changes in the Empire. And a system that holds everyone, even the Empress accountable for her decisions.”

“Now you are talking about a revolution that will turn bloody,” The general said. “We could still be facing a civil war."

“Not if you and the army support me,” Alejandra said to the General.

“Don’t try to bait me, I have seen you do this to others," the General repeated. "I am still not sure if you are for real here. And I am not willing to stick my neck out unless you can prove you are real. You sound real, but you are her sister and have baited people like this before. And anyway, what are you really suggesting?”

“A coup. As her sister and the Princess, I can take power. Or arrange for someone to claim the throne after the Empress dies. I am probably the only one who could arrange and execute something like this. But we must either secure her guards or quietly replace them with people loyal to me,” Alejandra said seriously. “But I must be sure I have you and the army are behind me General.”

“You personally lead the Shadow Corps," the General said. "You have their loyalty. With them behind you, my support or lack of support is immaterial. Once you do this, you and your personal troops can replace or execute anyone who stands against you. Even me.”

“What you said is true, general,” Alejandra agreed. “But while a portion of the army is loyal to me, they are also loyal to you. You lead them to victory.”

“No,” The General said. “You did that. I obeyed your orders during the war.”

“I was only sixteen,” said the Princess. “You followed my orders, but you lead the army. If this happens and I take action to kill my sister, I need to ensure the army is behind me. Or we face a rebellion and a civil war. I need the loyalty of the army.

“Aragon City is the capital of Aragon. Their leadership, the rich and five million people live there. General, make no mistake. If this happens, a vast majority of those five million people would be vaporized before they knew what happened. A massive portion of the city would be destroyed. This would make Nagasaki look puny. There will be a very unpleasant international response if the Empress carries out this attack. And we have to know the Empress fully intends on doing this. She has never bluffed in her life. She does want revenge on Aragon, as do many of us. We will have some very difficult choices to make very soon.”

Alejandra could still see that the general was still not entirely convinced that she was serious. Alejandra could not blame her for this attitude and the general was not ready to believe her or commit. But if this was going to work, she needed the general to work with her.

“We will speak of this later. But now, the Empress’ fleet has arrived and is ready to dock.

Elsa’s fleet was about to dock. Vivian was there to oversee the operation as the first few giant troopships were coming in. They had prepared the ports and the docking facilities for the troopships and everything was set. Alejandra saw the first three massive ships sail to the docks. Her people tied the ships off and secured them. The planks were put in place and troops began exiting the ships. Dozens, then hundreds and thousands marched out of the ships. Each ship held about several thousand troops each. The entire fleet contained a total of over a hundred thousand soldiers. More than enough to occupy the entire country. Another hundred thousand was held in reserve if needed. Other ships docked and offloaded large armored vehicles.

Troops marched out of the ships and assembled in a large clearing just outside of the port. They assembled into enormous columns; battalions and armies ready for the upcoming occupation of the Island Nation. First, they were to besiege the capital.

The numbers swelled as more ships docked and troops marched out. They soon had over fifty thousand troops assembled and over a hundred thousand by the end of the day. Large gunships began flying overhead and everything was ready. The huge columns of troops marched off toward the capital of Aragon.

<<<<<<>>>>>>

The unmarked black SUV drove towards a military campsite which was not officially on the map. Natalia Hastings had the documents she required to enter the camp. She pulled up to the main gatehouse and showed the guards her badge and rank. Being a Colonel of the most elite unit of the Shadow Corps basically allowed her to get into anywhere she desired. The guard looked at her ID and waved her in. The guard towers and fences and the barb wire were evident to prevent anyone from escaping. She pulled up to the main administration building of the camp and entered to see the main guards and the commandant of the camp.

The Administration building was a large stone structure that was two to three stories high. Natalia was let in and the commandant was ready for her as Natalia was led into her office.

The commandant of the camp was an older slim major from the regular army. It didn’t look like this woman had seen any real action but she had a certain attitude about things and hated it when things didn’t go according to plan. This woman reminded her of Leanne. She sat behind her desk appraising Natalia and smiled. After the customary salute to a superior officer, the woman said, “You want to visit a specific prisoner we have here and you want to have some fun with her?”

Natalia said, “Yes.”

“Well,” Said the commandant. “You are a colonel and can do almost anything you want. You want to see prisoner 97314, Jessica Kendal. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” Natalia replied.

“Okay,” The commandant said dismissively. "I understand you put her name on the list of undesirables to be detained. If I am correct.”

“That is correct,” Said Natalia. “And now I wish to see her myself. How is her training proceeding?”

The commandant replied, “Her treatments are proceeding. She is starting to understand her place here and comply with our demands. She is breaking.”

“She is undergoing a session right now. Jessica still has moments of resistance,” the woman smirked. “I will have her brought to you.”

Natalia shook her head, “That won’t be necessary. I want to see her treatments. Tell her I am a new counselor.”

“Won’t she recognize you,” The commandant asked.

“No,” Natalia replied. “I look nothing like I looked when she abused me.”

The commandant turned and walked out. “Follow me ma’am,” she said smirking. The commandant had a few ideas about why Jessica would not recognize Natalia now. But she kept them to herself.

One of the things that struck Natalia when she arrived at this camp was the smell. It hung heavy outside. The smell was horrible and it hung thick in the air. It was like the smell of rot. There was a large mass grave just outside of the main fence. People were not meant to live long in this huge overcrowded concentration camp. The commandant led Natalia outside and they headed toward the prisoner quarters and the reeducation section.

The guards let them into the large building and Natalia heard screams of pain in the hall as they were led toward Jessica. They entered a large room that was separated by a large wall where they could see the discipline taking place on the other side of a one way window.

Natalia smiled at what she was seeing. She saw Jessica with her arms tied over her head and she was almost hanging from her wrists.

Another woman was giving Jessica a very painful massage. There were iron clamps with dull teeth attached to both of her nipples. A woman was painfully massaging Jessica’s vagina. She painfully and tightly gripped Jessica’s outer labia lips between her thumb and forefinger, twisting and squeezing the very sensitive flesh. The extreme pain was very evident on Jessica’s face. The woman reached in further and Jessica cried out in agony. Natalia guessed that the woman did something much more painful. It seemed like the woman had tightly gripped Jessica’s clitoris and was violently pulling and twisting it. It almost looked like Jessica was going to pass out from the pain.

The woman did that to Jessica for about ten long minutes alternating between squeezing her labia to twisting her sensitive clitoris. And then it ended and Jessica was crying and begging as another large woman was approaching her with a stiff bristle brush and began rubbing it between Jessica’s legs and she began crying out. Natalia just stood there watching with a smile.

The commandant looked sideways at Natalia and smirked. It was like a hidden knowing smirk and she said, “It’s painful isn’t it.” And Natalia saw a twinkle in the commandant's eyes. It was almost as if she knew something about Natalia. The commandant smirked and said, “You are enjoying this, I don’t blame you.”

There was something about the commandant's tone and how she said it. But it didn’t really matter if the commandant knew Natalia’s secret or not.

The question and answer session was about to begin again. Natalia saw the women dressing Jessica and taking her into one of the interview rooms where a therapist was preparing to question her again.

Natalia said to them, “I will take over from here. I would like to question Jessica myself.” Natalia was the colonel and could do almost anything she wanted. If she wanted to personally take charge and question Jessica, she had every right to. The therapist stepped aside and motioned for Natalia to go on.

They led Natalia to the interrogation rooms. Jessica was already there, handcuffed and secured when Natalia walked in and saw down across from Jessica.

She closely looked at Jessica and saw many of the things that were there in herself when the situation was reversed. Natalia looked into Jessica’s hollow, defeated eyes. Her eyes were full of fear and hopelessness. Her face revealed the terror she now felt in addition to the hopelessness of her situation. Jessica’s eyes revealed the terror as she looked into Natalia’s hard, merciless eyes.

Jessica was handcuffed and chained to the floor across from Natalia. Jessica trembling and in pain. Gone was the arrogance Jessica displayed when she was in control and able to terrorize Natalia, then she was Martin into answering the degrading questions correctly. Jessica was able to employ lots of Pain and terror to compel Natalia to answer correctly. The answers Natalia was forced to give broke her spirit. And now the roles were reversed.

A cruel and vicious smile spread on Natalia’s face.

Natalia asked, “Why are you here, Jessica?” The malice in her voice was clear.

Jessica trembled. A tear rolled down her face as she fought the pain. She replied in a tone full of terror, “Because I am a criminal that deserves to be here.”

“Do you agree that you are a scumbag who deserves to be locked away in a place like this?” Natalia asked with a smirk.

“Y-Yes, I agree.” Jessica replied. “I need to be taught a lesson.”

“Jessica,” Natalia said harshly. “So what are you?”

“I am nothing,” Jessica said. “I am a criminal and a pervert.”

“And a slaver, right Jessica?”

“What?” Jessica replied and seeing the sadistic harsh rage in Natalia’s eyes flash. She quickly corrected herself, “Yes, I am a pervert.”

But Natalia saw the confusion in her eyes. She really didn’t understand.

Natalia snapped harshly, “Jessica, how could you forget you and Dorothy, the man you conspired with? And a certain infamous young man you and Dorothy tormented and abused? You remember what you did to that helpless desperate young man, don’t you?”

Even more confusion showed in Jessica's eyes. She remembered very well, but it was all so secret how could anyone know. They were isolated, alone, no one else was there, not even the Baron fully knew what they were doing.

“You remember and you know what you did. You can't deny it, Jessica. You are a sadistic and cruel pervert. And you know you deserve to be here for what you did, don’t you?”

Natalia saw the terror in Jessica’s eyes. These people knew and that is why she was here. “Yes, I deserve to pay for what I did.”

“I don’t really believe that you believe that, Jessica.”

Jessica trembled in fear. “Please, I do believe that. I believe it. I am a criminal and a pervert who deserves to pay for what she did.”

“You deserve to suffer for what you did to that innocent young man who only wanted his independence. And not be forced into dressing as a woman.”

“Yes,” Jessica said hoping that was what this woman wanted to hear.

“That young man shouldn’t have had to dress as a woman for another man, should he?” Natalia demanded.

“No,” Jessica simply replied.

“And the Baron and anyone else had no right to insist that young man dress as a woman, did he?” Natalia demanded glaring into Jessica's eyes.

“No,” she replied, but she lied. She knew the Baron did have that right and she believed it. Natalia saw that.

“And since you abused that man enough that he broke and you demanded that young man say yes to you asking if the Baron had the right to insist he dress as a woman. You deserve what you are getting here, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Jessica wailed in despair.

“Do you deserve the pain that is being inflicted on you in response?”

Jessica looked down in shame. “Yes.”

“Because of your actions, would you agree that now, these women here have the right to demand sex with you?”

She did not want to agree. “Yes, they do.”

“And they have the right to insist that you wear sexy and revealing clothing to signify your status as their sex slave?” Natalia asked.

“Yes, they have that right.”

“I am glad that you agree, and I am impressed with the progress you have made in your rehabilitation." Natalia stood and walked around the table. Jessica watched as Natalia unlocked Jessica's chains and removed her handcuffs.

Natalia took Jessica's hand and walked out of the room with her. “I believe the prisoner has made as much progress as she can make in this facility.” Natalia said to the commandant as she walked down the hall. “I will be taking her to another facility where further progress can be made toward rehabilitation.”

They stepped aside and let Natalia take Jessica. Natalia was a powerful colonel and a member of an elite division of the Shadow Corps. She could do almost anything she wanted.

Jessica followed Natalia to her car. Natalia helped her into the back seat and then they drove off. Natalia flashed her ID to the guards at the main gatehouse and they were allowed to leave.

They drove off, Jessica stayed silent and sat there in fear as they drove off. Jessica kept looking at Natalia as they drove down the road.

Jessica spoke up, “You are that young man, aren’t you? Mrs. Vargos, but you were Martin.”

Natalia nodded, “I wondered if you would figure it out. I made it obvious.”

“And you are Shadow Corps. But I can tell from your rank, that you are a colonel. That’s why they let you leave with me and you were allowed to personally interrogate me.”

“Yes,” Natalia confirmed. “You are correct.”

“Only women can be in the Shadow Corps. But, given your appearance and how natural you are as a woman, I think I understand,” Jessica said. “But what I don't understand is what we are doing, are you taking me somewhere to kill me or abuse me some more?”

Natalia shook her head, “If I wanted you to die, I could have left you there. They would have eventually killed you. If I wanted to abuse you, I could have done it there. No, I am taking you away from there.”

“Why,” Jessica inquired.

“I simply don’t believe you deserve to be killed. So I am taking you away.”

“Thank you, Martin,” Jessica said. “I never expected mercy from you.”

“Neither did I,” Natalia said sardonically. “Who would have thought I would stick my neck out to rescue you, the woman who relentlessly tortured me, and broke me into becoming a submissive perfect wife for the Baron. I wouldn’t have thought so. And call me Natalia. Maybe I should return you.”

“Please,” Jessica begged, fear evident in her voice.

“After all, it’s your place as a prisoner and you should accept that we have rights over you. Just like you told me about my husband. You committed crimes; you should pay for them. Just like you kept telling me that I must submit to my husband and admit he had his rights over me. And had the right to insist that I dress as a woman for his desire.”

Jessica just looked out in fear.

Natalia laughed, “It’s too late. I already made the arrangements. People are waiting for you. And Phoebe is also waiting for her ride.”

“Whose waiting for me,” Jessica said as a shiver went through her.

Natalia just smirked and said, “You will see.”

Then she pulled up next to a small building and two of her soldiers were holding another woman in a striped suit between them. Natalia stopped and went to see the battered and bruised woman. This woman could barely stand on her own or speak through her pain. One of the women said, “This is the woman you requested. We rescued her from another camp. Phoebe Mills.”

Natalia looked at her and undid her shackles and helped her sit beside Jessica. Natalia said, “Thank you. Now I will handle these women.”

Phoebe looked at the woman driving them. She scoffed, “Shadow Corps. So are you going to kill us?”

“No,” Natalia said. “If I wanted you to die, I would have left you all there. I am saving you.”

Jessica wasn’t entirely convinced Natalia was saving them. But she was beginning to hope.

Phoebe then asked, “So who are you? I think I recognize you.”

“This is Martin, Phoebe, Phoebe Mills, the columnist. I remember you and what you printed about Martin during his marriage. No wonder he had such a grudge against you. I am still trying to understand what is going on,” Jessica said.

Phoebe said nothing more. This was Martin, now a Shadow Corps Colonel. Of course it was Martin that sent her to the camp. Of course, he wanted revenge for what she printed about him. She tried to explain during that time, but Martin was angry and refused to understand and now she joined a group that had no respect for personal liberty or the press. But the women had no illusion that Natalia was really rescuing them.

Natalia drove for a while and then pulled into a small airport near the coast. She saw a nicely dressed man waiting for her as she pulled up and stopped.

The man approached the car as Natalia stepped out. The man extended his hand and said, “Ambassador Liebermen from the United States Consulate. Was it you who contacted us?”

“Yes,” Natalia replied. “I contacted the United States Consulate.”

“And these are the women you wanted us to take,” the man looked at them.

“Yes,” Natalia said. “Can you help them?”

“Sure,” The man replied to Natalia. “We can. But what do you want?”

“I want you to take them to the United States. I assume you have a plane as I requested. I want the United States to grant them asylum.”

“Asylum claims can take years,” The man replied. “And lately, the United States has become wary of all who want to request asylum, especially from this part of the world. But I will do what I can to make sure they can get in and get safety. They need it from the look of them.”

“This is Phoebe Mills and the other is Jessica Kendal. They may need assistance to get into the plane. They can barely walk after what happened to them in the camp. They will require extensive time to recover and medical attention.”

The man called for help and several others helped the women get into his car.

“There will be many others following these two if we can work it out. Many who need to be rescued from slavery. The Empress wants me to train them to become soldiers and agents. I simply want them to be cared for and to recover. I am taking a great risk here; can you help me get those women out of here?”

“I think I can arrange it,” The man replied as a small plane with the United States seal on the side pulled up. “But if you do this and betray your Empress, what about you? You may need asylum.”

“We have made plans for me to be safe. I need to remain here,” Natalia told the man. “And anyway, I seriously doubt the United States would welcome a high-ranking colonel of the Shadow Corps. Or even consider giving her a green card or asylum. More likely, I would face charges. Especially after what I have done.”

Phoebe snorted, “And don’t think I don’t know what you have done, NATALIA. I am a reporter and a highly successful columnist. You may think Jessica and I are monsters, yes, Jessica, I know what you did to her too. You may think Leanne and people like her and Lisa are monsters, but I know about you. What you did to the entire Vargos Family exceeds anything that was done to you. Anthony, his sister, her children and husband, all of the security personnel. All of them. And now you think rescuing two women will make up for the crimes you committed.”

Natalia stood straight and said, “I have nothing to be ashamed of. I am not ashamed of what I did to those monsters. They deserved it. And I will be rescuing many other women from monsters like Anthony. Liebermen, you will be able to help me get them out of the country, won’t you?”

“Yes, indeed I will," he smiled as his people helped the two injured women into the official United States plane and he boarded. The doors shut and it taxied into the runway and took off.

Natalia smiled. She had enough vengeance over her life being destroyed and she saw how everything was spiraling out of control by others who were just as angry. She saw the suffering and horrors that were occurring because of such anger. She saw that this was very wrong. She only hoped that the Princess also saw how wrong this all was. And she would be willing to help Alejandra and take a stand against the atrocities. But that would also require taking a stand against her own sister. After everything the princess did for her beloved sister, Natalia knew it would be difficult for her and risky. Natalia hoped the princess had the courage, but if not, then Natalia would probably face a firing squad for what she was about to do.

<<<<<<>>>>>>

In the Capital of Aragon, sitting at the capitol building in one of the large state conference rooms, President Manuel Perez was having a heated discussion with the general of his armed forces, Count Rodriguez and the minister of state security about what to do. They felt secure for the moment.

The General stated, “We are surrounded by over forty thousand of our own troops. The capital is very well defended. We know that Castile has landed over a hundred thousand of their troops and have the capital surrounded and besieged. We aren’t going anywhere, but it will still cost Castile a large number of her troops to take the capital now. We are safe.”

“Over half of our troops are raw conscripts at the moment,” stated the minister of state security. “Only twenty thousand are trained. But you are right if Castile wants to try to overrun our troops in a land battle. But you have read the leaflets Castile has dropped on the city and you heard the Empress' speech threatening a rain of ruin. We have to know what it all means.”

The general shook his head, as did the President and the President said, “Castile wouldn’t dare do that. They know the political costs of such an action. I feel confident that it is a bluff.”

The General then said, “They don’t even have to use that weapon against us. They could just carpet bomb the city into submission. They could bomb our troops with bunker buster bombs and other bombs. They could bomb our troop positions. They could use long range artillery on our positions.”

Another General said, “Castile has been doing that and we already lost about ten percent of our troops. This is a battle we can’t win. Have you considered that the Empress is not bluffing?”

The Minister of state security said, “We need to consider that the Empress is not bluffing. She has done many horrible and sadistic things to people and they make no secret of it. Castile’s action during their civil war is an example. They destroyed entire cities, exterminated entire noble families. Parts of Leon will never recover from their rebellion. And the Empress had placed the most angry, most sadistic, and vindictive people in charge of the military operations here. People like Natalia Hastings, formerly Martin Hastings, a Shadow Corps Colonel. We know what happened to her, it was all over the papers a few years ago and we know she suffered in her marriage. Vivian Knox, Valentina, who was totally transformed into a woman. These people have a serious grudge against our country for how they were treated and they are leading the military operations here. Concentration camps have sprung up and tens of thousands of our citizens have vanished. Mass graves have also been dug and thousands of bodies thrown into them. My point is that I seriously doubt the Empress is bluffing. I think she is very serious about using those weapons against us.”

“Castile would never do such a thing,” said the General and the president seemed to agree.

Suddenly the door swung open and an aide came running. He said, “Mr. President. A S.L.B.M (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile) has just broken the surface of the waters off of our shores. Intelligence says this city is the target.”

The General groaned in horror saying, “OH MY GOD.”

Then, suddenly high in the air above the city, a horrifying brilliant eye smiting flash erupted. They felt the heat from the flash from the capital building and anyone who looked out of the window was instantly blinded from the flash. The intense heat was unfathomable, but then the entire building began to rumble and shake. They saw a column of fire and smoke rise from the center of the city tens of thousands of feet into the air. That was the last thing some of them saw if they weren't already blinded. A massive wave of air and fire smashed into the capitol building, totally destroying it and killing everyone inside. The Capital had been hit by a thermo-nuclear weapon.

Over four million people died in that horrifying attack. Over a million were instantly vaporized, leaving no trace of their existence.

The Empress was not bluffing.