If those idiots on the Science Council had a telepathic alien spy on Krypton before the end, probably dangerous enough.
"Superman to Doomsday."
True. It seems the Science Council's hubris proved its downfall.
'What? A
spy? Nonsense, we've run the numbers!'
I try not to roll my eyes at the name. Yes, we are superior to man, but even an old Empire soldier like me knows that going on about it tends to piss people off.
"Doomsday comm. Speak."
To be fair, he didn't really name
himself that, it just kind of stuck and he used it for the Clark Kent 'interview'. It could have been worse, he
could have ended up with a name like '
Phenomaman,'
"Can the Doomsday run a computer analysis of a sound recording?"
Who does he think he's-? "Kal-El, this is the Doomsday. It could probably teach your grandmother how to suck eggs."
Fortunately the ship doesn't have an actual artificial general intelligence running it. It would have achieved sophoncy in no time with that much processing power.
"Ah-."
"Send me the file."
File received. Think for a fraction of a second.
And take care that i's not some sort of
Phreaking code. That would be real embarrassing to get hacked by the equivalent of someone whistling into a microphone.
"It's a kryptonian military code, intended for squads who get cut off. I'll-."
"What does it say?"
Give her a second to explain, Kal, and maybe she'll tell you. I know it feels like all hell's breaking loose down there, but patience.
"It doesn't say anything. It's a bearing relative to-." It doesn't matter. I barely remember it. How the heck would marines actually go missing? "Where was it sent from?"
"Sending location."
A meet-up coordinate? Ursa, using the Sunstone to fabricate the speaker in case Zod escaped? Because I can't see Lyla using that sort of coding.
You could just send the location, Kal-El. I could work out what you meant when I got it.
"Received. Actual destination decoded and sent. Any reason we're not just shooting the dominators?"
Ah, the joy of military discipline and training versus the talented but hesitant amateur.
"Because the Dominion is pretty big, and we're only got one Doomsday. And we're only got one qualified pilot, and you can't spend your whole life in there."
"I think you'll find that I can."
I expect the ship has full energy-matter conversion systems to provide food for crew and the lighting can probably toggle into empowering 'yellow sunlight' mode...
Does he really know so little about how kryptonian society-? No, he doesn't, he's basically a human with powers. And it would be difficult to be a colonial governor inside the Doomsday. It's not really a light-touch weapon system.
And another thing about Kal-El is that he thinks that I'm not going to teleport Ursa Dou-Ka up here the moment I get a lock. The moment Green Lantern stops jamming everything around the capital. Amalak will be happy with just Zod, and I have no intention of seeing kryptonians judged by aliens.
Ah, well, that's an interesting aside. She really would prefer to get Ursa for the colony, eh? Ursa's kid is going to have a
lot of uncles, aren't they?
12th August 2013
22:32 UTC
"Superman to team. I'm heading in now. Osiris, you're with me."
And now we switch to Clark's viewpoint? Mr Zoat, you're spoiling us.
He nods, and we're going down. Usually, I'd be a little worried about bring a kid into a fight like this, but he's proven he can handle himself. And I hope Lyla's just confused, and that Ursa didn't know exactly what Zod had planned…
But I doubt I'm going to get both, and I think I'll be lucky to get either.
Still, the fact that you're hoping all this can end well is such a
Superman thing to do.
"Sir?"
"Hang back, and make sure that I'm not getting mind controlled."
"Yes, sir."
And this way he can also leap in if Clark gets into difficulties. Nothing like getting a super-speed charge into a fracas.
And that's something else I'm not used to. I'm not… I don't like the idea of becoming some kind of paramilitary enforcer. After I heard about what the Justice Society International ended up becoming, I didn't even think there was an argument any more. I know Amon is just calling me that to be respectful, but… After this I'll tell him that 'Superman' is fine.
Not that he'll actually do that, given how polite he is. And really, Clark, you
have become a paramilitary enforcer, if only out of necessity. A single man, even with your abilities, can't fix everything himself...
The location… It's some kind of high-rise parking lot. I don't hear any screams and I don't see anyone running, which is usually a good sign. We might have gotten here before whoever that message was meant for, or they might be somewhere inside.
I glance at Osiris. "Can you narrow it down?"
Though if they have kryptonian senses, they know you're coming.
"With magic?" He shakes his head. "I'm not even sure that what the spy is doing is magic… I have not focused on magic theory in my training. I am-"
"Okay, that's fine."
"-sorry."
Boy needs some confidence. Hopefully stuff like this will help him gain it. Such is the drawback of having Teth-Adom for a big brother-in-law.
I smile reassuringly. "Don't worry. We'll just have to do this the old fashioned way." Hm. If it was me, I'd enter through the roof and head down, but Ursa must realise that we've got aerial surveillance. "Okay, I'll go in from the bottom. You stay outside and keep an eye out. If she flies out, get after her. I'll be right behind you."
And if you realise Superman is compromised, go in hard?
"But… You cannot see through the illusions."
"Don't worry. It won't be the first time I've fought an illusionist. Though if Mitchell turns up, feel free to pass the job over to him and join me."
That's more like it. I suppose he does need someone on overwatch to ensure their target stays in the building or alert those inside if they're spotted coming in.
He nods, and I fly downwards towards the ground vehicle entrance. A few hover cars pull over in surprise, with the people inside staring at me. Normally I'd stop and try and say something reassuring, but with Ursa…
God, what should I even do about that?
Very uncomfortable with the idea of potentially having to fight a pregnant woman, of course. He's too good a guy for crap situations like this...
She really doesn't have anything to lose. Which means that I need to bring her down as quickly as possible, because we've already established that she doesn't value alien lives.
I don't know if it's the lighting in here or the stuff they build the walls out of, but I can't see through the thicker parts at all. I can hear echoes of voices, but they're too quiet for my earpiece to pick them up so I'm not getting a translation. As far as I can tell the tone is… Happy? Conversational? Not there, then. I doubt that Ursa knows any languages other than kryptonese-.
Which is going to be tricky when talking her down, since yours is probably good, but not a native speaker's level.
The guy in the toll booth looks up at me for a moment, blinks, then pulls his hat over his face.
Heh. I guess some things are universal. Okay, I need to fly around fast, without endangering anyone or creating any gale force winds. Clear the first floor, mapping out the layout-. Pause for a moment to turn around a small child who wandered away from its parents, yes, that's it, that way. And then… Underground first. Down the… Central shaft, and start at the bottom. Looks like… This isn't a popular place to leave a hover car. I suppose that's because it's furthest from the entrance. I don't see anything immediately, but I'll fly around-.
Heh. Security guard deciding 'nope, that's above my pay grade'. Taking a moment to help out a small child is
so Superman it hurts. And at least the place is fairly deserted, at least on the lower levels. fewer places to hide.
There's a sound from… Three levels up. Someone moving around quietly. Just… One person. The layout of the levels looks like it's standardized so I can keep my lines of sight cleared, and whatever else Lyla can do her species aren't any stronger than regular humans. I could sneak up there and try listening in, but I can't hear anyone else on that level and I'm not going to get a better chance to bring either of them in without putting anyone else in danger.
Still taking a long shot that it's Lyla. It's more likely Ursa going to ground.
I fly up, keeping half the length of the building between us-. It's Ursa, and she spots me just as fast as I spot her. She's… Shivering. Is that a stress response? I've never seen a kryptonian do that, but she's the first pregnant kryptonian I've seen.
"Ursa. I'm going to ask you to come quietly."
Could be trembling with rage. Or some kind of unknown reaction to the environment or the Sunstone's energies. Would suck if it turned out she was deathly allergic to xudarian dandruff or something...
"Kal-El. Is Dru-Zod alive?"
"He's pretty beaten up, but he's alive."
But he's not coming after you, ma'am. And this fight isn't going to be fun for either of you.
She doesn't exactly look happy about that. Was he..? Trying to die in combat, or something like that? I don't remember Krypton have that sort of warrior culture, but I guess it could be a personal thing.
"This is going to go a whole lot easier if I don't have to fight you. I don't want to risk causing a miscarriage. Please."
He's probably stronger, having plenty in the tank, but she's got a Sunstone and plenty of military training. It'd be a definite toss-up as to who wins.
"You're a good man, Kal-El. Your father would be proud. But-"
GYAAAGH!
"-I have other options."
Another Sunstone-generated device, presumably. Sonic attack or a flashbang, I wonder?
We'll see soon enough, I think.