Chapter 65: The Invasion Begins

"Duck!"

Barry and Jefferson ducked. Behind them, another table exploded. Firestorm, wreathed in flames, flew in above them and countered the shots, trying to provide cover for the fleeing populace.

"Are they all gone yet?" Jefferson whispered. Barry looked around, eyes sharp.

"Just about." He whispered back. "Firestorm should be able to hold out until then."

As if to prove him wrong, one of the Dominators made another shot at Firestorm. He dodged it — only to fly into another volley from the other Dominators present. It took all the skill hours of flight training had blessed him with to dodge.

"Never mind." Barry winced. He took another glance at the surrounding vicinity. Empty.

Without warning, he grabbed Jefferson and ran off to S.T.A.R. Labs as quickly as possible. With his lightning speed, he switched their civvies for their suits, before returning to their original location. While Black Lightning tried to reorient himself, Flash took action, charging at one of the Dominators. He ducked under another energy blast before using his momentum to kick the alien in the chest. They went flying, headfirst into a nearby tree — which promptly fell over it, crushing its body.

Behind him, another Dominator made to swipe at him from the back, only to be blasted off by Black Lightning's electricity. Before it could get up, it found itself stabbed in the head by one of the Flash's knives. Firestorm, now with more breathing room, navigated himself around a smaller volley of energy blasts before charring another.

The remaining Dominators (two in total — a small scouting force, most likely), now outnumbered, evidently thought caution was preferable to rash bravery, because now they were fleeing back to their ship. Two knives to the neck stopped them, and they crumpled into a pair of dead heaps.

"That was surprisingly easy." Firestorm commented, before scowling. "You know that we had it in the bag! Yes, we did! Look, man, I…"

Black Lightning and Flash stared at the scene, before shrugging and turning to each other. "A.R.G.U.S.?" Lightning suggested.

"A.R.G.U.S." Flash agreed, before re-configuring his comms to the appropriate frequency. "Everyone better buckle up. The Invasion has begun."

"Sir, we have received a report from our Central City base that Justice League members Flash and Black Lightning, along with their associate Firestorm, have intercepted a Dominator scouting ship that landed in Central City."

Maseo Yamashiro was careful to keep the shock and alarm off his face, and turned to the reporting agent. "Were they victorious?"

"Yes, sir. Director Waller has already directed a cleanup crew to the scene to collect the bodies and the ship. Per her instructions, the Invasion Protocol is now in effect."

"Very well then. Contact all A.R.G.U.S. agents and inform them of this development. Have them liaise with the appropriate governments, as previously instructed."

"Sir." The agent nodded, and turned to relay his instructions.

Once she was gone, Maseo slumped into his chair and rubbed his temples. The Invasion Protocol had been created several years prior during A.R.G.U.S.'s inception, after extraterrestrial beings were confirmed to exist. The protocol had been modified several times since then, due to the recent increase in metahuman activity in the wake of S.T.A.R. Labs' Particle Accelerator exploding and the formation of the Justice League. Once it was confirmed that the Dominators' invasion was imminent, the protocol had been put into standby, to be put in effect in a moment's notice.

The protocol in itself was simple. After aliens were confirmed to exist in the 1950s, a secret council had been held between the governments of the world to discuss the possibility of an extraterrestrial threat. It was decided that every government would set aside money in preparation for such a threat, left untouched under any and all circumstances except in the event of an alien invasion. Hidden in line items and shell companies, that money would be put into use to build weapons to arm both military and law enforcement on every level to defend the civilian population from the invading force.

Smith had originally been in charge of that division of the government, but Amanda worked her magic and had it reassigned to A.R.G.U.S. instead. Once the transmission regarding the invasion was received, the money was immediately put to use in constructing the weapons needed to combat the Dominators. Several scientific constitutions were consulted in this endeavor, including S.T.A.R. Labs, via small teams that had been stringently verified by A.R.G.U.S. Construction was then done in hidden factories in the most remote corners of the world, whose contents were then gradually ferried to their designated cities in small bursts.

Once they neared the projected time frame of the Invasion, A.R.G.U.S. dispatched several of their agents to large population centers to act as liaisons to the local government. Among them included members of Task Force X. Even Maseo's own wife Tatsu had joined him in preparation for the upcoming invasion, even daring to take out her family blade: the Soultaker Sword.

The Justice League, meanwhile, were concentrated in two different cities: Starling and Central. Those two cities were the most likely to be attacked first by the scouting forces and anything else the Dominators would try to throw at them to take out the planet's most powerful protectors, Supergirl and Central's collective metahuman population, respectively. When the actual full-scale invasion started, however, they would be more spread out to act as rallying points for the populace.

"Sir!" Maseo turned to see that another agent was running at him, a harried look on his face. "The satellites have sensed another ship breaking the atmosphere!"

Isabel Rochev kept her head down as she navigated through the backstreets of the Glades. While the world was still reeling in shock about the recent alien attack in Central City, she had taken the opportunity to slip out of work to meet with Talia's contact, giving Tommy an excuse of having to survey a possible location they could buy and use for some sort of outreach center to prop up their PR. He bought it, just like he bought everything she said, only reminding her to stay safe.

She couldn't help but smile. Tommy, admittedly, was starting to grow on her. Handsome, rich, eager to please, so very oblivious to her manipulations and good in the sack, too. He was everything she wanted in a husband when she had taken that internship at Queen Consolidated all those fateful years ago. And, now that he had fallen out with the Queens, she could move forward with Talia's plan to destroy them without him trying to stop her. When it was all said and done, she would have to ask Talia to keep him alive; even with his family's spotty reputation, he'd make the perfect trophy husband.

Isabel perked up when she finally saw Talia's contact. The back of his jacket had a demon emblazoned on the back, just like her boss said. She reached out to touch his shoulder, and when he turned around, she couldn't help but blush a bit. He was a handsome young man around her age, with dark brunette hair and some of the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen.

"Isabel Rochev." He said, a cheeky grin on his face.

"Are you from the shadows?" She prompted. That was the phrase she had been instructed to use.

"Cast by the demon." He nodded, and she allowed herself to relax. "Come with me. I know somewhere we can talk in private."

He took her to a small, out-of-the-way, dimly lit bar. There were no occupants besides the bartender, who was payed extra alongside their drinks to give them a private room. Isabel sat down, nursing a glass of vodka, while her companion opted for a virgin drink. He had been taught not to indulge in alcohol while on business, he explained.

"Mind if I have your name?" Isabel asked after a few minutes of silence.

The man smirked. "Sure. You can call me Adrian Chase."

"Well then, Adrian, what do you need to know?" A flirtatious smile played on Isabel's lips, one that Adrian couldn't help but return.

The next hour was spent discussing Isabel's time in Starling City, particularly the relationship between Tommy and his former social circle. Isabel took particular glee in explaining why Tommy had fallen out with the Queens; the Lance woman he had feelings for had apparently never returned them, preferring Oliver Queen, Tommy's now-former best friend. It had been easy to turn his attentions to Isabel instead, especially with his father out of the picture. Merlyn had done them quite a favor.

But her greatest triumph was finding Rebecca Merlyn's diamond engagement ring in his personal safe. That engagement ring had been in storage in one of the Merlyn family's many accounts ever since the death of the woman herself. Apparently, neither Merlyn could bear to look at it in the wake of her passing, and hadn't bothered to move it once in the twenty years since then, not even after the Undertaking. Tommy having it in his personal safe could only mean one thing — he was planning on asking her to marry him.

Adrian looked pleased by that development, and after their drinks were done, suggested they go somewhere to celebrate. Noticing the underlying implications of his request, Isabel was eager to comply. Yes, Tommy was great in bed, but something told Isabel that Adrian would be even better.

They stepped outside, bidding farewell to the bartender. After walking a little bit away, Adrian stopped, and Isabel stopped with him, confused.

"You know, this place used to be a clinic." He noted.

"Really?" Isabel said, though she really didn't care. She just wanted him to hurry up already with whatever he wanted to say so they could get to the fun stuff.

"Yeah. It was shut down after the original proprietor was murdered in broad daylight. Her husband refused to help any of the people here in the Glades, the people who allowed her to bleed out on the pavement. Sad story, really."

"How interesting. Look, are we gonna go or—" Isabel stopped, an epiphany striking her at the worst possible moment. Adrian's words resonated in her mind, the story achingly familiar.

She tried to run, but was too late — a gun materialized from out of nowhere in Adrian's hand, and then there was a click!

There was a burst of pain and then nothing but numbness. Isabel slowly moved her arm to her stomach, feeling the sticky ooze of her own blood on her hand. She collapsed onto her back, trying to focus her sight, trying to move.

Dimly, she could hear Adrian continuing to speak.

"…Talia would like to thank you for your hard work, Isabel. Don't worry, everything is going according to plan, and your death won't be in vain. We will fulfill our deal with you to bring down the Queens once we have completed our own objectives. Your life, meanwhile, is a necessary sacrifice to achieve that. Take comfort in that."

Isabel tried to speak, but the blood was bubbling up in her throat. It wouldn't be long until… until…

Adrian watched dispassionately as the life faded away from the woman's eyes. Mission complete. Now he needed to take care of the bartender and remove any possible DNA he may have left behind. Perhaps stage a scene so no one could suspect this was a targeted hit. That would be counterproductive to the objective they were trying to reach.

A blast of strong wind hit him in the face, and he looked up. At the sight of the descending alien ship, much larger than the one seen in Central earlier, he couldn't help but whistle, impressed.

"How lucky."

Another chapter in the books. A little short, but this was the logical endpoint, at least for me. Sorry for the wait, I've been busy with real life right now.

As for this — yes, Isabel is dead. Yes, that was the exact same spot where Rebecca Merlyn was killed, in the exact same way (an unfortunate case of bullet in the gut). To top it off, Isabel even has a superficial resemblance to Rebecca. I won't spoil the rest of Talia's plan, but you can probably guess at least some of it at this point.

As for Adrian, he's an official member of the League of Shadows in this continuity and Talia's right-hand man. I won't say why, since it'll be in the second act.

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