Cara LaceCara LaceDiva
Joined: 29 Dec 2011
Posts: 350
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re: Cara Part 3: Comanderette America: The First Mission
 by Cara Lace on Mon May 19, 2014 7:19 pm
Comanderette America: The First Mission
2011
New Beginnings
The Watchtower, headquarters of the Justice League. 500,000,000 tons of metal and tech orbiting 22,300 miles above the Earth and so big, it can be seen from the ground. Within its confines, heroes of every imaginable type go about their tasks at the moment. Some following up on mission status, some working on upgrading their various versions of gear, others just relaxing and enjoying the company of teammates. In its lower section, the War Room is always bustling with activity and today is no different, except that in one corner; a particular hero just seems out of place. Dressed in a white T-shirt and army fatigues with her wrists and hands taped like a boxer, she stands alone before one of the various holographic targeting dummies used for training. She seems oblivious to the commotion around her as she pounds the helpless hologram with punches, and memories flood her mind.
“BAM!” to the kidney. *“Come now, Professor Styger. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”*
“BAM!” to the stomach. *“Lex Luthor always gets what he wants. MENACE! KITT!”*
“BAM!” to the chest. *“Maggie! …..*gasp*….don’t!!”*
“BAM!” to the jaw. *“No!! You’ve destabilized the portal!!”*
The sounds of her solid punches resonate through the War Room, causing some to pause for a moment and watch as the blonde bombshell pummels her holographic foe faster and faster, completely oblivious to the crowd gathering behind her.
Finally, the dummy is unable to take anymore and with a final solid shot to its face the hologram looses integrity and de-rezzes before her like shattered glass. Breathing heavy, she turns and looks up to see all the eyes upon her and she suddenly feels very small.
“I miss my heavy bag.” She says quietly, embarrassed by the sudden attention.
As the crowd begins to dissolve, Maggie begins unwrapping her hands and wrists as another woman slowly walks towards her. She is dressed in a blue and white trench coat with a white patch covering one of her eyes. Maggie doesn’t know many people in her new reality, but this was the woman that picked her up from the Gotham Clinic, told her of her unique situation and brought her to the Watchtower. This was the Justice Girl known as BallandChain.
“Bad day?” The woman asks.
Maggie looks at her for moment, and then goes back to removing the tape from her hands. “A month ago my biggest problem was trying to convince my Dad to let me join the Army. Now its 70 years later and everything and everyone I ever knew are gone. I don’t even know what became of my Dad. So yea, you could say I’m having a bad day.”
“Well, I can’t do anything about the 70 years, but I do have something that may take your mind off of it for a little while.” The blue and white clad woman says.
“Are you here with a mission, ma’am?” Maggie asks.
“I am.”
“With all due respect Ma’am, what makes you think I am ready for a mission? Or for that matter, that I even want a mission?” Maggie asks as she stuffs the last of her wrapping into a small knapsack.
“Honestly?” BallandChain asks. “For starters it’s because in two short weeks of training you have shown that you can not only use the quantum energy inside you, but also control it; and because I see far more than a teenage girl with Daddy issues in you; and most importantly … because we need you to.”
Maggie stops for a moment, and gazes through the giant viewport at the Earth floating nearby and yet so far away. As she ponders for a moment, a memory flickers to life in her mind.
…“That’s what I’m gonna be when I grow up. A Comanderette!”
…“You can be whatever you want to be honey, if you work hard enough. But shouldn’t there be two M’s in Comanderette?”
…“Daddy … it’s not a real rank. I made it up so I can spell it however I want.”
…“Ha ha, yes you can, my little Comanderette. Yes you can.”
Maggie smiles, then turns and faces BallandChain, looking her square in the eye. “When do we start?”
A slight grin crosses Ball’s normally stoic face. “Let’s get you geared up.”
Preparations
“Holy cow! This place is huge.” Maggie thinks to herself as she and BallandChain turn down yet another corridor of the Watchtower’s massive Tech Wing. The corridor opens into the massive Hanger where Maggie marvels at the various vehicles assembled there. Some are part of the Watchtower fleet and others belong to visiting emissaries from other worlds. She follows BallandChain to an antechamber where a young woman with deep red hair wearing a white lab coat is working at a terminal. The pair stops behind the technician who continues working.
“Ahem!” BallandChain says, with obvious annoyance.
Startled, the woman turns with a gasp. “Oh! Ms. Chain! I’m sorry I didn’t hear you come in.”
BallandChain smiles, “Maggie Doyle, meet Ebony Cartwright. Ebony is our liaison to Styger Industries, our primary gear and weapons contractor.”
“Oh my, this is Maggie Doyle, the one from the past?! I have a whole slew of tests I’d like to run on you if you don’t mind.” Ebony says with excitement in her voice.
“Well, I…err….” Maggie begins uncomfortably.
“Perhaps another time Ebony, we need to get Maggie geared up for an assignment.” BallandChain says, as if coming to Maggie’s rescue.
“Yes of course, business first.” Ebony says as she leads the pair to a table across the room. On the table lay various pieces of gear, from full on metal plate to body hugging spandex. Maggie inspects each piece, passing on the heavy metal pieces until she settles on a particular form fitting suit.
“Oh that’s a good choice.” Ebony says. “Light weight polymer alloy, enough to stop basic ballistics as well as most low grade beam weapons.”
“Beam weapons? Like ray guns? I just like the star on the chest.” Maggie says with hint of embarrassment.
“Yes, of course.” Ebony responds, confused but happy. “Now, what sort of weapons do you prefer?”
“I hadn’t really thought about that, I’m a good marksman but I prefer hand to hand combat.” Maggie replies and for the first time, BallandChain sees a glint of excitement in Maggie’s eyes.
“We have a lot to choose from.” Ebony says while typing a code into a wall panel, causing it to slide apart and revealing another room. “This is our weapons lab here on the Watchtower. Over here we have a variety of rifles and pistols that range from non-lethal to lethal and over here we …..”
“What is that?” Maggie interrupts, pointing to an odd cylinder in the corner of the room. Floating suspended in the center of it is a thick metal disk.
“That? Oh that’s just an anomaly. We found it in the wreckage of that Brainiac ship you took out when you arrived.” Ebony says.
Maggie walks over and peers thru the glass at it. “I know this; it’s an armored hub cap for a personnel carrier. It must have been pulled into the portal with me when…..” She falls silent, as she always does whenever she thinks about the events that brought her here.
“Doctor Cartwright.” A voice says over a speaker in the room. It sounds like the voice of a well mannered gentleman yet rings of an artificial quality.
“Yes Daniel?” Ebony responds as if the voices owner were standing in front of her.
“The quantum energy signature from young Miss Doyle’s ‘hub cap’ has intensified by 347 percent in the last few minutes. It appears to be reacting to her proximity.” Daniel says, neither excited nor concerned but simply stating facts.
“Show me.” Ebony says and two holographic displays appear in front of her. One shows the hub cap and the various energy readings coming from it. The other shows Maggie and as the group watches the numbers between the two begin to synchronize, growing closer and closer together.
“Maggie? You may want to step back from the cylinder.” Ebony says nervously as she watches the data. Maggie steps backward several paces, until she is across the room. As Ebony watches the readouts, she sees they continue to synchronize, until finally they match exactly. Ebony greets the event with a single phrase, “Uh oh.”
With that, the metal hub cap bursts forth from the cylinder, shattering the glass. BallandChain deftly dodges the projectile as it whizzes past her directly at Maggie. With sheer reflex of action, Maggie raises her arm and opens her hand, catching the hub cap in mid air. Everyone in the room stops and gazes at Maggie as even she herself is wondering what just happened.
“I guess this is mine.” She says with a nervous grin.
“This is amazing!” Ebony exclaims. “This is way out of my league. Daniel, upload this data to the Styger mainframe and alert Ms. Styger. I am sure she will want to see this.”
“As you wish, Doctor Cartwright.” The voice of Daniel replies, “However, Miss Styger is currently unavailable as she is testifying before congress this morning.”
“Not to rush you Dr. Cartwright but we are on a tight schedule here.” BallandChain says, bringing the conversation back to the here and now.
“Of course, you are right.” The disappointed doctor responds and points to door off the main room. “You can suit up right over there, Maggie.”
“Thanks, Doc.” Maggie says as she disappears into the dressing room.
Twenty minutes later, the dressing room door opens and Maggie steps through with a little trepidation.
“What do you think?” She asks shyly as she stands before them in her new uniform of red, white and blue. A star emblazoned on her chest, and a mask covering the top half of her face while letting her blond hair flow freely.
“Oh Maggie, its perfect!” Ebony exclaims excitedly. “I hope you will forgive me, but I took the liberty…” she trails off as she stands aside. On a table behind her lay the ‘hub cap’ with handles affixed to its underside and its face painted red and blue with a white star emblazoned in the center. Maggie smiles, reaches out her hand and the shield, as it now is, flies off the table and comfortably into her waiting hand.
BallandChain looks her over and gives an approving nod. “Now we just need to give you a call sign.”
“I want to be called Comanderette,” Maggie says, with pride. “…spelled with one M.”
“Comanderette Doyle? I would recommend against using your real name in this business.” BallandChain tells her, knowing full well the dangers Maggie will face in her new life.
Maggie looks out the viewport, deep in thought and at that moment, slowly spinning into full view is the majesty of the country that Maggie’s father served, the country that fills her with pride. She turns back to BallandChain and looks her squarely in the eye.
“Comanderette America.”
The Mission
High above Gotham city, with searchlights shining through the murky night, the fleet of Automated Surveillance Blimps keeps a constant watch on the city’s more dangerous areas. As ASB #4 makes it’s scheduled pass over the Otisburg district, no one notices the small figure perched atop it. It is the newest member of the Justice Girls, Comanderette America.
She taps her right ear, activating the device concealed under mask. “I am almost in position, over.” She says into the standard issue Styger communicator that all Justice Girls wear.
“Affirmative Comanderette.” The voice of BallandChain responds. “Remember, this is a recon mission only. Under no circumstances are you to engage if the subject is still on site.”
“Roger.” Maggie says as she replays the briefing she received in her mind. Seven hours earlier, one of these same ASB units picked up a subject of particular interest to the Justice Girls entering an abandoned warehouse. The subject was a notorious villain known as Cara Leather, a yellow lantern of extraordinary power. Not being one of her usual haunts, the Comanderette is being sent in to find out what she was doing there and to report back to BallandChain.
“You are over the target and good to deploy. Good luck, Comanderette.”
With that, the spry young heroine sprints across the top of the blimp to its edge and launches herself into the air. Being the natural acrobat that she is, she tucks into a forward flip and then straightens into a dive plunging straight down. As the building top rushes up to meet her, she extends her arms out to her side and summons her incredible Quantum powers. BallandChain taught her how her how to actually reduce her own gravitational field around her, causing her to become light as feather and glide effortlessly among the currents of air around her. She allows herself a brief smile before her thoughts return the mission at hand.
Silently, she touches down into a crouch on the rooftop and takes a look around. A few vents of various types, a rooftop doorway which is locked with a chain, and a dirty skylight. Crouched and silent she moves across the roof to the skylight. She tries to peer through the soot stained glass but all she can make out are lights from inside and the hum of machinery reaches her ears. She notices that that one of the lights is a rich, bright yellow color and that it is moving.
“I think it’s time for a closer look.” The Comanderette says to herself and makes her way to the nearest vent. With both hands she grasps the cover and pulls. The metal strains and finally gives way with a snap revealing a dark shaft.
Like a cat, Maggie leaps into the opening and disappears.
To be continued in....
Cara Terra
Last edited by Cara Lace on Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
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