Chapter Nineteen

Watchtower II

Earth Orbit

20:55 – Station Time (EST)

March 14, 2007

The decision had been made. Lantern was going to retrieve the device from the Metro Tower. He was the only one that could possibly shield it and get it up here safely without it being damaged

The way to get down there unnoticed was simple. There was a debris field around the upper section of the station from where the station had been hit by the Gordanian's weapon. The plan was to use a piece of the debris to get down to Earth. He could hide himself enough that it simply looked like the debris had been knocked clear of the rest and had spiralled towards Earth.

It was a risky plan, but at that moment, they didn't have other ideas.

While they had figured out how to get down, getting back up again would be far more difficult. Unfortunately, they didn't have much of a choice. They needed their weapon online and as soon as possible.

With him in place inside the small piece of debris, he made some slight adjustments and it began to, at first, slowly fall to Earth. It didn't take long to start picking up speed as he altered the orbit of the hulking mass to intersect the pacific.

From there, he would head to the Metro Tower, pick up the device and head back up with it.

But that would take time. He had to make his descent look as natural as possible, which wouldn't be quick. His current estimate was ten minutes till he had entered the atmosphere. He would do his best to speed that up without drawing attention to himself.

Metro Tower

Metropolis

United States

20:57 – Eastern Standard Time

March 14, 2007

J'onn J'onzz had been able to get a short call through to the Watchtower and he knew that he had to get the flow coil up to them somehow.

But that would be difficult. Not only because of the Gordanians, but because the military were securing the island the Metro Tower lay upon and a general was a few minutes off from arriving at the nest.

They wanted answers as to why a city had been decimated by an orbital strike. No one could see what was happening up there and they still didn't really trust the league. He suspected they thought they had done it, but that was not the case and he could prove it.

J'onn looked around as league personnel escorted General Hogan and several armed men up to him.

J'onn rose up out of his seat and gave a slight bow. "General," he said in his usual monotone.

"We need answers and you're gonna give us 'em," the general said gruffly.

J'onn promptly explained, "A small fleet of alien vessels has entered orbit. One of them fired their particle beam at the Watchtower, then later at Jump City."

"What kinda aliens?" he asked, eyeing the Martian suspiciously.

"Gordanians."

"It ain't another hoax is it?" Hogan questioned.

"Hoax?"

"Last time the Gordarians attacked it was a hoax by those Thangrians."

"Gordanians and Thanagarians," J'onn corrected. "General, I assure you that this isn't a hoax."

"You got proof?"

"I have footage of them leaving hyperspace and firing on the Watchtower."

The general grunted. "Let's see it."

J'onn sat down and promptly brought up the footage onto the screens. The general watched as the events played out, then as the image began to break up.

"What's going on?"

"We lost the feed at that moment," J'onn explained. "The Gordanians have an effective jamming field around the Watchtower. I have only managed to briefly penetrate it."

"Riiiight," the general said, not sounding at all convinced. "You know what they are after?"

J'onn hesitated before answering. "They want two aliens that arrived on Earth a few days ago."

"That thing in Canada?"

J'onn was surprised by his knowledge. "Yes, General."

"So, give 'em the aliens," the man said as though it were the obvious thing to do.

"It's not that simple. If we give them up, then they will destroy the Watchtower."

Hogan shrugged. "Not seeing a downside."

"With the league out of the way, they may set their sights on this planet. Gordanian government is primarily a slaver entity. A defenceless planet is ripe for the taking."

"We're not defenceless."

"Against a much superior alien force, you most certainly are. You stood no chance against the Thanagarians and the Gordanians beat them. Most likely enslaved their people."

"We beat the Thangrians."

"No, the league did by destroying the only thing keeping them here. Without us, Earth is defenceless."

General Hogan didn't look impressed. "You on an ego trip or somethin'?"

"No, Sir. I am simply telling you as it is."

"You think you're high and mighty with your superpowers?"

"The Justice League is sworn to protect the people of the Earth. We will do that to the best of our ability."

"How's that working out, with one of our cities in ashes. With all those people that are now dead? What happened to your space cannon? Why don't you shoot that at them?"

J'onn regarded the man. Didn't he know the gun wasn't operational? "We dismantled it as a show of good faith," he told him.

"Hold-on," the general said holding up his hands in disbelief. "You're telling me that you actually did that?"

J'onn was dumbfounded by his reaction. "Of course. It had been controlled remotely, thus we thought it prudent to deactivate it."

The military man sneered at him. "Great job, look where that's gotten us," he said derisively. "Do you have a plan of, y'know, fixing the damned gun?"

This wasn't the reaction the Martian had been expecting. They had been asked, no told to dismantle the BFG and when they did, it turned out they were still in the wrong. He knew he should have expected it, but it was still frustrating and disheartening to know that they would always be in the wrong in some people's eyes.

J'onn pushed the annoyance away and focused on the here and now. "We know of a way to fix the weapon," J'onn said. "Unfortunately, we do not have means of getting the parts up there."

"You have a teleporter thing, don't you?"

"We are being blocked from using it by some kind of jamming device. So far I haven't found a way to break through it for more than a few moments."

"Sure," he said with a dismissive wave. "Anyone would think you wanted people to die."

"I assure you that is not the case."

The general folded his arms over his chest. "Really? Then why haven't you stopped them yet?"

J'onn began to feel something he rarely felt. Actual anger. "We are doing everything we can."

"It's not good enough," General Hogan said. "And to tell the truth, you haven't even proven that what you have said isn't a lie?"

"What do you mean by that?" J'onn asked feeling insulted.

"What do you think I mean? It's long overdue that your so-called league is either controlled or shut down. Even if I take what you've said as truth, you've still taken matters into your own hands."

J'onn closed his eyes. He knew there was some truth in what the man was saying. He still didn't like it, or the accusations.

There was suddenly a loud crash. J'onn and the soldiers were immediately on alert as what appeared to be Superman in a silver head-to-toe suit with the familiar red and yellow 'S' flew into the room.

"Superman?" the general questioned with surprise.

It took only a few seconds for J'onn to not only realise who it was but to get into a defensive stance, ready to fight if he had to.

The woman in the suit raised her hands, indicating she wasn't hostile. "Not here to fight," she told them. "You need something taken to the Watchtower to bring your gun online. I'm here to collect it."

"Who is this?" the general demanded to know.

J'onn raised a hand to silence him. "Hold on a moment, General I need to speak with her in private."

"Excuse me?" the man asked, both confused and angry. "Not happening until you tell me what's going on!"

"Apologies General, but it is important that we have some time to speak. This may result in you getting what you want."

He scowled at the two before he relented. "We'll wait over there," he said gesturing to the other-side of the large room. "You better not try anything."

As he and his troops moved away, J'onn cautiously approached Galatea and her suit, which had a hefty looking harness and device on it. As to what the device was for, J'onn had no idea. He did, however, intend to find out.

"Why are you here?" he demanded.

She rested her closed fists clumsily onto the hips of the oversized suit. "I saw what was happening in a dream or vision or whatever it was. Thought I would help."

J'onn realised what that meant. "So the connection between you and Kara has been fully re-established as I feared it would."

"You knew about it?" Galatea asked, surprised. "I mean that it was back?"

"Yes. We have been wondering if there was a way to sever it."

"Yeah, well it will have to wait, won't it. The aliens up in orbit won't wait for us."

J'onn stared at her for a moment, trying to ascertain her motives without having to delve into her mind. Her presence here was confusing. Did she actually want to help, or was this some kind of ruse? "Tell me why you should be trusted?" he asked finally.

"Because they have a big gun that could shoot anywhere on Earth at any time? I'm not doing this to be a big hero. I'm doing this to protect my home."

J'onn's eyes glowed slightly as he checked to make sure she was being honest with him. He didn't like using his abilities as he was now, as others saw it as an invasion of privacy, but he felt that he didn't really have much choice right now.

"Satisfied?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes," he said feeling rather unsettled himself.

"You better be, because I don't like people going into my head without asking first."

"My apologies."

"Whatever. Just don't do it again," she warned.

"Understood," he said while trying to make sense of some of the emotions and surface thoughts he had sensed. What he found was troubling. She was afraid. Afraid of herself and scared that she had no place in this world. She covered up her fears with hostility and self-assuredness. It was a cover-up for who she really was, a confused individual who needed guidance.

"Are we getting the device or what?" she asked, after he had remained there, stood staring at her for several moments.

J'onn nodded, focusing back on her. "Yes. I cannot guarantee you will be welcomed when you reach the Watchtower, however."

"I'll take the risk. Now, where's this thing."

J'onn glanced back at the general for a moment. "Head to the level above," J'onn said as he flew up and phased through the high ceiling.

21:05 - Eastern Standard Time

Galatea watched him as he ascended up through the ceiling like a ghost on its way to Heaven. She knew about this ability but to see it was a little disconcerting.

Then the shouting began.

She looked over to where it was coming from to see the General and his men were approaching quickly, weapons trained on her. It seemed they didn't like the fact that the Martian had just left. Galatea decided not to hang around and flew out of the room, heading up the nearest stairwell up to the floor above where she found J'onn waiting for her.

"Follow me," he said stoically as he walked down the hallway. She followed him as they stepped into an elevator, which took them downwards. "I am taking a risk here," he said to her. "Leaving the room like that. General Hogan might decide to have me arrested."

She rocked back slightly on her heels. "Yeah, well don't expect me to feel sorry for you or anything."

"I do not expect anything. Though once this is over, perhaps we could see about removing the psychic link that exists between you and Argo."

"Sorry, but I'm not sticking around. I deliver the device, then I'm outta there."

"You don't plan on helping them fight?" J'onn questioned.

"No."

"How about helping down here?"

"I'm a fugitive, remember? I plan on meeting up with my fa-" That's when she suddenly realised that she hadn't set up a meeting place. She had absolutely no idea where to find him once she returned from the Watchtower. She felt her stomach sink. She would have to look for them when she returned from the space station. Hopefully, they would be easy to find. She knew what car they were using, but still there was a lot of area to cover. What if she couldn't find them?

"Something wrong?" J'onn asked her.

She glared at him. "Nothing."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. J'onn walked smoothly out, while she had more trouble with the overly large suit.

"We have suits that are more your size," J'onn said.

"This is a stealth suit," she told him.

"I suspected as much. Is the stealth device the object on the harness?"

"Yes, it is."

He nodded. "We might be able to remove it and put it on a smaller suit."

"You think you can?" she asked.

"Yes I do," he said, before pointing to a massive object in the large warehouse they found themselves in.

"You have got to be joking," she said.

"That is the flow regulator," J'onn told her.

"I thought it would be the size of a small car at the most, not the size of two city buses."

"Superman moved it here, I think you can do the same."

"Not what I'm worried about. It's being spotted and shot that's got me worried. That's a really big object for me to be moving about." she sighed. "I'm here now, so I guess I have to give it a shot."

"Let me show you space-suits," J'onn said leading her over to a row of lockers. He opened one to reveal a suit hanging inside. He removed it. "Let me look at that harness."

Galatea remained still as he checked it. He unfastened some clips and the whole thing came off.

"I suppose you want me to get out of this suit and into that one?"

"Yes."

She removed the suit, revealing her jeans and t-shirt underneath. "Good to be out of that," she commented, before she started to put on the other one. "Wow," she said after a moment. "This is a pretty good fit. The jeans have bunched up in the crotch, through."

"It belongs to Argo," J'onn said. "Or Supergirl if you prefer."

She glared at him but decided to keep quiet. He helped her put the harness back on and tightened it up. She then looked up at the device.

"How do I carry it?" she questioned.

"There are two handles on the top."

Galatea flew up to the device. "I see them, but you're telling me that I can carry this with those two small handles? Won't they break off?"

"They're heavily reinforced."

"If you say so," she said as she moved over to them and gripped them firmly. "Where's the way out?"

J'onn moved over to a control panel and pressed it. A large door in the roof slid open.

"Is the stealth device active?"

She looked down and pressed the big button that lay right in the centre of it. The device began to emit a soft hum, though there was no indicator to say if it was actually working or not, which didn't fill her full of confidence.

"I guess I'll find out if it works," she said as she lifted the flow regulator off the floor. "Wish me luck and all that."

"Good luck and all that," he deadpanned.

She smiled at him. "You're not so bad, Martian."

"You're not so bad either," he said back.

She gave him a curt nod before flying out of the large door, finding herself behind the tower. Military vehicles were all around and someone on a megaphone shouted something at her. She ignored it as she accelerated hard upwards, heading into orbit.

Metropolis Outskirts

United States

21:09 – Eastern Standard Time

March 14, 2007

As Metropolis came into view, Lantern broke radio silence and started calling J'onn. The response he got wasn't at all what he expected.

"If you're calling about the flow regulator, it's already on its way to the Watchtower."

"It is? Did Batman pick it up?"

"No, Galatea did."

Lantern's mouth fell agape in sheer shock. "She did?" he asked, wondering if he had heard him right. Then what he had been told finally sank in. "Wait, you gave it to her?"

"Yes and I suggest you head back to the Watchtower," the response came.

Lantern wasn't happy at all. "You better have a good reason for trusting the clone with it. If she damages it, we're sunk."

"I believe she intends to assist and will get the device where it needs to go."

"I hope you're right," Lantern said not at all impressed by J'onn's actions. "I'll head back up. I can bring you along if you want?"

"That isn't a good idea. The military is here and they're not happy with me. I suggest you don't come here at all and simply go help stop the enemy."

"Understood," Lantern said with a sigh. "One last thing. Did Batman call you? His Javelin was shot down"

"No, he has not."

"Keep an ear out for him."

"I will if I can."

"Good luck."

"You, too."

With that, Lantern angled himself upwards and began to ascend back towards the Watchtower, all the while wondering both whether Batman and the others had made it and whether he could get back to the station without drawing attention.

Earth Orbit

21:13 – Eastern Standard Time

The Watchtower came into Galatea's view. It was currently surrounded by strange looking ships, one of them being quite sizeable.

The Watchtower itself looked a lot worse off than she remembered, with part of the upper 'horseshoe' missing, debris scattered all around the area. Normally she would have used that has her way of gaining access to the station, but the large object she was carrying would make that difficult.

She found herself holding her breath the closer she got. So far none of the alien ships had shot at her, which she certainly wasn't going to complain about. Though, it was still unsettling to be so exposed.

Her eyes scanned the front of the Watchtower for a hangar deck. Upon seeing one with damaged doors, she headed towards it, knowing it would be easier to get inside than another functioning hangar.

Suddenly, the doors sheered off and she had to move to the side as a Javelin flew past her and swung around, heading away from the planet and the Watchtower.

It didn't take long for one of the larger alien ships to move and intercept.

The Javelin weaved in between the energy bolts that were fired at it. Then the pilot made a mistake.

Galatea watched as the Javelin few right into enemy fire took a hit. It began to spiral before more shots ripped through its hull. The craft broke apart before it ignited and exploded in a fiery inferno. She shielded her eyes and watched as debris spiralled away.

Briefly, she wondered if they would try and blame that on her. Then decided she didn't really care. She had a device to deliver and she wanted to do it while drawing as little attention to herself as possible. In some ways, that Javelin had come at the right time, to draw attention from here. She just hoped the stealth device was working.

She headed into the hangar bay and looked around. She noticed that among the parked Javelins, one was smashed up against the rear wall. She smirked before she saw the cargo elevator on the left. She picked the large device up and moved it over there and placed it by the doors while she looked at the control panel.

She hit the call button and waited. Much to her frustration, a red light came on and a warning indicating that the cargo elevator would not open while the hangar bay was de-pressurised.

Looking back at where the door had been torn off, she knew that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon.

She pulled the front off of the control panel and had a look inside. With a few crossed wires, the large door slid open, a gust of air escaping as it did so.

Galatea gripped hold of the large device and carried it onto the large cargo elevator and then studied the control panel. She shrugged and guessed she needed to go to the reactor level. She had been there before but hadn't taken the cargo elevator. She knew it was fairly low down in the depths of the station, so she supposed it was the lowest deck.

She hit the one at the bottom and hoped for the best. What she didn't know was that the activation of the cargo elevator hadn't gone unnoticed.

21:17 – Station Time (EST)

"Someone's activated the cargo elevator from bay two," Terrific told the others.

"Gordanians?" Superman asked.

"Maybe," Terrific responded.

"Want me to check it out?" Kara suggested. "Can't be a coincidence that a Javelin launched moments before someone activated the cargo elevator."

"Where is the elevator headed?" Wonder Woman asked.

"To the lower decks and according to the internal sensors, the elevator is de-pressurised."

"I can cut them off," Kara offered.

"Anyone closer?" Superman asked.

"Only civilian staff. Everyone else is up in the upper section."

Superman turned to Wonder Woman. "You and Kara check it out."

"On it," Wonder Woman said as they both headed off.

"Don't fight them unless you know you can win," he added after them. "If there's too many, call for backup."

Kara looked back at him. "Don't worry, we know what we're doing." The two of them flew off down the corridors.

21:19 – Station Time (EST)

The cargo elevator was slow. Either that or the lowest deck was really far down.

Galatea was feeling somewhat nervous. She had a comms device, but she knew if she contacted anyone, they would most likely send every leaguer on the tower after her. It would be best if she just gave the regulator device to some engineers and leave. She wasn't interested in having a fight right now. What she did want was for the elevator to reach its location. She had never experienced anything so slow in her life.

After what seemed like an eternity, it came to a halt. The doors opened and air rushed in.

"Finally," she muttered as she peered out into the corridor. "Hey!" she shouted loudly after taking off her helmet and resting it under her arm. "I've got your flow regulation thingie here."

There was no-one around, at least not in the immediate vicinity. She was hoping her shouting would draw someone's attention, but it appeared that it hadn't.

Where is everybody? She thought to herself. She had imagined that there would be people around, especially at a time like this. But clearly, she wouldn't be taking the large device out on this deck. The corridor wasn't large enough.

She went back inside and hit the button. The doors began to close when something stopped them. Or rather two things stopped them.

Galatea looked over to see both Wonder Woman and Argo holding the doors open, staring at her. Finally, the doors slid back open as a safety feature and the elevator stayed exactly where it was.

"Great, it's you," the Argoan clone said to Argo in distaste. "Just what I needed."

"Is that a bomb?" Wonder Woman questioned eyeing the device.

"Calm down, Princess, it's the coil for your big energy gun," she assured them.

"How do we know it hasn't been tampered with?" Kara demanded. "In fact, I know you've tampered with it."

"Don't make accusations, you can't back up," Galatea warned.

Kara glared at her with hate. "There's no way we can trust you. Let me guess. We install it, then when we fire it causes a feedback loop and blows up half of the station."

Galatea knew they didn't have time for this. "Tell you what. I'll stay aboard long enough for you to install it and test it out if you want. If it blows up the station, I'll be caught in it. Satisfied?"

"No," Kara said, folding her arms. "You're up to something."

Wonder Woman ignored their banter and held her hand up to her ear and contacted the nest. "We've got the flow regulator here," she told Terrific who was on the other side. She nodded as he spoke in her ear. "Yes, it's here and you'll never guess who brought it." There was another pause. Galatea strained her ears and just managed to hear the response that came out of the weak speaker into Wonder Woman's ear.

"I'm not Batman," the clone uttered.

"No, it's not Batman," Wonder Woman said. "It's the Cadmus clone." Another pause. "Yes, I'm serious." Wonder Woman looked her in the eye. "Superman is on his way. We are to remain here."

Galatea gestured to the bus-sized object that lay next to her. "Aren't we on a time limit here."

"three to four hours is the projected install time," the Amazon told her.

"That long?" the clone asked in surprise. "Don't you just plug the thing in?"

"Not that simple," Kara said, eyeing her suspiciously. "A huge amount of energy is put through that coil. It needs to be installed properly. But you wouldn't know that, would you."

Galatea tried to ignore Kara but found herself growing annoyed. She gritted her teeth and pushed the emotion aside as she focused back onto the here and now. "J'onn told me they had given you an hour till they fired again. We can't hang around to discuss this, we need to take action or else this thing will never be installed."

Wonder Woman's interest was piqued. "You spoke with J'onn?"

"He gave me this space suit and the coil."

"What about the harness?" Kara questioned.

"Stealth present from Dad."

"Dad?" Kara asked with a confused frown.

"Doctor Hamilton."

"You call him dad?"

Galatea became defensive. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

"No, but I've got a problem with you," Kara said, jabbing a stiff finger in her direction. "How did you know we even needed this in the first place?"

"Because you broadcast it into my head, which I don't appreciate by the way. I'd prefer my dreams not to be of whatever the hell it is you're doing."

"It's not my fault. You're the freak here," Kara said.

Galatea took a step forward, preparing herself for a fight. "Excuse me?"

"Both of you, stand down," Wonder Woman said, before gesturing to the large device. "We don't need anything we urgently need getting destroyed because you two decided to have a spat."

The two of them continued to glare at each other but otherwise did nothing. That's when Superman appeared. He landed between the two league women and stared at Galatea, joining them in what a passerby might assume was a glaring contest.

Galatea wanted to bash their heads together. They couldn't afford to waste time like this, yet here they were. "Are we gonna keep standing around glaring at each other, or are you gonna install this thing?"

Superman held his hand to his ear. "It's true what Diana said, she brought the flow regulator." He paused. "Wait, Lantern's back? He confirms that J'onn gave her the regulator." Another pause. "Understood." Superman looked at Galatea. "You're heading to hangar bay Three."

"Good, I want to get out of here."

"You're taking the device with you."

"I am?"

"It needs installing on the outside. You're going to help us do just that."

She folded her arms. "I am?" she said less than enthused by the idea. "So you're not satisfied that I just risked my life bringing this thing to you, then? No thank you or show of appreciation?"

"Wow, you really are full of yourself," Kara accused.

"Listen, Superbitch," Galatea said pointing at her progenitor. "I just flew like five-thousand miles carrying that thing up to this space station, with big hostile alien ships out there that could have spotted me and shot me. I think I deserve at least some gratitude."

Kara looked at Superman in amazement. "Can you believe her?"

The clone shook her head with a sneer. "Don't worry, I'm not really expecting a thank you from any of you."

Superman glowered at her. "I don't like you. I don't like what you represent."

"And what do I represent?" the clone asked. "That I don't follow your exact ideals? That I'm not the big blue boy scout."

He shook his head. "No. You represent a betrayal of trust. I trusted Hamilton and he stole Kara's DNA. Took it from her without permission. I put her life into his care and he betrayed me. Betrayed us."

Galatea's brow raised. "As I understand it, it was you that put her into that condition in the first place. You, under the control of Darkseid, who warped your mind, twisted it. What did you expect him to do? You had proven yourself dangerous and he knew he needed a counter. I'm it."

"So you admit that you're just a tool?" Superman asked. "A weapon?"

"Aren't we all?" she asked right back. "I was just made for a specific purpose. I didn't fall into it like you did. I don't have any higher calling, no aspirations, no nothing. So forgive me if I decided to try and help you instead of fight you and yes, before you accuse me of it, I was doing this to help myself. Aliens with a death ray shooting at the planet isn't exactly safe for those on the planet."

Superman backed down. He and Kara exchanged a quick glance.

"The question is, what are you going to do about their weapon?" Galatea questioned. "You really need to be attempting to delay them, or fly over their and tear the thing off before they use it again."

"I doubt anyone would be able to get close without them using it again," Superman said.

"I could," she said. "I have stealth, remember."

"And how do we know you won't make a deal with them?" Superman argued. "Join them?"

She unbuckled the harness and removed it. She then stepped over to him and held out the stealth device. "Put on a space suit and you go do it, then."

He looked to Wonder Woman who nodded. He took it off of the clone. "Fine, I'll go destroy their gun before they have a chance to fire it again."

Galatea folded her arms. "And I'll help Lantern install this into your main gun."

Superman moved off, leaving the three women.

Galatea was the first to speak once he was gone, "I think I should be heading back up to the hangar deck to meet with Green Lantern."

"No, you're not," Kara said.

"Excuse me?" Galatea said heatedly.

"You're waiting here while I get a space suit," Kara ordered. "I'm not letting you go out there alone with anyone. Who knows what you'll do."

"Hurry up then," Galatea said. "I'm not going to wait forever."

Updated December 2017