| Thanagar - September 4
Joseph, clad in his custom golden Nth metal battlesuit, hovered several miles from the coordinates where the five remaining motherships were predicted to emerge from subspace.
Behind him stood the captured Bloodstar, surrounded by what was left of Thanagar's fleet. More ships existed, but they were scattered across offworld colonies, fending off simultaneous Gordanian strikes. The outcome of this battle would determine whether the Thanagarian Empire survived or crumbled.
All of Thanagar held its breath.
Many were praying to the Hawkgod. Many, to Joseph himself—much to his discomfort.
It was desperation. Though they had captured a Bloodstar, the thousands of ships it carried had already been destroyed, and many of its weapons disabled from sustained damage. The remaining Thanagarian fleet would be outmatched in minutes if it had to face five fully operational motherships, each unleashing thousands of smaller warships.
Many soldiers had come here fully prepared to die.
So they hoped for a miracle.
And they placed that hope on him.
Suddenly, space groaned.
Five shimmering blue rifts split open across the starfield—tears in reality itself, distorting light as they widened. From them, five Class-9 Bloodstar motherships began to emerge, their colossal forms crawling out like nightmares. Each ship was over a thousand miles long, as wide as a major city.
Joseph, attuned to the psychic field from frequent use, could almost taste the dread radiating from the Thanagarians.
Before the shadows of the motherships finished falling over the battlefield, Joseph reached out telepathically.
'Nova, you ready?'
//Yes. Our Bloodstar has connected to all five. I am ready to commence.//
Joseph focused, channeling the Strength Force to reinforce his durability—and, through it, the nanites within him—as Nova activated the Speed State.
Nova had already mastered bypassing the Bloodstar's encryption. This time, the process took only a fraction of the original effort.
The task was simple: deactivate the warp drives that allowed the motherships to traverse subspace.
Ten minutes passed in hyper-accelerated silence as Joseph held his focus.
Then, it was done.
Reality snapped back to full speed.
The result was instantaneous. The five motherships—still only halfway through their emergence—were severed mid-transition. Their massive hulls were sliced in half as the subspace gates collapsed. Portals imploded, and the fractured ships detonated in a chain reaction of catastrophic failure.
It was almost anticlimactic.
Having the right set of abilities really turned what should've been an apocalyptic battle into a technical fix.
How would he even explain this? Who would believe he'd hacked five motherships simultaneously in an instant using the computing power of the Bloodstar?
Meh, didn't matter.
He didn't need to explain anything.
He'd saved their lives.
The comms were silent in collective disbelief.
Then, they exploded with noise.
**
| Thanagar - September 6
Joseph soared through the skies in his Nth metal battlesuit, with his bonded layer of skintight Nth metal beneath.
After capturing one Bloodstar and destroying five others, the Citadel had finally relented. The Gordanians still wanted to fight, foolishly, but they were bleeding resources.
Class-9 Bloodstar motherships—each the size of continents, packed with swarms of warships and tens of thousands of soldiers—weren't cheap.
And with both the Reach and the Kroloteans watching from the sidelines, the Citadel couldn't afford to lose any more face.
To make things worse, a new team of extraterrestrial heroes called the Omega Men were rebelling against the Citadel's tyrannical rule. The Citadel was already stretched thin, barely holding onto the twenty-one Vega worlds still under its control.
They wouldn't offer Thanagar reparations, of course. But since they'd also been dominating Thanagar's colonies, the offer to withdraw and promise twenty years of non-aggression was enough for Hro Talak to sign the accord.
Now came the rebuilding.
Shayera, princess of Thanagar and daughter of Emperor Thal Provis, had stepped into leadership. Her father had fled. Her brother Corsar had followed. But Shayera remained. She acknowledged the empire's failures, stood with the people, and led the fight against the invaders.
The Downsiders had noticed.
As for the exiles of the High Tower, who had fled to Rann, only time would tell their fate. Joseph just hoped the innocent wouldn't suffer.
He descended toward a group of Hawk heroes standing beside a Thanagarian Star Cruiser. It wasn't standard—black and gold instead of the usual gray.
Custom? For me? Nice.
The bare minimum, considering he had just saved their planet, their empire.
Hro Talak had offered far more. He'd said he would convince the king to make Joseph part of the Thanagarian Empire—and even grant him land the size of France. Joseph was pretty sure the man would've dropped to his knees and begged if not for the firm no and a subtle dose of killing intent that accompanied it.
A neat trick with telepathy.
Joseph was still tempted to end him for nearly succeeding in blowing up his own planet. But his departure would result in chaos.
The king had fled, and likely wouldn't remain king for much longer. Why would Joseph ever submit to someone like that?
Besides, Earth was his home. He'd never swear fealty to any king.
AMERICA!
His departure had to be quiet. Thanagarians practically worshipped him now, ever since he'd blown five Bloodstars to pieces before they could fully emerge.
For some reason, the whole thing had been broadcast live.
Civilians—and even soldiers—sometimes flew up just to touch his armor. The reverence was flattering, but… it was getting uncomfortable.
He felt like Superman if Superman was treated like Jesus. He wasn't sure his ego could handle much more divine adoration.
Also, his low-key exit kept Thanagar's enemies guessing whether he was still on the planet.
Shayera stepped forward and offered her hand.
"Nova," she said, using his codename. "Thank you again—for saving our world, despite—"
"You've said that a hundred times," Joseph interrupted, not unkindly.
He already knew they were innocent. He'd read their minds when they first met as he was doing to everyone around him for the first day they were allied. Since then, he'd stopped using telepathy casually. Too many thoughts could get annoying. He reserved it for combat and emergencies.
Personal boundaries mattered. Just like the Team had told M'gann a while back.
Katar stepped forward next, extending a hand. Joseph shook it.
"We've set the Cruiser's coordinates for Earth," Katar said. "We've also recorded an apology and full explanation for the Justice League and the U.N. on a tablet inside. We'd like to negotiate for the return of captured Thanagarians like Lieutenant Paran Dul. Hro Talak is still needed here to stabilize things, but he and everyone else involved will be held accountable. If Earth is ever in danger from another alien empire, we will do everything in our power to assist you. You have my word."
Joseph sensed their sincerity and gave a nod.
"Okay. I guess this is it. Bye."
He gave one final nod to the ex-Justice League heroes, then walked into the open hatch of the Star Cruiser.
Minutes later, the ship entered subspace—and was gone.