The first few rays of sun were just beginning to appear over the horizon, dispelling the thin layer of fog blanketing the ground. Barbara shivered as the cold morning air hit her, made worse by the dew-covered grass that soaked the front of her costume as she lay prone on a small hill. Next to her lay Alex, his rifle propped up on its bipod and pointed down the hill, not at all unfazed by the chilly morning air. Thanks to the digital woodland pattern of his uniform breaking up his outline Barbara wouldn't have known he was there if he hadn't accompanied her up the hill.

The two overlooked a scrapyard a few hundred meters away, the chosen meeting point the New Era would be exchanging their hostage, Lena Luthor, to her brother Lex Luthor for his stash of kryptonite. The scrapyard resided between Gotham and Metropolis, well out of the way of any prying eyes. A rusted chain-link fence circled the perimeter and barely kept the mounds of garbage and wrecked vehicles from spilling out into the field surrounding the yard. A mile north of the yard was a small town barely visible through a tree line running south-east along a river, the only accessible route being a double-lane bridge.

Thanks to intel from Catwoman they had learned that the exchange would be taking place in within the hour and after a quick brief from the General they had drawn weapons and ammo from the armory and drove out to the small town before making their way to their respective positions on foot.

"Echo Two, Echo Four, this is Echo One. Are you in position?" Alex asked over the radio. On the other side of the yard Ivy and Harley laid in the same position. Once the enemy arrived the two would begin firing on their position to distract the bulk of the enemy forces and allow Alex and Barbara to move in and plant explosive charges on the containers of kryptonite before grabbing Lena. Harley had traded out her MP5 SMG for an M4 carbine with an under barrel M203 grenade launcher and was also armed with a Stinger missile in the event the New Era's Hind made an appearance and Barbara knew from experience that Harley was very skilled with rocket launchers.

"This is Echo Two, we're all set up here." Ivy replied shortly after.

"Roger. Five you good?"

"Skies are clear up here, waiting on you guys." Kara replied as she circled the airspace above the yard. While the others engaged the ground forces Kara was responsible for capturing Lex and the New Era's leadership. General Anderson had expressed that he didn't care if General Nelson, his Lieutenant, or Lex were killed or not, so long as they were removed from the fight. In his eyes if they could neutralize their leadership the New Era would fall apart.

"Roger. Alright, let's run through this again. Once the exchange is underway Echo's Two and Four will begin suppressive fire and distract the enemy. While that's going on myself and Echo Three will move in and plant charges on the shipment. By this time Watcher One-Five will be in the area and after the charges are blown we'll grab the Precious Cargo and bring her to LZ One, where One-Five will extract her. As all this is going on Echo Five will drop in and secure or destroy the High Value Targets. Once all our objectives are completed we'll withdraw across the bridge and back to the vehicle, where we'll exfiltrate back to Gotham."

It was a good, simple plan but there was a lot that could go wrong. They were by themselves out here and any QRF that could possibly come from Gotham or Metropolis was at least an hour away in both directions. Barbara didn't like that and had voiced her concerns but since she was just a PFC she was ultimately overruled by her higher ups. The reward of ending the New Era threat today greatly outweighed the risk involved.

Another half hour passed before a convoy of vehicles pulled into the yard from the northern road. They stopped in the center of the yard allowing New Era soldiers to hop out and establish a perimeter to keep out unwanted guests. Shortly afterwards a limousine flanked by black SUV's pulled in and parked several feet from the previous vehicles. As more people began to emerge and move around Alex sighted in with his IAR for a better view.

"Alright, I got eyes on Luthor in the limo and it looks like the New Era leadership are walking up now." He told Barbara before passing her the rifle to let her see.

Barbara looked through the ACOG sight and spotted the two just as Lex emerged from his limo and stood across from General Nelson and his Lieutenant. Both parties were flanked on either side by guards with assault rifles with more milling about around the parked vehicles. After the two parties exchanged words Nelson motioned to one of his soldiers and Lena was brought forth from one of the New Era trucks.

"Lena's out. If we're gonna move now's the time." Barbara informed Alex as she passed his rifle back.

"Got it. Echo Two, Echo Four begin distraction, over." Alex said into his radio. It wasn't even a second later before he and Barbara heard the "Thuump!" of Harley's grenade launcher from across the yard. The grenade spun through the air, striking Lex's limousine and detonating on impact, destroying the vehicle. The explosion was quickly followed up by bursts of gunfire from the hill and several soldiers from both sides were cut down before they realized what was happening and regrouped for a counter-attack. "That's our que, let's move!" Alex ordered as he jumped to his feet and took off down the hill.

Barbara quickly got up and grabbed the satchel of explosives before sprinting after him, catching up just as they hit the fence line. Alex took point as they skirted the fence and entered the yard behind the enemy forces. Once in the yard they ran towards the remains of Lex's convoy and located the crates of kryptonite, Alex covering Barbara as she went about setting the charges.

As she worked Alex spotted some New Era troops grab Lena and haul her away from the fighting and he quickly sighted in and put two rounds through their chests. "Those charges set yet?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Almost…Got it! We're good!" Barbara replied as she finished priming into the last charge.

"Awesome, let's grab Lena and blow this joint!" He shouted as he engaged a group of Soldiers that had heard his previous shots.

Barbara nodded and rushed over to where Lena laid on the ground and hauled her to her feet just as Alex blew the charges behind her. The blast pressure rocked them and hurt Barbara's ears but she quickly regained her focus and pushed Lena forward only to run straight into Lex, now in his power armor.

"Batgirl...Unhand my sister and I won't end you." Lex sneered as he leveled an arm canon at her, only to be distracted as Alex shot at him. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off Lex's armor and he turned his canon towards Alex and fired.

Alex's eyes widened as the shot flew towards him faster than he could evade but he was spared when Kara suddenly dropped from the sky and took the blast for him. Alex stared in awe as Kara stood unscathed between him and Lex. "Get Lena out of here, I'll deal with Lex." Kara shouted at Alex before leaping at the armored man.

"You heard her let's go!" Alex shouted as he regrouped with Barbara and led her and Lena away from the fight.

The three ran through the yard, carefully avoiding explosions and gunfire as they made their way out of the yard and into the nearby field that made up LZ One. Thankfully Watcher 1-5 was already waiting for them and Barbara quickly ushered Lena onboard. The Blackhawk then lifted into the air just as the New Era's Hind flew into the airspace and fired a rocket at the smaller craft.

1-5 quickly deployed its flares and the rocket exploded harmlessly in the air. Before the Hind could come around for another attack a missile was fired from the ground and struck the gunships fuselage, crippling its main rotor and sending it into a spiral before it crashed into a pile of garbage in the scrapyard.

"Nice shot Harley!" Alex cheered as he and Barbara rushed back to the yard to help Kara.

They arrived just as Kara delivered a powerful blow to Lex's chest, caving in the armor and knocking him to the ground where he stayed.

"Nice. Get him out of that suit and tie him up, we still gotta find Nelson and his Lieutenant." Alex ordered.

"Not if I find you first." A voice said from behind them. Alex whirled around to see Nelson and several New Era soldiers aiming their weapons at them. "You and your friends have become quite the nuisance, disrupting my operations in Gotham, destroying my site in Seattle, and now this. I must say, seeing such skill and determination almost gives me hope that we haven't lost our military prowess. Sadly, you are a minority and those in charge of you will bring you down along with the rest of the country."

"Right, cause attacking civilian targets and waging war on your own country is a great way of saving it, traitor..." Alex angrily shot back, leveling his weapon but holding fire until an opening presented itself. Nelson wasn't at all fazed by the rifle pointed his way and he paced back and forth casually as he spoke.

"I admit, civilian casualties are unfortunate but necessary. I want nothing more than to save this country, to bring us back to the leading the world, and if that means a few civilians get caught in the crossfire than so be it. Don't let my actions fool you, I love this country but we've become too reliant on the likes of her and those like her…" Nelson turned his gaze to Kara and sneered. "And we've become lazy because of it. We used to be strong, a force to be reckoned with. We defeated the Nazis, crushed Imperial Japan, drove back the Chinese, North Koreans, and NVA, outlasted the Soviets, and defeated the Iraqi's. We did that on our own! But now we can't even win the war in the Middle East because they won't let us do what we have to!" He shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Kara.

"That's insane! We haven't done anything to stop you from winning the war!" Kara protested angrily. The League had never done anything to intentionally impede the war, only asking for a reduction in collateral damage and more thorough rules of engagement to protect people.

"Really? How many Americans alone have died because of the fighting? Fighting that could have been prevented if we had just leveled the area like we did in wars past? Can you honestly stand there and say that you and your League wouldn't take arms against the United States if we had simply nuked Iraq or Afghanistan like we did Japan?"

Kara's silence was more than enough of an answer.

"You heroes say that you want to bring peace and justice to the world but you prevent us from doing it on our own and our government just rolls over and lets you do as you please. No more. Once you, your friends, and all the politicians that have failed this country are out of the picture I can bring about the peace you claim to be fighting for. The United States will be the ultimate military power and we will lead the world into a peace never seen before in the history of man!"

"Ruling through fear isn't peace and no single nation should have the power to rule the others. I understand wanting to end the war but this isn't the way and we will stop you." Alex declared defiantly.

"Perhaps, but not today…" Nelson sneered as two more Hinds rose from behind the tree line. Alex and his friends scattered as one Hind fired a rocket at them while the other went after Watcher 1-5, catching up to the Blackhawk and firing a rocket at it. The rocket struck the tail rotor and sent the helicopter into a death spiral as Captain Thomas and Lieutenant Sanders desperately tried to maintain control of the craft, but it was pointless. The craft rapidly lost altitude and disappeared over the tree line and crashed into the city. "My Lieutenant and her men are already in route to that crash, you may want to get there before she does…" Nelson said as he and his soldiers drove off in their vehicles.

…

Captain Thomas groaned as he opened his eyes. The crash had been rough to say the least, after losing their tail rotor they had rapidly descended towards the small city north of the scrapyard. The helicopter had dived nose first into a plaza and had rolled onto its left side as it came screeching to a halt, the main rotors sheering off as they smashed into the dirt road. The troop compartment was a mess, miscellaneous items were thrown about and the miniguns barrels were bent beyond recognition.

The Captain checked himself over to find that his right leg was broken but other than that he was fine. He looked over to his copilot to see if she was alright but when he did he discovered that she was dead, her neck broken in the crash. There wasn't time to mourn however and he needed to know if the others in the back were alright.

"Medina! You alright back there!?" He shouted back.

"Good Sir, Lena's fine too!" The Chief Warrant Officer replied. "What about you guys!"

"My legs broke and Sanders is dead!"

"Fuck! Alright, Westbrook and his guys will come for us we just gotta hold out until they get here!" Medina replied as he readied his sidearm.

"What about me, I'm not a Soldier!?" Lena panicked.

"Here, take this…use it if you have too but stay down!" Captain Thomas told her as he passed Sander's sidearm back to her. Lena took the gun and held it close to her chest as she moved out of Medina's way.

It wasn't long before the New Era troops swooped in and began firing at the downed Blackhawk. Most of the bullets ricocheted off the hull and the crew did their best to hold of the troops with their sidearms but it wouldn't be long before they were overrun.

Medina fired his pistol at a Trooper that got to close, dropping the man as his pistols slide locked to the rear indicating he'd ran out of ammunition. He quickly ejected the spent magazine and fumbled for a replacement, slapping it home and releasing the slide to chamber a new round. The crowd of troopers outside was growing fast and he knew he'd run out of ammunition before he could shoot them all. He managed to fire off two more shots before one of the troopers got lucky and landed a round in Medina's forehead, killing the CWO instantly. Lena screamed in fright as Medina's body crumpled to the deck of the Blackhawk next to her. In her panic Lena lost her grip on her pistol and it flew out the side of the helicopter, landing in the dirt out of arms reach.

"Medina!" Captain Thomas shouted angrily. The last of his crew had just died leaving him alone to defend Lena against a horde of enemy Soldiers. He fired the last of his bullets before his gun clicked empty. Without any ammunition left he sighed in resignation and dropped the useless weapon. Seeing that the crew had stopped firing the New Era troops advanced on the Blackhawk, surrounding it completely. Captain Thomas looked across the cabin at Lena and shook his head sadly. "I'm so sorry…"

Lena cried as a trooper entered the cabin and shot the Captain before more reached in and dragged her out onto the street. She kicked and screamed at the Soldiers as they dragged her until finally they had enough and one of them knocked her on the head with his rifle. Her vision now blurry with tears she whimpered as the troops dumped her in front of a pair of boots. Lena looked up and barely made out the Lieutenant standing above her but her image was quickly replaced with the muzzle of a pistol.

The last thing Lena Luthor saw was a bright flash and then nothing…

…

By the time Alex and company arrived in the city the New Era had already withdrawn. The street the Blackhawk went down in was littered with rubble, debris, and spent shell casings. The Blackhawk itself was little more than a crumpled metal wreck that had been riddled with bulletholes.

Though the New Era had withdrawn the Marines weren't the first to reach the crash site, civilians from the city were already hanging around and rummaging through the wreck for salvage.

Alex glared angrily and grabbed the first civilian he could reach and threw him to the ground, gaining the others attention. "I believe that belongs to me..." He snarled at the scavengers holding the Blackhawk's equipment. "Get the fuck away!" He shouted, firing a round from his rifle into the dirt for emphasis. The scavengers dropped whatever they were holding and ran before Alex shot them next.

With the streets now clear Alex spotted Lena's body first and rushed to her side, kneeling down to check her over only to find a single bullet wound in her head, her eyes still open in fright. The others ran over to help but Alex looked over his shoulder and shook his head as he closed Lena's eyes with his hand.

"Go check the bird…" He ordered but he already knew what they would find.

Barbara was the first to reach the downed Blackhawk but one glance inside was all she needed to know that the crew had not survived. Their bodies lay slumped and broken where they fell, discarded weapons and casings littered the deck, all covered in a thin pool of blood.

"Anything...?" Harley asked hopefully from behind her and Barbara shook her head in the same manner Alex had. Harley frowned sadly and wandered away to tell Alex.

"Kara, help me move them." Barbara asked the Kryptonian after she dropped Lex against the sidewalk. Together the two carefully pulled the crews bodies out and laid them as gently as they could outside the helicopter. Barbara hadn't known them that well, but they had always been nice to her and saved her and her friends lives before so she could at least give them some dignity.

"Overlord, this is Echo One. Watcher 1-5 and Precious Cargo are KIA. One High Value Target in custody, objectives destroyed, how copy?" Alex said into the radio as he brought Lena over and laid her next to the crew. There was a good solid minute before General Anderson responded, most likely he was having trouble processing what Alex had just told him and had to regain his composure.

"Overlord copies all…standby for CASEVAC, over."

"Roger…"

…Mission Complete…