Disclaimer: I don't own either Warhammer 40k or the DCAU
The two assassins now sat next to each other in Eros' living room as Nix briefed her on what he knew of their enemy. In return, Eros explained what her training in the Callidus temple bestowed upon her, and what her sacred wargear could do. Despite the bubbly energy of the Callidus wearing him down, Nix was now realizing how much easier she made their mission. First and foremost, her superior skills in hand to hand combat and specialized wargear would in theory allow her to engage members of the League he could not.
Her phase sword, for instance, could potentially completely bypass the near invulnerability of members like Superman. And even if it couldn't out right kill him, the Neural Shredder she held should buy her time to land a killing blow. But that was far down the line. Something Nix was currently explaining.
"Loathe as I am to admit, Terra currently relies on the Justice League. It does however possess multiple members who are not targets." Eros thought about who that might entail given the info she had received.
"Batman is one of them I imagine. The Flash? He is still far more human than anything else. The non-superpowered members are not a threat, so they don't need to be targeted." She correctly began to summarize.
"The Green Lantern is now without his source of power. Though I would not be surprised if his xenos masters bestowed him another. He will have to die."
"As he should for willingly serving xeno filth. What about the Amazonian? From what I understand she is technically of Holy Terran origin."
"Despite being of Terra, her origins lie with false gods. Not the Ruinous Powers, but still false gods. Despite that though, she is currently not a target." The shapeshifter tilted her headat the pariah's response.
"If she is the product of heretical gods is it not our duty to destroy her?" Eros spoke words that echoed her devotion to the Imperial Creed. Nix nodded slightly as he explained his statement.
"And we shall, but our priority targets are first and foremost the xeno members. And even then, we need to make sure that humanity can stand up to its enemies after we do so. That's where you will come in with your skills and talents." The Culexus and Callidus shared a brief moment of silence.
"What did you have in mind?" Eros saw the logic in his words, as much as she abhorred the idea. Despite asking the question, she was smart enough to gather where the pariah was going with his new plan.
"You will infiltrate the Justice League."
"Am I taking the spot of one of their own?"
"No. Killing a member and replacing them may simply alert Batman to an intruder. He is both paranoid and a master detective, he would eventually find out. Plus, many of the unpowered still possess some quirk or have elements that would be difficult to mimic." The skull helmed assassin watched the Callidus as she mulled over his words. If she had an objection and felt that she could pull off a more standard infiltration that the one he was going to propose, she would do so now.
"I take some offense to the implication that I would get found out. Infiltration is my temple's specialty, and I pride myself on my performances. But, you do somewhat have a point. Though I do believe someone like Green Arrow would be no trouble to take the identity of. What is the alternative?"
"We make you a 'heroine' that the League can't pass up on recruiting."
"Ok. I have the martial skills, charisma, and intelligence to make that easy. But what of the identity?"
"Up to you. You're the infiltrator. Ultimately it's your call on how you approach this." Nix knew better than to tell a Callidus how to do her job, he was just laying out his new approach. Eros leaned back on the couch as she began to brainstorm ideas.
While she had more experience taking identities than fully crafting one, this was a moment where the latter would probably be more to her benefit. The main hurdle facing her though was actually getting the Justice League's attention with her identity. She briefly debated the idea of asking Nix to take a loss in a staged encounter, as defeating the Ghost of Gotham would no doubt be an immediate in. However she also knew that the Cullexus was far more effective if he remained the unbeatable ghost persona he had built up.
"Hmmm, if we could use an emotional attachment as bait for an attack, my rescue of them could be a potential recruitment opportunity. Do you know of any significant others of family members that the Justice League have?" Eros inquired as she looked at the blank. Despite her mind screaming, she refused to look away. She had just gained back some semblance of her home and refused to not cherish it.
"None that are not common knowledge. The obvious answer is Lois Lane. I do not know if Superman has recovered to intervene in her rescue though." Nix hadn't planned on targeting the reporter despite her love for the alien. There was no benefit to doing so, outside of getting to Superman. Something he had already accomplished.
"We don't need Superman, we just need someone. You simply stabbed Supergirl girl with a shard of Kryptonite correct? If she has recovered from that wound she would most likely intervene. Admittedly I do not know the recovery rate of those xenos."
"Neither do I. However mental damage should still be affecting Superman. The other Kryptonian was spared my touch, meaning she potentially could recover faster." Eros and Nix began to piece together a scenario that would allow for the shapeshifter's infiltration of the League.
"Now all we need is for someone to target Lois."
"I have a working….partnership with Lex Luthor. We can arrange for her to be attacked by Metallo." Nix offered as he figured Eros stopping both an attack on Superman's love and his cousin would be a sufficient achievement.
"Metallo?" Eros was not familiar with that particular name. Then again, she wasn't very familiar with a lot of the people the pariah had gained knowledge on. Something she would have to remedy in order to be a better asset.
"Think of a mechanicus member powered by Kryptointe. He was a mercenary that Luthor tricked into being a weapon against Superman."
"That doesn't sound like him and Luthor would be on the best of terms." Eros pointed out an obvious issue. The assassin began to rock back and forth as she mumbled about the identity she would make, humming as she did so. The behavior was noted by Nix, though he couldn't comment due to not knowing if that was a normal process of the Callidus clade.
"No, but manipulations are possible." Personally, Nix figured thateven if they just got the cyborg close to Lois, the fear of an attack alone would drive out the Kryptonian girl.
"Understood. I take it I shouldn't kill this Metallo since the 'heroes' here don't kill."
"Correct. Now, I'm going to go talk to Luthor, and retrieve my gear."
"Aww, being a naked assassin isn't growing on you? How bout before you go we have a little fun?" Eros teased as the skull's blue eyes turned and stared down her green ones. The Callidus slowly began to feel unease consume her as she gathered she had upset the pariah.
"Uhh…..I have some Synthskin upstairs in my closet. It lacks the Etherium of yours but you can take it." She shrank back into the couch as the blank kept eye contact. Slowly, he broke off the stare and made his way upstairs. Eros caught her breath as she was reminded of just how...wrong the feeling Nix gave off was. It made more sense to her now that the Eldar referred to his kind as nothing short of pure evil.
The Callidus' eyes widened as a bright smile came to her. The Justice League was composed of xenos who had lost their homes and had a well warranted fear of her partner. Two aspects that she could manipulate to her advantage. She rose from her position and stood in front of a walled mirror, her form beginning to morph. Her height grew, her body became more lithe, her ears grew to knife like points, her hair turned a more solid red. Eros gradually took the form of an Eldar woman, as her own 'backstory' played out in her head.
She would use the xeno loving nature of Justice League against them. She would turn the Eldar's fear of the Culexus into a common factor of kinship. She could even aid Nix further by adding to the horror mythos he had built up. Flipping her hair with a smile and looking at the mirror, she had to admit, she looked damn sexy. She couldn't help but giggle and await the manipulations she was to unleash.
xxxXXXXxxx
It had been three weeks since the Ghost of Gotham had broken her cousin's jaw and stabbed her with a shard of Kryptonite. Three weeks since at least five members of the Justice League were put in the infirmary with broken bones and heavy psychological damage. Three weeks since John Stewart had left the League due his Power Ring. It had been one week since she had been released following her own injury. All in all, Kara Zor-El, better known to the world as Supergirl, was not in a great place.
The blonde Kryptonian let out a sigh as she hovered high in the air over Metropolis. Superman was still receiving psychological treatment from Martian Manhunter, but was recovering greatly. Batman and Wonder Woman had insisted upon his resting though. Kara had promised her cousin that she would watch Metropolis until he recovered, and that seemed to put him more at ease. She wouldn't admit it, but Supergirl was more than a little shaken by that night.
She had been used to their villains being big bad alien warlords, technology using rich men, or evil robots both from Earth and space. All of them shared the same trait though, gloating and standing to fight the heroes. She really didn't have experience with a specter like mass murder who retreated when they showed up. But apparently not even the original seven members of the League had extended encounters with the Ghost. Sure he had attacked a few of them once before, and even saved them from capture according to Clark. But they didn't know this threat in the same ways they did the others.
"*Sigh* What a mess." Supergirl sighed to herself again as she kept a watch out for anything to do. There had apparently been a fight between Deathstroke and the Ghost again the day after she was stabbed. A fight that apparently ended in a draw, since neither the mercenary or…...whatever the Ghost was were found dead. From what she had heard from the rumor mill on the Watchtower, Batman was tracking down Deathstroke to question him. Not that she would expect the Dark Knight to confirm. As Supergirl scanned the city with her immensely powerful senses, she began to hear the familiar voice of Lois Lane.
"I'm sorry this is a private office." The stern voice of the reporter had a faint tiredness to it. No doubt she had been worried sick about Clark over the weeks.
"I know, I know, but I was told you were the one to talk to about anything regarding Superman." A male voice responded. Kara did not recognize the voice, but it had something behind it.
"*Sigh*...Look I don't know how long he will be gone for. That monster did a number on him, but I'm sure he'll be back to flying through the skies soon." Lois spoke with a worn out enthusiasm. Apparently the citizens of Metropolis were worried about the Man of Steel being gone and she had been the one everyone looked to for news. Supergirl was touched by the care of the populous, it showed how much her cousin meant to them.
"Oh that's fine. It means he won't be here to save you." Kara's eyes widened at the metallic voice that now spoke. She began to fly towards the Daily Planet to stop what was about to happen. Rocketing through the air, Supergirl flew faster than a speeding bullet over the city. Her hearing still honed in on the office, she could hear the sounds of struggling as Lois attempted to escape.
Arriving at the final stretch of her flight, Kara locked on the Daily Planet with her X-Ray vision and spotted the attacker. It appeared to be a middle aged man with white hair and tan skin. Only part of the face was missing revealing a metallic skull, courtesy of Lois slamming one of her Pulitzer Prizes into his head. The reporter was still slamming the award into her attacker as it held her by the throat in the air. As the award finally shattered over the metal, Lois' eyes widened as the eye began to glow.
She was saved from a laser induced death by Supergirl crashing through the window of her office and into the machine, driving it into a wall. The force of the impact had freed Lois as she fell to the ground coughing. The sounds of heavy blows against metal rang throughout the Planet as Supergirl laid in heavy lefts and rights. As she threw another punch though, the cyborg attacker caught her hand with it's robotic strength. Looking her over the machine spoke.
"I don't believe we've met. I'm Metallo." It's tone mocking. Kara responded by delivering a hard headbut to the machine, driving it through the wall.
"Name's Supergirl. And don't worry, I'll make sure you remember it." The cousin of Superman cracked her knuckles as she shot towards the cyborg. Before she could connect though, a green blast shot from its eye and slammed into her chest. Kara was knocked back into the office and smashed through the desk. Her body panicked as she began to feel her powers drain.
"Ugghhh…..that's-"
"Kryptonite? Yes. In fact, my whole body is powered by it. The perfect tool to fight Superman, but I suppose it works just as well on you." The cyborg arose as it ripped off the remaining human disguise. The chest cavity of the machine opened to reveal a large shard of kryptonite, the green rays blanketing the office. It's heavy footsteps stalked towards the downed Kryptonian as Supergirl weakly stood up. She threw a sloppy punch that connected with seemingly no harm done to the machine body. Her body however was harmed when it responded with a gut punch of its own, driving the wind from her lungs. A metallic hand wrapped itself around her neck as the machine raised her in the same way it had done Lois.
Speaking of the reporter, she attempted a rescue of Supergirl by taking a nearby fire extinguisher and driving it into the side of the machine's head. The metal clung rang through the building as people began to flee the scene. Metallo turned his head to look at the reporter as she drove it into his head once more. The only reason a third strike to Metallo's head was never delivered was because the machine man smacked the improvised weapon from the woman's grip. Let it be known that even then, Lois Lane did not back down. As futile as it was, the lover of Superman delivered a punch to the head of the cyborg. A punch that sadly did far more damage to her than it did to him.
"I don't know if I'm impressed by your bravery or shocked by your stupidity." The metallic voice spoke as Metallo once more caught Lois by her neck. Now holding both Supergirl and Lois Lane, Metallo made his way to the broken window. Both women threw weak jabs and kicks at the machine as they knew what it was planning. Supergirl was hoping that in the terrible event they were thrown that her powers would return before they hit the ground. She was hoping because she doubted that would be the case. As Metallo extended his arms, dangling both of them over the ground below, he made one last mocking statement.
"What are your last words? I'll give them to Superman myself." A cold laughter came from the cyborg as he prepared to drop them. It was as he prepared to drop the duo to their demise that a new figure struck.
Coming from behind and sliding underneath Metallo's legs with inhuman agility and grace, the cyborg watched a flash of red hair spin as he felt his arms sever at the elbows. As the new arrival twirled like a dancer, she delivered a kick strong enough to push him back while simultaneously both Lois and Supergirl into the building. Looking at where his arms once were and back towards the stranger who severed them, Metallo took in her appearance.
She looked like a princess of the elves he would see in fantasy movies, but the taller ones. She had both unnerving and mesmerizing golden eyes, a tight armored blue dress that clinged to her form, and what appeared to be platform heeled combat boots. On her right arm sat some form of strange wrist blade that phased in and out of existence. Whatever that blade was, it had sliced through his metal body like it wasn't there.
"I definitely don't believe we have met." Metallo stalled as he charged up his eye lasers. The elf woman gave an arrogant looking smile as she flipped her hair. Letting loose with the laser, Metallo watched the woman bend at angle no human could as she twisted her body around the beam. Worse still than missing, the newcomer had a clear shot at him as she rushed forward. Lacking an arm to block, the cyborg had no choice but to throw a kick as she approached. The elf simply leapt over the leg with a tight spin as her blade cut through his leg with her corkscrew. She softly brushed against his chest in the air and landed on the ground behind him.
Taking advantage of his lack of balance now, the elf delivered a more powerful kick than her frame would let on to the back of his one leg. Dropping to one knee, Metallo watched in horror as he now noticed the lack of a green glow of Kryptonite and a very angry Supergirl narrowing her gaze on him. Turning his head, the cyborg noticed that the green rock was firmly in the hands of the newcomer now. She had taken it from his chest when she brushed against him. Growling in anger Metallo was about to swear revenge when the third blow from the fire extinguisher finally came. Lois slammed the red metal cylinder into the metal skull with immense hate and fervour as she let out all the stress and anger that had built up over the past three weeks. It didn't do that much damage to the machine, but made her feel better and bought Supergirl time to recover.
"Watchtower, this is Supergirl. I need some Leaguers to this location, I've…..we've apprehended Metallo. He tried attacking Lois, he didn't succeed." The blonde teen looked over the angry reporter and the new elf woman who had arrived. The elven woman dropped the Kryptonite to the floor and smashed it with her heel. It seemed that her savior also knew about the weakness to Kryptonite she had. Standing up, she saw Lois approach the woman and extend a hand.
"Lois Lane, thanks for the save. A few more seconds and we would have been splats on the sidewalk." The raven haired woman joked as she tossed aside the canister. The elf woman towered over Lois as she gave a curt nod.
"That would have been most unfortunate. But I am glad you two are unharmed." She spoke with a regal grace not too unsimilar to how Wonder Woman spoke. Maybe she was another princess?
"Well, my pride is pretty damaged, outside of that I'm a tough girl. I'm Supergirl, by the way. " Kara spoke as she regained her cocky smile as she looked over the downed cyborg. The wrist blade of the maybe princess retracted into the device she had upon her forearm as she gave a curt nod to her as well.
"I am…...I was Autarch Faebala." Both Lois and Kara noticed the use of past tense, with a further sadness hidden in the golden eyes. It was a sadness Kara could empathize with, it was like the look she had upon losing her homeworld. The Kryptonian went to speak, but the sounds of flying and a grapple hook being launched stopped her. Turning her head she gave a confident smile and placed her fists on her hips as she greeted the Dark Knight and Amazon.
"We got things handled pretty well here." The Dark Knight simply walked right past her as Wonder Woman examined the room. Batman stared at the maimed form of Metallo and leveled his gaze at Faebala. Noticing the shards of Kryptonite under her boot he then her.
"Who are you." He demanded, causing those who knew him to roll their eyes. Faebala simply responded with a curtsy bow and answered.
"I am Faebala, the tides of fate have brought me to this world to seek out the ones known as the 'Justice League'. It was my understanding that the member known as the Man of Steel was the defender of this city, and sought him out."
"Why are you looking for Superman?" Wonder Woman asked as she looked over the unkown. The stance she held was that of a leader and a warrior, and a very graceful one at that. Clark had asked her and Bruce to be the ones to respond to Supergirl's call when he found out. No doubt he was still a nervous wreck about Lois being attacked by Metallo.
"I believe he can help me….that all of you can help me." As Faebala spoke, her words carried desperation and a sense of loss.
"Help with what?" The Dark Knight asked as he evaluated her. Looking at the device on her arm and the clean slices that had severed Metallo's limbs, he figured it to be some kind of energy weapon.
"A monster that destroyed my home and my people has made its way here. As the last of the Eldar, I swore upon the souls of the fallen that what happened to our world would not happen to yours." Faebala explained as she gained a look of hard determination as she looked into the distance.
"Well, you're in luck. Dealing with monsters happens to be a Justice League specialty." Supergirl replied with a confident look as a look from the Dark Knight told her to keep quiet.
"What kind of monster destroyed your people?" Diana inquired with interest as she took a step forward. The look of pure furry that the Eldar had caused all but Batman to take a step back. Her body language showed a woman fighting back immense rage as she shook violently.
"An unholy monster of pure evil. It's mere presence brought destruction and suffering. It is far more vile than even the worst demon. It's touch stole our souls, it's ghostly nature made hunting it down nearly impossible. Worse though, was the suffering it enjoyed to cause, using fear as a weapon and killing our kind in the vilest of ways." By the end, the anger held an underlying fear of what she described. The four others all looked at each other as they realized what she was talking about. The Ghost of Gotham was apparently a lot more than they had expected.
The Leaguers all shared looks with one another as Batman gave a nod. Turning to Lois he addressed her.
"I'll pay for the damages. But we have to go." The raven haired woman huffed and crossed her arms.
"Of course you do. Any chance I can get an office that is villian proof? They won't keep replacing my awards every time I have to use them to fend off some wack job." She joked as Batman went to his ear piece.
"Watchtower, prepare to teleport two more. Also alert the founding members, we have information on the Ghost." The superheroes and the Eldar were consumed in light, leaving behind a destroyed office and an annoyed reporter.
Arriving at the Watchtower, Batman and Wonder Woman led the Eldar to a conference room where she saw three others waiting. Looking at the seven chairs she addressed the elephant in the room.
"I thought there were seven members of the original Justice League?" She let the question hang as Flash and Superman shared a look.
"One member decided to leave a while ago. Recently though the other felt that no longer fit and opted to leave despite our protests." Wonder Woman answered the question as Faebala gave a solemn nod. Taking their seats, the core members of the Justice League braced themselves for what they were about to hear.
"Tell us everything you know about it." The Dark Knight began as the Eldar let out a sigh.
"It's not a story for the faint of heart. But if it shall save this world, I shall tell you of the destruction of my people at the hands of this creature. We called it the Pariah."
xxxXXXXxxx
Mission Debrief/Personal Observations: March, M3 01, What will be known as Holy Terra
First and foremost the assassin will apologize for incorrect Millennium dating in previous entries. This will have to be amended once proper debriefs can occur. I have made contact with an operative of the Callidus temple known as Eros. With her skills in emotional manipulation and powers of shapeshifting she has infiltrated the Justice League under the guise of an Eldar Autarch. Although the Eldar never existed in this...reality, we have combined elements of their fall and added in their despisal of my kind to their mythos. While infiltrating the League, Eros will be keeping information on each member as well as spreading fear among their ranks. I have once more been engaged by the mercenary known as Deathstroke. He had learned from our previous encounter and initially employed semi-successful means of combating me. However he soon lost this advantage and we engaged in hand to hand combat. I gained the advantage but he resigned himself to a pyrrhic victory and attempted to end us both. He was not successful, though a betrayal from a then ally saved his life. This assassin is currently biding his time as Eros' infiltration commences. I have been informed that my destruction of the Green Lantern's power ring has crushed his morale and he has since left the Justice League. Additionally, the League now seems to be employing a wide range of sorcerers and witches that will be evaluated and terminated based on need.
Personal Observations: It seems the longer we go without the repeated psycho-indoctrination the more our old personalities remerge. Eros' seems far more bubbly and eager to indulge in sexual activities than I would expect. Admittedly I do not know the nature of the Callidus and this could be completely normal. What is not normal are my own emotions regarding it. While my anger and 'introverted' behavior is not too uncommon, me suddenly finding myself tempted by Eros' offers are. I have resigned myself to a seperate room in her penthouse in an attempt to avoid these feelings. I have chosen to believe that they are a result of her own abilities being magnified in this place rather than the degradation of my mental conditioning. I hate this place more and more with each passing day. I could only imagine the horror anyone, save maybe the Adeptus Astartes, from the 41st Millenium would feel here.