Batman was startled by the sudden turn of events as well. Just as his mind raced to figure out what was happening, he saw a small bat symbol light up with a whoosh in the window farthest from the ship's cannons, at the edge of the colossal warship's visible range.
Within half a second, Batman knew what had happened. Details aside, Darkseid's fleet had probably been eating hotpot and singing songs when Gotham's villains, having flown into the sky, hijacked them halfway there.
Could Batman's reaction have been anything but swift? He immediately stepped forward, drew breath into his Dantian, and shouted, "Viman! Stop!"
"Viman, you really..." Steppenwolf's eyes nearly split with rage. He had never been much of a mastermind; no matter how clever he was, he could never have imagined that frail Earthlings could hijack an entire fleet in such a short time. He assumed this was a trap Viman had laid.
Steppenwolf knew that Viman had always wanted to climb higher. He did not merely want to remain a lackey under Granny Goodness, but unless his superior vacated a position, no amount of ambition would let him rise.
Steppenwolf had never been favored by Darkseid and had always been ostracized within their ranks. He was utterly isolated. Killing him would cost Viman nothing while clearing the way for his own advancement; Steppenwolf could practically hear Viman's calculations from several galaxies away.
And then there was Batman. Of course Steppenwolf could see that Viman and Batman occupied similar roles, and Batman was far more valued by Darkseid than Viman was. Darkseid had issued his first-ever order to capture someone alive for Batman. If Batman truly surrendered and reached Apokolips alive, Darkseid would likely rather shatter the existing hierarchy and parachute Batman directly into a high position. In that