The Department of Extra-terrestrial Operations is a government sanctioned division set up exclusively to investigate and monitor the activity of aliens and otherworldly threats to the United States. It was set up in the wake of Superman's debut following the rise in alien threats to the planet. Formerly it was led by a man known as Hank Henshaw, until it was discovered he himself was an alien being known as John Jones, aka the Martian Manhunter. Though proving his dedication to protecting humanity, the man ultimately stepped down as Director putting his loyal lieutenant Agent Alex Danvers in charge of the department.
Alex stepped into the role effortlessly, now running the whole division with the loyalty of her agents and the expertise from her bio engineering degree and first-hand experience growing up with an alien. Her family adopted Kara Zor'El after she landed on earth and the two became sisters. It was rocky at first but now they were closer than ever.
Which is exactly why Supergirl charted a direct course from the accident site to the DEO headquarters situated in the centre of National City. A huge step up from their bunker five years ago and a clear sign of the governments trust in the department. A larger budget and leash meant more control, more manpower, and more resources to monitor not only earth but the wider galaxy thanks to the ingenuity of many of their agents. Right now Alex was keeping tabs on various targets on their watch list when she heard Kara swopping in through the large open balcony overlooking the city. The new director stepped away from her post by the huge oval table where she was observing the dozens of monitors tracking signals and feeding date to terminals surrounding her and approached the large set of stairs leading up to the upper level. Supergirl floated in through the open windows and touched down at the top of the stairs and immediately descended, her cape falling around her calves gracefully.
"Hey" Alex said, greeting her adoptive sister warmly as the young woman approached her. The two exchanged a familial look before the older Danvers sister embraced the kryptonian in a hug. "How was it?" she asked quietly.
"It was fine" Kara replied, accepting the show of support for a moment before gently shrugging her off. Alex was an inch shorter than Kara, dressed in her director's uniform which was a black skin tight outfit with straps and pockets and a holster for her trusty pistol taken from an alien armoury that fired energy bolts rather than bullets. With the variety of threats the DEO faced, Alex was more than comfortable utilising other alien weaponry in the pursuit of safeguarding the planet. Her brown hair was cut short and fell over the left side of her head, her narrow but soft features showing the concern she had been giving Kara since this morning. "I'm fine, it's done" Kara insisted.
"You sure?" she pressed, putting her hands on Kara's shoulders. "The community hospital was a big thing for you. This was a huge moment."
"And what happened wasn't my fault" Kara echoed. "I know, but… it was good. I'm good. The new building is open and that part of our past is behind us. We can move forward."
"So can you" Alex nodded.
Kara smiled. She appreciated her sister's concern. It was a relief knowing she was in her corner if she needed her. But right now she wasn't after her sister. She needed the director of the DEO. "After the unveiling, I stopped an armed robbery of a transport truck."
"So we've heard" a voice called out drawing the sister's attention back to the war room. A green skinned Coluan with bleached blonde hair stood a few feet away holding a tablet. His uniform was different to Alex's, the material as alien as he is. Because not only was Brainiac 5 not from Earth, he's also from the future. As a member of the Legion of Superheroes, he travelled back to the present to prevent a catastrophe and since stayed to assist Alex and Kara in protecting the earth. He was undoubtedly one of the smartest beings on the planet. "You're heroics have made it to the local news, especially your valiant efforts to rescue the civilians from the explosion in the financial district."
"What happened?" Alex asked her, her face suddenly turning to worry. No doubt she drew the same parallels Kara did, today of all days.
"It's fine. Everyone got out unharmed" Kara told her. She had left the contents of the truck alone to make sure, helped with stabilising the building before flying here. By then the police and confiscated everything the robbers had and the crate they were trying to steal. "But that's not why I'm here" she told them, turning to face her sister gravely informing her. "I saw what they were after. The truck was lead lined, there was this box… inside was the body of Metallo."
Alex's eyes widened, but then narrowed in confusion. "That's not possible. Metallo's body was destroyed. We had it destroyed."
"Are you sure it was Metallo you saw?" Brainiac asked. Not accusingly, just calmly double checking Kara's recollection.
"I'm sure. It was him" she insisted. "I was going to bring it with me, but then the police took passion of the crate and I had to go. But I swear, it was Metallo."
Brainiac folded his arms and hummed, thoughtfully considering the circumstance. "Intriguing. Why would common thieves target a civilian transport in order to steal the body of a dangerous android? After Corban's death, the body was scheduled for decommission." He looked at Supergirl, his eyes analysing her body noting her health. "Can I assume, since you are not suffering from any effects of kryptonite poisoning, that this body was deactivated?"
"There wasn't any kryptonite" Kara confirmed. It was the first thing she feared when she realised who she was staring at. Metallo used to be a human man named John Corban until he was converted into a cyborg by Cadmus, powered by kryptonite for the express purpose of killing Supergirl and her cousin. Eventually his body became too decayed from the radiation and he was converted into a robot, until the last of his humanity was gone and all that was left was the machine. Kara disabled it and removed the kryptonite, throwing it and the last of Cadmus's stockpile into the sun while the DEO disposed of the robot. But clearly something went wrong.
"I'll have to look into how Metallo could still be here in the city" Alex said, already formulating a trail of leads and questions in her head as she paced the room. "The DEO have strict procedures when it comes to destroying dangerous weapons like that. I'll need to make a call to the police department and examine the crate myself."
"You might want to look at the weapons the robbers used too" Kara noted. "I don't know who these men were, but they came very well equipped."
"Hmm, I saw the footage leaked to the internet" Brainy nodded, tapping his tablet to pull up the relevant footage. "An energy cannon, what appears to be a gravity field generator, crudely designed might I add…"
"Alien tech?" Alex queried.
"Possibly" he nodded. "I'll need to make a closer analysis."
"What about Metallo?" Kara asked, worried she might have to fight one of her more challenging villains again.
But Brainy looked less concerned. "If that was the body of the late John Corban you saw, then without a suitable power source it'll be unable to function. Unless they have access to kryptonite, the body will not be a threat."
"And we have all the remaining stockpiles of kryptonite accounted for, including what Lex had" Alex said, already sending emails from her phone to the relevant parties. Tracking the radiation signatures of kryptonite was one of the DEO's top priorities. There wasn't a stash anywhere in the city they didn't know about. She turned to see Kara's ashen face, returning to her side telling her "don't worry. We've got this."
Kara hoped she was right. She took a deep breath and nodded. Alex and Brainy could handle the Metallo stuff from here. "I should head back to Cacto" he said. "James needs me to write up my article for the grand opening. And I need to figure out what to put in it."
Alex smiled, thoughtfully offering "maybe try writing what today means to you. Don't mention Supergirl, but speak from the heart. That might help."
"Help me or my article?" Kara asked.
"Both" she said, embracing her sister again. Kara hugged her back, grateful for the support before she climbed the stairs once more and leapt out of the window and into the air. Alex turned back to Brainy, telling him "come on. We need to confiscate some equipment from the local police department."
###
Alex always hated this part of the job; strolling into the police department and basically snatching their case from their hands. But it was an occupational hazard she'd learnt to deal with throughout her career as she walked through the front doors waving her badge with Brainy and two special agents following behind her.
Fortunately, the captain of police was an old friend and had become well verse in this exchange. "I got your email Agent Danvers" Captain Maggie Sawyer said as she stepped out of her office to intercept them. "Taking another one of my cases?"
"Just want a look at your evidence lockup" Alex replied professionally.
"Is that right?" Captain Sawyer said, raising an eyebrow with her hands on her hips.
Alex kept her face neutral, knowing the woman was trying to bait her into a less professional conversation. The two of them dated a few years ago and she liked to poke fun at how many times the agent requested a look in her "evidence locker". Luckily there was no hard feelings and the separation was mutual, leaving them both with a healthy professional relationship.
Maggie broke into a smile, shrugging her shoulders as she led them through her precinct. "Just as well. Our tech people already gave the gear the suspects used a once over and they concluded it's not of this world. And we don't really have the resources to deal with all of that."
"Do we know who they are?" Alex asked following behind the captain.
"They aren't talking" she explained. "No hits on our database, maybe you can help us with that. Your email didn't mention anything about a prisoner transfer" she noted.
"for now we're only interested in the weapons they were arrested with" Brainy told her, his alien featured hidden behind a holographic disguise that made him look like a regular human male with dark hair. Many people, both civilian and police, still struggle to adjust being amongst aliens in their own city.
"What about the crate they tried to steal?" Alex queried as they were led into a corridor.
"Good question" Maggie said, glancing back at the director. "There were no plates on the truck carrying it and their driver absconded during the chaos. Right now I couldn't tell you where it came from or where it was delivering to."
"No ID in the truck at all?"
"None. No registration. No order forms. It doesn't belong to any moving company. And as for what's inside…" she paused, turning to look at the director gravely. "Honestly, I was expecting your call the moment I got the report."
"So you have no idea where this cargo came from or who was trying to steal it" Alex concluded. Maggie's expression spoke volumes to the seriousness of the situation. She was familiar with the carnage threats like Metallo could bring. She would want to get to the bottom of this just as much as Alex does.
"Unless you want to take the suspects with you, I'll keep pushing them for answers" Maggie said, resuming her walk to the lockup. "The only thing one of them did say was the explosion at the office building wasn't part of the plan. He was relieved nobody got hurt."
"A guy fires a dangerous alien weapon at a building as is relieved when nobody gets hurt?" Alex mused doubtfully.
"I don't think these guys were fully aware of what those weapons could do" Maggie told her. "My gut tells me these are just hired thugs. Someone hired them to steal the crate, and gave them the weapons to do it. It would stack with some rumours I've been hearing on the street" she added just as they entered the evidence locker.
A single young man in a patrol uniform stood up from his desk and ran up to address the captain. The room was large with several shelves lining the walls and staked in the centre, a large rolling garage door standing at the far end in front of a ramp, the grate closed. The captain approached the man and told him "these are the DEO agents I warned you were coming. Could you take them to the evidence from the armed robbery this morning?"
The man looked at the DEO agents, and then at his captain. "Sorry ma'am, but…um…" he replied, standing his ground nervously.
Captain Sawyer looked at the rookie sternly, asking "is there a problem officer?"
"Forgive me ma'am, but they already came for the evidence" he explained, gesturing to the empty space on the nearby bench were a few labelled tags now sat.
"What do you mean they already came?" Maggie asked as Brainy moved past her to examine the tags that once labelled the confiscated items.
"After I got the notification that special agents would be coming to inspect the evidence in question, a few guys from the DEO showed up just as you said. I showed them to the evidence, they confirmed it was what they were after and took everything with them. They had an SUV and signed the paperwork."
The young man's story suddenly raised some alarm bells as Maggie looked at Alex for confirmation. "Did they give you their names?" Alex asked him. The man hesitated, indicating now. She brought out her badge, showing it to him asking "did they show you any ID?"
"I don't understand…" he stammered, confusion etched onto his face as he looked to the captain.
"It's a simple question officer" she told him. "Did you see a badge or any form of warrant confirming who they were?"
The man turned pale as he realised they hadn't, not at any point. And it never occurred to him to ask for any. Brainy left the shelves and moved to the sliding grate, telling them "everything from the robbery is indeed gone. Including the crate storing the robot body."
"When did this happen?" Maggie asked, struggling to contain the surge of anger rising in her gut as she stared at the young officer.
"Like I said, not long after I got the email" he replied. "They left about half an hour ago." Everyone looked at each other and at the empty loading bay where the evidence they once stored had exited the premises. "Did I do something wrong?" the officer asked.
"Yes, my friend" Brainy said bluntly to the clueless police officer. "You have just assisted in the theft of several dangerous alien weapons from the police station."