Chapter 1

On Paradise Island the festival to celebrate the Goddess Hera began as the intelligence had indicated. A skeletal guard force was on the lookout for enemies as everyone else sat in the temple to watch the opening ceremonies and to offer up praise to the Goddess as their Queen sacrificed a ram. The male sheep's death for their Goddess was to symbolically kill men, to show that the Amazon did not need men. The cries to the heavens drowned out the sound of the approaching gunships. Plans had been changed and the troop carrying choppers were 90 seconds behind. General Brown's UH 1 proudly led the armada of 74 choppers to the island. A quick pass showed almost no Amazons on patrol and a stinger missile exploding next to a guard tower, as a warning shot, caused all the towers to be vacated as they were systematically eliminated to remove the Amazons 'high ground, line of sight'. General Brown noticed all the Amazons heading to the temple and sent his 23 Cobras, with their 20mm miniguns, to kick up the dirt at their heels and keep them herded that way. He looked over what he could see of the island and was pleased that the operation was proceeding better than hoped. Maybe none of the potential sex slaves would have to be killed. The 40 Ch53's swooped in, completely encircling the temple, and lowered their ramps so that 55 armed infantry could charge from each. Following their training they quickly secured all the entrances to the temple, blocking any escape. Approximately 150 Amazons had been on duty and herded there, but all had spears and shields, there had been no swords seen. Therefore they had to get close enough to jab with the spear or hurl it from a distance, instantly unarming them. All the troops had earpieces, turned to the command frequency to ensure everyone knew what was happening everywhere, so General Brown keyed his throat mike,

"All forces, this is Alpha 1, if any Amazon with a spear raises it like she intends to hurl it, kill her. Take her out and then if any other approaches that weapon, try to force her back with warning shots. If she continues, the second she lifts the spear from the ground, kill her. Dave, take me in and set it down by the dais," he told his pilot.

Princess Diana had seen all the gunships popup over the walls and hover there, miniguns and rockets pointed at the packed Amazons. She recognized both Hellfire and Stinger missiles' hanging from weapon mounts on the stubby wings. Her mother, Queen Hippolyta, had started to the PA system, probably to order the Amazon to their armories and weapons, but knew what these 30some choppers would do to the massed packed stands. It would be a slaughter, no Amazon would survive, and so she grabbed her mother's arm and stopped her.

"No my Queen, now is not the time. Those helicopters would kill everyone before any could leave the temple. We must wait and see what is going to happen, what they want," she said. "Those helicopters require fuel and with the closest place they could have gotten it and come here, they cannot stay long before having to go back for fuel. Perhaps we can stage an uprising and be ready to resist them when they return; I have a few ways that I know that will bring them down. We must bide our time."

A UH1 topped the walls and came to the center of the field and set down about 20 yards from the dais the two were on. A man jumped out of it and started for the dais as rifle bearing men entered the field from the entrance tunnels and took up position watching the crowd. No one was with the man coming towards them and then the sun flashed a reflection from his collar and Diana recognized that he wore the 4 stars of a General there. She realized that this was the man to be beaten, when he fell, his effort would fail. She quickly spun and the toga wearing Amazonian Princess disappeared and standing there, blocking the top of the steps, stood a blue with white stars shorted woman with red bustier and gold eagle on it. Red knee high boots encased her feet, golden bracelets encircled her wrists, and a golden tiara gleamed on her head. A cry went up from the assembled Amazons. Their champion, their Wonder Woman, was here to right this wrong.