The chamber glowed a pale green, the two figures rendered sickly
beneath the glow. Both wore garishly colored uniforms, now tattered and
torn, their faces showing signs of rough treatment. The man stirred,
looking up, his expression determined.
"Diana?" Superman asked softly. She didn't answer, slumped
unconscious in her chains, and he felt a flash of deadly rage. He put
all his strength into breaking his own bonds, straining with all his
might, but nothing happened.
"Give it up," the male voice from up the way said dryly,
"they've balanced the red sunlight and simulated kryptonite radiation
levels perfectly. Your powers are all but gone."
Superman turned,. peering into the darkness. The green skinned
man was similarly bound to the wall, his blonde hair falling into his
eyes. "Vril Dox," Superman blinked, recognizing the lawman almost
instantly.
Vril nodded bleakly. "Our adversaries are remarkably effective,"
he said grimly, "they've moved to neutralize any possible resistance."
"And the LEGION?" Superman asked, referring to the police
service that Vril normally headed up.
"They've put an Durlan agent in my place," Vril mentioned the
shapechanging race of aliens quite conversationally, "along with
recruiting some of my agents to support her." His eyes narrowed,
flashing with a buried rage, "And when I get out of here they're going
to pay."
"I'm surprised they could deal with Lobo so easily," Superman
noted.
"They didn't," Vril actually sounded a bit amused as he added,
"they simply made him a better offer than we did."
"Any idea who else is in here?" Superman tried to use his vision
powers to scan the chamber, but they were too weak.
Vril smiled grimly, "They've been busy." He tilted his head
back, "The Omega Men are gone, the Daxamite survivors are here, and the
few New Gods of Apokolips that were left." He paused, "I also understand
they've made treaties with the Knunds, Citadel and Tamaran."
"They've defeated the New Gods..." Superman echoed weakly.
"There's been several Dominator scientists involved," Vril said,
"apparently they're studying the superhuman species again."
Superman had the oddest look on his face as he murmured, "So how
does a kidnapped girl from Earth factor into all this?"
"I would have thought you'd have figured it all out by now," the
amused voice came from the access portal, "married life had made you
dull."
Superman turned his head to take in a redheaded woman, her
gorgeous body sheathed in red, green and gold body armor. "Maxima," he
murmured, recognizing the Queen of Almerac. He tried to sit up, body
aching, "What do you want?"
"Nothing from you," Maxima said dryly, "we've already got what
we need."
Superman blinked, then his eyes narrowed. "You went after C-ko,"
he realized. "What happened to your men, though?" he asked.
"Your people's genetic engineering experiments," Vril Dox said
thoughtfully, "something must have gone wrong...."
"Very good," Maxima nodded grimly. "We still don't know what
went wrong, but our men began to die... more and more each year until
they were gone."
"So why do you want C-ko?" Superman demanded.
Maxima smiled, clearly amused. "Nearly twenty years ago we sent
out our seedlings," she said, "life forms encoded to seek out the most
genetically advanced lifeforms on each world and sample their DNA." She
smiled, "We called them princesses."
The look on Superman's face was priceless. "C-ko was..." he said
softly.
"See for yourself," Maxima laughed softly, gesturing someone
towards her. The blonde was nearly as tall as Maxima herself, her face
gently beautiful as she smiled at them. "I'd like you to meet my
daughter," she smiled, "Cylene."
Cylene nodded slightly, "I'm looking forward to seeing A-ko and
B-ko again." Her expression was dangerous, "It's going to be such a
surprise to them."
Maxima felt a moment of deep satisfaction as she saw the stunned
look on Superman's face. It was almost better than beating him in
battle, to see him so shaken by the knowledge that the girl they had
come to rescue was in fact the enemy.
"Earth's heroes will stop you," Superman recovered enough to
say.
"I look forward to finding out," Maxima actually chuckled softly
as she said, "we'll be making our way to Earth soon enough."
The two women left, walking together up the hallway. "I do hope
that I won't have to fight A-ko and B-ko," Cylene noted quietly, "I hope
they'll see reason."
"But if not," Maxima said firmly, "we'll use force. The Almerac
people are warriors, my daughter, it has always been our way."
"Yes, mother," Cylene nodded respectfully.
"We've begun our advanced operations on Earth," Maxima said as
they entered a lift, rising towards the bridge as she curiously asked,
"what would you advise we do?"
"Use the supervillains," Cylene said crisply, "to disorganize
and confuse the superhumans before we even launch our own assault. That
way we can also use the heroes to defeat possible rivals like Extant,
Cyborg and other beings."
"Very good," Maxima nodded as they entered the bridge. The
station they stood at was elevated, various other positions scattered
around below them. "Captain, status?" she asked.
"We're on course to the Controllers' homeworld, m'lady," the
green haired woman nodded, "at our present speed we should be there in
days."
"It's much the same tactics you used on Darkseid's forces,"
Cylene calmly noted, "turning Granny Goodness, Dessad, and the others
against each other and Darkseid."
"And the Justice League?" Maxima inquired.
"They may be the greatest threat to our attempt to conquer the
Earth," Cylene said. "They've successfully staved off invasions in the
past, including one lead by our Dominator allies. They have to be
neutralized as an organizing force before we launch our attack," she
concluded.
"Should we send an advanced force?" Maxima asked, gazing out the
bridge viewport to take in the stars streaming by them.
"No," Cylene shook her head, "as unlikely as it may be if they
were defeated, it would tip the Terrans off about the enhancements our
race has undergone."
"Enhancements made possible by the Kryptonian and Terran DNA
that you acquired," Maxima said with a smile.
Cylene nodded slightly in acknowledgment. "DNA we were already
close to acquiring from the Daxamites," she said, "once we dealt with
the lead weakness."
"And the bio-technology data we took from their computers before
we razed the planet will come in very handy," Maxima said.
"I do wish that Wonder Woman would wake up," Cylene frowned
slightly, "the mystical nature of her abilities worry me."
"She has retreated into her mind, unable to accept her defeat at
my hands," Maxima smiled coldly, remembering leading the team that had
ambushed the two Earth heroes.
Cylene shook her head, "At one time she was a Goddess, the
personification of Truth and in part, I suspect she still is. I won't
relax until I'm sure she's powerless." A pause, "Or dead."
"You are your mother's daughter," Maxima mused softly.
Cylene shook her head slightly, turning her thoughts to other
matters. "We're approaching the Controllers' homeworld? We'll probably
face a force of their Darkstar agents as perimeter guards. The
Controllers themselves are powerful psionics, we'll have to prepare
shielding..."
With a certain amount of pride Maxima watched her daughter plan
the next campaign, hiding her misgivings. 'Is she still too human?' she
wondered.
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