Chapter 16: The Battle of Novgorod

NOVGOROD
JUNE 13, 18:27 MSK

The Justice League's Upsilon Squad: Geo-Force, Terra, Fire, and Ice arrived in Novgorod just as Darkseid's contingency against Russia made its attack. The Russian Armed Forces had rallied there in defense of their nation and currently stood at 300,000, with infantry and enhanced tank cavalry at the front. As the Apokoliptan contingency closed in on the Russian forces, Geo-Force hurled a stream of scalding lava at the oncoming Parademons and sealed them in cocoons of igneous rock. As Upsilon Squad arrived, Fire set up a wall of emerald-green fire to prevent the Apokoliptan forces from assailing the line of defense until they were ready.

The Russian soldiers saluted as the heroes approached, and their commanding officer put up his plasma impactor and approached, saying, "Dobryy vecher, Justice League. Thank you for coming. I am Nikolai Krasnov, Marshal of the Russian Federation."

Fire stepped forward and saluted. "Fire, Justice League. We'll take positions to lure Darkseid's forces closer to the buildings, and then we break his invasion down bit by bit."

General Krasnov nodded understandingly, then he ordered through his comlink, "Move back! Move back, now!"

The Russian army moved back only to within the limits of Novgorod, and in a trice, Darkseid's Parademons and war machines were after them, thinking that the heroes and soldiers on this front were submitting. It was an absurd mistake, for at that moment, Fire and the other heroes on Upsilon Squad sent a few signals to Marshal Krasnov and his unit, who were covered from the rear by the enhanced anti-aircraft unit led by Senior Colonel Dimitri Pavlovsky. The soldiers readied themselves to fight as the Parademon hordes came at them shrieking, "For Darkseid!". Their plan to throw Darkseid's attack force on Novgorod into chaos was working, and now it was time to act.

Marshal Krasnov shouted to his men "Now! Shoot these zveri down! Destroy them!"

An alien-tech mortar fired on the ground lines at Colonel Pavlovsky's command and the lead Draco-Tank was instantly incinerated. The fireball that rose from the wreckage was enough to incite the Parademons, Doom Hawks, and the Apokoliptan war machines to anger, and they charged. But as they drew closer to the limits of Novgorod, Marshal Krasnov and his men opened fire on the Apokoliptan invaders. Though several Parademons were armed, their ferocity proved to be exploitable as they rushed head-on at the defenders and were blown to flaming shards by shots from the plasma inpactors. Some more Parademons were hit by EMP rockets or plasma grenades. Several Doom Hawks were blasted down by the alien-tech anti-aircraft cannons and mortars, while enhanced armor-piercing missiles were launched in the incoming Hell Hounds and Draco-Tanks and they made short work of the mechanical horrors.

As the ground forces illuminated the streets with laser fire and the fiery tails of missiles, the Russian Aerospace Forces commanded by Lieutenant General Alexei Yusopovich roared through the sky and unleashed their full power against the invaders from Apokolips. At the front of the aerospace lines were Mikoyan MiG-31s and MiG-35s as well as Sukhoi Su-24s through 35s, followed by Ilyushin II-28s, 82s, and 80s. They filled the darkened sky with beams of colored energy that ripped through the lines of Parademons and Doom Hawks, reducing them to scrap. However, a number of planes were set upon and torn apart and some pilots couldn't escape fast enough. The good news was that help arrived almost immediately, for suddenly another troop of Green Lanterns led by Tomar-Tu and Tomar-Re appeared and began blasting the Apokoliptan creatures out of the sky with common lasers or intricate constructs. Another contingency of Star Sapphires joined the battle over Russia along with enhanced jet fighters from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Turkey, Romania, and Lithuania, and soon the battle was pushed further in favor of the defenders of Earth.

Meanwhile, the ground forces continued to hold the line, but they were soon beginning to struggle and they also took some hard hits. Marshal Krasnov gave the command for the new alien-tech Magna-Tanks to fire on the Apokoliptan attack force. Several Parademons, Draco-Tanks, and Hell Hounds were hit by beams of hydrogen ions which seared through their metallic forms and torched their internal structures. It seemed like the line would hold when one Magna-Tank was hit by a Draco-Tank and rendered inoperable. But before the invaders could get close enough to ravage the front line of soldiers, a barrier of lava formed in the street to bar their way. Standing behind it with the Russian army were Geo-Force and Terra, who were staring icily back at them.

Young Terra looked at her royal brother and said, "Sille wy ús hân helpe, Brion?"

"Absolút, lytse suster," Geo-Force replied with a warm smile. And then the two teenage heroes prepared to fight back.

Several Parademons charged at Geo-Force, but he stood his ground until they were almost upon him and then extended his hands, sending a rush of lava spouting out of numerous manholes. The Parademons were drenched in the streams of molten rock, which melted their armor and fried the wiring inside their shells. The creatures screamed in agony before the lava hardened and sealed them permanently in rock. With his first round of Parademons taken down, Geo-Force moved to take on another line of Draco-Tanks. He created a vast pool of lava that the Draco-Tanks quickly sank in up to the barrels of their dragon-faced cannons. When a squad of Doom Hawks came at him, Geo-Force simply raised his arms and speared the flying terrors on stalagmites before he sealed the legs of several Hell Hounds in rock as well. Then many more Parademons tried to attack him, only for Geo-Force to engulf them in lava or strike them with rock enclosing his fists, and he protected himself from armed Parademons by forming walls of rock that prevented the energy from their weapons from harming him.

Terra was on the south flank aiding the Strategic Missile Force commanded by Captain Mikhal Minkovsky. For the moment, the Russian soldiers were keeping Darkseid's attack force at bay with drill-bit enhanced missiles which hit many of the Draco-Tanks and Hell Hounds and left them as dead metallic hulks. Then another horde of Parademons came out of the sky like birds of prey, and they rushed at the soldiers with bloodthirsty screeches. If Terra was afraid, she did a brilliant job of controlling her emotions. The Parademons howled, "For Darkseid!" as they came on, but Terra said boldly, "Viva Markovia."

Then as the soldiers of Russia opened fire on the incoming Parademons, Terra caused mounds of rock to rise from the ground and the front line of Parademons was smashed to pieces. Then she telekinetically pulled masses of rock from the ground at the ranks of Parademons that came after the first line and flung them at the creatures. She did the same to several Draco-Tanks and even formed potholes under many Hell Hounds before burying them under the streets.

As the battle continued to rage, Geo-Force and Marshal Krasnov's units were pushing back the invaders when another squad of Parademons tried to attack them directly from the air. Geo-Force leapt out of the way to avoid being speared like a fish when several armed Parademons rushed upon him, but when the armored monsters came at him again, they suddenly exploded in bursts of green flames. The one behind it was Fire, and she was giving Geo-Force a winning smile.

"Thank you!" Geo-Force called to her. "I'll take the incoming lines!"

"Good," replied Fire. "Now I can concentrate on the rest of these monstros fedorentos."

With that, Fire charged at a few Hell Hounds and at first, she had to dodge the fireballs they spat from their fanged mouths. But when they were moving to attack at closer range, the green-clad heroine flung green-colored fireballs that exploded with terrifying force. When some Draco-Tanks lumbered up the streets toward the enhanced-tank crews led by Captain Alexander Smirnoff, Fire sent out a blast of fire that melded their spiked treads together and carbonized their circuits. Then Captain Smirnoff gave a shout and pointed to more Parademons rushing at them, but Fire stood her ground and released intense streams of fire from her hands. The Parademons tried to fight through the searing flames, but Fire only concentrated harder so her whole body was surrounded in her green fire. More and more Parademons tried to reach her, but she was focusing so much that embers flew from her hair like miniature emerald stars. In moments, a few hundred Parademons lay in charred pieces around her.

Meanwhile, another squad of Doom Hawks and Hell Hounds were bearing down on the Russian lines, but they were stopped by Ice, who released a dreadfully cold blast of ice and wind on the technological horrors. The Doom Hawks were weighed down by the weight of the ice and smashed upon the ground while the Hell Hounds had their gears coated in frost so they broke apart simply trying to move. Then Ice had her attention diverted by another swath of Parademons, and several of them were armed.

"At the risk of sounding cliché, I will say it now," Ice said as she got into another battle-ready pose. Then as the Parademons landed and charged at her, Ice said only one word.

"Freeze."

Ice's hands released blasts of intense cold that stopped the Parademons where they stood. Their forms became coated in pristine ice, their weapons shut down entirely, and they were soon frozen like frigid, grotesque sculptures. Even though the Parademons tried to advance on her, they were slowed down, stiffened, and then they either froze completely solid or shattered from the intensity of the blasts. She blasted more Parademons with icicles from her fingertips, then froze the joints of a few Draco-Tanks with a hard breath of super-cool air. Then as another horde of Parademons came at her and the Russian lines, Ice prepared to unleash her strongest attack yet. Her skin turned ice-blue in contrast to her very white hair. Small whirlwinds of snow surrounded her hands, and her blue eyes took on a frost-white glow.

"Taste the cold, helvete!" she shrieked. And with that, Ice unleashed a small blizzard that whirled the attacking Parademons away with shrieking cries.

So far, the Justice League, the Russian military, and the League's fellow heroes were holding the defense of Novgorod remarkably well, but Darkseid's contingency attack seemed unending. However, as the Justice League and their allies fought on, they received another form of help that turned the battle in their favor. Fire and Ice were the first to see five figures approaching the scene of the conflict on rocket packs. These newcomers were clearly people, but they were wearing large mechanized suits of red-colored metal with helmets whose visors masked their faces completely. They soared through the air and tackled several Doom Hawks before coming to land and saluting their fellow soldiers and the Justice League.

"It is well, Justice League," came the voice of the fourth member, whose name was Dmitri Pushkin. "The Raketnaya Krasnaya Brigada has come to help."

Then the five Rocket Reds joined the League and their fellow troops in their defense of Novgorod. The armored soldiers swatted down every Parademon and Doom Hawk that came at them with ease, and they fired shoulder-mounted rockets at the oncoming Hell Hounds and Draco-Tanks that came lumbering up the streets. It was hoped with this much aid that the Justice League and the newly enhanced militaries of Earth's countries would safeguard Earth successfully to the end of the battle.


A/N: This chapter bears a few brief callbacks to the Battle of Naboo from Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace. I just had to throw this out there for you all.

Translation:
Dobryy vecher- Good evening
Zveri- beasts
Sille wy ús hân helpe, Brion?- Shall we lend our hand, Brion?
Absolút, lytse suster- Absolutely, little sister
Monstros fedorentos- stinking monsters
Helvete- hellions
Raketnaya Krasnaya Brigada- Rocket Red Brigade

Hope you all liked this chapter and don't mind that more languages than Russian are used here. Stay tuned for Chapter 17, and once it's done, this story progresses to the best parts yet! See you soon.