Chapter 87: The Battle of Nanda Parbat

"Remember to aim for the ones dressed in black!" Huntress screams to the Justice League as she shoots an arrow at one Shadow and kicks down another one. "They're our enemies!" With that, she threw herself into the fray, her trusted crossbow in hand.

Laurel slammed one of her electrified tonfas into the gut of one approaching Shadow and nearly kicked the jaw off of another. "J'onn!" She screamed to her Martian teammate, who was currently punching away Shadows left and right, "Head to the fortress! Find out what's happening with Oliver and the others and get them out! Mari, Jefferson and I will help hold off the army!"

J'onn nodded, rising to the skies and turning himself invisible and intangible. Below, he watched Mari enveloped by the image of a gorilla, slamming her fists into the ground, creating a visible fission and sending both Assassins and Shadows flying away. In another area, Jefferson was using his own not inconsiderable hand-to-hand combat skills in conjunction with his powers, using the spark of electricity to keep others at bay while he fought opponent after opponent off. Content that his teammates were able to hold their own, he flew towards the carved out fortress, hoping that he wasn't too late.

In the main atrium, the first thing Kara did once the Shadows pounced was to shove her knife into the throat of the closest one and appropriate his weapons for her own use. She tossed the bow and arrows to Oliver and then took the sword for herself, slashing down another two Shadows with a single swing. She cut down several more before she was finally met with a competent opponent: Al-Owal, bearing his own sword in one hand and a Kryptonite dagger in the other.

"Really, Al-Owal?" Kara demanded as their blades clashed, barely managing to dodge the swipe of the dagger that followed. "Is it not enough that I've been de-powered?"

Al-Owal bore his teeth at her. "It is not a risk I am willing to take, Saraab. Your powers have always been volatile. For all I know, you could develop an immunity to the generators and regain them post-haste. Better to kill you now with the one element I know you cannot overcome."

Kara hissed back at him, swinging once more and beginning a new song of clashing blades. Far off, towards the center of the atrium, Barry was also engaging in Shadows, going for quick kills with slit throats and fatal stabs. However, the increasing number of assailants made this difficult, and he found himself often having to throw a knife to get out of a particularly sticky situation more than once. Considering how precious his dwindling supply of knives were in this situation, he had opted to mimic Kara and steal a sword off another one of his opponents and use that weapon instead, the range providing him some much needed breathing room, especially after an attempt to kill Talia had been foiled by another Shadow throwing themselves in front of her as a shield.

Meanwhile, Oliver had quickly strapped on the bow and arrows to his back as he used his fletchettes to clear his way through to higher ground, with Ra's and Nyssa helping him. He moved back up the stairs, near the Pit, and it was only there that he dared to draw his bow and begin notching arrows, taking out other prospective archers first. His aim stalwart and true, he started picking off Shadows one by one, strategically aiming for those who seemed poised to take down one of his allies. As he had a limited number of arrows and a seemingly limitless number of enemies, Nyssa and Ra's had wisely started collecting quivers from their enemies and tossing them towards his direction, allowing him to exchange an empty one for a full one whenever he ran out of ammo.

It was quickly becoming obvious that this would be a war of attrition. The Assassins may have been outnumbered, but they were also five of the greatest martial combatants in the world, and the atrium was only so big. While Talia could replace as many soldiers as she wanted, there was only so many she could fit into the room to begin with if she wanted them to fight effectively, especially as more and more bodies began piling up and started decreasing whatever maneuverable ground there was. Already many of her foot soldiers entered to remove the bodies and then attack — which made them vulnerable to their merciless opponents.

But while they outstripped the quality of Talia's foot soldiers greatly, the Assassins were still human. They knew they could only hold out for so long. Eventually their bodies would tire, weaken, and they would suffer injuries. Those injuries would impede them in contact, and thus leading to more injuries, more exhaustion, and so on and so forth until they were dead and Talia had claimed her victory. It was only a matter of time. If they were to survive this, they needed a miracle.

Thankfully for them, a miracle did come. Oliver didn't falter in his designated task of shooting down Shadows even as the familiar touch of J'onn's telepathy caressed his mind. J'onn?

Oliver. The rest of the Justice League are outside, fighting the army. I can join the fight right now—

No! Oliver immediately ordered. She doesn't know about your presence yet. She might have something to counteract you, leave you powerless.

Then what should I do?

Connect your mind to Ra's, and ask him about the red sun-lamp generators and the meta-dampeners. Ask how to deactivate them. He's the old man standing in front of me, occasionally throwing me quivers to use.

J'onn, still invisible, frowned but did exactly that. Ra's al Ghul?

Ra's, to his credit, didn't even blink. I assume you are one of my students' colleagues in this so-called Justice League?

I am Martian Manhunter, J'onn thought, ignoring the implicit insult, Oliver requested that you tell me of the dampeners and how we can disable them.

They are further back in the fortress, near the hidden labs of Nanda Parbat, connected to the main power as a bundle of switches. Be careful, however — my daughter is not one for loose ends, so do not be surprised if she has prepared for your interference.

I will. Thank you. He immediately cut the connection off, and flew in the direction Ra's had told him, bouncing from room to room. Eventually, he landed at the labs, which seemed to be deserted. He quickly located the main power room, and phased inside, turning off his invisibility and intangibility.

And was blasted in the back.

The hit hurt, but not so much he couldn't turn around to see several Shadows drop from the ceiling, each bearing the same weapons that had been passed around by the military to combat the Dominator invasion. While they wouldn't kill J'onn, they would certainly hurt.

J'onn cursed his luck, and attacked.

Laurel ducked down the swing of another sword, dropping briefly to the ground to swipe away the feet of her opponent. The shadow tripped to the ground, where his chest met one of her electrified tonfas. He spasmed, before falling unconscious. Seeing no immediate enemies at the moment, Laurel dared to look around the battlefield. Surveying the two armies, she quickly realized that the numbers of Shadows on the field had diminished greatly — but not all of them were unconscious, dead, or dying on the coarse mountain valley.

Another look around revealed why. Large groups of Shadows, each fighting earnestly against their Assassin counterparts, would inexplicably break off from their initial conflicts for whatever reason, and flee towards the direction of the fortress. The Assassins would try to confront them, only to be quickly distracted by another group of Shadows. It didn't happen too often, as there were still enough Shadows to cause quite a number of problems, but for the most part the army was dwindling, slowly giving the edge to the Assassins.

The question was why? Why would an army of such numerical superiority give up the battle here for the one in the fortress? To eliminate Ra's and Nyssa, and presumably Oliver and the others as well? Why would that be more important than subduing the army here?

"Canary!"

Laurel whirled around, just in time to block the sword of another Shadow, this time a woman. A quick exchange followed, and Laurel managed to knock the sword away followed by a jab of her tonfa, knocking this Shadow out as well. An arrow brushed against her hair, burying itself into the throat of another Shadow poised to cut her down, and she looked to its source, giving a nod of thanks to Huntress.

"Don't thank me yet!" Huntress yelled instead, putting away her crossbow briefly to engage another Shadow in hand-to-hand combat. "Thank me when the battle is over!"

As Laurel opened her mouth to agree, a light bulb popped over her head, illuminating her. "Huntress! I noticed large contingents of Shadows heading over to the Fortress! I think they're prioritizing eliminating Oliver and everyone else inside over defeating the army! Do you know why?" She punctuated this by bludgeoning another Shadow over the head with her tonfa.

Huntress' eyes widened, and she gasped. "Of course! That's what Talia's planning!"

"Planning what?" Jefferson had somehow wandered over to their area while in the midst of fighting his own battles, and interjected into the conversation while having a Shadow in a headlock and beating his face in repeatedly with his handy fist.

"Ra's made a decree a couple of days ago," Huntress explained, once again drawing her crossbow and shooting another Shadow in the eye. "Declaring a line of succession for the Demon Ring, and thus leadership of the League. If he and Nyssa were to both die, then the ring would pass to Al Sah-him. And if he were to die, then it would pass to Al Sa'iqa and then to Saraab."

Both superheroes exchanged horrified glances. Jefferson was a school principal and Laurel was a lawyer, and while neither were history buffs, it was easy to make the connection. Oliver had told them that Talia had wanted the League, and it was only now that it became clear that it wasn't just about the resources — it was about the army itself. Talia wanted to eliminate all her possible rivals to the Demon Ring and leave her the only possible heir. That's why she didn't care about the losses she was taking nor actually eliminating the opposing army. She intended to have them all under her rule.

"What should we do?" Laurel asked, slamming her right tonfa into the cheek of another Shadow.

"We need to help them somehow! With my powers, I can clear a path—"

"No!" Huntress immediately shot the idea down. "The meta-dampeners have to have been activated in there. Otherwise Al Sa'iqa would've ended this war already. If we sent you in there, then you'd just be overwhelmed and cut down."

"What about me?"

Mari, having also wandered over like Jefferson while her comrades were conversing, had listened in on the conversation and felt it was time for her to interject. "My power source is mystical," Mari explained, gesturing to her totem for good measure, "The dampeners shouldn't work on me."

Laurel frowned. "Does the fortress have any precautions to ward off magic?" she asked Huntress cautiously.

Huntress shook her head. "To my knowledge, no."

The vigilante immediately turned back to her friend. "You do realize what you're risking, right? If she's wrong…"

"I'll manage."

Laurel nodded, and then turned to her last teammate. "Jefferson?"

Needing no other prompting, Jefferson's eyes turned their customary dark, electric blue, before a course of powerful electricity flew from him and electrocuted every Shadow leading up to the main entrance of the fortress, clearing a path for Mari. Mari, on her part, placed two fingers on her totem, allowing the silhouette of a cheetah to briefly appear, before she blitzed through the opening, dodging an errant arrow or two on the way. Before any other Shadow could react, she had disappeared in the structure, long out of their reach.

Mari let out an eternal cheer when her speed did not fade the moment she crossed the threshold into the main fortress. Even so, she allowed the powers of the cheetah to disappear as she hid behind a corner, watching as a group of Shadows charged down one of the halls. She quickly followed them, trying to be as silent as possible. Hopefully, they would lead her to her friends.

Back in the main atrium, things had grown grim. Barry had long since run out of his preferred knives and was relying entirely on the sword he had taken and his hand-to-hand combat abilities. Kara and Al-Owal will still engaged in their duel, both occasionally using Shadows to shield themselves from the other's blows. Oliver and the al Ghuls were slowly being beaten back, towards the Lazarus Pit — a very dangerous position. If they fell back into the Pit, not only would they possibly be subjected to its mind-altering properties, but they would also be effectively cornered, unable to fight back. Waterlogged clothing, after all, was hardly anything other than an impediment.

Talia, who had avoided the fighting entirely and had been standing next to the atrium's entrance, couldn't help the smirk that flashed across her face. Finally. It was all coming together. Once they were all dead, all she had to do was to drag the bodies and display them to the army outside, with the Demon Ring slid upon her finger. Then she would have to burn them, of course — no need for someone to risk testing the idea that the Pit could truly revive the dead and all that.

Then, when they had all laid down their arms, she could focus on consolidating her rule. Minimal bloodshed was preferred, as ironic as that idea was, which had been the purpose of the second Lazarus Pit, one that provided an alternate power base that she could exploit. All she had to do was offer the use of its waters to any that desired her favor, her patronage, and she was sure she would have most of the League in hand.

Her father may have thought he suppressed the emotions of his chosen soldiers, but Talia knew better. Their inner selves, their sheer human nature, were all still there, just buried deep. All she had to do was bring it out, and the best way to do that was to offer something that would trigger the most prevalent human trait of all: greed. Humans were naturally greedy creatures, always seeking more and more than what they truly needed, never completely satisfied. Usually that was money or affection, but Talia knew that these commodities could not compare to what she was offering.

Time. Time was the most valuable commodity of all, because once it was lost it could never be regained. And with a second Lazarus Pit, Talia had all the time in the world to give to people and secure their loyalty. Of course, if what Al Sa-Her had mentioned before he departed for Nanda Parbat was true, then she needed to deal with that as well, but for now, the location of the second Lazarus Pit was all she needed for her goals.

There would be dissidents, of course. Those truly and unwaveringly loyal to her father and his dogs, but none were the warriors their masters were, so they should be easily rid of. Then there was Al-Owal; while he had aided her in taking over the League out of disgust for her father's recent laxness, she was sure he would find something about her to take umbrage with as well. Once a traitor, always a traitor, it was said, and she would have to eliminate him eventually, she was certain. She would have to wait until he had gotten the former Assassins under control — they would trust him, as another of their number even if he was a turncoat — but after that, it would be easy to slip a poison or arrange an accident of some kind.

Finish them. Her mind whispered viciously as her enemies were slowly being overwhelmed. Finish them! Victory was at the tip of her tongue, a heady taste that left her salivating for more. They need to kill one — just one! — Assassin, and the rest would falter at the fall of their comrade, and one by one they would all fall, and finally, finally, after all these decades of waiting, of all those years of scorn and exile, the Demon Ring would finally be hers.

So focused she was on waiting for her inevitable moment of triumph, she scarcely had any time to react as the stonework of the entrance behind her blew apart into pieces. The sheer force of the blow knocked her to the ground, landing her on her chest and eliciting a small groan of pain from her lips. Talia managed to turn her head long enough to catch a glimpse of the perpetrator, their visage becoming clearer as the dust settled.

The action, meanwhile, had completely frozen as the unexpected interloper, Mari McCabe, stepped into the atrium. For her part, Mari allowed the glow of the Gorilla to fade away, as she charged into the fray.

And just like that, the battle begun again.

We've just got one more chapter in the battle before we start on with the aftermath. And then, we build up for future events.

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