The DEO Head-Quarters held many training rooms depending on the skills agents were looking to hone. There was a shooting range, martial arts dojo and a testing area for experimental gadgets or weaponry. There was also a separate training area built specifically for metahumans, the walls made more durable to withstand superpowers with training dummies and automated targets available for various training programs. Supergirl and her friends has used this training room many times and Brainy helped design the training programs and automated targets tailored to their powers. It was this room Nia took herself to in order to blow off some steam and clear her head, sealing the room and tapping the keypad activating one of the twelve training programs Brainy designed for her. She beat up a few dummies, dodged some stun darts from the drones and practiced her astral projections creating constructs to defend herself or swat them out of the air. She finished the program in under five minutes, a new personal best.
She stood in the middle of the room heaving from exertion, but not as much as she was hoping. Her problems wouldn't go away, not for a moment. She knew Brainy was right, training wasn't what she needed right now. She needed answers, she was just reluctant to look for them. But she owed it to Kara, and to Maxwell, to figure out the truth. So with a heavy heart she sat down in the middle of the room and closed her eyes. She went through some of the breathing exercises Jon taught her to calm her mind and relax her body. She didn't like meditating much these days, but she needed another look at the dream that had been haunting her, searching for a clue she may have missed.
Except this time the dream eluded her, escaping her grasp whenever she reached for it. She took another deep breath and tried again, willing the vision to show itself. But each time she got close it vanished, like she was chasing it through a forest losing sight of it at each turn. She concentrated, forcing it to emerge until she gave up and opened her eyes. She could hear Jon's voice warning her about forcing the visions to come, reminding her how her fears and doubt will cloud her dreams. She made herself pause and breath slowly, slowly inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. After a few minutes she tried again, keeping herself calm and letting her mind go blank. She played the lullaby her grandmother used to sing to her, something from her home planet that always put her to sleep. She smiled at the memory, the melancholy of her passing washing over her. The song overtook everything until she was drifting into a meditative state at the edge of consciousness.
The dream of Supergirl still didn't return. But in its place was a series of events warning of great danger that made Dreamer's eyes snap open in alarm. Unlike the vison that was purposely vague, this vision was quite clear in its urgency, prompting Nia to leap to her feet and sprint out of the training room to find Brainy.
That evening just after the sun dipped below the horizon, the bulky middle-aged mercenary looked out over the city leaning against the truck parked on the side of the road. He was a white Caucasian, bald with a clean shaven jaw, tattoos depicting his service in the marines emblazoned on his right shoulder hidden beneath the jacket he was wearing, the image of his call sign Eagle tattooed underneath. He watched the city dispassionately rolling the remote in his hand. His fingers always got fidgety before a mission, the anticipation kick starting his adrenaline. Behind him the driver of the truck sat behind the wheel patiently, tapping the steering wheel in time with a ticking clock. The mercenary looked at his watch, the digital counter flipping to the exact hour. It was time, he thought as he brought up the remote, watching the city coldly as he flipped open the cap and pushed the button.
An explosion went off in the distance, the noise travelling over the landscape alerting the whole area. The bald man turned and climbed into the seat next to the driver, who turned the ignition starting the vehicle. They sat and waited, peering at their rear view mirror at the soldiers waiting in the back, one of them leaning out of the back with a pair of binoculars. The bomb they rigged to that taxi cab went off flawlessly, no doubt killed the driver and anyone else nearby at the time. If they got the routes correct it should've been parked at the depot beside an overpass, the fallout threatening to collapse the road and plunge more cars to their deaths. Plenty of carnage to draw in National City's fabled protector. Sure enough, as the man looked out the side mirror and saw the smoke in the distance, he spotted a blur of motion arcing in its direction. Seconds later the lookout in the back rapped on the side of the truck, signalling it was time to peel away. Everyone put their game faces on. It was go time.
The drive to the secluded warehouse outside the city was short, the route plotted out ahead of time as the small convoy drove in silence across the dirt road. The vehicle behind the truck peeled out onto a right turn following another path around the back just as Eagle ordered. He stared out the window though a focused gaze as they approached the front gate slowly, examining the warehouse in front of them. It was a large structure with its own power generator, a storage facility for off the books property, spotlights illuminating the entire property and surrounding area. The L-Corp logo was stamped on the sign attached to the electric fence by the front gate where a security booth resided. The car park was small with only two trucks parked inside along with a handful of vehicles. Their Intel suggested the security would be minimal but formidable, along with the defensive countermeasures in place. He counted at least three security cameras tracking their approach as they drifted slowly up to the security checkpoint. He rapped gentle on the wall behind him, a signal to their men in the back.
The security guard watched the truck approach slowly, stepping cautiously out of his booth with his hand on the pistol in his hip, the company logo on his uniform. He eyed the driver holding up his hand, halting their progress twelve feet from the entrance. The driver stopped and pulled the handbrake but kept the engine running. He showed no concern as the guard walked up to them shining a flashlight at their windscreen. "This is private property" he announced when he came to their window, shining his light at the two men in the cabin looking at them suspiciously. "Please state your business here or I'll have to ask you to turn around." Neither of the men spoke as they stared back at him, an older gentlemen possibly with thirty years on the job. He examined them carefully noting their calm and callous demeanour, taking a careful step back reaching for his radio. They made no move to stop him as he kept his flashlight on them.
At that moment the spotlights cut out sending the property into darkness. The guard whipped his head back seeing the power go out, his light the only thing illuminating the truck apart from the headlights. That left plenty of shadows for the two soldiers from the back of the truck to sneak into and catch the gentlemen by surprise. Under Eagle's watchful eye the guard was shot in the temple by a silenced pistol before collapsing limply into the soldier's arms, the flashlight caught by their skilled reflexes and turned off. The man died without a sound and was carried back to the booth in silence. Moments later the gate slid open, the back-up generator slowly bringing the power back online just as predicted. The truck rolled inside quietly, the headlights switched off drifting into the dark facility.
The Intel about the back-up generator proved correct, the systems took a specific order of time to reengage. That gave the men a small window to infiltrate the facility before the security measure came back. The truck pulled up and everyone leap out to the ground carrying a limited arsenal, handguns and a couple of rifles. This wasn't an armed assault so they travelled light, leaving room for the backpacks with lock picks, scanners and night vision goggles. Eagle led the men to the front entrance clocking two more security guards posted by the door. With a single hand signal they were dispatched silently. He looked up at the cameras, which remained as immobile as the lights concluding power hadn't returned to the security desk yet. He nodded to the door, one of his comrades rushing ahead to cut the lock and open it for them. They filed inside in single file, guns ready all with silencers. Getting in seemed almost child's play, he noted.
Inside they regrouped with the second team, the crew from the jeep who peeled around the back to know out the power and break inside ahead of the rest. They confirmed the security room was secure, meaning the cameras were inoperable. Eagle ordered them to move to their primary target, his eyes open for any of those defensive measures he'd been warned about. They reached the main storage area and ducked inside, keeping to the shadows circling the room. The place was empty, crates lining the walls. Above them balconies overlooked the area leading to more booths and offices, cranes hanging silently overhead. Eagle's eyes fell onto the back of the warehouse cordoned off by plastic sheets obscuring the contents. He marched forward confidently hearing the faint sound of two more silenced bullets being fired. He threw the plastic aside and found the dormant suits standing in rows in the darkness, twelve copies of the Samaritan battle suit waiting for attention. Their tip off had been accurate.
He scanned the room as his men spread out the secure the space, the rolling doors sliding open to let the truck reverse inside along with one of the delivery trucks parked outside. His men already began preparations to load the suits into the back without need for instruction. But as Eagle examined the space it struck him how easy it was to infiltrate this facility. The Intel had warned off potent defensive countermeasures with an external power supply separate to the main generator, and yet none of it seemed to be functional. And the formidable security and men posted was meant to be more than double what they'd already come across. Something's not right he thought, marching over to the leader of the second squad who snuck in the back. "How many posted outside?" he asked quietly.
"Two" the soldier replied.
"How many in the security room?"
"One."
"And how many in this room on patrol?" he asked.
The man glanced around the space at how empty it was. "Two guards posted at the side entrances. Otherwise, nothing" he replied.
The men locked gazes. They realised there was something off. It was a skeleton crew, here just for appearances. Eagle walked over to the back of the warehouse coordinating with the men about to dismantle them, signalling them to hold. He examined the technology. This was the genuine article, they all were. But they were virtually unguarded. Or bait he thought.
The room was suddenly lit up by bright strobe lights as a siren blared, two heavy thick doors springing shut across the loading entrance. All the soldiers stared in surprise as they were sealed inside while teams of security personnel flooded across the balconies above them as if out of nowhere. Turrets sprang from the roof and walls aimed down at the militia armed and ready with laser sights directed in their direction. The bald man and a handful of his men ducked between the rows of Samaritan suits out of sight while the rest all raised their guns towards the newcomers, their assault rifles pointed down ordering them to stay where they were.
Eagle fumed but respected the ingenuity. They drew them into the perfect ambush. Fortunately the twelve suits were under cover and hide a few of them from view. He unzipped his jacket and removed his backpack and weapons. "Extraction Beta" he whispered to his men, who all nodded and followed along. They climbed out of their combat fatigues and revealed the swimsuits beneath, a hasty alternative to the Nano weave suits Maxwell wore. They each chose a suit and found the release handle, pulling out a handheld device and fixing it to the inside of the suit before carefully and quickly climbing inside.
On the balcony Lena Luthor stepped out of her observation platform and looked down at the militia caught inside her facility. She had a grim expression as she glared at each of them as they stared up at her security forces surrounding them. "Drop your weapons" she commanded, her voice cold and calculated. "This facility's defences are once again operational and they will open fire if you make any sudden moves. The police have already been notified and are waiting outside so there is nowhere for you to go. And those doors are twelve inches thick made out of a metal not of this world. You won't be shooting your way out." The men downstairs all looked at her in bewilderment, wondering how she knew they would be here. She cast a glance up to an opposite balcony where Dreamer and Brainy were watching, a look of relief on the young woman's face.
Her dream had warned her about this, a vision of the theft clear as day and the time of the incident. She told Brainy about it who took the warning to Alex and Lena. Unfortunately Lena didn't have the time to move the suits before the assault, so Alex suggested to set the trap instead. Lena was able to pull as many of her people from shift as she could, though it meant sacrificing a few good men and woman in order to sell the illusion. Alex convinced her trained mercenaries would know something was wrong if nobody was on guard. They'd been watching in secret with Lena's security team and some DEO agents while Alex coordinated with the police outside to surround the property. Kara found out about the theft and volunteered to help. But then they discovered their answer to keep Supergirl busy was the bomb so Nia convinced her they could handle it and they'd signal if she was needed. Kara raced off to help with the explosion leaving them to lay in wait. Luckily it went off without a hitch, though Lena was furious for every employee who died because of it. Even now she was resisting the urge to set her turrets to rip them apart where they stood.
The militia all stared up at them with conflicted postures. They could tell they were outmatched but they were too professional to just give up. Brainy calculated the odds of a shootout and warned Dreamer to be ready. She took a confident breath. She was sure she could disarm almost all of them without needing anymore to die. But then the sound of a machine powering up pulled their attention to the back of the warehouse and her breath caught in her throat. "Oh no" she squeaked, looking at Brainy in alarm.
It was the only possibility they hadn't accounted for.
Lena turned her head and peered through the plastic sheets and found four of the suits powering up, their armour plates locking shut as the helmets lifted their gaze. She went pale barking orders to her teams "open fire!" they complied immediately, raining bullets down on the suits stepping out of their positions into the room.
Eagle looked up at them through the viewport hovering in front of him, diagnostics and analysis streaming into his HUD as he adjusted to the controls. He'd never piloted a contraption like this before but the capabilities were clear to him as bullets bounced off his armour. He found weapon systems and switched to a railgun, swinging his left hand up to cut through the nearest balcony scattering or killing guards and his aim drifted wildly. He hissed in discomfort. Controlling this would take some practice. "All of you, extraction Beta!" he shouted, his voice coming out distorted through the suits microphone.
His men all sprinted behind him and ducked into the rows of suits, following his lead and removing their weapons and jackets to climb into the rest. There was only twelve so a handful lay down covering fire at the men shooting back at them. They all planted the same devices on the suits before climbing inside, enclosing themselves into the armour powering them up as the blue LEDs turned red.
Up above Dreamer watched the firefight begin and opted to get involved. She jumped from the balcony and landed in the middle of the warehouse, taking a few seconds to grab her bearing before sprinting for the remaining militia men. They adjusted their aim but she sidesteps them and whipped out her astral lasso disarming them. She put her fighting skills to use and engaged the militia, tripping them over and blasting them with astral energy. Across the room Brainy also hopped down to the lower level to engage the militia, effortlessly disarming their guns and dispatching them with, as he would say, "physics". Between him and Dreamer the militia members were rendered unconscious and out of action.
For those in the suits, Lena raced into the observation room and dived onto her computer. She expected the remote possibility they might try to activate the suits and thus made sure her backdoor access to the systems was available to her. "Like hell I'm letting you walk out of here with my property" she muttered as she hacked into the mainframe and initiated the shutdown protocol just like she did with Maxwell. But this time she found her back door blocked as her computer reported back ACCESS RESTRICTED. "What?" she gasped, typing in more commands but getting the same result? She brought up the command windows and analysed the coding only to see it being rewritten before her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me!" she cried, tracking the sources to the computer spikes planted in each of the suits.
Down below Dreamer and Brainy looked at the suits as all twelve of them now powered up and lumbered forward. "Lena, we need you to shut down the Samaritan suits" Brainy reported.
"I can't" she radioed back frantically. "I've been locked out. They've installed a virus in each of the computer systems that's blocking my access. It's rewriting Lex's old code. I can't control them."
Brainy looked discouraged as he turned to Dreamer, who took another confident breath. "We'll handle it" she said, stepping forward blocking their exit. Brainy joined her, standing by her side confidently.
Eagle scanned the assailants around him using the heads-up display, his on-board computer reading off his systems and even waning him of Lena's attempt to hack into it. He scoffed at her attempt as the virus locked her out giving him total control. He looked ahead at the large doors past to two superheroes block them, the scanner confirming which material Luthor had employed. "We need to get through those doors" he muttered into his microphone speaking to his men.
"Analysing structural material" the computer chimed back at him, surprising the bald man as his HUD scanned the doors and ran an analysis. "Elements identified. Calculating suitable countermeasure" it reported, a progress bar slowing filling off to his right. Eagle nodded. He would wait a few minutes.
The suits all turned their attention to the heroes as Dreamer and Brainy stood their ground, waiting for them to make the next move. The next move was one of the three Samaritans raising his right arm and firing an energy cannon, which the two of them dodged by leaping out of the way. Brainy ducked behind a crate analysing the situation while Dreamer blasted them with astral projectiles, rings of energy exploding across their chests sending them stumbling back. Lean's turrets came to life and fired rounds down upon them. Pinning them down in the warehouse. Some of the Samaritans found the rockets in their suits and fired them at the turrets, many missing. One exploded showering sparks over the floor. "Everyone's mobilised out here, what's going on?" Alex's voice asked over Brainy's earpiece as he calmly ducked behind cover avoiding more railguns.
"Everything's under control" he reported. "We'll keep them trapped in here until we find a way to shut down their battle suits."
"Should I come back? I can be there in a few seconds" Kara's voice interjected.
"Negative. We already know the suits are programed with protocols to counter Supergirl's abilities" Lena warned.
"Lena is correct. Stay outside in case any of them break the perimeter" Brainy agreed. "We'll handle the situation in here." He cut off the connection taking a breath. He didn't want them to sense the concern he was already sharing.
Dreamer proved fast and nimble as they tried to get a lock on her, ducking under their swipes and hitting back with construct hammers and lances. She managed to slip under the defences of one of them and pierced his suit under the armpit, disabling his left arm momentarily. It retaliated with a backhand that caught her shoulder and sent her tumbling across the floor. She cried out in pain when she collided with the crate, drawing Brainy's attention seeing her on the ground with an energy cannon being aimed at her. He moved instinctively, reacting with emotion rather than logic, a rare occurrence for Brainiac Five. He ripped a piece of metal from the fallen balcony and sprinted towards them, determination in his eyes and he roared across the room "LEROY JENKINS!" The absurd battle cry caught the attention of the Samaritan long enough to lower the weapon of its cannon, it's helmet turning towards Brainy as he jumped of a box and leapt onto it's back slamming the metal shuck into a well-placed chink in its armour. The suit sparked as it pierced a vital circuit, the machine shuddering in place giving both Brainy and Dreamer time to get out of the way before two of Lena's turrets unloaded into it breaking its defences. It rattled and crumpled to the floor exploding with sparks and bolts before falling still, its occupant incapacitated inside.
Nia stood up and turned to her boyfriend with a mix of pride and disappointment. "Leroy Jenkins?"
Brainy looked at her. "It seemed appropriate" he explained.
She shook her head in disappointment.
Eagle watched his comrade fall before him, his computer systems linking with the remnants of his cataloguing his life signs before they faded. He remained disconnected as he shifted his gaze to the superheroes. His computer still needed time to finish analysing the door for a weakness. He glared at the girl in blue and silver, his HUD detecting her as a point of interest. "Target identified" his computer reported, scanning the girl and bringing up a folder of information from its on-board database. "Subject 2, code named Dreamer, vigilante. Projected abilities: energy projection and manipulation. Countermeasure protocol available."
Eagle smiled. "Activate protocol" he ordered.
The suit dug its heels in as Dreamer advanced upon it, unaware of its shift in protocol as she threw her fists forward and unleashed a torrent of astral rings at it. Its systems aligned and shielded the armour from the blast, the energy dissipating across its metal harmlessly. Nia's eyes narrowed in confusion at the sudden shift, rushing forward closing the gap instead. She leapt off the ground summoning a hammer from blue energy smacking it across the helmet, but it raised its arm to block it with a force field that dissolved the construct. "What the hell?" she muttered staring at her empty hands.
Brainy saw this and his eyes widened in realisation. "Dreamer, fall back!" he shouted.
She heard his cry and started to back away, but the suit held out its left hand and as five discs sprang from his fingers and launched toward her. She raised her arms creating a field to block them but them sailed around her harmlessly latching to the floor instead. She looked down as they formed a circle around her, her danger sense going off too late as she was stuck with a violet electrical charge from all five conduits. She screamed in pain as electricity ripped through her body, falling to her knees unable to concentrate on anything but the pain.
"Nia!" Brainy screamed, sprinting towards her as fast as he could. The Samaritans formed up behind the leader, who stepped over the Dreamer intercepting the green skinned alien firing his energy cannon at his feet. The concussion explosion threw Brainy through the air and crashing into a wooden crate where he sat stunned for another Samaritan to attach a grappling hook to the balcony above and rip the scaffold down upon him. "Brainy! Nia screamed, reaching out to him as he was buried under the metal and wood. She tried to get up but the electromagnetic restraints held her down with its high voltage charge, electrocuting the girl until she could barely speak.
The Samaritan's looked down at her, contemplating letting her live, the last defensive turret falling to the floor destroyed. Eagle made the decision for them. She wasn't a threat any longer. The computer pinged revealing the analysis was complete, the read out of the material, weak point and suggested projectile brought up before him. "Focus all fire on the target" he ordered, sending them a ping and taking aim. The other ten suits followed his lead, charging the pulse cannon in their right arms. "Fire."
The heavy thick doors exploded outwards terrifying the police officer and DEO agents waiting outside, fire raining over their heads from the energy discharge. Alex ducked behind a car raising her weapon, peering through the smoke at the shapes lumbering outwards them. "Stay where you are" she shouted. "we have you surrounded!" they didn't care as rail guns ripped through the police vehicles, killing a dozen police officers and agents while every dover for cover. Alex swore under her breath pulling out her signal watch, tapping the button calling for backup.
Eagle watched the police scatter as he let his men deal with them, engaging the suits flight functions. With no hesitation he activated the thrusters, the suit lifting him into the air as he men followed, taking off into the night sky rocketing over the police men's heads. Ahead of them Eagle saw movement, a figure darting in front of them with her cape billowing behind her. Through the viewport he saw Supergirl's glare as she stood in their way. He fired a series of rockets at her, triggering them to explode in proximate. They did no damage, but they released a blinding flare that dazzled her vision allowing all eleven of them to slip by. There would be time to engage the kryptonian.
Kara her head coughing from the smoke. She wasn't expecting flares. She blinked away the bright spots and prepared to give chase to them until she heard Dreamers cries of pain. She glanced back at the facility, seeing the carnage left in their wake. People were hurt. They needed her help. Nia needed her help. She hesitated in the air, looking at the eleven Samaritan suits escaping into the sky. She swallowed her frustration and flew towards the facility. They'll have to find them later.
She hovered over the property and made a quick survey of the damage. Too many people had died, more were injured. The explosion left a fire slowly spreading towards those incapacitated. She took a breath and used it to blow out the fire, dropping to the ground scanning the outside. Alex met her gaze and gave her the thumbs up, so she ducked inside. She found Dreamer contorting in agony in a cage of electricity, immediately rushing to her side examining the discs. She opted for a thunderclap, smacking her hands together sending the concussion wave at them shattering them. Dreamer collapsed onto her hands and knees gasping for breath with tears falling down her cheeks. "Brainy" she wheezed, pointing to the crate where he was buried. Kara began digging, using her x-ray vision to find him and pull him out. He groaned with discomfort from a dislocated shoulder but was otherwise alright. She stumbled to Nia falling to her side, their foreheads touching.
"Lena!" Kara called. The woman appeared in the window of the observation room, giving a nod signalling she was unharmed. She looked around at the wrecked room looking for more injured, but nobody else was in immediate danger. Alex joined her inside examining the chaos, reluctantly putting her gun away as her men rounded up the remaining militia men. "They got away" Kara reported. She nodded, sharing Kara's feeling about it.
"I'm sorry" Dreamer muttered distraught. "I tried… we tried…"
"I know" Kara said shushing her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. She didn't blame Nia for this, she was the one who warned them. They all failed to stop eleven powerful battle suits from being stolen.