Segment Note: The plan moves forward, so it begins at last, but in the way one expects perhaps.
If I know, if we know then Cadmus knows too, but of course if the four including Bruce are back then so must be the one who once called himself Superman thinks Vic. However he is definitely aligned with someone that poses the greater, truer threat than Cadmus. Cadmus represents the part of the pockets of cities that are afraid of us, but so few of us now are super powered or metahuman now. Superman or Kal, he'll be after Bruce in particular, but I suspect the other detective will be preparing for this once he learns of it. Of course he is not back from that island yet so I'll have to get someone else to alert the three hiding out at the manor before someone else spills what is going on to the GCPD, but it might be too late for that too. It is time to pay Montoya a visit.
Sage teleports down to the garage where he locks away his Pontiac GTO quite frequently so he zips off into Gotham however as he nears the central police station, something is definitely amiss, he figures out why just before SWAT surround his car. Someone either gave him away or they were expecting him.
"Vic Sage, you are under arrest for breaking into government facilities and stealing classified information from said archives," shouts Commissioner Montoya.
"You'll have to catch me first Commissioner," he replies before reversing into a K turn.
As he speeds off, a whole company of squad cars are in pursuit and so the chase spills over onto the highway than to the back road that leads towards what used to be the Bat cave. Montoya knew about the country road that bends and flows with the land that leads towards the hidden entrance to the infamous Bat cave. It also confirms suspicions that Wayne was the key financier or at least out of costume supporter to the Outsiders. As the Pontiac leaps through air, it passes through the waterfall, some cars including Montoya's follow, she orders the armored division and the SWAT to storm the manor. If Wayne was here, he was going up the river for this too, parole or not, it was still an associating violation. She elects to be technical, which is permitted to some extent, she felt Gordon had always been too forgiving or lenient, but she has been in charge during a relatively quiet crime underworld era compared to the one that dragged down Gotham when Batman first came onto the scene many years ago.
As the Pontiac slides to a stop, he spots one J'onn J'onzz, another former Justice Lord, purportedly still over in that other reality or time line that diverged from theirs long ago where one Luthor became more the super criminal and here became a political sociopath. He steps out just as the squad cars catch up including Montoya's.
"You have to get the others out now, you are endanger, not just Cadmus, other problem, everyone is after..."
J'onn starts to run at those words, afraid for the first in awhile, however upstairs the cops are already breaking down the doors and several windows. It was a question to ponder fear just before the knockout gas got him, had the whole world gone mad without them around or they were just really afraid of ending up with something worse than the Justice Lords had been all those years before. He hopes that Shayera and John got away though of course the couple had hidden themselves upstairs so once the cops left nothing more than a guard detail in the manor, they stealthily made their way down though it is getting harder to Shayera with her belly really starting to show at this point in the midst of what John tells her is called the second trimester. The trickiest part once downstairs is getting to the cave because it would not do them any good to be caught going out the front or the back. The cove had become the only option like before. As they pass through the room where the entrance is, there are SWAT ready for them, but something else happen just before they make their move.
An all to familiar whooshing sound, John chuckles a little and Shayera restrains a giggle.
"Somebody order a side of SWAT?" jokes Inara Lethe.
"Who are you, I know whose costume that looks like but who?" asks John.
"Introductions will have to wait Stewart," answers Kyle.
"Rayner?"
"Four to teleport now," chirps Inara.
"Where are we going?" quips Shayera.
They vanish leaving only the unconscious SWAT unit in the room. Word passes along that someone had gotten to the SWAT unit guarding the interior entrance to the cave. Meanwhile Question is locked away in Graystone, the same prison that been the place where they locked away Wayne. As he put into his cell with his first meal he knows plenty of these men ended up in here because of him, Wayne, or Helena.
"One of many errors made today was mine, but yours too, you see I'm not in here with them, they are in here with me."
On a psychological level he could be considered right, but of course without any of his gear, he had no way to orchestrate his own escape, so either bid his time to do it himself or possibly expect someone else to do it for him. Either way they are running out of time with multiple plots moving forward, liable to collide, probable to destroy everything, he is certain the other him in that other reality, other time line dealt with something not unlike this.
***
"You will lead the Ultimen army against the Lunar Watchtower, do you understand Galatea?"
"Yes Generals, they are a threat, most of all she is a threat, and that power mad cousin of hers who destroyed the station too."
"Now get to work!"
Cadmus had built up its own fleet of ships based on the original Javelin design, but with one serious difference, cloaking devices. It would protect them from being detected by the Lunar Watchtower in theory and as for the rest of the world, nobody knew of the designs for the moment. The loss of the station was a setback, but losing the binary gun had upset some elements of Cadmus' supporters in D.C. Waller did not relish where this was all leading, it felt like a setup, a trap, but in the end the authorization for this kind of mission was not solely up to her. The Administration via the Defense Department hands off operational protocols, basically disable that lunar facility and capture as many of the Outsiders as possible otherwise they would tolerate some casualties.
"Goodbye Daddy," says Galatea.
"Good luck," murmurs Hamilton.
Only now did it occur to him that he had done some pretty down questionable things when reacting to disappointment in his image of Superman, so instead he decides that Kryptonian is now a literal counterpart to Lucifer, but of course if that new enemy is still him then his behavior had a slight measure of justification still though Kara had not done anything except try to knock some sense into him that day all those years ago. He felt strange, just a little about cloning her, but the government or more precisely what had become Cadmus sought any advantage it could get over Superman and after over the Lords. The Outsiders while not the Lords, were still a threat as many believe teams of costumed heroics is still bad even they are mostly human. The toleration lasted as long as they had none of the Lords or anyone associated with the former Lords with them, but that almost quickly began to change starting with Galatea's first encounter with Kara in Metropolis. The return of the four of the five absent Lords had also pushed some departments to press for action against the Outsiders though the heaviest incentive was the destruction of the new ISS.
Its destruction had put everyone on alert, cleaner teams were already going after the wreckage, but it got problematic when certain states got interested to go looking for themselves. The damage to debris is extensive enough, but some would be smart enough to see that the binary fusion generator is the newest piece of equipment, well this depends on how well it survived reentry, from whatever pieces were left after that new enemy's rampage. Either way this is all about to come to a close, only questions circulate who will be left standing when they get to that point.
***
"Inbound stealth signatures, they almost register like that old Javelin design," quips Steel.
"Confirming, yes its that design for certain," continues The Atom.
"Just perfect, who is on them?" questions Green Arrow.
"Blast, something is jamming the sensors now, plus we are on emergency power now, someone or something just took out the power."
"That would be me..." says Captain Atom.
"You? Why?" responds Black Canary
"This team has become a threat to global security, I have my orders."
"Orders to what, to arrest us, to kill us?" retorts Huntress.
"Surrender peacefully and nobody gets hurt."
"Something tells me that, whoever is leading that force has anything but that in mind especially with me here," continues Kara.
"You can't mean that..."
"Yes she is leading them, the link is not totally broken, she has issues with me if you didn't know Captain."
"This isn't good then."
"No this is very bad plus you left us in a jam taking out the primary power."
Steel and the Atom head off the power station with the Captain in tow so he can undo what he had done.
"Outsiders to combat status," orders Arrow.
"Standby to handle intruders,' shouts Canary.
"You think it'll be enough to rally everyone?" whispers Oliver.
"We still have to try anyway," answers Dinah.
"What's with all the whispering?" jests Kara.
"Old habits y'know."
"Super hearing too."
Intruder alerts go off like mad, the attack has begun, but to ensure power stays down as low as it can get Galatea goes for the power station and its multiple cores Kara attempts to contact Steel for an update as she fights her way through a line of Ultimen clones. He doesn't answr, she picks up speed, almost sonic booming through a whole flank of the attackers. She finds Steel or rather him with half of his armor torn off and as for The Atom, he is out cold while back to his human size. Her double is taking on an injured Captain Atom, if his suit goes even in here, it could be deadly, maybe even destructive. The Ultimen are her command are taking down the Outsiders despite how effective seemingly ordinary humans in costumes were holding against them. The Lunar Watchtower would certainly be theirs before long making it all the more urgent that Kara stop Galatea if that's even possible. She slams her clone into the floor just before she tries to kill the Captain. His suit is badly fractured, there's no getting up for him, but the Atom is back on his feet gong to resume his efforts to bring the power systems back as the two duke it out not far from him. Steel props himself up using what's left of his heavy hammer.
It would take at least a little while longer to get it going, but Captain Atom's ability to manipulate all kinds of radiation could speed it up though they would be risking the captain as well their livelihoods. Steel tries to contact anyone in the operations section, but nobody answers, all he hears is static and sounds of battle. It was not going well, but would going up there change anything, it bothers him to hesitate again. He tells Palmer to keep at it, he had to help up top, the man obliges as Steel in less than ideal shape takes off.
"Your Outsiders are losing, you are all loose cannons to be put down."
"Says you!"
"Says me, says Cadmus, says the governments of the world though most are still too afraid or stupid to admit it!"
"Sure and I'm just the bumpkin girl from Kansas!"
She slams her clone again before getting thrown towards the solar power relays. The designers of these particular generators found a way to employ a method similar to that of the next generation space facilities, paneling that would continuous channel some form of solar energy while alternately devising a way to tap into the lunar terrain, which had been one of those novel though expensive research grants courtesy of the Wayne foundation. Somehow Kara wishes that her cousin had come to his senses after being beaten in that alternate reality, but no, he probably now had a new grudge, a new plan, it would be bad if he got his powers back of course she must pay attention to now. Galatea however deciphers her enemy's plan to trick her because too much solar power could be lethal even to a Kryptonian.
"Nice try bumpkin!"
Kara howls in pain as Galatea instead turns the severed relays on Kara instead. Kara falls to the ground leaving Galatea to take out Palmer, but something else hits. An energy blast from a certain Green Lantern. Rayner and Lethe are on the offensive as John and Shayera fight some of the Ultimen being drawn to the cores to help their 'leader'. Galatea turns towards Rayner then body slams him before finding herself tossed by Lethe, the toss is fast and energized enough to propel what she calls the wannabe into space. This leaves a body size rip in the ceiling so Rayner hurries to seal the gap. Fate finally getting out from under an entire company of clones uses some magic to speed the refill just as Kara comes around to find Steel reattaching the cables she had just pulled out. The ceiling ruptures again in a different spot as Galatea literally lands on her taking her deeper into the Lunar Watchtower. The only ones left standing down there are the Ultimen that had beaten the rest of the Outsiders except the ones in the power cores chamber.
She couldn't take it anymore but Rayner, Lethe, and Shayera come in for another attack run though Shayera gets a bad singe to her wings from Galatea's heat vision. She goes down, Kara struggles towards the woman, it looks bad, but it can be healed if they get her medical help fast. John rushes her to one of the Cadmus Javelins then flies it towards the surface hoping he can J'onn in time because he is the closest thing that Lords had to a doctor at one time except Fate instead directs him to the Tower where Inza waits for their arrival. The Lunar Watchtower seems a lost cause at this stage, but where else did they have left to go especially with Cadmus being able to find this place. Kara and Galatea keep battling, their uniforms or what passes for such is in shreds before long. They are near equals at power level, making it simpler to wound each other, but Kara is weakening just a little.
"Face it you lost!"
"Says the clone!"
She punches Kara clear across the room, but both Rayner and Lethe catch the almost adult Supergirl in their arms.
Her earpiece chirps with the Generals requesting an update, she says its almost done, they are glad to hear it, how many prisoners they ask, many, but a few died during the fight she says, acceptable so long as you bring enough for us to prosecute. It is going down now as they stop transmitting for now. It is time, but just then power kicks back online so Kara uses the confusion on Galatea's face to kick her towards the teleport pad. The Cadmus Javelins are departing en mass with the captured Outsiders in the middle of all this. There is no way to stop them, so it would have to wait to get the others back, but in the mean time, Kara's kick had been forceful enough to stun Galatea. Lethe beams the evil 'brat' away and whoever is left uses the pad set to auto-teleport before the Lunar Watchtower itself powers down permanently. They reappear at another of Wayne's secretly financed Outsiders facilities hidden in Central City. Some could suspect why he chose here for such a thing, but some also felt it was not good given the late Wally West's personal attachment to keeping this city safe from any kind of harm.
A/N 1: Shares some plot elements with the TNBA episode Over The Edge, with JLU episodes Panic In the Sky and a bit of Wake The Dead if only for the involvement of Fate and Inza.
A/N 2: Cadmus strikes of course, it is similar the plot point in Panic In the Sky only with Galatea leading the attack.
A/N 3: Vic and J'onn are both captured albeit separately so what does it mean, we'll find out soon.