[25th August 2010]
[Secure Communications Room, Beneath LexCorp HQ, Metropolis]
Mercy stood guard at the entrance to the room as always while he closed the doorway behind him, then strode forward to the interface and chair waiting within for him. Combining luxurious seating and a sleek look with some of the most powerful computing power on the planet, and all in all he was rather proud of the device. Plus it was resistant to the Kryptonian's abilities, as well of those of his alien allies and those humans who served him with their own alien technology.
While he had to admit he'd had some help with developing it, with magic as they called it, the truth was he was true brains behind the Light's secure communications system. All of it a marvel of human ingenuity, and testament to his own prodigious mental talents; he'd like to see that flying brick Superman try to create such a device!
Taking his seat he placed a thumb upon the keypad and spoke clearly "Authenticate: L-03-84D-78Y" and allowed the quick scan of his mental patterns as the in-built device on the machine whirred to life for but a brief few seconds. Blasted Martians and their capacity to violate the sanctity of one's mind with their alien powers, still he'd managed to develop protections against such intrusion and in the even one got where he now sat pretending to be him. If they did...well, they'd get less than a second to regret tainting what was his with their presence.
"Authentication Complete: Welcome L-3" the machine stated in a coldly feminine voice and the screen sprung to life along with the rest of the system controls. Moments later it connected to the six other almost identical systems spread across the globe as one after another the other members screens sprung to life. Devoid as yet of his 'associates' of course; far be it for them to actually be there at the exact minute they were supposed to like he himself.
Though...sometimes he wondered if perhaps he should be just glad that the caveman, the abomination, and the senile old idiot among them actually understood what a computer was let alone could use one of this level. Making things fool proof had been the bane of his life he'd found; humanity could be rather terrifyingly foolish at times in his experience. He steepled his fingers before him, resting his elbows on the arms of the chair and tried valiantly to hold the impatience from showing upon his face as the seconds ticked by. Before, finally, the first of the screens filled with the face of one of his 'associate'. Ah, the brain in a jar...almost close enough to be punctual, and competent, to make up for the god awful accent in Luthor's eyes.
"Ah, mon ami, punctual always" the Brain greeted him across the screen, and he nodded back politely as they awaited the others of their join them. Plus it was best not to engage the brain in a jar in mundane or casual conversation; it seemed at times between the accent and randomly included French words that the creature just talked that way to irritate the rest of the then. Or perhaps was he just trying, Luthor himself had idly wondered once, to be the most French, and demented, brain in a jar the universe had ever seen. If so more glory to him...as long as it didn't interfere with Luthor's own goals of course.
'Ah, the senile old man arrives at long last to tell us all of yet another one of his glorious defeats at the hands of the Batman' he thought as the last of their number appeared on the screen. At least al Ghul's debacle at Cape Canaveral had proven profitable to LexCorp with the need for NASA to replace much of the damaged equipment from the battle. He resisted the sudden urge to roll his eyes. What had the old camel rider thinking exactly with sending a satellite beam weapon so obviously into orbit?
I might have taken out one city before someone, likely with a LexCorp built anti-satellite missile sold to the military. Billions spend on a rather ludicrous plan...al Ghul was an enigma at times. Methodically and diligently thought out plans, brilliantly so at times in their own...special...sort of way, but usually the idea at the heart of it was so mind numbingly stupid that he himself had spent millions trying to find out what the real objectives behind his 'associate's plans were.
To his mild surprise the mad ideas generally were at the actual idea at heart of those mad plans...sadly it wasn't like he had many options to go with beyond his current 'associates' to handle the Kryptonian and his allies. So he sat patiently and listened as the two latest operations, and their resultant failures, were discussed by those who'd run them. Al Ghul's was as the reports he'd already read had stated; the Bat and his sidekick had thwarted the operation before the ancient man on the screen had evidently taken a swan dive off the launch frame to try catch the falling focusing crystals. Yet more proof to Luthor that these Lazarus Pit's the senile old fool swore by was a dreadful idea, and detrimental to one's mental well being all in all. Still the alien abomination's was far more interesting, and concerning in a minor way, considering other recent events and those involved in them.
"Yet again the so called heroes utilise their sidekicks in such a manner. It has become rather bothersome has it not? And, surprising yet again in the level of aggression shown by them it must be added. Once is inconvenient, twice irritating...a third time truly is not acceptable in such a short period of time" the caveman mused on the first screen as the abomination finished his tale. Something that was rather scantly detailed in the official reports on the aftermath of the incident by the Rhode Island police force, other than the usual 'damage caused by Justice League' in the Act of God insurance claim form status so common to Metropolis since the alien's arrival. Luthor nodded and added his voice to shift the conversation slightly on the matter.
"Indeed, a most concerning pattern appears to be emerging with the Justice League's usage of the children for their own ends. Though the presence of yet another skull masked magician, and a non-League magician in their entourage as well, is further proof that something more nefarious is at work here. First Santa Prisca, then the events with The Fog, and now this...a third is at work here, allied somehow with the Justice League from the shadows"
Santa Prisca for instance had been a surprise, while the Light's objective's had been accomplished, the sudden rise to power of a new player had not. Especially as it had been done via destroying the resident cartels from the top down, then subverting the local criminals such as Bane to their control via some form of mind control perhaps...and then the Justice League's seemingly allowing tacit support through the children for such methods. Which would be concerning even without the strangely strong support emanating from the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland too of all places, through international back channels for the island's new regime. Before him on the six screens the brain in a jar's accent seemed to hum as it spoke.
"Indeed mon ami, the présence of another magicien crâne with this childran is tres concerning. Magi un dark magics against la team using un Fog, then magi un order against mon ami Klarion, and images of more attired la crane near to this…El Presidente un the same nuit. Fran-u-kly it appears another foe moves within lay darkness with motives of its own unknown to us mon ami"
Luthor gave the faintest of nods "Indeed all this seems to start shortly after The Weapon was removed from Cadmus by the sidekicks of three of the League's members. Furthermore including The Weapon, and other individuals within this group of seemingly less savoury disposition, is a concerning sign that something has changed without our input in recent history..."
He thumbed a data set and brought it to the group's attention "...and after our last meeting my investigations I believe something happened within the United Kingdom around a year and a half ago. Here is a long list of rather convenient 'accidents' and 'retirements' within the political system there..." he tapped another icon "...and here are records of encrypted transmissions in the aftermath of the Santa Prisca incident. Note the information hubs, the flow is London and Dublin, to each other first, and then...and only then...to Washington before distribution to law enforcement"
The abomination, who seemed far less child like in his mannerisms had a perhaps irritated, or even angry, expression on his fake face as he seemingly agreed "Yes, and one of the worthless mages was a damned English demon-dealing one that Faust and I have heard of, but of my sort of magic mostly. The other was a trained apprentice in Order mage, Nabu's doing I'd expect there because they're so rare to see, but you don't get two mages like these seem to be together without someone, or something, in charge. Not one like this Constantine and the circles he runs in, he's a mercenary and general agent of destruction to what I know..."
The creature almost frowned pausing as if considering its next words "...and...mages have been going missing from those islands in the past year. Or, perhaps, just disappearing from view...but Faust confirmed it, as did the fight we know of between this battle in Washington between Wotan and other mages. There's been a change in those islands...those demon-cocksuckers dominated the magical scene there, government too looking at these names, but now..." how strange, so that's what the abomination looked like when it was somewhat serious "...they're gone, mages are vanishing, and suddenly wizards like this Constantine are appearing places they should not be, and in the company of those they shouldn't associate with"
Ah the Eye Candy opens her mouth he noted as she frowned in thought. Dreadful woman he found, rather intelligent at times, but lazy and depended far too much on her 'seductive' powers in way that would annoy him if he himself was a woman "The timeline would fit a sudden change in my own agent's ability to manipulate those of the two governments of those islands. Even Psimon who I had hidden viewed that his targets were often mentally shield, through unknown methods. Magic could be one, and as he himself has reported if they were being controlled by an external entity it would explain the sudden change in resistance to my...negotiators"
"Perfidious Albion at work!" seemed to be the sudden consensus of the caveman and the brain in the jar he noted, resisting mightily to resist rolling his eyes at the sudden hate. Unlike both of them, and the senile old man, the recent destruction of the Drug Cartels was proving rather beneficial for his own holdings as scientists suddenly lost employers, and competitors who'd leaned on the black market to challenge LexCorp began to struggle. All the better that his 'associates' took a hit for their own stupidity and his own power grew at the same time. Still he had to agree slightly as the datasets did indicate something was occurring from the general area.
"Perhaps in some measure, those mercenaries being recruited by the this...El Presidente...all seem to have former backgrounds of some sort within the militaries of both nations, and as Klarion as stated the weaponry employed against him was most likely supplied from military stockpiles..." he watched as the caveman highlighted some images smuggled out of Santa Prisca before their last agent there had been lost "...and as Vandal indicates these are clearly a government BlackOps team of some sort. The US Government are showing signs of similar reports within their own networks, though are largely clueless who is behind such measures unfortunately. Sadly their discovery of further is hampered by systems and blocks we ourselves have utilised to prevent our organisation's discovery"
The caveman nodded 'sagely' he likely believed, in his own brutish way, on his screen "Yes most unfortunate, and such is the case within the European intelligence services we have infiltrated. This El Presidente is clearly only a front for a cabal of some sorts, one that hints of seem to exist such as a code phrase that repeats in correspondence very rarely; the night is dark and full of terrors. The question is do we strike against what is clearly their agent, or wait?"
Senile Old Man frowned "No we wait, there are those that need to be liberated in the coming weeks, and an attack is already brewing amongst the survivors of the Santa Prisca cartels. Best we let their assault go ahead and yield us further information on our prospective foes there. It does raise the question of course...are this team of youngsters themselves operating against us of their own wills? Broken Arrow appears...deeply suspicious of two of them, and the report indicates his...friends...amongst this team of being unable rather than just unwilling to speak of certain things regarding these individuals"
"There are spells of Order that can compel such behaviour, obedience or compulsion perhaps..." the abomination speculated "...and it would not be impossible for another Lord of Order to have moved. That code though...it would be impossible for it to be here. But...it is something that needs to be uncovered before it endangers our own plans. The meanies of order are just like that, just loving their slavery and hierarchy and obedience"
'Ah the childishness returns it seems' Luthor thought as he considered the problem at hand "Does this affect our timetable in..."
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