Fort Rozz?
Hearing this, Thea's expression became somewhat unnatural. These prisoners were supposed to be among Supergirl's enemies—had these brutal aliens really arrived on Earth so early?
Although this fortress, Supergirl's ship, and General Zod's group all escaped the Phantom Zone at the same time, Fort Rozz was massive in scale and was fundamentally not a conventional spacecraft.
Supergirl's small ship had landed on Earth six years ago. Shortly afterward came General Zod's Black Zero, which arrived on Earth half a year ago after being modified by the scientists among his subordinates.
Fort Rozz was different. If Zod's group could be classified as political prisoners, then those imprisoned in Fort Rozz were outright criminal offenders. The conditions of detention and personnel composition were entirely different. According to the original timeline, after breaking free of the Phantom Zone, they should have taken at least ten years to reach Earth.
History had clearly been altered. Thea did not know whether this was her doing, Madame Xanadu's interference, the work of Speedsters, or some technological time travelers from the future. There were simply too many possibilities to determine the cause.
Regardless of how the future unfolded, this situation demanded immediate investigation.
After confirming the coordinates, Thea took Faora and teleported to the wilderness of New Mexico. After a brief search, the two located the landing site.
From the outside, it appeared to be a peculiar flying structure formed by the intersection of two enormous rings, each several kilometers in diameter. A closer inspection revealed countless internal partitions within the rings—each one a prison cell for criminals.
"There are no remaining life signs inside the ship. Did they really escape that fast?"
Thea scanned it from afar. The expected scene of hundreds of aliens pouring out never occurred. The interior was completely empty, as if it had been abandoned for several days.
They entered the ship. Anything that could be removed and repurposed as a weapon had already been taken. Reaching the main control terminal, they gained command of the vessel through Faora's identity authorization.
After checking the logs, Faora said grimly, "They used light-and-shadow refraction equipment. In fact, the ship landed three days ago. These are all Krypton's most dangerous criminals—and they all escaped."
Unlike Superman, Faora felt no particular attachment to Earth. To her, the escape of these Kryptonian criminals was a direct provocation against her authority as the only remaining individual still holding an official Kryptonian position. Whether out of duty or responsibility, she had to capture them. It was the only thing she could still do for Krypton.
If they escaped, so be it. Thea did not care about Kryptonian honor. She merely remembered that the original leader of this group had been Supergirl's aunt. Though Kryptonian, that woman was not a warrior—she had most likely been genetically calibrated as a support or administrative type at birth and posed no real threat to Thea.
Having studied countless Kryptonian genetic profiles, Thea found the ship's data easy to interpret. She quickly identified a discrepancy from her memories: Supergirl's aunt, Astra, had committed suicide after Krypton's destruction. Now the one leading the group was her deputy—and also her husband—Non.
Non had consolidated the ship's resources through ruthless methods. This was likely the primary reason Fort Rozz had arrived on Earth far ahead of schedule.
"We'll tow this ship back and use it as a prison," Thea said decisively.
She had been worrying about where to incarcerate alien criminals—it was hardly appropriate to place them in Blackgate Penitentiary or Belle Reve Prison. Now, a ready-made solution had practically fallen from the sky.
Both Faora and Non had served as deputies, but Faora—being part of Krypton's combat hierarchy—outranked Non by half a grade. She easily overwrote his remaining command permissions.
In the past, relocating such a massive structure—thousands of tons at minimum—would have required exposing their full strength. Now, it was simple. An atomization field was deployed on-site. Five converging beams locked onto Fort Rozz, and in the blink of an eye, the entire prison compressed down to the size of a fist. Thea casually prepared to stash it in her bag.
Between searching the ship and atomizing the prison, an hour had passed. Just as they were about to leave, Martian Manhunter, whose acting skills were impeccable when posing as an ordinary human, finally arrived with his team.
"This should fall under the jurisdiction of the Supernatural Investigation Bureau," Martian Manhunter said. Seeing the empty site and the toy-sized alien prison in Thea's hand, he knew he was late—but still wanted to make an attempt.
"This clearly falls under the authority of the Alien Supervision and Management Committee," Thea replied without yielding.
Jurisdictional overlap was always messy—on paper, everyone had authority; in practice, it came down to who stood firmer.
To reinforce her claim, she even produced her official credentials.
Martian Manhunter felt helpless. Maintaining his civilian disguise prevented him from reacting instantly like Thea. Even rushing at full speed, he had still spent an hour en route.
By comparison, he was already fast—A.R.G.U.S. had only just mobilized.
While they sparred verbally, their telepathic channel was just as active.
One side argued that this was a Kryptonian vessel and Faora held indisputable authority. The other insisted that both of them were too young and inexperienced, and that he should handle the matter instead.
"Uncle J'onn," Thea said cheerfully through telepathy, "you don't want your identity exposed either. Leading a group of agents against Kryptonian felons is extremely dangerous. Do you really want to watch your people die? If you can't decide, we can always go to the Batcave and hold a vote."
Martian Manhunter considered it carefully. Her reasoning was sound. He could not personally intervene, and expecting ordinary agents armed with guns and grenades to confront vicious Kryptonian criminals was indeed unreasonable.
As for another Batcave vote, he dismissed the idea. The matter of Faora remaining on Earth had already been debated. Superman had wholeheartedly supported having another Kryptonian present. Diana, knowing Faora served under Thea, believed more powerful women were a good thing and agreed readily.
Batman had abstained. The final result had been three to one. Another vote would change nothing.
With ownership settled, both sides withdrew. Thea brought the prison ship back to the Committee. She did not monopolize it—whether A.R.G.U.S. or the Supernatural Investigation Bureau, any criminals too dangerous to contain could be held there.
The ship's internal capacity was enormous; housing eight or even ten thousand prisoners posed no problem.
No one celebrated. Everyone understood that these escaped alien criminals had already entered human cities. Disorder and crime were only a matter of time. Multiple departments quietly accumulated strength, planted informants, and waited for the enemy to make the first move.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Faora's super-hearing remained active at all times, while Thea continuously ran searches—facial recognition, satellite tracking, everything available.
"California. National City. High-intensity combat detected," Gideon reported immediately.
Thea cast an invisibility spell on Faora, opened a portal, and stepped through without hesitation.