Chapter Sixty-Seven: Ends Justify the Means
The last couple of days passed by, and many problems occurred, and many more lingered right around the corner. One of the biggest problems Lara thought about, and continued to haunt them all, pointed to the incoming invasion of the Thangarians. No one argued if the invasion approached, only a matter of when the invasion approached. Lara hoped all of the preparations worked to lead to their success.
Now, Lara sat in the middle of the Fortress and just completed a scan of the area around Earth, for any potential hostiles. So far, nothing as of yet, but given the Thangarians invented ships which could push them through a portal, Lara only hoped they reacted fast enough. And she hoped, the people of Earth declined to make the situation even worse than ever, even though Lara suspected difficulties coming from this particular instance.
'Must prepare for anything,' Lara said. 'The Thangarians are going to throw anything, and everything at us, especially if they want to take Earth as a strategic battle ground. We cannot allow them to succeed, we will not allow them to succeed.'
A never ending mantra entered Lara's mind about not allowing Thangar to succeed in the invasion. She peered off to the side, where Divine sat, resting from her first mission out in the wild. Inside a stasis tube rested the hybrid clone which they rescued from Cadmus.
"We got to her just in time."
Alura's voice cut in through the air and jolted Lara away from the upcoming preparations for the Thangarian invasion. The woman nodded, and looked at all of the angles.
"Clone degeneration may not have been as rapid with the other ones," Alura said. "It would set in eventually, and we would have problems."
"We wouldn't have had enough to salvage," Lara said. "The confusion she must have felt."
Her technical granddaughter lingered in the tube, and Lara hoped to help the poor girl out. Unfortunately, other matters prompted Lara to do a few things to get everything in order. One of the biggest things to get in order, and Lara knew this, happened to be to get transmission out to OA. The Green Lantern ring choose Lois and pulled her off to some kind of adventure on the outer reaches of space.
Training, and Lara refused to envy anyone who dealt with the Guardians of Oa. She never dealt with them, at least not directly, not until this conversation which she prepared to have. Jor-El chose the words he spoke of them carefully; Lara understood Jor-El's frustration with them. Oddly enough, his AI had more in common with the Guardians, then the alive Jor-El wished to have.
Then, Alura and Astra dealt with them up close.
"Are those glorified space Smurfs on the line yet?" Astra asked.
Lara cracked a smile at Astra's adopting of Indigo's word for the Guardians of Oa.
"I'm very nearly holding onto communication," Lara said. "It's best if I do all of the talking."
"I can handle them," Astra said.
"It worries me a lot you can," Lara said. "We have enough problems, and I would like to ask for their help on the upcoming Thangarian invasion."
"You're wasting your time even asking them," Astra said. "By the time the Guardians decide to act, and figure out whether or not it contradicts their precious protocol, the invasion will be over and done with."
Lara said nothing and made contact. Alura held her sister's arm back. Astra took in a deep breath and nodded in response, when waiting for the connection to occur on the other end.
"May we be of service?"
One of the giant blue headed men in red robes flickered on the screen.
"My name is Lara Lor-Van, formally of Krypton," she said. "I'm currently on Earth, and I know you….."
"You wish to inquire about the Earth woman," the Guardian said in a stoic and very calm tone of voice. "Lois Lane, I believe her name is."
"Yes," Lara said. "Is she okay?"
"She is perfectly unharmed," the Guardian said. "She's currently being assessed. She's one of the more belligerent people we've ever had to train as part of the Green Lantern Corps. And I find it quite strange the ring chose someone of Earth origin. They always have their reasons, even though many of us are anxious about the reason why it latched on to this particular woman."
Lara read between the lines and frowned.
"The Thangarians are on the move, and are preparing to invade Earth," Lara said. "Do you know anything about….."
"We have received intelligence," the Guardian answered. "We are going to assess the situation, and we will send assistance if it can be spared. Earth is a Yellow level planet."
Lara knew Yellow-Level meant of low priority, due to the status in the universe. She did not particularly agree with the Guardian. All she could do, would be respond with a very obvious nod. One look through the crystal showed Astra, who looked to be holding back.
"We will be in contact should we require anything further," the Guardian said in his usual stiffness. "Good day."
The last couple of days, Clark did not really know what to make of them, only knowing he lived in some very interesting times. He stopped by the DEO, with Karen tagging along. They needed to make sure all of their allies were in order, to make sure the invasion did not cause too much damage to the people of Earth.
Humans looked anxious about anything different from them. Clark understood, they feared the unknown. They would fear those who were different, even if they helped out the people of Earth. Clark did not have to like everything going on, even though he respected everything. Every last minute, Clark hoped something would happen, which would allow them to succeed and be the best they could be.
"The Guardians are about as helpful as normal," Lara told them in their earpiece.
"I'm sure Astra had some choice words for them," Clark said.
"Yes, some very choice words, but I'll leave them out of polite company," Lara said. "She does know curse words in about twenty-nine different alien languages, so she ran the gauntlet of her very colorful vocabulary to say the very least."
Clark smiled, he figured about as much. He wondered what the next play would be.
"How's Lois?" Clark asked.
"According to the Guardians, nothing to worry about regarding Lois, she's being trained," Lara said. "Something about a woman from Earth receiving a Green Lantern Ring miffed them a little bit. They're going to be harder on her."
Clark would be worried, if not for one simple fact. Lois gave about as well as she received. These Guardians, and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps wanted to be hard on her? Lois might give them a bit more than they had in mind, and they might have bitten off more than they could chew.
"Astra is giving the Kandorians a last minute pep talk," Lara said. "Faora prepared them for this, as did Astra. I don't think the Thangarians expected this."
"The problem with Thangarians is, they fight to the death," Karen said somberly. "Surrender is not in their vocabulary. They aren't going to run form a fight."
"We're just going to keep fighting, until they can't fight us back," Clark said.
The two Kryptonians passed through the front entrance. J'onn, under the guise of Hank Henshaw, looked at a stack of paperwork. Not exactly the most thrilling part in helping save the world from the threats which would keep piling up.
"Thangarians are coming, and we have this problem with Cadmus on top of it," J'onn said. "There's plenty of evidence how a rogue DEO agent is supplying Cadmus with some resources, and information, which is why they're one step ahead of them."
"It shouldn't be too hard to find them," Clark said.
"Maybe, I can read their mind, but Cadmus may also be supplying them with a means to block it," J'onn said, letting out a deep breath in frustration. "And this organization is several levels deep. I don't have constant access to every agent, and there are people who don't necessary work for me, but work for the United States government, and down that path leads to problems."
Clark figured if the mole had a boss beyond "Hank Henshaw", then it would be hard. Clark hated to think the United States government would be doing something like this, but he knew there were only human beings. A government's corruption only ran as deep as the people running it, and several politicians in Washington knew how to play the game.
"The Guardians of Oa aren't really jumping at the chance to send help for us," Clark said.
"Shocking," J'onn murmured.
Clark stopped, and had no idea Martians were capable of sarcasm. His words took Clark completely off guard.
"When Mars burned, we signaled for help, and the Guardians never picked it up," J'onn said. "The White Martians laughed at us for trying and…."
Clark only heard J'onn elude to his past in passing. The Martian's broad shoulders held a lot of baggage, and he took a deep breath. Several deep breaths in a matter of fact, and looked out the window.
"We can only count on those who are here, the Kandorians, the Amazons, and….us, at the DEO," J'onn said. "Agent Danvers and Agent Johnson have been working together, to get a squad together, and they are to get the civilians out of the line of fire. We have some weapons which may put a dent in the Thangarian fleet, but depending on how big they are, there will be problems."
"Looks like the DEO might need to send their big guns out there," Karen said.
"I'm certain Supergirl will be in the middle of things," J'onn said.
"I was referring to our favorite Martian," Karen said.
J'onn paused for a moment, and thought about it. He had come here for a reason, and he would not allow another planet to burn due to cruelty and destruction.
"I'll help where I can," J'onn said. "You might not have had the best relationship with your father, but he did have great hopes for you. This is the sort of thing you were put on Earth to do, Kal-El, to protect. Not everyone will agree with the actions you take, but as long as your heart is in the right place, the good will outweigh the bad, in the end."
Clark perfectly understood everything J'onn said, and nodded in response. The good had to outweigh the bad, in the end. Clark did not know any other way, but the good outweighing the bad.
"If I can only find this leak," J'onn said. "This is the last thing we need with an alien invasion coming around the corner."
Tess received a message, a message which intrigued her, and also made her very suspicious as well. Indigo informed her there had been a message at a Cadmus facility, for Tess to meet the people involved there. Tess decided to take the armor Lex developed out of storage, and put it on. She needed to give it a test run, if she wanted to be any help for the Thangarian invasion. She also had a cannon, which hooked to the side of the armor. One wrong move and anyone who stepped in her way would be toast.
'Let's see what this is all about.'
Tess drew in a deep breath and stepped into the facility. A blinking computer scream appeared in front of her. The moment Tess appeared in the room a bright light came out, and scanned Tess's body. Tess stood in wait, waiting for the scan to finish.
"Hello, Lutessa."
The voice of Lillian Luthor came out. She had not been here in the flesh, and Tess did not expect the woman to be here in the flesh.
"Lillian Luthor, I would not believe it, unless I had been hearing it myself," Tess responded. "I figured the rumors of your demise had been greatly exaggerated. The real question is why, and more importantly, the real question is how…how did you….."
"Questions, I'm sure you have them, you have many of them in fact," Lillian said. "I thought about answering them, and I also considered the fact it would be very amusing to keep you guessing. The explanation of how I evaded death, it could be fantastic, or it could be mundane. I spent twenty years of my life married to Lionel Luthor, and you don't stay around that man for that long without picking up a few tricks."
Lillian took a deep breath and spoke once again.
"You have many questions, and no doubt, the other most pressing one, is why. It's very simple really."
Tess looked forward to hearing what depraved motivation Lillian Luthor spun out now. She felt very intrigued because of what Lillian might have said.
"This is being done for the good of all of humanity."
'Of course it is, of course it is,' Tess thought. 'The default calling card for an extremist, they decide it benefits humanity as a whole, and not themselves.'
"Lionel's obsession with the stars and with the Traveler, caused our family to be ripped apart, even more than his many extramarital affairs. And it infected Lex. It infected my baby, my precious little, Alexander, he suffered, at the hands of his father and his manipulations. I was the dutiful wife, because I had a role to play in the traditional nuclear family, but Lionel didn't reward me. He cared, he cared more about the Traveler, then being a husband. I was a good mother."
"What about Julian?" Tess asked.
Tess realized she struck a nerve, bringing up the younger son of Lionel and Lillian Luthor, who Lillian killed, and blamed on Lex.
"It was a moment of weakness, don't you dare bring him up to me, you don't understand what I was going through at the time," Lillian said. "I was weak, for that moment. I realized, I had to get away, because Lionel poisoned me….I saved Julian though, I sent him to a better place, away from his father…..I couldn't save Lex as well. Especially when Lex met him."
The word almost had spat out. Tess could see Lillian had a few issues which should have been worked out a long time ago in therapy.
"Now, Lex is locked up, driven insane by the secrets of the universe, by him, by one he called a friend," Lillian said. "And you are now with him, Lutessa. You are in bed with an alien. You're in bed with several aliens, and you've betrayed humanity by doing so. But in some way, you helped me, you helped me because you locked Lionel up, and while you have Lex locked up, I will come for my baby, and I will fix him."
Lillian took in a deep breath. Tess wondered what else this unhinged woman would say now.
"I'll come for Lex, but keep him safe for me," Lillian said. "We should be on the same side, we both want Earth to be safe, but as long as you're in the league with Kal-El, then all bets are off. But…there's another problem coming, isn't there?"
"You know about the Thangarians," Tess said.
"Yes, and I know they will be coming soon," Lillian said. "I'm going to stand aside, and let you deal with the Hawks, and I want you to hurt them, Lutessa. I might not be your mother, but hurt them for me."
"We should work together," Tess said. "I can help you."
"I don't need any help," Lillian said. "I just need for you to remember something. You better remember where your loyalties with humanity lie, and you better remember them soon. You're aligned with the man who helped destroy Lex's life, and I will not let that go unpunished. I can forgive you, if you renounce him."
"I don't need forgiveness from you," Tess said.
"Yes, I know, because you can't forgive yourself," Lillian said. "Deep down, you're just like him, just like Lionel. You play chess with people's lives, both of you do. And you don't care who gets hurt in the process."
The transmission had been cut off completely. Tess would have to take a quick look around the facility, although Lillian's haunting words continued to penetrate Tess's mind and haunt her.
"The DEO is in position," Karen said.
"I'll be there in a little bit," Tess said. "I just have a few things to tie up here."
Astra stepped into New Kandor. She watched the Kandorians move around, and they prepared for war. The war could not be avoided, no matter how much they wanted to avoid it. Astra understood this several times. She spent plenty of time in the Phantom Zone contemplating, before she escaped.
Faora stepped directly towards Astra.
"They are among the greatest Krypton has ever seen," Faora said. "They were a bit disheartened they did not get their powers underneath the yellow sun."
"It's something they need to understand," Astra said. "Do you want to brief them, or should I?"
"After you."
Faora opened her hand and gave Astra the opening she needed. Astra made her way over where the Kandorians completed a drill. She knew they were good, and while it would be useful to have them empowered, Astra understood the huge can of worms it opened as well. She knew a group of aliens with powers flying around meant some trouble.
'Time to address them.'
Astra took a deep breath and cleared her throat. All of the Kandorians stood up straight, and almost in awe, at one of the greatest military commanders the planet Krypton ever saw in their life. Astra balanced them in their palm of her hand and smiled when addressing them.
"We are Krypton," Astra said. "I can hear the whispers of self-doubt. Some of you are disappointed, perhaps upset, you did not receive extraordinary abilities underneath Earth's yellow sun, which you could be empowered."
Some of the members of the Kandorian army shifted about, and they looked at each other. Nervousness spread through their bodies when they looked at each other. Time passed when they looked at each other and looked back at each other. Many of them tried to hide it, but many were disappointed.
"Powers are not needed."
The Kandorians stood up straight at Astra's great declarations.
"I refuse to believe one of the greatest and well put together armies the universe has ever seen, can simply live and die by abilities granted underneath a special sun," Astra said. "You remember the battle of Kandor. You remember the Argo Valley?"
Astra could hardly forget the Argo Valley, neither her nor there.
"You remember all of the great victories you have received, through training, discipline, and dedication," Astra said, gaining some steady momentum. "These victories were not accomplished by the color of any sun. Hardly, they were achieved by the strength of your character, and the valor of each and every one of you standing here before me. It's not the powers which are needed, it's the strength which is inside all of you, that cannot be matched."
Astra took a moment to look the mall. Their attention had been more on Astra now than ever before, not that it had been off her much at all.
"All of you, have your roles to play, special purposes out there, as part of this army," Astra said. "I'm not going to lie to you, and I'm not going to tell you this battle will be easy. It's the contrary, this battle will be one of the most difficult any of you have ever dealt with in your life. Some of you will be pushed beyond your limits, and some will rise, while others may get knocked down."
All of the members of the Kandorian Army stirred just a little bit more. Astra told them all of the right words, and they prepared to get out there, and do what they needed to do. Some of them rose to their feet and chanted for the woman who they learned to fear, hate, and respect at the same time.
"This Kandorian Army is still, after all of these years, one of the most efficient armies in the universe," Astra said. "We are not going to let a group of glorified winged barbarians get the better of us. We're not going to allow them, are we?"
"NO!" they all chorused in response.
"We're not going to allow that, are we?" Astra asked.
"NO WE'RE NOT!" they all chanted one more time.
Astra broke into a knowing smile, having riled them all up, and for a very good reason as well. She had them all ready to go to war, for many reasons. She knew the Kandorians were only one small part of the Earth's invasion repelling forces, but she intended to make the most out of this.
"We are Krypton," Astra concluded.
"WE ARE KRYPTON!" The Kandorians yelled.
Faora smiled from the side. She knew Astra had an ability with words, but any thought of not having powers, they faded now. The Kandorians prepared to go to war with the Thangarians, when they showed up. There would be a very big surprise if the Thanagarians thought they could take control of this particular planet.
Anxiety hit Shayera for the first time in a long time. The people she once belonged to in another lifetime, they were coming. Thangar may have changed since those scattered memories lingering around as afterthoughts in the back of the woman's mind.
Shayera sat in pins and needles, and she watched Diana and Hippolyta both move around, preparing the Amazons for the battle. The Amazons eagerly stepped up to defend the call. They understood, as the Princess and Queen told them, they were not dealing with a problem with just Man's World, not this time. They dealt with a problem which effected the entire world.
Pins and needles pushed into the back of Shayera's legs when bracing herself for something, anything, any kind of problem. Shayera drew in a deep breath and came out with another breath. She sounded very calm, but looks could be among one of the more deceiving things possible.
She watched Lana who grew rigid next to her. Lana stuck close by, because of the visions she received of the upcoming invasion, now about two or three a day, were becoming more prolific and it scared the girl.
Lana watched them flash into her minds eye. War ships moved past the red planet of Mars, and started to close into Earth. Several winged men and women flew in space suits, with weapons made of very potent alien metal which made the sharpest, and most dangerous weapons imaginable. Lana tried not to fidget.
The girl bounced off to her feet, so quickly, one would think the bench she sat on had been lit up on fire. Diana moved over towards Lana.
"Lana, snap out of it!" Diana yelled.
Diana grabbed the girl's hand and Lana took in a couple of deep breaths, trying not to lose it. Actually, she might have already lost it, unfortunately, Lana did not really know. The frustration bubbled over to the surface with Lana's breathing increasing.
"They're coming," Lana murmured underneath her breath. "They're coming, and there's nothing we can do to stop them from coming. The fleet is immense."
Shayera's body shook and she could feel the changes coming on.
"I'm going….I'm changing, and this time, I don't think I can hold back," Shayera said.
Diana realized she had two very distressed women to deal with and the Amazon Princess tried to keep herself calm and collected in the situation. She watched when Shayera's wings ripped out of the back of her tank top, and her eyes flashed over.
"They're going to pay," Shayera said.
Shayera had gone full Hawkwoman on them, and Diana thought the fact Shayera did not lash out in an attack this time the moment she changed to be very encouraging.
Hopefully, Shayera could keep it together.
"Thirty-six hours," Lana said.
"Donna, you know what to do."
Donna nodded, and stepped through the portal, to pass on the message to the DEO.
Chapter Sixty-Eight; Night of the Hawks Part One
The untamed vastness of space stretched on for miles and miles. No one quite could understand the many secrets space offered. No one person had the opportunity to look out into space and uncover all of those secrets into their entire lifetime. It just seemed way impossible, something which could not have been done. No one in their right mind could do it, and some people had been tried.
One planet landed in the direct center point of the entire universe, that being the planet known as Earth. To some, Earth sounded like an afterthought. Compared to the other planets in this milky way solar system, Earth was the only one who currently had sustained life. Mars once sustained life, but a war between the White and the Green Martians essentially wiped out all life there.
Earth proved to be an enigma to some, and a very distinct afterthought to others. For those who were in the know, humans leaned towards being the butt of many of an intergalactic joke. Many people mocked humanity in general. Some received transmissions of Earth television, which had been the source of much ridicule from the alien races. They especially got a kick out of the Earth's depiction of other alien races.
Yet, deep down, they knew the humans got it right in some respects. Many alien races would take control and conquer the planet, if given half of an opportunity. The armada approaching the milky way galaxy, going through a riff behind Uranus, and making good time, Uranus blasted off clouds of noxious gas, which caused rifts in time and space.
The Thangarians armada slipped through the portal. One of the leaders, one of the smarter members of the hawks, peered through. Despite his intelligence, the leader of the Hawk People always hungered for carnage, and he hungered for a fight.
"We've traveled across star systems to answer the signal," the leader replied to two of his men. "Our fallen brothers, they have landed here on Earth. Their sacrifices, will not have been in vain. We will take the planet for the Thangarian Empire."
The home world suffered many losses over the years. One of the biggest losses occurred during a war with Gordanians, which left a significant fraction of their population decimated. The losses racked up, in a more constant basis, those disgusting reptiles, and their allies causing them trouble at pretty much every single term.
"It will allow us to strike back against those vile lizards as well."
The hawks all riled up, ready for war. Earth would be a strategic location for Thangar to bring in as a colony. The humans may resist at first, but their primitive means were not enough to stop the oncoming conquest. They passed the planets, moving closer towards Mars.
The Martians had not been a race which Thangarians had much to do with. They once respected them, until they tore themselves apart in a barbaric and senseless civil war. Now the Thangarians did not describe Martians. They passed over the planet, looking down at the once proud race, and the graveyard on the planet with thinly veiled contempt offered at every inch of that alien planet.
"We will give the humans a chance to surrender," the commander of the ship replied. "They will have to listen to reason, if they do not want their people to go extinct. And destroying their planet will be counterproductive."
"I lead…"
"You only lead the combat on the ground," the commander replied. "I know you're here for a more personal reason as well. I can see it in your eyes, Katar."
The leader of the army took a moment to close his grip around the axe. He could not deny the fact that a more personal reason drove him to accept this mission. Dreams haunted the man, and he realized his soulmate had been on this planet for all of this time. The madness and the despair of being driven apart from her, caused his anger to increase.
She had been reborn on Earth, while he was halfway across the galaxy, a member of the Thangarian army. It could not be allowed, it could not do.
"No," he growled. "They can't have her….he can't have her."
The commander of the ship grabbed Katar by the shoulder. Katar turned around and gripped the axe. The very powerful weapon which spilled much blood on the grounds of many battle fields showed itself to be one of the most intimidating sights possible. The commander, a very brave and fierce warrior in his own right, swallowed. Hand shook very fiercely when he tried to hold himself up to a higher standard.
"We pass over Mars," the Commander commented. "Remember the Gordians, and remember our war against them. Do nothing to jeopardize that, and us acquiring Earth to use to blast those lizards into oblivion."
The commander of the mothership and the leader of the main armies locked eye to eye with each other. The tension in the room could have been sliced with a very fine blade. No one inside of the room dared say a word, out of fear of what might happen if they had angered the wrong person. The two hawk warriors stared each other down, for several seconds passing.
"Understood."
Kartar's one word, as group as it sounded, came over. He gripped the axe hard, to maintain some level of intimidation. The Hawk warrior doubted very much they would listen. Humans were senseless barbarians. The level of air contamination, requiring the Thangarians to wear breather masks, because they could not deal with the type of atmosphere the planet Earth had.
Beeping echoed in the ship.
"We are within range commander. Should we prepare to make contact, sir?"
"At once," the commander replied. "They need to understand that trying to fight us is very futile. Nothing can stop us, nothing."
Years of preparation, and Clark prepared to deal with this particular invasion to the best of his abilities. The hawks closed in on the planet, and they would be here, sooner rather than later. Clark currently stepped into the DEO. Many of the agents prepared for battle, to try and bring down the alien craft because it caused the problem. One of them worked on a device which could in theory bring any alien craft down to the Earth.
Given what Shayera said, the crafts of the Thangarians paled in comparison to the actual hawks within them. Clark drew his breath instantly and he turned to Daisy who had been moving around. She looked to be trying to fit together a cannon or some sort. Not watching where she went, Daisy almost bumped head long into Clark. She jumped back in surprise and then shook, and not in the way.
"Sorry," Daisy said. "This is just the biggest alien invasion the DEO ever had to deal with. We just deal with isolated threats for the most part, the occasional alien, maybe a small gang of them, but never an entire armada."
Daisy prepared for this, but to be perfectly honest, nothing could compare them for what was about to happen next. Her nervousness reached another fever pitch. It would be very difficult for Daisy to describe everything she felt now. Those butterflies grew large wings and prepared to take flight in the pit of her gut.
"Relax," Clark said.
"I try," Daisy said. "But, I don't think I can until I know what I'm dealing with. I'd relax a lot better, if I can figure out how to get this stupid cannon working."
Daisy tried to shove the pieces of the cannon together. It fought the empowered woman every step of the way.
"Might have to do this old school style," Daisy said. "Unless they can get the EMP tower thing working…..which might just take out the ships. The hawks on the ships, they're another matter entirely."
Alex wheeled a crate back in. Daisy turned her attention towards her girlfriend.
"And what are these?" Daisy asked.
"Blast grenades, they pack a hell of a punch," Alex said. "And you should choose your shots wisely…the question is, are we ready?"
"The Amazons are ready, the Kandorians are ready," Clark replied.
"And the DEO is about as ready as we're going to get," Alex admitted. She sounded on edge.
Anticipation built more frustration than anything. Alex preferred to see the invasion get done and over with, and they would have to deal with it. The fact the hawks were taking their sweet time showing up.
"Mother?" Clark asked.
"Yes, Kal, there's been something picked up very close by," Lara said. "I don't know what exactly, but an Armada has just passed Mars, and is heading to Earth."
Clark wondered how long it would take them to get there. He turned to Karen, who stepped in towards him. She wore Kryptonian battle armor which also had been modified to absorb more yellow sunlight per second. She would need as much yellow sunlight as possible if there had been any hope in taking down the Thangarians. Wishful thinking ruled the day, at least it did for Kal at this particular point in time.
"The Fortress picked up a signal," Clark informed her.
Karen nodded in response, and saw Kara getting something ready. She advised some of the DEO members how to best prepare the cannon. Alura taught her very well.
"I hate to say this," Karen muttered. "The DEO's way out of their depth here. I don't think they have a change against the Thangarians."
"You never know," Clark responded. "They might be able to surprise you. Don't count them out just yet."
"The Thangarians have something up their sleeve," Karen said. "If what Lana said was true, they're not coming here to get sent back. And you know what they are. They are going to fight to the very last breath, to the very last drop of the blood. Surrender is not in their vocabulary."
"It isn't in mine either."
Clark wanted to make people think twice. Earth's age paled in comparison to many of the planets around the solar system, but it did not matter. Clark refused to allow the potential of this planet be burned out. Daisy stepped over, and got Clark's attention.
Several of the DEO members, including J'onn, under his usual guise as Hank Henshaw, stepped in. He frowned when looking at the image on the screen.
"Daisy, do you think you can pick up on the signal?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm already on it," Daisy said.
'Oracle eat your heart out,' Daisy thought to herself.
She managed to grab onto the signal, and she had a brief glimpse of the inside of the Thangarian mothership. She recognized some of the technology in the ship, obviously swiped from other alien races during the pursuit of the universe. Awesome, impressive, there were a few words to describe it as well.
"Greetings people of the Earth, I am Hyram Kozak," the Thangarian Commander said. "I am here to tell you that Earth is now underneath the dominion of the Thangarian Empire. I do not wish to alarm you, but you are in danger of being attacked. War will be coming, and the only way to save both of our races from utter annihilation is to colonize your planet. We do not wish any aggression, therefore I will give your world leaders one orbital cycle to concede control of the planet."
"They want the world leaders to concede the planet?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, that's going to happen," Daisy said. "Especially when you take into account the world leaders can't agree on what to get for lunch, much less policy."
"Your surrender is much appreciated, and we can work together without bloodshed."
Clark knew something was going to break. He just couldn't put his finger on what.
The message broadcasted through the entire world, and reached the Kandorian outpost. The Kandorians readied for war, and all Astra had to do was give the word to Faora, who would in turn, give the word to them. Astra in particular looked on. The Kryptonian General looked on to her people, all of them who waited.
"Stand by for one moment," Astra said.
Astra needed to step away just to consider the sheer arrogance of the Thangarians. They dared try to get humanity to give up their planet. The humans were not completely hopeless, and even if they were willing to just forfeit their planet, Astra was not ready to give up this planet to the invasion of those hostile, those vile barbarians.
Clark and Karen dropped behind Astra. Astra turned around to face both her daughter, and her cousin.
"So, did you hear?" Clark asked.
"Yes, I heard the arrogant words," Astra said. "I don't think we can take the hawks at their word, and even if we could, anyone with any sense in their mind knows that peace is in their dictionary. They prepare for war, and we're going to bring a fight."
"We've got another problem," Kara said.
The ear piece picked up Kara's words. Clark looked on with a frown.
"The military is already moving in," Kara said. "They are preparing for battle, and they are getting people off of the streets. There's a lot of panic over here in Metropolis."
"And the fact the United States military has shown up has done nothing to ease the worry, only to make more," Astra replied. "Naturally, I figured about as much. Why would it be anything different? Why would there be any changes?"
The bitterness found in Astra's voice could make anyone shudder.
"Faora, if I do not return within the hour, assume the worse," Astra said. "Then prepare for war."
"At once, General Astra," Faora replied.
Clark, Karen, and Astra made their way out, flying over the skies. They dropped down onto the ground, standing next to Kara, who had been looking up into the sky.
"And here I assumed they would give us the full twenty-four hours," Karen said.
"That's a very faulty assumption," Astra said.
The light flashed in the sky. The people in Metropolis all looked up into the air. The military brought in one of the largest tanks and several helicopters also surrounded in the air. The mother of all motherships appeared in the sky. It resembled an island which had been ripped out of the ground and outfitted with several cannons. Some of the cannons pointing to the ground.
The commander of the army on the ground looked up.
"Boy, that's one big MFer," the commander muttered before shaking his head. "Don't let these blasted aliens win. Fire on them, hit that mother ship with everything it's worth. I want them to be hit so hard that….just fire!"
The men obeyed their leaders orders and started to fire on the ship. The tank launched several huge rounds and the helicopters hovered around the mothership. The bullets ricocheted off of the ship, and left no damage to it whatsoever.
One of the cannons on the ship locked and fired. The tank flipped over from the ship.
Clark turned around and went up in the sky. He grabbed the cannon and turned it, preventing it from firing on the troops. It fired up into the sky and caused Clark to go flying directly down. He crashed through the globe of Daily Planet office building from the impact.
The wind came out of Clark's lungs when struggling to get up. Kara and Karen rushed over towards him, concern going through their eyes.
"I'm okay," Clark said.
Clark staggered half of a step. The cannon packed a huge punch, even when directed against the Kryptonian. Astra made her way over to the ground. She looked up and noticed something clicking. Several metal balls hovered and dropped down onto the ground.
The four Kryptonians, and the members of the army which had not scattered waited. The orbs clicked open, and several hawk warriors dressed in armor showed up for the battle. Some held axes, some held swords, and others held large iron maces. All of them prepared to attack.
"Faora, I won't be back in an hour," Astra said. "Get ready."
"For Thangar!"
One of the hawk warriors charged forward. The attack had been evaded by Astra. Astra flipped into the air, and ripped the axe out of the hand of the hawk warrior. She swung it, slicing his arm off with violent fury, causing blood to splatter everywhere.
Clark flew at one of the hawk creatures. He slammed a spiked gauntlet into Clark's shoulder. Clark blocked the second shot from the spiked gauntlet and cracked the hawk warrior back down to the ground. Clark flipped the adversary down to the ground, hammering the hawk creature down onto the back of the head with repeated, and never ending punches, punishing his adversary with everything he was worth.
More of them dropped down onto the ground. Astra smiled, and the energy portal opened up. Faora stepped through the portal, and she threw a blade through the wing joint of one of the Thangarians which dropped him down to the ground. He had been grounded in the worst possible way.
The battle continued to kick up.
Daisy left to join the fight on the ground. Thankfully, the DEO had their own technical support person, someone who had been doing this for a very long time, only not to this extent. Chloe sat down on the chair, taking a deep breath. She looked and saw at least a dozen motherships showed up, containing more hawk warriors.
"Diana?" Chloe asked.
"Yes," Diana said.
"There are hawks in London now," Chloe said. "Do you think you can take a team of Amazons to give them a proper weapon?"
"Yes," Diana said.
"Make sure to give them no room to breath."
Chloe found herself almost overwhelmed by the amount of chess pieces she shuffled about. Normally in this situation, she had to just deal with Clark and maybe a couple of others. It was only one city, and now it was very big, and very immense. Chloe chewed down on her lower lip, looking very excited at what was going on, and also a little bit apprehensive.
"I think I'm close to finding a weak spot," Chloe said. "Daisy?"
"Yeah, I'm here," Daisy said.
"Is the EMP tower ready?" Chloe asked.
Daisy responded with a very prominent sigh and Chloe knew that kind of sigh. It was the sigh which came from a person who knew frustration, and knew they had hit a few snags.
"It's about three hours from being ready, and I'm not sure it's going to even work," Daisy said.
Chloe nodded in understanding. She hoped that they could hit them right in the heart of the mothership. The hacker wished she had about ten sets of eyes to figure out everything which was going on. Unfortunately, Chloe had not been blessed with that ability.
"My…other has an idea," Alex said. "What if we get our hands on one of the orbs they used to touch down? Maybe that has a connection to the mothership."
"Yeah, yeah, that could work," Chloe agreed, nodding in confirmation. "That just might work, go ahead and try that. I'm not sure if we have anything to lose, but…yeah, go and try that, see where that takes us."
Any plan worked better than running around like people with their chickens cut off. Chloe leaned back in the chair and tried to monitor the situation. Anything looked worth a shot, even though the stakes rose. The anxiety rose along with the stakes. Chloe drummed her fingers nervously across the table, just waiting for something, anything to happen.
A loud bang echoed and caused the lights in the DEO headquarters to blink. Chloe's heart raced a little bit after almost being rocked out of her chair. Chloe drew in a deeper breath and drew out another one as well.
She tried to get a visual. Static on the screen made it more than difficult to do so. Chloe bit down on her tongue and fiddled with the setting of her ear piece.
"Daisy, Alex?" Chloe asked. "Clark? Anyone out there."
Someone knocked out the communication tower the DEO used somehow. Chloe pulled out her laptop and got to work, trying to get some kind of workout. Being in the dark when the world was about to drop down to an alien invasion was not something Chloe enjoyed doing.
"I'll be given a medal for taking you down," one of the Thangarians cried.
Astra blocked the swinging axe of the creature and ripped it from his hand. She could see the Kandorians moving over, having gotten their hands on one of the explosives the Thangarians intended to use to rock the city down to its foundation.
"For someone who wants this planet very much," Astra said. "You seem bent on destroying it. Or maybe, you're just simply bent."
Astra twisted the arm, shattering it, and she grabbed onto the right wing and shattered all of the bones in that for good measure.
One of the Thangarians, realizing the Kandorians planted an explosive, moved over. Faora blocked the mace, using the momentum of the Thangarian to come down to the ground. She punched him right in the joint of the wing and caused the man's body to almost shut down. Faora slammed the Thangarian down head first onto the ground with a curb stomp.
"No powers," Faora said.
Faora punched the Thangarian in the face and caused his mask to crack. The Thangarian dropped down to the ground, the Earth's atmosphere causing him to be light headed. Despite this, he still fought, although he did not fight with the same vigor as before. Faora took advantage of him, downing him with multiple punches. Each of them connecting to the pont.
"It's ready, Commander."
"Detonate it!"
The ship hovering blew up, and crashed down to the ground.
"Break it open," Faora said. "And if any hawks come after you, break the breather masks. They can't stand the air."
The weakness had been found, although if the hawks were smart, they would take extra steps to secure their faces. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, they would at the very least.
Three of the hawks moved in. A figure dropped down from the sky, dressed in battle armor and wielding an iron mace. Her red hair flipped in the air and a look of unbridled intensity fluttered through her eye.s
"You," one of the Hawks growled.
"Yes, me," she replied.
"You're a traitor to our kind," the Hawk said. "You will pay!"
Shayera did not even bother to acknowledge his words. She blocked the swinging of the large axe with her mace. The mace flung back and knocked the axe back. The warrior refused to back down from the fight. Shayera swung back and he blocked an attempt to get smashed in the face.
The warrior woman dropped down the full force onto the back of the head.
Off to the side, Clark dropped down. One of the warriors charged him. Shayera blocked the attack and nailed the warrior in the side of the head, knocking him down.
"Good one," Clark said.
One of the larger hawks tried to bury a hatchet into Shayera's head. Clark reached over and blocked the hawk's hand. He headbutted the hawk which caused the breather mask to crack. The hawk could still breath, although it burned his lungs, and allowed Clark to take him down with a further punch to the back of the head.
"Now, we're even," Shayera replied.
The end did not come. One of the more powerful hawk warriors dropped down to the ground. He grunted and threw knives at Shayera. Shayera deflected the very real attack at her wings.
Clark looked up in the sky and saw the cannon of the mothership heating up. He jumped up into the sky and punched the mothership, causing his arm to be burned all the way down to the shoulder. The fusion cannon disabled, and Clark dropped to the ground.
Shayera rushed the attacker, who knocked her out of the air, mid-flight. Shayera flipped down to the ground, the wind knocked to her. One of the hawks reared back and stabbed her in the wing with his knife, causing great pain to come through Shayera's face.
"STOP!"
The words of the ground leader caused the hawk warrior to stop from ripping into Shayera's other wing. The leader of the group troop swung his axe and nailed the brutish warrior in the face.
Shayera ignored the pain coming from her. Blood and feathers fell down to the ground from as she painfully walked.
"It's you, we're finally together at last," he said. "I'm Katar, don't you remember me?"
Shayera's mind flashed back to Egypt, and how these mad hawk zombies attacked her. This man's face resembled the leader. Pure rage mode blocked out Shayera's pain.
"YOU!"
It wasn't the fuzzy reunion the Hawkman had in mind.
Chapter Sixty-Nine: Night of the Hawks Part Two
The entire world grinded to a halt for a few moments. Chloe knew the calm would not last. She sat on mission support, trying to get everything in place. Several different angles to work with and Chloe needed to look for the most critical. Losing communication proved to be one of the more annoying aspects of this entire mess. Chloe brought in her breath and brought it out. Chloe just had to take these deep breaths, and gain control of the situation. She would soon have everything she needed, for better or for worse.
"Daisy, if you can hear me, talk to me."
Chloe waited, perhaps a bit more impatiently than she should, for the communication to come back through. The computer hacker tapped her fingers. She hated being out in the open, without any knowledge of what was going on. Chloe worked to get the system back on. Suddenly, a bright light entered the facility she sat in and Chloe jumped off about ten feet from the chair.
The facility's power kicked back on and not a moment too soon either. Chloe detested having to work in the dark and all of the problems which came along with it. Maybe if the power came back on, so did the communication to the DEO agents. Daisy and Alex went in and then there had been nothing. They ran across a very large barrage of hawk people.
This had been the first full scale alien invasion, and it was very different from chasing down the average alien fugitives did.
"Yes?" Daisy asked. "Chloe, can you hear me now?"
"Yeah, a bit wonky, but I can hear you," Chloe said.
"We were very close to the blast zone, something must have caused a communication lock out," Daisy said. "I'm not sure how much time we have left before the communication gets knocked out again."
Chloe agreed. She anxiously drummed her fingers across the desk, waiting for something to break, whether it be for better or it would be for worse.
"I'm on the inside of one the ships," Daisy said. "They've abandoned it, which doesn't seem like a good sign."
Chloe agreed the fact the Thangarians abandoned a potential resource did not seem like a good sign. She waited and made a split second decision on what to do.
"Head in there, and be as careful as you can," Chloe said. "Just don't do anything reckless, and we'll all be fine."
"Right, not reckless," Daisy said. "You're asking a lot of me, aren't you?"
Chloe smiled, too true. Daisy had been pretty good at keeping her head above the water. Chloe found herself more concerned about how the Blue Beetle scarab and Alex would hold up in battle. She was not the only one who had these concerns.
Then again, perhaps Chloe needed to focus. She lost contact with another team though.
"Hey, it's me," Diana said. "We just managed to capture one of the orbs, and we're trying to get inside. I'm not sure if we're going to find anything or not, if it didn't break open."
Chloe thought of two potential things they could find inside of the orb. The one thing which came to her mind first of all was a dead Thanagarian who suffocated. The other thing would be the orb rigged to explode. Either idea did not sound too appeasing to Chloe, if she could be perfectly honest with herself.
"Just keep back, and make sure there are no surprises," Chloe said.
"Shayera's doing a good job in taking them back, but she ran into some trouble," Diana said. "And that's when I lost track of her."
Losing track of one of their best fighters, at least against Thanagarians, Chloe could just barely imagine. She chewed down on her tongue, and received some numbers coming in. They flashed across the screen.
"This signal has been transporting from that ship," Daisy said. "There's no one on it, there's nothing on it. It's just been transporting the same signal over and over again. Pretty weird, wouldn't you think?"
"Yes, weird," Chloe muttered underneath her breath.
She could not make heads or tails of this particular situation. The transmission continued to send some weird numbers.
"Hey, Raya?" Chloe asked.
"May I help you, Chloe?" Raya asked.
"I'm sending some numbers over," Chloe said. "They're coming from one of the alien ships."
"Yes, please stand by," Raya said.
Chloe pressed on the side of the console and fed the numbers into the computer of the Fortress of Solitude. She waited, for more information. No news was good news in most cases. However, in the case of an alien invasion, Chloe figured out that no news, was very bad news at this point.
The screen above Chloe flashed, and Chloe rose her head up to look at the flashing red mark on the screen. Everything started to come crashing down and Chloe's blood started to run cold, just a little bit more.
'Please don't be what I think it is,' Chloe thought.
"Raya, are you getting this big blip?" Chloe asked.
"Yes, I am," Raya said. "I'm afraid you have a right to be concerned. That big blip is a big bomb being armed just outside of Earth's atmosphere. And they intend to detonate it, if these codes are correct."
Chloe found herself in despair. Despite being no expert, Chloe figured the bomb's radius would engulf most of the planet, and cause a hideous explosion which would destroy half of the life on Earth. The Thangarian's brutish nature came out to play.
Shayera's breathing increased when she came face to face with the same face who fought her back in Egypt. Blood pumped through Shayera's veins the second she charged the enemy. Her mace swung wildly, and connected with the side of the axe. The two of them moved, sparks flying with each other.
"You, it's always you!" Shayera yelled.
"Yes," The Thangarian leader said. "You feel the connection. Don't you see, we were meant to be together. Destiny gets drawing us together. Time after time, life after life, we're together."
Shayera took a deep breath and swung the mace as hard as possible. The mace had been dodged expertly. The Hawkman jumped into the air to avoid the attack. Shayera reared back and swung the mace one more time. The Hawkman dodged the attack once again. Shayera gritted her teeth and swung the mace and again, another attack had been evaded. Blood pressure boiled to a brand new level.
"Fight me!" Shayera yelled at the top of her lungs.
"You just woke up, so you're going to feel confusion," the Hawkman said. "But, you'll know your feelings to be true."
The only feelings Shayera knew to be true right now was a very pressing desire to take her mace and put it in a very uncomfortable place.
"Just leave me alone!" Shayera yelled. "I'm not letting you take Earth."
"The humans are barbarians who would squander a perfectly good planet," Katar said. "We thought, perhaps foolishly, they would listen to reason. You must understand, we don't do this to conquer. We never do this to conquer, we do this because we have to."
Shayera refused to buy what this man, this horrific man, sold. Shayera spun the mace around as fast as possible and swung it as hard as possible. The mace cracked down across the chest of the Hawkman and sent him flying back several feet.
"You're the barbarian if you try and do this!" Shayera yelled.
Katar blocked Shayera when she drove down onto the ground.
"It isn't the first time I had to restrain you when you wouldn't listen," Katar grunted. "And you've done the same for me, during numerous life times. We live together, we die together, we find each other again."
"Miserable sounding cycle," Shayera said.
"Not the first time you've said that either," Katar said. "We are bound by all enterity, destined to find each other. We can rebuild this planet, rebuild it for an entire new generation. Maybe, we can find a way to break the curse, where it all began, in ancient Egypt all of those years ago."
The very mention of Egypt caused Shayera's eyes to flash red. Anger spread through the woman's body, when bouncing back up. She swung the mace as hard as possible. The Hawkman evaded the mace one more time. He dodged every single attack.
"Anything you can do, I know what you're going to do."
A blur flew into the air and knocked the Thangarian leader out of the air. The force dropped down to the ground.
"But, you don't know what I could do."
Katar saw red the second he came face to face with the living breathing Kryptonian. He withdrew the battle axe and moved towards him.
"Just for that, I'm going to take your head and mount it on my mantle," Katar said.
"Superman watch out!" Shayera yelled.
The Nth metal could hurt Kryptonians underneath a yellow sun, and the crazed Hawkman rushed towards him. Clark dodged the attack and jumped down behind him. Katar turned around and swung the axe with a very frenzied fury, ripping through the air with a blade.
"You aren't going to get the better of me!" Katar bellowed at the top of his lungs. "A Kryptonian is not better than me. Do you hear me you smug little….."
Clark grabbed the Hawkman by the wing joint, and snapped it back which caused him great pain. Clark reached behind him and slammed two fingers down onto the back of his neck. It exploited a pressure point which dropped Katar to his knees. A well placed attack, one Astra taught him, took the Hawkman down to the ground.
Shayera charged forward and swung the mace towards Hawkman's face and cracked the helmet, the mask, and his jaw with one swing. The Hawkman fell backand Shayera stood over the top of him with disgust.
"That means I'm not interested," Shayera said.
Several more Hawk Warriors dropped down onto the ground. One of them launched a chain at Superman to try and ensnare him. Superman caught the chain and the Hawk took off on the ground. Clark broke free from the chain and flipped high into the air, coming crashing down on the hawk warrior, sending him spiraling down onto the ground with a huge impact.
One of them dove at Clark with a dagger extended. Clark blocked the dagger, and punched the man directly in the chest. A series of huge punches rock the Thangarian, sending him crashing down. Clark reared back and headbutted his adversary, knocking the wind out of him. The daggers retracted from the palm and pushed down onto Clark. Clark blocked the hands and brought him backwards.
"Kal, we have a problem," Raya said.
Clark thought she could have not stated that particular fact better. Holding onto one of the arms, Clark moved behind and broke the joint connecting the wing to the back. The hawks were not much when they couldn't swoop down for the attack. Clark nailed him with a rapid fire series of attacks, knocking the adversary down. He pulled back from the hawk creature.
"What's the problem?" Clark asked.
Shayera rushed in to return the favor from earlier and drive her mace into the stomach of one of the hawks. She smashed him down onto the ground, ripping through his wing with a violent attack. Blood splattered and bones crunched, with feathers flying in the air.
She pushed through the injury from earlier, not wanting to let it affect her. Adrenaline pumped through Shayera.
"There's a big blip, and it's a bomb," Raya said.
Clark tried very hard not to swear, but this time, he could barely hold his tongue back. When it rained, it most certainly poured.
"It's done," one of the hawk said.
As always, the United Nations entered a huge uproar where they spent more time arguing with each other, than doing anything. Most joked that it would be too much to hope for that the United Nations knew what to order for lunch, much less any kind of foreign policy.
"We should try and appease the aliens, find out what they want, and work with them," one of the members of the delegation responded.
"Appeasement?" one of them asked roughly. "Ha, you give them an inch, and they will take a foot. If you ask me, we should nuke them out of the sky."
"Yes, we should show that the people of Earth aren't going to be pushed around," one of the members of the delegation responded.
"I think a nuclear assault is too strong, and appeasement is too soft but….."
"Excuse me."
The voice caused the members of the United Nations delegation to turn around. A woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, stepped into the room, and all around the room bore witness to the look of ever-lasting determination dancing through her eyes. Her dark hair hung across her shoulders in a ponytail, and she wore a black bodysuit, which looked like battle armor.
"My name is Alura In-Ze and I represent the Planet Krypton."
She spoke this statement to each delegate, in their native language. The moment she made their way around the room, Alura stood there.
"You….Krypton?" one of them asked. "I thought the bird men, they were called Thangarians, or something like that."
"They are," Alura said in a calm and very patient tone of voice. "You are talking, while the people of Earth are living in fear because of this threat. Not all aliens are going to target the planet, but there are many, where the only language the understand is force."
"Yes, I agree with the alien," the delegate said. "Which is why we should go for all out nuclear assault, and bomb them all straight to hell. No one would ever mess with the people of Earth again, if they…."
"Your nuclear weapons would not even dent their fleet," Alura said, shutting them down as quickly as possible. She could hear the mutterings of protest, the tones of self doubt, all coming through the room. They were not used to anyone like her, and she dragged them out of their comfort zone. "The people of this planet, while more advanced than they were a hundred years ago, are nowhere near ready to take on an entire alien invasion. As we speak, the Thangarians are preparing a bomb."
"A bomb?" one of them asked. "And you know this….."
"If you ask me, all of these aliens are in the league with each other," one of the delegates said. He rose to his feet and pointed towards Alura. "We should have her thrown in some lab, and see what she knows."
"Outside this building, there are six more just like me," Alura said. "I do not wish to alarm you, but they are only here to make sure the Thangarians don't attack you. However, I can call them in and detain anyone in this room, to make sure they don't threaten my physical well-being. I'm not a fighter, I'm a scientist, but you shouldn't push me, you shouldn't push me at all."
Alura looked at them and for a moment, the delegates of the United Nations shut completely up. She was going to take this moment to jump in.
"I've seen what you're capable of, and unless you've developed something new that has been well-hidden from detection, then Earth will not be able to withstand the alien threat," Alura said. "The Kandorians, my people, they have the abilities, and the knowledge, to shut this invasion down. Stand aside, call off all of your people, and let us handle it. We're your only hope to save this entire planet."
The look in Alura's eyes both was full of determination, but a tiny bit of desperation went through those eyes as well. If they failed, Earth would be doomed. She grew found of the planet.
The members of the United Nations started to argue once again. Alura thought the similarities between Earth and Krypton were more than just both races looking very similar. She recalled similar situations regarding the Council on Krypton and the arguments they could get into at a drop of a hat.
'Just like old times again,' Alura thought.
The bomb's central core hovered over Metropolis. Shayera and Clark stood by, waiting for it to happen. They both knew something was going to happen.
Astra dropped down next to them, her mouth hanging open. It had been a very rare occasion when the fabled General had been driven speechless. The Thangarians created a weapon which she honestly surprised was not used to blow their home world up several times over.
"So, how do we shut that down?" Clark asked.
"I don't know," Shayera said. "They've developed that nasty weapon since my last life time, and I don't know….."
Shayera winced when a particularly bitter wind hit her left wing.
"You're hurt," Astra said.
"Yes, a little bit," Shayera said. "We aren't going to let a little broke wing stop us. Not when we're so close to bringing them down."
Astra just nodded in response. She left command of the Kandorians in Faora's able hands and they already disabled three big time ships and cut the fleet in half. Astra needed to focus on this mother bomb which hovered high above the planet. One wrong move on their parts meant they were utterly annihilated, in the worst possible way. Astra did not even want to know.
'We stand, we fight,' Astra thought. 'We are Krypton.'
Those words kept echoing through Astra's head as some kind of mantra, which kept her head high above the air. Logically speaking, they might have been doomed, but Astra saw the problems all coming in. She had to focus on doing what needed to be done.
"Are we going to be able to get underneath that thing?" Clark asked.
"We're going to have to capture one of the Thangarian commanders," Shayera said.
"Do you expect one of them to fall in our lap?"
The bloodied and beatened form of Katar dropped onto the ground. The Hawkman's heavy breathing, coupled with the blood and ripped wings made him look like an extremely formidable enemy indeed. His axe had been lifted up.
Astra nailed him directly in the chest and doubled the leader over.
"Shayera, please, look into your heart, she's going to kill me," Katar said.
"You're not the man I once loved," Shayera said. "The man I once loved, would not rip apart another planet, to further a war. That weapon is going to destroy most of humanity, and it's going to also destroy some of your people…our people."
"No, no, it won't, it will protect us," Katar said. "It was the humans who put those fingers on the trigger."
"You're hanging onto the past," Shayera said. "It's twisting your mind, like it eventually twisted his. Remember it, don't you?"
Katar remembered the person responsible for forcing them into this never ending cycle of resurrection. His heart beat even faster, blood just barely pumping into his heart.
"I need….this is a lie," Katar breathed. "You've broken the curse…but I haven't….I can't break the curse…..not without you."
"That's the thing," Shayera told him. "I've figured out how to best break it, is to move on. You haven't moved on, Katar."
A small part of Shayera hoped her former love could find piece. Holding onto the past, lifetime after lifetime, it wore her down. It was no way to live. Their lives were just passing time to the next tragic death, and Shayera made a promise to herself, the last time they were killed, during the time of the JSA, that she would not let herself defined by tragedy. For a long time, she was happy.
"No, you need….I can't move on!" Katar yelled.
Astra punched him in the ribs and doubled the Hawk Warrior over. Blood splattered from the man, with Astra pushing him down onto the ground. Agony spreading through Katar's body continued.
"I'm going to have to ask you one time, before I rip off what's left of your wings," Astra said. Astra withdrew a blade to show what she could do and pressed it against the edge of the wing. "How do you disable the bomb?"
"I'm a fighter, not a scientist…."
Astra grabbed the wing and started to painfully rip off feathers, one at a time. The raw skin pinched by Astra's forceful grip resulted in Katar screaming blood murder. The pressure being put on resulted in more agony being raised, the more Astra put the pressure on. The agony continued, and Katar's screams increased in frequency.
"Yes, I can tell you don't have the brain cells to muster," Astra said.
"She'll stop hurting you, if you tell us who can stop it," Clark said.
"You need to get on the mothership, and that's the most well-protected of the ships," Katar said. "You won't be able to get past there…."
"What's this?" Astra demanded.
Astra pulled a remote control device out of Katar's belt. The Hawkman's howl of agony increased.
"No, that's my emergency relay," Katar breathed. "It brings the Thangarians to my point, I need that, you can't take that from me."
Astra dropped Katar face first on the ground. The sound of worthless Thangarian bones crushing underneath her feet were most certainly a sight to behold. His quivering mess of a body shook on the ground. Astra stepped back, stepping away from him. The man's body smashed into the ground, blood spurting from his nose and mouth when being driven down to the ground.
"You can't fight it, Shayera," Katar breathed. "You know in your heart, you have to save me."
"Just let go," Shayera told him. "You have to let go, it's the only way for you to break the curse, to live fully. You need to move on."
"It's destiny," Katar argued.
"No, you're just a slave to the past," Clark told him. "I don't believe in destiny, I believe in the choices we make, defining who we are. And you could have made a choice to do the right thing, but instead, you went along with a plan to destroy Earth. Because you are just as blood thirty as the rest of them."
"I'm not going to be judged by a man belonging to a race who blew up their entire planet because they were too ign….."
Astra ripped Katar's wing clean off the bone. More blood splattered everywhere, and it was an obsessive amount of blood, very lethal as well. Katar screamed, like a man who had his limb amputated. Which for all intents and purposes, he did.
"Don't ever call me people ignorant again, vermin," Astra said through gritted teeth.
Clark and Shayera watched the situation with awe.
"You scare me sometimes," Clark said.
"Good," Astra said. "Hopefully his next life will have better choices."
"Astra, there's another battalion heading our way," Faora said.
"Do what you have to do to protect Earth, just like you would have protected Krypton," Astra said. "This is our home now, and we must stop these Thangarians at any cost."
"I believe we'll open up a path to the mothership," Faora said.
"Good," Astra said. "Keep me posted on your progress, and give them no quarter."
The mothership being captured would prevent the Thangarians arming the bomb. Astra looked at the relay button and debated on whether or not to use it, to draw the Thangarians into a trap. She decided against it for the very simple reason she refused to trust a Thangarian at their word.
"And once they've got it cleared, Kara and I have found a way inside," Karen said.
"Keep your cousin safe, I'll be there soon," Astra said.
The Thangarian Commander sat, the humans refused to listen to reason. Their tiny brains seemed to not fully grasp. Their world leaders could have surrendered control of the planet over to Thangar and everything would have worked just fine.
"This is a disappointment," the commander said.
"The weapon is online now," the chief scientist said. His hands shook in response. The man, for a brief second, had many doubts about launching this weapon. "This is our last chance to pull back…."
The lights flashed in the building. The Commander rose up.
"Someone has breached the defenses," the commander responded, breathing in hard.
"What should we do?" the scientist asked.
"Deploy the weapon."