"Okay, I am going to be one hundred percent completely transparent here... Is everyone else as nervous as I am?" Kid Flash was the first to admit his unease, a feeling that was definitely mutual, but had gone unspoken until now.
While Martian Manhunter and Batman prepared for their 'exam', they had been temporarily banished from the Hub along with Captain Marvel. So here the Team sat in the lounge, nothing else to do but wait.
For once, M'Gann wasn't flitting around in the kitchen, mostly because there just wasn't enough time.
Hawkgirl opened her mouth to answer Wally's question, only to be immediately cut off by the speedster. "Yes, yes, we know, you feel no fear and you've probably been planning out life or death contingencies since you first developed self-aware thought."
She shot him a glare, letting the comment slide purely because of his self-proclaimed anxiety. "I was going to say that feeling nervous is perfectly normal, considering the circumstances."
"I... oh."
"I agree with Hawkgirl." Kaldur added, a solemn twist to his mouth. "The simulation is going to be replicating a severity of situation we have never dealt with, and hopefully never will. The League just wants assurance that we can handle ourselves in the event of..."
"The worst case scenario." Even Robin, who was usually so unflappable in the face of adversity, could not muster his usual enthusiasm.
"Well, I'm sure you're all going to do great!" Captain Marvel's endless optimism was not tampered by the mood, as he seemed determined to cheerlead up until the last moment. But no amount of encouragement could instate a sense of calm. Not today. Not for this.
A soft noise as a throat was cleared drew their attention to the hallway, where a grim-faced Martian Manhunter stood. "We are ready to begin."
H
MOUNT JUSTICE
OCTOBER 16TH, 2010
16:01 EDT
Despite the knowledge that this was all just a simulation, there was an uncanny realism to every sensation that sometimes made it easy to forget.
Especially when she saw Hal Jordan disintegrated in front of her.
Of course, it wasn't any easier to see John Stewart and Batman meet the same fate shortly after, but this was her Uncle Hal. It took every fiber of willpower she had to push the stray thought down, as dwelling on the illusory pain now could only compound over time.
The Team stood in silence, waiting behind the facsimile of Red Tornado as a new viewscreen popped into existence, replacing the live footage from space with a grim-faced Zatara Zatanna. His voice was distorted through the connection, coming out tinny. "Tornado, did you-?"
"Yes, Zatara, we saw." Tornado confirmed. "Celestial defenses have failed. Initiate all terrestrial measures."
"Affirmative. See you in the field." The screen dissipated, no time wasted on pointless platitudes when the fate of the very (fake) world was at stake.
Red Tornado turned to the Team. "I must join the League. We will protect the planet at all costs, but should we fail... the responsibility falls to you."
Sweeping a glance over his teammates, Kaldur offered the smallest of nods. "We stand ready."
Shortly after the android had teleported out of the Cave via the Zeta System, more screens were displayed in front of them, playing live news feeds from around the world, all places where smaller teams made up of the League had been deployed. The largest screen was a broadcast from downtown Central City, courtesy of GBS news. All of it was part of a lengthy prologue, something Martian Manhunter warned them about, that they needed to experience the full gravity of the situation in real time.
"This is Iris-West Allen reporting live. The extraterrestrials have brought their relentless global attack to Central City." Scarcely had the reporter, Barry Allen's wife, begun her report before a group of citizens mere meters behind her were disintegrated. She was narrowly saved from a second beam by the intervention of her husband, who zipped her out of frame in the blink of an eye.
An explosion jostled the camera, smoke clearing just enough to reveal a ship bearing down on the helpless cameraman. An eerie chant echoed without visible source and a runic matrix of golden energy manifested, the scenery abruptly flickering to that of a nearby rooftop overseeing the destruction.
The Flash reappeared, Iris in tow.
"You should both be safe here." Zatara affirmed, now in view of the feed. "At least... for now."
Iris turned to her savior with a weary grin. "Thank you, Flash. And Zatara."
The speedster placed a hand on her shoulder for a single second, sprinting off once more in a streak of red and yellow. Zatara started to mutter a new incantation, this one creating a circular glyph under his feet that bore him aloft and back towards the fray.
"Danny, you okay?" Iris waited until the cameraman flashed a thumbs up to continue. "As you can see, the Justice League is attempting to hold the line." Mere seconds after the shot zoomed towards the two Leaguers, both were hit by a beam, turning their bodies into dust. Not even the fastest man alive was quick enough to dodge the targeted strike. "No..."
The network switched feeds, cutting away from the anguished reporter's face. The current anchor, a blonde woman, stood up from her desk frantically as she saw a ship looming behind her field reporter. "Iris, Iris get out of there!"
But it was too late for her shrieking to be heard.
Static.
'No Signal' flashed in bold white lettering.
Sitting back down, the anchorwoman was visibly holding back tears, but all she could do in this moment was her job. "I'm sorry, we're experiencing technical difficulties from your Central City feed... We take you now to a devastated Taipei."
Just as the station switched to the Taipei broadcast, they were met with the sight of Hawkwoman and Hawkman taken down in quick succession, nothing left of her parents but dust.
Internally, Hawkgirl thought it was nice of J'onn to make sure that the simulated versions of her parents died side by side.
The two remaining heroes, Green Arrow and Black Canary, took out three ships with their combined efforts, only to be evaporated.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we've lost Black Canary, Green Arrow, and the Hawks." The anchorwoman said in a low tone, overwhelmed with the situation but doing her best to remain calm. "Other heroes reported dead or missing include Batman, Icon, Atom, and Aquaman."
A second screen off to the side showed a live feed from Smallville, where Wonder Woman and Red Tornado were fighting in the skies. The seemingly invincible Amazonian went down first, but not before ripping apart a good number of ships with only her bare hands and her golden lasso.
That was when the intercom system for the Cave crackled to life, as a comm unit patched in directly. "Red Tornado to Cave, I fear I am all that remains of the League." Scarcely had the warning left him before he too, was gone.
"RT!" Robin shouted, only to be met with a ringing silence.
"We are Earth's heroes now." Aqualad said, and thus signaled the real start of the simulation.
The prologue was over, now it was time to act.
"So what are we waiting for?" Superboy demanded, eager to get this over with. "A theme song?"
"A strategy." Their leader corrected firmly. "Earth's weapons are ineffective. And it has been made tragically clear that a direct attack will not succeed."
Turning his attention back to his active hologlove, Robin started expertly manipulating the screen. "Checking satellite imagery." A massive digital globe burst into life in the middle of the room for them all to see, visible red patches marring the cool blue surface. "Here's where the aliens are now."
Attention caught on a specific location near the North Pole, Superboy jerked his hand to gesture at it. "This one get lost?"
Squinting, Hawkgirl was hit with a strong suspicion. "Is that what I think it is?"
"That's Superman's Fortress of Solitude!" Robin confirmed.
"Superman has a Fortress of Solitude?!" The sheer level of shock in Conner's tone drew Ski'Lira's head out of the situation. She honestly had no idea he hadn't known, it was pretty common knowledge in the hero community, and she was sure someone must have mentioned it even casually.
"Its power source must have attracted the alien's attention." Judging by the look Dick shot her, he didn't have a clue about this lapse in their friend's knowledge either and was equally baffled exactly how to address it. "At least enough to send a scout ship to investigate."
"Must be some fortress..." Superboy mumbled, turning away with jaw clenched.
Reaching out, M'gann grabbed his shoulder as a show of comfort. "Conner..."
"It's okay," he insisted, likely by reflex. "Guess there's a lot about Superman I'll never know, eh, you know... now."
"We will target this lone ship." Aqualad interrupted, bringing things back on track. By this point, he was an expert at that, considering how often he had to do it. Though it was also probably because the others knew if they didn't listen to Aqualad fast enough, Hawkgirl would step in. And she was far less kind about distractions when the fate of a mission was at stake.
"Yeah!" Slamming a fist into an open palm, Kid Flash was practically vibrating with excitement, on the verge of literally vibrating with excitement. "Break it down, build more, hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo!"
A harsh elbow jabbed into his ribs courtesy of Artemis, "Martian, Kryptonian, and Thanagarian in the house?" She hissed.
Kid Flash recognized his error, seeing Conner and M'Gann staring at him, and Hawkgirl's newly bared teeth, an expression that always boded ill for him. He began to verbally backpedal. "Uh... heh... Not that all aliens are automatically ugly..."
H
SUPERMAN'S FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE
THE ARCTIC
Hawkgirl hated her cold weather gear.
Much like Aqualad and Conner, she had a higher tolerance for more extreme temperatures, which made the temperature regulation aspect wholly unnecessary. It would be far more accurate to describe it as 'arctic stealth gear', as her uniform of red and gold stood out like a beacon on the frosty landscape.
On regular night missions, the naturally dark colors of her wings and uniform, and more than enough training to compensate for the flashier metallics, meant that she could get away with stealth gear entirely. Here, that advantage was made moot by the nearly completely white landscape.
Hence, a grey and white coat was zipped up tightly over her armor, a deep hood pulled down around her helmet. A slightly looser pair of light grey pants hugged her legs, and her usual boots were gone in favor of the same combat boots she'd used on the AMAZO mission. Thin grey gloves had been pulled over her gauntlets, hiding the razor sharp points. There was nothing she could do for her wings, but as long as she stayed above above cloud cover while in the sky and kept them pulled in tight while traversing the ground, she blended in about as well as the others did.
The exception being Miss Martian, who could literally turn herself invisible.
In direct contrast to their significant efforts to be as stealthy as possible, the isolated scout trip they'd isolated was hovering out in the open, directly in front of the door to the Fortress of Solitude.
Its stationary post made it easy to take up positions surrounding it. Hawkgirl herself was making use of the cover of a mountain peak, the toes of her boots dug into the ice and her body in a readied crouch.
Artemis was the last to slide into position, ducked behind a high ridge of ice as close to the ship as she could manage. With everyone (relatively) safely in place, Miss Martian crept up behind the ship, fully cloaked.
"Communications disabled." She announced, as part of the ship exploded, her telekinesis at work. "Propulsion disabled." Dropped straight down, the ship careened into the ground, spraying shards of ice everywhere.
Emerging from the ridge, Artemis fired off a trick arrow filled with expanding foam at the ship's viewport, coating the translucent surface. Shots were fired wildly in her direction, only one coming close to actually making contact.
"And ET's are sealed inside!" Artemis mentally shouted, signaling to start the next step of the plan.
Aqualad made his move, erupting from where he had been concealed in the ocean's frigid waters, partially submerging the vessel with little effort. The cannon swung in his direction, but before it could fire off a shot, Wolf pounced. Teeth clamped into the metal tube, pulling it away from its intended target like a game of tug of war. Superboy joined his canine companion, locking his hands around the tube to keep the cannon in place. Wolf leapt back down onto the ice, his pronounced claws keeping him from slipping.
Speeding in with Robin in tow, Kid Flash skidded to a stop and deposited the Boy Wonder. who flipped up onto the ship. Hawkgirl took to the air, making lazy circles above and keeping careful watch. There was no chance that subduing this ship would continue to be the easy task it appeared to be, even if the communications array had been disabled.
"Identifying weapon's structural stress points and links to the ship." Robin's eyes flitted across the readout displayed on his hologlove, promptly pointing at key areas on the cannon. "Here, here, and here."
All the stress points identified for her, M'Gann isolated each one and burst them apart with strategic telekinetic blasts. As the last one was weakened, Superboy started to yank the cannons off the exterior shell. A high pitched whine emitted from the device as it began its power up sequence, but only one of them was fast enough and close enough to react.
Wolf slammed into Superboy's shoulder first, knocking him out of the way and taking the hit for him, vanishing in a blast of light.
Everyone just stared at the spot where the ever-loyal canine had just been. Much like seeing their League mentors disappear, even the farce was difficult to comprehend when it was played out before them like that.
"Wolf..." M'Gann mentally lamented.
"There was no indication of feedback, I'm sorry..." Robin immediately apologized.
"Can't do anything for him now." Ignoring the loss, Superboy returned to his task and tore the weapon the rest of the way off, hopping over to the camouflaged bio-ship in order to continue the plan. He was joined by Miss Martian, who put her hands upon her ship, connecting with and creating a link between it and the freshly severed cannon.
"Rerouting systems to integrate weapon into ship's biomatrix." This was going to be the trickiest part of the operation, as they had a literal countdown to contend with, during which they'd be vulnerable. The Team regrouped in the bioship, apart from Hawkgirl, who was retaining her aerial post. "I'll need to de-camouflage for a few minutes."
Scarcely had the update transferred along the mental link before Hawkgirl heard an increasingly familiar humming. Head snapping to the side, she pinpointed the source to somewhere above her, two ships dropping into sight.
They locked onto the nearest visible target... her.
"We don't have a few minutes! Two hostile crafts on my six!" Wings tucked in tight, she dropped into a freefall that kept her out of the direct line of sight, at least for a few seconds.
"Miss Martian, open fire!" Aqualad ordered.
"Can't! Weapons systems are offline until I incorporate the new cannon. And that's not fully integrated yet either!"
Motion caught in Hawkgirl's periphery, as Artemis emerged from the hull of the ship and started nocking arrows. That was all she managed to see before she was nearly clipped by the unnatural speed of one ship, forced to execute a neat corkscrew to avoid the other's charging cannon. The world became a dizzying blur, the frantic maneuver making her sloppy and she was forced down to ground level.
She managed to pull her wings back, but it was a heartbeat too late, making her landing... less than graceful. Slamming harshly into the snow-covered ground, she skidded into a snowbank, half-buried.
"Got you covered!" Artemis shouted as she aimed carefully for the approaching ships. "Get inside, I'm almost there!"
Her arrows brought down both assailants with a satisfying explosion, giving the archer an opening to sprint back to the ship. Hawkgirl righted herself and used her wings to shovel the snow off of her. Uninjured she may be, but she was still disoriented from the fall and there was little air in her lungs from the force of impact.
"Artemis, behind you!"
Just as Artemis turned to fire off another hastily readied arrow, a column of eye-searingly yellow light engulfed her.
"ARTEMIS!" A guttural scream of sheer and absolute horror left M'Gann's mouth and echoed in tandem along the mental link.
Striking through her head like a crack of thunder, Hawkgirl lost her balance, collapsing back into the snow as her chest tightened with the sheer level of grief she felt, accompanied by a strange... hollowness that hadn't been there before. It was her grief, but it was M'Gann's, it was Wally and Robin and Conner and Kaldur's, it was everyone's.
"Artemis!" Kid Flash cried out.
Kaldur recovered first, "Get inside, all of you!" Rushing forward, he used his water bearers to strike at the ice surrounding the single active ship, sending it into the air and destroying it, making sure it couldn't harm anyone else.
With the immediate threat gone and dust, they were all stuck, just as frozen as their surroundings. M'Gann mercifully cut off the mental link, alleviating the sheer amount of emotion.
From day one, they all knew the risks that came with an occupation like theirs. All of their mentors had drilled it into their heads over and over again, this was dangerous, death was always a possibility, but knowing and experiencing were two different things. Artemis had been a handful of feet away, and now she was gone, not even a body left behind for them to bury.
Just like the League, just like Wolf, just like countless innocent people, just like her family.
Even for a Thanagarian, a species that glorified dying in battle, it felt like a vital piece had been carved out of Ski'Lira's being that she'd never get back.
Kid Flash was the first to speak, vitriol dripping from every word. "They're dead! Every single alien, even if it's the last thing I do!"
Hearing such unbridled hatred come from someone so bright and positive snapped Hawkgirl back to reality, giving her the mental push she needed to reevaluate and compartmentalize. Rising to her feet, she shook the errant layer of snow from her wings. "We're done here, everyone back to the ship, now."
The cold clarity of her command spurred the others into action, everyone trudging back to the ship. Aqualad and Hawkgirl were the last to remain.
Hawkgirl found herself pausing, kneeling briefly over the spot where Artemis fell, muttering in her mother tongue beneath her breath as she crossed a fist over her heart. "May we see another again."
Aqualad gave her a solemn nod as she joined his side, the two boarding the silent ship and strapping in for the flight.
No one dared to look at the empty seat within.
Almost the moment they were safely in the air, the tentative composure they had managed to achieve shattered. M'Gann couldn't stifle loud, chest heaving sobs as she diligently piloted, while Wally was slamming his hands onto the console with a frustrated yell.
Aqualad disengaged his seatbelt, standing to make sure everyone was paying attention to him. At his encouraging look, Hawkgirl followed suit. "There will be time to mourn later." Aqualad began.
Nodding, Hawkgirl took over the difficult part of the job. "For now, we need to focus on the matter at hand. We are at war, now. And letting ourselves be blinded by grief will only cause more harm."
Whirling on them, Wally's face was flushed crimson with rage, eyes wild and shining with unshed tears. "Do you expect us to just stop? After everything we've lost?!"
"No," her swift, but sincere denial made some of the fight leave his glimmering eyes. "I expect you all to be smart and objective until we are in a place where it is safe to grieve."
"Right now we have a job to do, defend the Earth." Kaldur firmly reminded them. "And ensure Artemis' sacrifice, and those who fell before her, did not do so in vain."
Swiping the tracks of tears from her face, M'Gann cleared the phlegm clogging her throat. "Back to the Cave?"
"The Hall of Justice. The human race must know that there are still heroes defending them. There is still hope."
Hawkgirl's attention caught on the minute tremors of Robin's hands. "M'Gann, can you put up the privacy shield in the back? We need to change our gear."
"Of course," M'Gann assured, hand twitching and a partition with a retracting door appeared at the rear of the ship.
It wasn't much, but the focus of a small task, even something as simple as changing one's clothes, could do wonders when regaining composure. After all, they would need every bit of fortitude they could muster from now on.
H
WASHINGTON, D.C.
They knew that when they reached civilization, they were in for the sight of a changed world. But there was nothing that could prepare them for the sheer amount of destruction of the ravaged capital. The very sky was tainted, turned sepia from the sheer amount of smoke billowing from burning buildings. Pristine marble was stained soot black in places, and carefully tended vegetation was all blackened or razed completely.
The largest source of life came from a contingent of soldiers stationed outside the Capitol Building. Said soldiers were scattered around a line of tanks firing continuously at approaching ships. It did little to stop the entire onslaught, but keeping them at bay was enough.
Miss Martian opened up the bottom of the bioship as she reestablished the mental link, letting Superboy and Hawkgirl loose. Superboy dropped directly on top of one ship, while Hawkgirl poured on the speed to fly after another that was dodging fire from the tanks. Wings working overtime, she overtook the ship before abruptly stopping mid-air before it. Winding back her arms, she swung her mace into the hull of the ship with the loudest "Hawk-HA!" war cry she'd ever done in her life. The first hit carved a decent-sized hole, exposing the vital inner workings. Two more hits to the exposed vulnerable parts, and the ship was sent plummeting down.
Meanwhile, the newly installed cannon on the bio-ship took care of the last visible ship, clearing the skies enough to make a safe landing. Miss Martian carefully maneuvered down onto a emptied patch of ground near the remains of the alien ship Superboy had just dispatched. By the time Hawkgirl had swooped down, the rest of the Team had exited.
Cheers and elated shouts erupted around them, courtesy of the rundown soldiers. But all of their eyes seemed to be focused primarily on Conner.
"Seei, it is Superman!" A helmeted soldier crowed, answering the unspoken question. "Told you he wouldn't leave us out here alone!"
"I don't know." Another man's eyes were narrowed with skepticism. "He looks kinda young, where's the cape?"
Turning to them with an irate look, Conner ground out, "I'm not Superman."
A much older man, marked as a general by the emblems pinned to his uniform, stepped forward. "I don't know who you are, son, right now I don't care. You wear the S and you got the job done."
Eyes dropping to his shoes, Conner muttered a much quieter denial. "I'm not Superman."
"Tell that to the enemy." The general argued.
Thankfully, Aqualad took over, pulling the attention away from the overwhelmed Kryptonian. The action drew a salute from the general in greeting. "General Wade Eiling, U.S. Air Force." Ah, so that's who he was. Hawkgirl had never met him, but she knew him by reputation thanks to her Uncle Hal's stories.
Hal didn't like him much.
But as it was, they didn't have the luxury of being picky about who they were working with.
"Aqualad. Justice League." Kaldur introduced himself, no hesitation when it came to announcing their new affiliation. "We'll help you salvage as many of the aliens' cannons as possible. Then we start taking back what is ours."
H
The Hall of Justice was a crumbling wreck. What had once been a beacon of hope was a shade of its former glory. It felt akin to watching one's childhood home burning to the ground. Ski'Lira immediately regretted that comparison, considering it was more than likely all of their homes on Earth were either similarly destroyed or soon to be so.
Every single statue was damaged in some way, a few shattered entirely with their pieces strewn about the dust and ash-coated floor. Not a single window had remained intact, the combination of broken glass and chunks of rubble making navigation difficult.
Hawkgirl caught Kid Flash's gaze for a single moment, and she was harshly reminded of the first time she and the others had been gathered here. It had just been her, Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Roy, all thrilled at the prospect of such a momentous occasion.
Now they stood in the corpse of that memory.
When she blinked back to the present, Conner was staring up at the headless statue of Superman.
"They're really gone." Robin's voice was small, sounding every bit the thirteen year old boy he was.
Flying over wordlessly to what remained of her uncle's statue, M'Gann collapsed onto her hands and knees, unable to stop herself from crying out. Suddenly, she jerked back as if burned, hovering in the air with her eyes wide and mouth gone slightly slack. Extending a hand, she latched onto the statue with her telekinesis, lifting it up off the ground to reveal... the real Martian Manhunter.
"Uncle J'onn!" Tossing the suspended statue aside, she darted down towards his prone and dazed form.
Aqualad intercepted, keeping her at bay. "M'Gann, check his mind." He ordered, taking full advantage of the reactivated mental link. "Make sure he is who he appears to be."
"It's him, he's real!" She countered, no doubt lacing her tone. Fooling her would be hell of a challenge. "And he's alive!"
"But we saw you get disintegrated!" Conner demanded of J'onn. "You and Superman! And everyone!"
"Yes..." J'onn's voice was weak, relying heavily on M'Gann to prop him up and keep him on his unsteady feet. His hand was locked to his temple from whatever pain he was experiencing. "I remember, but... I cannot remember how I survived. Or... how I arrived here."
"Maybe you were density shifting and the beam passed right through you?" Miss Martian tentatively offered.
A smile broke out on Robin's face, the first one he'd worn since this whole mess had started. "Scrambling your brains along the way!"
"My mind is clouded..." The older hero could provide no input to confirm the theory, struggling to recall anything that might offer any modicum of explanation for his astounding survival. "I feel certain I had something important to tell you."
Kid Flash abruptly smacked himself in the head in a replication of M'Gann's catchphrase. "Hello, Wally! Come on!"
A handful of minutes later, Kid Flash and Robin were outside examining the cannon that they'd absconded with. The rest of them remained inside, as they were unneeded for this errand.
"I knew it!" Kid Flash called out, words coming out in a rush. "Look! It's giving off Zeta Beams! The same stuff that powers our Zeta Tubes! This thing doesn't disintegrate, it teleports! Artemis is alive! Maybe they're all still alive!"
Grinning wide, M'Gann looked up at her uncle. "That must have been what you wanted to tell us!"
The burgeoning hope was broken swiftly as a new fleet of ships arrived, already firing on the buildings and the soldiers gathered outside, along with their two two members still out there.
"We're on our way." Aqualad was already in motion to provide backup, but was stopped by a firm reply from Robin.
"Negative, we can't win this! Miss Martian, camo the bio-ship and-" He was cut off mid-sentence as the bio-ship was hit directly by a beam, adding yet another to the growing, lengthy list of casualties in this fast-paced war.
A strangled shriek left M'Gann as she toppled, taking her uncle to the ground with her. Superboy ran over to grab her, calling out her name with desperation as Kaldur went to support Martian Manhunter. Tears streamed down M'Gann's face as she was cradled gently in Conner's arms. "That... didn't feel like..."
Any amount of hope that Hawkgirl had allowed herself to feel was destroyed.
She knew it was too convenient to be true.
"We're falling back!" Robin shouted as he and Kid Flash ran for the building, the remaining contingent of soldiers following suit. The sudden attack had cut their numbers again, and if they didn't do something soon, that number was going to dwindle to zero.
Once Robin and Kid Flash were fully inside, Hawkgirl took up a position between the Team and the vulnerable entryway, spreading her wings wide and making sure the two younger heroes were blocked off entirely from the enemy's sight. A soldier caught her attention, giving her a nod of acknowledgement before returning his attention back down the sight of his rifle.
"We're trapped!" Eiling summed up the situation quite nicely.
Before they could fabricate a proper siege plan, the inner door leading to the library of the Hall slid open. "Maybe not." Aqualad explained. "We can all Zeta to the Cave if you grant us computer clearance to access the Tubes." Kaldur ordered J'onn, leaving no room for argument.
"I can only authorize one at a time." He admitted as M'Gann brought him to the computer panel, which was miraculously still powered and completely functional.
"Send the soldiers first." Aqualad insisted.
"Belay that!" Eiling snapped before anyone could move. "You six are assets we cannot afford to lose."
Standing in front of the scanner, J'onn started the process. "Override, Martian Manhunter 007"
"Recognized: Access Granted"
One by one, the members of the Team were scanned in and admitted. Miss Martian was first, then Robin (despite his visible reluctance to be sent second). But as Kid Flash was in the scanning process, an explosion rippled through the room.
Hawkgirl, Superboy, and Aqualad all leapt into action, the latter physically shoving Kid Flash into the Zeta Tube before he could attempt to help.
Superboy grabbed a loose slab of concrete that had a soldier trapped beneath it, as Hawkgirl tackled two more soldiers before they were crushed beneath a newly dislodged piece of Wonder Woman's statue. She vaguely registered Superboy escorting the injured soldier towards the Zeta access as she focused on ushering the two she'd saved to a far more defensible position.
"Hawkgirl!" Her head snapped to Kaldur, and she sprinted to his side, as they were clearly the only two remaining members of the Team... no, the Justice League, left in the hall.
The Atlantean had a resigned look in his eyes. He didn't need to say anything more, as she already knew what he meant by that look.
She gave him a slow nod, one of her clawed gauntlets grasping at his forearm with a bruising grip for the briefest of moments.
With a heavy heart, she allowed herself to be scanned, and stepped through the glowing tunnel.
H
"Our next mission is clear." Robin announced. "If we believe the aliens have been teleporting their victims-"
"We do." Kid Flash insisted, still holding onto the delusion.
Activating his hologlove, a screen popped up between them as Robin ignored Wally's interruption.
"Then the only reasonable detention facility is here. The Mothership, atop what used to be Smallville." He turned to Manhunter, who had been silent since they'd teleported away from the Hall of Justice. "Ring any bells?"
Standing up from where he had been resting on a low platform, J'onn could only offer an apologetic, "No, I'm sorry."
Robin gave him a terse nod, continuing with the mission briefing. "Superboy, you'll create a distraction."
"No!" Latching onto his arm, M'Gann's eyes were wide as she pleaded with her boyfriend. "He's offering you as a sacrifice! Aqualad would never do that!"
"You're right. Aqualad would sacrifice himself." Robin reminded her none too gently. "A mistake that just cost us our leader. Superboy is the most likely to be perceived as a threat, motivating the aliens to deploy."
"Worst case, he's teleported inside and we set him free along with Artemis. And Aqualad and everyone." Kid Flash's tone was a little too optimistic for her liking, but Ski'Lira would let it slide, mostly because she had something more important dwelling on her mind.
As Superboy and M'Gann were engrossed in a brief mental conversation, Hawkgirl patiently waited until he was finished before speaking her piece. "He won't be going alone."
To her surprise, Robin physically reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. "That is not part of my plan."
She looked down at him, an unimpressed expression on her face. "I'm making it part of the plan. By right of succession, I am technically the leader of this team as Aqualad's chosen second in command."
"I don't want to send Conner, but he's our best bet at drawing enough of them away for us to successfully infiltrate. I don't want to have to risk sacrificing more than I need to. You're not going."
Leaning down to close the distance between them, she allowed her lip to curl into a snarl. "We are not in a position where the bare minimum will grant us any kind of success." Her voice was a low rumble, laced with growls and tones she usually suppressed to blend in with humanity. "This is do or die. I will walk into this battle gladly and with my head held high."
"This is not the time or place for your... self-sacrificial Thanagarian warrior religion crap!" Kid Flash exploded at her.
Tilting her head, she straightened her spine and shook Robin's hand from her wrist, staring down the speedster. "There is nothing any of you can say to change my mind, so I don't recommend trying. It will only waste time we do not have."
Scrubbing a hand through his unruly, ash-riddled hair, Robin sighed, nearing the end of his rope. "... Okay. Fine. Superboy and Hawkgirl will provide the distraction. This would be so much easier if there were more of us around."
That's when J'onn gave the slightest of smiles. "There are."
H
The broadcast was reaching its conclusion, after the Team had taken turns explaining the situation in painstaking, harsh detail.
It was M'Gann who started the beginning of the sign off. "And though we know all seems lost, the one thing the aliens cannot destroy is hope."
Standing at her shoulder, Superboy took over. "Hope survives because the battle is not over, not as long as even one of us is willing to fight."
"It doesn't matter how many fall. For new heroes will always rise to carry on. Bringing all their skills, their resources, their talents, to defeat the enemy." Kid Flash continued, stepping aside to let Hawkgirl into frame in order to say her piece.
"And they will fight for those who depend upon them the most, following in the footsteps of those who came before them, who laid down their lives, leaving behind only legacies to live up to."
Robin took the spotlight last, finishing their message for the sake of those survivors left in this sundered world. "The people of Earth will survive this. We will rebuild and we will thrive and never forget. The Earth will never surrender!"
Broadcast successful, all that was left was to finish the preparations for their final assault. Just as Martian Manhunter had promised, they had far more allies to call upon than they had thought. Red Arrow, Rocket, Zatanna, even Tula and Garth had Zeta'd in from Atlantis in order to join them.
Everyone was stocking up on gear, Robin going so far as to don an extra two utility belts worn like bandoliers in addition to his usual one.
As Hawkgirl was testing the sharpness of her knives (they were well-maintained, it was more for peace of mind than anything else), she felt someone approach from behind her. Despite the time they'd spent apart, that distinct scent of leather, metal, and a specific brand of soap was recognizable.
"Red Arrow," she greeted courteously.
Roy was making an effort to avoid eye contact with her, jaw clenched tight. "I uh... I wanted to say sorry. About your parents."
"I am not the only one who has suffered significant loss today." She reminded him. "But... the sentiment is appreciated. And I am sorry about Oliver."
Somehow, his teeth gritted even harder, before relaxing. "... Thanks. I know you... cared for him a lot too. Look, I just... I heard about what you're going to do, and... I didn't... want..."
Ski'Lira's eyes softened, unnoticed behind the opaque lenses of her helmet. "It's okay. I have been at peace with my decision since I made it."
"... You sound like you're about to walk through the gates of hell with a smile on your face."
"I am under no illusion that Kid Flash's teleportation theory is just a fanciful pipe dream." She revealed, making him take a step back in surprise. "Thanagarians know war, and an enemy does not take prisoners when razing a planet."
"But you're still-"
"For the sake of those that come after." She answered before he could voice the full question.
He finally looked at her, the smallest of quirked smiles on his lips. "You're crazy, you know that?"
A smile in return came easily. "So you've said before. Often." Closing the distance between them, she dropped her voice to a whisper to make sure she couldn't be overheard. "Goodbye, Roy."
"Goodbye, Skylar. See you on the other side." He clasped her shoulder, giving it a strong squeeze, and took his leave.
A long exhale left her mouth, glad that she had the chance to make things at least a little right with Roy before the end.
H
SMALLVILLE, KANSAS
From their hiding place behind an outcropping, they had the perfect vantage point overlooking the invader's Mothership. The night sky was deceptively beautiful, barely a cloud in sight and the stars shining brightly, unhindered by smog and pollution out here in the countryside.
Robin was investigating the exterior of the ship with his binoculars, not even twitching a muscle as Miss Martian stood behind him. "Stay close to J'onn, he's still..." He made a 'so-so' gesture with a free hand, earning a nod from the girl in return. Taking a steadying breath, he sent out the initial order of their plan. "First team, deploy."
Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter took off, the former yanking her hood deep over her face. They clasped hands before disappearing from sight entirely, heading undetected towards the base level of the ship.
"Ready and in position." M'Gann's mental voice wavered ever so slightly. "Hawkgirl, be careful. And Conner, I love you."
With the first team ready, Robin gave the distraction duo the go ahead with a silent nod. Conner took a mighty leap, aiming for the top of the ship.
Instead of immediately taking off, Hawkgirl stole a few precious seconds to lunge forward and wrap both Robin and Kid Flash into a tight, desperate, final embrace. It was all too quick, as she didn't even give them time to reciprocate.
A few powerful flaps of her wings took her to Conner, who was waiting with her, understanding in his eyes. "Ready, ka'zera?" She asked once she'd landed.
The smile he gave her was fragile. "You still haven't told me what that means."
"Perhaps I will, if we meet again." She slammed her mace into the base of an exterior cannon, weakening the connecting point enough for Superboy to yank it from its housing and wield it.
"Careful, don't disconnect the power source." Robin reminded them.
"Alright you glorified trespassers, you wanna see how real aliens fight?!" Conner screamed in challenge, firing off the cannon with reckless abandon.
The resposnse was rapid, as panels started sliding open all around them, dozens of ships emerging from within the Mothership and swarming like a disturbed wasp nest. "Now or never!"
Hawkgirl handled the skies, tearing apart ship after ship with strategic swings of her mace, all the while Superboy firing off shots from below. In the back of her head, the mental link buzzed with a reassuring chatter as their comrades made their way deeper into the nest.
Her heart was racing, her blood running hot through her veins as she drove her body to the very limits of its strength, agility, and endurance. After all, she wouldn't have to worry about the repercussion of muscle tears and deep bruising, joint sprains or breaks in bone.
A flash of heat, close, too close, forced her a jerking dodge that was utterly graceless, but worked. She stopped just long enough to pull in a full lungful of air, also getting a direct view of Superboy as he battled below.
A lucky shot landed just in front of him, and he tumbled backwards to avoid it, but in saving himself he had fallen straight into the path of an oncoming beam.
Freezing by instinct, Hawkgirl was sent careening from her mental stasis as a ship physically clipped her. The sheer force of the metal ship's trajectory sent her rocketing down onto the unforgiving metal surface of the Mothership.
She felt every rib as they crunched on impact.
A quick inhale and exhale confirmed they were only cracked, but any injury was a liability. All that mattered now was that her breathing wasn't compromised.
"No... He's gone..." Just as with Artemis' passing, M'Gann started to flood the mental link with her anguish, muddling thought in face of emotion.
"It's alright, we'll find him with Artemis, I know it." Kid Flash was quick to reassure her, while Hawkgirl was staggering to her feet and making a dead sprint for one of the flipped panels, ducking behind it for cover.
"No." J'onn's denial was vehement. "My mind is clearer now. The disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no detention facility. No prisoners to rescue. Our mission holds no purpose."
Closing her eyes as tightly as she could, Hawkgirl forced herself to stop paying active attention to the words and emotion pouring through the link. Her focus had to be on the approaching ships, as she was the only one left capable of distracting the horde. The longer they had her to focus on, the higher the chance of mission success.
The ships spotted her, beams coming closer and closer to hitting their wayward target. A split second after she had ducked and rolled out from behind the panel, it was struck directly and turned to dust.
Back on her feet, Hawkgirl's eyes flickered around the plethora of enemies surrounding her. There was no back-up coming, not this time. The League was gone, half of her kast was too. It was just her facing off alone against a literal army.
There was no turning back.
A sight she must make, gold armor dulled by streaks of fresh blood and a coating of ash, soot and dust. Her wings were worn ragged, bruising and lacerations marring almost every inch of visible skin. Was this how the heroes from all of Thanagar's stories looked, before they met their end? Bloodied and near broken?
Something deep within Ski'Lira snapped, a feeling of wrongness starting in her chest and spreading outwards, warming her skin to feverish temperatures and making her heart beat impossible faster. It wasn't rage, that was a feeling she could recognize easy as breathing. It wasn't the grief that clouded her every thought.
It was something else.
Something... primal.
Her vision began to fade at the edges, focus and detail lost until all she could see were the hazy outlines of the ships and the bright flashes of disintegration beams, even as her body moved via sheer force of will and battle-honed intuition.
Whatever it was, it overtook her, a relentless tide as her vision went red.
The mental link severed.
She wasn't dead, far from it.
In that moment, all that was left of Ski'Lira Hol ceased to exist. All that was left in her place was a Thanagarian warrior, nothing left to lose and a battlefield to obliterate.
A well-cared for Nth metal mace tumbled from clawed fingers, a weapon that had been gifted to her with love from a family that was gone and dust.
A screech of rage echoed through the night, loud and layered in a way that would give even the most stalwart and war-hardened soldiers of Thanagar a chill up their spine.
Hawkgirl's abrupt absence from the mindlink was not unacknowledged as her teammates reached the core. But they knew that above all else, she would want them to put the mission first, no matter how much it hurt.
H
MOUNT JUSTICE
OCTOBER 16TH, 2010
16:21 EDT
Waking up was not a pleasant experience. One moment she'd been in the Arctic and now she was in the middle of the Cave with one hell of a headache. Artemis rubbed at her eyes in an attempt to alleviate some of the aching pressure of her head, to no avail. Pulling herself up into a slumped sitting position, she saw everyone else were in similar states of disarray. Most were in the process of rising, apart from Hawkgirl, who was still lying down with a pained look on her face.
Artemis thought HG had the right of it, staying horizontal, because being upright was only making the pain worse.
"What happened in there?" Batman demanded.
J'onn's hand was pressed to his temple, "The exercise, it went wrong."
Ice poured into Artemis' veins, her own discomfort forgotten. Wrong?
When Robin spoke, Artemis' dread only furthered. "Exercise?" Oh god, that meant... Did the others think it was real?
"Try to remember," Batman prompted, but when the others gave no indication they'd understood, he offered an explanation. "What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter psychically linked the seven of you in an artificial reality, you all knew this going in. What you didn't know was that it was a train for failure exercise. No matter what the Team accomplished, the scenario was designed to grow worse. Still, you were aware nothing was real, including the deaths of the entire Justice League."
Taking over, Martian Manhunter continued to clutch his head. Whatever had happened had clearly had a toll on him. "That is why you hardly grieved when Wolf was disintegrated before your eyes, but all that changed when Artemis died." Artemis couldn't help the spike of guilt that flooded through her, knowing that if she were just a little bit faster this whole situation might have been avoided... That guilt only grew as she realized she'd managed to escape before things had altered and gotten... too real, and that thought was relieving. "Though consciously Miss Martian knew it was not real, her subconscious mind could not make that distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise and her subconscious took control, making all of you forget too."
"I... I..." M'Gann was stuttering, tears building up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."
"This isn't her fault!" Superboy didn't hesitate to defend her. "Why didn't you stop the exercise?"
"We tried, but M'Gann had a death grip on the scenario. Even Artemis, who should have awakened upon her death, was so convinced she had passed she slipped into a coma. I realized I would have to wrest control from Miss Martian's subconscious from within. But upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotion. There was too much noise to think clearly, to remember why I was there. The deaths of Aqualad, Superboy and Hawkgirl helped, but only when the Mothership exploded and Kid flash and Robin were silenced did my mind clear enough to remember my true purpose, to shock M'Gann out of the exercise before your comas became permanent. My apologies, I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous. so damaging."
His speech concluded, Manhunter lost his tentative grasp on his balance, collapsing from sheer exhaustion. Batman was quick to catch him before he hit the floor, holding onto him to keep him upright.
"As bad as all that?" Batman asked.
"... Perhaps worse."
Red Tornado spoke next, his presence temporarily forgotten. "Yet this is not what troubles you."
J'onn took a second to carefully pick out his words, unwilling to risk any miscommunication. "Make no mistake, my niece is untrained and cannot be held responsible for this, for our debacle."
"No one blames her." Batman clarified, saying it just loud enough to make sure that the distraught Martian girl in question could hear it too. "But clearly we underestimated her abilities.
"You understate it. In terms of raw power, she has the strongest telepathic mind I have ever encountered. Stronger by far than mine."
At this new, and very important information, Red Tornado tilted his head in consideration. "Is there any risk of the others experiencing any... side effects?
"Other than the expected emotional trauma, no."
Switching her attention away from their mentors and back to her friends, Artemis' chest tightened at the sight of M'Gann sobbing uncontrollably in Captain Marvel's arms. Everyone looked... unhappy was both too broad and didn't encapsulate enough. Confused, hurt, with a dash of wariness would be more accurate.
Artemis relaxed when Hawkgirl finally sat up, as she was worried about how uncomfortable the position must be for her wings. Really, when they'd set up this room, they should have been more considerate of the extra limbs on the brunette's back.
She started to call out to Hawkgirl, wanting to know if she too was suffering from intense cottonmouth and the headache of all headaches. But she stopped herself.
Hawkgirl was moving... oddly. Her entire body, including her usually restless wings, was held perfectly still, the only movement coming from the weaving of her head. It swung from side to side once, twice, three times, as if scanning the contents of the room on each pass. A strange vocalization started emanating from her throat, a growl wholly unlike any she'd heard come from the Thanagarian before.
Head stopping abruptly and tilting to the side, her attention was locked on M'Gann, who was being released from Captain Marvel's tight hold so that she could wipe the water and snot from her face.
Hawkgirl was a blur of movement, and everything erupted into chaos.
Lunging across the space, she pounced straight at M'Gann, driving them both to the floor. Hawkgirl's growling had been abandoned in favor of a wordless scream of rage as she wrapped around clawed gauntlets around the Martian's vulnerable throat.
Everyone was shouting, including Artemis, but it was Captain Marvel who moved the fastest.
"What do you think you're doing?!" He demanded in a downright furious tone as he grabbed Hawkgirl by her wings, jerking her up into the air before she could tighten her grip on M'Gann seconds before the razor tips of her claws sunk into flesh and her airway was squeezed shut.
Screeching, Hawkgirl yanked her wings from his strong grip, whipping around and slashing at his closest forearm. The Nth metal tore through his skin, blood trickling from the scores.
"J'onn!" Batman called out to his colleague, the resident telepathic expert their best bet at gauging Hawkgirl's current motivation for murder.
"Call Katar," was all the Martian said, a worried set to his mouth.
Red Tornado surged forwards with a burst of wind, arms snaking around Hawkgirl's torso and dragging her away to physically distance her from the weakened members of the Team, and her intended target.
They all closed ranks around M'Gann the moment Hawkgirl was out of the immediate vicinity, Aqualad and Superboy standing in front like two shields. Aqualad's water bearers were activated and ready to strike, while Superboy's hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists.
"Batman to Hawkman." The Dark Knight activated his comm, a dire edge to his tone. "Katar, get to the Cave now."
Message sent, Batman went for his utility belt, removing a small pellet and throwing at the rampaging Thanagarian's feet. Light grey smoke billowed from the deceptively small capsule, the plume surrounding her and not affecting Red Tornado's metallic body in the slightest. Her indignant cries only increased in intensity, ratcheting up tenfold with every moment that passed as she thrashed in the android's hold.
One arm wriggled free, fingers digging into Red Tornado's arm and denting and piercing the metal of his wrist. But still, he did not waver.
Thankfully, the cavalry's arrival was timely, as the room burst into bright light. The computer's announcement of the Zeta activation was drowned out by Hawkgirl's screaming.
It wasn't just Hawkman who had answered the call, but Hal Jordan too. The former halted in place seeing his daughter, but a harsh knock upside the head from Jordan smacked him out of his distress.
Hawkman approached, shouting something indecipherable, in what sounded like Thanagarian. But not a single word was registered, even when using her first language.
"Katar?" Hal prompted, consulting the other for how to proceed.
"Shield her, we need to get her out of here." Katar's voice was expressionless, even more so than usual, as if he was forcing himself.
At the request, Hal summoned a verdant bubble as Red Tornado released the hellion, encasing her in a near-impenetrable energy barrier. But that didn't stop her from trying, as she kept throwing herself at the luminous curved walls over and over and over again.
Hawkman didn't say a single word to the teens, only giving them a look before he and Hal Jordan departed the Cave with prisoner in tow, Batman and Martian Manhunter following close behind.
All that was left was a ringing silence.
"Did..." M'Gann's voice was weak. "Did she just try to... kill me?"
"No... no." Robin tried to deny, but even he didn't sound wholly convinced by his own words. "Hurt, okay yes, she obviously tried to do that. But kill? She wouldn't." Artemis could spot the unspoken 'but would she?' in the downturn of his mouth.
"She definitely did just attack M'Gann!" Kid Flash crossed his arms tight. "And Captain Marvel, and Red Tornado."
"That was... way angrier than we've ever seen her." Artemis was frowning too, disbelieving at how a bad situation had turned so much worse in the blink of an eye. "I mean, I know we joke about her anger issues, but... That was... It was inexcusable."
"Do you think I... did something to her?" The question came from M'Gann, who was starting to shake slightly. "To her head?"
"I do not think that is the case." Finally, Kaldur spoke up, visibly disturbed. "Martian Manhunter himself said he detected no damage caused by the failed simulation. Whatever has happened, it lies entirely on Hawkgirl's shoulders."
Gently nudging him with her elbow, Artemis caught Conner's attention from where he had been staring at the darkened Zeta Tube. "Conner?"
"Why would she do that?" He demanded. "I thought... I thought she cared about us."
No one knew what to say to that.
H
From the moment awareness was regained, Ski'Lira knew she was in some kind of medical facility. That sharp stench of antiseptic was too unique to be mistaken for anything else. Thus, she wasn't surprised when she opened her eyes to see herself ensconced in a hospital room.
Every inch of her ached like she'd been on a nonstop workout routine for days, with sharper sources of pain scattered around and inside her body. As she shifted in an attempt to find a more comfortable position (and failing), she couldn't help the agonized groan that left her, as the minute movement only made every sensation worse. Never once in her life had she experienced this much pain, not during a molt, not being shot, and not even having her wings impaled.
The delicate peace of the room, the hums of equipment and the beeping of machines, was shattered as her father's maskless face appeared in her line of sight, hovering over her prone form. "Ski'Lira, do you know who I am?"
Her first attempt to speak was a failure as only air came out, on her second try all she could manage was a, "Ta'me, what-?" before her voice cracked and her throat flared with pain. Just those two words sounded like she was gargling rusted nails, and felt much the same.
Breath leaving him in a rush, her father collapsed onto a chair sitting at her bedside. "Oh thank the ancestors." He rubbed at his face, weariness in every motion. "Try not to move too much. You've... You've gone through a considerable amount of strain."
Before she could ask for any kind of explanation for what she had been doing that could have caused so much damage, the door slid open. Hal Jordan, Batman, and Martian Manhunter hastily filed into the room. When he saw her awake, Hal shot her a reassuring grin, but there was a tightness to it that worried her.
"Hawkgirl," Batman stopped, then started again, using the gentle voice he reserved for only the most serious of occasions. "Skylar. What is the last thing you remember?"
Katar's eyes narrowed, "She just woke up, it can wait a few minutes."
"Remember?" Ski'Lira mumbled, already trying to do as she'd been asked, despite her father's reservations about the request. "We were... The Team... In the kitchen? Wally was... worried about something." She dredged the depths of her memory for anything more distinct than that, but there was nothing, just one big blank spot between then and now.
"Memory loss?" Hal Jordan turned to his friend for confirmation.
"If she hasn't remembered already, it's likely she never will." Katar agreed, tone just as grim as his face. "Perhaps it's for the best that she doesn't."
"Ta'me?" It felt like someone had scoured out her insides with boiling water. "What did I do?"