Justice League of Amazons: Halo

Chapter 11

The Watchtower.

In the showers of the Watchtower, a lone figure stood under a cascading rain of hot water of a shower bay. The figure was male and reached a height of somewhere around the seven-foot range. His frame was muscular, almost reaching herculean status with rivulets of hot water running down his sinewy frame. Numerous scars stretched across the pale ivory skin and the hair on the man's head was cut short you could see the shadow of his scalp.

Master Chief John-117 stood under the falling water washing away the sweat of his sparring session with Wonder Woman. He was lost in thought, something he rarely did and found himself doing more of since he and Cortana had arrived in this universe.

The Spartan's thoughts were varied; the circumstance of finding himself becoming essentially the new father to mankind, his meeting with the Olympian gods, his relations with the members of the League, Cortana's slowly deteriorating state and wondering he and Cortana would be able to go back to their own universe.

He wondered what had become of the UNSC after the defeat of the Gravemind and the Covenant. The loss of Miranda Keyes and Avery Johnson came to the forefront of John's mind; a slight frown creased the Spartan's brow as he remembered their respective deaths. He wondered what he could've done differently that would've, could've, should've saved their lives. Shaking his head to remove the thoughts, the Spartan turned off the shower and stepped out of the shower bay and took a dry towel from the rack and began to dry himself.

There was no use in thinking about what could've been. To lose himself in the what-ifs of the past would only hinder him and his ability to think rationally and would end up costing him something he would not be prepared to pay.

Drying himself off and wrapping the towel around his waist, John walked over to the sink and mirror and looked at his reflection. Rubbing a hand over his jaw, the Spartan noted it had been sometime he had last shaved. Putting the plug in the sink, John turned on the tap and let the sink fill with hot water. After filling the sink with hot water, the Master Chief then took out a cannister of shaving foam and poured some onto his hand before lathering his jaw generously with the white foam.

Once his jaw was covered in the foam, John took out a shaving razor and dipped the blades into the hot water to wet it before beginning to shave off the bristles of his jaw. As the Spartan shaved, the door to the bathroom opened and walking in was Dinah Laurel Lance AKA Black Canary. The blonde was dressed down in some sweat pants and tank top shirt and she carried in her arms her uniform of black leather jacket, bustier, shorts, fishnets and high heeled boots.

Chief briefly looked at the blonde who seemed a little surprised upon seeing him here. Chief gave the blonde a brief nod of greeting and resumed his task of shaving.

Dinah stared at the Spartan in slight surprise; she hadn't expected to see the Spartan in the bathroom doing something so mundane as shaving, but she honestly found it surprising to see John doing something so… human as shaving off his beard.

"Something on your mind?" Dinah gave a little start at hearing the question from the Spartan, but she quickly recomposed herself as she gave her reply.

"Sorry. Didn't expect to see you in here," she said to him with honesty in her voice.

"Needed to shower and decided to shave," the Spartan said simply. "Old habits," he added in a self-deprecating manner.

Dinah felt herself crack a smile as she heard the Spartan's admission. "Yeah, guess being military means that you're expected to be clean and tidy at all times," she remarked.

The Spartan nodded in response and resumed shaving. Dinah smiled a little more warmly before she moved over to set her uniform on a nearby bench. She hesitated for a moment before she started to undress.

John noticed Black Canary undressing and watched for a moment. Dinah noticed the Spartan watching her; she noted that he wasn't staring like some perverted idiot would. His gaze seemed more analytical than lustful as though he was a doctor examining a patient or an art critic looking over a painting.

"Something on your mind?" the blonde asked John making him looked directly into her eyes. The Spartan was silent which made Dinah say to him, "Just wondering what makes you look at me."

"I apologise if I am making you uncomfortable, Miss Lance," the Spartan said respectfully and apologetically. "You seem to take very good care of yourself," he added in approval.

Dinah smiled at the small compliment the Master Chief had given her and she replied, "Thank you. And I trust you not to do anything perverted." A slightly kittenish came over the martial artist's face as she said, "Of course, if you want to do more than stare, I wouldn't mind." She snapped a playful wink at John who simply tilted his head to the side like a puppy who was confused by something and turned back to look back at his reflection in the mirror.

Normally, Dinah would've been a little insulted at the lack of reaction from an ordinary man; at most a normal response would've been a lecherous grin or a furious blush. But she remembered that the Master Chief was not an ordinary man, not to mention the man's suppressed sex drive. Of course, his near encounters with other members of the League such as Huntress, Power Girl and Hawkgirl was showing that the Spartan's sex drive wasn't as suppressed as most would think.

After undressing, Dinah stepped into the shower bay and turned on the hot water and gave a sigh of relief as she felt the droplets of hot water splash against her body. She looked over her shoulder to see the Spartan splashing water onto his face to wash off any shaving foam residue before drying his face with a towel. Dinah watched the Spartan dress himself, his back turned to her. She smiled to herself slightly as she admired the powerful sinewy body John possessed and she felt her heart pang in her chest as she saw the numerous scars on his skin and remembered that for all of his achievements, John hadn't had the easiest life and his victories had cost him dearly.

John dressed himself in some clean clothes and he looked up to see Black Canary watching him quietly as she showered. Dinah looked back at him and stood in the shower proudly unashamed of her nudity. John wasn't lying when he said to Dinah that she took care of herself; she was lean and lithe like a ballerina with definite muscle tone to her form. Rivulets of water ran down her body from the heavy swell of her breasts, her narrow waist, her wide hips to her toned legs. John found his gaze passing over the thatch of blonde curls above Dinah's womanhood.

Dinah stood underneath the showerhead and looked at the Master Chief. She felt bashful under the gaze of the man before her, but she quashed down the feeling and stood proudly before the Spartan. John looked at her for a moment before he silently left the room. Dinah watched the Spartan leave the room, a slight smile pulled at her lips; something told her that John's gaze was a little more than professional and she could tell that there was an underlying tension in that moment he stared at her.

Smiling to herself a little more warmly, Dinah then focussed on bathing herself and she gave a little moan as her hand briefly touched her womanhood as she showered.

Later that day, John had dressed himself in the MJOLNIR and entered the briefing room where the other members of the League were. Hawkgirl called for a meeting, although as to what this meeting was about was anyone's guess.

The door slid open with a pneumatic hiss and the Spartan entered the room and found the rest of the League waiting with Hawkgirl standing at the head of the table as preparing to conduct a lecture. Cortana's holotank was sitting beside Shayera. Shayera looked up to see John enter the briefing room.

"Chief, glad you made it. Now we can begin," the Thanagarian said in approval. Cortana's avatar appeared on the holotank and Shayera nodded at her. Cortana then waved her hand and the lights dimmed and on the wall was lit up with a projection showing a map and a list of names and profiles.

"I've been monitoring Intergang activity and it seems they're about to hit a STAR Labs shipment of experimental tech," the Smart AI said in a serious tone of voice. "The shipment is being taken along this stretch of the highway." A section of the map was highlighted for everyone to see. "From there, the convoy will divided into five trucks and going along different routes, but all will arrive at the same destination," Cortana then said.

"Are any of the trucks decoys?" Huntress asked.

"None of them are, Huntress," Cortana replied and this was followed by murmurs of confusion.

"So, what is in the shipment that requires it to be divided into five trucks?" Supergirl asked.

Shayera answered this question with, "Apparently it's an experimental android developed by the late Professor Ivo a noted scientist at STAR Labs before his passing," she said.

John looked at Cortana who nodded at him and brought up Ivo's profile. "Professor Anthony Ivo, the head of cellular and structural biology department at Ivy University and a leading pioneer in cybernetics," Cortana read off the information on the projection. "It seems that the dear professor was noted for having thanatophobia and wanted to prolong his life," she added.

"So, you think this experimental android was a way of avoiding death?" Wonder Woman asked.

"It's possible, but it seems the dear professor will never live to see his creation come to fruition," Cortana stated. "Some other details to note are that he briefly worked with Lexcorp at one stage until Luthor was arrested and Mercy Graves let Ivo go," she then said.

"So, this experimental android could also have been part of a way to counteract the League," John said rather than asked.

"It could very well have been," Hawkgirl said. "Which is why we're not going to let this android be taken by Intergang," she added with grim determination in her eyes. "Intergang's pulled up some heavy hitters for this heist," she then said as she pressed some buttons on the console and showed some profiles of criminals known to work with Intergang, some of which were familiar to the League.

The first image showed a woman with icy blue hair done in a punk-rock girl style and wearing long blue gloves and boots and blue unitard. "First up, we have Louise Lincoln AKA Killer Frost; a metahuman with an icy touch as her moniker implies and the attitude to go with it. Numerous counts of murder and theft and is known to take contracts with Intergang," Cortana said reading her file.

"Strengths? Weaknesses?" John enquired.

"Strengths are that her powers are fuelled by heat absorption, or a scientific term would be thermokinetic cryokinesis," Cortana said. "Basically, the more heat she absorbs the more her power grows," she added.

"Is heat essential to her powers?" John asked.

"One should assume so," Cortana replied and John nodded storing that information for later.

"Next up, we have Claire Selton AKA Volcana." An image of a woman with long fiery red hair and wearing a crimson outfit was shown. Supergirl's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Volcana? She was one of Kal's enemies," the young Kryptonian exclaimed. "He tried to help her, but she ended disappearing," she said.

"She was?" John asked looking at Supergirl. "Any weaknesses?" he enquired.

"We could douse with water?" Batgirl suggested.

"Given that Killer Frost absorbs heat to fuel her powers, Intergang must've brought Volcana into the equation to give Miss Lincoln a power boost," Cortana remarked. Cortana then brought up the next image of a young woman with short-cut blonde hair and wearing brown leather, but her eyes were reptilian looking in that the pupils were vertical slits.

"Next up in the freak show is Copperhead," Cortana announced. "Real name is currently unknown, but her title is often used by Central and South American crime cartels. Subject possesses an inhuman ability to bend and contort her body well-beyond human limitations and is suspected to be a metahuman with reptilian abilities such as an ability to secrete a deadly poison that can kill or incapacitate people within seconds depending on the concentration of the dose."

"Weaknesses?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Subject has no real tangible weakness other than being as fragile as a regular human being. But she is well versed in stealth, acrobatics, hand-to-hand combat and her aforementioned ability to contort her body meaning she is more than able to escape most forms of confinement and restraints," Cortana replied.

"Who else do we have?" Dr Light asked.

"Up next, we have Roxanne Sutton AKA Roxy Rocket." The next image shown was a young woman with deep red hair and wearing something akin to a World War 2 fighter pilot uniform with a leather bomber jacket. "Roxanne Sutton was a professional stunt driver and pilot for movie studios, but with a serious case of being an thrill-seeking adrenaline junkie. It got so bad that no film studio or agency was willing to go along with increasingly dangerous stunt after stunt," Cortana said reading the file. "Subject is in peak physical condition with vast experience in driving and piloting all manner of craft, but as being a thrill-seeking adrenaline junkie, she pilots a custom-made rocket jet that is liable to explode at any time," she added with a grimace.

"And last but not least, we have Lady Shiva," A woman of Asian ethnicity wearing a long black coat with a red uniform was shown. Black Canary and Huntress had looks of alarm and even anger. Even Batgirl had a look of surprise and worry on her features.

"Oh God, not her!"

Almost everyone in the room looked at Black Canary and Huntress. "You have a history with her I take it?" Zatanna asked Dinah who nodded and said, "Yeah. None of it good. She's with the League of Assassins!"

"What are her specialties?" the Spartan asked.

"Widely considered the best martial artist in the world," Huntress replied. "Knows hundreds upon hundreds of fighting styles, even ones that are dead or extinct," she said. "She's not known normally to work with Intergang, prefers to work for the League of Assassins or independently for the most part," she added.

"So, the League could be working with Intergang on this heist," Wonder Woman stated rather than asked.

"Only explanation I can think of," Huntress said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Otherwise, why be muscle for Intergang?" she added.

"Noted for future reference," John said. "Any others, Cortana?" he asked looking at his AI partner.

"No other known criminals that I've learnt of," Cortana admitted. "But Intergang has bought a metric fuck-ton of Z8-A combat trainers. Doubtless, their eggheads will have removed the non-lethal protocols in them to act as additional support," she said. "Plus they'll have regular mooks with them," she added as an afterthought.

"Will Maria be there to oversee the operation?" Ice asked.

"Strong possibility that she will be," Cortana said in answer. "My analysis of her psyche indicates strong narcissistic tendencies and ego, meaning she'll definitely be there to oversee the job," she added.

"So, what's the plan?" Fire asked.

Shayera then took over. "We'll need to split into teams that will be small but pack a big punch and compliment each other," she said. She looked at Batgirl, "Batgirl, since you're the most tech-savvy of us here, barring Cortana, you'll be up here in the Watchtower to co-ordinate the teams and resources. You okay with that?"

"I won't let you down, Hawkgirl," Barbara Gordon said with a smile.

Shayera nodded in approval before she looked at the Spartan and said to him, "Chief, since you have the most experience out of any us at conducting operations of all kinds, I defer to you to lend your expertise in who should go with who to ensure optimal performance and success of this mission."

The Master Chief nodded before he moved to the front of the room and looked over everyone evaluating them carefully. Everyone sat up straighter upon seeing the Spartan's visor looked at them carefully as if singling out a lamb from the flock for slaughter.

John carefully looked at each of the League members; each of them was highly skilled and trained in their fields. In cases of Supergirl, Power Girl and Wonder Woman, they were possibly the League's heaviest hitters and not just in terms of raw strength. Black Canary and Huntress were the best martial artists according to their files and were used to working together and in tandem, so they would be suited to work together as a counter against Lady Shiva or Copperhead. Ice and Fire were also a pair that worked well together, but who would they be best against out of Intergang's roster hired muscle?

Zatanna was a unique member given her vast mystical powers which according to Cortana's files could easily tip the scales in their favour with a simple phrase said backwards. But there in lay the weakness; if one could get the upper hand against Zatanna, they could easily disable her magical abilities by gagging her, something that had been done before, albeit rarely given Zatanna's training as an escape artist in which she was widely regarded as the best there is. As for who Zatanna would work well in concert with, there were one or two options; Wonder Woman was an option to act as a frontline fighter against a heavy hitter like Killer Frost and Volcana while Zatanna took them out with a spell.

Then there was Hawkgirl; although early files showed that her MO was frontal assault and direct attacks, since the passing of all men on earth she had become more reserved in her tactics given that she had stepped up to the role of unofficial leader of the Justice League. Her past military and police experience on her home planet also lent credence to skillset. Coupled with her considerable martial skill in hand-to-hand combat and her Nth metal mace and her natural ability to fly also added to her standing as a highly skilled combatant.

Courtney Whitmore AKA Stargirl was a relatively new member of the Justice League and due to her age, she would be more prone to rash thinking and action. But Cortana's files suggested that although young and not as experienced as other members, she made up for it with skills in martial arts and her arsenal which included her Cosmic staff and belt, both of which granted her enhanced strength and durability as well as flight and energy projection. Pairing her with someone more experienced and able to keep her more rash impulses in check would be ideal.

Vixen was next consider; her mystical totem amulet granted her the abilities of practically any animal in the animal kingdom which in turn gave her abilities far beyond the norm of regular humans. But John and Cortana did not fully know the extent of the totem amulet's power; was it limited to just earthly animals? Or did it extend to mythical or extinct animals? It was something John would need to ask Mari about if only to complete the file on her abilities. Personality wise, Mari was affable and easy to approach and work with, so John felt that whomever she was paired with would have no problems.

Then there was Dr Kimiyo Hoshi AKA Dr Light who possessed photonic energy projection-based powers. Although she did not possess the ability to generate light-based energy constructs like someone armed with a power ring could, her intelligence and creativity with her powers granted her an advantage over opponents who underestimated her. Personality wise, Dr Light did possess something of an anti-social character so she might be better suited to work with someone who would be able to keep her in line without aggravating her.

"From the files Cortana and I have read on each of you, the teams will be as follows," the Master Chief said in a calm measured tone that allowed no room for argument from anyone. Everyone in the room straightened up and prepared to listen to what the Spartan had to say.

"Huntress, Black Canary and Dr Light will take the first truck," the three heroines nodded in understanding.

"Wonder Woman and Zatanna will take the second truck," Diana and Zatanna nodded looking at each with looks of understanding and acceptance.

"Vixen and Power Girl will take the third truck," Mari and Karen nodded accepting the decision easily.

"Fire, Ice and Supergirl will take the fourth truck," the three of them agreed with the choice.

"Hawkgirl, Stargirl and myself will take the final truck," John then said looking at Shayera and Courtney. Shayera gave a nod and Courtney tried not to look nervous.

"If anyone has any disagreements with these arrangements, speak now or forever hold your peace." John looked around at everyone. No-one voiced any objection and the Spartan nodded his approval.

"Good. We're wheels up in ten mikes. Grab what you needed and head for the Javelins," the Master Chief then said in a commanding voice.

Everyone then left the room to prepare for the mission. John then went over to the holotank to speak to Cortana.

"You know, Chief, there's no need to treat these people as marines or Spartans," Cortana said to him, her Avatar cocking an eyebrow.

"I know," John replied.

"Really? Because it almost felt like you were giving a military debriefing to these people," Cortana said to him.

"It is an important mission to prevent a terrorist crime faction from hijacking potentially dangerous technology for their own ends," the Spartan pointed out.

"Yeah, but you have to remember that most of these women have no actual military experience," Cortana reminded him. "They're civilians. Highly trained and powerful civilians, but they're not soldiers, so there's little need to treat them as such," she said.

John said nothing at this and simply pulled Cortana's data chip from the holotank and slotted it into the back of his helmet.

Cortana's smooth voice filled his mind saying to him, "Just keep in mind, Chief, that this isn't like back home. You'll be facing human enemies, not the Covenant."

"I know that," John said to her inside the helmet.

"Do you? I know you've faced the Insurrectionists back home, but you never enjoyed it," Cortana told him.

John did not answer; there were moments he forgot how much Cortana knew of his history and how well she knew him on a personal level. It was true he did not relish taking human lives, his first experience taking human lives had been straight after he was fresh out of augmentations against some ODSTs who had made the mistake of picking a fight with him.

And ever since then, John went into every mission against the Insurrectionists with a sense of reluctancy. To be certain, many of the Insurrectionists had committed many atrocities against both UNSC and civilian sectors and John did his duty in eliminating the cells of Innies, at least until the arrival of the Covenant and their genocidal campaign against humanity took precedence over dealing with the Insurrectionists.

John shook his head minutely to rid himself of the contemplative thoughts.

"Are you okay, Chief?" Cortana's voice asked him in concern.

"I'll be fine. We have a job to do," the Master Chief with determination in his voice.

"Alright. Let's go be heroes, Chief," Cortana said with optimism in her tone.

The Spartan nodded and prepared to head to the armoury to load up on what weapons he felt would be needed for the mission.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: There! After a long wait, I finally updated this. I apologise for the long delay, but I've been fairly busy with finding a new job after quitting my previous job, not to mention visiting my family for my 30th birthday which honestly I did not think I would make it this far in life given what life in general has thrown at me. But I'm sure some of you are glad I'm still here, unlike some who have had the misfortune of passing away such as our much loved and missed Freedom Guard.

Anyways, apologies if this chapter is another filler chapter, but next chapter I promise will be more action packed given the nature of what the technology is said to be in the trucks. I've got some more ideas of how to incorporate DC lore/characters into this story and my other DC crossovers.

One such idea was bringing in Abbey Chase and the Danger Girl team from the Danger Girl series. I've just recently gotten into Danger Girl, or at least doing some research on the series and I learnt that years ago, they did a crossover with Batman comics and that got me thinking of how I could work the Danger Girl series into this story and my other DC crossovers. Given Abbey's background as an archaeologist/treasure hunter, I've got some ideas of how to work into my stories.

Another idea is to bring in a Marvel Comics character into my DC crossover. Which character? None other than Emma Frost, specifically from the Wolverine and X-Men cartoon series which honestly should've gotten a second season were it not for corporate politics interfering. And not to mention, having a telepath of Emma Frost's calibre would be an enticing package to the Justice League, as well as her typically abrasive personality could lead to some interesting dynamics with other characters.

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me, so I'll leave this here and see you all in the next one.

Be kind to one another,

Angry lil' elf.