Post by redsycorax on Sept 28, 2022 1:08:24 GMT
On Earth-101, there are some quirks that might raise eyebrows elsewhere in the multiverse. Krypton-101 was obliterated by the emergence of a white hole within Rao's solar system, but its only survivor was Lar-El and Jura's daughter Lanna- who landed on Earth in the fifties in the Viceroyalty of New Britain and became first Supergirl, then the Woman of Steel, Superwoman. Mark Morden has the ability to control weather, but unlike other iterations elsewhere in the multiverse, as Aeolus, he is heroic. Kriemhilde the Valkyrie is her team's other foremost heroic woman, Warrior Queen. Brainiac (A) is Coluan, and his scientific prowess has proven a rare gift to his colleagues. Finally, Ryo is a small orange feline cyborg, capable of sapience, speech and with manipulator arms that enables him to exhibit abilities far beyond those of organic felines. The Justice 5 have their own share of enemies, though.
As for history, events here took a twist in 1605. On other Earths, the Gunpowder Plot conspiracy to assassinate King James I and the British Parliament failed and its perpetrators were executed. However, on Earth-101, the plot went undetected and succeeded in its immediate objective- but then backfired badly. While James VI and I was successfully assassinated, his son Henry Stuart Prince of Wales wasn't present that day and thus escaped. Proclaimed Henry IX, the young king reigned until 1660. As a consequence of more prudent rule compared to his father and his brother Charles Duke of York, Henry IX's sympathy to Puritanism and constitutional reform meant that there was no English Civil War, nor was there any need for the Mayflower to sail to the eastern coast of North America in 1620. Given that New Britain was colonised later, and given the earlier arrival of liberal democracy in the Union of Kingdoms, the events that led to the outbreak of the American Revolution did not occur and in the late eighteenth century, chattel slavery was abolished. However, neighbouring France was not so fortunate- in 1679, the "Affair of the Poisons" at Versailles went undetected and Louis XIV died from the aforementioned method of assassination. As a consequence, the Grand Dauphin became "Louis XV" instead of predeceasing his father and proved to be an incompetent and spendthrift ruler. As a consequence of that, the kingdom collapsed into civil war and fractured into several successor states.
Of these, Burgundy is a failed gangster state, home to the cabal known as the Ligue des Hommes Extraordinaire, a euphemism for an organisation of dread supercriminals- Red Bat (Thomas Wayne Jr), Deathstroke (Lois Lane), and others. Sadly, one of them is a former hero- formerly known as the "Fighting Yank" in better days. Bruce Carter III was the descendant of a New British Rebellion sorceror and namesake. Stumbling on his ancestor's cloak, tricorn hat, short pomaded wig and belt buckle, Carter attained the abilities of superstrength, invulnerability and flight. However, from what medical practitioners have been able to ascertain, this was not without psychological consequences. Carter's behaviour subsequently became highly erratic and violent and in the end, he was incarcerated for aggravated assault, severe injury and manslaughter against a group of non-violent, non-criminal impersonators en route to a costume party. However, it also became apparent that the artefacts had conferred either longevity or immortality, given custodial sentence limits when it came to accidental manslaughter.
It is now 2022.
++
Superwoman finished her afternoon's duties, which consisted of repairs to the envelope of the 'grand old lady of the air', Hindenberg III, the latest Austro-German Confederation zeppelin to carry the storied title. She waved to the cheering passengers as she flew away from the stately, majestic airship and towards her job at the Daily Satellite, that Great Metropolitan Newspaper. She hoped Clark Kent wouldn't use it as an opportunity to air his tiresome if accurate suspicions that his boyhood crush Lana Lang was indeed Superwoman. However much she loved him, Clark's journalistic acumen could be a nuisance at times. As she prepared to accelerate to invisibility and enter the locked storeroom to change back into her news presenter identity, the J5 signal device sounded. What a time to choose!
"Hi, Superwoman, Ryo here. Look, we've gained some new intel on Fighting Yank's possible latest location. I'm afraid it's not good news, either. He has a beryllium generating fusion reactor, so watch yourself." Superwoman nodded- this was serious indeed, since radioactive berylllium -10 isotopes were one of her few earthly weaknesses.
Abruptly, a familiar saucer-shaped vessel decloaked near her: "Brainiac. I was wondering how close you were."
"When I intercepted our diminutive felid friend's communication, I realised that the situation was serious. Normally, beryllium is the consequence of late stage fusion reactions in red giant suns and for that reason, the technology that Carter is using is highly hazardous. I decided to assist you."
"Appreciate the assistance, old friend. I hate having to do this."
"I gather that this is a reference to the former heroic qualities of the "Fighting Yank"?"
"He's become habituated to the power and indomitability that the talismans give him, Brainiac. And equally unfortunately, we have to. He has minimal regard for human life and collateral damage from his reckless, antisocial behaviour."
"He is an asset to the LHE, though. Even if Lane's moral ambiguity makes her an uncertain ally."
"Deathstroke does not present a case of unrecognised clinical psychosis as Carter does. In her case, she seems to entertain the possibility of virtuous and appropriate moral conduct in certain circumstances. Rehabilitation is more probable in her case."
"Hola, my comrades! Have I missed aught?"
"Afternoon, Krie. No, we were just conversing about the Fighting Yank's latest criminal misdeed. He appears to have a beryllium-10 fusion reactor in production, which doesn't fill me with confidence about my role in subsequent proceedings. You're just in time."
"Ach, yes. My mighty blade Helveteslukbingsapparat [Norwegian: Fire Quencher] stands at the ready should you require it, good Superwoman."
"Appreciate it, Krie, as ever. Brainiac?"
"This would explain the forensic traces of the Red Bat I have been witnessing at beryllium mining sites- namely, his hacker imprimatur, vestigial visual and aural activity and biometric anomalies that match his own."
"Nicely done. Which means that Tommy is in the vicinity and may be supplementing his colleague's operations."
"How, exactly? I get the theft and contraband aspects that match his modus operandi, but he's usually one to keep Carter at a distance." Warrior Queen commented.
"Possibly to give us a false sense of security as we arrive to take Carter in. Interesting Lane isn't involved again."
"Well, we all know what Lois is like. If there's any risk from her more erratic colleagues, she usually finds reasons not to collaborate with them- so I suspect she's not onsite, nor will she be anywhere near the scene of that crime. Ryo, how far is Mark from us right now?
"Aeolus is busy at the moment with the hyperstorm in the Caribbean and said to tell you that's going to take the next three hours or so before he can be sure it's well away from any habitable Atlantic coastlines or islands. The Five Elements are assisting him, so we can't call on them for backup, either." Erde, Aer, Fyre, Aqua and Sprite were Justice 5's junior associates and second echelon crime fighters and international disaster relief providers, mostly in their late teens or early twenties. They had been given their abilities when the renegade Egyptian deity Amon-Ra had been awoken from a hitherto unknown pyramid and had been relinquished, but not before providing five exploratory archaeologists from New Britain with eldritch control over the five classical elements of nature. Aeolus and Aer were in a relationship, given the similarity between their abilities.
Unfortunately, their adversaries had also prepared from the confrontation.
STATUE OF REBELLION, MIAMI:
With a more benign British colonial administration in New Britain, Eiffel had never constructed a Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour here, given that its liberties were amply recognised and respected already. However, the criminal southeastern littoral regime in Florida was not as accountable or transparent when it come to governance or administration in their territory, and consequently, it served as a terminus for the machinations of Burgundy across the Atlantic. After a Hobbesian struggle between various criminal gangs for supremacy, the Evil Eye Society had gained ascendancy and ruled a repressive if corrupt surveillance state. The agents of the regime wore an artificial third eye in their foreheads, implanted where their pineal gland would have been. However, their third eye carried ambivalent privileges. It could provide accentuated visual capabilities and emission radiation abilities, but it was also networked to the EES OptiNet computer mediated communication intranet. Moreover, the third eyes were also slaved to the tyrant atop the EES edifice, Cyclops. Simon Somers was a monoptic mutant, but his solitary abnormally large eye provided him with prodigious broad spectrum visual reach. Cyclops zealously guarded the sovereignty and independent manoveurability of the EES, but could be induced into joint ventures with enough preparation and forethought. Thus it was with the beryllium fusion reactor that was currently under the control of Fighting Yank.
VIRGIN ISLANDS:
"Trouble. I have Red Bat's e-signature on the EES surveillance sat overlooking your area. Tommy's up to something. Deploying countermeasures now." From the J5 satellite, Ryo's claw extensor tapped an electronic countermeasure virus that rifled through the EES sat operating system until it found a gap in its firewall and began to replicate faulty commands. Resultantly, the satellite's surveillance optics began to experience coverage malfunction and loss and the orbital dish began to swivel away from scrutiny of the Caribbean Sea region that it had been assigned.
As three of Justice 5's ensemble closed in on Fighting Yank's base of operations, Ryo materialised in the operations room itself. Red Bat swung around to target the feline with his batarangs, but Ryo's cyborg physiology enabled him to effortlessly pivot to avoid their trajectories. Red Bat dived for the irritant feline, but it leapt away from him, onto the main reactor control panel, rapidly tapping in the reactor shutdown protocol. As it shut down, Red Bat scowled at the feline before preparing to join the Fighting Yank in combat against the three other Justice 5 members who had just reached the airspace of their headquarters. Superwoman, Brainiac and Kriemhilde swept toward their three adversaries. Cyclops chose Brainiac, Superwoman prepared for battle against Fighting Yank and Red Bat ran toward Kriemhilde in a battle of science against magic.
"Give it up, Bruce. You don't have enough B-10 to depower me and you know it!"
Fighting Yank snarled: "Never! I will not submit to a mere woman!"
"See, that's the thing, Brucey. Whatever would our mutual acquaintance Ms Lane say to that little sexist diatribe?"
"Deathstroke is an exceptional person and more than a match for you!"
"Temper, temper. You may be as invulnerable as I am, and match me in superstrength, but without access to beryllium-10, you can't weaken me enough to gain any advantage."
"I do not underestimate you, Superwoman, for you are a true strategic advantage to the Jewish-Bolsheviki-Masonic conspiracy for world domination, but you will not triumph!"
"Oh, so that's it? You're going to rant me to exhaustion and defeat? Uh huh, Brucey, won't do at all. Although I do admit that the B-10 reactor would have been a nice touch."
As the strongest members of each group engaged, Cyclops and Brainiac also manoveured for supremacy, albeit in a more cerebral manner:
"I will admit that satellite manoveur was a stroke of genius, but only a temporary impediment. And that bitter experience tells me that your own personal firewall is far too impregnable to breach. However, you must also acknowledge that we are matched well in combat terms."
Brainiac nodded as his saucer probed Cyclops visual prodigiousness for possible weaknesses- despite the fact that Cyclops' neurological structure enabled some jamming of its surveillance and analysis capabilities, however. At the same time, Brainiac's force screen technology shielded it from compromise and detailed surveillance and prognoses from Cyclops. That was what had made one another key adversaries. Cyclops had finally regained control of the Caribbean Sea EES satellite, but the J5 countermeasure virus had done its work and its radiation artillery array had been rendered inoperative and unable to assist its creator in his theatre of combat.
Meanwhile, on the far side of the battlefield, Kriemhilde and Ryo had both ganged up against Red Bat:
"I'm flattered. So it takes one and a half of you to best me?"
"Watch it, buster." Ryo said as he leapt onto Red Bat's Batsled and fused its controls, cutting off their adversary's escape route. Unfortunately, Red Bat's combat suit was wired for 360 degree visual input, so the feline cyborg couldn't take advantage of his direct engagement against Warrior Queen, whose swordplay was deflected by his battle armour's carbon chain bonding. As it was, she had to feint strongly to avoid injury from his battle armour's assault blades. Ryo hung back, trying to ascertain a point of weakness in Red Bat's attack against his teammate where he could intervene. It was difficult- in human terms, Thomas Wayne Jr was the chief tactician and core combat asset of the LHE and none of J5 underestimated his field competence. That was the reason that they'd been able to shut down the beryllium fusion reactor so easily- Fighting Yank didn't have the technological acumen of his colleague, otherwise there would have been more elaborate protocols in place to prevent adversarial shutdown at the reactor below them. And then, his sensors detected a welcome presence. He signalled to Kriemhilde, who continued to engage Red Bat in arduous battle as above them, the skies grew dark and stormy. It could have been a tropical hurricane, but Red Bat knew better. The speed of meteorological upheaval above them heralded the interference of Aeolus and did not bode well for their struggle. Damn that cyborg cat of theirs- it had crippled his escape sled if he decided to break combat and run for it. And Deathstroke too, for staying out of this. That was what always told against the LHE- Justice 5's level of teamwork and strategic and tactical integration. Egotism and personal avarice hampered their own response every damned time they chose combat and he was weary of those interminable defeats. At length, but not without angry recrimination at his colleagues of the moment, though, Red Bat triggered the LHE emergency teleport sequence in his battlesuit before Aeolus' electromagnetic storm interference would have made it unable to retrieve him.
Above them, Cyclops registered the departure of their erstwhile comrade and concluded that Brainiac and he were too easily matched for either to prevail. Fighting Yank's own recklessness had led him down this blind alleyway, so let him deal with the consequences. Added to which, Aeolus might join the fray with one of his high intensity lightning bolts and that would compromise his hyperoptical abilities, while Brainiac's artificial intelligence had provided him with protocols against collateral damage. The odds were against them now, and so, as storm activity built to a crescendo, Cyclops triggered his own sanctuary teleport retrieval system and evaded capture. Instants later, he materialised safely within his Miami EES operational centre and cursed his poor luck.
This left Fighting Yank, who was still stubbornly trading blows with Superwoman and unable to access any of his stockpiled beryllium-10. That route was obstructed by Ryo, Kriemhilde and Brainiac and the latter had triggered accelerated radioactive decay safety measures within his saucer, bathing the area in an irradiation field that produced harmless boron-10 and carbon-9 residuum. Ryo decided to teleport back up to the J5 satellite and reactivate the compromised EES satellite's targeting systems, but he had hacked into the operational sequence and now targeted it on Fighting Yank. He signalled to Aeolus, Brainiac and Kriemhilde to leave the immediate area, as Superwoman disengaged. From the skies above Fighting Yank came a radiation cascade. It was not enough to permanently incapacitate Fighting Yank, but it did override his invulnerability threshold and knocked him out. Superwoman moved in quickly and placed stasis bracelets on her fallen adversary. It was over.
EPILOGUE:
The ending had been inconclusive, as were the recriminations between the LHE and EES over their willingness to cut and run, as well as the compromised security that would result from Fighting Yank's incapacitation and psychological interrogation at Interpol headquarters after his apprehension. Red Bat and Cyclops traded insults and depreciations against one another for the next few months, although neither of them regretted the advisability of their rapid exit from combat when intelligent appraisal of their tactical deterioration warranted it. In her own secure base, Lois Lane was not pleased, either. True, Fighting Yank's instability meant that he was barely tolerated even within the LHE, but his loss weakened their overall strategic situation. She went over the surveillance satellite records of the battle and made copious notes of the contextual matrix that had led to the outcomes, as she always did. One day, she would mesh successfully with Cyclops and Red Bat, they would properly integrate their preparations and they would finally gain supremacy over Justice 5.
No matter how many years it took, Lois Lane would be avenged against Superwoman and her colleagues for causing Lex Luthor's death. It did not assuage her grief that Superwoman had loved Lex too, and that the death had been accidental, trying to protect both of them from Brainiac's renegade android counterpart, "Apex." If Justice 5 hadn't interfered, she could have beaten him on her own. Love and grief could do strange things to those who are left behind. In Metropolis, Lana Lang mourned on her own, and earnestly wished for rapprochement between her estranged friend and herself. Even if she had moved on and now loved Clark Kent, Lex had been her alternate choice and his sacrifice and loss still hurt. However much a Woman of Steel Lanna Lar-El might have been, her heart was as vulnerable as any other beings.
THE END [2.25 PM, OCTOBER 1, 2022]
As for history, events here took a twist in 1605. On other Earths, the Gunpowder Plot conspiracy to assassinate King James I and the British Parliament failed and its perpetrators were executed. However, on Earth-101, the plot went undetected and succeeded in its immediate objective- but then backfired badly. While James VI and I was successfully assassinated, his son Henry Stuart Prince of Wales wasn't present that day and thus escaped. Proclaimed Henry IX, the young king reigned until 1660. As a consequence of more prudent rule compared to his father and his brother Charles Duke of York, Henry IX's sympathy to Puritanism and constitutional reform meant that there was no English Civil War, nor was there any need for the Mayflower to sail to the eastern coast of North America in 1620. Given that New Britain was colonised later, and given the earlier arrival of liberal democracy in the Union of Kingdoms, the events that led to the outbreak of the American Revolution did not occur and in the late eighteenth century, chattel slavery was abolished. However, neighbouring France was not so fortunate- in 1679, the "Affair of the Poisons" at Versailles went undetected and Louis XIV died from the aforementioned method of assassination. As a consequence, the Grand Dauphin became "Louis XV" instead of predeceasing his father and proved to be an incompetent and spendthrift ruler. As a consequence of that, the kingdom collapsed into civil war and fractured into several successor states.
Of these, Burgundy is a failed gangster state, home to the cabal known as the Ligue des Hommes Extraordinaire, a euphemism for an organisation of dread supercriminals- Red Bat (Thomas Wayne Jr), Deathstroke (Lois Lane), and others. Sadly, one of them is a former hero- formerly known as the "Fighting Yank" in better days. Bruce Carter III was the descendant of a New British Rebellion sorceror and namesake. Stumbling on his ancestor's cloak, tricorn hat, short pomaded wig and belt buckle, Carter attained the abilities of superstrength, invulnerability and flight. However, from what medical practitioners have been able to ascertain, this was not without psychological consequences. Carter's behaviour subsequently became highly erratic and violent and in the end, he was incarcerated for aggravated assault, severe injury and manslaughter against a group of non-violent, non-criminal impersonators en route to a costume party. However, it also became apparent that the artefacts had conferred either longevity or immortality, given custodial sentence limits when it came to accidental manslaughter.
It is now 2022.
++
Superwoman finished her afternoon's duties, which consisted of repairs to the envelope of the 'grand old lady of the air', Hindenberg III, the latest Austro-German Confederation zeppelin to carry the storied title. She waved to the cheering passengers as she flew away from the stately, majestic airship and towards her job at the Daily Satellite, that Great Metropolitan Newspaper. She hoped Clark Kent wouldn't use it as an opportunity to air his tiresome if accurate suspicions that his boyhood crush Lana Lang was indeed Superwoman. However much she loved him, Clark's journalistic acumen could be a nuisance at times. As she prepared to accelerate to invisibility and enter the locked storeroom to change back into her news presenter identity, the J5 signal device sounded. What a time to choose!
"Hi, Superwoman, Ryo here. Look, we've gained some new intel on Fighting Yank's possible latest location. I'm afraid it's not good news, either. He has a beryllium generating fusion reactor, so watch yourself." Superwoman nodded- this was serious indeed, since radioactive berylllium -10 isotopes were one of her few earthly weaknesses.
Abruptly, a familiar saucer-shaped vessel decloaked near her: "Brainiac. I was wondering how close you were."
"When I intercepted our diminutive felid friend's communication, I realised that the situation was serious. Normally, beryllium is the consequence of late stage fusion reactions in red giant suns and for that reason, the technology that Carter is using is highly hazardous. I decided to assist you."
"Appreciate the assistance, old friend. I hate having to do this."
"I gather that this is a reference to the former heroic qualities of the "Fighting Yank"?"
"He's become habituated to the power and indomitability that the talismans give him, Brainiac. And equally unfortunately, we have to. He has minimal regard for human life and collateral damage from his reckless, antisocial behaviour."
"He is an asset to the LHE, though. Even if Lane's moral ambiguity makes her an uncertain ally."
"Deathstroke does not present a case of unrecognised clinical psychosis as Carter does. In her case, she seems to entertain the possibility of virtuous and appropriate moral conduct in certain circumstances. Rehabilitation is more probable in her case."
"Hola, my comrades! Have I missed aught?"
"Afternoon, Krie. No, we were just conversing about the Fighting Yank's latest criminal misdeed. He appears to have a beryllium-10 fusion reactor in production, which doesn't fill me with confidence about my role in subsequent proceedings. You're just in time."
"Ach, yes. My mighty blade Helveteslukbingsapparat [Norwegian: Fire Quencher] stands at the ready should you require it, good Superwoman."
"Appreciate it, Krie, as ever. Brainiac?"
"This would explain the forensic traces of the Red Bat I have been witnessing at beryllium mining sites- namely, his hacker imprimatur, vestigial visual and aural activity and biometric anomalies that match his own."
"Nicely done. Which means that Tommy is in the vicinity and may be supplementing his colleague's operations."
"How, exactly? I get the theft and contraband aspects that match his modus operandi, but he's usually one to keep Carter at a distance." Warrior Queen commented.
"Possibly to give us a false sense of security as we arrive to take Carter in. Interesting Lane isn't involved again."
"Well, we all know what Lois is like. If there's any risk from her more erratic colleagues, she usually finds reasons not to collaborate with them- so I suspect she's not onsite, nor will she be anywhere near the scene of that crime. Ryo, how far is Mark from us right now?
"Aeolus is busy at the moment with the hyperstorm in the Caribbean and said to tell you that's going to take the next three hours or so before he can be sure it's well away from any habitable Atlantic coastlines or islands. The Five Elements are assisting him, so we can't call on them for backup, either." Erde, Aer, Fyre, Aqua and Sprite were Justice 5's junior associates and second echelon crime fighters and international disaster relief providers, mostly in their late teens or early twenties. They had been given their abilities when the renegade Egyptian deity Amon-Ra had been awoken from a hitherto unknown pyramid and had been relinquished, but not before providing five exploratory archaeologists from New Britain with eldritch control over the five classical elements of nature. Aeolus and Aer were in a relationship, given the similarity between their abilities.
Unfortunately, their adversaries had also prepared from the confrontation.
STATUE OF REBELLION, MIAMI:
With a more benign British colonial administration in New Britain, Eiffel had never constructed a Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour here, given that its liberties were amply recognised and respected already. However, the criminal southeastern littoral regime in Florida was not as accountable or transparent when it come to governance or administration in their territory, and consequently, it served as a terminus for the machinations of Burgundy across the Atlantic. After a Hobbesian struggle between various criminal gangs for supremacy, the Evil Eye Society had gained ascendancy and ruled a repressive if corrupt surveillance state. The agents of the regime wore an artificial third eye in their foreheads, implanted where their pineal gland would have been. However, their third eye carried ambivalent privileges. It could provide accentuated visual capabilities and emission radiation abilities, but it was also networked to the EES OptiNet computer mediated communication intranet. Moreover, the third eyes were also slaved to the tyrant atop the EES edifice, Cyclops. Simon Somers was a monoptic mutant, but his solitary abnormally large eye provided him with prodigious broad spectrum visual reach. Cyclops zealously guarded the sovereignty and independent manoveurability of the EES, but could be induced into joint ventures with enough preparation and forethought. Thus it was with the beryllium fusion reactor that was currently under the control of Fighting Yank.
VIRGIN ISLANDS:
"Trouble. I have Red Bat's e-signature on the EES surveillance sat overlooking your area. Tommy's up to something. Deploying countermeasures now." From the J5 satellite, Ryo's claw extensor tapped an electronic countermeasure virus that rifled through the EES sat operating system until it found a gap in its firewall and began to replicate faulty commands. Resultantly, the satellite's surveillance optics began to experience coverage malfunction and loss and the orbital dish began to swivel away from scrutiny of the Caribbean Sea region that it had been assigned.
As three of Justice 5's ensemble closed in on Fighting Yank's base of operations, Ryo materialised in the operations room itself. Red Bat swung around to target the feline with his batarangs, but Ryo's cyborg physiology enabled him to effortlessly pivot to avoid their trajectories. Red Bat dived for the irritant feline, but it leapt away from him, onto the main reactor control panel, rapidly tapping in the reactor shutdown protocol. As it shut down, Red Bat scowled at the feline before preparing to join the Fighting Yank in combat against the three other Justice 5 members who had just reached the airspace of their headquarters. Superwoman, Brainiac and Kriemhilde swept toward their three adversaries. Cyclops chose Brainiac, Superwoman prepared for battle against Fighting Yank and Red Bat ran toward Kriemhilde in a battle of science against magic.
"Give it up, Bruce. You don't have enough B-10 to depower me and you know it!"
Fighting Yank snarled: "Never! I will not submit to a mere woman!"
"See, that's the thing, Brucey. Whatever would our mutual acquaintance Ms Lane say to that little sexist diatribe?"
"Deathstroke is an exceptional person and more than a match for you!"
"Temper, temper. You may be as invulnerable as I am, and match me in superstrength, but without access to beryllium-10, you can't weaken me enough to gain any advantage."
"I do not underestimate you, Superwoman, for you are a true strategic advantage to the Jewish-Bolsheviki-Masonic conspiracy for world domination, but you will not triumph!"
"Oh, so that's it? You're going to rant me to exhaustion and defeat? Uh huh, Brucey, won't do at all. Although I do admit that the B-10 reactor would have been a nice touch."
As the strongest members of each group engaged, Cyclops and Brainiac also manoveured for supremacy, albeit in a more cerebral manner:
"I will admit that satellite manoveur was a stroke of genius, but only a temporary impediment. And that bitter experience tells me that your own personal firewall is far too impregnable to breach. However, you must also acknowledge that we are matched well in combat terms."
Brainiac nodded as his saucer probed Cyclops visual prodigiousness for possible weaknesses- despite the fact that Cyclops' neurological structure enabled some jamming of its surveillance and analysis capabilities, however. At the same time, Brainiac's force screen technology shielded it from compromise and detailed surveillance and prognoses from Cyclops. That was what had made one another key adversaries. Cyclops had finally regained control of the Caribbean Sea EES satellite, but the J5 countermeasure virus had done its work and its radiation artillery array had been rendered inoperative and unable to assist its creator in his theatre of combat.
Meanwhile, on the far side of the battlefield, Kriemhilde and Ryo had both ganged up against Red Bat:
"I'm flattered. So it takes one and a half of you to best me?"
"Watch it, buster." Ryo said as he leapt onto Red Bat's Batsled and fused its controls, cutting off their adversary's escape route. Unfortunately, Red Bat's combat suit was wired for 360 degree visual input, so the feline cyborg couldn't take advantage of his direct engagement against Warrior Queen, whose swordplay was deflected by his battle armour's carbon chain bonding. As it was, she had to feint strongly to avoid injury from his battle armour's assault blades. Ryo hung back, trying to ascertain a point of weakness in Red Bat's attack against his teammate where he could intervene. It was difficult- in human terms, Thomas Wayne Jr was the chief tactician and core combat asset of the LHE and none of J5 underestimated his field competence. That was the reason that they'd been able to shut down the beryllium fusion reactor so easily- Fighting Yank didn't have the technological acumen of his colleague, otherwise there would have been more elaborate protocols in place to prevent adversarial shutdown at the reactor below them. And then, his sensors detected a welcome presence. He signalled to Kriemhilde, who continued to engage Red Bat in arduous battle as above them, the skies grew dark and stormy. It could have been a tropical hurricane, but Red Bat knew better. The speed of meteorological upheaval above them heralded the interference of Aeolus and did not bode well for their struggle. Damn that cyborg cat of theirs- it had crippled his escape sled if he decided to break combat and run for it. And Deathstroke too, for staying out of this. That was what always told against the LHE- Justice 5's level of teamwork and strategic and tactical integration. Egotism and personal avarice hampered their own response every damned time they chose combat and he was weary of those interminable defeats. At length, but not without angry recrimination at his colleagues of the moment, though, Red Bat triggered the LHE emergency teleport sequence in his battlesuit before Aeolus' electromagnetic storm interference would have made it unable to retrieve him.
Above them, Cyclops registered the departure of their erstwhile comrade and concluded that Brainiac and he were too easily matched for either to prevail. Fighting Yank's own recklessness had led him down this blind alleyway, so let him deal with the consequences. Added to which, Aeolus might join the fray with one of his high intensity lightning bolts and that would compromise his hyperoptical abilities, while Brainiac's artificial intelligence had provided him with protocols against collateral damage. The odds were against them now, and so, as storm activity built to a crescendo, Cyclops triggered his own sanctuary teleport retrieval system and evaded capture. Instants later, he materialised safely within his Miami EES operational centre and cursed his poor luck.
This left Fighting Yank, who was still stubbornly trading blows with Superwoman and unable to access any of his stockpiled beryllium-10. That route was obstructed by Ryo, Kriemhilde and Brainiac and the latter had triggered accelerated radioactive decay safety measures within his saucer, bathing the area in an irradiation field that produced harmless boron-10 and carbon-9 residuum. Ryo decided to teleport back up to the J5 satellite and reactivate the compromised EES satellite's targeting systems, but he had hacked into the operational sequence and now targeted it on Fighting Yank. He signalled to Aeolus, Brainiac and Kriemhilde to leave the immediate area, as Superwoman disengaged. From the skies above Fighting Yank came a radiation cascade. It was not enough to permanently incapacitate Fighting Yank, but it did override his invulnerability threshold and knocked him out. Superwoman moved in quickly and placed stasis bracelets on her fallen adversary. It was over.
EPILOGUE:
The ending had been inconclusive, as were the recriminations between the LHE and EES over their willingness to cut and run, as well as the compromised security that would result from Fighting Yank's incapacitation and psychological interrogation at Interpol headquarters after his apprehension. Red Bat and Cyclops traded insults and depreciations against one another for the next few months, although neither of them regretted the advisability of their rapid exit from combat when intelligent appraisal of their tactical deterioration warranted it. In her own secure base, Lois Lane was not pleased, either. True, Fighting Yank's instability meant that he was barely tolerated even within the LHE, but his loss weakened their overall strategic situation. She went over the surveillance satellite records of the battle and made copious notes of the contextual matrix that had led to the outcomes, as she always did. One day, she would mesh successfully with Cyclops and Red Bat, they would properly integrate their preparations and they would finally gain supremacy over Justice 5.
No matter how many years it took, Lois Lane would be avenged against Superwoman and her colleagues for causing Lex Luthor's death. It did not assuage her grief that Superwoman had loved Lex too, and that the death had been accidental, trying to protect both of them from Brainiac's renegade android counterpart, "Apex." If Justice 5 hadn't interfered, she could have beaten him on her own. Love and grief could do strange things to those who are left behind. In Metropolis, Lana Lang mourned on her own, and earnestly wished for rapprochement between her estranged friend and herself. Even if she had moved on and now loved Clark Kent, Lex had been her alternate choice and his sacrifice and loss still hurt. However much a Woman of Steel Lanna Lar-El might have been, her heart was as vulnerable as any other beings.
THE END [2.25 PM, OCTOBER 1, 2022]
