Lighting the Path

By Michael Weyer

Assault and Battery


"There has to be something," Hal said as he paced the computer room of the JLA satellite. Wonder Woman, Superman, Red Arrow, Black Canary and Vixen were present, all concerned as the Green Lantern was upset.

"I still don't see how the Guardians can't find her," Wonder Woman stated. "Don't they have a track on every Lantern?"

"They're supposed to," Hal sighed. "But they claim they can't find her, something about her still technically being a recruit."

"Sounds like they're playing some game," Red Arrow remarked.

"Easy, Roy," Vixen smirked. "You're sounding a bit too much like Ollie."

Hal sighed. "There has to be something. I thought the scanners here might help but the magical energies involved in teleporting her might be messing it up a bit too much."

"Relax, Hal," Superman said. "We'll find her. A Green Lantern doesn't just vanish into thin air. The clues are there, we just need to find them." He smiled. "Trust me, people don't overlook the obvious."

Hal raised an eyebrow. "This coming from the man who works at a newspaper with only a pair of glasses to conceal his identity."

Superman just rolled his eyes as Canary fought off a smile. "Hal, we'd love to help but right now, our magical members are busy with other things. Zatanna has her tour, I have no idea who's under Fate's helmet right now and forget contacting the Stranger…"

A beeping sound echoed and Canary moved to the communication console. "Yes?"

There was a pause before Firestorm's voice echoed. "Ah, guys? There's someone in the museum I really think we should be checking out."

"Who?"

"You'll never believe it…"


The JLA museum was normally rather busy at this time of day. Tourists could never get enough of the trophies and history of the League throughout the years. At this point, however, people were giving a wide berth to the person standing before a picture showing a pitched battle of heroes and villains in the heart of Metropolis. His appearance was enough to stand out even among this odd collection: Quite thin, his face resembling a weasel's with a green domino mask over his eyes. He was clad in a dark green shirt with matching tie and shirt and purple gloves with a bright green derby hat. Scattered over the suit were slews of black question marks and he leaned on a cane whose handle was shaped like the same mark.

He didn't turn as the various Leaguers stepped out of the entranceway, brushing past eager tourists to move toward the man. Hal was frowning deep as he took the new arrival in. "What are you doing here, Nygma?"

The man was quiet for a moment before speaking. "When is a man like an unlit candle?" He paused for a few seconds before answering. "When he needs a match."

Ever since he was a child, Edward Nygma had been enthralled by puzzles and riddles. As he grew, that obsession soon became full-blown mania and Nygma began to use it as his modus operandi for the identity of the Riddler. For years, he plagued Gotham City, constantly leaving behind clues to show off his intelligence. His career was hardly the most successful; after all, when the local hero is known as the World's Greatest Detective, telling him what you're going to steal and where you're hiding out isn't the best move. However, the Riddler was driven by his need to show off, unable to leave his games behind, leading to constant defeats and arrests.

Like almost every other costumed criminal, the Riddler had been inducted into the Secret Society of Super-Villains during the recent Crisis, taking part in the very battle he was now observing on the wall. During it, he had sustained a vicious blow to the head that left him comatose for months. When he awoke, it turned out the blow had literally knocked some sense into him as he was declared sane by the doctors of Arkham Asylum and allowed to go free. It was also a literal wake-up call for Nygma as he realized the futility of wasting his talents on crime when he could show off his intellect in much better ways. Good-bye super-villain the Riddler and hello to Edward Nygma, private investigator to the rich and famous.

Naturally, people were wary at first, suspecting a scam but Nygma had gained a reputation as unfailingly honest and truly enjoyed his job. He'd found it much more satisfying impressing people who were more receptive to his brilliance solving crimes than creating them. It also netted him more money legitimately than he'd ever seen in crime, more than enough to keep him satisfied. However, his reputation remained, making his presence in the Hall of Justice more than a bit untoward.

Nygma turned to face the group of heroes, his lips pulled into a confident smirk. "Well, well. I can't recall seeing all of you when you weren't trying to knock me unconscious."

"We can always keep the track record going," Canary remarked, cracking her knuckles.

"Easy, easy," Nygma said, holding up his hands. "I come in peace. I believe I have information you'll all be quite interested in."

"What's the price?" Canary asked.

Nygma raised an eyebrow over his mask. "Now, now, I believe it's much better to be on the good side of you lot."

"You may have fooled most folks with this private eye act, Riddler," Red Arrow snapped. "But I still remember smacking you around as one of the Titans."

The Riddler calmly looked at his gloves as he rubbed his fingers together. "Bygone days, my lad. What brings me here today is information I've gathered from some various sources."

"Thought you were out of the game."

"Any good private investigator has his resources," Ngyma stated. "Matches Malone, low-level Gotham stoolie, can be quite the help."

Somehow, the JLA managed to hide smiles, knowing that Matches was actually an alias Batman used to infiltrate the underworld. "There's also been the Quizmaster," the Riddler continued. "It seems his last prison stint was cut short after his work with the Suicide Squad where he actually managed to avoid death this time around."

The heroes' faces scowled at that. The Suicide Squad had long been a bone of contention with the JLA. The brainchild of Amanda Waller, the Squad had been set up to give costumed criminals a chance for clemency in exchange for taking part in top-secret, and quite often illegal, missions for the government. Waller's reasoning was that the government would always have dirty jobs they'd need deniability for so why not use criminals for it? The idea of letting these villains loose for dirty work rubbed more than a few heroes the wrong way and it hardly helped the Squad had been used against the JLA a few times in the past.

"And just what have they found?" Hal pressed.

The Riddler turned back to examine a piece in a glass case. "Huh. I could have sworn Ivo's head was much bigger than that…"

"All right, that's it," Red Arrow said as he moved forward. "I'm kicking his ass one more time!"

The Riddler waited until his glove was just about to touch his shoulder before speaking. "Does the word 'Cylon' mean anything to any of you?"

Red Arrow's glove stopped and the Riddler turned, that smirk back on his face. "Ah, I see it does."

"How did you hear about that?" Canary demanded.

The Riddler crossed his arms, nimbly balancing his cane on his wrists. "The Squad's last mission was in the Middle East, breaking up what they believed was a secret arms deal. As it turns out, it was more of a summit with one of the figures in question being…"

"Ra's al Guhl."

Except for Superman, the Riddler was the only one who didn't jump at the gravelly voice coming from behind. "I might have known you'd be on top of that," Nygma said as he turned to where Batman had appeared beside a display case. Firestorm couldn't help noticing how the tourists had pretty much scattered at this point, no one interested in a photo of the Dark Knight. The Riddler just smiled at the man as he leaned on his cane once more. "Sorry if I ruined your little announcement."

Batman just glared at him. "Ra's is up to something. I was going to use the Hall database to help track his movements down."

"I can help there," Nygma stated. "According to the Quizmaster, the Squad had the area under surveillance and spotted Ra's with the one person on Earth who can refer to him as 'Junior.'"

Black Canary's eyes widened. "Vandal Savage?"

"Alive and well as ever," Nygma confirmed. "It didn't go well as someone had the brilliant idea of putting that new Blockbuster on the team and needless to say, a seven foot tall muscleman with the grace and brain of an elephant isn't suited for stealth missions. It all got to be a rather ugly mess with both Ra's and Vandal managing to escape."

"Quizmaster just shared all this with you?" Canary asked dubiously.

"Well, he owes me a few favors," the Riddler replied. "Not the least of which is not killing him years ago for stealing my act."

"What's this have to do with Cylons?" Batman growled. "And how do you even know about them?"

The Riddler smiled. "What do you call a corn spike when it's been shot through?"

The various heroes blinked but Batman instantly replied. "An open ear."

Nygma nodded. "You really need to check your place out, it is astoundingly easy for the Calculator to keep bugging it." He glanced at Hal. "A new female Green Lantern drops by, you think something like that isn't going to get out to the villain community? The battle between the Rogues and Sorrow's gang was pretty big news and that's money for the Calculator. We know about this other Lantern and how she vanished and that's tied in with these Cylons you've been mentioning in your meetings. Who, evidentially, were the subject of some discussion between Ra's and Vandal, although the specifics weren't captured on tape."

"Why tell us this?" Canary asked, still suspicious.

Nygma smiled. "As I said, I thought giving you some information might pay off for me in the future." He raised an eyebrow. "I don't suppose a finder's fee…" He trailed off at the looks he was getting. "No, I suppose not." He twirled his cane in his hands as he turned to the door. "Well, I must be off, have a senator who needs his mistress found before she turns up some blackmail material on him. It feels so nice to serve the national interest." He stopped by Batman, frowning as he peered closely at the chin. "Huh…every time I see it…something…" He shrugged before walking through the doorway, whistling as he went.

Firestorm coughed before speaking. "I know I'm still the new kid on the block and all but are we really going to take serious tips from a guy dressed like a giant question mark?"

"Nygma has always been honest," Batman said. "Even when he was giving his riddles. He considers lying cheating and unworthy of his game. If he says Savage and Ra's are working together, they are."

"And it's tied in to the Cylons somehow," Hal mused. "Damn, maybe Kara was right, there is a connection with Earth."

"It bears looking into," Superman said. He looked over to Hal. "You know that if she's somehow found her fleet…she might bring them here."

Hal let out a breath. "I know. And I know the consequences."

Batman shook his head. "You bring that war to our world, Hal, and it's not just the Lanterns in the hot seat."

As often happened, no one was willing to doubt Batman's words.


As soon as the bullet exited the chamber, Kara was already moving. Well, actually, she didn't move at all physically but her mind raced and the ring responded. A green beam erupted outward to form a large bucket, the first thing that entered Kara's mind. It easily caught the bullet, swallowing it into its maw. Before Dee could realize what was happening, Kara turned the bucket into a hand to snap out and yank the gun out of Dee's hands, the pistol falling into Kara's own.

Dee stared in disbelief, trying to process what had just happened. Kara threw the gun behind her and shook her head. "Okay, normally, you would now be unconscious with no doubt quite a bit of head trauma right now. However, I'm cutting a bit of slack given the circumstances." She stepped forward, trying not to come off too harsh. "Dee…I'm not trying to take Lee away. I never did. I'm just…trying to figure out my place now."

Dee shook her head. "You can't…just die and then come back."

"Actually, it sounds surprisingly easy on Earth," Kara cracked. She sobered down as she stepped forward. "This is all crazy for me too. There's Lee and Sam and…" She sighed deeply as she held up her fist. "And this."

Dee stared at the ring, licking her lips. "What…what is it like?"

Kara blinked, surprised that she was the first to ask that question. She looked at the ring as she pondered how to put it. "Imagine having a jump drive, a nuke and the power plant of Caprica all in one place. Imagine having to pour your will, what you have, what you feel, your whole spirit, into it every time you use it. It's not just imagination…it's myself, it's so much of myself and I have to use it full-scale whenever I use it."

Dee bit her lip. "I can't…it's hard to imagine."

"Tell me about it," Kara sighed. "Listen, Dee…I don't want to steal Lee back. Right now, I just want to figure out how to handle this, maybe find a way to get us to Earth and-"

A massive explosion ripped through the hallway, knocking them both back. Kara automatically used the ring to set up a force field, blocking the fire and debris. Alarms were echoing through the hall as she rose up, her uniform forming around her. "Get to safety," she said as she raced toward the nearest wall. At her command, the ring turned her intangible, letting her fly through the ship and into open space. Thankfully, the ring's automatic force field protected her from the cannon blast that struck her just as she exited.

Shaking it off, Kara took in the situation. A trio of ships were moving toward the fleet, all bulky in design and obviously armed. Two were firing away at the Galactica, fires breaking out across the ship while the other was targeting the rest of the fleet. "Ring, what am I looking at?" Kara demanded.

"Analysis: Khund warships, possible raiders as territory is currently in dispute."

"And the Khund are….."

"Khund: A fiercely hostile race of warriors, highly trained in warfare. Threat level eight."

"Good, just the right level to smash apart," Kara remarked as she flew toward the nearest ship. She fired out a beam, a buzzsaw forming to slice at the ship's hull. It held up surprisingly well, its sister ship moving off and turning to fire at Kara. She tried her best to dodge the blasts, even as she fired off beams of her own. She saw one of the ships firing at one of the smaller vessels of the fleet, blasting it apart in a fireball. Cursing, Kara fired a blast to knock the ship back but that let another fire at her.

She saw a streaking move out of the corner of her eye as a Viper flew past her, firing off missiles at one of the Khundian ships. They impacted but seemed to have no effect. It did cause the ship to turn and fire off a pair of beams that the Viper barely managed to dodge.

Kara had noticed something interesting since getting the ring. Despite the fact there was no air in space, when she was within the ring's protective field, she could somehow hear sounds travel. She didn't know if it was something the ring provided or her own imagination adding to things but it was there. From what Hal said, it was a common thing for Lanterns so at least she knew she wasn't going crazy. Thus, she was able to hear the sounds of engines roaring behind her and turned to see two more Khund vessels appear out of nowhere. "Frak," she muttered. "Too many at once…"

"Chill out, girl!" a voice suddenly echoed within the field. "You forget…Corps takes care of its own!"

Kara turned her head as another green bream shot past her, impacting one of the Khund vessels. She stared in amazement as Guy Gardner flew past her, his face showing a wide grin. Behind him were two other Lanterns that Kara recognized: The lizard-like Isamot Kol and the more human-looking Vath Sarn. "You two spread out and protect those ships!" Guy barked. "Me and Thrace will handle the Khund!"

"What the frak are you guys doing here?" Starbuck demanded.

"Would you believe just passing through?" Guy smirked. "Simple job checking the progress of these two, no idea you guys were in this sector."

"Well, might as well make yourselves useful," Kara said as she flew toward one Khund vessel, Guy behind her.

Kol threw a beam of green that formed a shield around one ship, protecting it from the blaster fire of a Khund attacker. "Brings back memories, huh?" he called out to his partner. The two had been on opposite sides of the Rann-Thangar War when they were separately chosen for the Corps.

Sarn threw a smirk at him. "Just make sure you're not throwing out any friendly fire." Despite the jab, the duo had come to respect and trust one another.

Kara flew past a Viper, seeing the pilot do a double-take at the two humans in green costumes flowing past him. She glanced over to Guy. "So what's the plan?"

"Jordan and Kyle do plans," Guy smirked. "Me, I just find it better to fly in and figure out as I go."

"Works for me," Kara stated. She let her ring fire a beam that ended with a giant hammer, smashing into one side of the attacking ship. Guy followed suit with a hammer of his own, the duo smashing the ship inward. It drifted off, its engines failing as Kara looked to another ship. "Sure we can handle all these ourselves?" she asked.

"You got me, don't you?" Guy grinned. "That's all the Lantern you ever need."

Kara smirked at him. "You know, Hal told me you could get pretty cocky. And he said if you did, just say two words. One punch." Guy's scowl made her laugh as she flew to another ship.

Kol was deflecting a blast when he felt something strike at his personal force field. He glanced over to see a Viper hovering nearby, firing at him. "I'm on your side, you idiot!" he snapped, shaking his large head. "Sure, the one non-human gets fired at, it figures."

"They should be glad it's Khunds and not Thangarians," Sarn stated as he fired a blast at an attacking ship.

"Cause my people are tougher?"

"I was thinking more of the smell."

"Oh, this from the guy whose planet needed an Earthman to be their champion…"

"You're going to diss Gardner's world?"

"Diss?"

"Sorry, hang out at their bar too much, pick up more of their slang."


The CiC was more chaotic than usual, the detail trying to keep up on the bizarre battle going on outside. "Sir, we got the Vipers but these other bogeys…" Dee called from her screen. "We can barely track them, they're switching around faster than we can track them." She was at the station normally held by Felix Gaeta, who had been between decks when the attack occured and his current whereabouts were unknown.

"Tell the Vipers to give them whatever support they can," Adama ordered. "If they're helping us, we can use it." He sighed as he looked around. "Where the hell is Tigh?"

"Last I heard, checking with the Chief," Dee said.

"Well, someone get him up here!" Adama barked.

"I'm on it, sir," Cally said, with a salute. She'd been on the bridge handing over a report when these strange ships launched the attack. She raced down the halls, brushing past people running about. The ship shook from another blast and she had to steady herself before continuing on. She found it liberating to be able to concentrate on a task rather than be concerned as usual about Galen. Things had been hard for them, harder than ever. There'd been a distance growing for some time, ever since just before Starbuck came back, a gulf Cally just couldn't see vanishing anytime soon. It worried her, deeply. After all they'd been through, all the sacrifices, the idea of losing him now…It was something that made her angry more than anything else.

She took a couple of ladders down to get to the section where the living quarters were. She had no idea why Tigh wouldn't be at the CiC already but she was determined to get him and try to survive this. She paused as she heard voices in a room nearby and moved toward it. She put a hand on the door but something stopped her from fully turning the handle. She didn't know what, just some instinct made her slowly move it just enough to crack it open and peer in.

She could see the back of Tigh's bald head as he growled at Galen. She got the sense there were two others in the room but couldn't quite make them out. Galen was speaking intently as she listened in. "-The fleet's under attack, we have to…."

"We have to settle this first!" Tigh snapped. "I don't want you blurting things out in the middle of all this, trying to salve your damn conscience!"

"We can't hide it forever, Colonel," Galen fired back. "You know that. Sooner or later, it's coming out. I say we do it on our own terms."

"You think that will change anything?" came a voice Cally recognized as Tory Foster. She could see Sam moving toward Tigh as if being pushed aside and wondered what the hell she had stumbled onto. "You think that'll stop Roslin from throwing us all out an airlock just because we're honest about it? It won't, you know that."

"It's not like we knew!" Galen protested. "It's not like we've been doing sabotage for the last three years. Colonel, you and the Admiral have known each other for how long? You think he'll just kill you on the spot?"

"I would," Tigh growled. "And I'm amazed to hear you pushing for this, Chief. You have more to lose than any of us."

"What are you talking about?"

Tigh grunted as he moved closer. "You honestly think your toaster-hating wife is going to react well when she finds out she's been married to one of the Final Five?"

Cally felt the blood drain from her face at those words. Her mind was unable to process it for a few moments, refusing to accept the truth. But the chagrined look on Galen's face…her husband's face…made her realize this was the truth. The man she'd married, the man she'd loved…was a Cylon.

She leaned on the door, her knees going weak as this hit her. As she did, the door began to swing open. She leapt back but it was too late as the four people in the room were all staring at her in various forms of shock. Without thinking, Cally turned and began running away, racing down the hall as fast as she could. The ship shook under another blast, knocking her off her feet and she scrambled to get back up. She looked around, desperate for someone to help her but the hall was now deserted, everyone at battle stations.

"Cally!" She turned to see Tory moving toward her, the woman's face calm as she held up her hands. "Cally…listen….None of us knew until-"

"You stay the frak away from me!" Cally screamed as she backed up. "All of you…all this time….Galen…" She knew tears were in her eyes and it fueled the anger she was holding, that she was losing control in front of this…thing.

Tory licked her lips. "Cally…Galen doesn't want to hurt you. We don't want to hurt anyone. We don't understand how this happened either."

"Liar!" Cally spat at her as she backed up, her face flushed with rage. "I…all this time, laughing at me…At all of us…"

Tory moved closer. "Cally…Please, let's just talk about this, let's…

She was cut off as the wall behind Cally exploded inward. Cally screamed out as the vacuum of space started to pull at her. She reached to grab a pillar but her grip was already weakening. She felt a hand grip her forearm and looked up to see Tory holding onto her, the other hand gripping a pillar of her own. The grip was far stronger than it should have been, reminding Cally of what this woman was. They stared at each other wordlessly as the suction of the hole pulled Cally off her feet, hanging her in mid-air.

Then, with the corners of her lips pulling into a small smile, Tory let go and with a scream, Cally was sucked away into the hole, into space.

Alarms were blaring as a blast door finally activated, shutting off the hallway in front of Tory. She fell back, heaving for air as Galen came up behind her. "Cally!" he called out, pounding on the door. "Cally, no!"

Tory swallowed. "I tried…I tried to hold on…but it was too much, she was fighting me…" She did her best to look crestfallen but needn't have worried as the Chief was too overcome with grief to notice the air of satisfaction around her.


Kara spun around to avoid a blaster bolt before rushing at one Khund vessel. She headed directly toward it, ignoring the fire coming at her. She ducked at the last moment to fire off a beam that sliced at the bottom of the ship, letting it cut open as she moved past it. She flew off as the ship cracked in two, flames erupting as it drifted apart.

Starbuck paused in space to see the remaining Khund vessels begin to regroup. With a flash, they seemed to turn into streaking shapes before vanishing into space, retreating away. "Looks like they're turning tail."

"Khund may not be smart, but they know when it's a losing fight," Guy told her as he flew up to her. He glanced at Kara, his smile fading. "You've been worrying Jordan and a lot of other folks, lady."

"I know," Kara said as she glanced to the Galactica. "Come on, you might as well meet the Admiral." She used her ring to connect to the battlestar's communication systems. "Sir, it's Starbuck. Hostiles are gone and I think you'll want to meet the guys who helped us out."

There was a pause before Adama's voice came through. "Roger, Starbuck. Be aware, we took some casualties."

"Anything serious on the main ship?"

There was another pause before a sigh and Kara knew she wasn't going to like the answer.


Minutes earlier, the vacuum of space welcomed Cally. She could feel the chill begin to surround her, her eyes taking in the chaos of the battle but not really caring. She was beyond that now, she was about to die and she knew it. She didn't feel afraid, not really. She felt anger. No, not just anger, rage, pure, unadulterated rage. Against Tory, obviously. Against Galen for deceiving her for so long. Against Tigh, keeping such a secret that she knew would devastate the Admiral. Against Sam, for Kara. Hell, against Hot Dog even and the baby that was a reminder of her weakness.

She felt it rather ironic that in her last seconds of life, she'd be filled with a hate capable of keeping her alive for a while.

It took a moment for her to realize the chill was vanishing from her body. Indeed, she was suddenly feeling hot, blazing hot, as if her anger had become an inner furnace igniting within her. The red in her vision wasn't ire, it was actually there, surrounding her in a bubble hidden under the hull of Galactica. Dumbly, Cally stared at a red ring floating in the space before her and from nowhere, a voice spoke.

"Callandra Henderson Tyrol of Caprica. Your heart is filled with great rage.

Welcome to the Red Lantern Corps."


This turned out a bit longer than expected, but hopefully worth it.