Chapter 88: Last Stand (Invasion – Part 3)
Disclaimer: All things Supergirl/Superman belong to DC. No infringement is intended.
Plan Sigma, Phase 1 – T minus 22 minutes
He was Wally West, the Flash, the fastest man alive. And he was a man now, his 18th birthday having come and gone several months ago. He was ready for the big leagues, he had control of his powers, and he was more than willing to start kicking alien butt.
Standing next to Superwoman in her polar Fortress, he had never felt more like a young boy out of his depth than today.
"This isn't really my area of expertise, Superwoman," he said. "I mean, when Batman and Wonder Woman told me that I had a crucial part to play, I didn't imagine... this!"
They were standing before a control console that looked like it grown out of the crystal floor, a holographic image of the Earth floating above it. The Dominator battle ships that were hanging like swords above the largest cities of Earth were marked by angry red dots. God, there were so many of them.
"You are the only one who can do it, Flash," Superwoman told him, a hand on his shoulder. Wally had grown like weed in the last few years and he was now almost as tall as Earth's most famous superhero. Still, he felt small beside her.
Supergirl stepped up beside him, nudging him with her shoulder. "I ran the simulations half a dozen times, Wally. The Fortress AI is fast, but not fast enough for what we need it to do. We would need a Brainiac-level AI to handle so many near-simultaneous operations."
"I'm not exactly a tech wizard...," Wally began.
"You don't need to be," Superwoman assured him. "The controls are terribly simple."
"Think of it as a computer game," Kona added.
"You are the fastest man alive," Superwoman said, looking directly into his eyes. "You are the Flash! No one, not even Kona, Clark, or I, can match your speed. We need that speed today. You've already shown that you can run faster than anyone else. Now we need you to think faster than anyone else, too."
Wally took in the display once again, his eyes tracking the nearly one hundred smaller dots that were hovering above the threatened cities. He had been told what those objects were, what they would do, and what he needed to do, too. It sounded so simple.
And so many people would die horribly if he failed.
"We have enough time for one simulation run, Flash," Superwoman told him. "Then it's game time. Are you ready?"
Wally took a deep breath, a shudder running through his body. He was the Flash, the fastest man alive. He clenched his fists and heard the roaring of the lightning that ran through his veins. Tiny little bolts of electricity played over his fingers. He was the Flash! He could do this!
"Okay, plug me in then!"
Plan Sigma, Phase 1 – T minus 7 minutes
As it had become clear that the Dominator invasion would not be stopped, the Justice League had abandoned the Watch Tower, but not before locking down all systems except basic life support. The station's computers, a wild mixture of technology from four different worlds, had so far stymied the Dominion troops that had boarded the empty station shortly after the surrender of Superwoman. Not that they cared much. The station was meaningless, they occupied it merely to ensure that none of the apes from below would try and reclaim it.
The soldiers had been put on alert once it became evident that Superwoman had escaped from confinement, but only as a matter of procedure. No one expected the Kryptonian to try and retake the station, for its use in a space battle was strictly limited. As it turned out, though, the Dominators were only partially correct in that.
Without warning there was a flash of light in the command center of the Watch Tower and the room filled with smoke. The Dominators, surprised and disoriented, did not know what to do or where to shoot, when suddenly a booming voice filled the room.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and alien invaders! Welcome to the grandest show of them all!"
None of the Dominators had ever heard of the great stage magician Giovanni Zatara, nor of his daughter and assistant Zatanna. Nor were they in any way familiar with magic.
"NOITATS SIHT MORF ENGO EB, SREDAVNI!"
None of them had time to wonder about the meaning of these strange words before they vanished from the Watch Tower in shiny little twinkles of light.
Plan Sigma, Phase 1 – T minus 5 minutes
„All units, report in!" Batman spoke over the com.
"Big S and Little S ready to launch," Kara reported in from the arctic. Kona's slightly annoyed snort at being code-named "Little S" was not heard over the line except by those with enhanced hearing.
"Swans ready," Diana called in, a murmur of female voices in the background barely perceptible as she spoke.
"Stage is set in the VIP lounge," Zatara spoke, sounding as if he was announcing a grand Las Vegas show instead of preparing to fight in a war that would determine the fate of the world.
"King Laurin standing by," J'Onn reported, sounding as calm and collected as ever.
"Player One ready," the Flash announced from his seat before the Fortress' command console, his words coming roughly three times as fast as was normal. He was taking it slowly for the moment, but that would change in a few minutes. The cracking of his knuckles produced miniature sonic booms.
"Arrows are nocked," Green Arrow called in. Only a few dozen meters beneath him the waters of the Pacific Ocean churned, disturbed by the thrusters of half a dozen Javelins hovering above the waves.
"You all know what's at stake," Batman reminded them. "Do your best!"
"And may Rao be with us all," Kara added. "Time to save the world, people!"
Plan Sigma, Phase 1 – T minus 1 minute
Dominators did not have names. They were Dominators, that was enough, and all they needed in terms of self-identification was the disc on their foreheads. Still, there were some areas were that was not quite enough, such as when it came to military command.
The Dominator in charge of the fleet that had annexed the planet Earth and captured the Kryptonian female known as Kara-El had no name, either, but he did carry a title. He was referred to as Pinnacle Command and he reported solely to the High Caste, no one else. He had been given command of the mission to prevent the resurgence of the Kryptonian Empire and he would fulfil it; no other outcome was acceptable.
While the invasion of the planet Earth itself had gone smoothly, he was not satisfied. There were at least three Kryptonians left alive, and they had only captured one. Kara-El was the leader of the group, which made her capture a success, but the disappearance of the others was a setback. Also, he would have preferred to incinerate the planet Earth immediately, but the High Caste had overruled him, instead ordering him to acquire specimens for genetic testing. Pinnacle Command was not a scientist and had little patience for those that were, either. Still, he had followed his orders. That's what Dominators did.
Now, though, the Kryptonian female had been liberated by her cohorts, her current whereabouts unknown. Every instinct he had was screaming at him that this was merely the beginning of an organized counter offensive. He had called the High Caste and asked for permission to begin immediate sterilization of the planet, but once again he had been overruled. The High Caste wanted the Kryptonian, they wanted their specimens.
"My superior, there is activity in Earth's atmosphere," one of his underlings interrupted his train of thought.
"What kind of activity?" he asked, rising from his command chair.
His question was answered when the first Dominion battle wagon in orbit of Earth was violently disabled by a small, fast-moving object smashing straight through its shields and hitting its engineering section.
Pinnacle Command had his orders. He was also a superb military strategist, though, and realized that immediate action was required. Sometimes orders had to be… interpreted liberally.
"Order all ships to begin bombardment of the planet immediately!"
Plan Sigma, Phase 1 – T plus 1 minute
96 Dominator battle wagons in orbit
Supergirl shook her head, the impact against the Dominion ship's force field, followed immediately afterwards by another impact against their engineering section, had rattled her brains but good. She was unharmed, but the double impact had still hurt, despite her using her tactile telekinesis like a battering ram. Both the Dominator force fields and their hull construction were pretty tough.
"Little S, one ship down," she reported, then immediately picked up speed again towards her next target.
From the corner of her eye, she saw another ship, just visible above the horizon, tilt to the side as well, losing atmosphere as its engineering section was torn apart by a near-invisible projectile.
"Big S, one down as well," her mother's voice echoed across the com.
"Dominators are opening fire on the planet," Zatanna reported in from the Watch Tower, from where she had an excellent view of the entire engagement.
"Let's hope that Player One is on the ball then," Kona muttered, then accelerated again.
Plan Sigma, Phase 1 – T plus 2 minutes
95 Dominator battle wagons in orbit
In near-perfect synchronicity ninety-five alien warships unleashed their weapons at the helpless planet below. Hundreds of deadly bundles of focused plasma were released and headed straight towards Earth's largest population centers, each of them capable of wiping out thousands of lives at once. They needed but a few seconds to traverse the distance from high orbit towards their targets.
None of them even came close to hitting.
While the Dominators were still trying to figure out what was going on, two more ships were destroyed by Superwoman and Supergirl, while four more found themselves under attack by small squadrons of ships launched from the planet below.
Another bombardment was launched, even more intense this time, while highly advanced scanning systems were searching the atmosphere for an explanation as to why the first salvo had failed. The second rain of death was also intercepted, but this time the Dominators figured out how.
Tiny objects were hovering in the air above the targeted cities. The Dominators did not know what a tortoise was, nor would they have cared had they known. They did recognize mobile force field emitters when they saw them, though.
Ninety-seven force field emitters, built via Kryptonian crystal construction, were mounted on ninety-seven carrier drones. Superwoman had designated them Tortoise during their hasty construction and each of them was capable of projecting a force field large enough to intercept a battle wagon's full salvo. If they were in the right position, that was.
At the North Pole, in a Fortress submerged under the icy water, the fastest man alive was directing ninety-seven separate objects all at the same time, intercepting salvo after salvo fired at the human cities. His hands were moving almost as fast as his thoughts as his field of vision flickered from drone to drone, making sure that each one was in an optimum position to protect the people below. He registered the destruction of yet another Dominion battle wagon and redirected the drone from the city beneath it to the nearest active target in less time than a Dominator needed to blink.
He also registered that those force field drones currently intercepting their third salvo were down to 78% of their initial energy load. Kryptonian technology was amazing, but it was not magic.
"Hurry up, guys," he muttered, though the words came at such speed that no one but he could hear them.
Plan Sigma, Phase 1 – T plus 4 minutes
89 Dominator battle wagons in orbit
A small squadron of near-invisible Swan Planes, launched from a magically hidden island, attacked a Dominator battle wagon hanging over the city of Paris. Plasma bolts rained down from the ship unto the city below, but all of them were intercepted, even as the Dominators failed to get a targeting lock on any of the attackers. Finally, the ship broke apart under the assault, escape capsules launched, and the Swan Planes changed course to attack the next ship.
Justice League Javelins, piloted by Green Arrow, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Black Canary, and several hand-picked pilots from the Earth Defense Command, attacked battle wagons hanging over Berlin, Warsaw, New York, and Toronto. The smaller ships usually lacked the punch necessary to effectively penetrate the Dominator's force fields in a single attack, but Hawkman and Hawkwoman had outfitted the ships' standard missiles with small tips of Nth metal, allowing them to be far, far more effective. Two Javelins sustained damage during the attack and had to divert to the nearest airfield, the others headed towards the next ship.
A Dominator battle wagon bombarding the city of Moscow suddenly found itself haunted by something invisible that could simply walk through walls as if they weren't there. The invisible presence demolished the ship's engine room from the inside, leaving the mighty ship powerless. Without any Dominator ever laying eyes on him, the Martian Manhunter quickly made his way towards the next ship.
Three Dominator battle wagons found themselves under fire from the Justice League Watch Tower. Even as they prepared to return fire, though, two of the ships reported the sudden appearance of strangely dressed humans, who spoke strange words before they disappeared again. Moments later all systems died on the two affected ships, their engines simply winking out of existence. The third ship, suddenly the sole target of the Watch Tower's arms, did not have much time to ponder this mystery.
All the while two invulnerable Kryptonians kept using their own bodies as missiles, smashing through ship after ship, even as the fastest man alive was keeping the human cities safe from bombardment.
Plan Sigma, Phase 1 – T plus 7 minutes
69 Dominator battle wagons in orbit
Pinnacle Command listened to the reports coming in from the ships surrounding the planet Earth and he was not happy. Not at all. His ships were being attacked in a variety of different ways, some more effective than others, but expertly coordinated. At the same time the planetary bombardment was proving ineffective so far, some form of mobile force field emitters intercepting each and every shot. Data showed that the interceptors would not last, but neither would his ships if the attacks continued.
He briefly regretted splitting his forces as he had, but it was standard doctrine. Ships in a planetary orbit sacrificed some of their mobility due to the proximity of the planet's gravity well. Areas of space where the gravity of a system's bodies cancelled each other out, such as the one where he had gathered most of his fleet, allowed the ships to preserve energy and enabled them to quickly react to enemy action from outside the system.
It also meant that they would need some minutes to make their way back to Earth to support their comrades.
"My superior, the ships in Earth's orbit are calling for assistance," one of his people informed him. "Should I mobilize the fleet?"
He mused this over for a moment. This attack was well-coordinated. Whoever was in command over there, probably the Kryptonian female, was certainly aware that the ships in Earth orbit were but the smaller part of his fleet. They would have some strategy ready; he was sure. But what could they possibly do?
Well, there was no point in allowing oneself to be paralyzed by overthinking things. Whatever the Kryptonian had in store, he would deal with it when he got there.
"Mobilize the fleet," he ordered. "It is time to show these apes once and for all that the Dominion is not to be denied!"
Plan Sigma, Phase 1 – T plus 12 minutes
31 Dominator battle wagons in orbit
"We're losing the force field over Sidney," Batman growled over the coms. "Someone needs to take out that battleship ASAP!"
"On it," Diana reported, the Amazonian Swan Planes briefly visible as the air around them ignited due to their extreme acceleration.
"The five Dominator ships over Middle America are moving closer together to focus their fire," Green Arrow called in. "The force field over Mexico City won't be able to take that. We can't be there in time."
"Little S, with me!" Kara ordered, her voice strained from the monstrous effort she was putting her body through. She had lost count of how many Dominator battleships she had crashed through, every single impact against a force field and an armored hull hurting more than the last one.
"Coming, Big S," her daughter replied. Kara's heart clenched upon hearing the extreme tiredness in her voice. Kona, while every bit as powerful as her and Clark, potentially even more so due to her hybrid nature, was still so young. Her cells had only had roughly three years to soak up solar energy. Kara was not sure how much longer her baby girl would be able to endure this relentless punishment.
The five Dominator ships came into view over the horizon of the planet and Kara focused on the one on the left. Pushing her acceleration as high as she dared, she unleashed a blast of heat vision on the exact spot on the force field where her body hit a moment later. Kara briefly greyed out from the impact, her head ringing like crazy, and it took her nearly 300 kilometers to regain control of her flight and turn around towards her next target.
"Force field over Mexico City down to 5%," Batman reported. "The next salvo will get through!"
Kara cursed under her breath. There were four ships left. No way would she be able to take them all out in the time it took them to...
A tiny figure shot over the horizon so fast that there was a red-shift and within the span of three seconds it crashed right through one ship, then another, and finally a third one, all without even slowing down. Kara felt a tear in her soul as Kona's cry of pain echoed over the com, but she ruthlessly pushed the urge to fly to her daughter away. There was one more ship and it was about to fire.
Five seconds later Kara had no conscious memory of taking out that final ship, only the way her body trembled with exhaustion was proof that something had happened. Pushing her enhanced senses to the limit, she finally spotted the tiny form of her daughter, which was plummeting down towards the Earth in free fall.
"KONA!" she screamed, her body already moving on an intercept course.
"Big S, abort!" Batman's voice rang out in her com. "I'm redirecting the Arrows to Kona; we need you to take out the last few Dominator ships before it's too late!"
For a long, long moment Kara was frozen in indecision, every instinct within her calling out to ignore Batman and go save her daughter, but with a heavy swallow she realized he was right. Kona was tough, she would be all right. Millions of other people would not be, however, if the Dominators weren't stopped.
"On it," she forced out through clenched teeth, the pain and exhaustion of her body no match for the agony in her heart.
Plan Sigma, Phase 1 – T plus 16 minutes
4 Dominator battle wagons in orbit
"That's it, the last force field is done!" Batman told everyone over the com. "Repeat, all force fields are down!"
"I'm taking out the battleship over Istanbul," J'Onn reported in, the sound of carnage and destruction following a moment later.
"We're down to two planes," Diana said, "but we've got the one over Beijing!"
"ENOG EB SENIGNE!"
"What did he say?" Green Arrow asked, confused for a second.
"The Zataras just disabled the one over Kinshasa! We got one last ship about to open fire on Karachi!"
"Got it," Kara groaned, once again pushing her body past its limits and into yet another painful impact that nearly sent her spiraling into unconsciousness. This time she needed nearly a full minute to clear her head before the noises in her ear began to make sense again.
"Big S, are you all right?" Diana asked for the third or fourth time.
"Still here," she finally replied. "Is that all of them?"
"For the moment, yes, but..."
"Green Arrow, tell me my daughter is all right!" she interrupted Batman, abandoning the use of code names.
"Javelin 5 just fished her out of the ocean," the archer told her. "She is unconscious and looks like hell, but she is breathing."
A shudder of relief went through Kara's body.
"Okay, Batman, you were saying?"
"The Dominator's main fleet is about five minutes out," he told her, his voice even grimmer than usual. "All the force field emitters are shot, we're down to two Swan Planes and three Javelins. The Watch Tower is still operational but has sustained damage as well."
Kara nodded, even though none of her teammates could see it. It was a minor miracle that they had managed to pull this off at all, but Phase 1 of Plan Sigma had been successfully completed. None of which would mean a thing, of course, if the Dominator's main fleet got into shooting range of the planet.
"Scramble whatever forces we have that can still fly," she told the others. "I'm heading up to try and delay them."
"Sister, you sound like you can barely stay conscious," Diana spoke up, worry in her voice.
She was right, of course. Kara did not remember the last time she had felt so tired and bruised. Not even the fight against Mongul had worn her down like this. Her body was shivering from exhaustion, the bruises on her skin weren't fading as fast as they usually did, and she was uncertain whether she had another burst of heat vision left in her.
None of which mattered, of course.
"We do not give up hope," she reminded everyone. "Remember phase 2!"
"No sign of him yet," Batman said, his voice carefully neutral.
"He will be here!" Kara affirmed, then launched herself upwards.
Plan Sigma, Phase 2 – T minus 3 minutes
„I do not believe this," Pinnacle Command muttered under his breath. "Nothing but ape children and they decimate nearly half my fleet in 15 minutes."
"My superior?" one of his underlings asked.
"What is the status of the planet's defenses?" he asked.
"From what data we can gather, the force fields that protected the population centers from bombardment are all disabled. The attack craft that fought against our ships are down to three, possibly four or five."
"What of the Kryptonians?"
"Scanners show only one of them, currently heading directly towards us. The second Kryptonian that assaulted our ships has vanished from all sensors after taking out three of our ships in one pass."
Pinnacle Command shook his head. A single being with the power to take out three battle wagons in a matter of seconds, it boggled the mind. The High Caste had been right to be worried about these beings, but even then, they had badly underestimated the extent of their powers.
"What about the final Kryptonian? Sensor readings?"
During the time the female Kara-El had been their prisoner, the Dominators had learned much about her physiology. Most of her fantastic powers were the result of the ability to metabolize solar energy and use it in a variety of ways, such as a nearly impenetrable force field and the ability to defy gravity. Still, there was no defying the laws of physics. Even these powerful aliens could only use so much energy before their reserves ran dry.
"Her energy signature has dropped significantly from the last time we scanned her during her imprisonment," his underling reported. "Computers estimate that she is nearly out of energy."
For the first time since this second battle for the planet Earth had begun, Pinnacle Command smiled.
"All ships, target the Kryptonian!"
Plan Sigma, Phase 2 – T minus 1 minute
The unfiltered sunlight in space was like balsam to her battered body, but Kara was more than aware that she was running on fumes. Her cells greedily drank up the rays, but it was not nearly enough to make up the amount of energy she had expended during the last twenty minutes. Never mind that she had been nowhere near full strength after her lengthy imprisonment.
As the Dominion fleet approached, Kara briefly considered the notion that this might be it. No more tricks up her sleeve. No more technological surprises. She was the only thing standing between Earth and devastation. Her only hope was...
"Mom?" a familiar voice suddenly crackled over her com, almost imperceptible amidst all the static. "Mom, can you hear me?"
"Clark?" she whispered.
"We got this, mom!"
"Prepare to fire all weapons at the Kryptonian," Pinnacle Command ordered. "We shall finish this charade once and for all."
"My superior," one of the lower caste members suddenly shouted. "We are detecting multiple hyper flares!"
"What?" Pinnacle Command shouted.
All around the Dominion fleet space was suddenly alight with hyper flares as spaceships dropped out of hyper space in rapid succession. Alarms rang across all ships as targeting scanners painted their hulls and weapons came online all around them.
"What are these?"
A large fleet of ships that looked almost like antique sailing barges took up formation alongside the Dominion fleet, their weapon ports open.
"This is the Royal Fleet of Dhor," a voice crackled across the com in accented Interlac. "Today we stand with the people of Krypton and Earth!"
Another fleet of ships, their shapes reminiscent of some sort of aquatic creature, flanked the Dominators on the other side.
"This is the Free People's military of Alstair," this second group announced itself. "Today we stand with the people of Krypton and Earth!"
The bright yellow flash of a Zeta beam cut across empty space between Earth and the Dominators and in its wake, there was a small but heavily armed fleet of yet more ships, their sophisticated technology making it all but impossible for Dominator targeting systems to lock onto them.
"Let it be known that Rann stands with the people of Krypton and Earth!"
Dome-shaped vessels looking almost like giant heads flickered into existence as if from nowhere. "Be aware that the people of Colu shall regard any further attack on the people of Krypton and Earth as an act of war against us!"
Another large fleet of ships with a myriad of different designs appeared next, barely any of them looking alike, their only common feature an Omega symbol painted on their hulls.
"The Omega Men and the free people of Vega stand with the people of Krypton and Earth," a voice growled over the coms. "Leave while you still can!"
Finally, a flash of green heralded the arrival of not just one, but two Green Lanterns, energy crackling aggressively around them, making them seem larger than even the largest of battleships.
"This system is under the protection of the Green Lantern Corps," the non-human Green Lantern said, his voice utterly calm yet menacing at the same time.
"Yeah, so run fast before we kick your butts, disc heads!" the other Green Lantern, quickly identified as the human one, added, punching his ringed fist into his open hand in an explosion of green light.
Finally, almost unnoticed among the vast number of ships, there was a small ship resembling the human attack craft that had so harassed his fleet emerging from hyperspace. The energy nimbus around the ship had barely dissipated when the airlock opened up and a red and blue blur shot out almost too fast to be seen, only coming to a stop right next to the exhausted Kryptonian female.
The energy signature of this particular specimen almost went right off the scale.
"Dominators," the Kryptonian male's voice thundered over the com, "leave this system now and don't come back! We will not warn you again!"
Pinnacle Command took in the screens in front of him, showing the huge number of warships surrounding his depleted fleet. Computer analysis showed that only a few of the enemy vessels were actually sophisticated enough where they would be able to meet a Dominion battle wagon on equal terms... but there were so many of them.
"Your orders, my superior?" the Dominator in front of him asked, nervousness clearly evident in his voice.
Pinnacle Command clenched his fist, his mind rebelling against the only decision he could possibly make in this situation. He had not been named supreme commander of this fleet because he was stupid, though. The Dominion had not endured for thousands of years by fighting losing battles.
"Pinnacle Command to Dominion fleet," he finally said, the words tasting like ashes in his mouth. "Deactivate weapons and plot a course back to Dominion space. The destruction of planet Earth is... postponed."
A shudder of relief went through Kara's body when the Dominators began to power down their weapons. Even as her body all but shut down from exhaustion, her mind was still racing. There was so much work yet to do. The crews of the disabled Dominator ships needed to be evacuated and brought aboard their functional ships. The debris littering Earth's orbit needed to be cleaned up. Someone needed to coordinate with the Earth Defense Command to ensure that no Dominator holdouts remained on Earth. Someone had to...
"Are you all right, mom?"
She looked at her son, her wonderfully grown son, who had ridden to the rescue of their adopted world as she had known he would. Floating over to him, she captured him in a crushing embrace.
"I am so proud of you, Clark! You did it!"
"We all did it, mom," he reminded her, returning her embrace. "You especially! All those who came to our aid today? They came because of you! Because of how you helped them in the past. They were only too glad to return the favor."
She nodded, her tears quickly freezing in the vacuum of space.
"I knew you would come," she whispered, her voice slurring. "I knew it."
Clark nodded, pulling her against his chest even as her eyes refused to stay open.
"You can rest now, mom. Let the rest of us take care of the clean-up."
He had barely finished the words when Kara was already fast asleep.
United Nations, New York
Three days later
A hush fell over the General Assembly as the Secretary General stepped up to the speaker's podium.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it is not hyperbole to say that the last two weeks have been among the most tumultuous, most frightening, and at the same time most important and hopeful in human history. We humans have a long, sad past when it comes to war, but for the first time ever, war was brought to our shores not by ourselves, but rather by sentients from another world.
"Far more importantly, though, the resolution of this war, the return of freedom and peace, was also brought about the same way. A lot of humans did their part, and we are incredibly proud of them all, but without our new allies, many of whom travelled incredibly vast distances to come to our aid, we would not be standing here today as free people once again.
"Less than a year ago, Superwoman stood in this very place and gave a speech that I am sure we all remember. She said that, going forward into the future, we humans would need to speak with one voice. Recent events have more than proven her right. So, as we go forward into this new and changed world we find ourselves in, we will go forward as one people, one world.
"I am pleased to announce that, starting immediately, the United Nations of planet Earth will begin establishing formal diplomatic relations with all those who came to our aid in our darkest hour. The citizens of the Vega system, the Antares system, the planet Rann, and the planet Colu. Different we may be, but we are clearly stronger together in our diversity.
"That is but the first step, though. When the Dominators appeared in our skies, people all over the world realized something that we should have realized a long time ago. In the greater scheme of things, it doesn't matter what country we were born in. What color our skin is. What deity we pray to. Under the threat of enslavement – or possibly even extinction – we stood together not as citizens of different countries, but as children of planet Earth. And just because the threat has passed for now, we see no reason to step back into old habits.
"We will always have our differences. But as we boldly stride forward into the future, we will do so together, the people of Earth, human beings. And it fills me with great pride and excitement to announce that, starting today, the United Nations, together with the heads of state of all the nations of Earth, will begin to lay the groundwork for a united Earth government.
"Infinita diversitas, communi consilio unita."
She left the podium to thunderous applause.
Planet Elia, capitol of the Dominion
The High Caste received the transmission from Pinnacle Command and immediately retreated into a closed session to discuss the consequences.
"Pinnacle Command must be executed for his failure to subdue these primitives," one of them announced. "Failure on this scale cannot be tolerated."
"I disagree! Making hasty decisions are what has brought us into this situation in the first place. Clearly the Kryptonian Empire is already larger and more influential than we predicted. All gathered data must be analyzed in order to formulate a new plan going forward."
Another Dominator opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he noticed something peculiar. Due to the constant rain of debris, there was never much daylight to be found on Elia. Right now, though, even what little light usually fell in through the large transparent dome above them disappeared.
Looking up, the Dominators saw a huge shadow falling across their world.
"Attention, Dominators," a cold, emotionless voice suddenly broke across all their communication channels. "I am Brainiac. For crimes committed against the Kryptonian Empire, you are hereby sentenced to extinction."
Once upon time Elia had shared its orbit around its sun with another populated world. It had been a source of racial pride that the debris of that sister planet had still rained down upon the city states of the Dominion. When the first Dominion warships responded to a brief, interrupted call for aid, though, they found no trace of their sacred home world, nor of the numerous ships that should have been guarding it. They could only note in stunned silence that the debris belt around their sun had grown considerably larger in their absence.
End Chapter 88
Author's Note: One of the great weaknesses of the comic book universes that go on for decades is that nothing can ever really change. Alien invasion? Oh well, back to work the next day, nothing has changed (and people still don't believe in aliens). Entire cities levelled? We'll forget about that a few weeks later, because someone is robbing a bank in a colorful costume. Important character dies? Don't worry, he'll be back before you know it. Well, not in my series. Humanity has seen that they're not alone in the universe and they will react to it by changing and adapting, as humans do. The Latin phrase spoken at the United Nations translates as "Infinite diversity, united by common purpose" (at least according to Google translations).
Brainiac will be back, of course, as will the Dominators. Pinnacle Command is a canon character, he was the Dominator in charge during the Legion of Superheroes story "The Terra Mosaic". Next chapter is a bit of a breather after all the action before we finally begin the countdown to AoaSF's landmark 100th chapter.