"OPEN FIRE!"

The squad of New Era soldiers fired their weapons at the Man of Steel, but true to his name the bullets bounced harmlessly off him and into the night. Superman waited until their weapons ran dry before grabbing the lead trooper's collar and throwing him into the trooper next to him.

"Unless you want to end up like those two the rest of you should drop your weapons, now." Superman warned, giving the troopers the option to surrender.

"Fuck you!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

Superman then grabbed the nearest trooper's weapon, relieving him of it and breaking it over his knee before tossing the now destroyed weapon behind him. Knowing their weapons were pretty much useless the soldiers instead tried to take Superman one on one, tackling him in an attempt to gain the upper hand but he easily shrugged them off. There were only three soldiers standing and they circled him, each looking for an opening. Eventually they all decided to attack at once but Superman just flew into the air causing them all to collide into each other and fall into a heap on the pavement. Before they could get to their feet Superman was already on them, knocking them all out with blows to the head.

"That should teach them. Are you alright Miss…wait I know you, your Harley Quinn!" Crap, Harley didn't need him to think she was still one of the bad guys!

"I…look I was Harley Quinn but I aint that person no more! Look I'm putting the gun down alright!" Harley replied, placing the assault rifle on the road and backing away.

"What are you doing in Metropolis? Why are those soldiers after you?" He questioned, jabbing a finger into her chest.

"I…we were on a date and those soldiers just came barging in, honest! They want ta kill me because of the things I've done as Harley Quinn. We were tryin ta get away when…Oh shit Alex!"

"Who?"

"My friend, he's hurt bad!" Harley cried running back to the car with Superman behind her. Alex was unconscious, the medical kits contents spilled across the floorboards. He looked even worse than when she'd left, blood had soaked through his white undershirt and he was taking very shallow breathes, the rise and fall of his chest was uneven due to the gunshot wound.

"He's suffering from Tension Pneumothorax, he needs medical treatment now." Superman determined after a quick assessment.

"What?!"

"Air is filling the space between his lungs and chest cavity, restricting blood flow to and from his heart. If he isn't helped soon he could go into cardiac arrest." Superman explained as he gathered Alex up in his arms.

"Can you help him!?"

"I'm not a medical professional but I can get him help at the Watchtower." He said before opening a channel to the Watchtower. "Superman to Watchtower, situation in Metropolis is handled but I have wounded military personnel. I need a medical team ready asap."

Superman then took hold of Harley before there was a bright flash and suddenly they were up on the Watchtowers teleportation pad. Superman then placed Alex on the stretcher that had been brought in before they quickly carried him off to the towers medical ward.

"Your friend will be fine Harley, but you need to tell us everything that's going on."

"Yeah…you got it, just let me sit down really quick and make a call…"

...

"Quinzel, where is Sergeant Westbrook, what's his status!?" General Anderson asked as soon as he and Batman stepped out of the teleporter.

Harley had called him to let him know what had happened and he insisted on being brought up to check up on Alex. Batman had also finished his research into The New Era and was ready to brief the General and the League, making it convenient for him to have the General brought up to the Watchtower.

"He's stable General, but he'll need some time before he's ready to get back out there." Superman answered for her. Alex hadn't woken up yet, but the League had patched him up well enough.

"That is a relief to hear, I would hate to lose him before we even get into the fight."

"Speaking of fights, who exactly are those soldiers that attacked him and Harley?"

"They're terrorists disguising themselves as peacekeepers. They want to bring peace and order to the world by killing off all of you." The General said bluntly.

"That's the gist of it, I have a more in depth assessment prepared for you and the General, but we should go somewhere more private." Batman suggested, walking off in the direction of the conference rooms.

"You should come along to Quinzel, I need you to stand in for Sergeant Westbrook while he's incapacitated." The General told Harley, waving for her to follow alongside him.

"Sure, no problem Sir." Harley replied before following the three through the tower and into a secure conference room. The room itself wasn't anything special, save for the view of Earth offered by the large window, a view Harley never thought she'd see in her life time. It was…beautiful.

"So, what have you learned Batman?" General Anderson asked once he took a seat around the table centered in the room.

"The New Era, a political and militant group formed a decade after the Justice League. The group originated in North America but they recruit members globally, primarily citizens from troubled countries the League has been to before." Batman explained briefly.

"If that's true why are we just now learning of their existence?" Superman asked.

"They come in after we leave, provide aid to the people and recruit them to their cause. That's what the public see's at least, however they're secretly amassing troops for something big."

"And what exactly do they plan to do with this army they've built?"

"Wipe us out. They believe that we do more harm to the world than good, the places we visit often end up devastated and the local populaces suffer as a result. In their eyes, we're no better than the villains we fight."

"That's absurd, we're nothing like them!" Superman protested.

"But they do make a point. Generally speaking, we don't stick around long enough to help reestablish order in the places we fight. They're ultimate goal is to establish a new world order once they've eliminated all of us and our adversaries. They're also making moves to destabilize the worlds superpowers to help in that endeavor, escalating the riots and protests in America in wake of the election and inciting civil unrest in Europe and Russia through proxy militias. There are also rumors of them supplying ISIS and other radical groups in the Middle East to further occupy the worlds militaries."

"Bastards. Alright we know they're objectives and strategy's but I need names, locations, targets to send my Marines after." General Anderson butted in.

"That's were things get tricky General. We don't know who leads them. They also don't operate out of any one location. They can strike anywhere at any time."

"What about those soldiers that ambushed me an Alex, didn't you capture them?" Harley asked, hoping that if they had they could interrogate them for information.

"Most of them, DOD took custody of them from Metropolis PD after Superman rescued you. I already have agents interrogating them as we speak." General Anderson answered.

"Good, if we can get a lead on one of their Lieutenants we can hopefully capture them and disrupt their network." Superman commented.

"Agreed, do you have any leads to follow up on Batman." The General asked, turning his attention back to the Dark Knight.

"Negative, they're surprisingly good at hiding their movements but I will find them." He promised.

"I'll also inform the League to be on the lookout for them as well. Batman can liaison between you and us while you're running your operations." Superman added.

"Excellent, you point us in the right direction and my Marines will be there. It'll be a pleasure to fight alongside such a distinguished group of heroes."

"The pleasure's ours General. Now if you'll excuse us Batman and I have some planning to do."

As the two heroes left Harley walked to the window overlooking the Earth and stared down at the planet. She couldn't get over how beautiful it looked from up here, almost forgetting about the conflicts raging down below. War, famine, poverty, all the things humans have done to scar the Earth, seemed so minimal and one could forget about how insignificant humanity really was in the grand scheme of things from up here, giving Harley an understanding into Ivy's view of the world.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" General Anderson asked as he walked up and stood beside her.

"It's breath taking. Really puts things into perspective seeing it from here."

"It does, doesn't it? Seeing the Earth like this…it makes everything we've done worthwhile. All the wars, the killing, the destruction, it's worth it to protect what's down there. That's why we have to keep fighting, we're not just defending America anymore…we're defending the whole world. However noble they're goals may sound The New Era will only achieve peace through subjecting everyone else. I will not allow that to happen."

"I don't want that either, I can tell ya from firsthand experience that being someone's tool aint a great way ta live."

"I'd imagine so. When Sergeant Westbrook told me that he planned on taking you in it was a risk, but it's a risk that paid off. Since offering you a place with us you've surpassed my every expectation by a longshot and I hope you continue to do so. You deserve this chance at life we've given, and while as your commanding officer I shouldn't be encouraging your newfound relationship with Sergeant Westbrook I am also a human being. There are going to be some tough times ahead and he'll need you to be there for him, now more than ever."

"I understand General, and thank you…for giving me the chance to be myself again."

"Don't mention it. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to check on my Marine, then I need to return to Washington and brief the Secretary of Defense. Oh, and by the way, Batman and I talked on the way up here. Once Sergeant Westbrook is well enough he and Batman are going to be putting you, Ivy, and Batgirl through a combat conditioning course. Can't have you out there fighting the enemy without being prepared so it might behoove of you to inform your peers and get yourselves ready. The training will be...let's just say it'll weed out anyone not fit to defend the world."

"Ah, fuck me…"

Mission Complete…

Well I hate to say it but this is gonna be it for a while as I depart for my training op. Don't worry I will still be continuing when I return, in the mean time you'll just have to standby (or don't, entirely up to you). I just want to say thanks to everyone that has supported this story thus far. I expect to return late March but knowing the Marine Corps that is subject to change, either way I will be looking forward to updating on my return (almost as much as I'm looking forward to shooting at imaginary enemies... Hooray for peacetime Marine Corps! The Marine said sarcastically, wondering what his point in life is without a war to fight as the Marine Corps slowly but surely drains his soul away...)