Chapter 15: The Battle of Beijing

BEIJING
JUNE 13, 23:15 CST

Darkseid's other attack force in the Far East made a siege in the heart of China. But here, Darkseid had not reckoned with the numbers of China's advance units or the members of the Justice League who would defend Beijing with them. Armed with a great deal of the Cadmus-advanced and alien technology, over 550,000 soldiers were now stationed in Beijing under the command of General Tan Shang, the topmost military commander in China. The moment the Apokoliptans were sighted moving toward the capital, General Tan signaled the other officers to have their men take positions, and the front lines primed their atom blasters, plasma impactors, and orb launchers.

On the rooftops of Beijing's smaller structures, the Justice League's Theta Squad was overlooking the encroaching invaders. Green Arrow was on one rooftop with Red Arrow and Artemis while Black Canary stood on another rooftop across from them. Hawkman and Hawkgirl were in the air, but they had their maces still hanging from the straps on their belts. Surprisingly, the two Thanagarians were seeing the scene unfold while gripping each other's hands. They shared a quick nod and then readied themselves for the battle.

As another massive swarm of Parademons and Doom Hawks made for the limits of Beijing with a force of Hell Hounds and Draco-Tanks, General Tan ordered his armed men and the alien-tech mortar operators, "Kāihuŏ!"

All at once, the front lines of soldiers fired on the Apokoliptan forces with grim resolve. Even as the Parademons bore down on them, howling "For Darkseid!", they barely had time to register evasive maneuvers before beams of superheated plasma or atomic rays blasted them into fragments of organic material and heated metal. The Chinese gunners fired their alien-tech mortars, which shot tire-sized balls of energy at the incoming attackers and obliterated them with equal efficiency. The Zhōngguó Kōngjūn had sent several thousands of enhanced jets to aid in the fight as well: Chengdu J-7s and J-10s and Chengdu J-20s, Xian JH-7s, Sukhoi Su-30s and 35s, and Shenyang J-11. Led by Senior Colonel Wu Jian, they commenced an aerial attack that broke the ranks of Darkseid's forces. However, the soldiers were aware that they were still vastly outnumbered and had to conserve their power if they were to keep up the struggle. That's when the Justice League moved in to lend their hand.

Green Arrow and his protégés Red Arrow and Artemis were the first to launch the Justice League's counterattack in Beijing as they took their positions on the rooftops above a few divisions of troops commanded by Captain Ban Shi-Feng and Major Lin Sun. The soldiers were firing their enhanced weapons on Darkseid's Parademons and Doom Hawks, scoring several hits on the front lines. Then as the Parademons rushed toward the defenders, Green Arrow said to his protégés, "Ready your bows."

Red Arrow and Artemis readied their bows to fire as the incoming Parademons roared, "For Darkseid!" At that, Red Arrow groaned with exasperation and said, "Can't these ugly creeps say anything else?!"

"I think we've already established that they can't," Artemis answered dryly.

"Very funny, Arty."

"Focus, you two!" called Green Arrow just as the horde of Parademons began their attack. As they came, the three archer heroes fired some firework arrows as warning shots and diverted some of the monsters away from the soldiers below. As more than half of the Parademon horde turned their attention to the three superheroes, Green Arrow was the first to make his move. He fired several rounds of explosive arrows and blew the armor off several of them. When a few of them spewed fire at him, Green Arrow leapt out of the way and responded with arrows that glued their mouths shut with high-density polyurethane foam. When the Parademons tried to blow the foam out with their fire breath, the flames only heated their armor until they blew themselves apart. A few Doom Hawks were coming at Green Arrow when he fired some liquid-nitrogen arrows, freezing them so cold that their own airspeed tore them apart. He hit a few more Parademons with net arrows, EMP arrows, and high-impact arrows. He also used the martial arts skills he had trained in against Darkseid's monster soldiers and swiftly outmatched them.

Artemis was firing flammable-gas arrows at Parademons and Doom Hawks and scoring major hits each time, for the monsters' flaming breath only ignited the gas and engulfed them in their own terrible fire. When another squad of Doom Hawks tried to attack her from behind, Artemis somersaulted onto one and shot down the others with electric arrows before doing the same to the one under her. She somersaulted back onto the building where her mentor was and continued firing arrows at incoming Parademons, and she managed to use a flammable-gas arrow on a Draco-Tank with spectacular results.

As for Red Arrow, he kept beside his mentor while Artemis had their backs. He fired steel-cable arrows at several Parademons and also a few Hell Hounds, which bound them so efficiently that they were on the ground in an instant. Next, he fired a few magnet-releasing arrows that caused a number of Parademons to crash into each other. Red Arrow also fired heat-seeking arrows on a few more Hell Hounds and blew them into scrap metal, then plunger arrows on the muzzles of several Draco-Tanks, and then he resumed firing impact and explosive arrows at more incoming Parademons.

...

General Tan Shang and his men were fending off the Apokoliptan invaders alongside the tank platoon led by Lieutenant Wong Zhou. Their tanks fired plasma bolts and sonic waves at Darkseid's forces accompanied by enhanced armor-piercing missiles and electro-cable rockets. Their efforts were rewarded with many of the Apokoliptan invaders blown to scraps of metal and circuits, but the Parademons alone far outnumbered them by more than five to one. As the Chinese soldiers continued to fire plasma energy, energy orbs, and enhanced missiles on them, Black Canary came to their aid. She ran across the roofs of several buildings and then yelled, "Come and get me, pinheads!"

Many Parademons roared their battle cry and flew at Black Canary, intending to strike her dead. But when the lead Parademon reached her, she twirled on the soles of her feet and kicked out, not holding back even slightly. Her kick sent the lead Parademon into the wall of the law firm on her left and when it rose up, its jaw was misaligned. The Parademon horde came at Black Canary, who dodged their attacks and fought back with all the martial skills Wildcat had taught her. She judo-punched and karate kicked at every weak spot she could notice, and the Parademons were slowly pushed back as she went. At first, Black Canary couldn't understand why Darkseid's Parademons were such poor fighters. Then she realized that they had no real skill, no strategy. All they had was animalistic impulse, and that was all the advantage she needed when it came to fighting.

After taking down several Parademons and downing several Doom Hawks, Black Canary saw even more Parademons coming at her, and this time, she prepared to use the only superpower she had. Canary planted her feet firmly, tensed her muscles, and waited as the creatures made their move. Then she unleashed her strongest Canary Cry ever. It was so powerful that it was like a tornado's scream magnified a thousand times: the sound of pure strength. In seconds, the attacking Parademons were reduced to fragments of armor and organic tissue, and then Black Canary fought through more Parademons and Dooms, even successfully defeating a whole of Draco-Tanks with her Canary Cry.

As the ground forces held back Darkseid's invaders and the Chinese air force battled the invaders in the air, both defenders and attackers got a surprise when another large force of Green Lanterns and Star Sapphires arrived to render assistance. The Green Lantern squad sent to help defend Beijing was led by Katma Tui, who was followed by Gallius and Salaak. In an instant, the overcast sky was turned into a field of luminous green energy as the Green Lanterns blew Parademons and Doom Hawks from the sky as well as opened fire on Hell Hounds and Draco-Tanks below.

...

Meanwhile, Hawkman and Hawkgirl were moving to fight as Major Qin Gao and his men were firing on another wave of oncoming Parademons. Hawkman moved in first with his Nth Metal mace poised to strike and his shield at the ready. When the Parademons were barely a few yards away, Hawkman flew even faster and yelled, "HAWK-AAAAAHH!"

He swung his mace with all his might, and the blow he dealt to the first Parademon set off a wave of energy that blasted a few hundred of them away. More Parademons came at him and many of them were armed, but their Apokoliptan weapons had no effect on Hawkman's shield. He swatted the next swath of Parademons out of his path like mosquitoes and then attacked several Hell Hounds and Draco-Tanks from the air, smashing them to pieces. As he plowed his way through the enemy ranks, a large horde of Doom Hawks tried to attack from behind when: "HAWK-AAAAAHH!"

Hawkgirl came up behind the Doom Hawks about to attack her spouse and she swung her Nth Metal mace with enough force to split a boulder in two. The Doom Hawks simply flew apart in a shower of supercharged energy, and then Hawkgirl joined Hawkman in striking Parademons and Doom Hawks out of the sky and dealing devastating attacks on the Apokoliptan war machines while just below, China's military was opening all fire on the ground forces when more enhanced fighter jets from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Rhelasia* arrived to provide assistance in the defense of Beijing. Darkseid's relentless global attack was not yet tiring, but the Justice League and Earth's nations weren't giving up.


A/N: Though it is not explicitly stated, the scene of the Justice League fighting Darkseid's invasion force in China is inspired by the Battle of Geonosis in Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones. Also, Rhelasia is mentioned in the tenth Young Justice episode "Targets" and therefore is depicted as aiding other nations from across Asia in the defense of Beijing.

Translations:

"Kāihuŏ!"- "Fire!"
Zhōngguó Kōngjūn- Chinese Air Force

Hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter, and all the best to you. Feel free to read my other fanfictions and keep an eye out for Chapter 16. (Heads up: Chapters 16 and 17 will round out the Justice League fighting Darkseid's armies across the world before the one-on-one battles come in.)