2014.11.22 - Prelude: Assimilation

League Headquarters. Batman had brought in a bunch of V-108 units, V8 Unit for short. They were botes with strange "U" shaped heads, despite the name. The order didn't come from league channels. He had ordered them through various dummy corporations that had the clearance for them. However, S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to track them to their location. Eventually all shipments went to the Hall of Justice.

Yes, it was the public face to the Justice League open to tours and private conferences amongst members. Each shipment were taken by various workers then left in a private area. When they were left alone a figure moved out of the shadows. Black gloves began to pulled apart the crate to make sure the bots were in place. Grabbing the crates he pushed them to the teleporter. Blue light flashed and caused each shipment to wink out of existence.

In the Watchtower blue lights caused large crates to wink into existence. Workers in blue uniforms went to work quickly. They pulled the crates to the training room as per Batman's orders. The last of the blue light was Batman himself.

Watchtower's training room was inspired off of Science Fiction. Since Holograms were becoming more elaborate and powerful. Applications for off the market product made them capable of defensive purposes, and elaborate purposes plenty of people were trying to maket into vactions and traveling means.

At first glance the training room itself was unimpressive. A giant square shaped room the color of gunmetal grey with LED lights built in the various paneling. In the back of the room and toward the top was a reflective surface. On the otherside was Batman. The program was set in place. All he had to do was press a few buttons and it would begin.

When people were situated he chimed over the speakers, "Let me know when you're ready. I won't go easy on -any- of you."

At the end of his words the world faded away. Slowly Metropolis came into view. The afternoon of a picture perfect springtime day. Blue skies were overhead with barely a cloud in the sky. Everything about the scene would have made anyone yearn for a picnic if it wasn't for the screaming. People were running away from buildings that were falling. While everyone was in a lovely park it looked like Metropolis was in the middle of an invasion.

People had something purple over their face. It looked like a starfish with a red eye and bits of blue around it. Individuals with the stars on their faces were holding other star fish and trying to plant them on others. To Martian Manhunter it was clearly Starro.

A frightening detail was a man in blue and gold holding a shield that had intention of physically taking down people trying to run away in head. He cried out, "This one's ready!" and used a well place foot to pin his victim to the ground.

Overhead was a man clad in metal suit of silver and gun metal grey. A red cape was adorned to his free and missing was a mask as bits of chocolate color skin had been taken. In his hand was a sledge hammer that he brought down with force onto the street causing several cracks. People were tripping over themselves from the attack of these two. "It's only a matter of time," the Starro-Posessed Steel cried out.

It's her first time in the Watchtower. Everything about this place is a little overwhelming, even for her. Thara didn't know what to expect. All she knew was if she was going to help out on this planet as well as the others she's been learning of by way of the Guardians this was her best opportunity. As things change and the scenery becomes that of an alien invasion, Thara goes into action.

Her approach is a logical one, She stays above the incident, at first. Using her vision to figure out what was happening. This kept her out of the way of Steel and Starro for a few moments. As soon as she pieces it together though. She flies in at blinding speed. Approaching a civilian who is trying to put a starfish thing on her face, she quickly uses her heat vision in an attempt to fry the starfish thing in his hand.

People have mixed reactions to J'onn even in this holographic world. Some welcomed because this was Martian Manhunter of the Justice League. Others were freaked out because this was an alien. They listened to him and walked out of sight trying to get away in a calm and orderly fashion.

Thara was able to see the carnage. Starro was a parasitic-esq alien that seemed to take over people once it attached itself to someone. The invasion may have reminded Thara of a painful memory of a different time and lace where she witnessed another planet wide invasion.

Heat vision reacts to the holographic starro. For a split second the person and hologram flash a little. The V-108 unit could be seen. Oblviously Batman picked these bots because they reacted to all of the lights and became extensions of the training room's program. As the starro alien made a weird noise filled with pain it brought the attention of Steel, the starro posessed hammer wielding hero, who flew at her with both of his rocket boots moving toward her with full force. He tried to smack Thara with the hammer flung with augmented strength thanks to the suit.

League Headquarters. Batman had brought in a bunch of V-108 units, V8 Unit for short. They were botes with strange "U" shaped heads, despite the name. The order didn't come from league channels. He had ordered them through various dummy corporations that had the clearance for them. However, S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to track them to their location. Eventually all shipments went to the Hall of Justice.

Yes, it was the public face to the Justice League open to tours and private conferences amongst members. Each shipment were taken by various workers then left in a private area. When they were left alone a figure moved out of the shadows. Black gloves began to pulled apart the crate to make sure the bots were in place. Grabbing the crates he pushed them to the teleporter. Blue light flashed and caused each shipment to wink out of existence.

In the Watchtower blue lights caused large crates to wink into existence. Workers in blue uniforms went to work quickly. They pulled the crates to the training room as per Batman's orders. The last of the blue light was Batman himself.

Watchtower's training room was inspired off of Science Fiction. Since Holograms were becoming more elaborate and powerful. Applications for off the market product made them capable of defensive purposes, and elaborate purposes plenty of people were trying to maket into vactions and traveling means.

At first glance the training room itself was unimpressive. A giant square shaped room the color of gunmetal grey with LED lights built in the various paneling. In the back of the room and toward the top was a reflective surface. On the otherside was Batman. The program was set in place. All he had to do was press a few buttons and it would begin.

When people were situated he chimed over the speakers, "Let me know when you're ready. I won't go easy on -any- of you."

At the end of his words the world faded away. Slowly Metropolis came into view. The afternoon of a picture perfect springtime day. Blue skies were overhead with barely a cloud in the sky. Everything about the scene would have made anyone yearn for a picnic if it wasn't for the screaming. People were running away from buildings that were falling. While everyone was in a lovely park it looked like Metropolis was in the middle of an invasion.

People had something purple over their face. It looked like a starfish with a red eye and bits of blue around it. Individuals with the stars on their faces were holding other star fish and trying to plant them on others. To Martian Manhunter it was clearly Starro.

A frightening detail was a man in blue and gold holding a shield that had intention of physically taking down people trying to run away in head. He cried out, "This one's ready!" and used a well place foot to pin his victim to the ground.

Overhead was a man clad in metal suit of silver and gun metal grey. A red cape was adorned to his free and missing was a mask as bits of chocolate color skin had been taken. In his hand was a sledge hammer that he brought down with force onto the street causing several cracks. People were tripping over themselves from the attack of these two. "It's only a matter of time," the Starro-Posessed Steel cried out.'

J'onn Jonzz launches upwards as people start to clear the area. Thara's on Steel, so J'onn...starts looking for the center of the infestation. It's not likely to be him. It's likely "Steel" is a distraction...Starro's smarter than that and so is the person who programmed the simulation. The bots are going to have to be pretty tough, mind, to survive this.

The sound of the rocket boots is definitely enough to get Thara's attention. As the big man with the big hammer comes in taking a big swing at the Kryptonian girl, she acts by moving out of the way. "Steel listen, you are under the control of that thing!" She doesn't want to hurt another hero but she isn't about to let herself be pummeled with a giant hammer either. "Maybe..." She remembers that Martian Manhunter is here too and that he is a telepath. So she does what she would do with the Guardians, She thinks hard and hopes she can be heard. ~These purple star things, how do they react to the cold and is it safe to remove them by force?~ She thinks trying to get word without talking because talking in this mayhem would be completely impossible.

Actually, if J'onn is paying attention to thoughts in the area, despite most of their adversaries being robotic or holographic, there is one other mind in the mix. Is.. one of those civilians being targeted by a star creature actually a real person? There's a mind there, anyways..

The center of the invasion could be seen...sort of. Starro were coming from something that was streaking. Whatever this streak was moved too fast to figure out what or who it was. Every person it approach suddenly had a starro on their face and one in each hand. Colors of the streak were mostly blue with hints of red.

Batman thought to J'onn, "Starro is a galactic threat. It makes any situation unpredictable." As if on command Thara suddenly had more strikes from Steel and Civilians were approaching her. Every person had a Starro on their face. They were moving at her like the infected people in World War Z. Each person was practically trappling over themselves to try and rip and tear at Thara. To add insult to potential injury the man in blue and gold with the shield tried ramming at her with his shield. If anyone had taken a running shield bash from Guardian before they could attest it hurt.

The conscious unit was a civilian trying to seek safety. They were a frightened child. Tears streamed down their face. It was a boy with light brown short hair and he kept saying, "Save my Mom! Save my Mom! Save my Mom!" What was Batman planning?

When you are surrounded on all sides you have two choices in direction. Up or down. Thankfully she chooses up as she has of course remembered where she really is. She lifts upward and Suddenly... shield bash to her thigh. "OOW damn... Okay this is getting a little out of hand. Wanna play rough Guardian... FINE." She hauls off and punches the very shield that hit her. With the force she just hit that thing with, odds are they will land somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic assuming he doesn't have the strength... compared to her. And then... A hammer to the stomach! "UMPH!!!" She lets out as she is suddenly slammed by Steel. "I have had enough of this now!" She looks at the starro on him and quick blows her icy breath at it in hopes of freezing it off.

The mind that J'onn senses from the child...does not match a child. It's wary, and a bit alarmed, and inquisitive. In fact there's a tiny figure that pokes through the top of the boy's head, looking around in surprise.

"She's over there!" the boy pointed to the crowd trying to stop Thara. "She's there," the person he was pointing to was a blond woman that looked in their mid 40s. There was a savage look in her eyes as she tried to tear at Thara. Suddenly the boy cried out, "Eww! A bug!" and tried to squish the source of the "bug." Batman thought that Ray Palmer had snuck in so he ran with it and tried getting the small-sized hero crushed. What he didn't know was the small hero that now had to flee from a giant hand wasn't Ray Palmer.

Before the boy cried out about a bug Thara had knocked "Guardian" back. Normally he would have gone toward one of the likes, but the room wasn't that big. Cruching into a metal wall the room had interefence for a brief moment. Guardian wasn't destroy, but it had been immobilized. It continued to watch the fight.

Thara's ice breathe rang true. The Starro on "Steel's" face fell off and shattered away. The amrored hero staggered for a moment, "W-Wh-where am I?" he asked as if coming out of a haze. "W-What happened?"

Enough time to explain what happened had passed before a rush of air started to fill the room. The rush stopped as something came into view. A familiar voice asked, "What did you do to my friends?" The voice was montone, devoid of emotion and clearly belonged to someone that was posessed by a Starro. By now people weren't scared of Starro. What made this one scarry was whom the alien was attached to. The man wore blue with red, a bright red "S" was across their chest with bits of yellow. Red boots were on their person. Yes, the group now had to deal with a Starro Posessed Superman.

As Batman worked at the controls he thought, "I told you, I wasn't going easy on anyone." When he said it was a training session for EVERYONE. He meant EVERYONE, not just the new heroes.

"Basically, Brain slugs. Get the stars off these people. Energy seems to..." Thara freezes as she realizes just who is coming to the party. "Crap. Steel, help these people go for the stars. They react to energy." She then takes off into the sky, ~J'onn, He's definitely got an advantage here over me. I will fight him as I can but I don't know how much I can do against him.~ She thinks hoping J'onn is listening. She goes flying towards Starro-Supes. "Kal, you are under the control of an alien entity. Let me help you."

Hank Pym, for that is who the tiny helmeted man in fact is, ducks back into the hatch he opened, dissapearing back into the child bot hastily before the hand slams down. "Some sort of holographically generated environment..?" he rattles off to himself as he considers his options. For all he knows, everyone out there is a holographically cloaked robot. At least one of them hitting the wall told him he wasn't really in the real city. Well..might as well find out if any of them are real people or not. He finds a different route to worm out of the child robot, and before he can be swatted again, he jumps towards J'onn, intending to see if he also is clothed in holographic imaging, or if he is a real flesh and blood....alien.

Batman heard Manhunter's mental cries. Thanks to scanners the dark knight was able to track the intruder's movements. Yes, the little guy collided into real alien flesh after energy beams lanced toward Superman who dodged them with ease. Superman returned fire with some freeze breathe trying to knock Manhunter, and subsequently Pym, back with gusts of cold wind if he could not freeze them in place.

Thara was dodged by Superman and the pleading fell on deaf ears. "I've never felt better. I don't need to take advice from a Supergirl reject like you!" Superman blurred toward Thara and gave a flurry of punches, "If it wasn't for me you wouldn't even be on this planet! You wouldn't have been free!" Batman clearly wasn't pulling Superman's punches as he was treating this simulation like an action fight.

"You should be joining me!" the Starro-Covered Superman cried out. What went unseen was Steel delivered a hammer down onto Superman's back which caused the red and blue clad hero to stumble. The actual heroes had an opening to strike now. Apparently Batman believed that every bot should have obeyed their programming.

Right as...J'onn has the same idea. Oh, this isn't going to be good. Well, it depends on how much moisture is in the room...but at least it does stop Superman's breath from hitting them. It just sends shards of ice flying everywhere. Well, that was an interesting experiment.

The newest Kryptonian to Earth hears the sharp words, "A Reject? Well here is something that a beloved Hero like you doesn't know." Right as Steel plants his hammer into Superman's back, Thara is right there, unleashing a super speed barrage of moves from Kryptonian Military training and years of being a freedom fighter. What's more worse is she seems to be targeting the stars with each attack.

Hank Pym is not sure just what is real and what is not at this point, but this person he jumped on seems pretty real. And..is apparently talking in his head? "Oh, marvelous, is that telepathy..? That'll make it a lot easier to talk, did you say training room??" he tries to think this loudly as he speaks, since his voice is fairly tiny at the moment and he's concentrating on holding on more than messing with speaker dials.

Manhunter's expiriment caused ice shards to fly everywhere. People were dodge it. Some of the bots cried out in pain as they were stabbed by it. The guardian bot event ried to move, but could barely flop out of the way as it watched the chaos.

Some of the ice mananged to cut the starro on Superman's face. Then the military blows happened. One by one the legs of starro came loose until it was very easy to pull off. Superman's body was disoriented and partially fighting the alien so now was the time. The key to fighting starro was remembering the alien was the target not what they took over.

When Starro was freed from Superman, since Thara had the shot, everything in the room changed. Gone was all of the scenery to the room. People were surrounded by V 108 bots where most of the people were. That left some explaining to be had for a very tiny man inside a unit. "Good job team," Batman cried out through the speakers.

Far away Calculator was making sure the feed he hacked into kept recording. Hacking into the Watch Tower was very hard. Security protocols and firewalls like an expert couldn't have believed. Hacking into a robot, that was once Guardian, was relatively simple with someoen of his skill. Batman controlled the holographic feeds, but not their systems unless injuries acme up. He was unaware of the underhanded tactic.

Tapping a few buttons a screen to Calculator's left winked on. Someone was clearly on the other end surrounded by darkness as they stood over an operating table.

"I have what you're looking for," Calculator said as the feed continued. "You'll like it."

"When can I have it?" the other party asked.

"As soon as you pay me."

Clicks came from the mystery man and a large sum of money went into a bank account Calculator had access to. Seeing that the money had transffered caused Calculator to smile. "Tell me. What do you plan on doing with the feed Ivo?"

The man on the other side, Doctor Ivo, said with amusement, "It's not for me. It's for an old friend."

"So...exactly what are you doing here?" It might not be obvious who J'onn's talking to right away. Yeah, he's got a little bug on him.

Or at least something about a half inch tall and reddish with antennae. "I..uh. Well.. that depends. Who are you, if I may ask?" he's trying to play hard ball, but the politeness kind of undercuts the effect.

Batman watched in the control room and anounced, "Doors are locked."

Hank Pym uhs..

Thara takes a moment. The events replay in her mind before she recollects herself. Fighting Kal was the last thing she expected. The harsh words though ring in her mind like daggers bouncing around. "Batman is there any training dummies around here?"

"You hide in a training robot, get shipped up here, and don't know who we are?" Yes. J'onn's a bit skeptical of this part. Batman might live under the radar, but HE is pretty well known.

Hank Pym says, "I've been out of, um, circulation for awhile, recently." he points back to the drone he was in. "And those were being shipped secretly. Why?""

"League purposes. I used dummy corporations to ship them given the large number," Batman chimed in again then he added, "The V8's are the target dummies. Why?"

Hank Pym says, "I was trying to track some drones and tech being used to attack people a few weeks ago.. when I came across these.. well, it looked suspicious. I was trying to learn what it was for.." so he was trying to hack their robots? "But the. uh, trip here was a lot shorter than I was counting on."

Hank Pym says, "Wait, League? Like.."

J'onn...facepalms. Without Hank in his hand, fortunately. "You do not know who I am." It's not a question. Well...they have a stowaway. What do they do with him?

Thara is still around. Idly she destresses and leans against a wall. Quietly she looks over one of the machines. "Interesting devices."

Hank Pym shakes his head. "I'm fairly certain you're not human, though. But if..if this is really a League facility, then..this is clearly all a misunderstanding?"

"Definitely not human," J'onn admits. And Batman out-sneaked himself. "Maybe next time we should warn select heroes when we sneak things around?" Batman, not sneak things around? Not happening.

Hank Pym supplies brightly, "I'm working for SHIELD."

Batman listened on everything and he was just waiting to hear what more was said. "Why is SHIELD interested in so much?"

Thara idly answers, "You know how it goes with Security agencies. Gotta make sure everyone is safe no matter what it takes. Oddly enough That same concept is extremely dangerous cause it leads to the loss of individual freedoms" The young woman looks at Hank, "Thara Ak-Var. Chief of Kandor Security."

The tiny man blinks, if anyone can see it. "Aren't they supposed to be? ..There was a group with strange suits and drones that attacked a hospital a few weeks ago. They seemed well supplied, so when it looked like drones I'd never heard of before were being shipped in secret, it...seemed worth checking out?" he nods to Thara. "My name is Hank Pym. And I appreciate the philosophical difficulties..anything is bad in extremes."

Turning off the security locks, "J'onn. Thara. Escort him out. Tell him I'll be talking to his superiors -very- soon," Batman said sounding a little more unpleased than normal.

Thara nods, "you got it Batman." She turns to J'onn and smiles, "If you have work to do up here I can take him with me."

Hank Pym looks between them, just glad things seem to be civil.