"…And that's the story of how we found Daniels passed out half naked in a portashitter with a stack of pornos in the middle of the night." Alex finished retelling one of his tales from Afghanistan. Harley had come up with the idea to go on a double date with Barbara and Kara while they waited for the Division to arrive, which is how they found themselves at a café in the theatre district.
"God damn, dude musta really had to rub one out, causing all that trouble an all." Harley replied humorously.
"Hey man, there aint much to do out there other than eat, sleep, and beat off in a portashitter. But yeah, Staff Sergeant made us burn all the pornos after that, fuckin asshole…" Alex grumbled.
"Um, as interesting as that story was Alex I don't think the other guests appreciated it so much…" Kara informed him, pointing out how the other patrons were shooting dirty looks in their direction.
"Pfft, pussies…" Alex disregarded them with a wave of his hand before turning back to his friends. "But I guess you're right." He sighed before Harley clapped her hands together and grinned at Kara.
"But, since we're on the subject of naughty things…" She leaned forward, resting her chin on the palms of her hands and smirked. "Babsy help you lose your V-card yet?"
Barbara spat out the juice she'd been drinking and began coughing as Alex slapped his forehead but couldn't help the amused grin as he watched Kara's face flush with embarrassment as she looked back between Harley and an equally stunned Barbara.
"Wha…I…we…NO!" Kara hissed back as she struggled to compose herself.
"Aw, why not? I mean have you even seen your girlfriend?" Harley asked dumbfounded. "Like, don't take this the wrong way or anything but I totally would."
"You got a thing for redheads don't you Harls?" Alex quirked an eyebrow up at her.
"Huh, suppose I do…" Harley muttered to herself.
"If I wake up with red hair tomorrow morning I'm throwing out all your microwave pizzas." He replied with a laugh before turning back to his friends. "And don't listen to her, it'll happen when it happens. Believe me that's one thing you don't wanna rush." He told them.
"Thanks Alex. It's not like I haven't thought about it, but with everything going on I didn't think it was an appropriate time to take that step in our relationship." Kara explained, more to Barbara than to anyone else.
"No, it's my fault. I've been having so many personnel issues to work through recently that I haven't been putting much effort into our relationship and I'm so sorry for that Kara." Barbara apologized quietly, making brief eye contact with Kara.
Alex frowned as he studied his friend, noticing that she was much less cheery than she had been when they had first met. Thankfully since she had started staying with Ivy she seemed to have accepted what happened in Slaughter Swamp, but he suspected that she was just putting on a brave face for the rest of them.
"You got nothing to be sorry for Barbara, we all have our demons and you're strong enough to fight whatever's haunting you." He assured her. "Just don't try to drown them in alcohol like I do." Alex smiled.
Barbara chuckled quietly at the joke before smiling. "Yeah, I haven't gotten to that point yet, but you guys don't need to worry about me, I'm fine, better than fine actually. I think that all the anger and other built up emotions I'd gathered over the years were finally released when I pulled that trigger. It's like you said Alex, I didn't enjoy it, but that soldier tried to hurt Kara…" She trailed off as she took Kara's hand and smiled at her lovingly.
"Awww, you two are so cute together!" Harley exclaimed cheerily.
Alex was about to agree when he noticed Kara's head perk up as if she was hearing something. "Guys, somethings wrong…" She warned as she scooted out of the booth and made for the door.
"The hell is that about?" Alex asked but he only got shrugs from the others before they all followed Kara outside into freshly fallen snow. They found her standing on the sidewalk gazing down the street towards downtown. Alex walked up beside her and nodded towards the direction she was looking. "What's up?"
"You don't hear that?" She asked quietly.
Alex listened for a second but shrugged when he couldn't hear anything above the usual hustle and bustle of the city. "I don't hear anything. What are you...?" He began to ask as an explosion blew out the side of one of the buildings, echoing towards them and startling the crowds of people around them.
"THAT!" Kara shouted before quickly ducking into an alley to strip down into her uniform as Alex instinctively drew his pistol and searched for hostiles.
After the initial explosion several more rang out across the city followed by bursts of gunfire as the Police and National Guard responded to the blasts. Alex was in the process of ushering civilians towards safety with Barbara when Harley suddenly tackled them to the ground. "What the hell!?" Alex shouted just as machinegun fire riddled the wall behind where he and Barbara had been standing. Looking up he saw a Technical manned by gang members had rolled up. The three of them got up and dove for cover behind their SUV and started returning fire with their pistols to little effect as the Technical's machinegun shredded the vehicle.
"This aint working!" Harley shouted over the gunfire as she reloaded.
"I know that! Any ideas Bab's!?" Alex asked after emptying another magazine into the Technical.
"Kara's got it!" Barbara replied quickly, pointing over to the alley where Kara stood in her Supergirl suit.
Kara didn't waste another second before darting forward, grabbing the barrel of the Technical's machinegun and bending it upward before punching the gunner off the bed. The driver and passenger shouted in fear as they desperately tried to shoot out the windows at Kara but as usual their bullets bounced harmlessly off of her. Kara hopped in front of the vehicle and slammed her fists down on the hood, smashing the engine before placing her boot on the front bumper and kicking the totaled vehicle into the side of the closest building. With the threat neutralized Alex and the others broke cover and joined Kara on the street after making sure the area was clear.
"Nice work Kara!" Alex cheered before more gunshots echoed in the distance.
"No problem, but I don't think we should stay here." Kara replied worriedly.
"Agreed, but it looks like we're walking." Alex replied as he pointed towards their SUV which had been shot full of holes. "We'll had back to the armory and gear up. Barbara, I need you to hop on a radio and get in contact with General Anderson and the Division as soon as we get there, tell them the cities under attack and that we need reinforcements ASAP."
"Got it."
"What about Ivy? I can't get ahold of her!" Harley asked with her phone in hand, concern for her friend written all over her face.
"Ivy's a big girl Harls, she'll be fine." Alex assured her as the gunfire got louder and closer. "Come on, we gotta move!" He exclaimed before heading off in the direction of his apartment with the others in tow.
...
Ivy had been enjoying her day off, all her friends were out on their little date, so she had occupied herself in her greenhouse, getting all her babies ready for winter as snow began to fall. She hummed happily to herself as she tended to one of her plants when she heard the echo of an explosion far off in the distance. Sighing she gave the plant an apologetic look before heading outside to investigate, her boots crunching in the snow as she stepped into the yard and observed the chaos engulfing the city.
Sensing movement nearby Ivy dove to the ground just as a hail of gunfire peppered the side of her house. Looking up she saw several gunmen belonging to Penguins gang reload their AK's in preparation for another attack as they passed by the greenhouse. Seeing an opportunity to gain the advantage Ivy smirked as she willed her plants to burst through the windows and attack the thugs, tripping them up and dragging them into the greenhouse were the more carnivorous plants finished them off.
With the thugs dispatched Ivy rose to her feet and started to make her way back inside to contact the rest of the squad when she heard the "Whoosh" of a missile launch across the street. Turning towards the direction of the noise she found another group of thugs led by a Javelin wielding Bane casually walking up on her.
As they approached Ivy placed her hands on her hips and glared at the masked man in annoyance. "Your eyes must be failing you Bane. How could you possibly miss from that range?" She taunted as Bane dropped the launcher. Ivy continued to glare at him, unimpressed as he stopped in front of her and rose to his full height to tower over her.
"It wasn't you I was aiming for, instead I chose to even the playing field." Bane answered as he raised his hand to point towards the sky. Ivy raised an eyebrow in confusion before looking up to see the missile had completed its arc and was rapidly descending, not towards her but directly towards her house.
"Nooo!" Ivy shrieked, running towards her home and babies only to be blown back into the snow as the missile detonated in a massive fireball inside the greenhouse. Ivy balled up and sobbed in the snow as she felt her babies suddenly die all at once before looking up to glare at Bane once again with murder in her eyes.
"Your precious plants are gone, and the militia Penguin has given me is paving the way for the New Era to claim this city. Surrender Isley and your life will be spared." Bane offered as his men gathered around and leveled their weapons.
"FUCK...YOU!" Ivy chocked out as she struggled to her feet.
"Don't be foolish Isley. I offer you mercy one last time." Bane replied. There were too many thugs to fight off, any attempt would result in her being shot if she wasn't careful. When Ivy didn't move Bane motioned for his men to capture her. "Be careful, she is a slippery one."
Ivy waited for one of the thugs to get close enough before she made use of her pheromones to get him to loosen his guard without the others noticing. As the mans grip on his rifle loosened Ivy quickly grabbed it and shoved the thug back towards his friends before spraying bullets at the surprised group. Not wanting to stick around for them to recover she then ran, emptying the magazine and dropping the weapon as Bane ordered his men to return fire.
Running as fast as she could, Ivy rushed towards the nearest alley as bullets whizzed by and struck the buildings all around her. She kept running for several more blocks deeper into the city before finally stopping behind a fast food joint and collapsing from exertion against the side of a dumpster.
Ivy laid there for several minutes to catch her breath and mourn the loss of her babies but the sounds of battle in the distance reminded her that she was still in danger. The New Era's invasion had begun and she was caught in the middle of it. Knowing that she had to get in contact with her friends Ivy reached for her phone only to realize that she had left it in her now destroyed home. With no way to contact anyone Ivy decided to make her way to the recruitment office to see if they were there before checking at the apartment.
Destinations in mind Ivy made to stand only to double over from a sharp pain in her side.
"What the hell!?" Feeling around her torso Ivy felt her hand slide over something sticky and she pulled it away to find it coated in a dark red liquid. Looking down Ivy realized to her horror that she had been shot. More blood slowly poured out of a ragged exit wound on the right side of her abdomen. "FUCK!" She screamed as she pressed her palm to the wound to put pressure on it. With a grunt Ivy slowly rose to her feet while keeping her hand pressed to her side and slowly began to limp in the direction of the office, hoping that she'd make it in time before she bled out.
...
Alex buckled the chin strap of his helmet before grabbing his IAR and charging it. After making it back to the apartment he and his friends had kitted up in preparation for battle. With all his gear gathered Alex walked over to were Barbara was huddled over a radio.
"What's the situation looking like?" He asked expectantly.
"Downtowns overrun, the majority of friendly forces are rallying at an evac site outside Wayne Tower." Barbara answered as she packed up the radio.
"And the Division?"
"They're pinned down by artillery fire about thirty miles southwest of here. General Anderson said he can't send reinforcements until they deal with the attack and regroup."
"God damnit! You get that Kara?" Alex asked over his shoulder.
"Yeah, thirty miles southwest." Kara repeated.
"I need you to go help out Anderson, get them outta the shit so they can help us. The rest of us will push towards Wayne Tower and assist in the evacuation if possible. Barbara, I need you to maintain comms with Kara and get in touch with whoever's in charge of the defense at the Tower, let them know we're en route."
"We still haven't heard from Ivy. If we leave she won't know where we're going!" Harley worried.
Alex sighed and shook his head. "I know that Harley, believe me I'm worried too, but we got bigger issues to worry about. We'll leave a message behind for her if she manages to get here, but we have to keep moving." He told her. Alex hated himself for saying it, but he knew that Ivy would understand. "Alright, you have your orders, let's move!"
The four gathered their gear and made their way through the building and back out to the snow-covered streets, Kara giving Barbara a quick kiss goodbye before flying off to help relieve the besieged Division.
Alex led his remaining squad through the streets towards Wayne Tower, the three of them bounding block by block through the city, dodging gunfire from seemingly every direction as they advanced.
"Suppress and move! Suppress and move!" Alex shouted as he fired a long burst into the second story window of an office building to allow Barbara and Harley to move forward.
"We're set, move!" Harley shouted back before firing at the same window.
Alex broke cover and sprinted across the street just as the thug in the window popped up again and fired, his rounds impacting the road mere inches behind Alex. Startled by the fire, Alex slipped on the frozen pavement and crashed onto the floor, presenting the thug the opportunity he'd been waiting for.
As Alex pushed himself up he saw the thug pivot his machinegun towards him just as he heard a "Thuump!" before the window exploded in a shower of smoke and concrete. Alex looked over to his friends to see Harley reloading her underslung grenade launcher.
"Thanks for that!" Alex exclaimed once he caught up.
Harley smiled sadly at him as she embraced him. "I mighta lost my best friend today Alex, I'm not losing you too..." She replied quietly before letting go of him.
"You won't. Come on, let's keep going. How much further Barbara?"
"About five blocks. We might wanna pick up the pace though, it's getting dark and it sounds like they're getting hit pretty hard out there." Barbara replied, noting the distant sound of automatic weapons.
"Any word on your boys?"
"Trust me, they're out fighting somewhere."
"Fair enough, let's go!"
The three fought their way through the last remaining blocks before reaching Wayne Tower Plaza. Towards the North of the plaza sat the large tower, to the West gang members fired into the towers lobby from a three-story parking garage. On the East side of the plaza more gang members rushed through a construction zone to reinforce their comrades in the garage. Lastly, the plaza itself was filled with multiple fountains and snow covered planters, dozens of bodies strewn out all over.
"We're not running through that, are we!?" Barbara asked as she took in the violent scene.
"Yeah, fuck that. Let's flank around the construction and get to the tower!" Alex directed as he surveyed the battlefield.
They waited for the latest wave to pass before ducking through the construction site behind the thugs, coming out the other side closer to the tower. Alex halted them behind a fountain just in front of the steps leading up to the lobby, which had been barricaded with several Guardsmen and Police Officers guarding the steps.
"Friendlies!" Alex shouted over to the troops.
"Friendlies coming in!" A Guardsman relayed back into the lobby before waving for them to go in. The three quickly ran inside past the barricades right into Commissioner Gordon, Batman, and Robin.
"Commissioner!"
"Barbara!?"
"Dad?"
"Batman! Birdbrain!"
"Harley..."
The awkward greeting was made worse as Commissioner Gordon rounded on his daughter. "What are you doing here Barbara!?" He asked, his face fuming angrily.
"You know I joined the reserves Dad!" Barbara shot back, maintaining the cover she had used to disguise her long absences from home.
Gordon grumbled angrily before rounding on Alex. "You roped my daughter into this Westbrook! If she gets hurt in anyway I'll..." He threatened before Batman placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
"Now isn't the time Jim. Your daughters a grown woman and she's defending her home just like we are."
"I'm aware of that Batman, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about my only daughter being stuck in the middle of a war zone with our only reinforcements pinned down miles away!"
"Supergirl's working on that problem Sir, but my Marines and I are at your disposal." Alex informed him.
"If you think I'm going to order my own daughter into combat..." Gordon growled before Barbara stepped between them and got in her dad's face.
"Dad, you need to stop seeing me as your little girl! Batman's right, I chose to do this! Point us in a direction and let me do my job!" Barbara shouted at him. The two stared each other down but eventually Gordon gave in.
"Alright Barbara, you've made your choice." He sighed before turning back to Alex. "All the evac birds are gone but we're still stuck here until we get more help, for now I need you guys to clear out that garage and hold the Southwest corner until we get some reinforcements. I'll send Detective Bullock and Sergeant Montoya with you for back up."
"I'm coming too!" Robin volunteered eagerly, but Alex shook his head no.
"Sorry Robin, I know you beat up bad guys for a living but a war zone ain't no place for a kid." He told him.
"I'm not a kid! I'm going whether you like it or not!"
"Ugh, just stay behind cover." Alex sighed as Bullock and Montoya joined them. "You two ready for this?" He asked them.
"Damn right we are! This is my preferred method of cleaning up the streets." Bullock grinned as he patted his .44 Magnum.
"What he's trying to say is that we're the best officers the Commissioner's got. We'll follow your lead Sergeant." Montoya clarified.
"Appreciate it Sergeant. Alright Echo, let's move out!"
The reinforced squad waited for the Guardsmen and officers staying back to cover them before storming the parking garage. Alex fired his IAR at the first thugs that appeared, dropping them but at the same time alerting their comrades of his presence. More militia appeared, firing pop shots at Alex and his squad with one particularly annoying one pinning the small team down by wildly spraying an RPK across the garage.
Alex quickly dove behind a car to avoid the spray that just narrowly missed him. "Someone get a grenade on that asshole!" He shouted over the roaring gunfire.
To his surprise Barbara was the one to pop up, grenade in hand with the pin pulled. "Frag out!" She yelled loud enough to warn the others of the impending explosion as she tossed the grenade. It sailed through the air, landing in front of the RPK wielding thug before exploding violently, blowing the man's legs off below the knee and peppering his body with lethal amounts of shrapnel.
"Nice throw! Quinzel, Bullock push forward, Montoya cover fire!" Alex ordered, taking advantage of the break in the militias *OODA loop to gain the upper hand.
Using their newly gained momentum the squad pushed through the rest of the garage, clearing it of all militia and allowing more surviving Guardsmen and Police to occupy more defensive positions.
Alex reloaded his empty weapon and counted his remaining magazines before addressing his squad. "Montoya, Bullock, take some Guardsmen and post a machinegun covering Northeast to Southeast on the second floor. The rest of you dig in on the ground floor. The city's crawling with bad guys right now and they're all headed our way, but not one of those assholes gets past this corner, oorah!?"
"RAH!"
...
The sun was setting as Ivy limped her way through the alleys towards the recruitment office. She didn't know how, but she had managed to avoid any further encounters with Bane or the thugs he commanded, though at this point she figured getting shot again would be a mercy. Ivy was losing more and more blood, her already pale skin was nearly as white as Joker's and she was covered in a thin veil of sweat.
As she rounded the corner to the office she was startled when a hail of bullets impacted the wall behind her. Throwing herself behind the nearest car for cover she waited for the fire to stop before peeking her head out to see a dark-skinned man in Army ACU's inside the Army office carrying an M249 SAW.
"Sergeant Jones!?" Ivy weakly shouted out.
"Hooah!" The man shouted in response.
"It's Isley! You fucking asshole!" She yelled angrily.
"Damnit Isley, I almost killed you! Come to me I'll cover you!"
Ivy tried to stand again but found she couldn't find the strength to do so. "Jones, I'm shot! I can't get up!" She cried out as she ground her teeth in pain.
"Hang on Isley, I'm coming!" He shouted as Ivy struggled to keep her eyes open. She heard the sound of his feet running towards her and suddenly Jones was next to her, concern all over his face. "Shit that looks bad! Come on let's get you inside!" He said as he slung his weapon and helped Ivy stand.
As Jones helped her across the street Ivy found it harder and harder to focus and she could feel her eyes becoming heavy. "Come on Isley just a few more feet!" Jones urged her on as they finally reached the office. Very carefully Jones lowered Ivy onto the couch inside just as her eyes snapped shut.
...
Kara flew high above the ground searching for the New Era artillery bombarding the 2nd Marine Division. As she flew several loud "Booms" echoed in the distance and she immediately turned and headed in the direction of the noise.
On a small, snow covered hill a platoon of New Era troopers crewed several howitzers all pointed in the direction of friendly forces. Not wanting the guns to fire again Kara darted towards them, smashing one of the guns as she landed and startling the unprepared troopers.
"Shoot her!" One of the troopers shouted before all hell broke loose. The troopers fired their rifles at Kara, but she shrugged the bullets off as she walked towards them. Kara quickly dispatched the closest troopers by throwing them into one of the guns and rendering them unconscious. Realizing that they were powerless to stop her the remaining troopers turned and ran into the woods, abandoning their unconscious comrades..
The troopers dealt with Kara got to work disabling the artillery guns by ripping out the firing mechanisms and bending the barrels till they were unusable before gathering up the unspent shells away from the area and disposing of them with her laser vision. With the artillery neutralized Kara flew back up into the air and headed for the Division, hoping that now they'd be free to help her friends.
But when she arrived at their location she saw nothing but chaos. Marines and Navy Corpsmen scurried around, pulling their wounded and dead brethren out of destroyed vehicles and burning tents, as the area was filled with shouts and cries of agony. Kara wandered through the camp until she found General Anderson barking orders to several officers.
"...Need Alpha Company to reinforce the Northern perimeter ASAP!" He shouted, pointing behind him before one of the officers ran off to relay the order.
"General Anderson!" Kara called out to him.
The General looked over in surprise before excusing himself and hurrying over to her. "Supergirl! You're a sight for sore eyes!"
"I've taken out the artillery shelling you guys General, but Gotham is still being overrun. We need help there now!" She explained urgently.
"I'm aware of the situation Supergirl, but we took a lot of casualties. Too make things worse Recon spotted a large element of hostile armor and foot mobiles heading our way. We're holding this position until we can evacuate our wounded and then we're regrouping."
"You're leaving!? General, everyone in Gotham will die if you don't send help!" Kara pleaded. She didn't come all this way just to leave her friends to die.
"I'm sorry Kara, but the number of casualties we have we'd do more harm than good." He attempted to reason with her.
"What if I help you fight off the New Era? Could you send help then?"
"I want to Kara, but one Kryptonian isn't enough to stop an Army."
"How about two Kryptonians?" A voice asked from nearby. The two turned to see Superman emerge from behind a column of smoke. "I heard your distress call General, sorry I couldn't get here sooner." He apologized before smiling at his cousin. "Good to see you Kara, I hear you've been doing good work over in Gotham."
"Yeah, it's good to see you to Kal, but I need the Divisions help to save my friends." She replied bluntly.
"General, if we buy your men time to get your wounded out could you spare some Marines?" Superman asked.
General Anderson rubbed his chin in thought before sighing. "You buy us time to get these men outta here and I'll give you two platoons, a handful of vehicles, and a gunship or two. That's the best I can do." He answered.
"Understood, thank you General." Superman replied as a Corporal ran up to them.
"Sirs! Ma'am! Enemy tanks closing fast!" The Corporal warned them before running off to pass on the message to others.
Superman turned to his cousin and grinned. "Looks like that's our que."
"Right behind you!" Kara grinned before the two of them jumped into the air and headed towards the approaching tanks.
...
Ivy woke with a gasp as she propped herself up and took in her surroundings. She was lying on the couch in the Army recruitment office while Sergeant Jones crouched behind his desk with his M249 propped up and aimed out the window. The sounds of gunfire in the distance reminded her that there was still a battle going on outside and that she had been shot while escaping an ambush at her home. Ivy pulled up the hem of her shirt to check on her wound to find her abdomen wrapped in gauze. She poked at the gauze covering her wound and found the area was still tender but no longer sent pain through her body. With a grunt Ivy slowly got to her feet and walked over to her rescuer.
"Bout time you got up Isley. I was beginning to worry that I'd botched that patch job up." Jones smiled as Ivy joined him.
"Thanks Sergeant. How bad was it?" She asked curiously.
"Round went through clean without damaging any organs from what I can tell. I'm not a medic though, so you should definitely get that wound rechecked first chance you get."
"Got it. So, what the hell is going on? One minute I was relaxing in my garden and the next Bane and a bunch of his lackeys start shooting at me and destroyed my home."
"Damn, sorry to hear that but at least you're alive. As for what's happening it's seems that the local gangs have joined up and are hell bent on causing as much destruction as possible. They've mostly been going after police and military personnel but from what I've seen outside even civilians are fair game to them, fucking cowards…" Jones spat angrily.
"Before he attacked me Bane said that he and the militia were clearing out the city for the New Era to take Gotham." Ivy explained. "If what he said is true, then they have to be on their way here as we speak."
"Clever bastards, use the local thugs to clear out the place so they can move in without a single casualty. If that's the case we won't last long on our own here, we should move and try to regroup with friendly forces."
"Agreed. Have you seen Sergeant Westbrook or the rest of my squad?" Ivy asked hopefully.
"Not since they went for chow in the afternoon, but I wouldn't worry if I were you, your friends can handle themselves. Now while you were out I was listening to my radio and it sounds like anyone that's left is regrouping at an evacuation site around Wayne Tower. I couldn't make it across the city on my own, but if we work together we just might make it, if you're able to move that is."
"I'll be fine Sergeant." Ivy assured, more to herself than Jones.
"Great. There should be a rifle in a locker down the hall, it's yours if you want it." Jones told her, pointing towards the hall he'd mentioned.
Ivy nodded before getting up and heading down the hall, finding the locker Jones had mentioned already unlocked and an older M16A2 rifle with a handful of magazines waiting for her inside. She grabbed the rifle and stowed the magazines away in her pockets before heading back to Jones. "Ready." She told him as she walked towards the door and peeked outside to see if it was clear or not.
Jones joined her and offered her his radio. "Here, you can try to get ahold of Westbrook and your guys on this."
Ivy nodded her thanks before taking the radio and programming her squads frequency into it. After loading the frequency, she held the radio up to her face and pressed the talk button. "Empire One Actual this is Empire One Bravo come in, over." She waited for a minute but there was no response and she began to worry that something terrible had happened.
"Maybe their just outta range?" Jones suggested optimistically when he saw Ivy's face crease with worry.
"I hope that's the case. Come on, let's not sit here and wait for the New Era to show up on our doorstep." Ivy replied, stowing the radio in her back pocket before shouldering her rifle and making her way down the war-torn streets towards Wayne Tower with Jones following closely behind her.
Along the way they took in the destruction the battle had left behind as it moved towards the city center. Destroyed vehicles, ruined buildings, and numerous bodies were everywhere they looked, and Ivy stopped every time she saw a ruined Humvee or downed helicopter, fearful that she would find her friends dead inside but luckily, she had yet to discover any corpses in Marine fatigues. As she and Jones continued their journey Ivy held onto the hope that her friends would be waiting for her at the tower and not lying dead on the side of the street somewhere.
...
Back in the parking garage beside Wayne Tower, Barbara scanned the construction zone across the plaza with her ACOG sight. Night had fallen and after hours of continuous fighting with the militia there was finally a lull in the battle, though smaller firefights could still be heard in the distance.
spotting slight movement, Barbara squinted and barely made out the silhouette of a person welding an RPG roughly 300 yards away on the second floor of the incomplete skyscraper. Compensating for the range with the yardage markers in her scope, Barbara waited for the shadow to appear again before firing a single shot, the muzzle report echoing across the plaza. The silhouette crumpled as the round impacted its chest, exploding in a spray of crimson blood.
"Nice shot." A voice said from behind her.
Looking over her shoulder she saw Tim looking out across the plaza with a pair of binos, a frown plastered on his face. "Something tells me you don't really mean that Tim." Barbara smiled but he remained frowning. "Come on don't look at me like that. I'm still me."
"Are you? Because the Barbara I know would never even think about killing someone." He replied angrily.
"Yeah, well, war will do that to you. Don't think that I enjoy it Tim, because I don't, but from all that I've seen and done over the past year it's become abundantly clear that non-lethal force can't solve every problem."
"No, I refuse to accept that Barbara! Batgirl is better than that, but if you truly think that way now then you don't deserve to wear that symbol!" Tim exclaimed loudly, pointing to the identification patch adorned with the Bat symbol on her plate carrier.
"Both of you shut the fuck up!" Alex hissed from his position, annoyance at Tim's lack of noise discipline evident in his voice.
"Aye Sergeant..." Barbara grumbled while giving Tim one final glare before returning her attention to the battlefield just as the radio on her pack squelched.
"Empire...Actual...FzzzT...One-Bravo...FzzzT...Over!" The transmission came in broken and nearly unreadable but even through the static Barbara recognized Ivy's voice.
"Sergeant over here!" She exclaimed as she picked up the handset. "One-Bravo this is One-Charlie, I read you broken but readable, how me?" She asked as Alex left his position.
"Same...FzzT...ame, Over."
"Is that Ivy? She's alive!" Alex asked, relief washing over his features as he grabbed the handset from Barbara. "Isley, it's Westbrook! Where the hell have you been, are you ok!?" He whispered excitedly into the radio.
"I'm...alive. I've got Ser...FzzT...Jones with me. We're...FzzT...towards Wayne Tower, where are...FzzT...guys?" Came Ivy's response, somewhat clearer as she moved closer to their position.
"We're in the garage at the Southwest corner of the tower plaza, how far are you guys?"
"Coming...FzzT...on the plaza from the South side now. Can you cover us Sergeant?"
"Yeah, we got you, just watch the upper floors. Militias regrouping but we don't know for how much longer." Alex warned.
"We'll be careful."
After taking the handset back from Alex, Barbara looked down the road to see two figures quickly making their way towards the plaza.
"Alright listen up! We got two guys coming in from the South. Gordon, Quinzel, cover their approach! Bullock, Montoya, stay on your machinegun and keep an eye out for hostiles!" Alex ordered, and Barbara quickly switched positions, joining Harley at the Southern entrance with Tim following behind.
Training her rifle on upper levels of the surrounding buildings Barbara watched as Ivy and Jones stacked up along the building opposite them and prepared to bound over to her position. Once their side was set up to provide cover Alex signaled for the incoming team to cross. Jones ran over first and dove behind the nearest cover at their position before Ivy began limping across the street, but as she hobbled over her foot slipped on a patch of ice and she tumbled to the ground, letting out a hiss of pain as she landed on her injured side.
"Ivy!" Harley shouted without thinking and Barbara swore as every Militia member within earshot heard her shout. Suddenly the entire plaza was once again filled with bullets whizzing back and forth through the air.
"SHIT! Stay down Ivy!" Barbara yelled to the injured woman as muzzle flashes erupted across the plaza, narrowly missing Ivy. Firing off several rounds into a window Barbara noticed too late that Tim had run out of the garage and was headed towards Ivy to help her up. "Tim no!" She shouted as the Militia turned their fire towards the now exposed Robin.
"Come on Ivy I got you!" She heard Tim say just as a round tore through his leg. "AHH my leg!" He shrieked in pain as he dropped to the pavement next to Ivy.
"Sergeant cover us!" Barbara called back to Alex as she looked at Harley while nodding in the direction of their fallen comrades. Harley nodded back as Alex propped his IAR up on its bipod and switched the selector from semi to automatic.
"Go, go, go!" Alex shouted as he let loose with his rifle, suppressing the nearest building with automatic fire.
Barbara and Harley quickly ran out into the street, Harley going for Ivy and Barbara going for Tim. Scooping the wounded teenager into her arms Barbara quickly turned on her heel and carried him back into the garage as fast as she could with Harley and Ivy not far behind her.
"Hang on Tim!" Barbara shouted as she reentered the garage and placed Tim down in the bed of an abandoned pick-up truck as he wailed in agony. She tore away the fabric of Tim's pants around the wound to get a better view, but once exposed warm blood sprayed out in a small geyser, splashing her face and chest in the red liquid. Barbara quickly pressed her hands down on the wound to apply pressure, but more blood steady flowed out between her fingers. "I need help over here!" Barbara shouted over the gunfire and Tim's cries of pain.
"Where's he hit!" Alex shouted as he rushed over to them after checking on Ivy.
"Gunshot wound right leg! He's losing blood fast!" She informed him.
Alex nodded and reached into one of his pouches, retrieving a tourniquet before applying it to Tim's leg as Barbara applied more pressure. "I'll take over and do what I can, get on that radio and call up a *Nine-Line." He told her once the tourniquet was on.
Barbara nodded before grabbing her handset again and radioing in to General Anderson. "Overlord, Overlord, this is Empire One-Charlie, come in over!" She shouted as Alex continued his efforts.
"This is Overlord, send your traffic One-Charlie." General Anderson's voice replied.
"Roger, we have wounded here, standby for CASEVAC Nine-Line." Barbara urgently said but before she could get another word in she was cutoff.
"Negative that request. All CASEVAC birds are either tasked out or disabled, over." Anderson informed her. It took Barbara a second to process what had just been said but Tim's cries of pain snapped her back to reality.
"Sir please! Its Robin, he's just a kid!" Barbara pleaded, tears threatening to fall as she heard Tim's wailing continue over the gunfire.
"If he doesn't get help in the next half hour he's gonna be in real trouble!" Alex warned her. She looked back over to see that despite a tourniquet being applied blood was still steadily flowing from Tim's leg.
"I understand your situation, but we have our own wounded here. We're attempting to organize a rescue column now, but you'll have to maintain the situation until they arrive, over."
Barbara couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her friend was bleeding out right in front of her and there was no way for anyone to help him. "Understood Sir, Empire out..." She muttered, her grip tightening on the handset before angrily throwing it against the nearest wall.
"Easy Barbara, now's not the time to loss it!" Alex scolded as he worked on staunching the blood flow seeping out of Tim's leg though he was having a hard time as Tim kept writhing in pain while he worked. "Get over here and hold him!" Barbara ran back over and replaced Alex's hand with her own. "Keep applying pressure to that wound, I'm gonna try to find a medic!" Alex told her before running off to a group of Guardsmen on the other end of the parking garage while shouting for a medic.
As Barbara held her hands down Tim continued to writhe and cry in pain beneath her, the bed of the truck now covered in a small pool of blood. "Hang in there Tim, it's gonna be ok!" Barbara assured her friend before looking over to see everyone else was still engaged in the firefight. Sergeant Jones had joined Montoya and Bullock, Harley was busy looking over a clearly wounded Ivy, Alex was off searching for a medic, and her Dad and Bruce were no doubt busy fighting over at the tower itself.
From were she stood Barbara felt that their current situation was hopeless. They were outnumbered five to one and it wouldn't be long before they ran out of ammunition to keep the militia at bay, not to mention that the New Era would most likely arrive before their own reinforcements. Their only hope now laid with Kara and the rescue column being organized to extract them.
"Come on Kara, we need you…" Barbara prayed as the firefight raged well into the night.
…Hostile Invasion of Gotham in Progress/2nd MARDIV In Contact/ Estimated Civilian Casualties: Over 100,000/ Estimated U.S. Military, Law Enforcement Casualties: Less Than 2000…
*OODA Loop: Decision making process, Observe/Orient/Decide/Act
*CASEVAC 9-Line: Radio format used to send patient information/priority, sustained injures, and method of evacuation
Special Task Group: Echo (Empire) Battle Roster
O-10/General: Anderson, Robert
Branch of Service: USMC
Callsign(S): Overlord
ZAP Code: RA1331
Billet: Commanding Officer/Advisor
EDL: M9 Pistol
Licenses: N/A
Status: Green
E-5/Sergeant: Westbrook, Alexander
Branch of Service: USMC
Callsign(S): Echo/Empire One Actual
ZAP Code: AW0762
Billet: Squad leader
EDL: M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, 3.5X SDO ACOG, AN/PEQ-15 ATPIAL, M9 Pistol
Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee), MRAP CAT II(Cougar 4x4/6x6), MRAP CAT III(Buffalo), VMMD(Husky)
Status: Green
E-3/Lance Corporal: Isley, Pamela
Branch of Service: USMC
Callsign(S): Echo/Empire One Bravo, Poison Ivy
ZAP Code: PI0919
Billet: Assistant Squad Leader, Chemical/Biological/Radiological/Nuclear (CBRN) Defense Specialist, Force Multiplier
EDL: M16A2 Rifle
Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee)
Status: Wounded In Action
E-1/Private: Gordon, Barbara
Branch of Service: USMC
Callsign(S): Echo/Empire One Charlie, Batgirl
ZAP Code: BG1967
Billet: Intelligence/Communications Specialists
EDL: M4 Carbine, 4X RCO ACOG, AN/PEQ-15 ATPIAL
Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee), RQ-11B DDL SUAV(Raven)
Status: Green
E-2/Private First Class: Quinzel, Harleen
Branch of Service: USMC
Callsign(S): Echo/Empire One Delta, Harley Quinn
ZAP Code: HQ0556
Billet: Grenadier, Designated Driver, Psychiatrist
EDL: M4 Carbine, M203 Grenade Launcher, 4X RCO ACOG, AN/PEQ-15 ATPIAL, M1911 Pistol
Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee)
Status: Green
Zor-El, Kara
Branch of Service: Justice League
Callsign(S): Echo/Empire One Fox, Supergirl
ZAP Code: KZ3006
Billet: Attachment/Liaison, Force Multiplier
EDL: N/A
Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee), Javelin-7 VTOL
Status: Green
E-5/Sergeant: Jones, Darrius
Branch of Service: US Army
Callsign(S): Echo Five Juliet
ZAP Code: DJ0223
Billet: Attachment(Unofficial), Machine Gunner
EDL: M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, 3.5X SDO ACOG, AN/PEQ-15 ATPIAL
Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee), FMTV (5-Ton)
Status: Green