There was almost a sense of deja vu. The last time Batman had encountered a corridor of Kalanorians, he had been leading them on a chase throughout the Kalanorian mothership. Just seeing a number of them holding plasma rifles was bringing back those memories.

However, this time Batman wasn't alone. J'onn was out front, determined to steamroll through any obstacle that got in their way. In this case, it was the Kalanorians. First, he fired his Martian Vision, blasting the closest Kalanorians to him. Both men cried out as they were sent flying backwards through the air, hurling down the hallway. Their compatriots dove out of the way, pressing themselves against the walls to avoid getting caught up in the white beam and the Kalanorians already caught up in the attack.

Holding up a hand, Batman had three bat-shaped shuriken in hand. Drawing his arm across his chest, he then swung it out, throwing the projectiles. Two went to the left of J'onn, one nearly skimming his face, and one went to the right of the Martian. That J'onn didn't so much as flinch was a testament to his trust he would not be harmed.

The three shuriken whirled through the air. One struck the head of a Kalanorian, causing him to cry out as he jerked off of his feet. Ricocheting off of the alien's skull, the shuriken darted across the hallway and collided with the face of another Kalanorian, jerking his head back and bashing the back of it against the wall behind him. The purple-skinned alien slumped down to the floor shortly after.

As for the other two shuriken, one embedded itself into the hand of a Kalanorian, causing him to yelp as he dropped his plasma rifle. The other flew further down the hallway until struck a Kalanorian in the shoulder, digging into the flesh beneath their spacesuit as dark blood spurted out.

That was when J'onn raised both of his arms up, holding them out in front of him. Suddenly, his arms began stretching out before they lost their form. Fingers began to thicken, spinning and twisting around. Then they each split apart until J'onn's arms were nothing more than a mass of tentacles, filling up the entire corridor from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Batman lost sight of the Kalanorians, but he heard them as they all cried out. The screaming only stopped as the hall shook violently from a tremor.

J'onn then drew his multitude of tentacles back, reforming his arms until he was normal. At the far end of the hallway were the Kalanorians guards, a veritable pile of unconscious men. Satisfied with the results, the Martian began striding down the hallway, ignoring his handiwork.

While that would have worried Batman—seeing as J'onn was not restraining himself in the least—he couldn't fault the man in the slightest. These were men guarding the person that had hurt the Martian the only way he could have been. That they were only unconscious told the dark-clad man his friend wasn't too lost in his rage.

He couldn't say the same for when they encountered Despero.

"I can sense him," Dr. Fate intoned as he kept up with the two Justice League members. "We are approaching our foe."

"So can I," J'onn confirmed, his voice deeper than usual. As he reached the end of the hallway, he made a right turn. "We will be arriving soon."

Batman picked up his pace, if only to reach the Martian as he closed in on an intersecting hallway. Placing a hand on J'onn's shoulder, he hoped the green-skinned man would stop if only for a moment. Fortunately, he did.

Batman moved around J'onn so that he could peer around the corner and into the intersecting hallway. "More guards," he reported as he dropped his hand from J'onn's shoulder. The same hand went to his belt and dug into one of the pouches, pulling out a concussion detonator. Leaning out into the hallway's mouth, he threw the detonator down the corridor towards the Kalanorian guards, ducking back behind his cover quickly.

There was a rush of wind then, several cries of surprise echoing out. Waiting a moment, Batman then peered around the corner, finding the Kalanorians scattered on the floor throughout the hallway, each man grasping at their heads, no doubt from the concussion-like symptoms they were experiencing.

"Very effective," J'onn remarked as he leaned over and above Batman's head to view the results.

"Thanks," the Dark Knight grunted. "Is Despero down this way?"

"No, he is this way."

Once again, J'onn began moving, ignoring the intersecting hallway as he went down the one they were currently in. They reached yet another intersection, where two Kalanorians suddenly appeared.

J'onn reacted instantly. His legs stopped moving, but his upper body suddenly stretched out. Head and shoulders leading the way, the Martian's torso stretched longer and longer until he reached the two men. Wrapping around one man, then doing the same to the second, J'onn pinned their arms to their bodies and began squeezing them tightly. The guards gasped as they were crushed, their eyes rolling into the back of their heads before they went limp. J'onn held them in his grasp for a few more moments before releasing them, loosening the coils of his body around them.

Suddenly, there were shouts that came from behind them. Jerking his head around, Batman saw a couple more Kalanorians behind them, taking aim with their plasma rifles.

Dr. Fate intervened immediately. Raising up a hand, a blue light flowed out, immediately capturing the two guards. They stood there, frozen in place, right up until Fate took action. The sorcerer jerked his hand to his left, causing the men to fly from the floor and crashing into the wall next to them. When he moved his hand to the right, they followed, slamming into the wall opposite. Fate then went up and then down, jerking the men up until they rammed into the ceiling, and then down onto the floor. It was only then that he allowed the blue light to fade, freeing the beaten men. Seeing as they weren't getting up, it was safe to say they were down for the count.

By then, J'onn had returned his upper body to the lower part and was calmly gazing at his comrades. "Not much further now," he simply said.

As it turned out, he wasn't wrong. They went further down the corridor until they stopped. A set of double doors sat along one of the walls, rather than at the end of a hall as conventional thinking dictated. J'onn just stared at the doors coolly, Batman coming to stand to one side of him, Dr. Fate on the other. Faintly, Batman wondered if the room beyond these doors would be just like the bridge from last time.

J'onn's eyes glowed white then and he blasted the doors without restraint. The double doors were shoved inwards before ripping off of the tracks that allowed them to slide to either side of the doorframe. Both metal doors were thrown through the air, crashing down on computer terminals, Kalanorians scrambling to not be crushed by them.

The three strode into the room then, coming to a stop shortly after. Batman immediately looked around the room, seeing several Kalanorians that were clearly support staff. Their jobs were to man the computer stations here, which raised the question as to how difficult it would be to dispatch them. He felt it wouldn't be too hard.

However, none of them made a move to attack. Instead, they all turned their heads to a large, hulking presence.

In the middle of the room was a large, throne-like chair, one turned to face the three men. In the chair was Despero, arms lying on the armrests, hands wrapped around their ends. "You have arrived," the large, pink-skinned Kalanorian announced, not even bothering to stand. "Earlier than I expected."

"Nothing would have stopped me from finding you," J'onn growled. Batman had to resist the urge to give the Martian a surprised look. The tall, green man was livid, anger infesting every part of his person. His face twisted with dark rage. It went against his usual, stoic demeanor.

"I imagined not." A cruel grin appeared on Despero's face. "What I would give to have seen your face as your world burned."

"I should have crushed your mind when I had the chance."

"Yes, you should have. But you didn't and that is a decision you will regret for the remainder of your life. I can only promise that it will only be a short time."

J'onn made to take a step, but Batman beat him to it, throwing an arm out that slapped down on the Martian's chest. "Calm yourself," he said warningly to his friend. "You can't fight him if you lose yourself to revenge."

J'onn turned his fury onto the Dark Knight, but he met the man with as stoic of a look as he normally had. "Despero's trying to rile you up and it's working. If you want to beat him, then you're going to calm down. Otherwise, he will win, and Earth is doomed."

The look on the Martian's face relaxed slightly, but not by much. Still, it was enough to tell the dark-clad man that he had heard his words.

Now all he had to do was keep J'onn from going off of the rails, a taller task than he thought he would ever have to do with the Martian. It wasn't going to be easy.

Not that this was ever going to be easy.

The sky was littered with Kalanorian ships. Most appeared to be the small fighters, though there were a few larger ones. Superman spotted some square ones with faces that revealed missile launchers. The fleet was descending through the atmosphere, spreading out like a plague.

Not for much longer, if the Kryptonian had his way.

Taking the lead, he flew right towards the ships, not bothering to slow his speed. One fighter had spotted him and was flying right for him, opening fire with its plasma cannons.

A second later and Superman rammed right into the ship. The alien metal that made the hull crumpled against the force he hit it with and he ripped right through it, exiting out the back end. He barely registered the heat from the fires that erupted front the damaged ship as he held forward, flying right into another ship. One after another, he purposefully flew into Kalanorian ship after Kalanorian ship, damaging them to the point of sending them falling to the ocean below.

Then he found himself right in front of one of those missile launching ships. Instantly, it began firing its missiles, the Kryptonian watching them heading right for him. Unperturbed, he fired his Heat Vision, the red beams colliding with the first missile and destroying it in a blaze of fire. Sweeping his beams from left to right, his Heat Vision struck each fired missile, destroying them then and there. Because of its position behind them, the missile launching ship was also struck by the Heat Vision, the beams cutting into and then through the vessel. Suddenly, it exploded into a large ball of fire, the force of the explosion ramming into the Man of Steel, but not even pushing him back.

Diana shot by Superman then, the Amazon doing the same as he had as she flew directly into a Kalanorian fighter ship, bursting through it. He lost sight of the Amazon after she forced her way through a second ship.

Which left John. Turning his head to his opposite side, he spotted green energy beams burning through the air, the Green Lantern getting into a dogfight with a Kalanorian ship. He was currently flying with his back to Earth, his ring hand aimed down his body to the chasing ship. A round, green shield surrounded him as plasma beams were fired, striking his shield construct. A moment later and John returned fire, blasting a green energy beam, one that nicked the side of the ship, causing smoke to begin billowing from the damaged hull. The ship began rocking back and forth, trying to maintain equilibrium. This allowed the Green Lantern to fire another beam, this one striking true and the ship exploded.

That was when a plasma beam struck Superman, causing him to yelp. He had felt it, the familiar burning smell reaching his nose. Jerking his head away from John, he spotted another ship closing in on him, firing its plasma cannons at him.

Again, he fired his Heat Vision in turn, staring with his head tilted down and then moving it up. The beams sliced right through the ship from bottom to top. The ship actually parted into two halves, somehow flying forward still before it exploded.

Glancing around him, Superman made certain he wasn't going to be surprised again. While getting hit by the plasma beams was his fault for getting distracted during a battle, it was still up to him to make certain not to repeat the same mistake. Above, he could see more Kalanorian ships descending, a veritable cloud of locus. They were spreading outwards, but still heading to Earth below.

Well, to be exact, New Tamaran.

He and Diana and John would do their best to reduce the numbers that reached the island, but it was only a matter of time before the Kalanorians began going inland, attacking larger cities and settlements. No doubt the Kalanorians would have orders to attacking anything and everything, which would include a Tamaranean settlement.

If Blackfire wanted to remain out of the conflict, she was going to have her hands full regardless.

Returning his attention skyward, Superman charged towards an incoming ship. He had a job to do.

"So, any ideas on how we can do anything?" Flash asked.

Zatanna just stared up at the sky, seeing small explosions from where the others had commenced fighting. While she could use a levitation spell and join them, she wasn't that great in aerial combat. Nah, staying on the ground seemed a better choice for her. Hopefully, Superman and the others would keep the invaders where they belonged, up in the sky.

Such hopes did not happen. Even from where she stood, she could see more and more ships growing larger and larger. How could anyone expect three people to keep a bazillion ships away from landfall?

"Well, I guess we're going to have to come up with something," the magician answered Flash at long last. Holding both hands up, she summoned her magical energy. There wasn't much choice in being stylish. She was just going to start firing raw magical energy and hope she hit something.

A purple beam fired from her hands, flying straight up into the air. A ship she was aiming for immediately moved out of the way, but its friend flying right behind it wasn't nearly as lucky. The beam struck the ship, blasting off a side of it. As fire and smoke immediately erupted, the ship drifted away before going into freefall.

That was one ship down, only one less than a bazillion left.

"Nice shot," Flash observed. "I wish these guys weren't so air-based. I feel so damn useless."

As Zatanna gathered up her magic again, firing another beam, she asked, "What did you do last time?"

"Well," the speedster thought out loud. "I did manage to make a hurricane by running really fast on the water."

"That sounds like a fantastic idea." Another magic blast fired. "Why don't you do that again?"

"I don't exactly want to leave you alone with the Tamaraneans. They aren't exactly friendly to us and we're still on their island."

"Their island isn't going to matter much if the Kalanorians destroy the planet. If I need help, I'll scream real loud, okay?"

"If you say so." Flash then bolted out across the ocean, water splashing out to either side of him as he raced out to sea. Keeping an eye on him, Zatanna soon only saw a red blur moving back and forth, left to right and back, right before water began rising skyward.

Huh, so Flash really could make a hurricane. Neat.

Returning to what she was doing, the magician fired another magical blast, this one missing her target outright. Yeah, she had some bad aim. That was the second one in a row she had missed, though hopefully she hit something much higher that she couldn't see. Some of the Kalanorian ships seemed to notice that she was firing at them and were beginning to converge on her.

This brought them into closer quarters. Again, she fired a magical blast, once more missing as the small ships just darted out of the way. Annoyed, Zatanna growled, "Hsarc otni ruoy dneirf." One ship immediately jerked out of its flight, seemingly flipping end over end until it rammed right into another Kalanorian ship. The two ships bounced off of each other, haphazardly flying around as they tried to find their bearings.

That hadn't done much. For a moment, Zatanna wished she was better at this long-distance fighting. It was one thing to go up against a person, even if they were demons and beings of different dimensional planes; it was another to fight alien ships that were designed for mobility and dogfights. Too bad she couldn't make a giant shield like Dr. Fate and let the Kalanorians just run into it.

Well, perhaps she could, but that would be very exhausting.

As the ships drew in, Zatanna got ready to fire another magical beam when the familiar sight of plasma beams suddenly streaked upward through the air, striking the ships. The results were instant as several Kalanorian ships jerked to one side as they were struck by the plasma beams, suddenly exploding into big fireballs.

Turning her head to try and locate the source of the plasma beams, she spotted Tamaraneans taking up position a long distance away. They were firing their plasma rifles over and over even as their own spaceships began rising up into the air.

So those orange aliens were going to fight after all. That was great. Hopefully they could keep these Kalanorians focused here rather than heading inland, like to Jump City.

Returning her attention back to the sky, she fired another magical blast, this time actually hitting her target. About damn time too.

The promised invasion was in full swing. By all intel, the first ships had begun to appear over the west coast. The Justice League was said to have come out of hiding and were engaging the invading Kalanorians. It was still too early to say if they were holding their own or not.

Waller was constantly receiving updates from whatever men they could get on the ground. Jets were being scrambled together to add their presence into this; however, based on what had happened last time, it was doubtful there would be any kind of advantage.

The Kalanorian ships had forcefields the last time. Obviously, they would have them again this time, and rocket-propelled missiles were worthless against that kind of defense. However, not everything could have a shield like that so that was where they were going to have to take their chances.

She knew A.R.G.U.S. had to participate in this battle. It was the fight for their right to exist that was on the line, and their enemy would only be satisfied with their extinction.

There was so much chatter on every A.R.G.U.S. line. Some were advocating to open up the Red Room and use the technology in there. Some were talking about the Black Room, and a few desperate ones were suggesting the Circus. They had to have something to put them on even footing. Waller did not begrudge Bordeaux her position here, but the Director was going to need to make some hard choices and do so now.

Now was not the time for deliberation and bureaucracy. It was the time for action, and that was what she was going to do.

"You're not serious." Lawton was openly defying her. "We are not skilled to handle an alien invasion, Waller."

"And that is exactly what I am ordering you to do," she quipped back, not even looking at the assassin.

"Oy, you never mentioned any alien attacks," Harkness argued. "It's one thing ta spy on 'em; 'Nother thing ta fight 'em."

"What's the difference? They're soft-bodied lifeforms just like you. There are no reports they wore body armor in their last invasion. Your weapons should be more than capable of handling them," Waller remarked. The activity around here resembled a beehive, but she was the sole object that remained in place, stoic and unmovable. People moved around her, not the other way around.

"But they can do freaky-deaky stuff with our brains, right?" Harkness continued to argue. "Bad enough you put a bomb in there. What if that crap triggers 'em?"

"I highly doubt a psychic attack will affect a physical object like a bomb. Stop whining and grow a pair, all of you. You're going out there to lend a hand and put an end to this insanity." She was doing some mental calculations, and it was with a force of will that she didn't grimace. The logistics of deploying all the other squads she had at her disposal and getting them to key locations would be a nightmare. It was one thing to have them in place already, but to act when it was already too late?

"There is not a big enough gun to take out one of those spaceships," Lawton grumbled.

She was going to ignore the bitching and whining for now. There were more important things to do, such as saving this planet. "The jet is nearly finished with its preparations. I want you all on it in the next sixty seconds. You'll be backed up with the beta squad and your only objective is eliminating the extraterrestrial threat by any means necessary. Either you die to them or you die to me."

Another calculation raced through her head. It was only recently that Major Force had been recovered, but he wasn't one hundred percent just yet. The Thanagarians had drained a lot of power from him for that generator of theirs. Since the Kalanorians were here, that oversize building was not some kind of shield generator. With the amount of power taken from Force, there should have been some kind of shield to prevent this latest alien incursion.

Obviously, there wasn't. So much just wasn't adding up. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough intel to make the proper adjustments and figure out what the hell was going on.

"Very vell," Vertigo sighed. "Come along everybody. Try not to get yourselves killed."

Waller ignored the lack of enthusiasm, not that she expected it from these kind of people. They were doing a job, nothing more, and she had more important matters that needed attending to.

She was hearing their footsteps leaving, so her orders were being obeyed. Then…

"I don't know about you, but that looks like a gun to me."

Lawton wasn't whining anymore, and now Waller found herself drawn to the sniper. She looked over her shoulder, found that long distance assassin halted in his tracks, his head turned to his left. Following his gaze, she found just what he was looking at.

"You will never lay a hand on that," she snapped.

The rest of the alpha squad had stopped in their tracks, all looking back at the two of them. "Last I checked, you want us to perform some kind of miracle. Save the planet. We're going to need a gun. A big one," Deadshot listed out. Jerking his head to the indicated side, "That looks like it will do the job. If saving the world is what you want us to do, then you'll need to give us the tools to do it, don't you think?"

"This is out of the question and too much of a risk," she snapped back. "You couldn't even use it—"

"All you need to do is get it to the battlefield and I'll handle the rest," the sniper interrupted, giving her an itchy finger that desired to hit a certain button. "What say you, Waller? Do you really want to save the world, or half-ass it?"

The shorter woman glared at the taller killer, then looked to her right. The 'gun' in question was massive, and it would take a lot of time and effort to get it out there. They weren't fully knowledgeable of its power, not yet. However, by everything they did know, there was a possibility that putting it out there, if they did get it out there, would be overkill.

A new set of calculations ran through her head.

The explosions and plasma lit up the sky and earth. Countless fighter ships blackened the area, firing at the smaller targets that were the Justice League. Superman hit with both fists and Heat Vision. Wonder Woman kept to her fists and quick reflexes as well as using other fighters against one another. Green Lantern used his constructs with the precision of a battle-hardened soldier.

Below, a familiar magician conjuered magics to wow the eye. Flash was creating his own storm system with the ocean itself to swallow up the invading ships and send them crashing into either the ocean, or some place just out of sight. Rising to meet in ship-to-ship combat were spacecraft of the Tamaraneans, apparently willing to set aside differences for a common enemy.

From the mainland, the Teen Titans arrived, taking in the carnage.

"They're only getting started," Cyborg grumbled, glaring into the sky with his single human eye. "Who knows what those bastards have up their sleeves."

"We cannot underestimate these foes," Starfire said, much more calm, calmer than anyone had a right to be. "They have greater numbers, they bring with them weaponry of all sorts, and we do not know if they are willing to risk hand-to-hand combat."

Red Robin took all of that in. Of all of them, Starfire had greater knowledge of the enemy. Her expertise was priceless for the group. However, just having the knowledge did not mean it was of use if they did not use it. Something the Tamaranean said, though, was giving him an idea.

"Let's open up another front," the teen vigilante said, drawing attention to himself. "The League will take it to their faces, New Tamaran is drawing some of them away to their island. Let's draw some here."

"Any ideas, Red?" Wonder Girl asked without her snark.

"Starfire, Terra, Wonder Girl, and Beast Boy, draw as many as you can over here. When they're within range, Cyborg, you'll blindside them. Force as many as you can to the ground." Pausing, he looked down. "And the ocean. Beast Boy, when you get back, take on any of them that find themselves in the water. Kid Flash, Raven, and I will handle those who get to the ground. Cyborg, when you can, back us up, or snipe any giving Beast Boy trouble."

There were nods from the others. There was even one from Raven. Immediately, half of their team split, the Tamaranean, the geokinetic, the armored blonde, and a green eagle soaring their way to the battle. Cyborg's right arm had already shifted and he was making a few tweaks to it. Kid Flash stood in place, hands on his hips as if posing would speed things up. That left him side by side with Raven, neither looking at each other, but not needing to.

Now was not the time for dissent or feedback. Since going to the fight presented issues for some of them, bringing the fight to them was their only other option. It was going to be a gamble. If the Kalanorians were smart enough, they'd stay in their ships and using the weaponry on them. So…

"Kid Flash, once we get some of them grounded, see what you can't do to dismantle their guns," he said, drawing the speedster's attention. Then to Raven, "While he does that, think you can manipulate their emotions enough to have them leave their ships?"

Raven merely gave a nod. Kid Flash gave a salute. That was as far as he was able to go until the action started. He kept an eye out on the battle while trying to think of anything he was missing. Two birdarangs were in his hands, ready to be thrown. The seconds were ticking by…

There was a flare of green, one of a shade that he recognized as a Starbolt detonating. From the ocean below, massive boulders rose and cleaved through the air. Sturdy enough, they took hits from the Kalanorian fighters running into them, unable to maneuver fast enough from the unexpected obstacle. It was hard to hell what the other two were doing, and already Red Robin could feel his heartbeat increase. This was it, no turning back now.

There was a shift in the fighting, as if a portion of the dark mass of enemy ships was pulling away. It was working; the Titans were drawing away some of the Kalanorians. From the ocean, more large rocks tore through the waves, surrounding the fighter ships on their sides, funneling them. It was also squeezing them closer together.

"Cyborg," the masked teen commanded.

Cyborg released a snarling war cry as he held his transformed arm up and fired a sonic blast directly into the approaching enemy. Destabilized, the fighter ships began running into one another then into Terra's rocky fencing. How durable these ships were would be put to the test, and judging by the smoke coming from some of them, they were sustaining a lot more damage than their builders anticipated.

The earth-based funnel left one exit, and damaged ships poured out of it. The four grounded Titans readied themselves, Cyborg taking a more defensive stance. Raven pushed her cloak over her shoulders, exposing the legless leotard she wore. Kid Flash took on an obvious stance that would let him rocket into action in an instance. That left Red Robin to tense up his body.

The first spaceships collided with the ocean. It took several repeating that action for others to try and veer up, smoke wafting in their wake. That left them with the ground and the trees beyond. Those landings were much more violent and loud judging by the crashes. A few landed near the grounded Titans' vicinity, and now it was time for action.

The yellow speedster tore off, Cyborg's arm shifted once more, and Raven's cloak pulled away due to whatever energies or powers she used. The booms of crashes echoed in his head, and he clenched his jaw as he waited for the inevitable.

Emerging from their ships, the Kalanorians came into sight. Here it was, go time. With the die case, Red Robin released the first of many birdarangs he would throw this night.