That's one of the reasons Lara would decide to go public. It makes her harder to eliminate if people are watching to see what happens next. Historically the government will do one of two things: a) ignore her to keep the operation secret, so she publicly looks like a conspiracy theorist nut, or b) if the operation is going to be public anyway, announce publicly that she's to be arrested.

Usually (a) is the first choice, especially when the target has a medium and audience to talk directly to the public (that's why TV hosts like Bill Mahr aren't always in trouble). But if there's going to be a very public assault on the Lair Legion anyway, part of it may be (b), the General going on television and telling the public that Lara Night is to be arrested on sight and that she's dangerous.

Silently killing her is a bad idea as long as she's in the spotlight, because it turns her into a martyr that completely derails the campaign against super-powered beings.





Just because Chiaki finds out who's in charge doesn't mean she'll succeed. If it goes all the way up to one of the President's advisors - not even the President - it's going to be like hitting a brick wall in negotiation, because she has no leverage. Her leverage comes from the ability to go over the head of the person giving the orders if necessary - otherwise she's just asking politely for them to stop. Threatening them, of course, won't work other than to land her in prison.





Maybe the Hood might put her in the case of figuring out how to annoy the Chain Knight, with the excuse that it would protect the Lair Legion as well.





There's a danger to playing that card too much with Lara. After a short while she'll start to suspect he's setting those up on purpose, and demand that he fix it himself.





You forgot something important. The Hooded Hood might not even need to create a complicated scenario as a distraction. He could simply meet with Lara and present his case for needing the Jarvisite. If he makes a good enough case, she might just pick up *all* the fragments for him.

What you presented above about the Chain Knight might be all she needs. She remembers what happened the last time he showed up - all the Hood might have to do is claim all this Jarvisite will stop the Chain Knight. She might be skeptical about it's secondary purpose, but as long as the Hood makes a good enough "better me than him" pitch about the Chain Knight taking over again, she might go for it.

This might temporarily put Lara at odds with the Lair Legion simply because she's technically working with the Hooded Hood. But she would tell them there's something bigger at stake, and they need to trust her.





That might make Lara substandard for the task, since she's not quite cosmic. Faite is, though, but she thinks the Hood is too transparent about his motives.








It comes down to personal taste, really. Lara cares less about all that stuff and more about honesty, integrity, caring, and a strong bond. In fact, the reason Hatman wasn't her "type" was because she feels like he keeps everyone at an emotional distance. Nobody is more emotionally distant than the Hooded Hood, so you can see where that's going.

Ironically the person most likely to go for the Hood's kind of personality is probably Chiaki. Of course she's not someone the Hood would want at all, which is what makes it ironic. She's the type who likes to bring a man's hidden emotion to the surface.





And risky, too, around someone who questions everything.