Disclaimer: Teen Titans is the property of DC Comics and Warner Bros. "The Hollow Men" was written by T.S. Elliot, and the use of passages to open each chapter is done with the utmost respect for one of the English languages best craftsmen. Thank you, and enjoy.
Titans Broken
Chapter 6: Opening Volley
Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom…
- T.S. Elliot's "The Hollow Men"
"It's time…" Batman said gruffly.
"Everything is ready." Barbara said from her monitoring station. J'onn nodded from where he stood between the two beds with the mind machine interface atop his head.
Raven sighed from where she sat opposite J'onn. Her empathic senses were locked on the two lying atop the bed. She could sense the dreams each was struggling with, nightmares that had revealed things about the two of them.
Batman tapped the control screen for the main terminal. "Scenario running."
On the simulation monitor a thousand red symbols appeared from behind the moon and began stream toward earth. A red flash from the icon of the Watchtower showed the ship's detection. Now it was on…
Nightwing felt sick to his stomach as he stared down at the remnants of his meal. Starfire sat across from him, tears filling her eyes with Raven's arm around her. Raven was giving him that patented glare of hers that made him feel like the very definition of a dick. On either side of him, his former teammates had him boxed in, forcing him to face Star.
"I..." Dick's voice caught in his throat and he choked as Star looked up at him, her eyes still glowing with that disconcerting light. "I... I don't know what we can do."
"Man, you risk life and limb for people you don't even know but can't have it in you to be around Star?" Cyborg all but growled those words as he turned his cybernetic eye to glare at him. "Do nameless people mean more to you than the girl that was your best friend?"
Dick swore under his breath and felt his heart beginning to shatter once more as she looked at the desperate expression on Starfire's face. "I... I'll need to talk to Babs about it."
"Are you two even dating still? I haven't seen any gossip about Dick and Barbara, and I know the tabloids would be all over that." Garfield asked.
"Well um..." Dick felt his shoulders slump. "We don't really have time to do that... She's Batgirl and Oracle, and I'm Nightwing... we don't have time to be going out to the movies or anything like that."
"Dude, you're lying through your teeth! You know that don't you?" Garfield said as he gave him an exasperated expression. "She didn't tell you yes when you proposed, you haven't gone out for drinks or anything, and you've broken Star... Your love life is worse than my jokes are. Me and Raven are a great couple by comparison to you, and we barely see each other once a week."
Raven blushed as Nightwing furrowed his brow. "Great, I'm getting romantic advice from the green bean."
"If you asked me I'd say she doesn't want to hurt you Dick by saying no... That's the only reason you're not a free man." Cyborg said. "I never did understand you and her, always seemed a bit... icky to me."
"Whatever." Nightwing grumbled and slumped again as Starfire buried her face in her arms and sobbed again. "I... God damn it, why is it that the most emotion she's shown since I saw her is this? Whatever happened to my bubbly and fun Star?"
"You broke her, dumbass." Cyborg snapped. Suddenly his wrist terminal flared to life. "What is it?"
"We've got multiple unidentified ships on approach from the moon. Superman wants the League ready in case it turns out their hostile." The voice from the link said. "They're too far away yet for a positive ID but more and more of them are appearing by the moment."
"Understood." Cyborg said and clambered out of his seat. "How many?"
"Several hundred, we keep picking up more of them."
Nightwing felt an icy fist settle in his gut. "Can you get us a visual? Starfire's an alien, maybe she could identify them?"
"Good idea." Cyborg said and a moment later a holographic image appeared over his forearm. Nightwing's brow furrowed as he saw the first ship, a long angular vessel of red and gold. The styling seemed familiar, disturbingly so. Cyborg seemed to pale slightly at the image.
Starfire sat upright and stared at the image of a moment before her hands gripped the table and the sound of groaning metal from her clenched fists filled the room. "Gordanian."
"About a third of the ships seem to be of that type the others mostly look like this..." The voice said before another image appeared.
It was shaped roughly like sphere with a spar for engines and a dull grey. Patches of the hull looked rust-colored and worn. Even in the blurry image, Nightwing could make out a dozen odd turrets mounted on the ship's surface.
A gasp came from the Tamaranian. "No... No, no, no!"
"What is it Star? Who are they?" Nightwing asked.
"Citadelian." She said with a gasp of breath. "They are Citadelians."
"Did you get that?" Cyborg asked the voice as he bolted from the table and headed for the doors. "I'll be in the command center in two minutes. I suggest you tell Supes to issue a war warning."
"Shit..." Dick murmured as Starfire stood and looked toward the door. "Where are you going?"
"I must leave, they wish for me to be a prize once again!" She yelled back and Dick snatched her arm and yanked her down onto the bench.
"Sit, they wouldn't waste hundreds of ships to pick you up." Dick snapped. "No matter how valuable a prize you are."
"It's an invasion." Beast Boy said quietly before the overhead lights flickered and emergency lighting engaged.
Flash appeared at Nightwing's shoulder. "What's going on?"
"The Citadel is attacking Earth." Dick said. "Do you know what the Justice League's plan for dealing with this is?"
"No... Barty doesn't tell me anything." Wally said.
"Shit... Raven, Beast Boy?" Dick asked.
"No, I'm a civilian now." Beast Boy said.
Rachel scowled. "You think they'd trust a half demon with anything?"
Dick winced. "I don't know either. I'd guess they'll send a message to the Oa begging for help while the rest of the League tries to hold em off." He glanced out the window just in time to see a pair of green streaks heading off into the distance. "There go the Lanterns to get help."
"Does the Watchtower have weapons to keep them at bay?" Beast Boy asked.
"No idea." Dick said quietly.
The viewscreen lit up and suddenly an image of superman appeared on the display. "Combat Stations, a combined Gordanian, Citadelian, and Okaaran fleet of over a thousand vessels has just emerged from behind the moon. We do not know why we've been chosen as a target by these Vega based races but we have."
"What do we do?" Raven asked as Starfire began to shake in her seat. "Star?"
"No... I do not wish to witness this... No... Not this world, this must be a dream, a nightmare..." She muttered under her breath. "X'hal save us."
Dick slipped out of his seat and walked around the table. He pulled the distraught woman into a loose hug and felt her immediately cling to him. "Star... You're the expert on the Citadel and Gordanians... do you want to go to the command deck?"
Her hug grew tighter and he felt her nodded her head. "Yes... please, I will help. I do not wish to leave friends to those monsters..."
He hadn't thought about her need to be near him until that moment and swore in his mind. How was it so easy to fall back upon that simple and basic need to comfort her? He sighed and buried his head in her hair before taking a deep breath. That was when it hit him, he'd forgotten just how alien she smelled... not bad, just, not human. He wasn't sure if it was her natural scent or what she used to wash with but she always seemed to smell like a strange combination of oranges, cinnamon, and herbal tea. Her tears smelled salty like a human's and she was always warm to the touch and surprisingly soft he couldn't...
What are you doing? His mind yelled and he jerked back from her hug. You're with Babs, are you not?
He sighed. Maybe this was how he'd ended up cheating last time... it just felt so natural, comfortable, and even familiar to him to hold her. Glancing up he saw that Starfire looked confused, almost crestfallen for a moment before he grabbed her hand. "Let's get to the command center."
"Where is it anyway?" Beast Boy asked as he followed them.
"Simple, it's always on the top deck." Dick said.
Beast Boy shared a glance with Raven as he saw Dick leading Starfire by the hand down the hall then set off after them.
Starfire's heart was aflutter as she felt Dick pull her into a turbo-lift followed by Beast Boy and Raven. Her heart fell a bit when he let go and began to pump the button for the command deck. Beside the two of them Raven and Garfield looked a tad bit amused, like Roy did when Jason tried to pickup chicks.
Her fear was fading fast as she latched onto the bit of hope and affection that Dick's actions had given her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes willing herself to stay under control. Sure her bond-mate had dragged her by the hand to the elevator, which was nothing to get excited over was it? No, he probably hadn't thought about it when he did it...
She wrapped her arms around her and swallowed as hundreds of little winged insects began to flutter in her stomachs. That hug, he'd given her a hug and... Her heart fluttered for a moment. It had felt good, unbelievably good and comforting and natural... and loving. Her green-eyed gaze flicked back to Dick and she shifted uncomfortably as the turbo-lift roared up toward the top most level. Did he still like her? Did he love her somehow still, maybe as a sibling or family member?
Humans can be so confusing. She thought to herself. Her people were so expressive about their emotions. Except for the Z'hom... were they like Z'hom then? Depressed and brooding without their loves? Perhaps that was why friend Raven seemed to be more... alive in the presence of the one called Beast Boy.
The turbo-lift jerked to a halt and the doors slid open revealing the command center and meeting room of the Justice League. Several chairs at the table were empty and Batman was only present via a video uplink with the Bat Cave.
Superman and Wonder Woman were standing trying to take charge of the meeting as they stepped inside. Wonder Woman glared at her and Starfire felt her blood chill, what had she done to the woman?
"What are they doing there? Nightwing and Starfire are only on the Watchtower for psychological evaluation," Batman said through the viewscreen.
Cyborg looked up from where he was working and glared at Batman. "Star's the one that identified those ships."
"You mean this alert was called on the word of one that her friend called: 'semi-sociopathic'. Why are we're taking it seriously?" Wonder Woman said with a snarl.
Superman glared at Wonder Woman. "Green Lantern confirmed it."
Starfire glanced to her right and bowed her head slightly. "Friend Raven, did you call me that?" Starfire asked quietly.
Raven nodded once. "You've already improved a lot since then."
"Oh." Starfire said before straightening and stepping further into the room. "I am the foremost expert you have on the Citadel and Gordanians, am I not? The Titans alone have fought the Gordanians before, and none of you have faced the Citadel."
"So, escaping them as a child makes you an expert then?" Wonder Woman said flatly. "Fine, why are they here?"
"Is it not obvious?" Starfire asked the assembled group. "Earth is a low technology world with a population of over six billion humans, perhaps another billion if one includes the atlanteans. The Gordanians are renowned for two things... an alliance to the Citadel and their sale of slaves. They intend to strip the world of its population and sell them into slavery."
"And the Citadel?" Superman asked.
"Since the threat of the Blight has ended for my homeworld, Tamaran may now stand tall to defend its neighbors in the system. The Citadel runs off slavery... not only for labor and status but also as a food source." Starfire said.
"Food source?" Flash gaped at her. "You mean they eat their slaves?"
"When a milk cow has died is its carcass not harvested for meat? They view all other sapient creatures as nothing more than cattle. It is not surprising." Starfire shuddered. "Even if… It is most disturbing."
"Have we got a total number of ships yet?" Superman asked.
"The number just topped a thousand..." Cyborg said quietly. "I've powered our shields to maximum and activated the point defense laser cannons... not that they'll necessarily be of much use against that many ships."
"We need a plan... How long will it take the Oa to assemble a reaction force?" Batman asked.
Cyborg shrugged. "No idea, Hal seemed to think it'd be a week or more."
"Hell." Batman said. "Suggestions?"
"First off, we need to evacuate the Watchtower of non-essential staff. They might choose to board us so the Leaguers can stay if they want, but we need to get the civvies out." Cyborg said.
"Agreed." Superman said. "Then?"
"Once the Watchtower falls, and it will, this will become a ground based fight..." Cyborg said. "We need to get all the world militaries mobilized. Then we need to hold out until help arrives."
"In the meantime millions may perish or be abducted into indentured servitude." Starfire said.
"What about organizing an insurgency or something?" Dick asked. "I don't know how vulnerable Citadelians are to handguns, or if the armor Gordanians use would stop bullets but we can't surely rely just on heroes and the military to save the day. This isn't some single city invasion... this is the whole damn planet."
"Recruiting civilians to fight should remain a last resort... they lack the training and would surely be quickly dispatched." Batman said.
"Better to die free then live to be food for the Citadel." Starfire snapped. "They are monsters Batman... delighting in torture and destruction."
"Not all humans are capable of fighting Koriand'r." Batman stated flatly. "We are not a warrior race like your people."
"If you encounter insurgents, what would you do Batman?" Nightwing asked.
Batman scowled. "I do not know, but I will not actively create them."
"Those Gordanina ships are five minutes from firing range... we better get a move on." Cyborg said as he stood up. "Star, Nightwing, Raven, Garfield... you staying?"
"For now..." Dick said as he glanced at Starfire.
Starfire nodded. "I will stay..."
Raven and Garfield just nodded.
"Alright, I'll make sure there's a Javelin-7 with our names on it." Cyborg said. "I'm heading to engineering to see if I can get more power to the shields and lasers. I might have to take the monitoring system offline to do it." He walked into the turbolift. "Don't leave without me!"
Starfire reached out to grab Dick's hand. "Star?"
"I am nervous... there are so many. It reminds me of the Gordanian assault on Tamaran." She said quietly. "So many..."
"I know." He answered.
Superman bent over the table and punched up a video-conference number. "Mr. President, we have a problem."
"Seriously, 'Mr. President, we have a problem?' I've got better lines then that." Garfield said from where he sat and snickered. "Can't you be a bit less… cliché?"
Cyborg glared at Raven who smiled faintly before a shadow appeared behind Garfield's head and slapped him.
There were low chuckles around the room and Barbara flashed a timid smile as Garfield rubbed his head. "Rae…"
"You deserved it." She said.
Nightwing hunched over one of the chairs in the command center and stared at the display. Already the massive blob of red hostile contacts was closing in. The thin blue sphere that marked the Watchtower's weapon's range seemed like a tiny insignificant marble hanging in the air between the enemy and earth.
"More contacts, looks like they're launching fighters." Wonder Woman said from her post next to the sensors. "Lots of fighters."
"They're entering range now." Cyborg's voice stated from the intercom. "Charging defense guns, firing..."
Nightwing glared out the viewports at the now easily visible horde of oncoming ships and watched a red lance of light shoot out and stab into one of the smaller red and gold gordanian ships. Flames exploded out from where the blast had struck and a horde of red winged fighters screamed past the burning wreck. Other laser blasts shot forth, missing the fast moving fighters or striking larger vessels.
A blur of blue and red shot from the station and smashed into one of the Gordanian Fighters, tearing a wing off the red craft and sending it spinning off into the depths of space. Then Superman shot toward one of the larger ships slamming through its hull like a cannon shell.
"Power spike!" Wonder Woman snapped and a huge column of golden plasma slammed into the Watchtower's shield. "Shields at fifty percent."
The station shuddered as a second Gordanian beam slammed into the shields. With a boom the lights flickered as the station shields died.
"Shield's down!" Wonder Woman stated. "Cyborg, can you get them back up?"
"Graviton generators are fried from the blowback... we've got no shields now... I just had to switchover to auxiliary power!" Cyborg answered from the engineering section. "I've already overridden the thermal cutoffs on everything, but we've only got another ten minutes of power at this rate."
Nightwing stared into the depths of space and swore as he saw a golden ball of light gathering at the prow of another Gordanian Cruiser. A beam of energy shot toward them and he swore. "Brace yourselves!"
The lights overhead flickered and went out as the entire station rocked. Bits of superheated metal, armor plating, and debris, floated up from below as a klaxon screamed overhead. The emergency red lighting kicked on just as the gravity field failed and the whole of the group was tossed about the command room.
"Cyborg, report?" Nightwing yelled as he noticed Wonder Woman drifting unconsciously through the air with a trickle of blood trailing behind her forehead. She must have smashed her head against the console went the blast struck. "Cyborg?"
There was a sputtering cough through the intercom. "Reactor containment breached, we're trying to shut it down but with the way we're losing coolant and the control rods jammed... the reactor will melt down in ten, maybe fifteen minutes."
"Cy? Get your people out of there, everyone evacuate." Nightwing said as he grabbed hold of Wonder Woman and began pulling her toward the door. "Come on..."
"X'hal, hold onto something!" Starfire yelled and Nightwing spun to look out the window as a series of plasma blasts slammed into the viewport, pockmarking it with each impact. A trio of Gordanian fighters roared past close enough that their exhaust sounded like hail atop the compartment's roof.
Another flurry of blasts struck the viewport and Nightwing stared, his eyes widening with horror as a spider web of cracks began to form. "Everyone, out! Go! Go! Go!"
He began to drag Wonder Woman again, pushing off against the console and floating toward the turbo-lift. In the corner of his eye he saw Raven wrap her cloak around Beast Boy and disappear in a cloud of darkness. Others were scrambling for the turbo-lift.
Then with a boom the window gave way. Suddenly the air rushed from the room, ripping Wonder Woman from his grasp and sending her floating off into space. He felt the air being ripped from his lungs and found himself being pulled out the viewport. The side of his body that faced the sun felt scalding hot while the part in shadow felt unimaginably cold, he closed his eyes and counted down the seconds.
I'm about to die. He thought grimly as the burning wreck of another Gordanian Fighter spun past him in the depths of space. I didn't even get a chance to fight and...
Something warm and surprisingly soft slammed into his side and he twisted to see what it was as his body screamed for air, for breath... A pair of glowing green eyes locked on his mask and he stared at them as Starfire twisted and blasted back toward the Watchtower at breakneck speed.
He could feel a darkness slowly falling over his vision, exhaustion in his muscles as he stared in fascination at her. Starfire inverted and hit the watchtower like a gymnast sticking a landing just beside an air-lock. She smashed the emergency override box and yanked open the hatch then dragged him through. With a thump the air-lock snapped shut behind them and a roaring filled the room.
He gasped for breath and felt his whole body shake from the shock of vacuum exposure. His heart hammered in his chest as the pressurization cycle finished, and he slumped against the side wall before sliding to the floor. Apparently this part of the Watchtower still had gravity.
"Nightwing, are you alright?" Starfire asked before leaning over him. "Speak up."
"Yeah... I think so... did you see Wonder Woman?" Dick asked as he gasped for breath.
She shook her head and Dick closed his eyes behind the mask. "Are you, okay?"
"I am most resistant to vacuum Nightwing." Starfire said quietly.
"Good..." He rasped. "We need… We need to get to the hangar bay... evacuate."
"Yes." Starfire said. "Can you stand?"
He felt his muscles quivering as he reached up and pulled himself upright. He took a shaky step toward the inner door and Starfire grabbed him around the waist. "I... I guess not."
"Careful... I do not wish for you to damage yourself." Starfire said quietly as she reached for the inner door controls. "I shall carry you if need be."
The door slid open and Wally stood by the door, "Found em."
"I told you exactly where they were." Raven's gravelly voice stated through a commlink channel. "Get them here Wally."
"Right." Flash smirked slightly. "Umm... which of you wants to go first?"
"Take Nightwing, I shall follow." Starfire said and Nightwing scowled at his old friend as a smirk slipped across his face.
"Not a word." He growled as Wally picked him up and surged into motion. The air clung to them as they scrambled through hallways and access tubes. It was a blur and in his battered state, Dick thought he was lucky not to throw up his breakfast all over Wally.
They burst into the hangar bay and saw Raven and Beast Boy standing beside one of the Javelin-7 orbital shuttles. Wally set him down beside the access hatch and stood. "Special Delivery, one battered former Robin recently vacuum packed."
Beast Boy snickered while Raven rolled her eyes. A boom echoed from another side of the hangar bay and Nightwing watched Black Canary step from the smoke. A number of civilian works scrambled out from behind her and ran to another of the remaining shuttles.
"Flash, get Cyborg... get him here or onto one of the transporters." Dick gasped. "Star will be here in a... second."
"Yes sir!" Wally snapped before giving a cheeky grin and bursting into a blur of red and gold as he sped away.
"Nightwing." Black Canary said as she stepped up to the small group. "Are you alright?"
"Vacuum exposure." Nightwing groaned. "Almost died."
A blur of orange and purple shot into the hangar before twisting and diving toward them. She slammed to a stop beside them and glanced around nervously. "We must leave..."
"Not cool man." A familiar voice shouted as the blur returned carrying the form of Cyborg in his arms. "Not cool at all!"
Flash dropped Cyborg beside the hatch and rolled his eyes. "Quit complaining, there's no way you'd have outrun the power core blowing."
"Yeah, yeah..." Cyborg glared at his wrist terminal. "Shit, the power core is five minutes from kicking off."
"Time to go." Black Canary said as she scrambled up the ramp.
Nightwing took a deep breath as he stumbled up the boarding ramp followed by the others. Starfire scrambled over to his side and stared at him looking rather worried. Inside, he headed for the cockpit and dropped into the pilot's seat. Her worried gaze hung upon him as he started the craft's start up sequence.
"Nightwing, you can fly this thing right?" Beast Boy asked as he buckled up in one of the passenger seats.
"Yeah." He croaked. "I can handle it."
"I could fly you know." Cyborg said quietly and Richard ignored it, finishing the preflight checks and activating the thrusters. Black Canary tightened her belt as the shuttle lifted from the deck plating and roared out the hangar bay.
"How long until the power core goes?" Dick rasped as he rolled the shuttle through space.
"Ten seconds." Cyborg said. "Brace for impact."
"Hold on." Dick gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the controls. Suddenly the aft sensor display went a solid white as the Watchtower's main reactor cooked off letting loose a blast of brilliant white and gold energy along with a DEMP wave. The interior lights flickered and emergency messages lit up the control board as Dick tried to keep control.
Ahead another of the Javelin shuttles spun through space, one of its main thrusters flickering for a moment before dying. Suddenly three grey fighters with glowing violet ion drives roared into view, their guns spitting violet beams of plasma.
Dick swore. "JL Seven, you have Citadelians on your tail! Go evasive!"
"Can't OMS is out, we're—" The voice was cut off by static a second later as the Javelin-7 exploded in the distance.
"Shit." He said.
Dick swore as a Gordanian fighter screamed just overhead, it's red and gold wings glinting as it broke away from them. Purple energy shots soared through space as he wove the ship through a complex set of evasive maneuvers.
Flash's hands leapt over the controls. "Three more coming in... I'm getting a shit load of contacts coming in from the ground, small contacts."
"How small?" Dick asked.
"About the size of a football!" Flash said. "I'm getting radiation signatures from them."
"MIRVs." Cyborg said. "Stay as far away from them as you can!"
"What the hell are MIRVs?" Garfield asked from his seat beside Raven.
"Multiple Individual Reentry Vehicles... they're nuclear warheads Dick! The boys on the ground are shooting em at the alien fleet." Cyborg yelled.
"Oh fuck!" Dick said as he saw the missile warheads streaking upward on the sensor display. "There are hundreds of them."
"Thousands... I hope they manage to do some good." Cyborg said.
"How far do I have to be away from them to be clear of the blast?" Dick said as he rolled past a burning Gordanian cruiser.
"In space, about a click... yields get weird." Cyborg stated.
"Focus on getting us down." Black Canary yelled from her seat. "I don't want to be scattered all over North America because you-"
"Just shut up!" Dick yelled as he dove through the spread of warheads and began to setup for reentry. "If you keep talking, I'm going to screw the fuck up and kill us all... well, maybe except Star."
"It would be most painful even if I survived." She said from her seat.
"Powering up the ray shields as much as I can." Cyborg said. "I suggest everyone close their eyes... those nukes are going to be going off soon!"
Dick tapped his mask and dialed up the filtering. An alarm blared from the display as the first nuclear explosion went off.
Wally stared at his display. "Shit... most of the warheads aren't detonating, the Gordanian and Citadelian ships must be shooting down the warheads."
"And they're not blowing up?" Garfield asked.
"Nuclear weapons are fragile... they don't blow up like that." Cyborg said.
Dick pulled back on the controls. "JL 12 to NORAD, beginning emergency reentry."
"NORAD acknowledges." The grave voice of the Americans watching the space battle from Cheyenne mountain answered.
"Dick, three Citadelians on our tail!" Flash shouted.
"Hell, I'm locked... can't maneuver during reentry!" A purple blast of energy shot past the cockpit as the flames of reentry enveloped the ship. "Come on... slow down!"
"Over Ohio now..." Wally said. "Those Citadelians are still there... altitude thirty miles."
The entire shuttle was rattling and he could feel the interior temperature rising until it was nearly broiling. The dark sky out the windows was turning blue just as the flames began to flicker and die.
Then a bang echoed in the ship and Dick felt the ship shudder.
"Aft numer two engine hit!" Cyborg yelled.
Lines of purple energy shot past the cockpit again and Dick swore, "Come on..."
"We're over Lake Erie, still way over manevering velocity!" Wally called out.
"Come on..." Dick growled as the shuttled rattled around him. He began to work the controls. "Slow down so we can dodge these-"
A boom echoed in the ship and Cyborg swore. "Number one engine is hit... we're gliding in!"
"Rae..." Garfield murmured.
"Those three Citadelian fighters are pulling back, I guess they figure we're toast!" Wally called out. "I'm loosing the GPS feed, I think they're shooting sats now."
"Where was the last position?" Dick yelled as fields and highways flashed past beneath them.
"About fifty miles from New York," Wally said.
Dick swore as he glanced at the altimeter. "Controls are sluggish. I guess they hit more than just the engines back there."
The clouds parted and Dick saw a highway stretch out beneath him, to the right the Atlantic Ocean stretched out to the horizon. He swallowed. "Okay... we're north of New York I think... Deploying airbrakes and flaps!"
The ship rattled and Dick swore as it suddenly twisted to the right, glancing at his displays he growled. "Fuck, the left side airbrakes and flaps are gone, same with the aileron and elevators!"
"We're going in hot then!" Wally said.
"I'll try and put her down on that highway." Dick said as the ship bobbed lower. He could see a black scar on the land ahead, and smashed buildings on the horizon. "I can see a city ahead... looks like the Gordanians already hit it?"
"How... we haven't even landed yet?" Wally snapped.
Suddenly a wall flashed past beneath them and Dick's eyes grew wide. "Maybe not..." He struggled to keep the plane on the highway and pulled back on the stick, bringing the nose up to bleed off speed. "Brace yourselves!"
"We're coming in too hot!" Wally shouted. "Five hundred, four-fifty..."
"Fuck, she's stalling!" Dick yelled and the nose dipped. The plane's belly slammed into the concrete and the shriek of concrete and metal scraping against each other filled the cockpit.
Then he saw a semi-truck, toppled in the middle of the road. "Hold on!" He shouted as he tried to avoid the mass of metal and the shuttle lifted a few feet off the ground as he struggle to avoid a collision. Then it fell back to the ground and careened off the highway and into a ditch.
Dick threw up his hands to cover his face as it careened toward a pit just off the road. Then with a sickening crunch, the nose hit. He was thrown forward against the console and saw nothing but darkness.