Chapter 4
[Gordania]

Blackfire had wasted little time in putting her plan into action. Lobo would be the unwitting fall guy to draw the Justice League away from Earth and before the League would realize that they were on a wild goose chase, the Gordanians would already be in orbit. Earth lacked the weapons to defeat their ships and their orders were simple enough: Capture Koriand'r and return to Tamaran where Galfore would be forced to abdicate the throne or he'd watch Koriand'r die a slow painful death. If the others got in the way…They were to be killed. Blackfire wasn't going to let the Titans interfere again.

It took some time to get the ship and crew ready. Blackfire could taste victory and was thinking that it would be pretty easy. Get the blasted Justice League away from Earth on a fool's errand, then, make sure that the Titans were kept occupied while Starfire was captured. They had to be sure that the more dangerous members of the team were neutralized somehow as well. Blackfire figured that some of the special weapons they were bringing would keep Edward at bay along with Terra and possibly Raven as well. They weren't concerned with Cyborg as his weapons would be no match, Robin wasn't even endowed with super powers and Beast Boy could be handled.

Blackfire needed to convince the Grand Centauri Empire to contact the Justice League for assistance in catching the unwitting scapegoat. She knew that Lobo was extremely powerful and didn't play well with others as a result. "The Main Man" as he styled himself would put up one major fight, especially to defend his innocence.

Blackfire had someone hack into the main Grand Centauri Empire main computers and plant a phony arrest warrant for Lobo, charging him with theft.

Then, she had someone else contact the Empire's law enforcers with a tip that a wanted criminal was on the fringes of their space.

That part of the plan would take a while as their security forces would have to spread out and converge on Lobo's location. Then, Blackfire knew that Lobo would probably trash those guys, forcing them to call for the Justice League.

As soon as the League was dispatched, the fleet would depart at faster than light speed. One, would be to avoid detection by the League members who would stay behind until it was too late to do anything at all. They would have to be careful to ensure that any ripples caused in the fabric of space were not detectable.

Another minor problem would be Earth's military, but, they only had projectile weapons, and they would not penetrate the shields.

One thing they did change in their shields was to try to block the gray girl's teleportation. After their previous attempt to recapture Starfire failed, they studied how to prevent that other girl's way of getting aboard their ship.

They were even trying to study how the other member of the Titans teleported and were somewhat stumped as they didn't have any direct data.

The commander feared, though, that Blackfire was not taking the potential threat Edward posed seriously enough. If seriously provoked, Edward could potentially destroy their command ship. The commander was actually impressed as he saw that Edward could hold his own in a fight. He recognized that Edward is a true warrior. Blackfire had to be made aware of that. Then again, both sisters were warriors. Starfire would not come along peacefully. She'd have to be "convinced" to give herself up.

The commander was aware, via the information passed along by loyal spies on Earth that Edward was also a shapeshifter and, unlike Beast Boy, Edward could assume a different humanoid form. That would make things interesting. If they didn't capture Starfire immediately, Starfire could be hidden and they'd capture Edward instead if he shapeshifted to her form. But, he couldn't make his internal scans mimic Starfire and he certainly did not have a Tamaranian's abilities. That also worried the commander.

His musings were interrupted by a summons to see Blackfire and he went to her chambers to see what she needed.

"You summoned me, my lady?" he asked.

"It's been 72 Earth hours," she said coldly, "Are the plans ready?"

"We're as ready as we will be," he said, "We have a lock on Lobo and the enforcers are searching for him as we speak.

"We are going to lure Lobo into their territory shortly. He's a bounty hunter and we're going to give him a bounty he'll want to claim. Word has it there's a brilliant and rare gemstone a collector wants and is willing to pay a king's ransom for it."

"That will attract other bounty hunters, correct?" Blackfire asked.

"It will, but, Lobo is the closest one. The lure of a half billion credits will certainly get his interest."

"Yeah, and every bounty hunter within half a parsec," Blackfire said. She thought for a moment and smiled, "Perfect. The more bounty hunters the more confusing the situation becomes."

The commander has his own doubts. He felt that if there were a lot of bounty hunters clamoring for the same thing that really wouldn't exist, there would be a bounty on his head as well as Blackfire.

But, Blackfire did not see things that way. She wanted her crown back and revenge on Starfire.

"Send the message offering the bounty," Blackfire ordered.

"By your command," the commander said and looked like he was wanting to go follow that order.

"You're dismissed," Blackfire said.

The commander saluted, turned and left.

Within the hour, a message was being broadcast, after being routed through 20 different radio relays to mask its point of origin.

"Attention: A 500,000,000 credit REWARD is being offered to the first being that recovers the Stone of Praxis, in the Grand Centauri System. Bring the Stone to The Citadel within 2 standard months. "

[Edge of the Grand Centauri Empire]

The message came across as clear text to Lobo's space cycle as he was enjoying what passed for vodka.

His eyes bugged out and he raced out of the bar saying, "Time for the Main Man to get rich and retire happy."

A few patrons were unfortunate to be in his way and were bowled over as a result.

Watch where you are going! one yelled in his native language.

Lobo paid it no mind. He was on a mission and no one was going to stop "The Main Man."

[Police HQ – Grand Centauri]

The falsified warrant for Lobo's arrest had gone out several days prior and had just been "verified" as official.

So, at the morning video briefing, the captain got on the screen and said, "Today's warrants include apprehending the bounty hunter known as Lobo. He's accused of theft and fraud. He's rumored to be near the fringes of our space and possibly on a bounty hunt.

"Approach with caution as he is extremely powerful. Consider him armed and dangerous. Wait until he enters the Empire…and take him down."

One of the officers signaled for attention and was recognized.

"Isn't Lobo almost as powerful as Kal-El, though?" he asked.

"Good observation, Officer," the captain replied, "Lobo is almost as strong as the last Kryptonian, and certainly stronger than the Tamaranians. If you spot him, call for backup immediately! We will be contacting the Justice League for assistance should the need arise."

Little did the captain know: The officer who asked the question was what the Earthlings called a "dirty cop". He had been paid a decent amount of credits to merely provide information to a "cutout". He secreted his information and set a flag to let his handler know.

Then, the package was delivered to several others before landing in the hands of: Blackfire.

[Several days later]

Blackfire waited to see if the cops had taken the bait. Her contacts already reported that Lobo was already within the Grand Centauri Empire and she had a coded message sent out: "Lure in the Justice League at your earliest opportunity."

That was sent via her spies to the one officer that was willing to do the job.

As soon as he got the go-ahead, he opened up a communications channel directed at Earth.

"Grand Centauri Empire to Justice League of Earth," he said, "We need your help. The interstellar bandit named Lobo has been accused of theft and destruction of Empire property. We request the aid of Kal-El, the one known as the Martian Manhunter and the Green Lantern. We will accept the aid of others as well."

It would take a little while for the message to arrive…

[Back at the Tower]

While all this was going on, though, the Titans were getting to know David better and Robin eventually decided to offer David an honorary Titan status.

He took the offered communicator, mainly as it would help him keep in touch.

"I'm honored," David said, pocketing the device, "This is encrypted?"

"Sure is!" Cyborg said, "It uses a 8192 bit cipher. It doesn't get much stronger than that. The main communications panel can be non-secured or secured, as needed."

David nodded, "Impressive. Most encryption routines use a 2048 or 4096 bit cipher."

"We've had problems with our communicators being hacked," Robin explained, "This will keep hackers out of the system when we're away."

"How long would it take someone to break the code?" David asked.

The AI replied, "About 200 years, even if using a computer that can compute in the petaflop range. However, the cipher key is regenerated daily, and, can be set to a higher refresh rate, preventing any further successful attempts."

David whistled, "Damn."

Edward looked at David for a moment and shrugged.

"So," Edward said, "Who is up for some tacos tonight for dinner?"

Edward got a rousing response there. But, before he could move, the communications board lit up.

Terra went to get the call and said, "Titans Tower."

Batman appeared on the screen, "Hello, Terra."

"What's shaking, Batman?" she said with a smile.

"The League's been called off planet for a while. We've received a request for help in capturing Lobo," he said.

"Lobo?" Edward asked, coming into view.

"He's an interstellar bounty hunter," Batman replied, "The Grand Centauri Empire has at least one arrest warrant out for him."

"And, it'll take the League to handle him?" Edward asked.

Superman came into view and said, "He's almost as strong as I am and almost impervious to injury. It's going to take the League's stronger members to take him down."

"Do you need any additional help?" Robin asked.

"We got it," Superman said, "Thanks for the offer, though."

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" Edward asked.

"We're leaving in a couple of hours, but, I will be staying behind," Batman said. Edward understood why. Batman was the only non-meta enhanced or alien on the team.

The conversation lasted several more minutes before the League had to depart. They had a long journey ahead of them and what they didn't know is that as soon as they left, Blackfire's small fleet would depart at hyperspace speeds. With luck, they'd be in and out of the Sol system with their prize before the Justice League and the Grand Centauri folks caught on.

Thanks for waiting, folks. Not much to relay on a personal type note this time around.

I'm not sure how involved Lobo and the League will be after this point, but, if I understand Lobo well enough. he's not going to take being hunted and/or duped lying down.

The previous stories have focused somewhat on Edward's being protective of Raven. But, as mentioned earlier (and in "Titans V. Slade") we've seen how protective Edward can be of Terra...and by logical extension the others on the team. Blackfire's going to find out what it means when a member of Edward's extended family is kidnapped. Edward's son will have more to do. Luckily, he won't be missed at the firm he works for. I haven't decided that, but could it be Wayne Enterprises? Maybe he's a lawyer? Or a doctor? Or maybe a cop somewhere? Could be even be a reporter with the Daily Planet's Chicago location? That one, I'll take votes on until I post Chapter 5.

Side note to ArizonaHawk...Thanks for the advice. I will be developing that one. I can place it, timewise, before this story. I'm pondering bringing in Geo-Force (if you've read the comics...he's Tara Markov's brother with the same abilities.) Let me know when/if you can exchange PMs, please. There's absolutely zero pressure to do this as I understand the reason(s).

A possible thought...starting an Edward and the Titans Community on FF. If started, would you folks be interested in joining...That could eliminate my "begging" for folks to fill out the box below.

Next chapter...The attempt to capture Starfire!

BTW...I know I'm playing fast and loose with the laws of physics here a bit. I'm using that as a plot device and to keep you folks from getting bored.

Finally...I am aware that the previous story "Recovery" was a lot to absorb in one sitting and the stats reflected that for a while. You should see the original draft for the first story...The chapters were a bit longer and out of consideration for you, the readers, that's why it's 18 chapters :)

TTFN...and, please read/review.