Thresholding by CidGregor

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.

This fic is dedicated to Post, for all that he has contributed to its existence. (TIT HAD A CATGIRL ZOMG!)
Chapter 27

Deep in the heart of the Amazon…

A jaguar knelt low to the ground, silent as it crept forward inch by inch. It paid no attention to the squawking of the toucans far above its head. Its eyes were fixed upon greater prey.

Fifty feet beyond was a stream, at which a deer stood, its head bent down to lap up the cool liquid. Oblivious to the white noise of the rainforest around it. Oblivious to its impending death.

Without a warning the jaguar surged forward. The deer had perhaps a half-second to react and ran a handful of steps before the big cat was upon it, and then its crushing jaws slammed down upon the animal's head, piercing its skull and killing it instantly. The unfortunate creature toppled unglamorously to the ground, and the hungry jaguar promptly began tearing at the tender flesh and meat.

A mere three bites into its meal, however, it was distracted by the approach of a second jaguar, of about the same size. The first snarled, fresh blood dripping from its jaws as it stood between the second jaguar and its freshly-killed meal to defend its claim. The two predators stared each other down, each emitting impressive and frightening growls and roars, neither backing down from the other's intimidation strategy. Both knew then that it would be a fight for the fresh meat.

But neither jaguar got the chance to make a move. For both were abruptly distracted by a mighty glow high above them, far greater than that of the sun they knew, blinding even through the thick canopy of the towering trees. But through a gap in the trees, both creatures saw the sky, no longer a clear blue or a fluffy white or a dull grey.

The sky was in flames.

A moment later, so were the trees.

And in one breath, the two jaguars and millions of creatures cried out in terror…before they were suddenly silenced.

Somewhere in Central Italy…

Villages burned.

Livestock burned.

People burned.

Rolling fire swept across the landscape in an inescapable, white-hot ball of death, flash-frying everything it touched, living or dead or inanimate. Screams were cut off. Animalistic cries died away. Voices were silenced.

In a matter of minutes, everything within a twenty-mile-wide circle had ceased to exist, erased from the face of the planet by the finally-faded flames.

Everything except one.

At the very center of the circle of death…deep down at the very bottom of a fresh, enormous crater of blackened earth…rested the source of the destruction: a massive hunk of moon rock, its red-hot surface from burning through the atmosphere rapidly cooling in the chilly night air.

And no earthly creature was left alive to notice the top of the impromptu meteor explode outward……

Not too far out to sea from eastern Australia…

The southern stretch of the Great Barrier Reef lay in ruins.

The lunar meteor had plunged into the sea, evaporating millions of gallons of water instantaneously, and now the rock rested underwater upon the ruined coral reefs, a chunk off the top of it abruptly exploding outward in dozens of pieces. Some crushed what was left of the reef into dust. Other pieces slammed into those few nautical creatures that had managed to survive and quieted them forever.

And from within the hole created by the explosion rose something bulbous and grotesque and decidedly not Terran or Lunar in origin…a fat brown tower, hastily constructed but no less intimidating for it. And as it rose from within the meteor, with it came hundreds watercrafts, guided by powerful jets and accompanied by thousands more lance-wielding aliens wearing their jet-suits, equally adept at shielding them from the water pressure as the vacuum of space……

But in the scorching deserts of the middle east…

There was no need for jet-suits and watercraft.

Tens of thousands of snarling, lizard-like aliens poured from the hole in the meteor, armored feet shielding them from the heat of the surface of the rock and the sand. They formed a perimeter around the rising tower, hauling building materials in groups and scrambling to construct defensive laser turrets around the lip of the crater.

There was little alive in the region save for the aliens, both before and after the impact, but then, it wasn't anything living that picked up on the sight that followed……

High above the earth…

The damaged Watchtower focused its many electronic eyes upon the four scorched corners of the earth. It saw, through its powerful satellite vision, the Gordanians pouring from the four craters like a plague and constructing their defenses. And at the center of each, the towers stopped, fully erect. The pointed tips opened up and lay horizontal like a mechanical starburst, and from within each structure, a great green orb was launched into the air, hovering of its own accord a dozen or so feet above the open tip of its tower. The four orbs wobbled up and down before coming to a rest, perfectly still…

And then they began to glow.

The eyes of the Watchtower relayed its images to the congregation at Area 51, and their reactions were as varied as they themselves.

Some, like General Lambert and Shayera and Cyborg, put on a brave front, their seething fury barely contained under a mask of battle-hardened experience.

Others, like Supergirl and Terra, held their hands over their mouths and were utterly incapable of holding back their tears as they bore witness to the horrific loss of life.

Still others stared at the screens with an intense, critical eye, analyzing and strategizing like Batman, or plotting an overwhelming vengeance for the invasion of their territory like Aquaman.

A handful, among them The Question and Raven, stood blank, showing no outward emotion whatsoever.

But most, like Commander Amato and The Flash and Beast Boy, simply stared in a shocked silence, disbelief etched in their faces as they tried to process how this could possibly have happened.

"General…are you getting this…?" came Superman's voice through the intercom. A separate screen appeared, showing the face of the Man of Steel on the bridge of the Watchtower. Standing with him were the Green Lantern and J'honn Jones, all three grim-faced as other league members, ordered about by Captain Atom in the background, scrambled to repair the damage to their satellite.

"We're getting it, alright…" Lambert growled. "Damn….we were expecting a ground invasion…but not like this. Bastard aliens used our own moon against us…"

"So many people…" Supergirl whispered, her eyes focused in particular on the Italy site, obviously the one with the most casualties.

"And who knows what other damage to the wildlife at the other sites…" Black Canary murmured.

"The environmental impact over the next few years will be massive," Huntress added.

"We don't have time to worry about how to 'save the rainforests' right now," came Batman's usual gruff and blunt logic. "We're in a war for our planet's survival. A few bruises are unavoidable."

"Batman's right," Lambert said, regaining his stride. "We can worry about repairing the damage those moon rocks created after we've wiped that Gordanian scum off our boot heels."

"I've just spoken with the Tamaranians again," Green Lantern announced from the view-screen. "Galfore says that except for the forces that made it to Earth, all the remaining Gordanians have landed on our moon. From the looks of the fortifications they have there already, it looks like they may have been there since the battle started, to be able to prep the kind of explosives needed to hollow out chunks of moon rock to house their troops and hurl them at the planet. Galfore's fleet can maintain a perimeter around the moon, but they've suffered far too much damage between the Gordanians' initial attack and the damage dealt by the moon rocks to make any sort of move against them until their own ships are repaired. And by that time the Gordanians will have dug in their defenses on the surface like a fortress. It'll take all they have to keep the Gordanians in place."

"So in short, we're on our own on the ground assault."

"Exactly."

Lambert growled a little. "Fine by me. Now we'll have them all to ourselves…"

"Superman, J'honn and I will be returning to the surface as soon as possible. The Justice League will do everything in its power to help your forces fight back."

"The Titans are with you too," Cyborg insisted.

"Much appreciated," Lambert said. Quick as a flash he brought up a world map, the four impact sites flashing red, as the locations of their own armies flashing green. "Alright, here's what's gonna happen. We have four landing sites to deal with, so--"

"Three," a harsh, commanding voice interrupted him.

Lambert turned to find the voice belonged to Aquaman. "Ehh? What do you mean, three?"

"You need only concern yourselves with your surface world," Aquaman bit out, his eyes locked on the scene of destruction at the Great Barrier Reef. "The armies of Atlantis will deal with the fools that dare to defile the natural beauty of my ocean. By Posiedon they will suffer for their transgressions."

"Best to listen to him," Batman added. "If the satellite images are any indication, the Gordanians at the reef are significantly fewer in number. The Atlantean army should be more than enough to deal with them, and we'll be able to focus the full force of our troops elsewhere."

Lambert argued the point briefly, but eventually conceded. "Alright then. Aquaman and his army will handle the Barrier Reef impact site," he said, circling the area on the holo-display with a stylus. "That leaves us three invasion sites we need to contain."

He jabbed his stylus at the southwestern hemisphere. "Site One is Brazil. Right at the heart of the Amazon. Fortunately there should be no reason to worry about civilian casualties out there, but that also makes it very hard for our tanks to get to the impact zone. An aerial assault is our best bet here, and a full compliment of infantry to mop up in their wake."

He shifted his pointer. "Site Two is here, in central Italy. The impact zone is a few miles north of Rome and Vatican City, so the major population centers are intact, but we have to assume that the Gordanians have spread from their landing zone and taken the cities, meaning the risk of civilian casualties is extremely high. This is where are tanks are going to be deployed. Our armored forces should be able to punch through any barricade they can set up in so short a time."

He pointed once more. "Site Three is here, in northeast Iran and deep in the desert.

Nothing but wide open dunes for miles. It'll be open to any land or aerial attack without fear of civilian casualties, but they'll see it coming from a mile away. We'll need to use brute force to take down the tower there. Unfortunately, considering the amount of troops we'll need to handle the other two sites, it may require more brute force than we have left, despite our numbers advantage."

"The Titans and the Justice League can fill in the gaps," Cyborg offered, but to his surprise, Lambert shook his head.

"We can't do that. We'll need most of you to guide our troops in Italy. You all have extensive training in fighting criminals in populated areas. We'll need that training in Italy more than ever before."

"He's right, Cyborg…" Raven admitted. "In particular they'll need all of our teleporters and healers to get civilians away from the fight and patch up those that get wounded along the way.

Cyborg grimaced, but nodded. "Alright. We'll make sure most of the metahuman presence goes to Italy, but we should still send at least a couple of us to each site."

Lambert nodded. "Fair enough. But like your girlfriend there said, all your healers and teleporters are going to Site Two.

"Guess I'm going to Italy…" Raven murmured, decidedly ignoring the 'girlfriend' comment.

"And so is J'honn," Batman spoke for the League. "We'll send Superman, Supergirl and Flash as well. Their speed is almost as good for getting civilians to safety as a teleporter."

"I'll go as well," Green Lantern spoke up, holding up hid ring hand, which glowed with a solid orb of green. "Protecting civilians until they can be evacuated will be just as important."

Cyborg glanced sideways at Raven as the Justice League went on dividing up responsibilities. "You sure you're gonna be okay there without the rest of us?"

Raven stared back, glad he'd realized the necessity of sending only her. "I won't be alone. Half the Justice League is going to be there as well. Stop worrying." She allowed a hint of a smile to cross her face.

Cyborg sighed a little. "Right…"

"Hey hey, hold on!" Beast Boy jumped in. "What do you mean, 'without the rest of us?' Aren't we going with her?"

Cyborg shook his head, and jerked a thumb discreetly toward Aquaman. "You're going with him."

"I'm what?.!"

"I said, you're going with him."

Beast Boy paled. "Why?.!" he whispered sharply.

"You're the only one of us capable of fighting underwater with your marine morphs, and he may need more help than his pride is letting him admit. Besides, you and Aqualad work well together, and it's a no-brainer that he'll be there with his old man. And any friend of Aqualad's should be cool by his pop, surface-dweller or not."

"Dude, you're splitting us up?.!" Beast Boy demanded, one hand subconsciously clutching Terra's.

"We have to play to our strengths, BB," Cyborg murmured. "Keeping us together doesn't do that, especially with Rob and Star stuck in space. They need Raven in Italy. You're more effective in the ocean…"

"And I'm right at home in the desert…" Terra murmured, her voice quaking as she guessed at Cyborg's next words. "Which means you're sending me to the middle east."

Cyborg nodded. "And I'll do what I can in the Amazon."

Beast Boy shook his head. "No way! You're not sending Terra into a war by herself!"

"Look, BB, we don't have time to argue. You're needed in one place, Terra's needed in another. Your powers are perfect for the ocean, hers are perfect for the desert. That's the way it has to be. And no offense, but the last thing we need in the middle of a war is you two being distracted by each other."

"It's all a moot point if we can't build up enough of an army to push through the Gordanians defenses there in the first place," Green Arrow interrupted them. He turned to Lambert. "Isn't there any way to divide our forces evenly among the three sites?"

"We could, if we wanted to commit mass suicide," Lambert countered. "Splitting our forces evenly leaves none of the sites with enough manpower to finish the job. There's no denying these Gordanians are bigger, badder, and far more advanced than us. If we expect to push these freaks back, we have to use our strength of numbers to make up for it. And unfortunately even that advantage isn't going to carry us through all three of the other landing sites. Even with the bare minimum going to Sites One and Two, it only leaves about fifty thousand troops to send to Site Three, and if these satellite images are accurate, the Gordanians have nearly that many troops there, in addition to the defenses they're constructing. We need at least double that number to stand a chance."

"So you need another fifty thousand men and women to basically throw their lives away?" Supergirl jumped in angrily, standing up. "Send a bunch of innocent young people off to die for nothing?"

"They won't be throwing their lives away, and they won't be dying for nothing. Not if we win."

"And what if we don't?" she shot back. "What if they can't stop this invasion, and they all get slaughtered?"

Lambert gave her a grim smirk. "Then the rest of us won't be far behind, will we…?"

Supergirl twitched, bit her words back, and sat down.

"Look, it doesn't matter. We don't have time to start up a draft and train a bunch of fresh-faced newbies. We need these troops now," Cyborg said.

"And where do you expect to get them from?" Supergirl demanded.

"I believe I may have an answer to that."

A new voice, dark and low and almost mechanical. Heads darted every which way, searching for the source, but it seemed to come from everywhere.

"Someone's tapped into the intercom," Lambert realized. He raised his voice. "Who the hell are you?"

"Someone who possesses the means to give you all the troops you will ever need."

Everyone in the room shifted their eyes in cautious interest…everyone except the foursome of Titans. Their eyes were enormously, impossibly wide.

"It can't be…" Cyborg whispered.

"Show yourself!" Lambert demanded.

"As you wish."

An instant later the conference room doors exploded inward, barely missing the General in the center of the room. In the wake of that explosion, the two door guards flew forward as well, unhurt but disarmed.

And then, from the blackened entryway, they marched forth.

There were two dozen of them present. Six feet tall, each of them. Silver-armored legs. Silver arms with hands that formed sharp, wicked claws. Black body armor. Soulless white eyes that gazed out from behind a mask of black and orange.

Most every eye in the room stared in shock at this strange invasion. They had never seen such things before.

But the Titans had.

And then, as the two dozen soldiers formed two lines, and a shadowed figure began walking casually forward between them, the Titans knew who it would be…who it had to be.

He stepped fully into the room. Steel boots. Black armor. Silver gloves clasped casually behind his back. A sinister mask of black and orange. And one careful, haunting eye that swept the room…and focused on a certain young girl.

And even beside her dearest friends…Terra had never felt more vulnerable, every inch of her pale and shivering.

"Hello, my dear Titans," Slade said. "It's so nice to see you again…"
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END ACT TWO