A SPARTAN'S WAR

NEBRASKA

EIGHT MILES SOUTH OF CRAWFORD

Dysea's green eyes fluttered open slowly, her vision blurry. It was bright outside, that much she could tell, and she blinked her eyes several times in an attempt to clear and focus them.

"Do not attempt to rise." The female voice spoke to her from the side. She turned her head, and saw the face of Tarifa close to her. She was a little blurry, but Dysea knew who she was. "Your injuries have been treated Dysea, but it will take a few more hours for your body to fully heal."

Dysea's eyes cleared now, and she saw Tarifa's beautiful face looking at her with those sapphire eyes. She had what appeared to be a nasty cut on her forehead, but it seemed to be slowly healing. She tried to sit up and move away from her, but a wave of pain swept through her head, and she felt Tarifa's hand touch her arm.

"You are safe Queen of the Wood Elves." Tarifa spoke softly. "I will allow no harm to come to you."

"Where… where am I?" Dysea asked softly.

Tarifa smiled somewhat awkwardly. "That is another story." She said. "I accompanied Martin and the others to rescue you and the Holy One. Your men were all killed, I'm very sorry. As we were departing the Alliance Assassins fired an anti-air missile at us and we were badly damaged. We have crashed just inside the edge of The Wastes."

"The Wastes," Dysea gasped.

"We are safe for the moment." Tarifa told her.

"The Holy One," Dysea asked.

Tarifa nodded. "He is safe as well." She motioned to the side and Dysea followed with her eyes, seeing Walter sitting and talking to two men, one a tall black man and the other the handsome man from her dreams. Her eyes grew a little wider at this, something Tarifa noticed right away. "You have seen him before haven't you?" She asked.

"In… in my dreams," Dysea answered softly her eyes returning to Tarifa, "Ever since the Holy One told me of him."

"You were investigating the attacks on your people." Tarifa said. "Tell me… what did you discover?"

Dysea looked at her suddenly wary. "Why… why should I tell you? You… you are my enemy."

"Am I?" Tarifa asked. "I too had an investigation conducted. My investigation concluded that the Wood Elves had nothing to do with the attacks on our villages. I believe it was the Alliance. I suspect you discovered the same thing, and that is why you were in our territory. The Alliance is attempting to pit us against one another Dysea, surely you can see that."

"I see that I am your prisoner." Dysea snapped, more harshly than she had intended too. She saw the look of hurt flash across Tarifa's face and then it was gone.

Tarifa shook her head. "You are not my prisoner." She said softly. "We are however in the same bad situation. We should at least attempt to work together."

"Why should I trust you?" Dysea hissed. "Why should I trust any of you? For all I know one of your flying ships could be on its way here right now, and you intend to return me to your capital to stand trial."

Tarifa nodded and got to her feet slowly. "Anja is the doctor in Martin's team. She will be over to check on you soon. I don't know how much longer we will be here. There are two teams out now scouting the area to our north and south. They should be returning shortly. There is not much water…" Tarifa set the small container thermos next to her. "Drink it sparingly. There are some rations next to you if you are hungry. I will trouble you no more."

Dysea watched her walk slowly over to where Martin and the large black man were squatting next to the Holy One. She watched as Tarifa settled between Martin's legs, his hands automatically going to her shoulders. She glanced up and saw that his eyes were gazing upon her intently, and she looked away quickly.

Walter shook his head slowly. "I don't know what I was thinking." He continued. "I should have seen what they would do right away." He looked at Martin as Tarifa settled between his legs and Martin's hands dropped to her shoulders in an almost brotherly type action. Walter shook his head slightly and continued.

"They waited until I was in my third sleep period before beginning the changes. By that time, there were already thousands of elves across the country. One of my assistants decided while I was sleeping that he would make a deal with the powers that be and he began mass producing the elves by the thousands. When I awoke again, there were millions across the planet and this Alliance government had been formed. The young assistant had an unfortunate accident a year after I woke up though, the poor fellow." That Walter had arranged for his death was obvious and something that Martin intended to question him on later. "I knew the only way I could change things was to continue in my position and attempt to effect change within the elves themselves. They did not discover what I was doing until sixteen years ago, and I have been running ever since."

They were sitting in what remained of the Raptor that Ben had landed. The landing struts had snapped when they touched down, burying the nose of the Raptor into the soft earth, but the ship was never going to fly again regardless.

"When did you discover that the moon was no longer spinning around the earth?" Martin asked.

"I discovered that quite by accident." Walter spoke. "I was having lunch with a colleague one day, an astronomer actually, and he told me about it. When he mentioned it to me I knew then what was happening, and I began planning, after figuring out when the moon would return to its normal rotation."

Danny shook his head. "Jeez! Just listening to this gives me a headache." He said.

Walter chuckled and turned to look at Tarifa. "It was never my intent for any of this to happen child."

"I know that now Holy One." Tarifa replied softly. "I also know that if it wasn't for you, we would all still be slaves. We would not be fighting the Alliance; we would only be slaves to them and the humans."

"How did you make it so I would understand their language?" Martin asked him.

Walter smiled. "I encoded it into your DNA." He answered. "I was always a very large fan of Elfin lore and history, and though I never thought it would be so important back then, I added it to your DNA strands more for fun than anything. There were many different kinds of Elves, but I used the two I knew the most about to create Tarifa and her people; The High Elves and Wood Elves." Walter's face became serious. "Martin my boy… I never…"

Martin held up his hand to stop Walter's words. "I have never blamed you for how the government sought to use us Walter. I don't think any of us do." Martin looked at Danny who nodded in agreement. "You have and always will be who we consider to be our father."

"And look where we are because of what I have created." Walter said.

"This is not because of you doc." Danny said. "What is going on is happening because of a few assholes who think they are gods."

"I gave them the tools to think that." Walter said.

Martin nodded. "Yes… but you did not make them choose that path." He said. "They did that. We are not our brother's keeper Walter."

"Aren't we?" Walter asked looking at him.

Martin shook his head. "No. We are not." He said. He stood up to his full height, pulling Tarifa with him as they all got to their feet. "I have to check the status of our patrols. We can continue this discussion at another time."

Walter watched him lean over and hug Tarifa gently before motioning to Danny with his head and they moved off to the destroyed rear of the Raptor. Walter looked at Tarifa as she watched him go and he smiled.

"I've never seen him display the emotions that he has in the last few hours Tarifa." Walter said quietly. "He is changing."

Tarifa looked at him and smiled. "He is becoming more and more expressive as well. Even in the short time we have known each other he has evolved." She said. "I must thank you Holy One."

"Thank me for what?"

"For Martin," Tarifa replied turning to watch him go out into the sunlight. "I have discovered a part of myself I did not know existed thanks to him."

Walter shook his head. "All I did was to place a small attraction there Tarifa. You told me you saw the message I left for him. Had one or the both of you decided not to explore that attraction, nothing would have ever come of it."

Tarifa smiled turning back to him. "Perhaps you are right. I think I understand what you said to me that day Holy One. I don't believe Martin and I are fated to be together in that way Holy One… I can sense him holding something back, and he is unwilling or unable to share it with me. I believe it is the part of him that only Dysea is to see."

Walter looked at her. "What has happened between you and Martin was not what I intended Tarifa." He said. "It was never my intention to have the two of you become intimate."

Tarifa nodded. "I know that now Holy One." She answered. "I believe it was something that both of us needed however, and I have no regrets. Our times together have allowed me to explore a very part of my soul that I had no idea was there. What I have discovered I like very much."

"What have you discovered child?" Walter asked her keenly interested.

"I have discovered that I have denied myself too long the simple pleasures in this life." Tarifa answered. "The touch of another person that stirs me; stimulates me in ways I have never experienced. It is something I will no longer do."

"And Martin does this?" Walter asked.

Tarifa smiled, "Very much so." She answered. "I also know that I am not the one meant for him. As I said… he holds something back even from me. I… I believe Dysea might be the one, as you said in your message to him. And it would explain our dreams."

"You said something about that briefly." He said. "What did you mean?"

"It started shortly after we became lovers." Tarifa told him. "We began to have dreams of Dysea; the same dream for both of us. I feel a similar attraction to her not unlike Martin does. Mine is more… it is a more physical thing. I have never looked at another… another woman as I look at her. Is that something you did?"

Walter shook his head. "No Tarifa. If you feel an attraction to Dysea, it is because of your feelings, not something that I placed in you."

"It matters not." Tarifa said with a gentle voice of disappointment. "Dysea does not share the same feelings. She thinks of me as her enemy still, though I can see her attraction to Martin in her eyes."

"Do not hate her Tarifa." Walter said.

"Hate her?" Tarifa spoke quickly looking at him. "Holy One I don't hate her, I desire her; just as completely as I desire Martin. And I can not explain that."

Walter smiled and took her in his arms. "Then do not try. Allow what you feel to control your actions and they will be the correct ones." He said. "Dysea has been through quite a bit the last few days. I will speak with her."

Tarifa smiled in his embrace and nodded.

RAPTOR FOUR

The Raptor did a high slow circle over the battleground of the night before, all of its ground sensors directed at the encampment below. Tareif stood beside the genome Kenny as he used the cameras on the belly of the Raptor to try and determine if the ground below them was clear. They had started at an altitude of 40,000 feet and now circled at three.

"Kenny… I'm still not picking up any locator beacons." The pilot's voice spoke from the Raptor's cockpit.

"Extend the sweep to four hundred kilometers." Kenny ordered sitting at the ground monitoring console in the rear. "Their ship was missing its tail and limping on one engine Billy. They couldn't have gotten that far."

"Kenny we're talking about Ben and Tina here. I've seen them keep a crippled bird in the air for five hours." The pilot answered.

Kenny sighed heavily. "How's your fuel?"

"We're good for another two hours." Billy replied.

"Ok… extend the sweep to four hundred kilometers. That puts them just over the Nebraska border."

Tareif pointed to the chart. "This is The Wastes." He spoke. "Communications will be impossible if they are in there. The residual radiation causes all signals to bounce randomly."

Kenny shook his head, his radar picking up another Raptor approaching. He looked at Tareif. "The recovery bird is here sir. You still want them to land and collect the bodies?"

Tareif nodded. "They are Wood Elves … but they fought well and deserve to be returned to their people in honor."

Kenny nodded in approval and flipped a switch. "Raptor Seven… you are instructed to land at the encampment and recover all fallen elf bodies."

"Copy that Four." The voice replied.

Tareif was becoming more familiar with his ear implant and he switched channels. "Their remains are to be treated with the utmost respect soldier." He ordered.

"You don't have to worry about that sir." The voice replied. "They died so that our Skipper could clear this AO. As far as we are concerned they are part of our team now."

Tareif nodded turning to look at the pilot. "You and the others think much of your leader." He said to Kenny.

Kenny looked at him. "He's got our asses back home more times then I can count sir. He's our Skipper and our pack… and our Commander." Kenny quickly correctly what he was going to say, something that did not go unnoticed by Tareif. "You and he are a lot alike."

Tareif looked surprised at this comparison. "Alike?" He asked.

Kenny nodded. "Yes sir. You care for the men under your command as if they were your family. That's the same way the Skipper thinks."

"Kenny! I'm picking up airborne targets, two hundred miles and closing." Billy's voice spoke.

"Alliance flying craft," Tareif said. "They are slow but heavily armed."

"Billy… Ben was on a Southeast heading, and he said he had too much damage to do any turning. Drop us to the deck and head southeast until you have to bingo for fuel." Kenny spoke. "There's no way he could have set down anywhere in this area with the damage he had. They had to have made it to this Wastes area if they aren't responding to transmissions."

"Copy that." Billy said.

Kenny and Tareif felt the Raptor dip and drop for the treetops. "I'm signaling our base by your city to have another Raptor on standby to pick up where we left off." Kenny told Tareif. "We'll find them sir."

Tareif turned at the touch of his wife's hand on his arm. He turned to look at her. "We are following the heading they were on last night. We believe they may have gone down in The Wastes."

Palina's eyes widened, "The Wastes?" She gasped.

Telan stepped up to them. "We will find them Lady Palina." He spoke.

Palina looked at him with an evil glare before turning back to her husband. Tareif nodded and motioned for her to return to her seat.

Telan waited until she was out of ear shot before speaking. "You are recovering the bodies of our enemies War Master?" He asked. "May I ask why?"

"My daughter ordered that the Wood Elves with the Holy One were to be treated with respect Captain. I intend to do just that, even if they are dead." Tareif replied.

"Was that a wise decision on her part sir? It is obvious they were unable to protect the Holy One." Telan asked.

Tareif glared at the younger officer. "Do you question your Queen's orders Telan?"

"No sir. Forgive me." Telan spoke quickly.

"Please insure the Dragoons are ready to deploy at a moment's notice Captain." Tareif said before turning back to where Kenny was scanning the area below them.

"As you order War Master," Telan spoke to Tareif's back before turning and heading to where they sat in the rear of the Raptor. He kept his thoughts to himself, but knew this was something his father needed to know upon their return.

He did not hear the voice come over the radio that caused both Tareif and Kenny to look up.

"We got live ones down here!"

Radama lowered the binoculars from his eyes and nodded his head slowly. "They are Acid nomads." He spoke softly looking at Cody.

Martin had sent a genome and a Dragoon in each of the patrols. Radama and Cody seemed to mesh pretty well, and they had covered nearly five miles in this patrol alone. They had moved north while Pablo and another Dragoon had gone south.

"I make six of them." Cody said.

Radama nodded. "It is a standard patrol size for them." He said. "I would imagine they have a much larger group nearby."

Cody looked at the small map chart on his wrist. "I know our maps are not up to date, but there's suppose to be a small town just over that rise. Looks like a population of about three thousand from before the comet."

"It is possible they have taken over the town. The little we know of them indicates they are nomadic, but they do stay in one location for a time before moving on." Radama answered.

"Is that a vehicle they have with them?" Cody asked looking through the binoculars.

Radama nodded. "It's called a Hopper, a hover craft of sorts. The one they have is very old, but it appears it still runs."

"How fast are they?" Cody asked.

"That model there… in its condition… I'd be surprised if it could top fifty miles per hour. The newer models within the modern cities can reach two hundred miles per hour." Radama replied. "Many of the newer cities are designed differently than what you remember. They are much more spread out."

"Yeah… well we don't want to tangle with these boys anyhow." Cody spoke. "Ben is still pretty banged up, and your two Dragoons took some hard hits when we landed. We're down to nine effective fighters."

Radama nodded. "I agree. We could sure use that Hopper though."

Cody nodded, "That we could. Let's get back and see what the Skipper says."

The two of them inched off the rise of the hill back down below the horizon and began to run in the direction they had come. Radama however stopped and reached out to hold Cody. He looked at him.

"What's wrong?" Cody asked.

Radama pointed to the sky in the distance. "It's an acid storm." He said.

"Fuck you're kidding right! How far out?" Cody asked.

"Two… maybe three hours away." Radama replied.

"Come on! We need to get back and get the others to those caves we saw!" Cody spoke pulling on Radama's arm.

Radama took one last look at the incoming storm and turned to follow Cody.

Walter settled his frame on the mangled bench next to Dysea as she nibbled the bar of chocolate she had found in the ration pack. She was gazing at where Tarifa and Martin were standing just at the edge of the rear of the Raptor speaking with a High Elf Royal Guard by his dress, and one of Martin's team.

"How do you feel child?" He asked her.

Dysea looked at him. "I'm very sore Holy One." She answered.

Walter nodded. "I'm not surprised. Thorn beat you brutally."

"He will not live long once I return." Dysea snarled.

Walter smiled a tight smile. "He's already dead." He said.

Dysea looked at him, "Dead? How…?"

Walter motioned with his head to where Martin stood. "Martin killed him." He said. "It was not the most pleasant thing to watch, but he will not be returning to bring anymore harm to you. They saved our lives you know."

"I remember vaguely what happen." Dysea said softly. "She gave me a weapon. We killed two Alliance Assassins and then Thorn hit me again."

"You've been having dreams about Martin haven't you?" Walter asked her, "About both of them."

Dysea's head came around quickly and she looked at him. "How… how do you know that?"

"They have been dreaming about you for almost a week now." Walter answered. "She didn't leave your side you know. From the moment we took off until the moment we crashed here, she held you in her arms. Once we came here she sat with you until you woke up, nearly five hours. She didn't eat… didn't sleep. Martin would do the same as he checked everyone. They sat with you instead of resting like the others."

"She said that she has been investigating the attacks on High Elf villages." Dysea said. "She told me she had discovered that the Wood Elves were not killing her people."

"Just as you discovered that the High Elves are not killing your people." Walter spoke. "I told her what we were doing. And what we had discovered."

Dysea looked at him. "You told her?" She said. "Why did she question me about it then?"

"I would say perhaps because she wants you to trust her." Walter said.

"Holy One how is it possible that I can feel what I feel for him? I have never met him, yet I am drawn to him like no other I have ever met." She asked. "Is this… is this something that you did?"

Walter shook his head. "I only placed an attraction inside you for him Dysea, in your genetic code. As the data pad I gave you explains… nothing would come of it without you and him pursuing it. As for the dreams… no… that is not something I did."

"I see strange things Holy One." Dysea spoke softly meeting his eyes. "And always he is at the forefront. Ancient battles…" She shook her head, "Amazing things."

"Why is that wrong?" Walter asked her. "I created the elves to be open and not shy about physical relations. It has been passed down through your parents and grandparents genes to you. As with Tarifa, I believe your positions as Queen, and the continuing crisis with the Alliance has forced you to block that part of yourself. After speaking with her just now… I believe it even more."

"She is my… she is my enemy!" Dysea said.

Walter smiled at her. "If she is your enemy, why do you not sound convinced of your own words?" He said as Martin and Tarifa came back into the covered portion of the Raptor.

"We got trouble folks." Martin said.

"Shit… that's new Skipper?" Julie asked rising from her seat next to Anja.

"There is an acid storm approaching." Tarifa told them, "A very large one and it is heading directly for us."

This got everyone's attention and they all came to their feet. Danny shook his head and looked at Martin. "Skipper, do we have 'fuck with us' written somewhere on our bodies?" He asked.

Martin grinned. "We just might. Cody and Radama have found a set of caves about a half mile north of here. We need to pack everything we can haul out of here and get to those caves before that storm hits."

"How long do we have Martin?" Walter asked.

"Radama says an hour, maybe more maybe less. I'm not taking any chances so we are cutting out of here in five. Grab everything you can stagger with and meet outside." Martin answered. "Danny you get to carry Ben."

"I can fucking walk damn it!" Ben yelled from the cockpit.

"Not on my watch!" Tina's voice yelled.

"This bird is toast when we leave, so get all the weapons and ammo from the spare locker." Martin spoke. "I'm not leaving anything for anyone to scavenge. Let's do it!"

Dysea watched as Martin's team and the Dragoons sprang into action quickly and efficiently. She felt like a fifth wheel as they scampered all around her, until she turned and was looking into the very broad chest. As she lifted her eyes, she found herself gazing into the deepest dark brown eyes she had ever seen, and suddenly she wanted to immerse herself in those eyes. Dysea felt herself grow warm inside as he gazed at her. It was the first time she had seen those eyes close up, and as with Tarifa, they caught and held her attention like no man ever had.

"You feel up to carrying a small pack?" Martin asked her.

Dysea nodded quickly, "Of… of course." She stuttered out the answer, tearing her eyes from Martin's. Her lightly tanned skin showed her embarrassment as her cheeks blushed.

Either Martin didn't notice, or he chose not to embarrass her further as he set the pack down next to her feet. He held out the K12 in the thigh holster to her and she looked at him with wide eyes.

"You are arming me?" She asked in disbelief.

"It would be foolish of me not too." He replied.

Dysea took the weapon slowly. "You trust me?"

Martin stepped up very close to her and Dysea gasped, unable to back up without falling. Martin leaned over and put his face close to her neck and inhaled deeply, while Dysea stood there frozen and unable to do anything. Her wildflower scent flowed into his veins, and unlike Tarifa, Dysea's scent joined Anja's honey scent as it was burned into his brain. Martin drew back his head slowly, allowing his lips to softly caress the ridge of her elf ear. He felt her body tense and looked into her wide emerald green eyes. Dysea found herself enraptured by his eyes, and she could barely draw a breath as his animalistic gaze held her very bring.

"Trust you?" Martin spoke softly. "Why would I not trust you?"

"We… we are… we are enemies." Dysea finally managed to spit out.

Martin turned his head to the side and Dysea saw Tarifa step up next to him and gaze at her with her huge sapphire eyes. "You are many things to us Dysea of the Wood Elves." Tarifa spoke softly. "An enemy you will never be."

Dysea looked back to Martin who smiled at her warmly, a smile that surged through her body and caused warmth to spread in her stomach. "I guess that answers your question uhu?" He said with a smile.

The moment was broken as the first clap of thunder could be heard in the distance. Martin stepped back from her then and smiled.

"Time to go folks," He spoke.

Dysea bent over and lifted the pack, turning as she did so and catching the gaze of the human female who was staring at her. Her Persian red hair framed an angelic face, and stunning jade green eyes, and she looked at Dysea in such a way as to make her blush slightly under her tan. Then she turned as well and followed the dark skinned woman out of the crippled Raptor.