"Why do you do it?" Kara asked Ellis.

The drive back to the city from the nomad camp seemed to be taking an eternity. They stayed longer than what was truly necessary, having less than an hour until the fight now. Truth be told, Kara couldn't quite understand how she felt about the experience. She felt like she didn't want to leave the camp, but at the same time was relieved to have left. She had given up on humanity so long ago that the plain kindness she was treated with made her… uncomfortable. It was somehow jarring to meet a group of people who seemed to care about each other without having any wicked ulterior motives.

"Do what?" Ellis replied.

"Stay."

Kara saw how the nomads treated Ellis, how they respected her and how she was never made to feel like an outsider among them. By virtue of her association with her, she had been granted that same amiability as well. She had no doubt that if Ellis went back to them tomorrow, they would welcome her into the family without hesitation and she could leave the mess that was her life in the city.

"What are you trying to achieve here?" Kara continued, "You know people who could get you out of this mess, you had chances to escape this life a long time if you really wanted to."

"Who said I wanted to?"

"That's my question. Why don't you want to?" Kara clarified.

"Same reason why Jordan still feels like he has to live up to his dad's legacy," Ellis replied, "Someone has to fight the war against entropy and look out for the 'little guy'. We'd stop if we could, Kara, really, but something in us makes us feel like we can't."

"You are the 'little guy' here, Ellis. Nothing changes no matter what you do. Believe me, I'd know. I lost count of how many sex trafficking rings I shut down just to end up finding another brothel with another group of maimed 15-year-old girls, violated and mutilated beyond recognition. I spoke at countless United Nations conferences and nobody listened when I told them that if they didn't stop running this planet to the ground, Earth would be headed towards ubiquitous turmoil and disarray. And look where we are today. You can spend the rest of your life 'sticking it to the corpos', they'll still win. They always do."

Kara wasn't entirely wrong. Ellis wasn't naïve enough to not recognise that, but something about her concluding point just didn't sit right with her. "Well, maybe it's not about winning," she retorted.

"Then what?" Kara scoffed.

Ellis sighed, taking a moment to think how to best articulate her response. "Every tangible aspect of humanity has been commodified and commercialised to the point that our very existence has been made impersonal. It's about saving some unconquerable aspect of the 'human spirit' because quite possibly the most 'human' thing we can do is to fight back against the insurmountable," Ellis defiantly argued.

"Who the fuck taught you that bullshit?" Kara frowned.

"You did."

Kara was stunned into silence for a moment, before shaking her head with a chuckle of disbelief and incredulity. The irony of an alien having been seen as an exemplar of 'humanity' was not lost on her. There was a lot that distinguished her from Ellis, but Kara would be lying if she said she wasn't reminded of her younger self at times. Feeling courteous because of that, she chose not to crush her with the uncomfortable truth that the moment she had felt the most 'human' was when she had brutally taken her first life.

"Saving the world is impossible, Ellis," Kara said instead, "The best you can hope for is to save yourself. And this isn't the way to do that."

"I'm not sure leaving would be either."

"How do you know?"

"Did it work for you?" Ellis asked Kara, turning to face her.

She wasn't being snarky. Kara heard no vitriol or contempt in her voice, nor did she see any now in Ellis' eyes. It was merely a genuine question posed with the hope of an enlightening answer, but Kara didn't know if she could give one. She pondered for a few moments. She could say yes because she was still here, alive, but that was hardly an adequate answer. The fact of the matter was that she had lost so much along the way, not just the extrinsic things which she had loved, but the intrinsic parts of herself that were so distant to her now. Whenever she looked at a picture of her younger self, she saw someone that ought to be someone else, an entirely different person, and when she looked in the mirror, she sometimes didn't even know who the person staring back at her was.

All Kara could do was turn away, the ensuing deafening silence giving Ellis the despondent answer she was hoping she wouldn't get.

"Name?"

Upon arriving at Empathy, Kara and Ellis were directed to a small backroom to prepare for the fight. The announcer for the evening was there to ask for introduction details and to give her a rundown of proceedings while she wrapped her hands.

"Thara," she replied.

"Full name," he clarified.

"Thara Ak-Var."

"Homeworld?"

"Axan. Andromedan Galaxy."

"It's no holds barred. No rounds, no time-limit, you'll fight until you can't no more. Nothing is off-limits. You'll walk out first. Any questions?"

"Have you asked Xenon what he would like for his last meal?" Kara calmly replied.

The announcer guffawed. "That's the spirit. Though I believe that question would be better suited to you."

Kara smirked. "You want to make some scratch? Bet your life savings on me tonight."

The announcer nodded with a scrunch of his face, admiring her confidence while having no faith that she would survive the upcoming contest, "Sure."

He left the room, giving Kara and Ellis a few moments to themselves.

"How'd you come up with Thara Ak-Var?" Ellis asked.

"She was my childhood best friend back on Krypton."

Ellis nodded. "Remember what we said, alright? Don't take him lightly."

"Yeah, gotcha," Kara replied, pressing a finger to her right eye to rub some crust away.

"Not going to stretch, or…" Ellis asked.

"Don't need to."

"Okay. Good luck out there."

Ellis tapped Kara on the shoulder before she then left as well, leaving her to her lonesome.

Believe it or not, this was far from Kara's first cage fight rodeo. She'd received all types of gigs from fixers and clients in outer space. Theft, espionage, transport, rescue, terminations and in a few cases, stepping into a cage to fight someone. Even before that, she remembered going undercover in an alien trafficking ring on Earth and eventually finding that many were being forced to fight to the death in gladiatorial contests to entertain their captors.

The co-main event had just wrapped up, the canvas was being cleaned, and Kara could feel the buzz emanating from the crowd outside.

While she usually had the luxury of being able to rely on her powers, it was repeatedly emphasised to her by her mentors that she needed to be prepared for the worst-case scenario wherein she wouldn't be able to. Assuming worst-case scenario right now that Xenon would end up being stronger and faster than her, she still wouldn't feel any less confident about her chances. He hadn't the years of experience and skills she possessed, and so she unenthusiastically twiddled her thumbs and fiddled with her hand wraps while waiting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for the main event of the evening!"

It was almost time. She spent most of her life fighting all different kinds of threats with unique powers. In the latter part of her life, she often used guns and blades to dispose of adversaries. It had all grown somewhat tiresome to her. A part of her had now grown to relish the purity of two combatants stepping up to each other with nothing but their fists, elbows, knees and shins to settle their business. In another place for another purpose, she might have actually been a little excited for what lay ahead, but all that she cared about now was advancing her mission.

"A friendly reminder that looks are all but deceiving. Our challenger may not exactly appear all that deadly, but I can promise you she is going to bring the fight tonight. In fact, she is bringing it all the way from the Andromedan Galaxy! A native of the planet of Axan, introducing Thara Ak-Var!"

That was her cue. She rose and paced towards the door, shoving it open to vehement boos from the hostile audience. She stoically made her way along the path towards the cage door, ignoring the profanities being thrown her way and the drunkard proclamations that she was about to be killed.

"Now, introducing our reigning, undisputed, undefeated champion! A reaper of souls, a gladiator, an immortal amongst mortals, Knight City's very own… Behold, the Almighty Xenon Grady!"

Contrasted to Kara, Xenon's entrance was far more theatrical. She had walked out to no music, while his song started with gladiatorial drums before transitioning into a mix between a dramatic orchestral and fast-paced, hard-hitting electronic beat. The crowd erupted into cheers as he stepped out onto an elevated platform, stretching out his arms and performing his signature pose for the crowd before marching towards the cage. While he enjoyed the adulation, he only shortly indulged in it before focusing his gaze on Kara and her alone.

"Last meal, huh?" he asked with spite in his tone as he entered the cage.

Kara grinned. "Was it any good?"

"Ask the Lord when I send you to Him."

"I would if He actually existed," Kara quipped back, riling him up some more. In her eyes, she was already one up on him on the mental side of things. He was for sure underestimating her but was now also going to fight angry and unhinged.

The bell rang.

Kara hadn't a second to ease into the fight as Xenon came charging at her. She was able to pivot out of the way just in time to avoid him, but he quickly spun back around to face her again. He was offended on two levels: The first being that Kara was taunting him, showing no respect, and secondly that she was even considered a worthy challenge for him. He truly had no idea who he was up against and, just like Kara, was underestimating his opponent. That underestimation resulted in two different approaches to the contest. Kara was too relaxed, being happy to sit back and see if Xenon had anything for her. He, on the other hand, wanted to take her head off as soon as possible.

He pressed forward, sending out a variety of telegraphed power punches the first few of which Kara was able to evade. However, he was a little faster than she anticipated and was able to adjust his form in seconds. The first punch that touched Kara just grazed her cheek, but the second landed flush on her jaw. Having never seen it coming and not braced for the impact, she felt his strength first-hand as she found herself drop to a knee. Her vision blurred for a split-second, coming back to spot a concerned Ellis cageside.

A kick crashed into her abdomen, lifting her off her feet and flying into the cage wall. He was on her again like a rabid dog, crowding her space and throwing combinations mostly aimed at her head but alternating to the body every now and then. Kara hadn't been hit in a fight this much in years and had to admit that she had grown unfamiliar with the pain of repeatedly being punched in the head. She had only been dazed for a moment, and while Xenon was more powerful than she expected, he still was no match for the countless other foes she had encountered in her lifetime. Her ability to stay composed in the chaotic storm due to experience eventually prevailed as she became cognisant of Xenon's strike patterns. She saw him overcommit on a hook, ducking under it and swivelling around him to jog back to the center of the cage.

She ran her fingers over her face, feeling around to check if she'd been cut anywhere. As she expected, no blood had been drawn.

"That all you got, bitch?" she taunted him again, raising her arms nonchalantly.

He came rushing forward again but opted not to throw strikes this time. This time, he dipped his level and aimed for her gut with his shoulder, hoping to spear her to the ground. He still thought that he held a strength advantage over the slender woman in front of him, a misconception that would be proven wrong quickly. He made contact with Kara's abdomen only to feel as if he'd run into a brick wall. She worked her arms under his, securing underhooks before effortlessly shoving him to the floor.

The club fell almost dead silent. Nobody would have expected Xenon to be manhandled by a woman half his size, and that embarrassment caused him to leap back to his feet and swing another wild punch. Rather than move out of the way this time, Kara simply caught his fist in her hand. The silent crowd let out an audible gasp, becoming restless as they started to realise that the reign of their champion might actually be coming to an end.

Xenon himself became paralysed through shock and fear. He didn't know how to react as Kara tightened her grip on his fist. The next thing he knew, he felt as if his hand was trapped under a hydraulic press, with Kara squeezing until his bones were crushed. His loud cry of pain was cut short when two punches and an elbow crashed into his face, shattering his nose and both orbital bones. A knee flew into his abdomen, fracturing his sternum and robbing him of his breath. The fight was over just like that, within seconds, and he collapsed to the floor a broken and defeated man.

Kara glanced up to the glass panes on the second floor, spotting Maxxine give her a nod to go through with her task. Mercilessly, Kara dragged Xenon off the canvas, wrapping her arm over and around his neck so that it rested directly underneath her armpit. With an uncaring tense, his neck snapped instantly.

The room was far from empty, but it sounded so. The ring announcer was even so stunned by the events that had unfolded before him that he was late to his cue to announce her as the winner. Some people in the crowd cheered, others were contemplating their life choices after having placed most of their savings on Xenon. Kara wondered if she had been too brutal after looking back up at a stupefied Maxxine, stunned by what she had just witnessed. Ellis rushed over to Kara, meeting her just as she took her first step down out of the cage.

"Are you okay?" Ellis asked with misplaced concern.

"I'm fine," Kara replied, undoing the bloody wraps on her hands, "You should see the other guy," she joked.

"Don't think I want to," she replied with a grimace.

They wasted no time heading for Maxxine's office after leaving the cage. It took them a little longer than they wanted, having to swim through the crowd just to make it to the staircase leading up to the office.

"I did it," Kara stated as she and Ellis barged into Maxxine's office.

"Mmm-hmm," Maxxine replied slowly. She was sat at her desk, fixated on something on the monitor in front of her.

"Where's the intel?" Ellis pressed.

"Right here."

Maxxine raised her left hand, holding up a datashard. Ellis stepped forward to move ahead and take it, but the cohort of several guards in the office immediately drew their weapons, taking aim at Kara and Ellis.

"I knew there was something off about you from the moment we met," Maxxine said, standing up and turning her eyes towards Kara, "Something that told me you weren't exactly who you said you were. Pretty unique way you chose to break Xenon's neck, wouldn't you say? Now, where have I seen that before?"

Maxxine put the datashard down before pressing a button on her keyboard. The video she had been intently watching projected into a hologram in front of Kara and Ellis, the short 6-second clip looping after one playthrough. Kara recognised the displayed sequence immediately. She had been there at those very docks just a little further down dealing with other goons while the green-hooded man in the clip fought off several others. They watched as he skilfully picked apart the group of assailants attacking him, knocking them off one by one until just one remained, whose neck he snapped in a manner identical to how Kara just did.

He was the one who had taught her the move, after all.

"You and he were tight, weren't you, Thara Ak-Var?" Maxxine asked before dramatically overcorrecting herself, "No, no, no, that's not who you are… You are Kara Zor-El. Never did I ever think that I would get to see you in the flesh."

"We did what you asked, Maxxine," Ellis protested, "Just give us the intel and we'll go."

"I don't think so. Now I know why you two are tangling with Lord. You still have a vendetta against him," she jibed, pointing at Kara, "No worries, you'll see him soon. In fact, he's going to be very, very happy after I drop you off at his front door. As for you, Ellis… you still have a chance to walk away."

Kara slightly turned her gaze towards Ellis. She was intrigued to see what kind of answer Ellis was going to give. She had grown so bitter that she still didn't fully trust her, in some weird way, she partly hoped that Ellis would walk away, having the wits to save herself while leaving Kara to her own dilemma.

But that bitterness in Kara, one that she hated seeing widespread in her former beloved city but also rested within her, was proven wrong this time. Ellis stood her ground, giving the type of defiant answer that a young Kara would have given, letting it out exactly how she would have a century ago.

"I'm not going anywhere," Ellis scorned, "I don't abandon my friends."

Maxxine sighed, letting out a breath reeking with heavy disappointment. "That was always the problem with you and Cody. Too damn stubborn for your own good."

Kara spoke up this time, grabbing Maxxine's attention. "Hey, Maxxine. One last request before you go through with this?"

"Go ahead," Maxxine replied with a condescending curiosity, unaware that Kara's orbs were heating up beneath her closed eyes.

"Go fuck yourself."

Kara lifted her head, opening her eyes and letting out a beam of energy towards Maxxine's chest. The fire burned through her heart, the intense pain and shock rendering her numb before she collapsed to the floor and struggled to take in her last few breaths.

Ellis had been vigilant enough to decipher exactly what Kara was planning to do, having already been preparing to whip out her new monowire and give it a test. As soon as Kara let out her heat vision, Ellis jerked her arm to draw out the monowire before ducking and wrapping it around the arm of the goon with a gun to her head. She slid behind him, using the momentum to pull him to the floor before throwing several punches to the back of his head.

Kara had the liberty of superspeed, preventing the other goons' shots from reaching Ellis as she did so. She grabbed the first one by the collar, tossing him out of the glass box and out into the club. He landed atop the fence line of the cage, the mesh digging into his abdomen as his fall drove him into it. The next goon had his throat grabbed by Kara, who with an easy flick of her wrist completely spun his head around by snapping his neck. Another managed to get a few rounds of fire off, the bullets hitting Kara's back to little effect before Ellis picked up one of the other's guns and put a few rounds into his skull.

Screams had begun ringing loud from the floor below as the crowd scattered, attempting to find a way to escape the ensuing chaos. Ellis tossed a gun to Kara, who used it to blow the skulls of guards on the opposite side of the balcony off. The club had gone into a lockdown with Maxxine's death, forcing the crowd below to just drop to the floor or scramble to the sides in the hopes that they wouldn't become collateral in the ensuing fight. Whatever guards were still stationed up here stood no chance against Kara and Ellis.

"I'm a netrunner," Kara remembered Ellis saying. Though she explained what she meant by that, she hadn't a real clue until she could get the chance to see it in action. She watched as an electronic glow sparked in Ellis' pupils as she focused on a guard, just a couple seconds passing before his cyberdeck erupted, a fire engulfing the left side of his head. He collapsed to the floor in agony for a few seconds before the flames melted his brain, rendering him no more.

There were at least ten more guards on this level that they had to deal with while trying to figure a way out of the place. If they were too far, Kara put a bullet in them. If they were close enough, she pulverised them with her bare hands. Ellis didn't have the luxury of bulletproof skin, so she preferred to stay behind cover and use her hacks or fire at their attackers. Preoccupied with their assailants and with the large elevator being shut down, she was more concerned with her survival rather than immediately finding a way out. Eventually, her cyberdeck's RAM would be exhausted and she would run out of bullets, but Kara was her saving grace in that regard. They couldn't put a scratch on Kara as she mowed through each and any one of them that dared to get in her path.

What they didn't know was that there was a secret staircase that led up into the club, reserved only for security personnel. They managed to take a momentary breather when all of the guards already on the level had been dealt with, but the secret doorway opened and out came flooding over 20 more. They were the heavy hitters, dressed in full combat gear and armed with assault rifles. Kara could have dealt with them all if she wanted to, but it wasn't just about her. Ellis could likely be caught up in the crossfire and Kara wasn't prepared for that possibility to come to fruition. The time for fighting was over, it was time to flee.

Kara sprung back and wrapped her arms around Ellis, who had just managed to use the last remaining RAM on her cyberdeck to trigger a grenade on one of the guards' belts. She hadn't time to process what ensued in the following seconds, only feeling Kara's arms wrap around her before there was a shattering of glass and an ensuing freefall. Kara had propelled herself through the glass panes looking out into the city and now they were falling several stories down towards the ground. Having not flown in years and without much time to adjust for a soft landing, all Kara was able to do in the air was spin around to make sure that she took the brunt of the crash into the concrete below them.

The grenade above detonated, presumably killing most, if not all of their adversaries above. The tar road cracked as Kara landed, the fall hurting a little more than she expected as she felt a faint dull pain spread across her back and head. Kara gently let go of Ellis, sliding her off before perching up on an elbow next to her.

"You alright?" Kara asked with concern.

"Fuck," Ellis strained, grimacing in pain.

Kara thought she had a perfect wrap around Ellis but hadn't fully gotten around her left arm and protected it from the fall. Her cyberlimb had been crushed in the impact.

"Ellis, your arm," Kara hurried to her feet, rushing to help Ellis who gripped what remained of her cybernetic arm while panting through her agony.

"I need to see a ripper," she huffed, "Vic. Take me to Vic."

Victor Vektor. Back in his heyday, he was something of a street legend of Knight City. A former heavyweight boxer, he once ruled the roost when it came to fisticuffs in the city, but as he aged and left that life behind, he put the technical expertise he acquired through the years to good use by becoming a ripperdoc. Now, he was the best ripper in Midtown, perhaps even the best in the city for those without corpo privileges. Every single one of Cody and Ellis' implants had been done by him and while he, like Maxxine, possessed an affinity for them, his aid came without the need for self-gain. He was the closest thing to a father figure they had after their real one was murdered, having helped them get by whenever they came to him for help.

His clinic was situated in a back alley behind an erotica shop, conspicuous that way by design. A camera hung above the sliding gate and door, with Kara knocking hard several times and waving to the camera with her free hand while the other held Ellis up. They didn't have to wait very long for the door to swing open, with Vic immediately fumbling for the right key from his chain to the sliding gate.

"What the fuck did you do this time, Ellis?" he scolded her.

"You'll find out in a minute," Ellis replied, barely able to get the words out.

"Can't stay out of trouble to save your fucking life, huh?" he spat back, immediately taking Ellis from Kara and helping her inside.

The inside of the clinic was hardly what Kara was expecting. While it was no state-of-the-art medical facility, being dimly lit in an orange hue with antiquated furniture and rustic walls, it seemed fairly well kept and Vic's machinery seemed of good quality. He immediately placed the pale Ellis on the operating chair before handing her something resembling an oversized asthma pump.

"Here."

Ellis put the nozzle to her mouth, pressing the button on the side as she took a deep breath.

"What's that?" Kara asked.

"Dorph airhypo," Vic replied as he assorted his tools and fetched a replacement cyber-arm from a backroom, "Dorph short for endorphins. Painkillers, anaesthetic, you get the idea."

While slightly stressed about Ellis' well-being, Kara sat back and held faith that Vic would do his job. She watched as he detached the crushed arm before attaching the new one, also taking the time to save her new monowire and attach it to her replacement limb. It all took less than 10 minutes, allowing Kara to realise her concern was somewhat misplaced and let out a sigh of relief.

"There you are," Vic said as he added the finishing touches to the new cyberlimb, "Good as new."

"Coffee?"

Kara had been lost in her gaze upon Ellis, who had fallen asleep after the procedure on the uncomfortable operating chair. She had already made the call to Jordan, telling him exactly where they were and what had happened. Vic appeared next to her with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Thanks," she replied, taking it from him as he sat on his chair while she leaned against his work desk, "Got an ashtray?" she asked. He wasn't a smoker, so all he could hand her was a half-cracked small bowl. "That'll do. She going to be okay?"

"She'll be back to 100% in a few hours," Vic replied, "She seemed worse than she actually is. She just needs to rest the shock off."

Kara didn't request further elaboration. She was starting to understand the logic behind implants now. She allowed herself to imagine what it would feel like if your cybernetic limb, linked to a processing system linked to your brain, had been instantaneously crushed after falling several stories off a building. An electric pain would probably follow, as the damage to the limb severed its connection with your cyberdeck and probably caused it to malfunction until the limb had been replaced.

An uneasy silence had developed between Vic and Kara, his gaze flickering to her every few seconds as she smoked away. He eventually decided to break it, bluntly stating the reason behind his slight discomfort.

"I know who you are."

Kara was taken aback by his sudden statement, locking eyes with him as she tried to decipher what he meant through his blank tone and blank gaze. "Got a problem with that?" she sternly replied.

Vic casually shook his head. "Just want to know why you're back."

"I've got a score to settle."

"Let me guess… Maxwell Lord?"

Kara didn't reply, instead just taking a long drag of her cigarette while staring ahead.

"Killing him once wasn't enough for you?" Vic continued.

"It would have been if he hadn't fucking come back to life," Kara hissed.

"Is that how she ended up like this?" Vic asked, gesturing to Ellis.

"Maxxine Moonlight. Went to her for intel and she double-crossed us."

"Wouldn't have expected it to go any other way. Terrible woman," he shook his head, waiting a few more moments before speaking up again, "Thought you were Cody at first glance on the camera, but then I remembered that's not possible because… she's gone as well now. That's with this world does to good people. Chews them up, eats them away until they're no more. There's no escaping it, it's always just a matter of time."

He leaned forward towards Kara, gaining her full undivided attention as he stared dead into her eyes.

"Promise me one thing: When you go after Lord, don't just kill him. Don't settle for a penny when you could empty the entire vault. Erase that motherfucker from history. Destroy everything he's built. Burn that fucking tower to the ground. You understand me?"

Kara stared back at him with conviction. "I wouldn't have come back to do anything less."

Several heavy knocks then struck the door, prompting them to turn their attention back to the cameras. Kara recognised the figure at the door to be Jordan.

"That's him," she said, giving Vic the go-ahead to open up for him.

Jordan sprinted in, rushing over to Ellis immediately, who had awoken from her sleep but remained groggy. "Ellis! Are you okay?" he asked, placing a hand on her cheek.

Ellis waved him off. "I'm fine, really. Don't stress about it."

After allowing himself to decompress for a second and let go of his concern, Jordan turned back into his old self as he began scolding Kara and Ellis.

"Were you two out of your fucking mind?!" he exclaimed, shifting his gaze between the two of them.

"She double-crossed us, Jordan," Kara retorted with vexation.

"Did I not warn you about her?" Jordan replied, now leaving Ellis' side and walking towards Kara, "And fuck, Kara, did you really have to kill her?"

"She knew my identity. She was going to expose us, and we would have been dead in the water before we knew it."

"Well, look where we are now. Ellis is fucked up, we got the blood of one of the top fixers in the city on our hands and no intel on Jensson."

Kara shook her head, holding back the urge to lodge her knuckles in his mouth. She got it, Jordan didn't like her, but it was tough to constantly sit back and be berated by him.

"You've seriously got no fucking faith in me, do you?" she asked, genuinely seeking an answer.

"Why should I? You don't really care about Ellis or Cody, you're just in it for Lord. Seems like all you're good for these days is killing. Certainly did plenty of that tonight."

Kara sighed. "Talk all that shit and then you wonder why Jonathan was my favourite nephew," she quipped back, revelling in the momentary satisfaction of riling him up before reaching into her back pocket and flicking the datashard towards him, "Here you go, asshole."

Ellis sat up. "You got the datashard?"

"Yep. Swiped it before we got out of there."

Jordan held the shard in his fingers, examining it closely while clenching his jaw in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. He gestured to the computer on the desk, turning his gaze to Vic to ask for permission.

"Can I…"

"Sure, kid," Vic replied, sliding out of the way to allow him to insert the datashard into an access point. Ellis, having regained most of her strength, rose up from the operating chair and walked over to the monitor. The display started as a map with a dotted line tracing towards Knight City before it turned into a 3D animation, showing a convoy of three AVs flying towards and entering Knight City.

"This is Jensson's transport route," Jordan realised, "He was in Florida, but he's arriving back in Knight City tomorrow afternoon. Three AVs, told you he'll be wrapped around security," he replied.

"What's stopping me and you from just knocking them out the sky?" Kara asked,

"These AVs are equipped with advanced aerial-deterrent systems. As soon as we get close, we've got missiles coming our way that'll knock us out the sky. Not only that, but they'll call for backup and once that happens, we can kiss our chances of bringing Jensson in goodbye."

"The convoy passes right by the Dulstan Power Plant past the city limits," Ellis said as she paused the animation before pointing to the model of the station, "That's our opening. We can rig the power plant to set off an EMP once the convoy is in range. Communications will be fried, weapon systems and engines will shut off. We'll just need one of you to catch the one he's in."

"What do we do once we've nabbed him?" Kara asked.

"We can't head back into the city," Jordan replied, "Too many cameras, too many eyes, he'd be profiled in a second. There's a little motel three miles north from the station, we should be safe there for a little while."

Vic had been sat next to them, quietly listening to their plan while intently watching the animation. He took off his glasses before speaking.

"Sabotage a corpo power station. Jump a corpo transport. Kidnap a corpo suit. One way or another, this sounds like it only ends in disaster."